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LETTER OF SOLOMON MOLCHO.

upon tables; but I have not yet seen them.

צא

And

he preached to many at Bologna and in other places; and many ran after him to hear his wisdom, and to prove him with riddles*. And Solomon told them all their words: there was nothing hid from him which he told them not; and when they saw the wisdom of Solomon, they said, "It was a true report which we heard concerning thee, and thou hast gained wisdom exceeding the fame which we heard." And many clothed themselves with envy against him; but they could cast no evil upon him in Italy, for he was beloved in the sight of the nobles: and he united himself with David, and they were as one in those days.

826. And Solomon wrote unto the wise men, words of peace and truth, saying:

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827. "Ye great mountains, ye pillars of the captivity, knowing science, and understanding "knowledge, a goodly sight before the face of "HIM who dwelleth in the holy habitation, in "whom is power to stand in the temple of the "HOLY KING, and who are bound up in the

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bundles of the seventy faces of the tree of

* 1 Kings, x. i., and 2 Chron. ix. 1.

+1 Kings, x., and 2 Chron. ix.

i. e. The Jewish communion; which being dispersed among the Gentiles, is considered to be in a state of captivity.

§ 1 Sam. xxv. 29.

There are, according to the rabbies seventy manners of interpreting the law which are called the Seventy Faces.

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LETTER OF SOLOMON MOLCHO.

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"righteous life, to be a strong wall and a high bulwark round the destroyed city. May we

live to see its rebuilding! And much peace be on "the throne of the King Messiah. These are the "seed blessed by God from heaven.

828. "Incline your ear to hear the words of a "worm and no mant, a rod out of the stem of the “children of our captivity, which came forth from "a lands of our adversaries, sitting in a forest and “in a desert, in a place of thorns, thistles, and

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briers; there he fed, and there he lay down; "for his father and his mother forsook him; he "walked in darkness and had no light¶, medi

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tating in the night upon his couch**, by what "way the light is parted+t, that he might know "the place of the dawn, to keep himself from the ways of the violent, that he might walk in the

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paths of God to seek wisdom of him, and to hear "the words of truth. And He put in his heart anxiety and trouble at all times, to save his "soul from destruction, to shine in the light of life, that he might hold fast unto the right hand of

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God, and cast from him the left++; in his distress

* The sages addressed in this letter.

Comp. Isaiah xi. 1. § Portugal. ¶ Is. 1. 10. **Canticles iii. 1.

.i. e ,שמאל

+ Ps. xxii. 7.

Ps. xxvii. 10.

tt Job. xxxviii. 24.

What is not right; an allusion also to

the name of the devil., Sammael, angelus malignus, et princeps mortis.—Buxtorf.

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PRINCES DRAGONS.

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"he lifted up his voice unto Him, even unto the Head and said, 'HOLY, make the tabernacle of peace.' For it is better to trust in the Lord, than "to put confidence in princes* (because they are dragonst, and will be destroyed); He shall "stand for ever: see ye, and hearken unto this, I give glory unto our God.

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829. "In the twelfth month in the year "OMRIM (When I heard DON THEM SAYS, "Let us go',) he went to supplicate the face of the Lord, and to seek the Lord of Hosts; I also "went into the palace of strangers in the great

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city¶, which is destined to become desolate, and

Ps. cxviii. 9.

+, belluæ marinæ, pisces ingentes, Gr. Knтoɩ, Gen. i. 21, dracones, serpentes. Gesenius, Lex. Manuale.

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291 + 5000 = A. M. 5291, or A.D. 1530.

The passage between parentheses has no connexion with the sense of Molcho's letter; and is merely cited, according to the custom of the Rabbies, because it contains in the word ' the date of the year. There occur subsequently similar instances of this practice. ¶ i. e. Rome.

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MUNICH-JOSEPH TITSA.

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whose land will be burning pitch: there came thither the messenger of your highnesses, and in "his hand a roll of a book; and he spread it out "before me, and it was full of pleasant and tender "words, and it was in my mouth like honey for "sweetness*; when I read therein with understanding eyes, I thought to return unto your highnesses an answer briefly. It is already known unto the honor of your learning, concerning the vision which I wrote from the city Monasterio unto our master, the revered Joseph Titsa (may his Rock and Redeemer

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preserve him!)§. For when I was there, he "asked of me to make known unto him my jour

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ney from Portugal, in what manner it was; and "I wrote to him every thing after its order; and I "vowed to write also all which should in future

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happen unto me in the kingdom of Edom||; and in that vision your highnesses will see what came "upon me during my coming from Portugal and Turkey unto the land of Edom, wherein I am

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"now a prisoner by the hand of the king over kings of kings, the holy ONE (holy and blessed "is HE!), by the hand of his servant, my master,

Ezek. iii. 3.

.מונישטיריאי +

.טיטסה + ישמרהו צורו וגואלו a contraction for יצ"ו 8

i. e. The European states, but especially Italy.

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David, without permission to do any thing except that which is shewn unto me from heaven. "And now I am come to tell your highnesses the verity of the words of truth. When I reached Ancona, immediately an assembly of the wicked* encompassed me, and slandered me before the bishop, by their saying how I dwelt in the tents "of Kedart, but now am I in peace: for when "he sent for me, Jews from that place, and from Turkey, went with me to see how the thing would "fall out; and he asked of me concerning the "matter, and I said unto him, 'They have told "thee the truth.' And he answered me, · What

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hast thou seen concerning it?' And I replied "unto him, That the Lord is God; He is truth, "and his law is true, and there is no other; and "he became dumb like a dead carcase.' And 66 upon the men who were with me there fell a great trembling§. And he dismissed me with peace, but commanded me, that I should not "preach unto the Gentiles in opposition to their "law. But notwithstanding all that, every time I

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was preaching, there came into the synagogue "nobles and priests, and much people; and I also

*Ps. xxii. 16.

Ps. cxx. 5. i. e. What was my condition and character among the orientals. Kedar means here the Mohammedan territories.

Idiom for, Why hast thou done thus? Esther ix. 26, § Gen. xv.

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