Part 20 (1/2)

[Footnote 2: Mark xi 16]

[Footnote 3: Matt xxi 12, and following; Mark xi 15, and following; Luke xix 45, and following; John ii 14, and following]

[Footnote 4: _Itin a Burdig Hierus_, p 152 (edit Schott); S

Jerome, in _Is_ i 8, and in Matt xxiv 15]

[Footnote 5: Ammianus Marcellinus, xxiii 1]

[Footnote 6: Eutychius, _Ann_, II 286, and following (Oxford 1659)]

The pride of the Jews completed the discontent of Jesus, and rendered his stay in Jerusalereat ideas of Israel ripened, the priesthood lost its power The institution of synagogues had given to the interpreter of the Law, to the doctor, a great superiority over the priest There were no priests except at Jerusalem, and even there, reduced to functions entirely ritual, al, they were surpassed by the orator of the synagogue, the casuist, and the _sofer_ or scribe, although the latter was only a layman The celebrated men of the Tal to the ideas of the tih priesthood of Jerusalem held, it is true, a very elevated rank in the nation; but it was by no n pontiff, whose dignity had already been degraded by Herod,[1] became more and more a Roman functionary,[2] as frequently removed in order to divide the profits of the office Opposed to the Pharisees, ere very warm lay zealots, the priests were almost all Sadducees, that is to say,aristocracy which had been formed around the temple, and which lived by the altar, while they saw the vanity of it[3] The sacerdotal caste was separated to such a degree froious , that the nanated a member of the sacerdotal family of Sadok, had become synonymous with ”Materialist” and with ”Epicurean”

[Footnote 1: Jos, _Ant_, XV iii 1, 3]

[Footnote 2: Ibid, XVIII ii]

[Footnote 3: _Acts_ iv 1, and following, v 17; Jos, _Ant_, XX ix

1; _Pirke Aboth_, i 10]

A still worse elen of Herod the Great, to corrupt the high-priesthood Herod having fallen in love with Mariahter of a certain Si wished to marry her (about the year 28 BC), saw no otherhiuing family ren pontificate for thirty-five years[1] Closely allied to the reigning family, it did not lose the office until after the deposition of Archelaus, and recovered it (the year 42 of our era) after Herod Agrippa had for some time re-enacted the work of Herod the Great Under the name of _Boethusim_,[2] a new sacerdotal nobility was formed, very worldly, and little devotional, and closely allied to the Sadokites The _Boethusis, are depicted as a kind of unbelievers, and always reproached as Sadducees[3] From all this there resulted aon politics, little inclined to excesses of zeal, even rather fearing thees or of innovators, for it profited from the established routine These epicurean priests had not the violence of the Pharisees; they only wished for quietness; it was their ion, which revolted Jesus Although very different, the priests and the Pharisees were thus confounded in his antipathies But a stranger, and without influence, he was long compelled to restrain his discontent within himself, and only to communicate his sentiments to the intimate friends who accompanied him

[Footnote 1: Jos, _Ant_ XV ix 3, XVII vi 4, xiii 1, XVIII i

1, ii 1, XIX vi 2, viii 1]

[Footnote 2: This name is only found in the Jewish docuospel are the _Boethusim_]

[Footnote 3: The treatise of _Aboth Nathan_, 5; _Soferim_, iii, hal

5; Mishnah, _Menachoth_, x 3; Talmud of Babylon, _Shabbath_, 118 _a_

The naed in the Talmudic books with that of the Sadducees, or with the word _Minim_ (heretics) Compare Thosiphta, _Joma_, i, with the Talm of Jerus, the same treatise, i

5, and Talm of Bab, same treatise, 19 _b_; Thos _Sukka_, iii with the Talm of Bab, same treatise, 43 _b_; Thos ibid, further on, with the Talm of Bab, same treatise, 48 _b_; Thos _Rosh hasshana_, i with Mishnah, same treatise ii 1; Talm of Jerus, same treatise, ii 1; and Talm of Bab, same treatise, 22 _b_; Thos _Menachoth_, x

with Mishnah, same treatise, x 3; Talah_, ii 4; and Megillath Taanith, i; Thos

_Iadaim_, ii with Talm of Jerus; _Baba Bathra_, viii 1; Talillath Taanith, v]

Before his last stay, which was by far the longest of all that he made at Jerusalem, and which was terminated by his death, Jesus endeavored, however, to obtain a hearing He preached; people spoke of hi certain deeds of his which were looked upon as miraculous But from all that, there resulted neither an established church at Jerusale teacher, who forgave every one provided they loved him, could not find much sympathy in this sanctuary of vain disputes and obsolete sacrifices The only result was that he fore of which he reaped afterward

He does not appear at that time to have made the acquaintance of the family of Bethany, which, aht him so much consolation But very early he attracted the attention of a certain Nicodemus, a rich Pharisee, a h position in Jerusaleht and sincere, felt hi to coht, and had a long conversation with him[2] He doubtless preserved a favorable iainst the prejudices of his colleagues,[3] and, at the death of Jesus, we shall find hi with pious care the corpse of the master[4] Nicodeard for his position to take part in a revolutionary st its adherents But he evidently felt great friendshi+p for Jesus, and rendered hih unable to rescue him from a death which even at this period was all but decreed

[Footnote 1: It seems that he is referred to in the Talmud Talm of Bab, _Taanith_, 20 _a_; _Gittin_, 56 _a_; _Ketuboth_, 66 _b_; treatise _Aboth Nathan_, vii; Midrash Rabba, _Eka_, 64 _a_ The passage _Taanith_ identifies hi to _Sanhedrim_ (see ante, p 212, note 2), was a disciple of Jesus But if Bouna is the Banou of Josephus, this identification will not hold good]

[Footnote 2: John iii 1, and following, vii 50 We are certainly free to believe that the exact text of the conversation is but a creation of John's]