our Lords birth ;and hefet downe in plainer Hebrew,the expofitions,canons and traditions i according to which they had interpreted the Law of God given by Moles, and prattifed f the fame : omitting thedifcourtìs,f abl es,difputes,&c. wherewith the Thalmud is referced. A nd this Maimony is of fuch diet me among the Jew ifh nation, that of him it is faid,From Motes (the Prophet) toMofes(formeof Maimon) there wit noxelikethisiefes. 'Other Fxpofztotsthey have,fome ancient as the Chaldee paraphrafls, of which lorathan that in >C rerpoeted the Prophets, is reported to be the Scholler of Gamaliel,at vvho of ecöur A po- ff lc Pail learned the Law : and Onkelos who paraphrafed on the Law , was not long after him. Pubirlatter Writers follow for the moftrart the Thalmuds : and notwithflanding the many fables and falfhoods that are found generally them yet for the many good things and probable truths which from elder day es they doe record , they have been and are t egarded oftheiftian Writers heretofore, and at this day : that of them it is faid,When they doe well, they are the heft Expofitors;and when they doe evil!, the are themarfl. Now whereas 1 have alleaged many of their interpretations, efpecially from the Greek and Chaldee, and Maimony the chief-eft of efteeme among them ; I am for this blamed, tholeWriters generally condemned ; and to make them the more odious , their heretics, fables, falfhoodsare difplayed, by him, that from two or three late Rabbines, and one Pa- pi (l, difputed againft the fincerity of theHebrew Text, as before is tobé feene. I will] ñot fpeakeof the things by me noted,but leave t hem to the judgement of the indifferent Reá- c er ; nor juflifie my felfe for all their allegations , becaufe they being taken fromthat con: J fufed heape of the Jewes traditions , fome of them may haply favour too much of their leaven : They that have laboured in this kind before me, have had theirfecond thoughts and altered both their owne Annotations and tranflations in fundry points, as their Tublike writings manifeft.But that fuch a general] cenfure fhould paffe upon them all; (formy fake). and the Wheat Mould be plucked up becaufe of the Tares, feemeth not to proceed from love, not from a found judgement. And firft, the efteemewhich all Chriflian Churches have had,&yet have,offuch books of theJewïfh Rabbinsas were written in Greek, &fo came tó beknowne more eafily than f otherChaldee and Hebrew workes,might fomewhat allay the rigour of this fentence.For thelloryof the Maccabees,Eccleliafticus, Wifedome, and the other Apocryphall wri- tings of the Jewes, notwithflanding the evils in them, have beene,and are tranflated,com- mented upon, and commended to be read for inftruCìion. z Other of the Rabbines, as the Thalmud, Maimony, and the like , have beene alfo bÿ Expofitors of the Scriptures(and thofe of the be ft efieeme) occaf onally alleaged : as Tre -. p mellius in his notes upon his verfion of the New reftament out of Syriak , fundry times produceth them. Beza in his large Annotations on Mama 6. noteth from Jofephus, Paulus 5 Burgenfis ,Tremel fins, and Scaliger, fundry ritualsof theJewes about the Paffeover, and fome fuch as f am taxed for, becaufe I name them on Exod. 12. Vatablus often recordeth the expoítioas of the Chaldee and learned Hebrewes. And how many other have done the like in their notes and Commentaries, all men of learning and reading doe well know. 3 To object the Jewes herefres fables, and falfe expofit:ons of many Scriptures, is no found reafon to condemne the good things which are found in them. Foreven among Chriflian writers(andthofe of the ancients) fundry fuch Things are to be Peen: yet many pro- f table things are found in them for the opening of the scriptures. In the Apoflles dayes ? the Jewes were guilty ofthefefines , Math. t5. and 21.chap.Rom. o.3.Tit.I.14.2Pet.i. Yet Chrift commanded to heare the Scribes and Pharrlees fitting in Mofes chaire, ,_,rytatth..2 3.'.2. Now the rare trieth words,asthe mouth tafteth meat, lob 34.3 and as by hearing their feeeches, the godly wife might difcerne when They taught according to Mo- lis, and when they fpake of themfelves 5 fo by reading their writings, men of underflan- c'ir g may doe the like at this day. a l heApofflcs allo in alleaging fometimes the Teflimonies of the 11abbines,do teach us thatd- rie writingsarenotwhollytobedefpifed .. Paul natneth .ia,rnes and ¡ambres the chief aGs formers of Egt pt, a Tim.3.8. out ache privat Recordsof the Jewes,as may yet be read Gi} r in their Thalmud reheárfeth theperfecutionsof the godly under Antiochus, recorded aa, inticbookofthe.He Maccabees,Heb:rt.-F.&c.OthersfpeakeoftheconteneonbetweenMi- l-[l/ I' chrel !re theeevill,atoutthebonyoffMofi s, and oftheprophefeof Enoch, Ix_dev.g, ` 7' /r a. 1.H C(':7 \. i \141VÁ% aikaa,Awitou t ,..n a A., .i (4,' 4 S 1,
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