Mat, andwhen Compofed. lawfnllforhim to write; but in elpecial he committed the whole to Jafhuz. J,Jhua did the fame. to Eleazer, as he did to his Son Phinear, after whom they give us a Ca- talogue of feveral Prophets that lived in the enfuing generations, all whom they em- ploy in this ferviceof conveying down the 0r11l Lzw to their Succeffors. The High Priefts alfo they give a place unto in this work ; of whom there were cig!sty three from the firti Inffitution of that Office, to the deftruerion of the Temple s J,fepb. lib. 20. cap: IS. From Aaron to the building ofSolomanr Temple thirteen ; from thence to the Captivity eighteen ; all the reft take up the troublefotne time of the Apollacyof their Church unto the final! ruine of it ; their Rulers ()chi; many becaufé of their mic edneß, as themfelves obferve. The laft Perron whom theywould have topreferve the Orall Lain abfolutely pure, was that Simeon, whom they call .11-131; the PO, mentioned by Jefiss the gm ofSyra,h, Chip. go. And it is very obirvable, that the latter Jews have left out Simeon theSoa of Hilel, whom their antient Matters placed upon the Roll ofthe Prefervers of thisTrea- Eire, fitppo'liug hemight be that Simzm who in his old age received our Saviour in his arms, when he was pretented in the Temple, Lny z. 24. a crime fufficient among the Jews to brand him with a perpetual ignominy ; neitl4 are they alo to in turning meal glory, into reproach and thame. After the dellrudt:on of the Temple and City, when the evil Hosbandmen were {lain, and the vineyardof the Lord let out to others, the Kingdom given to another Nation, and therewith the Covenantfanâihed idle of the Scripture, theremaining Jews having loft wholly the mind of God therein, betook themfelves to their Traditions, and as I faid before, began to fancy and contend that they came from God laimfelf; whereas their Predeceffors durfl: not plead any thing for them, hie that theyCarne unto them- from them of old, that is fome- of the Mailers of preceding Generations. Heteupan a while after, ( as I haveelfewhere (hewed at large) oneOf them whom they call R.a-zbi JadeHznnaJi, andHz'<{idofb, the Prince, and the Holy, toot upon him to gather their fazttzredTraditionr, and to call them into form, order, and method, in Writing, that they (night be tanto the .ews a Rule of Life andWorthip for ever. The Story ofhis work and undertaking is given us by Nizimnzides in jadÇbzzzths, the Authors of Sedar Olt n, Hzlicoth Olam, Tzemaah David, and many others; and they all agree that this theirgreat Mailer lived about the times of i44lircur Antortinus two hundred years, or thereabouts after the deffruáion ofCity and Temple. This Collet±ion of his they call- ;Von or nvTun Mifhne, or Mifhnaiotb, being as is pretended el repetition of the L zw in an ï.xpoltion of it ; indeed a farrago of all forts of Traditions, true, and falfe s with a motitlrous mixture ofLyes, ufelefs, fooiifh and wicked. The thing; contained in it, are by themfelves referred to five heads: r. TheOran Law receivedby Majès on Mount Sinai, preferved by the means before de- dared : 2.Oral!Con;fittetionsofALP himfelf after he came down from the Mouttt: 3. Can'fitutims andOrders d awn by various wayesof arguing ; (t j. as Rambam tells us) out ofthe written Law; 4. The Anfsversand Decrees of the Sanhedrin ; andother wife men in former Ages; 5. ImnzemsiallCttffoms; whole original being unknown are tùppofed to be divine. The Whole is divided into fix parts : noted with the initial letter ofthe wordwhich fignifies the chief things treated on in it. As the fish by t , z., that is =7-1T, Zeraim, Seeds; which is divided into elevenMaffiektot or Treatifes, containing all of them fe- venty five:Claapters. The fecond by n, m, that is, ly+o, Mead; or appointedflags, which is dilirib.ned into Twelve Msrktot, containing in them eighty eight Chapters. TheThird by ] that is , ofWomen, and is dittributed in ivenTreat tifes,containing Ceventy one Chapters. The fourth by ), that is, =1,71), Nezikim,about h(I andd:mmzx, and is divided into eight Mzliektor , whereof the firfl is divided into threeparts, called tvnp N11,t3p`3n rzai Sint 411, the hilt, middle, and 1z)f peer or entrance, containing in them thirty Chapters, whereunto forty four are added in the following parts. The fifth by p, that is n'wn],- Kodafhim, of SaniifLaeimr , and is divided into eleven Books containing ninety Chapters. The fixth with to, that is, nnnz, Teharorh,of Purifications,in twelve Bpoks,and one hundred twenty fix Chapters. Unto this Milling ofR. Juda they annex the n19`otn the Tofph,t, or additions of Rabbi ChriahhisScholar , expoundingmany paffages in his Madero works ; to them a more full explanation of the fame doctrine of the M:fhnæ, which they call Beraeetoris fubjoyned, being the Collection of Come Antitalmudirall Millers. About three hun- dred years after the D truaion of the Temple R.Johanzn composed the Ilierufbiens Talmud 4. 7. 4.9.
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