Opinions of the7eWä about their Tra4ditions. Berefhith Rabba ; 11`íy, Sàd, or dark is that Maß againft which be that made it giverTeJtimorty that it it Evil; and our Maters affirm thatnought is that plant, which he that planted it wirnfth to be Evil. And in afwer hereunto it is termed in the New Teftament, >i áµapria, that fin, that Evil thing that dwelleth in us : Rom. 7. Secondly, They fay, that Motes calleth it, ritl1V, prwputiuni, or uncircumcilion, Deut. íe.16. And therefore in Trail. Sand. cap. t t. to the Quettion, when an Infant may be made partaker ofthe World to come , Re. Nachman theSon ofIfaac anfvrereth, t70+7v7 i1ywu, prefently after he is circumcifed ; Circumcifion being admitted of old, as the fign of thetaking away by Graceof the naturalevil figment of theheart. And in Anfwer hereunto, it is called byour Apoftle áetobvsie, or Vncirettmeifion; Col. z. x3. Thirdly, They fay, David calls it tiCt7 an Vnclean thing. This they draw from Pfalm 5x. v. ta. by the Rule ofContraries, a great Guide in their Expofit+ons. Create in me aClean Heart OGod ; whence it appears that the Heart of its felf is unclean,. And the flpoftle gives it us under the fame Name and Notion , iThef.4. v.7. I Cor. 7. v.14. . Fourthly, Solomon asthey fuppofe calls it KM an Enemy or Hater, Prov.25;v. at. How properly theygather this name from that place, ipfi viderint ; This I know that to the fame purpofe it is called in the New Teftament, ixOgà, Enmity, or Hatred ; Rom. 8.7. and all the Effects of or actings of an Enemy, t3]iw,are afcribed unto it, I Pet. 2. II. Fifthly, Ifaiah calls it S1w7.0, the offence, or Rambling block, Ifa. 57. r7. n cr iJj1n, Rom.5,18. SeeJame:Chap.'. v. 14,15. The cauféof our Rumbling and falling. Sixthly, Ezekiel calls it, pt, a ftone, chap. 36.v. a6: The Reafon of this Appellation is commonly known ; neither doth any Allufion better fet out the nature of it from its Etlet4s. xapd`fa row)) g ,ijo cnvSs i&, an hard and impenitent heart, Korn.2.v. 5. Seventhly, Joel calls it, as they fay, Via, that hidden thing, chap. 2.20. for fothey in terpret 1.1987 in that plate,; whereby they feem to intend that Darknefl and Deceit- fislneg, which are often afcribedunto it, in the New Teftament. And thefenames they largely Comment upon. Now though I (hall not ¡traffic their deduction of them, from the places mentioned, which yet Come of them are proper enough unto their purpofé ; yet,'as was Paid, the Names themfelves Teem not unfuitable unto that defcrip tiou of it which we have in the NewTellament. Befidesthey (peak eifewhere to the fame purpofe. InNeve Shalom lib. to. cap. 9. They term it urn ram, the defile- ment of the Serpent See 2 Cor. t 1. 3. andiron, ¡pr from Ecclef. 4. v. 13. An old andfoolish King; So is that place interpreted in Midraf Coheleth. And this aswe obferved before aufwers what we aretaught in the New Teftament, concerning the Reign andDominion of Sin; as alfo theName given it bythe Apoftle, of aará& áv- tpaa&, the Old Man ; bothbeing comprifed in that exprefliion, an old and foolif, King, though the Text be wrefted by them intheir ufualmanner. And theygive a tolerable Reafon in the fame place, of this Appellation of the OldMan; becaufe fay they, it is . joyned unto a man in his infancy, continuing with him unto his Old Age ; but the nvari ryge, that is, theNew man, or Good concupifience comer not on our nature until the Age of thirteen years ; fo the Midralh , feeling in the dark after that fupply of of Grace, which is fo clearly revealed inthe Gofpel. And in Trallar. Sandrim.fol. 91. they ask this Quueftion ; 1=1Na 10171.W y111 1st, from what time cloth the Evil Concupifcence bear rule in a man? from theTime of hit birth, or from the time of form- ing in the Womb? Rabbi anfwered from the time of his conception and forming in the Womb. And this Kimchi, onPfalm 51. illuftpates by a fimilitude, not altogether im- pertinent. As, faith he, He that fowl a bitter Berry, that bitternjfil becomes natural! unto theTreeandFruit that grows thereon. And this Concupifcence which is in the heart of man from his Conception, theyacknowledge tohave proceeded Originally from the Sin of our firftParents, for if it were implanted in him at his Creation, it cannot be avoided but that God himfelf mutt be affigned as the Principal efficient Caufe of all Moral Evil. Unto this purpofe fpeaks their late Mailer in his Preface tohis Book de Fragilitatee Hetvitiofitat, faithhe, ex primorumParentum profella crimine contagiog, invafit utramq; anima rationalis facultatem, mentem, qua apprehendimus, & voluntatem qua appetimus; This vitiofity and contagion proceeding from the Sin of our Firft Parents, bath invaded both thefaculties of our Rational Souls, both the Vnderflanding and the Will. And for thecontinuance of this Evil, or its abode in us, they exprefs it iu Berefhieh Rabba; t1y+ î=++or177 C7ri =+1r7 n'p +131Iw i0t 47, fo long ar the Righteous live thy Wage L z Tar 75,
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