written some ten years after the author's admission to the Scottish Free Church, and when he was engaged in active parochial work at Old Aberdeen. A brief account of this period is given in the Memoir prefixed to the collection of Thoughts and Aphorisms published after his death under the title Tohu-va-Vohu (Longmans, 1890). As the work of a young man of thirty, whose career had been broken by the struggles and sacrifices consequent upon his conversion to Christianity, it is indeed remarkable.

In preparing a new edition, two objects had to be kept in view. It was of course essential to go through Dr. Edersheim's own later work, so as to take account of every modification or development of opinion in the author himself; and it was also desirable to check the results by comparison with the collateral literature which has appeared since 1856, and especially with the great work of Schürer, Geschichte der jüdischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi, now translated into English (first edition, 1874; second edition, 1886-1890; Eng. translation, 1885-1890). Dr. Schürer and Dr. Edersheim may be said to be the complements of each other: with the one the centre of gravity rests in the Greek and Roman sources, and in the balanced judgment of the trained Western philologist; with the other, in the Talmud and the inborn imaginative sympathy with every side of Jewish life. I hope and believe that something of these double excellences will be found in this new edition as it has been prepared by Mr. H. A. White, to whose loyalty and care I gladly bear witness.

Thanks are also due to the publishers, who, although they had acquired possession of the stereotyped plates, liberally consented to forego the use of these, and to issue the work in a form which is altogether improved, and, in its present shape, a fitting memorial to its author.

OXFORD, November 1895.

W. SANDAY.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

FOR many years have I cherished the desire of writing a History of the Jewish Nation. It is remarkable, that a work apparently of such interest and importance to the Christian student should not long ere this have been supplied. It is my deliberate conviction that Jewish History casts much light on the evangelical accounts in the Gospels, on the Book of Acts, and on later Ecclesiastical History, both in its records of the spread of Christianity, and of the origin and development of heretical sects.

The illustrations which Jewish History affords of the New Testament are not confined to a description of the circumstances, social relations, and religious opinions which are there assumed as well known. It is impossible to read even a single page in the Gospels without being struck with the contrast between the spiritual tendency and direction of the Old Testament, as there brought to light, and the formalism and literalism of the Synagogue. A simple and impartial account of Judaism on the one hand, and a perusal of the Gospels on the other, constitutes one of the most convincing proofs of the Divine origin of the Christian religion, and of its organic connection with that of the Old Testament. Again, it is impossible to read the Gospel narrative in the light of Jewish history without feeling that the notions and circumstances to which it alludes, are exactly those of the time in which Jesus Christ lived and taught on earth. They apply to that period, and to that period only. The notions, the modes of speaking, the opposition and its very manner, to which the New Testament refers, are exactly those of that period. If a copy of the Gospels were put into the hands of an impartial Jewish historian, he could not fail to discover that the events there chronicled must have taken

place exactly at the time when, according to Christian belief, Jesus walked amongst men. The Gospels, historically speaking, cannot be an after-production. However, as it was my purpose not so much to illustrate the New Testament as rather to give an account of the Jewish nation, I have, in this book, almost entirely omitted direct references to its statements.

In the course of this history I have sometimes indicated. the bearing of Jewish upon Ecclesiastical History, and especially on the origin of Gnosticism. Without entering on

the common causes of all mysticism, every student must have felt some difficulty in accounting for the sudden rise of the Gnostic sects, and for the apparent extravagancies of their systems, the more so as coming so soon after the promulgation of Christian truth. But if it be true that these sects found their prototype in Jewish mysticism, their origin and spread is explained. In general, it may be desirable to trace back every heresy or misbelief to its source and origin, and to connect it, as far as possible, with the erroneous tendency in the Church from which it sprung, and to which it claims kindred. It is thus only that Ecclesiastical History, in its facts, development, and contests, can be satisfactorily presented. To these considerations it is unnecessary to add anything regarding the interest which must attach to the history of the Jewish nation in the minds of those who take a proper view of their past, their present, and their future.

In preparing my materials for this volume, I have freely availed myself of the labours of any, Jews or Christians, historians or antiquarians, whose productions were within reach, or could be of use. This general acknowledgment must be taken instead of detailed references in every case to special sources of information, which would needlessly have encumbered the book. To have mentioned once a work or a section to which I was indebted, must be held to imply that I availed myself as frequently and fully of its aid as I felt requisite. The researches, of which this volume is the result, have been laborious and conscientious. They have been unremittingly prosecuted during four years, so far as ministerial and other engagements have permitted. I can only add, that I have attempted to write fairly and impartially, and, although

thoroughly convinced of the truth of Christianity, and cordially attached to my nation, have not allowed either the one or the other to bias me in the representation of facts.

The information which this volume is intended to communicate has hitherto lain scattered over a large number of books and pamphlets, and been partly buried in ancient and neglected records. Amongst ourselves, later Jewish History has been almost entirely neglected. With all respect for the writers, it can scarcely be maintained that in the existing manuals the History of the Jews, after the destruction of Jerusalem, has ever been satisfactorily written in the English language. Even the minute investigations of the Germans have produced a large variety of treatises rather than a connected history. The first and the most impartial of modern German Jewish historians was Dr. Jost of Frankfort, whose history, extending over ten volumes, opened the way. The work of Dr. Grätz (of which only one volume has as yet appeared) contains later, and in many respects more accurate information, but is disfigured by violent partisanship, and an uncompromising enmity to Christianity, which often does violence to plain historical facts. The short sketch in Ersch's Encyclopedia, by Selig Cassel, who, I am glad to know from his later writings, has since become a convert to Christianity, is, as all the writings of that author, replete with sound sense, and contains most extensive and accurate information. Το these historians I have been deeply indebted, as well as to the researches of Prideaux, Lightfoot, Selden, Buxtorf, Bartolocci, Wolfius, and the classical labours of Winer, Delitzsch, Zunz, Frankel, Hirschfeld, Dukes, Franck, Dähne, Ideler, Gfrörer, Forbiger, Hartmann, Schwartz, etc. Basnage is not always accurate, and adds little to one's stock of information; but he was one of the first in the field. The works of Eisenmenger, Wagenseil, and others of the same stamp, are disfigured by their violent hatred of Judaism and the Jews. Of the works of Christian Fathers and of ecclesiastical writers I have availed myself so far as requisite.

It was the peculiar object of this History, not only to give an impartial account of facts, but especially to describe the state of society, of trades, commerce, agriculture, arts, sciences,

theology, etc., during the first centuries of our era. In this respect I beg to refer the reader more especially to Chapters IX., X., and XI., which have probably cost more labour and involved more research than any other part of the book. Too often, in the narrative of events, it has been necessary to indicate that some Jewish accounts were apparently more or less legendary or exaggerated,-a circumstance which could perhaps scarcely be avoided in the then state of science, and by writers who composed their accounts very much in the spirit of religious partisanship.

The materials for it being ready, I hope that the second volume, in which I intend to bring down this History to our own days, will shortly appear.

Any disproportion between the period over which this volume extends, and that which the next is to describe, can readily be explained. Many previous facts of Jewish History which could not be taken for granted, had to be introduced in the first volume, and in general the commencement of the Christian era seemed to require a more elaborate record. Besides, in deference to the judgment of those in whom I have full confidence, I resolved to condense in one volume what had originally been meant to extend over two. In acknowledging my obligations to others, I have specially to thank the authorities of King's College, Aberdeen, for the liberal use which they have allowed me to make of its library; Dr. Jost of Frankfort, for his advice, as also the Rev. Dr. Hanna of Edinburgh for the encouragment given by him. My friend the Rev. Walter Wood, of Elie, has rendered me most valuable assistance, both during the composition of the manuscript and the revision of the proofs, by the suggestions which his extensive reading and elegant taste have prompted.

In bringing these labours to a close, I may perhaps be allowed to plead the extent and difficulty of the undertaking, in extenuation of any imperfections which may be pointed out. Still, I am thankful and glad that these, the "first-fruits of my studies in Ecclesiastical History, should be devoted to a cause and service which I have so deeply at heart.

OLD ABERDEEN, 3rd May 1856.