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WITSIUS

ON THE COUNCILS OF THE HEBREWS.

[TRANSLATED AND ABRIDGED.]

In the history of the Hebrew commonwealth, we read of three kinds of judicial assemblies, which may be distinguished as the Least, the Greater, and the Greatest.

The first of these courts consisted only of the Judges of the tribes; and it is agreed among the Jews, that it could not be composed of an even number of persons, since in that case, it might be sometimes impossible to decide a question. The least number, therefore, must be three.* This triumvirate had authority in those cities, the population of which did not exceed a hundred and twenty families, and was competent to determine controversies within that circle. We are informed, however, by Maimonides, that it was deemed proper and honourable, on certain occasions, to admit additional members, to investigate the cause and be witnesses of the sentence, and that the number of these might, in case of dissension, be increased to eleven.

This court was constituted either by public authority, or by the private consent of the parties concerned. The Great Sanhedrin had the supervision of justice in the several towns and villages, agreeably to the command, Deut. xvi. 18. Judges were also chosen pro re nata, partly by the

*Maimonides, de Sanh. c. iv. 4. Buxtorf. Sex. Talmud. col.

2518.

compromise, or mutual consent of the litigants, partly by the determination of an individual, as when an act of voluntary jurisdiction was to take place. Thus Maimonides says, "Pecuniary cases are judged by three. Each of the parties selects one arbitrator, and both together agree upon a third. This is the opinion of Rabbi Meir; but the wise men have decreed that the two Judges should elect a third."*

There was less strictness in forming this court, than was observed in the case of the superior Judges; yet there were some qualifications necessary. "In the Judges of the triumviral colleges, while all those things which are required in the elders of the higher courts are not strictly demanded, yet all must possess these seven requisites; viz. 1. Wisdom. 2. Modesty. 3. Fear (of God.) 4. Hatred of a bribe. 5. The love of truth. 6. The affectionate respect of the public. 7. A good reputation." By an express canon of the Jewish law, certain characters were excluded from this dignity; such, for instance, as gamblers and usurers. These persons might indeed be thus honoured, when they had given tokens of sincere repentance.

The causes which were tried before the Court of Three, were generally cases of a pecuniary nature; also cases of damage and trespass, in which the amount of renumeration was to be determined, and sometimes cases of violence and seduction.

The Greater Council, or Court of Twenty-three, is next to be considered. Maimonides gives cabalistical reasons for this precise number. There was a court of this kind in each of the larger towns, that is, in those which contained more than 120 families. At Jerusalem there were two; one of which was held on the mount of the temple, and one in the court of the temple. The first of these was composed of eminent men from the smaller cities, who were,

Sanh. c. i. } 1. Naim. Sanh. c. xl. ‡ Sanh. c. 1. Ý 6.

from time to time, transferred to the second. Only the most. highly qualified persons, answering to the conditions proposed to Moses by Jethro, could sit in this council. Causes of all sorts were here determined, with the exception of a few, which were reserved for the Great Sanhedrin.

The members of this court sat in the form of a semicircle, with the President in the midst. At the right sat the VicePresident, and at the left, as we are told, some man eminent for his wisdom. At each extremity of the semicircle was placed a Scribe. Below these were seated three rows of such persons as were called the Disciples of the Wise; in such a manner that the disciples equalled the Judges in number, and were arranged according to their respective attainments. In cases of difficulty, the highest in rank of the disciples was called to the bench, and his place was supplied by the next below him, the lowest vacancy being filled from among the people. In this manner also, seats vacated by death or sickness were occupied. Josephus and the Talmudical writers are at variance, with respect to the number of persons constituting this court. By the former, it is fixed at seven, and no satisfactory explanation of the discrepance has been given.*

All that has been said, however, is merely preparatory to the consideration of the Great Council, or Sanhedrin. Let it be observed, then, that these courts were independent of one another, and that there was no appeal from the lower to the higher. Each had its peculiar jurisdiction, and the three were in other respects, co-ordinate bodies. The Court of Three took cognizance of pecuniary claims, and crimes which were not capital. The Court of Twenty-three decided upon cases of life and death. Set while the litigants could not appeal to the highest council, the Judges were permitted to send up difficult questions for decision.

v. Grotius on Matt. v. 21.

John Selden, that prodigy of learning, has fully discussed these subjects in his work, de Synedriis Hebraeorum, yet not in a manner such as to be profitable to ordinary readers. John Leusden has also given us a dissertation on the councils of the Hebrews, in his Philologus Hebraeo- mixtus, a work which deserves to be recommended to all students.

The Sanhedrin (or Sanhedrim,) is supposed by the Jews to be indicated by various names in the Scriptures, and other Hebrew writings. The word pping (Me Ho Kek) which is translated law-giver in Gen. xlix. 10, is derived from a verb which signifies primarily to engrave or write, and hence, to decree. Isa. x. 1. It may mean either a Scribe or Legislator. Moses is thus designated, Num. xxi. 18, and the princes of the people, Jud. v. 9. They are elsewhere called the elders of Israel. Ex. iv. 29; xv. 3. Deut. xxxi. 9.

No person could be elected to either of the higher councils, who had not previously been set apart by the laying on of hands. "The same regulation," says Maimonides, "extends both to the lower Sanhedrin, and the triumviral court, that it is necessary for every one who is elected to that council, to be constituted by the imposition of hands, by one who has in like manner been previously constituted. Moses our master thus ordained Joshua, according to that which is written, Num. xxvii. 23. And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge." This is that imposition of hands by which any one was constituted an elder; and Paul is supposed to have alluded to this, 1 Tim. iv. 14. However this may be, we find "the Sanhedrin and the eldership of the people," mentioned in connexion, Acts iv. The whole Jewish council was called the "Presbytery," or all the estate of the elders," Act xxii. 5, and "the eldership of the people," Luke xxii. 66. All who were thus set apart were not necessarily members of the council, but be

came elegible to that body. They were likewise called Shofetim or Judges; whence the Syrian and Carthagenian Suffetes as Grotius supposes.*

בית דין הגדול,The more recent names of this council are

סנהדרין

"the house of the great judgment," and 10 the Sanhedrin, a word most clearly of Greek origin, although the Jews have various fanciful derivations from the Hebrew. Zuvédpov, signifies in Greek either the Jewish council itself, Matt. xxvi. 59. Acts v. 21, or the place of court, or place of assembly.t

The Sanhedrin is entirely distinct from the Great Synagogue to which belonged Ezra, Daniel, Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi, and other illustrious men of that day. The latter consisted of a hundred and twenty persons, and was not an ordinary institution, but ended with Simon the just, the person who met Alexander the Great, about forty years after the building of the second temple. It had for its single object the restitution of the Scriptures, and the deliverance of the church from Babylon. There have been some learned men who have even denied the existence of any such synagogue.

The institution of the Sanhedrin is thus related by Grotius, and other learned men, both Jews and Christians, who maintain its antiquity. We read, of "Elders of the children of Israel," even in Egypt, men who seem to have been appointed to represent those who accompanied Jacob. The Greeks and Romans also derived the names of their senators from the circumstance of age. At the instance of Jethro, Moses chose "able men out of all Israel, who judged every small matter," Ex. xviii. 21. Still the original seventy are continued; the same who drew near to God,

* Deut. xix. 17. 2 Chron. xix. 5, 8. Deut. xvii. 9. Jud. xii. 6. Herodian de Pertenace. Lib. ii. c. iii, Lib. iv. c. x, Buxtorf. Tiberia. P. I. c. 10.

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