563. Not to be unfriendly to the descendants of Esau, after they have been converted ; for it is written, "Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; for he is thy brother." (Deut. xxiii. 7.) (Whatever he did to us was done by the decrees of God, through the blessing which our father Isaac bestowed upon him. Gen. xxvii. 40. He was, therefore, but an instrument in the hand of the Lord. T.)

564. Not to be unfriendly to the Egyptians, or to abstain from intermarrying with them in the third generation after their conversion; for it is written, "Thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land." (Deut. xxiii. 7.)

565. No defiled person is to enter the camp of the Levites, for it resembles the inhabitants of the holy hill; for it is written, "He shall not come within the camp." (Deut. xxiii. 10.)

566. To have an appointed place without the camp; for it is written, "Thou shalt have a place also without the camp." (Deut. xxiii. 12.)

567. Each soldier to have a digging instrument attached to his weapon; for it is written, " And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon." (Deut. xxiii. 13.)

568. Not to deliver up the slave that escaped from his master abroad, and took refuge in the holy land; for it is written, "Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee." (Deut. xxiii. 14.) (This is the privilege of the holy land. The master is also bound to give a written dismissal to his former slave. T.)

569. Not to oppress even with words the slave that escaped from his master abroad, and came to the holy land; for it is written, "He shall dwell with thee, &c., and thou shalt not oppress him." (Deut. xxiii. 16.)

570.571.

572. Not to pay interest to an Israelite; for it is written, "Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother," &c. (Deut. xxiii. 19.) (The borrower is here cautioned not to pay interest. The sin of taking usury is so great, that the wise men have declared that all who are in the least concerned in usurious transactions are as if they denied the existence of God, the delivery from Egypt, and the resurrection from the dead. T.)

573. To take interest from all not belonging to our nation, and to pay

interest when we borrow from them; for it is written, "Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury." (Deut. xxiii. 20.)

574. Not to delay bringing the vows, or free will offerings, or other sacrifices that we are bound to bring; for it is written, "When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it." (Deut. xxiii. 21.)

(This commandment is not broken until three feasts have been allowed to pass. T.)

575. To perform all that we have bound ourselves to do by word of mouth; for it is written, "That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform," &c. (Deut. xxiii. 23.)

576. The hireling must be allowed to eat, during his work, of all eatables about which he is engaged; for it is written, "When thou comest into thy neighbour's vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure." (Deut. xxiii. 24.)

577. The hireling must not take away with him any of the eatables about which he is engaged, nor must he give any to other people; for it is written," But thou shalt not put any in thy vessel." (Deut. xxiii. 24.)

578. The hireling is not to eat in the time of his employment; though of things attached to the ground he may eat whilst walking from one labour to another; still he must not do so when actually employed; for it is written, "But thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's standing corn." (Deut. xxiii. 25.)

579. To divorce by a bill (a parchment) whenever a wife is to be divorced; for it is written, "Then let him write her a bill of divorcement," &c. (Deut. xxiv. 1.)

580. Not to retake the divorced wife after she has been married or affianced to another; for it written, "Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife.' (Deut. xxiv. 4.) (But before she is married again, he may retake her. T.)

581. The newly married man is not to go out in the first year on distant marches, or on any martial business; for it is written, "He shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business." (Deut. xxiv. 5.)

582. The newly married man is to remain with his wife a whole year; for it is written, " And shall cheer up his wife." (Deut. xxiv. 5.)

583. Not to take to pledge any in

strument for preparing food, neither at the time when the loan is made, nor at any other time; for it is written, "No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge." (Deut.

xxiv. 6.)

584. Not to remove the marks of leprosy; for it is written, "Take heed in the plague of leprosy," &c. (Deut. xxiv. 8.)

585. The lender is not to take a pledge from the borrower, either by going into his house, or by standing outside and reaching to the things within, but he may have it done by an officer of the tribunal; for it is written, "Thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge." (Deut. xxiv. 10.)

586. Not to refuse the pledge to its owner, when he has need of it, but to return it to him daily, or nightly, as it may be required; for it is written, "Thou shalt not sleep with his pledge.' (Deut. xxiv. 12.)

587. To return the pledge to its owner whenever he has need of it; for it is written, "In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down." (Deut. xxiv. 15.)

588. To pay the hire every day, and not to delay it to another day; for it is written, "This day thou shalt give him his hire," &c. (Deut. xxiv. 15 )

6

589. Not to admit the evidence of witnesses who are in any way related to the parties in whose behalf evidence is required; for it is written, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers." (Deut. xxiv. 16.)

590. Not to pervert the judgment of the strangers, or the orphans; for it is written, "Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger," &c. (Deut. xxiv. 17.)

591. Not to take a pledge from a widow, whether rich or poor; and if a pledge has been taken, the tribunal is to enforce its restoration; for it is written, "Nor take the widow's raiment to pledge." (Deut. xxiv. 17.)

592. To leave the forgotten sheaf for the poor, as the gleanings are left; for it is written, "And hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger," &c. (Deut. xxiv. 19.)

593. Not to take the forgotten sheaf; for it is written, "Thou shalt not go again to fetch it." (Deut. xxiv. 19.) (This precept applies to any produce. T.)

594. To flog certain criminals; for it is written, " And to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number." (Deut. xxv. 2.)

66

595. Not to flog the criminal more than he can bear; for it is written, Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed." (Deut. xxv. 3.) (The criminal was examined as to the number of stripes he could endure, but he never received less than three. T.)

596. Not to prevent an animal from eating of the things about which he is employed; for it is written, "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn." (Deut. xxv. 4.)

597. The childless widow must not marry a stranger as long as her late husband's brother has not declared his unwillingness to marry her; for it is written, "The wife of the dead shall not marry a stranger." (Deut. xxv. 5.)

598. To marry the wife of a brother who died childless; for it is written, "And take her to him to wife," &c. (Deut. xxv. 5.)

599. The childless widow is to loose the shoe of her brother-in-law, if, he declines to marry her; for it is written," And loose his shoe from off his feet." (Deut. xxv. 9.)

600. To save the pursued, were it even with the life of the pursuer; for it is written, "Then shalt thou cut off her hand." (Deut. xxv. 12.)

601. Not to spare the pursuer; for it is written, "Thine eye shall not pity." (Deut. xxv. 12.)

602. Not to keep in our house, or by us, any short weights or measures; for it is written, "Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small." (Deut. xxv. 13.)

603. To repeat vocally every day of our life the evil which Amalek did unto us; for it is written, "Remember what Amalek did unto thee." (Deut. xxv. 17.)

604. To destroy none of the seed of Esau, except Amalek; but of him none should be left, either male or female, great or small; for it is written, "Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek." (Deut. xxv. 19.)

605. Not to forget the evils which the seed of Amalek did unto us when we came out from the land of Egypt; for it is written, "Thou shalt not forget it." (Deut. xxv. 19.) (His effrontery, namely; for when all the other nations trembled and were afraid at hearing what the Lord had done for us, Amalek was, as it were, the first dog

that snarled at us; for it is written, "Amalek was the first of the nations." Num. xxiv. 20. T.)

606. To commence with the praise of God's goodness towards our father Jacob, whenever the first-fruits are brought into the temple; for it is written, "And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God," &c. (Deut. xxvi. 5.) (And to finish with the evils of the Egyptian bondage. This is called the First-fruit Recitation. T.)

607. To confess before the Lord that we have done all that He commanded us to do with regard to the heaveofferings and tithes, and that we have not appropriated them; for it is written, "Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house," &c. (Deut. xxiii. 13.) (This is called the Tithe Confession; which was made in the 4th and 7th year of the release. T.)

608. Not to eat the second tithe on the first day of mourning; for it is written, "I have not eaten thereof in my mourning." (Deut. xxvi. 14.) (Nor must any other sanctified article be eaten on the first day of mourning. T.)

609. Not to eat the second tithe in uncleanness even in Jerusalem; for it is written, "Neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use. (Deut. xxvi. 14.)

610. Not to expend the money of the second tithe, except in eating and drinking, and anointing; for it is written, "Nor given ought thereof for the dead." (Deut. xxvi. 14.) (Meaning that even for the charitable purpose of burying the dead, I have not given ought thereof. T.)

611. To walk in the ways of the Lord, and to endeavour to be as like unto Him as we are capable of being; for it is written, "And walk in His ways." (Deut. xxviii. 9.) (As God is kind, gracious, and merciful, we must endeavour to be so likewise; as He clothes the naked, visits the sick, and comforts the mourners, we must also strive to do so; in short, we must act towards others as we would wish God to act towards ourselves; and God will look upon us with kindness. T.)

612. To assemble all the children of Israel, men, women, and children, on the second day of the feast of taber. nacles after every year of release; for it is written," Gather the people together, men, and women, and children,"

&c. (Deut. xxxi. 12.) (The king then reads to them the whole of Deuteronomy in the women's court. T.).

613. Every Israelite must write for himself a copy of the holy law; for it is written, "Now therefore write ye this song for you." (Deut. xxxi. 19.) (i.e., Write the law containing this song, for the law is not written in chapters. At the present time this commandment includes also the duty of buying as many books as possible, that we may learn therein to know, and to do the will of God, and to serve Him with all our heart, for that is the object of our existence. Through this we shall also live to see the speedy arrival of the Messiah. Amen. T.)

It is a duty to lend our books to such as have no means of purchasing any; for that, our Rabbis said, was meant by the words, "Blessed are they, &c. and he that doeth righteousness at all times." (Ps. cvi. 3.)

Correspondence.

THE LEAST IN THE KINGDOM.

DEAR SIR,-To elucidate the passage: "The least in the kingdom of heaven," the following questions must be satisfactorily and scripturally answered.

1. In what did John the Baptist excel all "them. that are born of women," so as to make him greater than they? and

2. What is it that makes "the least in the kingdom of heaven" greater than John the Baptist?

Allow me first of all to place in juxtaposition the following words of our gracious Saviour :

to the above questions, and, above all, what I humbly conceive the interpretation of the difficult passage.

It is humility then. In this virtue, according to the Scriptures, John the Baptist surpassed all them "that are born of women." ("He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear." Matt. iii. 11. "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan, unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me!" Matt. iii. 14. "And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose." Mark i. 7. "Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself? He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness." John i. 22, 23.) In this virtue, according to our blessed Saviour's words, little children (the least) preeminently surpass all men; "whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven," and therefore greater than John.

A SUBSCRIBER TO YOUR
WORTHY MONTHLY.

I enclose my card,

PRO BONO PUBLICO. REVEREND SIR,-My attention was drawn a few days ago to a letter which appeared in one of our leading journals, on the famous topic of Auricular Confession, by A Curate," who, in bold defence of that practice in the Church of England as a means of "unburdening a troubled mind," gives the following Scripture in support of his vindication, which, by the way, betrays strange erudition in Biblical lore. Here is the passage :

"And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto Him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me." (Josh. vii. 19.) "Here," argues the writer," is a confession which certainly strikes us as both scriptural and auricular; nor do we find that Joshua

turned aside his ear when (ver. 20) Achan answered and said, Thus and thus have I done.'

Of

What a foundation of "hay and stubble" whereon to build "the confessional" in this our age of Christian light! O tempora! O mores! course, every unbiassed reader of the above cited passage will have no difficulty in drawing a line of demarcation between the culprit Achan and the modern confessor. The former, having disregarded the behest of the Eternal in "taking of the accursed (or devoted*) things," was himself taken, by the command of God (vers. 14, 15), to be examined, not by the priest, but by the prophet, to whom he confessed, or rather, before whom he pleaded guilty; the latter is a duped confessor who is not taken before the prophet, but taken in by an intruding, would-be priest, who insists upon having the secrets of the heart "devoted" to him, which should be devoted to God alone.

There is indeed confession of sin, in the presence of the priest, enjoined in the sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament; but what intelligent reader of the Bible does not know that such confession is always connected with sacrifice, upon which the whole Levitical law hinges. And "A Curate" ought to know that the various offices pertaining to those priestly "shadows" and "types were discharged by the descendants of Aaron and the Levitical tribe appointed by God Himself; and that even a Koran, a Dathan, and an Abiram could not arrogantly claim for themselves the priestly prerogatives with impunity.

Now, unless those gentlemen, and among them "A Curate," who either introduce or encourage the Levitical Ritual in A.D. 1873, can substantiate that they are descendants from the Levitical order, and that the Sacrifices, Confession, Altars, and Incense have not yet had their fulfilment in their Great Antitype-the Messiah, we deny them most emphatically the right of the Aaronic distinction, on purely scriptural ground.-Yours faithfully,

A HEBREW CHRISTIAN WITNESS.

חרם

H. R., B. D., L. M., AND OTHERS.-Ye are not the only persons who imagine that a magazine has nothing in it worth reading unless your own particular theory, or work is noticed. With our present space, we are compelled to keep in abeyance, pigeon-holed, many literary notices and contributions, of books and pamphlets, to say the least, as good as yours.

A FELLOW WORKER.-We have received similar communications from a host of readers. We are, of course, very thankful to hear that our Monthly is so extensively read. But we should feel much more so, if you and other friends, instead of lending about the H. C. W. "right and left to relatives, friends, neighbours, and acquaintances," would recommend them to become regular subscribers to the periodical; especially as they profess themselves "charmed with it." We should be lesser losers than we are by such a course. We have reason to know that our readers may be numbered by thousands, whilst our regular subscribers are only counted by hundreds.

IGNORAMUS, INQUIRER, AND OTHERS. -We have the very best reason to know that the circulation of the work amongst the Jews does positive injury. Never patronise a book which you cannot examine for yourselves. We heartily recommend the Hebrew version of THE ONE FAITH, by our gifted brother, the Rev. Adolph Saphir, for universal circulation amongst the Jews, because you can read the original English publication for yourselves. (See our July Number.) We shall gladly receive donations towards the dissemination of the tiny Hebrew brochure amongst the Jews.

-Of course the annual volumes can be obtained direct from us. We shall only be too happy to supply every order, post free. We would here add that the speedy sale of the annual volumes on hand, ordered direct from us,-P.O. Orders made payable at 127, Fulham Road, S.W.,-would relieve us

of a great difficulty. We should be thankful to our friends if they would kindly call attention to the volumes. See advertisement on next page.

All Communications and Books for Review to be addressed To the Editor of the Hebrew Christian Witness, Pelham Library, 151, Fulham Road, Brompton, S. W.

The Editor will not, in any case, return rejected communications.

The Editor does not, as a rule, identify himself with all the views espoused by his correspondents.

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LETTERS RECEIVED.

The Revs. Adolph Saphir, Theod. J. Meyer, J. B. Goldberg, R. Gascoyne, F. Whitfield, N. Nurnberg; Messrs. J. E. S., Carpenter; J. Lynch; M. Lamb, &c. &c.

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

The Edinburgh Review. London : Longmans and Co.

The Earth's Eventide and the Bright Dawn of Eternal Day. By the Rev. J. G. Gregory, M.A. Fourth Edition. London: S. W. Partridge and Co.

The Two Worlds; or, Here and Here"

after. An Epic in Five Books. By
William Howell, of the Bristol
Grammar School. London: Simpkin,
Marshall, and Co.

The True Theory of the Greek Aorist.
By William Howell. London :
Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.
Sermons Preached in Several Syna-
gogues. By the Rev. Benjamin Artom,
Chief Rabbi of the Spanish and Por-
London:
tuguese Congregations.
Trübner and Co.