They have other institutions, in themselves corrupt, impure, and even
abominable; but eagerly embraced, as if their very depravity were a
recommendation.
abominable; but eagerly embraced, as if their very depravity were a
recommendation.
Tacitus
In contempt of Jupiter Hammon they sacrifice
a ram. The ox worshiped in Egypt for the god Apis is slain as a victim
by the Jews. From the flesh of swine they abstain altogether. An animal
subject to the same leprous disease that infected their whole nation, is
not deemed proper food. The famine with which they were for a long time
afflicted, is frequently commemorated by a solemn fast. Their bread,
in memory of their having seized a quantity of grain to relieve their
wants, is made without leaven. The seventh day is sacred to rest, for
on that day their labours ended; and such is their natural propensity to
sloth, that in consequence of it every seventh year is devoted to repose
and sluggish inactivity. For this septennial custom some account in a
* Conformably to this, see what Diodorus Siculus says (in
the extract given from him, p. 49. ): Josephus denies that
the figure of an ass was consecrated in the sanctuary of the
Jewish temple. But this does not invalidate the testimony of
Diodorus Siculus to the contrary. For Antiochus when he
subdued the Jews might have found the image of this animal
in their temple; but in the time of Josephus the ass might
not have been consecrated by them.
{56}
different manner: they tell us that it is an institution in honour of
Saturn; either because the Idæans, expelled, as has been mentioned,
from the Isle of Crete, transmitted to their posterity the principles
of their religious creed; or because among the seven planets that govern
the universe, Saturn moves in the highest orbit, and acts with the
greatest energy. It may be added that the period in which the heavenly
bodies perform their revolutions is regulated by the number seven.
"These rites and ceremonies, from whatever source derived, owe their
chief support to their antiquity.
They have other institutions, in themselves corrupt, impure, and even
abominable; but eagerly embraced, as if their very depravity were a
recommendation. The scum and refuse of other nations, renouncing the
religion of their country, flocked in crowds to Jerusalem, enriching
the place with gifts and offerings. Hence the wealth and grandeur of the
state. Connected amongst themselves by the most obstinate and inflexible
faith, the Jews extend their charity to all of their own persuasion,
while towards the rest of mankind they nourish a sullen and inveterate
hatred. Strangers are excluded from their tables. Unsociable to all
others, they eat and lodge with one another only; and though addicted to
sensuality, they admit no intercourse with women
{57}
from other nations. Among themselves their passions are without
restraint. Vice itself is lawful. That they may know each other by
distinctive marks, they have established the practice of circumcision.
All who embrace their faith, submit to the same operation. The first
elements of their religion teach their proselytes to despise the gods,
to abjure their country, and forget their parents, their brothers,
and their children. With the Egyptians they agree in their belief of a
future state; they have the same notion of departed spirits, the same
solicitude, and the same doctrine. With regard to the Deity their creed
is different. The Egyptians worship various animals, and also symbolical
representations, which are the work of man: the Jews acknowledge one
God only, and him they adore in contemplation; condemning as impious
idolaters all who, with perishable materials wrought into the human
form, attempt to give a representation of the Deity. Their priests made
use of fifes and cymbals; they were crowned with wreaths of ivy, and a
vine wrought in gold was seen in their temple. Hence some have inferred
that Bacchus, the conqueror of the East, was the object of their
adoration.
a ram. The ox worshiped in Egypt for the god Apis is slain as a victim
by the Jews. From the flesh of swine they abstain altogether. An animal
subject to the same leprous disease that infected their whole nation, is
not deemed proper food. The famine with which they were for a long time
afflicted, is frequently commemorated by a solemn fast. Their bread,
in memory of their having seized a quantity of grain to relieve their
wants, is made without leaven. The seventh day is sacred to rest, for
on that day their labours ended; and such is their natural propensity to
sloth, that in consequence of it every seventh year is devoted to repose
and sluggish inactivity. For this septennial custom some account in a
* Conformably to this, see what Diodorus Siculus says (in
the extract given from him, p. 49. ): Josephus denies that
the figure of an ass was consecrated in the sanctuary of the
Jewish temple. But this does not invalidate the testimony of
Diodorus Siculus to the contrary. For Antiochus when he
subdued the Jews might have found the image of this animal
in their temple; but in the time of Josephus the ass might
not have been consecrated by them.
{56}
different manner: they tell us that it is an institution in honour of
Saturn; either because the Idæans, expelled, as has been mentioned,
from the Isle of Crete, transmitted to their posterity the principles
of their religious creed; or because among the seven planets that govern
the universe, Saturn moves in the highest orbit, and acts with the
greatest energy. It may be added that the period in which the heavenly
bodies perform their revolutions is regulated by the number seven.
"These rites and ceremonies, from whatever source derived, owe their
chief support to their antiquity.
They have other institutions, in themselves corrupt, impure, and even
abominable; but eagerly embraced, as if their very depravity were a
recommendation. The scum and refuse of other nations, renouncing the
religion of their country, flocked in crowds to Jerusalem, enriching
the place with gifts and offerings. Hence the wealth and grandeur of the
state. Connected amongst themselves by the most obstinate and inflexible
faith, the Jews extend their charity to all of their own persuasion,
while towards the rest of mankind they nourish a sullen and inveterate
hatred. Strangers are excluded from their tables. Unsociable to all
others, they eat and lodge with one another only; and though addicted to
sensuality, they admit no intercourse with women
{57}
from other nations. Among themselves their passions are without
restraint. Vice itself is lawful. That they may know each other by
distinctive marks, they have established the practice of circumcision.
All who embrace their faith, submit to the same operation. The first
elements of their religion teach their proselytes to despise the gods,
to abjure their country, and forget their parents, their brothers,
and their children. With the Egyptians they agree in their belief of a
future state; they have the same notion of departed spirits, the same
solicitude, and the same doctrine. With regard to the Deity their creed
is different. The Egyptians worship various animals, and also symbolical
representations, which are the work of man: the Jews acknowledge one
God only, and him they adore in contemplation; condemning as impious
idolaters all who, with perishable materials wrought into the human
form, attempt to give a representation of the Deity. Their priests made
use of fifes and cymbals; they were crowned with wreaths of ivy, and a
vine wrought in gold was seen in their temple. Hence some have inferred
that Bacchus, the conqueror of the East, was the object of their
adoration.
