tried. And in another place,
The LORD killeth and maketh aliue, bringeth downe to
Hell, and raiseth vp; Iust as fitly applied, as 1. Cor.3. and such like places by our Pur∣gatorie-Spirits.
R. Dauid Kimchi vpon the first Psalme, and Es. 26. commenteth,
That the wicked shall not rise, but in the day of death their soule shall die together
with their bodie. And Aben Ezra in his exposition of Dan. 12. writeth out of Rab∣bi
Higgaon, That many shall rise, and many not rise, but suffer euerlasting reproach;
and expoundeth it thus, That the good Iewes which die in exile, shall rise againe
when the Messias shall come, and shall liue as long as the Patriarchs before the floud:
and then they shall make merrie with the great fish Leuiathan, and the great bird Ziz,
and the great Oxe Behemos
; of which we shall speake after. When this is done, they
shall die, and at the last day shall be raysed vp againe, and shall possesse eternall life,
where shall be no eating nor drinking, but glorie &c. Iacob
desired to be buried in
Canaan, not in Aegypt, for three causes (sayth R. Salomon Iarchi) because hee fore∣saw,
That of the
dust of Aegypt should be made Lice: Secondly, because the Isra∣elites
which die out of Canaan shall not rise againe without much paine of their rol∣ling
through the deepe and hidden vaults of the earth: Thirdly, least the Aegyptians
should make an Idoll of him. For the better vnderstanding hereof, let vs heare what
is said out of the booke Tanchum (an Exposition of the Pentateuch) concerning this
subiect. The Patriarchs (sayth hee) desired to be buried in Canaan, because they
which are there buried shall first rise in the time of the Messias. And R. Hananiah
sayth, That they which die out of Canaan, must endure two deaths: and the same ap∣peareth
Ier. 20. where it is said, Pashur should goe into Babel, and should there die, and
there be buried. What (quoth R. Simon) shall them all the iust perish, which die out
of Canaan? No, but GOD will make them Mechillos, that is, deepe Clifts and
Caues vnder the earth, by which they may passe into the Land of Promise; whither
when they are come, GOD, shall inspire into them the breath of life, that they may
rise againe, as it is written
, I will open your Graues, and cause yon to come out of
your Sepulchres, &c. The like is written in their Targum, or Chaldaean interpretation
of the Canticles: When they dead shall rise, Mount Oluiet shall eleaue asunder, and
the Israelites which haue beene dead shall come out of the same, and they which
haue died in strange Lands, comming thither by holes vnder the earth, shall come
forth. And for his cause I my self (sayth our Author) haue heard the Iewes say.
That sometimes some of the wealthiest and deuoutest amongst them goe into the
Land of Canaan, that their bodies may there sleepe, and so be freed from this mi∣serable
passage vnder so many deepe Seas and rough Mountaines.
Now to come from their Faith to their workes: Their wise Rabbines persuade the
fillie people, That they are the onely elect people of GOD, who easily can keepe,
not the Decalogue, or tenne Commaundements alone, but the whole Law of Moses.
They diuide the whole Law into sixe hundred and thirteene Commaundements, and
them againe into Precepts and Prohibitions: Of the commaunding Precepts they
number two hundred fortie and eight; iust so many as (according to the Rabbines
Anatomie) a man hath members in his bodie. Of the prohibiting Commandements
they reckon three hundred threescore and fiue, as many as are dayes in the yeare,
or
(as in the booke Brandspiegel) veines in a mans bodie. Therefore if euery member of
a man doe cuerie day performe one of the Precepts and omit one of the things prohi∣bited,
the whole Law of Moses shall be euerie yeare, and so for euer, fulfilled. Their
wise Rabbines say further, That the men onely are to obserue those sixe hundred and
thirteene Commaundements, the women are onely subiect to the Prohibitions; yea,
of those prohibitorie Mandates, onely to threescore and foure are they obliged by
some, and to sixe and thirtie of the former; and this because of their other household∣businesse,
and subiection to their imperious husbands. Some of their deepely-wise
Rabbines adde to those sixe hundred and thirteene, seuen other Commaundements,
making vp the number of sixe hundred and twentie; iust so many as are words in the
Décalogue, and as arise of the word Keter signifying a Crowne: for were it not for
the Law, GOD would not haue created the World; and for the obseruation thereof