The temple, especially as it stood in the dayes of Our Saviovr described by John Lightfoote.

CHAP. XX. Of the gate of Nicanor, or the East gate of the Court.

THe Court of the Women which was of the platforme that hath been described, was parted from the Court of Israel by a high wall: namely of thirty two cubits and an half high from the floor of the Court of the women, yet but onely twenty two cubits high from the floore of the Court of Israel it selfe; for so much higher was the ground in that Court, then in the other.

Just in the middle of this wall, was the gate that conveyed out of the one Court into the other:[a] to which gate there was a rising of fifteen steps, every step halfe a cubit high, the whole rising seven cubits and a halfe in all (so high was the Court of Israel above the Court of the women.

[b] These fifteen steps, (saith the Treatise Suceah) were answera∣ble to the fifteene Psalmes of degrees in the booke of Psalmes 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 because upon these the Levites steed and sought Not in the daily service, or in the ordinary course of the Temple musicke, for their place of standing in that, was in the Court (as shall be shewed) but onely on that solemne festivity at the fidst of Tabernacles, which was called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 The rejoy 〈◊〉〈◊〉 at the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 and pouring out of water: of which we give account in its due place.

[c] These steps that rose up to the gate, went not laid in a square, or straight, as steps are ordinarily laid, but they were laid in a semicircle. And one reason of that may be for the

gaining of roome on either side them:[d] For on either side of the gate and of the steps, there were under-ground chambers in the wall, whose roofe was even with the floore of the Court of Israel, the doores opening into the Court of the women; in which roomes the Levites used to lay up their musicall instru∣ments when they had done singing in the daily service in the Court of Israel: They came downe the fifteene steps out of the Court, and at the bottome, stepping off either on the right hand or the left, there were doores in the wall, into chambers where they laid their instruments up.

This gate that we are now entering, or the gate betweene the Court of the women, and the Court of Israel[e] is held by some of the Jewes to have been called by seven severall names (besides the gate of Nicanor, which in Herods temple was the most common and knowne name of it) of some of which the matter indeed is cleere, but of other there is doubting.

1. It was called The upper gate of the Lords house. 2. King. 15.35. 2 Chron. 27.3. and so the treatise Succab in the place cited before, doth expressely call it.[f] The upper gate that goeth downe out of the Court of Israel, into the Court of the women: and the east gate that went out of the Court of the women into the Chel, was called[g] the lower. Now whereas it is said that Jotham built the upper gate, it inferreth not, that there was no gate before, but it meaneth that he repaired it, or that he added some buildings to it.

2. It is called the new gate, Jer. 26.10. & 36.10. in both which places the Chaldee paraphrast expressely calleth it the East gate of the Sanctuary of the Lord: It is apparent by that latter place in Jeremy, that it was the gate that went into the upper Court, or the Court of Israel, and so it both appeares that it was the gate that we are about, and also the reason of the title of the new gate, may be collected from what was spoken a little before, namely because it had been repaired by Jotham.[h] Some give this reason of the title 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, namely, That it was called new, because the Scribes did there deliver new traditions •• for there sate the Sanbedrin: but this derivation is far fetcht.

3. The gate Harsith, Jer. 19.2. is understood by some to

mean this East gate of the Court of Israel that we are upon, though both the very text of Ieremy himselfe, and also the Chaldee parapbrast and other Jewes with him, doe not clearly allow of such a construction, but place the gate Harsith in ano∣ther place.

1. The text of Ieremy doth place Tophet at the entry of that gate Harsith, which how improper it is to apply to the East gate of the Court of Israel is easie enough for any one to judge, that doth but know that there were two gates betwixt this Court gate, and the valley that lay before the Temple, if that valley had been Tophet. But 2. Tophet or the valley of the Sons of Hin∣nom, lay a good way upon the right hand as you stood in the East gate of the Temple, as was observed before, and faced the city Ierusalem, and not the Temple, and so the gate Harsith must be one of the gates that went out of Ierusalem into that valley, and not out of the Temple. 3. The Chaldee paraphrast doth call it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which David Kimchi expoundeth, the Dung∣port, and beleeveth it to be the same Dung-gate that is mentioned in Neb. 2.13. though I beleeve Nehemiabs dung-port was in another quarter. The word Harsith is of a twofold constru∣ction: namely, either as derived from Heres 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which signi∣fieth the Sunne, and so out English in the margin hath rendred it the Sun-gate, having translated it the East-gate, in the text: or from Heres 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which signifieth a Potsheard; for there (saith Rabbi Solomon) they cast out their broken Potsheards. We shall not need to be inquisitive from whence this gate did beare its name (whether from the Sunne rising upon it, or from some. Idola∣try committed to the Sunne neare to it, or from the pots house hereabout, or from casting out of broken pitchers at it) since it is not that gate that we are about in the Temple, but a gate of the city Ierusalem, which wee have not now to doe withall.

4. Some of the[i] Hebrew writers do understand 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 The gate of entrance spoken of Ezek. 40.15. to meane the gate that we are about, namely the East gate of the Court of Israel: for which reason it may be the Chaldee parapbrast hath transla∣ted it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 The middle gate, as being betweene the gate that cometh into the Court of the women, and the gate of

the porch of the Temple it selfe.

5. Among the seven names that are given by the Rabbins to this gate, that name of the middle gate was one, as appeareth by the authors in the places alledged, & this was the reason of the name, and we need to seek no further for it.

6. They also conceive that it was called the gate Sur, 2 King. 11.6.[k] or the gate of departure, because there those that had been uncleane, were separated and put aside, and might goe no fur∣ther, till their atonement was made.

7. And likewise the gate of the Foundation, 2 Chron. 23.5. but of these two we shall have occasion to speak afterward, and shall there examine whether this gate have those names or no.

8. But the name by which it was most famously knowne in the last daies of the temple (and which it carried to its grave, or till the Temple and it were buried in ruine) was the gate of Ni∣canor.[l] The upper gate (saith Maymony) is the gate of Nicanor: And why is it called the upper gate? Because it is above the Court of the women: And to the same purpose, and in as plaine tearms speaketh the glosse upon the treatise Sotah,[m] The gate of Nica∣nor was the upper gate which was betweene the Court of Israel, and the Court of the woman,[n] And so the treatise Middoth, when∣soever it reckoneth the gates of the Court of Israel, it still ma∣keth the gate of Nicanor to be the East gate: And that Maxime in the Jerusalem Talmud 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉[o] Every place where it is said, Before the Lord, it meaneth the gate of Nicanor, confirmeth the same things, as appeareth by the cleansing of the leper, and the triall of the suspected wife, both which were set in this gate, and are said to be set before the Lord Lev. 14.11. Num. 5.18.

And to take up, what is copiously said by the Talmudists concerning this gate, and concerning the reason why it was so called, from the mouth of one man to save more labour let us heare the author of Juchasin concerning this matter, speak∣ing thus at large.

[p] Nicanor was in the time of the second Temple: and I wonder at Rabb, that he did not mention him in the Catalogue of those men that are upon record for religiousnesse: As he mentioneth Hananiah the

Son of Ezekiah, the Son of Garon, in the beginning of the treatise Shab∣bath, into whose chamber the Schollers of Shammai and Hillel came: And so Aba Saul ben Batuith, in the end of the treatise Shabbath. Now this Nicanor that is often mentioned in the Mishueb was one of the Chasidim (or religious) but the common people are not so. He is mentioned in the first and second chapters of Middeth, as that there is a gate in the Court on the East, which is the gate of Nicanor, and that it had two wickets, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And so it is said in the 6. Chapter of Shekalim, and that is set over against the most holy place which was westward where the divine Glory dwelt: And therefore in the end of the treatise Beraceth, it saith, Let not a man use irreverence before this gate of Nicanor, or the East gate: And so in the first chapter of Sotah. In the gate of Nicanor, they make the suspected wife drinke the bitter water, and they purifie women af∣ter Childbirth, and lepers. And in the end of the chapter 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 (or the seventh chapter of the treatise Pesachin) It is said, that the gate of Nicanor were not holy (as the Court) because lepers stood there, and put in their thumbs and great toes into the Court: And so in the third chapter of Joma, and the second chapter of Tosaphta there it is said, there were wonders wrought with the doores of Nicanor, and they mention it renownedly: And if so, then had it been fit to have re∣corded him. The story is thus. This Nicanor was one of the Chasi∣dim, and be went to Alexandria in Aegypt, and made there two bra∣zen doores with much curiosity: intending to set them up in the Court of the Temple, and be brought them away by sea: Now a great storme happening, the mariners cast one of the doores over board to lighten the ship: and intended also to throw over the other also. Which when Nicanor perceived, he bound himselfe to the doore with cords, and told them, that if they threw that in, they should threw him in too: And so the sea ceased from her rage: And when he was landed at Ptolemais, and bemoaned the losse of his other doore, and prayed to God about it, the sea cast up the doore, in that place where the holy man had landed. But some say a great fish cast it up: And this was the miracle that was done about his doors, and they set them up on the East side of the Court, before the Temple. But in the booke of Ioseph ben Gorion, be saith, That the gate of Nicanor was so called, because a wonder was done there, for there they flew Nicanor a prince of the Grecians in the time of the Asmoneans, and so it seemeth in the latter end of the second chapter of the treatise Taanith. Thus Iuchasin.

I shall not insist upon it, to dispute it out, whether of these things alledged were the cause of the name of this gate, or whe∣ther something else: Some other conjectures might be added, as whether Nicanor that sent the doores from Alexandria were not he that was the kings chief Master of the Ceremonies there, of whom Josephus maketh mention[q] and relateth how he provided chambers & diet for the Septitagin•• translaters: or whe∣ther this gate were not so called in honour of Seleucus N••canor the first king of Syria, who was a great favourer of the Jewish Nation[r] as the same Josephus also relateth: But I shall leave the searching after the Etymology and originall of the name to those that have minde and leasure thereunto: it sufficeth to know the gate by its name which was so renowned and fa∣mous in all Jewish writers: onely as to the story about Nica∣nor a Grecian prince being slaine here, compare 1 Maccab. 7.33, 34. &c. Joseph. Antiq. lib. 12. cap. 17.

Before we part from this gate, we must remember to say something about the gate Sur, and the gate of the foundation of which there is mention 2 King. 11.6. & 2 Chron. 23.5. because that these are held by some, as was shewed before, to have but names of this East gate of the Court that we are about.

The texts where these names are mentioned do speak to this purpose in our English translation.

• 2 King. 11.
  • Ver. 5. A third part of you that enter in on the Sabbath, shall even be keepers of the watch of the kings house.
  • 6. And a third part shall be at the gate Sur: and a third part at the gate behinde the guard, &c.
  • 7. And two parts of you that goe forth on the Sabbath, even they shall keepe the watch of the house of the Lord, about the King, &c.
• 2 Chron. 23.
  • Ver. 4. A third part of you entering in on the Sabbath, of the Priests and of the Levites shall be porters of the doors.
  • 5. And a third part shall be at the Kings house, and a third part at the gate of the foundation, &c.

The two courses of the Priests and Levites now present,

namely that course that came in on the Sabbath, and the other that had served their weeke and were now going out, Jeboiada divides either of them into three parts, into six in all. They that came in on the Sabbath were to be: 1. A third part of them for the Altar and service, the Priests for the sacrifices, and the Levites for singers and porters as in the constant duty and at∣tendance. For it was now the Sabbath day, and had it beene any other day, it is not to be imagined, that Jebo••ada would neglect the affaires of God though he went about the affaires of the King: But he provides for both, so that the Temple ser∣vice may have its due attendance, as well as the Kings corona∣tion. And therefore ver. 5. of 2 King. 11. is necessari∣ly to be rendred thus, A third part of you shall be those that come in on the Sabbath: that is, a third part of you shall be as those that come in on the Sabbath to attend the service as at other times. And so is 2 Chron. 23.4. to be translated, A third part of you shall be those that come in on the Sabbath, for Priests, and Levites, and Porters: that is, to attend the Altar, song and gates as in the constant service.

2. Another third part, for keepers of the watch at the Kings house.

3. And another third part at the gate Sur which is also called the gate of the foundation.

Thus the tents in the two bookes laid together doe plainly distribute the course that was to come in on the Sabbath, as he will see that will carefully compare them together in the ori∣ginall.

The course that was going out on the Sabbath was dispo∣sed, 1. One third part of them to the gate behinde the guard, 2. Two third parts to keepe the watch of the house of the Lord for the safety of the Kings.

Now the very disposall of these guards will help us to judge concerning the gates that we have in mention, and will re∣solve us that they were not any gates of the Temple at all, but that they stood in some place else. For the gates of the Tem∣ple were guarded by the Porters of the course that came in as in the ordinary manner: and there was an extraordinary guard added besides throughout all the mountaine of the house, and

in the Court, of that course that was going out, 2 King. 11.7, 8.11. Therefore the gate Sur or the gate of the foundation, which was guarded by a third part of those that come in on the Sab∣bath, cannot be supposed for any gate of the Temple, since the Temple was guarded by two parts of those that went out. So that were I to describe the city as I am now about describing the Temple, I should place the gate Sur somewhere in Sion, and there also should I place the gate behinde the guard: and it would not be very hard to gather up faire probability of their situati∣on there. Now though so strong guards were set both in the Temple and in Zion, yet Athaliah for whom all this adoe is made, comes up into the Temple, so far as to see the young King at his pillar in the Court before the East gate, and no man in∣terrupts her, partly because she was Queene, partly because she came alone, and chiefly because they knew not Jehoiadas minde concerning her. But when he bids have her out of the ranges, they laid hold upon her, and spared her till she was downe the cau∣sey Shalletheth, and then they slew her.

If by the ranges, the rankes of men that stood round about the mountaine of the house, be not to be understood, I should then thinke they meane either the ranks of trees that grew on either side that causey, or the railes that were set on either side it for the stay and safety of those that passed upon it. And to this sense Levi Gershom doth not unproperly expound those words in 1 King. 10.12. Of the Al••••g trees the King made 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 for the house of the Lord and for the Kings house. The word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 doth properly signifie a Prop or Support: yet is expressed in 2 Chron. 9.11. The King made of the Algum trees 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 high waies to the house of the Lord: And[q] I think (saith the Rabbin) that in the ascent that he made to gee up to the house of the Lord from the Kings house, he made as it were battlements (that is railes on either side) of the Almug trees, that a man might stay himselfe by them, as he went along the highway of that ascent. And so in other ascents of the house of the Lord or of the Kings house, where there were not steps, at the rise of the Altar, &c.

SECT. I. Aeredible wonder of the brazen gate.

VVE will leave the belief of that wonder that hath been mentioned about the brazen doore of Niconer in its shipwrack, to those that record it: but wee may not passe over another wondrous occurence related by Josephus, of the bra∣zen gate (whether this of Nicanor, or the other which hee cal∣leth the brazen gate, as by its proper name, wee will not be cu∣rious to examine) which is a great deale more worthy of be∣lief, and very well deserving consideration: Hee treating of the prodiges and wonders that presaged the destruction of Je∣rusalem, amongst others hee relateth this. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. The Eastgate of the inner Temple, being of brasse and extream heavy,[a] and which could hardly bee shut by twenty men; being barred and bolted exceeding strong and sure, yet was it seene by night to open of its owne accord: which the simpler and more foolish people did interpret as a very good Omen, as if it denoted to them, that God would open to them the gate of all good things: But those of a deeper reach and sounder judgement, did suspect that it presaged the decay and ruine of the strength of the Temple.

And with this relation of his doe other writers of his owne nation concurre, who report,[b] That forty years before the de∣struction of the City, the doores of the Temple opened of their owne ac∣cord: Whereupon Rabban Jochanan ben Zaceai (afterward chiese of the Sanhedrin) cryed out, Open thy doores O Lebanon that the fire may devoure. And from that time the great Sanhedrin fitted from the room Gazith, and so removed from place to place. The like saith Rabbi Solomon on Zeob. 11.1. Open thy doores O Lebanon:[e] Hee prophecieth (saith hee) of the destruction of the second Temple: and forty yeares before the destruction, the Temple doores opened of their own accord: Rabban Iochanan ben Zaccai rebuked them: and said, O Temple, Temple, how long wilt thou trouble thy self? I know thy best is to hee destroyed, for Zechariah the sonne of Iddo prophecied thus of

thee, Open thy doores O Lebanon that the fire may devoure thy Ce∣dars, &c.

There are three remarkable things which the Jews doe date from forty years before the destruction of the Temple: namely this of the Temple doores opening of themselves, and the San∣hedrins flitting from the roome Gazith, and the Scarlet list on the Scapegoates head not turning white, that are as Testimo∣neyes against themselves about the death of Christ, which occur∣red exactly forty years before the Temple was destroyed: Then the Lord shewed them by the Temple doores opening, the sha∣king of their Ecclesiasticall glory, and by the flitting of the Sanhedrin, the shaking of their Civill, and by the not whiten∣ing of their Scarlet list which had denoted pardon of sin, their deep die of sin and guilt for the death of Christ. Compare this self-opening of the Temple doores with the renting of the vail of the Temple of its one accord, and they may helpe the one to illustrate the other. And mee thinkes the words of Rabban Iochanan upon the opening of the doores, O Temple how long wilt then disquiet thy self? doe seeme to argue that before that opening there had been some other such strange trouble in the Temple as that was, which might be the renting of the vail.

SECT. 2. A Sanhedrin sitting in this Gate.

THis Gate of Nicanor or the East-gate of the Court, was the place where the suspected wise was tryed by drinking of the bitter waters and where the Lever cleansed stood to have his atonement made, and to have his clensing wholly perfected, the rites of both which things wee have described in their pla∣ces. In this Gate also did women after child-birth appear for their full purification; here it was that the Virgin Mary present∣ed her child Jesus to the Lord, Luk. ••.22.

[a] In this gate of Ni••an••r (not in the very passage through but in some room above or by it) there sate a Sanhedrin of

three and twenty Judges: Now there were three ranks of Ju∣dicatories among the Jews. A Judicatory or Consistory of three. A Iudicatory of three and twenty: and the great San∣hedrin of seventy one. In smaller towns there was a Trium∣virate or a Consistory set up consisting only of three Judges:[b] these judged and determined about money matters, about borrowing, filching, damages, restitutions, the forcing or inti∣cing of a maid, pulling off the shoe, and divers other things that were not capitall, nor concerned life and death, but were of an inferiour concernment and condition. In greater cities there were Sanhedrins of three and twenty, which judged in matters of life and death in some cases; but raught not to all: And there was the great Sanhedrin at Jerusalem which was to Judge of the greatest matters. Now a Sanhedrin of three and twenty was not set up in any great City, but onely in such a one as in which were 120 men fit to bear office. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 How many are to ••hee in a City that it may bee fit to have a Sanhedrin set up in it? It is a que∣stion of the Talmud, own proposing, and it giveth this answer, That there are to be 120. compare Act. 1.15. And into what offices or places these are to be distributed, might be alleadged out of the Gemarists and Maymony if it were pertinent to this place: Only these many let us name of them.[c] Every Sanhedrin of three and twenty, had three fourms of Prebationers of three and twenty in every fourne 〈◊〉〈◊〉 And when there was need of a man in the Sanhedrin, the highest in the first ••ourm was fetched in, and made Judge: and the highest in the second fourm came in and sate lowest in the first fourm: and the highest in the third fourm came up and sate lowest in the se∣cond: and some other man was found out from abroad, to sit lowest in the third four fourm: and so the Sanhedrin and the fourms were still kept sult.

Now as the grean Sanbedrin sate in the Temple, so also did two lesser Sanhedrine of three and twenty a peece, the one in the gate Shusham or the gate of the mountain of the House, and the other in this gate of Nicanor or the gate of the Court: And their rising to be Judges in the highest Court of seventy one, was first by degrees through these two.[d] Whosover was found a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of fit and competent qualifientions, he was first made a Judge in his own

City: and thence he was promoted into the Judicatory of the gate of the mountain of the house, and from thence into the Judicatory in the gate of the Court, and so at last into the great Sanhedrin. In some of these Judicatories in the Temple our Saviour shewed his wisdome at twelve years old, Luk. 2.46. And some of these Judges were they that tempted him with the question about the woman taken in Adultery, which was brought to be judged before them, Ioh. 8.4, 5.

In the times before the captivity into Babylon the great San∣hedrin it self sate in these two Gates, sometimes in the one, and sometimes in the other, as they thought good, Ier. 34.4. & 26.10. & 36.10, but in after times when the room Gazith was built, and the great Sanhedrin of seventy one betooke it selfe thither, these two gates were furnished, either of them with a lesser Sanhedrin of three and twenty: The place of their sitting was in some room over the gate: for as it was not possible for them to sit in the very passage through which people went and came, so was it not lawfull for them to fit in the gate of Nicanor, in that part of the gate that was within the Court; for within the Court might no man sit but the King only. Yet might they sit in the upper rooms though they were within the compasse of the Courts, for they held them not of so great a holinesse as was the space below.

This is the gate of which Ezekiel speaketh, chap. 46.1, 2. The gate of the inner Court that looketh toward the East, shall bee shut for the six working dayes: but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the New Moon it shall bee opened: And the Prince shall come by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the Gate, &c. Before this gate within had Solomon pitched his brazen Scaffold, on which he kneeled & prayed at the Con∣secration of the house. 2 Chro. 6.13. compared with 1 Kin. 8.22. and in after times the Kings entring in at this gate had their station within it, as he had given them example, and there stood the Kings pillar as it is called, 2 Chron. 23.13. that is, his seat was set within this gate in the Court by one of the pillars that bare up the Cloister: For as this East quarter of the Court was the most proper place for the people to worship in, so most especially in that place of it which did most directly face the

doore of the Temple and the Altar before it, and that was in the very entrance up from the gate it self, and here was the King seated by one of the pillars. Something according to this disposall of the King in his place in the Court doth Ezekiel speak, though in his description there is some kinde of differ∣ence for mystery sake. You may observe in him, that the East gate of the outer Sanctuary was contiuually shat, and the East gate of the inner was shut all the six dayes of the weeke, which were not indeed so in the common use of the Temple as it stood, for both the gates were dayly opened, but hee hath so charactered them for the higher magnifying of that glory which he saith was now entred into the Temple: And where∣as indeed the King in his worshipping did go within the Court, or within the gate and there worship, and there fit downe in the time of Divine Service, hee hath brought in the Prince but to the posts of the gate and there standing whilest his Sa∣crifice was offering: By his description every one that came up to this gate, must either enter at the North gate or South gate of the Court of the women, because the East gate was shut, chap. 44.1. and hereupon is that injunction, that when the people of the land come before the Lord in the Solemn Feasts, hee that entereth in by the way of the North-gate to worship, must go out by the way of the South gate, and hee that entreth by the way of the South gate, must goe forth by the way of the North gate: he must not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in. Ch. 46.9. Whereas in the common accesse to the Temple as it stood either before or after the captivity, the East gate of the Court of the women was constantly open and their most ordinary coming in was at that gate, & so they went up through the Court of the women to the gate of Nica∣nor, yea and oftentimes within it into the Court: Yet did they imitate and follow this prescript of the Prophet, under the second Temple, in not returning and going out at the same gate at which they had come in; The Talmudists have this Tradition about this matter. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉[e] All that come to the Temple according to the custome of the place, come in at the right hand, and fetch a compasse and go out at the left, which meaneth not (as the Glossaries do explaine it) that a man was always

to goe out at the gate opposite to that gate at which he camein, but that he may not go out at the same gate at which he came in but at some other: as came hee in at the East gate, hee must not goe out at the East gate againe, but at the North or South: Onely they give exception in two sorts of persons 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 to whom particular occurrences had befallen, for they went about still to the left hand. What is the matter with thee that thou goest that way? Because I am a mourner. Now hee that dwelleth in this house comfort thee. Or because I am an excommunicate: Now he that dwelleth in this house put into thy heart that thou mayest hearken to the words of thy fellowes, and they may receive thee.

So that the common and ordinary way of coming into the Temple to worship, was to come in at the East gate of the Court of the women, and up to the gate of Nicanor, and there to worship and so back again, and out at the North or South doore of that Court: The Pharisee in the parable went up to this gate as farre as hee could goe, because hee would put his seeming devotion to the farthest, but the poor Publican stood a far off. Luk. 18.13. Even the King himself though hee came in on the West quarter of the mountain of the house, yet came hee down hither to goe into the Court of the women, and so up through the East gate of the Court, to his seate which was before that gate. The stationary men, of whom wee have spoken in due place, they went within the gate into the Court of Israel, and so did other Israelites at the solemn festivials when there were abundance of Sacrifices, especially at the Passeover, and hee that brought a single Sacrifice, went into the Court at one of the North gates of it, of which wee shall speak when its course comes: but ordinarily a man that came into the Tem∣ple to pray or to worship, and brought not a Sacrifice, hee wor∣shipped before the gate of Nicanor which faced the gate of the Temple, and so returned.

Notes

• [a]

  Mid. per. 2. Iosephus de bel. lib. 8. cap. 14.
• [b]

  Succah per. 5.
• [c]

  Mid. ubi supr.
• [d]

  Ibid.
• [e]

  vid. Kim∣chi in Jer. 19.2. & in 2 King. 11. & R. Sol. in 2 Chron. 23.
• [f]

  Succah ubi supr.
• [g]

  Mains. in kel. Mikdash per. 7.
• [h]

  Kimch. in 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• [i]

  Kimch. in Ier. 19. R. Sol. in Bzek. 40.
• [k]

  Id. in 2 Chron. 23. ex. Jeruselami.
• [l]

  Maim. in kele Mikdash per. 7.
• [m]

  Sotah per. 1 glosse. Ibid.
• [n]

  Mid. per. 1. & per. 6.
• [o]

  Talm. Je∣rus. in Sotah per. 1.
• [p]

  Juchasin fol. 65. vid. eti∣am Talm. Jerus. in Joma. per. 3. Tosaphta ibid. per. 2. & Mid. per. 2. Aruch in voce Nicanor.
• [q]

  Jos. Ant. lib. 12. cap.2.
• [r]

  Ibid. cap. 3.
• [q]

  Ralbag in 1 King. 10.
• [a]

  los. de bell. lib. 6. cap 31.
• [b]

  Iuchasm. sol. 21.
• [e]

  R. Sol. in Zech. 11.
• [a]

  Talm in Sanhedr. per. 11.
• [b]

  Ibid. per. 1.
• [c]

  Maym in Sanhedr. per. 1.
• [d]

  Id. ibid. per. 2.
• [e]

  Mid. per. 2.