Aarons Rod Blossoming, Book 1 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IV. That there was an Ecclesiasticall Excommunication among the Iewes: and what it was.
IT hath been affirmed by some who pretend to more skill in Jewish antiquities than others, that though the Jewes had an excommunication which did exclude a man from the liberty of civill fellowship, so that he might not come within foure cubits of his neighbour, (and so one man might and did excommunicate another) yet no man was judicially or by sentence of a Court excommunicated, at least not from the Temple, Sacrifices, and holy assemblies.
To these I shall in the first place oppose the judgement of others who have taken very much pains in searching the Jewish antiquities, and are much esteemed for their skill therein. nLexicon Chald. Talmud. & Rabbin. edit. 1639. pag. 8…7, 828. foreign Excommunicatio, exclusio … caetu sacro, ejectio ex syna▪ goga &c. Cum tali excommunicato non licet edere nec bibert. Quo fortè respicit Apostolus 1 Cor. 5. 11. foreign, Nam admonitionem illam generalem facit, ex occasione incestuosi quem excommunicare jubet.D. Buxtors expoundeth foreign cherem to be a casting out of one from the holy assemblies, or an ejection from the Synagogue, and maketh it parallel to the Excommunicating of the incestuous man 1 Cor. 5. oDe Iure natur. & Gentium lib. 4. cap. 9. Atque is planè à communicatione orationis, & convenius, & omnis sancti commercii relegabatur, quemadmodum de bujusmodi anathemate sub initils Ecclesie Christianae loquitur Tertullianus.Mr Selden extendeth the Jewish Excommunication so farre, as to comprehend an exclusion from fellowship in prayer and holy assemblies, and makes it parallel to that which Tertullian tels us to have been used by the Primitive Church. Mr Brughton in his exposition of the Lords prayer page 14. makes a parallel between the Jewish and the Christian Church in many particulars, and among the rest, he saith they agree in the manner of Excommunication and absolution. pAnimad in Pirke pag. 169. Qu… enim dicat apostatam, blashemum aliaque sacra capita intra templum suisse admissa? &c. Certe si quibuslibet excommunicatis permissum suisset in trare Templom, tum … mitior Judaicae Synagoga disciplina esset statuenda, quam veteris Christianae Ecclesiae.Henric. Vorstius in his late animadversions upon Pirke Rabbi Eliezer, wonders how any man can imagine that an Apostate, a blasphemer, or the like was admitted into the Temple. For his part, he thinkes some excommunicate persons were absolutely excluded from the Temple, and that others for whom there were hopes of reconciliation, were admitted into it. qQuest. & Resp. l. 1. quaest. 9 Solebant autem veteres (I… der) si qu… gravius deliquerat, primum eum movere caetu Ecclesiastico: si non emendabat se, tum feriebant …: quòd si ne tum quidem redibat ad srugem, ultimo ac postremo loco samatizabant.Drusius and rAnnot. in Exc. Gemar. Sanhedrin cap. 1. Qui simpliciter excommunicatus est (menudde) est ille quidem separatus à caetu, ita ut pro vero membro Ecclesie non habeatur.Iohannes Coch hold, that there were such excommunicate persons among the Jewes, as were removed from Church assemblies, and were not acknowledged for Church members. sLexicon pentaglot. pag. 655. foreign Excommunicatio, cum quis se non emendans catu Ecclesiastico …ovetur, & ex populo suo excinditur. Where he also mentioneth the three distinct kinds of Excommunication Niddui, Cherem, and Schammata. Ibid. pag. 1076. foreign remetio, excommunicatio, ejectio ex caetu piorum, illa anathematis species, qua quis immundus ab bominum contubernio, aut qua aliquis … caetu Ecclesiastico removetur ad tempus▪ à lege praescriptum.Schindlerus describeth their excommunication to be a putting away of an impenitent obstinate sinner from the publique assembly of the Church, and so a cutting him off from his people. tDe arcano sermone cap. 47. Ejectio autem è Synagega, communicationis abnegatio est, & abalienatio a religiosa consuetudine, quae á nostris recepto jam verbo sixcommunicatio dicitur.Arias Montanus expounds their casting out of the Synagogue to be an excommunication (such as in the Christian Church) from religious fellowship. uMagdeb. Cent. 1. …ib. 1. cap 7. Judicabant degmata & promulgobant eorum damnationes, unà cum personis: quae quidem res▪ nihil aliud quam publica Excommunicatio erat Jo. 9. 22. & 11. 47. 48. & 1…. 4…. Et infra. Extra Synagogam fieret, ▪hoc est excommunicaretur.So doe the Centurists plainly, where they doe purposely shew what was the Ecclesiasticall policy and Church government of the Jewes: They make it a distinct Question, whether the Jewes in Christs time had any civill Government, or Magistracy. x… ▪ Ebr. cap 7. legis sanctio triplex &c. Prima est foreign aversatio, antolitio & amandatio &c. Secunda est foreign devo… extremo cuidam exitio. Excommunicatio: quando videlicet a…quis excindi duebatur ex populo sue, & in eo amplius non censeri (ut jam supra expo▪ suimus) ex majore aliquo delicto. atque hoc p…to esse foreign fieri &c. Primae illae speciei respondet quod in Ecclesiis nostris vocamus prohibitionem seu suspensionem à Sacramentis: … Excommunicatio publice facta.Cornelius Bertramus thinks that to the Jewish Niddui answereth our suspension from the Sacrament, and that to their cherem answereth our excommunication from the Church: and that the Jewes had the very same kind of excommunication, by which the incestuous Corinthian, Hymeneus and Philetus, and the Emperour Theodosius were excommunicated. Constansinus l' Empereur annot. in rempub. Jud. pag. 370. to 378. holdeth the same thing which Bertramus holdeth concerning the Jewish excommunication, and which hath now been cited. Godwyn in his Moses and Aacon, lib. 5. cap. 1 speaketh of the Ecclesiasticall Court of the Jewes, unto which (saith he) belonged the power of excommuication, the severall sorts of which censure he explaineth cap. 2. namely Niddui, cherem, and Shammata. After all which, he begins cap. 3. to speake of civill Courts of the Jewes, a distinct government.
Grotius. annot. in Luke 6. 22. compares the Jewish excommunication with that which was exercised by the Druides in France, who did interdicere saerificiis, interdict and prohibit from their Sacrifices impious and obstinate persons. Yea those who were excommunicate by Niddui or the lesser excommunication, he likens to those penitents or mourners in the ancient Christian Church, who were said to be foreign, qui non cum caeteris orabant &c. He tels us the ancient Christians did in divers things follow the Jewish discipline, and among other things in excommunication; He cites the same passage of Tertullian which is cited by Mr Selden, concerning a shntting out, à communicatione orationis, & conventus, & omnis sancti commercii. Which is as full and high a description of the Ecclesiasticall censure of Excommunication, as any can be. So that the Jewish Excommunication being paralleld with that Excommunication which Tertullian speakes of, and which was practised in the ancient Christian Church, what more can be required in this particular? And here I cannot but take notice, that Master Prynne doth very much mistake and misrepresent Mr Selden, as if he held the Jewish excommunication to have been no more but a shutting out from civill company or fellowship, whereas he clearly holds lib. 4. de jure nat. & Gent. cap. 9. p. 522. that he who was excommunicated by the Jewish cherem, was put away and cast off from fellowship in prayer, and from all religious fellowship, even as Tertullian speaks of excommunicated persons in the Church.
Lud. Capellus in Spicilegio upon Ioh. 9. 22. speaking of the common distinction of the three degrees of the Jewish Excommunication, doth plainly beare witnesse to that which I plead for, namely, yHarum trium Excommunicationis specierum vel potius graduum, secunda primam, tertia utramque includebat. Prima piis quidem Iudaeis erat formidabtlis, quia per eam à sacrorum communione submovebantur, at qui minus pii erant eâ non magnopere movebantur.that there was a Jewish Excommunication from communion in the holy things. I confesse he understands the Cherem, and the Shammata, otherwise then I doe; for he takes the Cherem to be nihil aliud, nothing else than the forfeiture of a mans substance for the use of the Sanctuary: (whereas it is certaine there was a Cherem of persons as well as of things, and the formulae of the Cherem which shall be cited afterward, containe another thing than forfeiture.) And Shammata he takes to be the devoting of men to death, and that being Shamatized they must needs die. (And yet the Jewes did shamatize the Cuthites or Samaritans (as we shall see afterward) whom they had not power to put to death.) However he speaks of the Niddui as a meere Ecclesiasticall censure, and therefore tels us it was formidable to the godly, it being a shutting out from communion in the holy things, but not formidable to wicked men; which must be upon this reason, because wicked men did care little or nothing for any censure or punishment, except what was civill. He granteth also that Niddui was included in the other two: so that in all three there was a shutting out from the holy things.
I must not forget the Testimony of my Countreyman Master Weemse in his Christian Synagogue lib. 1. cap. 6. sect. 3. paragr. 7. They had three sorts of Excommunication; first the lesser, then the middle sort, then the greatest. The lesser was called Niddui: and in the New Testament they were called foreign, put out of the Synagogue: and they hold that Cain was excommunicated this way. The second was called Cherem or Anathema: with this sort of Excommunication was the Incestuous person censured 2 Cor. 2. The third Shammatha, they hold that Enoch instituted it, Jude v. 14. And after, these who were foreign, put out of the Synagogue were not simply secluded from the Temple, but suffered to stand in the Gate, &c. These who were Excommunicated by the second sort of Excommunication, were not permitted to come neer the Temple. These who were Excommunicated after the third sort, were secluded out of the society of the people of God altogether.
And thus I have produced fifteen witnesses for the Ecclesiasticall Excommunication of the Jewes. I might produce many more, but I have made choice of these, because all of them have taken more than ordinary paines in searching the Jewish antiquities, and divers of them are of greatest note for their skill therein.
In the next place let us observe the causes, degrees, manner and rites how, the authority by which, the ends and effects of excommunication among the Jewes, and see whether all these doe not helpe to make their Excommunication a patterne for ours. For the causes, there were 24 causes, for which a man was Excommunicated among the Jewes. You may read them in Buxtorfs Lexicon Chald▪ Talmud & Rabbin. p. 1304, 1305. M. Selden de jure nat. & Gentium. lib. 4. cap. 8. Jo. Coch Annot. in Excerp. Gem. Sanhedrin cap. 2. pag. 147. divers of these causes did not at all concerne personall or civill injuries (for such injuries were not accounted causes of Excommunication, but were to be punished otherwise, as shall be proved afterward) but matters of scandall, by which God was dishonoured, and the stumbling-blocke of an evill example laid before others; One cause was the despising of any of the preceps of the Law of Moses, or Statutes of the Scribes. Another was the selling of Land to a Gentile. Another was, a Priest not separating the gifts of the oblation. Another, he that in captivity doth not iterate or observe the second time a holy day. Another, yBuxtors lexic. Rabbin. p. 2463 ex Pesachim fol. 50. Qui vesperâ sabbathi & aliorum dierum festorum operas serviles …cit, infaustum illud quidem est, neque videt signum benedictionis, sed non schammatisamus eum: at qui vesper… pas ch…tis operas serviles facit, hîc verò omnino schammatisamus eum. They did also excommunicate an hereticall or Epicurean Israelite. Buxtorf ibid, pag. 195.he that doth any servile worke upon Easter eve. Another, he that mentioneth the name of God rashly, or by a vaine oath. Another, he that enduceth, or giveth occasion to others to prophane the name of God. Another, he that makes others to …ate holy things without the holy Temple. Another, he that maketh computation of yeeres and moneths without the Land of Israel: that is, (as Dr Buxtorf) writeth Calendars, or (as M. Selden) computeth yeeres and moneths otherwise than their fathers had done. Another, he that retardeth or hindreth others from doing the Law and Commandement. Another, he that maketh the offering prophane (as Dr Buxtorf) or offereth a sickly beast, (as I. Coch.) Another, a Sacrificer that doth not shew his Sacrificing Knife before a Wise man or a Rabbi, that it may be knowne to be a lawfull Knife, and not faulty. Another, he that cannot be made to know or to learne. Another, he that having put away his wife, doth thereafter converse familiarly with her. Another, a Wise man (that is, a Rabbi or Doctor) infamous for an evill life. The other causes had also matter of scandall in them, namely, the despising of a Wise man or Rabbi, though it were after his death. The despising of an Officer or messenger of the house of judgement. He that casteth up to his neighbour a servile condition, or cals his neighbour servant. He that contumaciously refuseth to appeare at the day appointed by the Judge. He that doth not submit himselfe to the Judiciall sentence. He that hath in his house any hurtfull thing, as a mad dogge or a weake leather. He that before Heathen Judges beareth witnesse against an Israelite. He that maketh the blind to fall. He that hath Excommunicate another without cause, when he ought not to have been Excommunicate. Thus you have the 24 causes of the Jewish Excommunication; of which some were meere scandals: others of a mixed nature, that is, partly injuries, partly scandals; but they were reckoned among the causes of Excommunication qua scandals, not qua …. Io. Coch. Annot. in Exc. Gem. Sanhedrin. pag. 146▪ explaining how the wronging of a Doctor of the Law by contumelies, was a cause of Excommunication, sheweth that the Excommunication was because of the scandall. Licet tamen condonare nisi res in praputulo gesta sit. Publicum Doctoris ludibrium in legis contemptum redundat. … ob causam Doctor legis honorem … remittere non potest. Ubi res clam & sine scandalo gesta est, magni animi & sapientis est injuriam contemptu vindicare. If there was no scandall, the injury might be remitted by the party injured, so as the offendor was not to be Excommunicate▪ But if the contumely was known abrond, and was scandalous, though the party wronged were willing and desirous to bury it, yet because of the scandall, the Law provided that the offender should be excommunicate. For they taught the people that he who did contend against a Rabbi did contend against the holy Ghost (for which see Gul. Vorstius annot. in Maimon. de fundam. legis. pag. 77, 78.) and hence did they aggravate an Ecclesiasticall or Divine (not a Civill) injury. Whence it appeareth that the causes of Excommunication, were formally lookt upon as scandals. Adde that if qua injuries, then a quatenus ad omne, all personall or civill injuries had been causes of Excommunication. But all civill injuries doe not fall within these 24. causes. If it be objected, that neither doe all scandalls fall within these 24. causes. I answer they doe; for some of the causes are generall and comprehensive, namely these two, the 5th. He that despiseth the Statutes of the Law of Moses, or of the Scribes; and the 18th. He that retardeth or hindereth others from doing the Law.
When I make mention of any particular heads, either of the Jewish Discipline, or of the ancient Christian discipline, let no man understand me, as if I intended the like Strictnesse of Discipline in these dayes. My meaning is onelyonly, to prove Ecclesiasticall censures, and an Ecclesiasticall Government. And let this be remembred upon all like occasions; though it be not everywhere expressed. And so much for the causes.
The degrees of the Jewish excommunication, were foreign Niddui, foreign Cherem, foreign Schammata. Elias in Tisbite, saith plainly that there were three kinds of excommunication, Niddui, Cherem, and Schammata. Niddui is … out; but if he be not converted, they smite him with Cherem; and if neither so he repent, they schammatize him. These three Doctor Buxtorf thus distinguisheth, not only out of Elias, the common sentence of the but Hebrew Doctors. The first and smallest excommunication is Niddui, which is a simple separation for a certain time. The greater excommunication is Cherem, which▪ is a separation with imprecations and curses. The greatest of all is Schammata, a finall excommunication, without hope of returning to the Church. So likewise Hen. Uorstius animad. in Pirke pag. 230. And answerably hereunto some Divines have distinguished Excommunicatio Minor, Major, and Maxima. The first is suspension from the Sacrament. The second is a casting out of the Church, and a delivering over to Sathan: which yet is a medicinall excommunication for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved. The third is Anathema Maranatha, an accursing of a man to the comimg of Christ, without hope of mercy; which is excommunicatio exterminativa, and cannot be done, without a propheticall Spirit. Corn. Bertramus de repub. Ebraeor cap. 7. saith that our suspension from the Sacrament answereth to their Niddui: our Excommunication to their Cherem. And for their Schammata, he thinks it was an adjudging of one to eternall death; whereunto answereth the Apostles Anathema, and the Churches devoting of Iulian the Apostate, as one to be no more prayed for, but to be prayed against. Munsterus will have Schammata to be the same with Niddui. Wherein Master Selden agreeth with him, still holding a difference between Niddui, and Cherem, as between the lesser, and the greater excommunication: de Jure nat. & Gentium, l. 4. c. 8. Of the same opinion is Io. Coch, Annot. in Exc. Gem. Sanhedrin. p. 149. But Constantinus l' Empereur annot. in rempub. Jud. tels us, that the Talmudists in divers places, do distinguish the three degrees of Excommunication, as Bertramus doth; and that Schammata was the highest Excommunication, greater then either Niddui or Cherem, he proves not onelyonly by the Epitheton adonai added by the Chaldee paraphrase Num. 21. 25. Et percussit eum Israel per Schammata dei; but further from the words of Rabbi Solomon, comparing one excommunicated by Schammata, to the fat cast in the Furnace, which is wholly consumed, and which never comes out, so he that is Schammatized, is lost for ever, and without all remedy unto all eternity. He confirmeth it also, from the words of Elias above mentioned. It is not much to my present argument, to dispute whether the Jewes had three distinct degrees of excommunication or two only. However it's agreed, that the Jews had their Excommunicatio Minor & Major. And Niddui▪ was an Excommunication for 30. dayes, during which time if the person (man or woman) repent, well and good: if not, he was excommunicate, for other 30. dayes. Yea, saith Doctor Buxtorf, the time might be triplicate to 90. dayes. And if after all that time he repent not, then he was excommunicate, with the greater excommunication Cherem. And so much for the degrees.
As for the manner, and rites of their excommunication, it was done most solemnly, zLexicon. Chald. Talmud. & Rabbin. pag. 2468. Excom municatio siebat quandoque verbis expressis, quando excommunicandus erat praesens: quandeque scripto publicè affixo, quando absens erat. Hinc legitur in Majemone in libro Madda cop. 7. Sect. 2. Quomodo sit Niddui: dicit N. esto in excommunicatione. Si. excommunicant eum in faciem, id est presentem, dicit N. hic esto in excommunicatione sive banno. Ibid. pag. 2469. Nuncius vel minister publicus judicii câ side habetur, ut si dicat, N. à me citatus ad Judicium, contempsit me, aut vilipendit Judicem, aut dixit sa nolle comparere in Judicio, tunc sammatisent ipsum ad verba ejus, sed non scribunt super eo Schedam Excommunicationis Shammata, donec veuerint duc quo testentur ipsum noluisse comparere ad Judicium.Doctor Buxtorf tells us, if the party was present, the sentence of Excommunication was pronounced against him by word of mouth: If he was absent, there was a writ publikely affixed, containing the sentence of Excommunication, which writ was not published, till the offence was proved, at least by two witnesses.
It is certain from Pirke Rabb. Elierser cap. 38. that Cherem was not without an assembly of ten at least. And it is as certaine that Cherem was not onelyonly in a solemn, but in a sacred manner performed, which is manifest from that Formula Anathematis, which aLexicon Rabbin. p. 828. Ex sententia domini Dominorum, sit in Anathemate Ploni Filius Ploni, in utraque domo Judicii, Superiorum scilicet & Inferiorum, in Anathemate item Sanctorum Excelsorum, in anathemate Seraphim & Ophannim, in anathemate denique totius Ecclesiae, maximorum & minimorum &c.Doctor Buxtorf hath transcribed out of an old Hebrew Manuscript; and from bAnother forme more full and large see in Vorstius his Animadversions upon Pirke pag. 226. to 230. Decreto vigilum atque edicto Sanctotum anathemizamus. adju…amus, excommunicamus Schammatizamus, maledicimus, execramus ex sententia hujus loci atque ex scientia hujus coe…ûs, hoc libro legis, sexcentis tredecim praeceptis in illo conscriptis. Anathe. mate quo Joshua devo vie Jericho; maledictione quâ maledixit Eliseus pueris, & maledictione quam imprecatus est Gichazi servo suo. Shammate quo Schammatizavit Barack Meroz, &c. Nomine Aebthariel Jah Domini Zehaoth. Nomine Michael Principis magni. Nomine Mathatheron cujus nomen est sicuti nomen Domini ejus. Nomine Sandalphon qui nectit coronas pro domino suo. Nomine Nominis 42. literarum. Nomine quod apparuit Mosi in Sinai. Nomine quo dissecuit Moses Mare. Nomine Ehieh ascher Ehieh, Ero qui ero. Arcano nominis Amphor…sch. Scripturâ quae exarata est in tabulis. Nomine Domini exercituum Dei Israelis, qui sedit inter cherubim, &c. Maledictus ex ore nominis celebrandi, & tremendi, quod e…reditur ex ore Sacerdotis magni die expiationum, &c. Evellatur ipse è tabernaculo. Nolit dominus illi condonare, sed tunc sumet furor & indignatio contra virum illum. Incumbant illi omnes maledictiones conscriptae in hoc libro legis. Expellat nomen ejus sub caelo, & segreget illum in malum ex omnibus tribubus Israelis, juxta omnes execrationes hujus faederis consignatas in hoc libro legis, &c. Haec sit voluntas Dei & dicatur Amen.another forme, which Hen. Vorstius taketh out of Col Bo both shewing, that it was not a civill, but a sacred businesse, done in the name and authority of the God of heaven: and the latter formula still used in most of the Jewish Synagogues as Vorstius informes us
We read also in Pirke Rabb. Elieser cap. 38. cQuid tum fec…runt Ezra, Zerobahel, & Jehoshua? Congregaveront totam Ecclesiam seu caetum populi in templum dom ni & introduxerant 300. sacerdotes, & 300. adoles▪ centes (seu discipulos minores) quibus erant in manibus 300. buccinae, & 300. libri legis. Hi clangebant; Levitae autem cantabant & psallebant: & excommunicabant Cuthaeos per mysterium nominis Te r…grammati, & per scripturam descriptam in Tabulis legis, & per anathema fori superioris seu caelestis, & per anathema fori inferioris seu terrestris, ita ut nemo Israelitarum unquam in posterum comederet buccellam aliquam Cuthaeorum. Hinc dicunt Quicunque comedit carnem Cuthaei, is vescitur quasi carne poreinâ. Cuthaeus quoque ne seret proselytus, neque haberet partem in resurrectione mortuorum, juxta illud quod scriptum est. Non ad vos simul nobiscum attinet instauratio domus dei nostri: neque in hoc neque in suturo seculo. Praeterea quoque ne haberet partem in Jerusalem. hinc dicitur, Uobis non est pars neque jus, neque memoria in Jerusalem. Transmisetunt autem Anathema hoc ad Israelitas qui erant in Babylonia.that the Cuthites (who were also called Samaritans) after they had been circumcised by Rabb. D…stai, and Rabbi Zacharias, and had been taught by them out of the Book of the Law; they were excommunicate by Ezra, Zerubbabel, and Ioshua the high Priest, 300. Priests, and 300. Disciples, and the whole Church, in the Temple; the Trumpets sounding, and the Levites singing; they did even by the great name of God, excommunicate the Cuthites, that there should be no fellow-ship between any man of Israel and the Cuthites, that no Proselyte should be received of the Cuthites; and that they should have no part in the resurrection of the dead, nor in the building of the house of God, nor in Ierusalem. This passage Doctor Buxtorf, in his Rabbinicall Lexicon, p. 2464. and Master Selden de Jure nat. & Gentium. l. 4. c. 8. have observed out of Pirke; and Doctor Buxtorf, both there and dissert de lit. Hebr. thes. 49. noteth the three words used by the Hebrews in this relation, foreign that is, they did excommunicate them both by Niddui, Cherem, and Schammata. And so much for the manner and rites.
As for the authority, by which a man was excommunicated, we see (by that which hath been already noted) that it was a publike and judiciall act, and it was necessary there should be at least an Assembly of ten. Those formulae before cited, make it evident, that it was an authoritative sentence of an Ecclesiasticall Assembly, (and therefore done as it were in name of the Court of heaven, to which purpose domus Judicii superioris seu coelestis, was mentioned in the businesse, and it was a juridicall or forensicall act, and done solemnly in the Temple, in that case of the Cuthites) Drusius de tribus Sectis Judaeorum lib. 4. Num. 237. concerning the Discipline of the Essaeans, and their Excommunicating of ungodly persons, tells us it was done by a hundreth men Assembled together. It is very true, which Mr. Selden observeth, de Jure nat. & Gentium l. 4. c. 8. the Hebrews writ of a Judiciall excommunication, and of an extrajudiciall excommunication, by which one private man might excommunicate another. Yet, that extrajudiciall excommunication could not stand in force, unlesse it were ratified by the Court; and of it selfe, it was rather optative, or imprecative, than obligative: as is manifest by the Instance, which dAnnot Gem in Ex. Sanhedrin. p. 147. R. Simon, si…. Lakisch custodiebat hortum. venit quidam & ficus caepit vovare. Ille inclamare: hic non nauci facere. Tum ille▪ excommunicatus esto. Tu vicissim inquit alter excommunicatus esto. Nam si ad pecuniam tibi obstrictus sum, numquid anathemati obnoxius sum? Adiit R. Lakisch super hoc Scholae rectores. Responsum est: Ipsius Anathema anathema est▪ tuum nullum est.Io. Coch gives us ex Gem. Moed Caton. Two men having mutually excommunicated each other, it commeth to an authoritative decision. He that had excommunicated the other, for that for which he ought to have been punished by a pecuniall mulct, but not by excommunication, was himself justly excommunicate by the other, according to the last of the 24. causes of excommunication before mentioned, that is, that he who unjustly excommunicateth another, shall be himselfe excommunicated. So the excommunicating of the one man for a civill injury was declared null: and the excommunicating of the other, for his unjust act of excommunication, was ratified. Which doth not onelyonly prove what I have said of private, or extrajudiciall excommunication: but also confirme what I asserted before, concerning the causes of excommunication, that it was not for personall or civill injuries, but for matter of scandall. And that pecuniary mulcts and excommunication, were not inflicted for the same but for different causes. And so much for the authority.
The effects of excommunication were eBuxtorf. Lexion Chald. Talm. & Rab. p. 1305. 828.these. He might not be admitted into an Assembly of ten persons. He might not sit within foure cubits to his neighbour. He might not shave▪ his hair, nor wash himself. It was not lawfull to eat nor drinke with him. He that dyed in excommunication got no Funerals, nor was there any mourning made for him, but a stone was set over him, to signifie that he was worthy to be stoned, because he did not repent, and because he was separated from the Church. An excommunicate person might not make up the number of ten, where there were nine. The reason was because he might not be acknowledged for a Church Member, or one who could make up a lawfull Assembly. Drusius de tribus sectis Judaeorum lib. 3. cap. 11. draweth two consequences from that excommunication of the Cuthites before mentioned. 1. That it was not lawfull for a Jew, to eat bread with a Samaritan. 2. That the Samaritans were cut off from the Jewish Church, and that without hope of regresse, being Shammatized.
It is more disputable, how farre forth Excommunication did deprive a man of the liberty of accesse into the Temple. The Talmudists hold, that of old an Excommunicate person might enter into the Temple, yet so as he might be known that he was Excommunicate. It is said in Pirke Rabb. Elieser cap. 17. that Solomon built two Gates, one for Bride-grooms, another for Mourners and Excommunicated persons; and when the Children of Israel, sitting between these two Gates, upon the Sabbath-dayes and Holy-dayes, did see a Bride-groome come in, they knew him, and did congratulate with him: but when they saw one come in at the doore of the mourners, having his Lips covered, they knew him to be a mourner, and said, He that dwells in this house, comfort thee. But when they saw one come in at the doore of mourners, with his Lips not covered, they knew him to be Excommunicated, and spake to him on this manner. He that dwells in this house comfort thee, and put into thy minde, to hearken unto thy Neighbours. The like you have in codice Middoth cap. 2. Sect. 2. where it is said that ordinarily, all that came into the Temple, did enter upon the right hand; and they went out upon the left hand, those excepted to whom some sad thing had befallen; and when it was asked of such a one, why dost thou enter upon the left hand, he either answered, that he was a mourner, and then it was said to him, He that dwells in this house comfort thee, or he answered, because I am Excommunicate (so readeth Buxtorf) or quia ego contaminatus rejicior (so readeth l' Empereur) and then it was said to him, He that dwells in this house, put into thy minde, to hearken to the words of thy companions, that they may restore thee. The same thing is cited e libro Musar by Drusius praeter. lib. 4. in Jo. 9. 22. His opinion is that foreign those that were separate and excommunicate by the lesser excommunication, were admitted into the Temple, in the manner aforesaid: but that they were not admitted into the Synagogue: because its added in libro Musar, (which I finde also added in the fore-mentioned place of Pirke R Elies.) that after the temple was destroyed, it was decreed, that Bride-grooms and Mourners should come into the Synagogues, and that they in the Synagogue, should congratulate with the one, & condole with the other. Behold saith Drusius, no mention here of excommunicate persons, for they did not come into the Synagogues. Peradventure every Excommunicate person, had not accesse to the Temple neither, but he that was extrajudicially, or by private persons excommunicate, as those words might seeme to intimate, He that dwells in this house put into thy mind, to hearken to thy neighbours or companions, that they may restore thee. Or if you take it to extend to judiciall excommunication, then Hen. Vorstius doth expound it, animad. in Pirke p. 169. fDe his meritò dubitari potest, num licuerit ipsis sacra adire limina, imprimis qui severi…i ex communicationis genere vel foreign multati erant. Quis enim dicat Apostatam, blasphemum, al…á que sacra capita intra Templum suisse admissa? De foreign alia ratio …sse potest, eum his spes veniae non fuerit adempta.so, as it may be understood onelyonly of the lesser excommunication, when there was still hope of repentance, and reconciliation. So Io. Coch. ubi supra pag. 149. thinks that an excommunicate person was not altogether cast out of the Synagogue, but was permitted to heare, and to be partaker of the Doctrine, but otherwise and in other things he was separate, and not acknowledged for a Church Member; and this he saith of foreign menudde, of him that was simply excommunicate by the lesser excommunication or Niddui. But he saith otherwise of him that was excommunicate with Cherem. Non docet, non docetur. He is neither permitted to teach, nor to be taught. Grotius on Luke 6. 22. tells us, that excommunicate persons under Niddui, came no otherwise to the Temple than Heathens did, that is, had no liberty to come into the Court of Israel. However, such as were excommunicate by Cherem were not permitted to come neere the Temple, saith Master Weemse in his Christian Synag. p. 138. An excommunicate person of the first sort, (Niddui,) when he came to the Temple, or Synagogue, you see (by what hath been said) he was there publikely bearing his shame, and looked upon as one separate from the Communion of the people of God. And so much for the effects.
The end of Excommunication was spirituall, gM. Selden de …ure natur. & Gentium lib. 4. cap. 8. Effectus ac finit excommunicationis hujusmodi, Jure communi erat, ut solitae popularium consuetudin… libertate reu… privaretur, usque dum panitentiâ ad bonam mentem rediens solveretur sententiâ.that a sinner being by such publike shame and separation humbled, might be gained to repentance, and thereby his soule saved; (which is the end of Church Discipline, not of civill censures.) The Court waited 90. dayes upon his Repentance, and did not proceed to Cherem, except in case of his continuing impenitency, when all that time he gave no signe of repentance, nor sought absolution.
From all that hath been said, I hope it's fully manifest, that the Jewish excommunication was an Ecclesiasticall censure, and not (as (hIndependency examined pag. 10. Vindic. of the 4. Questions p. 4. 5 Master Prynne would have it) a civill excommunication, like to an outlary at Common Law.
I conclude with a passage of Drusius de Tribus Sectis Judaeorum lib. 4. cap. 22. concerning the Essaeans, who did most religiously retaine the Discipline of Excommunication. Jus dicturi inter se congregantur centum viri, qui eos quos deprehenderint reos & improbos expellunt e caetu suo. These words he citeth out of Salmanticensis. Being to Judge or give sentence among themselves, a hundreth men are gathered together, who doe expell from their Assembly those whom they find to be guilty and ungodly. He addeth this Testimony of Rufinus. Deprehensos verò in peccatis à sua congregatione depellunt. Such as are deprehended in sinnes they put away from their Congregation. Loe, an Ecclesiasticall Excommunication because of scandalous sinnes.