Sunday a Sabbath, Chapter 9
CHAP. IX. Of the etymologie of the name Sabbath: And firſt, of the abuſive derivations of it by Appion, Juſtine, and Plutarch, by way of contempt of the Jewes: Their Religion and manners.
THe ſecond point propoſed concerning the name Sabbath, (for that is the right writing, and wee muſt ſtick to it) is the etymologie of it; wherein, comparing ſome collections of mine owne with what I have met withall ſince, in Doctor Prideaux his Lecture, and Doctor Gomarus his Inveſtigation of the Sabbath, I finde that, for a good part, wee have all of us light upon the like obſervations, yet without conſpiracie or plagiarie dealing with one another: for, though that Booke of Doctor Gomarus came forth foure yeers after Doctor Prideaux his Lecture was in print, yet when hee publiſhed the Defence of it two yeere after (ſixe in all) hee had not ſeene it, as in the tenth Chapter of his later Booke, hee aDe quibus etiam & doctiſſimi Doctoris Prideaux in oratione de Sabbato conſenſionem extare eodem judicio libenter intelleximus, etſi eam orationem videndi faelicitas nondum contigeret. D. Gomar, Defenſ. Inveſt. cap. 10. p. 136.expreſſely profeſſeth: and before either the one or the other came abroad, viz. at leaſt two yeeres before the Act in the yeere 1622. (when our learned Doctor firſt delivered his Lecture of the Sabbath) I had noted moſt of the obſervations of the notation of the name, as ſome of good place well know, to whom (upon ſpeciall occaſion) I imparted them, with other points of this Argument in writing: whereto if I adde any thing of theirs, for which I am beholding to them, I ſhall not bee more ready to make uſe of it, then to give thankes for it, by a reſpective mention of their names: and ſo ſhall I deale with all other Authours, as they ſhall give mee occaſion in the like kinde; yet not doubting, but they may meet with ſome animadverſions of mine, by which (if I borrow ought) they may account themſelves to be paid, and mee ſufficiently quit of that debt.
The derivations of the word Sabbath are foure; (derivations I ſay, not etymologies, for that word ſignifieth right ſpeech; and moſt of them are wrong) two of them are aliens from the Common-weale of Iſrael, or at leaſt ſtragglers out of their owne Tribe, and have no kindred with the ſtock or roote from whence the word Sabbath is deduced.
The firſt is that of Appion the Grammarian, againſt whom Joſephus wrote two books, which is that of the Egyptian word Sabbo, which, as bHoſp. de orig. feſt. Judaeor. & Ethn. cap. 3. f. 7. pag. b.Hoſpinian out of Giraldus obſerveth, ſignifieth the ſpleene; but by cJoſephus againſt App. l. 2. pag. 783.Joſephus in his ſecond Booke againſt Appion, it is taken for a diſeaſe in the privie parts: upon which Appion telleth this tale, viz. That the Jewes, troubled with it in their journey out of Egypt, (for ſixe dayes together) were conſtrained the ſeventh day to reſt; and thereupon, when they came into Judea, they kept an holiday under that name. Juſtine the Hiſtorian telleth rather the Fable then the Story, in another manner; dCum ſcabiem Egyptii & pruriginem paterentur. Juſt. l. 36. p. 284. Edit. Meae, the edition which Dr. Gomar. followeth, readeth ſcabiem vitiliginem. Gomar. Inveſtig. Sab. cap. 1. pag. 2.The Egyptians, ſaith hee, being infected by the Jewes with the ſcab and itch; but (as ſome have it) with the leproſie, were warned (leſt the diſeaſe ſhould ſpread any farther) to drive out Moſes and his diſeaſed country-men, who having wandred ſeven dayes in the deſart of Arabia, with much hunger and labour, at mount Sinai obtained an end of both: and therefore there they ſet up the Sabbath, as a remembrance of their freedome from famine and wandring: and being expelled from the Egyptians, for feare of the infection, lest for that cauſe they ſhould grow odious to other people, they forbad, and forbare communion with them, and by degrees turned their turning out of Egypt into a matter of diſcipline and religion: So Juſtine in the fore-cited place. But whatſoever Moſes and the Jewes did by way of digreſſion in the deſart, hee wandreth farre wide from truth in this Diſcourſe: but no marvell, in matters of this kinde, hee was a blinde man without a guide.
The ſecond errour is that of Plutarch, which I could not but obſerve, having read him through with diligence and delight, upon the eſpeciall commendation of eApud Claud. verd. Cenſion in Auth. p. 174.Theodorus Gaza, who ſaid of him, That if he muſt read but one mans Books, hee would confine himſelfe to Plutarch: the more pitie to obſerve, in ſo worthy a Writer, ſo foule an errour as now I muſt note (as fCaelius Rhodigin. Antiq. lection. lib. 7. c. 15 col. 302. Hoſpin. de origin. Feſt. Judaeor. & Ethn. cap. 4. ſol. 7. pag. b. D. Prid. Lect. de Sab. p. 131. D. Gomar. Inveſt. Sab. cap. 1. pag. 2. D. Walaeus deſertat. de 4to Praecepto. c. 1. pag. 2.others have done) about the notation of the word Sabbath, hee having (in divers particulars) charged the Jewes with riotous rites, like the Services of Bacchus, in their principall gPlutarc. Sympos. lib. 4. cap. 5. pag. 712.Feaſts, will have it, That their Sabbath holdeth neere affinity with the Feaſt of Aſebeſis, foreign.which in the grammaticall ſenſe doth ſignifie impiety and prophaneneſſe, (as hBudaeus in Locico.Budaeus renders it) but in Plutarch it is taken for the inordinate motion and agitation of the people devoted to Bacchus, who are called in many places of Greece Sabboi, and who (in their Bacchinals) uſed to reiterate theſe words, Evoi and Sabboi, as appeareth in the Oration of the Crowne which Demoſthenes made againſt Eſchines, as alſo in the Poet Menander: So farre Plutarch, more like a vaine Poet, then a grave Hiſtorian, as moſt what hee was.
To which purpoſe it is pertinent to obſerve, that (as iHenſius exercit. ſacr. cap. 1. pag. 11.Henſius hath it) Sabaſius is one of the names of Bacchus, among the Greeks, and thence is Sabazein, a word uſed (as kforeign, Budaeus Lexic. verb. foreign.Budaeus noteth) among the Thracians, importing Bacchanall exceſſe, and diſorder: from that Plutarch, ſaith Henſius, inſinuates the Hebrew word Sabbath to bee derived; but hee is deceived (I meane Plutarch) for both word and practice are rather Greek then Hebrew; and hence is that which lGraeco more potare, interpretantur quidem grandibus poculis ſe invitare. Cael Rhod. lib. 18. cap. 16. col. 1292. princip.Rhodiginus noteth of the Grecians, viz. That to drink after the manner of the Greeks, is to provoke one another to exceſſe with great cups; and Pergraecari, in Plautus, is taken for exceſſive eating and drinking, and other riotous and diſorderly living; and of one of that humour, wee uſe to ſay, in our language, Hee is a merry Greeke.
And it may bee, Plutarch, though hee were a Boetian, and not a Cretian, and ſo came not under the reproach of the Apoſtle, (borrowed of the heathen Poet) who ſaith of the Cretians, that they are alwayes lyars, Tit. 1.12. yet as a Grecian, (for a Grecian is in a little better credit for truth with the mQuicquid Graecia mendax audet in Hiſtoria. Juvenal. Satyr. 14. pag. 89.Latine Poet, then a Cretian with the Greek) hee might uſe ſome of the outlaſhing and lawleſſe liberty of his native Countrey, either in faining of his owne, or ſpreading others reproaches againſt the Jewes; but to conclude with him, as hee corrupts the derivation of the word Sabbath, ſo in the ſame place doth hee the word Levita, deriving it from [Evios] another name of Bacchus: And if hee had thought of it, (ſuch was his ſcornefull ſpight toward the Jewes) it is like hee would have derived the word Hebraeus from ebrius, a drunkard; and had he underſtood the Hebrew, it may bee hee would have drawne it (as a full cup from an Hebrew veſſell) out of the word Saba, which ſignifieth, as nforeign, Dan. Henſ. exer. ſacr. c. 1. p. 11.Henſius giveth it in the Greek, to drinke profoundly, and to bee full of wine: but neither could that diſparage the parentage of the word Sabbath: for Saba is written with Samech, and Sabbath with Scin; and yet I confeſſe (beſides the Pagan oppoſitions, and contempts of all Religions but their owne, which moſt of all deſerved them) there might bee, and was much miſcarriage in the manners of the Jewes (well knowne to the Greeks) which might give occaſion of ſuch a ſcandall and ſcorne as Plutarch hath taken up againſt them, and others partly from him have put upon them, though his derivation of the name Sabbath, for all that, bee no Btymologie, but a Pſeudologie.
And it is very like, that their exceſſes of that ſort procured their reproach; for Saint Auguſtine comparing our Saviours caveat in Saint Luke, Take heede, that your hearts be not over-charged with ſurfetting and drunkenneſſe, and with the cares of this life, and ſo that day come upon you at unawares, Luk 21.34. with that in Saint Matthew, Pray that your ſlight be not in Winter, nor on the Sabbath day, Matth. 24.20. referreth the cares of this life to the winter, and ſurfetting and drunkenneſſe to the Sabbath; which evill, ſaith oCrapula vero & ebrietas, carnali laetitia, luxuriaque cor ſubmergit, arque obruit, quod malum Sabbati nomine propterea ſigniſicatum quia hoc erat (ſicut ut nune eſt) Judaeorum peſſima conſuetudo illo die deliciis affluere, dum ſpirituale Sabbatum ignorant. Aug. de conſenſu. Evangeliſt. lib. 2. cap. 77. pag. 536. tom. 4. part. 1. pag. 635, 636.hee, is ſignified by the name of the Sabbath, becauſe this was, and yet is the impious practice of the Jewes, to overflow (that day) with carnall delights, not knowing the ſpirituall obſervation of the Sabbath. And it may be alſo, that in their ſports, as well as in their meats and drinks, they were too neere allied to Bacchanall behaviours; for Saint Auguſtine in the 91. Pſalme chargeth them not only with luxurie, but with trifling vanity, and wickedneſſe of other kindes: pEcce hodiernus dies Sabbati eſt hunc in praeſenti tempore otio quodam corporaliter languido & luxurioſo, celebrant Judaei: vacant enim ad nugas, & cum Deus praeceperit obſervari Sabbatum, illi in his quae Deus prohibet, exercent Sabbatum: vacatio noſtra à malis, vacatio illorum à bonis operibus: meliù, enim eſt arare, quam ſaltare. Auguſt. in Pſal. 91. tom. 8. part. 2. pag. 158.They are at leaſure for toyes, ſaith hee, and for ſuch things as God forbids: our Reſt ſhould bee a reſtraint from wicked workes, but theirs is from good works: it is better to plow, which they do not, then to dance, which they do on that day.
And thus much for the erroneous derivations of the name Sabbath out of Heathen and Chriſtian Authours: which were too much for the notation of the Name; but that withall there may bee intimation given of more caution to all that profeſſe the Goſpel of Chriſt, to looke to their lives, that they bee ſo much more fearfull to give (as ſome are more forward to take up) occaſion of ſcandall and calumnie againſt them; that Chriſtians to Pagans, orthodox Chriſtians to Hereticks, Catholicks to Papiſts, ſtrict Profeſſors to Proteſtants at large, miniſter no matter of reproach in their manner of obſerving the day and time eſpecially dedicated to Gods ſolemne worſhip, that, as at all times, ſo at ſuch moſt of all, they bee carefull to conforme themſelves to that of the Apoſtle, Let every one that nameth the name of Chriſt depart from iniquity, 2 Tim. 2.19. And let this advertiſement (at the entrance of the doctrine of the Sabbath) be as an Inſcription or Title on the Porch of the Temple, that all prophaneneſſe may bee kept procul à Fano, both farre from the Church, and farre from the Sabbath, which is moſt ſolemnly to be ſanctified in it.