The Temple in the Days of our Savior Described, Chapter 25
CHAP. XXV. The Wood roome foreign and the roome Parhedrin. foreign
THe Pile of building that we are now about, joined to the water-gate on the weſt ſide of it, and it carried a double name: for it was called either foreign The chamber or roome of the wood, or foreign The roome of Parhedrin. It was called the roome of the wood, becauſe that after the blemiſhed prieſts had wormed the wood, in a roome of the ſame name in a corner of the Court of the women, as we have obſerved, they brought that that they found fit for the Altar, into this roome that it might be neare, and ready to be carried to the Altar when there was occaſion.
As for the other name that this building carried, it is written two wayes[a]Joma per. 1. The Babylon Talmud [b]Beth habbechir. per. 5.Maymony and ſome others read it with r and call it foreign The chamber of Parhedrin. But the Jeruſalem Talmud, [c]In Ioma ubi ſupr.Miſhnaioth in octave, &c. read it with l and call it foreign The chamber of Palhedrin: about which difference we ſhall not controvert: Now though the two Talmuds doe thus varie one letter in this matter of the name, yet they both agree upon another matter and ſay that in old time, it had been called foreign [d]Talm: uter que in Gemae.The chamber of the Counſellers. I obſerve alſo from Maymony, that it was called the Highprieſts chamber, by a ſigular Propriety: for ſpeaking of putting of the High-prieſt apart for ſeven dayes before the day of expiation into this roome (for ſo the Talmuds in the place cited in the margin informe us) he expreſſeth it thus foreign [e]Maym. in Iom. haccipp. per. 1.They put him apart from his owne houſe into this chamber in the Sanctuary. And ſo the Jeruſalem Talmud doth alſo call it, though it doe not expreſſe it by the proper name when it ſaith foreign that[f]Tal. Jeruſ. ubi ſupr. The High-prieſt was put for a certaine time into the chamber of Abhtines which was over the Water-gate, and which joyned to his owne chamber: And here by the way you may obſerve, that this wood-roome, and roome of Parbedrin did joyne to the Water-gate as we have ſeated it: the one roome being over the other, the wood roome below and Parbedrin above.
Now it was called the High-prieſts chamber, not ſo much for that he was put apart hither for a few daies in the yeare, as for that it was ordinarily imployed by the High-prieſt to call his brethren of the Prieſthood together in it, to conſult about the affaires of the Temple and the ſervice: ſo that it was as the Veſtry, or as I may ſo expreſſe it, the Deane and Chapter-roome, where they met together in conſultation about ſuch matters: We have obſerved*Temple-Service, chap. 5. elſewhere, that beſides the High-prieſt, there was the Sagan, two Katholikin, ſeven Immarcalin, and three Gizbarin, which were principall officers in the Temple for the receiving, diſburſing, and taking care of the ſtock of it, and providing for the repaires of the buildings and the due adminiſtration of the ſervice: Theſe were the foreign Counſellors of the Temple, that adviſed and tooke care for the welfare of it, and this was the roome where they ſate conſtantly in counſell for that purpoſe: and hereupon it was called the chamber of the Counſellors. The reaſon of the change of its name into the chamber of Palhedrin, or Parhedrin (read it whether way you will) the Gemara of the Talmud in the place cited above giveth in theſe words. It was called the chamber of the Counſellor still the High-prieſthood began to be bought and ſold for money, and came to be changed often: theſe counſellors were then alſo changed often and then it was called the chamber of Parhedrin. The meaning ſeemeth to be this, that whilſt the High-prieſthood ſtood and remained in its beauty and integrity, the High-prieſt and his brethren, kept a ſolemne and grave counſell table here for the benefit and advancement of the Temple, but when money and prowling did make and change High-prieſts, money and ſilver did alſo make members of this councell, and they ſought themſelves rather then the publicke, the people therefore could not finde in their hearts to call them Counſellors, but called them Parhedrin or Sitters onelyonly. Yet were they alſo called Counſellors even while they were called Parhedrin, to diſtinguiſh them from the great Councell: Joſeph of Arimathea was on: of theſe Mark. 15.43.
The word Parhedrin is as like the Greeke word foreign, as Sanhedrin is like foreign, and it may very well be conjectured, that ſince the great Sanhedrin and Society, were both Counſellors, that this company was called Parhedrin, to diſtinguiſh it from the Sanhedrin: eſpecially conſidering how neere they ſate together, there being but the Water-gate and the Well-roome, betweene this roome and Gazith: There ſate the great Councell of the nation, and it was called Sanhedrin, and here ſate the Councell of the Temple and it was called Parhedrin: that is Aſſeſſores, or the Councell that ſate neare the Sanhedrin: And thus were there foure Councells in the Temple: three of them not onelyonly Councells but Judicatories, namely the great Sanhedrin of 71. and the two leſſer Sanbedrins of 23. And this of Prieſts which was not ſo properly a Judicatory as meerely a Councell.
The Jeruſalem Talmud expoundeth the word Palhedrin foreign (for ſo it readeth it) by the word foreign, a word of as much obſcurity as the other: It is like it is ſome Greeke or Latine word of Priority, but not eaſily pitched upon particularly: Baal Aruch renders Palbedrin by a word as hard as it ſelfe too, namely by foreign Agardemin: but he facilitates it it by this interpretation, namely that it ſignifies[g]Aruch in foreign The overſeers of the weights and meaſures, that were to looke to the Ephah and the Hin, that they were right, and ſealed them, and they ſmote thoſe that kept ſhop in the mountaine of the houſe, if they ſold too deare, and they bade them ſell cheaper.