Exposition of the Laws of Moses, Exegesis 8 · Chapter 11
CHAPTER XI. Whether the Iewes might chuſe Herod for their King or not?
DEVT. 17.15. Thou mayſt not ſet a ſtranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
THe Iewes diſtinguiſh thoſe who were Gentiles both by father and mother, from thoſe who were borne Iewes. Thoſe who were ſtrangers both by father and mother, they called them Bagbag, by a contraction,foreign Filius Proſelyti et Proſelyta. for Benger, and Bengerah, that is, filius proſelyti & proſelytae, and they were called foreign; but thoſe who were Iewes both by father and mother, were called Hebraei ex Hebreaes, Phil. 3.5. an Hebrew of an Hebrew, that is, both by father and mother they were Hebrewes, and they were called foreign, and foreign.
Two ſorts of Proſelytes.The Proſelytes that were converted from Gentiliſme to Iudaiſme, were of two ſorts; if they were newly converted, they were called Gerim, which the Seventie tranſlate foreign;foreign Extrantus foreign Inhabitans. foreign Inquilinus. if they had dwelt long amongſt them, then they were called Toſhibhim, inquilini, and the Seventie tranſlate them foreign, as yee would ſay, Pariſhioners; ſuch a ſtranger was Achir, Iudith 14. who beleeved in God and was circumciſed.
Thoſe Proſelytes who were converted to the faith, and continued in the faith of their Parents,foreign Gentilis fundamentalis. foreign Iudigena. they were called [Goignikkere] Gentiles fundamentales, that is, Gentiles who embraced the grounds of Religion, and theſe became [Ezrahhim] Indigenae.
When the Proſelytes might enter into the Congregation.Theſe Proſelytes although they were converted, yet they might not enter into the Congregation untill the third generation, that is, they might beare no publicke charge untill that time.
God himſelfe diſtinguiſhed the Edomite and the Egyptian from other ſtrangers, Deut. 23.7.Edomites and Egyptians diſtinguiſhed from other ſtrangers. He will not hauehave his people to account them as other ſtrangers, Thou ſhalt not abhorre an Edomite, becauſe he is thy brother; and hence we may ſee,The reaſons why Herod might be King. why the Iewes might chooſe Herod for their King: Firſt, becauſe he was an Idumean their brother; ſecondly, becauſe he was the ſonne of Parents who were Proſelytes, Antipar & Antipas both Proſelytes: Thirdly, he himſelfe was a Iew by profeſſion, and ſtanding in the third generation, therefore he might enter into the Congregation, and they might chooſe him for their King. Herodiani certaine wicked Iewes tooke Herod for their Meſſias, now if Herod had not beene accounted a Iew, they would never hauehave acknowledged him for their Meſſias.
The name of a Iew is taken ſometimes largely,The name [Iew] taken ſtrictly or largely. and ſometimes ſtrictly; when it is taken largely, it comprehendeth all which were Iewes by profeſſion, Eſth. 8.17. many became Iewes.
Sometimes againe it is taken more ſtrictly for thoſe Iewes who dwelt on the weſt ſide of Iordan, and they were called Iudaei Hieroſolymitani, the Iewes that dwelt about Ieruſalem, Luk. 3.1. Pilate was governour of Iuda, and Herod of Galilie; Iuda here is ſtrictly taken; but ſometimes Herod is called King of the Iewes, here it is largely taken, Mat. 2.1.
So the name [Gentile] is taken ſometime ſtrictly,The name (Gentile) taken ſtrictly or largely. as Paul applieth it to the converted Gentiles, Galat. 2.12. but when Chriſt ſaid, Goe not into the way of the Gentiles, Mat. 10.5. Here it is taken largely, for all the Gentiles.
Object. But Ioſephus calleth Herod but a private man,Lib. 14 cap. 11. &c. 17. therefore it may ſeeme that the Iewes never acknowledged Herod for their King, and the Iewes ſaid of Herod, Quòd non eſt rex, ne que filius regis.
Anſw. Why Herod was called a private man.The reaſon why he was called a private man was this, becauſe he was not deſcended of the Prieſts; for at that time the poſteritie of David carried no ſway amongſt the people, but onelyonly the poſteritie of the Prieſts, and whoſoever were not Prieſts,foreign Populus terra. were called [Gnim haaretz] populus terrae, ſee Ioſephus lib. 14. cap. 12.
If yee will reſpect Herods firſt deſcent, then he may be called Alienigena, and not Iudaeus; in his firſt deſcent he is foreign, and tranſcriptus, and his Kingdome may be called Malcoth Hagerim, foreignthe reigne of a ſtranger, but becauſe Herods father, and grandfather were not altogether ſtrangers from the people of God (for they were Edomites and Proſelytes) therefore he was not reckoned as a ſtranger: but it fell out amongſt the Iewes, as it did amongſt the Romanes and Athenians, that thoſe who were foreign, and adſcriptitij, were alwayes hated of thoſe who were naturall and inbred Citizens: So the Iewes hated thoſe who were Proſelytes, becauſe of the old hatred that was betwixt the Iewes and the Gentiles; and they made a Canon amongſt them, Vt caverent ſibi in decimam generationem a Proſelytis.
Concluſion. We may conclude this point then, that the Iewes might ſafely chooſe Herod for their King now, being a Iew by profeſſion, and deſcended of Parents who were Iewes by profeſſion: and the latter Iewes diſtinguiſhed not well betwixt Ger and Goi, who reckoned Herod ever to be a ſtranger.