• Torah (T): Wayiqra (Leviticus) 15:1-33
• Prophets (P): Hosea 6:1-9
• Apostolic (A): Mark 5:24-34
• Additional (ADD): Baruch (Letter of Jeremiah) 6:1-29

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Leviticus 22:1-9 (T)
• Numbers 5:1-4 (T)
• Leviticus 7:18-21 (T)
• Leviticus 11:31-35 (T)
• Genesis 31:32-35 (T)
• Exodus 38:8; 1 Samuel 2:22 (T)
• 2 Samuel 11:1-4 (T)
• Isaiah 64:5-7 (T)
• Ezekiel 18:5-9; 22:9-11 (T)
• Ezekiel 36:16-20 (T)
• Leviticus 18:19 (T)
• Matthew 9:19-22; Mark 5:24-34; Luke 8:40-48 (T)
• 1 Peter 3:1-7 (T)
• 1 Corinthians 7:1-5 (T)
• 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (T)
• Matthew 9:9-13 (P)

RELATED ADDITIONAL REA.D.INGS

• 2 Esdras 5:1-8 (T)
•  Additions to Esther 14:1-19 (T)
• The Damascus Document 4Q272 Fragment 1 Column 2; 4Q266 Fragment 9 Column 2 (T)
• Ordinances 4Q514 Fragment 1 Column 1 (T)
• Laws for Purification 4Q284 (T)
• Ritual Purity Laws Concerning Menstruation 4Q278 (T)
• Portions of Sectarian Law 4Q265 Fragment 7 Column 2 (T)
• Jubilees 3:1-14 (T)
• A Commentary on Hosea 4Q167 Fragment 7 (P)
• Leviticus 15:1-33 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Josephus, Wars of the Jews 5.5.6; 6.9.1-3 (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 3.11.3 (T)
• Josephus, Against Apion 2.8 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

15:1 YHWH spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, because of his discharge he is unclean. 3 This will be his uncleanness in his discharge: whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body has stopped from his discharge, it is his uncleanness. [All the days of the discharge of his body, even if his body obstructs his discharge, it is his uncleanness.]^{(DSS)(LXX)(SP)} 4 Every bed on which he who has the discharge lies will be unclean; and everything he sits on will be unclean. 5 Whoever touches his bed will wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 6 He who sits on anything on which the man who has the discharge sat will wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 7 He who touches the body of him who has the discharge will wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 8 If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he will wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 9 Whatever saddle he who has the discharge rides on will be unclean [until the evening].^(LXX) 10 Whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until the evening. He who carries those things will wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 11 Whomever he who has the discharge touches, without having rinsed his hands in water, he will wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 12 The vessel of clay, which he who has the discharge touches, will be broken; and every vessel of wood will be rinsed in water. 13 When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he will count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he will bathe his flesh in living water, and will be clean. 14 On the eighth day he will take two turtledoves, or two sons of a dove, and come before YHWH to the door of the Appointed Tent, and give them to the priest. 15 The priest will offer them, the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering. The priest will make atonement for him before YHWH for his discharge. 16 If any man has an emission of semen, then he will bathe all his flesh in water, and be unclean until the evening. 17 Every garment and every skin which the semen is on will be washed with water, and be unclean until the evening. 18 If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, they will both bathe themselves in water, and be unclean until the evening. 19 If a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her flesh is blood, she will be in her impurity seven days. Whoever touches her will be unclean until the evening. 20 Everything that she lies on in her impurity will be unclean. Everything also that she sits on will be unclean. 21 Whoever touches her bed will wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 22 Whoever touches anything that she sits on will wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 23 If it is on the bed, or on anything she sits on, when he touches it, he will be unclean until the evening. 24 If any man lies with her, and her monthly flow is on him, he will be unclean seven days; and every bed he lies on will be unclean. 25 If a woman has a discharge of her blood many days not in the time of her seperation, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her seperation, all the days of the discharge of her uncleanness will be as in the days of her seperation. She is unclean. 26 Every bed she lies on all the days of her discharge will be to her as the bed of her seperation. Everything she sits on will be unclean, as the uncleanness of her seperation. 27 Whoever touches these things will be unclean, and will wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. 28 But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she will count to herself seven days, and after that she will be clean. 29 On the eighth day she will take two turtledoves, or two sons of a dove, and bring them to the priest, to the door of the Appointed Tent. 30 The priest will offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering; and the priest will make atonement for her before YHWH for the uncleanness of her discharge. 31 Thus you will separate the sons of Israel from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.’ ” 32 This is the Torah of him who has a discharge, and of him who has an emission of semen, so that he is unclean by it; 33 and of her who is sick [hemorrhaging]^(LXX) in her separation, and of a man or woman who has a discharge, and of him who lies with her who is unclean.

Prophets Portion (P)

6:1 “Come! Let’s return to YHWH; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds. 2 After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him. 3 Let’s acknowledge YHWH. Let’s press on to know YHWH. As surely as the sun rises, YHWH will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the land.” 4 “Ephraim, what will I do to you? Judah, what will I do to you? For your love is like a morning cloud, and like the dew that disappears early. 5 Therefore I have cut them to pieces with the prophets; I killed them with the words of my mouth, ans [my] judgment goes forth as the light. 6 For I desire mercy, and not slaughter; and the knowledge of Elohim more than burnt offerings. 7 But they, like Adam, have crossed over the covenant. They were unfaithful to me there. 8 Gilead is a city of those who work iniquity; it is stained with blood. 9 As gangs of robbers wait to ambush a man, so the company of priests murder on the path toward Shechem, committing shameful crimes.

Apostolic Portion (A)

5:24 He went with him, and a great multitude followed him, and they pressed upon him on all sides. 25 A woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and had suffered many things by many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse, 27 having heard the things concerning Yeshua, came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. 28 For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well.” 29 Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. 30 Immediately Yeshua, perceiving in himself that the power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” 31 His disciples said to him, “You see the multitude pressing against you, and you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” 32 He looked around to see her who had done this thing. 33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had been done to her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your disease.”

Additional Portion (ADD)

The Book of Baruch is named after Baruch ben Neriah, Jeremiah’s well-known scribe, who is mentioned at Baruch 1:1, and has been presumed to be the author of the whole work. The Letter of Jeremiah is a book in the Roman canon appended as a sixth chapter to the book of Baruch. The work is a letter sent by Jeremiah to Jews exiled to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar in 597 B.C., but it is not a letter, nor was it written by Jeremiah. It is a polemic against the worship of idols, developed around a verse in The Book of Jeremiah (10:11), stating that false elohim will perish. Possibly composed about 300 B.C. by a Jew living in Babylonia, the text suggests by its intensity that idolatry threatened fidelity to the Elohim of Israel. The author’s primary target was probably the Babylonian deity Tammuz, an agricultural elohim whose cult was associated with orgiastic fertility rites. Although the letter is extant only in Greek, certain linguistic and stylistic elements point to an original composition in Hebrew or Aramaic.

6:1 A copy of a letter, which Jerem[iah] sent to them which were to be led captives into Babylon by the king of the Babylonians, to certify them, as it was commanded him of Elohim. 2 Because of the sins which you have committed before Elohim, you will be led away captives to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of the Babylonians. 3 So when you come to Babylon, you will remain there many years, and for a long season, even for seven generations: and after that I will bring you out peaceably from thence. 4 But now will you see in Babylon elohim of silver, and of gold, and of wood, borne upon shoulders, which cause the nations to fear. 5 Beware therefore that you in no wise become like to the strangers, neither let fear take hold upon you because of them, when you see the multitude before them and behind them, worshiping them. 6 But say you in your hearts, O Lord, we must worship you. 7 For my angel is with you, and I myself do care for your souls. 8 For their tongue is polished by the workman, and they themselves are overlaid with gold and with silver; yet are they but false, and can’t speak. 9 And taking gold, as it were for a virgin that loves to be happy, they make crowns for the heads of their elohim: 10 and sometimes also the priests convey from their elohim gold and silver, and bestow it upon themselves; 11 and will even give thereof to the common whores: and they deck them as men with garments, even the elohim of silver, and elohim of gold, and of wood. 12 Yet can’t these elohim save themselves from rust and moths, though they be covered with purple raiment. 13 They wipe their faces because of the dust of the temple, which is thick upon them. 14 And he that can’t put to death one that offends against him holds a sceptre, as though he were judge of a country. 15 He has also a dagger in his right hand, and an axe: but can’t deliver himself from war and robbers. 16 Whereby they are known not to be elohim: therefore fear them not. 17 For like as a vessel that a man uses is nothing worth when it is broken; even so it is with their elohim: when they be set up in the temples their eyes be full of dust through the feet of those who come in. 18 And as the courts are made sure on every side upon him that offends the king, as being committed to suffer death; even so the priests make fast their temples with doors, with locks, and bars, lest they be carried off by robbers. 19 They light them candles, yes, more than for themselves, whereof they can’t see one. 20 They are as one of the beams of the temple; and men say their hearts are eaten out, when things creeping out of the land devour both them and their raiment: they feel it not 21 when their faces are blackened through the smoke that comes out of the temple: 22 bats, swallows, and birds land on their bodies and heads; and in like manner the cats also. 23 Whereby you may know that they are no elohim: therefore fear them not. 24 Notwithstanding the gold wherewith they are beset to make them beautiful, except one wipe off the rust, they will not shine: for not even when they were molten did they feel it. 25 Things wherein there is no breath are bought at any cost. 26 Having no feet, they are borne upon shoulders, whereby they declare to men that they be nothing worth. 27 They also that serve them are ashamed: for if they fall to the ground at any time, they can’t rise up again of themselves: neither, if they are bowed down, can they make themselves straight: but the offerings are set before them, as if they were dead men. 28 And the things that are slaughtered to them, their priests sell and spend; and in like manner their wives also lay up part thereof in salt; but to the poor and to the impotent they will give nothing thereof. 29 The menstruous woman and the woman in childbed touch their slaughters: knowing therefore by these things that they are no elohim, fear them not.

Related Scriptures

22:1 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to separate themselves from the holy of the sons of Israel, which they make holy to me, and that they not profane my holy name. I am YHWH. 3 “Tell them, ‘If anyone of all your seed throughout your generations approaches the holy which the sons of Israel make holy to YHWH, having his uncleanness on him, that soul will be cut off from before me. I am YHWH. 4 Whoever of the seed of Aaron is infected or has a discharge will not eat of the holy until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man who has seed going out from him, 5 or whoever touches any creeping thing by which he may be made unclean, or a man from whom he may become unclean, whatever uncleanness he has— 6 the person that touches any such will be unclean until the evening, and will not eat of the holy unless he bathes his body in water. 7 When the sun is down, he will be clean; and afterward he will eat of the holy, because it is his bread. 8 He will not eat that which dies of itself or is torn by animals, defiling himself by it. I am YHWH. 9 They will therefore follow my commandment, lest they bear sin for it and die in it, if they profane it. I am YHWH who sanctifies them.

5:1 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel that they put out of the camp every infected, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is unclean by a corpse. 3 You will put both male and female outside of the camp so that they don’t defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.” 4 The sons of Israel did so, and put them outside of the camp; as YHWH spoke to Moses, so the sons of Israel did.

7:18 If any of the meat of the slaughter of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted, and it will not be credited to him who offers it. It will be an abomination, and the soul who eats any of it will bear his iniquity. 19 The meat that touches any unclean thing will not be eaten. It will be burned with fire. As for the meat, everyone who is clean may eat it; 20 but the soul who eats of the meat of the slaughter of peace offerings that belongs to YHWH, having his uncleanness on him, that soul will be cut off from his people. 21 When anyone touches any unclean thing, the uncleanness of man, or an unclean animal, or any unclean abomination, and eats some of the meat of the slaughter of peace offerings which belong to YHWH, that soul will be cut off from his people.

11:31 These are they which are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until the evening. 32 Anything they fall on when they are dead will be unclean; whether it is any vessel of wood, or clothing, or skin, or sack, whatever vessel it is, with which any work is done, it must be put into water, and it will be unclean until the evening. Then it will be clean. 33 Every vessel of clay into which any of them falls and all that is in it will be unclean. You will break it. 34 All food which may be eaten which is soaked in water will be unclean. All drink that may be drunk in every such vessel will be unclean. 35 Everything whereupon part of their carcass falls will be unclean; whether oven, or range for pots, it will be broken in pieces. They are unclean, and will be unclean to you.

31:32 Anyone you find your elohim with will not live. Before our relatives, discern what is yours with me, and take it.” For Jacob didn’t know that Rachel had stolen them. 33 Laban went into Jacob’s tent, into Leah’s tent, and into the tent of the two maids; but he didn’t find them. He went out of Leah’s tent, and entered into Rachel’s tent. 34 Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, put them in the camel’s saddle, and sat on them. Laban felt around all the tent, but didn’t find them. 35 She said to her father, “Don’t let my lord be angry that I can’t rise up before you; for the way of women is to me.” He searched, but didn’t find the teraphim.

Exodus 38:8 He made the basin of bronze, and its base of bronze, out of the mirrors of the [women] assembling who assembled at the door of the Appointed Tent.

Exodus 38:8 as translated from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan And he made the brasen laver, and its foundation of brass, from the brasen mirrors of the pious women, who, at the season, came to pray at the door of the tabernacle of appointment, standing with their oblations, giving thanks and confession, and returning to their husbands, the mothers of righteous children, who had been purified from the uncleanness of their blood. [JERUSALEM. And he made the laver of brass, and the base thereof of brass, with, the mirrors of the pious women who were devout at the gate of the tabernacle of appointment.]

Exodus 38:8 (38:26) as translated from the Greek Old Testament (LXX or Septuagint) He made the brazen laver, and the brazen base of it of the mirrors of the women that fasted, who fasted by the doors of the tabernacle of witness, in the day in which he set it up.

1 Samuel 2:22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel, and how that they slept with the women who assembled at the door of the Appointed Tent

11:1 At the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. 2 At evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to look at. 3 David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, Uriah the Hittite’s wife?” 4 David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her, for she was purified from her uncleanness; and she returned to her house.

64:5 You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned. We have been in sin for a long time. Shall we be saved? 6 For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like [the garment of monthly courses]. We all fade like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 7 There is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.

Ezekiel 18:5 “But if a man is righteous, and does judgment and righteousness, 6 and has not eaten on the mountains, hasn’t lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hasn’t defiled his neighbor’s wife, hasn’t come near a woman in her separation, 7 and has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has taken nothing by robbery, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment; 8 he who hasn’t lent to them with interest, hasn’t taken any increase from them, who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true justice between man and man, 9 has walked in my statutes, and has kept my ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he will surely live,” says the Lord YHWH.

Ezekiel 22:9 Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood. In you they have eaten on the mountains. They have committed wickedness among you. 10 In you have they uncovered their fathers’ nakedness. In you have they humbled her who was unclean in her separation. 11 One has committed abomination with his neighbor’s wife, and another has wickedly made his daughter-in-law unclean. Another in you has afflicted his sister, his father’s daughter.

36:16 Moreover the word of YHWH came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and by their deeds. Their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her separation. 18 Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. I judged them according to their way and according to their deeds. 20 When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, in that men said of them, ‘These are the people of YHWH, and have left his land.’

18:18 You will not take a woman in addition to her sister, to be a rival, to uncover her nakedness, while her sister is still alive. 19 You will not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is separated by her uncleanness.

Matthew 9:19 Yeshua got up and followed him, as did his disciples. 20 Behold, a woman who had a discharge of blood for twelve years came behind, and touched the tassel of his garment; 21 for she said within herself, “If I just touch his garment, I will be made well.” 22 But Yeshua, turning around and seeing her, said, “Daughter, cheer up! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.

Luke 8:40 When Yeshua returned, the multitude welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 Behold, a man named Jairus came. He was a ruler of the synagogue. He fell down at Yeshua’s feet and begged him to come into his house, 42 for he had an only born daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as he went, the multitudes pressed against him. 43 A woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her living on physicians and could not be healed by any, 44 came behind him and touched the tassel of his cloak. Immediately the flow of her blood stopped. 45 Yeshua said, “Who touched me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes press and jostle you, and you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 46 But Yeshua said, “Someone did touch me, for I perceived that power has gone out of me.” 47 When the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him declared to him in the face of all the people the reason why she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. 48 He said to her, “Daughter, cheer up. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”

1 Peter 3:1-7 (T)

3:1 In the same way, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, so that, even if any don’t obey the Word, they may be won by the behavior of their wives without a word, 2 seeing your pure behavior in fear. 3 Let your beauty come not from the outward adorning of braiding your hair, and of wearing gold ornaments or of putting on fine clothing, 4 but from the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in Elohim’s sight. 5 For this is how in the past the holy women who hoped in Elohim also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands. 6 So Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose children you now are if you do well and are not put in fear by any terror. 7 Husbands, in same way, live with them according to knowledge, as being a weaker utensil in the feminine way, bestowing honor as also joint-heirs of favor of life, so as to not hinder your prayers.

7:1 Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own woman, and let each woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband give his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the woman her husband. 4 The woman doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise also the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the woman does. 5 Don’t deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a time, that you may be free for fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan doesn’t try you because of your lack of self-control.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 (T)

6:14 Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship do righteousness and iniquity have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15 What agreement does Messiah have with Belial? Or what portion does a believer have with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement does a temple of Elohim have with idols? For you are a temple of the living Elohim. Even as Elohim said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them. I will be their Elohim and they will be my people.” 17 Therefore Come out from among them, and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you. 18 I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

9:9 As Yeshua passed by from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office. He said to him, “Follow me.” He got up and followed him. 10 As he sat in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Yeshua and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, “Why does your rabbi eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 When Yeshua heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. 13 But you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not slaughter,’ for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Related Additional Readings​

14:1 Queen Esther also, being in fear of death, resorted unto the Lord: 2 and laid away her glorious apparel, and put on the garments of anguish and mourning: and instead of precious ointments, she covered her head with ashes and dung, and she humbled her body greatly, and all the places of her joy she filled with her torn hair. 3 And she prayed unto the Lord Elohim of Israel, saying, O my Lord, thou only art our King: help me, desolate woman, which have no helper but thee: 4 for my danger is in mine hand. 5 From my youth up I have heard in the tribe of my family, that thou, O Lord, tookest Israel from among all people, and our fathers from all their predecessors, for a perpetual inheritance, and thou hast performed whatsoever thou didst promise them. 6 And now we have sinned before thee: therefore hast thou given us into the hands of our enemies, 7 because we worshiped their elohim: O Lord, thou art righteous. 8 Nevertheless it satisfieth them not, that we are in bitter captivity: but they have stricken hands with their idols, 9 that they will abolish the thing that thou with thy mouth hast ordained, and destroy thine inheritance, and stop the mouth of them that praise thee, and quench the glory of thy house, and of thine altar, 10 and open the mouths of the heathen to set forth the praises of the idols, and to magnify a fleshly king for ever. 11 O Lord, give not thy scepter unto them that be nothing, and let them not laugh at our fall; but turn their device upon themselves, and make him an example, that hath begun this against us. 12 Remember, O Lord, make thyself known in time of our affliction, and give me boldness, O King of the nations, and Lord of all power. 13 Give me eloquent speech in my mouth before the lion: turn his heart to hate him that fighteth against us, that there may be an end of him, and of all that are likeminded to him: 14 but deliver us with thine hand, and help me that am desolate, and which have no other help but thee. 15 Thou knowest all things, O Lord; thou knowest that I hate the glory of the unrighteous, and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised, and of all the heathen. 16 Thou knowest my necessity: for I abhor the sign of my high estate, which is upon mine head in the days wherein I show myself, and that I abhor it as a menstruous rag, and that I wear it not when I am private by myself, 17 and that thine handmaid hath not eaten at Haman’s table, and that I have not greatly esteemed the king’s feast, nor drunk the wine of the libation offerings. 18 Neither had thine handmaid any joy since the day that I was brought hither to this present, but in thee, O Lord Elohim of Abraham. 19 O thou mighty Elohim above all, hear the voice of the forlorn and deliver us out of the hands of the mischievous, and deliver me out of my fear.

The Damascus Document, also called the Damascus Covenant or the Book of the Covenant of Damascus, Cairo Damascus document (CD) or Damascus Rule, is an ancient Jewish document that some scholars suggest serves as a “bridge” document, connecting Judaism’s post-exilic ‘Enochian’-Essene majority to the asserted leadership of its radical minority Qumran-Essene community that was established in isolation near the shores of the Dead Sea. It forms part of the Dead Sea Scrolls, found after 1947 near Qumran, but two fragments had already been discovered in 1897 in the Cairo Geniza.

4Q272 Frag. 1 Col. 1 …The regulation pertaining to the man with a bodily discharge. Every man who […] will go up […] thoughts of depravity or who […] its contact […] 4Q272 Frag. 1 Col. 2 will wash his clothes […] who ever touches him […] 4Q266 Frag. 9 Col. 2 [The regulation pertaining to the woman with a bodily discharge… Whoever has intercourse with a menstruating woman contracts the defilement caused by menstruation; and if she sees a discharge again but not [when her period is due, she is unclean] seven days. She will not eat of the consecrated food or enter the sanctuary until the sun sets on the eighth day.

[…] woman […] no one may eat […] for all the un[cl]ean […] to count for [himself seven days of wa]shing. And he will bathe and wash on the d[a]y of [his] uncleanness […And no man] may eat who has not begun to be clean from his seminal (?) f[low. Nor may he eat] in his primary uncleanness. And on the day of their [cl]eansing, all those who are unclean of days (i.e., unclean during the seven days) will bathe and wash in water and will become clean. Afterwards they may eat their bread according to the law of [p]urity. No one may eat who is yet in his primary uncleanness, who has not begun to be clean from his seminal flow. Indeed, no one who is yet in his primary uncleanness may eat. All of those who are [un]clean of days, on the day of their purification they will bathe and wash in water and they will be clean. Afterwards they may eat their bread according to the or[dinance. No] man [will e]at or [dr]ink with any ma[n] who prepares […] in […]

This small fragment is related to the Ritual Purity Laws Concerning Liquids (text 46) and Laws for Purification (text 52). A Purification Ritual (text 107) appears to be a “handbook” containing readings for the ritual accompanying the cleansing. The author here interprets Leviticus 15:19-24.

Frag. 1 [… and he shall] rinse [in water…] […N]o one may lie [with an unclean woman…And any furniture] which she will sit [upon will be unclean … And] if he has not touched it, [he will be clean…on the th]ird [day], those who touch [any]one, contact with the bed […]in the place […]

Frag. 1 Col. 1 […all the days of] the Sabbaths (?), and all the weeks (?) [of the year… the year and] its twelve new moons [ … the appointed] times of the year and days of [… This is] the Rule of Impurities for Israel […] water of cleansing that [a ma]n might sprink[le …] […If a man has] sexual relations with a woman,] [they will bathe with water and will be unclean until evening… who shall] be unclean to him […] […] who […] Frag. 2 Col. 1 […] un[cle]an he will not eat [from the holy food…] everything which touched h[im (?) …] in the days of [his impurity…and when] his [full] week has been completed, [he will wash his clothes and bathe in wate]r [and he will be clean…] bathe [his] fle[sh in water and will be clean…] Col. 2 They will leave […] in the menstrual impurity of [holy ones and not…] from food the seven (days of her uncleanness… after the setting of the sun on the seventh day … and he will say in response,] “Blessed are You O Elohim of Israel […] forsaking [his] peace for […] Frag. 3 [… al]l the periods of her times [… ] […] when the sun sets on the [seventh] day […] […] menstrual impurity. And he will say in response, “Blessed are yo[u, O Elohim of Israel …] [… and Yo]u inscribed a purification of truth for Your people, for […][… to cleanse them from all their uncle[aness] to [sanctify them..] Frag. 4 to the sons of Your covenant […] in Your t[rue] lot for […] and pure before You in […] concerning the person who dies in the [tent, everyone who is in the tent will be unclean … ] And at that time of the mark […] will be […]

Portions of Sectarian Law is a medley composed from other legal texts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The work may be an ekloge, the technical term used to refer to a writing that gathers extracts from various works. Often such selections were made by ancient scholars for private study. Portions of Sectarian Law bears a particularly close relationship to the Damascus Document (text 1) and the Charter of a Jewish Sectarian Association (text 5). The present author has sometimes changed the penalty clauses of the laws his work has in common with those others, however, indicating a certain process of development among those who consulted these writings.

In the first week […] because he was not brought to the Garden of Eden and this very [man…] It was her witness that she was not brought with him […] …] the Garden of Eden is holy, and every growing thing in its midst is holy. Therefore, if she conceives and bears a male child, she will be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation she will be unclean. And she will remain for thirty-three days in the blood] of her purification. And if she bears a female child, then she will be unclean [for two weeks, as in her menstruation; and for sixty-six days] “[she will remain in the blood of her purification. No holy [will she touch, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed.]

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

3:1 And on the six days of the second week we brought, according to the word of Elohim, unto Adam all the beasts, and all the cattle, and all the birds, and everything that moves on the land, and everything that moves in the water, according to their kinds, and according to their types: the beasts on the first day; the cattle on the second day; the birds on the third day; and all that which moves on the land on the fourth day; and that which moves in the water on the fifth day. 2. And Adam named them all by their respective names, and as he called them, so was their name. 3. And on these five days Adam saw all these, male and female, according to every kind that was on the land, but he was alone and found no helpmeet for him. 4. And the Lord said unto us: ‘It is not good that the man should be alone: let us make a helpmeet for him.’ 5. And the Lord our Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall upon him, and he slept, and He took for the woman one rib from amongst his ribs, and this rib was the origin of the woman from amongst his ribs, and He built up the flesh in its stead, and built the woman. 6. And He woke Adam out of his sleep and on awaking he rose on the sixth day, and He brought her to him, and he knew her, and said unto her: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she will be called [my] woman; because she was taken from her husband.’ 7. Therefore will man and woman be one and therefore will a man leave his father and his mother, and cleave unto his wife, and they will be one flesh. 8. In the first week was Adam created, and the rib – his wife: in the second week He showed her unto him: and for this reason the commandment was given to keep in their defilement, for a male seven days, and for a female twice seven days. 9. And after Adam had completed forty days in the land where he had been created, we brought him into the garden of Eden to till and keep it, but his wife they brought in on the eightieth day, and after this she entered into the garden of Eden. 10. And for this reason the commandment is written on the heavenly tablets in regard to her that gives birth: ‘if she bears a male, she will remain in her uncleanness seven days according to the first week of days, and thirty and three days will she remain in the blood of her purifying, and she will not touch any hallowed thing, nor enter into the sanctuary, until she accomplishes these days which (are enjoined) in the case of a male child. 11. But in the case of a female child she will remain in her uncleanness two weeks of days, according to the first two weeks, and sixty-six days in the blood of her purification, and they will be in all eighty days.’ 12. And when she had completed these eighty days we brought her into the garden of Eden, for it is holier than all the land besides and every tree that is planted in it is holy. 13. Therefore, there was ordained regarding her who bears a male or a female child the statute of those days that she should touch no hallowed thing, nor enter into the sanctuary until these days for the male or female child are accomplished. 14. This is the law and witness which was written down for Israel, in order that they should observe (it) all the days.

Leviticus 15:1-33 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 15 And the Lord spake with Mosheh and with Aharon, saying: Speak with the sons of Israel, and say to them: A man, whether young or old, who hath a defluxion from his flesh, when he hath seen it three times, is unclean. And this will be his uncleanness, the appearance of the colour of white in his defluxion inflaming, the defluxion of his flesh; or when his flesh hath stopped from his defluxion, it is his uncleanness. Every bed on which one who hath such defluxion lieth will be unclean; and every thing on which such an one sitteth will be unclean. And the man who toucheth his bed will wash his clothes, and wash himself in forty seahs of water, and will be unclean until evening. And whoever may sit upon a thing whereon such an one who hath an issue hath sat, let him wash his clothes, and bathe in forty seahs of water, and be unclean until evening. And whoever may touch the flesh of one having an issue, let him wash his clothes, and bathe in forty seahs of water, and be unclean until evening. And if he who hath an issue spit upon any one who is clean, let him wash his clothes, and bathe in forty seahs of water, and be unclean until evening. And every girdle or saddle upon which he who hath an issue rideth will be unclean. And whoever toucheth any thing that hath been under him will be unclean until evening; and he who carrieth them will wash his clothes, and bathe in forty seahs of water, and be unclean until evening. And whoever toucheth him who hath the issue, and washeth not his hands in water, will be unclean; if he be a man, he will wash his clothes, and bathe in forty seahs of water, and be unclean until the evening. And any vessel of earthenware whose inside may have been touched by him who hath the issue will be broken; and any vessel of wood will be washed in water.

But if he who hath had the issue will have ceased from it, he will number to himself seven days for his purification, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in spring water, to be clean. And on the eighth day let him take for himself two large turtle doves, or two sons of a dove, and bring them before the Lord at the gate of the tabernacle of ordinance, and deliver them to the priest. And the priest will make one a sin offering and one a burnt offering, and the priest will atone for him before the Lord, and he will be cleansed from his issue. But if a man sin through ignorance and seed goeth from him, let him wash all his flesh in forty seahs of water, and be unclean until evening. And any garment or skin on which seed may be will be washed in water, and be unclean until evening; and secondly, a woman with whom a man lieth will wash in forty seahs of water, and be unclean until evening. And if a woman hath an issue of blood, red or dark, yellow as saffron, or water of clay, or as red wine mixed with two parts of water, she hath an uncleanness of blood in her flesh; she will dwell apart seven days; any one who toucheth her will be unclean until evening. Whatever such an one will lie upon during the time of her separation will be unclean; and whatever such an one sitteth upon during the time of her separation will be unclean. And whoever toucheth her bed will wash his clothes, and bathe himself with forty seahs of water, and be unclean until evening. And whoever toucheth any thing upon which such an one hath sat will wash his clothes, and bathe in forty seahs of water, and be unclean until evening. And if the effusion of her body be upon her bed, or on a thing upon any part of which she sitteth, what time any one toucheth it, he will be unclean until evening. If a man lie with her in the time of her separation, he will be unclean seven days; and any bed upon which he lieth will be unclean. But a woman who hath a defluxion of blood three days beyond the time of her separation, or when it floweth after the days of her separation, all the days of the uncleanness of her defluxion will she be unclean; he who lieth with her will be unclean. And any bed upon which such any one lieth all the days of her defluxion will be as the bed which was accounted hers during the time of her separation, and any thing upon which such an one sitteth will be unclean as the uncleanness of her separation. And whoever toucheth those (things) will be unclean, and will wash his clothes, and bathe in forty seahs of water, and be unclean until the evening.

But when she is cleansed from her issue, let her number to herself seven days, and afterwards wash in forty seahs of water, and be clean. And on the seventh day, let her take for herself two turtle doves, or two sons of a dove eons, and bring them to the priest, at the door of the tabernacle of ordinance; and the priest will make one a sin offering, and the other a burnt offering and the priest will make atonement before the Lord, on account of the defluxion of her uncleanness. So will you separate the sons of Israel from their un­cleanness, and make them to be separate from their wives at the time of their seclusion, and to give not occasion that they die for their uncleanness in defiling My tabernacle, where the glory of My Shekinah dwelleth among them.

This is the decree of instruction for him who hath a defluxion, and for him whose seed goeth forth and defileth him; and for her who is unclean in the time of her separation, and for any one who hath an issue, whether male or female, and for a man who lieth with the unclean. All these will be advised of their uncleanness, and, when purified, will bring the oblations that make atonement for them.

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

5.5.6. Now the outward face of the temple in its front wanted nothing that was likely to surprise either men’s minds or their eyes; for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendor, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun’s own rays. But this temple appeared to strangers, when they were coming to it at a distance, like a mountain covered with snow; for as to those parts of it that were not gilt, they were exceeding white. On its top it had spikes with sharp points, to prevent any pollution of it by birds sitting upon it. Of its stones, some of them were forty-five cubits in length, five in height, and six in breadth. Before this temple stood the altar, fifteen cubits high, and equal both in length and breadth; each of which dimensions was fifty cubits. The figure it was built in was a square, and it had corners like horns; and the passage up to it was by an insensible acclivity. It was formed without any iron tool, nor did any such iron tool so much as touch it at any time. There was also a wall of partition, about a cubit in height, made of fine stones, and so as to be grateful to the sight; this encompassed the holy house and the altar, and kept the people that were on the outside off from the priests. Moreover, those that had the gonorrhea and the leprosy were excluded out of the city entirely; women also, when their courses were upon them, were shut out of the temple; nor when they were free from that impurity, were they allowed to go beyond the limit before-mentioned; men also, that were not thoroughly pure, were prohibited to come into the inner [court of the] temple; nay, the priests themselves that were not pure were prohibited to come into it also.

6.9.1. Now when Titus was come into this city, he admired not only some other places of strength in it, but particularly those strong towers which the tyrants in their mad conduct had relinquished; for when he saw their solid altitude, and the largeness of their several stones, and the exactness of their joints, as also how great was their breadth, and how extensive their length, he expressed himself after the manner following: “We have certainly had Elohim for our assistant in this war, and it was no other than Elohim who ejected the Jews out of these fortifications; for what could the hands of men or any machines do towards overthrowing these towers?” At which time he had many such discourses to his friends; he also let such go free as had been bound by the tyrants, and were left in the prisons. To conclude, when he entirely demolished the rest of the city, and overthrew its walls, he left these towers as a monument of his good fortune, which had proved his auxiliaries, and enabled him to take what could not otherwise have been taken by him.

6.9.2. And now, since his soldiers were already quite tired with killing men, and yet there appeared to be a vast multitude still remaining alive, Caesar gave orders that they should kill none but those that were in arms, and opposed them, but should take the rest alive. But, together with those whom they had orders to slay, they slew the aged and the infirm; but for those that were in their flourishing age, and who might be useful to them, they drove them together into the temple, and shut them up within the walls of the court of the women; over which Caesar set one of his freed-men, as also Fronto, one of his own friends; which last was to determine every one’s fate, according to his merits. So this Fronto slew all those that had been seditious and robbers, who were impeached one by another; but of the young men he chose out the tallest and most beautiful, and reserved them for the triumph; and as for the rest of the multitude that were above seventeen years old, he put them into bonds, and sent them to the Egyptian mines. Titus also sent a great number into the provinces, as a present to them, that they might be destroyed upon their theatres, by the sword and by the wild beasts; but those that were under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves. Now during the days wherein Fronto was distinguishing these men, there perished, for want of food, eleven thousand; some of whom did not taste any food, through the hatred their guards bore to them; and others would not take in any when it was given them. The multitude also was so very great, that they were in want even of corn for their sustenance.

6.9.3. Now the number of those that were carried captive during this whole war was collected to be ninety-seven thousand; as was the number of those that perished during the whole siege eleven hundred thousand, the greater part of whom were indeed of the same nation [with the citizens of Jerusalem], but not belonging to the city itself; for they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread, and were on a sudden shut up by an army, which, at the very first, occasioned so great a straitness among them, that there came a pestilential destruction upon them, and soon afterward such a famine, as destroyed them more suddenly. And that this city could contain so many people in it, is manifest by that number of them which was taken under Cestius, who being desirous of informing Nero of the power of the city, who otherwise was disposed to contemn that nation, entreated the high priests, if the thing were possible, to take the number of their whole multitude. So these high priests, upon the coming of that feast which is called the Pesach, when they slay their slaughters, from the ninth hour till the eleventh, but so that a company not less than ten belong to every slaughter, [for it is not lawful for them to feast singly by themselves,] and many of us are twenty in a company, found the number of slaughters was two hundred and fifty-six thousand five hundred; which, upon the allowance of no more than ten that feast together, amounts to two millions seven hundred thousand and two hundred persons that were pure and holy; for as to those that have the leprosy, or the gonorrhea, or women that have their monthly courses, or such as are otherwise polluted, it is not lawful for them to be partakers of this slaughter; nor indeed for any foreigners neither, who come hither to worship.

3.11.3. He also ordered that those whose bodies were afflicted with infection, and that had a gonorrhea, should not come into the city; nay, he removed the women, when they had their natural purgations, till the seventh day; after which he looked on them as pure, and permitted them to come in again. The law permits those also who have taken care of funerals to come in after the same manner, when this number of days is over; but if any continued longer than that number of days in a state of pollution, the law appointed the offering two lambs for a slaughter; the one of which they are to purge by fire, and for the other, the priests take it for themselves. In the same manner do those slaughter who have had the gonorrhea. But he that sheds his seed in his sleep, if he go down into cold water, has the same privilege with those that have lawfully accompanied with their wives. And for the lepers, he suffered them not to come into the city at all, nor to live with any others, as if they were in effect dead persons; but if any one had obtained by prayer to Elohim, the recovery from that distemper, and had gained a healthful complexion again, such a one returned thanks to Elohim, with several sorts of slaughters; concerning which we will speak hereafter.

Against Apion is a polemical work written by Flavius Josephus as a defense of Judaism as a classical religion and philosophy against criticism by Apion, stressing its antiquity against what he perceived as more recent traditions of the Greeks. One of his main sources was Menander of Ephesus. Against Apion cites Josephus’ earlier work Antiquities of the Jews, so can be dated after A.D. 94. It was most likely written in the early second century.

2.8. He adds another Grecian fable, in order to reproach us. In reply to which, it would be enough to say, that they who presume to speak about Divine worship ought not to be ignorant of this plain truth, that it is a degree of less impurity to pass through temples, than to forge wicked calumnies of its priests. Now such men as he are more zealous to justify a sacrilegious king, than to write what is just and what is true about us, and about our temple; for when they are desirous of gratifying Antiochus, and of concealing that perfidiousness and sacrilege which he was guilty of, with regard to our nation, when he wanted money, they endeavor to disgrace us, and tell lies even relating to futurities. Apion becomes other men’s prophet upon this occasion, and says that “Antiochus found in our temple a bed, and a man lying upon it, with a small table before him, full of dainties, from the [fishes of the] sea, and the fowls of the dry land; that this man was amazed at these dainties thus set before him; that he immediately adored the king, upon his coming in, as hoping that he would afford him all possible assistance; that he fell down upon his knees, and stretched out to him his right hand, and begged to be released; and that when the king bid him sit down, and tell him who he was, and why he dwelt there, and what was the meaning of those various sorts of food that were set before him the man made a lamentable complaint, and with sighs, and tears in his eyes, gave him this account of the distress he was in; and said that he was a Greek and that as he went over this province, in order to get his living, he was seized upon by foreigners, on a sudden, and brought to this temple, and shut up therein, and was seen by nobody, but was fattened by these curious provisions thus set before him; and that truly at the first such unexpected advantages seemed to him matter of great joy; that after a while, they brought a suspicion him, and at length astonishment, what their meaning should be; that at last he inquired of the servants that came to him and was by them informed that it was in order to the fulfilling a law of the Jews, which they must not tell him, that he was thus fed; and that they did the same at a set time every year: that they used to catch a Greek foreigner, and fat him thus up every year, and then lead him to a certain wood, and kill him, and slaughter with their accustomed solemnities, and taste of his entrails, and take an oath upon this slaughtering a Greek, that they would ever be at enmity with the Greeks; and that then they threw the remaining parts of the miserable wretch into a certain pit.” Apion adds further, that, “the man said there were but a few days to come ere he was to be slain, and implored of Antiochus that, out of the reverence he bore to the Grecian elohim, he would disappoint the snares the Jews laid for his blood, and would deliver him from the miseries with which he was encompassed.” 11 Now this is such a most tragical fable as is full of nothing but cruelty and impudence; yet does it not excuse Antiochus of his sacrilegious attry, as those who write it in his vindication are willing to suppose; for he could not presume beforehand that he should meet with any such thing in coming to the temple, but must have found it unexpectedly. He was therefore still an impious person, that was given to unlawful pleasures, and had no regard to Elohim in his actions. But [as for Apion], he hath done whatever his extravagant love of lying hath dictated to him, as it is most easy to discover by a consideration of his writings; for the difference of our laws is known not to regard the Grecians only, but they are principally opposite to the Egyptians, and to some other nations also for while it so falls out that men of all countries come sometimes and sojourn among us, how comes it about that we take an oath, and conspire only against the Grecians, and that by the effusion of their blood also? Or how is it possible that all the Jews should get together to these slaughters, and the entrails of one man should be sufficient for so many thousands to taste of them, as Apion pretends? Or why did not the king carry this man, whosoever he was, and whatsoever was his name, [which is not set down in Apion’s book,] with great pomp back into his own country? when he might thereby have been esteemed a religious person himself, and a mighty lover of the Greeks, and might thereby have procured himself great assistance from all men against that hatred the Jews bore to him. But I leave this matter; for the proper way of confuting fools is not to use bare words, but to appeal to the things themselves that make against them. Now, then, all such as ever saw the construction of our temple, of what nature it was, know well enough how the purity of it was never to be profaned; for it had four several courts 12 encompassed with cloisters round about, every one of which had by our law a peculiar degree of separation from the rest. Into the first court every body was allowed to go, even foreigners, and none but women, during their courses, were prohibited to pass through it; all the Jews went into the second court, as well as their wives, when they were free from all uncleanness; into the third court went in the Jewish men, when they were clean and purified; into the fourth went the priests, having on their sacerdotal garments; but for the most sacred place, none went in but the high priests, clothed in their peculiar garments. Now there is so great caution used about these offices of religion, that the priests are appointed to go into the temple but at certain hours; for in the morning, at the opening of the inner temple, those that are to officiate receive the slaughters, as they do again at noon, till the doors are shut. Lastly, it is not so much as lawful to carry any vessel into the holy house; nor is there any thing therein, but the altar [of incense], the table [of shew-bread], the censer, and the candlestick, which are all written in the law; for there is nothing further there, nor are there any mysteries performed that may not be spoken of; nor is there any feasting within the place. For what I have now said is publicly known, and supported by the witness of the whole people, and their operations are very manifest; for although there be four courses of the priests, and every one of them have above five thousand men in them, yet do they officiate on certain days only; and when those days are over, other priests succeed in the performance of their slaughters, and assemble together at mid-day, and receive the keys of the temple, and the vessels by tale, without any thing relating to food or drink being carried into the temple; nay, we are not allowed to offer such things at the altar, excepting what is prepared for the slaughters.