Part 21

_Humas_ the _Pentateuch_, with a commentarie.

_Piedra pretiosa_, of _Nebuchadnezzar’s_ image, or the fifth Monarchy.

_Laus orationes del anno_, the _Iewes_ prayers for the whole year, translated out of the originall.

Books ready for the Presse.

_De cultu Imaginum contra Pontificios Latine._

_Sermois_, Sermons in the _Portugal_ tongue.

_Loci communes Omnium Midrasim_, which contains the divinity of the ancient Rabbins, in _Hebrew_.

_Bibliotheca Rabbinica_, together with the arguments of their books, and my judgement upon their severall editions.

_Phocylides_ in _Spanish_ verse _cum Notis_.

_Hippocratis Aphorismi_ in _Hebrew_.

_Flavius Iosephus adversus Apionem_, in _Hebrew_, _ejusdem Monarchia rationis_ in _Hebrew_.

_Refutatio libri cui titulus Præadamitæ._

_Historia sive continuatio_ Flavii Josephi _ad hæc usque tempora_.

_De divinitate legis Mosaicæ._

_De scientia Talmudistarum, in singulis facultatibus._

_Philosophia Rabbinica._

_De disciplinis Rabbinorum._

_Nomenclator Hebraius & Arabicus._

I have also published, and printed, with my own presse, above 60 other books, amongst which are many bibles in _Hebrew_, and _Spanish_, with all our _Hebrew_ prayers corrected, and disposed in good order.

_FINIS_

NOTES

(P = page; l = line)

PORTRAITS OF MENASSEH BEN ISRAEL

(Frontispiece, and pp. 1 and 105)

Pocock, in his biographical introduction to the English translation of Menasseh ben Israel’s “De Termino Vitæ” (Lond., 1700), gives the following pen-picture of the author derived from the recollections of English Jews who remembered the days of the Whitehall Conferences:—

“He was of middle stature and inclining to fatness. He always used his own hair, which (many years before his death) was very grey; so that his complexion being pretty fresh, his demeanour graceful and comely, his habit plain and decent, he commanded an awful reverence which was partly due to so venerable a deportment. In short, he was _un homme sans passion, sans legiereté, mais hélas! sans opulence_” (p. viii).

This description agrees with the portraits of Menasseh. Three of these portraits are extant. Two of them are by Rembrandt, and one is by a Jewish line-engraver, Salom Italia. Curiously enough, although far inferior in artistic merit to the Rembrandts as a portrait, Menasseh prized the Italia engraving highest. He sent a copy to the Silesian mystic Frankenberg in 1643, and he writes in the _Bonum Nuncium Israeli_:—

“Abr. à Frankenberg ... effigiem meam, aeri incisam misissem, ubi ad symbolum meum Perigrinando Quærimus, cui ab uno latere Hominis Peregrinantis, ab altero candelæ emblema adscriptum cum hoc dicterio ‏נר לרגלי דברך‎ sic praefatur” (p. 92).

The shield in the left-hand corner of this portrait was used by Menasseh as a trade-mark in his printing-office. It has for this reason been reproduced on the title-page of the present work. Salom Italia’s portrait is often found bound up with the first Latin version of the “Hope of Israel,” and was roughly copied in the Spanish edition published at Madrid in 1881.

Rembrandt belonged to the distinguished circle of Menasseh’s personal friends. He illustrated the _Piedra Gloriosa_ published by Menasseh in 1655, and he etched one portrait of the Rabbi, and painted another. The etching, of which a mezzotinted reproduction is presented on the frontispiece of the present work, was produced in 1636 when Menasseh was thirty-two years old. The painted portrait which is in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg is of doubtful authenticity as relating to Menasseh, but I am inclined to regard it as genuine. It represents the Rabbi at a much more advanced age than the etching. The grey hair agrees with Pocock’s description of his appearance in 1656, while the sorrowful expression and full beard may be accounted for by his troubled experiences in London, and especially by the death of his son. When he returned to Middleburg in 1657, he was mourning for his son, and hence his beard would be unshaved. It is not at all improbable that Rembrandt, his old friend of twenty years, saw him at this tragical moment, and that the portrait is a reminiscence of the prematurely aged and broken-hearted Rabbi, then tottering on the verge of the grave.

THE HOPE OF ISRAEL

(pp. 1–72)

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

The title is taken from Jeremiah xiv. 8 (see p. 7).

The first edition (pp. xiii, 126, 12mo) was in Spanish, and bore the following title:—

‏מקוה ישראל‎ / Esto es, / Esperança / de Israel. / Obra con suma curiosidad conpuesta / por / Menasseh Ben Israel / Theologo, y Philosopho Hebreo. / Trata del admirable esparzimiento de los diez / Tribus, y su infalible reduccion con los de / mas, a la patria: con muchos puntos, / y Historias curiosas, y declara- / cion de varias Prophecias, / por el Author rectamen- / te interpretadas. / Dirigido a los señores Parnassim del K.K. / de Talmvd Tora. / En Amsterdam. / En la Imprension de / Semvel Ben Israel Soeiro. / Año. 5410.

It was dedicated to the Wardens of the Theological School (Talmud Torah), Josseph Da Costa, Ishak Jessurun, Michael Espinosa, Abraham Enriques Faro, Gabriel de Rivas Altas, Ishak Belmonte, and Abraham Franco. The dedication is dated Shebat 13, 5410 [= Jan. 15, 1650], and is headed with the significant quotation in Hebrew of part of verse 1 of Isaiah lxi.: “To preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted.” This dedicatory epistle is only to be found in the Spanish edition. In the Latin and English translations it is replaced by an address “To the Parliament, the Supream Court of England.”

The Latin edition (pp. xii, 111, 12mo), which was printed very shortly after the Spanish, bore the following title:—

‏מקוה ישראל‎ / Hoc est, / Spes / Israelis / Authore / Menasseh Ben Israel / Theologo & Philosopho Hebræo / Amstelodami / Anno 1650.

It is doubtful whether Kayserling (_Misc. Heb. Lit._, ii. p. 16 and note 76), following Castro, is correct in his conjecture that this translation is the work of Menasseh himself. There are too many misunderstandings of the Hebrew names and quotations to admit of this view. The deviations from the original suggest that it was hurriedly executed from a first draft of the Spanish version, which was afterwards revised by the author, who omitted to perform the same service for the Latin text.

The English version (pp. xiv, 90, 12mo) was based on the Latin, and reproduced all its faults. It appeared in London towards the end of 1650. The title-page runs as follows:—

The / Hope of Israel: / Written / By Menasseh Ben Israel, / an Hebrew Divine, and Philosopher. / Newly extant, and Printed in / Amsterdam, and Dedicated by the / Author to the High Court, the / Parliament of England, and to the / Councell of State. / Translated into English, and / published by Authority. / In this treatise is shewed the place where the ten / Tribes at this present are, proved, partly by / the strange relation of one Antony Monte- / zinus, a Jew, of what befell him as he tra- / veiled over the Mountaines Cordillære, with / divers other particulars about the restoration of / the Jewes, and the time when. / Printed at London by R. I. for Hannah Allen, / at the Crown in Popeshead / Alley, 1650.

The only respect in which this version differs from the Latin is that it contains on pp. xi-xiv an address from “The Translator to the Reader.” The name of the translator is not given, but the work was subsequently acknowledged by Moses Wall in a correspondence with E. S. (Sir Edward Spencer); see pp. 66–72.

A second edition, “corrected and amended,” sm. 4to, was published in 1651 and reprinted in 1652. It is the latter which is reproduced in the present volume on account of its convenient _format_, and of the Appendices which throw light on the motives by which the publication in England was actuated.

The following is a list of other editions and translations:—

1659. Spanish by Jedidjah Ibn Gabbai (Smyrna). 1666. Dutch by Jan Bara (Amsterdam). 1691. Judeo-German by Mardochai ben Moses Drucker (Amsterdam). 1697. Hebrew by Eljakim ben Jacob (Amsterdam). 1703. _Ibid._ 1712. Judeo-German (Frankfort) reprint of 1691 edition. 1723. Spanish (Amsterdam) reprint of original edition. 1792. English by Robert Ingram (Colchester). 1836. Hebrew (Wilna) reprint of 1703 edition. 1850. English (London) reprint of 1650 edition. 1881. Spanish, by Santiago Perez Junquera (Madrid), reprint of original edition.

THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY

P. 4, l. 9. “_Not onely by your prayers._” This, no doubt, refers to the protection extended by the Government to the Marranos in London. (See Introduction, p. xxx.)

TO THE COURTEOUS READER

P. 6, l. 21. “_Others to the Ten Tribes._” There is a very voluminous literature of the Ten Tribes, a bibliography of which has long been promised by Mr. Joseph Jacobs. Bancroft in his “Native Races of the Pacific States of North America” discusses the theory of the Hebrew origin of the Americans (vol. v. pp. 77–95). Santiago Perez Junquera in his Spanish reprint of “Esperanza de Israel” gives a bibliography of Spanish writers who have dealt with the problem of the Ten Tribes. The Jewish legends on the subject, none of which admit the American theory, have been summarised by Dr. A. Neubauer in the _Jewish Quarterly Review_ (vol. i. pp. 14, 95, 185, 408). See also M. Lewin, “Wo wären die Zehn Stämme Israels zu suchen” (1901).

The following selections from the vast literature of the Ten Tribes, especially in its relation to Menasseh ben Israel, may be recommended to investigators of this curious craze:—

Enquiries touching the Diversity of Languages and Religions through the chief parts of the world, written by Edw. Brerewood. London, 1635.

Thos. Thorowgood—Jews in America, &c. 1650.

John Dury—Epistolary Discourse to Mr. Thomas Thorowgood. 1650.

Sir Hamon L’Estrange—Americans no Jews. 1652.

Thos. Thorowgood—Jews in America [with] an accurate discourse [by] Mr. John Eliot. 1660.

Theophili Spizelii—Elevatio Relationis Montezinianæ de repertis in America tribubus Israeliticis. Basle, 1661.

Account of the Ten Tribes of Israel being in America, originally published by Menasseh Ben Israel, with observations thereon. By Robert Ingram, M.A. Colchester, 1792.

The Ten Tribes of Israel historically identified with the aborigines of the Western Hemisphere. By Mrs. Simon. London, 1826.

The Hope of Israel, presumptive evidence that the aborigines of the Western Hemisphere are descended from the ten missing tribes of Israel. By Barbara Anne Simon. London, 1829.

The Remnant Found, or the place of Israel’s hiding discovered, being a summary of proofs showing that the Jews of Daghistan on the Caspian Sea are the remnant of the Ten Tribes. By the Rev. Jacob Samuel. London, 1841.

The Thorn Tree, being a history of thorn worship of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, but more especially of the Lost Tribes and House of David. By Theta. London, 1863.

Paläorama. Oceanisch-Amerikanische Untersuchungen und Aufklärungen. Erlangen, 1868.

Ireland, Ur of the Chaldees. By Anna Wilkes. London, 1873.

Ueber die Abstammung der Englischen Nation. Von D. Paulus Cassel. Berlin, 1880.

P. 6, l. 29. “_Cordilleræ_,” Spanish. A mountain chain, sometimes, as here, applied in a specific sense to the Andes.

P. 6, l. 32. “_The Sabbaticall River_,” or Sambation, a river mentioned in the Midrash as slowing during the first six days of every week and drying up on the Sabbath. (Neubauer, “Géographie du Talmud,” pp. 33–34, 299; Hamburger, “Real-Encyclopädie des Judenthums,” vol. ii. p. 1071; see also “Hope of Israel,” _infra_, p. 35.)

P. 7, l. 15. “_I intend a continuation of Josephus._” No trace of this work has been found. From a passage in the _Vindiciæ_ there is reason to believe that it it was completed in MS. (see p. 115 and note thereon, _infra_, p. 167).

THE RELATION OF ANTONY MONTEZINUS

P. 11. An earlier translation of this affidavit was published by Thomas Thorowgood in “Jewes in America,” pp. 129, 130. (See Introduction to present work, p. xxv.)

P. 11, l. 13. “_Port Honda_,” now Bahia Honda, an inlet at the northeastern extremity of Colombia, in 12° 20′ N. and 50° W. It was first visited by Ojeda in 1502, and named by him Puerto de Santa Cruz. There is a town named Honda in the interior, and a bay of the same name on the northern coast of Cuba, 60 miles west of Havana.

P. 11, l. 15. “_Province of Quity_,” modern Quito, originally a presidency of the Spanish viceroyalty of Peru, afterwards a division of the Republic of Colombia, and in 1831 organised with the districts of Asuay and Guayaquil into a new republic, under the name of Ecuador.

P. 11, l. 17. “_Cazicus_,” modern _Cacique_ or _Cazique_, used in Spanish to designate an Indian chief. The word is of Haytian origin. An early Spanish writer derives it from the Hebrew. (Kayserling, “Christopher Columbus,” p. 154.)

P. 11, l. 29. “_Jonkets_,” junket, from Italian _giuncata_, a cream-cheese, so called because served on rushes (_giuncoa_—a rush):

“And beare with you both wine and _juncates_ fit And bid him eat.”

—SPENSER, _F. Q._, V. iv. 49.

“With stories told of many a feat, How faery Mab the _junkets_ eat.”

—MILTON, _L’Allegro_, 172.

P. 12, l. 3. “_Carthagenia_”: modern Cartagena, a fortified maritime city of the United States of Colombia, on the Caribbean Sea.

P. 12, l. 5. “_Blessed be the name of the Lord that hath not made me an Idolator, a Barbarian, a Black-a-Moore, or an Indian._” This is an extension of a blessing said in the Hebrew morning service. The original blessing, however, only speaks of “idolator.” There is another blessing said on seeing “negroes and redskins,” and this, curiously enough, is discussed in the same section of the Talmud as that in which the recital of the blessing in regard to heathens is enjoined (see Schwab, “Le Talmud,” vol. i. p. 158).

P. 13, l. 17. “_Duerus_”: the river Douro or Duero in Spain. Mr. Wall does not seem to have taken the trouble to delatinise the name. In the Spanish edition it appears, of course, “Duero.”

P. 13, l. 18. “_Making a sign with the fine linen of Xylus._” This is a misunderstanding of the original Latin, which says, “factoque ex duabus Xyli syndonibus.” The word “Xyli” here is intended for the genitive of Xylon = cotton. The passage should read, “and making out of two pieces of cotton cloth.” The original Spanish says, “y haziendo vandera de dos paños de algodon.” What Montezinos and his companion did was to construct a flag out of their two cotton waistbands.

P. 14, l. 1. Curious mistake overlooking the identity of Jacob and Israel.

P. 14, l. 22. “_Mohanes_”: American-Indian medicine men. (See _infra_, p. 56.)

THE HOPE OF ISRAEL

P. 17, l. 21. For Jewish aspects of the early voyages to America see Kayserling, “Christopher Columbus, and the participation of the Jews in the Spanish and Portuguese discoveries” (Lond., 1894); also the same author’s “The First Jew in America,” in the John Hopkins University Studies for 1892.

P. 18, l. 32. “_Gomoras_” = Francisco Lopez de Gomara.

P. 18, l. 18. “_Tunes_” = Tunis.

P. 18, l. 22. “_Isaac Abarbanel_,” Jewish statesman and theologian (1437–1509), served Alphonso V. of Portugal, Isabella of Spain, and Ferdinand of Naples; author of numerous Bible commentaries and philosophical essays. Headed the emigration of the Spanish Jews at the time of the expulsion (Graetz, _Geschichte d. Juden_, vol. viii. pp. 316 _et seq._; Kayserling, _Juden in Portugal_, pp. 72, 100). The Abarbanels, whose descendants are numerous in Europe, claimed descent from King David. Menasseh ben Israel’s wife was an Abarbanel (see “Hope of Israel,” p. 39). Mr. Coningsby Disraeli is a descendant on his mother’s side.

P. 19, l. 30. “_Rabbi Jonathan ben Uziel._” The author of a free Aramaic paraphrase (Targum) to the Hebrew Prophetical Books. His date is about the beginning of the Christian era. A Targum to the Pentateuch is wrongly ascribed to him; this is properly the Targum Yerushalmi or Jerusalem Targum (see Zunz, “Die Gottesdienstlichen Vorträge der Juden,” pp. 66 _seq._).

P. 19, l. 33. “_Rabbinus Josephus Coen in his Chronology_” (see Bialloblotzky, “The Chronicles of Rabbi Joseph ben Meir the Sphardi,” Lond., 1835). Joseph Cohen was born 1496 and died 1575.

P. 21, Sect. 4. The Hebrew in the first case is ‏מה טם אל שעלבין מת דע אל‎, the ‏ט‎ in the second word being regarded as a mistake for ‏ת‎. In the second case the Hebrew is ‏מהטבאל שעל בן מתדעאל‎ (see “Esperança de Israel,” pp. 26, 27).

P. 21, l. 32. “_Collai_” = Callao.

P. 22, l. 7. “_Petrus Cieza_” = Pedro Cieça de Leon.

P. 22, l. 8. “_Guamanga_”: modern Ayacucho.

P. 23, l. 30. “_Garracas_” = Caracas.

P. 24, l. 9. “_Alonsus de Erzilla_” = Alonzo d’Ercilla y Zuñiga (1530–1595). The quotation is from “La Araucana,” the most famous of Spanish Epics.

P. 24, l. 27. “_Maragnon_” = Marañon, another name for the Amazon.

P. 24, l. 35. “_Farnambuc_” = Pernambuco.

P. 26, l. 14. “_The Isle of Solomon and Hierusalem._”—Mendaña landed on Isabel Island in 1568, and named the group Solomon, and Bougainville rediscovered the islands in 1768. H. B. Guppy, “The Solomon Islands and their Natives” (Lond. 1887). C. M. Wood in “Proceedings R. Geog. Soc.,” 1888, pp. 351–76, and 1890, pp. 394–418, with map (p. 444), on which are given the original Spanish as well as the modern names of the islands.

P. 28, l. 7. “_To this day they privately keep their Religion._” The Marranos. See _supra_, pp. xii-xiv.

P. 29, l. 9. “_My Reconciler._” “Conciliador” Seg^{da} Parte. Amsterdam, 1641. This work was translated into Latin by Vossius (1687), and into English by Lindo (1842).

P. 29, Sect. 16. A bibliography of the Jews in China has been published in French by Henri Cordier. A useful summary of our knowledge of the Hebrew Settlements in China, brought down to the most recent date, has been written by Mr. Marcus Adler (_Jew. Quart. Rev._, vol. xiii. pp. 18–41).

P. 33, l. 20. “_David the Reubenite._” David Reubeni, an Oriental Jew, who visited Europe in 1524, alleging himself to be an envoy from the Ten Tribes. He was received with distinction by the Pope and the King of Portugal, and made a great commotion among the Marranos and Jews (Graetz, “Geschichte,” vol. ix. pp. 244 _et seq._).

P. 33, l. 23. “_Selomoh Molcho._” A Marrano disciple of David Reubeni. His name was originally Diogo Pires. He migrated to the East and became a learned Cabbalist. He died a martyr’s death in 1532 (Graetz, “Geschichte,” vol. ix. pp. 251 _et seq._).

P. 33, l. 30. “_Abraham Frisol Orchotolam._” A mistranslation for Abraham Frisol in his book entitled, “_Orhat Olam_.” Abraham Farisol or Peretsol (1451–1525) was a Hebrew geographer, author of “Orchat Olam” (The Path of the Universe), which was edited with a Latin translation by Thomas Hyde (Oxford, 1691). For life of Farisol see Graetz, “Geschichte,” vol. ix. pp. 46 _et seq._

P. 33, l. 38. “_The Hebrew letter (h) and (t) are neere in fashion._” The letters referred to are ‏ח‎ and ‏ת‎.

P. 33, l. 39. “_Eldad Danita._” Eldad the Danite lived in the ninth century. His career was similar to that of David Reubeni (Epstein, “Eldad Ha-Dani,” Pressburg, 1891).

P. 34, l. 2. “_Sephar Eldad Danita_,” ‏ספור אלדד הדני‎. An edition with a French translation was published by Carmoly (“Relation d’Eldad le Danite.” Paris, 1838). The best editions are those of Epstein and D. H. Müller.

P. 34, l. 3. “_Rabbi David Kimhi._” Famous Hebrew exegete, grammarian, and lexicographer (d. 1232). The work referred to as “_etymol. suo_” is “The Book of Roots” (‏ספר השרשים‎).

P. 34, l. 5. “_Of the name of Rabbi Juda Aben Karis._” Should be, “in the name of Rabbi Judah ben Koraisch.” Rabbi Judah (fl. _circa_ 870–900) was a Karaite philologist; lived in North-West Africa. He met Eldad in Morocco (Graetz, “Geschichte,” vol. v. p. 261).

P. 34, l. 9. “_Part of the Ten Tribes also live in Ethiopia._” The Falashas of Abyssinia are here referred to (Halévy, “Travels in Abyssinia”; _Mis. Heb. Lit._, vol. ii. pp. 175 _et seq._ There are also reports on the Falashas in the Annual Reports of the Alliance Israelite and Anglo-Jewish Association).

P. 35, l. 22. “_Rabbi Johanan, the Author of the Jerusalem Talmud._” Rabbi Jochanan, son of the Smith, was a disciple of Rabbi Judah the Prince, compiler of the Mishna. He was one of the most famous Hebrew teachers of the third century. The tradition that he was author of the Jerusalem Talmud rests only on the assertion of Maimonides. Modern critics reject it, and date the Jerusalem Talmud in the seventh century. (Hamburger, “Real-Encyclopädie,” _sub voc._ “Jochanan” and “Talmud.”)

P. 35, l. 34. “_The learned man l’Empereur._” Constantine l’Empereur, an Hebraist of the seventeenth century (d. 1648), who translated into Latin some tractates of the Mishna and other Hebrew works, including the Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela.

P. 35, l. 36. “_Sedar Olam._” The name of two Hebrew Chronologies (see Hamburger, “Real-Encyclopädie,” sup. vol., pp. 132, 133).

P. 35, l. 37. “_In Talmud tractat, Sanhedr._” “Sanhedrin” is the name of a treatise of the Talmud, the fourth in the fourth book of the Jerushalmi, and the fifth in the fourth book of the Babli. Excerpts have been translated into Latin with elaborate notes by Joh. Coccejus (Amsterdam 1629).

P. 36, l. 9. “_Beresit Rabba._” The first part of the “Midrash Rabboth,” the chief collection of Hagadic or homiletic expositions of the Scriptures. As its name implies, it deals with Genesis (Zunz, “Gottesdienstlichen Vorträge,” pp. 184 _et seq._, 1892.)

P. 36, l. 9. “_In Perasach_,” should be “in Parashah 11” (see original Spanish “Esperança,” p. 66). The misprint occurs in the Latin. “Parasha” means section. There are 100 sections in the _Bereshith Rabba_.

P. 36, l. 10. “_Tornunsus_” = Turnus Rufus.

P. 36, l. 12. “_Rabbi Aquebah._” One of the greatest of the Tanaim or compilers of the Mishna. He became an adherent of the Pseudo-Messiah Bar Cochba, who rebelled against the Romans during the reign of Hadrian, and was put to death after the fall of Bethar. His career has passed into legend (Graetz, “Geschichte,” vol. iv. pp. 53 _et seq._).

P. 36, l. 20. “_Asirim Rabba_” = Shir Ha-Shirim Rabba. Midrashic exposition of the Song of Songs (_supra_, “Beresit Rabba”).

P. 36, l. 27. “_Jalcut._” A collection of Midrashim covering the whole of the Scriptures, and compiled in the eleventh century by R. Simeon b. Chelbo, whence it is called the Yalkut Shimeoni (Zunz, “Gottesdienst,” pp. 183 and 309).

P. 36, l. 31. “_Bamibar Rabba_”: misprint for Bamidbar Rabba, the Midrashic exposition of Numbers.

P. 37, l. 12. “_R. Selomoh Jarchi._” Solomon b. Isaac of Troyes, called Rashi (1040–1105), the most eminent Hebrew Bible commentator of the Middle Ages. The name Jarchi was erroneously given to Rashi by Raymund Martini, Munster, and Buxtorf, who imagined that he was a native of Lunel (‏ירח‎ = _luna_). Menasseh ben Israel was the first Jewish scholar to adopt this blunder (Wolf, “Biblio. Heb.” vol. i. 1057, &c.; Graetz, “Geschichte,” vol. vi. pp. 77 _et seq._; Wolf, “The Treves Family in England”).