was given, as has been related, to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. The kingdom of Moab lay to the south of Reuben; the kingdom of Ammon to the east of Gad; and the mountains of Hermon bounded Manasseh to the north-east, beyond which lay Trachonitis and Ituræa. West of the Jordan, to the north, were placed Naphthali, on the river, and Asser, which bordered on Phoenicia and the Mediterranean. Zabulon and Issachar had inland districts; but the other half tribe of Manasseh and Ephraim reached from the sea to the river. Dan (upon the coast) and Benjamin were south of Ephraim, and north of Simeon and Judah. The country allotted to Simeon bordered upon the Mediterranean, and extended to Egypt; but the Philistines, who inhabited the coast, were never entirely driven out of their possessions. The country of Judah bordered upon the Dead Sea, which separated it from the kingdom of Moab, (for both Simeon and Judah lay considerably more south than the tribe of Reuben) and adjoined the mountainous country of Idumæa, or Edom, and Arabia Petræa, to the south. Jerusalem, or Hierosolyma, the capital, supposed to have been the Salem of Melchisedek, stood partly in the territory of Benjamin, but was allotted to Judah," the chief among the tribes of Israel." VOL. I. R After After the return from the Babylonian captivity, the eastern division was called Peræa, (more. properly the country which had belonged to Reuben and Gad, for the northern part, sometimes called Gaulonitis, was included in the district of Trachonitis,) and the western part was divided into Galilee to the north, Judæa to the south, and Samaria in the middle. Judæa proper, extended from the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean to Egypt, and included the countries of Benjamin, Dan, and Simeon, besides that of Judah. The whole country was also called Palestine, from the Philistines, who, inhabiting the western coast, were first known to the Romans, and being by them corruptly called Palestines, gave that name to the country; but it was more commonly called Judæa, as the land of the Jews. Since our Saviour's advent it has been called the Holy Land; but in modern writers all distinction is frequently lost in the general name of Syria, which is given to the whole country east of the Mediterranean, between the sea and the desert. PART I. CHAPTER THE FOURTH: OF THE JEWISH SECTS. I. Of the Scribes.-II. Of the Pharisees.-III. Of the Sadducees.-IV. Of the Nazarites.-V. Of the Herodians.-VI. Of the Galilæans.-VII. Of the Publicans.—VIII. Of the Essenes.-IX. Of the Proselytes.-X. Of the Karaites. I. It is universally agreed, that while the spirit. of prophecy continued, there were no religious. sects among the Jews, the authority of the prophets being sufficient to prevent any difference of opinion. The sects which afterwards prevailed among them sprang up gradually, and it is difficult to ascertain the time of their origin with precision; but as almost all of them seem to have arisen from the doctrines taught by the Scribes after the return from the Babylonian captivity, it will be useful to give some account of that class of persons, though they are not usually considered as a religious sect themselves. The Scribes are mentioned very early in the sacred history, and many authors suppose that they were of two descriptions, the one ecclesiastical, the other civil. It is said, "out of Zabulon come they that handle the pen of the writer (a);" and the Rabbis state, that the Scribes were chiefly of the tribe of Simeon; but it is thought that only those of the tribe of Levi were allowed to transcribe the Holy Scriptures. These Scribes are frequently called, " wise men," and "counsellors;" and those who were remarkable for writing well were held in great esteem. In the reign of David, Seraiah (b), in the reign of Hezekiah, Shebna (c), and in the reign of Josiah, Shaphan (d), are called Scribes, and are ranked with the chief officers of the kingdom; and Elishama the Scribe (e) in the reign of Jehoiakim, is mentioned among the princes. We read also of the "principal Scribe of the host (f)" or army; and it is probable that there were Scribes in other departments of the state. Previous to the Babylonian captivity, the word Scribe seems to have been applied to any person who was concerned in writing, in the same (a) Judges, c. 5. v. 14. (c) 2 Kings, c. 18. v. 18. (e) Jer. c. 36. v. 12. manner (b) 2 Sam. c. 8. v. 17. The manner as the word Secretary is with us. civil. Scribes are not mentioned in the New Testament. It appears that the office of the ecclesiastical Scribes, if this distinction be allowed, was originally confined to writing copies of the law, as their name imports; but the knowledge, thus necessarily acquired, soon led them to become instructors of the people in the written law, which, it is believed, they publicly read. Baruch was an amanuensis or Scribe to Jeremiah, and Ezra is called "a ready Scribe in the law of Moses, having prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments (g);" but there is no mention of the Scribes being formed into a distinct body of men till after the cessation of prophecy. When, however, there were no inspired teachers in Israel, no divine oracle in the temple, the Scribes presumed to interpret, expound, and comment upon the Law and the prophets in the schools and in the synagogues. Hence arose those numberless glosses, and interpretations, and opinions (h), which (g) Ezra, c. 7. v. 6, 10. (h) These traditions, as they were called, became too numerous, by the middle of the second century after Christ, to be preserved by the memory, and therefore the rabbi Judah, president of the sanhedrim, as |