of David return to its former condition and power, and he shall build the temple, and gather in the scattered of Israel, and in his days he shall reestablish the Code of Laws, as it was in the days of old; they shall offer up sacrifices, and they shall celebrate the seven years of release, and the years of jubilee, according to all the commandments which are mentioned in the law; and whoever does not believe in him, and does not hope in his coming, not only denies the words of the Prophets, but also the law of Moses; for has not the Law testified of him? It is written, Deut. xxx. 3, 4. that 'Then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the utmost part of heaven, from thence the Lord thy God will gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee.' These are the words contained in the Law, and these comprise all that has been said by the Prophets. Balaam speaks of him, and prophesied of two Messiahs. The first Messiah is David, who shall save Israel from the hand of the Children of Esau.* He says, 'I shall see him, but not nigh.' This is the King Messiah. 'There shall come a Star out of Jacob.' This is David. 'And a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel.' This is the King Messiah. 'And shall smite the corners of Moab.' This is David; for it is said of him, And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line.' 2 Sam. viii. 2. 'And destroy all the children of Seth.' This is the King Messiah; for it is written, 'His dominion shall be from sea to sea.' Zach. ix. 10. And Edom shall be a possession.' This is David; for it is written, And Edom became servants to David.' 'Seir also shall be a possession of his enemies.' This is King

Maimonides is here in opposition to the Sohar, who maintains that the first Messiah shall be Messiah the son of Joseph, who shall be killed.

Messiah; for it is written, 'And Saviours shall come upon mount Zion, to judge the mount of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's!' And likewise by the Cities of Refuge it is seen, that a Messiah must come; for it is written, And if the Lord thy God enlarge thy coast, as he has sworn unto thy fathers, then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides these three.' Deut. xix. 7-9. As there never was an addition of three Cities of Refuge, it must be concluded, that Messiah will come, and three Cities of Refuge will be added; for God never commanded a thing in vain."

"There is no need to cite proofs out of the Prophets, for they are full of this subject and it must not come into thy thoughts, that the Messiah must necessarily perform miracles, and do new things in the world, by raising the dead, and other such things. It is true that Rabbi Akiba, the great and wise man, one of the first Rabbies, carried the clothes of Ben Kosiba, the King, after him, and he proclaimed him as the King Messiah ; but Kosiba was put to death on account of his sins; and as soon as he was killed, it was manifest that he was not the Messiah. The wise men did not demand of him either a sign or a miracle; for the principal credentials of true Messiahship, is this, that the Law and the Judgments must last for ever and ever, and he must neither add to, nor take from them; and whosoever adds to, or takes from them, or exposes the Law to alteration, and does not explain it according to the system generally adopted, is surely a liar, a wicked one, and an heretic! But if there should arise a King of the House of David, who meditates upon the Law, and observes it like David his father, as well the written Law, as the Tradition, and who should compel all Israel to walk in it, and should make them again firm in that in which they were relaxed, and if he fights the Lord's battles, then he is surely known to be the Messiah: as soon as he is successful, and conquers

all nations round him, and builds the Temple in its place, and gathers together the scattered people of Israel; such an one shall surely be the Messiah. But if on the con

trary, he is not successful, as has happened hitherto, or he should be killed: then it is certain, that he is not that personage predicted in the Law. This would prove only, that God had raised up a pretended Messiah, for the purpose of trying many by means of him; for it is written, And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end; because it is yet for a time appointed.' Dan. xi. 35. But he, (Jesus of Nazareth) whom they thought was the Messiah, who was put to death by the Tribunal of Justice, of him, I say, Daniel prophecied long ago, for it is written Dan. xi. 14. Also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves, to establish thy vision; but they shall fall.' And was there ever a greater fall, than that of Jesus of Nazareth? All the Prophets said, that the Messiah should be a Redeemer to Israel, and serve them, and gather those who are scattered, and confirm their commands: and he was the cause that Israel perished by the sword; and he was the cause, that their remnant was scattered,* that their law was cast to the ground and changed, and multitudes of people were led into error by him, so that they worshipped other objects beside God. But the thoughts of the Creator of the world are not such as can be explored by men; for not as their ways are his ways, and not like their thoughts, are his thoughts." Maimonides says further, (Hilcoth Melachim Ch. xii.) "It must not come into thy thoughts, that in the days of the Messiah, things will not pursue their natural course, or that there shall be a new thing in the work of creation. The world shall be governed as usual;

* Here Maimonides speaks the truth: for my nation was scattered on account of having crucified the Lord of Glory! They shed the blood of the Just!

for thus it is written, The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together.' This is a figurative mode of speech, meaning that the Israelites, compared to a lamb, shall sit in safety with the wicked ones among the Gentiles, who are compared to a wolf and a leopard, as it is in a figurative metaphorical manner in Jeremiah v. 6. 'Wherefore a lion out of the forests shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities;' all of them shall return to the truth, and shall neither rob, nor destroy; but shall enjoy those things, which are compatible with the tranquillity and comfort of Israel: as it is written, And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.' All those parables and types will be made clear in the days of the Messiah. "

"The wise men say, that there is no difference at all between the age of the Messiah and the present age, except that at that time the Messiah shall rule alone, and only he."

"The plain text of the Prophets shews, that on the arrival of the Messiah, the battle of Gog and Magog shall be fought; and before the battle of Gog and Magog, a Prophet shall arise, to make straight the way to Israel, and to prepare their hearts; as it is written, 'Behold, I send before you Elijah,' and his office shall not be to decide between clean and unclean, or to declare those men, who have the reputation of righteous men, to be unrighteous; there shall be no such thing."

"The business of that Messenger shall be to proclaim Peace on Earth, as it is written, And he shall turn the heart of the fathers unto the children.'

men who say, that Elijah shall come in

There are wise

person, before

the coming of the Messiah; but they add, how all those

events shall take place, man is able to know.

and the manner of it, no mortal

Until they shall take place, the

66

Prophets have veiled them in mystery, and our wise men have received no tradition about it. We know only as much as the Prophets have revealed us, and this is the reason of the difference of opinion on this subject; we cannot therefore speak on this point with decision, as we know nothing with certainty; and men may spend their whole lives in the investigation and study of it. But they ought not to do so, for it leads neither to the fear nor the love of God. We ought not to try to determine the precise time of the arrival of the Messiah. The wise men say, that it is sufficient for us to wait for his coming, and they themselves have laid down general outlines of their views, just as we have done. At the time of the arrival of the anointed King, his kingdom shall be settled; all Israel shall be gathered to him; they shall produce their genealogies by the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit, who shall rest upon Him, as it is written, Malachi iii. 3, And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." The children of Levi shall be purified first. The one shall say, that he traces his genealogy from the Priests, and the other from Levi; and the Messiah shall expel those, who are not of the tribe of Israel; for is it not said, "and the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a Priest with Urim and Thummim?" From this ye learn, that by the Holy Spirit it shall be known, of what tribe every one is; but he shall not say, that the one be illegitimate, and the other be a servant. The wise men and the Prophets do not expect that the Messiah will govern over the Gentiles, nor that Israel shall subdue the Gentiles, nor that they should be exalted over the Gentiles, for the sake of eating and drinking and being merry; but that Israel