The first they call Messiah Ben Joseph, because he is to be of the tribe of Ephraim; the other, Messiah Ben David, of whom after- wards. Both of them are mentioned together in the Targum on Cant. iy. 5, DDN j2 wri WT 2 Nw pprand punys JP! pon; —‘“ Thy two deliverers which shall deliver thee, Messiah the son of David, and Messiah the son of Ephraim, are like to Moses and Aaron.” The same words are repeated again, chap. vil. 8. And in those places alone, in the whole series of Targums, is there any men- tion of this fictitious Messiah; the author of that paraphrase on the Canticles being Josephus Czecus, who lived after the finishing of the Talmuds, whereof he maketh mention. In other parts of the Tar- gum he appeareth not; but in the Talmud he is frequently brought on the stage. So Tractat. De Festo Tabernacul. Distinct. Hachalil
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242 FAITH OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH OF THE JEWS [EXERC. XI.
Chamesha: “It is a tradition of our masters, that the holy, blessed God shall say unto Messiah the son of David, who shall redeem us, (let him do it suddenly, in our days !) ‘Ask somewhat of me, and I will give it thee,’ as Ps. ii; and when he shall hear that Messiah the son of Joseph is slain, he shall say before the Lord, ‘ Lord of the world, I only ask life of thee:” for it seems that he shall be much terrified with the death of Ben Joseph. Unto this [latter] Messiah they assign all things that are dolorous (and include suffering in them which they call mw %San), that are in the Scripture assigned to the Messiah, especially that prophecy, Zech. xu. 10, “ They shall look upon me whom they have pierced.” And hereby they suffi- ciently discover the occasion of the whole figment to have been that before intimated, namely, a necessity of an evasion from those testi- monies of Scripture and ancient traditions which assign sorrows and sufferings unto the Messiah, which they will not allow to belong unto the son of David.
12. A brief account may be given of what it is that they now ascribe unto this Messiah, and what it is that they expect from him. The whole of his story depends on that of one Armillus, against whom he shall fall in battle, whose legend we must therefore also touch upon; and this is given us at large in Son npax 15D, in the “ Seventh Sign of the Coming of the Messiah,” and with some varia- tion in aay 75D,-or “The Colloquy between Zerubbabel and Michael the archangel.” A fable it is of no small antiquity; for we have men- tion of him not only in the later Targums on the Hagiographa, but in that of Jonathan also on the prophet Isaiah, chap. xi. 4; M*MVDD Shon xyrwn pid KIND ‘Y;—“ And by the sword of his mouth he shall slay the wicked Armillus.’ And yet this invention is not older than the Talmud, however it came into that Targum, which, for the main of it, was certainly written long before. The mother of this Armillus is, they say, to be a “statue of stone at Rome,” wrought into the similitude of a beautiful woman. This, saith the Dialogue of Zerubbabel, is the wife of Belial; and Armillus, that shall be born of her, is to be the head of all idolatry: maaw ww jax 73 pido od Sy sninn;—“ Armillus, the son of the stone, which is in the house of filth of the scorners” (that is, the churches of the Chris- tians), “shall be the tenth king that shall afflict Israel.”
The author of Abkath Rochel gives us somewhat another account of his nativity: “The people of all nations,” saith he, “allured with the beauty of the image, shall come to Rome, and commit fornica- tion with it, from whose uncleanness at length Armillus shall be born.” The same author, after a description of his stature and big- ness, (for he shall be twelve cubits high, and as broad as he is long!) with his hair, eyes, and whole complexion, gives us also an account of his actions and proceedings. Tfirst, therefore, he shall give him-
SECT. 12, 13.] CONCERNING THE MESSIAH. 243
self out to the p20, “heretics” (that is, Christians) to be their Messiah, who gave them their law, saying unto them, 28 NwD IN ponds,—“ I am Messiah, I am your God;” and they shall presently embrace him, and give him their mban, or “prayer-books,” ac- knowledging him to be the author of them. After this, by the help of the Edomites (Romans), he shall conquer many nations, until, coming unto the Jews, he shall require of them to receive him as their Messiah and the author of their law. But these good Jews shall with one consent oppose him, under the conduct of Messiah Ben Joseph, and of Nehemiah the son of Husiel, says one; of Mena- chem the son of Ammiel, says another. And in this war shall Mes- siah Ben Joseph be slain, as it is written, Zech. xii. 10.
13. I shall stay a little by the way, to unriddle this enigmatical fable, it having not been by any attempted. The name Armillus some suppose to be formed of épnusraos, “a waster of the people;” for such.they intend he shall be. But the truth is, as Broughton first observed, and sundry others have assented unto him, it is no other than Romulus, with the usual Chaldee formation by Aleph. For whereas he contends that it should be read Romulus, and not Armillus or Armilus, there is no necessity for it; for the coiners of the fable might either ignorantly mistake the name, as is usual with these masters, or on purpose obscure it, that it might not at first view be known by the Christians, of whom they were afraid. And by Romulus, who was the first founder of the city and empire, they intend a prince of Rome, and such they declare their Armillus to be. And the whole story of him is compounded out of some prophetical passages: and expressions in the Revelation of St John, or is feigned by themselves from the event of things, mixing their own conceits with the opinions of some Christians concerning Anti- christ; for they plainly say that this Armillus is called by the Christians, pipw>.Ix, “ Antichristus.” Image-worship in the Revelation, as in the Old Testament, is expressed by the name of “fornication ;’ and Rome, because of her abounding therein, is called “The mother of harlots.’” Hence the image at Rome in the church is become the mother of Armillus, and that by the people of all nations committing fornication with it; which is the rise assigned unto antichristian power in the Revelation. This, then, is that which, in their way, they aim at,—the worship of images in churches, begun and promoted at Rome, furthered by the consent of the na- tions, shall bring forth that Roman power which shall seek to destroy the Israel of God.