According to modern rule, the boy must be 13 ye.irs old and a day. He is then presented in the synagogue "on a Sabbath, called ' the Sabbath of Phylacteries ' (tfphitlin) because the boy is then invested with them, and wears them in prayer, and is bound to observe the feasts and fasts. In olden days the obligation to attend the feasts at Jerusjilein perhaps became binding after thisceremonv. Women and children were exempt by the Law (' all thy males," Dt I6I6). But Schurer (11. ii. 61) quotes adecision of the school of Shamniai as to the meaning of 'child' (katan): 'Every one who cannot yet ride on his lather'sshouldersfrom Jerusalem to the temple mount ' ; while the school of Ilillel said : ' Every one who cannot yet go up from Jerusalem to the temple mount led by his father's hand.' We think that Lk 2-12 neither affirms nor denies any previous visits of Christ to the temple, either annually or three times a year. The fact that His life had been in danger in Jud!ca(Mt 213.'l6.22) might lead Joseph and Mary to observe the rule less strictly than they otherwise would have done. Perhaps boys who lived at or near Jerusalem did more than the provincials. If Joseph wenc up alone annually he probably did as much as most of his Galilaean neighbours. The Jews of the Dispersion certainly only went up annually (usually at Pentecost), if they went more than once or twice in a lifetime. St. Paul had omitted many years (Ac 2417), although a strict observer himself of the Law.
In modern times the Jewish hoy reads (or rather si'niys) the lesson, and gives the blessing for the first time at the bar- mizvdk ceremony in the presence of his relatives and the con- gre'gation. It is to his parents a time of joy and honour, and as he intones the holy words, the prayers of his pious friends are oHered. Was this reading by the boy a custom in the 1st century? If the ceremony existed at all, it prob.ably was a part of it, and Lk 4I6- 17 implies that the Carpenter had officiated many times before. The first occasion may well have been at the close of boyhood.
Nowadays also the presiding Rabbi usually gives an address garnished with personal allusions. Presents to the boy from his friends, and a feast at the parents' house follow the cere- mony. Much in the whole service may well be ancient, and date from before the time of Christ; but the absolute silence of the NT, Philo, and Josephus on the subject prevents our being positive about it.
To those boys who livedfar from the capital and temple the periodical visits must have been of great importance, apart from their religious purpose, and if their homes were in quiet villages,
' The expression bar-mizvah has been found in the Talmud, hut does not seem to have become used generally for an adult till the Middle Ages (cf. .Schiirer, 11. ii. 51, 62 note 38, and his authorities).
the crowds at the feasts would arouse their keenest interest They would also see the luxury of the rich, the noisy bargain, ing of traders, and signs of that imperial power which, however it was hated, was the great/ac( of the time.
V. AVoRK. — Every well brought-up Jewish boy was taught an occupation. This may have arisen from the many warnings against idleness in the Wisdom books of the OT (Pr 6"- " W-^ 12="). ' Abundance of idleness ' (RV ' prosperous ease ') is noted in Ezk 16* as a cause and concomitant of sin, and the Rabbis appear to have realized the truth about the usefulness of manual labour to much the same extent as did the founders and leaders of AVestern monasticism. Rabban Gam- aliel III., son of R. Judah ha-Nasi, said: 'For exertion in both (the study of the Law and labour) keeps from sin. The study of the Law without employment in business must at last be interrupted, and brings transgi'ession after it' (Aboth ii. 2; Schiirer, II. i. 318, § 25). Another said : ' He Avho teaches not his son a trade teaches him to be a thief.'
St. Paul's father was wealthy enough to "ive him a good Greek education at Tarsus (probably) and a Rabbinical one at Jerusalem. His wealth is also implied in Ph 3'- ', if tliat passage refers, as some commentators think, to St. Pavd's being disinherited for his Christianity. His private means somehow disappeared, so that he nad to depend either on tlie contributions of others or on his labour. But he had a trade to fall back upon (Ac 18^, 1 Th 2^ 2 Th 3^). And the warnings about idleness in the NT were addressed by him to Gentile Churches, rather tlian by him or other Apostles to Jewish converts (Eph 4=8, 2 Th S"''-'^). Our Lord Avas not only the carpenter's son, but the carpenter (^Ik 6^) ; and Justin Martyr speaks of ploughs and yokes having been mjide by Him (Trypho, 88). But His earthly condition was not wealthy ; and this may have been the case witli Aquila (Ac 18'), as it probably was with the fisher- Apostles of Galilee. See, further, artt. TRADES, Work.
Brough, The Earhj Life of Our Lord,
tion, but needii