catory offerings (ava.eiitui.Ta) as there were : for they made use of these cities as a treasury, whence at the proper time they were transmitted to Jeru- salem' (Ant. XVIII. ix. 1). Such priestly dues as consisted of sacrificial flesh, which could not be sent to Jerusalem, were paid to any priest if there happened to be one at hand (C/ial/a, iv. 7-9, 11 ; Yadaim, iv.S;Chullin, x. 1 ; Tcriniwth, ii. 4).
(b) The pilgrimages made to Jerusalem by im- mense nunibers of foreign Jews at the three annual festivals— Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Josephus says that Cestius Gallus had a census made during the Passover, and the priests reckoned 2,700,000 people (BJ VI. ix. 3), in round numbers three millions (id. II. xiv. 3).
In leading the Acts it is evident that, had tliere been no foreign dispersion of the Jews, the rapid progress of Christianity could not have been what it was. At the feast of Pentecost there were gathered Jews from the four quarters of the Dia- spora—the far and near East, Europe, and Africa ; and soon afterwards Jews received Apostolic teaching at many centres, and when converted helped to spread it throughout the known world. But it is important to remember that before that time One greater than the Apostles came, more than once, into immediate contact with the masses of pilgrims who visited Jerusalem for the festivals. As a boy of twelve He first met them (Lk 2^), and He probably attended many festivals in the 18 years which intervened before His ministry (see V.-"). At a Passover He displayed to them His Divine indignation at the desecration of God's sanctuary (Jn 2'^"'"), and many believed on Him when they saw His miracles (v.'-''). It would seem as though the longing seized Him to bring all these thousands of foreigners to His allegiance at one stroke, by revealing to them His true nature. If we may say it reverently, it must have been a temptation to Him to send them back over many countries to tell all men that God had become man. But His own Divine intuition restrained Him (vv.*"). Immediately before another Passover He saw the crowds moving along the road on their way to Jerusalem ; and they came to Him, and He fed them (Jn 6''"'^). Here, again, the tempta- tion offered itself in their wish to make Him king ; but He resisted it, and was able to persuade them to leave Him (6'^-). At a feast of Pentecost (so Westcott) He suddenly appeared in their midst at Jerusalem, and many believed Him to be the Messiah when they heard His preaching (Jn 7-- 10-31. «)(.) Yet again at a Passover the crowds of pilgrims gave Him another opportunity of be- coming king (Mt 21'-», Mk 11''°, Lk 19»5-s», Jn 12'--"), but He chose rather to gain His kingdom through death. It was for their benefit that the inscription upon the cross was trilingual — Aramaic, Greek, and Latin (Jn 19=°). A Jew from Africa, on his way into the city, was forced to perform an office which few envied him at the time, but which has never been forgotten by the Christian Church (Mk 15='). Thus time after time the accounts of His miracles and preaching, and finally of His patient suffering and His death, and perhaps also reports of His resurrection, would be carried back by wandering Jews into ' every nation under heaven.'
i. One colony of the Diasiwra possesses a special importance in connexion with Christianity. Among the Alexandrian Jews originated the Greek trans- lation of the OT — the version used by our Lor<l, the Apostles, and the gi'eat majority of the early 'huirli. It remained in almost complete supre- 11 ie\ among Christians until it was superseded by tiie\uleate. See art. Septuagint. The import- tnee of Alexandria in connexion with the Fourth Gospel would be enormous if the contention of some
DITCH
DIVINITY OF CHRIST
writers were true, that St. John derived liis doc- trine of the Logos from Alexandrian philosophy. Tlie doctrine, liowever, has affinities rather witli Jewish than with Alexandrian thought. Tlie most that can be said is that St. John may have em- ployed the term because it already had a wide currency among both Jews and Greeks (see West- cott, Gospel of S(. John, pp. xv-xviii, and art. ' Logos ' in Hastings' DB).
Literature. — Besides the authorities cited in the article. Bee artt. 'Diaspora' in Hastings' DB (Extra Vol.), 'Dispersion' in Encyc. Bibl. (with the literature there), and in Smith's DB. Much illustrative matter may be gathered from Jewish his- tories, especially Schurer, HJP. See also E. R. Bevan, The House ofSeleiicm ; J. P. Mahaffy, The Empire of the Ptolemies. A. H. M'Neile.
DITCH {^60vvoi, Mt 15", Lk 6™ ; rendered ' pit ' Mt 12"). — The parabolic language of our Lord in the first two parallel pas.sages is suggested by the frequency of danger from unguarded wells, quarries, and holes. Into these the blind easily fell ; and the risk increased if the leader of the blind were him.self blind. Tlie metaphor has been interpreted as referring to Gehenna : more probably it refers simply to danger of hurt, or even ruin, from wilful or careless perversion of the truth leading to moral wandering and fall. For the idea, of. Pr 19" ' Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err,' and St. Paul's taunt of the Jew as ' a guide of the blind ' (Ro 2"). R. Macpheeson.