3. Outline of the history of proselytism. — Con- versions to Judaism went on unimpeded in NT times, botli before and after the Jewish war (Part- ing of the Bonds, pp. 286, 305). The chief .source of our information on this point is Josephus, whose
historical accuracy is now generally admitted (Hhli V. 4()0). Some of the jiroselytes whom he mentions by name were ac(|uisitionsof very doubt- ful value, as the kings Azizus of Emesaand Polemo of Cilicia, who were prompted to eiubrace Judaism by the desire to contract advantageous marriages with Ilorodian princesses (/I n<. XX. vii. 1, 3), and the Emprci.ss Po]ipa'a, whom he calls Beoae^-fii (ib. XX. viii. 11). On the other hand, the conversions of Helena, queen of .\diabene, and her son, Izates, seem to have been due to sincere conviction, and the chapters in which the historian records their life and virtuous deeds are some of the most attractive of his great work (ib. xx. ii.-iv.).
The bitterness engendered by the persecution which followed the failure of the rising against Hadrian (A.D. 132-135), and the growth of the Christian Church, were joint causes which led the Rabbis to make conversion to Judaism more difficult. ' Qualified conversions to Judaism ' were ' regarded with increasing disfavor,' R. Johanan declaring ' that if after a probati<m of twelve months the ger toshab did not submit to the rite of circumcision, he was to be regarded as a heathen ' (E. G. Hirsch, JE x. 222»). But the pix -ra— he who, in St. Paul's words, ' by receiving circum- cision, became a debtor to do the whole law' (Gal 5^) — was always admitted with fervour. ' That proselytes are welcome in Israel and are beloved of God is the theme of many a rabbinical homily ' (Hirsch, loc. rit.).
It shotild be mentioned that in two passages of the LXX where a proselyte pro]ier is meant (Ex 12'^, Is 14') 13 is rendered, not by TrpoariKvros but by 7enipas, an Aramaic word derived from "i3 (HDB iv. 133" ; Exp, 4th ser., x. 269 ; cf. HJJB ii. 157').
Literature. — W. C. Allen, ' On the meaning of irpooTJAi'Tot in the Septuasint,' in Exp, 4th ser., x. [1894] 264 ff. ; Arrian. IHssertationes Epideti, ii. 9 ; Oxf. Rcb Ltx., n.n. n3, p. l.'ib ; A. B. Davidson, 'They that fear the Lord,' in ExpTVw. (1891- 92)491: 11 DB V. 466; S. R. Driver, ICC, ' Deuteronomy '2, Edinbur;irh, 1S96, p. 165 ; W. Brandt, art. ' Baptism (Jewish),' in ERE ii. ills ; H. Hirschfeld, art. ' Creeds (Jewish),' ib. iv. 24o ; H. Loewe, art. 'JudaisLn,' ib. vii. 592 ; H. Gratz, Die Jtid- ischen Froseliiten irn liuinerreiche, Breslau, 1SH4, p. 30 ; A. Harnack, Mission and Expansion of Chrintianiti/^, London, lyos, pp. 10, 12; T. Reinach, art. 'Diaspora,' in JE iv. 570; E. G. Hirsch, art. 'Proselyte,' ib. x. 221, 222; A. Jellinek, Beth-ha-Midrasch, Vienna, 1853-78, pt. v. p. xlvi; A. Plummer, art. 'Baptism,' in HDB i. 239, 240 ; F. C. Porter, art. ' Proselyte," ib. iv. 132 f. ; W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, London, 1895, p. 43; E. Schurer, HJ P n. ii. [Edinburgh, 18S5] 311 f., 315 ; J. A. Selbie, art. 'Ger,' in HDB ii. 157 > ; 'W. R. Smith, OTJCi, London, 1S92, p. 342; 'W. R. Smith and W. H. Bennett, art. 'Proselyte,' in EBi iii. 3902, 3904; The Parting if the Roads, ed. F. J. Foalies Jackson, London, 1912, pp. 286, 305.
Jame.s Donald. PROSEUCHE. — irpo(j^vxfi, the name for the Jewish place of worship, originally meant ' praj'er,' afterwards 'place of prayer' (rcixos t^s Trpocrevxfis, 1 Mac 3«). The word is found in 3 Mac 7=" ; Philo, in Flacc. 6, 7, 14 (Mangey, ii. 523, 524, 535), Leg. ad Gaiitni, 20, 43, 46 (Mangey, ii. 565, 596, 600) ; Josephus, Vita, 54, where it is described as ' a large edifice capable of receiving a great number of people.' As a rule, however, the Proseuche was situated outside the city, near the river or the sea, where there was a supply of water for the ablutions required before prayer (see Ac 16'"'' and Josephus, Ant. XIV. x. 23; cf. TerttiUian, dc Jejuniis, 16, ad Nationcs, i. 13 ; and Epiphanius, Hwr. Ixxx. 1). Frequently these prayers seem to have been said in the open air (cf. also Josephus, c. Apion. II. ii. 2). This would best account for the strange opinion expressed by Juvenal (Sat. xiv. 97) and otliers that tiie Jews pr.-iyed to or wor- ship]ied the heavens. The name 'Proseuche' is frequentlv found in inscriptions. See E. Schiirer, OJV ii. [1898] 443, note 53, and 447, notes 64 and 65. See also art. SYNAGOGUE. K. Kohler.
286
rKOVlN'CE
I'ROVl^'CE
PROVINCE. — Tlie woril/))-o»i'«c»V«, the derivation of which is unknown, has originally no territorial application. Frottinria is in fact ' a sphere of duty,' whether that he in an office or court, like that of the urhan pra'tor at Uome, or tliat of a governor of a vast district. It is only because it came to be generally associated with the rule of large districts out of Italy, that it ultimately ob- tained the territorial sense of ' subjugated territory out of Italy under Roman government' (K. Ogilvie, Horm Lulinie, 19U1, p. 2'29). The original wide sense of the word h.ad not, however, died out in the classical period.