imperitoram" (Quintilian, Tnstit. Oral. 1. e.).— Smith, s. V.
2. The fxiQoi, or "fables" of fafse teachers claiming to belong to the Christian Churcli, alluded to by writ- ers of the N. T. in connection with "endless genealo- gies" {ytvtaXoyiai cnrkpavToi, 1 Tim. i, 4), or with dis- paraging epithets ("Jewish," 'lovCaiKoi, Tit. i, 14: "old wives'," ypaujvtlQ,! Tim. iv, 7; "cunningly de- vised," (naoipKJu'fvoi, 2 Pet. i, 16), do not appear to hava had the character of fables, properly so called. As applied to them, the M'ord takes its general meaning of anvthing f\ilse or unreal. Thus Paul exhorts Tim- othy and Titus (1 Tim. i, 4 ; iv, 7 ; Titus i, 14) to shun profane and Jewish fables, as having a tendencv to se- duce men from the truth. By these fables some un- derstand the reveries of the Gnostics ; but the fathers generally, and most modern commentators, interpret them of the vain traditions of the Jews. The great reservoir of Jewish tradition is the book, or rather the books, called the Talmud. At the time of the Chris- tian lera, the traditions, as they were called, of the law (by which was meant the decisions of the doctors on disputed points of the Mosaic code, and the extrav- agant fables with which they adorned their comments) had attained so great a bulk and so hiii;h a degree of veneration as quite to supersede the law itself in the common estimation. These traditions, which were sup- posed to have Ijeen handed down, some from the a^^a of Moses, and some from a period far anterior, were, for the most part, mere directions for ridiculous ceremo- nies, questions of absurd casuistry, and fables which by their absurdity alone would have disgusted any other nation. Some of these fables and legends are too impious and blasphemous to be quoted, but we se- lect a few specimens. Adam, of whose knowledge we can hardly form too high an idea, was said to be en- dued with magic. " God," sav the Talmudists, " gave him a precious jewel, the very sight of which would cure all diseases ; this came afterwards into the posses- sion of Abi'aham, but after his death, because, Ity rea- son of its exceeding brightness, it was likelj' to be wor- shipped, God hung it in the sun." Our first parents were, accoi-ding to rabbinical tradition, of a gigantic stature ; and this legend has been borrowed and im- proved by the Mohammedans. The transmigration of souls is much insisted on in the Talmud, and the soul of Adam is said to have passed successiveh' into the bodies of Noah and David ; it will also pass into the Messiah. This doctrine they took from the Egyptian mythology, and it is still more ancient than their resi- dence in Egypt. Abraham was the person to whom, they say, it was first revealed, and he taught that the souls of men passed into women, beasts, birds, and even reptiles, rocks, and plants. The spirit of a man was punished by passing into a woman ; and if the conduct of the man had been very atrocious, it took some reptile or inanimate form ; and if a woman act righteously, slie will, in another state, become a man. Tims the ass that carried Balaam, the ravens that fed Elijah, the whale that swallowed Jonah, are all sup- posed to have possessed reasonable, transmigrated souls. The jSIishna says, "The two tables of stone were upwards of two tons weight, but the moment God's word and commandments were engraved there- on hy the shaiii'ir, thoj' became as light as a feather. When Moses left the mount and came witiiin sight of the molten calf, and heard the multitude shouting, he was alarmed ; so that -when the rays of the molten calf, which were of gold, came in contact with the ta- bles of stone, the letters tliercon immediately flew away, and tlie tables of stone returned to their former weight, which was more than IMoses could support, and therefore he threw them down, and they brake in pieces." It is also said that iSIoses was the richest man that ever was or ever will be. His riches con- sisted of diamonds, which he obtained possession of in the same way that ever}' laborer gets rewarded, by be-
FABRE
445
FABRICIUS
Ing considered worthj^ of his hire. Moses never look- ed for any emolument from the Jews, and God there- fore rewarded him in this manner. The two tables of stone were one solid mass of diamonds, and the chip- pings that came from the two tables were his own per- quisites. But what was truly wonderful and aston- ishing, as the chippings flaw off, thej' became regular and beautiful in their form. This circumstance gave the wicked Jews occasion to charge him with breaking the tackles purposely, in order that he might have the opportunity to obtain moi'e chipjiings. It is said that Elijah the prophet is going about the world as an am- bassador of God, and is everj'where present at one time, and is in his person a venerable old man, wear- ing a long beard. When Messiah shall appear, there will be a great feast, at which every Jew will be pres- ent. This feast will consist of foul, of lish, and of flesh, ivhich God created for the purpose at the begin- ning of the world. First, God provided a large fowl or bird, called Agal Loshder ; also a large ox, call- ed Shur Abur; and two large fish, called Leviathan. When God created these two great fish, male and fe- male, being of such immense size, lest they should multiply, God slew the female, and buried it in salt, tli.>re to remain until it is wanted for this great feast. Then all the Jews that have been born, or that have existed since the creation of the world, will be restored to life. The table will be spread, and the provision placed upon it, and it is so ordained that each one will take his station according to his conduct in the present life. Moses will sit at the head of the table, and next to him Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets in rotation. Rabbi Simon says he was once sailing in the Great Sea, when he and the mariners espied a fish of such enormous size, that, although they had a fair wind, after thej' saw one ej'e of the fish, they sailed five days longer in a direct line before they reached the other eye of the same fish, which con- firmed his belief in the report of the size of the levia- than. Much also is related concerning the size of the ox, which is said to be so immense that he eats up the whole of the grass that grows upon a thousand hills every day. The l)ird, also, is said to be of enoi-- mous size, and it is stated that one day this bird, in her flight, dropped an egg, which broke, and the yolk drowned fifty cities and villages (Stehelin, Jewish Tra- ditions, passim). See Talmud.