evermore.' "Whereupon he again pronounces the f<il- lowing benediction — ' Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who hast chosen us from among all nations, and hast given us thy law. Blessed art thou.O Lord, giver of the law;' to which all the congre- gation respond ' Amen.' He Ishen reads the seventh por- tion of the lesson, and when he has finished, rolls up the scroll, and pronounces again the following benediction — ' Blessed art thou, O Lord our (iod, Kuig of the universe, who hast given iis thy law, the law of truth, and hast jjlanted among us everlasting life. Blessed art thou. O Lord, giver of the law' " (:Maimonides, ibid, xii, .5). The other six, who are called ui rotation to the reading of
HAPHTARAH
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HAPHTARAH
the other six portions, have to go through the same for- mularies. Then the maphtir (-l^-JS-=), or the one who tini-shes up bv the reading of the Jhtpfilarnh, or the les- son from the'prophets, is called. Havhig read the few concluding verses of the lesson from the law, and passed through the same formularies as the other seven, he reads Hie appointed section from the prophets. " Before reading it, he pronounces the following benediction— ' Blessed art thou, O Lord oiu: God, King of the uni- verse, who hast chosen good prophets, and delighted in their Avords, which were spoken in truth. Blessed art tliou, O Lord, who hast chosen the law, thy serv- ant Moses, thv people Israel, and thy true and right- eous prophets",' and after reading, ' Blessed art thou, 0 Lord our Clod, King of the miiverse, Rock of aU ages, righteous in all generations, the faithful God who prom- ises and performs, who decrees ami accomplishes, for all thy words are faithful and just. Faithfid art thou. Lord our (iod. and fa'ithful are thy words, and not one of thy words shall return in vain, for thou art a faithful King. Blessed art thou, 0 Lord, tlie God who art faithfid in all thy words.' ' Have mercy upon Zion, for it is the dwell- ing of our life, and save speedily in our days the afflict- ed souls. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who wilt make Zion rejoice in her chilchen. Cause us to rejoice, O Lord om- God, in Elijah thy sers-ant, and in the kingdom of the house of David thine anointed. IMay he speedily come and gladden oiu: hearts. Let no stranger sit on his throne, and let others no longer inherit his glorj-, for thou hast sworn unto him by thy holy name that his light shall not be extinguished forever and ever. Bless- ed art thou, O Lord, the shield of David.' ' For the law, the divine service, the prophets, and for "this day of rest" [or of memorial], this goodly day of holy convoca- tion which thou hast given to us, O Lord, for sanctifica- tion and rest [on the Sabbath], for honor .and glory; for all this, O Lord our King, we thank and praise thee. Let thy name be praised in the mouth of everj- living creature forever and ever. Thy word, O our King, is true, and will abide forever. Blessed art thou. King of the whole earth, who hast sanctified the Sabbath, and Israel, and the day of memorial' " (ISIairoonides, ilnd). After the Babylonian captivity, when the Hebrew lan- guage became an imknown tongue to rlic common peo- ple, an inteq)reter (',^;iin^, 'i-J'Tir) stood at the desk by the side of those who read the lessons, and par- aphrased the section from the law into Chaldee verse by verse, the reader pausing at every verse, whilst the lesson from the prophets he paraphrased three verses at a time (Mishna, MeifiHn, iv, 4) ; and Lightfoot is of opinion that St. Paul, in 1 Cor. xiv, 22, refers to this cir- cumstance {Hone IJebiaicce in loco). The lesson from the law wa.s on these occasions rendered into Clialdee quite literally, owing to the fear which bt)th the inteqireters anil tlie congregation had lest a free explanation of it niiglit niisrcj)resent its sense, whilst greater freedom was exercised with the lesson from the ])rophets. Hence loo.se iiarajilirascs and lengthy expositions were tolera- ted and looked fur lioth from the professional inter])reter and those of the congregation who were called uj) to read, and who felt that they could do it with edirtcation to the audience. Tlie Sabbatic lesson from the law was, as we have seen, divided into seven sections or chapters, each of which had at least three verses, according to the verses of those days, so that the whole consisted of at least twenty-one such verses. The lesson from the [iroiiliets was not portioned out to seven (hll'crcnt indi- viduals, i)ut has alsg^at least twenty-one verses (Mishna, MiU'dln, iv, 4 ; Maimonides, Jod Jlo-Chezaka Jlikhoth I't/ifiilld, xii, IS). The lesson from tlie law for the Day of Atonement is divided into six chapters, for festivals into live, for new vnoon into four, and for :Mon(lays and Thursdays into three chapters or sections. The num- ber of persons called up to the reading of the law always corresponds to the number of sections. For Mondavs and Thursdays, new moon, and the week days of the
festivals (1"1^ ?in), there are no corresponding les- sons from the prophets (Mishnsi, 3feff{Ua, iv, 1-3).