The existence of the Great Synagogue, which is at- tested by the unanimous voice of Jewish tradition, was first questioned by Kichard Simon (Hist. Crit. du Vieitx Test. lib. i, cap. viii). Jacob Alting, with more bold- ness, rejected it altogether as one of the inventions of tradition ("Synagoga magna enim ncc uno tempore nee inio loco vixit, eoque synagoga non fuit, rerum commentum est traditionariorum, qui nullum alioquin nexum TrapaCurrfiog reperire potuerunt," 0pp. r, 382). He was followed by Rau (Diatribe de Synag. Magna [Ultraj. 1726], p. 66, etc.) and Aurivillius (De Synag. vulgo dicta Magna [ed. J. D. Michaelis, Gritting. 1790J). De Wette (Eink-ifung in das A. T. § 14) contemptu- ously dismisses it as "a tradition which vanishes as soon as the passages are looked at whereon it is based, and as not even being a subject for refutation." Tliose who condescend to argue the matter reject this tradi- tion because it is not mentioned in the Apocrypha, Jo- sephus, Philo, or the Seder Olam, and because the ear- liest record of it is in the tract of the Jlishna entitled A both, which belongs to the 1st or 2d century of our a-ra, but probably represents an earlier age. But surely this argument from the silence of a few writers caimot set aside the express and positive testimony of the Mishna, the Talmud, and the earliest Jewish works. In like manner, the book of Ecclesiasticus, in its catalogue of Jewish heroes (ch. 1), does not mention Ezra: Jose- phus never alludes to the tribimal of twenty-three mem- bers, and the earliest patristic literature of the Jews does not breathe a syllable about the Jlnccabasan heroes. Would it be fair to conclude from this silence that Ezra, the tribunal, and the Maccabees are a myth? In con- firmation of the records in the Talmudic literature about the Great Synagogue, the following circumstantial evi- dence is to be adduced: The errors of the Samaritans became rampant after the death of Nehemiah, while of
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the high-priests between Eliashib and Onias I some were insignificant men and others were reprobates. Ju- daism, moreover, has no record whatever of any distin- gnished persons during this period. We should there- fore have expected the rehgion of the people to be at the lowest ebb. " But instead of declining, we find Ju- daism rapidly rising. No trace is to be found in the whole of this period of the disturbances, misconceptions, and errors which prevailed in the time of Ezra, Nehe- miah, and Zerubbabel. The law and the precepts were pre-eminently revered. The ancient collection of Ben- Sirach's sayings, which reflects the spirit of the people in the pre-Simonic age, breathes a fervent enthusiasm for the inspired law (comp. Ecclus. ii, IG; vii, 29; ix, 16; X, 19; xv, 1 ; xix, 17 ; xxi, 11; xxiii, 27, and espe- cially ch. xxiv). Who, then, has kindled and sustained such an enthusiasm and religious spirit, if not an assem- bly similar to that convened by NehemiahV" (Griitz, in Frankel's Monatsschrift, vi, 63, etc.).
III. Number of Members and their C/(t.t.tiJicaiion. — We are told that Nehemiah organized the Great Syna- gogue (comp. Neh. x, 1-10 with AJidriish Ruth, c. iii ; Jerusalem Shebiifh, v, 1), and that it consisted of 120 members (Jerusalem Bei-a/colh, li, 4; Jerusalem Mer/U- lah, i; Babylon Megillah, 17 b). In loo'king at the regis- ter of the Great Assembly recorded in Nehemiah (x, 1- 8), it will be seen that — a. Only sixteen out of the twenty-four chiefs of the priests (1 Chron. xxiv, 7-18) are enumerated, and that for the eight that are want- ing four private persons are given, viz. Zidkijah, Daniel, Baruch, and Meshullam. b. Of the six or seven chief Levites — viz. Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Hodijah, Sherebi- ah, Hashabniah — who returned with Zerubbabel and Ezra (Neh. ix, 4, 5 ; Ezra v, 18, 19, 24), Bani is omitted, and twelve private individuals are mentioned who were undoubtedly the doctors of the law (Q^3^2'2 ; Neh. viii, 7 ; ix, 3). c. Of the forty-five chiefs of the people (^i:: ST D"n) only half are known as heads of families, and the rest are again distinguished private individuals. Here the families of David and Joab (comp. Ezra viii, 2, 9) are missing, d. Of the representatires of the cities there are only two mentioned — viz. Anathoth and Nebo — which plainly shows that others are omitted, since these two places did not at all distinguish themselves to be thus singled out. Now, in looking at the peculiar posi- tion in which they are placed among the heads of the people in the register of the exiles, it will be seen that the family of Hariph (Joseh) stand first; then follow the names of thirteen cities (viz. (iibeon, Bethlehem, Netophah, Anathoth. Beth-azmavetb, Kirjath - jearim, Chephirah, Beerotb, Ramah, Gaba, Michmas, Beth-el, and Ai) ; Nebo concludes the catalogue of the cities, and the family of jMagbish follows upon it (Ezra ii, 18-^ 30; Neh. vii, 24-33), which exactly corresponds with the order in the register of the Great Synagogue; Ha- riph begins, then come cities, i. e. Anathoth; Nebai comes last, and then again Magbish (Nelh x, 19, 20). It has been supposed, therefore, that the above-named cities are to be inserted between Hariph and Anathoth. If we add to these fifteen cities the other five specified in the register (viz. Lod, Hadid, Ono, Jericho, and Te- koa — vii, 3G, 37), which were represented by this syn- od, we have in all twenty cities. Under this view, eight divisions of the priests are wanting — the family of Bani is missing from the Levites, seven families of the heads of the people have disappeared — and thir- teen of the representatives of the cities have dropped out. Now, if we supplj' those which seem to have been dropped, and add them up with the private individuals mentioned in the register, we obtain the following rep- resentatives in the Great Synagogue: twenty-eight priests, cimsisting of the twent}--four divisions and the four private individuals ; nineteen Levites, being the seven families and the twelve private persons; fifty Is- raelites, twenty -nine being chiefs of the people and twenty-one private persons — making in all ninety-sev-