No further reference than this briefest sketch seems necessary, although on comparison it is clear that the Apostolic Catalogues in the Gospels are ranged in three groups, each of them beginning with respectively the same name (Simon, Philip, and James the son of Alphaeus). This, however, we may remark - how narrow, after all, was the Apostolic circle, and how closely connected most of its members. And yet, as we remember the history of their calling, or those notices attached to their names which afford a glimpse into their history, it was a circle, thoroughly representative of those who would gather around the Christ. Most marked and most solemn of all, it was after a night of solitary prayer on the mountain-side, that Jesus at early dawn called His disciples, and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named Apostles,' that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sickness and to cast out devils.' [2498] __________________________________________________________________
[2391] The words to repentance' are certainly spurious in St. Matt. and St. Mark. I regard theirs as the original and authentic report of the words of Christ. In St. Luke v. 32, the words unto repentance' do certainly occur. But, with Godet, I regard them as referring to the righteous,' and as used, in a sense ironically.
[2392] So in all the three Gospels.
[2393] Yoma 29 a.
[2394] Sot. 3 a.
[2395] Rosh haSh. 17 a.
[2396] Comp. Sepher Iqqarim iv. 28.
[2397] Ber. 34 h.
[2398] Vayyik. R. 7.
[2399] It would be quite one-sided to represent this as the only meaning, as, it seems to me, Weber has done in his System d. altsynagog, palaest. Theol.' This, and a certain defectiveness in the treatment, are among the blemishes in this otherwise interesting and very able posthumous work.
[2400] Pes. 54 a; Ber. R. 1.
[2401] So in too many passages for enumeration.
[2402] Yoma 69 b; Ber. R. 9, and in many places.
[2403] Some of these points have already been stated. But it was necessary to repeat them so as to give a connected view.
[2404] Sanh. 99 a; Maimon. Hil. Tesh. Per. 7.
[2405] Sanh. 99 a; Ber. 34 b.
[2406] Yalkut on Ps. xxxii. p. 101 b.
[2407] Sanh. 98 a.
[2408] Sanh. 98 a; Jer. Taan. 64 a.
[2409] Sanh. 98 a.
[2410] St. Luke xvii. 10.
[2411] So, according to Rabbinism, both in the Sepher Iqqar. and in Menor. Hammaor.
[2412] Yoma 86.
[2413] Ber. 5 a, b; Kidd. 81 b.
[2414] Yoma u. s.
[2415] Yoma u. s., and many passages.
[2416] In almost innumerable passages.
[2417] Ab. Zar. 5 a.
[2418] Mechilta, 76 a.
[2419] In Menorath Hammaor (Ner v. 1. 1, 2) seven kinds of repentance in regard to seven different conditions are mentioned. They are repentance immediately after the commission of sin; after a course of sin, but while there is still the power of sinning; where there is no longer the occasion for sinning; where it is caused by admonition, or fear of danger; where it is caused by actual affliction; where a man is old, and unable to sin; and, lastly, repentance in prospect of death.
[2420] See also Yoma 86 and following.
[2421] Ber. 12 b; Chag. 5 a.
[2422] Pesiqta ed. Bub. p. 163 b.
[2423] Ab. Zar. 17 a.
[2424] This is illustrated, among other things, by the history of a Rabbi who, at the close of a dissolute life, became a convert by repentance. The story of the occasion of his repentance is not at all nice in its realistic details, and the tears with which a self-righteous colleague saw the beatification of the penitent are painfully illustrative of the elder brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Ab. Z. 17 a).
[2425] Vayyik. R. 7.
[2426] Sanh. vi. 2.
[2427] Shabb. 32 a.