The Pulpit Commentary — Romans — Section 411

n,:-:,insl the' risk of buying l\t the sh&rubles, any pollution, &nd that, if excommunicated, or p.qrt>tking in general sooiety of 'l"iBnds they were consequently oompelled to eat rom1C'<'ted mtb heathen enerifioos, m&de B herbs. (For what is known of them, see poiut of Rootaining from meat altogether, J osepbus, • Bell. J ud.,' ii.; viii. 2-5; • Ant.,' nnd (it has been suggest.ad) from mne too, xiii. 5. 9; xv. 10. 4, 5; xviii. l. 2, eto.: which might hl\,e been mied in libations. Philo, 'Quod Omnis Probus Liber,' seo. xii., This is the new of Clement of Alexn.ndria, eto.; Pliny, 'Hist. Nat.,' v, 16, 17.) It is Ambrosinster, and Augustine, among the fo.r from unlikely that some of these would nnC'ients. be attracted to Christianity ; and this espeoi- Yiew (2) is that of Origen, Chrysostom, ally as some of their prinoiples, as described Thcodoret., Jerome, and others, among 'l"l"hom by Josephus, seem to have been endorsed Chrysostom aooounts for the t,ot.a] abstinence by Christ himself (see art. on "Essenes," from me:it as follom;: "There were many of in • Diet. of Christian Biog.,' vol. ii p. 202); the Jews that believed, who, being still and, if so, they would be likely to oarry bound in conscience to the La'l"I", e,en after their prejudices with them into the Church, belienng rn.11 observed the ordinances about and, when living outside their original com- meats, not as yet ,entnring to depart from munities, they might abstain entirely from the Law; and then, in order not to be con- flesh as well as wine. Or it might be that spicuous in abstaining from swine's flesh other J ewe, Essenio in prinoiple and feeling, only, they abstained from all flesh, and ate had sought admission into the Churoh. herbs only, that their practice might seem Philo, in Ensebins, • Pr:ep. Evan.,' viii. fin., to be rather fusting, and not observance of and Josephus, 'Vit.,' 2. 3, intimate that the Law" ( eo also <Eenmenius and Theophy- enpm-legal asceticism, nnder the influence lact). Bnt this seems to be a conjecture of Essenic prinoiples, was not uncommon iu only, and hardly a likely one. And further, Judaism in their time. The latter (c. 3) it f&ils to acconnt for abstinence from wine, speaks of certain priests, his friends, who which seems to be implied, on the pa.rt of were so God-fearing that they subsisted on some at least, in ver. 21. (It may be ob- figs nnd nuts, aud (c. 2) of one Banus, who served. however, that this is not of necessity had been his master, who ate no food but implied. Abstinence from meat is all that vegetables. What is still more to our pur- has been spoken of before, and a,,oain in pose is that we find evidence of pious ver. 23; and St. Paul may possibly mean ascetics of the same type snbsequently only t.o say, in ver. 21, that if by abstaining l\mong Christians. Origen (' Contra Cels.,' from wine also he could avoid offence to a v. 49) speaks of some as living in his weak brother, he would willingly so abstain. time; and even the apostle St. Matthew, Still, the natural inference is that he would and James the Lord's brother, were after- not have mentioned wine had there not wards credited with a corresponding mode been some who made it a point of conscience of life. Clement of Alexandria (' Paidag.,' t.o abstain from it.) ii 1) says of the former, "Matthew the If the weak brethren were ascetics, accord- apostle partook of seeds and acorns and ing to view (3), it is most probable that herbs, witbont flesh." Hegeeippus, quoted they were Jewish Christians who had im- by Eusebius (ii. 23), says of the latter that bibed the principles of the :&Mme.,. These " be drank not wine or strong drinks, nor did were a J ewisb sect, spoken of especially by he eat animal food ; a razor came not upon Josepbns, who aimed at scrupulous observ• his head ; he did not anoint himself with ance of the Law of Moses, and strict per- oil ; be did not use the bath." It is to be sonal purity. With this view they lived in observed that abstinence from ointments com.mnn.ities under rule, partaking of the was one of the practices of the Esscnos (Jo- simplest fare, and 110me abstaining from sephus, • Bell. Jud.,' viii. 2. 8). Augustine marriage. It doe11 not appear that they (' Ad Faust.,' xxii. 8) transmits the same were strict vegetariaD.I! when living in com- tradition as to the abstinence of James from munity ; bnt we are told that they might flesh and wine. Whatever foundation there only 1c:at rnch meat 0.ll bad been prepared by might he for these traditions, they at nny their own mr,ml,eri, 60 as to Le &(;cure aga;ni;t rate show that in the second centul'y, whon tm. xrv. 1--28.) 'i'H:& EPIB'i'LE 011' PAUL TO THE ROMANS. 409