02. Part 1

Part 1 1. Nathanael gives an account of himself.

I have some peculiar and good reasons for calling myself Nathanael. I am a real and not an imaginary person, and all that I am communicating in this little volume has verily and in reality taken place in my mind, when it pleased our God to bring me out of a turbulent ocean of soul-distressing doubts and fears, strivings and wrestlings with the powers of darkness and with my own heart, by nature, stone, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Ezekiel 36:26, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." This was a free and gracious gift of God, as my adopted name, Nathanael, signifies.

2. The effect of Divine life in the soul. When divine life is poured into the soul through the Holy Spirit, there is an insatiable thirst for the heavenly truth of "The mystery of the Trinity." This thirst can only be quenched through the teaching of the Holy Spirit, when He reveals God unto the soul through his Word (Zohar). The Bible, and nothing but the Bible, is designed by God to be unto us the rule of our faith and practice; but alas! His people the children of Israel, invented, in their vain imaginations, a variety of traditions, and exalted them above the Word of God, thus making the law and the prophets of none effect. The consequence resulting therefrom was, that the children of Israel lost the right and Scriptural knowledge of God, which only a very few retained. As early as the second century of the Christian era, those few had died out. In the rabbinic writings of the subsequent five or six centuries, we find only extracts from the teaching of their ancient masters, and this oftentimes darkened with interpolations. What God said through His prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 2:13), has not ceased sounding forth: "My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me the Fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, which can hold no water."

Great moral power is required to emerge out of such a state of ignorance, into which my people, the children of Israel, have fallen. This power is not in man, but is of God; and He Says (Ezekiel 36:37), "Thus saith the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel." It is, therefore, my prayer: "Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me; for Thou art the God of my salvation; on Thee do I wait all the day" (Psalms 25:5).

3. Nathanael explains the plan of enquiry which he pursued.

I took from the heavily-burdened shelves of my library the Book of all books, The Biblia Magna Hebraica, and said, Thou shalt be my Instructor! and my prayer was, "In the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom" (Psalms 51:6). But while I felt that the Holy Scriptures were sufficient, and alone to be trusted, to lead me into all truth necessary to salvation, I wished also to consult the writings of the ancient teachers of my nation; some of whom lived before the Christian era, and others somewhat later. These writers, it is true, being but fallible men, are to be followed so far only as their teaching and doctrine agree with the Holy Scriptures; but nevertheless I was anxious to know what these Jewish-Church Fathers thought upon the subject about which I was enquiring; and accordingly I made diligent search in the archives, where I found certain records, which informed me what authority these men had in the synagogue, and still have, and what their faith respecting the Mystery of the Trinity, was.

4. Nathanael gives us a sketch of the lives of these Jewish-Church fathers.

Onkelos.—Onkelos, surnamed the Proselyte, was probably descended from the Gentiles, and had embraced the true religion. He lived long before the rabbinic schools came into existence, though the precise time cannot be ascertained with certainty. Most probably he flourished in the time of, or at the return from, the Babylonish captivity, when our nation had lost the knowledge of their holy mother-tongue, the Hebrew language, and the mass of the people only understood the Chaldee. Onkelos translated the Pentateuch into Chaldee, and paraphrased certain passages. This paraphrase or translation is called the Targum. This paraphrase on the Pentateuch has had, in the Jewish Church, the same authority as the Hebrew text, and was always read in the synagogues after the Hebrew had been read. It is even erroneously considered as having been inspired by God, as we read in Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah:

"This paraphrase has Moses, our master of blessed memory, (lit., Peace be upon him), received upon Sinai." But after it had been entirely forgotten, this crown was restored in all its lustre through Onkelos, the Proselyte. This paraphrase is of such canonical authority, that it is said our rabbis, "He who adds any thing to it, behold! he is a base blasphemer." Thus much regarding the authority of Onkelos.

Jonathan ben Uziel.—This celebrated teacher was the chief disciple of Hillel the Great, and wrote his paraphrase long before the destruction of our holy temple (Tzemach Dovid), and his paraphrase possessed in the synagogue canonical authority. The Chaldee paraphrase, called the Jerusalem paraphrase.—This paraphrase of the Pentateuch is also said to have been written by Jonathan ben Uziel. It contains only very short paraphrastic notes, and not all the verses, but is of great value, having preserved, faithfully and without alloy, the faith of my forefathers respecting the nature of God, and of some other important doctrines founded upon God’s holy Word. When I considered that these Chaldee paraphrases were written in such remote times as those before the Christian era, and by men of so great authority as to be acknowledged by the whole of my nation throughout the world, I could not but feel anxious to know their faith and teaching, respecting the nature and essence of God. The paraphrase, therefore, of the Pentateuch, by Onkelos, and those of the Pentateuch, and of the major and minor prophets, by Jonathan ben Uziel, I said, I will carefully consult. The holy Zohar (the holy Light).—How great was my joy, when I found this most extraordinary book in my father’s library—a book so replete with profound mysteries, written in a style so lofty, and in a language understood by few in our age. I exclaimed, I will also consult thee: but much as I love thee, yet thou must be beneath the Word of God. Thy testimony I cannot receive, further than it agrees with Moses and the prophets. This book is known among my people as the holy book Zohar. It was written by R. Simon ben Jochai, and his son R. Eliezer is said to have assisted him.

They flourished shortly after the destruction of our Holy City by the Romans. On account of a decree of death passed against them by one of the Roman emperors, both father and son hid themselves in a cave, where they wrote this wonderful book, which is considered among my nation to be of the highest authority in things pertaining to the knowledge of the nature and essence of God. The statements regarding R. Simeon ben Jochai and R. Eliezer, and the legends, in which the veneration of my nation for the holy book Zohar is wrapped up, shew that they have considered that in it has been preserved the right knowledge of God; what He is in His nature and essence.

There is another book of R. Simeon ben Jochai in existence, called "The propositions of the Zohar," of which I shall make some use. The book of the Creation.—This book is said to have been written by our father Abraham. R. Moses Butarili (also called Butril) says in his commentary on this very extraordinary book, "Our father Abraham wrote this book, which is called the book of the Creation."

All the rabbis are of this opinion. Of course I do not believe this; for then we should find it amongst the canonical books; yet it is of great antiquity. Though written in pure Hebrew, the style is difficult to be understood. The book has great authority in the synagogue.

It is probable that it may have been written shortly before or soon after the Babylonish captivity. Though this hypothesis may be disputed, at any rate it existed before the Christian era.

5. A grammatical axiom in the Hebrew language.

Every one who is acquainted with the rudiments of the Hebrew and Chaldee languages, must know that God, in the holy Writings, very often speaks of Himself in the plural. The passages are numerous, in which, instead of a grammatical agreement between the subject and predicate, we meet with a construction, which some modern grammarians, who possess more of the so-called philosophical than of the real knowledge of the Oriental languages, call a pluralis excellentiæ. This helps them out of every apparent difficulty. Such a pluralis excellentiæ was, however, a thing unknown to Moses and the prophets. Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, David, and all the other kings, throughout Tanach (the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa) speak in the singular, and not as modern kings in the plural. They do not say we, but I, command; as in Genesis 41:41, "And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt."; Daniel 3:29, "Therefore I make a decree..."; Ezra 1:2, "Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah." etc., etc.

6. Logical agreement between the subject and the predicate, or between the noun and verb. A few examples will suffice. In Genesis 29:26-27, we find Laban saying to Jacob "It must not be done so in our place, to give the younger before the first-born. Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me." The pronoun would be, as in the former members of the verse, in the plural, namely, "with us," if Laban had spoken as modern mighty men in the pluralis excellentiæ. He would also have had a fitting opportunity of letting Jacob feel his importance and weight, when he overtook him in his flight (Genesis 31:26-31), but he spoke in the singular.

Genesis 31:26-31
And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword? Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp? And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing. It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father’s house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods? And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid: for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take by force thy daughters from me. The logical agreement between the subject and the predicate, is laban saying (Genesis 31:26), "in our place" (Genesis 31:27), "we will give"; i.e., I, Laban, and my household, will give. Then Laban adds, "For the service which thou shalt serve with me," employing the singular number, he alone being Jacob’s master.

Thus also we find, 1 Kings 12:9, that Rehoboam said, "What counsel give ye, that we may answer this people?"

"We" means, I and my companions. The king speaks in his own name, and in the name of those with whom he had united himself, as the context shews. (See also 2 Samuel 16:20; Job 18:2; Daniel 2:36.)

2 Samuel 16:20, Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do.
Job 18:2, How long will it be ere ye make an end of words? mark, and afterwards we will speak.
Daniel 2:36, This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.

I plainly perceive that, in those times, the great ones of the earth did not use a pluralis excellentiæ. Deep, however, is the mystery of the logical agreement between the noun and its verb in those passages which refer to God, as I shall endeavour to shew in the following part.