As Others Saw Him: A Retrospect, A.D. 54Jacobs, Joseph
Religion
As Others Saw Him: A Retrospect, A.D. 54
Jacobs, Joseph
Bible. New Testament -- History of Biblical events -- Fiction; Biographical fiction; Jesus Christ -- Fiction
Meanwhile the money‐changers and those with them had collected together
near the gate by which I had entered, and stood there whispering and
muttering among themselves. All at once they turned towards the man as he
was soothing the little child, and shouted out together, “_Mamzer!
Mamzer!_” which in our tongue signifieth one born out of wedlock. Then the
man looked up from the little child, his face once more full of rage, and
the blue vein throbbing on his temple. He took a step towards the men, and
then he stopped. His face changed to a look of pity, and the men
themselves, in fear and shame, slunk away before his look through the gate
and were gone.
Then he turned towards those that had for sale doves as sacrifices for the
women and the poor. To these he spoke in a tone that was calm and yet full
of authority, and then I noticed that his voice had the burr of our
northern peasantry. He said unto them, “Take these things hence; make not
my Father’s house a house of merchandise.” And these, too, went away
through the gates, carrying with them the wicker cages full of doves. Ever
since that time the doves have been for sale in Hanan’s Bazaar on the
Mount of Olives.
Now I must tell thee that at this time there had been much disputing
between the Pharisees and the Sadducees as to the sale of beasts for
sacrifice. The Pharisees held that each man might buy such beasts wherever
he would; but the Sadducees, being mainly priests, or of priestly blood,
would have it that the beasts of sacrifice could only be purchased from
the salesmen duly authorized by the High Priest; for they said, “Who shall
tell that the beasts are according to the Law, if they are bought from any
chance person?” Yet many thought they only did this in order that they
might share the profit from the sale of the animals. And, indeed, the
great riches of the High Priests came mainly from this source. When,
therefore, I saw the man with the scourge getting rid of these sacrificial
animals from the courts of the Temple, my first thought was that he was of
the sect of the Pharisees. Yet these are rarely found in the country
parts, and the man bore no great marks of special piety; his phylacteries
were not broader than my own; the fringes of his garment were not more
conspicuous, nor did he seem as one of the fanatics who are so many in our
land. He had done what he had done in all calmness, and with a certain air
of authority. My wonder was aroused to think what manner of man this could
be, who did the work of the Pharisees, and was not one himself.
While I thus thought, the man turned to a group of men clad in the same
rustic garb, saying, “Be ye rather approved money‐changers, holding fast
the good and casting forth the false;”(1) and, after other words, he
turned from them and went up the steps leading to the Women’s Court.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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