11 מחרם שיף = R. Meir Shiff, whose _novellæ_ on the Talmud are of a very subtle kind, and were very popular with the students of this work. 12 המוראים—תנאים, “The Repeaters,” and “The Interpreters.” The sayings and statements of the former are embodied in the Mishnah, a work compiled by R. Judah the Saint about 220 A.C., and covering a period of about 250 years (30 B.C.‐220 A.C.). The latter occupied themselves mainly with the interpretation of the Mishnah, and their discussions and controversies are incorporated in the Talmud of Jerusalem and that of Babylon, and extend over the period from 220‐500 A.C. The Talmud of Jerusalem is mostly the product of the schools of Palestine. The Talmud of Babylon is a growth of that country. The authorities of this latter Talmud being far away from the place where the first great Rabbis lived and laboured, their traditions are naturally not so historically reliable as those of the Talmud of Jerusalem. The authorities of Palestine were also simpler in their method of interpretation. These again are followed by the Babylonian schools of new interpreters (of the Talmud). 13 שדין יהודאין, an expression that goes back as far as to the _Zohar_. 14 זוהר, “Brightness.” Cf. Dan. xii. 3,—the authors of “The Brightness” pretending to be the _Maskilim_ or “Wise Ones” mentioned in this verse. 15 שפלות. 16 שמחה. 17 התלהבות. 18 צדיק, pl. צדיקים. 19 R. Johanan b. Zaccai was a contemporary of the Apostles, and died about 110 A.D. He belonged to the peace party in opposition to the Zealots, and obtained permission from the Roman government to establish the school of Jamnia, which, after the destruction of the Temple, became the centre of Jewish religious life. See also p. 188. 20 R. Saadiah Gaon was born in Egypt in 892, and died as the head of the school of Sura in Babylon in 942. He is known by his translations of and commentaries on the Bible, and many other works, especially his philosophical treatise _Creeds and Opinions_. He was also a great controversialist. Most of his polemical writings are directed against the Caraites (קראים) or “Scripturalists,” a Jewish sect founded by Anan in the eighth century. They protested against the Oral Law, and denied Tradition. On the title “Gaon,” see note 1 to Elijah Wilna. 21 מורה נבוכים, _Moreh Nebuchim_, generally considered to be the greatest philosophical work by any Jewish thinker. 22 R. Abraham Ibn Ezra, who spent some time in London, died about 1161. He is best known by his commentaries on the Bible. He was the first writer who doubted the unity of the book of Isaiah. 23 תלמיד חבר. 24 עיר מלאת הכמים וסופרים, meaning “sages” and “scribes,” but used by later writers in the sense given in the text.