The synagogues were also used in olden times as courts of justice, more especially in ecclesiastical affairs. The great council of the nation, called the Sanhedrin, whose department was in the temple at Jerusalem, was vested with the power of deciding between life and death. Its authority extended over all the synagogues in Judea, as also over all other places, where the people resided near Jerusalem. The great synagogue consisted of one hundred and twenty elders, among whom were the three later prophets, Hagai, Zacharia, and Malachi. This conclave continued in succession till the days of Simon, the just, the high priest in Jerusalem, who was the last of this school. He was designated the just, because of his devotion and unfeigned piety to his God, and his upright conduct towards his fellow creatures. This conclave were zealously engaged in restoring the holy religion of Israel to its former excellence, which had undergone many corruptions during the captivity and other persecutions which the people endured subsequent to that period. They published correct copies of the bible, and taught the same to the people, in order that they should understand the religion which they professed to follow. Then it was that the worship of the synagogue consisted of three parts--the reading of the scripture, prayer, and preaching. By the scripture, is understood the pentateuch, portions from the prophets, and Hagiographa. The pentateuch is divided into fifty-two portions, for the fifty-two weeks in the year; one of these portions is read every Sabbath till the whole pentateuch is finished; in addition to the reading of the law, a chapter from the prophets is read, which dates its origin to the following fact. In those days, when Antiochus Epiphanes destroyed all the books in the possession of the Jews, he prohibited also the reading of the weekly portions of the law on the Sabbath. The elders then, as a substitute, selected chapters from the prophets, corresponding, in some measure, with the context of the weekly portions of the law. This practice was continued until Judas Maccabees had conquered Antiochus, when the reading of the law was resumed. To commemorate this event, the practice of reading the said portions of the prophets, on Sabbaths and festivals, has been continued among the Jews, and is now in use in all Jewish orthodox synagogues.