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 JUDAISM

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JUDAIZERS

of Juda showed great loyalty to the former, and soon after the death of Saul David was enthusiastically crowned at Hebron (II Kings, ii, 4, 7, 10) where he reigned seven jears {II Kings, v, 5). When the un- fortunate schism took place under Roboam only the tribe of Juda and of Benjamin remained faithful to the House of David (III Kings, xii. 20), and hencef ort h t he Southern Kingdom was known as that of Juda. After the Captivity the members of Juda were among the first to return to Jerusalem and begin the reconstruc- tion of the Temple (I Esd., i, 5; iii, 9); in fine, the name ' ' Jews ' ' ( Judaei) , by which the post^Exilic Israel- ites and their descendants are generally designated, is, of course, derived from Juda. Thus the history of the Chosen People is to a great extent the story of the varj'ing vicissitudes of the dominant tribe of Juda. Its military ascendancy and glorj- reached its height in the person of David, the "lion of Juda ". But the true lion of the tribe of Juda is Christ the Son of David (Apoc, v, 5).

III. Juda, Territory of. — The tribe of Juda occupied a rather extensive territorj' in the southern part of Palestine. It was bounded on the north by Dan and Benjamin, on the east by the Dead Sea, on the south by Simeon, and on the west by the Sephela or plain of the Philistines. The principal cities of Juda are enumerated in Josue (xv, 21-^2). The sacred writer divides the cities into four groups, viz., those of the south on the boundary of Idumea. those of the western plain, those of the mountain, and finally those of the desert. In all, mention is made of 134 towns, about one-half of which have been identified or located with a fair degree of certitude. The recently built railroad from Jaffa to Jerusalem passes through a comer of the territory of Juda, the general aspect of which is a series of hills covered in the spring-time with grass and flowers, but bare and arid during the rest of the year. A modern carriage-road runs from Jerusalem to Hebron, which lies in a fertile valley between two ranges of green hills. Here and there cultivated fields greet the eye. The slopes of the hills are dotted with terraced gardens and vineyards, among which are to be found grottoes and labyrinths which formerly served as hiding-places. The Kingdom of Juda, dating from the beginning of the reign of Roboam, was thus called in opposition to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The capital, Jeru- salem, was situated on the boundary line between Juda and Benjamin.

Legendre in Vig., Diet, de la Bible, s. v.

James F. Driscoll.

Judaism. See Jews and Jud.\ism.

Judaizers (from Greek 'loi/Soffui, to adopt Jewish customs — Esth., viii, 17; Gal., ii, 14), a party of Jewish Christians in the Early Church, who either held that circumcision and the observance of the Mosaic Law were necessary for salvation and in con- sequence wished to impose them on the Gentile converts, or who at least considered them as still obligatory on the Jewish Christians. Although the Apostles had received the command to announce the Gospel to all the nations, they and their associates addressed themselves at first only to Jews, converts to Judaism, and Samaritans, that is to those who were circumcised and obser\-ed the Law of Moses. The converts, and the .\postles with them, con- tinued to conform to Jewish customs: they obser\'ed the distinction between legally clean and unclean food, refused to eat with Gentiles or to enter their houses, etc. (.\cts, x. 14, 28; xi. 3). At Jerusalem they frequented the Temple and took part in Jewish religious life as of old (.\cts, ii, 46; iii, 1; xxi, 20-26), so tliat, judged from external appearances, they seemed to be merely a new Jewish sect distinguished by the union and charity existing among its mem- bers. The Mosaic ceremonial law was not to be permanent indeed, but the time had not yet come

for abolishing its observance. The intense attach- ment which the Jews had for it, amounting to fanati- cism in the case of the Pharisees, would have for- bidden such a step, had the Apostles contemplated it, as it would have been tantamount to shutting the door of the Church to the Jews.

But sooner or later the Go.spel was also to reach the Gentiles, and then the delicate question must immediately arise: What was their position with re- spect to the Law? Were they bound to observe it? And if not, what conduct should the Jews hold to- wards them? Should the Jews waive such points of the Law as were a barrier to free relations between Jew and Gentile? To the mind of most Palestinian Jews, and especially of the zealots, only two solu- tions would present them.selves as possible. Either the Gentile converts must accept the Law, or its provisions must be enforced against them as against the other uncircumcised. But national sentiment, as well as love for the Law, would impel them to prefer the first. And yet neither solution was admissible, if the Church was to embrace all nations and not re- main a national institution. The Gentiles would never have accepted circumcision with the heavy yoke of Mosaism, nor would they have consented to occupy an inferior position with regard to the Jews, as they necessarily must, if these regarded them as unclean and declined to eat with them or even to enter their houses. Lender such conditions it was easy to foresee that the admission of the Gentiles must provoke a crisis, which would clear the situa- tion. When the brethren at Jerusalem, among whom probably were already converts of the sect of the Phari.sees, learned that Peter had admitted Cor- nehus and his household to baptism without -subject- ing them to circumcision, they loudly expostulated with him (.\cts, xi, 1-.3). The cause assigned for their complaints is that he "had gone in to men un- circumcised and had eaten with them", but the un- derlying reason was that he had dispensed with cir- cumcision. However, as the case was an exceptional one, where the will of God was manifested by mi- raculous circumstances, Peter found little difficulty in quieting the dissatisfaction (Acts, xi, 4-lS). But new conversions soon gave rise to far more serious trouble, which for a time threatened to produce a schism in the Church.

Council of Jerus.vlem (a.d. 50 or 51). — The per- secution that broke out at the time of St. Stephen's mart>Tdom providentially hastened the hour when the Gospel was to be preached also to the Gentiles. Some natives of Cyprus and Cyrene, driven from Jerusalem by the persecution, went to Antioch, and there began to preach not only to the Jews, but also to the Greeks. Their action was probably prompted by the example set by Peter at Cxsarea, which their more liberal views as Hellenists would naturally dispose them to follow. With the help of Barnabas, whom the Apostles sent on hearing that a great number of Gentiles were con- verted to the Lord at Antioch, and of the former per- secutor Saul, a flourishing church, largely Gentile, was established there (Acts, xi, 20 sqq.). Soon after (be- tween -A.. D. 45—49) Saul, now called Paul, and Barnabas founded the South Galatian churches of Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Derbe, and Perge, thus increasing the Gentile converts (.\cts, xiii, 13 — xiv, 24). Seeing the Gentile element growing so large and threatening to outnumber the Jewish, the zealots of the Law took alarm. Both their national pride and their reUgious sentiments were shocked. They welcomed the acces- sion of the Gentiles, but the Jewish complexion of the Church must be maintained, the Law and the Gospel must go hand in hand, and the new converts must be Jews as well as Christians. Some went down to An- tioch and preached to the Gentile Christians that un- less they received circumcision, which as a matter of course would carry with it the observance of the other