P R E F A C E.

worth in any of the works of Lightfoot. This book was little known in England, where this species of literature has only been in vogue for 40 or 50 years: That is why Lightfoot thought he could pillage it with impunity: Bad examples should never be followed, even if they are supported by the practice of great Authors. That is why I do not want to hide that this learned man has provided us with great assistance in the history of Levitical worship.

For the rest, one believes one can say that it is difficult to consult more writers than we have on a subject so worn out and so common. All those who would like to be instructed in the religion of the ancient Jews do not have the leisure to go and draw from the most ancient sources: And those who have made streams flow from these sources have extended themselves so much that they have formed a kind of sea, the mere sight of which astonishes those who travel in the country of letters. One believes one has reduced this great extension to just limits. One will not encounter the disgust that excessive length ordinarily gives: without, however, being able to complain that we have cut out what is necessary: besides the descriptions of the Tabernacle, the Temple of Solomon, and that of Herod, of the laws, the sacrifices, the voluntary offerings, the vows, and the penalties that fell upon the violators of the law of Moses, one will find many difficult passages explained throughout.

It is just that after having explained the others, we explain ourselves regarding an apparent contradiction that will be found on pages 358 and 381. It is on the subject of the Sabbatical year, or those releases that were given to the land and to servants every seven years. What was called the years of release. In one place it is said that the years of release were abolished little by little in the state of the Jews; and in the other it is said that they always continued: The fact is that in one place we speak according to the vulgar sentiment, and in the other we have copied Maimonides, who believes that they always continued; it appears that he is wrong. But if one has not corrected his error, one does not judge that it is a very great defect in our work.

The third Part contains the history of false cults, that is to say, of the Idolatries, of which the Judaic Church has been guilty, almost since its birth: For it was idolatrous in Egypt. It continued to be so in the desert. And as soon as it was a little established in the possession of the land of Canaan, it adopted all the Gods of the peoples, from whom God had delivered