Disquisitio philol. de Iudaeorum odio et abstinentia a porcina, eiusque c ausis

§. I.

We now move on to the JEWS, having traveled through the various peoples of this universe and learned of their abstinence from pork. In the final place, we have reserved this people, formerly hidden in one corner of the globe—namely Judea—and now dispersed and wandering far and wide, as being inflamed with a hatred toward the porcine species that is greater than all others previously mentioned, and more than Vatinian a reference to Vatinius, a figure known for being particularly hated. We shall discuss this matter somewhat more abundantly and, at the same time, inquire into the causes why this genus of animals was so hateful to them, to the point that they did not even name this animal. When their little ones asked what this animal was, they were accustomed to respond that it was דבר אחר davar acher another thing, or an abominable thing, as cited by SCHIKARD in Jure Regio Hebr. On Hebrew Royal Law, ch. V. theor. 18. no. 149. πραγμα ἀλλοκοτον a strange thing. CUNAEUS, On the Hebrew Republic, Book II, ch. 24, notes that there is also a proverb of the Jews in Tr. SCHABBATH fol. 129. b.: מי שפגע בדבר אחר קשה בדבר אחר Mi shepagah bedavar acher kasheh bedavar acher He who encounters "another thing" faces danger from "another thing", which R. Solomon explains: For the one who eats PORK, there is the danger of LEPROSY. I say nothing now of the divine Law, which places the pig among the impure and unclean animals. WOLFGANG FRANZIUS, in History of Animals, Book I, ch. 16, p. 84, furthermore gives four reasons why God forbade such an excellent food, namely pork: 1. So that gardens and fields would not be devastated by pigs. 2. So that diseases, to which the Jews were prone (such as leprosy), would not increase. 3. So that by abstaining from pork, the obedience of the Jews toward God would shine forth more brightly; for it is greater obedience to abstain from useful and sweet things than from useless ones. 4. From Lactantius, the reason is moral, so that they might abstain from sins and uncleanness. conf. in the same place J. CYPRIANUS, p. 695.

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§. II.

The fame of the Jews' internecine hatred toward pigs reached even the nations outside the communion of the Jews. The great BOCHART has afforded us some leisure here, in Hierozoicon, Vol. I, Book II.