April 17.-I called on the aged rabbi Joseph, the son of Wolf: other Jews were assembled there. They told me that rabbi Mendel tried, with some other rabbies, to pronounce an anathema against those, who should dare any longer to argue with me, but the majority of them declared that they would not in any case take notice of the anathema of the rabbies. Rabbi Reuben Hasid has declared publicly that he is reading the New Testament to examine it, and to tell me his candid opinion about it. Rabbi Joseph, the son of Wolf, began then to argue with me; rabbi Jekosiel, from Safet, and others were present. Rabbi Joseph said, God has formed Eve of the rib of Adam, to teach us that a woman cannot conceive without a

man.

I. I admit that it cannot be in a natural way; but God, the author of nature, may suspend it, for the execution of his purposes.

Rabbi Joseph. God performs his miracles in a natural manner. God might have divided the waters in a moment, but, in order not to transgress the rule of nature, he caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind, all that night.

1. I admit that the Lord may sometimes perform miracles in a natural way, and by using natural means, but we find that he sometimes did the contrary; for instance, when Elisha awoke the dead child, and Elijah brought down fire from heaven. As the first Adam was without a carnal ut a carna father, so was to be the second Adam, Jesus Christ, who was to bruise Satan's head, and to make us again in the image of God, and by his having been born of a virgin, Isaiah vii. 14, has been fulfilled.

Rabbi Joseph. In Solomon's Song, vi. 8, ny are concubines.

I. That hy are not concubines is clear by the preceding . The Pachas in the East educate to this day virgins in their Harem, who are designed for their future concubines or wives; but till that time they

are shut up and hidden from every male; they are

.עלמות

Rabbi Joseph, son of Wolf, was completely convinced, so that he candidly confessed that no Jew will ever be able to beat me by arguments; I do not, however, believe it, and hope in the help and assistance of the Lord. I desired rabbi Joseph to look at the interpretation of Genesis xlix. 10, given by rabbi Simon Bar Johai in his book called Sohar. Rabbi Simon Bar Johai believes manifestly the Messiah was to be a divine personageJehovah himself; he proves it in a cabbalistical manner, and says, that the two letters and of which the name of God is composed, are to be found in the word w.

Rabbi Jekosiel, from Safet, a young gentleman, excused himself with the plea of indisposition for not being able to argue with me to-day.

I went in the evening to the old rabbi Joseph, the son of Wolf, where I met with the learned rabbi Abraham Benjamin, the son of Shamja, of the Polish party, and with rabbi Jekosiel; the latter of Safet. Rabbi Abraham is perfectly acquainted with the Hebrew, Chaldee, Arabic, and German tongues. He has travelled through Palestine, Chaldea, and Curdistan, and has been in Haran. He said to me, that he called to-day on rabbi Joseph, to have the pleasure of seeing and conversing with me; he is a rich gentleman; he tells me there are 800 families of Jews in Bagdad. Rabbi Joseph, the son of Wolf, said then, Let us give you an exposition of the Sohar, composed by rabbi Simon Bar Johai; that rabbi was born 190 years after the birth of Christ in Palestine; he lived twelve years in at cave, where he composed his mystic-philosophical commentary on the five books of Moses, viz. the Sohar. At Miron, near Safet, is his grave-Jews go there and weep. The whole Sohar is written in the Chaldee tongue. Now let us hear rabbi Joseph: Solomon's Song, ii. 2, As the rose (not lily) among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. There are good and bad roses, and there are

pious and wicked Jews. Every good rose has thirteen leaves; and the belief in God's power, which was given to Israel, and presented to his devout consideration, was expressed in thirteen words, which exist from the word Elohim, of Genesis i. 1, to the other Elohim of Genesis i. 2; and as the thirteen leaves of the roses are supported by five green leaves, thus the inheritance of Israel, inherited by Abraham, belief in God, is supported by the five books of Moses; and there are, therefore, five words from Elohim, Gen. i. 2, to the next Elohim of Gen. i. 3, and thus the light begins to spring out of darkness, "Let there be light." Further a rose has forty-two roots, and the Shem Hamforash contains forty-two characters.

w in the beginning, the world did exist from eternity in X Reshit, in the will and power of God (p); and by means of one drop the whole world, by the word of, the world began to exist in reality (in): the drop is formed in the womb of the pregnant mother, in a space of forty-two days, and thus the world came out

,שם המפורש into reality by the power of the ראשית of

a chaos. All the תהו ובהו the world was ראשית in

which contains forty-two letters; as long as the world was

powers prospered in three days. Rabbi Joseph made an interruption in his exposition, by saying, I know that you, Mr. Wolf, think that thus Christ arose again on the third day; then he continued, And all things prosper now on the third day. Man was created on the sixth day, and the law was given to Moses on the sixth day of the third month; for man is not man without the knowledge of the divine will-and man endowed with the knowledge of God is light, and he is cursed without the knowledge of the light, and ND (Genesis i. 14,) is therefore written without Cholem, to indicate light and curse.

"Let us make the man," DN ; Israel answered not, when the law was given to them, "All that (Exod. iv. 7,) the Lord has said, will we hear and do;" (make, y) but they answered, "All that the Lord has said

for ; נעשה ונשמע ",and HEAR (,נעשה ,will we Do (make

,נעשה

נעשה exclaimed

men, gone out of the hand of that being by the word of wy," we will make," they are obliged to do, to MAKE the will of God, without examining it; and, therefore, before the Lord pronounced the Ten Commandments, they "We will make," (Exod. xix. 8,) and that faith came upon Israel by the right of inheritance by Abraham, who believed, and the Lord counted it for righteousness, and "the just shall live by his faith," Habakkuk ii. 4. The same has been mightily proved by St. Paul.

Rabbi Joseph. I know well that you make use of the Sohar, and of all our writings, in order that you may be able to argue with us upon our own ground; and I am persuaded that you will be confirmed in your belief by the writings of rabbi Simon Bar Johai. We read together till two o'clock in the morning. I slept till four upon a sofa, in the house of rabbi J., and returned to the Armenian convent.

April 18.-Rabbi Reuben, the Hasid, and Abraham Ben David, called on me. Rabbi Reuben told me that he has read a great part of the New Testament, and he had now to ask me a question: To whom did the Lord promise that sign, that the virgin shall conceive? I. To the house of David, not to Ahaz.

Rabbi Reuben did not expect that answer; and was not able to go on with his argument. He observed, that we ought to believe with the majority of Israel, not with those few only, who embrace the belief in the Messiahship of Jesus; for whilst 3000 Jews were converted by Peter, millions of Jews did not believe.

I. Six hundred thousand Jews, who left Egypt, died in the wilderness, and Caleb Ben Jephunne and Joshua only entered the Land of Promise; Elijah did still adore Jehovah, although he thought that he was left alone in Israel; and, among the millions of Jews in the time of Elijah, 7000 only did not bow their knees before Baal.

On account of the unbelief of the Jews, and that they did thus requite the Lord, and that they lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation, Jesus Christ, the Lord, has moved them to jealousy with those who are not a people, and provoked them to anger with a foolish nation. I read with them Rom. x. Acts vii. Jerem. xxxi. 31-34 The conversation lasted more than four hours; and rabbi Reuben told me, that he would call again next Sunday, and m show me by the Sohar, the present expectation of the Jews. I called in the afternoon on the Rev. Procopius. I have partly sold, partly given gratis, the following quantity of the Holy Writ, with which Procopius has furnished me.

[Here follows an account of Bibles, Testaments, and Psalters, distributed.]

I received to-day a very kind letter from the Rev. Anton Dakur, Curate in the nunnery Dir Albshara, in mount Lebanon, who requested Bibles and Testaments in Arabic; and writes to me that the Most Illustrious Luigi Gandolfi, Apostolic Vicar of the Pope, residing in Aintura, has forwarded the six Arabic New Testaments and Arabic Psalters, which I committed to him, when at Beyrout, for the Bishops, Ignatius Ujuri, and other priests. They desire likewise to have the fathers translated into Arabic. It might be very useful if the Society would translate the work of Leander van Ess, which contains the opinions of the fathers about the reading of the Holy Bible. I could then distribute the copies among the Catholics in the mountains and in Damascus.

April 19.-Abraham, the son of David Izkowish Stifro, from Sklov, who calls on me every day, confessed to-day with tears in his eyes, that he is convinced that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and that he will now speak with his wife and mother about Christ Jesus the Lord. We prayed together to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he may send his grace upon his wife, mother, and brother, that they may