while it lasted these councils seem to have been Jewish. Then every town had is

Sanhedrim,  30 consisting of twenty-three members if the place numbered at least one

hundred and twenty men, or of three members if the population were smaller.31

These Sanhedrists were appointed directly by the supreme authority, or Great

Sanhedrim, "the council," at Jerusalem, which consisted of seventy-one members. It is

difficult to fix the limits of the actual power wielded by these Sanhedrims in criminal

cases. But the smaller Sanhedrims are referred to in such passages as Matthew 5:22, 23,

10:17; Mark 13:9. Of course all ecclesiastical and, so to speak, strictly Jewish causes, and

all religious questions were within their special cognisance. Lastly, there were also in

every place what we may call municipal authorities, under the presidency of a mayor--

the representatives of the "elders"--an institution so frequently mentioned in Scripture,

and deeply rooted in Jewish society. Perhaps these may be referred to in Luke 7:3, as

sent by the centurion of Capernaum to intercede for him with the Lord.

What may be called the police and sanitary regulations were of the strictest character.

Of Caesarea, for example, we know that there was a regular system of drainage into the

sea, apparently similar to, but more perfect than that of any modern town (Josephus,

Ant. xv, 340). The same holds true in regard to the Temple -buildings at Jerusale m. But in

every town and village sanitary rules were strictly attended to. Cemeteries, tanneries,

and whatever also might be prejudicial to health, had to be removed at least fifty cubits

outside a town. Bakers' and dyers' shops, or stables, were not allowed under the

dwelling of another person. Again, the line of each street had to be strictly kept in

building, nor was even a projection beyond it allowed. In general the streets were wider

than those of modern Eastern cities. The nature of the soil, and the circumstance that so

many towns were built on hills (at least in Judaea), would, of course, be advantageous in

a sanitary point of view. It would also render the paving of the streets less requisite. But

we know that certain towns were paved--Jerusalem with white stones (Josephus, Ant.

xx, 219-223). To obviate occasions of dispute, neighbours were not allowed to have

windows looking into the courts or rooms of others nor might the principal entrance to a

shop be through a court common to two or three dwellings.

These brief notices may help us better to realise the surroundings of Jewish town life.

Looking up and down one of the streets of a town in Galilee or Judaea, the houses

would be seen to differ in size and in elegance, from the small cottage, only eight or ten

yards square, to the mansions of the rich, sometimes two or more stories high, and

embellished by rows of pillars and architectural adornments. Suppose ourselves in front

of a better-class dwelling, though not exactly that of a patrician, for it is built of brick, or

perhaps of undressed, or even of dressed stone, but not of marble, nor yet of hewn

stone; nor are its walls painted with such delicate colours as vermilion, but simply

whitewashed, or, may be, covered with some neutral tint. A wide, sometimes costly, stair

leads from the outside straight up to the flat roof, which is made to slope a little

downwards, so as to allow the rainwater easily to flow through pipes into the cistern

below. The roof is paved with brick, stone, or other hard substance, and surrounded by

a balustrade, which, according to Jewish law, must be at least two cubits (three feet)

high, and strong enough to bear the weight of a person. Police-regulations, conceived in

the same spirit of carefulness, prohibited open wells and pits, insufficient ladders,

rickety stairs, even dangerous dogs about a house. From roof to roof there might be a

regular communication, called by the Rabbis "the road of the roofs" (Babba Mez. 88 b).

Thus a person could make his escape, passing from roof to roof, till at the last house he

would descend the stairs that led down its outside, without having entered any

dwelling. To this "road of the roofs" our Lord no doubt referred in His warning to His

followers (Matt 24:17; Mark 13:15; Luke 17:31), intended to apply to the last siege of

Jerusalem: "And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither

enter therein." For ordinary intercourse the roof was the coolest, the airiest, the stillest

place. Of course, at times it would be used for purposes of domestic economy. But

thither a man would retire in preference for prayer or quiet thinking; here he would

watch, and wait, and observe whether friend or foe, the gathering of the storm, or--as