types, which we here see fully developed and carried out, and that under the very light

of His Presence, to Whom they all had pointed. I say not, whether or how far later

Jewish practice may have misapprehended the original import or the meaning of the

Divine ordinances. That was beyond my present task. But an accurate acquaintance

with the sacrificial services at the time of Christ must not only tend to correct mistakes,

but throw a fresh and vivid light upon all, and influence our views of what the Levitical

ordinances were intended t o be and to teach.

To have thus stated my object in this book, is also to have indicated its difficulties. Yet

abundant materials for such a work, though scattered far and wide, are within our reach.

Not to speak of contemporary writings, as those of Josephus and Philo, and references

in the New Testament itself, we have in the Mishnah a body of authoritative traditions,

reaching up, not only to Temple -times, but even to the days of Jesus Christ. (1) On this

source of information, of course in conjunction with the Old Testament itself, I have

been chiefly dependent.

While thus deriving my materials at first hand, I have also thankfully made use of any

and every help within my reach. Foremost I place here the writings of Maimonides, not

only because he is of greatest authority among the Jews, but because his vast and

accurate knowledge of these subjects, and the clearness and subtlety of his intellect,

entitle him to that position. Next to him come the numerous writers on Biblical

Antiquities, in Latin and German; works on Typology--scientific and popular; treatises

on the Life and Times of our Lord; histories of the Jewish Nation, or of Judaism;

commentaries on such passages in the Old and New Testament as bore on these

subjects; and numerous treatises on cognate points. In my study of ancient Jerusalem, I

had the benefit of the labours of recent explorers, from Robinson and Barclay to the

volumes published under the auspices of the Palestine Exploration Fund.

To the Cyclopaedias of Winer, Herzog, Ersch and Gruber, Dr. Smith, and Kitto (the third

edition), I have been greatly indebted. The last-named of these works has the special

merit of a series of articles on Jewish subjects (as I may designate them), written in quite

an original manner, and with most competent knowledge. Although, as will appear from

the text, I have been obliged frequently to differ from their writer, yet these articles must,

from the fulness and ability of their treatment, be of very great use to the student.

Lightfoot's Horae Hebraic ae et Talmudicae are known to every scholar. Not so, perhaps,

his small learned treatise De ministerio templi. The title and many of the subjects are

similar to those treated in the present volume. But the learned reader will at once

perceive that the plan and execution are quite different, though the work has been of

great service to me. Perhaps I ought not here to omit such names as Relandus, Buxtorf,

Otho, Schottgen, Meuschen, Goodwin, Hottinger, Wagenseil, and Lundius; and, among

modern writers, Bahr, Keil, Kurtz, de Wette, Saalschutz, Zunz, Jost, Geiger, Herzfeld, and

Fratz, of whose works I have, I may say, constantly availed myself. Many others have

been consulted, some of which are quoted in the foot-notes, while others are not

expressly referred to, as not adding anything material to our knowledge.

In general, I should explain, that I have acted on the principle of giving the minimum of

references possible. It would have been easy to have multiplied them almost indefinitely.

But I wished to avoid cumbering my pages with an array of authorities, which too often

give a mere appearance of learning; and, while they are not needed by scholars, may

tend to interfere with the more general and popular use of such a work. For a similar

reason, I have throughout avoided the use of Hebrew and even Greek letter-press. To

print an expression in Hebrew letters could not be necessary for students, while the

general reader, whom it too often bewilders by a show of knowledge, must in such case

necessarily pass it over, unnoticed and unknown.

While this book embodies the studies of many years, I have during its actual

composition deemed no labour nor pains irksome in comparing the results of my own

investigations with those of all, within reach, who were entitled to such consideration.