Rabbinic References

Rabbinic References.

For the whole of the Talmudic period very little information in regard to Jerusalem is to be obtained from the Jewish sources. What became of the Temple utensils carried off by Titus, and figured upon the arch erected to him in Rome, can not be ascertained, despite the various legends that have gathered around them (see, e.g., Naphtali b. Isaac, "'Emek ha-Melek," p. 14a, Amsterdam, 1648). It is interesting to note that a picture on colored glass dating from the third century and representing the Temple at Jerusalem has been found in the Jewish catacombs of Rome ("Archives de l'Orient Latin," ii. 439). Jerusalem was supposed by the Rabbis to be the center of the habitable world (see the passages in FarHi, "Kaftor wa-FeraH," p. 18a), a view adopted by medieval Christendom (see Bevan and Philroth, "Medieval Geography," p. xiii.); and the earthly Jerusalem () was believed to be paralleled by the Jerusalem above (), which had been prepared before the creation of the world (Apoc. Baruch, iv. 3). The same idea is found in the Apocrypha (II Esdras vii. 26; viii. 52, 53; x. 44-59) and in the New Testament (ύ ăνω Ἰερουσαλὴμ, Gal. iv. 26; Heb. xii. 22; Rev. iii. 12, xxi. 10; see Weber, "Lehren des Talmuds," p. 356; Charles, "Apoc. of Baruch," p. 6, note 3; and Jew. Encyc. v. 215).

The Rabbis count seventy different names for Jerusalem in the Bible (Midr. ha-Gadol, ed. Schechter, p. 678; "Agadat Shir ha-Shirim," 1. 125, and Schechter's note in his ed. p. 50, Cambridge, 1896; see also Ta'an. v.; Midr. ha-Ne'elam, in Zohar Hadash, section "NoaH"). They are of course extravagant in their praise of the city: "Whoever has not seen Jerusalem in its glory has never seen a delightful city" (Suk. 51a; Midr. Teh. on Ps. xlviii.); "Ten measures of beauty descended upon the world: Jerusalem took nine, and the rest of the world one" (kid. 49b; Esther R. i.); "There is no beauty like that of Jerusalem" (Ab. R. N. § 28); "No serpent or scorpion ever did harm in Jerusalem" (Ab. v. 48); "nor was there ever a destructive fire or ruin in Jerusalem" (Ab. R. N. xxxv.).

Jerusalem