d, and
wrote, "God created in the beginning," etc.

_Megillah_, fol. 9, col. 1.

The Talmudic story of the origin of the Septuagint agrees in the
main with the account of Aristeas and Josephus, but Philo gives
the different version. Many of the Christian fathers believed it
to be the work of inspiration.

Abraham was as tall as seventy-four people; what he ate and drank was
enough to satisfy seventy-four ordinary men, and his strength was
proportionate.

_Sophrim_, chap. 21, 9.

The venerable Hillel had eighty disciples, thirty of whom were worthy
that the Shechinah should rest upon them, as it rested upon Moses our
Rabbi; and thirty of them were worthy that the sun should stand still
(for them), as it did for Joshua the son of Nun; and twenty of them
stood midway in worth. The greatest of all of them was Jonathan ben
Uzziel, and the least of all was Rabbi Yochanan ben Zacchai. It is said
of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zacchai that he did not leave unstudied the Bible,
the Mishna, the Gemara, the constitutions, the legends, the minutiae of
the law, the niceties of the scribes, the arguments _a fortiori_ and
from similar premises, the theory of the change of the moon, the
Gematria, the parable of the unripe grapes and the foxes, the language
of demons, of palm-trees, and of ministering angels.

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 134, col. 1.

A male criminal is to be hanged with his face toward the people, but a
female with her face toward the gibbet. So says Rabbi Eliezer; but the
sages say the man only is hanged, not the woman. Rabbi Eliezer retorted,
"Did not Simeon the son of Shetach hang women in Askelon?" To this they
replied, "He indeed caused eighty women to be hanged, though two
criminals are not to be condemned in one day."

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 45, col. 2.

We may here repeat the story of the execution of the eighty
women here alluded to, as that is told by Rashi on the preceding
page of the Talmud. Once a publican, an Israelite but a sinner,
and a great and good man of the same place, having died on the
same day, were about to be buried. While the citizens were
engaged with the funeral of the latter, the relations of the
other crossed their path, bearing the corpse to the sepulchre.
Of a sudden a troop of enemies came upon the scene and caused
them all to take to flight, one faithful disciple alone
remaining by the bier of his Rabbi. After a while the citizens
ret