ly take upon myself all those plagues
and sufferings; and immediately the Messiah, out of love, took upon
himself all those plagues and sufferings, as is written in Is. liii.:
He was abused and oppressed." Compare another passage, in which ver. 5
is referred to the Messiah, in _Raim. Martin_, fol. iv. 30. In the
Talmud (_Gemara_, _tract. Sanhedrim_, chap. xi.), it is said of the
Messiah: "He sits before the gates of the city of Rome among the sick
and the leprous" (according to ver. 3). To the question: What is the
name of the Messiah, it is answered: He is called [Hebrew: Hivvra]
"_the leper_," and, in proof, ver. 4 is quoted according to the
erroneous interpretation of [Hebrew: ngve] by _leprosus_,--an
interpretation which is met with in _Jerome_ also.--In the work
_Rabboth_ (a commentary on the Pentateuch and the five _Megilloth_,
which, as to its principal portions, is very old, although much
interpolated at later periods, and which, according to the statements
of the Jews, was composed about the year of our Lord 300, comp. _Wolf_,
I. c. II., p. 1423, sqq. in commentary on Ruth ii. 14 [p. 46, _ed.
Cracov._]), the fifth verse is quoted, and referred to the sufferings
of the Messiah.--In the _Medrash Tillim_ (an allegorical commentary on
the Psalms, printed at Venice in 1546), it is said in Ps. ii. 7, (fol.
4): "The things of King Messiah and His mysteries are announced [Pg
313] in the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa. In the Prophets,
_e.g._, in the passage Is. lii. 13, and xlii. 1; in the Hagiographa,
_e.g._, Ps. cx. and Dan. vii. 13." In the book _Chasidim_ (a collection
of moral tales, printed at Venice and Basle in 1581) p. 60, the
following story is to be found: "There was, among the Jews, a pious
man, who in summer made his bed among fleas, and in winter put his feet
into cold water; and when it froze, his feet froze at the same time.
When asked why he did so, he answered, that he too must make some
little expiation, since the Messiah bears the sin of Israel ([Hebrew:
mwiH svbl evnvt iwral])." The ancient explanation is, from among the
later interpreters, assented to by _Rabbi Alschech_ (his commentary on
Is. liii. is given entire in _Hulsii Theologia Judaica_, p. 321 sqq.).
He says: "Upon the testimony of tradition, our old Rabbins have
unanimously admitted that King Messiah is here the subject of
discourse. For the same reason, we, in harmony with them, conclude that
King David, _i.e._, the Messiah, must