ase proceeded from that very cause, and was curable by the
divine assistance only.

CHAPTER XIII.

_The bloody sweat of Christ._

Saint Luke relates of Christ himself, that, "when he was in an agony
by the fervency of his prayers, his sweat was like drops of blood
falling down on the[139] ground."

[139] _Chap. xxii. v. 44._

This passage is generally understood, as if the Saviour of mankind had
sweated real blood. But the text does not say so much. The sweat was
only [Greek: hosei thromboi haimatos], as it were, or like drops of
blood; that is, the drops of sweat were so large, thick and viscid,
that they trickled to the ground like drops of blood. Thus were the
words understood by Justin Martyr, Theophylactus and Euthymius. And
yet Galen has observed, that _it sometimes happens, that the pores are
so vastly dilated by a copious and fervid spirit; that even blood
issues thro' them, and constitutes a bloody sweat_.[140]

[140] _Lib. de utilitate respirationis._

CHAPTER XIV.

_The disease of Judas._

In the number of diseases, I rank the death of Judas, the wicked
betrayer of Christ; of which I shall treat the more willingly, because
very learned interpreters of the holy scriptures have run into
different opinions concerning it. And about fifty years ago, two
famous professors of history in the university of Leyden, Jacobus
Gronovius and Jacobus Perizonius, handled this controversy in print
with too much passion. For polite literature does not always polish
its admirers.

The origin of the dispute was this. Perizonius had published AElian's
variae historiae, with his own notes and those of others; where taking
occasion from what AElian says of Poliager,[141] he diligently examines
the signification of the verb [Greek: apagchesthai], which saint
Matthew[142] employs in relating the death of Judas; and insists that
that word does not only mean strangling with a halter, but also
sometimes excessive grief, by which a person is brought to the brink
of death, and frequently even destroys himself. This criticism was
taken amiss by Gronovius, who had already published a book _de morte
Judae_, wherein he had said that the wretch had voluntarily put an end
to his life by a halter; wherefore he drew his pen, in order to refute
his adversary's reasonings, and corroborate his own. Moreover he
quarrels with Perizonius about the phrase [Greek: prenes genomenos],
which he positively affirms ought t