CAB 



177 



CAB 



b1. considered ait containing the complete explanation 

 of that which was written ; and as the meaning 

 is always, more valuable than the mere symbol, BO 

 this pretended explanation of the law by divine au- 

 thority, was soon exalted above the law itself. We 

 are farther told, that Moses, on coming down from 

 the mount, rehearsed both the law and the explana- 

 tion of it to Aaron ; then to his sons Elea/.ar and 

 Ithamar ; then to the seventy elders ; and, last of all, 

 to the whole people : so that Aaron heard it four 

 times, his sons thrice, the elders twice, and the peo- 

 ple once. The law only was committed to writing ; 

 thv explanation was entrusted to the memories of the 

 priests and ciders. The first was simply called the 

 law, the second the oral law, or cabbala, derived from 

 the Hebrew kibel, to receive by tradition. The Jews 

 farther pretend, that the a bbala being again lost da- 

 ring the Babylonish captivity, was restored to Es- 

 dras, and they mention several famous rabbis by whom 

 it was transmitted to later ages. 



It cannot be necessary to attempt a serious refu- 

 tation of these notions, which are not only totally 

 unsupported by scripture, but contrary to some of 

 its clearest intimations. They betray an evident de- 

 sign to wrest the word of God from the people, and 

 to introduce something resembling the esoteric doc- 

 trines of the heathen : they are in short a part of that 

 system of priestcraft, which has often exerted such a 

 malignant influence over the knowledge and happi- 

 ness of men. 



Some Christian divines have held opinions bearing 

 a considerable resemblance to the cabbala of the 

 Jews. Thus Parkhurst in his Hebrew Lexicon, p. 

 1 15, 4th edit, says, " It may safely be inferred, that 

 the whole garden was so contrived by infinite wis- 

 dom, as to represent and inculcate on the minds of 

 our first parents, a plan or system of religious truths, 

 revealed to them by their Creator." This may be 

 called a kind of natural cabbala. But the doctrine 

 of traditions has been received in its full extent by 

 the church of Rome, which holds them of equal 

 value with the written word of God. According to 

 the council of Trent, " the truth and discipline of 

 the Catholic church, are comprehended both in the 

 sacred books and in the traditions which have been re- 

 ceived from the mouth of Jesus Christ or of his apos- 

 tles, and which have been preserved and transmitted 

 to us by an uninterrupted chain and succession." 



But the Jewish cabbala was chiefly of that arti- 

 ficial kind, which drew mystical meanings from par- 

 ticular words or expressions, thus producing signifi- 

 cations very different from what the words or expres- 

 sions seemed naturally to imply. This artificial cab- 

 bala was of three kinds : the first, called gemntria, 

 consisted in interpreting words according to the 

 arithmetical power of the letters which composed 

 them. Thus, in the words nViy JO^ Iba fihilo/t, i. e. 

 Shiioh shall come, the numerical value of the letters 

 is the same as in the word rv*wo Mess'uih. The se- 

 cond kind of artificial cabbala was called nolaricon, 

 and consisted in taking every letter for a word, and 

 thus making an entire sentence out of one word. 

 Thus ihe first word in the book of Genesis rvuwia 

 Herat/lit, contains the initial letters or these words, 

 Bt-ra, Rekio, Aretz, Shemim, 1m, Teumut, and may 



VOL. V. PART 1. 



be translated, " he created the firmament, the earth, 

 the heaven*, the waters, and the abyss." The third 

 kind was called t/ictnurah, and was much the same as 

 the modern anagram, which consists in forming new 

 words by the transposition of letters. Thus, from 

 the Biimc word Berashit, the cabbalists formed A-be- 

 tixii, i. e. the first day of the month Tisri, and from 

 this accidental coincidence, they inferred, that the 

 world was created at that season ot the year, corre- 

 sponding nearly with our September. 



These are sufficient examples of rabbinical trifling, 

 and should be a warning to divines and commenta- 

 tors to avoid occult and fanciful interpretations, and 

 to abide by the plain meaning of the word of God. 

 We do not affirm that there never is any secret mean- 

 ing contained under the words of scripture : in seve- 

 ral places of the book of Revelation, some mystery is 

 evidently concealed under particular names and ex- 

 pressions ; but then we are expressly warned of this, 

 and unless when we have such intimation, it is idle 

 to search for secret meanings j and even with regard 

 to those names and expressions, which are confessed- 

 ly mystical, we have shown the danger and uncertain- 

 ty ot cabbalistical interpretations. See ANTICHRIST. 

 For further particulars respecting the Jewish cabba- 

 la, see Calmet's Dictionary ; Prideaux's Conned, ; 

 Enfield's Hist, of Philosophy, vol. ii. chap. 3. (g) 



CABENDA, or CABINDA, a sea port town of 

 Africa in the kingdom of Cacongo, is situated at the 

 mouth of the river Cabenda, on the round point of 

 the bay, which is very convenient for trade, wooding, 

 and watering. The huts are built of reeds and mud, 

 and the natives live chiefly by fishing. See the Strange 

 Adventures of Andrew Battcl, inserted in Purchas's 

 Collection of Voyages, Sec. See also ANGOY. (j] 



CABEZZO, one of the provinces of the king- 

 dom of Angola, lying between the rivers Coanza and 

 Rimba. The country, which is well peopled, a- 

 bounds with cattle and provisions of different kinds. 

 The Portuguese obtain great quantities of iron from 

 the iron mountains in its neighbourhood. (;') 



CABIRI, in mythology, the name given to cer- 

 tain deities, worshipped with great solemnity in Lem- 

 nos, Thebes, and other parts of Greece ; but parti- 

 cularly in Samothvacia, which was specially conse- 

 crated to their service. The word, according to Var- 

 ro and Macrobius, signifies great and powerful deitits> 

 and is probably derived from the Hebrew word geber t 

 " to be strong." The names of the Cabirian deities, 

 according to Mnaseas, as cited by the scholiast of 

 Apollonius Rhodius, were Axitros, or Ceres ; Axio- 

 cersa, or Proserpine ; Ajciocer&ns, or Pluto ; and 

 CasmillnSt the same with the infernal Mercury. 



The Cabirian worship is involved in the greatest 

 mystery and obscurity. Captain Wilford has thrown 

 some light on the subject, which, though it does not 

 remove the difficulties, is useful, in so far as it shows 

 the connection between the mythology of the eastern 

 and that of the western world. 



In th< Adltitla c>-s<i we find the following legends, 

 which have an obvious relation to the deities wor- 

 shipped in the mysteries of Samothracia. In Patala 

 (or the infernal regions) resides the sovereign queen 

 of the Naaa (or large snakes) ; she is beautiful, and 

 her name is Asyoruca. The servant of Dharm*-Ra- 

 z 



