784 J E S 
JESHA'NAH, [Hebrew.] The name of a city. 
JESHIEB'NAB, [Hebrew.] The name of a man. 
JESHI'SHAI, [Hebrew.] The name of a man. 
JESH'UA, [Heb. a faviour.] A man’s name. 
JESH'UA Ben SI'RACH, the author of the apocry¬ 
phal book of Ecclefiafticus, was a native of Jerufalem, as 
he himfelf informs us, and appears to have lived in the 
time of the high-prieft Eleazar, about three hundred 
years B.C. The laft high-prieft whom he mentions is 
"Simeon, the fon of Onias, whofe immediate fucceffor was 
Eleazar, whom Jefhua would doubtlefs have added to the 
reft, had he not been living when he wrote. Some writers 
maintain that he was.of the facerdotal order; but we find 
nothing to confirm this opinion in thofe places of his 
book where he fpeaks more particularly of himfelf. All 
that can be gathered concerning him from that work is, 
that he was a perfon whofe great thirft after wifdom made 
him pray fervently, ftudy hard, travel much, and expofe 
himfelf to great danger on account of it; .that he had 
been unjuftly traduced to Antiochus; whence he is fup- 
pofed to have retired into Egypt, and there compofed his 
book ; and that he was the laft writer of the Jewifli na¬ 
tion who treated on moral fubjefts. His book of Ecclefi¬ 
afticus contains a fummary of the ethics received among 
the Jews after the period of the prophets. It was origi¬ 
nally written in Hebrew, and St. Jerome fays that he law 
a copy of it in that language. It has reached modern 
times, however, only in a Greek verfion, which was made 
by the author’s grandfon, at the beginning of the reign 
of Ptolemy Euergetes. It was formerly read by the Jews 
in their fynagogues ; but, after fullering much interpola¬ 
tion, • it was prohibited. Paflages extracted from it are, 
however, ftill in the hands of the Jews, under the title of 
the Sentences of Ben Sira. 
JESH'URUN,-[Heb. upright.] A name given to the 
people of Ifrael. 
JE'ST, a town of Italy, in the ftate of the church, and 
marquifate of Ancona. The fee of a bifhop, immediately 
under the pope. It contains three churches, and ten con¬ 
vents : twenty-three miles north-eaft of Loretto, and fix- 
teen weft-fouth-weft of Ancona. 
JESIMI'AL, [Hebrew.] The name of a man. 
JES'IMON, [Heb. folitude.] The name of a defert. 
i Sam. 
JESIO'RO, a town of Poland, in the palatinate 0 f Kiov: 
fifty-fix miles fouth-fouth-weft of Czerkafy. 
JESIOTROV', a town of Poland, in the palatinate of 
Kiov: three miles weft-fouth-weft of Czerkafyon. 
JE'SO, Jed'so, or Yed'so, a large ifland in the North 
Pacific Ocean, governed by a prince tributary to the em¬ 
peror of Japan. The inhabitants are more rude and fa- 
vage than the Japanefe. They live chiefly on fifh and 
game. Lat. 4.2. N. 
JESS, f. [ge£le, Fr. getto, Ital.] -A fhort ftrap of leather 
tied about the legs of a hawk, with which fhe is held on 
the fift. Hanmer. 
If I prove her haggard, 
Though that my jeJJ'es were her dear heart-ftrings, 
I’d whiltle her off, and let her down the wind 
To prey at .fortune. Shakcfpeare. 
JES'SAMINE, /. A fragrant flower. See Jasminum. 
Her goodly bofom, like a ftrawberry bed ; 
Her neck, like to a bunch of cullambines ; 
Her breaft, like lillies ere .their leaves be fired ; 
Her nipples, like young bloffom’d j'ejfamines. Spenfer. 
JES'SANT, adj. in heraldry, budding, fhooting forth. 
JES'SE, [Heb. to be.] A man’s name. 
JESSE, J. A large brals candleltick, with many fconces, 
hanging down in the middle of a church or choir ; which 
invention was firft called jeJJ'e from the fimilitude of the 
branches to thofe of the arbor jejfe. This ufeful orna¬ 
ment of churches was firft brought over into this king- 
J E S 
dom by Hugh de Flory, abbot of St. Auftin’s in Canter¬ 
bury, about the year 1100. Ckron. Will. Thorn. Jacob's Law 
Di£l. 
JES'SELMERE, a town of Hindooftan, in the country 
of Agimere: iixty miles weft of Bickaneer, and ninety- 
five north-north-weft of Joodpour. 
JES'SEN, a town of Germany, in the circle of Upper 
Saxony, and electorate of Saxony : ten miles eaft-fouth- 
eaft of ^Wittenberg. 
JESSI'MA, one of the iflands of Japan. 
JESSO'RE, a town of Hindooftan, in the country of 
Bengal: fifty-four miles north-eaft of Calcutta. 
JES'UA LEVTTA, a Spanifh rabbi in the fifteenth 
century, was the author of a work which will be found of 
great ufe to thole who wifh to underhand the Talmudi- 
cal writings. It is entitled, Halicoth Olam, or the Ways of 
Eternity; and explains, with much accuracy, the ways of 
reafoning by which the authors of thofe writings drew 
their decifions from the text of the written law ; and may 
without impropriety be called Talmudic logic. There have 
been numerous editions of this piece, m rabbinical He¬ 
brew; and Conftantine l’Empereur publilhed one in He¬ 
brew and Latin, at Leyden, 1634 Another good edition 
of it, in Hebrew and Latin, was publilhed by the learned 
Bafnuyfen, at Hanover, 1714, 4to. 
To JEST, v. n. [gejlicklor , Lat.] To divert or make 
merry by words or adtion.— JeJl not with a rude man, left 
thy anceftors be difgraced. Ecclef. viii. 4. 
JEST, f. Any thing ludicrous, or meant only to raife 
laughter.—As for jejl, there be certain things which ought 
to be privileged from it; namely, religion, matters of 
ftate, and great perfons. Bacon. 
When you the dulleft of dull things have faid, 
And then afk pardon for the jejl you made. Young. 
The objedt of jefts ; laughing-ftock.—If I fufpedt without 
caufe, why then make fport at me ; then let me be your 
jejl-, I deferve it. Shakcfpeare. —Manner of doing or fpeak- 
ing feigned, not real ; ludicrous, not ferious ; game, not 
earneft.—When his playfellows chofe him their king, he 
fpoke and did thofe things in jejl, which would have be¬ 
come a king in earneft. Grew. 
That high All-feer, which I dallied with, 
Hath turn’d my feigned prayer on my head. 
And giv’n in earneft what I begg’d in jejl.. Skakefpeare. 
JES'TER,yi One given to merriment and pranks: 
The flopping king, he rambled up and down 
With fliallowy‘r/?frs, and ra(h bavin wits. 
Soon kindled and foon burnt. Shakcfpeare. 
One given to farcafm : 
Now, as a jejler, I accoft you. 
Which never yet one friend hath loft you. Swift. 
Buffoon ; jack pudding. A licenfed fcoffer, kept at court 
to the time of. Charles I.—Another fort of like loofe 
fellows do pafs up and down, amongft gentlemen, by the 
name of jefers ; but are, indeed, notable rogues, and par¬ 
takers not only of many Healths, but alfo privy to many 
traiterous practices. Spenfer. 
It was formerly cuftomary to retain in mod of the 
courts of Europe, a fool, jelter, or buffoon, who, by his 
puns, pleafantries, and impertinencies, might ferve to di¬ 
vert the prince. 
The fool, or clown, was originally introduced into 
England to fupply the want of that freedom in converfa- 
tion which was unknown to the favage manners of our 
anceftors; when half the kingdom was in a ftate of flave- 
ry, under the elder Plantagenets, of the Norman race, and 
their immediate fucceffors; when valfalage univerfally 
prevailed, and Engliflnnen were fubjedt to the will of a 
defpotic king, and his haughty and imperious barons ; 
the trade of war was the principal commerce of all the 
nations in Europe, and tilts and tournaments their almoft 
