Page:As others saw Him.djvu/235

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NOTES.
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made it probable that the Greater Sanhedrim, of seventy-one members, was composed of three orders of Lesser Sanhedrim, each containing twenty-three; the addition of President and Vice-President would make the number seventy-one. The three orders were those of the Jews of that time and of this, namely, Priests, Levites, and Israelites. If, as is probable, the Trial of Jesus before the Sanhedrim took place outside of Jerusalem at the house of Hanan, it is likely that he was only tried before the priestly section, who indeed would be most embittered against him.

Page 173. Mount of Olives. It has not been observed, I think, that if a trial took place before the Sanhedrim it must have been outside the walls of Jerusalem, since on passing through the gates of the city manned by the Roman soldiery Jesus would have had to be delivered up to the latter.

Page 174. Many of their names. The names which follow are those of the High Priests immediately preceding and succeeding Jesus' death. They would therefore be members of the Sanhedrim at that time.

Page 176. Character of the man Pontius Pilate. The anecdotes which follow are authentic, and show that Pilate was harsh and tyrannical.

Page 179. Judas. The Talmud reports that Jesus was condemned on the testimony of concealed witnesses, and I think it by no means unlikely that some such scene occurred. It is difficult to explain the execration with which Judas' memory was regarded by the early Church, if he had merely pointed out Jesus to the Roman soldiery.
Wise provision of our Law. The trial of Jesus was under any circumstances illegal according to Jewish Law.

Page 186. Thou art the youngest. This was one of the wise provisions of Jewish Law.

Page 191. Search after leaven. On the day preceding