What is his proof of this confident assertion? A quotation from Selden, which he translates thus: "The Karaites regard the marriage of a wife's sister, both while the first is living and after her death, as forbidden. But the Talmudists teach otherwise." The original, "Quod non admittunt Talmudici," is weaker than the above translation. But let it pass.
On this quotation we remark: 1. Selden does not speak of any testimony borne to a fact or ancient custom of the Jews, either by the Talmudists or by the Karaites; but only tells us how each sect interpreted the law. 2. Selden does not say, the Talmudists have informed us how the Pharisees interpreted the law; nor has he marked the period when the Talmudists began to teach this doctrine. He only informs us they taught it, when the Karaites taught the opposite. Now, let it be remembered, the Karaites were not formed into a regular sect till the year 759.[1] Yet this single quotation from Selden, the Puritan magnifies in his next paragraph (p. 22) into "the united testimony of a nation embodied in the Talmuds."
- ↑ Buck's Theol. Diet. Adam's Hist. of all Religions.
