Butofthefactofthechangetherewasnodoubt。FortheoldHebrewseersweremendealingwiththeloftiestanddeepestlaws:theRabbiswereshallowpedants。TheoldHebrewseerswererighteousandvirtuousmen:theRabbisbecame，induetime，someoftheworstandwickedestmenwhoevertrodthisearth。
ThustheytoohadtheirshareinthatdownwardcareerofpedantrywhichwehaveseencharacterisethewholepastAlexandrineage。They，likeZenodotusandAristarchus，werecommentators，grammarians，sectariandisputers:theywerenotthinkersoractors。TheirinspiredbooksweretothemnomorethewordsoflivinghumanbeingswhohadsoughtfortheAbsoluteWisdom，andfounditaftermanysinsanddoubtsandsorrows。
Thehumanwritersbecameintheireyesthepuppetsandmouthpiecesofsomemagicalinfluence，notthedisciplesofalivingandlovingperson。
Thebookitselfwas，intheirbelief，notinanytruesenseinspired，butmagicallydictated——bywhatpowertheycarednottodefine。Hischaracterwasunimportanttothem，providedHehadinspirednonationbuttheirown。But，thoughtthey，ifthewordsweredictated，eachofthemmusthavesomemysteriousvalue。Andifeachwordhadamysteriousvalue，whynoteachletter？Andhowcouldtheysetlimitstothatmysteriousvalue？Mightnotthesewords，evenrearrangementsofthelettersofthem，beusefulinprotectingthemagainstthesorceriesoftheheathen，indrivingawaythoseevilspirits，orevokingthosegoodspirits，who，thoughseldommentionedintheirearlyrecords，hadaftertheirreturnfromBabylonbeguntoformanimportantpartoftheirunseenworld？ForastheyhadlostfaithintheOnePreserveroftheirrace，theyhadfilledupthevoidbyaponderousdemonologyofinnumerablepreservers。ThisprocessofthoughtwasnotconfinedtoAlexandria。Dr。Layard，inhislastbookonNineveh，givessomecuriousinstancesofitsprevalenceamongthematanearlierperiod，wellworthyourcarefulstudy。ButitwasatAlexandriathattheJewishCabbalismformeditselfintoasystem。ItwastherethattheJewslearnttobecomethejugglersandmagic-mongersofthewholeRomanworld，tillClaudiushadtoexpelthemfromRome，aspeststorationalandmoralsociety。
Andyet，amongthesehaplesspedantstherelingerednoblerthoughtsandhopes。Theycouldnotreadthegloriousheirloomsoftheirracewithoutfindinginthemrecordsofantiquegreatnessandvirtue，ofolddeliverancesworkedfortheirforefathers；andwhatseemedpromises，too，thatthatgreatnessshouldreturn。Thenotionthatthosepromiseswereconditional；thattheyexpressedeternalmorallaws，anddeclaredtheconsequencesofobeyingthoselaws，theyhadlostlongago。BylookingonthemselvesasexclusivelyandarbitrarilyfavouredbyHeaven，theywereruiningtheirownmoralsense。