2. But as for the Acrabbene toparchy, Simon, the son of Gioras,
got a great number of those that were fond of innovations
together, and betook himself to ravage the country; nor did he
only harass the rich men's houses, but tormented their bodies,
and appeared openly and beforehand to affect tyranny in his
government. And when an army was sent against him by Artanus, and
the other rulers, he and his band retired to the robbers that
were at Masada, and staid there, and plundered the country of
Idumea with them, till both Ananus and his other adversaries were
slain; and until the rulers of that country were so afflicted
with the multitude of those that were slain, and with the
continual ravage of what they had, that they raised an army, and
put garrisons into the villages, to secure them from those
insults. And in this state were the affairs of Judea at that
time.

WAR BOOK 2 FOOTNOTES

(1) Hear Dean Aldrich's note on this place: "The law or Custom of
the Jews (says he) requires seven days' mourning for the dead,
Antiq. B. XVII. ch. 8. sect. 4; whence the author of the Book of
Ecclesiasticus, ch. 22:12, assigns seven days as the proper time
of mourning for the dead, and, ch. 38:17, enjoins men to mourn
for the dead, that they may not be evil spoken of; for, as
Josephus says presently, if any one omits this mourning [funeral
feast], he is not esteemed a holy person. How it is certain that
such a seven days' mourning has been customary from times of the
greatest antiquity, Genesis 1:10. Funeral feasts are also
mentioned as of considerable antiquity, Ezekiel 24:17; Jeremiah