(17:136) Thus the love of the Hebrews for their country was not only
patriotism, but also piety, and was cherished and nurtured bv daily rites
till, like their hatred of other nations, it must have passed into their
nature. (137) Their daily worship was not only different from that of other
nations (as it might well be, considering that they were a peculiar people
and entirely apart from the rest), it was absolutely contrary. (138) Such
daily reprobation naturally gave rise to a lasting hatred, deeply implanted
in the heart: for of all hatreds none is more deep and tenacious than
that which springs from extreme devoutness or piety, and is itself cherished
as pious. (139) Nor was a general cause lacking for inflaming such hatred
more and more, inasmuch as it was reciprocated; the surrounding nations
regarding the Jews with a hatred just as intense.

(17:140) How great was the effect of all these causes, namely, freedom from
man's dominion; devotion to their country; absolute rights over all
other men; a hatred not only permitted but pious; a contempt for their
fellow-men; the singularity of their customs and religious rites; the
effect, I repeat, of all these causes in strengthening the hearts of the
Jews to bear all things for their country, with extraordinary constancy and
valour, will at once be discerned by reason and attested by experience.
(141) Never, so long as the city was standing, could they endure to remain
under foreign dominion; and therefore they called Jerusalem "a rebellious
city" (Ezra iv:12). (142) Their state after its reestablishment (which was a
mere shadow of the first, for the high priests had usurped the rights of the
tribal captains) was, with great difficulty, destroyed by the Romans, as
Tacitus bears witness (Hist. ii:4):- "Vespasian had closed the war against
the Jews, abandoning the siege of Jerusalem as an enterprise difficult
and arduous rather from the character of the people and the obstinacy of
their superstition, than from the strength left to the besieged for meeting
their necessities." (143) But besides these characteristics, which are