The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah Vol 1 - Predestination

that of Palestine itself.* So far as purity of descent
was con- ' «gL cemed, the Babylonians, indeed,
considered themselves superior to thdu*
Palestinian brethren. They had it, that when Ezra
took with him those who went to Palestine, he had
left the land behind him as pure as fine flour.'* To
express it in their own fashion: In regard to
^malw^ the genealogical purity of their Jewish
inhabitants, all other countries were, compared to
Palestine, like dough mixed with leaven; but
P^estine itself was such by the side of Babylonia.^
It was even maintained, that the exact boundaries
could be traced in a district, within which the
Jewish population had preserved itself unmixed.
Great merit was in this respect also ascribed to
Ezra. In the usual mode of exaggeration, it was
asserted, that, if all the genealogical studies and
researches* had been put together, they would
have amounted to many hundred camel-loads.
There was for it, however, at least this foundation
in truth, that great care and labour were bestowed
on preserving full and accurate records so as to
establish purity of descent. What importance