The life and work of St. Paul

352 THE LIFE AND WOBK OJF ST. PAUL.
from wise, and let his hair grow long.
At the legal purification which formed
but
the termination of the vow, the head could only be shaved at Jerusalem ;
as it was often impossible for a foreign Jew to reach the Holy City at the exact
time when the period of his vow concluded, it seems to hare been permitted
to the Nazarite to cut his hair, 1
the shorn locks until he
provided that he kept
offered the burnt-offering, foe sin-offering, and the peace-offering in the
Temple, at which time his head was shaved, and all the hair burnt in the fire
under the sacrifice of the peace-offerings. Accordingly, Paul cut his hair at
Cenchreae, and set sail for Ephesus. The mention of the fact is not by any
means trivial or otiose. The vow which St. Paul undertook is highly
significant as a proof of his persoruil allegiance to the Levitic institutions, and
his desire to adopt a policy of conciliation towards the Jewish Christians of
the Holy City. 2
A few days' sail, if the weather was ordinarily propitious, would enable his
vessel to anchor in the famous haven of Panormus, which was then a forest of
masts at the centre of all the Mediterranean trade, but is now a reody swamp
in a region of desolation. His arrival coincided either with the eve of a
Sabbath, or of one of the three weekly meetings of the synagogue, and at once,
with his usual ardour and self-forgetfulness, he presented himself among the
Ephesian Jews. They were a numerous and important body, actively engaged
in the commerce of the city, and had obtained some special privileges from
the Roman Emperors. 3 Not only wsw their religion authorised, but their
youth were exempted from military service. One of their number, the
" Chaldean " or " astrologer " Balbillus, had at this period availed himself of
the deepening superstition which always accompanies a decadent belief, and
had managed to insinuate himself into the upper circles of Roman society
until he ultimately became the confidant of Nero.* Accustomed in that
seething metropolis to meet with opinions of every description, the Jews at
first offered no opposition to the arguments of the wandering Rabbi who
preached a crucified Messiah. Nay, they even begged him to stay longer with
them. His desire to reach Jerusalem and pay his vow rendered this impossible ;
but in bidding them farewell he promised that, God willing, 5 he would
1 The word used U *ipof*vo, "polling," not vpri