757. The Chazan - Posture of Teachers

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1. The position of the “minister” in the synagogue bore no resemblance to that of the minister in the Christian church. He was called chazan, and, in the time of Christ and for several centuries afterward, was the lowest servant in the synagogue, his duties resembling those of the sexton in one of our churches. He had charge of the furniture, and kept the building in good order, preparing it for service, and summoning the people at the appointed hour. It was also his duty to call out the names of those whom the ruler of the synagogue selected to read the lesson of the day, and to hand to them the sacred roll, receiving it from them when the reading was finished. It was the chazan who “delivered” Isaiah’s prophecy to Jesus, as recorded in verse seventeen, and to him Jesus gave the book when he had done reading, as noted in the twentieth verse.
2. Sitting was the customary posture of a teacher when instructing his disciples. Hence, when Jesus rolled up the manuscript and returned it to the hands of the chazan, he sat down on the platform instead of going back to his seat, because he wished to address the people. This custom is also referred to in Matthew 5:1; 23:2; 26:551And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: (Matthew 5:1)
2Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: (Matthew 23:2)
55In that same hour said Jesus to the multitudes, Are ye come out as against a thief with swords and staves for to take me? I sat daily with you teaching in the temple, and ye laid no hold on me. (Matthew 26:55); John 8:22And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. (John 8:2). See, further, note on Acts 22:33I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. (Acts 22:3) (#852).