Two thousand years ago, Israel was an occupied nation, with a ""foreign"" king -- a descendant of Edomite converts -- and possessing a centuries old promise of freedom and a return to THE LAW of its founders.

Then, as now, those who identified themselves as true Hebrews -- Jewish descendants of the original biblical tribes -- could be seen to apply THE LAW in varying degrees, or, styles, of observance. Those variations were not unlike the secular to orthodox variations we see in modern religious affiliations.

SAINT PAUL'S JOKE recounts the history of the period and then focuses upon...