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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11701-0.txt b/11701-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f638808 --- /dev/null +++ b/11701-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13333 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11701 *** + +The Historical Bible + +THE MAKERS AND TEACHERS OF JUDAISM + +FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM TO THE DEATH OF HEROD THE GREAT + +BY + +CHARLES FOSTER KENT, PH.D. + +WOOLSEY PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE IN YALE UNIVERSITY + +WITH MAPS AND CHARTS + +1911 + + + + + + +PREFACE + +The period represented by this volume is in many ways the most complex and +confusing in Israel's history. The record is not that of the life of a +nation but of the scattered remnants of a race. It was inevitable that +under the influence of their varied environment, the survivors of the +Jewish race should develop very different beliefs and characteristics. +The result is that many different currents of thought and shades of belief +are reflected in the literature of this period; some of it is dross, but +much of it is purest gold. While the period following the destruction of +Jerusalem was a reflective and a retrospective age in which the teaching +of the earlier priests and prophets gained wide acceptance, it was also a +creative era. Fully half of the literature of the Old Testament and all of +the important writings of the Apocrypha come from these tragic five +centuries. Although the historical records are by no means complete, the +great crises in Israel's life are illuminated by such remarkable +historical writings as the memoirs of Nehemiah, the first book of +Maccabees, and the detailed histories of Josephus. + +The majority of the writings, however, reveal above all the soul of the +race. Out of its anguish and suffering came the immortal poems found in +Isaiah 40-66, the book of Job, and the Psalter. Instead of the distinctly +nationalistic point of view, which characterizes practically all of the +writings of the pre-exilic period, the interest becomes individual and the +outlook universal. During these centuries Israel's prophets, priests, +and sages became not merely teachers of the nation but of humanity. +Conspicuous among the great teachers of his day stands the noble sage, +Jesus the son of Sirach, who gleaned out and presented in effective form +that which was most vital in the earlier teaching of his race. In his +broad, simple faith in God and man, in his emphasis on deeds and +character, as well as ceremonial, and in his practical philosophy of life +he was a worthy forerunner of the Great Teacher whose name he bore. + +This period represents the culmination and fruition of the divine +Influences at work in Israel's early history. It was during this period +that Judaism was born and attained its full development, Israel accepted +the absolute rule of the written law, and the scribes succeeded the earlier +prophets and sages. Out of the heat and conflict of the Maccabean +struggle the parties of the Pharisees and Sadducees sprang into existence +and won their commanding place in the life of Judaism. Hence this period +is the natural historical introduction to the study of the birth and early +development of Christianity. It is also the link that binds the revelation +found in the Old Testament to that of the New. + +The volume of literature coming from this period is so vast that it has +been necessary to abridge it at many points in order to utilize that which +is most valuable. This has been done by leaving out those passages which +are of secondary origin or value, and by preserving at the same time the +language and logical thought of the original writers. In the verbose and +voluminous writings of Josephus the resulting text is in most cases far +clearer and more useful; for the repetitious clauses found in the original +often obscure the real thought of the writer. No apology or explanation is +required for the use of such apocryphal writings as I Maccabees, Ben Sira, +the Wisdom of Solomon, or Josephus's histories, for these are required to +bridge the two centuries which intervene between the latest writings of +the Old Testament and the earliest writings of the New. They make it +possible to study biblical history as an unbroken unit from the days of +Moses to the close of the first Christian century, and thus concretely to +emphasize the significant but often the forgotten fact that God was +revealing himself unceasingly through the life of his people, and that the +Bible which records that revelation consists not of two disconnected parts +but is one book. + +To two of my former students, the Reverend Harold B. Hunting and Ralph H. +Pierce, I am under obligation for valuable aid and suggestions in +preparing this volume for press. + +C.F.K. +YALE UNIVERSITY, +_October_, 1911. + + + +CONTENTS + +THE EXILE AND REVIVAL OF THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +Section XCI. THE JEWS IN PALESTINE AND EGYPT + +Lam. 2:1-10, 5:1-18, Jer. 43:3-12, 44:1-14, 28. + +I. The Significance of the Destruction of the Hebrew State.--II. The Book +of Lamentations.--III. Authorship and Date of the Book.--IV. Its Real +Character.--Numbers and Fortunes of the Jews Who Remained in Palestine.-- +VI. Fortunes of the Jews in Egypt.--VII. The Jewish Colony at Elephantine. +--VIII. The Temple of Jahu at Elephantine. + + +Section XCII. EZEKIEL'S MESSAGE TO HIS SCATTERED COUNTRYMEN. + +Ezek. 37, 40:1, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21b, 44-47, 41:1-8a, 43:1-9, 44:9-16, +23, 24, 45:1-8. + +I. The Home of the Exiles in Babylon.--II. Their New Conditions and +Occupations.--III. Their Religious Life. IV. The Prophecies of Ezekiel.-- + +V. The Resurrection of the Dead Nation.--VI. The Divine Shepherd.-- +VII. Ezekiel's Plan of the Restored Temple. + + +Section XCIII. THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE BABYLONIAN RULE + +II Kings 25:27-30, Isa. 9:1-7, 11:1-10, 13:2-4, 11, 17, 18b, 19-22, Ezra +6:3-5, 5:14, 15, 1:5-6, I Esdr. 5:4-6, Ezra 3:2-4, 6b. + +I. The Transformation of the Jews into a Literary People.--II. The +Literary Activity of the Babylonian Period.--III. The Holiness Code.-- +IV. The Liberation of Jehoiachin and the Hopes of the Jews.--V. The Rule +of Nabonidus.--VII. Rise and Conquests of Cyrus.--VII. His Capture of +Babylon.--VIII. His Treatment of Conquered Peoples. + + +Section XCIV. THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE + +Hag. 1, 2, Ezra 5:3-6:14. + +I. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah.--II. The Chronicler's Conception of the +Restoration.--III. Convulsions in the Persian Empire.--IV. Haggai's +Effective Addresses.--V. The Attempt to Stop the Rebuilding of the +Temple.--VI. The Significance of the Restoration of the Temple. + + +Section XCV. ZECHARIAH'S VISIONS AND ENCOURAGING ADDRESSES + +Zech. 1:7-4:6a, 11-14, 8b-10, 6:9-15, 7, 8:1-8. + +I. Zechariah's Ancestry and Point of View.--II. The Book of Zechariah. +--III. Problems and Hopes of the Judean Community.--IV. Zechariah's +Assurances of Jehovah's Care.--V. Preparations for the Crowning of +Zerubbabel.--VI. Disappointment of these Patriotic Hopes.--VII. +Zechariah's Later Exhortations and Predictions. + + +Section XCVI. ISRAEL'S TRAINING AND DESTINY + +Isa. 40:1-4, 6, 31, 41:1-4, 8-10, 42:1-7, 10-15, 22-28, 44:1-5. + +I. The Seventy Years Following the Rebuilding of the Temple.-- +II. Spiritual Forces in Judaism.--III. Evidences that Isaiah 40-66 Were +Written in Palestine.--IV. Their Probable Date.--V. Their Literary +Characteristics.--VI. Their Theme and Purpose.--VII. Reasons Why Jehovah +Will Restore His People. + + +Section XCVII. CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS WITHIN THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +Mal. 1:6-14, 2, 3, 4:1-3, Ps. 22:1-18. + +I. Date of the Book of Malachi.--II. Neglect of the Temple Service.-- + +III. The Need of a Great Moral Awakening.--IV. The Lot of the Faithful.-- +V. The Problem of Suffering in the Literature of the Period. + + +Section XCVIII. THE PROBLEM AND TEACHINGS OF THE BOOK OF JOB + +Job 1, 2 3:2, 11, 13-15, 17, 19, 20-22, 25, 26, 4:1-7, 17-19, 5:17-22, 26, +27, 6:1-4b, 14, 15, 20-30, 7:1-6, 9-18, 20, 21, 8:1-6, 9:1-7, 16-20, 24, +31-35, 10:9-15, 20-22, 11:1, 7-9, 13-15, 12:1-3, 13:7-18, 21-25, 14:7-10, +13-15, 18, 19, 15:4-6, 16:1-4, 11-13a, 18-21, 18:1, 5-7, 19:1, 13-15, +23-27, 20:1-5, 21:1, 7-9, 22:1-5, 23, 27, 28, 23:1-6, 25:1-4, 26:1, 27:2, +4, 5, 7-9, 29:1-5, 30:15-21, 31:5-8, 35-37, 40:2, 8, 9, 38:2-7, 8-11, +39-41, 42:2, 3, 5, 8. + +I. The Structure of the Book of Job.--II. Dates of the Different Parts.-- +III. The Prose Story.--IV. The Poem of Job.--V. Progress in Job's +Thought.--VI. Significance of the Speeches of Job. + + +Section XCIX. THE TRAINING AND MISSION OF THE TRUE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH + +Isa. 49:1-15, 50:4-10, 52:13-15, 53. + +I. The Different Portraits of Jehovah's Servant.--II. The Prophet's +Purpose.--III. The Character and Condition of Those to Whom the Prophet +Appealed.--IV. The Task and Training of Jehovah's Servant.--V. Methods of +Jehovah's Servant.--VI. Realization of the Ideal of Service. + + +Section C. NEHEMIAH'S WORK IN REBUILDING THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM + +Neh. 1-4, 6, 7:1-5a, 12:31, 32, 37-40. + +I. Nehemiah's Memoirs.--II. Nehemiah's Response to the Call to Service.-- +III. Obstacles that Confronted Him.--IV. His Plan of Work.--V. The +Restored Walls.--VI. Completion and Dedication of the Walls. + + +Section CI. NEHEMIAH'S SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS REFORMS + +Isa. 56, 58:2-12, Neh. 5, 13:4-31. + +I. Cruelty and Hypocrisy of the Jewish Leaders.--II. Nehemiah's Method of +Correcting the Social Evils in the Community.--III. The Historical Value +of Nehemiah 13.--IV. Regulations Regarding the Temple Service.-- +V. Provisions Regarding Sabbath Observance and Foreign Marriages.-- +VI. Significance of Nehemiah's Work. + + +Section CII. TRADITIONAL ACCOUNT OF THE ADOPTION OF THE PRIESTLY LAW + +Ezra 7:1, 6-10, Neh. 7:73b-8:4a, 5, 6, 9-18, 9:1-3, 6-8. 32-38, 10:28-39b + +I. The Ezra Tradition.--II. The Historical Value of the Ezra Tradition.-- +III. The Facts Underlying It.--IV. Origin and Aims of the Priestly +Laws.--V. Their Important Regulations.--VI. Their Practical Effects. + + +Section CIII. THE JEWISH STATE DURING THE LAST CENTURY OF PERSIAN RULE + +Ps. 36:5-10, Joel 2:1-29, Jos. Ant. XI, 7-8:2. + +I. Prosperity of the Judean Community.--II. The Growth of the Psalter.-- +III. The Prophecy of Joel.--IV. Hopes of the Jews.--V. Rule of the High +Priests.--VI. The Date of the Samaritan Schism.--VII. Its Nature and +Consequences. + + +THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN AGE + +Section CIV. THE JEWS UNDER THEIR GREEK RULERS + +I Mac. 1:1-4, Jos. Ant. XI, 8:7a, e, XII, 1:1b-d, g-j, 2:1a, 5d, e, +4:1d-f, 2a-f, 3b, 4a-c, 5a-c. e, 6a, 3:3a, b, c-e. + +I. Josephus's Histories.--II. Alexander's Conquests.--III. The Jews in +Egypt and Alexandria.--IV. The Rule of the Ptolemies.--V. Fortunes of the +Jews of Palestine.--VI. Conquest of Palestine by the Seleucids In 311 B.C. + + +Section CV. THE WISE AND THEIR TEACHINGS + +Prov. 1:2-6, 8:1-6, 13-27, 29-35, 13:14,20, 24:5, 12:10, 20:13, 23:16, +29-35, 29:20, 15:23, 19:11, 16:32, 23:36-28, 4:25-27, 14:15, 26:12, 27:2, +4:23, 11:6, 21:3, 15:1, 3:27, 14:21, 19:17, 25:21,22, 3:11,12, 1:5,6. + +I. Structure and Authorship of the Book of Proverbs.--II. Date of the +Different Collections.--III. The Wise in Israel's Early History.-- +IV. Their Prominence in the Greek Period.--V. Their Aims.--VI. Their +Methods.--VII. Their Important Teachings. + + +Section CVI. THE DIFFERENT CURRENTS OF THOUGHT IN JUDAISM DURING THE +GREEK PERIOD + +Ps. 19:7-14, 46, 22:27-30, Jonah 1, 2:1,10, 3, 4, Eccles. 1:12-18, 2:1-17, +24-26. + +I. The Ritualists.--II. The Legalists.--III. The Disciples of the +Prophets.--IV. The Date and Character of the Book of Jonah.--V. Its +Teachings.--VI. The Book of Ecclesiastes.--VII. Koheleth's Philosophy of +Life. + + +Section CVII. THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS THE SON OF SIRACH + +B. Sir. 1:1-10, 2:1-9, 3:17-30, 4:2, 9, 10, 20-25, 28-31, 5:1-2, +6:2, 4-8, 14-16, 7:12, 13, 20-22, 28-30. + +I. Date and Character of Jesus the Son of Sirach.--II. His Writings.-- +III. The History of the Book.--IV. Its Picture of Jewish Life.--V. Rise of +the Scribes.--VI. The Teachings of Ben Sira. + + +Section CVIII. THE CAUSES OF THE MACCABEAN STRUGGLE + +I Mac. 1:10-22,24-63. + +I. The Character and Contents of I Maccabees.--II. Character and Contents +of II Maccabees.--III. Aggressive Character of Hellenic Culture.-- +IV. Contrast between Hellenism and Judaism.--V. Apostasy of the Jews and +Perfidy of the High Priests.--VI. Character of Antiochus Epiphanes.-- +VII. His Policy toward the Jews. + + +Section CIX. THE EFFECT OF PERSECUTION UPON THE JEWS + +I Mac. 2, Dan. 7:1-27, 12:1-3. + +I. The Uprising Led by Mattathias.--II. Party of the Hasideans or Pious.-- +III. Date of the Visions in Daniel 7-12.--IV. Their Real Character and +Aim.--V. The Four Heathen Kingdoms and the Kingdom of God. + + +Section CX. THE VICTORIES THAT GAVE THE JEWS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY + +I Mac. 3:1-43,46-60, 4. + +I. The Character of Judas.--II. Obstacles against which Judas Contended.-- +III. Defeat of Apollonius and Seron.--IV. The Battle of Emmaus.--V. The +Battle at Bethsura.--VI. Restoration of the Temple Service.--VII. The New +Spirit in Judaism. + + +Section CXI. THE LONG CONTEST FOR POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE + +I Mac. 5:1-23, 45, 54, 65-68, 63, 6:18-63, 7, 9:1-31, 10:1-21, 67-71, +74-76, 11:20-29. + +I. The Political Situation.--II. The Jewish Attitude toward the Heathen +Reflected in the Book of Esther.--III. Campaigns against the Neighboring +Peoples.--IV. The Battle of Beth-zacharias.--V. Victories Over Nicanor.-- +VI. The Death of Judas.--VII. Dissensions in the Syrian Court.-- +VIII. Concessions to Jonathan. + + +Section CXII. PEACE AND PROSPERITY UNDER SIMON + +I Mac. 11:38-40, 54-56, 12:39-53, 13:1-11, 20-30, 33, 43-53, 14:16-18, +38-49, 4-15. + +I. Capture and Death of Jonathan.--II. Character and Policy of Simon.-- +III. His Conquests.--IV. His Authority.--V. Completion of the Psalter.-- +VI. The Religious Life Reflected in the Later Psalms. + + +Section CXIII. THE RULE OF JOHN HYRCANUS AND ARISTOBULUS + +I Mac. 16:11-22, Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:3c-4b, 4d, 5, 6, Jos. Ant. XIII, +9:1d, e, Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:7a, b, Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:5, 6a, c, 7, +11:1a-c, 3a, 3e. + +I. Murder of Simon.--II. The Syrian Invasion.--III. John's Military Policy +and Conquests.--IV. The Break with the Pharisees.--V. The Reign of +Aristobulus. + + +Section CXIV THE PHARISEES, SADDUCEES, AND ESSENES + +Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:2, 3a-c, 3d, 4a, b, 5a, b, Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:2-8, +9a-c, 10b, c, 11b, 12. + +I. Influences that Gave Rise to the Jewish Parties.--II. Character and +Beliefs of the Pharisees.--III. Of the Sadducees.--IV. Of the Essenes. + + +Section CXV. THE LIFE AND FAITH OF THE JEWS OF THE DISPERSION + +Jos. Ant. XII, 3:1a, VII, 3:3a, b, 10:2d-3e, XIII, 10:4, Wisd. Of Sol. +6:12-16, 7:25-8:1, 7, 1:1-8, 12-15, 2:23-3:1, 5:15, 16, 11:24-12:2, +15:1-3. + +I. Conditions of the Jews in Antioch and Asia Minor.--II. In Egypt.-- +III. The Jewish Temple at Leontopolis.--IV. Translation of the Hebrew +Scriptures into Greek.--V. Apologetic Jewish Writings.--VI. The Wisdom of +Solomon.--VII. Its Important Teachings. + + +Section CXVI. THE DECLINE OF THE MACCABEAN KINGDOM + +Jos. Jew. War, I, 4:1-4c, 5c, 6a, c, 8c, d, 5:1-7:7. + +I. The Character and Policy of Alexander Janneus.--II. The Effects of His +Rule.--III. Alexandra's Reign.--IV. Quarrels between Hyrcanus and +Aristobulus.--V. Rome's Intervention.--VI. Cause of the Fall of the Jewish +Kingdom.--VII. Political, Intellectual, and Religious Effects of the +Maccabean Struggle. + + +THE RULE OF ROME + +Section CXVII. THE RISE OF THE HERODIAN HOUSE + +Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:2, 4a, 5-7, 9b, 9:1, 3a-6b, 10:1, 2a, 3a, 4, 5a, b, +11:1, 4, 6, 12:3-5, 13:1a, Jos. Ant. XIV, 13:1, Jos. Jew. War, I, 13:7, +8c, 14:1b, 2, 4, 15:3, 4, 16:1, 17:1, 8, 9a, 18:1, 2c, 4a. + +I. The Fruitless Struggle against Rome.--II. Antipater's Policy.-- +III. Herod's Early Record.--IV. The Parthian Conquest.--V. Herod Made King +of the Jews. + + +Section CXVIII. HEROD'S POLICY AND REIGN + +Jos. Jew. War, I, 19:1, 2a, 20:1, 2, 3b-4a, 21:13, 1-4, 6a-8a, 9a-10a, 11, +22:1-4, 23:1a, d, 2a-c, d-3a, 24:1a, 27:1, 2a, 6b, 28:1a, 29:2c, 30:5a, +31:1a, 33:1, 7, 8a. + +I. Herod's Character.--II. His Attitude toward Rome. III. His Building +Activity.--IV. His Attitude toward His Subjects.--V. The Tragedy of His +Domestic Life.--VI. Effects of His Reign. + + +Section CXIX. HEROD'S TEMPLE + +Jos. Ant. XV, 11:1a, 2c, 3a-l, 4a, g, 5a-g, h-k, 6. + +I. Herod's Motives.--II. Preparations for the Rebuilding of the Temple.-- +III. The Approaches to the Temple.--IV. The Organization of the Temple. + + +Section CXX. THE MESSIANIC HOPES AND THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF JUDAISM + +Sibyl. Oracles, III, 7:67-84, 17:23-46, Enoch 46:1-3, 48:3-6, 49:27-29, +51:1, 2. + +I. The Growth of Israel's Messianic Hopes.--II. The Kingly, Nationalistic +Type of Messianic Hope.--III. The Apocalyptic, Catastrophic Type.--IV. The +Ethical and Universalistic Type.--V. The Messianic Hopes of Judaism at the +Beginning of the Christian Era. + + +APPENDIX I. A PRACTICAL BIBLICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY + +APPENDIX II. GENERAL QUESTIONS AND SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH. + +LIST OF MAPS AND CHARTS + +JEWISH AND CONTEMPORARY CHRONOLOGY FROM 597 TO 165 B.C. + +THE EMPIRES OF BABYLONIA, PERSIA, AND ALEXANDER + +THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN PALESTINE DURING THE PERSIAN AND GREEK +PERIODS + +THE JERUSALEM OF NEHEMIAH + +CHRONOLOGY OF THE MACCABEAN AND ROMAN PERIODS + +PALESTINE DURING THE MACCABEAN PERIOD + + * * * * * + +THE EXILE AND THE REVIVAL OF THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +Section XCI. THE JEWS IN PALESTINE AND EGYPT + +[Sidenote: Lam. 2:1-5] +How the Lord hath beclouded in his anger the daughter of Zion! +He hath cast down from heaven to earth the beauty of Israel, +And he hath not kept in remembrance his footstool in the day of his anger. +The Lord hath swallowed up without mercy every habitation of Jacob, +He hath thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah, +He hath struck to the ground, he hath polluted her king and her princes. +He hath cut off in the fierceness of his anger all of Israel's strength, +He hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, +He hath burnt in Jacob like a flame, which devours on all sides. +He hath bent his bow as an enemy, he hath stood as an adversary, +He hath slain all the desirable men in the tent of Zion, +He hath poured out his fury as fire [on the daughter of Judah]. +The Lord hath become like an enemy, he hath swallowed up Israel, +He hath swallowed up all of his palaces, he hath destroyed his fortresses, +And he hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah sighing and lamentation. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 2:6,7] +He hath torn down as a vine his dwelling, he hath destroyed his assembling + place, +He hath caused to be forgotten in Zion, fast day and sabbath, +And hath spurned in his indignant anger, king and priest. +The Lord hath rejected his altar, he hath abhorred his + sanctuary, +He hath given up into the hands of the enemy the ark of the covenant, +They have made a din in Jehovah's house, as in the solemn feast day. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 2:8-10] +Jehovah hath determined to destroy the wall of Zion, +He hath stretched out the line, he hath not held back his hand from + destroying, +He hath made rampart and wall lament, they mourn together, +Her gates have sunk into the ground, he hath destroyed her defences, +Her king and her princes are among the heathen, there is no law. +Her prophets also receive from Jehovah no vision. +Silent, upon the earth sit the elders of Zion; +They cast dust upon their heads; they are girded with sackcloth; +With heads bowed to earth are the daughters of Jerusalem. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 5:1-7] +Remember, O Jehovah, what has befallen us, +Look and see our disgrace. +Our inheritance is turned over to aliens, +Our homes belong to foreigners. +We are orphans and fatherless, +Our mothers are like widows. +We drink our water for money, +Our wood comes to us by purchase. +The yoke upon our necks harasses us, +We are weary, but find no rest. +We have given the hand to the Egyptians, +And to the Assyrians, that we might be sated with food. +Our fathers sinned and are no more, +While we bear their guilt. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 5:8-13] +Slaves have dominion over us, +With none to deliver from their hand. +We get our bread at the peril of our lives, +Because of the sword of the wilderness. +Our skin becomes hot like an oven, +Because of the glowing heat of famine. +They ravish the women in Zion, +The virgins in the cities of Judah. +Princes are hanged up by the hand, +The person of the elders is not honored. +The young men bear up the mill, +And the children stumble under the wood. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 5:14-18] +The elders have ceased from the gate, +The young men from their music. +The joy of our heart has ceased, +Our dance is turned into mourning. +The crown has fallen from our head; +Woe to us! for we have sinned. + +For this reason our heart is faint, +For these causes our eyes are dim; +For the mountain of Zion is desolate; +The jackals walk over it. + +[Sidenote: Jer. 43:8-12] +The word of Jehovah also came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, Take great +stones in thy hand, and bury them in the loose foundation in the +brick-covered place before Pharaoh's palace door in Tahpanhes in the sight +of the men of Judah; and say to them, 'Thus saith, Jehovah hosts, the God +of Israel, "Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadrezzar the king of +Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that you +have buried, and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. And he +shall come and shall smite the land of Egypt; such as are for death shall +be given to death, and such as are for captivity shall be given to +captivity, and such as are for the sword shall be given to the sword. And +he will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and will burn +them and carry them away. And he shall wrap himself in the land of Egypt, +as a shepherd puts on his mantle, and shall go forth from there in peace. +He shall also break the obelisks of Heliopolis and the temples of the gods +of Egypt shall he burn with fire."' + +[Sidenote: Jer. 44:1-10] +The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwelt in the +land of Egypt, who dwelt at Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in upper +Egypt, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Ye have +seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the +cities of Judah; and behold, they are this day a desolation, and no man +dwelleth in them, because of their wickedness which they have committed to +provoke me to anger in that they went to offer sacrifices to other gods, +that they knew not, neither they nor ye, nor your fathers. However, I +constantly sent to them all my servants the prophets, saying, "Oh, do not +this abominable thing that I hate." But they neither hearkened nor +inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to offer no sacrifice to +other gods. And so my wrath and mine anger was poured forth and was +kindled against the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, and they +were wasted and desolate, as is now the case.' Therefore now thus saith +Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Why do you commit a great +Crime against yourselves to cut off from you man and woman, infant and +sucking child, out of the midst of Judah so that ye leave none remaining, +in that ye provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, offering +sacrifice to other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye have gone to +sojourn, that ye may be cut off, and that ye may be an object of cursing +and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? Have ye forgotten the +crimes of your fathers, and the crimes of the kings of Judah, and the +crimes of their princes, which they committed in the land of Judah and in +the streets of Jerusalem? They are not humbled even to this day, neither +have they feared nor walked in my law nor in my statutes that I set before +you and before your fathers.' + +[Sidenote: Jer. 44:11-13, 22] +'Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I set +my face against you for evil to cut off the remnant of Judah in the land +of Egypt, and they shall fall by the sword and by famine; they shall +die, small and great, and they shall be an object of execration, of +astonishment, of cursing, and of reproach. For I will punish those who +dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by +famine, and by pestilence, so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have +gone into the land of Egypt to reside there, shall escape or be left to +return to the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return; for +none shall return except as fugitives. And they who escape the sword shall +return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all +the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn +there shall know whose word shall be confirmed, mine or theirs."' + +I. The Significance of the Destruction of the Hebrew State. The +destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. resulted in a mighty Transformation +of the life and thought of Israel. It marked the final Overthrow of the +old Hebrew kingdoms, and the gradual rise of that new and important factor +in human history known as Judaism. For over three centuries the Jews who +survived the great catastrophe were helpless under the rule of the great +world powers which in succession conquered southwestern Asia. For the +great majority of the Jewish race it represented the beginning of that +long exile which has continued until the present. Scattered from the +desert of Sahara to the distant land of China, and from the Black Sea to +the Indian Ocean, the different groups of exiles quickly began to adapt +themselves to their changed surroundings and to absorb the new knowledge +and the powerful influences which gradually transformed their beliefs and +ideals. While their vision was vastly broadened by this contact, the +danger and horror of being completely engulfed in the great heathen world +bound the faithful more closely together, and in time made Judaism +the solid, unbreakable rock that has withstood the assaults and the +disintegrating forces of the ages. At first the survivors of the great +catastrophe were stunned by the blow that had shattered their nation. They +lived only in their memories of the past and in their hopes for the +future. At last, in the long period of misery and enforced meditation, +they began not only to accept but also to apply the eternal principles +proclaimed by their earlier prophets. Thus amidst these entirely new +conditions they gained a broader and deeper faith and were still further +trained for the divine task of teaching mankind. + +II. The Book of Lamentations. After describing the destruction of the +little kingdom established at Mizpah under Gedaliah, the Hebrew historical +records suddenly become silent. This silence is due to the fact that there +was little of external interest to record. The real history of this tragic +half-century is the record of the anguish and doubts and hopes in the +hearts of the scattered remnants of the race. The little book of +Lamentations expresses dramatically and pathetically the thoughts of the +people as they meditated upon the series of calamities which gathered +about the great catastrophe of 586 B.C. Like the ancient Torah, or five +books of the Law, it contains a quintet of poems. These are very similar +in theme and form to many of the psalms of the Psalter. In the first four +the characteristic five-beat measure, by which the deep emotions, +especially that of sorrow, were expressed, is consistently employed. Each +of these four is also an acrostic, that is, each succeeding line or group +of lines begins with a succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This +acrostic form was probably adopted in order to aid the memory, and +suggests that from the first these poems were written to be used in +public. Even so the Jews of Jerusalem to-day chant them on each of their +sabbaths beside the foundation walls of the great platform on which once +stood their ruined temple. Although the artificial character of these +poems tends to check the free expression of thought and feeling, it is +possible to trace in them a logical progress and to feel the influence of +the strong emotions that inspired them. + +III. Authorship and Date of the Book. In theme and literary form these +poems are so strikingly similar to Jeremiah's later sermons that it was +almost inevitable that tradition should attribute them to the great +prophet of Judah's decline. This tradition, to which is due the position +of the book of Lamentations in the Greek and English Bibles, cannot be +traced earlier than the Greek period. The evidence within the poems +themselves strongly indicates that they were not written by Jeremiah. It +is almost inconceivable that he would subject his poetic genius to the +rigid limitations of the acrostic structure. Moreover, he would never have +spoken of the weak Zedekiah, whose vacillating policy he condemned, in the +terms of high esteem which appear in Lamentations 4:20. These poems also +reflect the popular interpretation of the great national calamity, rather +than Jeremiah's searching analysis of fundamental causes. A careful study +of Lamentations shows that chapters 2 and 4 were probably written by one +who was powerfully influenced by Ezekiel's thought. They both follow in +their acrostic structure an unusual order of the Hebrew alphabet, +differing in this respect from chapters 1 and 3. They have so many close +points of contact with each other that it is safe to say that they are +both from the same author. They reveal an intimate familiarity with events +immediately following the destruction of Jerusalem and were probably +written between 580 and 561 B.C., when Jehoiachin was liberated. +Chapters 1 and 3 follow the regular order of the Hebrew alphabet and +apparently represent the work of a later author or authors. Chapter 1 is +full of pathos and religious feeling and is closely parallel in thought +to such psalms as 42 and 137. Chapter 3 is a poetic monologue describing +the fate and voicing the contrition of the righteous within the Judean +community. Chapter 5, on the contrary, is in the three-beat measure and +lacks the acrostic structure of the preceding chapters. Its style and +point of view are so different from those of the preceding chapters that +it must be the work of another author, who probably lived in the Persian +period. + +IV. Its Real Character. The purpose of the book of Lamentations was +evidently, (1) to give appropriate expression to the feelings of the Jews +who survived the destruction of Jerusalem, 586 B.C.; (2) to drive home the +great lessons taught by their past history, and thus to arouse true +repentance; and (3) to kindle in turn hopes regarding their future. +Through them Jeremiah and Ezekiel live and speak again, but from the point +of view of the people. These tragic poems also throw contemporary light +upon the horrors of the final siege and capture of Jerusalem and upon the +fate of those who survived. + +V. Numbers and Fortunes of the Jews Who Remained in Palestine. The Jews +actually carried into captivity constituted only a small part of the total +population of Judah (cf. Section XC:ii). The peasants and the inhabitants +of the towns outside Jerusalem remained undisturbed, except as some of +them were doubtless drafted into the army which under Zedekiah undertook +to defend Jerusalem against the Chaldeans. From the later record of +Nehemiah's work the names of many of these towns can be determined. In the +north were Jericho, Geba, Mizpah, Anathoth, and Kirjath-jearim; in the +centre, Netophah and Bethlehem; and in the south Tekoa, Keilah, and +Bethzur. The lot of these, who are later known as the people of the land, +was pitiable indeed. There are many references in Lamentations and Ezekiel +to the persecutions to which they were subjected by their malignant foes, +the Moabites and Ammonites on the east and the Philistines on the west. +Even more cruel and aggressive were the Edomites, who had suffered many +wrongs at the hands of the Hebrews. It was probably about this time that +this half-nomadic people began to be driven northward by the advance of +the Nabateans, an Arab people who came from the south. Dislodged from +their homes, the Edomites took advantage of the weakness of the Jews and +seized southern Judah, including the ancient capital Hebron. The doom +which Ezekiel pronounces upon the Edomites in 25[12] is because of the +revenge that they wreaked upon the Jews at this time. It is significant +that Ezekiel's sermons in the period immediately following the fall of +Jerusalem contain dire predictions of divine vengeance upon all these +foes. After the overthrow of Gedaliah's kingdom, the Jews who remained in +Palestine appear to have been left wholly without defences or defenders. +Ezekiel, in 33:23-29, speaks of those who inhabit the waste places in the +land of Israel, who live in the strongholds and the caves. Some of them +appear to have turned robbers. Foreign settlers came in from every side +and in time intermarried with the natives and led them into idolatry. +Ezekiel sternly condemns their immorality and apostasy. + +From the references in Jeremiah 41:5 and Ezra 3:3 it is clear that even +during this reign of terror many of the people continued to offer +sacrifices to Jehovah at the great altar cut in native rock which stood +before the ruins of their temple in Jerusalem. Priests were also doubtless +found in the land to conduct these services. The ancient feasts, however, +with their joyous merrymaking and the resulting sense of divine favor, +were no longer observed. Instead, the people celebrated in sackcloth and +ashes the fasts commemorating the successive stages in the destruction of +their city (Zech. 7:3-7). While their lot was pitiable and their character +seemingly unpromising, these people of the land were important factors in +the re-establishment of the Judean community. + +VI. Fortunes of the Jews in Egypt. The narrative in Jeremiah states +definitely that the large proportion of those who had rallied about +Gedaliah after his death found a temporary asylum on the eastern borders +of Egypt. Here they were beyond the reach of Chaldean armies and within +the territory of the one nation which offered a friendly asylum to the +Jewish refugees. Most of this later group of exiles settled at the towns +of Tahpanhes and Migdol. The latter means tower and is probably to be +identified with an eastern outpost, the chief station on the great highway +which ran along the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean directly to +Palestine and Syria. + +The excavations of the Egypt Exploration Fund at Tahpanhes, which was the +Daphnae of Herodotus, has thrown much light upon the home of this Jewish +community. The town was situated in a sandy desert to the south of a +marshy lake. It lay midway between the cultivated delta on the west and +what is now the Suez Canal on the east. Past it ran the main highway to +Palestine. Its founder, Psamtik I, the great-grandfather of Hophra, had +built here a fort to guard the highway. Herodotus states that he also +stationed guards here, and that until late in the Persian period it was +defended by garrisons whose duty was to repel Asiatic invasions (II, 30). +Here the Ionian and Carian mercenaries, who were at this time the chief +defence of the Egyptian king, were given permanent homes. By virtue of its +mixed population and its geographical position, Tahpanhes was a great +meeting place of Eastern and Western civilization. Here native Egyptians, +Greek mercenaries, Phoenician and Babylonian traders, and Jewish refugees +met on common ground and lived side by side. It corresponded in these +respects to the modern Port Said. + +Probably in remembrance of the Jewish colony that once lived here, the +ruins of the fort still bear an Arab name which means The Palace of the +Jew's Daughter. The term palace is not altogether inappropriate, for +apparently the fort was occasionally used as a royal residence. Many +wine-jars, bearing the seals of Psamtik, Hophra, and Amasis, have been +found in the ruins. In the northwestern part of these ruins has been +uncovered a great open-air platform of brickwork, referred to in Jeremiah +43:8-10. It was the place of common meeting found in connection with every +Egyptian palace or private home. When Amasis, in 564 B.C., came to the +throne of Egypt he withdrew the privileges granted by his predecessors to +foreigners. The Greek colonists were transferred to Naukratis, and +Tahpanhes lost most of its former glory. About this time, if not before, +the great majority of the Jewish refugees, who had settled in these +frontier towns, probably returned to Palestine to find homes in its +partially depopulated towns. + +Ezekiel from distant Babylon appears to have regarded the Jews in Egypt +with considerable hope (Ezek. 29:21). But Jeremiah, who knew them better, +was keenly alive to their faults. In their despair and rage many of them +evidently rejected the teachings of the prophets and became devotees of +the Aramean goddess, the Queen of Heaven, mentioned in the recently +discovered Aramean inscription of Zakar, king of Hazrak (cf. Section +LXV:vii). Jeremiah's closing words to them, therefore, are denunciations +and predictions that they should suffer even in the land of Egypt, at +the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, the same fate that had overtaken their +fellow-countrymen at Jerusalem. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Ezek. 30) +predicted that Nebuchadrezzar would invade and conquer Egypt. In 568 B.C. +his army actually did appear on the borders of Egypt; but how far he +succeeded in conquering the land is unknown. The complete conquest of +Egypt certainly did not come until the Persian period under the leadership +of the cruel Cambyses. + +VII. The Jewish Colony at Elephantine. Jeremiah and Ezekiel also refer +to the Jewish colonists at Memphis and at Pathros, which is the biblical +designation of upper Egypt. Many of the colonists who had settled there +had doubtless fled before the conquests of Jerusalem. The presence of a +great number of Jews in Egypt at a later period indicates that even at +this early date more exiles were probably to be found in Egypt than in +Babylon. Recent discoveries on the island of Elephantine in the upper +Nile, opposite the modern Assuan, have thrown new light upon the life of +these Jewish colonists. These records consist (1) of a series of +beautifully preserved legal documents written in Aramaic on papyrus and +definitely dated between the years 471 and 411 B.C. They include contracts +between the Jews residing on the island of Elephantine regarding the +transfer of property and other legal transactions. They contain many +familiar Jewish names, such as Zadok, Isaiah, Hosea, Nathan, Ethan, +Zechariah, Shallum, Uriah, and Shemaiah. They indicate that by the earlier +part of the Persian period a large and wealthy colony of Jewish traders +and bankers was established on this island. They appear to have lived in a +community by themselves, but in the heart of the city, side by side with +Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, and Greeks, whose property +In some cases joined their own. The Jews had their own court which ranked +equally with the Persian and Egyptian law courts. Even native Egyptians, +who had cases against the Jews, appeared before it. The names of Arameans +and Arabs also appear in its lists of witnesses. From these contemporary +documents it is clear that the Jews of upper Egypt enjoyed great +privileges and entered freely into the life of the land. Ordinarily they +married members of their own race; but the marriage of a Jewess with a +foreigner is also reported. He appears, however, to have been a proselyte +to Judaism, Another Jewess married an Egyptian and took oath by the +Egyptian goddess Sati, suggesting that she had nominally at least adopted +the religion of her husband. One Hebrew also bears the suggestive name of +Hosea, the son of Petikhnum (an Egyptian name meaning _Gift of the god +Khnum_). + +VIII. The Temple of Yahu at Elephantine. These Aramaic legal documents +also contain many references to Yahu (the older form of Yahweh or +Jehovah), the god worshipped by the Jews, and to Yahu's temple situated on +King's Street, one of the main thoroughfares of the city. These references +have been signally confirmed by a most remarkable letter recently +discovered by the Germans at this site. It was written in November of the +year 408 B.C., by the members of the Jewish colony at Elephantine to +Bagohi (the Bagoas of Josephus), the Persian governor of Judah. It states, +among other things, that "Already in the days of the kings of Egypt our +fathers had built this temple in the fortress of Elephantine. And when +Cambyses (529-522 B.C.) entered Egypt he found this temple built, and, +though the temple of the gods of Egypt were all at that time overthrown, +no one injured anything in this temple." It further states that recently +(in the year 411 B.C.), in the absence of the Persian governor in Egypt, +the foreigners in Elephantine had stirred up a certain minor official to +instruct his son, who was commander of a neighboring fortress, to destroy +the Jewish temple. + +The Aramaic letter was intended to be sent, together with rich gifts, to +influence the powerful Persian governor of Judah, Bagohi, to issue an +order permitting the Jews to rebuild their temple. From this letter we +learn that the temple of the God Yahu was built of hewn stone with pillars +of stone in front, probably similar to those in the Egyptian temples, and +had seven great gates built of hewn stone and provided with doors and +bronze hinges. Its roof was wholly of cedar wood, probably brought from +the distant Lebanon, and its walls appear to have been ceiled or adorned +with stucco, as were those of Solomon's temple. It was also equipped with +bowls of gold and silver and the other paraphernalia of sacrifice. +Here were regularly offered cereal-offerings, burnt-offerings, and +frankincense. The petitioners also promised that, if the Persian officials +would grant their request, "we will also offer cereal-offerings and +frankincense and burnt-offerings on the altar in your name, and we will +pray to God in your name, we and our wives and all the Jews who are here, +if you do thus until the temple is built. And you shall have a portion +before the God Yahu, the God of Heaven, from every one who offers to him +burnt-offerings and sacrifices." + +Historical students have long been familiar with the fact that late in the +Greek period the Jews of Egypt built a temple to Jehovah at Leontopolis, +in the Delta (cf. Section CXV:iii); but these recent discoveries open +an entirely new chapter in Jewish history. They indicate that probably +within a generation after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, in 586 +B.C., the Jewish colonists in Egypt built for themselves far up the Nile, +and possibly at other points in this land of their exile, a temple or +temples to Jehovah; that they remained loyal to God and the institutions +of their race; and that in the midst of cosmopolitan Egypt they preserved +intact their racial unity. In the light of these discoveries it is also +clear that because of their character and numbers and nearness to +Palestine the Jews of Egypt, even at this early period, were a far more +important factor in the life and development of Judaism than they have +hitherto been considered. These discoveries also afford definite grounds +for the hope that from this unexpected quarter much more valuable material +will come to illumine this otherwise dark period of post-exilic Jewish +history. + + + +Section XCII. EZEKIEL'S MESSAGE TO HIS SCATTERED COUNTRYMEN + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:1-6] +The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me by the spirit and set +me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. And he +caused me to pass by them round about; and, behold, there were very many +on the surface of the valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said to +me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord Jehovah, thou +knowest. Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, +O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah. 'Thus saith Jehovah to these +bones: "Behold I am about to put breath into you, that ye may live. And I +will put sinews on you, and will clothe you with flesh, and cover you with +skin, and put breath in you, that ye may live; and know that I am +Jehovah."' + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:7-10] +So I prophesied as he commanded me: and as I prophesied, there was an +earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I beheld, +and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh had clothed them, and skin +covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, +Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus +saith Jehovah: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these +slain, that they may live."' So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the +breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an +exceedingly great host. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:11-14] +Then he said to me, O man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; +behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are +completely ruined.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, 'Thus saith +Jehovah: "Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, +O my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall +know that I am Jehovah, when I have opened your graves, and raised you +from your graves, O my people. And I will put my spirit in you, that ye +may live, and I will restore you to your own land: that ye may know that +I, Jehovah, have spoken it and performed it," is the oracle of Jehovah.' + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:15-23] +This word also came to me from Jehovah: Do thou, O man, take a stick, and +write upon it, JUDAH AND THE ISRAELITES ASSOCIATED WITH HIM: then take +another stick, and write upon it, JOSEPH, AND ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL +ASSOCIATED WITH HIM. Then join them together, so that they may become one +stick in thy hand. And when the children of thy people shall say to thee, +'Wilt thou not show us what this means?' say to them, 'Thus saith Jehovah: +"Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of +Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him; and I will unite +them with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be +united in my hand."' And let the sticks on which thou writest be in thy +hand before their eyes. And say to them, 'Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: +"Behold, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations, whither +they are gone, and gather them from all sides, and bring them into their +own land: and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains +of Israel; and there shall be one king over them all; and they shall be no +longer two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any +longer; nor shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor +with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I +will save them from all their apostasies wherein they have sinned, and +will cleanse them; so shall they be my people, and I will be their God."' + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:24-28] +'"And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one +shepherd: they shall also walk in mine ordinances, and observe my +statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given +to my servant Jacob, wherein their fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell +therein, they and their sons, forever. And David my servant shall be their +prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it +shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will establish them, and +multiply them, and set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. My +dwelling place also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they +shall be my people. And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah who +sanctifieth Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them +forevermore."' + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:1-4] +In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, +in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was +taken, on that very day, the hand of Jehovah was laid upon me, and he +brought me in an inspired vision to the land of Israel, and set me down +upon a very high mountain, on which was a city-like building toward the +south. Thither he brought me, and there was a man whose appearance was +like the appearance of bronze, with a flaxen line and a measuring reed in +his hand; and he was standing in the gateway. And the man said to me, Son +of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and give heed to +all that I shall show thee; for, in order that thou shouldst be shown it +wert thou brought hither; declare all that thou seest to the house of +Israel. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:5] +There was a wall encircling a temple, and in the man's hand a measuring +reed six cubits long, each cubit being equal to about twenty-one inches. +And he measured the thickness of the building one reed (about ten and +one-half feet); and the height one reed. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:6-12] +Then he came to the east gateway and went up its steps and measured the +threshold of the gate one reed wide. And each guard-room was one reed +long, and one reed broad; and between the guard-rooms were spaces of five +cubits; and the threshold of the gate at the vestibule of the gate on the +inner side was one reed. Then he measured the vestibule of the gate, eight +cubits, and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was on +the inner side. And the guard-rooms of the east gate were three on each +side; and all three were of the same dimensions; and the posts were on +both sides. And he measured the breadth of the entrance to the gateway, +ten cubits; and the width of the gate, thirteen cubits; and there was a +sill one cubit wide, before the guard-rooms on each side; and the +guard-rooms, six cubits on both sides. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:13, 15] +And he measured the gate from the outer wall of the one guard-room to the +outer wall of the other, twenty-five cubits wide [about forty-four feet]; +door opposite door. And from the front of the gateway at the entrance to +the front of the inner vestibule of the gate were fifty cubits. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:17, 19] +Then he brought me to the outer court, and there were chambers and a +pavement made round about the court; thirty chambers were upon the +pavement. And he measured its breadth from the front of the lower gate to +the front of the inner court without, one hundred cubits on the east and +on the north. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:20, 21b, 24b] +And the north gateway of the outer court, he measured its length and +breadth. And its measurements were the same as those of the east gateway. +The dimensions of the gateway on the south were also the same as the +others. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:44-47] +He brought me outside the gate and into the inner court, and there were +two chambers on the inner court, one by the north gate, facing the south, +and the other by the south gate, facing the north. And he said to me, This +chamber which faces the south is for the priests who have charge of the +temple; and the chamber which faces the north is for the priests who have +charge of the altar; they are the sons of Zadok, those of the sons of Levi +who may be near to Jehovah to serve him. And he measured the court, a +hundred cubits wide, and a hundred cubits broad--a perfect square. The +altar was in front of the temple. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 41:1,2] +Then he brought me into the hall of the temple and measured the jambs, six +cubits on each side. And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and +the sides of the entrance were five cubits on each side; and he measured +its length, forty cubits; and its width, twenty cubits. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 41:3, 4] +Then he went into the inner room and measured the jambs of its entrance, +two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the side-walls of the +entrance, seven cubits on each side. And he measured its length, twenty +cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, before the hall of the temple. +And he said to me, This is the most holy place. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 41:5-8a] +Then he measured the thickness of the wall of the temple, six cubits; and +the width of the side-chambers, four cubits, round about the temple on +every side. And the side-chambers were in three stories, one above +another, and thirty in each story; and there were abatements all around +the walls of the temple that the side-chambers might be fastened to them +and not to the walls of the temple. And the side-chambers became wider as +they went up higher and higher, for the temple grew narrower higher up; +and there was an ascent from the lowest story to the highest through the +middle story. And I saw also that the temple had a raised platform round +about. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 43:1-5] +Then he brought me to the east gate. And behold the glory of the God of +Israel came from the east; and his voice was like the sound of many +waters; and the earth shone with his glory. And the vision which I saw was +like that which I saw when he came to destroy the city; and the visions +were like that which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. +Then the glory of Jehovah came into the temple through the east gate. And +the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, +the glory of Jehovah filled the temple. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 43:6-9] +Then I heard One speaking to me from the temple, as he stood by me. And +he said to me, O man, this is the place of my throne, and the place for +the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites +forever. And the house of Israel, they and their kings, shall no more +defile my holy name with their idolatry and with the corpses of their +kings by placing their thresholds by my threshold, and their door-posts +by my door-post, with only a wall between me and them, thus defiling my +holy name by the abominations which they have committed; therefore I have +destroyed them in mine anger. Now let them put away their idolatry, and +the corpses of their kings far from me, that I may dwell in the midst of +them forever. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 44:9-14] +Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, 'No foreigner, consecrated neither +in heart nor flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the Israelites, +shall enter my sanctuary. But those Levites who went far from me, when +Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, shall bear +their guilt. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight +at the gates of the temple, and ministering in the temple; they shall slay +the burnt-offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand +before them and minister to them. Since they were wont to minister to them +before their idols and were a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of +Israel; therefore I have taken a solemn oath against them,' is the oracle +of the Lord Jehovah, 'and they shall bear their guilt. And they shall not +approach me to act as priests to me, so as to come near any of my sacred +things, or to those which are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame +and the punishment for the abominations which they have committed; I will +make them responsible for the care of the temple, for all its service, and +for all that shall be done therein. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 44:15-16] +But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who took charge of my +sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, shall come near to me +to minister to me, and they shall stand before me to offer to me fat and +blood,' is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah. 'They shall enter my sanctuary, +and they shall approach near to my table to minister to me, and they shall +keep my charge. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 44:23-24] +And they shall teach my people the difference between the sacred and the +common, and instruct them how to discern between the clean and the +unclean. And in a controversy they shall act as judges, judging it +according to my ordinances. And they shall keep my laws and my statutes +in all my appointed feasts; and they shall maintain the sanctity of my +sabbaths.' + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 45:2-5] +When ye allot the land as inheritance, ye shall offer as a special gift to +Jehovah, a sacred portion of the land, five thousand cubits long, and +twenty thousand cubits wide; it shall be sacred throughout its entire +extent. And out of this area shalt thou measure off a space twenty-five +thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide, and on it shall the +most holy sanctuary stand. It is a holy portion of the land; it shall +belong to the priests who are the ministers in the sanctuary, who draw +near to minister to Jehovah; and it shall be a place for their houses, and +an open space for the sanctuary. Out of this a square of five hundred +cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with an open space fifty cubits wide +around it. And a space twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand +wide shall belong to the Levites, the ministers of the temple; it shall be +their possession for cities in which to dwell. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 45:6-8] +And as the possession of the city, ye shall assign a space five thousand +cubits wide, and twenty-five thousand long, beside the sacred reservation; +it shall belong to the whole house of Israel. And the prince shall have +the space on both sides of the sacred reservation and the possession of +the city, on the west and on the east, and of the same length as one of +the portions of the tribes, from the west border to the east border of the +land. It shall be his possession in Israel; and the princes of Israel +shall no more oppress my people, but shall give the land to the house of +Israel according to their tribes. + +I. The Home of the Exiles in Babylon. From the references in the +contemporary writers it is possible to gain a reasonably definite idea +regarding the environment of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. Ezekiel +describes the site as "a land of traffic, a city of merchants, a fruitful +soil, and beside many waters," where the colony like a willow was +transplanted [17:5]. The Kabaru Canal (the River Chebar of Ezekiel) ran +southeast from Babylon to Nippur through a rich alluvial plain, +intersected by numerous canals. Beside it lived a dense agricultural +population. On the tells or artificial mounds made by the ruins of earlier +Babylonian cities were built the peasant villages. Ezekiel speaks of +preaching to the Jewish colony of Tel-Abib (Storm-hill), and the lists +of those who later returned to Judah contain references to those who came +from Tel-Melah (Salt-hill) and Tel-Harsha (Forest-hill). + +II. Their Condition and Occupations. It is probable that these mounds +were not far from each other and that the adjacent fields were cultivated +by the Jewish colonists. Thus they were enabled, under even more favorable +conditions than in Judah, to continue in their old occupations and to +build houses and rear families as Jeremiah had advised (Jer. 29; Section +LXXXVII:35). In Babylonia, as at Elephantine, so long as they paid the +imperial tax and refrained from open violence they were probably allowed +to rule themselves in accordance with their own laws. The elders of the +different families directed the affairs of the community and acted as +judges, except in the case of capital offences which were punished in the +name of Nebuchadrezzar (Jer. 29 22). Thus for a long time the exiles +constituted a little Judah within the heart of the Babylonian empire, +maintaining their racial integrity even more completely than the Jews +resident in Egypt. + +Babylonia was the scene of an intense commercial activity. The +opportunities and allurements of the far-reaching traffic which passed +up and down the great rivers and across the neighboring deserts were +eventually too strong for the Jews to resist. Hence in Babylonia, as in +Egypt, they gradually abandoned their inherited agricultural habits and +were transformed into a nation of traders. In the recently discovered +records of the transactions of the famous Babylonian banking house which +flourished during the earlier part of the Persian period, under the +direction of succeeding generations of the Murashu family, are found many +familiar Jewish names. These indicate that within a century after the fall +of Jerusalem many sons of the exiles had already won a prominent place in +the commercial life of that great metropolis. + +III. Their Religious Life. With this transformation in their occupation +came a great temptation to forget their race and to lose sight of its +ideals. The temptation was all the greater because their capital city and +temple were in ruins and the belief was widely held that Jehovah had +forsaken his land and people and retired to his "mount in the uttermost +parts of the north" (Isa. 14:13 Ezek. 1:4). Their actual experiences had +proved so fundamentally different from their hopes that there was +undoubtedly in the minds of many a dread doubt as to whether Jehovah was +able to fulfil his promises. False prophets were also present to mislead +the people (Jer. 39:21-23 Ezek. 13:1-7 14:8-10). There is also no +indication that the Jews of Babylon ever attempted to build a temple to +Jehovah in the land of their captivity. Hence there were no ancient +festivals and public and private sacrifices and impressive ceremonials to +kindle their religious feelings and to keep alive their national faith. +Instead, the imposing religion of the Babylonians, with its rich temples, +its many festivals, its prosperous and powerful priesthood, and its +elaborate ritual must have profoundly impressed them and led them to draw +unfavorable comparisons between it and the simple services of their +pre-exilic temple. Nevertheless, in spite of these temptations, there +were many who proved themselves loyal to Jehovah. Prayer and fasting and +sabbath observance took the place of sacrificial rites. A strong emphasis +is laid by Ezekiel on the sabbath. [Sidenote A: Ezekiel 20:12-31; Ezekiel +22:26; Ezekiel 23:38] From this time on it became one of the most +important and characteristic institutions of Judaism. Under the influence +of the new situation it lost much of its original, philanthropic, and +social character and became instead a ceremonial institution. In +faithfully observing it the exiles felt that even in captivity they were +paying homage to their divine King. The more it took the place of the +ancient feasts and sacrifices, the more they forgot that the sabbath was +God's gift to toiling man rather than man's gift to God. From the +Babylonian exile, also, probably dates that custom of assembling on the +sabbath to read the ancient scriptures which represents the genesis of +the later synagogue and its service. + +IV. The Prophecies of Ezekiel. The priest-prophet Ezekiel was the +interpreter, pastor, and guide of the Babylonian exiles. He met their +problems and proposed the solutions which became the foundation principles +of later Judaism. His prophecies fall naturally into four distinct groups: +(1) Chapters 1 to 24, which recount his call and deal with the issues at +stake in the different Judean communities in the critical years between +the first and second captivities. They represent the prophet's work +between the years 592 and 586 B.C. (2) Chapters 25 to 32, include seven +oracles regarding Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Egypt, the +nations which had taken part in the destruction of Jerusalem or else, like +Egypt, had lured Judah to its ruin. The complete destruction of these foes +is predicted, and chapter 32 concludes with a weird picture of their fate, +condemned by Jehovah to dwell in Sheol, the abode of the shades. +(3) Chapters 33 to 39 contain messages of comfort and promise to Ezekiel's +fellow-exiles in Babylonia and in the distant lands of the dispersion. +They are dated between the years 586 and 570 B.C. (4) Chapters 40 to 48 +present Ezekiel's plan for the restored temple and service and for the +redistribution of the territory of Canaan, and his belief that Judah's +fertility would be miraculously increased. This plan is definitely dated +in the year 572 B.C., two years before the prophet's death. + +V. The Resurrection of the Dead Nation. Ezekiel dealt with the problems +of his fellow-exiles concretely and from a point of view which they could +readily understand. He fully realized that if the faith of the people was +to be saved in this crisis a definite hope, expressed in objective +imagery, must be set before them. With the same inspired insight that had +prompted Jeremiah to purchase his family estate in the hour of Jerusalem's +downfall, Ezekiel saw that Jehovah would yet restore his people, if they +would but respond to the demands of this crisis. His message was, +therefore, one of hope and promise. In the memorable chapter in which he +pictures a valley filled with dry bones, he aimed to inspire their faith +by declaring that Jehovah was not only able but would surely gather +together the dismembered parts of the nation and impart to it new life and +activity. The prophet was clearly speaking of national rather than of +individual resurrection. Like Jeremiah, he anticipated that the tribes of +the north and south would again be united, as in the days of David, and +that over them a scion of the Davidic house would rule as Jehovah's +representative. He also assured them that Jehovah would come again to +dwell in the midst of his purified and restored people. + +VI. The Divine Shepherd. In the thirty-fourth chapter Ezekiel deals with +the same theme under a different figure. First he traces the cause of the +exile to the inefficiency and greed and oppression of the earlier +shepherds, the rulers like Jehoiakim, who had scattered rather than +gathered and led the people intrusted to them. Now Jehovah himself, the +great Shepherd of the People, will arise and gather his flock, and lead +them back to their home and give them a rich pasture. Over them he will +appoint a descendant of David, but this prince shall be shorn of his +ancient kingly power. + +Ezekiel also presents in his characteristic, symbolic form the promise +that Jehovah will now fulfil the popular hopes and destroy the wicked foes +who have preyed upon his people, and thus vindicate his divine rulership +of the world. In one passage Judah's worst foes, the Edomites, represent +aggressive heathendom. Again, in a still more impressive picture, +suggested by an experience in his own childhood when the dread Scythians +swept down from the north, he portrays the advance of the mysterious foes +from the distant north under the leadership of Gog (38, 39). When they are +already in the land of Palestine, the prophet declares, Jehovah will +terrify them with an earthquake, so that in panic they shall slay each +other, as did the Midianites in the days of Gideon, until they shall all +fall victims of Jehovah's judgment. Ezekiel thus revived in the changed +conditions of the exile that popular conception of the day of Jehovah +which the earlier prophets had refused to countenance. It was the +prophet's graphic way of declaring that Jehovah would prepare the way for +the return of his people, if they would but respond when the opportune +moment should arrive. Later Judaism, however, and especially the +apocalyptic writers, interpreted literally and developed still further +this picture of Jehovah's great judgment day until it became a prominent +teaching of later Jewish and Christian thought. + +Similarly Ezekiel declared that the barren lands of Judah would be +miraculously transformed and rendered capable of supporting the great +numbers of the exiles who should return. In this respect Ezekiel became +the father of the later priestly school to which belongs the author of the +book of Chronicles, in whose thought the events of Israel's history came +to pass, not through man's earnest effort and in accordance with +the established laws of the universe, but through special divine +interposition. It is difficult to determine whether Ezekiel himself was +simply endeavoring to state dramatically that Jehovah would fully +anticipate the needs of his people, or whether he did actually anticipate +a series of prodigious miracles. + +VII. Ezekiel's Plan of the Restored Temple. Ezekiel, being a true +prophet, fully realized that the fundamental question regarding the future +of his race was not whether they would be restored to their home but +whether or not they would guard against the mistakes and sins of the past +and live in accord with Jehovah's just demands. The solution of this +question which he proposes reveals his priestly training. With infinite +pains and detail he develops the plan of a restored temple and ritual. +The details were doubtless in part suggested by his remembrance of the +temple at Jerusalem and in part taken from the great temples of Babylon. +By means of this elaborate picture he declared his firm conviction that +his race would surely be restored. His chief purpose, however, was to +impress upon the minds of his people the transcendent holiness of Jehovah +and the necessity that he be worshipped by a holy people. The entire plan +of the temple, of the ritual, and even of the allotment of the territory +of Canaan was intended to enforce this idea. His plan, if adopted, was +calculated to deliver the people from the temptations and mistakes of the +past. With this end in view Jehovah's sacred abode was guarded with +massive double walls and huge gateways. Only the priests were allowed to +enter the inner court, and a sharp distinction was made between the +priests who were the descendants of Zadok and the Levites whose fathers +had ministered at the many sanctuaries scattered throughout the land of +Israel. The territory immediately adjacent to the temple was assigned to +the priests and Levites, and its sanctity was further guarded on the east +and west by the domains of the prince. His chief function was, not to +rule, as had the selfish and inefficient tyrants who had preceded him, but +to provide the animals and the material requisite for the temple service. +The territory on the north and the south of the temple was assigned to the +different tribes of Israel. + +No political or social problems clouded the prophet's vision. The entire +energies of priest, Levite, prince, and people were to be devoted to the +worship of the Holy One, whose restored and glorified sanctuary stood in +their midst. Thus it was that Ezekiel reversed the ideals of the +pre-exilic Hebrew state and presented that programme which with many +modifications was adopted in principle at least by the post-exilic Judean +community. In place of the monarchy appeared the hierarchy; instead of the +king the high priest became both the religious and the civil head of the +nation. Soon the Davidic royal line disappeared entirely, and the +interests of the people centred more and more about the temple and its +ritual. Although Ezekiel's vision was not and could not be fully realized, +except by a series of miracles, this devoted priest-prophet of the exile +was in a large sense the father of Judaism. + + + +Section XCIII. THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE BABYLONIAN RULE + +[Sidenote: II Kings 25:27-30] +Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of +Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, +Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year in which he became king, +(561 B.C.) lifted up Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison to a position of +honor. And he spoke kindly to him and placed his seat above the seats of +the kings who were with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments. +And Jehoiachin ate with him continually as long as he lived. And for his +support a continual allowance was given him by the king, each day a +portion, as long as he lived. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 9:1-3] +The people who have been walking in darkness see a great light, +Those who dwell in the land of deepest gloom, upon them a light shines. +Thou multipliest the exultation, thou makest great the rejoicing, +They rejoice before thee as men rejoice at harvest time, +As men are wont to exult when they divide spoil. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 9:4, 5] +For the burdensome yoke and the crossbar on his shoulder, +The rod of his taskmaster, thou breakest as in the day of Midian. +For every boot of the warrior with noisy tread, +And every war-cloak drenched in the blood of the slain +Will be completely burned up as fuel for the flame. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 9:6, 7] +For a child is born, to us a son is given, +And dominion shall rest upon his shoulder; +And his name will be Wonderful Counsellor, +Godlike Hero, Ever-watchful Father, Prince of Peace. +To the increase of his dominion and to the peace there shall be no end, +On the throne of David and throughout his kingdom, +To establish and uphold it by justice and righteousness +Henceforth and forever. The jealousy of Jehovah will accomplish this. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 11:1, 2] +A sprout shall spring from the stock of Jesse, +And a shoot from his roots shall bear fruit. +The spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him. +A spirit of wisdom and insight, +A spirit of counsel and might, +A spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 11:3-6] +He will not judge according to what his eyes see, +Nor decide according to what his ears hear; +But with righteousness will he judge the helpless, +And with equity will he decide for the needy in the land. + +He will smite an oppressor with the rod of his mouth, +And with the breath of his lips will he slay the guilty. +Righteousness will be the girdle about his loins, +And faithfulness the band about his waist. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 11:6-8] +Then the wolf will be the guest of the lamb, +And the leopard will lie down with the kid; +The calf and the young lion will graze together, +And a little child shall be their leader. +The cow and the bear shall become friends, +Their young ones shall lie down together, +And the lion shall eat straw like the ox; +The suckling will play about the hole of the asp, +And the weaned child will stretch out his hand toward the viper's nest. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 11:9, 10] +Men shall not harm nor destroy +In all my holy mountain; +For the earth shall have been filled with knowledge of Jehovah +As the waters cover the sea. +And it shall come to pass in that day, +That the root of Jesse who is to stand as a signal to the peoples-- +To him shall the nations resort, +And his resting-place shall be glorious. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 13:2-4] +Upon a treeless mountain lift up a signal, raise a cry to them, +Wave the hand that they may enter the princely gates. +I myself have given command to my consecrated ones, to execute my wrath, +I have also summoned my heroes, my proudly exultant ones. +Hark, a tumult on the mountains, as of a mighty multitude! +Hark, an uproar of kingdoms, of gathered nations! +It is Jehovah of hosts mustering the martial hosts. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 13:17-22] +I will punish the earth for its wickedness, and the wicked for their + iniquity, +I will still the arrogance of the proud, and lay low the presumption of + tyrants. +Behold, I stir up against them the Medes, +Who consider not silver, and take no pleasure in gold, +On children they will look with no pity, they have no compassion on the + fruit of the womb, +And Babylon, the most beautiful of kingdoms, the proud glory of the + Chaldeans, shall be, +As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. + +It shall be uninhabited forever, and tenantless age after age; +No nomad shall pitch there his tent, nor shepherds let their flocks lie + down there, +But wild cats shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of jackals; +Ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there, +Howling beasts shall cry to each other in its castles, and wolves in its + revelling halls; +Its time is near at hand, its day shall not be extended. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 6:3-5] +In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: +Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem--this house shall be rebuilt, +where they offer sacrifices and bring him offerings made by fire. Its +height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits, It shall be +constructed with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timber. And +let the expenses be paid out of the king's treasury. Also let the gold and +silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadrezzar took from the +temple at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again +to the temple which is at Jerusalem, each to its place, and you shall put +them in the house of God. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 5:14, 15] +Now the gold and silver vessels of the house of God which Nebuchadrezzar +took from the temple at Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylon, +those Cyrus the king took out of the temple in Babylon, and they were +delivered to one by the name of Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor. +And he said to him, Take these vessels; go, put them in the temple at +Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its place. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 1:5, 6; I Esdr. 5:1-6] +Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the +priests and the Levites, even all whose spirit God had stirred to go up to +build the temple of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem, arose. And all those +who were about them supplied them with silver vessels, with gold, with +goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, besides all that was +voluntarily offered. + +These are the names or the men who went up, according to their tribes, by +their genealogy. Of the priests the sons of Phinehas, the son of Aaron: +Jeshua the son of Jozadak, the son of Seriah. And there rose up with him +Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel of the house of David, of the family of +Peres, of the tribe of Judah; in the second year of Cyrus king of Persia +in the first day of the month Nisan. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 3:2-4, 6b] +Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his kinsmen the priests, and +Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his kinsmen arose and built the altar +of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings on it, as prescribed in the +law of Moses the man of God. And they set up the altar in its place; for +fear, because of the peoples dwelling in the land, had come upon them, +but they plucked up courage and offered burnt-offerings to Jehovah, even +burnt-offerings morning and evening. And they kept the feast of booths as +it is prescribed, and offered the fixed number of daily burnt-offerings +according to the direction for each day; but the foundation of the temple +of Jehovah was not yet laid. + +I. The Transformation of the Jews into a Literary People. The +destruction of Jerusalem transformed the Jewish peasants of Palestine into +a literary race. Before the final destruction of Jerusalem they had lived +together in a small territory where communication was easy and the need of +written records but slight. The exile separated friends and members of the +same families, and scattered them broadcast throughout the then known +world. The only means of communicating with each other in most cases was +by writing, and this necessity inevitably developed the literary art. The +exiles in Babylonia and Egypt were also in close contact with the two most +active literary peoples of the ancient world. In countries where almost +every public or private act was recorded in written form, and where the +literature of the past was carefully preserved and widely transcribed, it +was inevitable that the Jews should be powerfully influenced by these +examples. Furthermore, the teachers of the race, prophets and priests +alike, prevented by the destruction of the temple from employing their +former oral and symbolic methods of instruction, resorted, as did the +priest Ezekiel, to the pen. Thus the religious thought and devotion of the +race began to find expression in its literature. + +The incentives to collect the earlier writings of the priests and prophets +were also exceedingly strong, for the experiences and institutions of +their past, together with their hopes for the future, were the two main +forces that now held together the Jewish race. Fortunately, the more +intelligent leaders realized, even before 586 B.C., that the final +catastrophe was practically certain, and therefore prepared for it in +advance. The decade between the first and second captivities also gave +them an opportunity to collect the more important writings of their +earlier prophetic and priestly teachers, while the Judean state was still +intact and while these earlier writings could be readily consulted. +II. The Literary Activity of the Babylonian Period. The literary work of +this period took three distinct forms: (1) The collection, compilation, +and editing of earlier historical writings. It was probably during this +period that the narratives of Judges, of Samuel, and Kings, which carried +the history down into the exile itself, received their final revision. +(2) Earlier writings were revised or supplemented so as to adapt them to +the new and different conditions. Thus the sermons of the pre-exilic +prophets, as for example those of Amos and Isaiah, were then revised and +supplemented at many points. These earlier prophets had predicted doom and +destruction for their nation; but now that their predictions had been +realized what was needed was a message of comfort and promise. The +fulfilment of their earlier predictions had established their authority in +the minds of the people. The purpose of the later editors was evidently +to put in the mouth of these earlier prophets what they probably would +have said had they been present to speak at the later day to their +discouraged and disconsolate countrymen. Studied in the light of these two +fundamentally different points of view, the glaring inconsistencies which +appear in the prophetic books are fully explained and the consistency of +the earlier prophets vindicated. + +The third form of literary activity is represented by the writings of +Ezekiel. With the authority of a prophet, he dealt directly with the +problem of his day, and the greater part of his book consists of the +records of his prophetic addresses or of epistles which he sent to his +scattered fellow-countrymen, even as Jeremiah wrote from Judah a letter to +the distant exiles in Babylon. His new constitution for the restored +Jewish state was also based on earlier customs and laws, but was adapted +to the new needs of the changed situation. He was not the only one to +undertake this task. Other priests gathered earlier groups of oral laws +and put in written form the customs and traditions of the pre-exilic +temple. At the same time they modified these earlier customs so as to +correct the evils which past experience had revealed. + +III. The Holiness Code. The chief product of the literary activity of +the earlier part of the exile is the collection of laws found in the +seventeenth to the twenty-sixth chapters of Leviticus. Because of its +strong emphasis on the holiness of Jehovah and on the necessity that he +be worshipped by a people both ceremonially and morally holy, it is now +commonly designated as the Holiness Code. In theme, in point of view, in +purpose, and in literary form it has many close points of contact with the +writings of Ezekiel. In its original unity it evidently came from the +period and circle of thought in which the great priest-prophet lived. +His sermons, however, suggest that he was acquainted with its main +teachings. In distinguishing sharply between the Jerusalem priests and the +ministering Levites, and in prohibiting the marriage of a priest with a +widow, Ezekiel shows that his work represented a slightly later stage in +the development of Israel's religious standards. The most probable date, +therefore, for the Holiness Code is the decade between the first and +second captivity (597-586 B.C.). + +Like every ancient lawbook the Holiness Code contains many laws and +regulations which evidently come from a much earlier period in Israel's +history. Some of its enactments are very similar to those of the primitive +codes of Exodus 21-23. In spirit it is closely related to the book of +Deuteronomy. It also reproduces many of the laws found in this earlier +code. Both codes represent the fruitage of the teaching of the pre-exilic +prophets and priests. Each contains ceremonial, civil, and moral laws; but +the emphasis on the ritual is more pronounced in the Holiness Code. It +consists of ten or eleven distinct groups of laws. In Leviticus 18 and 19 +are found certain short decalogues. They probably represent the united +efforts of the Judean prophets and priests during the Assyrian period to +inculcate the true principles of justice, service, and worship in the +minds of the people. Some of the laws in these earlier decalogues are the +noblest examples of Old Testament legislation: + +DUTIES TO OTHERS + +[Sidenote: Kindness to the needy] +I. Thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy fields. +II. Thou shalt not gather the gleanings of thy harvest. +III. Thou shalt not glean thy vineyard. +IV. Thou shalt not gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard. +V. Thou shalt leave them for the poor and the resident alien. + +[Sidenote: Honesty in business relations] +VI. Ye shall not steal. +VII. Ye shall do no injustice, in measures of length, weight or of + quantity. +VIII. Ye shall not deal falsely with one another. +IX. Ye shall not lie to one another. +X. Ye shall not swear falsely by my name. + +JUSTICE TO ALL MEN + +[Sidenote: Toward dependents] +I. Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor. +II. Thou shalt not rob thy neighbor. +III. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with thee all night + until the morning. +IV. Thou shalt not curse the deaf. +V. Thou shalt not put a stumbling-block before the blind. + +[Sidenote: Toward equals] +VI. Thou shalt not do injustice in rendering a judicial decision. +VII. Thou shalt not show partiality to the poor. +VIII. Thou shalt not have undue consideration for the powerful. +IX. Thou shalt not go about as a tale-bearer among thy people. +X. Thou shalt not seek the blood of thy neighbor [by bearing false + testimony in court]. + +ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHERS + +[Sidenote: In the heart] +I. Thou shalt not hate thy fellow-countryman in thy heart. +II. Thou shalt warn thy neighbor and not incur sin on his account. +III. Thou shalt not take vengeance. +IV. Thou shalt not bear a grudge against the members of thy race. +V. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. + +IV. The Liberation of Jehoiachin and the Hopes of the Jews. The +liberation of Jehoiachin, the grandson of Josiah, from the Babylonian +prison where he had been confined since the first capture of Jerusalem was +the one event in the Babylonian period deemed worthy of record by the +biblical historians. The occasion was the accession of Nebuchadrezzar's +son Evil-merodach (Babylonian, Amil-Marduk). The act possessed little +political importance, for the Jews were helpless in the hands of their +Babylonian masters; but it evidently aroused the hopes of the exiles, and +especially that type of hope which centred in the house of David. + +Ezekiel, in his ideal programme, assigned to the Davidic prince only minor +duties in connection with the temple, and transferred the chief authority +to the high priest and his attendants. But it is evident that Ezekiel did +not fully voice the hopes of the majority of the exiles. The late passage +in II Samuel 7:16, which contains the promise to David: + +Thy house and kingdom shall always stand firm before me, +Thy throne shall be established forever, + +expresses the prevailing belief in the days immediately preceding the +exile. The national hopes which looked to the descendants of the house of +David for fulfilment were inevitably modified, however, by the experiences +of the exile and strengthened by the liberation of Jehoiachin. The rule of +such kings as Manasseh and Jehoiakim had revealed the overwhelming evils +that unworthy rulers, even though of the house of David, could bring upon +their subjects. Josiah's reign, on the other hand, established new and +higher standards. The noble ethical and social ideals of Amos, Hosea, and +Isaiah had not wholly failed to awaken a response. + +All of these varied influences are traceable in the two prophecies found +in Isaiah 9:1-7 and 11:1-10. Embodying as they do many of the social +principles for which Isaiah contended, it was natural that these anonymous +writings should afterward be attributed to that great statesman-prophet. +Jehovah, however, was the one supreme king whom Isaiah acknowledged; and +it was difficult to find in his strenuous life a logical or historical +setting for these kingly oracles. They also imply that the royal house of +Judah had been struck down, and that the new king is to rise out of a +background of gloom and is to inaugurate an entirely new era. The +character and rule of this king of popular hopes reflect many of the +traits of David and Josiah; but his aims and methods are in accord with +the moral and social standards of the great pre-exilic prophets. They +portray a temporal ruler; but the spirit which actuates him and the +principles which guide him are noble and unselfish. As subsequent history +clearly shows, the prophet or prophets who painted these portraits +apparently hoped that a son or grandson of Jehoiachin would realize them. +It is exceedingly probable in the light of the later predictions of Haggai +and Zechariah (Sections XCIV, XCV) that these prophecies were written not +long after the birth of Zerubbabel. The kingdom over which he was to rule +and to which he was to bring perfect justice and peace was the prophetic +counterpart of Ezekiel's priestly plan of the restored and redeemed +community. The ethical ideals thus concretely set forth were never fully +realized in Israel's troubled history; but they remain as valid and +commanding to-day as they were far back in the Babylonian period. The +abolition of all the insignia of war, the high sense of official +responsibility, the protection of the weak by the strong, and the reign of +perfect peace and harmony throughout all the earth are the goals for which +all earnest, consecrated souls in every age and race are striving. It is +natural and proper that the Christian Church should see in Jesus the +fullest and truest realization of these ancient kingly ideals. + +V. The Rule of Nabonidus. The successors of Nebuchadrezzar proved weak +and inefficient. His dissolute son, Amil-Marduk, was soon murdered by his +brother-in-law Nergalsharuzur (Gk. Neriglissar). This ruler is probably +the Nergal-sharezer of Jeremiah 39:3 who directed the final capture and +destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. After reigning four years he died, +leaving the Babylonian empire to his young son, who soon fell a victim to +a conspiracy of his nobles. They placed on the throne a certain Nabuna'id, +who is known to the Greek historians as Nabonidus. He appeared to be more +interested in excavating ancient ruins and in rebuilding old temples than +in ruling his subjects. By his arbitrary religious policy and his neglect +of the popular gods of the Babylonians, he completely alienated the +loyalty of his people. During the latter part of his reign, which extended +from 555 to 538 B.C., he left the government largely in charge of his son +Belsharuzur, the Belshazzar of the story in Daniel. + +VI. Rise and Conquests of Cyrus. While the Babylonian empire was sinking +into decay, the Median kingdom on the north and east experienced a +sweeping revolution. Its cause was the discontent of the older Median +population under the rule of the more barbarous Umman-Manda. These later +Scythian conquerors had, under their king Cyaxares, broken the power of +Assyria and fallen heir to its eastern territory. The older elements found +a leader in Cyrus, the king of Anshan, a little state among the mountains +of Elam, northeast of Babylonia. From contemporary inscriptions it appears +that the followers of Astyages, who succeeded Cyaxares to the Median +throne, rebelled against their king and delivered him over into the hands +of Cyrus. As soon as Cyrus became master of the Median Empire, he proved +an able commander, a skilful politician, and a wise statesman. Recognizing +that he could hold in control the diverse and turbulent elements in his +heterogeneous kingdom only as he kept them actively occupied, he at once +entered upon a series of campaigns which in the end left him undisputed +master of southwestern Asia. In 547 B.C., two years after he became king +of Media, he crossed the Tigris and conquered Mesopotamia, which had been +held for a time by the Babylonians, Apparently he did not assume the title +King of Persia until 546. Appreciating the great strength of Babylon, he +did not at first attempt its capture, but began at once by intrigue to +pave the way for its ultimate overthrow. In 545 he set out on a western +campaign against Croesus, the king of Lydia, the ancient rival of Media. +After a quick and energetic campaign, Sardis, the rich Lydian capital, +was captured, and Cyrus was free to advance against the opulent Greek +colonies that lay along the eastern shores of the Aegean. These in rapid +succession fell into his hands, so that by 538 B.C. he was in a position +to advance with a large victorious army against the mistress of the lower +Euphrates. + +VII. His Capture of Babylon. The campaigns of Cyrus were naturally +watched with keen interest by the Jewish exiles in Babylonia. The songs in +Isaiah 14, 15, and 21:1-10, and Jeremiah 51:29-31, voice their joyous +expectation of Babylon's impending humiliation. In a contemporary +inscription Cyrus has given a vivid account of the fall of the capital. +Early in October of the year 538 B.C. he assembled a large army on the +northern borders of Babylonia. Here a battle was fought in which the +Babylonians were completely defeated. The town of Sippar quickly +surrendered to Cyrus's general, and two days later the Persian army +entered Babylon. The record states that the gates of the mighty city were +opened by its inhabitants, and Cyrus and his followers were welcomed as +deliverers. King Nabonidus was captured and banished to the distant +province of Carmania, northeast of the Persian Gulf. In the words +of Cyrus: "Peace he gave the town; peace he proclaimed to all the +Babylonians." In the eyes of the conquered, he figured as the champion +of their gods, whose images he restored to the capital city. The temples +as well as the walls of Babylon were rebuilt, and the king publicly +proclaimed himself a devoted worshipper of Marduk and Nebo, the chief gods +of the Babylonians. Thus from the first the policy of Cyrus in treating +conquered peoples was fundamentally different from that of the Babylonians +and Assyrians. They had sought to establish their power by crushing the +conquered rather than by furthering their well-being; but Cyrus, by his +many acts of clemency, aimed to secure and hold their loyalty. + +VIII. His Treatment of Conquered Peoples. Cyrus showed the same wisdom +in his treatment of the many petty peoples who had been ground down under +the harsh rule of Babylon. In one of his inscriptions he declares: "The +gods whose sanctuaries from of old had lain in ruins I brought back again +to their dwelling-places and caused them to reside there forever. All of +the citizens of these lands I assembled and I restored them to their +homes" (Cyrus Cyl., 31, 32). In the light of this statement it is clear +that the Jews, in common with other captive peoples, were given full +permission to return to their homes and to rebuild their ruined temple. +The decree of Cyrus recorded in the Aramaic document preserved in Ezra +6:3-5 is apparently the Jewish version of the general decree which he +issued. It is also possible that he aided the vassal peoples in rebuilding +their sanctuaries; for such action was in perfect accord with his wise +policy. He also intrusted the rulership of different kingdoms as far as +possible to native princes. In the Greek book of I Esdras has been +preserved a list (which has fallen out of the biblical book of Ezra) of +those who availed themselves of Cyrus's permission to return to Palestine. +It includes simply the priest Jeshua, or Joshua, the lineal heir of the +early Jerusalem priestly line of Zadok, and Zerubbabel, a descendant of +the Judean royal family. They doubtless took with them their immediate +followers and were probably accompanied by a few exiles whose loyalty +impelled them to leave the attractive opportunities in Babylon to face the +dangers of the long journey and the greater perils in Palestine. + +From Jeremiah 41:5 and Haggai 2:14 it appears that a rude altar had been +built on the sacred rock at Jerusalem and that religious services were +held on the site of the ruined temple soon after its destruction in 586 +B.C. With the gifts brought back by Zerubbabel and his followers, daily +sacrifices were probably instituted on the restored altar under the +direction of the priest Joshua (cf. Hag. 2:10-14). In the light, however, +of the oldest records it is clear that the revival of the Judean community +in Palestine was gradual and at first far from glorious. The Jews were a +broken-hearted, poverty-stricken, persecuted people, still crushed by the +great calamity that had overtaken their nation. The general return of the +exiles was only a dream of the future, and, despite the general permission +of Cyrus, the temple at Jerusalem still lay in ruins. + + + + +Section XCIV. THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE + +[Sidenote: Hag. 1:1-6] +In the second year of Darius the king, in the first day of the sixth +month, this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Speak to +Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son +of Jehozadak the high priest, saying, 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, "This +people say: The time has not yet come to rebuild the temple of Jehovah."' +Then this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Is it a time for +you yourselves to dwell in your own ceiled houses, while this temple lies +in ruins? Now therefore, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, 'Consider your past +experiences. Ye sow much, but bring in little; ye eat, but ye do not have +enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled; ye clothe yourselves, but not so +as to be warm; and he who earneth wages, earneth wages in a bag with +holes.' + +[Sidenote: Hag. 1:7-11] +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, 'Consider your experiences. Go up to the +mountains, and bring wood and rebuild the temple; then I will be pleased +with it, and I will reveal my glory,' saith Jehovah. 'Ye looked for much, +and it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I blew upon it. Why?' +saith Jehovah of hosts. 'Because of my temple that lieth in ruins, while +ye are running each to his own house. Therefore the heavens withhold the +dew, and the earth withholdeth its fruit. And I have called forth a +drought upon the land and upon the mountains, and upon the grain and the +new wine and the oil and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and +upon men and animals, and upon all the labor of the hands.' + +[Sidenote: Hag. 1:12-15a] +Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Jehozadak the +high priest, with all the rest of the people, obeyed the command of +Jehovah their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their +God had sent him to them. The people also feared before Jehovah. And +Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, +governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high +priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people, so that they +came and worked on the temple of Jehovah of hosts, their God, in the +twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 1:15b-2:5] +In the second year of Darius the king, on the twenty-first day of the +seventh month, this word from Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Speak to +Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of +Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, saying, +'Who is left among you that saw this temple in its former glory? and how +do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes as nothing? Yet now be strong, O +Zerubbabel,' is the oracle of Jehovah; 'and be strong, O Joshua, son of +Jehozadak, the high priest, and be strong, all ye people of the land,' is +the oracle of Jehovah, 'and work, for I am with you,' is the oracle of +Jehovah of hosts, 'and my spirit abideth in your midst; fear not.' + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:6-9] +For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: 'Yet a little while, and I will shake the +heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will shake +all nations, and the precious things of all nations shall come; and I will +fill this temple with glory,' saith Jehovah of hosts. 'The silver is mine, +and the gold is mine,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts. 'The later glory +of this temple shall be greater than the former,' saith Jehovah of hosts; +'and in this place will I grant prosperity,' is the oracle of Jehovah of +hosts. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:10-14] +In the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, +this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Thus saith Jehovah of +hosts: 'Ask of the priests a decision, saying, "If one bear holy flesh in +the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt touch bread, or pottage, or +wine, or oil, or any food, shall it become holy?"' And the priests +answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by reason +of a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests +answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then answered Haggai and said, So +is this people and so is this nation before me, is the oracle of Jehovah; +and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is +unclean. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:15-19] +And now, I pray you, think back from this day, before a stone was laid +upon a stone in the temple of Jehovah; how were ye? When ye came to a heap +of twenty measures, there were but ten; when ye came to the wine vat to +draw out fifty vessels, there were but twenty. I smote with blasting and +with mildew and with hail all the work of your hands; yet ye turned not to +me, is the oracle of Jehovah. Think back from this day, think! Is the seed +yet in the granary, yea, the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate and +the olive tree have not brought forth; from this day will I bless you. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:20-22] +This word of Jehovah came the second time to Haggai in the twenty-fourth +day of the month: Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and say: 'I will +shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of +kingdoms; and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; +and I will overthrow the chariots, and those who ride in them; and the +horses and their riders shall come down, each by the sword of his brother. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:23] +'In that day,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts, 'I will take thee, O +Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel,' is Jehovah's oracle, 'and +will make thee as a seal-ring, for I have chosen thee,' is the oracle of +Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 5:3-5] +At that time Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and +Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them, and spoke thus to them, +Who gave you permission to build this temple and to finish this wall? And +who are the builders who are carrying this through? But the eye of their +God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they did not make them cease, +until a report should come to Darius and a written decision concerning it +be returned. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 6:1-5] +Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the archives +where the official documents from Babylon had been deposited. And at +Ecbatana, the royal palace in the province of Media, a roll was found, and +in it was thus written: A record: In the first year of Cyrus the king, +Cyrus the king made a decree: 'Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, +let the house be rebuilt, where they offer sacrifices and bring him +offerings made by fire; its height shall be sixty cubits, and its breadth +sixty cubits. It shall be constructed with three layers of huge stones and +one layer of timber; and let the expenses be paid out of the king's +treasury. Also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which +Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, +be restored and brought to the temple which is at Jerusalem, each to its +place; and you shall put them in the house of God.' + +[Sidenote: Ezra 6:6-12] +Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the River, +Shethar-bozenai, and the rulers of the province beyond the River, go away +from there; let the work of this house of God alone; let the elders of the +Jews rebuild this house of God in its place. Moreover I make a decree in +regard to what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the building +of this house of God: that out of the king's wealth from the tribute of +the province beyond the River the expenses be exactly paid to these men, +and that without delay. And whatever is needed, both young bullocks and +rams and lambs for burnt-offerings to the God of heaven, also wheat, salt, +wine, and oil, according to the direction of the priests at Jerusalem, let +it be given to them day by day without fail, that they may regularly offer +sacrifices of sweet savor to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of +the king and of his sons. Also I have made a decree, that whoever shall +make this command invalid, a beam shall be pulled out from his house, and +he shall be impaled upon it, and his house shall for this be made a refuse +heap. And the God who hath caused his name to dwell there shall overthrow +all kings and peoples who shall put forth their hand to make invalid the +command or to destroy the house of God at Jerusalem. Exactly will it be +executed. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 6:13,14] +Then Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and +Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did exactly as Darius the king had +given command. And the elders of the Jews built and prospered. And they +finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and +according to the decree of Cyrus and Darius. + +I. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are +the chief sources of information regarding Jewish history during the +Persian period. They fall into nine general divisions: (1) the return of +the Babylonian exiles and the revival of the Judean community, Ezra 1-4; + +(2) the rebuilding of the temple, 5-6; (3) Ezra's expedition and the +priestly reformation, 8-10, and Nehemiah 8-10; (4) Nehemiah's work in +rebuilding the walls, Nehemiah 1:1-7:5; (5) census of the Judean +community, 7:6-69; (6) measures to secure the repopulation of Jerusalem, +11; (7) genealogy of the priests and Levites, 12:1-26; (8) dedication +of the walls, 12:27-43; and (9) Nehemiah's later reform measures, +12:44-13:31. It is evident that Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one +book, and that they come from the same author as I and II Chronicles. +This important fact is demonstrated by the presence of the same marked +characteristics of thought and literary style in both of these books. The +closing verses of II Chronicles are also repeated verbatim at the +beginning of Ezra. + +Throughout these books the interest is religious and ceremonial rather +than civil and national. They constitute in reality a history of the +Jerusalem temple and its institutions. The whole may properly be +designated as the "Ecclesiastical History of Jerusalem." It traces the +history of Jerusalem and the southern kingdom from the earliest times to +the close of the Persian period. Its author, who is commonly known as the +Chronicler, evidently lived during the earlier part or middle of the Greek +period. Certain characteristics of his literary style and point of view +indicate that he wrote about 250 B.C. His peculiarities and methods of +writing are clearly revealed by a comparison of the older parallel history +of Samuel-Kings with the books of Chronicles. In general he lacks the +historical spirit and perspective of the earlier prophetic historians. He +also freely recasts his record of earlier events in order to bring it into +accord with the traditions current in his own day. Above all he aimed to +establish the authority and prestige of the Jerusalem temple, and to prove +that Jehovah "was not with Israel" (II Chron. 25:7), which was represented +in his day by the hated Samaritans. The hatred engendered by the Samaritan +feud explains many of the peculiarities of the Chronicler. He was, in +fact, an apologist rather than a historian. Thus post-exilic institutions, +as, for example, the temple song service with its guilds of singers, are +projected backward even to the days of David, and the events of early +Hebrew history are constantly glorified. The numbers found in the +earlier, prophetic sources are magnified, and at every point it is easy to +recognize the influence of the Chronicler's familiarity with the splendor +and magnificence of the great Persian and Greek empires, and of his +desire to inspire his fellow-Jews with national pride and with loyalty to +their religious institutions. + +II. The Chronicler's Conception of the Restoration. Fortunately the +Chronicler did not depend entirely upon traditions current in his day, or +upon his own conceptions of the early history, but quoted freely from +earlier sources. As a result a large portion of the prophetic history of +Samuel and Kings is reproduced verbatim in I and II Chronicles. For the +Persian period, regarding which he is our chief authority, he apparently +quoted from three or four documents. In Ezra 4:7-23 is found a brief +description in Aramaic of the opposition of Judah's neighbors to the +rebuilding of the walls, probably in the days of Nehemiah. In Ezra 5 and 6 +there is another long quotation from an Aramaic document that describes a +similar attempt to put a stop to the rebuilding of the temple in the days +of Haggai and Zechariah. The Chronicler evidently believed that the second +temple was rebuilt, not by the people of the land to whom Haggai and +Zechariah spoke, but by Jewish exiles who on the accession of Cyrus had +returned in great numbers from Babylon. He assumed that Judah had been +depopulated during the Babylonian exile, and that the only people left in +Palestine were the heathen and the hated Samaritans. He also pictures the +return of the exiles, not as that of a handful of courageous patriots, but +of a vast company laden with rich gifts and guarded by Persian soldiers. + +A careful examination of Ezra 2, which purports to contain the list of +The 42,360 exiles who returned immediately after 538 B.C., quickly +demonstrates that, like its duplicate in Nehemiah 7:6-69, its historical +basis, if it has any outside the fertile imagination of the Chronicler, is +a census of the Judean community. This census was taken, not at the +beginning, but rather at the end of the Persian period. Thus in the list +of the leaders appear the names not only of Joshua and Zerubbabel, but +also of Nehemiah and Ezra (Azariah). Certain leaders, such as Mordecai +and Bigvai, bear Persian names which clearly imply that they lived far +down in the Persian period. The family of the high priest Joshua already +numbers nine hundred and ninety-three. In this census are also included +the inhabitants of many towns outside Jerusalem, as, for example, Jericho, +Gibeon, and Bethlehem. Moreover, certain towns are mentioned, such as Lud +and Ono, which were not added to the Judean community until the latter +part of the Persian period. In view of these facts and the unmistakable +implications in the sermons of Haggai and Zechariah that in their day +there had been no general return of their kinsmen from Babylon, the +prevailing popular interpretation of this period of Israel's history is +clearly untenable and misleading. If there was a general return of exiles +from Babylon, it certainly did not come until after the walls had been +rebuilt under the inspiring leadership of Nehemiah. The Jews to whom +Haggai and Zechariah preached, and who rebuilt the second temple, were the +people of the land who had survived the destruction of Jerusalem, or else +had returned from their temporary refuge on the borders of the land of +Egypt. + +III. Convulsions in the Persian Empire. After a brilliant and successful +reign Cyrus died in 529 B.C., leaving his vast empire to his son Cambyses. +The new king lacked the wisdom and statesmanship of his father, but +inherited his love of conquest. Most of his short reign was devoted to the +conquest of Egypt. From their hill-tops the Jews doubtless witnessed the +march of the great armies of Persia, and were forced to contribute to +their support. It was a period of change and transition, when old empires +went down in ruin and new forces gained the ascendancy. + +On his return from Egypt, Cambyses, finding a pretender contending for +the throne, committed suicide, thus leaving the empire without any +legitimate head. During this crisis, in the autumn of 521 B.C., a Persian +noble, Darius, was raised to the kingship by conspirators, who had slain +the pretender. Darius claimed relationship with the Persian royal family, +and strengthened his position by marrying Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus. +The beginning of his reign was signalized by a series of revolts +throughout the whole extent of the empire. In Susiana a certain Athrina +proclaimed himself king. In Babylonia a native prince rallied his +countrymen and assumed the title of Nebuchadrezzar III. The Median revolt +was led by a certain Pharaortes; while among the Persians themselves a +pretender, who claimed to be a son of Cyrus, gained a wide following. +Fortunately for Darius there was no concerted action among the leaders of +these different rebellions, so that he was able to subdue them in +succession; but to the ordinary on-looker the task seemed well-nigh +impossible. Not until the spring of 519 did Darius become fully master of +the situation. + +IV. Haggai's Effective Addresses. It was in the autumn of 520 B.C., +when the rebellions in the Persian Empire were at their height, that +Haggai made his stirring appeal to the members of the Judean community. +From the references in his addresses and in those of his contemporary, +Zechariah, it is evident that he and his hearers were profoundly +influenced by these great world movements. The situation seemed to give +promise not only of deliverance from Persian rule, but an opportunity at +last to realize the national hopes of the Jewish race. Haggai's message +was simple, direct, and practical. According to the beliefs universally +accepted in his day his logic was unanswerable. On the one hand Jehovah, +through poor crops and hard times, had plainly showed his displeasure +with his people in Judah. The reason was obvious; although they had built +comfortable houses for themselves, Jehovah's temple still lay in ruins. If +they would win his favor, it was plainly their duty to arise and rebuild +his sanctuary. The upheavals in the Persian Empire also gave promise that, +if they were true to their divine King, he would at last fulfil the +predictions voiced by their earlier prophets. + +The words of Haggai, uttered in September of 520, met with an immediate +response. Work was begun on the temple in October of the same year. When +the energy and enthusiasm of the builders began to wane, the prophet +appeared before them again in November of 520 with the declaration that +Jehovah was about to overthrow the great world powers and to destroy the +chariots, horses, and riders of their Persian masters, "each by the sword +of his brother." He also voiced the popular expectations that centred in +Zerubbabel, who had already been appointed governor of Judah. The prophet +declared boldly that this scion of the house of David would be Jehovah's +seal-ring, the earthly representative of that divine power which was about +to work great revolutions in the history of the world. During the same +period Zechariah also uttered his messages of encouragement and spurred +the people on to continued efforts (Section XCV). + +V. The Attempt to Stop the Rebuilding of the Temple. The Aramaic +document preserved in Ezra 5 and 6 describes in detail an attempt of the +Persian governor, who ruled over the province west of the Euphrates, to +put a stop to the temple building. The narrative, the letter, and decrees +which it contains reveal at many points their Jewish origin. While the +tradition may be comparatively late, its circumstantial character favors +the conclusion that it preserves the memory of a definite historical +event. The action of the Jews in rebuilding their temple was in perfect +accord with the policy of Cyrus and also of Darius, as is shown by +contemporary inscriptions. The attempt, therefore, to stop the building of +the temple failed; and in 516 B.C., four years after the work was begun, +it was completed. + +VI. The Significance of the Restoration of the Temple. The rebuilding of +the Jerusalem temple appears to have been of immediate significance +chiefly to the Jews of Palestine. The Jews of Egypt, or at least those of +Elephantine, had their own temple. From Zechariah 6:9-11 it is evident +that the Jewish exiles in Babylon sent certain gifts to the Jerusalem +temple; but the hundreds of miles of desert that intervened made +communication exceedingly difficult, so that except at rare intervals +there was apparently little interchange between Babylonia and Palestine. +For all Jews, however, the rebuilding of the temple meant that at last +they had a common rallying-place, and that Jehovah was again being +worshipped by his own people at his traditional place of abode. In a sense +it bridged the seventy years that had intervened since the destruction of +the pre-exilic Hebrew state, and made it possible to revive the ancient +religious customs. In time it attracted from the lands of the dispersion +patriotic Jews whose interest was fixed upon the ceremonial side of their +religious life. It also furnished a centre about which gradually grew up a +hierarchy with an increasingly elaborate ritual, and a body of laws which +ultimately became the characteristic features of Judaism. + + + +Section XCV. ZECHARIAH'S VISIONS AND ENCOURAGING ADDRESSES + +[Sidenote: Zech. 1:7-11] +In the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month [February], in the second +year of Darius [519 B.C.], this word of Jehovah came to the prophet +Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo: I saw in the night and +there was a man standing among the myrtle trees that were in the +valley-bottom, and behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white. +Then said I, O my Lord, what are these? And the angel who talked with me +said to me, I will show you what these are. And the man who was standing +among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom Jehovah +hath sent to go to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel +of Jehovah who was standing among the myrtle trees and said, We have gone +up and down through the earth and behold, all the earth is still and at +peace. + + +[Sidenote: Zech. 1:12-17] +Then the angel of Jehovah answered and said, O Jehovah of hosts, how long +hast thou no pity on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with which thou +hast been wroth these seventy years? And Jehovah answered the angel who +was talking with me with good words, even comforting words. So the angel +who was talking with me said to me, Proclaim now, 'Thus saith Jehovah of +hosts: "I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. But +with great wrath am I wroth with the arrogant nations; for I was only +a little angry [with Israel], but they helped to make greater the +calamity." Therefore, thus saith Jehovah: "I am turning to show mercy to +Jerusalem; my temple shall be built in it," saith Jehovah of hosts, "and +a measuring line shall be stretched over Jerusalem. Proclaim again, Thus +saith Jehovah of hosts: My cities shall yet overflow with prosperity; and +Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem."' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 1:18, 19] +Now I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and there were four horns. And I +said to the angel who was talking with me, 'What are these?' And he +assured me, 'These are the horns with which he scattered Judah.' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 1:20, 21] +Then Jehovah showed me four smiths. And I said, What are these coming to +do? And he said, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that none +lifted up his head; but these are come to terrify them, to strike down the +horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah +to scatter it. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 2:2-5] +Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and there was a man with a +measuring line in his hand. Then I said, Where are you going? And he said +to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and length. +Thereupon the angel who talked with me stood still, and another angel went +out to meet him, and said to him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, +'Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the +multitude of men and cattle in her midst. For I,' saith Jehovah, 'will be +a wall of fire round about her, and I will be the glory in the midst of +her.' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 2:6-9] +Ho, ho, flee from the land of the north, is Jehovah's oracle. +For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, is + Jehovah's oracle. +Ho, escape to Zion, ye who dwell in Babylon. +For thus saith Jehovah of hosts to the nations which plundered you: +He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye. +For, behold, I am about to shake my hand over them, +And they shall be a spoil to those who served them; +And ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 2:10-13] +Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for, lo, I come, +And I will dwell in the midst of thee, is Jehovah's oracle. +And many nations shall join themselves to Jehovah in that among day, +And shall be his people, and he will dwell in the midst of thee, +And thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to thee. +And Jehovah shall inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, +And he shall yet comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem. +Be silent, all flesh, before Jehovah; +For he hath waked up out of his holy habitation. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 3:1-3] +Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of +Jehovah and the adversary standing at his right hand to accuse him. And +the angel of Jehovah said to the adversary, Jehovah rebuke thee, O +adversary; yea, Jehovah, who hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee. Is not +this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy +garments and was standing before the angel. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 3:4-5] +And [the angel] answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, +Take the filthy garments from off him, clothe him with robes of state; set +a clean turban upon his head. So they set a clean turban upon his head, +and clothed him with garments; and the angel of Jehovah was standing by. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 3:6-10] +And the angel of Jehovah testified to Joshua, saying, Thus saith Jehovah +of hosts: 'If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, +then thou also shalt rule my house and shalt also keep my courts and I +will give thee a place of access among these who stand by. Hear now, O +Joshua the high priest, thou and thy associates who sit before me; for +they are men who are a sign; for behold, I am about to bring forth my +servant the Branch. For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; +upon one stone are seven facets: behold, I will engrave it,' saith Jehovah +of hosts, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that +day,' saith Jehovah of hosts, 'ye shall each invite his neighbor under the +vine and under the fig tree.' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 4:1-6] +Then the angel who talked with me came again and waked me, as a man who +is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, What seest thou? And I +said, I see midst there a candlestick, all of gold, with a bowl upon the +top of it, and its seven lamps upon it; there are seven pipes to each of +the lamps, which are upon the top of it, and two olive trees by it, one on +the right side of the bowl, and the other on its left side. And I spoke +and said to the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord? Then +the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, Knowest thou not +what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spoke to me, +saying, The eyes of Jehovah, which rove to and fro through the whole +earth. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 4:11-14] +Then I answered, and said to him, What are these two olive trees upon the +right side of the candlestick and upon its left side? And he answered me +and said, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then +said he, These are the two anointed ones, who stand by the Lord of the +whole earth. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 4:6b-10] +This is the word of Jehovah regarding Zerubbabel, Not by might, nor by +power, but by my spirit, saith Jehovah of will I make the great mountain +before Zerubbabel a plain; and he shall bring forth the top stones with +shoutings of, 'Grace, grace, to it.' Moreover this word of Jehovah came to +me: The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple; his +hands shall also finish it; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath +sent me to you. For who hath despised the day of small things? For they +shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 6:9-11]. +Now this word of Jehovah came to me: Take of them of the captivity, even +of Heldai, of Tobijah, of Jedaiah and of Josiah the son of Zephaniah who +have come from Babylon, yea, take of them silver and gold in order to make +a crown and set it on the head of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 6:12-15] +Thou shalt also say to them: 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: "Behold, the +man whose name is the Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place; and +he shall build the temple of Jehovah; and he shall bear the glory and +shall sit and rule upon his throne; and Joshua the son of Jehozadak shall +be a priest upon his right, and the counsel of peace shall be between them +both. And the crown shall be to Heldai and Tobijah and Jedaiah, and Josiah +the son of Zephaniah, as a memorial in the temple of Jehovah. And they who +are far off shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah; and ye shall +know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to you. And this shall come to +pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Jehovah your God."' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 7:1-6] +In the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, +the city of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men, to entreat +the favor of Jehovah, and to speak to the priests of the house of Jehovah +of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, should I weep in the fifth month +[in memory of the destruction of the temple] separating myself, as I have +done these many years? Then this word of Jehovah of hosts came to me: +Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, 'When ye +fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month [when Gedaliah +was murdered], even these seventy years, did ye at all fast to me, even to +me? And when ye eat and when ye drink, do ye not eat for yourselves, and +drink for yourselves? + +[Sidenote: Zech. 7:7-14] +Should ye not hear these words which Jehovah cried by the former prophets, +when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities round about +her, and the South Country, and the lowland were inhabited? Execute true +judgment, and show kindness and pity each to his brother; and oppress not +the widow nor the fatherless, the resident alien nor the poor; and let +none of you devise evil against your brother in his heart. But they +refused to heed, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears, +that they might not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant lest +they should hear the teaching, and the words which Jehovah of hosts had +sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Therefore there came great +wrath from Jehovah of hosts. And even when I cried they would not hear, so +when they cried I did not hear, saith Jehovah of hosts. And I scattered +them by a whirlwind among the nations which they did not know. Thus the +land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed to or fro; for +they made the pleasant land a desolation. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 8:1-5] +Now this word of Jehovah of hosts came to me: +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, +'I cherish for Zion a great jealousy, +And I am jealous for her with great indignation.' +Thus saith Jehovah, 'I have returned to Zion, +And will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; +And Jerusalem shall be called, "The City of Truth;" +And the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, "The Holy Mountain." +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: +'Old men and old women shall again sit in the broad places of Jerusalem, +Each man with his staff in his hand because of old age. +And the streets of the city shall be full of boys, +And of girls playing in its broad places.' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 8:6-8] +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: +Because it seemeth impossible to the remnant of this people, +Is it impossible for me? saith Jehovah of hosts. +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: +I am about to rescue my people, +From the land of the east and the land of the west, +And I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. +And they shall be my people in truth and righteousness, +And in turn I will be their God. + +I. Zechariah's Ancestry and Point of View. Haggai's contemporary, the +prophet Zechariah, was evidently a priest. In the genealogy of Nehemiah +12:4, it is stated that he belonged to the priestly family of Iddo. This +conclusion is confirmed by the character of his prophecies. Like the +priest-prophet Ezekiel he is exceedingly fond of apocalyptic symbolism. He +is also deeply interested in the priesthood and in its ceremonial purity. +Furthermore, it is exceedingly probable that he was a descendant of one of +the many priests carried as exiles to Babylon. This is shown by his keen +interest in and exact knowledge of the great political movements that were +then shaking the Persian Empire. His conception of Jehovah is also +strongly influenced by the analogies drawn from the Persian court. In his +thought Israel's God is a transcendental ruler, who communicates with his +subjects not directly, but through angelic messengers, and who, like the +Persian kings, is dependent for information regarding his great kingdom +upon the reports of the different members of his heavenly court. Thus +Zechariah marks a wide departure from the simple theology of the +pre-exilic prophets who thought of Jehovah as dwelling in the midst of his +people and communicating directly with all who turned to him in faith. + +II. The Book of Zechariah. The book which records the prophet's sermons +contains four distinct divisions: (1) An exhortation addressed to the +people in December, 520, three months after Haggai first appealed to them +to rise and rebuild the temple, Zechariah 1:1-8; (2) symbolic visions +dealing with the problems in the Judean community, 1:7-6:8; (3) practical +counsel, exhortations, and promises, 6:9-8:23; (4) a later appendix coming +from a prophet who probably lived during the earlier part of the Maccabean +period, 9-14. All of Zechariah's recorded sermons probably date from the +three or four years between 520 and 516 B.C., during which the temple was +being rebuilt. They throw a remarkably clear light upon an exceedingly +critical and significant period in the life of the Jews of Palestine. They +are also in many ways the best Old Testament source for the study of the +unfolding of Israel's messianic hopes. + +III. Problems and Hopes of the Judean Community. Four or five practical +problems confronted and disturbed the temple-builders. The first was: +Would Jerusalem and the temple, still without walls, be protected from the +attack of the hostile foes that encircled them. A second and larger +question was: What was to be the outcome of the great tempest through +which the Persian Empire was passing, and did it mean for the Jews +deliverance from the powerful conquerors who for centuries had oppressed +and crushed them? The third was: Would the necessarily modest service of +the restored temple, already sadly polluted by heathen hands, be +acceptable to Jehovah? Another problem was: What were the relations and +the respective duties of Zerubbabel and Joshua, the civil and religious +authorities in the community? It was also inevitable that at this time the +hope of securing their independence under the leadership of Zerubbabel +should come prominently to the front. To each of these problems Zechariah +addressed himself, and his book records his convictions and public +utterances. + +IV. Zechariah's Assurances of Jehovah's Care. In his initial vision +concerning the angelic horsemen he recognizes that the storms that have +swept over the Persian Empire are beginning to subside, but he tells his +fellow-laborers that, if they persist, Jehovah's temple shall be rebuilt +and that the lands about Jerusalem shall again be sold to eager buyers, +and the cities of Judah shall enjoy their former prosperity, for "Jehovah +will surely comfort Zion." In the vision of the four horns and of the four +smiths whose mission it is to smite the horns, he assures the people that +Jehovah in his good time and way will overthrow the nations that now wrong +and oppress them. Although there is no promise that Jerusalem will be +surrounded by walls, he declares that it shall enjoy a prosperity and a +growth which no walls can confine, and that Jehovah himself will be its +protection, as well as its glory, that he will gather the scattered +exiles, and that they, together with the nations which shall acknowledge +Jehovah's rule, shall yet come streaming back to Judah. + +In his next vision the prophet graphically presents a scene in Jehovah's +court. Joshua the priest, representing the ceremonial service of the +polluted temple, is charged by the adversary with uncleanness. Here for +the first time in Hebrew literature we catch a glimpse of Satan, who is +regarded not as hostile to God but as the prosecuting attorney of heaven. +As in the prologue of the book of Job, he is an accredited member of the +divine hierarchy. His task is to search out and report to Jehovah the +misdeeds of men. In Zechariah's vision, however, the divine judge acquits +Joshua of the charge, and causes him to be clad with clean garments, thus +proclaiming the divine approval of the modest yet devoted service of the +Judean community. + +V. Preparations for the Crowning of Zerubbabel. Regarding Zerubbabel, +Zechariah declares, in language highly figurative, that he shall yet be +crowned and rule over a happy and prosperous people. He is spoken of as +Jehovah's servant, the Branch. The term is probably original with +Zechariah, although again used in the supplementary passages in Jeremiah +23:5 and 33:15. The word is akin to the term "shoot of the house of Jesse" +used in Isaiah 11, to describe a certain scion of the house of David, who +in all probability was the young Zerubbabel. Zechariah's figure describes +the prince as an offshoot of the same royal tree. The obscure passage +seems to mean that upon the stone, with its seven facets, which was to be +set in the crown prepared for the head of Zerubbabel, Jehovah himself +would engrave a fitting title. + +In Zechariah's fifth vision he defined the relations between the civil +and priestly authorities. The golden candlestick represented the temple +and its service. The two olive trees beside it stood for Zerubbabel, the +civil ruler, and for Joshua, the high priest. The duty of each was to +contribute his part toward the support of the temple service. They were +both Jehovah's Messiahs, that is, men anointed as a symbol of the task +which each was to perform. + +In this connection Zechariah declared that Jehovah would remove all +obstacles from before Zerubbabel, and that he who had begun the work +should live to see its completion. In an address recorded in the latter +part of the sixth chapter of his prophecy (intentionally revised by a +later scribe), Zechariah threw aside all symbolism and gave directions +to make a crown for the head of Zerubbabel from the silver and gold +that had been brought as a gift by a deputation from the Jews of Babylon. +He also plainly predicted that this descendant of David should sit on the +throne of Judah and that Joshua the priest should be his minister like the +priests in the pre-exilic kingdom. + +VI. Disappointment of These Patriotic Hopes. With Zechariah's prediction +that Zerubbabel should reign on the throne of Judah the descendants of the +house of David suddenly and forever disappear from Old Testament history. +Whether the Jews made the attempt to shake off the yoke of Persia +Or whether Zerubbabel was quietly set aside cannot be determined. +Contemporary history states that within at least six months after +Zechariah voiced the patriotic hopes of his people the authority of Darius +was fully established throughout the empire. He at once began thoroughly +to organize the vast realm. Post roads bound together the distant +provinces, and satraps, appointed largely from the ranks of the royal +family, unified the whole empire and held it under firm control. As a rule +Persian governors were substituted for the native princes. With the +institution of this policy Zerubbabel may well have been quietly set +aside. The event evidently made a profound impression upon the messianic +expectations of the Jews. Henceforth, for three or four centuries, the +temporal, kingly type of messianic hope, which had been inspired by the +glories of the reign of David, entirely disappeared. It was not revived +until the military victories of the Maccabean era had again brought +prominently to the front this phase of national glory (cf. Section CXVI). +As a result of these disappointments Israel's hopes were universalized and +spiritualized. Jehovah, instead of a scion of the house of David, was +henceforth regarded as the one supreme King of Israel. + +VII. Zechariah's Later Exhortations and Predictions. In chapters 7 and +8, which conclude the original sermons of Zechariah, the apocalyptic +language with which he clothed his earlier predictions regarding the +future of the Judean community disappeared, and he spoke as did Amos and +Haggai, plainly and directly regarding the questions which were then +stirring the people. When a deputation came from the north to inquire +whether or not, now that the temple was being rebuilt, they should +continue to observe their fasts in memory of the destruction of Jerusalem +and the death of Gedaliah, the prophet raised the searching question of +whether their motive in these services was to please Jehovah or to please +themselves. He then went on to declare that the only effective way to +serve Jehovah was by deeds of justice and kindness, especially to the +dependent classes in the community, and that the horrors of the exile had +come because their fathers had failed to worship Jehovah by righteous +deeds. + +The prophet concludes with a brilliant picture of the coming restoration +of Jerusalem and of the peace and prosperity which should be the lot of +all, because Jehovah was about to gather his scattered people from the +east and the west and to establish them in the midst of his sacred city. +Other nations should eagerly come to Jerusalem to seek the favor of +Jehovah and to ally themselves with his faithful followers, the Jews. In a +prophecy, preserved in Micah 4:1-4 and Isaiah 2:1-4 (which probably comes +from this period) the same thought is nobly expressed: + +It shall come to pass in the latter days, +That the mountain of Jehovah shall be established, +Even the house of our God on the top of the mountain, +And it shall be lifted above the hills. +All the nations shall flow to it, +And many peoples shall go and say, +Come, let us go up to Jehovah's mount, +To the house of the God of Jacob, +That he may instruct us in his ways, +And that we may walk in his paths. +For from Zion proceeds instruction, +And Jehovah's word from Jerusalem. + + + +Section XCVI. ISRAEL'S TRAINING AND DESTINY + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:1, 2] +Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God, +Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and declare to her, +That her hard service is accomplished, her guilt is expiated +That she hath received from Jehovah's hand double for all her sins. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:3, 4] +A voice is proclaiming: In the wilderness prepare the way of Jehovah, +Make straight in the desert a highway for our God! +Let every mountain and hill sink down, and every valley be lifted up, +And the crooked be made straight and the rough ridges a plain. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:6-8] +A voice is saying, Proclaim! and I said, What shall I proclaim? +All flesh is grass and all its beauty like a flower of the field. +Grass withers, flower fades, when Jehovah's breath blows eternal upon it, +Grass withers, flower fades, but the word of our God endureth forever. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:9] +To a high mountain, get thee up, Zion's herald of good news; +Lift up mightily thy voice, Jerusalem's herald of good news. +Lift up fearlessly, say to the cities of Judah: Behold your God! + +[Sidenote: Isa 40:10, 11] +Behold, Jehovah cometh in might, and his arm is maintaining his rule; +Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense is before him, +As a shepherd he will tend his flock, with his arm he will gather it, +The lambs in his bosom he will bear, the ewe-mothers he will lead. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:12] +Who hath measured in the hollow of his hand the waters, +And ruled off the heavens with a span, +Or enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, +And weighed the mountains in scales, +And the hills in a balance? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:13, 14] +Who hath determined the spirit of Jehovah, +And as his counsellor advised him? +With whom hath he consulted for enlightenment, +And to be instructed in the right, +And to be shown the way of discernment? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:16, 17] +Lo the nations! as a drop from a bucket, +And as dust on a balance are they reckoned. +Lo the isles! as a mote he uplifteth, +And Lebanon is not enough for fuel, +And its wild beasts for a burnt-offering. +All the nations are as nothing before him, +They are reckoned by him as void and nothingness. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:18-20] +To whom then will ye liken God, +And what likeness place beside him? +An image! a craftsman cast it, +And a smelter o'erlays it with gold. +He who is too poor to do this +Chooses a tree that is not decayed, +Seeks for himself a skilled craftsman, +To set up an image that shall not totter. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:21, 22] +Do ye not know? Do ye not hear? +Hath it not been told you from the beginning? +Have ye not been aware from the founding of the earth? +It is he who is enthroned above the vault of the earth, +And its inhabitants are as locusts; +Who stretcheth out the heavens as a thin veil, +And spreadeth them out like a habitable tent. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:23, 24] +It is he who bringeth princes to naught, +The rulers of the earth he maketh as waste. +Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown, +Scarcely hath the stock taken root in the earth, +But he bloweth upon them and they wither, +And a whirlwind carries them away like stubble. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:25, 26] +To whom then will ye liken me +That I should equal him? saith the Holy One. +Lift up your eyes on high and see: +Who hath created these? +He who bringeth forth their host by number, +And calleth each by his name; +Of the many mighty and strong, +Not one is missing. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:27-31] +Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: +My way is hid from Jehovah +And my right is unnoticed by my God? +Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard? +An everlasting God is Jehovah. +The creator of the ends of the earth. +He fainteth not, neither is weary, +His wisdom cannot be fathomed, +He giveth vigor to the fainting, +And upon the powerless he lavisheth strength. +Young men may faint and grow weary, +And the strongest youths may stumble, +But they who trust in Jehovah renew their vigor, +They mount on pinions like eagles, +They run but are never weary, +They walk but never faint. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 41:1-4] +Listen to me in silence, ye coastlands, +Let the peoples come near; then let them speak; +Together let us approach the tribunal. +Who raised up that one from the east +Whose steps victory ever attended, +Giving up peoples before him, +And letting him trample down kings? +His sword made them as dust, +And his bow like driven stubble; +He pursued them, passing on in safety, +Not treading the path with his feet. +Who hath wrought and accomplished this? +He who called the generations from the beginning, +I, Jehovah, who am the first, +And with those who come after I am the same. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 41:8-10] +And thou, Israel, my servant +Jacob, whom I have chosen, +Offspring of Abraham, my friend, +Thou, whom I brought from the ends of the earth, +And called from its most distant parts; +To whom I said, Thou art my servant, +I have chosen and have not rejected thee. +Fear not, for I, indeed, am with thee, +Be not terrified, for I am thy God. +I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; +Yea, I will uphold thee with my righteous hand. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:1] +Behold, my servant whom I uphold, +My chosen, in whom I take delight; +I have put my spirit upon him, +That he may set forth law to the nations. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:2-3b] +He will not cry aloud nor roar, +Nor let his voice be heard in the street. +A crushed reed he will not break, +And a dimly burning wick he will not quench. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:3c-4] +Faithfully will he set forth law; +He will not lose vigor nor be crushed, +Until he establish law in the earth, +And for his teaching the coastlands are waiting. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:5-7] +Thus saith the one God, Jehovah, +He who spread out the heavens and stretched them forth, +Who created the earth and its products, +Who giveth breath to the people upon it, +And spirit to those who walk upon it: +I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, +I have taken thee by the hand and kept thee, +I have made thee a pledge to the people, a light to the nations, +To open eyes that are blind, +To bring captives out from confinement, +From the prison house dwellers in darkness. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:13-50] +Ye who are deaf hear, +And ye blind look up that ye may see, +Who is blind but my servants, +deaf as their rulers? +Much have ye seen, without observing it, +Though your ears were open, ye did not hear. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:21, 22] +Jehovah was pleased for his righteousness' sake +To make his teaching great and glorious, +Yet it is a people spoiled and plundered, +They are all snared in holes, +And hidden in prison houses, +They have become a spoil, with none to rescue, +An object of plunder, with none to say, Restore. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:23-25] +Who among you will give ear to this, +Will attend and hear for time to come? +Who gave up Jacob to plunderers, +And Israel to those who spoiled him, +And poured out upon him the heat of his anger, +And his violence like a flame, +So that it scorched him round about, but he knew it not, +And it burned him, but he laid it not to heart? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:1-2] +And now thus saith Jehovah, +He who created thee, O Jacob, and formed thee, +Fear not, O Israel, for I redeem thee, +I call thee by name, thou art mine. +When thou passeth through the waters, I will be with thee, +Through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; +When thou goest through the fire, thou shalt not be scorched, +Neither shall the flame burn thee. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:3, 4] +For I, Jehovah, am thy God. +I, Israel's Holy One, am thy deliverer; +I give Egypt as thy ransom, +Ethiopia and Seba for thee. +Because thou art precious in mine eyes, +Art honored and I love thee, +I will give lands in thy stead, +And peoples for the sake of thy life. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:5-7] +Fear not for I am with thee, +From the east I will bring thine offspring, +And from the west I will gather thee; +I will say to the north, Give up! +And to the south, Withhold not! +Bring my sons from afar, +And my daughters from the ends of the earth, +Every one who is called by my name, +Whom for my glory I have created and formed. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:10, 11] +Ye are my witnesses, is Jehovah's oracle, +And my servants whom I have chosen, +That ye may acknowledge and believe me, +And that ye may perceive that I am ever the same, +Before me no God was formed, +Nor shall there be after me, +I, even I, am Jehovah, +And beside me there is no deliverer. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:12, 13] +It was I who announced and brought deliverance, +And I declared, and there was no strange god among you, +Ye are my witnesses, is Jehovah's oracle, +I am God, yea, from henceforth the same; +And there is none who can snatch from my hand, +When I work, who can reverse it? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:14, 15] +Thus saith Jehovah, +Your redeemer, Israel's Holy One, +For your sake I have sent to Babylon, +And have brought them all down as fugitives. +Even the Chaldeans with their piercing cries of lamentation, +It is I, Jehovah, your Holy One, +The Creator of Israel, your King. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:22-24] +But thou, O Jacob, hast not called upon me, +Nor hast thou wearied thyself about me, O Israel; +Thou hast not brought me the sheep of thy burnt-offerings, +Nor honored me with thy sacrifices. +With offerings I have not burdened thee, +Nor with incense wearied thee. +Thou broughtest me no sweet cane with thy money, +Nor with the fat of thy sacrifices sated me. +Rather thou hast only burdened me with thy sins, +And wearied me with thine iniquities. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:25-28] +But it is I alone who blot out thy transgressions, +And I do not remember thy sins. +Remind me, let us plead together, +Do thou set forth the matter that thou mayest be justified: +Thy first father sinned, +And thy mediators rebelled against me. +Thy rulers profaned my sanctuary, +And I gave up Jacob to the ban, +And Israel to revilings! + +[Sidenote: Isa. 44:1-3b] +But now hear, O Jacob, my servant, +Israel whom I have chosen; +Thus saith Jehovah, thy maker, +Even he who formed thee from the womb, who helpeth thee: +Fear not, my servant Jacob, +And thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen; +For I will pour water upon the thirsty land +And streams upon the dry ground. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 44:3c-5] +I will pour out my spirit upon thy children, +And my blessing upon thy descendants, +So that they shall spring up as grass in the midst of waters, +As willows by water-courses. +One shall say, "I am Jehovah's," +And another shall call himself, "Jacob," +And another will inscribe on his hand, "Jehovah's," +And receive the surname, "Israel."' + +I. The Seventy Years Following the Rebuilding of the Temple. Regarding +the seventy years which intervened between the rebuilding of the temple in +516 B.C. and the appearance of Nehemiah in 445 the biblical historians are +silent. This silence is probably because there were no important political +events in the life of the Judean community to be recorded. During the +latter part of his reign Darius bridged the Hellespont and undertook the +conquest of the western world. Later, under the reign of his son Xerxes, +the mighty hordes of eastern warriors were turned back, and the growing +weakness of the great Persian Empire was revealed. In 486 Egypt rebelled, +and Persian armies marched along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, +probably levying heavy taxes for their support upon the Jews as well as +upon the other peoples of Palestine. The suppression of the rebellion in +Egypt illustrated how impossible it was for any of the eastern peoples to +withstand even the decadent power of the Persian Empire. + +In Palestine the Jews were still the prey of their hostile neighbors. No +walls protected the temple and city of Jerusalem. The Jews were probably +ground down under their greedy Persian governors. With the disappearance +of Zerubbabel the local control fell naturally into the hands of the high +priest and his followers, whose civil authority from this time on +constantly increased. The words of II Isaiah well describe the lot of the +Jews of Palestine during this period: + +It is a people spoiled and plundered, +They are all snared in holes, +And hidden in prison houses. +They have become a spoil, +With none to rescue, +An object of plunder, +With none to say, Restore. + +II. Spiritual Forces in Judaism. The political horizon furnished little +to inspire the disappointed and persecuted Jews. Their eyes were still +blinded by the brilliant hopes that had stirred them at the time when the +temple was rebuilt. The quenching of these hopes had left them in deeper +darkness than before. There seemed no rift in the clouds that overshadowed +them. Even their priestly rulers were selfish and inconsiderate. For the +faithful few who rose above the discouragements and obstacles that +confronted them, however, this period of deepest gloom was lighted by a +faith that shines through and glorifies most of the later books of the Old +Testament. From the psalms and prophecies of the period it is evident that +there were a few who in the midst of these discouraging circumstances +found peace and joy. As they meditated upon the experiences of their race, +and read and pondered the writings of the earlier prophets, they began to +appreciate not only the real significance of their past history but the +meaning of the present affliction. The chief spokesman of these immortal +heroes of the faith was the prophetic author of Isaiah 40-66. + +III. Evidences That Isaiah 40-66 were Written in Palestine. Only +recently have careful students of Isaiah 40-66 begun to realize that the +point of view in all of these chapters is not distant Babylon but +Jerusalem. The repeated references in chapter 56 and following to +conditions in Jerusalem have led all to recognize their Palestinian +origin. The evidence, however, regarding chapters 40-55 is almost equally +convincing. The vocabulary and literary figures employed throughout are +those peculiar to the agricultural life of Palestine and not to the +commercial civilization of Babylon. The problems also are those of the +Judean community. The class to whom the prophet addresses his messages is +evidently the same as that to which Haggai and Zechariah speak. Jerusalem, +not a Jewish colony in Babylon, is the constant object of the prophet's +appeal. Babylon is only one of the distant lands of the dispersion. It is +from Jerusalem that the prophet ever views the world. Thus in 43:5,6 he +declares in the name of Jehovah: + +Fear not, for I am with thee. +From the east I will bring thine offspring, +And from the west I will gather them; +I will say to the north, Give up! +And to the south, Withhold not! +Bring my sons from afar, +And my daughters from the ends of the earth. + +Interpreted in the light of their true geographical setting, these +Prophecies gain at once a new and clearer meaning. + +IV. Their Probable Date. The reference in 43:23, 24 to the offerings +brought by the people to Jehovah's temple clearly implies that it had +already been built. Furthermore, the charges preferred against the Judean +community are very similar to those in the book of Malachi, which is +generally assigned to the period immediately preceding the arrival of +Nehemiah in 445 B.C. (cf. Section XCVII). From the parallels in chapter 48 +and elsewhere it is evident that Jehovah's Messiah in 45:1 is not Cyrus +but Israel, the messianic nation, to which Jehovah in earlier days under +David and his successors gave repeated victories and far-extended +authority. The presence of the name Cyrus seems without reasonable doubt +to be due to a later scribe, who thus incorrectly identified the allusion. +It is supported neither by the metrical structure nor the context of the +passages in which it is found. Furthermore, the ideas in Isaiah 40-55 are +almost without exception those which Zechariah had already voiced in +germinal form, especially in his latest prophecies preserved in chapters 7 +and 8. They are here more fully and far more gloriously expanded, +indicating that their author lived perhaps a generation later than +Zechariah. The years between 500 and 450 furnish the most satisfactory +setting for these prophecies. In a very true sense, however, like many +of the psalms, they are timeless. The question of their exact date +is comparatively unimportant except as it throws light upon their +interpretation. + +V. Their Literary Characteristics. The prophecies in Isaiah 40-66 are +psalms, sharing the characteristics of all lyric Hebrew poetry. Each is +complete in itself and yet closely related to the others both in content +and literary form. Their nobility of theme, their breadth of outlook, +their wealth of rich and glowing figures, and their finished literary +character give them an incontestable place among the greatest writings of +the Old Testament. While there is a powerful argument running through them +all, the logic is not cumulative but rather moves in a spiral, frequently +returning to the same subject but having a gradual onward movement. It is +the characteristic Oriental method of thinking, which is the opposite of +that of the Western world. These poems are grouped into three cycles which +apparently represent the prophet's thinking during succeeding periods. The +first cycle is included in 40-48. Chapter 48 is a recapitulation of the +thought of the preceding, and furnishes a natural conclusion to the first +collection. The second group is in 49-55. The note of suffering is here +more prominent, and the portrait of the ideal type of servant which +Jehovah desires in order to realize his purpose in human history is +developed in greater detail (cf. Section XCIX). The third group, in 56-66, +is by many assigned to another prophet and to a much later period. While +the general theme of the group is different and implies a somewhat changed +historical background, the characteristic ideas and literary forms of +40-55 also recur here. From the study of Israel's past and future the +prophet turns to the closer consideration of the problems in Palestine. +The historical allusions are for the most part in accord with the +conditions which Nehemiah found in Jerusalem in 445 B.C. + +VI. Their Theme and Purpose. The poems deal with one theme, the destiny +of the chosen people. The prophet first reviews their past history to +illustrate Jehovah's purpose that was being realized through Israel. He +notes the different ways in which Jehovah had trained and prepared them +for their great task. In the light of the new situation and his enlarged +acquaintance with the world the prophet then proceeds to define the task +that awaits his people. While he does not break entirely away from the +popular expectation that the scattered exiles would yet be restored to +Jerusalem to participate in the universal kingdom that was there to be +established, he fully appreciates the larger significance of Israel's +mission. He recognizes that it is worldwide. He sees that the Jewish race +is called not merely to receive honors and material blessings but also to +serve suffering and needy mankind. The disappointments and afflictions +through which it is passing are but a part of the divine training for that +nobler spiritual service. The servant Israel is called to be a witness to +all the nations, faithfully to set forth Jehovah's teachings until his law +is established in all the earth. Thus the prophet interprets Israel's +past, present, and future in its vital relation to the universal life of +humanity, and declares that Israel is destined to be a prophet nation and +to reveal Jehovah's character to all mankind. + +VII. Reasons Why Jehovah Will Restore His People. The prophet opens with +a declaration that Jerusalem's period of forced service is over, that she +has paid double for the sins of the past, and that Jehovah is about to +remove all obstacles and restore and exalt his oppressed people. He then +gives the reasons for his strong conviction: (1) Jehovah is incomparably +superior to the forces of nature, to the nations that hold Israel in +bondage, and to the heathen gods whose images are shaped by the hand of +man. All the powers of heaven and earth are under his control. He is the +creator and supreme ruler of the universe, able to remove all obstacles +and to give strength and might to those who put their trust in him. +(2) Through his leadership of his people in the past, through their +victories over their powerful foes, and in all the experiences of their +national life he has shown his power to guide and deliver. (3) Toward +Israel, his servant, he stands in a unique relation, for he has chosen and +trained his people for a great service in behalf of all the world. +Therefore he who is able and eager to deliver will not fail his people in +their hour of need. (4) Their present affliction is but a part of that +training which is essential before they can perform their task as +Jehovah's servant; that task is tenderly to espouse the cause of those who +are crushed, to open eyes that are blind, to bring captives out of their +confinement, and, as a faithful teacher, to inspire all mankind with love +for Israel's God. + +The prophet's aim was clearly to encourage his despondent people, to show +them the deeper meaning of their present afflictions, to open their eyes +to Jehovah's gracious purpose, to give to the entire race a goal for which +to live and strive, and, above all, to arouse them to effective action. +Doubtless the prophet thought only of the problems of the men of his day, +but in his interpretation of Jehovah's worldwide purpose and in the faith +and devotion which his words inspire he gave to all mankind a universal, +undying message. + + + +Section XCVII. CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS WITHIN THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +[Sidenote: Mal. 1:6-9] +A son honoreth his father, and a servant feareth his master; +If then I am a father, where is mine honor? +And if I am a master, where is the one who fears me? +Saith Jehovah to you, O ye priests, who despise my name. +But ye say, 'Wherein have we despised thy name?' +Ye offer upon mine altar bread that is polluted +And ye say, 'Wherein have we polluted it?' +In that ye say, 'The table of Jehovah is contemptible.' +And that when ye offer the blind for sacrifice, 'It is no harm!' +And that when ye offer the lame and the sick, 'It is no harm!' +Present it now to thy governor; will he be pleased with it? +Or will he receive thee favorably? saith Jehovah of hosts. +And now entreat the favor of God with such an offering, that he may be + gracious to us, +Would I receive any of you favorably? saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 1:10, 11] +O that there were those among you who would shut the doors, +That ye might not kindle fire on mine altar in vain! +I have no pleasure in you, saith Jehovah of hosts, +Neither will I accept an offering at your hand. +For from the rising of the sun even to its setting my name is sacred among + the nations, +And in every place they offer to my name a pure offering; +For my name is great among the nations, saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 1:12, 14] +'The table of Jehovah is polluted, and its food is contemptible.' +Ye say also, 'Behold what a weariness is it!' and ye have scorned me; +And ye have brought the blind, the lame and the sick. +Should I accept this at your hand? saith Jehovah of hosts. +But cursed be the deceiver, who has in his flock a male, +And vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a blemished thing; +For I am a great King, and my name is feared among the nations. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:1-4] +And now, O ye priests, this command is for you. +If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, +To give glory to my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, +Then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; +Behold, I will cut off your arm, +And will spread offal upon your faces, even the offal of your feasts, +And ye shall know that I have sent this command to you, +That my covenant with Levi may be preserved, saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:15-7] +My covenant with him was to give life and peace; +And I gave them to him that he might revere me; +And he revered me, and stood in awe of my name. +The true instruction was in his mouth, +And unrighteousness was not found in his lips; +He walked with me in peace and uprightness, +And turned many away from iniquity. +For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, +And men should seek the law at his mouth; +For he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts. + + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:8, 9] +But ye are turned aside out of the way; +Ye have caused many to stumble in the law; +Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, +Saith Jehovah of hosts. +Therefore have I also made you contemptible, +And base before all the people, +According as ye have not kept my ways, +And have had no respect for me in imparting the law. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:10, 13, 14] +Have we not all one father? +Hath not one God created us? +Why do we deal faithlessly with one another, +Profaning the covenant of our fathers? +And this ye do also: +Ye cover the altar of Jehovah with tears, +So that he regardeth not the offering any more, +Neither receiveth it acceptably from your hand. +Yet ye say, Why? +Because Jehovah hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, +Against whom thou hast dealt faithlessly, +Though she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:15, 16] +Therefore give heed to your spirit, +And let none deal faithlessly with the wife of his youth, +For I hate putting away, +Saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, +And him who covers his garment with violence; +Therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not faithlessly. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:17] +Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words. +Yet ye say, How have we wearied him? +In that ye say, Everyone that doeth evil +Is good in the sight of Jehovah, +And he delighteth in them; +Or where is the God of justice? + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:1-4] +Behold, I am about to send my messenger, +And he shall prepare the way before me; +And the Lord, whom ye seek, +Will suddenly come to his temple; +But who can endure the day of his coming? +And who shall stand when he appeareth? +For he is like a refiner's fire, +And like fullers' lyes; +And he will sit as a refiner and purifier, +And he will purify the sons of Levi, +And refine them as gold and silver; +And they shall offer offerings in righteousness. +Then shall the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to Jehovah, +As in the days of old, and as in former years. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:5, 6] +And I will come near to you to judgment; +And I will be a swift witness +Against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, +And against those who sware to that which is false, +And against those who oppress the hireling, the widow, and the fatherless, +Who turn aside the resident alien from his right, +And fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts. +For I, Jehovah, change not; +But ye have not ceased to be sons of Jacob. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:7-9] +From the days of thy fathers ye have turned aside from my statutes, and ye + have not kept them. +Turn to me and I will turn to you, saith Jehovah. +But ye say, 'Wherein shall we turn?' +Will a man rob God? Yet ye robbed me. +But ye say, 'Wherein have we robbed thee?' In tithes and gifts. +Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye rob me. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:10-12] +Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house, +That there may be provision in mine house; and test me thereby, +If I will not open to you the windows of heaven, +And pour you out a blessing, until there is more than enough. +I will rebuke for your sakes the devourer that he destroy not the fruit of + the ground, +Neither shall the vine fail to ripen its fruit in the field, +And all nations shall call you happy, +For ye shall be a delightsome land, saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:13-16] +Your words are hard upon me, saith Jehovah. +Ye say, 'What have we said against thee?' +Ye have said, 'It is useless to serve God, +And what gain is it to us to have kept his charge, +And that we have walked in funeral garb before him? +Even now we call the proud happy, +Yea, those who work iniquity thrive, +Yea, they tempt God and escape.' + +[Sidenote Mal. 3:16-18] +Such things those who feared Jehovah spoke to one another, +And Jehovah gave heed, and heard, +And a book of remembrance was written before him, +Regarding those who feared Jehovah, +And those who keep in mind his name; +And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of hosts, +In the day that I make up mine especial treasure. +And I will spare them, +As a man spares his son who serves him. +Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, +Between him who serves God and him who serves him not. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 4:1-3] +For behold the day is coming that shall burn like a furnace, +And all the proud and those who work iniquity shall be stubble, +And the day that is coming shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, +So that there shall be left them neither root nor branch. +But to you who fear my name there shall arise +The sun of righteousness with healing on his wings, +And ye shall go forth and leap like calves out of the stall. +And ye shall tread down the wicked, +For they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet, +In the day in which I begin to execute, saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:1-5] +My God, why dost thou forsake me, +Far from my salvation is my groaning +By day I call, but thou answerest not, +And by night there is no respite for me. + +Yet thou, O my God, art the Holy One, +Enthroned on Israel's songs of praise. +In thee our fathers trusted, +They trusted, and thou didst deliver them; +To thee they cried, and were delivered, +In thee they trusted and were not ashamed. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:6-8] +But I am a worm and no man, +Reproached by men and despised by the people. +Whoever sees me derideth me, +They sneer as they toss the head: +"He depended upon Jehovah, let him deliver him, +Let him save him, since he delighteth in him!" + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:9-11] +Yet it was thou who took me from the womb, +Who made me safe on my mother's breast; +On thee was I cast from birth, +Thou art my God from my mother's womb. +Be not far from me, for there is distress, +Draw nigh, for there is no helper. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:12-18] +Many bulls encompass me, +Mighty ones of Bashan beset me round, +They open their mouths at me, +Like a ravening, roaring lion. +As water I am poured out, +Yea, all my bones are out of joint, +My heart hath become like wax, +It is melted within my body, +My palate is dried up like a potsherd, +And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; +In the dust of death thou dost lay me, +For dogs circle me about, +The assembly of evil-doers enclose me; +They pierce my hands and my feet, +I can count all my bones; +They stare, they gloat over me. +They divide my garments among them, +And for my clothing they cast lots! + +I. Date of the Book of Malachi. Malachi in the Hebrew means My +Messenger, and the word was apparently taken from the opening verse of the +third chapter. Like many of the writings of the post-exilic period, the +book, therefore, is anonymous. Its date, however, may be determined from +its contents. The reference to the desolation of the land of the Edomites +suggests that it was written late in the Persian period after the Edomites +had been driven out from Mount Seir by the Nabateans and had found a home +on the southern borders of Judah. The priests in the Judean community had +become corrupt and the temple service was neglected, indicating that they +had lost the early enthusiasm which followed the rebuilding of the +sanctuary. The Judean community was discouraged and a spirit of doubt and +questioning prevailed in the minds of those who were faithfully striving +to serve Jehovah. The prophecy is an exact picture of conditions as +Nehemiah found them, so that the book of Malachi may be dated not far from +445 B.C. + +II. Neglect of the Temple Service. The prophet's method is akin to that +of Zechariah. Evidently the early reverence for the word of the prophet +has disappeared. Instead of bare assertions, each conclusion is supported +by detailed arguments. The author of Malachi is also deeply interested in +the ritual and regards the preservation of its purity as essential to the +religious life of the Judean community. He charges the priests with +failure to observe the ceremonial laws, especially in allowing the people +to bring for sacrifice animals that are blind, lame, and sick. These acts +are evidence of the religious apathy that had seized even the religious +leaders of the people. The prophet declares boldly that under the guise of +religion the priests are robbing Jehovah. Above all they are faithless to +their responsibilities as the appointed teachers of the people. In 2:5-7 +he presents the clearest picture extant of the task of the priest as +teacher. His duty was to instruct the people, to help them to overcome +temptation, and to make very clear to them the way of duty. This ideal, +the prophet declares, was realized by earlier priests, but now those who +are the appointed religious guides are misleading the people. + +III. The Need of a Great Moral Awakening. The evils which the prophet +denounced were not confined to the priests. The old Semitic law regarding +divorce was exceedingly lax. A husband could lead his wife to the door of +his tent and tell her to be gone, thereby severing their marriage +relation. The Deuteronomic law sought to relieve this injustice by +providing that the husband must place in the hand of his wife, as she +departs, a document stating the grounds on which he had divorced her. By +the middle of the fifth century B.C. divorce had evidently become +exceedingly common in Palestine. The prophet denounced it on the basis of +its injustice and cruelty. He also maintained that marriage was a solemn +covenant before Jehovah between man and wife, and that he who disregarded +it dealt faithlessly and was the especial object of divine displeasure. + +Traces of the old heathenism still remained in Judah, and the dependent, +oppressed classes received little pity from the selfish, heartless rulers. +In the face of these evils the prophet declared that Jehovah would +surely send a messenger to punish and to reform priest and people. +The prophecy was evidently based on a clear recognition that Jehovah +was ever working to train and uplift his people, and that a period of +degeneration must surely be followed by a period of reform. In the work +of Nehemiah the prophet's hopes were in part fulfilled, but the larger +fulfilment of the underlying principle was realized in the thorough-going +reformatory work of John the Baptist and in that of the Great Teacher. In +a later appendix to the prophecy of Malachi this theme is still further +developed. The promise is made that another prophet, with the zeal of the +great reformer Elijah, would come and prepare the way for a new and nobler +era. + +IV. The Lot of the Faithful. In the prophecy of Malachi is first voiced +the despairing cries and doubts of those of the faithful who failed to +rise above the effect of the existing social and religious evils. They are +the righteous or afflicted who also speak through certain of the earlier +psalms of the Psalter (e.g., 10-17, 22). It was a period when the man who +did right and was faithful to the demands of the law was thereby condemned +to poverty and persecution at the hands of the corrupt priests and rulers. +Worse than that, their poverty and wretchedness were interpreted, +According to the current belief of the day, as convincing evidence of +Jehovah's displeasure because of their sins. It was a time when wickedness +triumphed and innocence suffered, and when the question whether or not a +righteous God ruled the universe rose persistently in the minds of the +faithful. The author of Malachi recognizes and seeks to meet these doubts: + +Ye have said, It is useless to serve God, +And what gain is it to us to have kept his charge, +And that we have walked in funeral garb before him? +Even now we call the proud happy, +Verily those who work iniquity thrive, +Yea, they tempt God and escape. + +Here the problem is the same as that of the book of Job. To these doubts +the prophet could only reply that Jehovah will keep a record of the +faithful and in his good time will reward them. + +V. The Problem of Suffering in the Literature of the Period. As was +natural, this problem of innocent suffering was prominent in the +literature of the period. It became especially insistent at this time, +because it had ceased to be the problem of the community, and had become +that of individuals or of a class. While the nation rested under the +shadow of misfortune, a solution of the problem was found in the +consciousness of national guilt and in the hope that the affliction would +be but temporary. The old dogma that virtue was always rewarded and +wickedness punished continued to satisfy Israel's leaders. When, however, +a considerable class in the community were conscious that they had +committed no crimes worthy of the bitter persecutions and calamities that +overtook them, and that it was often just because of their virtue and the +steadfastness with which they clung to the nobler ideals of their race +that they were thus assailed, the current interpretations of evil were no +longer satisfactory. When in time many of them went down to the grave +crushed by affliction and the objects of the taunts and revilings of their +wicked pursuers, the insufficiency of the current explanation of +misfortune was tragically demonstrated. To their minds Sheol or the grave +offered no solution, for, as among all early Aryan and Semitic peoples, it +was thought of as the dark, passionless, joyless abode of the shades. + +In most of the psalms of this period the poets who speak in behalf of the +afflicted class, like the author of Malachi, expressed the hope that +Jehovah would speedily come to their deliverance and signally vindicate +and reward them. The heroism and fidelity that they represent can only be +fully appreciated in the light of this discouraging period when evil was +regnant. It was apparently at this time that the great poet, who speaks +through the book of Job, presented, with the spirit and method of a modern +philosopher, the lot of these innocent sufferers. He also proved for all +time that misfortune is not always the evidence of guilt, and that the +current doctrine of proportionate rewards and the explanations that were +adduced to support it were in certain cases absolutely untenable. + + + +Section XCVIII. THE PROBLEM AND TEACHINGS OF THE BOOK OF JOB + +[Sidenote: Job 1:1-5] +There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. And that man was +blameless and upright; he feared God and turned away from evil. And seven +sons and three daughters were born to him. His possessions also included +seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, +five hundred she asses, and an exceedingly large number of servants; so +that this man was the greatest of all the peoples of Palestine. And his +sons were accustomed to hold a feast in one another's house each on his +day. And they were wont to send and invite their three sisters to eat and +drink with them. And when the days of their feasting were over, Job used +to send and sanctify them, and he rose up early in the morning, and +offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, +Perhaps my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts. Thus Job +did continually. + +[Sidenote: Job 1:6-11] +Now on a certain day when the sons of God came to present themselves +before Jehovah, Satan also came among them. And Jehovah said to Satan, +Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to +and fro in the earth, and walking up and down on it. And Jehovah said to +Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him on +the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God, and turns away from +evil. Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? +Hast thou not made a hedge about him, and about his household, and about +all that he hath, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, +and his possessions are increased in the land. But put forth thy hand now, +and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. + +[Sidenote: Job 1:12] +Then Jehovah said to Satan, Behold all that he hath is in thy power; only +put not forth thy hand upon him. So Satan went forth from the presence of +Jehovah. + +[Sidenote: Job 1:13-19] +Now on a certain day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking +in their eldest brother's house, a messenger came to Job and said, The +oxen were plowing and the asses were feeding beside them, when the Sabeans +suddenly attacked and captured them, and they have slain the servants with +the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you. While that +one was yet speaking, another came and said, The fire of God has fallen +from heaven, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed +them; and I alone have escaped to tell you. While that one was yet +speaking, another came and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and +raided the camels and took them away, and they have slain the servants +with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you. While that +one was yet speaking, another came and said, Your sons and your daughters +were eating and drinking in their eldest brother's house, when there came +a great wind from over the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the +house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead. I alone have +escaped to tell you. + +[Sidenote: Job 1:20-22] +Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell upon the +ground and worshipped; and he said: + +Naked I came from my mother's womb, +And naked shall I return thither! +Jehovah gave and he hath taken away; +Blessed be the name of Jehovah! + +In all this Job sinned not, nor reviled God. + +[Sidenote: Job 2:1-6] +And on a certain day when the sons of God came to present themselves +before Jehovah, Satan came also to present himself before Jehovah. And +Jehovah said to Satan, Whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah, and +said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down on +it. And Jehovah said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? For +there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who +fears God, and turns away from evil; and he still remains steadfast in his +piety, although thou incitest me against him, to destroy him without +cause. And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that +a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thy hand now, and +touch his bone and his flesh; surely he will curse thee to thy face. And +Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, he is in thy power: only spare his life. + +[Sidenote: Job 2:7, 8] +So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smote Job with a +malignant eruption from the sole of his foot to his crown. And he took a +potsherd with which to scrape himself; and he sat among the ashes. + +[Sidenote: Job 2:9, 10] +Then said his wife to him, Do you still remain steadfast in your piety? +Curse God, and die. But he said to her, You speak like one of the foolish +women. We receive good at the hand of God, shall we not also receive evil? +In all this did not Job sin with his lips. + +[Sidenote: Job 2:11-13] +Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon +him, they came each from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad +the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment +together to come to show their sympathy for him and to comfort him. And +when they lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not, they raised +their voice and wept; and all tore their robes, and sprinkled dust upon +their heads toward heaven. So they sat down with him on the ground seven +days and seven nights, without any one speaking a word to him, for they +saw that his pain was very great. + +[Sidenote: Job 3:2, 11, 13-15, 17-19] +Then Job began to speak and said: + +Why did I not die before birth? +Why did I not expire when my mother bore me? +For now would I have lain down and been quiet, +I would have slept, then had I been at rest, +With kings and counsellors of the earth, +Who built up ruins for themselves; +Or with princes who possessed gold, +Who filled their houses with silver. +There the wicked cease from raging, +And the weary are at rest. +There the prisoners have peace as well, +They hear not the voice of the taskmaster. +The small and the great are there, +And the servant is free from his master. + + +[Sidenote: Job 3:20-22, 25, 26] +Why is light given to the suffering, +And life to those in anguish, +Who long for death but it comes not, +And search for it more than treasures, +Who rejoice with great exultation, +And are glad when they can find the grave? +For the thing which I feared has come upon me, +And that of which I was afraid has overtaken me. +No peace nor quiet, have I, +No rest, but trembling seizes me. + +[Sidenote: Job 4:1-7] +Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said: + +If one tries to speak with you, will you be impatient, +But who can restrain himself from speaking? +Behold, you have instructed many, +And have strengthened feeble hands. +Your words have upheld him who was falling, +And you have made tottering knees strong. +But now, that it is come to you, you are impatient, +It touches yourself and you lose courage. +Is not your piety, your trust, +Your hope the integrity of your ways? +Remember now who, being innocent, perished? +Or where have the upright been destroyed? + +[Sidenote: Job 4:17-19] +Can mortal man be righteous before God? +Can a man be pure before his maker? +Behold, he trusteth not in his own servants, +And his angels he chargeth with error; +How much more the dwellers in clay houses, +Whose foundation is laid in the dust? + +[Sidenote: Job 5:17-22, 26, 27] +Happy is the man whom God correcteth, +Therefore reject not the chastening of the Almighty. +For he causeth pain and bindeth up; +He woundeth and his hands heal. +He will deliver you out of six troubles, +Yea, in seven, no evil shall touch you, +In famine he will redeem you from death, +And in war from the power of the sword. +You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue; +You shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes. +At destruction and want you shall laugh, +And you need not fear the beasts of the earth. +You shall come to your grave in a ripe old age, +As a sheaf garnered in its season. +Lo this, we have searched out, so it is; +Hear it and know it yourself. + +[Sidenote: Job 6:1-4b] +Then Job answered and said: + +Oh, that my bitterness were weighed, +All my calamity laid in the scales! +Then would it be heavier than the sand of the seas; +For this reason my words are rash. +For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, +Their poison my spirit drinks up. +[Sidenote: Job 6:8-10] +Oh that I might have my request, +And that God would grant that for which I long: +Even that it would please God to crush me, +And that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! +Then this would be my consolation, +I would exult in pain that spares not. + +[Sidenote: Job 6:11-13] +What strength have I still to endure? +And what is mine end that I should be patient? +Is my strength the strength of stones? +Or is my body made of brass? +Behold there is no help in me, +And wisdom is driven quite from me. + +[Sidenote: Job 6:14, 15, 20-23] +Kindness from his friend is due to one in despair, +Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. +My brothers have been as deceptive as a brook, +As the channel of brooks that disappear. +For now you are nothing, +You see a terror and are afraid. +Did I say, 'Give to me?' +Or, 'Offer a present to me of your wealth?' +Or, 'Deliver me from a foeman's hand?' +Or, 'Redeem me from the oppressor's power?' + +[Sidenote: Job 6:24-39] +Teach me and I will hold my peace, +And make plain to me wherein I have erred. +How agreeable are upright words! +But what does a reproof from you reprove? +Do you think to reprove mere words, +When the speeches of the desperate are as wind? +You fall upon a blameless man, +And you make merchandise of your friend. +Now therefore be pleased to look upon me; +For surely I will not lie to you. +Turn ere you let injustice be done, +Yea, turn again, my cause is righteous. +Is there injustice on my tongue? +Can not my taste discern what is evil? + +[Sidenote: Job 7:1-6] +Has not man a hard service on earth? +And are not his days like the days of a hireling? +As a slave who sighs for the shadows of the evening, +And as a hireling who looks for his wages, +So am I given months of misery, +And wearisome nights are appointed me. +When I lie down, I say: +'When shall I arise, and the night be gone?' +And I am full of unrest until the dawn. +My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; +My skin hardens, then breaks out again. +My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, +And are spent without hope. + +[Sidenote: Job 7:9, 10] +As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, +So he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more, +He shall return no more to his house, +Nor shall his place know him any more. + +[Sidenote: Job 7:11, 19] +Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; +I will speak in the bitterness of my spirit. +Am I a sea, or a sea-monster, +That thou shouldest set a watch over me? +When I say, "My bed shall comfort me, +My couch shall ease my complaint;" +Then thou frightest me with dreams, +And terrifiest me through visions: +So that I myself choose strangling, +And death rather than my pains. +I loath life, I would not live always, +Let me alone, for my days are as a breath, +What is man, that thou exaltest him, +That on him thou directest thy thought, +That thou visitest him each morning, +And testest him each moment? + +[Sidenote: Job 7:20, 21] +If I have sinned, what have I done to thee, O watcher of men? +Why hast thou set me as thy target? +And why am I a burden to thee? +And why dost thou not pardon my transgression and take away mine iniquity? +For now I shall lie down in the dust, +When thou shalt seek me, I shall not be. + +[Sidenote: Job 8:1-2] +Then answered Bildad the Shuhite and said, + +How long will you speak these things? +And the words of your mouth be like a mighty wind? +Doth God pervert justice? +Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness? + +[Sidenote: Job 8:3-6] +If your children sinned against him, +And he delivered them to the consequences of their guilt; +You should earnestly seek God, +Let him take his rod away from me, +And let not his terror make me afraid, +Then would I speak and not fear him, +For in myself I am not thus fearful. + +[Sidenote: Job 10:9-15] +Remember that as clay thou hast fashioned me, +And wilt thou again turn me into dust? +Hast thou not poured me out as milk? +And curdled me like a cheese? +Thou hast clothed me with a skin and with flesh, +And knit me together with bones and with sinews. +Thou hast granted me life and favor, +And thy care hath preserved my breath. +Yet these things thou didst hide in thy heart; +I know that this is thy plan: +If I sin, then thou watchest me, +And if I be just, yet I cannot lift up my head! + +[Sidenote: Job 10:20-22] +Are not the days of my life few enough? +Let me alone, that I may have a little cheer, +Before I go whence I shall not return, +To the land of darkness and of gloom, +The land dark as blackness, +Gloom without a gleam or ray of light. + +[Sidenote: Job 11:1, 7-9] +Then answered Zophar, the Naamathite, and said: + +Shall the multitude of words be unanswered? +Can you find the depths of God? +Can you reach the perfection of the Almighty? +It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? +Deeper than Sheol; what can you know? +Its measure is longer than the earth, +And broader than the sea. + +[Sidenote: Job 11:13-15] +If you set your heart aright, +And stretch out your hands toward him; +If iniquity be in thy hand, put it far away, +And let not unrighteousness dwell in your tent. +Then you shall lift up your face without spot; +And you shall be steadfast, and have no fear. +And make your supplication to the Almighty. +If you are pure and upright, +Then he will prosper your righteous habitation. + +[Sidenote: Job 9:1-7] +Then Job answered and said: +Verily I know that it is so, +But how can a man be made just with God? +If he be pleased to contend with him, +He cannot answer him one of a thousand. +He is wise in mind and mighty in strength; +Who has defied him, and remained unharmed? +He who removeth mountains and they know it not, +And overturneth them in his anger, +Who shaketh the earth out of its place, +So that its pillars tremble, +Who commandeth the sun and it rises not, +And on the stars placeth his seal. + +[Sidenote: Job 9:16-20, 24] +If I called and he answered me, +I would not believe that he had heard my voice. +He who crusheth me with a tempest, +prey of And multiplieth my wounds without cause. +He will not permit me to take my breath, +But filleth me with bitterness, +If we speak of the strength of the mighty, lo it is he! +And if of justice, Who will summon him? +Though I am righteous, my own mouth condemns me, +Though I am perfect, it would prove me to be perverse. +The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; +He covereth the faces of its judges; +If not he, then who is it? + +[Sidenote: Job 9:31-35] +If I wash myself with snow, +And cleanse my hands with lye, +Yet thou plunge me into the filth, +prove And mine own friends will abhor me. +For he is not a man as I am, that I should answer him, +That we should come together in judgment, +There is no arbiter betwixt us, +To lay his hand upon us both. + +[Sidenote: Job 12:1-3] +Then Job answered and said: + +No doubt but you are the people, +And wisdom shall die with you! +But I have a mind as well as you, +And who does not know these things? + +[Sidenote: Job 13:7-12] +Will you speak what is wrong for God? +And will you talk deceitfully for him? +Will you show favor to him? +Will you contend for God? +Would it be well, should he search you out? +Or as one deceives a man, will you deceive him? +He will surely reprove you, +If secretly you show favor. +Shall not his majesty overawe you, +And dread of him fall upon you? +Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes, +Your defences are defences of clay! + +[Sidenote: Job 13:13-18] +Hold your peace that I may speak, +And let come to me what will. +I take my flesh in my teeth, +And put my life in my hand. +Behold he will slay me; I have no hope, +But I will defend my ways before him. +No godless man would come before him. +Give careful heed to my speech, +And let my declaration be in your ears. +Behold now, I have prepared my case, +I know that I shall be justified. + +[Sidenote: Job 13:21-25] +Withdraw thy hand far from me; +And let not thy terror make me afraid. +Then call and I will answer, +Or let me speak, and answer thou me. +How many are my iniquities and sins? +Make me know my transgression and my sin. +Why dost thou hide thy face, +And regard me as thine enemy? +Wilt thou harass a wind blown leaf? +And wilt thou pursue the dry stubble? + +[Sidenote: 14:7-10] +For there is hope of a tree, +If it will be cut down, that it will sprout again, +And that its shoot will not cease. +Though its root grow old in the earth, +And its stock die in the ground; +By the scent of water it will bud, +And put forth its branches like a plant. +But man dies and is laid low: +Yea, a man expires, and where is he? + +[Sidenote: Job 14:13-15, 18, 19] +Oh, that thou wouldst hide me in Sheol, +That thou wouldst keep me in secret, until thy wrath be past, +That thou wouldst appoint over me a time, and remember me! +If a man might die, shall he live again! +All the days of my hard service would I wait, +Until my release should come. +Thou wouldst call and I myself would answer thee; +Thou wouldst long for the work of thy hands. +But the mountain surely falls, +And the rock moves from its place, +The water wears away the stones, +Its floods wash away the dust of the earth. + +[Sidenote: Job 15:4-6] +Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite and said: + +Verily, you do away with the fear of God, +And hinder devotion before God. +For your wickedness inspires your speech, +And you choose the tongue of the crafty. +Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; +And your own lips testify against you. + +[Sidenote: Job 16:1-3a, 4b] +Then answered Job and said: + +I have heard many such things; +Troublesome comforters are you all. +Is there no end to vain words? +If you were only in my place, +I could join words together against you! + +[Sidenote: Job 16:11-13a] +God delivereth me to the ungodly, +And casteth me into the hands of the wicked. +I was at ease, and he shattered me, +He seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces, +He hath also set me up as his target, +His arrows encompass me round about. + +[Sidenote Job 16:18-21] +O earth, cover not my blood, +And let my cry have no resting place. +Even now behold my witness is in the heaven, +And he who voucheth for me is on high. +He will be found to be my friend, +To God my eye pours out its tears. +And he will maintain the right of a man with God, +And between a man and his neighbor! + +[Sidenote: Job 18:1, 5-7] +Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said: + +The light of the wicked is put out, +And the flame of his fire does not shine, +The light is darkened in his tent, +And his light above him is put out. +The steps of his strength are shortened, +And his own counsel shall cast him down. + +[Sidenote: Job 19:13-16] +Then Job answered and said: + +My brothers keep far from me, +And my acquaintances are like strangers to me. +My kinsmen have ceased to know me, +Even the guests in my house have forgotten me. +My maids regard me as a stranger, +I am an alien in their sight. + +[Sidenote: Job 19:23-27] +Oh, that my words were now written! +Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! +That with an iron pen and lead +They were engraved in a rock forever! +But I indeed know that my Vindicator liveth, +And at last he will stand upon the earth: +And after this, my skin, is destroyed, +Then I shall behold God, +Whom I myself shall see on my side, +Mine eyes shall behold, and not a stranger. + +[Sidenote: Job 20:1-4] +Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said: + +Not so do my thoughts give answer to me, +Because of this my haste is mine! +I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame; +But with wind void of understanding you answer me. +Have you not known this from of old, +Since man was placed upon the earth, +That the exulting of the wicked is short, +And the joy of the godless but for a moment? + +[Sidenote: Job: 21:1, 7-8] +Then answered Job and said: +Why do the wicked live, +Grow old, and attain great power? +Their descendants are established in their sight, +And their offspring before their eyes. +Their households are secure from terror, +And the rod of God is not upon them. + +[Sidenote: Job 22:1-6] +Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said, +Is a man of any account to God? +Surely a wise man is of account to himself. +Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? +Or is it gain to him that you are upright? +Is it because of your fear of him that he reproveth you, +That he entereth into judgment with you? +Is not your wickedness great? +And there is no end to your iniquities. + +[Sidenote: Job 22:26, 27, 28] +If you return to the Almighty and humble yourself, +If you remove unrighteousness far from your tents. +You shall make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, +And you shall pay your vows. +You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established for you. +And light shall shine upon your ways. + +[Sidenote: Job 23:1-6] +Then Job answered and said, + +Even now my complaint is bitter, +My stroke is heavier than my groaning. +Oh, that I knew where I might find him! +That I might come even to his throne! +I would set forth my cause before him, +And fill my mouth with arguments. +I would know the words which he would answer me, +And understand what he would say to me. +Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? +Verily he would give heed to me. + +[Sidenote: Job 25:1-4] +Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, + +Dominion and terror are with him; +He maketh peace in his high places. +Is there any number to his armies? +And upon whom does not his light arise? +How then can man be just with God? +Or how can he be clean who is born of woman? + +[Sidenote: Job 26:1, 27:2, 4, 5] +Then Job answered and said, + +As God liveth, who hath taken away my right, +And the Almighty, who hath made my life bitter, +Surely my lips do not speak unrighteousness, +Nor does my tongue utter falsehood, +Far be it from me that I should grant that you are right; +Until I die I will not give up my innocence. + +[Sidenote: Job 27:7-9] +[Then Zophar answered and said]: + +Let mine enemy be as the wicked, +And let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous. +For what is the hope of the godless, +When God requireth his life? +Will God hear his cry, +When trouble comes upon him? + +[Sidenote: Job 29:1-5] +And Job again took up his parable and said, + +Oh, that I were as in the months of old, +As in the days when God watched over me, +When his lamp shined upon my head, +And by his light I walked through darkness; +As I was in the prime of my life, +When God put a covering over my tent, +When the Almighty was yet with me, +And my children were about me. + +[Sidenote: Job 30:16-21] +But now my soul is poured out within me; +Days of affliction have taken hold of me. +The night bores through my bones, +And my gnawing pains rest not. +By reason of great wasting my garment is crumpled together; +It binds me about as the collar of my coat. +He hath cast me into the mire, +And I am become like dust and ashes. +I cry to thee but thou dost not answer me. +I stand up, but thou dost not regard me. +Thou art turned to be cruel to me; +With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me. + +[Sidenote: Job 31:5-8] +If I have walked with falsehood, +And my foot has hasted to deceit; +Let me be weighed in a just balance, +That God may know my integrity. +If my step has turned out of the way, +And my heart followed my inclination, +And if any spot besmirches my hands; +Then let me sow, and let another eat, +And let the produce of my field be uprooted. + +[Sidenote: Job 31:35-37] +Oh, that there was someone to hear me! +See, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me! +And the indictment which my adversary has written! +Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; +I would bind it to me as a crown; +I would declare to him the number of my steps, +As a prince would I draw near to him. + +[Sidenote: Job 38:2-7] +Then Jehovah answered Job out of the storm, and said, + +Who is this that darkeneth counsel +By words that lack knowledge? +Gird up thy loins now like a man, +And let me ask of thee and inform thou me. +Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? +Declare, if thou hast understanding. +Who determined its measures that thou knowest? +Or who stretched out the line upon it? +On what were its foundations fastened? +Or who laid its corner-stone, +When the morning stars sang together, +And all the sons of God shouted for joy? + +[Sidenote: Job 38:8-11] +Or who shut up the sea with doors, +When it broke forth, and issued out of the womb; +When I made clouds its garments, +And thick mists its swaddling-bands, +And marked out for it my bound, +And set bars and doors, +And said, Here shalt thou come, but no further; +And here shall thy proud waves stop? + +[Sidenote: Job 38:39-41] +Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness, +Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, +When they couch in their dens, +And abide in the covert to lie in wait? +Who provideth at evening his prey, +When his young ones cry to God, +And wander to seek for food? + +[Sidenote: Job 40:8,9] +Will the fault-finder contend with the Almighty? +He who argueth with God, let him answer it. +Wilt thou even annul my judgment? +Condemn me, that thou mayest be justified, +Or hast thou an arm like God? +And canst thou thunder with a voice like him? + +[Sidenote: Job 42:1, 2, 3, 5, 6] +Then Job answered Jehovah and said: + +I know that thou canst do all things, +And that no purpose of thine can be restrained. +Therefore, I have uttered that which I did not understand; +Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. +I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, +But now mine eye seeth thee, +Therefore I loath [my words], +And repent in dust and ashes. + +I. The Structure of the Book of Job. Like most of the books of the Old +Testament, Job is, without reasonable doubt, the work of several different +writers. The prose introduction (1-2), with its corresponding conclusion +(42:7-17), was probably once an independent story. The words of Jehovah in +the epilogue (42:7) clearly implies that, as in 1 and 2, Job had endured +the test and had meekly submitted to the afflictions which Satan, with the +divine approval, had sent upon him, and that on the other hand his +friends, like his wife, had urged him to curse God and die. The language +and phrases of this prose story are radically different from those in the +poem which constitutes the main body of the book. The unique explanation +of why Job was afflicted that is given in the opening chapters is also +completely ignored in the poetic dialogues (3-31). Likewise the problem of +whether or not Job fears God for naught, raised in the prologue, is not +taken up again except in the concluding prose epilogue. In the prose story +Job's piety conforms to the popular standards, while in the poetic +sections he is measured by the loftier ethical principles laid down by the +pre-exilic prophets (cf. chap. 31). In form, therefore, in aim, and in +content, the prose story differs fundamentally from the great dramatic +poem which constitutes the real book of Job. The main body of the book is +found in chapters 3-27, 29-31, 38:1-40:14, and 42:1-6. At a few points the +original order has apparently been disarranged and later hands have +frequently supplemented the older sections, but the literary unity of the +whole is obvious. In three cycles of speeches the problem of innocent +suffering is fully developed and the current solutions presented. In +conclusion the voice of Jehovah comes to Job calling him forth from +himself to the contemplation of the larger universe which manifests the +divine wisdom and rulership. + +The Elihu speeches in 32-37 are evidently from a still later author or +authors who wished to rebuke Job's seeming impiety and the failure of his +friends to bring forth a satisfactory explanation of the suffering of the +innocent. Its independence is shown by the presence of many Aramaic words, +by the lack of literary vigor, and by the frequent repetitions, which +distinguish it sharply from the writings of the author of the main body of +the book. Elihu and his contributions are also completely ignored in the +rest of the book and at points where, if they were original, certain +references would be almost inevitable. These speeches, in fact, are simply +a fuller development of the argument of Eliphaz found in the fifth +chapter. They also incorporate many suggestions drawn from the speeches of +Jehovah in chapters 38 and 39. + +II. Dates of the Different Parts. The classic Hebrew style and the +absence of Aramaic words indicate that the prose story is the oldest +section of the book. It also reasserts in modified form the dogma current +far down into the Persian period, that if the righteous but patiently +bear affliction they will surely in the end be richly rewarded. It +contains a message well adapted to the needs and beliefs of the Jewish +people during the calamities of the Babylonian period. Its conception +of Satan as the prosecuting attorney of heaven, and of Jehovah as a +transcendental ruler surrounded by a hierarchy of angels, is closely akin +to that which first appears in the second chapter of Zechariah. The +references to Job in Ezekiel 14:14,20, as one of the three heroes of +popular tradition famous for their piety, implies the existence during the +exile of a story closely akin to if not identical with the one found in +the prologue and epilogue of the book of Job. Such a story was probably +current long before the days of Ezekiel, but in its present form it was +not committed to writing until the latter part of the Babylonian or the +beginning of the Persian period. + +The first part of this story was evidently used by the author as an +introduction to the great dramatic poem. He thereby deliberately protested +against the solution of the problem of innocent suffering suggested by the +ancient story. The poem itself cannot be dated earlier than the middle of +the Persian period. In it the great ethical and social standards of the +pre-exilic prophets are fully accepted. Its marvelous breadth of vision +also implies an advanced stage in Israel's thinking. The problem of +suffering with which it deals is not merely that of the nation but of the +individual or of a class within the Judean community. It is precisely the +problem that confronted the author of Malachi and to which he refers in +3:13-16. It is the same problem that bulks largely in the psalms of this +period and finds its noblest solution in Isaiah 53. All its affinities, +therefore, confirm the conclusion that it comes from the middle of the +fifth century B.C. and is probably slightly older than Isaiah 49-55, +which presents a more fundamental treatment of the problem of human +suffering. The author still holds the old, prophetic conception of the +universe (38:4-6), and is unaffected by the priestly thought and +tendencies which became especially prominent during the closing years of +the Persian period. + +The Elihu speeches and the supplemental poem in description of wisdom in +28, and of the behemoth and leviathan in 40:15-41:34, probably come from +the Greek period. + +III. The Prose Story. In the prose story Job is pictured as a man of +superlative piety and prosperity. According to the popular standards of +the earlier day he lived a blameless life. His afflictions came simply as +a means of demonstrating the unselfish character of his piety. In rapid +succession he is stripped of all his possessions and afflicted by the +vilest of all diseases, apparently the loathsome tubercular leprosy. Even +his wife tempts him to curse God and die, but he fully meets the test, +and, according to the testimony of the concluding epilogue, receives +Jehovah's approval and is restored to the joys of family, reputation, and +riches. It is obvious that, as in the stories found in the opening +chapters of Genesis, this is a popular narrative freely adjusted to the +ends which the story-teller wished to attain. The incidents recorded are +not in keeping with the ordinary experiences of life, but belong rather to +the realm of popular fancy. As a reference in Ezekiel implies, it was +probably, like the similar stories regarding Noah and Daniel, a heritage +from the common Semitic lore. In fact, a recently discovered Babylonian +tablet tells of a famous king of Nippur, Tâbi-utul-Bêl by name, whose +experiences and spirit corresponds closely to those of the hero of this +prose story. + +The message of the prose story of Job, as it was sent out to the Jewish +race, was that it was not always possible to understand the reason why +the righteous were afflicted, but that if they faithfully met the test +restoration to Jehovah's approval, with the honor and reputation that +necessarily follow, were assured. To the nation such a message was not +without its practical application and value, but it failed completely to +meet the individual problems that became pathetically insistent during the +middle of the fifth century B.C. + +IV. The Poem of Job. In the later poetic version of the story (which +begins with the third chapter) Job himself is the embodiment of the +problem of innocent suffering. His friends' suppositions and condemnations +add still another burden to his weight of woe. More intolerable, however, +than loss of possessions, health, and reputation is his sense of being +forsaken and condemned by Jehovah. Job cannot shake himself entirely free +from the belief, which had been inculcated in his mind from earliest +infancy, that calamity was a sign of divine displeasure, and therefore of +sin on the part of the victim. In the series of monologues and dialogues +between Job and his friends he voices every phase of the great problem and +makes it concrete and objective. With marvellous psychological truth and +insight the author has presented the different phases of feeling through +which an innocent sufferer in Job's position naturally passes. At times +Job is intemperate in his speech and at other times he yields to +despondency; again his faith overleaps all obstacles and he holds for the +moment a clear belief in the ultimate vindication not only of himself but +of Jehovah's justice. + +His friends, on the other hand, formulate at length the current +Explanation of suffering. Job in his sharp retorts makes clear the +Inapplicability of the arguments and the limitations of the dogmas which +they constantly reassert. In the concluding speeches of Jehovah the author +with masterly skill takes Job out of his little circle into the larger +world of nature, and brings him face to face with the evidences of +Jehovah's might, wisdom, and gracious rulership of the great universe and +of the complex life of those who inhabit it. Above all, Job learns to know +God, not through the testimony of others, but by direct personal +experience, and this knowledge begets humility and trust. + +V. Progress in Job's Thought. The thought of the book of Job is +characteristically Oriental. Instead of moving straight on from premises +to conclusion it constantly reverts to the same themes yet advances +along independent, parallel lines. Its progress is not objective, as is +usually the case in a drama, but almost entirely subjective. These +parallel lines of progress are: (1) the conviction gradually crystallizing +into certainty that the current explanations of suffering are in certain +cases inadequate and false. While viewed from one point of view this +conclusion is merely negative, it nevertheless opened the eyes of Job +and his generation to a larger conception of Jehovah and a far broader +interpretation of the universe and of the laws which regulate it. The +second is that he is guilty of no crime commensurate with the calamity +which had overtaken him. Overwhelmed by misfortune and the reiterated +charges of his friends, only through a superhuman struggle did Job +ultimately attain the unshaken conviction that he was indeed innocent in +the sight of God and man. The third line of progress is that, if not in +the present life, in that beyond the grave his reputation would not only +be vindicated but he himself would be fully conscious of that vindication. + +As is illustrated by the third chapter, Job in common with his race still +shared the belief that for the ordinary individual life beyond the grave +was a shadowy existence, far removed from Jehovah's presence. This +conception of the life after death was inherited by the Israelites from +their Semitic ancestors, and was held in common by most ancient peoples, +both of the East and of the West. The Babylonians believed, however, that +certain favored mortals, as, for example, the hero of the flood, were +transported to the abode of the gods, there to enjoy blessed individual +immortality. The same belief is the foundation of the Hebrew stories +regarding Enoch and Elijah. This belief was apparently the germ which in +time developed, as in the twelfth chapter of Daniel, into the widespread +conviction that the grave would not hold those who had been loyal to +Jehovah, but that he would surely raise them again to a glorious life. In +the book of Job it is possible to trace the birth-pangs of this broader +hope. Conscious of his innocence and confronted by the grave, Job +repeatedly voices the deep conviction that God, because he is just, will +raise his afflicted servant from the grave and accord to him that justice +which seems excluded from his present life. This solution of the problem +of innocent suffering is not given the central place by the author of the +book of Job. It is safe, however, to conjecture that if the appearance of +Jehovah had not furnished to the author's mind a more satisfactory +conclusion, the vindication after death would have been the solution +offered. At several points Job approaches very close to the belief in +individual immortality which became a commonly accepted tenet in the +trying days of the Maccabean struggle. + +The fourth line of progress is that Jehovah, after all, must be just and +that he will right the seeming wrongs of life. In his opening speeches Job +gives free vent to the anguish and impatience that fills his tortured +mind. With a boldness strangely foreign to Hebrew thought, he charges +Jehovah with injustice and speaks of him as a cruel monster that watches +man, his helpless prey, and takes cruel pleasure in the pain which he +inflicts. As the discussion progresses Job's mind becomes calmer, and +the conviction that God, after all, is just comes more clearly to +expression. His strong utterances gradually yield to this quieter mood. +Even before he hears the voice of Jehovah, Job has attained an attitude of +trust, though he is still groping in darkness. Thus with marvelous +fidelity to human nature and experience the author of the book of Job +would have made a great contribution to the problem with which he was +dealing even had he not added the concluding speeches of Jehovah. + +VI. Significance of the Speeches of Jehovah. To many Western readers the +concluding speeches of Jehovah are unsatisfying. They lack the emphasis on +Jehovah's love and that divine tenderness in addressing the heroic +sufferer which to us would seem to have been a satisfactory conclusion to +the great drama. This element is furnished in characteristically concrete +form by the epilogue of the book, in which Job's prosperity is restored in +double measure and he is personally assured of Jehovah's favor. The severe +and realistic author of the great poem, however, knew that in ordinary +life such solutions are rare. In the speeches of Jehovah he does not +introduce an altogether new element, but emphasizes motifs already +developed in the earlier dialogues. The effect of these speeches upon Job +are threefold: (1) They rebuke his over-accentuated individualism. +(2) They reveal the fundamental contrast between the infinite God and +finite man. In the light of this revelation Job plainly recognizes his +presumption and folly in attempting, with his limited outlook, to +comprehend, much less to criticise, the mighty ruler of all the universe. +(3) After Job had thus been led out of himself into personal companionship +with God he was content to trust his all-wise guide, even though he +recognized his own inability to fathom the mysteries of the universe or to +solve the problem of innocent suffering. Thus the great contributions of +the book of Job to the problem of suffering are: (1) A clear and +scientific presentation of the problem; (2) a bold sweeping aside of +the insufficient current theological explanations; (3) a vastly enlarged +conception of Jehovah's character and rule; and (4) that attitude of +faith which comes from a personal experience of God and which trusts +unreservedly, even though it cannot see or divine the reason why, and in +that trust finds peace and joy. + +Although the thought of the book of Job is profound, and it deals in a +masterly manner with a fundamental human problem, it is more than a mere +philosophical discussion. Its primary aim is to set forth the vital truth +that God is not to be found through current theological dogmas or +intellectual discussions, but through personal experience. This is the +dominant note throughout the book. The greatest calamity that overtakes +Job in his hour of deepest distress is the sense of being shut away from +God's presence. + +Oh! that I knew where I might find him, +That I might come even to his throne! + +As he looks back fondly to the happy days of old the fact that stands +forth above all others is that + +The Almighty was yet with me. + +Looking forward to a possible vindication after death his hope centres +in the belief that + +Thou wouldst call and I myself would answer thee; +Thou wouldst long for the work of thy hands. + +When at last Jehovah answered Job out of the storm, it was not so much +the thought expressed as the fact that God had spoken directly to him +that brought penitence and peace: + +I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, +But now mine eye seeth thee. +Therefore I loath my words, +And repent in dust and ashes. + + + +Section XCIX. THE TRAINING AND MISSION OF THE TRUE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:1-3] +Hearken to me, ye coastlands, +And listen, ye distant peoples: +He hath called me from the womb, +From my mother's lap made mention of my name. +He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, +In the shadow of his hand he hid me, +He made me a polished arrow, +In his quiver he concealed me, +And he said to me, Thou art my servant, +Israel, in whom I will glorify myself. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:4] +But I said, I have labored in vain, +I spent my strength for nothing and vanity, +Nevertheless my right is with Jehovah, +And my recompense with my God. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:5, 6] +And now, thus saith Jehovah, +(He who formed from birth to be his servant, +To bring Jacob back to him, +And that Israel might be gathered to him; +For I was honored in the sight of Jehovah, +And my God became my strength): +It is too little a thing to be my servant, +To raise up the tribes of Jacob, +And to restore the survivors of Israel; +Therefore I will make thee the light of the nations, +That thy salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:7] +Thus saith Jehovah, +The Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, +To him who is heartily despised, +To the one abhorred of the people, a servant of rulers: +Kings shall see and arise, +Princes and they shall do homage, +Because of Jehovah who is faithful, +The Holy One of Israel who hath chosen thee. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:3-9b] +Thus saith Jehovah, +In a time of favor I answer thee, +And in a day of deliverance I help thee, +And I make thee a pledge to the people, +To raise up the [ruined] land, +To reapportion the desolate heritages, +Saying to those who are bound, 'Go forth,' +To those in darkness, 'Show yourselves!' + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:9c-11] +They shall pasture along all ways, +Even oh all the bare hills shall they graze. +They shall not be hungry nor thirsty, +Neither shall the glowing heat nor the sun smite them, +For he who hath pity on them shall lead them, +And to gushing fountains will he guide them. +And I will make all mountains a road, +And highways shall be built up. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:12,18] +Behold, these come from afar, +And these from the north and west, +And these from the land of the Syenites! +Shout with joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth! +Let the mountains break forth into shouts of joy! +For Jehovah hath had pity on his people, +And will show mercy to his afflicted ones. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 50:4-6] +The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of a trained disciple? +To give to the fainting a word of help, he waketh me early, +Early he waketh me, that I may listen as a disciple. +The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, +And I have not been wilful nor turned back rebelliously. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 50:6, 7] +My back I gave to smiters and my cheek to those who plucked the beard, +My face I hid not from insult and spitting, +For my Lord Jehovah is my helper; so that I am not confounded. +Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be + put to shame. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 50:5, 9] +He is near who justifieth me, who will contend with me? let us stand up + together! +Who is the adversary to oppose my cause? let him draw near to me! +Behold the Lord Jehovah is my helper; who is he that can harm me? +Lo, they shall all fall to pieces like a garment, the moth shall consume + them. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 50:10] +Who among you feareth Jehovah, let him hearken to the voice of his + servant? +Who walked in darkness, having no light, +Let him trust in the name of Jehovah and rely on his God? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 52:13-18] +Behold, my servant shall prosper, +He shall be raised up and highly exalted. +Even as many were appalled at him, +So shall many nations tremble, +Kings will close their mouths before him, +When what has not been told them they see, +And what they have not heard they perceive. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:1-2b] +Who believed what has been reported to us, +And to whom was Jehovah's might revealed? +For he grew up before us as a young shoot, +And as a root out of dry ground. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:2c-f] +He had no form that we should regard him, +Nor appearance that we should delight in him. +His appearance was more disfigured than any man's +And his form than any human being's. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:3] +He was despised and forsaken of men, +A man of suffering and acquainted with sickness; +Like one for whom men hide their face, +He was despised so that we esteemed him not. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:4] +Surely our sickness he himself bore, +And our sufferings--he carried them, +Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, +Smitten of God and afflicted. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:5] +But he was wounded for our transgressions, +Crushed because of our iniquities; +The chastisement for our well-being was upon him, +And through his stripes healing came to us. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:6] +All of us, like sheep, had gone astray, +We had turned each to his own way; +While Jehovah made to light upon him +The guilt of us all. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:7] +Yet when afflicted he opened not his mouth; +Like a lamb led to the slaughter, +And like a sheep dumb before her shearers, +So he opened not his mouth. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:8] +By an oppressive judgment was he taken away, +Yet who of his generation considered +That he had been cut off from the land of the living; +For our transgressions had been stricken to death? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:9] +And his grave was made with the wicked, +And among evil-doers his burial mound, +Although he had done no violence, +Neither was deceit in his mouth. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:10-11b] +Yet Jehovah was pleased to crush him; +Through giving himself as an offering for guilt, +He shall see posterity and length of days, +And the pleasure of Jehovah will be realized in his hands; +Out of his own suffering he shall see light, +He shall be satisfied with his knowledge. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:11c-12] +My righteous servant shall make many righteous, +And himself will bear the burden of their iniquities. +Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, +And with the strong shall he divide spoil, +Because he poured out his life-blood, +And was numbered with transgressors, +And himself bore the sins of many, +And interposed for transgressors. + +I. The Different Portraits of Jehovah's Servant. Isaiah 49-54 contains +three distinct portraits of the ideal servant of Jehovah. Each in turn +develops characteristics suggested in the preceding. These descriptions +are interspersed with exhortations addressed to Jehovah's servant Israel +and assurances that God will fully restore Jerusalem and bring back her +scattered children. These three portraits of the type of servant that +Jehovah required to realize his purpose in human history, together with +the earlier portrait in 42:1-7, supplement each other. In the first of +these four (42:1-7) the prophetic qualities of the servant are especially +emphasized. Like the earlier prophets, he will not fail nor be discouraged +until he has established justice in the earth. His task is to open blind +eyes and to deliver prisoners from the darkness of ignorance and sin in +which they were sitting. In the second picture (49:1-9a) the world-wide +mission of the servant is emphasized. He is called not only to gather the +outcasts of Israel, but also as an apostle to bring light to all the +nations of the earth. In this passage for the first time appears that note +of suffering and ignominy which is the lot of the true servant of Jehovah. +In the third portrait (50:4-10) the servant is pictured as a disciple, +attentively listening to the divine teachings, learning the lessons which +will fit him in turn to become a teacher of men. The last and fullest +picture (52:13-53:12) describes at length his suffering. A strong contrast +is drawn between his present shame and ignominy and the future glory and +victory which he will achieve through his voluntary and complete +self-sacrifice. These pictures embody the prophet's ideal, and they can be +fully understood only in the light of their historical background. + +II. The Prophet's Purpose. In his earlier poems this great unknown +prophet dealt largely with the interpretation of Israel's past history +and the proclamation of the coming deliverance (40-48). His chief aims in +chapters 49-55 may be briefly epitomized as follows: (1) to interpret the +inner meaning of the period of adversity through which the Jewish race was +then passing; (2) to make absolutely clear the character and quality of +the service that Jehovah required of his chosen people, if they were to +realize his purpose in human history; (3) to inspire them all to make the +needed sacrifices and thus to prove themselves true servants of Jehovah; +(4) especially to make plain to the innocent and faithful sufferers in the +Judean community the real meaning and value of their present shame and +suffering, if bravely and voluntarily borne. + +III, Character and Condition of Those to Whom the Prophet Appealed. From +the allusions in the prophecies themselves it is possible to determine the +classes that the prophet had in mind. In 49:2 his address is to the coast +lands and the distant peoples who lived at the extremities of Israel's +horizon. It is not probable, however, that he anticipated that his message +in its present form would go out as it has to all races and nations; +rather his attention was fixed on the scattered members of his own race, +those who lived in the north and the west and in the distant city of +Syene, far up the Nile (49:12). In 49:3 he clearly identifies the nation +Israel as Jehovah's servant, whom he makes declare: + +Jehovah said to me, Thou art my servant, +Israel, in whom I will glorify myself. + +It is evident, however, that the prophet has especially in mind the Judean +community amidst which he lived and for which he worked. In 54, as +elsewhere, he calls upon this group of discouraged Jews to enlarge their +tent, for their period of punishment is over and their foundation and +walls are about to be rebuilt. At last they shall cease to tremble at the +fury of the oppressor. In 51:18-20 he addresses Jerusalem directly and +gives a vivid picture of its condition before the appearance of Nehemiah: + +Rouse thee! Rouse thee! stand up, O Jerusalem, +Who hast drunk at Jehovah's hand the cup of his wrath! +The bowl of reeling thou hast drunken, hast drained! +There is none to guide thee of all the sons whom thou hast borne, +And none to take thee by the hand of all the sons whom thou hast reared. +These two things have befallen thee--who can condole with thee? +Desolation and destruction, famine and the sword--who can comfort thee? + +IV. The Task and Training of Jehovah's Servant. The term servant means +literally slave, not in the Western sense, but in that of the ancient +East, where a slave was often a privileged member of society. In many a +Hebrew household the slaves, next to the children, enjoyed the protection +and consideration of the master of the household. He was under obligation +to guard their welfare and interests. On the other hand, slaves, like +Eleazar in the story of Abraham (Gen. 26) faithfully cared for the +interests of their master and spared no effort to carry out his commands. +Semitic usage had also given the term slave a significant meaning. The +faithful officials of all Oriental kings called themselves his servants +or slaves. It was the common term expressing, on the one hand, confidence +and protection, and on the other, devotion, loyalty, and service. Most of +Israel's patriarchs, kings, and prophets are spoken of as the servants or +slaves of Jehovah. Haggai, in his address to Zerubbabel, called him +Jehovah's servant. In Deuteronomy 32:36 the people of Israel are called +the servants of Jehovah, and, as has been noted, in the prophecies of the +II Isaiah they are frequently referred to as the servant of Jehovah. +The term, therefore, was well chosen to express that complete devotion +And loyalty to Jehovah which the prophet aimed to evoke from his +fellow-countrymen. It was also free from the kingly associations and +material interpretation that were connected with the word Messiah. + +The prophet's aim was to present so vividly the task and methods of the +true servant of Jehovah that all would recognize a personal call to duty. +He emphasizes three distinct yet related elements in the mission of the +servant. They were: (1) To free the prisoners from their captivity, +whether imprisoned by walls of stone or brick or under the tyranny of +fears and false ideas. (2) To restore the scattered tribes of Israel and +thus to lay the foundations for a renewed national life that would furnish +concrete evidence to all the world of Jehovah's power to deliver. (3) To +go beyond the narrow bounds of their race and to bring to the nations that +were groping in the darkness of heathenism the knowledge and truth that +had been imparted to Israel. Thus the unknown prophet laid the foundations +for that Kingdom of God, that dominion of God in nature and in the minds +of men that was the guide and inspiration of all later prophets and the +goal for whose realization the Great Teacher and Prophet of Nazareth +labored and died. + +The prophet places great emphasis upon the training of Jehovah's servant. +He declares that from birth Jehovah formed him to be his servant. In +[50:4-7] he is spoken of as a trained disciple attentively listening to +the words of his divine teacher, never rebelling at the bitterness of the +needful discipline, but ever seeking to prepare himself to give to the +fainting a word of help. The steadfastness with which he endures shame and +bitter wrongs is the evidence of his ability as a disciple and an +essential part in his preparation for his exalted mission. + +V. Methods of Jehovah's Servant. In accomplishing his task the servant +is to use definite instruction, but his teaching is to be illustrated by +his own character and attitude. By the voluntary, uncomplaining endurance +of ignominy and suffering he is to do Jehovah's work and win the grateful +recognition, not only of his divine Master, but of all succeeding +generations. Through a keen analysis of life the prophet had attained to a +clear appreciation of the inestimable value of voluntary self-sacrifice. +He saw that it was the most effective means of uplifting the race and +leading mankind to accept God's mastery over their minds and lives. The +truth here presented is illustrated in human experience as clearly to-day +as in the past. The self-denying service of parents is absolutely +essential if their children are to attain to the noblest manhood and +womanhood. Only through the self-sacrificing labors of those who love +their fellow-men can social evils be removed and society attain its +highest development. The low standards in the business and professional +world can be raised only as certain men, with the spirit and courage of +the ancient prophets, make their own personal interests and popularity +subservient to the rigorous demands of justice. It is the law of life that +he who would elevate the standards of his associates and thus lead men to +the fullest realization of the divine ideals must ordinarily do it in the +face of opposition, ignominy, and seeming failure. It is this quiet, +heroic self-sacrifice--the heroism of the commonplace--that the great +prophet proclaims is the absolutely essential characteristic of Jehovah's +servant. Despised by his contemporaries, the victim of persecution and +calamity, he must do his task, leaving the reward and the appreciation to +Jehovah and to the enlightened sense of later generations. + +VI. Realization of the Ideal of Service. The portrait is so concrete +that the question naturally arises, Who was the servant of whom the +prophet was speaking? Undoubtedly the tragic experiences of such prophets +as Jeremiah suggested many elements in the picture. For half a century +that faithful servant of Jehovah suffered, often shrinkingly, yet +voluntarily, a constant martyrdom. Upon him fell the persecutions of his +countrymen. Yet in the life of later Judaism those principles for which he +lived and died gained acceptance and application. Of him it may be truly +said: + +He was numbered with trangressors, +And himself bore the sins of many, +And interposed for transgressors. + +The unknown author of these immortal poems spoke out of the depth of his +own painful experience and doubtless in a large degree realized the +ideals of service which he thus effectively set forth. Those of his +contemporaries who, amidst persecution and insults, in their lives +embodied the ideals of the earlier prophets were crushed like Jeremiah +because of the iniquities of others; but by thus pouring out their +life-blood they brought healing to their race. Nehemiah, in responding to +the call of service and in turning his back upon the allurements of the +Persian court in order to rebuild the city of his fathers, proved himself +a faithful servant of Jehovah. With true insight the Christian Church +has always recognized that in the character and life of Jesus is found +the only complete realization of this ancient ideal of service. With the +immortal chapters of the II Isaiah he was clearly familiar, and from +them he doubtless received many suggestions regarding his divine mission +and the methods by which it was to be accomplished. Their author was +clearly speaking to his contemporaries; but in portraying the way in +which Jehovah's purpose in human history could alone be realized he +presented an ideal which has a permanent significance in the thought of +the human race, Paul rightly recognized that the same responsibility to +make this ideal a reality rested upon him, and all who would serve God, +when he quoted the words of 49:6 (cf. Acts 13:47): + +"I have set thee for a light of the Gentiles +That thou shouldst be for salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth." + + + +Section C. NEHEMIAH'S WORK IN REBUILDING THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM + +[Sidenote: Neh. 1:1-3] +Now in the month of Chislev [November-December, 446 B.C.], I was in +Shushan the royal palace, when Hanani, one of my kinsmen came, together +with certain men from Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews who had +escaped, who were left from the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And +they said to me, The survivors who are left from the captivity there in +the provinces are in great misfortune and reproach, and the wall of +Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been destroyed by fire. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 1:4-11b] +Now when I heard these statements I sat down and wept, and mourned certain +days; and I fasted and made supplication before the God of heaven, and I +said, 'I beseech thee, O Jehovah, the God of heaven, the great and +terrible God, who keepeth the covenant and showeth kindness to them who +love and keep his commands; let thine ears now be attentive and thine eyes +open, to hear the supplication of thy servant, which I am now making +before thee, day and night, for the Israelites thy servants, while I +confess the sins of the Israelites, which we have sinned against thee, as +I also and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very wickedly +against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor +the ordinances, which thou didst command thy servant Moses. Remember, I +beseech thee, the word which thou didst command thy servant Moses, saying, +"If ye trespass I will scatter you abroad among the peoples; but if ye +return to me, and keep my commands and do them, then, though your outcasts +were at the ends of the earth, yet will I gather them thence and will +bring them to the place that I have chosen, there to cause my name to +dwell." Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed +by thy great power and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let +thine ear be attentive to the supplication of thy servant, and to the +supplications of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name; and give +success to thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this +man. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 1:11c-2:8] +Now I was cupbearer to the king. And it came to pass in the month of +Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when I had charge of +the wine, that I took up the wine and gave it to the king, and I had not +beforetime been sad. And the king said to me, 'Why is your countenance +sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.' +Then I was greatly afraid, and I said to the king, 'Let the king live +forever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of +my fathers' sepulchres, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed +by fire?' And then the king said to me, 'For what do you make request? So +I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, 'If it please the +king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you would +send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may +rebuild it.' And the king said to me (and the queen was also sitting by +him), 'For how long will your journey be? And when will you return?' Then +it pleased the king to send me; for I set him a time. Moreover I said to +the king, 'If it please the king, let official letters be given me to the +governors of the province beyond the River, that they may let me pass +through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the +king's park, that he may give me the timber to make beams for the gates of +the castle, which belongs to the temple, and for the wall of the city, and +for the house that I shall enter. And the king granted me this, according +to the hand of my God which kindly cared for me. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 2:9-16] +Then I came to the governors of the province beyond the River, and gave +them the king's official letters. Now the king had sent with me military +officers and horsemen. And when Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the +Ammonite slave, heard of it, it troubled them exceedingly, that one had +come to seek the welfare of the Israelites. So I came to Jerusalem and was +there three days. And I arose in the night, together with a few of my +followers, and I told no man what my God had put into my heart to do for +Jerusalem, neither was there any beast with me, except the beast upon +which I rode. And I went out by night through the Valley Gate, toward the +Dragon's Well and to the Dung Gate, and investigated carefully the walls +of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and where its gates had been +destroyed by fire. Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's +Pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then +I went up in the night by the Brook Kidron and investigated carefully the +wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. +And the rulers did not know where I went or what I did, neither had I as +yet told it to the Jews nor to the priests nor to the nobles nor to the +rulers nor to the rest who did the work. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 2:17-20] +Then I said to them, 'You see the bad condition in which we are, how +Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates are destroyed by fire. Come and let +us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more an object of +reproach.' And I told them of the hand of my God, which had kindly cared +for me, as also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. And they +said, 'Let us rise up and build.' So they strengthened their hands for the +good work. But when Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the Ammonite +slave, and Geshem the Arabian heard it, they jeered at us and despised us, +and said, 'What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against +the king?' Then I answered and said to them, 'The God of heaven, he will +give us success, for we his servants will proceed to build; but you shall +have no portion nor right nor memorial in Jerusalem.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:1, 2] +Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his kinsmen the priests and +built the Sheep Gate; they laid its beams and set up the doors, even to +the Tower of the Hundred, and to the Tower of Hananel. And next to him the +men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:3-5] +And the Fish Gate the sons of Hassenaah built; they laid its beams, and +set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And next to them Meremoth and +Meshullam and Zadok and the Tekoites repaired the wall; but their nobles +did not bend their necks in the service of their lord. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:6-12] +And the Old Gate Joida repaired; they laid its beams, and set up its +doors, its bolts, and its bars. And next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite +and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, which belongs +to the jurisdiction of the governor of the province beyond the River, +repaired. Next to him Uzziel, one of the goldsmiths, repaired. And next to +him Hananiah, one of those who prepare sweet ointments, repaired. And they +fortified Jerusalem even to the broad wall. And next to them Rephaiah, +the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired. And next to them +Jedaiah repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush and Malchijah +and Hasshub repaired another section, even to the Tower of the Furnaces. +And next to him Shallum, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, +together with its dependencies, repaired. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:13, 14] +The Valley Gate Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired; they built +it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and also built a +thousand cubits of the wall to the Dung Gate. And the Dung Gate Malchijah, +the ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, together with his sons, +repaired. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:15-27] +And the Fountain Gate Shallun, the ruler of the district of Mizpah, +repaired; and he built it, and covered it, and set up its doors, its +bolts, and its bars, and he also built the wall of the Pool of Siloam by +the King's Garden, even to the stairs that go down from the city of David. +After him Nehemiah, the ruler of half the district of Bethzur, repaired to +the place opposite the Sepulchres of David, even to the pool that was made +and to the House of the Warriors. After him Rehum the son of Bani +repaired. Next to him Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, +repaired for his district. After him their kinsmen Bennui, the ruler of +half the district of Keilah, repaired. And next to him Ezer, the ruler of +Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the +bend in the wall. After him Baruch repaired from the bend in the wall to +the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. After him Meremoth +repaired another section, from the entrance to the house of Eliashib even +to the end of the house of Eliashib. And after him the priests, the men of +the Plain of the Jordan, repaired. After them Benjamin and Hasshub +repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah repaired beside his own +house. After him Binnui repaired another section, from the house of +Azariah to the bend in the wall and to the corner. After him Palal +repaired opposite the bend and the upper tower that stands out from the +royal palace of the king, which is toward the court of the guard. After +him Pedaiah repaired, to the place opposite the Water Gate toward the east +and the tower that stands out. After him the Tekoites repaired another +section, opposite the great tower that stands out and to the wall of +Ophel. And the temple servants dwelt in Ophel. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:28-32] + +Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own +house. After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. +After him Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, +repaired. After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanum the sixth son +of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of +Berschiah repaired opposite his chamber. After him Malchijah, one of the +goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the +merchants, opposite the Gate of the Watch Tower and to the ascent of the +corner. And between the ascent of the corner and the Sheep Gate the +goldsmiths and the merchants repaired. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 4:1-5] +Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, his anger was +aroused and he was very indignant, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke +before his kinsmen and the army of Samaria and said, 'What are these +feeble Jews doing? Will they leave it to God? Will they sacrifice? +Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the +heaps of rubbish, although they are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was +with him, and he said, 'Even that which they are building, if a fox should +go up on it, he would break down their stone wall!' Hear, O our God--for +we are despised--and turn back their reproach upon their own head and give +them up as an object of spoil in a land of captivity, and cover not their +iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out from thy sight, for they +have provoked thee to anger before the builders. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 4:6-8] +So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its +height, for the people were eager to work. But when Sanballat and Tobiah +and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites, heard that the +restoration of the walls of Jerusalem was progressing, so that the +breaches began to be stopped, they were very angry. And they all conspired +together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to produce a panic +therein. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 4:9-14] +But we made supplication to our God, and set a watch as a protection +against them day and night. Then the Judean community said, 'The strength +of the burden-bearers is broken, for there is much rubbish; so that we +shall not be able to rebuild the wall. And our adversaries have said, +"They shall neither know nor see, until we come into their midst and slay +them and bring the work to a standstill."' And it came to pass that when +the Jews who dwelt by them came, they said to us ten times, 'From all the +places where they dwell they will come up against us.' Therefore I +stationed in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the +protected places, I set there the people by their families with their +swords, their spears, and their bows. And when I saw their fear, I rose up +and said to the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, +'Be not afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and +fight for your kinsmen, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your +homes.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 4:15-23] +And when our enemies heard that their plan was known to us and God had +brought it to nought, we all of us returned to the wall, each to his own +work. And from that time on, while half of my servants were engaged in the +work, half of them held the lances, the shields, the bows, and the coats +of mail; and the rulers stood behind all the house of Judah. Those who +built the wall and those who bore burdens were also armed, each with one +of his hands engaged in the work, and with the other was ready to grasp +his spear; and each of the builders had his sword girded by his side, and +so builded. And he who sounded the trumpet was by me. And I said to the +nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, 'The work is great +and extensive, and we are separated upon the wall far from each other. In +whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather there to us; our +God will fight for us.' So we were active in the work, while half of them +held the lances from the gray of morning until the stars came out. Also I +said at that time to the people, Let each man with his servant lodge in +Jerusalem, that they may be a guard to us by night and may labor by day. +So neither I, nor my kinsmen, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard +who accompanied me, not one of us took off our clothes, each had his spear +in his hand. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 6:1-9] +Now when it was reported to Sanballat and to Tobiah and to Geshem the +Arabian and to the rest of our enemies, that I had rebuilt the wall and +that there was no breach was left in it--though even to that time I had +not set up the doors in the gates--Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, +saying, 'Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of +Ono.' But they planned to do me injury. So I sent messengers to them, +saying, 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down; why should +the work cease, while I leave it and come down to you?' And they sent to +me in this way four times, and I gave them the same answer. Then Sanballat +sent his servant to me in the same way the fifth time with an open letter +in his hand, in which was written, 'It is reported among the nations, and +Gashmu confirms it, that you and the Jews plan to rebel, and that this is +the reason you are building the wall, and that you would be their king, +and that you also have appointed prophets to preach of you at Jerusalem, +saying, "There is a king in Judah." And now it will be reported to the +king to this effect. Come now, therefore, and let us take counsel +together.' Then I sent to him, saying, 'No such things have been done as +you say, but you have devised them in your own mind.' For they all would +have made us afraid, thinking, 'Their hands shall be weakened from the +work, that it may not be done.' But now, O God, strengthen thou my hands. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 6:10-14] +And when I went to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of +Mehetabel, who was shut up at home, he said, 'Let us meet together in the +house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: +for they are coming to slay you in the night; yes, in the night they are +coming to slay you!' And I said, 'Should such a man as I flee? And how +could anyone like me [a layman] enter the chief room of the temple and +still live? I will not enter.' Then I perceived and it was clear that God +had not sent him; but he pronounced this prophecy against me, because +Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him, that I should be alarmed and act +accordingly and sin; and it would have given them occasion for an evil +report, that they might reproach me. Remember, O my God, Tobiah and +Sanballat according to these their acts, and also the prophetess Noadiah +and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 6:15, 16] +So the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in +fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard, all the surrounding +nations feared and fell in their own esteem, for they perceived that this +work had been done by our God. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 6:17-19] +Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, +and those of Tobiah came to them. For many in Judah had taken oath to him, +because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah and his son +Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, as +wife. Also they praised his good deeds before me and reported my words to +him. Then Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 7:1-3] +Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the +porters and the singers and the Levites had been appointed, I placed my +brother Hanani and Hananiah the commander of the castle in charge of +Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man, and more God-fearing than many. And +I said to them, 'Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is +hot; and while watchmen are still on guard, let them shut the doors and +bar them. Also appoint watches consisting of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, +every one in his watch and each opposite his own house.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 7:4, 5a] +Now the city was wide and large; but there were few people in it, and the +households were not large. Therefore my God put it into my mind to gather +together the nobles and the rulers and the people. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 12: 31, 32, 37-40] +Then I had the rulers of Judah take their position upon the wall, and I +appointed two great companies that gave thanks, and the first went to the +right hand upon the wall toward the Dung Gate. And behind them went +Hoshaiah and half of the nobles of Judah. And by the Fountain Gate, they +went straight up the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the +wall, above the house of David, even to the Water Gate on the east. And +the other company of those who gave thanks went to the left, and I after +them, with the half of the nobles of the people, upon the wall, above the +Tower of the Furnaces, even to the broad wall, and above the Gate of +Ephraim and by the Old Gate and by the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel +and the Tower of the Hundred, even to the Sheep Gate; and they stood in +the Gate of the Guard. So the two companies of those who gave thanks in +the house of God took their position, and I, and the half of the rulers +with me. + +I. Nehemiah's Memoirs. Fortunately the author of the books of Ezra and +Nehemiah has quoted at length in the opening chapters of Nehemiah from the +personal memoirs of the noble patriot through whose activity the walls of +Jerusalem were restored. They are the best historical records in the Old +Testament and they shed clear, contemporary light upon this most important +period in the evolution of Judaism. The narrative is straightforward and +vivid. It lights up the otherwise dark period that precedes Nehemiah and +enables the historian to bridge with assurance the century that intervened +before the apocryphal book of I Maccabees throws its light upon the course +of Israel's troubled history. The detailed description of the rebuilding +of the walls in Nehemiah 3 is probably from the Chronicler, but it reveals +an intimate acquaintance with the topography and the later history of +Judah's capital. + +II. Nehemiah's Response to the Call to Service. The presence of a +deputation from Jerusalem (including Nehemiah's kinsman Hanani) in +the distant Persian capital of Susa was not a mere accident. Nehemah's +response to their appeal and the epoch-making movement which he +inaugurated reveal the presence of an impelling force. Probably back of +all this movement was the work of the great prophet who speaks in Isaiah +40-66. In all that Nehemiah did that influence may be seen. In the fervent +and patriotic prayer that he uttered on learning of conditions in +Jerusalem he used the term servant or servants of Jehovah eight times in +six short verses. It also echoes the phraseology and thought of the II +Isaiah. + +The king under whom Nehemiah served was evidently Artaxerxes I. In +Nehemiah 12:10-11 the Chronicler states that Eliashib, the high priest +in the days of Nehemiah, was the grandson of Joshua, who shared in +the rebuilding of the temple in 520 B.C. Eliashib was also the +great-grandfather of Jaddua, who was high priest in Jerusalem in 332 B.C., +when Alexander conquered Palestine. References in the recently discovered +Elephantine letters, as well as in the history of Josephus, confirm the +conclusion that Nehemiah set out upon his expedition in the spring of +445 B.C. Like all those who ministered personally to the Persian kings, +he was probably a eunuch and still a young man. The true piety which is +revealed in his prayer, the courage shown by his daring to appear with sad +face in the presence of the absolute tyrant who ruled the Eastern world, +and his tact in winning the king's consent to his departure indicate that +he was a man of rare energy and ability. Artaxerxes I was famous for +his susceptibility to the influence of court favorites. The queen +referred to in 1:6 was probably the queen-mother Amestris, who exercised +commanding authority in the Persian court. Without the royal consent and +the resources and authority granted him, Nehemiah could hardly have +accomplished the large task which he undertook. The arduous journey of +fifteen hundred miles over mountains and barren deserts was enough to +daunt a man reared in the luxury of an Oriental court, but Nehemiah was +inspired by an ideal of service which recognized no obstacles. + +III. Obstacles that Confronted Him. The high-priestly rulers do not +appear to have welcomed Nehemiah with enthusiasm. Some of them, at least, +later sought to undermine his work. It is not difficult to infer the +reason for their apathy. Intrenched wealth and authority are usually +conservative, especially if conscious that their position is easily +assailable. As the sequel proved, these leaders of the community were +simply intent upon self-aggrandizement, even at the expense of the +dependent members of the community. A revolutionizing work like that +proposed by Nehemiah was certain to affect their vested interests and to +reveal their cruel selfishness. Certain of their families had also +intermarried with neighboring chieftains; and they were quite content with +the existing conditions. A second obstacle was the opposition of the +hostile peoples who surrounded the little Judean community. On the east +the Ammonites had apparently pressed in and occupied the ancient Hebrew +territory as far as the Jordan. Tobiah, the Ammonite, who figures +prominently in Nehemiah's narrative, was probably one of their local +chiefs. Gashmu, the Arabian, represented the half-civilized Bedouin tribes +that had invaded the territory of Judea from the south and east during the +period of weakness following the destruction of Jerusalem. Possibly he +belonged to the Edomites who then held Hebron and all of the southern part +of Judea. Nehemiah also refers to the descendents of Israel's ancient +foes, the Philistines, living in the city of Ashdod. On the north the +superior resources of Samaria had asserted themselves, and these survivors +of the ancient Israelites who lived among the hills of Ephraim had grown +into a powerful nation that overshadowed the struggling Judean community. +These northerners, however, still worshipped at Jerusalem and were closely +allied with the Jews. At their head was Sanballat, the Horonite, who +probably came from Bethhoron, in southwestern Samaria. Each of these +peoples inherited the feeling of hostility with which their fathers had +regarded the people of Judah, and looked with suspicion upon any movement +to re-establish Jerusalem's former strength and prestige. Furthermore, the +men of the Judean community itself lacked courage and training. With +inefficient helpers and with opponents within and without the community, +Nehemiah's task seemed well-nigh impossible. That he succeeded in the face +of all these obstacles in rebuilding the walls in the incredibly short +period of fifty-two days is only explained by his superlative skill, +devotion, and energy. + +IV. Nehemiah's Plan of Work. Fortunately Nehemiah possessed resources as +well as tact. He quickly disarmed the opposition and won at least the +nominal support of the leaders by entertaining one hundred and fifty of +them as his guests. Thus he was able to place them under personal +obligation to him, to keep them under close surveillance, and to command +their co-operation. In the second place he appealed to them and to the +people by means of eloquent addresses which reveal his enthusiasm and +devotion. Furthermore, he did not depend upon the reports of others, but +personally studied the situation. His secret mid-night ride down through +the Valley Gate to the southwest of Jerusalem and thence eastward along +the Hinnom Valley to the point where it joins the Kidron, and from there +up the valley, gave him most accurate information regarding conditions. In +most cases the ancient foundations of the city walls still remained. The +first need was to remove the rubbish and where stones had fallen to +replace them. The towers required certain timbers, which were cut probably +from the royal domains to the south of the city. Nehemiah enlisted all +members of the community both within and without Jerusalem. He organized +them under their local leaders and set them to the task in which each was +most interested. Thus the heads of the different villages, the elders of +the leading families, the guilds of workmen, and even the priests, were +all put to work and inspired by the spirit of natural rivalry as well as +common loyalty. Nehemiah himself with his immediate followers directed the +work, and instituted a strict military rule which secured both efficiency +and protection. + +V. The Restored Walls. In the light of recent excavations at Jerusalem +it is possible to follow Nehemiah's work in detail. In the destruction of +the walls by the Chaldeans the city had suffered most on the north where +it was nearly level and protected by no descending valleys. Just north of +the temple area a little valley ran up from the Kidron, leaving but a +narrow neck of land connected directly with the plateau on the north. Here +two great towers were restored that probably occupied the site of the +later Roman tower of Antonia. Thence the wall ran westward across the +upper Tyropoean Valley, which was here comparatively level. Numerous +bands of workmen were assigned to this part of the work. The gate of the +old wall was probably identical with the corner gate at the northwestern +end of the city. The Ephraim Gate a little further to the southwest +apparently corresponded to the modern Joppa Gate. From this point a broad +wall ran to the western side of the city where the hill descended rapidly +into the Valley of Hinnom, making its defence easy. At the southwestern +end of the city stood the Tower of the Furnaces and the Valley Gate of +which the foundations have recently been laid bare. The gate itself was +narrow, being only eight feet wide, but the wall was here nine feet in +thickness. The eighteen hundred or two thousand feet of wall along the +Valley of Hinnom was evidently practically intact, for its repair was +Intrusted to but one group of workmen. Across the southern end of the +Tyropoean Valley the ground was almost level, so that a strong wall was +required. Excavations have shown that it was twenty feet thick at its base +and supported by six strong buttresses. The Fountain Gate, through which +ran the main street down the Tyropoean Valley out into the valley of the +Kidron, was the chief southern gate of the city. It was nine feet wide +and defended by a tower about forty-five feet square. Portions of this +ancient thoroughfare, with its stones, worn smooth by the feet of the +inhabitants of the ancient city, have here been uncovered. Just above the +Pool of Siloam, which was within the city walls, was the King's Garden. + +Thence the Hill of Ophel ascended rapidly making necessary the stairs +mentioned in Nehemiah 3. The wall on the southeast was readily repaired, +for it ran along the sloping western side of the Kidron Valley. The Water +Gate probably led down to the Virgin's Fount, and the Horse Gate further +to the north opened directly from the Kidron Valley to the public +buildings that occupied the site of Solomon's palace immediately to the +south of the temple. It is the space to-day occupied by the southern end +of the temple area, which was thus extended in the days of Herod. Opposite +the northeastern end of the temple area the wall curved westward until it +reached the great towers that guarded the northern end of the city. + +VI. Completion and Dedication of the Walls. Under the inspiration of +Nehemiah's leadership, and as a result of the constant fear of attack, the +building of the walls proceeded rapidly and without interruption. To the +threats of hostile foes Nehemiah paid little heed. Trained in the Persian +court, he saw at once their murderous purpose when they requested a +conference in southwestern Samaria on the border of the Plain of Ono. +Through the treacherous prophets in the Judean community they sought to +play upon his fears and to lead him to compromise himself by taking refuge +in the sacred precincts of the temple, but his courage, as well as his +high respect for the sanctuary, delivered him from the plot. The cry that +he was himself aspiring to the kingship and that his acts were treason +against Persia did not daunt him, and when, in response to their malicious +reports, the order finally came from the Persian king to cease working, +the walls were already rebuilt. + +Apparently Nehemiah's original leave of absence was for but a short +period. His kinsman Hanani, who had headed the original deputation to +Susa, and a certain Hananiah were by him placed in charge of the city. To +protect it against sudden attack its gates were closed at night and not +opened until the middle of the following forenoon. Effective measures +were also instituted to increase its population. When the work of +rebuilding the walls was complete, Nehemiah arranged for their public +dedication. Starting from the Valley Gate on the southwestern side of the +city, one half of the nobles and the people marched along the southern +and eastern wall, while Nehemiah with the other half of the people +proceeded along the western and northern wall. Finally meeting on the +northern side of the temple area, the two companies blended their voices +in thanksgiving to Jehovah who at last had made it possible for them to +worship him in his sanctuary secure from attack. + +Nehemiah had reorganized the Judean community, rebuilt their walls, and +inspired them with a new sense of self-respect; thus he made possible +that genuine revival of the Judean state that took place during the +succeeding centuries. He, like Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, and the II +Isaiah, was indeed one of the makers of Judaism. Ben Sira with true +insight declared (49:13): + +The memorial of Nehemiah is great, +Who raised up for us the walls that were fallen, +And set up the gates and bars, +And raised up our homes again. + + + +Section CI. NEHEMIAH'S SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS REFORMS + +[Sidenote: Isa. 56:1, 2] +Thus saith Jehovah, +Guard justice and practice righteousness. +For my deliverance is near at hand, and my righteousness is soon to be + revealed. +Happy the man who practices, the mortal who holds fast to it, +Keeping the sabbath so as not to profane it, and keeping his hand from + evil. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 56:3-5] +Let not the foreigner who hath joined himself to Jehovah say, +'Jehovah will surely separate me from his people.' +And let not the eunuch say, 'Behold I am a dry tree.' +For thus saith Jehovah to the eunuchs, 'Those who keep my sabbaths, +And choose that in which I delight, and hold fast to my covenant, +I will give them in my house and walls a monument, +And a name better than sons and daughters, +An everlasting name will I give them which cannot be cut off. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 56:6-8] +And the foreigners who join themselves to Jehovah to minister to him, +And to love the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, +Every one who keeps the sabbath so as not to pollute it and faithfully + abides by my covenant-- +Them will I bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of + prayer; +Their burnt-offerings and sacrifices will be accepted upon my altar; +For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. +It is the oracle of Jehovah, who gathereth the outcasts of Israel, +'I will gather still others to him in addition to those already gathered.' + +[Sidenote: Isa. 56:9-12] +O all ye wild beasts of the field come to devour, all ye wild beasts of + the forest! +My watchmen are all blind, they know not how to give heed, +They are all dumb dogs which cannot bark, +Dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. +And the dogs are greedy, they know not how to be satisfied, +They all turn to their own way, each for his own profit [saying], +Come, I will get wine, and we will drink our fill of strong drink, +And to-morrow shall be as to-day, an exceedingly great day! + +[Sidenote: Isa. 58:2-4] +Cry with full throat, be not silent! +Like a trumpet lift up thy voice, +Make known to my people their transgression, +And to the house of Jacob their sin. +Me indeed they consult daily, +And to know my ways is their delight. +As a nation that hath done righteousness, +And hath not forsaken the law of its God! +They ask me regarding righteous judgments, +To draw near to God is their delight! +'Why have we fasted and thou seest not, +Mortified ourselves and thou dost not notice?' +Behold, on your fast day ye follow your own pleasure, +And ye exact all money lent on pledge. +Behold ye fast for strife and contention, +And to smite the poor with the fist. +Your fasting to-day is not such +As to make your voice heard on high. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Isa. 58:5-7] +Can such be the fast which I choose, +A day when a man mortifies himself? +To droop one's head like a bulrush, +And to lie down in sackcloth and ashes? +Wilt thou call this a fast, +And a day acceptable to Jehovah? +Is not this the fast that I choose: +To loose the fetters of injustice, +To untie the bands of violence, +To set free those who are crushed, +To tear apart every yoke? + +[Sidenote: Cor. Isa. 58:8-12] +Is it not to share thy bread with the hungry, +And to bring the wanderers to thy home? +When thou seest the naked, to cover him, +And not hide thyself from thine own flesh? +Then shall thy light break forth as the dawn, +Thy restoration quickly spring forth, +And thy righteousness shall go before thee, +The glory of Jehovah shall be thy reward; +Then when thou callest Jehovah will answer, +When thou criest out he will say, Here am I. +If from thy midst thou remove the yoke, +The finger of scorn, and mischievous speech, +And bestow thy bread upon the hungry, +And satisfy the soul that is afflicted; +Then shall thy light shine forth in darkness, +And thy gloom shall be as noonday, +Jehovah will lead thee continually, +And will satisfy thy soul in parched lands, +And thy strength will he renew, +Thou shalt be like a watered garden, +As a fountain whose waters fail not. +Thy sons shall rebuild the ancient ruins, +Thou shalt rear again the foundations of olden days; +And men shall call thee, Repairer of Ruins, +Restorer of Ruined Places for Inhabiting. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 5:1-5] +Then there was a loud complaint from the common people and their wives +against their fellow-countrymen the Jews. For there were those who were +saying, 'We must give our sons and our daughters in pledge to secure grain +that we may eat and live.' Some also there were who were saying, 'We must +mortgage our fields and our vineyards and our houses, that we may get +grain because of the dearth.' There were also those who were saying, 'We +have borrowed money for the king's tribute. Yet now our flesh is as the +flesh of our brothers, our children as their children; but now, we must +ring our sons and our daughters into slavery, and some of our daughters +have already thus been brought into bondage, neither is it in our power to +help it, for our fields and our vineyards belong to the nobles.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 5:6-11] +Then I was very angry when I heard their complaint and these statements. +And I took counsel with myself, and contended with the nobles and rulers, +and said to them, 'You exact usury each of his brother.' And I held a +great assembly against them. And I said to them, 'We ourselves have, +according to our ability, redeemed our fellow-countrymen the Jews, who +have been sold to the heathen; and would you yourselves sell your +fellow-countrymen, and should they sell themselves to us?' Then they were +silent and could not find a word to say. Therefore I said, 'The thing that +you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God, +because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies? For I also, my kinsmen +and my servants, lend them money and grain. Let us, therefore, leave off +this usury. Restore to them this day their fields, their vineyards, their +oliveyards, and their houses, also the usury of the money and of the +grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, that you exact from them.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 5:12, 13] +Then they said, 'We will restore them and will demand nothing from them; +we will do just as you say.' Then I called the priests and took an oath of +them, that they would do according to this promise. Also I shook out the +fold of my garment, and said, 'So may God shake out every man from his +house and from the fruit of his labor, who does not fulfil this promise; +even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.' And all the assembly said, +'So may it be.' And they praised Jehovah. And the people did according to +this promise. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 5:14-19] +Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in +The land of Judah, from the twentieth year (445 B.C.) even to the +thirty-second year (432) of Artaxerxes the king, that is for twelve years, +I and my kinsmen had not eaten the bread which was due me as governor. But +the former governors who were before me were a source of expense to the +people, and took of them bread and wine, and also forty shekels of silver +each day; and furthermore their servants oppressed the people. But I did +not so, because of the fear of God. I also devoted myself to this work on +the wall, and we did not buy any land; and all my servants were gathered +there for the work. Also the Jews and the rulers, a hundred and fifty men, +besides those who came to us from among the surrounding nations, were at +my table. Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox and six +choice sheep and fowls. These were prepared at my expense, and once in ten +days wine in abundance for all the people. Yet with all this I did not +demand the bread which was due me as governor, because the public service +rested heavily upon this people. Remember to my credit, O my God, all that +I have done for this people. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:1-9] +Now before my return from the king, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed +over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah, had +prepared for him a great chamber, where formerly they had stored the +cereal-offerings, the incense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, the +new wine, and the oil. But during this time I had not been at Jerusalem; +for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the +king. Then after some time I asked leave of the king, and I came to +Jerusalem and discovered the crime that Eliashib had committed for the +Sake of Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the court of the house of +God. And it displeased me greatly; therefore I cast all the household +possessions of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I gave command that they +should cleanse the chambers, and I brought there again the vessels of the +house of God, with the cereal-offerings and the incense. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:10-14] +And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them; +so that the Levites and the singers, who performed the service had each +fled to his field. Then I contended with the rulers and said, 'Why is the +house of God forsaken?' And I gathered them together and placed them at +their posts. And all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine +and the oil into the store-rooms. And I appointed in charge of the +store-rooms: Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah the +Levite; for they were considered faithful, and their business was to +distribute to their kinsmen. Remember me, O my God, concerning this and +forget not all my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and +for its services. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:15-22] +At that time I saw in Judah some men treading wine-presses on the sabbath +and bringing in heaps of grain and loading asses, as also wine, grapes, +figs, and all kinds of burdens, and that they were bringing them into +Jerusalem on the sabbath; and I warned them when they sold provisions. +Tyrians also dwelt therein, who brought in fish and all kinds of wares, +and sold on the sabbath to the inhabitants of Judah and in Jerusalem. Then +I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, 'What evil thing is +this that you are doing, and thereby profaning the sabbath? Did not your +fathers do thus and did not our God bring all this calamity upon them and +upon us and upon this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by +profaning the sabbath.' Accordingly, when it began to be dark, the gates +of Jerusalem were shut before the sabbath; and I gave command that they +should not be opened until after the sabbath. And I placed some of my +servants in charge of the gates, and commanded that no burden should be +brought in on the sabbath. So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of +wares spent the night without Jerusalem once or twice. Then I warned them +and said to them, 'Why do you spend the night before the wall? If ye do +so again, I will lay hands on you.' From that time forth they came no more +on the sabbath. Remember, O my God, this also to my credit and show me +mercy according to the greatness of thy loving-kindness. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:23-27] +At that time also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of +Ammon, and of Moab. And their children spoke half in the language of +Ashdod, but none of them could speak in the Jews' language, but according +to the language of each people. And I contended with them and cursed them +and struck some of them and pulled out their hair and made them swear by +God, saying, 'You shall not give your daughters to their sons nor take +their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves. Did not Solomon +king of Israel sin by these acts? Yet among many nations there was no king +like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all +Israel; nevertheless foreign women led him into sin. Shall it also be +reported of you that you do all this great evil, to trespass against our +God in marrying foreign women?' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:28, 29] +And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was +the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me. +Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the covenant of the +Priesthood and of the Levites. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:30, 31] +Thus I cleansed them from all foreigners and fixed the duties for the +priests and the Levites, each for his appointed task, and the bringing of +wood for the service at appointed times, and the first-fruits. Remember +it, O my God, to my credit. + +I. Cruelty and Hypocrisy of the Jewish Leaders. The fifty-sixth chapter +of Isaiah presents a sharp contrast: on the one hand a high ideal of +justice toward the oppressed and tolerance toward all foreigners who +sincerely desired to unite in Jehovah's worship; on the other the sordid +selfishness of the Jewish leaders, who disregarded their responsibilities +and thought of religion only as a round of ceremonial observances. The +situation is very similar to that in Northern Israel in the days of Amos. +The II Isaiah stands on the same platform as did his predecessors of the +Assyrian period. He strips fearlessly from the rulers of the community the +mantle of hypocrisy with which they sought to cover their shame. In +clearest terms he declares that their first duty to God is to loose the +fetters of injustice and to share their bread with the hungry. This +stirring prophetic message is the natural introduction to the reformatory +work of Nehemiah. + +II. Nehemiah's Method of Correcting the Social Evils in the Community. +Nehemiah's address recorded in the fifth chapter of his memoirs completes +the picture suggested in Isaiah 56 and 58. The poor had been compelled by +their poverty to sell their children into slavery to the rich and ruling +class. In order to pay their personal taxes they had also mortgaged their +inherited fields, vineyards, and houses. Doubtless much of the tax thus +raised went into the pockets of their rulers, who preyed mercilessly upon +the helpless and needy. These crimes directly violated the laws of +Deuteronomy (cf. Deut. 23:9, 20), as well as those in the older Book of +the Covenant (Ex. 21-23). Nehemiah's position, therefore, when he demanded +that these evils be righted, was unassailable. In the spirit and with the +methods of the earlier prophets he gathered together the people, probably +within the precincts of the temple court, and plainly and unsparingly +denounced their acts. There is much in common between this later Jewish +layman and the shepherd Amos. Each spoke on the basis of close personal +observation and experience; but Nehemiah possessed many advantages over +the prophets who had preceded him. His own personal example lent force to +his words. Although it was his right as governor, he had exacted no +tribute from the Judean community. Even though the opportunity had +probably offered itself, he steadily refused to take their hereditary land +from the poor who applied to him for loans of money or grain. Instead of +enslaving his countrymen, he had lost no opportunity to free those who had +been forced by misfortune or poverty into slavery. He had also entertained +lavishly rich and poor alike, and thus given to all an example of +practical charity. His authority as Persian governor doubtless carried +great weight with the cringing, greedy leaders at Jerusalem. Above all, +the force of his personality was irresistible. It is easy to imagine the +powerful impression which his words made upon them. The restoration of +their lands and the freeing of their children were undoubtedly mighty +factors in arousing the men of Jerusalem to those herculean efforts which +alone made possible the rebuilding of the walls in the brief period of +fifty-two days. + +III. The Historical Value of Nehemiah 13. In his _Composition of +Ezra-Nehemiah_ (pp. 44-49) Professor Torrey, of Yale, maintains that this +chapter is a pure creation of the Chronicler. Certainly its phraseology +and the subjects with which it deals are characteristic of the Chronicler, +but on the whole it is probable that he has here simply recast what was +originally an extract from the memoirs of Nehemiah. Some of the phrases +peculiar to the Chronicler are loosely connected with the context. The +nucleus which remains has the vigorous style of Nehemiah and many of his +peculiar idioms. Its courageous, assertive spirit is very different from +that of the other writings of the Chronicler. It is also doubtful whether +this later writer, with his strong, priestly interests, would have made +Nehemiah, the layman, a religious reformer and therefore in a sense the +rival of Ezra. Above all, the work attributed to Nehemiah in this +chapter is in harmony with his spirit and attitude, as revealed in the +unquestioned extracts from his memoirs. Already, as stated in 1:20, he had +told Sanballat and Tobiah that they should have no portion or memorial in +Jerusalem. He had already shown himself keen in righting wrongs within the +community. Zeal in preserving the sanctity of the sabbath and in opposing +heathen marriages was characteristic rather of the Jews of the dispersion +than of those of Palestine. It is probable, therefore, that this chapter +records Nehemiah's work when he revisited Jerusalem some time after 432 +B.C., although it must be frankly confessed that the historical evidence +is far from conclusive and that the entire account of this second visit, +including the chronological data in 5:14 and the reference to the +expulsion of Sanballat in 1:20, may possibly be due to the Chronicler's +desire to discredit the Samaritans and to enlist the authority of Nehemiah +in support of the later priestly laws and customs. + +IV. Regulations Regarding the Temple Service. The expulsion of Tobiah +the Ammonite from the room which had been assigned him in the temple by +Eliashib, the high priest, was apparently due to two reasons, first +because Tobiah was _persona non grata_ to Nehemiah and had already shown +himself a dangerous foe to the Jews. The second and chief reason was +because the room was needed for storing the offerings that were brought in +for the support of the temple officials. These offerings were presented in +accordance with the demands of the Deuteronomic regulation, which at this +time was the code acknowledged by the Judean community (Deut. 18:4. +14:23, 27, 28). The narrative adds that, with his practical knowledge of +affairs, Nehemiah appointed a representative committee consisting of a +priest, a scribe, and a Levite, and to them he intrusted the task of +receiving and distributing the temple tithes to their kinsmen. + +V. Provisions Regarding Sabbath Observation and Foreign Marriages. Far +away from the temple, and therefore unable to participate in the +distinctive feasts and ceremonials that distinguished the religious life +of their race, and confronted by the constant danger of being absorbed by +the heathen among whom they found themselves, the Jews of the dispersion +placed strong emphasis on two institutions. The one was the observation of +the sabbath and the other was the preservation of the purity of their +blood by abstaining from all marriage alliances with their Gentile +neighbors. In Palestine, where they were able to revive the ancient feasts +in connection with the temple, and where the danger of absorption was not +so imminent, their practices in these regards appear to have been much +more lax. Not only had the priests set the example by contracting foreign +marriages, but apparently about this time the author of the beautiful +story of Ruth, by citing the tradition regarding the Moabite ancestry of +their illustrious King David, voiced the belief of many in the community +that such marriages were permissible. Nehemiah, however, rigorously +opposed this tendency. He also appreciated the menace to the dignity and +character of the temple service, if the commercial pursuits of ordinary +days were carried into the sabbath. His measure, therefore, in closing the +gates and thus excluding all traders, was both sane and effective. In +setting his face strongly against foreign marriages he was simply +enforcing the laws found in Deuteronomy 7:1, 3 and 33:3, which forbade the +Hebrews to intermarry with the people of the land. + +VI. Significance of Nehemiah's Work. In rebuilding the walls of +Jerusalem Nehemiah prepared the way for that revival of the Jewish state +which characterized the closing years of the Persian period. More +important still was his work in re-establishing a close relation between +the Jews of the dispersion and those of Palestine. He himself was the +connecting link between them, and his activity prepared the minds of the +Palestinian Jews for the acceptance of those new principles that were +strongly held by leaders like himself. He also enforced the ethical and +social ideals of the earlier prophets, and ably advocated the principles +that are fundamental in the late priestly laws. Above all, in his own +personality as a prophetic layman, he held up before his race an example +of patriotism, self-sacrifice, efficiency, and devotion to the service +of Jehovah which made a profound and lasting impression upon his own and +later generations. + + + +Section CII. THE TRADITIONAL ACCOUNT OF THE ADOPTION OF THE PRIESTLY +LAW + +[Sidenote: Ezra 7:1, 6-10] +In the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra, a descendant of Aaron, +went up from Babylon; and he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, +which Jehovah, the God of Israel, had given. And the king granted him all +his request, inasmuch as the hand of Jehovah his God was upon him. And +some of the Israelites, and of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the +porters, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem [with him]. And he +came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the +king. For on the first day of the first month he began the journey from +Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, +since the good hand of God was with him. For Ezra had set his heart to +seek the law of Jehovah, and to observe it and to teach in Israel statutes +and ordinances. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 7:73b, 8:4-6] +And when the seventh month drew near, all the people gathered themselves +together as one man to the broad place that was before the Water Gate. And +they spoke to Ezra the priest and scribe to bring the book of the law of +Moses, which Jehovah had commanded Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the +law before the assembly of men and women, and all who could hear with +understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read from +it before the open place that was before the Water Gate, from early +morning until mid-day, in the presence of the men and women and of those +who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the +law. And Ezra the priest and scribe stood upon a wooden pulpit, which they +made for the purpose and opened the book in the sight of all the +people--for he was above all the people--and when he opened it all the +people stood up. And Ezra blessed Jehovah, the great God. And all the +people answered, Amen, Amen, while they lifted up their hands and bowed +their heads and worshipped Jehovah with their faces to the ground. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 8:9-12] +Then Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who taught the people +said to all the people, This day is holy to Jehovah your God; mourn not, +nor weep; for all the people when they heard the words of the law. Then he +said to them, Go away, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions +to him for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and +do not be troubled, for the joy of Jehovah is your bulwark. So the Levites +quieted all the people, saying, Be still, for the day is holy, and do not +be troubled. And all the people went away to eat and drink and to send +portions and to make a great rejoicing, for they had understood the words +which had been made known to them. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 8:13-19] +And on the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, the +priests and the Levites were gathered together to Ezra the scribe, in +order to gain an insight into the words of the law. And they found written +in the law, how Jehovah had commanded by Moses that the Israelites should +dwell in booths at the feast in the seventh month; and that they should +proclaim aloud in all their cities and in Jerusalem: Go forth to the +mount and bring olive branches and branches of wild olive and myrtle and +palm branches and branches of thick trees to make booths, as it is +prescribed. So the people went out and brought them, and made themselves +booths, each man upon the roof of his house and in their courts and in +the courts of the house of God and in the open space at the Water Gate and +in the open space at the Ephraim Gate. And all the assembly of those who +had come back from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths; for +since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day the Israelites had not +done so. And there was very great gladness. And day by day, from the first +to the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they +celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day, as was the custom, +there was a concluding solemn assembly. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 9:1-3] +Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites were assembled +with fasting, and with sackcloth and earth upon their heads. And the +children of Israel had separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood +and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they +stood up in their place and read in the book of the law of Jehovah their +God a fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed and +worshipped Jehovah their God. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 9:6-8] +And Ezra said, Thou art Jehovah, even thou alone; thou hast made heaven +and the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all things +that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and thou preservest +them all and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. Thou art Jehovah the +God, who didst choose Abraham and bring him forth out of Ur of the +Chaldees, and didst give him the name Abraham, and find his heart +faithful before thee and make a covenant with him to give the land of the +Canaanites to his descendants, and hast performed thy words, for thou art +righteous. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 9:32-37] +Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who +keepest covenant and kindness, let not all the affliction seem little +before thee, that hath come on us, on our kings, our nobles, our priests, +our prophets, our fathers, and on all thy people, since the days of the +kings of Assyria to this day. However thou art just in all that has come +upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly, neither have +our kings, our nobles, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law nor +heeded thy commands and thy testimonies with which thou didst testify +against them. For they have not served thee in the time of their kingly +rule, and in spite of thy great goodness that thou gavest them, they have +not turned from their wicked deeds. Behold, we this day are slaves, and as +for the land that thou gavest to our fathers to eat its fruit and enjoy +its good gifts, see we are only slaves in it. And it yieldeth a great +income to the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sin; also +they have power over our bodies and over our cattle, at their pleasure, +and we are in great distress. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 9:38] +Moreover in addition to all this we made a fixed covenant and wrote it +out, and our nobles, our Levites, and our priests were enrolled upon the +sealed document. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 10:28-31] +And all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands +to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one +who had knowledge and insight, strongly supported their kinsmen, their +nobles, and entered into a solemn obligation and took oath to walk in +God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe +and do all the commands of Jehovah our Lord, and his ordinances and his +statutes; and that we would neither give our daughters to the peoples of +the land nor take their daughters as wives for our sons; and that, if the +peoples of the land should bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to +sell, we would not buy of them on the sabbath or on a holy day; and that +on the seventh year we would leave the land uncultivated and would refrain +from the exaction of any debt. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 10:32-39] +We also imposed upon ourselves the obligation to give yearly the third +part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God, for the bread +that was set forth, and for the continual burnt-offering, for the +sabbaths, the new moons, the fixed feasts, and the holy things, and for +the sin-offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of +the house of our God. And we cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the +people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, +according to our father's houses, at appointed times year by year, to burn +upon the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is prescribed in the law; and to +bring the earliest products of our ground, and the first of all fruit of +every kind of tree year by year, to the temple of Jehovah; also the +first-born of our sons and of our cattle, as is prescribed in the law, and +the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of +God to the priests who minister in the house of our God; and that we +should bring the first bread baked of our dough, the fruit of every kind +of tree, the new wine and the oil, to the priests, in the chambers of the +house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; and that +they, the Levites, should receive the tithes in all the cities of our +agricultural districts. And that the priest the son of Aaron should be +with the Levites, when the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes +to the house of our God, to the chambers, into the store-house. For the +Israelites and the sons of Levi shall bring the gifts of grain, of new +wine, and of oil, into the chambers, where are the vessels of the +sanctuary, and the priests who minister and the porters and the singers, +and that we would not neglect the house of our God. + +I. The Ezra Tradition. The tradition regarding Ezra and his work +presents many difficult problems. Part of it is found in the heart of the +book of Nehemiah; while another part is now found in the second half of +the book of Ezra. It is not entirely clear whether this dislocation is due +to the Chronicler, who desired to give Ezra, the priest and scribe, the +precedence before Nehemiah, the layman, or to the mistake of a scribe. A +recent writer (Professor Torrey, in _Composition of Ezra-Neh_.) has shown +convincingly that the Ezra story in its present form is at least from the +school to which the Chronicler belonged, if not from his own pen. Not only +does it abound in the characteristic phrases of this voluminous editor, +but it also reflects at many points his peculiar conception of the history +of this period. Ezra is described as a descendant of Aaron and "a scribe +skilled in the law of Moses." His work as interpreter of the law, which he +is represented as bringing in his hand, is typical of the scribes, who +were becoming the chief teachers of Judaism in the days of the Chronicler +(the Greek period). The decree of Artaxerxes found in the seventh chapter +of Ezra suggests at every point its late Jewish origin. It confers upon +Ezra, the scribe, royal authority far eclipsing that given by Artaxerxes +to Nehemiah, his favorite. A sum representing more than three million +dollars is placed at Ezra's disposal. At his summons seventeen hundred +priests, Levites, singers, and servants of the temple rally about the +standard of the faithful scribe. He is represented as going under the +royal protection to Palestine to instruct the Judean community, to reform +its abuses, and to institute the rule of the law of Moses which he bore in +his hand. + +He first holds a great synagogue service in which the law is read and +interpreted to the people. They are then bidden to observe the Feast +of Booths or Tabernacles in accordance with its regulations. Later, when +he discovers that the people of the land have entered into foreign +marriages, he tears his clothes and hair and sits for hours overwhelmed +by the great crime that rests upon the community. When the people are +gathered about him, he upbraids them for their laxness and secures the +appointment of a commission with himself at the head to investigate and +put an end to these evil practices. When after three months the community +has been purified from this foreign element, the people are again +assembled to listen to the reading of the law. Then Ezra utters a fervent +prayer in which he sets forth Jehovah's leadership of his people in the +past and the disasters which have come as a result of their sins. After +this public petition for Jehovah's forgiveness, the people through their +nobles, Levites, and priests subscribe in writing to the regulations +imposed by the lawbook that Ezra had brought. Its more important +regulations are also recapitulated. They are to refrain from foreign +marriages, to observe strictly the sabbath laws, and also the requirements +of the seventh year of release, to bring to the temple the annual tax of +one-tenth of a shekel and the other dues required for its support and for +the maintenance of the priests and Levites. + +II. The Historical Value of the Ezra Tradition. Recognizing that the +Ezra tradition comes from the hand of the Chronicler, certain Old +Testament scholars are inclined to regard it as entirely unhistorical. +It can no longer be regarded as a strictly historical record. Like II +Chronicles 31, it is shot through with the ideas current during the Greek +period. With no desire to deceive, but with nothing of the modern +historical spirit, the Chronicler freely projects the institutions, ideas, +and traditions of his own day into these earlier periods. The result is +that he has given not an exact or reliable historical record, but his own +conception of the way in which the course of history should have unfolded. +The Ezra tradition also lacks the support not only of contemporary +testimony, but also of all the Jews who wrote during the next few +centuries. Ben Sira in his review of Israel's heroes speaks in highest +terms of Nehemiah, but knows nothing of Ezra's work. Even the +comparatively late Jewish tradition reflected in the opening chapters of +II Maccabees attributes to Nehemiah the re-establishment of the temple +Service and the collection of the sacred writings of his race. At many +points the Ezra tradition is also inconsistent with the straightforward +contemporary record contained in Nehemiah's memoirs. The real question +is whether or not there is a historical nucleus in the Ezra story, and +if so, what are the facts which it reflects. + +III. The Facts Underlying the Ezra Tradition. The later records make it +clear that during the latter part of the Persian period the attitude of +the Jews in Palestine toward their neighbors became more and more +exclusive. Nehemiah appears to have given a great impetus to the movement +which ultimately resulted in the Samaritan schism and the high wall that +henceforth separated Jew and Gentile. The emphasis on the strict +observation of the sabbath grew stronger and stronger, until at the +beginning of the Greek period the Jews of Jerusalem preferred to fall +before the sword of their foes rather than fight on the sabbath day (cf. +Section CIII). The ritual of the temple became even more elaborate, and +its income was greatly increased during the latter part of the Persian +period. The extension of the territory of the Judean community implied +that its numbers were increased by the return of loyal Jews attracted by +the security offered by its walls and by the new spirit that animated the +Jews of Palestine. The priestly laws which were formulated to meet the new +needs of the Judean community appear to have been written in Palestine and +by those closely connected with the temple service, but in the emphasis +upon the sabbath and in their endeavor to prevent marriage with foreigners +they suggest the presence and influence of Jews who had returned from the +land of the dispersion. It is possible that among those who thus returned +was the priest Ezra, and he may have been at the head of one of these +groups of returning exiles. In the days of Josiah the code contained in +the newly discovered Book of the Covenant was presented to the people in a +public assembly and adopted and enforced by the king, who acted as the +representative of the people (Section LXXXIII:iii). It is probable that in +the small Judean community new regulations gained acceptance in the same +way, except that the people were represented by their nobles and priests +rather than by a king. The tradition of Ezra, therefore, is typical of the +great movement that shaped the life of Judaism in the century immediately +following the work of Nehemiah. + +IV. Origin and Aims of the Priestly Laws. The late priestly laws which +moulded the life of Judaism are found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, +and Numbers. They do not constitute a unified code, but rather are +made up of a series of smaller groups of laws, the older nucleus +being the Holiness Code found in chapters 17-26 of Leviticus (cf. Section +XCIII:iii). In some cases variants of the same law are found in different +groups. Certain of these laws simply reiterate in slightly different form +those already found in the primitive and Deuteronomic codes; but in +general they supplement these earlier codes. The formulation, collection, +and codification of these later laws apparently continued until toward the +latter part of the Persian period when the Samaritan schism (Section CIII) +fixed them in their present form. + +To these laws was prefixed, as an introduction, the priestly history that +opens with the account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis and +briefly traces Israel's history to the settlement in Canaan. The interest +of these late priestly historians is, like that of the Chronicler, in the +origin of institutions. Thus the object of the first chapter of Genesis is +to give the traditional origin and authority of the sabbath. The account +of the flood culminates in a covenant embodying the command that man shall +not eat of the blood of sacrificial animals; the priestly stories +regarding Abraham aim to give the origin of the rite of circumcision. +Israel's early experiences in the wilderness furnish the setting for the +giving of the law at Sinai. In this way the late editors of these opening +books of the Old Testament connect all of Israel's legislation with Moses +and aim to establish its divine authority. + +V. Their Important Regulations. The central aim in all these late +priestly laws was similar to that of Ezekiel: it was to make Israel a +holy people and to prevent them from falling again into the sins to which +were attributed the overwhelming disasters that had overtaken them. This +aim they sought to accomplish: (1) by making the temple and its services +the centre of the life of the people and through ceremonial barriers and +regulations to shield it from everything that might pollute it; (2) by +rendering the temple service attractive; (3) by insuring through rigid +ceremonial laws the purity of its priesthood; (4) by preserving the +ceremonial cleanliness of the people through strict laws regarding the +food which they ate and elaborate provisions for their purification in +case they were contaminated by contact with that which was regarded as +unclean; (5) by prohibiting absolutely all marriages with the heathen; and +(6) by emphasizing the rigid observation of the sabbath and other +distinctive institutions. In general these late priestly laws represented +a return to the older and more primitive conception of religion, and +defined duty in terms of ceremonial rather than moral acts. + +VI. Their Practical Effects. Later Judaism represents to a great extent +the result of the rigid enforcement of these regulations. Its life was +centralized more and more about the temple. In its services the people +found their chief interest and joy. The numbers of the priests and Levites +were also greatly increased. To the older temple dues many new ones were +added. Thus each man brought to the temple the first-born of his flock. +Even his oldest son must be redeemed within a month after his birth by a +gift of five shekels (which represented in modern currency between three +and four dollars). Of every animal slain the shoulder, two joints, and the +stomach went to the priests. Of the vintage and oil and grain they +received about one-fiftieth. In addition a tithe was turned over to the +Levites. Part of the wool in every sheep-shearing, as well as a part of +the bread which they baked, found its way to the temple. In addition a +large income came through the vows made by the people or the conscience +money which was paid either in currency or gifts. Although the priests had +no temporal authority by which to enforce these laws, it is evident that +the people bore their heavy burdens gladly and brought willingly their +offerings, that they might thereby win a definite assurance of Jehovah's +favor. The law was to them a source of joy rather than a burden. Their +love for it steadily grew until two centuries later during the Maccabean +persecutions there were many who were ready to lay down their lives for it. + + + +Section CIII. THE JEWISH STATE DURING THE LAST CENTURY OF PERSIAN RULE + +[Sidenote: Ps. 36:5-10] +Thy loving-kindness, O Jehovah, is in the heavens, +Thy faithfulness reacheth to the skies, +Thy righteousness is like the mighty mountains, +Thy judgments are like the great deep; +Thou preservest man and beast. +How precious is thy loving-kindness, O God! +And the sons of men put their trust in the shadow of thy wings. +They are fully satisfied with the rich things of thy house, +And thou makest them drink of thy river of delights. +For with thee is the fountain of life, +And in thy light shall we see light. +O continue thy loving-kindness to those who know thee, +And thy righteousness to the upright in heart. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:1, 2b] +The word of Jehovah, which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: +Blow a horn in Zion, +Sound an alarm in my holy mountain, +Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, +For the day of Jehovah comes, +For near is the day of darkness and gloom, +The day of cloud and thick darkness! + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:2c-6] +Like the light of dawn scattered over the mountains, +A people great and powerful; +Its like has not been from of old, +Neither shall be any more after it, +Even to the years of coming ages. +Before them the fire devours, +And behind them a flame burns; +Like the garden of Eden is the land before them, +And after them it is a desolate desert, +Yea, nothing escapes them. +Their appearance is as the appearance of horses, +And like horsemen they run. +Like the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains they leap, +Like the crackle of flames devouring stubble, +Like a mighty people preparing for battle. +Peoples are in anguish before them, +All faces glow with excitement. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:7-9] +Like mighty men they run, +Like warriors they mount up a wall, +They march each by himself, +They break not their ranks, +None jostles the other, +They march each in his path, +They fall upon the weapons without breaking, +They scour the city, they run on the wall, +They climb up into the houses, +Like a thief they enter the windows. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:10-11] +Earth trembles before them, +Heaven quakes, +The sun and the moon become dark, +And the stars withdraw their shining; +And Jehovah uttereth this voice before his army, +For his host is exceedingly great, +Yea, mighty is he who performs his word, +For great is the day of Jehovah, +It is very terrible, who can abide it? + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:12-14] +But now this is the oracle of Jehovah: +Turn ye to me with all your heart, +And with fasting and weeping and mourning. +Rend your hearts and not your garments, +And turn to Jehovah your God; +For he indeed is gracious and merciful, +Slow to anger and plenteous in love, +And relenteth of the evil. +Who knows but he will turn and relent, +And leave a blessing behind him, +A cereal and drink-offering for Jehovah your God? + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:16-17] +Blow a horn in Zion, +Sanctify a fast, summon an assembly, +Gather the people, make holy the congregation, +Assemble the old men, +Gather the children, and the infants at the breast, +Let the bridegroom come forth from his chamber, +And the bride from her bridal tent. +Between the porch and the altar, +Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep aloud, +Let them say, Spare, O Jehovah, thy people, +And make not thine heritage an object of reproach, +For the heathen to mock them. +Why should it be said among the nations, Where is their God? + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:18-20] +Then Jehovah became jealous for his land, and took pity upon his people, +And Jehovah answered and said to his people, +Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, +And ye shall be satisfied therewith; +I will not make you again an object of reproach among the nations, +I will remove far from you the northern foe, +And I will drive him into a land barren and desolate, +His van to the eastern sea, +And his rear to the western sea, +And a stench from him shall arise. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:21-24] +Fear not, O land, exult, +And rejoice for Jehovah hath done great things. +Fear not, O beasts of the field, +For the pastures of the wilderness are putting forth new grass, +For the trees bear their fruit, +Fig tree and vine yield their strength. +Be glad, then, ye sons of Zion, +And rejoice in Jehovah your God, +For he hath given you the early rain in just measure, +And poured down upon you the winter rain, +And sent the latter rain as before. +The threshing floors shall be full of grain, +And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:25-27] +I will make restoration to you for the years which the swarmer hath eaten, +The devourer, the destroyer, and the shearer, +My great army which I sent among you, +And ye shall eat your food and be satisfied, +And praise the name of Jehovah your God, +Who hath dealt so wonderfully by you, +And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, +That I am Jehovah your God and none else, +And my people shall nevermore be abashed. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:28, 29] +And it shall come to pass afterwards, +That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, +And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, +Your old men shall dream dreams, +Your young men shall see visions, +And even upon thy male and female slaves, +In those days I will pour out my spirit. + +[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 7:1)] +When Eliashib the high priest was dead, his son Judas succeeded him in the +high priesthood. Then, when he was dead, his son Johanan assumed that +dignity. It was on his account that Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes +[Mnemon], desecrated the temple and imposed tribute on the Jews, that at +public expense they should pay for every lamb fifty shekels. The reason +for this was as follows: Jeshua was the brother of Johanan. Bagoses, who +was Jeshua's friend, promised to secure for him the high priesthood. +Trusting, therefore, in this support, Jeshua quarrelled with Johanan in +The temple and so provoked his brother that, in his anger, Johanan slew +him. On this account the people were enslaved and the temple desecrated by +the Persians. For when Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes, knew that +Johanan, the high priest of the Jews had slain his own brother Jeshua in +the temple, he immediately came against the Jews and began in anger to say +to them, Have you dared commit a murder in your temple! And when he +attempted to go into the temple they tried to prevent him doing so; but he +said to them, Am I not purer than he who was slain in the temple? And when +he had said these words, he went into the temple. Thus Bagoses made use of +this pretext and punished the Jews seven years for the murder of Jeshua. + +[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 7:2)] +Now when Johanan had departed this life, his son Jaddua succeeded to the +high priesthood. He had a brother whose name was Manasseh. And there was a +certain Sanballat who was sent to Samaria by Darius, the last king of +Persia. This man, knowing that Jerusalem was a famous city and that its +kings had given great trouble to the Assyrians and the people of +Coele-Syria, willingly gave his daughter, whose name was Nicaso, in +marriage to Manasseh, thinking that this marriage alliance would be a +pledge that the nation of the Jews would continue their good will toward +him. + +[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 8:2a-c)] +The elders of Jerusalem, complaining loudly that the brother of Jaddua, +the high priest, though married to a foreigner, was sharing with him the +high priesthood, took sides against Jaddua; for they regarded this man's +marriage as an encouragement to those who were eager to transgress by +marrying foreign wives and that this would be the beginning of a closer +association with foreigners. Therefore they commanded Manasseh to divorce +his wife or else not to approach the altar. The high priest himself joined +with the people in their indignation and drove his brother from the altar. + +[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 8:2d-g)] +Then Manasseh went to his father-in-law, Sanballat, and told him that, +although he loved his daughter, Nicaso, he was not willing to be deprived +on her account of his priestly dignity, since it was the greatest dignity +in their nation and had always continued in the same family. Thereupon +Sanballat promised him not only to preserve for him the honor of his +priesthood but also to procure for him the power and dignity of a high +priest and to make him governor of all the places which he himself ruled, +if he would retain his daughter as his wife. He also told him that he +would build him a temple like that at Jerusalem upon Mount Gerizim, which +is the highest of all the mountains in Samaria. Moreover he promised that +he would do this with the approval of Darius, the king. Manasseh, being +elated with these promises, remained with Sanballat, thinking that he +would gain a high priesthood as the gift from Darius, for Sanballat was +then well advanced in years. Now there was a great disturbance among the +people of Jerusalem because many of the priests and Levites were entangled +in such marriages, for they all revolted to Manasseh, and Sanballat +offered them money and distributed among them land for cultivation and +dwelling places also. He did all this in order in every way to gratify +his son-in-law. + +I. Prosperity of the Judean Community. Behind their restored walls the +Jews of Jerusalem enjoyed a sense of security and peace that had not been +theirs since the days of Josiah. At last they were free to develop the +limited resources of little Judah and gradually to extend their territory +northwestward over the fertile plain of Sharon. At the most their numbers +and territory were small. The memories of their glorious past and their +hopes for the future were their chief inspiration. The belief that in +supporting faithfully the service of the temple and in conforming to the +definite demands of the ritual they were winning Jehovah's favor was to +them an unfailing source of comfort and thankfulness. In the rich services +of the temple and in the contemplation of Jehovah's character and deeds +they found true joy. These feelings are expressed in certain of the +psalms, as, for example, Psalm 36, which probably comes from this period. +In their weakness they looked up in confidence and gratitude to Jehovah +who ruled supreme in the heavens, and who was able and eager to preserve +those who "put their trust in the shadow of his wings." Their one prayer +was that his loving-kindness would continue to protect them. + +II. The Growth of the Psalter. Nehemiah's work apparently gave an +impulse not only to the development of the law and the temple ritual, but +also inspired poets to voice their own feelings and those of the community +in certain of the psalms now found in the Psalter. It also encouraged them +to collect the earlier religious songs of their race. The result of their +work is the first edition of the Hebrew Psalter. In its present form the +Psalter, like the Pentateuch, is divided into five books with a general +introduction consisting of Psalms 1 and 2 and a concluding doxology (Ps. +150). At the end of each of these divisions are shorter doxologies or +brief epilogues (e.g., 41:13 72:19 89:52 106:48). The Psalter itself is a +library containing a great variety of poems written at different periods, +from many different points of view and by many different poets. Like the +Priestly Code and the book of Proverbs, it consists of a collection of +smaller collections. Thus many psalms in the first half of the Psalter +are repeated wholly or in part in later psalms. Psalm 14, for example, is +identical with Psalm 73, except that in 14 Jehovah is used as the +designation of the Deity and in 73 Elohim (or God). + +The problem of determining the date of the individual psalms and of the +different collections is exceedingly difficult, both because the +superscriptions were clearly added by later editors who thought thereby to +connect the psalm with an earlier writer or historic incident, and because +the psalms themselves contain few historical allusions. A great majority +of them reflect the teachings of the pre-exilic prophets or, like the book +of Proverbs, come from the lips of the sages and deal with universal human +problems. Some were written by priests or Levites for use in connection +with the song service of the temple. Because of this timeless quality, +however, an appreciation of them does not depend upon an exact knowledge +of their authorship or historical background. It is possible that a few of +the psalms in the first part of the Psalter come from the pre-exilic +period, but the great majority reflect the problems, the hopes, the fears, +and the trials of the faithful who lived under the shadow of the second +temple. While the superscriptions clearly do not come from the original +psalmists themselves, they do record the conclusions of the editors who +made the earliest collections. The oft-recurring title "Psalm to David" +either means that by the editor it was attributed to David as the author, +or is a general designation of psalms that were recognized to be +comparatively early. The two great Davidic collections, 3-41 and 51-72, +were apparently collected not long after the rebuilding of the walls of +Jerusalem. They are deeply influenced by the inspiring teachings of the +II Isaiah. They are remarkably free from that ceremonialism which became a +powerful force in Judaism during the last century of the Persian rule. +Psalm 51:16, 17, for example, echoes the noble ethical teachings of the +great prophets: + +Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it, +Thou delightest not in burnt offering, +The sacrifice of God is a broken heart, +A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. + +They represent, therefore, the oldest edition of the Psalter and the songs +which were probably sung by the temple singers and the people as they +went up to the temple on the great feast days during the closing years of +the Persian period. + +III. The Prophecy of Joel. For a brief moment the clear light of +contemporary prophecy is turned upon the Judean community by the little +book of Joel. The immediate occasion was the invasion of a great swarm of +locusts which swept into Judea either from the desert or from the +mountains in the north. It contains in 3:6 the first Old Testament +reference to the Greeks. From 3:2 it is evident that the Jewish race has +already been widely scattered. In 3:2 the hope is expressed that the +time will soon come when strangers shall no longer pass through Jerusalem. +The temple, however, and the city walls (2:9) have already been +rebuilt, indicating that the prophecy followed the work of Nehemiah. The +priests are exceedingly prominent in the life of the community, and Joel, +though a prophet, places great emphasis upon the importance of the ritual. +When the community is threatened by the swarms of locusts, whose advance +he describes with dramatic imagery, he calls upon the people to sanctify +a fast and to summon an assembly, and commands the priests to cry aloud to +Jehovah for deliverance. + +IV. Hopes of the Jews. In his prophecy Joel has given a very complete +description of the hopes which the people entertained regarding the coming +day of Jehovah. It is the same day of Jehovah that Zephaniah described +(Section LXXXI:v) and yet the portrait is very different. A divine +judgment is to be pronounced, not upon Jehovah's people, but upon their +foes. Here Joel reveals the influence of Ezekiel's graphic descriptions +found in the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth chapters of his prophecy. +Vividly he describes the advance of Israel's hereditary foes. With +Full panoply of war they are pictured as advancing to the Valley of +Jehoshaphat, the valley of judgment (popularly identified with the +Kidron), where Jehovah is to pass sentence upon them. Then suddenly, as +the harvester puts the sickle in the grain, they shall be cut down and +utterly destroyed. Also in the prophet's imagination above this carnage +rises Jerusalem, an impregnable fortress for the people of Israel, holy +and no longer polluted by the presence of heathen invaders. Peace and +prosperity shall then be the lot of Jehovah's people. Above all he will +pour out his purifying, enlightening spirit upon all classes, so that +young and old, slave and free, shall be inspired by the consciousness of +his message and presence in their hearts. + +V. Rule of the High Priests. The few facts that have been preserved +regarding the external history of the Judean community during the last +century of the Persian rule are in striking contrast to the inner life and +hopes of the people. At their head were the high priests, whose names we +know, Eliashib, Johanan, and Jaddua. They constituted a hereditary +aristocracy intrenched in the temple, which controlled not only the +religious but also the civil life of the Jews. Like all hierarchies it +lacked the corrective influence of a superior civil authority. The one +safeguard of popular liberties, however, was the written law, which was +fast becoming the absolute authority in the life of the community. To it +the people could appeal even against the decisions of the priests. It +therefore kept alive that inherited democratic spirit which had been the +priceless possession of Israel through all its history. + +There is every reason for accepting the detailed account which Josephus +has given of the quarrel between the high priest Johanan and his brother +Joshua which resulted in the murder of the latter within the sacred temple +precincts. Such an opportunity would naturally be improved by the greedy +Persian official to impose an onerous tax upon the Jews. The Elephantine +letter establishes the fact that Johanan was high priest in 411 B.C. and +that Baghohi (of which Bagoses is the Jewish equivalent) was the Persian +satrap. It thus directly confirms the testimony of Josephus. References in +late Greek writings (Solinus XXXV, 6; Syncellus I, 486) suggest that the +Jews about 350 B.C. were involved with the Phoenicians in the rebellion +against Persia. These historians state that at this time Jericho was +captured and destroyed and that a part of the Jewish people were +transported to the province of Hyrcania at the south of the Caspian Sea. +The rebellion was instigated by Tachos, the ruler of Egypt, who about 362 +not only shook off the rule of Persia, but invaded Syria and stirred up +the Phoenicians to defy the Persian king. Artaxerxes III, popularly known +as Ochus, proved, however, the last ruler who was able to revive the +waning power of the Persian Empire. At his accession he slew all the +members of the royal family, and throughout his reign (358-337 B.C.) he +trusted chiefly to the unsheathed sword to maintain his authority. In 346 +B.C. he finally succeeded in collecting a huge army with which he invaded +Syria and besieged Sidon. Its king betrayed his city into the hands of the +Persians, only to be murdered by the treacherous Ochus. The citizens of +Sidon, recognizing that they would receive no mercy from the hands of +Their conqueror, shut themselves up in their homes and then burned them +Over their heads. According to the Greek historians forty thousand +Phoenicians perished in this revolt. + +VI. The Date of the Samaritan Schism. Josephus has given an unusually +full and detailed account of the final schism between the Jews and +Samaritans. He dates it under the high priesthood of Jaddua, who died +shortly after the close of the Persian period. He implies, therefore, that +the schism took place not long before 332 B.C., when Alexander the Great +conquered Palestine. This is also in keeping with the fact that the +Elephantine letter written in 411 B.C. knows nothing of a division +between Jew and Gentile. The fact that at the time of the division the +defecting priests took from Jerusalem the Pentateuch in its final form +strongly confirms the conclusion (as Professor Torrey has pointed out +in his _Ezra Studies_, pp. 324-330) that the Sanballat who ruled over the +Samaritan community was not the contemporary of Nehemiah, but his +grandson, who as an old man was ruling in Samaria at the time when +Alexander conquered the East. + +VII. The Nature and Consequences of the Schism. The schism between Jew +and Samaritan was but a revival of the ancient rivalry which dated from +the days when the Israelites had first settled in Canaan. The destruction +of Samaria in 722 and the strong policy of Josiah had apparently led the +Samaritans to look to the temple at Jerusalem as the chief sanctuary of +the land. Shechem, however, and Mount Gerizim, which rises abruptly on the +south, enjoyed traditions which dated from the earliest days of Israel's +history. The sacred oak and altar at Shechem figured even in the +patriarchal period. At the temple of Baal-berith in Shechem apparently +both Canaanites and Israelites worshipped during the days of the +settlement. According to the Samaritan version of Deuteronomy 24:4, Mount +Gerizim, not Ebal or Jerusalem, was the place where the Israelites, after +entering Canaan, were first commanded to rear an altar to Jehovah, and to +inscribe upon it the laws given to Moses. Even in the Jewish version of +Deuteronomy 11:29 and 27:12 Mount Gerizim is the mountain of blessing. In +the light of these passages such commands as, for example, that in +Deuteronomy 12:4, 5 would naturally be interpreted by the Samaritans as a +reference to Gerizim rather than to Jerusalem. The destruction of the +Judean capital and temple gave a great incentive to the revival of these +Ancient traditions and a new prestige to the northern sanctuary. Until the +close of the Persian period, however, the Samaritans evidently regarded +Jerusalem as an important shrine and worshipped there side by side with +the Jews. The ultimate schism appears to have come as a result of the +growing jealousy with which certain of the Jews regarded foreign +marriages. The marriage of Manasseh, the brother of Jaddua the high +priest, to Nicaso, the daughter of Sanballat II, and his ultimate +expulsion by the Jews blew into a flame the smouldering jealousy and +opposition that had long existed between the two communities. As Josephus +recounts, Sanballat, in order to satisfy his son-in-law, ceded lands and +special rights to him and to the other Jerusalem priests, who were +attracted by these offers, and ultimately built the famous temple on Mount +Gerizim over which Manasseh and his descendants presided. In many ways the +temple and service on Mount Gerizim appear to have been duplicates of +those at Jerusalem. The same law was recognized by both communities; they +shared together the same traditions and the same ideals; and yet their +subsequent history illustrates the psychological truth that of all forms +of hatred that between brothers is the most venomous and lasting. The +bitter rivalry and growing hatred that resulted from this act are +reflected even in the wisdom teachings of Ben Sira (B. Sir. 47:21, 24, +25). They also fundamentally color the writings of the Chronicler. The +strenuous efforts that he made to discountenance the claims of the +Samaritans reveals the intensity of the feud even in the Greek period (cf. +II Chron. 11:13-16). His zeal in trying to prove that the rebuilders of +the Jerusalem temple were of Jewish extraction was doubtless inspired by +the Samaritan charge that during the Babylonian and Persian periods they +had freely intermarried with the heathen population of the land. He was +compelled to admit that even the high priestly families had been guilty of +this sin, but asserted that the foreign wives were later divorced or else +the offenders were expelled from Jerusalem. In the light of the oldest +records it appears that the Samaritans were able to establish almost as +pure a lineage as the Jews. Naturally during the succeeding years the +ancient breach continued to widen until it was beyond all healing. + + * * * * * + +THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN AGE + +Section CIV. THE JEWS UNDER THEIR GREEK RULERS + +[Sidenote: 1 Mac. 1:1-4] +Now after Alexander the Macedonian, the son of Philip, who came from the +land of the Greeks, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, he +reigned in his place as the first ruler of the Syrian kingdom. + +He fought many battles, +And won many strongholds, +And slew the kings of the earth; +He went on to the ends of the earth; +And took spoils from a multitude of nations. +And when the earth was at peace before him, +He was exalted and his heart was lifted up; +He gathered an exceedingly great army, +And ruled over countries and peoples and principalities; +And they became tributary to him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XI, 8:7a, c] +Now when Alexander was dead, the government was divided among his +successors. It was about this time that Jaddua the high priest died and +Onias, his son, took the high priesthood. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 1:1b-d] +Alexander's empire was divided among many: Antigonus gained possession of +the province of Asia; Seleucus of Babylon and the surrounding nations; +Lysimachus governed the Hellespont, and Cassander held Macedonia; Ptolemy, +The son of Lagus, got Egypt. While these princes ambitiously contended +with one another, each for his own kingdom, there were continual +and protracted wars. And the cities suffered and lost many of their +inhabitants in these days of distress, so that all Syria experienced at +the hands of Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, the opposite of what is implied by +his title of saviour. He also captured Jerusalem by means of deceit and +treachery; for, coming into the city on a sabbath day, as if to offer +sacrifices, he without difficulty gained possession of the city, since the +Jews did not oppose him, for they did not suspect him to be their enemy, +and that day they always spent in rest and quietness. And when he had +gained possession of it, he ruled over it in a cruel manner. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 1:1g-j] +And when Ptolemy had taken many captives both from the mountainous parts +of Judea and the places about Jerusalem and Samaria and Mount Gerizim, he +led them all into Egypt and settled them there. And since he knew that the +people of Jerusalem were most faithful in keeping their oaths and +covenants, he distributed many of them among garrisons. At Alexandria he +gave them equal privileges as citizens with the Macedonians themselves. He +also required them to take oath that they would be faithful to his +descendants. And not a few other Jews went into Egypt of their own accord, +attracted both by the goodness of the soil and Ptolemy's generosity. +However, there were disorders between their descendants and the Samaritans +because of their resolve to preserve that manner of life which was +transmitted to them by their forefathers. They accordingly contended with +each other; those from Jerusalem said that their temple was holy and they +resolved to send their sacrifices there, but the Samaritans were +determined that they should be sent to Mount Gerizim. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 2:1a] +When Alexander had reigned twelve years and after him Ptolemy Soter forty +years, Ptolemy Philadelphus next had the kingdom of Egypt and held it +thirty-nine years. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 2:5d, e, 4:1d-f] +Now when Onias I. the high priest died, his son Simon succeeded him. When +he died and left only a young son called Onias, Simon's brother Eleazer +took the high priesthood. After Eleazar's death, his uncle Manasseh +assumed the priesthood, and after he died, Onias II. received that honor. +This Onia was lacking in sense and was a great lover of money; for that +reason he did not pay the tax of twenty talents of silver for the people, +which his forefathers had paid out of their own estates to the kings of +Egypt. Thus he aroused the anger of King Ptolemy Euergetes, the father of +Philopator. Euergetes sent an ambassador to Jerusalem and complained that +Onias did not pay the taxes and threatened that if he did not receive +them, he would parcel out their land and send soldiers to live upon it. +When the Jews heard this message of the king they were filled with dismay, +but Onias was so avaricious that nothing of this kind made him ashamed. + +[Sidenote Jos. Ant. XII, 4:2a-f] +There was a certain Joseph, young in years, but of great reputation among +the people of Jerusalem for dignity and exact foresight. His father's name +was Tobias and his mother was the sister of Onias the high priest. She +informed him of the coming of Ptolemy's ambassador. Thereupon Joseph came +to Jerusalem and reproved Onias for not taking thought for the security of +his countrymen and for bringing the nation into dangers by not paying this +money. Onias's answer was that he did not care for his authority, that he +was ready, if it were possible, to lay down his high priesthood, and that +he would not go to the king, for he cared nothing at all about these +matters. Joseph then asked him if he would give him leave to go as +ambassador on behalf of the nation. He replied that he would. So +Joseph went down from the temple and treated Ptolemy's ambassador in a +Hospitable manner. He also presented him with rich gifts and feasted him +magnificently for many days and then sent him to the king before him and +told him that he would soon follow him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 4:3b, 4a-c] +Now it happened that at this time all the principal men and rulers of the +cities of Syria and Phoenicia went up to bid for the taxes; for every year +the king sold them to the most powerful men of each city. And when the day +came on which the king was to let the farming of the taxes of the cities, +the taxes of Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, Judea and Samaria amounted altogether +to eight thousand talents. Thereupon Joseph accused the bidders of having +agreed together to estimate the value of the taxes at too low a rate and +he promised that he would give twice as much for them, and for those who +did not pay he would send the king their entire possessions, for this +privilege was sold together with the taxes. The king was pleased to hear +this offer, and because it increased his revenues he said he would confirm +the sale of the taxes to him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 4:5a-c, 3, 6a] +And Joseph took with him two thousand soldiers from the king, for he +desired to have assistance in order to compel those who refused in the +city to pay. And when the people of Askelon refused to pay anything, he +seized about twenty of their principal men and slew them, and gathered +what they had and sent it all to the king and informed him what he had +done. Ptolemy admired the spirit of the man, commended him for what he +had done and gave him permission to do as he pleased. By these means he +amassed great wealth and made vast profits by this farming of taxes. And +he made use of the wealth he had thus secured in order to support his +authority. This good fortune he enjoyed for twenty-two years; and he +became the father of seven sons by one wife. He had also another son whose +name was Hyrcanus. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:3a, b] +Now in the reign of Antiochus the Great, who ruled over all Asia, the +Jews, as well as the inhabitants of Coele-Syria, suffered greatly, and +their land was sorely harassed, for while Antiochus was at war with +Ptolemy Philopator and his son Ptolemy, who was called Epiphanes, these +nations suffered equally both when he was defeated and when he was +victorious. So they were like a ship in the storm which is tossed by the +waves on both sides. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:3c-e] +But at length when Antiochus had beaten Ptolemy he seized Judea. And when +Philopator was dead, his son sent out against the inhabitants of +Coele-Syria a great army under Scopas, general of his forces, and took +many of their cities and especially our people, who, when he attacked +them, went over to him. But soon afterwards Antiochus overcame Scopas in a +battle fought at the fountains of the Jordan and destroyed a great part of +his army. And afterwards, when Antiochus subdued those cities of +Coele-Syria which Scopas had captured, and Samaria among them, the Jews of +their own accord went over to him and received him into Jerusalem and gave +plentiful provisions to all his army and readily assisted him when he +besieged the garrison which was in the citadel at Jerusalem. + +I. Josephus's Histories. The Greek period began with Alexander's +conquest of Palestine in 332 and extended to the Maccabean uprising in 168 +B.C. For the external history of this period the writings of the historian +Josephus are the chief sources. This famous Jewish writer was born in 37 +A.D., and apparently lived till about the close of the reign of Domitian +in 96. According to his own testimony he was the son of a priest named +Mattathiah. Until he was sixteen he studied under the Jewish rabbis. He +then spent three years with the Jewish sect known as the Essenes. At the +age of nineteen he joined the party of the Pharisees. His point of view in +general is that of this dominant popular party. He was able to read Latin, +but wrote his histories in Greek. At the age of twenty-six he went to Rome +where he spent three years. Returning to Palestine at the beginning of the +great rebellion against Rome, he was appointed revolutionary governor of +the important province of Galilee. The appointment was unfortunate, for he +proved both incompetent and unreliable. In 67 A.D. he and his followers +were shut up by Vespasian in the Galilean city, Jotapata. During the siege +he vainly tried to desert to the enemy. At the fall of the city he was +captured, but his life was spared by Vespasian. In time he ingratiated +himself with Titus and also incurred the hostility of his countrymen by +trying to persuade them to lay down their arms. He spent the latter part +of his life in Rome, devoting himself to study and writing. As a result of +his long residence at Rome under the patronage of the Roman emperors, he +was powerfully influenced by the Greek and Roman philosophical schools. + +Josephus was the great apologist of his race. His chief aims in writing +his histories were: (1) to excuse his own acts in connection with the +great rebellion; (2) to show why the overwhelming calamity had overtaken +his race; and (3) to answer the attack of their Gentile foes by tracing +the remarkable history of his people, and by presenting in attractive +form their beliefs, institutions, and laws. Of his two great historical +works the one entitled _The Jewish War_ was issued probably between 75 and +79 A.D. It opens with the beginnings of the Maccabean struggle, and traces +the history, with increasing detail, to the destruction of Jerusalem and +the suppression of the Jewish revolt at Gyrene, two or three years before +the book was written. His second great work was issued in 93 A.D. under +the title of _The Antiquities of the Jews_. In twenty books it traces +Israel's history from the earliest beginnings to the opening years of the +Jewish war (68 A.D.). The first half of this extensive history is based +on the author's free paraphrase of the Greek version of the Old Testament. +For the latter half he draws largely from the apocryphal book of I +Maccabees and from the writings of contemporary Greek and Jewish +historians. Chief among these are Polybius, Nicolaus of Damascus, and +Strabo. At certain points, where earlier sources fail him, he employs +popular romances and late traditions. The result is that the different +parts of his history are of widely varying values. All must be carefully +tested by the canons of historical criticism. After due allowance has been +made for his apologetic purpose and his well-known tendencies, a large and +valuable body of historical facts remain with which it is possible at many +otherwise obscure points to reconstruct the course of Israel's history. + +II. Alexander's Conquests. In many ways Alexander's conquest was the +most significant and far-reaching event in the history of Asia. The causes +of this great movement were, first, the fact that the limited territory of +Greece and Macedonia gave to the powerful Hellenic civilization little +opportunity for local expansion. Compelled, therefore, to break these +narrow bonds, it naturally spread in the direction of least resistance. In +the second place the decadent Persian Empire, with its fabulous riches and +almost limitless plains, was a loadstone that lured on Greek adventurers +to attempt feats that seemed incredible. The third reason was Alexander's +inherited lust for conquest. His father, Philip of Macedon, had long been +accumulating the resources which made it possible for his son to realize +his ambitious dreams. The fourth reason was Alexander's desire to make the +world more glorious by the diffusion of Hellenic culture, ideas, and +institutions and by binding all races together into one great, harmonious +family. His brilliant conquests are a familiar chapter in the world's +history. At Issus, at the northeastern end of the Mediterranean, he won, +in 333 B.C., the decisive battle which left him in possession of the +western part of the huge Persian Empire. By 332 he was master of +Palestine. Tyre, the commercial mistress of the eastern Mediterranean, and +Gaza, the key to Egypt, alone offered resistance. The Persian kings by +their onerous taxation and cruel policy had completely destroyed the +loyalty of their western subjects. In the symbolic pictures of the book of +Daniel Alexander is regarded as the "fourth beast, terrible and fearful +and exceedingly strong. And it had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke +in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet" (7:17,23, 8:5-8). Josephus +has preserved a popular tradition regarding the meeting between Alexander +and the white-robed Jerusalem priests and the homage paid by the conqueror +to the God of the Jews. It bears on its face evidence of its unhistorical +character. As a matter of fact, the first goal of Alexander's conquest was +the rich land of Egypt. Not being possessed of a navy, he entered it +through its one vulnerable point, the Wady Tumilat, that ran from the +Isthmus of Suez to the Nile Delta. By 331 B.C. he was master of the Nile +Valley, and thence turned eastward, conquering in succession the different +provinces of the great empire, until before his death in 323 B.C. his +empire extended from the Mediterranean to the Indus, and in the northeast +far up toward central Asia. + +Alexander's conquests were significant because they represented the +victory of Greek ideas and culture as well as of arms. In each country +conquered he usually succeeded in Hellenizing the native peoples. Greek +cities, settled by his veterans and the horde of migratory Greeks that +followed in his wake, were founded at strategic points throughout the vast +empire. As recent excavations have shown, Greek art and ideas continued +even after the death of Alexander to sweep eastward across Asia, until +they profoundly influenced the culture and ideas in such distant nations +as China and Japan. + +III. The Jews in Egypt and Alexandria. The crown of Alexander's +constructive work was the building of Alexandria in Egypt. Selecting a +narrow strip of coast, protected on the south by the low-lying lake +Mareotis and on the north by the Mediterranean, he built there a +magnificent Greek city. On the south it was connected by canal with the +Canopic arm of the Nile. Alexander thus diverted to this new metropolis +the rich trade of the Red Sea and the Nile. A mile distant was the +island of Pharos, which was connected with the mainland by a great moll. +On either side, protected from the storms, were the eastern and western +harbors, large enough to accommodate the merchant-men and navies of the +ancient world. On the west was the native Egyptian quarter. In the +centre, opposite the island of Pharos, was the Greek and official quarter. +In the northeastern part of the city was the Jewish quarter. Here the Jews +lived together under the rule of their law; they were also represented in +the civic council by their own leaders. When Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, +became governor of Egypt and, after the death of Alexander, subjected +Palestine, he carried back to Alexandria many Jewish captives, and +attracted others by the special privileges which he granted them. In them +he recognized valuable allies in developing the commercial resources of +Alexandria and in maintaining his rule over the native Egyptians. Here in +time the Jews became wealthy and powerful and developed a unique +civilization. From the beginning of the Greek period the number of the +Jews in Egypt equalled, if it did not surpass, that of the Jews in +Palestine. While they maintained close connection with the Jews in +Palestine and remained true to their Scriptures, they were profoundly +influenced by their close contact with the civilization and ideas of the +Greek world. + +IV. The Rule of the Ptolemies. The long-continued rule of the Ptolemies +in Egypt is one of the most astonishing phenomena in this remarkable +period in human history. Far outnumbered by the native population, +involved in almost constant war with their fellow-Greeks, they succeeded +by sheer audacity and vigilance in maintaining their authority during the +many crises through which they passed. Egypt's natural defences also made +its conquest by outside powers exceedingly difficult. Alexandria with its +fleet commanded Egypt's one entrance by the sea. In order to protect its +eastern gateway, the Isthmus of Suez, it was essential that the Ptolemies +should control Palestine. Southern Palestine also commanded the great +commercial highway that led southward and eastward to Arabia and +Babylonia. Alexandria's ancient rivals, Tyre and Sidon, also lay on the +borders of Palestine, and it was essential that they be under the control +of Egypt, if Alexandria was to remain the mistress of the eastern +Mediterranean. Furthermore, Palestine and the Lebanons (known to Josephus +as Coele-Syria, that is, Hollow Syria), alone of the countries adjacent to +Egypt, possessed the timber required for the building of Alexandria's +navies and merchant-men. Hence Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, and his +successors spared no effort to maintain their control over the lands lying +along the eastern Mediterranean. + +In the division of the empire which followed the death of Alexander three +rivals struggled in turn for this coveted territory: Ptolemy, in the +south; Antigonus, who soon became master of Asia Minor and northern Syria; +and Seleucus, to whom fell the Tigris-Euphrates Valley and the more +distant eastern provinces. In the decisive battle of Ipsus in 301 B.C. +the overshadowing power of Antigonus was broken and the control of +southwestern Asia was divided between Seleucus and Ptolemy. By the +treaty that was made after the battle, Coele-Syria was given to Ptolemy; +but Seleucus and his descendants, who were known as the Seleucids or the +Seleucidae, soon attempted to wrest it from Egypt, and during the +following century frequently, with varying success, renewed the attempt. +In 295 and again in 219 they were for a brief period masters of Palestine, +but during most of this period it was held by the Ptolemies. + +V. Fortunes of the Jews of Palestine. Josephus's figure of a ship in a +storm, smitten by the waves on either side, well describes the lot of the +Jews of Palestine during the Greek period. They were in turn victimized +and courted by the rival kings of Egypt and Syria. The Jews, on the +whole, favored the rule of the Ptolemies, who had made many concessions to +their kinsmen in Egypt. The presence of many Jews in Egypt also made this +relation more natural. As a rule the Ptolemies during the intervals of +peace left the Jews of Palestine largely to themselves, as long as they +paid the heavy tribute that was exacted. It was, however, one of the +most corrupt periods in human history. The Ptolemaic court was rich, +profligate, and constantly degenerating. The popular story of Joseph the +tax-collector (which Josephus recounts at length), while largely fanciful, +vividly reflects the conditions and spirit of the age. Joseph, who +evidently belonged to one of the leading families of Jerusalem, by his +energy and effrontery secured the valuable right of farming the taxes of +Palestine. By the iniquitous methods then in vogue, he succeeded in +amassing a great fortune. The splendid ruins of Arak el-Emir on the +heights of southern Gilead, east of the Jordan, represent the huge castle +and town built by his son Hyrcanus and testify to the wealth of this +Jewish adventurer. The stories that Josephus relates regarding Joseph +indicate that the materialism and sensuality which were regnant in +Alexandria had penetrated even into the province of Judea. + +The one bright spot in the political history of this period is the reign +of the high priest Simon, known as the Just. He appears to have devoted +himself to developing, so far as was in his power, the interests and +resources of the Palestinian Jews and to have lifted the temple service +to a state of magnificence that received the unqualified commendation +of Jesus, the son of Sirach. + +VI. Conquest of Palestine by the Seleucids in 311 B.C. Seleucus Nikanor +transferred the western capital of his empire, known as Syria (a shortened +form of the ancient name Assyria), to Antioch, near the northeastern end +of the Mediterranean. This city was situated at the point where the +Orontes breaks through the Lebanons and where the great roads from the +Euphrates and Coele-Syria converge and run westward to its seaport, +Seleucia. It was built in the midst of a fertile valley, partly on an +island in the river and partly on its northern bank. Not having natural +defences, the city depended for protection upon its broad, encompassing +walls. To this new capital was attracted a diverse native, Greek, and +Jewish population. By virtue of its strategic position and its commercial +and political importance, it soon became one of the great cities of the +eastern Mediterranean. It occupied the natural site on the eastern +Mediterranean seaboard for the capital of a great empire. Shut in by the +sea on the west and the desert on the east, Syria's natural line of +expansion was north and south. Not until 198 B.C., however, under the +rule of Antiochus the Great, did it secure permanent control of Palestine. +The degenerate house of the Ptolemies made several ineffectual attempts to +win back their lost province, but henceforth Palestine remained under the +rule of Syria. The personal attractions of Antiochus the Great, the +specious promises which he made, and disgust because of the corrupt rule +of Egypt inclined the Jews of Palestine to welcome this change of rulers. +The court at Antioch, however, soon became almost as corrupt as that of +Egypt, and the Jews were the victims of the greed and caprice of the +Syrian despots. Meantime the insidious Greek culture and vices were +influencing and largely undermining the character of the Jewish rulers. +Judaism was unconsciously facing a supreme crisis in its history. + + + +Section CV. THE WISE AND THEIR TEACHINGS + +[Sidenote: Pr. 1:2-6] +That men may learn wisdom and instruction, +May understand intelligent discourses, +May receive instruction in wise conduct, +In justice, judgment and equity; +That discretion may be given to the inexperienced, +To the youth knowledge and a purpose; +That the wise man may hear and increase in learning, +And the intelligent man may receive counsel, +That he may understand proverb and parable, +The words of the wise and their riddles. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:1-6] +Does not Wisdom call? +And Understanding raise her voice? +On the top of high places by the way, +In the midst of the street she stands, +Beside the gateways in front of the city, +At the entrance of the gates she cries aloud: +To you, O men, I call, +And my appeal is to the sons of men. +O inexperienced, acquire discretion, +And ye stupid, gain understanding. +Hear, for I speak true things, +And the utterance of my lips is right. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:13] +Pride and arrogance and evil conduct +And false speech do I hate. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:14-16] +With me is counsel and practical knowledge; +With me understanding and might. +By me kings do reign, +And rulers decree justice. +By me princes rule, +And nobles judge the land. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:17] +I love those who love me, +Those who seek me diligently shall find me. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:18-21] +Riches and honor are with me, +Lordly wealth and prosperity. +My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold, +And my increase than choice silver. +I walk in the way of righteousness, +In the midst of the paths of justice, +That I may endow those who love me with wealth, +And that I may fill their treasuries. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:22-26] +Jehovah formed me as the beginning of his creation, +The first of his works of old, +In the primeval past was I formed, +In the beginning, before the earth was, +When there were no depths, I was brought forth, +When there were no fountains full of water. +Before the mountains were settled, +Before the hills were brought forth, +When he had not as yet made the earth, +Nor the first of the dust of the world. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:27, 29, 30] +When he established the heavens, I was there, +When he marked off the vault on the face of the deep, +Made fast the fountains of the deep, +When he set to the sea its bound, +When he marked out the foundations of the earth, +Then I was at his side as a foster-child; +And I was daily full of delight, +Sporting in his presence continually, +Sporting in his habitable earth. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:31-35] +And my delight is with the sons of men; +Now therefore, my sons, hearken to me, +Hear instruction that you may be wise, +And reject it not. +Happy is the man who hearkens to me, +Happy are they who walk in my ways, +Watching daily at my gates, +Waiting at the posts of my doors. +For he who finds me finds life, +And obtains favor from Jehovah. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 13:14-20, 24:5] +The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life +That man may avoid the ways of death. +Walk with the wise and you will become wise, +But he who associates with fools shall smart for it. +A wise man is better than a strong man, +And a man who has knowledge than he who has strength. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 12:10] +A wise man has regard for the well-being of his beast, +But the heart of the wicked is cruel. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 20:13] +Love not sleep lest you come to poverty; +Open your eyes and you shall have plenty. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 25:16] +If you find honey, eat what is sufficient for you, +Lest you be surfeited with it and vomit it up. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 23:9-35] +Who cries, Woe? who, Alas? +Who has contentions? Who, complaining? +Who has dullness of eyes? +They who linger long over wine, +They who go about tasting mixed wine. +Look not upon the wine when it is red, +When it sparkles in the cup. +At last it bites like a serpent, +And stings like an adder. +Your eyes shall see strange things, +And your mind shall suggest queer things. +You shall be like one sleeping at sea, +Like one asleep in a great storm. +"They have struck me, but I feel no pain; +They have beaten me, but I feel it not; +I will seek it yet again. When shall I awake from my wine?" + +[Sidenote: Pr. 29:20, 15:23] +Do you see a man hasty in his words? +There is more hope for a fool than for him. +A man has joy from the utterance of his mouth, +And a word in due season, how good it is! + +[Sidenote: Pr. 19:11, 16:32] +A man's wisdom makes him slow to anger, +And it is his glory to pass over transgression. +He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, +And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 23:26-28] +My son, give me your attention, +And let your eyes give careful heed to my ways. +For a harlot is a deep well, +And an adultress is a narrow pit. +Yea, she lies in wait as a robber, +And increases the faithless among men. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 4:25-27] +Let your eyes look right straight forward, +And let your gaze be straight before you. +Let the path of your feet be level, +And let all your ways be stable. +Turn not to the right hand nor to the left, +Keep your foot away from evil. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 14:15] +The simpleton believes everything, +But the prudent man looks well to where he walks. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 26:12, 27:2] +Do you see a man wise in his own conceit? +There is more hope of a fool than him. +Let another man praise you and not your own mouth; +Some other, and not your own lips. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 4:23, 11:6] +Keep your heart above all that you guard, +For out of it are the issues of life. +The righteousness of the upright shall save them, +But the treacherous are caught by their own desire. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 21:3] +To do what is just and right +Is more acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 15:1] +A soft answer turns away wrath; +But a harsh word stirs up anger. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 3:27] +Withhold not good from your neighbor, +When it is in your power to do it. +Say not to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, +And to-morrow I will give," when you have it by you. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 14:21, 19:17] +He who despises his neighbor, sins, +But he who has pity on the poor, happy is he. +He who has pity on the poor, lends to Jehovah, +And his good deed will yet pay him. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 25:21-22] +If your enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat, +And if he be thirsty, give him water to drink; +For you will heap coals of fire upon his head, +And Jehovah will reward you. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 3:11-12] +My son, reject not the instruction of Jehovah, +And do not grow weary of his reproof, +For whom Jehovah loveth he reproveth, +Even as a father the son in whom he delights. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 3:5-6] +Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, +And depend not upon your own understanding. +In all your ways know him well, +And he will make plain your path. + +I. Structure and Authorship of the Book of Proverbs. The book of +Proverbs is in reality a collection of originally independent groups of +proverbs. In its present form it consists of nine general divisions: +(1) The preface defining the aims of the book, 1:1-6. (2) A general +introduction describing the characteristics and value of the wisdom +teaching, 1:7-9:18. (3) A large collection designated as the Proverbs +of Solomon, 10:1-22:16. The fact that ten proverbs are repeated in +practically the same words indicates that it, like the book of Proverbs +as a whole, is made up of smaller collections. In chapters 10-15 the +prevailing type of the poetic parallelism is antithetic or contrasting, +while in the remainder of the book the synonymous or repeating parallelism +prevails. (4) A supplemental collection, 22:17-24:22. This is introduced +by the suggestive superscription, "Incline your ear and hear the words of +the wise." (5) A shorter appendix, 24:23-34, with the superscription, +"These also are from the wise." (6) The second large collection of +proverbs, 25-29. This bears the superscription, "These also are the +proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, +transcribed." It contains several proverbs found in the first large +collection, and evidently represents later gleanings from the same field. +(7) The words of Agur, 30. Of Agur nothing is known beyond his name, +which may be simply typical. The latter part of the chapter contains a +collection of numerical enigmas which may or may not have been associated +at first with the opening section. (8) The words of King Lemuel, 31:1-9. +(9) A description of the ideal Hebrew housewife, 31:10-31. The contents of +these collections as well as their superscriptions clearly indicate that +these proverbs represent the work of many different wise men, living at +different periods and writing from different points of view. Few, if any, +can be confidently attributed to Solomon. Even the proverbs in the large +collection, 10:1-22:16, which are definitely designated as the Proverbs of +Solomon, emphasize monogamy and denounce rulers who oppress their +subjects. Many of the proverbs in these larger Solomonic collections give +practical advice regarding the bearing of a subject in the presence of the +king, and few of them fit in the mouth of the splendor-loving monarch, who +by his foreign marriages and grinding taxation exerted a baleful influence +upon the political and religious life of Israel. The great majority of the +proverbs reflect the noble ethical teachings of the prophets. Clearly the +term Proverbs of Solomon is simply a late designation of early proverbs +the authorship of which, like that of most popular maxims, had long since +been forgotten. + +II. Date of the Different Collections. The preface and general +introduction to the book of Proverbs reflect the immorality and evils that +characterized both the Persian and Greek periods. Their background is the +corrupt life of the city. The tendency to personify wisdom is also one of +the marks of later Jewish thought. It is probable, therefore, that this +part of the book of Proverbs was added by a late editor who lived during +the Greek period. The oldest collection in the book is clearly to be found +in 10:1-22:10. The evils which it describes, the oppression of the poor +and dependent by the rich and powerful, existed throughout most of +Israel's history, but were especially prominent in the days of the +divided kingdom immediately before the destruction of Jerusalem. The +references to the king imply that the proverb writers had in mind Hebrew +rulers. In general their rule is just and they enjoy the respect of their +subjects. The prevailing occupation of the people is agriculture. Commerce +is just beginning to develop. The exile has not yet cast its shadow over +Hebrew life and thought. The majority of these proverbs clearly represent +the fruitage of the teachings of the pre-exilic prophets, and many of them +come from the days immediately before the final destruction of Jerusalem. +From the occasional references to the scoffers, the absence of allusions +to idolatry, and the fact that monogamy is here assumed, we may infer that +some of them at least come from the Persian or even the Greek periods. It +is probable that this large collection was not made until the latter part +of the Persian or the early part of the Greek period. + +The appendices in 22:17-24:34 contain many repetitions of proverbs found +in the larger collection. The prevalence of intemperance, the existence of +a merchant class, and the allusions to exiled Jews (e.g., 24:11) point +rather clearly to the dissolute Greek period as the age when these small +collections were made. The word meaning "transcribe," that is found in +the superscription to the second large collection (25-29), is peculiar to +the late Hebrew, and implies that this superscription, like those of the +Psalms, was added by a late Jewish scribe. The literary form of these +proverbs is more complex than those of the other large collection. The +kings are feared by their subjects, but figure now as oppressors rather +than champions of the people. While this collection may contain a few +proverbs coming from the period before the final destruction of Jerusalem, +it is probable that, like the smaller appendices to the first large +collection, they were not gathered until the early part of the Greek +period. The long appendices in chapters 30-31 are clearly late. The note +of doubt in the opening section of 30 is closely akin to that which recurs +in the book of Ecclesiastes. It is also based on Isaiah 44:5 and 45:4. +Aramaisms and the acrostic form in 31:10-31 imply that the background was +the late Persian or early Greek period. + +The history of the book of Proverbs is therefore reasonably clear. Its +original nucleus was probably a small group of popular proverbs that had +been transmitted orally from the days before the final destruction of +Jerusalem. These, together with proverbs which first became current during +the Persian period, were collected some time in the days following the +work of Nehemiah. To these was added in the Greek period the smaller +appendices in 22:17-24:34. Possibly the same editor joined to them the +large collection found in 25-29. He or some wise man in the Greek period +prefixed the elaborate introduction in chapters 1-9. To the whole was +added the appendices in chapters 30 and 31. It is probable that by the +middle of the Greek period, or at least before 200 B.C., the book of +Proverbs was complete in its present form. + +III. The Wise in Israel's Early History. Long before 2000 B.C. the +scribes of ancient Egypt were busy collecting "the words of counsel of the +men of olden time." Many of these ancient maxims still survive. The +best-known is that which bears the title "The Wisdom of Ptah-hotep." The +desire to preserve and transmit the results of practical experience is the +common motive that underlies the work of the wise. It is that which +inspires the teachers of all ages. The ancients were keenly alive to the +importance of instruction and training. All that is significant in the +civilizations of the past is, in a sense, the result of this teaching +motif. + +In early Israel there were many men and women famous for their ability to +give wise counsel. In his stormy career Joab, David's valiant commander, +frequently profited by the counsel of certain wise women (Sections +LIII:8-11 LIX:35). David's friend Hushai, by his wily counsel at the time +of Absalom's rebellion, saved the king's life. The narrative in II Samuel +declares that the counsel of Ahithophel was esteemed almost as highly as +the divine oracle. For his keen insight and acute decisions, as well as +for his witty utterances, Solomon gained a reputation which made him in +the thought of later generations the father of all wisdom literature. In +a significant passage found in Jeremiah 18:18 the three classes of +Israel's teachers are brought into sharp contrast. In urging that the +prophet be put to death his foes declared: "Teaching will not perish from +the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet." +From references in Isaiah and Jeremiah it is evident that before the final +destruction of the Hebrew state the counsel of the wise was chiefly +political and secular, and often not in accord with the higher ideals of +the great pre-exilic prophets. + +IV. Their Prominence in the Greek Period. The transformation of the wise +into religious as well as secular teachers apparently came after the +destruction of Jerusalem. It was the result of a variety of forces which +have already been studied. The destruction of the Hebrew state and the +resulting prominence of the individual led the wise to turn their +attention from questions of political to those of personal import. The +result is that the word "Israel" is found nowhere in the book of Proverbs. +The teachings there found are both individual and universal and apply to +Gentile as well as Jew, to the present as well as the past. The gradual +disappearance of the prophets during the latter part of the Persian +period, and the fact that the priests ever devoted themselves more and +more to the ritual and less to teaching, left a great need in the life of +Judaism which called to the front the wise. At the same time the problems +of the individual became more and more complex and insistent. Especially +was this true during the Greek period when Hellenic civilization, with its +corrupting influences, swept over Palestine and the lands of the +dispersion. It was a period when the principles enunciated by the earlier +prophets had been in general adopted by the Jewish race. The task, +however, of interpreting these principles simply and practically into the +every-day life of the people was left to these lovers and teachers of men, +the wise. The evidence of the voluminous writings of Ben Sira, as well as +of the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, makes it quite clear that it +was during the Greek period, and possibly in part under the intellectual +stimulus of Greek thought, that the wise attained their greatest +prominence and influence. + +V. The Aims of the Wise. The aims of the wise are in part defined in the +remarkable preface to the book of Proverbs, which was intended primarily +to describe the purpose of the collection of proverbs which embodies their +teachings. Four distinct classes commanded their attention: (1) The +ignorant, those who were unacquainted with the moral, religious, +and practical heritage received from preceding generations. (2) The +inexperienced, those who had not yet learned in the school of life the art +of adjusting themselves successfully to their environment. (3) The +scoffers, who openly rejected the counsel of the sages. And (4) the +disciples who were eager to learn and profit by the teachings of the wise. + +The definite aims of the wise must be inferred from their teachings. They +were concerned with the development of the individual, not the nation. +Their first aim was to instruct the ignorant in the fundamental moral and +religious principles already laid down by earlier priests and prophets. +In the words of the preface to the book of Proverbs they taught, + +That men may learn wisdom and instruction, +May understand intelligent discourses, +May receive instruction in wise dealing, +In justice, judgment, and equity. + +Their second aim was to point out the pitfalls that lay in the path of the +inexperienced, and to save them from moral wreck by inspiring within them +right ideals and ambitions. This aim is also well stated in the preface to +the book of Proverbs: + +That discretion may be given to the inexperienced, +To the youth knowledge and a purpose. + +The third aim of the wise was to educate the receptive and all who came +to them in the attitude of disciples. This aim corresponded very closely +to that of the modern educator. Again the preface to the book of +Proverbs clearly expresses this educational ideal: + +That the wise man may hear and increase in learning, +And the intelligent man may receive counsel. +That he may understand a proverb and parable, +The words of the wise and their riddles. + +The wise, therefore, sought not merely to instruct, but to educate; that +is, to develop sane, happy, and efficient men and women. They sought to +train those who would have not only knowledge and experience, but also the +ability to apply these successfully in the varied relations of life. +Above all, they endeavored to educate not parts of a man, but the whole +man. Hence their interest and the subjects that they treat are as broad +as human experience. + +The wise were keenly alive to the importance of youthful education. +The proverb: + +Train up a child in the way in which he should go, +And even when he is old he will not depart from it, + +voices the fundamental principle upon which all effective education is +based. They recognized that in the plastic days of childhood and youth +ideals and character and efficiency could best be developed, and that +education was not the work of a moment, but a gradual, progressive +development. + +Primary education, however, they intrusted to parents, and in many +proverbs emphasized the responsibility which every parent owed to his +child. They also counselled parents regarding the training of their +children. The maxims: + +The rod of correction gives wisdom, +But a child left to himself brings disgrace to his mother. +Chastise your son while there is still hope, +And set not your heart on his destruction. +He who spares his rod hates his son, +But he who loves him chastises him, + +express their appreciation of the importance of discipline in the early +training of the child. It is not clear at what age the wise took up the +instruction of the young. Possibly it was at about the age of twelve, +when the individual passed from childhood to adolescence, with its +increasing dangers and possibilities. Many of their teachings are +especially adapted to the problems of this tempestuous period. + +VI. The Methods of the Wise. In attaining their aims the wise men of +Israel employed a variety of methods. Proverbs such as, + +Every purpose is established by counsel, +And by wise guidance make thou war, + +suggest that, as in the days before the exile, they were still active in +connection with the civic, social, and national life of the people, and +that by influencing public policies they conserved the moral welfare of +the individual as well as the state. Many references to "wisdom's voice +crying aloud in the public places" suggest that, like the earlier +prophets, the wise men at times taught in public, in the market-places, in +the open spaces within the city gates, or wherever men were gathered +together. They appear also to have taught in private, by wise counsel +delivering the individual disciple who resorted to them from the +perils that beset his path, or aiding him by prudent advice in solving +successfully his individual problems. + +In 6:32-37 Ben Sira has given a vivid sketch of the schools of the wise, +which are clearly the forerunners of the later rabbinical schools: + +My son, if you wish, you will be instructed, +And if you pay attention, you will become prudent. +If you are willing to hear, you will receive, +And if you listen attentively, you will be wise. +Stand in the assembly of the elders, +And whoever is wise, stick close to him. +Be willing to listen to every discourse, +And let no illuminating proverbs escape you. +If you see a man of insight, hasten to him, +And let your foot wear out his threshold. +Let your mind dwell upon the law of the Most High, +And meditate continually on his commands. +Thus he will enlighten your mind, +And teach you the wisdom you desire. + +It requires little imagination to picture these ancient prototypes of +our modern universities. Like all Oriental teachers, the wise doubtless +sat cross-legged, with their disciples in a circle about them. They +trusted largely to question and answer, and poured out from their own +and their inherited experience wise maxims such as would guide the +simple and inexperienced and develop efficient manhood. + +VIII. Their Important Teachings. In the opening chapters of Proverbs the +wise describe the character and value of that wisdom which represents +their teaching as a whole. In chapters 8 and 9 "Wisdom" is personified. +Inasmuch as the Hebrew word for "wisdom" is feminine, it is spoken of as a +woman. Chapter 9 describes, in a form intended to arrest the attention of +the most inattentive, the feast that Wisdom offers to her guests. This is +contrasted with Folly's banquet, and the consequences to those who +participated in these rival banquets are clearly presented. + +In the practical teachings of the wise no question that vitally concerned +the individual man was considered beneath their attention. Like the wise +modern teacher they made no distinction between the religious and the +secular. Everything that influenced man's acts and ideals possessed for +them profound religious import. While the proverbial epigrammatic form of +their teaching was not conducive to a logical or complete treatment of +their theme, yet in a series of concise, dramatic maxims they dealt with +almost every phase of man's domestic, economic, legal, and social life. +They presented clearly man's duty to animals, to himself, to his +fellow-men, and to God. If utilitarian motives were urged in the great +majority of cases, it is because they sought to reach their pupils on +their own level. Although their ideals sometimes fell below those of the +great prophets, and especially those of the Great Teacher of Nazareth, the +importance of their work in establishing individual standards of right and +wrong, in keeping alive in concrete form the principles of the earlier +prophets, and in preparing their race for the crises through which it was +soon to pass cannot be overestimated. As effective teachers of the +individual they have an intensely practical and significant message for +all men in the stream of life to-day as well as in the past. + + + +Section CVI. THE DIFFERENT CURRENTS OF THOUGHT IN JUDAISM DURING THE +GREEK PERIOD + +[Sidenote: Ps. 19:7-14] +The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul; +The testimony of Jehovah is trustworthy, making wise the simple, +The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart, +The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes. +The fear of Jehovah is clean, enduring forever, +The judgments of Jehovah are true and altogether just, +They are of more value than gold, yea, than much fine gold, +Sweeter than honey and the droppings from the honey-comb. +By them is thy servant warned; in keeping them is great reward. +Who can discern his errors; cleanse thou me from secret faults, +Also from the presumptuous restrain thy servant; let them not have + dominion over me. +Then shall I be perfect and cleared from great transgression. +Let the words of my mouth be acceptable and the meditation of my heart, +In thy sight, O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 46:1-3] +Jehovah is our refuge and strength, +An ever present help in trouble. +Therefore we fear not, though the earth be moved, +And though the mountains totter into the heart of the sea; +The seas roar, their waters foam, +Mountains shake with the swelling of its stream. + Jehovah of hosts is with us, + The God of Jacob is our refuge. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 46:4-7] +His brooks make glad the city of Jehovah, +The holy dwelling place of the Most High. +Jehovah is in the midst of her, she cannot totter; +Jehovah will help her at the turn of the morn. +Nations raged, kingdoms tottered, +When he uttered his voice the earth melted. + Jehovah of hosts is with us, + The God of Jacob is our refuge. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 46:8-11] +Come, behold the works of Jehovah, +What desolations he hath made in the earth. +He is about to make wars to cease unto the end of the earth. +The bow he breaketh, and dasheth the spear in pieces; +He burneth the chariots with fire. +Be still, and know that I am Jehovah; +I shall be exalted among the nations, I shall be exalted on the earth. + Jehovah of hosts is with us, + The God of Jacob is our refuge. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:27-30] +All the ends of the earth will remember and will turn to Jehovah, +And all the families of the nations will worship in his presence; +For the dominion belongs to Jehovah and he rules over the nations. +Verily, him alone will all the prosperous of the earth worship. +Before him all those about to go down to the dust will bow, +A seed will serve him, it will be told to a generation to come; +And they will declare his righteousness that he hath accomplished to a + people yet to be born. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:1-8] +Now this word of Jehovah came to Jonah the son of Amittai: + +Arise, go to that great city, Nineveh, and preach against it; for their +wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish +from the presence of Jehovah. And he went down to Joppa and found a ship +going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare and embarked to go with them to +Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:4-7] +But Jehovah sent a furious wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty +tempest, so that the ship threatened to break in pieces. Then the sailors +were afraid and cried, each to his own god; and they cast into the sea the +wares that were in the ship, in order to lighten it. But Jonah had gone +down into the bottom of the ship; and he lay fast asleep. And the captain +of the ship came and said to him: What are you doing asleep? Call on your +God, perhaps that God will think on us that we perish not. And they said +to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose sake +this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:8-10] +Then they said to him, Tell us, what is your occupation, and whence do you +come? what is your country and of what people are you? And he said to +them, I am a Hebrew, and a worshipper of Jehovah, the God of heaven, who +hath made the sea and the dry land. Then the men were exceedingly afraid, +and said to him, What is this you have done? For they knew that he was +fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, for he had told them. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:11-13] +Then they said to him, What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be calm +for us? for the sea grew more and more stormy. And he said to them, Take +me up and throw me into the sea; so shall the sea be calm for you, for I +know that for my sake this great storm has overtaken you. But the men +rowed hard to get back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew +more and more stormy against them. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:14, 15] +Therefore they cried to Jehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O Jehovah, we +beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, neither bring +innocent blood upon us, for thou art Jehovah; thou hast done as it +pleaseth thee. So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the +sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly, and +they offered a sacrifice to Jehovah, and made vows. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:17-2:1, 10] +Then Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah was in the +belly of this fish three days and three nights. Thereupon Jonah prayed to +Jehovah his God, out of the belly of the fish. And Jehovah spoke to the +fish, and it threw up Jonah upon the dry land. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 3:1-4] +And the word of Jehovah came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go +to that great city, Nineveh, and preach to it what I shall tell thee. So +Jonah rose and went to Nineveh, as Jehovah said. Now Nineveh was a great +city before God, of three days' journey. And Jonah began by going through +the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Forty days more and +Nineveh shall be overthrown. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 3:5-9] +And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and +put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. And when +word came to the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, and took off +his robe, and dressed in sackcloth, and sat in the dust. And he made +proclamation and published in Nineveh: By the decree of the king and his +nobles: Man, beast, herd, and flock shall not taste anything; let them +neither eat nor drink water; But let them clothe themselves with +sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily to God, and turn +each from his evil way, and from the act of violence which they have in +hand. Who knows but that God may relent, and turn from his fierce anger, +that we perish not? + +[Sidenote: Jonah 3:10] +And God saw their works, how they turned from their evil way; and God +relented of the evil which he said he would do to them, and did it not. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 4:1-5] +But it displeased Jonah greatly, and he was angry. And he prayed to +Jehovah, and said, Ah now, Jehovah, was not this what I said when I was +yet in mine own country? Therefore I hastened to flee to Tarshish; for I +knew that thou art a God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and +abounding in love, and relenting of evil. Therefore, O Jehovah, take now, +I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to +live! And Jehovah said, Doest thou well to be angry? Then Jonah went out +of the city, and sat down before the city, and there made him a booth, and +sat under it, until he might see what would become of the city. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 4:6-11] +And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that +it might be a shade over his head. So Jonah rejoiced exceedingly over the +gourd. But as the dawn appeared the next day God prepared a worm and it +injured the gourd, so that it withered. And when the sun arose, God +prepared a sultry east wind. And the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, so +that he was faint, and begged for himself that he might die saying, It is +better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Is it well for +thee to be angry about the gourd? And he said, It is well for me to be +angry, even to death! And Jehovah said, Thou carest for a gourd, for which +thou hast not troubled thyself, nor hast thou brought it up--a thing that +came in a night and hath perished in a night. Shall I, indeed, not care +for the great city, Nineveh, in which there are one hundred and twenty +thousand human beings who know not their right hand from their left; +besides much cattle? + +[Sidenote: Eccles. 1:12-18] +I, Koheleth, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my mind to +searching out and exploring wisdom, all that is done under heaven: it is +an evil task that God hath given the children of men at which to toil. I +have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, the +whole is vanity and a striving after wind. The crooked cannot be made +straight; and the wanting cannot be numbered. I communed with myself, +saying, Behold, I have increased and gathered wisdom more than all who +were before me in Jerusalem, and my mind has abundantly beheld wisdom and +knowledge. And I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and +folly: I know that this also is a striving after wind. For in much wisdom +is much trouble, and he who increases knowledge, increases pain. + +[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:1-11] +I said in my mind, Come now, I will test you with pleasure; so look upon +what is attractive; and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, +It is mad; and of pleasure, What does it do? I searched in my mind, how to +Stimulate my flesh with wine, while my mind was guiding with wisdom, and +how to lay hold on folly, until I should see what is good for the children +of men to do under the heavens all the days of their life. I did great +works: I built for myself houses; I planted for myself vineyards; I made +for myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them, every kind of +fruit-tree. I made for myself pools of water, to water a grove springing +up with trees. I bought male and female slaves and had slaves born in my +house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than all who +had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and +gold, and the treasure of kings and of provinces. I secured for myself +male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men, mistresses +of all kinds. And I grew more wealthy than all who were before in +Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. And nothing that my eyes +craved did I keep from them; I did not deny my heart any joy, for my heart +rejoiced because of all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my +hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, +all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no gain under the +sun. + +[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:12-17] +And I turned to behold wisdom and madness, and folly; for what can the man +do who comes after the king? Even that which has been done already. Then I +saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness. The wise +man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness: yet I know +that the same fate overtakes them all. Then I said in my heart, As is the +fate of a fool so will be my fate; so why have I then been more wise? Then +I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise man, even as +of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever, inasmuch as in the days to +come all will have been already forgotten. And how the wise man dies even +as the fool! So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun +is evil to me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind. + +[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:24-26b] +There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and +find his pleasure in his labor. This also I saw that it is from the hand +of God. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment without him? This is +also vanity and a striving after wind. + +I. The Ritualists. Liberty of thought as well as speech was from the +first characteristic of Israel's life and thought. It was one of the many +valuable heritages that the Hebrews brought with them from the free life +of the desert. Their close contact with the outside world, and especially +with Hellenic life and thought during the Greek period, increased this +sense of freedom. The result is that many different currents of thought +are reflected in the Old Testament writings that come from this age. +Most familiar and easiest understood is the ritualistic type. It is +represented by the Chronicler, who lived and wrote some time between 300 +and 250 B.C. For him all life and interest centred about the temple and +its services. In general the vision of the ritualists was turned toward +the past rather than the present and the future. In the traditions +regarding the origin of the temple and its institutions, in keeping the +ceremonial law, in participating in the formal ritual, and in joining +their songs with those of the temple singers they found an escape from +the pettiness of the age and attained that peace and joy which is +expressed in many of the psalms of the Psalter. + +II. The Legalists. Closely related to the ritualists were those whose +interests were all fixed in the study of the law and the teachings of the +earlier priests. They regarded the written laws as a complete guide to +conduct and the embodiment of Jehovah's supreme message to his race. +Psalms like the fragment found in 19:7-14 voice their convictions: + +The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul, +The judgments of Jehovah are true and altogether just. +By them is thy servant warned; in keeping them is great reward. + +They emphasized not merely external acts and words, but inner motives. +In character and in conduct they were noble products of that religion +which Israel had inherited from the past. By them were probably treasured +stories such as are found in the first chapters of the book of Daniel. The +detailed references in chapter 2 to the marriage of Antiochus Theos and +the daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus in 248 B.C. and to the murder of +Antiochus by his former wife Laodicea, together with the absence of +allusions to subsequent events, indicate that these stories were probably +committed to writing somewhere between 255 and 245 B.C. Their aim was +clearly to emphasize the supreme importance of fulfilling faithfully the +demands of the law, even in the face of bitter opposition and persecution, +and the certainty that Jehovah would deliver those who were loyal to him. +Their teachings were especially adapted to inspire the tried and tempted +Jews of the dispersion, who were sorely persecuted by the heathen among +whom they lived. The dramatic picture of men who dared face the fiery +furnace or the hungry lions rather than depart from the demands of the law +undoubtedly proved a great inspiration to the Jews of the Greek period. + +III. The Disciples of the Prophets. Throughout the centuries that +followed the destruction of Jerusalem the great ethical prophets of the +pre-exilic period had never been without spiritual disciples. They +faithfully studied and applied in their own lives the principles laid down +by their earlier guides. Although the influence of the contemporary +prophets constantly waned, yet the spirit of those earlier champions of +the faith lived in the hearts of their followers. In many of the psalms +of the Psalter Amos and Isaiah and Jeremiah speak in terms adapted to the +changed problems of the Jews of the Greek period. In Psalm 46 the trust in +Jehovah which Isaiah advocated has become a living force in the life of +the Psalmist and of the class in behalf of which he spoke. In the +background one hears the march of the multitude armed by Alexander for +world-conquest and the din of conflict as army met army; but over all +stands Jehovah, protecting his sanctuary and people, supreme in the lives +of men and nations. The narrow, nationalistic, messianic hopes have long +since been abandoned, and instead Jehovah is recognized as the one supreme +being whose kingdom or dominion includes all the nations of the earth. In +imagination these disciples of the prophets saw the time when rich and +poor, Jew and Gentile, should bow before Jehovah and be united in loyalty +to him. Thus arose that highest conception of the kingdom of God which is +the foundation of Jesus' teaching. + +IV. The Date and Character of the Book of Jonah. From those who sat at +the feet of the earlier prophets came one of the most remarkable books of +the Old Testament. In literary form the little book of Jonah is closely +akin to the stories in the opening chapters of Genesis and the first half +of the book of Daniel. Its many Aramaic words, its quotations from the +late book of Joel, its universalism, and its missionary spirit all +indicate that it comes either from the closing years of the Persian or +from the earlier part of the Greek period. The story of Jonah, like many +similar stories in the Old Testament, was probably known to the Semites +centuries before it was employed by the author of the book to point his +great prophetic teaching. In the familiar Greek story of Hercules, +Hesione, the daughter of the Trojan king, is rescued by the hero from a +sea-monster which held her in its stomach three days. An old Egyptian tale +coming from the third millennium B.C. tells of an Egyptian who was +shipwrecked and after floating three days was swallowed by a great +sea-monster and thus carried to the land. From India comes the tradition +of a man who went to sea contrary to the commands of his mother. While on +the way the ship was seized by an unknown power and not allowed to proceed +until the offender was three times selected by lot and then cast +overboard. + +V. Teachings of the Book of Jonah. The value and message of the book of +Jonah have in the past been largely overlooked because the true literary +character of the book has been misunderstood. It was never intended by its +author to be regarded as a historical narrative. Its hero Jonah, the son +of Amittai, according to II Kings 14:25, lived during the reign of +Jeroboam II (780-740 B.C.), and predicted the wide extension of the +territory of southern Israel; but the Jonah of the story is evidently a +type of the Jew of the Persian and Greek periods. By showing the pettiness +of his attitude toward the heathen the author sought to broaden the vision +and quicken the conscience of his fellow-Jews. The portrait is remarkably +vivid and suggestive. Jonah fled from Jehovah's land and took refuge in +the sea, not because he feared the Ninevites, but, as he plainly declares +later, because he feared that, if he did preach to the Assyrian foes of +his race, Jehovah would repent and spare them. In the scene in the midst +of the raging tempest the piety of the heathen Sailors and their zeal in +sparing the guilty Israelite stand forth in favorable contrast to Jonah's +action in refusing to carry out Jehovah's command. The Ninevites, clad in +sackcloth, repenting for their sins, and craving Jehovah's forgiveness, +are far more attractive than the sullen prophet, complaining because +Jehovah has spared the heathen foes of his race and later upbraiding +Jehovah because of the destruction of the gourd that for a time had +protected his head from the burning sun. Jehovah's concluding remonstrance +voices the message of the book. Like the New Testament parable of the +Prodigal Son, the story of Jonah presents in graphic form the unbounded +love of the heavenly father and contrasts it sharply with the petty +jealousies and hatred of his favored people. It was a call to Israel to go +forth and become a missionary to all the world and a protest against the +nation's failure to perform its God-given task. + +VI. The Book of Ecclesiastes. Very different is the spirit and purpose +of the book of Ecclesiastes. It evidently comes from one of the many +wisdom teachers who flourished during the Greek period and it speaks in +the name of Solomon. It is an essay on the value of life. In its original +form its thought was so pessimistic that it has been supplemented at many +points by later editors. These insertions include (1) proverbs commending +wisdom and praising the current wisdom teachings, and (2) the work of a +pious scribe, a forerunner of the later Pharisees, who sought to correct +the utterances of the original writer (who is commonly designated as +Koheleth) and to bring them into accord with current orthodoxy. The +language and style of the book are closely akin to those of the Chronicler +and the author of the book of Esther. It also contains several Persian and +possibly one Greek word. The book in its earlier form was evidently known +to Ben Sira, the author of Ecclesiasticus, who lived about 180 B.C. In +4:13-16 and 10:16-17 there are apparent references to the reign of Ptolemy +Epiphanes, who came to the throne of Egypt at the age of five, and whose +court was famous for its dissoluteness and profligacy. The book, +therefore, may be dated with considerable confidence a little before 200 +B.C. It was a corrupt, barren period. Crime was rampant in the temple as +well as at the court in Alexandria (3:16). The people were crushed by the +powerful and were without means of redress (4:1). A despot sat on the +throne (10:5-7) and spies lurked everywhere (10:20). + +VII. Koheleth's Philosophy of Life. The author of the original book of +Ecclesiastes is the spokesman of that class in Judaism who were oppressed +and crushed by this dreary outlook. He evidently lived in Jerusalem and +probably near the temple (5:1 8:10). From the allusions in 7:26, 28 it is +evident that he was unhappily married. From the classic description of old +age found in 11:9-12:7 it would appear that when he wrote he was well +advanced in years, and spoke out of the depths of his own painful personal +experience, having been left without son or close kinsman (4:8). From his +teachings it is clear that he had broken away from the orthodox wisdom +school. Before his enfeebled vision rose the seamy, dreary side of life, +and yet back of the lament of this ancient pessimist is revealed a man of +high ideals, impelled by a spirit of scientific thoroughness. Though he +was intense and eager in his quest for true happiness and in his +analysis of the meaning of life, he found no abiding joy, for his +outlook was sadly circumscribed. Life beyond the grave offered to him +no hope or compensation. He was, however, by no means an agnostic. He +believed in God's rulership of the world; but the God of his faith was +inscrutable, far removed from the life of men. Hence, unlike many of his +contemporaries, as for example the psalmists, he found little joy or +inspiration in his religion. According to the conclusion, which he +proclaimed in the beginning of his essay and held consistently throughout, +all human striving and ambition, even life itself, are but superlative +vanity, nor can man attain any permanent or complete satisfaction. The one +positive teaching which Koheleth reiterates is that it is man's highest +privilege to extract from passing experiences the small measure of joy and +happiness that they offer, and therewith to be content. Compared with many +other Old Testament books, the religious value of Ecclesiastes is slight +indeed. Its chief value, however, is historical: it presents one phase of +thought in the Judaism of this period, and shows how sorely the Jewish +people needed the spur of a great crisis to rouse them to noble and +unselfish action. The book of Ecclesiastes also furnishes the darker +background which brings out in clear relief the inspiring messages of the +great prophets that had gone before, and of the greater Prophet who +was to set before the human race a worthy goal and a fresh and true +interpretation of the value of life. + + + +Section CVII. THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS THE SON OF SIRACH + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 1:1-10] +All wisdom is from the Lord, +And is with him forever. +The sand of the seas, and the drops of rain, +And the days of eternity--who shall number? +The height of the heaven, and the breadth of the earth, +And the depths of the abyss--who shall search them out? +Wisdom hath been created before all things, +And keen insight from everlasting. +To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed? +And who hath known her shrewd counsels? +There is one wise, greatly to be feared, +The Lord sitting upon his throne, +He created her, and saw and numbered her, +And poured her out over all his works. +She is with all flesh according to his gift, +And he giveth her freely to those who love him. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 2:1-5] +My son, if you would serve the Lord, +Prepare your soul for temptation. +Set your heart aright, and be steadfast, +That you may not be dismayed in the time of calamity. +Cleave to him, and depart not, +That you may prove yourself wise at the last. +Accept whatever comes to you, +And be patient in sickness and affliction, +For gold is tried by the fire, +And acceptable men in the furnace of affliction. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 2:6-9] +Put your trust in the Lord, and he will help you, +Hope in him, and he will make smooth your way. +You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy, +And turn not aside lest you fall. +You who fear the Lord trust in him, +And your reward shall not fail. +You who fear the Lord, hope for good things, +And for eternal gladness and deliverance? + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 3:17-20] +My son, if you are rich, walk in humility, +That you will be more beloved than a generous man. +The greater you are, humble yourself the more, +And you shall find favor before the Lord. +For great is the might of the Lord, +And he is glorified by those who are meek. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 3:21-25] +Seek not the things that are too hard for you, +And search not out things that are beyond you. +That over which power has been given you, think thereon, +For you have no business with the things that are hidden. +With that which is out of your field have nothing to do, +For more things are shown to you than you can understand. +For men have many speculations, +And evil theories have led them astray. +Where there is no pupil to the eye, the light fails, +And where there is no understanding, wisdom fails. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 3:26-29] +A stubborn heart fares ill at the last, +But he who loves the good finds it. +A stubborn heart has many troubles, +And the overbearing heap sin upon sin. +For the wound of the scorner there is no healing, +Since he is a plant of an evil kind. +A wise mind understands the proverbs of the wise, +And an ear attentive to wisdom is a joy. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 3:30-4:2, 9, 10] +Water quenches flaming fire, +And right acts make atonement for sins. +He who does a favor--it meets him on his way, +And when he falls he shall find support. +My son, deprive not the poor of his living, +And let not the eyes of the needy grow weary. +Make not a hungry soul groan, +And do not stir up the feelings of him who is smitten. +Deliver the oppressed from the oppressor, +And be not faint-hearted in giving judgment. + +Be as a father to the fatherless, +And instead of a husband to the widow; +So will God call you his son, +And be gracious to you and save you from destruction. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 4:20-22] +Observe the opportunity and beware of evil, +And be not ashamed of yourself. +For there is a shame that brings sin, +And another shame, glory and grace. +Do not be obsequious to your own shame, +And do not humiliate yourself until it is a sin against yourself. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 4:23-25, 28, 29] +Hold not back speech, in its proper time, +And hide not your wisdom. +For by speech wisdom shall be known, +And instruction by the word of the tongue. +Speak not against the truth, +But be humble because of your own ignorance. +Strive for the right even to death, +And the Lord will fight for you. +Be not boastful with your tongue, +And slack and remiss in your work. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 4:30, 31] +Be not as a lion in your house, +Nor arrogant and suspicious among your servants. +Let not your hand be stretched out to receive, +And closed when you should repay. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 5:1, 2a] +Set not your mind upon your possessions, +And say not, They are sufficient for me. +Follow not your own mind and strength, +To walk in the desires of your heart. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 6:2, 4] +Do not give yourself up to your passion, +Lest it like a bull eat up your strength. +For a wild passion destroys its possessor, +And makes him the laughing-stock of his enemies. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 6:5-8] +Well ordered speech makes friends, +And a gracious tongue wins kindly greetings. +Let those who are friendly toward you be many, +But your confidant one of a thousand. +If you would get a friend, get him by testing, +And do not give him your confidence too quickly. +For there is many a fair-weather friend, +But he does not remain in the day of need. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 6:14-16] +A faithful friend is a strong defence, +And he who finds him finds a treasure. +There is nothing equal to a faithful friend, +And his worth is beyond price. +A faithful friend is a source of life, +And he who fears the Lord finds him. +He who fears the Lord directs his friendship aright, +For as he is, so is his friend. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 7:12, 13] +Devise not a lie against your brother, +Nor do the like to a friend or associate. +Never take pleasure in speaking a falsehood. +For its outcome is not good. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 7:20, 21] +Do not treat badly a servant who serves you faithfully, +Nor a hired servant who gives to you his best. +Love a sensible servant as your own self, +Defraud him not of liberty. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 7:22, 23] +Honor your father with your whole heart, +And forget not the pangs of your mother. +Remember that of them you were born, +And now you can recompense them for what they have done for you. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 7:29, 30] +Fear the Lord with all your soul, +And regard his priests with reverence. +Love your Creator with all your strength, +And do not neglect his ministers. + +I. Date and Character of Jesus, the Son of Sirach. Out of the large +number of anonymous books that come from the Persian and Greek periods one +stands forth unique. It is the Wisdom of Ben Sira. With the exception of +the Psalter and Isaiah, it is the largest book that has come to us from +ancient Israel. Fortunately, its date and authorship may be determined +with reasonable certainty. In the prologue to the Greek translation, its +translator describes himself as the grandson of Jesus, the son of Sirach, +and states that he went to Egypt in 132 B.C. Hence it is probable that his +grandfather wrote some time during the early part of the second century +B.C. The appreciative description of Simon the high priest in the fiftieth +chapter of Ben Sira indicates that its author was a contemporary as well +as an admirer of that famous head of the Judean community. From the +references in the rabbinical writings, as well as from the definite +statement of Eusebius, it is reasonably certain that this Simon lived +between 200 and 175 B.C. Furthermore, the quotations in the writings of +Ben Sira from Ecclesiastes in its original form imply that he wrote during +the latter part of the Greek period. The complete absence of any reference +to the Maccabean struggle also proves beyond question that he lived before +168 B.C. These facts indicate that the date of his writing was somewhere +between 190 and 175 B.C. + +In the Hebrew version the name of this famous sage appears as Jesus, the +son of Eleazar, the son of Sira. In the Greek version, however, he is +known simply as Jesus, the son of Sirach. Ben Sira, or Sirach, was +apparently his family name, while Jesus is the Greek equivalent of Jeshua +or Joshua. From his writings it may be inferred that he belonged to a +well-known Jerusalemite family. It is also not improbable that he was +connected with the high-priestly line. His references to Simon the high +priest reveals his deep sympathies with the ecclesiastical rulers of +Jerusalem. The closing words in the Hebrew version of 51:12 are equally +significant: "Give thanks to him who chose the sons of Sadok to be +priests." In his teachings Ben Sira is in some respects a forerunner of +the later Sadducees. Evidently he was a man of influence in the Judean +community. His fame as a wise man doubtless attracted many disciples. He +was deeply interested in every phase of life. While his point of view was +somewhat similar to that of Koheleth, his outlook was thoroughly +optimistic. His teachings were positive rather than negative. His faith +was that of the fathers, and his purpose constructive. Out of the wealth +of teachings inherited from the past, and also out of his own personal +experience and observation, he sought to inspire right ideals in the young +and to develop them into happy and efficient servants of God and of their +fellow-men. In this respect he was a worthy representative of the wise who +during this period moulded the life of Judaism. + +II. His Writings. The prologue to the Greek version of the wisdom of +Sirach states that he was a devoted student of the earlier scriptures of +his race. In 33:16 he acknowledges, in all modesty, his indebtedness to +the past: + +I awakened last of all as one who gathers after the great gatherers, +By the blessing of the Lord I profited and filled my wine-press as one + who gathers grapes. + +It was natural, therefore, that he should write down his teachings in the +language of his fathers. Unlike most of his contemporaries, he possessed +a classical Hebrew style. Like the wise men whose teachings are preserved +in the book of Proverbs, he put his thought into poetic, proverbial form. +In his book there is a definite, logical arrangement of ideas. The first +part consists of a series of essays on various topics. The same subject is +often dealt with in many different settings (e.g., choice of friends, +6:5-17, 7:18, 12:8-12, 37:1-5). These brief essays are grouped together, +and each group is provided with a brief introduction, usually in +commendation of wisdom. Apparently the first half of the book consists of +notes based on Ben Sira's early teachings. Each group of sayings may +well represent his teachings on a given occasion. In 31:21 through 50:24 +is found the roll call of Israel's spiritual heroes, beginning with a +psalm in praise of Jehovah's majesty and power and concluding with the +description of Simon the high priest. This latter part of the book is +clearly a pure literary creation, and was probably added by him as a +conclusion to the collection of his wisdom teachings. + +III. History of the Book. The book containing the writings of Ben Sira +was known under a variety of titles. The Latin Church followed the Greek +in calling it Ecclesiasticus. This term was applied to those books which +were not in the canon, but were held to be edifying and proper for public +use in the churches. The Hebrew text of Ben Sira enjoyed wide currency, +was frequently quoted by the later rabbis, and was often referred to by +later Jewish and Christian writers. It was almost completely supplanted in +time, however, by the Greek version. Jerome was acquainted with the Hebrew +version, but most of the Church fathers followed the Greek. Ben Sira was +apparently quoted by Jesus, by Paul, and by the authors of the Epistle of +James and of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Twenty or thirty such references +or allusions are found in the New Testament. It was also a great favorite +with the Church fathers, who quoted from it even more frequently than from +the other Old Testament writings. It was adopted in the canon of the Greek +and Latin Church; but, in common with the other apocryphal books, was +given a secondary place by the Protestant reformers. Unfortunately, during +the earlier part of the last century it ceased to be printed in the +standard editions of the Bible. The modern revival of interest in the +apocryphal books, both in Europe and America, is tending to restore this +book, in common with I Maccabees, to the position which they certainly +deserve in the practical working canon of the Old Testament. The discovery +in 1896 of a fragment of the original Hebrew manuscript of Ben Sira, and +the subsequent recovery of many other parts, have also tended to arouse +wide interest in this hitherto much-neglected book. Hebrew portions of +thirty-nine out of the fifty-one chapters have thus far been discovered. +Most of them come from about the eleventh Christian century and are of +widely differing values. By means of these, however, and the quotations by +the Jewish rabbis and Christian fathers and in the Greek, Syriac, and +Latin versions, it is now possible to restore most of the original Hebrew +text, and the resulting translation is far superior to those based on the +Greek text. + +IV. Its Picture of Jewish Life. Ben Sira has given a vivid picture of +the domestic, economic, and social life of the Jews of his age. The +debased, Oriental conception of marriage had corrupted the atmosphere of +the home. Wives were regarded as the possessions of their husbands, and +the immoral influence of Hellenism still further undermined the purity +and integrity of many a Jewish home. Greek customs and usages were +pervading Palestine more and more. Ben Sira refers to banquets with their +accompaniments of music and wine. Even these meet with his approval. +Agriculture and commerce are the chief occupations of the people. In +general Ben Sira voices the wholesome Jewish attitude toward labor: + +Hate not laborious work; +Neither agriculture that the Most High hath ordained. + +He is especially strong in his commendation of physicians: + +Be a friend to the physician, for one has need of him, +For verily God hath appointed him. +A physician receives his wisdom from God, +And from the king he receives presents. +The knowledge of a physician causes him to lift up his head, +And before the princes may he enter. +God created medicines out of the earth, +And a prudent man will not be disgusted with them. + +The following proverb has a universal application: + +He who sins before his maker, +Let him fall into the hands of his physician! + +V. Rise of the Scribes. The writings of Ben Sira reveal the close +connection between the earlier wise and the later scribes. He lived at +the period when the wise man was turning scribe. He himself had a +profound respect for the law: + +A man of understanding will put his trust in the law, +The law is faithful to him as when one asks at the oracle. + +One of his fundamental teachings is formulated in the proverb: + +Fear the Lord and glorify his priests, +And give him his portion even as it is commanded. + +Elsewhere he declares: + +The leisure of the scribe increases his wisdom, +And he who has no business becomes wise. + +In his famous description of the typical wise man in 39:1-11 may be +recognized many of the traits of the later scribes. As the law and the +ritual gained greater prominence in the life of Judaism, it was inevitable +that it should command the attention of the practical teachers of the +people. Thus gradually the wise devoted themselves to its study and +interpretation, ever emphasizing, however, thought and conduct as well +as conformity to the ritual. Scribism was greatly enriched by its lineal +inheritance through the earlier wise, and long retained the proverbial, +epigrammatic form of teaching and that personal attitude toward the +individual and his problems which was one of their greatest sources of +strength. The honor which the early scribes enjoyed was well deserved. +Their methods were free from the casuistry that characterized many of +the later scribes. They not only copied and guarded the law, but were +its interpreters, applying it practically to the every-day problems of the +people as well as to their duties in connection with the temple service. +Their influence upon the Jews in this early period was on the whole +exceedingly wholesome, and from their ranks rose the martyrs that a +generation later were ready to die for the law. + +VI. The Teachings of Ben Sira. Ben Sira was acquainted with Greek +culture and shows at several points familiarity with Greek ideals and +methods of thinking, but his point of view in general was distinctly +Jewish. He gathered together all that was best in the earlier teachings +of his race. In many ways he represents an advance beyond all that had +gone before and a close approximation to the spirit and teachings of Jesus +of Nazareth. The God of his faith was omnipotent, majestic, omniscient, +just, and merciful. He was the God of all mankind, although it was through +Israel that he especially revealed himself. Ben Sira did not, like +Ezekiel, think of God as far removed from the life of men and as +communicating with them only through angels, but as directly and +personally interested in the experiences and life of the individual. In +23:1, 4 he addresses him as Lord, Father, and Master of my life. Thus he +employs in the personal sense the term Father, which was most often on the +lips of the Great Teacher of Nazareth. In Ben Sira's stalwart faith and +simple trust there is also much that reminds us of the Greater than +Solomon. Like the teachers who had preceded him, he had, however, no clear +belief in individual immortality (cf. 41:3-4, 38:16, 23) The only reward +after death that he could hold up before a good man was his reputation: + +A good life has its number of days, +But a good name continues forever. + +Consistent with the orthodox wisdom school, he taught that rewards for +right living came in this life: + +Delight not in the delights of the wicked; +Remember they shall not go unpunished to the grave. + +Even though he lacked the inspiration of future hope, Ben Sira taught +loyalty to God and fidelity to every duty. Justice toward all, +consideration for the needs of the suffering and dependent, and generosity +to the poor are constantly urged by this noblest Jew of the age. + + + +Section CVIII. THE CAUSES OF THE MACCABEAN STRUGGLE + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:10-15] +Now there came forth from [Alexander's successors] a sinful root, +Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king, who had been a hostage at +Rome, and he began to reign in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of +the Syrian rule (175 B.C.). In those days there appeared certain lawless +Israelites who persuaded many, saying, Let us go and make a covenant with +the heathen about us; for since we have stood aloof from them many evils +have befallen us. And the proposal met with approval. And certain of the +people were ready to do it, and went to the king who gave them the right +to do as the heathen. Then they built a place for gymnastic exercise in +Jerusalem according to the customs of the heathen. They also made +themselves uncircumcised, and, forsaking the holy covenant, fraternized +with the heathen, and sold themselves to do evil. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:16-19] +Now when Antiochus saw that his authority was well established, he thought +to reign over Egypt, that he might reign over the two kingdoms. So he +invaded Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots and elephants and +horsemen, and with a great navy. And he made war against Ptolemy, king of +Egypt. And Ptolemy was defeated by him and fled, and many fell mortally +wounded. And they seized the strong cities in the land of Egypt, and he +took the spoils of Egypt. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:20-22, 24-28] +Then after Antiochus had conquered Egypt he returned in the hundred and +forty-third year (169 B.C.) and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with +a great multitude. And he insolently went into the sanctuary, and took the +golden altar, and the candelabrum, and all that belonged to the table of +the showbread, and the cups for libations, and the bowls, and the golden +censers, and the curtain and the garlands; and the decorations which were +on the front of the temple--he scaled them all off. And taking all, he +went away into his own land, after he had made a great slaughter, and had +spoken very insolently. Thus a great mourning came to the Israelites +wherever they were. + +And the rulers and elders groaned, +he virgins and young men were made feeble. +And the beauty of the women was changed. + +Every bridegroom took up a lamentation, +She that sat in the marriage chamber was in heaviness. +And the land was shaken because of its inhabitants, +And all the house of Jacob was clothed with shame. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:29-40] +After two years the king sent a chief collector of tribute to the cities +of Judah, who came to Jerusalem with a great multitude. And he spoke words +of peace to deceive them, and they trusted him. Then he attacked the +city suddenly, and inflicted a severe blow on it, and destroyed many +Israelites. And he took the spoils of the city, and set it on fire, and +pulled down its houses and walls on every side. They took captive the +women and the children, and gained possession of the cattle. Then they +walled in the city of David with a great and strong wall, with strong +towers, and it served as a citadel. And they put there sinful people, +lawless men. And they fortified themselves in it. And they stored up +weapons and food and, gathering together the spoils of Jerusalem, they +stowed them away there. + +And the citadel became a great trap, +And served as a place of ambush against the sanctuary, +And an evil adversary to Israel continually. +And they shed innocent blood on every side of the sanctuary +And polluted the sanctuary. +Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of this, +And she became the habitation of foreigners. +And she became strange to those who were born in her, +And her children forsook her. +Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness. +Her feasts were turned into mourning, + Her sabbaths into a reproach, + Her honor into contempt, +So great as was once her glory, so now was her dishonor, +And her exaltation was turned into mourning. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:41-53] +Then King Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom commanding that all should +be one people, and that each should give up his own laws. And all the +heathen nations yielded to the demand of the king. Many Israelites too +consented to worship him and sacrificed to the idols, and profaned the +sabbath. And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the +cities of Judah commanding them to follow customs foreign to the land, and +to prevent the making of whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices and +libations in the sanctuary, and to profane the sabbaths and feasts, and +pollute the sanctuary and the holy things, to build altars, temples, and +shrines for idols, and to sacrifice swine's flesh and unclean beasts; also +to leave their sons uncircumcised, to stain their souls with all manner of +uncleanness and profanation, so that they might forget the law, and change +all the customs. And that whoever would not do as the king commanded +should die. Thus he wrote to his whole kingdom; and appointed overseers +over all the people, who commanded the cities of Judah to sacrifice city +by city. Then many of the people, every one who had forsaken the law, +gathered about them. And they did evil things in the land, and caused the +Israelites to hide themselves in all their places of refuge. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:54-58] +On the twenty-fifth day of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-fifth +year, they built an abomination of desolation upon the altar; and in the +cities of Judah on every side they built idol altars. And at the doors of +the houses and in the streets they burnt incense. And tearing in pieces +the books of the law which they found, they set fire to them. And wherever +a book of the covenant was found in the possession of anyone, or if anyone +obeyed the law, the king's decree sentenced him to death. Thus they did in +their might month by month to the Israelites who were found in the cities. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:59-63] +And on the twenty-fifth day of the month they sacrificed upon the idol +altar which was upon Jehovah's sacrificial altar. And the women who had +circumcised their children they put to death according to the command. And +they hanged their babies about their necks, and destroyed their households +with those who had circumcised them. But many in Israel made strong +resolutions not to eat unclean things, choosing to die that they might not +be defiled with the meats, and might not profane the holy covenant. So +they died. And exceedingly great woe came upon Israel. + +I. Character and Contents of I Maccabees. The first book of Maccabees is +in many ways the best history that has come down from ancient Israel. +Luther's conclusion that it was more deserving of a place in the Old +Testament canon than, for example, the book of Esther is now being widely +accepted both in theory and practice. The religious spirit in which it is +written, the importance of the events with which it deals, and the +faithfulness with which they are recorded, all confirm this conclusion. It +is the work of a devoted patriot, who appears to have been personally +acquainted with the events which he records. He was an ardent admirer of +Judas Maccabeus, and may well have been one of the many valiant Jews who +rallied about this sturdy champion. The author was familiar with the early +histories of his race, for he has adopted many of the phrases peculiar to +the books of Samuel and Kings. His idioms leave no doubt that he wrote in +Hebrew, although this version has been lost. + +The first book of Maccabees opens with a brief reference to Alexander the +Great and to the Greek rulers who succeeded him. The detailed history, +however, begins with Antiochus Epiphanes and continues to the death of +Simon in 135 B.C. The references in the prologue to the rebuilding of the +walls of Jerusalem by Simon's son, John Hyrcanus, between 135 and 125 +B.C., and the absence of any allusions to the more important events in the +latter part of his reign, indicate that his history was probably completed +by 125 B.C. It was written, therefore, less than half a century after all +the events which it records took place. While the author is a true patriot +and keenly interested in the history of his race, he does not allow his +patriotism to carry him into exaggeration. He reveals the true historical +spirit and a splendid reserve in recounting the epoch-making events that +he records. + +II. Character and Contents of II Maccabees. In marked contrast with I +Maccabees is the second book which bears this name. The author states in +2:19-32 that it was based on an earlier five-volume history written by +Jason, of Cyrene, in northern Africa. The final epitomizer of this earlier +work probably lived not long after 50 B.C. Jason himself appears to have +lived somewhere between 160 and 140 B.C. and to have written from northern +Syria. The language of the original was evidently Greek. The aim of the +author was didactic rather than historical, and he drew freely from +popular tradition. In general character it corresponds closely to the work +of the Chronicler, who compiled the Old Testament books of Chronicles and +Ezra-Nehemiah. The miraculous element is prominent, numbers are frequently +enlarged, and Israel's disasters are minimized. Notwithstanding all of its +obvious faults, II Maccabees has preserved many important historical +facts. Where its testimony differs from that of I Maccabees, the latter in +general should be followed, but its account of the events which led to the +Maccabean uprising are much more detailed than those of I Maccabees, which +it supplements at many important points. With the aid of these two +histories it is possible to gain a remarkably vivid and detailed +conception of the half-century that witnessed the reawakening of Judaism +and the birth of a new national spirit. + +III. Aggressive Character of Hellenic Culture. Jewish life and religion +were at times almost uprooted, but never fundamentally transformed by the +Babylonian and Persian conquerors. Alexander, however, and those who +followed in his wake introduced an entirely new and aggressive force into +the life and thought of Palestine. The centuries that began with 332 B.C. +witnessed the most important struggle that the world has ever seen. It was +fought not on the open battle-field, but wherever in Palestine and the +lands of the dispersion the currents of that ancient life and commerce met +and mingled. It was the age-long conflict between Hellenism and Judaism, +those two mighty forces that had long been maturing in the coast lands of +the northern and eastern Mediterranean. The outcome of this contest was +destined to affect the civilization and faith of all the world throughout +the ages. + +Judaism represented the life and faith of a peasant people, while +Hellenism was born in the city. Wherever Hellenism went, it found +expression in civic life. The heathen races of Palestine, the Phoenicians +and Philistines on the coast, and the east-Jordan peoples readily welcomed +the superior civilization of the conquerors. It appealed powerfully to +their intellectual, social, and aesthetic sense, and, in the debased form +that it assumed in the East, to their passions. Even the Samaritans +readily accepted it; and the city of Samaria was settled by a colony of +Macedonian soldiers. The ancient cities of Gaza, Askelon, Accho under +the name of Ptolemais, Tyre, Sidon, Damascus, Bethshean under its new name +Scythopolis, Rabbath-ammon under the name of Philadelphia, and most of the +important east-Jordan cities were soon transformed into active centres of +Hellenic culture. Civic pride and patriotism took possession of their +inhabitants. Most of the cities had a senate and magistrates elected each +year by popular vote. Many of them were adorned by magnificent public +buildings, including a forum, theatre, stadium, hippodrome, and gymnasium. +Civic patriotism took the place of the old despotism and selfish +individualism. Each Hellenic city gave to its citizens new ideals and +opportunities. The discussions of the forum, the agora, and the gymnasium +inspired them with political, social, and intellectual interests. The +plays in the theatres, the races in the hippodrome and stadium amazed and +fascinated them. Many of the youths were enlisted in the clubs that were +formed in connection with the gymnasium, and all classes participated in +the public festivities. + +IV. Contrast Between Hellenism and Judaism. In the broad perspective of +history it is clear that both Hellenism and Judaism were essential to the +upbuilding and broadening of the human character and ideals. Hellenism in +its nobler form brought what Judaism lacked, and Judaism was fitted to +correct the evils and fatal weaknesses of Hellenism. Ben Sira vaguely +recognized this, and sought to reconcile these two types of civilization; +but in the second century B.C. men were chiefly aware of the glaring +contrasts. Compared with the splendor of the life in the Greek cities that +of the orthodox Jews seemed crude and barbarous. The intense horror with +which the Jews viewed every form of idolatry led them to reject all forms +of art. Their hatred of sensuality and immorality led them to regard with +aversion the sports and exercises of the gymnasium and the attendant +licentiousness. The practical teachers of Israel looked with suspicion +upon the subtleties of the different Greek philosophical schools. On the +other hand, the homely, domestic joys of the average Jew and his intense +devotion to the service of the temple and to the faith of his fathers +seemed contemptible to those familiar with the brilliant, voluptuous life +of the Hellenic cities. Hellenism protested against the narrowness, +barrenness, and intolerance of Judaism; Judaism protested against the +godlessness and immorality of Hellenism. Both were right in their +protests, and yet each in a sense needed the other. + +V. Apostasy of the Jews and the Perfidy of the High Priests. At the +beginning of the second century B.C. the Judean state was closely +encircled by a ring of Hellenic cities and subjected on every side to the +seductions of that debased Greek culture which had taken firm root in the +soil of Palestine. As was almost inevitable, many of the Jewish youth +yielded to its attractions. Distaste for the narrowness and austere +customs of their fathers begat in their minds a growing contempt for +their race and its religion. Even some of the younger priests forsook +the temple for the gymnasium. Unconsciously but surely Judaism was +drifting from its old moorings toward Hellenism, until the perfidy of +its high priests and the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes aroused +it to a full realization of its peril. The apostates in Jerusalem found a +leader in Jeshua, who had assumed the Greek name of Jason. He was the +brother of Onias III, the reigning high priest, and had been sent to +represent him at the Syrian court. There he improved the opportunity by +promising greater tribute to secure his appointment as high priest. He was +soon outbid, however, by a certain renegade named Menelaus, who with the +aid of Syrian soldiers drove Jason from Jerusalem and took his place as +head of the hellenizing party. The first cause, therefore, of the +Maccabean struggle was the apostasy of certain of the Jews themselves. +Apparently in large numbers they abandoned the traditions of their race, +and assumed the Greek garb and customs, thus leading their Syrian rulers +to believe that the hellenizing of the entire race would be comparatively +easy. + +VI. Character of Antiochus Epiphanes. The ruler who by his injustice and +persecutions fanned the smouldering flame of Jewish patriotism into a +mighty conflagration was Antiochus Epiphanes. As a youth he had been +educated at Rome with the profligate sons of those who ruled the Imperial +City. The Greek and Roman historians, especially Polybius, give vivid +portraits of this tyrannical king. In him the prevailing passion for +Hellenism found extreme expression. To dazzle his contemporaries by the +splendor of his building enterprises and by his dramatic display was his +chief ambition. In gratifying thus his selfish ambition he drained the +resources of his kingdom, and was therefore obliged to resort to extreme +measures to replenish his treasury. In 170 B.C. he made a successful +campaign into Egypt. Two years later he again invaded the rich land of the +Nile, only to find himself confronted by a Roman general, who peremptorily +ordered him to retreat. Rome was already the chief power in the eastern +Mediterranean, and Antiochus, although in a rage, wisely decided to +retire. It was at this inopportune moment that he found Jerusalem in +revolt, misled by a false report and by the renegade high priest Jason. +Antiochus not only improved this opportunity to loot the temple and slay +many of the inhabitants, but from this time on conceived a bitter +antipathy to the Jewish race. This antipathy he shared in common with all +the Greek world, for already, as a result of the peculiar religion and +customs of the Jews and their success in commercial pursuits, that which +is known to-day as the anti-Semitic spirit was fully developed. One of +Antiochus's chief ambitions was also to hellenize all his subjects, and +the Jews alone offered opposition to the realization of this ambition. +Hence they could expect no mercy at the hands of this selfish, capricious +despot. + +VII. Antiochus's Policy toward the Jews. The measures which Antiochus +employed to crush the faith of Judaism were relentlessly thorough. He +began with the seizure of Jerusalem, the tearing down of its walls, the +fortifying and garrisoning of its citadel with Syrian soldiers and +apostate Jews, and the slaughter of all who refused to accede to his +demands. Not only was the temple service stopped, but the altar was torn +down and desecrated and a heathen altar to Zeus--the abominable desolation +of the book of Daniel--was reared in its place. On this swine's flesh was +sacrificed, and the presence of harlots in the sacred precincts completed +its ceremonial and moral pollution. All the surviving inhabitants of +Jerusalem were compelled to sacrifice and pay homage to the heathen gods. +Those who retained copies of their laws or persisted in maintaining the +customs of their fathers were slain. When many fled to the outlying towns, +emissaries of Antiochus pursued them, demanding of each citizen public +recognition of the Greek gods. A majority of the Jews apparently yielded +to these drastic measures and joined the ranks of the apostates. Of the +many crises through which Israel passed this was in many ways the most +severe; but then it gave to the world some of the noblest martyrs. The +early Christians who perished for their faith were inspired by the example +of their Master and by the hope of blessed, individual immortality. To the +Jews of the Greek period, however, the great calamity that overtook them +came as a sudden and unexpected blow. No clear hope of immortality at +first inspired them, for, like Ben Sira and the earlier teachers of the +race, the majority of them probably regarded the life beyond death as a +passionless existence in the land of darkness. Even the expectation of +family or racial immortality seemed denied by the dark outlook. They died +as did Eleazar, the aged scribe, simply because of their devotion to the +God and laws of their fathers, and because that loyalty meant more to them +than life. + + + +Section CIX. THE EFFECT OF PERSECUTION ON THE JEWS + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:1-4] +At that time arose Mattathias the son of John the son of Simeon, a priest +of the sons of Joarib, from Jerusalem; and he dwelt in Modein. And he had +five sons, John, who was surnamed Gaddis, Simon, who was called Thassi, +Judas, who was called Maccabeus, Eleazar, who was called Avaran, Jonathan, +who was called Apphus. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:5-14] +When he saw the sacrilegious acts that were being committed in Judah and +in Jerusalem, he said, + +Woe to me! Why was I born +To see the ruin of my people, +And the ruin of the holy city, +And to dwell there while it was being given into the hands of the foe, +The sanctuary into the hands of foreigners? +The temple has become as though it had no glory, +Its splendid vessels have been carried into captivity. +Her children have been slain in the streets, +Her young men by the sword of the enemy. +What people has not taken possession of her palace, +And seized upon her spoils? +All her adornments have been taken away, +From freedom she has been reduced to slavery. +And now our holy things, our beauty and our glory have been laid waste, +And the heathen have polluted them. +Why should we still live? + +And Mattathias and his son tore their clothes, and put on sackcloth, and +mourned bitterly. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:15-22] +Now the king's officers who were enforcing the apostasy, came into the +city of Modein to sacrifice. And many of Israel went over to them, but +Mattathias and his sons offered resistance. Then the king's officers said +to Mattathias, You are a ruler and a man honored in this city and +strengthened by sons and brothers. Now therefore come first and do what +the king commands, as all the nations have done, the men of Judah too, +with those who remain in Jerusalem. Then you and your house shall be in +the number of the king's Friends, and you and your sons shall be honored +with silver and gold and many gifts. But Mattathias replied with a loud +voice, If all the nations included in the king's dominion obey him, in +that each is untrue to the worship of his fathers and chooses to follow +his command, yet I and my sons and my brothers will walk in the covenant +made with our fathers. Heaven forbid that we should forsake the law and +the ordinances. We will not listen to the king's words, to go aside from +our worship, either to the right hand or to the left. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:23-28] +And when he had finished saying these things a Jew came in sight of all +to sacrifice on the altar that was in Modein according to the king's +command. When Mattathias saw it, his zeal was kindled and he trembled +inwardly. And he let his anger take possession of him, as was right, and +he ran and slew the Jew upon the altar. Also he killed at that time the +king's officer, who was compelling men to sacrifice, and pulled down the +altar. Thus he showed his zeal for the law, just as Phinehas did in the +case of Zimri the son of Salu. Then Mattathias cried out in the city with +a loud voice, saying, Whoever is zealous for the law and will maintain the +covenant, let him follow me. And he and his sons fled into the mountains, +and left behind all that they had in the city. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:29-38] +Then many who sought justice and right went down into the wilderness, to +dwell there with their sons and wives and cattle, because the evils were +becoming ever harder for them to bear. And it was reported to the king's +officers and to the forces that were in Jerusalem, the city of David, that +certain men who had broken the king's command had gone down into the +hiding places in the wilderness. So many pursued after them, and having +overtaken them encamped against them, and drew up the line of battle +against them on the sabbath day. And they said to them, Things have gone +far enough, now come forth and obey the command of the king and you shall +live. But they said, We will not come forth, neither will we do as the +king commands, to profane the sabbath day. Then they at once offered them +battle. But they made no resistance, neither did they cast a stone at +them, nor stop up the places of concealment, for they said, Let us all die +in our innocency: let heaven and earth bear witness for us, that you put +us to death unjustly. Then they rose up against them in battle on the +sabbath, and thus they died with their wives and children and cattle, to +the number of a thousand souls. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:39-48] +When Mattathias and his friends knew it they mourned bitterly over them. +And they said to each other, If we all do as our brothers have done, and +do not fight against the armed heathen for our lives and our customs, they +will now quickly destroy us from off the earth. So they took counsel that +day, saying, Whoever shall come against us for battle on the sabbath day, +let us fight against him, and we will by no means all die, as our brothers +died in the hiding places. Then there gathered together to them a company +of Hasideans, brave men of Israel, every one who offered himself willingly +for the law. And all who fled from the evils were added to them, and +strengthened them. And they mustered a host. + +And smote the sinners in their anger +And the lawless in their wrath. + +And the rest fled to the heathen for safety. Also Mattathias and his +friends went about and pulled down the altars, and circumcised by force +the children who were uncircumcised, as many as they found in the +territory of Israel. Thus they pursued the sons of arrogance, and the +work prospered in their hand. They took the direction of affairs out of +the hands of the heathen and of the kings, nor did they yield ground to +the sinner. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:49-64] +When the time approached for Mattathias to die he said to his sons, Now +insolence and insult have grown strong, and a period of reversals has +come, with flaming wrath. + +Now, my sons, be zealous for the law, +And give your lives for the covenant of your fathers. +And remember the deeds which your forefathers did in their generations; +And win great glory and everlasting fame. +Was not Abraham found faithful when tested? +And it was counted to him as righteousness. +Joseph in the time of his distress kept the commandment, +And became lord of Egypt, +Phinehas our father, because he was so zealous, +Received the covenant of an everlasting priesthood. +Joshua for carrying out the word of God, +Became a ruler in Israel. +Caleb for bearing witness in the congregation, +Obtained a heritage in the land. + +David for being merciful, +Inherited a kingly throne for ever and ever. +Elijah because he was so zealous for the law, +Was taken up into heaven. +Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael believed, +And were rescued from the flame. +Daniel because of his innocence, +Was delivered from the mouth of lions. +And thus consider from generation to generation: +None who put their trust in him ever want strength. +Then be not afraid of the words of a sinful man; +For his glory shall be dung and worms. +To-day he is exalted, but to-morrow he cannot be found, +Because he has returned to dust, and the memory of him has perished. + +Then my sons be strong, and show yourselves men in behalf of the law; +By so doing you shall obtain glory. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:65-68] +And, behold, Simon your brother, I know that he is a man of counsel; +Obey him always; let him be your adviser. +Judas Maccabeus, too, has been a man of war from his youth; +He shall be your captain, and fight the battle of the people. +And take to yourselves all law-abiding men, +And avenge the wrong of your people. +Render a recompense to the heathen, +And give heed to the commands of the law. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:69-70] +Thus he blessed them and was gathered to his fathers. And he died in the +one hundred and forty-sixth year, and his sons buried him in the +sepulchres of his fathers at Modein, and all Israel made a great +lamentation for him. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:1-8] +In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and +visions of his head upon his bed. Then he wrote down the dream: I saw in +my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven broke forth upon +the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different +from the other. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I looked +until its wings were stripped off, and it was lifted up from the earth, +and made to stand upon two feet as a man; and a man's heart was given to +it. And behold, a second beast, like a bear; and it was raised up on one +side, and three ribs were in its mouth, between its teeth; and they said +thus to it: Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo, another +like a leopard, which had upon its sides four wings of a bird; and the +beast had also four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw +in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrible and fearful, +and exceedingly strong; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke +in pieces and stamped the rest with its feet; and it differed from all the +beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I gave attention to the +horns, and behold another little horn came up amongst them, before which +three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this +horn were eyes, like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:9, 10] +I waited until thrones were set up, and an aged one took his seat; his +clothing was white as snow, and his hair like spotless wool, his throne +was fiery flames, its wheels burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came +forth before him; thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten +thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set and the +books were opened. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:11, 12] +I looked at that time because of the sound of the great words which the +horn spoke--I looked even until the beast was slain, and its body +destroyed, and given to be fuel for the fire. Also the rule of the rest of +the beasts was taken away; but their lives were prolonged for a fixed time +and season. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:13, 14] +I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of +heaven one like to a son of man, and he came even to the Aged One, and was +brought near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory, and +sovereignty that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; +his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his +sovereignty one which shall not be destroyed. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:15-18] +As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved by reason of this, and the +visions of my head troubled me. I came near to one of those who stood by, +and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made me +know the interpretation of the things. These four great beasts are four +kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High +shall receive the sovereignty, and possess the sovereignty forever, even +for ever and ever. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:19-22] +Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was +different from all of them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, +and its nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the +rest with its fourth feet; and concerning the ten horns that were on its +head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three horns +fell--it that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, and it +appeared to be greater than the rest. I looked, and the same horn made war +with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the Aged One came, and +judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the fixed time came +that the saints possessed the sovereignty. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:23-27] +Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which +shall be different from all the kingdoms; and shall devour the whole +earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And as for the ten +horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise; and another shall arise +after them; and he shall be different from the former, and he shall put +down three kings. And he shall speak words against the Most High, and +shall continually harass the saints of the Most High; and he shall think +to change the fixed times and the law; and they shall be given into his +hand until a time and times and half a time. But the judgment shall be +set, and they shall take away his kingdom, to consume and to destroy +finally. And the sovereignty, and the dominion, and the greatness of the +kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall surely be given to the people +of the saints of the Most High; his sovereignty is an everlasting +sovereignty, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 12:1-3] +And at that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands for +the children of my people; and there shall be a time of affliction such as +there never was since there was a nation, even to that time; and at that +time thy people shall be delivered, every one who shall be found written +in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall +awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting +contempt. And they who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the +firmament; and they who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever +and ever. + +I. The Uprising Led by Mattathias. The persecutions of Antiochus + +Epiphanes had at last reached the point where patient submission and even +martyrdom ceased to be a virtue. His agents had successfully carried the +merciless, hellenizing campaign throughout practically all the territory +of Judea. It was not until they reached its extreme northwestern border +that they met the first open opposition. The little town of Modein lay out +on the edge of the great plain where the central hills of Palestine break +down into low foot-hills. These are intersected by rushing brooks and +clear, crystal streams that descend from the heights above. The town lay +on a rounded hill about one-third of a mile in diameter that rises +abruptly in a series of steep terraces. The Wady Malakeh encircled it on +the south and west. On the northeastern side, where lies the modern town, +was a broad shoulder of land slightly lower and larger than the acropolis. +In ancient times it was probably the site of the lower city. Deep, +encircling valleys on the north and east completed the natural defences of +this border village that became the altar of Jewish freedom. To-day the +scattered ruins of the acropolis are covered in spring-time with a +luxuriant growth of grain and olive trees, making it one of the most +picturesque mounds in Palestine. + +It is surprising that the revolt against the cruel tyranny of Antiochus +was led by an aged priest. Like many priests, his home was outside +Jerusalem. Evidently he was one of the chief men of Modein. He was +descended from the family of Hasmon, hence his descendants, who ultimately +became the independent rulers of their race, are sometimes called the +Hasmonians. In Mattathias the long-suppressed, hot indignation of the +Jewish race at last found expression. In slaying the apostate Jew and +Syrian official, Mattathias evoked that warlike spirit which had in +earlier days given Israel a home and a place among the nations. His +impulsive act inaugurated a new chapter in Israel's life and thought. In +its far-reaching consequences it was comparable only to Moses' impulsive +slaying of the Egyptian taskmaster. + +II. Party of the Hasideans or Pious. It was fortunate that Mattathias +had five able, mature sons to support him. Simon, the eldest, was already +famous in council. Judas, who bore the surname Maccabeus (whence the word +Maccabees), soon proved himself a great military leader. Jonathan combined +the qualities of Simon and Judas with a certain craftiness that makes +him the least attractive of the three. Eleazar later proved on the +battle-field that he had the qualities that make heroes and martyrs. Among +the Judean hills, and especially in the barren, almost inaccessible +fastnesses that descend in a series of terraces from the central plateau +to the Dead Sea, Mattathias and his followers found refuge. Hither many +patriotic Jews had already fled. The Syrian mercenaries, however, led by +the relentless, apostate Jews, pursued them, and, knowing their scruples, +attacked them on the sabbath day and pitilessly slaughtered them. Learning +from this awful example, Mattathias and his sons wisely decided that it +was more important to fight for their lives than to die for a mere +institution. They soon attracted to their standard all who were still +faithful to the law. Chief among these were those known as the Hasideans +or Pious. They were the spiritual successors of the pious or afflicted, +whose woes are voiced in the earlier psalms of the Psalter (Section +XLVII:v). They were also the forerunners of the party of the Pharisees, +which was one of the products of the Maccabean struggle. In them faith and +patriotism were so blended that, like Cromwell's Ironsides, they were +daunted by no odds. At first they depended upon the guerilla type of +warfare, to which the hills of Judea were especially adapted. By enforcing +the law of circumcision, by punishing the apostates, and by attacking +straggling Syrian bands, they encouraged the faltering Jews, and +intimidated the agents of Antiochus. Mattathias soon died, leaving the +leadership to his third son, Judas. The poem recording his dying +injunctions voices the inspiration that came at this time to Israel's +patriots from their nation's past, and that supreme devotion to the law +and dauntless courage that animated the leaders in this great movement. + +III. Date of the Visions in Daniel 7-12. A parallel but different type +of character and hope is reflected in the latter part of the book of +Daniel. In the form of visions or predictions, these chapters interpret +the meaning of the great world movements from the beginning of the +Babylonian to the end of the Greek period. Each vision culminates in +a symbolic but detailed description of the rule and persecutions of +Antiochus Epiphanes. Several passages describe the destructive policies +of this Syrian ruler almost as vividly as the books of Maccabees (Dan. +8:11, 12): "It (Antiochus) magnified itself even to the Prince of the Host +(Jehovah), and took away from him the daily sacrifice, and cast down +the place of his sanctuary, and set up the sacrilegious thing over the +daily sacrifice, and cast down truth to the ground, and did it and +prospered." + +Daniel 11:20-44 contains a review of the chief events of Antiochus's +reign. This description closes with the prediction: "He shall plant his +palace between the Mediterranean and the glorious holy mountain; so he +shall come to his end and none shall help him." Contemporary records +indicate, however, that Antiochus died while engaged in a campaign in +distant Persia and not in western Palestine as the author of Daniel +anticipated. In the other visions, after the description of Antiochus's +persecutions, the details suddenly give place to general predictions, +implying that at this point the author turned from the contemplation +of past and present events to that which was to him future. The great +victories of Judas and his followers that led to the restoration of the +temple in 165 B.C. are nowhere mentioned. In 11:34 is found an allusion +to the Maccabean uprising: "Now when they are falling they shall be helped +with a little help; but many shall join themselves to them with false +protestations." This movement, clearly, is not regarded by the author as +significant. The date of these visions, therefore, may be fixed with great +confidence between the years 168 and 166 B.C. + +IV. Their Real Character and Aim. In interpreting these visions it is +important to note that they belong to the so-called apocalyptic type of +literature. Already Ezekiel and Zechariah had employed the complex +symbolism of the apocalypse to stir the imagination and strengthen the +faith of their discouraged countrymen. The aim of the author of the +closing chapters of Daniel was primarily to present a religious philosophy +of history. Through the rise and fall of nations Jehovah's purpose was +slowly but surely being realized. They are the expression of the eternal +optimism of the prophets. They voice their deathless hope that "the best +is yet to be." They were intended to encourage those in the midst of +persecution with the assurance that God was still in his heaven, and that +all would yet be right with his world. + +V. The Four Heathen Kingdoms and the Kingdom of God. In the symbolism of +the prophet the four beasts of Daniel 7 represented the Chaldean, Medean, +Persian, and Greek Empires. The fourth beast with iron teeth that devoured +and broke in pieces the rest was clearly the empire of Alexander, and the +little horn that sprang up was the little horn which gored and mangled the +helpless people of Jehovah. Opposed to the four beasts which represented +the angels, or demons, the champions of each of the great heathen +kingdoms, was Israel's patron angel Michael. It is this angel that is +apparently referred to in 7:13 as coming from heaven, and in appearance +like to a son of man. At Jehovah's direction he was to establish a +glorious, universal kingdom, the citizens of which were to be the saints, +the faithful Jews who remained loyal to Jehovah during the long, cruel +persecutions. Not only those who survived but the martyrs sleeping in the +dust of the earth were to awake and receive their glorious reward. The +apostates were to be sentenced to everlasting shame and contempt. The wise +teachers and martyrs who by word and example had striven to keep their +race loyal to Jehovah were to be exalted in the coming messianic kingdom. +Thus these visions reveal the hopes that inspired certain of the Jewish +race in its period of supreme trial: the belief that Jehovah through his +angel would speedily overthrow the power of the heathen persecutor, that +he would establish a universal kingdom in which his own people should have +chief place, and finally that even the bonds of death would not hold those +who had died for the law. Thus at last out of this struggle Judaism +emerged with a new-found faith in individual immortality. It was still +bound up in the belief in the bodily resurrection, but at last the +imperishable worth of the individual had become one of the cornerstones +of Israel's religion. + + + +Section CX. THE VICTORIES THAT GAVE THE JEWS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:1-9] +Then his son Judas, who was called Maccabeus, rose up in his place. And +all his brothers helped him, as did all those who had supported his +father, and they fought with gladness the battle of Israel. + +He spread far and wide the fame of his glory +And put on his breastplate like a giant, +And girded on his weapons of war, +And set battles in array, +Protecting the army with his sword. +He was like a lion in his deeds, +And as a lion's whelp roaring for prey. +He pursued the lawless, seeking them out, +And he burnt up those who troubled his people. +The lawless shrunk for fear of him, +And all the workers of lawlessness were greatly terrified; +And deliverance was attained through him. +He angered many kings, +And made Jacob glad with his acts; +And his memory is blessed forever. +He went about among the cities of Judah, +And destroyed the godless from the land, +And turned away the wrath of God from Israel. +And he was renowned to the ends of the earth. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:10-12] +Then Apollonius gathered the heathen together and a great army from +Samaria to fight against Israel. And when Judas learned of it, he went +out to meet him, and defeated and slew him; and many fell mortally +wounded, while the rest fled. And they captured their spoils, and Judas +took the sword of Apollonius, with which he fought all his days. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:13-15] +When Seron, the commander of the army of Syria, heard that Judas had +gathered a large force of faithful men about him, who went with him to +war, he said, I will make myself famous and gain renown in the kingdom; +for I will fight with Judas and those with him, who are defying the +command of the king. And there went up with him also a mighty army of the +godless to help him, to take vengeance on the Israelites. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:16-22] +As he approached the ascent of Bethhoron, Judas went forth to meet him +with a small company. But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they +said to Judas, How shall we, few as we are, be able to battle against so +great a multitude? and we are faint also, having tasted no food to-day. +Then Judas said, It is an easy thing for many to be shut up in the hands +of a few; and with Heaven it is equally easy to save by many or by few; +for victory in battle does not depend upon the size of an army, but from +Heaven comes the strength. They come to us full of insolence and +lawlessness, to destroy us with our wives and children and to plunder us; +but, as for us, we are fighting for our lives and our laws. And he himself +will crush them before our face; so do not be afraid of them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:23, 24] +Now when he had finished speaking, he leaped suddenly upon them, and Seron +and his army were put to flight before him. And they pursued them by the +descent of Bethhoron to the plain, and there fell of them about eight +hundred men; but the rest fled into the land of the Philistines. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:25-31] +Now the fear of Judas and his brothers and the dread of them began to fall +upon the nations round about them. And his reputation reached the king, +for every nation was telling of the battles of Judas. But when King +Antiochus heard these things, he was filled with indignation and sent +and gathered together all the forces of his realm, a very strong army. +And he opened his treasury and gave his forces pay for a year, and +commanded them to be ready for every emergency. And seeing that money was +scarce in his treasury and that the tributes of the country were small, +because of the dissension and calamity which he had brought upon the land, +for the purpose of taking away the laws which had been in force from the +earliest days, he feared that he should not have enough, as at other +times, for the expenses and the gifts which he had formerly given with a +liberal hand, in which he had surpassed the kings who had been before him. +And he was exceedingly perplexed in his mind, and determined to go into +Persia and to take the tributes of the countries and to gather much money. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:32-37] +So he left Lysias, an honorable man and one of the royal family in charge +of the affairs of the king from the River Euphrates to the borders of +Egypt and to bring up his son Antiochus, until he returned. And he +delivered to him the half of his forces and the elephants, and gave him +charge of all the things that he wished to have done and concerning those +who dwelt in Judea and in Jerusalem, that he should send a force against +them, to root out and destroy the strength of Israel and the remnant of +Jerusalem, and to take away their memory from the place, and that he +should make foreigners dwell in all their territory and should divide +their land to them by lot. Then the king took the remaining half of the +forces and set out from Antioch his capital, in the one hundred and +forty-seventh year, and, crossing the Euphrates, he went through the upper +countries. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:38-41] +Now Lysias chose Ptolemy the son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor, and Gorgias, +influential men among the king's Friends, and with them sent forty +thousand footmen and seven thousand horsemen to go into the land of Judah +to destroy it, as the king had ordered. And they set out with all their +army and pitched their camp near Emmaus in the plain. And the merchants of +the country heard the rumors about them, and taking silver and gold in +large quantities, and shackles, they came into the camp to get the +Israelites for slaves. There were added to them the forces of Syria and of +the Philistines. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:42, 43, 46-54] +Then Judas and his brothers saw that evils were increasing and that the +forces were encamping in their territory, and when they learned of the +commands which the king had given to destroy the people and make an end of +them, they said to each other, + +Let us raise up the ruin of our people +And let us fight for our people and the sanctuary; + +So they gathered together and came to Mizpeh, opposite Jerusalem; for in +Mizpeh there was a place of prayer for Israel. And they fasted that day, +and put sackcloth and ashes on their heads and tore their clothes, and +spread out the book of the law--one of those in which the heathen had been +painting images of their idols. And they brought the priests' garments +with the first-fruits, and the tithes, and they cut the hair of the +Nazirites who had accomplished their days. And they cried aloud toward +Heaven, saying, What shall we do with these and whither shall we carry +them away? For thy sanctuary is trodden down and profaned, and thy priests +are in sorrow, and humiliation. And now the heathen have assembled +together against us to destroy us. Thou knowest what plans they are making +against us. How shall we be able to stand before them, except thou be our +help? And they sounded with the trumpets, and cried with a loud voice. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:55-60] +And after this Judas appointed leaders of the people, commanders over +thousands, over hundreds, over fifties, and over tens. And he told those +who were building houses and those who were planting vineyards and those +who were afraid, to return, each to his own house, as the law commanded. +Then the army removed and encamped upon the south side of Emmaus. And +Judas said, Gird yourselves and be valiant men; and be ready in the +morning to fight with these heathen who are assembled together against us +to destroy us and our sanctuary. For it is better for us to die in +battle than to see the misfortunes of our nation and of the sanctuary. +Nevertheless, let Heaven do whatever be his will. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:1-6a] +And Gorgias took five thousand footmen, and a thousand chosen horsemen, +and the army set out by night, that it might fall upon the army of the +Jews and attack them suddenly. And the men of the citadel were his guides. +But when Judas heard of it, he broke camp with his valiant men, that he +might attack the king's army which was at Emmaus, while as yet the forces +were dispersed from the camp. And when Gorgias came to the camp of Judas +by night, he found no one. Then he looked for them in the mountains, +thinking that the men were fleeing from him. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:6b-11] +But as soon as it was day, Judas appeared in the plain with three thousand +men; only they had neither armor nor swords as they wished. When now they +saw the camp of the heathen strongly fortified and cavalry about it and +experienced warriors there, Judas said to the men who were with him, Fear +not their multitude neither be afraid of their attack. Remember how our +fathers were saved in the Red Sea, when Pharaoh pursued them with a host. +And now let us cry to Heaven, if he will show favor to us and will +remember the covenant made with our fathers and destroy this army before +our face to-day, that all the heathen may know that there is one who +redeemeth and saveth Israel. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:12-15] +Then when the foreigners lifted up their eyes and saw them coming toward +them, they went from their camp to battle. And those who were with Judas +sounded their trumpets and joined battle; and the heathen were defeated +and fled into the plain. But all who were in the rear fell by the sword, +and they pursued them to Gazara and to the plains of Idumea and Azotus and +Jamnia, and there fell of them about three thousand men. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:16-25] +When Judas and his army returned from pursuing them, he said to the +people, Do not be greedy for the spoils, since there is a battle before +us, and Gorgias and his army are near us in the mountain. But stand now +against our enemies and fight them, and afterward you may openly take the +spoils. While Judas was still speaking there appeared a part of them, +looking out from the mountain; and these saw that their army had been put +to flight and that the Jews were burning their camp, for the smoke that +was seen showed what had been done. And when they perceived these things, +they were thrown into a panic, and seeing the army of Judas also in +the plain ready for battle, they all retreated into the land of the +Philistines. And Judas returned to sack the camp, and they took much gold +and silver and blue and sea-purple and great riches. Then they returned +home and sang a song of thanksgiving and gave praise to Heaven, because he +is good, because his mercy endureth forever. Thus Israel had a great +deliverance that day. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:26, 27] +But the foreigners, as many as had escaped, came and told Lysias all the +things that had happened. And when he heard it he was astonished and +discouraged, because neither had Israel met with reverses as he wished nor +had what the king commanded been realized. + +[Footnote: I Macc. 4:28-34] +Now in the next year [Lysias] gathered together sixty thousand picked +footmen and five thousand horsemen, that he might subdue [the Jews]. When +they came to Idumea and encamped at Bethsura, Judas met them with ten +thousand men. As he saw that the army was strong, he prayed and said, +Blessed art thou, O Saviour of Israel, who didst shatter the attacking +power of the mighty man by the hand of thy servant David, and didst +deliver the army of the heathen into the hands of Jonathan the son of +Saul, and of his armor-bearer. + +Shut up this army in the hand of thy people Israel, +And let them be ashamed of their army and their horsemen. +Give them faintness of heart, +And let their bold courage melt away, +And let them tremble at their destruction. +Cast them down by the sword of those who love thee, +So that all may know thy name who praise thee with thanksgiving. + +Then they joined battle; and there fell of the army of Lysias about five +thousand men, and they fell on the spot before them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:35] +But when Lysias saw that his army was retreating, and the boldness that +had come upon those who were with Judas, and how they were ready either to +live or to die nobly, he removed to Antioch and gathered together hired +soldiers, that he might come again into Judea with a still greater force. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:36-51] +Then Judas and his brothers said, Now that our enemies have been defeated, +let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and to dedicate it again; so they +went up to Mount Zion. And all the army was gathered together and went up +to Mount Zion. And when they saw the sanctuary laid desolate, the altar +profaned, the gates burnt, and shrubs growing in the courts, as in a +forest or as on one of the mountains, and the priests' chambers pulled +down, they tore their garments and made great lamentation, and putting +ashes upon their heads, they fell prone upon the ground. Then they blew a +signal on the trumpets and cried to Heaven. And Judas appointed certain +men to fight against those who were in the citadel, until he should have +cleansed the sanctuary. And he chose priests who were unimpeachable +observers of the law, who cleansed the sanctuary and carried out the +polluted stones to an unclean place. And they deliberated as to what they +should do with the altar of burnt-offerings which had been profaned. They +finally reached this wise decision: to pull it down lest it should be a +reproach to them, because the heathen had defiled it. So they pulled down +the altar and laid the stones on the temple mount in a convenient place, +until there should come a prophet to give an oracle concerning them. Then +they took whole stones as the law required and built a new altar after the +design of the former. They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the inner parts +of the temple and consecrated the courts. They also made the holy vessels +new and brought the candlestick and the altar for burnt-offerings and for +incense and the table into the temple. And they burned incense on the +altar and lighted the lamps that were on the candlestick, and they gave +light in the temple. Then they set loaves upon the table and spread out +the veils. So they finished all the work they had undertaken. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:52-61] +And they arose early in the morning of the twenty-fifth day of the ninth +month, which is the month Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth +year (165 B.C.) and offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new +altar of burnt-offering which they had made. About the same time and on +the same day, in which the heathen had profaned it, was it dedicated again +with songs and harps and lutes and with cymbals. And all the people +prostrated themselves and worshipped and gave praise to Heaven, who had +given them good success. And they celebrated the dedication of the altar +eight days, and offered burnt-offerings with gladness and sacrificed a +sacrifice of deliverance and praise. And they decorated the front of the +temple with crowns of gold and small shields and rededicated the gates and +the priests' chambers and made doors for them. And great joy reigned among +the people, because the reproach of the heathen had been removed. And +Judas and his brothers and the whole congregation of Israel decreed that +the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their seasons +from year to year for the period of eight days, from the twenty-fifth day +of the month Chislev, with gladness and joy. At that time also they +fortified Mount Zion with high walls and strong towers all round, lest by +any chance the heathen should come and tread them down, as they had done +before. And he stationed there a force to keep it, and they fortified +Bethsura, that the people might have a stronghold in Idumea. + +I. The Character of Judas. Judas Maccabeus was a man of unquestioned +courage. In the many battles which he fought he was always found at the +forefront in the most desperate engagement. More than that he was able to +arouse courage in a people that for centuries had learned only to bow +unresistingly before their conquerors. All the evidence found in the two +books of Maccabees indicates that he was inspired by the noblest +patriotism. The motive power in his patriotism was devotion to the law and +customs of his race. In this respect he was a leader supremely acceptable +to the Hasideans or Pious, who rallied about his standard. In any other +age or setting his devotion would have seemed but fanaticism. The +situation, however, was extremely critical. Disloyalty to the law and the +distinctive rites of Judaism was treason. If ever in the world's history +it was justifiable to meet force by force and to unshield the sword in +behalf of religion, this certainly was the occasion. In his military +tactics Judas revealed the cunning that characterizes the hunted. He +developed great skill in choosing a strategic position and in launching +his followers against a vulnerable point in the enemy's line. In this +respect he showed himself a disciple of David's able general Joab. They +were the same tactics that Napoleon employed so effectively in later days +and on larger battle-fields. Judas resembled in many ways Israel's first +king, Saul. He was impetuous, patriotic, intense, and energetic. He was +especially skilled in leading a sudden attack. His task also was +strikingly similar to that of Israel's first king, and like Saul in his +later days he showed the same inability to organize and hold his followers +in a time of comparative peace. + +II. Obstacles against Which Judas Contended. When Judas was called to +champion the cause of the Jews, they were hated by the rest of the world. +It was a disorganized band of fugitives that rallied about him, without +homes, resources, or arms. Opposed to him were the large armies of a +powerful empire. The Greek mercenaries that fought in the Syrian ranks +were armed with coats of mail and the best weapons known to the ancient +world. They were also thoroughly trained in the art of war and under the +direction of experienced generals. On every battle-field the Syrians +outnumbered the Jews almost six to one. Pitted against Judas and his +followers were apostates of his own race, who knew the land, were able to +spy out the movements of the Jews, and were inspired by the bitterest +hatred. The few advantages on the side of Judas were: first, his followers +were aroused to heroic deeds by the peril of the situation. In the second +place they were inspired by an intense religious zeal. The one force +throughout Semitic history that has bound together tribes and nations and +made the Semite an almost invincible fighting power has been religion. +The familiar illustrations are the Mohammedan conquests that swept +victoriously across the Bosporus and conquered Constantinople, also across +northern Africa, and surged into southern Europe over the Straits of +Gibraltar and threatened for a time completely to engulf the Western +civilization. Familiar modern illustrations are the Mahdist insurrections +that have from time to time taxed the resources of the English in northern +Africa. In the third place the land of Judea, with its narrow western +passes rapidly ascending to the heights above, enabled Judas to choose his +battle-field at a point where only a few of the enemy could be brought +into action and where a handful of valiant men could keep an army at bay. + +III. Defeat of Apollonius and Seron. At first Judas wisely confined +himself to guerilla warfare. This enabled him in time to clothe and arm +his followers with the garments and weapons taken from the enemy. The most +important of these smaller engagements took place north of Jerusalem. As +Apollonius, the Syrian governor of Samaria, was advancing into Judea, +Judas suddenly fell upon the Syrians and slew their leader. Henceforth the +sword of the Syrian governor was effectively wielded by Judas in behalf of +religious liberty. + +News of the victory soon brought Seron, the governor of Coele-Syria, with +a large army. He advanced from the coast plain by the most direct road to +Jerusalem over the famous pass of the Bethhorons. Within a distance of two +miles the road ascended nearly fifteen hundred feet. At points it was +merely a steep, rocky pass, so that an invading army was forced to march +single file and to pull themselves up over the rocks. Here on the heights +that looked out toward his home at Modein Judas, appealing to the faith +and patriotism of his men, swept down upon the enemy and won his first +great victory. + +IV. The Battle of Emmaus. The first great Jewish victory was a severe +blow to the power of Antiochus Epiphanes, for at that time he was +confronted by a depleted treasury. He therefore left his kingdom in charge +of Lysias, one of his nobles, and set out on a campaign into Persia from +which he never returned. Three generals with a large army were sent by +Lysias against the Jews. So confident were they of a Syrian victory that a +horde of slave merchants accompanied the army that they might purchase the +Jewish captives. This time the Syrians avoided the difficult pass of +Bethhoron and chose the Wady Ali, along which the modern carriage road +winds up from the coast to Jerusalem. The main camp was pitched at Emmaus +at the southeastern side of the Plain of Ajalon under the Judean hills. +Meantime Judas had selected as his head-quarters the lofty hill of Mizpah, +associated by earlier tradition with Samuel and the scene of the +short-lived rule of Gedaliah. It was well chosen, for it commanded a view +of the territory to the north, south, and west. While the army of the +Syrians, sent by night to surprise Judas, were marching up the northern +valley, the Jewish patriots were led westward toward the plain along one +of the parallel valleys that penetrated the Judean hills. Having appealed +to the patriotic memories and the religious zeal of his followers, Judas +led them in a sudden early morning attack against the Syrians encamped +near Emmaus. Soon the Syrians were in wild flight across the plain to the +Philistine cities, and Judas and his followers were left in possession of +the camp and its rich spoil. Panic also seized his pursuers when they saw +their camp in possession of the enemy, and Judas was left for the moment +undisputed master of the land of his fathers. This victory in the year +166 B.C. was in many ways the most sweeping and significant in early +Maccabean history. + +V. The Battle at Bethsura. The next year Lysias himself gathered a huge +army of sixty thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry and led them +against the Jews. This time the Syrians advanced through the broad valley +of Elah where David had fought against the Philistine giant. Thence they +followed the Wady Sur, turned southward and then eastward, penetrating to +the top of the Judean plateau a little north of Hebron. Approaching from +this point the Syrians were protected in their rear by the Idumeans, the +descendants of the Edomites. They succeeded in reaching the point where +the road from the west joins the central highway from Hebron to Jerusalem. +There on a sloping hill crowned with the border town of Bethsura, Judas +was able to rally ten thousand followers to meet the huge Syrian army. +From the parallel account in II Maccabees it is clear that he did not +succeed in winning a decisive victory, but a crisis in Antioch suddenly +compelled Lysias to return, leaving the Jews in possession of the +battle-field. + +VI. Restoration of the Temple Service. With mingled sadness and +rejoicing Judas proceeded at once to Jerusalem and with his followers took +up the task of restoring the desecrated temple and its service. The +citadel of Acra, which appears to have been situated on the Hill of Ophel +to the south of the temple, was still strongly garrisoned by apostate Jews +and Syrian soldiers. For nearly a quarter of a century, until the days of +Simon, it continued to be held by Syrian forces, and remained a constant +menace to the peace of Jerusalem. The vivid account of the purification of +the temple reveals the intense devotion of the Jews to this ancient +sanctuary, and throws clear light upon the nature of its service. This +epoch-making act is commemorated even to-day by the Jews throughout the +world and is known as the Feast of Lights. It is a memorial of that +successful struggle for religious freedom in which Principles were +established that have affected the thought and action of all succeeding +generations. Through all their many vicissitudes and under their many +Gentile rulers, with few exceptions, the Jews have enjoyed uninterruptedly +the right of worshipping in accordance with the dictates of their law and +the customs of their fathers. + +VII. The New Spirit in Judaism. Henceforth the law for which their +fathers had poured out their life-blood and for which the Jews had fought +so valiantly was regarded with new and deeper veneration and its commands +gained a new authority. Again the Jews had enjoyed a taste of freedom and +had learned that by united and courageous action they could shake off the +hated heathen yoke. This new warlike note is sounded in many of the later +psalms of the Psalter. Chapters 9-14, appended to the older books of +Zechariah, apparently come from this same period and voice the thought of +the conquerors. The words of the ninth chapter express their joy and +exultation: + +For I have bent Judah to me, +As a bow which I have filled with Ephraim; +I will urge thy sons against the sons of Greece, +And I will make thee like the sword of a hero. +Then Jehovah shall be seen above them, +And his shaft shall go forth like lightning. +Jehovah shall blow a blast upon a trumpet, +And travel on the whirlwinds of the south. +Jehovah of hosts shall defend them; +And they shall devour and tread down the slingstones, +They shall drink their blood like wine, +They shall be filled with it like the crevices of an altar. +And Jehovah their God shall give them victory in that day. +Like sheep he shall feed them in his land. +Yea, how good and how beautiful shall it be! +Corn shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the maidens. + +The victories of Judas in all probability also inspired the messianic hope +expressed in 9:9-10: + +Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. +Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! +Behold thy king will come to thee; +Vindicated and victorious is he, +Humble, and riding upon an ass. +Upon the foal of an ass. +He shall cut off chariots from Ephraim, +And horses from Jerusalem; +The battle-bow shall also be cut off, +And he shall speak to the nations; +His rule shall be from sea to sea, +From the river to the ends of the earth. + + + +Section CXI. THE LONG CONTEST FOR POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:1-5] +Now when the heathen round about heard that the altar had been built and +the sanctuary dedicated as it was formerly, they were very angry and +concluded to destroy the race of Jacob that was in the midst of them, and +they began to slay and destroy among the people. Judas, however, fought +against the people of Esau in Idumea at Akrabattine, because they besieged +Israel, and he defeated them with a great slaughter and humbled their +pride and took their spoils. He remembered the wickedness of the +inhabitants of Baean, who were a source of annoyance and of danger, lying +in ambush for them along the roads. And they were shut up by him in the +towers, and he besieged them and destroyed them utterly and burned the +towers of the place, with all who were in them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:6-8] +Then he passed over to the Ammonites and found a strong force and many +people, with Timotheus as their leader. And he fought many battles with +them, and they were defeated before him, and he conquered them. Then when +he had gained possession of Jazer and its villages, he returned again into +Judea. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:9-15] +Then the heathen who were in Gilead gathered together against the +Israelites who were on the borders to destroy them. And they fled to the +stronghold of Dathema and sent letters to Judas and his brothers, saying, + +The heathen who are about us have gathered together against us to destroy +us, and they are preparing to come and get possession of the stronghold to +which we have fled for refuge, and Timotheus is the leader of their +forces. Now therefore come and rescue us from their power, for many of our +men have fallen; and all our countrymen who dwell in the land of Tob, have +been put to death, and they have carried into captivity their wives and +children and their possessions. And they destroyed there about a thousand +men. While the letters were being read, there came other messengers from +Galilee with their garments torn, bringing a message of similar import, +saying, That there were gathered together against them men of Ptolemais, +of Tyre, of Sidon, and from all heathen Galilee to destroy them +completely. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:16-20] +Now when Judas and the people heard these things, a great assembly came +together to consult what they should do for their kinsmen who were in +distress and being attacked by the heathen. And Judas said to Simon his +brother, Choose men, and go, rescue your countrymen who are in Galilee, +but Jonathan my brother and I will go into the land of Gilead. And he left +Joseph the son of Zacharias and Azarias, as leaders of the people, with +the rest of the army in Judea, in order to guard it. And he gave orders to +them, saying, Take charge of the heathen until we return. And to Simon +were assigned three thousand men to go to Galilee and to Judas eight +thousand men to go into the land of Gilead. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:21-23] +Then Simon went into Galilee and fought many battles with the heathen, and +the heathen were defeated by him. And he pursued them to the gate of +Ptolemais. And there fell of the heathen about three thousand men, and he +took the spoils from them. They took with them those who were in Galilee +and in Arbatta, with their wives and their children and all that they had, +and brought them into Judea with great rejoicing. + +[Sidenote: I Mac. 5:45, 54] +Then Judas gathered all the Israelites who were in the land of Gilead, +from the least to the greatest, with their wives and children and their +household possessions, a very great host, that they might go into the land +of Judah. And they went up to Mount Zion with gladness and joy and offered +whole burnt-offerings, because not one of them had been slain, but they +had returned safe and sound. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:65-68, 63] +Then Judas and his brothers went out and fought against the people of Esau +in the land toward the south. And he smote Hebron and the villages +belonging to it and pulled down its citadel and burned the surrounding +towers. Then he set out to go into the land of the Philistines; and he +went through Marissa. On that day certain priests, desiring to do exploits +there, were slain in battle, when they unwisely went out to fight. Then +Judas turned aside to Azotus, to the land of the Philistines, and pulled +down their altars and burned the carved images of their gods and, taking +the spoil of their cities, he returned to the land of Judah. And the hero +Judas and his brothers were greatly honored by all Israel and by all the +heathen wherever their name was heard. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:18-27] +Now those who were in the citadel were hindering Israel round about the +sanctuary and were always seeking to do them harm and were a support to +the heathen. But Judas determined to destroy them and called all the +people together to besiege them. And they were gathered together and +besieged them in the hundred and fiftieth year, and he made mounds from +which to shoot and engines of war. Then some of those who were shut up +came out and certain apostate Israelites joined them. And they went to the +king and said, When will you finally satisfy justice and avenge our +brothers? We were willing to serve your father and to live as he enjoined, +and to obey his commands; but because of this our own people besieged us +in the citadel and were alienated from us; and as many of us as they could +find, they killed and despoiled our inheritances. And not against us only +have they stretched out their hand, but also against all that bordered on +them. And now they are to-day encamped against the citadel at Jerusalem, +to take it, and they have fortified the sanctuary and Bethsura. And if you +do not quickly anticipate them, they will do greater things than these, +and you will not be able to check them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:28-41] +When the king had heard this, he was angry, and gathered together all his +Friends, the officers of his army, and those who commanded the cavalry. +There came to him also from other kingdoms and from isles of the sea, +bands of hired soldiers. So the number of his forces was a hundred +thousand footmen and twenty thousand horsemen and thirty-two elephants +trained for war. Then they went through Idumea and encamped against +Bethsura and carried on the siege a long time and made engines of war. +The besieged, however, sallied out and burned them and fought valiantly. +And Judas departed from the citadel and encamped at Beth-zacharias, +opposite the king's camp. Then the king rose early in the morning and had +his army set out at full speed along the road to Beth-zacharias and his +forces prepared for battle and the trumpets were sounded. And they showed +the elephants the blood of grapes and mulberries, in order to excite them +for the battle. Then they distributed the beasts among the phalanxes and +stationed by each elephant a thousand men armed with coats of mail and +helmets, with brass on their heads; and to each beast five hundred chosen +horsemen were appointed. These were already there, wherever the beast was, +and wherever the beast went, they went with him and did not separate +themselves from him. And upon them were towers of wood, strong, covered, +one girded upon each beast. Upon them were engines and two or three men, +who fought upon them, besides the Indian who guided the elephant. The rest +of the horsemen he stationed on both sides of the two wings of the army to +inspire terror and to protect the phalanxes. And when the sun struck the +golden and bronze shields, the mountain shone with them and blazed like +torches of fire. And a part of the king's army was spread out on the +heights, and some on the low ground, and they moved firmly and in good +order. And all who heard the noise of their multitude, and the marching of +the great numbers, and the rattling of the arms, trembled because the army +was very great and strong. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:42-47] +Then Judas and his army approached for battle, and there fell of the +king's army six hundred men. Now when Eleazar, who was called Avaran, saw +one of the beasts armed with royal breastplates, which was higher than all +the beasts, and it looked as though the king was upon it, he gave himself +to save his people and to gain for himself an everlasting fame; and he ran +upon him courageously in the midst of the phalanx and slew on the right +hand and on the left, and they scattered from before him on either side. +Then he crept under the elephant, thrust him from beneath, and slew him. +And the elephant fell to the earth upon him, and he died there. But when +they saw the strength of the king and the fierce onset of the armies, they +turned away from them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:48-54] +But those who were in the king's army went up to Jerusalem to meet them, +and the king encamped for a struggle with Judea and Mount Zion. And he +made peace with those in Bethsura; for they surrendered the city, because +they had no food there to endure the siege, because the land had a +sabbath. So the king took Bethsura and stationed a garrison there to keep +it. Then he encamped against the sanctuary for a long time; and he set +there mounds from which to shoot and engines of war and instruments for +casting stones and fire, and pieces to cast darts and slings. And they +also erected engines against those of the besiegers and fought for a long +time. But since there was no food in the sanctuary, because it was the +seventh year and those who had fled for safety into Judea from among the +heathen had eaten up what remained of the store of provisions, there were +but a few left in the sanctuary, because the famine became so severe upon +them, and they scattered, each man to his own home. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:55-63] +Now Lysias heard that Philip, whom Antiochus the king, had appointed +during his lifetime to bring up his son Antiochus that he might be king, +had returned from Persia and Media and with him the forces that went with +the king, and that he was trying to get control of the government, he +hastily decided to depart. And he said to the king, and to the officers of +the army and to the men, We are growing weaker every day, our supplies are +scanty, and the place which we are besieging is strong, and the welfare of +the kingdom depends upon us; now therefore let us give the right hand to +these men and make peace with them and with all their nation, and covenant +with them that they may live according to their own customs as formerly; +for because of their laws, which we abolished, they were angered and did +all these things. This counsel pleased the king and the princes, and he +sent to them to make peace. They accepted it, and when the king and the +princes took oath to them, they came out of the stronghold. But when the +king entered Mount Zion and saw the strength of the place, he broke the +oath which he had sworn and gave orders to pull down the wall round about. +Then he set out in haste and returned to Antioch and found Philip master +of the city; and he fought against him and took the city by force. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:1-4] +In the one hundred and fiftieth year, Demetrius the son of Seleucus +escaped from Rome and went up with a few men to a city by the sea, and +there proclaimed himself king. And when he entered the palace of his +fathers, the army seized Antiochus and Lysias, to bring them to him. But +when the fact was made known to him, he said, Do not show me their faces. +And the army slew them. So Demetrius sat upon the throne of his kingdom. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:5-18] +And there came to him all the lawless and the apostate men of Israel, with +Alcimus, their leader, desiring to be high priest. And they accused the +people before the king, saying, Judas and his brothers have destroyed all +your Friends, and have scattered us from our own land. Now therefore send +a man whom you trust, and let him go and see all the havoc which he has +made of us and of the king's country, and how he has punished them and all +who helped them. So the king chose Bacchides, one of the king's Friends, +who was ruler in the province beyond the River Euphrates, and was a great +man in the kingdom, and faithful to the king. He sent him and also that +godless Alcimus, and confirmed him in the high priesthood, and commanded +him to take vengeance upon the Israelites. So they set out and came with a +great army into the land of Judah, and he sent messengers to Judas and his +brothers with words of peace, deceitfully. But they paid no attention to +their words for they saw that these men had come with a great army. Then +there were gathered together to Alcimus and Bacchides a company of +scribes, to seek for justice. And the Hasideans were the first among the +Israelites who sought peace with them; for they said, One who is a +descendant of Aaron has come with the forces and he will do us no wrong. +And he spoke words of peace to them, and took oath to them, saying, We +will seek the hurt neither of you nor of your friends. And they put +confidence in him. But he seized sixty of them, and slew them in one day, +as it is written in the Scriptures, + +The flesh of thy saints... +And their blood they poured out round about Jerusalem; +And there was no man to bury them. + +And the fear and hatred of them fell upon all the people, for they said, +There is neither truth nor justice in them; for they have broken the +covenant and the oaths which they made. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:13-26] +And when Judas saw that Alcimus and his company had done more mischief +among the Israelites than the heathen, he went out into the whole +territory of Judea round about and took vengeance on the men who had +deserted from him, and they were restrained from going forth into the +country. But when Alcimus saw that Judas and his company were growing +strong and knew that he was not able to withstand them, he returned to the +king and brought evil charges against them. So the king sent Nicanor, one +of his honored princes, a man who hated Israel and was their enemy, and +commanded him to destroy the people. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:27-32] +When Nicanor came to Jerusalem with a great army, he sent to Judas and his +brother a message of peaceful words with deceitful intent, saying, Let +there be no battle between us. I will come with a few men, that I may see +your faces in peace. And he came to Judas, and they saluted one another +peaceably. But the enemies were prepared to take away Judas, by violence. +And when the fact was clear to Judas, that he had come to him with deceit, +he was very much afraid of him and would see his face no more. So Nicanor +knew that his plan was discovered, and he went out to meet Judas in battle +near Capharsalama. And there fell of those with Nicanor about five hundred +men. Then they fled into the city of David. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:33-38] +Now after these things Nicanor went to Zion. And when some of the priests +came out of the sanctuary, and some the elders of the people, to salute +him peaceably and to show him the whole burnt-offering that was being +offered for the king, he mocked them, and laughed at them, and abused +them, and talked insolently. He also swore in a rage, saying, Unless Judas +and his army are now delivered into my hands, if I come again in peace, I +will burn up this temple. He went out in a great rage. Then the priests +went in and stood before the altar and the temple; and they wept and said, +Thou didst choose this temple to be called by thy name, to be a house of +prayer and supplication for thy people. Take vengeance on this man and his +army, and let him fall by the sword. Remember their blasphemies, and let +them live no longer. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:39-48] +And Nicanor set forth from Jerusalem and encamped in Bethhoron, and there +the army of Syria met him. But Judas encamped in Adasa with three thousand +men. Then Judas prayed and said, When they who came from the king +blasphemed, thine angel went out and smote among them an hundred and +sixty-five thousand. Even so destroy thou this army before us to-day, and +let all the rest know that he hath spoken wickedly against thy sanctuary, +and judge thou him according to his wickedness. So on the thirteenth day +of the month Adar the armies joined battle; and Nicanor's army was +defeated, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle. And when his +army saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw away their weapons and fled. +And [the Jews] pursued them a day's journey from Adasa as far as Gazara +when they sounded the trumpet-signal for the return. Then they came out +from all the villages of Judea on every hand and outflanked them; and the +one turned them back on the other army, and they all fell by the sword, so +that none of them was left. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:47-50] +And they took the spoils and the booty, and they struck off Nicanor's head +and his right hand, which he had stretched out so haughtily, and brought +them and hung them up in the citadel of Jerusalem. And the people were +very glad. They also enacted an ordinance for the celebration of this day +year by year, the thirteenth day of Adar. So the land of Judah had rest +for a brief period. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:1-6] +When Demetrius heard that Nicanor had fallen with his forces in battle, he +sent Bacchides and Alcimus again into the land of Judah a second time, and +the southern wing of his army with them. And they went by that way that +leads to Gilgal, and encamped against Masaloth, which is in Arbela, and +gained possession of it and destroyed many people. And the first month of +the hundred and fifty-second year they encamped against Jerusalem. Then +they set out and went to Berea with twenty thousand footmen and two +thousand horsemen. And Judas was encamped at Elasa, and three thousand +chosen men with him. And when they saw the multitude of the forces, that +they were many, they were greatly frightened, and many slipped away from +the army, so that there were left of them not more than eight hundred men. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:7-10] +And when Judas saw that his army had dispersed, he was deeply troubled, +because he had no time to gather them together, and he grew discouraged. +And he said to those who were left, Let us arise and go up against our +adversaries, if perhaps we may be able to fight with them. And they would +have dissuaded him, saying, We shall not be able; but let us rather save +our lives now; let us return again with our fellow-countrymen and fight +against them, for we are few. But Judas said, Far be it from me so to do, +that I should flee from them. For if our time has come, let us die +manfully for the sake of our fellow-countrymen and not leave a cause of +reproach against our honor. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:11-18] +Then the army set out from the camp and drew up to meet them; and the +cavalry drew up into two companies, and the slingers and the archers went +before the army, with all the strong, foremost warriors. But Bacchides was +in the rear wing. Then the phalanx advanced on both sides, and they +sounded their trumpets. And Judas's men also sounded their trumpets, and +the earth shook with the shout of the armies; so the battle was begun and +continued from morning until evening. And when Judas saw that Bacchides +and the strength of his army were on the right side, all who were brave in +heart went with him, and the right wing was defeated by them, and he +pursued them to the slope of the mountains. And they who were on the left +wing, when they saw that the right wing was defeated, turned and followed +upon the footsteps of Judas and of those who were with him. And the battle +grew fierce, and many on both sides fell mortally wounded. Then Judas fell +and the rest fled. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:19, 20] +And Jonathan and Simon took Judas their brother and buried him in the +sepulchre of his fathers at Modein. And they bewailed him, and all Israel +made great lamentation for him and mourned many days, and said, + +How is the hero fallen, +The saviour of Israel! + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:22] +And the rest of the valiant acts of Judas, and his wars and the valiant +deeds which he did, and his greatness--they have not been recorded, for +they were very many. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:23-27] +Now after the death of Judas, the apostates showed themselves in all the +territory of Israel, and all who practised injustice flourished. About the +same time there was a very severe famine, and the whole people sided with +them. Then Bacchides selected the godless men and made them rulers of the +country. And they conducted a thorough search for the friends of Judas and +brought them to Bacchides, and he took vengeance on them and tortured them +cruelly. Then great tribulation came upon Israel, such as had not been +since the time that prophets had ceased to appear among them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:28-35] +Thereupon all the friends of Judas assembled and said to Jonathan, Since +your brother Judas has died, we have no one like him to go out against our +enemies and Bacchides and against those of our own kin who hate us. Now +therefore we have chosen you this day to be our prince and leader in his +place that you may fight our battles. So Jonathan assumed the leadership +at that time and took the place of his brother Judas. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:1-6] +Now in the one hundred and sixtieth year, Alexander the son of Antiochus +Epiphanes went up and took possession of Ptolemais, and they received him, +and he reigned there. When King Demetrius heard of it, he gathered very +large forces and went out to meet him in battle. Demetrius also sent +letters to Jonathan with words of peace, so as to honor him greatly. For +he said, Let us get the start in making peace with them before he makes a +compact with Alexander against us. For he will remember all the wrongs +that we have done to him, and to his brothers and his nation. And he gave +him authority to collect forces and to provide arms and to be his ally. +Also he commanded that they should deliver up to him the hostages who were +in the citadel. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:7-14] +Then Jonathan came to Jerusalem, and read the letters in the hearing of +all the people, and of those who were in the citadel. And they were +greatly afraid when they heard that the king had given him authority to +collect an army. And the garrison delivered up the hostages to Jonathan, +and he restored them to their parents. And Jonathan took up his residence +in Jerusalem and began to rebuild and renew the city. And he commanded +those who did the work to build the walls and Mount Zion round about with +square stones for defence; and they did so. Then the foreigners, who were +in the strongholds which Bacchides had built, fled, and each man left his +place and went into his own land. Only some of those who had forsaken the +law and the commandments were left at Bethsura, because it was an asylum +for them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:15-17] +And when King Alexander heard all the promises which Demetrius had made to +Jonathan and had been told of the battles which he and his brothers had +fought and the valiant deeds that they had done and of the hardships which +they had endured, he said, Shall we find such another man? Now therefore +let us make him our friend and ally. So he wrote letters and sent them to +him with contents like these: + +King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greeting: We have heard of you +that you are a valiant man and fit to be our friend. And now we have +appointed you to-day to be high priest of your nation and to be called the +king's Friend (and he sent to him a purple robe and a crown of gold), and +to take our part and to remain on friendly terms with us. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:21] +And Jonathan put on the holy garments in the seventh month of the hundred +and sixtieth year at the feast of tabernacles, and he gathered together +forces, and provided arms in abundance. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:67-71] +Now in the one hundred and sixty-fifth year, Demetrius son of Demetrius, +came from Crete into the land of his fathers. Then King Alexander heard of +it, and he was exceedingly troubled and returned to Antioch. And Demetrius +appointed Apollonius, who was over Coele-Syria, and he collected a great +army and encamped in Jamnia, and sent to Jonathan the high priest this +message: + +You alone are hostile to us, and I have become a laughing-stock and butt +of ridicule on account of you. Now why do you flaunt your power against us +in the mountains? If, indeed, you trust your forces, come down to us in +the plain, and there let us try the matter together, because with me is +the power of the cities. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:74-76] +Now when Jonathan heard the words of Apollonius, he was stirred to anger, +and he chose ten thousand men and went forth from Jerusalem, and Simon his +brother met him to help him. And he encamped against Joppa. The people of +the city, however, shut him out, because Apollonius had a garrison in +Joppa. So they fought against it. Then the people of the city were afraid +and opened to him, and Jonathan became master of Joppa. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:20-27] +At that time Jonathan gathered together the people of Judea to take the +citadel that was at Jerusalem, and he erected many engines of war against +it. Some, however, who hated their own nation, apostates, went to the +king, and reported to him that Jonathan was besieging the citadel. And +when he heard it, he was angry, and immediately after he heard of it he +set out and came to Ptolemais, and wrote to Jonathan that he should not +besiege it, and that he should meet him and confer with him at Ptolemais +with all speed. But when Jonathan heard this, he gave orders to proceed +with the siege, while he chose certain of the elders of Israel and of the +priests, and putting himself in peril, and taking silver and gold and +garments, and various presents besides, he went to the king at Ptolemais. +And he was favorably received; and although some apostates of the nation +Made complaints against him, the king treated him just as his predecessors +had done and exalted him in the presence of all his Friends, both +confirming to him the high priesthood, and all the other honors that he +had before, and giving him preeminence among his Chief Friends. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:28, 29] +And Jonathan requested the king to make Judea free from tribute, together +with the three districts of Samaria, and he promised him three hundred +talents. And the king consented and wrote letters to Jonathan concerning +all these things. + +I. The Political Situation. The position of the Jewish patriots was both +perilous and tragic. A ring of hostile peoples pressed them closely on +every side. The Jews were the victims of centuries of wrong and hatred. +Those residing in the neighboring lands also suffered from this widespread +and bitter hostility. Among all the peoples of southwestern Asia they had +no allies except the Nabateans, an Arabian people that had driven the +Edomites from their home on Mount Seir. The only bond that bound them to +this ambitious heathen race was the common hatred of the Syrians. It was +natural, therefore, that Judas a little later should send an embassy with +the object of securing the moral support, if not the direct intervention, +of the distant Roman power whose influence was beginning to be felt +throughout all the Mediterranean coast lands. For the present, however, +Judas was dependent simply upon the sword for defence. He also had no time +for permanent conquest, for he must prepare himself for the heavier blow +that the court of Antioch was preparing to deliver. All that he could do, +therefore, was to make sudden attacks upon his foes on every side and +rescue the persecuted Jews by bringing them back with him to Judea. + +II. The Jewish Attitude toward the Heathen Reflected in the Book of +Esther. In these perilous circumstances it is not strange that the Jews +gravitated far from the position of broad tolerance advocated by the II +Isaiah and the authors of the prophecy of Malachi and in the stories of +Ruth and Jonah. In the stress of conflict they completely lost sight of +their mission as Jehovah's witnesses to all the world. The destruction of +the heathen seemed to them absolutely necessary if Jehovah's justice was +to be vindicated. The spirit of this warlike, blood-thirsty age is most +clearly formulated in the book of Esther. The presence of Aramaic and +Persian words testify to its late date. It is closely allied to the +midrashim or didactic stories that were a characteristic literary product +of later Judaism. Like the stories of Daniel, the book of Esther contains +many historical inconsistencies. For example, Mordecai, carried as a +captive to Babylon in 597 B.C., is made Xerxes's prime-minister in 474 +B.C. Its pictures of Persian customs are also characteristic of popular +tradition rather than of contemporary history. Its basis is apparently an +old Babylonian tradition of a great victory of the Babylonians over their +ancient foes, the Elamites. Mordecai is a modification of the name of the +Babylonian god Marduk. Estra, which appears in the Hebrew Esther, was the +late Babylonian form of the name of the Semitic goddess Ishtar. Vashti +and Hamman, the biblical Haman, were names of Elamite deities. Like +the story of creation, this tale has been Hebraized and adapted to the +story-teller's purpose. His aim is evidently to trace the origin of the +late Jewish feast of Purim. It is probable that this feast was an +adaptation of the Babylonian New-Year's feast which commemorated the +ancient victory. The story in its present form is strongly Jewish. It +exalts loyalty to the race, but its morality is far removed from that of +Amos and Isaiah. Its exultation over the slaughter of thousands of the +heathen is displeasing even in a romance, although it can easily be +understood in the light of the Maccabean age in which it was written. + +III. Campaigns against the Neighboring Peoples. The first book of +Maccabees records in detail the repeated blows that Judas struck against +his heathen foes. At Akrabattine, probably identical with the Scorpion +Pass at the southwestern end of the Dead Sea, he fought and won a signal +victory over his hereditary foes, the Idumeans. His chief enemy on the +east was Timotheus, the leader of the Ammonites against whom Judas was +successful in the preliminary skirmishes. Angered by these defeats, the +heathen east of the Jordan attacked the resident Jews, who fled to one of +the towns, where they were besieged. Judas, assembling six thousand of his +picked warriors, made a rapid march of three days out into the wilderness. +He apparently carried few supplies, but depended rather upon the spoil of +the captured towns for support. Bosra, far out on the borders of the +desert, was seized and looted. Thence returning westward, he rescued the +Jews from the town of Damethah, or, as it appears in the Syriac, Rametha. +This is probably identical with the modern town of Remtheh a little south +of the Yarmuk on the great pilgrim highway from Damascus to Mecca. After +making a detour to the south he crossed the Yarmuk and captured a series +of towns lying to the north and northeast of this river. Returning he +apparently met his Ammonite foe, who had succeeded in rallying an army, at +the point where the pilgrim highway crosses the headwaters of the Yarmuk. +Here Judas won a sweeping victory. Then collecting the many Jews of the +dispersion who had settled near these upper waters of the Yarmuk, he +returned victoriously to Jerusalem. His brother Simon, who had been +despatched on a similar mission to Galilee, likewise came back bringing +many fellow-Jews and laden with spoils. + +Anticipating a renewal of the Syrian attack, Judas next made a rapid +campaign into the territory of the Idumeans, capturing the old Hebrew +capital of Hebron and carrying his victories as far as Ashdod on the +western borders of the Philistine plain. Within a few months he had +overrun and partially conquered a territory larger than the kingdom of +David. In an incredibly short time this peasant warrior had won more +victories against greater odds than any other leader in Israel's +history. The results of these victories were necessarily ephemeral. They +accomplished, however, three things: (1) Judas intimidated his foes and +established his prestige; (2) he was able to rescue thousands of Jews from +the hands of the heathen; and (3) by bringing them back to Judea he +increased its population and laid the foundations of that kingdom which +rose as the result of his patriotic achievements. + +IV. The Battle of Beth-zacharias. There was still a Syrian outpost in +the heart of Judea: it was the citadel at Jerusalem, which looked down +upon the temple area. This Judas attempted to capture, but in so doing +incited to action the Syrian king, Antiochus Eupator, who had succeeded +to the throne after the death of his father Antiochus Epiphanes. Under +the direction of his prime-minister Lysias he collected a huge army of one +hundred thousand infantry and twenty thousand cavalry. To this was added +thirty-two elephants with full military equipment--the heavy ordinance +used in the warfare of the period. The approach from the plain was along +the valley of Elah and up past Bethsura, as in the last Syrian campaign. +Judas, who was able at this time to rally an army of ten thousand men, met +the Syrian host near the town of Beth-zacharias, a little north of +Bethsura on the central highway from Hebron to Jerusalem. This time the +natural advantages were with the Syrians, one wing of whose army rested +upon a declining hill and the other on the level plain. Thus they were +able to utilize their entire fighting force and to launch against the +valiant Jews their elephants against which the heroism of an Eleazar was +fruitless. For the first time during this struggle Judas was defeated and +fell back upon Jerusalem, where he was closely besieged. Soon the Jews +were obliged to surrender, and the Maccabean cause would have been lost +had not complications at Antioch compelled the Syrians to retire. + +V. Victories Over Nicanor. In the treaty which followed the surrender +of Jerusalem the religious liberty of the Jews was assured. This +concession satisfied the majority of the Hasideans, so that henceforth +Judas found himself deserted by a great body of his followers. The +apostate high priest who was placed in control of the temple was supported +by Syrian soldiery and Judas was obliged to resort again to outlaw life. +He succeeded, however, in winning two signal victories over Nicanor, the +Syrian general. The one at Capharsalama was probably fought near the +modern town of Kefr Silwan, across the Kidron Valley from the City of +David on the southern slope of Jerusalem. In the latter victory Nicanor +was slain, and Judas was left for the moment in control of Judea. + +VI. The Death of Judas. Soon another Syrian army invaded the land. The +advance was from the northwest up over the pass of Bethhoron. A little +east of the road that ascends from Lower to Upper Bethhoron, near where he +won his first great battle and in sight of his home at Modein, the +intrepid Jewish champion fought his last battle. Terror at the approach of +the enemy had thinned his ranks until he was obliged to meet them with +only eight hundred men at his back. Even against these great odds he was +on the eve of victory when he was slain. At the sight of their fallen +leader his followers fled. This disastrous ending of his career as a +warrior obscured to a great extent the character and quality of Judas's +services for his people. In brief (1) he taught them to fight for their +rights; (2) he helped them to save their law and traditions; (3) he +secured for them religious freedom; (4) he restored many of the Jews of +the dispersion and thus prepared the way for the consolidated kingdom +which later rose with Jerusalem as the centre; (5) he inspired his +countrymen with ambitions for political independence; and (6) he set them +a noble example of courage, patriotism, and practical piety. While +measured by the higher standards of a later day Judas is not without his +faults, yet he is unquestionably one of the great heroes of Israel's +history and an example to all of unselfish and devoted patriotism. + +VII. The Dissensions in the Syrian Court. The Jews ultimately attained +political independence not primarily through their own efforts, but +because the protracted contests between the rival claimants for the Syrian +throne gave them opportunities which they quickly improved. In 152 B.C. a +youth known as Alexander Balas, who claimed to be a son of Antiochus +Epiphanes, raised the standard of revolt against the reigning Syrian king, +Demetrius I. The kings of southwestern Asia and Egypt at first lent their +support to this impostor. By 150 B.C. he had succeeded in defeating and +putting to death Demetrius I. Two years later, however, Demetrius II, the +son of the deposed king, appeared with a large body of Cretan mercenaries +to contest the throne of his father. Many of the Syrian cities at once +espoused his cause. Ptolemy Philometor, of Egypt, finally turned against +Alexander Balas; and in 145 B.C. this strange adventurer was slain near +Antioch by his own followers. Soon after his death, however, one of his +generals, Tryphon, appeared with an infant son of Alexander whom he sought +to place on the Syrian throne, thus perpetuating the feud that was +constantly undermining the power of the Seleucid kingdom. + +VIII. Concessions to Jonathan. The Jews profited by each turn in these +tortuous politics. In 158 B.C., after a period of outlawry in the +wilderness east of Judea, Jonathan and his followers were allowed by +Demetrius I to settle again within the bounds of Judea. Jonathan +Established his head-quarters at Michmash, the fortress famous for the +achievement of Saul's valiant son Jonathan. Here he ruled over the Jews as +a vassal of Demetrius, who retained immediate control over the citadel at +Jerusalem and the fortified cities that had been built along the borders +of Judea. On the appearance of Alexander Balas in 152 B.C. Demetrius I, in +order to retain the loyalty of the Jews, permitted Jonathan to maintain a +small standing army and to rebuild the fortifications of Jerusalem. To +outbid his rival the impostor Alexander Balas conferred upon Jonathan the +coveted honor of the high priesthood, thus making him both the civil and +religious head of the Jewish state. Disregarding his promises to Demetrius +and the contemptible character of Alexander, Jonathan at once proceeded to +establish his new authority. He was doubtless more acceptable to the +majority of the Jews than the apostate high priests whom he succeeded, but +the stricter Hasideans naturally regarded it as a sacrilege that a man +whose hands were stained with war and bloodshed should perform the holiest +duties in the temple service. + +Under Alexander Balas Jonathan's power rapidly increased. He was made +governor of Judea, and, under pretence of supporting the waning fortunes +of Alexander, he captured in succession the Philistine cities of Joppa, +Azotus (Ashdod), Ascalon, and Akron. When Demetrius II became master of +Syria, Jonathan succeeded by rich gifts and diplomacy in so far gaining +the support of the new king that part of the territory of Samaria was +joined to Judea. In return for three hundred talents they were also +promised exemption from taxation. Furthermore, membership in one of the +royal orders was conferred upon the Maccabean leader. Thus by good fortune +and by often questionable diplomacy the Jews finally secured in the days +of Jonathan that freedom for which they had fought and which they had +partially won under the valiant Judas. + + + +Section CXII. PEACE AND PROSPERITY UNDER SIMON + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:38-40] +And when King Demetrius saw that the land was quiet before him and that +no resistance was made to him, he sent all his forces, each one to his own +home, except the foreign mercenaries, whom he had enlisted from the isles +of the heathen. All the troops, however, who had served his father hated +him. Now Tryphon was one of those who had formerly belonged to Alexander's +party, and when he saw that all the troops were murmuring against +Demetrius, he went to Yamliku, the Arabian who was bringing up Antiochus, +the young child of Alexander, and importuned him that he should deliver +him to him, that he might reign in his father's place. And he told him all +that Demetrius had done, and the hatred which his troops bore him. And he +stayed there a long time. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:54-56] +Now after this Tryphon returned, and with him the young child Antiochus, +and he assumed the sovereignty and put on the diadem. And there were +gathered to him all the forces which Demetrius had sent away in disgrace, +and they fought against him, and he fled and was defeated. And Tryphon +took the elephants and became master of Antioch. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 12:39-47] +Then Tryphon tried to get the sovereignty over Asia and to put on the +diadem and to engage in hostilities against Antiochus the king. But he +was afraid lest perhaps Jonathan might not allow him, and that he might +fight against him. So he sought a way to take him, that he might destroy +him. And he set out and came to Bethshan. Then Jonathan went out to meet +him with forty thousand picked soldiers and came to Bethshan. And when +Tryphon saw that he came with a great army, he was afraid to attack him, +and he received him honorably and commended him to all his Friends and +gave him gifts, and commanded his forces to be obedient to him as to +himself. And he said to Jonathan, Why have you put all this people to +trouble, since that there is no war between us? Now therefore send them +away to their homes, retaining for yourself only a few men who shall be +with you, and come with me to Ptolemais, and I will give it to you with +the rest of the strongholds and the rest of the forces and all the king's +officers, and I will set out on my way back, for this is the cause of my +coming. Then he trusted him and did even as he said, and sent away his +forces so that they departed into the land of Judah. But he reserved for +himself three thousand men, of whom he left two thousand in Galilee, while +one thousand went with him. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 12:48-53] +Now as soon as Jonathan entered Ptolemais, the people of Ptolemais shut +the gates and laid hands on him, and they slew with the sword all who came +in with him. And Tryphon sent forces and horsemen into Galilee, and into +the great plain, to destroy all of Jonathan's men. But they perceived +that he had been taken and had perished, and those who were with him, and +they encouraged one another and marched in closed ranks, prepared to +fight. And when those who were pursuing them saw that they were ready to +fight for their lives, they turned back again. Thus they all came safely +into the land of Judah, and they mourned for Jonathan and those who were +with him, and they were greatly afraid. And all Israel mourned bitterly. +Then all the heathen who were round about them sought to destroy them +utterly, for they said, They have no ruler nor any to help them, now +therefore let us fight against them and wipe out the memory of them from +among men. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:1-11] +Now when Simon heard that Tryphon had collected a vast army to come into +the land of Judah to destroy it utterly, and saw that the people trembled +and were greatly afraid, he went up to Jerusalem and gathered the people +together, and encouraged them and said to them, You yourselves know all +the things that I and my brothers, and my father's house, have done for +the laws and the sanctuary, and the battles and times of distress through +which we have passed. In this cause all my brothers have perished for +Israel's sake, and I alone am left. And now be it far from me that I +should spare my own life, in any time of affliction; for I am not better +than my brothers. Rather I will take revenge for my nation, and for the +sanctuary, and for our wives and children, because all the heathen are +gathered to destroy us out of pure hatred. And the courage of the people +rose as they heard these words. And they answered with a loud voice, +saying, You are our leader instead of Judas and Jonathan your brothers. +Fight our battles, and we will do all that you command. So he gathered +together all the warriors and made haste to finish the walls of Jerusalem, +and fortified the entire length of it. And he sent Jonathan the son of +Absalom at the head of a large army to Joppa, and he drove out those who +were in it, and stayed there in it. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:20-22] +And after this Tryphon came to invade the land and destroy it, and he went +round about by the way that goes to Adora; and Simon and his army marched +opposite and abreast of him to every place wherever he went. And the +people of the citadel sent to Tryphon ambassadors urging him to come by +forced marches through the wilderness to them and to send them supplies. +So Tryphon made ready all his cavalry to go. But that night a very deep +snow fell, so that he did not come because of the snow. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:23-30] +Then he set out and came to the country of Gilead, and when he came near +to Bascama, he slew Jonathan, and he was buried there. But when Tryphon +went back into his own land, Simon sent and took the bones of Jonathan his +brother, and buried them at Modein, his ancestral city. And all Israel +made great lamentation over him and mourned for him for many days. And +Simon built a monument upon the sepulchre of his father and his brothers, +and raised it aloft to the sight, with polished stone on the back and +front sides. He also set up seven pyramids, one opposite another, for his +father and his mother and his four brothers. And for these he made +artistic designs, setting about them great pillars, and upon the pillars +he fashioned different kinds of arms as an everlasting memorial, and +beside the arms ships carved, that they should be seen by all who sail on +the sea. This is the sepulchre which he made at Modein, which stands there +at the present time. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:33, 43-48] +Then Simon built the strongholds of Judea and fenced them about with high +towers and great walls and gates and bars, and laid up stores in the +strongholds. In those days he laid siege to Gazara, and surrounded it with +armies, and made an engine of siege and brought it up to the city, and +smote a tower and captured it. And those who were in the engine leaped +forth into the city, and there was a great tumult in the city. And the +people of the city tore their garments, and went up on the walls with +their wives and children, and cried with a loud voice, requesting Simon to +make peace with them. And they said, Do not deal with us according to our +wickednesses but according to your mercy. So Simon was reconciled to them +and did not fight against them. But he expelled them from the city and +cleansed the houses in which the idols were, and so entered into it with +singing and praise. And when he had put all uncleanness out of it, he +placed in it such men as would keep the law and made it stronger than it +was before, and built a dwelling place for himself in it. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:49-53] +But those who were in the citadel at Jerusalem were prevented from going +out and from going into the country, and from buying and selling, so that +they suffered exceedingly from hunger, and a great number of them perished +through famine. Then they cried out to Simon to make peace with them. He +did so, but put them out from there, and cleansed the citadel from its +pollutions. And he entered it on the twenty-third day of the second month +in the one hundred and seventy-first year, with praise and palm branches, +with harps, with cymbals, with viols, with hymns, and with songs, because +a great enemy was destroyed out of Israel. And he ordained that they +should observe that day each year with gladness. And the temple mount, +which was beside the citadel, he made stronger than before, and there he +dwelt with his men. And Simon saw that John his son had grown to manhood, +and so he made him commander of all his forces. And he lived in Gazara. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 14:16-18] +Now when they heard at Rome and at Sparta that Jonathan was dead, they +were very sorry. But as soon as they learned that his brother Simon had +been made high priest in his place and ruled the country and its cities, +they wrote to him on brass tablets, to renew with him the friendship and +the treaty which they had made with Judas and Jonathan his brothers. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 14:38-47] +Moreover King Demetrius confirmed to him the high priesthood according to +these things, and made him one of his Friends, and bestowed great honor +upon him, for he had heard that the Jews had been called friends and +allies and brothers by the Romans, and that they had met the ambassadors +of Simon with honor, and that the Jews and the priests were well pleased +that Simon should be their governor and high priest forever, until there +should arise a faithful prophet; and that he should be commander over +them, and should take charge of the sanctuary, to appoint men on his own +authority over their works and over the country and over the arms and over +the forts, and that he should be obeyed by all, and that all documents +drawn up in the country should be written in his name, and that he should +be clothed in purple, and wear gold; and that it should not be lawful for +any of the people or of the priests to nullify any of these things, or to +resist the commands that he should issue, or to gather an assembly in the +country without his permission, or to be clothed in purple or to wear a +golden buckle. But whoever should do otherwise, or act in defiance of any +of these things, should be liable to punishment. All the people agreed to +ordain that Simon should act according to these regulations. And Simon +accepted and consented to be high priest and to be general and governor of +the Jews and of the priests and to be protector of all. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 14:48, 49] +And they gave orders to put this writing on brass tablets and to set them +up within the precinct of the sanctuary in a conspicuous place, and also +to put the copies of it in the treasury in order that Simon and his sons +might have them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 15:4-8] +So the land had rest all the days of Simon, +And he sought the good of his nation. +His authority and his glory were well-pleasing to them all his days. +And amid all his glory he took Joppa for a haven, +And made it a way to the isles of the sea, +And he enlarged the boundaries of his nation, +And became master of the land. +He also brought many captives together, +And made himself master of Gazara and Bethsura, and the citadel. +Moreover he took away from it its uncleannesses; +And there was none who resisted him. +And they tilled their land in peace, +And the earth gave her increase, +And the trees of the plains their fruit. + +[Sidenote: 15:9-15] +The old men sat in the streets, +They talked together of the common good, +And the young men put on glorious, fine apparel. +He provided food for the cities, +And furnished them with means of fortification, +Until his famous name was known to the end of the earth. +He made peace in the land, +And Israel rejoiced with great joy, +Everyone sat under his own vine and fig tree, +And there was no one to make them afraid, +And none who warred against them was left upon the earth, +For the kings were utterly crushed in those days. +And he strengthened all the distressed of his people, +He was full of zeal for the law, +And every lawless and wicked person he banished. +He made the sanctuary glorious, +And multiplied the vessels of the temple. + +I. Capture and Death of Jonathan. It was not strange in that corrupt age +that Jonathan, who had risen to power largely by intrigue, should himself +in the end fall a prey to treachery. Tryphon, the general who secretly +aspired to the Syrian throne, by lies succeeded in misleading even the +wily Jewish leader. His object was to gain possession of southern +Palestine, and he evidently believed that by capturing Jonathan he would +easily realize his ambition. He overlooked the fact, however, that Simon, +next to Judas the ablest of the sons of Mattathias, still remained to +rally and lead the Jewish patriots. The natural barriers of Judea again +proved insurmountable, for when Tryphon tried repeatedly on the west, +south, and east to invade the central uplands, he found the passes +guarded by Simon and his experienced warriors. Thus baffled, the +treacherous Tryphon vented his disappointment upon Jonathan, whom he +slew in Gilead. As the would-be usurper advanced northward, where he +ultimately met the fate which he richly deserved, Simon and his followers +bore the body of Jonathan back to Modein, and there they reared over it +the fourth of those tombs which testified to the warlike spirit and +devotion of the sons of Mattathias. + +II. Character and Policy of Simon. Simon, who was at this crisis called +to the leadership of the Jewish race, had been famed from the first for +his moderation and wise counsel. In many campaigns he had also shown the +military skill and courage that had characterized his younger brothers. In +him the noble spirit of Judas lived again. He was devoted to the law, +intent upon building up the state, and at the same time was deeply and +genuinely interested in all members of his race, whether in Judea or in +distant nations. Like David and Josiah, he was a true father of his people +and set an example which unfortunately his descendants failed to follow. +He still recognized the authority of Demetrius II, but the Syrian kingdom +was so weak that Simon succeeded in securing a definite promise of the +remission of all taxes, and ruled practically as an independent sovereign. +To strengthen his position he sent an embassy laden with rich gifts to +Rome. During a later crisis in his rule its prestige proved of great +value, but Simon in following the example of his brothers gave to Rome +that claim upon Judea that was destined within less than a century to put +an end to Jewish independence. In still further consolidating and +developing the resources of his people and in preparing for future +expansion, Simon laid the foundations for the later Jewish kingdom. His +policy also brought to Palestine that peace and prosperity which made his +rule one of the few bright spots in Israel's troubled history. + +III. His Conquests. The chief conquest of Simon was the capture of +Gazara, the ancient Gezer. This lay on the western side of the plain of +Ajalon. It guarded the approaches to Judea from the west, and above all +the highway that ran from Joppa and along which passed the commerce of the +Mediterranean. After a stubborn resistance he captured the town, deported +part of its heathen population, and settled Jewish colonists in their +place. Joppa also was under Simon's control. Thus he also prepared the +way for that commercial expansion which was necessary if the Jewish state +was to survive in the midst of its many powerful foes. Early in his reign +Simon laid siege to the Syrian garrison in Jerusalem, and finally, amidst +the rejoicing of the people, captured this stronghold and delivered Judea +from the presence of the hated foreigners. The temple area was also +fortified. Simon's victories, and especially his conquest of the Greek +cities on the plain, aroused the Syrian king, Antiochus Sidetes, the son +of Demetrius I, to demand heavy indemnity. When Simon refused to pay the +tribute a Syrian army was sent to enforce the claim, but were defeated by +a Jewish force under John Hyrcanus. This victory left Simon during the +remainder of his reign practically independent of outside authority. + +IV. Simon's Authority. Simon, with commendable moderation, refrained +from attempting to secure for himself the title of king. He did, however, +issue coins in his own name, although that right was ordinarily the +prerogative only of kings. Upon him was conferred by the grateful people +the authority that had first been given Jonathan by the shameless +Alexander Balas. In return for Simon's many services and as a tribute +to the achievements of his family he was proclaimed by the Jews not only +civil governor and military leader, but also high priest. He thus became +their rightful leader both in peace and war, and the representative of the +nation in the sacred services of the temple. In all but name he was king, +and Jewish history would have doubtless flowed in calmer channels had his +descendants been contented with these substantial honors. + +V. Completion of the Psalter. The reign of Simon probably witnessed the +completion of the Psalter. Many of the psalms, especially those in the +latter half of the book, bear the unmistakable marks of the Maccabean +struggle. In Psalms 74 and 89, for example, there are clear references to +the desecration of the temple and the bitter persecutions of Antiochus. +They voice the wails of despair which then rose from the lips of many +Jews. Many other psalms, as, for example, the one hundred and eighteenth, +express that intense love and devotion to the law which was from this time +on in many ways the most prominent characteristic of Judaism. The +prevailingly prominent liturgical element that characterizes the +concluding psalms of the Psalter suggest their original adaptation to the +song services of the temple. Under the reign of Simon the temple choir was +probably extended and greater prominence given to this form of the +temple service. The peace and prosperity in the days of Simon gave the +opportunity and the incentive to put in final form the earlier collections +of psalms and probably to add the introduction found in Psalms 1-2 and the +concluding doxology in Psalm 150. The Psalter appears to have been the +last to be completed of all the Old Testament books, so that probably +before the close of Simon's reign all of the present Old Testament +books were written. Discussions regarding the value of such books as +Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Esther continued until nearly the +close of the first Christian century, when at last the canon of the Old +Testament was completed. + +VI. The Religious Life Reflected in the Later Psalms. The prevailing +note in the psalms found in the latter part of the Psalter is joyous. A +deep sense of gratitude to Jehovah for deliverance pervades them. The Jews +felt that Jehovah had indeed delivered them "as a bird from the snare of +the fowler" (Psalm 124). In the near background were the dark days of +persecution. Hostile foes still encircled Israel, but trust in Jehovah's +power and willingness to deliver triumphed over all fear. + +Oh, give thanks to Jehovah for he is good, +For his mercy endureth forever. +He hath delivered us from our enemies; +Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven, +For his mercy endureth forever, + +was the oft-repeated refrain that was sung in the temple service by the +warriors when they returned victorious from battle and by the people as +they went about their tasks. The sense of constant danger and of great +achievement bound together the Jews of this period as perhaps never +before since the days of the exile. The same experiences developed a +powerful religious consciousness. Jehovah had repeatedly and signally +demonstrated that he was in their midst. Without his strong hand they +were helpless against their foes. The apostates had been expelled, and +the classes that remained were bound closely together by their desire to +preserve their hard-won liberties, by their devotion to the temple and its +services and by a profound respect for the authority of their scriptures. +The voice of the living prophet was silent. The priests had ceased to +teach and were simply ministers at the altar, and in the turmoil of the +Maccabean struggle the teaching of the wise had practically come to an +end. Instead the Jews became in every sense the people of the book. It +was at this time and as a result of the forces at work in this age that +the scribes attained their place as the chief teachers of the people. It +was natural that they who copied, edited, and above all interpreted the +revered Law and the Prophets should have the ear of the masses and +should be regarded more and more as the authorized teachers of the +Jewish race. Judaism had at last attained its maturity. + + + +Section CXIII. THE RULE OF JOHN HYRCANUS AND ARISTOBULUS + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 16:11-17] +Now Ptolemy the son of Abubus had been appointed commander over the plain +of Jericho. He possessed much silver and gold, for he was the high +priest's son-in-law. Then he grew ambitious and determined to make himself +master of the country. So he formed treacherous plots against Simon and +his sons, to make away with them. Now Simon was visiting the cities that +were in the country and providing for their good management. And he went +down to Jericho with Mattathias and Judas his sons, in the one hundred and +seventy-seventh year, in the eleventh month, that is the month Sebat. Then +the son of Abubus received them treacherously in a little stronghold that +is called Dok, which he had built, and made them a great banquet, and his +men were there. And when Simon and his sons were drunk, Ptolemy and his +men rose up and took their weapons, and rushing in upon Simon in the +banquet hall, they slew him and his two sons, and some of his servants. +Thus he committed a great act of treachery and paid back evil for good. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 16:18-22] +Then Ptolemy wrote what had happened, and asked the king to send forces to +aid him, and promised to hand over to him their country and the cities. +And he sent others to Gazara to make away with John. And to the officers +commanding thousands he sent letters to come to him, that he might give +them silver and gold and gifts. And others he sent to take possession of +Jerusalem and the temple-mount. But some ran before to Gazara and told +John that his father and brothers had perished, and they said, He has sent +to slay you too. And when he heard, he was dumb with amazement, but he +seized the men who came to destroy him, and slew them, for he saw that +they were seeking to destroy him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:3c-4b] +Now when Hyrcanus had received the high priesthood which his father had +held before him and had offered sacrifice to God, he made haste to attack +Ptolemy, that he might relieve his mother and brothers. So he laid siege +to the fortress and was superior to Ptolemy in other respects; but he was +defeated through his natural affection. For when Ptolemy was distressed, +he brought Hyrcanus's mother and his brothers and set them upon the wall +and beat them with rods in the sight of all and threatened that unless +Hyrcanus went away immediately, he would throw them down headlong. At this +sight Hyrcanus's pity and concern overcame his anger. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:4d] +And since the siege was delayed in this way, the year of rest came on, +during which the Jews rest every seventh year as they do on every seventh +day. In this year, therefore, Ptolemy was freed from being besieged. He +also slew the brothers of Hyrcanus with their mother, and fled to Zeno, +who was the tyrant of Philadelphia. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:5] +And now Antiochus [Sidetes] was so angry at what he had suffered from +Simon that he made an expedition into Judea and laid siege to Jerusalem +and shut up Hyrcanus. But Hyrcanus opened the tomb of David, who was the +richest of all kings, took from there more than three thousand talents of +money and induced Antiochus upon the promise of three thousand talents to +raise the siege. Moreover he was the first of the Jews who had plenty of +money, and so began to hire foreign mercenaries. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:6] +At another time, when Antiochus had gone upon an expedition against the +Medes and thus given Hyrcanus an opportunity to be revenged upon him, +Hyrcanus made an attack upon the cities of Syria, thinking, as proved to +be the case, that he would find them empty of good troops. So he took +Medeba and Samaga with their surrounding towns; likewise Shechem and Mount +Gerizim. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 9:1d, e] +Hyrcanus also took Dora and Marissa, cities of Idumea, and subdued all the +Idumeans. He permitted them to stay in their country, if they would +undergo circumcision and conform to the Jewish laws. They were so desirous +of living in the country of their fathers that they submitted to +circumcision and the other Jewish ways of living. From this time on, +therefore, they were none other than Jews. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:7a-b] +Hyrcanus also proceeded as far as Samaria and invested it on all sides +with a wall, and placed his sons, Aristobulus and Antigonus in charge of +the siege. They pushed it with such vigor that a famine prevailed within +the city, so that the inhabitants were forced to eat what was never before +regarded as food. They also invited Antiochus to come to their assistance +and he readily responded to their invitation, but he was beaten by +Aristobulus and Antigonus, and he was pursued as far as Scythopolis by +these brothers and fled away from them. So they returned to Samaria and +shut up the multitude within the wall again, and when they had taken the +city, they tore it down and made slaves of its inhabitants. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:5] +However the prosperity of Hyrcanus caused the Jews to envy him; and they +who were worst disposed to him were the Pharisees. Now Hyrcanus was one of +their disciples and had been greatly beloved by them. But once when he +invited them to a feast and entertained them kindly and saw them in a good +humor, he began to say to them that they knew that he desired to be a +righteous man and do all things by which he might please God and them, for +the Pharisees are philosophers. However, he desired, if they observed him +offending in any respect or departing from the right way, that they would +call him back and correct him. When they testified that he was entirely +virtuous he was well pleased with their approval. But one of his guests, +Eleazar by name, was a man malignant by nature, who delighted in +dissension. This man said: "Since you wish to know the truth, if you +really desire to do what is right, lay down the high priesthood and +content yourself with the civil government of the people." And when +Hyrcanus desired to know for what cause he ought to lay down the high +priesthood, the other replied: "We have heard from old men that your +mother was a captive in the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes." This story was +false, and Hyrcanus was provoked against him. All the Pharisees likewise +were very indignant with him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:6a-c] +Now there was a certain Jonathan, a great friend of Hyrcanus, but of the +sect of the Sadducees, whose ideas are the opposite of those of the +Pharisees. He told Hyrcanus that Eleazar had cast that slur upon him +according to the common opinion of all the Pharisees and that this would +be made clear if he would ask them the question, What punishment they +thought this man deserved? For in this way he might be sure that the slur +was not laid on him with their approval, if they advised punishing him as +the crime deserved. Therefore when Hyrcanus asked this question, the +Pharisees answered that the man deserved stripes and imprisonment, but it +did not seem right to punish a slur with death. And indeed the Pharisees +ordinarily are not apt to be severe in punishment. At this mild sentence +Hyrcanus was very angry and thought that this man reproved him with their +approval. It was this Jonathan who influenced him so far that he made him +join the Sadducees and leave the party of the Pharisees and abolish the +decrees that they had thus imposed on the people and punish those who +obeyed them. This was the source of the hatred with which he and his sons +were regarded by the multitude. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:7] +But when Hyrcanus had put an end to this sedition, he afterward lived +happily and administered the government in the best manner for thirty-one +years and then died, leaving behind him five sons. He was esteemed by God +worthy of the three highest honors, the rulership of his nation, the high +priesthood, and prophecy, for God was with him and enabled him to predict +the future. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 11:1a-c, 8a] +Now when Hyrcanus was dead, his eldest son Aristobulus, intent upon +changing the government into a monarchy, was the first to put a diadem on +his head. This Aristobulus loved his next brother Antigonus and treated +him as an equal, but the others he kept in bonds. He also cast his mother +into prison because she disputed the government with him, for Hyrcanus had +left her in control of everything. He also proceeded to that degree of +barbarity that he killed her in prison with hunger. Moreover he was +estranged from his brother Antigonus by false charges and also slew him, +although he seemed to have a great affection for him and had shared the +kingdom with him. But Aristobulus immediately repented of the slaughter of +his brother; on which account his disease grew upon him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 11:3e] +Then Aristobulus died, after having reigned a year. He was called a lover +of the Greeks and conferred many benefits on his country. He also made a +war against Iturea [Galilee], and added a great part of it to Judea and +compelled the inhabitants, if they wished to remain in that country, to be +circumcised and to live according to the Jewish laws. + +I. Murder of Simon. Even his moderation and kindly rule did not deliver +Simon from the violent death that overtook all the sons of Mattathias. + +His murderer was his son-in-law, a certain Ptolemy, who was governor of +the Jordan Valley, the resources of which had been developed under Simon. +Ptolemy trusted to the support of the Syrian court, but he failed to +reckon with two things: (1) the loyalty of the people to their Maccabean +leaders; and (2) the ability of Simon's son, John Hyrcanus. Instead of +falling a victim to Ptolemy's plot, John at once went to Jerusalem where +he was made the high priest and governor by the people. Ptolemy, who was +besieged in the castle of Dok, saved his miserable life only by shameless +perfidy. + +II. The Syrian Invasion. Antiochus Sidetes proved the ablest Syrian king +of this period. Although his first attack had been repelled by Simon, +he again attempted, on the accession of Hyrcanus, to reestablish +his authority in Palestine. Josephus, in his account, obscures this +humiliating chapter in Jewish history. The statement that Hyrcanus took +from the tomb of David vast wealth and thus purchased immunity from Syrian +attack has all the characteristics of an Oriental tale. Instead, Antiochus +Sidetes not only besieged but captured Jerusalem, and doubtless compelled +the Jews to pay heavy tribute. Preferring, however, to retain their +loyalty rather than to crush them, he left John Hyrcanus in control of +Judea, and Jerusalem escaped destruction. In the disastrous campaign +against the Parthians in which Antiochus lost his life John Hyrcanus +accompanied him with a following of Jewish soldiers. The death of +Antiochus Sidetes in 129 B.C. at last left the Jews free to develop their +kingdom without further fear of Syrian interference. This event marks for +the Jews the attainment of absolute political freedom--a privilege which +they continued to enjoy for a little over half a century. + +III. John's Military Policy and Conquests. John possessed the +characteristic ambitions and energy of his family. In his policy he also +seems to have been strongly influenced by the achievements of Israel's +early conquering king, David. His aim was to build up a small empire, +and by crushing the ancient foes of Israel to secure immunity from +further attack. In employing foreign mercenaries he also followed the +example of King David. Doubtless he was influenced in doing so by his +experiences in the Parthian campaign. This policy, however, was far +removed from the spirit of the early Maccabean leaders who had unsheathed +the sword in behalf of their principles. John's first campaign was +against the cities to the east of the Jordan, and resulted in the conquest +of the towns of Medeba and Samaga and the territory subject to them. The +conquest of Shechem and southern Samaria was undoubtedly prompted both by +hereditary hatred toward the Samaritans and by the desire to provide an +outlet for the growing Jewish population. After standing for two +centuries, the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed by the +Jews. This sacrilegious act naturally intensified that hatred between Jew +and Samaritan which burned so fiercely during the early part of the first +Christian century. Marissa and Dora, the chief cities of the Idumeans, +were next conquered. With strange inconsistency, John Hyrcanus, whose +ancestors had first taken up the sword in defence of religious liberty, +compelled the descendants of their old foes, the Edomites, to give up +their national religion or else go into exile. This policy was fraught +with far-reaching consequences, for among those appointed to rule over the +conquered Edomites was Antipater, the ancestor of Herod, who was destined +to rule the Jews and to initiate that long series of disasters that +culminated in the destruction of the Jewish state. Last of all, John +Hyrcanus advanced to the conquest of the Greek city of Samaria. Because of +its natural strength and formidable defences a year was required for the +siege, and it was ultimately captured only through famine. The sons of +John Hyrcanus succeeded in holding at bay the Syrian armies that were sent +to relieve the besieged. The conquered inhabitants were sold as slaves, +and the city was left for a time in complete ruins. The conquest of +Scythopolis, the ancient Bethshean, extended the bounds of John's kingdom +to the southern hills of Galilee. Thus he became master of a small empire +extending out toward the desert on the east, to the South Country on the +south, touching the sea at Joppa, and including the entire territory of +ancient Samaria on the north. While not as large as the kingdom of David, +it was a more perfect political unit, and offered superior opportunities +for commerce and internal development. + +IV. The Break with the Pharisees. The successes of John Hyrcanus +blinded the majority of the nation to the real issues at stake. But a +powerful group, which during the Maccabean period appeared for the first +time under the name of Pharisees, began to withdraw their allegiance and +silently, at least, to protest against a high priest whose chief ambition +was conquest. The story which Josephus tells to explain the defection +of the Pharisees may be simply a popular tradition, but it is indicative +of that division within Judaism which ultimately wrecked the Maccabean +state. From the days of John Hyrcanus, the Maccabean rulers, with only one +exception, were compelled to meet the silent but strong opposition of the +Pharisees. As a result they turned to the rising party of the Sadducees +which henceforth identified itself with the interests of the reigning +family. Thus in the year of its greatest triumph the Jewish state became a +house divided against itself. Estranged from the better-minded religious +leaders of the nation, John Hyrcanus and his successors followed an +increasingly secular, selfish policy until they completely forgot the +noble ideals for which their fathers had striven. + +V. The Reign of Aristobulus. The accession of Aristobulus marks a +triumph of that Hellenism against which Judas and Simon had unsheathed +the sword. Like many an Oriental monarch, he established his position on +the throne by the murder of all members of his family who might contest +his power. His inhuman cruelty to his mother and the suspicions which led +him to murder his brother reveal a barbarous spirit that can only be +explained as a result of the wrong ambitions that had already taken +possession of Israel's rulers. Aristobulus's brief reign of one year is +marked by two significant acts. The first is the assumption of the title +of king. On his own initiative, and apparently without the consent of the +people, he placed the diadem upon his head. The other important act was +the conquest of part of the territory of Iturea, which was known in later +times as Galilee. He found it occupied by a mixed Syrian and Greek +population in which were probably a few descendants of the ancient +Israelites. Following the policy of his family, he doubtless at once +inaugurated a system of colonization which carried to Galilee a strong +Jewish population. Henceforth, by virtue of race, language, and religion, +Galilee was closely bound to Judea. + + + +Section CXIV. THE PHARISEES, SADDUCEES, AND ESSENES + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:2, 3a-c] +The Jews have three sects of philosophy: the Essenes, the Sadducees, and +those called Pharisees. The Pharisees do not yield to luxury but despise +that kind of life; and they follow the guidance of reason, and what that +prescribes to them as good, they do. They also pay respect to those +advanced in years nor are they so bold as to contradict them in anything +which they have introduced. While they believe that all things are done by +predestination, they do not take away from a man the choice of acting as +he deems proper, for they believe that it is God's will that an event be +decided for good or evil both by the divine counsel and by the man who is +willing to accede to it. They also believe that souls possess immortal +power and that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments +according as men have lived virtuously or viciously in this life, and that +the vicious are to be detained in an everlasting prison and that the +virtuous shall have the power to live again. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:3d] +On account of this doctrine they have great influence with the people, and +whatsoever they do in connection with the divine worship, prayers and +sacrifices, they perform in accordance with the direction of the Pharisees. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:4a, Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:14c] +But the doctrine of the Sadducees is that souls die with the bodies, nor +do they give heed to anything beyond these things which the law enjoins. +They deny predestination entirely and assert that God exercises no +oversight over any evil doing and they say that good or evil lies before +man to choose, and, according to each man's inclination, he chooses the +one or the other. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:4b] +They also think it virtuous to dispute with those teachers of philosophy +which they follow. This doctrine, however, is accepted by only a few, but +these are of the highest rank, They are able to accomplish almost nothing +by themselves; for when they come to power, unwillingly but perforce, they +accede to the Pharisaic doctrine, for otherwise they would not be +tolerated by the multitude. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:5a, b] +The doctrine of the Essenes is that all things are best left to God. They +teach the immortality of souls and think that the rewards of righteousness +are to be earnestly striven for; and when they send what they have +dedicated to God to the temple, they offer their sacrifices in accordance +with the special law of purity which they observe. On this account they +are excluded from the common court of the temple but themselves offer +their sacrifices. Yet their course of life is far better than that of +other men and they devote themselves wholly to agriculture. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:2, 13a] +The Essenes seem to have a greater affection for each other than do the +other sects. They reject pleasure as an evil, but regard self-restraint +and the conquest of passions as a virtue. They despise marriage and choose +out other people's children, while they are impressionable and teachable, +and they regard them as their own kindred, and conform them to their own +customs. They do not absolutely repudiate marriage. There is also another +order of Essenes, who agree with the rest in regard to their way of +living, customs and laws, but differ from them in regard to marriage, for +they think that by not marrying they will cut off the most important +element in human life, which is the succession of mankind. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:3, 4] +These men are despisers of riches and are wonderfully communistic among +themselves. No one is to be found among them who has more than the others, +for it is a law among them that those who join their sect must share with +them what they have, so that among them all there is no evidence of +poverty or excess of riches, but everyone's possessions are shared in +common, so there is, as it were, but one property among all the brothers. +They also have directors appointed by vote to manage their common affairs. +These have no other interest, but each devotes himself to the needs of +all. They possess no one city, but many of them dwell in every city, and +if any of their sect come from other places, what they have lies open for +them, just as if it were their own. They do not change garments or sandals +until they first are entirely torn to pieces or worn out by time. Nor do +they either buy or sell anything to each other, but every one of them +gives to him who wants it and receives from him again in return for it +what he wants; and even though no return is made, they are free to take +what they want from whom they wish. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:5] +And their piety toward God is very extraordinary; for before sunrise they +speak not a word about profane matters, but offer up certain inherited +prayers as if they made a supplication to it for its rising. After this +everyone is sent away by their directors to engage in some of those arts +in which they are skilled, and at which they labor with great diligence +until the fifth hour; after which they assemble again in one place. And +when they have clad themselves in linen coverings, they bathe their bodies +in cold water. After this purification is over they meet together in an +apartment of their own in which none of another sect is permitted to +enter. Then they go ceremonially pure into the dining room, as if into a +temple. And when they have quietly sat down, the baker lays loaves in +order for them, and a cook also brings a single plate of one kind of food +and sets it before each of them. And a priest offers a prayer before +eating. It is unlawful for any one to taste the food before the prayer. +When he has dined he offers prayer again. When they begin and when they +end they praise God as the giver of the necessities of life. After this +they lay aside their garments as though they were sacred, and devote +themselves to their labor again until evening. Then they return home to +dine in the same manner and if any strangers be there they sit down with +them. There is never any clamor or disturbance to pollute their household, +but they give everyone permission to speak in turn. The silence of the +inmates appears to outsiders like some awful mystery. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:6] +They do nothing except in accordance with the injunctions of their +directors. Only these two things are done among them as each wishes, +namely, they assist the needy and show mercy; but they cannot assist their +kindred without the permission of their directors. They dispense their +anger justly and restrain their passion. They are eminent for fidelity and +are the advocates of peace. Also whatever they say is mightier than an +oath, but swearing is avoided by them, and they regard it worse than +perjury, for they say that he who cannot be believed without swearing by +God is already condemned. They also devote great attention to the study of +the works of the ancients and select from them those things that are +profitable for soul and body. Also they seek out such roots as may be +effective for the cure of their diseases and inquire into the properties +of stones. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:7] +To one who desires to enter their sect, admission is not immediately +granted; but he is prescribed the same method of living as they use for a +year during which he is still excluded, and they give him a small hatchet, +and girdle and the white garment. And when during that time he has given +evidence of self-control, he approaches nearer to their way of living and +is allowed to share the waters of purification. However, he is not even +now allowed to live with them, for after this demonstration of his +fortitude, his character is tried two years more, and if he appears to be +worthy, they then admit him into the society. But before he is allowed to +touch their common food, he is obliged to swear to them awful oaths that +in the first place he will show piety toward God and then that he will +observe justice toward men, and that he will do no harm to any one either +voluntarily or at the command of others, and that he will always hate the +wicked, and help the righteous, and that he will show fidelity to all men +and especially to those in authority, that he will be a lover of truth and +denounce those who tell lies, and that he will keep his hands clean from +theft, and his soul from unlawful gain. Moreover he swears to communicate +their doctrines to no one otherwise than he received them himself, and +that he will abstain from robbery, and that he will faithfully preserve +the books of their sect and the names of the angels. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:8a, 9a-c] +Those who are caught in any heinous sins they cast out of their society; +and he who is thus expelled often dies miserably. And in the judgments +they pronounce they are most exacting and just, nor do they pass sentence +by the votes of a court having less than one hundred members, and what is +determined by them is unalterable. What they most of all honor, after God +himself, is the name of their legislator [Moses], whom, if any one +blasphemes, he is punished by death. They also think it a good thing to +obey their elders and the majority. They are stricter than any others of +the Jews in resting from their labors on the seventh day, for they not +only prepare their food the day before, that they may not be obliged to +kindle a fire on that day, but they will not venture to move any vessel +out of its place. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:10b, c, 11b] +They are also long-lived, insomuch that most of them live over a hundred +years because of the simplicity of their diet and as a result of their +regular course of life. They despise the miseries of life and are above +pain because of their noble thoughts. And as for death, if it come with +glory, they regard it as better than immortality. They think also, like +the Greeks, that the good have their habitation beyond the ocean in a +region that is never oppressed by storms of rain or of snow, or with heat, +and that this place is refreshed by the gentle breath of the west wind +that is continually blowing from the ocean; while they allot to the bad a +dark and cold den which is never free from unceasing punishment. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:12] +There are also those among them who undertake to foretell things to +come by reading the holy books, by using several different forms of +purifications and by being constantly familiar with discourses of the +prophets; and it is only seldom that they fail in their predictions. + +I. Influences that Gave Rise to the Jewish Parties. The Maccabean period +witnessed the birth of the great parties that henceforth distinguished +Judaism. They represented the crystallizing of the different currents of +thought that were traceable in the Greek period and even earlier. These +diverse points of view were in part the result of that democratic spirit +which has always characterized Israel's life. In the striking antithesis +between the idealists and the legalists and the practical men of affairs +it is also possible to detect the potent influence which the prophets had +exerted upon the thought of their nation. In the Greek period the +Chronicler and certain of the psalmists, with their intense devotion to +the temple and its services to the practical exclusion of all other +interests, were the forerunners of the later Pharisees. Ben Sira, with his +hearty appreciation of the good things of life, with his devotion to the +scriptures of his race, with his evident failure to accept the new +doctrine of individual immortality, and with his great admiration for the +high priests, was an earlier type of the better class of Sadducees. The +persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes developed these parties. As has +already been noted, the Hasideans who followed Judas in the struggle to +restore the law and the temple service were the immediate predecessors +of the early Pharisees. The word "Pharisees" means separatists, and is +used first in the days of Jonathan (Jos. _Ant_. III 5:9) In the same +connection Josephus refers to the Sadducees. The name of this second party +is probably derived, not from the Hebrew word sadik, meaning righteous, +but from Zadok (later written Sadok or Sadduk), who was placed by +Solomon in charge of the Jerusalem temple. It was thus the designation +of the aristocratic, high-priestly party. In the Persian and Greek +periods the high priests had ruled the Judean state without opposition. +It was the rise of the party of the Pharisees that apparently developed +that of the Sadducees. This party included the hereditary nobles who +supported and sympathized with the Maccabean leaders. The Essenes +evidently represent a reaction against the prevailing moral corruption. +In many respects they were simply extreme Pharisees. They were zealots in +religion, just as the later party of the Zealots were extremists in their +hatred of Rome and in the methods which they were ready to use in order to +attain their ends. + +II. Character and Beliefs of the Pharisees. Originally the Pharisees +were not a political but a religious party. The opposition of the +Sadducees in time led them to enter public life. In politics they were +conservatives. They had little sympathy with the popular ambition for +political independence, and probably regarded with alarm the tendency +toward national expansion. Alliances with the heathen nations seemed +to them disloyalty to Jehovah. In belief they were progressives. While +they stood squarely on the ancient law, they recognized the importance +of interpreting it so as to meet the many questions that rose in public +and private life. To this great and practically endless task much of +their time was devoted. They thus recognized the fact that Israel's law +was still in process of development. To their later interpretations of +the law they attributed great authority. One of their maxims was: "It +is a worse offence to teach things contrary to the ordinances of the +scribes than to teach things contrary to the written law." Naturally their +attempt to anticipate by definite regulations each individual problem led +them to absurd extremes and in time obscured the real intent of the older +laws, but the spirit which actuated it was progressive. They also did not +hesitate to accept the growing popular belief in angels and spirits. Like +the earlier prophets, they recognized the presence of Jehovah directing +the life of the nation and of the individual. They accepted the new-born +belief in the immortality of the individual, clinging, however, to the +hope of a bodily resurrection. They also held to the popular messianic +hopes which became more and more prominent during the Maccabean and Roman +periods. + +The Pharisees were the most democratic party in Judaism. While +for their own members they insisted upon a most rigorous ceremonial +regime, they allowed the common people to ally themselves with them +as associates. In their acceptance of the popular hopes and in their +endeavor to adapt Israel's law to the life of the nation and thus +establish a basis for the realization of Israel's hopes they appealed to +the masses and exerted over them a powerful influence. Josephus asserts +that so great was the influence of the Pharisees with the people that the +Sadducees, in order to carry through their policies, were obliged, +nominally, at least, to adopt the platform of their rivals. The Pharisees +were also zealous in teaching the people and thus kept in close touch with +the masses. They, therefore, stood as the true representatives of Judaism. +Their principles have survived and are still the foundations of orthodox +Judaism. + + +III. Character and Beliefs of the Sadducees. The Sadducees were few in +numbers compared with the Pharisees. They represented, on the one side, +the old priestly aristocracy, and on the other the new nobility that +rallied about the Maccabean leaders. They depended for their authority +upon their wealth, their inherited prestige, and the support of the +throne. They were in reality a political rather than a religious party. +In politics they were progressives and opportunists. Any policy that +promised to further their individual or class interests was acceptable to +them. As is usually the case with parties that represent wealth and +hereditary power, they were conservatives in belief. They stood squarely +on the earlier scriptures of their race and had no sympathy with the later +Pharisaic interpretations and doctrines. Whether or not, as Josephus +asserts, they entirely rejected fate, that is, the providential direction +of human affairs, is not clear. Probably in this belief they did not +depart from the earlier teachings of priests and prophets. Their selfish +and often unscrupulous acts suggest a basis for Josephus's claim, even +though allowance must be made for his hostile attitude toward them. While +they were conservatives in theory, the Sadducees were of all classes in +Judaism most open to Greek and heathen influence, for foreign alliances +and Hellenic culture offered opportunities for advancement and power. + +IV. Character and Beliefs of the Essenes. Less important but even more +interesting are the Essenes. They were a sect, or monastic order, rather +than a political or religious party. Josephus, who asserts that for a time +he was associated with them, has given a full account of their peculiar +customs. They evidently represented a strong reaction against the +prevailing corruption and a return to the simple life. Their spirit of +humility, fraternity, and practical charity are in marked contrast to the +aims of the Sadducees and the later Maccabean rulers. In their beliefs +they were idealists. Their invocation of the sun, their extreme emphasis +on ceremonial cleanliness, their tendency toward celibacy, and their +distinction between soul and body, all suggest the indirect if not the +direct influence of the Pythagorean type of philosophy. If the Essenes +represented simply an extreme type of Pharisaism, the peculiar form of its +development was undoubtedly due to the Greek atmosphere amidst which it +flourished. The Essenes do not appear to have had any direct influence in +the politics of their day. They were a current apart from the main stream +of Judaism, and yet they could not fail to exert an indirect influence. +Many of their ideals and doctrines were closely similar to the teachings +of John the Baptist and Jesus. Yet there is a fundamental difference +between Essenism and primitive Christianity, for one sought to attain +perfection apart from life and the other in closest contact with the +currents of human thought and activity. While according to Josephus the +party of the Essenes at one time numbered four thousand, like all ascetic +movements it soon disappeared or else was deflected into that greater +stream of monasticism which rose in the early Christian centuries. + + + +Section CXV. THE LIFE AND FAITH OF THE JEWS OF THE DISPERSION + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:1a] +The Jews obtained honor from the kings of Asia when they became their +auxiliaries; for Seleucus Nicator made them citizens of those cities which +he built in Asia and in lower Syria, and in Antioch, the metropolis, and +gave them privileges equal to those of the Macedonians and the Greeks who +were its inhabitants. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, VII, 3:3a] +For the Jewish race is widely dispersed among the inhabitants of all the +world; and especially was it intermingled with the population of Syria, +because of the nearness of that country. Above all, in Antioch, because of +the size of the city, it had great numbers. There the kings who followed +Antiochus gave the Jews a place where they might live in the most +undisturbed security; for although Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, +laid waste Jerusalem and plundered the temple, the kings who succeeded him +restored all the gifts of brass that had been made to the Jews of Antioch, +and dedicated them to their synagogue. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, VII, 3:3b] +The succeeding kings also treated them in the same way, so that they +became very numerous, and adorned their temple with ornaments and at +great expense with those things which had been given them. They also +continued to attract a great many of the Greeks to their services, making +them in a sense part of themselves. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, VII, 10:2d-3e] +Now Onias, the son of Simon, one of the Jewish high priests, fled from +Antiochus [Epiphanes] the king of Syria, when he made war with the Jews, +and came to Alexandria. And after Ptolemy [Philometor] received him very +kindly on account of his hatred to Antiochus, Onias assured him that if he +would comply with his proposal, he would bring all the Jews to his +assistance. Now when the king agreed to do whatever he was able, Onias +desired him to give him permission to build a temple somewhere in Egypt +and to worship God according to the customs of his own nation. So Ptolemy +complied with his proposals and gave them a place about twenty miles +distant from Memphis. That province was called the province of Heliopolis. +There Onias built a fortress and a temple like that at Jerusalem except +that it resembled a tower. He built it of large stones to the height of +sixty cubits, but he made the structure of the altar an imitation of that +in his own country. In like manner also he adorned it with gifts, +excepting that he did not make a candlestick but had a single lamp +hammered out of a beaten piece of gold, which illuminated the place with +its rays, and which he hung by a chain of gold. The entire temple was +surrounded by a wall of burnt brick, although it had a gateway of stone. +The king also gave him a large territory for a revenue in money, that both +the priests might have plentiful provision for themselves, and that God +might have abundance of those things which were necessary for his worship. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:4] +Now in the days of John Hyrcanus, not only did the Jews in Jerusalem and +Judea enjoy prosperity but also those who were at Alexandria in Egypt and +Cyprus. For Cleopatra the queen was at variance with her son Ptolemy, who +is called Lathyrus, and appointed as her generals Chelcias and Ananias, +the son of that Onias who built the temple in the province of Heliopolis +similar to that of Jerusalem. Cleopatra intrusted these men with her army +and did nothing without their advice. Strabo of Cappadocia also attests +that only those who were called Onias's party, being Jews, continued +faithful to Cleopatra because their countrymen, Chelcias and Ananias, were +in highest favor with the queen. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 6:12-16] +Wisdom is brilliant and fades not away, +And she is easily seen by those who love her, +And found by those who seek her. +She anticipates those who desire her, making herself first known. +He who eagerly seeks her shall have no toil, +For he shall find her sitting at his gates. +For thinking upon her brings perfect wisdom, +And he who lies awake for her sake shall quickly be free from care. +For she herself goes about seeking those who are worthy of her, +And in their paths she graciously appears to them, +And in every purpose she meets them. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 7:25-8:1, 7] +For she is breath of the power of God, +And a clear effluence of the glory of the Almighty; +Therefore nothing defiled can find entrance into her. +For she is a reflection of everlasting light, +And a spotless mirror of the working of God, +And an image of his goodness. +And though she is but one, she has power to do all things; +And remaining the same renews all things, +And from generation to generation passing into holy souls, +She makes them friends of God and prophets. +For God loves nothing except him who dwells with wisdom. +For she is fairer than the sun, +And surpasses all the order of the stars; +Compared with light, she is found to be superior to it. +For night succeeds the light of day, +But evil does not prevail against wisdom. +But she reaches from one end of the world to the other, +And she directs all things graciously. +The fruits of her labors are virtues; +For she teaches moderation and good sense, +Justice and fortitude, +And nothing in life is more profitable for men than these. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 1:1-8] +Love righteousness, O rulers of the earth, +Think of the Lord with sincerity, +And seek him in singleness of heart. +For he is found by those who do not tempt him, +And manifests himself to those who do not distrust him. +For perverse thoughts separate from God, +And his power, when it is tried, convicts the foolish; +For wisdom will not enter into a soul that devises evil, +Nor dwell in a body that is pledged to sin. +For a holy spirit which disciplines will flee deceit, +And will start away from senseless thoughts, +And will be frightened away when unrighteousness comes in. +For wisdom is a spirit that loves man, +And she will not absolve a blasphemer for his words, +Because God is a witness of his innermost feelings, +And a true overseer of his heart, +And a hearer of his tongue. +For the spirit of the Lord hath filled the world, +And that which holdeth all things together knoweth every voice. +Therefore no one who speaks unrighteous things can be hid, +Nor will justice, when it convicts, pass him by. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 1:12-15] +Do not court death by leading an erring life, +And do not by the deeds of your hands draw destruction upon yourselves. +For God did not make death, +And he hath no pleasure when the living perish; +For he created all things that they might exist, +And the created things of the world are not baneful. +And there is no destructive poison in them, +Nor has Hades dominion on earth, +For righteousness is immortal. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 2:23-3:1] +For God created man for incorruption, +And made him an image of his own peculiar nature; +But through the envy of the devil death entered into the world, +And they who belong to him experience it. +But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, +And no torment can touch them. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 5:15, 16] +But the righteous live forever, +And in the Lord is their reward, +And the care for them with the Most High. +Therefore they shall receive the glorious kingdom, +And the diadem of beauty from the Lord's hand; +Because he will cover them with his right hand, +And with his arm he will shield them. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 11:21-12:2] +For thou, O Lord, lovest all things that are, +And thou dost not abhor any of the things which thou hast made, +For thou wouldest never have formed anything that thou didst hate. +And how would anything have endured, if thou didst not wish it? +Or how could that which was not called into being by thee have been + preserved? +But thou sparest all things, because they are thine, +O Sovereign Lord, thou lover of men's lives! +For thine incorruptible spirit is in all things. +Therefore thou convictest the fallen little by little, +And, reminding them of the things in which they sin, thou dost warn them, +That freed from wickedness, they may believe on thee, O Lord. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 15:1-3] +But thou, our God, art gracious and true, +Long suffering, and in mercy directing all things. +For even if we sin, we are thine, since we know thy might. +But we shall not sin, knowing that we have been counted as thine; +For to know thee is perfect righteousness, +And to know thy might is the root of immortality. + +I. Conditions of the Jews in Antioch and Asia Minor. Seleucus Nicanor, +who in 311 B.C. founded the city of Antioch, like Alexander, granted many +privileges to the Jewish colonies whom he thus sought to attract hither. +They not only possessed the rights of citizenship, but lived in their +separate quarter. Their synagogue was one of the architectural glories of +the city. There they engaged in trade and undoubtedly grew rich, taking on +largely the complexion of that opulent Hellenic city. Later the Jewish +colony was enlarged by the apostates who fled from Judea when the +Maccabean rulers gained the ascendancy. The corrupt and materialistic +atmosphere of Antioch doubtless explains why its Jewish citizens +apparently contributed little to the development of the thought and faith +of later Judaism. Similar colonies were found throughout the great +commercial cities of Asia Minor. In many of these cities--for example, +Tarsus--they seem to have enjoyed the same privileges as those at Antioch. + +II. The Jews in Egypt. The chief intellectual and religious center of +the Jews of the dispersion, however, was in Alexandria. It is probable +that fully a million Jews were to be found in Egypt during the latter +part of the Maccabean period. Industry and commerce had made many of them +extremely wealthy and had given them the leisure to study not only their +own scriptures but also the literature of the Greeks. The prevailingly +friendly way in which the Ptolemaic rulers treated the Jews naturally led +them to take a more favorable attitude toward Greek culture. Alexandria +itself was the scene of an intense intellectual activity. Attracted by the +munificence of the Ptolemies and by the opportunities offered by its great +library, many of the most famous Greek philosophers and rhetoricians of +the age found their home in the Egyptian capital. Public lectures, open +discussions, and voluminous literature were only a few of the many forms +in which this intellectual life was expressed. Hence it was at Alexandria +that Hebrew and Greek thought met on the highest plane and mingled most +closely. + +III. The Jewish Temple at Leontopolis. After the murder of his father +Onias III near Antioch, whither he had fled from the persecutions of +Antiochus Epiphanes, Onias IV sought refuge in Egypt. Here, as the +legitimate head of the Jewish high-priesthood, he was favorably received +by Ptolemy and granted territory in the Nile Delta to the north of Memphis +in which to rear a temple to Jehovah. In the light of recent discoveries +at Elephantine it is evident that this step was not without precedent +(Section XCI:vii). Ptolemy's object was to please his Jewish subjects and +to attract others to the land of the Nile. Josephus's statement in _The +Jewish War_, VII, 10:4 favors the conclusion that the temple was built +two hundred and forty-three years (not 343) before its final destruction +in 73 A.D., that is, in 170 B.C. In any case it was probably built between +170 and 160 B.C., at the time when the persecutions of Antiochus +Epiphanes made pilgrimages to the Jerusalem temple impossible, and +threatened its continued existence. The plan of the Leontopolis temple +indicates that it was not intended to be a rival to the Jerusalem +sanctuary, but rather a common place of meeting for the Egyptian +Jews and of defence in case of attack. It never seriously rivalled the +Jerusalem sanctuary, although in later days it was viewed with jealousy +by the Jews of Palestine. + +IV. Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. Far more +significant than the building of the Leontopolis temple was the +translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. The tradition preserved +by Josephus that the translation was made in seventy-two days by +seventy-two scholars, sent from Jerusalem by Eleazar the high priest at +the request of Ptolemy, is clearly unhistorical. The impossibility of +completing so vast a task in this limited time is obvious. Moreover, the +character of the translation indicates that it was the work not of +Palestinian but of Alexandrian Jews familiar with the peculiar Greek of +Egypt and the lands of the dispersion. It was also the work not of one +but of many different groups of translators, as is shown by the variant +synonyms employed in different books to translate the same Hebrew words +and idioms. In the case of several books the work of two or more distinct +translators is readily recognized. The quality of the translation also +varies greatly in different books. It is probable that the one historical +fact underlying the tradition is that the work of translation was begun in +the days of Ptolemy Philadelphus, who may have encouraged his Jewish +subjects in their undertaking. From the character of the translations and +the nature of the situation it is probable that the first books to be +translated were certain historical writings, as Samuel-Kings and the books +of the Law. The remaining books were probably translated by the end of the +succeeding century (between 250 and 150 B.C.), for the grandson of Ben +Sira implies in his prologue that he was acquainted with the Law, the +Prophets, and the other writings in their Greek version. + +The primary aim of this Greek translation was to put the Hebrew scriptures +themselves into the hands of their Greek persecutors as the best possible +answer to their false and malicious charges. Evidence of this apologetic +purpose is found in the fact that glaring inconsistencies and expressions, +where Jehovah is described in the likeness of a human being, were usually +left out. Where the Hebrew text was corrupt the translators restored or +else freely paraphrased what they thought was the original meaning. In +time, however, the translation gained a new importance, for the Jews of +Egypt soon began to forget the language of their fathers and so became +increasingly dependent for a knowledge of their scriptures upon the Greek +translation. In the end it almost completely superseded the original +Hebrew version not only in the lands of the dispersion, but even in +Palestine itself. A large proportion of the quotations from the Old +Testament in the New are from the Greek rather than the Hebrew text. +Although it is only a translation, the Greek version, or Septuagint (the +Version of the Seventy), as it is popularly known, still possesses a great +value for the modern translator, inasmuch as it is based upon Hebrew texts +centuries older than any which now exists. At many points, especially in +the historical prophetic books it makes possible the restoration of the +original reading where the Hebrew has become corrupt in the long process +of transmission. + +V. Apologetic Jewish Writings. During the centuries immediately +preceding the Christian era the Jews of the dispersion, and especially of +Egypt, were the object of constant attack. Manetho, an Egyptian priest, +wrote a history purporting to give the origin and the early experiences of +the Jews. Portions of this have been preserved and reveal the bitter and +unjust spirit with which this race was regarded by the Greek and Egyptian +scholars of the day. To defend themselves from these attacks the Jews not +only translated their scriptures, but employed many different types of +writing. A certain Jew by the name of Demetrius about 215 B.C. wrote a +commendatory history of the Jewish kings. Aristobulus, the teacher of +Ptolemy Philometor, wrote an "Explanation of the Mosaic Laws," in which he +anticipated, in many ways, the modern interpretation of the early +traditions found in the opening books of the Old Testament. Like all +Alexandrian scholars, however, he overshot the mark under the influence of +the allegorical or symbolic type of interpretation. Other Jewish +writers appealed to the older Greek historians and poets. Adopting the +unprincipled methods of their persecutors, they expanded the original +writings of such historians as Hecataeus, who had spoken in a commendatory +way of the Jews. They even went so far as to insert long passages into the +writings of the famous Greek poets, such as Orpheus, Hesiod, Aeschylus, +Sophocles, and Menander, so as to transform them into ardent champions of +the persecuted race. The culmination of this illegitimate form of defence +was to insert in the famous Sibylline Books (III) a long passage +describing the glories of the Jewish race and voicing the hopes with which +they regarded the future. It was in this atmosphere and under the +influence of these methods that the anti-Semitic spirit was born in +ancient Alexandria. Thence it was transmitted, as a malign heritage, to +the Christian church. + +VI. The Wisdom of Solomon. The noblest literary product of the Jews of +the dispersion was the apocryphal book known as the Wisdom of Solomon. It +was so called because the author assumed the point of view of Solomon. In +so doing he did not intend to deceive his contemporaries, but rather +followed the common tendency of his day. Although the book has many +characteristic Hebrew idioms, which are due to its Jewish authorship, it +was without doubt originally written in Greek. Its author was evidently +acquainted with the writings of many of the Greek poets and philosophers. +He accepted Plato's doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul (8:19, 20), +of the limitations of the body (9:15), and of the creation of the world +out of formless matter (11:17). He was especially influenced by the +beliefs of the Epicureans and Stoics. He was acquainted with Hellenic art, +astronomy, and science (7:17-29) and throughout shows the influence of +Greek methods of thinking. His rejection of the teachings of the book of +Ecclesiastes, his wide learning and his conception of immortality indicate +that he lived some time after the beginning of the Maccabean struggle. His +reference in 3:1-4 is probably to the persecutions through which the Jews +of Egypt passed during the reign of Ptolemy Psycon (140-117 B.C.). On the +other hand the book clearly antedates the writings of the Jewish +philosopher Philo, who lived during the latter part of the first century +B.C. The Wisdom of Solomon, therefore, may be dated somewhere between 100 +and 50 B.C. + +VII. Its Important Teachings. The author of the Wisdom of Solomon aimed, +first, to commend Israel's faith to the heathen by showing that it was in +substantial accord with the noblest doctrines of the Greek philosophers, +and second, to furnish the Jews of the dispersion, who were conversant +with Hellenic thought and yet trained in the religion of their race, a +working basis for their thought and practice. From the first it appears to +have been highly esteemed by the Jews outside Palestine, although it never +found a place in the Palestinian canon. Like most wisdom books, it +describes at length the beauty and value of wisdom. The figure of Proverbs +8 and 9 is still further developed under the influence of the Greek +tendency to personify abstract qualities. In the mind of the author, +however, wisdom is simply an attribute of the Deity which he shares in +common with men. The book is unique in two respects: (1) it contains the +earliest references in Jewish literature to a personal devil and +identifies him with the serpent that tempted the woman in the garden +(2:24, cf. Gen. 3) Elsewhere, however, the author traces sin and evil to +men's voluntary acts (e.g., 1:16). (2) It teaches the immortality +of righteousness and hence, by implication, the immortality of the +individual. "God created man for incorruption," and "the souls of the +righteous are in his hand." The doctrine here presented is ethical and +spiritual rather than the belief in a bodily resurrection already +formulated in the twelfth chapter of Daniel. It also teaches that +both the good and bad will be rewarded according to their deeds. Its +conceptions of God are exalted. He is the incorruptible spirit in all +things, just and yet merciful, the lover of men. The book also places side +by side with the Jewish teachings regarding men's duties to God and their +fellow-men the Greek virtues of moderation, good sense, justice, and +courage or fortitude. It also teaches that, like God, each of his children +should be a lover of men. Thus the book unites most effectively that +which is best in the thought of Judaism and Hellenism and is an earnest +of that still nobler union that was later realized in the thought and +teachings of Christianity. + + + +Section CXVI. THE DECLINE OF THE MACCABEAN KINGDOM + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:1] +After Aristobulus died, his wife Salome, who by the Greeks was called +Alexandra, released his brothers from prison (for Aristobulus had kept +them in confinement), and made Alexander Janneus, who was the oldest, +king. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:2] +Now there was a battle between him and Ptolemy, who was called Lathyrus, +who had taken the city of Asochis. He indeed slew many of his enemies, but +the victory rather inclined to Ptolemy. But when this Ptolemy was pursued +by his mother, Cleopatra, and retired into Egypt, Alexander besieged and +took Gadara and Amathus, which was the strongest of all the fortresses +that were beyond the Jordan, and the most valued of all the possessions of +Theodorus, the son of Zeno, were therein. Thereupon Theodorus marched +suddenly against him and took what belonged to himself, and slew ten +thousand of the Jews. Alexander, however, recovered from this blow and +turned his force toward the maritime districts and took Gaza, Raphia, and +Anthedon. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:3] +But when he had enslaved all these cities, the Jews made an insurrection +against him at a festival and it looked as though he would not have been +able to escape the plot they had laid for him, had not his foreign +auxiliaries come to his aid. And when he had slain more than six thousand +of the rebels, he invaded Arabia, and when he had conquered the Gileadites +and Moabites, he commanded them to pay him tribute and returned to Amathus +and took the fortress and demolished it. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:4, 5] +However, when he fought with Obedas, king of the Arabians, who had laid an +ambush for him near Golan, he lost his entire army, which was crowded +together in a deep valley and trampled to pieces by the multitude of +camels. And fleeing to Jerusalem because of the greatness of the calamity +that had overtaken him, he provoked the multitude, which had hated him +before, to make an insurrection against him. He was, however, too strong +for them in the various battles that were fought between them and he slew +no fewer than fifty thousand of the Jews in the interval of six years. Yet +he had no reason to rejoice in these victories, since he did but consume +his own country, until he at length ceased fighting and desired to come to +an agreement with them. But his changeability and the irregularity of his +conduct made them hate him still more. And when he asked them why they so +hated him and what he should do to appease them they said, "Die." + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:4c, 5c, 6a, c] +At the same time they invited Demetrius to assist them, and as he readily +complied with their request and came with his army, the Jews joined with +these their auxiliaries about Shechem. In the battle which followed, +Demetrius was the conqueror, although Alexander's mercenaries performed +the greatest exploits. Nevertheless the outcome of this battle proved +different from what was expected by both sides, for those who had invited +Demetrius to come to them did not continue loyal to him although he was +the conqueror, and six thousand Jews out of pity because of the change in +Alexander's condition, when he fled to the mountains, went over to him. +Demetrius, supposing that all the nation would run to Alexander, left the +country and went his way. The rest of the Jewish multitude, however, did +not lay aside their quarrels with Alexander when the auxiliaries were +gone, but had perpetual war with them until he had slain the greater part +of them. Then such a terror seized the people that eight thousand of his +opponents fled away the following night out of all Judea and did not +return until Alexander died. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:8c, d] +Alexander also subdued Golan, Seleucia, and what was called the Valley of +Antiochus; besides which he took the strong fortress of Gamala. Then he +returned into Judea after he had spent three years on this expedition. Now +he was gladly received by the nation because of his success. So when he +was at rest from war, he fell ill and died, terminating his troubles after +he had reigned twenty-seven years. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 5:1] +Now Alexander left the kingdom to Alexandra, his wife, and trusted the +Jews would readily submit to her, for in opposing his habitual violation +of their laws she gained the good-will of the people. Nor was he mistaken +in his hopes, for this woman retained the rulership because of her +reputation for piety. For she chiefly studied the ancient customs of her +country and cast those men out of the government who offended against +their holy laws. And as she had two sons by Alexander, she made the older, +Hyrcanus, high priest, on account of his age and also on account of his +inactive temperament. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 5:2, 3a, b] +And the Pharisees joined themselves to her in the government and Alexandra +henceforth hearkened to them to a great degree. But these Pharisees +artfully insinuated themselves into her favor little by little and +presently became the real administrators of public affairs. They banished +and recalled whom they pleased. While she governed the people, the +Pharisees governed her. Accordingly, they slew Diogenes, a person +of prominence, because he had been a friend of Alexander; they also +urged Alexandra to put the rest of those to death who had stirred up +Alexander against them. But the chief of those who were in danger fled +to Aristobulus. He persuaded his mother to spare the men on account of +their rank, but to expel them from the city. So when they were given their +freedom, they were dispersed over all the country. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 5:4-6:1b] +In the meantime Alexandra fell sick and Aristobulus, her younger son, +seized this opportunity to get possession of all the fortresses. He also +used the sums of money he found in them to gather together a number of +mercenaries and to set himself up as king. But Alexandra, after she had +lived nine years, died before she could punish Aristobulus. Hyrcanus was +heir to the kingdom and to him his mother intrusted it while she was +living. But Aristobulus was superior to him in ability and spirits, and +when there was a battle between them near Jericho to decide the dispute +about the kingdom, the majority deserted Hyrcanus and went over to +Aristobulus. But they came to an agreement that Aristobulus should be the +king, and that Hyrcanus should resign, but retain all the rest of his +dignities. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 6:2, 3] +Now the others who opposed Aristobulus were afraid, when he thus +unexpectedly came to power. This was especially true of Antipater, whom +Aristobulus hated of old. He was by birth an Idumean and one of the chief +men of that nation on account of his ancestry and riches and other +authority that belonged to him. He urged Hyrcanus to flee to Aretas, king +of Arabia, and to retrieve the kingdom. When he had prepared them both +beforehand he took Hyrcanus by night away from the city and escaped to +Petra, which is the royal capital of Arabia. Here he put Hyrcanus into +Aretas's care. He prevailed with him to give him an army to restore him to +his kingdom. This army consisted of fifty thousand footmen and horsemen +which Aristobulus was not able to withstand, but was defeated in the first +encounter and was driven out of Jerusalem. He would have been taken by +force, if Scaurus, the Roman general, had not come and opportunely raised +the siege. This was the Scaurus who was sent into Syria from Armenia by +Pompey the Great when he was fighting against Tigranes. As soon, +therefore, as Scaurus arrived in the country, ambassadors came from both +the brothers, each of them desiring his assistance. But Aristobulus's +three hundred talents blocked the way of justice. When Scaurus had +received this sum, he sent a herald to Hyrcanus and the Arabians, and +threatened them with the resentment of the Romans and Pompey unless they +raised the siege. So Aretas was terrified and retired from Judea to +Philadelphia. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 6:4-5] +When Hyrcanus and Antipater were thus deprived of their hopes from the +Arabians, they fled to Pompey for assistance and besought him to show his +disapproval of the violent action of Aristobulus and to restore to him the +kingdom, as it justly belonged to him. Aristobulus was also there himself, +dressed in regal attire, but Pompey was indignant at his behavior. When +Hyrcanus's friends also interceded strongly with Pompey, he took not only +his Roman forces but also many of his Syrian auxiliaries and marched +against Aristobulus. But when he had passed by Pella and Scythopolis +and had come to Korea, he heard that Aristobulus had fled to Alexandrium, +which was a stronghold fortified with the greatest magnificence, and +situated upon a high mountain, and he sent to him and commanded him to +come down. So Aristobulus came down to Pompey and when he had made a long +defence of the justness of his rule, he returned to the fortress. Pompey +however commanded him to give up his fortified places and forced him to +write to each of his governors to surrender. Accordingly he did what he +was ordered to do, but being displeased, he retired to Jerusalem and +prepared to fight with Pompey. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 6:6-7:2b] +But Pompey gave him no time to make any preparations and followed at his +heels. And Aristobulus was so frightened at his approach that he came and +met him as a suppliant. He also promised him money and to deliver up both +himself and the city. Yet he did not keep any one of his promises. At this +treatment Pompey was very angry and took Aristobulus into custody. And +when he had entered the city he looked about to see where he might make +his attack, for he saw that the walls were so firm that it would be hard +to overcome them and the valley before the walls was terrible and the +temple which was in that valley was itself surrounded by such a strong +wall that if the city was taken the temple would be a second place of +refuge for the enemy. Inasmuch as Pompey deliberated a long time, a +sedition arose among the people within the city. Aristobulus's party was +willing to fight to save their king, while the party of Hyrcanus was ready +to open the gates to Pompey. Then Aristobulus's party was defeated and +retired into the temple and cut off the communications between the temple +and the city by breaking down the bridge which joined them together, and +they prepared to resist to the utmost. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 7:3] +Pompey himself filled up the ditch which was on the north side of the +temple and the entire valley also, the army being obliged to carry the +material for this purpose. Indeed, it was difficult to fill up that valley +because of its great depth and especially as the Jews from their superior +position used all possible means to repel them. As soon as Pompey had +filled up the valley, he erected high towers upon the bank. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 7:4, 5] +Now Pompey admired not only the other examples of the Jews' fortitude, but +especially that they did not at all intermit their religious services, +even when they were surrounded with darts on all sides; for, as if the +city were in full peace, their daily sacrifices and purifications and all +their religious rites were still carried out before God with the utmost +exactness. Nor when the temple was taken and they were slain about the +altar daily, did they cease from those things that are appointed by their +law to be observed. For it was in the third month of the siege before the +Romans could even with a great struggle overthrow one of the towers and +get into the temple. The greater part of the Jews were slain by their +own countrymen of the opposite faction and an innumerable multitude threw +themselves down from the walls. Of the Jews twelve thousand were slain, +but of the Romans very few, although a greater number were wounded. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 7:6a, b] +But there was nothing that affected the nation so much in the calamities +which they then suffered as that their holy place, hitherto unseen, should +be laid open to strangers. For Pompey and those who were about him went +into the temple itself, where it was lawful for the high priest alone to +enter, and saw what was deposited therein; but he commanded the ministers +about the temple to purify it and to perform their accustomed sacrifices. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 7:7] +Moreover he reappointed Hyrcanus high priest, by which he acted the part +of a good general and reconciled the people to him rather by kindness than +by terrorizing them. He took away from the nation all those cities that +they had formerly taken and reduced Judea to its own bounds. Then he made +all the haste he could to go through Cilicia on his way to Rome, taking +Aristobulus and his two children along with him as captives. One of +Aristobulus's sons, Alexander, ran away on the journey, but the younger, +Antigonus, with his sisters, was carried to Rome. + +I. The Character and Policy of Alexander Janneus. For the picture of the +character of Alexander Janneus we are chiefly dependent upon Josephus, and +it is not clear how far this late Jewish historian was influenced by the +prevailing prejudices against that ruler who figured as the arch enemy of +the Pharisees. The incidents recorded reveal, however, a most sinister +character. He was ambitious, but his ambitions were selfish and low. +He was energetic and tireless, but his energy was wasted in futile +undertakings. Furthermore, he was unscrupulous, vindictive, and merciless. +There is not the slightest indication that he was actuated by any worthy +ideal of service. To the Jewish state and race it was a great calamity +that a man of this type should gain control of the nation at the moment +when it had attained its greatest material strength. Under the kindly and +wise guidance of Simon the subsequent history of the Jewish state would +doubtless have been far different. Janneus's first aim was to establish +his power as an absolute despot. He ardently accepted the ideal of an +Oriental ruler that had been imposed upon the Jews during the short reign +of his brother Aristobulus. In realizing this ambition he met, as did +every other king in Israel's history, the strong opposition of the people +and a bold assertion of their inherited liberties. His second aim was to +break completely the power of the Pharisees. They were the party of the +people and had no sympathy with his policies. In them, therefore, he +recognized his chief opponents. His third ambition was to extend the +territory of the Jewish state to its farthest natural bounds. Soon after +the beginning of his reign he succeeded in arousing the bitter hostility +of the Greek cities on his eastern and western borders, of the reigning +kings of Egypt, and of the rising Arabian power to the south of the Dead +Sea. The objects for which he strove were comparatively petty: possession +of the cities of Ptolemais and Gaza and of certain east-Jordan cities, +such as Gadara and Amathus. He was more often defeated than victorious, +but his love of struggle and adventure and lust for conquest ever goaded +him on. In desperation his subjects even ventured to call in Demetrius, +the governor of Damascus, but when Alexander was driven away in defeat the +nation's gratitude and loyalty to the Maccabean house reasserted itself +and he was recalled. Instead of granting a general armistice and thus +conciliating his distracted people, he treacherously used his new-won +power to crucify publicly eight hundred of the Pharisees. Horror and fear +seized the survivors, so that, according to Josephus, eight thousand of +them fled into exile. After six years of civil war and the loss of fifty +thousand lives, Alexander Janneus finally realized his first ambition and +became absolute master of his kingdom. In achieving his ambitions, +however, he well earned the title by which his contemporaries described +him, "the Son of a Thracian," that is, Barbarian. + +II. The Effects of His Rule. The disastrous effects of the reign of +Alexander Janneus may be briefly recapitulated. They were: (1) the +destruction of the loyalty of the majority of the Jews to the Maccabean +house; (2) the intensifying of the opposition between Pharisees and +Sadducees to the point of murderous hate; (3) the extension of the sphere +of Jewish influence from the Mediterranean on the west to the desert on +the east, and from the Lebanons to the southern desert; but (4) the +draining of the life-blood and energies of the Jewish kingdom, so that it +was far weaker and more disorganized than when Janneus came to the throne. + +III. Alexandra's Reign (78-69 B.C.). Alexandra was the second queen who +reigned in Israel's history. Her policy, unlike that of Athaliah of old, +was on the whole constructive. Although she was the wife of Janneus, she +reversed his policy, and placed the Pharisees in control. The return of +the exiles and the restoration of the prophetic party promised peace and +prosperity. The ancient law was expanded and rigorously enforced. +According to the Talmud it was during this period that elementary schools +were introduced in connection with each synagogue. Their exact nature is +not known, but it is probable that the law was the subject studied and +that the scribes were the teachers. This change of policy was undoubtedly +very acceptable to the people, but the Pharisees made the grave mistake of +using their new power to be revenged upon the Sadducean nobles who had +supported the bloody policy of Alexander Janneus. They soon suffered the +evil consequences of attempting to right wrong by wrong. The Sadducees +found in Aristobulus, the ambitious and energetic younger son of Janneus, +an effective champion. Alexandra, in permitting them to take possession of +the many strongholds throughout the land, also committed a fatal error, +for it gave them control of the military resources of the kingdom. +Aristobulus was not slow in asserting his power, with the result that even +before Alexandra died he had seized seventy-two of the fortresses and had +aroused a large part of the people to revolt. While her reign was on the +whole peaceful, it was but the lull before the great storm that swept over +the nation. + +IV. Quarrels between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. Unfortunately Alexandra's +older son, Hyrcanus, was indolent and inefficient. He had been appointed +high priest and, when Aristobulus assumed the title of king, he compelled +Hyrcanus II to be content with this humbler title. Aristobulus's reign +might have been comparatively peaceful had not at this time a new and +sinister influence appeared in the troubled politics of Palestine. It was +one of the results of John Hyrcanus's forcible judaizing of the Idumeans. +Antipater, the son of the Idumean whom Alexander Janneus had made governor +of Idumea, recognized in the rivalry between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus an +opportunity to mount to power. He first persuaded Hyrcanus to flee to +Petra. Then, with the aid of the Arabian king, Aretas, he finally +compelled Aristobulus and his followers to seek refuge on the temple hill +in Jerusalem. The picture of the Jews divided into two hostile camps and +engaged in bitter civil war in the very precincts of the temple under the +leadership of the great-grandsons of the patriotic Simon presents a sad +contrast to the noble spirit and valiant achievements of the founders of +the Maccabean kingdom who had first taken up the sword in defence of the +temple and its service. + +V. Rome's Intervention. This situation gave Rome its desired opportunity +for intervention. Pompey in 70 B.C. made a successful campaign against +Mithridates, king of Pontus, and against Tigranes, king of Armenia. Rome's +policy was to conquer all of southwestern Asia as far as the Euphrates. +Ignoring the peril of the situation, both Aristobulus and Hyrcanus +appealed to Pompey's lieutenant, Scaurus. As a result the Arabians were +ordered to withdraw, and Aristobulus for a brief time was left master of +the situation. In the spring of 63 B.C., however, when Pompey came to +Damascus, there appeared before him three embassies, one representing the +cause of Aristobulus, another that of Hyrcanus, and still a third +presented the request of the Pharisees that Rome assume political control +of Palestine and leave them free to devote themselves to the study and +application of the their law. The fall of Aristobulus hastened what was +now inevitable. Although he was held a prisoner by Pompey, his followers +remained intrenched on the temple hill and were conquered only after a +protracted siege and the loss of many lives. Aristobulus and his family +were carried off captives to Rome to grace Pompey's triumph, and the +request of the Pharisees was granted: Rome henceforth held Palestine under +its direct control. Thus after a little more than a century (165-63 B.C.) +the Jews again lost their independence, and the Maccabean kingdom became +only a memory, never to be revived save for a brief moment. + +VI. Causes of the Fall of the Jewish Kingdom. The Jewish kingdom fell as +the result of causes which can be clearly recognized. It was primarily +because the ideals and ambitions of the Maccabean leaders themselves +became material and selfish. They proved unable to resist the temptations +of success. Greed for power quenched their early patriotism. The material +spirit of their age obscured the nobler ideals of their spiritual +teachers. The result was a tyranny and corruption that made the later +kings misleaders rather than true leaders of their nation. Parallel to the +bitter struggle between the kings and their subjects was the bitter feud +between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Normal party rivalry grew into +murderous hatred, and in taking revenge upon each other they brought ruin +upon the commonwealth. The final end was hastened by the suicidal +feud between the brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, fomented by the +unprincipled machinations of the Idumean Antipater. In the final crisis +the Pharisaic policy of submission and of peace at any cost paved the way +for the realization of Rome's ambition and made the ultimate conquest of +Palestine practically inevitable. Thus the kingdom, founded in the face of +almost insuperable obstacles and consecrated with the life-blood of many +heroes, fell ignominiously as the result of the same causes that +throughout the ages have proved the ruin of even stronger empires. + +VII. Political, Intellectual, and Religious Effects of the Maccabean +Struggle. This century of valiant achievement, colossal errors, and +overwhelming failure left its deep impression upon the Jewish race. It +witnessed the return of many Jews of the dispersion to Jerusalem and Judea +and the development of a strong sense of racial unity. Henceforth the Jews +throughout the world looked to Jerusalem as their true political and +religious capital. The events of this period intensified the ancient feud +between Jew and Samaritan and gave the latter ample reason for that +hostility toward their southern kinsmen which appears in the Gospel +narratives. It was during this age that the parties of the Pharisees and +Sadducees finally crystallized and formulated those tenets and policies +which guided them during the next century. At this time the foundations +were laid for the rule of the house of Herod which exerted such a baleful +influence upon the fortunes and destinies of the Jews. It likewise marked +the beginning and culmination of Rome's influence over the lands of the +eastern Mediterranean and that subjection of the Jews to Gentile rulers +which has continued until the present. + +The Maccabean period gave to the Jews a greatly enlarged intellectual +vision and led them to adopt many of the ideas of their Greek conquerors. +In their literature it is easy to recognize the influence of the more +logical Greek methods of reasoning and of the scientific attitude toward +the universe. It was during this period that the wise were transformed +into scribes, and the rule of the scribal method of thinking and +interpretation began. The struggles through which the Jews passed +intensified their love for the law and the temple services. Duty was +more and more defined in the terms of ceremonial, and the Pharisees +entered upon that vast and impossible task of providing rules for man's +every act. Out of the struggles of the Maccabean period came that fusion +of Hellenic and Jewish ideas that has become an important factor in all +human thought. At last under the influence of the great crises through +which they had passed, the belief in individual immortality gained wide +acceptance among the Jews. Side by side with this came the belief in a +personal devil and a hierarchy of demons opposed to the divine hierarchy +at whose head was Jehovah. Last of all the taste of freedom under a Jewish +ruler brought again to the front the kingly messianic hopes of the race, +and led them to long and struggle for their realization. Thus in this +brief century Judaism attained in many ways its final form, and only in +the light of this process is it possible fully to understand and +appreciate the background of the New Testament history. + + * * * * * + +THE RULE OF ROME + +Section CXVII. THE RISE OF THE HERODIAN HOUSE + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:2] +Now Alexander, that son of Aristobulus who ran away from Pompey, after a +time gathered together a considerable body of men and made a strong attack +upon Hyrcanus, and overran Judea, and was on the point of dethroning him. +And indeed he would have come to Jerusalem, and would have ventured to +rebuild its wall that had been thrown down by Pompey, had not Gabinius, +who was sent as Scaurus's successor in Syria, showed his bravery by making +an attack on Alexander. Alexander, being afraid at his approach, assembled +a larger army composed of ten thousand armed footmen and fifteen hundred +horsemen. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:4a, 5] +Now when Gabinius came to Alexandrium, finding a great many encamped +there, he tried by promising them pardon for their former offences to +attach them to him before it came to fighting; but when they would listen +to nothing reasonable, he slew a great number of them and shut up the rest +in the citadel. Therefore when Alexander despaired of ever obtaining the +rulership, he sent ambassadors to Gabinius and besought him to pardon his +offences. He also surrendered to him the remaining fortresses, Hyrcanium +and Macherus. After this Gabinius brought Hyrcanus back to Jerusalem and +put him in charge of the temple. He also divided the entire nation into +five districts, assigning one to Jerusalem, another to Gadara, another to +Amathus, a fourth to Jericho, and the fifth to Sepphoris, a city of +Galilee. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:6] +Not long after Aristobulus became the cause of new disturbances by fleeing +from Rome. He again assembled many of the Jews who were desirous of a +change and those who were devoted to him of old; and when he had taken +Alexandrium in the first place, he attempted to build a wall about it. But +the Romans followed him, and when it came to battle, Aristobulus's party +for a long time fought bravely, but at last they were overcome by the +Romans and of them five thousand fell. Aristobulus was again carried to +Rome by Gabinius. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:7] +Now when Gabinius set out to make war against the Parthians, Antipater +furnished him with money and weapons and corn and auxiliaries, but during +Gabinius's absence the other parts of Syria were in insurrection, and +Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, stirred the Jews again to revolt. But +at the battle fought near Mount Tabor ten thousand of them were slain and +the rest of the multitude scattered in flight. So Gabinius came to +Jerusalem and settled the government as Antipater desired. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:8] +Now this Antipater married a wife of an eminent family among the Arabians, +whose name was Cypros. And she bore him four sons, Phasaelus and Herod, +who was afterward king, and besides these Joseph and Pheroras. And he had +a daughter by the name of Salome. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 9:1] +But after the flight of Pompey and of the senate beyond Ionian Sea, Caesar +gained possession of Rome and of the Empire and released Aristobulus from +his bonds. He also intrusted two legions to him and sent him in haste into +Syria, hoping that by his efforts he would easily conquer that country +and the territory adjoining Judea. But he was poisoned by Pompey's +sympathizers. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 9:3a, c, 4a, c, 5a] +Now after Pompey died, Antipater changed sides and cultivated a friendship +with Caesar. And when Mithridates of Pergamus with the force he led +against Egypt was shut out from the roads about Pelusium and was forced to +stay at Ascalon, Antipater persuaded the Arabians among whom he had lived +to assist him and came himself at the head of three thousand armed Jews. +He also urged the men of power in Syria to come to his assistance. In the +attack on Pelusium Antipater distinguished himself pre-eminently, for he +pulled down that part of the wall which was opposite him and leaped first +of all into the city with the men who were about him. Thus was Pelusium +taken. Moreover, as he was marching on, those Jews who inhabited the +district called Onias stopped him, but Antipater not only persuaded them +not to hinder but also to supply provisions for their army. Thereupon in +the Delta Antipater fell upon those who pursued Mithridates and slew many +of them and pursued the rest till he captured their camp, while he lost no +more than eighty of his own men. Thereupon Caesar encouraged Antipater to +undertake other hazardous enterprises for him by giving him great +commendations and hopes of reward. In all these enterprises Antipater +showed himself a most venturesome warrior, and he had many wounds almost +all over his body as proofs of his courage. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 9:5b] +And when Caesar had settled the affairs of Egypt and returned again into +Syria, he gave Antipater the rights of a Roman citizen and freedom from +taxes, and made him an object of admiration because of the other honors +and marks of friendship that he bestowed upon him. It was on this account +that he also confirmed Hyrcanus in the high priesthood. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 10:1, 2a, 3a] +It was about this time that Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, came to +Caesar and became in a surprising manner the cause of Antipater's further +advance. For he proceeded to denounce Hyrcanus and Antipater. Then +Antipater threw off his garments and showed the many wounds he had, and +said that regarding his good will to Caesar it was not necessary for him +to say a word because his body cried aloud, though he himself said +nothing. When Caesar heard this he declared Hyrcanus to be most deserving +of the high priesthood, and Antipater was appointed procurator of all +Judea and also obtained permission to rebuild those walls of his country +that had been thrown down. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 10:4] +As soon as Antipater had conducted Caesar out of Syria, he returned to +Judea, and the first thing he did was to rebuild the walls of his own +country. Then he went over the country and quieted the tumults therein. +And at this time he settled the affairs of the country by himself, because +he saw that Hyrcanus was inactive and not capable of managing the affairs +of the kingdom. So Antipater appointed his oldest son, Phasaelus, governor +of Jerusalem and the surrounding territory. He also sent his second son, +Herod, who was very young, with equal authority into Galilee. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 10:5a, b] +Now Herod was a very active man and soon found a field for his energy. +When, therefore, he found that Hezekias, leader of the robbers, overran +the adjoining parts of Syria with a great band of men, he caught him and +slew him and many more of the robbers. This exploit was especially +pleasing to the Syrians, so that songs were sung in Herod's commendation +both in the villages and in the cities, because he had secured peace for +them and had preserved their possessions. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 11:1, 4] +At this time a mighty war arose among the Romans after the treacherous +murder of Caesar by Cassius and Brutus. Accordingly Cassius came into +Syria and assumed command of the army, and went about exacting tribute of +the cities to such a degree that they were not able to endure it. During +the war between Cassius and Brutus on the one side, against the younger +Caesar (Augustus) and Antony on the other, Cassius and Murcus gathered an +army out of Syria. And because Herod had furnished a great part of the +necessities, they made him procurator of all Syria and gave him an army of +infantry and cavalry. Cassius promised him also that after the war was +over he would make him king of Judea. But it so happened that the power +and hopes of his son became the cause of Antipater's destruction. For +inasmuch as a certain Malichus was afraid of this, he bribed one of the +king's cup-bearers to give a poisoned potion to Antipater. Thus he became +a sacrifice to Malichus's wickedness and died after the feast. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 11:6, 12:3] +Herod, however, avenged himself upon Malichus. And those who hitherto did +not favor him now joined him because of his marriage into the family of +Hyrcanus, for he had formerly married a wife from his own country of noble +blood, Doris by name, who bore to him Antipater. Now he planned to marry +Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus and the +grandson of Hyrcanus. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 12:4, 5] +But when Caesar and Antony had slain Cassius near Philippi and Caesar had +gone to Italy and Antony to Asia, the great men of the Jews came and +accused Phasaelus and Herod that they held the government by force and +that Hyrcanus had nothing more than an honorable name. Herod appeared +ready to answer this accusation, and having made Antony his friend by the +large sums of money which he gave him, influenced him not to listen to the +charges spoken against him by enemies. After this a hundred of the +principal men among the Jews came to Antony at Daphne near Antioch and +accused Phasaelus and Herod. But Massala opposed them and defended the +brothers with the help of Hyrcanus. When Antony had heard both sides, he +asked Hyrcanus which party was best fitted to govern. Hyrcanus replied +that Herod and his party were the best fitted. Therefore Antony appointed +the brothers tetrarchs, and intrusted to them the rulership of Judea. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 13:1a, Jos. Ant. XIV, 13:10] +Now two years after, when Barzaphanes, a Parthian governor, and Pacorus, +the king's son, had captured Syria, they were persuaded by the promise of +a thousand talents and five hundred women to bring back Antigonus to his +kingdom and to turn Hyrcanus out of it. Thus Antigonus was brought back +into Judea by the king of the Parthians, and received Hyrcanus and +Phasaelus as prisoners. Being afraid that Hyrcanus, who was under the guard +of the Parthians, might have his kingdom restored to him by the multitude, +Antigonus cut off his ears and thereby guarded against the possibility +that the high priesthood would ever come to him again, inasmuch as he was +maimed, and the law required that this dignity should belong to none but +those who had all their members intact. Phasaelus, perceiving that he was +to be put to death, dashed his head against a great stone and thereby took +away his own life. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 13:7, 8c, 14:1b, 2] +Herod, however, went off by night, taking those nearest related to him. As +soon as the Parthians perceived it, they pursued after him, but when at +every assault he had slain a great many of them, he came to the stronghold +of Masada, and there he left eight hundred of his men to guard the women, +and provisions sufficient for a siege; but he himself hastened to Petra in +Arabia. He was not able, however, to find any friendship among the +Arabians, for their king sent to him and commanded him to turn back +immediately from the country. So when Herod found that the Arabians were +his enemies, he turned back to Egypt. And when he came to Pelusium, he +could not obtain passage from those who lay with the fleet. Therefore he +besought their captains to let him go with them. So out of respect for the +fame and rank of the man they carried him to Alexandria. And when he came +to the city, he was received with great splendor by Cleopatra, who hoped +he might be persuaded to be the commander of her forces in the expedition +she was about to undertake. But he rejected the queen's entreaty and +sailed for Rome, where first of all he went to Antony and laid before him +the calamities that had overtaken himself and his family. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 14:4] +Thereupon Antony's pity was aroused because of the change that had come +about in Herod's affairs, so he then resolved to have him made king of the +Jews. Herod found Caesar even more ready than Antony because he recalled +the campaigns through which he had gone with Herod's father, Antipater, +in Egypt, and his hospitable treatment and good will in all things. +Besides he recognized the energy of Herod. Accordingly he called the +senate together. There Messala, and after him Atratinus, introduced Herod +to them and gave a full account of his father's merits and of his own good +will to the Romans. Antony also came in and told them that it was to their +advantage in the Parthian war that Herod should be king. So they all gave +their votes for it. And when the senate disbanded, Antony and Caesar went +out with Herod between them. Antony also made a feast for Herod on the +first day of his reign. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 15:3a,b, 4, 16:1] +Herod then sailed from Italy and came to Ptolemais. And as soon as he had +assembled a considerable army of foreigners and of his own countrymen, he +marched through Galilee against Antigonus. The number of his forces +increased each day as he went along, and all Galilee with few exceptions +joined him. After this Herod took Joppa, and then he marched to Masada to +free his kinsmen. Then he marched to Jerusalem, where the soldiers who +were with the Roman general Silo joined his own, as did many from the city +because they feared his power. Herod did not lie idle, but seized Idumea +and held it with two thousand footmen and four hundred horsemen. He also +removed his mother and all his kinsmen, who had been at Masada, to +Samaria. And when he had settled them securely, he marched to capture the +remaining parts of Galilee, and to drive away the garrisons of Antigonus. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 17:1] +In the meantime Herod's fortunes in Judea were not in a favorable +condition. He had left his brother Joseph with full authority, but had +commanded him to make no attacks against Antigonus until his return. But +as soon as Joseph heard that his brother was at a great distance, he +disregarded the command he had received and marched toward Jericho with +five cohorts. But when his enemies attacked him in the mountains and in a +place where it was difficult to pass, he was killed as he was fighting +bravely in the battle, and all the Roman cohorts were destroyed. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 17:8, 9] +Now near the end of winter Herod marched to Jerusalem and brought his army +up to its wall. This was the third year after he had been made king at +Rome. So he pitched his camp before the temple, for on that side it might +be besieged and there Pompey had formerly captured the city. Accordingly +he divided the work among the army and laid waste the suburbs, and gave +orders to raise three mounds and to build towers upon these mounds. But he +himself went to Samaria to marry the daughter of Alexander, the son of +Aristobulus, who had been betrothed to him before. And when he was thus +married, he came back to Jerusalem with a greater army. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 18:1, 2c, 4a] +Now the multitude of the Jews who were in the city were divided into +several factions. For the people that crowded about the temple, being the +weaker party, became fanatical and raved wildly over the situation. But +some of the bolder men gathered together in companies, and began robbing +in many different ways and especially plundering the provisions that were +about the city, so that no food was left over for the horses or the men. +After a siege of five months some of Herod's chosen men ventured upon the +wall and fell into the city. They first captured the environs of the +temple, and as the army poured in there was a slaughter of vast multitudes +everywhere, on account of the rage in which the Romans were because of the +length of the siege, and because the Jews who were about Herod were eager +that none of their opponents should remain. Thereupon Herod made those who +were on his side still more his friends by the honors he conferred upon +them; but those of Antigonus's party he slew. + +I. The Fruitless Struggle against Rome. The first quarter century of +Roman rule was in many ways the most complex in Israel's intricate +history. There were three chief actors in the drama: (1) Rome, represented +first by the leaders of the Republic and later by Pompey, Caesar, and +their successors; (2) the popular Jewish party led by Aristobulus and his +son Alexander, and Antigonus; and (3) Antipater, supported by his able +sons Phasaelus and Herod. Rome's general policy was to allow the Jews as +much freedom as possible, but above all to hold Palestine under firm +control, for it lay on the eastern border and faced Parthia, the one foe +that had successfully defied the powerful mistress of the Mediterranean. +The popular Jewish party bitterly resented Rome's interference. True, the +Pharisees welcomed the relief from civil war, but they could not hold the +majority of the people in leash. The inoffensive Hyrcanus was left in +possession of the high-priesthood and from time to time was elevated to +positions of nominal civil authority, but he was little more than the +plaything of circumstance and party intrigue. The ambitions of Aristobulus +and his sons kept Palestine in a state of constant political ferment. +Three times in five years they stirred the Jews to rebellion against Rome. +The first rebellion was in 57 B.C. and was led by Alexander. He was +ultimately driven by the Roman general to Alexandria, the fortress that +overlooks the middle-Jordan Valley, and was finally forced to surrender. +The three great fortresses, Alexandria, Machaerus, and Hyrcanium, were +thrown down, and the Jewish state was divided into five districts. Each of +these was under a local council consisting of the leading citizens. These +reported directly to the Roman proconsul. To neutralize still further +the Jewish national spirit, the Hellenic cities in and about Palestine +were restored, given a large measure of independence, and placed directly +under the control of Rome's representative in the East. + +The second rebellion followed quickly and was led by Aristobulus. He was +soon obliged, however, to take refuge in the fortress of Machaerus, east +of the Dead Sea, where he was captured and sent back again as a captive to +Rome. The third rebellion was led by Alexander. It was more formidable, +and in the end more disastrous, for the Jews were signally defeated in a +battle near Mount Tabor. The only permanent results of these uprisings +were the intensifying of Jewish hatred of Roman rule and the increasing of +Rome's suspicion of this rebellious people. It was this suspicion that +made it possible for the high-priestly party at a later time to force the +Roman governor Pilate to put to death one whom he recognized to be an +inoffensive Galilean peasant simply because he was accused of having +assumed the historic title, King of the Jews. + +II. Antipater's Policy. Through the troublesome first quarter-century +of Roman rule Antipater and his family prospered because they were able at +every turn in the political fortunes of Syria to make themselves +increasingly useful to Rome. At many critical periods he was able to save +the Jews from calamity and to secure for them valuable privileges. There +is a certain basis for Josephus's over-enthusiastic assertion that he was +"a man distinguished for his piety, justice, and love of his country" +(Jos. Ant. XIV, 11:4c). + +Although Hyrcanus was but a tool in Antipater's hands, he never attempted +to depose him, and apparently always treated him with respect. To steer +successfully through the stormy period during which Rome made the +transition from the republican to the monarchical form of government was +a difficult task. When Crassus came as the representative of the First +Triumvirate, Antipater's gifts and tact were not sufficient to prevent the +Roman from plundering the treasures of the temple. + +Fortunately for the peace of Judea, during the civil war that followed +between Pompey and Caesar, the deposed Jewish king Aristobulus and his son +Alexander were both put to death. After the decisive battle of Pharsalia +in 48 B.C. Antipater quickly espoused the cause of Caesar, and performed +valuable services for him at a time when the great Roman was threatened by +overwhelming forces. By his influence with the people of Syria and Egypt +and by his personal acts of bravery he won the favors that Caesar heaped +upon him and upon the Jewish people. The old territorial division +instituted by Gabinius was abolished, Hyrcanus was confirmed in the +high-priesthood, and Antipater was made procurator of Judea. Joppa was +restored to the Jewish state, the gerusia, the chief assembly of the Jews, +was given certain of its old judicial rights, and permission was granted +to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. The Jews were also freed from the duty +of supporting Roman soldiers and of serving the Roman legions. The tribute +was also in part remitted on the sabbatical year, and the Jews of +Palestine and throughout the Roman Empire were confirmed in their +religious privileges. Thus Caesar proved himself a friend of the Jews and +established precedents to which they frequently appealed in later crises. + +III. Herod's Early Record. Among the many rewards conferred upon +Antipater was the appointment of his son Phasaelus as governor of +Jerusalem and his younger son Herod as governor of Galilee. Thus while +still a young man Herod was given an opportunity to demonstrate his +ability and energy. He at once took measures to put down the robber bands +that infested Galilee, and executed their leader, Hezekias. He won thereby +the gratitude of the Galileans and the approval of Rome. Hyrcanus and the +sanhedrin at Jerusalem, however, viewed this assumption of authority with +suspicion and alarm. When Herod was summoned before them, he appeared in +full military armor and was accompanied by a military following. Provoked +by his boldness, the sanhedrin would have sentenced him to death had not +the local Roman governor interfered. The action of the sanhedrin aroused +Herod's spirit of revenge, and before long, gathering his forces, he +marched against Jerusalem and would have put to death the Jewish leaders +had not his father dissuaded him. + +The assassination of Caesar in 44 B.C., followed by the battle of Philippi +in 42, changed the political horizon of Palestine. Antipater and his sons, +however, following their usual policy, pledged in succession their loyalty +to Cassius and Antony, with the result that greater honors were conferred +upon them. It was at this crisis that Malichus, a certain Jewish noble, +inspired by jealousy and suspicion, treacherously murdered his rival, +Antipater. Herod retaliated by instigating the assassination of the +murderer, but soon a series of calamities swept over Judea which +threatened to obliterate completely the house of Antipater. + +IV. The Parthian Conquest. During the struggle between Antony and the +assassins of Julius Caesar Rome's eastern outposts were left exposed. +Their old foes, the Parthians, improved this opportunity to seize northern +Syria. Encouraged by the presence of the Parthians, Antigonus, the younger +son of Aristobulus, in 41 B.C. entered Palestine. With the aid of the +Parthians and of the Jews who were opposed to Herod he ultimately +succeeded in establishing himself as king. Antipater and Herod's brother +Phasaelus became the victims of the Parthian treachery, and Herod after +many adventures succeeded in escaping with his family to the strong +fortress of Masada at the southwestern end of the Dead Sea. Leaving them +under the care of his brother Joseph, Herod after many discouragements and +vicissitudes finally found his way to Rome. Unfortunately for the cause of +Jewish independence, Antigonus lacked the essential qualities of +leadership. Instead of arousing the loyalty of his subjects his chief +concern was to take vengeance upon Herod's followers and upon all who had +supported the house of Antipater. + +V. Herod Made King of the Jews. Herod went to Rome to urge the +appointment of Aristobulus III, the grandson of Hyrcanus and the brother +of Herod's betrothed wife Mariamne, as king of Judea. Antony and Octavian, +to whom he appealed, were rightly suspicious of the survivors of the +Maccabean house and appreciative of the services of Herod and his father +Antipater. Therefore, to his complete surprise, they offered him the +kingship, and their nomination was speedily confirmed by the senate. +History presents no stranger nor more dramatic sight than Herod, the +Idumean, accompanied by Antony and Octavian, going to the temple of +Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill to offer sacrifices in connection with his +assumption of the historic title, King of the Jews. At first it was an +empty title, but the energy of Herod and the resources of Rome sufficed in +time to make it real. In the spring of 39 B.C. Herod landed at Ptolemais +and with the apathetic aid of the Roman generals in Palestine began to +organize the Jews who rallied about him. Marching down the Mediterranean +coast, he succeeded at last in relieving his family, who were besieged at +Masada. Idumea and Galilee were then brought into subjection, and after +two years of fighting he won an important battle at Isana, a little north +of Bethel, which gave him possession of all of Judea except Jerusalem. The +final contest for the capital city continued through several months, for +Antigonus and his followers realized that they could expect little mercy +from Herod and the Romans. Thousands of Jews were slaughtered, but at last +the temple itself was captured, and Herod was in fact as well as in name +King of the Jews. Antigonus pled in vain for mercy. Departing from their +usual policy of clemency toward native rulers, the Romans caused him first +to be scourged as a common criminal and then ignominiously beheaded. Thus +the Maccabean dynasty, which had risen in glory, went down in shame, a +signal illustration of the eternal principle that selfish ambitions and +unrestrained passions in an individual or family sooner or later bring +disgrace and destruction. While the siege of Jerusalem was still +in progress, Herod went north to Samaria and there consummated his +long-delayed marriage with Mariamne, the daughter of Hyrcanus, thus in +part attracting to himself the loyalty which the Jews had bestowed so +lavishly and disastrously upon the unworthy sons of Alexander Janneus. + + + +Section CXVIII. HEROD'S POLICY AND REIGN + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 19:1, 2a] +Now when the war about Actium broke out, Herod prepared to come to the +assistance of Antony, but he was treacherously hindered from sharing the +dangers of Antony by Cleopatra, for she persuaded Antony to intrust the +war against the Arabians to Herod. This plan, however, proved of advantage +to Herod, for he defeated the army of the Arabians, although it offered +him strong resistance. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 20:1] +Now Herod was immediately concerned about his entire fortunes because of +his friendship with Antony, who had been defeated at Actium by Caesar +[Augustus]. Herod, however, resolved to face the danger: so he sailed to +Rhodes where Caesar was then staying, and came to him without his diadem +and in the dress and guise of a private person, but in the spirit of a +king. And he concealed nothing of the truth, but spoke straight out as +follows: "O Caesar, I was made king of the Jews by Antony. I confess that +I have been useful to him, nor will I conceal this added fact, that you +would certainly have found me in arms, and so showing my gratitude to him, +had not the Arabians hindered me. I have been overcome with Antony, and +sharing the same fortune as his, I have laid aside my diadem. Now I have +come to you fixing my hopes of safety upon your virtue, and I ask that +you will consider how faithful a friend, and not whose friend, I have +been." + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 20:2] +Caesar answered him as follows: "Nay, you shall not only be safe, but you +shall reign more firmly than before, for you are worthy to reign over many +subjects because of the steadfastness of your friendship. Endeavor to be +equally constant in your friendship to me in the hour of my success, since +I have the brightest hopes because of your noble spirit. I therefore +assure you that I will confirm the kingdom to you by decree. I will also +endeavor to do you some further kindness hereafter, that you may not miss +Antony." + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 20:3b-4a] +After this, when Caesar went to Egypt through Syria, Herod received him +lavishly and royally. It was, therefore, the opinion both of Caesar and +his soldiers that Herod's kingdom was too small a return for what he had +done. For this reason, when Caesar had returned from Egypt, he added to +Herod's other honors, and also made an addition to his kingdom by giving +him not only the country which had been taken from him by Cleopatra, but +also Gadara, Hippos, and Samaria, and also the coast cities Gaza, +Anthedon, Joppa, and Straton's Tower. He also made him a present of four +hundred Gauls as a body-guard, which had before belonged to Cleopatra. +Moreover he added to his kingdom Trachonitis and the adjacent Batanea, and +the district of Auranitis. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:13] +Now Herod had a body suited to his soul and was ever a most excellent +hunter, in which sport he generally had great success owing to his skill +in riding, for in one day he once captured forty wild beasts. He was also +a warrior such as could not be withstood. Many also marvelled at his skill +in his exercises when they saw him throwing the javelin and shooting the +arrow straight to the mark. In addition to these advantages of mind and +body, fortune was also very favorable to him, for he seldom failed in war, +and when he failed, he was not himself the cause, but it happened either +through the treachery of some one or else through the rashness of his own +soldiers. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:1b, 4a] +Herod also built for himself at Jerusalem in the upper city a palace, +which contained two very large and most beautiful apartments to which not +even the temple could be compared. One apartment he named Caesareum and +the other Agrippeum [after his friends Caesar Augustus and Agrippa]. But +he did not preserve their memory by particular buildings only and the +names given them, but his generosity also went as far as entire cities. +For when he had built a most beautiful wall over two miles long about a +city in the district of Samaria and had brought six thousand inhabitants +into it and had allotted to them a most fertile territory and in the midst +of this city had erected a large temple to Augustus, he called the city +Sebaste [from Sebastus, the Greek of Augustus]. And when Augustus had +bestowed upon him additional territory, he built there also a temple of +white marble in his honor near the fountains of the Jordan. The place is +called Panium. The king erected other buildings at Jericho and named them +after the same friends. In general there was not any place in his kingdom +suited to the purpose that was allowed to remain without something in +Augustus's honor. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:6a-8a] +And when he observed that there was a city by the seaside that was much +decayed, called Straton's Tower, and that the place, because of its fair +situation, was capable of great improvements, through his love of honor he +rebuilt it all of white stone and adorned it with magnificent palaces and +in it showed his natural munificence. For all the seashore between Dora +and Egypt (between which places the city is situated) had no good harbor, +so that every one who sailed to Phoenicia from Egypt was obliged to toss +about in the sea because of the south wind that threatened them. But the +king by great expense and liberality overcame nature and built a harbor +larger than was the Piraeus, and in its recesses built other deep +roadsteads. He let down stones into one hundred and twenty-one feet of +water. And when the part below the sea was filled up, he extended the wall +which was already above the sea until it was two hundred feet long. The +entrance to the harbor was on the north, because the north wind was there +the most gentle of all the winds. At the mouth of the harbor on each side +were three colossi supported by pillars. And the houses, also built of +white stone, were close to the harbor, and the narrow streets of the city +led down to it, being built at equal distances from one another. And +opposite the entrance of the harbor upon an elevation was the temple of +Caesar Augustus, excellent both for beauty and size, and in it was a +colossal statue of Caesar Augustus as big as the Olympian Zeus, which it +was made to resemble, and a statue of Rome as big at that of Hera at +Argos. And he dedicated the city to the province, and the harbor to those +who sailed there. But the honor of founding the city he ascribed to Caesar +Augustus and accordingly called it Caesarea. He also built other edifices, +the amphitheater, the theater, and market-place in a manner worthy of that +name. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:9a-10a] +Herod was also a lover of his father, for he built as a memorial of his +father a city in the finest plain that was in his kingdom [the lower +Jordan valley], which had rivers and trees in abundance, and called it +Antipatris. He also fortified a citadel that lay above Jericho and was +very strong and handsome, and dedicated it to his mother, and called it +Cypros. Moreover, he dedicated a tower at Jerusalem to his brother +Phasaelus. He also built another city in the valley which leads north from +Jericho and named it Phasaelis. As a memorial for himself he built a +fortress upon a mountain toward Arabia and called it after himself +Herodium. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:11a] +And when he had built so much, he showed the greatness of his soul to many +foreign cities. He built gymnasiums at Tripolis, Damascus, and Ptolemais. +He built a wall around Byblus, and arcades, colonnades, temples, and +market-places at Berytus and Tyre, and theaters at Sidon and Damascus. He +also built an aqueduct for those Laodiceans, who lived by the seaside; and +for the inhabitants of Ascalon he built baths and costly fountains, as +also encircling colonnades that were admirable for their workmanship and +size. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 22:1a, c-2b] +Herod, however, began to be unhappy on account of his wife, of whom he was +very fond. For when he attained the kingship, he divorced her whom he had +married when he was a private person, a native of Jerusalem by the name of +Doris, and married Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, the son of +Aristobulus. Because of Mariamne disturbances arose in his family, and +that very soon, but chiefly after his return from Rome. For the sake of +his sons by Mariamne he banished Antipater, the son of Doris. After this +he slew his wife's grandfather, Hyrcanus, when he returned to him out of +Parthia, on suspicion of plotting against him. Now of the five children +which Herod had by Mariamne two of them were daughters and three were +sons. The youngest of these sons died while he was being educated at Rome, +but the two elder sons he treated as princes because of their mother's +honorable rank and because they had been born after he became king. But +what was stronger than all this was the love he bore to Mariamne. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 22:2c-4] +But Mariamne's hatred toward him was as great as his love for her. She, +indeed, had a just cause for indignation for what he had done, while her +freedom of speech was the result of his affection for her. So she openly +reproached him for what he had done to her grandfather Hyrcanus and to her +brother Aristobulus. For he had not spared this Aristobulus, though he was +but a lad, for after he had given him the high priesthood at the age of +seventeen, Herod caused him to be slain immediately after he had conferred +that honor upon him; for when Aristobulus had put on the holy garments and +had approached to the altar at a festival, the assembled multitude wept +for joy. Thereupon the lad was sent by night to Jericho, and there in a +swimming-pool at Herod's command was held under water by the Gauls until +he was drowned. For these reasons Mariamne reproached Herod, and railed at +his sister and his mother most abusively. He was dumb on account of his +affection for her, but the women were vexed exceedingly at her and charged +her with being false to him, for they thought that this would be most +likely to arouse Herod's anger. When, therefore, he was about to take a +journey abroad, he intrusted his wife to Joseph, his sister Salome's +husband. He also gave him a secret injunction that, if Antony should slay +him [Herod], Joseph should slay Mariamne. But Joseph without any evil +intention and in order to demonstrate the king's love for his wife +disclosed this secret to her. And when Herod came back, and when they +talked together, he confirmed his love to her by many oaths and assured +her that he had never loved any other woman as he had her. "To be sure," +said she, "you proved your love to me by the injunctions you gave Joseph +when you commanded him to kill me!" When Herod heard that this secret was +discovered, he was like a distracted man, and said that Joseph would never +have disclosed his injunction unless he had seduced her. Made insane by +his passion and leaping out of bed, he ran about the palace in a wild +manner. Meantime his sister Salome improved the opportunity for false +accusations and to confirm the suspicion about Joseph. So in his +ungovernable jealousy and rage Herod commanded both of them to be slain +immediately. But as soon as his passion was over, he repented for what he +had done; and indeed his passionate desire for Mariamne was so ardent that +he could not think that she was dead, but in his distress he talked to her +as if she were still alive. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 23:1a, d, 2a, c-3a] +Now Mariamne's sons inherited their mother's hate; and when they +considered the greatness of Herod's crime toward her, they were as +suspicious of their father as of an enemy. This state of theirs increased +as they grew to be men. And when Herod had been poisoned with calumnies +against them, he recalled Antipater, his son by Doris, from exile as a +defence against his other sons, and began to treat him in every way with +more distinction than them. But these sons were not able to bear this +change, for when they saw Antipater, who was the son of a private woman, +advanced, the nobility of their own birth made them unable to restrain +their indignation. For Antipater was already publicly named in his +father's will as his successor. The two weapons which he employed against +his brothers were flattery and calumny, whereby he brought matters +privately to such a point that the king thought of putting his sons to +death. So Herod dragged Alexander with him as far as Rome and charged him +before Augustus with attempting to poison him, but Alexander very ably +cleared himself of the calumnies laid against him and brought Augustus to +the point of rejecting the accusation and of reconciling Herod to his sons +at once. After this the king returned from Rome and seemed to have +acquitted his sons of these charges, but still he was not without some +suspicion of them, for Antipater, who was the cause of the hatred, +accompanied them. But he did not openly show his enmity toward them, for +he stood in awe of the one who had reconciled them. But the dissensions +between the brothers still accompanied them, and the suspicions they had +of one another grew worse. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 24:1a, 27:1, 2a, 6b] +Alexander and Aristobulus were much vexed that the privilege of the +first-born was confirmed to Antipater, and Antipater was very angry +because his brothers were to succeed him. Moreover, Salome incited Herod's +cruelty against his sons, for Aristobulus was desirous of bringing her who +was his mother-in-law and aunt into the same dangers as himself. So he +sent to her to advise her to save herself, and told her that the king was +preparing to put her to death. Then Salome came running to the king and +informed him of the warning. Thereupon Herod could restrain himself no +longer, but caused both of his sons to be bound, and kept them apart from +one another, and speedily sent to Augustus written charges against them. +Augustus was greatly troubled in regard to the young men, but he did not +think he ought to take from a father the power over his sons. So he wrote +back to him, and gave him full authority over his sons, and said he would +do well to make an examination of the plot by means of a common council +consisting of his own kinsmen and the governors of his province, and if +his sons were found guilty to put them to death. With these directions +Herod complied. Then he sent his sons to Sebaste and ordered them there to +be strangled, and his orders being executed immediately, he commanded +their bodies to be brought to the fortress of Alexandrium. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 28:1a, 29:2c] +But an unconquerable hatred against Antipater rose up in the nation now +that he had an indisputable title to the succession, because they well +knew that he was the person who had contrived all the calumnies against +his brothers. Later he secured permission by means of his Italian friends +to go and live at Rome. For when they wrote that it was proper for +Antipater to be sent to Augustus after some time, Herod made no delay but +sent him with a splendid retinue and a large amount of money, and gave him +his testament to carry in which Antipater was inscribed as king. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 30:5a, 31:1a] +And after the death of Herod's brother Pheroras, the king devoted himself +to examining his son Antipater's steward; and upon torturing him he +learned that Antipater had sent for a potion of deadly poison for him from +Egypt, and that the uncle of Antipater had received it from him and +delivered it to Pheroras, for Antipater had charged him to destroy his +father the king, while [Antipater] was at Rome, and so free him from the +suspicion of doing it himself. Antipater's freedman was also brought to +trial, and he was the concluding proof of Antipater's designs. This man +came and brought another deadly potion of the poison of asps and of other +serpents, that if the first potion did not accomplish its end, Pheroras +and his wife might be armed with this also against the king. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 33:1, 7, 8a] +Now Herod's illness became more and more severe because his various +ailments attacked him in his old age and when he was in a melancholy +state, for he was already almost seventy years of age and was depressed by +the calamities that had happened to him in connection with his children, +so that he had no pleasure in life even when he was in health. The fact +that Antipater was still alive aggravated his disease, and he preferred to +destroy him, not incidentally but by crushing him completely. When letters +came from his ambassadors at Rome containing the information that +Antipater was condemned to death, Herod for a little while was restored to +cheerfulness; but presently being overcome by his pains, he endeavored to +anticipate destiny, and this because he was weakened by want of food and +by a convulsive cough. Accordingly he took an apple and asked for a knife, +for he used to pare his apples before eating them. He then looked around +to see that there was no one to hinder him and lifted up his right hand as +if to stab himself. But Achiabus, his cousin, ran up to him and, holding +his hand, hindered him from so doing. Immediately a great lamentation was +raised in the palace, as if the king was dying, and as soon as Antipater +heard that, he took courage and with joy in his looks besought his keepers +for a sum of money to loose him and let him go. But the head keeper of the +prison not only prevented that but also ran and told the king what his +design was. Thereupon the king cried louder than his disease could well +bear, and immediately sent some of his body-guards and had Antipater +slain. He also gave orders to have him buried at Hyrcanium, and altered +his testament again and therein made Archelaus, his eldest son, and the +brother of Antipas, his successor, and made Antipas tetrarch. Herod, after +surviving the death of his son only five days, died, having reigned +thirty-four years, since he had obtained control of affairs; but it was +thirty-seven years since he had been made king by the Romans. + +I. Herod's Character. The character of Herod is comparatively easy to +understand, for it is elemental and one that constantly recurs in history. +We in America are familiar with this type which is represented by our +unscrupulous captains of industry or political bosses--energetic, +physically strong, shrewd, relentless toward all who threaten to thwart +their plans, skilful in organization, not troubled about the rightness of +their methods, provided they escape the toils of the law, able to command +men and successfully to carry through large policies. They are not without +their personal attractions, for it is instinctive to admire that which is +big and able to achieve. Many of them also make permanent contributions to +the upbuilding of the nation. Oriental history is also full of analogies: +Nebuchadrezzar, Cyrus, Alexander, and in more recent times Mohammed Ali of +Egypt. Herod was largely the product of his inheritance and training. His +father, Antipater, had taught him to regard the Jews with secret but +well-concealed contempt, and to hate Aristobulus and his ambitious sons. +His religion was loyalty to Rome, for this meant wealth and success. He +delighted in public approval, and his ambition was to be known as a great +builder. As is true with this type of man, he was a natural tyrant. Power +was his ruling passion, and he regarded with extreme suspicion any who +might take it from him. In this respect the contemporary rulers of the +Roman Empire set an example which he was not slow to follow. His Idumean +and Arabian blood coursed hot and fierce through his veins. It was an age +when moral standards were exceedingly low, and Herod never learned to rule +his passions. The Oriental institution of the harem gave him full license, +and he lived and loved as he fought and reigned--vehemently. Such a man is +especially susceptible to the weaknesses and crimes that come from +jealousy, and the influences of his family and court intensified these +fatal faults. + +Herod is not without his attractive qualities. A man who is able to +execute on a large scale and win the title Great is never commonplace. +In giving Palestine the benefits of a strong and stable government he +performed a real service. In his love for Mariamne and for the sons she +bore him he was mastered by a passion that for a time ennobled him. +Like every man, moreover, who fails to taste the joys of disinterested +service for his fellow-men, Herod paid the bitter penalty for his own +unrestrained selfishness. He awakes pity rather than denunciation. He +never found life, because he never learned to lose his life in the service +of his people. + +II. His Attitude toward Rome. Herod's policy was loyalty at any cost to +the man who at the moment ruled Rome. During the first part of his reign +Antony's power on the eastern Mediterranean was still in the ascendancy. +Notwithstanding the powerful intrigues of Cleopatra, Herod succeeded in +retaining the favor of his patron. When the battle of Actium in 32 B.C. +revealed Antony's weakness, Herod forthwith cast off his allegiance, and +his treachery was one of the chief forces that drove Antony to suicide. +Octavian, who henceforth under the title of Augustus attained to the +complete control of Rome, recognized in Herod a valuable servant. Herod's +title as king of the Jews was confirmed, and Augustus gradually increased +his territory until it included practically all of Palestine with the +exception of certain Greek cities along the coast and east of the Jordan. +Herod's task was to preserve peace in the land thus intrusted to him and +to guard the eastern border of the empire against its Parthian foes. This +task he faithfully performed. + +III. His Building Activity. The spirit and policy of Augustus were +clearly reflected in Herod's court and kingdom. When his position was +firmly established, Herod devoted himself to magnificent building +enterprises. In Antioch, Athens, and Rhodes, he reared great public +buildings. Jerusalem, his capital, was provided with a theatre and +amphitheatre, and other buildings that characterize the Graeco-Roman +cities of the period. The two crowning achievements of Herod's reign were +the rebuilding of Samaria and Caesarea, as its port on the Mediterranean +coast. Both of these cities were renamed in honor of his patron Augustus. +On the acropolis of Samaria he built a huge Roman temple, the foundations +of which have recently been uncovered by the American excavators. The city +itself was encircled by a colonnade, over a mile long, consisting of +pillars sixteen feet in height. Caesarea, like Samaria, was adorned with +magnificent public buildings, including a temple, a theatre, a palace, and +an amphitheatre. The great breakwater two hundred feet wide that ran out +into the open sea was one of the greatest achievements of that building +age. By these acts Herod won still further the favor of Augustus and the +admiration of the Eastern world. + +IV. His Attitude toward His Subjects. The peace which Herod brought to +Palestine was won at the point of the sword. The fear which he felt for +his subjects was surpassed only by the fear which he inspired in them. He +was unscrupulous and merciless in cutting down all possible rivals. The +treacherous murder of Aristobulus III, the grandson of Hyrcanus, and last +of all the murder of the inoffensive and maimed Hyrcanus, are among the +darkest deeds in Herod's bloody reign. The power of the sanhedrin, the +Jewish national representative body, was almost completely crushed. +Following the policy of Augustus, Herod developed a complex system of +spies, or espionage, so that, like an Oriental tyrant, he ruled his +subjects by means of two armies, the spies who watched in secret and the +soldiers who guarded them openly. His lavish building enterprises led him +to load his people with an almost intolerable burden of taxation, and yet +for the common people Herod's reign was one of comparative peace and +prosperity. At last they were delivered from destructive wars and free to +develop the great agricultural and commercial resources of the land. While +outside of Judea Herod built heathen temples, he faithfully guarded the +temple of Jerusalem, and was careful not to override the religious +prejudices of his subjects. His measures to relieve their suffering in +time of famine reveal a generosity which under better environment and +training might have made him a benign ruler. + +V. The Tragedy of His Domestic Life. The weakness of Herod's character +is most glaringly revealed in his domestic life. Undoubtedly he loved the +beautiful Maccabean princess, Mariamne, with all the passion of his +violent nature. It was a type of love, however, which passes over easily +into insensate jealousy. Accordingly, when he left Judea just before the +battle of Actium, and later when he went to meet Octavian, he had his wife +Mariamne shut up in a strong fortress. Unfortunately Herod, like most +despots, was unable to command the services of loyal followers. The +discovery of Herod's suspicions toward her aroused the imperious spirit of +Mariamne. She was also the victim of the plots of his jealous family. +Human history presents no greater tragedy than that of Herod putting to +death the one woman whom he truly loved, and later a victim of his own +suspicions and of the intrigues of his son Antipater, finally obtaining +royal permission to put to death the two noble sons whom Mariamne had +borne to him. It is difficult to find in all history a more pitiable sight +than Herod in his old age, hated by most of his subjects, misled by the +members of his own family, the murderer of those whom he loved best, +finding his sole satisfaction in putting to death his son Antipater, who +had betrayed him, and in planning in his last hours how he might by the +murder of hundreds of his subjects arouse wide-spread lamentation. + +VI. Effects of Herod's Reign. One of the chief results of Herod's policy +and reign was the complete extinction of the Maccabean house. Herod's +motive and method were thoroughly base, but for the Jewish people the +result was beneficial, for it removed one of the most active causes of +those suicidal rebellions that had resulted disastrously for the Jews and +brought them under the suspicion and iron rule of Rome. With his heavy +hand Herod also put a stop to the party strife that had undermined the +native Jewish kingdom and brought loss and suffering to thousands of Jews. +The Pharisees and Sadducees at last were taught the lesson of not +resorting to arms, however widely they might differ. By removing the +Pharisees from public life Herod directed their energies to developing +their ceremonial regulations and to instructing the people. Thus the +influence of the Pharisees became paramount with the great majority of the +Jews. As Herod extended his rule over all Palestine, he brought into close +relations the Jews scattered throughout its territory and so strengthened +the bonds of race and religion. In building the temples he also emphasized +the ceremonial side of their religious life and centralized it so that +even the Jews of the dispersion henceforth paid their yearly temple tax, +made frequent pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and regarded themselves as a part +of the nation. Furthermore, Herod brought peace and prosperity to his +people and gave the Jews an honorable place in the rôle of nations. Thus, +while his career is marked by many unpardonable crimes, he proved on the +whole an upbuilder and a friend rather than a foe of the Jews. + + + +Section CXIX. HEROD'S TEMPLE + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:1a] +Now Herod, in the eighteenth year of his reign, undertook a very great +work, that is, to rebuild the temple of God at his own expense, and to +make it larger in circumference and to raise it to a more magnificent +height. He thought rightly that to bring the temple to perfection would be +the most glorious of all his works, and that it would suffice as an +everlasting memorial. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:2c] +So he prepared a thousand wagons to bring stones, chose ten thousand of +the most skilful workmen, bought a thousand priestly garments for as many +of the priests, and had some of them taught how to work as builders, and +others as carpenters. Then he began to build, but not until everything +was well prepared for the work. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:3a-c] +And Herod took up the old foundations, and laid others. He erected a +temple upon these foundations: its length was one hundred cubits and its +height twenty additional cubits. Now the temple was built of stones that +were white and strong. Each was about twenty-five cubits long, eight +cubits high, and twelve cubits wide. The whole temple enclosure on the +sides was on much lower ground, as were also the royal colonnades; but the +temple itself was much higher, being visible for many furlongs in the +country round about. It had doors at its entrance as high as the temple +itself with lintels over them. These doors were adorned with variegated +veils, into which were interwoven pillars and purple flowers. Over these, +but under the crown-work, was spread out a golden vine, with its branches +hanging far down, the great size and fine workmanship of which was a +marvel to those who saw it. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:3f-l] +Herod also built very large colonnades all around the temple, making them +in proportion. He exceeded all who had gone before him in his lavish +expenditure of money. There was a large wall about the colonnades. The +hill, on which the temple stood, was rocky, ascending gradually toward +the east of the city to its highest point. At the bottom, which was +surrounded by a deep valley, he laid rocks that were bound together with +lead. He also cut away some of the inner parts, carrying the wall to a +great height, until the size and height of the square construction was +immense, and until the great size of the stones in front were visible on +the outside. The inward parts were fastened together with iron and the +joints were preserved immovable for all time. When this work was joined +together to the very top of the hill, he finished off its upper surface +and filled up the hollow places about the wall and made it level and +smooth on top. Within this wall, on the very top, was another wall of +stone that had on the east a double colonnade of the same length as the +wall. Inside was the temple itself. This colonnade faced the door of the +temple and had been decorated by many kings before. Around about the +entire temple were fixed the spoils taken from the barbarous nations. All +these were dedicated to the temple by Herod, who added those that had been +taken from the Arabians. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:4a, d] +Now in an angle on the north side of the temple was built a citadel, well +fortified and of extraordinary strength. This citadel had been built +before Herod by the kings and high priests of the Hasmonean race, and +they called it the Tower. In it were deposited the garments of the high +priest, which he put on only at the time when he was to offer sacrifice. +Herod fortified this tower more strongly than before, in order to guard +the temple securely, and gave the tower the name of Antonia to gratify +Antony, who was his friend and a Roman ruler. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:5a-g] +In the western side of the temple enclosure were four gates; one led to +the king's palace, two others led to the suburbs of the city, and the +fourth led by many steps down into the valley and up on the other side to +the entrance to the other part of the city. The fourth front of the +temple, that on the south, had gates in the middle; before this front were +the three royal colonnades, which reached from the valley on the east to +that on the west. These colonnades were especially remarkable for their +great height, which seemed more because the hill at their base dropped +abruptly into a very deep valley. There were four rows of pillars, placed +side by side. The fourth was built into the stone wall. Each pillar was +about twenty-seven feet high, with a double spiral at the base, and was so +thick that three men joining hands could just reach around it. The number +of the pillars was one hundred and sixty-two. The columns had Corinthian +capitals, which aroused great admiration in those who saw them because of +their beauty. These four rows of pillars made three parallel spaces for +walking. Two of these parallel walks were thirty feet wide, six hundred +and six feet in length, and fifty feet in height, while the middle walk +was half as wide again and twice as high. The roofs were adorned with +deep sculptures in wood, representing many different things; the middle +was much higher than the rest, and the front wall, which was of polished +stone, was adorned with beams set into the stone on pillars. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:5h, i] +The second enclosure, which was reached by ascending a few steps, was not +very far within the first. This inner enclosure had a stone wall for a +partition. Upon this wall it was forbidden any foreigner to enter under +penalty of death. This inner enclosure had on its northern and southern +sides three gates at intervals from each other. On the east, however, +there was one large gate, through which those of us who were ceremonially +pure could enter with our wives. Within this enclosure was another +forbidden to women. Still further in there was a third court, into which +only the priest could go. Within this court was the temple itself; before +that was the altar, upon which we offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings to +God. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:5k, 6] +Herod himself took charge of the work upon the colonnades and outer +enclosures; these he built in eight years. But the temple itself was +built by the priest in a year and five months. Thereupon all the people +were filled with joy and returned thanks, in the first place to God for +the speed with which it was finished, and in the second place for the +zeal which the king had shown. They feasted and celebrated this rebuilding +of the temple; the king sacrificed three hundred oxen to God, as did the +others, each according to his ability. The time of this celebration of the +work about the temple also fell upon the day of the king's inauguration, +which the people customarily observed as a festival. The coincidence of +these anniversaries made the festival most notable. + +I. Herod's Motives. It is not difficult to appreciate the reasons which +influenced Herod to begin the rebuilding of the temple. Chief among these +was doubtless the desire to win still further the approval of his master +Augustus. It is also a characteristic of a man of Herod's type to seek to +gain popular approval by the munificence of his public gifts. Throughout +his reign he was painfully aware of the suspicions of his Jewish subjects. +He trusted, and the event proved the wisdom of his judgment, that he might +conciliate them by giving them that about which their interest most +naturally gathered. The methods which he employed in building the temple +clearly indicate that this was one of his leading motives. He also +gratified that love of construction which had found expression in many of +the cities of Palestine and the eastern Mediterranean. He desired to rear +a great memorial for himself, and in this hope he was not disappointed, +for later generations continued to think of him with gratitude because of +the temple which bore his name. + +II. Preparations for the Rebuilding of the Temple. Herod's temple was +begun in 20 or 19 B.C. and was not entirely completed until a few years +before its destruction in 70 A.D. The task in itself was a difficult one, +for on the north the city prevented the extension of the temple area, and +on the south the hill rapidly descended toward the juncture of the +Tyropoean and Kidron valleys. Herod met the difficulty by filling in to +the south with vast stone constructions which rose to the height of +seventy to ninety feet above the virgin rock. To economize building +materials he built the huge underground vaults and arches known to-day +as Solomon's Stables. Thus with a vast expense of labor and wealth he +extended the temple area to the south until it was double that which +surrounded Solomon's temple. It was also important to regard in every +detail the ceremonial scruples of the Jews. To this end a small army of +priests were trained as masons and carpenters in order to do the work in +the immediate proximity of the temple. To bring the ancient temple into +proportions with the rest of his buildings, a huge porch or facade was +reared in front of it on the east, rising, according to Josephus, to the +height of one hundred and twenty feet. For the roof that covered the +porches he apparently brought cedar from the distant Lebanons. Only with +all the resources of the kingdom at his command was it possible to carry +through this vast enterprise. + +III. The Approaches to the Temple. The entire temple area was +rectangular in form, about twelve hundred feet in length and six hundred +feet wide. Its chief approaches were on the south and west. A small gate +through which sacrificial animals were introduced immediately into the +temple precincts opened from the north. The one gate on the east, which +opened into the Kidron Valley, was apparently opposite the eastern +entrance to the temple. The two gates on the south opened toward the City +of David. The one was a double gate with an incline leading into the +temple area, and the other farther to the east was a triple gate. The main +approaches were from the west. The southern of these was a low viaduct +spanning the Kidron Valley and thence by steps or inclined approach +ascending to the temple area. Remnants of the arches that spanned the +valley at this point and a little farther north are still traceable on the +present walls of the temple area far down in the Tyropoean Valley. The +third approach farther to the north was probably also a viaduct leading +directly into the temple area, while the extreme northern approach, +according to Josephus, led from the palace of Herod directly to the +temple. The entire temple area was encircled by a colonnade. One row of +pillars was built into the high wall that surrounded the area. On the +south was found the royal porch with its four rows of columns, the first +and second about thirty feet apart, the second and third forty-five, and +the third and fourth thirty. The pillars on the sides were about +twenty-seven feet in height, while the two rows in the middle were double +this height. Each of these colonnades was covered with a richly ornamented +cedar roof, thus affording grateful shelter from the sun and storm. The +great space at the south of the temple area was the Court of the Gentiles, +the common park of the city where all classes of its population freely +gathered. The colonnade on the east of the temple area bore the name of +Solomon's Porch, and from it the steps led up to the raised platform of +native rock twenty or more feet above the Court of the Gentiles. Somewhere +to the east of the temple was found the famous Beautiful Gate. The series +of steps led into the so-called Court of the Women. West of this was the +Court of the Israelites, to which only men were admitted. Thence a broad, +high door led to the open space before the temple. Surrounding the altar +and cutting off approach to the temple proper was a stone balustrade. +The space within this was known as the Court of the Priests. Here no +laymen were admitted except as the ritual of private sacrifice required. +These inner courts were surrounded by a high wall and adjoining chambers +for the storing of the paraphernalia used in connection with the +sacrifice and for the residence of the priests. On the southern side of +the temple was the room where the national council, the sanhedrin, held +its public meetings. Four gates on the north and four gates on the +south led from the temple court to the lower Court of the Gentiles. + +IV. The Organization of the Temple Service. At the head of the temple +organization was the high priest. Since the deposition of the ill-fated +Hyrcanus the high priests had been appointed by Herod, for to them was +intrusted large civil as well as religious authority. The one duty which +the high priests could not neglect, unless prevented by illness, was to +perform the sacrifice in behalf of the people and to enter the Holy of +Holies on the day of atonement. Frequently he also offered the sacrifice +or presided at the special services on the sabbath, the new moons, or at +the great annual festivals. Otherwise the temple duties were performed by +the army of priests and assistants who were associated with the temple. +According to Josephus there were twenty thousand priests. They were +divided into twenty-four courses. Each course included certain priestly +families to which were intrusted for a week the performing of the +sacrifices. Corresponding to the twenty-four courses of the priests were +the courses of the people, who were represented by certain of their number +at each of the important services. The priests not only performed the +sacrifices but also guarded the temple treasures and the private wealth +placed in their keeping. The Levites attended to the more menial duties in +connection with the temple service. They aided the priests in preparing +the sacrifices and in caring for the utensils that were used in connection +with the sacrifice. Some of them were doorkeepers. Probably from the +Levites were drafted the temple police at whose head was the captain of +the temple. Their task was to preserve order and to prevent Gentiles from +entering the sacred precincts of the temple. The singers constituted a +third group of Levites. + +Two public services were held each day, the first, at sunrise, consisted +in the offering of a sacrificial ram with the accompaniment of prayer +and song. The same rites were repeated at sunset. After the morning +sacrifice the private offerings were presented. On the sabbaths, new +moons, and great festivals, the number of sacrifices was greatly increased +and the ritual made more elaborate. Upon the Jews, instructed in the +synagogue in the details of the law and taught to regard the temple and +its services with deepest reverence, the elaborate ceremonies of this +great and magnificent sanctuary must have made a profound impression. +As the people streamed up to Jerusalem by thousands at the great feasts, +their attention was fixed more and more upon the ritual and the truths +which it symbolized. Herod's temple also strengthened the authority of the +Jewish hierarchy with the people, and gave the scribes and Pharisees the +commanding position which they later occupied in the life and thought of +Judaism. + + + +Section CXX. THE MESSIANIC HOPES AND THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF JUDAISM + +[Sidenote: Sibyl. Oracles, III 767-784] +Then a kingdom over all mankind for all times shall God raise up, who once +gave the holy law to the pious, for whom he pledged to open every land, +the world and the portals of the blessed, and all joys, and an eternal, +immortal spirit and a joyous heart. And out of every land they shall bring +frankincense and gifts to the house of the great God. And to men there +shall be no other house where men may learn of the world to be than that +which God hath given for faithful men to honor; for mortals shall call it +the temple of the mighty God. And all pathways of the plain and rough +hills and high mountains and wild waves of the deep shall be easy in those +days for crossing and sailing; for perfect peace for the good shall come +on earth. And the prophets of the mighty God shall remove the sword; for +they are the rulers of mortals and the righteous kings. And there shall be +righteous wealth among mankind; for this is the judgment and rule of the +mighty God. + +[Sidenote: Ps. Sol. 7:23-35a] +Behold, O Lord, and raise up to them their king, the son of David, in the +time which thou, O God, knowest, that he may reign over Israel thy +servant; and gird him with strength that he may break in pieces those who +rule unjustly. Purge Jerusalem with wisdom and with righteousness, from +the heathen who trample her down to destroy her. He shall thrust out the +sinners from the inheritance, utterly destroy the proud spirit of the +sinners, and as potters' vessels he shall break in pieces with a rod of +iron all their substance. He shall destroy the ungodly nations with the +word of his mouth, so that at his rebuke the nations will flee before him, +and he shall convict the sinners in the thoughts of their hearts. And he +shall gather together a holy people, whom he shall lead in righteousness; +and shall judge the tribes of the people that has been sanctified by the +Lord his God. And he shall not suffer iniquity to lodge in their midst; +and none that knoweth wickedness shall dwell with them. For he shall take +knowledge of them, that they are all the sons of their God, and shall +divide them upon earth according to their tribes, and the sojourner and +the stranger shall dwell with them no more. He shall judge the nations and +the peoples with the wisdom of his righteousness. And he shall possess the +nations of the heathen to serve him beneath his yoke; and he shall glorify +the Lord in a place to be seen by the whole earth; and he shall purge +Jerusalem and make it holy, even as it was in the days of old. + +[Sidenote: Ps. Sol. 7:35b-46] +And a righteous king and taught of God is he who reigneth over them; and +there shall be no iniquity in his days in their midst, for all shall be +holy and their king is the Lord Messiah. For he shall not put his trust in +horse and rider and bow, nor shall he multiply unto himself gold and +silver for war, nor by ships shall he gather confidence for the day of +battle. The Lord himself is his King, and the hope of him who is strong in +the hope of God. And he shall have mercy upon all the nations that come +before him in fear. For he shall smite the earth with the word of his +mouth, even for evermore. He shall bless the people of the Lord with +wisdom and gladness. He himself also is pure from sin, so that he may rule +a mighty people, and rebuke princes and overthrow sinners by the might of +his word. And he shall not faint all his days, because he leaneth +upon his God; for God shall cause him to be mighty through the spirit +of holiness, and wise through the counsel of understanding, with might and +righteousness. And the blessing of the Lord is with him in might, and his +hope in the Lord shall not faint. And who can stand up against him; he is +mighty in his works and strong in the fear of God, tending the flock of +the Lord with faith and righteousness. And he shall allow none of them to +faint in their pasture. In holiness shall he lead them all, and there +shall be no pride among them that any should be oppressed. + +[Sidenote: Enoch 46:1-3] +And there I saw One who had a head of days, and his head was white like +wool, and with him was another being whose countenance had the appearance +of a man, and his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy +angels. And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the +hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, +and why he went with the Head of Days? And he answered and said to me, +"This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness, with whom dwelleth +righteousness, and who reveals all the treasures of that which is hidden, +because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him, and his lot before the Lord +of Spirits hath surpassed everything in uprightness for ever." + +[Sidenote: Enoch 48:3-6] +Before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of the heaven +were made, his name was named before the Lord of Spirits. He will be a +staff to the righteous on which they will support themselves and not fall, +and he will be the light of the Gentiles, and the hope of those whose +hearts are troubled. All who dwell on earth will fall down and bow the +knee before him and will bless and laud and magnify with song the Lord of +Spirits. And for this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before him +before the creation of the world and for evermore. + +[Sidenote: Enoch 49:27-29] +And he sat on the throne of his glory, and the sum of judgment was +committed to him, and the Son of Man caused the sinners and those who have +led the world astray to pass away and be destroyed from off the face of +the earth. With chains they shall be bound, and in their assembling-place +of destruction shall they be imprisoned, and all their works will vanish +from the face of the earth. And henceforth there will be nothing that is +corruptible; for the Son of Man hath appeared and sitteth on the throne of +his glory, and all evil will pass away before his face and depart; but the +word of the Son of Man will be strong before the Lord of Spirits. + +[Sidenote: Enoch 51:1, 2] +And in those days will the earth also give back those who are treasured up +within it, and Sheol also will give back that which it has received, and +hell will give back that which it owes. And he will choose the righteous +and holy from among them; for the day of their redemption is at hand. + +I. The Growth of Israel's Messianic Hopes. Eternal hopefulness is a +marked characteristic of the Hebrew race. Throughout most of their history +the greater the calamities that overtook them the greater was their +assurance that these were but the prelude to a glorious vindication and +deliverance. This hopefulness was not merely the result of their natural +optimism, but of the belief, formed by their experiences in many a +national crisis, that a God of justice was overruling the events of +history, and that he was working not for man's destruction but for his +highest happiness and well-being. It was their insight into the divine +purpose that led the Hebrew prophets to break away from the popular +traditions that projected backward to the beginnings of history the +realization of man's fondest hopes. Instead they proclaimed that the +golden era lay in the future rather than the past. The hopes of Israel's +prophets regarding that future took many different forms. Often the form +was determined by the earlier experiences of the nation. At many periods +the people looked for a revival of the glories of the days of David. In +later days, when they were oppressed by cruel persecutions, they revived +in modified form the dreams that had been current in the childhood of the +Semitic race, and thought of a supernatural kingdom that was to be +inaugurated after Jehovah and his attendant angels, like Marduk in the old +Babylonian tradition of the creation, had overcome Satan and the fallen +angels. Israel's messianic hopes were also shaped and broadened by the +teachings of the great ethical prophets. A growing realization of the +imperfections of the existing order led them to look ever more expectantly +to the time when the prophetic ideals of justice and mercy would be +realized in society, as well as in the character of the individual. These +different expectations regarding the future are broadly designated as +messianic prophecies. The word "messianic," like its counterpart "Messiah" +(Greek, "Christ"), comes from the Hebrew word meaning to smear or to +anoint. It designated in ancient times the weapons consecrated for battle +or the king chosen and thus symbolically set aside to lead the people as +Jehovah's representative, or a priest called to represent the people in +the ceremonial worship. The common underlying idea in the word is that of +consecration to a divine purpose. In its narrower application it describes +simply the agent who is to realize God's purpose in history, but in its +broader and prevailing usage it designates all prophecies that described +the ideal which Jehovah is seeking to perfect in the life of Israel and of +humanity, and the agents or agencies, whether individual or national, +material or spiritual, natural or supernatural, by which he is to realize +that ideal. + +II. The Kingly, Nationalistic Type of Messianic Hope. The messianic +prophecies of the Old Testament seem only confusing and contradictory +until the three distinct types are recognized. These different types of +messianic prophecy naturally shade into each other, and yet they are +fundamentally distinct and were represented throughout Israel's history by +different classes of thinkers. The first is the kingly, nationalistic type +of hope. It came into existence as soon as Israel became a nation, and may +be traced in the Balaam oracles in Numbers 24:17-19, where the seer is +represented as beholding Israel's victorious king smiting its foes, the +Moabites and Edomites, and ruling gloriously over a triumphant people. It +is echoed in II Samuel 7:10-16 in the promise that the house of David +should rule peacefully and uninterruptedly through succeeding generations. +Ezekiel, in his picture of the restored nation in 37:21-28, declares in +the name of Jehovah that "my servant David shall be king over them and +they shall dwell in the land that I have given to my servant Jacob wherein +their fathers dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, they and their sons +forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever." In such +passages as Isaiah 9 and 11 the Davidic ruler is represented as reigning +not despotically or selfishly, but in accordance with the principles of +justice and mercy, bringing peace to all his subjects. As has already been +noted, in the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah and in connection with +the rebuilding of the second temple Israel's kingly, nationalistic hope +reached its culmination, but through the victories of Darius was rudely +cast to the ground (Section XCV:vi). For the next three centuries and a +half, throughout the Persian and Greek periods, this type of Israel's +messianic hope was apparently silenced. The Maccabean struggles and +victories, however, and the oppressive rule of Rome stirred this +smouldering hope into a flame and gave it wide currency among the people +at the beginning of the Christian era. Again the nation came to the +forefront. In the beautiful prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, 10, which +apparently comes from the earlier part of the Maccabean era, is found the +noble picture of a peasant king, humble yet victorious, establishing with +the sword a world-wide kingdom. Memories of the glorious achievements of +the Maccabean leaders kindled the popular imagination. When in 63 B.C. +Rome's iron hand closed upon Palestine, the eyes of the Jews looked +expectantly for the advent of a champion like David of old, who would +crush the heathen, convict the sinful Jews, and gather the faithful +people, ruling over them in justice and with tender care. These hopes are +most plainly expressed in the Psalms of Solomon, which were written near +the beginning of the Roman period. These expectations in their more +material form inspired the party of the Zelots during the earlier part of +the first Christian century repeatedly to unsheathe the sword in the vain +effort to overthrow Rome and to establish at once the rule of the Messiah. +It was because this type of hope was so strong in the minds of the common +people that the false messiahs who rose from time to time were able +quickly to gather thousands about them in the vain expectation that the +moment of deliverance had at last arrived. + +III. The Apocalyptic, Catastrophic Type of Messianic Hope. Another class +of thinkers in Israel looked not for a temporal but for a supernatural +kingdom. It is usually described in the symbolic language of the +apocalypse. The inauguration of this kingdom was not dependent upon man's +activity but solely upon the will of God. The exact time and manner of its +institution was clothed in mystery. Traces of this belief are found in +the references in Amos to the popular expectations regarding the day of +Jehovah. Evidently the Northern Israelites lived in anticipation of a +great universal judgment day, in which their heathen foes would be +suddenly destroyed and they themselves would be exalted. It was a belief +which Amos and the ethical prophets who followed him strongly combated, +for they were fully aware of the fundamental weakness in the apocalyptic +or catastrophic type of prophecy: it took away from the nation and +individual all personal responsibility. Furthermore, its roots went back +to the old Semitic mythology. This type of hope, however, was too firmly +fixed in the popular mind to be dispelled even by the preaching of +Israel's greatest prophets. As a result of the calamities that gathered +about the fall of the Hebrew state it was revived. It is found in Ezekiel, +Zechariah, and Joel. Each of these prophets looked forward to the time +when Jehovah would miraculously overthrow their heathen foes, restore his +scattered people, and establish for them a world-wide, eternal kingdom. In +the closing chapters of the book of Daniel this form of belief attains its +fullest expression in the Old Testament. In the Similitudes of Enoch +(37-71), which come either from the latter part of the Maccabean era or +else from the days of Herod, these messianic hopes are still further +developed. Instead of Israel's guardian angel Michael, represented as +coming on the clouds from heaven and in appearance like a son of man, a +heavenly Messiah is introduced. He is known by the title of the Messiah, +the Elect One, and the Son of Man (probably taken from the book of +Daniel). In Enoch the term Son of Man has evidently become, as in IV +Esdras, the title of a personal Messiah. He is described as pre-existent +and gifted with the divine authority. When he appears, the dead are to +rise, and angels, as well as men, are to be tried before his tribunal. The +sinners and the fallen angels he will condemn to eternal punishment. All +sin and wrong shall be driven from the earth. Heaven and earth shall be +transformed, and an eternal kingdom shall be established in which all the +righteous, whether dead or living, shall participate. This was evidently +the type of messianic hope held by the Pharisees as well as the Essenes. +As the result of the teaching of the Pharisees it was held widely by the +Jews of the first Christian century. It was clearly in the minds of Jesus' +disciples when he made his last journey to Jerusalem. It was both the +background and the barrier to all his work. It is the key to the +interpretation of Paul's conception of the Christ, or the Messiah, for he +had been educated a Pharisee. This apocalyptic type of messianic hope +powerfully influenced the life and thought of the early Christian Church +and even permeated the Gospel narratives. The question of how far Jesus +himself was influenced by it is one of the most vital and difficult +problems of early Christian history. + +IV. The Ethical and Universalistic Type of Messianic Prophecy. +Far removed from the kingly, messianic hopes of the people and the +supernatural visions of the apocalypses were the plain, direct, practical +ideals of Israel's great ethical prophets. Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and +Jeremiah all united in declaring that the realization of Jehovah's purpose +in history depended primarily upon the response of his people. They +regarded the kingdom of God as a natural growth. It represented the +gradual transformation of the characters of men under the influence +of God's truth and spirit working in their minds. They hoped and labored +to see the nation Israel living in full accord with the demands of +justice, mercy, and service. The II Isaiah, under the influences which +grew out of the destruction of the temple and the closer contact with the +heathen world, voiced this type of messianic hope in its broadest and +most spiritualized form. He declared that the Israelites had been called +and trained for a unique service and that that service was to be performed +by them quietly and unostentatiously, as prophets and teachers of men. He +also presented most clearly Israel's missionary ideal, and showed that its +task was not to destroy but to bring light to the Gentile world. He and +the more enlightened prophets who followed him saw an ever-widening +kingdom established without the aid of the sword and freed from all racial +barriers--the eternal, universal, spiritual kingdom of God on earth. It is +evident that in contrast to the other types of messianic prophecy this +form was comprehensible, practicable, and alone capable of realization. + +V. The Messianic Hopes of Judaism at the Beginning of the Christian Era. +Unfortunately, as a result of the varied experiences through which Judaism +passed in the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era, its +ethical and universal messianic hopes were largely eclipsed. The ideal of +the suffering servant appears to have been almost forgotten. As the later +Jews read the earlier scriptures of their race in order to determine what +the future held in store for them, they fixed their eyes upon the +kingly and apocalyptic prophecies. Regarding all scriptures as equally +authoritative, they attempted the impossible task of blending these +fundamentally different types of prophecy. The result was that their +beliefs became, indeed, a complex labyrinth with paths leading in opposite +directions. Later events have proved beyond question that these popular +types were the dreams of religious enthusiasts rather than true pictures +of the way in which the divine purpose was to be perfected in human +history, and yet the apocalyptic type of prophecy was not without its +significance. It tended to correct the narrow national hopes of the Jews +and to lift them to the consideration of that which was spiritual and +eternal. It also led them to appreciate the unity of all history, and in +times of distress it kept alive their faith in a God who was wisely +guiding their destinies. Underlying all these different types of prophecy +is the appreciation of the broad truth that God was working out in the +lives of men and nations a definite purpose, and that that purpose was +good, and that the God back of all history was a God not only of power but +also of love. It was inevitable that the ethical and more spiritual +expectations of the early Hebrew prophets should find the fullest response +in the heart and life of the Great Teacher. In the face of opposition from +the leaders of his race, from the multitudes that gathered about him, and +even from the disciples who loved and followed him, he proclaimed that the +kingdom of God would not come by observation, but that its growth would be +natural and gradual like that of the mustard seed, that it was not +external but within the hearts of men, that membership in that kingdom +depended not upon the arbitrary will of God, but upon men's acting in +accord with that will in the every-day relations of life. Thus Jesus +prepared the way for the complete fulfillment of all that was noblest and +best in Israel's messianic hopes, and in his character and teachings far +surpassed the highest expectations of the inspired teachers of his race. + + + +APPENDIX + +I + +A PRACTICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY + +Books for Constant Reference. The complete text of the biblical writings +of the post-exilic period are found in Volumes II to VI of the _Student's +Old Testament_. A careful, thorough résumé of the history is contained in +Riggs's _History of the Jewish People during the Maccabean and Roman +Periods_. Professor Bevan, in his _Jerusalem Under the High Priests_, +presents, especially from the ecclesiastical point of view, a fresh +survey of the history during the Greek and Maccabean periods. The +geographical background may be studied either in George Adam Smith's +_Historical Geography of the Holy Land_ or in Kent's _Biblical Geography +and History_. + +Additional Books of Reference: Introductions and Commentaries. In +addition to the standard Old Testament introductions by McFadyen, Cornill, +and Driver, the collection of monographs in Professor Torrey's _Ezra +Studies_ will be found especially valuable. The introduction, as well as +the critical notes, in the brief yet scholarly volumes of the _New Century +Bible_ are exceedingly useful for the general reader. More fundamental are +the volumes in the _International Critical Commentary._ The introductions +to the different books in Hastings' _Dictionary of the Bible_ and the +_Encyclopedia Biblica_ are clear, concise, and written from the modern +point of view. + +Jewish and Contemporary History. The thorough student of this period +will find a wealth of suggestive material in Smith's _Old Testament +History_ and in Schürer's monumental work, _A History of the Jewish People +in the Time of Jesus Christ_. The later development of Israel's religion +is presented in Marti's _Religion of the Old Testament_, in the first part +of Toy's _Judaism and Christianity_, in Bousset's _Judaism_, and in +Charles's _Eschatology, Hebrew, Jewish and Christian_. An excellent survey +of the contemporary history of the period is to be found in the _History +of the Ancient World_ by Goodspeed or in Meyer's _Ancient History._ A more +detailed treatment of the contemporary history will be found in the +_History of Greece_ by Curtius or by Holm. The _History of Rome_ is fully +traced in the monumental works of Mommsen or Gibbon or the more recent +study in _The Greatness and Decline of Rome_ by Ferrero. Briefer but +equally reliable histories of Rome are those by Botsford, Horton, and +Seignobos. + + + +II + +GENERAL QUESTIONS AND SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH + +The General Questions, as in the preceding volumes, follow the main +divisions of the book, and are intended to guide the student in +collecting and co-ordinating the more important facts presented in the +biblical text or in the notes. + +The Subjects for Special Research are intended to guide the reader to +further study in related lines, and, by means of detailed references, to +introduce him to the most helpful passages in the best English books of +reference. In class-room work many of these topics may be profitably +assigned for personal research and report. The references are to pages, +unless otherwise indicated. Ordinarily, several parallel references are +given that the student may be able to utilize the book at hand. More +detailed classified bibliographies will be found in the appendices of +Volumes II-VI of the author's _Student's Old Testament_. + + +THE EXILE AND REVIVAL OF THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +Section XCI. The Jews in Palestine and Egypt. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. What did the final destruction of Jerusalem in 586 mean to the +Jewish people? 2. Describe the structure and contents of the book of +Lamentations. 3. Its probable authorship and date. 4. Its theme and +historical value. 5. The condition of the Jews who were left in Palestine. +6. The numbers of the Jews in Egypt. 7. The life of the Jewish colony at +Elephantine. 8. The character and service of the +temple of Jahu. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The literary history of the book of +Lamentations. McFadyen, _Introd._, 294-7; Driver, _Lit. of the O.T._, +456-65. 2. History of Egypt from 600 to 560 B.C. Breasted, _Hist, of the +Ancient Egyptians_, 404-18. 3. The discoveries at Elephantine. Sayce and +Cowley, _Aramaic Papyri Discovered at Assuan_; Sachau, _Drei aramäische +Papyrururkunden aus Elephantine_. + +Section XCII. Ezekiel's Message to His Scattered Countrymen. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the situation of the Jewish colony in Babylon. +2. Their opportunities and occupations. 3. Their religious life. 4. The +prophecies of Ezekiel after the destruction of Jerusalem. 5. Meaning of +his description of the valley of dry bones in chapter 37. 6. His +conception of the way in which the scattered exiles were to be restored. +7. His plan of the restored temple. 8. The meaning and significance of +this detailed plan. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Babylon under Nebuchadrezzar. +Goodspeed, _Hist. of Babs. and Assyrs_., 336-50; _En. Bib_., III, +3369-71. 2. The religious institutions of the Babylonians. Goodspeed, +_Hist. of Babs. and Assyrs._, 351-66; Jastrow, _Relig. of Bab. and +Assyr._; Johns, _Bab. and Assyr. Laws, Letters, and Contracts_, 208-17. +3. Influence of Babylonian institutions upon Ezekiel. Toy, _Ezek._ +(Introd.). + +Section XCIII. The Closing Years of the Babylonian Rule. GENERAL +QUESTIONS. 1. Describe the different influences that transformed the Jews +into a literary people. 2. The nature of their literary activity. +3. The Old Testament books that were written or re-edited during this +period. 4. The general character of the Holiness Code. 5. The national +hopes inspired by the liberation of Jehoiachin. 6. The character of +Nabonidus. 7. The effects of his rule. 8. The early conquests of Cyrus. +9. His capture of Babylon. 10. His policy toward conquered peoples. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Contents and history of the Holiness +Code. _St. O.T._, IV, 36-42; McFadyen, _Introd. to O.T._, 31-4. 2. The +last decade of Babylonian history. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Babs. and +Assyrs._, 367-76; Kent, _Hist. J.P._, 66-77. 3. Character and reign +of Cyrus. Herodotus, I, 95, 108-30, 177-214; Hastings, _D.B._, I, +541-2; Rawlinson, _Anc. Monarchies_, IV, VII; Duncker, _Hist. of +Antiq._, V. + +Section XCIV. The Rebuilding of the Temple. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +Describe the contents and literary history of the books of Ezra and +Nehemiah. 2. Their authorship. 3. The Chronicler's peculiar ideas +regarding the restoration. 4. Revolutions in the Persian Empire that +aroused the Jews to action. 5. Haggai's appeal to the Judean community. +6. Measures taken to stop the rebuilding of the temple. 7. Meaning of the +rebuilding of the temple to the Jewish race. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The historical value of Ezra +and Nehemiah. Torrey, _Composition and Historical Value of Ezra and +Nehemiah,_ or _Ezra Studies_, 62-251. 2. The first two decades of Persian +history. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Ancient World_, 60-2; Ragozin, _The Story +of Media_, II; Meyer, _Anc. Hist_., 88-93. 3. Evidence that there was +no general return of the Jews in 536 B.C. Kent, _Hist. J.P._, 126-36; +Torrey, _Ezra Studies_, 297-307. + +Section XCV. Zechariah's Visions and Encouraging Addresses. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the evidence that Zechariah wrote from the point +of view of a priest. 2. The structure and contents of his book. 3. The +problems of the Judean community. 4. Their hopes of a national revival. +5. Zechariah's assurances. 6. The steps that were taken to make Zerubbabel +king. 7. Evidence that the popular kingly hopes were disappointed. +8. The content of Zechariah's later sermons. 9. The hopes which he +inspired in his fellow-countrymen. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Origin of the apocalyptic type of +prophecy. _Jewish Encyc._, I, 669-73; _St. O.T._, Ill, 42-3; Hastings, +_D. B., I_, 109-10. 2. The popular messianic hopes of the period. _St. +O.T._, III, 44-5, 472-86. 3. The establishment of Darius' authority. +Herodotus, II, 67-86; Ragozin, _Media_, XIII; Hastings, _D. B._, I, 558. + +Section XCVI. Israel's Training and Destiny. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the conditions in the Judean community during the seventy +years following the rebuilding of the temple. 2. The forces that kept +alive the spiritual life of the Jews. 3. The indications that Isaiah 40-66 +were written in Palestine. 4. The probable date of these chapters. +5. Their distinctive literary characteristics. 6. The purpose for which +they were written. + +SUBJECTS FOE SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The organization of the Persian +Empire under Darius. Goodspeed, _Hist, of Anc. World_, 62-3; Ragozin, +_Media_, 384-91; Sayce, _Anc. Empires_, 247-50; _En. Bib_., I, 1016-7. +2. The Persian invasions of Europe. Goodspeed, _Anc. Hist._, 122-8; +Herodotus, IV, 1-142; Ragozin, _Media_, 412-29; Bury, _Hist. of Greece_, +265-96; Botsford, _Hist. of Greece_, 127-36. 3. Contents and literary +characteristics of Isaiah 40-48. _St. O. T_., Ill, 27-30; Cobb, in +_Jour, of Bib. Lit_., XXVII, 48-64; Box, _Isaiah_, 179-237. + +Section XCVII. Conditions and Problems in the Jewish Community. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: I. What is the probable date of the book of +Malachi? 2. Describe its teachings regarding the temple service. +3. The need of a great moral awakening. 4. The doubts expressed by the +faithful in the community. 5. The encouraging promises held out to them. +6. Presentation of the problem of the faithful in the psalms of the +period. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Contemporary Greek history and +literature. Goodspeed, _Anc. Hist._, 159-96; Bury, _Hist. of Greece_, +507-90; Jebb, _Greek Lit._, 109-20. 2. The earliest psalms. Briggs, +_Psalms_, I, LXXXIX-XCII; Cobb, _Bk. of Pss._, XI-XIV; Driver, _Lit. +of the O.T._, 371-2; McFadyen, _Introd. to O.T._, 238-50. 3. Psalm +literature among contemporary peoples. Breasted, _Hist. of Anc. +Egyptians_, 273-7; Jastrow, _Relig. of Bab. and Assyr._, 294-327. + +Section XCVIII. The Problems and Teachings of the Book of Job. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the structure of the book of Job. +2. The different literary units which have entered into it. 3. The +probable dates of these different sections. 4. Contents of the original +prose story. 5. The theme and contents of the great poem in 3-31, +38:1-42:6. 6. The different lines of progress in Job's thought. 7. The +meaning of the speeches of Jehovah. 8. The contribution of the book to the +solution of the problem of evil. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The Babylonian prototype of Job. +Jastrow, in _Jour. of Bib. Lit._, XXV, Pt. II, 135-91. 2. Comparison of +Job with other great skeptical dramas. Owen, _The Five Great Skeptical +Dramas of History_. 3. The modern explanations of the problem of evil. +Royce, _Studies of Good and Evil_. + +Section XCIX. The Training and Mission of the True Servant of Jehovah. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the different characteristics of +Jehovah's servant in Isaiah 49-53. 2. What was the prophet's purpose in +presenting this vivid portrait of Jehovah's ideal servant? 3. Describe the +class to whom the prophet appealed. 4. His interpretation of the task of +the servant. 5. His training. 6. The different methods whereby he was to +accomplish his mission. 7. Did the prophet have in mind an individual, a +class, or simply an ideal character? 8. In what ways were his predictions +fulfilled? 9. In what sense is his ideal of service of present-day +application? + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The meaning and history of the +different messianic titles. _St. O.T._, III, 39, 47; _En. Bib._, III, +3057-61. 2. Contents and unity of Isaiah 49-55. _St. O.T._, III, 28-30; +Box, _Isaiah_, 238-83. 3. How far was Jesus influenced by the ideal of the +suffering servant? + +Section C. Nehemiah's Work in Rebuilding the Walls of Jerusalem. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. What is the historical value of Nehemiah's +memoirs? 2. In what way was he informed of conditions in Jerusalem? +3. How did he secure permission to go to Jerusalem? 4. Describe the +obstacles that there confronted him. 5. His plan of work. 6. His +diplomacy in dealing with his opponents. 7. The task of rebuilding +the walls. 8. Their dedication. 9. The significance of the rebuilding +of the walls. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Contemporary events in Greek history. +Goodspeed, _Anc. Hist._, 141-72; Bury, _Hist, of Greece_, 336-75; +Botsford, _Hist, of Greece_, 151-85. 2. The topography of Jerusalem. +Kent, _Sib. Geog. and Hist._, 64-72; Smith, _Jerusalem_, I, I-249; +Hastings, _D.B._, II, 591-6. 3. Recent excavations at Jerusalem. +_Jerusalem Vol. of P. E. F. Memoirs_; Bliss and Dickey, _Excavations at +Jerusalem_; Smith, _Jerusalem_, I. + +Section CI. Nehemiah's Social and Religious Reforms. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the cruel oppression of the leaders of the Jewish +community. 2. The effect upon the mass of the people. 3. The way in which +Nehemiah corrected these evils. 4. The evidence for and against the +historical accuracy of Nehemiah 13. 5. Nehemiah's measures to improve the +temple service. 6. His emphasis upon Sabbath observance. 7. His opposition +to foreign marriages. 8. The importance of his work as a whole. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: I. In what respects was Nehemiah a worthy +successor of the earlier Hebrew prophets? 2. The later Jewish laws +regarding the Sabbath. _St. O.T._, IV, 263-4. 3. Regarding marriage with +foreigners. _St. O.T._, IV, 54-5. + +Section CII. Traditional Account of the Adoption of the Priestly Law. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the present literary form of the +tradition regarding Ezra. 2. Its probable history. 3. Its historical +value. 4. The facts underlying it. 5. Origin of the later priestly laws. +6. Their general purpose. 7. Their more important regulations. 8. Their +transforming influence upon the Jewish community. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The difficulties in accepting the +Ezra narrative as strictly historical. Torrey, _Ezra Studies_, 208-78; +Smith, _O.T. Hist._, 390-8. 2. History of the later priestly codes. _St. +O.T._, IV, 43-8. 3. Income and duties of the priests and Levites according +to the late priestly codes. _St. O.T._, IV, 187-92, 197-202. + +Section CIII. The Jewish State during the Last Century of Persian Rule. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: I. Describe the indications that the Judean community +enjoyed unusual prosperity during the half-century following the work of +Nehemiah. 2. The effect of this prosperity upon the intellectual life of +the Jews. 3. The growth of the Psalter during this period. 4. The date of +the prophecy of Joel. 5. Its theme. 6. The hopes of the Jews at this time. +7. Nature of the rule of the high priests. 8. The evidence regarding the +date of the Samaritan schism. 9. Its causes. 10. Its effect upon Judaism. + +SUBJECTS FOB SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. History of the Persian Empire between +400 and 332 B.C. Cox, _The Greeks and the Persians_. 2. Contemporary +events in Greek history. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Anc. World_, 173-204; Meyer, +_Anc. Hist._, 244-74. 3. The history of the Samaritans. _En. Bib._, IV, +4256-64; Montgomery, _The Samaritans_. + + +THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN AGE + +Section CIV. The Jews under Their Greek Rulers. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the character of the Jewish historian, Josephus. 2. The extent +of his histories. 3. Their historical value. 4. Alexander's Asiatic +conquests. 5. His attitude toward the Jews. 6. The Jews in Alexandria. +7. The general character of the rule of the Ptolemies. 8. Their policy in +the treatment of the Jews. 9. Fortunes of the Jews of Palestine during the +first century of Greek rule. 10. The Seleucid kingdom with its capital at +Antioch. 11. The subjugation of Palestine by the Seleucids. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Josephus's rank as a historian. +Hastings, _D.B._, extra Vol., 461-73. 2. Alexander the Great. Mahaffy, +_The Story of Alexander's Empire_, 1-11; Hogarth, _Philip and Alexander +of Macedon_; Wheeler, _Alexander the Great_. 3. Character of the +Ptolemaic rulers. Bevan, _Jerusalem under the High Priests_, 21-30; +Mahaffy, _The Ptolemaic Dynasty_, Vol. IV of Petrie's _Hist. of Egypt_. + +Section CV. The Wise and Their Teachings. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the literary structure of the book of Proverbs. 2. The +evidence that it is the work of many different wise men. 3. The probable +date of the different collections. 4. The references to the wise in the +pre-exilic literature. 5. The influence of the Babylonian exile upon their +activity. 6. The reasons why they attained their greatest prominence in +the Greek period. 7. The character of the wise. 8. Their aims. 9. Their +methods. 10. Their important social and moral teachings. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The book of Proverbs. McFadyen, +_Introd. to O.T._, 256-63; Driver, _L. O.T._, 392-407; Toy, _Proverbs_, +Introd. 2. The sages of Egypt and Greece. The Wisdom of Ptah-hotep, in +the _Wisdom of the East Series_; Symonds, _Studies of the Greek Poets_, I, +161-273; Jebb, _Classical Greek Poetry_. 3. The social teachings of the +book of Proverbs. _St. O. T_., VI, _in loco_; Kent, _The Wise Men of +Ancient Israel and Their Proverbs_, 100-14, 158-75; Root, _The Profit of +the Many_, 17-126. + +Section CVI. The Different Currents of Thought in Judaism during the +Greek Period. GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Why were there many different +currents of thought in Judaism during this period? 2. Describe the +character and aims of the ritualists. 3. Of the legalists. 4. Of those who +laid especial emphasis upon the teaching of the earlier prophets. 5. The +evidence regarding the date of the book of Jonah. 6. The meaning of the +story. 7. Its teaching. 8. The history of the book of Ecclesiastes. 9. Its +point of view. 10. Its philosophy of life. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The Chronicler's conception of the +origin of Israel's institutions. Curtis, _Chronicles_, Introd.; Torrey, +_Ezra Studies_, 208-38; _St. O. T_., II, 22-8. 2. Greek myths parallel to +the story of Jonah. _En. Bib_., II, 2568-9; Taylor, _Primitive Culture_, +I, 306. 3. A comparison of Koheleth's philosophy and teaching with those +of the author of Omar Khayyam. + +Section CVII. The Teachings of Jesus the Son of Sirach. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the evidence regarding the date of Jesus the son +of Sirach. 2. The character of the man. 3. The history of his writings. +4. The nature of the Greek translation. 5. The recovery of the Hebrew +original. 6. Its picture of the Jewish life of the period. 7. Its +description of the wise men and scribes. 8. Its social teachings. +9. Its religious teachings. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The Hebrew fragments of Ben Sira. +Cowley and Neubauer, _The Original Heb. of a Portion of Ecclus._; +Schechter and Taylor, _The Wisdom of Ben-Sira;_ Hastings, _D.B._, IV, +546-9; _En. Bib._, II, 1166-9. 2. The character of Ben Sira as revealed +in his writings. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 550; _En. Bib._, II, 1175-8; Bevan, +_Jerusalem under the High Priests_, 49-51. 3. A comparison of the moral +and social teachings of Ben Sira with those of the book of Proverbs. +Bevan, _Jerusalem under the High Priests_, 52-68. + +Section CVIII. The Causes of the Maccabean Struggle. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the general character of I Maccabees. 2. Its +historical value. 3. II Maccabees. 4. The attractive and aggressive +qualities in the contemporary Hellenic culture. 5. Its superiority to +the teachings of Judaism. 6. The elements in which Judaism was superior. +7. The conquest of Hellenism in the ranks of Judaism. 8. The influence of +the apostate Jewish high priests. 9. The history and character of +Antiochus Epiphanes. 10. Reasons why he attempted to hellenize the Jews. +11. The measures which he adopted. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The characteristics of Greek religion. +Gulick, _Life of the Ancient Greeks_, 262-83; Dyer, _The Gods in Greece_; +Goodspeed, _Hist. of Anc. World_, 148-51; Hastings, _D.B._, extra Vol., +109-56. 2. The historical value of II Maccabees. Hastings, _D.B._, III, +189-92; _En. Bib._, III, 2869-79. 2. Contemporary portraits of Antiochus +Epiphanes. _Livy_, XLI-XLV; _Polybius_, XXVI-XXXI; _Appian, Syr._, 45, 66; +_Justin_, XXIV, 3. + +Section CIX. The Effect of Persecution on the Jews. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the uprising led by Mattathias. 2. The methods adopted by the +rebels. 3. The origin and political principles of the Hasideans or Pious. +4. The evidence regarding the date of the visions in Daniel 7-12. 5. Their +literary character. 6. Their meaning and aims. 7. The identification of +the four heathen kingdoms. 8. The message of hope presented in these +chapters. 9. Its effect upon the persecuted Jews. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The town of Modein. Kent, _Bib. Geog. +and Hist._, 210-2; Smith, _Hist. Geog. of Holy Land_, 212. 2. Contents and +literary history of the book of Daniel. McFadyen, _Introd. to O.T._, +316-31; Driver, _L. O.T._, 438-515; Hastings, _D.B._, I, 552-7. + +Section CX. The Victories that Gave the Jews Religious Liberty. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the characteristics that fitted Judas to be a +great political leader. 2. The odds against which he and the Jews +contended. 3. The physical contour of western Palestine. 4. The defeat of +Apollonius. 5. Of the Syrian army under Seron. 6. The details of the +battle of Emmaus. 7. The significance of the victory at Bethsura. 8. The +restoration of the temple service. 9. The effect of the persecutions upon +the Jews. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Greek military equipment and methods +of warfare. Gulick, _Life of the Anc. Greeks_, 188-205. 2. The western +headlands of Judah. Kent, _Bib. Geog. and Hist._, 40-2; Smith, _Hist. +Geog. of Holy Land_, 286-320. 3. Comparison of Judas with other great +military commanders. Conder, _Judas Maccabaeus_; Bevan, _Jer. under the +High Priests_, 97-9; Smith, _O.T. Hist._, 465. + +Section CXI. The Long Contest for Political Independence. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the attitude of the heathen nations toward the +Jews. 2. The political problems that confronted them. 3. The Jewish +attitude toward the heathen reflected in the book of Esther. 4, Judas's +east-Jordan campaign. 5. Results of the battle of Beth-zacharias. 6. The +re-establishment of Syrian authority. 7. The victories over Nicanor. +8. The causes which resulted in the death of Judas. 9. Conditions in the +Syrian court which gave the Jews their great opportunity. 10. The +character and policy of Jonathan. 11. The honors and authority granted him +by the rival Syrian kings. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The history and value of the book of +Esther. Paton, _Esther_; Hastings, _D. B., I_, 773-6; _En. Bib._, II, +1400-5. 2. The Syrian history of the period. Bevan, _Jer. under the High +Priests_, 100-6; Smith, _O.T. Hist._, 465-9. 3. The scenes of Judas's +east-Jordan campaign. Kent, _Bib. Geog. and Hist._, 214-7. + +Section CXII. Peace and Prosperity under Simon. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the political intrigues which resulted in the death of +Jonathan. 2. The character and rule of Simon. 3. His extension of the +Jewish territory. 4. The authority granted him by the Jews. 5. His +development of the temple service. 6. The causes that led to the +completion of the Psalter. 7. The religious life and faith reflected in +the later psalms. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Compare the characters of the three +brothers, Judas, Jonathan, and Simon. 2. The guilds of temple singers. +Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 92-3; Wellhausen, _The Book of Psalms_ (in _S.B. +O.T._), 217-9. 3. The evidence that many of the psalms come from the +Maccabean period. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 152-3; Cheyne, _Origin of the +Psalter_. + +Section CXIII. The Rule of John Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the intrigue that resulted in the death of Simon. +2. The Syrian invasion under Antiochus Sidetes. 3. The character of John +Hyrcanus. 4. His military policy. 5. His conquests in the north and +south. 6. The reasons why he lost the support of the Pharisees. 7. The +significant events in the reign of Aristobulus. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Contemporary conditions in the Syrian +kingdom. _En. Bib._, IV, 4356-60; Gardner, _The Seleucid Kings of Syria_. +2. The history of the Idumeans. Hastings, _D.B._, I, 644-6; _En. Bib._, +II, 1181-8; Buhl, _Edomites._ 3. Compare the policy of John Hyrcanus with +that of David. + +Section CXIV. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: I. Describe the influences that gave rise to the party of +the Pharisees. 2. Of the Sadducees. 3. The characteristics and beliefs +of the Pharisees. 4. Of the Sadducees. 5. The political influence of +these parties. 6. The characteristics of the sect of the Essenes. +7. Their beliefs. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The party of the Pharisees. Hastings, +_D.B._, III, 821-8; _En. Bib._, IV, 4321-9. 2. The Sadducees. Hastings, +_D.B._, IV, 349-51; _En. Bib._, IV, 4234-40. 3. The points of contact +between Essenism and Christianity. Hastings, _D.B._, I, 767-72; _En. +Bib._, II, 1396-1400; Thomson, _Books which Influenced Our Lord_, 75-122; +Cheyne, _Origin of the Psalter_, 418-21, 446-9. + +Section CXV. The Life and Faith of the Jews of the Dispersion. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the life of the Jews in Antioch and Asia Minor. +2. The privileges granted them by the Syrian king. 3. The number of the +Jews in Egypt. 4. The privileges granted them by the Ptolemies. 5. The +founding of the Jewish temple at Leontopolis. 6. Its significance. 7. The +occasion of the translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek. 8. The +important apologetic Jewish writings. 9. The theme and date of the Wisdom +of Solomon. 10. Its important teachings. 11. Its reflections of Greek and +Jewish thought. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Characteristics and value of the Greek +translation of the Old Testament. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 864-6; Swete, +_Introd. to the Old Testament in Greek_; _En. Bib._, IV, 5016-22. 2. The +history and contents of the Wisdom of Solomon. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, +928-31; _En. Bib._, IV, 5336-49; Deane, _The Book of Wisdom_, 1-41; Gregg, +_The Wisd. of Sol._ + +Section CXVI. The Decline of the Maccabean Kingdom. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the character of Alexander Janneus. 2. His military policy. +3. His treatment of his subjects. 4. The extension of Jewish territory. +5. The effects of his rule. 6. Alexandra's policy. 7. The fatal mistakes +of the Pharisees. 8. The suicidal quarrels between her sons, Hyrcanus and +Aristobulus. 9. The intrigues of Antipater. 10. The appeal to Rome. +11. Pompey's intervention and capture of Jerusalem. 12. The causes of the +fall of the Maccabean kingdom. 13. The political effects of the Maccabean +struggle. 14. The impression which it made upon Israel's faith. 15. The +new spirit that it inspired in the Jews. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Rome's policy and campaigns in the +East. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Anc. World_, 311-9; Seignobos, _Hist. of Rom. +People_, 126-30. 2. Rome's earlier relation to the Jewish kingdom. 3. The +character and career of Pompey. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Anc. World_, 343-9; +Botsford, _Hist. of Rome_, 175-80, 183-9; Morey, _Outlines of Roman +Hist._, ch. 20. + + +THE RULE OF ROME + +Section CXVII. The Rise of the Herodian House. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the repeated rebellions against Rome that were instigated and +led by Aristobulus and his sons. 2. The reasons why the Jews rallied about +their standard. 3. Antipater's character and policy. 4. Herod's career +as governor of Galilee. 5. The Parthian conquest and the temporary +restoration of the Maccabean rule. 6. The immediate effect upon Herod and +his family. 7. Reasons why he was appointed king of the Jews by Antony and +Octavian. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The fortresses of Alexandrium and +Macherus. Smith, _Hist. Geog. of the Holy Land_, 352-3, 569-71; Kent, +_Bib. Geog. and Hist._, 229, 244-5; Schurer, _H.J.P._, I, i, 250-1. +2. The history of Rome from 60 to 40 B.C. Botsford, _Hist. of Rome_, +183-97; Fowler, _Julius Caesar_; Mahaffy, _Gk. World under Roman Sway_, +ch. IV. 3. The Parthians. Hastings, _D.B._, III, 680-1. + +Section CXVIII. Herod's Policy and Reign. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the strength and weakness of Herod's character. 2. The ways +in which he won the favor of Augustus. 3. His building activity within +his kingdom. 4. Outside of Palestine. 5. His treatment of his subjects. +6. His record as husband and father. 7. The effects of his reign. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Rome under Augustus. Botsford, _Hist. +of Rome_, 204-22; Bury, _Student's Rom. Emp._, chs. I-XIV; Capes, _Early +Empire_, chs. I-III, XII-XIX. 2. Herod's Caesarea. Smith, _Hist. Geog. of +the Holy Land_, 138-41; _En. Bib._, I, 617-8; Kent, _Bib. Geog. and +Hist._, 233. 3. The various sides of Herod's character. Hastings, _D.B._, +II, 356-7; _En. Bib._, II, 2025-9; Bevan, _Jer. under the High Priests_, +148-51. + +Section CXIX. Herod's Temple. GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the +motives that inspired Herod to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. 2. His +preparations for the work. 3. The extension of the temple area. 4. The +different gates leading to it. 5. The surrounding porches. 6. The temple +proper. 7. The temple officials. 8. The temple service. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The detailed plan and dimensions of +Herod's temple. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 711-6; _En Bib._, IV, 4943-7; +Warren, _The Temple and the Tomb_; Smith, _Jerusalem_, II, 499-520. 2. The +administration of the temple finances. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 92-7; _En. +Bib._, IV, 4949-51; Smith, _Jerusalem_, I, 351-66. 3. The inscription +forbidding foreigners to enter the inner courts. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, +713-4. + +Section CXX. The Messianic Hopes and Religious Beliefs of Judaism. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the influences that determined the growth +of Israel's messianic hopes. 2. The different forms which these hopes +assumed. 3. The kingly nationalistic type of messianic hope. 4. The +characteristics and development of the apocalyptic, catastrophic type of +hope. 5. The type proclaimed by the great ethical prophets. 6. The +broadening and universalizing of Israel's messianic hopes. 7. The +influence of the Maccabean struggle upon Israel's messianic beliefs. +8. The messianic expectations of the Jews at the beginning of the +Christian era. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The origin of Israel's messianic +hopes. _St. O. T_., Ill, 39-48; Goodspeed, _Israel's Messianic Hope_; +Oesterley, _Evolution of the Messianic Idea_. 2. The Sibylline Oracles. +Deane, _Pseudepigrapha_; Hastings, _D.B._, extra vol., 66-8. 3. The Psalms +of Solomon. Ryle and James, _The Pss. of Sol._; Deane, _Pseudepigrapha_, +25-48. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11701 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d29a0f4 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11701 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11701) diff --git a/old/11701-8.txt b/old/11701-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..90c4ae6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11701-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13760 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Makers and Teachers of Judaism, by +Charles Foster Kent + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Makers and Teachers of Judaism + +Author: Charles Foster Kent + +Release Date: March 24, 2004 [eBook #11701] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKERS AND TEACHERS OF +JUDAISM*** + + +E-text prepared by Charles Aldarondo, William A. Pifer-Foote, and Project +Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders + + + +The Historical Bible + +THE MAKERS AND TEACHERS OF JUDAISM + +FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM TO THE DEATH OF HEROD THE GREAT + +BY + +CHARLES FOSTER KENT, PH.D. + +WOOLSEY PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE IN YALE UNIVERSITY + +WITH MAPS AND CHARTS + +1911 + + + + + + +PREFACE + +The period represented by this volume is in many ways the most complex and +confusing in Israel's history. The record is not that of the life of a +nation but of the scattered remnants of a race. It was inevitable that +under the influence of their varied environment, the survivors of the +Jewish race should develop very different beliefs and characteristics. +The result is that many different currents of thought and shades of belief +are reflected in the literature of this period; some of it is dross, but +much of it is purest gold. While the period following the destruction of +Jerusalem was a reflective and a retrospective age in which the teaching +of the earlier priests and prophets gained wide acceptance, it was also a +creative era. Fully half of the literature of the Old Testament and all of +the important writings of the Apocrypha come from these tragic five +centuries. Although the historical records are by no means complete, the +great crises in Israel's life are illuminated by such remarkable +historical writings as the memoirs of Nehemiah, the first book of +Maccabees, and the detailed histories of Josephus. + +The majority of the writings, however, reveal above all the soul of the +race. Out of its anguish and suffering came the immortal poems found in +Isaiah 40-66, the book of Job, and the Psalter. Instead of the distinctly +nationalistic point of view, which characterizes practically all of the +writings of the pre-exilic period, the interest becomes individual and the +outlook universal. During these centuries Israel's prophets, priests, +and sages became not merely teachers of the nation but of humanity. +Conspicuous among the great teachers of his day stands the noble sage, +Jesus the son of Sirach, who gleaned out and presented in effective form +that which was most vital in the earlier teaching of his race. In his +broad, simple faith in God and man, in his emphasis on deeds and +character, as well as ceremonial, and in his practical philosophy of life +he was a worthy forerunner of the Great Teacher whose name he bore. + +This period represents the culmination and fruition of the divine +Influences at work in Israel's early history. It was during this period +that Judaism was born and attained its full development, Israel accepted +the absolute rule of the written law, and the scribes succeeded the earlier +prophets and sages. Out of the heat and conflict of the Maccabean +struggle the parties of the Pharisees and Sadducees sprang into existence +and won their commanding place in the life of Judaism. Hence this period +is the natural historical introduction to the study of the birth and early +development of Christianity. It is also the link that binds the revelation +found in the Old Testament to that of the New. + +The volume of literature coming from this period is so vast that it has +been necessary to abridge it at many points in order to utilize that which +is most valuable. This has been done by leaving out those passages which +are of secondary origin or value, and by preserving at the same time the +language and logical thought of the original writers. In the verbose and +voluminous writings of Josephus the resulting text is in most cases far +clearer and more useful; for the repetitious clauses found in the original +often obscure the real thought of the writer. No apology or explanation is +required for the use of such apocryphal writings as I Maccabees, Ben Sira, +the Wisdom of Solomon, or Josephus's histories, for these are required to +bridge the two centuries which intervene between the latest writings of +the Old Testament and the earliest writings of the New. They make it +possible to study biblical history as an unbroken unit from the days of +Moses to the close of the first Christian century, and thus concretely to +emphasize the significant but often the forgotten fact that God was +revealing himself unceasingly through the life of his people, and that the +Bible which records that revelation consists not of two disconnected parts +but is one book. + +To two of my former students, the Reverend Harold B. Hunting and Ralph H. +Pierce, I am under obligation for valuable aid and suggestions in +preparing this volume for press. + +C.F.K. +YALE UNIVERSITY, +_October_, 1911. + + + +CONTENTS + +THE EXILE AND REVIVAL OF THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +Section XCI. THE JEWS IN PALESTINE AND EGYPT + +Lam. 2:1-10, 5:1-18, Jer. 43:3-12, 44:1-14, 28. + +I. The Significance of the Destruction of the Hebrew State.--II. The Book +of Lamentations.--III. Authorship and Date of the Book.--IV. Its Real +Character.--Numbers and Fortunes of the Jews Who Remained in Palestine.-- +VI. Fortunes of the Jews in Egypt.--VII. The Jewish Colony at Elephantine. +--VIII. The Temple of Jahu at Elephantine. + + +Section XCII. EZEKIEL'S MESSAGE TO HIS SCATTERED COUNTRYMEN. + +Ezek. 37, 40:1, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21b, 44-47, 41:1-8a, 43:1-9, 44:9-16, +23, 24, 45:1-8. + +I. The Home of the Exiles in Babylon.--II. Their New Conditions and +Occupations.--III. Their Religious Life. IV. The Prophecies of Ezekiel.-- + +V. The Resurrection of the Dead Nation.--VI. The Divine Shepherd.-- +VII. Ezekiel's Plan of the Restored Temple. + + +Section XCIII. THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE BABYLONIAN RULE + +II Kings 25:27-30, Isa. 9:1-7, 11:1-10, 13:2-4, 11, 17, 18b, 19-22, Ezra +6:3-5, 5:14, 15, 1:5-6, I Esdr. 5:4-6, Ezra 3:2-4, 6b. + +I. The Transformation of the Jews into a Literary People.--II. The +Literary Activity of the Babylonian Period.--III. The Holiness Code.-- +IV. The Liberation of Jehoiachin and the Hopes of the Jews.--V. The Rule +of Nabonidus.--VII. Rise and Conquests of Cyrus.--VII. His Capture of +Babylon.--VIII. His Treatment of Conquered Peoples. + + +Section XCIV. THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE + +Hag. 1, 2, Ezra 5:3-6:14. + +I. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah.--II. The Chronicler's Conception of the +Restoration.--III. Convulsions in the Persian Empire.--IV. Haggai's +Effective Addresses.--V. The Attempt to Stop the Rebuilding of the +Temple.--VI. The Significance of the Restoration of the Temple. + + +Section XCV. ZECHARIAH'S VISIONS AND ENCOURAGING ADDRESSES + +Zech. 1:7-4:6a, 11-14, 8b-10, 6:9-15, 7, 8:1-8. + +I. Zechariah's Ancestry and Point of View.--II. The Book of Zechariah. +--III. Problems and Hopes of the Judean Community.--IV. Zechariah's +Assurances of Jehovah's Care.--V. Preparations for the Crowning of +Zerubbabel.--VI. Disappointment of these Patriotic Hopes.--VII. +Zechariah's Later Exhortations and Predictions. + + +Section XCVI. ISRAEL'S TRAINING AND DESTINY + +Isa. 40:1-4, 6, 31, 41:1-4, 8-10, 42:1-7, 10-15, 22-28, 44:1-5. + +I. The Seventy Years Following the Rebuilding of the Temple.-- +II. Spiritual Forces in Judaism.--III. Evidences that Isaiah 40-66 Were +Written in Palestine.--IV. Their Probable Date.--V. Their Literary +Characteristics.--VI. Their Theme and Purpose.--VII. Reasons Why Jehovah +Will Restore His People. + + +Section XCVII. CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS WITHIN THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +Mal. 1:6-14, 2, 3, 4:1-3, Ps. 22:1-18. + +I. Date of the Book of Malachi.--II. Neglect of the Temple Service.-- + +III. The Need of a Great Moral Awakening.--IV. The Lot of the Faithful.-- +V. The Problem of Suffering in the Literature of the Period. + + +Section XCVIII. THE PROBLEM AND TEACHINGS OF THE BOOK OF JOB + +Job 1, 2 3:2, 11, 13-15, 17, 19, 20-22, 25, 26, 4:1-7, 17-19, 5:17-22, 26, +27, 6:1-4b, 14, 15, 20-30, 7:1-6, 9-18, 20, 21, 8:1-6, 9:1-7, 16-20, 24, +31-35, 10:9-15, 20-22, 11:1, 7-9, 13-15, 12:1-3, 13:7-18, 21-25, 14:7-10, +13-15, 18, 19, 15:4-6, 16:1-4, 11-13a, 18-21, 18:1, 5-7, 19:1, 13-15, +23-27, 20:1-5, 21:1, 7-9, 22:1-5, 23, 27, 28, 23:1-6, 25:1-4, 26:1, 27:2, +4, 5, 7-9, 29:1-5, 30:15-21, 31:5-8, 35-37, 40:2, 8, 9, 38:2-7, 8-11, +39-41, 42:2, 3, 5, 8. + +I. The Structure of the Book of Job.--II. Dates of the Different Parts.-- +III. The Prose Story.--IV. The Poem of Job.--V. Progress in Job's +Thought.--VI. Significance of the Speeches of Job. + + +Section XCIX. THE TRAINING AND MISSION OF THE TRUE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH + +Isa. 49:1-15, 50:4-10, 52:13-15, 53. + +I. The Different Portraits of Jehovah's Servant.--II. The Prophet's +Purpose.--III. The Character and Condition of Those to Whom the Prophet +Appealed.--IV. The Task and Training of Jehovah's Servant.--V. Methods of +Jehovah's Servant.--VI. Realization of the Ideal of Service. + + +Section C. NEHEMIAH'S WORK IN REBUILDING THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM + +Neh. 1-4, 6, 7:1-5a, 12:31, 32, 37-40. + +I. Nehemiah's Memoirs.--II. Nehemiah's Response to the Call to Service.-- +III. Obstacles that Confronted Him.--IV. His Plan of Work.--V. The +Restored Walls.--VI. Completion and Dedication of the Walls. + + +Section CI. NEHEMIAH'S SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS REFORMS + +Isa. 56, 58:2-12, Neh. 5, 13:4-31. + +I. Cruelty and Hypocrisy of the Jewish Leaders.--II. Nehemiah's Method of +Correcting the Social Evils in the Community.--III. The Historical Value +of Nehemiah 13.--IV. Regulations Regarding the Temple Service.-- +V. Provisions Regarding Sabbath Observance and Foreign Marriages.-- +VI. Significance of Nehemiah's Work. + + +Section CII. TRADITIONAL ACCOUNT OF THE ADOPTION OF THE PRIESTLY LAW + +Ezra 7:1, 6-10, Neh. 7:73b-8:4a, 5, 6, 9-18, 9:1-3, 6-8. 32-38, 10:28-39b + +I. The Ezra Tradition.--II. The Historical Value of the Ezra Tradition.-- +III. The Facts Underlying It.--IV. Origin and Aims of the Priestly +Laws.--V. Their Important Regulations.--VI. Their Practical Effects. + + +Section CIII. THE JEWISH STATE DURING THE LAST CENTURY OF PERSIAN RULE + +Ps. 36:5-10, Joel 2:1-29, Jos. Ant. XI, 7-8:2. + +I. Prosperity of the Judean Community.--II. The Growth of the Psalter.-- +III. The Prophecy of Joel.--IV. Hopes of the Jews.--V. Rule of the High +Priests.--VI. The Date of the Samaritan Schism.--VII. Its Nature and +Consequences. + + +THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN AGE + +Section CIV. THE JEWS UNDER THEIR GREEK RULERS + +I Mac. 1:1-4, Jos. Ant. XI, 8:7a, e, XII, 1:1b-d, g-j, 2:1a, 5d, e, +4:1d-f, 2a-f, 3b, 4a-c, 5a-c. e, 6a, 3:3a, b, c-e. + +I. Josephus's Histories.--II. Alexander's Conquests.--III. The Jews in +Egypt and Alexandria.--IV. The Rule of the Ptolemies.--V. Fortunes of the +Jews of Palestine.--VI. Conquest of Palestine by the Seleucids In 311 B.C. + + +Section CV. THE WISE AND THEIR TEACHINGS + +Prov. 1:2-6, 8:1-6, 13-27, 29-35, 13:14,20, 24:5, 12:10, 20:13, 23:16, +29-35, 29:20, 15:23, 19:11, 16:32, 23:36-28, 4:25-27, 14:15, 26:12, 27:2, +4:23, 11:6, 21:3, 15:1, 3:27, 14:21, 19:17, 25:21,22, 3:11,12, 1:5,6. + +I. Structure and Authorship of the Book of Proverbs.--II. Date of the +Different Collections.--III. The Wise in Israel's Early History.-- +IV. Their Prominence in the Greek Period.--V. Their Aims.--VI. Their +Methods.--VII. Their Important Teachings. + + +Section CVI. THE DIFFERENT CURRENTS OF THOUGHT IN JUDAISM DURING THE +GREEK PERIOD + +Ps. 19:7-14, 46, 22:27-30, Jonah 1, 2:1,10, 3, 4, Eccles. 1:12-18, 2:1-17, +24-26. + +I. The Ritualists.--II. The Legalists.--III. The Disciples of the +Prophets.--IV. The Date and Character of the Book of Jonah.--V. Its +Teachings.--VI. The Book of Ecclesiastes.--VII. Koheleth's Philosophy of +Life. + + +Section CVII. THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS THE SON OF SIRACH + +B. Sir. 1:1-10, 2:1-9, 3:17-30, 4:2, 9, 10, 20-25, 28-31, 5:1-2, +6:2, 4-8, 14-16, 7:12, 13, 20-22, 28-30. + +I. Date and Character of Jesus the Son of Sirach.--II. His Writings.-- +III. The History of the Book.--IV. Its Picture of Jewish Life.--V. Rise of +the Scribes.--VI. The Teachings of Ben Sira. + + +Section CVIII. THE CAUSES OF THE MACCABEAN STRUGGLE + +I Mac. 1:10-22,24-63. + +I. The Character and Contents of I Maccabees.--II. Character and Contents +of II Maccabees.--III. Aggressive Character of Hellenic Culture.-- +IV. Contrast between Hellenism and Judaism.--V. Apostasy of the Jews and +Perfidy of the High Priests.--VI. Character of Antiochus Epiphanes.-- +VII. His Policy toward the Jews. + + +Section CIX. THE EFFECT OF PERSECUTION UPON THE JEWS + +I Mac. 2, Dan. 7:1-27, 12:1-3. + +I. The Uprising Led by Mattathias.--II. Party of the Hasideans or Pious.-- +III. Date of the Visions in Daniel 7-12.--IV. Their Real Character and +Aim.--V. The Four Heathen Kingdoms and the Kingdom of God. + + +Section CX. THE VICTORIES THAT GAVE THE JEWS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY + +I Mac. 3:1-43,46-60, 4. + +I. The Character of Judas.--II. Obstacles against which Judas Contended.-- +III. Defeat of Apollonius and Seron.--IV. The Battle of Emmaus.--V. The +Battle at Bethsura.--VI. Restoration of the Temple Service.--VII. The New +Spirit in Judaism. + + +Section CXI. THE LONG CONTEST FOR POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE + +I Mac. 5:1-23, 45, 54, 65-68, 63, 6:18-63, 7, 9:1-31, 10:1-21, 67-71, +74-76, 11:20-29. + +I. The Political Situation.--II. The Jewish Attitude toward the Heathen +Reflected in the Book of Esther.--III. Campaigns against the Neighboring +Peoples.--IV. The Battle of Beth-zacharias.--V. Victories Over Nicanor.-- +VI. The Death of Judas.--VII. Dissensions in the Syrian Court.-- +VIII. Concessions to Jonathan. + + +Section CXII. PEACE AND PROSPERITY UNDER SIMON + +I Mac. 11:38-40, 54-56, 12:39-53, 13:1-11, 20-30, 33, 43-53, 14:16-18, +38-49, 4-15. + +I. Capture and Death of Jonathan.--II. Character and Policy of Simon.-- +III. His Conquests.--IV. His Authority.--V. Completion of the Psalter.-- +VI. The Religious Life Reflected in the Later Psalms. + + +Section CXIII. THE RULE OF JOHN HYRCANUS AND ARISTOBULUS + +I Mac. 16:11-22, Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:3c-4b, 4d, 5, 6, Jos. Ant. XIII, +9:1d, e, Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:7a, b, Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:5, 6a, c, 7, +11:1a-c, 3a, 3e. + +I. Murder of Simon.--II. The Syrian Invasion.--III. John's Military Policy +and Conquests.--IV. The Break with the Pharisees.--V. The Reign of +Aristobulus. + + +Section CXIV THE PHARISEES, SADDUCEES, AND ESSENES + +Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:2, 3a-c, 3d, 4a, b, 5a, b, Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:2-8, +9a-c, 10b, c, 11b, 12. + +I. Influences that Gave Rise to the Jewish Parties.--II. Character and +Beliefs of the Pharisees.--III. Of the Sadducees.--IV. Of the Essenes. + + +Section CXV. THE LIFE AND FAITH OF THE JEWS OF THE DISPERSION + +Jos. Ant. XII, 3:1a, VII, 3:3a, b, 10:2d-3e, XIII, 10:4, Wisd. Of Sol. +6:12-16, 7:25-8:1, 7, 1:1-8, 12-15, 2:23-3:1, 5:15, 16, 11:24-12:2, +15:1-3. + +I. Conditions of the Jews in Antioch and Asia Minor.--II. In Egypt.-- +III. The Jewish Temple at Leontopolis.--IV. Translation of the Hebrew +Scriptures into Greek.--V. Apologetic Jewish Writings.--VI. The Wisdom of +Solomon.--VII. Its Important Teachings. + + +Section CXVI. THE DECLINE OF THE MACCABEAN KINGDOM + +Jos. Jew. War, I, 4:1-4c, 5c, 6a, c, 8c, d, 5:1-7:7. + +I. The Character and Policy of Alexander Janneus.--II. The Effects of His +Rule.--III. Alexandra's Reign.--IV. Quarrels between Hyrcanus and +Aristobulus.--V. Rome's Intervention.--VI. Cause of the Fall of the Jewish +Kingdom.--VII. Political, Intellectual, and Religious Effects of the +Maccabean Struggle. + + +THE RULE OF ROME + +Section CXVII. THE RISE OF THE HERODIAN HOUSE + +Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:2, 4a, 5-7, 9b, 9:1, 3a-6b, 10:1, 2a, 3a, 4, 5a, b, +11:1, 4, 6, 12:3-5, 13:1a, Jos. Ant. XIV, 13:1, Jos. Jew. War, I, 13:7, +8c, 14:1b, 2, 4, 15:3, 4, 16:1, 17:1, 8, 9a, 18:1, 2c, 4a. + +I. The Fruitless Struggle against Rome.--II. Antipater's Policy.-- +III. Herod's Early Record.--IV. The Parthian Conquest.--V. Herod Made King +of the Jews. + + +Section CXVIII. HEROD'S POLICY AND REIGN + +Jos. Jew. War, I, 19:1, 2a, 20:1, 2, 3b-4a, 21:13, 1-4, 6a-8a, 9a-10a, 11, +22:1-4, 23:1a, d, 2a-c, d-3a, 24:1a, 27:1, 2a, 6b, 28:1a, 29:2c, 30:5a, +31:1a, 33:1, 7, 8a. + +I. Herod's Character.--II. His Attitude toward Rome. III. His Building +Activity.--IV. His Attitude toward His Subjects.--V. The Tragedy of His +Domestic Life.--VI. Effects of His Reign. + + +Section CXIX. HEROD'S TEMPLE + +Jos. Ant. XV, 11:1a, 2c, 3a-l, 4a, g, 5a-g, h-k, 6. + +I. Herod's Motives.--II. Preparations for the Rebuilding of the Temple.-- +III. The Approaches to the Temple.--IV. The Organization of the Temple. + + +Section CXX. THE MESSIANIC HOPES AND THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF JUDAISM + +Sibyl. Oracles, III, 7:67-84, 17:23-46, Enoch 46:1-3, 48:3-6, 49:27-29, +51:1, 2. + +I. The Growth of Israel's Messianic Hopes.--II. The Kingly, Nationalistic +Type of Messianic Hope.--III. The Apocalyptic, Catastrophic Type.--IV. The +Ethical and Universalistic Type.--V. The Messianic Hopes of Judaism at the +Beginning of the Christian Era. + + +APPENDIX I. A PRACTICAL BIBLICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY + +APPENDIX II. GENERAL QUESTIONS AND SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH. + +LIST OF MAPS AND CHARTS + +JEWISH AND CONTEMPORARY CHRONOLOGY FROM 597 TO 165 B.C. + +THE EMPIRES OF BABYLONIA, PERSIA, AND ALEXANDER + +THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN PALESTINE DURING THE PERSIAN AND GREEK +PERIODS + +THE JERUSALEM OF NEHEMIAH + +CHRONOLOGY OF THE MACCABEAN AND ROMAN PERIODS + +PALESTINE DURING THE MACCABEAN PERIOD + + * * * * * + +THE EXILE AND THE REVIVAL OF THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +Section XCI. THE JEWS IN PALESTINE AND EGYPT + +[Sidenote: Lam. 2:1-5] +How the Lord hath beclouded in his anger the daughter of Zion! +He hath cast down from heaven to earth the beauty of Israel, +And he hath not kept in remembrance his footstool in the day of his anger. +The Lord hath swallowed up without mercy every habitation of Jacob, +He hath thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah, +He hath struck to the ground, he hath polluted her king and her princes. +He hath cut off in the fierceness of his anger all of Israel's strength, +He hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, +He hath burnt in Jacob like a flame, which devours on all sides. +He hath bent his bow as an enemy, he hath stood as an adversary, +He hath slain all the desirable men in the tent of Zion, +He hath poured out his fury as fire [on the daughter of Judah]. +The Lord hath become like an enemy, he hath swallowed up Israel, +He hath swallowed up all of his palaces, he hath destroyed his fortresses, +And he hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah sighing and lamentation. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 2:6,7] +He hath torn down as a vine his dwelling, he hath destroyed his assembling + place, +He hath caused to be forgotten in Zion, fast day and sabbath, +And hath spurned in his indignant anger, king and priest. +The Lord hath rejected his altar, he hath abhorred his + sanctuary, +He hath given up into the hands of the enemy the ark of the covenant, +They have made a din in Jehovah's house, as in the solemn feast day. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 2:8-10] +Jehovah hath determined to destroy the wall of Zion, +He hath stretched out the line, he hath not held back his hand from + destroying, +He hath made rampart and wall lament, they mourn together, +Her gates have sunk into the ground, he hath destroyed her defences, +Her king and her princes are among the heathen, there is no law. +Her prophets also receive from Jehovah no vision. +Silent, upon the earth sit the elders of Zion; +They cast dust upon their heads; they are girded with sackcloth; +With heads bowed to earth are the daughters of Jerusalem. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 5:1-7] +Remember, O Jehovah, what has befallen us, +Look and see our disgrace. +Our inheritance is turned over to aliens, +Our homes belong to foreigners. +We are orphans and fatherless, +Our mothers are like widows. +We drink our water for money, +Our wood comes to us by purchase. +The yoke upon our necks harasses us, +We are weary, but find no rest. +We have given the hand to the Egyptians, +And to the Assyrians, that we might be sated with food. +Our fathers sinned and are no more, +While we bear their guilt. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 5:8-13] +Slaves have dominion over us, +With none to deliver from their hand. +We get our bread at the peril of our lives, +Because of the sword of the wilderness. +Our skin becomes hot like an oven, +Because of the glowing heat of famine. +They ravish the women in Zion, +The virgins in the cities of Judah. +Princes are hanged up by the hand, +The person of the elders is not honored. +The young men bear up the mill, +And the children stumble under the wood. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 5:14-18] +The elders have ceased from the gate, +The young men from their music. +The joy of our heart has ceased, +Our dance is turned into mourning. +The crown has fallen from our head; +Woe to us! for we have sinned. + +For this reason our heart is faint, +For these causes our eyes are dim; +For the mountain of Zion is desolate; +The jackals walk over it. + +[Sidenote: Jer. 43:8-12] +The word of Jehovah also came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, Take great +stones in thy hand, and bury them in the loose foundation in the +brick-covered place before Pharaoh's palace door in Tahpanhes in the sight +of the men of Judah; and say to them, 'Thus saith, Jehovah hosts, the God +of Israel, "Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadrezzar the king of +Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that you +have buried, and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. And he +shall come and shall smite the land of Egypt; such as are for death shall +be given to death, and such as are for captivity shall be given to +captivity, and such as are for the sword shall be given to the sword. And +he will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and will burn +them and carry them away. And he shall wrap himself in the land of Egypt, +as a shepherd puts on his mantle, and shall go forth from there in peace. +He shall also break the obelisks of Heliopolis and the temples of the gods +of Egypt shall he burn with fire."' + +[Sidenote: Jer. 44:1-10] +The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwelt in the +land of Egypt, who dwelt at Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in upper +Egypt, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Ye have +seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the +cities of Judah; and behold, they are this day a desolation, and no man +dwelleth in them, because of their wickedness which they have committed to +provoke me to anger in that they went to offer sacrifices to other gods, +that they knew not, neither they nor ye, nor your fathers. However, I +constantly sent to them all my servants the prophets, saying, "Oh, do not +this abominable thing that I hate." But they neither hearkened nor +inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to offer no sacrifice to +other gods. And so my wrath and mine anger was poured forth and was +kindled against the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, and they +were wasted and desolate, as is now the case.' Therefore now thus saith +Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Why do you commit a great +Crime against yourselves to cut off from you man and woman, infant and +sucking child, out of the midst of Judah so that ye leave none remaining, +in that ye provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, offering +sacrifice to other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye have gone to +sojourn, that ye may be cut off, and that ye may be an object of cursing +and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? Have ye forgotten the +crimes of your fathers, and the crimes of the kings of Judah, and the +crimes of their princes, which they committed in the land of Judah and in +the streets of Jerusalem? They are not humbled even to this day, neither +have they feared nor walked in my law nor in my statutes that I set before +you and before your fathers.' + +[Sidenote: Jer. 44:11-13, 22] +'Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I set +my face against you for evil to cut off the remnant of Judah in the land +of Egypt, and they shall fall by the sword and by famine; they shall +die, small and great, and they shall be an object of execration, of +astonishment, of cursing, and of reproach. For I will punish those who +dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by +famine, and by pestilence, so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have +gone into the land of Egypt to reside there, shall escape or be left to +return to the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return; for +none shall return except as fugitives. And they who escape the sword shall +return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all +the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn +there shall know whose word shall be confirmed, mine or theirs."' + +I. The Significance of the Destruction of the Hebrew State. The +destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. resulted in a mighty Transformation +of the life and thought of Israel. It marked the final Overthrow of the +old Hebrew kingdoms, and the gradual rise of that new and important factor +in human history known as Judaism. For over three centuries the Jews who +survived the great catastrophe were helpless under the rule of the great +world powers which in succession conquered southwestern Asia. For the +great majority of the Jewish race it represented the beginning of that +long exile which has continued until the present. Scattered from the +desert of Sahara to the distant land of China, and from the Black Sea to +the Indian Ocean, the different groups of exiles quickly began to adapt +themselves to their changed surroundings and to absorb the new knowledge +and the powerful influences which gradually transformed their beliefs and +ideals. While their vision was vastly broadened by this contact, the +danger and horror of being completely engulfed in the great heathen world +bound the faithful more closely together, and in time made Judaism +the solid, unbreakable rock that has withstood the assaults and the +disintegrating forces of the ages. At first the survivors of the great +catastrophe were stunned by the blow that had shattered their nation. They +lived only in their memories of the past and in their hopes for the +future. At last, in the long period of misery and enforced meditation, +they began not only to accept but also to apply the eternal principles +proclaimed by their earlier prophets. Thus amidst these entirely new +conditions they gained a broader and deeper faith and were still further +trained for the divine task of teaching mankind. + +II. The Book of Lamentations. After describing the destruction of the +little kingdom established at Mizpah under Gedaliah, the Hebrew historical +records suddenly become silent. This silence is due to the fact that there +was little of external interest to record. The real history of this tragic +half-century is the record of the anguish and doubts and hopes in the +hearts of the scattered remnants of the race. The little book of +Lamentations expresses dramatically and pathetically the thoughts of the +people as they meditated upon the series of calamities which gathered +about the great catastrophe of 586 B.C. Like the ancient Torah, or five +books of the Law, it contains a quintet of poems. These are very similar +in theme and form to many of the psalms of the Psalter. In the first four +the characteristic five-beat measure, by which the deep emotions, +especially that of sorrow, were expressed, is consistently employed. Each +of these four is also an acrostic, that is, each succeeding line or group +of lines begins with a succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This +acrostic form was probably adopted in order to aid the memory, and +suggests that from the first these poems were written to be used in +public. Even so the Jews of Jerusalem to-day chant them on each of their +sabbaths beside the foundation walls of the great platform on which once +stood their ruined temple. Although the artificial character of these +poems tends to check the free expression of thought and feeling, it is +possible to trace in them a logical progress and to feel the influence of +the strong emotions that inspired them. + +III. Authorship and Date of the Book. In theme and literary form these +poems are so strikingly similar to Jeremiah's later sermons that it was +almost inevitable that tradition should attribute them to the great +prophet of Judah's decline. This tradition, to which is due the position +of the book of Lamentations in the Greek and English Bibles, cannot be +traced earlier than the Greek period. The evidence within the poems +themselves strongly indicates that they were not written by Jeremiah. It +is almost inconceivable that he would subject his poetic genius to the +rigid limitations of the acrostic structure. Moreover, he would never have +spoken of the weak Zedekiah, whose vacillating policy he condemned, in the +terms of high esteem which appear in Lamentations 4:20. These poems also +reflect the popular interpretation of the great national calamity, rather +than Jeremiah's searching analysis of fundamental causes. A careful study +of Lamentations shows that chapters 2 and 4 were probably written by one +who was powerfully influenced by Ezekiel's thought. They both follow in +their acrostic structure an unusual order of the Hebrew alphabet, +differing in this respect from chapters 1 and 3. They have so many close +points of contact with each other that it is safe to say that they are +both from the same author. They reveal an intimate familiarity with events +immediately following the destruction of Jerusalem and were probably +written between 580 and 561 B.C., when Jehoiachin was liberated. +Chapters 1 and 3 follow the regular order of the Hebrew alphabet and +apparently represent the work of a later author or authors. Chapter 1 is +full of pathos and religious feeling and is closely parallel in thought +to such psalms as 42 and 137. Chapter 3 is a poetic monologue describing +the fate and voicing the contrition of the righteous within the Judean +community. Chapter 5, on the contrary, is in the three-beat measure and +lacks the acrostic structure of the preceding chapters. Its style and +point of view are so different from those of the preceding chapters that +it must be the work of another author, who probably lived in the Persian +period. + +IV. Its Real Character. The purpose of the book of Lamentations was +evidently, (1) to give appropriate expression to the feelings of the Jews +who survived the destruction of Jerusalem, 586 B.C.; (2) to drive home the +great lessons taught by their past history, and thus to arouse true +repentance; and (3) to kindle in turn hopes regarding their future. +Through them Jeremiah and Ezekiel live and speak again, but from the point +of view of the people. These tragic poems also throw contemporary light +upon the horrors of the final siege and capture of Jerusalem and upon the +fate of those who survived. + +V. Numbers and Fortunes of the Jews Who Remained in Palestine. The Jews +actually carried into captivity constituted only a small part of the total +population of Judah (cf. Section XC:ii). The peasants and the inhabitants +of the towns outside Jerusalem remained undisturbed, except as some of +them were doubtless drafted into the army which under Zedekiah undertook +to defend Jerusalem against the Chaldeans. From the later record of +Nehemiah's work the names of many of these towns can be determined. In the +north were Jericho, Geba, Mizpah, Anathoth, and Kirjath-jearim; in the +centre, Netophah and Bethlehem; and in the south Tekoa, Keilah, and +Bethzur. The lot of these, who are later known as the people of the land, +was pitiable indeed. There are many references in Lamentations and Ezekiel +to the persecutions to which they were subjected by their malignant foes, +the Moabites and Ammonites on the east and the Philistines on the west. +Even more cruel and aggressive were the Edomites, who had suffered many +wrongs at the hands of the Hebrews. It was probably about this time that +this half-nomadic people began to be driven northward by the advance of +the Nabateans, an Arab people who came from the south. Dislodged from +their homes, the Edomites took advantage of the weakness of the Jews and +seized southern Judah, including the ancient capital Hebron. The doom +which Ezekiel pronounces upon the Edomites in 25[12] is because of the +revenge that they wreaked upon the Jews at this time. It is significant +that Ezekiel's sermons in the period immediately following the fall of +Jerusalem contain dire predictions of divine vengeance upon all these +foes. After the overthrow of Gedaliah's kingdom, the Jews who remained in +Palestine appear to have been left wholly without defences or defenders. +Ezekiel, in 33:23-29, speaks of those who inhabit the waste places in the +land of Israel, who live in the strongholds and the caves. Some of them +appear to have turned robbers. Foreign settlers came in from every side +and in time intermarried with the natives and led them into idolatry. +Ezekiel sternly condemns their immorality and apostasy. + +From the references in Jeremiah 41:5 and Ezra 3:3 it is clear that even +during this reign of terror many of the people continued to offer +sacrifices to Jehovah at the great altar cut in native rock which stood +before the ruins of their temple in Jerusalem. Priests were also doubtless +found in the land to conduct these services. The ancient feasts, however, +with their joyous merrymaking and the resulting sense of divine favor, +were no longer observed. Instead, the people celebrated in sackcloth and +ashes the fasts commemorating the successive stages in the destruction of +their city (Zech. 7:3-7). While their lot was pitiable and their character +seemingly unpromising, these people of the land were important factors in +the re-establishment of the Judean community. + +VI. Fortunes of the Jews in Egypt. The narrative in Jeremiah states +definitely that the large proportion of those who had rallied about +Gedaliah after his death found a temporary asylum on the eastern borders +of Egypt. Here they were beyond the reach of Chaldean armies and within +the territory of the one nation which offered a friendly asylum to the +Jewish refugees. Most of this later group of exiles settled at the towns +of Tahpanhes and Migdol. The latter means tower and is probably to be +identified with an eastern outpost, the chief station on the great highway +which ran along the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean directly to +Palestine and Syria. + +The excavations of the Egypt Exploration Fund at Tahpanhes, which was the +Daphnae of Herodotus, has thrown much light upon the home of this Jewish +community. The town was situated in a sandy desert to the south of a +marshy lake. It lay midway between the cultivated delta on the west and +what is now the Suez Canal on the east. Past it ran the main highway to +Palestine. Its founder, Psamtik I, the great-grandfather of Hophra, had +built here a fort to guard the highway. Herodotus states that he also +stationed guards here, and that until late in the Persian period it was +defended by garrisons whose duty was to repel Asiatic invasions (II, 30). +Here the Ionian and Carian mercenaries, who were at this time the chief +defence of the Egyptian king, were given permanent homes. By virtue of its +mixed population and its geographical position, Tahpanhes was a great +meeting place of Eastern and Western civilization. Here native Egyptians, +Greek mercenaries, Phoenician and Babylonian traders, and Jewish refugees +met on common ground and lived side by side. It corresponded in these +respects to the modern Port Said. + +Probably in remembrance of the Jewish colony that once lived here, the +ruins of the fort still bear an Arab name which means The Palace of the +Jew's Daughter. The term palace is not altogether inappropriate, for +apparently the fort was occasionally used as a royal residence. Many +wine-jars, bearing the seals of Psamtik, Hophra, and Amasis, have been +found in the ruins. In the northwestern part of these ruins has been +uncovered a great open-air platform of brickwork, referred to in Jeremiah +43:8-10. It was the place of common meeting found in connection with every +Egyptian palace or private home. When Amasis, in 564 B.C., came to the +throne of Egypt he withdrew the privileges granted by his predecessors to +foreigners. The Greek colonists were transferred to Naukratis, and +Tahpanhes lost most of its former glory. About this time, if not before, +the great majority of the Jewish refugees, who had settled in these +frontier towns, probably returned to Palestine to find homes in its +partially depopulated towns. + +Ezekiel from distant Babylon appears to have regarded the Jews in Egypt +with considerable hope (Ezek. 29:21). But Jeremiah, who knew them better, +was keenly alive to their faults. In their despair and rage many of them +evidently rejected the teachings of the prophets and became devotees of +the Aramean goddess, the Queen of Heaven, mentioned in the recently +discovered Aramean inscription of Zakar, king of Hazrak (cf. Section +LXV:vii). Jeremiah's closing words to them, therefore, are denunciations +and predictions that they should suffer even in the land of Egypt, at +the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, the same fate that had overtaken their +fellow-countrymen at Jerusalem. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Ezek. 30) +predicted that Nebuchadrezzar would invade and conquer Egypt. In 568 B.C. +his army actually did appear on the borders of Egypt; but how far he +succeeded in conquering the land is unknown. The complete conquest of +Egypt certainly did not come until the Persian period under the leadership +of the cruel Cambyses. + +VII. The Jewish Colony at Elephantine. Jeremiah and Ezekiel also refer +to the Jewish colonists at Memphis and at Pathros, which is the biblical +designation of upper Egypt. Many of the colonists who had settled there +had doubtless fled before the conquests of Jerusalem. The presence of a +great number of Jews in Egypt at a later period indicates that even at +this early date more exiles were probably to be found in Egypt than in +Babylon. Recent discoveries on the island of Elephantine in the upper +Nile, opposite the modern Assuan, have thrown new light upon the life of +these Jewish colonists. These records consist (1) of a series of +beautifully preserved legal documents written in Aramaic on papyrus and +definitely dated between the years 471 and 411 B.C. They include contracts +between the Jews residing on the island of Elephantine regarding the +transfer of property and other legal transactions. They contain many +familiar Jewish names, such as Zadok, Isaiah, Hosea, Nathan, Ethan, +Zechariah, Shallum, Uriah, and Shemaiah. They indicate that by the earlier +part of the Persian period a large and wealthy colony of Jewish traders +and bankers was established on this island. They appear to have lived in a +community by themselves, but in the heart of the city, side by side with +Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, and Greeks, whose property +In some cases joined their own. The Jews had their own court which ranked +equally with the Persian and Egyptian law courts. Even native Egyptians, +who had cases against the Jews, appeared before it. The names of Arameans +and Arabs also appear in its lists of witnesses. From these contemporary +documents it is clear that the Jews of upper Egypt enjoyed great +privileges and entered freely into the life of the land. Ordinarily they +married members of their own race; but the marriage of a Jewess with a +foreigner is also reported. He appears, however, to have been a proselyte +to Judaism, Another Jewess married an Egyptian and took oath by the +Egyptian goddess Sati, suggesting that she had nominally at least adopted +the religion of her husband. One Hebrew also bears the suggestive name of +Hosea, the son of Petikhnum (an Egyptian name meaning _Gift of the god +Khnum_). + +VIII. The Temple of Yahu at Elephantine. These Aramaic legal documents +also contain many references to Yahu (the older form of Yahweh or +Jehovah), the god worshipped by the Jews, and to Yahu's temple situated on +King's Street, one of the main thoroughfares of the city. These references +have been signally confirmed by a most remarkable letter recently +discovered by the Germans at this site. It was written in November of the +year 408 B.C., by the members of the Jewish colony at Elephantine to +Bagohi (the Bagoas of Josephus), the Persian governor of Judah. It states, +among other things, that "Already in the days of the kings of Egypt our +fathers had built this temple in the fortress of Elephantine. And when +Cambyses (529-522 B.C.) entered Egypt he found this temple built, and, +though the temple of the gods of Egypt were all at that time overthrown, +no one injured anything in this temple." It further states that recently +(in the year 411 B.C.), in the absence of the Persian governor in Egypt, +the foreigners in Elephantine had stirred up a certain minor official to +instruct his son, who was commander of a neighboring fortress, to destroy +the Jewish temple. + +The Aramaic letter was intended to be sent, together with rich gifts, to +influence the powerful Persian governor of Judah, Bagohi, to issue an +order permitting the Jews to rebuild their temple. From this letter we +learn that the temple of the God Yahu was built of hewn stone with pillars +of stone in front, probably similar to those in the Egyptian temples, and +had seven great gates built of hewn stone and provided with doors and +bronze hinges. Its roof was wholly of cedar wood, probably brought from +the distant Lebanon, and its walls appear to have been ceiled or adorned +with stucco, as were those of Solomon's temple. It was also equipped with +bowls of gold and silver and the other paraphernalia of sacrifice. +Here were regularly offered cereal-offerings, burnt-offerings, and +frankincense. The petitioners also promised that, if the Persian officials +would grant their request, "we will also offer cereal-offerings and +frankincense and burnt-offerings on the altar in your name, and we will +pray to God in your name, we and our wives and all the Jews who are here, +if you do thus until the temple is built. And you shall have a portion +before the God Yahu, the God of Heaven, from every one who offers to him +burnt-offerings and sacrifices." + +Historical students have long been familiar with the fact that late in the +Greek period the Jews of Egypt built a temple to Jehovah at Leontopolis, +in the Delta (cf. Section CXV:iii); but these recent discoveries open +an entirely new chapter in Jewish history. They indicate that probably +within a generation after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, in 586 +B.C., the Jewish colonists in Egypt built for themselves far up the Nile, +and possibly at other points in this land of their exile, a temple or +temples to Jehovah; that they remained loyal to God and the institutions +of their race; and that in the midst of cosmopolitan Egypt they preserved +intact their racial unity. In the light of these discoveries it is also +clear that because of their character and numbers and nearness to +Palestine the Jews of Egypt, even at this early period, were a far more +important factor in the life and development of Judaism than they have +hitherto been considered. These discoveries also afford definite grounds +for the hope that from this unexpected quarter much more valuable material +will come to illumine this otherwise dark period of post-exilic Jewish +history. + + + +Section XCII. EZEKIEL'S MESSAGE TO HIS SCATTERED COUNTRYMEN + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:1-6] +The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me by the spirit and set +me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. And he +caused me to pass by them round about; and, behold, there were very many +on the surface of the valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said to +me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord Jehovah, thou +knowest. Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, +O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah. 'Thus saith Jehovah to these +bones: "Behold I am about to put breath into you, that ye may live. And I +will put sinews on you, and will clothe you with flesh, and cover you with +skin, and put breath in you, that ye may live; and know that I am +Jehovah."' + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:7-10] +So I prophesied as he commanded me: and as I prophesied, there was an +earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I beheld, +and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh had clothed them, and skin +covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, +Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus +saith Jehovah: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these +slain, that they may live."' So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the +breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an +exceedingly great host. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:11-14] +Then he said to me, O man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; +behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are +completely ruined.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, 'Thus saith +Jehovah: "Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, +O my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall +know that I am Jehovah, when I have opened your graves, and raised you +from your graves, O my people. And I will put my spirit in you, that ye +may live, and I will restore you to your own land: that ye may know that +I, Jehovah, have spoken it and performed it," is the oracle of Jehovah.' + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:15-23] +This word also came to me from Jehovah: Do thou, O man, take a stick, and +write upon it, JUDAH AND THE ISRAELITES ASSOCIATED WITH HIM: then take +another stick, and write upon it, JOSEPH, AND ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL +ASSOCIATED WITH HIM. Then join them together, so that they may become one +stick in thy hand. And when the children of thy people shall say to thee, +'Wilt thou not show us what this means?' say to them, 'Thus saith Jehovah: +"Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of +Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him; and I will unite +them with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be +united in my hand."' And let the sticks on which thou writest be in thy +hand before their eyes. And say to them, 'Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: +"Behold, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations, whither +they are gone, and gather them from all sides, and bring them into their +own land: and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains +of Israel; and there shall be one king over them all; and they shall be no +longer two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any +longer; nor shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor +with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I +will save them from all their apostasies wherein they have sinned, and +will cleanse them; so shall they be my people, and I will be their God."' + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:24-28] +'"And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one +shepherd: they shall also walk in mine ordinances, and observe my +statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given +to my servant Jacob, wherein their fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell +therein, they and their sons, forever. And David my servant shall be their +prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it +shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will establish them, and +multiply them, and set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. My +dwelling place also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they +shall be my people. And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah who +sanctifieth Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them +forevermore."' + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:1-4] +In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, +in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was +taken, on that very day, the hand of Jehovah was laid upon me, and he +brought me in an inspired vision to the land of Israel, and set me down +upon a very high mountain, on which was a city-like building toward the +south. Thither he brought me, and there was a man whose appearance was +like the appearance of bronze, with a flaxen line and a measuring reed in +his hand; and he was standing in the gateway. And the man said to me, Son +of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and give heed to +all that I shall show thee; for, in order that thou shouldst be shown it +wert thou brought hither; declare all that thou seest to the house of +Israel. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:5] +There was a wall encircling a temple, and in the man's hand a measuring +reed six cubits long, each cubit being equal to about twenty-one inches. +And he measured the thickness of the building one reed (about ten and +one-half feet); and the height one reed. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:6-12] +Then he came to the east gateway and went up its steps and measured the +threshold of the gate one reed wide. And each guard-room was one reed +long, and one reed broad; and between the guard-rooms were spaces of five +cubits; and the threshold of the gate at the vestibule of the gate on the +inner side was one reed. Then he measured the vestibule of the gate, eight +cubits, and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was on +the inner side. And the guard-rooms of the east gate were three on each +side; and all three were of the same dimensions; and the posts were on +both sides. And he measured the breadth of the entrance to the gateway, +ten cubits; and the width of the gate, thirteen cubits; and there was a +sill one cubit wide, before the guard-rooms on each side; and the +guard-rooms, six cubits on both sides. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:13, 15] +And he measured the gate from the outer wall of the one guard-room to the +outer wall of the other, twenty-five cubits wide [about forty-four feet]; +door opposite door. And from the front of the gateway at the entrance to +the front of the inner vestibule of the gate were fifty cubits. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:17, 19] +Then he brought me to the outer court, and there were chambers and a +pavement made round about the court; thirty chambers were upon the +pavement. And he measured its breadth from the front of the lower gate to +the front of the inner court without, one hundred cubits on the east and +on the north. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:20, 21b, 24b] +And the north gateway of the outer court, he measured its length and +breadth. And its measurements were the same as those of the east gateway. +The dimensions of the gateway on the south were also the same as the +others. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:44-47] +He brought me outside the gate and into the inner court, and there were +two chambers on the inner court, one by the north gate, facing the south, +and the other by the south gate, facing the north. And he said to me, This +chamber which faces the south is for the priests who have charge of the +temple; and the chamber which faces the north is for the priests who have +charge of the altar; they are the sons of Zadok, those of the sons of Levi +who may be near to Jehovah to serve him. And he measured the court, a +hundred cubits wide, and a hundred cubits broad--a perfect square. The +altar was in front of the temple. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 41:1,2] +Then he brought me into the hall of the temple and measured the jambs, six +cubits on each side. And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and +the sides of the entrance were five cubits on each side; and he measured +its length, forty cubits; and its width, twenty cubits. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 41:3, 4] +Then he went into the inner room and measured the jambs of its entrance, +two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the side-walls of the +entrance, seven cubits on each side. And he measured its length, twenty +cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, before the hall of the temple. +And he said to me, This is the most holy place. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 41:5-8a] +Then he measured the thickness of the wall of the temple, six cubits; and +the width of the side-chambers, four cubits, round about the temple on +every side. And the side-chambers were in three stories, one above +another, and thirty in each story; and there were abatements all around +the walls of the temple that the side-chambers might be fastened to them +and not to the walls of the temple. And the side-chambers became wider as +they went up higher and higher, for the temple grew narrower higher up; +and there was an ascent from the lowest story to the highest through the +middle story. And I saw also that the temple had a raised platform round +about. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 43:1-5] +Then he brought me to the east gate. And behold the glory of the God of +Israel came from the east; and his voice was like the sound of many +waters; and the earth shone with his glory. And the vision which I saw was +like that which I saw when he came to destroy the city; and the visions +were like that which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. +Then the glory of Jehovah came into the temple through the east gate. And +the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, +the glory of Jehovah filled the temple. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 43:6-9] +Then I heard One speaking to me from the temple, as he stood by me. And +he said to me, O man, this is the place of my throne, and the place for +the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites +forever. And the house of Israel, they and their kings, shall no more +defile my holy name with their idolatry and with the corpses of their +kings by placing their thresholds by my threshold, and their door-posts +by my door-post, with only a wall between me and them, thus defiling my +holy name by the abominations which they have committed; therefore I have +destroyed them in mine anger. Now let them put away their idolatry, and +the corpses of their kings far from me, that I may dwell in the midst of +them forever. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 44:9-14] +Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, 'No foreigner, consecrated neither +in heart nor flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the Israelites, +shall enter my sanctuary. But those Levites who went far from me, when +Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, shall bear +their guilt. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight +at the gates of the temple, and ministering in the temple; they shall slay +the burnt-offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand +before them and minister to them. Since they were wont to minister to them +before their idols and were a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of +Israel; therefore I have taken a solemn oath against them,' is the oracle +of the Lord Jehovah, 'and they shall bear their guilt. And they shall not +approach me to act as priests to me, so as to come near any of my sacred +things, or to those which are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame +and the punishment for the abominations which they have committed; I will +make them responsible for the care of the temple, for all its service, and +for all that shall be done therein. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 44:15-16] +But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who took charge of my +sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, shall come near to me +to minister to me, and they shall stand before me to offer to me fat and +blood,' is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah. 'They shall enter my sanctuary, +and they shall approach near to my table to minister to me, and they shall +keep my charge. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 44:23-24] +And they shall teach my people the difference between the sacred and the +common, and instruct them how to discern between the clean and the +unclean. And in a controversy they shall act as judges, judging it +according to my ordinances. And they shall keep my laws and my statutes +in all my appointed feasts; and they shall maintain the sanctity of my +sabbaths.' + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 45:2-5] +When ye allot the land as inheritance, ye shall offer as a special gift to +Jehovah, a sacred portion of the land, five thousand cubits long, and +twenty thousand cubits wide; it shall be sacred throughout its entire +extent. And out of this area shalt thou measure off a space twenty-five +thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide, and on it shall the +most holy sanctuary stand. It is a holy portion of the land; it shall +belong to the priests who are the ministers in the sanctuary, who draw +near to minister to Jehovah; and it shall be a place for their houses, and +an open space for the sanctuary. Out of this a square of five hundred +cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with an open space fifty cubits wide +around it. And a space twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand +wide shall belong to the Levites, the ministers of the temple; it shall be +their possession for cities in which to dwell. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 45:6-8] +And as the possession of the city, ye shall assign a space five thousand +cubits wide, and twenty-five thousand long, beside the sacred reservation; +it shall belong to the whole house of Israel. And the prince shall have +the space on both sides of the sacred reservation and the possession of +the city, on the west and on the east, and of the same length as one of +the portions of the tribes, from the west border to the east border of the +land. It shall be his possession in Israel; and the princes of Israel +shall no more oppress my people, but shall give the land to the house of +Israel according to their tribes. + +I. The Home of the Exiles in Babylon. From the references in the +contemporary writers it is possible to gain a reasonably definite idea +regarding the environment of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. Ezekiel +describes the site as "a land of traffic, a city of merchants, a fruitful +soil, and beside many waters," where the colony like a willow was +transplanted [17:5]. The Kabaru Canal (the River Chebar of Ezekiel) ran +southeast from Babylon to Nippur through a rich alluvial plain, +intersected by numerous canals. Beside it lived a dense agricultural +population. On the tells or artificial mounds made by the ruins of earlier +Babylonian cities were built the peasant villages. Ezekiel speaks of +preaching to the Jewish colony of Tel-Abib (Storm-hill), and the lists +of those who later returned to Judah contain references to those who came +from Tel-Melah (Salt-hill) and Tel-Harsha (Forest-hill). + +II. Their Condition and Occupations. It is probable that these mounds +were not far from each other and that the adjacent fields were cultivated +by the Jewish colonists. Thus they were enabled, under even more favorable +conditions than in Judah, to continue in their old occupations and to +build houses and rear families as Jeremiah had advised (Jer. 29; Section +LXXXVII:35). In Babylonia, as at Elephantine, so long as they paid the +imperial tax and refrained from open violence they were probably allowed +to rule themselves in accordance with their own laws. The elders of the +different families directed the affairs of the community and acted as +judges, except in the case of capital offences which were punished in the +name of Nebuchadrezzar (Jer. 29 22). Thus for a long time the exiles +constituted a little Judah within the heart of the Babylonian empire, +maintaining their racial integrity even more completely than the Jews +resident in Egypt. + +Babylonia was the scene of an intense commercial activity. The +opportunities and allurements of the far-reaching traffic which passed +up and down the great rivers and across the neighboring deserts were +eventually too strong for the Jews to resist. Hence in Babylonia, as in +Egypt, they gradually abandoned their inherited agricultural habits and +were transformed into a nation of traders. In the recently discovered +records of the transactions of the famous Babylonian banking house which +flourished during the earlier part of the Persian period, under the +direction of succeeding generations of the Murashu family, are found many +familiar Jewish names. These indicate that within a century after the fall +of Jerusalem many sons of the exiles had already won a prominent place in +the commercial life of that great metropolis. + +III. Their Religious Life. With this transformation in their occupation +came a great temptation to forget their race and to lose sight of its +ideals. The temptation was all the greater because their capital city and +temple were in ruins and the belief was widely held that Jehovah had +forsaken his land and people and retired to his "mount in the uttermost +parts of the north" (Isa. 14:13 Ezek. 1:4). Their actual experiences had +proved so fundamentally different from their hopes that there was +undoubtedly in the minds of many a dread doubt as to whether Jehovah was +able to fulfil his promises. False prophets were also present to mislead +the people (Jer. 39:21-23 Ezek. 13:1-7 14:8-10). There is also no +indication that the Jews of Babylon ever attempted to build a temple to +Jehovah in the land of their captivity. Hence there were no ancient +festivals and public and private sacrifices and impressive ceremonials to +kindle their religious feelings and to keep alive their national faith. +Instead, the imposing religion of the Babylonians, with its rich temples, +its many festivals, its prosperous and powerful priesthood, and its +elaborate ritual must have profoundly impressed them and led them to draw +unfavorable comparisons between it and the simple services of their +pre-exilic temple. Nevertheless, in spite of these temptations, there +were many who proved themselves loyal to Jehovah. Prayer and fasting and +sabbath observance took the place of sacrificial rites. A strong emphasis +is laid by Ezekiel on the sabbath. [Sidenote A: Ezekiel 20:12-31; Ezekiel +22:26; Ezekiel 23:38] From this time on it became one of the most +important and characteristic institutions of Judaism. Under the influence +of the new situation it lost much of its original, philanthropic, and +social character and became instead a ceremonial institution. In +faithfully observing it the exiles felt that even in captivity they were +paying homage to their divine King. The more it took the place of the +ancient feasts and sacrifices, the more they forgot that the sabbath was +God's gift to toiling man rather than man's gift to God. From the +Babylonian exile, also, probably dates that custom of assembling on the +sabbath to read the ancient scriptures which represents the genesis of +the later synagogue and its service. + +IV. The Prophecies of Ezekiel. The priest-prophet Ezekiel was the +interpreter, pastor, and guide of the Babylonian exiles. He met their +problems and proposed the solutions which became the foundation principles +of later Judaism. His prophecies fall naturally into four distinct groups: +(1) Chapters 1 to 24, which recount his call and deal with the issues at +stake in the different Judean communities in the critical years between +the first and second captivities. They represent the prophet's work +between the years 592 and 586 B.C. (2) Chapters 25 to 32, include seven +oracles regarding Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Egypt, the +nations which had taken part in the destruction of Jerusalem or else, like +Egypt, had lured Judah to its ruin. The complete destruction of these foes +is predicted, and chapter 32 concludes with a weird picture of their fate, +condemned by Jehovah to dwell in Sheol, the abode of the shades. +(3) Chapters 33 to 39 contain messages of comfort and promise to Ezekiel's +fellow-exiles in Babylonia and in the distant lands of the dispersion. +They are dated between the years 586 and 570 B.C. (4) Chapters 40 to 48 +present Ezekiel's plan for the restored temple and service and for the +redistribution of the territory of Canaan, and his belief that Judah's +fertility would be miraculously increased. This plan is definitely dated +in the year 572 B.C., two years before the prophet's death. + +V. The Resurrection of the Dead Nation. Ezekiel dealt with the problems +of his fellow-exiles concretely and from a point of view which they could +readily understand. He fully realized that if the faith of the people was +to be saved in this crisis a definite hope, expressed in objective +imagery, must be set before them. With the same inspired insight that had +prompted Jeremiah to purchase his family estate in the hour of Jerusalem's +downfall, Ezekiel saw that Jehovah would yet restore his people, if they +would but respond to the demands of this crisis. His message was, +therefore, one of hope and promise. In the memorable chapter in which he +pictures a valley filled with dry bones, he aimed to inspire their faith +by declaring that Jehovah was not only able but would surely gather +together the dismembered parts of the nation and impart to it new life and +activity. The prophet was clearly speaking of national rather than of +individual resurrection. Like Jeremiah, he anticipated that the tribes of +the north and south would again be united, as in the days of David, and +that over them a scion of the Davidic house would rule as Jehovah's +representative. He also assured them that Jehovah would come again to +dwell in the midst of his purified and restored people. + +VI. The Divine Shepherd. In the thirty-fourth chapter Ezekiel deals with +the same theme under a different figure. First he traces the cause of the +exile to the inefficiency and greed and oppression of the earlier +shepherds, the rulers like Jehoiakim, who had scattered rather than +gathered and led the people intrusted to them. Now Jehovah himself, the +great Shepherd of the People, will arise and gather his flock, and lead +them back to their home and give them a rich pasture. Over them he will +appoint a descendant of David, but this prince shall be shorn of his +ancient kingly power. + +Ezekiel also presents in his characteristic, symbolic form the promise +that Jehovah will now fulfil the popular hopes and destroy the wicked foes +who have preyed upon his people, and thus vindicate his divine rulership +of the world. In one passage Judah's worst foes, the Edomites, represent +aggressive heathendom. Again, in a still more impressive picture, +suggested by an experience in his own childhood when the dread Scythians +swept down from the north, he portrays the advance of the mysterious foes +from the distant north under the leadership of Gog (38, 39). When they are +already in the land of Palestine, the prophet declares, Jehovah will +terrify them with an earthquake, so that in panic they shall slay each +other, as did the Midianites in the days of Gideon, until they shall all +fall victims of Jehovah's judgment. Ezekiel thus revived in the changed +conditions of the exile that popular conception of the day of Jehovah +which the earlier prophets had refused to countenance. It was the +prophet's graphic way of declaring that Jehovah would prepare the way for +the return of his people, if they would but respond when the opportune +moment should arrive. Later Judaism, however, and especially the +apocalyptic writers, interpreted literally and developed still further +this picture of Jehovah's great judgment day until it became a prominent +teaching of later Jewish and Christian thought. + +Similarly Ezekiel declared that the barren lands of Judah would be +miraculously transformed and rendered capable of supporting the great +numbers of the exiles who should return. In this respect Ezekiel became +the father of the later priestly school to which belongs the author of the +book of Chronicles, in whose thought the events of Israel's history came +to pass, not through man's earnest effort and in accordance with +the established laws of the universe, but through special divine +interposition. It is difficult to determine whether Ezekiel himself was +simply endeavoring to state dramatically that Jehovah would fully +anticipate the needs of his people, or whether he did actually anticipate +a series of prodigious miracles. + +VII. Ezekiel's Plan of the Restored Temple. Ezekiel, being a true +prophet, fully realized that the fundamental question regarding the future +of his race was not whether they would be restored to their home but +whether or not they would guard against the mistakes and sins of the past +and live in accord with Jehovah's just demands. The solution of this +question which he proposes reveals his priestly training. With infinite +pains and detail he develops the plan of a restored temple and ritual. +The details were doubtless in part suggested by his remembrance of the +temple at Jerusalem and in part taken from the great temples of Babylon. +By means of this elaborate picture he declared his firm conviction that +his race would surely be restored. His chief purpose, however, was to +impress upon the minds of his people the transcendent holiness of Jehovah +and the necessity that he be worshipped by a holy people. The entire plan +of the temple, of the ritual, and even of the allotment of the territory +of Canaan was intended to enforce this idea. His plan, if adopted, was +calculated to deliver the people from the temptations and mistakes of the +past. With this end in view Jehovah's sacred abode was guarded with +massive double walls and huge gateways. Only the priests were allowed to +enter the inner court, and a sharp distinction was made between the +priests who were the descendants of Zadok and the Levites whose fathers +had ministered at the many sanctuaries scattered throughout the land of +Israel. The territory immediately adjacent to the temple was assigned to +the priests and Levites, and its sanctity was further guarded on the east +and west by the domains of the prince. His chief function was, not to +rule, as had the selfish and inefficient tyrants who had preceded him, but +to provide the animals and the material requisite for the temple service. +The territory on the north and the south of the temple was assigned to the +different tribes of Israel. + +No political or social problems clouded the prophet's vision. The entire +energies of priest, Levite, prince, and people were to be devoted to the +worship of the Holy One, whose restored and glorified sanctuary stood in +their midst. Thus it was that Ezekiel reversed the ideals of the +pre-exilic Hebrew state and presented that programme which with many +modifications was adopted in principle at least by the post-exilic Judean +community. In place of the monarchy appeared the hierarchy; instead of the +king the high priest became both the religious and the civil head of the +nation. Soon the Davidic royal line disappeared entirely, and the +interests of the people centred more and more about the temple and its +ritual. Although Ezekiel's vision was not and could not be fully realized, +except by a series of miracles, this devoted priest-prophet of the exile +was in a large sense the father of Judaism. + + + +Section XCIII. THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE BABYLONIAN RULE + +[Sidenote: II Kings 25:27-30] +Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of +Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, +Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year in which he became king, +(561 B.C.) lifted up Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison to a position of +honor. And he spoke kindly to him and placed his seat above the seats of +the kings who were with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments. +And Jehoiachin ate with him continually as long as he lived. And for his +support a continual allowance was given him by the king, each day a +portion, as long as he lived. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 9:1-3] +The people who have been walking in darkness see a great light, +Those who dwell in the land of deepest gloom, upon them a light shines. +Thou multipliest the exultation, thou makest great the rejoicing, +They rejoice before thee as men rejoice at harvest time, +As men are wont to exult when they divide spoil. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 9:4, 5] +For the burdensome yoke and the crossbar on his shoulder, +The rod of his taskmaster, thou breakest as in the day of Midian. +For every boot of the warrior with noisy tread, +And every war-cloak drenched in the blood of the slain +Will be completely burned up as fuel for the flame. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 9:6, 7] +For a child is born, to us a son is given, +And dominion shall rest upon his shoulder; +And his name will be Wonderful Counsellor, +Godlike Hero, Ever-watchful Father, Prince of Peace. +To the increase of his dominion and to the peace there shall be no end, +On the throne of David and throughout his kingdom, +To establish and uphold it by justice and righteousness +Henceforth and forever. The jealousy of Jehovah will accomplish this. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 11:1, 2] +A sprout shall spring from the stock of Jesse, +And a shoot from his roots shall bear fruit. +The spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him. +A spirit of wisdom and insight, +A spirit of counsel and might, +A spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 11:3-6] +He will not judge according to what his eyes see, +Nor decide according to what his ears hear; +But with righteousness will he judge the helpless, +And with equity will he decide for the needy in the land. + +He will smite an oppressor with the rod of his mouth, +And with the breath of his lips will he slay the guilty. +Righteousness will be the girdle about his loins, +And faithfulness the band about his waist. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 11:6-8] +Then the wolf will be the guest of the lamb, +And the leopard will lie down with the kid; +The calf and the young lion will graze together, +And a little child shall be their leader. +The cow and the bear shall become friends, +Their young ones shall lie down together, +And the lion shall eat straw like the ox; +The suckling will play about the hole of the asp, +And the weaned child will stretch out his hand toward the viper's nest. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 11:9, 10] +Men shall not harm nor destroy +In all my holy mountain; +For the earth shall have been filled with knowledge of Jehovah +As the waters cover the sea. +And it shall come to pass in that day, +That the root of Jesse who is to stand as a signal to the peoples-- +To him shall the nations resort, +And his resting-place shall be glorious. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 13:2-4] +Upon a treeless mountain lift up a signal, raise a cry to them, +Wave the hand that they may enter the princely gates. +I myself have given command to my consecrated ones, to execute my wrath, +I have also summoned my heroes, my proudly exultant ones. +Hark, a tumult on the mountains, as of a mighty multitude! +Hark, an uproar of kingdoms, of gathered nations! +It is Jehovah of hosts mustering the martial hosts. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 13:17-22] +I will punish the earth for its wickedness, and the wicked for their + iniquity, +I will still the arrogance of the proud, and lay low the presumption of + tyrants. +Behold, I stir up against them the Medes, +Who consider not silver, and take no pleasure in gold, +On children they will look with no pity, they have no compassion on the + fruit of the womb, +And Babylon, the most beautiful of kingdoms, the proud glory of the + Chaldeans, shall be, +As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. + +It shall be uninhabited forever, and tenantless age after age; +No nomad shall pitch there his tent, nor shepherds let their flocks lie + down there, +But wild cats shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of jackals; +Ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there, +Howling beasts shall cry to each other in its castles, and wolves in its + revelling halls; +Its time is near at hand, its day shall not be extended. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 6:3-5] +In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: +Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem--this house shall be rebuilt, +where they offer sacrifices and bring him offerings made by fire. Its +height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits, It shall be +constructed with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timber. And +let the expenses be paid out of the king's treasury. Also let the gold and +silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadrezzar took from the +temple at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again +to the temple which is at Jerusalem, each to its place, and you shall put +them in the house of God. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 5:14, 15] +Now the gold and silver vessels of the house of God which Nebuchadrezzar +took from the temple at Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylon, +those Cyrus the king took out of the temple in Babylon, and they were +delivered to one by the name of Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor. +And he said to him, Take these vessels; go, put them in the temple at +Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its place. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 1:5, 6; I Esdr. 5:1-6] +Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the +priests and the Levites, even all whose spirit God had stirred to go up to +build the temple of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem, arose. And all those +who were about them supplied them with silver vessels, with gold, with +goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, besides all that was +voluntarily offered. + +These are the names or the men who went up, according to their tribes, by +their genealogy. Of the priests the sons of Phinehas, the son of Aaron: +Jeshua the son of Jozadak, the son of Seriah. And there rose up with him +Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel of the house of David, of the family of +Peres, of the tribe of Judah; in the second year of Cyrus king of Persia +in the first day of the month Nisan. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 3:2-4, 6b] +Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his kinsmen the priests, and +Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his kinsmen arose and built the altar +of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings on it, as prescribed in the +law of Moses the man of God. And they set up the altar in its place; for +fear, because of the peoples dwelling in the land, had come upon them, +but they plucked up courage and offered burnt-offerings to Jehovah, even +burnt-offerings morning and evening. And they kept the feast of booths as +it is prescribed, and offered the fixed number of daily burnt-offerings +according to the direction for each day; but the foundation of the temple +of Jehovah was not yet laid. + +I. The Transformation of the Jews into a Literary People. The +destruction of Jerusalem transformed the Jewish peasants of Palestine into +a literary race. Before the final destruction of Jerusalem they had lived +together in a small territory where communication was easy and the need of +written records but slight. The exile separated friends and members of the +same families, and scattered them broadcast throughout the then known +world. The only means of communicating with each other in most cases was +by writing, and this necessity inevitably developed the literary art. The +exiles in Babylonia and Egypt were also in close contact with the two most +active literary peoples of the ancient world. In countries where almost +every public or private act was recorded in written form, and where the +literature of the past was carefully preserved and widely transcribed, it +was inevitable that the Jews should be powerfully influenced by these +examples. Furthermore, the teachers of the race, prophets and priests +alike, prevented by the destruction of the temple from employing their +former oral and symbolic methods of instruction, resorted, as did the +priest Ezekiel, to the pen. Thus the religious thought and devotion of the +race began to find expression in its literature. + +The incentives to collect the earlier writings of the priests and prophets +were also exceedingly strong, for the experiences and institutions of +their past, together with their hopes for the future, were the two main +forces that now held together the Jewish race. Fortunately, the more +intelligent leaders realized, even before 586 B.C., that the final +catastrophe was practically certain, and therefore prepared for it in +advance. The decade between the first and second captivities also gave +them an opportunity to collect the more important writings of their +earlier prophetic and priestly teachers, while the Judean state was still +intact and while these earlier writings could be readily consulted. +II. The Literary Activity of the Babylonian Period. The literary work of +this period took three distinct forms: (1) The collection, compilation, +and editing of earlier historical writings. It was probably during this +period that the narratives of Judges, of Samuel, and Kings, which carried +the history down into the exile itself, received their final revision. +(2) Earlier writings were revised or supplemented so as to adapt them to +the new and different conditions. Thus the sermons of the pre-exilic +prophets, as for example those of Amos and Isaiah, were then revised and +supplemented at many points. These earlier prophets had predicted doom and +destruction for their nation; but now that their predictions had been +realized what was needed was a message of comfort and promise. The +fulfilment of their earlier predictions had established their authority in +the minds of the people. The purpose of the later editors was evidently +to put in the mouth of these earlier prophets what they probably would +have said had they been present to speak at the later day to their +discouraged and disconsolate countrymen. Studied in the light of these two +fundamentally different points of view, the glaring inconsistencies which +appear in the prophetic books are fully explained and the consistency of +the earlier prophets vindicated. + +The third form of literary activity is represented by the writings of +Ezekiel. With the authority of a prophet, he dealt directly with the +problem of his day, and the greater part of his book consists of the +records of his prophetic addresses or of epistles which he sent to his +scattered fellow-countrymen, even as Jeremiah wrote from Judah a letter to +the distant exiles in Babylon. His new constitution for the restored +Jewish state was also based on earlier customs and laws, but was adapted +to the new needs of the changed situation. He was not the only one to +undertake this task. Other priests gathered earlier groups of oral laws +and put in written form the customs and traditions of the pre-exilic +temple. At the same time they modified these earlier customs so as to +correct the evils which past experience had revealed. + +III. The Holiness Code. The chief product of the literary activity of +the earlier part of the exile is the collection of laws found in the +seventeenth to the twenty-sixth chapters of Leviticus. Because of its +strong emphasis on the holiness of Jehovah and on the necessity that he +be worshipped by a people both ceremonially and morally holy, it is now +commonly designated as the Holiness Code. In theme, in point of view, in +purpose, and in literary form it has many close points of contact with the +writings of Ezekiel. In its original unity it evidently came from the +period and circle of thought in which the great priest-prophet lived. +His sermons, however, suggest that he was acquainted with its main +teachings. In distinguishing sharply between the Jerusalem priests and the +ministering Levites, and in prohibiting the marriage of a priest with a +widow, Ezekiel shows that his work represented a slightly later stage in +the development of Israel's religious standards. The most probable date, +therefore, for the Holiness Code is the decade between the first and +second captivity (597-586 B.C.). + +Like every ancient lawbook the Holiness Code contains many laws and +regulations which evidently come from a much earlier period in Israel's +history. Some of its enactments are very similar to those of the primitive +codes of Exodus 21-23. In spirit it is closely related to the book of +Deuteronomy. It also reproduces many of the laws found in this earlier +code. Both codes represent the fruitage of the teaching of the pre-exilic +prophets and priests. Each contains ceremonial, civil, and moral laws; but +the emphasis on the ritual is more pronounced in the Holiness Code. It +consists of ten or eleven distinct groups of laws. In Leviticus 18 and 19 +are found certain short decalogues. They probably represent the united +efforts of the Judean prophets and priests during the Assyrian period to +inculcate the true principles of justice, service, and worship in the +minds of the people. Some of the laws in these earlier decalogues are the +noblest examples of Old Testament legislation: + +DUTIES TO OTHERS + +[Sidenote: Kindness to the needy] +I. Thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy fields. +II. Thou shalt not gather the gleanings of thy harvest. +III. Thou shalt not glean thy vineyard. +IV. Thou shalt not gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard. +V. Thou shalt leave them for the poor and the resident alien. + +[Sidenote: Honesty in business relations] +VI. Ye shall not steal. +VII. Ye shall do no injustice, in measures of length, weight or of + quantity. +VIII. Ye shall not deal falsely with one another. +IX. Ye shall not lie to one another. +X. Ye shall not swear falsely by my name. + +JUSTICE TO ALL MEN + +[Sidenote: Toward dependents] +I. Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor. +II. Thou shalt not rob thy neighbor. +III. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with thee all night + until the morning. +IV. Thou shalt not curse the deaf. +V. Thou shalt not put a stumbling-block before the blind. + +[Sidenote: Toward equals] +VI. Thou shalt not do injustice in rendering a judicial decision. +VII. Thou shalt not show partiality to the poor. +VIII. Thou shalt not have undue consideration for the powerful. +IX. Thou shalt not go about as a tale-bearer among thy people. +X. Thou shalt not seek the blood of thy neighbor [by bearing false + testimony in court]. + +ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHERS + +[Sidenote: In the heart] +I. Thou shalt not hate thy fellow-countryman in thy heart. +II. Thou shalt warn thy neighbor and not incur sin on his account. +III. Thou shalt not take vengeance. +IV. Thou shalt not bear a grudge against the members of thy race. +V. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. + +IV. The Liberation of Jehoiachin and the Hopes of the Jews. The +liberation of Jehoiachin, the grandson of Josiah, from the Babylonian +prison where he had been confined since the first capture of Jerusalem was +the one event in the Babylonian period deemed worthy of record by the +biblical historians. The occasion was the accession of Nebuchadrezzar's +son Evil-merodach (Babylonian, Amil-Marduk). The act possessed little +political importance, for the Jews were helpless in the hands of their +Babylonian masters; but it evidently aroused the hopes of the exiles, and +especially that type of hope which centred in the house of David. + +Ezekiel, in his ideal programme, assigned to the Davidic prince only minor +duties in connection with the temple, and transferred the chief authority +to the high priest and his attendants. But it is evident that Ezekiel did +not fully voice the hopes of the majority of the exiles. The late passage +in II Samuel 7:16, which contains the promise to David: + +Thy house and kingdom shall always stand firm before me, +Thy throne shall be established forever, + +expresses the prevailing belief in the days immediately preceding the +exile. The national hopes which looked to the descendants of the house of +David for fulfilment were inevitably modified, however, by the experiences +of the exile and strengthened by the liberation of Jehoiachin. The rule of +such kings as Manasseh and Jehoiakim had revealed the overwhelming evils +that unworthy rulers, even though of the house of David, could bring upon +their subjects. Josiah's reign, on the other hand, established new and +higher standards. The noble ethical and social ideals of Amos, Hosea, and +Isaiah had not wholly failed to awaken a response. + +All of these varied influences are traceable in the two prophecies found +in Isaiah 9:1-7 and 11:1-10. Embodying as they do many of the social +principles for which Isaiah contended, it was natural that these anonymous +writings should afterward be attributed to that great statesman-prophet. +Jehovah, however, was the one supreme king whom Isaiah acknowledged; and +it was difficult to find in his strenuous life a logical or historical +setting for these kingly oracles. They also imply that the royal house of +Judah had been struck down, and that the new king is to rise out of a +background of gloom and is to inaugurate an entirely new era. The +character and rule of this king of popular hopes reflect many of the +traits of David and Josiah; but his aims and methods are in accord with +the moral and social standards of the great pre-exilic prophets. They +portray a temporal ruler; but the spirit which actuates him and the +principles which guide him are noble and unselfish. As subsequent history +clearly shows, the prophet or prophets who painted these portraits +apparently hoped that a son or grandson of Jehoiachin would realize them. +It is exceedingly probable in the light of the later predictions of Haggai +and Zechariah (Sections XCIV, XCV) that these prophecies were written not +long after the birth of Zerubbabel. The kingdom over which he was to rule +and to which he was to bring perfect justice and peace was the prophetic +counterpart of Ezekiel's priestly plan of the restored and redeemed +community. The ethical ideals thus concretely set forth were never fully +realized in Israel's troubled history; but they remain as valid and +commanding to-day as they were far back in the Babylonian period. The +abolition of all the insignia of war, the high sense of official +responsibility, the protection of the weak by the strong, and the reign of +perfect peace and harmony throughout all the earth are the goals for which +all earnest, consecrated souls in every age and race are striving. It is +natural and proper that the Christian Church should see in Jesus the +fullest and truest realization of these ancient kingly ideals. + +V. The Rule of Nabonidus. The successors of Nebuchadrezzar proved weak +and inefficient. His dissolute son, Amil-Marduk, was soon murdered by his +brother-in-law Nergalsharuzur (Gk. Neriglissar). This ruler is probably +the Nergal-sharezer of Jeremiah 39:3 who directed the final capture and +destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. After reigning four years he died, +leaving the Babylonian empire to his young son, who soon fell a victim to +a conspiracy of his nobles. They placed on the throne a certain Nabuna'id, +who is known to the Greek historians as Nabonidus. He appeared to be more +interested in excavating ancient ruins and in rebuilding old temples than +in ruling his subjects. By his arbitrary religious policy and his neglect +of the popular gods of the Babylonians, he completely alienated the +loyalty of his people. During the latter part of his reign, which extended +from 555 to 538 B.C., he left the government largely in charge of his son +Belsharuzur, the Belshazzar of the story in Daniel. + +VI. Rise and Conquests of Cyrus. While the Babylonian empire was sinking +into decay, the Median kingdom on the north and east experienced a +sweeping revolution. Its cause was the discontent of the older Median +population under the rule of the more barbarous Umman-Manda. These later +Scythian conquerors had, under their king Cyaxares, broken the power of +Assyria and fallen heir to its eastern territory. The older elements found +a leader in Cyrus, the king of Anshan, a little state among the mountains +of Elam, northeast of Babylonia. From contemporary inscriptions it appears +that the followers of Astyages, who succeeded Cyaxares to the Median +throne, rebelled against their king and delivered him over into the hands +of Cyrus. As soon as Cyrus became master of the Median Empire, he proved +an able commander, a skilful politician, and a wise statesman. Recognizing +that he could hold in control the diverse and turbulent elements in his +heterogeneous kingdom only as he kept them actively occupied, he at once +entered upon a series of campaigns which in the end left him undisputed +master of southwestern Asia. In 547 B.C., two years after he became king +of Media, he crossed the Tigris and conquered Mesopotamia, which had been +held for a time by the Babylonians, Apparently he did not assume the title +King of Persia until 546. Appreciating the great strength of Babylon, he +did not at first attempt its capture, but began at once by intrigue to +pave the way for its ultimate overthrow. In 545 he set out on a western +campaign against Croesus, the king of Lydia, the ancient rival of Media. +After a quick and energetic campaign, Sardis, the rich Lydian capital, +was captured, and Cyrus was free to advance against the opulent Greek +colonies that lay along the eastern shores of the Aegean. These in rapid +succession fell into his hands, so that by 538 B.C. he was in a position +to advance with a large victorious army against the mistress of the lower +Euphrates. + +VII. His Capture of Babylon. The campaigns of Cyrus were naturally +watched with keen interest by the Jewish exiles in Babylonia. The songs in +Isaiah 14, 15, and 21:1-10, and Jeremiah 51:29-31, voice their joyous +expectation of Babylon's impending humiliation. In a contemporary +inscription Cyrus has given a vivid account of the fall of the capital. +Early in October of the year 538 B.C. he assembled a large army on the +northern borders of Babylonia. Here a battle was fought in which the +Babylonians were completely defeated. The town of Sippar quickly +surrendered to Cyrus's general, and two days later the Persian army +entered Babylon. The record states that the gates of the mighty city were +opened by its inhabitants, and Cyrus and his followers were welcomed as +deliverers. King Nabonidus was captured and banished to the distant +province of Carmania, northeast of the Persian Gulf. In the words +of Cyrus: "Peace he gave the town; peace he proclaimed to all the +Babylonians." In the eyes of the conquered, he figured as the champion +of their gods, whose images he restored to the capital city. The temples +as well as the walls of Babylon were rebuilt, and the king publicly +proclaimed himself a devoted worshipper of Marduk and Nebo, the chief gods +of the Babylonians. Thus from the first the policy of Cyrus in treating +conquered peoples was fundamentally different from that of the Babylonians +and Assyrians. They had sought to establish their power by crushing the +conquered rather than by furthering their well-being; but Cyrus, by his +many acts of clemency, aimed to secure and hold their loyalty. + +VIII. His Treatment of Conquered Peoples. Cyrus showed the same wisdom +in his treatment of the many petty peoples who had been ground down under +the harsh rule of Babylon. In one of his inscriptions he declares: "The +gods whose sanctuaries from of old had lain in ruins I brought back again +to their dwelling-places and caused them to reside there forever. All of +the citizens of these lands I assembled and I restored them to their +homes" (Cyrus Cyl., 31, 32). In the light of this statement it is clear +that the Jews, in common with other captive peoples, were given full +permission to return to their homes and to rebuild their ruined temple. +The decree of Cyrus recorded in the Aramaic document preserved in Ezra +6:3-5 is apparently the Jewish version of the general decree which he +issued. It is also possible that he aided the vassal peoples in rebuilding +their sanctuaries; for such action was in perfect accord with his wise +policy. He also intrusted the rulership of different kingdoms as far as +possible to native princes. In the Greek book of I Esdras has been +preserved a list (which has fallen out of the biblical book of Ezra) of +those who availed themselves of Cyrus's permission to return to Palestine. +It includes simply the priest Jeshua, or Joshua, the lineal heir of the +early Jerusalem priestly line of Zadok, and Zerubbabel, a descendant of +the Judean royal family. They doubtless took with them their immediate +followers and were probably accompanied by a few exiles whose loyalty +impelled them to leave the attractive opportunities in Babylon to face the +dangers of the long journey and the greater perils in Palestine. + +From Jeremiah 41:5 and Haggai 2:14 it appears that a rude altar had been +built on the sacred rock at Jerusalem and that religious services were +held on the site of the ruined temple soon after its destruction in 586 +B.C. With the gifts brought back by Zerubbabel and his followers, daily +sacrifices were probably instituted on the restored altar under the +direction of the priest Joshua (cf. Hag. 2:10-14). In the light, however, +of the oldest records it is clear that the revival of the Judean community +in Palestine was gradual and at first far from glorious. The Jews were a +broken-hearted, poverty-stricken, persecuted people, still crushed by the +great calamity that had overtaken their nation. The general return of the +exiles was only a dream of the future, and, despite the general permission +of Cyrus, the temple at Jerusalem still lay in ruins. + + + + +Section XCIV. THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE + +[Sidenote: Hag. 1:1-6] +In the second year of Darius the king, in the first day of the sixth +month, this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Speak to +Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son +of Jehozadak the high priest, saying, 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, "This +people say: The time has not yet come to rebuild the temple of Jehovah."' +Then this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Is it a time for +you yourselves to dwell in your own ceiled houses, while this temple lies +in ruins? Now therefore, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, 'Consider your past +experiences. Ye sow much, but bring in little; ye eat, but ye do not have +enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled; ye clothe yourselves, but not so +as to be warm; and he who earneth wages, earneth wages in a bag with +holes.' + +[Sidenote: Hag. 1:7-11] +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, 'Consider your experiences. Go up to the +mountains, and bring wood and rebuild the temple; then I will be pleased +with it, and I will reveal my glory,' saith Jehovah. 'Ye looked for much, +and it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I blew upon it. Why?' +saith Jehovah of hosts. 'Because of my temple that lieth in ruins, while +ye are running each to his own house. Therefore the heavens withhold the +dew, and the earth withholdeth its fruit. And I have called forth a +drought upon the land and upon the mountains, and upon the grain and the +new wine and the oil and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and +upon men and animals, and upon all the labor of the hands.' + +[Sidenote: Hag. 1:12-15a] +Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Jehozadak the +high priest, with all the rest of the people, obeyed the command of +Jehovah their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their +God had sent him to them. The people also feared before Jehovah. And +Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, +governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high +priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people, so that they +came and worked on the temple of Jehovah of hosts, their God, in the +twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 1:15b-2:5] +In the second year of Darius the king, on the twenty-first day of the +seventh month, this word from Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Speak to +Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of +Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, saying, +'Who is left among you that saw this temple in its former glory? and how +do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes as nothing? Yet now be strong, O +Zerubbabel,' is the oracle of Jehovah; 'and be strong, O Joshua, son of +Jehozadak, the high priest, and be strong, all ye people of the land,' is +the oracle of Jehovah, 'and work, for I am with you,' is the oracle of +Jehovah of hosts, 'and my spirit abideth in your midst; fear not.' + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:6-9] +For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: 'Yet a little while, and I will shake the +heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will shake +all nations, and the precious things of all nations shall come; and I will +fill this temple with glory,' saith Jehovah of hosts. 'The silver is mine, +and the gold is mine,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts. 'The later glory +of this temple shall be greater than the former,' saith Jehovah of hosts; +'and in this place will I grant prosperity,' is the oracle of Jehovah of +hosts. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:10-14] +In the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, +this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Thus saith Jehovah of +hosts: 'Ask of the priests a decision, saying, "If one bear holy flesh in +the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt touch bread, or pottage, or +wine, or oil, or any food, shall it become holy?"' And the priests +answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by reason +of a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests +answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then answered Haggai and said, So +is this people and so is this nation before me, is the oracle of Jehovah; +and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is +unclean. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:15-19] +And now, I pray you, think back from this day, before a stone was laid +upon a stone in the temple of Jehovah; how were ye? When ye came to a heap +of twenty measures, there were but ten; when ye came to the wine vat to +draw out fifty vessels, there were but twenty. I smote with blasting and +with mildew and with hail all the work of your hands; yet ye turned not to +me, is the oracle of Jehovah. Think back from this day, think! Is the seed +yet in the granary, yea, the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate and +the olive tree have not brought forth; from this day will I bless you. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:20-22] +This word of Jehovah came the second time to Haggai in the twenty-fourth +day of the month: Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and say: 'I will +shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of +kingdoms; and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; +and I will overthrow the chariots, and those who ride in them; and the +horses and their riders shall come down, each by the sword of his brother. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:23] +'In that day,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts, 'I will take thee, O +Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel,' is Jehovah's oracle, 'and +will make thee as a seal-ring, for I have chosen thee,' is the oracle of +Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 5:3-5] +At that time Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and +Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them, and spoke thus to them, +Who gave you permission to build this temple and to finish this wall? And +who are the builders who are carrying this through? But the eye of their +God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they did not make them cease, +until a report should come to Darius and a written decision concerning it +be returned. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 6:1-5] +Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the archives +where the official documents from Babylon had been deposited. And at +Ecbatana, the royal palace in the province of Media, a roll was found, and +in it was thus written: A record: In the first year of Cyrus the king, +Cyrus the king made a decree: 'Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, +let the house be rebuilt, where they offer sacrifices and bring him +offerings made by fire; its height shall be sixty cubits, and its breadth +sixty cubits. It shall be constructed with three layers of huge stones and +one layer of timber; and let the expenses be paid out of the king's +treasury. Also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which +Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, +be restored and brought to the temple which is at Jerusalem, each to its +place; and you shall put them in the house of God.' + +[Sidenote: Ezra 6:6-12] +Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the River, +Shethar-bozenai, and the rulers of the province beyond the River, go away +from there; let the work of this house of God alone; let the elders of the +Jews rebuild this house of God in its place. Moreover I make a decree in +regard to what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the building +of this house of God: that out of the king's wealth from the tribute of +the province beyond the River the expenses be exactly paid to these men, +and that without delay. And whatever is needed, both young bullocks and +rams and lambs for burnt-offerings to the God of heaven, also wheat, salt, +wine, and oil, according to the direction of the priests at Jerusalem, let +it be given to them day by day without fail, that they may regularly offer +sacrifices of sweet savor to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of +the king and of his sons. Also I have made a decree, that whoever shall +make this command invalid, a beam shall be pulled out from his house, and +he shall be impaled upon it, and his house shall for this be made a refuse +heap. And the God who hath caused his name to dwell there shall overthrow +all kings and peoples who shall put forth their hand to make invalid the +command or to destroy the house of God at Jerusalem. Exactly will it be +executed. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 6:13,14] +Then Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and +Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did exactly as Darius the king had +given command. And the elders of the Jews built and prospered. And they +finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and +according to the decree of Cyrus and Darius. + +I. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are +the chief sources of information regarding Jewish history during the +Persian period. They fall into nine general divisions: (1) the return of +the Babylonian exiles and the revival of the Judean community, Ezra 1-4; + +(2) the rebuilding of the temple, 5-6; (3) Ezra's expedition and the +priestly reformation, 8-10, and Nehemiah 8-10; (4) Nehemiah's work in +rebuilding the walls, Nehemiah 1:1-7:5; (5) census of the Judean +community, 7:6-69; (6) measures to secure the repopulation of Jerusalem, +11; (7) genealogy of the priests and Levites, 12:1-26; (8) dedication +of the walls, 12:27-43; and (9) Nehemiah's later reform measures, +12:44-13:31. It is evident that Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one +book, and that they come from the same author as I and II Chronicles. +This important fact is demonstrated by the presence of the same marked +characteristics of thought and literary style in both of these books. The +closing verses of II Chronicles are also repeated verbatim at the +beginning of Ezra. + +Throughout these books the interest is religious and ceremonial rather +than civil and national. They constitute in reality a history of the +Jerusalem temple and its institutions. The whole may properly be +designated as the "Ecclesiastical History of Jerusalem." It traces the +history of Jerusalem and the southern kingdom from the earliest times to +the close of the Persian period. Its author, who is commonly known as the +Chronicler, evidently lived during the earlier part or middle of the Greek +period. Certain characteristics of his literary style and point of view +indicate that he wrote about 250 B.C. His peculiarities and methods of +writing are clearly revealed by a comparison of the older parallel history +of Samuel-Kings with the books of Chronicles. In general he lacks the +historical spirit and perspective of the earlier prophetic historians. He +also freely recasts his record of earlier events in order to bring it into +accord with the traditions current in his own day. Above all he aimed to +establish the authority and prestige of the Jerusalem temple, and to prove +that Jehovah "was not with Israel" (II Chron. 25:7), which was represented +in his day by the hated Samaritans. The hatred engendered by the Samaritan +feud explains many of the peculiarities of the Chronicler. He was, in +fact, an apologist rather than a historian. Thus post-exilic institutions, +as, for example, the temple song service with its guilds of singers, are +projected backward even to the days of David, and the events of early +Hebrew history are constantly glorified. The numbers found in the +earlier, prophetic sources are magnified, and at every point it is easy to +recognize the influence of the Chronicler's familiarity with the splendor +and magnificence of the great Persian and Greek empires, and of his +desire to inspire his fellow-Jews with national pride and with loyalty to +their religious institutions. + +II. The Chronicler's Conception of the Restoration. Fortunately the +Chronicler did not depend entirely upon traditions current in his day, or +upon his own conceptions of the early history, but quoted freely from +earlier sources. As a result a large portion of the prophetic history of +Samuel and Kings is reproduced verbatim in I and II Chronicles. For the +Persian period, regarding which he is our chief authority, he apparently +quoted from three or four documents. In Ezra 4:7-23 is found a brief +description in Aramaic of the opposition of Judah's neighbors to the +rebuilding of the walls, probably in the days of Nehemiah. In Ezra 5 and 6 +there is another long quotation from an Aramaic document that describes a +similar attempt to put a stop to the rebuilding of the temple in the days +of Haggai and Zechariah. The Chronicler evidently believed that the second +temple was rebuilt, not by the people of the land to whom Haggai and +Zechariah spoke, but by Jewish exiles who on the accession of Cyrus had +returned in great numbers from Babylon. He assumed that Judah had been +depopulated during the Babylonian exile, and that the only people left in +Palestine were the heathen and the hated Samaritans. He also pictures the +return of the exiles, not as that of a handful of courageous patriots, but +of a vast company laden with rich gifts and guarded by Persian soldiers. + +A careful examination of Ezra 2, which purports to contain the list of +The 42,360 exiles who returned immediately after 538 B.C., quickly +demonstrates that, like its duplicate in Nehemiah 7:6-69, its historical +basis, if it has any outside the fertile imagination of the Chronicler, is +a census of the Judean community. This census was taken, not at the +beginning, but rather at the end of the Persian period. Thus in the list +of the leaders appear the names not only of Joshua and Zerubbabel, but +also of Nehemiah and Ezra (Azariah). Certain leaders, such as Mordecai +and Bigvai, bear Persian names which clearly imply that they lived far +down in the Persian period. The family of the high priest Joshua already +numbers nine hundred and ninety-three. In this census are also included +the inhabitants of many towns outside Jerusalem, as, for example, Jericho, +Gibeon, and Bethlehem. Moreover, certain towns are mentioned, such as Lud +and Ono, which were not added to the Judean community until the latter +part of the Persian period. In view of these facts and the unmistakable +implications in the sermons of Haggai and Zechariah that in their day +there had been no general return of their kinsmen from Babylon, the +prevailing popular interpretation of this period of Israel's history is +clearly untenable and misleading. If there was a general return of exiles +from Babylon, it certainly did not come until after the walls had been +rebuilt under the inspiring leadership of Nehemiah. The Jews to whom +Haggai and Zechariah preached, and who rebuilt the second temple, were the +people of the land who had survived the destruction of Jerusalem, or else +had returned from their temporary refuge on the borders of the land of +Egypt. + +III. Convulsions in the Persian Empire. After a brilliant and successful +reign Cyrus died in 529 B.C., leaving his vast empire to his son Cambyses. +The new king lacked the wisdom and statesmanship of his father, but +inherited his love of conquest. Most of his short reign was devoted to the +conquest of Egypt. From their hill-tops the Jews doubtless witnessed the +march of the great armies of Persia, and were forced to contribute to +their support. It was a period of change and transition, when old empires +went down in ruin and new forces gained the ascendancy. + +On his return from Egypt, Cambyses, finding a pretender contending for +the throne, committed suicide, thus leaving the empire without any +legitimate head. During this crisis, in the autumn of 521 B.C., a Persian +noble, Darius, was raised to the kingship by conspirators, who had slain +the pretender. Darius claimed relationship with the Persian royal family, +and strengthened his position by marrying Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus. +The beginning of his reign was signalized by a series of revolts +throughout the whole extent of the empire. In Susiana a certain Athrina +proclaimed himself king. In Babylonia a native prince rallied his +countrymen and assumed the title of Nebuchadrezzar III. The Median revolt +was led by a certain Pharaortes; while among the Persians themselves a +pretender, who claimed to be a son of Cyrus, gained a wide following. +Fortunately for Darius there was no concerted action among the leaders of +these different rebellions, so that he was able to subdue them in +succession; but to the ordinary on-looker the task seemed well-nigh +impossible. Not until the spring of 519 did Darius become fully master of +the situation. + +IV. Haggai's Effective Addresses. It was in the autumn of 520 B.C., +when the rebellions in the Persian Empire were at their height, that +Haggai made his stirring appeal to the members of the Judean community. +From the references in his addresses and in those of his contemporary, +Zechariah, it is evident that he and his hearers were profoundly +influenced by these great world movements. The situation seemed to give +promise not only of deliverance from Persian rule, but an opportunity at +last to realize the national hopes of the Jewish race. Haggai's message +was simple, direct, and practical. According to the beliefs universally +accepted in his day his logic was unanswerable. On the one hand Jehovah, +through poor crops and hard times, had plainly showed his displeasure +with his people in Judah. The reason was obvious; although they had built +comfortable houses for themselves, Jehovah's temple still lay in ruins. If +they would win his favor, it was plainly their duty to arise and rebuild +his sanctuary. The upheavals in the Persian Empire also gave promise that, +if they were true to their divine King, he would at last fulfil the +predictions voiced by their earlier prophets. + +The words of Haggai, uttered in September of 520, met with an immediate +response. Work was begun on the temple in October of the same year. When +the energy and enthusiasm of the builders began to wane, the prophet +appeared before them again in November of 520 with the declaration that +Jehovah was about to overthrow the great world powers and to destroy the +chariots, horses, and riders of their Persian masters, "each by the sword +of his brother." He also voiced the popular expectations that centred in +Zerubbabel, who had already been appointed governor of Judah. The prophet +declared boldly that this scion of the house of David would be Jehovah's +seal-ring, the earthly representative of that divine power which was about +to work great revolutions in the history of the world. During the same +period Zechariah also uttered his messages of encouragement and spurred +the people on to continued efforts (Section XCV). + +V. The Attempt to Stop the Rebuilding of the Temple. The Aramaic +document preserved in Ezra 5 and 6 describes in detail an attempt of the +Persian governor, who ruled over the province west of the Euphrates, to +put a stop to the temple building. The narrative, the letter, and decrees +which it contains reveal at many points their Jewish origin. While the +tradition may be comparatively late, its circumstantial character favors +the conclusion that it preserves the memory of a definite historical +event. The action of the Jews in rebuilding their temple was in perfect +accord with the policy of Cyrus and also of Darius, as is shown by +contemporary inscriptions. The attempt, therefore, to stop the building of +the temple failed; and in 516 B.C., four years after the work was begun, +it was completed. + +VI. The Significance of the Restoration of the Temple. The rebuilding of +the Jerusalem temple appears to have been of immediate significance +chiefly to the Jews of Palestine. The Jews of Egypt, or at least those of +Elephantine, had their own temple. From Zechariah 6:9-11 it is evident +that the Jewish exiles in Babylon sent certain gifts to the Jerusalem +temple; but the hundreds of miles of desert that intervened made +communication exceedingly difficult, so that except at rare intervals +there was apparently little interchange between Babylonia and Palestine. +For all Jews, however, the rebuilding of the temple meant that at last +they had a common rallying-place, and that Jehovah was again being +worshipped by his own people at his traditional place of abode. In a sense +it bridged the seventy years that had intervened since the destruction of +the pre-exilic Hebrew state, and made it possible to revive the ancient +religious customs. In time it attracted from the lands of the dispersion +patriotic Jews whose interest was fixed upon the ceremonial side of their +religious life. It also furnished a centre about which gradually grew up a +hierarchy with an increasingly elaborate ritual, and a body of laws which +ultimately became the characteristic features of Judaism. + + + +Section XCV. ZECHARIAH'S VISIONS AND ENCOURAGING ADDRESSES + +[Sidenote: Zech. 1:7-11] +In the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month [February], in the second +year of Darius [519 B.C.], this word of Jehovah came to the prophet +Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo: I saw in the night and +there was a man standing among the myrtle trees that were in the +valley-bottom, and behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white. +Then said I, O my Lord, what are these? And the angel who talked with me +said to me, I will show you what these are. And the man who was standing +among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom Jehovah +hath sent to go to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel +of Jehovah who was standing among the myrtle trees and said, We have gone +up and down through the earth and behold, all the earth is still and at +peace. + + +[Sidenote: Zech. 1:12-17] +Then the angel of Jehovah answered and said, O Jehovah of hosts, how long +hast thou no pity on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with which thou +hast been wroth these seventy years? And Jehovah answered the angel who +was talking with me with good words, even comforting words. So the angel +who was talking with me said to me, Proclaim now, 'Thus saith Jehovah of +hosts: "I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. But +with great wrath am I wroth with the arrogant nations; for I was only +a little angry [with Israel], but they helped to make greater the +calamity." Therefore, thus saith Jehovah: "I am turning to show mercy to +Jerusalem; my temple shall be built in it," saith Jehovah of hosts, "and +a measuring line shall be stretched over Jerusalem. Proclaim again, Thus +saith Jehovah of hosts: My cities shall yet overflow with prosperity; and +Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem."' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 1:18, 19] +Now I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and there were four horns. And I +said to the angel who was talking with me, 'What are these?' And he +assured me, 'These are the horns with which he scattered Judah.' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 1:20, 21] +Then Jehovah showed me four smiths. And I said, What are these coming to +do? And he said, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that none +lifted up his head; but these are come to terrify them, to strike down the +horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah +to scatter it. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 2:2-5] +Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and there was a man with a +measuring line in his hand. Then I said, Where are you going? And he said +to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and length. +Thereupon the angel who talked with me stood still, and another angel went +out to meet him, and said to him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, +'Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the +multitude of men and cattle in her midst. For I,' saith Jehovah, 'will be +a wall of fire round about her, and I will be the glory in the midst of +her.' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 2:6-9] +Ho, ho, flee from the land of the north, is Jehovah's oracle. +For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, is + Jehovah's oracle. +Ho, escape to Zion, ye who dwell in Babylon. +For thus saith Jehovah of hosts to the nations which plundered you: +He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye. +For, behold, I am about to shake my hand over them, +And they shall be a spoil to those who served them; +And ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 2:10-13] +Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for, lo, I come, +And I will dwell in the midst of thee, is Jehovah's oracle. +And many nations shall join themselves to Jehovah in that among day, +And shall be his people, and he will dwell in the midst of thee, +And thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to thee. +And Jehovah shall inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, +And he shall yet comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem. +Be silent, all flesh, before Jehovah; +For he hath waked up out of his holy habitation. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 3:1-3] +Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of +Jehovah and the adversary standing at his right hand to accuse him. And +the angel of Jehovah said to the adversary, Jehovah rebuke thee, O +adversary; yea, Jehovah, who hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee. Is not +this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy +garments and was standing before the angel. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 3:4-5] +And [the angel] answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, +Take the filthy garments from off him, clothe him with robes of state; set +a clean turban upon his head. So they set a clean turban upon his head, +and clothed him with garments; and the angel of Jehovah was standing by. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 3:6-10] +And the angel of Jehovah testified to Joshua, saying, Thus saith Jehovah +of hosts: 'If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, +then thou also shalt rule my house and shalt also keep my courts and I +will give thee a place of access among these who stand by. Hear now, O +Joshua the high priest, thou and thy associates who sit before me; for +they are men who are a sign; for behold, I am about to bring forth my +servant the Branch. For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; +upon one stone are seven facets: behold, I will engrave it,' saith Jehovah +of hosts, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that +day,' saith Jehovah of hosts, 'ye shall each invite his neighbor under the +vine and under the fig tree.' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 4:1-6] +Then the angel who talked with me came again and waked me, as a man who +is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, What seest thou? And I +said, I see midst there a candlestick, all of gold, with a bowl upon the +top of it, and its seven lamps upon it; there are seven pipes to each of +the lamps, which are upon the top of it, and two olive trees by it, one on +the right side of the bowl, and the other on its left side. And I spoke +and said to the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord? Then +the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, Knowest thou not +what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spoke to me, +saying, The eyes of Jehovah, which rove to and fro through the whole +earth. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 4:11-14] +Then I answered, and said to him, What are these two olive trees upon the +right side of the candlestick and upon its left side? And he answered me +and said, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then +said he, These are the two anointed ones, who stand by the Lord of the +whole earth. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 4:6b-10] +This is the word of Jehovah regarding Zerubbabel, Not by might, nor by +power, but by my spirit, saith Jehovah of will I make the great mountain +before Zerubbabel a plain; and he shall bring forth the top stones with +shoutings of, 'Grace, grace, to it.' Moreover this word of Jehovah came to +me: The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple; his +hands shall also finish it; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath +sent me to you. For who hath despised the day of small things? For they +shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 6:9-11]. +Now this word of Jehovah came to me: Take of them of the captivity, even +of Heldai, of Tobijah, of Jedaiah and of Josiah the son of Zephaniah who +have come from Babylon, yea, take of them silver and gold in order to make +a crown and set it on the head of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 6:12-15] +Thou shalt also say to them: 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: "Behold, the +man whose name is the Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place; and +he shall build the temple of Jehovah; and he shall bear the glory and +shall sit and rule upon his throne; and Joshua the son of Jehozadak shall +be a priest upon his right, and the counsel of peace shall be between them +both. And the crown shall be to Heldai and Tobijah and Jedaiah, and Josiah +the son of Zephaniah, as a memorial in the temple of Jehovah. And they who +are far off shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah; and ye shall +know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to you. And this shall come to +pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Jehovah your God."' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 7:1-6] +In the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, +the city of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men, to entreat +the favor of Jehovah, and to speak to the priests of the house of Jehovah +of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, should I weep in the fifth month +[in memory of the destruction of the temple] separating myself, as I have +done these many years? Then this word of Jehovah of hosts came to me: +Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, 'When ye +fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month [when Gedaliah +was murdered], even these seventy years, did ye at all fast to me, even to +me? And when ye eat and when ye drink, do ye not eat for yourselves, and +drink for yourselves? + +[Sidenote: Zech. 7:7-14] +Should ye not hear these words which Jehovah cried by the former prophets, +when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities round about +her, and the South Country, and the lowland were inhabited? Execute true +judgment, and show kindness and pity each to his brother; and oppress not +the widow nor the fatherless, the resident alien nor the poor; and let +none of you devise evil against your brother in his heart. But they +refused to heed, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears, +that they might not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant lest +they should hear the teaching, and the words which Jehovah of hosts had +sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Therefore there came great +wrath from Jehovah of hosts. And even when I cried they would not hear, so +when they cried I did not hear, saith Jehovah of hosts. And I scattered +them by a whirlwind among the nations which they did not know. Thus the +land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed to or fro; for +they made the pleasant land a desolation. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 8:1-5] +Now this word of Jehovah of hosts came to me: +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, +'I cherish for Zion a great jealousy, +And I am jealous for her with great indignation.' +Thus saith Jehovah, 'I have returned to Zion, +And will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; +And Jerusalem shall be called, "The City of Truth;" +And the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, "The Holy Mountain." +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: +'Old men and old women shall again sit in the broad places of Jerusalem, +Each man with his staff in his hand because of old age. +And the streets of the city shall be full of boys, +And of girls playing in its broad places.' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 8:6-8] +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: +Because it seemeth impossible to the remnant of this people, +Is it impossible for me? saith Jehovah of hosts. +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: +I am about to rescue my people, +From the land of the east and the land of the west, +And I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. +And they shall be my people in truth and righteousness, +And in turn I will be their God. + +I. Zechariah's Ancestry and Point of View. Haggai's contemporary, the +prophet Zechariah, was evidently a priest. In the genealogy of Nehemiah +12:4, it is stated that he belonged to the priestly family of Iddo. This +conclusion is confirmed by the character of his prophecies. Like the +priest-prophet Ezekiel he is exceedingly fond of apocalyptic symbolism. He +is also deeply interested in the priesthood and in its ceremonial purity. +Furthermore, it is exceedingly probable that he was a descendant of one of +the many priests carried as exiles to Babylon. This is shown by his keen +interest in and exact knowledge of the great political movements that were +then shaking the Persian Empire. His conception of Jehovah is also +strongly influenced by the analogies drawn from the Persian court. In his +thought Israel's God is a transcendental ruler, who communicates with his +subjects not directly, but through angelic messengers, and who, like the +Persian kings, is dependent for information regarding his great kingdom +upon the reports of the different members of his heavenly court. Thus +Zechariah marks a wide departure from the simple theology of the +pre-exilic prophets who thought of Jehovah as dwelling in the midst of his +people and communicating directly with all who turned to him in faith. + +II. The Book of Zechariah. The book which records the prophet's sermons +contains four distinct divisions: (1) An exhortation addressed to the +people in December, 520, three months after Haggai first appealed to them +to rise and rebuild the temple, Zechariah 1:1-8; (2) symbolic visions +dealing with the problems in the Judean community, 1:7-6:8; (3) practical +counsel, exhortations, and promises, 6:9-8:23; (4) a later appendix coming +from a prophet who probably lived during the earlier part of the Maccabean +period, 9-14. All of Zechariah's recorded sermons probably date from the +three or four years between 520 and 516 B.C., during which the temple was +being rebuilt. They throw a remarkably clear light upon an exceedingly +critical and significant period in the life of the Jews of Palestine. They +are also in many ways the best Old Testament source for the study of the +unfolding of Israel's messianic hopes. + +III. Problems and Hopes of the Judean Community. Four or five practical +problems confronted and disturbed the temple-builders. The first was: +Would Jerusalem and the temple, still without walls, be protected from the +attack of the hostile foes that encircled them. A second and larger +question was: What was to be the outcome of the great tempest through +which the Persian Empire was passing, and did it mean for the Jews +deliverance from the powerful conquerors who for centuries had oppressed +and crushed them? The third was: Would the necessarily modest service of +the restored temple, already sadly polluted by heathen hands, be +acceptable to Jehovah? Another problem was: What were the relations and +the respective duties of Zerubbabel and Joshua, the civil and religious +authorities in the community? It was also inevitable that at this time the +hope of securing their independence under the leadership of Zerubbabel +should come prominently to the front. To each of these problems Zechariah +addressed himself, and his book records his convictions and public +utterances. + +IV. Zechariah's Assurances of Jehovah's Care. In his initial vision +concerning the angelic horsemen he recognizes that the storms that have +swept over the Persian Empire are beginning to subside, but he tells his +fellow-laborers that, if they persist, Jehovah's temple shall be rebuilt +and that the lands about Jerusalem shall again be sold to eager buyers, +and the cities of Judah shall enjoy their former prosperity, for "Jehovah +will surely comfort Zion." In the vision of the four horns and of the four +smiths whose mission it is to smite the horns, he assures the people that +Jehovah in his good time and way will overthrow the nations that now wrong +and oppress them. Although there is no promise that Jerusalem will be +surrounded by walls, he declares that it shall enjoy a prosperity and a +growth which no walls can confine, and that Jehovah himself will be its +protection, as well as its glory, that he will gather the scattered +exiles, and that they, together with the nations which shall acknowledge +Jehovah's rule, shall yet come streaming back to Judah. + +In his next vision the prophet graphically presents a scene in Jehovah's +court. Joshua the priest, representing the ceremonial service of the +polluted temple, is charged by the adversary with uncleanness. Here for +the first time in Hebrew literature we catch a glimpse of Satan, who is +regarded not as hostile to God but as the prosecuting attorney of heaven. +As in the prologue of the book of Job, he is an accredited member of the +divine hierarchy. His task is to search out and report to Jehovah the +misdeeds of men. In Zechariah's vision, however, the divine judge acquits +Joshua of the charge, and causes him to be clad with clean garments, thus +proclaiming the divine approval of the modest yet devoted service of the +Judean community. + +V. Preparations for the Crowning of Zerubbabel. Regarding Zerubbabel, +Zechariah declares, in language highly figurative, that he shall yet be +crowned and rule over a happy and prosperous people. He is spoken of as +Jehovah's servant, the Branch. The term is probably original with +Zechariah, although again used in the supplementary passages in Jeremiah +23:5 and 33:15. The word is akin to the term "shoot of the house of Jesse" +used in Isaiah 11, to describe a certain scion of the house of David, who +in all probability was the young Zerubbabel. Zechariah's figure describes +the prince as an offshoot of the same royal tree. The obscure passage +seems to mean that upon the stone, with its seven facets, which was to be +set in the crown prepared for the head of Zerubbabel, Jehovah himself +would engrave a fitting title. + +In Zechariah's fifth vision he defined the relations between the civil +and priestly authorities. The golden candlestick represented the temple +and its service. The two olive trees beside it stood for Zerubbabel, the +civil ruler, and for Joshua, the high priest. The duty of each was to +contribute his part toward the support of the temple service. They were +both Jehovah's Messiahs, that is, men anointed as a symbol of the task +which each was to perform. + +In this connection Zechariah declared that Jehovah would remove all +obstacles from before Zerubbabel, and that he who had begun the work +should live to see its completion. In an address recorded in the latter +part of the sixth chapter of his prophecy (intentionally revised by a +later scribe), Zechariah threw aside all symbolism and gave directions +to make a crown for the head of Zerubbabel from the silver and gold +that had been brought as a gift by a deputation from the Jews of Babylon. +He also plainly predicted that this descendant of David should sit on the +throne of Judah and that Joshua the priest should be his minister like the +priests in the pre-exilic kingdom. + +VI. Disappointment of These Patriotic Hopes. With Zechariah's prediction +that Zerubbabel should reign on the throne of Judah the descendants of the +house of David suddenly and forever disappear from Old Testament history. +Whether the Jews made the attempt to shake off the yoke of Persia +Or whether Zerubbabel was quietly set aside cannot be determined. +Contemporary history states that within at least six months after +Zechariah voiced the patriotic hopes of his people the authority of Darius +was fully established throughout the empire. He at once began thoroughly +to organize the vast realm. Post roads bound together the distant +provinces, and satraps, appointed largely from the ranks of the royal +family, unified the whole empire and held it under firm control. As a rule +Persian governors were substituted for the native princes. With the +institution of this policy Zerubbabel may well have been quietly set +aside. The event evidently made a profound impression upon the messianic +expectations of the Jews. Henceforth, for three or four centuries, the +temporal, kingly type of messianic hope, which had been inspired by the +glories of the reign of David, entirely disappeared. It was not revived +until the military victories of the Maccabean era had again brought +prominently to the front this phase of national glory (cf. Section CXVI). +As a result of these disappointments Israel's hopes were universalized and +spiritualized. Jehovah, instead of a scion of the house of David, was +henceforth regarded as the one supreme King of Israel. + +VII. Zechariah's Later Exhortations and Predictions. In chapters 7 and +8, which conclude the original sermons of Zechariah, the apocalyptic +language with which he clothed his earlier predictions regarding the +future of the Judean community disappeared, and he spoke as did Amos and +Haggai, plainly and directly regarding the questions which were then +stirring the people. When a deputation came from the north to inquire +whether or not, now that the temple was being rebuilt, they should +continue to observe their fasts in memory of the destruction of Jerusalem +and the death of Gedaliah, the prophet raised the searching question of +whether their motive in these services was to please Jehovah or to please +themselves. He then went on to declare that the only effective way to +serve Jehovah was by deeds of justice and kindness, especially to the +dependent classes in the community, and that the horrors of the exile had +come because their fathers had failed to worship Jehovah by righteous +deeds. + +The prophet concludes with a brilliant picture of the coming restoration +of Jerusalem and of the peace and prosperity which should be the lot of +all, because Jehovah was about to gather his scattered people from the +east and the west and to establish them in the midst of his sacred city. +Other nations should eagerly come to Jerusalem to seek the favor of +Jehovah and to ally themselves with his faithful followers, the Jews. In a +prophecy, preserved in Micah 4:1-4 and Isaiah 2:1-4 (which probably comes +from this period) the same thought is nobly expressed: + +It shall come to pass in the latter days, +That the mountain of Jehovah shall be established, +Even the house of our God on the top of the mountain, +And it shall be lifted above the hills. +All the nations shall flow to it, +And many peoples shall go and say, +Come, let us go up to Jehovah's mount, +To the house of the God of Jacob, +That he may instruct us in his ways, +And that we may walk in his paths. +For from Zion proceeds instruction, +And Jehovah's word from Jerusalem. + + + +Section XCVI. ISRAEL'S TRAINING AND DESTINY + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:1, 2] +Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God, +Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and declare to her, +That her hard service is accomplished, her guilt is expiated +That she hath received from Jehovah's hand double for all her sins. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:3, 4] +A voice is proclaiming: In the wilderness prepare the way of Jehovah, +Make straight in the desert a highway for our God! +Let every mountain and hill sink down, and every valley be lifted up, +And the crooked be made straight and the rough ridges a plain. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:6-8] +A voice is saying, Proclaim! and I said, What shall I proclaim? +All flesh is grass and all its beauty like a flower of the field. +Grass withers, flower fades, when Jehovah's breath blows eternal upon it, +Grass withers, flower fades, but the word of our God endureth forever. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:9] +To a high mountain, get thee up, Zion's herald of good news; +Lift up mightily thy voice, Jerusalem's herald of good news. +Lift up fearlessly, say to the cities of Judah: Behold your God! + +[Sidenote: Isa 40:10, 11] +Behold, Jehovah cometh in might, and his arm is maintaining his rule; +Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense is before him, +As a shepherd he will tend his flock, with his arm he will gather it, +The lambs in his bosom he will bear, the ewe-mothers he will lead. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:12] +Who hath measured in the hollow of his hand the waters, +And ruled off the heavens with a span, +Or enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, +And weighed the mountains in scales, +And the hills in a balance? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:13, 14] +Who hath determined the spirit of Jehovah, +And as his counsellor advised him? +With whom hath he consulted for enlightenment, +And to be instructed in the right, +And to be shown the way of discernment? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:16, 17] +Lo the nations! as a drop from a bucket, +And as dust on a balance are they reckoned. +Lo the isles! as a mote he uplifteth, +And Lebanon is not enough for fuel, +And its wild beasts for a burnt-offering. +All the nations are as nothing before him, +They are reckoned by him as void and nothingness. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:18-20] +To whom then will ye liken God, +And what likeness place beside him? +An image! a craftsman cast it, +And a smelter o'erlays it with gold. +He who is too poor to do this +Chooses a tree that is not decayed, +Seeks for himself a skilled craftsman, +To set up an image that shall not totter. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:21, 22] +Do ye not know? Do ye not hear? +Hath it not been told you from the beginning? +Have ye not been aware from the founding of the earth? +It is he who is enthroned above the vault of the earth, +And its inhabitants are as locusts; +Who stretcheth out the heavens as a thin veil, +And spreadeth them out like a habitable tent. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:23, 24] +It is he who bringeth princes to naught, +The rulers of the earth he maketh as waste. +Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown, +Scarcely hath the stock taken root in the earth, +But he bloweth upon them and they wither, +And a whirlwind carries them away like stubble. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:25, 26] +To whom then will ye liken me +That I should equal him? saith the Holy One. +Lift up your eyes on high and see: +Who hath created these? +He who bringeth forth their host by number, +And calleth each by his name; +Of the many mighty and strong, +Not one is missing. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:27-31] +Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: +My way is hid from Jehovah +And my right is unnoticed by my God? +Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard? +An everlasting God is Jehovah. +The creator of the ends of the earth. +He fainteth not, neither is weary, +His wisdom cannot be fathomed, +He giveth vigor to the fainting, +And upon the powerless he lavisheth strength. +Young men may faint and grow weary, +And the strongest youths may stumble, +But they who trust in Jehovah renew their vigor, +They mount on pinions like eagles, +They run but are never weary, +They walk but never faint. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 41:1-4] +Listen to me in silence, ye coastlands, +Let the peoples come near; then let them speak; +Together let us approach the tribunal. +Who raised up that one from the east +Whose steps victory ever attended, +Giving up peoples before him, +And letting him trample down kings? +His sword made them as dust, +And his bow like driven stubble; +He pursued them, passing on in safety, +Not treading the path with his feet. +Who hath wrought and accomplished this? +He who called the generations from the beginning, +I, Jehovah, who am the first, +And with those who come after I am the same. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 41:8-10] +And thou, Israel, my servant +Jacob, whom I have chosen, +Offspring of Abraham, my friend, +Thou, whom I brought from the ends of the earth, +And called from its most distant parts; +To whom I said, Thou art my servant, +I have chosen and have not rejected thee. +Fear not, for I, indeed, am with thee, +Be not terrified, for I am thy God. +I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; +Yea, I will uphold thee with my righteous hand. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:1] +Behold, my servant whom I uphold, +My chosen, in whom I take delight; +I have put my spirit upon him, +That he may set forth law to the nations. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:2-3b] +He will not cry aloud nor roar, +Nor let his voice be heard in the street. +A crushed reed he will not break, +And a dimly burning wick he will not quench. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:3c-4] +Faithfully will he set forth law; +He will not lose vigor nor be crushed, +Until he establish law in the earth, +And for his teaching the coastlands are waiting. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:5-7] +Thus saith the one God, Jehovah, +He who spread out the heavens and stretched them forth, +Who created the earth and its products, +Who giveth breath to the people upon it, +And spirit to those who walk upon it: +I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, +I have taken thee by the hand and kept thee, +I have made thee a pledge to the people, a light to the nations, +To open eyes that are blind, +To bring captives out from confinement, +From the prison house dwellers in darkness. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:13-50] +Ye who are deaf hear, +And ye blind look up that ye may see, +Who is blind but my servants, +deaf as their rulers? +Much have ye seen, without observing it, +Though your ears were open, ye did not hear. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:21, 22] +Jehovah was pleased for his righteousness' sake +To make his teaching great and glorious, +Yet it is a people spoiled and plundered, +They are all snared in holes, +And hidden in prison houses, +They have become a spoil, with none to rescue, +An object of plunder, with none to say, Restore. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:23-25] +Who among you will give ear to this, +Will attend and hear for time to come? +Who gave up Jacob to plunderers, +And Israel to those who spoiled him, +And poured out upon him the heat of his anger, +And his violence like a flame, +So that it scorched him round about, but he knew it not, +And it burned him, but he laid it not to heart? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:1-2] +And now thus saith Jehovah, +He who created thee, O Jacob, and formed thee, +Fear not, O Israel, for I redeem thee, +I call thee by name, thou art mine. +When thou passeth through the waters, I will be with thee, +Through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; +When thou goest through the fire, thou shalt not be scorched, +Neither shall the flame burn thee. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:3, 4] +For I, Jehovah, am thy God. +I, Israel's Holy One, am thy deliverer; +I give Egypt as thy ransom, +Ethiopia and Seba for thee. +Because thou art precious in mine eyes, +Art honored and I love thee, +I will give lands in thy stead, +And peoples for the sake of thy life. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:5-7] +Fear not for I am with thee, +From the east I will bring thine offspring, +And from the west I will gather thee; +I will say to the north, Give up! +And to the south, Withhold not! +Bring my sons from afar, +And my daughters from the ends of the earth, +Every one who is called by my name, +Whom for my glory I have created and formed. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:10, 11] +Ye are my witnesses, is Jehovah's oracle, +And my servants whom I have chosen, +That ye may acknowledge and believe me, +And that ye may perceive that I am ever the same, +Before me no God was formed, +Nor shall there be after me, +I, even I, am Jehovah, +And beside me there is no deliverer. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:12, 13] +It was I who announced and brought deliverance, +And I declared, and there was no strange god among you, +Ye are my witnesses, is Jehovah's oracle, +I am God, yea, from henceforth the same; +And there is none who can snatch from my hand, +When I work, who can reverse it? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:14, 15] +Thus saith Jehovah, +Your redeemer, Israel's Holy One, +For your sake I have sent to Babylon, +And have brought them all down as fugitives. +Even the Chaldeans with their piercing cries of lamentation, +It is I, Jehovah, your Holy One, +The Creator of Israel, your King. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:22-24] +But thou, O Jacob, hast not called upon me, +Nor hast thou wearied thyself about me, O Israel; +Thou hast not brought me the sheep of thy burnt-offerings, +Nor honored me with thy sacrifices. +With offerings I have not burdened thee, +Nor with incense wearied thee. +Thou broughtest me no sweet cane with thy money, +Nor with the fat of thy sacrifices sated me. +Rather thou hast only burdened me with thy sins, +And wearied me with thine iniquities. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:25-28] +But it is I alone who blot out thy transgressions, +And I do not remember thy sins. +Remind me, let us plead together, +Do thou set forth the matter that thou mayest be justified: +Thy first father sinned, +And thy mediators rebelled against me. +Thy rulers profaned my sanctuary, +And I gave up Jacob to the ban, +And Israel to revilings! + +[Sidenote: Isa. 44:1-3b] +But now hear, O Jacob, my servant, +Israel whom I have chosen; +Thus saith Jehovah, thy maker, +Even he who formed thee from the womb, who helpeth thee: +Fear not, my servant Jacob, +And thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen; +For I will pour water upon the thirsty land +And streams upon the dry ground. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 44:3c-5] +I will pour out my spirit upon thy children, +And my blessing upon thy descendants, +So that they shall spring up as grass in the midst of waters, +As willows by water-courses. +One shall say, "I am Jehovah's," +And another shall call himself, "Jacob," +And another will inscribe on his hand, "Jehovah's," +And receive the surname, "Israel."' + +I. The Seventy Years Following the Rebuilding of the Temple. Regarding +the seventy years which intervened between the rebuilding of the temple in +516 B.C. and the appearance of Nehemiah in 445 the biblical historians are +silent. This silence is probably because there were no important political +events in the life of the Judean community to be recorded. During the +latter part of his reign Darius bridged the Hellespont and undertook the +conquest of the western world. Later, under the reign of his son Xerxes, +the mighty hordes of eastern warriors were turned back, and the growing +weakness of the great Persian Empire was revealed. In 486 Egypt rebelled, +and Persian armies marched along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, +probably levying heavy taxes for their support upon the Jews as well as +upon the other peoples of Palestine. The suppression of the rebellion in +Egypt illustrated how impossible it was for any of the eastern peoples to +withstand even the decadent power of the Persian Empire. + +In Palestine the Jews were still the prey of their hostile neighbors. No +walls protected the temple and city of Jerusalem. The Jews were probably +ground down under their greedy Persian governors. With the disappearance +of Zerubbabel the local control fell naturally into the hands of the high +priest and his followers, whose civil authority from this time on +constantly increased. The words of II Isaiah well describe the lot of the +Jews of Palestine during this period: + +It is a people spoiled and plundered, +They are all snared in holes, +And hidden in prison houses. +They have become a spoil, +With none to rescue, +An object of plunder, +With none to say, Restore. + +II. Spiritual Forces in Judaism. The political horizon furnished little +to inspire the disappointed and persecuted Jews. Their eyes were still +blinded by the brilliant hopes that had stirred them at the time when the +temple was rebuilt. The quenching of these hopes had left them in deeper +darkness than before. There seemed no rift in the clouds that overshadowed +them. Even their priestly rulers were selfish and inconsiderate. For the +faithful few who rose above the discouragements and obstacles that +confronted them, however, this period of deepest gloom was lighted by a +faith that shines through and glorifies most of the later books of the Old +Testament. From the psalms and prophecies of the period it is evident that +there were a few who in the midst of these discouraging circumstances +found peace and joy. As they meditated upon the experiences of their race, +and read and pondered the writings of the earlier prophets, they began to +appreciate not only the real significance of their past history but the +meaning of the present affliction. The chief spokesman of these immortal +heroes of the faith was the prophetic author of Isaiah 40-66. + +III. Evidences That Isaiah 40-66 were Written in Palestine. Only +recently have careful students of Isaiah 40-66 begun to realize that the +point of view in all of these chapters is not distant Babylon but +Jerusalem. The repeated references in chapter 56 and following to +conditions in Jerusalem have led all to recognize their Palestinian +origin. The evidence, however, regarding chapters 40-55 is almost equally +convincing. The vocabulary and literary figures employed throughout are +those peculiar to the agricultural life of Palestine and not to the +commercial civilization of Babylon. The problems also are those of the +Judean community. The class to whom the prophet addresses his messages is +evidently the same as that to which Haggai and Zechariah speak. Jerusalem, +not a Jewish colony in Babylon, is the constant object of the prophet's +appeal. Babylon is only one of the distant lands of the dispersion. It is +from Jerusalem that the prophet ever views the world. Thus in 43:5,6 he +declares in the name of Jehovah: + +Fear not, for I am with thee. +From the east I will bring thine offspring, +And from the west I will gather them; +I will say to the north, Give up! +And to the south, Withhold not! +Bring my sons from afar, +And my daughters from the ends of the earth. + +Interpreted in the light of their true geographical setting, these +Prophecies gain at once a new and clearer meaning. + +IV. Their Probable Date. The reference in 43:23, 24 to the offerings +brought by the people to Jehovah's temple clearly implies that it had +already been built. Furthermore, the charges preferred against the Judean +community are very similar to those in the book of Malachi, which is +generally assigned to the period immediately preceding the arrival of +Nehemiah in 445 B.C. (cf. Section XCVII). From the parallels in chapter 48 +and elsewhere it is evident that Jehovah's Messiah in 45:1 is not Cyrus +but Israel, the messianic nation, to which Jehovah in earlier days under +David and his successors gave repeated victories and far-extended +authority. The presence of the name Cyrus seems without reasonable doubt +to be due to a later scribe, who thus incorrectly identified the allusion. +It is supported neither by the metrical structure nor the context of the +passages in which it is found. Furthermore, the ideas in Isaiah 40-55 are +almost without exception those which Zechariah had already voiced in +germinal form, especially in his latest prophecies preserved in chapters 7 +and 8. They are here more fully and far more gloriously expanded, +indicating that their author lived perhaps a generation later than +Zechariah. The years between 500 and 450 furnish the most satisfactory +setting for these prophecies. In a very true sense, however, like many +of the psalms, they are timeless. The question of their exact date +is comparatively unimportant except as it throws light upon their +interpretation. + +V. Their Literary Characteristics. The prophecies in Isaiah 40-66 are +psalms, sharing the characteristics of all lyric Hebrew poetry. Each is +complete in itself and yet closely related to the others both in content +and literary form. Their nobility of theme, their breadth of outlook, +their wealth of rich and glowing figures, and their finished literary +character give them an incontestable place among the greatest writings of +the Old Testament. While there is a powerful argument running through them +all, the logic is not cumulative but rather moves in a spiral, frequently +returning to the same subject but having a gradual onward movement. It is +the characteristic Oriental method of thinking, which is the opposite of +that of the Western world. These poems are grouped into three cycles which +apparently represent the prophet's thinking during succeeding periods. The +first cycle is included in 40-48. Chapter 48 is a recapitulation of the +thought of the preceding, and furnishes a natural conclusion to the first +collection. The second group is in 49-55. The note of suffering is here +more prominent, and the portrait of the ideal type of servant which +Jehovah desires in order to realize his purpose in human history is +developed in greater detail (cf. Section XCIX). The third group, in 56-66, +is by many assigned to another prophet and to a much later period. While +the general theme of the group is different and implies a somewhat changed +historical background, the characteristic ideas and literary forms of +40-55 also recur here. From the study of Israel's past and future the +prophet turns to the closer consideration of the problems in Palestine. +The historical allusions are for the most part in accord with the +conditions which Nehemiah found in Jerusalem in 445 B.C. + +VI. Their Theme and Purpose. The poems deal with one theme, the destiny +of the chosen people. The prophet first reviews their past history to +illustrate Jehovah's purpose that was being realized through Israel. He +notes the different ways in which Jehovah had trained and prepared them +for their great task. In the light of the new situation and his enlarged +acquaintance with the world the prophet then proceeds to define the task +that awaits his people. While he does not break entirely away from the +popular expectation that the scattered exiles would yet be restored to +Jerusalem to participate in the universal kingdom that was there to be +established, he fully appreciates the larger significance of Israel's +mission. He recognizes that it is worldwide. He sees that the Jewish race +is called not merely to receive honors and material blessings but also to +serve suffering and needy mankind. The disappointments and afflictions +through which it is passing are but a part of the divine training for that +nobler spiritual service. The servant Israel is called to be a witness to +all the nations, faithfully to set forth Jehovah's teachings until his law +is established in all the earth. Thus the prophet interprets Israel's +past, present, and future in its vital relation to the universal life of +humanity, and declares that Israel is destined to be a prophet nation and +to reveal Jehovah's character to all mankind. + +VII. Reasons Why Jehovah Will Restore His People. The prophet opens with +a declaration that Jerusalem's period of forced service is over, that she +has paid double for the sins of the past, and that Jehovah is about to +remove all obstacles and restore and exalt his oppressed people. He then +gives the reasons for his strong conviction: (1) Jehovah is incomparably +superior to the forces of nature, to the nations that hold Israel in +bondage, and to the heathen gods whose images are shaped by the hand of +man. All the powers of heaven and earth are under his control. He is the +creator and supreme ruler of the universe, able to remove all obstacles +and to give strength and might to those who put their trust in him. +(2) Through his leadership of his people in the past, through their +victories over their powerful foes, and in all the experiences of their +national life he has shown his power to guide and deliver. (3) Toward +Israel, his servant, he stands in a unique relation, for he has chosen and +trained his people for a great service in behalf of all the world. +Therefore he who is able and eager to deliver will not fail his people in +their hour of need. (4) Their present affliction is but a part of that +training which is essential before they can perform their task as +Jehovah's servant; that task is tenderly to espouse the cause of those who +are crushed, to open eyes that are blind, to bring captives out of their +confinement, and, as a faithful teacher, to inspire all mankind with love +for Israel's God. + +The prophet's aim was clearly to encourage his despondent people, to show +them the deeper meaning of their present afflictions, to open their eyes +to Jehovah's gracious purpose, to give to the entire race a goal for which +to live and strive, and, above all, to arouse them to effective action. +Doubtless the prophet thought only of the problems of the men of his day, +but in his interpretation of Jehovah's worldwide purpose and in the faith +and devotion which his words inspire he gave to all mankind a universal, +undying message. + + + +Section XCVII. CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS WITHIN THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +[Sidenote: Mal. 1:6-9] +A son honoreth his father, and a servant feareth his master; +If then I am a father, where is mine honor? +And if I am a master, where is the one who fears me? +Saith Jehovah to you, O ye priests, who despise my name. +But ye say, 'Wherein have we despised thy name?' +Ye offer upon mine altar bread that is polluted +And ye say, 'Wherein have we polluted it?' +In that ye say, 'The table of Jehovah is contemptible.' +And that when ye offer the blind for sacrifice, 'It is no harm!' +And that when ye offer the lame and the sick, 'It is no harm!' +Present it now to thy governor; will he be pleased with it? +Or will he receive thee favorably? saith Jehovah of hosts. +And now entreat the favor of God with such an offering, that he may be + gracious to us, +Would I receive any of you favorably? saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 1:10, 11] +O that there were those among you who would shut the doors, +That ye might not kindle fire on mine altar in vain! +I have no pleasure in you, saith Jehovah of hosts, +Neither will I accept an offering at your hand. +For from the rising of the sun even to its setting my name is sacred among + the nations, +And in every place they offer to my name a pure offering; +For my name is great among the nations, saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 1:12, 14] +'The table of Jehovah is polluted, and its food is contemptible.' +Ye say also, 'Behold what a weariness is it!' and ye have scorned me; +And ye have brought the blind, the lame and the sick. +Should I accept this at your hand? saith Jehovah of hosts. +But cursed be the deceiver, who has in his flock a male, +And vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a blemished thing; +For I am a great King, and my name is feared among the nations. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:1-4] +And now, O ye priests, this command is for you. +If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, +To give glory to my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, +Then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; +Behold, I will cut off your arm, +And will spread offal upon your faces, even the offal of your feasts, +And ye shall know that I have sent this command to you, +That my covenant with Levi may be preserved, saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:15-7] +My covenant with him was to give life and peace; +And I gave them to him that he might revere me; +And he revered me, and stood in awe of my name. +The true instruction was in his mouth, +And unrighteousness was not found in his lips; +He walked with me in peace and uprightness, +And turned many away from iniquity. +For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, +And men should seek the law at his mouth; +For he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts. + + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:8, 9] +But ye are turned aside out of the way; +Ye have caused many to stumble in the law; +Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, +Saith Jehovah of hosts. +Therefore have I also made you contemptible, +And base before all the people, +According as ye have not kept my ways, +And have had no respect for me in imparting the law. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:10, 13, 14] +Have we not all one father? +Hath not one God created us? +Why do we deal faithlessly with one another, +Profaning the covenant of our fathers? +And this ye do also: +Ye cover the altar of Jehovah with tears, +So that he regardeth not the offering any more, +Neither receiveth it acceptably from your hand. +Yet ye say, Why? +Because Jehovah hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, +Against whom thou hast dealt faithlessly, +Though she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:15, 16] +Therefore give heed to your spirit, +And let none deal faithlessly with the wife of his youth, +For I hate putting away, +Saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, +And him who covers his garment with violence; +Therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not faithlessly. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:17] +Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words. +Yet ye say, How have we wearied him? +In that ye say, Everyone that doeth evil +Is good in the sight of Jehovah, +And he delighteth in them; +Or where is the God of justice? + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:1-4] +Behold, I am about to send my messenger, +And he shall prepare the way before me; +And the Lord, whom ye seek, +Will suddenly come to his temple; +But who can endure the day of his coming? +And who shall stand when he appeareth? +For he is like a refiner's fire, +And like fullers' lyes; +And he will sit as a refiner and purifier, +And he will purify the sons of Levi, +And refine them as gold and silver; +And they shall offer offerings in righteousness. +Then shall the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to Jehovah, +As in the days of old, and as in former years. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:5, 6] +And I will come near to you to judgment; +And I will be a swift witness +Against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, +And against those who sware to that which is false, +And against those who oppress the hireling, the widow, and the fatherless, +Who turn aside the resident alien from his right, +And fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts. +For I, Jehovah, change not; +But ye have not ceased to be sons of Jacob. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:7-9] +From the days of thy fathers ye have turned aside from my statutes, and ye + have not kept them. +Turn to me and I will turn to you, saith Jehovah. +But ye say, 'Wherein shall we turn?' +Will a man rob God? Yet ye robbed me. +But ye say, 'Wherein have we robbed thee?' In tithes and gifts. +Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye rob me. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:10-12] +Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house, +That there may be provision in mine house; and test me thereby, +If I will not open to you the windows of heaven, +And pour you out a blessing, until there is more than enough. +I will rebuke for your sakes the devourer that he destroy not the fruit of + the ground, +Neither shall the vine fail to ripen its fruit in the field, +And all nations shall call you happy, +For ye shall be a delightsome land, saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:13-16] +Your words are hard upon me, saith Jehovah. +Ye say, 'What have we said against thee?' +Ye have said, 'It is useless to serve God, +And what gain is it to us to have kept his charge, +And that we have walked in funeral garb before him? +Even now we call the proud happy, +Yea, those who work iniquity thrive, +Yea, they tempt God and escape.' + +[Sidenote Mal. 3:16-18] +Such things those who feared Jehovah spoke to one another, +And Jehovah gave heed, and heard, +And a book of remembrance was written before him, +Regarding those who feared Jehovah, +And those who keep in mind his name; +And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of hosts, +In the day that I make up mine especial treasure. +And I will spare them, +As a man spares his son who serves him. +Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, +Between him who serves God and him who serves him not. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 4:1-3] +For behold the day is coming that shall burn like a furnace, +And all the proud and those who work iniquity shall be stubble, +And the day that is coming shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, +So that there shall be left them neither root nor branch. +But to you who fear my name there shall arise +The sun of righteousness with healing on his wings, +And ye shall go forth and leap like calves out of the stall. +And ye shall tread down the wicked, +For they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet, +In the day in which I begin to execute, saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:1-5] +My God, why dost thou forsake me, +Far from my salvation is my groaning +By day I call, but thou answerest not, +And by night there is no respite for me. + +Yet thou, O my God, art the Holy One, +Enthroned on Israel's songs of praise. +In thee our fathers trusted, +They trusted, and thou didst deliver them; +To thee they cried, and were delivered, +In thee they trusted and were not ashamed. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:6-8] +But I am a worm and no man, +Reproached by men and despised by the people. +Whoever sees me derideth me, +They sneer as they toss the head: +"He depended upon Jehovah, let him deliver him, +Let him save him, since he delighteth in him!" + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:9-11] +Yet it was thou who took me from the womb, +Who made me safe on my mother's breast; +On thee was I cast from birth, +Thou art my God from my mother's womb. +Be not far from me, for there is distress, +Draw nigh, for there is no helper. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:12-18] +Many bulls encompass me, +Mighty ones of Bashan beset me round, +They open their mouths at me, +Like a ravening, roaring lion. +As water I am poured out, +Yea, all my bones are out of joint, +My heart hath become like wax, +It is melted within my body, +My palate is dried up like a potsherd, +And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; +In the dust of death thou dost lay me, +For dogs circle me about, +The assembly of evil-doers enclose me; +They pierce my hands and my feet, +I can count all my bones; +They stare, they gloat over me. +They divide my garments among them, +And for my clothing they cast lots! + +I. Date of the Book of Malachi. Malachi in the Hebrew means My +Messenger, and the word was apparently taken from the opening verse of the +third chapter. Like many of the writings of the post-exilic period, the +book, therefore, is anonymous. Its date, however, may be determined from +its contents. The reference to the desolation of the land of the Edomites +suggests that it was written late in the Persian period after the Edomites +had been driven out from Mount Seir by the Nabateans and had found a home +on the southern borders of Judah. The priests in the Judean community had +become corrupt and the temple service was neglected, indicating that they +had lost the early enthusiasm which followed the rebuilding of the +sanctuary. The Judean community was discouraged and a spirit of doubt and +questioning prevailed in the minds of those who were faithfully striving +to serve Jehovah. The prophecy is an exact picture of conditions as +Nehemiah found them, so that the book of Malachi may be dated not far from +445 B.C. + +II. Neglect of the Temple Service. The prophet's method is akin to that +of Zechariah. Evidently the early reverence for the word of the prophet +has disappeared. Instead of bare assertions, each conclusion is supported +by detailed arguments. The author of Malachi is also deeply interested in +the ritual and regards the preservation of its purity as essential to the +religious life of the Judean community. He charges the priests with +failure to observe the ceremonial laws, especially in allowing the people +to bring for sacrifice animals that are blind, lame, and sick. These acts +are evidence of the religious apathy that had seized even the religious +leaders of the people. The prophet declares boldly that under the guise of +religion the priests are robbing Jehovah. Above all they are faithless to +their responsibilities as the appointed teachers of the people. In 2:5-7 +he presents the clearest picture extant of the task of the priest as +teacher. His duty was to instruct the people, to help them to overcome +temptation, and to make very clear to them the way of duty. This ideal, +the prophet declares, was realized by earlier priests, but now those who +are the appointed religious guides are misleading the people. + +III. The Need of a Great Moral Awakening. The evils which the prophet +denounced were not confined to the priests. The old Semitic law regarding +divorce was exceedingly lax. A husband could lead his wife to the door of +his tent and tell her to be gone, thereby severing their marriage +relation. The Deuteronomic law sought to relieve this injustice by +providing that the husband must place in the hand of his wife, as she +departs, a document stating the grounds on which he had divorced her. By +the middle of the fifth century B.C. divorce had evidently become +exceedingly common in Palestine. The prophet denounced it on the basis of +its injustice and cruelty. He also maintained that marriage was a solemn +covenant before Jehovah between man and wife, and that he who disregarded +it dealt faithlessly and was the especial object of divine displeasure. + +Traces of the old heathenism still remained in Judah, and the dependent, +oppressed classes received little pity from the selfish, heartless rulers. +In the face of these evils the prophet declared that Jehovah would +surely send a messenger to punish and to reform priest and people. +The prophecy was evidently based on a clear recognition that Jehovah +was ever working to train and uplift his people, and that a period of +degeneration must surely be followed by a period of reform. In the work +of Nehemiah the prophet's hopes were in part fulfilled, but the larger +fulfilment of the underlying principle was realized in the thorough-going +reformatory work of John the Baptist and in that of the Great Teacher. In +a later appendix to the prophecy of Malachi this theme is still further +developed. The promise is made that another prophet, with the zeal of the +great reformer Elijah, would come and prepare the way for a new and nobler +era. + +IV. The Lot of the Faithful. In the prophecy of Malachi is first voiced +the despairing cries and doubts of those of the faithful who failed to +rise above the effect of the existing social and religious evils. They are +the righteous or afflicted who also speak through certain of the earlier +psalms of the Psalter (e.g., 10-17, 22). It was a period when the man who +did right and was faithful to the demands of the law was thereby condemned +to poverty and persecution at the hands of the corrupt priests and rulers. +Worse than that, their poverty and wretchedness were interpreted, +According to the current belief of the day, as convincing evidence of +Jehovah's displeasure because of their sins. It was a time when wickedness +triumphed and innocence suffered, and when the question whether or not a +righteous God ruled the universe rose persistently in the minds of the +faithful. The author of Malachi recognizes and seeks to meet these doubts: + +Ye have said, It is useless to serve God, +And what gain is it to us to have kept his charge, +And that we have walked in funeral garb before him? +Even now we call the proud happy, +Verily those who work iniquity thrive, +Yea, they tempt God and escape. + +Here the problem is the same as that of the book of Job. To these doubts +the prophet could only reply that Jehovah will keep a record of the +faithful and in his good time will reward them. + +V. The Problem of Suffering in the Literature of the Period. As was +natural, this problem of innocent suffering was prominent in the +literature of the period. It became especially insistent at this time, +because it had ceased to be the problem of the community, and had become +that of individuals or of a class. While the nation rested under the +shadow of misfortune, a solution of the problem was found in the +consciousness of national guilt and in the hope that the affliction would +be but temporary. The old dogma that virtue was always rewarded and +wickedness punished continued to satisfy Israel's leaders. When, however, +a considerable class in the community were conscious that they had +committed no crimes worthy of the bitter persecutions and calamities that +overtook them, and that it was often just because of their virtue and the +steadfastness with which they clung to the nobler ideals of their race +that they were thus assailed, the current interpretations of evil were no +longer satisfactory. When in time many of them went down to the grave +crushed by affliction and the objects of the taunts and revilings of their +wicked pursuers, the insufficiency of the current explanation of +misfortune was tragically demonstrated. To their minds Sheol or the grave +offered no solution, for, as among all early Aryan and Semitic peoples, it +was thought of as the dark, passionless, joyless abode of the shades. + +In most of the psalms of this period the poets who speak in behalf of the +afflicted class, like the author of Malachi, expressed the hope that +Jehovah would speedily come to their deliverance and signally vindicate +and reward them. The heroism and fidelity that they represent can only be +fully appreciated in the light of this discouraging period when evil was +regnant. It was apparently at this time that the great poet, who speaks +through the book of Job, presented, with the spirit and method of a modern +philosopher, the lot of these innocent sufferers. He also proved for all +time that misfortune is not always the evidence of guilt, and that the +current doctrine of proportionate rewards and the explanations that were +adduced to support it were in certain cases absolutely untenable. + + + +Section XCVIII. THE PROBLEM AND TEACHINGS OF THE BOOK OF JOB + +[Sidenote: Job 1:1-5] +There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. And that man was +blameless and upright; he feared God and turned away from evil. And seven +sons and three daughters were born to him. His possessions also included +seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, +five hundred she asses, and an exceedingly large number of servants; so +that this man was the greatest of all the peoples of Palestine. And his +sons were accustomed to hold a feast in one another's house each on his +day. And they were wont to send and invite their three sisters to eat and +drink with them. And when the days of their feasting were over, Job used +to send and sanctify them, and he rose up early in the morning, and +offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, +Perhaps my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts. Thus Job +did continually. + +[Sidenote: Job 1:6-11] +Now on a certain day when the sons of God came to present themselves +before Jehovah, Satan also came among them. And Jehovah said to Satan, +Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to +and fro in the earth, and walking up and down on it. And Jehovah said to +Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him on +the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God, and turns away from +evil. Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? +Hast thou not made a hedge about him, and about his household, and about +all that he hath, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, +and his possessions are increased in the land. But put forth thy hand now, +and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. + +[Sidenote: Job 1:12] +Then Jehovah said to Satan, Behold all that he hath is in thy power; only +put not forth thy hand upon him. So Satan went forth from the presence of +Jehovah. + +[Sidenote: Job 1:13-19] +Now on a certain day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking +in their eldest brother's house, a messenger came to Job and said, The +oxen were plowing and the asses were feeding beside them, when the Sabeans +suddenly attacked and captured them, and they have slain the servants with +the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you. While that +one was yet speaking, another came and said, The fire of God has fallen +from heaven, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed +them; and I alone have escaped to tell you. While that one was yet +speaking, another came and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and +raided the camels and took them away, and they have slain the servants +with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you. While that +one was yet speaking, another came and said, Your sons and your daughters +were eating and drinking in their eldest brother's house, when there came +a great wind from over the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the +house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead. I alone have +escaped to tell you. + +[Sidenote: Job 1:20-22] +Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell upon the +ground and worshipped; and he said: + +Naked I came from my mother's womb, +And naked shall I return thither! +Jehovah gave and he hath taken away; +Blessed be the name of Jehovah! + +In all this Job sinned not, nor reviled God. + +[Sidenote: Job 2:1-6] +And on a certain day when the sons of God came to present themselves +before Jehovah, Satan came also to present himself before Jehovah. And +Jehovah said to Satan, Whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah, and +said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down on +it. And Jehovah said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? For +there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who +fears God, and turns away from evil; and he still remains steadfast in his +piety, although thou incitest me against him, to destroy him without +cause. And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that +a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thy hand now, and +touch his bone and his flesh; surely he will curse thee to thy face. And +Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, he is in thy power: only spare his life. + +[Sidenote: Job 2:7, 8] +So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smote Job with a +malignant eruption from the sole of his foot to his crown. And he took a +potsherd with which to scrape himself; and he sat among the ashes. + +[Sidenote: Job 2:9, 10] +Then said his wife to him, Do you still remain steadfast in your piety? +Curse God, and die. But he said to her, You speak like one of the foolish +women. We receive good at the hand of God, shall we not also receive evil? +In all this did not Job sin with his lips. + +[Sidenote: Job 2:11-13] +Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon +him, they came each from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad +the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment +together to come to show their sympathy for him and to comfort him. And +when they lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not, they raised +their voice and wept; and all tore their robes, and sprinkled dust upon +their heads toward heaven. So they sat down with him on the ground seven +days and seven nights, without any one speaking a word to him, for they +saw that his pain was very great. + +[Sidenote: Job 3:2, 11, 13-15, 17-19] +Then Job began to speak and said: + +Why did I not die before birth? +Why did I not expire when my mother bore me? +For now would I have lain down and been quiet, +I would have slept, then had I been at rest, +With kings and counsellors of the earth, +Who built up ruins for themselves; +Or with princes who possessed gold, +Who filled their houses with silver. +There the wicked cease from raging, +And the weary are at rest. +There the prisoners have peace as well, +They hear not the voice of the taskmaster. +The small and the great are there, +And the servant is free from his master. + + +[Sidenote: Job 3:20-22, 25, 26] +Why is light given to the suffering, +And life to those in anguish, +Who long for death but it comes not, +And search for it more than treasures, +Who rejoice with great exultation, +And are glad when they can find the grave? +For the thing which I feared has come upon me, +And that of which I was afraid has overtaken me. +No peace nor quiet, have I, +No rest, but trembling seizes me. + +[Sidenote: Job 4:1-7] +Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said: + +If one tries to speak with you, will you be impatient, +But who can restrain himself from speaking? +Behold, you have instructed many, +And have strengthened feeble hands. +Your words have upheld him who was falling, +And you have made tottering knees strong. +But now, that it is come to you, you are impatient, +It touches yourself and you lose courage. +Is not your piety, your trust, +Your hope the integrity of your ways? +Remember now who, being innocent, perished? +Or where have the upright been destroyed? + +[Sidenote: Job 4:17-19] +Can mortal man be righteous before God? +Can a man be pure before his maker? +Behold, he trusteth not in his own servants, +And his angels he chargeth with error; +How much more the dwellers in clay houses, +Whose foundation is laid in the dust? + +[Sidenote: Job 5:17-22, 26, 27] +Happy is the man whom God correcteth, +Therefore reject not the chastening of the Almighty. +For he causeth pain and bindeth up; +He woundeth and his hands heal. +He will deliver you out of six troubles, +Yea, in seven, no evil shall touch you, +In famine he will redeem you from death, +And in war from the power of the sword. +You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue; +You shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes. +At destruction and want you shall laugh, +And you need not fear the beasts of the earth. +You shall come to your grave in a ripe old age, +As a sheaf garnered in its season. +Lo this, we have searched out, so it is; +Hear it and know it yourself. + +[Sidenote: Job 6:1-4b] +Then Job answered and said: + +Oh, that my bitterness were weighed, +All my calamity laid in the scales! +Then would it be heavier than the sand of the seas; +For this reason my words are rash. +For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, +Their poison my spirit drinks up. +[Sidenote: Job 6:8-10] +Oh that I might have my request, +And that God would grant that for which I long: +Even that it would please God to crush me, +And that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! +Then this would be my consolation, +I would exult in pain that spares not. + +[Sidenote: Job 6:11-13] +What strength have I still to endure? +And what is mine end that I should be patient? +Is my strength the strength of stones? +Or is my body made of brass? +Behold there is no help in me, +And wisdom is driven quite from me. + +[Sidenote: Job 6:14, 15, 20-23] +Kindness from his friend is due to one in despair, +Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. +My brothers have been as deceptive as a brook, +As the channel of brooks that disappear. +For now you are nothing, +You see a terror and are afraid. +Did I say, 'Give to me?' +Or, 'Offer a present to me of your wealth?' +Or, 'Deliver me from a foeman's hand?' +Or, 'Redeem me from the oppressor's power?' + +[Sidenote: Job 6:24-39] +Teach me and I will hold my peace, +And make plain to me wherein I have erred. +How agreeable are upright words! +But what does a reproof from you reprove? +Do you think to reprove mere words, +When the speeches of the desperate are as wind? +You fall upon a blameless man, +And you make merchandise of your friend. +Now therefore be pleased to look upon me; +For surely I will not lie to you. +Turn ere you let injustice be done, +Yea, turn again, my cause is righteous. +Is there injustice on my tongue? +Can not my taste discern what is evil? + +[Sidenote: Job 7:1-6] +Has not man a hard service on earth? +And are not his days like the days of a hireling? +As a slave who sighs for the shadows of the evening, +And as a hireling who looks for his wages, +So am I given months of misery, +And wearisome nights are appointed me. +When I lie down, I say: +'When shall I arise, and the night be gone?' +And I am full of unrest until the dawn. +My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; +My skin hardens, then breaks out again. +My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, +And are spent without hope. + +[Sidenote: Job 7:9, 10] +As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, +So he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more, +He shall return no more to his house, +Nor shall his place know him any more. + +[Sidenote: Job 7:11, 19] +Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; +I will speak in the bitterness of my spirit. +Am I a sea, or a sea-monster, +That thou shouldest set a watch over me? +When I say, "My bed shall comfort me, +My couch shall ease my complaint;" +Then thou frightest me with dreams, +And terrifiest me through visions: +So that I myself choose strangling, +And death rather than my pains. +I loath life, I would not live always, +Let me alone, for my days are as a breath, +What is man, that thou exaltest him, +That on him thou directest thy thought, +That thou visitest him each morning, +And testest him each moment? + +[Sidenote: Job 7:20, 21] +If I have sinned, what have I done to thee, O watcher of men? +Why hast thou set me as thy target? +And why am I a burden to thee? +And why dost thou not pardon my transgression and take away mine iniquity? +For now I shall lie down in the dust, +When thou shalt seek me, I shall not be. + +[Sidenote: Job 8:1-2] +Then answered Bildad the Shuhite and said, + +How long will you speak these things? +And the words of your mouth be like a mighty wind? +Doth God pervert justice? +Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness? + +[Sidenote: Job 8:3-6] +If your children sinned against him, +And he delivered them to the consequences of their guilt; +You should earnestly seek God, +Let him take his rod away from me, +And let not his terror make me afraid, +Then would I speak and not fear him, +For in myself I am not thus fearful. + +[Sidenote: Job 10:9-15] +Remember that as clay thou hast fashioned me, +And wilt thou again turn me into dust? +Hast thou not poured me out as milk? +And curdled me like a cheese? +Thou hast clothed me with a skin and with flesh, +And knit me together with bones and with sinews. +Thou hast granted me life and favor, +And thy care hath preserved my breath. +Yet these things thou didst hide in thy heart; +I know that this is thy plan: +If I sin, then thou watchest me, +And if I be just, yet I cannot lift up my head! + +[Sidenote: Job 10:20-22] +Are not the days of my life few enough? +Let me alone, that I may have a little cheer, +Before I go whence I shall not return, +To the land of darkness and of gloom, +The land dark as blackness, +Gloom without a gleam or ray of light. + +[Sidenote: Job 11:1, 7-9] +Then answered Zophar, the Naamathite, and said: + +Shall the multitude of words be unanswered? +Can you find the depths of God? +Can you reach the perfection of the Almighty? +It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? +Deeper than Sheol; what can you know? +Its measure is longer than the earth, +And broader than the sea. + +[Sidenote: Job 11:13-15] +If you set your heart aright, +And stretch out your hands toward him; +If iniquity be in thy hand, put it far away, +And let not unrighteousness dwell in your tent. +Then you shall lift up your face without spot; +And you shall be steadfast, and have no fear. +And make your supplication to the Almighty. +If you are pure and upright, +Then he will prosper your righteous habitation. + +[Sidenote: Job 9:1-7] +Then Job answered and said: +Verily I know that it is so, +But how can a man be made just with God? +If he be pleased to contend with him, +He cannot answer him one of a thousand. +He is wise in mind and mighty in strength; +Who has defied him, and remained unharmed? +He who removeth mountains and they know it not, +And overturneth them in his anger, +Who shaketh the earth out of its place, +So that its pillars tremble, +Who commandeth the sun and it rises not, +And on the stars placeth his seal. + +[Sidenote: Job 9:16-20, 24] +If I called and he answered me, +I would not believe that he had heard my voice. +He who crusheth me with a tempest, +prey of And multiplieth my wounds without cause. +He will not permit me to take my breath, +But filleth me with bitterness, +If we speak of the strength of the mighty, lo it is he! +And if of justice, Who will summon him? +Though I am righteous, my own mouth condemns me, +Though I am perfect, it would prove me to be perverse. +The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; +He covereth the faces of its judges; +If not he, then who is it? + +[Sidenote: Job 9:31-35] +If I wash myself with snow, +And cleanse my hands with lye, +Yet thou plunge me into the filth, +prove And mine own friends will abhor me. +For he is not a man as I am, that I should answer him, +That we should come together in judgment, +There is no arbiter betwixt us, +To lay his hand upon us both. + +[Sidenote: Job 12:1-3] +Then Job answered and said: + +No doubt but you are the people, +And wisdom shall die with you! +But I have a mind as well as you, +And who does not know these things? + +[Sidenote: Job 13:7-12] +Will you speak what is wrong for God? +And will you talk deceitfully for him? +Will you show favor to him? +Will you contend for God? +Would it be well, should he search you out? +Or as one deceives a man, will you deceive him? +He will surely reprove you, +If secretly you show favor. +Shall not his majesty overawe you, +And dread of him fall upon you? +Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes, +Your defences are defences of clay! + +[Sidenote: Job 13:13-18] +Hold your peace that I may speak, +And let come to me what will. +I take my flesh in my teeth, +And put my life in my hand. +Behold he will slay me; I have no hope, +But I will defend my ways before him. +No godless man would come before him. +Give careful heed to my speech, +And let my declaration be in your ears. +Behold now, I have prepared my case, +I know that I shall be justified. + +[Sidenote: Job 13:21-25] +Withdraw thy hand far from me; +And let not thy terror make me afraid. +Then call and I will answer, +Or let me speak, and answer thou me. +How many are my iniquities and sins? +Make me know my transgression and my sin. +Why dost thou hide thy face, +And regard me as thine enemy? +Wilt thou harass a wind blown leaf? +And wilt thou pursue the dry stubble? + +[Sidenote: 14:7-10] +For there is hope of a tree, +If it will be cut down, that it will sprout again, +And that its shoot will not cease. +Though its root grow old in the earth, +And its stock die in the ground; +By the scent of water it will bud, +And put forth its branches like a plant. +But man dies and is laid low: +Yea, a man expires, and where is he? + +[Sidenote: Job 14:13-15, 18, 19] +Oh, that thou wouldst hide me in Sheol, +That thou wouldst keep me in secret, until thy wrath be past, +That thou wouldst appoint over me a time, and remember me! +If a man might die, shall he live again! +All the days of my hard service would I wait, +Until my release should come. +Thou wouldst call and I myself would answer thee; +Thou wouldst long for the work of thy hands. +But the mountain surely falls, +And the rock moves from its place, +The water wears away the stones, +Its floods wash away the dust of the earth. + +[Sidenote: Job 15:4-6] +Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite and said: + +Verily, you do away with the fear of God, +And hinder devotion before God. +For your wickedness inspires your speech, +And you choose the tongue of the crafty. +Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; +And your own lips testify against you. + +[Sidenote: Job 16:1-3a, 4b] +Then answered Job and said: + +I have heard many such things; +Troublesome comforters are you all. +Is there no end to vain words? +If you were only in my place, +I could join words together against you! + +[Sidenote: Job 16:11-13a] +God delivereth me to the ungodly, +And casteth me into the hands of the wicked. +I was at ease, and he shattered me, +He seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces, +He hath also set me up as his target, +His arrows encompass me round about. + +[Sidenote Job 16:18-21] +O earth, cover not my blood, +And let my cry have no resting place. +Even now behold my witness is in the heaven, +And he who voucheth for me is on high. +He will be found to be my friend, +To God my eye pours out its tears. +And he will maintain the right of a man with God, +And between a man and his neighbor! + +[Sidenote: Job 18:1, 5-7] +Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said: + +The light of the wicked is put out, +And the flame of his fire does not shine, +The light is darkened in his tent, +And his light above him is put out. +The steps of his strength are shortened, +And his own counsel shall cast him down. + +[Sidenote: Job 19:13-16] +Then Job answered and said: + +My brothers keep far from me, +And my acquaintances are like strangers to me. +My kinsmen have ceased to know me, +Even the guests in my house have forgotten me. +My maids regard me as a stranger, +I am an alien in their sight. + +[Sidenote: Job 19:23-27] +Oh, that my words were now written! +Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! +That with an iron pen and lead +They were engraved in a rock forever! +But I indeed know that my Vindicator liveth, +And at last he will stand upon the earth: +And after this, my skin, is destroyed, +Then I shall behold God, +Whom I myself shall see on my side, +Mine eyes shall behold, and not a stranger. + +[Sidenote: Job 20:1-4] +Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said: + +Not so do my thoughts give answer to me, +Because of this my haste is mine! +I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame; +But with wind void of understanding you answer me. +Have you not known this from of old, +Since man was placed upon the earth, +That the exulting of the wicked is short, +And the joy of the godless but for a moment? + +[Sidenote: Job: 21:1, 7-8] +Then answered Job and said: +Why do the wicked live, +Grow old, and attain great power? +Their descendants are established in their sight, +And their offspring before their eyes. +Their households are secure from terror, +And the rod of God is not upon them. + +[Sidenote: Job 22:1-6] +Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said, +Is a man of any account to God? +Surely a wise man is of account to himself. +Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? +Or is it gain to him that you are upright? +Is it because of your fear of him that he reproveth you, +That he entereth into judgment with you? +Is not your wickedness great? +And there is no end to your iniquities. + +[Sidenote: Job 22:26, 27, 28] +If you return to the Almighty and humble yourself, +If you remove unrighteousness far from your tents. +You shall make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, +And you shall pay your vows. +You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established for you. +And light shall shine upon your ways. + +[Sidenote: Job 23:1-6] +Then Job answered and said, + +Even now my complaint is bitter, +My stroke is heavier than my groaning. +Oh, that I knew where I might find him! +That I might come even to his throne! +I would set forth my cause before him, +And fill my mouth with arguments. +I would know the words which he would answer me, +And understand what he would say to me. +Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? +Verily he would give heed to me. + +[Sidenote: Job 25:1-4] +Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, + +Dominion and terror are with him; +He maketh peace in his high places. +Is there any number to his armies? +And upon whom does not his light arise? +How then can man be just with God? +Or how can he be clean who is born of woman? + +[Sidenote: Job 26:1, 27:2, 4, 5] +Then Job answered and said, + +As God liveth, who hath taken away my right, +And the Almighty, who hath made my life bitter, +Surely my lips do not speak unrighteousness, +Nor does my tongue utter falsehood, +Far be it from me that I should grant that you are right; +Until I die I will not give up my innocence. + +[Sidenote: Job 27:7-9] +[Then Zophar answered and said]: + +Let mine enemy be as the wicked, +And let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous. +For what is the hope of the godless, +When God requireth his life? +Will God hear his cry, +When trouble comes upon him? + +[Sidenote: Job 29:1-5] +And Job again took up his parable and said, + +Oh, that I were as in the months of old, +As in the days when God watched over me, +When his lamp shined upon my head, +And by his light I walked through darkness; +As I was in the prime of my life, +When God put a covering over my tent, +When the Almighty was yet with me, +And my children were about me. + +[Sidenote: Job 30:16-21] +But now my soul is poured out within me; +Days of affliction have taken hold of me. +The night bores through my bones, +And my gnawing pains rest not. +By reason of great wasting my garment is crumpled together; +It binds me about as the collar of my coat. +He hath cast me into the mire, +And I am become like dust and ashes. +I cry to thee but thou dost not answer me. +I stand up, but thou dost not regard me. +Thou art turned to be cruel to me; +With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me. + +[Sidenote: Job 31:5-8] +If I have walked with falsehood, +And my foot has hasted to deceit; +Let me be weighed in a just balance, +That God may know my integrity. +If my step has turned out of the way, +And my heart followed my inclination, +And if any spot besmirches my hands; +Then let me sow, and let another eat, +And let the produce of my field be uprooted. + +[Sidenote: Job 31:35-37] +Oh, that there was someone to hear me! +See, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me! +And the indictment which my adversary has written! +Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; +I would bind it to me as a crown; +I would declare to him the number of my steps, +As a prince would I draw near to him. + +[Sidenote: Job 38:2-7] +Then Jehovah answered Job out of the storm, and said, + +Who is this that darkeneth counsel +By words that lack knowledge? +Gird up thy loins now like a man, +And let me ask of thee and inform thou me. +Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? +Declare, if thou hast understanding. +Who determined its measures that thou knowest? +Or who stretched out the line upon it? +On what were its foundations fastened? +Or who laid its corner-stone, +When the morning stars sang together, +And all the sons of God shouted for joy? + +[Sidenote: Job 38:8-11] +Or who shut up the sea with doors, +When it broke forth, and issued out of the womb; +When I made clouds its garments, +And thick mists its swaddling-bands, +And marked out for it my bound, +And set bars and doors, +And said, Here shalt thou come, but no further; +And here shall thy proud waves stop? + +[Sidenote: Job 38:39-41] +Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness, +Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, +When they couch in their dens, +And abide in the covert to lie in wait? +Who provideth at evening his prey, +When his young ones cry to God, +And wander to seek for food? + +[Sidenote: Job 40:8,9] +Will the fault-finder contend with the Almighty? +He who argueth with God, let him answer it. +Wilt thou even annul my judgment? +Condemn me, that thou mayest be justified, +Or hast thou an arm like God? +And canst thou thunder with a voice like him? + +[Sidenote: Job 42:1, 2, 3, 5, 6] +Then Job answered Jehovah and said: + +I know that thou canst do all things, +And that no purpose of thine can be restrained. +Therefore, I have uttered that which I did not understand; +Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. +I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, +But now mine eye seeth thee, +Therefore I loath [my words], +And repent in dust and ashes. + +I. The Structure of the Book of Job. Like most of the books of the Old +Testament, Job is, without reasonable doubt, the work of several different +writers. The prose introduction (1-2), with its corresponding conclusion +(42:7-17), was probably once an independent story. The words of Jehovah in +the epilogue (42:7) clearly implies that, as in 1 and 2, Job had endured +the test and had meekly submitted to the afflictions which Satan, with the +divine approval, had sent upon him, and that on the other hand his +friends, like his wife, had urged him to curse God and die. The language +and phrases of this prose story are radically different from those in the +poem which constitutes the main body of the book. The unique explanation +of why Job was afflicted that is given in the opening chapters is also +completely ignored in the poetic dialogues (3-31). Likewise the problem of +whether or not Job fears God for naught, raised in the prologue, is not +taken up again except in the concluding prose epilogue. In the prose story +Job's piety conforms to the popular standards, while in the poetic +sections he is measured by the loftier ethical principles laid down by the +pre-exilic prophets (cf. chap. 31). In form, therefore, in aim, and in +content, the prose story differs fundamentally from the great dramatic +poem which constitutes the real book of Job. The main body of the book is +found in chapters 3-27, 29-31, 38:1-40:14, and 42:1-6. At a few points the +original order has apparently been disarranged and later hands have +frequently supplemented the older sections, but the literary unity of the +whole is obvious. In three cycles of speeches the problem of innocent +suffering is fully developed and the current solutions presented. In +conclusion the voice of Jehovah comes to Job calling him forth from +himself to the contemplation of the larger universe which manifests the +divine wisdom and rulership. + +The Elihu speeches in 32-37 are evidently from a still later author or +authors who wished to rebuke Job's seeming impiety and the failure of his +friends to bring forth a satisfactory explanation of the suffering of the +innocent. Its independence is shown by the presence of many Aramaic words, +by the lack of literary vigor, and by the frequent repetitions, which +distinguish it sharply from the writings of the author of the main body of +the book. Elihu and his contributions are also completely ignored in the +rest of the book and at points where, if they were original, certain +references would be almost inevitable. These speeches, in fact, are simply +a fuller development of the argument of Eliphaz found in the fifth +chapter. They also incorporate many suggestions drawn from the speeches of +Jehovah in chapters 38 and 39. + +II. Dates of the Different Parts. The classic Hebrew style and the +absence of Aramaic words indicate that the prose story is the oldest +section of the book. It also reasserts in modified form the dogma current +far down into the Persian period, that if the righteous but patiently +bear affliction they will surely in the end be richly rewarded. It +contains a message well adapted to the needs and beliefs of the Jewish +people during the calamities of the Babylonian period. Its conception +of Satan as the prosecuting attorney of heaven, and of Jehovah as a +transcendental ruler surrounded by a hierarchy of angels, is closely akin +to that which first appears in the second chapter of Zechariah. The +references to Job in Ezekiel 14:14,20, as one of the three heroes of +popular tradition famous for their piety, implies the existence during the +exile of a story closely akin to if not identical with the one found in +the prologue and epilogue of the book of Job. Such a story was probably +current long before the days of Ezekiel, but in its present form it was +not committed to writing until the latter part of the Babylonian or the +beginning of the Persian period. + +The first part of this story was evidently used by the author as an +introduction to the great dramatic poem. He thereby deliberately protested +against the solution of the problem of innocent suffering suggested by the +ancient story. The poem itself cannot be dated earlier than the middle of +the Persian period. In it the great ethical and social standards of the +pre-exilic prophets are fully accepted. Its marvelous breadth of vision +also implies an advanced stage in Israel's thinking. The problem of +suffering with which it deals is not merely that of the nation but of the +individual or of a class within the Judean community. It is precisely the +problem that confronted the author of Malachi and to which he refers in +3:13-16. It is the same problem that bulks largely in the psalms of this +period and finds its noblest solution in Isaiah 53. All its affinities, +therefore, confirm the conclusion that it comes from the middle of the +fifth century B.C. and is probably slightly older than Isaiah 49-55, +which presents a more fundamental treatment of the problem of human +suffering. The author still holds the old, prophetic conception of the +universe (38:4-6), and is unaffected by the priestly thought and +tendencies which became especially prominent during the closing years of +the Persian period. + +The Elihu speeches and the supplemental poem in description of wisdom in +28, and of the behemoth and leviathan in 40:15-41:34, probably come from +the Greek period. + +III. The Prose Story. In the prose story Job is pictured as a man of +superlative piety and prosperity. According to the popular standards of +the earlier day he lived a blameless life. His afflictions came simply as +a means of demonstrating the unselfish character of his piety. In rapid +succession he is stripped of all his possessions and afflicted by the +vilest of all diseases, apparently the loathsome tubercular leprosy. Even +his wife tempts him to curse God and die, but he fully meets the test, +and, according to the testimony of the concluding epilogue, receives +Jehovah's approval and is restored to the joys of family, reputation, and +riches. It is obvious that, as in the stories found in the opening +chapters of Genesis, this is a popular narrative freely adjusted to the +ends which the story-teller wished to attain. The incidents recorded are +not in keeping with the ordinary experiences of life, but belong rather to +the realm of popular fancy. As a reference in Ezekiel implies, it was +probably, like the similar stories regarding Noah and Daniel, a heritage +from the common Semitic lore. In fact, a recently discovered Babylonian +tablet tells of a famous king of Nippur, Tâbi-utul-Bêl by name, whose +experiences and spirit corresponds closely to those of the hero of this +prose story. + +The message of the prose story of Job, as it was sent out to the Jewish +race, was that it was not always possible to understand the reason why +the righteous were afflicted, but that if they faithfully met the test +restoration to Jehovah's approval, with the honor and reputation that +necessarily follow, were assured. To the nation such a message was not +without its practical application and value, but it failed completely to +meet the individual problems that became pathetically insistent during the +middle of the fifth century B.C. + +IV. The Poem of Job. In the later poetic version of the story (which +begins with the third chapter) Job himself is the embodiment of the +problem of innocent suffering. His friends' suppositions and condemnations +add still another burden to his weight of woe. More intolerable, however, +than loss of possessions, health, and reputation is his sense of being +forsaken and condemned by Jehovah. Job cannot shake himself entirely free +from the belief, which had been inculcated in his mind from earliest +infancy, that calamity was a sign of divine displeasure, and therefore of +sin on the part of the victim. In the series of monologues and dialogues +between Job and his friends he voices every phase of the great problem and +makes it concrete and objective. With marvellous psychological truth and +insight the author has presented the different phases of feeling through +which an innocent sufferer in Job's position naturally passes. At times +Job is intemperate in his speech and at other times he yields to +despondency; again his faith overleaps all obstacles and he holds for the +moment a clear belief in the ultimate vindication not only of himself but +of Jehovah's justice. + +His friends, on the other hand, formulate at length the current +Explanation of suffering. Job in his sharp retorts makes clear the +Inapplicability of the arguments and the limitations of the dogmas which +they constantly reassert. In the concluding speeches of Jehovah the author +with masterly skill takes Job out of his little circle into the larger +world of nature, and brings him face to face with the evidences of +Jehovah's might, wisdom, and gracious rulership of the great universe and +of the complex life of those who inhabit it. Above all, Job learns to know +God, not through the testimony of others, but by direct personal +experience, and this knowledge begets humility and trust. + +V. Progress in Job's Thought. The thought of the book of Job is +characteristically Oriental. Instead of moving straight on from premises +to conclusion it constantly reverts to the same themes yet advances +along independent, parallel lines. Its progress is not objective, as is +usually the case in a drama, but almost entirely subjective. These +parallel lines of progress are: (1) the conviction gradually crystallizing +into certainty that the current explanations of suffering are in certain +cases inadequate and false. While viewed from one point of view this +conclusion is merely negative, it nevertheless opened the eyes of Job +and his generation to a larger conception of Jehovah and a far broader +interpretation of the universe and of the laws which regulate it. The +second is that he is guilty of no crime commensurate with the calamity +which had overtaken him. Overwhelmed by misfortune and the reiterated +charges of his friends, only through a superhuman struggle did Job +ultimately attain the unshaken conviction that he was indeed innocent in +the sight of God and man. The third line of progress is that, if not in +the present life, in that beyond the grave his reputation would not only +be vindicated but he himself would be fully conscious of that vindication. + +As is illustrated by the third chapter, Job in common with his race still +shared the belief that for the ordinary individual life beyond the grave +was a shadowy existence, far removed from Jehovah's presence. This +conception of the life after death was inherited by the Israelites from +their Semitic ancestors, and was held in common by most ancient peoples, +both of the East and of the West. The Babylonians believed, however, that +certain favored mortals, as, for example, the hero of the flood, were +transported to the abode of the gods, there to enjoy blessed individual +immortality. The same belief is the foundation of the Hebrew stories +regarding Enoch and Elijah. This belief was apparently the germ which in +time developed, as in the twelfth chapter of Daniel, into the widespread +conviction that the grave would not hold those who had been loyal to +Jehovah, but that he would surely raise them again to a glorious life. In +the book of Job it is possible to trace the birth-pangs of this broader +hope. Conscious of his innocence and confronted by the grave, Job +repeatedly voices the deep conviction that God, because he is just, will +raise his afflicted servant from the grave and accord to him that justice +which seems excluded from his present life. This solution of the problem +of innocent suffering is not given the central place by the author of the +book of Job. It is safe, however, to conjecture that if the appearance of +Jehovah had not furnished to the author's mind a more satisfactory +conclusion, the vindication after death would have been the solution +offered. At several points Job approaches very close to the belief in +individual immortality which became a commonly accepted tenet in the +trying days of the Maccabean struggle. + +The fourth line of progress is that Jehovah, after all, must be just and +that he will right the seeming wrongs of life. In his opening speeches Job +gives free vent to the anguish and impatience that fills his tortured +mind. With a boldness strangely foreign to Hebrew thought, he charges +Jehovah with injustice and speaks of him as a cruel monster that watches +man, his helpless prey, and takes cruel pleasure in the pain which he +inflicts. As the discussion progresses Job's mind becomes calmer, and +the conviction that God, after all, is just comes more clearly to +expression. His strong utterances gradually yield to this quieter mood. +Even before he hears the voice of Jehovah, Job has attained an attitude of +trust, though he is still groping in darkness. Thus with marvelous +fidelity to human nature and experience the author of the book of Job +would have made a great contribution to the problem with which he was +dealing even had he not added the concluding speeches of Jehovah. + +VI. Significance of the Speeches of Jehovah. To many Western readers the +concluding speeches of Jehovah are unsatisfying. They lack the emphasis on +Jehovah's love and that divine tenderness in addressing the heroic +sufferer which to us would seem to have been a satisfactory conclusion to +the great drama. This element is furnished in characteristically concrete +form by the epilogue of the book, in which Job's prosperity is restored in +double measure and he is personally assured of Jehovah's favor. The severe +and realistic author of the great poem, however, knew that in ordinary +life such solutions are rare. In the speeches of Jehovah he does not +introduce an altogether new element, but emphasizes motifs already +developed in the earlier dialogues. The effect of these speeches upon Job +are threefold: (1) They rebuke his over-accentuated individualism. +(2) They reveal the fundamental contrast between the infinite God and +finite man. In the light of this revelation Job plainly recognizes his +presumption and folly in attempting, with his limited outlook, to +comprehend, much less to criticise, the mighty ruler of all the universe. +(3) After Job had thus been led out of himself into personal companionship +with God he was content to trust his all-wise guide, even though he +recognized his own inability to fathom the mysteries of the universe or to +solve the problem of innocent suffering. Thus the great contributions of +the book of Job to the problem of suffering are: (1) A clear and +scientific presentation of the problem; (2) a bold sweeping aside of +the insufficient current theological explanations; (3) a vastly enlarged +conception of Jehovah's character and rule; and (4) that attitude of +faith which comes from a personal experience of God and which trusts +unreservedly, even though it cannot see or divine the reason why, and in +that trust finds peace and joy. + +Although the thought of the book of Job is profound, and it deals in a +masterly manner with a fundamental human problem, it is more than a mere +philosophical discussion. Its primary aim is to set forth the vital truth +that God is not to be found through current theological dogmas or +intellectual discussions, but through personal experience. This is the +dominant note throughout the book. The greatest calamity that overtakes +Job in his hour of deepest distress is the sense of being shut away from +God's presence. + +Oh! that I knew where I might find him, +That I might come even to his throne! + +As he looks back fondly to the happy days of old the fact that stands +forth above all others is that + +The Almighty was yet with me. + +Looking forward to a possible vindication after death his hope centres +in the belief that + +Thou wouldst call and I myself would answer thee; +Thou wouldst long for the work of thy hands. + +When at last Jehovah answered Job out of the storm, it was not so much +the thought expressed as the fact that God had spoken directly to him +that brought penitence and peace: + +I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, +But now mine eye seeth thee. +Therefore I loath my words, +And repent in dust and ashes. + + + +Section XCIX. THE TRAINING AND MISSION OF THE TRUE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:1-3] +Hearken to me, ye coastlands, +And listen, ye distant peoples: +He hath called me from the womb, +From my mother's lap made mention of my name. +He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, +In the shadow of his hand he hid me, +He made me a polished arrow, +In his quiver he concealed me, +And he said to me, Thou art my servant, +Israel, in whom I will glorify myself. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:4] +But I said, I have labored in vain, +I spent my strength for nothing and vanity, +Nevertheless my right is with Jehovah, +And my recompense with my God. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:5, 6] +And now, thus saith Jehovah, +(He who formed from birth to be his servant, +To bring Jacob back to him, +And that Israel might be gathered to him; +For I was honored in the sight of Jehovah, +And my God became my strength): +It is too little a thing to be my servant, +To raise up the tribes of Jacob, +And to restore the survivors of Israel; +Therefore I will make thee the light of the nations, +That thy salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:7] +Thus saith Jehovah, +The Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, +To him who is heartily despised, +To the one abhorred of the people, a servant of rulers: +Kings shall see and arise, +Princes and they shall do homage, +Because of Jehovah who is faithful, +The Holy One of Israel who hath chosen thee. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:3-9b] +Thus saith Jehovah, +In a time of favor I answer thee, +And in a day of deliverance I help thee, +And I make thee a pledge to the people, +To raise up the [ruined] land, +To reapportion the desolate heritages, +Saying to those who are bound, 'Go forth,' +To those in darkness, 'Show yourselves!' + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:9c-11] +They shall pasture along all ways, +Even oh all the bare hills shall they graze. +They shall not be hungry nor thirsty, +Neither shall the glowing heat nor the sun smite them, +For he who hath pity on them shall lead them, +And to gushing fountains will he guide them. +And I will make all mountains a road, +And highways shall be built up. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:12,18] +Behold, these come from afar, +And these from the north and west, +And these from the land of the Syenites! +Shout with joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth! +Let the mountains break forth into shouts of joy! +For Jehovah hath had pity on his people, +And will show mercy to his afflicted ones. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 50:4-6] +The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of a trained disciple? +To give to the fainting a word of help, he waketh me early, +Early he waketh me, that I may listen as a disciple. +The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, +And I have not been wilful nor turned back rebelliously. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 50:6, 7] +My back I gave to smiters and my cheek to those who plucked the beard, +My face I hid not from insult and spitting, +For my Lord Jehovah is my helper; so that I am not confounded. +Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be + put to shame. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 50:5, 9] +He is near who justifieth me, who will contend with me? let us stand up + together! +Who is the adversary to oppose my cause? let him draw near to me! +Behold the Lord Jehovah is my helper; who is he that can harm me? +Lo, they shall all fall to pieces like a garment, the moth shall consume + them. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 50:10] +Who among you feareth Jehovah, let him hearken to the voice of his + servant? +Who walked in darkness, having no light, +Let him trust in the name of Jehovah and rely on his God? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 52:13-18] +Behold, my servant shall prosper, +He shall be raised up and highly exalted. +Even as many were appalled at him, +So shall many nations tremble, +Kings will close their mouths before him, +When what has not been told them they see, +And what they have not heard they perceive. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:1-2b] +Who believed what has been reported to us, +And to whom was Jehovah's might revealed? +For he grew up before us as a young shoot, +And as a root out of dry ground. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:2c-f] +He had no form that we should regard him, +Nor appearance that we should delight in him. +His appearance was more disfigured than any man's +And his form than any human being's. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:3] +He was despised and forsaken of men, +A man of suffering and acquainted with sickness; +Like one for whom men hide their face, +He was despised so that we esteemed him not. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:4] +Surely our sickness he himself bore, +And our sufferings--he carried them, +Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, +Smitten of God and afflicted. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:5] +But he was wounded for our transgressions, +Crushed because of our iniquities; +The chastisement for our well-being was upon him, +And through his stripes healing came to us. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:6] +All of us, like sheep, had gone astray, +We had turned each to his own way; +While Jehovah made to light upon him +The guilt of us all. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:7] +Yet when afflicted he opened not his mouth; +Like a lamb led to the slaughter, +And like a sheep dumb before her shearers, +So he opened not his mouth. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:8] +By an oppressive judgment was he taken away, +Yet who of his generation considered +That he had been cut off from the land of the living; +For our transgressions had been stricken to death? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:9] +And his grave was made with the wicked, +And among evil-doers his burial mound, +Although he had done no violence, +Neither was deceit in his mouth. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:10-11b] +Yet Jehovah was pleased to crush him; +Through giving himself as an offering for guilt, +He shall see posterity and length of days, +And the pleasure of Jehovah will be realized in his hands; +Out of his own suffering he shall see light, +He shall be satisfied with his knowledge. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:11c-12] +My righteous servant shall make many righteous, +And himself will bear the burden of their iniquities. +Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, +And with the strong shall he divide spoil, +Because he poured out his life-blood, +And was numbered with transgressors, +And himself bore the sins of many, +And interposed for transgressors. + +I. The Different Portraits of Jehovah's Servant. Isaiah 49-54 contains +three distinct portraits of the ideal servant of Jehovah. Each in turn +develops characteristics suggested in the preceding. These descriptions +are interspersed with exhortations addressed to Jehovah's servant Israel +and assurances that God will fully restore Jerusalem and bring back her +scattered children. These three portraits of the type of servant that +Jehovah required to realize his purpose in human history, together with +the earlier portrait in 42:1-7, supplement each other. In the first of +these four (42:1-7) the prophetic qualities of the servant are especially +emphasized. Like the earlier prophets, he will not fail nor be discouraged +until he has established justice in the earth. His task is to open blind +eyes and to deliver prisoners from the darkness of ignorance and sin in +which they were sitting. In the second picture (49:1-9a) the world-wide +mission of the servant is emphasized. He is called not only to gather the +outcasts of Israel, but also as an apostle to bring light to all the +nations of the earth. In this passage for the first time appears that note +of suffering and ignominy which is the lot of the true servant of Jehovah. +In the third portrait (50:4-10) the servant is pictured as a disciple, +attentively listening to the divine teachings, learning the lessons which +will fit him in turn to become a teacher of men. The last and fullest +picture (52:13-53:12) describes at length his suffering. A strong contrast +is drawn between his present shame and ignominy and the future glory and +victory which he will achieve through his voluntary and complete +self-sacrifice. These pictures embody the prophet's ideal, and they can be +fully understood only in the light of their historical background. + +II. The Prophet's Purpose. In his earlier poems this great unknown +prophet dealt largely with the interpretation of Israel's past history +and the proclamation of the coming deliverance (40-48). His chief aims in +chapters 49-55 may be briefly epitomized as follows: (1) to interpret the +inner meaning of the period of adversity through which the Jewish race was +then passing; (2) to make absolutely clear the character and quality of +the service that Jehovah required of his chosen people, if they were to +realize his purpose in human history; (3) to inspire them all to make the +needed sacrifices and thus to prove themselves true servants of Jehovah; +(4) especially to make plain to the innocent and faithful sufferers in the +Judean community the real meaning and value of their present shame and +suffering, if bravely and voluntarily borne. + +III, Character and Condition of Those to Whom the Prophet Appealed. From +the allusions in the prophecies themselves it is possible to determine the +classes that the prophet had in mind. In 49:2 his address is to the coast +lands and the distant peoples who lived at the extremities of Israel's +horizon. It is not probable, however, that he anticipated that his message +in its present form would go out as it has to all races and nations; +rather his attention was fixed on the scattered members of his own race, +those who lived in the north and the west and in the distant city of +Syene, far up the Nile (49:12). In 49:3 he clearly identifies the nation +Israel as Jehovah's servant, whom he makes declare: + +Jehovah said to me, Thou art my servant, +Israel, in whom I will glorify myself. + +It is evident, however, that the prophet has especially in mind the Judean +community amidst which he lived and for which he worked. In 54, as +elsewhere, he calls upon this group of discouraged Jews to enlarge their +tent, for their period of punishment is over and their foundation and +walls are about to be rebuilt. At last they shall cease to tremble at the +fury of the oppressor. In 51:18-20 he addresses Jerusalem directly and +gives a vivid picture of its condition before the appearance of Nehemiah: + +Rouse thee! Rouse thee! stand up, O Jerusalem, +Who hast drunk at Jehovah's hand the cup of his wrath! +The bowl of reeling thou hast drunken, hast drained! +There is none to guide thee of all the sons whom thou hast borne, +And none to take thee by the hand of all the sons whom thou hast reared. +These two things have befallen thee--who can condole with thee? +Desolation and destruction, famine and the sword--who can comfort thee? + +IV. The Task and Training of Jehovah's Servant. The term servant means +literally slave, not in the Western sense, but in that of the ancient +East, where a slave was often a privileged member of society. In many a +Hebrew household the slaves, next to the children, enjoyed the protection +and consideration of the master of the household. He was under obligation +to guard their welfare and interests. On the other hand, slaves, like +Eleazar in the story of Abraham (Gen. 26) faithfully cared for the +interests of their master and spared no effort to carry out his commands. +Semitic usage had also given the term slave a significant meaning. The +faithful officials of all Oriental kings called themselves his servants +or slaves. It was the common term expressing, on the one hand, confidence +and protection, and on the other, devotion, loyalty, and service. Most of +Israel's patriarchs, kings, and prophets are spoken of as the servants or +slaves of Jehovah. Haggai, in his address to Zerubbabel, called him +Jehovah's servant. In Deuteronomy 32:36 the people of Israel are called +the servants of Jehovah, and, as has been noted, in the prophecies of the +II Isaiah they are frequently referred to as the servant of Jehovah. +The term, therefore, was well chosen to express that complete devotion +And loyalty to Jehovah which the prophet aimed to evoke from his +fellow-countrymen. It was also free from the kingly associations and +material interpretation that were connected with the word Messiah. + +The prophet's aim was to present so vividly the task and methods of the +true servant of Jehovah that all would recognize a personal call to duty. +He emphasizes three distinct yet related elements in the mission of the +servant. They were: (1) To free the prisoners from their captivity, +whether imprisoned by walls of stone or brick or under the tyranny of +fears and false ideas. (2) To restore the scattered tribes of Israel and +thus to lay the foundations for a renewed national life that would furnish +concrete evidence to all the world of Jehovah's power to deliver. (3) To +go beyond the narrow bounds of their race and to bring to the nations that +were groping in the darkness of heathenism the knowledge and truth that +had been imparted to Israel. Thus the unknown prophet laid the foundations +for that Kingdom of God, that dominion of God in nature and in the minds +of men that was the guide and inspiration of all later prophets and the +goal for whose realization the Great Teacher and Prophet of Nazareth +labored and died. + +The prophet places great emphasis upon the training of Jehovah's servant. +He declares that from birth Jehovah formed him to be his servant. In +[50:4-7] he is spoken of as a trained disciple attentively listening to +the words of his divine teacher, never rebelling at the bitterness of the +needful discipline, but ever seeking to prepare himself to give to the +fainting a word of help. The steadfastness with which he endures shame and +bitter wrongs is the evidence of his ability as a disciple and an +essential part in his preparation for his exalted mission. + +V. Methods of Jehovah's Servant. In accomplishing his task the servant +is to use definite instruction, but his teaching is to be illustrated by +his own character and attitude. By the voluntary, uncomplaining endurance +of ignominy and suffering he is to do Jehovah's work and win the grateful +recognition, not only of his divine Master, but of all succeeding +generations. Through a keen analysis of life the prophet had attained to a +clear appreciation of the inestimable value of voluntary self-sacrifice. +He saw that it was the most effective means of uplifting the race and +leading mankind to accept God's mastery over their minds and lives. The +truth here presented is illustrated in human experience as clearly to-day +as in the past. The self-denying service of parents is absolutely +essential if their children are to attain to the noblest manhood and +womanhood. Only through the self-sacrificing labors of those who love +their fellow-men can social evils be removed and society attain its +highest development. The low standards in the business and professional +world can be raised only as certain men, with the spirit and courage of +the ancient prophets, make their own personal interests and popularity +subservient to the rigorous demands of justice. It is the law of life that +he who would elevate the standards of his associates and thus lead men to +the fullest realization of the divine ideals must ordinarily do it in the +face of opposition, ignominy, and seeming failure. It is this quiet, +heroic self-sacrifice--the heroism of the commonplace--that the great +prophet proclaims is the absolutely essential characteristic of Jehovah's +servant. Despised by his contemporaries, the victim of persecution and +calamity, he must do his task, leaving the reward and the appreciation to +Jehovah and to the enlightened sense of later generations. + +VI. Realization of the Ideal of Service. The portrait is so concrete +that the question naturally arises, Who was the servant of whom the +prophet was speaking? Undoubtedly the tragic experiences of such prophets +as Jeremiah suggested many elements in the picture. For half a century +that faithful servant of Jehovah suffered, often shrinkingly, yet +voluntarily, a constant martyrdom. Upon him fell the persecutions of his +countrymen. Yet in the life of later Judaism those principles for which he +lived and died gained acceptance and application. Of him it may be truly +said: + +He was numbered with trangressors, +And himself bore the sins of many, +And interposed for transgressors. + +The unknown author of these immortal poems spoke out of the depth of his +own painful experience and doubtless in a large degree realized the +ideals of service which he thus effectively set forth. Those of his +contemporaries who, amidst persecution and insults, in their lives +embodied the ideals of the earlier prophets were crushed like Jeremiah +because of the iniquities of others; but by thus pouring out their +life-blood they brought healing to their race. Nehemiah, in responding to +the call of service and in turning his back upon the allurements of the +Persian court in order to rebuild the city of his fathers, proved himself +a faithful servant of Jehovah. With true insight the Christian Church +has always recognized that in the character and life of Jesus is found +the only complete realization of this ancient ideal of service. With the +immortal chapters of the II Isaiah he was clearly familiar, and from +them he doubtless received many suggestions regarding his divine mission +and the methods by which it was to be accomplished. Their author was +clearly speaking to his contemporaries; but in portraying the way in +which Jehovah's purpose in human history could alone be realized he +presented an ideal which has a permanent significance in the thought of +the human race, Paul rightly recognized that the same responsibility to +make this ideal a reality rested upon him, and all who would serve God, +when he quoted the words of 49:6 (cf. Acts 13:47): + +"I have set thee for a light of the Gentiles +That thou shouldst be for salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth." + + + +Section C. NEHEMIAH'S WORK IN REBUILDING THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM + +[Sidenote: Neh. 1:1-3] +Now in the month of Chislev [November-December, 446 B.C.], I was in +Shushan the royal palace, when Hanani, one of my kinsmen came, together +with certain men from Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews who had +escaped, who were left from the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And +they said to me, The survivors who are left from the captivity there in +the provinces are in great misfortune and reproach, and the wall of +Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been destroyed by fire. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 1:4-11b] +Now when I heard these statements I sat down and wept, and mourned certain +days; and I fasted and made supplication before the God of heaven, and I +said, 'I beseech thee, O Jehovah, the God of heaven, the great and +terrible God, who keepeth the covenant and showeth kindness to them who +love and keep his commands; let thine ears now be attentive and thine eyes +open, to hear the supplication of thy servant, which I am now making +before thee, day and night, for the Israelites thy servants, while I +confess the sins of the Israelites, which we have sinned against thee, as +I also and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very wickedly +against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor +the ordinances, which thou didst command thy servant Moses. Remember, I +beseech thee, the word which thou didst command thy servant Moses, saying, +"If ye trespass I will scatter you abroad among the peoples; but if ye +return to me, and keep my commands and do them, then, though your outcasts +were at the ends of the earth, yet will I gather them thence and will +bring them to the place that I have chosen, there to cause my name to +dwell." Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed +by thy great power and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let +thine ear be attentive to the supplication of thy servant, and to the +supplications of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name; and give +success to thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this +man. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 1:11c-2:8] +Now I was cupbearer to the king. And it came to pass in the month of +Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when I had charge of +the wine, that I took up the wine and gave it to the king, and I had not +beforetime been sad. And the king said to me, 'Why is your countenance +sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.' +Then I was greatly afraid, and I said to the king, 'Let the king live +forever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of +my fathers' sepulchres, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed +by fire?' And then the king said to me, 'For what do you make request? So +I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, 'If it please the +king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you would +send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may +rebuild it.' And the king said to me (and the queen was also sitting by +him), 'For how long will your journey be? And when will you return?' Then +it pleased the king to send me; for I set him a time. Moreover I said to +the king, 'If it please the king, let official letters be given me to the +governors of the province beyond the River, that they may let me pass +through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the +king's park, that he may give me the timber to make beams for the gates of +the castle, which belongs to the temple, and for the wall of the city, and +for the house that I shall enter. And the king granted me this, according +to the hand of my God which kindly cared for me. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 2:9-16] +Then I came to the governors of the province beyond the River, and gave +them the king's official letters. Now the king had sent with me military +officers and horsemen. And when Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the +Ammonite slave, heard of it, it troubled them exceedingly, that one had +come to seek the welfare of the Israelites. So I came to Jerusalem and was +there three days. And I arose in the night, together with a few of my +followers, and I told no man what my God had put into my heart to do for +Jerusalem, neither was there any beast with me, except the beast upon +which I rode. And I went out by night through the Valley Gate, toward the +Dragon's Well and to the Dung Gate, and investigated carefully the walls +of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and where its gates had been +destroyed by fire. Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's +Pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then +I went up in the night by the Brook Kidron and investigated carefully the +wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. +And the rulers did not know where I went or what I did, neither had I as +yet told it to the Jews nor to the priests nor to the nobles nor to the +rulers nor to the rest who did the work. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 2:17-20] +Then I said to them, 'You see the bad condition in which we are, how +Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates are destroyed by fire. Come and let +us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more an object of +reproach.' And I told them of the hand of my God, which had kindly cared +for me, as also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. And they +said, 'Let us rise up and build.' So they strengthened their hands for the +good work. But when Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the Ammonite +slave, and Geshem the Arabian heard it, they jeered at us and despised us, +and said, 'What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against +the king?' Then I answered and said to them, 'The God of heaven, he will +give us success, for we his servants will proceed to build; but you shall +have no portion nor right nor memorial in Jerusalem.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:1, 2] +Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his kinsmen the priests and +built the Sheep Gate; they laid its beams and set up the doors, even to +the Tower of the Hundred, and to the Tower of Hananel. And next to him the +men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:3-5] +And the Fish Gate the sons of Hassenaah built; they laid its beams, and +set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And next to them Meremoth and +Meshullam and Zadok and the Tekoites repaired the wall; but their nobles +did not bend their necks in the service of their lord. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:6-12] +And the Old Gate Joida repaired; they laid its beams, and set up its +doors, its bolts, and its bars. And next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite +and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, which belongs +to the jurisdiction of the governor of the province beyond the River, +repaired. Next to him Uzziel, one of the goldsmiths, repaired. And next to +him Hananiah, one of those who prepare sweet ointments, repaired. And they +fortified Jerusalem even to the broad wall. And next to them Rephaiah, +the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired. And next to them +Jedaiah repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush and Malchijah +and Hasshub repaired another section, even to the Tower of the Furnaces. +And next to him Shallum, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, +together with its dependencies, repaired. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:13, 14] +The Valley Gate Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired; they built +it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and also built a +thousand cubits of the wall to the Dung Gate. And the Dung Gate Malchijah, +the ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, together with his sons, +repaired. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:15-27] +And the Fountain Gate Shallun, the ruler of the district of Mizpah, +repaired; and he built it, and covered it, and set up its doors, its +bolts, and its bars, and he also built the wall of the Pool of Siloam by +the King's Garden, even to the stairs that go down from the city of David. +After him Nehemiah, the ruler of half the district of Bethzur, repaired to +the place opposite the Sepulchres of David, even to the pool that was made +and to the House of the Warriors. After him Rehum the son of Bani +repaired. Next to him Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, +repaired for his district. After him their kinsmen Bennui, the ruler of +half the district of Keilah, repaired. And next to him Ezer, the ruler of +Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the +bend in the wall. After him Baruch repaired from the bend in the wall to +the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. After him Meremoth +repaired another section, from the entrance to the house of Eliashib even +to the end of the house of Eliashib. And after him the priests, the men of +the Plain of the Jordan, repaired. After them Benjamin and Hasshub +repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah repaired beside his own +house. After him Binnui repaired another section, from the house of +Azariah to the bend in the wall and to the corner. After him Palal +repaired opposite the bend and the upper tower that stands out from the +royal palace of the king, which is toward the court of the guard. After +him Pedaiah repaired, to the place opposite the Water Gate toward the east +and the tower that stands out. After him the Tekoites repaired another +section, opposite the great tower that stands out and to the wall of +Ophel. And the temple servants dwelt in Ophel. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:28-32] + +Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own +house. After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. +After him Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, +repaired. After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanum the sixth son +of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of +Berschiah repaired opposite his chamber. After him Malchijah, one of the +goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the +merchants, opposite the Gate of the Watch Tower and to the ascent of the +corner. And between the ascent of the corner and the Sheep Gate the +goldsmiths and the merchants repaired. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 4:1-5] +Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, his anger was +aroused and he was very indignant, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke +before his kinsmen and the army of Samaria and said, 'What are these +feeble Jews doing? Will they leave it to God? Will they sacrifice? +Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the +heaps of rubbish, although they are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was +with him, and he said, 'Even that which they are building, if a fox should +go up on it, he would break down their stone wall!' Hear, O our God--for +we are despised--and turn back their reproach upon their own head and give +them up as an object of spoil in a land of captivity, and cover not their +iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out from thy sight, for they +have provoked thee to anger before the builders. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 4:6-8] +So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its +height, for the people were eager to work. But when Sanballat and Tobiah +and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites, heard that the +restoration of the walls of Jerusalem was progressing, so that the +breaches began to be stopped, they were very angry. And they all conspired +together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to produce a panic +therein. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 4:9-14] +But we made supplication to our God, and set a watch as a protection +against them day and night. Then the Judean community said, 'The strength +of the burden-bearers is broken, for there is much rubbish; so that we +shall not be able to rebuild the wall. And our adversaries have said, +"They shall neither know nor see, until we come into their midst and slay +them and bring the work to a standstill."' And it came to pass that when +the Jews who dwelt by them came, they said to us ten times, 'From all the +places where they dwell they will come up against us.' Therefore I +stationed in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the +protected places, I set there the people by their families with their +swords, their spears, and their bows. And when I saw their fear, I rose up +and said to the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, +'Be not afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and +fight for your kinsmen, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your +homes.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 4:15-23] +And when our enemies heard that their plan was known to us and God had +brought it to nought, we all of us returned to the wall, each to his own +work. And from that time on, while half of my servants were engaged in the +work, half of them held the lances, the shields, the bows, and the coats +of mail; and the rulers stood behind all the house of Judah. Those who +built the wall and those who bore burdens were also armed, each with one +of his hands engaged in the work, and with the other was ready to grasp +his spear; and each of the builders had his sword girded by his side, and +so builded. And he who sounded the trumpet was by me. And I said to the +nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, 'The work is great +and extensive, and we are separated upon the wall far from each other. In +whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather there to us; our +God will fight for us.' So we were active in the work, while half of them +held the lances from the gray of morning until the stars came out. Also I +said at that time to the people, Let each man with his servant lodge in +Jerusalem, that they may be a guard to us by night and may labor by day. +So neither I, nor my kinsmen, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard +who accompanied me, not one of us took off our clothes, each had his spear +in his hand. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 6:1-9] +Now when it was reported to Sanballat and to Tobiah and to Geshem the +Arabian and to the rest of our enemies, that I had rebuilt the wall and +that there was no breach was left in it--though even to that time I had +not set up the doors in the gates--Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, +saying, 'Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of +Ono.' But they planned to do me injury. So I sent messengers to them, +saying, 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down; why should +the work cease, while I leave it and come down to you?' And they sent to +me in this way four times, and I gave them the same answer. Then Sanballat +sent his servant to me in the same way the fifth time with an open letter +in his hand, in which was written, 'It is reported among the nations, and +Gashmu confirms it, that you and the Jews plan to rebel, and that this is +the reason you are building the wall, and that you would be their king, +and that you also have appointed prophets to preach of you at Jerusalem, +saying, "There is a king in Judah." And now it will be reported to the +king to this effect. Come now, therefore, and let us take counsel +together.' Then I sent to him, saying, 'No such things have been done as +you say, but you have devised them in your own mind.' For they all would +have made us afraid, thinking, 'Their hands shall be weakened from the +work, that it may not be done.' But now, O God, strengthen thou my hands. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 6:10-14] +And when I went to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of +Mehetabel, who was shut up at home, he said, 'Let us meet together in the +house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: +for they are coming to slay you in the night; yes, in the night they are +coming to slay you!' And I said, 'Should such a man as I flee? And how +could anyone like me [a layman] enter the chief room of the temple and +still live? I will not enter.' Then I perceived and it was clear that God +had not sent him; but he pronounced this prophecy against me, because +Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him, that I should be alarmed and act +accordingly and sin; and it would have given them occasion for an evil +report, that they might reproach me. Remember, O my God, Tobiah and +Sanballat according to these their acts, and also the prophetess Noadiah +and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 6:15, 16] +So the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in +fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard, all the surrounding +nations feared and fell in their own esteem, for they perceived that this +work had been done by our God. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 6:17-19] +Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, +and those of Tobiah came to them. For many in Judah had taken oath to him, +because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah and his son +Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, as +wife. Also they praised his good deeds before me and reported my words to +him. Then Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 7:1-3] +Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the +porters and the singers and the Levites had been appointed, I placed my +brother Hanani and Hananiah the commander of the castle in charge of +Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man, and more God-fearing than many. And +I said to them, 'Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is +hot; and while watchmen are still on guard, let them shut the doors and +bar them. Also appoint watches consisting of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, +every one in his watch and each opposite his own house.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 7:4, 5a] +Now the city was wide and large; but there were few people in it, and the +households were not large. Therefore my God put it into my mind to gather +together the nobles and the rulers and the people. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 12: 31, 32, 37-40] +Then I had the rulers of Judah take their position upon the wall, and I +appointed two great companies that gave thanks, and the first went to the +right hand upon the wall toward the Dung Gate. And behind them went +Hoshaiah and half of the nobles of Judah. And by the Fountain Gate, they +went straight up the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the +wall, above the house of David, even to the Water Gate on the east. And +the other company of those who gave thanks went to the left, and I after +them, with the half of the nobles of the people, upon the wall, above the +Tower of the Furnaces, even to the broad wall, and above the Gate of +Ephraim and by the Old Gate and by the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel +and the Tower of the Hundred, even to the Sheep Gate; and they stood in +the Gate of the Guard. So the two companies of those who gave thanks in +the house of God took their position, and I, and the half of the rulers +with me. + +I. Nehemiah's Memoirs. Fortunately the author of the books of Ezra and +Nehemiah has quoted at length in the opening chapters of Nehemiah from the +personal memoirs of the noble patriot through whose activity the walls of +Jerusalem were restored. They are the best historical records in the Old +Testament and they shed clear, contemporary light upon this most important +period in the evolution of Judaism. The narrative is straightforward and +vivid. It lights up the otherwise dark period that precedes Nehemiah and +enables the historian to bridge with assurance the century that intervened +before the apocryphal book of I Maccabees throws its light upon the course +of Israel's troubled history. The detailed description of the rebuilding +of the walls in Nehemiah 3 is probably from the Chronicler, but it reveals +an intimate acquaintance with the topography and the later history of +Judah's capital. + +II. Nehemiah's Response to the Call to Service. The presence of a +deputation from Jerusalem (including Nehemiah's kinsman Hanani) in +the distant Persian capital of Susa was not a mere accident. Nehemah's +response to their appeal and the epoch-making movement which he +inaugurated reveal the presence of an impelling force. Probably back of +all this movement was the work of the great prophet who speaks in Isaiah +40-66. In all that Nehemiah did that influence may be seen. In the fervent +and patriotic prayer that he uttered on learning of conditions in +Jerusalem he used the term servant or servants of Jehovah eight times in +six short verses. It also echoes the phraseology and thought of the II +Isaiah. + +The king under whom Nehemiah served was evidently Artaxerxes I. In +Nehemiah 12:10-11 the Chronicler states that Eliashib, the high priest +in the days of Nehemiah, was the grandson of Joshua, who shared in +the rebuilding of the temple in 520 B.C. Eliashib was also the +great-grandfather of Jaddua, who was high priest in Jerusalem in 332 B.C., +when Alexander conquered Palestine. References in the recently discovered +Elephantine letters, as well as in the history of Josephus, confirm the +conclusion that Nehemiah set out upon his expedition in the spring of +445 B.C. Like all those who ministered personally to the Persian kings, +he was probably a eunuch and still a young man. The true piety which is +revealed in his prayer, the courage shown by his daring to appear with sad +face in the presence of the absolute tyrant who ruled the Eastern world, +and his tact in winning the king's consent to his departure indicate that +he was a man of rare energy and ability. Artaxerxes I was famous for +his susceptibility to the influence of court favorites. The queen +referred to in 1:6 was probably the queen-mother Amestris, who exercised +commanding authority in the Persian court. Without the royal consent and +the resources and authority granted him, Nehemiah could hardly have +accomplished the large task which he undertook. The arduous journey of +fifteen hundred miles over mountains and barren deserts was enough to +daunt a man reared in the luxury of an Oriental court, but Nehemiah was +inspired by an ideal of service which recognized no obstacles. + +III. Obstacles that Confronted Him. The high-priestly rulers do not +appear to have welcomed Nehemiah with enthusiasm. Some of them, at least, +later sought to undermine his work. It is not difficult to infer the +reason for their apathy. Intrenched wealth and authority are usually +conservative, especially if conscious that their position is easily +assailable. As the sequel proved, these leaders of the community were +simply intent upon self-aggrandizement, even at the expense of the +dependent members of the community. A revolutionizing work like that +proposed by Nehemiah was certain to affect their vested interests and to +reveal their cruel selfishness. Certain of their families had also +intermarried with neighboring chieftains; and they were quite content with +the existing conditions. A second obstacle was the opposition of the +hostile peoples who surrounded the little Judean community. On the east +the Ammonites had apparently pressed in and occupied the ancient Hebrew +territory as far as the Jordan. Tobiah, the Ammonite, who figures +prominently in Nehemiah's narrative, was probably one of their local +chiefs. Gashmu, the Arabian, represented the half-civilized Bedouin tribes +that had invaded the territory of Judea from the south and east during the +period of weakness following the destruction of Jerusalem. Possibly he +belonged to the Edomites who then held Hebron and all of the southern part +of Judea. Nehemiah also refers to the descendents of Israel's ancient +foes, the Philistines, living in the city of Ashdod. On the north the +superior resources of Samaria had asserted themselves, and these survivors +of the ancient Israelites who lived among the hills of Ephraim had grown +into a powerful nation that overshadowed the struggling Judean community. +These northerners, however, still worshipped at Jerusalem and were closely +allied with the Jews. At their head was Sanballat, the Horonite, who +probably came from Bethhoron, in southwestern Samaria. Each of these +peoples inherited the feeling of hostility with which their fathers had +regarded the people of Judah, and looked with suspicion upon any movement +to re-establish Jerusalem's former strength and prestige. Furthermore, the +men of the Judean community itself lacked courage and training. With +inefficient helpers and with opponents within and without the community, +Nehemiah's task seemed well-nigh impossible. That he succeeded in the face +of all these obstacles in rebuilding the walls in the incredibly short +period of fifty-two days is only explained by his superlative skill, +devotion, and energy. + +IV. Nehemiah's Plan of Work. Fortunately Nehemiah possessed resources as +well as tact. He quickly disarmed the opposition and won at least the +nominal support of the leaders by entertaining one hundred and fifty of +them as his guests. Thus he was able to place them under personal +obligation to him, to keep them under close surveillance, and to command +their co-operation. In the second place he appealed to them and to the +people by means of eloquent addresses which reveal his enthusiasm and +devotion. Furthermore, he did not depend upon the reports of others, but +personally studied the situation. His secret mid-night ride down through +the Valley Gate to the southwest of Jerusalem and thence eastward along +the Hinnom Valley to the point where it joins the Kidron, and from there +up the valley, gave him most accurate information regarding conditions. In +most cases the ancient foundations of the city walls still remained. The +first need was to remove the rubbish and where stones had fallen to +replace them. The towers required certain timbers, which were cut probably +from the royal domains to the south of the city. Nehemiah enlisted all +members of the community both within and without Jerusalem. He organized +them under their local leaders and set them to the task in which each was +most interested. Thus the heads of the different villages, the elders of +the leading families, the guilds of workmen, and even the priests, were +all put to work and inspired by the spirit of natural rivalry as well as +common loyalty. Nehemiah himself with his immediate followers directed the +work, and instituted a strict military rule which secured both efficiency +and protection. + +V. The Restored Walls. In the light of recent excavations at Jerusalem +it is possible to follow Nehemiah's work in detail. In the destruction of +the walls by the Chaldeans the city had suffered most on the north where +it was nearly level and protected by no descending valleys. Just north of +the temple area a little valley ran up from the Kidron, leaving but a +narrow neck of land connected directly with the plateau on the north. Here +two great towers were restored that probably occupied the site of the +later Roman tower of Antonia. Thence the wall ran westward across the +upper Tyropoean Valley, which was here comparatively level. Numerous +bands of workmen were assigned to this part of the work. The gate of the +old wall was probably identical with the corner gate at the northwestern +end of the city. The Ephraim Gate a little further to the southwest +apparently corresponded to the modern Joppa Gate. From this point a broad +wall ran to the western side of the city where the hill descended rapidly +into the Valley of Hinnom, making its defence easy. At the southwestern +end of the city stood the Tower of the Furnaces and the Valley Gate of +which the foundations have recently been laid bare. The gate itself was +narrow, being only eight feet wide, but the wall was here nine feet in +thickness. The eighteen hundred or two thousand feet of wall along the +Valley of Hinnom was evidently practically intact, for its repair was +Intrusted to but one group of workmen. Across the southern end of the +Tyropoean Valley the ground was almost level, so that a strong wall was +required. Excavations have shown that it was twenty feet thick at its base +and supported by six strong buttresses. The Fountain Gate, through which +ran the main street down the Tyropoean Valley out into the valley of the +Kidron, was the chief southern gate of the city. It was nine feet wide +and defended by a tower about forty-five feet square. Portions of this +ancient thoroughfare, with its stones, worn smooth by the feet of the +inhabitants of the ancient city, have here been uncovered. Just above the +Pool of Siloam, which was within the city walls, was the King's Garden. + +Thence the Hill of Ophel ascended rapidly making necessary the stairs +mentioned in Nehemiah 3. The wall on the southeast was readily repaired, +for it ran along the sloping western side of the Kidron Valley. The Water +Gate probably led down to the Virgin's Fount, and the Horse Gate further +to the north opened directly from the Kidron Valley to the public +buildings that occupied the site of Solomon's palace immediately to the +south of the temple. It is the space to-day occupied by the southern end +of the temple area, which was thus extended in the days of Herod. Opposite +the northeastern end of the temple area the wall curved westward until it +reached the great towers that guarded the northern end of the city. + +VI. Completion and Dedication of the Walls. Under the inspiration of +Nehemiah's leadership, and as a result of the constant fear of attack, the +building of the walls proceeded rapidly and without interruption. To the +threats of hostile foes Nehemiah paid little heed. Trained in the Persian +court, he saw at once their murderous purpose when they requested a +conference in southwestern Samaria on the border of the Plain of Ono. +Through the treacherous prophets in the Judean community they sought to +play upon his fears and to lead him to compromise himself by taking refuge +in the sacred precincts of the temple, but his courage, as well as his +high respect for the sanctuary, delivered him from the plot. The cry that +he was himself aspiring to the kingship and that his acts were treason +against Persia did not daunt him, and when, in response to their malicious +reports, the order finally came from the Persian king to cease working, +the walls were already rebuilt. + +Apparently Nehemiah's original leave of absence was for but a short +period. His kinsman Hanani, who had headed the original deputation to +Susa, and a certain Hananiah were by him placed in charge of the city. To +protect it against sudden attack its gates were closed at night and not +opened until the middle of the following forenoon. Effective measures +were also instituted to increase its population. When the work of +rebuilding the walls was complete, Nehemiah arranged for their public +dedication. Starting from the Valley Gate on the southwestern side of the +city, one half of the nobles and the people marched along the southern +and eastern wall, while Nehemiah with the other half of the people +proceeded along the western and northern wall. Finally meeting on the +northern side of the temple area, the two companies blended their voices +in thanksgiving to Jehovah who at last had made it possible for them to +worship him in his sanctuary secure from attack. + +Nehemiah had reorganized the Judean community, rebuilt their walls, and +inspired them with a new sense of self-respect; thus he made possible +that genuine revival of the Judean state that took place during the +succeeding centuries. He, like Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, and the II +Isaiah, was indeed one of the makers of Judaism. Ben Sira with true +insight declared (49:13): + +The memorial of Nehemiah is great, +Who raised up for us the walls that were fallen, +And set up the gates and bars, +And raised up our homes again. + + + +Section CI. NEHEMIAH'S SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS REFORMS + +[Sidenote: Isa. 56:1, 2] +Thus saith Jehovah, +Guard justice and practice righteousness. +For my deliverance is near at hand, and my righteousness is soon to be + revealed. +Happy the man who practices, the mortal who holds fast to it, +Keeping the sabbath so as not to profane it, and keeping his hand from + evil. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 56:3-5] +Let not the foreigner who hath joined himself to Jehovah say, +'Jehovah will surely separate me from his people.' +And let not the eunuch say, 'Behold I am a dry tree.' +For thus saith Jehovah to the eunuchs, 'Those who keep my sabbaths, +And choose that in which I delight, and hold fast to my covenant, +I will give them in my house and walls a monument, +And a name better than sons and daughters, +An everlasting name will I give them which cannot be cut off. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 56:6-8] +And the foreigners who join themselves to Jehovah to minister to him, +And to love the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, +Every one who keeps the sabbath so as not to pollute it and faithfully + abides by my covenant-- +Them will I bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of + prayer; +Their burnt-offerings and sacrifices will be accepted upon my altar; +For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. +It is the oracle of Jehovah, who gathereth the outcasts of Israel, +'I will gather still others to him in addition to those already gathered.' + +[Sidenote: Isa. 56:9-12] +O all ye wild beasts of the field come to devour, all ye wild beasts of + the forest! +My watchmen are all blind, they know not how to give heed, +They are all dumb dogs which cannot bark, +Dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. +And the dogs are greedy, they know not how to be satisfied, +They all turn to their own way, each for his own profit [saying], +Come, I will get wine, and we will drink our fill of strong drink, +And to-morrow shall be as to-day, an exceedingly great day! + +[Sidenote: Isa. 58:2-4] +Cry with full throat, be not silent! +Like a trumpet lift up thy voice, +Make known to my people their transgression, +And to the house of Jacob their sin. +Me indeed they consult daily, +And to know my ways is their delight. +As a nation that hath done righteousness, +And hath not forsaken the law of its God! +They ask me regarding righteous judgments, +To draw near to God is their delight! +'Why have we fasted and thou seest not, +Mortified ourselves and thou dost not notice?' +Behold, on your fast day ye follow your own pleasure, +And ye exact all money lent on pledge. +Behold ye fast for strife and contention, +And to smite the poor with the fist. +Your fasting to-day is not such +As to make your voice heard on high. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Isa. 58:5-7] +Can such be the fast which I choose, +A day when a man mortifies himself? +To droop one's head like a bulrush, +And to lie down in sackcloth and ashes? +Wilt thou call this a fast, +And a day acceptable to Jehovah? +Is not this the fast that I choose: +To loose the fetters of injustice, +To untie the bands of violence, +To set free those who are crushed, +To tear apart every yoke? + +[Sidenote: Cor. Isa. 58:8-12] +Is it not to share thy bread with the hungry, +And to bring the wanderers to thy home? +When thou seest the naked, to cover him, +And not hide thyself from thine own flesh? +Then shall thy light break forth as the dawn, +Thy restoration quickly spring forth, +And thy righteousness shall go before thee, +The glory of Jehovah shall be thy reward; +Then when thou callest Jehovah will answer, +When thou criest out he will say, Here am I. +If from thy midst thou remove the yoke, +The finger of scorn, and mischievous speech, +And bestow thy bread upon the hungry, +And satisfy the soul that is afflicted; +Then shall thy light shine forth in darkness, +And thy gloom shall be as noonday, +Jehovah will lead thee continually, +And will satisfy thy soul in parched lands, +And thy strength will he renew, +Thou shalt be like a watered garden, +As a fountain whose waters fail not. +Thy sons shall rebuild the ancient ruins, +Thou shalt rear again the foundations of olden days; +And men shall call thee, Repairer of Ruins, +Restorer of Ruined Places for Inhabiting. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 5:1-5] +Then there was a loud complaint from the common people and their wives +against their fellow-countrymen the Jews. For there were those who were +saying, 'We must give our sons and our daughters in pledge to secure grain +that we may eat and live.' Some also there were who were saying, 'We must +mortgage our fields and our vineyards and our houses, that we may get +grain because of the dearth.' There were also those who were saying, 'We +have borrowed money for the king's tribute. Yet now our flesh is as the +flesh of our brothers, our children as their children; but now, we must +ring our sons and our daughters into slavery, and some of our daughters +have already thus been brought into bondage, neither is it in our power to +help it, for our fields and our vineyards belong to the nobles.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 5:6-11] +Then I was very angry when I heard their complaint and these statements. +And I took counsel with myself, and contended with the nobles and rulers, +and said to them, 'You exact usury each of his brother.' And I held a +great assembly against them. And I said to them, 'We ourselves have, +according to our ability, redeemed our fellow-countrymen the Jews, who +have been sold to the heathen; and would you yourselves sell your +fellow-countrymen, and should they sell themselves to us?' Then they were +silent and could not find a word to say. Therefore I said, 'The thing that +you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God, +because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies? For I also, my kinsmen +and my servants, lend them money and grain. Let us, therefore, leave off +this usury. Restore to them this day their fields, their vineyards, their +oliveyards, and their houses, also the usury of the money and of the +grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, that you exact from them.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 5:12, 13] +Then they said, 'We will restore them and will demand nothing from them; +we will do just as you say.' Then I called the priests and took an oath of +them, that they would do according to this promise. Also I shook out the +fold of my garment, and said, 'So may God shake out every man from his +house and from the fruit of his labor, who does not fulfil this promise; +even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.' And all the assembly said, +'So may it be.' And they praised Jehovah. And the people did according to +this promise. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 5:14-19] +Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in +The land of Judah, from the twentieth year (445 B.C.) even to the +thirty-second year (432) of Artaxerxes the king, that is for twelve years, +I and my kinsmen had not eaten the bread which was due me as governor. But +the former governors who were before me were a source of expense to the +people, and took of them bread and wine, and also forty shekels of silver +each day; and furthermore their servants oppressed the people. But I did +not so, because of the fear of God. I also devoted myself to this work on +the wall, and we did not buy any land; and all my servants were gathered +there for the work. Also the Jews and the rulers, a hundred and fifty men, +besides those who came to us from among the surrounding nations, were at +my table. Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox and six +choice sheep and fowls. These were prepared at my expense, and once in ten +days wine in abundance for all the people. Yet with all this I did not +demand the bread which was due me as governor, because the public service +rested heavily upon this people. Remember to my credit, O my God, all that +I have done for this people. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:1-9] +Now before my return from the king, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed +over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah, had +prepared for him a great chamber, where formerly they had stored the +cereal-offerings, the incense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, the +new wine, and the oil. But during this time I had not been at Jerusalem; +for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the +king. Then after some time I asked leave of the king, and I came to +Jerusalem and discovered the crime that Eliashib had committed for the +Sake of Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the court of the house of +God. And it displeased me greatly; therefore I cast all the household +possessions of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I gave command that they +should cleanse the chambers, and I brought there again the vessels of the +house of God, with the cereal-offerings and the incense. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:10-14] +And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them; +so that the Levites and the singers, who performed the service had each +fled to his field. Then I contended with the rulers and said, 'Why is the +house of God forsaken?' And I gathered them together and placed them at +their posts. And all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine +and the oil into the store-rooms. And I appointed in charge of the +store-rooms: Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah the +Levite; for they were considered faithful, and their business was to +distribute to their kinsmen. Remember me, O my God, concerning this and +forget not all my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and +for its services. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:15-22] +At that time I saw in Judah some men treading wine-presses on the sabbath +and bringing in heaps of grain and loading asses, as also wine, grapes, +figs, and all kinds of burdens, and that they were bringing them into +Jerusalem on the sabbath; and I warned them when they sold provisions. +Tyrians also dwelt therein, who brought in fish and all kinds of wares, +and sold on the sabbath to the inhabitants of Judah and in Jerusalem. Then +I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, 'What evil thing is +this that you are doing, and thereby profaning the sabbath? Did not your +fathers do thus and did not our God bring all this calamity upon them and +upon us and upon this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by +profaning the sabbath.' Accordingly, when it began to be dark, the gates +of Jerusalem were shut before the sabbath; and I gave command that they +should not be opened until after the sabbath. And I placed some of my +servants in charge of the gates, and commanded that no burden should be +brought in on the sabbath. So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of +wares spent the night without Jerusalem once or twice. Then I warned them +and said to them, 'Why do you spend the night before the wall? If ye do +so again, I will lay hands on you.' From that time forth they came no more +on the sabbath. Remember, O my God, this also to my credit and show me +mercy according to the greatness of thy loving-kindness. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:23-27] +At that time also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of +Ammon, and of Moab. And their children spoke half in the language of +Ashdod, but none of them could speak in the Jews' language, but according +to the language of each people. And I contended with them and cursed them +and struck some of them and pulled out their hair and made them swear by +God, saying, 'You shall not give your daughters to their sons nor take +their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves. Did not Solomon +king of Israel sin by these acts? Yet among many nations there was no king +like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all +Israel; nevertheless foreign women led him into sin. Shall it also be +reported of you that you do all this great evil, to trespass against our +God in marrying foreign women?' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:28, 29] +And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was +the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me. +Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the covenant of the +Priesthood and of the Levites. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:30, 31] +Thus I cleansed them from all foreigners and fixed the duties for the +priests and the Levites, each for his appointed task, and the bringing of +wood for the service at appointed times, and the first-fruits. Remember +it, O my God, to my credit. + +I. Cruelty and Hypocrisy of the Jewish Leaders. The fifty-sixth chapter +of Isaiah presents a sharp contrast: on the one hand a high ideal of +justice toward the oppressed and tolerance toward all foreigners who +sincerely desired to unite in Jehovah's worship; on the other the sordid +selfishness of the Jewish leaders, who disregarded their responsibilities +and thought of religion only as a round of ceremonial observances. The +situation is very similar to that in Northern Israel in the days of Amos. +The II Isaiah stands on the same platform as did his predecessors of the +Assyrian period. He strips fearlessly from the rulers of the community the +mantle of hypocrisy with which they sought to cover their shame. In +clearest terms he declares that their first duty to God is to loose the +fetters of injustice and to share their bread with the hungry. This +stirring prophetic message is the natural introduction to the reformatory +work of Nehemiah. + +II. Nehemiah's Method of Correcting the Social Evils in the Community. +Nehemiah's address recorded in the fifth chapter of his memoirs completes +the picture suggested in Isaiah 56 and 58. The poor had been compelled by +their poverty to sell their children into slavery to the rich and ruling +class. In order to pay their personal taxes they had also mortgaged their +inherited fields, vineyards, and houses. Doubtless much of the tax thus +raised went into the pockets of their rulers, who preyed mercilessly upon +the helpless and needy. These crimes directly violated the laws of +Deuteronomy (cf. Deut. 23:9, 20), as well as those in the older Book of +the Covenant (Ex. 21-23). Nehemiah's position, therefore, when he demanded +that these evils be righted, was unassailable. In the spirit and with the +methods of the earlier prophets he gathered together the people, probably +within the precincts of the temple court, and plainly and unsparingly +denounced their acts. There is much in common between this later Jewish +layman and the shepherd Amos. Each spoke on the basis of close personal +observation and experience; but Nehemiah possessed many advantages over +the prophets who had preceded him. His own personal example lent force to +his words. Although it was his right as governor, he had exacted no +tribute from the Judean community. Even though the opportunity had +probably offered itself, he steadily refused to take their hereditary land +from the poor who applied to him for loans of money or grain. Instead of +enslaving his countrymen, he had lost no opportunity to free those who had +been forced by misfortune or poverty into slavery. He had also entertained +lavishly rich and poor alike, and thus given to all an example of +practical charity. His authority as Persian governor doubtless carried +great weight with the cringing, greedy leaders at Jerusalem. Above all, +the force of his personality was irresistible. It is easy to imagine the +powerful impression which his words made upon them. The restoration of +their lands and the freeing of their children were undoubtedly mighty +factors in arousing the men of Jerusalem to those herculean efforts which +alone made possible the rebuilding of the walls in the brief period of +fifty-two days. + +III. The Historical Value of Nehemiah 13. In his _Composition of +Ezra-Nehemiah_ (pp. 44-49) Professor Torrey, of Yale, maintains that this +chapter is a pure creation of the Chronicler. Certainly its phraseology +and the subjects with which it deals are characteristic of the Chronicler, +but on the whole it is probable that he has here simply recast what was +originally an extract from the memoirs of Nehemiah. Some of the phrases +peculiar to the Chronicler are loosely connected with the context. The +nucleus which remains has the vigorous style of Nehemiah and many of his +peculiar idioms. Its courageous, assertive spirit is very different from +that of the other writings of the Chronicler. It is also doubtful whether +this later writer, with his strong, priestly interests, would have made +Nehemiah, the layman, a religious reformer and therefore in a sense the +rival of Ezra. Above all, the work attributed to Nehemiah in this +chapter is in harmony with his spirit and attitude, as revealed in the +unquestioned extracts from his memoirs. Already, as stated in 1:20, he had +told Sanballat and Tobiah that they should have no portion or memorial in +Jerusalem. He had already shown himself keen in righting wrongs within the +community. Zeal in preserving the sanctity of the sabbath and in opposing +heathen marriages was characteristic rather of the Jews of the dispersion +than of those of Palestine. It is probable, therefore, that this chapter +records Nehemiah's work when he revisited Jerusalem some time after 432 +B.C., although it must be frankly confessed that the historical evidence +is far from conclusive and that the entire account of this second visit, +including the chronological data in 5:14 and the reference to the +expulsion of Sanballat in 1:20, may possibly be due to the Chronicler's +desire to discredit the Samaritans and to enlist the authority of Nehemiah +in support of the later priestly laws and customs. + +IV. Regulations Regarding the Temple Service. The expulsion of Tobiah +the Ammonite from the room which had been assigned him in the temple by +Eliashib, the high priest, was apparently due to two reasons, first +because Tobiah was _persona non grata_ to Nehemiah and had already shown +himself a dangerous foe to the Jews. The second and chief reason was +because the room was needed for storing the offerings that were brought in +for the support of the temple officials. These offerings were presented in +accordance with the demands of the Deuteronomic regulation, which at this +time was the code acknowledged by the Judean community (Deut. 18:4. +14:23, 27, 28). The narrative adds that, with his practical knowledge of +affairs, Nehemiah appointed a representative committee consisting of a +priest, a scribe, and a Levite, and to them he intrusted the task of +receiving and distributing the temple tithes to their kinsmen. + +V. Provisions Regarding Sabbath Observation and Foreign Marriages. Far +away from the temple, and therefore unable to participate in the +distinctive feasts and ceremonials that distinguished the religious life +of their race, and confronted by the constant danger of being absorbed by +the heathen among whom they found themselves, the Jews of the dispersion +placed strong emphasis on two institutions. The one was the observation of +the sabbath and the other was the preservation of the purity of their +blood by abstaining from all marriage alliances with their Gentile +neighbors. In Palestine, where they were able to revive the ancient feasts +in connection with the temple, and where the danger of absorption was not +so imminent, their practices in these regards appear to have been much +more lax. Not only had the priests set the example by contracting foreign +marriages, but apparently about this time the author of the beautiful +story of Ruth, by citing the tradition regarding the Moabite ancestry of +their illustrious King David, voiced the belief of many in the community +that such marriages were permissible. Nehemiah, however, rigorously +opposed this tendency. He also appreciated the menace to the dignity and +character of the temple service, if the commercial pursuits of ordinary +days were carried into the sabbath. His measure, therefore, in closing the +gates and thus excluding all traders, was both sane and effective. In +setting his face strongly against foreign marriages he was simply +enforcing the laws found in Deuteronomy 7:1, 3 and 33:3, which forbade the +Hebrews to intermarry with the people of the land. + +VI. Significance of Nehemiah's Work. In rebuilding the walls of +Jerusalem Nehemiah prepared the way for that revival of the Jewish state +which characterized the closing years of the Persian period. More +important still was his work in re-establishing a close relation between +the Jews of the dispersion and those of Palestine. He himself was the +connecting link between them, and his activity prepared the minds of the +Palestinian Jews for the acceptance of those new principles that were +strongly held by leaders like himself. He also enforced the ethical and +social ideals of the earlier prophets, and ably advocated the principles +that are fundamental in the late priestly laws. Above all, in his own +personality as a prophetic layman, he held up before his race an example +of patriotism, self-sacrifice, efficiency, and devotion to the service +of Jehovah which made a profound and lasting impression upon his own and +later generations. + + + +Section CII. THE TRADITIONAL ACCOUNT OF THE ADOPTION OF THE PRIESTLY +LAW + +[Sidenote: Ezra 7:1, 6-10] +In the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra, a descendant of Aaron, +went up from Babylon; and he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, +which Jehovah, the God of Israel, had given. And the king granted him all +his request, inasmuch as the hand of Jehovah his God was upon him. And +some of the Israelites, and of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the +porters, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem [with him]. And he +came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the +king. For on the first day of the first month he began the journey from +Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, +since the good hand of God was with him. For Ezra had set his heart to +seek the law of Jehovah, and to observe it and to teach in Israel statutes +and ordinances. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 7:73b, 8:4-6] +And when the seventh month drew near, all the people gathered themselves +together as one man to the broad place that was before the Water Gate. And +they spoke to Ezra the priest and scribe to bring the book of the law of +Moses, which Jehovah had commanded Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the +law before the assembly of men and women, and all who could hear with +understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read from +it before the open place that was before the Water Gate, from early +morning until mid-day, in the presence of the men and women and of those +who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the +law. And Ezra the priest and scribe stood upon a wooden pulpit, which they +made for the purpose and opened the book in the sight of all the +people--for he was above all the people--and when he opened it all the +people stood up. And Ezra blessed Jehovah, the great God. And all the +people answered, Amen, Amen, while they lifted up their hands and bowed +their heads and worshipped Jehovah with their faces to the ground. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 8:9-12] +Then Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who taught the people +said to all the people, This day is holy to Jehovah your God; mourn not, +nor weep; for all the people when they heard the words of the law. Then he +said to them, Go away, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions +to him for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and +do not be troubled, for the joy of Jehovah is your bulwark. So the Levites +quieted all the people, saying, Be still, for the day is holy, and do not +be troubled. And all the people went away to eat and drink and to send +portions and to make a great rejoicing, for they had understood the words +which had been made known to them. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 8:13-19] +And on the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, the +priests and the Levites were gathered together to Ezra the scribe, in +order to gain an insight into the words of the law. And they found written +in the law, how Jehovah had commanded by Moses that the Israelites should +dwell in booths at the feast in the seventh month; and that they should +proclaim aloud in all their cities and in Jerusalem: Go forth to the +mount and bring olive branches and branches of wild olive and myrtle and +palm branches and branches of thick trees to make booths, as it is +prescribed. So the people went out and brought them, and made themselves +booths, each man upon the roof of his house and in their courts and in +the courts of the house of God and in the open space at the Water Gate and +in the open space at the Ephraim Gate. And all the assembly of those who +had come back from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths; for +since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day the Israelites had not +done so. And there was very great gladness. And day by day, from the first +to the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they +celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day, as was the custom, +there was a concluding solemn assembly. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 9:1-3] +Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites were assembled +with fasting, and with sackcloth and earth upon their heads. And the +children of Israel had separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood +and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they +stood up in their place and read in the book of the law of Jehovah their +God a fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed and +worshipped Jehovah their God. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 9:6-8] +And Ezra said, Thou art Jehovah, even thou alone; thou hast made heaven +and the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all things +that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and thou preservest +them all and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. Thou art Jehovah the +God, who didst choose Abraham and bring him forth out of Ur of the +Chaldees, and didst give him the name Abraham, and find his heart +faithful before thee and make a covenant with him to give the land of the +Canaanites to his descendants, and hast performed thy words, for thou art +righteous. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 9:32-37] +Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who +keepest covenant and kindness, let not all the affliction seem little +before thee, that hath come on us, on our kings, our nobles, our priests, +our prophets, our fathers, and on all thy people, since the days of the +kings of Assyria to this day. However thou art just in all that has come +upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly, neither have +our kings, our nobles, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law nor +heeded thy commands and thy testimonies with which thou didst testify +against them. For they have not served thee in the time of their kingly +rule, and in spite of thy great goodness that thou gavest them, they have +not turned from their wicked deeds. Behold, we this day are slaves, and as +for the land that thou gavest to our fathers to eat its fruit and enjoy +its good gifts, see we are only slaves in it. And it yieldeth a great +income to the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sin; also +they have power over our bodies and over our cattle, at their pleasure, +and we are in great distress. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 9:38] +Moreover in addition to all this we made a fixed covenant and wrote it +out, and our nobles, our Levites, and our priests were enrolled upon the +sealed document. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 10:28-31] +And all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands +to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one +who had knowledge and insight, strongly supported their kinsmen, their +nobles, and entered into a solemn obligation and took oath to walk in +God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe +and do all the commands of Jehovah our Lord, and his ordinances and his +statutes; and that we would neither give our daughters to the peoples of +the land nor take their daughters as wives for our sons; and that, if the +peoples of the land should bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to +sell, we would not buy of them on the sabbath or on a holy day; and that +on the seventh year we would leave the land uncultivated and would refrain +from the exaction of any debt. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 10:32-39] +We also imposed upon ourselves the obligation to give yearly the third +part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God, for the bread +that was set forth, and for the continual burnt-offering, for the +sabbaths, the new moons, the fixed feasts, and the holy things, and for +the sin-offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of +the house of our God. And we cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the +people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, +according to our father's houses, at appointed times year by year, to burn +upon the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is prescribed in the law; and to +bring the earliest products of our ground, and the first of all fruit of +every kind of tree year by year, to the temple of Jehovah; also the +first-born of our sons and of our cattle, as is prescribed in the law, and +the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of +God to the priests who minister in the house of our God; and that we +should bring the first bread baked of our dough, the fruit of every kind +of tree, the new wine and the oil, to the priests, in the chambers of the +house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; and that +they, the Levites, should receive the tithes in all the cities of our +agricultural districts. And that the priest the son of Aaron should be +with the Levites, when the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes +to the house of our God, to the chambers, into the store-house. For the +Israelites and the sons of Levi shall bring the gifts of grain, of new +wine, and of oil, into the chambers, where are the vessels of the +sanctuary, and the priests who minister and the porters and the singers, +and that we would not neglect the house of our God. + +I. The Ezra Tradition. The tradition regarding Ezra and his work +presents many difficult problems. Part of it is found in the heart of the +book of Nehemiah; while another part is now found in the second half of +the book of Ezra. It is not entirely clear whether this dislocation is due +to the Chronicler, who desired to give Ezra, the priest and scribe, the +precedence before Nehemiah, the layman, or to the mistake of a scribe. A +recent writer (Professor Torrey, in _Composition of Ezra-Neh_.) has shown +convincingly that the Ezra story in its present form is at least from the +school to which the Chronicler belonged, if not from his own pen. Not only +does it abound in the characteristic phrases of this voluminous editor, +but it also reflects at many points his peculiar conception of the history +of this period. Ezra is described as a descendant of Aaron and "a scribe +skilled in the law of Moses." His work as interpreter of the law, which he +is represented as bringing in his hand, is typical of the scribes, who +were becoming the chief teachers of Judaism in the days of the Chronicler +(the Greek period). The decree of Artaxerxes found in the seventh chapter +of Ezra suggests at every point its late Jewish origin. It confers upon +Ezra, the scribe, royal authority far eclipsing that given by Artaxerxes +to Nehemiah, his favorite. A sum representing more than three million +dollars is placed at Ezra's disposal. At his summons seventeen hundred +priests, Levites, singers, and servants of the temple rally about the +standard of the faithful scribe. He is represented as going under the +royal protection to Palestine to instruct the Judean community, to reform +its abuses, and to institute the rule of the law of Moses which he bore in +his hand. + +He first holds a great synagogue service in which the law is read and +interpreted to the people. They are then bidden to observe the Feast +of Booths or Tabernacles in accordance with its regulations. Later, when +he discovers that the people of the land have entered into foreign +marriages, he tears his clothes and hair and sits for hours overwhelmed +by the great crime that rests upon the community. When the people are +gathered about him, he upbraids them for their laxness and secures the +appointment of a commission with himself at the head to investigate and +put an end to these evil practices. When after three months the community +has been purified from this foreign element, the people are again +assembled to listen to the reading of the law. Then Ezra utters a fervent +prayer in which he sets forth Jehovah's leadership of his people in the +past and the disasters which have come as a result of their sins. After +this public petition for Jehovah's forgiveness, the people through their +nobles, Levites, and priests subscribe in writing to the regulations +imposed by the lawbook that Ezra had brought. Its more important +regulations are also recapitulated. They are to refrain from foreign +marriages, to observe strictly the sabbath laws, and also the requirements +of the seventh year of release, to bring to the temple the annual tax of +one-tenth of a shekel and the other dues required for its support and for +the maintenance of the priests and Levites. + +II. The Historical Value of the Ezra Tradition. Recognizing that the +Ezra tradition comes from the hand of the Chronicler, certain Old +Testament scholars are inclined to regard it as entirely unhistorical. +It can no longer be regarded as a strictly historical record. Like II +Chronicles 31, it is shot through with the ideas current during the Greek +period. With no desire to deceive, but with nothing of the modern +historical spirit, the Chronicler freely projects the institutions, ideas, +and traditions of his own day into these earlier periods. The result is +that he has given not an exact or reliable historical record, but his own +conception of the way in which the course of history should have unfolded. +The Ezra tradition also lacks the support not only of contemporary +testimony, but also of all the Jews who wrote during the next few +centuries. Ben Sira in his review of Israel's heroes speaks in highest +terms of Nehemiah, but knows nothing of Ezra's work. Even the +comparatively late Jewish tradition reflected in the opening chapters of +II Maccabees attributes to Nehemiah the re-establishment of the temple +Service and the collection of the sacred writings of his race. At many +points the Ezra tradition is also inconsistent with the straightforward +contemporary record contained in Nehemiah's memoirs. The real question +is whether or not there is a historical nucleus in the Ezra story, and +if so, what are the facts which it reflects. + +III. The Facts Underlying the Ezra Tradition. The later records make it +clear that during the latter part of the Persian period the attitude of +the Jews in Palestine toward their neighbors became more and more +exclusive. Nehemiah appears to have given a great impetus to the movement +which ultimately resulted in the Samaritan schism and the high wall that +henceforth separated Jew and Gentile. The emphasis on the strict +observation of the sabbath grew stronger and stronger, until at the +beginning of the Greek period the Jews of Jerusalem preferred to fall +before the sword of their foes rather than fight on the sabbath day (cf. +Section CIII). The ritual of the temple became even more elaborate, and +its income was greatly increased during the latter part of the Persian +period. The extension of the territory of the Judean community implied +that its numbers were increased by the return of loyal Jews attracted by +the security offered by its walls and by the new spirit that animated the +Jews of Palestine. The priestly laws which were formulated to meet the new +needs of the Judean community appear to have been written in Palestine and +by those closely connected with the temple service, but in the emphasis +upon the sabbath and in their endeavor to prevent marriage with foreigners +they suggest the presence and influence of Jews who had returned from the +land of the dispersion. It is possible that among those who thus returned +was the priest Ezra, and he may have been at the head of one of these +groups of returning exiles. In the days of Josiah the code contained in +the newly discovered Book of the Covenant was presented to the people in a +public assembly and adopted and enforced by the king, who acted as the +representative of the people (Section LXXXIII:iii). It is probable that in +the small Judean community new regulations gained acceptance in the same +way, except that the people were represented by their nobles and priests +rather than by a king. The tradition of Ezra, therefore, is typical of the +great movement that shaped the life of Judaism in the century immediately +following the work of Nehemiah. + +IV. Origin and Aims of the Priestly Laws. The late priestly laws which +moulded the life of Judaism are found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, +and Numbers. They do not constitute a unified code, but rather are +made up of a series of smaller groups of laws, the older nucleus +being the Holiness Code found in chapters 17-26 of Leviticus (cf. Section +XCIII:iii). In some cases variants of the same law are found in different +groups. Certain of these laws simply reiterate in slightly different form +those already found in the primitive and Deuteronomic codes; but in +general they supplement these earlier codes. The formulation, collection, +and codification of these later laws apparently continued until toward the +latter part of the Persian period when the Samaritan schism (Section CIII) +fixed them in their present form. + +To these laws was prefixed, as an introduction, the priestly history that +opens with the account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis and +briefly traces Israel's history to the settlement in Canaan. The interest +of these late priestly historians is, like that of the Chronicler, in the +origin of institutions. Thus the object of the first chapter of Genesis is +to give the traditional origin and authority of the sabbath. The account +of the flood culminates in a covenant embodying the command that man shall +not eat of the blood of sacrificial animals; the priestly stories +regarding Abraham aim to give the origin of the rite of circumcision. +Israel's early experiences in the wilderness furnish the setting for the +giving of the law at Sinai. In this way the late editors of these opening +books of the Old Testament connect all of Israel's legislation with Moses +and aim to establish its divine authority. + +V. Their Important Regulations. The central aim in all these late +priestly laws was similar to that of Ezekiel: it was to make Israel a +holy people and to prevent them from falling again into the sins to which +were attributed the overwhelming disasters that had overtaken them. This +aim they sought to accomplish: (1) by making the temple and its services +the centre of the life of the people and through ceremonial barriers and +regulations to shield it from everything that might pollute it; (2) by +rendering the temple service attractive; (3) by insuring through rigid +ceremonial laws the purity of its priesthood; (4) by preserving the +ceremonial cleanliness of the people through strict laws regarding the +food which they ate and elaborate provisions for their purification in +case they were contaminated by contact with that which was regarded as +unclean; (5) by prohibiting absolutely all marriages with the heathen; and +(6) by emphasizing the rigid observation of the sabbath and other +distinctive institutions. In general these late priestly laws represented +a return to the older and more primitive conception of religion, and +defined duty in terms of ceremonial rather than moral acts. + +VI. Their Practical Effects. Later Judaism represents to a great extent +the result of the rigid enforcement of these regulations. Its life was +centralized more and more about the temple. In its services the people +found their chief interest and joy. The numbers of the priests and Levites +were also greatly increased. To the older temple dues many new ones were +added. Thus each man brought to the temple the first-born of his flock. +Even his oldest son must be redeemed within a month after his birth by a +gift of five shekels (which represented in modern currency between three +and four dollars). Of every animal slain the shoulder, two joints, and the +stomach went to the priests. Of the vintage and oil and grain they +received about one-fiftieth. In addition a tithe was turned over to the +Levites. Part of the wool in every sheep-shearing, as well as a part of +the bread which they baked, found its way to the temple. In addition a +large income came through the vows made by the people or the conscience +money which was paid either in currency or gifts. Although the priests had +no temporal authority by which to enforce these laws, it is evident that +the people bore their heavy burdens gladly and brought willingly their +offerings, that they might thereby win a definite assurance of Jehovah's +favor. The law was to them a source of joy rather than a burden. Their +love for it steadily grew until two centuries later during the Maccabean +persecutions there were many who were ready to lay down their lives for it. + + + +Section CIII. THE JEWISH STATE DURING THE LAST CENTURY OF PERSIAN RULE + +[Sidenote: Ps. 36:5-10] +Thy loving-kindness, O Jehovah, is in the heavens, +Thy faithfulness reacheth to the skies, +Thy righteousness is like the mighty mountains, +Thy judgments are like the great deep; +Thou preservest man and beast. +How precious is thy loving-kindness, O God! +And the sons of men put their trust in the shadow of thy wings. +They are fully satisfied with the rich things of thy house, +And thou makest them drink of thy river of delights. +For with thee is the fountain of life, +And in thy light shall we see light. +O continue thy loving-kindness to those who know thee, +And thy righteousness to the upright in heart. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:1, 2b] +The word of Jehovah, which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: +Blow a horn in Zion, +Sound an alarm in my holy mountain, +Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, +For the day of Jehovah comes, +For near is the day of darkness and gloom, +The day of cloud and thick darkness! + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:2c-6] +Like the light of dawn scattered over the mountains, +A people great and powerful; +Its like has not been from of old, +Neither shall be any more after it, +Even to the years of coming ages. +Before them the fire devours, +And behind them a flame burns; +Like the garden of Eden is the land before them, +And after them it is a desolate desert, +Yea, nothing escapes them. +Their appearance is as the appearance of horses, +And like horsemen they run. +Like the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains they leap, +Like the crackle of flames devouring stubble, +Like a mighty people preparing for battle. +Peoples are in anguish before them, +All faces glow with excitement. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:7-9] +Like mighty men they run, +Like warriors they mount up a wall, +They march each by himself, +They break not their ranks, +None jostles the other, +They march each in his path, +They fall upon the weapons without breaking, +They scour the city, they run on the wall, +They climb up into the houses, +Like a thief they enter the windows. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:10-11] +Earth trembles before them, +Heaven quakes, +The sun and the moon become dark, +And the stars withdraw their shining; +And Jehovah uttereth this voice before his army, +For his host is exceedingly great, +Yea, mighty is he who performs his word, +For great is the day of Jehovah, +It is very terrible, who can abide it? + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:12-14] +But now this is the oracle of Jehovah: +Turn ye to me with all your heart, +And with fasting and weeping and mourning. +Rend your hearts and not your garments, +And turn to Jehovah your God; +For he indeed is gracious and merciful, +Slow to anger and plenteous in love, +And relenteth of the evil. +Who knows but he will turn and relent, +And leave a blessing behind him, +A cereal and drink-offering for Jehovah your God? + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:16-17] +Blow a horn in Zion, +Sanctify a fast, summon an assembly, +Gather the people, make holy the congregation, +Assemble the old men, +Gather the children, and the infants at the breast, +Let the bridegroom come forth from his chamber, +And the bride from her bridal tent. +Between the porch and the altar, +Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep aloud, +Let them say, Spare, O Jehovah, thy people, +And make not thine heritage an object of reproach, +For the heathen to mock them. +Why should it be said among the nations, Where is their God? + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:18-20] +Then Jehovah became jealous for his land, and took pity upon his people, +And Jehovah answered and said to his people, +Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, +And ye shall be satisfied therewith; +I will not make you again an object of reproach among the nations, +I will remove far from you the northern foe, +And I will drive him into a land barren and desolate, +His van to the eastern sea, +And his rear to the western sea, +And a stench from him shall arise. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:21-24] +Fear not, O land, exult, +And rejoice for Jehovah hath done great things. +Fear not, O beasts of the field, +For the pastures of the wilderness are putting forth new grass, +For the trees bear their fruit, +Fig tree and vine yield their strength. +Be glad, then, ye sons of Zion, +And rejoice in Jehovah your God, +For he hath given you the early rain in just measure, +And poured down upon you the winter rain, +And sent the latter rain as before. +The threshing floors shall be full of grain, +And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:25-27] +I will make restoration to you for the years which the swarmer hath eaten, +The devourer, the destroyer, and the shearer, +My great army which I sent among you, +And ye shall eat your food and be satisfied, +And praise the name of Jehovah your God, +Who hath dealt so wonderfully by you, +And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, +That I am Jehovah your God and none else, +And my people shall nevermore be abashed. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:28, 29] +And it shall come to pass afterwards, +That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, +And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, +Your old men shall dream dreams, +Your young men shall see visions, +And even upon thy male and female slaves, +In those days I will pour out my spirit. + +[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 7:1)] +When Eliashib the high priest was dead, his son Judas succeeded him in the +high priesthood. Then, when he was dead, his son Johanan assumed that +dignity. It was on his account that Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes +[Mnemon], desecrated the temple and imposed tribute on the Jews, that at +public expense they should pay for every lamb fifty shekels. The reason +for this was as follows: Jeshua was the brother of Johanan. Bagoses, who +was Jeshua's friend, promised to secure for him the high priesthood. +Trusting, therefore, in this support, Jeshua quarrelled with Johanan in +The temple and so provoked his brother that, in his anger, Johanan slew +him. On this account the people were enslaved and the temple desecrated by +the Persians. For when Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes, knew that +Johanan, the high priest of the Jews had slain his own brother Jeshua in +the temple, he immediately came against the Jews and began in anger to say +to them, Have you dared commit a murder in your temple! And when he +attempted to go into the temple they tried to prevent him doing so; but he +said to them, Am I not purer than he who was slain in the temple? And when +he had said these words, he went into the temple. Thus Bagoses made use of +this pretext and punished the Jews seven years for the murder of Jeshua. + +[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 7:2)] +Now when Johanan had departed this life, his son Jaddua succeeded to the +high priesthood. He had a brother whose name was Manasseh. And there was a +certain Sanballat who was sent to Samaria by Darius, the last king of +Persia. This man, knowing that Jerusalem was a famous city and that its +kings had given great trouble to the Assyrians and the people of +Coele-Syria, willingly gave his daughter, whose name was Nicaso, in +marriage to Manasseh, thinking that this marriage alliance would be a +pledge that the nation of the Jews would continue their good will toward +him. + +[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 8:2a-c)] +The elders of Jerusalem, complaining loudly that the brother of Jaddua, +the high priest, though married to a foreigner, was sharing with him the +high priesthood, took sides against Jaddua; for they regarded this man's +marriage as an encouragement to those who were eager to transgress by +marrying foreign wives and that this would be the beginning of a closer +association with foreigners. Therefore they commanded Manasseh to divorce +his wife or else not to approach the altar. The high priest himself joined +with the people in their indignation and drove his brother from the altar. + +[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 8:2d-g)] +Then Manasseh went to his father-in-law, Sanballat, and told him that, +although he loved his daughter, Nicaso, he was not willing to be deprived +on her account of his priestly dignity, since it was the greatest dignity +in their nation and had always continued in the same family. Thereupon +Sanballat promised him not only to preserve for him the honor of his +priesthood but also to procure for him the power and dignity of a high +priest and to make him governor of all the places which he himself ruled, +if he would retain his daughter as his wife. He also told him that he +would build him a temple like that at Jerusalem upon Mount Gerizim, which +is the highest of all the mountains in Samaria. Moreover he promised that +he would do this with the approval of Darius, the king. Manasseh, being +elated with these promises, remained with Sanballat, thinking that he +would gain a high priesthood as the gift from Darius, for Sanballat was +then well advanced in years. Now there was a great disturbance among the +people of Jerusalem because many of the priests and Levites were entangled +in such marriages, for they all revolted to Manasseh, and Sanballat +offered them money and distributed among them land for cultivation and +dwelling places also. He did all this in order in every way to gratify +his son-in-law. + +I. Prosperity of the Judean Community. Behind their restored walls the +Jews of Jerusalem enjoyed a sense of security and peace that had not been +theirs since the days of Josiah. At last they were free to develop the +limited resources of little Judah and gradually to extend their territory +northwestward over the fertile plain of Sharon. At the most their numbers +and territory were small. The memories of their glorious past and their +hopes for the future were their chief inspiration. The belief that in +supporting faithfully the service of the temple and in conforming to the +definite demands of the ritual they were winning Jehovah's favor was to +them an unfailing source of comfort and thankfulness. In the rich services +of the temple and in the contemplation of Jehovah's character and deeds +they found true joy. These feelings are expressed in certain of the +psalms, as, for example, Psalm 36, which probably comes from this period. +In their weakness they looked up in confidence and gratitude to Jehovah +who ruled supreme in the heavens, and who was able and eager to preserve +those who "put their trust in the shadow of his wings." Their one prayer +was that his loving-kindness would continue to protect them. + +II. The Growth of the Psalter. Nehemiah's work apparently gave an +impulse not only to the development of the law and the temple ritual, but +also inspired poets to voice their own feelings and those of the community +in certain of the psalms now found in the Psalter. It also encouraged them +to collect the earlier religious songs of their race. The result of their +work is the first edition of the Hebrew Psalter. In its present form the +Psalter, like the Pentateuch, is divided into five books with a general +introduction consisting of Psalms 1 and 2 and a concluding doxology (Ps. +150). At the end of each of these divisions are shorter doxologies or +brief epilogues (e.g., 41:13 72:19 89:52 106:48). The Psalter itself is a +library containing a great variety of poems written at different periods, +from many different points of view and by many different poets. Like the +Priestly Code and the book of Proverbs, it consists of a collection of +smaller collections. Thus many psalms in the first half of the Psalter +are repeated wholly or in part in later psalms. Psalm 14, for example, is +identical with Psalm 73, except that in 14 Jehovah is used as the +designation of the Deity and in 73 Elohim (or God). + +The problem of determining the date of the individual psalms and of the +different collections is exceedingly difficult, both because the +superscriptions were clearly added by later editors who thought thereby to +connect the psalm with an earlier writer or historic incident, and because +the psalms themselves contain few historical allusions. A great majority +of them reflect the teachings of the pre-exilic prophets or, like the book +of Proverbs, come from the lips of the sages and deal with universal human +problems. Some were written by priests or Levites for use in connection +with the song service of the temple. Because of this timeless quality, +however, an appreciation of them does not depend upon an exact knowledge +of their authorship or historical background. It is possible that a few of +the psalms in the first part of the Psalter come from the pre-exilic +period, but the great majority reflect the problems, the hopes, the fears, +and the trials of the faithful who lived under the shadow of the second +temple. While the superscriptions clearly do not come from the original +psalmists themselves, they do record the conclusions of the editors who +made the earliest collections. The oft-recurring title "Psalm to David" +either means that by the editor it was attributed to David as the author, +or is a general designation of psalms that were recognized to be +comparatively early. The two great Davidic collections, 3-41 and 51-72, +were apparently collected not long after the rebuilding of the walls of +Jerusalem. They are deeply influenced by the inspiring teachings of the +II Isaiah. They are remarkably free from that ceremonialism which became a +powerful force in Judaism during the last century of the Persian rule. +Psalm 51:16, 17, for example, echoes the noble ethical teachings of the +great prophets: + +Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it, +Thou delightest not in burnt offering, +The sacrifice of God is a broken heart, +A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. + +They represent, therefore, the oldest edition of the Psalter and the songs +which were probably sung by the temple singers and the people as they +went up to the temple on the great feast days during the closing years of +the Persian period. + +III. The Prophecy of Joel. For a brief moment the clear light of +contemporary prophecy is turned upon the Judean community by the little +book of Joel. The immediate occasion was the invasion of a great swarm of +locusts which swept into Judea either from the desert or from the +mountains in the north. It contains in 3:6 the first Old Testament +reference to the Greeks. From 3:2 it is evident that the Jewish race has +already been widely scattered. In 3:2 the hope is expressed that the +time will soon come when strangers shall no longer pass through Jerusalem. +The temple, however, and the city walls (2:9) have already been +rebuilt, indicating that the prophecy followed the work of Nehemiah. The +priests are exceedingly prominent in the life of the community, and Joel, +though a prophet, places great emphasis upon the importance of the ritual. +When the community is threatened by the swarms of locusts, whose advance +he describes with dramatic imagery, he calls upon the people to sanctify +a fast and to summon an assembly, and commands the priests to cry aloud to +Jehovah for deliverance. + +IV. Hopes of the Jews. In his prophecy Joel has given a very complete +description of the hopes which the people entertained regarding the coming +day of Jehovah. It is the same day of Jehovah that Zephaniah described +(Section LXXXI:v) and yet the portrait is very different. A divine +judgment is to be pronounced, not upon Jehovah's people, but upon their +foes. Here Joel reveals the influence of Ezekiel's graphic descriptions +found in the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth chapters of his prophecy. +Vividly he describes the advance of Israel's hereditary foes. With +Full panoply of war they are pictured as advancing to the Valley of +Jehoshaphat, the valley of judgment (popularly identified with the +Kidron), where Jehovah is to pass sentence upon them. Then suddenly, as +the harvester puts the sickle in the grain, they shall be cut down and +utterly destroyed. Also in the prophet's imagination above this carnage +rises Jerusalem, an impregnable fortress for the people of Israel, holy +and no longer polluted by the presence of heathen invaders. Peace and +prosperity shall then be the lot of Jehovah's people. Above all he will +pour out his purifying, enlightening spirit upon all classes, so that +young and old, slave and free, shall be inspired by the consciousness of +his message and presence in their hearts. + +V. Rule of the High Priests. The few facts that have been preserved +regarding the external history of the Judean community during the last +century of the Persian rule are in striking contrast to the inner life and +hopes of the people. At their head were the high priests, whose names we +know, Eliashib, Johanan, and Jaddua. They constituted a hereditary +aristocracy intrenched in the temple, which controlled not only the +religious but also the civil life of the Jews. Like all hierarchies it +lacked the corrective influence of a superior civil authority. The one +safeguard of popular liberties, however, was the written law, which was +fast becoming the absolute authority in the life of the community. To it +the people could appeal even against the decisions of the priests. It +therefore kept alive that inherited democratic spirit which had been the +priceless possession of Israel through all its history. + +There is every reason for accepting the detailed account which Josephus +has given of the quarrel between the high priest Johanan and his brother +Joshua which resulted in the murder of the latter within the sacred temple +precincts. Such an opportunity would naturally be improved by the greedy +Persian official to impose an onerous tax upon the Jews. The Elephantine +letter establishes the fact that Johanan was high priest in 411 B.C. and +that Baghohi (of which Bagoses is the Jewish equivalent) was the Persian +satrap. It thus directly confirms the testimony of Josephus. References in +late Greek writings (Solinus XXXV, 6; Syncellus I, 486) suggest that the +Jews about 350 B.C. were involved with the Phoenicians in the rebellion +against Persia. These historians state that at this time Jericho was +captured and destroyed and that a part of the Jewish people were +transported to the province of Hyrcania at the south of the Caspian Sea. +The rebellion was instigated by Tachos, the ruler of Egypt, who about 362 +not only shook off the rule of Persia, but invaded Syria and stirred up +the Phoenicians to defy the Persian king. Artaxerxes III, popularly known +as Ochus, proved, however, the last ruler who was able to revive the +waning power of the Persian Empire. At his accession he slew all the +members of the royal family, and throughout his reign (358-337 B.C.) he +trusted chiefly to the unsheathed sword to maintain his authority. In 346 +B.C. he finally succeeded in collecting a huge army with which he invaded +Syria and besieged Sidon. Its king betrayed his city into the hands of the +Persians, only to be murdered by the treacherous Ochus. The citizens of +Sidon, recognizing that they would receive no mercy from the hands of +Their conqueror, shut themselves up in their homes and then burned them +Over their heads. According to the Greek historians forty thousand +Phoenicians perished in this revolt. + +VI. The Date of the Samaritan Schism. Josephus has given an unusually +full and detailed account of the final schism between the Jews and +Samaritans. He dates it under the high priesthood of Jaddua, who died +shortly after the close of the Persian period. He implies, therefore, that +the schism took place not long before 332 B.C., when Alexander the Great +conquered Palestine. This is also in keeping with the fact that the +Elephantine letter written in 411 B.C. knows nothing of a division +between Jew and Gentile. The fact that at the time of the division the +defecting priests took from Jerusalem the Pentateuch in its final form +strongly confirms the conclusion (as Professor Torrey has pointed out +in his _Ezra Studies_, pp. 324-330) that the Sanballat who ruled over the +Samaritan community was not the contemporary of Nehemiah, but his +grandson, who as an old man was ruling in Samaria at the time when +Alexander conquered the East. + +VII. The Nature and Consequences of the Schism. The schism between Jew +and Samaritan was but a revival of the ancient rivalry which dated from +the days when the Israelites had first settled in Canaan. The destruction +of Samaria in 722 and the strong policy of Josiah had apparently led the +Samaritans to look to the temple at Jerusalem as the chief sanctuary of +the land. Shechem, however, and Mount Gerizim, which rises abruptly on the +south, enjoyed traditions which dated from the earliest days of Israel's +history. The sacred oak and altar at Shechem figured even in the +patriarchal period. At the temple of Baal-berith in Shechem apparently +both Canaanites and Israelites worshipped during the days of the +settlement. According to the Samaritan version of Deuteronomy 24:4, Mount +Gerizim, not Ebal or Jerusalem, was the place where the Israelites, after +entering Canaan, were first commanded to rear an altar to Jehovah, and to +inscribe upon it the laws given to Moses. Even in the Jewish version of +Deuteronomy 11:29 and 27:12 Mount Gerizim is the mountain of blessing. In +the light of these passages such commands as, for example, that in +Deuteronomy 12:4, 5 would naturally be interpreted by the Samaritans as a +reference to Gerizim rather than to Jerusalem. The destruction of the +Judean capital and temple gave a great incentive to the revival of these +Ancient traditions and a new prestige to the northern sanctuary. Until the +close of the Persian period, however, the Samaritans evidently regarded +Jerusalem as an important shrine and worshipped there side by side with +the Jews. The ultimate schism appears to have come as a result of the +growing jealousy with which certain of the Jews regarded foreign +marriages. The marriage of Manasseh, the brother of Jaddua the high +priest, to Nicaso, the daughter of Sanballat II, and his ultimate +expulsion by the Jews blew into a flame the smouldering jealousy and +opposition that had long existed between the two communities. As Josephus +recounts, Sanballat, in order to satisfy his son-in-law, ceded lands and +special rights to him and to the other Jerusalem priests, who were +attracted by these offers, and ultimately built the famous temple on Mount +Gerizim over which Manasseh and his descendants presided. In many ways the +temple and service on Mount Gerizim appear to have been duplicates of +those at Jerusalem. The same law was recognized by both communities; they +shared together the same traditions and the same ideals; and yet their +subsequent history illustrates the psychological truth that of all forms +of hatred that between brothers is the most venomous and lasting. The +bitter rivalry and growing hatred that resulted from this act are +reflected even in the wisdom teachings of Ben Sira (B. Sir. 47:21, 24, +25). They also fundamentally color the writings of the Chronicler. The +strenuous efforts that he made to discountenance the claims of the +Samaritans reveals the intensity of the feud even in the Greek period (cf. +II Chron. 11:13-16). His zeal in trying to prove that the rebuilders of +the Jerusalem temple were of Jewish extraction was doubtless inspired by +the Samaritan charge that during the Babylonian and Persian periods they +had freely intermarried with the heathen population of the land. He was +compelled to admit that even the high priestly families had been guilty of +this sin, but asserted that the foreign wives were later divorced or else +the offenders were expelled from Jerusalem. In the light of the oldest +records it appears that the Samaritans were able to establish almost as +pure a lineage as the Jews. Naturally during the succeeding years the +ancient breach continued to widen until it was beyond all healing. + + * * * * * + +THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN AGE + +Section CIV. THE JEWS UNDER THEIR GREEK RULERS + +[Sidenote: 1 Mac. 1:1-4] +Now after Alexander the Macedonian, the son of Philip, who came from the +land of the Greeks, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, he +reigned in his place as the first ruler of the Syrian kingdom. + +He fought many battles, +And won many strongholds, +And slew the kings of the earth; +He went on to the ends of the earth; +And took spoils from a multitude of nations. +And when the earth was at peace before him, +He was exalted and his heart was lifted up; +He gathered an exceedingly great army, +And ruled over countries and peoples and principalities; +And they became tributary to him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XI, 8:7a, c] +Now when Alexander was dead, the government was divided among his +successors. It was about this time that Jaddua the high priest died and +Onias, his son, took the high priesthood. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 1:1b-d] +Alexander's empire was divided among many: Antigonus gained possession of +the province of Asia; Seleucus of Babylon and the surrounding nations; +Lysimachus governed the Hellespont, and Cassander held Macedonia; Ptolemy, +The son of Lagus, got Egypt. While these princes ambitiously contended +with one another, each for his own kingdom, there were continual +and protracted wars. And the cities suffered and lost many of their +inhabitants in these days of distress, so that all Syria experienced at +the hands of Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, the opposite of what is implied by +his title of saviour. He also captured Jerusalem by means of deceit and +treachery; for, coming into the city on a sabbath day, as if to offer +sacrifices, he without difficulty gained possession of the city, since the +Jews did not oppose him, for they did not suspect him to be their enemy, +and that day they always spent in rest and quietness. And when he had +gained possession of it, he ruled over it in a cruel manner. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 1:1g-j] +And when Ptolemy had taken many captives both from the mountainous parts +of Judea and the places about Jerusalem and Samaria and Mount Gerizim, he +led them all into Egypt and settled them there. And since he knew that the +people of Jerusalem were most faithful in keeping their oaths and +covenants, he distributed many of them among garrisons. At Alexandria he +gave them equal privileges as citizens with the Macedonians themselves. He +also required them to take oath that they would be faithful to his +descendants. And not a few other Jews went into Egypt of their own accord, +attracted both by the goodness of the soil and Ptolemy's generosity. +However, there were disorders between their descendants and the Samaritans +because of their resolve to preserve that manner of life which was +transmitted to them by their forefathers. They accordingly contended with +each other; those from Jerusalem said that their temple was holy and they +resolved to send their sacrifices there, but the Samaritans were +determined that they should be sent to Mount Gerizim. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 2:1a] +When Alexander had reigned twelve years and after him Ptolemy Soter forty +years, Ptolemy Philadelphus next had the kingdom of Egypt and held it +thirty-nine years. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 2:5d, e, 4:1d-f] +Now when Onias I. the high priest died, his son Simon succeeded him. When +he died and left only a young son called Onias, Simon's brother Eleazer +took the high priesthood. After Eleazar's death, his uncle Manasseh +assumed the priesthood, and after he died, Onias II. received that honor. +This Onia was lacking in sense and was a great lover of money; for that +reason he did not pay the tax of twenty talents of silver for the people, +which his forefathers had paid out of their own estates to the kings of +Egypt. Thus he aroused the anger of King Ptolemy Euergetes, the father of +Philopator. Euergetes sent an ambassador to Jerusalem and complained that +Onias did not pay the taxes and threatened that if he did not receive +them, he would parcel out their land and send soldiers to live upon it. +When the Jews heard this message of the king they were filled with dismay, +but Onias was so avaricious that nothing of this kind made him ashamed. + +[Sidenote Jos. Ant. XII, 4:2a-f] +There was a certain Joseph, young in years, but of great reputation among +the people of Jerusalem for dignity and exact foresight. His father's name +was Tobias and his mother was the sister of Onias the high priest. She +informed him of the coming of Ptolemy's ambassador. Thereupon Joseph came +to Jerusalem and reproved Onias for not taking thought for the security of +his countrymen and for bringing the nation into dangers by not paying this +money. Onias's answer was that he did not care for his authority, that he +was ready, if it were possible, to lay down his high priesthood, and that +he would not go to the king, for he cared nothing at all about these +matters. Joseph then asked him if he would give him leave to go as +ambassador on behalf of the nation. He replied that he would. So +Joseph went down from the temple and treated Ptolemy's ambassador in a +Hospitable manner. He also presented him with rich gifts and feasted him +magnificently for many days and then sent him to the king before him and +told him that he would soon follow him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 4:3b, 4a-c] +Now it happened that at this time all the principal men and rulers of the +cities of Syria and Phoenicia went up to bid for the taxes; for every year +the king sold them to the most powerful men of each city. And when the day +came on which the king was to let the farming of the taxes of the cities, +the taxes of Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, Judea and Samaria amounted altogether +to eight thousand talents. Thereupon Joseph accused the bidders of having +agreed together to estimate the value of the taxes at too low a rate and +he promised that he would give twice as much for them, and for those who +did not pay he would send the king their entire possessions, for this +privilege was sold together with the taxes. The king was pleased to hear +this offer, and because it increased his revenues he said he would confirm +the sale of the taxes to him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 4:5a-c, 3, 6a] +And Joseph took with him two thousand soldiers from the king, for he +desired to have assistance in order to compel those who refused in the +city to pay. And when the people of Askelon refused to pay anything, he +seized about twenty of their principal men and slew them, and gathered +what they had and sent it all to the king and informed him what he had +done. Ptolemy admired the spirit of the man, commended him for what he +had done and gave him permission to do as he pleased. By these means he +amassed great wealth and made vast profits by this farming of taxes. And +he made use of the wealth he had thus secured in order to support his +authority. This good fortune he enjoyed for twenty-two years; and he +became the father of seven sons by one wife. He had also another son whose +name was Hyrcanus. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:3a, b] +Now in the reign of Antiochus the Great, who ruled over all Asia, the +Jews, as well as the inhabitants of Coele-Syria, suffered greatly, and +their land was sorely harassed, for while Antiochus was at war with +Ptolemy Philopator and his son Ptolemy, who was called Epiphanes, these +nations suffered equally both when he was defeated and when he was +victorious. So they were like a ship in the storm which is tossed by the +waves on both sides. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:3c-e] +But at length when Antiochus had beaten Ptolemy he seized Judea. And when +Philopator was dead, his son sent out against the inhabitants of +Coele-Syria a great army under Scopas, general of his forces, and took +many of their cities and especially our people, who, when he attacked +them, went over to him. But soon afterwards Antiochus overcame Scopas in a +battle fought at the fountains of the Jordan and destroyed a great part of +his army. And afterwards, when Antiochus subdued those cities of +Coele-Syria which Scopas had captured, and Samaria among them, the Jews of +their own accord went over to him and received him into Jerusalem and gave +plentiful provisions to all his army and readily assisted him when he +besieged the garrison which was in the citadel at Jerusalem. + +I. Josephus's Histories. The Greek period began with Alexander's +conquest of Palestine in 332 and extended to the Maccabean uprising in 168 +B.C. For the external history of this period the writings of the historian +Josephus are the chief sources. This famous Jewish writer was born in 37 +A.D., and apparently lived till about the close of the reign of Domitian +in 96. According to his own testimony he was the son of a priest named +Mattathiah. Until he was sixteen he studied under the Jewish rabbis. He +then spent three years with the Jewish sect known as the Essenes. At the +age of nineteen he joined the party of the Pharisees. His point of view in +general is that of this dominant popular party. He was able to read Latin, +but wrote his histories in Greek. At the age of twenty-six he went to Rome +where he spent three years. Returning to Palestine at the beginning of the +great rebellion against Rome, he was appointed revolutionary governor of +the important province of Galilee. The appointment was unfortunate, for he +proved both incompetent and unreliable. In 67 A.D. he and his followers +were shut up by Vespasian in the Galilean city, Jotapata. During the siege +he vainly tried to desert to the enemy. At the fall of the city he was +captured, but his life was spared by Vespasian. In time he ingratiated +himself with Titus and also incurred the hostility of his countrymen by +trying to persuade them to lay down their arms. He spent the latter part +of his life in Rome, devoting himself to study and writing. As a result of +his long residence at Rome under the patronage of the Roman emperors, he +was powerfully influenced by the Greek and Roman philosophical schools. + +Josephus was the great apologist of his race. His chief aims in writing +his histories were: (1) to excuse his own acts in connection with the +great rebellion; (2) to show why the overwhelming calamity had overtaken +his race; and (3) to answer the attack of their Gentile foes by tracing +the remarkable history of his people, and by presenting in attractive +form their beliefs, institutions, and laws. Of his two great historical +works the one entitled _The Jewish War_ was issued probably between 75 and +79 A.D. It opens with the beginnings of the Maccabean struggle, and traces +the history, with increasing detail, to the destruction of Jerusalem and +the suppression of the Jewish revolt at Gyrene, two or three years before +the book was written. His second great work was issued in 93 A.D. under +the title of _The Antiquities of the Jews_. In twenty books it traces +Israel's history from the earliest beginnings to the opening years of the +Jewish war (68 A.D.). The first half of this extensive history is based +on the author's free paraphrase of the Greek version of the Old Testament. +For the latter half he draws largely from the apocryphal book of I +Maccabees and from the writings of contemporary Greek and Jewish +historians. Chief among these are Polybius, Nicolaus of Damascus, and +Strabo. At certain points, where earlier sources fail him, he employs +popular romances and late traditions. The result is that the different +parts of his history are of widely varying values. All must be carefully +tested by the canons of historical criticism. After due allowance has been +made for his apologetic purpose and his well-known tendencies, a large and +valuable body of historical facts remain with which it is possible at many +otherwise obscure points to reconstruct the course of Israel's history. + +II. Alexander's Conquests. In many ways Alexander's conquest was the +most significant and far-reaching event in the history of Asia. The causes +of this great movement were, first, the fact that the limited territory of +Greece and Macedonia gave to the powerful Hellenic civilization little +opportunity for local expansion. Compelled, therefore, to break these +narrow bonds, it naturally spread in the direction of least resistance. In +the second place the decadent Persian Empire, with its fabulous riches and +almost limitless plains, was a loadstone that lured on Greek adventurers +to attempt feats that seemed incredible. The third reason was Alexander's +inherited lust for conquest. His father, Philip of Macedon, had long been +accumulating the resources which made it possible for his son to realize +his ambitious dreams. The fourth reason was Alexander's desire to make the +world more glorious by the diffusion of Hellenic culture, ideas, and +institutions and by binding all races together into one great, harmonious +family. His brilliant conquests are a familiar chapter in the world's +history. At Issus, at the northeastern end of the Mediterranean, he won, +in 333 B.C., the decisive battle which left him in possession of the +western part of the huge Persian Empire. By 332 he was master of +Palestine. Tyre, the commercial mistress of the eastern Mediterranean, and +Gaza, the key to Egypt, alone offered resistance. The Persian kings by +their onerous taxation and cruel policy had completely destroyed the +loyalty of their western subjects. In the symbolic pictures of the book of +Daniel Alexander is regarded as the "fourth beast, terrible and fearful +and exceedingly strong. And it had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke +in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet" (7:17,23, 8:5-8). Josephus +has preserved a popular tradition regarding the meeting between Alexander +and the white-robed Jerusalem priests and the homage paid by the conqueror +to the God of the Jews. It bears on its face evidence of its unhistorical +character. As a matter of fact, the first goal of Alexander's conquest was +the rich land of Egypt. Not being possessed of a navy, he entered it +through its one vulnerable point, the Wady Tumilat, that ran from the +Isthmus of Suez to the Nile Delta. By 331 B.C. he was master of the Nile +Valley, and thence turned eastward, conquering in succession the different +provinces of the great empire, until before his death in 323 B.C. his +empire extended from the Mediterranean to the Indus, and in the northeast +far up toward central Asia. + +Alexander's conquests were significant because they represented the +victory of Greek ideas and culture as well as of arms. In each country +conquered he usually succeeded in Hellenizing the native peoples. Greek +cities, settled by his veterans and the horde of migratory Greeks that +followed in his wake, were founded at strategic points throughout the vast +empire. As recent excavations have shown, Greek art and ideas continued +even after the death of Alexander to sweep eastward across Asia, until +they profoundly influenced the culture and ideas in such distant nations +as China and Japan. + +III. The Jews in Egypt and Alexandria. The crown of Alexander's +constructive work was the building of Alexandria in Egypt. Selecting a +narrow strip of coast, protected on the south by the low-lying lake +Mareotis and on the north by the Mediterranean, he built there a +magnificent Greek city. On the south it was connected by canal with the +Canopic arm of the Nile. Alexander thus diverted to this new metropolis +the rich trade of the Red Sea and the Nile. A mile distant was the +island of Pharos, which was connected with the mainland by a great moll. +On either side, protected from the storms, were the eastern and western +harbors, large enough to accommodate the merchant-men and navies of the +ancient world. On the west was the native Egyptian quarter. In the +centre, opposite the island of Pharos, was the Greek and official quarter. +In the northeastern part of the city was the Jewish quarter. Here the Jews +lived together under the rule of their law; they were also represented in +the civic council by their own leaders. When Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, +became governor of Egypt and, after the death of Alexander, subjected +Palestine, he carried back to Alexandria many Jewish captives, and +attracted others by the special privileges which he granted them. In them +he recognized valuable allies in developing the commercial resources of +Alexandria and in maintaining his rule over the native Egyptians. Here in +time the Jews became wealthy and powerful and developed a unique +civilization. From the beginning of the Greek period the number of the +Jews in Egypt equalled, if it did not surpass, that of the Jews in +Palestine. While they maintained close connection with the Jews in +Palestine and remained true to their Scriptures, they were profoundly +influenced by their close contact with the civilization and ideas of the +Greek world. + +IV. The Rule of the Ptolemies. The long-continued rule of the Ptolemies +in Egypt is one of the most astonishing phenomena in this remarkable +period in human history. Far outnumbered by the native population, +involved in almost constant war with their fellow-Greeks, they succeeded +by sheer audacity and vigilance in maintaining their authority during the +many crises through which they passed. Egypt's natural defences also made +its conquest by outside powers exceedingly difficult. Alexandria with its +fleet commanded Egypt's one entrance by the sea. In order to protect its +eastern gateway, the Isthmus of Suez, it was essential that the Ptolemies +should control Palestine. Southern Palestine also commanded the great +commercial highway that led southward and eastward to Arabia and +Babylonia. Alexandria's ancient rivals, Tyre and Sidon, also lay on the +borders of Palestine, and it was essential that they be under the control +of Egypt, if Alexandria was to remain the mistress of the eastern +Mediterranean. Furthermore, Palestine and the Lebanons (known to Josephus +as Coele-Syria, that is, Hollow Syria), alone of the countries adjacent to +Egypt, possessed the timber required for the building of Alexandria's +navies and merchant-men. Hence Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, and his +successors spared no effort to maintain their control over the lands lying +along the eastern Mediterranean. + +In the division of the empire which followed the death of Alexander three +rivals struggled in turn for this coveted territory: Ptolemy, in the +south; Antigonus, who soon became master of Asia Minor and northern Syria; +and Seleucus, to whom fell the Tigris-Euphrates Valley and the more +distant eastern provinces. In the decisive battle of Ipsus in 301 B.C. +the overshadowing power of Antigonus was broken and the control of +southwestern Asia was divided between Seleucus and Ptolemy. By the +treaty that was made after the battle, Coele-Syria was given to Ptolemy; +but Seleucus and his descendants, who were known as the Seleucids or the +Seleucidae, soon attempted to wrest it from Egypt, and during the +following century frequently, with varying success, renewed the attempt. +In 295 and again in 219 they were for a brief period masters of Palestine, +but during most of this period it was held by the Ptolemies. + +V. Fortunes of the Jews of Palestine. Josephus's figure of a ship in a +storm, smitten by the waves on either side, well describes the lot of the +Jews of Palestine during the Greek period. They were in turn victimized +and courted by the rival kings of Egypt and Syria. The Jews, on the +whole, favored the rule of the Ptolemies, who had made many concessions to +their kinsmen in Egypt. The presence of many Jews in Egypt also made this +relation more natural. As a rule the Ptolemies during the intervals of +peace left the Jews of Palestine largely to themselves, as long as they +paid the heavy tribute that was exacted. It was, however, one of the +most corrupt periods in human history. The Ptolemaic court was rich, +profligate, and constantly degenerating. The popular story of Joseph the +tax-collector (which Josephus recounts at length), while largely fanciful, +vividly reflects the conditions and spirit of the age. Joseph, who +evidently belonged to one of the leading families of Jerusalem, by his +energy and effrontery secured the valuable right of farming the taxes of +Palestine. By the iniquitous methods then in vogue, he succeeded in +amassing a great fortune. The splendid ruins of Arak el-Emir on the +heights of southern Gilead, east of the Jordan, represent the huge castle +and town built by his son Hyrcanus and testify to the wealth of this +Jewish adventurer. The stories that Josephus relates regarding Joseph +indicate that the materialism and sensuality which were regnant in +Alexandria had penetrated even into the province of Judea. + +The one bright spot in the political history of this period is the reign +of the high priest Simon, known as the Just. He appears to have devoted +himself to developing, so far as was in his power, the interests and +resources of the Palestinian Jews and to have lifted the temple service +to a state of magnificence that received the unqualified commendation +of Jesus, the son of Sirach. + +VI. Conquest of Palestine by the Seleucids in 311 B.C. Seleucus Nikanor +transferred the western capital of his empire, known as Syria (a shortened +form of the ancient name Assyria), to Antioch, near the northeastern end +of the Mediterranean. This city was situated at the point where the +Orontes breaks through the Lebanons and where the great roads from the +Euphrates and Coele-Syria converge and run westward to its seaport, +Seleucia. It was built in the midst of a fertile valley, partly on an +island in the river and partly on its northern bank. Not having natural +defences, the city depended for protection upon its broad, encompassing +walls. To this new capital was attracted a diverse native, Greek, and +Jewish population. By virtue of its strategic position and its commercial +and political importance, it soon became one of the great cities of the +eastern Mediterranean. It occupied the natural site on the eastern +Mediterranean seaboard for the capital of a great empire. Shut in by the +sea on the west and the desert on the east, Syria's natural line of +expansion was north and south. Not until 198 B.C., however, under the +rule of Antiochus the Great, did it secure permanent control of Palestine. +The degenerate house of the Ptolemies made several ineffectual attempts to +win back their lost province, but henceforth Palestine remained under the +rule of Syria. The personal attractions of Antiochus the Great, the +specious promises which he made, and disgust because of the corrupt rule +of Egypt inclined the Jews of Palestine to welcome this change of rulers. +The court at Antioch, however, soon became almost as corrupt as that of +Egypt, and the Jews were the victims of the greed and caprice of the +Syrian despots. Meantime the insidious Greek culture and vices were +influencing and largely undermining the character of the Jewish rulers. +Judaism was unconsciously facing a supreme crisis in its history. + + + +Section CV. THE WISE AND THEIR TEACHINGS + +[Sidenote: Pr. 1:2-6] +That men may learn wisdom and instruction, +May understand intelligent discourses, +May receive instruction in wise conduct, +In justice, judgment and equity; +That discretion may be given to the inexperienced, +To the youth knowledge and a purpose; +That the wise man may hear and increase in learning, +And the intelligent man may receive counsel, +That he may understand proverb and parable, +The words of the wise and their riddles. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:1-6] +Does not Wisdom call? +And Understanding raise her voice? +On the top of high places by the way, +In the midst of the street she stands, +Beside the gateways in front of the city, +At the entrance of the gates she cries aloud: +To you, O men, I call, +And my appeal is to the sons of men. +O inexperienced, acquire discretion, +And ye stupid, gain understanding. +Hear, for I speak true things, +And the utterance of my lips is right. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:13] +Pride and arrogance and evil conduct +And false speech do I hate. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:14-16] +With me is counsel and practical knowledge; +With me understanding and might. +By me kings do reign, +And rulers decree justice. +By me princes rule, +And nobles judge the land. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:17] +I love those who love me, +Those who seek me diligently shall find me. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:18-21] +Riches and honor are with me, +Lordly wealth and prosperity. +My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold, +And my increase than choice silver. +I walk in the way of righteousness, +In the midst of the paths of justice, +That I may endow those who love me with wealth, +And that I may fill their treasuries. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:22-26] +Jehovah formed me as the beginning of his creation, +The first of his works of old, +In the primeval past was I formed, +In the beginning, before the earth was, +When there were no depths, I was brought forth, +When there were no fountains full of water. +Before the mountains were settled, +Before the hills were brought forth, +When he had not as yet made the earth, +Nor the first of the dust of the world. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:27, 29, 30] +When he established the heavens, I was there, +When he marked off the vault on the face of the deep, +Made fast the fountains of the deep, +When he set to the sea its bound, +When he marked out the foundations of the earth, +Then I was at his side as a foster-child; +And I was daily full of delight, +Sporting in his presence continually, +Sporting in his habitable earth. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:31-35] +And my delight is with the sons of men; +Now therefore, my sons, hearken to me, +Hear instruction that you may be wise, +And reject it not. +Happy is the man who hearkens to me, +Happy are they who walk in my ways, +Watching daily at my gates, +Waiting at the posts of my doors. +For he who finds me finds life, +And obtains favor from Jehovah. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 13:14-20, 24:5] +The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life +That man may avoid the ways of death. +Walk with the wise and you will become wise, +But he who associates with fools shall smart for it. +A wise man is better than a strong man, +And a man who has knowledge than he who has strength. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 12:10] +A wise man has regard for the well-being of his beast, +But the heart of the wicked is cruel. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 20:13] +Love not sleep lest you come to poverty; +Open your eyes and you shall have plenty. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 25:16] +If you find honey, eat what is sufficient for you, +Lest you be surfeited with it and vomit it up. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 23:9-35] +Who cries, Woe? who, Alas? +Who has contentions? Who, complaining? +Who has dullness of eyes? +They who linger long over wine, +They who go about tasting mixed wine. +Look not upon the wine when it is red, +When it sparkles in the cup. +At last it bites like a serpent, +And stings like an adder. +Your eyes shall see strange things, +And your mind shall suggest queer things. +You shall be like one sleeping at sea, +Like one asleep in a great storm. +"They have struck me, but I feel no pain; +They have beaten me, but I feel it not; +I will seek it yet again. When shall I awake from my wine?" + +[Sidenote: Pr. 29:20, 15:23] +Do you see a man hasty in his words? +There is more hope for a fool than for him. +A man has joy from the utterance of his mouth, +And a word in due season, how good it is! + +[Sidenote: Pr. 19:11, 16:32] +A man's wisdom makes him slow to anger, +And it is his glory to pass over transgression. +He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, +And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 23:26-28] +My son, give me your attention, +And let your eyes give careful heed to my ways. +For a harlot is a deep well, +And an adultress is a narrow pit. +Yea, she lies in wait as a robber, +And increases the faithless among men. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 4:25-27] +Let your eyes look right straight forward, +And let your gaze be straight before you. +Let the path of your feet be level, +And let all your ways be stable. +Turn not to the right hand nor to the left, +Keep your foot away from evil. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 14:15] +The simpleton believes everything, +But the prudent man looks well to where he walks. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 26:12, 27:2] +Do you see a man wise in his own conceit? +There is more hope of a fool than him. +Let another man praise you and not your own mouth; +Some other, and not your own lips. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 4:23, 11:6] +Keep your heart above all that you guard, +For out of it are the issues of life. +The righteousness of the upright shall save them, +But the treacherous are caught by their own desire. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 21:3] +To do what is just and right +Is more acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 15:1] +A soft answer turns away wrath; +But a harsh word stirs up anger. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 3:27] +Withhold not good from your neighbor, +When it is in your power to do it. +Say not to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, +And to-morrow I will give," when you have it by you. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 14:21, 19:17] +He who despises his neighbor, sins, +But he who has pity on the poor, happy is he. +He who has pity on the poor, lends to Jehovah, +And his good deed will yet pay him. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 25:21-22] +If your enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat, +And if he be thirsty, give him water to drink; +For you will heap coals of fire upon his head, +And Jehovah will reward you. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 3:11-12] +My son, reject not the instruction of Jehovah, +And do not grow weary of his reproof, +For whom Jehovah loveth he reproveth, +Even as a father the son in whom he delights. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 3:5-6] +Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, +And depend not upon your own understanding. +In all your ways know him well, +And he will make plain your path. + +I. Structure and Authorship of the Book of Proverbs. The book of +Proverbs is in reality a collection of originally independent groups of +proverbs. In its present form it consists of nine general divisions: +(1) The preface defining the aims of the book, 1:1-6. (2) A general +introduction describing the characteristics and value of the wisdom +teaching, 1:7-9:18. (3) A large collection designated as the Proverbs +of Solomon, 10:1-22:16. The fact that ten proverbs are repeated in +practically the same words indicates that it, like the book of Proverbs +as a whole, is made up of smaller collections. In chapters 10-15 the +prevailing type of the poetic parallelism is antithetic or contrasting, +while in the remainder of the book the synonymous or repeating parallelism +prevails. (4) A supplemental collection, 22:17-24:22. This is introduced +by the suggestive superscription, "Incline your ear and hear the words of +the wise." (5) A shorter appendix, 24:23-34, with the superscription, +"These also are from the wise." (6) The second large collection of +proverbs, 25-29. This bears the superscription, "These also are the +proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, +transcribed." It contains several proverbs found in the first large +collection, and evidently represents later gleanings from the same field. +(7) The words of Agur, 30. Of Agur nothing is known beyond his name, +which may be simply typical. The latter part of the chapter contains a +collection of numerical enigmas which may or may not have been associated +at first with the opening section. (8) The words of King Lemuel, 31:1-9. +(9) A description of the ideal Hebrew housewife, 31:10-31. The contents of +these collections as well as their superscriptions clearly indicate that +these proverbs represent the work of many different wise men, living at +different periods and writing from different points of view. Few, if any, +can be confidently attributed to Solomon. Even the proverbs in the large +collection, 10:1-22:16, which are definitely designated as the Proverbs of +Solomon, emphasize monogamy and denounce rulers who oppress their +subjects. Many of the proverbs in these larger Solomonic collections give +practical advice regarding the bearing of a subject in the presence of the +king, and few of them fit in the mouth of the splendor-loving monarch, who +by his foreign marriages and grinding taxation exerted a baleful influence +upon the political and religious life of Israel. The great majority of the +proverbs reflect the noble ethical teachings of the prophets. Clearly the +term Proverbs of Solomon is simply a late designation of early proverbs +the authorship of which, like that of most popular maxims, had long since +been forgotten. + +II. Date of the Different Collections. The preface and general +introduction to the book of Proverbs reflect the immorality and evils that +characterized both the Persian and Greek periods. Their background is the +corrupt life of the city. The tendency to personify wisdom is also one of +the marks of later Jewish thought. It is probable, therefore, that this +part of the book of Proverbs was added by a late editor who lived during +the Greek period. The oldest collection in the book is clearly to be found +in 10:1-22:10. The evils which it describes, the oppression of the poor +and dependent by the rich and powerful, existed throughout most of +Israel's history, but were especially prominent in the days of the +divided kingdom immediately before the destruction of Jerusalem. The +references to the king imply that the proverb writers had in mind Hebrew +rulers. In general their rule is just and they enjoy the respect of their +subjects. The prevailing occupation of the people is agriculture. Commerce +is just beginning to develop. The exile has not yet cast its shadow over +Hebrew life and thought. The majority of these proverbs clearly represent +the fruitage of the teachings of the pre-exilic prophets, and many of them +come from the days immediately before the final destruction of Jerusalem. +From the occasional references to the scoffers, the absence of allusions +to idolatry, and the fact that monogamy is here assumed, we may infer that +some of them at least come from the Persian or even the Greek periods. It +is probable that this large collection was not made until the latter part +of the Persian or the early part of the Greek period. + +The appendices in 22:17-24:34 contain many repetitions of proverbs found +in the larger collection. The prevalence of intemperance, the existence of +a merchant class, and the allusions to exiled Jews (e.g., 24:11) point +rather clearly to the dissolute Greek period as the age when these small +collections were made. The word meaning "transcribe," that is found in +the superscription to the second large collection (25-29), is peculiar to +the late Hebrew, and implies that this superscription, like those of the +Psalms, was added by a late Jewish scribe. The literary form of these +proverbs is more complex than those of the other large collection. The +kings are feared by their subjects, but figure now as oppressors rather +than champions of the people. While this collection may contain a few +proverbs coming from the period before the final destruction of Jerusalem, +it is probable that, like the smaller appendices to the first large +collection, they were not gathered until the early part of the Greek +period. The long appendices in chapters 30-31 are clearly late. The note +of doubt in the opening section of 30 is closely akin to that which recurs +in the book of Ecclesiastes. It is also based on Isaiah 44:5 and 45:4. +Aramaisms and the acrostic form in 31:10-31 imply that the background was +the late Persian or early Greek period. + +The history of the book of Proverbs is therefore reasonably clear. Its +original nucleus was probably a small group of popular proverbs that had +been transmitted orally from the days before the final destruction of +Jerusalem. These, together with proverbs which first became current during +the Persian period, were collected some time in the days following the +work of Nehemiah. To these was added in the Greek period the smaller +appendices in 22:17-24:34. Possibly the same editor joined to them the +large collection found in 25-29. He or some wise man in the Greek period +prefixed the elaborate introduction in chapters 1-9. To the whole was +added the appendices in chapters 30 and 31. It is probable that by the +middle of the Greek period, or at least before 200 B.C., the book of +Proverbs was complete in its present form. + +III. The Wise in Israel's Early History. Long before 2000 B.C. the +scribes of ancient Egypt were busy collecting "the words of counsel of the +men of olden time." Many of these ancient maxims still survive. The +best-known is that which bears the title "The Wisdom of Ptah-hotep." The +desire to preserve and transmit the results of practical experience is the +common motive that underlies the work of the wise. It is that which +inspires the teachers of all ages. The ancients were keenly alive to the +importance of instruction and training. All that is significant in the +civilizations of the past is, in a sense, the result of this teaching +motif. + +In early Israel there were many men and women famous for their ability to +give wise counsel. In his stormy career Joab, David's valiant commander, +frequently profited by the counsel of certain wise women (Sections +LIII:8-11 LIX:35). David's friend Hushai, by his wily counsel at the time +of Absalom's rebellion, saved the king's life. The narrative in II Samuel +declares that the counsel of Ahithophel was esteemed almost as highly as +the divine oracle. For his keen insight and acute decisions, as well as +for his witty utterances, Solomon gained a reputation which made him in +the thought of later generations the father of all wisdom literature. In +a significant passage found in Jeremiah 18:18 the three classes of +Israel's teachers are brought into sharp contrast. In urging that the +prophet be put to death his foes declared: "Teaching will not perish from +the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet." +From references in Isaiah and Jeremiah it is evident that before the final +destruction of the Hebrew state the counsel of the wise was chiefly +political and secular, and often not in accord with the higher ideals of +the great pre-exilic prophets. + +IV. Their Prominence in the Greek Period. The transformation of the wise +into religious as well as secular teachers apparently came after the +destruction of Jerusalem. It was the result of a variety of forces which +have already been studied. The destruction of the Hebrew state and the +resulting prominence of the individual led the wise to turn their +attention from questions of political to those of personal import. The +result is that the word "Israel" is found nowhere in the book of Proverbs. +The teachings there found are both individual and universal and apply to +Gentile as well as Jew, to the present as well as the past. The gradual +disappearance of the prophets during the latter part of the Persian +period, and the fact that the priests ever devoted themselves more and +more to the ritual and less to teaching, left a great need in the life of +Judaism which called to the front the wise. At the same time the problems +of the individual became more and more complex and insistent. Especially +was this true during the Greek period when Hellenic civilization, with its +corrupting influences, swept over Palestine and the lands of the +dispersion. It was a period when the principles enunciated by the earlier +prophets had been in general adopted by the Jewish race. The task, +however, of interpreting these principles simply and practically into the +every-day life of the people was left to these lovers and teachers of men, +the wise. The evidence of the voluminous writings of Ben Sira, as well as +of the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, makes it quite clear that it +was during the Greek period, and possibly in part under the intellectual +stimulus of Greek thought, that the wise attained their greatest +prominence and influence. + +V. The Aims of the Wise. The aims of the wise are in part defined in the +remarkable preface to the book of Proverbs, which was intended primarily +to describe the purpose of the collection of proverbs which embodies their +teachings. Four distinct classes commanded their attention: (1) The +ignorant, those who were unacquainted with the moral, religious, +and practical heritage received from preceding generations. (2) The +inexperienced, those who had not yet learned in the school of life the art +of adjusting themselves successfully to their environment. (3) The +scoffers, who openly rejected the counsel of the sages. And (4) the +disciples who were eager to learn and profit by the teachings of the wise. + +The definite aims of the wise must be inferred from their teachings. They +were concerned with the development of the individual, not the nation. +Their first aim was to instruct the ignorant in the fundamental moral and +religious principles already laid down by earlier priests and prophets. +In the words of the preface to the book of Proverbs they taught, + +That men may learn wisdom and instruction, +May understand intelligent discourses, +May receive instruction in wise dealing, +In justice, judgment, and equity. + +Their second aim was to point out the pitfalls that lay in the path of the +inexperienced, and to save them from moral wreck by inspiring within them +right ideals and ambitions. This aim is also well stated in the preface to +the book of Proverbs: + +That discretion may be given to the inexperienced, +To the youth knowledge and a purpose. + +The third aim of the wise was to educate the receptive and all who came +to them in the attitude of disciples. This aim corresponded very closely +to that of the modern educator. Again the preface to the book of +Proverbs clearly expresses this educational ideal: + +That the wise man may hear and increase in learning, +And the intelligent man may receive counsel. +That he may understand a proverb and parable, +The words of the wise and their riddles. + +The wise, therefore, sought not merely to instruct, but to educate; that +is, to develop sane, happy, and efficient men and women. They sought to +train those who would have not only knowledge and experience, but also the +ability to apply these successfully in the varied relations of life. +Above all, they endeavored to educate not parts of a man, but the whole +man. Hence their interest and the subjects that they treat are as broad +as human experience. + +The wise were keenly alive to the importance of youthful education. +The proverb: + +Train up a child in the way in which he should go, +And even when he is old he will not depart from it, + +voices the fundamental principle upon which all effective education is +based. They recognized that in the plastic days of childhood and youth +ideals and character and efficiency could best be developed, and that +education was not the work of a moment, but a gradual, progressive +development. + +Primary education, however, they intrusted to parents, and in many +proverbs emphasized the responsibility which every parent owed to his +child. They also counselled parents regarding the training of their +children. The maxims: + +The rod of correction gives wisdom, +But a child left to himself brings disgrace to his mother. +Chastise your son while there is still hope, +And set not your heart on his destruction. +He who spares his rod hates his son, +But he who loves him chastises him, + +express their appreciation of the importance of discipline in the early +training of the child. It is not clear at what age the wise took up the +instruction of the young. Possibly it was at about the age of twelve, +when the individual passed from childhood to adolescence, with its +increasing dangers and possibilities. Many of their teachings are +especially adapted to the problems of this tempestuous period. + +VI. The Methods of the Wise. In attaining their aims the wise men of +Israel employed a variety of methods. Proverbs such as, + +Every purpose is established by counsel, +And by wise guidance make thou war, + +suggest that, as in the days before the exile, they were still active in +connection with the civic, social, and national life of the people, and +that by influencing public policies they conserved the moral welfare of +the individual as well as the state. Many references to "wisdom's voice +crying aloud in the public places" suggest that, like the earlier +prophets, the wise men at times taught in public, in the market-places, in +the open spaces within the city gates, or wherever men were gathered +together. They appear also to have taught in private, by wise counsel +delivering the individual disciple who resorted to them from the +perils that beset his path, or aiding him by prudent advice in solving +successfully his individual problems. + +In 6:32-37 Ben Sira has given a vivid sketch of the schools of the wise, +which are clearly the forerunners of the later rabbinical schools: + +My son, if you wish, you will be instructed, +And if you pay attention, you will become prudent. +If you are willing to hear, you will receive, +And if you listen attentively, you will be wise. +Stand in the assembly of the elders, +And whoever is wise, stick close to him. +Be willing to listen to every discourse, +And let no illuminating proverbs escape you. +If you see a man of insight, hasten to him, +And let your foot wear out his threshold. +Let your mind dwell upon the law of the Most High, +And meditate continually on his commands. +Thus he will enlighten your mind, +And teach you the wisdom you desire. + +It requires little imagination to picture these ancient prototypes of +our modern universities. Like all Oriental teachers, the wise doubtless +sat cross-legged, with their disciples in a circle about them. They +trusted largely to question and answer, and poured out from their own +and their inherited experience wise maxims such as would guide the +simple and inexperienced and develop efficient manhood. + +VIII. Their Important Teachings. In the opening chapters of Proverbs the +wise describe the character and value of that wisdom which represents +their teaching as a whole. In chapters 8 and 9 "Wisdom" is personified. +Inasmuch as the Hebrew word for "wisdom" is feminine, it is spoken of as a +woman. Chapter 9 describes, in a form intended to arrest the attention of +the most inattentive, the feast that Wisdom offers to her guests. This is +contrasted with Folly's banquet, and the consequences to those who +participated in these rival banquets are clearly presented. + +In the practical teachings of the wise no question that vitally concerned +the individual man was considered beneath their attention. Like the wise +modern teacher they made no distinction between the religious and the +secular. Everything that influenced man's acts and ideals possessed for +them profound religious import. While the proverbial epigrammatic form of +their teaching was not conducive to a logical or complete treatment of +their theme, yet in a series of concise, dramatic maxims they dealt with +almost every phase of man's domestic, economic, legal, and social life. +They presented clearly man's duty to animals, to himself, to his +fellow-men, and to God. If utilitarian motives were urged in the great +majority of cases, it is because they sought to reach their pupils on +their own level. Although their ideals sometimes fell below those of the +great prophets, and especially those of the Great Teacher of Nazareth, the +importance of their work in establishing individual standards of right and +wrong, in keeping alive in concrete form the principles of the earlier +prophets, and in preparing their race for the crises through which it was +soon to pass cannot be overestimated. As effective teachers of the +individual they have an intensely practical and significant message for +all men in the stream of life to-day as well as in the past. + + + +Section CVI. THE DIFFERENT CURRENTS OF THOUGHT IN JUDAISM DURING THE +GREEK PERIOD + +[Sidenote: Ps. 19:7-14] +The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul; +The testimony of Jehovah is trustworthy, making wise the simple, +The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart, +The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes. +The fear of Jehovah is clean, enduring forever, +The judgments of Jehovah are true and altogether just, +They are of more value than gold, yea, than much fine gold, +Sweeter than honey and the droppings from the honey-comb. +By them is thy servant warned; in keeping them is great reward. +Who can discern his errors; cleanse thou me from secret faults, +Also from the presumptuous restrain thy servant; let them not have + dominion over me. +Then shall I be perfect and cleared from great transgression. +Let the words of my mouth be acceptable and the meditation of my heart, +In thy sight, O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 46:1-3] +Jehovah is our refuge and strength, +An ever present help in trouble. +Therefore we fear not, though the earth be moved, +And though the mountains totter into the heart of the sea; +The seas roar, their waters foam, +Mountains shake with the swelling of its stream. + Jehovah of hosts is with us, + The God of Jacob is our refuge. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 46:4-7] +His brooks make glad the city of Jehovah, +The holy dwelling place of the Most High. +Jehovah is in the midst of her, she cannot totter; +Jehovah will help her at the turn of the morn. +Nations raged, kingdoms tottered, +When he uttered his voice the earth melted. + Jehovah of hosts is with us, + The God of Jacob is our refuge. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 46:8-11] +Come, behold the works of Jehovah, +What desolations he hath made in the earth. +He is about to make wars to cease unto the end of the earth. +The bow he breaketh, and dasheth the spear in pieces; +He burneth the chariots with fire. +Be still, and know that I am Jehovah; +I shall be exalted among the nations, I shall be exalted on the earth. + Jehovah of hosts is with us, + The God of Jacob is our refuge. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:27-30] +All the ends of the earth will remember and will turn to Jehovah, +And all the families of the nations will worship in his presence; +For the dominion belongs to Jehovah and he rules over the nations. +Verily, him alone will all the prosperous of the earth worship. +Before him all those about to go down to the dust will bow, +A seed will serve him, it will be told to a generation to come; +And they will declare his righteousness that he hath accomplished to a + people yet to be born. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:1-8] +Now this word of Jehovah came to Jonah the son of Amittai: + +Arise, go to that great city, Nineveh, and preach against it; for their +wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish +from the presence of Jehovah. And he went down to Joppa and found a ship +going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare and embarked to go with them to +Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:4-7] +But Jehovah sent a furious wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty +tempest, so that the ship threatened to break in pieces. Then the sailors +were afraid and cried, each to his own god; and they cast into the sea the +wares that were in the ship, in order to lighten it. But Jonah had gone +down into the bottom of the ship; and he lay fast asleep. And the captain +of the ship came and said to him: What are you doing asleep? Call on your +God, perhaps that God will think on us that we perish not. And they said +to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose sake +this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:8-10] +Then they said to him, Tell us, what is your occupation, and whence do you +come? what is your country and of what people are you? And he said to +them, I am a Hebrew, and a worshipper of Jehovah, the God of heaven, who +hath made the sea and the dry land. Then the men were exceedingly afraid, +and said to him, What is this you have done? For they knew that he was +fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, for he had told them. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:11-13] +Then they said to him, What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be calm +for us? for the sea grew more and more stormy. And he said to them, Take +me up and throw me into the sea; so shall the sea be calm for you, for I +know that for my sake this great storm has overtaken you. But the men +rowed hard to get back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew +more and more stormy against them. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:14, 15] +Therefore they cried to Jehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O Jehovah, we +beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, neither bring +innocent blood upon us, for thou art Jehovah; thou hast done as it +pleaseth thee. So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the +sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly, and +they offered a sacrifice to Jehovah, and made vows. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:17-2:1, 10] +Then Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah was in the +belly of this fish three days and three nights. Thereupon Jonah prayed to +Jehovah his God, out of the belly of the fish. And Jehovah spoke to the +fish, and it threw up Jonah upon the dry land. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 3:1-4] +And the word of Jehovah came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go +to that great city, Nineveh, and preach to it what I shall tell thee. So +Jonah rose and went to Nineveh, as Jehovah said. Now Nineveh was a great +city before God, of three days' journey. And Jonah began by going through +the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Forty days more and +Nineveh shall be overthrown. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 3:5-9] +And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and +put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. And when +word came to the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, and took off +his robe, and dressed in sackcloth, and sat in the dust. And he made +proclamation and published in Nineveh: By the decree of the king and his +nobles: Man, beast, herd, and flock shall not taste anything; let them +neither eat nor drink water; But let them clothe themselves with +sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily to God, and turn +each from his evil way, and from the act of violence which they have in +hand. Who knows but that God may relent, and turn from his fierce anger, +that we perish not? + +[Sidenote: Jonah 3:10] +And God saw their works, how they turned from their evil way; and God +relented of the evil which he said he would do to them, and did it not. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 4:1-5] +But it displeased Jonah greatly, and he was angry. And he prayed to +Jehovah, and said, Ah now, Jehovah, was not this what I said when I was +yet in mine own country? Therefore I hastened to flee to Tarshish; for I +knew that thou art a God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and +abounding in love, and relenting of evil. Therefore, O Jehovah, take now, +I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to +live! And Jehovah said, Doest thou well to be angry? Then Jonah went out +of the city, and sat down before the city, and there made him a booth, and +sat under it, until he might see what would become of the city. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 4:6-11] +And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that +it might be a shade over his head. So Jonah rejoiced exceedingly over the +gourd. But as the dawn appeared the next day God prepared a worm and it +injured the gourd, so that it withered. And when the sun arose, God +prepared a sultry east wind. And the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, so +that he was faint, and begged for himself that he might die saying, It is +better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Is it well for +thee to be angry about the gourd? And he said, It is well for me to be +angry, even to death! And Jehovah said, Thou carest for a gourd, for which +thou hast not troubled thyself, nor hast thou brought it up--a thing that +came in a night and hath perished in a night. Shall I, indeed, not care +for the great city, Nineveh, in which there are one hundred and twenty +thousand human beings who know not their right hand from their left; +besides much cattle? + +[Sidenote: Eccles. 1:12-18] +I, Koheleth, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my mind to +searching out and exploring wisdom, all that is done under heaven: it is +an evil task that God hath given the children of men at which to toil. I +have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, the +whole is vanity and a striving after wind. The crooked cannot be made +straight; and the wanting cannot be numbered. I communed with myself, +saying, Behold, I have increased and gathered wisdom more than all who +were before me in Jerusalem, and my mind has abundantly beheld wisdom and +knowledge. And I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and +folly: I know that this also is a striving after wind. For in much wisdom +is much trouble, and he who increases knowledge, increases pain. + +[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:1-11] +I said in my mind, Come now, I will test you with pleasure; so look upon +what is attractive; and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, +It is mad; and of pleasure, What does it do? I searched in my mind, how to +Stimulate my flesh with wine, while my mind was guiding with wisdom, and +how to lay hold on folly, until I should see what is good for the children +of men to do under the heavens all the days of their life. I did great +works: I built for myself houses; I planted for myself vineyards; I made +for myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them, every kind of +fruit-tree. I made for myself pools of water, to water a grove springing +up with trees. I bought male and female slaves and had slaves born in my +house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than all who +had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and +gold, and the treasure of kings and of provinces. I secured for myself +male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men, mistresses +of all kinds. And I grew more wealthy than all who were before in +Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. And nothing that my eyes +craved did I keep from them; I did not deny my heart any joy, for my heart +rejoiced because of all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my +hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, +all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no gain under the +sun. + +[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:12-17] +And I turned to behold wisdom and madness, and folly; for what can the man +do who comes after the king? Even that which has been done already. Then I +saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness. The wise +man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness: yet I know +that the same fate overtakes them all. Then I said in my heart, As is the +fate of a fool so will be my fate; so why have I then been more wise? Then +I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise man, even as +of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever, inasmuch as in the days to +come all will have been already forgotten. And how the wise man dies even +as the fool! So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun +is evil to me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind. + +[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:24-26b] +There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and +find his pleasure in his labor. This also I saw that it is from the hand +of God. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment without him? This is +also vanity and a striving after wind. + +I. The Ritualists. Liberty of thought as well as speech was from the +first characteristic of Israel's life and thought. It was one of the many +valuable heritages that the Hebrews brought with them from the free life +of the desert. Their close contact with the outside world, and especially +with Hellenic life and thought during the Greek period, increased this +sense of freedom. The result is that many different currents of thought +are reflected in the Old Testament writings that come from this age. +Most familiar and easiest understood is the ritualistic type. It is +represented by the Chronicler, who lived and wrote some time between 300 +and 250 B.C. For him all life and interest centred about the temple and +its services. In general the vision of the ritualists was turned toward +the past rather than the present and the future. In the traditions +regarding the origin of the temple and its institutions, in keeping the +ceremonial law, in participating in the formal ritual, and in joining +their songs with those of the temple singers they found an escape from +the pettiness of the age and attained that peace and joy which is +expressed in many of the psalms of the Psalter. + +II. The Legalists. Closely related to the ritualists were those whose +interests were all fixed in the study of the law and the teachings of the +earlier priests. They regarded the written laws as a complete guide to +conduct and the embodiment of Jehovah's supreme message to his race. +Psalms like the fragment found in 19:7-14 voice their convictions: + +The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul, +The judgments of Jehovah are true and altogether just. +By them is thy servant warned; in keeping them is great reward. + +They emphasized not merely external acts and words, but inner motives. +In character and in conduct they were noble products of that religion +which Israel had inherited from the past. By them were probably treasured +stories such as are found in the first chapters of the book of Daniel. The +detailed references in chapter 2 to the marriage of Antiochus Theos and +the daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus in 248 B.C. and to the murder of +Antiochus by his former wife Laodicea, together with the absence of +allusions to subsequent events, indicate that these stories were probably +committed to writing somewhere between 255 and 245 B.C. Their aim was +clearly to emphasize the supreme importance of fulfilling faithfully the +demands of the law, even in the face of bitter opposition and persecution, +and the certainty that Jehovah would deliver those who were loyal to him. +Their teachings were especially adapted to inspire the tried and tempted +Jews of the dispersion, who were sorely persecuted by the heathen among +whom they lived. The dramatic picture of men who dared face the fiery +furnace or the hungry lions rather than depart from the demands of the law +undoubtedly proved a great inspiration to the Jews of the Greek period. + +III. The Disciples of the Prophets. Throughout the centuries that +followed the destruction of Jerusalem the great ethical prophets of the +pre-exilic period had never been without spiritual disciples. They +faithfully studied and applied in their own lives the principles laid down +by their earlier guides. Although the influence of the contemporary +prophets constantly waned, yet the spirit of those earlier champions of +the faith lived in the hearts of their followers. In many of the psalms +of the Psalter Amos and Isaiah and Jeremiah speak in terms adapted to the +changed problems of the Jews of the Greek period. In Psalm 46 the trust in +Jehovah which Isaiah advocated has become a living force in the life of +the Psalmist and of the class in behalf of which he spoke. In the +background one hears the march of the multitude armed by Alexander for +world-conquest and the din of conflict as army met army; but over all +stands Jehovah, protecting his sanctuary and people, supreme in the lives +of men and nations. The narrow, nationalistic, messianic hopes have long +since been abandoned, and instead Jehovah is recognized as the one supreme +being whose kingdom or dominion includes all the nations of the earth. In +imagination these disciples of the prophets saw the time when rich and +poor, Jew and Gentile, should bow before Jehovah and be united in loyalty +to him. Thus arose that highest conception of the kingdom of God which is +the foundation of Jesus' teaching. + +IV. The Date and Character of the Book of Jonah. From those who sat at +the feet of the earlier prophets came one of the most remarkable books of +the Old Testament. In literary form the little book of Jonah is closely +akin to the stories in the opening chapters of Genesis and the first half +of the book of Daniel. Its many Aramaic words, its quotations from the +late book of Joel, its universalism, and its missionary spirit all +indicate that it comes either from the closing years of the Persian or +from the earlier part of the Greek period. The story of Jonah, like many +similar stories in the Old Testament, was probably known to the Semites +centuries before it was employed by the author of the book to point his +great prophetic teaching. In the familiar Greek story of Hercules, +Hesione, the daughter of the Trojan king, is rescued by the hero from a +sea-monster which held her in its stomach three days. An old Egyptian tale +coming from the third millennium B.C. tells of an Egyptian who was +shipwrecked and after floating three days was swallowed by a great +sea-monster and thus carried to the land. From India comes the tradition +of a man who went to sea contrary to the commands of his mother. While on +the way the ship was seized by an unknown power and not allowed to proceed +until the offender was three times selected by lot and then cast +overboard. + +V. Teachings of the Book of Jonah. The value and message of the book of +Jonah have in the past been largely overlooked because the true literary +character of the book has been misunderstood. It was never intended by its +author to be regarded as a historical narrative. Its hero Jonah, the son +of Amittai, according to II Kings 14:25, lived during the reign of +Jeroboam II (780-740 B.C.), and predicted the wide extension of the +territory of southern Israel; but the Jonah of the story is evidently a +type of the Jew of the Persian and Greek periods. By showing the pettiness +of his attitude toward the heathen the author sought to broaden the vision +and quicken the conscience of his fellow-Jews. The portrait is remarkably +vivid and suggestive. Jonah fled from Jehovah's land and took refuge in +the sea, not because he feared the Ninevites, but, as he plainly declares +later, because he feared that, if he did preach to the Assyrian foes of +his race, Jehovah would repent and spare them. In the scene in the midst +of the raging tempest the piety of the heathen Sailors and their zeal in +sparing the guilty Israelite stand forth in favorable contrast to Jonah's +action in refusing to carry out Jehovah's command. The Ninevites, clad in +sackcloth, repenting for their sins, and craving Jehovah's forgiveness, +are far more attractive than the sullen prophet, complaining because +Jehovah has spared the heathen foes of his race and later upbraiding +Jehovah because of the destruction of the gourd that for a time had +protected his head from the burning sun. Jehovah's concluding remonstrance +voices the message of the book. Like the New Testament parable of the +Prodigal Son, the story of Jonah presents in graphic form the unbounded +love of the heavenly father and contrasts it sharply with the petty +jealousies and hatred of his favored people. It was a call to Israel to go +forth and become a missionary to all the world and a protest against the +nation's failure to perform its God-given task. + +VI. The Book of Ecclesiastes. Very different is the spirit and purpose +of the book of Ecclesiastes. It evidently comes from one of the many +wisdom teachers who flourished during the Greek period and it speaks in +the name of Solomon. It is an essay on the value of life. In its original +form its thought was so pessimistic that it has been supplemented at many +points by later editors. These insertions include (1) proverbs commending +wisdom and praising the current wisdom teachings, and (2) the work of a +pious scribe, a forerunner of the later Pharisees, who sought to correct +the utterances of the original writer (who is commonly designated as +Koheleth) and to bring them into accord with current orthodoxy. The +language and style of the book are closely akin to those of the Chronicler +and the author of the book of Esther. It also contains several Persian and +possibly one Greek word. The book in its earlier form was evidently known +to Ben Sira, the author of Ecclesiasticus, who lived about 180 B.C. In +4:13-16 and 10:16-17 there are apparent references to the reign of Ptolemy +Epiphanes, who came to the throne of Egypt at the age of five, and whose +court was famous for its dissoluteness and profligacy. The book, +therefore, may be dated with considerable confidence a little before 200 +B.C. It was a corrupt, barren period. Crime was rampant in the temple as +well as at the court in Alexandria (3:16). The people were crushed by the +powerful and were without means of redress (4:1). A despot sat on the +throne (10:5-7) and spies lurked everywhere (10:20). + +VII. Koheleth's Philosophy of Life. The author of the original book of +Ecclesiastes is the spokesman of that class in Judaism who were oppressed +and crushed by this dreary outlook. He evidently lived in Jerusalem and +probably near the temple (5:1 8:10). From the allusions in 7:26, 28 it is +evident that he was unhappily married. From the classic description of old +age found in 11:9-12:7 it would appear that when he wrote he was well +advanced in years, and spoke out of the depths of his own painful personal +experience, having been left without son or close kinsman (4:8). From his +teachings it is clear that he had broken away from the orthodox wisdom +school. Before his enfeebled vision rose the seamy, dreary side of life, +and yet back of the lament of this ancient pessimist is revealed a man of +high ideals, impelled by a spirit of scientific thoroughness. Though he +was intense and eager in his quest for true happiness and in his +analysis of the meaning of life, he found no abiding joy, for his +outlook was sadly circumscribed. Life beyond the grave offered to him +no hope or compensation. He was, however, by no means an agnostic. He +believed in God's rulership of the world; but the God of his faith was +inscrutable, far removed from the life of men. Hence, unlike many of his +contemporaries, as for example the psalmists, he found little joy or +inspiration in his religion. According to the conclusion, which he +proclaimed in the beginning of his essay and held consistently throughout, +all human striving and ambition, even life itself, are but superlative +vanity, nor can man attain any permanent or complete satisfaction. The one +positive teaching which Koheleth reiterates is that it is man's highest +privilege to extract from passing experiences the small measure of joy and +happiness that they offer, and therewith to be content. Compared with many +other Old Testament books, the religious value of Ecclesiastes is slight +indeed. Its chief value, however, is historical: it presents one phase of +thought in the Judaism of this period, and shows how sorely the Jewish +people needed the spur of a great crisis to rouse them to noble and +unselfish action. The book of Ecclesiastes also furnishes the darker +background which brings out in clear relief the inspiring messages of the +great prophets that had gone before, and of the greater Prophet who +was to set before the human race a worthy goal and a fresh and true +interpretation of the value of life. + + + +Section CVII. THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS THE SON OF SIRACH + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 1:1-10] +All wisdom is from the Lord, +And is with him forever. +The sand of the seas, and the drops of rain, +And the days of eternity--who shall number? +The height of the heaven, and the breadth of the earth, +And the depths of the abyss--who shall search them out? +Wisdom hath been created before all things, +And keen insight from everlasting. +To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed? +And who hath known her shrewd counsels? +There is one wise, greatly to be feared, +The Lord sitting upon his throne, +He created her, and saw and numbered her, +And poured her out over all his works. +She is with all flesh according to his gift, +And he giveth her freely to those who love him. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 2:1-5] +My son, if you would serve the Lord, +Prepare your soul for temptation. +Set your heart aright, and be steadfast, +That you may not be dismayed in the time of calamity. +Cleave to him, and depart not, +That you may prove yourself wise at the last. +Accept whatever comes to you, +And be patient in sickness and affliction, +For gold is tried by the fire, +And acceptable men in the furnace of affliction. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 2:6-9] +Put your trust in the Lord, and he will help you, +Hope in him, and he will make smooth your way. +You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy, +And turn not aside lest you fall. +You who fear the Lord trust in him, +And your reward shall not fail. +You who fear the Lord, hope for good things, +And for eternal gladness and deliverance? + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 3:17-20] +My son, if you are rich, walk in humility, +That you will be more beloved than a generous man. +The greater you are, humble yourself the more, +And you shall find favor before the Lord. +For great is the might of the Lord, +And he is glorified by those who are meek. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 3:21-25] +Seek not the things that are too hard for you, +And search not out things that are beyond you. +That over which power has been given you, think thereon, +For you have no business with the things that are hidden. +With that which is out of your field have nothing to do, +For more things are shown to you than you can understand. +For men have many speculations, +And evil theories have led them astray. +Where there is no pupil to the eye, the light fails, +And where there is no understanding, wisdom fails. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 3:26-29] +A stubborn heart fares ill at the last, +But he who loves the good finds it. +A stubborn heart has many troubles, +And the overbearing heap sin upon sin. +For the wound of the scorner there is no healing, +Since he is a plant of an evil kind. +A wise mind understands the proverbs of the wise, +And an ear attentive to wisdom is a joy. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 3:30-4:2, 9, 10] +Water quenches flaming fire, +And right acts make atonement for sins. +He who does a favor--it meets him on his way, +And when he falls he shall find support. +My son, deprive not the poor of his living, +And let not the eyes of the needy grow weary. +Make not a hungry soul groan, +And do not stir up the feelings of him who is smitten. +Deliver the oppressed from the oppressor, +And be not faint-hearted in giving judgment. + +Be as a father to the fatherless, +And instead of a husband to the widow; +So will God call you his son, +And be gracious to you and save you from destruction. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 4:20-22] +Observe the opportunity and beware of evil, +And be not ashamed of yourself. +For there is a shame that brings sin, +And another shame, glory and grace. +Do not be obsequious to your own shame, +And do not humiliate yourself until it is a sin against yourself. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 4:23-25, 28, 29] +Hold not back speech, in its proper time, +And hide not your wisdom. +For by speech wisdom shall be known, +And instruction by the word of the tongue. +Speak not against the truth, +But be humble because of your own ignorance. +Strive for the right even to death, +And the Lord will fight for you. +Be not boastful with your tongue, +And slack and remiss in your work. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 4:30, 31] +Be not as a lion in your house, +Nor arrogant and suspicious among your servants. +Let not your hand be stretched out to receive, +And closed when you should repay. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 5:1, 2a] +Set not your mind upon your possessions, +And say not, They are sufficient for me. +Follow not your own mind and strength, +To walk in the desires of your heart. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 6:2, 4] +Do not give yourself up to your passion, +Lest it like a bull eat up your strength. +For a wild passion destroys its possessor, +And makes him the laughing-stock of his enemies. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 6:5-8] +Well ordered speech makes friends, +And a gracious tongue wins kindly greetings. +Let those who are friendly toward you be many, +But your confidant one of a thousand. +If you would get a friend, get him by testing, +And do not give him your confidence too quickly. +For there is many a fair-weather friend, +But he does not remain in the day of need. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 6:14-16] +A faithful friend is a strong defence, +And he who finds him finds a treasure. +There is nothing equal to a faithful friend, +And his worth is beyond price. +A faithful friend is a source of life, +And he who fears the Lord finds him. +He who fears the Lord directs his friendship aright, +For as he is, so is his friend. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 7:12, 13] +Devise not a lie against your brother, +Nor do the like to a friend or associate. +Never take pleasure in speaking a falsehood. +For its outcome is not good. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 7:20, 21] +Do not treat badly a servant who serves you faithfully, +Nor a hired servant who gives to you his best. +Love a sensible servant as your own self, +Defraud him not of liberty. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 7:22, 23] +Honor your father with your whole heart, +And forget not the pangs of your mother. +Remember that of them you were born, +And now you can recompense them for what they have done for you. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 7:29, 30] +Fear the Lord with all your soul, +And regard his priests with reverence. +Love your Creator with all your strength, +And do not neglect his ministers. + +I. Date and Character of Jesus, the Son of Sirach. Out of the large +number of anonymous books that come from the Persian and Greek periods one +stands forth unique. It is the Wisdom of Ben Sira. With the exception of +the Psalter and Isaiah, it is the largest book that has come to us from +ancient Israel. Fortunately, its date and authorship may be determined +with reasonable certainty. In the prologue to the Greek translation, its +translator describes himself as the grandson of Jesus, the son of Sirach, +and states that he went to Egypt in 132 B.C. Hence it is probable that his +grandfather wrote some time during the early part of the second century +B.C. The appreciative description of Simon the high priest in the fiftieth +chapter of Ben Sira indicates that its author was a contemporary as well +as an admirer of that famous head of the Judean community. From the +references in the rabbinical writings, as well as from the definite +statement of Eusebius, it is reasonably certain that this Simon lived +between 200 and 175 B.C. Furthermore, the quotations in the writings of +Ben Sira from Ecclesiastes in its original form imply that he wrote during +the latter part of the Greek period. The complete absence of any reference +to the Maccabean struggle also proves beyond question that he lived before +168 B.C. These facts indicate that the date of his writing was somewhere +between 190 and 175 B.C. + +In the Hebrew version the name of this famous sage appears as Jesus, the +son of Eleazar, the son of Sira. In the Greek version, however, he is +known simply as Jesus, the son of Sirach. Ben Sira, or Sirach, was +apparently his family name, while Jesus is the Greek equivalent of Jeshua +or Joshua. From his writings it may be inferred that he belonged to a +well-known Jerusalemite family. It is also not improbable that he was +connected with the high-priestly line. His references to Simon the high +priest reveals his deep sympathies with the ecclesiastical rulers of +Jerusalem. The closing words in the Hebrew version of 51:12 are equally +significant: "Give thanks to him who chose the sons of Sadok to be +priests." In his teachings Ben Sira is in some respects a forerunner of +the later Sadducees. Evidently he was a man of influence in the Judean +community. His fame as a wise man doubtless attracted many disciples. He +was deeply interested in every phase of life. While his point of view was +somewhat similar to that of Koheleth, his outlook was thoroughly +optimistic. His teachings were positive rather than negative. His faith +was that of the fathers, and his purpose constructive. Out of the wealth +of teachings inherited from the past, and also out of his own personal +experience and observation, he sought to inspire right ideals in the young +and to develop them into happy and efficient servants of God and of their +fellow-men. In this respect he was a worthy representative of the wise who +during this period moulded the life of Judaism. + +II. His Writings. The prologue to the Greek version of the wisdom of +Sirach states that he was a devoted student of the earlier scriptures of +his race. In 33:16 he acknowledges, in all modesty, his indebtedness to +the past: + +I awakened last of all as one who gathers after the great gatherers, +By the blessing of the Lord I profited and filled my wine-press as one + who gathers grapes. + +It was natural, therefore, that he should write down his teachings in the +language of his fathers. Unlike most of his contemporaries, he possessed +a classical Hebrew style. Like the wise men whose teachings are preserved +in the book of Proverbs, he put his thought into poetic, proverbial form. +In his book there is a definite, logical arrangement of ideas. The first +part consists of a series of essays on various topics. The same subject is +often dealt with in many different settings (e.g., choice of friends, +6:5-17, 7:18, 12:8-12, 37:1-5). These brief essays are grouped together, +and each group is provided with a brief introduction, usually in +commendation of wisdom. Apparently the first half of the book consists of +notes based on Ben Sira's early teachings. Each group of sayings may +well represent his teachings on a given occasion. In 31:21 through 50:24 +is found the roll call of Israel's spiritual heroes, beginning with a +psalm in praise of Jehovah's majesty and power and concluding with the +description of Simon the high priest. This latter part of the book is +clearly a pure literary creation, and was probably added by him as a +conclusion to the collection of his wisdom teachings. + +III. History of the Book. The book containing the writings of Ben Sira +was known under a variety of titles. The Latin Church followed the Greek +in calling it Ecclesiasticus. This term was applied to those books which +were not in the canon, but were held to be edifying and proper for public +use in the churches. The Hebrew text of Ben Sira enjoyed wide currency, +was frequently quoted by the later rabbis, and was often referred to by +later Jewish and Christian writers. It was almost completely supplanted in +time, however, by the Greek version. Jerome was acquainted with the Hebrew +version, but most of the Church fathers followed the Greek. Ben Sira was +apparently quoted by Jesus, by Paul, and by the authors of the Epistle of +James and of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Twenty or thirty such references +or allusions are found in the New Testament. It was also a great favorite +with the Church fathers, who quoted from it even more frequently than from +the other Old Testament writings. It was adopted in the canon of the Greek +and Latin Church; but, in common with the other apocryphal books, was +given a secondary place by the Protestant reformers. Unfortunately, during +the earlier part of the last century it ceased to be printed in the +standard editions of the Bible. The modern revival of interest in the +apocryphal books, both in Europe and America, is tending to restore this +book, in common with I Maccabees, to the position which they certainly +deserve in the practical working canon of the Old Testament. The discovery +in 1896 of a fragment of the original Hebrew manuscript of Ben Sira, and +the subsequent recovery of many other parts, have also tended to arouse +wide interest in this hitherto much-neglected book. Hebrew portions of +thirty-nine out of the fifty-one chapters have thus far been discovered. +Most of them come from about the eleventh Christian century and are of +widely differing values. By means of these, however, and the quotations by +the Jewish rabbis and Christian fathers and in the Greek, Syriac, and +Latin versions, it is now possible to restore most of the original Hebrew +text, and the resulting translation is far superior to those based on the +Greek text. + +IV. Its Picture of Jewish Life. Ben Sira has given a vivid picture of +the domestic, economic, and social life of the Jews of his age. The +debased, Oriental conception of marriage had corrupted the atmosphere of +the home. Wives were regarded as the possessions of their husbands, and +the immoral influence of Hellenism still further undermined the purity +and integrity of many a Jewish home. Greek customs and usages were +pervading Palestine more and more. Ben Sira refers to banquets with their +accompaniments of music and wine. Even these meet with his approval. +Agriculture and commerce are the chief occupations of the people. In +general Ben Sira voices the wholesome Jewish attitude toward labor: + +Hate not laborious work; +Neither agriculture that the Most High hath ordained. + +He is especially strong in his commendation of physicians: + +Be a friend to the physician, for one has need of him, +For verily God hath appointed him. +A physician receives his wisdom from God, +And from the king he receives presents. +The knowledge of a physician causes him to lift up his head, +And before the princes may he enter. +God created medicines out of the earth, +And a prudent man will not be disgusted with them. + +The following proverb has a universal application: + +He who sins before his maker, +Let him fall into the hands of his physician! + +V. Rise of the Scribes. The writings of Ben Sira reveal the close +connection between the earlier wise and the later scribes. He lived at +the period when the wise man was turning scribe. He himself had a +profound respect for the law: + +A man of understanding will put his trust in the law, +The law is faithful to him as when one asks at the oracle. + +One of his fundamental teachings is formulated in the proverb: + +Fear the Lord and glorify his priests, +And give him his portion even as it is commanded. + +Elsewhere he declares: + +The leisure of the scribe increases his wisdom, +And he who has no business becomes wise. + +In his famous description of the typical wise man in 39:1-11 may be +recognized many of the traits of the later scribes. As the law and the +ritual gained greater prominence in the life of Judaism, it was inevitable +that it should command the attention of the practical teachers of the +people. Thus gradually the wise devoted themselves to its study and +interpretation, ever emphasizing, however, thought and conduct as well +as conformity to the ritual. Scribism was greatly enriched by its lineal +inheritance through the earlier wise, and long retained the proverbial, +epigrammatic form of teaching and that personal attitude toward the +individual and his problems which was one of their greatest sources of +strength. The honor which the early scribes enjoyed was well deserved. +Their methods were free from the casuistry that characterized many of +the later scribes. They not only copied and guarded the law, but were +its interpreters, applying it practically to the every-day problems of the +people as well as to their duties in connection with the temple service. +Their influence upon the Jews in this early period was on the whole +exceedingly wholesome, and from their ranks rose the martyrs that a +generation later were ready to die for the law. + +VI. The Teachings of Ben Sira. Ben Sira was acquainted with Greek +culture and shows at several points familiarity with Greek ideals and +methods of thinking, but his point of view in general was distinctly +Jewish. He gathered together all that was best in the earlier teachings +of his race. In many ways he represents an advance beyond all that had +gone before and a close approximation to the spirit and teachings of Jesus +of Nazareth. The God of his faith was omnipotent, majestic, omniscient, +just, and merciful. He was the God of all mankind, although it was through +Israel that he especially revealed himself. Ben Sira did not, like +Ezekiel, think of God as far removed from the life of men and as +communicating with them only through angels, but as directly and +personally interested in the experiences and life of the individual. In +23:1, 4 he addresses him as Lord, Father, and Master of my life. Thus he +employs in the personal sense the term Father, which was most often on the +lips of the Great Teacher of Nazareth. In Ben Sira's stalwart faith and +simple trust there is also much that reminds us of the Greater than +Solomon. Like the teachers who had preceded him, he had, however, no clear +belief in individual immortality (cf. 41:3-4, 38:16, 23) The only reward +after death that he could hold up before a good man was his reputation: + +A good life has its number of days, +But a good name continues forever. + +Consistent with the orthodox wisdom school, he taught that rewards for +right living came in this life: + +Delight not in the delights of the wicked; +Remember they shall not go unpunished to the grave. + +Even though he lacked the inspiration of future hope, Ben Sira taught +loyalty to God and fidelity to every duty. Justice toward all, +consideration for the needs of the suffering and dependent, and generosity +to the poor are constantly urged by this noblest Jew of the age. + + + +Section CVIII. THE CAUSES OF THE MACCABEAN STRUGGLE + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:10-15] +Now there came forth from [Alexander's successors] a sinful root, +Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king, who had been a hostage at +Rome, and he began to reign in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of +the Syrian rule (175 B.C.). In those days there appeared certain lawless +Israelites who persuaded many, saying, Let us go and make a covenant with +the heathen about us; for since we have stood aloof from them many evils +have befallen us. And the proposal met with approval. And certain of the +people were ready to do it, and went to the king who gave them the right +to do as the heathen. Then they built a place for gymnastic exercise in +Jerusalem according to the customs of the heathen. They also made +themselves uncircumcised, and, forsaking the holy covenant, fraternized +with the heathen, and sold themselves to do evil. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:16-19] +Now when Antiochus saw that his authority was well established, he thought +to reign over Egypt, that he might reign over the two kingdoms. So he +invaded Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots and elephants and +horsemen, and with a great navy. And he made war against Ptolemy, king of +Egypt. And Ptolemy was defeated by him and fled, and many fell mortally +wounded. And they seized the strong cities in the land of Egypt, and he +took the spoils of Egypt. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:20-22, 24-28] +Then after Antiochus had conquered Egypt he returned in the hundred and +forty-third year (169 B.C.) and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with +a great multitude. And he insolently went into the sanctuary, and took the +golden altar, and the candelabrum, and all that belonged to the table of +the showbread, and the cups for libations, and the bowls, and the golden +censers, and the curtain and the garlands; and the decorations which were +on the front of the temple--he scaled them all off. And taking all, he +went away into his own land, after he had made a great slaughter, and had +spoken very insolently. Thus a great mourning came to the Israelites +wherever they were. + +And the rulers and elders groaned, +he virgins and young men were made feeble. +And the beauty of the women was changed. + +Every bridegroom took up a lamentation, +She that sat in the marriage chamber was in heaviness. +And the land was shaken because of its inhabitants, +And all the house of Jacob was clothed with shame. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:29-40] +After two years the king sent a chief collector of tribute to the cities +of Judah, who came to Jerusalem with a great multitude. And he spoke words +of peace to deceive them, and they trusted him. Then he attacked the +city suddenly, and inflicted a severe blow on it, and destroyed many +Israelites. And he took the spoils of the city, and set it on fire, and +pulled down its houses and walls on every side. They took captive the +women and the children, and gained possession of the cattle. Then they +walled in the city of David with a great and strong wall, with strong +towers, and it served as a citadel. And they put there sinful people, +lawless men. And they fortified themselves in it. And they stored up +weapons and food and, gathering together the spoils of Jerusalem, they +stowed them away there. + +And the citadel became a great trap, +And served as a place of ambush against the sanctuary, +And an evil adversary to Israel continually. +And they shed innocent blood on every side of the sanctuary +And polluted the sanctuary. +Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of this, +And she became the habitation of foreigners. +And she became strange to those who were born in her, +And her children forsook her. +Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness. +Her feasts were turned into mourning, + Her sabbaths into a reproach, + Her honor into contempt, +So great as was once her glory, so now was her dishonor, +And her exaltation was turned into mourning. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:41-53] +Then King Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom commanding that all should +be one people, and that each should give up his own laws. And all the +heathen nations yielded to the demand of the king. Many Israelites too +consented to worship him and sacrificed to the idols, and profaned the +sabbath. And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the +cities of Judah commanding them to follow customs foreign to the land, and +to prevent the making of whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices and +libations in the sanctuary, and to profane the sabbaths and feasts, and +pollute the sanctuary and the holy things, to build altars, temples, and +shrines for idols, and to sacrifice swine's flesh and unclean beasts; also +to leave their sons uncircumcised, to stain their souls with all manner of +uncleanness and profanation, so that they might forget the law, and change +all the customs. And that whoever would not do as the king commanded +should die. Thus he wrote to his whole kingdom; and appointed overseers +over all the people, who commanded the cities of Judah to sacrifice city +by city. Then many of the people, every one who had forsaken the law, +gathered about them. And they did evil things in the land, and caused the +Israelites to hide themselves in all their places of refuge. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:54-58] +On the twenty-fifth day of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-fifth +year, they built an abomination of desolation upon the altar; and in the +cities of Judah on every side they built idol altars. And at the doors of +the houses and in the streets they burnt incense. And tearing in pieces +the books of the law which they found, they set fire to them. And wherever +a book of the covenant was found in the possession of anyone, or if anyone +obeyed the law, the king's decree sentenced him to death. Thus they did in +their might month by month to the Israelites who were found in the cities. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:59-63] +And on the twenty-fifth day of the month they sacrificed upon the idol +altar which was upon Jehovah's sacrificial altar. And the women who had +circumcised their children they put to death according to the command. And +they hanged their babies about their necks, and destroyed their households +with those who had circumcised them. But many in Israel made strong +resolutions not to eat unclean things, choosing to die that they might not +be defiled with the meats, and might not profane the holy covenant. So +they died. And exceedingly great woe came upon Israel. + +I. Character and Contents of I Maccabees. The first book of Maccabees is +in many ways the best history that has come down from ancient Israel. +Luther's conclusion that it was more deserving of a place in the Old +Testament canon than, for example, the book of Esther is now being widely +accepted both in theory and practice. The religious spirit in which it is +written, the importance of the events with which it deals, and the +faithfulness with which they are recorded, all confirm this conclusion. It +is the work of a devoted patriot, who appears to have been personally +acquainted with the events which he records. He was an ardent admirer of +Judas Maccabeus, and may well have been one of the many valiant Jews who +rallied about this sturdy champion. The author was familiar with the early +histories of his race, for he has adopted many of the phrases peculiar to +the books of Samuel and Kings. His idioms leave no doubt that he wrote in +Hebrew, although this version has been lost. + +The first book of Maccabees opens with a brief reference to Alexander the +Great and to the Greek rulers who succeeded him. The detailed history, +however, begins with Antiochus Epiphanes and continues to the death of +Simon in 135 B.C. The references in the prologue to the rebuilding of the +walls of Jerusalem by Simon's son, John Hyrcanus, between 135 and 125 +B.C., and the absence of any allusions to the more important events in the +latter part of his reign, indicate that his history was probably completed +by 125 B.C. It was written, therefore, less than half a century after all +the events which it records took place. While the author is a true patriot +and keenly interested in the history of his race, he does not allow his +patriotism to carry him into exaggeration. He reveals the true historical +spirit and a splendid reserve in recounting the epoch-making events that +he records. + +II. Character and Contents of II Maccabees. In marked contrast with I +Maccabees is the second book which bears this name. The author states in +2:19-32 that it was based on an earlier five-volume history written by +Jason, of Cyrene, in northern Africa. The final epitomizer of this earlier +work probably lived not long after 50 B.C. Jason himself appears to have +lived somewhere between 160 and 140 B.C. and to have written from northern +Syria. The language of the original was evidently Greek. The aim of the +author was didactic rather than historical, and he drew freely from +popular tradition. In general character it corresponds closely to the work +of the Chronicler, who compiled the Old Testament books of Chronicles and +Ezra-Nehemiah. The miraculous element is prominent, numbers are frequently +enlarged, and Israel's disasters are minimized. Notwithstanding all of its +obvious faults, II Maccabees has preserved many important historical +facts. Where its testimony differs from that of I Maccabees, the latter in +general should be followed, but its account of the events which led to the +Maccabean uprising are much more detailed than those of I Maccabees, which +it supplements at many important points. With the aid of these two +histories it is possible to gain a remarkably vivid and detailed +conception of the half-century that witnessed the reawakening of Judaism +and the birth of a new national spirit. + +III. Aggressive Character of Hellenic Culture. Jewish life and religion +were at times almost uprooted, but never fundamentally transformed by the +Babylonian and Persian conquerors. Alexander, however, and those who +followed in his wake introduced an entirely new and aggressive force into +the life and thought of Palestine. The centuries that began with 332 B.C. +witnessed the most important struggle that the world has ever seen. It was +fought not on the open battle-field, but wherever in Palestine and the +lands of the dispersion the currents of that ancient life and commerce met +and mingled. It was the age-long conflict between Hellenism and Judaism, +those two mighty forces that had long been maturing in the coast lands of +the northern and eastern Mediterranean. The outcome of this contest was +destined to affect the civilization and faith of all the world throughout +the ages. + +Judaism represented the life and faith of a peasant people, while +Hellenism was born in the city. Wherever Hellenism went, it found +expression in civic life. The heathen races of Palestine, the Phoenicians +and Philistines on the coast, and the east-Jordan peoples readily welcomed +the superior civilization of the conquerors. It appealed powerfully to +their intellectual, social, and aesthetic sense, and, in the debased form +that it assumed in the East, to their passions. Even the Samaritans +readily accepted it; and the city of Samaria was settled by a colony of +Macedonian soldiers. The ancient cities of Gaza, Askelon, Accho under +the name of Ptolemais, Tyre, Sidon, Damascus, Bethshean under its new name +Scythopolis, Rabbath-ammon under the name of Philadelphia, and most of the +important east-Jordan cities were soon transformed into active centres of +Hellenic culture. Civic pride and patriotism took possession of their +inhabitants. Most of the cities had a senate and magistrates elected each +year by popular vote. Many of them were adorned by magnificent public +buildings, including a forum, theatre, stadium, hippodrome, and gymnasium. +Civic patriotism took the place of the old despotism and selfish +individualism. Each Hellenic city gave to its citizens new ideals and +opportunities. The discussions of the forum, the agora, and the gymnasium +inspired them with political, social, and intellectual interests. The +plays in the theatres, the races in the hippodrome and stadium amazed and +fascinated them. Many of the youths were enlisted in the clubs that were +formed in connection with the gymnasium, and all classes participated in +the public festivities. + +IV. Contrast Between Hellenism and Judaism. In the broad perspective of +history it is clear that both Hellenism and Judaism were essential to the +upbuilding and broadening of the human character and ideals. Hellenism in +its nobler form brought what Judaism lacked, and Judaism was fitted to +correct the evils and fatal weaknesses of Hellenism. Ben Sira vaguely +recognized this, and sought to reconcile these two types of civilization; +but in the second century B.C. men were chiefly aware of the glaring +contrasts. Compared with the splendor of the life in the Greek cities that +of the orthodox Jews seemed crude and barbarous. The intense horror with +which the Jews viewed every form of idolatry led them to reject all forms +of art. Their hatred of sensuality and immorality led them to regard with +aversion the sports and exercises of the gymnasium and the attendant +licentiousness. The practical teachers of Israel looked with suspicion +upon the subtleties of the different Greek philosophical schools. On the +other hand, the homely, domestic joys of the average Jew and his intense +devotion to the service of the temple and to the faith of his fathers +seemed contemptible to those familiar with the brilliant, voluptuous life +of the Hellenic cities. Hellenism protested against the narrowness, +barrenness, and intolerance of Judaism; Judaism protested against the +godlessness and immorality of Hellenism. Both were right in their +protests, and yet each in a sense needed the other. + +V. Apostasy of the Jews and the Perfidy of the High Priests. At the +beginning of the second century B.C. the Judean state was closely +encircled by a ring of Hellenic cities and subjected on every side to the +seductions of that debased Greek culture which had taken firm root in the +soil of Palestine. As was almost inevitable, many of the Jewish youth +yielded to its attractions. Distaste for the narrowness and austere +customs of their fathers begat in their minds a growing contempt for +their race and its religion. Even some of the younger priests forsook +the temple for the gymnasium. Unconsciously but surely Judaism was +drifting from its old moorings toward Hellenism, until the perfidy of +its high priests and the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes aroused +it to a full realization of its peril. The apostates in Jerusalem found a +leader in Jeshua, who had assumed the Greek name of Jason. He was the +brother of Onias III, the reigning high priest, and had been sent to +represent him at the Syrian court. There he improved the opportunity by +promising greater tribute to secure his appointment as high priest. He was +soon outbid, however, by a certain renegade named Menelaus, who with the +aid of Syrian soldiers drove Jason from Jerusalem and took his place as +head of the hellenizing party. The first cause, therefore, of the +Maccabean struggle was the apostasy of certain of the Jews themselves. +Apparently in large numbers they abandoned the traditions of their race, +and assumed the Greek garb and customs, thus leading their Syrian rulers +to believe that the hellenizing of the entire race would be comparatively +easy. + +VI. Character of Antiochus Epiphanes. The ruler who by his injustice and +persecutions fanned the smouldering flame of Jewish patriotism into a +mighty conflagration was Antiochus Epiphanes. As a youth he had been +educated at Rome with the profligate sons of those who ruled the Imperial +City. The Greek and Roman historians, especially Polybius, give vivid +portraits of this tyrannical king. In him the prevailing passion for +Hellenism found extreme expression. To dazzle his contemporaries by the +splendor of his building enterprises and by his dramatic display was his +chief ambition. In gratifying thus his selfish ambition he drained the +resources of his kingdom, and was therefore obliged to resort to extreme +measures to replenish his treasury. In 170 B.C. he made a successful +campaign into Egypt. Two years later he again invaded the rich land of the +Nile, only to find himself confronted by a Roman general, who peremptorily +ordered him to retreat. Rome was already the chief power in the eastern +Mediterranean, and Antiochus, although in a rage, wisely decided to +retire. It was at this inopportune moment that he found Jerusalem in +revolt, misled by a false report and by the renegade high priest Jason. +Antiochus not only improved this opportunity to loot the temple and slay +many of the inhabitants, but from this time on conceived a bitter +antipathy to the Jewish race. This antipathy he shared in common with all +the Greek world, for already, as a result of the peculiar religion and +customs of the Jews and their success in commercial pursuits, that which +is known to-day as the anti-Semitic spirit was fully developed. One of +Antiochus's chief ambitions was also to hellenize all his subjects, and +the Jews alone offered opposition to the realization of this ambition. +Hence they could expect no mercy at the hands of this selfish, capricious +despot. + +VII. Antiochus's Policy toward the Jews. The measures which Antiochus +employed to crush the faith of Judaism were relentlessly thorough. He +began with the seizure of Jerusalem, the tearing down of its walls, the +fortifying and garrisoning of its citadel with Syrian soldiers and +apostate Jews, and the slaughter of all who refused to accede to his +demands. Not only was the temple service stopped, but the altar was torn +down and desecrated and a heathen altar to Zeus--the abominable desolation +of the book of Daniel--was reared in its place. On this swine's flesh was +sacrificed, and the presence of harlots in the sacred precincts completed +its ceremonial and moral pollution. All the surviving inhabitants of +Jerusalem were compelled to sacrifice and pay homage to the heathen gods. +Those who retained copies of their laws or persisted in maintaining the +customs of their fathers were slain. When many fled to the outlying towns, +emissaries of Antiochus pursued them, demanding of each citizen public +recognition of the Greek gods. A majority of the Jews apparently yielded +to these drastic measures and joined the ranks of the apostates. Of the +many crises through which Israel passed this was in many ways the most +severe; but then it gave to the world some of the noblest martyrs. The +early Christians who perished for their faith were inspired by the example +of their Master and by the hope of blessed, individual immortality. To the +Jews of the Greek period, however, the great calamity that overtook them +came as a sudden and unexpected blow. No clear hope of immortality at +first inspired them, for, like Ben Sira and the earlier teachers of the +race, the majority of them probably regarded the life beyond death as a +passionless existence in the land of darkness. Even the expectation of +family or racial immortality seemed denied by the dark outlook. They died +as did Eleazar, the aged scribe, simply because of their devotion to the +God and laws of their fathers, and because that loyalty meant more to them +than life. + + + +Section CIX. THE EFFECT OF PERSECUTION ON THE JEWS + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:1-4] +At that time arose Mattathias the son of John the son of Simeon, a priest +of the sons of Joarib, from Jerusalem; and he dwelt in Modein. And he had +five sons, John, who was surnamed Gaddis, Simon, who was called Thassi, +Judas, who was called Maccabeus, Eleazar, who was called Avaran, Jonathan, +who was called Apphus. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:5-14] +When he saw the sacrilegious acts that were being committed in Judah and +in Jerusalem, he said, + +Woe to me! Why was I born +To see the ruin of my people, +And the ruin of the holy city, +And to dwell there while it was being given into the hands of the foe, +The sanctuary into the hands of foreigners? +The temple has become as though it had no glory, +Its splendid vessels have been carried into captivity. +Her children have been slain in the streets, +Her young men by the sword of the enemy. +What people has not taken possession of her palace, +And seized upon her spoils? +All her adornments have been taken away, +From freedom she has been reduced to slavery. +And now our holy things, our beauty and our glory have been laid waste, +And the heathen have polluted them. +Why should we still live? + +And Mattathias and his son tore their clothes, and put on sackcloth, and +mourned bitterly. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:15-22] +Now the king's officers who were enforcing the apostasy, came into the +city of Modein to sacrifice. And many of Israel went over to them, but +Mattathias and his sons offered resistance. Then the king's officers said +to Mattathias, You are a ruler and a man honored in this city and +strengthened by sons and brothers. Now therefore come first and do what +the king commands, as all the nations have done, the men of Judah too, +with those who remain in Jerusalem. Then you and your house shall be in +the number of the king's Friends, and you and your sons shall be honored +with silver and gold and many gifts. But Mattathias replied with a loud +voice, If all the nations included in the king's dominion obey him, in +that each is untrue to the worship of his fathers and chooses to follow +his command, yet I and my sons and my brothers will walk in the covenant +made with our fathers. Heaven forbid that we should forsake the law and +the ordinances. We will not listen to the king's words, to go aside from +our worship, either to the right hand or to the left. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:23-28] +And when he had finished saying these things a Jew came in sight of all +to sacrifice on the altar that was in Modein according to the king's +command. When Mattathias saw it, his zeal was kindled and he trembled +inwardly. And he let his anger take possession of him, as was right, and +he ran and slew the Jew upon the altar. Also he killed at that time the +king's officer, who was compelling men to sacrifice, and pulled down the +altar. Thus he showed his zeal for the law, just as Phinehas did in the +case of Zimri the son of Salu. Then Mattathias cried out in the city with +a loud voice, saying, Whoever is zealous for the law and will maintain the +covenant, let him follow me. And he and his sons fled into the mountains, +and left behind all that they had in the city. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:29-38] +Then many who sought justice and right went down into the wilderness, to +dwell there with their sons and wives and cattle, because the evils were +becoming ever harder for them to bear. And it was reported to the king's +officers and to the forces that were in Jerusalem, the city of David, that +certain men who had broken the king's command had gone down into the +hiding places in the wilderness. So many pursued after them, and having +overtaken them encamped against them, and drew up the line of battle +against them on the sabbath day. And they said to them, Things have gone +far enough, now come forth and obey the command of the king and you shall +live. But they said, We will not come forth, neither will we do as the +king commands, to profane the sabbath day. Then they at once offered them +battle. But they made no resistance, neither did they cast a stone at +them, nor stop up the places of concealment, for they said, Let us all die +in our innocency: let heaven and earth bear witness for us, that you put +us to death unjustly. Then they rose up against them in battle on the +sabbath, and thus they died with their wives and children and cattle, to +the number of a thousand souls. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:39-48] +When Mattathias and his friends knew it they mourned bitterly over them. +And they said to each other, If we all do as our brothers have done, and +do not fight against the armed heathen for our lives and our customs, they +will now quickly destroy us from off the earth. So they took counsel that +day, saying, Whoever shall come against us for battle on the sabbath day, +let us fight against him, and we will by no means all die, as our brothers +died in the hiding places. Then there gathered together to them a company +of Hasideans, brave men of Israel, every one who offered himself willingly +for the law. And all who fled from the evils were added to them, and +strengthened them. And they mustered a host. + +And smote the sinners in their anger +And the lawless in their wrath. + +And the rest fled to the heathen for safety. Also Mattathias and his +friends went about and pulled down the altars, and circumcised by force +the children who were uncircumcised, as many as they found in the +territory of Israel. Thus they pursued the sons of arrogance, and the +work prospered in their hand. They took the direction of affairs out of +the hands of the heathen and of the kings, nor did they yield ground to +the sinner. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:49-64] +When the time approached for Mattathias to die he said to his sons, Now +insolence and insult have grown strong, and a period of reversals has +come, with flaming wrath. + +Now, my sons, be zealous for the law, +And give your lives for the covenant of your fathers. +And remember the deeds which your forefathers did in their generations; +And win great glory and everlasting fame. +Was not Abraham found faithful when tested? +And it was counted to him as righteousness. +Joseph in the time of his distress kept the commandment, +And became lord of Egypt, +Phinehas our father, because he was so zealous, +Received the covenant of an everlasting priesthood. +Joshua for carrying out the word of God, +Became a ruler in Israel. +Caleb for bearing witness in the congregation, +Obtained a heritage in the land. + +David for being merciful, +Inherited a kingly throne for ever and ever. +Elijah because he was so zealous for the law, +Was taken up into heaven. +Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael believed, +And were rescued from the flame. +Daniel because of his innocence, +Was delivered from the mouth of lions. +And thus consider from generation to generation: +None who put their trust in him ever want strength. +Then be not afraid of the words of a sinful man; +For his glory shall be dung and worms. +To-day he is exalted, but to-morrow he cannot be found, +Because he has returned to dust, and the memory of him has perished. + +Then my sons be strong, and show yourselves men in behalf of the law; +By so doing you shall obtain glory. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:65-68] +And, behold, Simon your brother, I know that he is a man of counsel; +Obey him always; let him be your adviser. +Judas Maccabeus, too, has been a man of war from his youth; +He shall be your captain, and fight the battle of the people. +And take to yourselves all law-abiding men, +And avenge the wrong of your people. +Render a recompense to the heathen, +And give heed to the commands of the law. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:69-70] +Thus he blessed them and was gathered to his fathers. And he died in the +one hundred and forty-sixth year, and his sons buried him in the +sepulchres of his fathers at Modein, and all Israel made a great +lamentation for him. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:1-8] +In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and +visions of his head upon his bed. Then he wrote down the dream: I saw in +my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven broke forth upon +the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different +from the other. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I looked +until its wings were stripped off, and it was lifted up from the earth, +and made to stand upon two feet as a man; and a man's heart was given to +it. And behold, a second beast, like a bear; and it was raised up on one +side, and three ribs were in its mouth, between its teeth; and they said +thus to it: Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo, another +like a leopard, which had upon its sides four wings of a bird; and the +beast had also four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw +in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrible and fearful, +and exceedingly strong; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke +in pieces and stamped the rest with its feet; and it differed from all the +beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I gave attention to the +horns, and behold another little horn came up amongst them, before which +three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this +horn were eyes, like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:9, 10] +I waited until thrones were set up, and an aged one took his seat; his +clothing was white as snow, and his hair like spotless wool, his throne +was fiery flames, its wheels burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came +forth before him; thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten +thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set and the +books were opened. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:11, 12] +I looked at that time because of the sound of the great words which the +horn spoke--I looked even until the beast was slain, and its body +destroyed, and given to be fuel for the fire. Also the rule of the rest of +the beasts was taken away; but their lives were prolonged for a fixed time +and season. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:13, 14] +I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of +heaven one like to a son of man, and he came even to the Aged One, and was +brought near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory, and +sovereignty that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; +his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his +sovereignty one which shall not be destroyed. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:15-18] +As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved by reason of this, and the +visions of my head troubled me. I came near to one of those who stood by, +and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made me +know the interpretation of the things. These four great beasts are four +kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High +shall receive the sovereignty, and possess the sovereignty forever, even +for ever and ever. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:19-22] +Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was +different from all of them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, +and its nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the +rest with its fourth feet; and concerning the ten horns that were on its +head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three horns +fell--it that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, and it +appeared to be greater than the rest. I looked, and the same horn made war +with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the Aged One came, and +judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the fixed time came +that the saints possessed the sovereignty. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:23-27] +Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which +shall be different from all the kingdoms; and shall devour the whole +earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And as for the ten +horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise; and another shall arise +after them; and he shall be different from the former, and he shall put +down three kings. And he shall speak words against the Most High, and +shall continually harass the saints of the Most High; and he shall think +to change the fixed times and the law; and they shall be given into his +hand until a time and times and half a time. But the judgment shall be +set, and they shall take away his kingdom, to consume and to destroy +finally. And the sovereignty, and the dominion, and the greatness of the +kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall surely be given to the people +of the saints of the Most High; his sovereignty is an everlasting +sovereignty, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 12:1-3] +And at that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands for +the children of my people; and there shall be a time of affliction such as +there never was since there was a nation, even to that time; and at that +time thy people shall be delivered, every one who shall be found written +in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall +awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting +contempt. And they who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the +firmament; and they who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever +and ever. + +I. The Uprising Led by Mattathias. The persecutions of Antiochus + +Epiphanes had at last reached the point where patient submission and even +martyrdom ceased to be a virtue. His agents had successfully carried the +merciless, hellenizing campaign throughout practically all the territory +of Judea. It was not until they reached its extreme northwestern border +that they met the first open opposition. The little town of Modein lay out +on the edge of the great plain where the central hills of Palestine break +down into low foot-hills. These are intersected by rushing brooks and +clear, crystal streams that descend from the heights above. The town lay +on a rounded hill about one-third of a mile in diameter that rises +abruptly in a series of steep terraces. The Wady Malakeh encircled it on +the south and west. On the northeastern side, where lies the modern town, +was a broad shoulder of land slightly lower and larger than the acropolis. +In ancient times it was probably the site of the lower city. Deep, +encircling valleys on the north and east completed the natural defences of +this border village that became the altar of Jewish freedom. To-day the +scattered ruins of the acropolis are covered in spring-time with a +luxuriant growth of grain and olive trees, making it one of the most +picturesque mounds in Palestine. + +It is surprising that the revolt against the cruel tyranny of Antiochus +was led by an aged priest. Like many priests, his home was outside +Jerusalem. Evidently he was one of the chief men of Modein. He was +descended from the family of Hasmon, hence his descendants, who ultimately +became the independent rulers of their race, are sometimes called the +Hasmonians. In Mattathias the long-suppressed, hot indignation of the +Jewish race at last found expression. In slaying the apostate Jew and +Syrian official, Mattathias evoked that warlike spirit which had in +earlier days given Israel a home and a place among the nations. His +impulsive act inaugurated a new chapter in Israel's life and thought. In +its far-reaching consequences it was comparable only to Moses' impulsive +slaying of the Egyptian taskmaster. + +II. Party of the Hasideans or Pious. It was fortunate that Mattathias +had five able, mature sons to support him. Simon, the eldest, was already +famous in council. Judas, who bore the surname Maccabeus (whence the word +Maccabees), soon proved himself a great military leader. Jonathan combined +the qualities of Simon and Judas with a certain craftiness that makes +him the least attractive of the three. Eleazar later proved on the +battle-field that he had the qualities that make heroes and martyrs. Among +the Judean hills, and especially in the barren, almost inaccessible +fastnesses that descend in a series of terraces from the central plateau +to the Dead Sea, Mattathias and his followers found refuge. Hither many +patriotic Jews had already fled. The Syrian mercenaries, however, led by +the relentless, apostate Jews, pursued them, and, knowing their scruples, +attacked them on the sabbath day and pitilessly slaughtered them. Learning +from this awful example, Mattathias and his sons wisely decided that it +was more important to fight for their lives than to die for a mere +institution. They soon attracted to their standard all who were still +faithful to the law. Chief among these were those known as the Hasideans +or Pious. They were the spiritual successors of the pious or afflicted, +whose woes are voiced in the earlier psalms of the Psalter (Section +XLVII:v). They were also the forerunners of the party of the Pharisees, +which was one of the products of the Maccabean struggle. In them faith and +patriotism were so blended that, like Cromwell's Ironsides, they were +daunted by no odds. At first they depended upon the guerilla type of +warfare, to which the hills of Judea were especially adapted. By enforcing +the law of circumcision, by punishing the apostates, and by attacking +straggling Syrian bands, they encouraged the faltering Jews, and +intimidated the agents of Antiochus. Mattathias soon died, leaving the +leadership to his third son, Judas. The poem recording his dying +injunctions voices the inspiration that came at this time to Israel's +patriots from their nation's past, and that supreme devotion to the law +and dauntless courage that animated the leaders in this great movement. + +III. Date of the Visions in Daniel 7-12. A parallel but different type +of character and hope is reflected in the latter part of the book of +Daniel. In the form of visions or predictions, these chapters interpret +the meaning of the great world movements from the beginning of the +Babylonian to the end of the Greek period. Each vision culminates in +a symbolic but detailed description of the rule and persecutions of +Antiochus Epiphanes. Several passages describe the destructive policies +of this Syrian ruler almost as vividly as the books of Maccabees (Dan. +8:11, 12): "It (Antiochus) magnified itself even to the Prince of the Host +(Jehovah), and took away from him the daily sacrifice, and cast down +the place of his sanctuary, and set up the sacrilegious thing over the +daily sacrifice, and cast down truth to the ground, and did it and +prospered." + +Daniel 11:20-44 contains a review of the chief events of Antiochus's +reign. This description closes with the prediction: "He shall plant his +palace between the Mediterranean and the glorious holy mountain; so he +shall come to his end and none shall help him." Contemporary records +indicate, however, that Antiochus died while engaged in a campaign in +distant Persia and not in western Palestine as the author of Daniel +anticipated. In the other visions, after the description of Antiochus's +persecutions, the details suddenly give place to general predictions, +implying that at this point the author turned from the contemplation +of past and present events to that which was to him future. The great +victories of Judas and his followers that led to the restoration of the +temple in 165 B.C. are nowhere mentioned. In 11:34 is found an allusion +to the Maccabean uprising: "Now when they are falling they shall be helped +with a little help; but many shall join themselves to them with false +protestations." This movement, clearly, is not regarded by the author as +significant. The date of these visions, therefore, may be fixed with great +confidence between the years 168 and 166 B.C. + +IV. Their Real Character and Aim. In interpreting these visions it is +important to note that they belong to the so-called apocalyptic type of +literature. Already Ezekiel and Zechariah had employed the complex +symbolism of the apocalypse to stir the imagination and strengthen the +faith of their discouraged countrymen. The aim of the author of the +closing chapters of Daniel was primarily to present a religious philosophy +of history. Through the rise and fall of nations Jehovah's purpose was +slowly but surely being realized. They are the expression of the eternal +optimism of the prophets. They voice their deathless hope that "the best +is yet to be." They were intended to encourage those in the midst of +persecution with the assurance that God was still in his heaven, and that +all would yet be right with his world. + +V. The Four Heathen Kingdoms and the Kingdom of God. In the symbolism of +the prophet the four beasts of Daniel 7 represented the Chaldean, Medean, +Persian, and Greek Empires. The fourth beast with iron teeth that devoured +and broke in pieces the rest was clearly the empire of Alexander, and the +little horn that sprang up was the little horn which gored and mangled the +helpless people of Jehovah. Opposed to the four beasts which represented +the angels, or demons, the champions of each of the great heathen +kingdoms, was Israel's patron angel Michael. It is this angel that is +apparently referred to in 7:13 as coming from heaven, and in appearance +like to a son of man. At Jehovah's direction he was to establish a +glorious, universal kingdom, the citizens of which were to be the saints, +the faithful Jews who remained loyal to Jehovah during the long, cruel +persecutions. Not only those who survived but the martyrs sleeping in the +dust of the earth were to awake and receive their glorious reward. The +apostates were to be sentenced to everlasting shame and contempt. The wise +teachers and martyrs who by word and example had striven to keep their +race loyal to Jehovah were to be exalted in the coming messianic kingdom. +Thus these visions reveal the hopes that inspired certain of the Jewish +race in its period of supreme trial: the belief that Jehovah through his +angel would speedily overthrow the power of the heathen persecutor, that +he would establish a universal kingdom in which his own people should have +chief place, and finally that even the bonds of death would not hold those +who had died for the law. Thus at last out of this struggle Judaism +emerged with a new-found faith in individual immortality. It was still +bound up in the belief in the bodily resurrection, but at last the +imperishable worth of the individual had become one of the cornerstones +of Israel's religion. + + + +Section CX. THE VICTORIES THAT GAVE THE JEWS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:1-9] +Then his son Judas, who was called Maccabeus, rose up in his place. And +all his brothers helped him, as did all those who had supported his +father, and they fought with gladness the battle of Israel. + +He spread far and wide the fame of his glory +And put on his breastplate like a giant, +And girded on his weapons of war, +And set battles in array, +Protecting the army with his sword. +He was like a lion in his deeds, +And as a lion's whelp roaring for prey. +He pursued the lawless, seeking them out, +And he burnt up those who troubled his people. +The lawless shrunk for fear of him, +And all the workers of lawlessness were greatly terrified; +And deliverance was attained through him. +He angered many kings, +And made Jacob glad with his acts; +And his memory is blessed forever. +He went about among the cities of Judah, +And destroyed the godless from the land, +And turned away the wrath of God from Israel. +And he was renowned to the ends of the earth. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:10-12] +Then Apollonius gathered the heathen together and a great army from +Samaria to fight against Israel. And when Judas learned of it, he went +out to meet him, and defeated and slew him; and many fell mortally +wounded, while the rest fled. And they captured their spoils, and Judas +took the sword of Apollonius, with which he fought all his days. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:13-15] +When Seron, the commander of the army of Syria, heard that Judas had +gathered a large force of faithful men about him, who went with him to +war, he said, I will make myself famous and gain renown in the kingdom; +for I will fight with Judas and those with him, who are defying the +command of the king. And there went up with him also a mighty army of the +godless to help him, to take vengeance on the Israelites. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:16-22] +As he approached the ascent of Bethhoron, Judas went forth to meet him +with a small company. But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they +said to Judas, How shall we, few as we are, be able to battle against so +great a multitude? and we are faint also, having tasted no food to-day. +Then Judas said, It is an easy thing for many to be shut up in the hands +of a few; and with Heaven it is equally easy to save by many or by few; +for victory in battle does not depend upon the size of an army, but from +Heaven comes the strength. They come to us full of insolence and +lawlessness, to destroy us with our wives and children and to plunder us; +but, as for us, we are fighting for our lives and our laws. And he himself +will crush them before our face; so do not be afraid of them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:23, 24] +Now when he had finished speaking, he leaped suddenly upon them, and Seron +and his army were put to flight before him. And they pursued them by the +descent of Bethhoron to the plain, and there fell of them about eight +hundred men; but the rest fled into the land of the Philistines. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:25-31] +Now the fear of Judas and his brothers and the dread of them began to fall +upon the nations round about them. And his reputation reached the king, +for every nation was telling of the battles of Judas. But when King +Antiochus heard these things, he was filled with indignation and sent +and gathered together all the forces of his realm, a very strong army. +And he opened his treasury and gave his forces pay for a year, and +commanded them to be ready for every emergency. And seeing that money was +scarce in his treasury and that the tributes of the country were small, +because of the dissension and calamity which he had brought upon the land, +for the purpose of taking away the laws which had been in force from the +earliest days, he feared that he should not have enough, as at other +times, for the expenses and the gifts which he had formerly given with a +liberal hand, in which he had surpassed the kings who had been before him. +And he was exceedingly perplexed in his mind, and determined to go into +Persia and to take the tributes of the countries and to gather much money. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:32-37] +So he left Lysias, an honorable man and one of the royal family in charge +of the affairs of the king from the River Euphrates to the borders of +Egypt and to bring up his son Antiochus, until he returned. And he +delivered to him the half of his forces and the elephants, and gave him +charge of all the things that he wished to have done and concerning those +who dwelt in Judea and in Jerusalem, that he should send a force against +them, to root out and destroy the strength of Israel and the remnant of +Jerusalem, and to take away their memory from the place, and that he +should make foreigners dwell in all their territory and should divide +their land to them by lot. Then the king took the remaining half of the +forces and set out from Antioch his capital, in the one hundred and +forty-seventh year, and, crossing the Euphrates, he went through the upper +countries. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:38-41] +Now Lysias chose Ptolemy the son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor, and Gorgias, +influential men among the king's Friends, and with them sent forty +thousand footmen and seven thousand horsemen to go into the land of Judah +to destroy it, as the king had ordered. And they set out with all their +army and pitched their camp near Emmaus in the plain. And the merchants of +the country heard the rumors about them, and taking silver and gold in +large quantities, and shackles, they came into the camp to get the +Israelites for slaves. There were added to them the forces of Syria and of +the Philistines. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:42, 43, 46-54] +Then Judas and his brothers saw that evils were increasing and that the +forces were encamping in their territory, and when they learned of the +commands which the king had given to destroy the people and make an end of +them, they said to each other, + +Let us raise up the ruin of our people +And let us fight for our people and the sanctuary; + +So they gathered together and came to Mizpeh, opposite Jerusalem; for in +Mizpeh there was a place of prayer for Israel. And they fasted that day, +and put sackcloth and ashes on their heads and tore their clothes, and +spread out the book of the law--one of those in which the heathen had been +painting images of their idols. And they brought the priests' garments +with the first-fruits, and the tithes, and they cut the hair of the +Nazirites who had accomplished their days. And they cried aloud toward +Heaven, saying, What shall we do with these and whither shall we carry +them away? For thy sanctuary is trodden down and profaned, and thy priests +are in sorrow, and humiliation. And now the heathen have assembled +together against us to destroy us. Thou knowest what plans they are making +against us. How shall we be able to stand before them, except thou be our +help? And they sounded with the trumpets, and cried with a loud voice. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:55-60] +And after this Judas appointed leaders of the people, commanders over +thousands, over hundreds, over fifties, and over tens. And he told those +who were building houses and those who were planting vineyards and those +who were afraid, to return, each to his own house, as the law commanded. +Then the army removed and encamped upon the south side of Emmaus. And +Judas said, Gird yourselves and be valiant men; and be ready in the +morning to fight with these heathen who are assembled together against us +to destroy us and our sanctuary. For it is better for us to die in +battle than to see the misfortunes of our nation and of the sanctuary. +Nevertheless, let Heaven do whatever be his will. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:1-6a] +And Gorgias took five thousand footmen, and a thousand chosen horsemen, +and the army set out by night, that it might fall upon the army of the +Jews and attack them suddenly. And the men of the citadel were his guides. +But when Judas heard of it, he broke camp with his valiant men, that he +might attack the king's army which was at Emmaus, while as yet the forces +were dispersed from the camp. And when Gorgias came to the camp of Judas +by night, he found no one. Then he looked for them in the mountains, +thinking that the men were fleeing from him. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:6b-11] +But as soon as it was day, Judas appeared in the plain with three thousand +men; only they had neither armor nor swords as they wished. When now they +saw the camp of the heathen strongly fortified and cavalry about it and +experienced warriors there, Judas said to the men who were with him, Fear +not their multitude neither be afraid of their attack. Remember how our +fathers were saved in the Red Sea, when Pharaoh pursued them with a host. +And now let us cry to Heaven, if he will show favor to us and will +remember the covenant made with our fathers and destroy this army before +our face to-day, that all the heathen may know that there is one who +redeemeth and saveth Israel. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:12-15] +Then when the foreigners lifted up their eyes and saw them coming toward +them, they went from their camp to battle. And those who were with Judas +sounded their trumpets and joined battle; and the heathen were defeated +and fled into the plain. But all who were in the rear fell by the sword, +and they pursued them to Gazara and to the plains of Idumea and Azotus and +Jamnia, and there fell of them about three thousand men. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:16-25] +When Judas and his army returned from pursuing them, he said to the +people, Do not be greedy for the spoils, since there is a battle before +us, and Gorgias and his army are near us in the mountain. But stand now +against our enemies and fight them, and afterward you may openly take the +spoils. While Judas was still speaking there appeared a part of them, +looking out from the mountain; and these saw that their army had been put +to flight and that the Jews were burning their camp, for the smoke that +was seen showed what had been done. And when they perceived these things, +they were thrown into a panic, and seeing the army of Judas also in +the plain ready for battle, they all retreated into the land of the +Philistines. And Judas returned to sack the camp, and they took much gold +and silver and blue and sea-purple and great riches. Then they returned +home and sang a song of thanksgiving and gave praise to Heaven, because he +is good, because his mercy endureth forever. Thus Israel had a great +deliverance that day. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:26, 27] +But the foreigners, as many as had escaped, came and told Lysias all the +things that had happened. And when he heard it he was astonished and +discouraged, because neither had Israel met with reverses as he wished nor +had what the king commanded been realized. + +[Footnote: I Macc. 4:28-34] +Now in the next year [Lysias] gathered together sixty thousand picked +footmen and five thousand horsemen, that he might subdue [the Jews]. When +they came to Idumea and encamped at Bethsura, Judas met them with ten +thousand men. As he saw that the army was strong, he prayed and said, +Blessed art thou, O Saviour of Israel, who didst shatter the attacking +power of the mighty man by the hand of thy servant David, and didst +deliver the army of the heathen into the hands of Jonathan the son of +Saul, and of his armor-bearer. + +Shut up this army in the hand of thy people Israel, +And let them be ashamed of their army and their horsemen. +Give them faintness of heart, +And let their bold courage melt away, +And let them tremble at their destruction. +Cast them down by the sword of those who love thee, +So that all may know thy name who praise thee with thanksgiving. + +Then they joined battle; and there fell of the army of Lysias about five +thousand men, and they fell on the spot before them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:35] +But when Lysias saw that his army was retreating, and the boldness that +had come upon those who were with Judas, and how they were ready either to +live or to die nobly, he removed to Antioch and gathered together hired +soldiers, that he might come again into Judea with a still greater force. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:36-51] +Then Judas and his brothers said, Now that our enemies have been defeated, +let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and to dedicate it again; so they +went up to Mount Zion. And all the army was gathered together and went up +to Mount Zion. And when they saw the sanctuary laid desolate, the altar +profaned, the gates burnt, and shrubs growing in the courts, as in a +forest or as on one of the mountains, and the priests' chambers pulled +down, they tore their garments and made great lamentation, and putting +ashes upon their heads, they fell prone upon the ground. Then they blew a +signal on the trumpets and cried to Heaven. And Judas appointed certain +men to fight against those who were in the citadel, until he should have +cleansed the sanctuary. And he chose priests who were unimpeachable +observers of the law, who cleansed the sanctuary and carried out the +polluted stones to an unclean place. And they deliberated as to what they +should do with the altar of burnt-offerings which had been profaned. They +finally reached this wise decision: to pull it down lest it should be a +reproach to them, because the heathen had defiled it. So they pulled down +the altar and laid the stones on the temple mount in a convenient place, +until there should come a prophet to give an oracle concerning them. Then +they took whole stones as the law required and built a new altar after the +design of the former. They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the inner parts +of the temple and consecrated the courts. They also made the holy vessels +new and brought the candlestick and the altar for burnt-offerings and for +incense and the table into the temple. And they burned incense on the +altar and lighted the lamps that were on the candlestick, and they gave +light in the temple. Then they set loaves upon the table and spread out +the veils. So they finished all the work they had undertaken. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:52-61] +And they arose early in the morning of the twenty-fifth day of the ninth +month, which is the month Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth +year (165 B.C.) and offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new +altar of burnt-offering which they had made. About the same time and on +the same day, in which the heathen had profaned it, was it dedicated again +with songs and harps and lutes and with cymbals. And all the people +prostrated themselves and worshipped and gave praise to Heaven, who had +given them good success. And they celebrated the dedication of the altar +eight days, and offered burnt-offerings with gladness and sacrificed a +sacrifice of deliverance and praise. And they decorated the front of the +temple with crowns of gold and small shields and rededicated the gates and +the priests' chambers and made doors for them. And great joy reigned among +the people, because the reproach of the heathen had been removed. And +Judas and his brothers and the whole congregation of Israel decreed that +the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their seasons +from year to year for the period of eight days, from the twenty-fifth day +of the month Chislev, with gladness and joy. At that time also they +fortified Mount Zion with high walls and strong towers all round, lest by +any chance the heathen should come and tread them down, as they had done +before. And he stationed there a force to keep it, and they fortified +Bethsura, that the people might have a stronghold in Idumea. + +I. The Character of Judas. Judas Maccabeus was a man of unquestioned +courage. In the many battles which he fought he was always found at the +forefront in the most desperate engagement. More than that he was able to +arouse courage in a people that for centuries had learned only to bow +unresistingly before their conquerors. All the evidence found in the two +books of Maccabees indicates that he was inspired by the noblest +patriotism. The motive power in his patriotism was devotion to the law and +customs of his race. In this respect he was a leader supremely acceptable +to the Hasideans or Pious, who rallied about his standard. In any other +age or setting his devotion would have seemed but fanaticism. The +situation, however, was extremely critical. Disloyalty to the law and the +distinctive rites of Judaism was treason. If ever in the world's history +it was justifiable to meet force by force and to unshield the sword in +behalf of religion, this certainly was the occasion. In his military +tactics Judas revealed the cunning that characterizes the hunted. He +developed great skill in choosing a strategic position and in launching +his followers against a vulnerable point in the enemy's line. In this +respect he showed himself a disciple of David's able general Joab. They +were the same tactics that Napoleon employed so effectively in later days +and on larger battle-fields. Judas resembled in many ways Israel's first +king, Saul. He was impetuous, patriotic, intense, and energetic. He was +especially skilled in leading a sudden attack. His task also was +strikingly similar to that of Israel's first king, and like Saul in his +later days he showed the same inability to organize and hold his followers +in a time of comparative peace. + +II. Obstacles against Which Judas Contended. When Judas was called to +champion the cause of the Jews, they were hated by the rest of the world. +It was a disorganized band of fugitives that rallied about him, without +homes, resources, or arms. Opposed to him were the large armies of a +powerful empire. The Greek mercenaries that fought in the Syrian ranks +were armed with coats of mail and the best weapons known to the ancient +world. They were also thoroughly trained in the art of war and under the +direction of experienced generals. On every battle-field the Syrians +outnumbered the Jews almost six to one. Pitted against Judas and his +followers were apostates of his own race, who knew the land, were able to +spy out the movements of the Jews, and were inspired by the bitterest +hatred. The few advantages on the side of Judas were: first, his followers +were aroused to heroic deeds by the peril of the situation. In the second +place they were inspired by an intense religious zeal. The one force +throughout Semitic history that has bound together tribes and nations and +made the Semite an almost invincible fighting power has been religion. +The familiar illustrations are the Mohammedan conquests that swept +victoriously across the Bosporus and conquered Constantinople, also across +northern Africa, and surged into southern Europe over the Straits of +Gibraltar and threatened for a time completely to engulf the Western +civilization. Familiar modern illustrations are the Mahdist insurrections +that have from time to time taxed the resources of the English in northern +Africa. In the third place the land of Judea, with its narrow western +passes rapidly ascending to the heights above, enabled Judas to choose his +battle-field at a point where only a few of the enemy could be brought +into action and where a handful of valiant men could keep an army at bay. + +III. Defeat of Apollonius and Seron. At first Judas wisely confined +himself to guerilla warfare. This enabled him in time to clothe and arm +his followers with the garments and weapons taken from the enemy. The most +important of these smaller engagements took place north of Jerusalem. As +Apollonius, the Syrian governor of Samaria, was advancing into Judea, +Judas suddenly fell upon the Syrians and slew their leader. Henceforth the +sword of the Syrian governor was effectively wielded by Judas in behalf of +religious liberty. + +News of the victory soon brought Seron, the governor of Coele-Syria, with +a large army. He advanced from the coast plain by the most direct road to +Jerusalem over the famous pass of the Bethhorons. Within a distance of two +miles the road ascended nearly fifteen hundred feet. At points it was +merely a steep, rocky pass, so that an invading army was forced to march +single file and to pull themselves up over the rocks. Here on the heights +that looked out toward his home at Modein Judas, appealing to the faith +and patriotism of his men, swept down upon the enemy and won his first +great victory. + +IV. The Battle of Emmaus. The first great Jewish victory was a severe +blow to the power of Antiochus Epiphanes, for at that time he was +confronted by a depleted treasury. He therefore left his kingdom in charge +of Lysias, one of his nobles, and set out on a campaign into Persia from +which he never returned. Three generals with a large army were sent by +Lysias against the Jews. So confident were they of a Syrian victory that a +horde of slave merchants accompanied the army that they might purchase the +Jewish captives. This time the Syrians avoided the difficult pass of +Bethhoron and chose the Wady Ali, along which the modern carriage road +winds up from the coast to Jerusalem. The main camp was pitched at Emmaus +at the southeastern side of the Plain of Ajalon under the Judean hills. +Meantime Judas had selected as his head-quarters the lofty hill of Mizpah, +associated by earlier tradition with Samuel and the scene of the +short-lived rule of Gedaliah. It was well chosen, for it commanded a view +of the territory to the north, south, and west. While the army of the +Syrians, sent by night to surprise Judas, were marching up the northern +valley, the Jewish patriots were led westward toward the plain along one +of the parallel valleys that penetrated the Judean hills. Having appealed +to the patriotic memories and the religious zeal of his followers, Judas +led them in a sudden early morning attack against the Syrians encamped +near Emmaus. Soon the Syrians were in wild flight across the plain to the +Philistine cities, and Judas and his followers were left in possession of +the camp and its rich spoil. Panic also seized his pursuers when they saw +their camp in possession of the enemy, and Judas was left for the moment +undisputed master of the land of his fathers. This victory in the year +166 B.C. was in many ways the most sweeping and significant in early +Maccabean history. + +V. The Battle at Bethsura. The next year Lysias himself gathered a huge +army of sixty thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry and led them +against the Jews. This time the Syrians advanced through the broad valley +of Elah where David had fought against the Philistine giant. Thence they +followed the Wady Sur, turned southward and then eastward, penetrating to +the top of the Judean plateau a little north of Hebron. Approaching from +this point the Syrians were protected in their rear by the Idumeans, the +descendants of the Edomites. They succeeded in reaching the point where +the road from the west joins the central highway from Hebron to Jerusalem. +There on a sloping hill crowned with the border town of Bethsura, Judas +was able to rally ten thousand followers to meet the huge Syrian army. +From the parallel account in II Maccabees it is clear that he did not +succeed in winning a decisive victory, but a crisis in Antioch suddenly +compelled Lysias to return, leaving the Jews in possession of the +battle-field. + +VI. Restoration of the Temple Service. With mingled sadness and +rejoicing Judas proceeded at once to Jerusalem and with his followers took +up the task of restoring the desecrated temple and its service. The +citadel of Acra, which appears to have been situated on the Hill of Ophel +to the south of the temple, was still strongly garrisoned by apostate Jews +and Syrian soldiers. For nearly a quarter of a century, until the days of +Simon, it continued to be held by Syrian forces, and remained a constant +menace to the peace of Jerusalem. The vivid account of the purification of +the temple reveals the intense devotion of the Jews to this ancient +sanctuary, and throws clear light upon the nature of its service. This +epoch-making act is commemorated even to-day by the Jews throughout the +world and is known as the Feast of Lights. It is a memorial of that +successful struggle for religious freedom in which Principles were +established that have affected the thought and action of all succeeding +generations. Through all their many vicissitudes and under their many +Gentile rulers, with few exceptions, the Jews have enjoyed uninterruptedly +the right of worshipping in accordance with the dictates of their law and +the customs of their fathers. + +VII. The New Spirit in Judaism. Henceforth the law for which their +fathers had poured out their life-blood and for which the Jews had fought +so valiantly was regarded with new and deeper veneration and its commands +gained a new authority. Again the Jews had enjoyed a taste of freedom and +had learned that by united and courageous action they could shake off the +hated heathen yoke. This new warlike note is sounded in many of the later +psalms of the Psalter. Chapters 9-14, appended to the older books of +Zechariah, apparently come from this same period and voice the thought of +the conquerors. The words of the ninth chapter express their joy and +exultation: + +For I have bent Judah to me, +As a bow which I have filled with Ephraim; +I will urge thy sons against the sons of Greece, +And I will make thee like the sword of a hero. +Then Jehovah shall be seen above them, +And his shaft shall go forth like lightning. +Jehovah shall blow a blast upon a trumpet, +And travel on the whirlwinds of the south. +Jehovah of hosts shall defend them; +And they shall devour and tread down the slingstones, +They shall drink their blood like wine, +They shall be filled with it like the crevices of an altar. +And Jehovah their God shall give them victory in that day. +Like sheep he shall feed them in his land. +Yea, how good and how beautiful shall it be! +Corn shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the maidens. + +The victories of Judas in all probability also inspired the messianic hope +expressed in 9:9-10: + +Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. +Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! +Behold thy king will come to thee; +Vindicated and victorious is he, +Humble, and riding upon an ass. +Upon the foal of an ass. +He shall cut off chariots from Ephraim, +And horses from Jerusalem; +The battle-bow shall also be cut off, +And he shall speak to the nations; +His rule shall be from sea to sea, +From the river to the ends of the earth. + + + +Section CXI. THE LONG CONTEST FOR POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:1-5] +Now when the heathen round about heard that the altar had been built and +the sanctuary dedicated as it was formerly, they were very angry and +concluded to destroy the race of Jacob that was in the midst of them, and +they began to slay and destroy among the people. Judas, however, fought +against the people of Esau in Idumea at Akrabattine, because they besieged +Israel, and he defeated them with a great slaughter and humbled their +pride and took their spoils. He remembered the wickedness of the +inhabitants of Baean, who were a source of annoyance and of danger, lying +in ambush for them along the roads. And they were shut up by him in the +towers, and he besieged them and destroyed them utterly and burned the +towers of the place, with all who were in them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:6-8] +Then he passed over to the Ammonites and found a strong force and many +people, with Timotheus as their leader. And he fought many battles with +them, and they were defeated before him, and he conquered them. Then when +he had gained possession of Jazer and its villages, he returned again into +Judea. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:9-15] +Then the heathen who were in Gilead gathered together against the +Israelites who were on the borders to destroy them. And they fled to the +stronghold of Dathema and sent letters to Judas and his brothers, saying, + +The heathen who are about us have gathered together against us to destroy +us, and they are preparing to come and get possession of the stronghold to +which we have fled for refuge, and Timotheus is the leader of their +forces. Now therefore come and rescue us from their power, for many of our +men have fallen; and all our countrymen who dwell in the land of Tob, have +been put to death, and they have carried into captivity their wives and +children and their possessions. And they destroyed there about a thousand +men. While the letters were being read, there came other messengers from +Galilee with their garments torn, bringing a message of similar import, +saying, That there were gathered together against them men of Ptolemais, +of Tyre, of Sidon, and from all heathen Galilee to destroy them +completely. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:16-20] +Now when Judas and the people heard these things, a great assembly came +together to consult what they should do for their kinsmen who were in +distress and being attacked by the heathen. And Judas said to Simon his +brother, Choose men, and go, rescue your countrymen who are in Galilee, +but Jonathan my brother and I will go into the land of Gilead. And he left +Joseph the son of Zacharias and Azarias, as leaders of the people, with +the rest of the army in Judea, in order to guard it. And he gave orders to +them, saying, Take charge of the heathen until we return. And to Simon +were assigned three thousand men to go to Galilee and to Judas eight +thousand men to go into the land of Gilead. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:21-23] +Then Simon went into Galilee and fought many battles with the heathen, and +the heathen were defeated by him. And he pursued them to the gate of +Ptolemais. And there fell of the heathen about three thousand men, and he +took the spoils from them. They took with them those who were in Galilee +and in Arbatta, with their wives and their children and all that they had, +and brought them into Judea with great rejoicing. + +[Sidenote: I Mac. 5:45, 54] +Then Judas gathered all the Israelites who were in the land of Gilead, +from the least to the greatest, with their wives and children and their +household possessions, a very great host, that they might go into the land +of Judah. And they went up to Mount Zion with gladness and joy and offered +whole burnt-offerings, because not one of them had been slain, but they +had returned safe and sound. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:65-68, 63] +Then Judas and his brothers went out and fought against the people of Esau +in the land toward the south. And he smote Hebron and the villages +belonging to it and pulled down its citadel and burned the surrounding +towers. Then he set out to go into the land of the Philistines; and he +went through Marissa. On that day certain priests, desiring to do exploits +there, were slain in battle, when they unwisely went out to fight. Then +Judas turned aside to Azotus, to the land of the Philistines, and pulled +down their altars and burned the carved images of their gods and, taking +the spoil of their cities, he returned to the land of Judah. And the hero +Judas and his brothers were greatly honored by all Israel and by all the +heathen wherever their name was heard. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:18-27] +Now those who were in the citadel were hindering Israel round about the +sanctuary and were always seeking to do them harm and were a support to +the heathen. But Judas determined to destroy them and called all the +people together to besiege them. And they were gathered together and +besieged them in the hundred and fiftieth year, and he made mounds from +which to shoot and engines of war. Then some of those who were shut up +came out and certain apostate Israelites joined them. And they went to the +king and said, When will you finally satisfy justice and avenge our +brothers? We were willing to serve your father and to live as he enjoined, +and to obey his commands; but because of this our own people besieged us +in the citadel and were alienated from us; and as many of us as they could +find, they killed and despoiled our inheritances. And not against us only +have they stretched out their hand, but also against all that bordered on +them. And now they are to-day encamped against the citadel at Jerusalem, +to take it, and they have fortified the sanctuary and Bethsura. And if you +do not quickly anticipate them, they will do greater things than these, +and you will not be able to check them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:28-41] +When the king had heard this, he was angry, and gathered together all his +Friends, the officers of his army, and those who commanded the cavalry. +There came to him also from other kingdoms and from isles of the sea, +bands of hired soldiers. So the number of his forces was a hundred +thousand footmen and twenty thousand horsemen and thirty-two elephants +trained for war. Then they went through Idumea and encamped against +Bethsura and carried on the siege a long time and made engines of war. +The besieged, however, sallied out and burned them and fought valiantly. +And Judas departed from the citadel and encamped at Beth-zacharias, +opposite the king's camp. Then the king rose early in the morning and had +his army set out at full speed along the road to Beth-zacharias and his +forces prepared for battle and the trumpets were sounded. And they showed +the elephants the blood of grapes and mulberries, in order to excite them +for the battle. Then they distributed the beasts among the phalanxes and +stationed by each elephant a thousand men armed with coats of mail and +helmets, with brass on their heads; and to each beast five hundred chosen +horsemen were appointed. These were already there, wherever the beast was, +and wherever the beast went, they went with him and did not separate +themselves from him. And upon them were towers of wood, strong, covered, +one girded upon each beast. Upon them were engines and two or three men, +who fought upon them, besides the Indian who guided the elephant. The rest +of the horsemen he stationed on both sides of the two wings of the army to +inspire terror and to protect the phalanxes. And when the sun struck the +golden and bronze shields, the mountain shone with them and blazed like +torches of fire. And a part of the king's army was spread out on the +heights, and some on the low ground, and they moved firmly and in good +order. And all who heard the noise of their multitude, and the marching of +the great numbers, and the rattling of the arms, trembled because the army +was very great and strong. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:42-47] +Then Judas and his army approached for battle, and there fell of the +king's army six hundred men. Now when Eleazar, who was called Avaran, saw +one of the beasts armed with royal breastplates, which was higher than all +the beasts, and it looked as though the king was upon it, he gave himself +to save his people and to gain for himself an everlasting fame; and he ran +upon him courageously in the midst of the phalanx and slew on the right +hand and on the left, and they scattered from before him on either side. +Then he crept under the elephant, thrust him from beneath, and slew him. +And the elephant fell to the earth upon him, and he died there. But when +they saw the strength of the king and the fierce onset of the armies, they +turned away from them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:48-54] +But those who were in the king's army went up to Jerusalem to meet them, +and the king encamped for a struggle with Judea and Mount Zion. And he +made peace with those in Bethsura; for they surrendered the city, because +they had no food there to endure the siege, because the land had a +sabbath. So the king took Bethsura and stationed a garrison there to keep +it. Then he encamped against the sanctuary for a long time; and he set +there mounds from which to shoot and engines of war and instruments for +casting stones and fire, and pieces to cast darts and slings. And they +also erected engines against those of the besiegers and fought for a long +time. But since there was no food in the sanctuary, because it was the +seventh year and those who had fled for safety into Judea from among the +heathen had eaten up what remained of the store of provisions, there were +but a few left in the sanctuary, because the famine became so severe upon +them, and they scattered, each man to his own home. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:55-63] +Now Lysias heard that Philip, whom Antiochus the king, had appointed +during his lifetime to bring up his son Antiochus that he might be king, +had returned from Persia and Media and with him the forces that went with +the king, and that he was trying to get control of the government, he +hastily decided to depart. And he said to the king, and to the officers of +the army and to the men, We are growing weaker every day, our supplies are +scanty, and the place which we are besieging is strong, and the welfare of +the kingdom depends upon us; now therefore let us give the right hand to +these men and make peace with them and with all their nation, and covenant +with them that they may live according to their own customs as formerly; +for because of their laws, which we abolished, they were angered and did +all these things. This counsel pleased the king and the princes, and he +sent to them to make peace. They accepted it, and when the king and the +princes took oath to them, they came out of the stronghold. But when the +king entered Mount Zion and saw the strength of the place, he broke the +oath which he had sworn and gave orders to pull down the wall round about. +Then he set out in haste and returned to Antioch and found Philip master +of the city; and he fought against him and took the city by force. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:1-4] +In the one hundred and fiftieth year, Demetrius the son of Seleucus +escaped from Rome and went up with a few men to a city by the sea, and +there proclaimed himself king. And when he entered the palace of his +fathers, the army seized Antiochus and Lysias, to bring them to him. But +when the fact was made known to him, he said, Do not show me their faces. +And the army slew them. So Demetrius sat upon the throne of his kingdom. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:5-18] +And there came to him all the lawless and the apostate men of Israel, with +Alcimus, their leader, desiring to be high priest. And they accused the +people before the king, saying, Judas and his brothers have destroyed all +your Friends, and have scattered us from our own land. Now therefore send +a man whom you trust, and let him go and see all the havoc which he has +made of us and of the king's country, and how he has punished them and all +who helped them. So the king chose Bacchides, one of the king's Friends, +who was ruler in the province beyond the River Euphrates, and was a great +man in the kingdom, and faithful to the king. He sent him and also that +godless Alcimus, and confirmed him in the high priesthood, and commanded +him to take vengeance upon the Israelites. So they set out and came with a +great army into the land of Judah, and he sent messengers to Judas and his +brothers with words of peace, deceitfully. But they paid no attention to +their words for they saw that these men had come with a great army. Then +there were gathered together to Alcimus and Bacchides a company of +scribes, to seek for justice. And the Hasideans were the first among the +Israelites who sought peace with them; for they said, One who is a +descendant of Aaron has come with the forces and he will do us no wrong. +And he spoke words of peace to them, and took oath to them, saying, We +will seek the hurt neither of you nor of your friends. And they put +confidence in him. But he seized sixty of them, and slew them in one day, +as it is written in the Scriptures, + +The flesh of thy saints... +And their blood they poured out round about Jerusalem; +And there was no man to bury them. + +And the fear and hatred of them fell upon all the people, for they said, +There is neither truth nor justice in them; for they have broken the +covenant and the oaths which they made. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:13-26] +And when Judas saw that Alcimus and his company had done more mischief +among the Israelites than the heathen, he went out into the whole +territory of Judea round about and took vengeance on the men who had +deserted from him, and they were restrained from going forth into the +country. But when Alcimus saw that Judas and his company were growing +strong and knew that he was not able to withstand them, he returned to the +king and brought evil charges against them. So the king sent Nicanor, one +of his honored princes, a man who hated Israel and was their enemy, and +commanded him to destroy the people. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:27-32] +When Nicanor came to Jerusalem with a great army, he sent to Judas and his +brother a message of peaceful words with deceitful intent, saying, Let +there be no battle between us. I will come with a few men, that I may see +your faces in peace. And he came to Judas, and they saluted one another +peaceably. But the enemies were prepared to take away Judas, by violence. +And when the fact was clear to Judas, that he had come to him with deceit, +he was very much afraid of him and would see his face no more. So Nicanor +knew that his plan was discovered, and he went out to meet Judas in battle +near Capharsalama. And there fell of those with Nicanor about five hundred +men. Then they fled into the city of David. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:33-38] +Now after these things Nicanor went to Zion. And when some of the priests +came out of the sanctuary, and some the elders of the people, to salute +him peaceably and to show him the whole burnt-offering that was being +offered for the king, he mocked them, and laughed at them, and abused +them, and talked insolently. He also swore in a rage, saying, Unless Judas +and his army are now delivered into my hands, if I come again in peace, I +will burn up this temple. He went out in a great rage. Then the priests +went in and stood before the altar and the temple; and they wept and said, +Thou didst choose this temple to be called by thy name, to be a house of +prayer and supplication for thy people. Take vengeance on this man and his +army, and let him fall by the sword. Remember their blasphemies, and let +them live no longer. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:39-48] +And Nicanor set forth from Jerusalem and encamped in Bethhoron, and there +the army of Syria met him. But Judas encamped in Adasa with three thousand +men. Then Judas prayed and said, When they who came from the king +blasphemed, thine angel went out and smote among them an hundred and +sixty-five thousand. Even so destroy thou this army before us to-day, and +let all the rest know that he hath spoken wickedly against thy sanctuary, +and judge thou him according to his wickedness. So on the thirteenth day +of the month Adar the armies joined battle; and Nicanor's army was +defeated, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle. And when his +army saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw away their weapons and fled. +And [the Jews] pursued them a day's journey from Adasa as far as Gazara +when they sounded the trumpet-signal for the return. Then they came out +from all the villages of Judea on every hand and outflanked them; and the +one turned them back on the other army, and they all fell by the sword, so +that none of them was left. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:47-50] +And they took the spoils and the booty, and they struck off Nicanor's head +and his right hand, which he had stretched out so haughtily, and brought +them and hung them up in the citadel of Jerusalem. And the people were +very glad. They also enacted an ordinance for the celebration of this day +year by year, the thirteenth day of Adar. So the land of Judah had rest +for a brief period. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:1-6] +When Demetrius heard that Nicanor had fallen with his forces in battle, he +sent Bacchides and Alcimus again into the land of Judah a second time, and +the southern wing of his army with them. And they went by that way that +leads to Gilgal, and encamped against Masaloth, which is in Arbela, and +gained possession of it and destroyed many people. And the first month of +the hundred and fifty-second year they encamped against Jerusalem. Then +they set out and went to Berea with twenty thousand footmen and two +thousand horsemen. And Judas was encamped at Elasa, and three thousand +chosen men with him. And when they saw the multitude of the forces, that +they were many, they were greatly frightened, and many slipped away from +the army, so that there were left of them not more than eight hundred men. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:7-10] +And when Judas saw that his army had dispersed, he was deeply troubled, +because he had no time to gather them together, and he grew discouraged. +And he said to those who were left, Let us arise and go up against our +adversaries, if perhaps we may be able to fight with them. And they would +have dissuaded him, saying, We shall not be able; but let us rather save +our lives now; let us return again with our fellow-countrymen and fight +against them, for we are few. But Judas said, Far be it from me so to do, +that I should flee from them. For if our time has come, let us die +manfully for the sake of our fellow-countrymen and not leave a cause of +reproach against our honor. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:11-18] +Then the army set out from the camp and drew up to meet them; and the +cavalry drew up into two companies, and the slingers and the archers went +before the army, with all the strong, foremost warriors. But Bacchides was +in the rear wing. Then the phalanx advanced on both sides, and they +sounded their trumpets. And Judas's men also sounded their trumpets, and +the earth shook with the shout of the armies; so the battle was begun and +continued from morning until evening. And when Judas saw that Bacchides +and the strength of his army were on the right side, all who were brave in +heart went with him, and the right wing was defeated by them, and he +pursued them to the slope of the mountains. And they who were on the left +wing, when they saw that the right wing was defeated, turned and followed +upon the footsteps of Judas and of those who were with him. And the battle +grew fierce, and many on both sides fell mortally wounded. Then Judas fell +and the rest fled. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:19, 20] +And Jonathan and Simon took Judas their brother and buried him in the +sepulchre of his fathers at Modein. And they bewailed him, and all Israel +made great lamentation for him and mourned many days, and said, + +How is the hero fallen, +The saviour of Israel! + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:22] +And the rest of the valiant acts of Judas, and his wars and the valiant +deeds which he did, and his greatness--they have not been recorded, for +they were very many. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:23-27] +Now after the death of Judas, the apostates showed themselves in all the +territory of Israel, and all who practised injustice flourished. About the +same time there was a very severe famine, and the whole people sided with +them. Then Bacchides selected the godless men and made them rulers of the +country. And they conducted a thorough search for the friends of Judas and +brought them to Bacchides, and he took vengeance on them and tortured them +cruelly. Then great tribulation came upon Israel, such as had not been +since the time that prophets had ceased to appear among them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:28-35] +Thereupon all the friends of Judas assembled and said to Jonathan, Since +your brother Judas has died, we have no one like him to go out against our +enemies and Bacchides and against those of our own kin who hate us. Now +therefore we have chosen you this day to be our prince and leader in his +place that you may fight our battles. So Jonathan assumed the leadership +at that time and took the place of his brother Judas. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:1-6] +Now in the one hundred and sixtieth year, Alexander the son of Antiochus +Epiphanes went up and took possession of Ptolemais, and they received him, +and he reigned there. When King Demetrius heard of it, he gathered very +large forces and went out to meet him in battle. Demetrius also sent +letters to Jonathan with words of peace, so as to honor him greatly. For +he said, Let us get the start in making peace with them before he makes a +compact with Alexander against us. For he will remember all the wrongs +that we have done to him, and to his brothers and his nation. And he gave +him authority to collect forces and to provide arms and to be his ally. +Also he commanded that they should deliver up to him the hostages who were +in the citadel. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:7-14] +Then Jonathan came to Jerusalem, and read the letters in the hearing of +all the people, and of those who were in the citadel. And they were +greatly afraid when they heard that the king had given him authority to +collect an army. And the garrison delivered up the hostages to Jonathan, +and he restored them to their parents. And Jonathan took up his residence +in Jerusalem and began to rebuild and renew the city. And he commanded +those who did the work to build the walls and Mount Zion round about with +square stones for defence; and they did so. Then the foreigners, who were +in the strongholds which Bacchides had built, fled, and each man left his +place and went into his own land. Only some of those who had forsaken the +law and the commandments were left at Bethsura, because it was an asylum +for them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:15-17] +And when King Alexander heard all the promises which Demetrius had made to +Jonathan and had been told of the battles which he and his brothers had +fought and the valiant deeds that they had done and of the hardships which +they had endured, he said, Shall we find such another man? Now therefore +let us make him our friend and ally. So he wrote letters and sent them to +him with contents like these: + +King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greeting: We have heard of you +that you are a valiant man and fit to be our friend. And now we have +appointed you to-day to be high priest of your nation and to be called the +king's Friend (and he sent to him a purple robe and a crown of gold), and +to take our part and to remain on friendly terms with us. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:21] +And Jonathan put on the holy garments in the seventh month of the hundred +and sixtieth year at the feast of tabernacles, and he gathered together +forces, and provided arms in abundance. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:67-71] +Now in the one hundred and sixty-fifth year, Demetrius son of Demetrius, +came from Crete into the land of his fathers. Then King Alexander heard of +it, and he was exceedingly troubled and returned to Antioch. And Demetrius +appointed Apollonius, who was over Coele-Syria, and he collected a great +army and encamped in Jamnia, and sent to Jonathan the high priest this +message: + +You alone are hostile to us, and I have become a laughing-stock and butt +of ridicule on account of you. Now why do you flaunt your power against us +in the mountains? If, indeed, you trust your forces, come down to us in +the plain, and there let us try the matter together, because with me is +the power of the cities. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:74-76] +Now when Jonathan heard the words of Apollonius, he was stirred to anger, +and he chose ten thousand men and went forth from Jerusalem, and Simon his +brother met him to help him. And he encamped against Joppa. The people of +the city, however, shut him out, because Apollonius had a garrison in +Joppa. So they fought against it. Then the people of the city were afraid +and opened to him, and Jonathan became master of Joppa. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:20-27] +At that time Jonathan gathered together the people of Judea to take the +citadel that was at Jerusalem, and he erected many engines of war against +it. Some, however, who hated their own nation, apostates, went to the +king, and reported to him that Jonathan was besieging the citadel. And +when he heard it, he was angry, and immediately after he heard of it he +set out and came to Ptolemais, and wrote to Jonathan that he should not +besiege it, and that he should meet him and confer with him at Ptolemais +with all speed. But when Jonathan heard this, he gave orders to proceed +with the siege, while he chose certain of the elders of Israel and of the +priests, and putting himself in peril, and taking silver and gold and +garments, and various presents besides, he went to the king at Ptolemais. +And he was favorably received; and although some apostates of the nation +Made complaints against him, the king treated him just as his predecessors +had done and exalted him in the presence of all his Friends, both +confirming to him the high priesthood, and all the other honors that he +had before, and giving him preeminence among his Chief Friends. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:28, 29] +And Jonathan requested the king to make Judea free from tribute, together +with the three districts of Samaria, and he promised him three hundred +talents. And the king consented and wrote letters to Jonathan concerning +all these things. + +I. The Political Situation. The position of the Jewish patriots was both +perilous and tragic. A ring of hostile peoples pressed them closely on +every side. The Jews were the victims of centuries of wrong and hatred. +Those residing in the neighboring lands also suffered from this widespread +and bitter hostility. Among all the peoples of southwestern Asia they had +no allies except the Nabateans, an Arabian people that had driven the +Edomites from their home on Mount Seir. The only bond that bound them to +this ambitious heathen race was the common hatred of the Syrians. It was +natural, therefore, that Judas a little later should send an embassy with +the object of securing the moral support, if not the direct intervention, +of the distant Roman power whose influence was beginning to be felt +throughout all the Mediterranean coast lands. For the present, however, +Judas was dependent simply upon the sword for defence. He also had no time +for permanent conquest, for he must prepare himself for the heavier blow +that the court of Antioch was preparing to deliver. All that he could do, +therefore, was to make sudden attacks upon his foes on every side and +rescue the persecuted Jews by bringing them back with him to Judea. + +II. The Jewish Attitude toward the Heathen Reflected in the Book of +Esther. In these perilous circumstances it is not strange that the Jews +gravitated far from the position of broad tolerance advocated by the II +Isaiah and the authors of the prophecy of Malachi and in the stories of +Ruth and Jonah. In the stress of conflict they completely lost sight of +their mission as Jehovah's witnesses to all the world. The destruction of +the heathen seemed to them absolutely necessary if Jehovah's justice was +to be vindicated. The spirit of this warlike, blood-thirsty age is most +clearly formulated in the book of Esther. The presence of Aramaic and +Persian words testify to its late date. It is closely allied to the +midrashim or didactic stories that were a characteristic literary product +of later Judaism. Like the stories of Daniel, the book of Esther contains +many historical inconsistencies. For example, Mordecai, carried as a +captive to Babylon in 597 B.C., is made Xerxes's prime-minister in 474 +B.C. Its pictures of Persian customs are also characteristic of popular +tradition rather than of contemporary history. Its basis is apparently an +old Babylonian tradition of a great victory of the Babylonians over their +ancient foes, the Elamites. Mordecai is a modification of the name of the +Babylonian god Marduk. Estra, which appears in the Hebrew Esther, was the +late Babylonian form of the name of the Semitic goddess Ishtar. Vashti +and Hamman, the biblical Haman, were names of Elamite deities. Like +the story of creation, this tale has been Hebraized and adapted to the +story-teller's purpose. His aim is evidently to trace the origin of the +late Jewish feast of Purim. It is probable that this feast was an +adaptation of the Babylonian New-Year's feast which commemorated the +ancient victory. The story in its present form is strongly Jewish. It +exalts loyalty to the race, but its morality is far removed from that of +Amos and Isaiah. Its exultation over the slaughter of thousands of the +heathen is displeasing even in a romance, although it can easily be +understood in the light of the Maccabean age in which it was written. + +III. Campaigns against the Neighboring Peoples. The first book of +Maccabees records in detail the repeated blows that Judas struck against +his heathen foes. At Akrabattine, probably identical with the Scorpion +Pass at the southwestern end of the Dead Sea, he fought and won a signal +victory over his hereditary foes, the Idumeans. His chief enemy on the +east was Timotheus, the leader of the Ammonites against whom Judas was +successful in the preliminary skirmishes. Angered by these defeats, the +heathen east of the Jordan attacked the resident Jews, who fled to one of +the towns, where they were besieged. Judas, assembling six thousand of his +picked warriors, made a rapid march of three days out into the wilderness. +He apparently carried few supplies, but depended rather upon the spoil of +the captured towns for support. Bosra, far out on the borders of the +desert, was seized and looted. Thence returning westward, he rescued the +Jews from the town of Damethah, or, as it appears in the Syriac, Rametha. +This is probably identical with the modern town of Remtheh a little south +of the Yarmuk on the great pilgrim highway from Damascus to Mecca. After +making a detour to the south he crossed the Yarmuk and captured a series +of towns lying to the north and northeast of this river. Returning he +apparently met his Ammonite foe, who had succeeded in rallying an army, at +the point where the pilgrim highway crosses the headwaters of the Yarmuk. +Here Judas won a sweeping victory. Then collecting the many Jews of the +dispersion who had settled near these upper waters of the Yarmuk, he +returned victoriously to Jerusalem. His brother Simon, who had been +despatched on a similar mission to Galilee, likewise came back bringing +many fellow-Jews and laden with spoils. + +Anticipating a renewal of the Syrian attack, Judas next made a rapid +campaign into the territory of the Idumeans, capturing the old Hebrew +capital of Hebron and carrying his victories as far as Ashdod on the +western borders of the Philistine plain. Within a few months he had +overrun and partially conquered a territory larger than the kingdom of +David. In an incredibly short time this peasant warrior had won more +victories against greater odds than any other leader in Israel's +history. The results of these victories were necessarily ephemeral. They +accomplished, however, three things: (1) Judas intimidated his foes and +established his prestige; (2) he was able to rescue thousands of Jews from +the hands of the heathen; and (3) by bringing them back to Judea he +increased its population and laid the foundations of that kingdom which +rose as the result of his patriotic achievements. + +IV. The Battle of Beth-zacharias. There was still a Syrian outpost in +the heart of Judea: it was the citadel at Jerusalem, which looked down +upon the temple area. This Judas attempted to capture, but in so doing +incited to action the Syrian king, Antiochus Eupator, who had succeeded +to the throne after the death of his father Antiochus Epiphanes. Under +the direction of his prime-minister Lysias he collected a huge army of one +hundred thousand infantry and twenty thousand cavalry. To this was added +thirty-two elephants with full military equipment--the heavy ordinance +used in the warfare of the period. The approach from the plain was along +the valley of Elah and up past Bethsura, as in the last Syrian campaign. +Judas, who was able at this time to rally an army of ten thousand men, met +the Syrian host near the town of Beth-zacharias, a little north of +Bethsura on the central highway from Hebron to Jerusalem. This time the +natural advantages were with the Syrians, one wing of whose army rested +upon a declining hill and the other on the level plain. Thus they were +able to utilize their entire fighting force and to launch against the +valiant Jews their elephants against which the heroism of an Eleazar was +fruitless. For the first time during this struggle Judas was defeated and +fell back upon Jerusalem, where he was closely besieged. Soon the Jews +were obliged to surrender, and the Maccabean cause would have been lost +had not complications at Antioch compelled the Syrians to retire. + +V. Victories Over Nicanor. In the treaty which followed the surrender +of Jerusalem the religious liberty of the Jews was assured. This +concession satisfied the majority of the Hasideans, so that henceforth +Judas found himself deserted by a great body of his followers. The +apostate high priest who was placed in control of the temple was supported +by Syrian soldiery and Judas was obliged to resort again to outlaw life. +He succeeded, however, in winning two signal victories over Nicanor, the +Syrian general. The one at Capharsalama was probably fought near the +modern town of Kefr Silwan, across the Kidron Valley from the City of +David on the southern slope of Jerusalem. In the latter victory Nicanor +was slain, and Judas was left for the moment in control of Judea. + +VI. The Death of Judas. Soon another Syrian army invaded the land. The +advance was from the northwest up over the pass of Bethhoron. A little +east of the road that ascends from Lower to Upper Bethhoron, near where he +won his first great battle and in sight of his home at Modein, the +intrepid Jewish champion fought his last battle. Terror at the approach of +the enemy had thinned his ranks until he was obliged to meet them with +only eight hundred men at his back. Even against these great odds he was +on the eve of victory when he was slain. At the sight of their fallen +leader his followers fled. This disastrous ending of his career as a +warrior obscured to a great extent the character and quality of Judas's +services for his people. In brief (1) he taught them to fight for their +rights; (2) he helped them to save their law and traditions; (3) he +secured for them religious freedom; (4) he restored many of the Jews of +the dispersion and thus prepared the way for the consolidated kingdom +which later rose with Jerusalem as the centre; (5) he inspired his +countrymen with ambitions for political independence; and (6) he set them +a noble example of courage, patriotism, and practical piety. While +measured by the higher standards of a later day Judas is not without his +faults, yet he is unquestionably one of the great heroes of Israel's +history and an example to all of unselfish and devoted patriotism. + +VII. The Dissensions in the Syrian Court. The Jews ultimately attained +political independence not primarily through their own efforts, but +because the protracted contests between the rival claimants for the Syrian +throne gave them opportunities which they quickly improved. In 152 B.C. a +youth known as Alexander Balas, who claimed to be a son of Antiochus +Epiphanes, raised the standard of revolt against the reigning Syrian king, +Demetrius I. The kings of southwestern Asia and Egypt at first lent their +support to this impostor. By 150 B.C. he had succeeded in defeating and +putting to death Demetrius I. Two years later, however, Demetrius II, the +son of the deposed king, appeared with a large body of Cretan mercenaries +to contest the throne of his father. Many of the Syrian cities at once +espoused his cause. Ptolemy Philometor, of Egypt, finally turned against +Alexander Balas; and in 145 B.C. this strange adventurer was slain near +Antioch by his own followers. Soon after his death, however, one of his +generals, Tryphon, appeared with an infant son of Alexander whom he sought +to place on the Syrian throne, thus perpetuating the feud that was +constantly undermining the power of the Seleucid kingdom. + +VIII. Concessions to Jonathan. The Jews profited by each turn in these +tortuous politics. In 158 B.C., after a period of outlawry in the +wilderness east of Judea, Jonathan and his followers were allowed by +Demetrius I to settle again within the bounds of Judea. Jonathan +Established his head-quarters at Michmash, the fortress famous for the +achievement of Saul's valiant son Jonathan. Here he ruled over the Jews as +a vassal of Demetrius, who retained immediate control over the citadel at +Jerusalem and the fortified cities that had been built along the borders +of Judea. On the appearance of Alexander Balas in 152 B.C. Demetrius I, in +order to retain the loyalty of the Jews, permitted Jonathan to maintain a +small standing army and to rebuild the fortifications of Jerusalem. To +outbid his rival the impostor Alexander Balas conferred upon Jonathan the +coveted honor of the high priesthood, thus making him both the civil and +religious head of the Jewish state. Disregarding his promises to Demetrius +and the contemptible character of Alexander, Jonathan at once proceeded to +establish his new authority. He was doubtless more acceptable to the +majority of the Jews than the apostate high priests whom he succeeded, but +the stricter Hasideans naturally regarded it as a sacrilege that a man +whose hands were stained with war and bloodshed should perform the holiest +duties in the temple service. + +Under Alexander Balas Jonathan's power rapidly increased. He was made +governor of Judea, and, under pretence of supporting the waning fortunes +of Alexander, he captured in succession the Philistine cities of Joppa, +Azotus (Ashdod), Ascalon, and Akron. When Demetrius II became master of +Syria, Jonathan succeeded by rich gifts and diplomacy in so far gaining +the support of the new king that part of the territory of Samaria was +joined to Judea. In return for three hundred talents they were also +promised exemption from taxation. Furthermore, membership in one of the +royal orders was conferred upon the Maccabean leader. Thus by good fortune +and by often questionable diplomacy the Jews finally secured in the days +of Jonathan that freedom for which they had fought and which they had +partially won under the valiant Judas. + + + +Section CXII. PEACE AND PROSPERITY UNDER SIMON + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:38-40] +And when King Demetrius saw that the land was quiet before him and that +no resistance was made to him, he sent all his forces, each one to his own +home, except the foreign mercenaries, whom he had enlisted from the isles +of the heathen. All the troops, however, who had served his father hated +him. Now Tryphon was one of those who had formerly belonged to Alexander's +party, and when he saw that all the troops were murmuring against +Demetrius, he went to Yamliku, the Arabian who was bringing up Antiochus, +the young child of Alexander, and importuned him that he should deliver +him to him, that he might reign in his father's place. And he told him all +that Demetrius had done, and the hatred which his troops bore him. And he +stayed there a long time. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:54-56] +Now after this Tryphon returned, and with him the young child Antiochus, +and he assumed the sovereignty and put on the diadem. And there were +gathered to him all the forces which Demetrius had sent away in disgrace, +and they fought against him, and he fled and was defeated. And Tryphon +took the elephants and became master of Antioch. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 12:39-47] +Then Tryphon tried to get the sovereignty over Asia and to put on the +diadem and to engage in hostilities against Antiochus the king. But he +was afraid lest perhaps Jonathan might not allow him, and that he might +fight against him. So he sought a way to take him, that he might destroy +him. And he set out and came to Bethshan. Then Jonathan went out to meet +him with forty thousand picked soldiers and came to Bethshan. And when +Tryphon saw that he came with a great army, he was afraid to attack him, +and he received him honorably and commended him to all his Friends and +gave him gifts, and commanded his forces to be obedient to him as to +himself. And he said to Jonathan, Why have you put all this people to +trouble, since that there is no war between us? Now therefore send them +away to their homes, retaining for yourself only a few men who shall be +with you, and come with me to Ptolemais, and I will give it to you with +the rest of the strongholds and the rest of the forces and all the king's +officers, and I will set out on my way back, for this is the cause of my +coming. Then he trusted him and did even as he said, and sent away his +forces so that they departed into the land of Judah. But he reserved for +himself three thousand men, of whom he left two thousand in Galilee, while +one thousand went with him. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 12:48-53] +Now as soon as Jonathan entered Ptolemais, the people of Ptolemais shut +the gates and laid hands on him, and they slew with the sword all who came +in with him. And Tryphon sent forces and horsemen into Galilee, and into +the great plain, to destroy all of Jonathan's men. But they perceived +that he had been taken and had perished, and those who were with him, and +they encouraged one another and marched in closed ranks, prepared to +fight. And when those who were pursuing them saw that they were ready to +fight for their lives, they turned back again. Thus they all came safely +into the land of Judah, and they mourned for Jonathan and those who were +with him, and they were greatly afraid. And all Israel mourned bitterly. +Then all the heathen who were round about them sought to destroy them +utterly, for they said, They have no ruler nor any to help them, now +therefore let us fight against them and wipe out the memory of them from +among men. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:1-11] +Now when Simon heard that Tryphon had collected a vast army to come into +the land of Judah to destroy it utterly, and saw that the people trembled +and were greatly afraid, he went up to Jerusalem and gathered the people +together, and encouraged them and said to them, You yourselves know all +the things that I and my brothers, and my father's house, have done for +the laws and the sanctuary, and the battles and times of distress through +which we have passed. In this cause all my brothers have perished for +Israel's sake, and I alone am left. And now be it far from me that I +should spare my own life, in any time of affliction; for I am not better +than my brothers. Rather I will take revenge for my nation, and for the +sanctuary, and for our wives and children, because all the heathen are +gathered to destroy us out of pure hatred. And the courage of the people +rose as they heard these words. And they answered with a loud voice, +saying, You are our leader instead of Judas and Jonathan your brothers. +Fight our battles, and we will do all that you command. So he gathered +together all the warriors and made haste to finish the walls of Jerusalem, +and fortified the entire length of it. And he sent Jonathan the son of +Absalom at the head of a large army to Joppa, and he drove out those who +were in it, and stayed there in it. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:20-22] +And after this Tryphon came to invade the land and destroy it, and he went +round about by the way that goes to Adora; and Simon and his army marched +opposite and abreast of him to every place wherever he went. And the +people of the citadel sent to Tryphon ambassadors urging him to come by +forced marches through the wilderness to them and to send them supplies. +So Tryphon made ready all his cavalry to go. But that night a very deep +snow fell, so that he did not come because of the snow. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:23-30] +Then he set out and came to the country of Gilead, and when he came near +to Bascama, he slew Jonathan, and he was buried there. But when Tryphon +went back into his own land, Simon sent and took the bones of Jonathan his +brother, and buried them at Modein, his ancestral city. And all Israel +made great lamentation over him and mourned for him for many days. And +Simon built a monument upon the sepulchre of his father and his brothers, +and raised it aloft to the sight, with polished stone on the back and +front sides. He also set up seven pyramids, one opposite another, for his +father and his mother and his four brothers. And for these he made +artistic designs, setting about them great pillars, and upon the pillars +he fashioned different kinds of arms as an everlasting memorial, and +beside the arms ships carved, that they should be seen by all who sail on +the sea. This is the sepulchre which he made at Modein, which stands there +at the present time. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:33, 43-48] +Then Simon built the strongholds of Judea and fenced them about with high +towers and great walls and gates and bars, and laid up stores in the +strongholds. In those days he laid siege to Gazara, and surrounded it with +armies, and made an engine of siege and brought it up to the city, and +smote a tower and captured it. And those who were in the engine leaped +forth into the city, and there was a great tumult in the city. And the +people of the city tore their garments, and went up on the walls with +their wives and children, and cried with a loud voice, requesting Simon to +make peace with them. And they said, Do not deal with us according to our +wickednesses but according to your mercy. So Simon was reconciled to them +and did not fight against them. But he expelled them from the city and +cleansed the houses in which the idols were, and so entered into it with +singing and praise. And when he had put all uncleanness out of it, he +placed in it such men as would keep the law and made it stronger than it +was before, and built a dwelling place for himself in it. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:49-53] +But those who were in the citadel at Jerusalem were prevented from going +out and from going into the country, and from buying and selling, so that +they suffered exceedingly from hunger, and a great number of them perished +through famine. Then they cried out to Simon to make peace with them. He +did so, but put them out from there, and cleansed the citadel from its +pollutions. And he entered it on the twenty-third day of the second month +in the one hundred and seventy-first year, with praise and palm branches, +with harps, with cymbals, with viols, with hymns, and with songs, because +a great enemy was destroyed out of Israel. And he ordained that they +should observe that day each year with gladness. And the temple mount, +which was beside the citadel, he made stronger than before, and there he +dwelt with his men. And Simon saw that John his son had grown to manhood, +and so he made him commander of all his forces. And he lived in Gazara. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 14:16-18] +Now when they heard at Rome and at Sparta that Jonathan was dead, they +were very sorry. But as soon as they learned that his brother Simon had +been made high priest in his place and ruled the country and its cities, +they wrote to him on brass tablets, to renew with him the friendship and +the treaty which they had made with Judas and Jonathan his brothers. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 14:38-47] +Moreover King Demetrius confirmed to him the high priesthood according to +these things, and made him one of his Friends, and bestowed great honor +upon him, for he had heard that the Jews had been called friends and +allies and brothers by the Romans, and that they had met the ambassadors +of Simon with honor, and that the Jews and the priests were well pleased +that Simon should be their governor and high priest forever, until there +should arise a faithful prophet; and that he should be commander over +them, and should take charge of the sanctuary, to appoint men on his own +authority over their works and over the country and over the arms and over +the forts, and that he should be obeyed by all, and that all documents +drawn up in the country should be written in his name, and that he should +be clothed in purple, and wear gold; and that it should not be lawful for +any of the people or of the priests to nullify any of these things, or to +resist the commands that he should issue, or to gather an assembly in the +country without his permission, or to be clothed in purple or to wear a +golden buckle. But whoever should do otherwise, or act in defiance of any +of these things, should be liable to punishment. All the people agreed to +ordain that Simon should act according to these regulations. And Simon +accepted and consented to be high priest and to be general and governor of +the Jews and of the priests and to be protector of all. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 14:48, 49] +And they gave orders to put this writing on brass tablets and to set them +up within the precinct of the sanctuary in a conspicuous place, and also +to put the copies of it in the treasury in order that Simon and his sons +might have them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 15:4-8] +So the land had rest all the days of Simon, +And he sought the good of his nation. +His authority and his glory were well-pleasing to them all his days. +And amid all his glory he took Joppa for a haven, +And made it a way to the isles of the sea, +And he enlarged the boundaries of his nation, +And became master of the land. +He also brought many captives together, +And made himself master of Gazara and Bethsura, and the citadel. +Moreover he took away from it its uncleannesses; +And there was none who resisted him. +And they tilled their land in peace, +And the earth gave her increase, +And the trees of the plains their fruit. + +[Sidenote: 15:9-15] +The old men sat in the streets, +They talked together of the common good, +And the young men put on glorious, fine apparel. +He provided food for the cities, +And furnished them with means of fortification, +Until his famous name was known to the end of the earth. +He made peace in the land, +And Israel rejoiced with great joy, +Everyone sat under his own vine and fig tree, +And there was no one to make them afraid, +And none who warred against them was left upon the earth, +For the kings were utterly crushed in those days. +And he strengthened all the distressed of his people, +He was full of zeal for the law, +And every lawless and wicked person he banished. +He made the sanctuary glorious, +And multiplied the vessels of the temple. + +I. Capture and Death of Jonathan. It was not strange in that corrupt age +that Jonathan, who had risen to power largely by intrigue, should himself +in the end fall a prey to treachery. Tryphon, the general who secretly +aspired to the Syrian throne, by lies succeeded in misleading even the +wily Jewish leader. His object was to gain possession of southern +Palestine, and he evidently believed that by capturing Jonathan he would +easily realize his ambition. He overlooked the fact, however, that Simon, +next to Judas the ablest of the sons of Mattathias, still remained to +rally and lead the Jewish patriots. The natural barriers of Judea again +proved insurmountable, for when Tryphon tried repeatedly on the west, +south, and east to invade the central uplands, he found the passes +guarded by Simon and his experienced warriors. Thus baffled, the +treacherous Tryphon vented his disappointment upon Jonathan, whom he +slew in Gilead. As the would-be usurper advanced northward, where he +ultimately met the fate which he richly deserved, Simon and his followers +bore the body of Jonathan back to Modein, and there they reared over it +the fourth of those tombs which testified to the warlike spirit and +devotion of the sons of Mattathias. + +II. Character and Policy of Simon. Simon, who was at this crisis called +to the leadership of the Jewish race, had been famed from the first for +his moderation and wise counsel. In many campaigns he had also shown the +military skill and courage that had characterized his younger brothers. In +him the noble spirit of Judas lived again. He was devoted to the law, +intent upon building up the state, and at the same time was deeply and +genuinely interested in all members of his race, whether in Judea or in +distant nations. Like David and Josiah, he was a true father of his people +and set an example which unfortunately his descendants failed to follow. +He still recognized the authority of Demetrius II, but the Syrian kingdom +was so weak that Simon succeeded in securing a definite promise of the +remission of all taxes, and ruled practically as an independent sovereign. +To strengthen his position he sent an embassy laden with rich gifts to +Rome. During a later crisis in his rule its prestige proved of great +value, but Simon in following the example of his brothers gave to Rome +that claim upon Judea that was destined within less than a century to put +an end to Jewish independence. In still further consolidating and +developing the resources of his people and in preparing for future +expansion, Simon laid the foundations for the later Jewish kingdom. His +policy also brought to Palestine that peace and prosperity which made his +rule one of the few bright spots in Israel's troubled history. + +III. His Conquests. The chief conquest of Simon was the capture of +Gazara, the ancient Gezer. This lay on the western side of the plain of +Ajalon. It guarded the approaches to Judea from the west, and above all +the highway that ran from Joppa and along which passed the commerce of the +Mediterranean. After a stubborn resistance he captured the town, deported +part of its heathen population, and settled Jewish colonists in their +place. Joppa also was under Simon's control. Thus he also prepared the +way for that commercial expansion which was necessary if the Jewish state +was to survive in the midst of its many powerful foes. Early in his reign +Simon laid siege to the Syrian garrison in Jerusalem, and finally, amidst +the rejoicing of the people, captured this stronghold and delivered Judea +from the presence of the hated foreigners. The temple area was also +fortified. Simon's victories, and especially his conquest of the Greek +cities on the plain, aroused the Syrian king, Antiochus Sidetes, the son +of Demetrius I, to demand heavy indemnity. When Simon refused to pay the +tribute a Syrian army was sent to enforce the claim, but were defeated by +a Jewish force under John Hyrcanus. This victory left Simon during the +remainder of his reign practically independent of outside authority. + +IV. Simon's Authority. Simon, with commendable moderation, refrained +from attempting to secure for himself the title of king. He did, however, +issue coins in his own name, although that right was ordinarily the +prerogative only of kings. Upon him was conferred by the grateful people +the authority that had first been given Jonathan by the shameless +Alexander Balas. In return for Simon's many services and as a tribute +to the achievements of his family he was proclaimed by the Jews not only +civil governor and military leader, but also high priest. He thus became +their rightful leader both in peace and war, and the representative of the +nation in the sacred services of the temple. In all but name he was king, +and Jewish history would have doubtless flowed in calmer channels had his +descendants been contented with these substantial honors. + +V. Completion of the Psalter. The reign of Simon probably witnessed the +completion of the Psalter. Many of the psalms, especially those in the +latter half of the book, bear the unmistakable marks of the Maccabean +struggle. In Psalms 74 and 89, for example, there are clear references to +the desecration of the temple and the bitter persecutions of Antiochus. +They voice the wails of despair which then rose from the lips of many +Jews. Many other psalms, as, for example, the one hundred and eighteenth, +express that intense love and devotion to the law which was from this time +on in many ways the most prominent characteristic of Judaism. The +prevailingly prominent liturgical element that characterizes the +concluding psalms of the Psalter suggest their original adaptation to the +song services of the temple. Under the reign of Simon the temple choir was +probably extended and greater prominence given to this form of the +temple service. The peace and prosperity in the days of Simon gave the +opportunity and the incentive to put in final form the earlier collections +of psalms and probably to add the introduction found in Psalms 1-2 and the +concluding doxology in Psalm 150. The Psalter appears to have been the +last to be completed of all the Old Testament books, so that probably +before the close of Simon's reign all of the present Old Testament +books were written. Discussions regarding the value of such books as +Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Esther continued until nearly the +close of the first Christian century, when at last the canon of the Old +Testament was completed. + +VI. The Religious Life Reflected in the Later Psalms. The prevailing +note in the psalms found in the latter part of the Psalter is joyous. A +deep sense of gratitude to Jehovah for deliverance pervades them. The Jews +felt that Jehovah had indeed delivered them "as a bird from the snare of +the fowler" (Psalm 124). In the near background were the dark days of +persecution. Hostile foes still encircled Israel, but trust in Jehovah's +power and willingness to deliver triumphed over all fear. + +Oh, give thanks to Jehovah for he is good, +For his mercy endureth forever. +He hath delivered us from our enemies; +Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven, +For his mercy endureth forever, + +was the oft-repeated refrain that was sung in the temple service by the +warriors when they returned victorious from battle and by the people as +they went about their tasks. The sense of constant danger and of great +achievement bound together the Jews of this period as perhaps never +before since the days of the exile. The same experiences developed a +powerful religious consciousness. Jehovah had repeatedly and signally +demonstrated that he was in their midst. Without his strong hand they +were helpless against their foes. The apostates had been expelled, and +the classes that remained were bound closely together by their desire to +preserve their hard-won liberties, by their devotion to the temple and its +services and by a profound respect for the authority of their scriptures. +The voice of the living prophet was silent. The priests had ceased to +teach and were simply ministers at the altar, and in the turmoil of the +Maccabean struggle the teaching of the wise had practically come to an +end. Instead the Jews became in every sense the people of the book. It +was at this time and as a result of the forces at work in this age that +the scribes attained their place as the chief teachers of the people. It +was natural that they who copied, edited, and above all interpreted the +revered Law and the Prophets should have the ear of the masses and +should be regarded more and more as the authorized teachers of the +Jewish race. Judaism had at last attained its maturity. + + + +Section CXIII. THE RULE OF JOHN HYRCANUS AND ARISTOBULUS + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 16:11-17] +Now Ptolemy the son of Abubus had been appointed commander over the plain +of Jericho. He possessed much silver and gold, for he was the high +priest's son-in-law. Then he grew ambitious and determined to make himself +master of the country. So he formed treacherous plots against Simon and +his sons, to make away with them. Now Simon was visiting the cities that +were in the country and providing for their good management. And he went +down to Jericho with Mattathias and Judas his sons, in the one hundred and +seventy-seventh year, in the eleventh month, that is the month Sebat. Then +the son of Abubus received them treacherously in a little stronghold that +is called Dok, which he had built, and made them a great banquet, and his +men were there. And when Simon and his sons were drunk, Ptolemy and his +men rose up and took their weapons, and rushing in upon Simon in the +banquet hall, they slew him and his two sons, and some of his servants. +Thus he committed a great act of treachery and paid back evil for good. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 16:18-22] +Then Ptolemy wrote what had happened, and asked the king to send forces to +aid him, and promised to hand over to him their country and the cities. +And he sent others to Gazara to make away with John. And to the officers +commanding thousands he sent letters to come to him, that he might give +them silver and gold and gifts. And others he sent to take possession of +Jerusalem and the temple-mount. But some ran before to Gazara and told +John that his father and brothers had perished, and they said, He has sent +to slay you too. And when he heard, he was dumb with amazement, but he +seized the men who came to destroy him, and slew them, for he saw that +they were seeking to destroy him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:3c-4b] +Now when Hyrcanus had received the high priesthood which his father had +held before him and had offered sacrifice to God, he made haste to attack +Ptolemy, that he might relieve his mother and brothers. So he laid siege +to the fortress and was superior to Ptolemy in other respects; but he was +defeated through his natural affection. For when Ptolemy was distressed, +he brought Hyrcanus's mother and his brothers and set them upon the wall +and beat them with rods in the sight of all and threatened that unless +Hyrcanus went away immediately, he would throw them down headlong. At this +sight Hyrcanus's pity and concern overcame his anger. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:4d] +And since the siege was delayed in this way, the year of rest came on, +during which the Jews rest every seventh year as they do on every seventh +day. In this year, therefore, Ptolemy was freed from being besieged. He +also slew the brothers of Hyrcanus with their mother, and fled to Zeno, +who was the tyrant of Philadelphia. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:5] +And now Antiochus [Sidetes] was so angry at what he had suffered from +Simon that he made an expedition into Judea and laid siege to Jerusalem +and shut up Hyrcanus. But Hyrcanus opened the tomb of David, who was the +richest of all kings, took from there more than three thousand talents of +money and induced Antiochus upon the promise of three thousand talents to +raise the siege. Moreover he was the first of the Jews who had plenty of +money, and so began to hire foreign mercenaries. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:6] +At another time, when Antiochus had gone upon an expedition against the +Medes and thus given Hyrcanus an opportunity to be revenged upon him, +Hyrcanus made an attack upon the cities of Syria, thinking, as proved to +be the case, that he would find them empty of good troops. So he took +Medeba and Samaga with their surrounding towns; likewise Shechem and Mount +Gerizim. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 9:1d, e] +Hyrcanus also took Dora and Marissa, cities of Idumea, and subdued all the +Idumeans. He permitted them to stay in their country, if they would +undergo circumcision and conform to the Jewish laws. They were so desirous +of living in the country of their fathers that they submitted to +circumcision and the other Jewish ways of living. From this time on, +therefore, they were none other than Jews. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:7a-b] +Hyrcanus also proceeded as far as Samaria and invested it on all sides +with a wall, and placed his sons, Aristobulus and Antigonus in charge of +the siege. They pushed it with such vigor that a famine prevailed within +the city, so that the inhabitants were forced to eat what was never before +regarded as food. They also invited Antiochus to come to their assistance +and he readily responded to their invitation, but he was beaten by +Aristobulus and Antigonus, and he was pursued as far as Scythopolis by +these brothers and fled away from them. So they returned to Samaria and +shut up the multitude within the wall again, and when they had taken the +city, they tore it down and made slaves of its inhabitants. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:5] +However the prosperity of Hyrcanus caused the Jews to envy him; and they +who were worst disposed to him were the Pharisees. Now Hyrcanus was one of +their disciples and had been greatly beloved by them. But once when he +invited them to a feast and entertained them kindly and saw them in a good +humor, he began to say to them that they knew that he desired to be a +righteous man and do all things by which he might please God and them, for +the Pharisees are philosophers. However, he desired, if they observed him +offending in any respect or departing from the right way, that they would +call him back and correct him. When they testified that he was entirely +virtuous he was well pleased with their approval. But one of his guests, +Eleazar by name, was a man malignant by nature, who delighted in +dissension. This man said: "Since you wish to know the truth, if you +really desire to do what is right, lay down the high priesthood and +content yourself with the civil government of the people." And when +Hyrcanus desired to know for what cause he ought to lay down the high +priesthood, the other replied: "We have heard from old men that your +mother was a captive in the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes." This story was +false, and Hyrcanus was provoked against him. All the Pharisees likewise +were very indignant with him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:6a-c] +Now there was a certain Jonathan, a great friend of Hyrcanus, but of the +sect of the Sadducees, whose ideas are the opposite of those of the +Pharisees. He told Hyrcanus that Eleazar had cast that slur upon him +according to the common opinion of all the Pharisees and that this would +be made clear if he would ask them the question, What punishment they +thought this man deserved? For in this way he might be sure that the slur +was not laid on him with their approval, if they advised punishing him as +the crime deserved. Therefore when Hyrcanus asked this question, the +Pharisees answered that the man deserved stripes and imprisonment, but it +did not seem right to punish a slur with death. And indeed the Pharisees +ordinarily are not apt to be severe in punishment. At this mild sentence +Hyrcanus was very angry and thought that this man reproved him with their +approval. It was this Jonathan who influenced him so far that he made him +join the Sadducees and leave the party of the Pharisees and abolish the +decrees that they had thus imposed on the people and punish those who +obeyed them. This was the source of the hatred with which he and his sons +were regarded by the multitude. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:7] +But when Hyrcanus had put an end to this sedition, he afterward lived +happily and administered the government in the best manner for thirty-one +years and then died, leaving behind him five sons. He was esteemed by God +worthy of the three highest honors, the rulership of his nation, the high +priesthood, and prophecy, for God was with him and enabled him to predict +the future. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 11:1a-c, 8a] +Now when Hyrcanus was dead, his eldest son Aristobulus, intent upon +changing the government into a monarchy, was the first to put a diadem on +his head. This Aristobulus loved his next brother Antigonus and treated +him as an equal, but the others he kept in bonds. He also cast his mother +into prison because she disputed the government with him, for Hyrcanus had +left her in control of everything. He also proceeded to that degree of +barbarity that he killed her in prison with hunger. Moreover he was +estranged from his brother Antigonus by false charges and also slew him, +although he seemed to have a great affection for him and had shared the +kingdom with him. But Aristobulus immediately repented of the slaughter of +his brother; on which account his disease grew upon him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 11:3e] +Then Aristobulus died, after having reigned a year. He was called a lover +of the Greeks and conferred many benefits on his country. He also made a +war against Iturea [Galilee], and added a great part of it to Judea and +compelled the inhabitants, if they wished to remain in that country, to be +circumcised and to live according to the Jewish laws. + +I. Murder of Simon. Even his moderation and kindly rule did not deliver +Simon from the violent death that overtook all the sons of Mattathias. + +His murderer was his son-in-law, a certain Ptolemy, who was governor of +the Jordan Valley, the resources of which had been developed under Simon. +Ptolemy trusted to the support of the Syrian court, but he failed to +reckon with two things: (1) the loyalty of the people to their Maccabean +leaders; and (2) the ability of Simon's son, John Hyrcanus. Instead of +falling a victim to Ptolemy's plot, John at once went to Jerusalem where +he was made the high priest and governor by the people. Ptolemy, who was +besieged in the castle of Dok, saved his miserable life only by shameless +perfidy. + +II. The Syrian Invasion. Antiochus Sidetes proved the ablest Syrian king +of this period. Although his first attack had been repelled by Simon, +he again attempted, on the accession of Hyrcanus, to reestablish +his authority in Palestine. Josephus, in his account, obscures this +humiliating chapter in Jewish history. The statement that Hyrcanus took +from the tomb of David vast wealth and thus purchased immunity from Syrian +attack has all the characteristics of an Oriental tale. Instead, Antiochus +Sidetes not only besieged but captured Jerusalem, and doubtless compelled +the Jews to pay heavy tribute. Preferring, however, to retain their +loyalty rather than to crush them, he left John Hyrcanus in control of +Judea, and Jerusalem escaped destruction. In the disastrous campaign +against the Parthians in which Antiochus lost his life John Hyrcanus +accompanied him with a following of Jewish soldiers. The death of +Antiochus Sidetes in 129 B.C. at last left the Jews free to develop their +kingdom without further fear of Syrian interference. This event marks for +the Jews the attainment of absolute political freedom--a privilege which +they continued to enjoy for a little over half a century. + +III. John's Military Policy and Conquests. John possessed the +characteristic ambitions and energy of his family. In his policy he also +seems to have been strongly influenced by the achievements of Israel's +early conquering king, David. His aim was to build up a small empire, +and by crushing the ancient foes of Israel to secure immunity from +further attack. In employing foreign mercenaries he also followed the +example of King David. Doubtless he was influenced in doing so by his +experiences in the Parthian campaign. This policy, however, was far +removed from the spirit of the early Maccabean leaders who had unsheathed +the sword in behalf of their principles. John's first campaign was +against the cities to the east of the Jordan, and resulted in the conquest +of the towns of Medeba and Samaga and the territory subject to them. The +conquest of Shechem and southern Samaria was undoubtedly prompted both by +hereditary hatred toward the Samaritans and by the desire to provide an +outlet for the growing Jewish population. After standing for two +centuries, the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed by the +Jews. This sacrilegious act naturally intensified that hatred between Jew +and Samaritan which burned so fiercely during the early part of the first +Christian century. Marissa and Dora, the chief cities of the Idumeans, +were next conquered. With strange inconsistency, John Hyrcanus, whose +ancestors had first taken up the sword in defence of religious liberty, +compelled the descendants of their old foes, the Edomites, to give up +their national religion or else go into exile. This policy was fraught +with far-reaching consequences, for among those appointed to rule over the +conquered Edomites was Antipater, the ancestor of Herod, who was destined +to rule the Jews and to initiate that long series of disasters that +culminated in the destruction of the Jewish state. Last of all, John +Hyrcanus advanced to the conquest of the Greek city of Samaria. Because of +its natural strength and formidable defences a year was required for the +siege, and it was ultimately captured only through famine. The sons of +John Hyrcanus succeeded in holding at bay the Syrian armies that were sent +to relieve the besieged. The conquered inhabitants were sold as slaves, +and the city was left for a time in complete ruins. The conquest of +Scythopolis, the ancient Bethshean, extended the bounds of John's kingdom +to the southern hills of Galilee. Thus he became master of a small empire +extending out toward the desert on the east, to the South Country on the +south, touching the sea at Joppa, and including the entire territory of +ancient Samaria on the north. While not as large as the kingdom of David, +it was a more perfect political unit, and offered superior opportunities +for commerce and internal development. + +IV. The Break with the Pharisees. The successes of John Hyrcanus +blinded the majority of the nation to the real issues at stake. But a +powerful group, which during the Maccabean period appeared for the first +time under the name of Pharisees, began to withdraw their allegiance and +silently, at least, to protest against a high priest whose chief ambition +was conquest. The story which Josephus tells to explain the defection +of the Pharisees may be simply a popular tradition, but it is indicative +of that division within Judaism which ultimately wrecked the Maccabean +state. From the days of John Hyrcanus, the Maccabean rulers, with only one +exception, were compelled to meet the silent but strong opposition of the +Pharisees. As a result they turned to the rising party of the Sadducees +which henceforth identified itself with the interests of the reigning +family. Thus in the year of its greatest triumph the Jewish state became a +house divided against itself. Estranged from the better-minded religious +leaders of the nation, John Hyrcanus and his successors followed an +increasingly secular, selfish policy until they completely forgot the +noble ideals for which their fathers had striven. + +V. The Reign of Aristobulus. The accession of Aristobulus marks a +triumph of that Hellenism against which Judas and Simon had unsheathed +the sword. Like many an Oriental monarch, he established his position on +the throne by the murder of all members of his family who might contest +his power. His inhuman cruelty to his mother and the suspicions which led +him to murder his brother reveal a barbarous spirit that can only be +explained as a result of the wrong ambitions that had already taken +possession of Israel's rulers. Aristobulus's brief reign of one year is +marked by two significant acts. The first is the assumption of the title +of king. On his own initiative, and apparently without the consent of the +people, he placed the diadem upon his head. The other important act was +the conquest of part of the territory of Iturea, which was known in later +times as Galilee. He found it occupied by a mixed Syrian and Greek +population in which were probably a few descendants of the ancient +Israelites. Following the policy of his family, he doubtless at once +inaugurated a system of colonization which carried to Galilee a strong +Jewish population. Henceforth, by virtue of race, language, and religion, +Galilee was closely bound to Judea. + + + +Section CXIV. THE PHARISEES, SADDUCEES, AND ESSENES + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:2, 3a-c] +The Jews have three sects of philosophy: the Essenes, the Sadducees, and +those called Pharisees. The Pharisees do not yield to luxury but despise +that kind of life; and they follow the guidance of reason, and what that +prescribes to them as good, they do. They also pay respect to those +advanced in years nor are they so bold as to contradict them in anything +which they have introduced. While they believe that all things are done by +predestination, they do not take away from a man the choice of acting as +he deems proper, for they believe that it is God's will that an event be +decided for good or evil both by the divine counsel and by the man who is +willing to accede to it. They also believe that souls possess immortal +power and that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments +according as men have lived virtuously or viciously in this life, and that +the vicious are to be detained in an everlasting prison and that the +virtuous shall have the power to live again. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:3d] +On account of this doctrine they have great influence with the people, and +whatsoever they do in connection with the divine worship, prayers and +sacrifices, they perform in accordance with the direction of the Pharisees. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:4a, Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:14c] +But the doctrine of the Sadducees is that souls die with the bodies, nor +do they give heed to anything beyond these things which the law enjoins. +They deny predestination entirely and assert that God exercises no +oversight over any evil doing and they say that good or evil lies before +man to choose, and, according to each man's inclination, he chooses the +one or the other. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:4b] +They also think it virtuous to dispute with those teachers of philosophy +which they follow. This doctrine, however, is accepted by only a few, but +these are of the highest rank, They are able to accomplish almost nothing +by themselves; for when they come to power, unwillingly but perforce, they +accede to the Pharisaic doctrine, for otherwise they would not be +tolerated by the multitude. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:5a, b] +The doctrine of the Essenes is that all things are best left to God. They +teach the immortality of souls and think that the rewards of righteousness +are to be earnestly striven for; and when they send what they have +dedicated to God to the temple, they offer their sacrifices in accordance +with the special law of purity which they observe. On this account they +are excluded from the common court of the temple but themselves offer +their sacrifices. Yet their course of life is far better than that of +other men and they devote themselves wholly to agriculture. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:2, 13a] +The Essenes seem to have a greater affection for each other than do the +other sects. They reject pleasure as an evil, but regard self-restraint +and the conquest of passions as a virtue. They despise marriage and choose +out other people's children, while they are impressionable and teachable, +and they regard them as their own kindred, and conform them to their own +customs. They do not absolutely repudiate marriage. There is also another +order of Essenes, who agree with the rest in regard to their way of +living, customs and laws, but differ from them in regard to marriage, for +they think that by not marrying they will cut off the most important +element in human life, which is the succession of mankind. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:3, 4] +These men are despisers of riches and are wonderfully communistic among +themselves. No one is to be found among them who has more than the others, +for it is a law among them that those who join their sect must share with +them what they have, so that among them all there is no evidence of +poverty or excess of riches, but everyone's possessions are shared in +common, so there is, as it were, but one property among all the brothers. +They also have directors appointed by vote to manage their common affairs. +These have no other interest, but each devotes himself to the needs of +all. They possess no one city, but many of them dwell in every city, and +if any of their sect come from other places, what they have lies open for +them, just as if it were their own. They do not change garments or sandals +until they first are entirely torn to pieces or worn out by time. Nor do +they either buy or sell anything to each other, but every one of them +gives to him who wants it and receives from him again in return for it +what he wants; and even though no return is made, they are free to take +what they want from whom they wish. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:5] +And their piety toward God is very extraordinary; for before sunrise they +speak not a word about profane matters, but offer up certain inherited +prayers as if they made a supplication to it for its rising. After this +everyone is sent away by their directors to engage in some of those arts +in which they are skilled, and at which they labor with great diligence +until the fifth hour; after which they assemble again in one place. And +when they have clad themselves in linen coverings, they bathe their bodies +in cold water. After this purification is over they meet together in an +apartment of their own in which none of another sect is permitted to +enter. Then they go ceremonially pure into the dining room, as if into a +temple. And when they have quietly sat down, the baker lays loaves in +order for them, and a cook also brings a single plate of one kind of food +and sets it before each of them. And a priest offers a prayer before +eating. It is unlawful for any one to taste the food before the prayer. +When he has dined he offers prayer again. When they begin and when they +end they praise God as the giver of the necessities of life. After this +they lay aside their garments as though they were sacred, and devote +themselves to their labor again until evening. Then they return home to +dine in the same manner and if any strangers be there they sit down with +them. There is never any clamor or disturbance to pollute their household, +but they give everyone permission to speak in turn. The silence of the +inmates appears to outsiders like some awful mystery. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:6] +They do nothing except in accordance with the injunctions of their +directors. Only these two things are done among them as each wishes, +namely, they assist the needy and show mercy; but they cannot assist their +kindred without the permission of their directors. They dispense their +anger justly and restrain their passion. They are eminent for fidelity and +are the advocates of peace. Also whatever they say is mightier than an +oath, but swearing is avoided by them, and they regard it worse than +perjury, for they say that he who cannot be believed without swearing by +God is already condemned. They also devote great attention to the study of +the works of the ancients and select from them those things that are +profitable for soul and body. Also they seek out such roots as may be +effective for the cure of their diseases and inquire into the properties +of stones. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:7] +To one who desires to enter their sect, admission is not immediately +granted; but he is prescribed the same method of living as they use for a +year during which he is still excluded, and they give him a small hatchet, +and girdle and the white garment. And when during that time he has given +evidence of self-control, he approaches nearer to their way of living and +is allowed to share the waters of purification. However, he is not even +now allowed to live with them, for after this demonstration of his +fortitude, his character is tried two years more, and if he appears to be +worthy, they then admit him into the society. But before he is allowed to +touch their common food, he is obliged to swear to them awful oaths that +in the first place he will show piety toward God and then that he will +observe justice toward men, and that he will do no harm to any one either +voluntarily or at the command of others, and that he will always hate the +wicked, and help the righteous, and that he will show fidelity to all men +and especially to those in authority, that he will be a lover of truth and +denounce those who tell lies, and that he will keep his hands clean from +theft, and his soul from unlawful gain. Moreover he swears to communicate +their doctrines to no one otherwise than he received them himself, and +that he will abstain from robbery, and that he will faithfully preserve +the books of their sect and the names of the angels. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:8a, 9a-c] +Those who are caught in any heinous sins they cast out of their society; +and he who is thus expelled often dies miserably. And in the judgments +they pronounce they are most exacting and just, nor do they pass sentence +by the votes of a court having less than one hundred members, and what is +determined by them is unalterable. What they most of all honor, after God +himself, is the name of their legislator [Moses], whom, if any one +blasphemes, he is punished by death. They also think it a good thing to +obey their elders and the majority. They are stricter than any others of +the Jews in resting from their labors on the seventh day, for they not +only prepare their food the day before, that they may not be obliged to +kindle a fire on that day, but they will not venture to move any vessel +out of its place. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:10b, c, 11b] +They are also long-lived, insomuch that most of them live over a hundred +years because of the simplicity of their diet and as a result of their +regular course of life. They despise the miseries of life and are above +pain because of their noble thoughts. And as for death, if it come with +glory, they regard it as better than immortality. They think also, like +the Greeks, that the good have their habitation beyond the ocean in a +region that is never oppressed by storms of rain or of snow, or with heat, +and that this place is refreshed by the gentle breath of the west wind +that is continually blowing from the ocean; while they allot to the bad a +dark and cold den which is never free from unceasing punishment. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:12] +There are also those among them who undertake to foretell things to +come by reading the holy books, by using several different forms of +purifications and by being constantly familiar with discourses of the +prophets; and it is only seldom that they fail in their predictions. + +I. Influences that Gave Rise to the Jewish Parties. The Maccabean period +witnessed the birth of the great parties that henceforth distinguished +Judaism. They represented the crystallizing of the different currents of +thought that were traceable in the Greek period and even earlier. These +diverse points of view were in part the result of that democratic spirit +which has always characterized Israel's life. In the striking antithesis +between the idealists and the legalists and the practical men of affairs +it is also possible to detect the potent influence which the prophets had +exerted upon the thought of their nation. In the Greek period the +Chronicler and certain of the psalmists, with their intense devotion to +the temple and its services to the practical exclusion of all other +interests, were the forerunners of the later Pharisees. Ben Sira, with his +hearty appreciation of the good things of life, with his devotion to the +scriptures of his race, with his evident failure to accept the new +doctrine of individual immortality, and with his great admiration for the +high priests, was an earlier type of the better class of Sadducees. The +persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes developed these parties. As has +already been noted, the Hasideans who followed Judas in the struggle to +restore the law and the temple service were the immediate predecessors +of the early Pharisees. The word "Pharisees" means separatists, and is +used first in the days of Jonathan (Jos. _Ant_. III 5:9) In the same +connection Josephus refers to the Sadducees. The name of this second party +is probably derived, not from the Hebrew word sadik, meaning righteous, +but from Zadok (later written Sadok or Sadduk), who was placed by +Solomon in charge of the Jerusalem temple. It was thus the designation +of the aristocratic, high-priestly party. In the Persian and Greek +periods the high priests had ruled the Judean state without opposition. +It was the rise of the party of the Pharisees that apparently developed +that of the Sadducees. This party included the hereditary nobles who +supported and sympathized with the Maccabean leaders. The Essenes +evidently represent a reaction against the prevailing moral corruption. +In many respects they were simply extreme Pharisees. They were zealots in +religion, just as the later party of the Zealots were extremists in their +hatred of Rome and in the methods which they were ready to use in order to +attain their ends. + +II. Character and Beliefs of the Pharisees. Originally the Pharisees +were not a political but a religious party. The opposition of the +Sadducees in time led them to enter public life. In politics they were +conservatives. They had little sympathy with the popular ambition for +political independence, and probably regarded with alarm the tendency +toward national expansion. Alliances with the heathen nations seemed +to them disloyalty to Jehovah. In belief they were progressives. While +they stood squarely on the ancient law, they recognized the importance +of interpreting it so as to meet the many questions that rose in public +and private life. To this great and practically endless task much of +their time was devoted. They thus recognized the fact that Israel's law +was still in process of development. To their later interpretations of +the law they attributed great authority. One of their maxims was: "It +is a worse offence to teach things contrary to the ordinances of the +scribes than to teach things contrary to the written law." Naturally their +attempt to anticipate by definite regulations each individual problem led +them to absurd extremes and in time obscured the real intent of the older +laws, but the spirit which actuated it was progressive. They also did not +hesitate to accept the growing popular belief in angels and spirits. Like +the earlier prophets, they recognized the presence of Jehovah directing +the life of the nation and of the individual. They accepted the new-born +belief in the immortality of the individual, clinging, however, to the +hope of a bodily resurrection. They also held to the popular messianic +hopes which became more and more prominent during the Maccabean and Roman +periods. + +The Pharisees were the most democratic party in Judaism. While +for their own members they insisted upon a most rigorous ceremonial +regime, they allowed the common people to ally themselves with them +as associates. In their acceptance of the popular hopes and in their +endeavor to adapt Israel's law to the life of the nation and thus +establish a basis for the realization of Israel's hopes they appealed to +the masses and exerted over them a powerful influence. Josephus asserts +that so great was the influence of the Pharisees with the people that the +Sadducees, in order to carry through their policies, were obliged, +nominally, at least, to adopt the platform of their rivals. The Pharisees +were also zealous in teaching the people and thus kept in close touch with +the masses. They, therefore, stood as the true representatives of Judaism. +Their principles have survived and are still the foundations of orthodox +Judaism. + + +III. Character and Beliefs of the Sadducees. The Sadducees were few in +numbers compared with the Pharisees. They represented, on the one side, +the old priestly aristocracy, and on the other the new nobility that +rallied about the Maccabean leaders. They depended for their authority +upon their wealth, their inherited prestige, and the support of the +throne. They were in reality a political rather than a religious party. +In politics they were progressives and opportunists. Any policy that +promised to further their individual or class interests was acceptable to +them. As is usually the case with parties that represent wealth and +hereditary power, they were conservatives in belief. They stood squarely +on the earlier scriptures of their race and had no sympathy with the later +Pharisaic interpretations and doctrines. Whether or not, as Josephus +asserts, they entirely rejected fate, that is, the providential direction +of human affairs, is not clear. Probably in this belief they did not +depart from the earlier teachings of priests and prophets. Their selfish +and often unscrupulous acts suggest a basis for Josephus's claim, even +though allowance must be made for his hostile attitude toward them. While +they were conservatives in theory, the Sadducees were of all classes in +Judaism most open to Greek and heathen influence, for foreign alliances +and Hellenic culture offered opportunities for advancement and power. + +IV. Character and Beliefs of the Essenes. Less important but even more +interesting are the Essenes. They were a sect, or monastic order, rather +than a political or religious party. Josephus, who asserts that for a time +he was associated with them, has given a full account of their peculiar +customs. They evidently represented a strong reaction against the +prevailing corruption and a return to the simple life. Their spirit of +humility, fraternity, and practical charity are in marked contrast to the +aims of the Sadducees and the later Maccabean rulers. In their beliefs +they were idealists. Their invocation of the sun, their extreme emphasis +on ceremonial cleanliness, their tendency toward celibacy, and their +distinction between soul and body, all suggest the indirect if not the +direct influence of the Pythagorean type of philosophy. If the Essenes +represented simply an extreme type of Pharisaism, the peculiar form of its +development was undoubtedly due to the Greek atmosphere amidst which it +flourished. The Essenes do not appear to have had any direct influence in +the politics of their day. They were a current apart from the main stream +of Judaism, and yet they could not fail to exert an indirect influence. +Many of their ideals and doctrines were closely similar to the teachings +of John the Baptist and Jesus. Yet there is a fundamental difference +between Essenism and primitive Christianity, for one sought to attain +perfection apart from life and the other in closest contact with the +currents of human thought and activity. While according to Josephus the +party of the Essenes at one time numbered four thousand, like all ascetic +movements it soon disappeared or else was deflected into that greater +stream of monasticism which rose in the early Christian centuries. + + + +Section CXV. THE LIFE AND FAITH OF THE JEWS OF THE DISPERSION + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:1a] +The Jews obtained honor from the kings of Asia when they became their +auxiliaries; for Seleucus Nicator made them citizens of those cities which +he built in Asia and in lower Syria, and in Antioch, the metropolis, and +gave them privileges equal to those of the Macedonians and the Greeks who +were its inhabitants. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, VII, 3:3a] +For the Jewish race is widely dispersed among the inhabitants of all the +world; and especially was it intermingled with the population of Syria, +because of the nearness of that country. Above all, in Antioch, because of +the size of the city, it had great numbers. There the kings who followed +Antiochus gave the Jews a place where they might live in the most +undisturbed security; for although Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, +laid waste Jerusalem and plundered the temple, the kings who succeeded him +restored all the gifts of brass that had been made to the Jews of Antioch, +and dedicated them to their synagogue. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, VII, 3:3b] +The succeeding kings also treated them in the same way, so that they +became very numerous, and adorned their temple with ornaments and at +great expense with those things which had been given them. They also +continued to attract a great many of the Greeks to their services, making +them in a sense part of themselves. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, VII, 10:2d-3e] +Now Onias, the son of Simon, one of the Jewish high priests, fled from +Antiochus [Epiphanes] the king of Syria, when he made war with the Jews, +and came to Alexandria. And after Ptolemy [Philometor] received him very +kindly on account of his hatred to Antiochus, Onias assured him that if he +would comply with his proposal, he would bring all the Jews to his +assistance. Now when the king agreed to do whatever he was able, Onias +desired him to give him permission to build a temple somewhere in Egypt +and to worship God according to the customs of his own nation. So Ptolemy +complied with his proposals and gave them a place about twenty miles +distant from Memphis. That province was called the province of Heliopolis. +There Onias built a fortress and a temple like that at Jerusalem except +that it resembled a tower. He built it of large stones to the height of +sixty cubits, but he made the structure of the altar an imitation of that +in his own country. In like manner also he adorned it with gifts, +excepting that he did not make a candlestick but had a single lamp +hammered out of a beaten piece of gold, which illuminated the place with +its rays, and which he hung by a chain of gold. The entire temple was +surrounded by a wall of burnt brick, although it had a gateway of stone. +The king also gave him a large territory for a revenue in money, that both +the priests might have plentiful provision for themselves, and that God +might have abundance of those things which were necessary for his worship. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:4] +Now in the days of John Hyrcanus, not only did the Jews in Jerusalem and +Judea enjoy prosperity but also those who were at Alexandria in Egypt and +Cyprus. For Cleopatra the queen was at variance with her son Ptolemy, who +is called Lathyrus, and appointed as her generals Chelcias and Ananias, +the son of that Onias who built the temple in the province of Heliopolis +similar to that of Jerusalem. Cleopatra intrusted these men with her army +and did nothing without their advice. Strabo of Cappadocia also attests +that only those who were called Onias's party, being Jews, continued +faithful to Cleopatra because their countrymen, Chelcias and Ananias, were +in highest favor with the queen. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 6:12-16] +Wisdom is brilliant and fades not away, +And she is easily seen by those who love her, +And found by those who seek her. +She anticipates those who desire her, making herself first known. +He who eagerly seeks her shall have no toil, +For he shall find her sitting at his gates. +For thinking upon her brings perfect wisdom, +And he who lies awake for her sake shall quickly be free from care. +For she herself goes about seeking those who are worthy of her, +And in their paths she graciously appears to them, +And in every purpose she meets them. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 7:25-8:1, 7] +For she is breath of the power of God, +And a clear effluence of the glory of the Almighty; +Therefore nothing defiled can find entrance into her. +For she is a reflection of everlasting light, +And a spotless mirror of the working of God, +And an image of his goodness. +And though she is but one, she has power to do all things; +And remaining the same renews all things, +And from generation to generation passing into holy souls, +She makes them friends of God and prophets. +For God loves nothing except him who dwells with wisdom. +For she is fairer than the sun, +And surpasses all the order of the stars; +Compared with light, she is found to be superior to it. +For night succeeds the light of day, +But evil does not prevail against wisdom. +But she reaches from one end of the world to the other, +And she directs all things graciously. +The fruits of her labors are virtues; +For she teaches moderation and good sense, +Justice and fortitude, +And nothing in life is more profitable for men than these. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 1:1-8] +Love righteousness, O rulers of the earth, +Think of the Lord with sincerity, +And seek him in singleness of heart. +For he is found by those who do not tempt him, +And manifests himself to those who do not distrust him. +For perverse thoughts separate from God, +And his power, when it is tried, convicts the foolish; +For wisdom will not enter into a soul that devises evil, +Nor dwell in a body that is pledged to sin. +For a holy spirit which disciplines will flee deceit, +And will start away from senseless thoughts, +And will be frightened away when unrighteousness comes in. +For wisdom is a spirit that loves man, +And she will not absolve a blasphemer for his words, +Because God is a witness of his innermost feelings, +And a true overseer of his heart, +And a hearer of his tongue. +For the spirit of the Lord hath filled the world, +And that which holdeth all things together knoweth every voice. +Therefore no one who speaks unrighteous things can be hid, +Nor will justice, when it convicts, pass him by. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 1:12-15] +Do not court death by leading an erring life, +And do not by the deeds of your hands draw destruction upon yourselves. +For God did not make death, +And he hath no pleasure when the living perish; +For he created all things that they might exist, +And the created things of the world are not baneful. +And there is no destructive poison in them, +Nor has Hades dominion on earth, +For righteousness is immortal. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 2:23-3:1] +For God created man for incorruption, +And made him an image of his own peculiar nature; +But through the envy of the devil death entered into the world, +And they who belong to him experience it. +But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, +And no torment can touch them. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 5:15, 16] +But the righteous live forever, +And in the Lord is their reward, +And the care for them with the Most High. +Therefore they shall receive the glorious kingdom, +And the diadem of beauty from the Lord's hand; +Because he will cover them with his right hand, +And with his arm he will shield them. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 11:21-12:2] +For thou, O Lord, lovest all things that are, +And thou dost not abhor any of the things which thou hast made, +For thou wouldest never have formed anything that thou didst hate. +And how would anything have endured, if thou didst not wish it? +Or how could that which was not called into being by thee have been + preserved? +But thou sparest all things, because they are thine, +O Sovereign Lord, thou lover of men's lives! +For thine incorruptible spirit is in all things. +Therefore thou convictest the fallen little by little, +And, reminding them of the things in which they sin, thou dost warn them, +That freed from wickedness, they may believe on thee, O Lord. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 15:1-3] +But thou, our God, art gracious and true, +Long suffering, and in mercy directing all things. +For even if we sin, we are thine, since we know thy might. +But we shall not sin, knowing that we have been counted as thine; +For to know thee is perfect righteousness, +And to know thy might is the root of immortality. + +I. Conditions of the Jews in Antioch and Asia Minor. Seleucus Nicanor, +who in 311 B.C. founded the city of Antioch, like Alexander, granted many +privileges to the Jewish colonies whom he thus sought to attract hither. +They not only possessed the rights of citizenship, but lived in their +separate quarter. Their synagogue was one of the architectural glories of +the city. There they engaged in trade and undoubtedly grew rich, taking on +largely the complexion of that opulent Hellenic city. Later the Jewish +colony was enlarged by the apostates who fled from Judea when the +Maccabean rulers gained the ascendancy. The corrupt and materialistic +atmosphere of Antioch doubtless explains why its Jewish citizens +apparently contributed little to the development of the thought and faith +of later Judaism. Similar colonies were found throughout the great +commercial cities of Asia Minor. In many of these cities--for example, +Tarsus--they seem to have enjoyed the same privileges as those at Antioch. + +II. The Jews in Egypt. The chief intellectual and religious center of +the Jews of the dispersion, however, was in Alexandria. It is probable +that fully a million Jews were to be found in Egypt during the latter +part of the Maccabean period. Industry and commerce had made many of them +extremely wealthy and had given them the leisure to study not only their +own scriptures but also the literature of the Greeks. The prevailingly +friendly way in which the Ptolemaic rulers treated the Jews naturally led +them to take a more favorable attitude toward Greek culture. Alexandria +itself was the scene of an intense intellectual activity. Attracted by the +munificence of the Ptolemies and by the opportunities offered by its great +library, many of the most famous Greek philosophers and rhetoricians of +the age found their home in the Egyptian capital. Public lectures, open +discussions, and voluminous literature were only a few of the many forms +in which this intellectual life was expressed. Hence it was at Alexandria +that Hebrew and Greek thought met on the highest plane and mingled most +closely. + +III. The Jewish Temple at Leontopolis. After the murder of his father +Onias III near Antioch, whither he had fled from the persecutions of +Antiochus Epiphanes, Onias IV sought refuge in Egypt. Here, as the +legitimate head of the Jewish high-priesthood, he was favorably received +by Ptolemy and granted territory in the Nile Delta to the north of Memphis +in which to rear a temple to Jehovah. In the light of recent discoveries +at Elephantine it is evident that this step was not without precedent +(Section XCI:vii). Ptolemy's object was to please his Jewish subjects and +to attract others to the land of the Nile. Josephus's statement in _The +Jewish War_, VII, 10:4 favors the conclusion that the temple was built +two hundred and forty-three years (not 343) before its final destruction +in 73 A.D., that is, in 170 B.C. In any case it was probably built between +170 and 160 B.C., at the time when the persecutions of Antiochus +Epiphanes made pilgrimages to the Jerusalem temple impossible, and +threatened its continued existence. The plan of the Leontopolis temple +indicates that it was not intended to be a rival to the Jerusalem +sanctuary, but rather a common place of meeting for the Egyptian +Jews and of defence in case of attack. It never seriously rivalled the +Jerusalem sanctuary, although in later days it was viewed with jealousy +by the Jews of Palestine. + +IV. Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. Far more +significant than the building of the Leontopolis temple was the +translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. The tradition preserved +by Josephus that the translation was made in seventy-two days by +seventy-two scholars, sent from Jerusalem by Eleazar the high priest at +the request of Ptolemy, is clearly unhistorical. The impossibility of +completing so vast a task in this limited time is obvious. Moreover, the +character of the translation indicates that it was the work not of +Palestinian but of Alexandrian Jews familiar with the peculiar Greek of +Egypt and the lands of the dispersion. It was also the work not of one +but of many different groups of translators, as is shown by the variant +synonyms employed in different books to translate the same Hebrew words +and idioms. In the case of several books the work of two or more distinct +translators is readily recognized. The quality of the translation also +varies greatly in different books. It is probable that the one historical +fact underlying the tradition is that the work of translation was begun in +the days of Ptolemy Philadelphus, who may have encouraged his Jewish +subjects in their undertaking. From the character of the translations and +the nature of the situation it is probable that the first books to be +translated were certain historical writings, as Samuel-Kings and the books +of the Law. The remaining books were probably translated by the end of the +succeeding century (between 250 and 150 B.C.), for the grandson of Ben +Sira implies in his prologue that he was acquainted with the Law, the +Prophets, and the other writings in their Greek version. + +The primary aim of this Greek translation was to put the Hebrew scriptures +themselves into the hands of their Greek persecutors as the best possible +answer to their false and malicious charges. Evidence of this apologetic +purpose is found in the fact that glaring inconsistencies and expressions, +where Jehovah is described in the likeness of a human being, were usually +left out. Where the Hebrew text was corrupt the translators restored or +else freely paraphrased what they thought was the original meaning. In +time, however, the translation gained a new importance, for the Jews of +Egypt soon began to forget the language of their fathers and so became +increasingly dependent for a knowledge of their scriptures upon the Greek +translation. In the end it almost completely superseded the original +Hebrew version not only in the lands of the dispersion, but even in +Palestine itself. A large proportion of the quotations from the Old +Testament in the New are from the Greek rather than the Hebrew text. +Although it is only a translation, the Greek version, or Septuagint (the +Version of the Seventy), as it is popularly known, still possesses a great +value for the modern translator, inasmuch as it is based upon Hebrew texts +centuries older than any which now exists. At many points, especially in +the historical prophetic books it makes possible the restoration of the +original reading where the Hebrew has become corrupt in the long process +of transmission. + +V. Apologetic Jewish Writings. During the centuries immediately +preceding the Christian era the Jews of the dispersion, and especially of +Egypt, were the object of constant attack. Manetho, an Egyptian priest, +wrote a history purporting to give the origin and the early experiences of +the Jews. Portions of this have been preserved and reveal the bitter and +unjust spirit with which this race was regarded by the Greek and Egyptian +scholars of the day. To defend themselves from these attacks the Jews not +only translated their scriptures, but employed many different types of +writing. A certain Jew by the name of Demetrius about 215 B.C. wrote a +commendatory history of the Jewish kings. Aristobulus, the teacher of +Ptolemy Philometor, wrote an "Explanation of the Mosaic Laws," in which he +anticipated, in many ways, the modern interpretation of the early +traditions found in the opening books of the Old Testament. Like all +Alexandrian scholars, however, he overshot the mark under the influence of +the allegorical or symbolic type of interpretation. Other Jewish +writers appealed to the older Greek historians and poets. Adopting the +unprincipled methods of their persecutors, they expanded the original +writings of such historians as Hecataeus, who had spoken in a commendatory +way of the Jews. They even went so far as to insert long passages into the +writings of the famous Greek poets, such as Orpheus, Hesiod, Aeschylus, +Sophocles, and Menander, so as to transform them into ardent champions of +the persecuted race. The culmination of this illegitimate form of defence +was to insert in the famous Sibylline Books (III) a long passage +describing the glories of the Jewish race and voicing the hopes with which +they regarded the future. It was in this atmosphere and under the +influence of these methods that the anti-Semitic spirit was born in +ancient Alexandria. Thence it was transmitted, as a malign heritage, to +the Christian church. + +VI. The Wisdom of Solomon. The noblest literary product of the Jews of +the dispersion was the apocryphal book known as the Wisdom of Solomon. It +was so called because the author assumed the point of view of Solomon. In +so doing he did not intend to deceive his contemporaries, but rather +followed the common tendency of his day. Although the book has many +characteristic Hebrew idioms, which are due to its Jewish authorship, it +was without doubt originally written in Greek. Its author was evidently +acquainted with the writings of many of the Greek poets and philosophers. +He accepted Plato's doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul (8:19, 20), +of the limitations of the body (9:15), and of the creation of the world +out of formless matter (11:17). He was especially influenced by the +beliefs of the Epicureans and Stoics. He was acquainted with Hellenic art, +astronomy, and science (7:17-29) and throughout shows the influence of +Greek methods of thinking. His rejection of the teachings of the book of +Ecclesiastes, his wide learning and his conception of immortality indicate +that he lived some time after the beginning of the Maccabean struggle. His +reference in 3:1-4 is probably to the persecutions through which the Jews +of Egypt passed during the reign of Ptolemy Psycon (140-117 B.C.). On the +other hand the book clearly antedates the writings of the Jewish +philosopher Philo, who lived during the latter part of the first century +B.C. The Wisdom of Solomon, therefore, may be dated somewhere between 100 +and 50 B.C. + +VII. Its Important Teachings. The author of the Wisdom of Solomon aimed, +first, to commend Israel's faith to the heathen by showing that it was in +substantial accord with the noblest doctrines of the Greek philosophers, +and second, to furnish the Jews of the dispersion, who were conversant +with Hellenic thought and yet trained in the religion of their race, a +working basis for their thought and practice. From the first it appears to +have been highly esteemed by the Jews outside Palestine, although it never +found a place in the Palestinian canon. Like most wisdom books, it +describes at length the beauty and value of wisdom. The figure of Proverbs +8 and 9 is still further developed under the influence of the Greek +tendency to personify abstract qualities. In the mind of the author, +however, wisdom is simply an attribute of the Deity which he shares in +common with men. The book is unique in two respects: (1) it contains the +earliest references in Jewish literature to a personal devil and +identifies him with the serpent that tempted the woman in the garden +(2:24, cf. Gen. 3) Elsewhere, however, the author traces sin and evil to +men's voluntary acts (e.g., 1:16). (2) It teaches the immortality +of righteousness and hence, by implication, the immortality of the +individual. "God created man for incorruption," and "the souls of the +righteous are in his hand." The doctrine here presented is ethical and +spiritual rather than the belief in a bodily resurrection already +formulated in the twelfth chapter of Daniel. It also teaches that +both the good and bad will be rewarded according to their deeds. Its +conceptions of God are exalted. He is the incorruptible spirit in all +things, just and yet merciful, the lover of men. The book also places side +by side with the Jewish teachings regarding men's duties to God and their +fellow-men the Greek virtues of moderation, good sense, justice, and +courage or fortitude. It also teaches that, like God, each of his children +should be a lover of men. Thus the book unites most effectively that +which is best in the thought of Judaism and Hellenism and is an earnest +of that still nobler union that was later realized in the thought and +teachings of Christianity. + + + +Section CXVI. THE DECLINE OF THE MACCABEAN KINGDOM + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:1] +After Aristobulus died, his wife Salome, who by the Greeks was called +Alexandra, released his brothers from prison (for Aristobulus had kept +them in confinement), and made Alexander Janneus, who was the oldest, +king. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:2] +Now there was a battle between him and Ptolemy, who was called Lathyrus, +who had taken the city of Asochis. He indeed slew many of his enemies, but +the victory rather inclined to Ptolemy. But when this Ptolemy was pursued +by his mother, Cleopatra, and retired into Egypt, Alexander besieged and +took Gadara and Amathus, which was the strongest of all the fortresses +that were beyond the Jordan, and the most valued of all the possessions of +Theodorus, the son of Zeno, were therein. Thereupon Theodorus marched +suddenly against him and took what belonged to himself, and slew ten +thousand of the Jews. Alexander, however, recovered from this blow and +turned his force toward the maritime districts and took Gaza, Raphia, and +Anthedon. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:3] +But when he had enslaved all these cities, the Jews made an insurrection +against him at a festival and it looked as though he would not have been +able to escape the plot they had laid for him, had not his foreign +auxiliaries come to his aid. And when he had slain more than six thousand +of the rebels, he invaded Arabia, and when he had conquered the Gileadites +and Moabites, he commanded them to pay him tribute and returned to Amathus +and took the fortress and demolished it. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:4, 5] +However, when he fought with Obedas, king of the Arabians, who had laid an +ambush for him near Golan, he lost his entire army, which was crowded +together in a deep valley and trampled to pieces by the multitude of +camels. And fleeing to Jerusalem because of the greatness of the calamity +that had overtaken him, he provoked the multitude, which had hated him +before, to make an insurrection against him. He was, however, too strong +for them in the various battles that were fought between them and he slew +no fewer than fifty thousand of the Jews in the interval of six years. Yet +he had no reason to rejoice in these victories, since he did but consume +his own country, until he at length ceased fighting and desired to come to +an agreement with them. But his changeability and the irregularity of his +conduct made them hate him still more. And when he asked them why they so +hated him and what he should do to appease them they said, "Die." + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:4c, 5c, 6a, c] +At the same time they invited Demetrius to assist them, and as he readily +complied with their request and came with his army, the Jews joined with +these their auxiliaries about Shechem. In the battle which followed, +Demetrius was the conqueror, although Alexander's mercenaries performed +the greatest exploits. Nevertheless the outcome of this battle proved +different from what was expected by both sides, for those who had invited +Demetrius to come to them did not continue loyal to him although he was +the conqueror, and six thousand Jews out of pity because of the change in +Alexander's condition, when he fled to the mountains, went over to him. +Demetrius, supposing that all the nation would run to Alexander, left the +country and went his way. The rest of the Jewish multitude, however, did +not lay aside their quarrels with Alexander when the auxiliaries were +gone, but had perpetual war with them until he had slain the greater part +of them. Then such a terror seized the people that eight thousand of his +opponents fled away the following night out of all Judea and did not +return until Alexander died. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:8c, d] +Alexander also subdued Golan, Seleucia, and what was called the Valley of +Antiochus; besides which he took the strong fortress of Gamala. Then he +returned into Judea after he had spent three years on this expedition. Now +he was gladly received by the nation because of his success. So when he +was at rest from war, he fell ill and died, terminating his troubles after +he had reigned twenty-seven years. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 5:1] +Now Alexander left the kingdom to Alexandra, his wife, and trusted the +Jews would readily submit to her, for in opposing his habitual violation +of their laws she gained the good-will of the people. Nor was he mistaken +in his hopes, for this woman retained the rulership because of her +reputation for piety. For she chiefly studied the ancient customs of her +country and cast those men out of the government who offended against +their holy laws. And as she had two sons by Alexander, she made the older, +Hyrcanus, high priest, on account of his age and also on account of his +inactive temperament. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 5:2, 3a, b] +And the Pharisees joined themselves to her in the government and Alexandra +henceforth hearkened to them to a great degree. But these Pharisees +artfully insinuated themselves into her favor little by little and +presently became the real administrators of public affairs. They banished +and recalled whom they pleased. While she governed the people, the +Pharisees governed her. Accordingly, they slew Diogenes, a person +of prominence, because he had been a friend of Alexander; they also +urged Alexandra to put the rest of those to death who had stirred up +Alexander against them. But the chief of those who were in danger fled +to Aristobulus. He persuaded his mother to spare the men on account of +their rank, but to expel them from the city. So when they were given their +freedom, they were dispersed over all the country. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 5:4-6:1b] +In the meantime Alexandra fell sick and Aristobulus, her younger son, +seized this opportunity to get possession of all the fortresses. He also +used the sums of money he found in them to gather together a number of +mercenaries and to set himself up as king. But Alexandra, after she had +lived nine years, died before she could punish Aristobulus. Hyrcanus was +heir to the kingdom and to him his mother intrusted it while she was +living. But Aristobulus was superior to him in ability and spirits, and +when there was a battle between them near Jericho to decide the dispute +about the kingdom, the majority deserted Hyrcanus and went over to +Aristobulus. But they came to an agreement that Aristobulus should be the +king, and that Hyrcanus should resign, but retain all the rest of his +dignities. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 6:2, 3] +Now the others who opposed Aristobulus were afraid, when he thus +unexpectedly came to power. This was especially true of Antipater, whom +Aristobulus hated of old. He was by birth an Idumean and one of the chief +men of that nation on account of his ancestry and riches and other +authority that belonged to him. He urged Hyrcanus to flee to Aretas, king +of Arabia, and to retrieve the kingdom. When he had prepared them both +beforehand he took Hyrcanus by night away from the city and escaped to +Petra, which is the royal capital of Arabia. Here he put Hyrcanus into +Aretas's care. He prevailed with him to give him an army to restore him to +his kingdom. This army consisted of fifty thousand footmen and horsemen +which Aristobulus was not able to withstand, but was defeated in the first +encounter and was driven out of Jerusalem. He would have been taken by +force, if Scaurus, the Roman general, had not come and opportunely raised +the siege. This was the Scaurus who was sent into Syria from Armenia by +Pompey the Great when he was fighting against Tigranes. As soon, +therefore, as Scaurus arrived in the country, ambassadors came from both +the brothers, each of them desiring his assistance. But Aristobulus's +three hundred talents blocked the way of justice. When Scaurus had +received this sum, he sent a herald to Hyrcanus and the Arabians, and +threatened them with the resentment of the Romans and Pompey unless they +raised the siege. So Aretas was terrified and retired from Judea to +Philadelphia. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 6:4-5] +When Hyrcanus and Antipater were thus deprived of their hopes from the +Arabians, they fled to Pompey for assistance and besought him to show his +disapproval of the violent action of Aristobulus and to restore to him the +kingdom, as it justly belonged to him. Aristobulus was also there himself, +dressed in regal attire, but Pompey was indignant at his behavior. When +Hyrcanus's friends also interceded strongly with Pompey, he took not only +his Roman forces but also many of his Syrian auxiliaries and marched +against Aristobulus. But when he had passed by Pella and Scythopolis +and had come to Korea, he heard that Aristobulus had fled to Alexandrium, +which was a stronghold fortified with the greatest magnificence, and +situated upon a high mountain, and he sent to him and commanded him to +come down. So Aristobulus came down to Pompey and when he had made a long +defence of the justness of his rule, he returned to the fortress. Pompey +however commanded him to give up his fortified places and forced him to +write to each of his governors to surrender. Accordingly he did what he +was ordered to do, but being displeased, he retired to Jerusalem and +prepared to fight with Pompey. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 6:6-7:2b] +But Pompey gave him no time to make any preparations and followed at his +heels. And Aristobulus was so frightened at his approach that he came and +met him as a suppliant. He also promised him money and to deliver up both +himself and the city. Yet he did not keep any one of his promises. At this +treatment Pompey was very angry and took Aristobulus into custody. And +when he had entered the city he looked about to see where he might make +his attack, for he saw that the walls were so firm that it would be hard +to overcome them and the valley before the walls was terrible and the +temple which was in that valley was itself surrounded by such a strong +wall that if the city was taken the temple would be a second place of +refuge for the enemy. Inasmuch as Pompey deliberated a long time, a +sedition arose among the people within the city. Aristobulus's party was +willing to fight to save their king, while the party of Hyrcanus was ready +to open the gates to Pompey. Then Aristobulus's party was defeated and +retired into the temple and cut off the communications between the temple +and the city by breaking down the bridge which joined them together, and +they prepared to resist to the utmost. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 7:3] +Pompey himself filled up the ditch which was on the north side of the +temple and the entire valley also, the army being obliged to carry the +material for this purpose. Indeed, it was difficult to fill up that valley +because of its great depth and especially as the Jews from their superior +position used all possible means to repel them. As soon as Pompey had +filled up the valley, he erected high towers upon the bank. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 7:4, 5] +Now Pompey admired not only the other examples of the Jews' fortitude, but +especially that they did not at all intermit their religious services, +even when they were surrounded with darts on all sides; for, as if the +city were in full peace, their daily sacrifices and purifications and all +their religious rites were still carried out before God with the utmost +exactness. Nor when the temple was taken and they were slain about the +altar daily, did they cease from those things that are appointed by their +law to be observed. For it was in the third month of the siege before the +Romans could even with a great struggle overthrow one of the towers and +get into the temple. The greater part of the Jews were slain by their +own countrymen of the opposite faction and an innumerable multitude threw +themselves down from the walls. Of the Jews twelve thousand were slain, +but of the Romans very few, although a greater number were wounded. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 7:6a, b] +But there was nothing that affected the nation so much in the calamities +which they then suffered as that their holy place, hitherto unseen, should +be laid open to strangers. For Pompey and those who were about him went +into the temple itself, where it was lawful for the high priest alone to +enter, and saw what was deposited therein; but he commanded the ministers +about the temple to purify it and to perform their accustomed sacrifices. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 7:7] +Moreover he reappointed Hyrcanus high priest, by which he acted the part +of a good general and reconciled the people to him rather by kindness than +by terrorizing them. He took away from the nation all those cities that +they had formerly taken and reduced Judea to its own bounds. Then he made +all the haste he could to go through Cilicia on his way to Rome, taking +Aristobulus and his two children along with him as captives. One of +Aristobulus's sons, Alexander, ran away on the journey, but the younger, +Antigonus, with his sisters, was carried to Rome. + +I. The Character and Policy of Alexander Janneus. For the picture of the +character of Alexander Janneus we are chiefly dependent upon Josephus, and +it is not clear how far this late Jewish historian was influenced by the +prevailing prejudices against that ruler who figured as the arch enemy of +the Pharisees. The incidents recorded reveal, however, a most sinister +character. He was ambitious, but his ambitions were selfish and low. +He was energetic and tireless, but his energy was wasted in futile +undertakings. Furthermore, he was unscrupulous, vindictive, and merciless. +There is not the slightest indication that he was actuated by any worthy +ideal of service. To the Jewish state and race it was a great calamity +that a man of this type should gain control of the nation at the moment +when it had attained its greatest material strength. Under the kindly and +wise guidance of Simon the subsequent history of the Jewish state would +doubtless have been far different. Janneus's first aim was to establish +his power as an absolute despot. He ardently accepted the ideal of an +Oriental ruler that had been imposed upon the Jews during the short reign +of his brother Aristobulus. In realizing this ambition he met, as did +every other king in Israel's history, the strong opposition of the people +and a bold assertion of their inherited liberties. His second aim was to +break completely the power of the Pharisees. They were the party of the +people and had no sympathy with his policies. In them, therefore, he +recognized his chief opponents. His third ambition was to extend the +territory of the Jewish state to its farthest natural bounds. Soon after +the beginning of his reign he succeeded in arousing the bitter hostility +of the Greek cities on his eastern and western borders, of the reigning +kings of Egypt, and of the rising Arabian power to the south of the Dead +Sea. The objects for which he strove were comparatively petty: possession +of the cities of Ptolemais and Gaza and of certain east-Jordan cities, +such as Gadara and Amathus. He was more often defeated than victorious, +but his love of struggle and adventure and lust for conquest ever goaded +him on. In desperation his subjects even ventured to call in Demetrius, +the governor of Damascus, but when Alexander was driven away in defeat the +nation's gratitude and loyalty to the Maccabean house reasserted itself +and he was recalled. Instead of granting a general armistice and thus +conciliating his distracted people, he treacherously used his new-won +power to crucify publicly eight hundred of the Pharisees. Horror and fear +seized the survivors, so that, according to Josephus, eight thousand of +them fled into exile. After six years of civil war and the loss of fifty +thousand lives, Alexander Janneus finally realized his first ambition and +became absolute master of his kingdom. In achieving his ambitions, +however, he well earned the title by which his contemporaries described +him, "the Son of a Thracian," that is, Barbarian. + +II. The Effects of His Rule. The disastrous effects of the reign of +Alexander Janneus may be briefly recapitulated. They were: (1) the +destruction of the loyalty of the majority of the Jews to the Maccabean +house; (2) the intensifying of the opposition between Pharisees and +Sadducees to the point of murderous hate; (3) the extension of the sphere +of Jewish influence from the Mediterranean on the west to the desert on +the east, and from the Lebanons to the southern desert; but (4) the +draining of the life-blood and energies of the Jewish kingdom, so that it +was far weaker and more disorganized than when Janneus came to the throne. + +III. Alexandra's Reign (78-69 B.C.). Alexandra was the second queen who +reigned in Israel's history. Her policy, unlike that of Athaliah of old, +was on the whole constructive. Although she was the wife of Janneus, she +reversed his policy, and placed the Pharisees in control. The return of +the exiles and the restoration of the prophetic party promised peace and +prosperity. The ancient law was expanded and rigorously enforced. +According to the Talmud it was during this period that elementary schools +were introduced in connection with each synagogue. Their exact nature is +not known, but it is probable that the law was the subject studied and +that the scribes were the teachers. This change of policy was undoubtedly +very acceptable to the people, but the Pharisees made the grave mistake of +using their new power to be revenged upon the Sadducean nobles who had +supported the bloody policy of Alexander Janneus. They soon suffered the +evil consequences of attempting to right wrong by wrong. The Sadducees +found in Aristobulus, the ambitious and energetic younger son of Janneus, +an effective champion. Alexandra, in permitting them to take possession of +the many strongholds throughout the land, also committed a fatal error, +for it gave them control of the military resources of the kingdom. +Aristobulus was not slow in asserting his power, with the result that even +before Alexandra died he had seized seventy-two of the fortresses and had +aroused a large part of the people to revolt. While her reign was on the +whole peaceful, it was but the lull before the great storm that swept over +the nation. + +IV. Quarrels between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. Unfortunately Alexandra's +older son, Hyrcanus, was indolent and inefficient. He had been appointed +high priest and, when Aristobulus assumed the title of king, he compelled +Hyrcanus II to be content with this humbler title. Aristobulus's reign +might have been comparatively peaceful had not at this time a new and +sinister influence appeared in the troubled politics of Palestine. It was +one of the results of John Hyrcanus's forcible judaizing of the Idumeans. +Antipater, the son of the Idumean whom Alexander Janneus had made governor +of Idumea, recognized in the rivalry between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus an +opportunity to mount to power. He first persuaded Hyrcanus to flee to +Petra. Then, with the aid of the Arabian king, Aretas, he finally +compelled Aristobulus and his followers to seek refuge on the temple hill +in Jerusalem. The picture of the Jews divided into two hostile camps and +engaged in bitter civil war in the very precincts of the temple under the +leadership of the great-grandsons of the patriotic Simon presents a sad +contrast to the noble spirit and valiant achievements of the founders of +the Maccabean kingdom who had first taken up the sword in defence of the +temple and its service. + +V. Rome's Intervention. This situation gave Rome its desired opportunity +for intervention. Pompey in 70 B.C. made a successful campaign against +Mithridates, king of Pontus, and against Tigranes, king of Armenia. Rome's +policy was to conquer all of southwestern Asia as far as the Euphrates. +Ignoring the peril of the situation, both Aristobulus and Hyrcanus +appealed to Pompey's lieutenant, Scaurus. As a result the Arabians were +ordered to withdraw, and Aristobulus for a brief time was left master of +the situation. In the spring of 63 B.C., however, when Pompey came to +Damascus, there appeared before him three embassies, one representing the +cause of Aristobulus, another that of Hyrcanus, and still a third +presented the request of the Pharisees that Rome assume political control +of Palestine and leave them free to devote themselves to the study and +application of the their law. The fall of Aristobulus hastened what was +now inevitable. Although he was held a prisoner by Pompey, his followers +remained intrenched on the temple hill and were conquered only after a +protracted siege and the loss of many lives. Aristobulus and his family +were carried off captives to Rome to grace Pompey's triumph, and the +request of the Pharisees was granted: Rome henceforth held Palestine under +its direct control. Thus after a little more than a century (165-63 B.C.) +the Jews again lost their independence, and the Maccabean kingdom became +only a memory, never to be revived save for a brief moment. + +VI. Causes of the Fall of the Jewish Kingdom. The Jewish kingdom fell as +the result of causes which can be clearly recognized. It was primarily +because the ideals and ambitions of the Maccabean leaders themselves +became material and selfish. They proved unable to resist the temptations +of success. Greed for power quenched their early patriotism. The material +spirit of their age obscured the nobler ideals of their spiritual +teachers. The result was a tyranny and corruption that made the later +kings misleaders rather than true leaders of their nation. Parallel to the +bitter struggle between the kings and their subjects was the bitter feud +between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Normal party rivalry grew into +murderous hatred, and in taking revenge upon each other they brought ruin +upon the commonwealth. The final end was hastened by the suicidal +feud between the brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, fomented by the +unprincipled machinations of the Idumean Antipater. In the final crisis +the Pharisaic policy of submission and of peace at any cost paved the way +for the realization of Rome's ambition and made the ultimate conquest of +Palestine practically inevitable. Thus the kingdom, founded in the face of +almost insuperable obstacles and consecrated with the life-blood of many +heroes, fell ignominiously as the result of the same causes that +throughout the ages have proved the ruin of even stronger empires. + +VII. Political, Intellectual, and Religious Effects of the Maccabean +Struggle. This century of valiant achievement, colossal errors, and +overwhelming failure left its deep impression upon the Jewish race. It +witnessed the return of many Jews of the dispersion to Jerusalem and Judea +and the development of a strong sense of racial unity. Henceforth the Jews +throughout the world looked to Jerusalem as their true political and +religious capital. The events of this period intensified the ancient feud +between Jew and Samaritan and gave the latter ample reason for that +hostility toward their southern kinsmen which appears in the Gospel +narratives. It was during this age that the parties of the Pharisees and +Sadducees finally crystallized and formulated those tenets and policies +which guided them during the next century. At this time the foundations +were laid for the rule of the house of Herod which exerted such a baleful +influence upon the fortunes and destinies of the Jews. It likewise marked +the beginning and culmination of Rome's influence over the lands of the +eastern Mediterranean and that subjection of the Jews to Gentile rulers +which has continued until the present. + +The Maccabean period gave to the Jews a greatly enlarged intellectual +vision and led them to adopt many of the ideas of their Greek conquerors. +In their literature it is easy to recognize the influence of the more +logical Greek methods of reasoning and of the scientific attitude toward +the universe. It was during this period that the wise were transformed +into scribes, and the rule of the scribal method of thinking and +interpretation began. The struggles through which the Jews passed +intensified their love for the law and the temple services. Duty was +more and more defined in the terms of ceremonial, and the Pharisees +entered upon that vast and impossible task of providing rules for man's +every act. Out of the struggles of the Maccabean period came that fusion +of Hellenic and Jewish ideas that has become an important factor in all +human thought. At last under the influence of the great crises through +which they had passed, the belief in individual immortality gained wide +acceptance among the Jews. Side by side with this came the belief in a +personal devil and a hierarchy of demons opposed to the divine hierarchy +at whose head was Jehovah. Last of all the taste of freedom under a Jewish +ruler brought again to the front the kingly messianic hopes of the race, +and led them to long and struggle for their realization. Thus in this +brief century Judaism attained in many ways its final form, and only in +the light of this process is it possible fully to understand and +appreciate the background of the New Testament history. + + * * * * * + +THE RULE OF ROME + +Section CXVII. THE RISE OF THE HERODIAN HOUSE + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:2] +Now Alexander, that son of Aristobulus who ran away from Pompey, after a +time gathered together a considerable body of men and made a strong attack +upon Hyrcanus, and overran Judea, and was on the point of dethroning him. +And indeed he would have come to Jerusalem, and would have ventured to +rebuild its wall that had been thrown down by Pompey, had not Gabinius, +who was sent as Scaurus's successor in Syria, showed his bravery by making +an attack on Alexander. Alexander, being afraid at his approach, assembled +a larger army composed of ten thousand armed footmen and fifteen hundred +horsemen. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:4a, 5] +Now when Gabinius came to Alexandrium, finding a great many encamped +there, he tried by promising them pardon for their former offences to +attach them to him before it came to fighting; but when they would listen +to nothing reasonable, he slew a great number of them and shut up the rest +in the citadel. Therefore when Alexander despaired of ever obtaining the +rulership, he sent ambassadors to Gabinius and besought him to pardon his +offences. He also surrendered to him the remaining fortresses, Hyrcanium +and Macherus. After this Gabinius brought Hyrcanus back to Jerusalem and +put him in charge of the temple. He also divided the entire nation into +five districts, assigning one to Jerusalem, another to Gadara, another to +Amathus, a fourth to Jericho, and the fifth to Sepphoris, a city of +Galilee. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:6] +Not long after Aristobulus became the cause of new disturbances by fleeing +from Rome. He again assembled many of the Jews who were desirous of a +change and those who were devoted to him of old; and when he had taken +Alexandrium in the first place, he attempted to build a wall about it. But +the Romans followed him, and when it came to battle, Aristobulus's party +for a long time fought bravely, but at last they were overcome by the +Romans and of them five thousand fell. Aristobulus was again carried to +Rome by Gabinius. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:7] +Now when Gabinius set out to make war against the Parthians, Antipater +furnished him with money and weapons and corn and auxiliaries, but during +Gabinius's absence the other parts of Syria were in insurrection, and +Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, stirred the Jews again to revolt. But +at the battle fought near Mount Tabor ten thousand of them were slain and +the rest of the multitude scattered in flight. So Gabinius came to +Jerusalem and settled the government as Antipater desired. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:8] +Now this Antipater married a wife of an eminent family among the Arabians, +whose name was Cypros. And she bore him four sons, Phasaelus and Herod, +who was afterward king, and besides these Joseph and Pheroras. And he had +a daughter by the name of Salome. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 9:1] +But after the flight of Pompey and of the senate beyond Ionian Sea, Caesar +gained possession of Rome and of the Empire and released Aristobulus from +his bonds. He also intrusted two legions to him and sent him in haste into +Syria, hoping that by his efforts he would easily conquer that country +and the territory adjoining Judea. But he was poisoned by Pompey's +sympathizers. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 9:3a, c, 4a, c, 5a] +Now after Pompey died, Antipater changed sides and cultivated a friendship +with Caesar. And when Mithridates of Pergamus with the force he led +against Egypt was shut out from the roads about Pelusium and was forced to +stay at Ascalon, Antipater persuaded the Arabians among whom he had lived +to assist him and came himself at the head of three thousand armed Jews. +He also urged the men of power in Syria to come to his assistance. In the +attack on Pelusium Antipater distinguished himself pre-eminently, for he +pulled down that part of the wall which was opposite him and leaped first +of all into the city with the men who were about him. Thus was Pelusium +taken. Moreover, as he was marching on, those Jews who inhabited the +district called Onias stopped him, but Antipater not only persuaded them +not to hinder but also to supply provisions for their army. Thereupon in +the Delta Antipater fell upon those who pursued Mithridates and slew many +of them and pursued the rest till he captured their camp, while he lost no +more than eighty of his own men. Thereupon Caesar encouraged Antipater to +undertake other hazardous enterprises for him by giving him great +commendations and hopes of reward. In all these enterprises Antipater +showed himself a most venturesome warrior, and he had many wounds almost +all over his body as proofs of his courage. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 9:5b] +And when Caesar had settled the affairs of Egypt and returned again into +Syria, he gave Antipater the rights of a Roman citizen and freedom from +taxes, and made him an object of admiration because of the other honors +and marks of friendship that he bestowed upon him. It was on this account +that he also confirmed Hyrcanus in the high priesthood. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 10:1, 2a, 3a] +It was about this time that Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, came to +Caesar and became in a surprising manner the cause of Antipater's further +advance. For he proceeded to denounce Hyrcanus and Antipater. Then +Antipater threw off his garments and showed the many wounds he had, and +said that regarding his good will to Caesar it was not necessary for him +to say a word because his body cried aloud, though he himself said +nothing. When Caesar heard this he declared Hyrcanus to be most deserving +of the high priesthood, and Antipater was appointed procurator of all +Judea and also obtained permission to rebuild those walls of his country +that had been thrown down. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 10:4] +As soon as Antipater had conducted Caesar out of Syria, he returned to +Judea, and the first thing he did was to rebuild the walls of his own +country. Then he went over the country and quieted the tumults therein. +And at this time he settled the affairs of the country by himself, because +he saw that Hyrcanus was inactive and not capable of managing the affairs +of the kingdom. So Antipater appointed his oldest son, Phasaelus, governor +of Jerusalem and the surrounding territory. He also sent his second son, +Herod, who was very young, with equal authority into Galilee. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 10:5a, b] +Now Herod was a very active man and soon found a field for his energy. +When, therefore, he found that Hezekias, leader of the robbers, overran +the adjoining parts of Syria with a great band of men, he caught him and +slew him and many more of the robbers. This exploit was especially +pleasing to the Syrians, so that songs were sung in Herod's commendation +both in the villages and in the cities, because he had secured peace for +them and had preserved their possessions. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 11:1, 4] +At this time a mighty war arose among the Romans after the treacherous +murder of Caesar by Cassius and Brutus. Accordingly Cassius came into +Syria and assumed command of the army, and went about exacting tribute of +the cities to such a degree that they were not able to endure it. During +the war between Cassius and Brutus on the one side, against the younger +Caesar (Augustus) and Antony on the other, Cassius and Murcus gathered an +army out of Syria. And because Herod had furnished a great part of the +necessities, they made him procurator of all Syria and gave him an army of +infantry and cavalry. Cassius promised him also that after the war was +over he would make him king of Judea. But it so happened that the power +and hopes of his son became the cause of Antipater's destruction. For +inasmuch as a certain Malichus was afraid of this, he bribed one of the +king's cup-bearers to give a poisoned potion to Antipater. Thus he became +a sacrifice to Malichus's wickedness and died after the feast. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 11:6, 12:3] +Herod, however, avenged himself upon Malichus. And those who hitherto did +not favor him now joined him because of his marriage into the family of +Hyrcanus, for he had formerly married a wife from his own country of noble +blood, Doris by name, who bore to him Antipater. Now he planned to marry +Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus and the +grandson of Hyrcanus. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 12:4, 5] +But when Caesar and Antony had slain Cassius near Philippi and Caesar had +gone to Italy and Antony to Asia, the great men of the Jews came and +accused Phasaelus and Herod that they held the government by force and +that Hyrcanus had nothing more than an honorable name. Herod appeared +ready to answer this accusation, and having made Antony his friend by the +large sums of money which he gave him, influenced him not to listen to the +charges spoken against him by enemies. After this a hundred of the +principal men among the Jews came to Antony at Daphne near Antioch and +accused Phasaelus and Herod. But Massala opposed them and defended the +brothers with the help of Hyrcanus. When Antony had heard both sides, he +asked Hyrcanus which party was best fitted to govern. Hyrcanus replied +that Herod and his party were the best fitted. Therefore Antony appointed +the brothers tetrarchs, and intrusted to them the rulership of Judea. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 13:1a, Jos. Ant. XIV, 13:10] +Now two years after, when Barzaphanes, a Parthian governor, and Pacorus, +the king's son, had captured Syria, they were persuaded by the promise of +a thousand talents and five hundred women to bring back Antigonus to his +kingdom and to turn Hyrcanus out of it. Thus Antigonus was brought back +into Judea by the king of the Parthians, and received Hyrcanus and +Phasaelus as prisoners. Being afraid that Hyrcanus, who was under the guard +of the Parthians, might have his kingdom restored to him by the multitude, +Antigonus cut off his ears and thereby guarded against the possibility +that the high priesthood would ever come to him again, inasmuch as he was +maimed, and the law required that this dignity should belong to none but +those who had all their members intact. Phasaelus, perceiving that he was +to be put to death, dashed his head against a great stone and thereby took +away his own life. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 13:7, 8c, 14:1b, 2] +Herod, however, went off by night, taking those nearest related to him. As +soon as the Parthians perceived it, they pursued after him, but when at +every assault he had slain a great many of them, he came to the stronghold +of Masada, and there he left eight hundred of his men to guard the women, +and provisions sufficient for a siege; but he himself hastened to Petra in +Arabia. He was not able, however, to find any friendship among the +Arabians, for their king sent to him and commanded him to turn back +immediately from the country. So when Herod found that the Arabians were +his enemies, he turned back to Egypt. And when he came to Pelusium, he +could not obtain passage from those who lay with the fleet. Therefore he +besought their captains to let him go with them. So out of respect for the +fame and rank of the man they carried him to Alexandria. And when he came +to the city, he was received with great splendor by Cleopatra, who hoped +he might be persuaded to be the commander of her forces in the expedition +she was about to undertake. But he rejected the queen's entreaty and +sailed for Rome, where first of all he went to Antony and laid before him +the calamities that had overtaken himself and his family. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 14:4] +Thereupon Antony's pity was aroused because of the change that had come +about in Herod's affairs, so he then resolved to have him made king of the +Jews. Herod found Caesar even more ready than Antony because he recalled +the campaigns through which he had gone with Herod's father, Antipater, +in Egypt, and his hospitable treatment and good will in all things. +Besides he recognized the energy of Herod. Accordingly he called the +senate together. There Messala, and after him Atratinus, introduced Herod +to them and gave a full account of his father's merits and of his own good +will to the Romans. Antony also came in and told them that it was to their +advantage in the Parthian war that Herod should be king. So they all gave +their votes for it. And when the senate disbanded, Antony and Caesar went +out with Herod between them. Antony also made a feast for Herod on the +first day of his reign. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 15:3a,b, 4, 16:1] +Herod then sailed from Italy and came to Ptolemais. And as soon as he had +assembled a considerable army of foreigners and of his own countrymen, he +marched through Galilee against Antigonus. The number of his forces +increased each day as he went along, and all Galilee with few exceptions +joined him. After this Herod took Joppa, and then he marched to Masada to +free his kinsmen. Then he marched to Jerusalem, where the soldiers who +were with the Roman general Silo joined his own, as did many from the city +because they feared his power. Herod did not lie idle, but seized Idumea +and held it with two thousand footmen and four hundred horsemen. He also +removed his mother and all his kinsmen, who had been at Masada, to +Samaria. And when he had settled them securely, he marched to capture the +remaining parts of Galilee, and to drive away the garrisons of Antigonus. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 17:1] +In the meantime Herod's fortunes in Judea were not in a favorable +condition. He had left his brother Joseph with full authority, but had +commanded him to make no attacks against Antigonus until his return. But +as soon as Joseph heard that his brother was at a great distance, he +disregarded the command he had received and marched toward Jericho with +five cohorts. But when his enemies attacked him in the mountains and in a +place where it was difficult to pass, he was killed as he was fighting +bravely in the battle, and all the Roman cohorts were destroyed. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 17:8, 9] +Now near the end of winter Herod marched to Jerusalem and brought his army +up to its wall. This was the third year after he had been made king at +Rome. So he pitched his camp before the temple, for on that side it might +be besieged and there Pompey had formerly captured the city. Accordingly +he divided the work among the army and laid waste the suburbs, and gave +orders to raise three mounds and to build towers upon these mounds. But he +himself went to Samaria to marry the daughter of Alexander, the son of +Aristobulus, who had been betrothed to him before. And when he was thus +married, he came back to Jerusalem with a greater army. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 18:1, 2c, 4a] +Now the multitude of the Jews who were in the city were divided into +several factions. For the people that crowded about the temple, being the +weaker party, became fanatical and raved wildly over the situation. But +some of the bolder men gathered together in companies, and began robbing +in many different ways and especially plundering the provisions that were +about the city, so that no food was left over for the horses or the men. +After a siege of five months some of Herod's chosen men ventured upon the +wall and fell into the city. They first captured the environs of the +temple, and as the army poured in there was a slaughter of vast multitudes +everywhere, on account of the rage in which the Romans were because of the +length of the siege, and because the Jews who were about Herod were eager +that none of their opponents should remain. Thereupon Herod made those who +were on his side still more his friends by the honors he conferred upon +them; but those of Antigonus's party he slew. + +I. The Fruitless Struggle against Rome. The first quarter century of +Roman rule was in many ways the most complex in Israel's intricate +history. There were three chief actors in the drama: (1) Rome, represented +first by the leaders of the Republic and later by Pompey, Caesar, and +their successors; (2) the popular Jewish party led by Aristobulus and his +son Alexander, and Antigonus; and (3) Antipater, supported by his able +sons Phasaelus and Herod. Rome's general policy was to allow the Jews as +much freedom as possible, but above all to hold Palestine under firm +control, for it lay on the eastern border and faced Parthia, the one foe +that had successfully defied the powerful mistress of the Mediterranean. +The popular Jewish party bitterly resented Rome's interference. True, the +Pharisees welcomed the relief from civil war, but they could not hold the +majority of the people in leash. The inoffensive Hyrcanus was left in +possession of the high-priesthood and from time to time was elevated to +positions of nominal civil authority, but he was little more than the +plaything of circumstance and party intrigue. The ambitions of Aristobulus +and his sons kept Palestine in a state of constant political ferment. +Three times in five years they stirred the Jews to rebellion against Rome. +The first rebellion was in 57 B.C. and was led by Alexander. He was +ultimately driven by the Roman general to Alexandria, the fortress that +overlooks the middle-Jordan Valley, and was finally forced to surrender. +The three great fortresses, Alexandria, Machaerus, and Hyrcanium, were +thrown down, and the Jewish state was divided into five districts. Each of +these was under a local council consisting of the leading citizens. These +reported directly to the Roman proconsul. To neutralize still further +the Jewish national spirit, the Hellenic cities in and about Palestine +were restored, given a large measure of independence, and placed directly +under the control of Rome's representative in the East. + +The second rebellion followed quickly and was led by Aristobulus. He was +soon obliged, however, to take refuge in the fortress of Machaerus, east +of the Dead Sea, where he was captured and sent back again as a captive to +Rome. The third rebellion was led by Alexander. It was more formidable, +and in the end more disastrous, for the Jews were signally defeated in a +battle near Mount Tabor. The only permanent results of these uprisings +were the intensifying of Jewish hatred of Roman rule and the increasing of +Rome's suspicion of this rebellious people. It was this suspicion that +made it possible for the high-priestly party at a later time to force the +Roman governor Pilate to put to death one whom he recognized to be an +inoffensive Galilean peasant simply because he was accused of having +assumed the historic title, King of the Jews. + +II. Antipater's Policy. Through the troublesome first quarter-century +of Roman rule Antipater and his family prospered because they were able at +every turn in the political fortunes of Syria to make themselves +increasingly useful to Rome. At many critical periods he was able to save +the Jews from calamity and to secure for them valuable privileges. There +is a certain basis for Josephus's over-enthusiastic assertion that he was +"a man distinguished for his piety, justice, and love of his country" +(Jos. Ant. XIV, 11:4c). + +Although Hyrcanus was but a tool in Antipater's hands, he never attempted +to depose him, and apparently always treated him with respect. To steer +successfully through the stormy period during which Rome made the +transition from the republican to the monarchical form of government was +a difficult task. When Crassus came as the representative of the First +Triumvirate, Antipater's gifts and tact were not sufficient to prevent the +Roman from plundering the treasures of the temple. + +Fortunately for the peace of Judea, during the civil war that followed +between Pompey and Caesar, the deposed Jewish king Aristobulus and his son +Alexander were both put to death. After the decisive battle of Pharsalia +in 48 B.C. Antipater quickly espoused the cause of Caesar, and performed +valuable services for him at a time when the great Roman was threatened by +overwhelming forces. By his influence with the people of Syria and Egypt +and by his personal acts of bravery he won the favors that Caesar heaped +upon him and upon the Jewish people. The old territorial division +instituted by Gabinius was abolished, Hyrcanus was confirmed in the +high-priesthood, and Antipater was made procurator of Judea. Joppa was +restored to the Jewish state, the gerusia, the chief assembly of the Jews, +was given certain of its old judicial rights, and permission was granted +to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. The Jews were also freed from the duty +of supporting Roman soldiers and of serving the Roman legions. The tribute +was also in part remitted on the sabbatical year, and the Jews of +Palestine and throughout the Roman Empire were confirmed in their +religious privileges. Thus Caesar proved himself a friend of the Jews and +established precedents to which they frequently appealed in later crises. + +III. Herod's Early Record. Among the many rewards conferred upon +Antipater was the appointment of his son Phasaelus as governor of +Jerusalem and his younger son Herod as governor of Galilee. Thus while +still a young man Herod was given an opportunity to demonstrate his +ability and energy. He at once took measures to put down the robber bands +that infested Galilee, and executed their leader, Hezekias. He won thereby +the gratitude of the Galileans and the approval of Rome. Hyrcanus and the +sanhedrin at Jerusalem, however, viewed this assumption of authority with +suspicion and alarm. When Herod was summoned before them, he appeared in +full military armor and was accompanied by a military following. Provoked +by his boldness, the sanhedrin would have sentenced him to death had not +the local Roman governor interfered. The action of the sanhedrin aroused +Herod's spirit of revenge, and before long, gathering his forces, he +marched against Jerusalem and would have put to death the Jewish leaders +had not his father dissuaded him. + +The assassination of Caesar in 44 B.C., followed by the battle of Philippi +in 42, changed the political horizon of Palestine. Antipater and his sons, +however, following their usual policy, pledged in succession their loyalty +to Cassius and Antony, with the result that greater honors were conferred +upon them. It was at this crisis that Malichus, a certain Jewish noble, +inspired by jealousy and suspicion, treacherously murdered his rival, +Antipater. Herod retaliated by instigating the assassination of the +murderer, but soon a series of calamities swept over Judea which +threatened to obliterate completely the house of Antipater. + +IV. The Parthian Conquest. During the struggle between Antony and the +assassins of Julius Caesar Rome's eastern outposts were left exposed. +Their old foes, the Parthians, improved this opportunity to seize northern +Syria. Encouraged by the presence of the Parthians, Antigonus, the younger +son of Aristobulus, in 41 B.C. entered Palestine. With the aid of the +Parthians and of the Jews who were opposed to Herod he ultimately +succeeded in establishing himself as king. Antipater and Herod's brother +Phasaelus became the victims of the Parthian treachery, and Herod after +many adventures succeeded in escaping with his family to the strong +fortress of Masada at the southwestern end of the Dead Sea. Leaving them +under the care of his brother Joseph, Herod after many discouragements and +vicissitudes finally found his way to Rome. Unfortunately for the cause of +Jewish independence, Antigonus lacked the essential qualities of +leadership. Instead of arousing the loyalty of his subjects his chief +concern was to take vengeance upon Herod's followers and upon all who had +supported the house of Antipater. + +V. Herod Made King of the Jews. Herod went to Rome to urge the +appointment of Aristobulus III, the grandson of Hyrcanus and the brother +of Herod's betrothed wife Mariamne, as king of Judea. Antony and Octavian, +to whom he appealed, were rightly suspicious of the survivors of the +Maccabean house and appreciative of the services of Herod and his father +Antipater. Therefore, to his complete surprise, they offered him the +kingship, and their nomination was speedily confirmed by the senate. +History presents no stranger nor more dramatic sight than Herod, the +Idumean, accompanied by Antony and Octavian, going to the temple of +Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill to offer sacrifices in connection with his +assumption of the historic title, King of the Jews. At first it was an +empty title, but the energy of Herod and the resources of Rome sufficed in +time to make it real. In the spring of 39 B.C. Herod landed at Ptolemais +and with the apathetic aid of the Roman generals in Palestine began to +organize the Jews who rallied about him. Marching down the Mediterranean +coast, he succeeded at last in relieving his family, who were besieged at +Masada. Idumea and Galilee were then brought into subjection, and after +two years of fighting he won an important battle at Isana, a little north +of Bethel, which gave him possession of all of Judea except Jerusalem. The +final contest for the capital city continued through several months, for +Antigonus and his followers realized that they could expect little mercy +from Herod and the Romans. Thousands of Jews were slaughtered, but at last +the temple itself was captured, and Herod was in fact as well as in name +King of the Jews. Antigonus pled in vain for mercy. Departing from their +usual policy of clemency toward native rulers, the Romans caused him first +to be scourged as a common criminal and then ignominiously beheaded. Thus +the Maccabean dynasty, which had risen in glory, went down in shame, a +signal illustration of the eternal principle that selfish ambitions and +unrestrained passions in an individual or family sooner or later bring +disgrace and destruction. While the siege of Jerusalem was still +in progress, Herod went north to Samaria and there consummated his +long-delayed marriage with Mariamne, the daughter of Hyrcanus, thus in +part attracting to himself the loyalty which the Jews had bestowed so +lavishly and disastrously upon the unworthy sons of Alexander Janneus. + + + +Section CXVIII. HEROD'S POLICY AND REIGN + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 19:1, 2a] +Now when the war about Actium broke out, Herod prepared to come to the +assistance of Antony, but he was treacherously hindered from sharing the +dangers of Antony by Cleopatra, for she persuaded Antony to intrust the +war against the Arabians to Herod. This plan, however, proved of advantage +to Herod, for he defeated the army of the Arabians, although it offered +him strong resistance. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 20:1] +Now Herod was immediately concerned about his entire fortunes because of +his friendship with Antony, who had been defeated at Actium by Caesar +[Augustus]. Herod, however, resolved to face the danger: so he sailed to +Rhodes where Caesar was then staying, and came to him without his diadem +and in the dress and guise of a private person, but in the spirit of a +king. And he concealed nothing of the truth, but spoke straight out as +follows: "O Caesar, I was made king of the Jews by Antony. I confess that +I have been useful to him, nor will I conceal this added fact, that you +would certainly have found me in arms, and so showing my gratitude to him, +had not the Arabians hindered me. I have been overcome with Antony, and +sharing the same fortune as his, I have laid aside my diadem. Now I have +come to you fixing my hopes of safety upon your virtue, and I ask that +you will consider how faithful a friend, and not whose friend, I have +been." + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 20:2] +Caesar answered him as follows: "Nay, you shall not only be safe, but you +shall reign more firmly than before, for you are worthy to reign over many +subjects because of the steadfastness of your friendship. Endeavor to be +equally constant in your friendship to me in the hour of my success, since +I have the brightest hopes because of your noble spirit. I therefore +assure you that I will confirm the kingdom to you by decree. I will also +endeavor to do you some further kindness hereafter, that you may not miss +Antony." + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 20:3b-4a] +After this, when Caesar went to Egypt through Syria, Herod received him +lavishly and royally. It was, therefore, the opinion both of Caesar and +his soldiers that Herod's kingdom was too small a return for what he had +done. For this reason, when Caesar had returned from Egypt, he added to +Herod's other honors, and also made an addition to his kingdom by giving +him not only the country which had been taken from him by Cleopatra, but +also Gadara, Hippos, and Samaria, and also the coast cities Gaza, +Anthedon, Joppa, and Straton's Tower. He also made him a present of four +hundred Gauls as a body-guard, which had before belonged to Cleopatra. +Moreover he added to his kingdom Trachonitis and the adjacent Batanea, and +the district of Auranitis. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:13] +Now Herod had a body suited to his soul and was ever a most excellent +hunter, in which sport he generally had great success owing to his skill +in riding, for in one day he once captured forty wild beasts. He was also +a warrior such as could not be withstood. Many also marvelled at his skill +in his exercises when they saw him throwing the javelin and shooting the +arrow straight to the mark. In addition to these advantages of mind and +body, fortune was also very favorable to him, for he seldom failed in war, +and when he failed, he was not himself the cause, but it happened either +through the treachery of some one or else through the rashness of his own +soldiers. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:1b, 4a] +Herod also built for himself at Jerusalem in the upper city a palace, +which contained two very large and most beautiful apartments to which not +even the temple could be compared. One apartment he named Caesareum and +the other Agrippeum [after his friends Caesar Augustus and Agrippa]. But +he did not preserve their memory by particular buildings only and the +names given them, but his generosity also went as far as entire cities. +For when he had built a most beautiful wall over two miles long about a +city in the district of Samaria and had brought six thousand inhabitants +into it and had allotted to them a most fertile territory and in the midst +of this city had erected a large temple to Augustus, he called the city +Sebaste [from Sebastus, the Greek of Augustus]. And when Augustus had +bestowed upon him additional territory, he built there also a temple of +white marble in his honor near the fountains of the Jordan. The place is +called Panium. The king erected other buildings at Jericho and named them +after the same friends. In general there was not any place in his kingdom +suited to the purpose that was allowed to remain without something in +Augustus's honor. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:6a-8a] +And when he observed that there was a city by the seaside that was much +decayed, called Straton's Tower, and that the place, because of its fair +situation, was capable of great improvements, through his love of honor he +rebuilt it all of white stone and adorned it with magnificent palaces and +in it showed his natural munificence. For all the seashore between Dora +and Egypt (between which places the city is situated) had no good harbor, +so that every one who sailed to Phoenicia from Egypt was obliged to toss +about in the sea because of the south wind that threatened them. But the +king by great expense and liberality overcame nature and built a harbor +larger than was the Piraeus, and in its recesses built other deep +roadsteads. He let down stones into one hundred and twenty-one feet of +water. And when the part below the sea was filled up, he extended the wall +which was already above the sea until it was two hundred feet long. The +entrance to the harbor was on the north, because the north wind was there +the most gentle of all the winds. At the mouth of the harbor on each side +were three colossi supported by pillars. And the houses, also built of +white stone, were close to the harbor, and the narrow streets of the city +led down to it, being built at equal distances from one another. And +opposite the entrance of the harbor upon an elevation was the temple of +Caesar Augustus, excellent both for beauty and size, and in it was a +colossal statue of Caesar Augustus as big as the Olympian Zeus, which it +was made to resemble, and a statue of Rome as big at that of Hera at +Argos. And he dedicated the city to the province, and the harbor to those +who sailed there. But the honor of founding the city he ascribed to Caesar +Augustus and accordingly called it Caesarea. He also built other edifices, +the amphitheater, the theater, and market-place in a manner worthy of that +name. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:9a-10a] +Herod was also a lover of his father, for he built as a memorial of his +father a city in the finest plain that was in his kingdom [the lower +Jordan valley], which had rivers and trees in abundance, and called it +Antipatris. He also fortified a citadel that lay above Jericho and was +very strong and handsome, and dedicated it to his mother, and called it +Cypros. Moreover, he dedicated a tower at Jerusalem to his brother +Phasaelus. He also built another city in the valley which leads north from +Jericho and named it Phasaelis. As a memorial for himself he built a +fortress upon a mountain toward Arabia and called it after himself +Herodium. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:11a] +And when he had built so much, he showed the greatness of his soul to many +foreign cities. He built gymnasiums at Tripolis, Damascus, and Ptolemais. +He built a wall around Byblus, and arcades, colonnades, temples, and +market-places at Berytus and Tyre, and theaters at Sidon and Damascus. He +also built an aqueduct for those Laodiceans, who lived by the seaside; and +for the inhabitants of Ascalon he built baths and costly fountains, as +also encircling colonnades that were admirable for their workmanship and +size. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 22:1a, c-2b] +Herod, however, began to be unhappy on account of his wife, of whom he was +very fond. For when he attained the kingship, he divorced her whom he had +married when he was a private person, a native of Jerusalem by the name of +Doris, and married Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, the son of +Aristobulus. Because of Mariamne disturbances arose in his family, and +that very soon, but chiefly after his return from Rome. For the sake of +his sons by Mariamne he banished Antipater, the son of Doris. After this +he slew his wife's grandfather, Hyrcanus, when he returned to him out of +Parthia, on suspicion of plotting against him. Now of the five children +which Herod had by Mariamne two of them were daughters and three were +sons. The youngest of these sons died while he was being educated at Rome, +but the two elder sons he treated as princes because of their mother's +honorable rank and because they had been born after he became king. But +what was stronger than all this was the love he bore to Mariamne. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 22:2c-4] +But Mariamne's hatred toward him was as great as his love for her. She, +indeed, had a just cause for indignation for what he had done, while her +freedom of speech was the result of his affection for her. So she openly +reproached him for what he had done to her grandfather Hyrcanus and to her +brother Aristobulus. For he had not spared this Aristobulus, though he was +but a lad, for after he had given him the high priesthood at the age of +seventeen, Herod caused him to be slain immediately after he had conferred +that honor upon him; for when Aristobulus had put on the holy garments and +had approached to the altar at a festival, the assembled multitude wept +for joy. Thereupon the lad was sent by night to Jericho, and there in a +swimming-pool at Herod's command was held under water by the Gauls until +he was drowned. For these reasons Mariamne reproached Herod, and railed at +his sister and his mother most abusively. He was dumb on account of his +affection for her, but the women were vexed exceedingly at her and charged +her with being false to him, for they thought that this would be most +likely to arouse Herod's anger. When, therefore, he was about to take a +journey abroad, he intrusted his wife to Joseph, his sister Salome's +husband. He also gave him a secret injunction that, if Antony should slay +him [Herod], Joseph should slay Mariamne. But Joseph without any evil +intention and in order to demonstrate the king's love for his wife +disclosed this secret to her. And when Herod came back, and when they +talked together, he confirmed his love to her by many oaths and assured +her that he had never loved any other woman as he had her. "To be sure," +said she, "you proved your love to me by the injunctions you gave Joseph +when you commanded him to kill me!" When Herod heard that this secret was +discovered, he was like a distracted man, and said that Joseph would never +have disclosed his injunction unless he had seduced her. Made insane by +his passion and leaping out of bed, he ran about the palace in a wild +manner. Meantime his sister Salome improved the opportunity for false +accusations and to confirm the suspicion about Joseph. So in his +ungovernable jealousy and rage Herod commanded both of them to be slain +immediately. But as soon as his passion was over, he repented for what he +had done; and indeed his passionate desire for Mariamne was so ardent that +he could not think that she was dead, but in his distress he talked to her +as if she were still alive. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 23:1a, d, 2a, c-3a] +Now Mariamne's sons inherited their mother's hate; and when they +considered the greatness of Herod's crime toward her, they were as +suspicious of their father as of an enemy. This state of theirs increased +as they grew to be men. And when Herod had been poisoned with calumnies +against them, he recalled Antipater, his son by Doris, from exile as a +defence against his other sons, and began to treat him in every way with +more distinction than them. But these sons were not able to bear this +change, for when they saw Antipater, who was the son of a private woman, +advanced, the nobility of their own birth made them unable to restrain +their indignation. For Antipater was already publicly named in his +father's will as his successor. The two weapons which he employed against +his brothers were flattery and calumny, whereby he brought matters +privately to such a point that the king thought of putting his sons to +death. So Herod dragged Alexander with him as far as Rome and charged him +before Augustus with attempting to poison him, but Alexander very ably +cleared himself of the calumnies laid against him and brought Augustus to +the point of rejecting the accusation and of reconciling Herod to his sons +at once. After this the king returned from Rome and seemed to have +acquitted his sons of these charges, but still he was not without some +suspicion of them, for Antipater, who was the cause of the hatred, +accompanied them. But he did not openly show his enmity toward them, for +he stood in awe of the one who had reconciled them. But the dissensions +between the brothers still accompanied them, and the suspicions they had +of one another grew worse. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 24:1a, 27:1, 2a, 6b] +Alexander and Aristobulus were much vexed that the privilege of the +first-born was confirmed to Antipater, and Antipater was very angry +because his brothers were to succeed him. Moreover, Salome incited Herod's +cruelty against his sons, for Aristobulus was desirous of bringing her who +was his mother-in-law and aunt into the same dangers as himself. So he +sent to her to advise her to save herself, and told her that the king was +preparing to put her to death. Then Salome came running to the king and +informed him of the warning. Thereupon Herod could restrain himself no +longer, but caused both of his sons to be bound, and kept them apart from +one another, and speedily sent to Augustus written charges against them. +Augustus was greatly troubled in regard to the young men, but he did not +think he ought to take from a father the power over his sons. So he wrote +back to him, and gave him full authority over his sons, and said he would +do well to make an examination of the plot by means of a common council +consisting of his own kinsmen and the governors of his province, and if +his sons were found guilty to put them to death. With these directions +Herod complied. Then he sent his sons to Sebaste and ordered them there to +be strangled, and his orders being executed immediately, he commanded +their bodies to be brought to the fortress of Alexandrium. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 28:1a, 29:2c] +But an unconquerable hatred against Antipater rose up in the nation now +that he had an indisputable title to the succession, because they well +knew that he was the person who had contrived all the calumnies against +his brothers. Later he secured permission by means of his Italian friends +to go and live at Rome. For when they wrote that it was proper for +Antipater to be sent to Augustus after some time, Herod made no delay but +sent him with a splendid retinue and a large amount of money, and gave him +his testament to carry in which Antipater was inscribed as king. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 30:5a, 31:1a] +And after the death of Herod's brother Pheroras, the king devoted himself +to examining his son Antipater's steward; and upon torturing him he +learned that Antipater had sent for a potion of deadly poison for him from +Egypt, and that the uncle of Antipater had received it from him and +delivered it to Pheroras, for Antipater had charged him to destroy his +father the king, while [Antipater] was at Rome, and so free him from the +suspicion of doing it himself. Antipater's freedman was also brought to +trial, and he was the concluding proof of Antipater's designs. This man +came and brought another deadly potion of the poison of asps and of other +serpents, that if the first potion did not accomplish its end, Pheroras +and his wife might be armed with this also against the king. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 33:1, 7, 8a] +Now Herod's illness became more and more severe because his various +ailments attacked him in his old age and when he was in a melancholy +state, for he was already almost seventy years of age and was depressed by +the calamities that had happened to him in connection with his children, +so that he had no pleasure in life even when he was in health. The fact +that Antipater was still alive aggravated his disease, and he preferred to +destroy him, not incidentally but by crushing him completely. When letters +came from his ambassadors at Rome containing the information that +Antipater was condemned to death, Herod for a little while was restored to +cheerfulness; but presently being overcome by his pains, he endeavored to +anticipate destiny, and this because he was weakened by want of food and +by a convulsive cough. Accordingly he took an apple and asked for a knife, +for he used to pare his apples before eating them. He then looked around +to see that there was no one to hinder him and lifted up his right hand as +if to stab himself. But Achiabus, his cousin, ran up to him and, holding +his hand, hindered him from so doing. Immediately a great lamentation was +raised in the palace, as if the king was dying, and as soon as Antipater +heard that, he took courage and with joy in his looks besought his keepers +for a sum of money to loose him and let him go. But the head keeper of the +prison not only prevented that but also ran and told the king what his +design was. Thereupon the king cried louder than his disease could well +bear, and immediately sent some of his body-guards and had Antipater +slain. He also gave orders to have him buried at Hyrcanium, and altered +his testament again and therein made Archelaus, his eldest son, and the +brother of Antipas, his successor, and made Antipas tetrarch. Herod, after +surviving the death of his son only five days, died, having reigned +thirty-four years, since he had obtained control of affairs; but it was +thirty-seven years since he had been made king by the Romans. + +I. Herod's Character. The character of Herod is comparatively easy to +understand, for it is elemental and one that constantly recurs in history. +We in America are familiar with this type which is represented by our +unscrupulous captains of industry or political bosses--energetic, +physically strong, shrewd, relentless toward all who threaten to thwart +their plans, skilful in organization, not troubled about the rightness of +their methods, provided they escape the toils of the law, able to command +men and successfully to carry through large policies. They are not without +their personal attractions, for it is instinctive to admire that which is +big and able to achieve. Many of them also make permanent contributions to +the upbuilding of the nation. Oriental history is also full of analogies: +Nebuchadrezzar, Cyrus, Alexander, and in more recent times Mohammed Ali of +Egypt. Herod was largely the product of his inheritance and training. His +father, Antipater, had taught him to regard the Jews with secret but +well-concealed contempt, and to hate Aristobulus and his ambitious sons. +His religion was loyalty to Rome, for this meant wealth and success. He +delighted in public approval, and his ambition was to be known as a great +builder. As is true with this type of man, he was a natural tyrant. Power +was his ruling passion, and he regarded with extreme suspicion any who +might take it from him. In this respect the contemporary rulers of the +Roman Empire set an example which he was not slow to follow. His Idumean +and Arabian blood coursed hot and fierce through his veins. It was an age +when moral standards were exceedingly low, and Herod never learned to rule +his passions. The Oriental institution of the harem gave him full license, +and he lived and loved as he fought and reigned--vehemently. Such a man is +especially susceptible to the weaknesses and crimes that come from +jealousy, and the influences of his family and court intensified these +fatal faults. + +Herod is not without his attractive qualities. A man who is able to +execute on a large scale and win the title Great is never commonplace. +In giving Palestine the benefits of a strong and stable government he +performed a real service. In his love for Mariamne and for the sons she +bore him he was mastered by a passion that for a time ennobled him. +Like every man, moreover, who fails to taste the joys of disinterested +service for his fellow-men, Herod paid the bitter penalty for his own +unrestrained selfishness. He awakes pity rather than denunciation. He +never found life, because he never learned to lose his life in the service +of his people. + +II. His Attitude toward Rome. Herod's policy was loyalty at any cost to +the man who at the moment ruled Rome. During the first part of his reign +Antony's power on the eastern Mediterranean was still in the ascendancy. +Notwithstanding the powerful intrigues of Cleopatra, Herod succeeded in +retaining the favor of his patron. When the battle of Actium in 32 B.C. +revealed Antony's weakness, Herod forthwith cast off his allegiance, and +his treachery was one of the chief forces that drove Antony to suicide. +Octavian, who henceforth under the title of Augustus attained to the +complete control of Rome, recognized in Herod a valuable servant. Herod's +title as king of the Jews was confirmed, and Augustus gradually increased +his territory until it included practically all of Palestine with the +exception of certain Greek cities along the coast and east of the Jordan. +Herod's task was to preserve peace in the land thus intrusted to him and +to guard the eastern border of the empire against its Parthian foes. This +task he faithfully performed. + +III. His Building Activity. The spirit and policy of Augustus were +clearly reflected in Herod's court and kingdom. When his position was +firmly established, Herod devoted himself to magnificent building +enterprises. In Antioch, Athens, and Rhodes, he reared great public +buildings. Jerusalem, his capital, was provided with a theatre and +amphitheatre, and other buildings that characterize the Graeco-Roman +cities of the period. The two crowning achievements of Herod's reign were +the rebuilding of Samaria and Caesarea, as its port on the Mediterranean +coast. Both of these cities were renamed in honor of his patron Augustus. +On the acropolis of Samaria he built a huge Roman temple, the foundations +of which have recently been uncovered by the American excavators. The city +itself was encircled by a colonnade, over a mile long, consisting of +pillars sixteen feet in height. Caesarea, like Samaria, was adorned with +magnificent public buildings, including a temple, a theatre, a palace, and +an amphitheatre. The great breakwater two hundred feet wide that ran out +into the open sea was one of the greatest achievements of that building +age. By these acts Herod won still further the favor of Augustus and the +admiration of the Eastern world. + +IV. His Attitude toward His Subjects. The peace which Herod brought to +Palestine was won at the point of the sword. The fear which he felt for +his subjects was surpassed only by the fear which he inspired in them. He +was unscrupulous and merciless in cutting down all possible rivals. The +treacherous murder of Aristobulus III, the grandson of Hyrcanus, and last +of all the murder of the inoffensive and maimed Hyrcanus, are among the +darkest deeds in Herod's bloody reign. The power of the sanhedrin, the +Jewish national representative body, was almost completely crushed. +Following the policy of Augustus, Herod developed a complex system of +spies, or espionage, so that, like an Oriental tyrant, he ruled his +subjects by means of two armies, the spies who watched in secret and the +soldiers who guarded them openly. His lavish building enterprises led him +to load his people with an almost intolerable burden of taxation, and yet +for the common people Herod's reign was one of comparative peace and +prosperity. At last they were delivered from destructive wars and free to +develop the great agricultural and commercial resources of the land. While +outside of Judea Herod built heathen temples, he faithfully guarded the +temple of Jerusalem, and was careful not to override the religious +prejudices of his subjects. His measures to relieve their suffering in +time of famine reveal a generosity which under better environment and +training might have made him a benign ruler. + +V. The Tragedy of His Domestic Life. The weakness of Herod's character +is most glaringly revealed in his domestic life. Undoubtedly he loved the +beautiful Maccabean princess, Mariamne, with all the passion of his +violent nature. It was a type of love, however, which passes over easily +into insensate jealousy. Accordingly, when he left Judea just before the +battle of Actium, and later when he went to meet Octavian, he had his wife +Mariamne shut up in a strong fortress. Unfortunately Herod, like most +despots, was unable to command the services of loyal followers. The +discovery of Herod's suspicions toward her aroused the imperious spirit of +Mariamne. She was also the victim of the plots of his jealous family. +Human history presents no greater tragedy than that of Herod putting to +death the one woman whom he truly loved, and later a victim of his own +suspicions and of the intrigues of his son Antipater, finally obtaining +royal permission to put to death the two noble sons whom Mariamne had +borne to him. It is difficult to find in all history a more pitiable sight +than Herod in his old age, hated by most of his subjects, misled by the +members of his own family, the murderer of those whom he loved best, +finding his sole satisfaction in putting to death his son Antipater, who +had betrayed him, and in planning in his last hours how he might by the +murder of hundreds of his subjects arouse wide-spread lamentation. + +VI. Effects of Herod's Reign. One of the chief results of Herod's policy +and reign was the complete extinction of the Maccabean house. Herod's +motive and method were thoroughly base, but for the Jewish people the +result was beneficial, for it removed one of the most active causes of +those suicidal rebellions that had resulted disastrously for the Jews and +brought them under the suspicion and iron rule of Rome. With his heavy +hand Herod also put a stop to the party strife that had undermined the +native Jewish kingdom and brought loss and suffering to thousands of Jews. +The Pharisees and Sadducees at last were taught the lesson of not +resorting to arms, however widely they might differ. By removing the +Pharisees from public life Herod directed their energies to developing +their ceremonial regulations and to instructing the people. Thus the +influence of the Pharisees became paramount with the great majority of the +Jews. As Herod extended his rule over all Palestine, he brought into close +relations the Jews scattered throughout its territory and so strengthened +the bonds of race and religion. In building the temples he also emphasized +the ceremonial side of their religious life and centralized it so that +even the Jews of the dispersion henceforth paid their yearly temple tax, +made frequent pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and regarded themselves as a part +of the nation. Furthermore, Herod brought peace and prosperity to his +people and gave the Jews an honorable place in the rôle of nations. Thus, +while his career is marked by many unpardonable crimes, he proved on the +whole an upbuilder and a friend rather than a foe of the Jews. + + + +Section CXIX. HEROD'S TEMPLE + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:1a] +Now Herod, in the eighteenth year of his reign, undertook a very great +work, that is, to rebuild the temple of God at his own expense, and to +make it larger in circumference and to raise it to a more magnificent +height. He thought rightly that to bring the temple to perfection would be +the most glorious of all his works, and that it would suffice as an +everlasting memorial. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:2c] +So he prepared a thousand wagons to bring stones, chose ten thousand of +the most skilful workmen, bought a thousand priestly garments for as many +of the priests, and had some of them taught how to work as builders, and +others as carpenters. Then he began to build, but not until everything +was well prepared for the work. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:3a-c] +And Herod took up the old foundations, and laid others. He erected a +temple upon these foundations: its length was one hundred cubits and its +height twenty additional cubits. Now the temple was built of stones that +were white and strong. Each was about twenty-five cubits long, eight +cubits high, and twelve cubits wide. The whole temple enclosure on the +sides was on much lower ground, as were also the royal colonnades; but the +temple itself was much higher, being visible for many furlongs in the +country round about. It had doors at its entrance as high as the temple +itself with lintels over them. These doors were adorned with variegated +veils, into which were interwoven pillars and purple flowers. Over these, +but under the crown-work, was spread out a golden vine, with its branches +hanging far down, the great size and fine workmanship of which was a +marvel to those who saw it. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:3f-l] +Herod also built very large colonnades all around the temple, making them +in proportion. He exceeded all who had gone before him in his lavish +expenditure of money. There was a large wall about the colonnades. The +hill, on which the temple stood, was rocky, ascending gradually toward +the east of the city to its highest point. At the bottom, which was +surrounded by a deep valley, he laid rocks that were bound together with +lead. He also cut away some of the inner parts, carrying the wall to a +great height, until the size and height of the square construction was +immense, and until the great size of the stones in front were visible on +the outside. The inward parts were fastened together with iron and the +joints were preserved immovable for all time. When this work was joined +together to the very top of the hill, he finished off its upper surface +and filled up the hollow places about the wall and made it level and +smooth on top. Within this wall, on the very top, was another wall of +stone that had on the east a double colonnade of the same length as the +wall. Inside was the temple itself. This colonnade faced the door of the +temple and had been decorated by many kings before. Around about the +entire temple were fixed the spoils taken from the barbarous nations. All +these were dedicated to the temple by Herod, who added those that had been +taken from the Arabians. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:4a, d] +Now in an angle on the north side of the temple was built a citadel, well +fortified and of extraordinary strength. This citadel had been built +before Herod by the kings and high priests of the Hasmonean race, and +they called it the Tower. In it were deposited the garments of the high +priest, which he put on only at the time when he was to offer sacrifice. +Herod fortified this tower more strongly than before, in order to guard +the temple securely, and gave the tower the name of Antonia to gratify +Antony, who was his friend and a Roman ruler. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:5a-g] +In the western side of the temple enclosure were four gates; one led to +the king's palace, two others led to the suburbs of the city, and the +fourth led by many steps down into the valley and up on the other side to +the entrance to the other part of the city. The fourth front of the +temple, that on the south, had gates in the middle; before this front were +the three royal colonnades, which reached from the valley on the east to +that on the west. These colonnades were especially remarkable for their +great height, which seemed more because the hill at their base dropped +abruptly into a very deep valley. There were four rows of pillars, placed +side by side. The fourth was built into the stone wall. Each pillar was +about twenty-seven feet high, with a double spiral at the base, and was so +thick that three men joining hands could just reach around it. The number +of the pillars was one hundred and sixty-two. The columns had Corinthian +capitals, which aroused great admiration in those who saw them because of +their beauty. These four rows of pillars made three parallel spaces for +walking. Two of these parallel walks were thirty feet wide, six hundred +and six feet in length, and fifty feet in height, while the middle walk +was half as wide again and twice as high. The roofs were adorned with +deep sculptures in wood, representing many different things; the middle +was much higher than the rest, and the front wall, which was of polished +stone, was adorned with beams set into the stone on pillars. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:5h, i] +The second enclosure, which was reached by ascending a few steps, was not +very far within the first. This inner enclosure had a stone wall for a +partition. Upon this wall it was forbidden any foreigner to enter under +penalty of death. This inner enclosure had on its northern and southern +sides three gates at intervals from each other. On the east, however, +there was one large gate, through which those of us who were ceremonially +pure could enter with our wives. Within this enclosure was another +forbidden to women. Still further in there was a third court, into which +only the priest could go. Within this court was the temple itself; before +that was the altar, upon which we offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings to +God. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:5k, 6] +Herod himself took charge of the work upon the colonnades and outer +enclosures; these he built in eight years. But the temple itself was +built by the priest in a year and five months. Thereupon all the people +were filled with joy and returned thanks, in the first place to God for +the speed with which it was finished, and in the second place for the +zeal which the king had shown. They feasted and celebrated this rebuilding +of the temple; the king sacrificed three hundred oxen to God, as did the +others, each according to his ability. The time of this celebration of the +work about the temple also fell upon the day of the king's inauguration, +which the people customarily observed as a festival. The coincidence of +these anniversaries made the festival most notable. + +I. Herod's Motives. It is not difficult to appreciate the reasons which +influenced Herod to begin the rebuilding of the temple. Chief among these +was doubtless the desire to win still further the approval of his master +Augustus. It is also a characteristic of a man of Herod's type to seek to +gain popular approval by the munificence of his public gifts. Throughout +his reign he was painfully aware of the suspicions of his Jewish subjects. +He trusted, and the event proved the wisdom of his judgment, that he might +conciliate them by giving them that about which their interest most +naturally gathered. The methods which he employed in building the temple +clearly indicate that this was one of his leading motives. He also +gratified that love of construction which had found expression in many of +the cities of Palestine and the eastern Mediterranean. He desired to rear +a great memorial for himself, and in this hope he was not disappointed, +for later generations continued to think of him with gratitude because of +the temple which bore his name. + +II. Preparations for the Rebuilding of the Temple. Herod's temple was +begun in 20 or 19 B.C. and was not entirely completed until a few years +before its destruction in 70 A.D. The task in itself was a difficult one, +for on the north the city prevented the extension of the temple area, and +on the south the hill rapidly descended toward the juncture of the +Tyropoean and Kidron valleys. Herod met the difficulty by filling in to +the south with vast stone constructions which rose to the height of +seventy to ninety feet above the virgin rock. To economize building +materials he built the huge underground vaults and arches known to-day +as Solomon's Stables. Thus with a vast expense of labor and wealth he +extended the temple area to the south until it was double that which +surrounded Solomon's temple. It was also important to regard in every +detail the ceremonial scruples of the Jews. To this end a small army of +priests were trained as masons and carpenters in order to do the work in +the immediate proximity of the temple. To bring the ancient temple into +proportions with the rest of his buildings, a huge porch or facade was +reared in front of it on the east, rising, according to Josephus, to the +height of one hundred and twenty feet. For the roof that covered the +porches he apparently brought cedar from the distant Lebanons. Only with +all the resources of the kingdom at his command was it possible to carry +through this vast enterprise. + +III. The Approaches to the Temple. The entire temple area was +rectangular in form, about twelve hundred feet in length and six hundred +feet wide. Its chief approaches were on the south and west. A small gate +through which sacrificial animals were introduced immediately into the +temple precincts opened from the north. The one gate on the east, which +opened into the Kidron Valley, was apparently opposite the eastern +entrance to the temple. The two gates on the south opened toward the City +of David. The one was a double gate with an incline leading into the +temple area, and the other farther to the east was a triple gate. The main +approaches were from the west. The southern of these was a low viaduct +spanning the Kidron Valley and thence by steps or inclined approach +ascending to the temple area. Remnants of the arches that spanned the +valley at this point and a little farther north are still traceable on the +present walls of the temple area far down in the Tyropoean Valley. The +third approach farther to the north was probably also a viaduct leading +directly into the temple area, while the extreme northern approach, +according to Josephus, led from the palace of Herod directly to the +temple. The entire temple area was encircled by a colonnade. One row of +pillars was built into the high wall that surrounded the area. On the +south was found the royal porch with its four rows of columns, the first +and second about thirty feet apart, the second and third forty-five, and +the third and fourth thirty. The pillars on the sides were about +twenty-seven feet in height, while the two rows in the middle were double +this height. Each of these colonnades was covered with a richly ornamented +cedar roof, thus affording grateful shelter from the sun and storm. The +great space at the south of the temple area was the Court of the Gentiles, +the common park of the city where all classes of its population freely +gathered. The colonnade on the east of the temple area bore the name of +Solomon's Porch, and from it the steps led up to the raised platform of +native rock twenty or more feet above the Court of the Gentiles. Somewhere +to the east of the temple was found the famous Beautiful Gate. The series +of steps led into the so-called Court of the Women. West of this was the +Court of the Israelites, to which only men were admitted. Thence a broad, +high door led to the open space before the temple. Surrounding the altar +and cutting off approach to the temple proper was a stone balustrade. +The space within this was known as the Court of the Priests. Here no +laymen were admitted except as the ritual of private sacrifice required. +These inner courts were surrounded by a high wall and adjoining chambers +for the storing of the paraphernalia used in connection with the +sacrifice and for the residence of the priests. On the southern side of +the temple was the room where the national council, the sanhedrin, held +its public meetings. Four gates on the north and four gates on the +south led from the temple court to the lower Court of the Gentiles. + +IV. The Organization of the Temple Service. At the head of the temple +organization was the high priest. Since the deposition of the ill-fated +Hyrcanus the high priests had been appointed by Herod, for to them was +intrusted large civil as well as religious authority. The one duty which +the high priests could not neglect, unless prevented by illness, was to +perform the sacrifice in behalf of the people and to enter the Holy of +Holies on the day of atonement. Frequently he also offered the sacrifice +or presided at the special services on the sabbath, the new moons, or at +the great annual festivals. Otherwise the temple duties were performed by +the army of priests and assistants who were associated with the temple. +According to Josephus there were twenty thousand priests. They were +divided into twenty-four courses. Each course included certain priestly +families to which were intrusted for a week the performing of the +sacrifices. Corresponding to the twenty-four courses of the priests were +the courses of the people, who were represented by certain of their number +at each of the important services. The priests not only performed the +sacrifices but also guarded the temple treasures and the private wealth +placed in their keeping. The Levites attended to the more menial duties in +connection with the temple service. They aided the priests in preparing +the sacrifices and in caring for the utensils that were used in connection +with the sacrifice. Some of them were doorkeepers. Probably from the +Levites were drafted the temple police at whose head was the captain of +the temple. Their task was to preserve order and to prevent Gentiles from +entering the sacred precincts of the temple. The singers constituted a +third group of Levites. + +Two public services were held each day, the first, at sunrise, consisted +in the offering of a sacrificial ram with the accompaniment of prayer +and song. The same rites were repeated at sunset. After the morning +sacrifice the private offerings were presented. On the sabbaths, new +moons, and great festivals, the number of sacrifices was greatly increased +and the ritual made more elaborate. Upon the Jews, instructed in the +synagogue in the details of the law and taught to regard the temple and +its services with deepest reverence, the elaborate ceremonies of this +great and magnificent sanctuary must have made a profound impression. +As the people streamed up to Jerusalem by thousands at the great feasts, +their attention was fixed more and more upon the ritual and the truths +which it symbolized. Herod's temple also strengthened the authority of the +Jewish hierarchy with the people, and gave the scribes and Pharisees the +commanding position which they later occupied in the life and thought of +Judaism. + + + +Section CXX. THE MESSIANIC HOPES AND THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF JUDAISM + +[Sidenote: Sibyl. Oracles, III 767-784] +Then a kingdom over all mankind for all times shall God raise up, who once +gave the holy law to the pious, for whom he pledged to open every land, +the world and the portals of the blessed, and all joys, and an eternal, +immortal spirit and a joyous heart. And out of every land they shall bring +frankincense and gifts to the house of the great God. And to men there +shall be no other house where men may learn of the world to be than that +which God hath given for faithful men to honor; for mortals shall call it +the temple of the mighty God. And all pathways of the plain and rough +hills and high mountains and wild waves of the deep shall be easy in those +days for crossing and sailing; for perfect peace for the good shall come +on earth. And the prophets of the mighty God shall remove the sword; for +they are the rulers of mortals and the righteous kings. And there shall be +righteous wealth among mankind; for this is the judgment and rule of the +mighty God. + +[Sidenote: Ps. Sol. 7:23-35a] +Behold, O Lord, and raise up to them their king, the son of David, in the +time which thou, O God, knowest, that he may reign over Israel thy +servant; and gird him with strength that he may break in pieces those who +rule unjustly. Purge Jerusalem with wisdom and with righteousness, from +the heathen who trample her down to destroy her. He shall thrust out the +sinners from the inheritance, utterly destroy the proud spirit of the +sinners, and as potters' vessels he shall break in pieces with a rod of +iron all their substance. He shall destroy the ungodly nations with the +word of his mouth, so that at his rebuke the nations will flee before him, +and he shall convict the sinners in the thoughts of their hearts. And he +shall gather together a holy people, whom he shall lead in righteousness; +and shall judge the tribes of the people that has been sanctified by the +Lord his God. And he shall not suffer iniquity to lodge in their midst; +and none that knoweth wickedness shall dwell with them. For he shall take +knowledge of them, that they are all the sons of their God, and shall +divide them upon earth according to their tribes, and the sojourner and +the stranger shall dwell with them no more. He shall judge the nations and +the peoples with the wisdom of his righteousness. And he shall possess the +nations of the heathen to serve him beneath his yoke; and he shall glorify +the Lord in a place to be seen by the whole earth; and he shall purge +Jerusalem and make it holy, even as it was in the days of old. + +[Sidenote: Ps. Sol. 7:35b-46] +And a righteous king and taught of God is he who reigneth over them; and +there shall be no iniquity in his days in their midst, for all shall be +holy and their king is the Lord Messiah. For he shall not put his trust in +horse and rider and bow, nor shall he multiply unto himself gold and +silver for war, nor by ships shall he gather confidence for the day of +battle. The Lord himself is his King, and the hope of him who is strong in +the hope of God. And he shall have mercy upon all the nations that come +before him in fear. For he shall smite the earth with the word of his +mouth, even for evermore. He shall bless the people of the Lord with +wisdom and gladness. He himself also is pure from sin, so that he may rule +a mighty people, and rebuke princes and overthrow sinners by the might of +his word. And he shall not faint all his days, because he leaneth +upon his God; for God shall cause him to be mighty through the spirit +of holiness, and wise through the counsel of understanding, with might and +righteousness. And the blessing of the Lord is with him in might, and his +hope in the Lord shall not faint. And who can stand up against him; he is +mighty in his works and strong in the fear of God, tending the flock of +the Lord with faith and righteousness. And he shall allow none of them to +faint in their pasture. In holiness shall he lead them all, and there +shall be no pride among them that any should be oppressed. + +[Sidenote: Enoch 46:1-3] +And there I saw One who had a head of days, and his head was white like +wool, and with him was another being whose countenance had the appearance +of a man, and his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy +angels. And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the +hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, +and why he went with the Head of Days? And he answered and said to me, +"This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness, with whom dwelleth +righteousness, and who reveals all the treasures of that which is hidden, +because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him, and his lot before the Lord +of Spirits hath surpassed everything in uprightness for ever." + +[Sidenote: Enoch 48:3-6] +Before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of the heaven +were made, his name was named before the Lord of Spirits. He will be a +staff to the righteous on which they will support themselves and not fall, +and he will be the light of the Gentiles, and the hope of those whose +hearts are troubled. All who dwell on earth will fall down and bow the +knee before him and will bless and laud and magnify with song the Lord of +Spirits. And for this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before him +before the creation of the world and for evermore. + +[Sidenote: Enoch 49:27-29] +And he sat on the throne of his glory, and the sum of judgment was +committed to him, and the Son of Man caused the sinners and those who have +led the world astray to pass away and be destroyed from off the face of +the earth. With chains they shall be bound, and in their assembling-place +of destruction shall they be imprisoned, and all their works will vanish +from the face of the earth. And henceforth there will be nothing that is +corruptible; for the Son of Man hath appeared and sitteth on the throne of +his glory, and all evil will pass away before his face and depart; but the +word of the Son of Man will be strong before the Lord of Spirits. + +[Sidenote: Enoch 51:1, 2] +And in those days will the earth also give back those who are treasured up +within it, and Sheol also will give back that which it has received, and +hell will give back that which it owes. And he will choose the righteous +and holy from among them; for the day of their redemption is at hand. + +I. The Growth of Israel's Messianic Hopes. Eternal hopefulness is a +marked characteristic of the Hebrew race. Throughout most of their history +the greater the calamities that overtook them the greater was their +assurance that these were but the prelude to a glorious vindication and +deliverance. This hopefulness was not merely the result of their natural +optimism, but of the belief, formed by their experiences in many a +national crisis, that a God of justice was overruling the events of +history, and that he was working not for man's destruction but for his +highest happiness and well-being. It was their insight into the divine +purpose that led the Hebrew prophets to break away from the popular +traditions that projected backward to the beginnings of history the +realization of man's fondest hopes. Instead they proclaimed that the +golden era lay in the future rather than the past. The hopes of Israel's +prophets regarding that future took many different forms. Often the form +was determined by the earlier experiences of the nation. At many periods +the people looked for a revival of the glories of the days of David. In +later days, when they were oppressed by cruel persecutions, they revived +in modified form the dreams that had been current in the childhood of the +Semitic race, and thought of a supernatural kingdom that was to be +inaugurated after Jehovah and his attendant angels, like Marduk in the old +Babylonian tradition of the creation, had overcome Satan and the fallen +angels. Israel's messianic hopes were also shaped and broadened by the +teachings of the great ethical prophets. A growing realization of the +imperfections of the existing order led them to look ever more expectantly +to the time when the prophetic ideals of justice and mercy would be +realized in society, as well as in the character of the individual. These +different expectations regarding the future are broadly designated as +messianic prophecies. The word "messianic," like its counterpart "Messiah" +(Greek, "Christ"), comes from the Hebrew word meaning to smear or to +anoint. It designated in ancient times the weapons consecrated for battle +or the king chosen and thus symbolically set aside to lead the people as +Jehovah's representative, or a priest called to represent the people in +the ceremonial worship. The common underlying idea in the word is that of +consecration to a divine purpose. In its narrower application it describes +simply the agent who is to realize God's purpose in history, but in its +broader and prevailing usage it designates all prophecies that described +the ideal which Jehovah is seeking to perfect in the life of Israel and of +humanity, and the agents or agencies, whether individual or national, +material or spiritual, natural or supernatural, by which he is to realize +that ideal. + +II. The Kingly, Nationalistic Type of Messianic Hope. The messianic +prophecies of the Old Testament seem only confusing and contradictory +until the three distinct types are recognized. These different types of +messianic prophecy naturally shade into each other, and yet they are +fundamentally distinct and were represented throughout Israel's history by +different classes of thinkers. The first is the kingly, nationalistic type +of hope. It came into existence as soon as Israel became a nation, and may +be traced in the Balaam oracles in Numbers 24:17-19, where the seer is +represented as beholding Israel's victorious king smiting its foes, the +Moabites and Edomites, and ruling gloriously over a triumphant people. It +is echoed in II Samuel 7:10-16 in the promise that the house of David +should rule peacefully and uninterruptedly through succeeding generations. +Ezekiel, in his picture of the restored nation in 37:21-28, declares in +the name of Jehovah that "my servant David shall be king over them and +they shall dwell in the land that I have given to my servant Jacob wherein +their fathers dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, they and their sons +forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever." In such +passages as Isaiah 9 and 11 the Davidic ruler is represented as reigning +not despotically or selfishly, but in accordance with the principles of +justice and mercy, bringing peace to all his subjects. As has already been +noted, in the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah and in connection with +the rebuilding of the second temple Israel's kingly, nationalistic hope +reached its culmination, but through the victories of Darius was rudely +cast to the ground (Section XCV:vi). For the next three centuries and a +half, throughout the Persian and Greek periods, this type of Israel's +messianic hope was apparently silenced. The Maccabean struggles and +victories, however, and the oppressive rule of Rome stirred this +smouldering hope into a flame and gave it wide currency among the people +at the beginning of the Christian era. Again the nation came to the +forefront. In the beautiful prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, 10, which +apparently comes from the earlier part of the Maccabean era, is found the +noble picture of a peasant king, humble yet victorious, establishing with +the sword a world-wide kingdom. Memories of the glorious achievements of +the Maccabean leaders kindled the popular imagination. When in 63 B.C. +Rome's iron hand closed upon Palestine, the eyes of the Jews looked +expectantly for the advent of a champion like David of old, who would +crush the heathen, convict the sinful Jews, and gather the faithful +people, ruling over them in justice and with tender care. These hopes are +most plainly expressed in the Psalms of Solomon, which were written near +the beginning of the Roman period. These expectations in their more +material form inspired the party of the Zelots during the earlier part of +the first Christian century repeatedly to unsheathe the sword in the vain +effort to overthrow Rome and to establish at once the rule of the Messiah. +It was because this type of hope was so strong in the minds of the common +people that the false messiahs who rose from time to time were able +quickly to gather thousands about them in the vain expectation that the +moment of deliverance had at last arrived. + +III. The Apocalyptic, Catastrophic Type of Messianic Hope. Another class +of thinkers in Israel looked not for a temporal but for a supernatural +kingdom. It is usually described in the symbolic language of the +apocalypse. The inauguration of this kingdom was not dependent upon man's +activity but solely upon the will of God. The exact time and manner of its +institution was clothed in mystery. Traces of this belief are found in +the references in Amos to the popular expectations regarding the day of +Jehovah. Evidently the Northern Israelites lived in anticipation of a +great universal judgment day, in which their heathen foes would be +suddenly destroyed and they themselves would be exalted. It was a belief +which Amos and the ethical prophets who followed him strongly combated, +for they were fully aware of the fundamental weakness in the apocalyptic +or catastrophic type of prophecy: it took away from the nation and +individual all personal responsibility. Furthermore, its roots went back +to the old Semitic mythology. This type of hope, however, was too firmly +fixed in the popular mind to be dispelled even by the preaching of +Israel's greatest prophets. As a result of the calamities that gathered +about the fall of the Hebrew state it was revived. It is found in Ezekiel, +Zechariah, and Joel. Each of these prophets looked forward to the time +when Jehovah would miraculously overthrow their heathen foes, restore his +scattered people, and establish for them a world-wide, eternal kingdom. In +the closing chapters of the book of Daniel this form of belief attains its +fullest expression in the Old Testament. In the Similitudes of Enoch +(37-71), which come either from the latter part of the Maccabean era or +else from the days of Herod, these messianic hopes are still further +developed. Instead of Israel's guardian angel Michael, represented as +coming on the clouds from heaven and in appearance like a son of man, a +heavenly Messiah is introduced. He is known by the title of the Messiah, +the Elect One, and the Son of Man (probably taken from the book of +Daniel). In Enoch the term Son of Man has evidently become, as in IV +Esdras, the title of a personal Messiah. He is described as pre-existent +and gifted with the divine authority. When he appears, the dead are to +rise, and angels, as well as men, are to be tried before his tribunal. The +sinners and the fallen angels he will condemn to eternal punishment. All +sin and wrong shall be driven from the earth. Heaven and earth shall be +transformed, and an eternal kingdom shall be established in which all the +righteous, whether dead or living, shall participate. This was evidently +the type of messianic hope held by the Pharisees as well as the Essenes. +As the result of the teaching of the Pharisees it was held widely by the +Jews of the first Christian century. It was clearly in the minds of Jesus' +disciples when he made his last journey to Jerusalem. It was both the +background and the barrier to all his work. It is the key to the +interpretation of Paul's conception of the Christ, or the Messiah, for he +had been educated a Pharisee. This apocalyptic type of messianic hope +powerfully influenced the life and thought of the early Christian Church +and even permeated the Gospel narratives. The question of how far Jesus +himself was influenced by it is one of the most vital and difficult +problems of early Christian history. + +IV. The Ethical and Universalistic Type of Messianic Prophecy. +Far removed from the kingly, messianic hopes of the people and the +supernatural visions of the apocalypses were the plain, direct, practical +ideals of Israel's great ethical prophets. Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and +Jeremiah all united in declaring that the realization of Jehovah's purpose +in history depended primarily upon the response of his people. They +regarded the kingdom of God as a natural growth. It represented the +gradual transformation of the characters of men under the influence +of God's truth and spirit working in their minds. They hoped and labored +to see the nation Israel living in full accord with the demands of +justice, mercy, and service. The II Isaiah, under the influences which +grew out of the destruction of the temple and the closer contact with the +heathen world, voiced this type of messianic hope in its broadest and +most spiritualized form. He declared that the Israelites had been called +and trained for a unique service and that that service was to be performed +by them quietly and unostentatiously, as prophets and teachers of men. He +also presented most clearly Israel's missionary ideal, and showed that its +task was not to destroy but to bring light to the Gentile world. He and +the more enlightened prophets who followed him saw an ever-widening +kingdom established without the aid of the sword and freed from all racial +barriers--the eternal, universal, spiritual kingdom of God on earth. It is +evident that in contrast to the other types of messianic prophecy this +form was comprehensible, practicable, and alone capable of realization. + +V. The Messianic Hopes of Judaism at the Beginning of the Christian Era. +Unfortunately, as a result of the varied experiences through which Judaism +passed in the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era, its +ethical and universal messianic hopes were largely eclipsed. The ideal of +the suffering servant appears to have been almost forgotten. As the later +Jews read the earlier scriptures of their race in order to determine what +the future held in store for them, they fixed their eyes upon the +kingly and apocalyptic prophecies. Regarding all scriptures as equally +authoritative, they attempted the impossible task of blending these +fundamentally different types of prophecy. The result was that their +beliefs became, indeed, a complex labyrinth with paths leading in opposite +directions. Later events have proved beyond question that these popular +types were the dreams of religious enthusiasts rather than true pictures +of the way in which the divine purpose was to be perfected in human +history, and yet the apocalyptic type of prophecy was not without its +significance. It tended to correct the narrow national hopes of the Jews +and to lift them to the consideration of that which was spiritual and +eternal. It also led them to appreciate the unity of all history, and in +times of distress it kept alive their faith in a God who was wisely +guiding their destinies. Underlying all these different types of prophecy +is the appreciation of the broad truth that God was working out in the +lives of men and nations a definite purpose, and that that purpose was +good, and that the God back of all history was a God not only of power but +also of love. It was inevitable that the ethical and more spiritual +expectations of the early Hebrew prophets should find the fullest response +in the heart and life of the Great Teacher. In the face of opposition from +the leaders of his race, from the multitudes that gathered about him, and +even from the disciples who loved and followed him, he proclaimed that the +kingdom of God would not come by observation, but that its growth would be +natural and gradual like that of the mustard seed, that it was not +external but within the hearts of men, that membership in that kingdom +depended not upon the arbitrary will of God, but upon men's acting in +accord with that will in the every-day relations of life. Thus Jesus +prepared the way for the complete fulfillment of all that was noblest and +best in Israel's messianic hopes, and in his character and teachings far +surpassed the highest expectations of the inspired teachers of his race. + + + +APPENDIX + +I + +A PRACTICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY + +Books for Constant Reference. The complete text of the biblical writings +of the post-exilic period are found in Volumes II to VI of the _Student's +Old Testament_. A careful, thorough résumé of the history is contained in +Riggs's _History of the Jewish People during the Maccabean and Roman +Periods_. Professor Bevan, in his _Jerusalem Under the High Priests_, +presents, especially from the ecclesiastical point of view, a fresh +survey of the history during the Greek and Maccabean periods. The +geographical background may be studied either in George Adam Smith's +_Historical Geography of the Holy Land_ or in Kent's _Biblical Geography +and History_. + +Additional Books of Reference: Introductions and Commentaries. In +addition to the standard Old Testament introductions by McFadyen, Cornill, +and Driver, the collection of monographs in Professor Torrey's _Ezra +Studies_ will be found especially valuable. The introduction, as well as +the critical notes, in the brief yet scholarly volumes of the _New Century +Bible_ are exceedingly useful for the general reader. More fundamental are +the volumes in the _International Critical Commentary._ The introductions +to the different books in Hastings' _Dictionary of the Bible_ and the +_Encyclopedia Biblica_ are clear, concise, and written from the modern +point of view. + +Jewish and Contemporary History. The thorough student of this period +will find a wealth of suggestive material in Smith's _Old Testament +History_ and in Schürer's monumental work, _A History of the Jewish People +in the Time of Jesus Christ_. The later development of Israel's religion +is presented in Marti's _Religion of the Old Testament_, in the first part +of Toy's _Judaism and Christianity_, in Bousset's _Judaism_, and in +Charles's _Eschatology, Hebrew, Jewish and Christian_. An excellent survey +of the contemporary history of the period is to be found in the _History +of the Ancient World_ by Goodspeed or in Meyer's _Ancient History._ A more +detailed treatment of the contemporary history will be found in the +_History of Greece_ by Curtius or by Holm. The _History of Rome_ is fully +traced in the monumental works of Mommsen or Gibbon or the more recent +study in _The Greatness and Decline of Rome_ by Ferrero. Briefer but +equally reliable histories of Rome are those by Botsford, Horton, and +Seignobos. + + + +II + +GENERAL QUESTIONS AND SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH + +The General Questions, as in the preceding volumes, follow the main +divisions of the book, and are intended to guide the student in +collecting and co-ordinating the more important facts presented in the +biblical text or in the notes. + +The Subjects for Special Research are intended to guide the reader to +further study in related lines, and, by means of detailed references, to +introduce him to the most helpful passages in the best English books of +reference. In class-room work many of these topics may be profitably +assigned for personal research and report. The references are to pages, +unless otherwise indicated. Ordinarily, several parallel references are +given that the student may be able to utilize the book at hand. More +detailed classified bibliographies will be found in the appendices of +Volumes II-VI of the author's _Student's Old Testament_. + + +THE EXILE AND REVIVAL OF THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +Section XCI. The Jews in Palestine and Egypt. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. What did the final destruction of Jerusalem in 586 mean to the +Jewish people? 2. Describe the structure and contents of the book of +Lamentations. 3. Its probable authorship and date. 4. Its theme and +historical value. 5. The condition of the Jews who were left in Palestine. +6. The numbers of the Jews in Egypt. 7. The life of the Jewish colony at +Elephantine. 8. The character and service of the +temple of Jahu. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The literary history of the book of +Lamentations. McFadyen, _Introd._, 294-7; Driver, _Lit. of the O.T._, +456-65. 2. History of Egypt from 600 to 560 B.C. Breasted, _Hist, of the +Ancient Egyptians_, 404-18. 3. The discoveries at Elephantine. Sayce and +Cowley, _Aramaic Papyri Discovered at Assuan_; Sachau, _Drei aramäische +Papyrururkunden aus Elephantine_. + +Section XCII. Ezekiel's Message to His Scattered Countrymen. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the situation of the Jewish colony in Babylon. +2. Their opportunities and occupations. 3. Their religious life. 4. The +prophecies of Ezekiel after the destruction of Jerusalem. 5. Meaning of +his description of the valley of dry bones in chapter 37. 6. His +conception of the way in which the scattered exiles were to be restored. +7. His plan of the restored temple. 8. The meaning and significance of +this detailed plan. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Babylon under Nebuchadrezzar. +Goodspeed, _Hist. of Babs. and Assyrs_., 336-50; _En. Bib_., III, +3369-71. 2. The religious institutions of the Babylonians. Goodspeed, +_Hist. of Babs. and Assyrs._, 351-66; Jastrow, _Relig. of Bab. and +Assyr._; Johns, _Bab. and Assyr. Laws, Letters, and Contracts_, 208-17. +3. Influence of Babylonian institutions upon Ezekiel. Toy, _Ezek._ +(Introd.). + +Section XCIII. The Closing Years of the Babylonian Rule. GENERAL +QUESTIONS. 1. Describe the different influences that transformed the Jews +into a literary people. 2. The nature of their literary activity. +3. The Old Testament books that were written or re-edited during this +period. 4. The general character of the Holiness Code. 5. The national +hopes inspired by the liberation of Jehoiachin. 6. The character of +Nabonidus. 7. The effects of his rule. 8. The early conquests of Cyrus. +9. His capture of Babylon. 10. His policy toward conquered peoples. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Contents and history of the Holiness +Code. _St. O.T._, IV, 36-42; McFadyen, _Introd. to O.T._, 31-4. 2. The +last decade of Babylonian history. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Babs. and +Assyrs._, 367-76; Kent, _Hist. J.P._, 66-77. 3. Character and reign +of Cyrus. Herodotus, I, 95, 108-30, 177-214; Hastings, _D.B._, I, +541-2; Rawlinson, _Anc. Monarchies_, IV, VII; Duncker, _Hist. of +Antiq._, V. + +Section XCIV. The Rebuilding of the Temple. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +Describe the contents and literary history of the books of Ezra and +Nehemiah. 2. Their authorship. 3. The Chronicler's peculiar ideas +regarding the restoration. 4. Revolutions in the Persian Empire that +aroused the Jews to action. 5. Haggai's appeal to the Judean community. +6. Measures taken to stop the rebuilding of the temple. 7. Meaning of the +rebuilding of the temple to the Jewish race. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The historical value of Ezra +and Nehemiah. Torrey, _Composition and Historical Value of Ezra and +Nehemiah,_ or _Ezra Studies_, 62-251. 2. The first two decades of Persian +history. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Ancient World_, 60-2; Ragozin, _The Story +of Media_, II; Meyer, _Anc. Hist_., 88-93. 3. Evidence that there was +no general return of the Jews in 536 B.C. Kent, _Hist. J.P._, 126-36; +Torrey, _Ezra Studies_, 297-307. + +Section XCV. Zechariah's Visions and Encouraging Addresses. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the evidence that Zechariah wrote from the point +of view of a priest. 2. The structure and contents of his book. 3. The +problems of the Judean community. 4. Their hopes of a national revival. +5. Zechariah's assurances. 6. The steps that were taken to make Zerubbabel +king. 7. Evidence that the popular kingly hopes were disappointed. +8. The content of Zechariah's later sermons. 9. The hopes which he +inspired in his fellow-countrymen. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Origin of the apocalyptic type of +prophecy. _Jewish Encyc._, I, 669-73; _St. O.T._, Ill, 42-3; Hastings, +_D. B., I_, 109-10. 2. The popular messianic hopes of the period. _St. +O.T._, III, 44-5, 472-86. 3. The establishment of Darius' authority. +Herodotus, II, 67-86; Ragozin, _Media_, XIII; Hastings, _D. B._, I, 558. + +Section XCVI. Israel's Training and Destiny. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the conditions in the Judean community during the seventy +years following the rebuilding of the temple. 2. The forces that kept +alive the spiritual life of the Jews. 3. The indications that Isaiah 40-66 +were written in Palestine. 4. The probable date of these chapters. +5. Their distinctive literary characteristics. 6. The purpose for which +they were written. + +SUBJECTS FOE SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The organization of the Persian +Empire under Darius. Goodspeed, _Hist, of Anc. World_, 62-3; Ragozin, +_Media_, 384-91; Sayce, _Anc. Empires_, 247-50; _En. Bib_., I, 1016-7. +2. The Persian invasions of Europe. Goodspeed, _Anc. Hist._, 122-8; +Herodotus, IV, 1-142; Ragozin, _Media_, 412-29; Bury, _Hist. of Greece_, +265-96; Botsford, _Hist. of Greece_, 127-36. 3. Contents and literary +characteristics of Isaiah 40-48. _St. O. T_., Ill, 27-30; Cobb, in +_Jour, of Bib. Lit_., XXVII, 48-64; Box, _Isaiah_, 179-237. + +Section XCVII. Conditions and Problems in the Jewish Community. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: I. What is the probable date of the book of +Malachi? 2. Describe its teachings regarding the temple service. +3. The need of a great moral awakening. 4. The doubts expressed by the +faithful in the community. 5. The encouraging promises held out to them. +6. Presentation of the problem of the faithful in the psalms of the +period. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Contemporary Greek history and +literature. Goodspeed, _Anc. Hist._, 159-96; Bury, _Hist. of Greece_, +507-90; Jebb, _Greek Lit._, 109-20. 2. The earliest psalms. Briggs, +_Psalms_, I, LXXXIX-XCII; Cobb, _Bk. of Pss._, XI-XIV; Driver, _Lit. +of the O.T._, 371-2; McFadyen, _Introd. to O.T._, 238-50. 3. Psalm +literature among contemporary peoples. Breasted, _Hist. of Anc. +Egyptians_, 273-7; Jastrow, _Relig. of Bab. and Assyr._, 294-327. + +Section XCVIII. The Problems and Teachings of the Book of Job. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the structure of the book of Job. +2. The different literary units which have entered into it. 3. The +probable dates of these different sections. 4. Contents of the original +prose story. 5. The theme and contents of the great poem in 3-31, +38:1-42:6. 6. The different lines of progress in Job's thought. 7. The +meaning of the speeches of Jehovah. 8. The contribution of the book to the +solution of the problem of evil. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The Babylonian prototype of Job. +Jastrow, in _Jour. of Bib. Lit._, XXV, Pt. II, 135-91. 2. Comparison of +Job with other great skeptical dramas. Owen, _The Five Great Skeptical +Dramas of History_. 3. The modern explanations of the problem of evil. +Royce, _Studies of Good and Evil_. + +Section XCIX. The Training and Mission of the True Servant of Jehovah. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the different characteristics of +Jehovah's servant in Isaiah 49-53. 2. What was the prophet's purpose in +presenting this vivid portrait of Jehovah's ideal servant? 3. Describe the +class to whom the prophet appealed. 4. His interpretation of the task of +the servant. 5. His training. 6. The different methods whereby he was to +accomplish his mission. 7. Did the prophet have in mind an individual, a +class, or simply an ideal character? 8. In what ways were his predictions +fulfilled? 9. In what sense is his ideal of service of present-day +application? + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The meaning and history of the +different messianic titles. _St. O.T._, III, 39, 47; _En. Bib._, III, +3057-61. 2. Contents and unity of Isaiah 49-55. _St. O.T._, III, 28-30; +Box, _Isaiah_, 238-83. 3. How far was Jesus influenced by the ideal of the +suffering servant? + +Section C. Nehemiah's Work in Rebuilding the Walls of Jerusalem. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. What is the historical value of Nehemiah's +memoirs? 2. In what way was he informed of conditions in Jerusalem? +3. How did he secure permission to go to Jerusalem? 4. Describe the +obstacles that there confronted him. 5. His plan of work. 6. His +diplomacy in dealing with his opponents. 7. The task of rebuilding +the walls. 8. Their dedication. 9. The significance of the rebuilding +of the walls. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Contemporary events in Greek history. +Goodspeed, _Anc. Hist._, 141-72; Bury, _Hist, of Greece_, 336-75; +Botsford, _Hist, of Greece_, 151-85. 2. The topography of Jerusalem. +Kent, _Sib. Geog. and Hist._, 64-72; Smith, _Jerusalem_, I, I-249; +Hastings, _D.B._, II, 591-6. 3. Recent excavations at Jerusalem. +_Jerusalem Vol. of P. E. F. Memoirs_; Bliss and Dickey, _Excavations at +Jerusalem_; Smith, _Jerusalem_, I. + +Section CI. Nehemiah's Social and Religious Reforms. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the cruel oppression of the leaders of the Jewish +community. 2. The effect upon the mass of the people. 3. The way in which +Nehemiah corrected these evils. 4. The evidence for and against the +historical accuracy of Nehemiah 13. 5. Nehemiah's measures to improve the +temple service. 6. His emphasis upon Sabbath observance. 7. His opposition +to foreign marriages. 8. The importance of his work as a whole. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: I. In what respects was Nehemiah a worthy +successor of the earlier Hebrew prophets? 2. The later Jewish laws +regarding the Sabbath. _St. O.T._, IV, 263-4. 3. Regarding marriage with +foreigners. _St. O.T._, IV, 54-5. + +Section CII. Traditional Account of the Adoption of the Priestly Law. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the present literary form of the +tradition regarding Ezra. 2. Its probable history. 3. Its historical +value. 4. The facts underlying it. 5. Origin of the later priestly laws. +6. Their general purpose. 7. Their more important regulations. 8. Their +transforming influence upon the Jewish community. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The difficulties in accepting the +Ezra narrative as strictly historical. Torrey, _Ezra Studies_, 208-78; +Smith, _O.T. Hist._, 390-8. 2. History of the later priestly codes. _St. +O.T._, IV, 43-8. 3. Income and duties of the priests and Levites according +to the late priestly codes. _St. O.T._, IV, 187-92, 197-202. + +Section CIII. The Jewish State during the Last Century of Persian Rule. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: I. Describe the indications that the Judean community +enjoyed unusual prosperity during the half-century following the work of +Nehemiah. 2. The effect of this prosperity upon the intellectual life of +the Jews. 3. The growth of the Psalter during this period. 4. The date of +the prophecy of Joel. 5. Its theme. 6. The hopes of the Jews at this time. +7. Nature of the rule of the high priests. 8. The evidence regarding the +date of the Samaritan schism. 9. Its causes. 10. Its effect upon Judaism. + +SUBJECTS FOB SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. History of the Persian Empire between +400 and 332 B.C. Cox, _The Greeks and the Persians_. 2. Contemporary +events in Greek history. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Anc. World_, 173-204; Meyer, +_Anc. Hist._, 244-74. 3. The history of the Samaritans. _En. Bib._, IV, +4256-64; Montgomery, _The Samaritans_. + + +THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN AGE + +Section CIV. The Jews under Their Greek Rulers. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the character of the Jewish historian, Josephus. 2. The extent +of his histories. 3. Their historical value. 4. Alexander's Asiatic +conquests. 5. His attitude toward the Jews. 6. The Jews in Alexandria. +7. The general character of the rule of the Ptolemies. 8. Their policy in +the treatment of the Jews. 9. Fortunes of the Jews of Palestine during the +first century of Greek rule. 10. The Seleucid kingdom with its capital at +Antioch. 11. The subjugation of Palestine by the Seleucids. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Josephus's rank as a historian. +Hastings, _D.B._, extra Vol., 461-73. 2. Alexander the Great. Mahaffy, +_The Story of Alexander's Empire_, 1-11; Hogarth, _Philip and Alexander +of Macedon_; Wheeler, _Alexander the Great_. 3. Character of the +Ptolemaic rulers. Bevan, _Jerusalem under the High Priests_, 21-30; +Mahaffy, _The Ptolemaic Dynasty_, Vol. IV of Petrie's _Hist. of Egypt_. + +Section CV. The Wise and Their Teachings. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the literary structure of the book of Proverbs. 2. The +evidence that it is the work of many different wise men. 3. The probable +date of the different collections. 4. The references to the wise in the +pre-exilic literature. 5. The influence of the Babylonian exile upon their +activity. 6. The reasons why they attained their greatest prominence in +the Greek period. 7. The character of the wise. 8. Their aims. 9. Their +methods. 10. Their important social and moral teachings. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The book of Proverbs. McFadyen, +_Introd. to O.T._, 256-63; Driver, _L. O.T._, 392-407; Toy, _Proverbs_, +Introd. 2. The sages of Egypt and Greece. The Wisdom of Ptah-hotep, in +the _Wisdom of the East Series_; Symonds, _Studies of the Greek Poets_, I, +161-273; Jebb, _Classical Greek Poetry_. 3. The social teachings of the +book of Proverbs. _St. O. T_., VI, _in loco_; Kent, _The Wise Men of +Ancient Israel and Their Proverbs_, 100-14, 158-75; Root, _The Profit of +the Many_, 17-126. + +Section CVI. The Different Currents of Thought in Judaism during the +Greek Period. GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Why were there many different +currents of thought in Judaism during this period? 2. Describe the +character and aims of the ritualists. 3. Of the legalists. 4. Of those who +laid especial emphasis upon the teaching of the earlier prophets. 5. The +evidence regarding the date of the book of Jonah. 6. The meaning of the +story. 7. Its teaching. 8. The history of the book of Ecclesiastes. 9. Its +point of view. 10. Its philosophy of life. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The Chronicler's conception of the +origin of Israel's institutions. Curtis, _Chronicles_, Introd.; Torrey, +_Ezra Studies_, 208-38; _St. O. T_., II, 22-8. 2. Greek myths parallel to +the story of Jonah. _En. Bib_., II, 2568-9; Taylor, _Primitive Culture_, +I, 306. 3. A comparison of Koheleth's philosophy and teaching with those +of the author of Omar Khayyam. + +Section CVII. The Teachings of Jesus the Son of Sirach. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the evidence regarding the date of Jesus the son +of Sirach. 2. The character of the man. 3. The history of his writings. +4. The nature of the Greek translation. 5. The recovery of the Hebrew +original. 6. Its picture of the Jewish life of the period. 7. Its +description of the wise men and scribes. 8. Its social teachings. +9. Its religious teachings. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The Hebrew fragments of Ben Sira. +Cowley and Neubauer, _The Original Heb. of a Portion of Ecclus._; +Schechter and Taylor, _The Wisdom of Ben-Sira;_ Hastings, _D.B._, IV, +546-9; _En. Bib._, II, 1166-9. 2. The character of Ben Sira as revealed +in his writings. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 550; _En. Bib._, II, 1175-8; Bevan, +_Jerusalem under the High Priests_, 49-51. 3. A comparison of the moral +and social teachings of Ben Sira with those of the book of Proverbs. +Bevan, _Jerusalem under the High Priests_, 52-68. + +Section CVIII. The Causes of the Maccabean Struggle. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the general character of I Maccabees. 2. Its +historical value. 3. II Maccabees. 4. The attractive and aggressive +qualities in the contemporary Hellenic culture. 5. Its superiority to +the teachings of Judaism. 6. The elements in which Judaism was superior. +7. The conquest of Hellenism in the ranks of Judaism. 8. The influence of +the apostate Jewish high priests. 9. The history and character of +Antiochus Epiphanes. 10. Reasons why he attempted to hellenize the Jews. +11. The measures which he adopted. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The characteristics of Greek religion. +Gulick, _Life of the Ancient Greeks_, 262-83; Dyer, _The Gods in Greece_; +Goodspeed, _Hist. of Anc. World_, 148-51; Hastings, _D.B._, extra Vol., +109-56. 2. The historical value of II Maccabees. Hastings, _D.B._, III, +189-92; _En. Bib._, III, 2869-79. 2. Contemporary portraits of Antiochus +Epiphanes. _Livy_, XLI-XLV; _Polybius_, XXVI-XXXI; _Appian, Syr._, 45, 66; +_Justin_, XXIV, 3. + +Section CIX. The Effect of Persecution on the Jews. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the uprising led by Mattathias. 2. The methods adopted by the +rebels. 3. The origin and political principles of the Hasideans or Pious. +4. The evidence regarding the date of the visions in Daniel 7-12. 5. Their +literary character. 6. Their meaning and aims. 7. The identification of +the four heathen kingdoms. 8. The message of hope presented in these +chapters. 9. Its effect upon the persecuted Jews. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The town of Modein. Kent, _Bib. Geog. +and Hist._, 210-2; Smith, _Hist. Geog. of Holy Land_, 212. 2. Contents and +literary history of the book of Daniel. McFadyen, _Introd. to O.T._, +316-31; Driver, _L. O.T._, 438-515; Hastings, _D.B._, I, 552-7. + +Section CX. The Victories that Gave the Jews Religious Liberty. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the characteristics that fitted Judas to be a +great political leader. 2. The odds against which he and the Jews +contended. 3. The physical contour of western Palestine. 4. The defeat of +Apollonius. 5. Of the Syrian army under Seron. 6. The details of the +battle of Emmaus. 7. The significance of the victory at Bethsura. 8. The +restoration of the temple service. 9. The effect of the persecutions upon +the Jews. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Greek military equipment and methods +of warfare. Gulick, _Life of the Anc. Greeks_, 188-205. 2. The western +headlands of Judah. Kent, _Bib. Geog. and Hist._, 40-2; Smith, _Hist. +Geog. of Holy Land_, 286-320. 3. Comparison of Judas with other great +military commanders. Conder, _Judas Maccabaeus_; Bevan, _Jer. under the +High Priests_, 97-9; Smith, _O.T. Hist._, 465. + +Section CXI. The Long Contest for Political Independence. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the attitude of the heathen nations toward the +Jews. 2. The political problems that confronted them. 3. The Jewish +attitude toward the heathen reflected in the book of Esther. 4, Judas's +east-Jordan campaign. 5. Results of the battle of Beth-zacharias. 6. The +re-establishment of Syrian authority. 7. The victories over Nicanor. +8. The causes which resulted in the death of Judas. 9. Conditions in the +Syrian court which gave the Jews their great opportunity. 10. The +character and policy of Jonathan. 11. The honors and authority granted him +by the rival Syrian kings. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The history and value of the book of +Esther. Paton, _Esther_; Hastings, _D. B., I_, 773-6; _En. Bib._, II, +1400-5. 2. The Syrian history of the period. Bevan, _Jer. under the High +Priests_, 100-6; Smith, _O.T. Hist._, 465-9. 3. The scenes of Judas's +east-Jordan campaign. Kent, _Bib. Geog. and Hist._, 214-7. + +Section CXII. Peace and Prosperity under Simon. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the political intrigues which resulted in the death of +Jonathan. 2. The character and rule of Simon. 3. His extension of the +Jewish territory. 4. The authority granted him by the Jews. 5. His +development of the temple service. 6. The causes that led to the +completion of the Psalter. 7. The religious life and faith reflected in +the later psalms. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Compare the characters of the three +brothers, Judas, Jonathan, and Simon. 2. The guilds of temple singers. +Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 92-3; Wellhausen, _The Book of Psalms_ (in _S.B. +O.T._), 217-9. 3. The evidence that many of the psalms come from the +Maccabean period. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 152-3; Cheyne, _Origin of the +Psalter_. + +Section CXIII. The Rule of John Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the intrigue that resulted in the death of Simon. +2. The Syrian invasion under Antiochus Sidetes. 3. The character of John +Hyrcanus. 4. His military policy. 5. His conquests in the north and +south. 6. The reasons why he lost the support of the Pharisees. 7. The +significant events in the reign of Aristobulus. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Contemporary conditions in the Syrian +kingdom. _En. Bib._, IV, 4356-60; Gardner, _The Seleucid Kings of Syria_. +2. The history of the Idumeans. Hastings, _D.B._, I, 644-6; _En. Bib._, +II, 1181-8; Buhl, _Edomites._ 3. Compare the policy of John Hyrcanus with +that of David. + +Section CXIV. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: I. Describe the influences that gave rise to the party of +the Pharisees. 2. Of the Sadducees. 3. The characteristics and beliefs +of the Pharisees. 4. Of the Sadducees. 5. The political influence of +these parties. 6. The characteristics of the sect of the Essenes. +7. Their beliefs. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The party of the Pharisees. Hastings, +_D.B._, III, 821-8; _En. Bib._, IV, 4321-9. 2. The Sadducees. Hastings, +_D.B._, IV, 349-51; _En. Bib._, IV, 4234-40. 3. The points of contact +between Essenism and Christianity. Hastings, _D.B._, I, 767-72; _En. +Bib._, II, 1396-1400; Thomson, _Books which Influenced Our Lord_, 75-122; +Cheyne, _Origin of the Psalter_, 418-21, 446-9. + +Section CXV. The Life and Faith of the Jews of the Dispersion. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the life of the Jews in Antioch and Asia Minor. +2. The privileges granted them by the Syrian king. 3. The number of the +Jews in Egypt. 4. The privileges granted them by the Ptolemies. 5. The +founding of the Jewish temple at Leontopolis. 6. Its significance. 7. The +occasion of the translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek. 8. The +important apologetic Jewish writings. 9. The theme and date of the Wisdom +of Solomon. 10. Its important teachings. 11. Its reflections of Greek and +Jewish thought. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Characteristics and value of the Greek +translation of the Old Testament. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 864-6; Swete, +_Introd. to the Old Testament in Greek_; _En. Bib._, IV, 5016-22. 2. The +history and contents of the Wisdom of Solomon. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, +928-31; _En. Bib._, IV, 5336-49; Deane, _The Book of Wisdom_, 1-41; Gregg, +_The Wisd. of Sol._ + +Section CXVI. The Decline of the Maccabean Kingdom. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the character of Alexander Janneus. 2. His military policy. +3. His treatment of his subjects. 4. The extension of Jewish territory. +5. The effects of his rule. 6. Alexandra's policy. 7. The fatal mistakes +of the Pharisees. 8. The suicidal quarrels between her sons, Hyrcanus and +Aristobulus. 9. The intrigues of Antipater. 10. The appeal to Rome. +11. Pompey's intervention and capture of Jerusalem. 12. The causes of the +fall of the Maccabean kingdom. 13. The political effects of the Maccabean +struggle. 14. The impression which it made upon Israel's faith. 15. The +new spirit that it inspired in the Jews. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Rome's policy and campaigns in the +East. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Anc. World_, 311-9; Seignobos, _Hist. of Rom. +People_, 126-30. 2. Rome's earlier relation to the Jewish kingdom. 3. The +character and career of Pompey. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Anc. World_, 343-9; +Botsford, _Hist. of Rome_, 175-80, 183-9; Morey, _Outlines of Roman +Hist._, ch. 20. + + +THE RULE OF ROME + +Section CXVII. The Rise of the Herodian House. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the repeated rebellions against Rome that were instigated and +led by Aristobulus and his sons. 2. The reasons why the Jews rallied about +their standard. 3. Antipater's character and policy. 4. Herod's career +as governor of Galilee. 5. The Parthian conquest and the temporary +restoration of the Maccabean rule. 6. The immediate effect upon Herod and +his family. 7. Reasons why he was appointed king of the Jews by Antony and +Octavian. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The fortresses of Alexandrium and +Macherus. Smith, _Hist. Geog. of the Holy Land_, 352-3, 569-71; Kent, +_Bib. Geog. and Hist._, 229, 244-5; Schurer, _H.J.P._, I, i, 250-1. +2. The history of Rome from 60 to 40 B.C. Botsford, _Hist. of Rome_, +183-97; Fowler, _Julius Caesar_; Mahaffy, _Gk. World under Roman Sway_, +ch. IV. 3. The Parthians. Hastings, _D.B._, III, 680-1. + +Section CXVIII. Herod's Policy and Reign. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the strength and weakness of Herod's character. 2. The ways +in which he won the favor of Augustus. 3. His building activity within +his kingdom. 4. Outside of Palestine. 5. His treatment of his subjects. +6. His record as husband and father. 7. The effects of his reign. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Rome under Augustus. Botsford, _Hist. +of Rome_, 204-22; Bury, _Student's Rom. Emp._, chs. I-XIV; Capes, _Early +Empire_, chs. I-III, XII-XIX. 2. Herod's Caesarea. Smith, _Hist. Geog. of +the Holy Land_, 138-41; _En. Bib._, I, 617-8; Kent, _Bib. Geog. and +Hist._, 233. 3. The various sides of Herod's character. Hastings, _D.B._, +II, 356-7; _En. Bib._, II, 2025-9; Bevan, _Jer. under the High Priests_, +148-51. + +Section CXIX. Herod's Temple. GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the +motives that inspired Herod to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. 2. His +preparations for the work. 3. The extension of the temple area. 4. The +different gates leading to it. 5. The surrounding porches. 6. The temple +proper. 7. The temple officials. 8. The temple service. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The detailed plan and dimensions of +Herod's temple. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 711-6; _En Bib._, IV, 4943-7; +Warren, _The Temple and the Tomb_; Smith, _Jerusalem_, II, 499-520. 2. The +administration of the temple finances. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 92-7; _En. +Bib._, IV, 4949-51; Smith, _Jerusalem_, I, 351-66. 3. The inscription +forbidding foreigners to enter the inner courts. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, +713-4. + +Section CXX. The Messianic Hopes and Religious Beliefs of Judaism. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the influences that determined the growth +of Israel's messianic hopes. 2. The different forms which these hopes +assumed. 3. The kingly nationalistic type of messianic hope. 4. The +characteristics and development of the apocalyptic, catastrophic type of +hope. 5. The type proclaimed by the great ethical prophets. 6. The +broadening and universalizing of Israel's messianic hopes. 7. The +influence of the Maccabean struggle upon Israel's messianic beliefs. +8. The messianic expectations of the Jews at the beginning of the +Christian era. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The origin of Israel's messianic +hopes. _St. O. T_., Ill, 39-48; Goodspeed, _Israel's Messianic Hope_; +Oesterley, _Evolution of the Messianic Idea_. 2. The Sibylline Oracles. +Deane, _Pseudepigrapha_; Hastings, _D.B._, extra vol., 66-8. 3. The Psalms +of Solomon. Ryle and James, _The Pss. of Sol._; Deane, _Pseudepigrapha_, +25-48. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKERS AND TEACHERS OF JUDAISM*** + + +******* This file should be named 11701-8.txt or 11701-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/7/0/11701 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** diff --git a/old/11701-8.zip b/old/11701-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..11db301 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11701-8.zip diff --git a/old/11701.txt b/old/11701.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cc54b70 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11701.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13760 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Makers and Teachers of Judaism, by +Charles Foster Kent + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Makers and Teachers of Judaism + +Author: Charles Foster Kent + +Release Date: March 24, 2004 [eBook #11701] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKERS AND TEACHERS OF +JUDAISM*** + + +E-text prepared by Charles Aldarondo, William A. Pifer-Foote, and Project +Gutenberg Distributed Proofreaders + + + +The Historical Bible + +THE MAKERS AND TEACHERS OF JUDAISM + +FROM THE FALL OF JERUSALEM TO THE DEATH OF HEROD THE GREAT + +BY + +CHARLES FOSTER KENT, PH.D. + +WOOLSEY PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE IN YALE UNIVERSITY + +WITH MAPS AND CHARTS + +1911 + + + + + + +PREFACE + +The period represented by this volume is in many ways the most complex and +confusing in Israel's history. The record is not that of the life of a +nation but of the scattered remnants of a race. It was inevitable that +under the influence of their varied environment, the survivors of the +Jewish race should develop very different beliefs and characteristics. +The result is that many different currents of thought and shades of belief +are reflected in the literature of this period; some of it is dross, but +much of it is purest gold. While the period following the destruction of +Jerusalem was a reflective and a retrospective age in which the teaching +of the earlier priests and prophets gained wide acceptance, it was also a +creative era. Fully half of the literature of the Old Testament and all of +the important writings of the Apocrypha come from these tragic five +centuries. Although the historical records are by no means complete, the +great crises in Israel's life are illuminated by such remarkable +historical writings as the memoirs of Nehemiah, the first book of +Maccabees, and the detailed histories of Josephus. + +The majority of the writings, however, reveal above all the soul of the +race. Out of its anguish and suffering came the immortal poems found in +Isaiah 40-66, the book of Job, and the Psalter. Instead of the distinctly +nationalistic point of view, which characterizes practically all of the +writings of the pre-exilic period, the interest becomes individual and the +outlook universal. During these centuries Israel's prophets, priests, +and sages became not merely teachers of the nation but of humanity. +Conspicuous among the great teachers of his day stands the noble sage, +Jesus the son of Sirach, who gleaned out and presented in effective form +that which was most vital in the earlier teaching of his race. In his +broad, simple faith in God and man, in his emphasis on deeds and +character, as well as ceremonial, and in his practical philosophy of life +he was a worthy forerunner of the Great Teacher whose name he bore. + +This period represents the culmination and fruition of the divine +Influences at work in Israel's early history. It was during this period +that Judaism was born and attained its full development, Israel accepted +the absolute rule of the written law, and the scribes succeeded the earlier +prophets and sages. Out of the heat and conflict of the Maccabean +struggle the parties of the Pharisees and Sadducees sprang into existence +and won their commanding place in the life of Judaism. Hence this period +is the natural historical introduction to the study of the birth and early +development of Christianity. It is also the link that binds the revelation +found in the Old Testament to that of the New. + +The volume of literature coming from this period is so vast that it has +been necessary to abridge it at many points in order to utilize that which +is most valuable. This has been done by leaving out those passages which +are of secondary origin or value, and by preserving at the same time the +language and logical thought of the original writers. In the verbose and +voluminous writings of Josephus the resulting text is in most cases far +clearer and more useful; for the repetitious clauses found in the original +often obscure the real thought of the writer. No apology or explanation is +required for the use of such apocryphal writings as I Maccabees, Ben Sira, +the Wisdom of Solomon, or Josephus's histories, for these are required to +bridge the two centuries which intervene between the latest writings of +the Old Testament and the earliest writings of the New. They make it +possible to study biblical history as an unbroken unit from the days of +Moses to the close of the first Christian century, and thus concretely to +emphasize the significant but often the forgotten fact that God was +revealing himself unceasingly through the life of his people, and that the +Bible which records that revelation consists not of two disconnected parts +but is one book. + +To two of my former students, the Reverend Harold B. Hunting and Ralph H. +Pierce, I am under obligation for valuable aid and suggestions in +preparing this volume for press. + +C.F.K. +YALE UNIVERSITY, +_October_, 1911. + + + +CONTENTS + +THE EXILE AND REVIVAL OF THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +Section XCI. THE JEWS IN PALESTINE AND EGYPT + +Lam. 2:1-10, 5:1-18, Jer. 43:3-12, 44:1-14, 28. + +I. The Significance of the Destruction of the Hebrew State.--II. The Book +of Lamentations.--III. Authorship and Date of the Book.--IV. Its Real +Character.--Numbers and Fortunes of the Jews Who Remained in Palestine.-- +VI. Fortunes of the Jews in Egypt.--VII. The Jewish Colony at Elephantine. +--VIII. The Temple of Jahu at Elephantine. + + +Section XCII. EZEKIEL'S MESSAGE TO HIS SCATTERED COUNTRYMEN. + +Ezek. 37, 40:1, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21b, 44-47, 41:1-8a, 43:1-9, 44:9-16, +23, 24, 45:1-8. + +I. The Home of the Exiles in Babylon.--II. Their New Conditions and +Occupations.--III. Their Religious Life. IV. The Prophecies of Ezekiel.-- + +V. The Resurrection of the Dead Nation.--VI. The Divine Shepherd.-- +VII. Ezekiel's Plan of the Restored Temple. + + +Section XCIII. THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE BABYLONIAN RULE + +II Kings 25:27-30, Isa. 9:1-7, 11:1-10, 13:2-4, 11, 17, 18b, 19-22, Ezra +6:3-5, 5:14, 15, 1:5-6, I Esdr. 5:4-6, Ezra 3:2-4, 6b. + +I. The Transformation of the Jews into a Literary People.--II. The +Literary Activity of the Babylonian Period.--III. The Holiness Code.-- +IV. The Liberation of Jehoiachin and the Hopes of the Jews.--V. The Rule +of Nabonidus.--VII. Rise and Conquests of Cyrus.--VII. His Capture of +Babylon.--VIII. His Treatment of Conquered Peoples. + + +Section XCIV. THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE + +Hag. 1, 2, Ezra 5:3-6:14. + +I. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah.--II. The Chronicler's Conception of the +Restoration.--III. Convulsions in the Persian Empire.--IV. Haggai's +Effective Addresses.--V. The Attempt to Stop the Rebuilding of the +Temple.--VI. The Significance of the Restoration of the Temple. + + +Section XCV. ZECHARIAH'S VISIONS AND ENCOURAGING ADDRESSES + +Zech. 1:7-4:6a, 11-14, 8b-10, 6:9-15, 7, 8:1-8. + +I. Zechariah's Ancestry and Point of View.--II. The Book of Zechariah. +--III. Problems and Hopes of the Judean Community.--IV. Zechariah's +Assurances of Jehovah's Care.--V. Preparations for the Crowning of +Zerubbabel.--VI. Disappointment of these Patriotic Hopes.--VII. +Zechariah's Later Exhortations and Predictions. + + +Section XCVI. ISRAEL'S TRAINING AND DESTINY + +Isa. 40:1-4, 6, 31, 41:1-4, 8-10, 42:1-7, 10-15, 22-28, 44:1-5. + +I. The Seventy Years Following the Rebuilding of the Temple.-- +II. Spiritual Forces in Judaism.--III. Evidences that Isaiah 40-66 Were +Written in Palestine.--IV. Their Probable Date.--V. Their Literary +Characteristics.--VI. Their Theme and Purpose.--VII. Reasons Why Jehovah +Will Restore His People. + + +Section XCVII. CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS WITHIN THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +Mal. 1:6-14, 2, 3, 4:1-3, Ps. 22:1-18. + +I. Date of the Book of Malachi.--II. Neglect of the Temple Service.-- + +III. The Need of a Great Moral Awakening.--IV. The Lot of the Faithful.-- +V. The Problem of Suffering in the Literature of the Period. + + +Section XCVIII. THE PROBLEM AND TEACHINGS OF THE BOOK OF JOB + +Job 1, 2 3:2, 11, 13-15, 17, 19, 20-22, 25, 26, 4:1-7, 17-19, 5:17-22, 26, +27, 6:1-4b, 14, 15, 20-30, 7:1-6, 9-18, 20, 21, 8:1-6, 9:1-7, 16-20, 24, +31-35, 10:9-15, 20-22, 11:1, 7-9, 13-15, 12:1-3, 13:7-18, 21-25, 14:7-10, +13-15, 18, 19, 15:4-6, 16:1-4, 11-13a, 18-21, 18:1, 5-7, 19:1, 13-15, +23-27, 20:1-5, 21:1, 7-9, 22:1-5, 23, 27, 28, 23:1-6, 25:1-4, 26:1, 27:2, +4, 5, 7-9, 29:1-5, 30:15-21, 31:5-8, 35-37, 40:2, 8, 9, 38:2-7, 8-11, +39-41, 42:2, 3, 5, 8. + +I. The Structure of the Book of Job.--II. Dates of the Different Parts.-- +III. The Prose Story.--IV. The Poem of Job.--V. Progress in Job's +Thought.--VI. Significance of the Speeches of Job. + + +Section XCIX. THE TRAINING AND MISSION OF THE TRUE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH + +Isa. 49:1-15, 50:4-10, 52:13-15, 53. + +I. The Different Portraits of Jehovah's Servant.--II. The Prophet's +Purpose.--III. The Character and Condition of Those to Whom the Prophet +Appealed.--IV. The Task and Training of Jehovah's Servant.--V. Methods of +Jehovah's Servant.--VI. Realization of the Ideal of Service. + + +Section C. NEHEMIAH'S WORK IN REBUILDING THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM + +Neh. 1-4, 6, 7:1-5a, 12:31, 32, 37-40. + +I. Nehemiah's Memoirs.--II. Nehemiah's Response to the Call to Service.-- +III. Obstacles that Confronted Him.--IV. His Plan of Work.--V. The +Restored Walls.--VI. Completion and Dedication of the Walls. + + +Section CI. NEHEMIAH'S SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS REFORMS + +Isa. 56, 58:2-12, Neh. 5, 13:4-31. + +I. Cruelty and Hypocrisy of the Jewish Leaders.--II. Nehemiah's Method of +Correcting the Social Evils in the Community.--III. The Historical Value +of Nehemiah 13.--IV. Regulations Regarding the Temple Service.-- +V. Provisions Regarding Sabbath Observance and Foreign Marriages.-- +VI. Significance of Nehemiah's Work. + + +Section CII. TRADITIONAL ACCOUNT OF THE ADOPTION OF THE PRIESTLY LAW + +Ezra 7:1, 6-10, Neh. 7:73b-8:4a, 5, 6, 9-18, 9:1-3, 6-8. 32-38, 10:28-39b + +I. The Ezra Tradition.--II. The Historical Value of the Ezra Tradition.-- +III. The Facts Underlying It.--IV. Origin and Aims of the Priestly +Laws.--V. Their Important Regulations.--VI. Their Practical Effects. + + +Section CIII. THE JEWISH STATE DURING THE LAST CENTURY OF PERSIAN RULE + +Ps. 36:5-10, Joel 2:1-29, Jos. Ant. XI, 7-8:2. + +I. Prosperity of the Judean Community.--II. The Growth of the Psalter.-- +III. The Prophecy of Joel.--IV. Hopes of the Jews.--V. Rule of the High +Priests.--VI. The Date of the Samaritan Schism.--VII. Its Nature and +Consequences. + + +THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN AGE + +Section CIV. THE JEWS UNDER THEIR GREEK RULERS + +I Mac. 1:1-4, Jos. Ant. XI, 8:7a, e, XII, 1:1b-d, g-j, 2:1a, 5d, e, +4:1d-f, 2a-f, 3b, 4a-c, 5a-c. e, 6a, 3:3a, b, c-e. + +I. Josephus's Histories.--II. Alexander's Conquests.--III. The Jews in +Egypt and Alexandria.--IV. The Rule of the Ptolemies.--V. Fortunes of the +Jews of Palestine.--VI. Conquest of Palestine by the Seleucids In 311 B.C. + + +Section CV. THE WISE AND THEIR TEACHINGS + +Prov. 1:2-6, 8:1-6, 13-27, 29-35, 13:14,20, 24:5, 12:10, 20:13, 23:16, +29-35, 29:20, 15:23, 19:11, 16:32, 23:36-28, 4:25-27, 14:15, 26:12, 27:2, +4:23, 11:6, 21:3, 15:1, 3:27, 14:21, 19:17, 25:21,22, 3:11,12, 1:5,6. + +I. Structure and Authorship of the Book of Proverbs.--II. Date of the +Different Collections.--III. The Wise in Israel's Early History.-- +IV. Their Prominence in the Greek Period.--V. Their Aims.--VI. Their +Methods.--VII. Their Important Teachings. + + +Section CVI. THE DIFFERENT CURRENTS OF THOUGHT IN JUDAISM DURING THE +GREEK PERIOD + +Ps. 19:7-14, 46, 22:27-30, Jonah 1, 2:1,10, 3, 4, Eccles. 1:12-18, 2:1-17, +24-26. + +I. The Ritualists.--II. The Legalists.--III. The Disciples of the +Prophets.--IV. The Date and Character of the Book of Jonah.--V. Its +Teachings.--VI. The Book of Ecclesiastes.--VII. Koheleth's Philosophy of +Life. + + +Section CVII. THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS THE SON OF SIRACH + +B. Sir. 1:1-10, 2:1-9, 3:17-30, 4:2, 9, 10, 20-25, 28-31, 5:1-2, +6:2, 4-8, 14-16, 7:12, 13, 20-22, 28-30. + +I. Date and Character of Jesus the Son of Sirach.--II. His Writings.-- +III. The History of the Book.--IV. Its Picture of Jewish Life.--V. Rise of +the Scribes.--VI. The Teachings of Ben Sira. + + +Section CVIII. THE CAUSES OF THE MACCABEAN STRUGGLE + +I Mac. 1:10-22,24-63. + +I. The Character and Contents of I Maccabees.--II. Character and Contents +of II Maccabees.--III. Aggressive Character of Hellenic Culture.-- +IV. Contrast between Hellenism and Judaism.--V. Apostasy of the Jews and +Perfidy of the High Priests.--VI. Character of Antiochus Epiphanes.-- +VII. His Policy toward the Jews. + + +Section CIX. THE EFFECT OF PERSECUTION UPON THE JEWS + +I Mac. 2, Dan. 7:1-27, 12:1-3. + +I. The Uprising Led by Mattathias.--II. Party of the Hasideans or Pious.-- +III. Date of the Visions in Daniel 7-12.--IV. Their Real Character and +Aim.--V. The Four Heathen Kingdoms and the Kingdom of God. + + +Section CX. THE VICTORIES THAT GAVE THE JEWS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY + +I Mac. 3:1-43,46-60, 4. + +I. The Character of Judas.--II. Obstacles against which Judas Contended.-- +III. Defeat of Apollonius and Seron.--IV. The Battle of Emmaus.--V. The +Battle at Bethsura.--VI. Restoration of the Temple Service.--VII. The New +Spirit in Judaism. + + +Section CXI. THE LONG CONTEST FOR POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE + +I Mac. 5:1-23, 45, 54, 65-68, 63, 6:18-63, 7, 9:1-31, 10:1-21, 67-71, +74-76, 11:20-29. + +I. The Political Situation.--II. The Jewish Attitude toward the Heathen +Reflected in the Book of Esther.--III. Campaigns against the Neighboring +Peoples.--IV. The Battle of Beth-zacharias.--V. Victories Over Nicanor.-- +VI. The Death of Judas.--VII. Dissensions in the Syrian Court.-- +VIII. Concessions to Jonathan. + + +Section CXII. PEACE AND PROSPERITY UNDER SIMON + +I Mac. 11:38-40, 54-56, 12:39-53, 13:1-11, 20-30, 33, 43-53, 14:16-18, +38-49, 4-15. + +I. Capture and Death of Jonathan.--II. Character and Policy of Simon.-- +III. His Conquests.--IV. His Authority.--V. Completion of the Psalter.-- +VI. The Religious Life Reflected in the Later Psalms. + + +Section CXIII. THE RULE OF JOHN HYRCANUS AND ARISTOBULUS + +I Mac. 16:11-22, Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:3c-4b, 4d, 5, 6, Jos. Ant. XIII, +9:1d, e, Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:7a, b, Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:5, 6a, c, 7, +11:1a-c, 3a, 3e. + +I. Murder of Simon.--II. The Syrian Invasion.--III. John's Military Policy +and Conquests.--IV. The Break with the Pharisees.--V. The Reign of +Aristobulus. + + +Section CXIV THE PHARISEES, SADDUCEES, AND ESSENES + +Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:2, 3a-c, 3d, 4a, b, 5a, b, Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:2-8, +9a-c, 10b, c, 11b, 12. + +I. Influences that Gave Rise to the Jewish Parties.--II. Character and +Beliefs of the Pharisees.--III. Of the Sadducees.--IV. Of the Essenes. + + +Section CXV. THE LIFE AND FAITH OF THE JEWS OF THE DISPERSION + +Jos. Ant. XII, 3:1a, VII, 3:3a, b, 10:2d-3e, XIII, 10:4, Wisd. Of Sol. +6:12-16, 7:25-8:1, 7, 1:1-8, 12-15, 2:23-3:1, 5:15, 16, 11:24-12:2, +15:1-3. + +I. Conditions of the Jews in Antioch and Asia Minor.--II. In Egypt.-- +III. The Jewish Temple at Leontopolis.--IV. Translation of the Hebrew +Scriptures into Greek.--V. Apologetic Jewish Writings.--VI. The Wisdom of +Solomon.--VII. Its Important Teachings. + + +Section CXVI. THE DECLINE OF THE MACCABEAN KINGDOM + +Jos. Jew. War, I, 4:1-4c, 5c, 6a, c, 8c, d, 5:1-7:7. + +I. The Character and Policy of Alexander Janneus.--II. The Effects of His +Rule.--III. Alexandra's Reign.--IV. Quarrels between Hyrcanus and +Aristobulus.--V. Rome's Intervention.--VI. Cause of the Fall of the Jewish +Kingdom.--VII. Political, Intellectual, and Religious Effects of the +Maccabean Struggle. + + +THE RULE OF ROME + +Section CXVII. THE RISE OF THE HERODIAN HOUSE + +Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:2, 4a, 5-7, 9b, 9:1, 3a-6b, 10:1, 2a, 3a, 4, 5a, b, +11:1, 4, 6, 12:3-5, 13:1a, Jos. Ant. XIV, 13:1, Jos. Jew. War, I, 13:7, +8c, 14:1b, 2, 4, 15:3, 4, 16:1, 17:1, 8, 9a, 18:1, 2c, 4a. + +I. The Fruitless Struggle against Rome.--II. Antipater's Policy.-- +III. Herod's Early Record.--IV. The Parthian Conquest.--V. Herod Made King +of the Jews. + + +Section CXVIII. HEROD'S POLICY AND REIGN + +Jos. Jew. War, I, 19:1, 2a, 20:1, 2, 3b-4a, 21:13, 1-4, 6a-8a, 9a-10a, 11, +22:1-4, 23:1a, d, 2a-c, d-3a, 24:1a, 27:1, 2a, 6b, 28:1a, 29:2c, 30:5a, +31:1a, 33:1, 7, 8a. + +I. Herod's Character.--II. His Attitude toward Rome. III. His Building +Activity.--IV. His Attitude toward His Subjects.--V. The Tragedy of His +Domestic Life.--VI. Effects of His Reign. + + +Section CXIX. HEROD'S TEMPLE + +Jos. Ant. XV, 11:1a, 2c, 3a-l, 4a, g, 5a-g, h-k, 6. + +I. Herod's Motives.--II. Preparations for the Rebuilding of the Temple.-- +III. The Approaches to the Temple.--IV. The Organization of the Temple. + + +Section CXX. THE MESSIANIC HOPES AND THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF JUDAISM + +Sibyl. Oracles, III, 7:67-84, 17:23-46, Enoch 46:1-3, 48:3-6, 49:27-29, +51:1, 2. + +I. The Growth of Israel's Messianic Hopes.--II. The Kingly, Nationalistic +Type of Messianic Hope.--III. The Apocalyptic, Catastrophic Type.--IV. The +Ethical and Universalistic Type.--V. The Messianic Hopes of Judaism at the +Beginning of the Christian Era. + + +APPENDIX I. A PRACTICAL BIBLICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY + +APPENDIX II. GENERAL QUESTIONS AND SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH. + +LIST OF MAPS AND CHARTS + +JEWISH AND CONTEMPORARY CHRONOLOGY FROM 597 TO 165 B.C. + +THE EMPIRES OF BABYLONIA, PERSIA, AND ALEXANDER + +THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN PALESTINE DURING THE PERSIAN AND GREEK +PERIODS + +THE JERUSALEM OF NEHEMIAH + +CHRONOLOGY OF THE MACCABEAN AND ROMAN PERIODS + +PALESTINE DURING THE MACCABEAN PERIOD + + * * * * * + +THE EXILE AND THE REVIVAL OF THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +Section XCI. THE JEWS IN PALESTINE AND EGYPT + +[Sidenote: Lam. 2:1-5] +How the Lord hath beclouded in his anger the daughter of Zion! +He hath cast down from heaven to earth the beauty of Israel, +And he hath not kept in remembrance his footstool in the day of his anger. +The Lord hath swallowed up without mercy every habitation of Jacob, +He hath thrown down in his wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah, +He hath struck to the ground, he hath polluted her king and her princes. +He hath cut off in the fierceness of his anger all of Israel's strength, +He hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, +He hath burnt in Jacob like a flame, which devours on all sides. +He hath bent his bow as an enemy, he hath stood as an adversary, +He hath slain all the desirable men in the tent of Zion, +He hath poured out his fury as fire [on the daughter of Judah]. +The Lord hath become like an enemy, he hath swallowed up Israel, +He hath swallowed up all of his palaces, he hath destroyed his fortresses, +And he hath multiplied in the daughter of Judah sighing and lamentation. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 2:6,7] +He hath torn down as a vine his dwelling, he hath destroyed his assembling + place, +He hath caused to be forgotten in Zion, fast day and sabbath, +And hath spurned in his indignant anger, king and priest. +The Lord hath rejected his altar, he hath abhorred his + sanctuary, +He hath given up into the hands of the enemy the ark of the covenant, +They have made a din in Jehovah's house, as in the solemn feast day. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 2:8-10] +Jehovah hath determined to destroy the wall of Zion, +He hath stretched out the line, he hath not held back his hand from + destroying, +He hath made rampart and wall lament, they mourn together, +Her gates have sunk into the ground, he hath destroyed her defences, +Her king and her princes are among the heathen, there is no law. +Her prophets also receive from Jehovah no vision. +Silent, upon the earth sit the elders of Zion; +They cast dust upon their heads; they are girded with sackcloth; +With heads bowed to earth are the daughters of Jerusalem. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 5:1-7] +Remember, O Jehovah, what has befallen us, +Look and see our disgrace. +Our inheritance is turned over to aliens, +Our homes belong to foreigners. +We are orphans and fatherless, +Our mothers are like widows. +We drink our water for money, +Our wood comes to us by purchase. +The yoke upon our necks harasses us, +We are weary, but find no rest. +We have given the hand to the Egyptians, +And to the Assyrians, that we might be sated with food. +Our fathers sinned and are no more, +While we bear their guilt. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 5:8-13] +Slaves have dominion over us, +With none to deliver from their hand. +We get our bread at the peril of our lives, +Because of the sword of the wilderness. +Our skin becomes hot like an oven, +Because of the glowing heat of famine. +They ravish the women in Zion, +The virgins in the cities of Judah. +Princes are hanged up by the hand, +The person of the elders is not honored. +The young men bear up the mill, +And the children stumble under the wood. + +[Sidenote: Lam. 5:14-18] +The elders have ceased from the gate, +The young men from their music. +The joy of our heart has ceased, +Our dance is turned into mourning. +The crown has fallen from our head; +Woe to us! for we have sinned. + +For this reason our heart is faint, +For these causes our eyes are dim; +For the mountain of Zion is desolate; +The jackals walk over it. + +[Sidenote: Jer. 43:8-12] +The word of Jehovah also came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, Take great +stones in thy hand, and bury them in the loose foundation in the +brick-covered place before Pharaoh's palace door in Tahpanhes in the sight +of the men of Judah; and say to them, 'Thus saith, Jehovah hosts, the God +of Israel, "Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadrezzar the king of +Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that you +have buried, and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. And he +shall come and shall smite the land of Egypt; such as are for death shall +be given to death, and such as are for captivity shall be given to +captivity, and such as are for the sword shall be given to the sword. And +he will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and will burn +them and carry them away. And he shall wrap himself in the land of Egypt, +as a shepherd puts on his mantle, and shall go forth from there in peace. +He shall also break the obelisks of Heliopolis and the temples of the gods +of Egypt shall he burn with fire."' + +[Sidenote: Jer. 44:1-10] +The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews who dwelt in the +land of Egypt, who dwelt at Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in upper +Egypt, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Ye have +seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the +cities of Judah; and behold, they are this day a desolation, and no man +dwelleth in them, because of their wickedness which they have committed to +provoke me to anger in that they went to offer sacrifices to other gods, +that they knew not, neither they nor ye, nor your fathers. However, I +constantly sent to them all my servants the prophets, saying, "Oh, do not +this abominable thing that I hate." But they neither hearkened nor +inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to offer no sacrifice to +other gods. And so my wrath and mine anger was poured forth and was +kindled against the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, and they +were wasted and desolate, as is now the case.' Therefore now thus saith +Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Why do you commit a great +Crime against yourselves to cut off from you man and woman, infant and +sucking child, out of the midst of Judah so that ye leave none remaining, +in that ye provoke me to anger with the work of your hands, offering +sacrifice to other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye have gone to +sojourn, that ye may be cut off, and that ye may be an object of cursing +and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? Have ye forgotten the +crimes of your fathers, and the crimes of the kings of Judah, and the +crimes of their princes, which they committed in the land of Judah and in +the streets of Jerusalem? They are not humbled even to this day, neither +have they feared nor walked in my law nor in my statutes that I set before +you and before your fathers.' + +[Sidenote: Jer. 44:11-13, 22] +'Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I set +my face against you for evil to cut off the remnant of Judah in the land +of Egypt, and they shall fall by the sword and by famine; they shall +die, small and great, and they shall be an object of execration, of +astonishment, of cursing, and of reproach. For I will punish those who +dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by +famine, and by pestilence, so that none of the remnant of Judah, who have +gone into the land of Egypt to reside there, shall escape or be left to +return to the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return; for +none shall return except as fugitives. And they who escape the sword shall +return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all +the remnant of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn +there shall know whose word shall be confirmed, mine or theirs."' + +I. The Significance of the Destruction of the Hebrew State. The +destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. resulted in a mighty Transformation +of the life and thought of Israel. It marked the final Overthrow of the +old Hebrew kingdoms, and the gradual rise of that new and important factor +in human history known as Judaism. For over three centuries the Jews who +survived the great catastrophe were helpless under the rule of the great +world powers which in succession conquered southwestern Asia. For the +great majority of the Jewish race it represented the beginning of that +long exile which has continued until the present. Scattered from the +desert of Sahara to the distant land of China, and from the Black Sea to +the Indian Ocean, the different groups of exiles quickly began to adapt +themselves to their changed surroundings and to absorb the new knowledge +and the powerful influences which gradually transformed their beliefs and +ideals. While their vision was vastly broadened by this contact, the +danger and horror of being completely engulfed in the great heathen world +bound the faithful more closely together, and in time made Judaism +the solid, unbreakable rock that has withstood the assaults and the +disintegrating forces of the ages. At first the survivors of the great +catastrophe were stunned by the blow that had shattered their nation. They +lived only in their memories of the past and in their hopes for the +future. At last, in the long period of misery and enforced meditation, +they began not only to accept but also to apply the eternal principles +proclaimed by their earlier prophets. Thus amidst these entirely new +conditions they gained a broader and deeper faith and were still further +trained for the divine task of teaching mankind. + +II. The Book of Lamentations. After describing the destruction of the +little kingdom established at Mizpah under Gedaliah, the Hebrew historical +records suddenly become silent. This silence is due to the fact that there +was little of external interest to record. The real history of this tragic +half-century is the record of the anguish and doubts and hopes in the +hearts of the scattered remnants of the race. The little book of +Lamentations expresses dramatically and pathetically the thoughts of the +people as they meditated upon the series of calamities which gathered +about the great catastrophe of 586 B.C. Like the ancient Torah, or five +books of the Law, it contains a quintet of poems. These are very similar +in theme and form to many of the psalms of the Psalter. In the first four +the characteristic five-beat measure, by which the deep emotions, +especially that of sorrow, were expressed, is consistently employed. Each +of these four is also an acrostic, that is, each succeeding line or group +of lines begins with a succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This +acrostic form was probably adopted in order to aid the memory, and +suggests that from the first these poems were written to be used in +public. Even so the Jews of Jerusalem to-day chant them on each of their +sabbaths beside the foundation walls of the great platform on which once +stood their ruined temple. Although the artificial character of these +poems tends to check the free expression of thought and feeling, it is +possible to trace in them a logical progress and to feel the influence of +the strong emotions that inspired them. + +III. Authorship and Date of the Book. In theme and literary form these +poems are so strikingly similar to Jeremiah's later sermons that it was +almost inevitable that tradition should attribute them to the great +prophet of Judah's decline. This tradition, to which is due the position +of the book of Lamentations in the Greek and English Bibles, cannot be +traced earlier than the Greek period. The evidence within the poems +themselves strongly indicates that they were not written by Jeremiah. It +is almost inconceivable that he would subject his poetic genius to the +rigid limitations of the acrostic structure. Moreover, he would never have +spoken of the weak Zedekiah, whose vacillating policy he condemned, in the +terms of high esteem which appear in Lamentations 4:20. These poems also +reflect the popular interpretation of the great national calamity, rather +than Jeremiah's searching analysis of fundamental causes. A careful study +of Lamentations shows that chapters 2 and 4 were probably written by one +who was powerfully influenced by Ezekiel's thought. They both follow in +their acrostic structure an unusual order of the Hebrew alphabet, +differing in this respect from chapters 1 and 3. They have so many close +points of contact with each other that it is safe to say that they are +both from the same author. They reveal an intimate familiarity with events +immediately following the destruction of Jerusalem and were probably +written between 580 and 561 B.C., when Jehoiachin was liberated. +Chapters 1 and 3 follow the regular order of the Hebrew alphabet and +apparently represent the work of a later author or authors. Chapter 1 is +full of pathos and religious feeling and is closely parallel in thought +to such psalms as 42 and 137. Chapter 3 is a poetic monologue describing +the fate and voicing the contrition of the righteous within the Judean +community. Chapter 5, on the contrary, is in the three-beat measure and +lacks the acrostic structure of the preceding chapters. Its style and +point of view are so different from those of the preceding chapters that +it must be the work of another author, who probably lived in the Persian +period. + +IV. Its Real Character. The purpose of the book of Lamentations was +evidently, (1) to give appropriate expression to the feelings of the Jews +who survived the destruction of Jerusalem, 586 B.C.; (2) to drive home the +great lessons taught by their past history, and thus to arouse true +repentance; and (3) to kindle in turn hopes regarding their future. +Through them Jeremiah and Ezekiel live and speak again, but from the point +of view of the people. These tragic poems also throw contemporary light +upon the horrors of the final siege and capture of Jerusalem and upon the +fate of those who survived. + +V. Numbers and Fortunes of the Jews Who Remained in Palestine. The Jews +actually carried into captivity constituted only a small part of the total +population of Judah (cf. Section XC:ii). The peasants and the inhabitants +of the towns outside Jerusalem remained undisturbed, except as some of +them were doubtless drafted into the army which under Zedekiah undertook +to defend Jerusalem against the Chaldeans. From the later record of +Nehemiah's work the names of many of these towns can be determined. In the +north were Jericho, Geba, Mizpah, Anathoth, and Kirjath-jearim; in the +centre, Netophah and Bethlehem; and in the south Tekoa, Keilah, and +Bethzur. The lot of these, who are later known as the people of the land, +was pitiable indeed. There are many references in Lamentations and Ezekiel +to the persecutions to which they were subjected by their malignant foes, +the Moabites and Ammonites on the east and the Philistines on the west. +Even more cruel and aggressive were the Edomites, who had suffered many +wrongs at the hands of the Hebrews. It was probably about this time that +this half-nomadic people began to be driven northward by the advance of +the Nabateans, an Arab people who came from the south. Dislodged from +their homes, the Edomites took advantage of the weakness of the Jews and +seized southern Judah, including the ancient capital Hebron. The doom +which Ezekiel pronounces upon the Edomites in 25[12] is because of the +revenge that they wreaked upon the Jews at this time. It is significant +that Ezekiel's sermons in the period immediately following the fall of +Jerusalem contain dire predictions of divine vengeance upon all these +foes. After the overthrow of Gedaliah's kingdom, the Jews who remained in +Palestine appear to have been left wholly without defences or defenders. +Ezekiel, in 33:23-29, speaks of those who inhabit the waste places in the +land of Israel, who live in the strongholds and the caves. Some of them +appear to have turned robbers. Foreign settlers came in from every side +and in time intermarried with the natives and led them into idolatry. +Ezekiel sternly condemns their immorality and apostasy. + +From the references in Jeremiah 41:5 and Ezra 3:3 it is clear that even +during this reign of terror many of the people continued to offer +sacrifices to Jehovah at the great altar cut in native rock which stood +before the ruins of their temple in Jerusalem. Priests were also doubtless +found in the land to conduct these services. The ancient feasts, however, +with their joyous merrymaking and the resulting sense of divine favor, +were no longer observed. Instead, the people celebrated in sackcloth and +ashes the fasts commemorating the successive stages in the destruction of +their city (Zech. 7:3-7). While their lot was pitiable and their character +seemingly unpromising, these people of the land were important factors in +the re-establishment of the Judean community. + +VI. Fortunes of the Jews in Egypt. The narrative in Jeremiah states +definitely that the large proportion of those who had rallied about +Gedaliah after his death found a temporary asylum on the eastern borders +of Egypt. Here they were beyond the reach of Chaldean armies and within +the territory of the one nation which offered a friendly asylum to the +Jewish refugees. Most of this later group of exiles settled at the towns +of Tahpanhes and Migdol. The latter means tower and is probably to be +identified with an eastern outpost, the chief station on the great highway +which ran along the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean directly to +Palestine and Syria. + +The excavations of the Egypt Exploration Fund at Tahpanhes, which was the +Daphnae of Herodotus, has thrown much light upon the home of this Jewish +community. The town was situated in a sandy desert to the south of a +marshy lake. It lay midway between the cultivated delta on the west and +what is now the Suez Canal on the east. Past it ran the main highway to +Palestine. Its founder, Psamtik I, the great-grandfather of Hophra, had +built here a fort to guard the highway. Herodotus states that he also +stationed guards here, and that until late in the Persian period it was +defended by garrisons whose duty was to repel Asiatic invasions (II, 30). +Here the Ionian and Carian mercenaries, who were at this time the chief +defence of the Egyptian king, were given permanent homes. By virtue of its +mixed population and its geographical position, Tahpanhes was a great +meeting place of Eastern and Western civilization. Here native Egyptians, +Greek mercenaries, Phoenician and Babylonian traders, and Jewish refugees +met on common ground and lived side by side. It corresponded in these +respects to the modern Port Said. + +Probably in remembrance of the Jewish colony that once lived here, the +ruins of the fort still bear an Arab name which means The Palace of the +Jew's Daughter. The term palace is not altogether inappropriate, for +apparently the fort was occasionally used as a royal residence. Many +wine-jars, bearing the seals of Psamtik, Hophra, and Amasis, have been +found in the ruins. In the northwestern part of these ruins has been +uncovered a great open-air platform of brickwork, referred to in Jeremiah +43:8-10. It was the place of common meeting found in connection with every +Egyptian palace or private home. When Amasis, in 564 B.C., came to the +throne of Egypt he withdrew the privileges granted by his predecessors to +foreigners. The Greek colonists were transferred to Naukratis, and +Tahpanhes lost most of its former glory. About this time, if not before, +the great majority of the Jewish refugees, who had settled in these +frontier towns, probably returned to Palestine to find homes in its +partially depopulated towns. + +Ezekiel from distant Babylon appears to have regarded the Jews in Egypt +with considerable hope (Ezek. 29:21). But Jeremiah, who knew them better, +was keenly alive to their faults. In their despair and rage many of them +evidently rejected the teachings of the prophets and became devotees of +the Aramean goddess, the Queen of Heaven, mentioned in the recently +discovered Aramean inscription of Zakar, king of Hazrak (cf. Section +LXV:vii). Jeremiah's closing words to them, therefore, are denunciations +and predictions that they should suffer even in the land of Egypt, at +the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, the same fate that had overtaken their +fellow-countrymen at Jerusalem. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Ezek. 30) +predicted that Nebuchadrezzar would invade and conquer Egypt. In 568 B.C. +his army actually did appear on the borders of Egypt; but how far he +succeeded in conquering the land is unknown. The complete conquest of +Egypt certainly did not come until the Persian period under the leadership +of the cruel Cambyses. + +VII. The Jewish Colony at Elephantine. Jeremiah and Ezekiel also refer +to the Jewish colonists at Memphis and at Pathros, which is the biblical +designation of upper Egypt. Many of the colonists who had settled there +had doubtless fled before the conquests of Jerusalem. The presence of a +great number of Jews in Egypt at a later period indicates that even at +this early date more exiles were probably to be found in Egypt than in +Babylon. Recent discoveries on the island of Elephantine in the upper +Nile, opposite the modern Assuan, have thrown new light upon the life of +these Jewish colonists. These records consist (1) of a series of +beautifully preserved legal documents written in Aramaic on papyrus and +definitely dated between the years 471 and 411 B.C. They include contracts +between the Jews residing on the island of Elephantine regarding the +transfer of property and other legal transactions. They contain many +familiar Jewish names, such as Zadok, Isaiah, Hosea, Nathan, Ethan, +Zechariah, Shallum, Uriah, and Shemaiah. They indicate that by the earlier +part of the Persian period a large and wealthy colony of Jewish traders +and bankers was established on this island. They appear to have lived in a +community by themselves, but in the heart of the city, side by side with +Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, and Greeks, whose property +In some cases joined their own. The Jews had their own court which ranked +equally with the Persian and Egyptian law courts. Even native Egyptians, +who had cases against the Jews, appeared before it. The names of Arameans +and Arabs also appear in its lists of witnesses. From these contemporary +documents it is clear that the Jews of upper Egypt enjoyed great +privileges and entered freely into the life of the land. Ordinarily they +married members of their own race; but the marriage of a Jewess with a +foreigner is also reported. He appears, however, to have been a proselyte +to Judaism, Another Jewess married an Egyptian and took oath by the +Egyptian goddess Sati, suggesting that she had nominally at least adopted +the religion of her husband. One Hebrew also bears the suggestive name of +Hosea, the son of Petikhnum (an Egyptian name meaning _Gift of the god +Khnum_). + +VIII. The Temple of Yahu at Elephantine. These Aramaic legal documents +also contain many references to Yahu (the older form of Yahweh or +Jehovah), the god worshipped by the Jews, and to Yahu's temple situated on +King's Street, one of the main thoroughfares of the city. These references +have been signally confirmed by a most remarkable letter recently +discovered by the Germans at this site. It was written in November of the +year 408 B.C., by the members of the Jewish colony at Elephantine to +Bagohi (the Bagoas of Josephus), the Persian governor of Judah. It states, +among other things, that "Already in the days of the kings of Egypt our +fathers had built this temple in the fortress of Elephantine. And when +Cambyses (529-522 B.C.) entered Egypt he found this temple built, and, +though the temple of the gods of Egypt were all at that time overthrown, +no one injured anything in this temple." It further states that recently +(in the year 411 B.C.), in the absence of the Persian governor in Egypt, +the foreigners in Elephantine had stirred up a certain minor official to +instruct his son, who was commander of a neighboring fortress, to destroy +the Jewish temple. + +The Aramaic letter was intended to be sent, together with rich gifts, to +influence the powerful Persian governor of Judah, Bagohi, to issue an +order permitting the Jews to rebuild their temple. From this letter we +learn that the temple of the God Yahu was built of hewn stone with pillars +of stone in front, probably similar to those in the Egyptian temples, and +had seven great gates built of hewn stone and provided with doors and +bronze hinges. Its roof was wholly of cedar wood, probably brought from +the distant Lebanon, and its walls appear to have been ceiled or adorned +with stucco, as were those of Solomon's temple. It was also equipped with +bowls of gold and silver and the other paraphernalia of sacrifice. +Here were regularly offered cereal-offerings, burnt-offerings, and +frankincense. The petitioners also promised that, if the Persian officials +would grant their request, "we will also offer cereal-offerings and +frankincense and burnt-offerings on the altar in your name, and we will +pray to God in your name, we and our wives and all the Jews who are here, +if you do thus until the temple is built. And you shall have a portion +before the God Yahu, the God of Heaven, from every one who offers to him +burnt-offerings and sacrifices." + +Historical students have long been familiar with the fact that late in the +Greek period the Jews of Egypt built a temple to Jehovah at Leontopolis, +in the Delta (cf. Section CXV:iii); but these recent discoveries open +an entirely new chapter in Jewish history. They indicate that probably +within a generation after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, in 586 +B.C., the Jewish colonists in Egypt built for themselves far up the Nile, +and possibly at other points in this land of their exile, a temple or +temples to Jehovah; that they remained loyal to God and the institutions +of their race; and that in the midst of cosmopolitan Egypt they preserved +intact their racial unity. In the light of these discoveries it is also +clear that because of their character and numbers and nearness to +Palestine the Jews of Egypt, even at this early period, were a far more +important factor in the life and development of Judaism than they have +hitherto been considered. These discoveries also afford definite grounds +for the hope that from this unexpected quarter much more valuable material +will come to illumine this otherwise dark period of post-exilic Jewish +history. + + + +Section XCII. EZEKIEL'S MESSAGE TO HIS SCATTERED COUNTRYMEN + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:1-6] +The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me by the spirit and set +me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. And he +caused me to pass by them round about; and, behold, there were very many +on the surface of the valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said to +me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord Jehovah, thou +knowest. Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, +O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah. 'Thus saith Jehovah to these +bones: "Behold I am about to put breath into you, that ye may live. And I +will put sinews on you, and will clothe you with flesh, and cover you with +skin, and put breath in you, that ye may live; and know that I am +Jehovah."' + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:7-10] +So I prophesied as he commanded me: and as I prophesied, there was an +earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I beheld, +and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh had clothed them, and skin +covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, +Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus +saith Jehovah: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these +slain, that they may live."' So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the +breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an +exceedingly great host. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:11-14] +Then he said to me, O man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; +behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are +completely ruined.' Therefore prophesy, and say to them, 'Thus saith +Jehovah: "Behold, I will open your graves, and raise you from your graves, +O my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall +know that I am Jehovah, when I have opened your graves, and raised you +from your graves, O my people. And I will put my spirit in you, that ye +may live, and I will restore you to your own land: that ye may know that +I, Jehovah, have spoken it and performed it," is the oracle of Jehovah.' + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:15-23] +This word also came to me from Jehovah: Do thou, O man, take a stick, and +write upon it, JUDAH AND THE ISRAELITES ASSOCIATED WITH HIM: then take +another stick, and write upon it, JOSEPH, AND ALL THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL +ASSOCIATED WITH HIM. Then join them together, so that they may become one +stick in thy hand. And when the children of thy people shall say to thee, +'Wilt thou not show us what this means?' say to them, 'Thus saith Jehovah: +"Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of +Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel associated with him; and I will unite +them with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be +united in my hand."' And let the sticks on which thou writest be in thy +hand before their eyes. And say to them, 'Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: +"Behold, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations, whither +they are gone, and gather them from all sides, and bring them into their +own land: and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains +of Israel; and there shall be one king over them all; and they shall be no +longer two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any +longer; nor shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor +with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I +will save them from all their apostasies wherein they have sinned, and +will cleanse them; so shall they be my people, and I will be their God."' + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 37:24-28] +'"And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one +shepherd: they shall also walk in mine ordinances, and observe my +statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given +to my servant Jacob, wherein their fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell +therein, they and their sons, forever. And David my servant shall be their +prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it +shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will establish them, and +multiply them, and set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. My +dwelling place also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they +shall be my people. And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah who +sanctifieth Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them +forevermore."' + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:1-4] +In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, +in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was +taken, on that very day, the hand of Jehovah was laid upon me, and he +brought me in an inspired vision to the land of Israel, and set me down +upon a very high mountain, on which was a city-like building toward the +south. Thither he brought me, and there was a man whose appearance was +like the appearance of bronze, with a flaxen line and a measuring reed in +his hand; and he was standing in the gateway. And the man said to me, Son +of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and give heed to +all that I shall show thee; for, in order that thou shouldst be shown it +wert thou brought hither; declare all that thou seest to the house of +Israel. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:5] +There was a wall encircling a temple, and in the man's hand a measuring +reed six cubits long, each cubit being equal to about twenty-one inches. +And he measured the thickness of the building one reed (about ten and +one-half feet); and the height one reed. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:6-12] +Then he came to the east gateway and went up its steps and measured the +threshold of the gate one reed wide. And each guard-room was one reed +long, and one reed broad; and between the guard-rooms were spaces of five +cubits; and the threshold of the gate at the vestibule of the gate on the +inner side was one reed. Then he measured the vestibule of the gate, eight +cubits, and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was on +the inner side. And the guard-rooms of the east gate were three on each +side; and all three were of the same dimensions; and the posts were on +both sides. And he measured the breadth of the entrance to the gateway, +ten cubits; and the width of the gate, thirteen cubits; and there was a +sill one cubit wide, before the guard-rooms on each side; and the +guard-rooms, six cubits on both sides. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:13, 15] +And he measured the gate from the outer wall of the one guard-room to the +outer wall of the other, twenty-five cubits wide [about forty-four feet]; +door opposite door. And from the front of the gateway at the entrance to +the front of the inner vestibule of the gate were fifty cubits. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:17, 19] +Then he brought me to the outer court, and there were chambers and a +pavement made round about the court; thirty chambers were upon the +pavement. And he measured its breadth from the front of the lower gate to +the front of the inner court without, one hundred cubits on the east and +on the north. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:20, 21b, 24b] +And the north gateway of the outer court, he measured its length and +breadth. And its measurements were the same as those of the east gateway. +The dimensions of the gateway on the south were also the same as the +others. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 40:44-47] +He brought me outside the gate and into the inner court, and there were +two chambers on the inner court, one by the north gate, facing the south, +and the other by the south gate, facing the north. And he said to me, This +chamber which faces the south is for the priests who have charge of the +temple; and the chamber which faces the north is for the priests who have +charge of the altar; they are the sons of Zadok, those of the sons of Levi +who may be near to Jehovah to serve him. And he measured the court, a +hundred cubits wide, and a hundred cubits broad--a perfect square. The +altar was in front of the temple. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 41:1,2] +Then he brought me into the hall of the temple and measured the jambs, six +cubits on each side. And the breadth of the entrance was ten cubits; and +the sides of the entrance were five cubits on each side; and he measured +its length, forty cubits; and its width, twenty cubits. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 41:3, 4] +Then he went into the inner room and measured the jambs of its entrance, +two cubits; and the entrance, six cubits; and the side-walls of the +entrance, seven cubits on each side. And he measured its length, twenty +cubits, and its breadth, twenty cubits, before the hall of the temple. +And he said to me, This is the most holy place. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 41:5-8a] +Then he measured the thickness of the wall of the temple, six cubits; and +the width of the side-chambers, four cubits, round about the temple on +every side. And the side-chambers were in three stories, one above +another, and thirty in each story; and there were abatements all around +the walls of the temple that the side-chambers might be fastened to them +and not to the walls of the temple. And the side-chambers became wider as +they went up higher and higher, for the temple grew narrower higher up; +and there was an ascent from the lowest story to the highest through the +middle story. And I saw also that the temple had a raised platform round +about. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 43:1-5] +Then he brought me to the east gate. And behold the glory of the God of +Israel came from the east; and his voice was like the sound of many +waters; and the earth shone with his glory. And the vision which I saw was +like that which I saw when he came to destroy the city; and the visions +were like that which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. +Then the glory of Jehovah came into the temple through the east gate. And +the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, +the glory of Jehovah filled the temple. + +[Sidenote: Ezek. 43:6-9] +Then I heard One speaking to me from the temple, as he stood by me. And +he said to me, O man, this is the place of my throne, and the place for +the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the Israelites +forever. And the house of Israel, they and their kings, shall no more +defile my holy name with their idolatry and with the corpses of their +kings by placing their thresholds by my threshold, and their door-posts +by my door-post, with only a wall between me and them, thus defiling my +holy name by the abominations which they have committed; therefore I have +destroyed them in mine anger. Now let them put away their idolatry, and +the corpses of their kings far from me, that I may dwell in the midst of +them forever. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 44:9-14] +Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, 'No foreigner, consecrated neither +in heart nor flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the Israelites, +shall enter my sanctuary. But those Levites who went far from me, when +Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, shall bear +their guilt. Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight +at the gates of the temple, and ministering in the temple; they shall slay +the burnt-offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand +before them and minister to them. Since they were wont to minister to them +before their idols and were a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of +Israel; therefore I have taken a solemn oath against them,' is the oracle +of the Lord Jehovah, 'and they shall bear their guilt. And they shall not +approach me to act as priests to me, so as to come near any of my sacred +things, or to those which are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame +and the punishment for the abominations which they have committed; I will +make them responsible for the care of the temple, for all its service, and +for all that shall be done therein. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 44:15-16] +But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who took charge of my +sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, shall come near to me +to minister to me, and they shall stand before me to offer to me fat and +blood,' is the oracle of the Lord Jehovah. 'They shall enter my sanctuary, +and they shall approach near to my table to minister to me, and they shall +keep my charge. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 44:23-24] +And they shall teach my people the difference between the sacred and the +common, and instruct them how to discern between the clean and the +unclean. And in a controversy they shall act as judges, judging it +according to my ordinances. And they shall keep my laws and my statutes +in all my appointed feasts; and they shall maintain the sanctity of my +sabbaths.' + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 45:2-5] +When ye allot the land as inheritance, ye shall offer as a special gift to +Jehovah, a sacred portion of the land, five thousand cubits long, and +twenty thousand cubits wide; it shall be sacred throughout its entire +extent. And out of this area shalt thou measure off a space twenty-five +thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide, and on it shall the +most holy sanctuary stand. It is a holy portion of the land; it shall +belong to the priests who are the ministers in the sanctuary, who draw +near to minister to Jehovah; and it shall be a place for their houses, and +an open space for the sanctuary. Out of this a square of five hundred +cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with an open space fifty cubits wide +around it. And a space twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand +wide shall belong to the Levites, the ministers of the temple; it shall be +their possession for cities in which to dwell. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Ezek. 45:6-8] +And as the possession of the city, ye shall assign a space five thousand +cubits wide, and twenty-five thousand long, beside the sacred reservation; +it shall belong to the whole house of Israel. And the prince shall have +the space on both sides of the sacred reservation and the possession of +the city, on the west and on the east, and of the same length as one of +the portions of the tribes, from the west border to the east border of the +land. It shall be his possession in Israel; and the princes of Israel +shall no more oppress my people, but shall give the land to the house of +Israel according to their tribes. + +I. The Home of the Exiles in Babylon. From the references in the +contemporary writers it is possible to gain a reasonably definite idea +regarding the environment of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. Ezekiel +describes the site as "a land of traffic, a city of merchants, a fruitful +soil, and beside many waters," where the colony like a willow was +transplanted [17:5]. The Kabaru Canal (the River Chebar of Ezekiel) ran +southeast from Babylon to Nippur through a rich alluvial plain, +intersected by numerous canals. Beside it lived a dense agricultural +population. On the tells or artificial mounds made by the ruins of earlier +Babylonian cities were built the peasant villages. Ezekiel speaks of +preaching to the Jewish colony of Tel-Abib (Storm-hill), and the lists +of those who later returned to Judah contain references to those who came +from Tel-Melah (Salt-hill) and Tel-Harsha (Forest-hill). + +II. Their Condition and Occupations. It is probable that these mounds +were not far from each other and that the adjacent fields were cultivated +by the Jewish colonists. Thus they were enabled, under even more favorable +conditions than in Judah, to continue in their old occupations and to +build houses and rear families as Jeremiah had advised (Jer. 29; Section +LXXXVII:35). In Babylonia, as at Elephantine, so long as they paid the +imperial tax and refrained from open violence they were probably allowed +to rule themselves in accordance with their own laws. The elders of the +different families directed the affairs of the community and acted as +judges, except in the case of capital offences which were punished in the +name of Nebuchadrezzar (Jer. 29 22). Thus for a long time the exiles +constituted a little Judah within the heart of the Babylonian empire, +maintaining their racial integrity even more completely than the Jews +resident in Egypt. + +Babylonia was the scene of an intense commercial activity. The +opportunities and allurements of the far-reaching traffic which passed +up and down the great rivers and across the neighboring deserts were +eventually too strong for the Jews to resist. Hence in Babylonia, as in +Egypt, they gradually abandoned their inherited agricultural habits and +were transformed into a nation of traders. In the recently discovered +records of the transactions of the famous Babylonian banking house which +flourished during the earlier part of the Persian period, under the +direction of succeeding generations of the Murashu family, are found many +familiar Jewish names. These indicate that within a century after the fall +of Jerusalem many sons of the exiles had already won a prominent place in +the commercial life of that great metropolis. + +III. Their Religious Life. With this transformation in their occupation +came a great temptation to forget their race and to lose sight of its +ideals. The temptation was all the greater because their capital city and +temple were in ruins and the belief was widely held that Jehovah had +forsaken his land and people and retired to his "mount in the uttermost +parts of the north" (Isa. 14:13 Ezek. 1:4). Their actual experiences had +proved so fundamentally different from their hopes that there was +undoubtedly in the minds of many a dread doubt as to whether Jehovah was +able to fulfil his promises. False prophets were also present to mislead +the people (Jer. 39:21-23 Ezek. 13:1-7 14:8-10). There is also no +indication that the Jews of Babylon ever attempted to build a temple to +Jehovah in the land of their captivity. Hence there were no ancient +festivals and public and private sacrifices and impressive ceremonials to +kindle their religious feelings and to keep alive their national faith. +Instead, the imposing religion of the Babylonians, with its rich temples, +its many festivals, its prosperous and powerful priesthood, and its +elaborate ritual must have profoundly impressed them and led them to draw +unfavorable comparisons between it and the simple services of their +pre-exilic temple. Nevertheless, in spite of these temptations, there +were many who proved themselves loyal to Jehovah. Prayer and fasting and +sabbath observance took the place of sacrificial rites. A strong emphasis +is laid by Ezekiel on the sabbath. [Sidenote A: Ezekiel 20:12-31; Ezekiel +22:26; Ezekiel 23:38] From this time on it became one of the most +important and characteristic institutions of Judaism. Under the influence +of the new situation it lost much of its original, philanthropic, and +social character and became instead a ceremonial institution. In +faithfully observing it the exiles felt that even in captivity they were +paying homage to their divine King. The more it took the place of the +ancient feasts and sacrifices, the more they forgot that the sabbath was +God's gift to toiling man rather than man's gift to God. From the +Babylonian exile, also, probably dates that custom of assembling on the +sabbath to read the ancient scriptures which represents the genesis of +the later synagogue and its service. + +IV. The Prophecies of Ezekiel. The priest-prophet Ezekiel was the +interpreter, pastor, and guide of the Babylonian exiles. He met their +problems and proposed the solutions which became the foundation principles +of later Judaism. His prophecies fall naturally into four distinct groups: +(1) Chapters 1 to 24, which recount his call and deal with the issues at +stake in the different Judean communities in the critical years between +the first and second captivities. They represent the prophet's work +between the years 592 and 586 B.C. (2) Chapters 25 to 32, include seven +oracles regarding Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Egypt, the +nations which had taken part in the destruction of Jerusalem or else, like +Egypt, had lured Judah to its ruin. The complete destruction of these foes +is predicted, and chapter 32 concludes with a weird picture of their fate, +condemned by Jehovah to dwell in Sheol, the abode of the shades. +(3) Chapters 33 to 39 contain messages of comfort and promise to Ezekiel's +fellow-exiles in Babylonia and in the distant lands of the dispersion. +They are dated between the years 586 and 570 B.C. (4) Chapters 40 to 48 +present Ezekiel's plan for the restored temple and service and for the +redistribution of the territory of Canaan, and his belief that Judah's +fertility would be miraculously increased. This plan is definitely dated +in the year 572 B.C., two years before the prophet's death. + +V. The Resurrection of the Dead Nation. Ezekiel dealt with the problems +of his fellow-exiles concretely and from a point of view which they could +readily understand. He fully realized that if the faith of the people was +to be saved in this crisis a definite hope, expressed in objective +imagery, must be set before them. With the same inspired insight that had +prompted Jeremiah to purchase his family estate in the hour of Jerusalem's +downfall, Ezekiel saw that Jehovah would yet restore his people, if they +would but respond to the demands of this crisis. His message was, +therefore, one of hope and promise. In the memorable chapter in which he +pictures a valley filled with dry bones, he aimed to inspire their faith +by declaring that Jehovah was not only able but would surely gather +together the dismembered parts of the nation and impart to it new life and +activity. The prophet was clearly speaking of national rather than of +individual resurrection. Like Jeremiah, he anticipated that the tribes of +the north and south would again be united, as in the days of David, and +that over them a scion of the Davidic house would rule as Jehovah's +representative. He also assured them that Jehovah would come again to +dwell in the midst of his purified and restored people. + +VI. The Divine Shepherd. In the thirty-fourth chapter Ezekiel deals with +the same theme under a different figure. First he traces the cause of the +exile to the inefficiency and greed and oppression of the earlier +shepherds, the rulers like Jehoiakim, who had scattered rather than +gathered and led the people intrusted to them. Now Jehovah himself, the +great Shepherd of the People, will arise and gather his flock, and lead +them back to their home and give them a rich pasture. Over them he will +appoint a descendant of David, but this prince shall be shorn of his +ancient kingly power. + +Ezekiel also presents in his characteristic, symbolic form the promise +that Jehovah will now fulfil the popular hopes and destroy the wicked foes +who have preyed upon his people, and thus vindicate his divine rulership +of the world. In one passage Judah's worst foes, the Edomites, represent +aggressive heathendom. Again, in a still more impressive picture, +suggested by an experience in his own childhood when the dread Scythians +swept down from the north, he portrays the advance of the mysterious foes +from the distant north under the leadership of Gog (38, 39). When they are +already in the land of Palestine, the prophet declares, Jehovah will +terrify them with an earthquake, so that in panic they shall slay each +other, as did the Midianites in the days of Gideon, until they shall all +fall victims of Jehovah's judgment. Ezekiel thus revived in the changed +conditions of the exile that popular conception of the day of Jehovah +which the earlier prophets had refused to countenance. It was the +prophet's graphic way of declaring that Jehovah would prepare the way for +the return of his people, if they would but respond when the opportune +moment should arrive. Later Judaism, however, and especially the +apocalyptic writers, interpreted literally and developed still further +this picture of Jehovah's great judgment day until it became a prominent +teaching of later Jewish and Christian thought. + +Similarly Ezekiel declared that the barren lands of Judah would be +miraculously transformed and rendered capable of supporting the great +numbers of the exiles who should return. In this respect Ezekiel became +the father of the later priestly school to which belongs the author of the +book of Chronicles, in whose thought the events of Israel's history came +to pass, not through man's earnest effort and in accordance with +the established laws of the universe, but through special divine +interposition. It is difficult to determine whether Ezekiel himself was +simply endeavoring to state dramatically that Jehovah would fully +anticipate the needs of his people, or whether he did actually anticipate +a series of prodigious miracles. + +VII. Ezekiel's Plan of the Restored Temple. Ezekiel, being a true +prophet, fully realized that the fundamental question regarding the future +of his race was not whether they would be restored to their home but +whether or not they would guard against the mistakes and sins of the past +and live in accord with Jehovah's just demands. The solution of this +question which he proposes reveals his priestly training. With infinite +pains and detail he develops the plan of a restored temple and ritual. +The details were doubtless in part suggested by his remembrance of the +temple at Jerusalem and in part taken from the great temples of Babylon. +By means of this elaborate picture he declared his firm conviction that +his race would surely be restored. His chief purpose, however, was to +impress upon the minds of his people the transcendent holiness of Jehovah +and the necessity that he be worshipped by a holy people. The entire plan +of the temple, of the ritual, and even of the allotment of the territory +of Canaan was intended to enforce this idea. His plan, if adopted, was +calculated to deliver the people from the temptations and mistakes of the +past. With this end in view Jehovah's sacred abode was guarded with +massive double walls and huge gateways. Only the priests were allowed to +enter the inner court, and a sharp distinction was made between the +priests who were the descendants of Zadok and the Levites whose fathers +had ministered at the many sanctuaries scattered throughout the land of +Israel. The territory immediately adjacent to the temple was assigned to +the priests and Levites, and its sanctity was further guarded on the east +and west by the domains of the prince. His chief function was, not to +rule, as had the selfish and inefficient tyrants who had preceded him, but +to provide the animals and the material requisite for the temple service. +The territory on the north and the south of the temple was assigned to the +different tribes of Israel. + +No political or social problems clouded the prophet's vision. The entire +energies of priest, Levite, prince, and people were to be devoted to the +worship of the Holy One, whose restored and glorified sanctuary stood in +their midst. Thus it was that Ezekiel reversed the ideals of the +pre-exilic Hebrew state and presented that programme which with many +modifications was adopted in principle at least by the post-exilic Judean +community. In place of the monarchy appeared the hierarchy; instead of the +king the high priest became both the religious and the civil head of the +nation. Soon the Davidic royal line disappeared entirely, and the +interests of the people centred more and more about the temple and its +ritual. Although Ezekiel's vision was not and could not be fully realized, +except by a series of miracles, this devoted priest-prophet of the exile +was in a large sense the father of Judaism. + + + +Section XCIII. THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE BABYLONIAN RULE + +[Sidenote: II Kings 25:27-30] +Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of +Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, +Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year in which he became king, +(561 B.C.) lifted up Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison to a position of +honor. And he spoke kindly to him and placed his seat above the seats of +the kings who were with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments. +And Jehoiachin ate with him continually as long as he lived. And for his +support a continual allowance was given him by the king, each day a +portion, as long as he lived. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 9:1-3] +The people who have been walking in darkness see a great light, +Those who dwell in the land of deepest gloom, upon them a light shines. +Thou multipliest the exultation, thou makest great the rejoicing, +They rejoice before thee as men rejoice at harvest time, +As men are wont to exult when they divide spoil. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 9:4, 5] +For the burdensome yoke and the crossbar on his shoulder, +The rod of his taskmaster, thou breakest as in the day of Midian. +For every boot of the warrior with noisy tread, +And every war-cloak drenched in the blood of the slain +Will be completely burned up as fuel for the flame. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 9:6, 7] +For a child is born, to us a son is given, +And dominion shall rest upon his shoulder; +And his name will be Wonderful Counsellor, +Godlike Hero, Ever-watchful Father, Prince of Peace. +To the increase of his dominion and to the peace there shall be no end, +On the throne of David and throughout his kingdom, +To establish and uphold it by justice and righteousness +Henceforth and forever. The jealousy of Jehovah will accomplish this. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 11:1, 2] +A sprout shall spring from the stock of Jesse, +And a shoot from his roots shall bear fruit. +The spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him. +A spirit of wisdom and insight, +A spirit of counsel and might, +A spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 11:3-6] +He will not judge according to what his eyes see, +Nor decide according to what his ears hear; +But with righteousness will he judge the helpless, +And with equity will he decide for the needy in the land. + +He will smite an oppressor with the rod of his mouth, +And with the breath of his lips will he slay the guilty. +Righteousness will be the girdle about his loins, +And faithfulness the band about his waist. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 11:6-8] +Then the wolf will be the guest of the lamb, +And the leopard will lie down with the kid; +The calf and the young lion will graze together, +And a little child shall be their leader. +The cow and the bear shall become friends, +Their young ones shall lie down together, +And the lion shall eat straw like the ox; +The suckling will play about the hole of the asp, +And the weaned child will stretch out his hand toward the viper's nest. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 11:9, 10] +Men shall not harm nor destroy +In all my holy mountain; +For the earth shall have been filled with knowledge of Jehovah +As the waters cover the sea. +And it shall come to pass in that day, +That the root of Jesse who is to stand as a signal to the peoples-- +To him shall the nations resort, +And his resting-place shall be glorious. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 13:2-4] +Upon a treeless mountain lift up a signal, raise a cry to them, +Wave the hand that they may enter the princely gates. +I myself have given command to my consecrated ones, to execute my wrath, +I have also summoned my heroes, my proudly exultant ones. +Hark, a tumult on the mountains, as of a mighty multitude! +Hark, an uproar of kingdoms, of gathered nations! +It is Jehovah of hosts mustering the martial hosts. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 13:17-22] +I will punish the earth for its wickedness, and the wicked for their + iniquity, +I will still the arrogance of the proud, and lay low the presumption of + tyrants. +Behold, I stir up against them the Medes, +Who consider not silver, and take no pleasure in gold, +On children they will look with no pity, they have no compassion on the + fruit of the womb, +And Babylon, the most beautiful of kingdoms, the proud glory of the + Chaldeans, shall be, +As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. + +It shall be uninhabited forever, and tenantless age after age; +No nomad shall pitch there his tent, nor shepherds let their flocks lie + down there, +But wild cats shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of jackals; +Ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there, +Howling beasts shall cry to each other in its castles, and wolves in its + revelling halls; +Its time is near at hand, its day shall not be extended. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 6:3-5] +In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: +Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem--this house shall be rebuilt, +where they offer sacrifices and bring him offerings made by fire. Its +height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits, It shall be +constructed with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timber. And +let the expenses be paid out of the king's treasury. Also let the gold and +silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadrezzar took from the +temple at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again +to the temple which is at Jerusalem, each to its place, and you shall put +them in the house of God. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 5:14, 15] +Now the gold and silver vessels of the house of God which Nebuchadrezzar +took from the temple at Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylon, +those Cyrus the king took out of the temple in Babylon, and they were +delivered to one by the name of Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor. +And he said to him, Take these vessels; go, put them in the temple at +Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its place. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 1:5, 6; I Esdr. 5:1-6] +Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the +priests and the Levites, even all whose spirit God had stirred to go up to +build the temple of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem, arose. And all those +who were about them supplied them with silver vessels, with gold, with +goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, besides all that was +voluntarily offered. + +These are the names or the men who went up, according to their tribes, by +their genealogy. Of the priests the sons of Phinehas, the son of Aaron: +Jeshua the son of Jozadak, the son of Seriah. And there rose up with him +Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel of the house of David, of the family of +Peres, of the tribe of Judah; in the second year of Cyrus king of Persia +in the first day of the month Nisan. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 3:2-4, 6b] +Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his kinsmen the priests, and +Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his kinsmen arose and built the altar +of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings on it, as prescribed in the +law of Moses the man of God. And they set up the altar in its place; for +fear, because of the peoples dwelling in the land, had come upon them, +but they plucked up courage and offered burnt-offerings to Jehovah, even +burnt-offerings morning and evening. And they kept the feast of booths as +it is prescribed, and offered the fixed number of daily burnt-offerings +according to the direction for each day; but the foundation of the temple +of Jehovah was not yet laid. + +I. The Transformation of the Jews into a Literary People. The +destruction of Jerusalem transformed the Jewish peasants of Palestine into +a literary race. Before the final destruction of Jerusalem they had lived +together in a small territory where communication was easy and the need of +written records but slight. The exile separated friends and members of the +same families, and scattered them broadcast throughout the then known +world. The only means of communicating with each other in most cases was +by writing, and this necessity inevitably developed the literary art. The +exiles in Babylonia and Egypt were also in close contact with the two most +active literary peoples of the ancient world. In countries where almost +every public or private act was recorded in written form, and where the +literature of the past was carefully preserved and widely transcribed, it +was inevitable that the Jews should be powerfully influenced by these +examples. Furthermore, the teachers of the race, prophets and priests +alike, prevented by the destruction of the temple from employing their +former oral and symbolic methods of instruction, resorted, as did the +priest Ezekiel, to the pen. Thus the religious thought and devotion of the +race began to find expression in its literature. + +The incentives to collect the earlier writings of the priests and prophets +were also exceedingly strong, for the experiences and institutions of +their past, together with their hopes for the future, were the two main +forces that now held together the Jewish race. Fortunately, the more +intelligent leaders realized, even before 586 B.C., that the final +catastrophe was practically certain, and therefore prepared for it in +advance. The decade between the first and second captivities also gave +them an opportunity to collect the more important writings of their +earlier prophetic and priestly teachers, while the Judean state was still +intact and while these earlier writings could be readily consulted. +II. The Literary Activity of the Babylonian Period. The literary work of +this period took three distinct forms: (1) The collection, compilation, +and editing of earlier historical writings. It was probably during this +period that the narratives of Judges, of Samuel, and Kings, which carried +the history down into the exile itself, received their final revision. +(2) Earlier writings were revised or supplemented so as to adapt them to +the new and different conditions. Thus the sermons of the pre-exilic +prophets, as for example those of Amos and Isaiah, were then revised and +supplemented at many points. These earlier prophets had predicted doom and +destruction for their nation; but now that their predictions had been +realized what was needed was a message of comfort and promise. The +fulfilment of their earlier predictions had established their authority in +the minds of the people. The purpose of the later editors was evidently +to put in the mouth of these earlier prophets what they probably would +have said had they been present to speak at the later day to their +discouraged and disconsolate countrymen. Studied in the light of these two +fundamentally different points of view, the glaring inconsistencies which +appear in the prophetic books are fully explained and the consistency of +the earlier prophets vindicated. + +The third form of literary activity is represented by the writings of +Ezekiel. With the authority of a prophet, he dealt directly with the +problem of his day, and the greater part of his book consists of the +records of his prophetic addresses or of epistles which he sent to his +scattered fellow-countrymen, even as Jeremiah wrote from Judah a letter to +the distant exiles in Babylon. His new constitution for the restored +Jewish state was also based on earlier customs and laws, but was adapted +to the new needs of the changed situation. He was not the only one to +undertake this task. Other priests gathered earlier groups of oral laws +and put in written form the customs and traditions of the pre-exilic +temple. At the same time they modified these earlier customs so as to +correct the evils which past experience had revealed. + +III. The Holiness Code. The chief product of the literary activity of +the earlier part of the exile is the collection of laws found in the +seventeenth to the twenty-sixth chapters of Leviticus. Because of its +strong emphasis on the holiness of Jehovah and on the necessity that he +be worshipped by a people both ceremonially and morally holy, it is now +commonly designated as the Holiness Code. In theme, in point of view, in +purpose, and in literary form it has many close points of contact with the +writings of Ezekiel. In its original unity it evidently came from the +period and circle of thought in which the great priest-prophet lived. +His sermons, however, suggest that he was acquainted with its main +teachings. In distinguishing sharply between the Jerusalem priests and the +ministering Levites, and in prohibiting the marriage of a priest with a +widow, Ezekiel shows that his work represented a slightly later stage in +the development of Israel's religious standards. The most probable date, +therefore, for the Holiness Code is the decade between the first and +second captivity (597-586 B.C.). + +Like every ancient lawbook the Holiness Code contains many laws and +regulations which evidently come from a much earlier period in Israel's +history. Some of its enactments are very similar to those of the primitive +codes of Exodus 21-23. In spirit it is closely related to the book of +Deuteronomy. It also reproduces many of the laws found in this earlier +code. Both codes represent the fruitage of the teaching of the pre-exilic +prophets and priests. Each contains ceremonial, civil, and moral laws; but +the emphasis on the ritual is more pronounced in the Holiness Code. It +consists of ten or eleven distinct groups of laws. In Leviticus 18 and 19 +are found certain short decalogues. They probably represent the united +efforts of the Judean prophets and priests during the Assyrian period to +inculcate the true principles of justice, service, and worship in the +minds of the people. Some of the laws in these earlier decalogues are the +noblest examples of Old Testament legislation: + +DUTIES TO OTHERS + +[Sidenote: Kindness to the needy] +I. Thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy fields. +II. Thou shalt not gather the gleanings of thy harvest. +III. Thou shalt not glean thy vineyard. +IV. Thou shalt not gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard. +V. Thou shalt leave them for the poor and the resident alien. + +[Sidenote: Honesty in business relations] +VI. Ye shall not steal. +VII. Ye shall do no injustice, in measures of length, weight or of + quantity. +VIII. Ye shall not deal falsely with one another. +IX. Ye shall not lie to one another. +X. Ye shall not swear falsely by my name. + +JUSTICE TO ALL MEN + +[Sidenote: Toward dependents] +I. Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor. +II. Thou shalt not rob thy neighbor. +III. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with thee all night + until the morning. +IV. Thou shalt not curse the deaf. +V. Thou shalt not put a stumbling-block before the blind. + +[Sidenote: Toward equals] +VI. Thou shalt not do injustice in rendering a judicial decision. +VII. Thou shalt not show partiality to the poor. +VIII. Thou shalt not have undue consideration for the powerful. +IX. Thou shalt not go about as a tale-bearer among thy people. +X. Thou shalt not seek the blood of thy neighbor [by bearing false + testimony in court]. + +ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHERS + +[Sidenote: In the heart] +I. Thou shalt not hate thy fellow-countryman in thy heart. +II. Thou shalt warn thy neighbor and not incur sin on his account. +III. Thou shalt not take vengeance. +IV. Thou shalt not bear a grudge against the members of thy race. +V. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. + +IV. The Liberation of Jehoiachin and the Hopes of the Jews. The +liberation of Jehoiachin, the grandson of Josiah, from the Babylonian +prison where he had been confined since the first capture of Jerusalem was +the one event in the Babylonian period deemed worthy of record by the +biblical historians. The occasion was the accession of Nebuchadrezzar's +son Evil-merodach (Babylonian, Amil-Marduk). The act possessed little +political importance, for the Jews were helpless in the hands of their +Babylonian masters; but it evidently aroused the hopes of the exiles, and +especially that type of hope which centred in the house of David. + +Ezekiel, in his ideal programme, assigned to the Davidic prince only minor +duties in connection with the temple, and transferred the chief authority +to the high priest and his attendants. But it is evident that Ezekiel did +not fully voice the hopes of the majority of the exiles. The late passage +in II Samuel 7:16, which contains the promise to David: + +Thy house and kingdom shall always stand firm before me, +Thy throne shall be established forever, + +expresses the prevailing belief in the days immediately preceding the +exile. The national hopes which looked to the descendants of the house of +David for fulfilment were inevitably modified, however, by the experiences +of the exile and strengthened by the liberation of Jehoiachin. The rule of +such kings as Manasseh and Jehoiakim had revealed the overwhelming evils +that unworthy rulers, even though of the house of David, could bring upon +their subjects. Josiah's reign, on the other hand, established new and +higher standards. The noble ethical and social ideals of Amos, Hosea, and +Isaiah had not wholly failed to awaken a response. + +All of these varied influences are traceable in the two prophecies found +in Isaiah 9:1-7 and 11:1-10. Embodying as they do many of the social +principles for which Isaiah contended, it was natural that these anonymous +writings should afterward be attributed to that great statesman-prophet. +Jehovah, however, was the one supreme king whom Isaiah acknowledged; and +it was difficult to find in his strenuous life a logical or historical +setting for these kingly oracles. They also imply that the royal house of +Judah had been struck down, and that the new king is to rise out of a +background of gloom and is to inaugurate an entirely new era. The +character and rule of this king of popular hopes reflect many of the +traits of David and Josiah; but his aims and methods are in accord with +the moral and social standards of the great pre-exilic prophets. They +portray a temporal ruler; but the spirit which actuates him and the +principles which guide him are noble and unselfish. As subsequent history +clearly shows, the prophet or prophets who painted these portraits +apparently hoped that a son or grandson of Jehoiachin would realize them. +It is exceedingly probable in the light of the later predictions of Haggai +and Zechariah (Sections XCIV, XCV) that these prophecies were written not +long after the birth of Zerubbabel. The kingdom over which he was to rule +and to which he was to bring perfect justice and peace was the prophetic +counterpart of Ezekiel's priestly plan of the restored and redeemed +community. The ethical ideals thus concretely set forth were never fully +realized in Israel's troubled history; but they remain as valid and +commanding to-day as they were far back in the Babylonian period. The +abolition of all the insignia of war, the high sense of official +responsibility, the protection of the weak by the strong, and the reign of +perfect peace and harmony throughout all the earth are the goals for which +all earnest, consecrated souls in every age and race are striving. It is +natural and proper that the Christian Church should see in Jesus the +fullest and truest realization of these ancient kingly ideals. + +V. The Rule of Nabonidus. The successors of Nebuchadrezzar proved weak +and inefficient. His dissolute son, Amil-Marduk, was soon murdered by his +brother-in-law Nergalsharuzur (Gk. Neriglissar). This ruler is probably +the Nergal-sharezer of Jeremiah 39:3 who directed the final capture and +destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. After reigning four years he died, +leaving the Babylonian empire to his young son, who soon fell a victim to +a conspiracy of his nobles. They placed on the throne a certain Nabuna'id, +who is known to the Greek historians as Nabonidus. He appeared to be more +interested in excavating ancient ruins and in rebuilding old temples than +in ruling his subjects. By his arbitrary religious policy and his neglect +of the popular gods of the Babylonians, he completely alienated the +loyalty of his people. During the latter part of his reign, which extended +from 555 to 538 B.C., he left the government largely in charge of his son +Belsharuzur, the Belshazzar of the story in Daniel. + +VI. Rise and Conquests of Cyrus. While the Babylonian empire was sinking +into decay, the Median kingdom on the north and east experienced a +sweeping revolution. Its cause was the discontent of the older Median +population under the rule of the more barbarous Umman-Manda. These later +Scythian conquerors had, under their king Cyaxares, broken the power of +Assyria and fallen heir to its eastern territory. The older elements found +a leader in Cyrus, the king of Anshan, a little state among the mountains +of Elam, northeast of Babylonia. From contemporary inscriptions it appears +that the followers of Astyages, who succeeded Cyaxares to the Median +throne, rebelled against their king and delivered him over into the hands +of Cyrus. As soon as Cyrus became master of the Median Empire, he proved +an able commander, a skilful politician, and a wise statesman. Recognizing +that he could hold in control the diverse and turbulent elements in his +heterogeneous kingdom only as he kept them actively occupied, he at once +entered upon a series of campaigns which in the end left him undisputed +master of southwestern Asia. In 547 B.C., two years after he became king +of Media, he crossed the Tigris and conquered Mesopotamia, which had been +held for a time by the Babylonians, Apparently he did not assume the title +King of Persia until 546. Appreciating the great strength of Babylon, he +did not at first attempt its capture, but began at once by intrigue to +pave the way for its ultimate overthrow. In 545 he set out on a western +campaign against Croesus, the king of Lydia, the ancient rival of Media. +After a quick and energetic campaign, Sardis, the rich Lydian capital, +was captured, and Cyrus was free to advance against the opulent Greek +colonies that lay along the eastern shores of the Aegean. These in rapid +succession fell into his hands, so that by 538 B.C. he was in a position +to advance with a large victorious army against the mistress of the lower +Euphrates. + +VII. His Capture of Babylon. The campaigns of Cyrus were naturally +watched with keen interest by the Jewish exiles in Babylonia. The songs in +Isaiah 14, 15, and 21:1-10, and Jeremiah 51:29-31, voice their joyous +expectation of Babylon's impending humiliation. In a contemporary +inscription Cyrus has given a vivid account of the fall of the capital. +Early in October of the year 538 B.C. he assembled a large army on the +northern borders of Babylonia. Here a battle was fought in which the +Babylonians were completely defeated. The town of Sippar quickly +surrendered to Cyrus's general, and two days later the Persian army +entered Babylon. The record states that the gates of the mighty city were +opened by its inhabitants, and Cyrus and his followers were welcomed as +deliverers. King Nabonidus was captured and banished to the distant +province of Carmania, northeast of the Persian Gulf. In the words +of Cyrus: "Peace he gave the town; peace he proclaimed to all the +Babylonians." In the eyes of the conquered, he figured as the champion +of their gods, whose images he restored to the capital city. The temples +as well as the walls of Babylon were rebuilt, and the king publicly +proclaimed himself a devoted worshipper of Marduk and Nebo, the chief gods +of the Babylonians. Thus from the first the policy of Cyrus in treating +conquered peoples was fundamentally different from that of the Babylonians +and Assyrians. They had sought to establish their power by crushing the +conquered rather than by furthering their well-being; but Cyrus, by his +many acts of clemency, aimed to secure and hold their loyalty. + +VIII. His Treatment of Conquered Peoples. Cyrus showed the same wisdom +in his treatment of the many petty peoples who had been ground down under +the harsh rule of Babylon. In one of his inscriptions he declares: "The +gods whose sanctuaries from of old had lain in ruins I brought back again +to their dwelling-places and caused them to reside there forever. All of +the citizens of these lands I assembled and I restored them to their +homes" (Cyrus Cyl., 31, 32). In the light of this statement it is clear +that the Jews, in common with other captive peoples, were given full +permission to return to their homes and to rebuild their ruined temple. +The decree of Cyrus recorded in the Aramaic document preserved in Ezra +6:3-5 is apparently the Jewish version of the general decree which he +issued. It is also possible that he aided the vassal peoples in rebuilding +their sanctuaries; for such action was in perfect accord with his wise +policy. He also intrusted the rulership of different kingdoms as far as +possible to native princes. In the Greek book of I Esdras has been +preserved a list (which has fallen out of the biblical book of Ezra) of +those who availed themselves of Cyrus's permission to return to Palestine. +It includes simply the priest Jeshua, or Joshua, the lineal heir of the +early Jerusalem priestly line of Zadok, and Zerubbabel, a descendant of +the Judean royal family. They doubtless took with them their immediate +followers and were probably accompanied by a few exiles whose loyalty +impelled them to leave the attractive opportunities in Babylon to face the +dangers of the long journey and the greater perils in Palestine. + +From Jeremiah 41:5 and Haggai 2:14 it appears that a rude altar had been +built on the sacred rock at Jerusalem and that religious services were +held on the site of the ruined temple soon after its destruction in 586 +B.C. With the gifts brought back by Zerubbabel and his followers, daily +sacrifices were probably instituted on the restored altar under the +direction of the priest Joshua (cf. Hag. 2:10-14). In the light, however, +of the oldest records it is clear that the revival of the Judean community +in Palestine was gradual and at first far from glorious. The Jews were a +broken-hearted, poverty-stricken, persecuted people, still crushed by the +great calamity that had overtaken their nation. The general return of the +exiles was only a dream of the future, and, despite the general permission +of Cyrus, the temple at Jerusalem still lay in ruins. + + + + +Section XCIV. THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE + +[Sidenote: Hag. 1:1-6] +In the second year of Darius the king, in the first day of the sixth +month, this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Speak to +Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son +of Jehozadak the high priest, saying, 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, "This +people say: The time has not yet come to rebuild the temple of Jehovah."' +Then this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Is it a time for +you yourselves to dwell in your own ceiled houses, while this temple lies +in ruins? Now therefore, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, 'Consider your past +experiences. Ye sow much, but bring in little; ye eat, but ye do not have +enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled; ye clothe yourselves, but not so +as to be warm; and he who earneth wages, earneth wages in a bag with +holes.' + +[Sidenote: Hag. 1:7-11] +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, 'Consider your experiences. Go up to the +mountains, and bring wood and rebuild the temple; then I will be pleased +with it, and I will reveal my glory,' saith Jehovah. 'Ye looked for much, +and it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I blew upon it. Why?' +saith Jehovah of hosts. 'Because of my temple that lieth in ruins, while +ye are running each to his own house. Therefore the heavens withhold the +dew, and the earth withholdeth its fruit. And I have called forth a +drought upon the land and upon the mountains, and upon the grain and the +new wine and the oil and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and +upon men and animals, and upon all the labor of the hands.' + +[Sidenote: Hag. 1:12-15a] +Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Jehozadak the +high priest, with all the rest of the people, obeyed the command of +Jehovah their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their +God had sent him to them. The people also feared before Jehovah. And +Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, +governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high +priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people, so that they +came and worked on the temple of Jehovah of hosts, their God, in the +twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 1:15b-2:5] +In the second year of Darius the king, on the twenty-first day of the +seventh month, this word from Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Speak to +Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of +Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, saying, +'Who is left among you that saw this temple in its former glory? and how +do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes as nothing? Yet now be strong, O +Zerubbabel,' is the oracle of Jehovah; 'and be strong, O Joshua, son of +Jehozadak, the high priest, and be strong, all ye people of the land,' is +the oracle of Jehovah, 'and work, for I am with you,' is the oracle of +Jehovah of hosts, 'and my spirit abideth in your midst; fear not.' + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:6-9] +For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: 'Yet a little while, and I will shake the +heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will shake +all nations, and the precious things of all nations shall come; and I will +fill this temple with glory,' saith Jehovah of hosts. 'The silver is mine, +and the gold is mine,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts. 'The later glory +of this temple shall be greater than the former,' saith Jehovah of hosts; +'and in this place will I grant prosperity,' is the oracle of Jehovah of +hosts. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:10-14] +In the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, +this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Thus saith Jehovah of +hosts: 'Ask of the priests a decision, saying, "If one bear holy flesh in +the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt touch bread, or pottage, or +wine, or oil, or any food, shall it become holy?"' And the priests +answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by reason +of a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests +answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then answered Haggai and said, So +is this people and so is this nation before me, is the oracle of Jehovah; +and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is +unclean. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:15-19] +And now, I pray you, think back from this day, before a stone was laid +upon a stone in the temple of Jehovah; how were ye? When ye came to a heap +of twenty measures, there were but ten; when ye came to the wine vat to +draw out fifty vessels, there were but twenty. I smote with blasting and +with mildew and with hail all the work of your hands; yet ye turned not to +me, is the oracle of Jehovah. Think back from this day, think! Is the seed +yet in the granary, yea, the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate and +the olive tree have not brought forth; from this day will I bless you. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:20-22] +This word of Jehovah came the second time to Haggai in the twenty-fourth +day of the month: Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and say: 'I will +shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of +kingdoms; and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; +and I will overthrow the chariots, and those who ride in them; and the +horses and their riders shall come down, each by the sword of his brother. + +[Sidenote: Hag. 2:23] +'In that day,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts, 'I will take thee, O +Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel,' is Jehovah's oracle, 'and +will make thee as a seal-ring, for I have chosen thee,' is the oracle of +Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 5:3-5] +At that time Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and +Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them, and spoke thus to them, +Who gave you permission to build this temple and to finish this wall? And +who are the builders who are carrying this through? But the eye of their +God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they did not make them cease, +until a report should come to Darius and a written decision concerning it +be returned. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 6:1-5] +Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the archives +where the official documents from Babylon had been deposited. And at +Ecbatana, the royal palace in the province of Media, a roll was found, and +in it was thus written: A record: In the first year of Cyrus the king, +Cyrus the king made a decree: 'Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, +let the house be rebuilt, where they offer sacrifices and bring him +offerings made by fire; its height shall be sixty cubits, and its breadth +sixty cubits. It shall be constructed with three layers of huge stones and +one layer of timber; and let the expenses be paid out of the king's +treasury. Also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which +Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, +be restored and brought to the temple which is at Jerusalem, each to its +place; and you shall put them in the house of God.' + +[Sidenote: Ezra 6:6-12] +Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the River, +Shethar-bozenai, and the rulers of the province beyond the River, go away +from there; let the work of this house of God alone; let the elders of the +Jews rebuild this house of God in its place. Moreover I make a decree in +regard to what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the building +of this house of God: that out of the king's wealth from the tribute of +the province beyond the River the expenses be exactly paid to these men, +and that without delay. And whatever is needed, both young bullocks and +rams and lambs for burnt-offerings to the God of heaven, also wheat, salt, +wine, and oil, according to the direction of the priests at Jerusalem, let +it be given to them day by day without fail, that they may regularly offer +sacrifices of sweet savor to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of +the king and of his sons. Also I have made a decree, that whoever shall +make this command invalid, a beam shall be pulled out from his house, and +he shall be impaled upon it, and his house shall for this be made a refuse +heap. And the God who hath caused his name to dwell there shall overthrow +all kings and peoples who shall put forth their hand to make invalid the +command or to destroy the house of God at Jerusalem. Exactly will it be +executed. + +[Sidenote: Ezra 6:13,14] +Then Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and +Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did exactly as Darius the king had +given command. And the elders of the Jews built and prospered. And they +finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and +according to the decree of Cyrus and Darius. + +I. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are +the chief sources of information regarding Jewish history during the +Persian period. They fall into nine general divisions: (1) the return of +the Babylonian exiles and the revival of the Judean community, Ezra 1-4; + +(2) the rebuilding of the temple, 5-6; (3) Ezra's expedition and the +priestly reformation, 8-10, and Nehemiah 8-10; (4) Nehemiah's work in +rebuilding the walls, Nehemiah 1:1-7:5; (5) census of the Judean +community, 7:6-69; (6) measures to secure the repopulation of Jerusalem, +11; (7) genealogy of the priests and Levites, 12:1-26; (8) dedication +of the walls, 12:27-43; and (9) Nehemiah's later reform measures, +12:44-13:31. It is evident that Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one +book, and that they come from the same author as I and II Chronicles. +This important fact is demonstrated by the presence of the same marked +characteristics of thought and literary style in both of these books. The +closing verses of II Chronicles are also repeated verbatim at the +beginning of Ezra. + +Throughout these books the interest is religious and ceremonial rather +than civil and national. They constitute in reality a history of the +Jerusalem temple and its institutions. The whole may properly be +designated as the "Ecclesiastical History of Jerusalem." It traces the +history of Jerusalem and the southern kingdom from the earliest times to +the close of the Persian period. Its author, who is commonly known as the +Chronicler, evidently lived during the earlier part or middle of the Greek +period. Certain characteristics of his literary style and point of view +indicate that he wrote about 250 B.C. His peculiarities and methods of +writing are clearly revealed by a comparison of the older parallel history +of Samuel-Kings with the books of Chronicles. In general he lacks the +historical spirit and perspective of the earlier prophetic historians. He +also freely recasts his record of earlier events in order to bring it into +accord with the traditions current in his own day. Above all he aimed to +establish the authority and prestige of the Jerusalem temple, and to prove +that Jehovah "was not with Israel" (II Chron. 25:7), which was represented +in his day by the hated Samaritans. The hatred engendered by the Samaritan +feud explains many of the peculiarities of the Chronicler. He was, in +fact, an apologist rather than a historian. Thus post-exilic institutions, +as, for example, the temple song service with its guilds of singers, are +projected backward even to the days of David, and the events of early +Hebrew history are constantly glorified. The numbers found in the +earlier, prophetic sources are magnified, and at every point it is easy to +recognize the influence of the Chronicler's familiarity with the splendor +and magnificence of the great Persian and Greek empires, and of his +desire to inspire his fellow-Jews with national pride and with loyalty to +their religious institutions. + +II. The Chronicler's Conception of the Restoration. Fortunately the +Chronicler did not depend entirely upon traditions current in his day, or +upon his own conceptions of the early history, but quoted freely from +earlier sources. As a result a large portion of the prophetic history of +Samuel and Kings is reproduced verbatim in I and II Chronicles. For the +Persian period, regarding which he is our chief authority, he apparently +quoted from three or four documents. In Ezra 4:7-23 is found a brief +description in Aramaic of the opposition of Judah's neighbors to the +rebuilding of the walls, probably in the days of Nehemiah. In Ezra 5 and 6 +there is another long quotation from an Aramaic document that describes a +similar attempt to put a stop to the rebuilding of the temple in the days +of Haggai and Zechariah. The Chronicler evidently believed that the second +temple was rebuilt, not by the people of the land to whom Haggai and +Zechariah spoke, but by Jewish exiles who on the accession of Cyrus had +returned in great numbers from Babylon. He assumed that Judah had been +depopulated during the Babylonian exile, and that the only people left in +Palestine were the heathen and the hated Samaritans. He also pictures the +return of the exiles, not as that of a handful of courageous patriots, but +of a vast company laden with rich gifts and guarded by Persian soldiers. + +A careful examination of Ezra 2, which purports to contain the list of +The 42,360 exiles who returned immediately after 538 B.C., quickly +demonstrates that, like its duplicate in Nehemiah 7:6-69, its historical +basis, if it has any outside the fertile imagination of the Chronicler, is +a census of the Judean community. This census was taken, not at the +beginning, but rather at the end of the Persian period. Thus in the list +of the leaders appear the names not only of Joshua and Zerubbabel, but +also of Nehemiah and Ezra (Azariah). Certain leaders, such as Mordecai +and Bigvai, bear Persian names which clearly imply that they lived far +down in the Persian period. The family of the high priest Joshua already +numbers nine hundred and ninety-three. In this census are also included +the inhabitants of many towns outside Jerusalem, as, for example, Jericho, +Gibeon, and Bethlehem. Moreover, certain towns are mentioned, such as Lud +and Ono, which were not added to the Judean community until the latter +part of the Persian period. In view of these facts and the unmistakable +implications in the sermons of Haggai and Zechariah that in their day +there had been no general return of their kinsmen from Babylon, the +prevailing popular interpretation of this period of Israel's history is +clearly untenable and misleading. If there was a general return of exiles +from Babylon, it certainly did not come until after the walls had been +rebuilt under the inspiring leadership of Nehemiah. The Jews to whom +Haggai and Zechariah preached, and who rebuilt the second temple, were the +people of the land who had survived the destruction of Jerusalem, or else +had returned from their temporary refuge on the borders of the land of +Egypt. + +III. Convulsions in the Persian Empire. After a brilliant and successful +reign Cyrus died in 529 B.C., leaving his vast empire to his son Cambyses. +The new king lacked the wisdom and statesmanship of his father, but +inherited his love of conquest. Most of his short reign was devoted to the +conquest of Egypt. From their hill-tops the Jews doubtless witnessed the +march of the great armies of Persia, and were forced to contribute to +their support. It was a period of change and transition, when old empires +went down in ruin and new forces gained the ascendancy. + +On his return from Egypt, Cambyses, finding a pretender contending for +the throne, committed suicide, thus leaving the empire without any +legitimate head. During this crisis, in the autumn of 521 B.C., a Persian +noble, Darius, was raised to the kingship by conspirators, who had slain +the pretender. Darius claimed relationship with the Persian royal family, +and strengthened his position by marrying Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus. +The beginning of his reign was signalized by a series of revolts +throughout the whole extent of the empire. In Susiana a certain Athrina +proclaimed himself king. In Babylonia a native prince rallied his +countrymen and assumed the title of Nebuchadrezzar III. The Median revolt +was led by a certain Pharaortes; while among the Persians themselves a +pretender, who claimed to be a son of Cyrus, gained a wide following. +Fortunately for Darius there was no concerted action among the leaders of +these different rebellions, so that he was able to subdue them in +succession; but to the ordinary on-looker the task seemed well-nigh +impossible. Not until the spring of 519 did Darius become fully master of +the situation. + +IV. Haggai's Effective Addresses. It was in the autumn of 520 B.C., +when the rebellions in the Persian Empire were at their height, that +Haggai made his stirring appeal to the members of the Judean community. +From the references in his addresses and in those of his contemporary, +Zechariah, it is evident that he and his hearers were profoundly +influenced by these great world movements. The situation seemed to give +promise not only of deliverance from Persian rule, but an opportunity at +last to realize the national hopes of the Jewish race. Haggai's message +was simple, direct, and practical. According to the beliefs universally +accepted in his day his logic was unanswerable. On the one hand Jehovah, +through poor crops and hard times, had plainly showed his displeasure +with his people in Judah. The reason was obvious; although they had built +comfortable houses for themselves, Jehovah's temple still lay in ruins. If +they would win his favor, it was plainly their duty to arise and rebuild +his sanctuary. The upheavals in the Persian Empire also gave promise that, +if they were true to their divine King, he would at last fulfil the +predictions voiced by their earlier prophets. + +The words of Haggai, uttered in September of 520, met with an immediate +response. Work was begun on the temple in October of the same year. When +the energy and enthusiasm of the builders began to wane, the prophet +appeared before them again in November of 520 with the declaration that +Jehovah was about to overthrow the great world powers and to destroy the +chariots, horses, and riders of their Persian masters, "each by the sword +of his brother." He also voiced the popular expectations that centred in +Zerubbabel, who had already been appointed governor of Judah. The prophet +declared boldly that this scion of the house of David would be Jehovah's +seal-ring, the earthly representative of that divine power which was about +to work great revolutions in the history of the world. During the same +period Zechariah also uttered his messages of encouragement and spurred +the people on to continued efforts (Section XCV). + +V. The Attempt to Stop the Rebuilding of the Temple. The Aramaic +document preserved in Ezra 5 and 6 describes in detail an attempt of the +Persian governor, who ruled over the province west of the Euphrates, to +put a stop to the temple building. The narrative, the letter, and decrees +which it contains reveal at many points their Jewish origin. While the +tradition may be comparatively late, its circumstantial character favors +the conclusion that it preserves the memory of a definite historical +event. The action of the Jews in rebuilding their temple was in perfect +accord with the policy of Cyrus and also of Darius, as is shown by +contemporary inscriptions. The attempt, therefore, to stop the building of +the temple failed; and in 516 B.C., four years after the work was begun, +it was completed. + +VI. The Significance of the Restoration of the Temple. The rebuilding of +the Jerusalem temple appears to have been of immediate significance +chiefly to the Jews of Palestine. The Jews of Egypt, or at least those of +Elephantine, had their own temple. From Zechariah 6:9-11 it is evident +that the Jewish exiles in Babylon sent certain gifts to the Jerusalem +temple; but the hundreds of miles of desert that intervened made +communication exceedingly difficult, so that except at rare intervals +there was apparently little interchange between Babylonia and Palestine. +For all Jews, however, the rebuilding of the temple meant that at last +they had a common rallying-place, and that Jehovah was again being +worshipped by his own people at his traditional place of abode. In a sense +it bridged the seventy years that had intervened since the destruction of +the pre-exilic Hebrew state, and made it possible to revive the ancient +religious customs. In time it attracted from the lands of the dispersion +patriotic Jews whose interest was fixed upon the ceremonial side of their +religious life. It also furnished a centre about which gradually grew up a +hierarchy with an increasingly elaborate ritual, and a body of laws which +ultimately became the characteristic features of Judaism. + + + +Section XCV. ZECHARIAH'S VISIONS AND ENCOURAGING ADDRESSES + +[Sidenote: Zech. 1:7-11] +In the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month [February], in the second +year of Darius [519 B.C.], this word of Jehovah came to the prophet +Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo: I saw in the night and +there was a man standing among the myrtle trees that were in the +valley-bottom, and behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white. +Then said I, O my Lord, what are these? And the angel who talked with me +said to me, I will show you what these are. And the man who was standing +among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom Jehovah +hath sent to go to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel +of Jehovah who was standing among the myrtle trees and said, We have gone +up and down through the earth and behold, all the earth is still and at +peace. + + +[Sidenote: Zech. 1:12-17] +Then the angel of Jehovah answered and said, O Jehovah of hosts, how long +hast thou no pity on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with which thou +hast been wroth these seventy years? And Jehovah answered the angel who +was talking with me with good words, even comforting words. So the angel +who was talking with me said to me, Proclaim now, 'Thus saith Jehovah of +hosts: "I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. But +with great wrath am I wroth with the arrogant nations; for I was only +a little angry [with Israel], but they helped to make greater the +calamity." Therefore, thus saith Jehovah: "I am turning to show mercy to +Jerusalem; my temple shall be built in it," saith Jehovah of hosts, "and +a measuring line shall be stretched over Jerusalem. Proclaim again, Thus +saith Jehovah of hosts: My cities shall yet overflow with prosperity; and +Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem."' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 1:18, 19] +Now I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and there were four horns. And I +said to the angel who was talking with me, 'What are these?' And he +assured me, 'These are the horns with which he scattered Judah.' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 1:20, 21] +Then Jehovah showed me four smiths. And I said, What are these coming to +do? And he said, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that none +lifted up his head; but these are come to terrify them, to strike down the +horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah +to scatter it. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 2:2-5] +Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and there was a man with a +measuring line in his hand. Then I said, Where are you going? And he said +to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and length. +Thereupon the angel who talked with me stood still, and another angel went +out to meet him, and said to him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, +'Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the +multitude of men and cattle in her midst. For I,' saith Jehovah, 'will be +a wall of fire round about her, and I will be the glory in the midst of +her.' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 2:6-9] +Ho, ho, flee from the land of the north, is Jehovah's oracle. +For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, is + Jehovah's oracle. +Ho, escape to Zion, ye who dwell in Babylon. +For thus saith Jehovah of hosts to the nations which plundered you: +He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye. +For, behold, I am about to shake my hand over them, +And they shall be a spoil to those who served them; +And ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 2:10-13] +Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for, lo, I come, +And I will dwell in the midst of thee, is Jehovah's oracle. +And many nations shall join themselves to Jehovah in that among day, +And shall be his people, and he will dwell in the midst of thee, +And thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to thee. +And Jehovah shall inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, +And he shall yet comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem. +Be silent, all flesh, before Jehovah; +For he hath waked up out of his holy habitation. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 3:1-3] +Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of +Jehovah and the adversary standing at his right hand to accuse him. And +the angel of Jehovah said to the adversary, Jehovah rebuke thee, O +adversary; yea, Jehovah, who hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee. Is not +this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy +garments and was standing before the angel. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 3:4-5] +And [the angel] answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, +Take the filthy garments from off him, clothe him with robes of state; set +a clean turban upon his head. So they set a clean turban upon his head, +and clothed him with garments; and the angel of Jehovah was standing by. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 3:6-10] +And the angel of Jehovah testified to Joshua, saying, Thus saith Jehovah +of hosts: 'If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, +then thou also shalt rule my house and shalt also keep my courts and I +will give thee a place of access among these who stand by. Hear now, O +Joshua the high priest, thou and thy associates who sit before me; for +they are men who are a sign; for behold, I am about to bring forth my +servant the Branch. For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; +upon one stone are seven facets: behold, I will engrave it,' saith Jehovah +of hosts, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that +day,' saith Jehovah of hosts, 'ye shall each invite his neighbor under the +vine and under the fig tree.' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 4:1-6] +Then the angel who talked with me came again and waked me, as a man who +is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, What seest thou? And I +said, I see midst there a candlestick, all of gold, with a bowl upon the +top of it, and its seven lamps upon it; there are seven pipes to each of +the lamps, which are upon the top of it, and two olive trees by it, one on +the right side of the bowl, and the other on its left side. And I spoke +and said to the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord? Then +the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, Knowest thou not +what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spoke to me, +saying, The eyes of Jehovah, which rove to and fro through the whole +earth. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 4:11-14] +Then I answered, and said to him, What are these two olive trees upon the +right side of the candlestick and upon its left side? And he answered me +and said, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then +said he, These are the two anointed ones, who stand by the Lord of the +whole earth. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 4:6b-10] +This is the word of Jehovah regarding Zerubbabel, Not by might, nor by +power, but by my spirit, saith Jehovah of will I make the great mountain +before Zerubbabel a plain; and he shall bring forth the top stones with +shoutings of, 'Grace, grace, to it.' Moreover this word of Jehovah came to +me: The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple; his +hands shall also finish it; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath +sent me to you. For who hath despised the day of small things? For they +shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 6:9-11]. +Now this word of Jehovah came to me: Take of them of the captivity, even +of Heldai, of Tobijah, of Jedaiah and of Josiah the son of Zephaniah who +have come from Babylon, yea, take of them silver and gold in order to make +a crown and set it on the head of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 6:12-15] +Thou shalt also say to them: 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: "Behold, the +man whose name is the Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place; and +he shall build the temple of Jehovah; and he shall bear the glory and +shall sit and rule upon his throne; and Joshua the son of Jehozadak shall +be a priest upon his right, and the counsel of peace shall be between them +both. And the crown shall be to Heldai and Tobijah and Jedaiah, and Josiah +the son of Zephaniah, as a memorial in the temple of Jehovah. And they who +are far off shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah; and ye shall +know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to you. And this shall come to +pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Jehovah your God."' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 7:1-6] +In the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, +the city of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men, to entreat +the favor of Jehovah, and to speak to the priests of the house of Jehovah +of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, should I weep in the fifth month +[in memory of the destruction of the temple] separating myself, as I have +done these many years? Then this word of Jehovah of hosts came to me: +Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, 'When ye +fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month [when Gedaliah +was murdered], even these seventy years, did ye at all fast to me, even to +me? And when ye eat and when ye drink, do ye not eat for yourselves, and +drink for yourselves? + +[Sidenote: Zech. 7:7-14] +Should ye not hear these words which Jehovah cried by the former prophets, +when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities round about +her, and the South Country, and the lowland were inhabited? Execute true +judgment, and show kindness and pity each to his brother; and oppress not +the widow nor the fatherless, the resident alien nor the poor; and let +none of you devise evil against your brother in his heart. But they +refused to heed, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears, +that they might not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant lest +they should hear the teaching, and the words which Jehovah of hosts had +sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Therefore there came great +wrath from Jehovah of hosts. And even when I cried they would not hear, so +when they cried I did not hear, saith Jehovah of hosts. And I scattered +them by a whirlwind among the nations which they did not know. Thus the +land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed to or fro; for +they made the pleasant land a desolation. + +[Sidenote: Zech. 8:1-5] +Now this word of Jehovah of hosts came to me: +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, +'I cherish for Zion a great jealousy, +And I am jealous for her with great indignation.' +Thus saith Jehovah, 'I have returned to Zion, +And will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; +And Jerusalem shall be called, "The City of Truth;" +And the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, "The Holy Mountain." +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: +'Old men and old women shall again sit in the broad places of Jerusalem, +Each man with his staff in his hand because of old age. +And the streets of the city shall be full of boys, +And of girls playing in its broad places.' + +[Sidenote: Zech. 8:6-8] +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: +Because it seemeth impossible to the remnant of this people, +Is it impossible for me? saith Jehovah of hosts. +Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: +I am about to rescue my people, +From the land of the east and the land of the west, +And I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. +And they shall be my people in truth and righteousness, +And in turn I will be their God. + +I. Zechariah's Ancestry and Point of View. Haggai's contemporary, the +prophet Zechariah, was evidently a priest. In the genealogy of Nehemiah +12:4, it is stated that he belonged to the priestly family of Iddo. This +conclusion is confirmed by the character of his prophecies. Like the +priest-prophet Ezekiel he is exceedingly fond of apocalyptic symbolism. He +is also deeply interested in the priesthood and in its ceremonial purity. +Furthermore, it is exceedingly probable that he was a descendant of one of +the many priests carried as exiles to Babylon. This is shown by his keen +interest in and exact knowledge of the great political movements that were +then shaking the Persian Empire. His conception of Jehovah is also +strongly influenced by the analogies drawn from the Persian court. In his +thought Israel's God is a transcendental ruler, who communicates with his +subjects not directly, but through angelic messengers, and who, like the +Persian kings, is dependent for information regarding his great kingdom +upon the reports of the different members of his heavenly court. Thus +Zechariah marks a wide departure from the simple theology of the +pre-exilic prophets who thought of Jehovah as dwelling in the midst of his +people and communicating directly with all who turned to him in faith. + +II. The Book of Zechariah. The book which records the prophet's sermons +contains four distinct divisions: (1) An exhortation addressed to the +people in December, 520, three months after Haggai first appealed to them +to rise and rebuild the temple, Zechariah 1:1-8; (2) symbolic visions +dealing with the problems in the Judean community, 1:7-6:8; (3) practical +counsel, exhortations, and promises, 6:9-8:23; (4) a later appendix coming +from a prophet who probably lived during the earlier part of the Maccabean +period, 9-14. All of Zechariah's recorded sermons probably date from the +three or four years between 520 and 516 B.C., during which the temple was +being rebuilt. They throw a remarkably clear light upon an exceedingly +critical and significant period in the life of the Jews of Palestine. They +are also in many ways the best Old Testament source for the study of the +unfolding of Israel's messianic hopes. + +III. Problems and Hopes of the Judean Community. Four or five practical +problems confronted and disturbed the temple-builders. The first was: +Would Jerusalem and the temple, still without walls, be protected from the +attack of the hostile foes that encircled them. A second and larger +question was: What was to be the outcome of the great tempest through +which the Persian Empire was passing, and did it mean for the Jews +deliverance from the powerful conquerors who for centuries had oppressed +and crushed them? The third was: Would the necessarily modest service of +the restored temple, already sadly polluted by heathen hands, be +acceptable to Jehovah? Another problem was: What were the relations and +the respective duties of Zerubbabel and Joshua, the civil and religious +authorities in the community? It was also inevitable that at this time the +hope of securing their independence under the leadership of Zerubbabel +should come prominently to the front. To each of these problems Zechariah +addressed himself, and his book records his convictions and public +utterances. + +IV. Zechariah's Assurances of Jehovah's Care. In his initial vision +concerning the angelic horsemen he recognizes that the storms that have +swept over the Persian Empire are beginning to subside, but he tells his +fellow-laborers that, if they persist, Jehovah's temple shall be rebuilt +and that the lands about Jerusalem shall again be sold to eager buyers, +and the cities of Judah shall enjoy their former prosperity, for "Jehovah +will surely comfort Zion." In the vision of the four horns and of the four +smiths whose mission it is to smite the horns, he assures the people that +Jehovah in his good time and way will overthrow the nations that now wrong +and oppress them. Although there is no promise that Jerusalem will be +surrounded by walls, he declares that it shall enjoy a prosperity and a +growth which no walls can confine, and that Jehovah himself will be its +protection, as well as its glory, that he will gather the scattered +exiles, and that they, together with the nations which shall acknowledge +Jehovah's rule, shall yet come streaming back to Judah. + +In his next vision the prophet graphically presents a scene in Jehovah's +court. Joshua the priest, representing the ceremonial service of the +polluted temple, is charged by the adversary with uncleanness. Here for +the first time in Hebrew literature we catch a glimpse of Satan, who is +regarded not as hostile to God but as the prosecuting attorney of heaven. +As in the prologue of the book of Job, he is an accredited member of the +divine hierarchy. His task is to search out and report to Jehovah the +misdeeds of men. In Zechariah's vision, however, the divine judge acquits +Joshua of the charge, and causes him to be clad with clean garments, thus +proclaiming the divine approval of the modest yet devoted service of the +Judean community. + +V. Preparations for the Crowning of Zerubbabel. Regarding Zerubbabel, +Zechariah declares, in language highly figurative, that he shall yet be +crowned and rule over a happy and prosperous people. He is spoken of as +Jehovah's servant, the Branch. The term is probably original with +Zechariah, although again used in the supplementary passages in Jeremiah +23:5 and 33:15. The word is akin to the term "shoot of the house of Jesse" +used in Isaiah 11, to describe a certain scion of the house of David, who +in all probability was the young Zerubbabel. Zechariah's figure describes +the prince as an offshoot of the same royal tree. The obscure passage +seems to mean that upon the stone, with its seven facets, which was to be +set in the crown prepared for the head of Zerubbabel, Jehovah himself +would engrave a fitting title. + +In Zechariah's fifth vision he defined the relations between the civil +and priestly authorities. The golden candlestick represented the temple +and its service. The two olive trees beside it stood for Zerubbabel, the +civil ruler, and for Joshua, the high priest. The duty of each was to +contribute his part toward the support of the temple service. They were +both Jehovah's Messiahs, that is, men anointed as a symbol of the task +which each was to perform. + +In this connection Zechariah declared that Jehovah would remove all +obstacles from before Zerubbabel, and that he who had begun the work +should live to see its completion. In an address recorded in the latter +part of the sixth chapter of his prophecy (intentionally revised by a +later scribe), Zechariah threw aside all symbolism and gave directions +to make a crown for the head of Zerubbabel from the silver and gold +that had been brought as a gift by a deputation from the Jews of Babylon. +He also plainly predicted that this descendant of David should sit on the +throne of Judah and that Joshua the priest should be his minister like the +priests in the pre-exilic kingdom. + +VI. Disappointment of These Patriotic Hopes. With Zechariah's prediction +that Zerubbabel should reign on the throne of Judah the descendants of the +house of David suddenly and forever disappear from Old Testament history. +Whether the Jews made the attempt to shake off the yoke of Persia +Or whether Zerubbabel was quietly set aside cannot be determined. +Contemporary history states that within at least six months after +Zechariah voiced the patriotic hopes of his people the authority of Darius +was fully established throughout the empire. He at once began thoroughly +to organize the vast realm. Post roads bound together the distant +provinces, and satraps, appointed largely from the ranks of the royal +family, unified the whole empire and held it under firm control. As a rule +Persian governors were substituted for the native princes. With the +institution of this policy Zerubbabel may well have been quietly set +aside. The event evidently made a profound impression upon the messianic +expectations of the Jews. Henceforth, for three or four centuries, the +temporal, kingly type of messianic hope, which had been inspired by the +glories of the reign of David, entirely disappeared. It was not revived +until the military victories of the Maccabean era had again brought +prominently to the front this phase of national glory (cf. Section CXVI). +As a result of these disappointments Israel's hopes were universalized and +spiritualized. Jehovah, instead of a scion of the house of David, was +henceforth regarded as the one supreme King of Israel. + +VII. Zechariah's Later Exhortations and Predictions. In chapters 7 and +8, which conclude the original sermons of Zechariah, the apocalyptic +language with which he clothed his earlier predictions regarding the +future of the Judean community disappeared, and he spoke as did Amos and +Haggai, plainly and directly regarding the questions which were then +stirring the people. When a deputation came from the north to inquire +whether or not, now that the temple was being rebuilt, they should +continue to observe their fasts in memory of the destruction of Jerusalem +and the death of Gedaliah, the prophet raised the searching question of +whether their motive in these services was to please Jehovah or to please +themselves. He then went on to declare that the only effective way to +serve Jehovah was by deeds of justice and kindness, especially to the +dependent classes in the community, and that the horrors of the exile had +come because their fathers had failed to worship Jehovah by righteous +deeds. + +The prophet concludes with a brilliant picture of the coming restoration +of Jerusalem and of the peace and prosperity which should be the lot of +all, because Jehovah was about to gather his scattered people from the +east and the west and to establish them in the midst of his sacred city. +Other nations should eagerly come to Jerusalem to seek the favor of +Jehovah and to ally themselves with his faithful followers, the Jews. In a +prophecy, preserved in Micah 4:1-4 and Isaiah 2:1-4 (which probably comes +from this period) the same thought is nobly expressed: + +It shall come to pass in the latter days, +That the mountain of Jehovah shall be established, +Even the house of our God on the top of the mountain, +And it shall be lifted above the hills. +All the nations shall flow to it, +And many peoples shall go and say, +Come, let us go up to Jehovah's mount, +To the house of the God of Jacob, +That he may instruct us in his ways, +And that we may walk in his paths. +For from Zion proceeds instruction, +And Jehovah's word from Jerusalem. + + + +Section XCVI. ISRAEL'S TRAINING AND DESTINY + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:1, 2] +Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God, +Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and declare to her, +That her hard service is accomplished, her guilt is expiated +That she hath received from Jehovah's hand double for all her sins. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:3, 4] +A voice is proclaiming: In the wilderness prepare the way of Jehovah, +Make straight in the desert a highway for our God! +Let every mountain and hill sink down, and every valley be lifted up, +And the crooked be made straight and the rough ridges a plain. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:6-8] +A voice is saying, Proclaim! and I said, What shall I proclaim? +All flesh is grass and all its beauty like a flower of the field. +Grass withers, flower fades, when Jehovah's breath blows eternal upon it, +Grass withers, flower fades, but the word of our God endureth forever. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:9] +To a high mountain, get thee up, Zion's herald of good news; +Lift up mightily thy voice, Jerusalem's herald of good news. +Lift up fearlessly, say to the cities of Judah: Behold your God! + +[Sidenote: Isa 40:10, 11] +Behold, Jehovah cometh in might, and his arm is maintaining his rule; +Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense is before him, +As a shepherd he will tend his flock, with his arm he will gather it, +The lambs in his bosom he will bear, the ewe-mothers he will lead. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:12] +Who hath measured in the hollow of his hand the waters, +And ruled off the heavens with a span, +Or enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, +And weighed the mountains in scales, +And the hills in a balance? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:13, 14] +Who hath determined the spirit of Jehovah, +And as his counsellor advised him? +With whom hath he consulted for enlightenment, +And to be instructed in the right, +And to be shown the way of discernment? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:16, 17] +Lo the nations! as a drop from a bucket, +And as dust on a balance are they reckoned. +Lo the isles! as a mote he uplifteth, +And Lebanon is not enough for fuel, +And its wild beasts for a burnt-offering. +All the nations are as nothing before him, +They are reckoned by him as void and nothingness. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:18-20] +To whom then will ye liken God, +And what likeness place beside him? +An image! a craftsman cast it, +And a smelter o'erlays it with gold. +He who is too poor to do this +Chooses a tree that is not decayed, +Seeks for himself a skilled craftsman, +To set up an image that shall not totter. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:21, 22] +Do ye not know? Do ye not hear? +Hath it not been told you from the beginning? +Have ye not been aware from the founding of the earth? +It is he who is enthroned above the vault of the earth, +And its inhabitants are as locusts; +Who stretcheth out the heavens as a thin veil, +And spreadeth them out like a habitable tent. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:23, 24] +It is he who bringeth princes to naught, +The rulers of the earth he maketh as waste. +Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown, +Scarcely hath the stock taken root in the earth, +But he bloweth upon them and they wither, +And a whirlwind carries them away like stubble. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:25, 26] +To whom then will ye liken me +That I should equal him? saith the Holy One. +Lift up your eyes on high and see: +Who hath created these? +He who bringeth forth their host by number, +And calleth each by his name; +Of the many mighty and strong, +Not one is missing. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 40:27-31] +Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: +My way is hid from Jehovah +And my right is unnoticed by my God? +Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard? +An everlasting God is Jehovah. +The creator of the ends of the earth. +He fainteth not, neither is weary, +His wisdom cannot be fathomed, +He giveth vigor to the fainting, +And upon the powerless he lavisheth strength. +Young men may faint and grow weary, +And the strongest youths may stumble, +But they who trust in Jehovah renew their vigor, +They mount on pinions like eagles, +They run but are never weary, +They walk but never faint. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 41:1-4] +Listen to me in silence, ye coastlands, +Let the peoples come near; then let them speak; +Together let us approach the tribunal. +Who raised up that one from the east +Whose steps victory ever attended, +Giving up peoples before him, +And letting him trample down kings? +His sword made them as dust, +And his bow like driven stubble; +He pursued them, passing on in safety, +Not treading the path with his feet. +Who hath wrought and accomplished this? +He who called the generations from the beginning, +I, Jehovah, who am the first, +And with those who come after I am the same. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 41:8-10] +And thou, Israel, my servant +Jacob, whom I have chosen, +Offspring of Abraham, my friend, +Thou, whom I brought from the ends of the earth, +And called from its most distant parts; +To whom I said, Thou art my servant, +I have chosen and have not rejected thee. +Fear not, for I, indeed, am with thee, +Be not terrified, for I am thy God. +I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; +Yea, I will uphold thee with my righteous hand. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:1] +Behold, my servant whom I uphold, +My chosen, in whom I take delight; +I have put my spirit upon him, +That he may set forth law to the nations. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:2-3b] +He will not cry aloud nor roar, +Nor let his voice be heard in the street. +A crushed reed he will not break, +And a dimly burning wick he will not quench. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:3c-4] +Faithfully will he set forth law; +He will not lose vigor nor be crushed, +Until he establish law in the earth, +And for his teaching the coastlands are waiting. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:5-7] +Thus saith the one God, Jehovah, +He who spread out the heavens and stretched them forth, +Who created the earth and its products, +Who giveth breath to the people upon it, +And spirit to those who walk upon it: +I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, +I have taken thee by the hand and kept thee, +I have made thee a pledge to the people, a light to the nations, +To open eyes that are blind, +To bring captives out from confinement, +From the prison house dwellers in darkness. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:13-50] +Ye who are deaf hear, +And ye blind look up that ye may see, +Who is blind but my servants, +deaf as their rulers? +Much have ye seen, without observing it, +Though your ears were open, ye did not hear. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:21, 22] +Jehovah was pleased for his righteousness' sake +To make his teaching great and glorious, +Yet it is a people spoiled and plundered, +They are all snared in holes, +And hidden in prison houses, +They have become a spoil, with none to rescue, +An object of plunder, with none to say, Restore. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 42:23-25] +Who among you will give ear to this, +Will attend and hear for time to come? +Who gave up Jacob to plunderers, +And Israel to those who spoiled him, +And poured out upon him the heat of his anger, +And his violence like a flame, +So that it scorched him round about, but he knew it not, +And it burned him, but he laid it not to heart? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:1-2] +And now thus saith Jehovah, +He who created thee, O Jacob, and formed thee, +Fear not, O Israel, for I redeem thee, +I call thee by name, thou art mine. +When thou passeth through the waters, I will be with thee, +Through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; +When thou goest through the fire, thou shalt not be scorched, +Neither shall the flame burn thee. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:3, 4] +For I, Jehovah, am thy God. +I, Israel's Holy One, am thy deliverer; +I give Egypt as thy ransom, +Ethiopia and Seba for thee. +Because thou art precious in mine eyes, +Art honored and I love thee, +I will give lands in thy stead, +And peoples for the sake of thy life. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:5-7] +Fear not for I am with thee, +From the east I will bring thine offspring, +And from the west I will gather thee; +I will say to the north, Give up! +And to the south, Withhold not! +Bring my sons from afar, +And my daughters from the ends of the earth, +Every one who is called by my name, +Whom for my glory I have created and formed. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:10, 11] +Ye are my witnesses, is Jehovah's oracle, +And my servants whom I have chosen, +That ye may acknowledge and believe me, +And that ye may perceive that I am ever the same, +Before me no God was formed, +Nor shall there be after me, +I, even I, am Jehovah, +And beside me there is no deliverer. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:12, 13] +It was I who announced and brought deliverance, +And I declared, and there was no strange god among you, +Ye are my witnesses, is Jehovah's oracle, +I am God, yea, from henceforth the same; +And there is none who can snatch from my hand, +When I work, who can reverse it? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:14, 15] +Thus saith Jehovah, +Your redeemer, Israel's Holy One, +For your sake I have sent to Babylon, +And have brought them all down as fugitives. +Even the Chaldeans with their piercing cries of lamentation, +It is I, Jehovah, your Holy One, +The Creator of Israel, your King. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:22-24] +But thou, O Jacob, hast not called upon me, +Nor hast thou wearied thyself about me, O Israel; +Thou hast not brought me the sheep of thy burnt-offerings, +Nor honored me with thy sacrifices. +With offerings I have not burdened thee, +Nor with incense wearied thee. +Thou broughtest me no sweet cane with thy money, +Nor with the fat of thy sacrifices sated me. +Rather thou hast only burdened me with thy sins, +And wearied me with thine iniquities. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 43:25-28] +But it is I alone who blot out thy transgressions, +And I do not remember thy sins. +Remind me, let us plead together, +Do thou set forth the matter that thou mayest be justified: +Thy first father sinned, +And thy mediators rebelled against me. +Thy rulers profaned my sanctuary, +And I gave up Jacob to the ban, +And Israel to revilings! + +[Sidenote: Isa. 44:1-3b] +But now hear, O Jacob, my servant, +Israel whom I have chosen; +Thus saith Jehovah, thy maker, +Even he who formed thee from the womb, who helpeth thee: +Fear not, my servant Jacob, +And thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen; +For I will pour water upon the thirsty land +And streams upon the dry ground. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 44:3c-5] +I will pour out my spirit upon thy children, +And my blessing upon thy descendants, +So that they shall spring up as grass in the midst of waters, +As willows by water-courses. +One shall say, "I am Jehovah's," +And another shall call himself, "Jacob," +And another will inscribe on his hand, "Jehovah's," +And receive the surname, "Israel."' + +I. The Seventy Years Following the Rebuilding of the Temple. Regarding +the seventy years which intervened between the rebuilding of the temple in +516 B.C. and the appearance of Nehemiah in 445 the biblical historians are +silent. This silence is probably because there were no important political +events in the life of the Judean community to be recorded. During the +latter part of his reign Darius bridged the Hellespont and undertook the +conquest of the western world. Later, under the reign of his son Xerxes, +the mighty hordes of eastern warriors were turned back, and the growing +weakness of the great Persian Empire was revealed. In 486 Egypt rebelled, +and Persian armies marched along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, +probably levying heavy taxes for their support upon the Jews as well as +upon the other peoples of Palestine. The suppression of the rebellion in +Egypt illustrated how impossible it was for any of the eastern peoples to +withstand even the decadent power of the Persian Empire. + +In Palestine the Jews were still the prey of their hostile neighbors. No +walls protected the temple and city of Jerusalem. The Jews were probably +ground down under their greedy Persian governors. With the disappearance +of Zerubbabel the local control fell naturally into the hands of the high +priest and his followers, whose civil authority from this time on +constantly increased. The words of II Isaiah well describe the lot of the +Jews of Palestine during this period: + +It is a people spoiled and plundered, +They are all snared in holes, +And hidden in prison houses. +They have become a spoil, +With none to rescue, +An object of plunder, +With none to say, Restore. + +II. Spiritual Forces in Judaism. The political horizon furnished little +to inspire the disappointed and persecuted Jews. Their eyes were still +blinded by the brilliant hopes that had stirred them at the time when the +temple was rebuilt. The quenching of these hopes had left them in deeper +darkness than before. There seemed no rift in the clouds that overshadowed +them. Even their priestly rulers were selfish and inconsiderate. For the +faithful few who rose above the discouragements and obstacles that +confronted them, however, this period of deepest gloom was lighted by a +faith that shines through and glorifies most of the later books of the Old +Testament. From the psalms and prophecies of the period it is evident that +there were a few who in the midst of these discouraging circumstances +found peace and joy. As they meditated upon the experiences of their race, +and read and pondered the writings of the earlier prophets, they began to +appreciate not only the real significance of their past history but the +meaning of the present affliction. The chief spokesman of these immortal +heroes of the faith was the prophetic author of Isaiah 40-66. + +III. Evidences That Isaiah 40-66 were Written in Palestine. Only +recently have careful students of Isaiah 40-66 begun to realize that the +point of view in all of these chapters is not distant Babylon but +Jerusalem. The repeated references in chapter 56 and following to +conditions in Jerusalem have led all to recognize their Palestinian +origin. The evidence, however, regarding chapters 40-55 is almost equally +convincing. The vocabulary and literary figures employed throughout are +those peculiar to the agricultural life of Palestine and not to the +commercial civilization of Babylon. The problems also are those of the +Judean community. The class to whom the prophet addresses his messages is +evidently the same as that to which Haggai and Zechariah speak. Jerusalem, +not a Jewish colony in Babylon, is the constant object of the prophet's +appeal. Babylon is only one of the distant lands of the dispersion. It is +from Jerusalem that the prophet ever views the world. Thus in 43:5,6 he +declares in the name of Jehovah: + +Fear not, for I am with thee. +From the east I will bring thine offspring, +And from the west I will gather them; +I will say to the north, Give up! +And to the south, Withhold not! +Bring my sons from afar, +And my daughters from the ends of the earth. + +Interpreted in the light of their true geographical setting, these +Prophecies gain at once a new and clearer meaning. + +IV. Their Probable Date. The reference in 43:23, 24 to the offerings +brought by the people to Jehovah's temple clearly implies that it had +already been built. Furthermore, the charges preferred against the Judean +community are very similar to those in the book of Malachi, which is +generally assigned to the period immediately preceding the arrival of +Nehemiah in 445 B.C. (cf. Section XCVII). From the parallels in chapter 48 +and elsewhere it is evident that Jehovah's Messiah in 45:1 is not Cyrus +but Israel, the messianic nation, to which Jehovah in earlier days under +David and his successors gave repeated victories and far-extended +authority. The presence of the name Cyrus seems without reasonable doubt +to be due to a later scribe, who thus incorrectly identified the allusion. +It is supported neither by the metrical structure nor the context of the +passages in which it is found. Furthermore, the ideas in Isaiah 40-55 are +almost without exception those which Zechariah had already voiced in +germinal form, especially in his latest prophecies preserved in chapters 7 +and 8. They are here more fully and far more gloriously expanded, +indicating that their author lived perhaps a generation later than +Zechariah. The years between 500 and 450 furnish the most satisfactory +setting for these prophecies. In a very true sense, however, like many +of the psalms, they are timeless. The question of their exact date +is comparatively unimportant except as it throws light upon their +interpretation. + +V. Their Literary Characteristics. The prophecies in Isaiah 40-66 are +psalms, sharing the characteristics of all lyric Hebrew poetry. Each is +complete in itself and yet closely related to the others both in content +and literary form. Their nobility of theme, their breadth of outlook, +their wealth of rich and glowing figures, and their finished literary +character give them an incontestable place among the greatest writings of +the Old Testament. While there is a powerful argument running through them +all, the logic is not cumulative but rather moves in a spiral, frequently +returning to the same subject but having a gradual onward movement. It is +the characteristic Oriental method of thinking, which is the opposite of +that of the Western world. These poems are grouped into three cycles which +apparently represent the prophet's thinking during succeeding periods. The +first cycle is included in 40-48. Chapter 48 is a recapitulation of the +thought of the preceding, and furnishes a natural conclusion to the first +collection. The second group is in 49-55. The note of suffering is here +more prominent, and the portrait of the ideal type of servant which +Jehovah desires in order to realize his purpose in human history is +developed in greater detail (cf. Section XCIX). The third group, in 56-66, +is by many assigned to another prophet and to a much later period. While +the general theme of the group is different and implies a somewhat changed +historical background, the characteristic ideas and literary forms of +40-55 also recur here. From the study of Israel's past and future the +prophet turns to the closer consideration of the problems in Palestine. +The historical allusions are for the most part in accord with the +conditions which Nehemiah found in Jerusalem in 445 B.C. + +VI. Their Theme and Purpose. The poems deal with one theme, the destiny +of the chosen people. The prophet first reviews their past history to +illustrate Jehovah's purpose that was being realized through Israel. He +notes the different ways in which Jehovah had trained and prepared them +for their great task. In the light of the new situation and his enlarged +acquaintance with the world the prophet then proceeds to define the task +that awaits his people. While he does not break entirely away from the +popular expectation that the scattered exiles would yet be restored to +Jerusalem to participate in the universal kingdom that was there to be +established, he fully appreciates the larger significance of Israel's +mission. He recognizes that it is worldwide. He sees that the Jewish race +is called not merely to receive honors and material blessings but also to +serve suffering and needy mankind. The disappointments and afflictions +through which it is passing are but a part of the divine training for that +nobler spiritual service. The servant Israel is called to be a witness to +all the nations, faithfully to set forth Jehovah's teachings until his law +is established in all the earth. Thus the prophet interprets Israel's +past, present, and future in its vital relation to the universal life of +humanity, and declares that Israel is destined to be a prophet nation and +to reveal Jehovah's character to all mankind. + +VII. Reasons Why Jehovah Will Restore His People. The prophet opens with +a declaration that Jerusalem's period of forced service is over, that she +has paid double for the sins of the past, and that Jehovah is about to +remove all obstacles and restore and exalt his oppressed people. He then +gives the reasons for his strong conviction: (1) Jehovah is incomparably +superior to the forces of nature, to the nations that hold Israel in +bondage, and to the heathen gods whose images are shaped by the hand of +man. All the powers of heaven and earth are under his control. He is the +creator and supreme ruler of the universe, able to remove all obstacles +and to give strength and might to those who put their trust in him. +(2) Through his leadership of his people in the past, through their +victories over their powerful foes, and in all the experiences of their +national life he has shown his power to guide and deliver. (3) Toward +Israel, his servant, he stands in a unique relation, for he has chosen and +trained his people for a great service in behalf of all the world. +Therefore he who is able and eager to deliver will not fail his people in +their hour of need. (4) Their present affliction is but a part of that +training which is essential before they can perform their task as +Jehovah's servant; that task is tenderly to espouse the cause of those who +are crushed, to open eyes that are blind, to bring captives out of their +confinement, and, as a faithful teacher, to inspire all mankind with love +for Israel's God. + +The prophet's aim was clearly to encourage his despondent people, to show +them the deeper meaning of their present afflictions, to open their eyes +to Jehovah's gracious purpose, to give to the entire race a goal for which +to live and strive, and, above all, to arouse them to effective action. +Doubtless the prophet thought only of the problems of the men of his day, +but in his interpretation of Jehovah's worldwide purpose and in the faith +and devotion which his words inspire he gave to all mankind a universal, +undying message. + + + +Section XCVII. CONDITIONS AND PROBLEMS WITHIN THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +[Sidenote: Mal. 1:6-9] +A son honoreth his father, and a servant feareth his master; +If then I am a father, where is mine honor? +And if I am a master, where is the one who fears me? +Saith Jehovah to you, O ye priests, who despise my name. +But ye say, 'Wherein have we despised thy name?' +Ye offer upon mine altar bread that is polluted +And ye say, 'Wherein have we polluted it?' +In that ye say, 'The table of Jehovah is contemptible.' +And that when ye offer the blind for sacrifice, 'It is no harm!' +And that when ye offer the lame and the sick, 'It is no harm!' +Present it now to thy governor; will he be pleased with it? +Or will he receive thee favorably? saith Jehovah of hosts. +And now entreat the favor of God with such an offering, that he may be + gracious to us, +Would I receive any of you favorably? saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 1:10, 11] +O that there were those among you who would shut the doors, +That ye might not kindle fire on mine altar in vain! +I have no pleasure in you, saith Jehovah of hosts, +Neither will I accept an offering at your hand. +For from the rising of the sun even to its setting my name is sacred among + the nations, +And in every place they offer to my name a pure offering; +For my name is great among the nations, saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 1:12, 14] +'The table of Jehovah is polluted, and its food is contemptible.' +Ye say also, 'Behold what a weariness is it!' and ye have scorned me; +And ye have brought the blind, the lame and the sick. +Should I accept this at your hand? saith Jehovah of hosts. +But cursed be the deceiver, who has in his flock a male, +And vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a blemished thing; +For I am a great King, and my name is feared among the nations. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:1-4] +And now, O ye priests, this command is for you. +If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, +To give glory to my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, +Then I will send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; +Behold, I will cut off your arm, +And will spread offal upon your faces, even the offal of your feasts, +And ye shall know that I have sent this command to you, +That my covenant with Levi may be preserved, saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:15-7] +My covenant with him was to give life and peace; +And I gave them to him that he might revere me; +And he revered me, and stood in awe of my name. +The true instruction was in his mouth, +And unrighteousness was not found in his lips; +He walked with me in peace and uprightness, +And turned many away from iniquity. +For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, +And men should seek the law at his mouth; +For he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts. + + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:8, 9] +But ye are turned aside out of the way; +Ye have caused many to stumble in the law; +Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, +Saith Jehovah of hosts. +Therefore have I also made you contemptible, +And base before all the people, +According as ye have not kept my ways, +And have had no respect for me in imparting the law. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:10, 13, 14] +Have we not all one father? +Hath not one God created us? +Why do we deal faithlessly with one another, +Profaning the covenant of our fathers? +And this ye do also: +Ye cover the altar of Jehovah with tears, +So that he regardeth not the offering any more, +Neither receiveth it acceptably from your hand. +Yet ye say, Why? +Because Jehovah hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, +Against whom thou hast dealt faithlessly, +Though she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:15, 16] +Therefore give heed to your spirit, +And let none deal faithlessly with the wife of his youth, +For I hate putting away, +Saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, +And him who covers his garment with violence; +Therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not faithlessly. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 2:17] +Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words. +Yet ye say, How have we wearied him? +In that ye say, Everyone that doeth evil +Is good in the sight of Jehovah, +And he delighteth in them; +Or where is the God of justice? + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:1-4] +Behold, I am about to send my messenger, +And he shall prepare the way before me; +And the Lord, whom ye seek, +Will suddenly come to his temple; +But who can endure the day of his coming? +And who shall stand when he appeareth? +For he is like a refiner's fire, +And like fullers' lyes; +And he will sit as a refiner and purifier, +And he will purify the sons of Levi, +And refine them as gold and silver; +And they shall offer offerings in righteousness. +Then shall the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to Jehovah, +As in the days of old, and as in former years. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:5, 6] +And I will come near to you to judgment; +And I will be a swift witness +Against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, +And against those who sware to that which is false, +And against those who oppress the hireling, the widow, and the fatherless, +Who turn aside the resident alien from his right, +And fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts. +For I, Jehovah, change not; +But ye have not ceased to be sons of Jacob. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:7-9] +From the days of thy fathers ye have turned aside from my statutes, and ye + have not kept them. +Turn to me and I will turn to you, saith Jehovah. +But ye say, 'Wherein shall we turn?' +Will a man rob God? Yet ye robbed me. +But ye say, 'Wherein have we robbed thee?' In tithes and gifts. +Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye rob me. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:10-12] +Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house, +That there may be provision in mine house; and test me thereby, +If I will not open to you the windows of heaven, +And pour you out a blessing, until there is more than enough. +I will rebuke for your sakes the devourer that he destroy not the fruit of + the ground, +Neither shall the vine fail to ripen its fruit in the field, +And all nations shall call you happy, +For ye shall be a delightsome land, saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 3:13-16] +Your words are hard upon me, saith Jehovah. +Ye say, 'What have we said against thee?' +Ye have said, 'It is useless to serve God, +And what gain is it to us to have kept his charge, +And that we have walked in funeral garb before him? +Even now we call the proud happy, +Yea, those who work iniquity thrive, +Yea, they tempt God and escape.' + +[Sidenote Mal. 3:16-18] +Such things those who feared Jehovah spoke to one another, +And Jehovah gave heed, and heard, +And a book of remembrance was written before him, +Regarding those who feared Jehovah, +And those who keep in mind his name; +And they shall be mine, saith Jehovah of hosts, +In the day that I make up mine especial treasure. +And I will spare them, +As a man spares his son who serves him. +Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, +Between him who serves God and him who serves him not. + +[Sidenote: Mal. 4:1-3] +For behold the day is coming that shall burn like a furnace, +And all the proud and those who work iniquity shall be stubble, +And the day that is coming shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, +So that there shall be left them neither root nor branch. +But to you who fear my name there shall arise +The sun of righteousness with healing on his wings, +And ye shall go forth and leap like calves out of the stall. +And ye shall tread down the wicked, +For they shall be as ashes under the soles of your feet, +In the day in which I begin to execute, saith Jehovah of hosts. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:1-5] +My God, why dost thou forsake me, +Far from my salvation is my groaning +By day I call, but thou answerest not, +And by night there is no respite for me. + +Yet thou, O my God, art the Holy One, +Enthroned on Israel's songs of praise. +In thee our fathers trusted, +They trusted, and thou didst deliver them; +To thee they cried, and were delivered, +In thee they trusted and were not ashamed. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:6-8] +But I am a worm and no man, +Reproached by men and despised by the people. +Whoever sees me derideth me, +They sneer as they toss the head: +"He depended upon Jehovah, let him deliver him, +Let him save him, since he delighteth in him!" + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:9-11] +Yet it was thou who took me from the womb, +Who made me safe on my mother's breast; +On thee was I cast from birth, +Thou art my God from my mother's womb. +Be not far from me, for there is distress, +Draw nigh, for there is no helper. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:12-18] +Many bulls encompass me, +Mighty ones of Bashan beset me round, +They open their mouths at me, +Like a ravening, roaring lion. +As water I am poured out, +Yea, all my bones are out of joint, +My heart hath become like wax, +It is melted within my body, +My palate is dried up like a potsherd, +And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; +In the dust of death thou dost lay me, +For dogs circle me about, +The assembly of evil-doers enclose me; +They pierce my hands and my feet, +I can count all my bones; +They stare, they gloat over me. +They divide my garments among them, +And for my clothing they cast lots! + +I. Date of the Book of Malachi. Malachi in the Hebrew means My +Messenger, and the word was apparently taken from the opening verse of the +third chapter. Like many of the writings of the post-exilic period, the +book, therefore, is anonymous. Its date, however, may be determined from +its contents. The reference to the desolation of the land of the Edomites +suggests that it was written late in the Persian period after the Edomites +had been driven out from Mount Seir by the Nabateans and had found a home +on the southern borders of Judah. The priests in the Judean community had +become corrupt and the temple service was neglected, indicating that they +had lost the early enthusiasm which followed the rebuilding of the +sanctuary. The Judean community was discouraged and a spirit of doubt and +questioning prevailed in the minds of those who were faithfully striving +to serve Jehovah. The prophecy is an exact picture of conditions as +Nehemiah found them, so that the book of Malachi may be dated not far from +445 B.C. + +II. Neglect of the Temple Service. The prophet's method is akin to that +of Zechariah. Evidently the early reverence for the word of the prophet +has disappeared. Instead of bare assertions, each conclusion is supported +by detailed arguments. The author of Malachi is also deeply interested in +the ritual and regards the preservation of its purity as essential to the +religious life of the Judean community. He charges the priests with +failure to observe the ceremonial laws, especially in allowing the people +to bring for sacrifice animals that are blind, lame, and sick. These acts +are evidence of the religious apathy that had seized even the religious +leaders of the people. The prophet declares boldly that under the guise of +religion the priests are robbing Jehovah. Above all they are faithless to +their responsibilities as the appointed teachers of the people. In 2:5-7 +he presents the clearest picture extant of the task of the priest as +teacher. His duty was to instruct the people, to help them to overcome +temptation, and to make very clear to them the way of duty. This ideal, +the prophet declares, was realized by earlier priests, but now those who +are the appointed religious guides are misleading the people. + +III. The Need of a Great Moral Awakening. The evils which the prophet +denounced were not confined to the priests. The old Semitic law regarding +divorce was exceedingly lax. A husband could lead his wife to the door of +his tent and tell her to be gone, thereby severing their marriage +relation. The Deuteronomic law sought to relieve this injustice by +providing that the husband must place in the hand of his wife, as she +departs, a document stating the grounds on which he had divorced her. By +the middle of the fifth century B.C. divorce had evidently become +exceedingly common in Palestine. The prophet denounced it on the basis of +its injustice and cruelty. He also maintained that marriage was a solemn +covenant before Jehovah between man and wife, and that he who disregarded +it dealt faithlessly and was the especial object of divine displeasure. + +Traces of the old heathenism still remained in Judah, and the dependent, +oppressed classes received little pity from the selfish, heartless rulers. +In the face of these evils the prophet declared that Jehovah would +surely send a messenger to punish and to reform priest and people. +The prophecy was evidently based on a clear recognition that Jehovah +was ever working to train and uplift his people, and that a period of +degeneration must surely be followed by a period of reform. In the work +of Nehemiah the prophet's hopes were in part fulfilled, but the larger +fulfilment of the underlying principle was realized in the thorough-going +reformatory work of John the Baptist and in that of the Great Teacher. In +a later appendix to the prophecy of Malachi this theme is still further +developed. The promise is made that another prophet, with the zeal of the +great reformer Elijah, would come and prepare the way for a new and nobler +era. + +IV. The Lot of the Faithful. In the prophecy of Malachi is first voiced +the despairing cries and doubts of those of the faithful who failed to +rise above the effect of the existing social and religious evils. They are +the righteous or afflicted who also speak through certain of the earlier +psalms of the Psalter (e.g., 10-17, 22). It was a period when the man who +did right and was faithful to the demands of the law was thereby condemned +to poverty and persecution at the hands of the corrupt priests and rulers. +Worse than that, their poverty and wretchedness were interpreted, +According to the current belief of the day, as convincing evidence of +Jehovah's displeasure because of their sins. It was a time when wickedness +triumphed and innocence suffered, and when the question whether or not a +righteous God ruled the universe rose persistently in the minds of the +faithful. The author of Malachi recognizes and seeks to meet these doubts: + +Ye have said, It is useless to serve God, +And what gain is it to us to have kept his charge, +And that we have walked in funeral garb before him? +Even now we call the proud happy, +Verily those who work iniquity thrive, +Yea, they tempt God and escape. + +Here the problem is the same as that of the book of Job. To these doubts +the prophet could only reply that Jehovah will keep a record of the +faithful and in his good time will reward them. + +V. The Problem of Suffering in the Literature of the Period. As was +natural, this problem of innocent suffering was prominent in the +literature of the period. It became especially insistent at this time, +because it had ceased to be the problem of the community, and had become +that of individuals or of a class. While the nation rested under the +shadow of misfortune, a solution of the problem was found in the +consciousness of national guilt and in the hope that the affliction would +be but temporary. The old dogma that virtue was always rewarded and +wickedness punished continued to satisfy Israel's leaders. When, however, +a considerable class in the community were conscious that they had +committed no crimes worthy of the bitter persecutions and calamities that +overtook them, and that it was often just because of their virtue and the +steadfastness with which they clung to the nobler ideals of their race +that they were thus assailed, the current interpretations of evil were no +longer satisfactory. When in time many of them went down to the grave +crushed by affliction and the objects of the taunts and revilings of their +wicked pursuers, the insufficiency of the current explanation of +misfortune was tragically demonstrated. To their minds Sheol or the grave +offered no solution, for, as among all early Aryan and Semitic peoples, it +was thought of as the dark, passionless, joyless abode of the shades. + +In most of the psalms of this period the poets who speak in behalf of the +afflicted class, like the author of Malachi, expressed the hope that +Jehovah would speedily come to their deliverance and signally vindicate +and reward them. The heroism and fidelity that they represent can only be +fully appreciated in the light of this discouraging period when evil was +regnant. It was apparently at this time that the great poet, who speaks +through the book of Job, presented, with the spirit and method of a modern +philosopher, the lot of these innocent sufferers. He also proved for all +time that misfortune is not always the evidence of guilt, and that the +current doctrine of proportionate rewards and the explanations that were +adduced to support it were in certain cases absolutely untenable. + + + +Section XCVIII. THE PROBLEM AND TEACHINGS OF THE BOOK OF JOB + +[Sidenote: Job 1:1-5] +There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. And that man was +blameless and upright; he feared God and turned away from evil. And seven +sons and three daughters were born to him. His possessions also included +seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, +five hundred she asses, and an exceedingly large number of servants; so +that this man was the greatest of all the peoples of Palestine. And his +sons were accustomed to hold a feast in one another's house each on his +day. And they were wont to send and invite their three sisters to eat and +drink with them. And when the days of their feasting were over, Job used +to send and sanctify them, and he rose up early in the morning, and +offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, +Perhaps my sons have sinned, and renounced God in their hearts. Thus Job +did continually. + +[Sidenote: Job 1:6-11] +Now on a certain day when the sons of God came to present themselves +before Jehovah, Satan also came among them. And Jehovah said to Satan, +Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to +and fro in the earth, and walking up and down on it. And Jehovah said to +Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him on +the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God, and turns away from +evil. Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? +Hast thou not made a hedge about him, and about his household, and about +all that he hath, on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, +and his possessions are increased in the land. But put forth thy hand now, +and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. + +[Sidenote: Job 1:12] +Then Jehovah said to Satan, Behold all that he hath is in thy power; only +put not forth thy hand upon him. So Satan went forth from the presence of +Jehovah. + +[Sidenote: Job 1:13-19] +Now on a certain day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking +in their eldest brother's house, a messenger came to Job and said, The +oxen were plowing and the asses were feeding beside them, when the Sabeans +suddenly attacked and captured them, and they have slain the servants with +the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you. While that +one was yet speaking, another came and said, The fire of God has fallen +from heaven, and has burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed +them; and I alone have escaped to tell you. While that one was yet +speaking, another came and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and +raided the camels and took them away, and they have slain the servants +with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you. While that +one was yet speaking, another came and said, Your sons and your daughters +were eating and drinking in their eldest brother's house, when there came +a great wind from over the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the +house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead. I alone have +escaped to tell you. + +[Sidenote: Job 1:20-22] +Then Job arose, and tore his robe, and shaved his head, and fell upon the +ground and worshipped; and he said: + +Naked I came from my mother's womb, +And naked shall I return thither! +Jehovah gave and he hath taken away; +Blessed be the name of Jehovah! + +In all this Job sinned not, nor reviled God. + +[Sidenote: Job 2:1-6] +And on a certain day when the sons of God came to present themselves +before Jehovah, Satan came also to present himself before Jehovah. And +Jehovah said to Satan, Whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah, and +said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down on +it. And Jehovah said to Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? For +there is none like him in the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who +fears God, and turns away from evil; and he still remains steadfast in his +piety, although thou incitest me against him, to destroy him without +cause. And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that +a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thy hand now, and +touch his bone and his flesh; surely he will curse thee to thy face. And +Jehovah said to Satan, Behold, he is in thy power: only spare his life. + +[Sidenote: Job 2:7, 8] +So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smote Job with a +malignant eruption from the sole of his foot to his crown. And he took a +potsherd with which to scrape himself; and he sat among the ashes. + +[Sidenote: Job 2:9, 10] +Then said his wife to him, Do you still remain steadfast in your piety? +Curse God, and die. But he said to her, You speak like one of the foolish +women. We receive good at the hand of God, shall we not also receive evil? +In all this did not Job sin with his lips. + +[Sidenote: Job 2:11-13] +Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon +him, they came each from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad +the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment +together to come to show their sympathy for him and to comfort him. And +when they lifted up their eyes afar off and knew him not, they raised +their voice and wept; and all tore their robes, and sprinkled dust upon +their heads toward heaven. So they sat down with him on the ground seven +days and seven nights, without any one speaking a word to him, for they +saw that his pain was very great. + +[Sidenote: Job 3:2, 11, 13-15, 17-19] +Then Job began to speak and said: + +Why did I not die before birth? +Why did I not expire when my mother bore me? +For now would I have lain down and been quiet, +I would have slept, then had I been at rest, +With kings and counsellors of the earth, +Who built up ruins for themselves; +Or with princes who possessed gold, +Who filled their houses with silver. +There the wicked cease from raging, +And the weary are at rest. +There the prisoners have peace as well, +They hear not the voice of the taskmaster. +The small and the great are there, +And the servant is free from his master. + + +[Sidenote: Job 3:20-22, 25, 26] +Why is light given to the suffering, +And life to those in anguish, +Who long for death but it comes not, +And search for it more than treasures, +Who rejoice with great exultation, +And are glad when they can find the grave? +For the thing which I feared has come upon me, +And that of which I was afraid has overtaken me. +No peace nor quiet, have I, +No rest, but trembling seizes me. + +[Sidenote: Job 4:1-7] +Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said: + +If one tries to speak with you, will you be impatient, +But who can restrain himself from speaking? +Behold, you have instructed many, +And have strengthened feeble hands. +Your words have upheld him who was falling, +And you have made tottering knees strong. +But now, that it is come to you, you are impatient, +It touches yourself and you lose courage. +Is not your piety, your trust, +Your hope the integrity of your ways? +Remember now who, being innocent, perished? +Or where have the upright been destroyed? + +[Sidenote: Job 4:17-19] +Can mortal man be righteous before God? +Can a man be pure before his maker? +Behold, he trusteth not in his own servants, +And his angels he chargeth with error; +How much more the dwellers in clay houses, +Whose foundation is laid in the dust? + +[Sidenote: Job 5:17-22, 26, 27] +Happy is the man whom God correcteth, +Therefore reject not the chastening of the Almighty. +For he causeth pain and bindeth up; +He woundeth and his hands heal. +He will deliver you out of six troubles, +Yea, in seven, no evil shall touch you, +In famine he will redeem you from death, +And in war from the power of the sword. +You shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue; +You shall not be afraid of destruction when it comes. +At destruction and want you shall laugh, +And you need not fear the beasts of the earth. +You shall come to your grave in a ripe old age, +As a sheaf garnered in its season. +Lo this, we have searched out, so it is; +Hear it and know it yourself. + +[Sidenote: Job 6:1-4b] +Then Job answered and said: + +Oh, that my bitterness were weighed, +All my calamity laid in the scales! +Then would it be heavier than the sand of the seas; +For this reason my words are rash. +For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, +Their poison my spirit drinks up. +[Sidenote: Job 6:8-10] +Oh that I might have my request, +And that God would grant that for which I long: +Even that it would please God to crush me, +And that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! +Then this would be my consolation, +I would exult in pain that spares not. + +[Sidenote: Job 6:11-13] +What strength have I still to endure? +And what is mine end that I should be patient? +Is my strength the strength of stones? +Or is my body made of brass? +Behold there is no help in me, +And wisdom is driven quite from me. + +[Sidenote: Job 6:14, 15, 20-23] +Kindness from his friend is due to one in despair, +Even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty. +My brothers have been as deceptive as a brook, +As the channel of brooks that disappear. +For now you are nothing, +You see a terror and are afraid. +Did I say, 'Give to me?' +Or, 'Offer a present to me of your wealth?' +Or, 'Deliver me from a foeman's hand?' +Or, 'Redeem me from the oppressor's power?' + +[Sidenote: Job 6:24-39] +Teach me and I will hold my peace, +And make plain to me wherein I have erred. +How agreeable are upright words! +But what does a reproof from you reprove? +Do you think to reprove mere words, +When the speeches of the desperate are as wind? +You fall upon a blameless man, +And you make merchandise of your friend. +Now therefore be pleased to look upon me; +For surely I will not lie to you. +Turn ere you let injustice be done, +Yea, turn again, my cause is righteous. +Is there injustice on my tongue? +Can not my taste discern what is evil? + +[Sidenote: Job 7:1-6] +Has not man a hard service on earth? +And are not his days like the days of a hireling? +As a slave who sighs for the shadows of the evening, +And as a hireling who looks for his wages, +So am I given months of misery, +And wearisome nights are appointed me. +When I lie down, I say: +'When shall I arise, and the night be gone?' +And I am full of unrest until the dawn. +My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust; +My skin hardens, then breaks out again. +My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, +And are spent without hope. + +[Sidenote: Job 7:9, 10] +As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, +So he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more, +He shall return no more to his house, +Nor shall his place know him any more. + +[Sidenote: Job 7:11, 19] +Therefore I will not refrain my mouth; +I will speak in the bitterness of my spirit. +Am I a sea, or a sea-monster, +That thou shouldest set a watch over me? +When I say, "My bed shall comfort me, +My couch shall ease my complaint;" +Then thou frightest me with dreams, +And terrifiest me through visions: +So that I myself choose strangling, +And death rather than my pains. +I loath life, I would not live always, +Let me alone, for my days are as a breath, +What is man, that thou exaltest him, +That on him thou directest thy thought, +That thou visitest him each morning, +And testest him each moment? + +[Sidenote: Job 7:20, 21] +If I have sinned, what have I done to thee, O watcher of men? +Why hast thou set me as thy target? +And why am I a burden to thee? +And why dost thou not pardon my transgression and take away mine iniquity? +For now I shall lie down in the dust, +When thou shalt seek me, I shall not be. + +[Sidenote: Job 8:1-2] +Then answered Bildad the Shuhite and said, + +How long will you speak these things? +And the words of your mouth be like a mighty wind? +Doth God pervert justice? +Or doth the Almighty pervert righteousness? + +[Sidenote: Job 8:3-6] +If your children sinned against him, +And he delivered them to the consequences of their guilt; +You should earnestly seek God, +Let him take his rod away from me, +And let not his terror make me afraid, +Then would I speak and not fear him, +For in myself I am not thus fearful. + +[Sidenote: Job 10:9-15] +Remember that as clay thou hast fashioned me, +And wilt thou again turn me into dust? +Hast thou not poured me out as milk? +And curdled me like a cheese? +Thou hast clothed me with a skin and with flesh, +And knit me together with bones and with sinews. +Thou hast granted me life and favor, +And thy care hath preserved my breath. +Yet these things thou didst hide in thy heart; +I know that this is thy plan: +If I sin, then thou watchest me, +And if I be just, yet I cannot lift up my head! + +[Sidenote: Job 10:20-22] +Are not the days of my life few enough? +Let me alone, that I may have a little cheer, +Before I go whence I shall not return, +To the land of darkness and of gloom, +The land dark as blackness, +Gloom without a gleam or ray of light. + +[Sidenote: Job 11:1, 7-9] +Then answered Zophar, the Naamathite, and said: + +Shall the multitude of words be unanswered? +Can you find the depths of God? +Can you reach the perfection of the Almighty? +It is high as heaven; what canst thou do? +Deeper than Sheol; what can you know? +Its measure is longer than the earth, +And broader than the sea. + +[Sidenote: Job 11:13-15] +If you set your heart aright, +And stretch out your hands toward him; +If iniquity be in thy hand, put it far away, +And let not unrighteousness dwell in your tent. +Then you shall lift up your face without spot; +And you shall be steadfast, and have no fear. +And make your supplication to the Almighty. +If you are pure and upright, +Then he will prosper your righteous habitation. + +[Sidenote: Job 9:1-7] +Then Job answered and said: +Verily I know that it is so, +But how can a man be made just with God? +If he be pleased to contend with him, +He cannot answer him one of a thousand. +He is wise in mind and mighty in strength; +Who has defied him, and remained unharmed? +He who removeth mountains and they know it not, +And overturneth them in his anger, +Who shaketh the earth out of its place, +So that its pillars tremble, +Who commandeth the sun and it rises not, +And on the stars placeth his seal. + +[Sidenote: Job 9:16-20, 24] +If I called and he answered me, +I would not believe that he had heard my voice. +He who crusheth me with a tempest, +prey of And multiplieth my wounds without cause. +He will not permit me to take my breath, +But filleth me with bitterness, +If we speak of the strength of the mighty, lo it is he! +And if of justice, Who will summon him? +Though I am righteous, my own mouth condemns me, +Though I am perfect, it would prove me to be perverse. +The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; +He covereth the faces of its judges; +If not he, then who is it? + +[Sidenote: Job 9:31-35] +If I wash myself with snow, +And cleanse my hands with lye, +Yet thou plunge me into the filth, +prove And mine own friends will abhor me. +For he is not a man as I am, that I should answer him, +That we should come together in judgment, +There is no arbiter betwixt us, +To lay his hand upon us both. + +[Sidenote: Job 12:1-3] +Then Job answered and said: + +No doubt but you are the people, +And wisdom shall die with you! +But I have a mind as well as you, +And who does not know these things? + +[Sidenote: Job 13:7-12] +Will you speak what is wrong for God? +And will you talk deceitfully for him? +Will you show favor to him? +Will you contend for God? +Would it be well, should he search you out? +Or as one deceives a man, will you deceive him? +He will surely reprove you, +If secretly you show favor. +Shall not his majesty overawe you, +And dread of him fall upon you? +Your memorable sayings are proverbs of ashes, +Your defences are defences of clay! + +[Sidenote: Job 13:13-18] +Hold your peace that I may speak, +And let come to me what will. +I take my flesh in my teeth, +And put my life in my hand. +Behold he will slay me; I have no hope, +But I will defend my ways before him. +No godless man would come before him. +Give careful heed to my speech, +And let my declaration be in your ears. +Behold now, I have prepared my case, +I know that I shall be justified. + +[Sidenote: Job 13:21-25] +Withdraw thy hand far from me; +And let not thy terror make me afraid. +Then call and I will answer, +Or let me speak, and answer thou me. +How many are my iniquities and sins? +Make me know my transgression and my sin. +Why dost thou hide thy face, +And regard me as thine enemy? +Wilt thou harass a wind blown leaf? +And wilt thou pursue the dry stubble? + +[Sidenote: 14:7-10] +For there is hope of a tree, +If it will be cut down, that it will sprout again, +And that its shoot will not cease. +Though its root grow old in the earth, +And its stock die in the ground; +By the scent of water it will bud, +And put forth its branches like a plant. +But man dies and is laid low: +Yea, a man expires, and where is he? + +[Sidenote: Job 14:13-15, 18, 19] +Oh, that thou wouldst hide me in Sheol, +That thou wouldst keep me in secret, until thy wrath be past, +That thou wouldst appoint over me a time, and remember me! +If a man might die, shall he live again! +All the days of my hard service would I wait, +Until my release should come. +Thou wouldst call and I myself would answer thee; +Thou wouldst long for the work of thy hands. +But the mountain surely falls, +And the rock moves from its place, +The water wears away the stones, +Its floods wash away the dust of the earth. + +[Sidenote: Job 15:4-6] +Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite and said: + +Verily, you do away with the fear of God, +And hinder devotion before God. +For your wickedness inspires your speech, +And you choose the tongue of the crafty. +Your own mouth condemns you, and not I; +And your own lips testify against you. + +[Sidenote: Job 16:1-3a, 4b] +Then answered Job and said: + +I have heard many such things; +Troublesome comforters are you all. +Is there no end to vain words? +If you were only in my place, +I could join words together against you! + +[Sidenote: Job 16:11-13a] +God delivereth me to the ungodly, +And casteth me into the hands of the wicked. +I was at ease, and he shattered me, +He seized me by the neck and dashed me to pieces, +He hath also set me up as his target, +His arrows encompass me round about. + +[Sidenote Job 16:18-21] +O earth, cover not my blood, +And let my cry have no resting place. +Even now behold my witness is in the heaven, +And he who voucheth for me is on high. +He will be found to be my friend, +To God my eye pours out its tears. +And he will maintain the right of a man with God, +And between a man and his neighbor! + +[Sidenote: Job 18:1, 5-7] +Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said: + +The light of the wicked is put out, +And the flame of his fire does not shine, +The light is darkened in his tent, +And his light above him is put out. +The steps of his strength are shortened, +And his own counsel shall cast him down. + +[Sidenote: Job 19:13-16] +Then Job answered and said: + +My brothers keep far from me, +And my acquaintances are like strangers to me. +My kinsmen have ceased to know me, +Even the guests in my house have forgotten me. +My maids regard me as a stranger, +I am an alien in their sight. + +[Sidenote: Job 19:23-27] +Oh, that my words were now written! +Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! +That with an iron pen and lead +They were engraved in a rock forever! +But I indeed know that my Vindicator liveth, +And at last he will stand upon the earth: +And after this, my skin, is destroyed, +Then I shall behold God, +Whom I myself shall see on my side, +Mine eyes shall behold, and not a stranger. + +[Sidenote: Job 20:1-4] +Then answered Zophar the Naamathite, and said: + +Not so do my thoughts give answer to me, +Because of this my haste is mine! +I have heard the reproof which puts me to shame; +But with wind void of understanding you answer me. +Have you not known this from of old, +Since man was placed upon the earth, +That the exulting of the wicked is short, +And the joy of the godless but for a moment? + +[Sidenote: Job: 21:1, 7-8] +Then answered Job and said: +Why do the wicked live, +Grow old, and attain great power? +Their descendants are established in their sight, +And their offspring before their eyes. +Their households are secure from terror, +And the rod of God is not upon them. + +[Sidenote: Job 22:1-6] +Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered, and said, +Is a man of any account to God? +Surely a wise man is of account to himself. +Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous? +Or is it gain to him that you are upright? +Is it because of your fear of him that he reproveth you, +That he entereth into judgment with you? +Is not your wickedness great? +And there is no end to your iniquities. + +[Sidenote: Job 22:26, 27, 28] +If you return to the Almighty and humble yourself, +If you remove unrighteousness far from your tents. +You shall make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, +And you shall pay your vows. +You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established for you. +And light shall shine upon your ways. + +[Sidenote: Job 23:1-6] +Then Job answered and said, + +Even now my complaint is bitter, +My stroke is heavier than my groaning. +Oh, that I knew where I might find him! +That I might come even to his throne! +I would set forth my cause before him, +And fill my mouth with arguments. +I would know the words which he would answer me, +And understand what he would say to me. +Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power? +Verily he would give heed to me. + +[Sidenote: Job 25:1-4] +Then answered Bildad the Shuhite, and said, + +Dominion and terror are with him; +He maketh peace in his high places. +Is there any number to his armies? +And upon whom does not his light arise? +How then can man be just with God? +Or how can he be clean who is born of woman? + +[Sidenote: Job 26:1, 27:2, 4, 5] +Then Job answered and said, + +As God liveth, who hath taken away my right, +And the Almighty, who hath made my life bitter, +Surely my lips do not speak unrighteousness, +Nor does my tongue utter falsehood, +Far be it from me that I should grant that you are right; +Until I die I will not give up my innocence. + +[Sidenote: Job 27:7-9] +[Then Zophar answered and said]: + +Let mine enemy be as the wicked, +And let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous. +For what is the hope of the godless, +When God requireth his life? +Will God hear his cry, +When trouble comes upon him? + +[Sidenote: Job 29:1-5] +And Job again took up his parable and said, + +Oh, that I were as in the months of old, +As in the days when God watched over me, +When his lamp shined upon my head, +And by his light I walked through darkness; +As I was in the prime of my life, +When God put a covering over my tent, +When the Almighty was yet with me, +And my children were about me. + +[Sidenote: Job 30:16-21] +But now my soul is poured out within me; +Days of affliction have taken hold of me. +The night bores through my bones, +And my gnawing pains rest not. +By reason of great wasting my garment is crumpled together; +It binds me about as the collar of my coat. +He hath cast me into the mire, +And I am become like dust and ashes. +I cry to thee but thou dost not answer me. +I stand up, but thou dost not regard me. +Thou art turned to be cruel to me; +With the might of thy hand thou persecutest me. + +[Sidenote: Job 31:5-8] +If I have walked with falsehood, +And my foot has hasted to deceit; +Let me be weighed in a just balance, +That God may know my integrity. +If my step has turned out of the way, +And my heart followed my inclination, +And if any spot besmirches my hands; +Then let me sow, and let another eat, +And let the produce of my field be uprooted. + +[Sidenote: Job 31:35-37] +Oh, that there was someone to hear me! +See, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me! +And the indictment which my adversary has written! +Surely I would carry it on my shoulder; +I would bind it to me as a crown; +I would declare to him the number of my steps, +As a prince would I draw near to him. + +[Sidenote: Job 38:2-7] +Then Jehovah answered Job out of the storm, and said, + +Who is this that darkeneth counsel +By words that lack knowledge? +Gird up thy loins now like a man, +And let me ask of thee and inform thou me. +Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? +Declare, if thou hast understanding. +Who determined its measures that thou knowest? +Or who stretched out the line upon it? +On what were its foundations fastened? +Or who laid its corner-stone, +When the morning stars sang together, +And all the sons of God shouted for joy? + +[Sidenote: Job 38:8-11] +Or who shut up the sea with doors, +When it broke forth, and issued out of the womb; +When I made clouds its garments, +And thick mists its swaddling-bands, +And marked out for it my bound, +And set bars and doors, +And said, Here shalt thou come, but no further; +And here shall thy proud waves stop? + +[Sidenote: Job 38:39-41] +Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness, +Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions, +When they couch in their dens, +And abide in the covert to lie in wait? +Who provideth at evening his prey, +When his young ones cry to God, +And wander to seek for food? + +[Sidenote: Job 40:8,9] +Will the fault-finder contend with the Almighty? +He who argueth with God, let him answer it. +Wilt thou even annul my judgment? +Condemn me, that thou mayest be justified, +Or hast thou an arm like God? +And canst thou thunder with a voice like him? + +[Sidenote: Job 42:1, 2, 3, 5, 6] +Then Job answered Jehovah and said: + +I know that thou canst do all things, +And that no purpose of thine can be restrained. +Therefore, I have uttered that which I did not understand; +Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. +I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, +But now mine eye seeth thee, +Therefore I loath [my words], +And repent in dust and ashes. + +I. The Structure of the Book of Job. Like most of the books of the Old +Testament, Job is, without reasonable doubt, the work of several different +writers. The prose introduction (1-2), with its corresponding conclusion +(42:7-17), was probably once an independent story. The words of Jehovah in +the epilogue (42:7) clearly implies that, as in 1 and 2, Job had endured +the test and had meekly submitted to the afflictions which Satan, with the +divine approval, had sent upon him, and that on the other hand his +friends, like his wife, had urged him to curse God and die. The language +and phrases of this prose story are radically different from those in the +poem which constitutes the main body of the book. The unique explanation +of why Job was afflicted that is given in the opening chapters is also +completely ignored in the poetic dialogues (3-31). Likewise the problem of +whether or not Job fears God for naught, raised in the prologue, is not +taken up again except in the concluding prose epilogue. In the prose story +Job's piety conforms to the popular standards, while in the poetic +sections he is measured by the loftier ethical principles laid down by the +pre-exilic prophets (cf. chap. 31). In form, therefore, in aim, and in +content, the prose story differs fundamentally from the great dramatic +poem which constitutes the real book of Job. The main body of the book is +found in chapters 3-27, 29-31, 38:1-40:14, and 42:1-6. At a few points the +original order has apparently been disarranged and later hands have +frequently supplemented the older sections, but the literary unity of the +whole is obvious. In three cycles of speeches the problem of innocent +suffering is fully developed and the current solutions presented. In +conclusion the voice of Jehovah comes to Job calling him forth from +himself to the contemplation of the larger universe which manifests the +divine wisdom and rulership. + +The Elihu speeches in 32-37 are evidently from a still later author or +authors who wished to rebuke Job's seeming impiety and the failure of his +friends to bring forth a satisfactory explanation of the suffering of the +innocent. Its independence is shown by the presence of many Aramaic words, +by the lack of literary vigor, and by the frequent repetitions, which +distinguish it sharply from the writings of the author of the main body of +the book. Elihu and his contributions are also completely ignored in the +rest of the book and at points where, if they were original, certain +references would be almost inevitable. These speeches, in fact, are simply +a fuller development of the argument of Eliphaz found in the fifth +chapter. They also incorporate many suggestions drawn from the speeches of +Jehovah in chapters 38 and 39. + +II. Dates of the Different Parts. The classic Hebrew style and the +absence of Aramaic words indicate that the prose story is the oldest +section of the book. It also reasserts in modified form the dogma current +far down into the Persian period, that if the righteous but patiently +bear affliction they will surely in the end be richly rewarded. It +contains a message well adapted to the needs and beliefs of the Jewish +people during the calamities of the Babylonian period. Its conception +of Satan as the prosecuting attorney of heaven, and of Jehovah as a +transcendental ruler surrounded by a hierarchy of angels, is closely akin +to that which first appears in the second chapter of Zechariah. The +references to Job in Ezekiel 14:14,20, as one of the three heroes of +popular tradition famous for their piety, implies the existence during the +exile of a story closely akin to if not identical with the one found in +the prologue and epilogue of the book of Job. Such a story was probably +current long before the days of Ezekiel, but in its present form it was +not committed to writing until the latter part of the Babylonian or the +beginning of the Persian period. + +The first part of this story was evidently used by the author as an +introduction to the great dramatic poem. He thereby deliberately protested +against the solution of the problem of innocent suffering suggested by the +ancient story. The poem itself cannot be dated earlier than the middle of +the Persian period. In it the great ethical and social standards of the +pre-exilic prophets are fully accepted. Its marvelous breadth of vision +also implies an advanced stage in Israel's thinking. The problem of +suffering with which it deals is not merely that of the nation but of the +individual or of a class within the Judean community. It is precisely the +problem that confronted the author of Malachi and to which he refers in +3:13-16. It is the same problem that bulks largely in the psalms of this +period and finds its noblest solution in Isaiah 53. All its affinities, +therefore, confirm the conclusion that it comes from the middle of the +fifth century B.C. and is probably slightly older than Isaiah 49-55, +which presents a more fundamental treatment of the problem of human +suffering. The author still holds the old, prophetic conception of the +universe (38:4-6), and is unaffected by the priestly thought and +tendencies which became especially prominent during the closing years of +the Persian period. + +The Elihu speeches and the supplemental poem in description of wisdom in +28, and of the behemoth and leviathan in 40:15-41:34, probably come from +the Greek period. + +III. The Prose Story. In the prose story Job is pictured as a man of +superlative piety and prosperity. According to the popular standards of +the earlier day he lived a blameless life. His afflictions came simply as +a means of demonstrating the unselfish character of his piety. In rapid +succession he is stripped of all his possessions and afflicted by the +vilest of all diseases, apparently the loathsome tubercular leprosy. Even +his wife tempts him to curse God and die, but he fully meets the test, +and, according to the testimony of the concluding epilogue, receives +Jehovah's approval and is restored to the joys of family, reputation, and +riches. It is obvious that, as in the stories found in the opening +chapters of Genesis, this is a popular narrative freely adjusted to the +ends which the story-teller wished to attain. The incidents recorded are +not in keeping with the ordinary experiences of life, but belong rather to +the realm of popular fancy. As a reference in Ezekiel implies, it was +probably, like the similar stories regarding Noah and Daniel, a heritage +from the common Semitic lore. In fact, a recently discovered Babylonian +tablet tells of a famous king of Nippur, Tabi-utul-Bel by name, whose +experiences and spirit corresponds closely to those of the hero of this +prose story. + +The message of the prose story of Job, as it was sent out to the Jewish +race, was that it was not always possible to understand the reason why +the righteous were afflicted, but that if they faithfully met the test +restoration to Jehovah's approval, with the honor and reputation that +necessarily follow, were assured. To the nation such a message was not +without its practical application and value, but it failed completely to +meet the individual problems that became pathetically insistent during the +middle of the fifth century B.C. + +IV. The Poem of Job. In the later poetic version of the story (which +begins with the third chapter) Job himself is the embodiment of the +problem of innocent suffering. His friends' suppositions and condemnations +add still another burden to his weight of woe. More intolerable, however, +than loss of possessions, health, and reputation is his sense of being +forsaken and condemned by Jehovah. Job cannot shake himself entirely free +from the belief, which had been inculcated in his mind from earliest +infancy, that calamity was a sign of divine displeasure, and therefore of +sin on the part of the victim. In the series of monologues and dialogues +between Job and his friends he voices every phase of the great problem and +makes it concrete and objective. With marvellous psychological truth and +insight the author has presented the different phases of feeling through +which an innocent sufferer in Job's position naturally passes. At times +Job is intemperate in his speech and at other times he yields to +despondency; again his faith overleaps all obstacles and he holds for the +moment a clear belief in the ultimate vindication not only of himself but +of Jehovah's justice. + +His friends, on the other hand, formulate at length the current +Explanation of suffering. Job in his sharp retorts makes clear the +Inapplicability of the arguments and the limitations of the dogmas which +they constantly reassert. In the concluding speeches of Jehovah the author +with masterly skill takes Job out of his little circle into the larger +world of nature, and brings him face to face with the evidences of +Jehovah's might, wisdom, and gracious rulership of the great universe and +of the complex life of those who inhabit it. Above all, Job learns to know +God, not through the testimony of others, but by direct personal +experience, and this knowledge begets humility and trust. + +V. Progress in Job's Thought. The thought of the book of Job is +characteristically Oriental. Instead of moving straight on from premises +to conclusion it constantly reverts to the same themes yet advances +along independent, parallel lines. Its progress is not objective, as is +usually the case in a drama, but almost entirely subjective. These +parallel lines of progress are: (1) the conviction gradually crystallizing +into certainty that the current explanations of suffering are in certain +cases inadequate and false. While viewed from one point of view this +conclusion is merely negative, it nevertheless opened the eyes of Job +and his generation to a larger conception of Jehovah and a far broader +interpretation of the universe and of the laws which regulate it. The +second is that he is guilty of no crime commensurate with the calamity +which had overtaken him. Overwhelmed by misfortune and the reiterated +charges of his friends, only through a superhuman struggle did Job +ultimately attain the unshaken conviction that he was indeed innocent in +the sight of God and man. The third line of progress is that, if not in +the present life, in that beyond the grave his reputation would not only +be vindicated but he himself would be fully conscious of that vindication. + +As is illustrated by the third chapter, Job in common with his race still +shared the belief that for the ordinary individual life beyond the grave +was a shadowy existence, far removed from Jehovah's presence. This +conception of the life after death was inherited by the Israelites from +their Semitic ancestors, and was held in common by most ancient peoples, +both of the East and of the West. The Babylonians believed, however, that +certain favored mortals, as, for example, the hero of the flood, were +transported to the abode of the gods, there to enjoy blessed individual +immortality. The same belief is the foundation of the Hebrew stories +regarding Enoch and Elijah. This belief was apparently the germ which in +time developed, as in the twelfth chapter of Daniel, into the widespread +conviction that the grave would not hold those who had been loyal to +Jehovah, but that he would surely raise them again to a glorious life. In +the book of Job it is possible to trace the birth-pangs of this broader +hope. Conscious of his innocence and confronted by the grave, Job +repeatedly voices the deep conviction that God, because he is just, will +raise his afflicted servant from the grave and accord to him that justice +which seems excluded from his present life. This solution of the problem +of innocent suffering is not given the central place by the author of the +book of Job. It is safe, however, to conjecture that if the appearance of +Jehovah had not furnished to the author's mind a more satisfactory +conclusion, the vindication after death would have been the solution +offered. At several points Job approaches very close to the belief in +individual immortality which became a commonly accepted tenet in the +trying days of the Maccabean struggle. + +The fourth line of progress is that Jehovah, after all, must be just and +that he will right the seeming wrongs of life. In his opening speeches Job +gives free vent to the anguish and impatience that fills his tortured +mind. With a boldness strangely foreign to Hebrew thought, he charges +Jehovah with injustice and speaks of him as a cruel monster that watches +man, his helpless prey, and takes cruel pleasure in the pain which he +inflicts. As the discussion progresses Job's mind becomes calmer, and +the conviction that God, after all, is just comes more clearly to +expression. His strong utterances gradually yield to this quieter mood. +Even before he hears the voice of Jehovah, Job has attained an attitude of +trust, though he is still groping in darkness. Thus with marvelous +fidelity to human nature and experience the author of the book of Job +would have made a great contribution to the problem with which he was +dealing even had he not added the concluding speeches of Jehovah. + +VI. Significance of the Speeches of Jehovah. To many Western readers the +concluding speeches of Jehovah are unsatisfying. They lack the emphasis on +Jehovah's love and that divine tenderness in addressing the heroic +sufferer which to us would seem to have been a satisfactory conclusion to +the great drama. This element is furnished in characteristically concrete +form by the epilogue of the book, in which Job's prosperity is restored in +double measure and he is personally assured of Jehovah's favor. The severe +and realistic author of the great poem, however, knew that in ordinary +life such solutions are rare. In the speeches of Jehovah he does not +introduce an altogether new element, but emphasizes motifs already +developed in the earlier dialogues. The effect of these speeches upon Job +are threefold: (1) They rebuke his over-accentuated individualism. +(2) They reveal the fundamental contrast between the infinite God and +finite man. In the light of this revelation Job plainly recognizes his +presumption and folly in attempting, with his limited outlook, to +comprehend, much less to criticise, the mighty ruler of all the universe. +(3) After Job had thus been led out of himself into personal companionship +with God he was content to trust his all-wise guide, even though he +recognized his own inability to fathom the mysteries of the universe or to +solve the problem of innocent suffering. Thus the great contributions of +the book of Job to the problem of suffering are: (1) A clear and +scientific presentation of the problem; (2) a bold sweeping aside of +the insufficient current theological explanations; (3) a vastly enlarged +conception of Jehovah's character and rule; and (4) that attitude of +faith which comes from a personal experience of God and which trusts +unreservedly, even though it cannot see or divine the reason why, and in +that trust finds peace and joy. + +Although the thought of the book of Job is profound, and it deals in a +masterly manner with a fundamental human problem, it is more than a mere +philosophical discussion. Its primary aim is to set forth the vital truth +that God is not to be found through current theological dogmas or +intellectual discussions, but through personal experience. This is the +dominant note throughout the book. The greatest calamity that overtakes +Job in his hour of deepest distress is the sense of being shut away from +God's presence. + +Oh! that I knew where I might find him, +That I might come even to his throne! + +As he looks back fondly to the happy days of old the fact that stands +forth above all others is that + +The Almighty was yet with me. + +Looking forward to a possible vindication after death his hope centres +in the belief that + +Thou wouldst call and I myself would answer thee; +Thou wouldst long for the work of thy hands. + +When at last Jehovah answered Job out of the storm, it was not so much +the thought expressed as the fact that God had spoken directly to him +that brought penitence and peace: + +I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, +But now mine eye seeth thee. +Therefore I loath my words, +And repent in dust and ashes. + + + +Section XCIX. THE TRAINING AND MISSION OF THE TRUE SERVANT OF JEHOVAH + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:1-3] +Hearken to me, ye coastlands, +And listen, ye distant peoples: +He hath called me from the womb, +From my mother's lap made mention of my name. +He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword, +In the shadow of his hand he hid me, +He made me a polished arrow, +In his quiver he concealed me, +And he said to me, Thou art my servant, +Israel, in whom I will glorify myself. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:4] +But I said, I have labored in vain, +I spent my strength for nothing and vanity, +Nevertheless my right is with Jehovah, +And my recompense with my God. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:5, 6] +And now, thus saith Jehovah, +(He who formed from birth to be his servant, +To bring Jacob back to him, +And that Israel might be gathered to him; +For I was honored in the sight of Jehovah, +And my God became my strength): +It is too little a thing to be my servant, +To raise up the tribes of Jacob, +And to restore the survivors of Israel; +Therefore I will make thee the light of the nations, +That thy salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:7] +Thus saith Jehovah, +The Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, +To him who is heartily despised, +To the one abhorred of the people, a servant of rulers: +Kings shall see and arise, +Princes and they shall do homage, +Because of Jehovah who is faithful, +The Holy One of Israel who hath chosen thee. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:3-9b] +Thus saith Jehovah, +In a time of favor I answer thee, +And in a day of deliverance I help thee, +And I make thee a pledge to the people, +To raise up the [ruined] land, +To reapportion the desolate heritages, +Saying to those who are bound, 'Go forth,' +To those in darkness, 'Show yourselves!' + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:9c-11] +They shall pasture along all ways, +Even oh all the bare hills shall they graze. +They shall not be hungry nor thirsty, +Neither shall the glowing heat nor the sun smite them, +For he who hath pity on them shall lead them, +And to gushing fountains will he guide them. +And I will make all mountains a road, +And highways shall be built up. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 49:12,18] +Behold, these come from afar, +And these from the north and west, +And these from the land of the Syenites! +Shout with joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth! +Let the mountains break forth into shouts of joy! +For Jehovah hath had pity on his people, +And will show mercy to his afflicted ones. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 50:4-6] +The Lord Jehovah hath given me the tongue of a trained disciple? +To give to the fainting a word of help, he waketh me early, +Early he waketh me, that I may listen as a disciple. +The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, +And I have not been wilful nor turned back rebelliously. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 50:6, 7] +My back I gave to smiters and my cheek to those who plucked the beard, +My face I hid not from insult and spitting, +For my Lord Jehovah is my helper; so that I am not confounded. +Therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be + put to shame. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 50:5, 9] +He is near who justifieth me, who will contend with me? let us stand up + together! +Who is the adversary to oppose my cause? let him draw near to me! +Behold the Lord Jehovah is my helper; who is he that can harm me? +Lo, they shall all fall to pieces like a garment, the moth shall consume + them. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 50:10] +Who among you feareth Jehovah, let him hearken to the voice of his + servant? +Who walked in darkness, having no light, +Let him trust in the name of Jehovah and rely on his God? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 52:13-18] +Behold, my servant shall prosper, +He shall be raised up and highly exalted. +Even as many were appalled at him, +So shall many nations tremble, +Kings will close their mouths before him, +When what has not been told them they see, +And what they have not heard they perceive. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:1-2b] +Who believed what has been reported to us, +And to whom was Jehovah's might revealed? +For he grew up before us as a young shoot, +And as a root out of dry ground. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:2c-f] +He had no form that we should regard him, +Nor appearance that we should delight in him. +His appearance was more disfigured than any man's +And his form than any human being's. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:3] +He was despised and forsaken of men, +A man of suffering and acquainted with sickness; +Like one for whom men hide their face, +He was despised so that we esteemed him not. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:4] +Surely our sickness he himself bore, +And our sufferings--he carried them, +Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, +Smitten of God and afflicted. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:5] +But he was wounded for our transgressions, +Crushed because of our iniquities; +The chastisement for our well-being was upon him, +And through his stripes healing came to us. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:6] +All of us, like sheep, had gone astray, +We had turned each to his own way; +While Jehovah made to light upon him +The guilt of us all. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:7] +Yet when afflicted he opened not his mouth; +Like a lamb led to the slaughter, +And like a sheep dumb before her shearers, +So he opened not his mouth. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:8] +By an oppressive judgment was he taken away, +Yet who of his generation considered +That he had been cut off from the land of the living; +For our transgressions had been stricken to death? + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:9] +And his grave was made with the wicked, +And among evil-doers his burial mound, +Although he had done no violence, +Neither was deceit in his mouth. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:10-11b] +Yet Jehovah was pleased to crush him; +Through giving himself as an offering for guilt, +He shall see posterity and length of days, +And the pleasure of Jehovah will be realized in his hands; +Out of his own suffering he shall see light, +He shall be satisfied with his knowledge. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 53:11c-12] +My righteous servant shall make many righteous, +And himself will bear the burden of their iniquities. +Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, +And with the strong shall he divide spoil, +Because he poured out his life-blood, +And was numbered with transgressors, +And himself bore the sins of many, +And interposed for transgressors. + +I. The Different Portraits of Jehovah's Servant. Isaiah 49-54 contains +three distinct portraits of the ideal servant of Jehovah. Each in turn +develops characteristics suggested in the preceding. These descriptions +are interspersed with exhortations addressed to Jehovah's servant Israel +and assurances that God will fully restore Jerusalem and bring back her +scattered children. These three portraits of the type of servant that +Jehovah required to realize his purpose in human history, together with +the earlier portrait in 42:1-7, supplement each other. In the first of +these four (42:1-7) the prophetic qualities of the servant are especially +emphasized. Like the earlier prophets, he will not fail nor be discouraged +until he has established justice in the earth. His task is to open blind +eyes and to deliver prisoners from the darkness of ignorance and sin in +which they were sitting. In the second picture (49:1-9a) the world-wide +mission of the servant is emphasized. He is called not only to gather the +outcasts of Israel, but also as an apostle to bring light to all the +nations of the earth. In this passage for the first time appears that note +of suffering and ignominy which is the lot of the true servant of Jehovah. +In the third portrait (50:4-10) the servant is pictured as a disciple, +attentively listening to the divine teachings, learning the lessons which +will fit him in turn to become a teacher of men. The last and fullest +picture (52:13-53:12) describes at length his suffering. A strong contrast +is drawn between his present shame and ignominy and the future glory and +victory which he will achieve through his voluntary and complete +self-sacrifice. These pictures embody the prophet's ideal, and they can be +fully understood only in the light of their historical background. + +II. The Prophet's Purpose. In his earlier poems this great unknown +prophet dealt largely with the interpretation of Israel's past history +and the proclamation of the coming deliverance (40-48). His chief aims in +chapters 49-55 may be briefly epitomized as follows: (1) to interpret the +inner meaning of the period of adversity through which the Jewish race was +then passing; (2) to make absolutely clear the character and quality of +the service that Jehovah required of his chosen people, if they were to +realize his purpose in human history; (3) to inspire them all to make the +needed sacrifices and thus to prove themselves true servants of Jehovah; +(4) especially to make plain to the innocent and faithful sufferers in the +Judean community the real meaning and value of their present shame and +suffering, if bravely and voluntarily borne. + +III, Character and Condition of Those to Whom the Prophet Appealed. From +the allusions in the prophecies themselves it is possible to determine the +classes that the prophet had in mind. In 49:2 his address is to the coast +lands and the distant peoples who lived at the extremities of Israel's +horizon. It is not probable, however, that he anticipated that his message +in its present form would go out as it has to all races and nations; +rather his attention was fixed on the scattered members of his own race, +those who lived in the north and the west and in the distant city of +Syene, far up the Nile (49:12). In 49:3 he clearly identifies the nation +Israel as Jehovah's servant, whom he makes declare: + +Jehovah said to me, Thou art my servant, +Israel, in whom I will glorify myself. + +It is evident, however, that the prophet has especially in mind the Judean +community amidst which he lived and for which he worked. In 54, as +elsewhere, he calls upon this group of discouraged Jews to enlarge their +tent, for their period of punishment is over and their foundation and +walls are about to be rebuilt. At last they shall cease to tremble at the +fury of the oppressor. In 51:18-20 he addresses Jerusalem directly and +gives a vivid picture of its condition before the appearance of Nehemiah: + +Rouse thee! Rouse thee! stand up, O Jerusalem, +Who hast drunk at Jehovah's hand the cup of his wrath! +The bowl of reeling thou hast drunken, hast drained! +There is none to guide thee of all the sons whom thou hast borne, +And none to take thee by the hand of all the sons whom thou hast reared. +These two things have befallen thee--who can condole with thee? +Desolation and destruction, famine and the sword--who can comfort thee? + +IV. The Task and Training of Jehovah's Servant. The term servant means +literally slave, not in the Western sense, but in that of the ancient +East, where a slave was often a privileged member of society. In many a +Hebrew household the slaves, next to the children, enjoyed the protection +and consideration of the master of the household. He was under obligation +to guard their welfare and interests. On the other hand, slaves, like +Eleazar in the story of Abraham (Gen. 26) faithfully cared for the +interests of their master and spared no effort to carry out his commands. +Semitic usage had also given the term slave a significant meaning. The +faithful officials of all Oriental kings called themselves his servants +or slaves. It was the common term expressing, on the one hand, confidence +and protection, and on the other, devotion, loyalty, and service. Most of +Israel's patriarchs, kings, and prophets are spoken of as the servants or +slaves of Jehovah. Haggai, in his address to Zerubbabel, called him +Jehovah's servant. In Deuteronomy 32:36 the people of Israel are called +the servants of Jehovah, and, as has been noted, in the prophecies of the +II Isaiah they are frequently referred to as the servant of Jehovah. +The term, therefore, was well chosen to express that complete devotion +And loyalty to Jehovah which the prophet aimed to evoke from his +fellow-countrymen. It was also free from the kingly associations and +material interpretation that were connected with the word Messiah. + +The prophet's aim was to present so vividly the task and methods of the +true servant of Jehovah that all would recognize a personal call to duty. +He emphasizes three distinct yet related elements in the mission of the +servant. They were: (1) To free the prisoners from their captivity, +whether imprisoned by walls of stone or brick or under the tyranny of +fears and false ideas. (2) To restore the scattered tribes of Israel and +thus to lay the foundations for a renewed national life that would furnish +concrete evidence to all the world of Jehovah's power to deliver. (3) To +go beyond the narrow bounds of their race and to bring to the nations that +were groping in the darkness of heathenism the knowledge and truth that +had been imparted to Israel. Thus the unknown prophet laid the foundations +for that Kingdom of God, that dominion of God in nature and in the minds +of men that was the guide and inspiration of all later prophets and the +goal for whose realization the Great Teacher and Prophet of Nazareth +labored and died. + +The prophet places great emphasis upon the training of Jehovah's servant. +He declares that from birth Jehovah formed him to be his servant. In +[50:4-7] he is spoken of as a trained disciple attentively listening to +the words of his divine teacher, never rebelling at the bitterness of the +needful discipline, but ever seeking to prepare himself to give to the +fainting a word of help. The steadfastness with which he endures shame and +bitter wrongs is the evidence of his ability as a disciple and an +essential part in his preparation for his exalted mission. + +V. Methods of Jehovah's Servant. In accomplishing his task the servant +is to use definite instruction, but his teaching is to be illustrated by +his own character and attitude. By the voluntary, uncomplaining endurance +of ignominy and suffering he is to do Jehovah's work and win the grateful +recognition, not only of his divine Master, but of all succeeding +generations. Through a keen analysis of life the prophet had attained to a +clear appreciation of the inestimable value of voluntary self-sacrifice. +He saw that it was the most effective means of uplifting the race and +leading mankind to accept God's mastery over their minds and lives. The +truth here presented is illustrated in human experience as clearly to-day +as in the past. The self-denying service of parents is absolutely +essential if their children are to attain to the noblest manhood and +womanhood. Only through the self-sacrificing labors of those who love +their fellow-men can social evils be removed and society attain its +highest development. The low standards in the business and professional +world can be raised only as certain men, with the spirit and courage of +the ancient prophets, make their own personal interests and popularity +subservient to the rigorous demands of justice. It is the law of life that +he who would elevate the standards of his associates and thus lead men to +the fullest realization of the divine ideals must ordinarily do it in the +face of opposition, ignominy, and seeming failure. It is this quiet, +heroic self-sacrifice--the heroism of the commonplace--that the great +prophet proclaims is the absolutely essential characteristic of Jehovah's +servant. Despised by his contemporaries, the victim of persecution and +calamity, he must do his task, leaving the reward and the appreciation to +Jehovah and to the enlightened sense of later generations. + +VI. Realization of the Ideal of Service. The portrait is so concrete +that the question naturally arises, Who was the servant of whom the +prophet was speaking? Undoubtedly the tragic experiences of such prophets +as Jeremiah suggested many elements in the picture. For half a century +that faithful servant of Jehovah suffered, often shrinkingly, yet +voluntarily, a constant martyrdom. Upon him fell the persecutions of his +countrymen. Yet in the life of later Judaism those principles for which he +lived and died gained acceptance and application. Of him it may be truly +said: + +He was numbered with trangressors, +And himself bore the sins of many, +And interposed for transgressors. + +The unknown author of these immortal poems spoke out of the depth of his +own painful experience and doubtless in a large degree realized the +ideals of service which he thus effectively set forth. Those of his +contemporaries who, amidst persecution and insults, in their lives +embodied the ideals of the earlier prophets were crushed like Jeremiah +because of the iniquities of others; but by thus pouring out their +life-blood they brought healing to their race. Nehemiah, in responding to +the call of service and in turning his back upon the allurements of the +Persian court in order to rebuild the city of his fathers, proved himself +a faithful servant of Jehovah. With true insight the Christian Church +has always recognized that in the character and life of Jesus is found +the only complete realization of this ancient ideal of service. With the +immortal chapters of the II Isaiah he was clearly familiar, and from +them he doubtless received many suggestions regarding his divine mission +and the methods by which it was to be accomplished. Their author was +clearly speaking to his contemporaries; but in portraying the way in +which Jehovah's purpose in human history could alone be realized he +presented an ideal which has a permanent significance in the thought of +the human race, Paul rightly recognized that the same responsibility to +make this ideal a reality rested upon him, and all who would serve God, +when he quoted the words of 49:6 (cf. Acts 13:47): + +"I have set thee for a light of the Gentiles +That thou shouldst be for salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth." + + + +Section C. NEHEMIAH'S WORK IN REBUILDING THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM + +[Sidenote: Neh. 1:1-3] +Now in the month of Chislev [November-December, 446 B.C.], I was in +Shushan the royal palace, when Hanani, one of my kinsmen came, together +with certain men from Judah, and I asked them concerning the Jews who had +escaped, who were left from the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And +they said to me, The survivors who are left from the captivity there in +the provinces are in great misfortune and reproach, and the wall of +Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been destroyed by fire. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 1:4-11b] +Now when I heard these statements I sat down and wept, and mourned certain +days; and I fasted and made supplication before the God of heaven, and I +said, 'I beseech thee, O Jehovah, the God of heaven, the great and +terrible God, who keepeth the covenant and showeth kindness to them who +love and keep his commands; let thine ears now be attentive and thine eyes +open, to hear the supplication of thy servant, which I am now making +before thee, day and night, for the Israelites thy servants, while I +confess the sins of the Israelites, which we have sinned against thee, as +I also and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very wickedly +against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor +the ordinances, which thou didst command thy servant Moses. Remember, I +beseech thee, the word which thou didst command thy servant Moses, saying, +"If ye trespass I will scatter you abroad among the peoples; but if ye +return to me, and keep my commands and do them, then, though your outcasts +were at the ends of the earth, yet will I gather them thence and will +bring them to the place that I have chosen, there to cause my name to +dwell." Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed +by thy great power and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let +thine ear be attentive to the supplication of thy servant, and to the +supplications of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name; and give +success to thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this +man. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 1:11c-2:8] +Now I was cupbearer to the king. And it came to pass in the month of +Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when I had charge of +the wine, that I took up the wine and gave it to the king, and I had not +beforetime been sad. And the king said to me, 'Why is your countenance +sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.' +Then I was greatly afraid, and I said to the king, 'Let the king live +forever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of +my fathers' sepulchres, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed +by fire?' And then the king said to me, 'For what do you make request? So +I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, 'If it please the +king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you would +send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may +rebuild it.' And the king said to me (and the queen was also sitting by +him), 'For how long will your journey be? And when will you return?' Then +it pleased the king to send me; for I set him a time. Moreover I said to +the king, 'If it please the king, let official letters be given me to the +governors of the province beyond the River, that they may let me pass +through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the +king's park, that he may give me the timber to make beams for the gates of +the castle, which belongs to the temple, and for the wall of the city, and +for the house that I shall enter. And the king granted me this, according +to the hand of my God which kindly cared for me. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 2:9-16] +Then I came to the governors of the province beyond the River, and gave +them the king's official letters. Now the king had sent with me military +officers and horsemen. And when Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the +Ammonite slave, heard of it, it troubled them exceedingly, that one had +come to seek the welfare of the Israelites. So I came to Jerusalem and was +there three days. And I arose in the night, together with a few of my +followers, and I told no man what my God had put into my heart to do for +Jerusalem, neither was there any beast with me, except the beast upon +which I rode. And I went out by night through the Valley Gate, toward the +Dragon's Well and to the Dung Gate, and investigated carefully the walls +of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and where its gates had been +destroyed by fire. Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's +Pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then +I went up in the night by the Brook Kidron and investigated carefully the +wall; then I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. +And the rulers did not know where I went or what I did, neither had I as +yet told it to the Jews nor to the priests nor to the nobles nor to the +rulers nor to the rest who did the work. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 2:17-20] +Then I said to them, 'You see the bad condition in which we are, how +Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates are destroyed by fire. Come and let +us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more an object of +reproach.' And I told them of the hand of my God, which had kindly cared +for me, as also of the king's words that he had spoken to me. And they +said, 'Let us rise up and build.' So they strengthened their hands for the +good work. But when Sanballat, the Horonite, and Tobiah, the Ammonite +slave, and Geshem the Arabian heard it, they jeered at us and despised us, +and said, 'What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against +the king?' Then I answered and said to them, 'The God of heaven, he will +give us success, for we his servants will proceed to build; but you shall +have no portion nor right nor memorial in Jerusalem.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:1, 2] +Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his kinsmen the priests and +built the Sheep Gate; they laid its beams and set up the doors, even to +the Tower of the Hundred, and to the Tower of Hananel. And next to him the +men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:3-5] +And the Fish Gate the sons of Hassenaah built; they laid its beams, and +set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars. And next to them Meremoth and +Meshullam and Zadok and the Tekoites repaired the wall; but their nobles +did not bend their necks in the service of their lord. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:6-12] +And the Old Gate Joida repaired; they laid its beams, and set up its +doors, its bolts, and its bars. And next to them Melatiah the Gibeonite +and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah, which belongs +to the jurisdiction of the governor of the province beyond the River, +repaired. Next to him Uzziel, one of the goldsmiths, repaired. And next to +him Hananiah, one of those who prepare sweet ointments, repaired. And they +fortified Jerusalem even to the broad wall. And next to them Rephaiah, +the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired. And next to them +Jedaiah repaired opposite his house. And next to him Hattush and Malchijah +and Hasshub repaired another section, even to the Tower of the Furnaces. +And next to him Shallum, the ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, +together with its dependencies, repaired. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:13, 14] +The Valley Gate Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah repaired; they built +it, and set up its doors, its bolts, and its bars, and also built a +thousand cubits of the wall to the Dung Gate. And the Dung Gate Malchijah, +the ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, together with his sons, +repaired. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:15-27] +And the Fountain Gate Shallun, the ruler of the district of Mizpah, +repaired; and he built it, and covered it, and set up its doors, its +bolts, and its bars, and he also built the wall of the Pool of Siloam by +the King's Garden, even to the stairs that go down from the city of David. +After him Nehemiah, the ruler of half the district of Bethzur, repaired to +the place opposite the Sepulchres of David, even to the pool that was made +and to the House of the Warriors. After him Rehum the son of Bani +repaired. Next to him Hashabiah, the ruler of half the district of Keilah, +repaired for his district. After him their kinsmen Bennui, the ruler of +half the district of Keilah, repaired. And next to him Ezer, the ruler of +Mizpah, repaired another section opposite the ascent to the armory at the +bend in the wall. After him Baruch repaired from the bend in the wall to +the door of the house of Eliashib the high priest. After him Meremoth +repaired another section, from the entrance to the house of Eliashib even +to the end of the house of Eliashib. And after him the priests, the men of +the Plain of the Jordan, repaired. After them Benjamin and Hasshub +repaired opposite their house. After them Azariah repaired beside his own +house. After him Binnui repaired another section, from the house of +Azariah to the bend in the wall and to the corner. After him Palal +repaired opposite the bend and the upper tower that stands out from the +royal palace of the king, which is toward the court of the guard. After +him Pedaiah repaired, to the place opposite the Water Gate toward the east +and the tower that stands out. After him the Tekoites repaired another +section, opposite the great tower that stands out and to the wall of +Ophel. And the temple servants dwelt in Ophel. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 3:28-32] + +Above the Horse Gate the priests repaired, each one opposite his own +house. After them Zadok the son of Immer repaired opposite his own house. +After him Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, +repaired. After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah and Hanum the sixth son +of Zalaph repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of +Berschiah repaired opposite his chamber. After him Malchijah, one of the +goldsmiths, repaired as far as the house of the temple servants and of the +merchants, opposite the Gate of the Watch Tower and to the ascent of the +corner. And between the ascent of the corner and the Sheep Gate the +goldsmiths and the merchants repaired. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 4:1-5] +Now when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, his anger was +aroused and he was very indignant, and mocked the Jews. And he spoke +before his kinsmen and the army of Samaria and said, 'What are these +feeble Jews doing? Will they leave it to God? Will they sacrifice? +Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the +heaps of rubbish, although they are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was +with him, and he said, 'Even that which they are building, if a fox should +go up on it, he would break down their stone wall!' Hear, O our God--for +we are despised--and turn back their reproach upon their own head and give +them up as an object of spoil in a land of captivity, and cover not their +iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out from thy sight, for they +have provoked thee to anger before the builders. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 4:6-8] +So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its +height, for the people were eager to work. But when Sanballat and Tobiah +and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites, heard that the +restoration of the walls of Jerusalem was progressing, so that the +breaches began to be stopped, they were very angry. And they all conspired +together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to produce a panic +therein. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 4:9-14] +But we made supplication to our God, and set a watch as a protection +against them day and night. Then the Judean community said, 'The strength +of the burden-bearers is broken, for there is much rubbish; so that we +shall not be able to rebuild the wall. And our adversaries have said, +"They shall neither know nor see, until we come into their midst and slay +them and bring the work to a standstill."' And it came to pass that when +the Jews who dwelt by them came, they said to us ten times, 'From all the +places where they dwell they will come up against us.' Therefore I +stationed in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the +protected places, I set there the people by their families with their +swords, their spears, and their bows. And when I saw their fear, I rose up +and said to the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, +'Be not afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and terrible, and +fight for your kinsmen, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your +homes.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 4:15-23] +And when our enemies heard that their plan was known to us and God had +brought it to nought, we all of us returned to the wall, each to his own +work. And from that time on, while half of my servants were engaged in the +work, half of them held the lances, the shields, the bows, and the coats +of mail; and the rulers stood behind all the house of Judah. Those who +built the wall and those who bore burdens were also armed, each with one +of his hands engaged in the work, and with the other was ready to grasp +his spear; and each of the builders had his sword girded by his side, and +so builded. And he who sounded the trumpet was by me. And I said to the +nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, 'The work is great +and extensive, and we are separated upon the wall far from each other. In +whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, gather there to us; our +God will fight for us.' So we were active in the work, while half of them +held the lances from the gray of morning until the stars came out. Also I +said at that time to the people, Let each man with his servant lodge in +Jerusalem, that they may be a guard to us by night and may labor by day. +So neither I, nor my kinsmen, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard +who accompanied me, not one of us took off our clothes, each had his spear +in his hand. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 6:1-9] +Now when it was reported to Sanballat and to Tobiah and to Geshem the +Arabian and to the rest of our enemies, that I had rebuilt the wall and +that there was no breach was left in it--though even to that time I had +not set up the doors in the gates--Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, +saying, 'Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of +Ono.' But they planned to do me injury. So I sent messengers to them, +saying, 'I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down; why should +the work cease, while I leave it and come down to you?' And they sent to +me in this way four times, and I gave them the same answer. Then Sanballat +sent his servant to me in the same way the fifth time with an open letter +in his hand, in which was written, 'It is reported among the nations, and +Gashmu confirms it, that you and the Jews plan to rebel, and that this is +the reason you are building the wall, and that you would be their king, +and that you also have appointed prophets to preach of you at Jerusalem, +saying, "There is a king in Judah." And now it will be reported to the +king to this effect. Come now, therefore, and let us take counsel +together.' Then I sent to him, saying, 'No such things have been done as +you say, but you have devised them in your own mind.' For they all would +have made us afraid, thinking, 'Their hands shall be weakened from the +work, that it may not be done.' But now, O God, strengthen thou my hands. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 6:10-14] +And when I went to the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, the son of +Mehetabel, who was shut up at home, he said, 'Let us meet together in the +house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: +for they are coming to slay you in the night; yes, in the night they are +coming to slay you!' And I said, 'Should such a man as I flee? And how +could anyone like me [a layman] enter the chief room of the temple and +still live? I will not enter.' Then I perceived and it was clear that God +had not sent him; but he pronounced this prophecy against me, because +Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him, that I should be alarmed and act +accordingly and sin; and it would have given them occasion for an evil +report, that they might reproach me. Remember, O my God, Tobiah and +Sanballat according to these their acts, and also the prophetess Noadiah +and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 6:15, 16] +So the wall was finished in the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in +fifty-two days. And when all our enemies heard, all the surrounding +nations feared and fell in their own esteem, for they perceived that this +work had been done by our God. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 6:17-19] +Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, +and those of Tobiah came to them. For many in Judah had taken oath to him, +because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah and his son +Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam, the son of Berechiah, as +wife. Also they praised his good deeds before me and reported my words to +him. Then Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 7:1-3] +Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the +porters and the singers and the Levites had been appointed, I placed my +brother Hanani and Hananiah the commander of the castle in charge of +Jerusalem; for he was a faithful man, and more God-fearing than many. And +I said to them, 'Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is +hot; and while watchmen are still on guard, let them shut the doors and +bar them. Also appoint watches consisting of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, +every one in his watch and each opposite his own house.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 7:4, 5a] +Now the city was wide and large; but there were few people in it, and the +households were not large. Therefore my God put it into my mind to gather +together the nobles and the rulers and the people. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 12: 31, 32, 37-40] +Then I had the rulers of Judah take their position upon the wall, and I +appointed two great companies that gave thanks, and the first went to the +right hand upon the wall toward the Dung Gate. And behind them went +Hoshaiah and half of the nobles of Judah. And by the Fountain Gate, they +went straight up the stairs of the city of David, at the ascent of the +wall, above the house of David, even to the Water Gate on the east. And +the other company of those who gave thanks went to the left, and I after +them, with the half of the nobles of the people, upon the wall, above the +Tower of the Furnaces, even to the broad wall, and above the Gate of +Ephraim and by the Old Gate and by the Fish Gate and the Tower of Hananel +and the Tower of the Hundred, even to the Sheep Gate; and they stood in +the Gate of the Guard. So the two companies of those who gave thanks in +the house of God took their position, and I, and the half of the rulers +with me. + +I. Nehemiah's Memoirs. Fortunately the author of the books of Ezra and +Nehemiah has quoted at length in the opening chapters of Nehemiah from the +personal memoirs of the noble patriot through whose activity the walls of +Jerusalem were restored. They are the best historical records in the Old +Testament and they shed clear, contemporary light upon this most important +period in the evolution of Judaism. The narrative is straightforward and +vivid. It lights up the otherwise dark period that precedes Nehemiah and +enables the historian to bridge with assurance the century that intervened +before the apocryphal book of I Maccabees throws its light upon the course +of Israel's troubled history. The detailed description of the rebuilding +of the walls in Nehemiah 3 is probably from the Chronicler, but it reveals +an intimate acquaintance with the topography and the later history of +Judah's capital. + +II. Nehemiah's Response to the Call to Service. The presence of a +deputation from Jerusalem (including Nehemiah's kinsman Hanani) in +the distant Persian capital of Susa was not a mere accident. Nehemah's +response to their appeal and the epoch-making movement which he +inaugurated reveal the presence of an impelling force. Probably back of +all this movement was the work of the great prophet who speaks in Isaiah +40-66. In all that Nehemiah did that influence may be seen. In the fervent +and patriotic prayer that he uttered on learning of conditions in +Jerusalem he used the term servant or servants of Jehovah eight times in +six short verses. It also echoes the phraseology and thought of the II +Isaiah. + +The king under whom Nehemiah served was evidently Artaxerxes I. In +Nehemiah 12:10-11 the Chronicler states that Eliashib, the high priest +in the days of Nehemiah, was the grandson of Joshua, who shared in +the rebuilding of the temple in 520 B.C. Eliashib was also the +great-grandfather of Jaddua, who was high priest in Jerusalem in 332 B.C., +when Alexander conquered Palestine. References in the recently discovered +Elephantine letters, as well as in the history of Josephus, confirm the +conclusion that Nehemiah set out upon his expedition in the spring of +445 B.C. Like all those who ministered personally to the Persian kings, +he was probably a eunuch and still a young man. The true piety which is +revealed in his prayer, the courage shown by his daring to appear with sad +face in the presence of the absolute tyrant who ruled the Eastern world, +and his tact in winning the king's consent to his departure indicate that +he was a man of rare energy and ability. Artaxerxes I was famous for +his susceptibility to the influence of court favorites. The queen +referred to in 1:6 was probably the queen-mother Amestris, who exercised +commanding authority in the Persian court. Without the royal consent and +the resources and authority granted him, Nehemiah could hardly have +accomplished the large task which he undertook. The arduous journey of +fifteen hundred miles over mountains and barren deserts was enough to +daunt a man reared in the luxury of an Oriental court, but Nehemiah was +inspired by an ideal of service which recognized no obstacles. + +III. Obstacles that Confronted Him. The high-priestly rulers do not +appear to have welcomed Nehemiah with enthusiasm. Some of them, at least, +later sought to undermine his work. It is not difficult to infer the +reason for their apathy. Intrenched wealth and authority are usually +conservative, especially if conscious that their position is easily +assailable. As the sequel proved, these leaders of the community were +simply intent upon self-aggrandizement, even at the expense of the +dependent members of the community. A revolutionizing work like that +proposed by Nehemiah was certain to affect their vested interests and to +reveal their cruel selfishness. Certain of their families had also +intermarried with neighboring chieftains; and they were quite content with +the existing conditions. A second obstacle was the opposition of the +hostile peoples who surrounded the little Judean community. On the east +the Ammonites had apparently pressed in and occupied the ancient Hebrew +territory as far as the Jordan. Tobiah, the Ammonite, who figures +prominently in Nehemiah's narrative, was probably one of their local +chiefs. Gashmu, the Arabian, represented the half-civilized Bedouin tribes +that had invaded the territory of Judea from the south and east during the +period of weakness following the destruction of Jerusalem. Possibly he +belonged to the Edomites who then held Hebron and all of the southern part +of Judea. Nehemiah also refers to the descendents of Israel's ancient +foes, the Philistines, living in the city of Ashdod. On the north the +superior resources of Samaria had asserted themselves, and these survivors +of the ancient Israelites who lived among the hills of Ephraim had grown +into a powerful nation that overshadowed the struggling Judean community. +These northerners, however, still worshipped at Jerusalem and were closely +allied with the Jews. At their head was Sanballat, the Horonite, who +probably came from Bethhoron, in southwestern Samaria. Each of these +peoples inherited the feeling of hostility with which their fathers had +regarded the people of Judah, and looked with suspicion upon any movement +to re-establish Jerusalem's former strength and prestige. Furthermore, the +men of the Judean community itself lacked courage and training. With +inefficient helpers and with opponents within and without the community, +Nehemiah's task seemed well-nigh impossible. That he succeeded in the face +of all these obstacles in rebuilding the walls in the incredibly short +period of fifty-two days is only explained by his superlative skill, +devotion, and energy. + +IV. Nehemiah's Plan of Work. Fortunately Nehemiah possessed resources as +well as tact. He quickly disarmed the opposition and won at least the +nominal support of the leaders by entertaining one hundred and fifty of +them as his guests. Thus he was able to place them under personal +obligation to him, to keep them under close surveillance, and to command +their co-operation. In the second place he appealed to them and to the +people by means of eloquent addresses which reveal his enthusiasm and +devotion. Furthermore, he did not depend upon the reports of others, but +personally studied the situation. His secret mid-night ride down through +the Valley Gate to the southwest of Jerusalem and thence eastward along +the Hinnom Valley to the point where it joins the Kidron, and from there +up the valley, gave him most accurate information regarding conditions. In +most cases the ancient foundations of the city walls still remained. The +first need was to remove the rubbish and where stones had fallen to +replace them. The towers required certain timbers, which were cut probably +from the royal domains to the south of the city. Nehemiah enlisted all +members of the community both within and without Jerusalem. He organized +them under their local leaders and set them to the task in which each was +most interested. Thus the heads of the different villages, the elders of +the leading families, the guilds of workmen, and even the priests, were +all put to work and inspired by the spirit of natural rivalry as well as +common loyalty. Nehemiah himself with his immediate followers directed the +work, and instituted a strict military rule which secured both efficiency +and protection. + +V. The Restored Walls. In the light of recent excavations at Jerusalem +it is possible to follow Nehemiah's work in detail. In the destruction of +the walls by the Chaldeans the city had suffered most on the north where +it was nearly level and protected by no descending valleys. Just north of +the temple area a little valley ran up from the Kidron, leaving but a +narrow neck of land connected directly with the plateau on the north. Here +two great towers were restored that probably occupied the site of the +later Roman tower of Antonia. Thence the wall ran westward across the +upper Tyropoean Valley, which was here comparatively level. Numerous +bands of workmen were assigned to this part of the work. The gate of the +old wall was probably identical with the corner gate at the northwestern +end of the city. The Ephraim Gate a little further to the southwest +apparently corresponded to the modern Joppa Gate. From this point a broad +wall ran to the western side of the city where the hill descended rapidly +into the Valley of Hinnom, making its defence easy. At the southwestern +end of the city stood the Tower of the Furnaces and the Valley Gate of +which the foundations have recently been laid bare. The gate itself was +narrow, being only eight feet wide, but the wall was here nine feet in +thickness. The eighteen hundred or two thousand feet of wall along the +Valley of Hinnom was evidently practically intact, for its repair was +Intrusted to but one group of workmen. Across the southern end of the +Tyropoean Valley the ground was almost level, so that a strong wall was +required. Excavations have shown that it was twenty feet thick at its base +and supported by six strong buttresses. The Fountain Gate, through which +ran the main street down the Tyropoean Valley out into the valley of the +Kidron, was the chief southern gate of the city. It was nine feet wide +and defended by a tower about forty-five feet square. Portions of this +ancient thoroughfare, with its stones, worn smooth by the feet of the +inhabitants of the ancient city, have here been uncovered. Just above the +Pool of Siloam, which was within the city walls, was the King's Garden. + +Thence the Hill of Ophel ascended rapidly making necessary the stairs +mentioned in Nehemiah 3. The wall on the southeast was readily repaired, +for it ran along the sloping western side of the Kidron Valley. The Water +Gate probably led down to the Virgin's Fount, and the Horse Gate further +to the north opened directly from the Kidron Valley to the public +buildings that occupied the site of Solomon's palace immediately to the +south of the temple. It is the space to-day occupied by the southern end +of the temple area, which was thus extended in the days of Herod. Opposite +the northeastern end of the temple area the wall curved westward until it +reached the great towers that guarded the northern end of the city. + +VI. Completion and Dedication of the Walls. Under the inspiration of +Nehemiah's leadership, and as a result of the constant fear of attack, the +building of the walls proceeded rapidly and without interruption. To the +threats of hostile foes Nehemiah paid little heed. Trained in the Persian +court, he saw at once their murderous purpose when they requested a +conference in southwestern Samaria on the border of the Plain of Ono. +Through the treacherous prophets in the Judean community they sought to +play upon his fears and to lead him to compromise himself by taking refuge +in the sacred precincts of the temple, but his courage, as well as his +high respect for the sanctuary, delivered him from the plot. The cry that +he was himself aspiring to the kingship and that his acts were treason +against Persia did not daunt him, and when, in response to their malicious +reports, the order finally came from the Persian king to cease working, +the walls were already rebuilt. + +Apparently Nehemiah's original leave of absence was for but a short +period. His kinsman Hanani, who had headed the original deputation to +Susa, and a certain Hananiah were by him placed in charge of the city. To +protect it against sudden attack its gates were closed at night and not +opened until the middle of the following forenoon. Effective measures +were also instituted to increase its population. When the work of +rebuilding the walls was complete, Nehemiah arranged for their public +dedication. Starting from the Valley Gate on the southwestern side of the +city, one half of the nobles and the people marched along the southern +and eastern wall, while Nehemiah with the other half of the people +proceeded along the western and northern wall. Finally meeting on the +northern side of the temple area, the two companies blended their voices +in thanksgiving to Jehovah who at last had made it possible for them to +worship him in his sanctuary secure from attack. + +Nehemiah had reorganized the Judean community, rebuilt their walls, and +inspired them with a new sense of self-respect; thus he made possible +that genuine revival of the Judean state that took place during the +succeeding centuries. He, like Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, and the II +Isaiah, was indeed one of the makers of Judaism. Ben Sira with true +insight declared (49:13): + +The memorial of Nehemiah is great, +Who raised up for us the walls that were fallen, +And set up the gates and bars, +And raised up our homes again. + + + +Section CI. NEHEMIAH'S SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS REFORMS + +[Sidenote: Isa. 56:1, 2] +Thus saith Jehovah, +Guard justice and practice righteousness. +For my deliverance is near at hand, and my righteousness is soon to be + revealed. +Happy the man who practices, the mortal who holds fast to it, +Keeping the sabbath so as not to profane it, and keeping his hand from + evil. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 56:3-5] +Let not the foreigner who hath joined himself to Jehovah say, +'Jehovah will surely separate me from his people.' +And let not the eunuch say, 'Behold I am a dry tree.' +For thus saith Jehovah to the eunuchs, 'Those who keep my sabbaths, +And choose that in which I delight, and hold fast to my covenant, +I will give them in my house and walls a monument, +And a name better than sons and daughters, +An everlasting name will I give them which cannot be cut off. + +[Sidenote: Isa. 56:6-8] +And the foreigners who join themselves to Jehovah to minister to him, +And to love the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, +Every one who keeps the sabbath so as not to pollute it and faithfully + abides by my covenant-- +Them will I bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of + prayer; +Their burnt-offerings and sacrifices will be accepted upon my altar; +For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. +It is the oracle of Jehovah, who gathereth the outcasts of Israel, +'I will gather still others to him in addition to those already gathered.' + +[Sidenote: Isa. 56:9-12] +O all ye wild beasts of the field come to devour, all ye wild beasts of + the forest! +My watchmen are all blind, they know not how to give heed, +They are all dumb dogs which cannot bark, +Dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. +And the dogs are greedy, they know not how to be satisfied, +They all turn to their own way, each for his own profit [saying], +Come, I will get wine, and we will drink our fill of strong drink, +And to-morrow shall be as to-day, an exceedingly great day! + +[Sidenote: Isa. 58:2-4] +Cry with full throat, be not silent! +Like a trumpet lift up thy voice, +Make known to my people their transgression, +And to the house of Jacob their sin. +Me indeed they consult daily, +And to know my ways is their delight. +As a nation that hath done righteousness, +And hath not forsaken the law of its God! +They ask me regarding righteous judgments, +To draw near to God is their delight! +'Why have we fasted and thou seest not, +Mortified ourselves and thou dost not notice?' +Behold, on your fast day ye follow your own pleasure, +And ye exact all money lent on pledge. +Behold ye fast for strife and contention, +And to smite the poor with the fist. +Your fasting to-day is not such +As to make your voice heard on high. + +[Sidenote: Cor. Isa. 58:5-7] +Can such be the fast which I choose, +A day when a man mortifies himself? +To droop one's head like a bulrush, +And to lie down in sackcloth and ashes? +Wilt thou call this a fast, +And a day acceptable to Jehovah? +Is not this the fast that I choose: +To loose the fetters of injustice, +To untie the bands of violence, +To set free those who are crushed, +To tear apart every yoke? + +[Sidenote: Cor. Isa. 58:8-12] +Is it not to share thy bread with the hungry, +And to bring the wanderers to thy home? +When thou seest the naked, to cover him, +And not hide thyself from thine own flesh? +Then shall thy light break forth as the dawn, +Thy restoration quickly spring forth, +And thy righteousness shall go before thee, +The glory of Jehovah shall be thy reward; +Then when thou callest Jehovah will answer, +When thou criest out he will say, Here am I. +If from thy midst thou remove the yoke, +The finger of scorn, and mischievous speech, +And bestow thy bread upon the hungry, +And satisfy the soul that is afflicted; +Then shall thy light shine forth in darkness, +And thy gloom shall be as noonday, +Jehovah will lead thee continually, +And will satisfy thy soul in parched lands, +And thy strength will he renew, +Thou shalt be like a watered garden, +As a fountain whose waters fail not. +Thy sons shall rebuild the ancient ruins, +Thou shalt rear again the foundations of olden days; +And men shall call thee, Repairer of Ruins, +Restorer of Ruined Places for Inhabiting. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 5:1-5] +Then there was a loud complaint from the common people and their wives +against their fellow-countrymen the Jews. For there were those who were +saying, 'We must give our sons and our daughters in pledge to secure grain +that we may eat and live.' Some also there were who were saying, 'We must +mortgage our fields and our vineyards and our houses, that we may get +grain because of the dearth.' There were also those who were saying, 'We +have borrowed money for the king's tribute. Yet now our flesh is as the +flesh of our brothers, our children as their children; but now, we must +ring our sons and our daughters into slavery, and some of our daughters +have already thus been brought into bondage, neither is it in our power to +help it, for our fields and our vineyards belong to the nobles.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 5:6-11] +Then I was very angry when I heard their complaint and these statements. +And I took counsel with myself, and contended with the nobles and rulers, +and said to them, 'You exact usury each of his brother.' And I held a +great assembly against them. And I said to them, 'We ourselves have, +according to our ability, redeemed our fellow-countrymen the Jews, who +have been sold to the heathen; and would you yourselves sell your +fellow-countrymen, and should they sell themselves to us?' Then they were +silent and could not find a word to say. Therefore I said, 'The thing that +you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God, +because of the reproach of the heathen our enemies? For I also, my kinsmen +and my servants, lend them money and grain. Let us, therefore, leave off +this usury. Restore to them this day their fields, their vineyards, their +oliveyards, and their houses, also the usury of the money and of the +grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, that you exact from them.' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 5:12, 13] +Then they said, 'We will restore them and will demand nothing from them; +we will do just as you say.' Then I called the priests and took an oath of +them, that they would do according to this promise. Also I shook out the +fold of my garment, and said, 'So may God shake out every man from his +house and from the fruit of his labor, who does not fulfil this promise; +even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.' And all the assembly said, +'So may it be.' And they praised Jehovah. And the people did according to +this promise. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 5:14-19] +Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in +The land of Judah, from the twentieth year (445 B.C.) even to the +thirty-second year (432) of Artaxerxes the king, that is for twelve years, +I and my kinsmen had not eaten the bread which was due me as governor. But +the former governors who were before me were a source of expense to the +people, and took of them bread and wine, and also forty shekels of silver +each day; and furthermore their servants oppressed the people. But I did +not so, because of the fear of God. I also devoted myself to this work on +the wall, and we did not buy any land; and all my servants were gathered +there for the work. Also the Jews and the rulers, a hundred and fifty men, +besides those who came to us from among the surrounding nations, were at +my table. Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox and six +choice sheep and fowls. These were prepared at my expense, and once in ten +days wine in abundance for all the people. Yet with all this I did not +demand the bread which was due me as governor, because the public service +rested heavily upon this people. Remember to my credit, O my God, all that +I have done for this people. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:1-9] +Now before my return from the king, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed +over the chambers of the house of our God, being related to Tobiah, had +prepared for him a great chamber, where formerly they had stored the +cereal-offerings, the incense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, the +new wine, and the oil. But during this time I had not been at Jerusalem; +for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the +king. Then after some time I asked leave of the king, and I came to +Jerusalem and discovered the crime that Eliashib had committed for the +Sake of Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the court of the house of +God. And it displeased me greatly; therefore I cast all the household +possessions of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I gave command that they +should cleanse the chambers, and I brought there again the vessels of the +house of God, with the cereal-offerings and the incense. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:10-14] +And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them; +so that the Levites and the singers, who performed the service had each +fled to his field. Then I contended with the rulers and said, 'Why is the +house of God forsaken?' And I gathered them together and placed them at +their posts. And all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and the new wine +and the oil into the store-rooms. And I appointed in charge of the +store-rooms: Shelemiah the priest and Zadok the scribe, and Pedaiah the +Levite; for they were considered faithful, and their business was to +distribute to their kinsmen. Remember me, O my God, concerning this and +forget not all my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and +for its services. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:15-22] +At that time I saw in Judah some men treading wine-presses on the sabbath +and bringing in heaps of grain and loading asses, as also wine, grapes, +figs, and all kinds of burdens, and that they were bringing them into +Jerusalem on the sabbath; and I warned them when they sold provisions. +Tyrians also dwelt therein, who brought in fish and all kinds of wares, +and sold on the sabbath to the inhabitants of Judah and in Jerusalem. Then +I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, 'What evil thing is +this that you are doing, and thereby profaning the sabbath? Did not your +fathers do thus and did not our God bring all this calamity upon them and +upon us and upon this city? Yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by +profaning the sabbath.' Accordingly, when it began to be dark, the gates +of Jerusalem were shut before the sabbath; and I gave command that they +should not be opened until after the sabbath. And I placed some of my +servants in charge of the gates, and commanded that no burden should be +brought in on the sabbath. So the merchants and sellers of all kinds of +wares spent the night without Jerusalem once or twice. Then I warned them +and said to them, 'Why do you spend the night before the wall? If ye do +so again, I will lay hands on you.' From that time forth they came no more +on the sabbath. Remember, O my God, this also to my credit and show me +mercy according to the greatness of thy loving-kindness. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:23-27] +At that time also I saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of +Ammon, and of Moab. And their children spoke half in the language of +Ashdod, but none of them could speak in the Jews' language, but according +to the language of each people. And I contended with them and cursed them +and struck some of them and pulled out their hair and made them swear by +God, saying, 'You shall not give your daughters to their sons nor take +their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves. Did not Solomon +king of Israel sin by these acts? Yet among many nations there was no king +like him, and he was beloved by his God, and God made him king over all +Israel; nevertheless foreign women led him into sin. Shall it also be +reported of you that you do all this great evil, to trespass against our +God in marrying foreign women?' + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:28, 29] +And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was +the son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I chased him from me. +Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the covenant of the +Priesthood and of the Levites. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 13:30, 31] +Thus I cleansed them from all foreigners and fixed the duties for the +priests and the Levites, each for his appointed task, and the bringing of +wood for the service at appointed times, and the first-fruits. Remember +it, O my God, to my credit. + +I. Cruelty and Hypocrisy of the Jewish Leaders. The fifty-sixth chapter +of Isaiah presents a sharp contrast: on the one hand a high ideal of +justice toward the oppressed and tolerance toward all foreigners who +sincerely desired to unite in Jehovah's worship; on the other the sordid +selfishness of the Jewish leaders, who disregarded their responsibilities +and thought of religion only as a round of ceremonial observances. The +situation is very similar to that in Northern Israel in the days of Amos. +The II Isaiah stands on the same platform as did his predecessors of the +Assyrian period. He strips fearlessly from the rulers of the community the +mantle of hypocrisy with which they sought to cover their shame. In +clearest terms he declares that their first duty to God is to loose the +fetters of injustice and to share their bread with the hungry. This +stirring prophetic message is the natural introduction to the reformatory +work of Nehemiah. + +II. Nehemiah's Method of Correcting the Social Evils in the Community. +Nehemiah's address recorded in the fifth chapter of his memoirs completes +the picture suggested in Isaiah 56 and 58. The poor had been compelled by +their poverty to sell their children into slavery to the rich and ruling +class. In order to pay their personal taxes they had also mortgaged their +inherited fields, vineyards, and houses. Doubtless much of the tax thus +raised went into the pockets of their rulers, who preyed mercilessly upon +the helpless and needy. These crimes directly violated the laws of +Deuteronomy (cf. Deut. 23:9, 20), as well as those in the older Book of +the Covenant (Ex. 21-23). Nehemiah's position, therefore, when he demanded +that these evils be righted, was unassailable. In the spirit and with the +methods of the earlier prophets he gathered together the people, probably +within the precincts of the temple court, and plainly and unsparingly +denounced their acts. There is much in common between this later Jewish +layman and the shepherd Amos. Each spoke on the basis of close personal +observation and experience; but Nehemiah possessed many advantages over +the prophets who had preceded him. His own personal example lent force to +his words. Although it was his right as governor, he had exacted no +tribute from the Judean community. Even though the opportunity had +probably offered itself, he steadily refused to take their hereditary land +from the poor who applied to him for loans of money or grain. Instead of +enslaving his countrymen, he had lost no opportunity to free those who had +been forced by misfortune or poverty into slavery. He had also entertained +lavishly rich and poor alike, and thus given to all an example of +practical charity. His authority as Persian governor doubtless carried +great weight with the cringing, greedy leaders at Jerusalem. Above all, +the force of his personality was irresistible. It is easy to imagine the +powerful impression which his words made upon them. The restoration of +their lands and the freeing of their children were undoubtedly mighty +factors in arousing the men of Jerusalem to those herculean efforts which +alone made possible the rebuilding of the walls in the brief period of +fifty-two days. + +III. The Historical Value of Nehemiah 13. In his _Composition of +Ezra-Nehemiah_ (pp. 44-49) Professor Torrey, of Yale, maintains that this +chapter is a pure creation of the Chronicler. Certainly its phraseology +and the subjects with which it deals are characteristic of the Chronicler, +but on the whole it is probable that he has here simply recast what was +originally an extract from the memoirs of Nehemiah. Some of the phrases +peculiar to the Chronicler are loosely connected with the context. The +nucleus which remains has the vigorous style of Nehemiah and many of his +peculiar idioms. Its courageous, assertive spirit is very different from +that of the other writings of the Chronicler. It is also doubtful whether +this later writer, with his strong, priestly interests, would have made +Nehemiah, the layman, a religious reformer and therefore in a sense the +rival of Ezra. Above all, the work attributed to Nehemiah in this +chapter is in harmony with his spirit and attitude, as revealed in the +unquestioned extracts from his memoirs. Already, as stated in 1:20, he had +told Sanballat and Tobiah that they should have no portion or memorial in +Jerusalem. He had already shown himself keen in righting wrongs within the +community. Zeal in preserving the sanctity of the sabbath and in opposing +heathen marriages was characteristic rather of the Jews of the dispersion +than of those of Palestine. It is probable, therefore, that this chapter +records Nehemiah's work when he revisited Jerusalem some time after 432 +B.C., although it must be frankly confessed that the historical evidence +is far from conclusive and that the entire account of this second visit, +including the chronological data in 5:14 and the reference to the +expulsion of Sanballat in 1:20, may possibly be due to the Chronicler's +desire to discredit the Samaritans and to enlist the authority of Nehemiah +in support of the later priestly laws and customs. + +IV. Regulations Regarding the Temple Service. The expulsion of Tobiah +the Ammonite from the room which had been assigned him in the temple by +Eliashib, the high priest, was apparently due to two reasons, first +because Tobiah was _persona non grata_ to Nehemiah and had already shown +himself a dangerous foe to the Jews. The second and chief reason was +because the room was needed for storing the offerings that were brought in +for the support of the temple officials. These offerings were presented in +accordance with the demands of the Deuteronomic regulation, which at this +time was the code acknowledged by the Judean community (Deut. 18:4. +14:23, 27, 28). The narrative adds that, with his practical knowledge of +affairs, Nehemiah appointed a representative committee consisting of a +priest, a scribe, and a Levite, and to them he intrusted the task of +receiving and distributing the temple tithes to their kinsmen. + +V. Provisions Regarding Sabbath Observation and Foreign Marriages. Far +away from the temple, and therefore unable to participate in the +distinctive feasts and ceremonials that distinguished the religious life +of their race, and confronted by the constant danger of being absorbed by +the heathen among whom they found themselves, the Jews of the dispersion +placed strong emphasis on two institutions. The one was the observation of +the sabbath and the other was the preservation of the purity of their +blood by abstaining from all marriage alliances with their Gentile +neighbors. In Palestine, where they were able to revive the ancient feasts +in connection with the temple, and where the danger of absorption was not +so imminent, their practices in these regards appear to have been much +more lax. Not only had the priests set the example by contracting foreign +marriages, but apparently about this time the author of the beautiful +story of Ruth, by citing the tradition regarding the Moabite ancestry of +their illustrious King David, voiced the belief of many in the community +that such marriages were permissible. Nehemiah, however, rigorously +opposed this tendency. He also appreciated the menace to the dignity and +character of the temple service, if the commercial pursuits of ordinary +days were carried into the sabbath. His measure, therefore, in closing the +gates and thus excluding all traders, was both sane and effective. In +setting his face strongly against foreign marriages he was simply +enforcing the laws found in Deuteronomy 7:1, 3 and 33:3, which forbade the +Hebrews to intermarry with the people of the land. + +VI. Significance of Nehemiah's Work. In rebuilding the walls of +Jerusalem Nehemiah prepared the way for that revival of the Jewish state +which characterized the closing years of the Persian period. More +important still was his work in re-establishing a close relation between +the Jews of the dispersion and those of Palestine. He himself was the +connecting link between them, and his activity prepared the minds of the +Palestinian Jews for the acceptance of those new principles that were +strongly held by leaders like himself. He also enforced the ethical and +social ideals of the earlier prophets, and ably advocated the principles +that are fundamental in the late priestly laws. Above all, in his own +personality as a prophetic layman, he held up before his race an example +of patriotism, self-sacrifice, efficiency, and devotion to the service +of Jehovah which made a profound and lasting impression upon his own and +later generations. + + + +Section CII. THE TRADITIONAL ACCOUNT OF THE ADOPTION OF THE PRIESTLY +LAW + +[Sidenote: Ezra 7:1, 6-10] +In the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra, a descendant of Aaron, +went up from Babylon; and he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, +which Jehovah, the God of Israel, had given. And the king granted him all +his request, inasmuch as the hand of Jehovah his God was upon him. And +some of the Israelites, and of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the +porters, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem [with him]. And he +came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the +king. For on the first day of the first month he began the journey from +Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, +since the good hand of God was with him. For Ezra had set his heart to +seek the law of Jehovah, and to observe it and to teach in Israel statutes +and ordinances. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 7:73b, 8:4-6] +And when the seventh month drew near, all the people gathered themselves +together as one man to the broad place that was before the Water Gate. And +they spoke to Ezra the priest and scribe to bring the book of the law of +Moses, which Jehovah had commanded Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the +law before the assembly of men and women, and all who could hear with +understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read from +it before the open place that was before the Water Gate, from early +morning until mid-day, in the presence of the men and women and of those +who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the +law. And Ezra the priest and scribe stood upon a wooden pulpit, which they +made for the purpose and opened the book in the sight of all the +people--for he was above all the people--and when he opened it all the +people stood up. And Ezra blessed Jehovah, the great God. And all the +people answered, Amen, Amen, while they lifted up their hands and bowed +their heads and worshipped Jehovah with their faces to the ground. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 8:9-12] +Then Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who taught the people +said to all the people, This day is holy to Jehovah your God; mourn not, +nor weep; for all the people when they heard the words of the law. Then he +said to them, Go away, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions +to him for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and +do not be troubled, for the joy of Jehovah is your bulwark. So the Levites +quieted all the people, saying, Be still, for the day is holy, and do not +be troubled. And all the people went away to eat and drink and to send +portions and to make a great rejoicing, for they had understood the words +which had been made known to them. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 8:13-19] +And on the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, the +priests and the Levites were gathered together to Ezra the scribe, in +order to gain an insight into the words of the law. And they found written +in the law, how Jehovah had commanded by Moses that the Israelites should +dwell in booths at the feast in the seventh month; and that they should +proclaim aloud in all their cities and in Jerusalem: Go forth to the +mount and bring olive branches and branches of wild olive and myrtle and +palm branches and branches of thick trees to make booths, as it is +prescribed. So the people went out and brought them, and made themselves +booths, each man upon the roof of his house and in their courts and in +the courts of the house of God and in the open space at the Water Gate and +in the open space at the Ephraim Gate. And all the assembly of those who +had come back from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths; for +since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day the Israelites had not +done so. And there was very great gladness. And day by day, from the first +to the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they +celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day, as was the custom, +there was a concluding solemn assembly. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 9:1-3] +Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites were assembled +with fasting, and with sackcloth and earth upon their heads. And the +children of Israel had separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood +and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they +stood up in their place and read in the book of the law of Jehovah their +God a fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed and +worshipped Jehovah their God. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 9:6-8] +And Ezra said, Thou art Jehovah, even thou alone; thou hast made heaven +and the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all things +that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and thou preservest +them all and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. Thou art Jehovah the +God, who didst choose Abraham and bring him forth out of Ur of the +Chaldees, and didst give him the name Abraham, and find his heart +faithful before thee and make a covenant with him to give the land of the +Canaanites to his descendants, and hast performed thy words, for thou art +righteous. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 9:32-37] +Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who +keepest covenant and kindness, let not all the affliction seem little +before thee, that hath come on us, on our kings, our nobles, our priests, +our prophets, our fathers, and on all thy people, since the days of the +kings of Assyria to this day. However thou art just in all that has come +upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly, neither have +our kings, our nobles, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law nor +heeded thy commands and thy testimonies with which thou didst testify +against them. For they have not served thee in the time of their kingly +rule, and in spite of thy great goodness that thou gavest them, they have +not turned from their wicked deeds. Behold, we this day are slaves, and as +for the land that thou gavest to our fathers to eat its fruit and enjoy +its good gifts, see we are only slaves in it. And it yieldeth a great +income to the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sin; also +they have power over our bodies and over our cattle, at their pleasure, +and we are in great distress. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 9:38] +Moreover in addition to all this we made a fixed covenant and wrote it +out, and our nobles, our Levites, and our priests were enrolled upon the +sealed document. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 10:28-31] +And all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands +to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one +who had knowledge and insight, strongly supported their kinsmen, their +nobles, and entered into a solemn obligation and took oath to walk in +God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe +and do all the commands of Jehovah our Lord, and his ordinances and his +statutes; and that we would neither give our daughters to the peoples of +the land nor take their daughters as wives for our sons; and that, if the +peoples of the land should bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to +sell, we would not buy of them on the sabbath or on a holy day; and that +on the seventh year we would leave the land uncultivated and would refrain +from the exaction of any debt. + +[Sidenote: Neh. 10:32-39] +We also imposed upon ourselves the obligation to give yearly the third +part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God, for the bread +that was set forth, and for the continual burnt-offering, for the +sabbaths, the new moons, the fixed feasts, and the holy things, and for +the sin-offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of +the house of our God. And we cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the +people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, +according to our father's houses, at appointed times year by year, to burn +upon the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is prescribed in the law; and to +bring the earliest products of our ground, and the first of all fruit of +every kind of tree year by year, to the temple of Jehovah; also the +first-born of our sons and of our cattle, as is prescribed in the law, and +the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of +God to the priests who minister in the house of our God; and that we +should bring the first bread baked of our dough, the fruit of every kind +of tree, the new wine and the oil, to the priests, in the chambers of the +house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; and that +they, the Levites, should receive the tithes in all the cities of our +agricultural districts. And that the priest the son of Aaron should be +with the Levites, when the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes +to the house of our God, to the chambers, into the store-house. For the +Israelites and the sons of Levi shall bring the gifts of grain, of new +wine, and of oil, into the chambers, where are the vessels of the +sanctuary, and the priests who minister and the porters and the singers, +and that we would not neglect the house of our God. + +I. The Ezra Tradition. The tradition regarding Ezra and his work +presents many difficult problems. Part of it is found in the heart of the +book of Nehemiah; while another part is now found in the second half of +the book of Ezra. It is not entirely clear whether this dislocation is due +to the Chronicler, who desired to give Ezra, the priest and scribe, the +precedence before Nehemiah, the layman, or to the mistake of a scribe. A +recent writer (Professor Torrey, in _Composition of Ezra-Neh_.) has shown +convincingly that the Ezra story in its present form is at least from the +school to which the Chronicler belonged, if not from his own pen. Not only +does it abound in the characteristic phrases of this voluminous editor, +but it also reflects at many points his peculiar conception of the history +of this period. Ezra is described as a descendant of Aaron and "a scribe +skilled in the law of Moses." His work as interpreter of the law, which he +is represented as bringing in his hand, is typical of the scribes, who +were becoming the chief teachers of Judaism in the days of the Chronicler +(the Greek period). The decree of Artaxerxes found in the seventh chapter +of Ezra suggests at every point its late Jewish origin. It confers upon +Ezra, the scribe, royal authority far eclipsing that given by Artaxerxes +to Nehemiah, his favorite. A sum representing more than three million +dollars is placed at Ezra's disposal. At his summons seventeen hundred +priests, Levites, singers, and servants of the temple rally about the +standard of the faithful scribe. He is represented as going under the +royal protection to Palestine to instruct the Judean community, to reform +its abuses, and to institute the rule of the law of Moses which he bore in +his hand. + +He first holds a great synagogue service in which the law is read and +interpreted to the people. They are then bidden to observe the Feast +of Booths or Tabernacles in accordance with its regulations. Later, when +he discovers that the people of the land have entered into foreign +marriages, he tears his clothes and hair and sits for hours overwhelmed +by the great crime that rests upon the community. When the people are +gathered about him, he upbraids them for their laxness and secures the +appointment of a commission with himself at the head to investigate and +put an end to these evil practices. When after three months the community +has been purified from this foreign element, the people are again +assembled to listen to the reading of the law. Then Ezra utters a fervent +prayer in which he sets forth Jehovah's leadership of his people in the +past and the disasters which have come as a result of their sins. After +this public petition for Jehovah's forgiveness, the people through their +nobles, Levites, and priests subscribe in writing to the regulations +imposed by the lawbook that Ezra had brought. Its more important +regulations are also recapitulated. They are to refrain from foreign +marriages, to observe strictly the sabbath laws, and also the requirements +of the seventh year of release, to bring to the temple the annual tax of +one-tenth of a shekel and the other dues required for its support and for +the maintenance of the priests and Levites. + +II. The Historical Value of the Ezra Tradition. Recognizing that the +Ezra tradition comes from the hand of the Chronicler, certain Old +Testament scholars are inclined to regard it as entirely unhistorical. +It can no longer be regarded as a strictly historical record. Like II +Chronicles 31, it is shot through with the ideas current during the Greek +period. With no desire to deceive, but with nothing of the modern +historical spirit, the Chronicler freely projects the institutions, ideas, +and traditions of his own day into these earlier periods. The result is +that he has given not an exact or reliable historical record, but his own +conception of the way in which the course of history should have unfolded. +The Ezra tradition also lacks the support not only of contemporary +testimony, but also of all the Jews who wrote during the next few +centuries. Ben Sira in his review of Israel's heroes speaks in highest +terms of Nehemiah, but knows nothing of Ezra's work. Even the +comparatively late Jewish tradition reflected in the opening chapters of +II Maccabees attributes to Nehemiah the re-establishment of the temple +Service and the collection of the sacred writings of his race. At many +points the Ezra tradition is also inconsistent with the straightforward +contemporary record contained in Nehemiah's memoirs. The real question +is whether or not there is a historical nucleus in the Ezra story, and +if so, what are the facts which it reflects. + +III. The Facts Underlying the Ezra Tradition. The later records make it +clear that during the latter part of the Persian period the attitude of +the Jews in Palestine toward their neighbors became more and more +exclusive. Nehemiah appears to have given a great impetus to the movement +which ultimately resulted in the Samaritan schism and the high wall that +henceforth separated Jew and Gentile. The emphasis on the strict +observation of the sabbath grew stronger and stronger, until at the +beginning of the Greek period the Jews of Jerusalem preferred to fall +before the sword of their foes rather than fight on the sabbath day (cf. +Section CIII). The ritual of the temple became even more elaborate, and +its income was greatly increased during the latter part of the Persian +period. The extension of the territory of the Judean community implied +that its numbers were increased by the return of loyal Jews attracted by +the security offered by its walls and by the new spirit that animated the +Jews of Palestine. The priestly laws which were formulated to meet the new +needs of the Judean community appear to have been written in Palestine and +by those closely connected with the temple service, but in the emphasis +upon the sabbath and in their endeavor to prevent marriage with foreigners +they suggest the presence and influence of Jews who had returned from the +land of the dispersion. It is possible that among those who thus returned +was the priest Ezra, and he may have been at the head of one of these +groups of returning exiles. In the days of Josiah the code contained in +the newly discovered Book of the Covenant was presented to the people in a +public assembly and adopted and enforced by the king, who acted as the +representative of the people (Section LXXXIII:iii). It is probable that in +the small Judean community new regulations gained acceptance in the same +way, except that the people were represented by their nobles and priests +rather than by a king. The tradition of Ezra, therefore, is typical of the +great movement that shaped the life of Judaism in the century immediately +following the work of Nehemiah. + +IV. Origin and Aims of the Priestly Laws. The late priestly laws which +moulded the life of Judaism are found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, +and Numbers. They do not constitute a unified code, but rather are +made up of a series of smaller groups of laws, the older nucleus +being the Holiness Code found in chapters 17-26 of Leviticus (cf. Section +XCIII:iii). In some cases variants of the same law are found in different +groups. Certain of these laws simply reiterate in slightly different form +those already found in the primitive and Deuteronomic codes; but in +general they supplement these earlier codes. The formulation, collection, +and codification of these later laws apparently continued until toward the +latter part of the Persian period when the Samaritan schism (Section CIII) +fixed them in their present form. + +To these laws was prefixed, as an introduction, the priestly history that +opens with the account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis and +briefly traces Israel's history to the settlement in Canaan. The interest +of these late priestly historians is, like that of the Chronicler, in the +origin of institutions. Thus the object of the first chapter of Genesis is +to give the traditional origin and authority of the sabbath. The account +of the flood culminates in a covenant embodying the command that man shall +not eat of the blood of sacrificial animals; the priestly stories +regarding Abraham aim to give the origin of the rite of circumcision. +Israel's early experiences in the wilderness furnish the setting for the +giving of the law at Sinai. In this way the late editors of these opening +books of the Old Testament connect all of Israel's legislation with Moses +and aim to establish its divine authority. + +V. Their Important Regulations. The central aim in all these late +priestly laws was similar to that of Ezekiel: it was to make Israel a +holy people and to prevent them from falling again into the sins to which +were attributed the overwhelming disasters that had overtaken them. This +aim they sought to accomplish: (1) by making the temple and its services +the centre of the life of the people and through ceremonial barriers and +regulations to shield it from everything that might pollute it; (2) by +rendering the temple service attractive; (3) by insuring through rigid +ceremonial laws the purity of its priesthood; (4) by preserving the +ceremonial cleanliness of the people through strict laws regarding the +food which they ate and elaborate provisions for their purification in +case they were contaminated by contact with that which was regarded as +unclean; (5) by prohibiting absolutely all marriages with the heathen; and +(6) by emphasizing the rigid observation of the sabbath and other +distinctive institutions. In general these late priestly laws represented +a return to the older and more primitive conception of religion, and +defined duty in terms of ceremonial rather than moral acts. + +VI. Their Practical Effects. Later Judaism represents to a great extent +the result of the rigid enforcement of these regulations. Its life was +centralized more and more about the temple. In its services the people +found their chief interest and joy. The numbers of the priests and Levites +were also greatly increased. To the older temple dues many new ones were +added. Thus each man brought to the temple the first-born of his flock. +Even his oldest son must be redeemed within a month after his birth by a +gift of five shekels (which represented in modern currency between three +and four dollars). Of every animal slain the shoulder, two joints, and the +stomach went to the priests. Of the vintage and oil and grain they +received about one-fiftieth. In addition a tithe was turned over to the +Levites. Part of the wool in every sheep-shearing, as well as a part of +the bread which they baked, found its way to the temple. In addition a +large income came through the vows made by the people or the conscience +money which was paid either in currency or gifts. Although the priests had +no temporal authority by which to enforce these laws, it is evident that +the people bore their heavy burdens gladly and brought willingly their +offerings, that they might thereby win a definite assurance of Jehovah's +favor. The law was to them a source of joy rather than a burden. Their +love for it steadily grew until two centuries later during the Maccabean +persecutions there were many who were ready to lay down their lives for it. + + + +Section CIII. THE JEWISH STATE DURING THE LAST CENTURY OF PERSIAN RULE + +[Sidenote: Ps. 36:5-10] +Thy loving-kindness, O Jehovah, is in the heavens, +Thy faithfulness reacheth to the skies, +Thy righteousness is like the mighty mountains, +Thy judgments are like the great deep; +Thou preservest man and beast. +How precious is thy loving-kindness, O God! +And the sons of men put their trust in the shadow of thy wings. +They are fully satisfied with the rich things of thy house, +And thou makest them drink of thy river of delights. +For with thee is the fountain of life, +And in thy light shall we see light. +O continue thy loving-kindness to those who know thee, +And thy righteousness to the upright in heart. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:1, 2b] +The word of Jehovah, which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: +Blow a horn in Zion, +Sound an alarm in my holy mountain, +Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, +For the day of Jehovah comes, +For near is the day of darkness and gloom, +The day of cloud and thick darkness! + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:2c-6] +Like the light of dawn scattered over the mountains, +A people great and powerful; +Its like has not been from of old, +Neither shall be any more after it, +Even to the years of coming ages. +Before them the fire devours, +And behind them a flame burns; +Like the garden of Eden is the land before them, +And after them it is a desolate desert, +Yea, nothing escapes them. +Their appearance is as the appearance of horses, +And like horsemen they run. +Like the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains they leap, +Like the crackle of flames devouring stubble, +Like a mighty people preparing for battle. +Peoples are in anguish before them, +All faces glow with excitement. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:7-9] +Like mighty men they run, +Like warriors they mount up a wall, +They march each by himself, +They break not their ranks, +None jostles the other, +They march each in his path, +They fall upon the weapons without breaking, +They scour the city, they run on the wall, +They climb up into the houses, +Like a thief they enter the windows. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:10-11] +Earth trembles before them, +Heaven quakes, +The sun and the moon become dark, +And the stars withdraw their shining; +And Jehovah uttereth this voice before his army, +For his host is exceedingly great, +Yea, mighty is he who performs his word, +For great is the day of Jehovah, +It is very terrible, who can abide it? + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:12-14] +But now this is the oracle of Jehovah: +Turn ye to me with all your heart, +And with fasting and weeping and mourning. +Rend your hearts and not your garments, +And turn to Jehovah your God; +For he indeed is gracious and merciful, +Slow to anger and plenteous in love, +And relenteth of the evil. +Who knows but he will turn and relent, +And leave a blessing behind him, +A cereal and drink-offering for Jehovah your God? + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:16-17] +Blow a horn in Zion, +Sanctify a fast, summon an assembly, +Gather the people, make holy the congregation, +Assemble the old men, +Gather the children, and the infants at the breast, +Let the bridegroom come forth from his chamber, +And the bride from her bridal tent. +Between the porch and the altar, +Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep aloud, +Let them say, Spare, O Jehovah, thy people, +And make not thine heritage an object of reproach, +For the heathen to mock them. +Why should it be said among the nations, Where is their God? + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:18-20] +Then Jehovah became jealous for his land, and took pity upon his people, +And Jehovah answered and said to his people, +Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, +And ye shall be satisfied therewith; +I will not make you again an object of reproach among the nations, +I will remove far from you the northern foe, +And I will drive him into a land barren and desolate, +His van to the eastern sea, +And his rear to the western sea, +And a stench from him shall arise. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:21-24] +Fear not, O land, exult, +And rejoice for Jehovah hath done great things. +Fear not, O beasts of the field, +For the pastures of the wilderness are putting forth new grass, +For the trees bear their fruit, +Fig tree and vine yield their strength. +Be glad, then, ye sons of Zion, +And rejoice in Jehovah your God, +For he hath given you the early rain in just measure, +And poured down upon you the winter rain, +And sent the latter rain as before. +The threshing floors shall be full of grain, +And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:25-27] +I will make restoration to you for the years which the swarmer hath eaten, +The devourer, the destroyer, and the shearer, +My great army which I sent among you, +And ye shall eat your food and be satisfied, +And praise the name of Jehovah your God, +Who hath dealt so wonderfully by you, +And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, +That I am Jehovah your God and none else, +And my people shall nevermore be abashed. + +[Sidenote: Joel 2:28, 29] +And it shall come to pass afterwards, +That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, +And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, +Your old men shall dream dreams, +Your young men shall see visions, +And even upon thy male and female slaves, +In those days I will pour out my spirit. + +[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 7:1)] +When Eliashib the high priest was dead, his son Judas succeeded him in the +high priesthood. Then, when he was dead, his son Johanan assumed that +dignity. It was on his account that Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes +[Mnemon], desecrated the temple and imposed tribute on the Jews, that at +public expense they should pay for every lamb fifty shekels. The reason +for this was as follows: Jeshua was the brother of Johanan. Bagoses, who +was Jeshua's friend, promised to secure for him the high priesthood. +Trusting, therefore, in this support, Jeshua quarrelled with Johanan in +The temple and so provoked his brother that, in his anger, Johanan slew +him. On this account the people were enslaved and the temple desecrated by +the Persians. For when Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes, knew that +Johanan, the high priest of the Jews had slain his own brother Jeshua in +the temple, he immediately came against the Jews and began in anger to say +to them, Have you dared commit a murder in your temple! And when he +attempted to go into the temple they tried to prevent him doing so; but he +said to them, Am I not purer than he who was slain in the temple? And when +he had said these words, he went into the temple. Thus Bagoses made use of +this pretext and punished the Jews seven years for the murder of Jeshua. + +[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 7:2)] +Now when Johanan had departed this life, his son Jaddua succeeded to the +high priesthood. He had a brother whose name was Manasseh. And there was a +certain Sanballat who was sent to Samaria by Darius, the last king of +Persia. This man, knowing that Jerusalem was a famous city and that its +kings had given great trouble to the Assyrians and the people of +Coele-Syria, willingly gave his daughter, whose name was Nicaso, in +marriage to Manasseh, thinking that this marriage alliance would be a +pledge that the nation of the Jews would continue their good will toward +him. + +[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 8:2a-c)] +The elders of Jerusalem, complaining loudly that the brother of Jaddua, +the high priest, though married to a foreigner, was sharing with him the +high priesthood, took sides against Jaddua; for they regarded this man's +marriage as an encouragement to those who were eager to transgress by +marrying foreign wives and that this would be the beginning of a closer +association with foreigners. Therefore they commanded Manasseh to divorce +his wife or else not to approach the altar. The high priest himself joined +with the people in their indignation and drove his brother from the altar. + +[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 8:2d-g)] +Then Manasseh went to his father-in-law, Sanballat, and told him that, +although he loved his daughter, Nicaso, he was not willing to be deprived +on her account of his priestly dignity, since it was the greatest dignity +in their nation and had always continued in the same family. Thereupon +Sanballat promised him not only to preserve for him the honor of his +priesthood but also to procure for him the power and dignity of a high +priest and to make him governor of all the places which he himself ruled, +if he would retain his daughter as his wife. He also told him that he +would build him a temple like that at Jerusalem upon Mount Gerizim, which +is the highest of all the mountains in Samaria. Moreover he promised that +he would do this with the approval of Darius, the king. Manasseh, being +elated with these promises, remained with Sanballat, thinking that he +would gain a high priesthood as the gift from Darius, for Sanballat was +then well advanced in years. Now there was a great disturbance among the +people of Jerusalem because many of the priests and Levites were entangled +in such marriages, for they all revolted to Manasseh, and Sanballat +offered them money and distributed among them land for cultivation and +dwelling places also. He did all this in order in every way to gratify +his son-in-law. + +I. Prosperity of the Judean Community. Behind their restored walls the +Jews of Jerusalem enjoyed a sense of security and peace that had not been +theirs since the days of Josiah. At last they were free to develop the +limited resources of little Judah and gradually to extend their territory +northwestward over the fertile plain of Sharon. At the most their numbers +and territory were small. The memories of their glorious past and their +hopes for the future were their chief inspiration. The belief that in +supporting faithfully the service of the temple and in conforming to the +definite demands of the ritual they were winning Jehovah's favor was to +them an unfailing source of comfort and thankfulness. In the rich services +of the temple and in the contemplation of Jehovah's character and deeds +they found true joy. These feelings are expressed in certain of the +psalms, as, for example, Psalm 36, which probably comes from this period. +In their weakness they looked up in confidence and gratitude to Jehovah +who ruled supreme in the heavens, and who was able and eager to preserve +those who "put their trust in the shadow of his wings." Their one prayer +was that his loving-kindness would continue to protect them. + +II. The Growth of the Psalter. Nehemiah's work apparently gave an +impulse not only to the development of the law and the temple ritual, but +also inspired poets to voice their own feelings and those of the community +in certain of the psalms now found in the Psalter. It also encouraged them +to collect the earlier religious songs of their race. The result of their +work is the first edition of the Hebrew Psalter. In its present form the +Psalter, like the Pentateuch, is divided into five books with a general +introduction consisting of Psalms 1 and 2 and a concluding doxology (Ps. +150). At the end of each of these divisions are shorter doxologies or +brief epilogues (e.g., 41:13 72:19 89:52 106:48). The Psalter itself is a +library containing a great variety of poems written at different periods, +from many different points of view and by many different poets. Like the +Priestly Code and the book of Proverbs, it consists of a collection of +smaller collections. Thus many psalms in the first half of the Psalter +are repeated wholly or in part in later psalms. Psalm 14, for example, is +identical with Psalm 73, except that in 14 Jehovah is used as the +designation of the Deity and in 73 Elohim (or God). + +The problem of determining the date of the individual psalms and of the +different collections is exceedingly difficult, both because the +superscriptions were clearly added by later editors who thought thereby to +connect the psalm with an earlier writer or historic incident, and because +the psalms themselves contain few historical allusions. A great majority +of them reflect the teachings of the pre-exilic prophets or, like the book +of Proverbs, come from the lips of the sages and deal with universal human +problems. Some were written by priests or Levites for use in connection +with the song service of the temple. Because of this timeless quality, +however, an appreciation of them does not depend upon an exact knowledge +of their authorship or historical background. It is possible that a few of +the psalms in the first part of the Psalter come from the pre-exilic +period, but the great majority reflect the problems, the hopes, the fears, +and the trials of the faithful who lived under the shadow of the second +temple. While the superscriptions clearly do not come from the original +psalmists themselves, they do record the conclusions of the editors who +made the earliest collections. The oft-recurring title "Psalm to David" +either means that by the editor it was attributed to David as the author, +or is a general designation of psalms that were recognized to be +comparatively early. The two great Davidic collections, 3-41 and 51-72, +were apparently collected not long after the rebuilding of the walls of +Jerusalem. They are deeply influenced by the inspiring teachings of the +II Isaiah. They are remarkably free from that ceremonialism which became a +powerful force in Judaism during the last century of the Persian rule. +Psalm 51:16, 17, for example, echoes the noble ethical teachings of the +great prophets: + +Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it, +Thou delightest not in burnt offering, +The sacrifice of God is a broken heart, +A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. + +They represent, therefore, the oldest edition of the Psalter and the songs +which were probably sung by the temple singers and the people as they +went up to the temple on the great feast days during the closing years of +the Persian period. + +III. The Prophecy of Joel. For a brief moment the clear light of +contemporary prophecy is turned upon the Judean community by the little +book of Joel. The immediate occasion was the invasion of a great swarm of +locusts which swept into Judea either from the desert or from the +mountains in the north. It contains in 3:6 the first Old Testament +reference to the Greeks. From 3:2 it is evident that the Jewish race has +already been widely scattered. In 3:2 the hope is expressed that the +time will soon come when strangers shall no longer pass through Jerusalem. +The temple, however, and the city walls (2:9) have already been +rebuilt, indicating that the prophecy followed the work of Nehemiah. The +priests are exceedingly prominent in the life of the community, and Joel, +though a prophet, places great emphasis upon the importance of the ritual. +When the community is threatened by the swarms of locusts, whose advance +he describes with dramatic imagery, he calls upon the people to sanctify +a fast and to summon an assembly, and commands the priests to cry aloud to +Jehovah for deliverance. + +IV. Hopes of the Jews. In his prophecy Joel has given a very complete +description of the hopes which the people entertained regarding the coming +day of Jehovah. It is the same day of Jehovah that Zephaniah described +(Section LXXXI:v) and yet the portrait is very different. A divine +judgment is to be pronounced, not upon Jehovah's people, but upon their +foes. Here Joel reveals the influence of Ezekiel's graphic descriptions +found in the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth chapters of his prophecy. +Vividly he describes the advance of Israel's hereditary foes. With +Full panoply of war they are pictured as advancing to the Valley of +Jehoshaphat, the valley of judgment (popularly identified with the +Kidron), where Jehovah is to pass sentence upon them. Then suddenly, as +the harvester puts the sickle in the grain, they shall be cut down and +utterly destroyed. Also in the prophet's imagination above this carnage +rises Jerusalem, an impregnable fortress for the people of Israel, holy +and no longer polluted by the presence of heathen invaders. Peace and +prosperity shall then be the lot of Jehovah's people. Above all he will +pour out his purifying, enlightening spirit upon all classes, so that +young and old, slave and free, shall be inspired by the consciousness of +his message and presence in their hearts. + +V. Rule of the High Priests. The few facts that have been preserved +regarding the external history of the Judean community during the last +century of the Persian rule are in striking contrast to the inner life and +hopes of the people. At their head were the high priests, whose names we +know, Eliashib, Johanan, and Jaddua. They constituted a hereditary +aristocracy intrenched in the temple, which controlled not only the +religious but also the civil life of the Jews. Like all hierarchies it +lacked the corrective influence of a superior civil authority. The one +safeguard of popular liberties, however, was the written law, which was +fast becoming the absolute authority in the life of the community. To it +the people could appeal even against the decisions of the priests. It +therefore kept alive that inherited democratic spirit which had been the +priceless possession of Israel through all its history. + +There is every reason for accepting the detailed account which Josephus +has given of the quarrel between the high priest Johanan and his brother +Joshua which resulted in the murder of the latter within the sacred temple +precincts. Such an opportunity would naturally be improved by the greedy +Persian official to impose an onerous tax upon the Jews. The Elephantine +letter establishes the fact that Johanan was high priest in 411 B.C. and +that Baghohi (of which Bagoses is the Jewish equivalent) was the Persian +satrap. It thus directly confirms the testimony of Josephus. References in +late Greek writings (Solinus XXXV, 6; Syncellus I, 486) suggest that the +Jews about 350 B.C. were involved with the Phoenicians in the rebellion +against Persia. These historians state that at this time Jericho was +captured and destroyed and that a part of the Jewish people were +transported to the province of Hyrcania at the south of the Caspian Sea. +The rebellion was instigated by Tachos, the ruler of Egypt, who about 362 +not only shook off the rule of Persia, but invaded Syria and stirred up +the Phoenicians to defy the Persian king. Artaxerxes III, popularly known +as Ochus, proved, however, the last ruler who was able to revive the +waning power of the Persian Empire. At his accession he slew all the +members of the royal family, and throughout his reign (358-337 B.C.) he +trusted chiefly to the unsheathed sword to maintain his authority. In 346 +B.C. he finally succeeded in collecting a huge army with which he invaded +Syria and besieged Sidon. Its king betrayed his city into the hands of the +Persians, only to be murdered by the treacherous Ochus. The citizens of +Sidon, recognizing that they would receive no mercy from the hands of +Their conqueror, shut themselves up in their homes and then burned them +Over their heads. According to the Greek historians forty thousand +Phoenicians perished in this revolt. + +VI. The Date of the Samaritan Schism. Josephus has given an unusually +full and detailed account of the final schism between the Jews and +Samaritans. He dates it under the high priesthood of Jaddua, who died +shortly after the close of the Persian period. He implies, therefore, that +the schism took place not long before 332 B.C., when Alexander the Great +conquered Palestine. This is also in keeping with the fact that the +Elephantine letter written in 411 B.C. knows nothing of a division +between Jew and Gentile. The fact that at the time of the division the +defecting priests took from Jerusalem the Pentateuch in its final form +strongly confirms the conclusion (as Professor Torrey has pointed out +in his _Ezra Studies_, pp. 324-330) that the Sanballat who ruled over the +Samaritan community was not the contemporary of Nehemiah, but his +grandson, who as an old man was ruling in Samaria at the time when +Alexander conquered the East. + +VII. The Nature and Consequences of the Schism. The schism between Jew +and Samaritan was but a revival of the ancient rivalry which dated from +the days when the Israelites had first settled in Canaan. The destruction +of Samaria in 722 and the strong policy of Josiah had apparently led the +Samaritans to look to the temple at Jerusalem as the chief sanctuary of +the land. Shechem, however, and Mount Gerizim, which rises abruptly on the +south, enjoyed traditions which dated from the earliest days of Israel's +history. The sacred oak and altar at Shechem figured even in the +patriarchal period. At the temple of Baal-berith in Shechem apparently +both Canaanites and Israelites worshipped during the days of the +settlement. According to the Samaritan version of Deuteronomy 24:4, Mount +Gerizim, not Ebal or Jerusalem, was the place where the Israelites, after +entering Canaan, were first commanded to rear an altar to Jehovah, and to +inscribe upon it the laws given to Moses. Even in the Jewish version of +Deuteronomy 11:29 and 27:12 Mount Gerizim is the mountain of blessing. In +the light of these passages such commands as, for example, that in +Deuteronomy 12:4, 5 would naturally be interpreted by the Samaritans as a +reference to Gerizim rather than to Jerusalem. The destruction of the +Judean capital and temple gave a great incentive to the revival of these +Ancient traditions and a new prestige to the northern sanctuary. Until the +close of the Persian period, however, the Samaritans evidently regarded +Jerusalem as an important shrine and worshipped there side by side with +the Jews. The ultimate schism appears to have come as a result of the +growing jealousy with which certain of the Jews regarded foreign +marriages. The marriage of Manasseh, the brother of Jaddua the high +priest, to Nicaso, the daughter of Sanballat II, and his ultimate +expulsion by the Jews blew into a flame the smouldering jealousy and +opposition that had long existed between the two communities. As Josephus +recounts, Sanballat, in order to satisfy his son-in-law, ceded lands and +special rights to him and to the other Jerusalem priests, who were +attracted by these offers, and ultimately built the famous temple on Mount +Gerizim over which Manasseh and his descendants presided. In many ways the +temple and service on Mount Gerizim appear to have been duplicates of +those at Jerusalem. The same law was recognized by both communities; they +shared together the same traditions and the same ideals; and yet their +subsequent history illustrates the psychological truth that of all forms +of hatred that between brothers is the most venomous and lasting. The +bitter rivalry and growing hatred that resulted from this act are +reflected even in the wisdom teachings of Ben Sira (B. Sir. 47:21, 24, +25). They also fundamentally color the writings of the Chronicler. The +strenuous efforts that he made to discountenance the claims of the +Samaritans reveals the intensity of the feud even in the Greek period (cf. +II Chron. 11:13-16). His zeal in trying to prove that the rebuilders of +the Jerusalem temple were of Jewish extraction was doubtless inspired by +the Samaritan charge that during the Babylonian and Persian periods they +had freely intermarried with the heathen population of the land. He was +compelled to admit that even the high priestly families had been guilty of +this sin, but asserted that the foreign wives were later divorced or else +the offenders were expelled from Jerusalem. In the light of the oldest +records it appears that the Samaritans were able to establish almost as +pure a lineage as the Jews. Naturally during the succeeding years the +ancient breach continued to widen until it was beyond all healing. + + * * * * * + +THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN AGE + +Section CIV. THE JEWS UNDER THEIR GREEK RULERS + +[Sidenote: 1 Mac. 1:1-4] +Now after Alexander the Macedonian, the son of Philip, who came from the +land of the Greeks, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, he +reigned in his place as the first ruler of the Syrian kingdom. + +He fought many battles, +And won many strongholds, +And slew the kings of the earth; +He went on to the ends of the earth; +And took spoils from a multitude of nations. +And when the earth was at peace before him, +He was exalted and his heart was lifted up; +He gathered an exceedingly great army, +And ruled over countries and peoples and principalities; +And they became tributary to him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XI, 8:7a, c] +Now when Alexander was dead, the government was divided among his +successors. It was about this time that Jaddua the high priest died and +Onias, his son, took the high priesthood. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 1:1b-d] +Alexander's empire was divided among many: Antigonus gained possession of +the province of Asia; Seleucus of Babylon and the surrounding nations; +Lysimachus governed the Hellespont, and Cassander held Macedonia; Ptolemy, +The son of Lagus, got Egypt. While these princes ambitiously contended +with one another, each for his own kingdom, there were continual +and protracted wars. And the cities suffered and lost many of their +inhabitants in these days of distress, so that all Syria experienced at +the hands of Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, the opposite of what is implied by +his title of saviour. He also captured Jerusalem by means of deceit and +treachery; for, coming into the city on a sabbath day, as if to offer +sacrifices, he without difficulty gained possession of the city, since the +Jews did not oppose him, for they did not suspect him to be their enemy, +and that day they always spent in rest and quietness. And when he had +gained possession of it, he ruled over it in a cruel manner. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 1:1g-j] +And when Ptolemy had taken many captives both from the mountainous parts +of Judea and the places about Jerusalem and Samaria and Mount Gerizim, he +led them all into Egypt and settled them there. And since he knew that the +people of Jerusalem were most faithful in keeping their oaths and +covenants, he distributed many of them among garrisons. At Alexandria he +gave them equal privileges as citizens with the Macedonians themselves. He +also required them to take oath that they would be faithful to his +descendants. And not a few other Jews went into Egypt of their own accord, +attracted both by the goodness of the soil and Ptolemy's generosity. +However, there were disorders between their descendants and the Samaritans +because of their resolve to preserve that manner of life which was +transmitted to them by their forefathers. They accordingly contended with +each other; those from Jerusalem said that their temple was holy and they +resolved to send their sacrifices there, but the Samaritans were +determined that they should be sent to Mount Gerizim. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 2:1a] +When Alexander had reigned twelve years and after him Ptolemy Soter forty +years, Ptolemy Philadelphus next had the kingdom of Egypt and held it +thirty-nine years. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 2:5d, e, 4:1d-f] +Now when Onias I. the high priest died, his son Simon succeeded him. When +he died and left only a young son called Onias, Simon's brother Eleazer +took the high priesthood. After Eleazar's death, his uncle Manasseh +assumed the priesthood, and after he died, Onias II. received that honor. +This Onia was lacking in sense and was a great lover of money; for that +reason he did not pay the tax of twenty talents of silver for the people, +which his forefathers had paid out of their own estates to the kings of +Egypt. Thus he aroused the anger of King Ptolemy Euergetes, the father of +Philopator. Euergetes sent an ambassador to Jerusalem and complained that +Onias did not pay the taxes and threatened that if he did not receive +them, he would parcel out their land and send soldiers to live upon it. +When the Jews heard this message of the king they were filled with dismay, +but Onias was so avaricious that nothing of this kind made him ashamed. + +[Sidenote Jos. Ant. XII, 4:2a-f] +There was a certain Joseph, young in years, but of great reputation among +the people of Jerusalem for dignity and exact foresight. His father's name +was Tobias and his mother was the sister of Onias the high priest. She +informed him of the coming of Ptolemy's ambassador. Thereupon Joseph came +to Jerusalem and reproved Onias for not taking thought for the security of +his countrymen and for bringing the nation into dangers by not paying this +money. Onias's answer was that he did not care for his authority, that he +was ready, if it were possible, to lay down his high priesthood, and that +he would not go to the king, for he cared nothing at all about these +matters. Joseph then asked him if he would give him leave to go as +ambassador on behalf of the nation. He replied that he would. So +Joseph went down from the temple and treated Ptolemy's ambassador in a +Hospitable manner. He also presented him with rich gifts and feasted him +magnificently for many days and then sent him to the king before him and +told him that he would soon follow him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 4:3b, 4a-c] +Now it happened that at this time all the principal men and rulers of the +cities of Syria and Phoenicia went up to bid for the taxes; for every year +the king sold them to the most powerful men of each city. And when the day +came on which the king was to let the farming of the taxes of the cities, +the taxes of Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, Judea and Samaria amounted altogether +to eight thousand talents. Thereupon Joseph accused the bidders of having +agreed together to estimate the value of the taxes at too low a rate and +he promised that he would give twice as much for them, and for those who +did not pay he would send the king their entire possessions, for this +privilege was sold together with the taxes. The king was pleased to hear +this offer, and because it increased his revenues he said he would confirm +the sale of the taxes to him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 4:5a-c, 3, 6a] +And Joseph took with him two thousand soldiers from the king, for he +desired to have assistance in order to compel those who refused in the +city to pay. And when the people of Askelon refused to pay anything, he +seized about twenty of their principal men and slew them, and gathered +what they had and sent it all to the king and informed him what he had +done. Ptolemy admired the spirit of the man, commended him for what he +had done and gave him permission to do as he pleased. By these means he +amassed great wealth and made vast profits by this farming of taxes. And +he made use of the wealth he had thus secured in order to support his +authority. This good fortune he enjoyed for twenty-two years; and he +became the father of seven sons by one wife. He had also another son whose +name was Hyrcanus. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:3a, b] +Now in the reign of Antiochus the Great, who ruled over all Asia, the +Jews, as well as the inhabitants of Coele-Syria, suffered greatly, and +their land was sorely harassed, for while Antiochus was at war with +Ptolemy Philopator and his son Ptolemy, who was called Epiphanes, these +nations suffered equally both when he was defeated and when he was +victorious. So they were like a ship in the storm which is tossed by the +waves on both sides. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:3c-e] +But at length when Antiochus had beaten Ptolemy he seized Judea. And when +Philopator was dead, his son sent out against the inhabitants of +Coele-Syria a great army under Scopas, general of his forces, and took +many of their cities and especially our people, who, when he attacked +them, went over to him. But soon afterwards Antiochus overcame Scopas in a +battle fought at the fountains of the Jordan and destroyed a great part of +his army. And afterwards, when Antiochus subdued those cities of +Coele-Syria which Scopas had captured, and Samaria among them, the Jews of +their own accord went over to him and received him into Jerusalem and gave +plentiful provisions to all his army and readily assisted him when he +besieged the garrison which was in the citadel at Jerusalem. + +I. Josephus's Histories. The Greek period began with Alexander's +conquest of Palestine in 332 and extended to the Maccabean uprising in 168 +B.C. For the external history of this period the writings of the historian +Josephus are the chief sources. This famous Jewish writer was born in 37 +A.D., and apparently lived till about the close of the reign of Domitian +in 96. According to his own testimony he was the son of a priest named +Mattathiah. Until he was sixteen he studied under the Jewish rabbis. He +then spent three years with the Jewish sect known as the Essenes. At the +age of nineteen he joined the party of the Pharisees. His point of view in +general is that of this dominant popular party. He was able to read Latin, +but wrote his histories in Greek. At the age of twenty-six he went to Rome +where he spent three years. Returning to Palestine at the beginning of the +great rebellion against Rome, he was appointed revolutionary governor of +the important province of Galilee. The appointment was unfortunate, for he +proved both incompetent and unreliable. In 67 A.D. he and his followers +were shut up by Vespasian in the Galilean city, Jotapata. During the siege +he vainly tried to desert to the enemy. At the fall of the city he was +captured, but his life was spared by Vespasian. In time he ingratiated +himself with Titus and also incurred the hostility of his countrymen by +trying to persuade them to lay down their arms. He spent the latter part +of his life in Rome, devoting himself to study and writing. As a result of +his long residence at Rome under the patronage of the Roman emperors, he +was powerfully influenced by the Greek and Roman philosophical schools. + +Josephus was the great apologist of his race. His chief aims in writing +his histories were: (1) to excuse his own acts in connection with the +great rebellion; (2) to show why the overwhelming calamity had overtaken +his race; and (3) to answer the attack of their Gentile foes by tracing +the remarkable history of his people, and by presenting in attractive +form their beliefs, institutions, and laws. Of his two great historical +works the one entitled _The Jewish War_ was issued probably between 75 and +79 A.D. It opens with the beginnings of the Maccabean struggle, and traces +the history, with increasing detail, to the destruction of Jerusalem and +the suppression of the Jewish revolt at Gyrene, two or three years before +the book was written. His second great work was issued in 93 A.D. under +the title of _The Antiquities of the Jews_. In twenty books it traces +Israel's history from the earliest beginnings to the opening years of the +Jewish war (68 A.D.). The first half of this extensive history is based +on the author's free paraphrase of the Greek version of the Old Testament. +For the latter half he draws largely from the apocryphal book of I +Maccabees and from the writings of contemporary Greek and Jewish +historians. Chief among these are Polybius, Nicolaus of Damascus, and +Strabo. At certain points, where earlier sources fail him, he employs +popular romances and late traditions. The result is that the different +parts of his history are of widely varying values. All must be carefully +tested by the canons of historical criticism. After due allowance has been +made for his apologetic purpose and his well-known tendencies, a large and +valuable body of historical facts remain with which it is possible at many +otherwise obscure points to reconstruct the course of Israel's history. + +II. Alexander's Conquests. In many ways Alexander's conquest was the +most significant and far-reaching event in the history of Asia. The causes +of this great movement were, first, the fact that the limited territory of +Greece and Macedonia gave to the powerful Hellenic civilization little +opportunity for local expansion. Compelled, therefore, to break these +narrow bonds, it naturally spread in the direction of least resistance. In +the second place the decadent Persian Empire, with its fabulous riches and +almost limitless plains, was a loadstone that lured on Greek adventurers +to attempt feats that seemed incredible. The third reason was Alexander's +inherited lust for conquest. His father, Philip of Macedon, had long been +accumulating the resources which made it possible for his son to realize +his ambitious dreams. The fourth reason was Alexander's desire to make the +world more glorious by the diffusion of Hellenic culture, ideas, and +institutions and by binding all races together into one great, harmonious +family. His brilliant conquests are a familiar chapter in the world's +history. At Issus, at the northeastern end of the Mediterranean, he won, +in 333 B.C., the decisive battle which left him in possession of the +western part of the huge Persian Empire. By 332 he was master of +Palestine. Tyre, the commercial mistress of the eastern Mediterranean, and +Gaza, the key to Egypt, alone offered resistance. The Persian kings by +their onerous taxation and cruel policy had completely destroyed the +loyalty of their western subjects. In the symbolic pictures of the book of +Daniel Alexander is regarded as the "fourth beast, terrible and fearful +and exceedingly strong. And it had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke +in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet" (7:17,23, 8:5-8). Josephus +has preserved a popular tradition regarding the meeting between Alexander +and the white-robed Jerusalem priests and the homage paid by the conqueror +to the God of the Jews. It bears on its face evidence of its unhistorical +character. As a matter of fact, the first goal of Alexander's conquest was +the rich land of Egypt. Not being possessed of a navy, he entered it +through its one vulnerable point, the Wady Tumilat, that ran from the +Isthmus of Suez to the Nile Delta. By 331 B.C. he was master of the Nile +Valley, and thence turned eastward, conquering in succession the different +provinces of the great empire, until before his death in 323 B.C. his +empire extended from the Mediterranean to the Indus, and in the northeast +far up toward central Asia. + +Alexander's conquests were significant because they represented the +victory of Greek ideas and culture as well as of arms. In each country +conquered he usually succeeded in Hellenizing the native peoples. Greek +cities, settled by his veterans and the horde of migratory Greeks that +followed in his wake, were founded at strategic points throughout the vast +empire. As recent excavations have shown, Greek art and ideas continued +even after the death of Alexander to sweep eastward across Asia, until +they profoundly influenced the culture and ideas in such distant nations +as China and Japan. + +III. The Jews in Egypt and Alexandria. The crown of Alexander's +constructive work was the building of Alexandria in Egypt. Selecting a +narrow strip of coast, protected on the south by the low-lying lake +Mareotis and on the north by the Mediterranean, he built there a +magnificent Greek city. On the south it was connected by canal with the +Canopic arm of the Nile. Alexander thus diverted to this new metropolis +the rich trade of the Red Sea and the Nile. A mile distant was the +island of Pharos, which was connected with the mainland by a great moll. +On either side, protected from the storms, were the eastern and western +harbors, large enough to accommodate the merchant-men and navies of the +ancient world. On the west was the native Egyptian quarter. In the +centre, opposite the island of Pharos, was the Greek and official quarter. +In the northeastern part of the city was the Jewish quarter. Here the Jews +lived together under the rule of their law; they were also represented in +the civic council by their own leaders. When Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, +became governor of Egypt and, after the death of Alexander, subjected +Palestine, he carried back to Alexandria many Jewish captives, and +attracted others by the special privileges which he granted them. In them +he recognized valuable allies in developing the commercial resources of +Alexandria and in maintaining his rule over the native Egyptians. Here in +time the Jews became wealthy and powerful and developed a unique +civilization. From the beginning of the Greek period the number of the +Jews in Egypt equalled, if it did not surpass, that of the Jews in +Palestine. While they maintained close connection with the Jews in +Palestine and remained true to their Scriptures, they were profoundly +influenced by their close contact with the civilization and ideas of the +Greek world. + +IV. The Rule of the Ptolemies. The long-continued rule of the Ptolemies +in Egypt is one of the most astonishing phenomena in this remarkable +period in human history. Far outnumbered by the native population, +involved in almost constant war with their fellow-Greeks, they succeeded +by sheer audacity and vigilance in maintaining their authority during the +many crises through which they passed. Egypt's natural defences also made +its conquest by outside powers exceedingly difficult. Alexandria with its +fleet commanded Egypt's one entrance by the sea. In order to protect its +eastern gateway, the Isthmus of Suez, it was essential that the Ptolemies +should control Palestine. Southern Palestine also commanded the great +commercial highway that led southward and eastward to Arabia and +Babylonia. Alexandria's ancient rivals, Tyre and Sidon, also lay on the +borders of Palestine, and it was essential that they be under the control +of Egypt, if Alexandria was to remain the mistress of the eastern +Mediterranean. Furthermore, Palestine and the Lebanons (known to Josephus +as Coele-Syria, that is, Hollow Syria), alone of the countries adjacent to +Egypt, possessed the timber required for the building of Alexandria's +navies and merchant-men. Hence Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, and his +successors spared no effort to maintain their control over the lands lying +along the eastern Mediterranean. + +In the division of the empire which followed the death of Alexander three +rivals struggled in turn for this coveted territory: Ptolemy, in the +south; Antigonus, who soon became master of Asia Minor and northern Syria; +and Seleucus, to whom fell the Tigris-Euphrates Valley and the more +distant eastern provinces. In the decisive battle of Ipsus in 301 B.C. +the overshadowing power of Antigonus was broken and the control of +southwestern Asia was divided between Seleucus and Ptolemy. By the +treaty that was made after the battle, Coele-Syria was given to Ptolemy; +but Seleucus and his descendants, who were known as the Seleucids or the +Seleucidae, soon attempted to wrest it from Egypt, and during the +following century frequently, with varying success, renewed the attempt. +In 295 and again in 219 they were for a brief period masters of Palestine, +but during most of this period it was held by the Ptolemies. + +V. Fortunes of the Jews of Palestine. Josephus's figure of a ship in a +storm, smitten by the waves on either side, well describes the lot of the +Jews of Palestine during the Greek period. They were in turn victimized +and courted by the rival kings of Egypt and Syria. The Jews, on the +whole, favored the rule of the Ptolemies, who had made many concessions to +their kinsmen in Egypt. The presence of many Jews in Egypt also made this +relation more natural. As a rule the Ptolemies during the intervals of +peace left the Jews of Palestine largely to themselves, as long as they +paid the heavy tribute that was exacted. It was, however, one of the +most corrupt periods in human history. The Ptolemaic court was rich, +profligate, and constantly degenerating. The popular story of Joseph the +tax-collector (which Josephus recounts at length), while largely fanciful, +vividly reflects the conditions and spirit of the age. Joseph, who +evidently belonged to one of the leading families of Jerusalem, by his +energy and effrontery secured the valuable right of farming the taxes of +Palestine. By the iniquitous methods then in vogue, he succeeded in +amassing a great fortune. The splendid ruins of Arak el-Emir on the +heights of southern Gilead, east of the Jordan, represent the huge castle +and town built by his son Hyrcanus and testify to the wealth of this +Jewish adventurer. The stories that Josephus relates regarding Joseph +indicate that the materialism and sensuality which were regnant in +Alexandria had penetrated even into the province of Judea. + +The one bright spot in the political history of this period is the reign +of the high priest Simon, known as the Just. He appears to have devoted +himself to developing, so far as was in his power, the interests and +resources of the Palestinian Jews and to have lifted the temple service +to a state of magnificence that received the unqualified commendation +of Jesus, the son of Sirach. + +VI. Conquest of Palestine by the Seleucids in 311 B.C. Seleucus Nikanor +transferred the western capital of his empire, known as Syria (a shortened +form of the ancient name Assyria), to Antioch, near the northeastern end +of the Mediterranean. This city was situated at the point where the +Orontes breaks through the Lebanons and where the great roads from the +Euphrates and Coele-Syria converge and run westward to its seaport, +Seleucia. It was built in the midst of a fertile valley, partly on an +island in the river and partly on its northern bank. Not having natural +defences, the city depended for protection upon its broad, encompassing +walls. To this new capital was attracted a diverse native, Greek, and +Jewish population. By virtue of its strategic position and its commercial +and political importance, it soon became one of the great cities of the +eastern Mediterranean. It occupied the natural site on the eastern +Mediterranean seaboard for the capital of a great empire. Shut in by the +sea on the west and the desert on the east, Syria's natural line of +expansion was north and south. Not until 198 B.C., however, under the +rule of Antiochus the Great, did it secure permanent control of Palestine. +The degenerate house of the Ptolemies made several ineffectual attempts to +win back their lost province, but henceforth Palestine remained under the +rule of Syria. The personal attractions of Antiochus the Great, the +specious promises which he made, and disgust because of the corrupt rule +of Egypt inclined the Jews of Palestine to welcome this change of rulers. +The court at Antioch, however, soon became almost as corrupt as that of +Egypt, and the Jews were the victims of the greed and caprice of the +Syrian despots. Meantime the insidious Greek culture and vices were +influencing and largely undermining the character of the Jewish rulers. +Judaism was unconsciously facing a supreme crisis in its history. + + + +Section CV. THE WISE AND THEIR TEACHINGS + +[Sidenote: Pr. 1:2-6] +That men may learn wisdom and instruction, +May understand intelligent discourses, +May receive instruction in wise conduct, +In justice, judgment and equity; +That discretion may be given to the inexperienced, +To the youth knowledge and a purpose; +That the wise man may hear and increase in learning, +And the intelligent man may receive counsel, +That he may understand proverb and parable, +The words of the wise and their riddles. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:1-6] +Does not Wisdom call? +And Understanding raise her voice? +On the top of high places by the way, +In the midst of the street she stands, +Beside the gateways in front of the city, +At the entrance of the gates she cries aloud: +To you, O men, I call, +And my appeal is to the sons of men. +O inexperienced, acquire discretion, +And ye stupid, gain understanding. +Hear, for I speak true things, +And the utterance of my lips is right. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:13] +Pride and arrogance and evil conduct +And false speech do I hate. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:14-16] +With me is counsel and practical knowledge; +With me understanding and might. +By me kings do reign, +And rulers decree justice. +By me princes rule, +And nobles judge the land. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:17] +I love those who love me, +Those who seek me diligently shall find me. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:18-21] +Riches and honor are with me, +Lordly wealth and prosperity. +My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold, +And my increase than choice silver. +I walk in the way of righteousness, +In the midst of the paths of justice, +That I may endow those who love me with wealth, +And that I may fill their treasuries. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:22-26] +Jehovah formed me as the beginning of his creation, +The first of his works of old, +In the primeval past was I formed, +In the beginning, before the earth was, +When there were no depths, I was brought forth, +When there were no fountains full of water. +Before the mountains were settled, +Before the hills were brought forth, +When he had not as yet made the earth, +Nor the first of the dust of the world. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:27, 29, 30] +When he established the heavens, I was there, +When he marked off the vault on the face of the deep, +Made fast the fountains of the deep, +When he set to the sea its bound, +When he marked out the foundations of the earth, +Then I was at his side as a foster-child; +And I was daily full of delight, +Sporting in his presence continually, +Sporting in his habitable earth. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 8:31-35] +And my delight is with the sons of men; +Now therefore, my sons, hearken to me, +Hear instruction that you may be wise, +And reject it not. +Happy is the man who hearkens to me, +Happy are they who walk in my ways, +Watching daily at my gates, +Waiting at the posts of my doors. +For he who finds me finds life, +And obtains favor from Jehovah. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 13:14-20, 24:5] +The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life +That man may avoid the ways of death. +Walk with the wise and you will become wise, +But he who associates with fools shall smart for it. +A wise man is better than a strong man, +And a man who has knowledge than he who has strength. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 12:10] +A wise man has regard for the well-being of his beast, +But the heart of the wicked is cruel. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 20:13] +Love not sleep lest you come to poverty; +Open your eyes and you shall have plenty. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 25:16] +If you find honey, eat what is sufficient for you, +Lest you be surfeited with it and vomit it up. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 23:9-35] +Who cries, Woe? who, Alas? +Who has contentions? Who, complaining? +Who has dullness of eyes? +They who linger long over wine, +They who go about tasting mixed wine. +Look not upon the wine when it is red, +When it sparkles in the cup. +At last it bites like a serpent, +And stings like an adder. +Your eyes shall see strange things, +And your mind shall suggest queer things. +You shall be like one sleeping at sea, +Like one asleep in a great storm. +"They have struck me, but I feel no pain; +They have beaten me, but I feel it not; +I will seek it yet again. When shall I awake from my wine?" + +[Sidenote: Pr. 29:20, 15:23] +Do you see a man hasty in his words? +There is more hope for a fool than for him. +A man has joy from the utterance of his mouth, +And a word in due season, how good it is! + +[Sidenote: Pr. 19:11, 16:32] +A man's wisdom makes him slow to anger, +And it is his glory to pass over transgression. +He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, +And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 23:26-28] +My son, give me your attention, +And let your eyes give careful heed to my ways. +For a harlot is a deep well, +And an adultress is a narrow pit. +Yea, she lies in wait as a robber, +And increases the faithless among men. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 4:25-27] +Let your eyes look right straight forward, +And let your gaze be straight before you. +Let the path of your feet be level, +And let all your ways be stable. +Turn not to the right hand nor to the left, +Keep your foot away from evil. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 14:15] +The simpleton believes everything, +But the prudent man looks well to where he walks. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 26:12, 27:2] +Do you see a man wise in his own conceit? +There is more hope of a fool than him. +Let another man praise you and not your own mouth; +Some other, and not your own lips. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 4:23, 11:6] +Keep your heart above all that you guard, +For out of it are the issues of life. +The righteousness of the upright shall save them, +But the treacherous are caught by their own desire. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 21:3] +To do what is just and right +Is more acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 15:1] +A soft answer turns away wrath; +But a harsh word stirs up anger. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 3:27] +Withhold not good from your neighbor, +When it is in your power to do it. +Say not to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, +And to-morrow I will give," when you have it by you. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 14:21, 19:17] +He who despises his neighbor, sins, +But he who has pity on the poor, happy is he. +He who has pity on the poor, lends to Jehovah, +And his good deed will yet pay him. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 25:21-22] +If your enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat, +And if he be thirsty, give him water to drink; +For you will heap coals of fire upon his head, +And Jehovah will reward you. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 3:11-12] +My son, reject not the instruction of Jehovah, +And do not grow weary of his reproof, +For whom Jehovah loveth he reproveth, +Even as a father the son in whom he delights. + +[Sidenote: Pr. 3:5-6] +Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, +And depend not upon your own understanding. +In all your ways know him well, +And he will make plain your path. + +I. Structure and Authorship of the Book of Proverbs. The book of +Proverbs is in reality a collection of originally independent groups of +proverbs. In its present form it consists of nine general divisions: +(1) The preface defining the aims of the book, 1:1-6. (2) A general +introduction describing the characteristics and value of the wisdom +teaching, 1:7-9:18. (3) A large collection designated as the Proverbs +of Solomon, 10:1-22:16. The fact that ten proverbs are repeated in +practically the same words indicates that it, like the book of Proverbs +as a whole, is made up of smaller collections. In chapters 10-15 the +prevailing type of the poetic parallelism is antithetic or contrasting, +while in the remainder of the book the synonymous or repeating parallelism +prevails. (4) A supplemental collection, 22:17-24:22. This is introduced +by the suggestive superscription, "Incline your ear and hear the words of +the wise." (5) A shorter appendix, 24:23-34, with the superscription, +"These also are from the wise." (6) The second large collection of +proverbs, 25-29. This bears the superscription, "These also are the +proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, +transcribed." It contains several proverbs found in the first large +collection, and evidently represents later gleanings from the same field. +(7) The words of Agur, 30. Of Agur nothing is known beyond his name, +which may be simply typical. The latter part of the chapter contains a +collection of numerical enigmas which may or may not have been associated +at first with the opening section. (8) The words of King Lemuel, 31:1-9. +(9) A description of the ideal Hebrew housewife, 31:10-31. The contents of +these collections as well as their superscriptions clearly indicate that +these proverbs represent the work of many different wise men, living at +different periods and writing from different points of view. Few, if any, +can be confidently attributed to Solomon. Even the proverbs in the large +collection, 10:1-22:16, which are definitely designated as the Proverbs of +Solomon, emphasize monogamy and denounce rulers who oppress their +subjects. Many of the proverbs in these larger Solomonic collections give +practical advice regarding the bearing of a subject in the presence of the +king, and few of them fit in the mouth of the splendor-loving monarch, who +by his foreign marriages and grinding taxation exerted a baleful influence +upon the political and religious life of Israel. The great majority of the +proverbs reflect the noble ethical teachings of the prophets. Clearly the +term Proverbs of Solomon is simply a late designation of early proverbs +the authorship of which, like that of most popular maxims, had long since +been forgotten. + +II. Date of the Different Collections. The preface and general +introduction to the book of Proverbs reflect the immorality and evils that +characterized both the Persian and Greek periods. Their background is the +corrupt life of the city. The tendency to personify wisdom is also one of +the marks of later Jewish thought. It is probable, therefore, that this +part of the book of Proverbs was added by a late editor who lived during +the Greek period. The oldest collection in the book is clearly to be found +in 10:1-22:10. The evils which it describes, the oppression of the poor +and dependent by the rich and powerful, existed throughout most of +Israel's history, but were especially prominent in the days of the +divided kingdom immediately before the destruction of Jerusalem. The +references to the king imply that the proverb writers had in mind Hebrew +rulers. In general their rule is just and they enjoy the respect of their +subjects. The prevailing occupation of the people is agriculture. Commerce +is just beginning to develop. The exile has not yet cast its shadow over +Hebrew life and thought. The majority of these proverbs clearly represent +the fruitage of the teachings of the pre-exilic prophets, and many of them +come from the days immediately before the final destruction of Jerusalem. +From the occasional references to the scoffers, the absence of allusions +to idolatry, and the fact that monogamy is here assumed, we may infer that +some of them at least come from the Persian or even the Greek periods. It +is probable that this large collection was not made until the latter part +of the Persian or the early part of the Greek period. + +The appendices in 22:17-24:34 contain many repetitions of proverbs found +in the larger collection. The prevalence of intemperance, the existence of +a merchant class, and the allusions to exiled Jews (e.g., 24:11) point +rather clearly to the dissolute Greek period as the age when these small +collections were made. The word meaning "transcribe," that is found in +the superscription to the second large collection (25-29), is peculiar to +the late Hebrew, and implies that this superscription, like those of the +Psalms, was added by a late Jewish scribe. The literary form of these +proverbs is more complex than those of the other large collection. The +kings are feared by their subjects, but figure now as oppressors rather +than champions of the people. While this collection may contain a few +proverbs coming from the period before the final destruction of Jerusalem, +it is probable that, like the smaller appendices to the first large +collection, they were not gathered until the early part of the Greek +period. The long appendices in chapters 30-31 are clearly late. The note +of doubt in the opening section of 30 is closely akin to that which recurs +in the book of Ecclesiastes. It is also based on Isaiah 44:5 and 45:4. +Aramaisms and the acrostic form in 31:10-31 imply that the background was +the late Persian or early Greek period. + +The history of the book of Proverbs is therefore reasonably clear. Its +original nucleus was probably a small group of popular proverbs that had +been transmitted orally from the days before the final destruction of +Jerusalem. These, together with proverbs which first became current during +the Persian period, were collected some time in the days following the +work of Nehemiah. To these was added in the Greek period the smaller +appendices in 22:17-24:34. Possibly the same editor joined to them the +large collection found in 25-29. He or some wise man in the Greek period +prefixed the elaborate introduction in chapters 1-9. To the whole was +added the appendices in chapters 30 and 31. It is probable that by the +middle of the Greek period, or at least before 200 B.C., the book of +Proverbs was complete in its present form. + +III. The Wise in Israel's Early History. Long before 2000 B.C. the +scribes of ancient Egypt were busy collecting "the words of counsel of the +men of olden time." Many of these ancient maxims still survive. The +best-known is that which bears the title "The Wisdom of Ptah-hotep." The +desire to preserve and transmit the results of practical experience is the +common motive that underlies the work of the wise. It is that which +inspires the teachers of all ages. The ancients were keenly alive to the +importance of instruction and training. All that is significant in the +civilizations of the past is, in a sense, the result of this teaching +motif. + +In early Israel there were many men and women famous for their ability to +give wise counsel. In his stormy career Joab, David's valiant commander, +frequently profited by the counsel of certain wise women (Sections +LIII:8-11 LIX:35). David's friend Hushai, by his wily counsel at the time +of Absalom's rebellion, saved the king's life. The narrative in II Samuel +declares that the counsel of Ahithophel was esteemed almost as highly as +the divine oracle. For his keen insight and acute decisions, as well as +for his witty utterances, Solomon gained a reputation which made him in +the thought of later generations the father of all wisdom literature. In +a significant passage found in Jeremiah 18:18 the three classes of +Israel's teachers are brought into sharp contrast. In urging that the +prophet be put to death his foes declared: "Teaching will not perish from +the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet." +From references in Isaiah and Jeremiah it is evident that before the final +destruction of the Hebrew state the counsel of the wise was chiefly +political and secular, and often not in accord with the higher ideals of +the great pre-exilic prophets. + +IV. Their Prominence in the Greek Period. The transformation of the wise +into religious as well as secular teachers apparently came after the +destruction of Jerusalem. It was the result of a variety of forces which +have already been studied. The destruction of the Hebrew state and the +resulting prominence of the individual led the wise to turn their +attention from questions of political to those of personal import. The +result is that the word "Israel" is found nowhere in the book of Proverbs. +The teachings there found are both individual and universal and apply to +Gentile as well as Jew, to the present as well as the past. The gradual +disappearance of the prophets during the latter part of the Persian +period, and the fact that the priests ever devoted themselves more and +more to the ritual and less to teaching, left a great need in the life of +Judaism which called to the front the wise. At the same time the problems +of the individual became more and more complex and insistent. Especially +was this true during the Greek period when Hellenic civilization, with its +corrupting influences, swept over Palestine and the lands of the +dispersion. It was a period when the principles enunciated by the earlier +prophets had been in general adopted by the Jewish race. The task, +however, of interpreting these principles simply and practically into the +every-day life of the people was left to these lovers and teachers of men, +the wise. The evidence of the voluminous writings of Ben Sira, as well as +of the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, makes it quite clear that it +was during the Greek period, and possibly in part under the intellectual +stimulus of Greek thought, that the wise attained their greatest +prominence and influence. + +V. The Aims of the Wise. The aims of the wise are in part defined in the +remarkable preface to the book of Proverbs, which was intended primarily +to describe the purpose of the collection of proverbs which embodies their +teachings. Four distinct classes commanded their attention: (1) The +ignorant, those who were unacquainted with the moral, religious, +and practical heritage received from preceding generations. (2) The +inexperienced, those who had not yet learned in the school of life the art +of adjusting themselves successfully to their environment. (3) The +scoffers, who openly rejected the counsel of the sages. And (4) the +disciples who were eager to learn and profit by the teachings of the wise. + +The definite aims of the wise must be inferred from their teachings. They +were concerned with the development of the individual, not the nation. +Their first aim was to instruct the ignorant in the fundamental moral and +religious principles already laid down by earlier priests and prophets. +In the words of the preface to the book of Proverbs they taught, + +That men may learn wisdom and instruction, +May understand intelligent discourses, +May receive instruction in wise dealing, +In justice, judgment, and equity. + +Their second aim was to point out the pitfalls that lay in the path of the +inexperienced, and to save them from moral wreck by inspiring within them +right ideals and ambitions. This aim is also well stated in the preface to +the book of Proverbs: + +That discretion may be given to the inexperienced, +To the youth knowledge and a purpose. + +The third aim of the wise was to educate the receptive and all who came +to them in the attitude of disciples. This aim corresponded very closely +to that of the modern educator. Again the preface to the book of +Proverbs clearly expresses this educational ideal: + +That the wise man may hear and increase in learning, +And the intelligent man may receive counsel. +That he may understand a proverb and parable, +The words of the wise and their riddles. + +The wise, therefore, sought not merely to instruct, but to educate; that +is, to develop sane, happy, and efficient men and women. They sought to +train those who would have not only knowledge and experience, but also the +ability to apply these successfully in the varied relations of life. +Above all, they endeavored to educate not parts of a man, but the whole +man. Hence their interest and the subjects that they treat are as broad +as human experience. + +The wise were keenly alive to the importance of youthful education. +The proverb: + +Train up a child in the way in which he should go, +And even when he is old he will not depart from it, + +voices the fundamental principle upon which all effective education is +based. They recognized that in the plastic days of childhood and youth +ideals and character and efficiency could best be developed, and that +education was not the work of a moment, but a gradual, progressive +development. + +Primary education, however, they intrusted to parents, and in many +proverbs emphasized the responsibility which every parent owed to his +child. They also counselled parents regarding the training of their +children. The maxims: + +The rod of correction gives wisdom, +But a child left to himself brings disgrace to his mother. +Chastise your son while there is still hope, +And set not your heart on his destruction. +He who spares his rod hates his son, +But he who loves him chastises him, + +express their appreciation of the importance of discipline in the early +training of the child. It is not clear at what age the wise took up the +instruction of the young. Possibly it was at about the age of twelve, +when the individual passed from childhood to adolescence, with its +increasing dangers and possibilities. Many of their teachings are +especially adapted to the problems of this tempestuous period. + +VI. The Methods of the Wise. In attaining their aims the wise men of +Israel employed a variety of methods. Proverbs such as, + +Every purpose is established by counsel, +And by wise guidance make thou war, + +suggest that, as in the days before the exile, they were still active in +connection with the civic, social, and national life of the people, and +that by influencing public policies they conserved the moral welfare of +the individual as well as the state. Many references to "wisdom's voice +crying aloud in the public places" suggest that, like the earlier +prophets, the wise men at times taught in public, in the market-places, in +the open spaces within the city gates, or wherever men were gathered +together. They appear also to have taught in private, by wise counsel +delivering the individual disciple who resorted to them from the +perils that beset his path, or aiding him by prudent advice in solving +successfully his individual problems. + +In 6:32-37 Ben Sira has given a vivid sketch of the schools of the wise, +which are clearly the forerunners of the later rabbinical schools: + +My son, if you wish, you will be instructed, +And if you pay attention, you will become prudent. +If you are willing to hear, you will receive, +And if you listen attentively, you will be wise. +Stand in the assembly of the elders, +And whoever is wise, stick close to him. +Be willing to listen to every discourse, +And let no illuminating proverbs escape you. +If you see a man of insight, hasten to him, +And let your foot wear out his threshold. +Let your mind dwell upon the law of the Most High, +And meditate continually on his commands. +Thus he will enlighten your mind, +And teach you the wisdom you desire. + +It requires little imagination to picture these ancient prototypes of +our modern universities. Like all Oriental teachers, the wise doubtless +sat cross-legged, with their disciples in a circle about them. They +trusted largely to question and answer, and poured out from their own +and their inherited experience wise maxims such as would guide the +simple and inexperienced and develop efficient manhood. + +VIII. Their Important Teachings. In the opening chapters of Proverbs the +wise describe the character and value of that wisdom which represents +their teaching as a whole. In chapters 8 and 9 "Wisdom" is personified. +Inasmuch as the Hebrew word for "wisdom" is feminine, it is spoken of as a +woman. Chapter 9 describes, in a form intended to arrest the attention of +the most inattentive, the feast that Wisdom offers to her guests. This is +contrasted with Folly's banquet, and the consequences to those who +participated in these rival banquets are clearly presented. + +In the practical teachings of the wise no question that vitally concerned +the individual man was considered beneath their attention. Like the wise +modern teacher they made no distinction between the religious and the +secular. Everything that influenced man's acts and ideals possessed for +them profound religious import. While the proverbial epigrammatic form of +their teaching was not conducive to a logical or complete treatment of +their theme, yet in a series of concise, dramatic maxims they dealt with +almost every phase of man's domestic, economic, legal, and social life. +They presented clearly man's duty to animals, to himself, to his +fellow-men, and to God. If utilitarian motives were urged in the great +majority of cases, it is because they sought to reach their pupils on +their own level. Although their ideals sometimes fell below those of the +great prophets, and especially those of the Great Teacher of Nazareth, the +importance of their work in establishing individual standards of right and +wrong, in keeping alive in concrete form the principles of the earlier +prophets, and in preparing their race for the crises through which it was +soon to pass cannot be overestimated. As effective teachers of the +individual they have an intensely practical and significant message for +all men in the stream of life to-day as well as in the past. + + + +Section CVI. THE DIFFERENT CURRENTS OF THOUGHT IN JUDAISM DURING THE +GREEK PERIOD + +[Sidenote: Ps. 19:7-14] +The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul; +The testimony of Jehovah is trustworthy, making wise the simple, +The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart, +The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes. +The fear of Jehovah is clean, enduring forever, +The judgments of Jehovah are true and altogether just, +They are of more value than gold, yea, than much fine gold, +Sweeter than honey and the droppings from the honey-comb. +By them is thy servant warned; in keeping them is great reward. +Who can discern his errors; cleanse thou me from secret faults, +Also from the presumptuous restrain thy servant; let them not have + dominion over me. +Then shall I be perfect and cleared from great transgression. +Let the words of my mouth be acceptable and the meditation of my heart, +In thy sight, O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 46:1-3] +Jehovah is our refuge and strength, +An ever present help in trouble. +Therefore we fear not, though the earth be moved, +And though the mountains totter into the heart of the sea; +The seas roar, their waters foam, +Mountains shake with the swelling of its stream. + Jehovah of hosts is with us, + The God of Jacob is our refuge. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 46:4-7] +His brooks make glad the city of Jehovah, +The holy dwelling place of the Most High. +Jehovah is in the midst of her, she cannot totter; +Jehovah will help her at the turn of the morn. +Nations raged, kingdoms tottered, +When he uttered his voice the earth melted. + Jehovah of hosts is with us, + The God of Jacob is our refuge. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 46:8-11] +Come, behold the works of Jehovah, +What desolations he hath made in the earth. +He is about to make wars to cease unto the end of the earth. +The bow he breaketh, and dasheth the spear in pieces; +He burneth the chariots with fire. +Be still, and know that I am Jehovah; +I shall be exalted among the nations, I shall be exalted on the earth. + Jehovah of hosts is with us, + The God of Jacob is our refuge. + +[Sidenote: Ps. 22:27-30] +All the ends of the earth will remember and will turn to Jehovah, +And all the families of the nations will worship in his presence; +For the dominion belongs to Jehovah and he rules over the nations. +Verily, him alone will all the prosperous of the earth worship. +Before him all those about to go down to the dust will bow, +A seed will serve him, it will be told to a generation to come; +And they will declare his righteousness that he hath accomplished to a + people yet to be born. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:1-8] +Now this word of Jehovah came to Jonah the son of Amittai: + +Arise, go to that great city, Nineveh, and preach against it; for their +wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish +from the presence of Jehovah. And he went down to Joppa and found a ship +going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare and embarked to go with them to +Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:4-7] +But Jehovah sent a furious wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty +tempest, so that the ship threatened to break in pieces. Then the sailors +were afraid and cried, each to his own god; and they cast into the sea the +wares that were in the ship, in order to lighten it. But Jonah had gone +down into the bottom of the ship; and he lay fast asleep. And the captain +of the ship came and said to him: What are you doing asleep? Call on your +God, perhaps that God will think on us that we perish not. And they said +to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose sake +this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:8-10] +Then they said to him, Tell us, what is your occupation, and whence do you +come? what is your country and of what people are you? And he said to +them, I am a Hebrew, and a worshipper of Jehovah, the God of heaven, who +hath made the sea and the dry land. Then the men were exceedingly afraid, +and said to him, What is this you have done? For they knew that he was +fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, for he had told them. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:11-13] +Then they said to him, What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be calm +for us? for the sea grew more and more stormy. And he said to them, Take +me up and throw me into the sea; so shall the sea be calm for you, for I +know that for my sake this great storm has overtaken you. But the men +rowed hard to get back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew +more and more stormy against them. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:14, 15] +Therefore they cried to Jehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O Jehovah, we +beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, neither bring +innocent blood upon us, for thou art Jehovah; thou hast done as it +pleaseth thee. So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the +sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly, and +they offered a sacrifice to Jehovah, and made vows. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 1:17-2:1, 10] +Then Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah was in the +belly of this fish three days and three nights. Thereupon Jonah prayed to +Jehovah his God, out of the belly of the fish. And Jehovah spoke to the +fish, and it threw up Jonah upon the dry land. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 3:1-4] +And the word of Jehovah came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go +to that great city, Nineveh, and preach to it what I shall tell thee. So +Jonah rose and went to Nineveh, as Jehovah said. Now Nineveh was a great +city before God, of three days' journey. And Jonah began by going through +the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Forty days more and +Nineveh shall be overthrown. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 3:5-9] +And the people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast, and +put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. And when +word came to the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, and took off +his robe, and dressed in sackcloth, and sat in the dust. And he made +proclamation and published in Nineveh: By the decree of the king and his +nobles: Man, beast, herd, and flock shall not taste anything; let them +neither eat nor drink water; But let them clothe themselves with +sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily to God, and turn +each from his evil way, and from the act of violence which they have in +hand. Who knows but that God may relent, and turn from his fierce anger, +that we perish not? + +[Sidenote: Jonah 3:10] +And God saw their works, how they turned from their evil way; and God +relented of the evil which he said he would do to them, and did it not. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 4:1-5] +But it displeased Jonah greatly, and he was angry. And he prayed to +Jehovah, and said, Ah now, Jehovah, was not this what I said when I was +yet in mine own country? Therefore I hastened to flee to Tarshish; for I +knew that thou art a God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and +abounding in love, and relenting of evil. Therefore, O Jehovah, take now, +I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to +live! And Jehovah said, Doest thou well to be angry? Then Jonah went out +of the city, and sat down before the city, and there made him a booth, and +sat under it, until he might see what would become of the city. + +[Sidenote: Jonah 4:6-11] +And Jehovah God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that +it might be a shade over his head. So Jonah rejoiced exceedingly over the +gourd. But as the dawn appeared the next day God prepared a worm and it +injured the gourd, so that it withered. And when the sun arose, God +prepared a sultry east wind. And the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, so +that he was faint, and begged for himself that he might die saying, It is +better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Is it well for +thee to be angry about the gourd? And he said, It is well for me to be +angry, even to death! And Jehovah said, Thou carest for a gourd, for which +thou hast not troubled thyself, nor hast thou brought it up--a thing that +came in a night and hath perished in a night. Shall I, indeed, not care +for the great city, Nineveh, in which there are one hundred and twenty +thousand human beings who know not their right hand from their left; +besides much cattle? + +[Sidenote: Eccles. 1:12-18] +I, Koheleth, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my mind to +searching out and exploring wisdom, all that is done under heaven: it is +an evil task that God hath given the children of men at which to toil. I +have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, the +whole is vanity and a striving after wind. The crooked cannot be made +straight; and the wanting cannot be numbered. I communed with myself, +saying, Behold, I have increased and gathered wisdom more than all who +were before me in Jerusalem, and my mind has abundantly beheld wisdom and +knowledge. And I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and +folly: I know that this also is a striving after wind. For in much wisdom +is much trouble, and he who increases knowledge, increases pain. + +[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:1-11] +I said in my mind, Come now, I will test you with pleasure; so look upon +what is attractive; and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, +It is mad; and of pleasure, What does it do? I searched in my mind, how to +Stimulate my flesh with wine, while my mind was guiding with wisdom, and +how to lay hold on folly, until I should see what is good for the children +of men to do under the heavens all the days of their life. I did great +works: I built for myself houses; I planted for myself vineyards; I made +for myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them, every kind of +fruit-tree. I made for myself pools of water, to water a grove springing +up with trees. I bought male and female slaves and had slaves born in my +house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than all who +had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and +gold, and the treasure of kings and of provinces. I secured for myself +male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men, mistresses +of all kinds. And I grew more wealthy than all who were before in +Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. And nothing that my eyes +craved did I keep from them; I did not deny my heart any joy, for my heart +rejoiced because of all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my +hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, +all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no gain under the +sun. + +[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:12-17] +And I turned to behold wisdom and madness, and folly; for what can the man +do who comes after the king? Even that which has been done already. Then I +saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness. The wise +man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness: yet I know +that the same fate overtakes them all. Then I said in my heart, As is the +fate of a fool so will be my fate; so why have I then been more wise? Then +I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise man, even as +of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever, inasmuch as in the days to +come all will have been already forgotten. And how the wise man dies even +as the fool! So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun +is evil to me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind. + +[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:24-26b] +There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and +find his pleasure in his labor. This also I saw that it is from the hand +of God. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment without him? This is +also vanity and a striving after wind. + +I. The Ritualists. Liberty of thought as well as speech was from the +first characteristic of Israel's life and thought. It was one of the many +valuable heritages that the Hebrews brought with them from the free life +of the desert. Their close contact with the outside world, and especially +with Hellenic life and thought during the Greek period, increased this +sense of freedom. The result is that many different currents of thought +are reflected in the Old Testament writings that come from this age. +Most familiar and easiest understood is the ritualistic type. It is +represented by the Chronicler, who lived and wrote some time between 300 +and 250 B.C. For him all life and interest centred about the temple and +its services. In general the vision of the ritualists was turned toward +the past rather than the present and the future. In the traditions +regarding the origin of the temple and its institutions, in keeping the +ceremonial law, in participating in the formal ritual, and in joining +their songs with those of the temple singers they found an escape from +the pettiness of the age and attained that peace and joy which is +expressed in many of the psalms of the Psalter. + +II. The Legalists. Closely related to the ritualists were those whose +interests were all fixed in the study of the law and the teachings of the +earlier priests. They regarded the written laws as a complete guide to +conduct and the embodiment of Jehovah's supreme message to his race. +Psalms like the fragment found in 19:7-14 voice their convictions: + +The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul, +The judgments of Jehovah are true and altogether just. +By them is thy servant warned; in keeping them is great reward. + +They emphasized not merely external acts and words, but inner motives. +In character and in conduct they were noble products of that religion +which Israel had inherited from the past. By them were probably treasured +stories such as are found in the first chapters of the book of Daniel. The +detailed references in chapter 2 to the marriage of Antiochus Theos and +the daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus in 248 B.C. and to the murder of +Antiochus by his former wife Laodicea, together with the absence of +allusions to subsequent events, indicate that these stories were probably +committed to writing somewhere between 255 and 245 B.C. Their aim was +clearly to emphasize the supreme importance of fulfilling faithfully the +demands of the law, even in the face of bitter opposition and persecution, +and the certainty that Jehovah would deliver those who were loyal to him. +Their teachings were especially adapted to inspire the tried and tempted +Jews of the dispersion, who were sorely persecuted by the heathen among +whom they lived. The dramatic picture of men who dared face the fiery +furnace or the hungry lions rather than depart from the demands of the law +undoubtedly proved a great inspiration to the Jews of the Greek period. + +III. The Disciples of the Prophets. Throughout the centuries that +followed the destruction of Jerusalem the great ethical prophets of the +pre-exilic period had never been without spiritual disciples. They +faithfully studied and applied in their own lives the principles laid down +by their earlier guides. Although the influence of the contemporary +prophets constantly waned, yet the spirit of those earlier champions of +the faith lived in the hearts of their followers. In many of the psalms +of the Psalter Amos and Isaiah and Jeremiah speak in terms adapted to the +changed problems of the Jews of the Greek period. In Psalm 46 the trust in +Jehovah which Isaiah advocated has become a living force in the life of +the Psalmist and of the class in behalf of which he spoke. In the +background one hears the march of the multitude armed by Alexander for +world-conquest and the din of conflict as army met army; but over all +stands Jehovah, protecting his sanctuary and people, supreme in the lives +of men and nations. The narrow, nationalistic, messianic hopes have long +since been abandoned, and instead Jehovah is recognized as the one supreme +being whose kingdom or dominion includes all the nations of the earth. In +imagination these disciples of the prophets saw the time when rich and +poor, Jew and Gentile, should bow before Jehovah and be united in loyalty +to him. Thus arose that highest conception of the kingdom of God which is +the foundation of Jesus' teaching. + +IV. The Date and Character of the Book of Jonah. From those who sat at +the feet of the earlier prophets came one of the most remarkable books of +the Old Testament. In literary form the little book of Jonah is closely +akin to the stories in the opening chapters of Genesis and the first half +of the book of Daniel. Its many Aramaic words, its quotations from the +late book of Joel, its universalism, and its missionary spirit all +indicate that it comes either from the closing years of the Persian or +from the earlier part of the Greek period. The story of Jonah, like many +similar stories in the Old Testament, was probably known to the Semites +centuries before it was employed by the author of the book to point his +great prophetic teaching. In the familiar Greek story of Hercules, +Hesione, the daughter of the Trojan king, is rescued by the hero from a +sea-monster which held her in its stomach three days. An old Egyptian tale +coming from the third millennium B.C. tells of an Egyptian who was +shipwrecked and after floating three days was swallowed by a great +sea-monster and thus carried to the land. From India comes the tradition +of a man who went to sea contrary to the commands of his mother. While on +the way the ship was seized by an unknown power and not allowed to proceed +until the offender was three times selected by lot and then cast +overboard. + +V. Teachings of the Book of Jonah. The value and message of the book of +Jonah have in the past been largely overlooked because the true literary +character of the book has been misunderstood. It was never intended by its +author to be regarded as a historical narrative. Its hero Jonah, the son +of Amittai, according to II Kings 14:25, lived during the reign of +Jeroboam II (780-740 B.C.), and predicted the wide extension of the +territory of southern Israel; but the Jonah of the story is evidently a +type of the Jew of the Persian and Greek periods. By showing the pettiness +of his attitude toward the heathen the author sought to broaden the vision +and quicken the conscience of his fellow-Jews. The portrait is remarkably +vivid and suggestive. Jonah fled from Jehovah's land and took refuge in +the sea, not because he feared the Ninevites, but, as he plainly declares +later, because he feared that, if he did preach to the Assyrian foes of +his race, Jehovah would repent and spare them. In the scene in the midst +of the raging tempest the piety of the heathen Sailors and their zeal in +sparing the guilty Israelite stand forth in favorable contrast to Jonah's +action in refusing to carry out Jehovah's command. The Ninevites, clad in +sackcloth, repenting for their sins, and craving Jehovah's forgiveness, +are far more attractive than the sullen prophet, complaining because +Jehovah has spared the heathen foes of his race and later upbraiding +Jehovah because of the destruction of the gourd that for a time had +protected his head from the burning sun. Jehovah's concluding remonstrance +voices the message of the book. Like the New Testament parable of the +Prodigal Son, the story of Jonah presents in graphic form the unbounded +love of the heavenly father and contrasts it sharply with the petty +jealousies and hatred of his favored people. It was a call to Israel to go +forth and become a missionary to all the world and a protest against the +nation's failure to perform its God-given task. + +VI. The Book of Ecclesiastes. Very different is the spirit and purpose +of the book of Ecclesiastes. It evidently comes from one of the many +wisdom teachers who flourished during the Greek period and it speaks in +the name of Solomon. It is an essay on the value of life. In its original +form its thought was so pessimistic that it has been supplemented at many +points by later editors. These insertions include (1) proverbs commending +wisdom and praising the current wisdom teachings, and (2) the work of a +pious scribe, a forerunner of the later Pharisees, who sought to correct +the utterances of the original writer (who is commonly designated as +Koheleth) and to bring them into accord with current orthodoxy. The +language and style of the book are closely akin to those of the Chronicler +and the author of the book of Esther. It also contains several Persian and +possibly one Greek word. The book in its earlier form was evidently known +to Ben Sira, the author of Ecclesiasticus, who lived about 180 B.C. In +4:13-16 and 10:16-17 there are apparent references to the reign of Ptolemy +Epiphanes, who came to the throne of Egypt at the age of five, and whose +court was famous for its dissoluteness and profligacy. The book, +therefore, may be dated with considerable confidence a little before 200 +B.C. It was a corrupt, barren period. Crime was rampant in the temple as +well as at the court in Alexandria (3:16). The people were crushed by the +powerful and were without means of redress (4:1). A despot sat on the +throne (10:5-7) and spies lurked everywhere (10:20). + +VII. Koheleth's Philosophy of Life. The author of the original book of +Ecclesiastes is the spokesman of that class in Judaism who were oppressed +and crushed by this dreary outlook. He evidently lived in Jerusalem and +probably near the temple (5:1 8:10). From the allusions in 7:26, 28 it is +evident that he was unhappily married. From the classic description of old +age found in 11:9-12:7 it would appear that when he wrote he was well +advanced in years, and spoke out of the depths of his own painful personal +experience, having been left without son or close kinsman (4:8). From his +teachings it is clear that he had broken away from the orthodox wisdom +school. Before his enfeebled vision rose the seamy, dreary side of life, +and yet back of the lament of this ancient pessimist is revealed a man of +high ideals, impelled by a spirit of scientific thoroughness. Though he +was intense and eager in his quest for true happiness and in his +analysis of the meaning of life, he found no abiding joy, for his +outlook was sadly circumscribed. Life beyond the grave offered to him +no hope or compensation. He was, however, by no means an agnostic. He +believed in God's rulership of the world; but the God of his faith was +inscrutable, far removed from the life of men. Hence, unlike many of his +contemporaries, as for example the psalmists, he found little joy or +inspiration in his religion. According to the conclusion, which he +proclaimed in the beginning of his essay and held consistently throughout, +all human striving and ambition, even life itself, are but superlative +vanity, nor can man attain any permanent or complete satisfaction. The one +positive teaching which Koheleth reiterates is that it is man's highest +privilege to extract from passing experiences the small measure of joy and +happiness that they offer, and therewith to be content. Compared with many +other Old Testament books, the religious value of Ecclesiastes is slight +indeed. Its chief value, however, is historical: it presents one phase of +thought in the Judaism of this period, and shows how sorely the Jewish +people needed the spur of a great crisis to rouse them to noble and +unselfish action. The book of Ecclesiastes also furnishes the darker +background which brings out in clear relief the inspiring messages of the +great prophets that had gone before, and of the greater Prophet who +was to set before the human race a worthy goal and a fresh and true +interpretation of the value of life. + + + +Section CVII. THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS THE SON OF SIRACH + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 1:1-10] +All wisdom is from the Lord, +And is with him forever. +The sand of the seas, and the drops of rain, +And the days of eternity--who shall number? +The height of the heaven, and the breadth of the earth, +And the depths of the abyss--who shall search them out? +Wisdom hath been created before all things, +And keen insight from everlasting. +To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed? +And who hath known her shrewd counsels? +There is one wise, greatly to be feared, +The Lord sitting upon his throne, +He created her, and saw and numbered her, +And poured her out over all his works. +She is with all flesh according to his gift, +And he giveth her freely to those who love him. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 2:1-5] +My son, if you would serve the Lord, +Prepare your soul for temptation. +Set your heart aright, and be steadfast, +That you may not be dismayed in the time of calamity. +Cleave to him, and depart not, +That you may prove yourself wise at the last. +Accept whatever comes to you, +And be patient in sickness and affliction, +For gold is tried by the fire, +And acceptable men in the furnace of affliction. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 2:6-9] +Put your trust in the Lord, and he will help you, +Hope in him, and he will make smooth your way. +You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy, +And turn not aside lest you fall. +You who fear the Lord trust in him, +And your reward shall not fail. +You who fear the Lord, hope for good things, +And for eternal gladness and deliverance? + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 3:17-20] +My son, if you are rich, walk in humility, +That you will be more beloved than a generous man. +The greater you are, humble yourself the more, +And you shall find favor before the Lord. +For great is the might of the Lord, +And he is glorified by those who are meek. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 3:21-25] +Seek not the things that are too hard for you, +And search not out things that are beyond you. +That over which power has been given you, think thereon, +For you have no business with the things that are hidden. +With that which is out of your field have nothing to do, +For more things are shown to you than you can understand. +For men have many speculations, +And evil theories have led them astray. +Where there is no pupil to the eye, the light fails, +And where there is no understanding, wisdom fails. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 3:26-29] +A stubborn heart fares ill at the last, +But he who loves the good finds it. +A stubborn heart has many troubles, +And the overbearing heap sin upon sin. +For the wound of the scorner there is no healing, +Since he is a plant of an evil kind. +A wise mind understands the proverbs of the wise, +And an ear attentive to wisdom is a joy. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 3:30-4:2, 9, 10] +Water quenches flaming fire, +And right acts make atonement for sins. +He who does a favor--it meets him on his way, +And when he falls he shall find support. +My son, deprive not the poor of his living, +And let not the eyes of the needy grow weary. +Make not a hungry soul groan, +And do not stir up the feelings of him who is smitten. +Deliver the oppressed from the oppressor, +And be not faint-hearted in giving judgment. + +Be as a father to the fatherless, +And instead of a husband to the widow; +So will God call you his son, +And be gracious to you and save you from destruction. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 4:20-22] +Observe the opportunity and beware of evil, +And be not ashamed of yourself. +For there is a shame that brings sin, +And another shame, glory and grace. +Do not be obsequious to your own shame, +And do not humiliate yourself until it is a sin against yourself. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 4:23-25, 28, 29] +Hold not back speech, in its proper time, +And hide not your wisdom. +For by speech wisdom shall be known, +And instruction by the word of the tongue. +Speak not against the truth, +But be humble because of your own ignorance. +Strive for the right even to death, +And the Lord will fight for you. +Be not boastful with your tongue, +And slack and remiss in your work. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 4:30, 31] +Be not as a lion in your house, +Nor arrogant and suspicious among your servants. +Let not your hand be stretched out to receive, +And closed when you should repay. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 5:1, 2a] +Set not your mind upon your possessions, +And say not, They are sufficient for me. +Follow not your own mind and strength, +To walk in the desires of your heart. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 6:2, 4] +Do not give yourself up to your passion, +Lest it like a bull eat up your strength. +For a wild passion destroys its possessor, +And makes him the laughing-stock of his enemies. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 6:5-8] +Well ordered speech makes friends, +And a gracious tongue wins kindly greetings. +Let those who are friendly toward you be many, +But your confidant one of a thousand. +If you would get a friend, get him by testing, +And do not give him your confidence too quickly. +For there is many a fair-weather friend, +But he does not remain in the day of need. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 6:14-16] +A faithful friend is a strong defence, +And he who finds him finds a treasure. +There is nothing equal to a faithful friend, +And his worth is beyond price. +A faithful friend is a source of life, +And he who fears the Lord finds him. +He who fears the Lord directs his friendship aright, +For as he is, so is his friend. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 7:12, 13] +Devise not a lie against your brother, +Nor do the like to a friend or associate. +Never take pleasure in speaking a falsehood. +For its outcome is not good. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 7:20, 21] +Do not treat badly a servant who serves you faithfully, +Nor a hired servant who gives to you his best. +Love a sensible servant as your own self, +Defraud him not of liberty. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 7:22, 23] +Honor your father with your whole heart, +And forget not the pangs of your mother. +Remember that of them you were born, +And now you can recompense them for what they have done for you. + +[Sidenote: B. Sir. 7:29, 30] +Fear the Lord with all your soul, +And regard his priests with reverence. +Love your Creator with all your strength, +And do not neglect his ministers. + +I. Date and Character of Jesus, the Son of Sirach. Out of the large +number of anonymous books that come from the Persian and Greek periods one +stands forth unique. It is the Wisdom of Ben Sira. With the exception of +the Psalter and Isaiah, it is the largest book that has come to us from +ancient Israel. Fortunately, its date and authorship may be determined +with reasonable certainty. In the prologue to the Greek translation, its +translator describes himself as the grandson of Jesus, the son of Sirach, +and states that he went to Egypt in 132 B.C. Hence it is probable that his +grandfather wrote some time during the early part of the second century +B.C. The appreciative description of Simon the high priest in the fiftieth +chapter of Ben Sira indicates that its author was a contemporary as well +as an admirer of that famous head of the Judean community. From the +references in the rabbinical writings, as well as from the definite +statement of Eusebius, it is reasonably certain that this Simon lived +between 200 and 175 B.C. Furthermore, the quotations in the writings of +Ben Sira from Ecclesiastes in its original form imply that he wrote during +the latter part of the Greek period. The complete absence of any reference +to the Maccabean struggle also proves beyond question that he lived before +168 B.C. These facts indicate that the date of his writing was somewhere +between 190 and 175 B.C. + +In the Hebrew version the name of this famous sage appears as Jesus, the +son of Eleazar, the son of Sira. In the Greek version, however, he is +known simply as Jesus, the son of Sirach. Ben Sira, or Sirach, was +apparently his family name, while Jesus is the Greek equivalent of Jeshua +or Joshua. From his writings it may be inferred that he belonged to a +well-known Jerusalemite family. It is also not improbable that he was +connected with the high-priestly line. His references to Simon the high +priest reveals his deep sympathies with the ecclesiastical rulers of +Jerusalem. The closing words in the Hebrew version of 51:12 are equally +significant: "Give thanks to him who chose the sons of Sadok to be +priests." In his teachings Ben Sira is in some respects a forerunner of +the later Sadducees. Evidently he was a man of influence in the Judean +community. His fame as a wise man doubtless attracted many disciples. He +was deeply interested in every phase of life. While his point of view was +somewhat similar to that of Koheleth, his outlook was thoroughly +optimistic. His teachings were positive rather than negative. His faith +was that of the fathers, and his purpose constructive. Out of the wealth +of teachings inherited from the past, and also out of his own personal +experience and observation, he sought to inspire right ideals in the young +and to develop them into happy and efficient servants of God and of their +fellow-men. In this respect he was a worthy representative of the wise who +during this period moulded the life of Judaism. + +II. His Writings. The prologue to the Greek version of the wisdom of +Sirach states that he was a devoted student of the earlier scriptures of +his race. In 33:16 he acknowledges, in all modesty, his indebtedness to +the past: + +I awakened last of all as one who gathers after the great gatherers, +By the blessing of the Lord I profited and filled my wine-press as one + who gathers grapes. + +It was natural, therefore, that he should write down his teachings in the +language of his fathers. Unlike most of his contemporaries, he possessed +a classical Hebrew style. Like the wise men whose teachings are preserved +in the book of Proverbs, he put his thought into poetic, proverbial form. +In his book there is a definite, logical arrangement of ideas. The first +part consists of a series of essays on various topics. The same subject is +often dealt with in many different settings (e.g., choice of friends, +6:5-17, 7:18, 12:8-12, 37:1-5). These brief essays are grouped together, +and each group is provided with a brief introduction, usually in +commendation of wisdom. Apparently the first half of the book consists of +notes based on Ben Sira's early teachings. Each group of sayings may +well represent his teachings on a given occasion. In 31:21 through 50:24 +is found the roll call of Israel's spiritual heroes, beginning with a +psalm in praise of Jehovah's majesty and power and concluding with the +description of Simon the high priest. This latter part of the book is +clearly a pure literary creation, and was probably added by him as a +conclusion to the collection of his wisdom teachings. + +III. History of the Book. The book containing the writings of Ben Sira +was known under a variety of titles. The Latin Church followed the Greek +in calling it Ecclesiasticus. This term was applied to those books which +were not in the canon, but were held to be edifying and proper for public +use in the churches. The Hebrew text of Ben Sira enjoyed wide currency, +was frequently quoted by the later rabbis, and was often referred to by +later Jewish and Christian writers. It was almost completely supplanted in +time, however, by the Greek version. Jerome was acquainted with the Hebrew +version, but most of the Church fathers followed the Greek. Ben Sira was +apparently quoted by Jesus, by Paul, and by the authors of the Epistle of +James and of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Twenty or thirty such references +or allusions are found in the New Testament. It was also a great favorite +with the Church fathers, who quoted from it even more frequently than from +the other Old Testament writings. It was adopted in the canon of the Greek +and Latin Church; but, in common with the other apocryphal books, was +given a secondary place by the Protestant reformers. Unfortunately, during +the earlier part of the last century it ceased to be printed in the +standard editions of the Bible. The modern revival of interest in the +apocryphal books, both in Europe and America, is tending to restore this +book, in common with I Maccabees, to the position which they certainly +deserve in the practical working canon of the Old Testament. The discovery +in 1896 of a fragment of the original Hebrew manuscript of Ben Sira, and +the subsequent recovery of many other parts, have also tended to arouse +wide interest in this hitherto much-neglected book. Hebrew portions of +thirty-nine out of the fifty-one chapters have thus far been discovered. +Most of them come from about the eleventh Christian century and are of +widely differing values. By means of these, however, and the quotations by +the Jewish rabbis and Christian fathers and in the Greek, Syriac, and +Latin versions, it is now possible to restore most of the original Hebrew +text, and the resulting translation is far superior to those based on the +Greek text. + +IV. Its Picture of Jewish Life. Ben Sira has given a vivid picture of +the domestic, economic, and social life of the Jews of his age. The +debased, Oriental conception of marriage had corrupted the atmosphere of +the home. Wives were regarded as the possessions of their husbands, and +the immoral influence of Hellenism still further undermined the purity +and integrity of many a Jewish home. Greek customs and usages were +pervading Palestine more and more. Ben Sira refers to banquets with their +accompaniments of music and wine. Even these meet with his approval. +Agriculture and commerce are the chief occupations of the people. In +general Ben Sira voices the wholesome Jewish attitude toward labor: + +Hate not laborious work; +Neither agriculture that the Most High hath ordained. + +He is especially strong in his commendation of physicians: + +Be a friend to the physician, for one has need of him, +For verily God hath appointed him. +A physician receives his wisdom from God, +And from the king he receives presents. +The knowledge of a physician causes him to lift up his head, +And before the princes may he enter. +God created medicines out of the earth, +And a prudent man will not be disgusted with them. + +The following proverb has a universal application: + +He who sins before his maker, +Let him fall into the hands of his physician! + +V. Rise of the Scribes. The writings of Ben Sira reveal the close +connection between the earlier wise and the later scribes. He lived at +the period when the wise man was turning scribe. He himself had a +profound respect for the law: + +A man of understanding will put his trust in the law, +The law is faithful to him as when one asks at the oracle. + +One of his fundamental teachings is formulated in the proverb: + +Fear the Lord and glorify his priests, +And give him his portion even as it is commanded. + +Elsewhere he declares: + +The leisure of the scribe increases his wisdom, +And he who has no business becomes wise. + +In his famous description of the typical wise man in 39:1-11 may be +recognized many of the traits of the later scribes. As the law and the +ritual gained greater prominence in the life of Judaism, it was inevitable +that it should command the attention of the practical teachers of the +people. Thus gradually the wise devoted themselves to its study and +interpretation, ever emphasizing, however, thought and conduct as well +as conformity to the ritual. Scribism was greatly enriched by its lineal +inheritance through the earlier wise, and long retained the proverbial, +epigrammatic form of teaching and that personal attitude toward the +individual and his problems which was one of their greatest sources of +strength. The honor which the early scribes enjoyed was well deserved. +Their methods were free from the casuistry that characterized many of +the later scribes. They not only copied and guarded the law, but were +its interpreters, applying it practically to the every-day problems of the +people as well as to their duties in connection with the temple service. +Their influence upon the Jews in this early period was on the whole +exceedingly wholesome, and from their ranks rose the martyrs that a +generation later were ready to die for the law. + +VI. The Teachings of Ben Sira. Ben Sira was acquainted with Greek +culture and shows at several points familiarity with Greek ideals and +methods of thinking, but his point of view in general was distinctly +Jewish. He gathered together all that was best in the earlier teachings +of his race. In many ways he represents an advance beyond all that had +gone before and a close approximation to the spirit and teachings of Jesus +of Nazareth. The God of his faith was omnipotent, majestic, omniscient, +just, and merciful. He was the God of all mankind, although it was through +Israel that he especially revealed himself. Ben Sira did not, like +Ezekiel, think of God as far removed from the life of men and as +communicating with them only through angels, but as directly and +personally interested in the experiences and life of the individual. In +23:1, 4 he addresses him as Lord, Father, and Master of my life. Thus he +employs in the personal sense the term Father, which was most often on the +lips of the Great Teacher of Nazareth. In Ben Sira's stalwart faith and +simple trust there is also much that reminds us of the Greater than +Solomon. Like the teachers who had preceded him, he had, however, no clear +belief in individual immortality (cf. 41:3-4, 38:16, 23) The only reward +after death that he could hold up before a good man was his reputation: + +A good life has its number of days, +But a good name continues forever. + +Consistent with the orthodox wisdom school, he taught that rewards for +right living came in this life: + +Delight not in the delights of the wicked; +Remember they shall not go unpunished to the grave. + +Even though he lacked the inspiration of future hope, Ben Sira taught +loyalty to God and fidelity to every duty. Justice toward all, +consideration for the needs of the suffering and dependent, and generosity +to the poor are constantly urged by this noblest Jew of the age. + + + +Section CVIII. THE CAUSES OF THE MACCABEAN STRUGGLE + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:10-15] +Now there came forth from [Alexander's successors] a sinful root, +Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king, who had been a hostage at +Rome, and he began to reign in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of +the Syrian rule (175 B.C.). In those days there appeared certain lawless +Israelites who persuaded many, saying, Let us go and make a covenant with +the heathen about us; for since we have stood aloof from them many evils +have befallen us. And the proposal met with approval. And certain of the +people were ready to do it, and went to the king who gave them the right +to do as the heathen. Then they built a place for gymnastic exercise in +Jerusalem according to the customs of the heathen. They also made +themselves uncircumcised, and, forsaking the holy covenant, fraternized +with the heathen, and sold themselves to do evil. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:16-19] +Now when Antiochus saw that his authority was well established, he thought +to reign over Egypt, that he might reign over the two kingdoms. So he +invaded Egypt with a great multitude, with chariots and elephants and +horsemen, and with a great navy. And he made war against Ptolemy, king of +Egypt. And Ptolemy was defeated by him and fled, and many fell mortally +wounded. And they seized the strong cities in the land of Egypt, and he +took the spoils of Egypt. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:20-22, 24-28] +Then after Antiochus had conquered Egypt he returned in the hundred and +forty-third year (169 B.C.) and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with +a great multitude. And he insolently went into the sanctuary, and took the +golden altar, and the candelabrum, and all that belonged to the table of +the showbread, and the cups for libations, and the bowls, and the golden +censers, and the curtain and the garlands; and the decorations which were +on the front of the temple--he scaled them all off. And taking all, he +went away into his own land, after he had made a great slaughter, and had +spoken very insolently. Thus a great mourning came to the Israelites +wherever they were. + +And the rulers and elders groaned, +he virgins and young men were made feeble. +And the beauty of the women was changed. + +Every bridegroom took up a lamentation, +She that sat in the marriage chamber was in heaviness. +And the land was shaken because of its inhabitants, +And all the house of Jacob was clothed with shame. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:29-40] +After two years the king sent a chief collector of tribute to the cities +of Judah, who came to Jerusalem with a great multitude. And he spoke words +of peace to deceive them, and they trusted him. Then he attacked the +city suddenly, and inflicted a severe blow on it, and destroyed many +Israelites. And he took the spoils of the city, and set it on fire, and +pulled down its houses and walls on every side. They took captive the +women and the children, and gained possession of the cattle. Then they +walled in the city of David with a great and strong wall, with strong +towers, and it served as a citadel. And they put there sinful people, +lawless men. And they fortified themselves in it. And they stored up +weapons and food and, gathering together the spoils of Jerusalem, they +stowed them away there. + +And the citadel became a great trap, +And served as a place of ambush against the sanctuary, +And an evil adversary to Israel continually. +And they shed innocent blood on every side of the sanctuary +And polluted the sanctuary. +Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem fled because of this, +And she became the habitation of foreigners. +And she became strange to those who were born in her, +And her children forsook her. +Her sanctuary was laid waste like a wilderness. +Her feasts were turned into mourning, + Her sabbaths into a reproach, + Her honor into contempt, +So great as was once her glory, so now was her dishonor, +And her exaltation was turned into mourning. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:41-53] +Then King Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom commanding that all should +be one people, and that each should give up his own laws. And all the +heathen nations yielded to the demand of the king. Many Israelites too +consented to worship him and sacrificed to the idols, and profaned the +sabbath. And the king sent letters by messengers to Jerusalem and the +cities of Judah commanding them to follow customs foreign to the land, and +to prevent the making of whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices and +libations in the sanctuary, and to profane the sabbaths and feasts, and +pollute the sanctuary and the holy things, to build altars, temples, and +shrines for idols, and to sacrifice swine's flesh and unclean beasts; also +to leave their sons uncircumcised, to stain their souls with all manner of +uncleanness and profanation, so that they might forget the law, and change +all the customs. And that whoever would not do as the king commanded +should die. Thus he wrote to his whole kingdom; and appointed overseers +over all the people, who commanded the cities of Judah to sacrifice city +by city. Then many of the people, every one who had forsaken the law, +gathered about them. And they did evil things in the land, and caused the +Israelites to hide themselves in all their places of refuge. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:54-58] +On the twenty-fifth day of Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-fifth +year, they built an abomination of desolation upon the altar; and in the +cities of Judah on every side they built idol altars. And at the doors of +the houses and in the streets they burnt incense. And tearing in pieces +the books of the law which they found, they set fire to them. And wherever +a book of the covenant was found in the possession of anyone, or if anyone +obeyed the law, the king's decree sentenced him to death. Thus they did in +their might month by month to the Israelites who were found in the cities. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 1:59-63] +And on the twenty-fifth day of the month they sacrificed upon the idol +altar which was upon Jehovah's sacrificial altar. And the women who had +circumcised their children they put to death according to the command. And +they hanged their babies about their necks, and destroyed their households +with those who had circumcised them. But many in Israel made strong +resolutions not to eat unclean things, choosing to die that they might not +be defiled with the meats, and might not profane the holy covenant. So +they died. And exceedingly great woe came upon Israel. + +I. Character and Contents of I Maccabees. The first book of Maccabees is +in many ways the best history that has come down from ancient Israel. +Luther's conclusion that it was more deserving of a place in the Old +Testament canon than, for example, the book of Esther is now being widely +accepted both in theory and practice. The religious spirit in which it is +written, the importance of the events with which it deals, and the +faithfulness with which they are recorded, all confirm this conclusion. It +is the work of a devoted patriot, who appears to have been personally +acquainted with the events which he records. He was an ardent admirer of +Judas Maccabeus, and may well have been one of the many valiant Jews who +rallied about this sturdy champion. The author was familiar with the early +histories of his race, for he has adopted many of the phrases peculiar to +the books of Samuel and Kings. His idioms leave no doubt that he wrote in +Hebrew, although this version has been lost. + +The first book of Maccabees opens with a brief reference to Alexander the +Great and to the Greek rulers who succeeded him. The detailed history, +however, begins with Antiochus Epiphanes and continues to the death of +Simon in 135 B.C. The references in the prologue to the rebuilding of the +walls of Jerusalem by Simon's son, John Hyrcanus, between 135 and 125 +B.C., and the absence of any allusions to the more important events in the +latter part of his reign, indicate that his history was probably completed +by 125 B.C. It was written, therefore, less than half a century after all +the events which it records took place. While the author is a true patriot +and keenly interested in the history of his race, he does not allow his +patriotism to carry him into exaggeration. He reveals the true historical +spirit and a splendid reserve in recounting the epoch-making events that +he records. + +II. Character and Contents of II Maccabees. In marked contrast with I +Maccabees is the second book which bears this name. The author states in +2:19-32 that it was based on an earlier five-volume history written by +Jason, of Cyrene, in northern Africa. The final epitomizer of this earlier +work probably lived not long after 50 B.C. Jason himself appears to have +lived somewhere between 160 and 140 B.C. and to have written from northern +Syria. The language of the original was evidently Greek. The aim of the +author was didactic rather than historical, and he drew freely from +popular tradition. In general character it corresponds closely to the work +of the Chronicler, who compiled the Old Testament books of Chronicles and +Ezra-Nehemiah. The miraculous element is prominent, numbers are frequently +enlarged, and Israel's disasters are minimized. Notwithstanding all of its +obvious faults, II Maccabees has preserved many important historical +facts. Where its testimony differs from that of I Maccabees, the latter in +general should be followed, but its account of the events which led to the +Maccabean uprising are much more detailed than those of I Maccabees, which +it supplements at many important points. With the aid of these two +histories it is possible to gain a remarkably vivid and detailed +conception of the half-century that witnessed the reawakening of Judaism +and the birth of a new national spirit. + +III. Aggressive Character of Hellenic Culture. Jewish life and religion +were at times almost uprooted, but never fundamentally transformed by the +Babylonian and Persian conquerors. Alexander, however, and those who +followed in his wake introduced an entirely new and aggressive force into +the life and thought of Palestine. The centuries that began with 332 B.C. +witnessed the most important struggle that the world has ever seen. It was +fought not on the open battle-field, but wherever in Palestine and the +lands of the dispersion the currents of that ancient life and commerce met +and mingled. It was the age-long conflict between Hellenism and Judaism, +those two mighty forces that had long been maturing in the coast lands of +the northern and eastern Mediterranean. The outcome of this contest was +destined to affect the civilization and faith of all the world throughout +the ages. + +Judaism represented the life and faith of a peasant people, while +Hellenism was born in the city. Wherever Hellenism went, it found +expression in civic life. The heathen races of Palestine, the Phoenicians +and Philistines on the coast, and the east-Jordan peoples readily welcomed +the superior civilization of the conquerors. It appealed powerfully to +their intellectual, social, and aesthetic sense, and, in the debased form +that it assumed in the East, to their passions. Even the Samaritans +readily accepted it; and the city of Samaria was settled by a colony of +Macedonian soldiers. The ancient cities of Gaza, Askelon, Accho under +the name of Ptolemais, Tyre, Sidon, Damascus, Bethshean under its new name +Scythopolis, Rabbath-ammon under the name of Philadelphia, and most of the +important east-Jordan cities were soon transformed into active centres of +Hellenic culture. Civic pride and patriotism took possession of their +inhabitants. Most of the cities had a senate and magistrates elected each +year by popular vote. Many of them were adorned by magnificent public +buildings, including a forum, theatre, stadium, hippodrome, and gymnasium. +Civic patriotism took the place of the old despotism and selfish +individualism. Each Hellenic city gave to its citizens new ideals and +opportunities. The discussions of the forum, the agora, and the gymnasium +inspired them with political, social, and intellectual interests. The +plays in the theatres, the races in the hippodrome and stadium amazed and +fascinated them. Many of the youths were enlisted in the clubs that were +formed in connection with the gymnasium, and all classes participated in +the public festivities. + +IV. Contrast Between Hellenism and Judaism. In the broad perspective of +history it is clear that both Hellenism and Judaism were essential to the +upbuilding and broadening of the human character and ideals. Hellenism in +its nobler form brought what Judaism lacked, and Judaism was fitted to +correct the evils and fatal weaknesses of Hellenism. Ben Sira vaguely +recognized this, and sought to reconcile these two types of civilization; +but in the second century B.C. men were chiefly aware of the glaring +contrasts. Compared with the splendor of the life in the Greek cities that +of the orthodox Jews seemed crude and barbarous. The intense horror with +which the Jews viewed every form of idolatry led them to reject all forms +of art. Their hatred of sensuality and immorality led them to regard with +aversion the sports and exercises of the gymnasium and the attendant +licentiousness. The practical teachers of Israel looked with suspicion +upon the subtleties of the different Greek philosophical schools. On the +other hand, the homely, domestic joys of the average Jew and his intense +devotion to the service of the temple and to the faith of his fathers +seemed contemptible to those familiar with the brilliant, voluptuous life +of the Hellenic cities. Hellenism protested against the narrowness, +barrenness, and intolerance of Judaism; Judaism protested against the +godlessness and immorality of Hellenism. Both were right in their +protests, and yet each in a sense needed the other. + +V. Apostasy of the Jews and the Perfidy of the High Priests. At the +beginning of the second century B.C. the Judean state was closely +encircled by a ring of Hellenic cities and subjected on every side to the +seductions of that debased Greek culture which had taken firm root in the +soil of Palestine. As was almost inevitable, many of the Jewish youth +yielded to its attractions. Distaste for the narrowness and austere +customs of their fathers begat in their minds a growing contempt for +their race and its religion. Even some of the younger priests forsook +the temple for the gymnasium. Unconsciously but surely Judaism was +drifting from its old moorings toward Hellenism, until the perfidy of +its high priests and the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes aroused +it to a full realization of its peril. The apostates in Jerusalem found a +leader in Jeshua, who had assumed the Greek name of Jason. He was the +brother of Onias III, the reigning high priest, and had been sent to +represent him at the Syrian court. There he improved the opportunity by +promising greater tribute to secure his appointment as high priest. He was +soon outbid, however, by a certain renegade named Menelaus, who with the +aid of Syrian soldiers drove Jason from Jerusalem and took his place as +head of the hellenizing party. The first cause, therefore, of the +Maccabean struggle was the apostasy of certain of the Jews themselves. +Apparently in large numbers they abandoned the traditions of their race, +and assumed the Greek garb and customs, thus leading their Syrian rulers +to believe that the hellenizing of the entire race would be comparatively +easy. + +VI. Character of Antiochus Epiphanes. The ruler who by his injustice and +persecutions fanned the smouldering flame of Jewish patriotism into a +mighty conflagration was Antiochus Epiphanes. As a youth he had been +educated at Rome with the profligate sons of those who ruled the Imperial +City. The Greek and Roman historians, especially Polybius, give vivid +portraits of this tyrannical king. In him the prevailing passion for +Hellenism found extreme expression. To dazzle his contemporaries by the +splendor of his building enterprises and by his dramatic display was his +chief ambition. In gratifying thus his selfish ambition he drained the +resources of his kingdom, and was therefore obliged to resort to extreme +measures to replenish his treasury. In 170 B.C. he made a successful +campaign into Egypt. Two years later he again invaded the rich land of the +Nile, only to find himself confronted by a Roman general, who peremptorily +ordered him to retreat. Rome was already the chief power in the eastern +Mediterranean, and Antiochus, although in a rage, wisely decided to +retire. It was at this inopportune moment that he found Jerusalem in +revolt, misled by a false report and by the renegade high priest Jason. +Antiochus not only improved this opportunity to loot the temple and slay +many of the inhabitants, but from this time on conceived a bitter +antipathy to the Jewish race. This antipathy he shared in common with all +the Greek world, for already, as a result of the peculiar religion and +customs of the Jews and their success in commercial pursuits, that which +is known to-day as the anti-Semitic spirit was fully developed. One of +Antiochus's chief ambitions was also to hellenize all his subjects, and +the Jews alone offered opposition to the realization of this ambition. +Hence they could expect no mercy at the hands of this selfish, capricious +despot. + +VII. Antiochus's Policy toward the Jews. The measures which Antiochus +employed to crush the faith of Judaism were relentlessly thorough. He +began with the seizure of Jerusalem, the tearing down of its walls, the +fortifying and garrisoning of its citadel with Syrian soldiers and +apostate Jews, and the slaughter of all who refused to accede to his +demands. Not only was the temple service stopped, but the altar was torn +down and desecrated and a heathen altar to Zeus--the abominable desolation +of the book of Daniel--was reared in its place. On this swine's flesh was +sacrificed, and the presence of harlots in the sacred precincts completed +its ceremonial and moral pollution. All the surviving inhabitants of +Jerusalem were compelled to sacrifice and pay homage to the heathen gods. +Those who retained copies of their laws or persisted in maintaining the +customs of their fathers were slain. When many fled to the outlying towns, +emissaries of Antiochus pursued them, demanding of each citizen public +recognition of the Greek gods. A majority of the Jews apparently yielded +to these drastic measures and joined the ranks of the apostates. Of the +many crises through which Israel passed this was in many ways the most +severe; but then it gave to the world some of the noblest martyrs. The +early Christians who perished for their faith were inspired by the example +of their Master and by the hope of blessed, individual immortality. To the +Jews of the Greek period, however, the great calamity that overtook them +came as a sudden and unexpected blow. No clear hope of immortality at +first inspired them, for, like Ben Sira and the earlier teachers of the +race, the majority of them probably regarded the life beyond death as a +passionless existence in the land of darkness. Even the expectation of +family or racial immortality seemed denied by the dark outlook. They died +as did Eleazar, the aged scribe, simply because of their devotion to the +God and laws of their fathers, and because that loyalty meant more to them +than life. + + + +Section CIX. THE EFFECT OF PERSECUTION ON THE JEWS + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:1-4] +At that time arose Mattathias the son of John the son of Simeon, a priest +of the sons of Joarib, from Jerusalem; and he dwelt in Modein. And he had +five sons, John, who was surnamed Gaddis, Simon, who was called Thassi, +Judas, who was called Maccabeus, Eleazar, who was called Avaran, Jonathan, +who was called Apphus. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:5-14] +When he saw the sacrilegious acts that were being committed in Judah and +in Jerusalem, he said, + +Woe to me! Why was I born +To see the ruin of my people, +And the ruin of the holy city, +And to dwell there while it was being given into the hands of the foe, +The sanctuary into the hands of foreigners? +The temple has become as though it had no glory, +Its splendid vessels have been carried into captivity. +Her children have been slain in the streets, +Her young men by the sword of the enemy. +What people has not taken possession of her palace, +And seized upon her spoils? +All her adornments have been taken away, +From freedom she has been reduced to slavery. +And now our holy things, our beauty and our glory have been laid waste, +And the heathen have polluted them. +Why should we still live? + +And Mattathias and his son tore their clothes, and put on sackcloth, and +mourned bitterly. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:15-22] +Now the king's officers who were enforcing the apostasy, came into the +city of Modein to sacrifice. And many of Israel went over to them, but +Mattathias and his sons offered resistance. Then the king's officers said +to Mattathias, You are a ruler and a man honored in this city and +strengthened by sons and brothers. Now therefore come first and do what +the king commands, as all the nations have done, the men of Judah too, +with those who remain in Jerusalem. Then you and your house shall be in +the number of the king's Friends, and you and your sons shall be honored +with silver and gold and many gifts. But Mattathias replied with a loud +voice, If all the nations included in the king's dominion obey him, in +that each is untrue to the worship of his fathers and chooses to follow +his command, yet I and my sons and my brothers will walk in the covenant +made with our fathers. Heaven forbid that we should forsake the law and +the ordinances. We will not listen to the king's words, to go aside from +our worship, either to the right hand or to the left. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:23-28] +And when he had finished saying these things a Jew came in sight of all +to sacrifice on the altar that was in Modein according to the king's +command. When Mattathias saw it, his zeal was kindled and he trembled +inwardly. And he let his anger take possession of him, as was right, and +he ran and slew the Jew upon the altar. Also he killed at that time the +king's officer, who was compelling men to sacrifice, and pulled down the +altar. Thus he showed his zeal for the law, just as Phinehas did in the +case of Zimri the son of Salu. Then Mattathias cried out in the city with +a loud voice, saying, Whoever is zealous for the law and will maintain the +covenant, let him follow me. And he and his sons fled into the mountains, +and left behind all that they had in the city. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:29-38] +Then many who sought justice and right went down into the wilderness, to +dwell there with their sons and wives and cattle, because the evils were +becoming ever harder for them to bear. And it was reported to the king's +officers and to the forces that were in Jerusalem, the city of David, that +certain men who had broken the king's command had gone down into the +hiding places in the wilderness. So many pursued after them, and having +overtaken them encamped against them, and drew up the line of battle +against them on the sabbath day. And they said to them, Things have gone +far enough, now come forth and obey the command of the king and you shall +live. But they said, We will not come forth, neither will we do as the +king commands, to profane the sabbath day. Then they at once offered them +battle. But they made no resistance, neither did they cast a stone at +them, nor stop up the places of concealment, for they said, Let us all die +in our innocency: let heaven and earth bear witness for us, that you put +us to death unjustly. Then they rose up against them in battle on the +sabbath, and thus they died with their wives and children and cattle, to +the number of a thousand souls. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:39-48] +When Mattathias and his friends knew it they mourned bitterly over them. +And they said to each other, If we all do as our brothers have done, and +do not fight against the armed heathen for our lives and our customs, they +will now quickly destroy us from off the earth. So they took counsel that +day, saying, Whoever shall come against us for battle on the sabbath day, +let us fight against him, and we will by no means all die, as our brothers +died in the hiding places. Then there gathered together to them a company +of Hasideans, brave men of Israel, every one who offered himself willingly +for the law. And all who fled from the evils were added to them, and +strengthened them. And they mustered a host. + +And smote the sinners in their anger +And the lawless in their wrath. + +And the rest fled to the heathen for safety. Also Mattathias and his +friends went about and pulled down the altars, and circumcised by force +the children who were uncircumcised, as many as they found in the +territory of Israel. Thus they pursued the sons of arrogance, and the +work prospered in their hand. They took the direction of affairs out of +the hands of the heathen and of the kings, nor did they yield ground to +the sinner. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:49-64] +When the time approached for Mattathias to die he said to his sons, Now +insolence and insult have grown strong, and a period of reversals has +come, with flaming wrath. + +Now, my sons, be zealous for the law, +And give your lives for the covenant of your fathers. +And remember the deeds which your forefathers did in their generations; +And win great glory and everlasting fame. +Was not Abraham found faithful when tested? +And it was counted to him as righteousness. +Joseph in the time of his distress kept the commandment, +And became lord of Egypt, +Phinehas our father, because he was so zealous, +Received the covenant of an everlasting priesthood. +Joshua for carrying out the word of God, +Became a ruler in Israel. +Caleb for bearing witness in the congregation, +Obtained a heritage in the land. + +David for being merciful, +Inherited a kingly throne for ever and ever. +Elijah because he was so zealous for the law, +Was taken up into heaven. +Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael believed, +And were rescued from the flame. +Daniel because of his innocence, +Was delivered from the mouth of lions. +And thus consider from generation to generation: +None who put their trust in him ever want strength. +Then be not afraid of the words of a sinful man; +For his glory shall be dung and worms. +To-day he is exalted, but to-morrow he cannot be found, +Because he has returned to dust, and the memory of him has perished. + +Then my sons be strong, and show yourselves men in behalf of the law; +By so doing you shall obtain glory. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:65-68] +And, behold, Simon your brother, I know that he is a man of counsel; +Obey him always; let him be your adviser. +Judas Maccabeus, too, has been a man of war from his youth; +He shall be your captain, and fight the battle of the people. +And take to yourselves all law-abiding men, +And avenge the wrong of your people. +Render a recompense to the heathen, +And give heed to the commands of the law. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:69-70] +Thus he blessed them and was gathered to his fathers. And he died in the +one hundred and forty-sixth year, and his sons buried him in the +sepulchres of his fathers at Modein, and all Israel made a great +lamentation for him. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:1-8] +In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and +visions of his head upon his bed. Then he wrote down the dream: I saw in +my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven broke forth upon +the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different +from the other. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I looked +until its wings were stripped off, and it was lifted up from the earth, +and made to stand upon two feet as a man; and a man's heart was given to +it. And behold, a second beast, like a bear; and it was raised up on one +side, and three ribs were in its mouth, between its teeth; and they said +thus to it: Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo, another +like a leopard, which had upon its sides four wings of a bird; and the +beast had also four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw +in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrible and fearful, +and exceedingly strong; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke +in pieces and stamped the rest with its feet; and it differed from all the +beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I gave attention to the +horns, and behold another little horn came up amongst them, before which +three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this +horn were eyes, like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:9, 10] +I waited until thrones were set up, and an aged one took his seat; his +clothing was white as snow, and his hair like spotless wool, his throne +was fiery flames, its wheels burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came +forth before him; thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten +thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set and the +books were opened. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:11, 12] +I looked at that time because of the sound of the great words which the +horn spoke--I looked even until the beast was slain, and its body +destroyed, and given to be fuel for the fire. Also the rule of the rest of +the beasts was taken away; but their lives were prolonged for a fixed time +and season. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:13, 14] +I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of +heaven one like to a son of man, and he came even to the Aged One, and was +brought near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory, and +sovereignty that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; +his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his +sovereignty one which shall not be destroyed. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:15-18] +As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved by reason of this, and the +visions of my head troubled me. I came near to one of those who stood by, +and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made me +know the interpretation of the things. These four great beasts are four +kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High +shall receive the sovereignty, and possess the sovereignty forever, even +for ever and ever. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:19-22] +Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was +different from all of them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, +and its nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the +rest with its fourth feet; and concerning the ten horns that were on its +head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three horns +fell--it that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, and it +appeared to be greater than the rest. I looked, and the same horn made war +with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the Aged One came, and +judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the fixed time came +that the saints possessed the sovereignty. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 7:23-27] +Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which +shall be different from all the kingdoms; and shall devour the whole +earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And as for the ten +horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise; and another shall arise +after them; and he shall be different from the former, and he shall put +down three kings. And he shall speak words against the Most High, and +shall continually harass the saints of the Most High; and he shall think +to change the fixed times and the law; and they shall be given into his +hand until a time and times and half a time. But the judgment shall be +set, and they shall take away his kingdom, to consume and to destroy +finally. And the sovereignty, and the dominion, and the greatness of the +kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall surely be given to the people +of the saints of the Most High; his sovereignty is an everlasting +sovereignty, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. + +[Sidenote: Dan. 12:1-3] +And at that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands for +the children of my people; and there shall be a time of affliction such as +there never was since there was a nation, even to that time; and at that +time thy people shall be delivered, every one who shall be found written +in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall +awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting +contempt. And they who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the +firmament; and they who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever +and ever. + +I. The Uprising Led by Mattathias. The persecutions of Antiochus + +Epiphanes had at last reached the point where patient submission and even +martyrdom ceased to be a virtue. His agents had successfully carried the +merciless, hellenizing campaign throughout practically all the territory +of Judea. It was not until they reached its extreme northwestern border +that they met the first open opposition. The little town of Modein lay out +on the edge of the great plain where the central hills of Palestine break +down into low foot-hills. These are intersected by rushing brooks and +clear, crystal streams that descend from the heights above. The town lay +on a rounded hill about one-third of a mile in diameter that rises +abruptly in a series of steep terraces. The Wady Malakeh encircled it on +the south and west. On the northeastern side, where lies the modern town, +was a broad shoulder of land slightly lower and larger than the acropolis. +In ancient times it was probably the site of the lower city. Deep, +encircling valleys on the north and east completed the natural defences of +this border village that became the altar of Jewish freedom. To-day the +scattered ruins of the acropolis are covered in spring-time with a +luxuriant growth of grain and olive trees, making it one of the most +picturesque mounds in Palestine. + +It is surprising that the revolt against the cruel tyranny of Antiochus +was led by an aged priest. Like many priests, his home was outside +Jerusalem. Evidently he was one of the chief men of Modein. He was +descended from the family of Hasmon, hence his descendants, who ultimately +became the independent rulers of their race, are sometimes called the +Hasmonians. In Mattathias the long-suppressed, hot indignation of the +Jewish race at last found expression. In slaying the apostate Jew and +Syrian official, Mattathias evoked that warlike spirit which had in +earlier days given Israel a home and a place among the nations. His +impulsive act inaugurated a new chapter in Israel's life and thought. In +its far-reaching consequences it was comparable only to Moses' impulsive +slaying of the Egyptian taskmaster. + +II. Party of the Hasideans or Pious. It was fortunate that Mattathias +had five able, mature sons to support him. Simon, the eldest, was already +famous in council. Judas, who bore the surname Maccabeus (whence the word +Maccabees), soon proved himself a great military leader. Jonathan combined +the qualities of Simon and Judas with a certain craftiness that makes +him the least attractive of the three. Eleazar later proved on the +battle-field that he had the qualities that make heroes and martyrs. Among +the Judean hills, and especially in the barren, almost inaccessible +fastnesses that descend in a series of terraces from the central plateau +to the Dead Sea, Mattathias and his followers found refuge. Hither many +patriotic Jews had already fled. The Syrian mercenaries, however, led by +the relentless, apostate Jews, pursued them, and, knowing their scruples, +attacked them on the sabbath day and pitilessly slaughtered them. Learning +from this awful example, Mattathias and his sons wisely decided that it +was more important to fight for their lives than to die for a mere +institution. They soon attracted to their standard all who were still +faithful to the law. Chief among these were those known as the Hasideans +or Pious. They were the spiritual successors of the pious or afflicted, +whose woes are voiced in the earlier psalms of the Psalter (Section +XLVII:v). They were also the forerunners of the party of the Pharisees, +which was one of the products of the Maccabean struggle. In them faith and +patriotism were so blended that, like Cromwell's Ironsides, they were +daunted by no odds. At first they depended upon the guerilla type of +warfare, to which the hills of Judea were especially adapted. By enforcing +the law of circumcision, by punishing the apostates, and by attacking +straggling Syrian bands, they encouraged the faltering Jews, and +intimidated the agents of Antiochus. Mattathias soon died, leaving the +leadership to his third son, Judas. The poem recording his dying +injunctions voices the inspiration that came at this time to Israel's +patriots from their nation's past, and that supreme devotion to the law +and dauntless courage that animated the leaders in this great movement. + +III. Date of the Visions in Daniel 7-12. A parallel but different type +of character and hope is reflected in the latter part of the book of +Daniel. In the form of visions or predictions, these chapters interpret +the meaning of the great world movements from the beginning of the +Babylonian to the end of the Greek period. Each vision culminates in +a symbolic but detailed description of the rule and persecutions of +Antiochus Epiphanes. Several passages describe the destructive policies +of this Syrian ruler almost as vividly as the books of Maccabees (Dan. +8:11, 12): "It (Antiochus) magnified itself even to the Prince of the Host +(Jehovah), and took away from him the daily sacrifice, and cast down +the place of his sanctuary, and set up the sacrilegious thing over the +daily sacrifice, and cast down truth to the ground, and did it and +prospered." + +Daniel 11:20-44 contains a review of the chief events of Antiochus's +reign. This description closes with the prediction: "He shall plant his +palace between the Mediterranean and the glorious holy mountain; so he +shall come to his end and none shall help him." Contemporary records +indicate, however, that Antiochus died while engaged in a campaign in +distant Persia and not in western Palestine as the author of Daniel +anticipated. In the other visions, after the description of Antiochus's +persecutions, the details suddenly give place to general predictions, +implying that at this point the author turned from the contemplation +of past and present events to that which was to him future. The great +victories of Judas and his followers that led to the restoration of the +temple in 165 B.C. are nowhere mentioned. In 11:34 is found an allusion +to the Maccabean uprising: "Now when they are falling they shall be helped +with a little help; but many shall join themselves to them with false +protestations." This movement, clearly, is not regarded by the author as +significant. The date of these visions, therefore, may be fixed with great +confidence between the years 168 and 166 B.C. + +IV. Their Real Character and Aim. In interpreting these visions it is +important to note that they belong to the so-called apocalyptic type of +literature. Already Ezekiel and Zechariah had employed the complex +symbolism of the apocalypse to stir the imagination and strengthen the +faith of their discouraged countrymen. The aim of the author of the +closing chapters of Daniel was primarily to present a religious philosophy +of history. Through the rise and fall of nations Jehovah's purpose was +slowly but surely being realized. They are the expression of the eternal +optimism of the prophets. They voice their deathless hope that "the best +is yet to be." They were intended to encourage those in the midst of +persecution with the assurance that God was still in his heaven, and that +all would yet be right with his world. + +V. The Four Heathen Kingdoms and the Kingdom of God. In the symbolism of +the prophet the four beasts of Daniel 7 represented the Chaldean, Medean, +Persian, and Greek Empires. The fourth beast with iron teeth that devoured +and broke in pieces the rest was clearly the empire of Alexander, and the +little horn that sprang up was the little horn which gored and mangled the +helpless people of Jehovah. Opposed to the four beasts which represented +the angels, or demons, the champions of each of the great heathen +kingdoms, was Israel's patron angel Michael. It is this angel that is +apparently referred to in 7:13 as coming from heaven, and in appearance +like to a son of man. At Jehovah's direction he was to establish a +glorious, universal kingdom, the citizens of which were to be the saints, +the faithful Jews who remained loyal to Jehovah during the long, cruel +persecutions. Not only those who survived but the martyrs sleeping in the +dust of the earth were to awake and receive their glorious reward. The +apostates were to be sentenced to everlasting shame and contempt. The wise +teachers and martyrs who by word and example had striven to keep their +race loyal to Jehovah were to be exalted in the coming messianic kingdom. +Thus these visions reveal the hopes that inspired certain of the Jewish +race in its period of supreme trial: the belief that Jehovah through his +angel would speedily overthrow the power of the heathen persecutor, that +he would establish a universal kingdom in which his own people should have +chief place, and finally that even the bonds of death would not hold those +who had died for the law. Thus at last out of this struggle Judaism +emerged with a new-found faith in individual immortality. It was still +bound up in the belief in the bodily resurrection, but at last the +imperishable worth of the individual had become one of the cornerstones +of Israel's religion. + + + +Section CX. THE VICTORIES THAT GAVE THE JEWS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:1-9] +Then his son Judas, who was called Maccabeus, rose up in his place. And +all his brothers helped him, as did all those who had supported his +father, and they fought with gladness the battle of Israel. + +He spread far and wide the fame of his glory +And put on his breastplate like a giant, +And girded on his weapons of war, +And set battles in array, +Protecting the army with his sword. +He was like a lion in his deeds, +And as a lion's whelp roaring for prey. +He pursued the lawless, seeking them out, +And he burnt up those who troubled his people. +The lawless shrunk for fear of him, +And all the workers of lawlessness were greatly terrified; +And deliverance was attained through him. +He angered many kings, +And made Jacob glad with his acts; +And his memory is blessed forever. +He went about among the cities of Judah, +And destroyed the godless from the land, +And turned away the wrath of God from Israel. +And he was renowned to the ends of the earth. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:10-12] +Then Apollonius gathered the heathen together and a great army from +Samaria to fight against Israel. And when Judas learned of it, he went +out to meet him, and defeated and slew him; and many fell mortally +wounded, while the rest fled. And they captured their spoils, and Judas +took the sword of Apollonius, with which he fought all his days. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:13-15] +When Seron, the commander of the army of Syria, heard that Judas had +gathered a large force of faithful men about him, who went with him to +war, he said, I will make myself famous and gain renown in the kingdom; +for I will fight with Judas and those with him, who are defying the +command of the king. And there went up with him also a mighty army of the +godless to help him, to take vengeance on the Israelites. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:16-22] +As he approached the ascent of Bethhoron, Judas went forth to meet him +with a small company. But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they +said to Judas, How shall we, few as we are, be able to battle against so +great a multitude? and we are faint also, having tasted no food to-day. +Then Judas said, It is an easy thing for many to be shut up in the hands +of a few; and with Heaven it is equally easy to save by many or by few; +for victory in battle does not depend upon the size of an army, but from +Heaven comes the strength. They come to us full of insolence and +lawlessness, to destroy us with our wives and children and to plunder us; +but, as for us, we are fighting for our lives and our laws. And he himself +will crush them before our face; so do not be afraid of them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:23, 24] +Now when he had finished speaking, he leaped suddenly upon them, and Seron +and his army were put to flight before him. And they pursued them by the +descent of Bethhoron to the plain, and there fell of them about eight +hundred men; but the rest fled into the land of the Philistines. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:25-31] +Now the fear of Judas and his brothers and the dread of them began to fall +upon the nations round about them. And his reputation reached the king, +for every nation was telling of the battles of Judas. But when King +Antiochus heard these things, he was filled with indignation and sent +and gathered together all the forces of his realm, a very strong army. +And he opened his treasury and gave his forces pay for a year, and +commanded them to be ready for every emergency. And seeing that money was +scarce in his treasury and that the tributes of the country were small, +because of the dissension and calamity which he had brought upon the land, +for the purpose of taking away the laws which had been in force from the +earliest days, he feared that he should not have enough, as at other +times, for the expenses and the gifts which he had formerly given with a +liberal hand, in which he had surpassed the kings who had been before him. +And he was exceedingly perplexed in his mind, and determined to go into +Persia and to take the tributes of the countries and to gather much money. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:32-37] +So he left Lysias, an honorable man and one of the royal family in charge +of the affairs of the king from the River Euphrates to the borders of +Egypt and to bring up his son Antiochus, until he returned. And he +delivered to him the half of his forces and the elephants, and gave him +charge of all the things that he wished to have done and concerning those +who dwelt in Judea and in Jerusalem, that he should send a force against +them, to root out and destroy the strength of Israel and the remnant of +Jerusalem, and to take away their memory from the place, and that he +should make foreigners dwell in all their territory and should divide +their land to them by lot. Then the king took the remaining half of the +forces and set out from Antioch his capital, in the one hundred and +forty-seventh year, and, crossing the Euphrates, he went through the upper +countries. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:38-41] +Now Lysias chose Ptolemy the son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor, and Gorgias, +influential men among the king's Friends, and with them sent forty +thousand footmen and seven thousand horsemen to go into the land of Judah +to destroy it, as the king had ordered. And they set out with all their +army and pitched their camp near Emmaus in the plain. And the merchants of +the country heard the rumors about them, and taking silver and gold in +large quantities, and shackles, they came into the camp to get the +Israelites for slaves. There were added to them the forces of Syria and of +the Philistines. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:42, 43, 46-54] +Then Judas and his brothers saw that evils were increasing and that the +forces were encamping in their territory, and when they learned of the +commands which the king had given to destroy the people and make an end of +them, they said to each other, + +Let us raise up the ruin of our people +And let us fight for our people and the sanctuary; + +So they gathered together and came to Mizpeh, opposite Jerusalem; for in +Mizpeh there was a place of prayer for Israel. And they fasted that day, +and put sackcloth and ashes on their heads and tore their clothes, and +spread out the book of the law--one of those in which the heathen had been +painting images of their idols. And they brought the priests' garments +with the first-fruits, and the tithes, and they cut the hair of the +Nazirites who had accomplished their days. And they cried aloud toward +Heaven, saying, What shall we do with these and whither shall we carry +them away? For thy sanctuary is trodden down and profaned, and thy priests +are in sorrow, and humiliation. And now the heathen have assembled +together against us to destroy us. Thou knowest what plans they are making +against us. How shall we be able to stand before them, except thou be our +help? And they sounded with the trumpets, and cried with a loud voice. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:55-60] +And after this Judas appointed leaders of the people, commanders over +thousands, over hundreds, over fifties, and over tens. And he told those +who were building houses and those who were planting vineyards and those +who were afraid, to return, each to his own house, as the law commanded. +Then the army removed and encamped upon the south side of Emmaus. And +Judas said, Gird yourselves and be valiant men; and be ready in the +morning to fight with these heathen who are assembled together against us +to destroy us and our sanctuary. For it is better for us to die in +battle than to see the misfortunes of our nation and of the sanctuary. +Nevertheless, let Heaven do whatever be his will. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:1-6a] +And Gorgias took five thousand footmen, and a thousand chosen horsemen, +and the army set out by night, that it might fall upon the army of the +Jews and attack them suddenly. And the men of the citadel were his guides. +But when Judas heard of it, he broke camp with his valiant men, that he +might attack the king's army which was at Emmaus, while as yet the forces +were dispersed from the camp. And when Gorgias came to the camp of Judas +by night, he found no one. Then he looked for them in the mountains, +thinking that the men were fleeing from him. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:6b-11] +But as soon as it was day, Judas appeared in the plain with three thousand +men; only they had neither armor nor swords as they wished. When now they +saw the camp of the heathen strongly fortified and cavalry about it and +experienced warriors there, Judas said to the men who were with him, Fear +not their multitude neither be afraid of their attack. Remember how our +fathers were saved in the Red Sea, when Pharaoh pursued them with a host. +And now let us cry to Heaven, if he will show favor to us and will +remember the covenant made with our fathers and destroy this army before +our face to-day, that all the heathen may know that there is one who +redeemeth and saveth Israel. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:12-15] +Then when the foreigners lifted up their eyes and saw them coming toward +them, they went from their camp to battle. And those who were with Judas +sounded their trumpets and joined battle; and the heathen were defeated +and fled into the plain. But all who were in the rear fell by the sword, +and they pursued them to Gazara and to the plains of Idumea and Azotus and +Jamnia, and there fell of them about three thousand men. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:16-25] +When Judas and his army returned from pursuing them, he said to the +people, Do not be greedy for the spoils, since there is a battle before +us, and Gorgias and his army are near us in the mountain. But stand now +against our enemies and fight them, and afterward you may openly take the +spoils. While Judas was still speaking there appeared a part of them, +looking out from the mountain; and these saw that their army had been put +to flight and that the Jews were burning their camp, for the smoke that +was seen showed what had been done. And when they perceived these things, +they were thrown into a panic, and seeing the army of Judas also in +the plain ready for battle, they all retreated into the land of the +Philistines. And Judas returned to sack the camp, and they took much gold +and silver and blue and sea-purple and great riches. Then they returned +home and sang a song of thanksgiving and gave praise to Heaven, because he +is good, because his mercy endureth forever. Thus Israel had a great +deliverance that day. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:26, 27] +But the foreigners, as many as had escaped, came and told Lysias all the +things that had happened. And when he heard it he was astonished and +discouraged, because neither had Israel met with reverses as he wished nor +had what the king commanded been realized. + +[Footnote: I Macc. 4:28-34] +Now in the next year [Lysias] gathered together sixty thousand picked +footmen and five thousand horsemen, that he might subdue [the Jews]. When +they came to Idumea and encamped at Bethsura, Judas met them with ten +thousand men. As he saw that the army was strong, he prayed and said, +Blessed art thou, O Saviour of Israel, who didst shatter the attacking +power of the mighty man by the hand of thy servant David, and didst +deliver the army of the heathen into the hands of Jonathan the son of +Saul, and of his armor-bearer. + +Shut up this army in the hand of thy people Israel, +And let them be ashamed of their army and their horsemen. +Give them faintness of heart, +And let their bold courage melt away, +And let them tremble at their destruction. +Cast them down by the sword of those who love thee, +So that all may know thy name who praise thee with thanksgiving. + +Then they joined battle; and there fell of the army of Lysias about five +thousand men, and they fell on the spot before them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:35] +But when Lysias saw that his army was retreating, and the boldness that +had come upon those who were with Judas, and how they were ready either to +live or to die nobly, he removed to Antioch and gathered together hired +soldiers, that he might come again into Judea with a still greater force. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:36-51] +Then Judas and his brothers said, Now that our enemies have been defeated, +let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and to dedicate it again; so they +went up to Mount Zion. And all the army was gathered together and went up +to Mount Zion. And when they saw the sanctuary laid desolate, the altar +profaned, the gates burnt, and shrubs growing in the courts, as in a +forest or as on one of the mountains, and the priests' chambers pulled +down, they tore their garments and made great lamentation, and putting +ashes upon their heads, they fell prone upon the ground. Then they blew a +signal on the trumpets and cried to Heaven. And Judas appointed certain +men to fight against those who were in the citadel, until he should have +cleansed the sanctuary. And he chose priests who were unimpeachable +observers of the law, who cleansed the sanctuary and carried out the +polluted stones to an unclean place. And they deliberated as to what they +should do with the altar of burnt-offerings which had been profaned. They +finally reached this wise decision: to pull it down lest it should be a +reproach to them, because the heathen had defiled it. So they pulled down +the altar and laid the stones on the temple mount in a convenient place, +until there should come a prophet to give an oracle concerning them. Then +they took whole stones as the law required and built a new altar after the +design of the former. They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the inner parts +of the temple and consecrated the courts. They also made the holy vessels +new and brought the candlestick and the altar for burnt-offerings and for +incense and the table into the temple. And they burned incense on the +altar and lighted the lamps that were on the candlestick, and they gave +light in the temple. Then they set loaves upon the table and spread out +the veils. So they finished all the work they had undertaken. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 4:52-61] +And they arose early in the morning of the twenty-fifth day of the ninth +month, which is the month Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth +year (165 B.C.) and offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new +altar of burnt-offering which they had made. About the same time and on +the same day, in which the heathen had profaned it, was it dedicated again +with songs and harps and lutes and with cymbals. And all the people +prostrated themselves and worshipped and gave praise to Heaven, who had +given them good success. And they celebrated the dedication of the altar +eight days, and offered burnt-offerings with gladness and sacrificed a +sacrifice of deliverance and praise. And they decorated the front of the +temple with crowns of gold and small shields and rededicated the gates and +the priests' chambers and made doors for them. And great joy reigned among +the people, because the reproach of the heathen had been removed. And +Judas and his brothers and the whole congregation of Israel decreed that +the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their seasons +from year to year for the period of eight days, from the twenty-fifth day +of the month Chislev, with gladness and joy. At that time also they +fortified Mount Zion with high walls and strong towers all round, lest by +any chance the heathen should come and tread them down, as they had done +before. And he stationed there a force to keep it, and they fortified +Bethsura, that the people might have a stronghold in Idumea. + +I. The Character of Judas. Judas Maccabeus was a man of unquestioned +courage. In the many battles which he fought he was always found at the +forefront in the most desperate engagement. More than that he was able to +arouse courage in a people that for centuries had learned only to bow +unresistingly before their conquerors. All the evidence found in the two +books of Maccabees indicates that he was inspired by the noblest +patriotism. The motive power in his patriotism was devotion to the law and +customs of his race. In this respect he was a leader supremely acceptable +to the Hasideans or Pious, who rallied about his standard. In any other +age or setting his devotion would have seemed but fanaticism. The +situation, however, was extremely critical. Disloyalty to the law and the +distinctive rites of Judaism was treason. If ever in the world's history +it was justifiable to meet force by force and to unshield the sword in +behalf of religion, this certainly was the occasion. In his military +tactics Judas revealed the cunning that characterizes the hunted. He +developed great skill in choosing a strategic position and in launching +his followers against a vulnerable point in the enemy's line. In this +respect he showed himself a disciple of David's able general Joab. They +were the same tactics that Napoleon employed so effectively in later days +and on larger battle-fields. Judas resembled in many ways Israel's first +king, Saul. He was impetuous, patriotic, intense, and energetic. He was +especially skilled in leading a sudden attack. His task also was +strikingly similar to that of Israel's first king, and like Saul in his +later days he showed the same inability to organize and hold his followers +in a time of comparative peace. + +II. Obstacles against Which Judas Contended. When Judas was called to +champion the cause of the Jews, they were hated by the rest of the world. +It was a disorganized band of fugitives that rallied about him, without +homes, resources, or arms. Opposed to him were the large armies of a +powerful empire. The Greek mercenaries that fought in the Syrian ranks +were armed with coats of mail and the best weapons known to the ancient +world. They were also thoroughly trained in the art of war and under the +direction of experienced generals. On every battle-field the Syrians +outnumbered the Jews almost six to one. Pitted against Judas and his +followers were apostates of his own race, who knew the land, were able to +spy out the movements of the Jews, and were inspired by the bitterest +hatred. The few advantages on the side of Judas were: first, his followers +were aroused to heroic deeds by the peril of the situation. In the second +place they were inspired by an intense religious zeal. The one force +throughout Semitic history that has bound together tribes and nations and +made the Semite an almost invincible fighting power has been religion. +The familiar illustrations are the Mohammedan conquests that swept +victoriously across the Bosporus and conquered Constantinople, also across +northern Africa, and surged into southern Europe over the Straits of +Gibraltar and threatened for a time completely to engulf the Western +civilization. Familiar modern illustrations are the Mahdist insurrections +that have from time to time taxed the resources of the English in northern +Africa. In the third place the land of Judea, with its narrow western +passes rapidly ascending to the heights above, enabled Judas to choose his +battle-field at a point where only a few of the enemy could be brought +into action and where a handful of valiant men could keep an army at bay. + +III. Defeat of Apollonius and Seron. At first Judas wisely confined +himself to guerilla warfare. This enabled him in time to clothe and arm +his followers with the garments and weapons taken from the enemy. The most +important of these smaller engagements took place north of Jerusalem. As +Apollonius, the Syrian governor of Samaria, was advancing into Judea, +Judas suddenly fell upon the Syrians and slew their leader. Henceforth the +sword of the Syrian governor was effectively wielded by Judas in behalf of +religious liberty. + +News of the victory soon brought Seron, the governor of Coele-Syria, with +a large army. He advanced from the coast plain by the most direct road to +Jerusalem over the famous pass of the Bethhorons. Within a distance of two +miles the road ascended nearly fifteen hundred feet. At points it was +merely a steep, rocky pass, so that an invading army was forced to march +single file and to pull themselves up over the rocks. Here on the heights +that looked out toward his home at Modein Judas, appealing to the faith +and patriotism of his men, swept down upon the enemy and won his first +great victory. + +IV. The Battle of Emmaus. The first great Jewish victory was a severe +blow to the power of Antiochus Epiphanes, for at that time he was +confronted by a depleted treasury. He therefore left his kingdom in charge +of Lysias, one of his nobles, and set out on a campaign into Persia from +which he never returned. Three generals with a large army were sent by +Lysias against the Jews. So confident were they of a Syrian victory that a +horde of slave merchants accompanied the army that they might purchase the +Jewish captives. This time the Syrians avoided the difficult pass of +Bethhoron and chose the Wady Ali, along which the modern carriage road +winds up from the coast to Jerusalem. The main camp was pitched at Emmaus +at the southeastern side of the Plain of Ajalon under the Judean hills. +Meantime Judas had selected as his head-quarters the lofty hill of Mizpah, +associated by earlier tradition with Samuel and the scene of the +short-lived rule of Gedaliah. It was well chosen, for it commanded a view +of the territory to the north, south, and west. While the army of the +Syrians, sent by night to surprise Judas, were marching up the northern +valley, the Jewish patriots were led westward toward the plain along one +of the parallel valleys that penetrated the Judean hills. Having appealed +to the patriotic memories and the religious zeal of his followers, Judas +led them in a sudden early morning attack against the Syrians encamped +near Emmaus. Soon the Syrians were in wild flight across the plain to the +Philistine cities, and Judas and his followers were left in possession of +the camp and its rich spoil. Panic also seized his pursuers when they saw +their camp in possession of the enemy, and Judas was left for the moment +undisputed master of the land of his fathers. This victory in the year +166 B.C. was in many ways the most sweeping and significant in early +Maccabean history. + +V. The Battle at Bethsura. The next year Lysias himself gathered a huge +army of sixty thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry and led them +against the Jews. This time the Syrians advanced through the broad valley +of Elah where David had fought against the Philistine giant. Thence they +followed the Wady Sur, turned southward and then eastward, penetrating to +the top of the Judean plateau a little north of Hebron. Approaching from +this point the Syrians were protected in their rear by the Idumeans, the +descendants of the Edomites. They succeeded in reaching the point where +the road from the west joins the central highway from Hebron to Jerusalem. +There on a sloping hill crowned with the border town of Bethsura, Judas +was able to rally ten thousand followers to meet the huge Syrian army. +From the parallel account in II Maccabees it is clear that he did not +succeed in winning a decisive victory, but a crisis in Antioch suddenly +compelled Lysias to return, leaving the Jews in possession of the +battle-field. + +VI. Restoration of the Temple Service. With mingled sadness and +rejoicing Judas proceeded at once to Jerusalem and with his followers took +up the task of restoring the desecrated temple and its service. The +citadel of Acra, which appears to have been situated on the Hill of Ophel +to the south of the temple, was still strongly garrisoned by apostate Jews +and Syrian soldiers. For nearly a quarter of a century, until the days of +Simon, it continued to be held by Syrian forces, and remained a constant +menace to the peace of Jerusalem. The vivid account of the purification of +the temple reveals the intense devotion of the Jews to this ancient +sanctuary, and throws clear light upon the nature of its service. This +epoch-making act is commemorated even to-day by the Jews throughout the +world and is known as the Feast of Lights. It is a memorial of that +successful struggle for religious freedom in which Principles were +established that have affected the thought and action of all succeeding +generations. Through all their many vicissitudes and under their many +Gentile rulers, with few exceptions, the Jews have enjoyed uninterruptedly +the right of worshipping in accordance with the dictates of their law and +the customs of their fathers. + +VII. The New Spirit in Judaism. Henceforth the law for which their +fathers had poured out their life-blood and for which the Jews had fought +so valiantly was regarded with new and deeper veneration and its commands +gained a new authority. Again the Jews had enjoyed a taste of freedom and +had learned that by united and courageous action they could shake off the +hated heathen yoke. This new warlike note is sounded in many of the later +psalms of the Psalter. Chapters 9-14, appended to the older books of +Zechariah, apparently come from this same period and voice the thought of +the conquerors. The words of the ninth chapter express their joy and +exultation: + +For I have bent Judah to me, +As a bow which I have filled with Ephraim; +I will urge thy sons against the sons of Greece, +And I will make thee like the sword of a hero. +Then Jehovah shall be seen above them, +And his shaft shall go forth like lightning. +Jehovah shall blow a blast upon a trumpet, +And travel on the whirlwinds of the south. +Jehovah of hosts shall defend them; +And they shall devour and tread down the slingstones, +They shall drink their blood like wine, +They shall be filled with it like the crevices of an altar. +And Jehovah their God shall give them victory in that day. +Like sheep he shall feed them in his land. +Yea, how good and how beautiful shall it be! +Corn shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the maidens. + +The victories of Judas in all probability also inspired the messianic hope +expressed in 9:9-10: + +Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. +Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! +Behold thy king will come to thee; +Vindicated and victorious is he, +Humble, and riding upon an ass. +Upon the foal of an ass. +He shall cut off chariots from Ephraim, +And horses from Jerusalem; +The battle-bow shall also be cut off, +And he shall speak to the nations; +His rule shall be from sea to sea, +From the river to the ends of the earth. + + + +Section CXI. THE LONG CONTEST FOR POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:1-5] +Now when the heathen round about heard that the altar had been built and +the sanctuary dedicated as it was formerly, they were very angry and +concluded to destroy the race of Jacob that was in the midst of them, and +they began to slay and destroy among the people. Judas, however, fought +against the people of Esau in Idumea at Akrabattine, because they besieged +Israel, and he defeated them with a great slaughter and humbled their +pride and took their spoils. He remembered the wickedness of the +inhabitants of Baean, who were a source of annoyance and of danger, lying +in ambush for them along the roads. And they were shut up by him in the +towers, and he besieged them and destroyed them utterly and burned the +towers of the place, with all who were in them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:6-8] +Then he passed over to the Ammonites and found a strong force and many +people, with Timotheus as their leader. And he fought many battles with +them, and they were defeated before him, and he conquered them. Then when +he had gained possession of Jazer and its villages, he returned again into +Judea. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:9-15] +Then the heathen who were in Gilead gathered together against the +Israelites who were on the borders to destroy them. And they fled to the +stronghold of Dathema and sent letters to Judas and his brothers, saying, + +The heathen who are about us have gathered together against us to destroy +us, and they are preparing to come and get possession of the stronghold to +which we have fled for refuge, and Timotheus is the leader of their +forces. Now therefore come and rescue us from their power, for many of our +men have fallen; and all our countrymen who dwell in the land of Tob, have +been put to death, and they have carried into captivity their wives and +children and their possessions. And they destroyed there about a thousand +men. While the letters were being read, there came other messengers from +Galilee with their garments torn, bringing a message of similar import, +saying, That there were gathered together against them men of Ptolemais, +of Tyre, of Sidon, and from all heathen Galilee to destroy them +completely. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:16-20] +Now when Judas and the people heard these things, a great assembly came +together to consult what they should do for their kinsmen who were in +distress and being attacked by the heathen. And Judas said to Simon his +brother, Choose men, and go, rescue your countrymen who are in Galilee, +but Jonathan my brother and I will go into the land of Gilead. And he left +Joseph the son of Zacharias and Azarias, as leaders of the people, with +the rest of the army in Judea, in order to guard it. And he gave orders to +them, saying, Take charge of the heathen until we return. And to Simon +were assigned three thousand men to go to Galilee and to Judas eight +thousand men to go into the land of Gilead. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:21-23] +Then Simon went into Galilee and fought many battles with the heathen, and +the heathen were defeated by him. And he pursued them to the gate of +Ptolemais. And there fell of the heathen about three thousand men, and he +took the spoils from them. They took with them those who were in Galilee +and in Arbatta, with their wives and their children and all that they had, +and brought them into Judea with great rejoicing. + +[Sidenote: I Mac. 5:45, 54] +Then Judas gathered all the Israelites who were in the land of Gilead, +from the least to the greatest, with their wives and children and their +household possessions, a very great host, that they might go into the land +of Judah. And they went up to Mount Zion with gladness and joy and offered +whole burnt-offerings, because not one of them had been slain, but they +had returned safe and sound. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 5:65-68, 63] +Then Judas and his brothers went out and fought against the people of Esau +in the land toward the south. And he smote Hebron and the villages +belonging to it and pulled down its citadel and burned the surrounding +towers. Then he set out to go into the land of the Philistines; and he +went through Marissa. On that day certain priests, desiring to do exploits +there, were slain in battle, when they unwisely went out to fight. Then +Judas turned aside to Azotus, to the land of the Philistines, and pulled +down their altars and burned the carved images of their gods and, taking +the spoil of their cities, he returned to the land of Judah. And the hero +Judas and his brothers were greatly honored by all Israel and by all the +heathen wherever their name was heard. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:18-27] +Now those who were in the citadel were hindering Israel round about the +sanctuary and were always seeking to do them harm and were a support to +the heathen. But Judas determined to destroy them and called all the +people together to besiege them. And they were gathered together and +besieged them in the hundred and fiftieth year, and he made mounds from +which to shoot and engines of war. Then some of those who were shut up +came out and certain apostate Israelites joined them. And they went to the +king and said, When will you finally satisfy justice and avenge our +brothers? We were willing to serve your father and to live as he enjoined, +and to obey his commands; but because of this our own people besieged us +in the citadel and were alienated from us; and as many of us as they could +find, they killed and despoiled our inheritances. And not against us only +have they stretched out their hand, but also against all that bordered on +them. And now they are to-day encamped against the citadel at Jerusalem, +to take it, and they have fortified the sanctuary and Bethsura. And if you +do not quickly anticipate them, they will do greater things than these, +and you will not be able to check them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:28-41] +When the king had heard this, he was angry, and gathered together all his +Friends, the officers of his army, and those who commanded the cavalry. +There came to him also from other kingdoms and from isles of the sea, +bands of hired soldiers. So the number of his forces was a hundred +thousand footmen and twenty thousand horsemen and thirty-two elephants +trained for war. Then they went through Idumea and encamped against +Bethsura and carried on the siege a long time and made engines of war. +The besieged, however, sallied out and burned them and fought valiantly. +And Judas departed from the citadel and encamped at Beth-zacharias, +opposite the king's camp. Then the king rose early in the morning and had +his army set out at full speed along the road to Beth-zacharias and his +forces prepared for battle and the trumpets were sounded. And they showed +the elephants the blood of grapes and mulberries, in order to excite them +for the battle. Then they distributed the beasts among the phalanxes and +stationed by each elephant a thousand men armed with coats of mail and +helmets, with brass on their heads; and to each beast five hundred chosen +horsemen were appointed. These were already there, wherever the beast was, +and wherever the beast went, they went with him and did not separate +themselves from him. And upon them were towers of wood, strong, covered, +one girded upon each beast. Upon them were engines and two or three men, +who fought upon them, besides the Indian who guided the elephant. The rest +of the horsemen he stationed on both sides of the two wings of the army to +inspire terror and to protect the phalanxes. And when the sun struck the +golden and bronze shields, the mountain shone with them and blazed like +torches of fire. And a part of the king's army was spread out on the +heights, and some on the low ground, and they moved firmly and in good +order. And all who heard the noise of their multitude, and the marching of +the great numbers, and the rattling of the arms, trembled because the army +was very great and strong. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:42-47] +Then Judas and his army approached for battle, and there fell of the +king's army six hundred men. Now when Eleazar, who was called Avaran, saw +one of the beasts armed with royal breastplates, which was higher than all +the beasts, and it looked as though the king was upon it, he gave himself +to save his people and to gain for himself an everlasting fame; and he ran +upon him courageously in the midst of the phalanx and slew on the right +hand and on the left, and they scattered from before him on either side. +Then he crept under the elephant, thrust him from beneath, and slew him. +And the elephant fell to the earth upon him, and he died there. But when +they saw the strength of the king and the fierce onset of the armies, they +turned away from them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:48-54] +But those who were in the king's army went up to Jerusalem to meet them, +and the king encamped for a struggle with Judea and Mount Zion. And he +made peace with those in Bethsura; for they surrendered the city, because +they had no food there to endure the siege, because the land had a +sabbath. So the king took Bethsura and stationed a garrison there to keep +it. Then he encamped against the sanctuary for a long time; and he set +there mounds from which to shoot and engines of war and instruments for +casting stones and fire, and pieces to cast darts and slings. And they +also erected engines against those of the besiegers and fought for a long +time. But since there was no food in the sanctuary, because it was the +seventh year and those who had fled for safety into Judea from among the +heathen had eaten up what remained of the store of provisions, there were +but a few left in the sanctuary, because the famine became so severe upon +them, and they scattered, each man to his own home. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 6:55-63] +Now Lysias heard that Philip, whom Antiochus the king, had appointed +during his lifetime to bring up his son Antiochus that he might be king, +had returned from Persia and Media and with him the forces that went with +the king, and that he was trying to get control of the government, he +hastily decided to depart. And he said to the king, and to the officers of +the army and to the men, We are growing weaker every day, our supplies are +scanty, and the place which we are besieging is strong, and the welfare of +the kingdom depends upon us; now therefore let us give the right hand to +these men and make peace with them and with all their nation, and covenant +with them that they may live according to their own customs as formerly; +for because of their laws, which we abolished, they were angered and did +all these things. This counsel pleased the king and the princes, and he +sent to them to make peace. They accepted it, and when the king and the +princes took oath to them, they came out of the stronghold. But when the +king entered Mount Zion and saw the strength of the place, he broke the +oath which he had sworn and gave orders to pull down the wall round about. +Then he set out in haste and returned to Antioch and found Philip master +of the city; and he fought against him and took the city by force. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:1-4] +In the one hundred and fiftieth year, Demetrius the son of Seleucus +escaped from Rome and went up with a few men to a city by the sea, and +there proclaimed himself king. And when he entered the palace of his +fathers, the army seized Antiochus and Lysias, to bring them to him. But +when the fact was made known to him, he said, Do not show me their faces. +And the army slew them. So Demetrius sat upon the throne of his kingdom. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:5-18] +And there came to him all the lawless and the apostate men of Israel, with +Alcimus, their leader, desiring to be high priest. And they accused the +people before the king, saying, Judas and his brothers have destroyed all +your Friends, and have scattered us from our own land. Now therefore send +a man whom you trust, and let him go and see all the havoc which he has +made of us and of the king's country, and how he has punished them and all +who helped them. So the king chose Bacchides, one of the king's Friends, +who was ruler in the province beyond the River Euphrates, and was a great +man in the kingdom, and faithful to the king. He sent him and also that +godless Alcimus, and confirmed him in the high priesthood, and commanded +him to take vengeance upon the Israelites. So they set out and came with a +great army into the land of Judah, and he sent messengers to Judas and his +brothers with words of peace, deceitfully. But they paid no attention to +their words for they saw that these men had come with a great army. Then +there were gathered together to Alcimus and Bacchides a company of +scribes, to seek for justice. And the Hasideans were the first among the +Israelites who sought peace with them; for they said, One who is a +descendant of Aaron has come with the forces and he will do us no wrong. +And he spoke words of peace to them, and took oath to them, saying, We +will seek the hurt neither of you nor of your friends. And they put +confidence in him. But he seized sixty of them, and slew them in one day, +as it is written in the Scriptures, + +The flesh of thy saints... +And their blood they poured out round about Jerusalem; +And there was no man to bury them. + +And the fear and hatred of them fell upon all the people, for they said, +There is neither truth nor justice in them; for they have broken the +covenant and the oaths which they made. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:13-26] +And when Judas saw that Alcimus and his company had done more mischief +among the Israelites than the heathen, he went out into the whole +territory of Judea round about and took vengeance on the men who had +deserted from him, and they were restrained from going forth into the +country. But when Alcimus saw that Judas and his company were growing +strong and knew that he was not able to withstand them, he returned to the +king and brought evil charges against them. So the king sent Nicanor, one +of his honored princes, a man who hated Israel and was their enemy, and +commanded him to destroy the people. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:27-32] +When Nicanor came to Jerusalem with a great army, he sent to Judas and his +brother a message of peaceful words with deceitful intent, saying, Let +there be no battle between us. I will come with a few men, that I may see +your faces in peace. And he came to Judas, and they saluted one another +peaceably. But the enemies were prepared to take away Judas, by violence. +And when the fact was clear to Judas, that he had come to him with deceit, +he was very much afraid of him and would see his face no more. So Nicanor +knew that his plan was discovered, and he went out to meet Judas in battle +near Capharsalama. And there fell of those with Nicanor about five hundred +men. Then they fled into the city of David. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:33-38] +Now after these things Nicanor went to Zion. And when some of the priests +came out of the sanctuary, and some the elders of the people, to salute +him peaceably and to show him the whole burnt-offering that was being +offered for the king, he mocked them, and laughed at them, and abused +them, and talked insolently. He also swore in a rage, saying, Unless Judas +and his army are now delivered into my hands, if I come again in peace, I +will burn up this temple. He went out in a great rage. Then the priests +went in and stood before the altar and the temple; and they wept and said, +Thou didst choose this temple to be called by thy name, to be a house of +prayer and supplication for thy people. Take vengeance on this man and his +army, and let him fall by the sword. Remember their blasphemies, and let +them live no longer. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:39-48] +And Nicanor set forth from Jerusalem and encamped in Bethhoron, and there +the army of Syria met him. But Judas encamped in Adasa with three thousand +men. Then Judas prayed and said, When they who came from the king +blasphemed, thine angel went out and smote among them an hundred and +sixty-five thousand. Even so destroy thou this army before us to-day, and +let all the rest know that he hath spoken wickedly against thy sanctuary, +and judge thou him according to his wickedness. So on the thirteenth day +of the month Adar the armies joined battle; and Nicanor's army was +defeated, and he himself was the first to fall in the battle. And when his +army saw that Nicanor had fallen, they threw away their weapons and fled. +And [the Jews] pursued them a day's journey from Adasa as far as Gazara +when they sounded the trumpet-signal for the return. Then they came out +from all the villages of Judea on every hand and outflanked them; and the +one turned them back on the other army, and they all fell by the sword, so +that none of them was left. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 7:47-50] +And they took the spoils and the booty, and they struck off Nicanor's head +and his right hand, which he had stretched out so haughtily, and brought +them and hung them up in the citadel of Jerusalem. And the people were +very glad. They also enacted an ordinance for the celebration of this day +year by year, the thirteenth day of Adar. So the land of Judah had rest +for a brief period. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:1-6] +When Demetrius heard that Nicanor had fallen with his forces in battle, he +sent Bacchides and Alcimus again into the land of Judah a second time, and +the southern wing of his army with them. And they went by that way that +leads to Gilgal, and encamped against Masaloth, which is in Arbela, and +gained possession of it and destroyed many people. And the first month of +the hundred and fifty-second year they encamped against Jerusalem. Then +they set out and went to Berea with twenty thousand footmen and two +thousand horsemen. And Judas was encamped at Elasa, and three thousand +chosen men with him. And when they saw the multitude of the forces, that +they were many, they were greatly frightened, and many slipped away from +the army, so that there were left of them not more than eight hundred men. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:7-10] +And when Judas saw that his army had dispersed, he was deeply troubled, +because he had no time to gather them together, and he grew discouraged. +And he said to those who were left, Let us arise and go up against our +adversaries, if perhaps we may be able to fight with them. And they would +have dissuaded him, saying, We shall not be able; but let us rather save +our lives now; let us return again with our fellow-countrymen and fight +against them, for we are few. But Judas said, Far be it from me so to do, +that I should flee from them. For if our time has come, let us die +manfully for the sake of our fellow-countrymen and not leave a cause of +reproach against our honor. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:11-18] +Then the army set out from the camp and drew up to meet them; and the +cavalry drew up into two companies, and the slingers and the archers went +before the army, with all the strong, foremost warriors. But Bacchides was +in the rear wing. Then the phalanx advanced on both sides, and they +sounded their trumpets. And Judas's men also sounded their trumpets, and +the earth shook with the shout of the armies; so the battle was begun and +continued from morning until evening. And when Judas saw that Bacchides +and the strength of his army were on the right side, all who were brave in +heart went with him, and the right wing was defeated by them, and he +pursued them to the slope of the mountains. And they who were on the left +wing, when they saw that the right wing was defeated, turned and followed +upon the footsteps of Judas and of those who were with him. And the battle +grew fierce, and many on both sides fell mortally wounded. Then Judas fell +and the rest fled. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:19, 20] +And Jonathan and Simon took Judas their brother and buried him in the +sepulchre of his fathers at Modein. And they bewailed him, and all Israel +made great lamentation for him and mourned many days, and said, + +How is the hero fallen, +The saviour of Israel! + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:22] +And the rest of the valiant acts of Judas, and his wars and the valiant +deeds which he did, and his greatness--they have not been recorded, for +they were very many. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:23-27] +Now after the death of Judas, the apostates showed themselves in all the +territory of Israel, and all who practised injustice flourished. About the +same time there was a very severe famine, and the whole people sided with +them. Then Bacchides selected the godless men and made them rulers of the +country. And they conducted a thorough search for the friends of Judas and +brought them to Bacchides, and he took vengeance on them and tortured them +cruelly. Then great tribulation came upon Israel, such as had not been +since the time that prophets had ceased to appear among them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 9:28-35] +Thereupon all the friends of Judas assembled and said to Jonathan, Since +your brother Judas has died, we have no one like him to go out against our +enemies and Bacchides and against those of our own kin who hate us. Now +therefore we have chosen you this day to be our prince and leader in his +place that you may fight our battles. So Jonathan assumed the leadership +at that time and took the place of his brother Judas. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:1-6] +Now in the one hundred and sixtieth year, Alexander the son of Antiochus +Epiphanes went up and took possession of Ptolemais, and they received him, +and he reigned there. When King Demetrius heard of it, he gathered very +large forces and went out to meet him in battle. Demetrius also sent +letters to Jonathan with words of peace, so as to honor him greatly. For +he said, Let us get the start in making peace with them before he makes a +compact with Alexander against us. For he will remember all the wrongs +that we have done to him, and to his brothers and his nation. And he gave +him authority to collect forces and to provide arms and to be his ally. +Also he commanded that they should deliver up to him the hostages who were +in the citadel. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:7-14] +Then Jonathan came to Jerusalem, and read the letters in the hearing of +all the people, and of those who were in the citadel. And they were +greatly afraid when they heard that the king had given him authority to +collect an army. And the garrison delivered up the hostages to Jonathan, +and he restored them to their parents. And Jonathan took up his residence +in Jerusalem and began to rebuild and renew the city. And he commanded +those who did the work to build the walls and Mount Zion round about with +square stones for defence; and they did so. Then the foreigners, who were +in the strongholds which Bacchides had built, fled, and each man left his +place and went into his own land. Only some of those who had forsaken the +law and the commandments were left at Bethsura, because it was an asylum +for them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:15-17] +And when King Alexander heard all the promises which Demetrius had made to +Jonathan and had been told of the battles which he and his brothers had +fought and the valiant deeds that they had done and of the hardships which +they had endured, he said, Shall we find such another man? Now therefore +let us make him our friend and ally. So he wrote letters and sent them to +him with contents like these: + +King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greeting: We have heard of you +that you are a valiant man and fit to be our friend. And now we have +appointed you to-day to be high priest of your nation and to be called the +king's Friend (and he sent to him a purple robe and a crown of gold), and +to take our part and to remain on friendly terms with us. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:21] +And Jonathan put on the holy garments in the seventh month of the hundred +and sixtieth year at the feast of tabernacles, and he gathered together +forces, and provided arms in abundance. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:67-71] +Now in the one hundred and sixty-fifth year, Demetrius son of Demetrius, +came from Crete into the land of his fathers. Then King Alexander heard of +it, and he was exceedingly troubled and returned to Antioch. And Demetrius +appointed Apollonius, who was over Coele-Syria, and he collected a great +army and encamped in Jamnia, and sent to Jonathan the high priest this +message: + +You alone are hostile to us, and I have become a laughing-stock and butt +of ridicule on account of you. Now why do you flaunt your power against us +in the mountains? If, indeed, you trust your forces, come down to us in +the plain, and there let us try the matter together, because with me is +the power of the cities. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 10:74-76] +Now when Jonathan heard the words of Apollonius, he was stirred to anger, +and he chose ten thousand men and went forth from Jerusalem, and Simon his +brother met him to help him. And he encamped against Joppa. The people of +the city, however, shut him out, because Apollonius had a garrison in +Joppa. So they fought against it. Then the people of the city were afraid +and opened to him, and Jonathan became master of Joppa. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:20-27] +At that time Jonathan gathered together the people of Judea to take the +citadel that was at Jerusalem, and he erected many engines of war against +it. Some, however, who hated their own nation, apostates, went to the +king, and reported to him that Jonathan was besieging the citadel. And +when he heard it, he was angry, and immediately after he heard of it he +set out and came to Ptolemais, and wrote to Jonathan that he should not +besiege it, and that he should meet him and confer with him at Ptolemais +with all speed. But when Jonathan heard this, he gave orders to proceed +with the siege, while he chose certain of the elders of Israel and of the +priests, and putting himself in peril, and taking silver and gold and +garments, and various presents besides, he went to the king at Ptolemais. +And he was favorably received; and although some apostates of the nation +Made complaints against him, the king treated him just as his predecessors +had done and exalted him in the presence of all his Friends, both +confirming to him the high priesthood, and all the other honors that he +had before, and giving him preeminence among his Chief Friends. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:28, 29] +And Jonathan requested the king to make Judea free from tribute, together +with the three districts of Samaria, and he promised him three hundred +talents. And the king consented and wrote letters to Jonathan concerning +all these things. + +I. The Political Situation. The position of the Jewish patriots was both +perilous and tragic. A ring of hostile peoples pressed them closely on +every side. The Jews were the victims of centuries of wrong and hatred. +Those residing in the neighboring lands also suffered from this widespread +and bitter hostility. Among all the peoples of southwestern Asia they had +no allies except the Nabateans, an Arabian people that had driven the +Edomites from their home on Mount Seir. The only bond that bound them to +this ambitious heathen race was the common hatred of the Syrians. It was +natural, therefore, that Judas a little later should send an embassy with +the object of securing the moral support, if not the direct intervention, +of the distant Roman power whose influence was beginning to be felt +throughout all the Mediterranean coast lands. For the present, however, +Judas was dependent simply upon the sword for defence. He also had no time +for permanent conquest, for he must prepare himself for the heavier blow +that the court of Antioch was preparing to deliver. All that he could do, +therefore, was to make sudden attacks upon his foes on every side and +rescue the persecuted Jews by bringing them back with him to Judea. + +II. The Jewish Attitude toward the Heathen Reflected in the Book of +Esther. In these perilous circumstances it is not strange that the Jews +gravitated far from the position of broad tolerance advocated by the II +Isaiah and the authors of the prophecy of Malachi and in the stories of +Ruth and Jonah. In the stress of conflict they completely lost sight of +their mission as Jehovah's witnesses to all the world. The destruction of +the heathen seemed to them absolutely necessary if Jehovah's justice was +to be vindicated. The spirit of this warlike, blood-thirsty age is most +clearly formulated in the book of Esther. The presence of Aramaic and +Persian words testify to its late date. It is closely allied to the +midrashim or didactic stories that were a characteristic literary product +of later Judaism. Like the stories of Daniel, the book of Esther contains +many historical inconsistencies. For example, Mordecai, carried as a +captive to Babylon in 597 B.C., is made Xerxes's prime-minister in 474 +B.C. Its pictures of Persian customs are also characteristic of popular +tradition rather than of contemporary history. Its basis is apparently an +old Babylonian tradition of a great victory of the Babylonians over their +ancient foes, the Elamites. Mordecai is a modification of the name of the +Babylonian god Marduk. Estra, which appears in the Hebrew Esther, was the +late Babylonian form of the name of the Semitic goddess Ishtar. Vashti +and Hamman, the biblical Haman, were names of Elamite deities. Like +the story of creation, this tale has been Hebraized and adapted to the +story-teller's purpose. His aim is evidently to trace the origin of the +late Jewish feast of Purim. It is probable that this feast was an +adaptation of the Babylonian New-Year's feast which commemorated the +ancient victory. The story in its present form is strongly Jewish. It +exalts loyalty to the race, but its morality is far removed from that of +Amos and Isaiah. Its exultation over the slaughter of thousands of the +heathen is displeasing even in a romance, although it can easily be +understood in the light of the Maccabean age in which it was written. + +III. Campaigns against the Neighboring Peoples. The first book of +Maccabees records in detail the repeated blows that Judas struck against +his heathen foes. At Akrabattine, probably identical with the Scorpion +Pass at the southwestern end of the Dead Sea, he fought and won a signal +victory over his hereditary foes, the Idumeans. His chief enemy on the +east was Timotheus, the leader of the Ammonites against whom Judas was +successful in the preliminary skirmishes. Angered by these defeats, the +heathen east of the Jordan attacked the resident Jews, who fled to one of +the towns, where they were besieged. Judas, assembling six thousand of his +picked warriors, made a rapid march of three days out into the wilderness. +He apparently carried few supplies, but depended rather upon the spoil of +the captured towns for support. Bosra, far out on the borders of the +desert, was seized and looted. Thence returning westward, he rescued the +Jews from the town of Damethah, or, as it appears in the Syriac, Rametha. +This is probably identical with the modern town of Remtheh a little south +of the Yarmuk on the great pilgrim highway from Damascus to Mecca. After +making a detour to the south he crossed the Yarmuk and captured a series +of towns lying to the north and northeast of this river. Returning he +apparently met his Ammonite foe, who had succeeded in rallying an army, at +the point where the pilgrim highway crosses the headwaters of the Yarmuk. +Here Judas won a sweeping victory. Then collecting the many Jews of the +dispersion who had settled near these upper waters of the Yarmuk, he +returned victoriously to Jerusalem. His brother Simon, who had been +despatched on a similar mission to Galilee, likewise came back bringing +many fellow-Jews and laden with spoils. + +Anticipating a renewal of the Syrian attack, Judas next made a rapid +campaign into the territory of the Idumeans, capturing the old Hebrew +capital of Hebron and carrying his victories as far as Ashdod on the +western borders of the Philistine plain. Within a few months he had +overrun and partially conquered a territory larger than the kingdom of +David. In an incredibly short time this peasant warrior had won more +victories against greater odds than any other leader in Israel's +history. The results of these victories were necessarily ephemeral. They +accomplished, however, three things: (1) Judas intimidated his foes and +established his prestige; (2) he was able to rescue thousands of Jews from +the hands of the heathen; and (3) by bringing them back to Judea he +increased its population and laid the foundations of that kingdom which +rose as the result of his patriotic achievements. + +IV. The Battle of Beth-zacharias. There was still a Syrian outpost in +the heart of Judea: it was the citadel at Jerusalem, which looked down +upon the temple area. This Judas attempted to capture, but in so doing +incited to action the Syrian king, Antiochus Eupator, who had succeeded +to the throne after the death of his father Antiochus Epiphanes. Under +the direction of his prime-minister Lysias he collected a huge army of one +hundred thousand infantry and twenty thousand cavalry. To this was added +thirty-two elephants with full military equipment--the heavy ordinance +used in the warfare of the period. The approach from the plain was along +the valley of Elah and up past Bethsura, as in the last Syrian campaign. +Judas, who was able at this time to rally an army of ten thousand men, met +the Syrian host near the town of Beth-zacharias, a little north of +Bethsura on the central highway from Hebron to Jerusalem. This time the +natural advantages were with the Syrians, one wing of whose army rested +upon a declining hill and the other on the level plain. Thus they were +able to utilize their entire fighting force and to launch against the +valiant Jews their elephants against which the heroism of an Eleazar was +fruitless. For the first time during this struggle Judas was defeated and +fell back upon Jerusalem, where he was closely besieged. Soon the Jews +were obliged to surrender, and the Maccabean cause would have been lost +had not complications at Antioch compelled the Syrians to retire. + +V. Victories Over Nicanor. In the treaty which followed the surrender +of Jerusalem the religious liberty of the Jews was assured. This +concession satisfied the majority of the Hasideans, so that henceforth +Judas found himself deserted by a great body of his followers. The +apostate high priest who was placed in control of the temple was supported +by Syrian soldiery and Judas was obliged to resort again to outlaw life. +He succeeded, however, in winning two signal victories over Nicanor, the +Syrian general. The one at Capharsalama was probably fought near the +modern town of Kefr Silwan, across the Kidron Valley from the City of +David on the southern slope of Jerusalem. In the latter victory Nicanor +was slain, and Judas was left for the moment in control of Judea. + +VI. The Death of Judas. Soon another Syrian army invaded the land. The +advance was from the northwest up over the pass of Bethhoron. A little +east of the road that ascends from Lower to Upper Bethhoron, near where he +won his first great battle and in sight of his home at Modein, the +intrepid Jewish champion fought his last battle. Terror at the approach of +the enemy had thinned his ranks until he was obliged to meet them with +only eight hundred men at his back. Even against these great odds he was +on the eve of victory when he was slain. At the sight of their fallen +leader his followers fled. This disastrous ending of his career as a +warrior obscured to a great extent the character and quality of Judas's +services for his people. In brief (1) he taught them to fight for their +rights; (2) he helped them to save their law and traditions; (3) he +secured for them religious freedom; (4) he restored many of the Jews of +the dispersion and thus prepared the way for the consolidated kingdom +which later rose with Jerusalem as the centre; (5) he inspired his +countrymen with ambitions for political independence; and (6) he set them +a noble example of courage, patriotism, and practical piety. While +measured by the higher standards of a later day Judas is not without his +faults, yet he is unquestionably one of the great heroes of Israel's +history and an example to all of unselfish and devoted patriotism. + +VII. The Dissensions in the Syrian Court. The Jews ultimately attained +political independence not primarily through their own efforts, but +because the protracted contests between the rival claimants for the Syrian +throne gave them opportunities which they quickly improved. In 152 B.C. a +youth known as Alexander Balas, who claimed to be a son of Antiochus +Epiphanes, raised the standard of revolt against the reigning Syrian king, +Demetrius I. The kings of southwestern Asia and Egypt at first lent their +support to this impostor. By 150 B.C. he had succeeded in defeating and +putting to death Demetrius I. Two years later, however, Demetrius II, the +son of the deposed king, appeared with a large body of Cretan mercenaries +to contest the throne of his father. Many of the Syrian cities at once +espoused his cause. Ptolemy Philometor, of Egypt, finally turned against +Alexander Balas; and in 145 B.C. this strange adventurer was slain near +Antioch by his own followers. Soon after his death, however, one of his +generals, Tryphon, appeared with an infant son of Alexander whom he sought +to place on the Syrian throne, thus perpetuating the feud that was +constantly undermining the power of the Seleucid kingdom. + +VIII. Concessions to Jonathan. The Jews profited by each turn in these +tortuous politics. In 158 B.C., after a period of outlawry in the +wilderness east of Judea, Jonathan and his followers were allowed by +Demetrius I to settle again within the bounds of Judea. Jonathan +Established his head-quarters at Michmash, the fortress famous for the +achievement of Saul's valiant son Jonathan. Here he ruled over the Jews as +a vassal of Demetrius, who retained immediate control over the citadel at +Jerusalem and the fortified cities that had been built along the borders +of Judea. On the appearance of Alexander Balas in 152 B.C. Demetrius I, in +order to retain the loyalty of the Jews, permitted Jonathan to maintain a +small standing army and to rebuild the fortifications of Jerusalem. To +outbid his rival the impostor Alexander Balas conferred upon Jonathan the +coveted honor of the high priesthood, thus making him both the civil and +religious head of the Jewish state. Disregarding his promises to Demetrius +and the contemptible character of Alexander, Jonathan at once proceeded to +establish his new authority. He was doubtless more acceptable to the +majority of the Jews than the apostate high priests whom he succeeded, but +the stricter Hasideans naturally regarded it as a sacrilege that a man +whose hands were stained with war and bloodshed should perform the holiest +duties in the temple service. + +Under Alexander Balas Jonathan's power rapidly increased. He was made +governor of Judea, and, under pretence of supporting the waning fortunes +of Alexander, he captured in succession the Philistine cities of Joppa, +Azotus (Ashdod), Ascalon, and Akron. When Demetrius II became master of +Syria, Jonathan succeeded by rich gifts and diplomacy in so far gaining +the support of the new king that part of the territory of Samaria was +joined to Judea. In return for three hundred talents they were also +promised exemption from taxation. Furthermore, membership in one of the +royal orders was conferred upon the Maccabean leader. Thus by good fortune +and by often questionable diplomacy the Jews finally secured in the days +of Jonathan that freedom for which they had fought and which they had +partially won under the valiant Judas. + + + +Section CXII. PEACE AND PROSPERITY UNDER SIMON + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:38-40] +And when King Demetrius saw that the land was quiet before him and that +no resistance was made to him, he sent all his forces, each one to his own +home, except the foreign mercenaries, whom he had enlisted from the isles +of the heathen. All the troops, however, who had served his father hated +him. Now Tryphon was one of those who had formerly belonged to Alexander's +party, and when he saw that all the troops were murmuring against +Demetrius, he went to Yamliku, the Arabian who was bringing up Antiochus, +the young child of Alexander, and importuned him that he should deliver +him to him, that he might reign in his father's place. And he told him all +that Demetrius had done, and the hatred which his troops bore him. And he +stayed there a long time. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 11:54-56] +Now after this Tryphon returned, and with him the young child Antiochus, +and he assumed the sovereignty and put on the diadem. And there were +gathered to him all the forces which Demetrius had sent away in disgrace, +and they fought against him, and he fled and was defeated. And Tryphon +took the elephants and became master of Antioch. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 12:39-47] +Then Tryphon tried to get the sovereignty over Asia and to put on the +diadem and to engage in hostilities against Antiochus the king. But he +was afraid lest perhaps Jonathan might not allow him, and that he might +fight against him. So he sought a way to take him, that he might destroy +him. And he set out and came to Bethshan. Then Jonathan went out to meet +him with forty thousand picked soldiers and came to Bethshan. And when +Tryphon saw that he came with a great army, he was afraid to attack him, +and he received him honorably and commended him to all his Friends and +gave him gifts, and commanded his forces to be obedient to him as to +himself. And he said to Jonathan, Why have you put all this people to +trouble, since that there is no war between us? Now therefore send them +away to their homes, retaining for yourself only a few men who shall be +with you, and come with me to Ptolemais, and I will give it to you with +the rest of the strongholds and the rest of the forces and all the king's +officers, and I will set out on my way back, for this is the cause of my +coming. Then he trusted him and did even as he said, and sent away his +forces so that they departed into the land of Judah. But he reserved for +himself three thousand men, of whom he left two thousand in Galilee, while +one thousand went with him. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 12:48-53] +Now as soon as Jonathan entered Ptolemais, the people of Ptolemais shut +the gates and laid hands on him, and they slew with the sword all who came +in with him. And Tryphon sent forces and horsemen into Galilee, and into +the great plain, to destroy all of Jonathan's men. But they perceived +that he had been taken and had perished, and those who were with him, and +they encouraged one another and marched in closed ranks, prepared to +fight. And when those who were pursuing them saw that they were ready to +fight for their lives, they turned back again. Thus they all came safely +into the land of Judah, and they mourned for Jonathan and those who were +with him, and they were greatly afraid. And all Israel mourned bitterly. +Then all the heathen who were round about them sought to destroy them +utterly, for they said, They have no ruler nor any to help them, now +therefore let us fight against them and wipe out the memory of them from +among men. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:1-11] +Now when Simon heard that Tryphon had collected a vast army to come into +the land of Judah to destroy it utterly, and saw that the people trembled +and were greatly afraid, he went up to Jerusalem and gathered the people +together, and encouraged them and said to them, You yourselves know all +the things that I and my brothers, and my father's house, have done for +the laws and the sanctuary, and the battles and times of distress through +which we have passed. In this cause all my brothers have perished for +Israel's sake, and I alone am left. And now be it far from me that I +should spare my own life, in any time of affliction; for I am not better +than my brothers. Rather I will take revenge for my nation, and for the +sanctuary, and for our wives and children, because all the heathen are +gathered to destroy us out of pure hatred. And the courage of the people +rose as they heard these words. And they answered with a loud voice, +saying, You are our leader instead of Judas and Jonathan your brothers. +Fight our battles, and we will do all that you command. So he gathered +together all the warriors and made haste to finish the walls of Jerusalem, +and fortified the entire length of it. And he sent Jonathan the son of +Absalom at the head of a large army to Joppa, and he drove out those who +were in it, and stayed there in it. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:20-22] +And after this Tryphon came to invade the land and destroy it, and he went +round about by the way that goes to Adora; and Simon and his army marched +opposite and abreast of him to every place wherever he went. And the +people of the citadel sent to Tryphon ambassadors urging him to come by +forced marches through the wilderness to them and to send them supplies. +So Tryphon made ready all his cavalry to go. But that night a very deep +snow fell, so that he did not come because of the snow. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:23-30] +Then he set out and came to the country of Gilead, and when he came near +to Bascama, he slew Jonathan, and he was buried there. But when Tryphon +went back into his own land, Simon sent and took the bones of Jonathan his +brother, and buried them at Modein, his ancestral city. And all Israel +made great lamentation over him and mourned for him for many days. And +Simon built a monument upon the sepulchre of his father and his brothers, +and raised it aloft to the sight, with polished stone on the back and +front sides. He also set up seven pyramids, one opposite another, for his +father and his mother and his four brothers. And for these he made +artistic designs, setting about them great pillars, and upon the pillars +he fashioned different kinds of arms as an everlasting memorial, and +beside the arms ships carved, that they should be seen by all who sail on +the sea. This is the sepulchre which he made at Modein, which stands there +at the present time. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:33, 43-48] +Then Simon built the strongholds of Judea and fenced them about with high +towers and great walls and gates and bars, and laid up stores in the +strongholds. In those days he laid siege to Gazara, and surrounded it with +armies, and made an engine of siege and brought it up to the city, and +smote a tower and captured it. And those who were in the engine leaped +forth into the city, and there was a great tumult in the city. And the +people of the city tore their garments, and went up on the walls with +their wives and children, and cried with a loud voice, requesting Simon to +make peace with them. And they said, Do not deal with us according to our +wickednesses but according to your mercy. So Simon was reconciled to them +and did not fight against them. But he expelled them from the city and +cleansed the houses in which the idols were, and so entered into it with +singing and praise. And when he had put all uncleanness out of it, he +placed in it such men as would keep the law and made it stronger than it +was before, and built a dwelling place for himself in it. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 13:49-53] +But those who were in the citadel at Jerusalem were prevented from going +out and from going into the country, and from buying and selling, so that +they suffered exceedingly from hunger, and a great number of them perished +through famine. Then they cried out to Simon to make peace with them. He +did so, but put them out from there, and cleansed the citadel from its +pollutions. And he entered it on the twenty-third day of the second month +in the one hundred and seventy-first year, with praise and palm branches, +with harps, with cymbals, with viols, with hymns, and with songs, because +a great enemy was destroyed out of Israel. And he ordained that they +should observe that day each year with gladness. And the temple mount, +which was beside the citadel, he made stronger than before, and there he +dwelt with his men. And Simon saw that John his son had grown to manhood, +and so he made him commander of all his forces. And he lived in Gazara. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 14:16-18] +Now when they heard at Rome and at Sparta that Jonathan was dead, they +were very sorry. But as soon as they learned that his brother Simon had +been made high priest in his place and ruled the country and its cities, +they wrote to him on brass tablets, to renew with him the friendship and +the treaty which they had made with Judas and Jonathan his brothers. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 14:38-47] +Moreover King Demetrius confirmed to him the high priesthood according to +these things, and made him one of his Friends, and bestowed great honor +upon him, for he had heard that the Jews had been called friends and +allies and brothers by the Romans, and that they had met the ambassadors +of Simon with honor, and that the Jews and the priests were well pleased +that Simon should be their governor and high priest forever, until there +should arise a faithful prophet; and that he should be commander over +them, and should take charge of the sanctuary, to appoint men on his own +authority over their works and over the country and over the arms and over +the forts, and that he should be obeyed by all, and that all documents +drawn up in the country should be written in his name, and that he should +be clothed in purple, and wear gold; and that it should not be lawful for +any of the people or of the priests to nullify any of these things, or to +resist the commands that he should issue, or to gather an assembly in the +country without his permission, or to be clothed in purple or to wear a +golden buckle. But whoever should do otherwise, or act in defiance of any +of these things, should be liable to punishment. All the people agreed to +ordain that Simon should act according to these regulations. And Simon +accepted and consented to be high priest and to be general and governor of +the Jews and of the priests and to be protector of all. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 14:48, 49] +And they gave orders to put this writing on brass tablets and to set them +up within the precinct of the sanctuary in a conspicuous place, and also +to put the copies of it in the treasury in order that Simon and his sons +might have them. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 15:4-8] +So the land had rest all the days of Simon, +And he sought the good of his nation. +His authority and his glory were well-pleasing to them all his days. +And amid all his glory he took Joppa for a haven, +And made it a way to the isles of the sea, +And he enlarged the boundaries of his nation, +And became master of the land. +He also brought many captives together, +And made himself master of Gazara and Bethsura, and the citadel. +Moreover he took away from it its uncleannesses; +And there was none who resisted him. +And they tilled their land in peace, +And the earth gave her increase, +And the trees of the plains their fruit. + +[Sidenote: 15:9-15] +The old men sat in the streets, +They talked together of the common good, +And the young men put on glorious, fine apparel. +He provided food for the cities, +And furnished them with means of fortification, +Until his famous name was known to the end of the earth. +He made peace in the land, +And Israel rejoiced with great joy, +Everyone sat under his own vine and fig tree, +And there was no one to make them afraid, +And none who warred against them was left upon the earth, +For the kings were utterly crushed in those days. +And he strengthened all the distressed of his people, +He was full of zeal for the law, +And every lawless and wicked person he banished. +He made the sanctuary glorious, +And multiplied the vessels of the temple. + +I. Capture and Death of Jonathan. It was not strange in that corrupt age +that Jonathan, who had risen to power largely by intrigue, should himself +in the end fall a prey to treachery. Tryphon, the general who secretly +aspired to the Syrian throne, by lies succeeded in misleading even the +wily Jewish leader. His object was to gain possession of southern +Palestine, and he evidently believed that by capturing Jonathan he would +easily realize his ambition. He overlooked the fact, however, that Simon, +next to Judas the ablest of the sons of Mattathias, still remained to +rally and lead the Jewish patriots. The natural barriers of Judea again +proved insurmountable, for when Tryphon tried repeatedly on the west, +south, and east to invade the central uplands, he found the passes +guarded by Simon and his experienced warriors. Thus baffled, the +treacherous Tryphon vented his disappointment upon Jonathan, whom he +slew in Gilead. As the would-be usurper advanced northward, where he +ultimately met the fate which he richly deserved, Simon and his followers +bore the body of Jonathan back to Modein, and there they reared over it +the fourth of those tombs which testified to the warlike spirit and +devotion of the sons of Mattathias. + +II. Character and Policy of Simon. Simon, who was at this crisis called +to the leadership of the Jewish race, had been famed from the first for +his moderation and wise counsel. In many campaigns he had also shown the +military skill and courage that had characterized his younger brothers. In +him the noble spirit of Judas lived again. He was devoted to the law, +intent upon building up the state, and at the same time was deeply and +genuinely interested in all members of his race, whether in Judea or in +distant nations. Like David and Josiah, he was a true father of his people +and set an example which unfortunately his descendants failed to follow. +He still recognized the authority of Demetrius II, but the Syrian kingdom +was so weak that Simon succeeded in securing a definite promise of the +remission of all taxes, and ruled practically as an independent sovereign. +To strengthen his position he sent an embassy laden with rich gifts to +Rome. During a later crisis in his rule its prestige proved of great +value, but Simon in following the example of his brothers gave to Rome +that claim upon Judea that was destined within less than a century to put +an end to Jewish independence. In still further consolidating and +developing the resources of his people and in preparing for future +expansion, Simon laid the foundations for the later Jewish kingdom. His +policy also brought to Palestine that peace and prosperity which made his +rule one of the few bright spots in Israel's troubled history. + +III. His Conquests. The chief conquest of Simon was the capture of +Gazara, the ancient Gezer. This lay on the western side of the plain of +Ajalon. It guarded the approaches to Judea from the west, and above all +the highway that ran from Joppa and along which passed the commerce of the +Mediterranean. After a stubborn resistance he captured the town, deported +part of its heathen population, and settled Jewish colonists in their +place. Joppa also was under Simon's control. Thus he also prepared the +way for that commercial expansion which was necessary if the Jewish state +was to survive in the midst of its many powerful foes. Early in his reign +Simon laid siege to the Syrian garrison in Jerusalem, and finally, amidst +the rejoicing of the people, captured this stronghold and delivered Judea +from the presence of the hated foreigners. The temple area was also +fortified. Simon's victories, and especially his conquest of the Greek +cities on the plain, aroused the Syrian king, Antiochus Sidetes, the son +of Demetrius I, to demand heavy indemnity. When Simon refused to pay the +tribute a Syrian army was sent to enforce the claim, but were defeated by +a Jewish force under John Hyrcanus. This victory left Simon during the +remainder of his reign practically independent of outside authority. + +IV. Simon's Authority. Simon, with commendable moderation, refrained +from attempting to secure for himself the title of king. He did, however, +issue coins in his own name, although that right was ordinarily the +prerogative only of kings. Upon him was conferred by the grateful people +the authority that had first been given Jonathan by the shameless +Alexander Balas. In return for Simon's many services and as a tribute +to the achievements of his family he was proclaimed by the Jews not only +civil governor and military leader, but also high priest. He thus became +their rightful leader both in peace and war, and the representative of the +nation in the sacred services of the temple. In all but name he was king, +and Jewish history would have doubtless flowed in calmer channels had his +descendants been contented with these substantial honors. + +V. Completion of the Psalter. The reign of Simon probably witnessed the +completion of the Psalter. Many of the psalms, especially those in the +latter half of the book, bear the unmistakable marks of the Maccabean +struggle. In Psalms 74 and 89, for example, there are clear references to +the desecration of the temple and the bitter persecutions of Antiochus. +They voice the wails of despair which then rose from the lips of many +Jews. Many other psalms, as, for example, the one hundred and eighteenth, +express that intense love and devotion to the law which was from this time +on in many ways the most prominent characteristic of Judaism. The +prevailingly prominent liturgical element that characterizes the +concluding psalms of the Psalter suggest their original adaptation to the +song services of the temple. Under the reign of Simon the temple choir was +probably extended and greater prominence given to this form of the +temple service. The peace and prosperity in the days of Simon gave the +opportunity and the incentive to put in final form the earlier collections +of psalms and probably to add the introduction found in Psalms 1-2 and the +concluding doxology in Psalm 150. The Psalter appears to have been the +last to be completed of all the Old Testament books, so that probably +before the close of Simon's reign all of the present Old Testament +books were written. Discussions regarding the value of such books as +Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Esther continued until nearly the +close of the first Christian century, when at last the canon of the Old +Testament was completed. + +VI. The Religious Life Reflected in the Later Psalms. The prevailing +note in the psalms found in the latter part of the Psalter is joyous. A +deep sense of gratitude to Jehovah for deliverance pervades them. The Jews +felt that Jehovah had indeed delivered them "as a bird from the snare of +the fowler" (Psalm 124). In the near background were the dark days of +persecution. Hostile foes still encircled Israel, but trust in Jehovah's +power and willingness to deliver triumphed over all fear. + +Oh, give thanks to Jehovah for he is good, +For his mercy endureth forever. +He hath delivered us from our enemies; +Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven, +For his mercy endureth forever, + +was the oft-repeated refrain that was sung in the temple service by the +warriors when they returned victorious from battle and by the people as +they went about their tasks. The sense of constant danger and of great +achievement bound together the Jews of this period as perhaps never +before since the days of the exile. The same experiences developed a +powerful religious consciousness. Jehovah had repeatedly and signally +demonstrated that he was in their midst. Without his strong hand they +were helpless against their foes. The apostates had been expelled, and +the classes that remained were bound closely together by their desire to +preserve their hard-won liberties, by their devotion to the temple and its +services and by a profound respect for the authority of their scriptures. +The voice of the living prophet was silent. The priests had ceased to +teach and were simply ministers at the altar, and in the turmoil of the +Maccabean struggle the teaching of the wise had practically come to an +end. Instead the Jews became in every sense the people of the book. It +was at this time and as a result of the forces at work in this age that +the scribes attained their place as the chief teachers of the people. It +was natural that they who copied, edited, and above all interpreted the +revered Law and the Prophets should have the ear of the masses and +should be regarded more and more as the authorized teachers of the +Jewish race. Judaism had at last attained its maturity. + + + +Section CXIII. THE RULE OF JOHN HYRCANUS AND ARISTOBULUS + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 16:11-17] +Now Ptolemy the son of Abubus had been appointed commander over the plain +of Jericho. He possessed much silver and gold, for he was the high +priest's son-in-law. Then he grew ambitious and determined to make himself +master of the country. So he formed treacherous plots against Simon and +his sons, to make away with them. Now Simon was visiting the cities that +were in the country and providing for their good management. And he went +down to Jericho with Mattathias and Judas his sons, in the one hundred and +seventy-seventh year, in the eleventh month, that is the month Sebat. Then +the son of Abubus received them treacherously in a little stronghold that +is called Dok, which he had built, and made them a great banquet, and his +men were there. And when Simon and his sons were drunk, Ptolemy and his +men rose up and took their weapons, and rushing in upon Simon in the +banquet hall, they slew him and his two sons, and some of his servants. +Thus he committed a great act of treachery and paid back evil for good. + +[Sidenote: I Macc. 16:18-22] +Then Ptolemy wrote what had happened, and asked the king to send forces to +aid him, and promised to hand over to him their country and the cities. +And he sent others to Gazara to make away with John. And to the officers +commanding thousands he sent letters to come to him, that he might give +them silver and gold and gifts. And others he sent to take possession of +Jerusalem and the temple-mount. But some ran before to Gazara and told +John that his father and brothers had perished, and they said, He has sent +to slay you too. And when he heard, he was dumb with amazement, but he +seized the men who came to destroy him, and slew them, for he saw that +they were seeking to destroy him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:3c-4b] +Now when Hyrcanus had received the high priesthood which his father had +held before him and had offered sacrifice to God, he made haste to attack +Ptolemy, that he might relieve his mother and brothers. So he laid siege +to the fortress and was superior to Ptolemy in other respects; but he was +defeated through his natural affection. For when Ptolemy was distressed, +he brought Hyrcanus's mother and his brothers and set them upon the wall +and beat them with rods in the sight of all and threatened that unless +Hyrcanus went away immediately, he would throw them down headlong. At this +sight Hyrcanus's pity and concern overcame his anger. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:4d] +And since the siege was delayed in this way, the year of rest came on, +during which the Jews rest every seventh year as they do on every seventh +day. In this year, therefore, Ptolemy was freed from being besieged. He +also slew the brothers of Hyrcanus with their mother, and fled to Zeno, +who was the tyrant of Philadelphia. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:5] +And now Antiochus [Sidetes] was so angry at what he had suffered from +Simon that he made an expedition into Judea and laid siege to Jerusalem +and shut up Hyrcanus. But Hyrcanus opened the tomb of David, who was the +richest of all kings, took from there more than three thousand talents of +money and induced Antiochus upon the promise of three thousand talents to +raise the siege. Moreover he was the first of the Jews who had plenty of +money, and so began to hire foreign mercenaries. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:6] +At another time, when Antiochus had gone upon an expedition against the +Medes and thus given Hyrcanus an opportunity to be revenged upon him, +Hyrcanus made an attack upon the cities of Syria, thinking, as proved to +be the case, that he would find them empty of good troops. So he took +Medeba and Samaga with their surrounding towns; likewise Shechem and Mount +Gerizim. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 9:1d, e] +Hyrcanus also took Dora and Marissa, cities of Idumea, and subdued all the +Idumeans. He permitted them to stay in their country, if they would +undergo circumcision and conform to the Jewish laws. They were so desirous +of living in the country of their fathers that they submitted to +circumcision and the other Jewish ways of living. From this time on, +therefore, they were none other than Jews. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 2:7a-b] +Hyrcanus also proceeded as far as Samaria and invested it on all sides +with a wall, and placed his sons, Aristobulus and Antigonus in charge of +the siege. They pushed it with such vigor that a famine prevailed within +the city, so that the inhabitants were forced to eat what was never before +regarded as food. They also invited Antiochus to come to their assistance +and he readily responded to their invitation, but he was beaten by +Aristobulus and Antigonus, and he was pursued as far as Scythopolis by +these brothers and fled away from them. So they returned to Samaria and +shut up the multitude within the wall again, and when they had taken the +city, they tore it down and made slaves of its inhabitants. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:5] +However the prosperity of Hyrcanus caused the Jews to envy him; and they +who were worst disposed to him were the Pharisees. Now Hyrcanus was one of +their disciples and had been greatly beloved by them. But once when he +invited them to a feast and entertained them kindly and saw them in a good +humor, he began to say to them that they knew that he desired to be a +righteous man and do all things by which he might please God and them, for +the Pharisees are philosophers. However, he desired, if they observed him +offending in any respect or departing from the right way, that they would +call him back and correct him. When they testified that he was entirely +virtuous he was well pleased with their approval. But one of his guests, +Eleazar by name, was a man malignant by nature, who delighted in +dissension. This man said: "Since you wish to know the truth, if you +really desire to do what is right, lay down the high priesthood and +content yourself with the civil government of the people." And when +Hyrcanus desired to know for what cause he ought to lay down the high +priesthood, the other replied: "We have heard from old men that your +mother was a captive in the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes." This story was +false, and Hyrcanus was provoked against him. All the Pharisees likewise +were very indignant with him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:6a-c] +Now there was a certain Jonathan, a great friend of Hyrcanus, but of the +sect of the Sadducees, whose ideas are the opposite of those of the +Pharisees. He told Hyrcanus that Eleazar had cast that slur upon him +according to the common opinion of all the Pharisees and that this would +be made clear if he would ask them the question, What punishment they +thought this man deserved? For in this way he might be sure that the slur +was not laid on him with their approval, if they advised punishing him as +the crime deserved. Therefore when Hyrcanus asked this question, the +Pharisees answered that the man deserved stripes and imprisonment, but it +did not seem right to punish a slur with death. And indeed the Pharisees +ordinarily are not apt to be severe in punishment. At this mild sentence +Hyrcanus was very angry and thought that this man reproved him with their +approval. It was this Jonathan who influenced him so far that he made him +join the Sadducees and leave the party of the Pharisees and abolish the +decrees that they had thus imposed on the people and punish those who +obeyed them. This was the source of the hatred with which he and his sons +were regarded by the multitude. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:7] +But when Hyrcanus had put an end to this sedition, he afterward lived +happily and administered the government in the best manner for thirty-one +years and then died, leaving behind him five sons. He was esteemed by God +worthy of the three highest honors, the rulership of his nation, the high +priesthood, and prophecy, for God was with him and enabled him to predict +the future. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 11:1a-c, 8a] +Now when Hyrcanus was dead, his eldest son Aristobulus, intent upon +changing the government into a monarchy, was the first to put a diadem on +his head. This Aristobulus loved his next brother Antigonus and treated +him as an equal, but the others he kept in bonds. He also cast his mother +into prison because she disputed the government with him, for Hyrcanus had +left her in control of everything. He also proceeded to that degree of +barbarity that he killed her in prison with hunger. Moreover he was +estranged from his brother Antigonus by false charges and also slew him, +although he seemed to have a great affection for him and had shared the +kingdom with him. But Aristobulus immediately repented of the slaughter of +his brother; on which account his disease grew upon him. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 11:3e] +Then Aristobulus died, after having reigned a year. He was called a lover +of the Greeks and conferred many benefits on his country. He also made a +war against Iturea [Galilee], and added a great part of it to Judea and +compelled the inhabitants, if they wished to remain in that country, to be +circumcised and to live according to the Jewish laws. + +I. Murder of Simon. Even his moderation and kindly rule did not deliver +Simon from the violent death that overtook all the sons of Mattathias. + +His murderer was his son-in-law, a certain Ptolemy, who was governor of +the Jordan Valley, the resources of which had been developed under Simon. +Ptolemy trusted to the support of the Syrian court, but he failed to +reckon with two things: (1) the loyalty of the people to their Maccabean +leaders; and (2) the ability of Simon's son, John Hyrcanus. Instead of +falling a victim to Ptolemy's plot, John at once went to Jerusalem where +he was made the high priest and governor by the people. Ptolemy, who was +besieged in the castle of Dok, saved his miserable life only by shameless +perfidy. + +II. The Syrian Invasion. Antiochus Sidetes proved the ablest Syrian king +of this period. Although his first attack had been repelled by Simon, +he again attempted, on the accession of Hyrcanus, to reestablish +his authority in Palestine. Josephus, in his account, obscures this +humiliating chapter in Jewish history. The statement that Hyrcanus took +from the tomb of David vast wealth and thus purchased immunity from Syrian +attack has all the characteristics of an Oriental tale. Instead, Antiochus +Sidetes not only besieged but captured Jerusalem, and doubtless compelled +the Jews to pay heavy tribute. Preferring, however, to retain their +loyalty rather than to crush them, he left John Hyrcanus in control of +Judea, and Jerusalem escaped destruction. In the disastrous campaign +against the Parthians in which Antiochus lost his life John Hyrcanus +accompanied him with a following of Jewish soldiers. The death of +Antiochus Sidetes in 129 B.C. at last left the Jews free to develop their +kingdom without further fear of Syrian interference. This event marks for +the Jews the attainment of absolute political freedom--a privilege which +they continued to enjoy for a little over half a century. + +III. John's Military Policy and Conquests. John possessed the +characteristic ambitions and energy of his family. In his policy he also +seems to have been strongly influenced by the achievements of Israel's +early conquering king, David. His aim was to build up a small empire, +and by crushing the ancient foes of Israel to secure immunity from +further attack. In employing foreign mercenaries he also followed the +example of King David. Doubtless he was influenced in doing so by his +experiences in the Parthian campaign. This policy, however, was far +removed from the spirit of the early Maccabean leaders who had unsheathed +the sword in behalf of their principles. John's first campaign was +against the cities to the east of the Jordan, and resulted in the conquest +of the towns of Medeba and Samaga and the territory subject to them. The +conquest of Shechem and southern Samaria was undoubtedly prompted both by +hereditary hatred toward the Samaritans and by the desire to provide an +outlet for the growing Jewish population. After standing for two +centuries, the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed by the +Jews. This sacrilegious act naturally intensified that hatred between Jew +and Samaritan which burned so fiercely during the early part of the first +Christian century. Marissa and Dora, the chief cities of the Idumeans, +were next conquered. With strange inconsistency, John Hyrcanus, whose +ancestors had first taken up the sword in defence of religious liberty, +compelled the descendants of their old foes, the Edomites, to give up +their national religion or else go into exile. This policy was fraught +with far-reaching consequences, for among those appointed to rule over the +conquered Edomites was Antipater, the ancestor of Herod, who was destined +to rule the Jews and to initiate that long series of disasters that +culminated in the destruction of the Jewish state. Last of all, John +Hyrcanus advanced to the conquest of the Greek city of Samaria. Because of +its natural strength and formidable defences a year was required for the +siege, and it was ultimately captured only through famine. The sons of +John Hyrcanus succeeded in holding at bay the Syrian armies that were sent +to relieve the besieged. The conquered inhabitants were sold as slaves, +and the city was left for a time in complete ruins. The conquest of +Scythopolis, the ancient Bethshean, extended the bounds of John's kingdom +to the southern hills of Galilee. Thus he became master of a small empire +extending out toward the desert on the east, to the South Country on the +south, touching the sea at Joppa, and including the entire territory of +ancient Samaria on the north. While not as large as the kingdom of David, +it was a more perfect political unit, and offered superior opportunities +for commerce and internal development. + +IV. The Break with the Pharisees. The successes of John Hyrcanus +blinded the majority of the nation to the real issues at stake. But a +powerful group, which during the Maccabean period appeared for the first +time under the name of Pharisees, began to withdraw their allegiance and +silently, at least, to protest against a high priest whose chief ambition +was conquest. The story which Josephus tells to explain the defection +of the Pharisees may be simply a popular tradition, but it is indicative +of that division within Judaism which ultimately wrecked the Maccabean +state. From the days of John Hyrcanus, the Maccabean rulers, with only one +exception, were compelled to meet the silent but strong opposition of the +Pharisees. As a result they turned to the rising party of the Sadducees +which henceforth identified itself with the interests of the reigning +family. Thus in the year of its greatest triumph the Jewish state became a +house divided against itself. Estranged from the better-minded religious +leaders of the nation, John Hyrcanus and his successors followed an +increasingly secular, selfish policy until they completely forgot the +noble ideals for which their fathers had striven. + +V. The Reign of Aristobulus. The accession of Aristobulus marks a +triumph of that Hellenism against which Judas and Simon had unsheathed +the sword. Like many an Oriental monarch, he established his position on +the throne by the murder of all members of his family who might contest +his power. His inhuman cruelty to his mother and the suspicions which led +him to murder his brother reveal a barbarous spirit that can only be +explained as a result of the wrong ambitions that had already taken +possession of Israel's rulers. Aristobulus's brief reign of one year is +marked by two significant acts. The first is the assumption of the title +of king. On his own initiative, and apparently without the consent of the +people, he placed the diadem upon his head. The other important act was +the conquest of part of the territory of Iturea, which was known in later +times as Galilee. He found it occupied by a mixed Syrian and Greek +population in which were probably a few descendants of the ancient +Israelites. Following the policy of his family, he doubtless at once +inaugurated a system of colonization which carried to Galilee a strong +Jewish population. Henceforth, by virtue of race, language, and religion, +Galilee was closely bound to Judea. + + + +Section CXIV. THE PHARISEES, SADDUCEES, AND ESSENES + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:2, 3a-c] +The Jews have three sects of philosophy: the Essenes, the Sadducees, and +those called Pharisees. The Pharisees do not yield to luxury but despise +that kind of life; and they follow the guidance of reason, and what that +prescribes to them as good, they do. They also pay respect to those +advanced in years nor are they so bold as to contradict them in anything +which they have introduced. While they believe that all things are done by +predestination, they do not take away from a man the choice of acting as +he deems proper, for they believe that it is God's will that an event be +decided for good or evil both by the divine counsel and by the man who is +willing to accede to it. They also believe that souls possess immortal +power and that under the earth there will be rewards or punishments +according as men have lived virtuously or viciously in this life, and that +the vicious are to be detained in an everlasting prison and that the +virtuous shall have the power to live again. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:3d] +On account of this doctrine they have great influence with the people, and +whatsoever they do in connection with the divine worship, prayers and +sacrifices, they perform in accordance with the direction of the Pharisees. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:4a, Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:14c] +But the doctrine of the Sadducees is that souls die with the bodies, nor +do they give heed to anything beyond these things which the law enjoins. +They deny predestination entirely and assert that God exercises no +oversight over any evil doing and they say that good or evil lies before +man to choose, and, according to each man's inclination, he chooses the +one or the other. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:4b] +They also think it virtuous to dispute with those teachers of philosophy +which they follow. This doctrine, however, is accepted by only a few, but +these are of the highest rank, They are able to accomplish almost nothing +by themselves; for when they come to power, unwillingly but perforce, they +accede to the Pharisaic doctrine, for otherwise they would not be +tolerated by the multitude. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XVIII, 1:5a, b] +The doctrine of the Essenes is that all things are best left to God. They +teach the immortality of souls and think that the rewards of righteousness +are to be earnestly striven for; and when they send what they have +dedicated to God to the temple, they offer their sacrifices in accordance +with the special law of purity which they observe. On this account they +are excluded from the common court of the temple but themselves offer +their sacrifices. Yet their course of life is far better than that of +other men and they devote themselves wholly to agriculture. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:2, 13a] +The Essenes seem to have a greater affection for each other than do the +other sects. They reject pleasure as an evil, but regard self-restraint +and the conquest of passions as a virtue. They despise marriage and choose +out other people's children, while they are impressionable and teachable, +and they regard them as their own kindred, and conform them to their own +customs. They do not absolutely repudiate marriage. There is also another +order of Essenes, who agree with the rest in regard to their way of +living, customs and laws, but differ from them in regard to marriage, for +they think that by not marrying they will cut off the most important +element in human life, which is the succession of mankind. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:3, 4] +These men are despisers of riches and are wonderfully communistic among +themselves. No one is to be found among them who has more than the others, +for it is a law among them that those who join their sect must share with +them what they have, so that among them all there is no evidence of +poverty or excess of riches, but everyone's possessions are shared in +common, so there is, as it were, but one property among all the brothers. +They also have directors appointed by vote to manage their common affairs. +These have no other interest, but each devotes himself to the needs of +all. They possess no one city, but many of them dwell in every city, and +if any of their sect come from other places, what they have lies open for +them, just as if it were their own. They do not change garments or sandals +until they first are entirely torn to pieces or worn out by time. Nor do +they either buy or sell anything to each other, but every one of them +gives to him who wants it and receives from him again in return for it +what he wants; and even though no return is made, they are free to take +what they want from whom they wish. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:5] +And their piety toward God is very extraordinary; for before sunrise they +speak not a word about profane matters, but offer up certain inherited +prayers as if they made a supplication to it for its rising. After this +everyone is sent away by their directors to engage in some of those arts +in which they are skilled, and at which they labor with great diligence +until the fifth hour; after which they assemble again in one place. And +when they have clad themselves in linen coverings, they bathe their bodies +in cold water. After this purification is over they meet together in an +apartment of their own in which none of another sect is permitted to +enter. Then they go ceremonially pure into the dining room, as if into a +temple. And when they have quietly sat down, the baker lays loaves in +order for them, and a cook also brings a single plate of one kind of food +and sets it before each of them. And a priest offers a prayer before +eating. It is unlawful for any one to taste the food before the prayer. +When he has dined he offers prayer again. When they begin and when they +end they praise God as the giver of the necessities of life. After this +they lay aside their garments as though they were sacred, and devote +themselves to their labor again until evening. Then they return home to +dine in the same manner and if any strangers be there they sit down with +them. There is never any clamor or disturbance to pollute their household, +but they give everyone permission to speak in turn. The silence of the +inmates appears to outsiders like some awful mystery. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:6] +They do nothing except in accordance with the injunctions of their +directors. Only these two things are done among them as each wishes, +namely, they assist the needy and show mercy; but they cannot assist their +kindred without the permission of their directors. They dispense their +anger justly and restrain their passion. They are eminent for fidelity and +are the advocates of peace. Also whatever they say is mightier than an +oath, but swearing is avoided by them, and they regard it worse than +perjury, for they say that he who cannot be believed without swearing by +God is already condemned. They also devote great attention to the study of +the works of the ancients and select from them those things that are +profitable for soul and body. Also they seek out such roots as may be +effective for the cure of their diseases and inquire into the properties +of stones. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:7] +To one who desires to enter their sect, admission is not immediately +granted; but he is prescribed the same method of living as they use for a +year during which he is still excluded, and they give him a small hatchet, +and girdle and the white garment. And when during that time he has given +evidence of self-control, he approaches nearer to their way of living and +is allowed to share the waters of purification. However, he is not even +now allowed to live with them, for after this demonstration of his +fortitude, his character is tried two years more, and if he appears to be +worthy, they then admit him into the society. But before he is allowed to +touch their common food, he is obliged to swear to them awful oaths that +in the first place he will show piety toward God and then that he will +observe justice toward men, and that he will do no harm to any one either +voluntarily or at the command of others, and that he will always hate the +wicked, and help the righteous, and that he will show fidelity to all men +and especially to those in authority, that he will be a lover of truth and +denounce those who tell lies, and that he will keep his hands clean from +theft, and his soul from unlawful gain. Moreover he swears to communicate +their doctrines to no one otherwise than he received them himself, and +that he will abstain from robbery, and that he will faithfully preserve +the books of their sect and the names of the angels. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:8a, 9a-c] +Those who are caught in any heinous sins they cast out of their society; +and he who is thus expelled often dies miserably. And in the judgments +they pronounce they are most exacting and just, nor do they pass sentence +by the votes of a court having less than one hundred members, and what is +determined by them is unalterable. What they most of all honor, after God +himself, is the name of their legislator [Moses], whom, if any one +blasphemes, he is punished by death. They also think it a good thing to +obey their elders and the majority. They are stricter than any others of +the Jews in resting from their labors on the seventh day, for they not +only prepare their food the day before, that they may not be obliged to +kindle a fire on that day, but they will not venture to move any vessel +out of its place. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:10b, c, 11b] +They are also long-lived, insomuch that most of them live over a hundred +years because of the simplicity of their diet and as a result of their +regular course of life. They despise the miseries of life and are above +pain because of their noble thoughts. And as for death, if it come with +glory, they regard it as better than immortality. They think also, like +the Greeks, that the good have their habitation beyond the ocean in a +region that is never oppressed by storms of rain or of snow, or with heat, +and that this place is refreshed by the gentle breath of the west wind +that is continually blowing from the ocean; while they allot to the bad a +dark and cold den which is never free from unceasing punishment. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, II, 8:12] +There are also those among them who undertake to foretell things to +come by reading the holy books, by using several different forms of +purifications and by being constantly familiar with discourses of the +prophets; and it is only seldom that they fail in their predictions. + +I. Influences that Gave Rise to the Jewish Parties. The Maccabean period +witnessed the birth of the great parties that henceforth distinguished +Judaism. They represented the crystallizing of the different currents of +thought that were traceable in the Greek period and even earlier. These +diverse points of view were in part the result of that democratic spirit +which has always characterized Israel's life. In the striking antithesis +between the idealists and the legalists and the practical men of affairs +it is also possible to detect the potent influence which the prophets had +exerted upon the thought of their nation. In the Greek period the +Chronicler and certain of the psalmists, with their intense devotion to +the temple and its services to the practical exclusion of all other +interests, were the forerunners of the later Pharisees. Ben Sira, with his +hearty appreciation of the good things of life, with his devotion to the +scriptures of his race, with his evident failure to accept the new +doctrine of individual immortality, and with his great admiration for the +high priests, was an earlier type of the better class of Sadducees. The +persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes developed these parties. As has +already been noted, the Hasideans who followed Judas in the struggle to +restore the law and the temple service were the immediate predecessors +of the early Pharisees. The word "Pharisees" means separatists, and is +used first in the days of Jonathan (Jos. _Ant_. III 5:9) In the same +connection Josephus refers to the Sadducees. The name of this second party +is probably derived, not from the Hebrew word sadik, meaning righteous, +but from Zadok (later written Sadok or Sadduk), who was placed by +Solomon in charge of the Jerusalem temple. It was thus the designation +of the aristocratic, high-priestly party. In the Persian and Greek +periods the high priests had ruled the Judean state without opposition. +It was the rise of the party of the Pharisees that apparently developed +that of the Sadducees. This party included the hereditary nobles who +supported and sympathized with the Maccabean leaders. The Essenes +evidently represent a reaction against the prevailing moral corruption. +In many respects they were simply extreme Pharisees. They were zealots in +religion, just as the later party of the Zealots were extremists in their +hatred of Rome and in the methods which they were ready to use in order to +attain their ends. + +II. Character and Beliefs of the Pharisees. Originally the Pharisees +were not a political but a religious party. The opposition of the +Sadducees in time led them to enter public life. In politics they were +conservatives. They had little sympathy with the popular ambition for +political independence, and probably regarded with alarm the tendency +toward national expansion. Alliances with the heathen nations seemed +to them disloyalty to Jehovah. In belief they were progressives. While +they stood squarely on the ancient law, they recognized the importance +of interpreting it so as to meet the many questions that rose in public +and private life. To this great and practically endless task much of +their time was devoted. They thus recognized the fact that Israel's law +was still in process of development. To their later interpretations of +the law they attributed great authority. One of their maxims was: "It +is a worse offence to teach things contrary to the ordinances of the +scribes than to teach things contrary to the written law." Naturally their +attempt to anticipate by definite regulations each individual problem led +them to absurd extremes and in time obscured the real intent of the older +laws, but the spirit which actuated it was progressive. They also did not +hesitate to accept the growing popular belief in angels and spirits. Like +the earlier prophets, they recognized the presence of Jehovah directing +the life of the nation and of the individual. They accepted the new-born +belief in the immortality of the individual, clinging, however, to the +hope of a bodily resurrection. They also held to the popular messianic +hopes which became more and more prominent during the Maccabean and Roman +periods. + +The Pharisees were the most democratic party in Judaism. While +for their own members they insisted upon a most rigorous ceremonial +regime, they allowed the common people to ally themselves with them +as associates. In their acceptance of the popular hopes and in their +endeavor to adapt Israel's law to the life of the nation and thus +establish a basis for the realization of Israel's hopes they appealed to +the masses and exerted over them a powerful influence. Josephus asserts +that so great was the influence of the Pharisees with the people that the +Sadducees, in order to carry through their policies, were obliged, +nominally, at least, to adopt the platform of their rivals. The Pharisees +were also zealous in teaching the people and thus kept in close touch with +the masses. They, therefore, stood as the true representatives of Judaism. +Their principles have survived and are still the foundations of orthodox +Judaism. + + +III. Character and Beliefs of the Sadducees. The Sadducees were few in +numbers compared with the Pharisees. They represented, on the one side, +the old priestly aristocracy, and on the other the new nobility that +rallied about the Maccabean leaders. They depended for their authority +upon their wealth, their inherited prestige, and the support of the +throne. They were in reality a political rather than a religious party. +In politics they were progressives and opportunists. Any policy that +promised to further their individual or class interests was acceptable to +them. As is usually the case with parties that represent wealth and +hereditary power, they were conservatives in belief. They stood squarely +on the earlier scriptures of their race and had no sympathy with the later +Pharisaic interpretations and doctrines. Whether or not, as Josephus +asserts, they entirely rejected fate, that is, the providential direction +of human affairs, is not clear. Probably in this belief they did not +depart from the earlier teachings of priests and prophets. Their selfish +and often unscrupulous acts suggest a basis for Josephus's claim, even +though allowance must be made for his hostile attitude toward them. While +they were conservatives in theory, the Sadducees were of all classes in +Judaism most open to Greek and heathen influence, for foreign alliances +and Hellenic culture offered opportunities for advancement and power. + +IV. Character and Beliefs of the Essenes. Less important but even more +interesting are the Essenes. They were a sect, or monastic order, rather +than a political or religious party. Josephus, who asserts that for a time +he was associated with them, has given a full account of their peculiar +customs. They evidently represented a strong reaction against the +prevailing corruption and a return to the simple life. Their spirit of +humility, fraternity, and practical charity are in marked contrast to the +aims of the Sadducees and the later Maccabean rulers. In their beliefs +they were idealists. Their invocation of the sun, their extreme emphasis +on ceremonial cleanliness, their tendency toward celibacy, and their +distinction between soul and body, all suggest the indirect if not the +direct influence of the Pythagorean type of philosophy. If the Essenes +represented simply an extreme type of Pharisaism, the peculiar form of its +development was undoubtedly due to the Greek atmosphere amidst which it +flourished. The Essenes do not appear to have had any direct influence in +the politics of their day. They were a current apart from the main stream +of Judaism, and yet they could not fail to exert an indirect influence. +Many of their ideals and doctrines were closely similar to the teachings +of John the Baptist and Jesus. Yet there is a fundamental difference +between Essenism and primitive Christianity, for one sought to attain +perfection apart from life and the other in closest contact with the +currents of human thought and activity. While according to Josephus the +party of the Essenes at one time numbered four thousand, like all ascetic +movements it soon disappeared or else was deflected into that greater +stream of monasticism which rose in the early Christian centuries. + + + +Section CXV. THE LIFE AND FAITH OF THE JEWS OF THE DISPERSION + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:1a] +The Jews obtained honor from the kings of Asia when they became their +auxiliaries; for Seleucus Nicator made them citizens of those cities which +he built in Asia and in lower Syria, and in Antioch, the metropolis, and +gave them privileges equal to those of the Macedonians and the Greeks who +were its inhabitants. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, VII, 3:3a] +For the Jewish race is widely dispersed among the inhabitants of all the +world; and especially was it intermingled with the population of Syria, +because of the nearness of that country. Above all, in Antioch, because of +the size of the city, it had great numbers. There the kings who followed +Antiochus gave the Jews a place where they might live in the most +undisturbed security; for although Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, +laid waste Jerusalem and plundered the temple, the kings who succeeded him +restored all the gifts of brass that had been made to the Jews of Antioch, +and dedicated them to their synagogue. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, VII, 3:3b] +The succeeding kings also treated them in the same way, so that they +became very numerous, and adorned their temple with ornaments and at +great expense with those things which had been given them. They also +continued to attract a great many of the Greeks to their services, making +them in a sense part of themselves. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, VII, 10:2d-3e] +Now Onias, the son of Simon, one of the Jewish high priests, fled from +Antiochus [Epiphanes] the king of Syria, when he made war with the Jews, +and came to Alexandria. And after Ptolemy [Philometor] received him very +kindly on account of his hatred to Antiochus, Onias assured him that if he +would comply with his proposal, he would bring all the Jews to his +assistance. Now when the king agreed to do whatever he was able, Onias +desired him to give him permission to build a temple somewhere in Egypt +and to worship God according to the customs of his own nation. So Ptolemy +complied with his proposals and gave them a place about twenty miles +distant from Memphis. That province was called the province of Heliopolis. +There Onias built a fortress and a temple like that at Jerusalem except +that it resembled a tower. He built it of large stones to the height of +sixty cubits, but he made the structure of the altar an imitation of that +in his own country. In like manner also he adorned it with gifts, +excepting that he did not make a candlestick but had a single lamp +hammered out of a beaten piece of gold, which illuminated the place with +its rays, and which he hung by a chain of gold. The entire temple was +surrounded by a wall of burnt brick, although it had a gateway of stone. +The king also gave him a large territory for a revenue in money, that both +the priests might have plentiful provision for themselves, and that God +might have abundance of those things which were necessary for his worship. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:4] +Now in the days of John Hyrcanus, not only did the Jews in Jerusalem and +Judea enjoy prosperity but also those who were at Alexandria in Egypt and +Cyprus. For Cleopatra the queen was at variance with her son Ptolemy, who +is called Lathyrus, and appointed as her generals Chelcias and Ananias, +the son of that Onias who built the temple in the province of Heliopolis +similar to that of Jerusalem. Cleopatra intrusted these men with her army +and did nothing without their advice. Strabo of Cappadocia also attests +that only those who were called Onias's party, being Jews, continued +faithful to Cleopatra because their countrymen, Chelcias and Ananias, were +in highest favor with the queen. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 6:12-16] +Wisdom is brilliant and fades not away, +And she is easily seen by those who love her, +And found by those who seek her. +She anticipates those who desire her, making herself first known. +He who eagerly seeks her shall have no toil, +For he shall find her sitting at his gates. +For thinking upon her brings perfect wisdom, +And he who lies awake for her sake shall quickly be free from care. +For she herself goes about seeking those who are worthy of her, +And in their paths she graciously appears to them, +And in every purpose she meets them. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 7:25-8:1, 7] +For she is breath of the power of God, +And a clear effluence of the glory of the Almighty; +Therefore nothing defiled can find entrance into her. +For she is a reflection of everlasting light, +And a spotless mirror of the working of God, +And an image of his goodness. +And though she is but one, she has power to do all things; +And remaining the same renews all things, +And from generation to generation passing into holy souls, +She makes them friends of God and prophets. +For God loves nothing except him who dwells with wisdom. +For she is fairer than the sun, +And surpasses all the order of the stars; +Compared with light, she is found to be superior to it. +For night succeeds the light of day, +But evil does not prevail against wisdom. +But she reaches from one end of the world to the other, +And she directs all things graciously. +The fruits of her labors are virtues; +For she teaches moderation and good sense, +Justice and fortitude, +And nothing in life is more profitable for men than these. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 1:1-8] +Love righteousness, O rulers of the earth, +Think of the Lord with sincerity, +And seek him in singleness of heart. +For he is found by those who do not tempt him, +And manifests himself to those who do not distrust him. +For perverse thoughts separate from God, +And his power, when it is tried, convicts the foolish; +For wisdom will not enter into a soul that devises evil, +Nor dwell in a body that is pledged to sin. +For a holy spirit which disciplines will flee deceit, +And will start away from senseless thoughts, +And will be frightened away when unrighteousness comes in. +For wisdom is a spirit that loves man, +And she will not absolve a blasphemer for his words, +Because God is a witness of his innermost feelings, +And a true overseer of his heart, +And a hearer of his tongue. +For the spirit of the Lord hath filled the world, +And that which holdeth all things together knoweth every voice. +Therefore no one who speaks unrighteous things can be hid, +Nor will justice, when it convicts, pass him by. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 1:12-15] +Do not court death by leading an erring life, +And do not by the deeds of your hands draw destruction upon yourselves. +For God did not make death, +And he hath no pleasure when the living perish; +For he created all things that they might exist, +And the created things of the world are not baneful. +And there is no destructive poison in them, +Nor has Hades dominion on earth, +For righteousness is immortal. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 2:23-3:1] +For God created man for incorruption, +And made him an image of his own peculiar nature; +But through the envy of the devil death entered into the world, +And they who belong to him experience it. +But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, +And no torment can touch them. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 5:15, 16] +But the righteous live forever, +And in the Lord is their reward, +And the care for them with the Most High. +Therefore they shall receive the glorious kingdom, +And the diadem of beauty from the Lord's hand; +Because he will cover them with his right hand, +And with his arm he will shield them. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 11:21-12:2] +For thou, O Lord, lovest all things that are, +And thou dost not abhor any of the things which thou hast made, +For thou wouldest never have formed anything that thou didst hate. +And how would anything have endured, if thou didst not wish it? +Or how could that which was not called into being by thee have been + preserved? +But thou sparest all things, because they are thine, +O Sovereign Lord, thou lover of men's lives! +For thine incorruptible spirit is in all things. +Therefore thou convictest the fallen little by little, +And, reminding them of the things in which they sin, thou dost warn them, +That freed from wickedness, they may believe on thee, O Lord. + +[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 15:1-3] +But thou, our God, art gracious and true, +Long suffering, and in mercy directing all things. +For even if we sin, we are thine, since we know thy might. +But we shall not sin, knowing that we have been counted as thine; +For to know thee is perfect righteousness, +And to know thy might is the root of immortality. + +I. Conditions of the Jews in Antioch and Asia Minor. Seleucus Nicanor, +who in 311 B.C. founded the city of Antioch, like Alexander, granted many +privileges to the Jewish colonies whom he thus sought to attract hither. +They not only possessed the rights of citizenship, but lived in their +separate quarter. Their synagogue was one of the architectural glories of +the city. There they engaged in trade and undoubtedly grew rich, taking on +largely the complexion of that opulent Hellenic city. Later the Jewish +colony was enlarged by the apostates who fled from Judea when the +Maccabean rulers gained the ascendancy. The corrupt and materialistic +atmosphere of Antioch doubtless explains why its Jewish citizens +apparently contributed little to the development of the thought and faith +of later Judaism. Similar colonies were found throughout the great +commercial cities of Asia Minor. In many of these cities--for example, +Tarsus--they seem to have enjoyed the same privileges as those at Antioch. + +II. The Jews in Egypt. The chief intellectual and religious center of +the Jews of the dispersion, however, was in Alexandria. It is probable +that fully a million Jews were to be found in Egypt during the latter +part of the Maccabean period. Industry and commerce had made many of them +extremely wealthy and had given them the leisure to study not only their +own scriptures but also the literature of the Greeks. The prevailingly +friendly way in which the Ptolemaic rulers treated the Jews naturally led +them to take a more favorable attitude toward Greek culture. Alexandria +itself was the scene of an intense intellectual activity. Attracted by the +munificence of the Ptolemies and by the opportunities offered by its great +library, many of the most famous Greek philosophers and rhetoricians of +the age found their home in the Egyptian capital. Public lectures, open +discussions, and voluminous literature were only a few of the many forms +in which this intellectual life was expressed. Hence it was at Alexandria +that Hebrew and Greek thought met on the highest plane and mingled most +closely. + +III. The Jewish Temple at Leontopolis. After the murder of his father +Onias III near Antioch, whither he had fled from the persecutions of +Antiochus Epiphanes, Onias IV sought refuge in Egypt. Here, as the +legitimate head of the Jewish high-priesthood, he was favorably received +by Ptolemy and granted territory in the Nile Delta to the north of Memphis +in which to rear a temple to Jehovah. In the light of recent discoveries +at Elephantine it is evident that this step was not without precedent +(Section XCI:vii). Ptolemy's object was to please his Jewish subjects and +to attract others to the land of the Nile. Josephus's statement in _The +Jewish War_, VII, 10:4 favors the conclusion that the temple was built +two hundred and forty-three years (not 343) before its final destruction +in 73 A.D., that is, in 170 B.C. In any case it was probably built between +170 and 160 B.C., at the time when the persecutions of Antiochus +Epiphanes made pilgrimages to the Jerusalem temple impossible, and +threatened its continued existence. The plan of the Leontopolis temple +indicates that it was not intended to be a rival to the Jerusalem +sanctuary, but rather a common place of meeting for the Egyptian +Jews and of defence in case of attack. It never seriously rivalled the +Jerusalem sanctuary, although in later days it was viewed with jealousy +by the Jews of Palestine. + +IV. Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. Far more +significant than the building of the Leontopolis temple was the +translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. The tradition preserved +by Josephus that the translation was made in seventy-two days by +seventy-two scholars, sent from Jerusalem by Eleazar the high priest at +the request of Ptolemy, is clearly unhistorical. The impossibility of +completing so vast a task in this limited time is obvious. Moreover, the +character of the translation indicates that it was the work not of +Palestinian but of Alexandrian Jews familiar with the peculiar Greek of +Egypt and the lands of the dispersion. It was also the work not of one +but of many different groups of translators, as is shown by the variant +synonyms employed in different books to translate the same Hebrew words +and idioms. In the case of several books the work of two or more distinct +translators is readily recognized. The quality of the translation also +varies greatly in different books. It is probable that the one historical +fact underlying the tradition is that the work of translation was begun in +the days of Ptolemy Philadelphus, who may have encouraged his Jewish +subjects in their undertaking. From the character of the translations and +the nature of the situation it is probable that the first books to be +translated were certain historical writings, as Samuel-Kings and the books +of the Law. The remaining books were probably translated by the end of the +succeeding century (between 250 and 150 B.C.), for the grandson of Ben +Sira implies in his prologue that he was acquainted with the Law, the +Prophets, and the other writings in their Greek version. + +The primary aim of this Greek translation was to put the Hebrew scriptures +themselves into the hands of their Greek persecutors as the best possible +answer to their false and malicious charges. Evidence of this apologetic +purpose is found in the fact that glaring inconsistencies and expressions, +where Jehovah is described in the likeness of a human being, were usually +left out. Where the Hebrew text was corrupt the translators restored or +else freely paraphrased what they thought was the original meaning. In +time, however, the translation gained a new importance, for the Jews of +Egypt soon began to forget the language of their fathers and so became +increasingly dependent for a knowledge of their scriptures upon the Greek +translation. In the end it almost completely superseded the original +Hebrew version not only in the lands of the dispersion, but even in +Palestine itself. A large proportion of the quotations from the Old +Testament in the New are from the Greek rather than the Hebrew text. +Although it is only a translation, the Greek version, or Septuagint (the +Version of the Seventy), as it is popularly known, still possesses a great +value for the modern translator, inasmuch as it is based upon Hebrew texts +centuries older than any which now exists. At many points, especially in +the historical prophetic books it makes possible the restoration of the +original reading where the Hebrew has become corrupt in the long process +of transmission. + +V. Apologetic Jewish Writings. During the centuries immediately +preceding the Christian era the Jews of the dispersion, and especially of +Egypt, were the object of constant attack. Manetho, an Egyptian priest, +wrote a history purporting to give the origin and the early experiences of +the Jews. Portions of this have been preserved and reveal the bitter and +unjust spirit with which this race was regarded by the Greek and Egyptian +scholars of the day. To defend themselves from these attacks the Jews not +only translated their scriptures, but employed many different types of +writing. A certain Jew by the name of Demetrius about 215 B.C. wrote a +commendatory history of the Jewish kings. Aristobulus, the teacher of +Ptolemy Philometor, wrote an "Explanation of the Mosaic Laws," in which he +anticipated, in many ways, the modern interpretation of the early +traditions found in the opening books of the Old Testament. Like all +Alexandrian scholars, however, he overshot the mark under the influence of +the allegorical or symbolic type of interpretation. Other Jewish +writers appealed to the older Greek historians and poets. Adopting the +unprincipled methods of their persecutors, they expanded the original +writings of such historians as Hecataeus, who had spoken in a commendatory +way of the Jews. They even went so far as to insert long passages into the +writings of the famous Greek poets, such as Orpheus, Hesiod, Aeschylus, +Sophocles, and Menander, so as to transform them into ardent champions of +the persecuted race. The culmination of this illegitimate form of defence +was to insert in the famous Sibylline Books (III) a long passage +describing the glories of the Jewish race and voicing the hopes with which +they regarded the future. It was in this atmosphere and under the +influence of these methods that the anti-Semitic spirit was born in +ancient Alexandria. Thence it was transmitted, as a malign heritage, to +the Christian church. + +VI. The Wisdom of Solomon. The noblest literary product of the Jews of +the dispersion was the apocryphal book known as the Wisdom of Solomon. It +was so called because the author assumed the point of view of Solomon. In +so doing he did not intend to deceive his contemporaries, but rather +followed the common tendency of his day. Although the book has many +characteristic Hebrew idioms, which are due to its Jewish authorship, it +was without doubt originally written in Greek. Its author was evidently +acquainted with the writings of many of the Greek poets and philosophers. +He accepted Plato's doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul (8:19, 20), +of the limitations of the body (9:15), and of the creation of the world +out of formless matter (11:17). He was especially influenced by the +beliefs of the Epicureans and Stoics. He was acquainted with Hellenic art, +astronomy, and science (7:17-29) and throughout shows the influence of +Greek methods of thinking. His rejection of the teachings of the book of +Ecclesiastes, his wide learning and his conception of immortality indicate +that he lived some time after the beginning of the Maccabean struggle. His +reference in 3:1-4 is probably to the persecutions through which the Jews +of Egypt passed during the reign of Ptolemy Psycon (140-117 B.C.). On the +other hand the book clearly antedates the writings of the Jewish +philosopher Philo, who lived during the latter part of the first century +B.C. The Wisdom of Solomon, therefore, may be dated somewhere between 100 +and 50 B.C. + +VII. Its Important Teachings. The author of the Wisdom of Solomon aimed, +first, to commend Israel's faith to the heathen by showing that it was in +substantial accord with the noblest doctrines of the Greek philosophers, +and second, to furnish the Jews of the dispersion, who were conversant +with Hellenic thought and yet trained in the religion of their race, a +working basis for their thought and practice. From the first it appears to +have been highly esteemed by the Jews outside Palestine, although it never +found a place in the Palestinian canon. Like most wisdom books, it +describes at length the beauty and value of wisdom. The figure of Proverbs +8 and 9 is still further developed under the influence of the Greek +tendency to personify abstract qualities. In the mind of the author, +however, wisdom is simply an attribute of the Deity which he shares in +common with men. The book is unique in two respects: (1) it contains the +earliest references in Jewish literature to a personal devil and +identifies him with the serpent that tempted the woman in the garden +(2:24, cf. Gen. 3) Elsewhere, however, the author traces sin and evil to +men's voluntary acts (e.g., 1:16). (2) It teaches the immortality +of righteousness and hence, by implication, the immortality of the +individual. "God created man for incorruption," and "the souls of the +righteous are in his hand." The doctrine here presented is ethical and +spiritual rather than the belief in a bodily resurrection already +formulated in the twelfth chapter of Daniel. It also teaches that +both the good and bad will be rewarded according to their deeds. Its +conceptions of God are exalted. He is the incorruptible spirit in all +things, just and yet merciful, the lover of men. The book also places side +by side with the Jewish teachings regarding men's duties to God and their +fellow-men the Greek virtues of moderation, good sense, justice, and +courage or fortitude. It also teaches that, like God, each of his children +should be a lover of men. Thus the book unites most effectively that +which is best in the thought of Judaism and Hellenism and is an earnest +of that still nobler union that was later realized in the thought and +teachings of Christianity. + + + +Section CXVI. THE DECLINE OF THE MACCABEAN KINGDOM + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:1] +After Aristobulus died, his wife Salome, who by the Greeks was called +Alexandra, released his brothers from prison (for Aristobulus had kept +them in confinement), and made Alexander Janneus, who was the oldest, +king. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:2] +Now there was a battle between him and Ptolemy, who was called Lathyrus, +who had taken the city of Asochis. He indeed slew many of his enemies, but +the victory rather inclined to Ptolemy. But when this Ptolemy was pursued +by his mother, Cleopatra, and retired into Egypt, Alexander besieged and +took Gadara and Amathus, which was the strongest of all the fortresses +that were beyond the Jordan, and the most valued of all the possessions of +Theodorus, the son of Zeno, were therein. Thereupon Theodorus marched +suddenly against him and took what belonged to himself, and slew ten +thousand of the Jews. Alexander, however, recovered from this blow and +turned his force toward the maritime districts and took Gaza, Raphia, and +Anthedon. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:3] +But when he had enslaved all these cities, the Jews made an insurrection +against him at a festival and it looked as though he would not have been +able to escape the plot they had laid for him, had not his foreign +auxiliaries come to his aid. And when he had slain more than six thousand +of the rebels, he invaded Arabia, and when he had conquered the Gileadites +and Moabites, he commanded them to pay him tribute and returned to Amathus +and took the fortress and demolished it. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:4, 5] +However, when he fought with Obedas, king of the Arabians, who had laid an +ambush for him near Golan, he lost his entire army, which was crowded +together in a deep valley and trampled to pieces by the multitude of +camels. And fleeing to Jerusalem because of the greatness of the calamity +that had overtaken him, he provoked the multitude, which had hated him +before, to make an insurrection against him. He was, however, too strong +for them in the various battles that were fought between them and he slew +no fewer than fifty thousand of the Jews in the interval of six years. Yet +he had no reason to rejoice in these victories, since he did but consume +his own country, until he at length ceased fighting and desired to come to +an agreement with them. But his changeability and the irregularity of his +conduct made them hate him still more. And when he asked them why they so +hated him and what he should do to appease them they said, "Die." + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:4c, 5c, 6a, c] +At the same time they invited Demetrius to assist them, and as he readily +complied with their request and came with his army, the Jews joined with +these their auxiliaries about Shechem. In the battle which followed, +Demetrius was the conqueror, although Alexander's mercenaries performed +the greatest exploits. Nevertheless the outcome of this battle proved +different from what was expected by both sides, for those who had invited +Demetrius to come to them did not continue loyal to him although he was +the conqueror, and six thousand Jews out of pity because of the change in +Alexander's condition, when he fled to the mountains, went over to him. +Demetrius, supposing that all the nation would run to Alexander, left the +country and went his way. The rest of the Jewish multitude, however, did +not lay aside their quarrels with Alexander when the auxiliaries were +gone, but had perpetual war with them until he had slain the greater part +of them. Then such a terror seized the people that eight thousand of his +opponents fled away the following night out of all Judea and did not +return until Alexander died. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:8c, d] +Alexander also subdued Golan, Seleucia, and what was called the Valley of +Antiochus; besides which he took the strong fortress of Gamala. Then he +returned into Judea after he had spent three years on this expedition. Now +he was gladly received by the nation because of his success. So when he +was at rest from war, he fell ill and died, terminating his troubles after +he had reigned twenty-seven years. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 5:1] +Now Alexander left the kingdom to Alexandra, his wife, and trusted the +Jews would readily submit to her, for in opposing his habitual violation +of their laws she gained the good-will of the people. Nor was he mistaken +in his hopes, for this woman retained the rulership because of her +reputation for piety. For she chiefly studied the ancient customs of her +country and cast those men out of the government who offended against +their holy laws. And as she had two sons by Alexander, she made the older, +Hyrcanus, high priest, on account of his age and also on account of his +inactive temperament. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 5:2, 3a, b] +And the Pharisees joined themselves to her in the government and Alexandra +henceforth hearkened to them to a great degree. But these Pharisees +artfully insinuated themselves into her favor little by little and +presently became the real administrators of public affairs. They banished +and recalled whom they pleased. While she governed the people, the +Pharisees governed her. Accordingly, they slew Diogenes, a person +of prominence, because he had been a friend of Alexander; they also +urged Alexandra to put the rest of those to death who had stirred up +Alexander against them. But the chief of those who were in danger fled +to Aristobulus. He persuaded his mother to spare the men on account of +their rank, but to expel them from the city. So when they were given their +freedom, they were dispersed over all the country. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 5:4-6:1b] +In the meantime Alexandra fell sick and Aristobulus, her younger son, +seized this opportunity to get possession of all the fortresses. He also +used the sums of money he found in them to gather together a number of +mercenaries and to set himself up as king. But Alexandra, after she had +lived nine years, died before she could punish Aristobulus. Hyrcanus was +heir to the kingdom and to him his mother intrusted it while she was +living. But Aristobulus was superior to him in ability and spirits, and +when there was a battle between them near Jericho to decide the dispute +about the kingdom, the majority deserted Hyrcanus and went over to +Aristobulus. But they came to an agreement that Aristobulus should be the +king, and that Hyrcanus should resign, but retain all the rest of his +dignities. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 6:2, 3] +Now the others who opposed Aristobulus were afraid, when he thus +unexpectedly came to power. This was especially true of Antipater, whom +Aristobulus hated of old. He was by birth an Idumean and one of the chief +men of that nation on account of his ancestry and riches and other +authority that belonged to him. He urged Hyrcanus to flee to Aretas, king +of Arabia, and to retrieve the kingdom. When he had prepared them both +beforehand he took Hyrcanus by night away from the city and escaped to +Petra, which is the royal capital of Arabia. Here he put Hyrcanus into +Aretas's care. He prevailed with him to give him an army to restore him to +his kingdom. This army consisted of fifty thousand footmen and horsemen +which Aristobulus was not able to withstand, but was defeated in the first +encounter and was driven out of Jerusalem. He would have been taken by +force, if Scaurus, the Roman general, had not come and opportunely raised +the siege. This was the Scaurus who was sent into Syria from Armenia by +Pompey the Great when he was fighting against Tigranes. As soon, +therefore, as Scaurus arrived in the country, ambassadors came from both +the brothers, each of them desiring his assistance. But Aristobulus's +three hundred talents blocked the way of justice. When Scaurus had +received this sum, he sent a herald to Hyrcanus and the Arabians, and +threatened them with the resentment of the Romans and Pompey unless they +raised the siege. So Aretas was terrified and retired from Judea to +Philadelphia. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 6:4-5] +When Hyrcanus and Antipater were thus deprived of their hopes from the +Arabians, they fled to Pompey for assistance and besought him to show his +disapproval of the violent action of Aristobulus and to restore to him the +kingdom, as it justly belonged to him. Aristobulus was also there himself, +dressed in regal attire, but Pompey was indignant at his behavior. When +Hyrcanus's friends also interceded strongly with Pompey, he took not only +his Roman forces but also many of his Syrian auxiliaries and marched +against Aristobulus. But when he had passed by Pella and Scythopolis +and had come to Korea, he heard that Aristobulus had fled to Alexandrium, +which was a stronghold fortified with the greatest magnificence, and +situated upon a high mountain, and he sent to him and commanded him to +come down. So Aristobulus came down to Pompey and when he had made a long +defence of the justness of his rule, he returned to the fortress. Pompey +however commanded him to give up his fortified places and forced him to +write to each of his governors to surrender. Accordingly he did what he +was ordered to do, but being displeased, he retired to Jerusalem and +prepared to fight with Pompey. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 6:6-7:2b] +But Pompey gave him no time to make any preparations and followed at his +heels. And Aristobulus was so frightened at his approach that he came and +met him as a suppliant. He also promised him money and to deliver up both +himself and the city. Yet he did not keep any one of his promises. At this +treatment Pompey was very angry and took Aristobulus into custody. And +when he had entered the city he looked about to see where he might make +his attack, for he saw that the walls were so firm that it would be hard +to overcome them and the valley before the walls was terrible and the +temple which was in that valley was itself surrounded by such a strong +wall that if the city was taken the temple would be a second place of +refuge for the enemy. Inasmuch as Pompey deliberated a long time, a +sedition arose among the people within the city. Aristobulus's party was +willing to fight to save their king, while the party of Hyrcanus was ready +to open the gates to Pompey. Then Aristobulus's party was defeated and +retired into the temple and cut off the communications between the temple +and the city by breaking down the bridge which joined them together, and +they prepared to resist to the utmost. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 7:3] +Pompey himself filled up the ditch which was on the north side of the +temple and the entire valley also, the army being obliged to carry the +material for this purpose. Indeed, it was difficult to fill up that valley +because of its great depth and especially as the Jews from their superior +position used all possible means to repel them. As soon as Pompey had +filled up the valley, he erected high towers upon the bank. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 7:4, 5] +Now Pompey admired not only the other examples of the Jews' fortitude, but +especially that they did not at all intermit their religious services, +even when they were surrounded with darts on all sides; for, as if the +city were in full peace, their daily sacrifices and purifications and all +their religious rites were still carried out before God with the utmost +exactness. Nor when the temple was taken and they were slain about the +altar daily, did they cease from those things that are appointed by their +law to be observed. For it was in the third month of the siege before the +Romans could even with a great struggle overthrow one of the towers and +get into the temple. The greater part of the Jews were slain by their +own countrymen of the opposite faction and an innumerable multitude threw +themselves down from the walls. Of the Jews twelve thousand were slain, +but of the Romans very few, although a greater number were wounded. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 7:6a, b] +But there was nothing that affected the nation so much in the calamities +which they then suffered as that their holy place, hitherto unseen, should +be laid open to strangers. For Pompey and those who were about him went +into the temple itself, where it was lawful for the high priest alone to +enter, and saw what was deposited therein; but he commanded the ministers +about the temple to purify it and to perform their accustomed sacrifices. + +[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 7:7] +Moreover he reappointed Hyrcanus high priest, by which he acted the part +of a good general and reconciled the people to him rather by kindness than +by terrorizing them. He took away from the nation all those cities that +they had formerly taken and reduced Judea to its own bounds. Then he made +all the haste he could to go through Cilicia on his way to Rome, taking +Aristobulus and his two children along with him as captives. One of +Aristobulus's sons, Alexander, ran away on the journey, but the younger, +Antigonus, with his sisters, was carried to Rome. + +I. The Character and Policy of Alexander Janneus. For the picture of the +character of Alexander Janneus we are chiefly dependent upon Josephus, and +it is not clear how far this late Jewish historian was influenced by the +prevailing prejudices against that ruler who figured as the arch enemy of +the Pharisees. The incidents recorded reveal, however, a most sinister +character. He was ambitious, but his ambitions were selfish and low. +He was energetic and tireless, but his energy was wasted in futile +undertakings. Furthermore, he was unscrupulous, vindictive, and merciless. +There is not the slightest indication that he was actuated by any worthy +ideal of service. To the Jewish state and race it was a great calamity +that a man of this type should gain control of the nation at the moment +when it had attained its greatest material strength. Under the kindly and +wise guidance of Simon the subsequent history of the Jewish state would +doubtless have been far different. Janneus's first aim was to establish +his power as an absolute despot. He ardently accepted the ideal of an +Oriental ruler that had been imposed upon the Jews during the short reign +of his brother Aristobulus. In realizing this ambition he met, as did +every other king in Israel's history, the strong opposition of the people +and a bold assertion of their inherited liberties. His second aim was to +break completely the power of the Pharisees. They were the party of the +people and had no sympathy with his policies. In them, therefore, he +recognized his chief opponents. His third ambition was to extend the +territory of the Jewish state to its farthest natural bounds. Soon after +the beginning of his reign he succeeded in arousing the bitter hostility +of the Greek cities on his eastern and western borders, of the reigning +kings of Egypt, and of the rising Arabian power to the south of the Dead +Sea. The objects for which he strove were comparatively petty: possession +of the cities of Ptolemais and Gaza and of certain east-Jordan cities, +such as Gadara and Amathus. He was more often defeated than victorious, +but his love of struggle and adventure and lust for conquest ever goaded +him on. In desperation his subjects even ventured to call in Demetrius, +the governor of Damascus, but when Alexander was driven away in defeat the +nation's gratitude and loyalty to the Maccabean house reasserted itself +and he was recalled. Instead of granting a general armistice and thus +conciliating his distracted people, he treacherously used his new-won +power to crucify publicly eight hundred of the Pharisees. Horror and fear +seized the survivors, so that, according to Josephus, eight thousand of +them fled into exile. After six years of civil war and the loss of fifty +thousand lives, Alexander Janneus finally realized his first ambition and +became absolute master of his kingdom. In achieving his ambitions, +however, he well earned the title by which his contemporaries described +him, "the Son of a Thracian," that is, Barbarian. + +II. The Effects of His Rule. The disastrous effects of the reign of +Alexander Janneus may be briefly recapitulated. They were: (1) the +destruction of the loyalty of the majority of the Jews to the Maccabean +house; (2) the intensifying of the opposition between Pharisees and +Sadducees to the point of murderous hate; (3) the extension of the sphere +of Jewish influence from the Mediterranean on the west to the desert on +the east, and from the Lebanons to the southern desert; but (4) the +draining of the life-blood and energies of the Jewish kingdom, so that it +was far weaker and more disorganized than when Janneus came to the throne. + +III. Alexandra's Reign (78-69 B.C.). Alexandra was the second queen who +reigned in Israel's history. Her policy, unlike that of Athaliah of old, +was on the whole constructive. Although she was the wife of Janneus, she +reversed his policy, and placed the Pharisees in control. The return of +the exiles and the restoration of the prophetic party promised peace and +prosperity. The ancient law was expanded and rigorously enforced. +According to the Talmud it was during this period that elementary schools +were introduced in connection with each synagogue. Their exact nature is +not known, but it is probable that the law was the subject studied and +that the scribes were the teachers. This change of policy was undoubtedly +very acceptable to the people, but the Pharisees made the grave mistake of +using their new power to be revenged upon the Sadducean nobles who had +supported the bloody policy of Alexander Janneus. They soon suffered the +evil consequences of attempting to right wrong by wrong. The Sadducees +found in Aristobulus, the ambitious and energetic younger son of Janneus, +an effective champion. Alexandra, in permitting them to take possession of +the many strongholds throughout the land, also committed a fatal error, +for it gave them control of the military resources of the kingdom. +Aristobulus was not slow in asserting his power, with the result that even +before Alexandra died he had seized seventy-two of the fortresses and had +aroused a large part of the people to revolt. While her reign was on the +whole peaceful, it was but the lull before the great storm that swept over +the nation. + +IV. Quarrels between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. Unfortunately Alexandra's +older son, Hyrcanus, was indolent and inefficient. He had been appointed +high priest and, when Aristobulus assumed the title of king, he compelled +Hyrcanus II to be content with this humbler title. Aristobulus's reign +might have been comparatively peaceful had not at this time a new and +sinister influence appeared in the troubled politics of Palestine. It was +one of the results of John Hyrcanus's forcible judaizing of the Idumeans. +Antipater, the son of the Idumean whom Alexander Janneus had made governor +of Idumea, recognized in the rivalry between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus an +opportunity to mount to power. He first persuaded Hyrcanus to flee to +Petra. Then, with the aid of the Arabian king, Aretas, he finally +compelled Aristobulus and his followers to seek refuge on the temple hill +in Jerusalem. The picture of the Jews divided into two hostile camps and +engaged in bitter civil war in the very precincts of the temple under the +leadership of the great-grandsons of the patriotic Simon presents a sad +contrast to the noble spirit and valiant achievements of the founders of +the Maccabean kingdom who had first taken up the sword in defence of the +temple and its service. + +V. Rome's Intervention. This situation gave Rome its desired opportunity +for intervention. Pompey in 70 B.C. made a successful campaign against +Mithridates, king of Pontus, and against Tigranes, king of Armenia. Rome's +policy was to conquer all of southwestern Asia as far as the Euphrates. +Ignoring the peril of the situation, both Aristobulus and Hyrcanus +appealed to Pompey's lieutenant, Scaurus. As a result the Arabians were +ordered to withdraw, and Aristobulus for a brief time was left master of +the situation. In the spring of 63 B.C., however, when Pompey came to +Damascus, there appeared before him three embassies, one representing the +cause of Aristobulus, another that of Hyrcanus, and still a third +presented the request of the Pharisees that Rome assume political control +of Palestine and leave them free to devote themselves to the study and +application of the their law. The fall of Aristobulus hastened what was +now inevitable. Although he was held a prisoner by Pompey, his followers +remained intrenched on the temple hill and were conquered only after a +protracted siege and the loss of many lives. Aristobulus and his family +were carried off captives to Rome to grace Pompey's triumph, and the +request of the Pharisees was granted: Rome henceforth held Palestine under +its direct control. Thus after a little more than a century (165-63 B.C.) +the Jews again lost their independence, and the Maccabean kingdom became +only a memory, never to be revived save for a brief moment. + +VI. Causes of the Fall of the Jewish Kingdom. The Jewish kingdom fell as +the result of causes which can be clearly recognized. It was primarily +because the ideals and ambitions of the Maccabean leaders themselves +became material and selfish. They proved unable to resist the temptations +of success. Greed for power quenched their early patriotism. The material +spirit of their age obscured the nobler ideals of their spiritual +teachers. The result was a tyranny and corruption that made the later +kings misleaders rather than true leaders of their nation. Parallel to the +bitter struggle between the kings and their subjects was the bitter feud +between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Normal party rivalry grew into +murderous hatred, and in taking revenge upon each other they brought ruin +upon the commonwealth. The final end was hastened by the suicidal +feud between the brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, fomented by the +unprincipled machinations of the Idumean Antipater. In the final crisis +the Pharisaic policy of submission and of peace at any cost paved the way +for the realization of Rome's ambition and made the ultimate conquest of +Palestine practically inevitable. Thus the kingdom, founded in the face of +almost insuperable obstacles and consecrated with the life-blood of many +heroes, fell ignominiously as the result of the same causes that +throughout the ages have proved the ruin of even stronger empires. + +VII. Political, Intellectual, and Religious Effects of the Maccabean +Struggle. This century of valiant achievement, colossal errors, and +overwhelming failure left its deep impression upon the Jewish race. It +witnessed the return of many Jews of the dispersion to Jerusalem and Judea +and the development of a strong sense of racial unity. Henceforth the Jews +throughout the world looked to Jerusalem as their true political and +religious capital. The events of this period intensified the ancient feud +between Jew and Samaritan and gave the latter ample reason for that +hostility toward their southern kinsmen which appears in the Gospel +narratives. It was during this age that the parties of the Pharisees and +Sadducees finally crystallized and formulated those tenets and policies +which guided them during the next century. At this time the foundations +were laid for the rule of the house of Herod which exerted such a baleful +influence upon the fortunes and destinies of the Jews. It likewise marked +the beginning and culmination of Rome's influence over the lands of the +eastern Mediterranean and that subjection of the Jews to Gentile rulers +which has continued until the present. + +The Maccabean period gave to the Jews a greatly enlarged intellectual +vision and led them to adopt many of the ideas of their Greek conquerors. +In their literature it is easy to recognize the influence of the more +logical Greek methods of reasoning and of the scientific attitude toward +the universe. It was during this period that the wise were transformed +into scribes, and the rule of the scribal method of thinking and +interpretation began. The struggles through which the Jews passed +intensified their love for the law and the temple services. Duty was +more and more defined in the terms of ceremonial, and the Pharisees +entered upon that vast and impossible task of providing rules for man's +every act. Out of the struggles of the Maccabean period came that fusion +of Hellenic and Jewish ideas that has become an important factor in all +human thought. At last under the influence of the great crises through +which they had passed, the belief in individual immortality gained wide +acceptance among the Jews. Side by side with this came the belief in a +personal devil and a hierarchy of demons opposed to the divine hierarchy +at whose head was Jehovah. Last of all the taste of freedom under a Jewish +ruler brought again to the front the kingly messianic hopes of the race, +and led them to long and struggle for their realization. Thus in this +brief century Judaism attained in many ways its final form, and only in +the light of this process is it possible fully to understand and +appreciate the background of the New Testament history. + + * * * * * + +THE RULE OF ROME + +Section CXVII. THE RISE OF THE HERODIAN HOUSE + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:2] +Now Alexander, that son of Aristobulus who ran away from Pompey, after a +time gathered together a considerable body of men and made a strong attack +upon Hyrcanus, and overran Judea, and was on the point of dethroning him. +And indeed he would have come to Jerusalem, and would have ventured to +rebuild its wall that had been thrown down by Pompey, had not Gabinius, +who was sent as Scaurus's successor in Syria, showed his bravery by making +an attack on Alexander. Alexander, being afraid at his approach, assembled +a larger army composed of ten thousand armed footmen and fifteen hundred +horsemen. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:4a, 5] +Now when Gabinius came to Alexandrium, finding a great many encamped +there, he tried by promising them pardon for their former offences to +attach them to him before it came to fighting; but when they would listen +to nothing reasonable, he slew a great number of them and shut up the rest +in the citadel. Therefore when Alexander despaired of ever obtaining the +rulership, he sent ambassadors to Gabinius and besought him to pardon his +offences. He also surrendered to him the remaining fortresses, Hyrcanium +and Macherus. After this Gabinius brought Hyrcanus back to Jerusalem and +put him in charge of the temple. He also divided the entire nation into +five districts, assigning one to Jerusalem, another to Gadara, another to +Amathus, a fourth to Jericho, and the fifth to Sepphoris, a city of +Galilee. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:6] +Not long after Aristobulus became the cause of new disturbances by fleeing +from Rome. He again assembled many of the Jews who were desirous of a +change and those who were devoted to him of old; and when he had taken +Alexandrium in the first place, he attempted to build a wall about it. But +the Romans followed him, and when it came to battle, Aristobulus's party +for a long time fought bravely, but at last they were overcome by the +Romans and of them five thousand fell. Aristobulus was again carried to +Rome by Gabinius. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:7] +Now when Gabinius set out to make war against the Parthians, Antipater +furnished him with money and weapons and corn and auxiliaries, but during +Gabinius's absence the other parts of Syria were in insurrection, and +Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, stirred the Jews again to revolt. But +at the battle fought near Mount Tabor ten thousand of them were slain and +the rest of the multitude scattered in flight. So Gabinius came to +Jerusalem and settled the government as Antipater desired. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 8:8] +Now this Antipater married a wife of an eminent family among the Arabians, +whose name was Cypros. And she bore him four sons, Phasaelus and Herod, +who was afterward king, and besides these Joseph and Pheroras. And he had +a daughter by the name of Salome. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 9:1] +But after the flight of Pompey and of the senate beyond Ionian Sea, Caesar +gained possession of Rome and of the Empire and released Aristobulus from +his bonds. He also intrusted two legions to him and sent him in haste into +Syria, hoping that by his efforts he would easily conquer that country +and the territory adjoining Judea. But he was poisoned by Pompey's +sympathizers. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 9:3a, c, 4a, c, 5a] +Now after Pompey died, Antipater changed sides and cultivated a friendship +with Caesar. And when Mithridates of Pergamus with the force he led +against Egypt was shut out from the roads about Pelusium and was forced to +stay at Ascalon, Antipater persuaded the Arabians among whom he had lived +to assist him and came himself at the head of three thousand armed Jews. +He also urged the men of power in Syria to come to his assistance. In the +attack on Pelusium Antipater distinguished himself pre-eminently, for he +pulled down that part of the wall which was opposite him and leaped first +of all into the city with the men who were about him. Thus was Pelusium +taken. Moreover, as he was marching on, those Jews who inhabited the +district called Onias stopped him, but Antipater not only persuaded them +not to hinder but also to supply provisions for their army. Thereupon in +the Delta Antipater fell upon those who pursued Mithridates and slew many +of them and pursued the rest till he captured their camp, while he lost no +more than eighty of his own men. Thereupon Caesar encouraged Antipater to +undertake other hazardous enterprises for him by giving him great +commendations and hopes of reward. In all these enterprises Antipater +showed himself a most venturesome warrior, and he had many wounds almost +all over his body as proofs of his courage. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 9:5b] +And when Caesar had settled the affairs of Egypt and returned again into +Syria, he gave Antipater the rights of a Roman citizen and freedom from +taxes, and made him an object of admiration because of the other honors +and marks of friendship that he bestowed upon him. It was on this account +that he also confirmed Hyrcanus in the high priesthood. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 10:1, 2a, 3a] +It was about this time that Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, came to +Caesar and became in a surprising manner the cause of Antipater's further +advance. For he proceeded to denounce Hyrcanus and Antipater. Then +Antipater threw off his garments and showed the many wounds he had, and +said that regarding his good will to Caesar it was not necessary for him +to say a word because his body cried aloud, though he himself said +nothing. When Caesar heard this he declared Hyrcanus to be most deserving +of the high priesthood, and Antipater was appointed procurator of all +Judea and also obtained permission to rebuild those walls of his country +that had been thrown down. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 10:4] +As soon as Antipater had conducted Caesar out of Syria, he returned to +Judea, and the first thing he did was to rebuild the walls of his own +country. Then he went over the country and quieted the tumults therein. +And at this time he settled the affairs of the country by himself, because +he saw that Hyrcanus was inactive and not capable of managing the affairs +of the kingdom. So Antipater appointed his oldest son, Phasaelus, governor +of Jerusalem and the surrounding territory. He also sent his second son, +Herod, who was very young, with equal authority into Galilee. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 10:5a, b] +Now Herod was a very active man and soon found a field for his energy. +When, therefore, he found that Hezekias, leader of the robbers, overran +the adjoining parts of Syria with a great band of men, he caught him and +slew him and many more of the robbers. This exploit was especially +pleasing to the Syrians, so that songs were sung in Herod's commendation +both in the villages and in the cities, because he had secured peace for +them and had preserved their possessions. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 11:1, 4] +At this time a mighty war arose among the Romans after the treacherous +murder of Caesar by Cassius and Brutus. Accordingly Cassius came into +Syria and assumed command of the army, and went about exacting tribute of +the cities to such a degree that they were not able to endure it. During +the war between Cassius and Brutus on the one side, against the younger +Caesar (Augustus) and Antony on the other, Cassius and Murcus gathered an +army out of Syria. And because Herod had furnished a great part of the +necessities, they made him procurator of all Syria and gave him an army of +infantry and cavalry. Cassius promised him also that after the war was +over he would make him king of Judea. But it so happened that the power +and hopes of his son became the cause of Antipater's destruction. For +inasmuch as a certain Malichus was afraid of this, he bribed one of the +king's cup-bearers to give a poisoned potion to Antipater. Thus he became +a sacrifice to Malichus's wickedness and died after the feast. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 11:6, 12:3] +Herod, however, avenged himself upon Malichus. And those who hitherto did +not favor him now joined him because of his marriage into the family of +Hyrcanus, for he had formerly married a wife from his own country of noble +blood, Doris by name, who bore to him Antipater. Now he planned to marry +Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, the son of Aristobulus and the +grandson of Hyrcanus. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 12:4, 5] +But when Caesar and Antony had slain Cassius near Philippi and Caesar had +gone to Italy and Antony to Asia, the great men of the Jews came and +accused Phasaelus and Herod that they held the government by force and +that Hyrcanus had nothing more than an honorable name. Herod appeared +ready to answer this accusation, and having made Antony his friend by the +large sums of money which he gave him, influenced him not to listen to the +charges spoken against him by enemies. After this a hundred of the +principal men among the Jews came to Antony at Daphne near Antioch and +accused Phasaelus and Herod. But Massala opposed them and defended the +brothers with the help of Hyrcanus. When Antony had heard both sides, he +asked Hyrcanus which party was best fitted to govern. Hyrcanus replied +that Herod and his party were the best fitted. Therefore Antony appointed +the brothers tetrarchs, and intrusted to them the rulership of Judea. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 13:1a, Jos. Ant. XIV, 13:10] +Now two years after, when Barzaphanes, a Parthian governor, and Pacorus, +the king's son, had captured Syria, they were persuaded by the promise of +a thousand talents and five hundred women to bring back Antigonus to his +kingdom and to turn Hyrcanus out of it. Thus Antigonus was brought back +into Judea by the king of the Parthians, and received Hyrcanus and +Phasaelus as prisoners. Being afraid that Hyrcanus, who was under the guard +of the Parthians, might have his kingdom restored to him by the multitude, +Antigonus cut off his ears and thereby guarded against the possibility +that the high priesthood would ever come to him again, inasmuch as he was +maimed, and the law required that this dignity should belong to none but +those who had all their members intact. Phasaelus, perceiving that he was +to be put to death, dashed his head against a great stone and thereby took +away his own life. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 13:7, 8c, 14:1b, 2] +Herod, however, went off by night, taking those nearest related to him. As +soon as the Parthians perceived it, they pursued after him, but when at +every assault he had slain a great many of them, he came to the stronghold +of Masada, and there he left eight hundred of his men to guard the women, +and provisions sufficient for a siege; but he himself hastened to Petra in +Arabia. He was not able, however, to find any friendship among the +Arabians, for their king sent to him and commanded him to turn back +immediately from the country. So when Herod found that the Arabians were +his enemies, he turned back to Egypt. And when he came to Pelusium, he +could not obtain passage from those who lay with the fleet. Therefore he +besought their captains to let him go with them. So out of respect for the +fame and rank of the man they carried him to Alexandria. And when he came +to the city, he was received with great splendor by Cleopatra, who hoped +he might be persuaded to be the commander of her forces in the expedition +she was about to undertake. But he rejected the queen's entreaty and +sailed for Rome, where first of all he went to Antony and laid before him +the calamities that had overtaken himself and his family. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 14:4] +Thereupon Antony's pity was aroused because of the change that had come +about in Herod's affairs, so he then resolved to have him made king of the +Jews. Herod found Caesar even more ready than Antony because he recalled +the campaigns through which he had gone with Herod's father, Antipater, +in Egypt, and his hospitable treatment and good will in all things. +Besides he recognized the energy of Herod. Accordingly he called the +senate together. There Messala, and after him Atratinus, introduced Herod +to them and gave a full account of his father's merits and of his own good +will to the Romans. Antony also came in and told them that it was to their +advantage in the Parthian war that Herod should be king. So they all gave +their votes for it. And when the senate disbanded, Antony and Caesar went +out with Herod between them. Antony also made a feast for Herod on the +first day of his reign. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 15:3a,b, 4, 16:1] +Herod then sailed from Italy and came to Ptolemais. And as soon as he had +assembled a considerable army of foreigners and of his own countrymen, he +marched through Galilee against Antigonus. The number of his forces +increased each day as he went along, and all Galilee with few exceptions +joined him. After this Herod took Joppa, and then he marched to Masada to +free his kinsmen. Then he marched to Jerusalem, where the soldiers who +were with the Roman general Silo joined his own, as did many from the city +because they feared his power. Herod did not lie idle, but seized Idumea +and held it with two thousand footmen and four hundred horsemen. He also +removed his mother and all his kinsmen, who had been at Masada, to +Samaria. And when he had settled them securely, he marched to capture the +remaining parts of Galilee, and to drive away the garrisons of Antigonus. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 17:1] +In the meantime Herod's fortunes in Judea were not in a favorable +condition. He had left his brother Joseph with full authority, but had +commanded him to make no attacks against Antigonus until his return. But +as soon as Joseph heard that his brother was at a great distance, he +disregarded the command he had received and marched toward Jericho with +five cohorts. But when his enemies attacked him in the mountains and in a +place where it was difficult to pass, he was killed as he was fighting +bravely in the battle, and all the Roman cohorts were destroyed. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 17:8, 9] +Now near the end of winter Herod marched to Jerusalem and brought his army +up to its wall. This was the third year after he had been made king at +Rome. So he pitched his camp before the temple, for on that side it might +be besieged and there Pompey had formerly captured the city. Accordingly +he divided the work among the army and laid waste the suburbs, and gave +orders to raise three mounds and to build towers upon these mounds. But he +himself went to Samaria to marry the daughter of Alexander, the son of +Aristobulus, who had been betrothed to him before. And when he was thus +married, he came back to Jerusalem with a greater army. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 18:1, 2c, 4a] +Now the multitude of the Jews who were in the city were divided into +several factions. For the people that crowded about the temple, being the +weaker party, became fanatical and raved wildly over the situation. But +some of the bolder men gathered together in companies, and began robbing +in many different ways and especially plundering the provisions that were +about the city, so that no food was left over for the horses or the men. +After a siege of five months some of Herod's chosen men ventured upon the +wall and fell into the city. They first captured the environs of the +temple, and as the army poured in there was a slaughter of vast multitudes +everywhere, on account of the rage in which the Romans were because of the +length of the siege, and because the Jews who were about Herod were eager +that none of their opponents should remain. Thereupon Herod made those who +were on his side still more his friends by the honors he conferred upon +them; but those of Antigonus's party he slew. + +I. The Fruitless Struggle against Rome. The first quarter century of +Roman rule was in many ways the most complex in Israel's intricate +history. There were three chief actors in the drama: (1) Rome, represented +first by the leaders of the Republic and later by Pompey, Caesar, and +their successors; (2) the popular Jewish party led by Aristobulus and his +son Alexander, and Antigonus; and (3) Antipater, supported by his able +sons Phasaelus and Herod. Rome's general policy was to allow the Jews as +much freedom as possible, but above all to hold Palestine under firm +control, for it lay on the eastern border and faced Parthia, the one foe +that had successfully defied the powerful mistress of the Mediterranean. +The popular Jewish party bitterly resented Rome's interference. True, the +Pharisees welcomed the relief from civil war, but they could not hold the +majority of the people in leash. The inoffensive Hyrcanus was left in +possession of the high-priesthood and from time to time was elevated to +positions of nominal civil authority, but he was little more than the +plaything of circumstance and party intrigue. The ambitions of Aristobulus +and his sons kept Palestine in a state of constant political ferment. +Three times in five years they stirred the Jews to rebellion against Rome. +The first rebellion was in 57 B.C. and was led by Alexander. He was +ultimately driven by the Roman general to Alexandria, the fortress that +overlooks the middle-Jordan Valley, and was finally forced to surrender. +The three great fortresses, Alexandria, Machaerus, and Hyrcanium, were +thrown down, and the Jewish state was divided into five districts. Each of +these was under a local council consisting of the leading citizens. These +reported directly to the Roman proconsul. To neutralize still further +the Jewish national spirit, the Hellenic cities in and about Palestine +were restored, given a large measure of independence, and placed directly +under the control of Rome's representative in the East. + +The second rebellion followed quickly and was led by Aristobulus. He was +soon obliged, however, to take refuge in the fortress of Machaerus, east +of the Dead Sea, where he was captured and sent back again as a captive to +Rome. The third rebellion was led by Alexander. It was more formidable, +and in the end more disastrous, for the Jews were signally defeated in a +battle near Mount Tabor. The only permanent results of these uprisings +were the intensifying of Jewish hatred of Roman rule and the increasing of +Rome's suspicion of this rebellious people. It was this suspicion that +made it possible for the high-priestly party at a later time to force the +Roman governor Pilate to put to death one whom he recognized to be an +inoffensive Galilean peasant simply because he was accused of having +assumed the historic title, King of the Jews. + +II. Antipater's Policy. Through the troublesome first quarter-century +of Roman rule Antipater and his family prospered because they were able at +every turn in the political fortunes of Syria to make themselves +increasingly useful to Rome. At many critical periods he was able to save +the Jews from calamity and to secure for them valuable privileges. There +is a certain basis for Josephus's over-enthusiastic assertion that he was +"a man distinguished for his piety, justice, and love of his country" +(Jos. Ant. XIV, 11:4c). + +Although Hyrcanus was but a tool in Antipater's hands, he never attempted +to depose him, and apparently always treated him with respect. To steer +successfully through the stormy period during which Rome made the +transition from the republican to the monarchical form of government was +a difficult task. When Crassus came as the representative of the First +Triumvirate, Antipater's gifts and tact were not sufficient to prevent the +Roman from plundering the treasures of the temple. + +Fortunately for the peace of Judea, during the civil war that followed +between Pompey and Caesar, the deposed Jewish king Aristobulus and his son +Alexander were both put to death. After the decisive battle of Pharsalia +in 48 B.C. Antipater quickly espoused the cause of Caesar, and performed +valuable services for him at a time when the great Roman was threatened by +overwhelming forces. By his influence with the people of Syria and Egypt +and by his personal acts of bravery he won the favors that Caesar heaped +upon him and upon the Jewish people. The old territorial division +instituted by Gabinius was abolished, Hyrcanus was confirmed in the +high-priesthood, and Antipater was made procurator of Judea. Joppa was +restored to the Jewish state, the gerusia, the chief assembly of the Jews, +was given certain of its old judicial rights, and permission was granted +to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. The Jews were also freed from the duty +of supporting Roman soldiers and of serving the Roman legions. The tribute +was also in part remitted on the sabbatical year, and the Jews of +Palestine and throughout the Roman Empire were confirmed in their +religious privileges. Thus Caesar proved himself a friend of the Jews and +established precedents to which they frequently appealed in later crises. + +III. Herod's Early Record. Among the many rewards conferred upon +Antipater was the appointment of his son Phasaelus as governor of +Jerusalem and his younger son Herod as governor of Galilee. Thus while +still a young man Herod was given an opportunity to demonstrate his +ability and energy. He at once took measures to put down the robber bands +that infested Galilee, and executed their leader, Hezekias. He won thereby +the gratitude of the Galileans and the approval of Rome. Hyrcanus and the +sanhedrin at Jerusalem, however, viewed this assumption of authority with +suspicion and alarm. When Herod was summoned before them, he appeared in +full military armor and was accompanied by a military following. Provoked +by his boldness, the sanhedrin would have sentenced him to death had not +the local Roman governor interfered. The action of the sanhedrin aroused +Herod's spirit of revenge, and before long, gathering his forces, he +marched against Jerusalem and would have put to death the Jewish leaders +had not his father dissuaded him. + +The assassination of Caesar in 44 B.C., followed by the battle of Philippi +in 42, changed the political horizon of Palestine. Antipater and his sons, +however, following their usual policy, pledged in succession their loyalty +to Cassius and Antony, with the result that greater honors were conferred +upon them. It was at this crisis that Malichus, a certain Jewish noble, +inspired by jealousy and suspicion, treacherously murdered his rival, +Antipater. Herod retaliated by instigating the assassination of the +murderer, but soon a series of calamities swept over Judea which +threatened to obliterate completely the house of Antipater. + +IV. The Parthian Conquest. During the struggle between Antony and the +assassins of Julius Caesar Rome's eastern outposts were left exposed. +Their old foes, the Parthians, improved this opportunity to seize northern +Syria. Encouraged by the presence of the Parthians, Antigonus, the younger +son of Aristobulus, in 41 B.C. entered Palestine. With the aid of the +Parthians and of the Jews who were opposed to Herod he ultimately +succeeded in establishing himself as king. Antipater and Herod's brother +Phasaelus became the victims of the Parthian treachery, and Herod after +many adventures succeeded in escaping with his family to the strong +fortress of Masada at the southwestern end of the Dead Sea. Leaving them +under the care of his brother Joseph, Herod after many discouragements and +vicissitudes finally found his way to Rome. Unfortunately for the cause of +Jewish independence, Antigonus lacked the essential qualities of +leadership. Instead of arousing the loyalty of his subjects his chief +concern was to take vengeance upon Herod's followers and upon all who had +supported the house of Antipater. + +V. Herod Made King of the Jews. Herod went to Rome to urge the +appointment of Aristobulus III, the grandson of Hyrcanus and the brother +of Herod's betrothed wife Mariamne, as king of Judea. Antony and Octavian, +to whom he appealed, were rightly suspicious of the survivors of the +Maccabean house and appreciative of the services of Herod and his father +Antipater. Therefore, to his complete surprise, they offered him the +kingship, and their nomination was speedily confirmed by the senate. +History presents no stranger nor more dramatic sight than Herod, the +Idumean, accompanied by Antony and Octavian, going to the temple of +Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill to offer sacrifices in connection with his +assumption of the historic title, King of the Jews. At first it was an +empty title, but the energy of Herod and the resources of Rome sufficed in +time to make it real. In the spring of 39 B.C. Herod landed at Ptolemais +and with the apathetic aid of the Roman generals in Palestine began to +organize the Jews who rallied about him. Marching down the Mediterranean +coast, he succeeded at last in relieving his family, who were besieged at +Masada. Idumea and Galilee were then brought into subjection, and after +two years of fighting he won an important battle at Isana, a little north +of Bethel, which gave him possession of all of Judea except Jerusalem. The +final contest for the capital city continued through several months, for +Antigonus and his followers realized that they could expect little mercy +from Herod and the Romans. Thousands of Jews were slaughtered, but at last +the temple itself was captured, and Herod was in fact as well as in name +King of the Jews. Antigonus pled in vain for mercy. Departing from their +usual policy of clemency toward native rulers, the Romans caused him first +to be scourged as a common criminal and then ignominiously beheaded. Thus +the Maccabean dynasty, which had risen in glory, went down in shame, a +signal illustration of the eternal principle that selfish ambitions and +unrestrained passions in an individual or family sooner or later bring +disgrace and destruction. While the siege of Jerusalem was still +in progress, Herod went north to Samaria and there consummated his +long-delayed marriage with Mariamne, the daughter of Hyrcanus, thus in +part attracting to himself the loyalty which the Jews had bestowed so +lavishly and disastrously upon the unworthy sons of Alexander Janneus. + + + +Section CXVIII. HEROD'S POLICY AND REIGN + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 19:1, 2a] +Now when the war about Actium broke out, Herod prepared to come to the +assistance of Antony, but he was treacherously hindered from sharing the +dangers of Antony by Cleopatra, for she persuaded Antony to intrust the +war against the Arabians to Herod. This plan, however, proved of advantage +to Herod, for he defeated the army of the Arabians, although it offered +him strong resistance. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 20:1] +Now Herod was immediately concerned about his entire fortunes because of +his friendship with Antony, who had been defeated at Actium by Caesar +[Augustus]. Herod, however, resolved to face the danger: so he sailed to +Rhodes where Caesar was then staying, and came to him without his diadem +and in the dress and guise of a private person, but in the spirit of a +king. And he concealed nothing of the truth, but spoke straight out as +follows: "O Caesar, I was made king of the Jews by Antony. I confess that +I have been useful to him, nor will I conceal this added fact, that you +would certainly have found me in arms, and so showing my gratitude to him, +had not the Arabians hindered me. I have been overcome with Antony, and +sharing the same fortune as his, I have laid aside my diadem. Now I have +come to you fixing my hopes of safety upon your virtue, and I ask that +you will consider how faithful a friend, and not whose friend, I have +been." + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 20:2] +Caesar answered him as follows: "Nay, you shall not only be safe, but you +shall reign more firmly than before, for you are worthy to reign over many +subjects because of the steadfastness of your friendship. Endeavor to be +equally constant in your friendship to me in the hour of my success, since +I have the brightest hopes because of your noble spirit. I therefore +assure you that I will confirm the kingdom to you by decree. I will also +endeavor to do you some further kindness hereafter, that you may not miss +Antony." + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 20:3b-4a] +After this, when Caesar went to Egypt through Syria, Herod received him +lavishly and royally. It was, therefore, the opinion both of Caesar and +his soldiers that Herod's kingdom was too small a return for what he had +done. For this reason, when Caesar had returned from Egypt, he added to +Herod's other honors, and also made an addition to his kingdom by giving +him not only the country which had been taken from him by Cleopatra, but +also Gadara, Hippos, and Samaria, and also the coast cities Gaza, +Anthedon, Joppa, and Straton's Tower. He also made him a present of four +hundred Gauls as a body-guard, which had before belonged to Cleopatra. +Moreover he added to his kingdom Trachonitis and the adjacent Batanea, and +the district of Auranitis. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:13] +Now Herod had a body suited to his soul and was ever a most excellent +hunter, in which sport he generally had great success owing to his skill +in riding, for in one day he once captured forty wild beasts. He was also +a warrior such as could not be withstood. Many also marvelled at his skill +in his exercises when they saw him throwing the javelin and shooting the +arrow straight to the mark. In addition to these advantages of mind and +body, fortune was also very favorable to him, for he seldom failed in war, +and when he failed, he was not himself the cause, but it happened either +through the treachery of some one or else through the rashness of his own +soldiers. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:1b, 4a] +Herod also built for himself at Jerusalem in the upper city a palace, +which contained two very large and most beautiful apartments to which not +even the temple could be compared. One apartment he named Caesareum and +the other Agrippeum [after his friends Caesar Augustus and Agrippa]. But +he did not preserve their memory by particular buildings only and the +names given them, but his generosity also went as far as entire cities. +For when he had built a most beautiful wall over two miles long about a +city in the district of Samaria and had brought six thousand inhabitants +into it and had allotted to them a most fertile territory and in the midst +of this city had erected a large temple to Augustus, he called the city +Sebaste [from Sebastus, the Greek of Augustus]. And when Augustus had +bestowed upon him additional territory, he built there also a temple of +white marble in his honor near the fountains of the Jordan. The place is +called Panium. The king erected other buildings at Jericho and named them +after the same friends. In general there was not any place in his kingdom +suited to the purpose that was allowed to remain without something in +Augustus's honor. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:6a-8a] +And when he observed that there was a city by the seaside that was much +decayed, called Straton's Tower, and that the place, because of its fair +situation, was capable of great improvements, through his love of honor he +rebuilt it all of white stone and adorned it with magnificent palaces and +in it showed his natural munificence. For all the seashore between Dora +and Egypt (between which places the city is situated) had no good harbor, +so that every one who sailed to Phoenicia from Egypt was obliged to toss +about in the sea because of the south wind that threatened them. But the +king by great expense and liberality overcame nature and built a harbor +larger than was the Piraeus, and in its recesses built other deep +roadsteads. He let down stones into one hundred and twenty-one feet of +water. And when the part below the sea was filled up, he extended the wall +which was already above the sea until it was two hundred feet long. The +entrance to the harbor was on the north, because the north wind was there +the most gentle of all the winds. At the mouth of the harbor on each side +were three colossi supported by pillars. And the houses, also built of +white stone, were close to the harbor, and the narrow streets of the city +led down to it, being built at equal distances from one another. And +opposite the entrance of the harbor upon an elevation was the temple of +Caesar Augustus, excellent both for beauty and size, and in it was a +colossal statue of Caesar Augustus as big as the Olympian Zeus, which it +was made to resemble, and a statue of Rome as big at that of Hera at +Argos. And he dedicated the city to the province, and the harbor to those +who sailed there. But the honor of founding the city he ascribed to Caesar +Augustus and accordingly called it Caesarea. He also built other edifices, +the amphitheater, the theater, and market-place in a manner worthy of that +name. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:9a-10a] +Herod was also a lover of his father, for he built as a memorial of his +father a city in the finest plain that was in his kingdom [the lower +Jordan valley], which had rivers and trees in abundance, and called it +Antipatris. He also fortified a citadel that lay above Jericho and was +very strong and handsome, and dedicated it to his mother, and called it +Cypros. Moreover, he dedicated a tower at Jerusalem to his brother +Phasaelus. He also built another city in the valley which leads north from +Jericho and named it Phasaelis. As a memorial for himself he built a +fortress upon a mountain toward Arabia and called it after himself +Herodium. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 21:11a] +And when he had built so much, he showed the greatness of his soul to many +foreign cities. He built gymnasiums at Tripolis, Damascus, and Ptolemais. +He built a wall around Byblus, and arcades, colonnades, temples, and +market-places at Berytus and Tyre, and theaters at Sidon and Damascus. He +also built an aqueduct for those Laodiceans, who lived by the seaside; and +for the inhabitants of Ascalon he built baths and costly fountains, as +also encircling colonnades that were admirable for their workmanship and +size. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 22:1a, c-2b] +Herod, however, began to be unhappy on account of his wife, of whom he was +very fond. For when he attained the kingship, he divorced her whom he had +married when he was a private person, a native of Jerusalem by the name of +Doris, and married Mariamne, the daughter of Alexander, the son of +Aristobulus. Because of Mariamne disturbances arose in his family, and +that very soon, but chiefly after his return from Rome. For the sake of +his sons by Mariamne he banished Antipater, the son of Doris. After this +he slew his wife's grandfather, Hyrcanus, when he returned to him out of +Parthia, on suspicion of plotting against him. Now of the five children +which Herod had by Mariamne two of them were daughters and three were +sons. The youngest of these sons died while he was being educated at Rome, +but the two elder sons he treated as princes because of their mother's +honorable rank and because they had been born after he became king. But +what was stronger than all this was the love he bore to Mariamne. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 22:2c-4] +But Mariamne's hatred toward him was as great as his love for her. She, +indeed, had a just cause for indignation for what he had done, while her +freedom of speech was the result of his affection for her. So she openly +reproached him for what he had done to her grandfather Hyrcanus and to her +brother Aristobulus. For he had not spared this Aristobulus, though he was +but a lad, for after he had given him the high priesthood at the age of +seventeen, Herod caused him to be slain immediately after he had conferred +that honor upon him; for when Aristobulus had put on the holy garments and +had approached to the altar at a festival, the assembled multitude wept +for joy. Thereupon the lad was sent by night to Jericho, and there in a +swimming-pool at Herod's command was held under water by the Gauls until +he was drowned. For these reasons Mariamne reproached Herod, and railed at +his sister and his mother most abusively. He was dumb on account of his +affection for her, but the women were vexed exceedingly at her and charged +her with being false to him, for they thought that this would be most +likely to arouse Herod's anger. When, therefore, he was about to take a +journey abroad, he intrusted his wife to Joseph, his sister Salome's +husband. He also gave him a secret injunction that, if Antony should slay +him [Herod], Joseph should slay Mariamne. But Joseph without any evil +intention and in order to demonstrate the king's love for his wife +disclosed this secret to her. And when Herod came back, and when they +talked together, he confirmed his love to her by many oaths and assured +her that he had never loved any other woman as he had her. "To be sure," +said she, "you proved your love to me by the injunctions you gave Joseph +when you commanded him to kill me!" When Herod heard that this secret was +discovered, he was like a distracted man, and said that Joseph would never +have disclosed his injunction unless he had seduced her. Made insane by +his passion and leaping out of bed, he ran about the palace in a wild +manner. Meantime his sister Salome improved the opportunity for false +accusations and to confirm the suspicion about Joseph. So in his +ungovernable jealousy and rage Herod commanded both of them to be slain +immediately. But as soon as his passion was over, he repented for what he +had done; and indeed his passionate desire for Mariamne was so ardent that +he could not think that she was dead, but in his distress he talked to her +as if she were still alive. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 23:1a, d, 2a, c-3a] +Now Mariamne's sons inherited their mother's hate; and when they +considered the greatness of Herod's crime toward her, they were as +suspicious of their father as of an enemy. This state of theirs increased +as they grew to be men. And when Herod had been poisoned with calumnies +against them, he recalled Antipater, his son by Doris, from exile as a +defence against his other sons, and began to treat him in every way with +more distinction than them. But these sons were not able to bear this +change, for when they saw Antipater, who was the son of a private woman, +advanced, the nobility of their own birth made them unable to restrain +their indignation. For Antipater was already publicly named in his +father's will as his successor. The two weapons which he employed against +his brothers were flattery and calumny, whereby he brought matters +privately to such a point that the king thought of putting his sons to +death. So Herod dragged Alexander with him as far as Rome and charged him +before Augustus with attempting to poison him, but Alexander very ably +cleared himself of the calumnies laid against him and brought Augustus to +the point of rejecting the accusation and of reconciling Herod to his sons +at once. After this the king returned from Rome and seemed to have +acquitted his sons of these charges, but still he was not without some +suspicion of them, for Antipater, who was the cause of the hatred, +accompanied them. But he did not openly show his enmity toward them, for +he stood in awe of the one who had reconciled them. But the dissensions +between the brothers still accompanied them, and the suspicions they had +of one another grew worse. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 24:1a, 27:1, 2a, 6b] +Alexander and Aristobulus were much vexed that the privilege of the +first-born was confirmed to Antipater, and Antipater was very angry +because his brothers were to succeed him. Moreover, Salome incited Herod's +cruelty against his sons, for Aristobulus was desirous of bringing her who +was his mother-in-law and aunt into the same dangers as himself. So he +sent to her to advise her to save herself, and told her that the king was +preparing to put her to death. Then Salome came running to the king and +informed him of the warning. Thereupon Herod could restrain himself no +longer, but caused both of his sons to be bound, and kept them apart from +one another, and speedily sent to Augustus written charges against them. +Augustus was greatly troubled in regard to the young men, but he did not +think he ought to take from a father the power over his sons. So he wrote +back to him, and gave him full authority over his sons, and said he would +do well to make an examination of the plot by means of a common council +consisting of his own kinsmen and the governors of his province, and if +his sons were found guilty to put them to death. With these directions +Herod complied. Then he sent his sons to Sebaste and ordered them there to +be strangled, and his orders being executed immediately, he commanded +their bodies to be brought to the fortress of Alexandrium. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 28:1a, 29:2c] +But an unconquerable hatred against Antipater rose up in the nation now +that he had an indisputable title to the succession, because they well +knew that he was the person who had contrived all the calumnies against +his brothers. Later he secured permission by means of his Italian friends +to go and live at Rome. For when they wrote that it was proper for +Antipater to be sent to Augustus after some time, Herod made no delay but +sent him with a splendid retinue and a large amount of money, and gave him +his testament to carry in which Antipater was inscribed as king. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 30:5a, 31:1a] +And after the death of Herod's brother Pheroras, the king devoted himself +to examining his son Antipater's steward; and upon torturing him he +learned that Antipater had sent for a potion of deadly poison for him from +Egypt, and that the uncle of Antipater had received it from him and +delivered it to Pheroras, for Antipater had charged him to destroy his +father the king, while [Antipater] was at Rome, and so free him from the +suspicion of doing it himself. Antipater's freedman was also brought to +trial, and he was the concluding proof of Antipater's designs. This man +came and brought another deadly potion of the poison of asps and of other +serpents, that if the first potion did not accomplish its end, Pheroras +and his wife might be armed with this also against the king. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, I, 33:1, 7, 8a] +Now Herod's illness became more and more severe because his various +ailments attacked him in his old age and when he was in a melancholy +state, for he was already almost seventy years of age and was depressed by +the calamities that had happened to him in connection with his children, +so that he had no pleasure in life even when he was in health. The fact +that Antipater was still alive aggravated his disease, and he preferred to +destroy him, not incidentally but by crushing him completely. When letters +came from his ambassadors at Rome containing the information that +Antipater was condemned to death, Herod for a little while was restored to +cheerfulness; but presently being overcome by his pains, he endeavored to +anticipate destiny, and this because he was weakened by want of food and +by a convulsive cough. Accordingly he took an apple and asked for a knife, +for he used to pare his apples before eating them. He then looked around +to see that there was no one to hinder him and lifted up his right hand as +if to stab himself. But Achiabus, his cousin, ran up to him and, holding +his hand, hindered him from so doing. Immediately a great lamentation was +raised in the palace, as if the king was dying, and as soon as Antipater +heard that, he took courage and with joy in his looks besought his keepers +for a sum of money to loose him and let him go. But the head keeper of the +prison not only prevented that but also ran and told the king what his +design was. Thereupon the king cried louder than his disease could well +bear, and immediately sent some of his body-guards and had Antipater +slain. He also gave orders to have him buried at Hyrcanium, and altered +his testament again and therein made Archelaus, his eldest son, and the +brother of Antipas, his successor, and made Antipas tetrarch. Herod, after +surviving the death of his son only five days, died, having reigned +thirty-four years, since he had obtained control of affairs; but it was +thirty-seven years since he had been made king by the Romans. + +I. Herod's Character. The character of Herod is comparatively easy to +understand, for it is elemental and one that constantly recurs in history. +We in America are familiar with this type which is represented by our +unscrupulous captains of industry or political bosses--energetic, +physically strong, shrewd, relentless toward all who threaten to thwart +their plans, skilful in organization, not troubled about the rightness of +their methods, provided they escape the toils of the law, able to command +men and successfully to carry through large policies. They are not without +their personal attractions, for it is instinctive to admire that which is +big and able to achieve. Many of them also make permanent contributions to +the upbuilding of the nation. Oriental history is also full of analogies: +Nebuchadrezzar, Cyrus, Alexander, and in more recent times Mohammed Ali of +Egypt. Herod was largely the product of his inheritance and training. His +father, Antipater, had taught him to regard the Jews with secret but +well-concealed contempt, and to hate Aristobulus and his ambitious sons. +His religion was loyalty to Rome, for this meant wealth and success. He +delighted in public approval, and his ambition was to be known as a great +builder. As is true with this type of man, he was a natural tyrant. Power +was his ruling passion, and he regarded with extreme suspicion any who +might take it from him. In this respect the contemporary rulers of the +Roman Empire set an example which he was not slow to follow. His Idumean +and Arabian blood coursed hot and fierce through his veins. It was an age +when moral standards were exceedingly low, and Herod never learned to rule +his passions. The Oriental institution of the harem gave him full license, +and he lived and loved as he fought and reigned--vehemently. Such a man is +especially susceptible to the weaknesses and crimes that come from +jealousy, and the influences of his family and court intensified these +fatal faults. + +Herod is not without his attractive qualities. A man who is able to +execute on a large scale and win the title Great is never commonplace. +In giving Palestine the benefits of a strong and stable government he +performed a real service. In his love for Mariamne and for the sons she +bore him he was mastered by a passion that for a time ennobled him. +Like every man, moreover, who fails to taste the joys of disinterested +service for his fellow-men, Herod paid the bitter penalty for his own +unrestrained selfishness. He awakes pity rather than denunciation. He +never found life, because he never learned to lose his life in the service +of his people. + +II. His Attitude toward Rome. Herod's policy was loyalty at any cost to +the man who at the moment ruled Rome. During the first part of his reign +Antony's power on the eastern Mediterranean was still in the ascendancy. +Notwithstanding the powerful intrigues of Cleopatra, Herod succeeded in +retaining the favor of his patron. When the battle of Actium in 32 B.C. +revealed Antony's weakness, Herod forthwith cast off his allegiance, and +his treachery was one of the chief forces that drove Antony to suicide. +Octavian, who henceforth under the title of Augustus attained to the +complete control of Rome, recognized in Herod a valuable servant. Herod's +title as king of the Jews was confirmed, and Augustus gradually increased +his territory until it included practically all of Palestine with the +exception of certain Greek cities along the coast and east of the Jordan. +Herod's task was to preserve peace in the land thus intrusted to him and +to guard the eastern border of the empire against its Parthian foes. This +task he faithfully performed. + +III. His Building Activity. The spirit and policy of Augustus were +clearly reflected in Herod's court and kingdom. When his position was +firmly established, Herod devoted himself to magnificent building +enterprises. In Antioch, Athens, and Rhodes, he reared great public +buildings. Jerusalem, his capital, was provided with a theatre and +amphitheatre, and other buildings that characterize the Graeco-Roman +cities of the period. The two crowning achievements of Herod's reign were +the rebuilding of Samaria and Caesarea, as its port on the Mediterranean +coast. Both of these cities were renamed in honor of his patron Augustus. +On the acropolis of Samaria he built a huge Roman temple, the foundations +of which have recently been uncovered by the American excavators. The city +itself was encircled by a colonnade, over a mile long, consisting of +pillars sixteen feet in height. Caesarea, like Samaria, was adorned with +magnificent public buildings, including a temple, a theatre, a palace, and +an amphitheatre. The great breakwater two hundred feet wide that ran out +into the open sea was one of the greatest achievements of that building +age. By these acts Herod won still further the favor of Augustus and the +admiration of the Eastern world. + +IV. His Attitude toward His Subjects. The peace which Herod brought to +Palestine was won at the point of the sword. The fear which he felt for +his subjects was surpassed only by the fear which he inspired in them. He +was unscrupulous and merciless in cutting down all possible rivals. The +treacherous murder of Aristobulus III, the grandson of Hyrcanus, and last +of all the murder of the inoffensive and maimed Hyrcanus, are among the +darkest deeds in Herod's bloody reign. The power of the sanhedrin, the +Jewish national representative body, was almost completely crushed. +Following the policy of Augustus, Herod developed a complex system of +spies, or espionage, so that, like an Oriental tyrant, he ruled his +subjects by means of two armies, the spies who watched in secret and the +soldiers who guarded them openly. His lavish building enterprises led him +to load his people with an almost intolerable burden of taxation, and yet +for the common people Herod's reign was one of comparative peace and +prosperity. At last they were delivered from destructive wars and free to +develop the great agricultural and commercial resources of the land. While +outside of Judea Herod built heathen temples, he faithfully guarded the +temple of Jerusalem, and was careful not to override the religious +prejudices of his subjects. His measures to relieve their suffering in +time of famine reveal a generosity which under better environment and +training might have made him a benign ruler. + +V. The Tragedy of His Domestic Life. The weakness of Herod's character +is most glaringly revealed in his domestic life. Undoubtedly he loved the +beautiful Maccabean princess, Mariamne, with all the passion of his +violent nature. It was a type of love, however, which passes over easily +into insensate jealousy. Accordingly, when he left Judea just before the +battle of Actium, and later when he went to meet Octavian, he had his wife +Mariamne shut up in a strong fortress. Unfortunately Herod, like most +despots, was unable to command the services of loyal followers. The +discovery of Herod's suspicions toward her aroused the imperious spirit of +Mariamne. She was also the victim of the plots of his jealous family. +Human history presents no greater tragedy than that of Herod putting to +death the one woman whom he truly loved, and later a victim of his own +suspicions and of the intrigues of his son Antipater, finally obtaining +royal permission to put to death the two noble sons whom Mariamne had +borne to him. It is difficult to find in all history a more pitiable sight +than Herod in his old age, hated by most of his subjects, misled by the +members of his own family, the murderer of those whom he loved best, +finding his sole satisfaction in putting to death his son Antipater, who +had betrayed him, and in planning in his last hours how he might by the +murder of hundreds of his subjects arouse wide-spread lamentation. + +VI. Effects of Herod's Reign. One of the chief results of Herod's policy +and reign was the complete extinction of the Maccabean house. Herod's +motive and method were thoroughly base, but for the Jewish people the +result was beneficial, for it removed one of the most active causes of +those suicidal rebellions that had resulted disastrously for the Jews and +brought them under the suspicion and iron rule of Rome. With his heavy +hand Herod also put a stop to the party strife that had undermined the +native Jewish kingdom and brought loss and suffering to thousands of Jews. +The Pharisees and Sadducees at last were taught the lesson of not +resorting to arms, however widely they might differ. By removing the +Pharisees from public life Herod directed their energies to developing +their ceremonial regulations and to instructing the people. Thus the +influence of the Pharisees became paramount with the great majority of the +Jews. As Herod extended his rule over all Palestine, he brought into close +relations the Jews scattered throughout its territory and so strengthened +the bonds of race and religion. In building the temples he also emphasized +the ceremonial side of their religious life and centralized it so that +even the Jews of the dispersion henceforth paid their yearly temple tax, +made frequent pilgrimages to Jerusalem, and regarded themselves as a part +of the nation. Furthermore, Herod brought peace and prosperity to his +people and gave the Jews an honorable place in the role of nations. Thus, +while his career is marked by many unpardonable crimes, he proved on the +whole an upbuilder and a friend rather than a foe of the Jews. + + + +Section CXIX. HEROD'S TEMPLE + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:1a] +Now Herod, in the eighteenth year of his reign, undertook a very great +work, that is, to rebuild the temple of God at his own expense, and to +make it larger in circumference and to raise it to a more magnificent +height. He thought rightly that to bring the temple to perfection would be +the most glorious of all his works, and that it would suffice as an +everlasting memorial. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:2c] +So he prepared a thousand wagons to bring stones, chose ten thousand of +the most skilful workmen, bought a thousand priestly garments for as many +of the priests, and had some of them taught how to work as builders, and +others as carpenters. Then he began to build, but not until everything +was well prepared for the work. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:3a-c] +And Herod took up the old foundations, and laid others. He erected a +temple upon these foundations: its length was one hundred cubits and its +height twenty additional cubits. Now the temple was built of stones that +were white and strong. Each was about twenty-five cubits long, eight +cubits high, and twelve cubits wide. The whole temple enclosure on the +sides was on much lower ground, as were also the royal colonnades; but the +temple itself was much higher, being visible for many furlongs in the +country round about. It had doors at its entrance as high as the temple +itself with lintels over them. These doors were adorned with variegated +veils, into which were interwoven pillars and purple flowers. Over these, +but under the crown-work, was spread out a golden vine, with its branches +hanging far down, the great size and fine workmanship of which was a +marvel to those who saw it. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:3f-l] +Herod also built very large colonnades all around the temple, making them +in proportion. He exceeded all who had gone before him in his lavish +expenditure of money. There was a large wall about the colonnades. The +hill, on which the temple stood, was rocky, ascending gradually toward +the east of the city to its highest point. At the bottom, which was +surrounded by a deep valley, he laid rocks that were bound together with +lead. He also cut away some of the inner parts, carrying the wall to a +great height, until the size and height of the square construction was +immense, and until the great size of the stones in front were visible on +the outside. The inward parts were fastened together with iron and the +joints were preserved immovable for all time. When this work was joined +together to the very top of the hill, he finished off its upper surface +and filled up the hollow places about the wall and made it level and +smooth on top. Within this wall, on the very top, was another wall of +stone that had on the east a double colonnade of the same length as the +wall. Inside was the temple itself. This colonnade faced the door of the +temple and had been decorated by many kings before. Around about the +entire temple were fixed the spoils taken from the barbarous nations. All +these were dedicated to the temple by Herod, who added those that had been +taken from the Arabians. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:4a, d] +Now in an angle on the north side of the temple was built a citadel, well +fortified and of extraordinary strength. This citadel had been built +before Herod by the kings and high priests of the Hasmonean race, and +they called it the Tower. In it were deposited the garments of the high +priest, which he put on only at the time when he was to offer sacrifice. +Herod fortified this tower more strongly than before, in order to guard +the temple securely, and gave the tower the name of Antonia to gratify +Antony, who was his friend and a Roman ruler. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:5a-g] +In the western side of the temple enclosure were four gates; one led to +the king's palace, two others led to the suburbs of the city, and the +fourth led by many steps down into the valley and up on the other side to +the entrance to the other part of the city. The fourth front of the +temple, that on the south, had gates in the middle; before this front were +the three royal colonnades, which reached from the valley on the east to +that on the west. These colonnades were especially remarkable for their +great height, which seemed more because the hill at their base dropped +abruptly into a very deep valley. There were four rows of pillars, placed +side by side. The fourth was built into the stone wall. Each pillar was +about twenty-seven feet high, with a double spiral at the base, and was so +thick that three men joining hands could just reach around it. The number +of the pillars was one hundred and sixty-two. The columns had Corinthian +capitals, which aroused great admiration in those who saw them because of +their beauty. These four rows of pillars made three parallel spaces for +walking. Two of these parallel walks were thirty feet wide, six hundred +and six feet in length, and fifty feet in height, while the middle walk +was half as wide again and twice as high. The roofs were adorned with +deep sculptures in wood, representing many different things; the middle +was much higher than the rest, and the front wall, which was of polished +stone, was adorned with beams set into the stone on pillars. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:5h, i] +The second enclosure, which was reached by ascending a few steps, was not +very far within the first. This inner enclosure had a stone wall for a +partition. Upon this wall it was forbidden any foreigner to enter under +penalty of death. This inner enclosure had on its northern and southern +sides three gates at intervals from each other. On the east, however, +there was one large gate, through which those of us who were ceremonially +pure could enter with our wives. Within this enclosure was another +forbidden to women. Still further in there was a third court, into which +only the priest could go. Within this court was the temple itself; before +that was the altar, upon which we offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings to +God. + +[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XV, 11:5k, 6] +Herod himself took charge of the work upon the colonnades and outer +enclosures; these he built in eight years. But the temple itself was +built by the priest in a year and five months. Thereupon all the people +were filled with joy and returned thanks, in the first place to God for +the speed with which it was finished, and in the second place for the +zeal which the king had shown. They feasted and celebrated this rebuilding +of the temple; the king sacrificed three hundred oxen to God, as did the +others, each according to his ability. The time of this celebration of the +work about the temple also fell upon the day of the king's inauguration, +which the people customarily observed as a festival. The coincidence of +these anniversaries made the festival most notable. + +I. Herod's Motives. It is not difficult to appreciate the reasons which +influenced Herod to begin the rebuilding of the temple. Chief among these +was doubtless the desire to win still further the approval of his master +Augustus. It is also a characteristic of a man of Herod's type to seek to +gain popular approval by the munificence of his public gifts. Throughout +his reign he was painfully aware of the suspicions of his Jewish subjects. +He trusted, and the event proved the wisdom of his judgment, that he might +conciliate them by giving them that about which their interest most +naturally gathered. The methods which he employed in building the temple +clearly indicate that this was one of his leading motives. He also +gratified that love of construction which had found expression in many of +the cities of Palestine and the eastern Mediterranean. He desired to rear +a great memorial for himself, and in this hope he was not disappointed, +for later generations continued to think of him with gratitude because of +the temple which bore his name. + +II. Preparations for the Rebuilding of the Temple. Herod's temple was +begun in 20 or 19 B.C. and was not entirely completed until a few years +before its destruction in 70 A.D. The task in itself was a difficult one, +for on the north the city prevented the extension of the temple area, and +on the south the hill rapidly descended toward the juncture of the +Tyropoean and Kidron valleys. Herod met the difficulty by filling in to +the south with vast stone constructions which rose to the height of +seventy to ninety feet above the virgin rock. To economize building +materials he built the huge underground vaults and arches known to-day +as Solomon's Stables. Thus with a vast expense of labor and wealth he +extended the temple area to the south until it was double that which +surrounded Solomon's temple. It was also important to regard in every +detail the ceremonial scruples of the Jews. To this end a small army of +priests were trained as masons and carpenters in order to do the work in +the immediate proximity of the temple. To bring the ancient temple into +proportions with the rest of his buildings, a huge porch or facade was +reared in front of it on the east, rising, according to Josephus, to the +height of one hundred and twenty feet. For the roof that covered the +porches he apparently brought cedar from the distant Lebanons. Only with +all the resources of the kingdom at his command was it possible to carry +through this vast enterprise. + +III. The Approaches to the Temple. The entire temple area was +rectangular in form, about twelve hundred feet in length and six hundred +feet wide. Its chief approaches were on the south and west. A small gate +through which sacrificial animals were introduced immediately into the +temple precincts opened from the north. The one gate on the east, which +opened into the Kidron Valley, was apparently opposite the eastern +entrance to the temple. The two gates on the south opened toward the City +of David. The one was a double gate with an incline leading into the +temple area, and the other farther to the east was a triple gate. The main +approaches were from the west. The southern of these was a low viaduct +spanning the Kidron Valley and thence by steps or inclined approach +ascending to the temple area. Remnants of the arches that spanned the +valley at this point and a little farther north are still traceable on the +present walls of the temple area far down in the Tyropoean Valley. The +third approach farther to the north was probably also a viaduct leading +directly into the temple area, while the extreme northern approach, +according to Josephus, led from the palace of Herod directly to the +temple. The entire temple area was encircled by a colonnade. One row of +pillars was built into the high wall that surrounded the area. On the +south was found the royal porch with its four rows of columns, the first +and second about thirty feet apart, the second and third forty-five, and +the third and fourth thirty. The pillars on the sides were about +twenty-seven feet in height, while the two rows in the middle were double +this height. Each of these colonnades was covered with a richly ornamented +cedar roof, thus affording grateful shelter from the sun and storm. The +great space at the south of the temple area was the Court of the Gentiles, +the common park of the city where all classes of its population freely +gathered. The colonnade on the east of the temple area bore the name of +Solomon's Porch, and from it the steps led up to the raised platform of +native rock twenty or more feet above the Court of the Gentiles. Somewhere +to the east of the temple was found the famous Beautiful Gate. The series +of steps led into the so-called Court of the Women. West of this was the +Court of the Israelites, to which only men were admitted. Thence a broad, +high door led to the open space before the temple. Surrounding the altar +and cutting off approach to the temple proper was a stone balustrade. +The space within this was known as the Court of the Priests. Here no +laymen were admitted except as the ritual of private sacrifice required. +These inner courts were surrounded by a high wall and adjoining chambers +for the storing of the paraphernalia used in connection with the +sacrifice and for the residence of the priests. On the southern side of +the temple was the room where the national council, the sanhedrin, held +its public meetings. Four gates on the north and four gates on the +south led from the temple court to the lower Court of the Gentiles. + +IV. The Organization of the Temple Service. At the head of the temple +organization was the high priest. Since the deposition of the ill-fated +Hyrcanus the high priests had been appointed by Herod, for to them was +intrusted large civil as well as religious authority. The one duty which +the high priests could not neglect, unless prevented by illness, was to +perform the sacrifice in behalf of the people and to enter the Holy of +Holies on the day of atonement. Frequently he also offered the sacrifice +or presided at the special services on the sabbath, the new moons, or at +the great annual festivals. Otherwise the temple duties were performed by +the army of priests and assistants who were associated with the temple. +According to Josephus there were twenty thousand priests. They were +divided into twenty-four courses. Each course included certain priestly +families to which were intrusted for a week the performing of the +sacrifices. Corresponding to the twenty-four courses of the priests were +the courses of the people, who were represented by certain of their number +at each of the important services. The priests not only performed the +sacrifices but also guarded the temple treasures and the private wealth +placed in their keeping. The Levites attended to the more menial duties in +connection with the temple service. They aided the priests in preparing +the sacrifices and in caring for the utensils that were used in connection +with the sacrifice. Some of them were doorkeepers. Probably from the +Levites were drafted the temple police at whose head was the captain of +the temple. Their task was to preserve order and to prevent Gentiles from +entering the sacred precincts of the temple. The singers constituted a +third group of Levites. + +Two public services were held each day, the first, at sunrise, consisted +in the offering of a sacrificial ram with the accompaniment of prayer +and song. The same rites were repeated at sunset. After the morning +sacrifice the private offerings were presented. On the sabbaths, new +moons, and great festivals, the number of sacrifices was greatly increased +and the ritual made more elaborate. Upon the Jews, instructed in the +synagogue in the details of the law and taught to regard the temple and +its services with deepest reverence, the elaborate ceremonies of this +great and magnificent sanctuary must have made a profound impression. +As the people streamed up to Jerusalem by thousands at the great feasts, +their attention was fixed more and more upon the ritual and the truths +which it symbolized. Herod's temple also strengthened the authority of the +Jewish hierarchy with the people, and gave the scribes and Pharisees the +commanding position which they later occupied in the life and thought of +Judaism. + + + +Section CXX. THE MESSIANIC HOPES AND THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF JUDAISM + +[Sidenote: Sibyl. Oracles, III 767-784] +Then a kingdom over all mankind for all times shall God raise up, who once +gave the holy law to the pious, for whom he pledged to open every land, +the world and the portals of the blessed, and all joys, and an eternal, +immortal spirit and a joyous heart. And out of every land they shall bring +frankincense and gifts to the house of the great God. And to men there +shall be no other house where men may learn of the world to be than that +which God hath given for faithful men to honor; for mortals shall call it +the temple of the mighty God. And all pathways of the plain and rough +hills and high mountains and wild waves of the deep shall be easy in those +days for crossing and sailing; for perfect peace for the good shall come +on earth. And the prophets of the mighty God shall remove the sword; for +they are the rulers of mortals and the righteous kings. And there shall be +righteous wealth among mankind; for this is the judgment and rule of the +mighty God. + +[Sidenote: Ps. Sol. 7:23-35a] +Behold, O Lord, and raise up to them their king, the son of David, in the +time which thou, O God, knowest, that he may reign over Israel thy +servant; and gird him with strength that he may break in pieces those who +rule unjustly. Purge Jerusalem with wisdom and with righteousness, from +the heathen who trample her down to destroy her. He shall thrust out the +sinners from the inheritance, utterly destroy the proud spirit of the +sinners, and as potters' vessels he shall break in pieces with a rod of +iron all their substance. He shall destroy the ungodly nations with the +word of his mouth, so that at his rebuke the nations will flee before him, +and he shall convict the sinners in the thoughts of their hearts. And he +shall gather together a holy people, whom he shall lead in righteousness; +and shall judge the tribes of the people that has been sanctified by the +Lord his God. And he shall not suffer iniquity to lodge in their midst; +and none that knoweth wickedness shall dwell with them. For he shall take +knowledge of them, that they are all the sons of their God, and shall +divide them upon earth according to their tribes, and the sojourner and +the stranger shall dwell with them no more. He shall judge the nations and +the peoples with the wisdom of his righteousness. And he shall possess the +nations of the heathen to serve him beneath his yoke; and he shall glorify +the Lord in a place to be seen by the whole earth; and he shall purge +Jerusalem and make it holy, even as it was in the days of old. + +[Sidenote: Ps. Sol. 7:35b-46] +And a righteous king and taught of God is he who reigneth over them; and +there shall be no iniquity in his days in their midst, for all shall be +holy and their king is the Lord Messiah. For he shall not put his trust in +horse and rider and bow, nor shall he multiply unto himself gold and +silver for war, nor by ships shall he gather confidence for the day of +battle. The Lord himself is his King, and the hope of him who is strong in +the hope of God. And he shall have mercy upon all the nations that come +before him in fear. For he shall smite the earth with the word of his +mouth, even for evermore. He shall bless the people of the Lord with +wisdom and gladness. He himself also is pure from sin, so that he may rule +a mighty people, and rebuke princes and overthrow sinners by the might of +his word. And he shall not faint all his days, because he leaneth +upon his God; for God shall cause him to be mighty through the spirit +of holiness, and wise through the counsel of understanding, with might and +righteousness. And the blessing of the Lord is with him in might, and his +hope in the Lord shall not faint. And who can stand up against him; he is +mighty in his works and strong in the fear of God, tending the flock of +the Lord with faith and righteousness. And he shall allow none of them to +faint in their pasture. In holiness shall he lead them all, and there +shall be no pride among them that any should be oppressed. + +[Sidenote: Enoch 46:1-3] +And there I saw One who had a head of days, and his head was white like +wool, and with him was another being whose countenance had the appearance +of a man, and his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy +angels. And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the +hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and whence he was, +and why he went with the Head of Days? And he answered and said to me, +"This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness, with whom dwelleth +righteousness, and who reveals all the treasures of that which is hidden, +because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him, and his lot before the Lord +of Spirits hath surpassed everything in uprightness for ever." + +[Sidenote: Enoch 48:3-6] +Before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of the heaven +were made, his name was named before the Lord of Spirits. He will be a +staff to the righteous on which they will support themselves and not fall, +and he will be the light of the Gentiles, and the hope of those whose +hearts are troubled. All who dwell on earth will fall down and bow the +knee before him and will bless and laud and magnify with song the Lord of +Spirits. And for this reason hath he been chosen and hidden before him +before the creation of the world and for evermore. + +[Sidenote: Enoch 49:27-29] +And he sat on the throne of his glory, and the sum of judgment was +committed to him, and the Son of Man caused the sinners and those who have +led the world astray to pass away and be destroyed from off the face of +the earth. With chains they shall be bound, and in their assembling-place +of destruction shall they be imprisoned, and all their works will vanish +from the face of the earth. And henceforth there will be nothing that is +corruptible; for the Son of Man hath appeared and sitteth on the throne of +his glory, and all evil will pass away before his face and depart; but the +word of the Son of Man will be strong before the Lord of Spirits. + +[Sidenote: Enoch 51:1, 2] +And in those days will the earth also give back those who are treasured up +within it, and Sheol also will give back that which it has received, and +hell will give back that which it owes. And he will choose the righteous +and holy from among them; for the day of their redemption is at hand. + +I. The Growth of Israel's Messianic Hopes. Eternal hopefulness is a +marked characteristic of the Hebrew race. Throughout most of their history +the greater the calamities that overtook them the greater was their +assurance that these were but the prelude to a glorious vindication and +deliverance. This hopefulness was not merely the result of their natural +optimism, but of the belief, formed by their experiences in many a +national crisis, that a God of justice was overruling the events of +history, and that he was working not for man's destruction but for his +highest happiness and well-being. It was their insight into the divine +purpose that led the Hebrew prophets to break away from the popular +traditions that projected backward to the beginnings of history the +realization of man's fondest hopes. Instead they proclaimed that the +golden era lay in the future rather than the past. The hopes of Israel's +prophets regarding that future took many different forms. Often the form +was determined by the earlier experiences of the nation. At many periods +the people looked for a revival of the glories of the days of David. In +later days, when they were oppressed by cruel persecutions, they revived +in modified form the dreams that had been current in the childhood of the +Semitic race, and thought of a supernatural kingdom that was to be +inaugurated after Jehovah and his attendant angels, like Marduk in the old +Babylonian tradition of the creation, had overcome Satan and the fallen +angels. Israel's messianic hopes were also shaped and broadened by the +teachings of the great ethical prophets. A growing realization of the +imperfections of the existing order led them to look ever more expectantly +to the time when the prophetic ideals of justice and mercy would be +realized in society, as well as in the character of the individual. These +different expectations regarding the future are broadly designated as +messianic prophecies. The word "messianic," like its counterpart "Messiah" +(Greek, "Christ"), comes from the Hebrew word meaning to smear or to +anoint. It designated in ancient times the weapons consecrated for battle +or the king chosen and thus symbolically set aside to lead the people as +Jehovah's representative, or a priest called to represent the people in +the ceremonial worship. The common underlying idea in the word is that of +consecration to a divine purpose. In its narrower application it describes +simply the agent who is to realize God's purpose in history, but in its +broader and prevailing usage it designates all prophecies that described +the ideal which Jehovah is seeking to perfect in the life of Israel and of +humanity, and the agents or agencies, whether individual or national, +material or spiritual, natural or supernatural, by which he is to realize +that ideal. + +II. The Kingly, Nationalistic Type of Messianic Hope. The messianic +prophecies of the Old Testament seem only confusing and contradictory +until the three distinct types are recognized. These different types of +messianic prophecy naturally shade into each other, and yet they are +fundamentally distinct and were represented throughout Israel's history by +different classes of thinkers. The first is the kingly, nationalistic type +of hope. It came into existence as soon as Israel became a nation, and may +be traced in the Balaam oracles in Numbers 24:17-19, where the seer is +represented as beholding Israel's victorious king smiting its foes, the +Moabites and Edomites, and ruling gloriously over a triumphant people. It +is echoed in II Samuel 7:10-16 in the promise that the house of David +should rule peacefully and uninterruptedly through succeeding generations. +Ezekiel, in his picture of the restored nation in 37:21-28, declares in +the name of Jehovah that "my servant David shall be king over them and +they shall dwell in the land that I have given to my servant Jacob wherein +their fathers dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, they and their sons +forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever." In such +passages as Isaiah 9 and 11 the Davidic ruler is represented as reigning +not despotically or selfishly, but in accordance with the principles of +justice and mercy, bringing peace to all his subjects. As has already been +noted, in the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah and in connection with +the rebuilding of the second temple Israel's kingly, nationalistic hope +reached its culmination, but through the victories of Darius was rudely +cast to the ground (Section XCV:vi). For the next three centuries and a +half, throughout the Persian and Greek periods, this type of Israel's +messianic hope was apparently silenced. The Maccabean struggles and +victories, however, and the oppressive rule of Rome stirred this +smouldering hope into a flame and gave it wide currency among the people +at the beginning of the Christian era. Again the nation came to the +forefront. In the beautiful prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, 10, which +apparently comes from the earlier part of the Maccabean era, is found the +noble picture of a peasant king, humble yet victorious, establishing with +the sword a world-wide kingdom. Memories of the glorious achievements of +the Maccabean leaders kindled the popular imagination. When in 63 B.C. +Rome's iron hand closed upon Palestine, the eyes of the Jews looked +expectantly for the advent of a champion like David of old, who would +crush the heathen, convict the sinful Jews, and gather the faithful +people, ruling over them in justice and with tender care. These hopes are +most plainly expressed in the Psalms of Solomon, which were written near +the beginning of the Roman period. These expectations in their more +material form inspired the party of the Zelots during the earlier part of +the first Christian century repeatedly to unsheathe the sword in the vain +effort to overthrow Rome and to establish at once the rule of the Messiah. +It was because this type of hope was so strong in the minds of the common +people that the false messiahs who rose from time to time were able +quickly to gather thousands about them in the vain expectation that the +moment of deliverance had at last arrived. + +III. The Apocalyptic, Catastrophic Type of Messianic Hope. Another class +of thinkers in Israel looked not for a temporal but for a supernatural +kingdom. It is usually described in the symbolic language of the +apocalypse. The inauguration of this kingdom was not dependent upon man's +activity but solely upon the will of God. The exact time and manner of its +institution was clothed in mystery. Traces of this belief are found in +the references in Amos to the popular expectations regarding the day of +Jehovah. Evidently the Northern Israelites lived in anticipation of a +great universal judgment day, in which their heathen foes would be +suddenly destroyed and they themselves would be exalted. It was a belief +which Amos and the ethical prophets who followed him strongly combated, +for they were fully aware of the fundamental weakness in the apocalyptic +or catastrophic type of prophecy: it took away from the nation and +individual all personal responsibility. Furthermore, its roots went back +to the old Semitic mythology. This type of hope, however, was too firmly +fixed in the popular mind to be dispelled even by the preaching of +Israel's greatest prophets. As a result of the calamities that gathered +about the fall of the Hebrew state it was revived. It is found in Ezekiel, +Zechariah, and Joel. Each of these prophets looked forward to the time +when Jehovah would miraculously overthrow their heathen foes, restore his +scattered people, and establish for them a world-wide, eternal kingdom. In +the closing chapters of the book of Daniel this form of belief attains its +fullest expression in the Old Testament. In the Similitudes of Enoch +(37-71), which come either from the latter part of the Maccabean era or +else from the days of Herod, these messianic hopes are still further +developed. Instead of Israel's guardian angel Michael, represented as +coming on the clouds from heaven and in appearance like a son of man, a +heavenly Messiah is introduced. He is known by the title of the Messiah, +the Elect One, and the Son of Man (probably taken from the book of +Daniel). In Enoch the term Son of Man has evidently become, as in IV +Esdras, the title of a personal Messiah. He is described as pre-existent +and gifted with the divine authority. When he appears, the dead are to +rise, and angels, as well as men, are to be tried before his tribunal. The +sinners and the fallen angels he will condemn to eternal punishment. All +sin and wrong shall be driven from the earth. Heaven and earth shall be +transformed, and an eternal kingdom shall be established in which all the +righteous, whether dead or living, shall participate. This was evidently +the type of messianic hope held by the Pharisees as well as the Essenes. +As the result of the teaching of the Pharisees it was held widely by the +Jews of the first Christian century. It was clearly in the minds of Jesus' +disciples when he made his last journey to Jerusalem. It was both the +background and the barrier to all his work. It is the key to the +interpretation of Paul's conception of the Christ, or the Messiah, for he +had been educated a Pharisee. This apocalyptic type of messianic hope +powerfully influenced the life and thought of the early Christian Church +and even permeated the Gospel narratives. The question of how far Jesus +himself was influenced by it is one of the most vital and difficult +problems of early Christian history. + +IV. The Ethical and Universalistic Type of Messianic Prophecy. +Far removed from the kingly, messianic hopes of the people and the +supernatural visions of the apocalypses were the plain, direct, practical +ideals of Israel's great ethical prophets. Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and +Jeremiah all united in declaring that the realization of Jehovah's purpose +in history depended primarily upon the response of his people. They +regarded the kingdom of God as a natural growth. It represented the +gradual transformation of the characters of men under the influence +of God's truth and spirit working in their minds. They hoped and labored +to see the nation Israel living in full accord with the demands of +justice, mercy, and service. The II Isaiah, under the influences which +grew out of the destruction of the temple and the closer contact with the +heathen world, voiced this type of messianic hope in its broadest and +most spiritualized form. He declared that the Israelites had been called +and trained for a unique service and that that service was to be performed +by them quietly and unostentatiously, as prophets and teachers of men. He +also presented most clearly Israel's missionary ideal, and showed that its +task was not to destroy but to bring light to the Gentile world. He and +the more enlightened prophets who followed him saw an ever-widening +kingdom established without the aid of the sword and freed from all racial +barriers--the eternal, universal, spiritual kingdom of God on earth. It is +evident that in contrast to the other types of messianic prophecy this +form was comprehensible, practicable, and alone capable of realization. + +V. The Messianic Hopes of Judaism at the Beginning of the Christian Era. +Unfortunately, as a result of the varied experiences through which Judaism +passed in the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era, its +ethical and universal messianic hopes were largely eclipsed. The ideal of +the suffering servant appears to have been almost forgotten. As the later +Jews read the earlier scriptures of their race in order to determine what +the future held in store for them, they fixed their eyes upon the +kingly and apocalyptic prophecies. Regarding all scriptures as equally +authoritative, they attempted the impossible task of blending these +fundamentally different types of prophecy. The result was that their +beliefs became, indeed, a complex labyrinth with paths leading in opposite +directions. Later events have proved beyond question that these popular +types were the dreams of religious enthusiasts rather than true pictures +of the way in which the divine purpose was to be perfected in human +history, and yet the apocalyptic type of prophecy was not without its +significance. It tended to correct the narrow national hopes of the Jews +and to lift them to the consideration of that which was spiritual and +eternal. It also led them to appreciate the unity of all history, and in +times of distress it kept alive their faith in a God who was wisely +guiding their destinies. Underlying all these different types of prophecy +is the appreciation of the broad truth that God was working out in the +lives of men and nations a definite purpose, and that that purpose was +good, and that the God back of all history was a God not only of power but +also of love. It was inevitable that the ethical and more spiritual +expectations of the early Hebrew prophets should find the fullest response +in the heart and life of the Great Teacher. In the face of opposition from +the leaders of his race, from the multitudes that gathered about him, and +even from the disciples who loved and followed him, he proclaimed that the +kingdom of God would not come by observation, but that its growth would be +natural and gradual like that of the mustard seed, that it was not +external but within the hearts of men, that membership in that kingdom +depended not upon the arbitrary will of God, but upon men's acting in +accord with that will in the every-day relations of life. Thus Jesus +prepared the way for the complete fulfillment of all that was noblest and +best in Israel's messianic hopes, and in his character and teachings far +surpassed the highest expectations of the inspired teachers of his race. + + + +APPENDIX + +I + +A PRACTICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY + +Books for Constant Reference. The complete text of the biblical writings +of the post-exilic period are found in Volumes II to VI of the _Student's +Old Testament_. A careful, thorough resume of the history is contained in +Riggs's _History of the Jewish People during the Maccabean and Roman +Periods_. Professor Bevan, in his _Jerusalem Under the High Priests_, +presents, especially from the ecclesiastical point of view, a fresh +survey of the history during the Greek and Maccabean periods. The +geographical background may be studied either in George Adam Smith's +_Historical Geography of the Holy Land_ or in Kent's _Biblical Geography +and History_. + +Additional Books of Reference: Introductions and Commentaries. In +addition to the standard Old Testament introductions by McFadyen, Cornill, +and Driver, the collection of monographs in Professor Torrey's _Ezra +Studies_ will be found especially valuable. The introduction, as well as +the critical notes, in the brief yet scholarly volumes of the _New Century +Bible_ are exceedingly useful for the general reader. More fundamental are +the volumes in the _International Critical Commentary._ The introductions +to the different books in Hastings' _Dictionary of the Bible_ and the +_Encyclopedia Biblica_ are clear, concise, and written from the modern +point of view. + +Jewish and Contemporary History. The thorough student of this period +will find a wealth of suggestive material in Smith's _Old Testament +History_ and in Schuerer's monumental work, _A History of the Jewish People +in the Time of Jesus Christ_. The later development of Israel's religion +is presented in Marti's _Religion of the Old Testament_, in the first part +of Toy's _Judaism and Christianity_, in Bousset's _Judaism_, and in +Charles's _Eschatology, Hebrew, Jewish and Christian_. An excellent survey +of the contemporary history of the period is to be found in the _History +of the Ancient World_ by Goodspeed or in Meyer's _Ancient History._ A more +detailed treatment of the contemporary history will be found in the +_History of Greece_ by Curtius or by Holm. The _History of Rome_ is fully +traced in the monumental works of Mommsen or Gibbon or the more recent +study in _The Greatness and Decline of Rome_ by Ferrero. Briefer but +equally reliable histories of Rome are those by Botsford, Horton, and +Seignobos. + + + +II + +GENERAL QUESTIONS AND SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH + +The General Questions, as in the preceding volumes, follow the main +divisions of the book, and are intended to guide the student in +collecting and co-ordinating the more important facts presented in the +biblical text or in the notes. + +The Subjects for Special Research are intended to guide the reader to +further study in related lines, and, by means of detailed references, to +introduce him to the most helpful passages in the best English books of +reference. In class-room work many of these topics may be profitably +assigned for personal research and report. The references are to pages, +unless otherwise indicated. Ordinarily, several parallel references are +given that the student may be able to utilize the book at hand. More +detailed classified bibliographies will be found in the appendices of +Volumes II-VI of the author's _Student's Old Testament_. + + +THE EXILE AND REVIVAL OF THE JUDEAN COMMUNITY + +Section XCI. The Jews in Palestine and Egypt. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. What did the final destruction of Jerusalem in 586 mean to the +Jewish people? 2. Describe the structure and contents of the book of +Lamentations. 3. Its probable authorship and date. 4. Its theme and +historical value. 5. The condition of the Jews who were left in Palestine. +6. The numbers of the Jews in Egypt. 7. The life of the Jewish colony at +Elephantine. 8. The character and service of the +temple of Jahu. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The literary history of the book of +Lamentations. McFadyen, _Introd._, 294-7; Driver, _Lit. of the O.T._, +456-65. 2. History of Egypt from 600 to 560 B.C. Breasted, _Hist, of the +Ancient Egyptians_, 404-18. 3. The discoveries at Elephantine. Sayce and +Cowley, _Aramaic Papyri Discovered at Assuan_; Sachau, _Drei aramaeische +Papyrururkunden aus Elephantine_. + +Section XCII. Ezekiel's Message to His Scattered Countrymen. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the situation of the Jewish colony in Babylon. +2. Their opportunities and occupations. 3. Their religious life. 4. The +prophecies of Ezekiel after the destruction of Jerusalem. 5. Meaning of +his description of the valley of dry bones in chapter 37. 6. His +conception of the way in which the scattered exiles were to be restored. +7. His plan of the restored temple. 8. The meaning and significance of +this detailed plan. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Babylon under Nebuchadrezzar. +Goodspeed, _Hist. of Babs. and Assyrs_., 336-50; _En. Bib_., III, +3369-71. 2. The religious institutions of the Babylonians. Goodspeed, +_Hist. of Babs. and Assyrs._, 351-66; Jastrow, _Relig. of Bab. and +Assyr._; Johns, _Bab. and Assyr. Laws, Letters, and Contracts_, 208-17. +3. Influence of Babylonian institutions upon Ezekiel. Toy, _Ezek._ +(Introd.). + +Section XCIII. The Closing Years of the Babylonian Rule. GENERAL +QUESTIONS. 1. Describe the different influences that transformed the Jews +into a literary people. 2. The nature of their literary activity. +3. The Old Testament books that were written or re-edited during this +period. 4. The general character of the Holiness Code. 5. The national +hopes inspired by the liberation of Jehoiachin. 6. The character of +Nabonidus. 7. The effects of his rule. 8. The early conquests of Cyrus. +9. His capture of Babylon. 10. His policy toward conquered peoples. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Contents and history of the Holiness +Code. _St. O.T._, IV, 36-42; McFadyen, _Introd. to O.T._, 31-4. 2. The +last decade of Babylonian history. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Babs. and +Assyrs._, 367-76; Kent, _Hist. J.P._, 66-77. 3. Character and reign +of Cyrus. Herodotus, I, 95, 108-30, 177-214; Hastings, _D.B._, I, +541-2; Rawlinson, _Anc. Monarchies_, IV, VII; Duncker, _Hist. of +Antiq._, V. + +Section XCIV. The Rebuilding of the Temple. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +Describe the contents and literary history of the books of Ezra and +Nehemiah. 2. Their authorship. 3. The Chronicler's peculiar ideas +regarding the restoration. 4. Revolutions in the Persian Empire that +aroused the Jews to action. 5. Haggai's appeal to the Judean community. +6. Measures taken to stop the rebuilding of the temple. 7. Meaning of the +rebuilding of the temple to the Jewish race. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The historical value of Ezra +and Nehemiah. Torrey, _Composition and Historical Value of Ezra and +Nehemiah,_ or _Ezra Studies_, 62-251. 2. The first two decades of Persian +history. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Ancient World_, 60-2; Ragozin, _The Story +of Media_, II; Meyer, _Anc. Hist_., 88-93. 3. Evidence that there was +no general return of the Jews in 536 B.C. Kent, _Hist. J.P._, 126-36; +Torrey, _Ezra Studies_, 297-307. + +Section XCV. Zechariah's Visions and Encouraging Addresses. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the evidence that Zechariah wrote from the point +of view of a priest. 2. The structure and contents of his book. 3. The +problems of the Judean community. 4. Their hopes of a national revival. +5. Zechariah's assurances. 6. The steps that were taken to make Zerubbabel +king. 7. Evidence that the popular kingly hopes were disappointed. +8. The content of Zechariah's later sermons. 9. The hopes which he +inspired in his fellow-countrymen. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Origin of the apocalyptic type of +prophecy. _Jewish Encyc._, I, 669-73; _St. O.T._, Ill, 42-3; Hastings, +_D. B., I_, 109-10. 2. The popular messianic hopes of the period. _St. +O.T._, III, 44-5, 472-86. 3. The establishment of Darius' authority. +Herodotus, II, 67-86; Ragozin, _Media_, XIII; Hastings, _D. B._, I, 558. + +Section XCVI. Israel's Training and Destiny. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the conditions in the Judean community during the seventy +years following the rebuilding of the temple. 2. The forces that kept +alive the spiritual life of the Jews. 3. The indications that Isaiah 40-66 +were written in Palestine. 4. The probable date of these chapters. +5. Their distinctive literary characteristics. 6. The purpose for which +they were written. + +SUBJECTS FOE SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The organization of the Persian +Empire under Darius. Goodspeed, _Hist, of Anc. World_, 62-3; Ragozin, +_Media_, 384-91; Sayce, _Anc. Empires_, 247-50; _En. Bib_., I, 1016-7. +2. The Persian invasions of Europe. Goodspeed, _Anc. Hist._, 122-8; +Herodotus, IV, 1-142; Ragozin, _Media_, 412-29; Bury, _Hist. of Greece_, +265-96; Botsford, _Hist. of Greece_, 127-36. 3. Contents and literary +characteristics of Isaiah 40-48. _St. O. T_., Ill, 27-30; Cobb, in +_Jour, of Bib. Lit_., XXVII, 48-64; Box, _Isaiah_, 179-237. + +Section XCVII. Conditions and Problems in the Jewish Community. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: I. What is the probable date of the book of +Malachi? 2. Describe its teachings regarding the temple service. +3. The need of a great moral awakening. 4. The doubts expressed by the +faithful in the community. 5. The encouraging promises held out to them. +6. Presentation of the problem of the faithful in the psalms of the +period. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Contemporary Greek history and +literature. Goodspeed, _Anc. Hist._, 159-96; Bury, _Hist. of Greece_, +507-90; Jebb, _Greek Lit._, 109-20. 2. The earliest psalms. Briggs, +_Psalms_, I, LXXXIX-XCII; Cobb, _Bk. of Pss._, XI-XIV; Driver, _Lit. +of the O.T._, 371-2; McFadyen, _Introd. to O.T._, 238-50. 3. Psalm +literature among contemporary peoples. Breasted, _Hist. of Anc. +Egyptians_, 273-7; Jastrow, _Relig. of Bab. and Assyr._, 294-327. + +Section XCVIII. The Problems and Teachings of the Book of Job. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the structure of the book of Job. +2. The different literary units which have entered into it. 3. The +probable dates of these different sections. 4. Contents of the original +prose story. 5. The theme and contents of the great poem in 3-31, +38:1-42:6. 6. The different lines of progress in Job's thought. 7. The +meaning of the speeches of Jehovah. 8. The contribution of the book to the +solution of the problem of evil. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The Babylonian prototype of Job. +Jastrow, in _Jour. of Bib. Lit._, XXV, Pt. II, 135-91. 2. Comparison of +Job with other great skeptical dramas. Owen, _The Five Great Skeptical +Dramas of History_. 3. The modern explanations of the problem of evil. +Royce, _Studies of Good and Evil_. + +Section XCIX. The Training and Mission of the True Servant of Jehovah. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the different characteristics of +Jehovah's servant in Isaiah 49-53. 2. What was the prophet's purpose in +presenting this vivid portrait of Jehovah's ideal servant? 3. Describe the +class to whom the prophet appealed. 4. His interpretation of the task of +the servant. 5. His training. 6. The different methods whereby he was to +accomplish his mission. 7. Did the prophet have in mind an individual, a +class, or simply an ideal character? 8. In what ways were his predictions +fulfilled? 9. In what sense is his ideal of service of present-day +application? + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The meaning and history of the +different messianic titles. _St. O.T._, III, 39, 47; _En. Bib._, III, +3057-61. 2. Contents and unity of Isaiah 49-55. _St. O.T._, III, 28-30; +Box, _Isaiah_, 238-83. 3. How far was Jesus influenced by the ideal of the +suffering servant? + +Section C. Nehemiah's Work in Rebuilding the Walls of Jerusalem. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. What is the historical value of Nehemiah's +memoirs? 2. In what way was he informed of conditions in Jerusalem? +3. How did he secure permission to go to Jerusalem? 4. Describe the +obstacles that there confronted him. 5. His plan of work. 6. His +diplomacy in dealing with his opponents. 7. The task of rebuilding +the walls. 8. Their dedication. 9. The significance of the rebuilding +of the walls. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Contemporary events in Greek history. +Goodspeed, _Anc. Hist._, 141-72; Bury, _Hist, of Greece_, 336-75; +Botsford, _Hist, of Greece_, 151-85. 2. The topography of Jerusalem. +Kent, _Sib. Geog. and Hist._, 64-72; Smith, _Jerusalem_, I, I-249; +Hastings, _D.B._, II, 591-6. 3. Recent excavations at Jerusalem. +_Jerusalem Vol. of P. E. F. Memoirs_; Bliss and Dickey, _Excavations at +Jerusalem_; Smith, _Jerusalem_, I. + +Section CI. Nehemiah's Social and Religious Reforms. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the cruel oppression of the leaders of the Jewish +community. 2. The effect upon the mass of the people. 3. The way in which +Nehemiah corrected these evils. 4. The evidence for and against the +historical accuracy of Nehemiah 13. 5. Nehemiah's measures to improve the +temple service. 6. His emphasis upon Sabbath observance. 7. His opposition +to foreign marriages. 8. The importance of his work as a whole. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: I. In what respects was Nehemiah a worthy +successor of the earlier Hebrew prophets? 2. The later Jewish laws +regarding the Sabbath. _St. O.T._, IV, 263-4. 3. Regarding marriage with +foreigners. _St. O.T._, IV, 54-5. + +Section CII. Traditional Account of the Adoption of the Priestly Law. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the present literary form of the +tradition regarding Ezra. 2. Its probable history. 3. Its historical +value. 4. The facts underlying it. 5. Origin of the later priestly laws. +6. Their general purpose. 7. Their more important regulations. 8. Their +transforming influence upon the Jewish community. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The difficulties in accepting the +Ezra narrative as strictly historical. Torrey, _Ezra Studies_, 208-78; +Smith, _O.T. Hist._, 390-8. 2. History of the later priestly codes. _St. +O.T._, IV, 43-8. 3. Income and duties of the priests and Levites according +to the late priestly codes. _St. O.T._, IV, 187-92, 197-202. + +Section CIII. The Jewish State during the Last Century of Persian Rule. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: I. Describe the indications that the Judean community +enjoyed unusual prosperity during the half-century following the work of +Nehemiah. 2. The effect of this prosperity upon the intellectual life of +the Jews. 3. The growth of the Psalter during this period. 4. The date of +the prophecy of Joel. 5. Its theme. 6. The hopes of the Jews at this time. +7. Nature of the rule of the high priests. 8. The evidence regarding the +date of the Samaritan schism. 9. Its causes. 10. Its effect upon Judaism. + +SUBJECTS FOB SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. History of the Persian Empire between +400 and 332 B.C. Cox, _The Greeks and the Persians_. 2. Contemporary +events in Greek history. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Anc. World_, 173-204; Meyer, +_Anc. Hist._, 244-74. 3. The history of the Samaritans. _En. Bib._, IV, +4256-64; Montgomery, _The Samaritans_. + + +THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN AGE + +Section CIV. The Jews under Their Greek Rulers. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the character of the Jewish historian, Josephus. 2. The extent +of his histories. 3. Their historical value. 4. Alexander's Asiatic +conquests. 5. His attitude toward the Jews. 6. The Jews in Alexandria. +7. The general character of the rule of the Ptolemies. 8. Their policy in +the treatment of the Jews. 9. Fortunes of the Jews of Palestine during the +first century of Greek rule. 10. The Seleucid kingdom with its capital at +Antioch. 11. The subjugation of Palestine by the Seleucids. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Josephus's rank as a historian. +Hastings, _D.B._, extra Vol., 461-73. 2. Alexander the Great. Mahaffy, +_The Story of Alexander's Empire_, 1-11; Hogarth, _Philip and Alexander +of Macedon_; Wheeler, _Alexander the Great_. 3. Character of the +Ptolemaic rulers. Bevan, _Jerusalem under the High Priests_, 21-30; +Mahaffy, _The Ptolemaic Dynasty_, Vol. IV of Petrie's _Hist. of Egypt_. + +Section CV. The Wise and Their Teachings. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the literary structure of the book of Proverbs. 2. The +evidence that it is the work of many different wise men. 3. The probable +date of the different collections. 4. The references to the wise in the +pre-exilic literature. 5. The influence of the Babylonian exile upon their +activity. 6. The reasons why they attained their greatest prominence in +the Greek period. 7. The character of the wise. 8. Their aims. 9. Their +methods. 10. Their important social and moral teachings. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The book of Proverbs. McFadyen, +_Introd. to O.T._, 256-63; Driver, _L. O.T._, 392-407; Toy, _Proverbs_, +Introd. 2. The sages of Egypt and Greece. The Wisdom of Ptah-hotep, in +the _Wisdom of the East Series_; Symonds, _Studies of the Greek Poets_, I, +161-273; Jebb, _Classical Greek Poetry_. 3. The social teachings of the +book of Proverbs. _St. O. T_., VI, _in loco_; Kent, _The Wise Men of +Ancient Israel and Their Proverbs_, 100-14, 158-75; Root, _The Profit of +the Many_, 17-126. + +Section CVI. The Different Currents of Thought in Judaism during the +Greek Period. GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Why were there many different +currents of thought in Judaism during this period? 2. Describe the +character and aims of the ritualists. 3. Of the legalists. 4. Of those who +laid especial emphasis upon the teaching of the earlier prophets. 5. The +evidence regarding the date of the book of Jonah. 6. The meaning of the +story. 7. Its teaching. 8. The history of the book of Ecclesiastes. 9. Its +point of view. 10. Its philosophy of life. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The Chronicler's conception of the +origin of Israel's institutions. Curtis, _Chronicles_, Introd.; Torrey, +_Ezra Studies_, 208-38; _St. O. T_., II, 22-8. 2. Greek myths parallel to +the story of Jonah. _En. Bib_., II, 2568-9; Taylor, _Primitive Culture_, +I, 306. 3. A comparison of Koheleth's philosophy and teaching with those +of the author of Omar Khayyam. + +Section CVII. The Teachings of Jesus the Son of Sirach. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the evidence regarding the date of Jesus the son +of Sirach. 2. The character of the man. 3. The history of his writings. +4. The nature of the Greek translation. 5. The recovery of the Hebrew +original. 6. Its picture of the Jewish life of the period. 7. Its +description of the wise men and scribes. 8. Its social teachings. +9. Its religious teachings. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The Hebrew fragments of Ben Sira. +Cowley and Neubauer, _The Original Heb. of a Portion of Ecclus._; +Schechter and Taylor, _The Wisdom of Ben-Sira;_ Hastings, _D.B._, IV, +546-9; _En. Bib._, II, 1166-9. 2. The character of Ben Sira as revealed +in his writings. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 550; _En. Bib._, II, 1175-8; Bevan, +_Jerusalem under the High Priests_, 49-51. 3. A comparison of the moral +and social teachings of Ben Sira with those of the book of Proverbs. +Bevan, _Jerusalem under the High Priests_, 52-68. + +Section CVIII. The Causes of the Maccabean Struggle. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the general character of I Maccabees. 2. Its +historical value. 3. II Maccabees. 4. The attractive and aggressive +qualities in the contemporary Hellenic culture. 5. Its superiority to +the teachings of Judaism. 6. The elements in which Judaism was superior. +7. The conquest of Hellenism in the ranks of Judaism. 8. The influence of +the apostate Jewish high priests. 9. The history and character of +Antiochus Epiphanes. 10. Reasons why he attempted to hellenize the Jews. +11. The measures which he adopted. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The characteristics of Greek religion. +Gulick, _Life of the Ancient Greeks_, 262-83; Dyer, _The Gods in Greece_; +Goodspeed, _Hist. of Anc. World_, 148-51; Hastings, _D.B._, extra Vol., +109-56. 2. The historical value of II Maccabees. Hastings, _D.B._, III, +189-92; _En. Bib._, III, 2869-79. 2. Contemporary portraits of Antiochus +Epiphanes. _Livy_, XLI-XLV; _Polybius_, XXVI-XXXI; _Appian, Syr._, 45, 66; +_Justin_, XXIV, 3. + +Section CIX. The Effect of Persecution on the Jews. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the uprising led by Mattathias. 2. The methods adopted by the +rebels. 3. The origin and political principles of the Hasideans or Pious. +4. The evidence regarding the date of the visions in Daniel 7-12. 5. Their +literary character. 6. Their meaning and aims. 7. The identification of +the four heathen kingdoms. 8. The message of hope presented in these +chapters. 9. Its effect upon the persecuted Jews. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The town of Modein. Kent, _Bib. Geog. +and Hist._, 210-2; Smith, _Hist. Geog. of Holy Land_, 212. 2. Contents and +literary history of the book of Daniel. McFadyen, _Introd. to O.T._, +316-31; Driver, _L. O.T._, 438-515; Hastings, _D.B._, I, 552-7. + +Section CX. The Victories that Gave the Jews Religious Liberty. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the characteristics that fitted Judas to be a +great political leader. 2. The odds against which he and the Jews +contended. 3. The physical contour of western Palestine. 4. The defeat of +Apollonius. 5. Of the Syrian army under Seron. 6. The details of the +battle of Emmaus. 7. The significance of the victory at Bethsura. 8. The +restoration of the temple service. 9. The effect of the persecutions upon +the Jews. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Greek military equipment and methods +of warfare. Gulick, _Life of the Anc. Greeks_, 188-205. 2. The western +headlands of Judah. Kent, _Bib. Geog. and Hist._, 40-2; Smith, _Hist. +Geog. of Holy Land_, 286-320. 3. Comparison of Judas with other great +military commanders. Conder, _Judas Maccabaeus_; Bevan, _Jer. under the +High Priests_, 97-9; Smith, _O.T. Hist._, 465. + +Section CXI. The Long Contest for Political Independence. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the attitude of the heathen nations toward the +Jews. 2. The political problems that confronted them. 3. The Jewish +attitude toward the heathen reflected in the book of Esther. 4, Judas's +east-Jordan campaign. 5. Results of the battle of Beth-zacharias. 6. The +re-establishment of Syrian authority. 7. The victories over Nicanor. +8. The causes which resulted in the death of Judas. 9. Conditions in the +Syrian court which gave the Jews their great opportunity. 10. The +character and policy of Jonathan. 11. The honors and authority granted him +by the rival Syrian kings. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The history and value of the book of +Esther. Paton, _Esther_; Hastings, _D. B., I_, 773-6; _En. Bib._, II, +1400-5. 2. The Syrian history of the period. Bevan, _Jer. under the High +Priests_, 100-6; Smith, _O.T. Hist._, 465-9. 3. The scenes of Judas's +east-Jordan campaign. Kent, _Bib. Geog. and Hist._, 214-7. + +Section CXII. Peace and Prosperity under Simon. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the political intrigues which resulted in the death of +Jonathan. 2. The character and rule of Simon. 3. His extension of the +Jewish territory. 4. The authority granted him by the Jews. 5. His +development of the temple service. 6. The causes that led to the +completion of the Psalter. 7. The religious life and faith reflected in +the later psalms. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Compare the characters of the three +brothers, Judas, Jonathan, and Simon. 2. The guilds of temple singers. +Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 92-3; Wellhausen, _The Book of Psalms_ (in _S.B. +O.T._), 217-9. 3. The evidence that many of the psalms come from the +Maccabean period. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 152-3; Cheyne, _Origin of the +Psalter_. + +Section CXIII. The Rule of John Hyrcanus and Aristobulus. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the intrigue that resulted in the death of Simon. +2. The Syrian invasion under Antiochus Sidetes. 3. The character of John +Hyrcanus. 4. His military policy. 5. His conquests in the north and +south. 6. The reasons why he lost the support of the Pharisees. 7. The +significant events in the reign of Aristobulus. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Contemporary conditions in the Syrian +kingdom. _En. Bib._, IV, 4356-60; Gardner, _The Seleucid Kings of Syria_. +2. The history of the Idumeans. Hastings, _D.B._, I, 644-6; _En. Bib._, +II, 1181-8; Buhl, _Edomites._ 3. Compare the policy of John Hyrcanus with +that of David. + +Section CXIV. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: I. Describe the influences that gave rise to the party of +the Pharisees. 2. Of the Sadducees. 3. The characteristics and beliefs +of the Pharisees. 4. Of the Sadducees. 5. The political influence of +these parties. 6. The characteristics of the sect of the Essenes. +7. Their beliefs. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The party of the Pharisees. Hastings, +_D.B._, III, 821-8; _En. Bib._, IV, 4321-9. 2. The Sadducees. Hastings, +_D.B._, IV, 349-51; _En. Bib._, IV, 4234-40. 3. The points of contact +between Essenism and Christianity. Hastings, _D.B._, I, 767-72; _En. +Bib._, II, 1396-1400; Thomson, _Books which Influenced Our Lord_, 75-122; +Cheyne, _Origin of the Psalter_, 418-21, 446-9. + +Section CXV. The Life and Faith of the Jews of the Dispersion. GENERAL +QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the life of the Jews in Antioch and Asia Minor. +2. The privileges granted them by the Syrian king. 3. The number of the +Jews in Egypt. 4. The privileges granted them by the Ptolemies. 5. The +founding of the Jewish temple at Leontopolis. 6. Its significance. 7. The +occasion of the translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek. 8. The +important apologetic Jewish writings. 9. The theme and date of the Wisdom +of Solomon. 10. Its important teachings. 11. Its reflections of Greek and +Jewish thought. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Characteristics and value of the Greek +translation of the Old Testament. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 864-6; Swete, +_Introd. to the Old Testament in Greek_; _En. Bib._, IV, 5016-22. 2. The +history and contents of the Wisdom of Solomon. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, +928-31; _En. Bib._, IV, 5336-49; Deane, _The Book of Wisdom_, 1-41; Gregg, +_The Wisd. of Sol._ + +Section CXVI. The Decline of the Maccabean Kingdom. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the character of Alexander Janneus. 2. His military policy. +3. His treatment of his subjects. 4. The extension of Jewish territory. +5. The effects of his rule. 6. Alexandra's policy. 7. The fatal mistakes +of the Pharisees. 8. The suicidal quarrels between her sons, Hyrcanus and +Aristobulus. 9. The intrigues of Antipater. 10. The appeal to Rome. +11. Pompey's intervention and capture of Jerusalem. 12. The causes of the +fall of the Maccabean kingdom. 13. The political effects of the Maccabean +struggle. 14. The impression which it made upon Israel's faith. 15. The +new spirit that it inspired in the Jews. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Rome's policy and campaigns in the +East. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Anc. World_, 311-9; Seignobos, _Hist. of Rom. +People_, 126-30. 2. Rome's earlier relation to the Jewish kingdom. 3. The +character and career of Pompey. Goodspeed, _Hist. of Anc. World_, 343-9; +Botsford, _Hist. of Rome_, 175-80, 183-9; Morey, _Outlines of Roman +Hist._, ch. 20. + + +THE RULE OF ROME + +Section CXVII. The Rise of the Herodian House. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the repeated rebellions against Rome that were instigated and +led by Aristobulus and his sons. 2. The reasons why the Jews rallied about +their standard. 3. Antipater's character and policy. 4. Herod's career +as governor of Galilee. 5. The Parthian conquest and the temporary +restoration of the Maccabean rule. 6. The immediate effect upon Herod and +his family. 7. Reasons why he was appointed king of the Jews by Antony and +Octavian. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The fortresses of Alexandrium and +Macherus. Smith, _Hist. Geog. of the Holy Land_, 352-3, 569-71; Kent, +_Bib. Geog. and Hist._, 229, 244-5; Schurer, _H.J.P._, I, i, 250-1. +2. The history of Rome from 60 to 40 B.C. Botsford, _Hist. of Rome_, +183-97; Fowler, _Julius Caesar_; Mahaffy, _Gk. World under Roman Sway_, +ch. IV. 3. The Parthians. Hastings, _D.B._, III, 680-1. + +Section CXVIII. Herod's Policy and Reign. GENERAL QUESTIONS: +1. Describe the strength and weakness of Herod's character. 2. The ways +in which he won the favor of Augustus. 3. His building activity within +his kingdom. 4. Outside of Palestine. 5. His treatment of his subjects. +6. His record as husband and father. 7. The effects of his reign. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. Rome under Augustus. Botsford, _Hist. +of Rome_, 204-22; Bury, _Student's Rom. Emp._, chs. I-XIV; Capes, _Early +Empire_, chs. I-III, XII-XIX. 2. Herod's Caesarea. Smith, _Hist. Geog. of +the Holy Land_, 138-41; _En. Bib._, I, 617-8; Kent, _Bib. Geog. and +Hist._, 233. 3. The various sides of Herod's character. Hastings, _D.B._, +II, 356-7; _En. Bib._, II, 2025-9; Bevan, _Jer. under the High Priests_, +148-51. + +Section CXIX. Herod's Temple. GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the +motives that inspired Herod to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem. 2. His +preparations for the work. 3. The extension of the temple area. 4. The +different gates leading to it. 5. The surrounding porches. 6. The temple +proper. 7. The temple officials. 8. The temple service. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The detailed plan and dimensions of +Herod's temple. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 711-6; _En Bib._, IV, 4943-7; +Warren, _The Temple and the Tomb_; Smith, _Jerusalem_, II, 499-520. 2. The +administration of the temple finances. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, 92-7; _En. +Bib._, IV, 4949-51; Smith, _Jerusalem_, I, 351-66. 3. The inscription +forbidding foreigners to enter the inner courts. Hastings, _D.B._, IV, +713-4. + +Section CXX. The Messianic Hopes and Religious Beliefs of Judaism. +GENERAL QUESTIONS: 1. Describe the influences that determined the growth +of Israel's messianic hopes. 2. The different forms which these hopes +assumed. 3. The kingly nationalistic type of messianic hope. 4. The +characteristics and development of the apocalyptic, catastrophic type of +hope. 5. The type proclaimed by the great ethical prophets. 6. The +broadening and universalizing of Israel's messianic hopes. 7. The +influence of the Maccabean struggle upon Israel's messianic beliefs. +8. The messianic expectations of the Jews at the beginning of the +Christian era. + +SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL RESEARCH: 1. The origin of Israel's messianic +hopes. _St. O. T_., Ill, 39-48; Goodspeed, _Israel's Messianic Hope_; +Oesterley, _Evolution of the Messianic Idea_. 2. The Sibylline Oracles. +Deane, _Pseudepigrapha_; Hastings, _D.B._, extra vol., 66-8. 3. The Psalms +of Solomon. Ryle and James, _The Pss. of Sol._; Deane, _Pseudepigrapha_, +25-48. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MAKERS AND TEACHERS OF JUDAISM*** + + +******* This file should be named 11701.txt or 11701.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/7/0/11701 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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