The Religion of Israel [Reprint 2016 ed.] 9781512814194

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T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL BY GEORGE A. BARTON PH.D., D.D., LL.D. Professor of Semitic Languages and History of Religions, of Pennsylvania-, Language,

University

Professor of Nenjj Testament Literature Divinity

School of the Protestant

Church,

and

Episcopal

Philadelphia

Philadelphia U N I V E R S I T Y O F P E N N S Y L V A N I A PRESS 1928

Second COPYRIGHT

1928

r R I H T E D BY

THE

BY

TN

VAIX.

THE

T H E BALLOU

Edition

UNIVERSITY

U N I T E D PRESS

OF

PENNSYLVANIA

S T A T E S IMG

OT

PRESS

A M E R I C A

BlKGHAMTON.

N.

Y.

TO T H E M E M O R Y OF

FRANCIS BROWN L A T B P R E S I D E N T OF UNION T H E O L O G I C A L S E M I N A R Y HEBREW

LEXICOGRAPHER

WHO M A D E A L L S T U D E N T S OF H E B R E W HIS D E B T O R S

PREFACE THIS little b o o k is w r i t t e n f o r college u n d e r g r a d u ates, a n d is, accordingly, n o t a systematic treatise on O l d T e s t a m e n t T h e o l o g y . T h e writer has h a d considerable experience in teaching both g r a d u a t e and u n d e r g r a d u a t e students a n d h a s e n d e a v o u r e d to put into t h e f o l l o w i n g p a g e s the kind of i n f o r m a t i o n in which, as he has learned, college u n d e r g r a d u a t e s take an interest, and to p r e s e n t it as he h a s f o u n d they like to h a v e it p r e s e n t e d . H e has f o u n d t h a t the u n d e r g r a d u a t e wishes to k n o w the t r u t h as fully and f r a n k l y as it can be known, and, while he has not always the disciplined patience to enjoy the details which the m o r e m a t u r e student must m a s t e r , he is interested in watching the d e v e l o p m e n t of g r e a t m o v e m e n t s in history, and in tracing the forces t h a t shaped them. In the following pages an effort is m a d e to p r e s e n t f o r such students the development of Israel's religion f r o m its primitive Semitic beginnings to the coming of Christ. Since even those students who have h a d a course in the literature of the Old T e s t a m e n t seldom h a v e been t a u g h t h o w to use the earlier books f r o m the historical point of view, it seemed best to devote a c h a p t e r t o t h a t subject. A s the history of its religion

PREFACE involves the history of the nation, it was also necessary t o t r e a t the origin of I s r a e l in the light of our latest i n f o r m a t i o n . H a v i n g disposed of these topics, the story of the u n f o l d i n g of the religion is in several chapters traced f r o m the time of M o s e s to the beginning of the Christian era. In these chapters an effort is m a d e to emphasize the spiritual and social forces that w e r e a t work, to let the g r e a t creative personalities pass bef o r e the mind, a n d to follow in b r o a d outline the changes in organization, spiritual vision, a n d ethical practice. T w o chapters are then d e v o t e d to topics t h a t could n o t well be t r e a t e d with the general history, but which a r e in themselves of g r e a t importance, i.e., the development of the priesthood, and the belief in angels and demons. T h e remaining chapters are d e v o t e d each to some import a n t phase of the m a n i f o l d Jewish religious t h o u g h t a n d activity in the centuries a f t e r the exile. M a n y students have testified t h a t there is no subject of g r e a t e r intellectual interest t h a n the O l d T e s t a m e n t , when studied f r o m the historical point of view. I t is the writer's hope that in r e a d i n g this book some underg r a d u a t e s m a y find their interest awakened in one of t h e most fascinating a n d i m p o r t a n t phases of h u m a n history. A considerable portion of c h a p t e r I I f o r m e d p a r t of an article in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, and much of the material of c h a p t e r s I V - V I I I a p p e a r e d in a series of articles in the Biblical World, Vol. X X X I X . T h e w r i t e r hereby expresses his

PREFACE thanks to the American Philosophical Society and the University of Chicago Press f o r permission to use this material here.

It has been revised, brought up to date,

and adapted to its present use. A s the writing of this book neared completion in J u n e , 1 9 1 6 (its printing has been delayed by conditions produced by the great w a r ) , the writer requested the late Francis Brown, President of Union T h e o l o g i c a l Seminary, to permit the book to be dedicated to him, in recognition of the debt under which President B r o w n h a d placed all students of H e b r e w by the production of his H e b r e w Lexicon.

In a letter dated J u n e 27th,

1 9 1 6 , President B r o w n granted the desired permission, and added:

"I

am g l a d and g r a t e f u l if the Lexicon

has been of use to you.

I could make a much better

one now, and perhaps this m a y be revised sometime." I n speaking of his health President B r o w n a d d e d :

" I

am really much better, and hope to go to w o r k in the autumn, though I shall h a v e to w a l k softly f o r a w h i l e . " W h e n autumn came, instead of returning to his w o r k he passed to his r e w a r d on October 1 5 , 1 9 1 6 . GEORGE A .

Bryn Mawr, Pa.

BARTON.

PREFACE TO SECOND

EDITION

T h e issue of a second edition has afforded opportunity to correct a number of typographical errors in this book, and to add, in the bibliographical helps at the end of each chapter, references to some o f the most n o t e w o r t h y publications of the last decade.

It is hoped that these

improvements may help the volume to continue to meet the needs o f students.

GEORGE A . BARTON Philadelphia, June 1928

CONTENTS CHAPTER

PAGE

I

THE

SEMITIC

.

I

II

THE

V A L U E OF T H E E A R L Y B I B L I C A L N A R R A T I V E S

18

III

THE

ORICIN

43

IV

MOSES

V VI VII VIII IX X XI

BACKGROUND

OF T H E

AND THE

ISRAELITISH

COVENANT

PRE-PROPHETIC

PERIOD

THE

OF T H E

PROPHETS

DEUTERONOMY THE

IN

NATION

.

WITH Y A H W E H CANAAN

EIGHTH

.

.

. .

.

CENTURY

. .

.

75 .

AND JEREMIAH STATE

LEGALISM OF

THE

PRIESTHOOD

RELIGION

XIII

THE

R E L I G I O N OF T H E S A G E S

X I V

FIVE RELIGIOUS T R A C T S HOPES

X V I

THE

JEWISH

RITUAL

OF T H E

OF T H E

158 173

THE

THE

AND

DEMONS

XII

X V

127 141

DEVELOPMENT AND

94 114

EXILE AND T H E REORGANIZED JEWISH

ANGELS

56

PSALMISTS

APOCALYPTISTS

DISPERSION

195 216 235 .

.

.

.

248 263

THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL CHAPTER THE

SEMITIC

I

BACKGROUND

Evolution and Revelation — T h e Hebrew Semites — Semites lived in A r a b i a — W e r e Animistic — Semitic Social Organization — Deities connected with S p r i n g s — D e i t i e s of Fertility — P i l l a r s and A s h e r a j — Circumcision — Animal Sacrifice — T h e Passover — T h e Autumn Festival — L a w of Revenge — T h e Ban — Ecstatic Prophecy — Religion a Body of Ceremonies. R E L I G I O N may be viewed from either the human or the divine point of view. From the divine standpoint God reveals truth; from the human, man discovers it. Even a superficial study of the history of religion makes it clear that there has been in the course of the centuries an advance in the apprehension of truth and in the grasp of moral and religious ideals. Viewed from the divine side revelation has been progressive; looked at from the human, it has been evolutionary. He who speaks of the evolution of religion does not thereby deny the divine element, nor he who speaks of revelation, the human factor. If, then, in the following pages we seek to trace the evolution of the religion of Israel, we shall be but treating in the favourite phraseology of the time the progress of revelation in Israel.

The Hebrews were one of the Semitic peoples. i

The

2

THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL

evolution of their religion took place, accordingly, upon soil prepared by the religious conceptions of the primitive Semites. In order either to trace the evolution or to estimate the permanent significance of the religious message of the Old Testament it is necessary to glance at the Semitic background of Israel's religion. Israel was a Semitic people, and without some knowledge of her Semitic inheritance one can not discriminate between the ancestral and the original in her religious institutions and customs, nor so easily separate the eternal from the transitory in the Old Testament. T h e Semitic nations known to history were the Babylonians, Assyrians, Aramaeans, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Carthagenians, Arabs, and Abyssinians. W h i l e a non-Semitic people, the Sumerians, contributed much to Babylonian civilization, that civilization was on the whole Semitic. T h e languages of these Semitic nations are closely akin to one another. Their resemblances often remind the student of the kinship between the modern derivatives of Latin — French, Italian, and Spanish. A close kinship also existed between the Semitic peoples and the peoples called Hamitic,— the Egyptians, Berbers, and the tribes of Somaliland. T h i s kinship is attested by linguistic affinities, and of it there can be no doubt. H o w this kinship came about is differently interpreted by different scholars. Egyptologists such as Erman and Breasted hold that it came about in consequence of a large infiltration of Semites into Egypt at

T H E SEMITIC BACKGROUND an e a r l y time.

3

Such a m i g r a t i o n of Semites into E g y p t

f r o m A s i a has long seemed to the w r i t e r an inadequate explanation of the phenomena, 1 f o r the similarities are not confined to the ancient E g y p t i a n l a n g u a g e , but run through the B e r b e r dialects which are spoken t h r o u g h the whole of N o r t h A f r i c a to the Atlantic, and through the dialects of Somaliland, which are also spoken to the present

day.

These

fundamental

likenesses

indicate

that at a remote epoch the Semites and the H a m i t e s were one stock. T h i s kinship to the H a m i t e s does not, h o w e v e r , concern us here.

T h e point which is of interest to our sub-

ject is that the Semites, even if at some v e r y

remote

period they had m i g r a t e d f r o m N o r t h A f r i c a , lived f o r a long time ( s o m a n y scholars now b e l i e v e 2 )

in the

desolate peninsula of A r a b i a , and little by little, as they became too numerous f o r that barren country to support, spilled o v e r into the more fertile lands to the northeast, north, and northwest of A r a b i a (not to mention Abyssinia to the s o u t h w e s t ) , thus f o r m i n g in time the v a r i o u s Semitic nations catalogued if the beginnings of

above.

Even

the fundamental Semitic

institu-

tions had their birth in N o r t h A f r i c a , they w e r e b r o u g h t to their perfection t h r o u g h long residence in A r a b i a . A s several of

these

f u n d a m e n t a l institutions

existed

f o r a long time in Israel, and some o f them a r e per1

See the writer's Sketch of Semitic Origins, N e w Y o r k , 1902, pp. 9 - 1 2 . For different theories, see the writer's Sketch of Semitic Origins, N e w York, 1902, Ch. I. 2

THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL

4

petuated by the J e w s to the present time, a brief glance at the most important of them will help to clearness of thought in seeking f o r that which is vital in the religious message of Israel. L i k e all people at a similar stage of evolution, the ancient Semites thought that every place, tree, rock, spring, etc., had its spirit, o r w a s inhabited by a spirit. Out of these spirits the Semitic deities w e r e in time developed.

I t thus happened that all Semitic deities

w e r e regarded as fixed to certain localities,— an idea that w a s only slowly outgrown.

T h u s Y a h w e h , the G o d of

Israel, was first thought to dwell at H o r e b

(i

Kgs.

1 9 : 8 f . ) , and later in the temple on Z i o n at J e r u s a l e m ( I s a . 3 1 : 4, 5, and 9 ) .

It took a long experience of

pain to teach one of the later psalmists the g r e a t lesson of the omnipresence of G o d ( P s .

139:7-16).

A r a b i a , a land a thousand miles long, with an average width of six hundred miles, is one of the most barren countries in the w o r l d .

D e s o l a t e mountains of igneous

rock are separated by broad, elevated, unwatered plains, which produce only a f e w hardy, thorny shrubs.

In

parts, as in the region called the N a f u d , the g r a v e l of these plains gives place to sand which d r i f t s like snow. T h e r e is almost no r a i n f a l l , and rivers are unknown. The

only fertile spots occur at those r a r e

intervals

where, through the volcanic action of remote ages, a r i f t in the rocks conducts w a t e r f r o m unknown, f a r a w a y sources to the s u r f a c e of the g r o u n d and f o r m s a spring.

I r r i g a t i o n f r o m this spring produces in that

T H E SEMITIC subtropical wanders

climate

across

an

BACKGROUND

abundant

the d e s o l a t e

5

vegetation.

As

sun-burned s p a c e s

one

which

constitute the l a r g e r p a r t o f A r a b i a , the c o n t r a s t o f the cooling w a t e r s a n d r e f r e s h i n g s h a d e o f these o a s e s becomes u n s p e a k a b l y

impressive.

I t w a s this c o n t r a s t , c o m b i n e d w i t h the g r i m

strug-

g l e f o r existence in such a country that g a v e to the e a r l y Semite his conception o f deity.

O n e can e a s i l y under-

stand h o w , in such an e n v i r o n m e n t , the spirit o f an o a s i s , — a spirit which could p r o d u c e such r e f r e s h i n g w a t e r s , such c o o l i n g s h a d e , such delicious f r u i t s , a n d

sustain-

ing c r o p s , — w o u l d become to him a beneficent deity. is not s t r a n g e t h a t in such an e n v i r o n m e n t the p o w e r to g i v e l i f e , b o t h v e g e t a b l e a n d

It

fertility,— animal,—

should seem to the Semite the divinest o f all p o w e r s . I t w a s n a t u r a l , t h e r e f o r e , that p r a c t i c a l l y

all

Semitic

deities w e r e t h o u g h t to be closely connectcd with l i f e processes, and to be e s p e c i a l l y interested in f e r t i l i t y a n d reproduction. T h e social o r g a n i z a t i o n o f the e a r l y Semitic tribes in A r a b i a w a s m a t r i a r c h a l , 1 a n d r e l i g i o u s conceptions, the w o r l d o v e r , are e x p r e s s e d in the t e r m s o f the social a n d political o r g a n i z a t i o n of a p e o p l e ' s l i f e .

P e o p l e do not

call their g o d a k i n g until they h a v e a k i n g as a p a r t o f their political e c o n o m y , n o r do they call him a f a t h e r , w h e r e f a t h e r h o o d is not a p r o m i n e n t f e a t u r e o f

their

social o r g a n i z a t i o n . 1

See W. R. Smith's Kinship and Marriage in Early Arabia, 2 ed., London, 1903; and the writer's Semitic Origins, New York, 1902, Ch. II.

6

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

I t is not strange, therefore, that the early Semites r e g a r d e d the principal deity of each oasis as a goddess, and the next important deity as her son. T h e goddess appears to have been the spirit of the spring which gave the oasis its fertility, and was consequently thought to reside in the spring; the son appears to have been regarded as the spirit of the vegetation, or more specifically, of the palm-trees which grew near the spring. T h e y called the mother goddess by a name which is found among all the Semitic nations known to history. I t appears among the Babylonians as I s h t a r ; among the Phoenicians as A s h t a r t . It was called by the Greeks Astarte, and perverted by later Hebrews to Ashtoreth. I t apparently meant " the Self-waterer." 1 W e do not know the primitive name of the goddess's son. In Babylonia he was called D u m u z i (corrupted in H e b r e w to T a m m u z ) , which meant " S o n of life." Naturally these deities were thought to feel and act as the barbarous men and women of that early stage of development felt and acted. I t was natural that, in a religion which originated in such an environment, certain springs, trees, and rocks should be considered sacred, f o r they were the residences of deities or spirits. I t was also natural that, when Semites settled in lands watered by rivers, these rivers should be considered sacred too. T h u s in the code of laws promulgated by the Babylonian king, H a m m u r a p i , 1

See the Journal of the American

$53 f-

Oriental Society, vol. zxxi, p.

7

THE SEMITIC BACKGROUND

the r i v e r is several times r e g a r d e d as a g o d , and in I I K g s . 5 : 10—12 it is implied that divine qualities w e r e thought to belong both to the river J o r d a n and to the t w o rivers at Damascus. A s deities of fertility the Ishtars and T a m m u z e s w e r e thought to approve of the sexual relations which existed in primitive Semitic society; indeed, they were thought to be especially anxious to encourage those relations. A m o n g all early peoples it has been thought that acts that occur, as we say, by chance are especially directed by a god.

A s these primitive deities were thought to

be especially interested in fertility, it was customary to leave the selection of a partner to the first sexual act in the l i f e of a woman to chance, in order to secure to her the blessings of the mother goddess.

T h i s custom

survived among several of the Semitic nations down to late times.

An outgrowth of this custom, which arose

a f t e r the establishment of priesthoods, was the consecration of men and women to represent this function of the deity. 1

T h e s e men and women were not prostitutes

in the ordinary sense of the term.

T h e purpose of their

existence seems to h a v e been to secure fertility to those men and women who were barren.

T h e institution w a s

not begotten by immoral tendencies; it simply represented a v e r y primitive point of view.

Doubtless at

times it was put to uses that were more sensual than religious, but such w a s not its original purpose. 1 See the article " Hierodouloi," in Hastings' Encyclopaedia and Ethics, New York, 1908, Vol. V I .

of

This Religion

8

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

institution was known in Israel as among the other nations, and was not eradicated until the reform of Josiah in 621 B . C . ( I I Kgs. 23 : 7 ) . Closely connected with these conceptions of fertility were the pillars and asheras which stood beside Semitic altars. The pillars were rude stones which roughly represented a phallus, the asheras represented in different ways at different times the physical gateway of life. These, too, survived at the altars of Yahweh in Israel until the reform of Josiah ( I I Kgs. 23 : 7, 1 5 ) . Somewhat akin to the pillars just mentioned were circles of stones arranged in a perpendicular position. These were called by the Hebrews Gilgals. Such circles may still be seen in the land beyond Jordan, and are no doubt of pre-historic origin. What the exact significance of these circles was we cannot now divine. The enclosure within them was rendered sacred, and is apparently still so regarded by the trans-Jordanic nomads. 1 These Gilgals Israel took over, and in time some of them were explained by traditions of their own. Thus one in the Jordan valley was regarded as having been made of stones taken from the bottom of the Jordan at the time of the Hebrew crossing (Josh. 4 : 2 0 ) . A part of this primitive cult was the rite of circumcision. This rite can no longer be regarded as the peculiar possession of the Hebrew people, though it was interpreted by Jews as the special sign of Yahweh's covenant with them (Gen. 1 7 : 1 - 1 5 ) . In reality it is a most »See Biblical World, XXIV, p. 177.

T H E SEMITIC

9

BACKGROUND

p r i m i t i v e institution; it o r i g i n a t e d so e a r l y that it w a s p r a c t i s e d by E g y p t i a n s as w e l l a s by S e m i t e s .

Egyp-

tian r e l i e f s m a d e p r i o r to 2 5 0 0 B. c . p o r t r a y the o p e r a tion, w h i l e the e x a m i n a t i o n o f m a n y m u m m i e s that it w a s practised.

proves

It w o u l d seem to h a v e o r i g i n a t e d

at a time when the H a m i t e s and Semites w e r e still one stock.

The

women.

rite

was

performed

on

both

men

and

S c h o l a r s a r e in doubt a s to the o r i g i n a l pur-

p o s e o f circumcision.

S o m e h o l d that it w a s

intended

t o be an o f f e r i n g o f a p a r t o f the b o d y as a sacrifice to the deity in lieu o f the w h o l e ; o t h e r s , that it w a s int e n d e d as a consecration o f the o r g a n s o f r e p r o d u c t i o n to the deity, intended to secure f r o m the g o d d e s s the blessing of f e r t i l i t y ;

1

still others t h a t it w a s intended as

a m e r e p h y s i c a l convenience.

I t seems to the

writer

that the second m o t i v e m e n t i o n e d is m o r e likely to be the correct one. W h a t e v e r the m o t i v e m a y h a v e been, the

antiquity

o f the origin o f circumcision a n d its w i d e s p r e a d p r a c tice outside of I s r a e l a r e n o w b e y o n d doubt.

It is one

of those institutions which the chosen p e o p l e inherited f r o m their Semitic ancestry.

A s so o f t e n h a p p e n s

r e l i g i o u s history this rite u n d e r w e n t a new

in

interpreta-

tion at their h a n d s ; it lost its p r i m i t i v e significance, a n d b e c a m e the s y m b o l o f their choice b y Y a h w e h . 1

See the article

ligion

and

Ethics,

T o y , Introduction

" Circumcision"

in

Hastings'

N e w Y o r k , 1908, V o l . to the

History

whatever.

of

Re-

III.

of Religion,

thinks t h a t p r o b a b l y at first c i r c u m c i s i o n

Encyclopaedia

Under

had

N e w Y o r k , 1 9 1 3 , p. 7 2 , no r e l i g i o u s

significance

IO

THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL

prophetic influence circumcision became the " outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace," f o r Deut. 3 0 : 6 speaks of a circumcision of the heart, which should enable Israel to love Y a h w e h with all the heart. 1 T h e Apostle Paul carried this further and discarded the outward rite, holding that he who had the inner experience did not need the outward sign ( R o m . 2 : 28 f . ; Col. 2 : 1 1 ) . A l l this does not alter the fact o f the pre-Israelitish origin of the rite, which was slowly spiritualized by Israel, and which, though discarded f o r a spiritual reality by Paul, is still practised by Israelites. Another institution closely connected with circumcision was animal sacrifice. 2 Animal sacrifice is peculiar to no nation or race. A l l people have, at a certain stage of mental development, practised it. It can be traced among the ancestors of the philosophically minded inhabitants of India and Greece as well as among the less philosophical Egyptians and Semites. It is based on two conceptions: 1, that the gods are corporeal beings and need f o o d ; 2, that in disposition they are like men, and are irritable and savage when hungry, but more mercifully inclined when the pangs of appetite are satisfied. E v e r y nation which has advanced to a high mental and religious plane has had a struggle to throw off this point of view. T h e method adopted to rationalize 1

See f o r similar treatment of it, J e r . 4 : 4 , and L e v . 2 6 : 4 1 . A n i m a l sacrifice included human sacrifice. TTii» w a s practised by the Hebrews, at least sporadically, until a late time, as the sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter ( J u d . 1 1 : 3 4 - 4 0 ) and the sacrifice of children in the reign of M a n a s s e h p r o v e ( I I K i n g * 21:6; Jer. 32:3s). 2

THE

SEMITIC

BACKGROUND

II

sacrifices in India m a y still be traced in the literature o f that country. 1 Some scholars hold that among the Semites sacrifice was commensal, that is, that its essential feature was a meal o f which the worshipper p a r t o o k and o f which the god was supposed to partake.

T h e food, according to

this view, became a material bond between the worshipper and the deity. 2

Others hold that the essential

feature o f the sacrifice in this primitive time was the bursting forth o f the blood. 3

T h e deities were thought

to be barbarous and unfeeling.

W h e n they were of-

fended they, like the human beings o f the time, could only be appeased by a bloody offering. elements entered into the conception. world over, misunderstood G o d .

P e r h a p s both M e n have, the

T h e y have thought

him hard and c r u e l , — a being who demanded b l o o d , — one who could be moved as men can be moved by appealing to appetite o r the lust f o r vengeance.

They

have thought o f G o d as altogether like to themselves. 4 Such animal sacrifice Israel inherited f r o m her Semitic ancestry, and with conscientious reverence perpetuated. Prophets protested, 5 but ancient ideas were too strong to yield.

T h e law o f Deuteronomy, which limited sacrifice

1 See Bloomfield, Religion of the Veda, N e w York, 1908, p. 33 f. and 215 f. 2 See W. R. Smith, Religion of the Semites, 2 ed., London, 1894, Chs. VI-IX. 3 S. I. Curti", Primitive Semitic Religion Today, New York, 1902, pp. 216-228.

archs were champions of the worship of Yahweh, it is clear that they intended the term Baal to refer to him. The prophet Hosea also definitely states that Yahweh had been called Baal (Hos. 2: 1 6 ) . As the Baal of Palestine it came in time to be believed that Yahweh was connected with the soil of the land and could be rightly worshipped only upon it. This is the thought which underlies the request of Naaman to take two mule-loads of earth from Palestine to Damascus, that he might be able to worship Yahweh there ( I I Kings 5 : 1 7 ) , a request which Elisha, the leader of the Yahweh worship of his day, granted. As God of the land Yahweh became the God of agricultural law; he was especially interested in its enforcement. As a natural result of the conquest of Canaan and the transfer of the land and its shrines to Yahweh, the author of the E document in the eighth century regards the body of agricultural laws in Exod., chaps. 2 1 - 2 3 , a s a fundamental part of the covenant of Yahweh with Israel. These laws had doubtless been a slow growth; they were the outcome of a long agricultural experience. Many of their provisions are similar to

PRE-PROPHETIC PERIOD IN CANAAN

79

those of the Code of H a m m u r a p i , which h a d been prom u l g a t e d in Babylon b e f o r e 2 0 0 0 B. c.

F o r centuries

b e f o r e the conquest of Palestine by T h o t h m e s I I I of Egypt

in

1478

B. c., Babylonian

influence h a d

been

dominant in Canaan and communication with Babylonia v e r y frequent.

A t times the country m a y have been

controlled by Babylonian kings.

It is possible, though

hardly probable, that some of the laws of the B o o k of the Covenant had been shaped in some slight degree by those of Babylon, 1 but Babylonian influence had not been controlling, as the many points in which the B o o k of the Covenant diverges f r o m the Code of H a m m u r a p i prove. A s a part of the t r a n s f e r of emphasis in the religion of Y a h w e h to an agricultural basis the great festivals were

transformed.

To

the

simple

Passover

feast,

which commemorated the yeaning time of domestic animals, an agricultural offering of

first-fruits

in the f o r m

of unleavened bread w a s added.

T h i s occurred because

the first ripe grain w a s gathered at the v e r y season in which the old nomadic f e a s t fell. 2

Seven weeks later

a new agricultural festival, commemorative of the completion of the harvest, w a s added, while the old autumn 1

C f . Kittei, Scientific Study of the Old Testament, New York, 1910, pp. 28-30, and Barton, Archaeology and the Bible, P a r t II, ch. xiii. 2 A similar fusioD had already occurred among the pre-Israelite inhabitants of C a n a a n . T h e y too had come f r o m the A r a b i a n desert w h e r e their spring festival had celebrated the birth-time of animals, and had joined to this the offering of first-fruits. T h i s w a s because they too had been subjected to the same agricultural influences; cf. Barton, Sketch of Semitic Origins, N e w Y o r k , 1892, pp. 108 flf.

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

8o

f e s t i v a l of the d a t e h a r v e s t b e c a m e the f e s t i v a l of the grape-gathering.

Such c h a n g e s w e r e not p e c u l i a r t o the

r e l i g i o n of the H e b r e w s ; they h a d been silently g o i n g on f o r centuries w h e r e v e r n o m a d i c S e m i t e s b e c a m e a g r i cultural peoples. D u r i n g this p e r i o d there w a s no o r g a n i z e d

priest-

h o o d t h a t w a s confined to one f a m i l y o r tribe.

Micah

could m a k e one o f his sons p r i e s t in his t e m p l e .

(Judg.

1 7 : 5 ) ; S a m u e l , an E p h r a i m i t e , could o f f e r sacrifice Sam. 9 : 1 3 ,

(I

1 4 ; 1 6 : 1—5) ; w h i l e D a v i d m a d e his sons

priests ( I I S a m . 8 : 1 8 ) .

Nevertheless there was a feel-

ing a b r o a d that it w a s b e t t e r to h a v e a L e v i t e f o r a p r i e s t , so t h a t w h e n one a p p e a r e d M i c a h p u t him in place of his son ( J u d g . 1 7 : 1 0 — 1 2 ) .

H o w u n o r g a n i z e d the

L e v i t e s w e r e is s h o w n by the f a c t t h a t a y o u n g m e m b e r o f this class, w h o a p p e a r s in the sequel to be a g r a n d s o n of M o s e s , s t a r t e d out like a n y o t h e r y o u n g a d v e n t u r e r to seek his f o r t u n e , a n d accepted successive positions as they a p p e a r e d a t t r a c t i v e to him ( J u d g . , chaps. 1 7 ,

18).

A f t e r the settlement in C a n a a n , while these changes w e r e silently p r o g r e s s i n g , the r e l i g i o u s l i f e o f the peop l e w e n t quietly f o r w a r d .

I n the c h a r m i n g s t o r i e s o f

the time m a n y a t t r a c t i v e r e l i g i o u s scenes a r e g r a p h i c a l l y presented.

H o w d e v o u t souls c e l e b r a t e d the f e s t i v a l s

o f a n i m a l sacrifices f r o m y e a r to y e a r a n d p o u r e d out t h e i r h e a r t s in p r i v a t e p r a y e r is p o r t r a y e d in the s t o r y of E l k a n a h and H a n n a h

( I S a m . , chaps. 1 , 2 ) .

Han-

n a h ' s a s p i r a t i o n s m o v e in the s p h e r e of the objective world.

I n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h the v i e w s i n g r a i n e d through

PRE-PROPHETIC PERIOD IN C A N A A N

81

l o n g a g e s into the Semitic stock, h e r chief d e s i r e is f o r offspring.

She regards Y a h w e h

as the g i v e r of

chil-

dren, and thinks that he can best be a p p r o a c h e d w i t h h e r request w h e n he is b r o u g h t into especial n e a r n e s s to his p e o p l e at the f e a s t , and his h e a r t has been w a r m b y it.

made

N e v e r t h e l e s s she a p p r o a c h e s him in pri-

v a t e p r a y e r w i t h o u t the intervention of

a priest,

and

a f f o r d s us a glimpse of that b e a u t i f u l p r i v a t e d e v o t i o n and p e r s o n a l religious l i f e which in g r e a t e r o r less deg r e e must h a v e a c c o m p a n i e d

Hebrew

worship

every-

where. A s d e v o t i o n a l aids the H e b r e w s , like o t h e r p e o p l e s at the s a m e s t a g e of culture, used i m a g e s o f their deities. T h e d e c a l o g u e of J , on which the c o v e n a n t at Sinai w a s b a s e d , h a d not p r o h i b i t e d the use of such i m a g e s , but only of expensive i m a g e s . molten g o d s " images

of

" T h o u s h a l t m a k e thee no

(Exod. 34: 17)

f o r b a d e them to h a v e

s i l v e r o r g o l d , but l e f t t h e m f r e e to

" g r a v e n i m a g e s " o r cheap idols c a r v e d out o f

use

wood.

Such idols, c a l l e d T e r a p h i m , w e find a c c o r d i n g l y in the houses of the best of the H e b r e w s , the one in D a v i d ' s house h a v i n g been so l a r g e

that

it could be put

D a v i d ' s bed a n d p a s s e d off f o r D a v i d h i m s e l f 19: 1 3 - 1 6 ) .

in

(I Sam.

T h i s opened the w a y in time f o r m o r e

expensive i m a g e s , and a f t e r a time Y a h w e h , like the B a a l s , w a s s y m b o l i z e d b y little bulls m a d e of precious metal. That

Y a h w e h w a s still e m p h a t i c a l l y r e g a r d e d as a

G o d of w a r , the stories of D e b o r a h , G i d e o n , J e p h t h a h ,

82

THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL

and D a v i d attest. So much was this the case that D a v i d , Israel's ideal warrior, was regarded as a man a f t e r Yahweh's own heart ( I Sam. 1 3 : 1 4 ) . In spite of such attractive pictures of simple devotion as that presented in the story of Elkanah and Hannah, it is clear that the conceptions of Yahweh which prevailed were characteristic of the hard, crude age of which they were a part. Jephthah, f o r instance, bargained with Y a h w e h f o r victory in battle, promising to offer in sacrifice the first living thing which met him on his return home f r o m battle. When victory was won and he was met by his only daughter, he believed Y a h w e h would be f a r more outraged by infidelity to his v o w than by the horrible g i f t of a human sacrifice. T h e maiden accordingly became a victim. A similarly crude conception of Yahweh is reflected in a story f r o m the reign of D a v i d ( I I Sam. 2 1 : 1 - 1 4 ) . A famine, caused as Palestinian famines usually are by insufficient rainfall, had occurred f o r three successive years, and the minds of king and people were greatly exercised to ascertain what had angered Yahweh. It was taken f o r granted that in some way he had been offended or he would not withhold his rain. A n oracle w a s obtained, which explained the cause of Yahweh's wrath. It is clear that the oracle came f r o m the sanctuary at Gibeon, whither Solomon a f t e r w a r d betook himself to worship ( I Kings 3 : 4. ff.), and that it was manipulated by the Gibeonite priesthood. T h e Gibeonites were an Amorite clan with whom the Hebrews

PRE-PROPHETIC PERIOD I N C A N A A N

83

at the conquest h a d m a d e a t r e a t y , p r o m i s i n g to s p a r e their lives ( J o s h . 9 : 3 - 1 5 ) -

In spite of this c o m p a c t ,

S a u l h a d e n d e a v o u r e d to e x t e r m i n a t e the

Gibeonites,

a n d now the oracle d e c l a r e d t h a t Y a h w e h w a s

angry

because the innocent b l o o d thus shed h a d n e v e r been avenged.

S e v e n descendants of S a u l w e r e a c c o r d i n g l y

s o u g h t out and d e l i v e r e d to the G i b e o n i t e s to be put to death.

T h e s e men w e r e h a n g e d in the springtime, j u s t

at the end o f the r a i n y season, a n d their bodies w e r e l e f t h a n g i n g all t h r o u g h the long, d r y s u m m e r , a g h a s t l y testimony

to the v e n g e a n c e

of

Yahweh.

When

the

r a i n y season once m o r e c a m e , copious s h o w e r s fell, a n d we are told:

" G o d w a s e n t r e a t e d f o r his l a n d . "

The

Y a h w e h w h o could be t h o u g h t to punish a w h o l e l a n d w i t h s t a r v a t i o n because so g r u e s o m e a p e n a l t y f o r sin h a d not been exacted, h a d not yet been conceived as a m e r c i f u l o r l o v i n g being. Prophets

flourished

at this time, but they w e r e of a

v e r y different o r d e r f r o m the l i t e r a r y p r o p h e t s of a l a t e r period.

In all p a r t s of the w o r l d men h a v e b e l i e v e d

that p e o p l e w h o possess such p e c u l i a r l y excitable n e r v o u s o r g a n i z a t i o n s that they easily lose control of t h e m s e l v e s and f a l l into ecstasies o r trances, b e c o m i n g unconscious and s p e a k i n g in a b r o k e n a u t o m a t i c m a n n e r , are mediums

of

divine

communication.1

The

ecstasy

is

ac-

counted f o r by the belief that a g o d o r spirit takes possession o f

the s p e a k e r

1 See Davenport, Primitive 1905, chaps, i-iii.

and Traits

suppresses in Religious

his

Revivals,

humanity, New York,

84

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

m a k i n g him the m o u t h p i e c e o f No

sharp

line is d r a w n

a supernatural

between

being.

this condition

and

l u n a c y , f o r a m o n g such p e o p l e s lunacy is r e g a r d e d demoniacal

or

supernatural

possession.

p r o p h e t s of I s r a e l w e r e o f this class.

The

as

early

T h e distinguish-

i n g m a r k which d e n o t e d t h a t K i n g Saul w a s a p r o p h e t w a s that " he s t r i p p e d off his clothes a n d p r o p h e s i e d a n d l a y d o w n n a k e d all that d a y and all t h a t night " ( I Sam.

19:24).

T h e p r o p h e t s o f this p e r i o d w e r e

men of such p e c u l i a r t e m p e r a m e n t that they easily f e l l into such ecstasies men

of

unstable

(cf. I Sam.

nervous

10:10).

organization;

a f t e r w a r d b e c a m e insane.

They Saul

were

himself,

I n d e e d the H e b r e w

word

f o r " p r o p h e c y , " which m e a n s to " utter in a l o w v o i c e , " " t o bubble o v e r w i t h s p e e c h , " is a p p l i e d b o t h to p r o p h e t a n d to lunatic. I t w a s out o f men o f this sort that I s r a e l ' s guilds o f professional prophets were organized.

T h e y cherished

the a r t s by which ecstatic s t a t e s could be p r o d u c e d , and l i v e d f r o m the f e e s g i v e n t h e m by their c r e d u l o u s countrymen.

Such p r o p h e c y n o t only h a d a basis in n a t u r a l

p h e m o n e n a c o m m o n t o o t h e r s , but is c l e a r l y traceable a m o n g the C a n a a n i t e s .

A n interesting E g y p t i a n docu-

m e n t , the " R e p o r t of W e n a m o n , " w r i t t e n a b o u t B. c.,

1100

describes a well-defined instance o f this class of

f r e n z i e d o r ecstatic p r o p h e c y at G e b a l in P h o e n i c i a . 1 Such p r o p h e c y w a s c o m m o n , t h e r e f o r e , to the Semites of

the 1

whole

region.

See Breasted, Ancient

The

Records,

prophets

Egypt,

of

this

IV, p. 280, § 570.

period

PRE-PROPHETIC PERIOD I N

CANAAN

sometimes, perhaps, relied upon other arts. called a seer

(I Sam. 9 : 9 )

85

S a m u e l is

a n d h i s f u n c t i o n s s e e m to

h a v e been l e g i t i m a t e l y r e g a r d e d as those o f a m a n w h o f o r a s m a l l sum w o u l d i n f o r m p e o p l e w h e r e to find l o s t property.

" Seer "

w a s the n a m e g i v e n

b y the

Bab-

y l o n i a n s to p r i e s t s w h o g a v e f o r t h o r a c l e s f r o m the inspection of the l i v e r s of v i c t i m s , 1 a n d it is p o s s i b l e t h a t S a m u e l b e l o n g e d to this class.

I t is n o t e w o r t h y t h a t he

h a d c e l e b r a t e d a sacrifice the d a y b e f o r e h e g a v e

his

o r a c l e to S a u l . O n e can h a r d l y e m p h a s i z e t o o s t r o n g l y the f a c t t h a t the H e b r e w s h a d b e c o m e t h o r o u g h l y a g r i c u l t u r a l .

We

h a v e n o t e d this in c o n t r a s t to the n o m a d i c l i f e of

the

w i l d e r n e s s , but it is e q u a l l y s t r i k i n g in c o n t r a s t w i t h the urban and commercial civilization ylonia, and E g y p t .

of

Phoenicia,

Bab-

In these t h r e e c o u n t r i e s the g o d s

h a d t h e i r t e m p l e s o r houses, d e c o r a t e d w i t h m a n y o r n a ments, a d o r n e d with e x p e n s i v e f u r n i t u r e a n d h a n g i n g s , w h e r e they w e r e s e r v e d w i t h i m p l e m e n t s of b r o n z e a n d vessels of silver and gold.

In s t r i k i n g c o n t r a s t to this

w e r e the H e b r e w h i g h p l a c e s , w h e r e u n d e r the o p e n s k y r u d e stone p i l l a r s a n d an a l t a r o f e a r t h o r u n h e w n stone constituted

the simple s a n c t u a r y — a s a n c t u a r y

r e m a i n e d the o r t h o d o x t y p e d o w n to the

which

composition

of the E d o c u m e n t , a b o u t 7 5 0 B. c . ( E x o d . 2 0 : 2 4 - 2 6 ) . T h e e p h e m e r a l t e m p l e at S h i l o 1

See J a s t r o i v , Aspects

of

Religious

1 9 1 1 , pp. 1 5 8 ff., and 198 ff.; also Journal pp. +2-56.

( I Sam., chaps.

Belief

in

Babylonia,

of Biblical

Literature,

1-3)

New

York,

XXVIII,

86

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

was an exception to the general rule among the H e brews. T h e i r God, like themselves, lived in the open a i r ; he was pleased with rude, natural implements. T h e products of the forge and the smith were an abomination to him. Solomon was an innovator. Seeking to make his people a commercial people and to beautify his capital a f t e r the manner of the commercial nations, he erected a splendid temple at Jerusalem, adorned it in the Phoenician fashion, equipped it with an unorthodox bronze altar, and a great variety of bronze implements. T h o u g h this temple in later ages was looked back upon as the ideal House of God, it impressed his contemporaries very differently. It was reaction against such religious innovations as well as against burdensome taxation, which enabled Jeroboam to rend the kingdom asunder. J e r o b o a m , when he said: " Behold thy God, O Israel, who brought thee up out of the land of E g y p t " ( I Kings 1 2 : 2 8 ) , was not a religious innovator, but a religious conservative. T h e innovations of Solomon affected but one shrine in the land, the shrine of Jerusalem, and that one of the newest. N o t more than forty years had passed since Jerusalem had come into the possession of the Hebrews. Nevertheless it was one of the influences which produced political revolution. It was not till a century later that the introduction of the religious practices of a commercial and artisan people led to religious revolt. During the first three centuries of Israel's residence

PKE-PROPHETIC PERIOD I N

CANAAN

87

i n Palestine, while the transformation outlined above was going on, it would have been hard to distinguish the religion of Israel from the religions of her neighbours. The elements noted in the previous chapter which made for higher ethical and spiritual views were in abeyance. The seed was germinating; the time for fruitage had not yet come. In the reign of Ahab in the ninth century a change began. Ahab had married Jezebel, a daughter of Ethbaal, king of Tyre, and had built for her shrines to her native god, Melkart of Tyre (I Kings 1 6 : 3 1 ff.). Ahab was also led in his assertion of regal power to trespass on the ancestral rights of Naboth. The Hebrews had from the beginning been free tribesmen, and, as among the Arabs, there was a strong democratic spirit among them. They had never taken kindly to the ways of splendid monarchs. They could be loyal to a man of the people, like David, but against the ways of Solomon they had revolted. Ahab's seizure of Naboth's vineyard caused deep popular resentment. At this moment a new element appeared in the national life in the advent of Elijah of Tishbeh in Gilead, who represented the old nomadic ideal of Yahweh's religion. T h e people to the east of the Jordan had never been as fully agriculturalized as those who dwelt to the west of the river. The fertile lands merge gradually into the desert, and from the desert new reinforcements of nomads were ever coming. Among these the nomadic ideal of Yahweh still remained. All more civil-

88

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

i z e d f o r m s o f l i f e w e r e c o n s i d e r e d abominations to h i m . T o live in houses, o r to d r i n k wine, as settled H e b r e w s d i d , w a s c o n s i d e r e d w r o n g by s o m e . 1

Such ideas w e r e

n o t indeed confined to the t r a n s - J o r d a n i c country, they find a m p l e e x p r e s s i o n in the J d u r i n g this century in J u d a h .

for

document, w r i t t e n

Its a u t h o r r e p r e s e n t s a l l

p r o g r e s s in civilization, the tilling o f the soil, the w e a r i n g o f clothing, the invention o f m e t a l - w o r k i n g , music, etc., as the result o f sin. militant representative.

O f this ideal, E l i j a h w a s a

2

I n t o the social f e r m e n t of I s r a e l there thus c a m e in the r e i g n of A h a b three religious ideals. tural Y a h w e h , w h o fields

T h e agricul-

f o s t e r e d the land with its

wheat

and v i n e y a r d s , a n d w a s w o r s h i p p e d in the h i g h

p l a c e s as a B a a l , w a s o n e ; the Y a h w e h o r B a a l o f an a r t i s a n and c o m m e r c i a l p e o p l e — the B a a l of T y r e w o r s h i p p e d with b r o n z e a l t a r s and luxurious ritual, like the Y a h w e h of S o l o m o n ' s temple — w a s the s e c o n d ; the simple Y a h w e h of the w i l d e r n e s s , to w h o m the arts

and

luxuries of even a simple a g r i c u l t u r a l community w e r e f o r e i g n — the Y a h w e h

whose prophet

and

champion

w a s E l i j a h — w a s the third. E l i j a h linked the r i g h t s of the p e o p l e with his presentation of his austere Y a h w e h

and as a divinely

m e s s e n g e r b o l d l y o p p o s e d the king.

sent

B y him the k i n g

w a s r e g a r d e d as the r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of a h a t e d f o r e i g n 1 2

C f . I I K i n g s 1 0 : IJ and J e r . , chap. 35.

See Budde, Religion of Israel to the Exile, New York, 1899, chap, i v ; and Barton, Sketch of Semitic Origins, N e w York, 1892, pp. 300 ff.

PRE-PROPHETIC PERIOD IN C A N A A N

89

cult — a cult of rich a n d c o m m e r c i a l T y r e — a cult impure

with

manufactured

implements

and

ceremonies

w h i c h in idle l u x u r y w e r e m a d e t o p a n d e r to b a s e s t lust. T h u s b e g a n that social a n d r e l i g i o u s f e r m e n t , w h i c h w e n t on f o r centuries, a w a k e n i n g g r a d u a l l y the H e b r e w conscience.

It

called

into

existence

the

great

Hebrew

p r o p h e t s , a n d u l t i m a t e l y l i f t e d the H e b r e w r e l i g i o n to the h i g h e s t plane a t t a i n e d by a n y p r e - C h r i s t i a n f a i t h . A f t e r the first m a n i f e s t a t i o n o f this n e w s p i r i t in the p e r s o n of E l i j a h t h e r e c a m e a time of a p p a r e n t gression.

retro-

E l i s h a w a s by no m e a n s the s p i r i t u a l e q u a l of

his g r e a t p r e d e c e s s o r .

H e w a s the l e a d e r of the g u i l d

of ecstatic p r o p h e t s , a n d once w h e n an o r a c l e w a s

re-

q u i r e d of him, e m p l o y e d a r t i f i c i a l m e a n s to p r o d u c e the p r o p h e t i c e c s t a s y in h i m s e l f

( I I Kings 3 : 1 5 ) .

Elisha

a n o i n t e d J e h u to be k i n g a n d e n c o u r a g e d h i m in the n a m e of Y a h w e h to u n d e r t a k e a r e f o r m .

J e h u ' s treach-

e r o u s m e t h o d s and b l o o d y m a s s a c r e o f the d e v o t e e s of Baal

(II

Kings

10: 18-28)

reveal

d o m i n a n c e of an ethical spirit.

anything

but

the

I n this b l o o d y w o r k he

w a s a i d e d by the R e c h a b i t e s , the l i v i n g e x p o n e n t s of t h e nomadic

ideal.

Their

religion

w a s not m o r e

ethical

than t h a t of the b l o o d y k i n g . In spite, h o w e v e r , of b a r b a r i t i e s p e r p e t r a t e d in Y a h w e h ' s n a m e the century b e t w e e n E l i j a h a n d the E ment w a s not w i t h o u t f r u i t .

Spiritual awakening

docuand

ethical a d v a n c e g e n e r a l l y occur in times o f s o c i a l p r e s s u r e , a n d the f r u i t a g e of the m o v e m e n t b e g u n b y E l i j a h is a p p a r e n t in the m o r a l d e c a l o g u e o f the E

document.

9°

THE

RELIGION

OF

ISRAEL

In this document these ethical commands stand before even the agricultural laws, and are thus given special prominence. Three of them are in substance identical with commands of the decalogue of J , but the ritual features of that decalogue were relegated to a place among the laws at the end of the Book of the Covenant. These ten commands, as then set forth, were simple and brief. While negative — declaring simply what must not be done — they marked out for all time the ethical foundations of Yahweh's religion, and prepared the way f o r the work of the great prophets who were to follow. Stripped of later editorial additions, they are: 1 . Thou shalt have no other gods before m 2. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image. 1 3. Thou shalt not lift up the name of Yahweh in vain (i. e., thou shalt not swear to a lie). 4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 5. Honor thy father and thy mother. 6. Thou shalt do no murder. 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 8. Thou shalt not steal. 9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house. In this decalogue but three of the commands are identical with commands in that earlier decalogue, which, it 1 This command goes a step farther than the decalogue of J and prohibits even cheap idols.

PRE-PROPHETIC PERIOD I N CANAAN

91

h a s been c o n j e c t u r e d , g o e s b a c k t o the t i m e of M o s e s . F o r the seven ritual c o m m a n d s of the o t h e r d e c a l o g u e ethical r e q u i r e m e n t s

are substituted,

or, to be

accurate, u n e t h i c a l conduct is p r o h i b i t e d .

more

T h e question

naturally arises: when and w h e r e did these c o m m a n d s o r i g i n a t e , a n d h o w w e r e they s u b s t i t u t e d f o r t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g ritualistic c o m m a n d s in t h e d e c a l o g u e of

J?

T h e s e questions c a n n o t in the p r e s e n t state of o u r k n o w l e d g e be definitely a n s w e r e d .

I t is a p l a u s i b l e conjec-

t u r e t h a t t h e s e c o m m a n d s w e r e conceived by E l i j a h a n d his f o l l o w e r s to be m o r e in a c c o r d with t h e d e m a n d s of Y a h w e h , t h e c h a m p i o n of social justice, t h a n t h e ritualistic d e c a l o g u e of J . I n d e e d it is t e m p t i n g t o t h i n k t h a t c e r t a i n f e a t u r e s of t h i s d e c a l o g u e w e r e s u g g e s t e d by t h e t r i a l a n d execut i o n of N a b o t h a n d the confiscation of his p r o p e r t y b y A h a b and J e z e b e l .

I t is t r u e t h a t t h e p r o h i b i t i o n of

m u r d e r , t h e f t and a d u l t e r y a r e r e g u l a t i o n s t h a t suit well a n y p e r i o d of I s r a e l ' s h i s t o r y .

T h e y r e c o r d the p e o p l e ' s

ethical a v e r s i o n to d e e d s t h a t m u s t f o r a l o n g t i m e h a v e been

considered

wrong.

Similarly

the o b l i g a t i o n

to

h o n o u r f a t h e r a n d m o t h e r r e g i s t e r s , p r o b a b l y , a sense of filial d u t y t h a t h a d been g r o w i n g f r o m the t i m e of t h e e m e r g e n c e of t h e p a t r i a r c h a l f a m i l y . of all, h o w e v e r .

T h i s is n o t t r u e

T h e m o d i f i c a t i o n of J ' s first c o m m a n d

t o r e a d : " T h o u s h a l t h a v e no o t h e r g o d s b e f o r e m e , " o r " in m y p r e s e n c e , " m a y well h a v e been s u g g e s t e d b y E l i j a h ' s w a r on t h e B a a l s , w h i c h w a s in p a r t precipit a t e d by t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n by J e z e b e l of t h e w o r s h i p of

92

THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL

her ancestral T y r i a n gods. T h e prohibition of cheap idols in the second commandment may also be plausibly connected with the same effort to differentiate the worship of Y a h w e h f r o m that of Baal. " T h o u shalt not swear to a lie," may have been called forth by the dire consequences of such conduct at the trial of Naboth ( I Kings 2 1 : 1 0 ) . T h e commands against bearing false witness and against coveting, which conclude this decalogue may with equal probability have been suggested by the Naboth incident. While some scholars still insist that this decalogue must have originated with M o s e s , because no later period seems suited to its introduction, the hypothesis that the impetus to its compilation was given by E l i j a h and that it was compiled among his disciples is a more satisfactory explanation of the facts. A s the basis of the covenant at H o r e b had not been put in writing in the time of Moses, it would not be difficult in the course of a hundred years f o r the belief to become general in the northern kingdom, where Elijah had preached, that these were the genuine ten commands of Moses. In this case the substitution in the oral tradition would be easy. T h e J document, written in J u d a h about the time E l i j a h was doing his work in Israel, naturally adhered to the older f o r m of the tradition. TOPICS FOR F U R T H E R

STUDY.

i. T h e Influence of the National Traditions on the Religion of this Period; cf. J . P. Peters, The Religion of the Boston, 1 9 1 4 , ch. vi.

Hebrews,

P R E - P R O P H E T I C PERIOD I X C A N A A N

93

2 . Religion as reflected in the Early Literature; cf. H . P. Smith, The Religion of Israel, ch. v. 3. T h e Temple of Solomon ; cf. articles " Temple " in Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible and the Encyclopaedia Biblica, and " Temple of Solomon " in the Jewish Encyclopedia ; also G . A . Smith, Jerusalem, New York, 1908, Vol. II, pp. 48-82, and G . A . Barton, Archaeology and the Bible, Philadelphia, 1 9 1 6 , pp. 193-196. 4. T h e Development of Priesthood in this Period ; cf. J . P. Peters, Religion of the Hebrews, ch. vii. 5. T h e Date of the Decalogue; cf. G . A . Barton, A Sketch of Semitic Origins, Social and Religious, New York, 1902, pp. 292-295, and in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible in One I'olume, pp. 4 1 0 , 4 1 1 ; J . P. Peters, The Relit/ion of the Hebrews, pp. 9 6 - 1 IO; Morris Jastrow, J r . , Hebrew and Babylonian Traditions, New York, 1 9 1 4 , pp. 162 ff. 174, 184, and 283 ; W . F . Bade, The Old Testament in the Light of Today, Boston, 1 9 1 6 , pp. 8 7 - 1 3 1 , and the articles on " T h e Mosaic Origin of the Decalogue " by J . E . McFadyen in The Expositor for l y i o .

CHAPTER

VI

T H E PROPHETS OF T H E EIGHTH CENTURY T h e G r e a t Personalities — Amos and Monotheism — Y a h w e h ' s Demands Ethical — Ritual denounced — Amos preached F e a r ; Hosea, Love — Hosea's M a r r i a g e — Isaiah's Message — Critical Theories — Isaiah's Messianic Hope — T h e Message of Micah — Isaiah and Senn a c h e r i b — J e r u s a l e m Y a h w e h ' s Dwelling-Place — Isaiah's Compromise with Ritual — Hezekiah's Reform.

THE history of every great religion is at times the history of a great man or a group of great men. Spiritual and ethical insight comes to great souls, and it is only as they lift their fellows to their own level that advances are made. I t thus happens that the progress of the religion of Israel in the eighth century B.C. is bound up with the personal experiences and thoughts of four men — A m o s , H o s e a , Isaiah, Micah. As noted in a previous chapter, the ninth and eighth centuries B.C. were times of great ferment in Israel, and in this ferment a new social conscience had been born. Elijah, in the ninth century, had been its exponent, and the author of the E document had collected social laws shaped in response to it, but with the shepherd-prophet Amos, the earliest of the eighth-century literary prophets, there began a new movement u p w a r d and forward. T h e teaching of Amos embodied f o u r important elements, two of which, if not entirely new, were put with such new emphasis as to be practically so. 94

T H E PROPHETS OF T H E EIGHTH CENTURY

95

T h e first of these elements or doctrines is monotheism. T h e monotheism of A m o s w a s not a philosophical theory of the universe; A m o s did not declare that there is and can be only one G o d .

It w a s a practical monotheism

reached apparently in consequence of the p r o p h e t ' s personal experience of Yahweh.

the righteousness

and p o w e r

of

H o w e v e r he attained his f a i t h , A m o s clearly

believed that Y a h w e h ruled all the nations.

H e does

not, like the E document, recognize the reality of other gods, nor like J e r e m i a h f o r m a l l y deny their existence. H e simply ignores them and tells h o w Y a h w e h rules the nations.

Y a h w e h b r o u g h t the Philistines f r o m C a p h t o r

and the A r a m a e a n s f r o m K i r ( A m o s 9 : 7 ) . istines, Damascus,

T h e Phil-

M o a b , E d o m , and all the

nations

mentioned are responsible to Y a h w e h f o r their acts and are to be j u d g e d by him (chaps.

1,2).

T h i s monotheistic thought of the shepherd of T e k o a h was big with the f a t e of

the p r o g r e s s

of

the

race.

E g y p t ' s thinkers h a d begun to g r o p e a f t e r a sort of monotheistic thought earlier than the fourteenth century, but never really reached it in any practical w a y . conceptions

p r o p o s e d by

they w o u l d have none.

1

Ikhnaton The

Of the

(Amenophis

Babylonian

priests

IV) at

some period had conceived all the other gods as different f o r m s of M a r d u k 2 but the conception had never 1

See Breasted, History of Egypt, 2nd ed., N e w Y o r k , 1909, chap, xviii, and Steindorf, Religion of the Ancient Egyptians, N e w Y o r k , 1905, pp. 57 ff. 2 See the text translated by Pinches in the Transactions toria Institute, X X V I I I , pp. 8 f .

of the

Vic-

96

THE

RELIGION

OF

ISRAEL

become of practical religious value. In India, perhaps as e a r l y as A m o s , m e n were talking of the B r a h m a , o r B r a h m a - A t m a n , as the ultimate principle of life, 1 b u t p o t e n t as the idea w a s in later I n d i a n t h o u g h t , it n e v e r e x e r t e d the creatively ethical influence upon the race t h a t t h e m o n o t h e i s m of A m o s has done. Some 2 h a v e supp o s e d t h a t A m o s was influenced by the abstract t h o u g h t of the p r i e s t h o o d s of E g y p t and Babylon — t h a t he g a v e practical expression t o a monotheistic conception t h a t was, as it were, in t h e air. I n reality there was no such conception in the a i r even in Babylon. 3 W h e n one sees h o w unaffected P a l e s t i n i a n s h e p h e r d s t o d a y are by systems of t h o u g h t which h a v e dwelt f o r centuries in t h e cities of their own land, he is slow t o believe t h a t A m o s was at all influenced by speculations of distant priesth o o d s . A m o s ' s t h o u g h t g r e w out of the old conceptions of Y a h w e h as a holy and jealous G o d , and the ethical and spiritual discoveries of his own soul. It m a y h a v e been to some d e g r e e aided by the division of Israel into two m o n a r c h i e s o r nations. W h e n Y a h w e h became the G o d of two nations the f r o n t i e r s of religion were enlarged. If he controlled two nations why not m o r e t h a n two?4 A m o s a p p l i e d his conception of Y a h w e h ' s na1

C f . Bloomfield, Religion of the Veda, New York, 1908, pp. 87, 2 1 1 . So Baentsch, Altorientalischcr und israelitischer Monotheismus, Tübingen, 1906. 3 C f . G . F. Moore, History of Religions, Vol. I, New York, 1 9 1 3 , p. 242, and G . A . Barton, Religions of the World, Chicago, 1917, p. 26. 4 C f . J . M . P. Smith, " T h e Effect of the Disruption on the Hebrew T h o u g h t of God," in the American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, X X X I I ( 1 9 1 6 ) , pp. 261-269. 2

T H E PROPHETS OF T H E EIGHTH CENTURY

97

ture in the terms, not of abstract thought, but of practical ethical endeavour, and his conception and his application of it were shared by the other l i t e r a r y prophets of the century.

T h e monotheism of A m o s became effective be-

cause it was closely coupled with his ardent championship

of

Israel

social

was

righteousness.

economically

very

In

the eighth

prosperous.

century

The

rich

w e r e g r o w i n g richer, the p o o r , p o o r e r , and the rich w e r e oppressing the poor.

Social corruption was fos-

tered not only by wealth, but by religion. claimed Y a h w e h

as the G o d of

social

A m o s prorighteousness.

Y a h w e h demanded justice and f a i r play f o r the oppressed, purity and chastity in p e r s o n a l l i f e (see 2 : 6, 7 ; 5:11,

12,

14, 2 4 ; 8 : 4 - 7 ) .

Y a h w e h had of all the

nations of the w o r l d chosen I s r a e l alone, but this choice, f a r f r o m being a guaranty of his f a v o u r , demanded of her a higher righteousness ( 3 : 2 ) .

In this aspect of his

teaching, A m o s continued and intensified the message of Elijah. T h e religion of Y a h w e h as conceived by A m o s w a s not only socially ethical, but it w a s that alone. f o r m e d no part of it. no place in it. Yahweh's

Ritual

Sacrifices and burnt offerings h a d

T h e s e , A m o s declared, were no part of

original

covenant

(5:25).

In

most

em-

phatic terms he proclaims Y a h w e h ' s displeasure and even abhorrence of the sacrificial f e a s t s ( 4 : 4 , 5 ; 5 : 2 1 - 2 4 ) . In that age of the w o r l d , when in e v e r y land animal sacrifices were r e g a r d e d as a necessary element of religion, this was a v e r y radical position.

THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL

98

A s the message of A m o s w a s a call to righteousness, it was also a proclamation of punishment.

T h a t sin

brings doom — that Israel's sin will bring punishment and destruction to Israel — is stated by him in many f o r m s ( 3 : 2 , 1 1 , 1 2 ; 4 : 2, 3 , 1 2 ; 5 : 1 - 3 , 2 7 ; 6 : 8: 1 0 - 1 4 ) .

1 , 2, 7 ;

T h i s threat of punishment is the only mo-

tive f o r a righteous life which A m o s presented.

He

assumes that the people can do right, and that if they so do, all will be well, but the one reason which he urges to persuade them to righteousness is the f e a r of doom. T h e preaching of

A m o s came

awaken the conscience of the nation.

as a bugle-call

to

Though Yahweh

was bound to them by covenant, not by kinship, many h a d lulled themselves into security by the heathen doctrine that their G o d could not abandon them.

Amos

awakened such by threatening doom to wicked Israel — a doom all the more sure because she was Y a h w e h ' s chosen — reminding them that Y a h w e h was with them only on condition that they sought good, not evil ( 5 : 14, i

s)G r e a t as was the message of A m o s , it was in some

respects defective.

F e a r of punishment is not the high-

est motive f o r right doing; but A m o s offered no other. Y a h w e h , as proclaimed by him, w a s an ethical, but not a loving G o d . unfeeling.

A s A m o s p o r t r a y e d him, he was cold and T h e s e defects in the preaching of

Amos

were soon supplied by his younger contemporary, H o s e a . L a r g e r vision of G o d has o f t e n entered a soul through a door opened b y s o r r o w .

A c c o r d i n g to the view of

THE PROPHETS OF THE EIGHTH CENTURY

99

t h e s t o r y of H o s e a ' s m a r r i a g e which h a s p r e v a i l e d f o r a g e n e r a t i o n , this is believed t o be t r u e of H o s e a .

A

m a n of t e n d e r a n d loyal affections, h e h a d m a r r i e d a w i f e w h o m h e d e a r l y loved, but w h o p r o v e d t o be u n t r u e to him.

A s he y e a r n e d o v e r h e r , p o n d e r i n g on t h e

h e a r t - b r e a k i n g b l i g h t t h a t h a d f a l l e n on his l i f e , he saw in it a r e v e l a t i o n of t h e r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n Y a h w e h a n d Israel.

T h e c o v e n a n t of Sinai w a s a c o v e n a n t of m a r -

riage.

T h e u n e t h i c a l w o r s h i p w h i c h w a s p r a c t i s e d by

H e b r e w s all a b o u t h i m w a s in his v i e w r e a l l y w o r s h i p of B a a l .

I t w a s as m u c h infidelity to Y a h w e h as G o -

m e r ' s life with h e r l o v e r s w a s infidelity t o H o s e a .

But

the

the

heavenly

husband

was

not

less l o v i n g t h a n

e a r t h l y , a n d the m e a s u r e of his o w n u n q u e n c h a b l e love f o r G o m e r b e c a m e t o H o s e a a r e v e l a t i o n of Y a h w e h ' s unconquerable

love

for

Israel.

Gomer

left

Hosea's

h o m e a n d led t h e l i f e of a f a l l e n w o m a n till she fell into s l a v e r y ; H o s e a t h e n b o u g h t h e r back, p l a c e d h e r a p a r t w h e r e she w a s p r o t e c t e d f r o m h e r o w n evil p r o pensities, a n d t r i e d t o win b a c k h e r affection.

So he

b e l i e v e d Y a h w e h w o u l d b r i n g affliction u p o n I s r a e l — w o u l d b r i n g h e r into t h e w i l d e r n e s s a p a r t , w h e r e he could c o u r t h e r a g a i n a n d win b a c k h e r love. A n o t h e r view of H o s e a ' s m a r i t a l experiences h a s recently been p r o p o s e d , 1 w h i c h r e s t s u p o n a less f o r c e d exegesis of the t e x t .

A c c o r d i n g to this view H o s e a w a s

a p r o p h e t b e f o r e he w a s m a r r i e d at a l l ; a t

Yahweh's

1 J . M. P. Smith in the Biblical World, X L I I , 9 4 - 1 0 1 , and Hosea, and Micah in the Bible for Home and School, p. 80 f .

Amos,

IOO

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

c o m m a n d he m a r r i e d a w o m a n of the street, k n o w n t o be a h a r l o t , and gave to the children b o r n of the union n a m e s which h a d a p r o p h e t i c significance. T h i s was all d o n e as an object lesson to Israel. According to this view H o s e a r e g a r d e d himself as the spokesman and repr e s e n t a t i v e of Y a h w e h . A n y t h i n g that he r e g a r d e d as Y a h w e h ' s c o m m a n d h a d binding force u p o n him. That the action was a b n o r m a l would not deter him, f o r m a n y of the p r o p h e t s a d o p t e d a b n o r m a l courses in o r d e r f o r cibly to express by symbol Y a h w e h ' s will. 1 T h e action of the p r o p h e t was not designed to express the way in which the relations which existed between Y a h w e h a n d I s r a e l began, but the condition in which they actually w e r e at the time. A c c o r d i n g to this t h e o r y the story of H o s e a ' s m a r r i a g e e m p h a s i z e s his self-sacrifice as a p r o p h e t , but leaves unexplained how he became a prophet. W h a t e v e r doubt m a y attach to i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of the s t o r y of H o s e a ' s m a r r i a g e , it is certain t h a t he became t h e p r o p h e t of the love of Y a h w e h — n o t love as it h a d been grossly conceived in the worship of the old Semitic goddesses of fertility, b u t the pure love of an affectionate h u s b a n d — a love t h a t survives the grossest w r o n g . In his i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the love of Y a h w e h , H o s e a supplied a new motive, and t h a t the most p o w e r f u l , f o r ref o r m and ethical righteousness. I s r a e l ' s sin not only i n j u r e d herself, but b r o k e t h e h e a r t of Y a h w e h . Yahw e h did n o t stand a p a r t f r o m h e r struggles as a t h r e a t 1

See Isa. 20:1-5; Jer. 16: i f . ; Eze. 4:7-15, 24:16-18.

T H E PROPHETS OF T H E E I G H T H C E N T U R Y

IOI

ening j u d g e ; he s t o o d r e a d y to h e l p w i t h a l l the inspiring

influences

Hosea

of

an

fully shared

infinitely

loving

the ethical

companionship.

enthusiasm

of

Amos.

H e f a l l s not a whit b e h i n d t h a t p r o p h e t in p r o c l a i m i n g Y a h w e h as a G o d w h o l o v e s r i g h t e o u s n e s s ,

champions

the o p p r e s s e d , p u n i s h e s w i c k e d n e s s , a n d t a k e s no d e l i g h t in ritual a n d s a c r i f i c e s ; but he e m p l o y s the v a r i o u s

figures

of the t e n d e r e s t f a m i l y r e l a t i o n s h i p s as s y m b o l s of Y a h w e h ' s l o v e in his e n d e a v o u r to m a k e his c o n t e m p o r a r i e s realize

this

hitherto

unsuspected

a s p e c t of

Yahweh's

c h a r a c t e r — this n e w i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f the c o v e n a n t of H o r e b — this n e w m o t i v e to r i g h t e o u s l i v i n g . In the k i n g d o m o f J u d a h the p r o p h e t I s a i a h a little l a t e r , p e r h a p s b e f o r e the d e a t h of H o s e a , t o o k up the m e s s a g e of A m o s a n d H o s e a , a n d continued in v a r i o u s w a y s to p r o c l a i m it t h r o u g h a m i n i s t r y of f o r t y y e a r s . T h e g r e a t poetic g i f t s of I s a i a h a n d the close r e l a t i o n in w h i c h he s t o o d to the k i n g s A h a z a n d H e z e k i a h h a v e m a d e his n a m e the m o s t p r o m i n e n t o f all the p r o p h e t i c circle, so t h a t the w o r k o f o t h e r p r o p h e t s h a s been att r i b u t e d to his pen.

H i s genuine prophecies,

however,

exhibit the s a m e m o n o t h e i s t i c c o n c e p t i o n s , picture

Yah-

w e h as p o s s e s s i n g the s a m e p a s s i o n f o r r i g h t e o u s n e s s in his p e o p l e , a n d as f e e l i n g the s a m e a b h o r r e n c e of the religious c e r e m o n i e s o f unethical m e n , that a p p e a r in the w o r k s o f his t w o p r e d e c e s s o r s ( s e e , e . g . , Tsa., i : 1 2 - 1 7 ) . T h i s g i f t e d a r i s t o c r a t a n d a d v i s e r of k i n g s c h a m p i o n e d the

down-trodden

T e k o a n shepherd.

poor

with

all

the

ardour

of

the

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

I02

I s a i a h , like his e a r l i e r c o n t e m p o r a r i e s , s a w a v i s i o n o f a higher religious life. m a n d e d that l i f e .

H e b e l i e v e d that Y a h w e h

I t w a s a l i f e essentially ethical.

deThe

ritual of the d a y w i t h costly holocausts h a d no p l a c e in it.

W i t h all his g i f t s he sought to m a k e his p e o p l e see

his vision a n d live this l i f e .

S o m e t i m e s he

compares

I s r a e l to a stupid child ( 1 : 2 , 3 ) , sometimes to a v i n e yard

(5:1-7).

I n each case Y a h w e h , the f a t h e r o r

o w n e r , is keenly d i s a p p o i n t e d in the returns w h i c h h e gains f r o m his p o s s e s s i o n s .

I f the

figures

a r e not a s

o f t e n f r o m the s a m e t e n d e r sphere as those of

Hosea,

the lesson t a u g h t is the s a m e , and it is e m b o d i e d in p o e t r y of g r e a t e r l i t e r a r y c h a r m . In one respect the conception o f Y a h w e h p r e s e n t e d b y H o s e a and Isaiah was defective. as c a r i n g chiefly f o r I s r a e l ,

B o t h thought of him

and as c a r i n g f o r

nations only f o r their influence upon I s r a e l .

other

Isaiah, f o r

e x a m p l e , s p e a k s o f A s s y r i a simply as the r o d w i t h w h i c h Y a h w e h in his a n g e r is to chastise I s r a e l .

When

the

chastisement is o v e r , the r o d is to be b r o k e n a n d t h r o w n away (Isa., 1 0 : 5

ff.).

Y a h w e h is t h o u g h t to c a r e n o

m o r e f o r A s s y r i a than a f a t h e r does f o r the switch w i t h which he w h i p s his b o y ; his l o v e is centred in the b o y . In the p r o p h e c i e s of I s a i a h as they h a v e c o m e d o w n to us w e come upon the beginnings o f the hope.

Messianic

B e f o r e c o n s i d e r i n g this, h o w e v e r , it will b e help-

f u l to t a k e note o f some m o d e r n critical t h e o r i e s . a series o f articles p u b l i s h e d in 1 8 8 1 - 1 8 8 4 , 1

In the Zeitschrift

fur alttestamentliche

1

Wiuctuchaft.

In

Stade began

THE PROPHETS OF THE EIGHTH CENTURY t o r e l e g a t e M e s s i a n i c p r o p h e c i e s in I s a i a h a n d t o t h e t i m e a f t e r t h e exile.

103 Micah

T h i s work has been carried

f o r w a r d since by S o e r e n s e n , G u t h e , G i e s e b r e c h t , D u h m , C h e y n e , H a c k m a n n , B r ü c k n e r , V o l z and M a r t i . 1

I n the

C o m m e n t a r i e s of M a r t i , 2 t h e m o v e m e n t r e a c h e s its climax.

I t is h e l d t h a t e v e r y M e s s i a n i c p r o p h e c y m u s t be

post-exilic.

M a n y who do not follow M a r t i

entirely

find it h a r d to detect in t h e t i m e b e f o r e t h e exile definite periods when

Messianic prophecy

the other h a n d Gressmann

3

w a s possible.

and Oesterley

4

On

h a v e en-

d e a v o u r e d to show t h a t M e s s i a n i c p r o p h e c y p r e s u p p o s e s the p r e s e n c e in I s r a e l of c e r t a i n m y t h s o u t of

which

Messianic expectations were woven, that these

myths

w e r e actually p r e s e n t in t h e t i m e b e f o r e t h e exile, a n d t h a t , n o t t h e o u t w a r d c i r c u m s t a n c e s of t h e t i m e , b u t t h e p r e s e n c e of these m y t h s , m a k e s M e s s i a n i c p r o p h e c y possible in these centuries. M a r t i a n d his school a r e w r o n g , in the j u d g m e n t of the p r e s e n t w r i t e r , in h o l d i n g t h a t the u t t e r a n c e s of a p r o p h e t m u s t all fit i n t o t h e e v e n t s of t h e p e r i o d in which h e lived, as we in l o o k i n g b a c k see t h o s e events. A p r o p h e t m a y well h a v e e n t e r t a i n e d h o p e s t h a t n o t in all details come t r u e . 1

vard 2

H e must, h o w e v e r , h a v e

See the excellent s u m m a r y of their w o r k by F u l l e r t o n Theological His

Jesiah,

Review,

did

in the

Har-

V I , pp. 4 7 8 - 5 2 0 .

Tübingen,

1900,

and

his Dodekapropheten,

Tübingen,

1903, 1904. 3

Ursprung

and American 4

Evolution

der

israelitisch-jüdischen

Journal

of Theology,

of the Messianic

Idea,

Eschatologie, X V I I , pp. 1 7 3 - 1 9 4 . N e w Y o r k , 1908.

Tübingen,

1905,

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL h a d h o p e s , o r he could not h a v e been a p r o p h e t is possible that t h e r e m a y be s o m e elements of in the t h e o r y o f G r e s s m a n n a n d O e s t e r l e y .

It truth

In the ut-

t e r a n c e s o f an E g y p t i a n s a g e w h o l i v e d m o r e than 2 0 0 0 y e a r s B.C., the conception of an ideal king, w h o once l i v e d on the e a r t h as the g o d R e , b e f o r e w h o m all injustice flees, is set f o r t h . 1 S e v e r a l s c h o l a r s h a v e t h o u g h t that some tradition of this ancient E g y p t i a n ideal m a y h a v j r e a c h c d I s r a e l and h a v e been c h e r i s h e d t h e r e .

I f the t r a d i t i o n of the T a l e

of T w o B r o t h e r s influenced the J o s e p h s t o r y , a s we h a v e s u p p o s e d in ch. 2, it is possible that the ideal k i n g of this E g y p t i a n s a g e , I p u w e r , m a y h a v e also been cherished in I s r a e l , and m a y h a v e influenced the M e s s i a n i c idea.

Such influence, if it existed, w o u l d account f o r the

n a m e " g o d of a w a r r i o r " in I s a . , 9 : 6. t h o u g h possible, is by no m e a n s certain.

Such influence, I n d e e d , the

m o r e the present w r i t e r studies the messianic prophecies o f I s a i a h , the m o r e c l e a r it seems to him that they g r e w n a t u r a l l y out of ideas that w e r e r e a d y to I s a i a h ' s h a n d in the c o m m o n

stock o f

Hebrew

thought,

and that

the

g r e a t e s t of them a r e the utterances o f I s a i a h h i m s e l f . T h i s seems to be true o f I s a . , 9 : 2 - 6 and 1 1 : 1 - 8 . F o r the first of these p a s s a g e s

(Isa., 9 : 2 - 6 )

there

is no p e r i o d in the w h o l e course of p r o p h e t i c activity w h i c h p r e s e n t s so fitting and p r o b a b l e a b a c k g r o u n d as the w a r of 7 3 5 B . c . 1

See Gardiner, The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage, Leipzig, 1908,

p. 78.

T H E PROPHETS OF T H E EIGHTH C E N T U R Y

IO$

In the time of S a u l and D a v i d the k i n g himself

had

been the M e s s i a h o r " t h e L o r d ' s A n o i n t e d " 2 4 : 1 0 ; II Sam. 2 2 : 5 1 ) .

(I Sam.,

In I s a i a h ' s time the g l o r i e s

of the D a v i d i c e m p i r e had l o n g p a s s e d .

In the y e a r 7 3 5

a w e a k l i n g , A h a z , w a s on the throne of J u d a h . more

powerful

kings

were

threatening

I s a i a h ' s hopes l e a p e d f o r w a r d to a time when should a g a i n be r u l e d by a w o r t h y prince.

Two

Jerusalem. Israel

H e t o o k as

the ideal pattern the A s s y r i a n statesman and g e n e r a l , T i g l a t h p i l e s e r I V , d e s c r i b i n g his ideal prince as a VVonder-counsellor, a g o d o f a w a r r i o r , a F a t h e r of b o o t y , 1 and a Prince of p e a c e

(Isa., 9 : 5 ) .

He

was

to

be

g r e a t in planning battles, terrible in fighting them, rich in the resulting p l u n d e r , and g r e a t in ability to rule the conquered t e r r i t o r y in peace.

T h i s is the ideal o f

a

y o u n g m a n in w h o s e veins hot b l o o d still courses.

In

his l a t e r y e a r s the p r o p h e t d r e w a d i f f e r e n t picture.

In

these hopes of I s a i a h ' s y o u n g m a n h o o d , h o w e v e r ,

we

h a v e the first p o w e r f u l l i t e r a r y expression of an ideal, which, t r a n s f o r m e d as the centuries went on, e x e r t e d a c r e a t i v e influence upon C h r i s t i a n i t y . of

Isaiah's

earlier prophecies

B e t w e e n the time

and his l a t e r ones

p r o p h e c i e s of M i c a h , chaps. 1 - 3 , w e r e u t t e r e d .

2

the

Micah

lived at M a r e s h a , called in the G r e e k p e r i o d M a r i s s a h , n e a r the m o d e r n B e i t G i b r i n . 1

The

word

translated

" b o o t y , " or ' ' p r e v " 2

usually

as in G e n .

H i s h o m e w a s in the f o o t -

" eternal"

is

here

to

be

taken

as

49:27.

T h e rest of the Book of M i c a h belongs to a later t i m e — a t i m e not

e a r l i e r t h a n the s e v e n t h

century.

io6

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

hills

of

Judea,

just

on

the

Philistine

border.

His

prophecies w e r e uttered, p e r h a p s , about 7 1 3 - 7 1 1

B.C.,

w h e n S a r g o n chastised A s h d o d . T h o u g h l i v i n g in a different e n v i r o n m e n t , M i c a h w a s t h o r o u g h l y at one with the o t h e r p r o p h e t s of the century in his teaching.

L i k e theirs, his f a i t h w a s m o n o t h e -

istic; he b e l i e v e d Y a h w e h to be s u p r e m e ( c f . x : 3 , 4, 1 0 16:3:11).

H i s p r e s e n t a t i o n of Y a h w e h ' s d e m a n d s f o r

social righteousness is no less insistent than theirs ( c h a p . 2).

T h e cultus o f the p e r i o d w i t h its sacrifices and im-

m o r a l practices, he, like the o t h e r s , denounces

(1:5).

F i n a l l y M i c a h ' s t h r e a t of j u d g m e n t f o r sin f a l l s little s h o r t o f that o f A m o s in the intensity o f its earnestness. I f M i c a h does not m a t e r i a l l y a d v a n c e the religious teaching of the time b e y o n d his c o n t e m p o r a r i e s , he is thoroughly

abreast

of

them

in p r o c l a i m i n g

the

creative

t h o u g h t s of the p e r i o d . T h e l a t e r p r o p h e c i e s of I s a i a h which in this

hasty

glance we h a v e time to notice a r e connected w i t h the invasion of P a l e s t i n e by Sennacherib. T h e w r i t e r a g r e e s with those scholars

1

w h o h o l d it

p r o b a b l e that S e n n a c h e r i b m a d e t w o expeditions a g a i n s t Judah.

In the first o f these in the y e a r 7 0 1 B.C., H e z e -

k i a h submitted a n d p a i d a h e a v y tribute, as is r e c o r d e d 1

This

view

tersuchungen, gegen Juda, 634;

was Berlin,

advocated 1892,

pp.

by

Winckler,

27-50;

Alttestamentliche

Prasek,

Sanherib's

Un-

Feldziige

Berlin, 1 9 0 3 ; Fullerton, Bibliotheca Sacra, L X I I I , pp. 5 7 7 -

Rogers, Cuneiform

1912, pp. 332-3+o-

Parallels

to the Old

Testament,

New

York,

T H E PROPHETS OF T H E EIGHTH C E N T U R Y both in I I K i n g s 1 8 : 1 4 - 1 6 account of the expedition.

107

and in S e n n a c h e r i b ' s A

own

considerable p o r t i o n of

J u d a e a n t e r r i t o r y w a s , at this time, g i v e n by S e n n a c h e r i b to his Philistine v a s s a l s .

It w a s on his second expedi-

tion, which o c c u r r e d a f t e r the accession of

Taharkah,

k i n g of E g y p t , in the y e a r 6 9 1 or 6 8 8 B.C., that the disa s t e r described in I I Kings 1 9 : 9 - 3 5 , and which is also mentioned in H e r o d o t u s , o c c u r r e d . 1 H e z e k i a h , c o n t r a r y to the advice of I s a i a h , h a d j o i n e d a coalition to t h r o w off the A s s y r i a n y o k e .

Sennacherib,

h a v i n g d e f e a t e d the a r m i e s of H e z e k i a h and his allies in the Philistine plain, sent a s u m m o n s to to

surrender,

threatening

a siege

his summons w e r e not heeded. declared

that

Yahweh

would

and

Jerusalem

destruction

In this crisis come

down

if

Isaiah

and

pro-

tect J e r u s a l e m and that the A s s y r i a n should be d e s t r o y e d (Isa., 3 1 : 5 , 8 ) .

T h e p r o p h e t could denounce unspir-

itual ritual ( 1 : 3 ) , but he r e a l l y did not yet see that the religion of Y a h w e h could live w i t h o u t a temple.

Some

sort o f external f o r m w a s necessary f o r the f a i t h ; some external d w e l l i n g n e c e s s a r y f o r Y a h w e h . T h e f a i t h of I s a i a h w a s signally justified.

Sennach-

erib h a d sent his m a i n a r m y to inflict punishment upon E g y p t , the strongest m e m b e r o f the coalition which h a d 1

T h i s v i e w p r e s u p p o s e s t h a t H e z e k i a h r e i g n e d l o n g e r than is u s u a l l y

s u p p o s e d , and that the r e i g n of the p e r i o d a s s i g n e d to it in

Manasseh w a s somewhat

shorter

than

King«.

I t is needless to s a y that not all interpreters concur in this v i e w . the w r i t e r it seems most r e a s o n a b l e .

To

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

io8

o p p o s e d him.

W h i l e on its w a y to E g y p t the a r m y w a s

a t t a c k e d by bubonic p l a g u e A s s y r i a n h a d to w i t h d r a w .

1

a n d so decimated that the J e r u s a l e m had e s c a p e d ; the

p r o p h e t i c w o r d w a s v i n d i c a t e d ; the p o w e r of the h a t e d c o n q u e r o r w a s curbed. T h e effect o f this e v e n t w a s f a r - r e a c h i n g .

Yahweh

h a d not p e r m i t t e d J u d a h to suffer the f a t e which twenty years before had overtaken Israel.

H e h a d shown, both

by the w o r d o f his p r o p h e t a n d by his destruction o f the A s s y r i a n s , that J e r u s a l e m w a s indeed his dwelling-place, a n d f r o m this time on J e r u s a l e m occupied a new place in the affections a n d f a i t h o f the J e w s .

T h e lapse of m o r e

than t w o h u n d r e d y e a r s h a d a l r e a d y s o f t e n e d the a v e r sion

caused

by

Solomon's

departures

from

orthodox

practices in the equipment of the temple, but until this time J e r u s a l e m h a d been but one o f the m a n y shrines o f Israel.

F r o m this time o n w a r d it w a s m o r e and m o r e

r e g a r d e d as the e a r t h l y h o m e o f Y a h w e h , and that sentiment g r e w w h i c h h a s m a d e it a s a c r e d city to J e w , C h r i s tian, and M o h a m m e d a n . I f w e a r e not m i s t a k e n , it w a s in connection w i t h the e v e n t s o f S e n n a c h e r i b ' s i n v a s i o n that I s a i a h uttered ano t h e r messianic p r o p h e c y , setting f o r t h the picture o f 1 T h i s seems the real ground of the statement of I I K i n g s 1 9 : 3 5 , that the " a n g e l of Y a h w e h smote the A s s y r i a n s " (cf. II Sam. 2 4 : i 6 f f . , and Acts 1 2 : 2 3 f o r the association of the " a n g e l " with sickness), and of Herodotus (Book I I , J 1 4 1 ) , that Sennacherib's camp w a s o v e r r u n at night by mice which ate up the bow-strings. Bubonic plague attacks rats and mice first and is by them spread to human beings. C f . G . A . Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Land, New York, 1895, pp 1 5 8 ff., and Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible in One Volume, p. 4 0 ^ a

THE

PROPHETS

OF T H E

the messianic kingdom 1-9.

1

EIGHTH

CENTURY

109

which now stands in I s a i a h 1 1 :

T h e foolishness of H e z e k i a h and the ruthlessness

of Sennacherib h a d turned the prophet's thoughts a g a i n to the ideal social state.

In his youth he h a d thought of

the Wonder-counsellor w h o should fight and conquer, w h o should make J u d a h g l o r i o u s ; now he thinks m o r e of the social nature of the k i n g d o m , and the ability of the M e s s i a h to secure justice a m o n g its citizens.

W i t h lan-

g u a g e of m a r v e l l o u s beauty and images of unsurpassed p o w e r he p o r t r a y s a time when the wanton passions of men shall be subdued to a higher l a w , the cruelty of man to m a n shall cease, when T h e y shall not harm nor destroy In all m y holy mountain, F o r the earth shall be f u l l of Y a h w e h ' s knowledge A s the w a t e r s cover the sea.

In this prophecy the social forces, the social conscience of the whole eighth century B.C. finds its highest expression, as well as the faith in Y a h w e h as a G o d of social righteousness which had animated each of the f o u r g r e a t prophets of this century. 1

T h e s e men, g i f t e d with re-

M a r t i and others, of course, assign this prophecy to the time a f t e r the exile. Though Duhm had granted it to Isaiah's old age, G r a y (Isaiah in the International Critical Commentary) holds that 1 1 : 1 implies the f a l l of the Davidic dynasty, the word translated " s t o c k " means " c u t t i n g " or " s t u m p . " T h e present writer has contended elsewhere ( J o u r n a l of Biblical Literature, X X X I I I , p. 73) that the Hebrew word used means " c u t t i n g " and the Palestinian custom of cutting off the limbs of a growing tree f o r fire-wood makes it an appropriate metaphor for a reigning dynasty, many of the members of which had died.

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

IIO

ligious insight b e y o n d t h e i r fellows a n d e n d o w e d w i t h a p o w e r of e x p r e s s i o n u n s u r p a s s e d in its reach, while comp r e h e n s i b l e by t h e m o s t u n t u t o r e d , h a d f o r e v e r m a d e it impossible f o r m e n , into whose h e a r t s t h e i r w o r d s s a n k , t o rest in t h e t h o u g h t t h a t religion could be d i v o r c e d f r o m ethics, o r t h a t G o d can e v e r be p l e a s e d w i t h t h e p r a i s e s of t h o s e in w h o s e h e a r t s is n o pity f o r the u n f o r t u n a t e p o o r o r w h o traffic in the l i f e - b l o o d of t h e i r fellow-men. T h e t e a c h i n g of t h e s e g r e a t p r o p h e t s b r o u g h t t o a head and crystallized

into definite f o r m t h e

protest

a g a i n s t the b a a l i z a t i o n of the religion of Y a h w e h w h i c h E l i j a h h a d first r a i s e d .

T h e causes of this p r o t e s t w e r e

in p a r t t h e a n t i p a t h y which p e o p l e usually feel t o religious p r a c t i c e s o t h e r t h a n t h e i r o w n , b u t o t h e r worthier

motives

were

present

also.

Canaanite

ligious c u s t o m s w e r e e m p h a t i c a l l y m o r e sensual

and rethan

those of t h e s i m p l e r n o m a d s , a n d a g a i n s t these sensual practices t h e a w a k e n e d conscience of the p r o p h e t s revolted.

W h a t cause t h e y h a d t o r e v o l t he only f u l l y

a p p r e c i a t e s w h o sees a h i g h place, like t h a t a t G e z e r , e x c a v a t e d a n d b e h o l d s t h e countless obscene

emblems

which w e r e o f f e r e d as v o t i v e t o k e n s t o the deities of f e r tility.

T h e w o n d e r is t h a t the t e a c h i n g even of m e n

like the g r e a t p r o p h e t s of I s r a e l e v e r l i f t e d a p e a s a n t r y , t o w h o m such sensual indulgence w a s religion, o u t of their slough. T h e prophets gained a hearing because with a higher sexual m o r a l i t y t h e y l i n k e d t h e cause of the p o o r w h o

T H E PROPHETS OF T H E EIGHTH C E N T U R Y

III

w e r e o p p r e s s e d by the rich. T h e p o o r m a n , t h e n as now, was r e a d y to listen to one w h o g a v e him practical help in the struggle f o r existence, even if the teaching t o which he listened c o n d e m n e d some c h e r i s h e d indulgence. Isaiah, h o w e v e r , seems to have realized t o w a r d the end of his c a r e e r t h a t if the h i g h e r life, of which he and his fellow-prophets h a d gained a vision, was ever to be lived by his fellow-countrymen, it must be embodied in some o u t w a r d f o r m which could not be confused with the w o r s h i p of the C a n a a n i t e Baals. As religion h a d been o r g a n i z e d f r o m the conquest to t h a t time, this was not the case. Y a h w e h was w o r s h i p p e d in n u m e r o u s high places, just as the Baals w e r e . The high places of Y a h w e h h a d been high places of the Baals b e f o r e they were his. H e was w o r s h i p p e d in many of t h e m by ceremonies which h a d crystallized long b e f o r e his name was k n o w n in the land. N o w o n d e r t h a t in the p o p u l a r mind t h e r e was little distinction between Y a h w e h and Baals, or between the m o r a l i t y d e m a n d e d by him and by t h e m . It is not surprising, t h e r e f o r e , t h a t we find H e z e k i a h , p r o b a b l y at I s a i a h ' s suggestion, m a k i n g an e f f o r t to give the w o r s h i p of Y a h w e h a f o r m of its own, which should m a k e it f o r ever distinct. T o this end he e n d e a v o u r e d to p u r i f y it of obscene emblems a n d to centralize its cult in J e r u s a l e m . Pillars a n d asheras, the old sexual symbols of deity, were placed under the ban, and an e n d e a v o u r was m a d e to suppress all shrines except the one on Zion (see I I

112

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

Kings 1 8 : 4 , 2 2 ) .

Such a r e f o r m w a s in a c c o r d w i t h

the d e c l a r a t i o n so o f t e n m a d e by the prophetic g r o u p , that

the

sacrifices

of

the p o p u l a r

high

places

were

r e a l l y t r a n s g r e s s i o n s a n d that Y a h w e h t o o k no d e l i g h t in them.

I t w a s a l s o in accord w i t h I s a i a h ' s conception

that Z i o n w a s n e c e s s a r y to the perpetuity o f the r e l i g i o n o f Y a h w e h ; it w a s his dwelling-place — the city w h i c h he loved. N o doubt in this e f f o r t at r e f o r m m a n y t i m e - h o n o u r e d superstitious customs a n d practices w e r e swept

away.

O n e of these w a s the w o r s h i p of a b r a z e n serpent Kings

18:4).

Serpent worship among early

w a s w i d e s p r e a d , if not u n i v e r s a l .

(II

peoples

T h e excavation

at

G e z e r has r e v e a l e d striking evidence o f its practice t h e r e d u r i n g the H e b r e w p e r i o d . 1

T h i s , with o t h e r s y m b o l s

which o b s c u r e d the ethical and spiritual Y a h w e h ,

was

swept away. O n the o t h e r h a n d , the r e f o r m w a s a recognition that the new and h i g h e r religious conceptions of a p e o p l e m u s t link t h e m s e l v e s w i t h the religious f o r m s o f past.

their

Y a h w e h h a d , a c c o r d i n g to p o p u l a r v i e w s , s h a r e d

a p p a r e n t l y by I s a i a h himself

(Is. 6 : 1

ff.),

long

had

d w e l l i n g s in their midst, o r at least places w h e r e

he

habitually m a n i f e s t e d h i m s e l f .

he

still h a d one.

A f t e r the r e f o r m ,

T h e ritual o f the J e r u s a l e m temple h a d

h a d a continuous existence of m o r e than t w o h u n d r e d y e a r s ; it r e p r e s e n t e d elements o f w o r s h i p inherited f r o m 1 See R. A. S. Macalister, Excavation of Gezer, II, 399, or Barton, Archaeology and the Bible, p. 171 and Fig. 219a.

THE

P R O P H E T S OF T H E

EIGHTH

Israel's remote Semitic ancestry. fied

and retained.

CENTURY

113

T h i s ritual was puri-

A p p a r e n t l y I s a i a h a n d h i s r o y a l co-

l a b o u r e r h o p e d that by this

reform

the conditions

p r o g r e s s h a d been met, a n d that the ideals which b e e n s o f o r c e f u l l y s e t f o r t h in t h e p r o p h e t i c

of had

preaching

o f h a l f a c e n t u r y w o u l d n o w b e e m b o d i e d in t h e r e l i g i o n a n d ethics of

a nation.

r e f o r m as t h i s ?

Was Judah

ready

f o r such

a

W e s h a l l s e e in t h e n e x t c h a p t e r .

TOPICS FOR FURTHER

STUDY

1. T h e Eighth Century in I s r a e l ; cf. G . A . Smith, The Book of the Tivelve Prophets, N e w Y o r k , 1896, ch. iii and J . M . P. Smith, The Prophets and Their Times, Chicago, 1 9 2 5 . 2. Amos, the M a n ch. vi. 3. Hosea, the M a n chapters xii and xiii; M'tcah, pp. 7 7 - 8 2 (in

and his W o r k ; cf. G . A . Smith,

Ibid,

and his W o r k ; cf. G . A . Smith, also J . M . P . Smith, Amos, Hosea, The Bible for Home and School).

Ibid, and

4. The Composition of the Book of Isaiah; cf. G . B . G r a y , Isaiah, pp. x x i x - l i x (in the International Critical Commentary). 5. The Campaigns of Sennacherib; cf. K . Fullerton in Bibliotheca Sacra, L X I I I , pp. 5 7 7 - 6 3 4 ; R . W . Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament, pp. 3 3 2 - 3 4 0 ; G . A . Barton, Archaeology and the Bible, Philadelphia, 1 9 1 6 , pp. 3 7 4 ff. 6. T h e Dating of Messianic P r o p h e c y ; cf. K . Fullerton in the Harvard Theological Revieic, V I . pp. 4 7 8 - 5 2 0 , G . A . Barton in the Journal of Biblical Literature. X X X I I I , pp. 6 8 74, and L . P. Smith, " T h e Messianic Ideal of Isaiah," Journal of Biblical Literature, X X X V I , 1 5 8 It.

CHAPTER

VII

DEUTERONOMY A N D JEREMIAH T h e Reaction under Manasseh — \ l i c a h 6 — T h e Deuteronomic L a w — Its Introduction as the L a w of the Land — T h e Y o u n g Jeremiah — Five New T r u t h s — H e a t h e n Deities non-Existent — Y a h w e h God of all Nations — Religion I n w a r d — Individual Responsibility — Ezekiel and Jeremiah.

W I T H t h e a c c e s s i o n o f M a n a s s e h , 6 9 6 B. c . , ary

sentiment

became

for

a time

supreme

reactionin

Judah.

T h e r e w e r e m a n y c a u s e s w h i c h c o n t r i b u t e d t o this e n d . H e z e k i a h h a d d e n i e d t o m a n y o f the s m a l l e r t o w n s o f the l a n d t h e r i g h t to w o r s h i p

in t h e i r a n c e s t r a l

high

p l a c e s a n d h a d m a d e an e f f o r t t o m a k e J e r u s a l e m o n l y l e g i t i m a t e p l a c e o f sacrifice.

This was

the

naturally

as m u c h r e s e n t e d b y the p e o p l e o f the p r o v i n c i a l cities as an e f f o r t t o c l o s e all c h u r c h e s in E n g l a n d central cathedral

in L o n d o n w o u l d a n g e r

tion o f the p r o v i n c e s .

except the

one

popula-

It was a movement which

im-

posed upon them g r e a t inconveniences and which struck heavy blows

at l o c a l p r i d e .

Each

city w a s

j e a l o u s o f t h e h o n o u r o f its o w n h i g h p l a c e .

naturally

In addition

t o this t h e r e f o r m d e m a n d e d t h a t the p e o p l e o f

outly-

ing towns should desist f r o m h o a r y religious practices. It required them to believe that religion w a s a matter o f the h e a r t t o a d e g r e e h i t h e r t o u n k n o w n , a n d t h a t sac114

D E U T E R O N O M Y AND J E R E M I A H

[ I$

rifice was a ceremony, to be participated in only on the r a r e occasions when they went to J e r u s a l e m .

Such a

religion the prophets o f the eighth century had indeed proclaimed,

but the majority o f

the population

had

never been seriously disposed to accept it. A n o t h e r strong reason f o r the reaction lay in the superstitious places.

veneration

From

of

the

people

time immemorial

for

their

these had been

high the

abodes o f Yahweh — the places where he was wont to manifest himself.

Semitic conceptions o f holiness led

the people to believe that a sort o f divine energy resided in the sacred soil o f these places.

I f they were pro-

faned or this energy were not propitiated, all sorts of disasters might be expected to overtake the neighbouring towns. Again,

there were powerful priesthoods

with these shrines. by the r e f o r m .

connected

T h e s e were thrown out o f business

W h e n their pockets were touched and

their livelihood endangered, we may be sure that they did their utmost to inflame the pride, religious reverence, and superstition of the people to the highest degree. M a n a s s e h , sympathizing with this numerous class o f his subjects, restored the high places, and gave the reactionaries the encouragement o f his royal protection.

A

tradition preserved in different f o r m s in different parts o f the T a l m u d declares that the prophet I s a i a h was put to death by him. Reactionary movements generally carry their adher-

n6

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

ents, not simply back to their original positions, but beyond them, and the reaction under Manasseh was no exception to the rule. W o r s h i p in J u d a h reverted to barbarous customs, once practised by all Semites, but which the H e b r e w s had, with a few notable exceptions, left behind them. T h e author of the Books of Kings tells us that the worship of Moloch, the god of the Ammonites, prevailed, and that the custom of sacrificing children to him was adopted. I f , however, we take the evidence afforded by J e r e m i a h and Ezekiel, it is clear that the worship r e f e r r e d to was not that of a foreign deity, but was worship of Yahweh under the title Melek, or king, and that the children were sacrificed to him. 1 In the reaction Yahweh had come in the popular mind to stand f o r some of the crassest and most barbarous of primitive religious ceremonies. Such f o r the time seemed to be the result of the preaching of the great prophets of the eighth century. In this dark time, however, the prophetic ideals did not die. H e r e and there f a i t h f u l souls cherished the vision which the teachers of the previous generation h a d enabled them to see. According to many scholars 2 it was at this period that a prophetic voice gave utterance to the ethical definition of religion which now stands in Micah 6 : 6 - 8 : 1

See the articles " M o l o c h " in the Encyclopedia Biblica, Vol. I l l , and the Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. V I I I ; the f o r m e r by G. F. Moore, the latter by the present writer. 2 Wellhausen and J. M . P . Smith, however, regard the passage as post-exilic.

DEUTERONOMY

AND J E R E M I A H

II7

W h e r e w i t h shall I come before Y a h w e h ? . . . Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, A n d the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? . . . Y e a , what does Y a h w e h seek f r o m thee, B u t to do justice and love kindness A n d to walk humbly with thy G o d ?

Such a statement gains g r e a t f o r c e , if uttered against a b a c k g r o u n d of altars reeking with human blood. Scholars are a g r e e d that it w a s at this period, when much active teaching was impossible, that a disciple of the eighth-century prophets, or a g r o u p of

disciples,

produced the kernel of the D e u t e r o n o m i c code, which consisted,

excepting

some

chaps 5 - 2 6 , and 2 8 : 1 - 4 6 .

later

additions,

of

Deut.,

T h i s code w a s in an im-

portant sense the B o o k of the C o v e n a n t ( E x o d . , chaps. 20-23)

revised and infused with the teachings of the

eighth-century prophets. A m o n g the many modifications which w e r e introduced the most drastic were those which demanded a r e f o r m identical with that which had been attempted in the reign of H e z e k i a h and had so signally f a i l e d .

The law

which had permitted a multiplicity of shrines

(Exod.

2 0 : 2 4 - 2 6 ) was t r a n s f o r m e d into a l a w which permitted but one ( D e u t . , chap. 1 2 ) .

P i l l a r s and A s h e r a s ,

which H o s e a had r e g a r d e d as the natural

accompani-

ments of a cult ( H o s . 3 : 4 ) , w e r e to be uprooted ( D e u t . 7 : 5 ) , and the social impurity f o s t e r e d in the name of religion was prohibited

(Deut.

23:17).

Many

cus-

toms of agricultural and social l i f e had m o v e d about

118

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

the local sanctuaries as centres; in the new code care w a s taken that the centralization of the ritual should not work too g r e a t inconvenience or hardship.

The

e a r s of slaves w h o elected perpetual s l a v e r y had been of old pierced against a post at the local (Exod. 2 1 : 6 ) .

sanctuary

L e s t it should be a hardship to m a k e

a journey to a distant city, it w a s now p r o v i d e d that it could be done against the door-post of the house (Deut.

15: 17).

Formerly

the local altar had

been

the sanctuary at which one w h o accidentally killed another could find r e f u g e f r o m the primitive law of b l o o d revenge ( E x o d . 2 1 : 1 2 - 1 4 ) .

F o r such a man to h a v e

to flee to the altar in distant J e r u s a l e m might, in a l a n d w h e r e many were not M a r a t h o n racers, rob him of his one chance of life.

T h r e e cities of

refuge were

ac-

cordingly established to take o v e r this function of the local shrines

(Deut.

19:3-7).

In p r o v i d i n g f o r the

f e a s t s this code is m o r e definite than the older requirements of J and E .

T h e y h a d simply required three

feasts, stating that one of them should be held in the month A b i b .

D e u t e r o n o m y gives m o r e definite dates

f o r the celebration of the other two festivals

(Deut.

chap. 1 6 ) . One finds a m o r e humanitarian spirit in the code of D e u t e r o n o m y than in the B o o k of the Covenant.

The

w o r k of the eighth-century prophets h a d borne f r u i t , and greater provision w a s m a d e f o r the needs of the p o o r and the unfortunate.

F o r example, a slave who,

at the appointed y e a r chooses his f r e e d o m , is not as in

DEUTERONOMY AND J E R E M I A H

119

the older code, sent a w a y empty ( E x o d . 2 1 : 4 - 6 ) , but is to be given some provision with which to m a k e a new start in l i f e ( D e u t . 1 5 : 1 3 - 1 5 ) . and

even

of

animals,

(Deut. 5 : 1 3 - 1 5 ;

are

25:4).

T h e needs of slaves,

thoughtfully

considered

W h i l e this code was,

we

believe, f o r m u l a t e d in the d a r k reign of M a n a s s e h , the time to p r o m u l g a t e it h a d not come.

The

prophetic

party must wait. T h e long reign of M a n a s s e h passed at last, A m o n ruled but two y e a r s , and then the boy J o s i a h came to the throne.

A s he g r e w to m a n h o o d the advocates of

purer religion discerned in him a kindred spirit, and when in his eighteenth y e a r a r o y a l o r d e r w a s

given

f o r the repair of the temple, the propitious time f o r ref o r m was thought to h a v e come.

T h e new law w a s

" found " there and r e a d to the king. greatly shocked.

T h e king w a s

I f this was really the law of

Moses

the nation was indeed in a sorry state, f o r it had never been observed. criticism

had

T h e days of p a l e o g r a p h y and of higher not

then

dawned.

Desiring

to

know

whether the new l a w w a s really the L a w of M o s e s , J o siah resorted to a religious test; he submitted it to an aged prophetess named H u l d a h .

She declared it to be

the genuine l a w ; it met her views of what the original requirements of the M o s a i c code should h a v e been, f o r it was designed to meet the needs of the religious situation of the hour as she understood them.

Accepting

this prophetic witness as to the character of the law, J o s i a h set himself to c a r r y it into effect, and a g r e a t

120

THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL

religious r e f o r m was undertaken similar to that attempted in the preceding century ( I I Kings, chaps. 22, 23)It has been frequently said by those unwilling to accept the results of modern critical study, that if this is the true account of the origin and introduction of Deuteronomy the prophetic party was guilty of fraud, and, if guilty of fraud, the book would be unworthy to f o r m a part of divine revelation. T h i s is not, however, a valid objection. Ethics as well as revelation has been progressive, and it is unfair to judge ancient men by standards which have become ruling ideals only since they died. T h e conduct of those who secured the introduction of Deuteronomy was quite in accord with the best conscience of that age. N o man of that time stood nearer to the ideal standard than J e r e m i a h ; no man in the whole pre-Christian period carried revelation f o r w a r d by greater strides than he. Nevertheless Jeremiah, at the instigation of King Zedekiah, once took a course not in accord with the highest ethics ( J e r . 38:14-27). Five years before the finding of the law Jeremiah, then a very young man, had begun to prophesy. During the early years of his prophetic activity a great terror hung over the land. Assyria was rapidly declining in power, but hordes of barbarians were streaming along the Philistine lowlands and threatening to overrun the land; Herodotus calls them Scythians. Pouring into Asia from what is now southern Russia, they

DEUTERONOMY AND J E R E M I A H

121

h a d half a century b e f o r e this overrun l a r g e tracts to the south of the B l a c k S e a ; now they m o v e d southward to the borders of E g y p t

(Herodotus

i,

105).

The

earlier prophecies of J e r e m i a h are filled with gloomy f o r e b o d i n g s of a disaster which is coming f r o m the north, and it is probable that these Scythians were in his thoughts to be the agents of this catastrophe.

The

little book of Z e p h a n i a h , which is f r o m beginning to end a g l o o m y prediction of woe, was p r o b a b l y written under the shadow of the coming of this horde.

Per-

haps it w a s f e a r that Y a h w e h was thus about to bring chastisement upon the land f o r not h a v i n g

observed

his law that led J o s i a h so readily to inaugurate his ref o r m when the law book was discovered. The

accomplishment of the r e f o r m undertaken

J o s i a h w a s no less difficult than it had been y e a r s b e f o r e when undertaken by H e z e k i a h .

by

eighty

T h e same

forces of personal convenience, religious reverence, superstition, and self-interest that had then d e f e a t e d it w e r e a r r a y e d against it now, and y e a r s of

strenuous

labour on the part of the prophetic p a r t y w e r e necessary to secure its observance.

Into this w o r k the

young

J e r e m i a h threw himself with ardour, and the notes of the sermons of this period which the book of his prophecies contains have f o r their theme the various aspects of this struggle. Just

a f t e r the death

of

Assurbanipal

(626

B.C.)

B a b y l o n had, under a C h a l d e a n dynasty, gained her independence.

A s s y r i a during the next twenty years rap-

122

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

idly declined to her fall. T h e twenty-sixth dynasty, established now on the throne of E g y p t , was ambitious to rebuild again E g y p t ' s empire in Asia. Thus it came about that in the year 608 Necho marched into Asia with an invading army. Josiah, apparently thinking that the time was propitious to restore the empire of his great ancestor, D a v i d , met Necho at Megiddo in battle, but was defeated and killed. T h i s is not the place to recount the political events which followed. How Necho f o r four years made Judah a vassal of Egypt, how he was then defeated by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, how J u d a h passed under Babylonian control, how certain prophets and others continually sought by the aid of E g y p t to sever the bonds which bound J u d a h to Babylon, how J e r e m i a h continually opposed these, declaring that it was Yahweh's will that his land should remain under Babylonian protection, how Jehoiakim and Zedekiah disregarded Jeremiah's teaching and brought on the captivities of 597 and 586, culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem, and how Jeremiah heroically suffered during all this time, are matters of common knowledge. Jeremiah during his ministry advanced the religious conception of his people in several respects. H e revived the main features of the teaching of Hosea, dwelling as H o s e a had done on the love of Y a h w e h and interpreting the covenant between Y a h w e h and Israel as a covenant of marriage. In tenderness and depth of feeling he surpasses all his predecessors except

DEUTERONOMY AND JEREMIAH Hosea.

123

A s the tragic events through which he lived

drove J e r e m i a h to seek anew the foundation of life, he gained new light on five important points,

advancing

in as many particulars the progress of revelation. J e r e m i a h was the first H e b r e w known to us w h o reached a theoretical monotheism.

Others, as we have

seen, had been practical monotheists, but it remained f o r J e r e m i a h to declare that the gods of the heathen were vanities — mere figments of the imagination 15;

(10:

14:22).

T h e second point in which J e r e m i a h advanced the thought of his people was the declaration that Y a h w e h was willing to become the G o d of the nations as well as the G o d of the J e w s — that he would welcome the repentant heathen to his worship ( 1 6 : 1 7 - 2 1 ) .

Since

the recognition of this fact w a s necessary to the establishment of a religion that should be in any sense universal, this was a long step f o r w a r d . T h e third important point in J e r e m i a h ' s teaching is his conception of the inwardness of religion.

T o the

prophets of the eighth century, religion was ethical; to J e r e m i a h it was an experience of the heart.

T o him

the real covenant w a s not that at H o r e b written upon tables of stone, but a covenant written upon the heart within; not a law imposed upon the heart f r o m without, but such an experience of Y a h w e h in the inner man that one does right f r o m the impulses which spring f r o m the soul

(31:31-34).

Such was J e r e m i a h ' s

tion of the religion of the future.

concep-

T h e seer who could

124

T H E

RELIGION OF ISRAEL

t a k e that step in religious t h o u g h t w a s surely one o f the g r e a t e s t o f the p r o p h e t s . B e c a u s e J e r e m i a h r e g a r d e d r e l i g i o n as a c h a n g e of h e a r t r a t h e r than an o u t w a r d institution the

mainte-

nance o f the ritual became to him a s e c o n d a r y consideration.

I s a i a h h a d b e l i e v e d that the existence of

t e m p l e w a s v i t a l to the religion o f Y a h w e h ,

the

and the

d e c i m a t i o n o f Sennacherib's a r m y h a d v i n d i c a t e d this faith.

S o f a r as we can see, the destruction of

the

t e m p l e in I s a i a h ' s time w o u l d h a v e been disastrous to the H e b r e w religion.

Such a f a i t h in the security of

the temple m i g h t , h o w e v e r , l e a d to an over-confidence w h i c h w o u l d produce unethical results.

M o r e o v e r the

M o s a i c c o v e n a n t w a s now i n t e r p r e t e d in a code which r e q u i r e d the g r e a t e r p a r t of the p e o p l e to dispense with sacrifice d u r i n g the g r e a t e r p a r t

of

the y e a r .

Jere-

m i a h , conceiving religion as in its essence i n w a r d , w a s able, t h e r e f o r e , to d e c l a r e that if the p e o p l e sinned the t e m p l e w o u l d be d e s t r o y e d , and the event justified his belief.

D e a r l y as he l o v e d the t e m p l e he could see it

p e r i s h w i t h o u t losing his f a i t h in Y a h w e h ' s presence and power. Jeremiah's

other

great

contribution

t h o u g h t w a s his assertion of i n d i v i d u a l

to

religious

responsibility.

A m o n g the H e b r e w s , as a m o n g o t h e r e a r l y Semites, the f a m i l y o r clan h a d been r e g a r d e d as the m o r a l unit. N o t only h a d A c h a n , f o r e x a m p l e , been put to death f o r his sin, but his w h o l e house and even his cattle ( J o s h . 7: 22-25).

N o v e r y h i g h type o f ethical o r religious

DEUTERONOMY AND J E R E M I A H

125

l i f e was possible until the individual w a s r e g a r d e d as the m o r a l unit, and it is to the credit of J e r e m i a h that he led in asserting this fundamental truth ( 3 1 : 2 5 , 3 0 ) . In the y e a r 5 9 2 E z e k i e l , a young priest, w h o h a d been c a r r i e d captive to B a b y l o n i a five y e a r s previously, began to prophesy, and it is one of the distinguishing f e a tures of his w o r k that he too championed the new doctrine of individualism

( E z e k . chap.

18).

I n d e e d he

gives it a reasoned f o r m and a detailed explanation such as the writings of J e r e m i a h , its enunciator, h a v e not preserved. D u r i n g the last six y e a r s b e f o r e the f a l l of salem, E z e k i e l

in Babylonia

w o r k of J e r e m i a h .

was

ably seconding

Jeruthe

T h e first twenty-four chapters of

his book come f r o m this period.

It would seem that

frequent messengers went back and f o r t h between J e r u salem and Babylonia so that E z e k i e l knew what was occurring in J e r u s a l e m , and his prophecies w e r e known there.

W e learn f r o m his book that the Deuteronomic

r e f o r m and the l o f t y thoughts of J e r e m i a h touched the hearts of

all.

Women

still

had not

worshipped

T a m m u z and men worshipped the sun and did h o m a g e to all sorts of animal totems, such as in primitive days their Semitic ancestors h a d thought to be an embodiment of their gods. N o nation moves f o r w a r d in even ranks and J u d a h was

no exception to the

might f r a m e laws

rule.

Prophetic

f o r the elevation of

reformers

religion,

and

g r e a t s o u l j might carry its thoughts f o r w a r d to glorious

126

T H E RELIGION OF I S R A E L

h e i g h t s , but a m o n g the rank, a n d file custom a n d s u p e r stition m u s t b e s l o w l y o u t g r o w n .

T h e heights h a v e no

a t t r a c t i o n f o r m a n y a n d to b r e a k w i t h the p a s t s e e m s d a n g e r o u s , so t h e y inertly p e r p e t u a t e o u t g r o w n c u s t o m s , which have become meaningless.

Y e t the f u t u r e

lay

w i t h the t y p e o f r e l i g i o n w h i c h the g r e a t s o u l of J e r e m i a h h a d d i s c e r n e d , w h i c h he h a d so p o w e r f u l l y t a u g h t , a n d f o r w h i c h t h r o u g h so m a n y y e a r s he h a d s u f f e r e d .

TOPICS FOR FURTHER

STUDY

1 . T h e Reaction under Manasseh; cf. " Molech " in the Encyclopaedia Biblica and " Moloch " in the Jewish Encyclopedia. 2. T h e problem of Deuteronomy; cf. " Deuteronomy " in the Encyclopaedia Biblica. 3. A Comparison of Deuteronomy with the Book of the Covenant: compare E x . 2 0 : 2 4 - 2 3 : 1 9 with Deut. 1 2 - 2 6 section by section using a reference Bible and a concordance as an aid in finding the parallel portions. 4. T h e L i f e and W o r k of Jeremiah; cf. H. P. Smith, The Religion of Israel, Chapter 9 and Cornill, The Prophets of Israel, Chicago, 1897. 5. T h e Structure of the Book of Jeremiah; cf. S. R. Driver, Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, 9th ed. ch. iv, or Cornill, Introduction to the Canonical Books of the Old Testament, pp. 2 9 5 - 3 1 1 .

CHAPTER THE

EXILE

Ezekiel

both

AND

Priest

THE

and

REORGANIZED

Prophet — Ezekiel

tinct

Class — Cyrus — T h e

teach

Yahweh

ple— The

Vili

Second

proposed

Levites

to W o r l d — Z e r u b b a b e l — R e b u i l d i n g

Third

Isaiah — T h e

who,

as

a

Code

prophet

e f f i c i e n t l y a i d e d the w o r k

of

STATE

Isaiah — Israel's

Document — N e h e r a i a h — I n t r o d u c t i o n

EZEKIEL,

JEWISH

of of

in

as

of

the

Holiness — T h e the

Priestly

to

Tem-

Priestly

Law.

Babylonia,

Jeremiah

Dis-

Mission

during

had

so

the

six

y e a r s i m m e d i a t e l y p r e c e d i n g t h e f a l l o f J e r u s a l e m , cont i n u e d his p r o p h e t i c w o r k a m o n g the c a p t i v e s f o r m o r e than

fifteen

city.

B e f o r e t h e close o f his l i f e he d r e w u p a p l a n f o r

years

a f t e r the destruction

of

his

native

the r e o r g a n i z a t i o n of the p o l i t i c a l a n d r e l i g i o u s p o l i t y of h i s p e o p l e , w h e n t h e i r i n s t i t u t i o n s s h o u l d be a g a i n tablished

in t h e i r o w n

land.

This

plan,

thrown

the f o r m of visions, now occupies chaps. 4 0 - 4 8

esinto

of

the

book of Ezekiel. In E z e k i e l t w o s t r e a m s of influence, once tic to e a c h o t h e r , m e t a n d w e r e r e c o n c i l e d . birth a priest and by calling a prophet.

antagonisH e was by

The

traditions

o f the p r i e s t h o o d w e r e d e a r to h i m on a c c o u n t o f association and personal participation; spiritual aspirations of the prophets

the m o r a l

fired

c o m m a n d e d the d e v o t i o n o f his p o w e r s .

his s o u l He

early and and

therefore

u n d e r t o o k to shape the ritual of the p r i e s t h o o d so that 127

128

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

it s h o u l d b e c o m e an instrument

f o r the

a n d e x p r e s s i o n o f the p r o p h e t i c ideals.

preservation In this u n d e r -

t a k i n g he w a s but c a r r y i n g on the w o r k of the D e u t e r onomist,

f o r , as p r e v i o u s l y

p o i n t e d out, the

Deuter-

onomic code w a s a f u s i o n of ritual with prophetic i d e a l s . In this brief sketch we can notice but one aspect of E z e k i e l ' s w o r k , but it is the p a r t of it which m o s t p r o f o u n d l y a f f e c t e d the institutions of J u d a i s m .

In

t e r o n o m y priests a n d L e v i t e s w e r e synonymous

Deuterms;

e v e r y L e v i t e w a s a potential p r i e s t (see e.g., D e u t . 1-5).

T h i s E z e k i e l changed.

18:

H e tells us ( 4 4 : 8 - 1 4 )

t h a t in f o r m e r times the m e n i a l w o r k of the s a n c t u a r y , such as k e e p i n g the g a t e s a n d s l a y i n g the sacrifices, h a d been p e r f o r m e d by f o r e i g n e r s .

In the f u t u r e he de-

clares that this shall not be d o n e , but those L e v i t e s w h o f o r m e r l y officiated as priests in the high places

shall

be d e p o s e d f r o m their p r i e s t h o o d and shall in f u t u r e be d e g r a d e d to this m e n i a l service.

T h u s Ezekiel created

a new class o f temple s e r v a n t s by creating this distinction between priests and L e v i t e s .

I t is a distinction un-

k n o w n to the e a r l i e r religion, but e v e r y w h e r e a s s u m e d in the p r i e s t l y l a w s .

A l l these l a w s are,

accordingly,

l a t e r than E z e k i e l . A f t e r the d e a t h o f E z e k i e l the B a b y l o n i a n gradually

waned.

About

550

B.C.

C y r u s the

empire Great

o v e r t h r e w the e m p i r e o f the M e d e s and l a i d the f o u n d a t i o n s o f the P e r s i a n e m p i r e .

T h e succeeding y e a r s

w e r e occupied by his b r i l l i a n t conquests, o f w h i c h the o v e r t h r o w o f C r o e s u s , k i n g o f L y d i a , in 5 4 6 B.C. w a s

129

T H E REORGANIZED J E W I S H STATE but one.

T h e s e brilliant achievements of the new con-

queror w e r e known to the H e b r e w captives in B a b y l o n , among w h o m a new prophet now arose. this prophet has been lost.

T h e name of

Scholars call him the " sec-

ond I s a i a h , " because in the course of the centuries his book was bound up with the w o r k of I s a i a h , the son of A m o z , and now f o r m s chaps. 4 0 - 5 5 of our B o o k of Isaiah. T h i s nameless prophet, one of the w o r l d ' s greatest, w a s an exponent of the monotheistic f a i t h of his prophetic predecessors.

H e f o r e s a w that C y r u s , who w a s

e v e r y w h e r e so irresistible, would conquer B a b y l o n , and with that magnificent f a i t h which sees the m a n i f e s t a tions of a living G o d in the events of

contemporary

history he declared that C y r u s w a s Y a h w e h ' s creature, and that it was f o r Y a h w e h and f o r Y a h w e h ' s people, Israel, that Cyrus w a s winning his victories.

When

Babylon fell into his hands, and perhaps even b e f o r e , C y r u s issued an edict permitting all captive peoples to return to their lands and rebuild their institutions.

This

was a r e v e r s a l of a policy pursued by A s s y r i a n s Babylonians

f o r two hundred years.

These

and

powers

had torn nations to shreds to prevent rebellion; C y r u s p r o p o s e d to bind the people to him by kindness gratitude.

and

F o r e s e e i n g that through the victory of Cy-

rus this opportunity f o r I s r a e l to return to her land would come, our g r e a t prophet devoted his sermons delivered b e f o r e the f a l l of Babylon in the y e a r 5 3 8 (/. e., Isa., chaps. 4 0 - 4 8 )

to an endeavour to create in his

130

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

fellow-captives in Babylonia an enthusiasm to return and rebuild their state, when the opportunity come.

should

A s the captives, many of whom w e r e engaged

in prosperous business in Babylonia, did not avail themselves of this privilege when C y r u s triumphed in 5 3 8 B. c., a second series of addresses ( I s a . , chaps. 4 9 - 5 5 ) , still further setting b e f o r e them their opportunities and obligations, f o l l o w e d . T h e great contribution of this prophet to Israel's religious

thought

consists of

the new

interpretation

which he g a v e to Y a h w e h ' s choice of Israel, to Israel's mission, and to I s r a e l ' s sufferings. w a s in brief this:

H i s interpretation

Y a h w e h had chosen Israel to be his

interpreter to the world.

Israel's election w a s accord-

ingly an election to service, not an election f o r his own aggrandizement and glorification.

H i s mission was to

be Y a h w e h ' s missionary to the world, and his sufferings w e r e a part of the appointed means by which he should m a k e Y a h w e h known to the nations.

H e graphically

represented Israel as Y a h w e h ' s servant; sometimes he w a s an u n f a i t h f u l servant, dull of understanding and w a y w a r d of heart ( I s a . , 4 3 : 2 2 - 2 4 ) , but at times, the chosen servant ( 4 1 : 8 - 9 ) , upheld by Y a h w e h to brin;; justice to the gentiles ( 4 2 : 2 - 4 ; 4 9 : 1 - 4 ) , who heroically endured the insults showered upon him ( 5 0 : 4 - 9 ) . Finally, kings stand in astonishment at the servant's a w f u l fate, and wonder why it should be ( 5 2 : 1 5 ) when they become conscious that his sufferings were f o r their

T H E REORGANIZED J E W I S H STATE (53: 4-6).1

salvation

131

T h i s interpretation of

Israel's

career reveals the p r o p h e t ' s p r o f o u n d insight into the nature of G o d , man, and l i f e ; the agony of the best becomes intelligible when its vicarious value is understood. T h i s view g a v e the mission of I s r a e l a m o r a l significance and a spiritual purpose which transfigured it. Indeed the prophet h a d conceived an ideal f o r the nation that a nation could never fulfil.

It

remained

f o r J e s u s of N a z a r e t h , the ideal Israelite, to take up in his person and experience the w o r k which the p r o p h e t h a d conceived as possible f o r the nation, and to m a k e the idea real. T h e privileges g r a n t e d by C y r u s had no immediate effect upon the fortunes of J e r u s a l e m .

A g o v e r n o r of

the seed of D a v i d , Z e r u b b a b e l , whose name betrays his B a b y l o n i a n birth, became ruler of J e r u s a l e m , but the opportunities of gain which Babylonia offered p r o v e d to the majority of J e w s f a r more attractive than the b a r r e n soil of J u d a e a .

I t thus came about that in the

y e a r 5 2 0 B.C., nearly a score of years later, the condition of

Jerusalem

h a d not changed.

Its

population

w a s still the peasantry, w h o had never been carried to B a b y l o n i a ; its temple and walls w e r e still in ruins. 2 1

Many

i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of

the " s e r v a n t p a s s a g e s "

t e r t a i n e d by d i f f e r e n t s c h o l a r s . literature.

The

writer

has g i v e n

his o w n

s p a c e m a k e s the discussion of o t h e r v i e w s 2

This

is the v i e w

presented in

and

Zechariah.

Scholars

late

account

Ezra.

in

in

Isaiah are

T h e s e h a v e g i v e n rise to an

rightly

view

above,

and

en-

extensive lack

of

impossible.

the c o n t e m p o r a r y

prophets,

g i v e these c r e d e n c e

rather

Haggai than

the

132

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

Just at this time a drought occurred. In Palestine an insufficient rainfall always causes a famine. A s in the days of D a v i d ( I I Sam. 2 1 : 1 — 1 4 ) , men sought to understand why Y a h w e h had withheld his rain. Haggai, who now began to prophesy, declared that Y a h w e h was by this famine inflicting punishment upon his people f o r not rebuilding the temple. Another new prophet, Zechariah, appeared and enforced the same teaching. T h e i r words were taken to heart; the people began to build. W h e n the rainy season came around, copious showers fell, and all were satisfied that the prophets had rightly divined the cause of Yahweh's anger. T h e building went steadily forward, and two years later the temple was completed. Its splendour was f a r inferior to that of the former building, but it was nevertheless a " house " f o r Yahweh. During this work the colony of J e w s in Babylonia, which was f o r many centuries known as the " Captivity," began to exert its great influence in Palestinian affairs. T h e y sent some gold and silver from which crowns were to be made (Zech. 6 : 9 ff.). A s the text now reads, these crowns were to be set on the head of Joshua, the high priest, but many scholars believe that originally the text contained here the name of Zerubbabel. T h e r e were widespread revolts throughout the Persian empire during the first six years of the reign of Darius I. Babylon revolted twice, as did Susiana. M e d i a and many other provinces attempted to gain their independence. E v e n his native Persia revolted

T H E REORGANIZED J E W I S H STATE once.

133

In the disturbed state of the empire, it is prob-

able that the J e w s thought their time h a d come, and, hoping that Zerubbabel might p r o v e a M e s s i a h , strove in vain to regain independence. A f t e r the rebuilding of the temple, historical sources f a i l us f o r more than seventy y e a r s .

P r o b a b l y it w a s

during this period that that p r o p h e t arose whose w o r k now constitutes Isa., chaps. 5 6 - 6 6 .

He

endeavoured

to keep alive in Palestine the ideals f o r which the second Isaiah had so eloquently pleaded in B a b y l o n i a . graphically portrayed

the g l o r y

which

He

awaited

Zion

( e . g . , chap. 6 0 ) , and e n d e a v o u r e d to keep b e f o r e the minds of his countrymen their g r e a t mission as the servant of Y a h w e h as this mission had been explained by the second Isaiah

(see 6 1 : 1 - 4 ;

62: 1).

His

words

show that in at least one soul the highest ideals were still aflame, although the realization of them

seemed

f a r t h e r a w a y than ever. Incidentally we learn f r o m this prophet that some of the people had not yet been touched by the prophetic conception of religion.

H e r e and there men were still

f o u n d w h o sought relief f r o m the h a r d f o r t u n e s of l i f e in sacrificing unclean 65: 1 1 ;

animals

to

heathen

gods

(cf.

66:3-4).

M e a n t i m e the influences set in motion by w e r e at w o r k in other minds.

Ezekiel

T h e so-called " H o l i n e s s

C o d e , " compiled at some time b e f o r e 5 0 0 B. C., and per]

M a n y s c h o l a r s hold that this c o d e w a s e a r l i e r t h a n E z e k i e l a n d t h a t

E z e k i e l w a s influenced by it.

T h a t t h e r e is a d i r e c t l i t e r a r y connection

134

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

haps as early as the second Isaiah, by a writer whose name is now lost to us, though here and there interpolated by later material, now forms the main part of Lev., chaps. 1 7 - 2 6 . L i k e Ezekiel, this writer was devoted at once to the prophetic and priestly ideals. Nowhere else in the Old Testament is the thought that Yahweh is holy, and that, therefore, his people must be holy, insisted upon with so much emphasis. H e compiled a code of laws, many of which represented practices much older than his time, the main purpose of which was to preserve the holiness of Israel. Holiness, as here conceived, was, as among the early Semites, partly a physical condition, but nevertheless there breathes through his work a lofty and passionate devotion to prophetic ideals, which links his work to Deuteronomy and to that of Ezekiel. A little later, but before 4 5 0 B. c., another writer compiled the main body of priestly laws in the Pentateuch. T o give his laws a literary setting he composed an account of the creation of the world, of the fortunes of the patriarchs, and of the exodus, of the covenant at Sinai, and of the conquest of Palestine. This writer carried the regulation of the ritual of worship into much greater detail than previous codifiers had done, though he, also, in many instances, between the two, is acknowledged by all. T o the mind of the present w r i t e r the decisive evidence f o r the date given above is the f u l l experience of exile and the promise of return expressed in L e v . 2 6 : 2 7 - 4 5 . T h o s e w h o claim an earlier date f o r the w r i t e r of the code r e g a r d »6: 30, 34 f., 39-45 as later interpolations, but there seems no sufficient w a r r a n t f o r this.

T H E REORGANIZED J E W I S H STATE

135

did no m o r e than g i v e l i t e r a r y e x p r e s s i o n to m a n y o l d e r practices.

B y m e a n s of the l i t e r a r y setting t h a t he g a v e

the w h o l e it w a s m a d e to a p p e a r that m a n y of the institutions

which

primeval.

The

the

priesthood

Sabbath

considered

vital

w a s t r a c e d b a c k to

( G e n . 2 : 1 - 3 ) , circumcision, to A b r a h a m

were

creation

(Gen., chap.

1 7 ) , and the distinction between p r i e s t s a n d L e v i t e s , to Moses (Num. 3 : 5 - 2 1

ff.).

T h e religious a t m o s p h e r e of this p r i e s t l y is v e r y different f r o m that of the p r o p h e t i c

document writings.

Its a u t h o r w a s , it is true, a d e v o u t m o n o t h e i s t , but he a p p a r e n t l y h a d no conception that G o d still communicated with men.

In his thought G o d w a s a v e r y e x a l t e d

B e i n g , all created things came into existence in simple obedience to G o d ' s w o r d — but G o d w a s v e r y r e m o t e . G o d h a d once spoken to M o s e s — h o w , we a r e not told — and had given to M o s e s the l a w s .

N o w the nation

could k n o w G o d only by o b e y i n g the l a w s thus divinely given.

In this code monotheism h a d t r i u m p h e d , but it

h a d lost its w a r m t h .

T h e p r o p h e t i c sense of

familiar

communication with Y a h w e h , with all the inspiring experiences which that i n v o l v e d , h a d g i v e n place to unimp a s s i o n e d obedience to the c o m m a n d s o f a far-off G o d , w h o once held c o m m u n i o n with an especially

favoured

man. In the y e a r 4 4 4 B. C., N e h e m i a h , a w e a l t h y y o u n g H e b r e w w h o w a s acting as a c u p b e a r e r to A r t a x e r x e s I of P e r s i a , obtained a p p o i n t m e n t to the g o v e r n o r s h i p J e r u s a l e m , with p e r m i s s i o n to rebuild the w a l l s .

of The

136

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

s t o r y of

the e n e r g e t i c w a y in w h i c h he

accomplished

this, c o n t a i n e d in N e h . , chaps. 1 - 7 , is no doubt f a m i l i a r to every reader.

A s the text of N e h . 8 - 1 0 n o w stands,

it a p p e a r s t h a t at the F e a s t of T a b e r n a c l e s in O c t o b e r o f that y e a r a g r e a t concourse of p e o p l e g a t h e r e d bef o r e the w a t e r g a t e in J e r u s a l e m , a n d E z r a , w h o is said to h a v e b r o u g h t the b o o k of the l a w f r o m

Babylon,

r e a d the l a w to the a s s e m b l e d multitudes, and b e f o r e the m o n t h w a s o v e r they h a d bound t h e m s e l v e s to k e e p it.

Several

scholars

have

in recent y e a r s

expressed

d o u b t s o f the h i s t o r i c a l c h a r a c t e r of this r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , a n d o t h e r s , w h o find in it an historical k e r n e l a r e inc l i n e d to think that it is here p l a c e d at t o o e a r l y a time. T h i s last v i e w the w r i t e r shares.

T h e r e is much r e a s o n

to believe that the mission o f E z r a w a s l a t e r than that so late that N e h e m i a h

had

p a s s e d a w a y b e f o r e E z r a came f r o m B a b y l o n i a . 1

of

Nehemiah — perhaps

On

the other hand, t h e r e is evidence t h a t the priestly l a w h a d been introduced into J e r u s a l e m b e f o r e 4 1 9 B. c., f o r in that y e a r a letter w a s sent to the c o l o n y of J e w s at E l e p h a n t i n e Passover

in

priestly law.

in E g y p t , directing t h e m to keep

accordance

with

the

provisions

of

the the

I t is, in the w r i t e r ' s j u d g m e n t , p r o b a b l e

1 See Batten, Ezra and Nehemiah in the International Critical Commentary, p. 28 f., though the view set forth by Professor Batten does Dot altogether commend itself. 2 See Sachau, Aramäische Papyrus und Ostraka aus einer jüdischen Militär-Kolonie zu Elephantine, Leipzig, 1 9 1 1 , No. 6; also Arnold in Journal of Biblical Literature, X X X I , p. 1 f., and the writer in Journal of Biblical Literature, X X X I I , p. 256 f., and G. A . Barton, Archaeology and the Bible, Philadelphia, 1916, Part II, ch. xix, § 2.

THE REORGANIZED J E W I S H STATE

137

that this law was introduced in 4 3 2 B. C., when N e h e miah came back as g o v e r n o r the second time.

When-

ever it was introduced, it would be natural that such an assembly as that described here should be called together to hear the law.

E v e n if the compiler of Nehe-

miah has confused its details and dated it incorrectly, it probably represents a kernel of historical fact. T h e law to which the people thus committed themselves certainly included the priestly code 8 : 1 4 with L e v . 2 3 : 3 3 f . ) .

(cf.

Neh.

P r o b a b l y that code had

already been combined with the earlier documents substantially as we now find them in our Pentateuch, f o r otherwise it could not have displaced the older legislation.

T h i s combination was made so skilfully that the

priestly laws seemed naturally to be the heart of the whole and the basis of the covenant with Y a h w e h at Horeb.

T o the superficial reader of the Pentateuch

this still seems to be the case. T h e introduction of the priestly legislation brought into

Jewish

life

a puritanic

spirit.

Nehemiah

and

E z r a , who directed the movement, were ardent exponents of this spirit.

In the language of the priestly

laws, Israel was a " holy congregation."

Nehemiah

and E z r a determined that the nation should merit the name.

In their view this could not be if H e b r e w s were

not of pure blood, or if they associated closely with f o r eigners.

T h e y accordingly compelled those who had

m a r r i e d foreign wives to put them away. T h i s movement to p u r i f y the " congregation " of all

I38

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

f o r e i g n elements led to a schism.

A t S a m a r i a there h a d

existed f o r almost three hundred y e a r s a g r o u p of people w h o were anxious to be r e g a r d e d as r i g h t f u l w o r shippers of Y a h w e h .

A p a r t of their ancestry had been

brought f r o m eastern countries b y S a r g o n of

Assyria

( I I K i n g s 1 7 : 2 4 - 3 4 ) , but these h a d at an early date embraced the w o r s h i p of the G o d o f Israel.

These for-

eigners h a d i n t e r m a r r i e d with the Israelite w h o m S a r g o n l e f t behind.

peasantry

In reality their descendants

w e r e of as pure a H e b r e w stock as many a J u d a e a n , although, u n f o r t u n a t e l y , the c o m i n g of their f o r e i g n ancestors w a s such a notorious historical

fact that the

J u d a e a n s r e f u s e d to recognize their H e b r e w

descent.

F r o m the beginning of N e h e m i a h ' s administration there w a s friction with these S a m a r i t a n s .

How

tenaciously

the S a m a r i t a n s clung to the monotheistic worship

of

Y a h w e h and to H e b r e w ideals is shown by the f a c t that they persisted in sharing the w o r s h i p at J e r u s a l e m until a f t e r the introduction of the priestly laws, which, like the J e w s , they accept as a p a r t of their torah.

The

puritanic

and

movement,

inaugurated

by

Nehemiah

E z r a , finally led them to w i t h d r a w , and, in time they built a r i v a l temple on M o u n t G e r i z i m .

T h e friction

caused by this schism lasted f o r many centuries

(cf.

John 4: 2 0 - 2 1 ) . N e h e m i a h and E z r a o r g a n i z e d , not only the l i f e o f the people, but the ritual.

T h e v a r i o u s o r d e r s of L e -

vites were assigned their duties, some of them becoming the temple musicians.

It w a s p r o b a b l y at this time that

T H E REORGANIZED J E W I S H STATE

139

the first book of the P s a l t e r , which then consisted of P s a l m s 3 - 4 1 , w a s compiled and edited. f o r D a v i d ; why, we cannot now tell.

I t w a s named

P e r h a p s the hymn

with which it opened was, or w a s believed to be, written by D a v i d .

It contained, h o w e v e r , the w o r k of many

later poets.

P s a l m s 8 and 1 9 , f o r example, m a k e defi-

nite allusion to the w o r k of the author of the priestly document. In the p e r i o d between E z e k i e l and N e h e m i a h prophetic movement reached its end.

the

N e v e r since has

I s r a e l produced prophets like those w h o composed Isa., chaps. 4 0 - 6 6 .

T h e two or three minor prophets who

a p p e a r e d later are so f a r i n f e r i o r that they do not come into comparison.

In I s a . 4 0 - 6 6 the last g r e a t exponents

of prophecy g a v e utterance to some of its p r o f o u n d e s t and most spiritual ideals. T h i s period, too, witnessed the culmination of that movement which t r a n s f o r m e d the H e b r e w nation into the J e w i s h church.

T h i s t r a n s f o r m a t i o n began with the

prophets of the eighth century; it had produced fusion of prophetic and legal ideas in

the

Deuteronomy,

the blending of the prophetic and priestly interests in Ezekiel finally

and the author

of

the H o l i n e s s

the austere monotheistic l a w s

document.

T h e external

providentially

of

Code, the

priestly

fortunes of the nation

facilitated the adoption

of

the

and had

higher

ideals, and the effort to conserve these ideals had called into existence a ritual which f o r e v e r s e p a r a t e d I s r a e l f r o m the heathen cults of her kindred.

140

THE RELIGION OP ISRAEL TOPICS FOR FURTHER

STUDY

1 . T h e Temple as Rebuilt; cf. " T e m p l e , the Second" in the Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. X I I , p. 97 ff. 2. T h e Servant of Yahweh ; cf. Budde, " T h e So-called ' Ebed-Yahweh Songs ' and the Meaning of the T e r m ' Servant of Yahweh ' in Isaiah, Chaps. 4 0 - 5 5 , " in The American Journal of Theology, I I I , pp. 499-54°; also C . C . Torrey, The Second Isaiah, New York, 1928. 3. T h e Nature and Influence of the Babylonian Exile; cf. J . P . Peters, The Religion of the Hebrews, Boston, 1 9 1 4 , chapter xx. 4. T h e Relation of the P. Document to the Babylonian Creation-Myth; cf. G . A . Barton, Archaeology and the Bible, Philadelphia, 5th ed., 1927, Part I I , chapter i. 5. T h e Conception of God in the P. Document; read the document as arranged in Addis, Documents of the Hexateuch, London, 1 8 9 2 - 1 8 9 8 , Vol. I I , noting the conception of God. 6. T h e Origin of the Levitical Cities; cf. G . A . Barton, " T h e Levitical Cities of Israel in the Light of the Excavation at Gezer " in The Biblical World, Vol. X X I V , pp. 1 6 7 - 1 7 9 -

CHAPTER

IX

LEGALISM L e g a l A t t i t u d e of M a l a c h i — B e g i n n i n g s of the P s a l t e r — T h e L a w a B a c k g r o u n d f o r Piety — Persecution

as

under Persians — A l e x a n d e r

the G r e a t — C h r o n i c l e s — T h e L a s t of the P r o p h e t s — U n i v e r s a l i t y in

Religion — T h e

canor's

Psalter — Psalmists The

Synagogue — T h e

Maccabaean

Revolt — Ni-

D a y — Simon P r i n c e a n d H i g h P r i e s t — C o m p l e t i o n

Oral

M i s h n a and

praise

L a w — Hillel

the and

L a w — Pharisees

and

S h a m m a i — Nature

of

of

the

Sadducees — Oral

Law —

Talmud.

WITH the adoption of the Levitical law in the time of Nehemiah the foundations of Judaism had been laid, but the edifice was not completed. During the centuries which followed the superstructure was gradually erected. T h e J e w s who were resident in Palestine seem to have accepted the law at once, though the acceptance on the part of many of them was not enthusiastic. The prophecy which now passes under the name of Malachi was apparently written to persuade the J e w s faithfully to support the law. Whether it was written before Nehemiah's reforms or soon a f t e r them, is a point on which scholars are not agreed. It seems probable that it was written before that reform. In any case it is clear that the message of this book is addressed to an age whose ideals were legalistic, and that it is the prophet's effort to persuade the men of the time to live up to these ideals. H e says in 3 : 8 f . : 141

142

THE

RELIGION

W i l l a man rob G o d ?

OF

ISRAEL

Y e t ye rob me.

But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings Y e are cursed with a curse; F o r ye rob me, even this whole nation. Bring ye the whole tithe into the storehouse, T h a t there may be food in my house, A n d prove me now herewith, Says Y a h w e h of hosts, Whether I will not open the windows of heaven, A n d pour you out a blessing Until there is no more need.

T h i s utterance is in striking contrast with that of Amos 5 : 25, which declared that sacrifice wr.3 no part of the original religion of Yahweh. M a l a c h i , on the other hand, makes all blessing depend upon the f a i t h f u l fulfilment of the ritual. When Prophets took this attitude it is clear that the age of the free spirit of prophecy had passed and the age of legalism was approaching. T h e law was not only accepted by those in Jerusalem, but was soon disseminated among J e w s who were residing abroad. T h e letter in which information concerning one part of it was conveyed to the Jewish colony at Elephantine in E g y p t has in part survived. It was written in 4 1 9 B. c. by one Hananiah, who was, perhaps, a brother of Nehemiah. 1 T h e correspondence 1 See G. A. Barton, Archaeology ch. xix, § 2.

and the Bible, Philadelphia, Part II,

LEGALISM

H3

f r o m E l e p h a n t i n e indicates that the new l a w w a s

ac-

cepted t h e r e a n d o b e y e d , a n d that, in consequence, the J e w s resident in E g y p t b e c a m e m o r e o b n o x i o u s to their E g y p t i a n n e i g h b o u r s than they h a d been b e f o r e . A f t e r the r e o r g a n i z a t i o n of the time o f one of

the

first

undertakings

formed

religion a suitable h y m n b o o k .

Nehemiah,

w a s to p r o v i d e

the

Our

re-

present

P s a l t e r , as will be p o i n t e d out m o r e f u l l y in a n o t h e r c h a p t e r , is the result o f a g r a d u a l c o m p i l a t i o n , but the b e g i n n i n g o f its g r o w t h dates p r o b a b l y f r o m this time. T h e first b o o k of P s a l m s , c o m p r i s i n g P s a l m s 3 - 4 1 , w a s apparently

compiled

during

this

period.

It

is

alto-

g e t h e r p r o b a b l e that o l d e r hymns w e r e included in the c o m p i l a t i o n , but w e m a y be sure that such w e r e re-edited to e x p r e s s the religious point o f v i e w o f the r e f o r m e d faith.

An

a g e that d i d not hesitate to r e a d j u s t

the

l a w s of the B o o k o f the C o v e n a n t ( E x . 2 0 : 2 4 - 2 3 :

19)

a n d of D e u t e r o n o m y so that the code o f L e v i t i c u s should appear

to be the h e a r t

of

the

whole

legislation

of

M o s e s , w o u l d , we m a y be sure, t a k e g o o d c a r e that the sentiments e x p r e s s e d in the h y m n b o o k did not belie those e x p r e s s e d in the l a w . I t is o f t e n a relief to pious souls, especially to those o f a certain type, to h a v e the r e q u i r e m e n t s o f

religion

l a i d d o w n in a set o f definite rules that can be clearly known.

One,

it is t h o u g h t ,

r i g h t e o u s and w h e n he is not.

then k n o w s

when

he is

T h e r e is a definite stand-

a r d b y which the a c h i e v e m e n t s of l i f e can be m e a s u r e d . I t is e a s y to u n d e r s t a n d , t h e r e f o r e , h o w the l a w , which

THE

144

RELIGION

OF

ISRAEL

had reached its completion in this period, was venerated by some of the best spirits of the time.

One of these

has beautifully expressed his appreciation of it in Ps. 1 9 : 7 f.: T h e law of Y a h w e h is perfect, restoring the s o u l ; 1 T h e testimony of Y a h w e h is sure, making wise the simple; T h e precepts of Y a h w e h are right, rejoicing the heart; T h e commandment of Y a h w e h is pure, enlightening the eyes; T h e fear of Y a h w e h is clean, enduring for ever; T h e ordinances of Y a h w e h

are true, and righteous altogether.

M o r e to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. A l s o thy servant is warned by them; in keeping them is great reward.

T h u s the life of puritanic legalism began by evoking deep sentiments of thanksgiving and gratitude. During much of the following period our sources aff o r d almost no information as to what was happening to the little colony in Jerusalem. Until the year 3 3 2 B. c. Judea was under Persian rule, and so f a r as we can tell few events of importance occurred. It is inf e r r e d from Josephus, Antiquities, xi. 7 : 1 , that about 3 5 0 B. c. the Palestinian J e w s made another unsuccessful attempt to regain their independence, in consequence of which the Persian governor punished them severely. T h i s unsuccessful revolt called forth a new wave of national sentiment, and was, perhaps, the occasion of the compilation of two more books of the Psalter. In 1

Literally " bringing the soul back from captivity."

LEGALISM

145

these books the attitude of devotion t o w a r d the l a w is taken f o r granted.

T h u s Ps. 7 8 , which is a long poeti-

cal review of the fortunes of the nation as those f o r tunes are recounted in the earlier Scriptures, b e g i n s : G i v e ear, O my people, to my l a w : Incline your ear to the words of my mouth.

A little further on it assigns the f o l l o w i n g r e a s o n : F o r he established a testimony in J a c o b , A n d appointed a law in Israel, Which he commanded our fathers, T h a t they should make them known to their children.

(Ps. 7 8 : 5 . ) T h u s in the passing of these y e a r s , of which we h a v e almost no o u t w a r d record, the law continued to evoke the devotion of some of the best minds. With Alexander's

conquest the J e w s passed

under

G r e e k control, and when the w a r s which f o l l o w e d A l e x ander's death were o v e r the J e w s were f o r a hundred years

subject to the

Ptolemies

of

Egypt.

Suffering

much f r o m the contentions of the Seleucids of Antioch and the Ptolemies, they finally p a s s e d in 1 9 9 B. C. under the control of the Seleucids.

D u r i n g much of this time

they had been l e f t to g o v e r n themselves with little outside interference.

J e w i s h colonies w e r e established in

increasing numbers all o v e r the eastern M e d i t e r r a n e a n , and contact

with

foreigners

thought of many J e w s .

tended

to broaden

the

In time the devotees of the

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

146

l a w p r o d u c e d the B o o k of C h r o n i c l e s — an e x p u r g a t e d edition of the h i s t o r y of I s r a e l .

T h i s w o r k represents

the g r e a t w o r t h i e s of the nation as k e e p i n g the L e v i t i c a l l a w , and D a v i d as a s s i g n i n g to the L e v i t e s their d u t i e s ! T h e n as n o w the influence of ritualism w a s not w h o l l y bad.

M y s t i c a l l y inclined souls m a d e it the basis o f an

a t t r a c t i v e piety.

Such a piety is not the m o s t spiritual,

but it m a y be t h o r o u g h l y genuine. E a r l y in the G r e e k p e r i o d the last of the p r o p h e t s lived.

W h a t n a m e he b o r e we d o not k n o w .

H i s work

in later time w a s b o u n d up with that o f the p r o p h e t Z e c h a r i a h and n o w f o r m s c h a p t e r s 9 - 1 4 of the b o o k o f that p r o p h e t .

P e r h a p s the p r o p h e t bore the s a m e n a m e

as that of the c o n t e m p o r a r y of H a g g a i .

I t m a y b e that

it w a s identity o f n a m e that l e d to the f u s i o n o f their prophecies. T h a t this second Z e c h a r i a h l i v e d in the G r e e k p e r i o d is c l e a r l y s h o w n by Z e c h . 9 : 1 3 , and o t h e r

considera-

tions lead us to think that he l i v e d in the t h i r d century B. c .

T h i s w r i t e r w a s conscious that he w a s the last of

the p r o p h e t s , f o r he predicts that in f u t u r e there shall b e no m o r e p r o p h e t s , and that, if any one shall p r e s u m e to p r o p h e s y his f a t h e r a n d m o t h e r shall assist in putting him to d e a t h filled.

(Zech.

13:3).

H i s prediction w a s f u l -

N o more prophets arose.

A n incident of the

time of the M a c c a b e e s ( s e e 1 M a c c . 4 : 4 6 ) s h o w s h o w p a t h e t i c a l l y I s r a e l l o n g e d f o r the guidance of the p r o phetic voice which w a s h e a r d no l o n g e r . T h i s p r o p h e t w a s not so completely a b s o r b e d in the

LEGALISM

H7

l a w as M a l a c h i , but he nevertheless took the l a w and its institutions f o r granted.

H e , like the author

of

M i c a h 4 : 1 - 5 , looked f o r a time when the religion of I s r a e l should become universal, and should the devotion of the nations of the earth.

command

T h i s devotion

w a s in his opinion to be m a n i f e s t e d in an annual coming of all peoples to J e r u s a l e m to observe the f e a s t of T a b e r n a c l e s ; that is, it was to be m a n i f e s t e d in a ritual observance of at least a p a r t of the l a w . T h e hold of the law on the J e w i s h people w a s g r e a t l y strengthened by the institution of the s y n a g o g u e , the o r i g i n and development of which are shrouded in g r e a t obscurity.

W i t h the adoption of the D e u t e r o n o m i c l a w

all sanctuaries except one were done a w a y . no substitute was provided

this r e f o r m

S o l o n g as deprived

all

J e w s w h o resided outside of J e r u s a l e m of the privilege of w o r s h i p except on those r a r e occasions when they could g o to J e r u s a l e m .

Such a situation w a s naturally

intolerable, and the synagogue w a s called into existence to relieve it.

It is thought by some that s y n a g o g u e s be-

g a n to be employed during the B a b y l o n i a n exile.

How-

e v e r this may be it is certain that m a n y of them existed in B a b y l o n i a in later time, but the same is true of all other communities of J e w s outside of Palestine. w e r e m a n y synagogues

There

in Palestine itself b e f o r e

the

M a c c a b a e a n revolt, f o r a passage o f t e n ascribed to the M a c c a b a e a n period c o m p l a i n s : " T h e y have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land." (Ps. 7 4 : 8 . )

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

148

It is certain t h e r e f o r e that the s y n a g o g u e h a d its o r i g i n at some time a f t e r the a d o p t i o n of the

Deuteronomic

l a w and b e f o r e the M a c c a b a e a n uprising. In the s y n a g o g u e there was no sacrifice; it w a s place f o r the r e a d i n g and exposition of the law. ornate

ritual distracted the attention f r o m the

r e g u l a t i o n s o f the Pentateuch. God

Though

great

the voice

w a s t h o u g h t no l o n g e r to speak to the

a No of

chosen

p e o p l e as it h a d once done t h r o u g h the prophets, o r as G o d had done f a c e to face with M o s e s and the Patriarchs, yet here w e r e the c o m m a n d s that G o d h a d utt e r e d to these h o l y men in the days of old.

T h e y were

c o m m a n d s of l i f e ; to k e e p them w a s to obtain G o d ' s favour.

The

synagogue

centred

the

attention

upon

t h e m ; it tended to e x a l t the law. In J e r u s a l e m itself much eagerness w a s m a n i f e s t e d f o r G r e c i a n f o r m s o f l i f e , though deep devotion to the law

remained

in m a n y

f a i t h f u l hearts.

In

168

B.C.

A n t i o c h u s E p i p h a n e s e n d e a v o u r e d to blot out the Jewish religion and to H e l l e n i z e the J e w s .

A n altar to

Z e u s was to be established in the temple at J e r u s a l e m and swine o f f e r e d in sacrifice upon it.

In the smaller

t o w n s altars w e r e to be erected and similar sacrifices made. the

T h e priests and people o f Jerusalem yielded to

royal

o r d e r w i t h o u t serious struggle, but in

the

little v i l l a g e of M o d e i n , on the b o r d e r s of the Philistine plain, M a t t a t h i a s , an old priest, struck d o w n the pliant J e w w h o w a s offering a sacrifice to Z e u s called the J e w s to w a r .

and

T h e band w h o f o l l o w e d him

LEGALISM

149

and his seven stalwart sons was small, but f o r a y e a r they maintained themselves.

A t the same time others

besides them were f a i t h f u l .

W e hear of a woman and

seven sons who remained constant to their

religion

under torture and who suffered cruel deaths;

(see 2

Macc. 7).

Reference is probably made to this family

in H e b . 1 1 1 3 5 , 36.

T h o s e who held views like those

of M a t t a t h i a s and this devoted mother called themselves Chasidtm,

or " the pious."

T h e s e followed the

old priest and with extraordinary courage they withstood the mighty Syrians.

M a t t a t h i a s held out under

the hardships but little more than a year.

When he

passed away he exhorted his sons to follow the leadership of his son J u d a s , although he was not the oldest of the family.

T h i s they did.

J u d a s with great cour-

age and consummate generalship defeated the Syrians in three separate battles, and w a s able in December, 1 6 5 B.C., just three years a f t e r the temple had been defiled by the sacrifice of swine to Zeus on its altar, to dedicate it again to the worship

of

Yahweh.

This

dedication was a great event — so great that it was a f t e r w a r d commemorated annually in a new festival, called the Feast of the Dedication, which is mentioned in J o h n 1 0 : 22.

Because of his great successes J u d a s

was called Makkab,

or " T h e H a m m e r , "

and so the

w a r came to be called the M a c c a b a e a n w a r . T h e Syrians kept up the struggle with varying success. Syrian

In 1 6 1 B.C. J u d a s won a signal victory over the general

Nicanor

under

circumstances

which

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

caused great joy among the Jews. This victory was celebrated in a yearly festival known for a time as Nicanor's Day, but which is now called the Feast of Purim. With the restoration of their religion the Chasidim were satisfied, but not so the Maccabaean brothers. They now aimed at political independence, and, accordingly, prolonged the war. The defection of the Chasidim greatly weakened them, and reverses followed. The war was prolonged for twenty-five years from its beginning, and was not terminated until 143 B.C. The Maccabees would soon have been crushed out, but for the rivalries in the royal house of the Seleucidae in Syria. Judas was killed in battle in 1 6 1 B.C., when his brother Jonathan became leader. As one Syrian faction after another tried to obtain the support of the Jews Jonathan dextrously advanced the fortunes of the nation. In 1 5 3 B.C. Jonathan became high priest, and when, ten years later, Jonathan was treacherously murdered by one of the Syrian leaders, his brother Simon, the only survivor of the seven sons of Mattathias, succeeded to the honour. In the same year a new treaty with Demetrius I I of Syria acknowledged the independence of Judah, and an assembly of the Jews was held in Jerusalem at which it was ordained that " Simon should be their prince and high priest f o r ever, until there should arise a faithful prophet" ( I Macc. 1 4 : 4 1 ) . In the judgment of

LEGALISM many scholars Psalm n o

w a s w r i t t e n at this t i m e a n d

a d d r e s s e d to S i m o n . This

struggle,

resulting

in a p o l i t i c a l

liberty

such

a s t h e y h a d not p o s s e s s e d f o r six h u n d r e d y e a r s , a t e d a m o n g the J e w s a n e w d e v o t i o n to t h e i r

country

and their G o d , and m a d e a deep impress u p o n religion and literature. who

were

descended

U n d e r the A s m o n a e a n from

the

Maccabees,

cre-

and

their kings, who

r u l e d d o w n to 6 3 B.C., the limits o f the r e a l m w e r e ext e n d e d a l m o s t a s f a r a s in t h e g l o r i o u s r e i g n s o f

David

and Solomon. A s a p a r t of the e x p r e s s i o n of t h e n e w n a t i o n a l a n d r e l i g i o u s spirit e v o k e d by the a c h i e v e m e n t o f this indep e n d e n c e an a d d i t i o n w a s m a d e to the P s a l t e r .

Books

i v a n d v o f that h y m n a l w e r e p r o b a b l y c o l l e c t e d a t this time.

The

greater

part

of

that

collection

we

f o r c o n s i d e r a t i o n at a l a t e r p o i n t , a n d c a l l h e r e to but one p s a l m , a s t h a t p s a l m is a

leave

attention

remarkable

w i t n e s s to the p l a c e h e l d b y the l a w in t h e a f f e c t i o n s o f the pious J e w s o f the t i m e .

R e f e r e n c e is m a d e t o

P s . 1 1 9 which is a c o l l e c t i o n o f a l p h a b e t i c a l

eight-line

v e r s e s on the l a w . F o r s o m e time H e b r e w p s a l m i s t s h a d b e e n f o n d of w r i t i n g a l p h a b e t i c a l a c r o s t i c s , o r p s a l m s , e a c h v e r s e of which

should begin with

alphabet. further.

a successive

T h e author of Ps.

119

letter

of

c a r r i e d this

their device

H e c o m p o s e d a p o e m in w h i c h the l a w is cele-

b r a t e d , e m p l o y i n g first e i g h t v e r s e s , each o n e o f w h i c h

THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL

152

begins with Aleph, the first letter of the alphabet, then eight verses, each one of which begins with Beth, the second letter, and so on throughout the twenty-two letters of his alphabet. T h e result is a hymn consisting of 1 7 6 verses. A s eight different words f o r law are employed it is an eight-fold psalm in more senses than one. T h e impressive thing about the psalm is the writer's devotion to the law — a devotion which is thoroughly sincere, and which almost exhausts language as it seeks expression. H e begins with Blessed are they that are perfect in the w a y W h o walk in the l a w of Jehovah.

H e prays: Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold W o n d r o u s things out of thy l a w , (v. 1 8 ) .

Again he exclaims: Oh how I love thy l a w ! I t is my meditation all the day. (v. 9 7 ) .

T o w a r d the end he declares: G r e a t peace have they that love thy l a w ; A n d they have no occasion of stumbling, ( v .

165).

It was out of such devotion as this that Pharisaism grew. A t the beginning of the Maccabaean outbreak the Chasidim, as we have pointed out, supported the Maccabees. When, however, religious liberty had been se-

LEGALISM

153

cured and the Maccabees pushed on, won political liberty, and established a worldly state they lost the sympathy of the Chasidim.

T h e s e J e w i s h puritans thought

a high priest, who w a s at the same time a worldly prince, and who often treated religious matters f r o m the point of view of statecraft, a renegade.

A s time

went on the friction increased, and in the reign of Alexander Jannaeus,

104-79

B.C., the opposition of

this

party, which had taken the name of Pharisees, or " separatists," caused much embarrassment to the government.

W h e n A l e x a n d e r l e f t the government to

his

widow, Alexandra, in 79 B. C., he counselled her to rule in accordance with pharisaical ideas, and thus the Pharisees, who were the most numerous element in J u d a i s m , became dominant. Out of this friction the opposition party, the Sadducees grew.

T h e y were the M a c c a b a e a n or Asmonaean

house

its friends.

and

They

wealthy, and aristocratic class.

included

the

priestly,

T h e y were officially,

but not enthusiastically religious, and it is probable that the name Sadducees, " righteous ones," was given them in derision. T h e Pharisees were radical where the Sadducees were conservative, were radical.

and conservative

where

the

Sadducees

A l o n g with the supernaturalization

the messianic hope and faith in a resurrection

of

there

had grown up a belief in numerous demons and angels. T h e apocalypses of the period contain many of their names, so definite h a d their personalities become

in

154

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

the popular thought. A l l this, together with the new doctrine of the resurrection, the Pharisees accepted, but the more sceptical Sadducees did not. Some of the psalmists had protested against the resurrection — it seemed so incredible to them (see Ps. 8 8 : 1 0 ; 1 1 5 : 1 7 ) — a n d the Sadducees fully shared their views. A s to the observance of the details of the law, the Sadducees were much less strict. Naturally, as the Pharisees were so much more interested in the law, there arose from their ranks the copyists and students of the law, who were called scribes. In order to enable f a i t h f u l J e w s to be sure that they were observing the law, a " hedge " of oral tradition was gradually collected about it, and schools of the law were established. So f a r as we can trace these schools they began in the reign of H e r o d the Great, just before the beginning of our era. Naturally there were differences of opinion among the Pharisees. T h e school of Shammai interpreted the law with great strictness, while Hillel, who had come f r o m the captivity in Babylon to establish a school in Jerusalem, interpreted it f a r more liberally. F o r a long time these interpretations were not committed to writing; both students and teachers carried them in the memory. Ultimately, expanded by later teachers, they became the J e w i s h Mishna. In their zeal to observe the law rightly these legal schools developed in time a vast body of tradition which dealt with all the details of life. T h e law forbade

LEGALISM

155

w o r k on the Sabbath, but obviously people could not live without dressing and eating.

Some w o r k w a s ac-

cordingly necessary, so a v a s t b o d y of traditions as to w h a t could and could not be done developed.

These

traditions descended to such details that they defined the kind of knots that a w o m a n could tie and untie in making her toilet without b r e a k i n g the Sabbath. Again

Leviticus

(19:9,

23:22)

commanded

that,

in reaping, the corners of a field should not be cut, but should be l e f t f o r the p o o r .

T h i s l a w w a s indefinite,

and pious f a r m e r s w e r e anxious to k n o w just w h a t it w a s necessary to do to observe the l a w .

H o w much

must be l e f t f o r the p o o r in o r d e r to s a t i s f y the divine requirement?

If

a m a n l e f t only one stalk standing

h a d he broken the l a w ?

M u s t the standing grain nec-

essarily be l e f t in a c o r n e r ? the field d o ?

W o u l d not the middle of

D i d the law apply only to g r a i n ?

it not apply to leguminous plants as w e l l ?

Did

D i d it also

apply to vineyards, olive trees, date orchards and pomegranates?

I f two men s h a r e d a field did they both

have to leave a c o r n e r ?

I f a m a n l e f t a " corner " f o r

the p o o r and they did not take it, how long must he wait b e f o r e he could take it h i m s e l f ?

I f through f o r -

getfulness an owner l e f t m o r e than was intended in a field, could he return and get it, or must it all be l e f t as a " corner " ?

G r a d u a l l y the answers to these ques-

tions w e r e w o r k e d out.

It w a s decided that the law

applies to trees as well as to grains, that a just m a n w o u l d leave one-sixtieth of the produce of the

field,

I $6

T H E RELIGION OF ISRAEL

though this might vary according to the size of the field, its fertility, or the number of the poor. I f , however, a man left one stalk he could not be said to have broken the law! 1 In a similar way all the details of life and of devotion were covered. A f t e r about 200 A.D. the traditions that had accumulated between Hillel and that time were written down in what is called the Mishna. The law went on developing through additional commentaries for four hundred years longer. The commentaries written between 200 and 600 A.D. make up the Gemara. The Mishna and Gemara together comprise the vast storehouse of the Jewish Talmud. Of course most of this Talmud comes from a time later than the Christian era. Only the merest nucleus can be traced back to Hillel and Shammai. Nevertheless as one studies its vast elaboration of the details of life, he gains his best insight into the Pharisaism of the time of Christ. H e appreciates the genuine religious desire of the Rabbis, their reverence for the past, their love for the law of God, their conviction that the living voice of God was now silent, and their pathetic loss of the best in religion as they were occupied with its little details. Pharisaism was a not unnatural culmination of that regard for external law that, with the introduction of the priestly code and the dying out of prophecy, be1

These regulations and opinions are collected in the tract of the Mishna and Talmud entitled Peah or " Corner."

LEGALISM

157

came the ruling idea of J e w i s h religion.

A n d yet, as

w e shall see in future chapters, this w a s but one line of development in the v a r i e d life of post-exilic J u d a i s m . TOPICS FOR F U R T H E R

STUDY

1. Legalism, its Origin and Nature; cf. Marti, Religion of the Old Testament, New York, 1907, chapter iv. 2. The Influence of the Maccabaean Struggle on Judaism; cf. John P. Peters, The Religion of the Hebrews, Boston, 1914, Chapter xxvii. 3. Pharisaism; cf. Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible, I I I , pp. 821-829, or Jewish Encyclopedia, I X , pp. 661-666 and G . F. Moore, Judaism, Cambridge, 1927, I, 56—71. 4. The Oral L a w ; cf. The Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. I X , pp. 423-426 and G. F. Moore, Judaism, I, 251-262. 5. The Synagogue, its Organization and Services; cf. Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol. X I , pp. 619-631 and G. F. Moore, Judaism, I, 281-307.

CHAPTER

X

D E V E L O P M E N T OF T H E PRIESTHOOD A N D RITUAL Primitive Priests Older Men — Le