HISTORY OF THE JEWS
HISTORY OF THE
JEWS
BY
HEINRICH GRAETZ
VOL. I
FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE DEATH OF SIMON
THE MACCABEE (135 B. C. E.)
[Illustration]
PHILADELPHIA
THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA
5717-1956
Copyright, 1891, by
THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA
_All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher: except by a reviewer
who may quote brief passages in a review to be
printed in a magazine or newspaper._
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PREFACE.
It is a matter of especial satisfaction to me that my work, "The
History of the Jews, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day,"
should be rendered accessible to the English-reading public in a
compact form and by means of an adequate translation; for in countries
where English is spoken, books are not only bought, bound, and placed
in libraries, but are also read, taken to heart, and acted upon. It is
therefore to be expected that the English-speaking people, which has
never disregarded but has at all times recognised and appreciated the
peculiar character of the Jewish race, will feel an increased sympathy
for it, on reading the alternations of its sublime and tragical history.
English readers, to whom the forefathers of the Jews of to-day--the
patriarchs, heroes, and men of God--are familiar characters, will the
better understand the miracle which is exhibited in the history of
the Jews during three thousand years. The continuance of the Jewish
race until the present day is a marvel not to be overlooked even by
those who deny the existence of miracles, and who only see in the most
astounding events, both natural and preternatural, the logical results
of cause and effect. Here we observe a phenomenon, which has developed
and asserted itself in spite of all laws of nature, and we behold
a culture which, notwithstanding unspeakable hostility against its
exponents, has nevertheless profoundly modified the organism of nations.
It is the heartfelt aspiration of the author that this historical work,
in its English garb, may attain its object by putting an end to the
hostile bearing against the Jewish race, so that it may no longer be
begrudged the peculiar sphere whereto it has been predestined through
the events and sorrows of thousands of years, and that it may be
permitted to fulfil its appointed mission without molestation.
This translation, in five volumes, is not a mere excerpt of my
"[German: Geschichte der Juden]" (like my "[German: Volksthümliche
Geschichte der Juden]"), but a condensed reproduction of the entire
eleven volumes. But the foot-notes have been omitted, so as to render
the present work less voluminous for the general reader. Historical
students are usually acquainted with the German language, and can read
the notes in the original.
In this English edition the "History of the Present Day" is brought
down to 1870, whilst the original only goes as far as the memorable
events of 1848. The last volume will contain a survey of the entire
history of the Jewish nation, together with a comprehensive index of
names and events.
In conclusion, I cannot refrain from expressing my gratitude to one
whose life-task it is to further with rare generosity all humane and
intellectual interests, and who has caused this translation to be made
and published. At the risk of wounding his modesty, I must mention,
as the Mæcenas of this work, Mr. Frederick D. Mocatta, whose name is a
household word in every Jewish circle.
H. GRAETZ.
BRESLAU, _January, 1891_.
* * * * *
To the foregoing words of the author I merely wish to add, that while
the first volume, as far as the period of the Hasmonæans, has been
translated by me, the other volumes have for the greater part "been
done into English by various hands," and have afterwards been revised
and edited by me.
My cordial thanks are due to Mr. Israel Abrahams, whose scholarly
co-operation has enabled me to cope with the difficulties presented by
Hebrew and Jewish names and technicalities.
BELLA LÖWY.
LONDON, JANUARY, 1891.
PREFACE TO THE SOCIETY'S EDITION.
* * * * *
Owing to necessary revision by the American editors, there has been a
delay in the publication of this work beyond the time announced for its
appearance.
It is hoped that in the future such delay may be avoided.
THE PUBLICATION COMMITTEE.
_June, 1891._
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE EARLIEST PERIOD.
The Original Inhabitants of Canaan--Gigantic Anakim and
Rephaim--The Phœnicians--Israel's Claim to Canaan--The
Patriarchs--Hereditary Law--Emigration to Egypt--Tribal
Union--Bright and Dark Sides of the Egyptians--Moses,
Aaron and Miriam--The Prophetic Sage--Call of Moses as
Deliverer--Opposition--Exodus from Egypt--Passage of the
Red Sea--Wandering in the Desert--Revelation on Mount
Sinai--The Decalogue--Relapse--Concessions--Crisis--
Circuitous Wanderings--Victories over Populations of Canaan on
Trans-Jordanic Side--Commencements of Hebrew Poetry--Death of
Moses _page_ 1
CHAPTER II.
OCCUPATION OF THE LAND OF CANAAN.
Joshua's Succession--Passage of the Jordan--Conquest of
Jericho--The Gibeonites--Coalition of Canaanite Cities against
the Israelites--Settlement in the Land--Isolation of the
Tribes--Allotments--The Tribe of Levi--The Ark of the Covenant
at Shiloh--Condition of Canaan at the time of the Conquest--
Climate and Fertility--Intellectual Activity--Poetry of
Nature--Remnants of Canaanite Populations--Death of Joshua
_page_ 32
CHAPTER III.
NEIGHBOURING NATIONS.
The Phœnicians, Aramæans, Philistines, Idumæans--Their Customs
and Mythology--The Moabites and Ammonites--Intercourse of the
Israelites with their Neighbours and Adoption of their Manners--
Disintegration of the Tribes--Consequent Weakness--Temporary
Deliverers _page_ 53
CHAPTER IV.
THE JUDGES.
Animosity of the Idumæans--Othniel, a Deliverer--Eglon, King
of Moab--The Canaanite King, Jabin--Sisera, his General--The
Prophetess and Poetess Deborah--Barak--Victory near Tabor--
Early Hebrew Poetry--Sufferings through Nomads--The Hero
Gideon Jerubbaal--Victory in the Plain of Jezreel--Commencement
of Prosperity--Abimelech--Feud with the Shechemites--Jair the
Gileadite--Hostilities of the Amalekites and the Philistines--
Jephthah--Samson--Zebulunite Judges _page_ 60
CHAPTER V.
ELI AND SAMUEL.
Importance of the Judges--Public Feeling--Sanctuary in Shiloh--
Eli and his Sons--Defeat by the Philistines--Capture of the
Ark--Destruction of Shiloh and the Sanctuary--Flight of the
Aaronites and Levites--Death of Eli--The Ark in Philistia and
in Kirjath Jearim--Prophecy re-awakened--Samuel in Ramah--The
Order of Prophets or Singers--Popular revulsion--The tribe of
Judah--Repeated attacks of the Philistines--Meeting at Mizpah--
Samuel's activity--Nob as a place of Worship--Increase in the
power of the Philistines and Ammonites--The Tribes desire to
have a King--Samuel's course of action _page_ 68
1100?-1067 B. C. E.
CHAPTER VI.
THE APOGEE.
Establishment of a Kingdom--Saul--His Position and Character--
His secret Election at Mizpah--Humiliating Condition of the
Nation under the Philistines--Declaration of War--Assemblage
in Gilgal--Battle of Michmash--Defeat of the Philistines--
Severity of Saul--Victory over the Ammonites--Saul's Election
as King confirmed--His Court and Attendants--His Officers and
Standing Army--Victory over the Amalekites--Disputes between
Saul and Samuel--Saul's Attacks on the neighbouring People--War
with the Gibeonites--Place of Worship in Gibeon--War against
the Philistines in the Valley of Tamarinths--Goliath and David--
Meeting of Saul and David--Saul's Jealousy turns into Madness--
The Persecution of David--Saul's last Battle against the
Philistines--Defeat and Death _page_ 82
1067-1055 B. C. E.
CHAPTER VII.
DAVID AND ISHBOSHETH.
Burning of Ziklag--Defeat of the Amalekites--Judah elects
David as King--Abner and Ishbosheth--War between the houses
of Saul and David--Murder of Abner--Death of Ishbosheth--
David recognised as sole King--Capture of Zion--Fortification
of Jerusalem--War with the Philistines--Victory of David--
The Heroes--Alliance with Hiram--Removal of the Ark of the
Sanctuary to Jerusalem--The High-Priest--Choral Services of
the Temple--Internal Government of Israel--The Gibeonites and
Rizpah--Mephibosheth _page_ 106
1055-1035 B. C. E.
CHAPTER VIII.
DAVID.
War with the Moabites--Insult offered by the King of the
Ammonites--War with the Ammonites--Their Defeat--Battle
of Helam--Attack of Hadadezer--Defeat of the Aramæans--
Acquisition of Damascus--War with the Idumæans--Conquest of
the town of Rabbah--Defeat of the Idumæans--Conquered races
obliged to pay tribute--Bathsheba--Death of Uriah the Hittite--
Parable of Nathan--Birth of Solomon (1033)--Misfortunes of
David--Absalom--Wise Woman of Tekoah--Reconciliation of David
and Absalom--Numbering of the Troops--Pestilence breaks out
in Israel--Absalom's Rebellion--Murder of Amasa--Sheba's
Insurrection--David and Nathan--Adonijah _page_ 125
1035-1015 B. C. E.
CHAPTER IX.
SOLOMON.
The new King's Rule--Solomon's Choice--Poetic Allegory--Murder
of Adonijah and Joab--The Court--Alliance with Egypt--Tyre--
Solomon's Buildings--The Plan of the Temple--The Workmen--
The Materials--Description of the Temple--The Ceremony of
Consecration--Reorganisation of the Priesthood--The King's
Palace--The Throne--Increase of National Wealth--The Fleet--
The Seeds of Disunion--Jeroboam--Idolatry permitted--
Estrangement from Egypt--Growth of surrounding Kingdoms--
Solomon's Fame--His Death _page_ 156
1015-977 B. C. E.
CHAPTER X.
SECESSION OF THE TRIBES.
Accession of Rehoboam--Jeroboam's return--The King at Shechem--
The Secession of the Ten Tribes--Election of Jeroboam--New
Alliances--Rezon and Shishak--Fortification of Shechem--
Jeroboam's Idolatry--Ahijah's rebuke--Religion in Judah--
Abijam--Asa--Nadab--Baasha--Wars between Asa and Baasha--
Defeat of Zerah--Benhadad--Elah--Zimri--Omri--Civil war--
Samaria built--Omri's policy--Alliances with Ethbaal and Tyre--
Ahab: his character--Jezebel--The Priests of Baal--Elijah--
Naboth's vineyard--Elijah at Carmel--War with Benhadad--Death
of Ahab and Jehoshaphat--Ahaziah's Accession--Jehoram--Elijah
and Elisha--Jehu--Death of Jezebel _page_ 179
977-887 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XI.
THE HOUSE OF DAVID AND THE JEHUIDES.
Athaliah's rule--Early years of Joash--Proclamation of Joash
by Jehoiada--Athaliah slain--Religious Revival--Elisha--
Repairing of the Temple--Death of Jehoiada and of his Son--
Invasion of Israel by Hazael--Jehoahaz--Murder of Joash, King
of Judah--Jehoash, King of Israel--Defeat of the Aramæans--
Amaziah--Conquest of Edom--Death of Elisha--Amaziah defeated
by Jehoash--Jeroboam II.--Death of Amaziah _page_ 213
887-805 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XII.
END OF THE HOUSE OF JEHU AND THE TIME OF UZZIAH.
Condition of Judah--The Earthquake and the Famine--Uzziah's
Rule--Overthrow of Neighbouring Powers--Fortification of
Jerusalem--Navigation of the Red Sea--Jeroboam's Prosperity--
The Sons of the Prophets--Amos--Prophetic Eloquence--Joel's
Prophecies--Hosea foretells Ultimate Peace--Denunciation of
Uzziah--Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem--Last Years of Uzziah--
Contest between the King and the High Priest--Uzziah usurps the
Priestly Functions--Uzziah's Illness _page_ 228
805-758 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE DOWNFALL OF THE KINGDOM OF THE TEN TRIBES; THE HOUSE OF
DAVID, AND THE INTERVENTION OF THE ASSYRIANS.
King Menahem--The Babylonians and the Assyrians--Pekah--
Jotham's reign--Isaiah of Jerusalem--His style and influence--
His first public address--Later speeches--Their immediate
and permanent effect--His disciples--Their characteristics--
Zechariah--His prophecies _page_ 246
758-740 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE END OF THE KINGDOM OF THE TEN TRIBES, AND THE HOUSE OF DAVID.
The Reign of Ahaz--His Character--Alliance between Pekah and
Rezin--Tiglath-Pileser and Assyria--Ahaz seeks Assyrian Aid--
Isaiah's Opposition--Defeat of Pekah and Rezin--Introduction of
Assyrian Worship--Human Sacrifices--The Second Micah--Samaria
after Pekah's Death--Assyria and Egypt--Hoshea--Samaria taken
by Shalmaneser--The Exile--Hezekiah--His Early Measures--His
Weakness of Character--Isaiah's Efforts to Restrain Hezekiah
from War with Assyria--Arrangements for the Defence--Change of
Policy--Isaiah Predicts the Deliverance--Micah--Rabshakeh's
Embassy--Hezekiah's Defiance--His Illness and Recovery--The
Destruction of Sennacherib's Army--Merodach-baladan--Hezekiah's
Rule--The Psalmists--Death of Hezekiah _page_ 257
739-696 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XV.
THE LAST KINGS OF JUDAH.
Manasseh--Fanatical Hatred of Hezekiah's Policy--Assyrian
Worship Introduced--The Anavim--Persecution of the Prophets--
Esarhaddon--The Colonisation of Samaria--Amon--Josiah--Huldah
and Zephaniah--Affairs in Assyria--Regeneration of Judah
under Josiah--Repairing of the Temple--Jeremiah--The Book of
Deuteronomy--Josiah's Passover--Battle at Megiddo _page_ 281
695-608 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XVI.
END OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH.
Effects of Josiah's Foreign Policy--Jehoahaz--Jehoiakim--
Egyptian Idolatry introduced--The Prophets--Uriah the Son
of Shemaiah--Jeremiah's renewed Labours--Fall of Assyria--
Nebuchadnezzar--Baruch reads Jeremiah's Scroll--Submission of
Jehoiakim--His Rebellion and Death--Jehoiachin--Zedekiah--
Siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar--The Siege raised owing to
the Intervention of Egypt--Defeat of the Egyptians--Renewal
of the Siege--Capture of Jerusalem--Zedekiah in Babylon--
Destruction of the Capital--Jeremiah's Lamentations _page_ 298
608-586 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE DESTRUCTION.
The National Decay--The Fugitives--Enmity of the Idumæans--
Johanan, Son of Kareah--The Lamentation--Nebuchadnezzar
appoints Gedaliah as Governor--Jeremiah Encourages the People--
Mizpah--Ishmael Murders Gedaliah--The Flight to Egypt--
Jeremiah's Counsel Disregarded--Depopulation of Judah--The
Idumæans make Settlements in the Country--Obadiah--Condition of
the Judæans in Egypt--Defeat of Hophra--Egypt under Amasis--
Jeremiah's Last Days _page_ 317
586-572 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE BABYLONIAN EXILE.
Nebuchadnezzar's treatment of the Exiles--The Exiles obtain
grants of land--Evil-Merodach favours Jehoiachin--Number of the
Judæan Exiles--Ezekiel's captivity in the first period of the
Exile--Moral change of the People--Baruch collects Jeremiah's
Prophecies and compiles the Histories--The Mourners of Zion--
Proselytes--The Pious and the Worldly--The Poetry of the Time--
Psalms and Book of Job--Nabonad's Persecutions--The Martyrs
and the Prophets of the Exile--The Babylonian Isaiah--Cyrus
captures Babylon--The Return under Zerubbabel _page_ 329
572-537 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE RETURN FROM BABYLON, THE NEW COMMUNITY IN JUDÆA, EZRA AND
NEHEMIAH.
The Journey to Jerusalem--The Samaritans--Commencement of the
Rebuilding of the Temple--Interruption of the Work--Darius--
Haggai and Zechariah--Completion of the Temple--Contest between
Zerubbabel and Joshua--Intermarriage with Heathens--The Judæans
in Babylonia--Ezra visits Jerusalem--Dissolution of the Heathen
Marriages--The Book of Ruth--Attacks by Sanballat--Nehemiah--
His Arrival in Jerusalem--Fortification of the Capital--
Sanballat's Intrigues against Nehemiah--Enslavement of the
Poor--Nehemiah's Protest--Repopulation of the Capital--The
Genealogies--The Reading of the Law--The Feast of Tabernacles--
The Great Assembly--The Consecration--Departure of Nehemiah--
Action of Eliashib--Withholding the Tithes--Malachi, the Last
of the Prophets--Nehemiah's Second Visit to Jerusalem--His
measures _page_ 354
537-420 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XX.
THE SOPHERIC AGE.
Enmity of the Samaritans against the Judæans--The Temple on
Mount Gerizim--The High-Priest Manasseh--The mixed language of
the Samaritans--Their veneration for the Law of Moses--Judaism
loses its national meaning--The Jubilee and Sabbatical Year--
Almsgiving--The Council of Seventy--The Assyrian Characters--
The Schools and the Sopherim--Observance of the Ceremonies--The
Prayers--The Future Life--The Judæans under Artaxerxes II. and
III.--Their Banishment to the Caspian Sea--Johanan and Joshua
contend for the office of High-Priest--Bagoas--The Writings of
the Period--The Greeks and Macedonians--Alexander the Great
and the Judæans--Judæa accounted a Province of Cœlesyria--
Struggles between Alexander's Successors--Capture of Jerusalem
by Ptolemy--Judæa added to the Lagidean-Egyptian Kingdom--The
Judæan Colonies in Egypt and Syria and the Greek Colonies in
Palestine _page_ 389
420-300 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XXI.
SIMON THE JUST AND HIS DESCENDANTS.
Condition of the Judæans under the Ptolemies--Simon effects
Improvements--His Praises are sung by Sirach--His Doctrines--
The Chasidim and the Nazarites--Simon's Children--Onias II. and
the Revolt against Egypt--Joseph, Son of Tobias--His Embassy
to Alexandria--He is appointed Tax-collector--War between
Antiochus the Great and Egypt--Defeat of Antiochus--Spread of
Greek Manners in Judæa--Hyrcanus--The Song of Songs--Simon
II.--Scopas despoils Jerusalem--The Contest between Antiochus
and Rome--Continued Hellenisation of the Judæans--The Chasidim
and the Hellenists--José ben Joezer and José ben Johanan--Onias
III. and Simon--Heliodorus--Sirach's Book of Proverbs against
the Errors of his Time _page_ 420
300-175 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE TYRANNICAL CONVERSION TO HELLENISM AND THE ELEVATION OF THE
MACCABEES.
Antiochus Epiphanes--His Character--His Wars with Rome--
He appoints Jason to the High-Priesthood--Introduction of
the Greek Games--Jason sends Envoys to Tyre to take part in
the Olympian Games--Affairs in Jerusalem--Antiochus invades
Egypt--Report of his Death in Jerusalem--Antiochus attacks
the City and defiles the Temple--His Designs against Judaism--
His Second Invasion of Egypt--The Persecution of the Judæans--
The Martyrs--Mattathias and his five Sons--Apelles appears
in Modin--The Chasidim--Death of Mattathias and Appointment
of Judas Maccabæus as Leader--His Virtues--Battles against
Apollonius and Heron--Antiochus determines to Exterminate the
Judæan People--Composition and Object of the Book of Daniel--
Victory of Judas over Lysias _page_ 442
175-166 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XXIII.
VICTORIES AND DEATH OF JUDAS MACCABÆUS; JONATHAN THE HASMONÆAN.
Return of Judas to Jerusalem--Reconsecration of the Temple--The
Feast of Lights--Fortification of the Capital--The Idumæans
and Ammonites defeated by Judas--Ill-treatment of the Galilean
Judæans--Measures against Timotheus--Death of Antiochus--
Embassy of the Hellenists to Antiochus V.--Battle at Bethzur--
Retreat of Judas--Affairs in Jerusalem--Alcimus--Intervention
of the Romans--Nicanor's Interview with Judas--Battle of
Adarsa--Death of Judas--Results of his Career--Condition
of the People after the Death of Judas--The Chasidim, the
Hellenists, and the Hasmonæans--Jonathan--His Guerilla Warfare
against Bacchides--Death of the High-Priest Alcimus--Truce
between Jonathan and Bacchides--Jonathan as High-Priest--His
far-sighted Policy--His Captivity and his Death _page_ 471
165-143 B. C. E.
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE JUDÆANS IN ALEXANDRIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF SIMON.
The Judæan Colonies in Egypt and Cyrene--Internal Affairs of the
Alexandrian Community--King Philometor favours the Judæans--
Onias and Dositheus--The Temple of Onias--Translation of
the Pentateuch into Greek--Struggle between the Judæans and
Samaritans in Alexandria--Affairs in Judæa--Independence of
Judæa--Simon's League with the Romans--Overthrow of the Acra
and of the Hellenists--Simon's Coinage--Quarrel between Simon
and the Syrian King--Invasion by Cendebæus--Assassination of
Simon _page_ 503
160-135 B. C. E.
HISTORY OF THE JEWS
CHAPTER I.
THE EARLIEST PERIOD.
The Original Inhabitants of Canaan--Gigantic Anakim and
Rephaim--The Phœnicians--Israel's Claim to Canaan--The
Patriarchs--Hereditary Law--Emigration to Egypt--Tribal
Union--Bright and Dark Sides of the Egyptians--Moses,
Aaron and Miriam--The Prophetic Sage--Call of Moses as
Deliverer--Opposition--Exodus from Egypt--Passage of the
Red Sea--Wanderings in the Desert--Revelation on Mount
Sinai--The Decalogue--Relapse--Concessions--Crisis--Circuitous
Wanderings--Victories over Populations of Canaan, on
Trans-Jordanic Side--Commencements of Hebrew Poetry--Death of
Moses.
It was on a spring day that some pastoral tribes passed across the
Jordan into a strip of land which can only be regarded as an extended
coast-line of the Mediterranean. This was the land of _Canaan_,
subsequently called _Palestine_. The crossing of the Jordan and the
entry into this territory were destined to become of the utmost
importance to mankind. The land of which the shepherd tribes possessed
themselves became the arena of great events, so enduring and important
in their results, that the country in which they took place became
known as the _Holy Land_. Distant nations had no conception that the
entry of the _Hebrew_ or _Israelite_ tribes into the land of Canaan
would have such momentous consequences. Even the inhabitants of
Palestine were far from recognising in this invasion an occurrence
fraught with vital significance to themselves.
At the time when the Hebrews occupied this territory it was inhabited
by tribes and peoples dissimilar in descent and pursuits. The primary
place was held by the aborigines, the _Anakim_ and _Rephaim_, a
powerful race of giants. Tradition represents them as the descendants
of that unruly and overbearing race which, in primæval times, attempted
to storm the heavens. For this rebellious attempt they had been doomed
to ignominious destruction.
Their reputed descendants, the powerful natives of the country--who by
some of the ancient nations were called _Emim_, "terrible men"--were
unable to maintain themselves; notwithstanding their imposing figures,
they were destroyed by races of inferior stature. The rest were obliged
to migrate to the East-Jordanic lands, to the south, and also to the
south-west of the West-Jordanic region. This remnant of the _Anakim_
filled the Israelite spies with such abject terror that they made the
entire nation despair of ever obtaining possession of the country. This
gave rise to the proverb, "Who can stand before the children of Anak?"
"We were," said the spies, "in our own eyes as grasshoppers, and so
we appeared unto them." These giants were eventually overcome by the
Israelite dwarfs.
Another group of inhabitants which had settled in the land between
the Mediterranean and the Jordan was that of the _Canaanites_, whom
the Greeks called Phœnicians. These Phœnicians appear to have pursued
the same employment in their new country as they had followed on the
banks of the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf. Their chief pursuits were
navigation and commerce. The position which they had selected was
eminently favourable to their daring expeditions. The great ocean,
forming a strait at the Pillars of Hercules, and separating Europe
from Africa, as the Mediterranean Sea, has here its extreme limit.
At the foot of the snow-topped Lebanon and its spurs, commodious
inlets formed natural harbours that required but little improvement
at the hand of man. On this seaboard the Canaanites built the town
of Sidon, situated on a prominent crag which overhangs the sea. They
afterwards built, on a small rocky island, the port of Tyre (Tor,
which subsequently became celebrated); they also built Aradus to the
north of Sidon, and Akko (Acre) to the south of Tyre. The neighbouring
forests of the Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon supplied them with lofty
cedars and strong cypresses for ships. The Canaanites, who became the
first mercantile nation in the world, owed much of their success to
the advantage of finding on their coast various species of the murex
(_Tolaat shani_), from the fluid of which was obtained a most brilliant
and widely celebrated purple dye. The beautiful white sand of the river
Belus, near Acre, supplied fine glass, an article which was likewise
in much request in the Old World. The wealth of the country lay in the
sands of the sea-shore. The Canaanites, on account of their extensive
trade, required and introduced at an early period a convenient form
of writing, and their alphabet, the Phœnician, became the model for
the alphabets of ancient and modern nations. In a word, the narrow
belt of land between the Mediterranean and Mount Lebanon, with its
spurs, became one of the most important points on the face of the
globe. Through the peaceful pursuits of commerce the Canaanites were
brought into contact with remote nations, who were gradually aroused
from a state of inactivity. They became subdivided into the small
nationalities of Amorites, Hittites, Hivites, and Perizzites. The
Jebusites, who inhabited this district, were of minor importance; they
dwelt on the tract of land which afterwards became the site for the
city of Jerusalem. Of still less account were the Girgashites, who had
no fixed residence. All these names would have remained unknown had not
the Israelites entered the land.
But this people had not taken a footing in the country with the mere
object of finding pasture land for their flocks; their pretensions
were far greater. Chief of all, they claimed as their patrimony the
land where the graves of their forefathers were situated. The first
patriarch, Abraham, who had emigrated from Aram, on the borders of the
Euphrates, had, after many wanderings through the country, acquired in
Hebron, as an hereditary burial-place, the Cave of Machpelah, or the
"Double Cave," together with the adjoining field and trees. There his
wife Sarah had been interred, then he himself, and after him his son,
the patriarch Isaac.
The third patriarch, Jacob, after many vicissitudes and wanderings, had
purchased a plot of land near Shechem, and had taken that important
city "with his sword and with his bow." The city was in the very heart
of the territory of the Hivites, and its capture had taken place in
consequence of a breach of peace, through the abduction and dishonour
of Jacob's daughter. The land was henceforth regarded as the property
of the patriarch, and he only reluctantly quitted it at the outbreak
of a famine, in order to proceed to Egypt, where corn was plentiful.
On his death-bed, Jacob impressed upon his sons that they should
deposit his remains in the family tomb of the "Double Cave." Not alone
did Canaan contain the graves of the three patriarchs, but also the
altars which they had erected and named in various places, in honour of
the Deity whom they worshipped. The Israelites were therefore firmly
convinced that they had a right to the exclusive possession of the land.
These claims derived further strength from the tradition left by
the patriarchs to their descendants as a sacred bequest, that the
Deity, whom they had been the first to recognise, had repeatedly and
indubitably, though only in visions, promised them this land as their
possession, not merely for the sake of showing them favour, but as the
means of attaining to a higher degree of culture. This culture would
pre-eminently consist in Abraham's doctrine of a purer belief in the
_One God_, whose nature differed essentially from that of the gods whom
the various nations represented in the shape of idols and by means of
other senseless conceptions. The higher recognition of the Deity was
designed to lead Abraham's posterity to the practice of justice towards
all men, in contradistinction to the injustice universally prevailing
in those days. It was affirmed that this higher culture was ordained
by the Almighty as "the way of God," and that as such it should be
transmitted by the patriarchs to their families as a bequest and as a
subject of hereditary instruction. They also received the promise that
through their posterity, as the faithful guardians of this teaching,
all nations of the earth should be blessed, and should participate
in this intellectual advancement of Israel; and that with this same
object the land of Canaan had been allotted to Israel, as especially
adapted for the purposes of the hereditary law. Hence it was that the
Israelites, while in a foreign country, felt an irrepressible yearning
for their ancestral land. Their forefathers had impressed them with the
hope that, though some of their generations would sojourn in a land
which was not their own, a time would surely come when Israel should
return to that land which was the resting-place of their patriarchs,
and where the patriarchal altars had been erected and consecrated.
This promise became identified with all their positive expectations,
and with their conviction that the acquisition of Canaan was secured
to them on condition that they performed the duties of worshipping
the God of their fathers, and observed the ways of justice and
righteousness. The nature of this worship and "the way of justice"
was not clearly defined, nor did they require such a definition.
The lives of the patriarchs, as commemorated by posterity, served as
a sufficient illustration of the family law. Abraham was especially
held up as a model of human excellence. Differing from other nations
who _worshipped_ their primæval ancestors, his descendants did not
revere him as a performer of marvellous deeds, nor as one exalted
to the eminent degree of a god or a demi-god. Not as a warrior and
a conqueror did he live in the memory of his descendants, but as a
self-denying, God-fearing man, who joined true simplicity and faith
to nobleness in thought and in action. According to their conception,
Abraham the Hebrew, although born of idolatrous parents in Aram, on the
other side of the Euphrates, and although brought up amidst idolatrous
associations, had obeyed the voice which revealed to him a higher God,
and had separated himself from those around him. When disputes arose,
he did not obstinately insist upon his claims, but renounced his rights
for the sake of living at peace with his fellow-men. So hospitable
was he, that he would go forth to invite the passing wayfarers, and
delighted in entertaining them. He interceded for the sinners of Sodom
and the neighbouring cities, when their cruel and inhuman acts had
brought on them the punishment of Heaven; and he prayed that they might
be spared for the sake of any few righteous men amongst them.
These and other remembrances of his peace-loving and generous
disposition, of his self-abnegation, and of his submission to God, were
cherished by his descendants, together with the conviction that such a
line of conduct was agreeable to the God of their fathers; that for the
sake of these virtues God had protected Abraham, as well as his son and
his grandson, because the two latter had followed the example of their
predecessor. This belief that God especially protects the virtuous, the
just, and the good, was fully confirmed in the life of the patriarch
Jacob, to whom the additional name ISRAEL was given. His life had been
short and toilsome, but the God of his fathers had delivered him from
all his sorrows. Such remembrances of ancestral piety were retained by
the sons of Israel, and such family traditions served to supplement and
illustrate their hereditary law.
The growth of Israel as a distinct race commenced amidst extraordinary
circumstances. The beginning of this people bore but very slight
resemblance to the origin of other nations. Israel as a people arose
amidst peculiar surroundings in the land of Goshen, a territory
situated in the extreme north of Egypt, near the borders of Palestine.
The Israelites were not at once moulded into a nation, but consisted of
twelve loosely connected shepherd tribes.
These tribes led a simple life in the land of Goshen. The elders
(_Zekenim_) of the families, who acted as their chiefs, were consulted
on all important occasions. They had no supreme chieftain, nor did
they owe allegiance to the Egyptian kings; and thus they habitually
enjoyed the freedom of a republic, in which each tribal section was
enabled to preserve its independence without falling into subjection
or serfdom. Although they did not become intermixed with the ancient
Egyptians, who in fact had an aversion to shepherds--perhaps on account
of the oppression they had in former ages endured from such shepherds
(the Hyksos)--yet opportunities for contact and mutual communication
could not be wanting. Some families of Israel had abandoned their
pastoral pursuits, and devoted themselves to agriculture or industrial
occupations, and were therefore brought into connection with the
inhabitants of towns. It seems that the members of the tribe of Ephraim
stood in closer social contact with the original inhabitants. This
intercourse had a favourable influence upon the Israelites.
The Egyptians had already gone through a history of a thousand years,
and attained to a high degree of culture. Their kings, or Pharaohs, had
already built populous cities, and erected colossal edifices, temples,
pyramids and mausoleums. Their priests had acquired a certain degree of
perfection in such arts and technical accomplishments as were suited
to the requirements of the country, as for example, architecture and
hydraulic constructions, the kindred science of geometry, the art of
medicine, and the mystery of embalming for the perpetual preservation
of the remains of the departed; also the artistic working of objects
in gold, silver and precious stones, in order to satisfy the luxurious
demands of the kings. They also knew the art of sculpture and the use
of pigments. They studied chronology, together with astronomy, which
was suggested by the periodical overflow of the Nile. The all-important
art of writing had been invented and perfected by the Egyptian priests.
They first used stones and metals to commemorate the renown of their
monarchs; and they afterwards employed the fibre of the papyrus shrub,
which was originally marked with clumsy figures and subsequently with
ingeniously drawn symbols. Of these several attainments the Israelites
seem to have acquired some notion. The members of the destitute tribe
of Levi in particular, being unencumbered by pastoral service or by
landed possessions, appear to have learnt from the Egyptian priests the
art of writing. Owing to their superior knowledge, they were treated by
the other tribes as the sacerdotal class, and hence they held, even in
Egypt, the privileged distinction of their priestly position.
The residence of the Israelites in Egypt was of great advantage to
them. It raised them, or at least a portion of them, from a rude state
of nature to a higher grade of culture. But what they gained on the
one hand, they lost on the other; and in spite of their arts and
accomplishments, they would in time have fallen into a more abject
condition. Amongst no people which had advanced beyond the first stage
of Fetish worship, had idolatry assumed such a hideous development,
or so mischievously tainted the habits, as was the case with the
Egyptians. By combining and intermingling the gods of the various
districts, they had established a complete system of polytheism. As
a matter of course they worshipped goddesses as well as gods. What
made the mythology of the Egyptians especially repulsive, was the fact
that they placed the deified beings of their adoration, from whom they
expected help, far below the level of human beings.
They endowed their gods with the shape of animals, and worshipped
the inferior creatures as divine powers. Ammon, their chief god, was
represented with ram's horns, the goddess Pecht (Pacht) with a cat's
head, and Hathor (Athyr), the goddess of licentiousness, with a cow's
head. Osiris, who was worshipped throughout Egypt, was represented in
a most loathsome and revolting image, and the universally honoured
Isis was often pictured with a cow's head. Animals being scarce in the
Nile region, great value was attached to their preservation, and they
received divine homage. Such honours were paid to the black bull _Apis_
(_Abir_) in Memphis, to the white bull _Mnevis_ in Heliopolis, to the
lustful goats, to dogs, and especially to cats; also to birds, snakes,
and even mice. The killing of a sacred bull or cat was more severely
punished than the murder of a human being.
This abominable idolatry was daily witnessed by the Israelites. The
consequences of such perversions were sufficiently deplorable. Men who
invested their gods with the shape of animals sank down to the level
of beasts, and were treated as such by the kings and by persons of the
higher castes--the priests and soldiers. Humanity was contemned; no
regard was paid to the freedom of the subjects, and still less to that
of strangers. The Pharaohs claimed to be descended from the gods, and
were worshipped as such even during their lifetime. The entire land
with its population was owned by them. It was a mere act of grace on
their part that they granted a portion of the territory to cultivators
of the soil.
Egypt, in fact, was not peopled by an independent nation, but by
bondmen. Hundreds of thousands were forced to take part in compulsory
labour for the erection of the colossal temples and pyramids. The
Egyptian priests were worthy of such kings and gods. Cruelly as
the Pharaohs harassed their subjects with hard labour, the priests
continued to declare that the kings were demi-gods. Under the weight
of this oppression the people became devoid of all human dignity,
and submitted to the vilest bondage without ever attempting to
relieve themselves from the galling yoke. The repulsive idolatry then
prevailing in Egypt had yet further pernicious consequences. The people
lost the idea of chastity, after they had placed the brute creation
on an equality with their deities. Unspeakable offences in the use of
animals had become of daily occurrence, and entailed neither punishment
nor disgrace. The gods being depicted in unchaste positions, there
appeared to be no need for human beings to be better than the gods.
No example is more contagious and seductive than folly and sin. The
Israelites, especially those who were brought into closer contact with
the Egyptians, gradually adopted idolatrous perversions, and abandoned
themselves to unbridled license. This state of things was aggravated
by a new system of persecution. During a long period, the Israelites
residing in the Land of Goshen had been left unmolested, they having
been looked upon as roving shepherds who would not permanently settle
in Egypt. But when decades and even a century had passed by, and
they still remained in the land and continued to increase in numbers,
the council of the king begrudged them the state of freedom which was
denied to the Egyptians themselves. The court now feared that these
shepherd tribes, which had become so numerous in Goshen, might assume
a warlike attitude towards Egypt. To avoid this danger, the Israelites
were declared to be bondmen, and were compelled to perform forced
labour. To effect a rapid decrease in their numbers, the king commanded
that the male infants of the Israelites should be drowned in the Nile
or in some of the canals, and that only the female infants should be
spared. The Israelites, formerly free in the land of Goshen, were now
kept "in a house of bondage," "in an iron furnace"; here it was to be
proved whether they would conform to their hereditary law, or follow
strange gods.
The greater part of the tribes could not stand this trial. They had a
dim knowledge that the God of their fathers was a being very different
from the Egyptian idols; but even this knowledge seemed to decrease
from day to day. Love of imitation, sore oppression, and daily misery
made them obtuse, and obscured the faint light of their hereditary law.
The enslaved labourers did not know what to think of an unseen God
who only lived in their memories. Like their masters, the Egyptians,
they now lifted their eyes to the visible gods who showed themselves
so merciful and propitious to Israel's tormentors. They directed their
prayers to the bovine god Apis, whom they called _Abir_,[1] and they
also offered to the he-goats.[2] The daughter of Israel, growing up
to womanhood, sacrificed her virtue, and abandoned herself to the
Egyptians.[3] It was probably thought that, in the images of the
grass-eating animal, honour was paid to the god of the patriarchs.
When the intellect is on a wrong track, where are the limits for its
imaginings? The Israelites would have succumbed to coarse sensual
idolatry and to Egyptian vice, like many other nations who had come
under the influence of the people of the land of Ham, had not two
brothers and their sister--the instruments of a higher Spirit--aroused
them and drawn them out of their lethargy. These were MOSES, AARON
and MIRIAM.[4] In what did the greatness of this triad consist? What
intellectual powers led them to undertake their work of redemption,
the elevating and liberating effect of which was intended to extend
far beyond their own times? Past ages have left but few characteristic
traits of Moses, and barely any of his brother and sister, which
could enable us to comprehend, from a human point of view, how their
vision rose step by step from the faint dawn of primitive ideas to
the bright sunlight of prophetic foresight, and by what means they
rendered themselves worthy of their exalted mission. The prophetic
trio belonged to that tribe which, through its superior knowledge,
was regarded as the sacerdotal tribe, namely, the tribe of Levi.
This tribe, or at least this one family, had doubtless preserved the
memory of the patriarchs and the belief in the God of their fathers,
and had accordingly kept itself aloof from Egyptian idolatry and its
abominations.
Thus it was that Aaron, the elder brother, as also Moses and Miriam,
had grown up in an atmosphere of greater moral and religious purity.
Of Moses the historical records relate that after his birth his mother
kept him concealed during three months, to evade the royal command, and
protect him from death in the waters of the Nile. There is no doubt
that the youthful Moses was well acquainted with Pharaoh's court at
Memphis or Tanis (Zoan). Gifted with an active intellect, he had an
opportunity of acquiring the knowledge that was to be learnt in Egypt,
and by his personal and intellectual qualities he won the affections of
all hearts. But even more than by these qualities, he was distinguished
by his gentleness and modesty. "Moses was the meekest of men," is the
only praise which the historical records have bestowed upon him. He is
not praised for heroism or warlike deeds, but for unselfishness and
self-abnegation.
Influenced by the ancient teaching, that the God of Abraham loved
righteousness, he must have been repelled by the baseless idolatry of
animal worship and by the social and moral wrongs which then were rife.
Shameless vice, the bondage of a whole people under kings and priests,
the inequality of castes, the treatment of human beings as though they
were beasts or inferior to beasts, the spirit of slavery,--all these
evils he recognised in their full destructive force, and he perceived
that the prevailing debasement had defiled his brethren. Moses was the
open antagonist of injustice. It grieved him sorely that Israel's sons
were subjected to slavery, and were daily exposed to ill-treatment
by the lowest of the Egyptians. One day when he saw an Egyptian
unjustly beating a Hebrew, his passion overcame his self-control,
and he punished the offender. Fearing discovery, he fled from Egypt
into the desert, and halted at an oasis in the neighbourhood of Mount
Sinai, where the Kenites, an offshoot of the tribe of Midianites, were
dwelling. Here, as in Egypt, he witnessed oppression and wrong-doing,
and here also he opposed it with zeal. He gave his aid to feeble
shepherdesses. By such action he came into contact with their grateful
father, the priest or elder of the tribe of the Midianites, and he
married Zipporah, the daughter of that priest.
His employment in Midian was that of a shepherd. He selected fertile
grazing plots for the herds of Reuel, his father-in-law, between the
Red Sea and the mountain lands. In this solitude the prophetic spirit
came upon him.
What is the meaning of this prophetic spirit? Even those who have
searched the secrets of the world, or the secrets of the soul in its
grasp of the universe, can give only a faint notion and no distinct
account of its nature. The inner life of man has depths which have
remained inscrutable to the keenest investigator. It is, however,
undeniable that the human mind can, without help from the senses,
cast a far-seeing glance into the enigmatic concatenation of events
and the complex play of forces. By means of an undisclosed faculty of
the soul, man has discovered truths which are not within the reach of
the senses. The organs of the senses can only confirm or rectify the
truths already elicited. They cannot discover them. By means of the
truths brought to light by that inexplicable power of the soul, man has
learned to know nature and to make its forces subservient to his will.
These facts attest that the power of the soul owns properties which go
beyond the ken of the senses, and transcend the skilled faculties of
human reason. Such properties lift the veil of the dim future, and lead
to the discovery of higher truths concerning the moral conduct of man;
they are even capable of beholding a something of that mysterious Being
who has formed and who maintains the universe and the combined action
of all its forces. A soul devoted to mundane matters and to selfishness
can never attain to this degree of perfection. But should not a soul
which is untouched by selfishness, undisturbed by low desires and
passions, unsoiled by profanity and the stains of every-day life,--a
soul which is completely merged in the Deity and in a longing for
moral superiority,--should not such a soul be capable of beholding a
revelation of religious and moral truths?
During successive centuries of Israel's history there arose pure-minded
men, who unquestionably could look far into the future, and who
received and imparted revelations concerning God and the holiness
of life. This is an historical fact which will stand any test. A
succession of prophets predicted the future destiny of the Israelites
and of other nations, and these predictions have been verified by
fulfilment. These prophets placed the son of Amram as first on the list
of men to whom a revelation was vouchsafed, and high above themselves,
because his predictions were clearer and more positive. They recognised
in Moses not only the first, but also the greatest of prophets; and
they considered their own prophetic spirit as a mere reflection of his
mind. If ever the soul of a mortal was endowed with luminous prophetic
foresight, this was the case with the pure, unselfish, and sublime soul
of Moses. In the desert of Sinai, says the ancient record, at the foot
of Horeb, where the flock of his father-in-law was grazing, he received
the first divine revelation, which agitated his whole being. Moved and
elated--humble, yet confident, Moses returned after this vision to his
flock and his home. He had been changed into another being; he felt
himself impelled by the spirit of God to redeem his tribal brethren
from bondage, and to educate them for a higher moral life.
Aaron, who had remained in Egypt, likewise had a revelation to meet his
brother on Mount Horeb, and to prepare himself jointly with him for
the work of redemption. The task of imbuing the servile spirit of the
people with a desire for liberty seemed to them far more difficult than
that of inducing Pharaoh to relax his rigor. Both brothers therefore
expected to encounter obstacles and stubborn opposition. Although
both men were already advanced in years, they did not shrink from
the magnitude of the undertaking, but armed themselves with prophetic
courage, and relied on the support of the God of their fathers. First
they turned to the representatives of families and tribes, to the
elders of the people, and announced their message that God would take
pity on Israel's misery, that He had promised them freedom, and that He
would lead them back to the land of their fathers. The elders lent a
willing ear to the joyful news; but the masses, who were accustomed to
slavery, heard the words with cold indifference. Heavy labour had made
them cowardly and distrustful. They did not even desire to abstain from
worshipping the Egyptian idols. Every argument fell unheeded on their
obtuse minds. "It is better for us to remain enthralled as bondmen
to the Egyptians than to die in the desert." Such was the apparently
rational answer of the people.
The brothers appeared courageously before the Egyptian king, and
demanded, in the name of the God who had sent them, that their
people should be released from slavery, for they had come into the
country of their own free will, and had preserved their inalienable
right to liberty. If the Israelites were at first unwilling to leave
the country, and to struggle with the uncertainties of the future,
Pharaoh was still less inclined to let them depart. The mere demand
that he should liberate hundreds of thousands of slaves who worked
in his fields and buildings, and that he should do so in the name of
a God whom he knew not, or for the sake of a cause which he did not
respect, induced him to double the labours of the Hebrew slaves, in
order to deprive them of leisure for thoughts of freedom. Instead of
meeting with a joyful reception, Moses and Aaron found themselves
overwhelmed with reproaches that through their fault the misery of the
unfortunate sufferers had been increased. The King only determined to
give way after he and his country had witnessed many terrifying and
extraordinary phenomena and plagues, and when he could no longer free
himself from the thought that the unknown God was punishing him for his
obstinacy. In consequence of successive calamities, the Egyptian king
urged the Israelites to hasten and depart, fearing lest any delay might
bring destruction upon him and his country. The Israelites had barely
time to supply themselves with the provisions necessary for their long
and wearisome journey. Memorable was the daybreak of the fifteenth of
Nisan (March), on which the enslaved people regained their liberty
without shedding a drop of blood. They were the first to whom the
great value of liberty was made known, and since then this priceless
treasure, the foundation of human dignity, has been guarded by them as
the apple of the eye.
Thousands of Israelites, their loins girded, their staves in their
hands, their little ones riding on asses, and their herds following
them, left their villages and tents, and assembled near the town of
Rameses. Strange tribes who had lived by their side, shepherd tribes
akin to them in race and language, joined them in their migration. They
all rallied round the prophet Moses, obeying his words. He was their
king, although he was free from ambition, and he may well be called the
first promulgator of the doctrine of equality amongst men. The duty
devolving on him during this exodus was more difficult to discharge
than his message to the king and to the people of Israel. Only few
amongst these thousands of newly liberated slaves could comprehend the
great mission assigned to them. But the masses followed him stolidly.
Out of this horde of savages he had to form a nation; for them he had
to conquer a home, and establish a code of laws, which rendered them
capable of leading a life of rectitude. In this difficult task, he
could reckon with certainty only on the tribe of Levi, who shared his
sentiments, and assisted him in his arduous duties as a teacher.
Whilst the Egyptians were burying the dead which the plague had
suddenly stricken down, the Israelites, the fourth generation of the
first immigrants, left Egypt, after a sojourn of several centuries.
They journeyed towards the desert which divides Egypt from Canaan,
on the same way by which the last patriarch had entered the Nile
country. But Moses would not permit them to go by this short route,
because he feared that the inhabitants of Canaan, on the coast of the
Mediterranean, would oppose their entry with an armed force; he also
apprehended that the tribes, whom their long bondage had made timorous,
would take to flight on the first approach of danger.
Their first destination was Mount Sinai, where they were to receive
those laws and precepts for the practice of which they had been set
free. Pharaoh had, however, determined to recapture the slaves who
had been snatched from his grasp, when, in a moment of weakness, he
had allowed them to depart. When the Israelites saw the Egyptians
approaching from afar, they gave way to despair, for they found
themselves cut off from every means of escape. Before them was the
sea, and behind them the enemy, who would soon overtake them, and
undoubtedly reduce them again to bondage. Crying and lamenting, some
of them asked Moses, "Are there no graves in Egypt that thou hast
brought us out to die in the desert?" However, a means of escape
unexpectedly presented itself, and could only be regarded by them as a
miracle. A hurricane from the north-east had driven the water of the
sea southwards during the night, so that the bed had for the greater
part become dry. Their leader quickly seized on this means of escape,
and urged the frightened people to hurry towards the opposite shore.
His prophetic spirit showed him that they would never again see the
Egyptians. They rapidly traversed the short distance across the dry bed
of the sea, the deeper parts of the water, agitated by a storm, forming
two walls on the right and the left. During this time, the Egyptians
were in hot pursuit after the Israelites, in the hope of leading them
back to slavery. At daybreak, they reached the west coast of the sea,
and, perceiving the Israelites on the other side, they were hastening
after them along the dry pathway, when the tempest suddenly ceased.
The mountain-like waves, which had risen like walls on both sides, now
poured down upon the dry land, and buried men, horses, and chariots
in the watery deep. The sea washed some corpses to the coast where
the Israelites were resting in safety. They here beheld a marvellous
deliverance. The most callous became deeply impressed with this sight,
and looked with confidence to the future. On that day they put their
firm trust in God and in Moses, His messenger. With a loud voice they
sang praises for their wonderful deliverance. In chorus they sang--
"I will praise the Lord,
For He is ever glorious.
The horse and his rider He cast into the sea."
The deliverance from Egypt, the passage through the sea, and the sudden
destruction of their resentful enemy were three occurrences which the
Israelites had witnessed, and which never passed from their memories.
In times of the greatest danger and distress, the recollection of this
scene inspired them with courage, and with the assurance that the God
who had redeemed them from Egypt, who had turned the water into dry
land, and had destroyed their cruel enemy, would never desert them,
but would "ever reign over them." Although the multitude did not long
retain this trustful and pious disposition, but fell into despondency
at every new difficulty, the intelligent portion of the Israelites
were, in subsequent trials, sustained by their experiences at the Red
Sea.
The tribes, delivered from the bonds of slavery, and from the terrors
of long oppression, could peaceably now pursue their way. They had yet
many days' journey to Sinai, the temporary goal of their wanderings.
Although the country through which they travelled was a sandy desert,
it was not wanting in water, and in pasture land for the shepherds.
This territory was not unknown to Moses, their leader, who had formerly
pastured the flocks of his father-in-law here. In the high mountains
of Sinai and its spurs, the water in the spring-time gushes forth
copiously from the rocks, forms into rills, and rushes down the slopes
towards the Red Sea. Nor did the Israelites suffer through want of
bread, for in its stead they partook of manna. Finding this substance
in large quantities, and living on it during a long time, they came to
consider its presence as a miracle. It is only on this peninsula that
drops sweet as honey exude from the high tamarisk trees, which abound
in that region. These drops issue in the early morning, and take the
globular size of peas or of coriander seeds; but in the heat of the
sun they melt away. Elated by their wonderful experiences, the tribes
now seemed prepared to receive their holiest treasure, for the sake of
which they had made the long circuitous journey through the desert of
Sinai. From Rephidim, which lies on a considerable altitude, they were
led upwards to the highest range of the mountain, the summit of which
appears to touch the clouds.[5] To this spot Moses led the Israelites
in the third month after the exodus from Egypt, and appointed their
camping ground. He then prepared them for an astounding phenomenon,
which appealed both to the eye and the ear. By prayer and abstinence
they were bidden to render themselves fit for lofty impressions, and
worthy of their exalted mission. With eager expectation and anxious
hearts they awaited the third day. A wall round the nearest mountain
summit prevented the people from approaching too close. On the morning
of the third day a heavy cloud covered the mountain top; lightning
flashed, and enveloped the mountain in a blaze of fire. Peals of
thunder shook the surrounding mountains, and awakened the echoes. All
nature was in uproar, and the world's end seemed to be at hand. With
trembling and shaking, the old and the young beheld this terrifying
spectacle. But its terror did not surpass the awfulness of the words
heard by the affrighted people. The clouds of smoke, the lightning, the
flames and the peals of thunder had only served as a prelude to these
portentous words.
Mightily impressed by the sight of the flaming mountain, the people
clearly heard the commandments which, simple in their import, and
intelligible to every human being, form the elements of all culture.
Ten words rang forth from the mountain top. The people became firmly
convinced that the words were revealed by God. Theft and bearing false
witness were stigmatised as crimes. The voice of Sinai condemned evil
thoughts no less than evil acts; hence the prohibition, "Thou shalt not
covet thy neighbour's wife ... nor any possession of thy neighbour."
The Indians, the Egyptians, and other nations famous for their colossal
structures, had, during more than two thousand years, gone through many
historical experiences, which shrink into utter insignificance, when
compared with this one momentous event.
The work accomplished at Sinai by an instantaneous act remained
applicable to all times by asserting the supremacy of ethical life and
the dignity of man. This promulgation of the Law marked the natal hour
of the "distinct people," like unto which none had ever existed. The
sublime and eternal laws of Sinai--coming from a Deity whom the senses
cannot perceive, from a Redeemer who releases the enthralled and the
oppressed--were revealed truths treating of filial duty, of spotless
chastity, of the inviolable safety of human life and property, of
social integrity, and of the purity of sentiment.
The Israelites had been led to Mount Sinai as trembling bondmen;
now they came back to their tents as God's people of priests, as a
righteous nation (_Jeshurun_). By practically showing that the Ten
Commandments are applicable to all the concerns of life, the Israelites
were constituted the teachers of the human race, and through them all
the families of the earth were to be blessed. None of the others could
then have surmised that even for its own well-being an isolated and
insignificantly small nation had been charged with the arduous task of
the preceptive office.
The Sinaitic teachings were not of an ephemeral nature, even in regard
to their form. Being engraven on tables of stone, they could be easily
remembered by successive generations. During a long period these
inscribed slabs remained in the custody of the Israelites, and were
called "the Tables of the Testimony," or "the Tables of the Law." Being
placed in an ark, which became a rallying centre, round which Moses
used to assemble the elders of the families, these tables served as
a sign of the Sinaitic Covenant. They formed a link between God and
the people who had formerly been trodden under foot, and who were now
bidden to own no other Lord save the One from whom the Law had gone
forth. It was for this reason that the ark, as the repository of the
tables, was designated "the Ark of the Covenant." The ethical truths of
Sinai became henceforth the basis for a new system of morality, and for
the national constitution of the Israelites. These truths were further
developed in special laws which had a practical bearing upon the public
and private affairs of the people. Slave-holders and slaves were no
longer to be found amongst the Israelites. The selling of Israelites as
slaves, and perpetual servitude of an Israelite became unlawful. A man
who forfeited his liberty was liable to be held in service during six
years, but in the seventh year he regained his freedom. Wilful murder
and disrespect to parents were punishable with death. The sanctuary
could give no protection to criminals condemned to die. The murder of
a non-Israelitish slave involved condign punishment. A gentile slave
ill-treated by his master recovered his liberty. A man committing an
offence on the virtue of a maiden was bound to make her his wife,
and to pay a fine to the father of the injured woman. Equitable and
humane treatment of the widow and the orphan was enforced; a similar
provision was ordained for the benefit of strangers who had joined one
of the tribes. The Israelites, in fact, were bidden remember their
former sojourn in a foreign land, and to refrain from inflicting upon
strangers the inhuman treatment which they themselves had formerly
endured.
This spirit of equity and brotherly love, pervading the ancient code
of laws, could not at once change the habits of the people. The duties
involved in these laws were too spiritual and too elevated to have
such an effect. Moses having temporarily absented himself to make
preparations for the reception of the Sinaitic law, the dull-witted
portion of the people imagined that their God was abandoning them in
the desert, and they clamoured for the rule of a visible Godhead.
Aaron, who had taken the lead in the absence of Moses, timorously
yielded to this impetuous demand, and countenanced the production of a
golden idol. This image of Apis or Mnevis received divine homage from
the senseless multitude who danced around it. Moses, on descending from
Mount Sinai, ordered the Levites to put to death some thousands of the
people. Nothing but the exercise of extreme rigour could have repressed
this worship of idols.
With the object of protecting the people from a relapse into idolatry,
and of supporting them during their state of transition from barbarism,
they were allowed to form a conception of the Deity--though not by
means of an image--through some material aid which would appeal to
the senses. On Sinai they had beheld flashes of lightning with flames
of fire, and from the midst of a burning cloud they had heard the Ten
Commandments. An emblem of this phenomenon was now introduced to remind
the people of the presence of the Deity as revealed at Sinai. It was
ordained that a perpetual fire should be kept alight on a portable
altar, and be carried before the tribes during their migrations. Not
the Deity Himself, but the revelation of the Deity at Sinai, should
thereby be made perceptible to the sense of vision. The performance of
sacrificial rites was a further concession to the crude perceptions of
the people.
The spiritual religion promulgated at Sinai did not intend sacrifices
as the expression of divine adoration, but was meant to inculcate a
moral and holy life; the people, however, had not yet risen to this
conception, and could only be advanced by means of education and
culture. The other ancient nations having found in sacrifices the
means of propitiating their deities, the Israelites were permitted to
retain the same mode of divine service; but its form was simplified.
The altar became an integral part of the sanctuary, in which no image
was tolerated. The only objects contained therein were a candelabrum,
a table with twelve loaves, symbolising the twelve tribes; and there
was also a recess for the Ark of the Covenant. Altar, sanctuary and
sacrificial rites required a priesthood. This primæval institution,
too, was retained. The Levites, as the most devoted and best informed
tribe, were charged with sacerdotal functions, as during the sojourn
in Egypt. The priests of Israel, unlike those of the Egyptians, were
precluded from holding landed property, as such possessions might have
tempted them to misuse their prerogatives and neglect their sacred
duties. For this reason it was prescribed that their subsistence
should be derived from the offerings made by the people. Collaterally
there existed a custom, dating from remote patriarchal ages, which
demanded that the first-born son of every family should attend to
the performance of sacrificial rites. This prerogative could not be
abruptly abolished, and continued for some time alongside of the
Levitical priesthood, though both of them stood in the way of the pure
Sinaitic teachings. The materialism of the age demanded indulgent
concessions, combined with provisions tending to the refinement of
popular habits. Only through the aid of the spiritually gifted could
the understanding of the subordinate nature of sacrifices be preserved
in the consciousness of the people.
During the forty years of their wandering in the desert, the Israelites
sought pastures for their flocks within the mountain region and its
neighborhood.
During these migrations Moses instructed the people. The older
generation gradually passed away. Their descendants, obedient to the
teachings of the lawgiver and his disciples, formed a docile, pious,
and valiant community, and became proficient in the knowledge of their
laws.
Moses now surrounded himself with councillors, who were the chiefs
of seventy families. This system became a model for later forms of
administration. The Council of Elders participated in important
deliberations, and assisted in the management of public business. On
the advice of Jethro, his father-in-law, Moses appointed inferior and
higher judges, who respectively had under their jurisdiction ten, a
hundred, and a thousand families. The people had the right of electing
their own judges, whose appointment they then recommended to Moses.
These judges were charged to maintain strict impartiality in cases
of litigation between members of the tribes of Israel, or between
Israelites and strangers. Nor was it within the discretion of the
judges to make distinctions between persons of high and low degree.
They were also commanded to keep their hands clean from bribes, and
to give their verdicts according to the principles of equity, "for
justice belongs unto God," and has its source in God himself. Brotherly
love, community of interests, equality before the law, equity and
mercy were the high ideals which he held before the generations which
he had trained. The inculcation of these laws and teachings marked an
eventful era in the nation's history. As such it was characterised
by the prophets, who called it "the bridal time of the daughter of
Israel," and the season of "her espousals, when she went after her
God in the land which was not sown." Israel's wanderings had nearly
come to a conclusion and the younger generation was well fitted for
the attainment of the object of its settlement. A further sojourn in
the desert would have inured the people to habits of restlessness,
and might have reduced them for ever to the nomadic condition of the
Midianites and the Amalekites. They appear to have made an unsuccessful
raid in a northern direction, along the old caravan roads. In a
second defeat some of them were captured by their enemies. But this
discomfiture was apparently avenged by combatants belonging to the
tribe of Judah, who were aided by men of the tribe of Simeon, and by
Kenites, with whose assistance they seized several cities.
The other tribes were prepared to effect an entrance into the country
by following a circuitous route on the eastern side. This expedition
might have been shortened if the Idumeans, who dwelt on the mountain
ranges of Seir, had permitted the Israelites to pass through their
territory. Apparently the Idumeans were afraid that the invading
Israelites would dispossess them of the land, and they therefore
sallied forth to obstruct the direct road. Their opposition forced the
tribes of Israel to make a long detour round the country of Idumea,
and to turn to the east of the mountain ranges of Seir in order to
approach Canaan from the opposite side. Not being permitted to attack
the Idumeans and the kindred tribes of the Ammonites, the Israelites
had to traverse the border of the eastern desert in order to reach the
inhabited regions at the source of the Arnon, which flows into the Dead
Sea.
Moses now sent conciliatory messages to Sihon, to request that the
people might pass through his territory on their way to the Jordan.
Sihon refused his consent, and marched an army to the borders of the
desert to oppose the advance of the invaders. The Israelites of the new
generation, animated with youthful prowess, put themselves in battle
array, and routed the hostile troops, whose king they slew at Jahaz.
This victory was of incalculable importance to the Israelites; it
strengthened their position and inspired them with self-reliance. They
at once took possession of the conquered district, and henceforth
abandoned their nomadic life. Whilst the Israelites felt confident
of success in conquering the Land of Promise, the Canaanites, on the
other hand, were terror-stricken at the defeat of the mighty Sihon.
The Israelites could now move about freely, being no longer incommoded
by the narrow belt of the desert, nor by the suspicions of unfriendly
tribes. Dangers having given way to a state of security, this sudden
change of circumstances aroused in their bosoms virtuous emotions,
together with ignoble passions.
The people of Moab now perceived that their feeble existence was
threatened by their new neighbours. Balak, their king, felt that he
could not cope with the Israelites in the open field of battle, and
he preferred to employ the arts of Balaam, the Idumean or Midianite
magician, whose maledictions were supposed to have the power of calling
down distress and destruction on an entire people or on a single
individual. Balaam having been struck with amazement at the sight of
Israel's encampment, the intended maledictions were changed on his
lips into blessings. He averred that no "enchantment avails against
Jacob, and no divination against Israel," a glorious future having
been assured to that people. But he advised the king to have recourse
to a different charm, which might have a pernicious effect upon the
Israelites, namely, to beguile them to the vice of profligacy by means
of depraved temple maidens.
Balak accepted this advice. The Israelites, during their migrations,
had lived on friendly terms with the wandering Midianites, and
entertained no suspicions when admitting the latter into their
encampments and tents. Counselled by Balaam and instigated by Balak,
many Midianites brought their wives and daughters into the tents of the
Israelites, who were then invited to join the idolatrous festivities
at the shrine of Baal-Peor. On such occasions it was the custom for
women to sacrifice their virtue in the tents, and the guerdon of
dishonour was then presented as an oblation to the idols. Many an
Israelite was led into profligacy by these allurements, and partook of
the sacrificial feasts, two sins which tended to sap the foundation
of the doctrine revealed on Sinai. Unhappily no one in Israel seemed
willing to obey the command of Moses by checking this outbreak of
vice. Phineas, Aaron's grandson, was the only man whose heart revolted
against these excesses. Seeing that a Midianite woman entered a tent
with a chief of the tribe of Simeon, he stabbed both of them to death;
and thus was the raging plague turned away from the people.
On the other hand, there was now witnessed a significant change in
Israel. The unexpected and eventful victories had aroused amongst
them the melodious power of song, the first indication of that
talent, without which no nation can attain to a superior degree of
culture. The first songs of the Hebrew muse were those of war and
victory. The authors (_moshĕlim_) of warlike hymns rose at once in
public estimation, and their productions were preserved in special
collections, as for example, in the Book of the Wars of God.
Hebrew poetry, in its early stages, was deficient in depth and
elegance, but it had two characteristics which in the course of time
were developed to the highest stage of refinement. With regard to
form, it exhibited a symmetry in the component parts of each verse
(_parallelismus membrorum_). The same train of thought was repeated
with appropriate variations in two or even three divisions of the
verse. In the treatment of a theme, the muse of early Hebrew poetry
displayed a tendency to irony, this being the result of a twofold
conception, namely, that of the ideal aspect by the side of antithetic
reality.
The Israelites, seeking to arrive at the goal of their wishes and
to gain possession of the Land of Promise, could not tarry in the
fertile region between the Arnon and the Jabbok. They had to prepare
for crossing the Jordan. But now the evil consequences of having
triumphed over Sihon and Og became manifest. The tribes of Reuben and
Gad announced that they wished to remain in the conquered land, because
its verdant pastures were well adapted for their numerous flocks and
their herds of cattle and camels. In making such a demand it appeared
that these tribes desired to sever their lot from that of their
brethren, and to live as independent nomads. Oppressed with this cause
of anxiety, Moses reproached them bitterly for their defection, but
felt constrained to grant them the conquered land under the condition
that a contingent of their combatants should assist the warriors of
the brother-tribes, and follow them across the Jordan. This allotment
of land to the two tribes caused an unexpected territorial division.
The land possessed by these tribes became known as the Trans-Jordanic
territory (_Eber ha-Jarden_ or _Peraea_). In the process of time this
concession proved more injurious than beneficial.
The rest of the tribes were on the eve of crossing the Jordan, when
their great leader Moses was removed by death. The thirty days which
the Israelites spent in mourning were not an excessive sacrifice.
His loss was irreparable, and they felt themselves utterly bereft.
Amongst all lawgivers, founders of states, and teachers of mankind,
none has equalled Moses. Not only did he, under the most inauspicious
circumstances, transform a horde of slaves into a nation, but he
imprinted on it the seal of everlasting existence: he breathed into the
national body an immortal soul. He held before his people ideals, the
acceptance of which was indispensable, since all their weal and woe
depended upon the realisation or non-realisation of those ideals. Moses
could well declare that he had carried the people as a father carries
his child. His patience and his courage had rarely deserted him; his
unselfishness, and his meekness of disposition were two prominent
qualities, which, together with his clear prophetic vision, eminently
fitted him to be the instrument of the Deity. Free from jealousy, he
wished that all Israelites might be prophets like himself, and that
God would endue them with His spirit. Moses became at a subsequent
epoch the unattainable ideal of a prophet. Succeeding generations
were elated by the thought that this brilliant example of humanity
had watched the infant state of the people of Israel. Even the death
of Moses served as an enduring lesson. In the land of Moab, in the
valley facing Mount Peor--which was held sacred by the population of
that district--he was quietly entombed, and to this day no one has
known the spot where he was buried. It was designed that the Israelites
should not deify him, but should be kept from following the idolatrous
practice of other nations, who deified their kings, and their men of
real or presumed greatness, as also the founders of their religions.
Sad at heart on account of the death of their beloved leader, who was
not permitted to conduct them into the Land of Promise, but comforted
by the lofty recollections of the redemption from Egyptian bondage,
the passage through the sea, and the revelation on Sinai, encouraged
also by the victories over Sihon, Og, and the Midianites--the tribes of
Israel crossed the Jordan, on a day in the bright spring-time, and were
conducted on their journey by Joshua, the faithful disciple of Moses.