Christianity and Islam -- The Koran or the Sword -- The
Spread of Islam -- Fall of Visigothic Spain. 304-310
List of Illustrations
PAGE
Jerusalem besieged by Titus _Frontispiece_
Antiochus Epiphanes 42
Half Shekel, Simon Maccabeus 50
Shekel, Simon Maccabeus 51
Goat-skin water bottles 66
The Temple of Jerusalem 74
Ground plan of Temple Area 75
Coin of Johanan the High Priest 84
Coin of the Time of Alexandra 87
The Pool of Siloam 90
Julius Caesar 97
Coin of Antigonus on his accession 101
Emperor Augustus 105
Coin of Agrippa I. 148
Coin of Agrippa II. 152
Battlement on a house-top 160
Emperor Titus 164
Coin of the Reign of Titus 166
The Golden Candlestick (on Arch of Titus depicting
carrying the spoil of Judea) 169
Flavius Josephus 173
The Arch of Titus, raised to commemorate the
overthrow of Judea 180
Brass Coin struck in Rome during reign of
Vespasian, indicating Judea's overthrow 189
Brass Coin of Nerva, marking the withdrawal of
certain abuses in connection with the Jewish Tax 205
Coin of the Second Revolt of Bar Cochba 216
Map, Palestine Before the War, 66 B.C.E. Front
Map, The Diaspora Back
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.
PAGE
Under Persian Sway 17
Greek and Jew 26
Greco-Syria and the Maccabees 33, 45
The Hasmonean House 73
Emperors and Procurators 120, 152
Rome and Jewry after Judea's overthrow 201
Emperors and Rabbis 229
The Talmud's compilation and Rome's fall 250
In Christian Europe and Moslem Arabia 281
Themes for Discussion
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Discuss the relations between _Judaism as
law_ and Mendelssohn's statement that
"Judaism is not a revealed religion but a
revealed legislation." 25
II. What was the significance of the defeat of
Persia by Greece for civilization in general
and for the Jew in particular? 30
IV. Had the Hasmoneans the right to assume the
office of High Priest? 51
V. Compare the treatment of wisdom in Proverbs
(viii) and in Ecclesiasticus. 66
VI. Are there traces of Greek philosophy in the
Septuagint? 71
VII. Compare modern with ancient parties in
Israel. 84
VIII. Contrast the Wood Festival of ancient Judea
with Arbor Day in modern America. 90
X. Single out great events in Israel influenced
by, and influencing the Jews. 101
XI. Did Herod succeed or did he fail? 110
XII. Is it possible, as Hillel said, to evolve the
whole law from the Golden Rule? 116
XIV. Does official Judaism discourage conversion?
Why did the Jews oppose a census on religious
grounds? 126
XV. Why cannot Jesus be accepted by the synagogue
to-day? 135
XVI. Why did most heathen converts to Judaism
ultimately become Christians? 140
XVII. Why did rabbinic Judaism neglect Philo? 146
XVIII. If Agrippa had lived and reigned as long
as Herod----? 152
XIX. Compare the Zealots of antiquity with to-day's
Russian revolutionists; the Sicarii
with the anarchists; the procurators with
the Czar's local governors. 156
XX. Make clear the difference in principle between
Judea's "Peace Party" and the
"Royalist Party" among the American
revolutionists. 160
XXIII. Should Josephus be regarded as a traitor? 179
XXIV. Whether the Temple's fall abolished or
suspended animal sacrifice is a point of difference
between Judaism's two schools to-day. 189
XXV. In what respect did the "Academy" differ
from a school? 196
XXVI. Contrast the ancient gnostic with the modern
agnostic. 200
XXVIII. Should Akiba's method of law deduction be
called casuistic? 210
XXIX. What degree of pain or peril justifies
disregard of ceremonial law? 216
XXX. Can the number of our duties be specified? 221
XXXI. What is Revelation, and how did the sages
apply it to the Oral Law? 228
XXXII. Is the Jew's first duty to his countrymen or
to his coreligionists? 238
XXXIV. What right had the Byzantine Empire to
the title "Roman"? 249
XXXV. Compare Bible and Talmud as literatures.
In what sense can it be said that the Talmud
made the Jew? 255
XXXVIII. In what respect did mediaeval slavery
differ from Russian serfdom and from the bond
service in the early colonial era of
America? 287
XXXIX. Why did the higher clergy oppose the mingling
of Jews and Christians, and the lower
favor it? 292
XL. Why did Judaism not succeed as a proselytising
religion? 298
XLI. Should Mohammed be called a prophet? 303
XLII. Amplify the probable consequences of the
acceptance of Mohammed by the Jews. 311
BOOK I.
JUDEA, A VASSAL STATE.
CHAPTER I.
UNDER PERSIAN SWAY.
=PERSIA= =JUDEA= =FAMOUS=
=CONTEMPORARIES=
B.C.E. B.C.E. B.C.E
Cyrus conquer Return of Judah
the Babylonians 538 from Exile 536
Cambyses 529 Haggai and
Darius 522 Zechariah,
defeated at prophets 520-516
Marathon 490 Second Temple
Xerxes 485 rebuilt 516 FLOURISHED
Artaxerxes I Esther and Gautama Buddha 500
(Longimanus) 465 Mordecai 485 Confucius 500
Ezra goes to
Jerusalem with
second group
of exiles 458
Nehemiah's first
visit 444
Nehemiah Governor
of Judah 432 Socrates 430
Malachi the prophet
about 430
Darius II 424 Xenophon 400
Artaxerxes II
Artaxerxes III Plato d. 347
(Mnemon) 404
(Ochus) 358
Alexander, the Greek, overthrows the Persian Empire 332
The story covered by the early dates in this table is not yet
post-Biblical. It is already told in the later Books of Ezra,
Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah i-viii. The history of this volume
begins with the close of the life-work of these men.
The restoration of the Jews to Judea did not materialize as
gloriously as Isaiah of Babylon had prefigured in his sublime
addresses (Isaiah xl-xlvi.) Life's realizations very often
disappoint their anticipations. Cyrus, the Persian king, opened the
door; but only a poor remnant returned to a poor land. Even then,
enemies made their appearance, envious of the royal grant, and
plotted against their welfare. So it took many years to rebuild the
Temple and many more to rebuild Jerusalem and to reorganize a new
community. This service we owe to Nehemiah.
Political Silence.
After the chronicle of Nehemiah's service in placing the Jewish
settlement on a working basis, we are told hardly anything more of
the doings of Israel in this epoch. Either there was no further
historic incident of the Jews under Persian sway, or it has never
been told. There is a silence of about a hundred years after the
last chapter of Nehemiah, which is, roughly speaking, the last
chapter of Jewish history in the Bible. One reason for this silence
of course, is that the Jews had no separate political life. They
were a subject people; their State was gone. What there is to tell
can be disposed of in a few sentences.
We perhaps infer from the sixty-third chapter of Isaiah that they
suffered during the campaigns of the two Artaxerxes against Egypt.
We know that some were banished to the Caspian Sea because they
were implicated in a wide-spread insurrection against the fast
declining Persia, instigated by the different peoples settled around
the Mediterranean shore. We are told further that an upstart named
Bagoas heavily taxed the Jews and made a quarrel over the priesthood
an excuse to desecrate their Temple.
That is really all. When this intriguer attempted to place his own
candidate on the Persian throne the knell had been rung. Persia's
days were numbered. Like its Babylonian predecessor, it had been
"weighed in the balance and found wanting." The Greek forces of
Alexander were advancing and about the year 332 the Persian dynasty,
founded by Cyrus--let us say "The Great"--passed away.
Religious Activity.
But silent though the period was in external doings, it was a
stirring time in Israel for what we might call the experience of the
soul. When we turn to the religious life of the Jews, the epoch,
apparently so barren, is full of significance. Great achievements
are here disclosed behind the historian's silence.
To tell the religious story, we must go back to Ezra again--the Ezra
who came to Judea with the second group of Babylonian exiles and who
revived the religious life of the community (_People of the Book_,
vol. iii, ch. xxxiv), was the father of the _Scribes_. A scribe was
not merely, as the name might imply, one who copied the writings of
others, but one who expounded them. The Pentateuch, which contains
many codes of law in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy,
came to be called "the Law" as a whole. (Torah.) We shall learn how
this term later came to include the vaster code that was gradually
deduced from these Biblical books. In fact, from now on, _Judaism is
interpreted as law_.
How did it happen that the Jewish religion was accepted by its
observers as a Law? In ancient times Religion and State were one.
There was not that division between sacred affairs and secular
that we are familiar with to-day. Duty to God and the King were
allied; patriotism merged into piety. Hence the Pentateuch contains
laws touching civil as well as spiritual relations, and regulates
affairs both secular and sacred. For example, it contains laws
about kings, servants, agriculture, war, food, dress, courts of
justice, loans, inheritance, in fact every need that arose in the
civilization of the time. It contains the Decalogue, regulations
for festivals and sacrificial worship, duties to the poor, the
stranger, the dumb animal, the code of Holiness (Levit. xvii-xxvii),
and exhortations to noble living. It is beautiful to notice how the
moral pervades the secular and gives to all a sanctifying touch.
Thus the scribes of this latter day had to interpret Scripture for
the daily affairs of public life as well as for the regulation
of the holy seasons and the religious ceremonial in Israel's
semi-independent state. So the Sanhedrin (a Greek word), a body
of seventy members, was both a House of Legislature and an
ecclesiastical council. It numbered 70 like the Council of Elders
appointed by Moses (Exodus xxiv, 1).
Thus it happened when all political power was taken, from the Jews,
the presentation of religion through the forms of law very naturally
survived.
There is yet another reason for Judaism being interpreted as Law,
which touches the genius of Judaism. Judaism has always been less
a faith to be confessed than a life to be lived. The emphasis
was laid on deed rather than on dogma, on law rather than creed.
We shall later see (p. 133) that it was on this very distinction
that Christianity broke away from the parent religion to become a
separate Faith.
The reduction of religion to law had its abuses as well as its
excellences. It led to the multiplication of ceremonials. The laws
of ritual cleanliness, especially for the priests and of Sabbath
observance, were very voluminous and very minute. Perhaps too
much importance was laid on minor detail; there was little room
for voluntary and spontaneous action. On the other hand, too much
freedom in religious observance has its dangers and pitfalls too.
At its best the Jewish Law tended to sanctify every act of life
and to bring the humblest obligation into relationship with God.
But whenever a religion crystallizes into an institution, as it
inevitably must, the spirit occasionally gets lost in the form. Then
it becomes the function of the prophet to bring back the emphasis to
religion's vital issues.
Priest and Synagogue.
A further word on the religious life of post-exilic Israel. We must
remember at the start that Judea was a colony subject to Persia,
but enjoyed complete autonomy in the management of its internal
affairs. The head of the community was the High Priest. He not only
regulated all functions in the Temple (the religious centre), but
because religion and government could not be entirely separated,
as explained above, he exercised secular power too. As the
high-priesthood became a hereditary office it acquired quite a royal
distinction. This regal splendor and "temporal" power in the High
Priest's hands were to cause Israel much woe later and became one of
the causes of its downfall.
Distinct from the Temple, Houses of Prayer were springing up, called
Synagogues. The Synagogue gradually developed a distinct ritual,
and Sabbath readings from the Pentateuch and the Prophets became a
permanent institution. This is treated in fuller detail in chapter
xxv.
The religious activities and conditions here described were not
limited to the Persian era, but continued in the Greek period that
immediately followed.
* * * * *
A word about the literature of this Second-Temple or post-exilic
epoch. The most important of the later Biblical books are ascribed
to it, notably the Holy Writings, specified below.
* * * * *
It was further the time of literary activity in editing Bible books
already written and deducing new law from Scripture. But nothing
of the Prophetic style of writing appeared. Haggai, Zechariah and
Malachi were the last, and already we miss in them the earlier
Prophetic grandeur. Ah, the days of prophecy were over! There were
no more great names. But there was a general body called "Men of the
Great Synagogue." "Synagogue" does not here mean House of Worship,
but a Council of Scholars, consisting of 120 members. Under this
title some noble masters of the Law contributed splendid literary
service, satisfied to sink their identity in this general term.
The Bible Canon.
A sacred collection of writings, accepted as books of authority on
religious life is called a _Canon_, a Greek word meaning rule. The
task of deciding what was worthy to be admitted into the Canon of
the Hebrew Scripture was a task of great responsibility. Nor was
it completed at one time. Begun by the Men of the Great Synagogue,
its final completion was postponed until nearly a century after the
Christian era.
The Bible Books were placed in three groups, namely: _Law_,
_Prophets_, _Holy Writings_. This sequence marked both the order
of their importance in rabbinic estimate and to some extent, the
sequence of their production. 1st, The Law consists of the five
books of the Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy. 2d, The Prophets fall into two groups: (a) the Former
Prophets, comprising the historical books--Joshua, Judges, First
and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings, illustrative of the
divine guidance of Israel; (b) the Later Prophets, the Prophetic
Books proper: the three largest, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel; the
twelve smaller Prophets, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,
Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. 3rd,
The Hagiographa (Holy Writings), was a miscellaneous collections
of Scriptures, some written very late indeed. It included Psalms,
Proverbs, Job; five little books called Megilloth (Scrolls): Song of
Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther; Daniel, Ezra,
Nehemiah and First and Second Chronicles.
* * * * *
These were doubtless selected from the larger library of Jewish
literature only after long discussion. All were well weighed before
being admitted into this sacred Canon. Some of those not chosen are
doubtless lost. Some found their way into another collection, known
as the Apocrypha, to be considered later.
* * * * *
Enough is assuredly indicated here to show that the post-exilic
epoch was not a time of empty silence, but one of tremendous
activity--one of the most fruitful literary periods in our history.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
_Persian Influence_:
Persian ideas unconsciously exercised their influence on Jews living
under Persian rule. As a result, conceptions of the future life and
retribution beyond the grave became more definite than in their
earlier Biblical presentation; the belief in angels and evil spirits
received further development.
_Judaism as Law_:
That Israel laid small stress on creed is further proved by the
late date of the formulation of any articles of faith. Even the
thirteen creeds of Maimonides (see _History Medieval Jews_, p. 157),
were drawn up rather to differentiate Judaism from Christianity and
Mohammedanism, than to explain its teachings to Jews.
Israel's detractors say that Judaism interpreted as Law tended
to blur moral distinctions. This is a superficial and erroneous
inference, for it quite as often re-inforced them and prevented
temporizing with duty.
Read "The Law and Recent Criticism," in the eleventh volume of
the _Jewish Quarterly Review_ (London, Macmillan) in reply to a
criticism against Judaism as Law; Montefiore, "_Bible for Home
Reading_," vol. ii, pages 12-18, on the Law; _Hibbert Lectures_,
1892, Montefiore, parts of chapters vi and ix on the Scriptures.
_Introduction Literature of the Old Testament._ Driver, (Scribner.)
_Bible Books_:
The order of the Bible Books in the Septuagint, which order is
followed by all Church translations of the Bible, differs from the
Hebrew order, as follows: 1st, the Writings precede the Prophets.
2d, Ruth, Lamentations, Daniel and Chronicles are taken from the
Writings and placed as follows: Ruth after Judges, Lamentations
after Jeremiah, Daniel after Ezekiel, Chronicles after Kings. 3d,
Job precedes Psalms.
_Theme for discussion_:
Discuss the relation between _Judaism as law_, and Mendelssohn's
statement that "Judaism is not a revealed religion, but a revealed
legislation." See _Modern Jewish History_, p. 78.
Chronological Table.
B.C.E. | B.C.E.
|
Death of Alexander 323 | Onias I, High Priest 332
|
Division of Alexander's |
Empire into four Kingdoms 323 | Judea part of Greco-Egyptian
| realm (Ptolemaic) 301
|
| Simon the Just, High
Ptolemy II, Philadelphus 285 | Priest 300
|
| The Septuagint (translation
| of the Bible into
| Greek) begun at Alexandria
| about 250
|
Ptolemy III Euergetes 247 | Joseph, Governor of Palestine 230
|
Ptolemy IV Philopator 222 | Judea part of Greco-Syrian
| realm 203
|
Ptolemy VI Philometor 181 | Onias IV, builds a Temple
| at Leontopolis, Egypt 160
|
| Ben Sirach visits Egypt 132
CHAPTER II.
GREEK AND JEW.
Alexander the Great.
The Greeks and the Jews have been the greatest contributors toward
the higher civilization of mankind, the Greek in the intellectual
and artistic realm, the Jew in the religious and moral. Therefore
we discern the hand of Providence in bringing them together for
they influenced each other. The meeting of Greek and Jew is one of
the great events of history, greater than many of the battles that
have decided the fates of empires. Greece had already lived her
most thrilling epoch when the meeting began, but Plato, disciple of
the moral philosopher, Socrates, had but recently passed away and
Aristotle, profoundest philosopher of antiquity, still lived.
Macedonia had absorbed other Greek principalities and Alexander,
now sole master, carried his army eastward in the hope of founding
a universal empire. Whenever he conquered a land, he colonized
it with Greeks and thus spread Greek civilization. Egypt, Asia
Minor, Syria, Phoenicia, and ultimately Ethiopia and India fell
successively before his triumphant approach.
The Persian empire that had been fast decaying, was included in
the great array of conquests. Tired of the intriguing adventurer
placed over them in the last years, the Jews gladly welcomed the
conqueror. Legend weaves a pretty story of the Jewish High Priest,
Onias, going forth with a company clad in white to meet Alexander,
and that in this picture Alexander saw the fulfilment of a dream.
It is certain that the Jews hailed this change of masters and many
settled in several of the new Greek colonies he founded. In this
rise and fall of empires a new grouping of the countries took place.
The rebellious Samaritans were quelled and Alexander gave their land
to the Judeans, to whom he further showed his favor by freeing them
from taxation during the Sabbatic year. (see Lev. xxv.)
Another reason for Alexander's kindness to our ancestors may be the
fact that some Jews already settled in many places outside Judea
became his guides and interpreters when he entered the unfamiliar
realm of Asia. Indeed, this broad-minded conqueror was a second
Cyrus to the Jews; but there was no Isaiah now to immortalize his
advent in the grandeur of prophetic address, or to interpret his
triumphant advance in terms of divine purpose.
Judea Part of Greco-Egypt.
All too soon, in the midst of his ambitions, Alexander died.
Conflict among his generals followed, and the great empire was
dismembered. In one of the many wars which followed, the Jews
showed their religious fidelity by submitting to slaughter rather
than defend themselves on the Sabbath day. Finally, the empire
was divided into the following four kingdoms: The Greco-Syrian,
the Greco-Egyptian, the Thracian and the Macedonian. Greco-Syria,
including the greater part of Western Asia, with Persia as its
centre, was claimed by one of Alexander's generals named Seleucus.
He introduced the Seleucidan era named after him beginning with
the year 312. This calendar was used by the Jews when they later
came under Seleucidan sway; for this name, too, came to be applied
to the kingdom itself. Many Jews were invited to settle in the new
capital--Antioch, on its Mediterranean border. The next kingdom fell
to Ptolemy Lagos and included Egypt and the adjoining Asiatic lands,
one of which was Cælo-Syria, with boundaries from Lebanon to Egypt,
really corresponding to Palestine. Thus the Jews first came under
the Ptolemaic regime. It will be well to keep these geographical
divisions distinctly in mind. The remaining two divisions of the
empire, Thrace and Macedonia, hardly enter into this history.
The Jews did not suffer in the change of rule. They were as free
as before to live their own life, and with even greater political
independence than under Persian rule. The High Priest continued as
the head of the Jewish community, the centre of which was still
Jerusalem. Alexandria, a seaport named after the conqueror, was
made the capital of Greco-Egyptian kingdom. Many Jews settled
there, and it gradually became the most important Jewish community
outside of Palestine, both intellectually and religiously. If there
were Jews in Greek towns, so also were there Greeks in Jewish
towns. This meant a mingling of the two races and a lessening
of Jewish isolation. Alexander had brought the Greek tongue to
the East; it became the international language; and even the
commercial interchange of commodities brought necessarily with it an
interchange of ideas. The Orient was becoming Hellenized (p. 31).
The first man of achievement to hear from in this epoch was the
High Priest, Simon the Just. That he was called "The Just" tells
much in a word. Like Aristides the Good he really earned his title.
He rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, ravaged by war, and improved
the water supply. Ben Sirach (one of the writers of the Apocrypha)
speaks of Simon in these words of exalted praise:
How was he honored in the midst of the people
In his coming out of the sanctuary!
He was as the morning star in the midst of a cloud,
And as the moon at the full;
As the sun shining upon the temple of the Most High
And as the rainbow giving light in the bright clouds:
And as the flower of roses in the spring of the year,
As lilies by the rivers of waters,
And as the branches of the frankincense tree in the time of summer;
As fire and incense in the censer,
And as a vessel of beaten gold set with all manner of precious stones;
And as a fair olive tree budding forth fruit,
And as a cypress tree which groweth up to the clouds.
When he put on the robe of honour,
And was clothed with the perfection of glory,
When he went up to the holy altar,
He made glorious the precincts of the Sanctuary.
Here is one of his maxims: "The world rests on three pillars, on
the Law, on worship, and on Charity." He took a broad and moderate
view of life. When over-zealous souls would wish to impose upon
themselves the abnegations of the Nazarite (see Numbers vi) he
discouraged such extremes. "Why voluntarily renounce gifts that God
in his love has bestowed for our joy?" That voices the spirit of
Judaism. It is said that certain wondrous manifestations of Divine
grace ceased with his death. These are but legends, but they show
how much he was revered and loved.
Joseph the Satrap
Joseph, the nephew of Onias, a man of resources, was appointed
tax-gatherer of the Palestinian lands. A tax-gatherer was given a
military retinue to enforce his claims. It was a position of great
importance, and made him practically governor of all Palestine with
title of Satrap. He exercised his power with severity. Still he
brought wealth and improvement to Judea and awakened in the Jews a
greater confidence in themselves.
Certainly contact with the Greeks widened the horizon of the
Jews, furthered their culture, and gave them a taste for the
arts of architecture and sculpture. The Greeks also inculcated
love of freedom, the dignity of man, and intellectual research
in the realms of science and philosophy. But Greek civilization
had perils as well as advantages. Nor was it transplanted to the
East in its noblest form. The best of Greek thought was evolved in
Athens, not in Alexandria. Then too, the Greeks everywhere were
fond of conviviality, so often the stepping-stone to immorality.
That was why the prophets, from Samuel on so frowned upon
Canaanitish revelries. Some Jews quickly imitated this pagan
frivolity and dissipation. Joseph, the satrap, in order to please
Ptolemy Philopater, the Greco-Egyptian monarch, introduced the
festivities of Dionysus (Bacchus) into Jerusalem; these really meant
drunken orgies. Next he imported to the Jewish capital dissolute
dancing-women. These associations began to loosen the adherence of
the people to Judaism's strictly moral code. Epicureanism, that had
become a sanction for indulgence, was beginning to take its place.
Judea Part of Greco-Syria.
In the meantime the greed and ambition of kings changed the map
once more. Antiochus the Great, of Syria, seized Egypt and its
Asiatic possessions in 203. This transferred Judea from the Egyptian
to the Seleucidan rule. Warring nations had played battledore
and shuttlecock with the land of our ancestors since the year
600. Antiochus was checked by the newly rising power of Rome from
retaining all the Greco-Egyptian dominions, but Celo-Syria including
Judea remained under his sway. In the struggle some Jews sided with
the Egyptian and some with the Seleucidan party.
For Jews were beginning to differentiate; they were not any more
all of one mind either politically or religiously. Led by the
unfortunate example of Joseph and his successors, some Jews began
cultivating Hellenistic (from Hellas, Greece) habits to win favor
with their surroundings. A Jewish leader of the Greek faction
was one Joshua, who Grecized his name to Jason. This worldly man
encouraged his people to neglect their Jewish ideals in favor of
pagan standards of life. The safeguards built around the Jewish
Law by the teachers of old were ruthlessly overthrown. But these
traitorous extremes brought their own reaction. A pious party
sprang up to counteract them and it zealously determined to fulfil
the Jewish Law in its strictest interpretation. These were the
_Chassidim_ (Greek, Assidean), meaning the pious.
Here then were two extreme parties in Israel--one, the Hellenists,
whose mania for everything Greek made them almost traitors to the
Jewish cause; and on the other hand the Chassidim, who observed the
law with a rigidity greater than its own demands; and in the midst
the great bulk of the people, who tried to avoid the extremes of
both.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
_Greek and Jew_:
Read "Hebraism and Hellenism" in Matthew Arnold's _Culture and
Anarchy_.
Someone remarks, "The Greek praised the holiness of beauty: the
Jew the beauty of holiness." Heine writes: "The Greeks were only
beautiful youths, the Jews strong and steadfast men."
_Theme for discussion_:
What was the significance of the defeat of Persia by Greece for
civilization in general and for the Jew in particular?
CHAPTER III.
JUDEA FIGHTS FOR ITS FAITH.
B.C.E. | B.C.E.
Seleucidan Era begins 312 | Judea under Greco-Syrian rule 203
| Uprising under Mattathias 168
Antiochus III, the Great 223 | Judas Maccabee 167
Antiochus IV Epiphanes 175 | Book of Daniel written, about 166
| Temple re-dedicated--Hanukkah 165
Antiochus V, Eupater 164 |
High Priest's Office Sold.
Antiochus was succeeded by his son of the same name, an eccentric
despot who claimed the title of Epiphanes, the "illustrious,"
though styled by his enemies Epimanes "the madman," and in rabbinic
literature _Harasha_, the "wicked." The rule of this ill-balanced
tyrant was to bring woe to Judea, for which their own internal
troubles were in a measure responsible. Indeed, it was these
discords that drew his attention to this particular province. The
Hellenists, who had grown to quite a party, sought his interference
in their behalf. Jason offered the king a bribe to make him High
Priest and depose Onias, his own brother. What a blasphemy on the
holy office to fight for its material powers! The pity was that
material power should be vested in a spiritual office, so the system
was wrong as well as the man.
Imitation of Greek life went on apace. Olympic games, _gymnasia_,
were now introduced into Judea. These games named from Olympia in
Macedonia, Greece, where they first took place, were also religious
festivals and were accompanied by sacrifices to the Greek god Zeus.
Yet they involved immoralities, so contradictory were some ancient
conceptions of religion.
Menelaus, another unscrupulous character, offered to Antiochus
a still higher bribe for the priesthood and thus obtained it,
regardless of the fact that it had already been sold to Jason. Like
master, like man.
Led from crime to crime, Menelaus became a traitor to his people.
He robbed the Temple of some of its treasures to pay his bribe and
then slew the deposed but worthy Onias because he had denounced the
sin. The outraged people rose against Menelaus, but an armed guard
provided by the king enabled him to hold his office by force, and
saved him for the time being.
At about this time (170) Antiochus IV, like his predecessor,
attempted to seize Egypt. Some patriotic Jews in Alexandria showed
active sympathy for the endangered nation. Therefore Antiochus
on his return from the expedition seized Jerusalem, aided by the
traitor Menelaus. This attack meant the slaughter of many souls and
the desecration and plunder of the Temple. Not content with this,
Antiochus spread slanders against Judaism to justify his excesses.
The rumor went forth, for example, that a golden headed ass was
found in the Temple.
Religious Persecution.
Next year his further attack on Egypt was checked by Rome, rapidly
becoming a great power. Again he vented his rage on the Jews and
determined to exterminate the Jewish religion by attacking their
most revered institutions, as the most complete means of erasing
their distinct individuality. The predecessors of Antiochus
Epiphanes had encouraged the spread of paganism among the Jews; but
he, less intelligent and more despotic, tried to force it upon them.
He did not realize that where persuasion may succeed, tyranny often
fails. Apollonius, his general, cowardly attacked Jerusalem on the
Sabbath day, when he knew religious scruples would prevent the Jews
defending themselves. So it proved. Many more were slain and the
women and children sold in slavery. A general plunder followed. The
paganizing of Judea became now his avowed policy. Therefore a decree
went forth forbidding the recognition of the God of Israel and His
Law and commanding the worship of Greek divinities--"gods that were
nothings," to quote Psalm xcvi. The Law was burned and the statue of
Jupiter set up in the Temple. Jewish ceremonial, Sabbath, festivals,
the Abrahamic rite, were replaced by the sacrifice of unclean
animals. At the same time other methods were employed completely to
subdue the people.
The same policy was applied against Jews in Higher Syria and
Phoenicia. But if some were weak enough to surrender their Faith,
many were prepared to remain staunch to it. Eleazar in Antioch met
a martyr's death. Hannah, a mother in Israel, taught her sons how
to die for conscience's sake. Here are the words with which she
exhorted them: "Doubtless the Creator of the world who formed the
generations of man will also of His own mercy give you breath and
life again as ye now regard not your own selves for His law's sake."
Martyrdom such as that found its counterpart in many scattered
places. Not succeeding by threats and persecutions Antiochus
once more resorted to arms. Again followed an unresisted Sabbath
slaughter. The walls of Jerusalem were leveled and Zion made a
fortress with a Syrian garrison. Greek colonists were transplanted
to Palestine for the purpose of Hellenizing Judea. The country was
placed under rigid surveillance. If a copy of the Law was found on
the monthly inspection the punishment was death. Participation in
the festivals of Dionysius was now a compulsion.
Yet many dared resist. From the worldly point of view, opposition
seemed madness, but religious zeal counts not the material cost.
In Modin, a town eighteen miles northwest of Palestine, lived
Mattathias, with his five sons, John, Simon, Judas, Eleazar and
Jonathan. Hither in the year 168 came officials of the tyrant with
promises of a large bribe to Mattathias if he would make offering to
an idol and with threats of punishment if he declined. Mattathias
was a leading townsman and his example would bring many followers.
Not only did he scorn the infamous proposal, but slew a coward
who prepared to obey. That act was casting down the gauntlet to
Antiochus; it was a declaration of war. With his brave sons around
him, the aged hero sent this message to the people: "Whoever is
zealous for the Lord and whosoever wishes to support the Covenant,
follow me." That became the rallying cry. The little band deposed
the Syrian overseer and the guard. Once more when attacked on
the Sabbath, the Jews submitted to slaughter. Then they came to
the realization that self-defense was their duty, even on that
holy day. Were they not fighting for a holy cause? They began at
first guerilla warfare on apostates and heathens. Avoiding regular
attacks, they would swoop down with a bold clash on a town to punish
and reform.
Judas Maccabeus.
Next year Mattathias died. Simon became the counselor and Judas
was chosen commander of the trusty band of revolutionists. He was
Israel's greatest warrior since David. The title given him was
transmitted to his party--_Maccabeus_, the Hammer. But a something
more than generalship was to decide this contest--_faith_. Judged by
material standards, resistance seemed like a forlorn hope, but the
intrepid bravery of this staunch band fighting _pro aris et focis_,
"for their altars and their hearths," increased the number of their
adherents and even won back the allegiance of some who had almost
drifted from the fold.
The first victory over the Syrians was small, but Appolonius, the
general who had been entrusted with carrying out the persecuting
laws, was slain. In a second engagement the "rebels" were attacked
at Beth Horon, north of Jerusalem, and Judas won here a still more
decided success over an army much larger than his own. Antiochus
became alarmed. He had not the means to raise a large army to meet
this unexpected opposition, because all his resources were taxed to
meet troubles in other quarters--Parthia, Armenia, Phoenicia.
Angered at the rebellion of this petty people, he now determined on
their extermination, Hellenists and all. He sent Lysias with full
power to Jerusalem to raze the city to the ground. To the Syrians
the Jewish defeat seemed so certain that slave-dealers with money
and chains followed the army, sure of a harvest in their repulsive
trade. A horror like unto that of Shushan in Esther's days spread
through the doomed city. But it raised champions, even among the
Hellenistic Jews, who were still attached to their Faith when the
decisive test came.
It was in the year 166 that Lysias, the viceroy of Antiochus, sent
an army of four thousand men into Judea under the generals Ptolemy,
Nicanor and Gorgias. But Judas Maccabeus had now a well organized
force, although it consisted of but six thousand men. Before the
struggle began he called a solemn assembly at Mizpah, where Samuel
had gathered Israel nine hundred years earlier, ordered a fast,
conducted a service of prayer and read the Law. In reading the
story of the Puritan war against Charles I of England and their
singing hymns before the battle, we are reminded of the religious
earnestness of these Maccabees. "When they saw the host coming
to meet them, they said to Judas, how shall we be able, being so
few, to fight against so great a multitude and so strong.... Judas
answered: with the God of heaven it is all one to deliver with a
great multitude or a small company." The usual proclamation of the
Mosaic Law (Deuteronomy xx), was now read, excusing certain classes
from the ranks; this reduced the army still more. Then the struggle
once more began. By a clever stratagem Judas Maccabeus met the
Syrian army on a plain near Emmaus, not far from the capital. With
the words of the Law on his lips and with an encouraging appeal to
fight for the holy cause, he gave the signal to advance. Defeating
the first contingent of the enemy before the main army came up, the
next battalion fled without fighting.
The moral effect of this decisive victory was most valuable,
apart from the fact that the booty obtained supplied arms to the
Maccabees--the "sinews of war" both in a literal and metaphoric
sense. But Lysias dared not be beaten. He therefore sent a big army
against Judas, whose force had meanwhile increased to some ten
thousand, proving again that nothing succeeds like success. The
Syrians chose a new route to Beth Horon, but only to meet the old
defeat. This was the turning point in the war. The struggle was not
over, but confidence was restored and a respite gained.
Feast of Hanukkah.
Judas Maccabeus marched to the capital and a sorry picture of
desolation met his gaze. His first work was to remove all signs of
idolatry and desecration. A new altar was built, the Temple was
repaired and cleaned and on Kislev the 25th in the year 165, it was
reconsecrated. The ceremony recalls Solomon's consecration of the
first Temple; not as splendid a ceremonial perhaps, but it meant
far more. Solomon's Temple had cost treasure, but this had cost
blood. It was more than a civil victory; it was that least, it was
a triumph of the divine cause expressed in Israel's mission. They
fought for Zion as an idea rather than Zion as a city--the "Zion
from which goeth forth the law." They proved again that ideals
can conquer battalions. This great lesson is always brought home
to us when we celebrate our festival of Hanukkah (re-dedication)
instituted by the Great Council--the successor of the "Great
Synagogue"--to celebrate the victory. The Syrian had been defeated.
He was the enemy without. But a greater foe had to be conquered,
the enemy within--religious indifference, that lurked among the
Hellenist worldlings and many faint-hearted souls throughout the
land.
The legend runs that when Judas Maccabeus wished to consecrate the
Temple, but one flask of pure oil bearing the priestly seal had been
left after the enemy's ravage. It was a measure that would last for
a day, but--marvelous to tell--it served for eight, by which time
new oil was prepared. The story is immortalized in the second name
"Feast of Lights," given to the Hanukkah festival. The ceremony
of kindling lights begins with one on the first night, continues
with two lights on the second and thus progresses till the eighth
and last night is reached. What is the meaning of the ceremonial
and the story? It is the Maccabean victory told in symbol; for it
was a story of advance from strength to strength. First, Mattathias
stood alone for Judaism's cause, a solitary light. Next came his
sons; then a tiny army growing instead of lessening with each
conflict, from two thousand to six thousand, from six to ten, then
victory crowned their efforts; and with the conquest on the field
rose the faith in the hearts of the people in the same progressive
way. The tiny embers became a flame, and the flame burst into a
conflagration. This miracle is often found repeated in Israel's
history.
The Feast of Lights is called a Minor Festival in our calendar, for
reasons accidental rather than intrinsic. It is hard to institute a
new observance after a religion is crystallized. It is still harder
to give it the old sanction. So the rabbis did not venture then
to place Hanukkah or Purim on a par with Passover, Pentecost and
Tabernacles. Yet in very truth Hanukkah is a great festival. None
question its authority--all are thrilled by its stirring story.
The Book of Daniel.
In seeking to realize this critical time of "storm and stress," we
shall be aided somewhat by taking a glimpse at its literature. For
here we see pictured the struggles and sufferings experienced and
the alternate hopes and fears that swayed the heart of the nation,
far better than in the record of the historian.
A work reflecting these times, the Book of Daniel, is perhaps the
latest of the Bible books. The book throws light on the epoch and
the epoch is the key to the book. Daniel is written in the form of
a revelation of events that were to happen centuries later, made
known through dream and vision to the God-fearing Daniel, one of the
Babylonian exiles. These visions are presented as foretelling the
main incidents after the exile. The pictures grow in detail as they
reach the Maccabean uprising (168 B.C.E.), showing that the author
probably belonged to this time.
The first picture is the dream of King Nebuchadrezzar, which
Daniel--who is as wise as he is good--is able to interpret. The
dream presented an image with a head of gold, breast and arms of
silver, the lower limbs of brass and iron mixed with clay. A stone
cut without hands destroyed the image and then grew to a mountain
that filled the earth. In the light of later events, it is thus
explained: The golden head was Babylon, the silver breast and arms
the kingdom of Media, the bronze trunk Persia, the lower limbs of
baser metal and clay represented the Greek empire, split up into
many principalities, thus bringing the picture down to the rule of
Antiochus Epiphanes. What did the "stone" represent? It expresses
the faith of the writer in Israel's eventual triumph and the spread
of Judaism over the world. But it was doubtless written when the
outcome was still uncertain, perhaps in the very height and heat of
the struggle.
The same march of events is later repeated in visions to Daniel
himself. The four empires are depicted in the figures of beasts that
give the same assurance of Israel's ultimate victory. "The greatness
of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people
of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom is an everlasting
kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey Him."
In another vision our attention is focused on the events nearer
the Maccabean time. First a ram with two horns is the Medo-Persian
empire. Next a he-goat represents Greece, its horn Alexander the
Great. Four horns that uprose in its place are the four kingdoms
into which his empire was split--Macedonia, Thrace, Syria and Egypt,
while a little horn that overthrows Judah's sanctuary is none other
than Antiochus Epiphanes.
A last vision drops metaphor and mentions the kingdoms by actual
name. The persecutions under Antiochus are vividly depicted:
"They shall profane the Sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall
take away the continual burnt offering; and they shall set up
the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly
against the covenant shall he pervert by flatteries; but the
people that know their God shall be strong and do exploits. They
that be wise among the people shall instruct many. Yet they
shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil
many days. Now when they shall fall they shall be helped with a
little help (the Maccabees).... And some of them that be wise
shall fall, to refine them and to purge and to make them white."
[Illustration: ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES.]
The last reference indicates the ennobling influence of martyrdom
touchingly depicted also in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah.
The death of these noble souls deepened the belief of this writer in
the future life, as demanded by divine justice:
"Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt. They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the
firmament and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars
for ever and ever."
The book was certainly written by a patriotic and pious author to
inspire his brethren during that dark struggle, to urge them to be
loyal to God and His Law with the staunch conviction that all would
come right in the end. It is an appeal to the faith and courage of
Israel, with Daniel held up as a thrilling exemplar. He is portrayed
as unswerving in his determination to be steadfast to the God of his
fathers; on one occasion daring a fiery furnace and on another a
lion's den, and his faith saves him from both perils.
Who can say how many may have been nerved to be loyal and to "wait
for God's salvation" by these impassioned pictures? So, next to
Judas Maccabeus, the hero of the Hanukkah story, let us enshrine in
our hearts and memories the unknown author of the Book of Daniel who
fed the faith and the courage of Israel in their days of sorrow and
darkness.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
_Birthday of the Maccabees_:
This was the title of a special day set aside by the Church to
commemorate the martyrdom of the Jewish mother and her seven sons.
_Daniel_:
Immortality. In addition to the quotation from Daniel on
immortality, here are appended further Biblical quotations that
express this belief: Isaiah xxvi, 19; xxv, 8; Ezekiel xxxvii,
1-14; Psalm xvi, 10, 11; xvii, 15; Proverbs xii, 28; Ecclesiastes
xii, 7. Montefiore, _The Bible for Home Reading_, Part II, section
v, chapter ii. Driver, "Daniel," _Cambridge Bible_, (Cambridge
University Press.)
CHAPTER IV.
JUDEA FIGHTS FOR ITS INDEPENDENCE.
=SYRIA.= =JUDEA.=
B.C.E. | B.C.E.
Demetrius I, Soter 162 | Alliance with Rome 161
| Judas Maccabeus died 160
| Jonathan, High Priest and Tributary Prince 152
Alexander Balas 150 |
Demetrius II, Nicator 145 |
| Simon--Judea independent 142-135
This Temple consecration (forever memorable through the Feast of
Hanukkah) was the climax of the Maccabean story, but it was by no
means its close. But this event was chosen as the occasion for the
institution of the Festival of Hanukkah, not the independence--that
was won later. Israel took up arms to defend its Faith, not to
win back a separate nation. But its triumph for a spiritual cause
awakened the possibility of wresting Judea from the Syrian grasp.
For a while swords rested in their scabbards; but it was only an
"armed peace." Judas Maccabeus had to build new fortifications
against possible invasion. The petty nations around all looked on
with ill-concealed jealousy at Judah's victories. Those who in many
instances had become Syrian allies had now to be met on the field.
The alert and energetic Judas marched out once more and subdued the
Idumeans and Ammonites and won peace and security for his people
dwelling on their borders. Appeals from brethren whose possessions
had been despoiled and their families slain reached him from many
sides. With the aid of his brother Simon, whom he despatched to
Galilee while he marched to Gilead, these heathen raids were
suppressed. Jewish refugees were brought to Judea. So there were new
rejoicings at these victories on his return next year (164).
The fight for the restoration of the Jewish faith was now over, but
the fight for the restoration of the Jewish nation had only just
begun.
Not for very long was Judas allowed to rest. It is far easier to
take up the sword than to lay it down. The never-sleeping Syrians
were again in the field, defeating two of his generals. But
once more victory crowned his arms. In the same year Antiochus,
humiliated with defeats in Parthia and Persia as well as in Judea,
came to a sad end. The powerful monarch had now to
"Meet face to face a greater potentate,
King Death, Epiphanes, the illustrious."
His death left two rival governors for the regency of the Syrian
kingdom.
Death of Eleazar.
The obstinate Hellenist party within Israel had not yet learned
their lesson, and appealed to the new monarch, Antiochus Eupator,
to take up their cause. So war broke out again in 163. It was the
Sabbatic year, when nothing is sown and the land lies fallow. (See
Leviticus xxv.) So these circumstances added further embarrassment
to the usual evils of war. It meant scarcity of provisions and the
terror of long siege. A brave fight in the open field against large
odds brought reverse to the Maccabees. One of the brothers, Eleazar,
died on the field, a martyr to his bravery. He stabbed an elephant
supposed to bear the king, though like Samson, he fell in the
overthrow he designed. The army retreated before the second siege
was begun. Meanwhile Philip, the rival regent of Syria, raising
an army against Lysias, compelled this general's withdrawal from
Jerusalem. So Lysias concluded an honorable peace with the Judeans,
allowing them the religious liberty for which they had at first
taken up arms.
The blessings of peace were now theirs for a space. Judas Maccabeus
was made for the time being High Priest. He was not of the priestly
line, but the office involved the wielding of temporal as well as
spiritual authority. For the former, none more fitted than he.
Yet the more strict were not satisfied that it should pass from
the traditional priestly family! The Hellenist menace had not yet
disappeared, though Jason and Menelaus, its fathers, were now both
dead. This party now supported a new Syrian claimant for the throne
against the one endorsed by the Maccabees--Demetrius (162), whose
agent, Bacchides, appointed one of these very Hellenists, Alcimus,
as High Priest. Thus discord was sown anew in Israel.
Death of Judas.
The Syrians with large armies twice repulsed the small army of
Judas, but Nicanor, the cruel general of Demetrius, was slain in a
brilliant victory by the Jews. This brought such relief to the Jews
that "Nicanor Day" was celebrated in Judæa for some years as a day
of rejoicing. Judas was certainly at the head of the commonwealth
now, even though deprived of the High Priest's office. Hearing of
Rome's great power and recognizing that it exercised a kind of
sovereignty over Syria, Judas entered into an alliance with it, but
too late for its interference to be of aid. For with a meagre force,
discouraged by persistent war and overwhelming odds, he had now to
meet a large avenging army under Bacchides. With but a few hundred
men he went forth to meet the picked thousands of his foes, as brave
and as determined as the Greeks of Thermopylæ. When defeat was
certain he yet stood fighting and undaunted till wounded unto death.
So died a great man who had wrought salvation for Israel. He had
made Judah a nation of warrior heroes exalted by religious zeal. His
name, his spirit, continued to inspire them to determined resistance
against foes without and within. Their religious liberty gained
at such fearful cost, even Demetrius, though now holding Judea in
subjection, no longer dared defy.
"He put on a breast place as a giant and girt his warlike armor
about him. He battled like a lion and the wicked shrunk for fear of
him. He cheered Jacob by his mighty acts and his memorial is blessed
forever."
Jonathan.
With Judas the Great and his brother John both dead, with Alcimus,
the Hellenist, High Priest, and with Syrian garrisons in the capital
and all the surrounding places, there was more or less conflict and
demoralization. The outlook was not promising. But Jonathan, another
of Mattathias' five sons, a worthy brother of Judas, kept the
Hasmonean party together. The obnoxious Alcimus died, and there was
no religious or political head for seven years. But confidence in
Jonathan quietly grew; until eventually he filled both offices. He
strengthened his forces sufficiently to withstand a new uprising and
even to make it advisable for the Syrians to sue for peace. So when
the Syrian throne was seized by a new claimant, Alexander Balas, he
realized sufficiently the importance of Jonathan to appoint him High
Priest and Tributary Prince in 152; though the deposed Demetrius,
who still maintained a partial sway, now sought Jonathan's aid too.
The tables were turned and Jonathan held something like a balance
of power. Jonathan showed his foresight in remaining loyal also to
Alexander Balas, his son, who became Antiochus VI. The Hellenist
party quietly died out; it never had the people behind it.
Loaded with honors, Jonathan was now given the golden clasp of
independence, and his brother Simon made a Syrian commander. Enemies
had become allies. Loyalty to the Syrians meant hard fighting again
for the Jews, but the opportunity was given now to strengthen the
defences of Jerusalem and to enable the city and the people to
recover from the ravages consequent on a long series of wars. Judea
had now an army of forty thousand men. They stood by Alexander Balas
when all deserted him. Even then concessions were obtained from the
new king, Demetrius II., showing that the Syrian power was broken.
The treachery of Tryphon, a general of the new king, led to
Jonathan's death and the massacre of a thousand of his men. Thus
passed another of the patriot brothers. It is hard to say to whom
Israel owed the greater debt, Judas or Jonathan. Judas saved the
nation at a perilous hour; Jonathan reorganized it and gave it an
abiding strength.
Independence.
Simon, the last brother, now stepped forward to rally and save
Judea. This persistence (characteristic of the resolution of
this great family) where only the non-resistance of despair was
looked for, completely upset Tryphon's scheme and saved Judea from
disaster. Like Jonathan, Simon became at once by popular choice the
religious and civil head of his people with the title High Priest
included. He felt the time had come to throw off the weak rule of
the unreliable, vacillating Syrian power, though this was far beyond
the original expectation when the revolt began and far beyond its
aims. Yet the march of events made it a logical sequence. He decided
to recognize Demetrius II. against Tryphon on condition that Jewish
independence be recognized in turn. The terms were accepted--"We
release you from the crown which you owe us and we remit the taxes
that we laid on Jerusalem." Verily, the yoke of the heathen was
taken away from Israel.
The Seleucidan Era (see page 28) was now given up with the
Seleucidan sway, and the reckoning of years began anew from 142 with
the accession of Simon as High Priest, Commander of the Army and
Prince of the Nation. This marked again the independence of Judah,
that had been lost since the year 600 B. C. E., when Nebuchadrezzar
overthrew Jerusalem and its Temple and took the Jews into Babylonian
exile.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
_Calendar_:
In the Jewish calendar to-day time is reckoned from the traditional
year of the world's creation.
_Independence_:
Fighting first against the oppression of an overlord and winning
independence as an unexpected outcome--has many historic parallels.
In this way the American colonies threw off their allegiance to
Great Britain in 1776.
[Illustration: HALF SHEKEL, SIMON MACCABEUS, 141-135 B. C. E.]
The issuing of coins marked one of the rights of Judea's
independence. See illustrations of these coins, some of which are
still in existence.
_Theme for Discussion_:
Had the Hasmoneans the right to assume the office of High Priest?
[Illustration: A SHEKEL.
SIMON MACCABEUS, 141-135 B. C. E.]
CHAPTER V.
THE APOCRYPHA.
In addition to the Book of Daniel there are other writings that
throw light on these times; notably the collection known as "The
Apocrypha." This is a Greek word meaning hidden or obscure. This
title as applied to their _use_ was to indicate that the books were
used for private circulation, rather than for reading at public
worship. This title as applied to their _origin_ was to indicate
that their authority as sacred scripture was not as certain as
that of the Bible books--to be included in the Canon of Scripture.
This last application has given a rather sinister meaning to the
word "apocryphal." But the collection is full of lofty religious
sentiment well worthy to be included in our most sacred treasures.
Like the Bible, this collection was not written all at one time, nor
in one land. It spreads over the period between 200 B.C.E. and 150
A.C.E., written therefore under Persian, Greek and Roman rule; some
in Judea, others in the Diaspora, lands of Jewish dispersion. While
the term covers some writings of non-Jewish scribes, the Apocrypha
proper includes the Jewish writings only, and only such will be
considered here.
These consist of fourteen books grouped in the following order:
I Esdras,
II Esdras,
Tobit,
Judith,
Additions to the Book of Esther,
Wisdom of Solomon,
Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus,
Baruch (with epistle of Jeremiah),
Song of the Three Holy Children,
History of Susanna,
History of Bel and the Dragon,
Prayer of Manasses, King of Judah,
I Maccabees,
II Maccabees.
Some are narratives, some books of homilies and maxims, here and
there an apocalypse, i.e., prophetic vision. While the narratives
are not all histories, they are invaluable as revealing the inner
life of the people, their brave struggles, their deep convictions,
and their yearnings for better things. One idea seems common to all.
Each story is presented as an illustration of the temporal trials of
good men and women, like Tobit and Susanna, and the ultimate reward
of their fidelity; the edifying purpose throughout tending to foster
the faith and courage of the people in time of tribulation. In this
respect the apocryphal books resemble the book of Daniel, which
might be appropriately included in the collection.
While these books as a whole lack the freshness and originality and
the exquisite simplicity of the best Bible books, they show in some
respects an advance in thought and survey. There is more mysticism
in the apocryphal writings. Wisdom is personified, almost merging
into a being. Angels and spirits play a larger part. Immortality is
brought to the fore, and Asmodeus, a sort of devil, appears upon the
scene. Some of these ideas, such as the personification of wisdom
and the existence of a devil, were further fostered in Christianity
and developed into distinct doctrines, while the inherent
rationalism of Judaism gradually threw them off.
Now to consider briefly the books in detail:
I Esdras.
Esdras is a later version in Greek of the events told in the Books
of Ezra and Nehemiah, but it begins further back in the reign
of Josiah and carries the story through the exile down to the
re-dedication of the Second Temple. The author breathes into it some
later religious ideas of his own time. The following story quoted
from it is known as the "Dispute of the Courtiers":
"Now King Darius made a great feast unto all his subjects and
unto all that were born in his house, and unto all the princes
of Medea and of Persia.
"Then the three young men of the body-guard that kept the King's
person, spake one to another: let every one of us say one thing
which shall be strongest; and he whose sentences shall seem
wiser than the others, unto him shall Darius the King give
great gifts and great honors in token of victory. The first
wrote, Wine is the strongest. The second wrote, The King is the
strongest. The third wrote, Woman is the strongest: but, above
all things, Truth beareth away the victory.
"Then began the first, who had spoken of the strength of wine,
and said thus: O sirs, how exceeding strong is wine. It causeth
all men to err that drink it: it maketh the mind of the king and
of the fatherless child to be all one; of the bondman and of
the freeman, of the poor man and of the rich; it turneth also
every thought into jollity and mirth, so that a man remembereth
neither sorrow nor debt: and it makes every heart rich, so that
a man remembereth neither king nor satrap: and when they are in
their cups, they forget their love both to friends and brethren,
and a little after draw their swords: but when they awake from
their wine they remember not what they have done. O sirs, is not
wine the strongest, seeing that it enforceth to do thus. And
when he had so spoken, he held his peace.
"Then the second, that had spoken of the strength of the King,
began to say: O sirs, do not men excel in strength, that bear
rule over the sea and land and all things in them? But yet is
the King stronger: and he is their lord and hath dominion over
them; and in whatsoever he commandeth them they obey him. If
he bid them make war one against the other, they do it: and if
he send them out against the enemies, they go, and overcome
mountains, walls and towers. They slay and are slain, and
transgress not the King's commandment. If they get the victory
they bring all to the King, as well the spoil as all things
else. Likewise for those that are no soldiers and have not to do
with wars, but use husbandry, when they have reaped again that
which they had sown, they bring it to the King, and compel one
another to pay tribute unto the king. And he is but one man.
If he command to kill, they kill; if he command to spare they
spare; if he command to smite, they smite; if he command to
make desolate, they make desolate; if he command to build, they
build; if he command to cut down, they cut down; if he command
to plant, they plant. So all his people and all his armies obey
him: furthermore, he lieth down, he eateth and drinketh, and
taketh his rest; and these keep watch round about him, neither
may any one depart, and do his own business, neither disobey
they him in _anything_. O, sirs, how should not the king be
strongest, seeing that in such sort he is obeyed? And he held
his peace.
"Then the third, who had spoken of women, and of truth (this was
Zorobabel) began to speak: O, sirs, is not the king great, and
men are many, and wine is strong; who is it then that ruleth
them or hath the lordship over them? Are they not women? Women
have borne the king and all the people that bear rule by sea and
land. Even of them came they: and they nourished them up that
planted the vineyards from whence the wine cometh. These also
make garments for men; these bring glory unto men; and without
women, cannot men be. Yea, and if men have gathered together
gold and silver and every goodly thing, and see a woman which is
comely in favor and beauty, they let all those things go, and
gape after her, and even with open mouth fix their eyes fast on
her; and have all more desire unto her than unto gold or silver
or any goodly thing whatsoever. A man leaveth his own father
that brought him up, and his own country, and cleaveth unto his
wife. And with his wife he endeth his days, and remembereth
neither father, nor mother, nor country. By this also ye must
know that women have dominion over you. Do ye not labor and
toil and bring all to women? Yea, a man taketh his sword, and
goeth forth to make outroads, and to rob and to steal, and to
sail upon the sea and upon rivers; and looketh upon a lion; and
walketh in the darkness.... Yea, many there be that have run out
of their wits for women, and become bondmen for their sakes.
Many also have perished, have stumbled, and sinned, for women.
O sirs, how can it be but women should be strong, seeing they
do thus? Then the king and the nobles looked one upon another:
so he began to speak concerning truth. O sirs, are not women
strong? Great is the earth, high is the heaven, swift is the
sun in its course for he compasseth the heavens round about and
fetcheth his course again to his own place in one day. Is he not
great that maketh these things? Therefore great is truth and
stronger than all things. All the earth calleth upon truth, and
the heaven blesseth her: all works shake and tremble, but with
her is no unrighteous thing; wine is unrighteous, the king is
unrighteous, women are unrighteous, all the children of men are
unrighteous, and unrighteous are all such their works; and there
is no truth in them; in their unrighteousness also shall they
perish. But truth abideth, and is strong forever; she liveth
and conquereth for evermore. With her there is no accepting
of persons or rewards; but she doeth the things that are just
and refraineth from all unrighteous and wicked things; and all
men do well like of her works. Neither in her judgment is any
unrighteousness; and she is the strength, and the kingdom, and
the power, and the majesty of all ages. Blessed be the God of
truth. And with that he held his tongue. And all the people then
shouted and said, Great is truth, and strong above all things."
II Esdras.
II Esdras is an entirely separate work, originally written in
Hebrew. It consists of a series of visions of the future of
Jerusalem, but it also takes up profound religious questions, as to
why man is created to suffer and sin. The answer it offers to these
queries is the salvation of the righteous after death. Its view of
life is severe and sad. Chapters i and ii and probably xv and xvi
are later editions by a Christian hand.
Tobit.
This is the story of the trials of a good man (Tobit--Goodness) in
the sad times of the overthrow of Israel by Assyria. He "walked in
truth and justice, fed the hungry and clothed the naked" and was a
strict observer of every precept of the Jewish Law. A particular
duty he took upon himself in those gloomy days of warfare was
the giving decent burial to those of his brethren slain in the
battle-field--daring the tyrant's edict against it. His property
was confiscated, yet he remained undeterred in fulfilling this holy
obligation. It was through this very duty, voluntarily undertaken,
that he accidentally lost his eyesight. But he never lost his faith
in God.
The story now turns from the trials of a good man to those of a good
woman--Sara. The spirit of evil, Asmodeus, slew her husband on the
very day of her marriage. Again her hand was sought in wedlock and
again her husband was snatched from her side. On seven occasions
this happened, making her the reproach of her neighbors.
Now kind Providence intervenes to aid its faithful servants.
God sends the angel Raphael, who restores the eyesight of Tobit
and brings about a marriage between his son Tobias and the much
tried Sara. This time the murderous scheme of Asmodeus is happily
frustrated. Tobit obtains his lost property and virtue is rewarded.
The following is a part of Tobit's prayer of thanksgiving:
"And Tobit wrote a prayer for rejoicing, and said,
Blessed is God that liveth for ever,
And blessed is His kingdom.
For he scourgeth, and sheweth mercy:
He leadeth down to the grave, and bringeth up again:
And there is none that shall escape his hand.
Give thanks unto Him before the Gentiles, ye children of Israel.
For he hath scattered us among them.
There declare His greatness,
And extol Him before all the living:
Because He is our Lord,
And God is our Father for ever.
And he will scourge us for our iniquities, and will again shew mercy.
And will gather us out of all the nations among whom we are scattered.
If ye turn to him with your whole heart, and with your whole soul,
To do truth before him,
Then will He turn unto you,
And will not hide His face from you,
And see what He will do with you.
And give him thanks with your whole mouth
And bless the Lord of righteousness.
And exalt the Everlasting King.
I, in the land of my captivity, give Him thanks
And shew his strength and majesty to a nation of sinners.
Turn, ye sinners, and do righteousness before him:
Who can tell if he will accept you and have mercy on you?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rejoice and be exceeding glad for the sons of the righteous:
For they shall be gathered together and shall bless the Lord of the
righteous.
O blessed are they that love thee;
They shall rejoice for Thy peace;
Blessed are all they that sorrowed for all thy scourges:
Because they shall rejoice for thee,
When they have seen all Thy glory:
And they shall me made glad forever.
Let my soul bless God the great King.
For Jerusalem shall be builded with sapphires and emeralds and
precious stones;
Thy walls and towers and battlements with pure gold.
And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl and
carbuncle and stones of Ophir.
And all her streets shall say, Hallelujah, and give praise,
Saying, blessed is God, which hath exalted thee for ever."
Judith.
This is the story of a good and beautiful woman, who, like Esther,
saved Israel from a tyrant by stratagem and bravery. Like Tobit, it
lays stress on obedience to the Law, of which deeds of kindness form
a part. Hence both belong to that period, whence so much emphasis
was placed on law enacted. Both Judith and Tobit might be called
historical romances.
Additions to the Book of Esther.
These additions introduce the religious note lacking in the biblical
Esther, which does not even mention God. A beautiful prayer is
ascribed to Esther, in which she, as a devout Jewess, opens her
heart to the Lord.
Wisdom Literature.
If Syrian paganism showed the influence of the Greek at his worst
on Jewish morals, Ben Sirach and Wisdom of Solomon are indications
of the influence of Greek thought at its best on Jewish thinkers.
Together with the Bible books of Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes,
they form a group called "Wisdom Literature." A large part of both
books is devoted to the value of wisdom, but it is that wisdom the
beginning of which is the fear of the Lord.
Ecclesiasticus.
The Wisdom of Jesus (Greek for Joshua), Ben Sirach or Ecclesiasticus
is a commentary on the times. It was written about B.C.E. 180, in
Judea, before the persecution began under Antiochus, the Syrian who
was so little Greek and so largely pagan. It urges obedience to the
Law and Commandments and gives copious rules of conduct in every
relation of life.
Ben Sirach was a Jewish scribe. Some of his sayings are edited and
some are original. Here are a few quotations:
Woe to the sinner that goeth two ways.
Wine and music rejoice the heart, and the love of wisdom is
above both.
The knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom and the prudence of
sinners is not counsel.
They (the laboring class) maintain the fabric of the world; and
in the handiwork of their craft is their prayer.
He that sacrificeth of a thing wrongfully gotten, his offering
is made a mockery.
As one that slayeth his neighbor is he that taketh away his
living.
As God's mercy is great, so is His correction also.
Before man is life and death, and whatsoever he liketh shall be
given to him.
There is a shame that bringeth sin, and there is a shame that is
glory and grace.
A slip on the pavement is better than a slip with the tongue.
Depart from wrong and it shall turn aside from thee.
He that keepeth the law bringeth offerings enough.
He that requiteth a good turn offereth fine flour.
If thou come to serve the Lord prepare for adversity.
Let not reverence of any man cause thee to fall.
Hide not thy wisdom in its beauty.
Rejoice not over the death of thy greatest enemy but remember
that we die all.
Forsake not an old friend, for the new is not comparable to him.
Unto the slave that is wise shall they that are free do service.
The bee is little among such as fly; but her fruit is the chief
of sweet things.
Judge none blessed before his death.
The rich man hath done wrong yet he threateneth withal. The poor
man is wronged and he must entreat also.
Blessed is he whose conscience has not condemned him.
He that despiseth small things by small things shall he fall.
Wisdom that is hid and treasure that is hoarded, what profit is
there in both?
He that setteth a trap shall be taken therein.
He that revengeth shall find vengeance from the Lord.
The stroke of the whip maketh marks in the flesh, but the stroke
of the tongue breaketh the bones.
Wisdom of Solomon.
The influence of Greek ideas on Ben Sirach is slight, in Wisdom
of Solomon it is pronounced. Indeed, this latter book was written
in Greek, in Alexandria, the centre of Hellenist government. Its
date is about 100 B.C.E. Like most of the books of this collection,
it is ascribed to one of the great men of the Bible. Here King
Solomon exhorts the rulers of the earth to seek wisdom and to shun
idolatry. He expatiates on the influence of divine wisdom on life as
exemplified in the noble souls of Israel's great past. Here are some
extracts:
Beware of murmuring which is unprofitable: and refrain your
tongue from back-biting: for there is no word so secret that
shall go for nought.
Honorable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor
that is measured by number of years.
If riches be a possession to be desired in this life, what is
richer than wisdom that worketh all things.
Fear is nothing else but a betraying of the succours which
reason offereth.
For these men (idolators) there is but small blame, if they
peradventure do but go astray while they are seeking God and
desiring Him.
Even if we sin, we are Thine. But we shall not sin, knowing that
we have been accounted Thine; for to be acquainted with Thee is
perfect righteousness.
Court not death in the error of thy life. God made not death,
nor delighteth He when the living perish, for He created all
things that they might have being.
Wisdom is the effulgence from everlasting light, and the
unspotted mirror of the working of God and the image of His
goodness.
Surely vain are all men by nature who are ignorant of God,
And could not out of the good things that are seen know Him that is:
But deemed either fire or wind or the swift air,
Or the circle of the stars, or the violent water, or the light of heaven,
To be the gods which govern the world....
For, if astonished at their power let them understand
Through them how much mightier is He that made them....
To know God is perfect righteousness,
Yea, to know thy powers is the root of immortality.
Baruch.
This is a general collection of four different writings.
(a) A Prayer of Israel in Exile (i-iii, 8.)
(b) The fount of Wisdom (iii, 9-iv, 4.)
(c) Consolation to Zion's Children (iv, 5-v, 9.)
(d) The Epistle of Jeremiah.
(e) The folly of idolatry (vi.)
Baruch was the secretary of Jeremiah. See Jer., chaps. xxxii, xxxvi,
xliii.
Song of the Three Holy Children:
These "children" are none other than the three young men, who with
Daniel dared the fiery furnace in testimony of their faith. The song
is presumed to have been sung in the furnace. The book, then, is an
amplification of the Bible book of "Daniel." This amplification of
Scripture became more and more a favorite custom of the rabbinic
age. It is called _Agada_, i.e., story.
To quote:
"At this time there is neither prince, prophet nor leader,
burnt offering or place of sacrifice. Nevertheless, in a
contrite heart and a humble spirit let us be accepted. Like as
burnt offerings of bullocks and thousands of fat lambs may our
sacrifice be in thy sight this day, and grant that we may wholly
go after thee. For they shall not be confounded who put their
trust in thee."
History of Susanna.
This is the story of a chaste woman whom wicked men tried to betray.
In the end both her purity and their sin are discovered.
Bel and the Dragon.
Like "The Song of the Three Holy Children" this also is an addition
to the story of Daniel. It is an _expose_ of the hypocrisy of the
priests of the Babylonian idol Bel.
Prayer of Manasses.
This is the Greek spelling of Manasseh, one of the last Kings
of Judah. It is a prayer ascribed to him in Babylonian exile.
This prayer might be introduced in the confessions of the Day of
Atonement.
I and II Maccabees.
The Books of the Maccabees are the classic authority on the
Maccabean uprising. The first Book gives a graphic picture of the
struggle and the events that led up to it. It is also our source for
the subsequent events which will be related in due course, carrying
the narrative down to 135 B.C.E. It is written from the strict
standpoint of the Chassidim. These, it will be remembered, were
the extremely pious party. It is couched in sober historic style.
Its value as authentic Jewish history cannot be over-estimated.
Written originally in Hebrew (or Aramaic), it has come down to us
unfortunately only in a Greek translation.
The second Book of Maccabees was written in Greek and is a
condensation of a larger work. It confines itself to the series of
events between 175 and 160. Though written in more ornate style, it
is less reliable; but it contains some interesting stories, such as
the martyrdom of Eleazer, Hannah and her seven sons. Like Daniel, it
is written to edify and inspire.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
_Apocrypha_:
In most of the Apocryphal Books, the writers have but a vague
knowledge of the location of places, or the sequence of historical
events. Books are loosely assigned to ancient authors without
sufficient consideration of the historic possibility. But then the
exact science of history is late.
_Ecclesiasticus_:
The discovery of fragments of the original Hebrew text of
Ecclesiasticus was made by Prof. Schechter and further additions by
Messrs. Neubauer and Cowley. See a number of articles in vols. x and
xii of the _Jewish Quarterly Review_. (Macmillan, London.)
_Wisdom Literature_:
Montefiore, _Bible for Home Reading_, Pt. ii, Section i, chaps. i-v.
Read "A Glimpse of the Social Life of the Jews in the Time of Jesus,
the son of Sirach." Schechter, _Studies in Judaism_, 2d series, J.
P. S. A.
_Theme for discussion_:
Compare the treatment of wisdom in _Proverbs_ (viii) and in
_Ecclesiasticus_.
[Illustration: GOAT-SKIN WATER BOTTLES.]
CHAPTER VI.
IN THE DIASPORA.
Having brought our story to the close of an epoch, we will pause
and glance at the status of the Jew in other lands. The dispersion
of Israel in a voluntary way had already begun, though Judea was
still the centre of gravity. So the sway of the High Priest reached
not only to the Palestinian provinces--Phoenicia, Samaria, Galilee,
Gilead, Edom and Philistia--but extended through parts of Asia Minor
and to lands on both banks of the Mediterranean Sea. These lands of
Jewish settlement outside of Palestine are called the Diaspora.
Egypt.
The land that next to Judea contained the largest number of Jews was
Egypt. Our narrative has been moving to and fro between these two
lands. In no country outside of Greece itself was the Greek spirit
so completely diffused as in Egypt. Alexandria, its new capital,
displacing Athens as the intellectual centre of the world, was
second in importance only to Rome. While the Greek civilization at
its worst was tinctured with an enervated orientalism and had much
in it debasing, yet the Greek spirit at its best also found its way
to Alexandria, and its influence was intellectually broadening and
elevating on the Jews resident there. Look back to Chapter ii.
Under this Greek regime the Jews were given equality at least
officially, in Egypt, and also in Cyrene (on the coast of the
adjoining country, Lybia). The Greek Egyptian royal house was
called the Ptolemaic, from Ptolemy, the family name of its kings.
Ptolemy Philometer was a contemporary of Antiochus Epiphanes, and
many Jews fled from Palestine to take refuge under his benevolent
sway. What a contrast for Israel between Egypt under the Ptolemies
and Egypt under the Pharaohs a thousand years earlier!
When settling in lands where they would find themselves a small
minority, Jews have usually concentrated in large cities. This has
been a source both of strength and of weakness. _Of strength_--for
when scattered in twos and threes in country places, the maintenance
of their religion and their historic consciousness would become
imperilled; while numbers closely grouped offer power of
achievement. Cities too, are the intellectual centres of a land.
_Of weakness_--for city dwellers lose the simplicity that goes with
country life in close contact with nature, which deepens faith; and
work on the soil in the open, aids in the building of character. So
here, in a land outside of Israel, we find Jews settling in one of
the great cities of the world.
The Delta, an Alexandrian district on the sea-coast, was wholly a
Jewish colony. The Jews participated in both the commercial and
intellectual activities of this famous capital of antiquity. They
exported grain, formed artisan guilds, and established schools which
were also their synagogues.
The Septuagint.
Interest in Israel was further manifested in its hearty endorsement
of the translation of the Jewish Scriptures into Greek given by
Ptolemy Philadelphus. But this translation was made first and
chiefly for the Jews themselves. Hebrew was growing more and more
of a strange tongue to the new generation in Alexandria and its
surroundings. Even in Palestine proper they no longer spoke Hebrew,
but Aramaic, a sister tongue. A translation of the Bible had already
been made in this language; it is called Targum. Indeed, the books
of Daniel and Ezra are written in Aramaic; so are some of the
prayers in our ritual.
This Greek translation was made, secondly, for the Greeks. It gave
the desired opportunity to the Jews to explain their faith and
literature to the people with whom they were now brought in friendly
contact, and would silence the slanders of ill-wishers such as the
Egyptian priest Manetho.
At first only the Pentateuch was translated, each book being
assigned to a different scholar. A pretty story that we must
not take too seriously says it was entrusted to seventy-two
persons, six from each tribe. The tradition survives partly in
name--Septuagint--(seventy), written lxx. The anniversary of this
really great event was commemorated by the Jews as a holiday. We
may say that this translation of our Scripture into this widely
spoken tongue was the beginning of the mission of the Jew to carry
God's Law to the Gentiles. The Greeks were among the great educators
of the world. Now that the Bible was revealed in their tongue, it
became the property of the world and its lessons reached the hearts
of many, scattered far and wide.
Onias and His Temple.
Onias, son of the Jewish High Priest of the same name, was the most
renowned of the Judean settlers in Alexandria. He was entrusted with
an army in one of Philometer's campaigns. He was likewise chosen
by the Judeans of Egypt as their Ethnarch (governor), to direct the
affairs of the Jewish community. Around him the people coalesced
into a strong body.
He conceived the idea of building a Temple for the benefit of
the Alexandrian Jews whom distance practically debarred from the
benefits of the Temple in Jerusalem. If justified at all, the right
to establish it was most naturally his as heir of the High Priest at
Jerusalem. Yet it was a bold step, a daring precedent, since only
one sanctuary, that at Jerusalem, had been recognized since the days
of Josiah. Such was the law. (See Deut. xii, verses 13-15.) The new
Temple was, not unnaturally, condemned by the Jews of Jerusalem.
We might say, if it was a daring innovation, it was abundantly
justified by the changed conditions. The Deuteronomy law was of
great value at the time instituted, in preventing the spread of
idolatrous notions through the ministrations of ignorant village
priests; but "new occasions bring new duties;" that was no longer to
be feared. Again, the two-and-a-half tribes in the days of Joshua
(see Josh. xxii) offered a precedent in building a second altar,
when nothing but the Jordan separated them from the rest of Israel.
Lastly, it was almost a realization of the exquisite Messianic
picture in Isaiah xix, 19-25, where an altar would be built in
Egypt, and Israel, Assyria and Egypt would be united under God's
blessing.
So built it was, at Leontopolis, in old Goshen, land of early
Israel's sojourn, and near the famous Memphis. It received royal
sanction and aid; but it never acquired for Egyptian Jews the
validity and sanction of the Temple at Jerusalem.
Philometer's confidence was further shown in appointing Onias
Arab-arch, i.e., commander of the Arabian province Heliopolis, and
also custodian of the Nile ports.
In the following pages we shall see Egypt gradually losing power and
independence through the growth of Rome; but we will notice also
that through all these changes the status of the Jews remains almost
undisturbed--that unfriendly attacks are confined almost wholly to
literary slanders. But then, grave persecutions often began with the
pen throughout all Israel's history.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
_The Septuagint_:
So many Hebrew terms and constructions were used in this Greek
translation that it became a modification of the language, a sort of
Jewish-Greek.
Schürer, _Jewish Life in the Times of Christ_, 2d Division iii,
(Scribner). This is a very valuable work on this era, but should be
accepted with reservation.
_Temple of Onias_:
A "mound of the Jews" recently unearthed near Leontopolis, doubtless
marks the ruins of the Temple of Onias.
Read articles "Alexandria" and "Diaspora," _Jewish Encyclopedia_,
Vols. i and iv respectively.
_Christianity._:
The fairest presentation of the Judaism of these times by a
non-Jewish author is Toy's _Judaism and Christianity_.
_Theme for Discussion_:
"Are there traces of Greek philosophy in the Septuagint?"
Freudenthal, _Jewish Quarterly Review_. Vol. ii.
BOOK II.
JUDEA INDEPENDENT
=Judea's Rulers and Teachers.= | =ROME.=
B.C.E. | B.C.E.
|
Jose b. Joezer and Jose | Final subjection of Carthage
b. Jochanan 170 | and Greece 146
|
Judea independent 142 |
|
Simon, Prince 142 | Pompey takes Syria and
Joshua b. Perachia and | closes the Seleucidan
Mattai the Arbelite 140-110 | dynasty 65
|
John Hyrcanus I 135 |
|
Aristobulus I 105 | =Pompey takes Jerusalem= 63
|
Alexander Janneus 104 |
Judah b. Tabbai and Simon | 1st triumvirate Caesar,
b. Shetach 100-90 | Pompey and Crassus 60
|
Salome Alexandra 78 | Caesar 48
Aristobulus II 69 |
Shemaiah and Abtalion 65-35 |
|
Hyrcanus II (tributary to 63 | 2nd triumvirate, Antony,
Rome) | Octavius and Lepidus 44
|
Antigonus 46-37 | 1st Emperor, Augustus 30
Hillel and Shammai 30 | B.C.E.--14 A.C.E.
Herod 37--4 B.C.E.
[Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM.--AS RESTORED BY CHIPIEZ.]
[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF THE TEMPLE AREA, REPRESENTING ONE
THOUSAND SQUARE FEET.
A.: The colossal Royal Bridge, on arches, that spanned the Tyropoeon
valley from Mount Zion to Mount Moriah, and led eastward into the
Court of the Gentiles.
COURT OF THE GENTILES: The outer portions of the Temple area within
the walls. The dots in the dotted lines show the number and position
of the Corinthian columns forming colonnades that enclosed the
Court. Within these colonnades was the Royal porch on the south, and
Solomon's Porch on the east. In these porches the oxen, sheep, and
doves selected for sacrifices were sold, as in a market.
BEAUTIFUL GATE: The broad gate leading from Solomon's Porch into the
Court of Women.
B. B. B.: A terrace ten and a half feet high and fifteen feet broad,
which bounded the inner wall of the Sanctuary.
A. A.: The inner wall of the Sanctuary.
THE SANCTUARY consisted of the three courts: The Court of Women, the
Court of Israel, and the Court of Priests, beyond which were the
Holy and Most Holy Places, forming lower apartments of the Temple
proper.
C. C. C. C.: Four south-side flights of steps that led up to the
gates in the terrace that opened into the Courts above.
D. D. D. D.: Four north-side flights of steps that led up to the
gates on the north side.
E. E.: The thirteen money chests, forming the Treasury of the Temple.
F. F.: Courts and chambers within the Sanctuary.
G.: Nicanor Gate, leading from the Court of Women into the Court of
Israel.
H.: The fifteen terrace steps on which the Levites stood when they
sung the fifteen "Psalms of Degrees" at the Feast of Tabernacle: and
in the door-way of the gate, all took place that was ordered to be
done "before the Lord."
J.: Twelve steps leading up to the Porch of the Temple.
B.: The two Tables, the one of marble, the other of gold, within the
porch.
THE HOLY PLACE contained the Tables of Shewbread, the Golden
Candlestick, and the Altar of Incense. In the "Holy of Holies" a
solitary stone marked the place where should have stood the ark,
which Nebuchedrezzar had taken away.--From _The Wonderful Story of
Old_.]
CHAPTER VII.
PHARISEES AND SADDUCEES.
Simon.
The new kingdom acquired _de jure_ (by treaty), must yet be fought
for to be maintained _de facto_. The citadel of Jerusalem, as
well as that key to the mountain passes, Gazara, had still to be
mastered. Successful in both enterprises, Israel could enjoy some
years of long needed peace. Simon furthered the religious as well as
the political welfare of his country. The people could till their
ground in peace and for a time at least "sit under their own vine
and their own fig-tree"; though it could not yet be said "there was
none to fray them away." Simon, moreover, "strengthened those who
had been brought low, the Law he searched out, and he beautified the
sanctuary." He used the time of quiet for building a haven at Joppa,
for enlarging the boundaries and for encouraging agriculture.
The office of High Priest, maintained hitherto in a hereditary
priestly family, had been gradually transferred to the Hasmonean
House, and hence now devolved on Simon. By this time the people had
become reconciled to the transfer. He renewed the treaty with Rome,
which had taken the place of Greece in becoming the greatest power
in the world and in deciding the fate of nations.
When Tryphon was slain, Antiochus turned against the Jews, but
was defeated by Simon's sons. Alas, Simon's fate was not to be
an exception to that of the rest of his warrior brothers. None
died a peaceful death. Simon, together with two of his sons, was
treacherously slain by his own son-in-law, Ptolemy, an unscrupulous
man, cruelly ambitious for the throne.
Hyrcanus I
John Hyrcanus, the oldest surviving son of Simon, became the next
Jewish ruler. So, imperceptibly a royal house had been created, and
the princely honor came to Hyrcanus by _hereditary succession_. In
just that way have all royal lines been created--starting with a
great deliverer, like Judas Maccabee. But the _title_, King, came
later. Hyrcanus had not only to rout the usurper Ptolemy before the
rulership could become his, but had also to resist the siege of
Antiochus VII., the next Syrian king, who would not yet renounce
Judea without another struggle. Peace was at last reached by
Hyrcanus agreeing to the payment of an indemnity and tribute for a
few outlying towns.
This first repulse showed that the new kingdom was not very strong
and that it owed its independence to Syrian weakness (due to the
continued conflicts of rivals and pretenders), rather than to
its own material power. But Syria's embarrassment was Judah's
opportunity. After Antiochus had been slain in a Parthian conflict,
John Hyrcanus, once secure, began a vigorous campaign to enlarge his
boundaries. Very soon he had incorporated the old land of the Ten
Tribes, now called Samaria. The complete conquest of the Samaritans
was undertaken toward the end of his life. Their famous temple on
Mount Gerizim was destroyed. Idumea (Edom) was also conquered and
Judaism imposed on it by force. But that kind of conversion was
always against the free and tolerant spirit of Judaism and against
its very genius. We shall later see that it brought its own
retribution and weakened the cause of Israel.
Pharisees and Sadducees.
Let us not forget that the rise of the Hasmoneans had come about in
a measure through a conflict for religious integrity between the
extreme pietists on the one hand, the Chassidim, and the worldly
Hellenists on the other, with varied shades of opinion in between.
These religious divergences had now crystallized into two schools
that acquired the names Pharisees and Sadducees. It is hard to say
just when these distinctions began. Perhaps they were always there;
for we meet the two groups--conservative and progressive--under
different names in all creeds and in nearly all eras. The division
is naturally inherent in the human temperament. It marks broadly the
two grand divisions into which all men become grouped in organized
society.
Now let us consider in particular the distinctions that
differentiated these two parties in the Jewish State. The Sadducees
were largely composed of the priestly families; but the priestly
caste was not necessarily the religious class. It corresponded
rather to what we would call the aristocracy--we have seen that the
High Priest was also a prince. In this party, too, were largely the
military. They were faithful to the Mosaic Law, the Pentateuch,
which they rigorously enforced, but gave slight allegiance to the
later religious injunctions that came to be developed from the Law
by the Scribes; in so far they were religiously unprogressive. Still
in their attitude toward life in general, they did not approve of
holding aloof from the world, but encouraged a mingling with it and
entering into intimate commercial and political relations with
other nations. They regarded it their patriotic duty to aggrandize
the nation in every way and to make it a splendid power.
The name Sadducee is derived from Zadok, of the family of Aaron, the
chief priest of the time of Solomon's Temple, who thus gave his name
to the priestly house, "Sons of Zadok."
The Pharisees, while interpreting Biblical law more leniently in
certain respects than the Sadducees, were determined supporters
of all the mass of legal minutiæ that had been evolved from the
Law proper and which had become a "Second Law." These rites and
ceremonies that were added to the original Mosaic code (occasionally
by a rather forced deduction) they considered equally binding
with it. They called it the _Oral Law_ to distinguish it from the
_Written Law_, and the tradition was that it, too, was revealed to
Moses.
In their political policy they equally diverged from the Sadducees,
believing in standing somewhat apart from the peoples about them.
They looked askance upon too intimate relations with the world at
large; for they believed it their duty to subordinate all interests,
national and commercial, to the religious, trusting the outcome
rather to divine providence than to the judgment of their statesmen
or the enterprise of energetic leaders.
Further, as against the priestly aristocracy, that wished to confine
all ecclesiastical functions to the priestly order, the Pharisees
were more democratic in that they desired to extend the privileges
of priestly sanctification and holiness to all. Purifying ablutions,
they claimed, were obligatory on the whole people. _Their_ meals
should also be consecrated, even as the repasts of the priests--so
that all Israel should be a "Kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
Hence, "Second Maccabees," the work of a Pharisee, declares, "Unto
_all_ are given the heritage, the kingdom, the priesthood and the
sanctuary."
The chief characteristics of the Pharisees are expressed in
their name: _Pharash_, the Law expounders; _Pharash_, the
separatists--though the former is probably its true derivation.
The Pharisees, it will be seen, were the more pious, the Sadducees
the more worldly, though the Pharisees as a whole were not as pious
as the Chassidim had been, nor the Sadducees as worldly as the
Hellenists had been. The Sadducees further denied belief in bodily
resurrection or in judgment after death (though not necessarily
renouncing immortality), on the strength of the famous teaching
of Antigonus of Socho, "Be not as servants who serve the Master
for the sake of reward, but rather as those who serve the Master
without thought of reward." As distinct from the Pharisees they were
strong believers in free-will, that the destiny of men is in their
own hands. We might call the Sadducees the rationalists and the
Pharisees traditionalists.
Some Pharisees again did carry the fulfilment of rites and
ceremonies too far; a few, perhaps, were even ostentatious in
their piety. By strange mischance these few have transferred their
dubious reputation to all Pharisees as such. Most unjustly however,
for the Pharisees earned the confidence of the great bulk of the
people and were on the whole identified with them. So strangely has
that sinister repute persisted that "Pharisee" is to-day defined
in some dictionaries as self-righteous or hypocritical (see note).
How undeserved as describing those whose trust in God was absolute,
without reservation or misgiving. This is but one of many instances
where the world's verdict has been unjust to the Jew.
Essenes.
We meet also a third party nearer in sympathy to the Pharisees. The
old Chassidim, the extremists, had developed into an ascetic party
under the name of _Essenes_, with a similar meaning--pious. They
lived the life of a celibate brotherhood, holding the little they
allowed themselves, in common. They hardly affected the national
life of Israel, because they were too few and because they slighted
patriotic obligations. They practiced all the self-denial of the
Nazirites of old and sought to reach from cleanliness to godliness.
Another derivation of the name Essene is "bather," baptist, from
their frequent ablutions. Yet another is "healer."
The Hasmonean royalty--to what party did they belong? Well, we might
say that they began their career with all the religious enthusiasm
of the Pharisees, they closed it with the political outlook of the
Sadducees. This was something like an anti-climax.
John Hyrcanus perhaps represents the dividing line. He started on a
career of conquest simply to satisfy national ambition; though he
had forced Judaism on the Idumeans. In his later years, he rejected
many traditional observances of the Oral Law that completed his
estrangement from the Pharisees. Taking a material and external
survey, Hyrcanus left the Jews at the end of his life with an
independent State, that in power and extent was as great as Northern
Israel in its palmy days, as great perhaps as the realm of Solomon.
He could mint his own coins, on some of which, still in existence,
we find inscribed, "Jochanan, High Priest of the Commonwealth of
the Judeans." Yes, it was all very splendid! But surely the Jews
had learned by now the insufficiency of national glory that was
material and external, that that kind of splendor was apart from the
Jewish ideal, "not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, saith
the Lord." The age needed a Jeremiah again. Alas, the era of the
Prophets was over!
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
_Hasmonean_:
This was the family name of Mattathias, afterwards assumed by his
descendants.
_Pharisees and Sadducees_:
Geiger, "_History of the Jews_," vol. i, chapter viii, translation.
The fact that Jesus of Nazareth condemned the false Pharisees--as
Micah condemned false prophets (see Matthew xxiii and Luke xi) has
much to do with their general condemnation in literature.
The Talmud is also bitter against the false Pharisees, the _Zebuim_,
the tainted ones, who do evil like Zimri and claim the goody reward
like Phineas. In its severe denunciation of the false Pharisees, it
divides them into six classes:
1. Those who do the will of God for earthly motives. 2. The
ostentatious who go with slow steps and say "Wait for me, I have a
good deed to perform." 3. Those who knock their heads against a wall
because in their looking up they fear they may see a woman. 4. Those
who pose as saints. 5. Those who say, "Tell me of another duty." 6.
Those who are pious because of the fear of God.
"Who are the genuine Pharisees?" asks the Talmud. "Those who do the
will of their Father in Heaven because they love Him."
_King_:
Carlyle reminds us of the derivation of "King" from _Können_--the
man who "can"!
_Samaritans_:
See _People of the Book_, vol. iii, p. 244.
_Theme for Discussion_:
Compare modern with ancient parties in Israel.
[Illustration: COIN OF JOHANAN THE HIGH PRIEST.]
CHAPTER VIII.
A ROYAL HOUSE AGAIN.
Aristobulus.
In Aristobulus, eldest son and successor of John Hyrcanus, we see
the Hasmonean further and further estranged from the generous
spirit that called them to the fore. Judas Maccabeus wished to be
the _Saviour_ of Judaism and the Jews, Aristobulus wanted only to
be their _king_. The story of Abimelech in the days of the Judges
and Jotham's parable come forcibly to mind (Judges ix). Aristobulus
began his reign by inprisoning his mother, to prevent her succession
to the throne, according to his father's wish, and likewise all
his brothers but one, on suspicion of their treason. Antigonus
was his favorite brother, and he shared the royal power with him.
The king was certainly unpopular with the people, who accused him
of being more Greek than Jew. Slander made him even worse than he
was, ascribing to him the death of his beloved brother Antigonus,
who was assassinated toward the close of his reign. He continued
his father's policy of conquest, and subdued portions of northern
Palestine, including Galilee, and, like his father again imposed
Judaism upon them. While in both instances the motive for the forced
conversion was probably ancestral pride, still it showed religious
zeal too--though not of the highest kind.
Alexander Janneus.
The widow of Aristobulus, Salome Alexandra, released her husband's
brother from prison at his death and by marrying Alexander Janneus,
the eldest, and appointing him to the office of High Priest she
allowed the kingly power to devolve upon him. Like his brother, he
was not a man of peace, but of war. He further increased Judea's
territory by conquest on the western Philistine side bordering on
the Mediterranean.
He was not the man to quiet the growing dissensions between
Pharisees and Sadducees, but rather to foment them. For the royal
Sadducean party was getting more and more estranged in policy and
aim from the national and religious aspirations of the people. There
was a not always silent protest against the warrior king officiating
as High Priest. At the Feast of Tabernacles, the people pelted him
with their citrons, which they were carrying together with palms
(_lulab and esrog_), symbols of the harvest, for this is also called
the Feast of Ingathering. This could not end without a tragedy, and
a large number were slain by his foreign mercenaries. (Royal body
guards were usually composed of foreigners.) This conflict grew
into a civil war, both sides in turn hiring foreign troops, and
resulted in a terrible decimating of Judah's numbers, the Pharisees
losing more largely. Such is one of the evils of uniting religious
authority with temporal power. The rebellion was finally put down,
but only with an iron hand.
This king, who could not be at peace, spent his last days in
fighting the Arabians, who were just beginning to be Judea's most
dangerous neighbor. But he inherited from his Maccabean ancestors
love of arms without inheriting their military genius. This meant
much wanton waste of life and some reverses. How vain this purpose
of spending blood and substance in extending his territorial sway
and making it nominally Jewish by force of arms, while fomenting
religious antagonism at home--always destructive of religion itself.
He left an even bigger State than his father, John Hyrcanus. Judea
now meant the whole seacoast (with the exception of Ascalon) from
Mount Carmel to Egypt and reached far east of the Jordan.
Queen Salome Alexandra.
The throne went by will to Alexander Janneus' widow, who, it
will be remembered, was also the widow of his elder brother,
Aristobulus. Upon her eldest son, Hyrcanus, Queen Salome bestowed
the high priesthood. Her sympathies, however, were entirely with
the Pharisees. The exiles came back and political prisoners were
released. The land enjoyed a pleasing contrast under her pious and
gentle sway. All the Pharisaic ordinances, abolished by the late
king, were reinstituted. Indeed, all religious interests were placed
in their hands. It was a prosperous, peaceful reign, and was later
looked back upon as a blessed day. In the stormy days that were to
follow, it might well seem in retrospect, a golden age.
[Illustration: COIN OF THE TIME OF ALEXANDRA.]
The "Pairs."
We have seen that the priesthood and Temple were no longer the
religious centres around which the people rallied. The Jews had
outgrown the age of priestism, although the splendid ritual of the
sacrificial altar still continued. The religious guides and teachers
were the scribes, learned in the Law, who for sometime had been
presiding in couples. Hence they are called the "Pairs." The first
of each pair held the office of _Nasi_, Prince or President of the
Sanhedrin, and the second that of _Ab Beth Din_, Father of the Court
or Vice-President.
Here are their names with some of the most famous sayings attributed
to them:
_Jose ben Joezer_--Let thy house be a meeting place for the
wise. Cover thyself with the dust of their feet and quench thy
thirst with their words.
_Jose ben Jochanan_--Let thy house be opened wide and let the
needy be thy household.
_Joshua ben Perachia_--Procure for thyself an instructor,
possess thyself of a worthy associate, and judge every man in
the scale of merit.
_Mattai the Arbelite_--Associate not with the wicked and flatter
not thyself that thou canst evade punishment.
_Jehudah ben Tabbai_--Constitute not thyself dictator to the
Judges.
_Simon ben Shetach_--Be guarded in thy words; perchance from
them men may learn to lie.
_Shemaiah_--Love labor and hate pomp and suffer thyself to
remain unknown to the head of the State.
_Abtalion_--Ye wise be guarded in your words; or you may be
exiled to a place of evil waters (false doctrine) and your
disciples may drink and die.
_Hillel_ and _Shammai_, the last "Pair," will be treated in a
separate chapter.
Simon ben Shetach flourished in this reign. He was brother-in-law of
the king, by whom he had been nevertheless imprisoned. But when the
queen came to the throne he was practically placed as the religious
head of affairs. Simon ben Shetach and his associate, Judah ben
Tabbai, reorganized the Council and hence were called "restorers
of the Law." From this time on the Pharisaic became the official
interpretation of Judaism.
In all large towns Simon ben Shetach established schools for young
men for the study of the Pentateuch and the laws interpreted from
it. As President of the Council, he was very severe on those who
infringed on the law. He has even been called the Judean Brutus,
as he did not spare his own son. He reinstituted many customs
that had been neglected during the Sadducean regime. Among these
was the joyous "Water Celebration" during Tabernacles, a trace
of which still survives in the ritual of _Shemini Atzereth_ (the
eighth day that follows and concludes the festival of Succoth).
The celebrations were accompanied by illuminations and torchlight
processions, religious music and dancing. The water drawing at the
Spring of Siloah was heralded by blasts of the priests' trumpets.
Another national custom revived was the summer "Wood Festival," on
Ab 15. It had relation to the use of wood at the altar fires, and
was a further opportunity for joyous unbending among the youths and
maidens.
The Pharisees on the whole were the more democratic party, and
decided that the maintenance of the Temple should be borne by all
and not merely by voluntary offerings of the rich few. This new
law brought enormous revenues to the Temple which later became its
menace, attracting the covetous rather than the worshipful.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
_Sayings of the Fathers_:
_Sayings of the Jewish Fathers_, chapter i. Taylor. Cambridge Press.
Translations and notes.
These sayings, which form one book of the Mishna, will be found in
the Sabbath Afternoon Service of the Jewish Prayer Book.
_Water Festival_:
For a vivid description see _Poetry of the Talmud_, Seckles.
_Theme for Discussion_:
Contrast the Wood Festival of ancient Judea with Arbor Day in modern
America. Mark the difference of purpose.
[Illustration: THE POOL OF SILOAM.]
CHAPTER IX.
RIVAL CLAIMANTS FOR THE THRONE.
Aristobulus II.
Even before the good Queen Salome died storm clouds began to darken
the horizon of Judah. Her second son, Aristobulus, inherited all
his father's fierceness and tyranny. The throne had been naturally
left to the elder brother, Hyrcanus, but the headstrong Aristobulus
seized the reins of power on the dangerous theory that he was
more fit to rule. Civil war began before the good queen had quite
breathed her last. Hyrcanus, the weak, yielded, and all might have
been well were it not for the interference of a new enemy who was
eventually to bring about the ruin of the Jewish State.