It will be recalled that John Hyrcanus had conquered the Idumeans
and made them, seemingly, Jews. We shall now see the kind of Jews
they were. One of them, Antipater, was the local governor of
this Idumean province. He was a man who lusted for power and had
absolutely no scruples as to the means of gaining his ends. He saw
that if only he could place the weak Hyrcanus on the throne, he
might become a power behind it.
He began by insinuating himself into the favor of the Jewish
nobility, and, ostensibly, as a pleader for justice, emphasized the
evils of Aristobulus' usurpation. Letting that poison work, he came
to the innocent Hyrcanus and played upon his fears with a made-up
story of conspiracy against his life. Most reluctantly was Hyrcanus
persuaded to flee with him from Jerusalem to an Arabian prince,
Aretas. Aretas was induced to lend his aid in the expectation that
Hyrcanus, once in power, would restore the cities Alexander Janneus
had taken from the Arabians.
So unhappy Judah was plunged in war again to gratify the unworthy
ambitions of unworthy men and men not of their own people.
Aristobulus was defeated in battle by Aretas and was besieged in the
Temple Citadel.
Prayer of Onias.
An interesting incident is told at this juncture that recalls the
Bible story of Balaam. (Numbers xxii-xxiv.) In the party of Hyrcanus
there was a man, Onias, who, so said credulous rumor, had brought
rain in times of drought through his fervent prayer. He was now
brought into the camp and asked to invoke God's curse on Aristobulus
and his allies. But such prayer he considered blasphemous, therefore
he voiced his petition to heaven in these words: "O God, King of
the whole world, since those that stand now with me are Thy people
and those that are besieged are also Thy priests, I beseech Thee
that Thou wilt neither hearken to the prayer of those against these,
nor bring about what these pray against those." Alas, the temper of
warfare had not patience or appreciation with this sublime attitude.
The man was stoned. But in a sense his prayer was answered.
Pompey Takes Jerusalem.
For the Aesop fable of the two bears quarrelling over a find, thus
affording opportunity for a third to step in and seize it, was
here to be exemplified. Rome was ever on the watch to bring all
outlying provinces into her net. Pompey, her victorious general,
whose head Julius Caesar was later to demand, was just now making
his triumphant march through Asia. The warring brothers, Hyrcanus
and Aristobolus, appealed to his lieutenant. To leave the decision
with Rome was a dangerous precedent, for the power that could grant
a throne by its decision might also take it away. So, while the
decision was rendered in favor of Aristobulus, it was as vassal
rather than as independent king that he held his throne for some
two years. The real gainer was Rome. It had now the right to
revoke its decision; and it did. The people, disgusted with their
unworthy leaders who cared nothing for the nation, but only for
its honors--appealed to Rome to abolish the monarchy that had
been gradually introduced and restore the old regime of the High
Priesthood.
But the headstrong Aristobulus dared resist even Rome and entrenched
himself against invasion. This was fatal both for him and Judea.
The temple mount was besieged. It was taken with frightful massacre
by lustful Romans. This was in 63. Pompey sacrilegiously entered
the Holy of Holies, in which to his surprise he found no idol;
a spiritual God was an unfamiliar concept to the pagan mind. He
curtailed the Jewish state and made it tributary. Aristobulus must
grace Pompey's triumph at Rome.
So much for the vain conquests of John Hyrcanus and Alexander
Janneus. They evaporated with a word from Pompey. Thus ended the
Judean independence for which the early Maccabees had fought so
nobly. It had endured but seventy-nine years. Over this tributary
State Hyrcanus II. was made High Priest. The kingship created by
the first Aristobulus was short-lived indeed. The scheming Antipater
had won, but graver issues were to be the outcome.
CHAPTER X.
JUDEA UNDER ROMAN SUZERAINTY.
Growth of Rome.
Rome, from the city on the Tiber, had spread over all Italy. Then
gradually it mastered the lands on both sides of the Mediterranean.
Greece and Carthage were absorbed in the same year, 146 B.C.E. Soon
its tide of conquest reached Asia, and nearly all the lands in the
East conquered by Alexander--excepting Persia--were under its sway.
When Greco Syria--which had included Judea until the Maccabean
independence--fell before its arms, it was to be expected that the
never-satisfied Rome would not rest until the land of our fathers
had been added to its possessions. We have seen how an unhappy
series of events played into its hands and hastened this end. In
a sense Rome was becoming the "mistress of the world." Nor was
her sway as transitory as that of earlier world powers--Assyria,
Babylonia, Persia or Macedonia. It was to endure for many centuries
and it has left a lasting impress upon the world's civilization.
Already the Jewish captives that Pompey took to Rome, later freed
and called Libertini, formed together with earlier emigrants the
beginnings of an important Jewish community. Here later still we
find this Jewish colony on the Tiber quietly influencing Roman
affairs.
Judea, with the rest of Palestine, was now placed under the general
supervision of Rome's Syrian governor. Internally its life was
not interfered with, but all temporal--that is political--power
was taken from the High Priest. His authority was confined to
the Temple. Both Aristobulus, who had escaped from Rome, and his
son, Alexander, made foolhardy attempts for the throne, which
only resulted in further curtailing of Judah's power. Yet another
desperate attempt was made for the throne. Alas, it only resulted in
thirty thousand of the defeated malcontents being sold into slavery.
This chafing against Rome's rule only brought its mailed hand more
fiercely against ill-fated Israel.
From First Triumvirate to Empire.
But Rome now entered upon its own period of civil war at home and
men lustful of power drenched this country in blood. In 60 B. C.
E. Julius Caesar, Pompey and Crassus divided the Roman possessions
between them and formed the First Triumvirate (Crassus given Syria,
plundered the Temple treasures). On the death of Crassus, Caesar,
ambitious for supreme power--the fatal weakness of this really great
man--crossed the river Rubicon that was the boundary of his province
of Gaul, made war on Pompey, who was soon slain, and held for a
brief time sole sway. In 44 Caesar was killed by Brutus and Cassius.
These in turn were overthrown by Cæsar's avenger, Marc Antony,
and a new Triumvirate was formed, consisting of Antony, Octavian
(Augustus) and Lepidus. These were as disloyal to each other as the
first group. Antony, seduced from his duty by the witchery of that
fatally beautiful woman, Cleopatra of Egypt, was finally defeated
and overthrown in the battle of Actium, 30. Octavian Augustus now
held the reins alone and the _Roman Empire_ was launched. Augustus,
the first emperor, reigned from 60 B.C.E. to 14 A.C.E.
[Illustration: JULIUS CAESAR]
These few outlines of Roman history will have to be kept in mind
to follow events in Judea, for much was to happen to storm-tossed
Israel between the first Triumvirate and the empire of Augustus.
Every change in government at Rome affected the land of Israel and
its people.
Indeed, in all their subsequent history no great event occurred in
the world without affecting the Jews in some way, and many of these
world events were in turn influenced by them.
When Pompey was killed in 48, that arch-conspirator, Antipater,
who had sided with him while in power, now with Hyrcanus, his
puppet, professed friendship for Caesar and helped him with Jewish
troops for his Egyptian campaign. Caesar extended favors to both.
Hyrcanus, as High Priest, was once more given political authority,
and Antipater was made Procurator of Judea. We have witnessed the
thin entering of the wedge; behold the Idumean now head of Jewish
affairs. Caesar now granted permission to rebuild the walls of
Jerusalem, and concessions and privileges were also conferred on
the Jews of Alexandria and Asia Minor, for Rome's sway reached far.
Caesar's good will made the rulership of Antipater tolerable for
a while and when the news of Caesar's death reached the Jews they
mourned him as a lost friend.
The political power granted to Hyrcanus as High Priest carried with
it the title of Ethnarch, which means governor of a province. But
all power was really exercised by Antipater who, as Procurator of
Judea, made his son Phasael governor of Jerusalem, and his son Herod
governor of Galilee. How this intruding stranger had tightened his
grip on the land of our fathers!
Herod Enters on the Scene.
Herod was to play an important role in Judah's fortunes. Already
as governor of Galilee, a youth of twenty-five, he showed his
masterfulness in the summary execution of a marauder. Summoned to
the Sanhedrin to answer for this action, he dared defy it. Why?
Because Cassius, now master of Syria (including Judea) at Caesar's
death, was put under obligation by the crafty Antipater and his
equally cunning son Herod. Together they succeeded in squeezing
money from Judæa for the maintenance of an army against Antony. Thus
the Jews were embroiled in Rome's conflicts to further the ambitions
of these Idumeans. As a result Herod was now made governor of
Celo-Syria (Palestine) and could snap his fingers at the Sanhedrin.
Judea, in fact, was a prey to anarchy brought about by conspiracies
and usurpations.
In 42 Brutus and Cassius were defeated at Philippi by Antony and
Octavian, and it seemed that an end had come to the fortunes of
Herod. Antipater had been slain, caught in a final act of heartless
duplicity against Hyrcanus. But Herod had the adroit cunning of
his father and knew how to desert a sinking ship and change his
allegiance to the man of rising fortunes. With plausible words Herod
made his peace with Antony. Nor did the complaints against him and
his brother by the Jewish nobility avail. On the contrary Antony
made them both _tetrarchs_--subordinate governors--of Judea at the
expense of the weak and aging Hyrcanus.
The Last Hasmonean Ruler.
Antigonus, a son of Aristobulus, taking advantage of a Parthian
uprising, made one more effort to seize the Jewish throne. He
succeeded. Herod was put to flight and Hyrcanus deposed altogether.
This last scion of the Hasmonean house held a brief royal sway from
40 to 37. He lacked the greatness of the earlier Maccabeans to hold
the nation; and, antagonized the Sanhedrin instead of attaching it
to him. Herod, after varied shifts, sailed to Rome, making an appeal
at headquarters. Deceiving all by his plausibility, he obtained an
appointment as "King of Judea" from Antony's senate. But for that
throne he must now fight "the man in possession." There followed
a series of engagements in which Jewish blood flowed freely. With
the aid of Rome, Herod was of course successful, ultimately taking
Jerusalem itself. Antigonus was put to death. Thus ended the
Hasmonean rule in Judea so gloriously begun a little over a century
before.
_Theme for Discussion._
Single out great events in history influenced by and influencing the
Jews.
[Illustration: COIN OF ANTIGONUS, 40 B. C. E.]
CHAPTER XI.
HEROD.
What had been the result of the attempt of Alexander Janneus to
force Judaism upon Idumea? It had begun by giving the Idumean
Antipater, from the intimate relations created, the opportunity to
make Hyrcanus his puppet, and ended by placing the Jewish crown upon
the head of Herod, who was absolutely un-Jewish in ancestry and
sympathies, and really a pagan at heart. Herod, in fact, delivered
Judea to Rome that he might be made its vassal king.
He had married Mariamne, the beautiful grand daughter of the weak
Hyrcanus--a stroke of policy, to be allied in marriage to Judah's
royal family.
Herod as Man.
Undoubtedly he was a man of power of a sort, born to command; but
there was no soft spot in his nature. He had all the instincts of a
tyrant, and neither scruple nor pity deterred him from carrying out
his passionate will and his insatiable ambition. He inherited all
his father's cunning, allied with fine judgment and untiring energy.
Though of undoubted bravery, he knew how to fawn before those in
power.
The first dozen years of his reign were marked by storm and conflict
with enemies both without and within. The feelings of the Jews can
be imagined in having this alien thrust upon them by all-powerful
Rome and whose first act was to slay their patriots and confiscate
their property. Rebellion was put down with a merciless hand. Step
by step he carried out his relentless purpose and put to death all
the survivors of the royal line, the flower of the Jewish nobility,
and likewise every member (except Shemaiah and Abtalion) of the
Sanhedrin that had some years before censured one of his misdeeds.
Very unwillingly he appointed his wife's brother as High Priest.
It was a fatal distinction for the young man, for the people too
openly expressed their regard for this scion of the Hasmonean line.
What was the consequence? One day when refreshing himself in the
bath, he was held under the water till life was extinct. It was
called an accident! Alexandra, his mother, a hard woman, appealed
to Rome through Cleopatra to punish this murder. Herod was summoned
to answer for his conduct before Antony, but his plausible manner
aided by bribery won his acquittal. The tyrant marked his return by
the execution of another brother-in-law, to whom he had entrusted
Mariamne in his absence, and whom he jealously imagined disloyal.
That Antony at this time gave part of Palestine proper to Cleopatra,
including even a bit of Judea, and that Herod must bear it without
protest, showed on what slender tenure he held his throne. So
completely was he under Rome's control that Antony, to satisfy the
whim of Cleopatra who disliked Herod, commanded him to undertake a
campaign against the Arabians, while she secretly assisted them.
When Antony fell at Actium in 31 in that contest between continents,
Herod managed adroitly at the right moment to go over to the side
of the victorious Octavian Augustus. Before departing for Rome to
curry favor with the Emperor, he took a precaution, which only his
cruelty deemed necessary. He put to death his own kinsman, the aged
Hyrcanus, to whose weakness he in a measure owed his throne.
He returned in the good graces of Augustus, and received back all
the lands taken from him by Antony for Cleopatra. But before his
departure, he had repeated the order given prior to his previous
visit, that Mariamne should be put to death in case his cause should
take a fatal turn in Rome. Learning of this revolting plan in his
absence, she upbraided him on his return. This gave his envious
relatives opportunity to slander her and defame her honor. The
jealous Herod believed the calumny against his innocent wife--and
think of it--ordered her to be put to death, though, in his savage,
sensual way, he loved her. Remorse came too late, which wild
excesses could not drown. Soon her mother followed her to the block
on the better founded charge of conspiracy. More deeds of needless
bloodshed were perpetrated by his wanton command until every remnant
of the Hasmonean house was destroyed.
Herod as Builder.
Herod was a renowned builder. He wanted to have a splendid
capital with which he might dazzle Roman grandees and foreign
plenipotentiaries. Notice the bent of his mind--his conception of
a monarch--not a father of his people living up to such a maxim,
for example, as _ich dïen_ (I serve) but the possessor of glory and
with the power to play with the life and death of his subjects. He
must needs have grandeur without, though there was misery enough
within. He erected temples, amphitheatres and hippodromes. He built
for himself a palace that was a fortress too, with parks and gardens
around it. New cities were laid out, not for the honor of Israel
but for the honor of Augustus Caesar and named after him. Samaria
was rebuilt and renamed Sebaste. He rebuilt a city on the coast
and called it Caesarea, with a fine haven. One he named Antipatris
after his father, another after his brother, Phasaelis; Agrippaeum,
after Agrippa, and Herodium, a stronghold, after himself. Existing
fortresses were restored and strengthened. Nor did he neglect to
mark the outlying provinces with examples of his building passion.
[Illustration: EMPEROR AUGUSTUS.]
The old Temple, built in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, now looked
shabby among these fine edifices, and he determined to rebuild it.
This was one of his great achievements. There was no religious
motive whatever in the project, for he had built outside of
Jerusalem many heathen shrines. The purpose was wholly worldly. If
there is to be a Temple, let it be gorgeous to gratify my vanity!
It took many years to build and was not finished till long after
Herod's death. The whole circumference of the Temple, including the
fortress of Antonia connected with it, covered almost a mile. It
must have been magnificent, for a proverb arose, "He who has not
seen Herod's Temple has never seen anything beautiful." Yet, with
all his grandeur, he was but a subject king under the sway of the
Roman emperor. He could not make treaties or war without the consent
of the emperor, to whom he had to supply on demand troops and money.
The introduction of heathen games in theatres and race-courses, in
which the lives of gladiators and runners were lightly sacrificed to
gratify the brutal instincts of the spectators, deeply grieved the
Jews, imbued with the sanctity of human life. It was in such violent
antagonism to the ethics of Judaism. But what could they do? They
were in the power of this pagan tyrant.
He gathered in his capital, too, Greek litterateurs and artists. To
these scholars were given state positions of trust. But this was no
more an indication of love of culture than Temple building was love
of religion. Ostentation was at the root of both.
Yet the Pharisaic party (the great mass of the people) was too
strong for him to carry his paganizing influence as far as he
wished. He ungraciously yielded, out of prudence, now and then to
the religious sensibilities of the people. The building of the
sanctuary proper he entrusted to priests, nor were images placed
on the Jerusalem buildings. But the Roman eagle was later erected
over the Temple gate. For an attempt to remove it, forty-two young
men, zealous for the law, were burnt alive. The Jewish Sanhedrin was
shorn of all power.
He appointed unfit men as High Priests and removed them when they
did not do his bidding. That such appointments should be left in
his unsympathetic hands. Finally, the people were heavily taxed
to support heathen splendor of which they did not approve. So his
reign, so hateful to them, was maintained only by despotism and
force. An attempt was even made to assassinate him. The populace
had to be watched by spies. Yet in the year 25 he brought all his
energies to the fore to save the people from the consequences of
famine. Let us remember this in his favor; also that he used his
power to secure protection for Jews in the Diaspora.
Herod as Father.
By paying lavish court to the emperor and his son-in-law, Agrippa,
his territory was gradually doubled. A splendid kingdom viewed
superficially, but it brought no happiness to this unscrupulous man.
Peace in the home, domestic joy, these are the things that prowess
and power cannot buy. The story of how this barbarian had put to
death his favorite wife, Mariamne, has already been told. Her two
sons were now grown to man's estate. But Herod's sister, the wicked
Salome, who had plotted against their mother, now tried to fill
the king's mind with suspicions against her sons. In this purpose
she was aided by Antipater, son of Herod by another of his wives.
Learning that their mother had been put to death by their father's
mandate, they openly expressed their anger, which so increased the
king's suspicions, that he accused his sons before the emperor. The
mildness of Augustus could only postpone the eventual tragedy--the
execution of the young men by order of their own father.
Antipater--the real conspirator against Herod, though his favorite
son,--was at last detected, and of course executed also. Surely the
latter days of this king were bitter.
* * * * *
These domestic troubles were aggravated by bodily disease and the
knowledge that he was hated by his people. Determined to be mourned
at all costs, he imprisoned some of the most distinguished men of
the nation with orders that they were to be killed at the moment of
his death. Thus would he obtain a mourning at his funeral! Was not
this the climax of savagery! This fiendish purpose was, however,
never carried out; so he died unwept and unmourned.
* * * * *
He is called "Great" to distinguish him from some puny Herods that
followed in the fast dying Jewish State. We can call him "Great"
only in a bad sense--an awful example of the abuse of power in the
hands of an unscrupulous and blood-thirsty man.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
_Mariamne._
Zirndorf, _Some Jewish Women_. (Jewish Pub. Soc.) Grace Aguilar,
_Women of Israel_.
_Rome._
In Talmudic literature "Edom" is often a disguised term for Rome,
because in the Bible story Esau is the rival of Jacob. When we
remember that Antipater and Herod were Idumeans (Edom) and that they
practically delivered Judea to Rome for the price of a crown, the
rabbinic usage is peculiarly appropriate.
_Herod._
In Stephen Phillip's dramatic poem of this name, the character is
idealized.
_Theme for discussion_:
Did Herod succeed or did he fail?
CHAPTER XII.
HILLEL
Let us now take a glance at the religious life of Judah in this
reign. The picture is brighter. Hillel was made president of
the Sanhedrin in the year 30. A new direction was given to the
development of rabbinic Judaism under his guidance. He was the
greatest Jewish teacher since Ezra. Like Ezra he came from Babylon,
which had remained a Jewish centre since the exile, 600 B. C. E.,
and was to continue to be a Jewish centre for many centuries later.
Pleasing stories are told of the sacrifices made by this poor boy to
gratify his thirst for knowledge. Once he was almost frozen to death
while lying on the skylight to hear the discussion, since he was not
allowed to hear it from within. Ultimately he was placed at the head
of the Sanhedrin where at first he was a beggar at its doors. Great
as he was as an expounder of the Law, he is perhaps best known by
the sweetness of his character. None could put him out of temper, it
is said. This story is given as illustration. A man who ventured a
wager that he would rouse Hillel's wrath called thrice at the most
inopportune time asking the absurdest questions, and each time more
rudely than before. The attempt failed. On hearing the explanation
of this strange behavior, Hillel, unruffled to the last, said,
"Better that you should lose your wager than I my temper." He united
in himself gentleness and firmness.
Hillel as Moralist.
Many interesting instances are given of his evenness of disposition
that disarmed the violent and won many a convert to the fold,
where the brusqueness of his colleague--Shammai--often drove them
away. "Be patient like Hillel, not passionate like Shammai," ran
the saying. Thus Hillel became the peacemaker in those troublous
Herodian days. In this connection he taught, "Be of the disciples of
Aaron--loving and pursuing peace, loving mankind and bringing them
nigh to the Law." His consideration for others went so far that,
a man of standing, becoming suddenly poor, he provided him with a
horse and servant that he might still enjoy some of the comforts of
his earlier life.
He is the author of the famous Golden Rule in its earlier form,
uttered in reply to a heathen who would have him teach the whole
Law while he stood on one foot: "That which is hateful to thee
do not unto thy neighbor; this is the principle, all the rest
is commentary." Another heathen must needs be made a priest if
converted: Hillel gently showed him the prohibition of the Law. But
the instances show that proselytism was encouraged.
In the following maxims many phases of his character are revealed:
"He who craves to raise his name, lowers it."
"A name inflated is a name destroyed."
"My humility is my pride, my pride my humility."
"He who will not learn or teach deserves death."
"He who does not progress, retrogrades."
"Say not, 'when I have leisure I will study,' for you may never
have leisure."
"Study God's word; then both this world and the next will be
thine."
"Trust not thyself till the day of thy death."
"In a place where there is no man, strive to show thyself a man."
"Judge not thy neighbor till thou art in his place."
"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am for
myself alone, what am I? And if not now, when?"
Do you realize how much is contained in that last maxim? Unravel it
and you will see revealed his philosophy of life.
Hillel as Legislator.
So gentle, he was yet daring. When an old law was abused, he
ventured to modify it. The Law, for example, for release of debts
every seventh year, made particularly for the benefit of the poor
(Deut. xv), hampered the growth of trade in more complex times
and changed a generous purpose into an occasional embarrassment.
There is a gulf of difference between a loan to buy bread and a
loan for business enterprise. In the latter case Hillel allowed the
stipulation to be stated in the contract, called _prosbul_, that the
law of release was to be suspended.
To Hillel is due the important service of devising a logical system
of seven rules of deduction by which new laws to meet new needs
could be developed out of the fewer and more general principles in
the Bible code. It must be confessed that these deductions were
occasionally far-fetched. None the less the custom prevailed among
the rabbis to make laws for all exigencies in that way for many
centuries to come. The practice arose from the reverence paid the
five books of Moses that induced them to seek authority for every
regulation they found needful, in their pages. We might say it was a
virtue carried to the extreme of a fault. Hillel's method earned him
the title "Regenerator of the Law."
Last Days.
"Where goest thou, Master," said Hillel's disciples one day when he
hastened from the house of learning. "I go to meet a guest," Hillel
replied. "Who is this guest of whom thou so often speakest?" The
sweetness of the master's face deepened into earnestness. "My guest
is my soul. Too often in intercourse with the world must its claims
be pushed aside."
But the day came, as indeed it must, when the soul was summoned to a
greater tribunal than his own. The day of Hillel's death was a day
of mourning in Israel. "O, pious, gentle, worthy follower of Ezra,"
cried the sorrowing people. Contrast his death with Herod's.
Such was the love and esteem in which he was held by the scholars
of his own and later ages, that the presidency of the Sanhedrin was
kept in his family for four centuries (like a royal succession), and
in this way his memory reverenced for many generations.
Shammai.
In Hillel and Shammai, the "Pairs" referred to in chapter viii
reached their culmination. A teaching of Shammai ran, "Say little
but do much." These two men were the founders of two distinct
schools of interpretation of Jewish Law. They were as distinct
in their character as in their exposition of Scripture. Hillel
was broad, tolerant and original; Shammai--narrow, strict, and
conservative. (Hillel's opinions were usually accepted by later
generations.) Shammai was a pessimist saying "It were better not to
have been born." Hillel was an optimist, and said, "Being born, make
the most of life."
* * * * *
To the Shammai school we owe the many stringent prohibitions with
regard to the Sabbath and to ecclesiastical purity. They objected
even to teaching the young, visiting the sick, or comforting
mourners on the Sabbath day. We are glad to state that Jewish
practice has taken the opposite view. The rabbis of the Shammai
school were not only severe in their religious decisions, but also
in the interpretation of patriotism and in their views of life
generally. Their gloomy philosophy is shown in Second Esdras: see
chap. v., on the Apocrypha. We might compare them with the first
Puritan settlers in America.
* * * * *
This school, also unlike Hillel's, opposed the admission of
proselytes from the heathen. Yet in those stormy times, these severe
views against the heathen found the larger following. From these
doubtless came the band of Zealots whose fanatic hatred of Rome and
its institutions became almost a religion, and whose deeds, to be
told later, form a lurid chapter in Judah's closing days.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
_Law and Equity_:
According to ancient Jewish law a city home sold could be redeemed
within a year. "But suppose the owner lock it up and depart." "Break
the lock and lodge the money with the court," said Hillel. He
touched a modern need in showing here that craft must not defeat the
benevolent purpose of the Law.
See Geiger's _History of Judaism_, vol. i, chap. viii.
Golden rule. See Tobit iv, 15.
_Sayings of the Jewish Fathers_, Taylor, pp. 34 to 37.
_Theme for Discussion:_
Is it possible as Hillel said, to evolve the whole law from the
Golden Rule?
CHAPTER XIII.
HEROD'S SUCCESSORS.
The selfish Herod had split up his kingdom among his three
sons--Archelaus, Antipas and Philip. Before Rome had yet confirmed
the succession, and while a procurator was placed in temporary
charge, already the sons were intriguing against each other. Rome
carried out Herod's wishes, only that his sons were made tetrarchs
instead of kings. How steadily Rome moved toward its purposed end!
Archelaus was made tetrarch of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. The
realm of Antipas was Galilee and Perea, the Jordan dividing the two
districts. To Philip was given the remaining provinces of Batanæa
and Trachonitis in northern Palestine. Look at the map in front of
this book.
A word on each of these principalities in the inverse order of
importance. Philip held a mild sway for thirty-seven years. There is
nothing to record in these outlying provinces, partly because they
were far removed from the Jewish centre of gravity.
Antipas and John the Baptist.
The realm of Antipas, often mentioned in the New Testament, was
a little nearer. His recognition of Judaism was only formal. He
inherited all his father's vices and like his father, too, he was
a great builder. He built Sepphoris in Galilee, and Tiberias on
the Lake of Gennesaret. In his reign and realm flourished John the
Baptist of Perea, and also Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee. As this
term, _Baptist_, was applied to the Essenes, because of their
frequent ablutions (see p. 82), John may have been a leader of that
party.
We know that John preached in the wilderness in the neighborhood of
the Jordan, the centre of the Essenes. His bold words, in which he
denounced the king, led to his imprisonment, on political grounds,
as an agitator. His influence on the people was feared by Rome, for
it was hard then to separate religion and politics. It is sometimes
hard now. It is said he was finally put to death at the wish of a
dancer, Salome, but really to please her mother, Herodias, a wanton
woman, to marry whom Antipas had divorced his wife, the daughter of
an Arabian king. This not only involved him in a disastrous war,
but Herodias caused him eventually the loss of his government and
his freedom. For, aiming at a kingship at her instigation, he was
banished, and his tetrarchy given to Agrippa, of whom we shall hear
later on.
The Last Herodian.
To come now to Judea proper; together with Samaria and Idumea, it
was entrusted to the unfit Archelaus; like his father he, too, had
to secure his throne through bloodshed. Plots and counterplots with
the appearance of pretenders for the thrones of Judea and Galilee,
characterized this unhappy time. The Jews were disgusted with the
rule of Rome and its creatures, and some began open rebellion. The
Syrian governor finally quelled the revolt, but thousands were
slain. Had the Jewish malcontents been organized under trustworthy
leadership, something might have been achieved. As it was, it ended
in their more complete subjection.
There is little else to tell of the reign of Archelaus. Serious
charges were brought against this tyrant; so serious that the
emperor recalled him to Rome and deposed him. He had reigned ten
years, 4 B.C.E. to 6 A.C.E., thus crossing the dividing line of what
is called the Christian Era, from the tradition that it marked the
birth of Jesus of Nazareth; he was actually born four years earlier
than this date.
Herod had brought Judea so completely under Roman control, that
bit by bit all the old vested rights, privileges and local powers
had been taken from its Sanhedrin, its High Priest and its royal
family. Herod had practically sold Judea to Rome for the privilege
of subserving as its king. Its fate was now wholly in Rome's hands.
Judea Part of a Roman Province.
Leaving the outlying provinces under the rule of tetrarchs,
Rome now decided to govern Judea absolutely as a part of the
province of Syria. It sent out governors or, as they were called,
_Procurators_, to administer its affairs under the more immediate
direction of Syria. The Jews were now to be ruled by strangers who
had no understanding of their religion and no sympathy with their
traditions or social needs; by men possessed in fact, for the most
part, of an ill-concealed antagonism to the rites and obligations
that entered into the lives of conscientious Jews.
At its best Judea had been a Theocracy, i.e., a kingdom in which
religion, represented by the priesthood and the Sanhedrin, directed
the affairs of the nation. Roman rule, therefore, would be
revolutionary, even had the procurators been good men and had sought
to administer the province in kindness and equity. As a matter of
fact, they were nearly all tyrants, lustful for gain at any price
and absolutely indifferent to the welfare of the people under their
charge; even as we shall see, in many instances wantonly wounding
Judea's sensibilities to gratify their cruel pleasure. No wonder the
Jews were eventually goaded into a war of desperation.
As to the Jews in other lands under Roman sway, we find Augustus
Caesar well disposed to them. He placed the harbors of the Nile
under Judean Alabarchs (same as Arabarch). His kindness to the
Alexandrian Jews was in marked contrast with his severity toward
the Alexandrian Greeks. In the city of Rome he allowed the Jewish
settlers--Libertini--to observe their religion undisturbed, and to
build synagogues.
So in the deepening shadows there was a glimmer of light too.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
For the relation of Baptism to the Essenes, read articles on those
topics in vols. ii and v, respectively, of the _Jewish Encyclopedia_.
_Tetrarch_:
Literally, governor of a fourth part of a province.
BOOK III.
JUDEA UNDER ROME.
=ROMAN EMPERORS AND= | =JEWRY.=
=PROCURATORS.= |
C.E. | C.E.
=Augustus.= |
Coponius 6 | Archelaus, tetrarch of Judea,
Marcus Ambibulus 9 | deposed *
Annius Rufus 12 |
|
=Tiberius.= | Philo, philosopher, born 16
Valerius Gratus 5 15 |
Pontius Pilatus 26 |
|
=Caligula.= |
Marcellus 36 | Death of Jesus of Nazareth 28
|
=Claudius.= |
Marullus 37-41 | Josephus, historian born 38
Agrippa, King 41-44
CHAPTER XIV.
PILATE THE PROCURATOR.
Procurators in general.
The Procurators fall into two groups, with a Jewish king
intervening. The table above is the first group of these
administrators of Judea. Their seat of government was Caesarea,
a city that had become Jerusalem's rival. The Jews had a certain
freedom under this regime. "The oath of allegiance to the Roman
emperor was more an oath of confederates than of subjects." The
Sanhedrin was still supposed to be the governing body for home
affairs with the High Priest as its president. But the arbitrary
appointment and removal of High Priests by the procurator, placed
these powers at the mercy of his caprice, and ultimately the Jews
were robbed of these prerogatives altogether. The procurator then
could always interfere with the carrying out of Jewish law. It is
important that these facts should be borne in mind in the events
of the next chapter. Even in religious offenses where the High
Priest with the Sanhedrin could pronounce the death sentence, the
confirmation of the procurator was required for the execution.
So heavily were the people taxed that the tax-gatherers (called
_publicans_) were looked upon with opprobrium. Doubtless many of
them dishonestly abused their power.
Still Judea was the only province in which the worship of the
emperor was not compulsory. The reason is obvious. To pagan
communities it was a command which they could obey complacently;
to the monotheistic Jews recognizing one sole spirit God, it was
simply impossible. It was attempted by the Emperor Caligula,
but failed. Even the local coinage bore no figure, nor were the
standards bearing the likenesses of the emperor tolerated, as such
was regarded as an offense by the strict interpreters of the second
commandment. One tyrant tried and failed to force these banners
on Judea. They violently opposed a census in the year 7 both on
religious and on political grounds, as they regarded it as an
infringement of their sacred rights and the precursor of slavery.
But Joezer, the High Priest, quieted them and induced them to submit.
Still, from such incidents the stern determination of the Jews
may be inferred. Judas of Gamala, a Galilean, and a religious
enthusiast, went about preaching the duty of rebellion and the sin
of submission. Gradually these malcontents formed themselves into a
new party of extremists--the _Zealots_, who believed in using the
sword against the heathen to hasten the Messianic realization. They
already began nursing the smouldering embers of rebellion.
Pilate in Particular.
Such was the status under the procurators in general. We will
treat in detail the regime of only one--Pontius Pilate. It is
characteristic of all, but especially eventful in many ways.
The Jewish historian, Josephus, and the Jewish philosopher, Philo,
have much to tell of his doings. From the trustworthy Philo we are
told that he was of "an unbending and recklessly hard character."
"He has been charged with corruptibility, violence, robberies,
ill-treatment of the people, continued executions without even the
form of trial, endless and intolerable cruelties."
On his first entry into Jerusalem he determined to outrage the
religious sensibilities of the people he was sent to protect, by
bidding his Roman soldiers hoist a flag with the Emperor's likeness.
They petitioned for its removal. He refused. For five days they
stood outside the palace urging their request. When the soldiers
with drawn swords stood ready to slay at his signal, the people
bared their necks, preferring death to toleration of this idolatrous
emblem. Such was the intensity of the Jews of these last years of
their national life, such was the stuff of which they were made.
Even tyrants reach limits beyond which they dare not pass. The
emblem was sullenly withdrawn.
At another time he appropriated the Temple treasures, sacredly
set aside for religious purposes, for the building of an aqueduct
to Jerusalem. This time he resorted to violence to quell the
opposition, many lives being sacrificed.
With the purpose only of annoying the people, he put up votive
shields inscribed with the emperor's name. But they appealed to
Tiberius who not only ordered them removed, but rebuked Pilate for
raising them.
On another occasion the Samaritans, to whom Gerizim had all the
sanctity that Sinai had for Israel, because the Mosaic Blessings
were announced from its heights (see Deut, xi, 29, Joshua, viii,
33), gathered there on a rumor that sacred vessels were hidden in
its soil. Pilate sent soldiers wantonly to slaughter them. This led
to his recall by Tiberius.
Proselytes.
The Emperor Tiberius decided that it was kinder to the Jews to
appoint procurators for long terms than to make frequent changes.
It meant the greed of a smaller number to be satisfied. But, on the
whole, his attitude was less friendly than that of his predecessor,
Augustus. This may have been due to the fact that many Romans of
high birth had, unsolicited, accepted the Jewish faith, and had
sent gifts to the Temple at Jerusalem. Among these converts was
Fulvia, wife of a Roman senator. This led to the banishment from
Rome of many thousands of Jews to a dangerous climate. Here was the
beginning of a religious persecution.
The incident, however, shows that the worthier Romans were becoming
more and more distrustful of pagan cults and were looking for
something better. We shall see later how zealous Jews from Judea,
and more particularly from Alexandria, began making converts to
Judaism all through Asia Minor. The influence of these converts on
future events was farther reaching than their sponsors ever dreamed.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
Read "A Procurator of Judea" in _Mother of Pearl_, by Anatole
France. Trans., N. Y., John Lane, 1908.
_Theme for discussion_:
(a) Does official Judaism discourage conversion?
(b) Why did the Jews oppose a census on religions grounds? See II.
Sam. xxiv, and article Census in _Jewish Encyclopedia_, vol. iii.
CHAPTER XV.
JESUS OF NAZARETH.
So far the rule of Pontius Pilate as it concerned Judea. But his
rule has become of wide import because of his relation to Jesus of
Nazareth, who was put to death during his administration, though
born in the province of Galilee governed by Herod Antipas. To
explain how a great religion sprang up around this Galilean Jew,
which came afterwards to regard him as its father, can be explained
only by a complete grasp of the political and religious aspirations
of the time.
The Messianic Hope.
The ominous mood in which the Jews realized their gradual
deprivation of country and independence indicated the stirring of
deep forces in their nature. Judea was to them a Holy Land, for
"from Zion had gone forth the Law." Love of country had become
part of their religion. Every political function had its religious
aspect. The Sanhedrin was at once a civil and a religious body, and
this dual characteristic pervaded all the civil institutions. So
the longing for the restoration of the royal line of Judah, i.e.,
the coming of the Messiah, expressed the religious as well as the
political hopes of the nation. Not that the word Messiah had any
peculiarly religious significance. It is the Hebrew word _M'sheach_,
meaning "Anointed (king)," and was applied in the Bible to Saul,
David, and even to Cyrus, the Persian, Isaiah xlv--1. In post-exilic
times the coming of the Messiah implied the re-establishment of the
throne in the Davidic line.
Many of the pious felt further that with a king once more on
an independent throne, the glorious pictures of the coming day
foretold by the Prophets and not attained in the first monarchy,
would be realized in the second. Such as "The Lord's house will
be established on the top of the mountains; all nations will
flock to it, saying, Come let us go up to the house of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, we
will walk in His paths." (Isaiah and Micah.) Again, "The earth
will be full of knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea." The
conviction expressed by Jeremiah (chap. xxxi, 33-34) would then be
fulfilled, that all would "know the Lord from the least of them to
the greatest." One of the latest of the Prophets--Zechariah--had
foretold a day when "ten men would take hold of the garments of him
who was a Jew and would say, We will go with you, for we believe
that God is with you." So we might quote nearly every prophet from
Amos to Malachi, the last prophet, who said that the day of Judgment
would be heralded by the undying Elijah. A Jewish poet in Alexandria
voiced the same hope; heathendom would disappear and the kingdom of
God would be established.
Alas, the outlook for either the spiritual or the temporal
realization seemed farther removed than ever. Every now and then,
more particularly under the disturbing rule of the procurators,
a deluded enthusiast would appear upon the scene and claim that
he was a Messiah. Theudas was one who made this claim in the year
45. So desperate were the times that these agitators always found
followers. They were always ruthlessly put to death by Rome for the
claim of Messiahship, i.e., "King of the Jews," was treason against
Rome. Was not Judea a Roman province now?
Jesus the Man.
In chapter vii the Essenes have been mentioned. This sect, that
lived as a brotherhood in the vicinity of the Dead Sea, shared all
goods in common, condemned wealth and passed simple lives away from
the great world. They, too, looked for the coming of the Messiah.
But it was the religious climax of the prophets just quoted that
would follow the Messiah's advent--the ushering in triumph of an
independent nationality, that most appealed to them. This lofty view
was also shared by the more saintly among the Israelites in general;
nor was it ever entirely absent even from the popular view.
We have already heard of John the Baptist (Essene), who so stirred
the people by preaching that "the kingdom of God" was at hand;
this was the Messianic hope. He evidently inspired one youth, who
was in close sympathy with the Essene brotherhood, Joshua (Greek
Jesus) from Nazareth, in Galilee. Galilee, like the other provinces
in northern Palestine, was away from the learning and culture of
Jerusalem. It was the home of simple folk who spoke a corrupt
dialect, and who credulously accepted popular superstitions; such
as, every disease comes from an indwelling spirit or demon.
Of the life of the man Jesus who came from these surroundings
_little is really known_, but from a few bare facts very much has
been deduced and still more imagined. Apart from the fact that
he was the son of a carpenter, Joseph, we only hear of him about
two years before his death, and that occurred at the early age
of thirty-two. We find him preaching and expounding the Law and
sympathizing with the unfortunate classes.
Though by no means a profound scholar in the Law, he exhibited
fine moral perception and lived up to the pure ideals of the
strict, peace-loving Essene brotherhood. In his teachings or rather
preachings, he followed the models of the great prophets, laying
stress upon the spirit of religion and minimizing the value of
ceremonial. For there were formalists in those days as there were in
the days before the Exile. Indeed, every age reveals the experience
that the multitude is often more impressed by the ceremony than
the idea it is intended to convey--and gives more attention to the
outward, tangible form than to its inward, spiritual purpose, the
exaltation of life. Nor is that tendency confined to the ignorant
either. Religion so easily sinks into a mechanical routine unless
we keep vigilant watch. This lesson is preached by the moralists of
every age. It was preached by Jesus of Nazareth with rare power. He
had soon a large following, perhaps, too, for the reason that he was
now regarded as John the Baptist's successor.
Jesus the Messiah.
But it was not so much his ethical teaching, lofty though it was,
that brought him into prominence and caused the crowds to gather
about him, though a modern school of Christian apologetics lays
stress upon that now. It was partly because he was regarded as a
"healer," a power claimed by the Essenes; but chiefly because he was
regarded as the long-looked for _Messiah_ who would deliver Israel
from the thraldom of Rome and gratify their wildest expectations.
Whether he first of his own accord laid claim to this mysterious
title, or whether he was persuaded into it by his admirers, we
cannot gather from the few records that tell the events of his life.
For even the earliest of these records, the so-called Gospel of
Mark, was not written till nearly fifty years after his death, at a
time when startling opinions had already been formed about him; and
they do not agree even as to his parentage and birthplace. In fact,
once regarded as the Messiah, his biography was _recast_ to fit the
Messianic prophecies in the Scriptures! This made the Jesus of the
Gospels largely a mythical character.
Jesus could quite honestly have believed himself to be a Messiah
in some religious sense, though he was rather evasive when bluntly
questioned. For many sincere enthusiasts both before and since his
time have believed themselves specially chosen messengers of God
to bring redemption to their people. It will be seen at the end
of this volume that Mohammed, who flourished several centuries
later, believed himself to be sent by God to bring salvation to the
Arabians. In a sense he was; to call him an impostor, an earlier
practise of the Church, is uncharitable and untrue. In Israel's
history, since the days of the procurators not a century has passed
but some one has come forward claiming to be the Messiah. Some were
honest, though mistaken; some were mere adventurers.
Jesus probably accepted the Essene idea of the Messiah, that is,
he was less concerned with ushering in an earthly than a heavenly
kingdom.
This distinction was not clearly realized by the simple masses
of the people, groaning under a hated yoke; certainly it was not
realized by the Romans, who saw in every Messianic claim treason
against Rome, a plot to win independence for Judea again. On the
other hand, Jesus applying to himself on one occasion the term "son
of God"--that may mean so little or so much--awakened the alarm
and antagonism of the priesthood and lost for him many supporters.
So Jesus, who was probably innocent of any blasphemous assumptions
against Judaism and guiltless of any conspiracy against Rome to
seize the throne and be made "King of the Jews," was nevertheless
condemned to death like the Messiahs before him and was executed by
the Roman method of capital punishment, crucifixion. But unlike the
Messiahs before him--all mediocre men--his name has been treasured
ever since as one of the great religious teachers of the world.
Christianity.
For although he died without bringing the redemption which would
have proven his Messiahship, his followers did not lose faith in
him. His turning kindly to the poor and despised folk, even to the
sinful and degraded with his message of comfort, had won all hearts.
As they believed he had performed miracles in his life-time, so now
they tried to persuade themselves that a greater miracle had been
fulfilled in his death--that he had not really died, but had been
translated to heaven like Elijah or Enoch and that he would return
some day and complete his unfinished work. In those unlettered days
belief in the supernatural was very common. Among certain folk it is
not so uncommon to-day.
So these believers that Jesus was the Messiah became a new sect
called _Christians_. What does "Christian" mean? Christ (Christos)
is the Greek for Messiah. So the name Christians meant Messians, and
the name Jesus Christ means Jesus the Messiah. Though Jesus himself
did not speak Greek, but Aramaic, the Christian Scriptures were
written in Greek.
The Jewish Christians continued to live much as the Essenes before
them, like them assuming voluntary poverty and faithful as of old
to the Jewish Law. But in later years when many pagans joined this
sect, they introduced into it many idolatrous notions, borrowed
from the cults of Greece, Rome and Egypt. The man Jesus was exalted
into a divinity and worshipped as such. The shedding of his blood
at his execution was regarded as a sacrifice intended by God to
atone for the sins of mankind, based on the ancient idea that the
priest shed the blood of an animal in atoning for the sins of the
people; but the Hebrew prophets and some of the psalmists had all
condemned animal sacrifice as a means of atonement. This belief was
a stage of religion beyond which the Jews were advancing. It died
out altogether before the century was over--just when it was being
revived in this way by Christians.
* * * * *
The next step which separated the Jews from the Christians was the
depreciation and ultimately the abrogation of the Jewish Law. This
was brought about by a later teacher, Paul, at first opposed to
Christians, but later their most eloquent advocate. This abandonment
of the Law, ultimately conceded by the early Messians, who had so
far still clung to it, severed their relationship with the parent
faith. Thus Paul made Christianity a new religion for the heathen
world.
The process by which this Jewish sect became a new religion, most of
whose adherents came from the heathen world, was slow and gradual.
We shall refer to the different steps in the development of this
Faith as they occur, and we shall see how this sect, born in
Judaism, became its antagonist and persecutor in later days.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
_Biography of Jesus_:
In recasting his life from the meagre data at hand his biographers
ascribed to him all of the miracles told of Elijah and Elisha--feeding
the multitude with a few loaves, curing the sick, reviving the dead
and being transported to heaven.
_Teachings of Jesus_:
He taught nothing heretical or startlingly new; he preferred to
emphasize the old. The phrases of "the Lord's Prayer" are biblical;
the Beatitudes (a group of Blessings in the New Testament) are
rabbinic; his communistic views, those of the Essene school.
The chief source of his teachings was the _Didache_, i.e., a summary
of the Faith used by the Synagogue for proselytes. It contained the
_Shema_ followed by "Thou shalt love the Lord God, etc.;" love thy
neighbor as thyself--Hillel's Golden Rule; the Ten Commandments; a
disquisition on "the two ways"--right and wrong.
He followed the rabbis in teaching largely by _Mashal_--parable.
Even the form "Ye have heard, etc., but I will go further yet,
etc.," is rabbinic.
_The Crucifixion_:
The reasons why the death of Jesus should not be attributed to the
Jews, may be summarized as follows. (See _Jewish Encyclopedia_, vol.
iv.)
Crucifixion was not a Jewish, but a Roman method of capital
punishment. Prior to the open rebellion against Rome, 30-66 C. E.,
many Jews were crucified as rebels, and on very meagre evidence. A
Messiah in its eyes was a rebel; the inscription placed on the cross
was "King of the Jews."
"The mode and manner of Jesus' death undoubtedly point to Roman
custom and law as the directive power," though Jews may have
administered a soothing cup to lessen the suffering.
None of the well established measures of precaution were taken that
always preceded a Jewish execution. It is very doubtful whether
Jewish law would tolerate a three-fold execution at one time.
A Jewish execution on Friday is almost impossible. If Jesus died
on Nissan 14, the execution on the eve of a festival would be
irregular. If on Nissan 15 (Passover), the execution could not
be held. There is no corroboration of the custom to liberate a
condemned person on account of a holiday.
Read _As Others Saw Him_, Joseph Jacobs; Macmillan.
_Jesus of Nazareth_, Schlesinger. Albany.
_Cradle of the Christ_, Frothingham.
_The Religious Teaching of Jesus_, C. G. Montefiore, Macmillan,
1910.
Matthew, Mark and Luke are called Synoptic Gospels as distinct from
the Gospel of John, a later and more doctrinal work.
_Theme for discussion_:
Why cannot Jesus be accepted by the Synagogue to-day?
CHAPTER XVI.
THE ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL.
Jew and Greek.
Before resuming the story of Judea under the procurators, let
us take another survey of Jews and Judaism in lands outside of
Palestine. The voluntary dispersion still went on. The Jews were
now scattered over all the Roman Empire, which included Asiatic and
European lands from Syria to Spain. We also find our ancestors,
at the beginning of the Christian era, in Arabia and in Parthia,
an Asiatic kingdom south of the Caspian Sea. But, however widely
scattered, religion was the bond of union and Jerusalem the
spiritual centre. From distant lands many would from time to time
make pilgrimages to the Temple.
The attitude of the heathen world was on the whole not unfriendly
to the Jews. They were disliked for their rejection of the heathen
gods, for their aloofness, their stern morality, their sobriety, and
their material success; while their exclusiveness--partly but not
wholly justifiable--led to the erroneous supposition that they were
hostile to mankind. But the Jews of the Diaspora were less exclusive
and more tolerant than those of Judea. This was particularly true
of Alexandria, capital of Egypt, now part of the Roman Empire.
There had existed here--apart from occasional outbursts of racial
antagonism among the populace, a cordial interchange of ideas in
which the Jews met the Greeks more than half way. (chaps. ii and vi.)
The Jews admired the culture of the educated Greeks and felt drawn
toward the lofty philosophy of Plato, the nearest Greek approach to
the monotheism and morality of the Hebrews. The broadening effect
of this infusion of Greek thought, gave to Judaism in Alexandria a
distinct character, and it came to be known as Hellenistic Judaism,
and its espousers, Hellenistic Jews. We have used the term Hellenist
in an earlier chapter, in a bad sense as descriptive of Jews who
yielded to those Greek influences that were pagan, to the detriment
of Judaism. Here we apply the term in a good sense to those who were
open to Greek influences that were intellectual, to the advantage of
Judaism. We have already marked the effect of Greek thought in some
of the Apocryphal writings, particularly in the "Wisdom of Solomon."
Appreciating the metaphysics of the Greek philosophers, the Jewish
Hellenists were anxious to bring home to the Greeks and to others
the spiritual and moral truths of Judaism.
Jewish Missionaries.
But how to present the revelation of the Law and of the Prophets
in a manner that would most appeal to the Greeks? In their fervor
to make proselytes to the Law of Moses, they resorted to a strange
expedient. There existed among the Greeks women-seers called Sibyls,
who were supposed to foretell in mysterious oracles the destinies
of nations. So some Jewish writers cast the Bible teachings of God
and morality in the literary form of Sibylline oracles. Like the
Bible prophets, these Jewish Sibylline writers, warned those who
followed false views and bad lives, and promised salvation to those
who accepted the law of the God of Israel. They popularized the
teachings of the Mosaic law and so generalized it as to present
it as a religion for mankind. These writings exerted a salutary
influence on many followers of Greek thought.
The Hellenists went so far as to try to prove from Jewish Scriptures
many of the loftier ideas of Greek philosophy. In this way Judaism
was represented as anticipating the highest knowledge of the time.
In their enthusiasm, this reconciliation of Judaism and Greek
philosophy was occasionally carried further than conditions quite
warranted. The attempt was also made to explain every biblical law
allegorically, as though it was intended to convey ideas other than
those that appeared on the surface. Thus they read Greek philosophy
into the Bible. The habit of reading the science of the day into
the old Bible books still prevails. This poetic explaining away of
many injunctions of Scripture led in some instances to their actual
neglect. This was the dangerous extreme.
The assumption that Jews discourage proselytes has been refuted in
chaps. xii and xiv. It is certainly not true of the Alexandrian
Jews who were most zealous in their missionary efforts. They not
only felt that it was the mission of the Jew to carry his message
to the world; they did it. The translation of their Scriptures
into Greek, the presentation of the message of their faith in the
form of Sibylline oracles, and the allegorizing away of many of
their ceremonials were all employed for the bringing of Judaism to
the Gentile. So successful were their efforts, that just when the
Jewish state was dying, many heathens were seeking this Faith of
their own accord, attracted by its ethics and repelled by heathen
uncleanliness. Philo says that the adoption of Judaism by many
heathens immediately resulted in a marked moral improvement in their
lives. The number of female proselytes in Damascus, Asia Minor,
Egypt and Rome steadily grew. Pagan writers remark it. Josephus
writes:--"There is not any city of the Greeks or of the barbarians
... to which our custom of resting on the seventh day has not been
introduced and where our fasts and dietary laws are not observed."
He adds further how enthusiastically these converts fulfilled all
Jewish rites. A zealous Jewish missionary converted Helen, the queen
of Adiabene, a province on the Tigris, and all her family. She made
a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, sent valuable gifts to the Temple, and
helped the people in the time of famine.
So, although Judaism was a religion that imposed on its followers
severe restraints and, although the Jews were a very small people,
whom some heathens despised, still, many knocked at its doors to be
admitted into the fold, even for fifty years after its Temple was
destroyed and its nationality overthrown--tragedies which we shall
presently have to tell. Yes, many of the very people that overthrew
it--the Romans--accepted the Jewish faith. The Emperor Domitian made
severe laws against proselytes to Judaism, in order to discourage
the practice. Indeed, a cousin of the emperor, who was also a
senator and consul, together with his wife, accepted Judaism.
But ultimately the stream of converts was diverted to the new creed,
born of Judaism, Christianity--more particularly as in its second
stage it sent its missionaries to the heathen world proclaiming
that acceptance of Jesus as savior and divinity would bring
them salvation without conforming to the burdensome Jewish Law.
Furthermore it became a doctrine of the new religion that the death
of Jesus abrogated the Law. Thus, salvation made easy, brought
thousands to the fold. The Jewish missionaries had really simplified
the task for the Christian missionaries who followed later. They
prepared the soil.
This is looking a little further ahead to events yet to be related.
By that time the followers of the two religions had become people
of two different races: Judaism followed almost exclusively by Jews
who were Semites; Christianity by Aryans, Greeks, Romans and other
Europeans. This racial distinction became the final barrier which
completely separated them.
NOTE.
_Aryans and Semites_:
Not all Semites are Jews, for example the Arabians; nor are all
Aryans Christians p. e. the Persians. Religious and racial lines are
no longer identical.
_Theme for discussion_:
Why did most heathen converts to Judaism ultimately become
Christian?
CHAPTER XVII.
PHILO-JUDEUS.
We are now ready to consider one to whom frequent reference has
been made--the greatest of the Alexandrian Jewish missionary
philosophers, styled the "noblest Judean of his age"--Philo-Judeus.
He was born in Alexandria of good family, about 15 B. C., just when
Herod was ruling and Hillel was teaching in Jerusalem. His brother,
Alexander, was given the influential post of farmer of taxes. Both
received the best education the times afforded in literature,
music, mathematics and natural science. Philo early showed a taste
for literature in general, and philosophy in particular. His
circumstances enabled him to devote himself to a literary life, for
which he was peculiarly gifted. He showed his warm interest in the
cause of his people in his journey to Rome as one of the ambassadors
to plead before the mad Emperor Caligula (to be told in the next
chapter). Of this whole incident he himself gives a graphic account
in his chronicles of the Jewish events of his time.
His Bible Commentary.
A many-sided genius, he was the best exponent of that Hellenistic
school that sought to harmonize the revealed religion of the Torah
with the conclusions of Greek philosophy. He was thoroughly versed
in both. His works, as those of all this school, were written in
Greek. While the form may be that of Plato, the spirit is that
of the prophets. In his commentary on Scripture, following the
allegorical method already referred to, he treats all the incidents
in Genesis, for example, as symbolic of human development and moral
truths underlying the historic facts on the surface. He did not,
however, go to the extreme of neglecting Jewish observance on the
strength of metaphoric interpretation. Indeed, he even rebuked those
who did. He writes "just as we must be careful of the body as the
house of the soul, so must we give heed to the letter of the written
laws. For only when these are faithfully observed, will the inner
meaning of which they are the symbols become more clearly realized."
But he warningly adds "If a man practice ablutions and
purifications, but defiles his mind while he cleanses his body ...
let him none the more be called religious."
In his interpretation of the Mosaic Law in the Pentateuch, he has
the education of the heathen chiefly in mind. He reveals the harmony
of its precepts with the laws of nature. He groups all duties under
the Ten Commandments. He points out with enthusiasm the humanity
of the Law, and completely refutes slanders against Judaism by
citing examples of its purity, breadth and philanthropy, such as
the Sabbatic year and the jubilee to eliminate poverty, the freeing
of slaves, the boon of the Sabbath for the servant, the social
equality in the festival rules, the restraints of the dietary laws,
the tenderness and consideration for all human needs in the code of
Deuteronomy. His contrasts are the severest condemnation of Greek
and Roman morals.
His Philosophy.
In his philosophy he again applies the allegorical method to the
Pentateuch. In this field of _Midrash_ (homiletic exposition) he
may have influenced the later rabbis of the Talmud, even though
rejected by them. He attempts to show that the lofty ideas found in
the Platonic, Stoic and Neo-pythagorean philosophies were already
taught in the Jewish Scripture. From Moses, the greatest teacher of
mankind, the Greek philosophers derived their wisdom. From Mosaic
Law comes the highest and truest religious revelation. Thus he
endeavored to win Jews to an appreciation of Greek literature, and
Greeks to an appreciation of Jewish Scripture.
Philo is the first Jew to present a complete system of philosophy,
yet he weaves it out of the Bible. Just a word about it. It is hard
to treat the philosophy of any one writer separately, for it is
usually linked with a whole chain of theories of earlier schools.
A deep believer in the spiritual God of his fathers, it was one
of the aims of his life to attain fuller knowledge of Him. While
in his treatment of the divine idea he shows the influence of the
Greek philosopher Plato, yet as Jew he brings to the philosophic
abstraction the religious warmth of a believer in the living God.
God alone is perfect, unchangeable, devoid of all qualities and
indefinable. Absolutely perfect, He cannot come in contact with
matter, which is defiling. How does Philo bridge the gap from
the spiritual God to the material world? God acts on the world
indirectly through intermediary causes or powers, which He first
created.
The Logos.
These intervening powers he at times calls angels and at times
ideas. He uses a Greek word _logos_ meaning Reason. Whence comes
this _logos_ which we are to think of partly as a spirit and again
as a thought? It is a product; or as he expresses it in a Greek
idiom, a _child_ of divine intelligence. By means of this _logos_,
the perfect spiritual divinity creates the world.
This sounds unfamiliar, but the eighth chapter of Proverbs and some
of the books of the Apocrypha speak of Wisdom as though it were a
kind of being and that with it God laid the world's foundation. Of
course, this is only figurative. But later the fathers of the Church
put a new and startling construction upon Philo's Logos and read
into it a literalness he never intended. They changed the _logos_
into an actual human being. Unlike Philo they did not call it a
child of divine intelligence in the Greek idiomatic sense, but a
"son of God" in an actual and physical sense. It was then but a
step for the Church to declare that Jesus, its Messiah, was the
_Logos_! He was therefore a species of divinity too. It was not
till Christianity's second stage that Jesus of Nazareth was in this
way raised from a real man into an imaginary divinity. Thus the
link with Judaism was broken in the rejection of its fundamental
principle of monotheism--the belief in one indivisible God.
Philo is, of course, only unconsciously the cause of this doctrinal
change, for he did not come in contact with the new sect of
Christians and never mentions it, and this idea developed after his
day. In fact, the divinity of Jesus had already been adopted, and
Philo's writings were later construed to fit it.
His Ethics.
A word on his ethics. Evil is a necessary consequence of our free
will. Without it there could not be the contrast of good. Evil is
associated with the body which he depicts as the opponent of the
soul. The soul emanates from God like the _logos_, but attracted by
sensuous matter it descends into mortal bodies. This earthly body
then is the cause of evil. But Philo was too wise to infer from that
the duty of asceticism. He did not teach that man must suppress
his desires and passions and earthly longings, but that he should
suppress them. For this, man needs the help of God. The wise and
virtuous are uplifted out of themselves to a closer knowledge of
God, and God's spirit dwells in them. This is highest happiness.
While we cannot quite accept his theories, his conclusions ring true
with all the inspiring elements of lofty religion.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
_The Logos_:
The Greek _logos_ also means Word. Just as Proverbs personifies
wisdom, so the Targum (Aramaic translation of the Bible) identifies
the "word of God" with the divine presence. Here again the Christian
mystic goes a step further and changes a metaphor into a fact. "The
Word of God became flesh; Jesus is that Word!" (Gospel of St John.)
In his popular but exhaustive work on _Philo-Judaeus_, (J. P. S. A.
1910) Norman Bentwich writes:
"It is idle to try and formulate a single definite notion of
Philo's Logos. For it is the expression of God in His multiple
and manifold activity, the instrument of creation, the seat of
ideas, the world of thought, which God first established as the
model of the visible universe, the guiding providence, the sower
of virtue, the fount of wisdom, described sometimes in religious
ecstacy, sometimes in philosophical metaphysics sometimes in the
spirit of the mystical poet."
_Philo_:
Philo represents an important type, then new--a Jew loyal to his
faith when living in a non-Jewish atmosphere. Not all so nobly
withstood these surrounding allurements. His own brother drifted
from the fold. Philo wrote for indifferent Jews as well as for pagan
Greeks.
According to Montefiore, the Greek, according to Bentwich, the
Hebrew note in Philo, is the more pronounced.
_Greek Law and Jewish_:
Philo brings out the following contrast. The Greeks were bidden not
to refuse fire and water to those who needed it, but Judaism bids
its followers to give to the poor and weak all that life requires.
For examples of Philo's teaching read "Florilegium Philonis," by
Montefiore, _Jewish Quarterly Review_, Vol. vii; in the same volume,
"Philo Concerning the Contemplative Life," Conybeare; and in Vol. v,
"Latest Researches on Philo," Cohn.
_Theme for discussion_:
Why did rabbinic Judaism neglect Philo?
CHAPTER XVIII.
A JEWISH KING ONCE MORE.
In taking up again the thread of Judea's story, let its relation to
the Roman State be clearly understood. It was under the immediate
supervision of the procurator. He in turn was subject to the higher
power of the governor of Syria. Both were answerable to the supreme
authority--the emperor at Rome. Though the Syrian governors came
little in contract with Judea, at times their intervention was
important. We may instance Vitellius, who deserves passing mention
in Jewish history. In contrast with the behavior of Pilate the
procurator, was his consideration shown for Jewish sensibilities
by this Syrian governor. "He was the noblest Roman of them all."
He exhibited an uncommon forbearance by remitting some burdensome
taxes; he sympathetically inquired into the needs of the people and
removed from the High Priesthood the unworthy Caiaphas in whose time
Jesus of Nazareth was executed. He also ordered Pilate to Rome to
answer for his misgovernment.
The Mad Emperor Caligula.
As to the emperors: Some of these gave no thought to the Jews apart
from appointing their procurators. With others the Jews came in
clashing contact. Such was the case with Caligula who donned the
purple in 37. This demented man believed himself to be a divinity,
so that obeisance to his image was not merely an act of allegiance,
but of worship. The consequences of this sacrilegious command to
worship him was the first felt by the Jews of Alexandria; for the
Ptolemaic and the Seleucid empires were both Roman now. An actual
persecution here took place in which the Jews were besieged in their
own quarter, the Delta. Their refusal to obey the emperor's childish
demand gave excuse to their tormentors to attack them under the
guise of patriotism. Patriotism may be the mantle for so many sins.
Synagogues were defiled and many persons were slain. Philo, now
advanced in years, led a deputation to Rome, to intercede for his
brethren. He made an eloquent plea, assuring the emperor of Jewish
loyalty. "They sacrifice for you daily an offering in the Temple."
"_For_ me," sneered Caligula, "not _to_ me." The deputation suffered
many indignities and returned dispirited.
[Illustration: COIN OF AGRIPPA I. 37-44 C.E.]
To Judea likewise came the same blasphemous demand with the threat
of similar punishment. At last the mad monarch ordered his image
to be set up in the Temple and entrusted the task to the Syrian
governor, Petronius, a man of the stamp of Vitellius. He did
his best to delay the wanton edict at the risk of the emperor's
displeasure. At last yielding to the agonized entreaty of the people
he imperilled his life by asking the emperor to revoke the order.
Agrippa, a Jewish favorite of Caligula, succeeded in persuading the
emperor to renounce the abortive project. Soon, however, he repented
and determined on its execution. But relief came to Alexandria and
Judea at one stroke--the emperor was murdered in 41.
The next emperor, Claudius, restored to the Alexandrian Jews all
the privileges that had been taken from them during the rule of his
predecessor, and their rights were more firmly established than
before. Religious freedom was now granted to the Jews throughout
the whole Roman empire. But best of all, he stopped the regime of
the procurators by appointing as king of Judea, one of their own
brethren--Agrippa.
Agrippa's Youth.
Agrippa was the grandson of Herod the Great and Mariamne, thus
having both Idumean and Hasmonean blood in his veins. As a child
he was sent for his education to Rome. The influences of Rome were
not healthy. They made the lad luxurious and extravagant. Loaded
with debts he returned to Judea and was assisted by his uncle and
brother-in-law, Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee. After varied fortunes
he came again to Rome, befriended by Philo's brother Alexander.
Tiberius, emperor at that time, received him favorably and gave him
charge of his grandson. But still his extravagant habits continued,
and an incautious word sent him to prison, where he remained till
the emperor died in 37.
The next emperor, Caligula, who was mad enough to think himself
a divinity, was also sane enough to make Agrippa his friend and
even to be dissuaded by him from putting his statue in the Temple.
Agrippa's fortunes began now to rise. On the death of tetrarch
Philip and on the deposition of tetrarch Antipas, their Palestinian
provinces were bestowed on him (see p. 117). He was honored with the
titles of King and Praetor, and his iron chain was exchanged for
one of gold. So, like Joseph, he was transferred from a prison to
a throne. At Caligula's death he assisted Claudius in obtaining the
imperial crown. In grateful recognition, Judea, Samaria and Idumea
were added to Agrippa's dominions. And thus it happened that Judea
had a king again.
Agrippa the King.
His kingdom, uniting the various tetrarchies of Herod's three sons,
was now even vaster in area than that of his grandfather, Herod.
But he was a very different type of man. In spite of his Roman
associations, he possessed strong Jewish sentiment and decided to
become the father instead of the tyrant of his people.
The wild habits of his youth he laid aside and he hung up in the
Temple the golden chain that replaced his prison fetters, as a
mark of thankfulness and humility. His rule was a golden age for
Judea--all too brief. Though partly of alien blood, the Pharisees
said on one occasion, "Thou art our brother, Agrippa." He was
amiable, benevolent, grateful and showed a forgiving disposition.
His magnanimity changed opponents into friends.
He entered with hearty enthusiasm into all the ceremonial of
Judaism. The Mishna, explained in chap. xxxi, speaks of him in high
praise, and tells how he carried the first fruit offering to the
Temple with his own hand. He looked after the interests of Jews
and Judaism at home and abroad. Through his representation, some
statues that had been wantonly put in a Phoenician synagogue were
removed. Still, outside of Judea he permitted the amphitheatre with
gladiatorial combats, and bestowed gifts upon many Grecian cities
and upon some heathen towns of Palestine.
Rabbi Gamaliel.
The Sanhedrin was invested by him with new power and dignity, and
under the wise presidency of Rabbi Gamaliel, _hazaken_ (the elder),
a descendant of Hillel many liberal laws were made. Gamaliel showed
the same consideration to heathen as to Jewish poor. He was so
esteemed that the saying arose, "When Rabbi Gamaliel died, the
glory of the Torah passed away." One of his teachings ran: "Procure
thyself an instructor; avoid the possibility of doubt; and do not
tithe by conjecture."
Agrippa Slain.
Agrippa would fain have furthered the hopes of Israel in making
them more independent of Rome, but he was watched by envious eyes.
A conference of local vassal kings, called by him, was broken up
by the suspicious Syrian governor. He wished to strengthen Judea's
fortifications, but again the Syrian governor induced the emperor
to stop the work. In fact, many jealous Romans feared that a longer
continuance of his kingdom might develop into a menace against
Rome. So the assassin's knife was called into play! Suddenly at a
moment of triumphal glory, he was stricken down at the early age of
forty-five. The kindly disposed emperor would have given the kingdom
to his son, but he was dissuaded by his counselors. The old regime
of the hated procurators was restored once more.
Agrippa II.
It is true this son, called Agrippa II. was given a small dominion,
but with little independent power. He was also entrusted with the
superintendence of the Temple which he did not always exercise
wisely. He was well-disposed to the Jews, and even used his
influence at court to intercede in their favor; but he felt akin
with them far less than had his father. He imported wood for the
Temple use and employed the discharged workmen of the finished
Herodian Temple to pave the city with marble. At first, he did
all he could in his impotent way to prevent hostilities between
Rome and Judea, but his training had been Roman and his spirit was
pagan. He moved on the line of least resistance--that meant his
ultimate drifting toward victorious Rome. His was a weak nature
entirely under the control of his sister Berenice. She became later
a favorite of the Roman emperor Titus, who played so large a part in
Judea's last days.
NOTE.
Agrippa II. continued to hold his petty kingdom for some time after
Judea had fallen, and lived to read Josephus' history about it. He
was the Agrippa before whom Paul appeared, and to whom he indolently
said, "With little wouldst thou win me over to be a Christian."
Paul also appeared before a later procurator, Felix.
_Theme for discussion_:
If Agrippa had lived and reigned as long as Herod--?
[Illustration: COIN OF AGRIPPA II, 60 C. E.]
CHAPTER XIX.
THE LAST PROCURATORS.
=Roman Emperors and Procurators.= | =Jewry.=
|
YEAR. | YEAR.
=Claudius= 41 |
Fadus 44 |
Tiberius Alexander 45 | Theudas the Messiah 45
Ventidius Cumanus 48 |
Felix 52 |
=Nero= 54 | Death of Philo 55
Festus 60 |
Albinus 62 |
Gessius Florus 66 | Josephus Gov. of Galilee 66
Agrippa's death was a signal for general indignities by Greeks and
Romans throughout Palestine against the people who had lost their
defender. Burdensome taxation alone would have been borne; but each
in turn of the second group of procurators placed over them seemed
actuated by the wanton purpose of trampling upon everything the Jews
held sacred, holding their religion up to scorn, and forcing them
into rebellion through the madness of despair.
_Fadus_, the first of the second group, was the most harmless. A
deluded enthusiast named Theudas claiming to be the Messiah and to
be gifted with supernatural powers, was apprehended and put to death
together with many of his followers.
The Zealots.
_Tiberius Alexander_, the next procurator, was a nephew of Philo,
but unlike his uncle, had abandoned Judaism, and therefore was a
very unfit appointee. He found it necessary to put to death two sons
of the Zealot Judas, the Galilean. These Zealots already briefly
referred to were a group of irreconcilables that at times resorted
to desperate remedies. They were the advance guard of a revolution.
Rebellions continued to grow in gravity with each successive rule.
During the administration of Ventidius Cumanus a rebellion broke out
through the wanton indecency of a Roman soldier during the Passover
celebration. In putting down the insurrection Cumanus ordered many
thousands slain. On another occasion the Zealots started to lead
an attack against Samaria to punish the murder of some of their
brethren, for the base Cumanus allowed marauders to rove unmolested
on the payment of sufficient bribe. Against the Zealots, however, he
led an army, for their offenses were political, not moral. Through
the intervention of young Agrippa, Cumanus was banished.
But the worst Procurator was to follow--_Felix_. He goaded the
Jews beyond endurance. All the appointees to the procuratorship
had been bad, but the appointment of this man as Judea's ruler was
an outrage. He was a freedman, i. e., one from the low classes.
His tyranny in public and his lust in private life revealed his
base origin. How natural that Judah should come to hate Rome
when she was represented by such hateful creatures! How natural
that the rebellious element--the Zealots--should grow in number
and determination. These Felix punished with cruel recklessness,
resorting often to treachery to entrap them. By such doing he
fomented the evil. Rebellion was now rife and could no longer be
quelled.
The Sicarii.
For a still more fanatical group now made their appearance--outcome
of these unhappy times. They were called _Sicarii_, from the short
dagger, _sica_, with which they secretly slew their opponents.
These political assassinations made Jerusalem unsafe. Felix was
even unscrupulous enough to make use of these desperate men to
slay the High Priest Jonathan, whose influence had brought about
his own appointment. His only crime against Felix was begging
him to administer his office more worthily, and his only crime
against the Sicarii was not sanctioning their outrages. These wild,
misguided men were religious enthusiasts of a frenzied sort, for
wanton injustice breeds such types. They would gather with crowds
of deluded followers in the wilderness, claiming a divine call to
overthrow Rome; Felix always had his cohorts ready to hew them
down. He knew no remedies other than bloodshed. In one instance an
Egyptian Jew appeared as a would-be deliverer. At once Felix ordered
a massacre. The leader escaped; some of his surviving followers
awaited his return as a Messiah, who would re-establish the throne
of David once more.
Gradually a large part of the nation was imbued with the spirit of
rebellion. The mismanagement of Felix also brought quarrels among
the priests. Conflict arose in Caesarea between Syrians and Jews as
to civic rights and privileges. Felix partially decided in favor
of the Syrians and again increased the disturbance by resorting
to slaughter. In return for large bribes he deprived the Jews of
Caesarea of their civic rights, which they had possessed from
the days when the city was founded. At last, having done all the
mischief he could, this creature was recalled in 60 by Emperor Nero.
His successor _Festus_, meant well, but could do little in this
demoralized state. Things had gone too far to be smoothed over. The
upheaval had to come. The Sicarii continued their assassinations,
regarding all the moderates as their enemies.
At the death of Festus and after an interval of anarchy, Albinus--a
second Felix--was appointed--a public plunderer, a bribe-taker from
all parties. Well-to-do criminals could buy their freedom from him;
only the poor remained in prison. The high-priesthood at this time
was held by a most unscrupulous man, Ananias, who took by violence
the tithes of the priests. At last Albinus secretly joined the
robber bands of Sicarii. When recalled in 62, he maliciously opened
all the prisons and set the malefactors free to fill the country
with lawless men. How the lives and fates and fortunes of these
hapless Judeans were bandied about to gratify the wanton lust of
these tyrants and scoundrels!
The last procurator, _Gessius Florus_, held the post till 66 and
then the storm burst. For the climax of outrageous rule was reached
in him. Josephus says that, compared with him, Albinus whom he
describes as "an arch-robber and tyrant," was a law-abiding citizen
and to be praised as a benefactor! Need we add more? He did not, as
Albinus, even hide his crimes. His plunderings were conducted by
wholesale. He was verily a partner of robbers. Surely the time for
Judah to strike a blow for freedom had come.
_Theme for discussion_:
Compare zealots of antiquity with to-day's Russian revolutionists,
the Sicarii with the Anarchists, the local governors with the
procurators.
CHAPTER XX.
JUDEA'S WAR WITH ROME.
Revolution.
When Florus, after robbing the people, began openly to rob the
Temple, the last thread of endurance snapped. Called in bitter irony
a beggar, for whom forsooth alms must be collected, Florus took
a bloody revenge. A second wanton attack upon the long suffering
people by his arriving cohorts, compelled them to rise against the
Roman soldiers in self defense. They gained possession of the Temple
Mount and Florus at last, seeing the mischief he had effected,
fled to Caesarea. Agrippa tried hard to dissuade the people from a
hopeless struggle against Rome, but he was a man without influence.
The Temple offerings for the Roman emperor were stopped--that was,
so to speak, the official renunciation of their allegiance. The more
temperate could not restrain the masses from this determination.
A Peace Party.
These moderates, who represented the judicious, formed a "Peace
Party." Conflict arose between them and the advocates of war, in
which Agrippa who aided the former with his troops, had his palace
burned and his soldiers put to flight. Soon the fortress towers
held by the Roman soldiers had to yield and the garrison was slain.
The revolution extended to all the outlying towns in which Jews
and Gentiles fought against each other, and spread even as far as
Alexandria.
The governor of Syria, Cestius Gallus, thoroughly alarmed, came to
Jerusalem with a picked army, but after a partial success he was
forced to retreat. So vigorously was he pursued by these dauntless
men, that only by leaving most of his baggage behind him--of great
value to the revolutionists--could he escape at all, and then with
but a remnant of his army. This unlooked for success left the Peace
Party in a hopeless minority. Roman allies could do naught but leave
the capital. The Jews now began to organize their forces and some of
the highest men in the city led in the defense.
Josephus.
At an assembly of the people Joseph ben Gorion and the High Priest
Ananus were given charge of Jerusalem itself. Two men of the
high-priestly family were sent as generals to Idumea. In Jerusalem
the walls were strengthened and the youths trained for soldiers.
Josephus, a man of but thirty years, later historian of this war and
known so far only as a scholar, was sent to Galilee. Here he was to
gather an army from among the people and to meet the first brunt of
Rome's experienced hosts as they would arrive via Syria. For the
time being he was the governor of Galilee and appointed greater and
lesser councils to strengthen the fortifications of all the cities.
He had further to meet the opposition to his appointment in the
province itself, chiefly by one John of Gischala, a leader bold and
violent. For Josephus was not entirely trusted. His attitude was
altogether too moderate to satisfy these determined rebels. In his
heart of hearts he realized the impossibility of success. That very
conviction at once unfitted him for leadership.
The Emperor Nero, hearing of the defeat of the governor of Syria,
entrusted the task of quelling the rebellion to the experienced
general, Vespasian. He at once sent a garrison of six thousand to
the important Galilean city, Sepphoris, which took possession before
the Jewish army arrived. As the Roman host approached Galilee,
Josephus' untrained soldiers retreated to the highlands, leaving the
whole Galilean plain in possession of Vespasian without his striking
a blow.
Josephus sent word to Jerusalem that if he was to meet the Romans,
he must have an army. The request came too late. His troops, such as
they were, retired to the fortress of Jotapata, north of Sepphoris.
Vespasian appeared before it and a desperate struggle followed.
Josephus was a skilful commander and his men showed dauntless
courage, but Rome on its side had all the experience of war together
with overwhelming numbers. The first attack failed and a siege
began. Josephus showed wonderful craft in obtaining food for his
garrison and in breaking the force of the Roman battering rams. But
these means could only delay the end; they could not change it. The
besieged were worn out by sleeplessness and starvation after holding
out for forty-seven days. The wall was scaled when the exhausted
watchmen were asleep. All were either slain or sold into slavery.
The city and its fortifications were levelled to the ground.
Josephus with forty companions escaped to a cave. Against his advice
to surrender, they all decided that they would die by their own
hands. Josephus by strategem alone managed to escape this fate.
He appeared before Vespasian and by adroit flattery was favorably
received into his camp.
_Theme for discussion_:
Make clear the difference in principle between Judea's "Peace Party"
and the "Royalist Party" among the American revolutionists in 1776.
[Illustration: A BATTLEMENT ON THE HOUSE-TOP.]
CHAPTER XXI.
THE SIEGE.
The North Succumbs.
When Vespasian reached Tiberias, on the Sea of Galilee, the people
opened their gates and at the request of Agrippa--who had now wholly
thrown in his fortunes with the Romans--they were well treated. In
the meantime the army of Titus, son of Vespasian, took the city of
Tarichea.
Glance for a moment at the map of Palestine, (front of book) so
that a mental picture may be formed of the territory involved in
the great struggle: Phoenicia, the Lebanon Mountains and Syria ran
across the north. Immediately south was the province of Galilee,
partly bordering on the Mediterranean and bounded on the east by
the province of Gaulonitis and Decapolis, the Jordan and the Sea of
Galilee being the dividing line. Batanaea lay to the east again of
Gaulanitis. Still farther south was Judea, with the Jordan dividing
it from Perea. Idumea lay in the extreme south.
Vespasian was still in the north and next attacked the strong
fortress of Gamala in Gaulonitis. But after an entrance was gained
into the city, the Jews fought so desperately that the Romans was
repulsed with severe loss and for a time were afraid to renew the
attack. But in a second determined sally it was taken. At the same
time Mount Tabor was taken by a Roman force. There was now left
in Galilee only one unconquered fortress to be taken--Gischala.
Its conquest was entrusted to Titus. Its gates were soon opened,
but its controlling spirit, John of Gischala, with his band of
Zealots escaped to Jerusalem. By the end of the year 67 all northern
Palestine was in the hands of the Romans.
Rival Parties in Jerusalem.
These defeats brought consternation to Jerusalem. The leaders, who
had been taken from the aristocracy, were blamed and deposed. Some
were imprisoned and leaders from among the people were put in their
place. But the change was not made without bloodshed. Alas, here was
the beginning of a civil conflict as well--war within war. Judea's
cup of misery was full. John of Gischala, the escaped Zealot, was
soon at the head of the extreme fanatic party. Fighting contingents
of malcontents came to Jerusalem from all over the country and
joined the Zealots, which thus became the ruling power. They threw
discretion to the winds. An ignorant man of the common people was
also chosen as High Priest though this office had always been in the
hands of the aristocracy.
The Idumeans were now invited to enter Jerusalem and join forces
with the Zealots. They began at once a bloody attack on the party
of law and order. The old leaders, men of high birth, were put to
death. Verily it was Judea's "reign of terror." After assisting
in all this mischief, the Idumeans departed. The new Christian
community also left Jerusalem, deserting their brethren in the
sore hour of need, and took refuge in a heathen city. The shrewd
Vespasian made no haste to attack the capital, hoping that the
opposing parties left to themselves would weaken each other and
make his task more easy. He contented himself with placing
fortified garrisons in the chief surrounding places.
[Illustration: EMPEROR TITUS.]
In the meantime Nero died, in the year 68. Galba was made emperor
only to be murdered a few months after. These events were watched by
Vespasian with keen eyes. The man who had the army with him might
win the purple. He therefore made a pause in the war.
Another wild Zealot, Simon Ben Giora, began a plundering expedition,
carrying devastation wherever he went. In 69, after a year's pause,
Vespasian vigorously renewed the struggle by subduing the remaining
outlying districts. There was now left for subjugation a few
fortresses and the capital.
Stopped from his robber raids by Vespasian's vigor, Simon ben
Giora was now hailed in Jerusalem. Here all was confusion and
demoralization. The reckless tyrant of Gischala had indulged in
terrible excesses. The people hoped that the admission of Simon
would rid them of John's bloodthirsty rule; but there was little
choice between them.
Although Vitellius was now made emperor of Rome, the armies in Egypt
and Palestine decided to nominate Vespasian. He hastened to Rome,
found Vitellius murdered, and his own candidature unopposed. So in
the year 70 he was acknowledged emperor by both east and west, and
the prosecution of the Judean war was left in the hands of his son,
Titus.
In Jerusalem the reign of terror continued. There was now a third
war party under one Eliezar. Each regarded the two others as
enemies, and each held a certain portion of the city as jealously
against the others as against the Romans. Simon ben Giora held the
upper part of the lower city situated on one hill, and the whole
of the upper city situated on another hill called Acra. John of
Gischala was entrenched in the Temple Mount. Eleazar held the court
of the Temple, but soon overpowered by John was forced to join
forces with him. In the madness of their folly they played into the
hands of the Romans by destroying grain rather than let it fall into
the hands of their rivals.
Titus with an immense army appeared before the walls of Jerusalem in
the spring of the fatal year 70. Still he by no means carried all
before him. When we read of the brave and stubborn resistance of the
Jews in spite of the unfortunate conflicts within, we can better
realize how successful their resistance might have been had they
presented a united front to the enemy.
The situation of the city had its natural advantages. It was built
on two hills with a ravine between, while the Temple standing in
spacious grounds, surrounded on all sides by strong walls, was a
citadel in itself. Attached to it was the castle of Antonia. The
upper and lower divisions of the city had their own separate walls,
a town's main protection before the days of gunpowder. There was a
common wall around both divisions and a third around the suburb,
Bezetha.
[Illustration: COIN OF THE REIGN OF TITUS, ABOUT 73 C. E.]
When the battering rams of Titus began attacking the outer walls in
three places, John and Simon stopped their feud and banded together
at last to meet the common enemy. It was only after desperate
fighting for many days that the Romans got possession of the first
wall. Five days later the second wall was taken, though the enemy
was held back for four days longer. Earth defenses were now built by
the legions of Titus against the different fortifications, but no
sooner were these built than they fell, undermined by the vigilant
Simon and John.
Titus now applied new measures of severity. A stricter siege was
maintained. The city was reduced to famine and poor creatures
stealing out to gather food were crucified in sight of the
defenders. Then he built a wall to shut off all possible escape and
so tried to starve them out. The sufferings of the besieged, vividly
portrayed by Josephus, were desperate indeed and led to still more
desperate remedies.
NOTE.
How history repeats itself! The antagonism of the masses to the
aristocracy, characteristic of the French Revolution, found its
precedent in Judea's war against Rome. But the motives were far from
identical.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE FALL OF JERUSALEM.
Titus built new fortifications and this time the attempt to destroy
them was not successful. But no sooner had the last city wall fallen
under the catapults shot from the Roman battering rams than a second
wall appeared behind it, built by the foresight of John of Gischala.
After many attempts this wall was scaled. The Romans now reached
the Temple walls and took the Antonia tower, which they immediately
destroyed.
During all this time the daily sacrifices were continued in the
Temple. In the presence of the grim monsters, war and starvation,
this religious obligation was not forgotten. A proposition of
surrender was made at this dire hour, but the besieged would not
yield. For Titus chose an unfortunate ambassador--Josephus. He was
received with a storm of arrows, for he was regarded by the warriors
in Jerusalem as a traitor.
Now, within the narrower compass of the Temple site, the siege was
maintained, though it was but the beginning of the end. First,
ramparts were erected by Titus against its outer walls; but these
walls were so strong that he could only gain admittance by burning
down the gates. Terrifically did the Jewish soldiers, wasted by
famine, contest every inch of the ground, giving to the Romans many
a repulse. But overwhelming numbers told. Titus had decided to save
the Temple, but his vandal soldiers set it on fire. The attempts of
Titus to quench it were in vain. The beautiful structure of marble
and gold--monument of Herod's pride--was reduced to ashes. While
it was burning the Romans began an indiscriminate slaughter of men,
women and children.
John of Gischala and Simon ben Giora with a small band, now fell
back to the last refuge, the upper city. Their request for liberty
on condition of surrender was refused. The lower city was now burnt
and new ramparts built against the last stronghold. Yet it took some
weeks before entrance was finally forced, and the Romans continued
their savage work of burning and massacre.
[Illustration: THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK.
(_From the Arch of Titus._)
DEPICTING CARRYING THE SPOIL OF JUDEA.]
The city was razed to the ground--a few gates of Herod's palace
and a piece of wall were alone left standing. The survivors were
sent to labor in unwholesome mines to gather wealth for their
despoilers. Some were reserved for Roman sport in the amphitheatre.
John, discovered in a subterranean vault and begging like a craven
for mercy, was imprisoned for life. Simon ben Giora graced the Roman
triumph.
Thus fell the city of Jerusalem--the religious capital of the
world--in the year 70 C. E., on the same date it is said--the 9th of
Ab--on which it had fallen nearly seven hundred years earlier under
the attacks of the Babylonians. So the Fast of Ab commemorates the
double tragedy.
Masada, the Last Fortress.
The final work of conquest and the barbaric rejoicings, consisting
of forced gladiatorial combats between Jewish prisoners, together
with games and triumphs, continued some two years longer. There
were still three outlying strongholds to be conquered--Herodium,
Macharus, on the other side of the Dead Sea, and Masada, far to
the south. The first two soon fell, but Masada offered a stubborn
resistance which its natural position favored. Under Eleazar ben
Jair and some Sicarii the dauntless bravery of Jerusalem and
Jotapata was repeated. They determined not to die by the swords of
the Romans, so when the soldiers entered they found the little band
all slain by their own hands.
On the site of the old Temple there was subsequently built another,
dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus, and, with a refinement of cruelty,
the Jews throughout the Roman dominions had to pay toward its
maintenance the taxes they had hitherto paid to the support of
their own beloved sanctuary. So ended the Israelitish nation that
under varied fortunes had continued unbroken, except during the
Babylonian captivity, since the days of Saul, i.e., for over a
thousand years.
Judea remained a separate Roman province, but was no longer a home
for the people whose possession it once was. So completely was it
levelled to the ground that there was nothing left to make those who
came there believe it had once been inhabited. Rebuilt at a latter
day, even the name was changed to Aelia Capitolina. But great names
cannot so easily be erased by the ruthless hand of man.
The Remnant Again.
What was now to become of the remaining Jews? What was their status
in the world? Nation, temple, independence were gone. Gone too were
their arms, their means, their nobility, and all political power.
Would it not seem that this must be the end, that their name and
identity must be ultimately merged with their surroundings? Such had
been the fate of other nations as completely conquered--Ammon, Moab,
Assyria, Phoenicia. But Israel was made of different stuff. Its
epitaph was not yet to be written.
NOTE.
In the history of Rome, the conquest of Judea occupies a small
place. It was only a little province in the East! But Greece, which
it had also conquered, was insignificant in size. Still Hellas and
Israel were the greatest intellectual and spiritual powers in the
world. Rome itself received its education from the one and its
religion from the other.
CHAPTER XXIII.
JOSEPHUS AND HIS WORKS.
What literature did this sad period produce? There was neither
heart nor leisure to turn to poetry or philosophy, or even to write
a second "Lamentations." But in the prosaic field of history some
important works were produced by one individual, who hardly deserves
to be included in the fold of Israel--Josephus.
His Early Life.
He was born in Jerusalem in the year 38 C. E. under the regime
of the procurators; so he never knew an independent Judea. Of
studious bent, he was consulted (so he tells us) on points of law
at the early age of fourteen. At the age of 26 he went to Rome like
Philo, to intercede with the Emperor Nero for some of his brethren,
falsely charged by the procurator, Felix. His persuasive address
and political shrewdness won the day. He returned dazzled with the
splendor and magnitude of the city on the Tiber. He realized now the
impossibility of Israel undertaking a successful war against it.
Therefore he never should have been chosen to command one of Judea's
campaigns.
Josephus vs. Jeremiah.
After the war he sought and obtained the liberty of some of the
captives. But he was satisfied to receive Roman citizenship
from the hand of the emperor who had overthrown the Jewish
State--Vespasian, and even appended the emperor's first name,
Flavius, to his own. When we see him living at ease on a pension and
a tax-free estate given by Rome while his brethren were working in
the lead mines of Egypt or glutting the slave markets of Europe we
cannot but contrast his character with that of Jeremiah who had been
placed in similar circumstances some centuries earlier.
[Illustration: FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS.]
In the last days of the first nationality, when Babylonia was
thundering against the gates of Jerusalem, Jeremiah had belonged to
the Peace Party of his day, not for reasons of expediency, such as
actuated Josephus, but from intense religious conviction. (See vol.
iii, _People of the Book_, chap. xxviii.) Nebuchadrezzar, regarding
this attitude as friendly toward Babylon, had offered to Jeremiah
ease and liberty after Judah was laid in the dust. But he scorned to
receive gifts from the enemies of his country or to enjoy benefits
through their misfortune. Though Judah had rejected his advice and
even persecuted him for it, he made their lot his own, miserable
though it was. Like Moses, he died in the wilderness with the
generation who had brought that fate upon themselves, because they
lacked his faith.
History of the Jews.
Let us forget Josephus the soldier; let us remember Josephus the
scholar. Though in his last years he may possibly have lived as
pagan, he certainly wrote as Jew. He loved his people, but lacked
the magnanimity to share their misfortunes. This was his fatal
weakness. Posterity is grateful to Josephus for his History of
the Jews, called "Antiquities of the Jews" in twenty volumes, the
writing of which may have formed the chief occupation of his later
years. Perhaps he felt that he might yet serve Israel's cause in
this way. He begins his chronicle with the Bible records, which
he embellishes with many a Midrashic story such as that of Moses
being given choice of a plate of gold and of fire. He carries the
narrative right down to the procuratorship of Florus. Writing for
Greek and Roman readers, he sought to give them a better and truer
estimate of his people. Indeed, in all his works, he never loses an
opportunity to defend the honor of Israel. In his next work, "Wars
of the Jews," in seven books, he begins with Antiochus Epiphanes,
thus duplicating part of his history. But the first two books are
but introductory to his real theme, the war with Rome. This history
is not only his greatest work, but one of the greatest of antiquity.
He presents a vivid picture of the last scenes of Judea's death
struggle, of which he was an eye witness and in part an actual
participator. It is carefully and skilfully compiled and as a
contemporary record it is invaluable.
It was first written in his mother tongue, Aramaic, (p. 69), and
later rewritten in Greek. The work was endorsed by Vespasian, Titus
and Agrippa. It may be said that such a man was not of fine enough
character to be an impartial historian; but impartial historians
are quite a modern institution. All ancient historians took great
liberties both with events and numbers, and put speeches of their
own composition in the mouths of the leading characters.
In connection with this work we may mention his autobiography,
covering chiefly his questionable achievements as commander-in-chief
in Galilee in 66. It is his _apologia pro vita sua_.
Contra Apion.
To his merit, be it further said, he gladly became the advocate of
his people in the land of the Gentile, and jealously guarded their
reputation. Against the traducer, Apion, an Egyptian grammarian, he
launched a work in Israel's defense, "Josephus Against Apion," or
"The Great Age of the Jews," in the form of a letter to a friend. It
is in two books. In the first he replies to other traducers of the
Jewish people. For the bad fashion had come into vogue of inventing
absurd slanders against the Jews--a fashion, by the way, that has
not yet passed away.
He easily refutes the charges of Manetho that the Jews were expelled
from Egypt as lepers. "If lepers why should they have been kept so
long as slaves."
Of Apion, the offender, who gives title to the book, he says: His
writings show palpable ignorance and malevolent calumny; but as the
frivolous part of mankind exceeds the discerning, I find myself
under some kind of necessity to expose the 'errors of this man.' He
shows how Apion ridicules the Sabbath by misrepresenting its origin.
To the slander that Jews worship a golden ass placed in their holy
of holies, he replies that such charge could only have been brought
by an Egyptian, for they _do_ worship animals.
He dismisses the preposterous charge that Jews annually sacrifice
a Greek, with the information that at the time of Moses, "the Jews
knew not the Greeks." How old "the blood accusation" is!
But Josephus finds that the best and most dignified reply to all
aspersions on Israel lies in giving an outline of their law and
belief. This gives him an opportunity to testify to the faith that
is in him still. He writes:
"There never was such a code of laws framed for the common good
of mankind as those of Moses--for the advancement of piety,
justice, charity, industry, regulation of society, patience,
perseverence in well doing, even to the contempt of death
itself."
"God is the source of joy and to Him they turn in all woe. This
worship of the one God is combined with morals."
"They weekly gather even their servants and children (on the
Sabbath), having suspended work to read the Law, that they might
know what to do."
He points out the sobriety of the Law, its strict chastity,
reverence for parents and elders, duties to the stranger, moderation
towards enemies, easement of prisoners, especially women, kindness
to animals and vigorous punishment of sin. It regards death, he
says, as a blessed means of being transported from this life to a
better. Hence Israel's record of martyrdom:
"Such is our reputation that there is hardly a nation in the
world that does not conform in some respect to our example."
"How many there are of our captive countrymen at this day,
struggling under exquisite torments because they will not
renounce their laws nor blaspheme the God of their forefathers."
Like Philo, he regards Judaism as a universal religion that should
be accepted by all mankind.
His works are couched in simple and attractive style. Written in
Greek, they have been translated into all tongues. They were read
much by Christians of the Middle Ages, who regarded Josephus as a
second Livy; but till recent years he has been neglected by his own
people. But then so was Philo.
NOTES AND REFERENCES.
_Historians_:
Justus of Tiberias also wrote a history of the Jewish War; it is now
lost.
_Defenders_:
Among writers in defense and appreciation of the Jews just a
little prior to Josephus, were Alexander Polyhistor, Strabo, the
geographer, and chiefly Nicolaus of Damascus.
_Josephus and Christianity_:
Josephus relates fully the story of John the Baptist, but does not
mention Jesus of Nazareth! This would seem to indicate that, prior
to the coming of Paul, Jesus left but a slight impression on his
age. This omission seems to have so disconcerted some members of the
Church that one actually inserted a paragraph about Jesus in the
History of Josephus. But the clumsy forgery was later discovered.
_Theme for discussion_:
Should Josephus be regarded as a traitor?
[Illustration: THE ARCH OF TITUS.
RAISED TO COMMEMORATE THE OVERTHROW OF JUDEA.]
BOOK IV.
THE TALMUDIC ERA.
CHAPTER XXIV.
JOCHANAN BEN ZAKKAI.
The Jews now belonged to no land, yet for that very reason, they, in
a sense, belonged to all lands. They were cosmopolitans, citizens of
the world. To follow their history after their dispersion by Rome,
we shall have to turn to all the settled parts of the globe. What
henceforth became the link to hold together their widely scattered
members and preserve them from being absorbed by their surroundings?
Their religion. Religions outlive states and spiritual bonds are
stronger than temporal. But now that Judaism's centre, the Temple,
was no more, now that the sacred capital, Jerusalem, the only
sanctioned place for sacrificial worship, was lost--how could they
maintain their continuity and what would become of their priesthood?
Just here will we witness the wonderful adaptability of Judaism in
the hands of this deathless race. It only awaited a genius to revive
the Faith, apparently in the throes of death, and to endow it with
new strength and vitality. The hero who undertook this sacred task
was named Jochanan ben Zakkai.
The Academy at Jamnia.
Jochanan ben Zakkai had been a leader in the Sanhedrin, in the last
days of Judea. When many were urging war he had stood for peace
and he became the exponent of the Peace Party. For he saw that the
madness of the Zealots in blindly plunging the country into conflict
could end only in ruin. He may have felt, too, that the fulfilment
of Israel's mission did not rely on national independence and
that it could preach its message in a way other than in bloody
conflict. So when the war was at its height, he managed to escape
from Jerusalem in a coffin, since the Zealots treated all peace
advocates as traitors. Welcomed by Vespasian, who saw the value
of so influential a pleader for surrender, he was allowed to ask
a favor. His reply showed that he was not of the Josephus, but of
the Jeremiah type. He asked naught for himself, but pleaded for the
privilege of establishing an _Academy_, where the principles of
Judaism might be taught. This small request was granted, perhaps
contemptuously at its apparent insignificance. Yet by that grant
Judaism was enabled to continue its development--aye, to outlive the
great Roman Empire at whose mercy it now stood.
_Jamnia_, a place near the Mediterranean and not far from Joppa, was
chosen as the seat of the new academy. Here came many who, being of
the conciliatory party, were left free and untouched by Rome at the
close of the War. Here Jochanan ben Zakkai summoned a Sanhedrin, and
by a bold stroke decided to continue the authoritative powers of
that body in spite of the tradition that to be effective, it must
sit in the "hewn stone hall" of the Jerusalem Temple.
Prayer replaces Sacrifice.
But he took a more daring step still. According to the Law, now that
the Holy City was taken, sacrifice was no longer possible; therefore
Jochanan ben Zakkai declared that it was no longer indispensable;
saying, charity is a substitute for sacrifice. Prayer, which
had been an accompaniment to sacrifice was now treated as an
independent mode of worship. The synagogue, which had in later years
existed side by side with the sacrificial Temple, now altogether
replaced it. Thus does genius adapt itself to altered conditions.
The change was revolutionary and marked a new era in Judaism's
development. The epoch of the Priest was over, the Altar was
outlived--one of the ideals of the Prophets was attained. Again
necessity was the teacher and adversity was found to "wear a
precious jewel in its head." Furthermore, the creation of a centre
of Jewish authority outside of Jerusalem freed Judaism from bondage
to a particular locality. Its complete fulfilment was now confined
neither to a city nor a nation. The whole earth could become its
legitimate home. This also had its moral value. To the simple-minded
it made clearer the idea that God was manifest everywhere; that
verily "the heaven was His throne and the earth His footstool." It
gave tangible application to the text, "In every place where I cause
my name to be remembered, I will come unto thee and bless thee."
So the survival of Judaism after the destruction of the sacrificial
Temple, after the loss of the sacred capital and the Holy Land,
and after the dispersion of the Jews throughout the world, made it
more manifest that it was indeed a perennial and a universal Faith.
Perhaps then even in this sad tragedy we may discern the hand of
Providence.
It is true that some pious souls took a disconsolate view of the
outlook and, renouncing the world's joys, gave themselves up to
ascetic lives of penitence. A few drifted toward the new Christian
sect that was now severing all relations with Judaism, thinking it
doomed. But under the guidance of Jochanan ben Zakkai, the great
majority faced the future more hopefully and more bravely. The land
was gone, but the religion was saved. Henceforth its rallying centre
was to be--not a _Temple_, but a _Book_.
The Tannaim.
We have already seen that the Scribes interpreted the Bible in a way
to derive from it new laws to meet new needs, (pp. 19-20; 80-81.)
These deduced rules grew into a Second Law, more voluminous than
the first. The patient continuance of this process to meet all
religious, social and economic requirements of Israel's altered life
became now the chief work of the Jamnia Academy and of other schools
that sprang from it. To this work of laying bare "the whole duty of
man" the scholars now devoted themselves and regarded it as sacred
as divine worship. "The study of the Law," said they, "outweighs
all virtues." The first order of these great expounders were called
_Tannäim_ (_tanna_ means teacher). Very preciously did the students
who sat at the feet of the sages treasure their decisions (for they
were contained in no book) and handed them down from generation to
generation.
The people at large now learned to look to the Jamnia Sanhedrin,
for such it became, as their authority in all religious duties and
also for guidance in varied perplexities. In those days there was
no fixed calendar; the new month was ascertained by watching the
heavens for the new moon and from the date of its appearance the
Sanhedrin decided the festivals of each month for the community.
The new moon was announced from place to place by messengers and
fire signals on the hills. These could not reach distant places of
Jewish settlement far beyond Judea, and, in some cases the signals
were tampered with. So, as there was a doubt of one day as to the
new moon's appearance, they introduced the custom of observing an
additional day of each festival.