_The Seventy's Course in Theology_
FIRST YEAR.
_Outline History of the Seventy_
AND
_A Survey of the Books of Holy Scripture_
COMPILED AND EDITED BY
_ELDER B. H. ROBERTS_
Of the First Council of the Seventy
_To become a Seventy means mental activity, intellectual development,
and the attainment of spiritual power_
Salt Lake City
1907
_INTRODUCTION._
_To become a Seventy means mental activity, intellectual development,
and the attainment of spiritual power_.
The first three opening lessons of this year's course of study are
devoted to the history, organization and duties of the Seventy. They
should be thoroughly mastered by the present membership of the quorums,
and as fast as new members are brought in their attention should be
called to these lessons, and they be required to master them also that
all our Seventies may have a proper understanding of the dignity and
importance and the responsibility of this office in the Holy Priesthood.
The body of the present year's course of study deals with the four
books of the scriptures, recognized by the Church as the only
authoritative written embodiment of the doctrines of the Church;
namely, the Bible, comprising the Old and New Testament, the American
volume of scripture, the Book of Mormon, modern revelation, contained
in the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. The year's
course of study is intended to be a rapid survey, not an exhaustive
treatment, of these books; and this in order that all our Seventies
may as soon as possible be made acquainted in a general, even if
only in a superficial way, for the present, with this body of sacred
literature; that they may know something of its history and character.
The dominating idea of the whole course being,
_A Workman Should Know His Tools_.
In the past, a too exclusive adherence to merely "text methods" of
work has been followed. That is to say, there has been a selection
of separate and disconnected texts marshalled together in support
of a given subject without sufficient care being taken to know the
context and historical association of the scriptural utterances, often
attended with great danger of forming misconceptions of such texts,
resulting in wrong deductions and conclusions. The present aim is to
make our Seventies familiar with the spirit of the scriptures, learning
something of the individual books, as a whole, something of their
general import and their relationship one to another; that from this
general acquaintance with the whole volume of scripture, the Seventies
may become more competent to use separate passages more intelligently
and effectively, and with less likelihood of making mistakes.
The fear has been expressed that since so many lessons are devoted to
the Bible, nearly half the years' course, there will be some danger of
the work becoming monotonous; but that fear is based upon the common
misconception that the Bible is one book, instead of a collection of
books, thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New of
our common English Bibles. Since the books are so many and the time
period covered so great--about 2500 years, from Moses to St. John--and
the books being composed by many writers--there is promise of plenty of
variety, both as to books and subject matter. It is the rapid survey of
a whole library of books that is contemplated, rather than the study
of one book, albeit the many books are bound together in one volume.
The consideration of the American volume of scripture, the Book of
Mormon, and of modern revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants and
Pearl of Great Price, in the latter part of the course, together with
the suggested lectures and the special lessons on present day subjects,
scripture reading exercises, etc., etc., will unquestionably give ample
variety to the year's work.
_THE CLASS TEACHERS_.
The First Council in its circular letter on the subject of the new
order of things in relation to Seventies' meetings, course of study,
etc., has already suggested that the new plans of Seventies' work would
make it necessary for the quorums to find the most efficient teachers
for their classes. "Where the most efficient teachers are to be found
among the presidents of quorums," says the circular letter, "of course
they will be given preference; but where more efficient men can be
found in the quorum membership they should be selected as teachers and
perform their duties under the direction of the Council of the Quorum,
which, of course, will always be the presiding authority in all quorum
and class meetings, and conduct all the exercises except the class
work. It might be well to select the most proficient man for teacher,
and appoint one or more assistants who should prepare for the class
work, and in the event of the teacher's absence, and even occasionally
when he is present, they could conduct the exercises.
_MANNER OF LESSON TREATMENT_.
It is not desired that there shall be a too slavish adherence to the
letter of the lessons. The lesson forms are merely suggestive. Nor is
it the intention to set forth a stereotyped method of treatment of
what is given. Much will depend upon the teachers. Some will prefer
to assign the whole lesson to the quorum in general and conduct the
exercises as a class; others may prefer to make special assignments of
topics from the subject matter of the lessons and have brief formal
lectures devoted to them, followed by review questions, formulated
either in advance or in the course of the lesson exercises, or at its
close by the one conducting the class. Either of these methods can be
made satisfactory, or a combination of them might be adopted. It is
desirable that the quorums and class teachers exercise their freedom in
these matters, only let them throw life and individuality into the work
and they will succeed.
The class meetings of the quorums can continue throughout the year
practically without interruption. Interruption will only be necessary
in order to attend the Stake Quarterly Conferences, and the ward
conferences where the respective quorums are located, and these
occasions will not exceed five in number. There will be no occasion for
postponing class exercises in order to attend to the business affairs
of the quorum, since half an hour of any regular session of the quorum
will be sufficient for the transaction of any business it may have to
do if prompt and business-like methods are employed. If not, a special
meeting could be called. It is expected, of course, that the council
will continue to hold its council meetings apart from the quorum and
class meetings, but these, too, could be held on the Sunday morning
either before or after the regular meeting.
_HOME READING AND PREPARATION_.
Home reading and preparation outside of class hours should be insisted
upon. It is not intended that the only mental work in connection with
our course of study shall be the two or three hours devoted to the work
on Sunday morning. There must be reading through the week. For example,
during the weeks that the Pentateuch constitutes the lessons--three in
number and hence extending over three weeks of time--it is expected
that members will read the five books of Moses through, not a difficult
task; and so on throughout all the lessons. By reading about one hour a
day an average reader may complete in one year the reading of the four
books of scripture covered by the present year's lessons. Necessarily,
this will be rapid reading, but it should be remembered that we are
only reading the scriptures this time to get a general idea of their
contents, and the relation of the parts to the whole. The object now is
not to ponder deeply over texts and combine them subjectively, or work
out doctrinal or historical themes, hence we can read rapidly in this
first survey of the scriptures proposed in these lessons. In addition
to reading the books of scripture themselves, members should consult as
far as possible the references given on the various books and topics in
the lesson analysis. These references are quite numerous and varied,
made so purposely, so that if the members do not happen to have access
to one of the Dictionaries or Helps or other works of reference, they
might possibly have another--one at least out of the many, and the
notes are given that all may be assured of some assistance in making
lesson preparations by consulting the utterances of those who are
recognized as authorities upon the subjects on which they are quoted.
If this is thought to be a rather heavy course of work let it be
remembered that it is to become a settled conviction with all that,
_To be a Seventy means mental activity, intellectual development, and
the attainment of spiritual power, and this may be done only by hard
persistent work_.
_SCRIPTURE READING AND SPECIAL TEXTS_.
At Lesson XIV, Part II, it will be observed that "scripture reading"
is introduced as an exercise to be rendered immediately after the
opening exercises and before taking up the lesson proper. The purpose
of this exercise is as follows: It is well known that in some Christian
families in the world, it is the custom to make the reading of the
scriptures a part of the family worship, and our Elders when visiting
in such families are called upon to read the scripture lesson before
engaging in prayer--an example that could be followed with profit
in our own family worship. The desirability of our Elders being
prepared to acquit themselves well on such occasions as named above,
is obvious, and to do that each one should have in mind a number of
suitable chapters or parts of chapters of the scriptures with which he
is familiar, which are appropriate for inspiring the true spirit of
worship, and which he can read effectively. It is, therefore, urged
that class teachers direct the members of the class, when this exercise
begins, to select each for himself, such scriptures and practise the
reading of them, that when called upon to read before the class he may
be prepared. Both the reading and the appropriateness of the scriptures
chosen should be subject to the criticism of the teacher at the time.
Correct pronunciation should be taught and insisted upon and practiced
until it shall become habitual. From the selections read before the
class, and the suggestions from the teachers the readings will elicit,
each member in time will be able to build up a fine list of chapters or
parts of chapters that will be suitable for family worship and special
reading. It is not expected that this exercise will occupy more than
ten minutes, and usually should not occupy more than five. An example
of such reading exercise is given in Lesson XIV, Part II.
The object of publishing a special text with each lesson, is to bring
before the members of the class passages of striking beauty, doctrinal
value, or of spiritual power; both that our Seventies may in this way
gradually build up a collection of striking texts, and also that they
themselves may form the habit while reading, of noting such passages
and making them their own. They will find the noting of such passages a
very fruitful and successful means of enriching their own language and
enlarging their powers of expression.
_LECTURES_.
Occasionally special lectures and papers are outlined in the lesson.
Teachers should make assignments of these exercises two or three weeks
before the time for them to be rendered, that there may be ample time
for thorough preparation, with the view of making the lectures and
papers an intellectual treat to the quorums.
_SUBJECTS OF PRESENT DAY INTEREST_.
In the latter half of the course for the present year, subjects of
present day interest are introduced to give variety to, and increase
the interest in the lessons. It is suggested that these subjects be
treated by having extemporaneous speaking upon the various topics in
them. That is to say, let the subject be announced a week in advance
for general consideration by all the members of the quorum. Then when
assembled, the teacher conducting the exercise should call upon the
members without previous notice or warning to speak on some subdivision
or special topic associated with the subject matter of the lesson. The
notes in these lessons comprise suggestions as to the construction
of speeches or lectures, and these should be considered and enlarged
upon, as the notes are only hints in the direction of helpfulness
to the young and inexperienced members of the class. The purpose of
introducing these subjects of present day interest is that the members
of the quorums may be trained a little in applying the revealed
principles of the Gospel to our present day problems, which to know how
to do, and to do it well, is a matter of first rate importance.
Neither in these extemporaneous exercises nor in any other of the
lessons should excuses or hesitancy be tolerated. No member should be
allowed to refuse to make the effort to speak. Strict class discipline
should be maintained all along the line. We are dealing with men, not
children; and, moreover, with men who of their own volition and desire
have accepted the office of Seventy, and are under the deepest moral
obligation to bend every energy to qualify themselves for the high
duties pertaining to their office, and therefore should be thoroughly
in earnest in these class exercises, and in home study and preparation.
No foolish pride that shrinks from revealing one's ignorance or lack of
training or ability should stand in the way of taking an active part in
class work. He who would make progress in knowledge and the training
of mind faculties and polite and graceful deportment, must know that a
humble attitude of mind that submits to correction and suggestion, are
conditions precedent to that progress. We assemble in quorum capacity
for this training. Our quorums are to become our workshops for the
education of men, and each should manifest the willingness to try, and
no matter how complete the failure or how often it is repeated there
should be promptness and thoroughness and earnestness of effort and
willingness to try again whenever a member is called upon to take part
in class work.
_CLASS CRITICS_.
Class critics may be appointed to criticize in kindness and in
fairness, but frankly and honestly, the class exercises; not
necessarily confining their criticism to defects alone. Excellence
may be noted and moderately praised, but benefits will naturally
arise chiefly from having defects in matter and manner pointed out
to the member rendering an exercise, such as awkwardness in bearing,
unsuitableness of phraseology, wrong use of words, errors in grammar,
mispronunciation of words, misconceptions in ideas, defects in logical
treatment, inappropriateness of illustration--let all such things be
subjects for fair but frank criticism, and submitted to willingly and
in good part, for purposes of improvement, and beyond a doubt such
criticism would be very helpful.
If the suggestion of the appointment of the critic be acted upon, a
different one should be appointed, say every month, or not less seldom
than every two months.
_OPENING EXERCISES_.
It will be observed that no suggestions are made in the lessons in
relation to opening exercises. It was thought unnecessary to make any
since that can be easily managed as each quorum deems proper. We do
suggest, however, that singing be made part of such exercise; both on
account of its being a very beautiful and appropriate exercise for
such meetings as we propose our quorum class meetings to become, and
also for the reason that singing is a training that our Elders very
much need to equip them for their mission work. All, therefore, should
be induced to participate in this exercise to the extent of their
abilities. Occasionally ten or fifteen minutes could be devoted to
practice in singing--right good earnest work, until each quorum builds
up a repertoire of suitable hymns and spiritual songs. It is quite
possible, too, for nearly every quorum to have a fine quartette or male
chorus, and occasionally these could render special pieces to enliven
the meetings and make glad the hearts of the brethren, but not to the
displacement of congregational or quorum singing.
And in the selection of hymns and songs, and choruses, appropriateness
should be carefully considered. Let the strong, stalwart hymns of the
present dispensation be practiced in the quorums, and not the namby,
pamby, childish hymns that sometimes find their way into the repertoire
of songs sung by our Elders in the mission field. Let us have such
hymns as,
"The morning breaks, the shadows flee;
Lo! Zion's standard is unfurled!
The dawning of a brighter day
Majestic rises on the world."
A trumpet blast within itself. Such hymns as,
"An angel from on high,
The long, long silence broke," etc.
Also,
"Israel, Israel, God is calling,
Calling thee from lands of woe," etc.
Also,
"If you could hie to Kolob.
In the twinkling of an eye," etc.
Also,
"O say, what is Truth? 'Tis the fairest gem," etc.
Also,
"Israel, awake from your long silent slumber!
Shake off the fetters that bound thee so long," etc.
These few indicate a class of our hymns that are peculiarly
ours--peculiarly Mormon hymns that are vibrant with the spirit of the
latter-day work because it produced them--inspired them, and they are
more appropriate, at least for Seventies, for missionaries, than the
half sectarian songs many of our youth are learning to cultivate a
taste for. Let us learn to sing Mormonism as well as to preach it.
Every Elder who can sing at all should carefully select a set of hymns
that have the missionary spirit in them and learn to sing them.
_PRAYER_.
A word on prayer. If singing be considered important, both in the
opening and closing exercises of our meetings, and as an accomplishment
of our Seventies, praying must be regarded as of far more importance.
As gold to brass; as diamonds to pebbles; so is prayer to singing,
even, so much more important is it. Yet how little attention is given
to prayer! I mean to the cultivation of the gift of it; to nourishing
the spirit of it. After an elapse of two thousand years we still have
need of going to the Master and saying, "Lord teach us how to pray." To
attempt any extended suggestions on the subject here, however, would
be beyond the scope of this introduction; all that can be done is to
call attention to the need of good taste being observed when addressing
the All Father; appropriateness of our petitions to the occasion,
respectfulness and reverence in the manner of our address; avoiding a
frequent repetition of the divine name or titles; and, above all, right
feeling towards the Good Father when speaking to him.
_THE ORGAN OF THE SEVENTIES_.
The Seventies are to be congratulated upon now having an organ through
which the First Council can communicate with them from time to time
without the inconvenience and expense of special circulars. That the
Seventies have an organ may be matter of surprise to them, since
this is the first announcement of the fact, and there has been but
little agitation of the matter though it has been the proverbial "long
felt want." It came about in the following manner: The First Council
suggested to President Joseph F. Smith that the "Improvement Era,"
now the organ of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations,
could easily be extended in its scope so as to become also the organ
of the Seventies. Its general literature is already, in the main, of
the class our Seventies would do well to read. The Era has been the
vehicle through which very many important doctrinal articles have been
published; and having become the organ of the Seventies, as well as of
the Young Men's association, is a guarantee that it will continue that
line of work, and perhaps more abundantly in the future than in the
past. There will be a Seventies' department opened in the magazine, of
several pages, in which will be published each month suggestions and
directions relative to Seventies' class work, quorum discipline and
general management. Of the advantages of such an arrangement little
need be urged since they must be obvious to all. Hereafter, then, the
Improvement Era will be known as the "ORGAN OF THE SEVENTIES AND THE
YOUNG MEN'S MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATIONS."
The First Council bespeak for our organ the hearty support of all the
Seventies. Its success has depended heretofore on the love and loyalty
of the Young Men's Association; hereafter that will be supplemented by
the love and loyalty of the Seventies' quorums. The attention of the
members of the quorums should at once be called to this new adjunct in
our work and they be invited to become subscribers to our magazine. We
suggest that one or two members in each quorum be appointed to solicit
subscriptions within the quorum, that each member be given the direct
opportunity to become a subscriber. The Era, it will be understood, has
no other agents except those appointed by the Young Men's Association
in the respective wards and branches of the Church, and now, of course,
those who will be appointed by our quorums. The service is to be given
without remuneration--soliciting subscriptions within our quorums is to
be a work of love and interest. The price is two dollars per year, paid
in advance, and subscriptions should be sent by the quorum agent to the
manager of the Era, Elder Alpha J. Higgs, Era office, 214 Templeton
Building, Salt Lake City. Promptness and efficiency in dealing with
this matter is expected.
It is a fortunate circumstance that this inauguration of better working
conditions for the quorums of Seventies, and the beginning of the
volume of the Era--volume XI--should start off together, viz., in the
month of November. But is it not a co-ordination of circumstances
brought about by the operation of the Spirit of the Lord upon the minds
of the brethren rather than a matter of good fortune? So many things
have conjoined for this new movement among the Seventies to augur
success that those of us who have been watching its development cannot
doubt but that
_"God Wills It!"_
_CONCLUSION_.
And now, brethren of the Seventies, in conclusion: Be earnest in this
work. Be thorough, patient, self-denying. A great opportunity has come
to us--let us make the most of it, and be grateful that it has come.
Let no difficulties appall us. We can overcome them. Let us say of
difficulties, what Napoleon said of the Alps, when the difficulty, if
not the impossibility, of crossing them with an army was suggested, he
answered:
"There Shall Be No Alps!"_
REMEMBER! _To become a Seventy means mental activity, intellectual
development, and the attainment of spiritual power_.
_A SUGGESTED LIST OF BOOKS OF REFERENCE_.
The following named books of reference will be especially useful in
the present year's course of study. It is not expected, of course,
that all our Seventies will be able to secure the entire collection
suggested, but it would be well for our members to purchase so many of
them as they can afford to buy as the beginning of a small personal
library. The books recommended will not only be useful for the present
year's lessons, but are standard books that will be useful in all the
courses of study yet to be prescribed. Inasmuch as individuals may not
be able to purchase these books, we suggest that it would be well for
each quorum to take under consideration the propriety of the quorum
as a body obtaining this complete list as the foundation of a quorum
reference library, that might be available to all for preparation.
1. _"The Seventy's Indispensible Library:"_ This consists of the
Cambridge Bible, the Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants,
Pearl of Great Price, (bound in one volume) and the Richards-Little
Compendium; price, post-paid, $9.00.
_Webster's New Standard Dictionary of the English Language_, adapted
for High School, Academic and Collegiate Courses; price, $1.50.
_The Works of Flavius-Josephus,_ in one volume, by William Whiston, A.
M., David McKay, Publisher, 23 South Ninth Street, Philadelphia, $1.50.
_Dictionary of the Bible_ (Dr. William Smith's). The most desirable
edition of this work is the four volume edition of Prof. H. B. Hackett,
D. D., published by Houghton-Mifflin & Co., Boston. It is a very
valuable work and contains, "by universal consent, the fruit of the
ripest biblical scholarship of England, and constitutes a library of
itself, superceding the use of many books otherwise necessary." The
price in leather binding, $25.00. The Seventies individually may not be
able to purchase this edition, but where quorums unite for the purchase
of books this is the edition that should be secured.
There is, however, a one volume edition of this work, known as
_Smith's Smaller Dictionary of the Bible,_ published by Fleming H.
Revell Co., New York and Chicago, $1.25, post-paid.
_Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature,_ edited by John Kitto, two
volumes, S. W. Green's Son, Publishers, 74, 76 Beekmen St., New York.
If Smith's Dictionary is not secured then the work next in value is the
one here named.
_"A Commentary Critical and Explanatory of the Old and New Testament,"_
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, S. S. Scranton & Co., Hartford, Publishers.
This is a very excellent work, and frequently quoted in the references
and also in the notes of the present year's course of study. As
remarked in one of the notes, the Elders who make up our ministry
may not accept the doctrinal interpretation of this or any other
commentary, yet its historical and critical treatises are among the
most recent and valuable.
_The Old Testament History,_ by William Smith, Harper & Brothers,
Publishers, New York; price, $2.00. This work is designed by the
compiler and editor as a manual in relation to Hebrew history and on a
par with the histories of Greece and Rome, generally used in our best
schools. As a digest of Biblical History, it is a most valuable work.
_Dr. Smith's New Testament History,_ with introduction, connecting the
history of the Old Testament with the New, Harper Brothers, New York.
This work stands in the same relationship to the New Testament History
that the previously mentioned work does to the Old.
_"Illustrated Bible Treasury,"_ edited by William Wright, D. D. To
those who may have neither Cambridge or Oxford or Nelson Bible Helps,
we recommend this as a very valuable collection of material, including
a Concordance, a Dictionary and Maps, and upwards of 350 illustrations,
on Bible subjects; price, post-paid, seventy-five cents.
As helps in the study of the Book of Mormon we recommend:
_Reynolds' Dictionary of the Book of Mormon._
_Y. M. M. I. A. Manuals, Nos. 7, 8 and 9,_ containing Elder Roberts'
treatise on the Book of Mormon, including a consideration of External
and Internal Evidences, price twenty-five cents per number.
_Defense of the Faith and the Saints_ (just out from the press), price
$1.50.
_Y. M. M. I. A. Manual, No. 10;_ subject, Modern Revelation, especially
valuable in the study of the Doctrine and Covenants; price twenty-five
cents. Manuals can be obtained from the Era office, Templeton Building,
Salt Lake City.
_The Book of Abraham._ Its Authenticity as a Divine and Ancient Record,
(Elder George Reynolds).
_The Improvement Era, organ of the Seventies and Y. M. M. I.
Associations,_ for current literature, comment and special articles
on subjects of first year's Seventies' work, price $2.00 per year, in
advance.
_The Seventy's Course in Theology._
__FIRST YEAR_._
_PART I._
_Outline History of the Seventy._
LESSON I.
_THE SEVENTY IN THREE DISPENSATIONS._
ANALYSIS. REFERENCES.
_I. The Seventy in the Mosaic Dispensation._ Exodus xxiv:xi; Number xi:16, 25.
1. The Seventy Chosen. Note 1.
2. Their Spiritual Powers.
3. Was the Sanhedrin a perpetuation
of the Seventy.
_II. The Seventy of the Christian Dispensation._ Luke x:1-24, Smith's
1. Organization of Quorums. Bible Dictionary[1] Art.
2. Commission and Spiritual Powers. "Seventy Disciples."[2] Edersheim's
"Jesus the
Messias," Vol. II, Chap. v.
Eccl. Hist., Eusebius,
Chap. xii. Students'
Eccl. Hist. pp. 17, 18.
Notes 2, 3.
_III. The Seventy in the Dispensation of Notes 4, 5, 6, 7. Also
the Fulness of Times._ History of the Church.
1. The Organization of the First Vol. II, 180-2 and notes;
Quorum. Ibid. Chap. xiii and
2. First Report to the Prophet. notes. Ibid, p. 221, and
3. Blessed in Kirtland Temple. note; Ibid, p. 346 (First
4. They lead Zion's Camp to Missouri. Report of to the Prophet).
5. Increase in the number of Quorums Notes 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
in Nauvoo and the West,
Present Status.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "God could not organize His kingdom with twelve men to
open the gospel door to the nations of the earth, and with seventy men
under their direction to follow in their tracks, unless he took them
from a body of men who had offered their lives, and who had made as
great a sacrifice as did Abraham. Now the Lord has got his Twelve and
his Seventy, and there will be other quorums of Seventies called, who
will make the sacrifice, and those who have not made their sacrifices
and their offerings now, will make them hereafter."_--JOSEPH SMITH.
_NOTES._
1. _The Seventy of the Mosaic Dispensation:_ It is difficult to
determine just what the relationship of the Seventy Elders of Exodus
xxiv and 1, and Numb. xi: 16, 25, occupied in the Mosaic polity.
Commenting on the passage in Exodus, a somewhat celebrated authority
(Jamieson-Fausset-Brown's Commentary) says:
"An order of Seventy was to be created, either by a selection from
the existing staff of Elders, or by the appointment of new ones,
empowered to assist him [Moses] by their collective wisdom and
experience in the onerous cares of government. The Jewish writers
say that this was the origin of the Sanhedrim, or supreme appellate
court of their nation. But there is every reason to believe that it
was only a temporary expedient, adopted to meet a trying exigency."
Catholic commentators, however, positively assert that this appointment
of the Seventy Elders "was the first institution of the Council or
Senate, called the Sanhedrim, consisting of seventy or seventy-two
Senators, or Counselors." (Douay Bible, foot-note, Numb. xi: 16-25.)
But Dr. William Smith, in his Old Testament History, says:
"The appointment of the Seventy Elders has often been regarded as
the germ of the Sanhedrim. They seem rather to have been a Senate,
whose office was confined to assisting Moses in the government,
and ceased with the cessation of his leadership. No trace of the
Sanhedrim is found till the return from the Babylonish captivity.
It is more certain that the manner of their consecration prefigured
the order of the Prophets." (Old Testament History, p. 185.)
From all this it will be seen that much confusion exists among the
learned with reference to the exact nature of the office of the
Seventy. From the revelations of the Lord, however, to the Prophet
Joseph Smith, we learn that the Priesthood existed in Israel in the
days of Moses, but that "he took Moses out of their midst and the
Holy Priesthood also," but that "the lesser Priesthood continued,
which Priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and
the preparatory gospel" only. With this as a key, that is, with the
knowledge that the "Holy Priesthood," meaning by that the higher, or
Melchisedek Priesthood, existed in Israel in the days of Moses, it is
fairly safe to conclude that the Seventy Elders of the two passages in
question were really a quorum of the Seventy as we know it, and that
perhaps the princes at the head of the twelve tribes of Israel may have
occupied a position somewhat analogous to, if not identical with, that
of the Twelve Apostles in the later Church, though it must be admitted
that the latter suggestion, especially is merely conjecture. The
conclusion with reference to the Seventy, however, takes on increased
probability when the spiritual powers exercised by the Seventy
described in Numb. xi: 24, 29, is taken into account; powers that
are so nearly akin to those of the Seventy in the Meridian and later
dispensations of the gospel.
2. _The Seventy of the New Testament:_ The opinions of ecclesiastical
writers with reference to the Seventy mentioned in Luke x, seem to be
as hopelessly inconclusive as those held with reference to the Seventy
in the Mosaic polity.. Some, for instance, hold that "no power or
authority was formally conferred upon the Seventy, their mission being
only temporary, and indeed for one divine purpose; its primary object
was to prepare for the coming of the Master in the places to which they
were sent; and their selection was from a wider circle of disciples,
the number being now seventy instead of twelve." So says Edersheim
(Jesus the Messiah, Vol. II, p. 136), from which it appears that he
does not regard the Seventy as permanent officers in the Church,
because, as he assumes, their mission was temporary.
Whereas, on the other hand, Dr. Smith holds that "their office did not
cease with the fulfillment of their immediate and temporary mission,
but was to continue." (Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. IV,
Article, Seventy Disciples.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown's Commentary, on the passage, says:
"The mission [i. e., of the Seventy], unlike that of the Twelve,
was evidently quite temporary. All the instructions are in keeping
with a brief and hasty pioneering mission, intended to supply what
of general preparation for coming events, the Lord's own visit
afterwards to the same "cities and places" would not from want of
time, now suffice to accomplish; whereas the instructions to the
Twelve, besides embracing all those of the Seventy, contemplate
world-wide and permanent effects. Accordingly, after their return
from this single missionary tour, we never again read of the
Seventy."
"We never again read of the Seventy" should be limited, however, to
the books of the New Testament, for in the ecclesiastical writers
which succeed the New Testament authors, mention is made of individual
members of this body of Seventy, and of their labors. For instance,
Eusebius has the following passage with reference to them.
"The names of our Savior's Apostles are sufficiently obvious to
every one, from his gospels; but of the seventy disciples, no
catalogue is given anywhere. Barnabas, indeed, is said to have been
one of them, of whom there is distinguished notice in the Acts of
the Apostles; and also in St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians.
Sosthenes, who sent letters with Paul to the Corinthians, is said
to have been one of these. Clement, in the fifth of his Hypotyposes
or Institutions, in which he also mentions Cephas, of whom Paul
also says, that he came to Antioch, and "that he withstood him to
his face;"[3]--says, that one who had the same name with Peter
the Apostle, was one of the Seventy; and that Matthias, who was
numbered with the Apostles in place of Judas, and he who had been
honored to be a candidate with him, are also said to have been
deemed worthy of the same calling with the Seventy. They also say
that Thaddeus was one of them; concerning whom I shall presently
relate a narrative that has come down to us. Moreover, if any one
observe with attention, he will find more disciples of our Savior
than the Seventy, on the testimony of Paul, who says, that "he
appeared after his resurrection, first to Cephas, then to the
Twelve, and after these to five hundred brethren at once." Of whom,
he says, "some are fallen asleep," but the greater part were living
at the time he wrote." (Eccl. Hist. Eusebius, Chap. xii.)
In the chapter following the one from which the foregoing quotation is
taken, Eusebius refers to Thaddeus in the most positive manner as being
one of the Seventy, and that he was sent by Thomas, the Apostle, to
visit King Agbarus. (See Eusebius' Eccl. History, Chap. xiii.)
3. _Of Their Being More Than One Quorum of Seventy in the Meridian
Dispensation:_ In all comments upon the Seventy mentioned in St.
Luke, chapter x, one thing seems to have been strangely overlooked;
namely, that Jesus had appointed other quorums of Seventy before those
mentioned by the third Evangelist. Such is the plain implication of the
first verse in said chapter, to-wit:
"After these things the Lord appointed _other_ Seventy also, and sent
them two and two before his face," etc. Undoubtedly, it is in their
collective capacity that they are referred to here, since the term
"Seventy" is used in the singular; and before the appointment of this
Seventy mentioned in Luke, Jesus had appointed "other Seventy," or
quorums of Seventy, how many may not be determined. In I Cor.: xv,
where Paul described the appearances of Jesus after the resurrection,
it is said "that he was seen of Cephas (Peter), then of the Twelve,
after that he was seen of about five hundred brethren at once, of whom
the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep."
Now, taking the close relationship between the Twelve and the Seventy,
the similarity of their mission and commission, (compare Luke x with
Matthew x), and the fact that in the above quoted passage from Paul the
appearances of Jesus is spoken of as being associated with Peter, then
with the Twelve, and then of five hundred brethren at once, may it not
be that those 500 brethren were those who held similar authority with
the Twelve Apostles, namely, the Seventy, which would make, allowing
for slight discrepancy and perhaps the attendance of the Twelve
Apostles, among the five hundred, seven quorums of Seventy. (See Doc. &
Cov. Sec. cvii: 95.) This is admittedly conjecture, and yet conjecture
upon which strong probability attends.
4. _The Prophet's Vision of the Order in Church Government:_ It is
evident from the account given in the history of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, that the organization of the Twelve and the Seventy grew out
of a vision he had concerning the order of Church organization, since
both in his history and also in the revelation contained in the Doc.
& Cov. Sec. 107, he repeatedly makes mention of that vision. In the
minutes of the meeting at which the organization of the Twelve began,
it is written that "President Smith then stated that the meeting had
been called because God had commanded it; and it was made known to him
by vision and by the Holy Spirit." (History of the Church, Vol. II, p.
182, also note.)
In the revelation above referred to, describing the order of the
Seventy, the Prophet says: "It is according to the vision, showing the
order of the Seventy, that there shall be seven presidents to preside
over them, chosen out of the number of the Seventy."
5. _The First Quorums of Seventy Chosen from Zion's Camp:_ The first
and second quorum of Seventy was made up, in the main, from that band
of men who constituted Zion's camp, the camp, it will be remembered,
that went up to the deliverance of the Saints who had been expelled
from Jackson county in 1833. In the meeting referred to in the
foregoing note, at which the Twelve were organized, it is stated that
the Prophet related some of the circumstances attendant upon the
journey of Zion's camp; its trials, sufferings, etc., and said, "God
had not designed all this for nothing, but he had it in remembrance
yet; and it was the will of God that those who went to Zion (i. e.,
Missouri) with the determination to lay down their lives if necessary,
should be ordained to the ministry and go forth to prune the vineyard
for the last time." (History of the Church, Vol. ii, p. 182.) In an
address to certain Elders assembled in Kirtland soon after the Seventy
were organized, the Prophet said:
"Brethren, some of you are angry with me, because you did not fight
in Missouri; but let me tell you, God did not want you to fight. He
could not organize his kingdom with twelve men to open the gospel
door to the nations of the earth, and with seventy men under their
direction to follow in their tracks, unless he took them from a
body of men who had offered their lives, and who had made as great
a sacrifice as did Abraham. Now the Lord has got his Twelve and
his Seventy, and there will be other quorums of Seventies called,
who will make the sacrifice, and those who have not made their
sacrifices and their offerings now, will make them hereafter."
(History of the Church, Vol.. II, p. 182 in note.)
From this, it appears, that the character of men who attain unto this
high station in the Priesthood of God should be men who have made
sacrifices for the work of God, or who are perfectly willing to make
such sacrifices, even to laying down their lives for the cause.
_Organization of the Seventy in Dispensation of the Fullness of Times:_
The organization of the Seventies in the dispensation of the fulness
of times began on the 28th of February, 1835, when, according to the
History of the Prophet Joseph, "The Church in council assembled,
commenced selecting certain individuals to be Seventies from the number
of those who went up to Zion with me in the camp (i. e., Zion's camp);
and the following are the names of those who were ordained and blessed
at that time (names omitted), to begin the organization of the first
quorum of Seventies, according to the visions and revelations which I
have received. The Seventies are to constitute traveling quorums, to go
into all the earth, whithersoever the Twelve Apostles shall call them."
(History of the Church, Vol. II, p. 201-302. See also notes on the text
of those two pages.)
7. _President Joseph Young's Account of the Organization of the First
Quorums of Seventy:_ The account of the organization of the Seventy
given by the late Joseph Young, brother of President Brigham Young, who
became the First President of the Seventy in this dispensation, is too
important to be omitted, and therefore is given here in extenso:
"On the 8th of February, in the year of our Lord 1835, the Prophet
Joseph Smith called Elders Brigham and Joseph Young to the chamber
of his residence, in Kirtland, Ohio; it being on the Sabbath day.
After they were seated, and he had made some preliminaries, he
proceeded to relate a vision to these brethren, of the state and
condition of those men who died in Zion's Camp, in Missouri. He
said, "Brethren, I have seen those men who died of the cholera
in our camp; and the Lord knows, if I get a mansion as bright as
theirs, I ask no more." At this relation he wept, and for some time
could not speak. When he had relieved himself of his feelings, in
describing the vision, he resumed the conversation, and addressed
himself to Brother Brigham Young. Said he to him, "I wish you to
notify all the brethren living in the branches, within a reasonable
distance from this place, to meet at a General Conference on
Saturday next. I shall then and there appoint twelve special
witnesses, to open the door of the gospel to foreign nations, and
you," said he (speaking to Brother Brigham), "will be one of them."
He then proceeded to enlarge upon the duties of their calling.
The interest that was taken on the occasion of this announcement,
produced in the minds of the two Elders present a great sensation,
and many reflections; having previously notified Brother Brigham
Young that he would be one of the witnesses, but said nothing to
Joseph until he had exhausted much of his feelings in regard to the
Twelve, which took up some little time.
"He then turned to Elder Joseph Young with quite an earnestness,
as though the vision of his mind was extended still further, and
addressing him, said: "Brother Joseph, the Lord has made you
President of the Seventies."
"They had heard of Moses and seventy Elders of Israel, and of Jesus
appointing other Seventies, but had never heard of Twelve Apostles
and of Seventies being called in this Church before. It was a
strange saying, "The Lord has made you president of the Seventies,"
as though it had already taken place, and it caused these brethren
to marvel.
"The Prophet did not say that any others would be called to be the
bearers of this message abroad, but the inference might be clearly
drawn, that this was his meaning, from the language he used at the
time.
"Agreeable to his request to Elder Brigham Young, the branches were
all notified, and a meeting of the brethren in General Conference
was held in Kirtland, in the new school house, under the printing
office, on the following Saturday, February 14th, when the Twelve
were appointed and ordained, and the Conference adjourned for two
weeks.
"Pursuant to this adjournment, the Conference convened on Saturday,
the 28th of that month, when the first quorum of Seventies were
appointed and ordained, under the hands of the Prophet, his
Counselors, and others.
"Adjourned meetings were held from time to time, and the second
quorum of Seventies were appointed and ordained."
8. _The First Report of the Seventy:_ The first report that the
Seventies made of their labors seems to have given very great
satisfaction to the Prophet. Under date of December 28, 1835, (less
than a year after their organization) the Prophet says:
"This day the Council of the Seventy met to render an account
of their travels and ministry, since they were ordained to that
Apostleship. The meeting was interesting, indeed, and my heart was
made glad while listening to the relation of those that had been
laboring in the vineyard of the Lord, with such marvelous success.
And I pray God to bless them with an increase of faith and power,
and keep them all, with the endurance of faith in the name of Jesus
Christ to the end." (History of the Church, Vol. II, p. 346.)
9. _The Anointing of the Seventy:_ The Seventies were privileged
to receive their washings and anointings in the Kirtland Temple
preparatory to its public dedication. The Presidency of the Seventy
received their anointing and blessing under the hands of the Twelve
Apostles on the 22nd of January, 1836; and had sealed "upon their
heads power and authority to anoint their brethren"--the members of
their quorums. (History of the Church, Vol. II, p. 383.) Under date of
the 30th of January, 1836, members of the quorums were anointed and
blessed, of which circumstance the Prophet says:
"In the evening, went to the upper room of the Lord's house, and
set the different quorums in order. Instructed the presidents of
the Seventy concerning the order of their anointing, and requested
them to proceed and anoint the Seventy." (History of the Church,
Vol. II, p. 388.)
10. _The Seventy Sustained as Apostles:_ During the dedicatory services
in the Kirtland Temple, March 27, 1836, when the various officers of
the Church were sustained, the Seventies were sustained as "Apostles
and special witnesses to the nations to assist the Twelve," etc. I
quote the passage in full.
"I then called upon the quorums and congregation of Saints to
acknowledge the Twelve Apostles, who were present, as Prophets,
Seers, Revelators, and special witnesses to all the nations of the
earth, holding the keys of the kingdom, to unlock it, or cause it
to be done, among them, and uphold them by their prayers, which
they assented to by rising. I next called upon the quorums and
congregation of Saints to acknowledge the presidents of Seventies
who act as their representatives, as Apostles and special witnesses
to the nations, to assist the Twelve in opening the gospel kingdom
among all people, and to uphold them by their prayers, which they
did by rising." (History of the Church, Vol. II, p. 417-18.)
11. _The First Council of Seventy Lead Kirtland Camp to Missouri:_
Perhaps the greatest work achieved by the First Council of the
Seventies in their organized capacity, was the organization of the
Kirtland Camp, and leading it from Kirtland, Ohio, to Adam-ondi-Ahman,
Missouri, a distance of 860 miles. The camp numbered 105 families, 529
souls in all. They left the vicinity of Kirtland on the 6th day of
July, 1838, and arriving at Adam-ondi-Ahman on the 4th of October, of
the same year. A full history of the organization of this camp and its
journey is to be found in the History of the Church, Vol. III, p.. 87
to 148.
12. _Increase of Quorums at Nauvoo:_ At the October Conference, 1844,
the number of the Seventy was greatly increased. On the third day of
the conference, "Elder George A. Smith moved that all in the Elders'
quorum under the age of thirty-five should be ordained into the
Seventies', if they are in good standing, and worthy, and will accept
it. The motion was seconded and carried unanimously." Enough members
were added to make in all eleven quorums, and forty more were ordained
to be part of the twelfth quorum. (See minutes of Conference, "Times
and Seasons," Vol. V, p. 695-696.) By the first of January, 1845, the
number of quorums had increased to fourteen, and a Seventies' library
was started, which caused the editor of the "Times and Seasons" to
exclaim:
"Ten years ago but one Seventy, and now fourteen [quorums of]
Seventies, and the foundation for the best library in the world. It
looks like old times when they had 'Kirjath Sapher,' the City of
Books." (Times and Seasons, Vol. V, p. 762-3.)
Meantime the Seventies had built a large brick hall in Nauvoo, known as
the "Seventies' Hall," and on the 26th of December, 1844, this building
was dedicated with imposing ceremonies extending through an entire
week. Most of the members of the Council of the Apostles participated
in the dedicatory services. It may be of interest for the Seventies to
know that the heroic hymn, "The Seer, the Seer, Joseph the Seer," by
the late President John Taylor, was written for these services though
dedicated by the author to President Brigham Young. (Times and Seasons,
Vol. V, p. 767.) The arrangement was made for two quorums to be in
attendance at the dedication each day with their wives and children and
a number of invited guests. By this time there were fifteen quorums
in existence. By the 19th of January, 1846, the number of quorums had
increased to thirty. (Times and Seasons, Vol. VI, p. 1096.) Whether or
not any more quorums than these were organized in Nauvoo we do not know.
13. _Status of the Quorums Since Nauvoo Times:_ For some time after the
settlement of the Church in Utah some confusion existed in relation
to the quorums of Seventy, and the members of the respective quorums
were so badly scattered that they convened in what were known as "mass
quorums," consisting of all the Seventies living in a stake or ward,
without regard to the particular quorum to which they belonged. In
the year 1883, however, a movement was set on foot to put the quorums
in order, and the Presidency of the Church issued the following
instructions on the subject of
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SEVENTY.
SALT LAKE CITY, U. T., April 13, 1883.
In the organization of these quorums in October, 1844, there were
ten quorums, each provided with seven presidents, which presidents
constituted the First Quorum of Seventies, and of which the First
Seven Presidents of the Seventies were members, and over which
they presided. But as the Seventies have greatly increased,
these regulations will not apply to the present circumstances;
and furthermore, the First Quorum, according to the present
organization, has not acted in a quorum capacity, but it would seem
there are duties devolving upon its members, as a quorum, that may
require their official action.
The First Quorum of Seventies may be composed of the First Seven
Presidents of the Seventies, and the senior president of the first
sixty-four quorums. These may form the Seventy referred to in the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and may act in an official capacity
as the First Quorum of Seventies.
The senior presidents of the other quorums, over and above the
sixty-four, may meet with the First Quorum in their assemblies in
any other than an official capacity; but in case of the absence of
any of the members of the First Quorum, they can act, in the place
of such members with the First Quorum during such absence, in any
cases of importance that may arise.
The headquarters of the different quorums, and the records thereof,
may be distributed throughout the various Wards and Stakes, under
the direction of the First Seven Presidents, as the number of the
Priesthood residing in such localities may seem to justify and any
vacancies that exist, either in the presidency or membership of
the different quorums may be filled by the ordination of persons
residing in the locality in which the respective quorums are
organized.
Any of the members or presidents of other quorums who are in good
standing may have the privilege of joining the quorum located in
the district in which they reside; but in such cases they should
first obtain a certificate as to their standing in the quorum from
which they desire to withdraw; to obtain which it would only be
necessary to procure a certificate of their good standing from the
Bishop of the Ward to which they belong, provided their names are
found upon the record of their quorum as in good standing.
The presidents of the quorums residing in the district where their
respective quorums are organized shall have a general supervision
of all the Seventies residing in their district.
In all cases where members of quorums are called in question, a
majority of their respective quorums will have jurisdiction in all
cases involving their standing in the quorum, but in case there
is not a majority residing in the district where the quorum is
organized, or in the case of scattered members, the members present
should investigate the matter and report their findings to the
First Seven Presidents. Any complaints regarding the presidents
of quorums should be made to the First Seven Presidents of the
Seventies, who may suspend such presidents, if their conduct
seem to justify it, pending the action of the First Quorum. Any
presidents or members from whom fellowship has been withdrawn
by the quorums, should be reported to the High Council having
jurisdiction.
The Seventies, when abroad, if anything should occur requiring
their supervision, in the absence of other authorities, may act
upon the case of any delinquent belonging to the Seventies, and
should report their decisions to the First Seven Presidents of the
Seventies.
Your Brethren in the gospel,
JOHN TAYLOR,
GEORGE Q. CANNON,
JOSEPH F. SMITH,
First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
_A revelation given through President John Taylor, at Salt Lake City,
Utah Territory, on Saturday, April 14th, 1883, in answer to the
question: "Show unto us thy will, O Lord, concerning the organization
of the Seventies."_
What ye have written is my will, and is acceptable unto me: and
furthermore,
Thus saith the Lord unto the First Presidency, unto the Twelve,
unto the Seventies and unto all my holy Priesthood, let not your
hearts be troubled, neither be ye concerned about the management
and organization of my Church and Priesthood and the accomplishment
of my work. Fear me and observe my laws and I will reveal unto you,
from time to time, through the channels that I have appointed,
everything that shall be necessary for the future development and
perfection of my Church, for the adjustment and rolling forth of my
kingdom, and for the building up and the establishment of my Zion.
For ye are my Priesthood and I am your God. Even so. Amen.
Under the instructions given in the foregoing communication and
revelation, the First Council of the Seventy have proceeded with the
work of increasing the quorums and managing their affairs. The quorums
now number 151, giving to the foreign ministry of the Church a body of
men numbering about ten thousand.
Footnotes
1. Hackett edition, in four volumes, now and always quoted.
2. I take occasion here to remark that by making reference to works
such as Edersheim's Life of Jesus, Bible Dictionaries Ecclesiastical
Histories, etc., it must not be understood that in making such
references I approve the works, or even accept the correctness of
the passages indicated. Such references are made that the student
may consult the literature on a given point. He must make his own
deductions as to the correctness of the statements and arguments
of such authors. As for instance, in this very passage cited from
Edersheim's really great work, I think him, in the main, wrong in his
treatment of this subject of the Seventy, but our Seventies should know
what so high an authority, as Edersheim is generally accepted to be,
has said upon the subject.
3. It will be observed from this statement that the "Cephas," or
"Peter" whom Paul "withstood to his face" at Antioch, was not the
chief Apostle Peter, but another "Cephas" or "Peter," one of the
Seventy. I fear, however, that the testimony in Galatians ii, as to
its being Peter, the chief Apostle, with whom Paul had his unfortunate
controversy, is too strong to be overturned by this inference in
Eusebius.
LESSON II.
_THE ORGANIZATION AND DUTIES OF THE SEVENTY._
ANALYSIS. REFERENCES.
_I. The Priesthood._ Note 1; Alma xiii;
1. Definition, and the Grouping of Doc, & Cov. 84; Sec. 107;
Powers and Officers. Compendium[1] pp. 64-73.
History of the Church
Vol. II, Chap. 33; Vol. IV,
Chap. 11; Outlines Eccl.
History, Part IV, Sec. v.
The Gospel[2] pp. 210-216.
_II. The Church: Defined._ Note 2. I Corinthians xii.
1. The Depository of Revealed Articles of Faith,
Truth. (Talmadge) Lecture XI.
2. Of Divine Authority--Her Commission. Compendium pp. 157-158.
Book of Mormon, Mosiah 5:7-12.
Doc. & Cov. Sec. 76; 50-70.
The Gospel pp. 216-227.
_III. The Mission of the Church._ Note 3; Eph. iv:4-17.
1. Proclamation of the Truth. The Gospel pp. 216-227.
2. Perfecting the Lives of Those History of the Church
Who Receive Her Truth. Vol. II. pp. 47. 476-480.
_IV. The Foreign Ministry._ Note 4, 5, 6. Doc. & Cov.
1. The Twelve Apostles. Sec. 107; also Sec. 124;
2. The Seventy. 138-140. History of
3. Special Duties of the Seventy. the Church, Vol. III,[3]
Chap. xxvi. Luke x;
Outlines Eccl. History[4]
Sec. v, p. 336-7, p. 360;
also pp. 343-6. Also note 7.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Wherefore now, let every man learn his duty, and to act
in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence." Doc. and
Cov., Sec. 107_.
_NOTES._
1. _Priesthood._ Priesthood is authority which God gives to man, by
which man is made an agent of God, authorized to speak, act, and
administer in the divine name, and have his words and administrations
of binding effect as if done by the Lord himself; provided, of course,
said administrations are in accordance with the divine directions or
instructions, within the limits of the authority confirmed upon the
agent, performed in righteousness and relate to the matters for which
the divine authority was given to man.
Necessarily this delegated authority is one in kind;[5] it is simply
authority given of God to man by which man is authorized to act in
God's stead in relation to certain things; but its powers are grouped
in various ways for the purpose of facilitating the administration
of its government. First, its powers are grouped with reference
to temporal and spiritual affairs; the division of the Priesthood
which has charge more especially of spiritual affairs is called
the Melchisedek Priesthood; that which has charge more especially
of temporal affairs, the Aaronic Priesthood. The officers of the
Melchisedek Priesthood are, Apostles, Prophets, Patriarchs, High
Priests, Seventies, Elders; of the Aaronic Priesthood: Bishops (who are
High Priests, ordained to be Bishops and constitute the Presidency of
the Aaronic Priesthood), Priests, Teachers, Deacons.
While this division of the Priesthood, or this grouping of its officers
with reference to spiritual and temporal labors, assigns one to
spiritual and the other to temporal concerns, it must not be thought
that there is anything rigid in said division of labor; that the
Aaronic Priesthood is excluded from participation in spiritual labors;
or that the Melchisedek Priesthood is excluded from dealing with
temporal affairs. The line of demarkation,[6] as a matter of fact, is
crossed by each division; some of the duties of the Aaronic Priesthood
are spiritual, and some of the duties of the Melchisedek, temporal.
This division then rests upon the fact that the duties assigned
the Aaronic priesthood are chiefly temporal, and the duties of the
Melchisedek chiefly spiritual.
Another division of the Priesthood may be said to exist within the
Melchisedek Priesthood, which is also a division with reference to its
labors, viz., the foreign ministry and the home ministry, of which more
is to be said later.
2. _The Church._ The Church may be said to arise from the Priesthood.
Comprehensively defined it may be said to be an organization of
people--including all officers and members--who believe in and
endeavor to incorporate in their lives God's Truth; who have obeyed
the ordinances or sacraments appointed of God for salvation and
admission into his Church; whose officers are of divine appointment and
commission, (that is, possessed of divine authority, the Priesthood)
guided by an ever present inspiration from God, and walking within
reach of an ever present and continuous source of immediate revelation.
The Church is the depository of God's revealed truth. Man may be able
by searching to find out many truths. What he has learned by study,
by investigation, aided by the inspiration of the Lord--for "there
is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them
understanding"--amounts to very much; but there are some things which
even by searching man may not learn. "Canst thou by searching find
out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?"[7] The
inference in the scripture is, and the fact is, that the answer must
be, no. God can not be perfectly known, only as he reveals himself to
man; man can know his relationship to God only as God is pleased to
reveal it; man can only know the terms and means of his salvation as
the Lord reveals it; and these revelations, when he has one in the
earth, God gives to his Church; these truths which man by searching,
by his own wisdom, may not find out in their perfection--God deposits
with his Church--hence the Church is the depository of God's revealed
truth--she receives and is the custodian of the Gospel.
And not only is the Church the depository of revealed truth; but she
is also the depository of the divine authority; she, in organized
capacity, holds as content the Holy Priesthood; and she has commission
and agency to dispense the truth and administer through her
instrumentalities all the ordinances of the gospel.
3. _The Mission of the Church:_ The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints was brought into existence for the accomplishment
of two great things: first, the proclamation of the truth concerning
man's salvation to all the world: and second, the perfecting of those
who accept that truth. The Church is organized with reference to the
accomplishment of these two purposes, and has, for the accomplishment
of those purposes, a foreign ministry and a home ministry. In defining
the duties of a Seventy it is with the foreign ministry that we have to
deal.
4. _The Foreign Ministry._ The business of the foreign ministry is to
make proclamation of the gospel in all the world, and gather, as soon
as wisdom dictates, those who accept it into the organized stakes of
Zion. This foreign ministry, strictly speaking, is composed of the
Twelve Apostles and the quorums of the Seventy.
5. _The Twelve:_ "The twelve traveling counselors are called to be the
Twelve Apostles, or special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the
world; thus differing from other officers in the Church in the duties
of their calling. * * * * The Twelve are a traveling presiding High
Council, to officiate in the name of the Lord, under the direction of
the Presidency of the Church, agreeable to the institution of heaven;
to build up the Church, and regulate all the affairs of the same in all
nations; first unto the Gentiles, and secondly unto the Jews. * * * *
The Twelve being sent out, holding the keys to open the door by the
proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ--and first unto the Gentiles
and then unto the Jews." (Doc & Cov., Sec. cvii.) This is the special
calling of the Twelve Apostles, and the calling of the Seventy is like
unto it.
6. _The Seventy:_ "The Seventy are also called to preach the gospel,
and to be especial witnesses unto the Gentiles and in all the world.
Thus differing from other officers in the Church in the duties of
their calling. * * * * The Seventy are to act in the name of the Lord,
under the direction of the Twelve or the traveling High Council, in
building up the Church and regulating all the affairs of the same in
all nations--first unto the Gentiles and then to the Jews. * * * * It
is the duty of the traveling High Council to call upon the Seventy,
when they need assistance, to fill the several calls for preaching and
administering the gospel, instead of any others. * * * * And these
Seventy (the reference is to the whole body of that Priesthood) are
to be traveling ministers unto the Gentiles first, and also unto the
Jews. * * * * Whereas other officers of the Church, who belong not unto
the Twelve, neither to the Seventy, are not under the responsibility
to travel among all nations, but are to travel as their circumstances
shall allow, notwithstanding they may hold as high and responsible
offices in the Church." (Doc. & Cov., Sec. cvii.)
When the Church was set in order at Nauvoo, in 1841, by direction of
a revelation (Doc. & Cov.; Sec. cxxiv.) after naming the First Seven
Presidents, who were to preside over the quorums of Seventies, the Lord
said: "Which quorum is instituted for traveling Elders to bear record
of my name in all the world, whenever the traveling High Council,
my Apostles, shall send them to prepare a way before my face. The
difference between this quorum and the quorum of Elders is, that one is
to travel continually, and the other is to preside over the churches
from time to time: the one has the responsibility of presiding from
time to time, and the other has no responsibility of presiding, saith
the Lord your God."
In these passages the special calling and duties of the Seventies
are so clearly set forth that neither comment nor amplification is
necessary, since these foregoing quotations are the word of the Lord,
and evidence the fact that the Twelve, with the Seventy, constitute
the foreign ministry of the Church. They are special witnesses of God
and Christ to the truth of the gospel, and that is their special and
peculiar calling in the Church. Not that the whole responsibility of
preaching the gospel rests upon the Twelve and the Seventy alone. That
responsibility rests upon the whole body of the Church. These quorums,
the Twelve and Seventy, are merely the instrumentality through which
the Church discharges its obligations to the people of the world in
making known to them the truth.
7. _President Joseph F. Smith on the Calling of the Seventy:_ We have
also in the Church today, I am informed, 146 quorums of Seventy [the
number in 1904]. These constitute a body of Elders of somewhere in the
neighborhood of 10,000 men, whose special duty it is to respond to the
call of the Apostles to preach the gospel, without purse or scrip, to
all the nations of the earth. They are minute men. It is expected that
they will be ready, whenever they are called, to go out in the world,
or to go out to the various organizations of the Church to fulfill
missions and to perform such duties as shall be required of them, in
order that the work of the Lord and the work of the ministry may be
upheld and sustained and carried on in the Church and throughout the
world. These councils or quorums of Seventy are not always full, a full
council being 70 Elders. But there are approximately 10,000 Elders who
now hold that position in the Church. They are called to an apostolic
calling. They are required to be special witnesses of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is expected of this body of men that they will have burning
in their souls the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is the spirit of
prophecy; that they will be full of light and of the knowledge of
the truth; that they will be enthusiastic in their calling, and in
the cause of Zion, and that they will be ready at any moment, when
required, to go out into the world, or anywhere throughout the Church
and bear testimony of the truth, preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and
set examples before the world of purity, love, honesty, uprightness and
integrity to the truth. (The General Conference Reports, October 6th,
1904, p. 3.)
Footnotes
1. Richards and Little's, of "The Seventy's Indispensible Library,"
always meant.
2. Third edition always quoted.
3. "After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty
is to preach the Gospel."--Joseph Smith.
4. Third edition always quoted.
5. "There are two Priesthoods spoken of in the Scriptures, viz., the
Melchisedek and the Aaronic or Levitical. Although there are two
Priesthoods, yet the Melchisedec Priesthood comprehends the Aaronic
or Levitical Priesthood, and is the grand head, and holds the highest
authority which pertains to the Priesthood, and the keys of the Kingdom
of God in all ages of the world to the latest posterity on the earth,
and is the channel through which all knowledge, doctrine, the plan
of salvation, and every important matter is revealed from heaven."
(History of the Church, Vol. IV, pp. 207, _et. seq_.)
"Therefore, in viewing the Church as a whole, we may strictly
denominate it one Priesthood." (History of the Church, Vol. II, p. 478.)
6. The distinction in the terms "temporal" and "spiritual" are used
in connection with this subject that man may understand; that is,
God adapts himself to man's terms, but with God there is no such
distinction as temporal and spiritual, but all things are spiritual.
(See Doc. & Cov., Sec. 29:31-35.)
7. Job xi: 7.
LESSON III.
_THE ORGANIZATION AND DUTIES OF THE SEVENTY. (Continued.)_
ANALYSIS. REFERENCES.
_I. Of Other Than the Special Labors of Note 1. Doc. & Cov.
the Seventy._ Sec. 107; 8-10, 34. Note 2.
_II. Quorum Organization._ Note 3. Doc. & Cov.
1. Presidents. Sec. 107; 93-98; Note 4, 5.
2. Members.
3. Effectiveness of the Quorum Organization.
_III. The First Quorum of the Seventy._ Note 4. Doc. & Cov.
1. Jurisdiction--Local, General. Sec. 107; 25, 33[1] Art. of
2. Limitation in the Choice of Presidents. Faith. (Talmadge) p. 214.
3. Distinction and Authority of the Outlines Eccl. Hist. Sec.
First Quorum. v, p. 344.
Summary.
_IV. The Seventy to be an Educated, Note 6. Doc. & Cov.
Trained Ministry._ Sec. 88; 77, 8, 117, 118. Ibid.
1. Need of Knowing the Truth in Sec. 130; 18-21. Sec. 131;
Order to Teach It. 6. Brigham Young on Education,
2. Admonition of the Lord to the Contributor Vol. X,
Elders. pp. 281-283; Mormon
Point of View in Education,
Improvement Era
Vol. II, pp. 119 et seq.
Doc. & Cov. Sec. 84; 85
Note 7.
_SPECIAL TEXT: Let it become a special conviction with all, that to
become a Seventy means mental activity, intellectual development, and
finally spiritual power._
_"All are to preach the gospel by the power and influence of the
Holy Ghost; and no man can preach the gospel without the Holy
Ghost."_--JOSEPH SMITH.
_NOTES._
1. _Of Labors Other than Special that Seventies May Perform:_ While
preaching the gospel unto all nations is the special business of the
Twelve and Seventy, it must not be thought that that is the only
function which the Seventy may discharge. As on occasion the High
Priests and Elders and members of the lesser Priesthood can be used
to assist in the work of the foreign ministry (Doc. & Cov., Sec.
84:106-111), so also, when at home, and not engaged in the special work
of their calling, the Seventy may be employed in the home ministry,
and assist the standing ministry in the wards and stakes of Zion in
perfecting the Saints and edifying the body of Christ until they shall
all come unto a unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God,
"unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Paul, in
his most excellent description of the Church organization, likens it
unto the body of a man. Accepting his illustration it may be said that
the foreign ministry may be regarded as the right arm of the Church,
and the home ministry as the left arm. Now, because one is the right
arm and one the left, shall either refuse to assist the other at need?
Or shall this organization (the Church), which is said to be the "body
of Christ," be as effectual in the performance of its functions as the
natural body of man is, and in every case of need have the right hand
come to the assistance of the left, and _vise versa_? Right reason will
approve an affirmative answer.
2. _Power of the Melchisedek Priesthood:_ The Melchisedek Priesthood
holds the right of Presidency, and has power and authority over all
the offices in the Church in all ages of the world, to administer in
spiritual things. The Presidency of the High Priesthood, after the
order of Melchisedek, have a right to officiate in all the offices in
the Church. High Priests after the order of the Melchisedek Priesthood,
have a right to officiate in their own standing, under the direction
of the Presidency, in administering spiritual things; and also in the
office of an Elder, Priest, (of the Levitical order), Teacher, Deacon,
and member. (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 106:8-10.)
While the statements here made about the higher officers of the Church
administering in the lower offices--a High Priest officiating in
the office of Elder, Priest, Teacher or Deacon--are limited to High
Priests, yet the principle holds good as to Seventies also. Besides
note the statement, "The Melchisedek Priesthood holds the right of
presidency and has power and authority over all the offices in the
Church, in all ages of the world, to administer in spiritual things;"
and as the Seventy holds this Melchisedek Priesthood, he may, under the
direction of the presidency (See Ibid verse 10), administer in any of
the offices of the Church; also this has always been the practice of
the Church; and the practice of the Church, generally speaking, is the
best interpretation of the scripture.
3. _Organization of the Seventy._ The quorums of Seventy are organized
with special reference to their calling as the foreign ministry of
the Church. It will be observed that their organization is different
from that of every other quorum in the Church, for whereas in all
other quorums of the higher Priesthood the presidency consists of
one president and two counselors, in the quorum of the Seventy
there are seven presidents of equal power and authority. That is to
say, there is not one president and six counselors, but each of the
seven is a president and in power and authority is equal with his
fellow-presidents; but for the sake of order the right of presidency
is recognized as being vested in the senior president by ordination.
"And it is according to the vision, showing the order of the Seventy,
that they should have seven presidents to preside over them, chosen out
of the number of the Seventy. And the seventh president (counting from
the one last ordained) of these presidents is to preside over the six."
In the absence of the senior president the next senior in ordination
becomes the acting president. By this simple arrangement all confusion
as to the right of presiding is obviated, for no sooner does the
council of a quorum or any part thereof convene, than each president
knows at once upon whom the responsibility of presiding rests, let them
meet where they may.
By virtue of having seven presidents a quorum of Seventy is not easily
disorganized, and this doubtless was one of the objects in view in this
arrangement. One, two, three, or even six of the presidents could be
sent abroad upon missions (although that is not likely to be the case
at any one time) and yet the quorum would have a president left, who,
with the quorum, would be competent to transact whatever of business
might be necessary for that quorum.
Other duties and advantages growing out of this organization are
apparent on a little reflection. Suppose, for instance, that a quorum
of Seventy should be sent out bodily to preach the gospel, as the
quorum of the Twelve at times have been. You would then have an
organization which could be broken up into seven groups of ten men
each, with a president for each group. These groups could be broken
up into five pairs, and the Elders travel two and two, as the law of
the gospel requires. It can be readily seen that such a quorum could
be a flying column, capable of being broken up, first into groups and
sent into different districts; and the groups again broken up into
pairs and spread out over a wide area of country. The pairs could be
called together in groups of ten for conference, for adjustment and
rearrangement of traveling companions, and the groups occasionally
brought together in quorum conference, report, or transact whatever
business might be necessary, and again be scattered into fields of
labor. In all of which there appears the very finest adaptation of
means to an end; and also there appears more than mere human wisdom
displayed in this organization of the quorums of the foreign ministry.
4. _Of the First Quorum of the Seventy:_ In the revelation before
quoted it is said: "And it is according to the vision, showing the
order of the Seventy, that they should have seven presidents to preside
over them, chosen out of the number of the seventy. * * * And these
seven presidents are to choose other Seventy besides the first Seventy,
to whom they belong, and are to preside over them; and also other
Seventy, until seven times seventy, if the labor in the vineyard of
necessity requires it."
It must not be understood that this passage limits the number of
quorums to seven times seventy, for the Prophet, at the time the
quorums were being organized, stated that "If the first Seventy are
all employed and there is a call for more laborers, it will be the
duty of the seven presidents of the first Seventy to call and ordain
other Seventy, and send them forth to labor in the vineyard, until if
needs be, they set apart seven times seventy, and even until there are
144,000 thus set apart for the ministry." (See Church History, Vol. II:
221 and Notes.)
It will be observed in the quotation from the Doctrine & Covenants
above that provision is made that the presidents of Seventy are to
be "chosen out of the number of the Seventy." It is because of this
special provision that when inadvertently High Priests have been
selected for presidents of Seventy they have taken their place again
in the quorum of High Priests and others from among the Seventy, as
provided by the law of God, chosen to fill their place. It will also
be observed that the council of the First Seventy, in addition to
presiding over their own quorum (the first), have a general presidency
over all the quorums of the Church. It is this first quorum, members
and presidents together, which constitutes what, by way of explanation,
we may call _the_ quorum of Seventy, the quorum of which it is said
that they are equal in authority to the quorum of the twelve special
witnesses, or Apostles.
5. _Summary._ It may be said by way of recapitulation that the Seventy
hold the Melchisedek Priesthood; that with the Twelve, under whose
directions they labor, they constitute the foreign ministry of the
Church: that their special calling is to travel and preach the gospel
in all nations, first to the Gentiles and then to the Jews; that they
can, on occasion be employed in the work of the ministry at home,
because their Priesthood authorizes them to do good and bring to pass
righteousness wherever they may be, and when acting in order and under
the direction of the Twelve Apostles they may do whatever is necessary
to be done in order to accomplish the purposes of God, whose ministers
they are; but their organization has particular reference to their
special work of preaching the Gospel in all the world.
6. _An Intelligent and Informed Ministry Contemplated in the Church:_
After this brief review of the organization and duties of the
Seventies, it must be clearly manifest that it is the imperative duty
of those holding this office in the Priesthood to make careful and
thorough preparation to discharge the responsibilities of their high
calling as the ambassadors of the Lord Jesus. Being special witnesses
of the name of Christ in all the world, preachers (i. e., teachers)
of the gospel, and authorized under the direction of the Twelve
Apostles to act in the name of the Lord in "building up the Church and
regulating all the affairs of the same in all nations" (Doc. & Cov.
Sec. cvii), it behooves them to become witnesses who understand the
truth of which they testify, skilled workman, ambassadors of whom the
Master need not be ashamed. It is evident that the Lord never designed
that his ministry should be an ignorant ministry; for to the early
Elders of his Church, in this last dispensation, when instructing a
number of them to prepare for labor in the vineyard, he said:
"And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another
the doctrine of the kingdom; teach ye diligently and my grace shall
attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory,
in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things
that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you
to understand. Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and
under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things
which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things
which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations,
and the judgments which are on the land, and a knowledge also of
countries and of kingdoms. That ye may be prepared in all things
when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have
called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you. * *
* Therefore, verily, I say unto you, my friends, call your solemn
assembly, as I have commanded you; and as all have not faith, seek,
ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye
out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning even by study,
and also by faith." (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 88:77, 78, 80 and 117, 118.)
The instructions then given to the Elders of the Church are still
applicable to men engaged in the same ministry, and charged with like
responsibility.
Elsewhere I have said, on the foregoing passage from the Doctrine and
Covenants:
"I think I may safely challenge any one to point out a broader
field of knowledge than is here indicated. It includes
all spiritual truth, all scientific truth, all secular
knowledge--knowledge of the past, of the present, of the
future; of the heavens, and of the earth. A knowledge of all
countries, their geography, languages, history, customs, laws
and governments--everything in fact that pertains to them. There
is nothing in the heights above or the depths below that is not
included in this field of knowledge into which the commandment
of God directs his servants to enter. I may claim for it that
it includes the whole realm of man's intellectual activities.
And the doctrine that whatever principles of intelligence man
attains unto in this life will rise with him in the morning of
the resurrection--this doctrine that nothing acquired in respect
of knowledge is ever lost, must forever form the most powerful
incentive to intellectual effort that possibly can be conjured
up by the wit of man. So that, referring to the acquirement of
knowledge, and intellectual development, Mormonism at once both
indicates the broadest field and furnishes the grandest incentive
to intellectual effort." ("The Mormon Point of View in Education,"
Improvement Era, Vol. II, p. 119.)
Commenting once upon the above passages from the Doctrine and
Covenants, the writer remarked:
"I trust no one will receive the impression that I leave out of
consideration, or have not attached proper importance to the part
which the Spirit of God takes in these things (the preaching of
the gospel). I think there is no one with whom I am acquainted
that believes more fervently than I do that in order to succeed in
preaching the gospel one must do so by the gift and by the power of
the Holy Ghost. I know that the Lord has given instruction to the
Elders of the Church that separates their methods of work, as wide
as day is separated from the night, from those methods of preaching
adopted by the world--I know that he has said: "Think not what
ye shall say, but in the very hour that it is needed it shall be
given to you that which you shall say." But while I remember that,
I remember also the admonition which he has given to the Elders in
the self same passage, to the effect that they should "treasure up
continually the words of life," a part of the instruction that I
have sometimes thought is too much neglected. I believe we shall
best succeed if, when treasuring up the words of life, we do it
systematically; that instead of being like an unwise builder who
throws into one promiscuous heap lime, sand, bricks and frames,
together with a hundred and one other materials that enter into
the construction of his building, that each be placed by itself,
carefully stored away where the workmen can readily find it and
bring each part to the building as the builder has need. So, I
say, systematize your efforts in reading, in thought, in speech,
and after you have done all that, I believe that you will have all
the more claim upon the Spirit and blessing of God. After you have
made the attempt to carry out the instructions which our Father in
heaven has given in respect of storing your minds with the words
of life, you can then go to him saying: "Father, I have done all I
can with the powers thou hast placed at my command, now help me by
thy grace; and bless all that I have done, and the honor and praise
and the glory shall be thine." Under these circumstances, if your
efforts be accompanied by secret prayer before God, who hears in
secret and rewards openly, he will bless your ministry beyond all
your expectation." ("Preparation for the Ministry," a discourse
delivered in Salt Lake Tabernacle, Oct. 28, 1894.)
Footnotes
1. Compare verse 33 with verse 32: also verses 25 and 26, with verses
23 and 24, Doc. & Cov., Sec. 107.
_PART II._
_A Study of the Hebrew Scriptures.---The Old Testament._
LESSON I.
_THE ANTIQUITY, CLASSIFICATION AND CHARACTER OF THE OLD TESTAMENT._
ANALYSIS. REFERENCES.
_I. Definitions of the Term "Bible."_ The Seventies Bible
Dictionary word, "Bible;"[1]
also other
Bible Helps; "Smith's
Dictionary of the Bible;"[2]
"Cyclopaedia Biblical
Literature," (Kitto);
"The Gospel," (Roberts),
Chap. vi[3].
_II. Antiquity of the Old Testament Notes 1 and 2. Josephus'
Writings._ Antiquities of
the Jews. Book XX,
Chap. x. Josephus' Preface
to Antiquities of the
Jews; "Commentary
Critical and Explanatory;"[4]
The Gospel,
(Roberts), Chap. vi and
vii, Book of Mormon, I Nephi,
chap. v:10-13; Y. M. M. I. A.
Manual, 1903-4, on the Book of
Mormon, Part. I. Chap. I,
II. Pearl of Great Price,
Chap. 1; History of the
Church Vol. I, p. 98.
_III. Classification of the Old Testament Josephus vs Apion, Bk.
Books._ I. (See note 1). The Gospel,
(Roberts), Chap. vi;
1. The Law; Dr. Smith's Old Testament
2. The Prophets; History, Appendix 1,
3. The Writings or Hagiographa; pp. 651-3. The Seventy's
4. The Apocrypha. Bible Dictionary,
Art. Bible, subdivision
"Structure of the Bible;"
Ibid. Art. Apocrypha.
Oxford and other
Bible Helps.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have
eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."_--JESUS.
_NOTES._
1. _Antiquity of the Hebrew Sacred Books:_ Josephus in his first book
against Apion ascribes the most ancient books of the Hebrew race--the
Pentateuch, the five books--to Moses, and in contrasting the Hebrew
literature with that of the Greeks, he says:
"We, therefore, (who are Jews) must yield to the Grecian writers
as to language and eloquence of composition; but then we shall
give them no such preference as to the verity of ancient history,
and least of all as to that part which concerns the affairs of our
several countries. As to the care of writing down the records from
the earliest antiquity among the Egyptians and Babylonians; that
the priests were intrusted therewith, and employed a philosophical
concern about it; that they were the Chaldean priests that did so
among the Babylonians, and that the Phoenicians, who were mingled
among the Greeks, did especially make use of their letters both for
the common affairs of life and for the delivering down the history
of common transactions, I think I may omit any proof, because all
men allow it so to be. But now as to our forefathers, that they
took no less care about writing such records, (for I will not say
they took greater care than the others I spoke of,) and that they
committed that matter to their high priests and to their prophets,
and that these records have been written all along down to our own
times with the utmost accuracy. * * * * * For our forefathers did
not only appoint the best of these priests, and those that attended
upon the divine worship, for that design from the beginning, but
made provision that the stock of the priests should continue
unmixed and pure; for he who is partaker of the Priesthood must
propagate of a wife of the same nation, without having regard to
money, or any other dignities: but he is to make a scrutiny, and
take his wife's genealogy from the ancient tables, and procure
many witnesses to it. And this is our practice not only in Judea,
but wheresoever any body of men of our nation do live; and even
there an exact catalogue of our priests' marriages is kept; I mean
at Egypt and at Babylon, or in any other place of the rest of the
habitable earth, whithersoever our priests are scattered; for they
send to Jerusalem the ancient names of their parents in writing,
as well as those of their remoter ancestors, and signify who are
the witnesses also. * * * But what is the strongest argument of
our exact management in this matter is what I am now going to say.
That we have the names of our high priests from father to son set
down in our records, for the interval of two thousand years; and
if any of these have been transgressors of these rules, they are
prohibited to present themselves at the altar, or to be partakers
of any other of our purifications; and this is justly, or rather
necessarily done, because every one is not permitted of his own
accord to be a writer, nor is there any disagreement in what is
written; they being only prophets that have written the original
and earliest accounts of things, as they learned them of God
himself by inspiration; and others have written what hath happened
in their own time, and that in a very distinct manner also: For we
have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing
from and contradicting one another, (as the Greeks have,) but only
twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times,
which are justly believed to be divine. And of them, five belong to
Moses, which contain his laws and the traditions of the origin of
mankind till his death. This interval of time was little short of
three thousand years; but as to the time from the death of Moses
till the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, who reigned after
Xerxes; the prophets, who were after Moses, wrote down what was
done in their times in thirteen books. The remaining four books
contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of human life.
It is true, our history hath been written since Artaxerxes very
particularly, but hath not been esteemed of the like authority with
the former by our forefathers, because there hath not been an exact
succession of prophets since that time; and how firmly we have
given credit to these books of our own nation, is evident by what
we do; for during so many ages as have already passed, no one hath
been so bold as either to add anything to them, to take anything
from them, or to make any change in them; but it is become natural
to all Jews, immediately and from their very birth, to esteem these
books to contain divine doctrines, and to persist in them, and, if
occasion be, willingly to die for them. For it is no new thing for
our captives, many of them in number, and frequently in time, to
be seen to endure racks and deaths of all kinds upon the theatres,
that they may not be obliged to say one word against our laws and
the records that contain them." (Antiquity of the Jews, Flavius
Josephus Against Apion, Book 1, pp. 582-583.)
2. _The Effect of Recent Discoveries in Chaldea and Egypt on the
Authorship of the Five Books in the Bible Ascribed to Moses:_
"The Assyrian inscriptions which have been recently recovered and
given to the English-speaking peoples by Layard, George Smith,
Sayce, and others, show that in the ancient religions of Chaldea
and Babylonia there was elaborated a narrative of the creation
which, in its most important features, must have been the source
of that in our own sacred books. It has now become perfectly
clear that from the same sources which inspired the accounts of
the creation of the universe among the Chaldee-Babylonian, the
Assyrian, the Phoenician, and other ancient civilizations came the
ideas which hold so prominent a place in the sacred books of the
Hebrews. * * * * From this idea of creation was evolved in time a
somewhat nobler view. Ancient thinkers, and especially, as is now
found, in Egypt, suggested that the main agency in creation was
not the hands and fingers of the Creator, but his voice. Hence was
mingled with the earlier, cruder belief regarding the origin of the
earth and heavenly bodies by the Almighty the more impressive idea
that "he spake and they were made"--that they were brought into
existence by his word." (A History of the Warfare of Science with
Theology in Christendom, Vol. 1, pp. 2-3).
Referring again to the work of the noted Archaeologists mentioned
above, with others, Mr. White goes on to say that they "have deciphered
a multitude of ancient texts, especially the inscriptions found in the
great library of Assurbanipal at Nineveh, and have discovered therein
an account of the origin of the world identical in its most important
features with the later accounts in our own book of Genesis. These
men have had the courage to point out these facts and to connect them
with the truth that these Chaldean and Babylonian myths, legends,
and theories were far earlier than those of the Hebrews, which so
strikingly resemble them, and which we have in our sacred books; and
they have also shown us how natural it was that the Jewish accounts
of the creation should have been obtained at that remote period when
the earliest Hebrews were among the Chaldeans, and how the great
Hebrew poetic accounts of creation were drawn either from the sacred
traditions of these earlier peoples or from antecedent sources common
to various ancient nations." (A History of the Warfare of Science with
Theology in Christendom, Vol. 1, p. 20.)
There can be no doubt but what the accounts of creation found in these
Assyrian and Egyptian sources are earlier than those written by Moses,
or that they are similar in import, but because of these facts is it
necessary to discredit either the Mosaic authorship of the five books
of the Bible accredited to that Prophet, or doubt the inspiration of
these accounts? And yet this has been the result of these discoveries
on many minds. The truth is, that the outlined facts of the creation
have been known by our race from earliest times, from the days of Adam
in fact. They were matters of common knowledge among the antediluvian
patriarchs, and through the family of Noah were preserved for the
families and races of men subsequent to the flood; and variously
distorted these creation facts were preserved by all people. But all
this did not prevent the Lord from revealing the creation history to
Moses, nor does it require us to doubt the inspiration which rested
upon him and that enabled him to weave into splendid coherent form
the fragmentary truths held among the ancient Egyptians and Assyrian
peoples. That there were pre-Mosaic documents containing accounts of
creation and the history of God's hand-dealings with ancient peoples,
we have abundant proof of in the Book of Abraham, which so strangely
came into the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith (See Church
History, Vol. II, pp. 235-6, 348-350). Also that the Lord revealed
the creation facts, and also the early history of our race to Moses,
is confirmed by revelation to the Prophet of the nineteenth century,
Joseph Smith (See Pearl of Great Price, Book of Moses, pp. 1-48, also
History of the Church, Vol. I, 98 et seq.)
The student will find a well written article by Professor A. H. Sayce,
in "The Bible Treasury," pp. 37-42, that bears upon this subject. The
matter is also discussed at some length in Young Men's Manual for
1903-4 (No. 7)., chap. I.
Furthermore, it should be noted that the writers of the New Testament
bear emphatic testimony to the authenticity and divine authority of the
Old Testament, since these writers so frequently quoted it as a work of
divine authority. "Indeed," says an accepted authority in this class
of literature, "the references are so numerous, and the testimonies
so distinctly borne to the existence of the Mosaic books throughout
the whole history of the Jewish nation, and the unity of character,
design and style pervading these books is so clearly perceptible,
notwithstanding the rationalistic assertions of their forming a series
of separate and unconnected fragments, that it may with all safety be
said, there is immensely stronger and more varied evidence in proof of
their being the authorship of Moses than of any of the Greek or Roman
classics being the productions of the authors whose names they bear."
(Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown,
preface.)
3. _Hagiographa:_ Hagiographa--the Greek name of the last of the three
Jewish divisions of the Old Testament. They are variously reckoned,
but usually comprise the Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Canticles, Ruth,
Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and
Chronicles. (The Century Dictionary and Cyclopaedia, Vol. IX.)
4. _The Subdivisions of the Old Testament--Its Dignity and Authority:_
The student will observe that the classification of the books in the
several authorities cited, all vary somewhat in the grouping and
subdivisions of them; but I believe it will be found that the grouping
in the analysis of the Seventies' Bible Dictionary will be found most
complete and satisfactory. One thing should be borne in mind with
reference to this whole volume of ancient Hebrew scripture, and that
is, whatever the sub-division may be, history, legislation, poetry,
prophecy, biography, or proverbs, it is written under the inspiration
of God. That does not mean that human elements are not to be found in
it, but rather that a divine spirit is present in the midst of those
human elements giving forth light and truth and wisdom such as is to be
found in no merely human production. There is a divine spirit always
present in these scripture narratives, prophecies and poetry that make
the whole to contain a revelation of God, and an account of his methods
of doing things among men, all of which gives to those writings an
authority that does not pertain to the ordinary writings of men.
Footnotes
1. It will be understood that by "Seventies' Bible," is meant
throughout the Bible selected for the "Seventies' Indispensible
Library," "The Teacher's Bible," Cambridge edition.
2. Hackett edition always quoted.
3. Third edition always quoted.
4. This work will always be so quoted, it is a recent work produced in
collaboration by Robert Jamieson, D. D., St. Paul's, Glasgow, Scotland;
A. R. Fausset, D.D., St. Cuthberts, York, England; and David Brown,
D.D., Professor of Theology, Aberdeen, Scotland. It is one of the best
works of its kind, and represents the latest orthodox interpretations
of the Scriptures, and while the Elders which make up our ministry
may not accept the doctrinal interpretation of this or any other
commentary, its historical and critical treatise are among the most
recent and valuable.
LESSON II--LECTURES.[1]
_THE HEBREW SACRED BOOKS--THE OLD TESTAMENT._
LECTURES. REFERENCES.
_I. The Apocrypha.--A Paper_[2] Seventy's Bible Dictionary
Art. Aprocrapha.
p. 9; also other Bible
Helps. Same title. Doc. & Cov.
Sec. xci; Hist. of
the Church, Vol. I, p. 331.
Bible Treasury, Art.
Aprocrypha, pp. 351-3.
Kitto's Biblical Literature,
Vol. I, p. 176-179.
_II. Canon of the Old Testament._ Note 1. Smith's Old
Testament Hist., pp. 644-6;
note 2; Smith's
Bible Dict., Art. Cannon,
Vol I, pp. 356-376; Bible
Treasury, pp. 28-32. Seventy's
Bible Dictionary.
Art. "Cannon"; The
Gospel, (Roberts), Chaps.
vi, vii. Kitto's Bible
Lit., Vol. I, pp. 376-381,
and Vol. II, pp. 706-719.
_III. The History of the English Bible._ Seventy's Bible Dictionary,
Art. Bible, English;
Bible Treasury, pp. 15-19;
Smith's Bible Dictionary,
Article "Version,
Authorized," Vol. IV,
pp. 3424-3444. See
note 9. "Encyclopaedia
Britannica," Art. "English
Bible."
_SPECIAL TEXT: "He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.
What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord?"_--JEREMIAH.
_NOTES._
1. _The Apocrypha._ "The collection of books to which this term is
popularly applied includes the following. The order given is that in
which they stand in the English version. I. Esdras. II. Esdras. Tobit.
Judith. The rest of the chapters of the Book of Esther, which are found
neither in the Hebrew nor in the Chaldee. The Wisdom of Solomon. The
Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus. Baruch. The Song
of the Three Holy Children. The History of Susanna. The History of the
Destruction of Bel and the Dragon. The Prayer of Manasseh, King of
Judah. I. Maccabees. II. Maccabees."[3]
A brief treatise on each of the foregoing books of the Apocrypha will
be found in the Seventy's Bible Dictionary, Art. Apocrypha, also in
"Bible Treasury," pp. 351, 353; Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus,
Baruch, I and II Macabees will be found in the Roman Catholic English
version, known as the Douay Bible, the Roman Church regarding them as
of equal authority with other books of the Old Testament.
2. _Definition of Apocrypha:_ "The word Apocrypha means "secret"
or "hidden," and is applied to a class of writings which have been
definitely rejected from the books of the Old and New Testaments; but
the reason why they were called secret books, rather than private
or secondary books, is not clear. * * * * Probably every attempt to
define the limits of canonical or inspired books will result in the
distinction of three classes of books: (1) the Canonical Scriptures,
about which every one is agreed; (2) the disputed books, about which
there is no general agreement; (3) the books which are universally
rejected. It is to the third class that the term Apocrypha properly
applies, the intermediate class being more correctly known as
Antilegomena, or disputed books. * * * * * It is commonly stated that
the reason for the rejection of the books referred to from the Old
Testament [the Apocrypha] was that they were not found current in
Hebrew, but only in Greek. It is quite possible that in some cases
the reason why the books were not extant in Hebrew was that they had
been previously judged uncanonical. A book soon disappears when it has
been condemned. Even the Greek text of some parts of the Apocrypha has
perished--(e. g. II Esdras). We must not be surprised, therefore, if
some of the apocryphal books should turn out to have been at one time
extant in Hebrew." (Bible Treasury, p. 351.)
3. _Attitude of the Roman Catholic Church Respecting the Apocrypha:_
Some Catholic theologians previous to the Council of Trent, 1545-1563,
were in doubt as to the inspiration of some of the books of the
Apocrypha admitted into the Catholic Canon; but Dr. Smith, in his Bible
Dictionary, says: "The Council of Trent closed the question which had
been left open, and deprived its theologians of the liberty they had
hitherto enjoyed--extending the Canon of Scripture so as to include all
the hitherto doubtful or deutero-canonical books, with the exception
of the two books of Esdras and the Prayer of Manasseh, the evidence
against which seemed too strong to be resisted (Sess. IV. de Can.
Script). In accordance with this decree, the editions of the Vulgate,
published by authority, contained the books which the Council had
pronounced canonical, as standing on the same footing as those which
had never been questioned, while the three which had been rejected were
printed commonly in smaller type and stood after the New Testament."
(Dictionary p, 122.)
Catholics, however, insisted that the list of canonical books agreeing
"in substance with the list of divinely inspired books, held by
Catholics to the present day," was authorized by the twenty-sixth
statute of the Council of Hippo, held in Africa in the year 393, and
the third Council of Carthage 397, A.. D., and the sixth Council of
Carthage 419, A. D., give the same list or canon of books as the
Council of Hippo. "Although the inspiration of some of these books
was held to be doubtful by a few of the Fathers, previous to these
two Councils, the same Fathers ceased to have any doubt upon it after
the decision of these Councils; so that, while some of the Apocrypha
have been considered uninspired, as the third and fourth of Esdras,
and third and fourth of Macabees, some other of these books have been
recognized as inspired, and are called by Catholics Deutero-canonical.
These have, therefore, the very same sanction and authority that all
the books of the New Testament have, in addition to the long-standing
veneration of the Jewish Church for them." (Catholic Belief, Bruno, pp.
13-14.)
Catholics will be compelled, however, to admit that several books of
the Apocrypha now accepted by them and published in the Douay Bible,
are not in the list given by the three Councils above mentioned.
Moreover, in the list of General Councils published in Bruno's work,
in enumerating the achievement of the Council of Trent, he says: "The
Catholic doctrine regarding _the Holy Scripture_, Tradition, Original
Sin, Justification, and the Seven Sacraments, was clearly explained."
(Catholic Belief, Bruno, p. 130.) So that it was not until the Council
of Trent, 1545-1563, that the final word respecting the Catholic canon
was spoken.
4. _The Protestant Attitude Toward the Apocrypha:_ "The Reformers of
Germany and England * * * influenced in part by the revival of the
study of Hebrew and the consequent recognition of the authority of the
Hebrew canon, and subsequently by the reaction against this stretch of
authority, [exercised by the Council of Trent], maintained the opinion
of Jerome and pushed it to its legitimate results [which led to the
rejection of the books of the Apocrypha as scripture]. "Luther spoke
of individual books among those in question with a freedom as great
as that of Jerome, judging each on its own merits, praising Tobit
as a "pleasant comedy" and the Prayer of Manasseh as a "good model
for penitents," and rejecting the two books of Esdras as containing
worthless fables. The example of collecting the doubtful books in a
separate group had been set in the Strasburg edition of the Septuagint,
1526. In Luther's complete edition of the German Bible * * * (1534) the
books (Judith, Wisdom, Tobias, Sirach, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Additions to
Esther and Daniel, and the Prayer of Manasseh) were grouped together
under the general title of "Apocrypha, i. e. 'Books which are not of
like worth with Holy Scripture,' yet are good and useful to be read. In
the history of the English Church, Wicliffe showed himself in this as
in other points the forerunner of the Reformation, and applied the term
'Apocrypha' to all but the 'twenty-five' Canonical books of the Old
Testament. The judgment of Jerome was formally asserted in the sixth
Article. The disputed books were collected and described in the same
way in the printed English Bible of 1539 (Cranmer's), and since then
there has been no fluctuation as to the application of the word. The
books to which the term is ascribed are in popular speech not merely
apocryphal, but the Apocrypha."
6. _Attitude of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the
Apocrypha:_ See Doctrine and Covenants, sec. xci.
7. _Definition of the Term Canon:_ "The word Canon in classical Greek
signifies properly a straight rod, as a carpenter's rule; and hence
is applied metaphorically to a testing rule in ethics or in art, or
in language (e. g. the canons of Grammar.) As applied to Scripture,
the word indicates the rule by which the contents of the Bible must be
determined, and thus, secondarily, an index of the constituent books.
The canon of Scripture may be generally described as "the collection of
books which forms the original and authoritative written rule of the
faith and practice of the Church." (Dr. Smith's Old Testament History,
p. 645.)
8. _Arrangement of the Canon Ascribed to Ezra:_ "Among the achievements
ascribed to Ezra is the collection, editing, and arrangement of the
whole Jewish Scriptures in one canon, under the threefold division of
the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa. In performing this work, he
is assumed to have added those passages which can not have been written
by the authors whose names the books bear; such as the allusion to
kings of Israel in Gen. xxxvi: 31; the account of the death and burial
of Moses in the last chapter of Deuteronomy; and the many references
to the state of 'things at this day.' * * * * * But the main question
is, whether the present canon of the Old Testament was, in substance,
the work of Ezra. It must be remembered that such a work involved much
more than the collection into one volume of books already existing in a
separate form; it included the selection from the whole number of those
which bore, and were to bear forever, the stamp of divine authority:
for no one imagines that the Scriptures of the Old Testament form a
complete collection of the ancient Hebrew literature. That such a work,
having such authority, had been completed before the Christian era, is
clear from the allusions to the Holy Scriptures in the New Testament;
and it was most probably accomplished during the Persian domination,
which ended B. C. 323. There is every reason for its having been
performed at as early a period as possible. Ezra's care to make the
people well acquainted with the word of God is as conspicuous as his
own knowledge of it. No man could be more qualified, as no time could
be more fit, for a work which was most needful to establish the people
in their faith. That the work must have been performed by an inspired
man, is an axiom lying at the foundation of the whole question, unless
we believe, on the one hand, that the Church is endowed in every age
with power to decide what Scriptures are canonical, or unless, on the
other hand, we give up a canon, in the proper sense of the word, and
reduce the authority of Scripture to that which literary criticism can
establish for its separate books. On this ground, none but Ezra can be
the author of the canon; for no one has ever thought of ascribing the
work to Nehemiah, the civil governor and man of action; and the only
claim made for Malachi is the addition of his own prophecy to the canon
already framed by Ezra, and even this supposition we have seen to be
unnecessary, as Ezra may have been the survivor. The attempt to ascribe
the work to some unknown inspired person later than Malachi is an
example of the _argumentum ab ignorantia_, which has no weight against
the evidence of what is known." (Dr. Smith's Old Testament History, pp.
645-646.)
9. _The Authorized Version:_ The treatise on the Authorized Version
in Smith's Bible Dictionary is full, and perhaps the best one extant;
and while praising highly the work of the English translators of the
A. V., exhibits quite clearly some of its defects, and points out the
necessity for a new version. How far the "Revised Version" of 1870-1885
corrected the defects of the A. V. may be known only to Hebrew and
Greek scholars; but the fact that the work was undertaken and carried
to a conclusion at the expense of so much time, and scholarly effort,
justifies the qualified acceptance of our English Bible set forth in
one of our Articles of Faith, viz., "We believe the Bible to be the
word of God, as far as it is translated correctly."
Footnotes
1. It has already been suggested in our Introduction to these lessons
that excuses for non-preparation should not be tolerated; and we again
call attention of the quorums to this necessary attitude respecting
thorough preparation of lessons; and now emphasize our suggestions by
applying them to these lectures. Those who are assigned to deliver the
lectures can receive their appointment two or three weeks before they
are called upon to deliver them, and it should be a matter of pride
with those so appointed to come to their tasks thoroughly prepared.
The lecturer is supposed to occupy about thirty minutes, and the
assignments should be made with due regard to the difficulties of the
subject.
2. No better mental exercise exists than that of writing. It leads to
very definite thinking, and to exactness of expression, and is an art
that should be cultivated by the Seventies. It is suggested, therefore,
that at least one of the lectures, when the quorum session is devoted
to such exercises, should be given in the form of a paper, a written
treatise. The subject for the paper will be indicated as above.
3. Smith's Bible Dictionary.
LESSON III.
_THE PENTATEUCH._
ANALYSIS. REFERENCES.
_I. Authorship._ Seventy's Bible Dictionary,
Art. Pentateuch.
The Oxford and other
Bible Helps, same title;
Bible Treasury, pp. 30,
36, 52; Smith's Old Testament
History Appendix
I, pp. 653-658; Y. M.
Manual, 1903-4, (No. 7),
Chap. i. I Nephi v: 10-16.
The Gospel, (Roberts),
Chap. vi.
_II. Subject Matter of the Pentateuch:_ Read during the consideration
of this and
I. Historical: the two following lessons
the books of Genesis,
(a) Antediluvian History. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
(b) Postdiluvian History, Shem Deuteronomy. See
to Joshua. also Note 4; Seventy's
Bible Dictionary
II. Prophetical: and other Bible
Helps, Bible Treasury,
(a) Prophecy of the Christ. Books of the Pentateuch;
(b) Prophecy in relation to also Smith's Bible
Israel. Dictionary, Articles on
the Pentateuch, Old Testament,
and the Separate
Books of it; Smith's
Old Testament Hist. Appendix
I; also Kitto's
Biblical Literature, same
Articles and Books. The
Gospel; Josephus' Antiquities
Books I to IV
inclusive. Also Pearl of
Great Price, Book of
Moses; Ibid Book of
Abraham. Genesis, Chap.
iii. Numbers xxi: 8,
compare Helaman, viii:
13-18. Deut, xviii: 15, 16.
Compare Acts iii: 22, and
History of the Church,
Vol I, pp. 12, 13.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "I will raise up a Prophet from among their brethren,
like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth; and he shall
speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass
that whosoever will not harken unto my words which he shall speak in my
name, I will require it of him."_--THE LORD TO MOSES.
_NOTES._
1. _The Pentateuch:_ Definition:--"The Pentateuch is the Greek name
given to the five books--commonly called the Five Books of Moses. In
the time of Ezra and Nehemiah it was called "the Law of Moses," or
"the Book of the Law of Moses," or simply "the Book of Moses." This
was beyond all reasonable doubt our existing pentateuch. The book
which was discovered in the Temple in the reign of Josiah, and which
is entitled "the Book of the Law of Jehovah by the hand of Moses," was
substantially, it would seem, the same volume, though it may afterward
have undergone some revision by Ezra. The present Jews, as we have
already seen, usually call the whole by the name of Torah, i. e., "the
Law," or Torath Mosheh, "the Law of Moses." (Smith's Old Testament
History, p.. 654.)
2. _Greek Titles of the Books:_ "The division of the whole work into
five parts was probably made by the Greek translators, for the titles
of the several books are not of Hebrew, but of Greek origin. The Hebrew
names are merely taken from the first words of each book, and in the
first instance only designated particular sections, and not whole
books." (Dr. Smith's Old Testament History, p. 654.)
3. _The Question of Authorship:_ "Till the middle of the last
century (eighteenth) it was the general opinion of both Jews and
Christians that the whole of the Pentateuch was written by Moses,
with the exception of a few manifestly later additions--such as the
thirty-fourth chapter of Deuteronomy, which gives the account of
Moses' death. The first attempt to call in question the popular belief
was made by Astruc, doctor and professor of medicine in the Royal
College at Paris, and court physician to Louis XIV. He had observed
that throughout the Book of Genesis, and as far as the sixth chapter
of Exodus, traces were to be found of two original documents, each
characterized by a distinct use of the names of God; the one by the
name Elohim, and the other by the name Jehovah. Besides these two
principal documents, he supposed Moses to have made use of ten others
in the composition of the earlier part of his work. The path traced
by Astruc has been followed by numerous German writers. * * * * * It
is sufficient here to state that there is sufficient evidence for
believing that the main bulk of the Pentateuch, at any rate, was
written by Moses, though he probably availed himself of existing
documents in the composition of the earlier part of the work. Some
detached portions would appear to be of later origin; and when we
remember how entirely during some periods of Jewish history, the Law
seems to have been forgotten, and again how necessary it would be after
the seventy years of exile to explain some of its archaisms, and to add
here and there short notes to make it more intelligible to the people,
nothing can be more natural than to suppose that such later additions
were made by Ezra and Nehemiah." (Dr. Smith's Old Testament History,
pp. 653-655.)
The same conclusion is reached by James Robertson, D.D., in the Bible
Treasury; and also by Prof. Samuel Colcord Bartlett, D.D., of the
Theological Seminary, Chicago, in Smith's Bible Dictionary, Vol. IV,
p. 243. The question is considered at some length in the Young Men's
Manual, 1903-4 (No. 7), chap. I.
4. _Prophecy of Moses:_ "And when Moses had recapitulated whatsoever
he had done for the preservation of the people, both in their wars
and in peace, and had composed them a body of laws, and procured them
an excellent form of government, he foretold, as God had declared to
him, That if they transgressed that institution for the worship of
God, they should experience the following miseries: their land should
be full of weapons of war from their enemies, and their cities should
be overthrown, and their temple should be burnt; that they should be
sold for slaves to such men as would have no pity on them in their
afflictions: that they would then repent, when that repentance would no
way profit them under their sufferings. Yet (said he) will that God who
founded your nation, restore your cities to your citizens, with their
temple also, and you shall lose these advantages not once only, but
often." (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, p. 97.)
5. _Suggested Readings:_ It is expected, of course, that the student
will read all the books of the Pentateuch during the weeks which the
lessons upon it will occupy; and in addition to that, so far as he
may have access to them, read also the references given in the lesson
analysis, which, in the main, give summaries, analyses, literary
criticism, estimate theological and prophetical values of the separate
books, etc. All the Bibles having "Helps," published in connection
with the sacred text have analyses and comments upon the books of
the Pentateuch; and these as far as possible should be read and
compared. For their historical value the first four books of Josephus'
Antiquities should also be read.
LESSON IV.
_THE PENTATEUCH._
ANALYSIS. REFERENCES.
_II. Subject Matter of the Pentateuch. All the references under
(Continued.)_ subdivision II of
3. Mosaic Legislation: Lesson III.
(a) Major Legislation--the Ten
Commandments;
(b) Minor Legislation--the Hebrew
Civil Code.
4. The Pentateuch as Literature:
(a) The Song of Moses and Miriam; Note 1, 2, 3. Exodus xv
(b) The Story of Joseph in and Genesis xxxvi-xlviii.
Egypt. Commentary Critical and
Explanatory on Exodus
_III. The Gospel in the Patriarchal Age--from xv. Smith's Bible Dictionary,
Adam to Noah._ Art. "Law of
Moses," Vol. II, pp. 1602-1612.
_IV. The Gospel in the Mosaic See Note 6, Pearl
Dispensation--Relation of the "Gospel" of Great Price, Chap. v-viii.
and the Law._ Galatians iii. The
Gospel, (Roberts), pp. 228-235.
Alma xii:28-37;
also Alma Chap. xiii.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the
causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every
man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not
respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the
great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is
God's."_--MOSES.
_NOTES._
1. _The Nature of Government Established by Moses:_ "Then came the law
from Mount Sinai. God became the God of Israel, everything done to
establish religion, tabernacle made for his residence. Defection from
religion high treason. Hence complete separation from all nations.
Moses was but a mediator between God and his people; proper title
legislator of the Israelites and their deliverer from the Egyptians.
* * * * For administration of justice Moses divided people in tens,
fifties, hundreds, thousands, and placed judges over each. Mode
taken from Egypt. Amongst the higher of these judges there was much
political power likewise. * * * * Each tribe had a sort of independent
government, with its own magistrates and representatives; sometimes
acted without aid or sanction of others, (e. g., tribe of Benjamin
protected criminals of Gibeah and fought against others.) * * * * *
Sometimes several tribes acted together without others. * * * * *
What the influence of such a government? Exceedingly favorable to
development of character and individual energies. Not favorable for
harmony or tranquility." (Ancient and Modern Nations, Dew, pp. 13-14.)
2. _The Law of Moses:_ "Though new in its general conception, it was
probably not wholly new in its materials. Neither in his material nor
his spiritual providence does God proceed _per saltum_. There must
necessarily have been, before the Law, commandments and revelations
of a fragmentary character, under which Israel had hitherto grown up.
Indications of such are easily found, both of a ceremonial and moral
nature; as, for example, in the penalties against murder, adultery,
and fornication (Gen. ix. 6; xxxviii. 8), in the distinction of clean
and unclean animals (Gen. viii. 20), and probably in the observance of
the Sabbath (Ex. xvi. 23, 27, 29.) But, even without such indications,
our knowledge of the existence of Israel as a distinct community in
Egypt would necessitate the conclusion, that it must have been guided
by some laws of its own, growing out of the old patriarchal customs,
which would be preserved with oriental tenacity, and gradually becoming
methodized by the progress of circumstances. Nor would it be possible
for the Israelites to be in contact with an elaborate system of ritual
and law, such as that which existed in Egypt, without being influenced
by its general principles, and, in less degree, by its minuter details.
As they approached nearer to the condition of a nation they would
be more and more likely to modify their patriarchal customs by the
adoption from Egypt of laws which were fitted for national existence.
This being so, it is hardly conceivable that the Mosaic legislation
should have embodied none of these earlier materials. It is clear,
even to human wisdom, that the only constitution, which can be
efficient and permanent, is one which has grown up slowly, and so been
assimilated to the character of a people. It is the peculiar mark of
legislative genius to mold by fundamental principles, and animate by a
higher inspiration, materials previously existing in a cruder state.
The necessity for this lies in the nature, not of the legislator,
but of the subjects; and the argument therefore is but strengthened
by the acknowledgement in the case of Moses of a divine and special
inspiration. So far, therefore, as they were consistent with the
objects of the Jewish law, the customs of Palestine and the laws of
Egypt would doubtless be traceable in the Mosaic system." (Smith's
Bible Dictionary, p. 1602.)
3. _Basic Principle of the Law of Moses:_ "The basis of human society
is ordinarily sought, by law or philosophy, either in the rights
of the individual, and the partial delegation of them to political
authorities; or in the mutual needs of men, and the relations which
spring from them; or in the actual existence of power of man over man,
whether arising from natural relationship, or from benefits conferred,
or from physical or intellectual ascendency. The maintenance of society
is supposed to depend on a "social compact" between governors and
subjects; a compact, true as an abstract idea, but untrue if supposed
to have been a historical reality. The Mosaic Law seeks the basis
of its polity, first, in the absolute sovereignty of God, next in
the relationship of each individual to God, and through God to his
countrymen. It is clear that such a doctrine, while it contradicts
none of the common theories, yet lies beneath them all, and shows
why each of them, being only a secondary deduction from an ultimate
truth, cannot be in itself sufficient; and, if it claims to be the
whole truth, will become an absurdity. It is the doctrine which is
insisted upon and developed in the whole series of prophecy; and which
is brought to its perfection only when applied to that universal and
spiritual kingdom for which the Mosaic system was a preparation."
(Smith's Bible Dictionary, p. 1607).
4. _Israel and the Law:_ "It was indeed often neglected [the Law] and
even forgotten. Its fundamental assertion of the Theocracy was violated
by the natural course of human selfishness (Jer. xxxiv. 12-17); till
at last, in the reign of Josiah, its very existence was unknown, and
its discovery was to the king and the people as a second publication;
yet still it formed the standard from which they knowingly departed,
and to which they constantly returned; and to it, therefore, all which
was peculiar in their national and individual character was due. Its
direct influence was probably greatest in the periods before the
establishment of the kingdom, and after the Babylonish captivity. The
last act of Joshua was to bind the Israelites to it as the charter of
their occupation of the conquered land (Josh. xxiv. 24-27); and, in the
semi-anarchical period of the judges, the Law and the Tabernacle were
the only centers of anything like national unity. The establishment of
the kingdom was due to an impatience of this position, and a desire for
a visible and personal center of authority, much the same in nature as
that which plunged them so often in idolatry. The people were warned (I
Sam. xii. 6-25) that it involved much danger of their forgetting and
rejecting the main principle of the Law--that "Jehovah their God was
their King." The truth of the prediction was soon shown. Even under
Solomon, as soon as the monarchy became one of great splendor and
power, it assumed a heathenish and polytheistic character, breaking the
Law, both by its dishonor towards God, and its forbidden tyranny over
man." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, p. 1609.)
5. _The Gospel and the Law:_ "Abraham received the Priesthood from
Melchisedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even
till Noah; * * * * This greater Priesthood administereth the gospel
and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of
the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power
of godliness is manifest; and without the ordinances thereof, and the
authority of the Priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest
unto men in the flesh; for without this no man can see the face of
God, even the Father, and live. Now this Moses plainly taught to the
children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify
his people that they might behold the face of God; but they hardened
their hearts and could not endure his presence, therefore the Lord in
his wrath (for his anger was kindled against them) swore that they
should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is
the fulness of his glory. Therefore he took Moses out of their midst,
and the Holy Priesthood also; and the lesser Priesthood continued,
which Priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the
preparatory gospel." (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 84.)
The above quotation from the 84th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants
throws much light, not only upon the Pentateuch, but upon the whole of
the Old Testament, the law of Moses, and the whole polity and history
of Israel. In the light of the truth the said quotation reveals, it is
to be seen that "when the Lord took the children of Israel from the
land of Egypt to make of them a people for himself, he presented them
first with the gospel of Christ, with all its mercy and inspiring love
and gentleness; but they would not live in accordance with its high
moral precepts, nor reflect in their lives its spiritual excellence.
Accordingly, a less perfect law was given to Israel; a law which in
the New Testament is called "the law of carnal commandments;" a law
more in keeping with the status of their moral development; a law which
breathed less of mercy, forgiveness and love, and more of exacting,
relentless justice; demanding an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a
tooth--and this was to be their schoolmaster, to prepare them for the
more excellent law of the gospel of Christ. Many things in that law
of the Old Testament are confessedly imperfect, and must not be taken
as reflecting the full glory and excellence of the Divine wisdom or
goodness. On the contrary it is plainly stated, and that too by the
voice of inspiration in the New Testament, that it was a law carnal
and imperfect, and yet, withal, demanding a higher excellence than the
people of those days seemed able to attain.
In proof that the gospel was first offered to ancient Israel, and then
because of transgression the law of carnal commandments, I invite the
reader's attention to the following Scriptures: Heb., latter part of
chap. iii, in connection with Heb. iv: 1, 2; I Cor. x. 1-4; and Gal.
iii; also Doc. & Cov., sec. 84; see also the chapter on "History of the
Gospel" in The Gospel (Roberts), pp. 86, 87.
6. _The Song of Moses:_ "This song is some hundred years the oldest
poem in the world. There is a sublimity and beauty in the language
that is unexampled. But its unrivalled superiority arises not solely
from the splendor of the diction. Its poetical excellencies have often
drawn forth the admiration of the best judges, while the character of
the event commemorated, and its being prompted by divine inspiration,
contribute to give to it an interest and sublimity peculiar to itself."
(Commentary, Explanatory and Critical, p. 59.)
LESSON V.
LECTURES. REFERENCES.
_I. Abraham. (Paper.) (a)_ Genesis xi-xxv. Pearl
of Great Price, Book of
Abraham, Chaps. vi-xvii.
Note 1.
_II. Joseph, Son of Jacob--His Place in Genesis, Chaps, xxxvii
Israel._ to L. Deut. xxxiii:13-17.
Young Men's Manual,
1905-6 (No. 9). Chap.
xxxv, pp. 329-338. See
also Defense of the
Faith and the Saints,
I Mormon Views of
America-II America, The
Land of Zion and of
Joseph. Smith's Bible
Dictionary, Art. Joseph,
Vol. II, p. 1462-1473.
II Nephi, Chaps. iii-iv.
_III. Moses, the Prophet and Lawgiver._ Bible--beginning with
Exodus to Deuteronomy.
Josephus[1] Antiquities of
the Jews, pp. 31-79.
Against Apion Bk. II, p. 602.
Art. Moses. Ditto
Smith's Bible Dictionary.
Kitto's Biblical Literature.
Pearl of Great
Price. The Book of
Moses, Chaps. i-v. Notes
of this Lesson.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like
unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and the
wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharoah,
and to all his servants, and to all his land, and in all that mighty
hand, and in all the great terror which Moses showed in the sight of
all Israel."_--EZRA _(supposedly)_.
_NOTES._
1. _Abraham:_ "He was a person of great sagacity, both for
understanding all things, and persuading his hearers, and not mistaken
in his opinions; for which reason he began to have higher notions of
virtue than others had, and he determined to renew and to change the
opinion all men happened then to have concerning God; for he was the
first that ventured to publish this notion, that there was but One
God, the Creator of the universe; and that as to other (gods), if
they contributed anything to the happiness of men, that each of them
afforded it only according to his appointment, and not by their own
power. This his opinion was derived from the irregular phenomena that
were visible both at land and sea, as well as those that happen to the
sun, and moon, and all the heavenly bodies; thus, "if (said he) these
bodies had power of their own, they would certainly take care of their
own regular motions; but since they do not preserve such regularity,
they make it plain that so far as they co-operate to our advantage,
they do it not of their own abilities, but as they are subservient to
him that commands them, to whom alone we ought justly to offer our
honor and thanksgiving." For which doctrines, when the Chaldeans, and
other people of Mesopotamia, raised a tumult against him, he thought
fit to leave that country; and at the command, and by the assistance
of God, he came and lived in the land of Canaan. And when he was there
settled, he built an altar, and performed a sacrifice to God. Berosus
mentions our father Abram without naming him, when he says thus: "In
the tenth generation after the flood, there was among the Chaldeans a
man, righteous and great, and skilful in the celestial science." But
Hecataeus does more than mention him; for he composed, and left behind
him, a book concerning him. And Nicolaus of Damascus, in the fourth
book of his history, says thus: 'Abram reigned at Damascus, being a
foreigner, who came with an army out of the land above Babylon, called
the land of the Chaldeans; but, after a long time, he got him up, and
removed from that country also, with his people, and went into the land
then called the land of Canaan, but now the land of Judea, and this
when his posterity were become a multitude; as to which posterity of
his, we relate their history in another work. Now the name of Abram is
even still famous in the country of Damascus; and there is showed a
village named from him, 'The habitation of Abram.'" (Antiquities of the
Jews, Josephus, pp. 31-32.)
2. _The Restoration of Lands Made by Joseph:_ "However, the famine
increased among the Egyptians; * * * * But when their money failed
them, they bought corn with their cattle, and their slaves, and if any
of them had a small piece of land, they gave up that to purchase them
food, by which means the king became the owner of all their substance;
and they were removed some to one place, and some to another, that so
the possession of their country might be firmly afforded to the king;
excepting the lands of the priests for their country continued still in
their own possession. And indeed this sore famine made their minds, as
well as their bodies, slaves: and at length compelled them to procure
a sufficiency of food by such dishonorable means. But when this misery
ceased, and the river overflowed the ground, and the ground brought
forth its fruits plentifully, Joseph came to every city, and gathered
the people thereto belonging together, and gave them back entirely the
land which, by their own consent, the king might have possessed alone,
and alone enjoyed the fruits of it. He also exhorted them to look on
it as every one's own possession; and to fall to their husbandry with
cheerfulness; and to pay as a tribute to the king, the fifth part of
the fruits for the land which the king when it was his own restored to
them. These men rejoiced upon their becoming unexpectedly owners of
their lands, and diligently observed what was enjoined them. And by
this means Joseph procured to himself a greater authority among the
Egyptians, and greater love to the king from them. Now this law, that
they should pay the fifth part of their fruits as tribute, continued
until their latter kings." (Josephus, Antiquities, p. 52.)
3. _Character of Moses._ "Now Moses lived in all one hundred and
twenty years; a third part of which time, abating one month, he was
the people's ruler; and he died on the last month of the year, which
is called by the Macedonians 'Dystrus,' but by us 'Adar,' on the first
day of the month. He was one that exceeded all men that ever were,
in understanding, and made the best use of what that understanding
suggested to him. He had a very graceful way of speaking, in addressing
the multitude, and as to his other qualifications, he had such a full
command of his passions, as if he hardly had any such in his soul, and
only knew them by their names, as rather perceiving them in other men
than in himself. He was also such a general of an army as is seldom
seen, as well as such a prophet as was never known, and this to such
a degree, that whatsoever he pronounced you would think you heard the
voice of God himself. So the people mourned for him thirty days: nor
did ever any grief so deeply affect the Hebrews as did this upon the
death of Moses; nor were those that had experienced his conduct the
only persons that desired him, but those also that perused the laws he
left behind him, had a strong desire after him, and by them gathered
the extraordinary virtue he was master of. And this shall suffice
for the declaration of the manner of the death of Moses." (Josephus,
Antiquities of the Jews, p. 98.)
4. _The Greatness and Influence of Moses._ "Where shall we find one
that combines in his personality so many greatnesses as Moses, if I may
say so? He was the liberator of his people, but he spurned crowns and
scepters, and did not, as many others after him did, put a new yoke
on the neck from which he had taken the old one. * * * * * And his
republic was not of short duration. It lasted through all the storms of
barbaric wars and revolutions--hundreds of years, down to the days of
Samuel, that all-stout-hearted republican who could endure no kings. *
* * * But the republic he founded stands unique in the history of the
world, for it was altogether based upon an idea--the idea of the unity
of God and the righteousness of his will. Think of it! Among a nation
escaped from bondage, too degraded even to be led to war, that needed
the education, the hammering, as it were, into a people for forty
years, to go among them with the sublimest truth that the human mind
ever can conceive and to say of them: 'Though you are now benighted and
enslaved, any truth that I know is not too good for you nor any child
of God." * * * * As a teacher of morality why need I praise him? As
a teacher of statecraft in the highest and best sense, who surpassed
him? The great wonder is that that man speaks the language of today.
The problems which we have not yet succeeded in solving were already
present to his mind, and he founded a nation in which the difference
between the poor and the rich was almost abolished. The laborer was
not only worthy but sure of his hire. No aristocrat could rule over
his subjects and no priesthood could ever assume the government which,
alas! according to history, means the opposition of the nation. How did
that man of that vast mind, how did he combine all these great talents?
And yet that man, how tender his heart was! Why, friends, it is a
thousand pities that you cannot hear the deep sorrow, the sadness that
is to be heard in his original words. When an over-zealous disciple
came to him and told that they were prophesying in his name, and they
said: 'Hinder them, master, hinder them. Why, if they prophesy what
will become of thine own authority?' I fancy I see his venerable head
sink upon his breast and he saying: 'Indeed art thou zealous for me?
Would that all the people of God were prophets, and that God gave his
Spirit to them.'" (Rabbi Gottheil, The World's Parliament of Religions,
(Barrows), pp. 674-5.)
Footnotes
1. See note b, p. 27.
LESSON VI.
_THE HISTORICAL BOOKS._
ANALYSIS. REFERENCES.
_I. Pentateuch._[1]
Joshua i-xxiv; Seventy's
_II. Book of Joshua--The Hexateuch._ Bible Dictionary;
_Historical Events:_ Oxford and other Bible
1. The Invasion of Canaan. Helps. Bible Treasury.
2. The Conquest of Canaan. Art. Book of Joshua, p. 52.
3. Distribution of the Land by Lot. All the Bible Dictionaries
4. Literary Character of the Book--Select before quoted
passages that illustrate literature under Art. "Book of
of beauty or power--one Joshua," and notes 1, 2,
of each. 3, 4, 5, 6. Same authorities
5. Authorship. above cited on the term
"Hexateuch."
_III. Book of Judges._ Judges i-xxi.
1. Period of History Covered by the All the Bible Dictionaries
Reign of the Judges. and Helps cited
2. General Character of the Government in Previous Lessons in
Under the Judges. Part II under the Title
3. Discuss the Three Most Prominent "Judges" and "Book of
Judges in Israel, and name Judges." Note 7.
Their Specific Achievements.
_IV. Book of Ruth._
1. General Character, and Historical Ruth I: iv. All Bible
Value. Dictionaries and Helps
2. Literary Beauty, Illustrated by cited in previous lessons
Selected Passages. in Part II, under titles
"Ruth and Book of
Ruth."
_SPECIAL TEXT: And Joshua, the Son of Nun, was full of the spirit of
wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the children of
Israel harkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses."_--EZRA
_(supposedly.)_
_NOTES._
1. _The Hexateuch:_ The Book of Joshua is sometimes associated with the
five books of Moses and the collection is then called the Hexateuch,
a term meaning "the six books." The union is made on the ground that
the Book of Joshua is the proper continuation and consummation of the
former five books as recording the Conquest of the Land of Canaan, in
fulfillment of the promise contained in the Pentateuch; the subject of
the whole six books being "the election of Israel as a people to the
service of Jehovah, and their settlement for this purpose in the Land
of Promise."
2. _Israel Under Joshua:_ "Israel served the Lord all the days of
Joshua." The high and commanding character of this eminent leader
had given so decided a tone to the sentiments and manners of his
contemporaries, and the memory of his fervent piety and many virtues
continued so vividly impressed on the memories of the people, that the
sacred historian has recorded it to his immortal honor, 'Israel served
the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that
overlived Joshua.'" (Commentary, Explanatory and Critical, p. 158.)
3. _Contemporaneous Notices of Joshua:_ There occurs some references
to the deeds of Joshua in other historians besides those of the Bible.
Procopius mentions a Phoenecian inscription near the city of Tingis in
Mauritania, the sense of which in Greek was: "We are those who fled
before the face of Joshua the robber, the son of Nun." Again Suidas
says: "We are the Canaanites whom Joshua the robber persecuted." In a
letter of Shaubech, king of Armenia Minor, in the Samaritan book of
Joshua (chapter 26), styles Joshua "the murderous wolf; or, according
to another reading, "the evening wolf." (Condensed from Kitto's
Biblical Literature, Vol. II, p. 154.)
4. _Authorship of the Book of Joshua:_ "Viewing all the circumstances
together, we consider it highly probable that the whole book of
Joshua was composed by himself up to the twenty-eighth verse of the
last chapter; to which a friendly hand subjoined some brief notices,
contained in verses 29-33, concerning the death, age, and burial
of Joshua; the continuance of his influence upon the people; the
interment, in Shechem, of the bones of Joseph, which the children of
Israel had brought from Egypt; and the death and burial of Eleazar, the
son of Aaron, whom his son Phinehas interred in his allotment on Mount
Ephraim." (Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature, Kitto, Vol. II, p. 156.)
5. _Roman Catholic View of Authorship:_ "This book is called Josue,
because it contains the history of what passed under him, and according
to the common opinion was written by him. The Greeks call him Jesus;
for Josue and Jesus in the Hebrew are the same name, and have the same
signification, viz., a savior." (Introduction to the Book of Josue.)
6. _Character of Joshua:_ "So Joshua, when he had thus discoursed to
them [upon their obligations and duty to God], died, having lived a
hundred and ten years; forty of which he lived with Moses, in order
to learn what might be for his advantage afterward. He also became
their commander after his death for twenty-five years. He was a man
that wanted not wisdom nor eloquence to declare his intentions to the
people, but very eminent on both accounts. He was of great courage and
magnanimity, in action and in dangers; and very sagacious in procuring
the peace of the people, and of great virtue at all proper seasons. He
was buried in the city of Timnah, of the tribe of Ephraim. About the
same time died Eleazar, the high priest, leaving the high priesthood
to his son Phineas. His monument also and sepulchre are in the city of
Gabbatha." (Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, p. 104.)
7. _Literature of Power:_ By "literature of power" is here meant that
class of utterance that rests upon its own inherent strength for its
influence or acceptance as truth. An American popular writer (Hubbard)
in giving an illustration of this class of literature quoted this
passage from the Bible:
"The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before
him."
Explanation, comment upon such a passage, he argues, would but mar it.
One feels a force, a strength in it that admits of no doubt about its
power, or truth. A still better example of the literature of power is
Psalms xix, also Doctrine and Covenants, Sec. lxxxiv: 99-102. It is
such a passage in Joshua that the student is directed to find.
7. _Book of Ruth:_ "The Book is called Ruth, from the name of the
person, whose history is here recorded: who being a Gentile, became a
convert to the true faith, and marrying Boaz, the great-grandfather
of David, was one of those from whom Christ sprung, according to
the flesh, and an illustrious figure of the Gentile church. It is
thought this book was written by the prophet Samuel." (Douay Bible,
Introduction to the Book of Ruth, p. 303.)
Footnotes
1. The Pentateuch Historically has already been considered in Lesson
III of Part II; and its historical character considered under
subdivision II. (a) Anti-diluvian History. (b) Postdiluvian History,
bringing its historical events down to the death of Moses. It is here
written into the analysis only that the student may be reminded that
the Pentateuch is recognized as being classed with the historical books
of the Bible.
LESSON VII.
_THE HISTORICAL BOOKS.--(Continued.)_
ANALYSIS. REFERENCES.
_I. Book of Samuel I and II._ I and II Samuel. Seventy's
1. Historical Period. Bible Dictionary,
2. Events: Transition from Reign of Art. "Samuel Books of";
Judges to Monarchy; Reigns of Ibid Articles "Samuel,"
Saul and David. "Saul," "David." All
3. Contrast of the Government of other Bible Helps and
Judges and Monarchy. Dictionaries cited in Previous
4. Authorship and Date of the Lessons in Part II
Books. on above topics. Also on
Character of Samuel,
also notes 1, 2, 3.
_II. The Books of kings I and II._ I and II Kings. All the
1. Historical Period--Rebellion of Bible Dictionaries, Helps
Adonijah to Final Captivity of and Commentaries cited
Judah--1015 B. C.-587 B. C. in Previous Lessons in
2. Historical: (a) Solomon's Reign Part II, Articles on I and
and Death. II Kings, also Articles in
(b) The Division of the Kingdom. same work on "Samuel,"
(c) Rise and Fall of the Kingdom "Saul," "David," "Solomon,"
of Israel--Captivity of etc.
the Ten Tribes.
(d) The Kingdom of Judah after
the Division--Captivity
of Judah.
3. Authorship and Literary Character.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in
burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat
of rams."--I. Samuel xv: 22._
_NOTES._
1. _The Historic Period Covered by the Books of Samuel:_ "The story
embraces a period of over one hundred years, and extends from the end
of the time of the Judges to the close of the reign of David, 1015 B.
C., the connecting link being found in the civil judgeship of Eli and
Samuel. The object of the narrative is to exhibit the kingdom as it
realized itself in view of a divine ideal; and the prominence given
to the lives of Samuel and David would seem to be due to a design to
portray the one as the type of the prophetic, and the other as the type
of the kingly character--the king's counselor, in this case, selecting
the king, and not, as was the rule afterwards, the king his counselor."
(Cambridge Teacher's Bible Helps, p. 19.)
2. _Books of Samuel, I and II. Protestant View:_ "The two were, by the
ancient Jews, conjoined, so as to make one book, and in that form could
be called the Book of Samuel with more propriety than now, the second
being wholly occupied with the relation of transactions that did not
take place till after the death of that eminent judge. Accordingly,
in the Septuagint and the Vulgate, it is called the First and Second
Book of Kings. The early portion of the First Book, down to the end
of the twenty-fourth chapter, was probably written by Samuel; while
the rest of it, and the whole of the Second, are commonly ascribed
to Nathan and Gad, founding the opinion on I Chronicles xxix: 29..
Commentators, however, are divided about this, some supposing that the
statements in I Samuel ii: 26; iii: 1, indicate the hand of the judge
himself, or a contemporary; while some think, from I Samuel vi: 18;
xii: 5; xxvii: 6, that the composition must be referred to a later age.
It is probable, however, that these supposed marks of an after period
were interpolations of Ezra. This uncertainty, however, as to the
authorship does not affect the inspired authority of the book, which is
indisputable, being quoted in the New Testament (Acts xiii: 22; Hebrews
i: 5) as well as in many of the Psalms." (Commentary, Explanatory and
Critical, p. 8.)
3. _Catholic View of the Books of Samuel:_ "This [I Samuel] and the
following book [II Samuel] are called by the Hebrews the books of
Samuel, because they contain the history of Samuel, and of the two
kings, Saul and David, whom he anointed. They are more commonly named
by the Fathers the first and second book of kings. As to the writer
of them, the common opinion is that Samuel composed the first book as
far as the twenty-fifth chapter; and that the prophets Nathan and Gad
finished the first, and wrote the second book. See I Chronicles xxix:
29." (Introduction to the First Book of Samuel, Douay Bible, p. 308.)
4. _The First and Second Books of Kings. Protestant View:_ "In the
ancient copies of the Hebrew Bible, First and Second Kings constitute
one book. Various titles have been given to them; in the Septuagint
and the Vulgate they are called the Third and Fourth Books of Kings.
The authorship of these books is unknown; but the prevailing opinion
is that they were compiled by Ezra, or one of the later prophets, from
the ancient documents that are so frequently referred to in the course
of the history as of public and established authority. Their inspired
character was acknowledged by the Jewish church, which ranked them in
the sacred canon; and, besides, is attested by our Lord, who frequently
quotes from them (cf. I Kings xvii: 9; II Kings v: 14 with Luke iv:
24-27; I Kings x: 1 with Matthew xii: 42)." (Commentary, Explanatory
and Critical, p. 8.)
5. _Catholic View of Books of Kings:_ "This [the first Book of Kings]
and the following [the second Book of Kings] book are called by the
holy fathers the third and fourth book of Kings; but by the Hebrews
the first and second Malachim, that is Kings. They contain the history
of the kingdoms of Israel and Juda, from the beginning of the reign of
Solomon, to the captivity. As to the writer of these books, it seems
most probable they were not writen by one man, nor at one time; but as
there was all along a succession of prophets in Israel, who recorded,
by divine inspiration, the most remarkable things that happened in
their days, these books seem to have been written by these prophets."
(Douay Bible, pp. 381-2.)
6. _Historical Period of the Books of Kings:_ "The Books of Kings
narrate the history from the rebellion of Adonijah to the final
captivity of Judah, including the whole history of the northern kingdom
from the separation till its disappearance in B. C. 721. The succession
of events will be found under Chronology. The books were compiled by
some unknown writer from a variety of written documents, including the
state chronicles." (Seventies' Bible Dictionary, p 94.)
7. _Literary Features of the Books of Samuel and of Kings:_ "The
literary form of the books of Kings is quite different from that of the
books of Samuel. There is an almost stereotyped framework, resembling
that of the book of Judges, within which the events of the successive
reigns are placed. When the name of a new king is introduced, it is
stated how old he was when he came to the throne, how many years he
reigned, and, in regard to the kings of Judah, what was his mother's
name. Then a general character is pronounced upon his reign, the events
are recorded at greater or less length, and at the close a reference is
usually given to another authority for fuller details. When the divided
monarchy is to be treated, the usual proceeding is to give the record
of the northern kingdom first, and then the corresponding record for
the southern, the history thus falling into periods longer or shorter.
And this course is followed so closely that sometimes the same event
is twice related, if it concerns the two kingdoms. These features make
it probable that the book is composed from other written materials,
or at least largely based upon them. And the frequent references to
books of chronicles of the kings of Judah or of Israel favor the
inference that state records of the respective kingdoms, containing
lists of officials, statistical matters, and memoranda of events in
the different reigns were available for the purpose. There were also,
in all probability, narratives of the doings of Elijah, Elisha, and
other prophets, preserved in the prophetic circles, which would furnish
information of another kind. A work extending over so long a period
could not be the expression of the direct personal knowledge of any one
writer, and could only be composed in the way indicated." (Cambridge
Bible, p. 63.)
LESSON VIII.
_THE HISTORICAL BOOKS.--(Continued.)_
ANALYSIS. REFERENCES.
_I. Chronicles I and II._ The Books of Chronicles.
1. Historical Period. (Note 1.) Notes 1, 2, 3, 4.
2. General Character of the Books. Also all Bible Dictionaries
3. Importance of in Biblical Controversies. and Helps cited in
previous lessons in Part II,
under titles of
"Chronicles" and Books
of Chronicles.
4. Consider Importance of Special Topic 4. See Y. M.'s
Text as Fixing the Place of Joseph Manual 1905-1906, pp. 330-338.
in Israel. Defense of the Faith
and the Saints, Title,
"America the Land of
Zion and of Joseph."
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Now the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, (for
he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed,
his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel;
and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright [i. e.
of the first born, Reuben]. For Judah prevailed above his brethren,
and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was Joseph's)". I
Chronicles v: 1, 2._
_NOTES._
1. _Books of Chronicles:_ "The two Books of Chronicles counted as
one in the Hebrew canon. They give a short history of events from
the creation down to the proclamation of Cyrus, allowing the Jews
to return to Palestine. The books contain several references to the
sources whence information was derived, e. g., "the book of Nathan
the prophet, the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and the visions of
Iddo the seer," (II Chron. ix: 29; cf. also II Chron. xii: 15; xiii:
22; xx: 34; xxvi: 22; xxxii: 32; xxxiii: 18.) These passages make it
clear that, from the earliest times of the kingdom, writers living amid
the events described, and generally of the prophetic order, recorded
the history of their own times. These records along with Samuel and
Kings, formed the materials out of which our Books of Chronicles were
compiled, the compilers choosing such portions as suited the purpose
of their composition. Though secular events are not excluded from the
compilations thus formed, the writers dwell with most satisfaction
upon the ecclesiastical and religious aspects of the history, and the
progress of temple worship in Jerusalem. The date of composition cannot
be fixed with certainty; it was probably between 300 and 250 B. C."
(Cambridge Bible Helps, p. 32.)
2. _Catholic View of Chronicles:_ "These books are called by the Greek
interpreters Paralipomenon, that is, 'of things left out, or omitted,'
because they are a kind of a supplement of such things as were passed
over in the book of the Kings. The Hebrews call them Dibre Hajamim,
that is, 'The words of the days,' or The Chronicles. Not that they are
the books which are so often quoted in Kings, under the title of the
'Words of the Days of the Kings of Israel, and of the Kings of Juda;'
for the Books of Paralipomenon were written after the Books of Kings;
but because in all probability they have been abridged from those
ancient 'Words of the Days,' by Esdras or some other sacred writer."
(Introduction to Chronicles, Douay Bible.)
3. _Controversial Value of the Books of Chronicles:_ "The constant
tradition of the Jews, in which they have been followed by the great
mass of Christian commentators, is that these books were for the most
part compiled by Ezra; and the one genealogy, that of Zerubbabel, which
comes down to a later time, is no objection to this statement, without
recurring to the strange notion broached by the old commentators, and
even sanctioned by Dr. Davidson (in Kitto's Cyclo. of Bibl. Lit., art.
Chronicles), that the knowledge of these generations was communicated
to Ezra by inspiration. In fact, the internal evidence as to the time
when the book of Chronicles was compiled, seems to tally remarkably
with the tradition concerning its authorship. Notwithstanding this
agreement, however, the authenticity of Chronicles has been vehemently
impugned by De Wette and other German critics, whose arguments have
been successfully refuted by Dahler, Keil, Movers, and others. It has
been clearly shown that the attack was grounded not upon any real
marks of spuriousness in the books themselves, but solely upon the
desire of the critics in question to remove a witness whose evidence
was fatal to their favorite theory as to the post-Babylonian origin of
the books of Moses. If the accounts in the books of Chronicles of the
courses of priests and Levites, and the ordinances of divine service as
arranged by David, and restored by Hezekiah and Josiah, are genuine,
it necessarily follows that the Levitical law, as set forth in the
Pentateuch, was not invented after the return from the captivity. Hence
the successful vindication of the authenticity of Chronicles has a very
important bearing upon many of the very gravest theological questions."
(Smith's Bible Dictionary, p. 429.)
4. _Compilation and Spirit of the Books of Chronicles:_ "Though the
latest of all the canonical writings, it represents the workmanship
of many generations. It resembles the structure of an ancient
cathedral, with fragments of every style worked into the building
as it proceeded,--here a piece of the most hoary antiquity, there a
precious relic of a lost hymn or genealogy of some renowned psalmist or
warrior,--but all preserved, and wrought together, as by the workmen
of mediaeval times, under the guidance of the same sacerdotal mind,
with the spirit of the same priestly order. Far below the prophetic
books of the Kings in interest and solidity, it yet furnishes a useful
counterpart by filling up the voids with materials which none but
the peculiar traditions and feelings of the Levitical caste could
have supplied. It is the culminating point of the purely Levitical
system, both in what it relates, in what it omits, and the manner of
its relations and omissions." (Dean Stanley, quoted in Smith's Bible
Dictionary, p. 432.)
5. _The Birth Right to Joseph:_ "It should be remembered that to
Joseph, the son of Jacob, a double portion of honor was granted in
Israel. While no tribe is especially called by his name, yet two tribes
are his through his sons, viz., the tribe of Ephraim and the tribe of
Manasseh. This came about in the following manner: Reuben, the first
born of Jacob defiled his father's wife Bilhah. For which awful crime
he lost his place as a prince in the house of Israel, which place was
given indirectly to Joseph, the son of Jacob, by his wife Rachel. Why
I say indirectly is because Ephraim, Joseph's younger son, was the one
who received the blessing of the first born from the patriarch Jacob,
and it is for this reason that the Lord was wont to say, "I am a father
to Israel, and Ephraim is my first born." In proof see Special Text of
lesson; also Y. M. M. I. A. Manual 1905-6, p. 330.
LESSON IX.
_THE HISTORICAL BOOKS.--(Continued.)_
ANALYSIS. REFERENCES.
_I. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah._ Books of Ezra and
_Historical Period._ Nehemiah; Note 1. Also
1. Book of Ezra. all Bible Dictionaries
(a) Authorship. and Helps cited in previous
(b) Character of Contents. lessons in Part II,
2. Book of Nehemiah. under titles of "Ezra,"
(a) Authorship. "Nehemiah."
(b) Contents.
_II. The Book of Esther._ "Esther," and "Purim,"
1. Authorship. Book of Esther, Chaps.
2. Historical Character. I to X.
3. The Feast of Purim as Witness of
Its Historical Character.
4. Its omission of the name of God.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandest
thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad
among the nations: But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments,
and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part
of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them
unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there."_--NEHEMIAH.
_NOTES._
1. _Historical Period of Ezra and Nehemiah:_ "The time covered by the
two books of Ezra and Nehemiah together is about a century; for the
narrative of Ezra begins in the first year of the reign of Cyrus, 538
B. C., and that of Nehemiah stops soon after the thirty-second year
of Artaxerxes, 432 B. C. A great part of this space, however, is left
without record; and we may distinguish three periods: 1. The period
that elapsed from the first return of exiles to the completion of the
temple; 2. the time of Ezra's activity as leader of the second colony
of returned exiles; and 3, the period when Ezra and Nehemiah are seen
together in the work of reformation at Jerusalem. The first two periods
are embraced in the book of Ezra; the last, in the book of Nehemiah."
(Bible Treasury, p. 69.)
2. _Book of Ezra. Protestant View:_ "The Book of Ezra contains records
of events occurring about the termination of the Babylonian exile. It
comprises accounts of the favors bestowed upon the Jews by Persian
kings; of the rebuilding of the temple; of the mission of Ezra to
Jerusalem, and his regulations and reforms. Such records forming
the subject of the Book of Ezra, we must not be surprised that its
parts are not so intimately connected with each other as we might
have expected if the author had set forth his intention to furnish
a complete history of his times. * * * * The beginning of the book
of Ezra agrees verbatum with the conclusion of the second book of
Chronicles, and terminates abruptly with the statement of the divorces
affected by his authority, by which the marriages of Israelites with
foreign women were dissolved. Since the book of Ezra has no marked
conclusion, it was, even in early times, considered to form part
of the book of Nehemiah, the contents of which are of a similar
description. As, however, the book of Ezra is a collection of records
of remarkable events occurring at the conclusion of the exile and in
the times immediately following it, attempting no display of the art
of book-making, the mere want of an artificial conclusion cannot be
considered a sufficient reason for regarding it as the first portion of
Nehemiah. It is, however, likely that the similarity of the contents
of the books of Ezra and Nehemiah was the cause of their being placed
together in the Hebrew Bible." (Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature,
Kitto, p. 690.)
3. _Catholic View of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah:_
(a) _Ezra_, called by Catholics "Esdras:" "This book taketh its name
from the writer: who was a holy priest, and doctor of the law. He is
called by the Hebrews Ezra."
(b) _Nehemiah_--Catholic form of name, "Nehemias:" "This book takes
its name from the writer, who was cup-bearer to Artaxerxes (surnamed
Longimanus) king of Persia, and was sent by him with a commission to
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. It is also called the Second Book of
Esdras; because it is a continuation of the history, begun by Esdras,
of the state of the people of God after their return from captivity."
(Introductions in Douay Bible to First and Second Book of Esdras.)
4. _Book of Esther:_ "Esther derives its name from the Jewish lady,
who, having become wife of the king of Persia, employed her royal
influence to effect a memorable deliverance for the persecuted
Church of God. Various opinions are embraced and supported as to the
authorship of this book, some ascribing it to Ezra, to Nehemiah, and to
Mordecai. The preponderance of authorities is in favor of the last."
(Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, p 8.)
5. _Historical Character:_ "The historical character of the book of
Esther is undoubted, since, besides many internal evidences, its
authenticity is proved by the strong testimony of the feast of Purim,
the celebration of which can be traced up to the events which are
described in this book. Its claim, however, to canonical authority, has
been questioned on the ground that the name of God does not once occur
in it. But the uniform tradition both of the Jewish and the Christian
churches supports this claim, which nothing in the book tends to shake;
while it is a record of the superintending care of divine providence
over his chosen people, with which it is of the utmost importance
the church should be furnished. The name of God is strangely enough
omitted, but the presence of God is felt throughout the history; and
the whole tone and tendency of the book is so decidedly subservient
to the honor of God and the cause of true religion that it has been
generally received by the Church in all ages into the sacred canon."
(Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, p. 8.)
6. _Purim:_ "A celebrated Jewish festival instituted by Mordecai, at
the suggestion of Esther, in the reign of Ahasuerus, king of Persia,
to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from the designs of Haman.
It derived its name from the lots cast every day for twelve months in
presence of Haman, with the view of discovering an auspicious day for
the destruction of all the Jews in the Persian dominion; when the lot
fell on the 13th day of Adar (February and part of March)." (Kitto's
Biblical Literature, p. 588.)
"The fact that the feast of Purim has come down to us from time almost
immemorial," says Prof. Stuart, "proves as certainly that the main
events related in the book of Esther happened, as the Declaration of
Independence and the celebration of the Fourth of July prove that
we separated from Great Britain, and became an independent nation.
The book of Esther was an essential document to explain the feast of
Purim." (Quoted in Smith's Bible Dictionary, p. 778.)
7. _Omission of the Name of God in Esther._ "In respect to the omission
of the name of God in the book, Mr. Baumgarten remarks that it is the
less surprising, because it occurs in a history which is so full of
interpositions, revealing the actual presence of him who presides over
the destiny of men and nations, and also the power of that faith in the
unseen One, which made the actors in this drama so hopeful, enduring,
and triumphant. The historical credibility of the events related in the
book is well attested, and at present generally acknowledged." (Smith's
Bible Dictionary, p 778.)
LESSON X.
_HISTORICAL INTERIM BETWEEN RESTORATION OF JUDAH AND COMING OF MESSIAH._
ANALYSIS. REFERENCES.
_I. Status of Israel Under Ezra's and Books I and II of the
Nehemiah's Polity._ Maccabees.[1] Chronological
_II. Palestine Under Persia._ Tables, Seventy's
_III. Palestine Under Macedonia, i. e., Alexander. Bible Dictionary. Josephus'
_IV. Palestine Under Egypt. Antiquities
_V. Revolt of the Maccabees._ Books XI, XII, XIII,
_VI. Palestine Under the Romans._ XIV, XV; Bible Treasury,
_VII. Birth of Messiah._ pp. 189, 190. Oxford
and other Bible Helps,
generally give summary
of this period. Note 1.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "M. K. B. I." (Maccabees) "Mi-Kamoka Baelim,
Ihovah"--"who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods?"_--MOSES.
_NOTES._
1. _History from Ezra to Messiah:_ "While the Historical Books of the
Bible close with Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, it is thought proper to
carry the historical period through to the birth of Messiah by this
tenth lesson. This for completeness in the outlines of the history of
Israel given in the historical books of the Bible, plus the Apocrypha.
Also because of the importance of this too much neglected historical
period, without a knowledge of which very much of the New Testament may
not be understood. 'The New Testament,' says Prof. J. V. Bartlett, in
the "Bible Treasure," "takes much for granted. Hence, in reading the
Gospels, one is often forced to ask: What is the exact point of so and
so? We want, in fact, to become as one of Christ's fellow-countrymen;
and this means steeping our thought in the story of the long years
which lie between the times of Ezra and those of Jesus the Christ. They
must cease to be to us 'ages of silence,' if we are to see just what is
meant by 'the tradition of the elders,' or to feel the full force of
much that is found in the Sermon on the Mount. The whole period of more
than four centuries falls into four epochs--the Persian, the Greek, the
Maccabean and the Roman." (Bible Treasury, p. 189.)
2. _Historical Summary of Interval Between Old and New Testament:_ The
following notes are abridged from Oxford Bible Helps, Summary of this
Historical Period (p. 15), which summary itself is taken chiefly from
Josephus' Antiquities and the Books of the Maccabees.
3. _The Persian Period--537-330 B. C.:_ "Ezra and Nehemiah left a
settled form of government in Palestine, the center of which was
Jerusalem. Here was established a council of elders and priests, who
formed an ecclesiastical court, interpreting the law, and enforcing
its observance. These were called the "Great Synagogue." They were to
the new settlement after the captivity what the 'elders that overlived
Joshua' (Josh. xxiv: 31) were to the Israelites who came out of Egypt.
It was the Jewish theory that the law was given in a two-fold form,
viz., the written and the oral; the former consisting of brief official
enactments, the latter of more copious details. With the former code,
immutably formalized by God, they said the latter was orally taught to
Moses on Mount Sinai by the same Divine Author, as the authoritative
interpretation thereof, with the command to commit the one to writing,
but to transmit the other only by word of mouth. This oral law was
repeated by Moses to Joshua, who handed it on to the elders who
succeeded him, and they to the prophets, who, in their turn, passed
it from one to another till it reached Jeremiah, who, through the
medium of Baruch, conveyed it to Ezra, and he to the Great Synagogue,
whom Nehemiah also supplied with a library of all the sacred books he
could collect (II Mac. ii: 13). This body of elders lasted about 150
years, when it expired in its last survivor, the High Priest Simon the
Just (B. C. 291). * * * * Ezra and Nehemiah also set up synagogues in
country towns, as places of worship on the Sabbath, and schools of
instruction and for theological discussion during the week. Attached
to each was a body of 'rulers,' who were both civil magistrates and
ecclesiastical presbyters. During all this time [two hundred years]
Palestine was subject to Persia, and formed only part of a province
under the Satrap of Syria, these elders administering the government
with the high priest as their responsible head."
4. _Greek Period--330-167 B. C.:_ "After the victories of Alexander
the Great over Persia, he took possession of Syria, allowing the Jews
to retain self-government and their own religion; and when he built
Alexandria, he invited thither many Jews, giving them equal rights with
the rest of his subjects. On Alexander's death at an early age, his
empire was divided amongst his four generals, and Syria was allotted
to Egypt under Ptolemy Lagos, who transplanted many more Jews to the
new colony at Alexandria (B. C. 320), and gave them many privileges,
so that they built a temple [at Jerusalem], and restored the ritual of
Solomon's time, until Alexandria became the center and metropolis of
those Jews who had migrated to Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy, and who
are called in the Acts of the Apostles "Grecians" ( Hellenists). They
were more lax in morals, liberal in views, and less exclusive than the
"Hebrews" of Jerusalem. They used the Greek language, and eventually
(B. C. 285) accepted as their scripture the Septuagint translation,
instead of the Hebrew original. It was at this period that Simon the
Just was high priest at Jerusalem, and by his wise administration
strengthened their position, and brought them peace and prosperity."
5. _The Maccabees--B. C. 198:_ "After a series of contests Palestine
was taken from Egypt by Antiochus the Great, annexed to Syria, and
divided into five provinces, viz., Judea, Samaria, Galilee (W. of
Jordan), Peraea, and Trachonitis (E. of Jordan). From this time, owing
to its position between the two great powers Egypt and Syria, this
country became a frequent prey to both, until Antiochus Epiphanes
took Jerusalem (B. C. 170), foully polluted the temple, and compelled
the Jews to sacrifice to idols. He erected the statue of Jupiter on
the altar of burnt-offering, committed all books of scripture to
the flames, and prohibited the worship of God. The high priests,
corrupted by Greek licentiousness, prepared the way for declension,
and encouraged the adoption of foreign customs. But the attempt to
finally stamp out Judaism produced a recoil. It culminated in the
attempt of Antiochus to force the Jews publicly to eat the flesh of
swine sacrificed on God's altar to the honor of Jupiter. One aged
scribe refused, was followed by a mother and her seven sons, who all
suffered martyrdom with the extremes of torture. This was followed by
Mattathias, a priest of the Asmoaean family, who killed both a renegade
Jew, when about to offer idolatrous sacrifice, and the royal officer
who presided. Aided by his five sons, he rallied the faithful round
him, threw down the heathen altars, fled to the mountains and raised
the standard of liberty, on which were inscribed M. K. B. I., the
initials of their Hebrew war-cry, Mi-Kamoka Baelim, Ihovah, 'Who is
like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?" (Exodus xv: 11), from which
the insurgents got the name of 'Maccabees,' whence the eldest son
and successor of Mattathias is known in history as Judas Maccabaeus.
Under him they were victorious. Antiochus died of a loathsome disease,
stricken by God. The Maccabees recovered Jerusalem, purified the
temple, and restored its worship, holding for eight days (in December,
B. C. 165) the first "Feast of Dedication," which continued to be
annually observed to our Lord's time (John x: 22.)"
6. _The Roman Period:_ "The Maccabean family continued to hold the
main sway over the people, who retained their local customs, but were
obliged to make terms with the Romans, under whose protection they
retained considerable freedom. Although the Israelites were scattered
over many countries, Jerusalem was still their religious and political
center, and in its temple alone were sacrifices offered, and to it
flowed the poll-tax of half a shekel from Jews all over the world.
The Roman government acknowledged and confirmed their independent
local administration, as a peculiar _"imperium in imperio,"_ by
the following decrees: (B. C. 47.) Julius Caesar (for services in
Alexandrine war) gave to Hyrcanus and his heirs all rights accorded to
high priests by law or courtesy; all doubtful questions to be referred
to him personally. Also, to Hyrcanus, his heirs and Ethnarch, the
privilege of being patroni of all Jews that were aggrieved; hence all
Jews throughout the world had a direct appeal to Caesar through the
high priest, whose ambassadors had everywhere a free passage. Also,
exemption from all tribute every seventh year, 'because they neither
sow nor reap.' Also, peculiar liberty to 'meet and assemble together,
and comport themselves according to the custom of their fathers, and
their own laws.' (B. C. 44). On the death of Caesar and Hyrcanus,
all the edicts of the former, whether recorded in the Treasury or
not, were confirmed by the senate, in the Consulate of Dolabella and
Antony. Thus the Jews, wherever they lived, were exempt from taxation
at certain times, free from military service, allowed to maintain
their peculiar customs, and looked to their high priest in Jerusalem
as their ecclesiastical and civil superior in all that related to
religious or ceremonial observances. But, for maintenance of order and
general political government, a Roman official, supported by military
organization, presided over all Syria. This official at first was one
allied to both interests, and to whom was delegated the nomination to
the high priesthood, viz., Herod the Great (B. C. 37), an Idumaean by
birth, but descended from a Philistine slave. By aid of Roman troops
he deposed the last Asmonaean prince, Antigonus, married his niece
Mariamne (granddaughter of Hyrcanus, the high priest), and became a
nominal sovereign, subject to Roms." (Oxford Bible Helps, p. 15.)
Footnotes
1. The Books of the Maccabees are to be found in the Douay Bible with
this explanatory note: "It is not known who was the author of these
books. But as to their authority: though they are not received by
the Jews, saith St. Augustine, City of God, I. 18. c. 36, they are
received by the church: who, in settling her canon of the scriptures,
chose rather to be directed by the tradition she had received from
the Apostles of Christ, than by that of the Scribes and Pharisees."
(Introduction to the First Book of Maccabees, Douay Bible, p. 1128.)
LESSON XI.
LECTURES. REFERENCES.
_I. Samuel, the Prophet._ I Samuel Chaps. I to
XXV. Josephus' Antiquities
Book V,
Chaps. X and XI, also