THE SOCIAL THOUGHT OF THE HEBREWS
Ancient Egyptian, Babylonian and Assyrian, East Indian, Chinese, and
Persian records disclose a set of elemental and yet more or less
passive social backgrounds against which the social ideals of the
Hebrew prophets shine forth like stars of the first magnitude. The
Pentateuch and the writings of the Hebrew wise men are rich in gleams
of a social spirit, while the Hebrew prophets, notably, Amos, Hosea,
Isaiah, and Jeremiah, uttered flaming indictments of social evils.
The Hebrews stood head and shoulders above their contemporaries in
social thinking. They left a series of historical documents, covering
several centuries and revealing a specific evolution in social
concepts. They expressed the fundamentals from which Christian social
thought developed, and from which much of the ethical and social
thinking of Western civilization on its practical side has evolved.
The social thought of the Hebrews was born of group suffering. Through
the mists of the earliest Hebrew traditions we discern that conflicts
occurred in the Euphrates Valley which sent Abraham out on his
perilous journey toward unknown and hostile Canaan. The gaunt spectre,
famine, brought distress to the household of the domestic-loving
Abraham and drove him to Egypt where he sojourned for a time. Abram,
exalted father, or Abraham, father of a multude, became the founder in
a sense of three world religions, for to him Judaism, Christianity, and
Mohammedanism trace their origins.
Throughout the years of migration, exile, and suffering, Abraham
maintained his religious faith and belief. By means of his simple
religion he was able to interpret sanely the troubles and conflicts of
life. Out of suffering interpreted religiously, Abraham developed a
remarkably well-balanced and social personality. From this beginning,
Hebrew social thought evolved. Ultimately, Israel created social
concepts which has won for her the distinction of being “the leading
social teacher of the human race.”[IV-1]
As a social entity the Hebrews were the result of “a titanic social
struggle;” they arose out of an industrial crisis. The scene was
laid in Egypt. The descendants of Jacob were working long hours with
little pay, as slaves, and under harsh social conditions. One of their
number, more favored than the rest by heredity and environment, saw a
Hebrew workman being beaten by an Egyptian “boss.” The favored one,
Moses, felt the surging passions of social injustice rising within his
breast--and he slew the boss. Moses thereby became the founder of the
world’s labor movement. By an act of violence in the impassioned days
of youth, Moses became “a social agitator”; by years of patient service
of his people in the name of Jehovoh, he became one of the world’s
greatest social seers.
Rameses II was “an unprincipled captain of industry.” He was haughty,
hard-hearted, and without social conscience. Moses was sympathetic,
socially sensitive, and keenly religious. Rameses II was a leading
representative of an ancient aristocracy; Moses was the first great
exponent of an incipient democracy, and “the first man in history with
a well-developed social consciousness.”
According to the Exodus record Moses, as the murderer of an Egyptian
boss, felt no qualms of conscience, but he did fear the mighty Pharaoh.
At that time in history it was a minor matter to kill a slave; but
to have killed a boss was vastly different. The slave represented
weakness; the boss was the official representative of political and
financial power. Consequently, Moses fled the country. In Egypt he was
helpless, and in danger of losing his life. He fled to Midian.
In Midian, Moses pondered over the economic and social injustices to
which his people were being subjected. He communed with God, from whom
he received the motive power to correct a gigantic social wrong. His
vision of Jehovah gave him the conviction that Jehovah is a God of
justice and mercy who understands social and industrial evils and
sympathizes with the socially defeated classes. Moses reports this
remarkable social message from Jehovah:
“I have surely seen the affliction of my people that are in Egypt, and
have heard their cry of anguish because of their taskmasters, for I
know their sorrows, and I am come down to deliver them out of the power
of the Egyptians.”[IV-2]
In other words, against the union of great wealth and political
power in the hands of an unjust man, God revolted, and God said to
Moses: “Rescue this Israelitish people from the heels of autocracy.”
Moses conceived of Jehovah as a God who is “full of sympathy for the
afflicted and dependent and ever eager to champion their cause against
cruel oppression.” Moses’ conception of Jehovah as a socially spirited
God is unique for that day in human history. God is described as a
lover of justice and even a lover of mankind. When God speaks, it is
usually in terms of democracy. The first social teachings of the Old
Testament, considered chronologically, are those against social and
industrial oppression.
A momentous conflict ensued. Fired by the promises and presence and
power of Jehovah, Moses journeyed back to Egypt. He proceeded to
organize the first labor strike known to mankind. Thereupon, the angry
Pharaoh commanded the workers to make brick without straw. And when
the workers cried out against the impositions and burdens, the agents
of “the first great captains of industry” taunted the workers and cried
at them: “Ye are idle, ye are idle.” But God and Moses won against the
hosts of autocracy and plutocracy. The workers were freed.
Out of these struggles the Hebrew nation took form. Group loyalty, or
patriotism, became a conscious Hebrew concept. The idea of kinship
was supplemented by an appreciation of the meaning of national life.
Furthermore, a sense of social and economic justice received a
clear-cut and positive human expression and divine approval. For the
first time the social problem was defined.
The major social chord which the Hebrew prophets kept vibrating was
justice. Some of the recurring interpretations of the needs of the
hour were: Let justice roll down like waters; Rulers shall govern in
justice; Hear, I pray you, ye heads of Israel, is it not for you to
know justice?
The Hebrew word for the English “justice” is _mishpat_. It is used in
various senses, such as, justice, order, law, right, legal right. Amos
wanted _mishpat_ established in the land. Micah asserted that Jehovah
requires the individual to do _mishpat_, and to love kindness, and to
walk humbly with his God. Isaiah urged the people to do well and to
seek _mishpat_; he pronounced woe upon those who turned aside the needy
from _mishpat_; he declared Jehovah to be a God of _mishpat_. Jeremiah
made plain that Jehovah exercises mercy and _mishpat_ among the people.
Amos protested vigorously against special class privileges. He
denounced the wealthy classes because of their social arrogance and
economic injustice. In describing them, he points out a fundamental
principle of social procedure. By their repression of those who are
protesting, they “are heaping up violence”; that is, autocratic
repression will never right injustice, but will foster ultimate
revolution. Amos charged the rulers and all persons in positions of
social power with the primary obligation of seeing that the poor and
the outcast are protected from exploitation. What satire in a day when
rulers were noted for their exploitation of the weak social classes!
A special responsibility rests upon judges. Amos severely arraigned all
who turn judgment to wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.
Anathemas were heaped upon the takers of bribes, especially if they sit
in places of public authority and wear the robes of law and patriotism.
Hot denunciation fell also upon the private doer of injustice; upon the
merchant who makes smaller the measure and perverts the false balances;
upon all who trample in any way upon the needy, who trample on the head
of the poor, who sell the righteous for silver, who turn aside the
way of the humble.[IV-3] The concept of justice was vividly defined
by Amos. Moreover, the shepherd prophet of Tekoa had the courage and
ability to make the concept clear to all who would listen to him.
Amos spoke for justice on the throne, on the judge’s bench, in the
activities of the wealthy, in the transactions of merchants, and in the
daily dealings of individuals with one another.
The campaign against injustice is carried forward by the first Isaiah,
the statesman and orator. In the Kingdom of Judah, Isaiah found the
same social evils that Amos had earlier preached against in the
Northern kingdom. The boldness of his attack is startling:
Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: everyone loveth
gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless,
neither does the cause of the widow come unto them.[IV-4]
Then Isaiah enters upon perhaps the most open, daring, and indignant
challenge to doers of social iniquity that is to be found anywhere:
Ye have eaten of the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of
the poor?[IV-5]
After the manner of Amos, Isaiah protested vigorously against the
judges and officers of the law who for a bribe vindicate the wicked and
deprive the innocent man of his innocence. He denounced in no doubtful
language the scribes who devote themselves to writing oppression, who
turn aside the dependent from securing justice, who prevent Jehovah’s
followers from receiving honest treatment, who prey upon widows and
despoil orphans. Special condemnation was heaped upon those who set up
iniquitous decrees.
Isaiah was a forerunner in an indirect sense of Henry George, for he
vehemently rebuked land monopolists. His new principle is contained
in a pronouncement of woes upon the persons who join house to house
and add field to field, until there is no land left except for the
monopolist who dwells as a lord over all. Isaiah protested against
social injustice not only because of the harmful effects upon the
individual but also because of the destructive and enervating national
results.
After the fashion of Amos and Isaiah, Micah conceived of Jehovah as a
just God. Micah depicts the social injustice of his day in terms of the
persons who hate the good and love the evil, who pluck off the skin of
the weak, even the flesh from the bones of Jehovah’s followers; “who
also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and
they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as
flesh within the caldron.”[IV-6]
Micah unhesitatingly condemns the priests who are giving oracles for
a reward, and the prophets who are divining for silver and who are
trusting in Jehovah to protect them. Micah was perhaps the first
person to describe the activities of the criminaloid which have
been so carefully analyzed by Professor E. A. Ross. He grasped the
concept of the social sinner who keeps within the law. He attacked
wealthy landowners who crush the small holders; he spared neither high
officials, nor priests. He presented his social concepts with precision
and effectiveness.
The invectives against social injustice are carried into the teachings
of Jeremiah. They appear later in the Deuteronomic Code. The Psalmists
deprecated injustice. The wisdom teachers uttered profound warnings on
the subject. The writer of Job deplored injustice. Throughout the Old
Testament the almost countless references justify the conclusion that
justice is the leading social concept which is presented by ancient
Hebrew thought.
The Old Testament parallels its denunciation of unjust social
relationships with diatribes against luxury. The evil effects of great
riches are again and again described. Amos boldly pointed the finger
of scorn at the idle rich, at those who “lie upon beds of ivory and
stretch themselves upon their couches.”
The possession of vast wealth has usually been considered by those
persons who are immediately concerned as an expression of divine favor.
Amos exposed the fallacies in this belief, commanded the owners of
wealth to assume social responsibility, and instantly to cease their
unholy practices of securing gain.
Isaiah united with Amos in treating the possession of wealth not
as a matter of favor or luck, but as a social trust. With one
stroke Jeremiah tore off the gilded frame from about the life of
the self-indulgent, luxury-loving King Jehoiakim. What powerful and
autocratic monarch was ever charged with indulging in luxury in such
relentless and uncompromising language as this?
Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his
chambers by injustice....
Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar?...
But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and
for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do
it.
The ways of the dishonest rich are vividly described by Jeremiah.
They set snares and catch people with lying. Their houses are full of
evidences of their crooked dealings. They maintain themselves in luxury
despite wanton expenditures by violating the needs of the fatherless
and the needy.
Zephaniah was no less direct in pointing out the dangers in wealth. He
declared that ill-gotten gains shall themselves become a prey and that
the houses of the sinful rich shall become desolate. All their silver
and their gold shall not be able to deliver them from their ultimate
desolation.
In a beautiful and effective style the Wisdom writer in Proverbs
unconsciously sums up the Old Testament philosophy concerning wealth:
Labor not to become rich; cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set
thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves
wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
The Old Testament with surprising uniformity supports the cause of
labor. The welfare of the slave is frequently espoused. According
to the Deuteronomic Code a runaway slave who was caught did not
necessarily need to be returned to his owner. In fact, a person who
harbored such a slave was expressly enjoined not to return him. By
this injunction the rights of property and vested interests in slaves
were ignored. Such an attitude was in opposition to the Code of
Hammurapi and to the codes of vested interests throughout history.
Slavery, however, was a well-established institution among the ancient
Hebrews.[IV-8]
Although the law book of Hammurapi fixed the wages of laborers, the
Old Testament law book restricted the hours of labor. Not only is the
master to limit his labor to six days a week, but he is commanded to
see that his slaves, male and female, do not work more than six days.
Modern industry, even twentieth century manufacturing enterprise in
the United States, has been persistently violating the labor rules of
the Hebrew law-givers. Employers are commanded not to take advantage
of poor and needy hired servants. They shall not oppress labor simply
because they are powerful and labor is weak. Even the poor immigrant
laborer is not to be exploited!
The first legislation in behalf of immigrants is found in Deuteronomy.
Employers must respect the needs of alien workers. The foreigner
shall not be oppressed. In the ordinary dealings between citizens and
foreigners, justice must not be perverted. The Hebrew law makers even
went so far as to issue the command: Love ye therefore the strangers,
for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
The institution of marriage is early accented in the Old Testament. In
the second chapter of Genesis divine approval is placed upon marriage.
In accordance with biological and social needs the institution of
marriage is made sacred. Although the Hebrews are noted for their
emphasis upon the responsibility of children to parents, the husband is
ordered to forsake his father and his mother and cleave unto his wife.
A man’s obligation to his helpmate exceeds even his obligations to his
father and mother.
The concept of a long-suffering, patient husband is extensively
elaborated in the teachings of Hosea. This prophet of the eighth
century, B. C., demonstrated the sanctity of the marriage relation by
remaining true to it even after his wife bore children of whom he was
not the father. It is remarkable that Hosea should not have divorced
his wife at once when he learned of her unfaithfulness to the marriage
vow. Hosea taught, by example, that divorce should be the last resort
after all the means of love have been used in trying to win back the
erring partner.
The description of Hosea’s domestic difficulties, whether allegorical
or not, is an early protest against the double standard of morals for
man and woman. The attitude of people in modern society who blame and
shun the fallen woman but permit the guilty man to continue to enjoy
the company of respectable men and women is vigorously challenged by
Hosea.
The last word against sex immorality was pronounced by Hosea. His
description of the effects of widespread sex immorality is brief but
incisive.
Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
Their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the
womb, and from the conception.
Their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit.
In the Deuteronomic laws we find the duties of parents to children and
of children to parents carefully outlined. Parents, primarily, are made
responsible for moral and religious education in the home; and children
are under obligations to obey their parents. This teaching is summed
up in the injunction:[IV-10] Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy
days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee; and
in the imprecation: Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp
shall be put out in obscure darkness.[IV-11]
The Wisdom writers dwell at considerable length upon the proper
relationships of husbands and wives and of parents and children.
They point the finger of shame at the quarrelsome woman. They warn
against the woman whose chief asset is her beauty. A virtuous wife is
a crown to her husband, but an immoral wife is as rottenness in his
bones.[IV-12]
The Wisdom teachers do not minimize the importance of parental
discipline. On occasion parents must act with force. Correction of
children is commanded. The situation is pictured in the following
language:[IV-13]
The word and reproof give wisdom; but a child left to himself bringeth
his mother to shame.
In other words, it is necessary that parents assume a positive,
definite attitude in regard to child nurture. They must see that their
children are actually trained in the ways in which they should go. Even
the loving parent must sometimes show his affection for his child by
chastising the child. Only by such a procedure do children grow up to
be a comfort to parents in their old age.
On the other hand the child must assume his share of responsibility. It
is the part of wisdom for children to receive willingly the instruction
that parents can give. The wise son loves parental advice. He listens
gladly to his father; he does not despise his mother’s counsels.
It has already been intimated that the Old Testament writers frequently
stress the importance of high standards of conduct for women. Amos
rebuked the wives of nobles and the wealthy who fritter away their best
impulses in idleness and sinful living and who dissipate their deepest
instincts in debauchery. Amos and Isaiah agreed, apparently, that a
nation’s welfare depends on the attitudes of its women. The wrath of
God will fall upon women who are haughty, who walk with heads held high
and with wanton glances, who go tripping along, “making a tinkling with
their feet.”
The anti-social character of sin was pointed out in Genesis. Cain was
the first to raise naïvely and blandly the question: Am I my brother’s
keeper? Sinful living narrows the soul, increases selfishness, and
vitiates a genuine social attitude. Sinning is repudiating social
responsibility. Amos advanced the idea that selfish living was nothing
less than disloyalty to one’s country. To dissipate one’s energy is to
undermine one’s usefulness to his country.
Intemperance was deplored. Isaiah has been called the first temperance
reformer of the world. His impassioned and classic utterances are well
represented by the following lines:[IV-14]
Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow
strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them.
Isaiah warned especially the priests and prophets of the evils of
intemperance. Wine will swallow them up, it will put them out of the
way, it will cause them to err in wisdom and to stumble in judgment.
In both Leviticus and Numbers the danger that lurks in the wine cup is
recognized. The special servants of Jehovah are commanded to separate
themselves from wine and strong drink. In Proverbs the Wisdom writer
declares:[IV-15] Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging and whoever
is deceived thereby is not wise. The same authority admonishes rulers
and judges not to drink wine lest they forget the law and pervert the
judgment of the afflicted. On the other hand, a reversion to a lower
standard is made in Proverbs when the legitimacy of giving strong drink
to the poor and miserable is recognized, so that they may forget their
poverty and misery.[IV-16] The general teaching, however, is that
strong drink leads to social inefficiency and the disintegration of
human personalities.
The cities of refuge represent a new social idea. A person who has
taken life without intention may flee to and find protection in the
cities of refuge. The altar and the sanctuary are designated as places
to which persons may flee who are not wilful murderers.[IV-17]
The social concept of democracy occupies an interesting place in the
Old Testament literature. In the days of Abraham the kinship group
prevailed. Within this group there were many households, ruled by
patriarchs. Within the kinship groups high standards of honor were
maintained, but anti-social attitudes toward outside and foreign groups
were encouraged. It was justifiable, for example, to lie to foreign
groups and even to kill the representatives of such peoples.
The concept of democracy developed _pari passu_ with the evolution of
the idea of Jehovah. In the minds of the Hebrews, Jehovah, or Jahweh,
was first a tribal god, then a national god; and finally, a universal
God, that is, a being who is interested in the welfare of all peoples,
and not simply in the welfare of “the chosen people.”
The Hebrew conception of the state contained several democratic
elements. The fundamental purpose of the state was declared to be the
welfare not of an irresponsible monarch, but of the people themselves.
This idea stands out in marked contradiction to the practices of the
Canaanites, who submitted themselves helplessly to capricious and
autocratic rulers.
The Hebrews treated the state as a part of a theocracy. But when
Jehovah spoke, he usually arraigned false wealth, arbitrary political
power, selfish ambition of kings, luxurious living, and special
privileges. Jehovah spoke for the oppressed, the poor, the defeated,
the laborer,[IV-8] in short, for humanity.
Consequently, loyalty to the nation was positive and persistent.
Consider this statement from Psalm 137 of Hebrew patriotism on the
part of exiled Hebrews who longed for their native land:
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we
remembered Zion.
We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof....
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my
mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
According to Hosea, Jehovah charged the citizens of the land to deal
with one another on the basis of fidelity and true love, and to stamp
out all social evils, such as perjury, stealing, committing adultery,
and mob violence. The writer of the Book of Job portrayed a good
citizen as one who delivers the poor, who helps those about to perish,
who causes the widow’s heart to sing for joy.[IV-18] He is eyes to the
blind, feet to the lame, and a father to the needy. He searches out the
cause of social evils. Moreover, he breaks the jaws of the unrighteous,
and plucks the prey from their mouths. He defends the blameless. He
does not put his confidence in gold or rejoice at his enemies when
evils beset them or they are destroyed. It may be truly said that
fundamental ideas of democracy were originated by the Hebrews.
Amos raised the question of internationalism. For the first time in
history, the idea of a universal God was postulated. Amos pronounced
Jehovah the God of other peoples besides the Israelites. “Have not I
brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt?” said Jehovah, “and the
Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?”[IV-19] The day
would come, according to Isaiah and Micah, when Jehovah would judge
over many peoples and rebuke strong nations. The conception of Jehovah
as a Being who transcends both time and space gave to the Hebrew mind
at its best a broader cast and a more universal comprehension than the
peoples of contemporary tribes and nations possessed.
The concept of universal peace was invented by the Hebrews. Isaiah and
Micah share the honor of being the first persons to advocate world
peace, and to predict the day when all nations shall worship a just God
and thereby be enabled to beat their swords into plowshares and their
spears into pruning-hooks, when nation shall not stand against nation,
and when the methods of warfare shall no longer be taught. The spirit
of hatred and of blind, selfish antagonism shall pass away. No modern
writer has ever spoken the doom of militarism so trenchantly as the Old
Testament prophet, Isaiah, who said, according to the translation by
Charles Foster Kent:[IV-20]
“For every boot of the warrior with noisy tread,
And every war-cloak drenched in the blood of the slain,
Will be completely burned up as fuel for the flame.”
The Hebrews strongly emphasized laws as a social dynamic. Love will
make socialized individuals. It will demonstrate to a person his
responsibilities as a member of society and his duties to his fellow
human beings. It will stifle hatred. It will even return good for evil.
It is the cardinal virtue and an eternal principle of right living.
The Old Testament teaches social salvation. Jehovah is fundamentally
interested in the improvement of social and living conditions. He
commanded the socialization of all human relationships. His teachings,
as given by the prophets and Wisdom writers, take cognizance of the
influence of environment upon character.
Hebrew social thought deals largely with social injustice. Social
evils are vividly described and evil-doers, chiefly kings and judges,
are vigorously and fearlessly arraigned. The family is made the chief
social institution, and love is crowned servant of all. Education is
centered in the home, and moral discipline is made the keynote of
education; hence the Hebrews survived the Greeks and Romans. A new
and perfect social order, directed by a just Jehovah, and motivated
throughout all its individual and social relationships by love, is
prophesied.