_Historical Outline from the Accession of Saul to the Destruction
of Jerusalem_.
Weakness of Republican Government; Jealousy of the several Tribes;
Resolution to have a King; Rules for regal Government; Character of
Saul; of David; Troubles of his Reign; Accession of Solomon; Erection
of the Temple; Commerce; Murmurs of the People; Rehoboam; Division of
the Tribes; Kings of Israel; Kingdom of Judah; Siege of Jerusalem;
Captivity; Kings of Judah; Return from Babylon; Second Temple; Canon of
Scripture; Struggles between Egypt and Syria; Conquest of Palestine by
Antiochus; Persecution of Jews; Resistance by the Family of Maccabaeus;
Victories of Judas; He courts the Alliance of the Romans; Succeeded by
Jonathan; Origin of the Asmonean Princes; John Hyrcanus; Aristobulus;
Alexander Jannaeus; Appeal to Pompey; Jerusalem taken by Romans; Herod
created King by the Romans; He repairs to the Temple; Archelaus succeeds
him, and Antipas is nominated to Galilee; Quirinius Prefect of Syria;
Pontius Pilate; Elevation of Herod Agrippa; Disgrace of Herod Philip;
Judea again a Province; Troubles; Accession of Young Agrippa; Felix;
Festus; Floris; Command given to Vespasian; War; Siege of Jerusalem by
Titus.
The weakness and jealousy which seem inseparable from a government
comprehending a number of Independent states, had been deeply felt
during the administration of Eli, and even under that of Samuel in
his latter days. Established in different parts of the country, the
several tribes were actuated by local interests and selfish views;
those in the north, who were exempted from the hostile inroads of the
hilistines and Ammonites, refusing to aid their brethren, the children
of Simeon and Judah, whose territory was constantly exposed to the
ravages of those warlike neighbours. In the time of the more recent
judges, the federal union on which the Hebrew commonwealth was founded
appeared practically dissolved. Nay, a spirit of rivalry and dissension
occasionally manifested itself among the kindred communities of which
it was composed;--Ephraim, stimulated by envy, vexed Judah, and Judah
vexed Ephraim.[33]
Meanwhile, several powerful kingdoms in the east, as well as the south,
threatened the independence of the Twelve Tribes, especially those on
the borders of the desert. Assyria had already turned her views towards
the fertile lands which skirt the shores of the Mediterranean; and
Egypt, in order to protect her rich valley from the aggressions of that
rising monarchy, began to open her eyes to the expediency of securing
the frontier towns in the nearest parts of Palestine. In a word, it was
fast becoming manifest that the existence of the Hebrews, as a free and
distinct people, could only be secured by reviving the union which had
originally subsisted among their leading families, under a form that
would combine their physical strength and patriotism in the support of
a common cause. An aged priest, although he might with the utmost
authority direct the solemnities of their national worship, and even
administer the laws to which they were all bound to submit, could not
command the secular obedience of rude clans, or, with any prospect of
success, lead them to battle against an enemy practised in all the
stratagems of war. The people, therefore, demanded the consent of Samuel
to a change in the structure of their government, that they might have a
king, not only to preside over their civil affairs, but also to go out
before them and fight their battles.[34]
The principal reason assigned by the elders of Israel for the innovation
which they required at the hands of their ancient prophet was, that they
might be "like all the nations;" evidently alluding to the advantages of
monarchical power, when decisive measures become necessary to defend the
interests of a state. It is remarkable that Moses had anticipated this
natural result in the progress of society, and even laid down rules for
the administration of the regal government. This wise legislator provided
that the king of the Hebrews should not be a foreigner: lest he might be
tempted to sacrifice the interest of his subjects to the policy of his
native land, and perhaps to countenance the introduction of unauthorized
rites into the worship of Jehovah. It was also stipulated that the
sovereign of the chosen people should not multiply horses to himself, lest
he should be carried by his ambition to make war in distant countries, and
neglect the welfare of the sacred inheritance promised to the fathers of
the Jewish nation.[35]
The qualities which recommended Saul to the choice of Samuel and the
approbation of the Tribes, leave no room for doubt that it was chiefly
as a military leader that the son of Kish was raised to the throne. Nor
was their expectation disappointed in the young Benjaminite, so far as
courage and zeal were required in conducting the affairs of war. But the
impetuosity of his character, and a certain indifference in regard to the
claims of the national faith, paved the way for his downfall and the
extinction of his family. The scene of Gilboa, which terminated the career
of the first Hebrew monarch, exhibits a most affecting tragedy; in which
the valour of a gallant chief, contrasted with his despair and sorrow,
throws a deceitful lustre over an event which the reader feels that he
ought to condemn.
David, to the skill of an experienced warrior, added a deep reverence for
the institutions of his country and the forms of Divine worship; whence he
procured the high distinction of being a man after God's own heart. To
this celebrated king was reserved the honour of taking from the Jebusites
a strong fortress on the borders of Judah and Benjamin, and of laying the
foundations of Jerusalem, viewed, at least, as the metropolis of Palestine
and the seat of the Hebrew government. On Mount Zion he built a suburb of
considerable beauty; and strength, which continued for many years to bear
his name, and to reflect the magnificence of his genius. Not satisfied
with this acquisition, he extended his arms on all sides, till the
borders of his kingdom touched the western bank of the Euphrates and the
neighbourhood of Damascus. He likewise defeated the Philistines, those
restless enemies of the southern tribes, and added their dominions to the
crown of Israel. The Moabites, who had provoked his resentment, were
subjected to military execution, and deprived of a large portion of their
land; an example of severity which, so far from intimidating the children
of Ammon, only provoked them to try the fortune of war against the
victorious monarch. David despatched an army under the command of the
irascible Joab, who, after worsting them in the field, inflicted a
tremendous chastisement upon the followers of Hanun, for having studiously
insulted the ambassadors of his master.[36]
But the splendour of this reign was afterward clouded by domestic guilt
and treason; and the nation, which could now have defied the power of its
bitterest enemies, was divided and rendered miserable by the foul passions
that issued from the royal palace. Still, notwithstanding the rebellion of
Absalom, and the defection of certain military leaders, David bequeathed
to his successor a flourishing kingdom; rapidly advancing in the arts
of civilized life, enjoying an advantageous commerce, the respect of
neighbouring states, and a decided preponderance among the minor
governments of Western Asia. His last years were spent in making
preparations for the building of a temple at Jerusalem,--a work that he
himself was not allowed to accomplish, because his hands were stained with
blood, which, however justly shed, rendered them unfit for erecting an
edifice to the God of mercy and peace.[37]
The success which had attended the arms of his father rendered the
accession of Solomon tranquil and secure, so far, at least, as we
consider the designs of the surrounding nations. Accordingly; finding
himself in possession of quiet as well as of an overflowing treasury, he
proceeded to realize the pious intentions of David in regard to the
house of God, and thereby to obey the last commands which had been
imposed upon him before he had received the crown. The chief glory of
Solomon's administration identified with the erection of the Temple. Nor
were the advantages arising from this great undertaking confined to the
spiritual objects to which it was principally subservient On the
contrary, the necessity of employing foreign artists, and of drawing
part of his materials from a distance, suggested to the king the
benefits of a regular trade; and as the plains of Syria produced more
corn than the natives could consume, he supplied the merchants of Tyre
and the adjoining ports with a valuable commodity, in return for the
manufactured goods which his own subjects could not fabricate. It was in
his reign that the Hebrews first became a commercial people; and
although we must admit that considerable obscurity still hangs over the
tracks of navigation which were pursued by the mariners of Solomon,
there is no reason to doubt that his ships were to be seen on the
Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf.[38]
But the popularity of his government did not keep pace with the rapidity
of his improvements or the magnificence of his works. Perhaps the vast
extent of his undertakings may have led to unusual demands upon the
industry of his people, and given occasion to those murmurs which could
hardly be repressed even within the precincts of the court. Like his
predecessor, too, he occasionally failed to illustrate, in his own
conduct, the excellent precepts that he propounded for the direction of
others; and towards the close of his life, particularly, the wisdom of
his moral lessons was strongly contrasted with the practical follies
which stand recorded against him in the inspired narrative. He totally
disregarded the leading principles of the constitution constructed by
Moses and left for the guidance of all Hebrew kings; not only multiplying
horses even to the extent of maintaining a large body of cavalry, and
marrying many wives who turned away his heart, but proceeding so far as to
give his countenance to idolatrous worship within sight of the very Temple
which he had consecrated to Jehovah, the God of all the earth.[39]
It was in this reign that the limits of Jewish power attained their
utmost reach, comprehending even the remarkable district of Palmyrene, a
spacious and fertile province in the midst of a frightful desert. There
were in it two principal towns, Thapsacus and Palmyra, from the latter
of which the whole country took its name. Solomon, it is well known,
took pleasure to adding to its beauty and strength, as being one of his
main defences on the eastern border; and hence it is spoken of in
Scripture as Tadmor in the wilderness. Josephus calls it Thadamor; the
Seventy recognise it under the name of Theodmor and Thedmor; while the
Arabs and Syrians at the present day keep alive the remembrance of its
ancient glory as Tadmor, Tadmier, and Tatmor. But of Solomon's labours
not one vestige now remains. The inhabitants having revolted from the
Emperor Aurelian, and pledged their faith to an adventurer called
Antiochus, or Achilles, who had assumed the purple, this splendid
town was attacked and razed to the ground. Repenting of his hasty
determination, the Roman prince gave orders that Palmyra should be
immediately rebuilt; but so inefficient were the measures which he
adopted, or so imperfectly was he obeyed in their execution, that the
city in the desert has ever since been remarkable only as a heap of
magnificent ruins. The first object that now presents itself to the
traveller who approaches this forlorn place, is a castle of mean
architecture and uncertain origin, about half an hour's walk from it, on
the north side. "From thence," says Mr. Maundrell, "we descry Tadmor,
enclosed on three sides, by long ridges of mountains; but to the south
is a vast plain which bounds the visible horizon. The barren soil
presents nothing green but a few palm trees. The city must have been of
large extent, if we may judge from the space now taken up by the ruins;
but as there are no traces of its walls, its real dimensions and form
remain equally unknown. It is now a deplorable spectacle, inhabited by
thirty or forty miserable families, who have built huts of mud within a
spacious court which once enclosed a magnificent heathen temple."[40]
The despotism exercised by Solomon created a strong reaction, which was
immediately felt on the accession of his son Rehoboam. This prince,
rejecting the advice of his aged counsellors, and following that of the
younger and more violent, soon had the misfortune to see the greater
part of his kingdom wrested from him. In reply to the address of his
people, who entreated an alleviation of their burdens, he declared,
that instead of requiring less at their hands he should demand more.
"My father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke; my father
chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." Such
a resolution, expressed in language at once so contemptuous and severe,
alienated from his government ten tribes, who sought a more indulgent
master in Jeroboam, a declared enemy of the house of David. Hence the
origin of the kingdom of Israel, as distinguished from that of Judah;
and hence, too, the disgraceful contentions between these kindred
states, which acknowledged one religion, and professed to be guided by
the same law. Arms and negotiation proved equally unavailing, in
repeated attempts which were made to reunite the Hebrews under one
sceptre; till, at length, about two hundred and seventy years after the
death of Solomon, the younger people were subdued by Shalmaneser, the
powerful monarch of Assyria, who carried them away captive into the
remoter provinces of his vast empire.[41]
Our plan does not admit a minuter detail of the sacred history than may
be readily found in the pages of the Old Testament. Suffice it therefore
to observe, that Jerusalem soon ceased to be regarded by the Israelites
as the centre of their religion, and the bond of union among the
descendants of Abraham.
Jeroboam had erected in his kingdom the emblems of a less pure faith, to
which he confined the attention of his subjects; while the frequent wars
that ensued, and the treaties formed on either side with the Gentile
nations on their respective borders, soon completed the estrangement
which ambition had begun. Little attached to the native line of princes,
the Israelites placed on the throne of Samaria a number of adventurers,
who had no qualities to recommend them besides military courage and an
irreconcilable hatred towards the more legitimate claimants of the house
of David. The following list will give a condensed view of the names,
the order, and the length of the reigns which belong to the sovereigns
of Israel, from the demise of Solomon down to the extinction of their
kingdom by the arms of Assyria:--
Years B.C.
1. Jeroboam 22 990
2. Nadad 2 968
3. Baasha 23 966
4. Ela 1 943
5. Zimri and Omri 11 942
6. Ahab 22 931
7. Ahaziah 2 909
8. Jehoram or Joram 12 907
9. Jehu 28 895
10. Jehoahaz 17 867
11: Jehoash or Joash 16 850
12. Jeroboam II 41 834
1st Interregnum 22 793
13. Zechariah and Shallum 1 771
14. Menahem 10 770
15. Pekahiah 2 760
16. Pekah 20 758
2d Interregnum 10 738
17. Hoshea 9 728
--- ---
Samaria taken 271 719
It appears to have escaped the notice of the greater number of
commentators, that the separation of interests, which in the days of
Rehoboam produced a permanent division of the tribes, had manifested
itself at a much earlier period. In truth, it is extremely doubtful
whether the union and co-operation between the northern and the southern
communities, which was meant to be accomplished by the institution of
monarchy, were ever cordial or efficient. There is no doubt, at least,
that the two parties differed essentially in their choice of a successor
to Saul; for, while the people of Judah invited David to the supreme power
as their annointed sovereign, the suffrages of Israel were unanimous in
favour of Ishbosheth, the son of the deceased king. We may therefore
conclude, that the exactions of Solomon were the pretext rather than the
true cause of the unfortunate dismemberment of the Hebrew confederation,
which in the end conducted both sections of it by gradual steps to defeat
and captivity.
The kingdom of Judah, less distracted by the pretensions of usurpers, and
being confirmed in the principles of patriotism by a more rigid adherance
to the law of Moses, continued during one hundred and thirty years to
resist the encroachments of the two rival powers, Egypt and Assyria, which
now began to contend in earnest for the possession of Palestine. Several
endeavours were made, even after the destruction of Samaria, to unite the
energies of the Twelve Tribes, and thereby to secure the independence of
the sacred territory a little longer. But a pitiful jealousy had succeeded
to the aversion generated by a long course of hostile aggression; while
the overwhelming hosts, which incessantly issued from the Euphrates and
the Nile to select a field of battle within the borders of Canaan, soon
left to the feeble councils of Jerusalem no other choice than that of an
Egyptian or an Assyrian master.
In the year six hundred and two before the Christian era, when Jehoiakim
was on the throne of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar, who already shared with his
father the government of Assyria, advanced into Palestine at the head of a
formidable army. A timely submission saved the city as well as the life of
the pusillanimous monarch. But after a short period, finding the conqueror
engaged in more important affairs, the vanquished king made an effort to
recover his dominions by throwing off the Babylonian yoke. The siege of
Jerusalem was renewed with greater vigour on the part of the invaders, in
the course of which Jehoiakim was killed, and his son Coniah ascended the
throne. Scarcely, however, had the new sovereign taken up the reigns of
government, when he found it necessary to open the gates of his capital to
the Assyrian prince, who carried him, his principal nobility, and the most
expert of his artisans, as prisoners to the banks of the Tigris.
The nominal authority was now confided to a brother or uncle of the
captive king, whose original name, Mattaniah, was changed to Zedekiah by
his lord paramount, who considered him merely as the governor of a
province. Impatient of an office so subordinate, and instigated, it is
probable, by the emissaries of Egypt, he resolved to hazard his life and
liberty for the chance of reconquering the independence of his crown. This
imprudent step brought Nebuchadnezzar once more before the walls of
Jerusalem. A siege, which appears to have continued fifteen or sixteen
months, terminated in the final reduction of the holy city, and in the
captivity of Zedekiah, who was treated with the utmost severity. His two
sons were executed in his presence, after which his eyes were put out;
when, being loaded with fetters, he was carried to Babylon and thrown into
prison.
The work of demolition was intrusted to Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the
guard, who "burnt the house of the Lord and the king's house, and all the
houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire. And
the army of the Chaldees that were with the captain of the guard brake
down the walls of Jerusalem round about. The rest of the people that were
left in the city, and the fugitives that fell away to the King of Babylon,
with the remnant of the multitude, did the captain of the guard carry
away. But he left the poor of the land to be vine-dressers and
husbandmen."[42]
The kings who reigned over Judah from the demise of Solomon to the
destruction of the first temple are as follows:--
Years B.C.
1. Rhehoboam 17 990
2. Abijah 3 973
3. Asa 41 970
4. Jehoshaphat 25 929
5. Jehoram or Joram 8 904
6. Ahaziah 1 896
7. Queen Athaliah 8 895
8. Joash or Jehoash 40 889
9. Amaziah 29 849
Interregnum 11 820
10. Uzziah or Azariah 52 809
11. Jotham 16 757
12. Ahaz 18 741
13. Hezekiah 29 725
14. Manasseh 55 696
15. Amor 2 641
18. Josiah 31 639
17. Jehoahaz 3 months
18. Jehoiakim 11 608
19. Coniah or Jehoiachin 3 months
20. Zedekiah 11 597
--- ---
Jerusalem taken 404 586
The desolation inflicted upon Jerusalem by the hands of her enemies
excited the deepest sorrow, and gave rise to the most gloomy apprehensions
in regard to the future. Considering themselves under the special
protection of Jehovah, the inhabitants could not by any means be induced
to believe that the throne of David would be overturned by the armies of
the heathen. It was in vain that Jeremiah, at the imminent peril of his
life announced the approaching judgment, assuring the monarch and his
princes that the King of Babylon would certainly besiege and lay waste
their holy city, unless the evil were averted by an immediate change of
manners. All his remonstrances were greeted with contempt; and at length
the prophet had to bewail the misery which thus overtook his people, and
the varied sufferings, the contumely, and the degradation, which they were
doomed to endure in the land of their conquerers. "How doth the city sit
solitary that was full of people! How is she become as a widow! She that
was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, is become
tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks!
Judah is gone into captivity; she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth
no rest."[43]
These sentiments, although applied to a later period, are beautifully
expressed by a modern poet, to whom was granted no small share of the
pathetic eloquence of the prophetic bard whose words have just been quoted.
"Reft of thy sons, amid thy foes forlorn,
Mourn, widowed Queen, forgotten Sion, mourn!
Is this thy place, sad city, this thy throne,
Where the wild desert rears its craggy stone,
While suns unbless'd their angry lustre fling,
And wayworn pilgrims seek the scanty spring?
Where now thy pomp which kings with envy viewed,
Where now thy might which all those kings subdued?
No martial myriads muster in thy gate;
No suppliant nations in thy Temple wait;
No prophet bards, thy glittering courts among,
Wake the full lyre, and swell the tide of song.
But lawless Force and meager Want are there,
And the quick-darting eye of restless Fear;
While cold Oblivion, 'mid thy ruins laid,
Folds his dark wing beneath thy ivy shade."[44]
The seventy years which were determined concerning Jerusalem began, not
at the demolition of the city by Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard,
but at the date of the former invasion by his master, in the reign of
Jehoiakim, when the Assyrians carried away some of the princes, and among
others Daniel and his celebrated companions, as captives, or perhaps as
hostages for the good conduct of the king. The event now alluded to took
place exactly six centuries before the Christian era; and hence the return
of the Jews to the Holy Land must have occurred about the year 530 prior
to the same great epoch. But as their migration homeward was gradually
accomplished under different leaders, and with various objects in view,
their historians have not thought it necessary to enter into particulars;
and hence has arisen a certain obscurity in the calculations of divines
respecting the commencement, the duration, and the end of the Babylonian
captivity.
The tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who now constituted the whole Jewish
nation, brought back with them to Palestine the ancient spirit of
hostility towards the Israelitish kingdom, the people of which they were
pleased to class under the general denomination of Samaritans; an impure
race, descended from the eastern colonists sent by Shalmaneser to replace
the Hebrew captives whom he removed to Halah and Habor and the cities of
the Medes. In this way they roused an opposition, and created difficulties
which otherwise they might not have experienced during their erection of
the second Temple. The countenance of the Persian court itself was
occasionally withdrawn from men, who appeared to acknowledge no affinity
with any other order of human beings, and who seemed determined to exclude
from their country, as well as from their religious rites and privileges,
all who could not establish an immaculate descent from the father of the
faithful. For this reason, the sympathy which is so naturally excited in
the breast of the reader in behalf of the weary exiles, who sat down and
wept by the waters of Babylon with their thoughts fixed on Zion, is very
apt to be extinguished when he contemplates the bitter enmity with which
they rejected the kind offices of their ancient brethren amid the ruins of
their metropolis.
The names of Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, and Ezra occupy the most distinguished
place among those worthies who were selected by Divine Providence
to conduct the restoration of the chosen people. After much toil,
interruption, and alarm, Jerusalem could once more boast of a temple
which, although destitute of the rich ornaments lavished upon that of
Solomon; was at least of equal dimensions, and erected on the same
consecrated ground. But the worshipper had to deplore the absence of the
Ark, the symbolical Urim and Thummim, the Shechinah or Divine Presence,
and the celestial fire which had maintained an unceasing flame upon the
altar. Their Sacred Writings, too, had been dispersed, and their ancient
language was fast becoming obsolete. To prevent the extension of so great
an evil, the more valuable manuscripts were collected and arranged,
containing the Law, the earlier Prophets, and the inspired Hymns used for
the purpose of devotion. Some compositions, however, which respected the
remotest period of their commonwealth, especially the Book of Jasher and
the Wars of the Lord, were irretrievably lost.
Under the Persian satraps, who directed the civil and military government
of Syria, the Jews were permitted to acknowledge the authority, of their
own high-priest, to whom, in all things pertaining to the law of Moses,
they rendered the obedience which was due to the head of their nation.
Their prosperity, it is true, was occasionally diminished or increased by
the personal character of the sovereigns who successively occupied the
throne of Cyrus; but no material change in their circumstances took place
until the victories of Alexander the Great had laid the foundations of the
Syro-Macedonian kingdom in Western Asia, and given a new dynasty to the
crown of Egypt. The struggles which ensued between these powerful states
frequently involved the interests of the Jews, and made new demands upon
their allegiance; although it is admitted, that as each was desirous to
conciliate a people who claimed Palestine for their unalienable heritage,
the Hebrews at large were, during two centuries, treated with much
liberality and favour. But this generosity or forbearance was interrupted
in the rein of Antiochus Epiphanes, who, alarmed by the report of
insurrections, and harassed by the events of an unsuccessful war in Egypt,
directed his angry passions against the Jews. Marching at the head of a
large force, he attacked Jerusalem so suddenly that no means of defence
could be used, and hardly any resistance attempted. Forty thousand of the
inhabitants were put to death, and an equal number condemned to slavery.
Not satisfied with this punishment, he proceeded to measures still more
appalling in the eyes of a Jew. He entered the Temple, pillaged the
treasury, seized all the sacred utensils, the golden candlestick, the
table of shew-bread, and the altar of incense. He then commanded a great
sow to be sacrificed on the altar of burnt offerings, part of the flesh to
be boiled, and the liquor from this unclean animal to be sprinkled over
every part of the sacred edifice; thus polluting with the most odious
defilement even the Holy of Holies, which no human eye, save that of the
high-priest, was ever permitted to behold.
A short time afterward, being the year 168 before the epoch of Redemption,
he issued an edict for the extermination of the whole Hebrew race, against
whom he had again conceived a furious dislike. This commission was
intrusted to Apollonius,--an instrument worthy of so sanguinary a
tyrant,--who, waiting till the Sabbath, when the people were occupied in
the peaceful duties of religion, let loose his soldiers upon the
unresisting multitude, slew all the men, whose blood deluged the streets,
and seized the women as captives. He first proceeded to plunder and then
to dismantle the city, which he set on fire in many places. He threw down
the walls, and built a strong fortress on the highest part of Mount Sion,
which commanded the Temple and all the adjoining parts of the town. From
this garrison he harassed the inhabitants of the country, who, with fond
attachment, stole in to visit the ruins, or to offer a hasty and perilous
worship in the place where their sanctuary had stood. All the public
services had ceased, and no voice of adoration was heard within the holy
gates, except that of the profane heathen calling on their idols.[45]
But the persecution did not end even with these furious expedients.
Antiochus next issued an order for uniformity of worship throughout all
his dominions, and sent officers everywhere to enforce the strictest
compliance. In the districts of Judea and Samaria, this invidious duty was
intrusted to Athenaeus, an old man, whose chief recommendation appears to
have been his intimate acquaintance with the doctrines and usages of the
Grecian religion. The Samaritans are said to have conformed without
scruple, and even to have permitted their temple on Mount Gerizim to be
regularly dedicated to Jupiter, in his character of the Stranger's Friend.
Having so far succeeded, the royal envoy turned his steps to Jerusalem,
where, at the point of the sword, he prohibited every observance connected
with the Jewish faith; compelling the people to profane the Sabbath, to
eat swine's flesh, and to abstain, under a severe penalty, from the
national rite of circumcision. The Temple was consigned by consecration to
the ceremonies of Jupiter Olympius; while the statue of that deity was
erected on the altar of burnt-offerings, and sacrifice duly performed in
his name. Two women, who had the initiatory ordinance enjoined by the
Mosaical law performed on their children, were hanged to a conspicuous
part of the city with their infants suspended round their necks; and many
other cruelties were perpetrated, the very atrocity of which precludes
them at once from popular belief and from the pages of history. Neither
age, nor sex, nor profession saved the proscribed Jew from the horrors of
a violent death. From Jerusalem, too, the persecution spread over the
whole country; in every city the same barbarities were executed and the
same profanations introduced. As a last insult, the feasts of the
Bacchanalia, the license of which, as they were celebrated in the later
ages of Greece, shocked the severe virtue of the older Romans, were
substituted for the national festival of tabernacles. The reluctant
Hebrews were forced to join in these riotous orgies, and carry the ivy,
the insignia of the god. So nearly were the Jewish nation and the worship
of Jehovah exterminated by the double weapons of superstition and
violence![46]
But this savage intolerance produced in due time a formidable opposition.
To a sincere believer death has always appeared a smaller evil than the
relinquishment of his faith; and, in this respect, no people ancient or
modern have shown more resolution than the descendants of Abraham. The
severities of Antiochus, which had inflamed the resentment of the whole
Jewish people, called forth in a hostile attitude the brave family of the
Maccabees, whose valour and perseverance enabled them to dispute with the
powerful monarch of Syria the sovereignty of Palestine. Judas, the ablest
and most gallant of five sons, put himself at the head of the insurgents,
whose zeal, more than compensating for the smallness of their numbers,
carried him to victory against large armies and experienced generals.
Making every allowance for the enthusiastic description of an admiring
countryman, who has recorded the exploits of the Maccabaean chiefs, there
will still remain the most ample evidence to satisfy every candid reader,
that in all the great battles the fortune of war followed the standard of
the Jews.
But the victorious Maccabees, who had delivered their country from the
oppression of foreigners, encountered a more formidable enemy in the
factious spirit of their own people. Alcimus, a tool of the Syrians,
assumed the title of high-priest, and in virtue of his office claimed the
obedience of all who acknowledged the institutions of Moses. In this
emergency Judas courted the alliance of the Romans, who willingly extended
their protection to confederates so likely to aid their ambitious views in
the East; but before the Republic could interpose her arms in his behalf,
the Hebrew general had fallen in the field of battle.
This distinguished patriot was succeeded by his brother Jonathan, who,
though less celebrated as a warrior, had the good fortune to restore the
drooping cause of his countrymen, and even to establish their rights on
the footing of independence. Profiting by a sanguinary competition for the
throne of Syria, he consented to employ his power in favour of Alexander
Balas, on condition that, in return for so seasonable an aid; he should be
allowed to assume the pontifical robe as ruler of Judea. Hence the origin
of the Asmonean princes, who, uniting civil with spiritual authority,
governed Palestine more than a hundred years.
But Jonathan fell the victim of that refined policy to which he was
mainly indebted for his elevation. He left the sovereign priesthood to
his brother Simon, who, wisely abstaining from all interference in the
disputes which embroiled Egypt and Syria, directed his whole attention
to the improvement of the Jewish kingdom. To secure the tranquillity
which had been so dearly purchased he cultivated a more intimate connexion
with Rome; remitting, from time to time, such valuable tokens of his
respect as could not fail to make an impression on the venal minds of
those aspiring chiefs who already contended for the empire of the world
in that celebrated capital. But a conspiracy, originating in his own house,
and fomented by the agents of Antiochus, put an end to the life of Simon
and of his eldest son, who had earned considerable reputation in the
command of armies. The duty of avenging his death and of governing a
distracted country devolved upon his younger son, afterward well known
in history by the name of John Hyrcanus.
The unhappy circumstances under which he succeeded to power compelled him
to submit for a time to the condition of vassalage; but no sooner had
Antiochus Sidetes fallen in the Parthian war, than John shook off the yoke
of Syria, and exercised the rights of an independent sovereign. He even
extended his sway beyond the Jordan, reducing several important towns to
his obedience; though the achievement which most gratified his Jewish
subjects was the capture of Shechem, followed by the demolition of the
temple on Gerizim, so long regarded as the opprobrium of the Hebrew faith.
At a later period he made himself master of Samaria and Galilee, when, to
gratify still farther the vindictive grudge which yet rankled in the
breasts of his people, he destroyed the capital of the former, and debased
it to the condition of a stagnant lake. Nor was his attention confined to
foreign conquest. He strengthened the fortifications of Jerusalem, and
built the castle of Baris within the walls which surrounded the hill of
the Temple,--a stronghold, that at a future period attracted no small
degree of notice under the name of Antonia.
The government was enjoyed during a brief space by Aristobulus, the son of
Hyrcanus, whose reign was only distinguished by the most painful domestic
calamities. The throne was next occupied by Alexander Jannaeus, a man of
ignoble birth, but of a warlike and very ambitious temper. The distracted
state of the neighbouring countries induced him to take the field, with
the view of reducing several towns on the coast of the Mediterranean,--an
undertaking which finally involved him in the troubled politics of Egypt
and Cyprus. In process of time, the severity of his measures, or the
meanness of his extraction, rendered him so unpopular at Jerusalem that
the inhabitants expelled him by force of arms. A civil war of the most
sanguinary nature raged several years, during which the insurgents invited
the assistance of Demetrius Euchaerus, one of the kings of Syria. This
measure seems to have united a large party of Jews, who were equally
hostile to the dominant faction within the city, and to the ally whom they
had called to their aid. Alexander, after having repeatedly suffered the
heaviest losses, saw himself again at the head of a powerful army, with
which he resolved to march against the rebellious capital. He inflicted a
signal punishment upon such of the unfortunate citizens as fell into his
hands; ordering nearly a thousand of them to be crucified, and their wives
and children to be butchered before their eyes.
Having fully re-established his power to the remotest parts of Palestine,
the victorious high-priest, now drawing towards the close of his days,
gave instructions to his wife for the future government of the country.
Alexandria, a woman of a vigorous mind, held the reins of civil power
with great steadiness, while her eldest son, Hyrcanus the Second, was
decorated with the sacred diadem as the head of the nation. But, unhappily,
the commotions which had disturbed the reign of her husband were again
excited, and once more divided the people into two furious parties.
Aristobulus, the younger son of Jannaeus, gave his countenance to the
body who opposed his brother, and at length threw off his disguise so
completely as to aspire to supreme power in defiance of the rights of
birth and of a legal investiture. Hyrcanus, who was far inferior to his
ambitious relative in point of talent and resolution, would probably,
after the death of their mother, have been unable to keep his seat on the
throne, had he not received the powerful aid of Antipatar, a son of
Antipas, the governor of Idumea. Both sides were making preparation for an
appeal to arms, when the Romans, who had already overrun the finest parts
of Syria, advanced into the province of Palestine in the character at once
of umpires and of allies.
Pompey readily listened to the claims of the two competitors, but deferred
coming to an immediate decision; having resolved, as it afterward
appeared, that neither of the kinsmen should continue any longer to
possess the civil and military command of Judea. Aristobulus, impatient of
delay, and having no confidence in the goodness of his cause, had recourse
to arms, and at length shut himself up in Jerusalem. The Roman general
issued orders to his lieutenant Gabinius to invest the holy city; which,
after a siege of three months, was taken by assault at a great expense of
human life.
Many of the priests who were employed in the duties of their office fell
victims to the rage of the soldiers; while others, unable to witness the
desecration of their Temple by the presence of idolaters, threw themselves
from the rock on which that building stood. Induced by curiosity, the
rival of Caesar imitated the profane boldness of Antiochus, penetrating
into the Holy of Holies, and examining all the instruments of a worship
which differed so much from that of all other nations. But Pompey was more
politic, or more generous than the Syrian monarch; for although he found
much treasure in the sanctuary as well as many vessels of gold and silver,
he carried nothing away. He expressed much astonishment that, in a fane so
magnificent, and frequented by Jews from all parts of the earth, there
should be no material form, statue, nor picture to represent the Deity to
whose honour it was erected. Having, in order to satisfy the scruples of
the people, ordered a purification of the Temple, he renewed the
appointment of Hyrcanus to the high priesthood, but without any civil
power; while in respect to the more turbulent Aristobulus, he resolved to
exercise the right of a conqueror, by sending him and his two sons to
Rome, that they might swell the train of his approaching triumph.
The escape of one of these young men, and afterward of the father himself,
rekindled the flame of war in Palestine. But the Romans under Gabinius
and the celebrated Mark Antony, speedily subdued the hasty levies of
Aristobulus, and completely re-established the ascendency of the Republic
in all the revolted districts. In the civil war which ensued, Antipater,
who still directed the affairs of the weak-minded Hyrcanus, paid his court
so successfully to the dominant faction as to obtain for his master the
protection of Caesar, and for himself the procuratorship of Judea. Raised
to this commanding eminence, he named Phasael, his eldest son, governor of
Jerusalem, and confided to the younger, the artful and unscrupulous Herod,
the charge of Galilee.
But there still remained an individual belonging to the family of
Aristobulus, who, having found refuge among the Parthians, led a powerful
army of that people into Syria, and finally invested Jerusalem. The
invaders, after obtaining possession of the city, deprived Hyrcanus of the
priesthood and Phasael of his life; the barbarian soldiers, meantime,
committing pillage on all classes, both within the walls and in the
adjoining country. Herod, warned by his less fortunate relative in the
capital, had fled to Rome, with the view, it is said, of recommending the
interests of another Aristobulus, a grandson of Hyrcanus, and brother of
the beautiful Mariamne, to whom he himself was already betrothed. Octavius
and Antony, however, thought it morn expedient for their rising empire
that Herod should wear the vassal crown of Judea in his own person, rather
than see it placed on the head of an inexperienced youth; and as the son
of Antipater was about to unite himself with a descendant of the Asmonean
princes, it was considered that the claims of each family would be thereby
fully satisfied.
The reign of Herod, who, to distinguish him from others of the same name,
is usually called the Great, was no less remarkable for domestic calamity
than for public peace and happiness. Urged by suspicion, he put to death
his beloved wife,[47] her mother, brother, grandfather, uncle, and two
sons. His palace was the scene of incessant intrigue, misery, and
bloodshed; his nearest relations being even the chief instruments of his
worst sufferings and fears. It was, perhaps, to divert his apprehensions
and remorse that he employed so much of his time in the labours of
architecture. Besides a royal residence on Mount Zion, he built a number
of citadels throughout the country, and laid the foundations of several
splendid towns. Among these was Cesarea, a station well selected both for
strength and commerce, and destined to become, under a different
government, a place of considerable importance.
But the impurity of his blood as an Idumean, and his undisguised
attachment to the religion of his Gentile masters, created an obstacle to
a complete understanding with his subjects, which no degree of personal
kindness, or of wisdom and munificence in the conduct of public affairs,
could ever entirely remove. At length he determined on a measure which, he
hoped, would at the same time employ the people and ingratiate himself
with the higher classes--the rebuilding of the temple in its former
splendour and greatness. The lapse of five hundred years, and the ravage
of successive wars, had much impaired the structure of Zerubbabel. As it
was necessary to remove the dilapidated parts of the edifice before the
new building could be begun, the Jews looked on with a suspicious eye;
apprehensive lest the king, under pretence of doing honour to their faith,
should obliterate every vestige of their ancient sanctuary. But the
prudence of Herod calmed their fears; the work proceeded with the greatest
regularity, and the nation saw, with the utmost joy, a fabric of stately
architecture crowning the brow of Mount Moriah with glittering masses of
white marble and pinnacles of gold. Yet during this pious undertaking the
Jewish monarch maintained his double character; presiding at the Olympic
games, granting large donations for their support, and even allowing
himself to be nominated president of this pagan festival.[48]
As he advanced towards old age his troubles multiplied, and his
apprehensions were increased, till, at length, four years anterior to the
common era of Christianity, Herod sank under the pressure of a loathsome
disease. He was permitted by the Romans so far to exercise the privileges
of an independent prince as to distribute by will the inheritance of
sovereignty among the more favoured of his children; and in virtue of this
indulgence he assigned to Archelaus the government of Idumea, Samaria, and
Judea, while he bestowed upon Antipas a similar authority over Peraea and
Galilee.
But the young princes required the sanction of the Roman emperor, whom
they both regarded as their liege lord; and with that view repaired to the
capital of Italy. The will of the late king was acknowledged and confirmed
by Augustus, who was moreover pleased to give to Herod Philip, their elder
brother, the provinces of Auranitis, Trachonitis, Paneas, and Batanea.
Achelaus, the metropolis of whose dominions was Jerusalem, ruled in
quality of ethnarch about nine years; but so little to the satisfaction
either of his master at Rome or of the people whom he was appointed to
govern, that at the end of this period he was summoned to render an
account of his administration at the imperial tribunal, when he was
deprived of his power and wealth, and finally banished into Gaul. Judea
was now reduced to a Roman province, dependent on the prefecture of Syria,
though usually place under the inspection of a subordinate officer, called
the procurator or governor. Thus the sceptre passed away from Judah, and
the lawgiver descended from the family of Jacob ceased to enjoy power
within the confines of the Promised Land.
No reader can require to be reminded, that it was at this epoch, in the
last year of the reign of Herod, the Messias was born, and conveyed into
Egypt for security. The unjust and cruel government of Archelaus, for
which, as has just been related, he was stripped of his authority by the
head of the empire, was probably the cause why the holy family did not
again take up their residence in Judea, but preferred the milder rule of
Antipas. When Joseph "heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room
of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being
warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: and
he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth."[49]
The first thirty years of the Christian era did not pass away without
several insurrections on the part of the Jews, and repeated acts of
severity and extortion inflicted upon them by their stern conquerors.
The commotion excited by Judas, called the Gallilean, is regarded by
historians as one of the most important of those ebullitions which were
constantly breaking forth among that inflammatory people, not only on
account of its immediate consequences, but for the effects produced on
the national character, in regard to the speculative tenets connected
with tribute and submission to a heathen government.
Upon the exile of Archelaus, the prefecture of Syria was committed to
Publius Sulpicius Quirinius. This commander is mentioned in the Gospel of
St. Luke by the name of Cyrenius, and is described as the person under
whom the taxing was first made in that province. Hence we may conclude,
that the enrolment which took place at the birth of our Saviour was merely
a census, comprehending the numbers, and perhaps the wealth and station of
the several classes of the people.
It was about the twenty-sixth year of our epoch that Pontius Pilate was
nominated to the government of Judea. Ignorant or indifferent as to the
prejudices of the Jews, he roused among them a spirit of the most active
resentment, by displaying the image of the emperor in Jerusalem, and by
seizing part of their sacred treasure for the purposes of general
improvement. As the fiery temper of the inhabitants drove them, on most
occasions, to acts of violence, he did not hesitate to employ force in
return; and we find, accordingly, that his administration was dishonoured
by several acts of military execution directed against Jews and Samaritans
indiscriminately. His severity towards the latter people finally led to
his recall and disgrace about the year 36, when Vitellius, the father of
the future emperor of the same name, presided over the affairs of the
Syrian province.
The plan of our work does not permit us to do more than allude to the
great event which took place at Jerusalem under the auspices of Pilate.
We may nevertheless observe, that the narrative of the gospel is in strict
harmony with the character, not only of the time to which it refers,
but also of all the persons whose acts it describes. The expectation of
the Jews when Jesus of Nazareth first appeared,--their subsequent
disappointment and rage--their hatred and impatience of the Roman
government,--the perplexity of the military chief, and the motive which at
length induced him to sacrifice the innocent person who was listed before
him, are facts which display the most perfect accordance with the tone of
civil history at that remarkable period.
During the troubles which agitated Judea, the districts that owned the
sovereignty of Antipas and Philip, namely, Galilee and the country beyond
the Jordan, enjoyed comparative quiet. The former, who is the Herod
described by our Saviour as "that fox," was a person of a cool and rather
crafty disposition, and might have terminated his long reign in peace, had
not Herodias, whom he seduced from his brother--the second prince just
mentioned--irritated his ambition by pointing to the superior rank of his
nephew, Herod Agrippa, whom Caligula had been pleased to raise to a
provincial throne. Urged by his wife to solicit a similar elevation, he
presented himself at Rome, and obtained an audience of the emperor; but
the successor of Tiberius was so little pleased with his conduct on this
occasion, that he divested him of the tetrarchy, and banished him into
Gaul.
The death of Herod Philip and the degradation of the Galilean tetrarch
paved the way for the advancement of Agrippa to all the honour and power
which had belonged to the family of David. He was permitted to reign over
the whole of Palestine, having under his direction the usual number of
Roman troops, which experience had proved to be necessary for the peace of
a province at once so remote and so turbulent. The only event that
disturbed the tranquillity of his government was an insane resolution
expressed by Caligula to place his own statue in the temple of Jerusalem,
as an object of respect, if not of positive and direct worship to the
whole Jewish nation. The prudence of the Syrian prefect, and the influence
which Agrippa still possessed over the mind of his imperial friend,
prevented the horrors that must have arisen from the attempt to desecrate,
in this odious manner, a sanctuary deemed most holy by every descendant of
Abraham.
But no position could be more difficult to hold with safety and reputation
than that which was occupied by this Hebrew prince. He was assailed on the
one hand by the jealousy of the Roman deputies, and on the other by the
suspicion of his own countrymen, who could never divest themselves of the
fear that his foreign education had rendered him indifferent to the rites
of the Mosaical law. To satisfy the latter, he spared no expense in
conferring magnificence on the daily service of the temple, while he put
forth his hand to persecute the Christian church in the persons of St.
Peter and James the brother of John. To remove every ground of disloyalty
from the eyes of the political agents who were appointed by Claudius to
watch his conduct, he ordered a splendid festival at Cesarea in honour of
the new emperor; on which occasion, when arrayed in the moat gorgeous
attire, certain words of adulation reached his ear, not fit to be
addressed to a Jewish monarch. The result will be best described in the
words of sacred Scripture: "And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal
apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the
people gave a shout, saying, it is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God
the glory; and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost."[50] He left
a son and three daughters, of whom Agrippa, Bernice, and Drusilla make a
conspicuous figure towards the close of the book of Acts. These events
took place between the fortieth and the forty-fifth years of the Christian
faith.
The youth and inexperience of the prince dictated to the Roman government
the propriety of assuming once more the entire direction of Jewish
affairs. The prefecture of Syria was confided to Cassius Longinus, under
whom served, as procurator of Judea, Caspius Fadus, a stern though an
upright soldier. But the impatience and hatred of the people were now
inflamed to such a degree, that gentleness and severity were equally
unavailing to preserve the tranquillity of the country. Impostors appeared
on every hand, proclaiming deliverance to the oppressed children of Jacob,
and provoking the more impetuous among their brethren to take up arms
against the Romans. Various conflicts ensued, in which the discipline of
the legions hardly ever failed to disperse or destroy the tumultuary bands
who, under such unhappy auspices, attempted to restore the kingdom to
Israel. The holy city, which was from time to time beleaguered by both
parties, sustained material injury from the furious assaults of pagan
and Jew alternately. The predictions of its downfall, already circulated
among the Christians, began to mingle with the shouts of its fanatical
inhabitants; and already, even at the accession of Agrippa the Second to
his limited sovereignty, every thing portended that miserable consummation
which at no distant period closed the temporal scene of Hebrew hope and
dominion.
Every succeeding day witnessed the progress of that ferocious sect founded
on the opinions of Judas the Gaulonite, who acknowledged no sovereign but
Jehovah, and who constantly denounced as the greatest of all sins those
payments or services by means of which a heathenish government was
supported. In prosecuting their revolutionary schemes; they esteemed no
man's life dear, and set as little value upon their own. Devoted to the
principles of a frantic patriotism, they were content to sacrifice to its
claims the clearest dictates of humanity and religion; being at all times
ready to bind themselves by an oath that they would neither eat nor drink
until they had slain the enemy of their nation or of their God. This was
the school which supplied that execrable faction, who added tenfold to the
miseries of Jerusalem in the day of her visitation, and who contributed
more than all the legions of Rome to realize the bitterness of the curse
which was poured upon her devoted head.
A succession of unprincipled governors, who were sent forth to enrich
themselves on the spoils of the Syrian provinces, accelerated the crisis
of Judea. About the middle of the first century the notorious Felix was
appointed to the government, who, in the administration of affairs,
habitually combined violence with fraud, sending out his soldiers to
inflict punishment on such as had not the means or the inclination to
bribe his clemency. An equal stranger to righteousness and temperance, he
presented a fine subject for the eloquence of St. Paul, who it is
presumed, however, made the profligate governor tremble, without either
affecting his religious principles or improving his moral conduct.
The short residence of Festus procured for the unhappy Jews a respite from
oppression. He laboured successfully to put down the bands of insurgents,
whose ravages were inflicted indiscriminately upon foreigners and their
own countrymen; nor was he less active in checking the excesses of the
military, so long accustomed to rapine and free quarter. Agrippa at the
same time transferred the seat of his government to Jerusalem, where his
presence served to moderate the rage of parties, and thereby to postpone
the final rupture between the provincials and their imperial master. But
this brief interval of repose was followed by an increased degree of
irritation and fury. Florus, alike distinguished for his avarice and
cruelty, and who saw in the contentions of the people the readiest means
for filling his own coffers, connived at the mutual hostility which it was
his duty to prevent. In this nefarious policy he received the countenance
of Cestius Gallus, the prefect of Syria, who, imitating the maxims of
his lieutenant, studiously drove the natives to insurrection, in order
that their cries for justice might be drowned amid the clash of arms.
But he forgot that there are limits to endurance even among the most
humble and abject. Unable to support the weight of his tyranny, and galled
by certain insults directed against their faith, the Jewish inhabitants of
Cesarea set his power at defiance, and declared their resolution to repel
his injuries by force. The capital was soon actuated by a similar spirit,
and made preparations for defence. Cestius marched to the gates, and
demanded an entrance for the imperial cohorts, whose aid was required to
support the garrison within. The citizens, refusing to comply; anticipated
the horrors of a siege, when after a few days they saw, to their great
surprise, the Syrian prefect in full retreat carrying with him his
formidable army. Sallying from the different outlets with arms in their
hands, they pursued the fugitives with the usual fury of an incensed
multitude; and, overtaking their enemy at the narrow pass of Bethhoron,
they avenged the cause of independence by a considerable slaughter of the
legionary soldiers, and by driving the remainder to an ignominious flight.
Nero received the intelligence of this defeat while amusing himself in
Greece, and immediately sent Vespasian into Syria to assume the
government, with instructions to restore peace of the province by moderate
concessions or by the most vigorous warfare. It was in the year
sixty-seven that this great commander entered Judea, accompanied by his
son, the celebrated Titus. The result is too well known to require
details. A series of sanguinary battles deprived the Jews of their
principal towns one after another, until they were at length shut up in
Jerusalem; the siege and final reduction of which compose one of the most
affecting stories that are anywhere recorded in the annals of the human
race.