stature of Jesus Christ. Some have asserted, that he was in person the
noblest of all the sons of men. Others have maintained, that there was
no beauty nor any graces in his outward appearance. The fathers have not
expressed themselves on this matter in a uniform manner. St. Jerom
believes that the lustre and majesty which shone about our Saviour’s
face were capable of winning all hearts: it was this that drew the
generality of his Apostles with so much ease to him; it was this majesty
which struck those down who came to seize him in the olive garden. St.
Bernard and St. Chrysostom contend in like manner for the beauty of
Jesus Christ’s person; but the most ancient fathers have acknowledged,
that he was not at all handsome. _Homo indecorus et passibilis_, says
Irenæus. Celsus objected to the Christians, that Jesus Christ, as a man,
was little, and ill made, which Origen acknowledged in his answer to
have been written of him. Clemens Alexandrinus owns, in several places,
that the person of Jesus Christ was not beautiful, as does also Cyril of
Alexandria. Tertullian says plainly, _vultu et aspectu inglorius_; that
his outward form had nothing that could attract consideration and
respect. St. Austin confesses, that Jesus Christ, as a man, was without
beauty and the advantage of person; and the generality of the ancients,
as Eusebius, Basil, Theodoret, Ambrose, Isidore, &c, explain the passage
in the Psalms, “Thou art fairer than the children of men,” as relating
to the beauty of Jesus Christ according to his divinity. This difference
in opinion shows that no certain tradition was handed down on this
subject. The truth probably is, that all which was majestic and
attractive in the person of our Lord, was in the _expression_ of the
countenance, the full influence of which was displayed chiefly in his
confidential intercourse with his disciples; while his general
appearance presented no striking peculiarity to the common observer.
JEWS, the appropriate denomination of the descendants of Judah, which
soon included under it the Benjamites, who joined themselves to the
tribe of Judah, on the revolt of the other ten tribes from the house of
David. After the Babylonish captivity, when many individuals of these
ten tribes returned with the men of Judah and Benjamin to rebuild
Jerusalem, the term JEWS included them also, or rather was then extended
to all the descendants of Israel who retained the Jewish religion,
whether they belonged to the two or to the ten tribes, whether they
returned into Judea or not. Hence, not only all the Israelites of future
times have been called Jews, but all the descendants of Jacob, from the
earliest times, are frequently so called by us at present, and we speak
even of their original dispensation as the Jewish dispensation. The
history of this singular people is recorded in the sacred books of the
Old Testament; and in place of epitomizing the accounts of the sacred
writers, it will be more useful to fill up the chasm between the close
of the historical books there contained, and the coming of our Lord.
When the kingdom of Judah had been seventy years in captivity, and the
period of their affliction was completed, Cyrus, (B. C. 536,) under whom
were united the kingdoms of Persia, Media, and Babylon, issued a decree,
permitting all the Jews to return to their own land, and to rebuild
their temple at Jerusalem. This decree had been expressly foretold by
the Prophet Isaiah, who spoke of Cyrus by name, above a hundred years
before his birth, as the deliverer of God’s chosen people from their
predicted captivity. Though the decree issued by Cyrus was general, a
part only of the nation took advantage of it. The number of persons who
returned at this time was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty,
and seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven servants. They were
conducted by Zerubbabel and Joshua. Zerubbabel, frequently called in
Scripture Shashbazzar, was the grandson of Jeconias, and consequently
descended from David. He was called “the prince of Judah,” and was
appointed their governor by Cyrus, and with his permission carried back
a part of the gold and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out
the temple of Jerusalem. The rest of the treasures of the temple were
carried thither afterward by Ezra. Joshua was the son of Josedec, the
high priest, and grandson of Seraiah, who was high priest when the
temple was destroyed. Darius, the successor of Cyrus, confirmed this
decree, and favoured the reëstablishment of the people. But it was in
the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus, called in Scripture Ahasuerus, that
Ezra obtained his commission, and was made governor of the Jews in their
own land, which government he held thirteen years: then Nehemiah was
appointed with fresh powers, probably through the interest of Queen
Esther; and Ezra applied himself solely to correcting the canon of the
Scriptures, and restoring and providing for the continuance of the
worship of God in its original purity. The first care of the Jews, after
their arrival in Judea, was to build an altar for burnt-offerings to
God: they then collected materials for rebuilding the temple; and all
necessary preparations being made, in the beginning of the second year
after their return under Zerubbabel, they began to build it upon the old
foundations. The Samaritans, affirming that they worshipped the God of
Israel, offered to assist the Jews; but their assistance being refused,
they did all in their power to impede the work; and hence originated
that enmity which ever after subsisted between the Jews and Samaritans.
The temple, after a variety of obstructions and delays, was finished and
dedicated, in the seventh year of King Darius, B. C. 515, and twenty
years after it was begun. Though this second temple, or, as it is
sometimes called, the temple of Zerubbabel, who was at that time
governor of the Jews, was of the same size and dimensions as the first,
or Solomon’s temple, yet it was very inferior to it in splendour and
magnificence; and the ark of the covenant, the Shechinah, the holy fire
upon the altar, the Urim and Thummim, and the spirit of prophecy, were
all wanting to this temple of the remnant of the people. At the feast of
the dedication, offerings were made for the twelve tribes of Israel,
which seems to indicate that some of all the tribes returned from
captivity; but by far the greater number were of the tribe of Judah, and
therefore from this period the Israelites were generally called Judæi or
Jews, and their country Judea. Many, at their own desire, remained in
those provinces where they had been placed by the kings of Assyria and
Babylon. The settlement of the people, “after their old estate,”
according to the word of the Lord, together with the arrangement of all
civil and ecclesiastical matters, and the building of the walls of
Jerusalem, were completed by Ezra and Nehemiah. But we soon after find
Malachi, the last of the prophets under the Old Testament, reproving
both priests and people very severely, not for idolatry, but for their
scandalous lives and gross corruptions.
The Scriptural history ends at this period, B. C. 430; and we must have
recourse to uninspired writings, principally to the books of the
Maccabees, and to Josephus, for the remaining particulars of the Jewish
history, to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Judea continued
subject to the kings of Persia about two hundred years; but it does not
appear that it had a separate governor after Nehemiah. From his time it
was included in the jurisdiction of the governor of Syria, and under him
the high priest had the chief authority. When Alexander the Great was
preparing to besiege Tyre, he sent to Jaddua, the high priest at
Jerusalem, to supply him with that quantity of provisions which he was
accustomed to send to Persia. Jaddua refused, upon the ground of his
oath of fidelity to the king of Persia. This refusal irritated
Alexander; and when he had taken Tyre, he marched toward Jerusalem to
revenge himself upon the Jews. Jaddua had notice of his approach, and,
by the direction of God, went out of the city to meet him, dressed in
his pontifical robes, and attended by the Levites in white garments.
Alexander, visibly struck with this solemn appearance, immediately laid
aside his hostile intentions, advanced toward the high priest, embraced
him, and paid adoration to the name of God, which was inscribed upon the
frontlet of his mitre: he afterward went into the city with the high
priest, and offered sacrifices in the temple to the God of the Jews.
This sudden change in the disposition of Alexander excited no small
astonishment among his followers; and when his favourite Parmenio
inquired of him the cause, he answered, that it was occasioned by the
recollection of a remarkable dream he had in Macedonia, in which a
person, dressed precisely like the Jewish high priest, had encouraged
him to undertake the conquest of Persia, and had promised him success:
he therefore adored the name of that God by whose direction he believed
he acted, and showed kindness to his people. It is also said, that while
he was at Jerusalem the prophecies of Daniel were pointed out to him,
which foretold that “the king of Grecia” should conquer Persia, Dan.
viii, 21. Before he left Jerusalem he granted the Jews the same free
enjoyment of their laws and their religion, and exemption from tribute
every sabbatical year, which they had been allowed by the kings of
Persia; and when he built Alexandria, he placed a great number of Jews
there, and granted them many favours and immunities. Whether any Jews
settled in Europe so early as while the nation was subject to the
Macedonian empire, is not known; but it is believed that they began to
Hellenize about this time. The Greek tongue became more common among
them, and Grecian manners and opinions were soon introduced. See
ALEXANDER.
At the death of Alexander, (B. C. 323,) in the division of his empire
among his generals, Judea fell to the share of Laomedon. But Ptolemy
Soter, son of Lagus, king of Egypt, soon after made himself master of it
by a stratagem: he entered Jerusalem on a Sabbath day, under pretence of
offering sacrifice, and took possession of the city without resistance
from the Jews, who did not on this occasion dare to transgress their law
by fighting on a Sabbath day. Ptolemy carried many thousands captive
into Egypt, both Jews and Samaritans, and settled them there: he
afterward treated them with kindness, on account of their acknowledged
fidelity to their engagements, particularly in their conduct toward
Darius, king of Persia; and he granted them equal privileges with the
Macedonians themselves at Alexandria. Ptolemy Philadelphus is said to
have given the Jews who were captives in Egypt their liberty, to the
number of a hundred and twenty thousand. He commanded the Jewish
Scriptures to be translated into the Greek language, which translation
is called the Septuagint. (See _Alexandria_.) After the Jewish nation
had been tributary to the kings of Egypt for about a hundred years, it
became subject to the kings of Syria. They divided the land, which now
began to be called Palestine, into five provinces, three of which were
on the west side of the Jordan, namely, Galilee, Samaria, and Judea, and
two on the east side, namely, Trachonitis and Peræa; but they suffered
them to be governed by their own laws, under the high priest and council
of the nation. Seleucus Nicanor gave them the right of citizens in the
cities which he built in Asia Minor and Cœlo-Syria, and even in
Antioch, his capital, with privileges, which they continued to enjoy
under the Romans. Antiochus the Great granted considerable favours and
immunities to the city of Jerusalem; and, to secure Lydia and Phrygia,
he established colonies of Jews in those provinces. In the series of
wars which took place between the kings of Syria and Egypt, Judea, being
situated between those two countries, was, in a greater or less degree,
affected by all the revolutions which they experienced, and was
frequently the scene of bloody and destructive battles. The evils to
which the Jews were exposed from these foreign powers were considerably
aggravated by the corruption and misconduct of their own high priests,
and other persons of distinction among them. To this corruption and
misconduct, and to the increasing wickedness of the people, their
sufferings ought indeed to be attributed, according to the express
declarations of God by the mouth of his prophets. It is certain that
about this time a considerable part of the nation was become much
attached to Grecian manners and customs, though they continued perfectly
free from the sin of idolatry. Near Jerusalem places were appropriated
to gymnastic exercises; and the people were led by Jason, who had
obtained the high priesthood from Antiochus Epiphanes by the most
dishonourable means, to neglect the temple worship, and the observance
of the law, in a far greater degree than at any period since their
return from the captivity. It pleased God to punish them for this
defection, by the hand of the very person whom they particularly sought
to please. Antiochus Epiphanes, irritated at having been prevented by
the Jews from entering the holy place when he visited the temple, soon
after made a popular commotion the pretence for the exercise of tyranny:
he took the city, (B. C. 170,) plundered the temple, and slew or
enslaved great numbers of the inhabitants, with every circumstance of
profanation and of cruelty which can be conceived. For three years and a
half, the time predicted by Daniel, the daily sacrifice was taken away,
the temple defiled and partly destroyed, the observance of the law
prohibited under the most severe penalties, every copy burned which the
agents of the tyrant could procure, and the people required to sacrifice
to idols, under pain of the most agonizing death. Numerous as were the
apostates, (for the previous corruption of manners had but ill prepared
the nation for such a trial,) a remnant continued faithful; and the
complicated miseries which the people endured under this cruel yoke
excited a general impatience. At length the moment of deliverance
arrived. Mattathias, a priest, (B. C. 167,) eminent for his piety and
resolution, and the father of five sons, equally zealous for their
religion, encouraged the people by his example and exhortations, “to
stand up for the law;” and having soon collected an army of six thousand
men, he eagerly undertook to free Judea from the oppression and
persecution of the Syrians, and to restore the worship of the God of
Israel; but being very old when he engaged in this important and arduous
work, he did not live to see its completion. At his death, his son,
Judas Maccabæus, succeeded to the command of the army; and having
defeated the Syrians in several engagements, he drove them out of Judea,
and established his own authority in the country. His first care was to
repair and purify the temple for the restoration of divine worship; and,
to preserve the memory of this event, the Jews ordained a feast of eight
days, called the feast of the dedication, to be yearly observed. Judas
Maccabæus was slain in battle, and his brother Jonathan succeeded him in
the government. He was also made high priest, and from that time the
Maccabæan princes continued to be high priests. Judas Maccabæus and his
brothers were so successful, by their valour and conduct, in asserting
the liberty of their country, that in a few years they not only
recovered its independence, but regained almost all the possessions of
the twelve tribes, destroying at the same time the temple on Mount
Gerizim, in Samaria. But they and their successors were almost always
engaged in wars, in which, though generally victorious, they were
sometimes defeated, and their country for a short time oppressed.
Aristobulus was the first of the Maccabees who assumed the name of king.
About forty-two years after, a contest arising between the two brothers,
Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, the sons of Alexander Jaddæus, relative to the
succession of the crown, both parties applied to the Romans for their
support and assistance. Scaurus, the Roman general, suffered himself to
be bribed by Aristobulus, and placed him on the throne. Not long after,
Pompey returned from the east into Syria, and both the brothers applied
to him for his protection, and pleaded their cause before him, (B. C.
63.) Pompey considered this as a favourable opportunity for reducing
Palestine under the power of the Romans, to which the neighbouring
nations had already submitted; and therefore, without deciding the
points in dispute between the two brothers, he marched his army into
Judea, and, after some pretended negociation with Aristobulus and his
party, besieged and took possession of Jerusalem. He appointed Hyrcanus
high priest, but would not allow him to take the title of king: he gave
him, however, the specious name of prince, with very limited authority.
Pompey did not take away the holy utensils or treasures of the temple,
but he made Judea subject and tributary to the Romans; and Crassus,
about nine years after, plundered the temple of every thing valuable
belonging to it. Julius Cæsar confirmed Hyrcanus in the pontificate, and
granted fresh privileges to the Jews; but about four years after the
death of Julius Cæsar, Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, with the
assistance of the Parthians, while the empire of Rome was in an
unsettled state, deposed his uncle Hyrcanus, (B. C. 41,) seized the
government, and assumed the title of king.
Herod, by birth an Idumean, but of the Jewish religion, whose father,
Antipater, as well as himself, had enjoyed considerable posts of honour
and trust under Hyrcanus, immediately set out for Rome, and prevailed
upon the senate, through the interest of Antony and Augustus, to appoint
him king of Judea. Armed with this authority, he returned, and began
hostilities against Antigonus. About three years after, he took
Jerusalem, and put an end to the government of the Maccabees or
Asmonæans, after it had lasted nearly a hundred and thirty years.
Antigonus was sent prisoner to Rome, and was there put to death by
Antony. Herod married Mariamne, who lived to be the only representative
of the Asmonæan family, and afterward caused her to be publicly executed
from motives of unfounded jealousy. Herod considerably enlarged the
kingdom of Judea, but it continued tributary to the Romans; he greatly
depressed the civil power of the high priesthood, and changed it from
being hereditary and for life to an office granted and held at the
pleasure of the monarch; and this sacred office was now often given to
those who paid the highest price for it, without any regard to merit: he
was an inexorable, cruel tyrant to his people, and even to his children,
three of whom he put to death; a slave to his passions, and indifferent
by what means he gratified his ambition; but to preserve the Jews in
subjection, and to erect a lasting monument to his own name, he repaired
the temple of Jerusalem at a vast expense, and added greatly to its
magnificence.
At this time there was a confident expectation of the Messiah among the
Jews; and indeed, a general idea prevailed among the Heathen, also, that
some extraordinary conqueror or deliverer would soon appear in Judea. In
the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Herod, while Augustus was emperor
of Rome, the Saviour of mankind was born of the virgin Mary, of the
lineage of David, in the city of Bethlehem of Judea, according to the
word of prophecy. Herod, misled by the opinion, which was then common
among the Jews, that the Messiah was to appear as the temporal prince,
and judging from the inquiries of the wise men of the east, that the
child was actually born, sent to Bethlehem, and ordered that all the
children of two years old and under should be put to death, with the
hope of destroying one whom he considered as the rival of himself, or at
least of his family. He was soon after smitten with a most loathsome and
tormenting disease, and died, a signal example of divine justice, about
a year and a quarter after the birth of our Saviour, and in the
thirty-seventh year of his reign, computing from the time he was
declared king by the Romans. See HEROD.
Herod made his will not long before his death, but left the final
disposal of his dominions to Augustus. The emperor ratified this will in
all its material points, and suffered the countries over which Herod had
reigned to be divided among his three sons. Archelaus succeeded to the
largest share, namely, to Judea Propria, Samaria, and Idumea. Herod
Antipas, called Herod the Tetrarch, who afterward beheaded John the
Baptist, succeeded to Galilee and Peræa; and Philip, to Trachonitis, and
to the neighbouring region of Iturea. The sons of Herod the Great were
not suffered to take the title of king: they were only called ethnarchs
or tetrarchs. Beside the countries already mentioned, Abilene, which had
belonged to Herod during the latter part of his life, and of which
Lysanias is mentioned in Luke iii, 1, as tetrarch, and some cities were
given to Salome, the sister of Herod the Great, (A. D. 7.) Archelaus
acted with great cruelty and injustice; and in the tenth year of his
government, upon a regular complaint being made against him by the Jews,
Augustus banished him to Vienne, in Gaul, where he died.