The Makers and Teachers of Judaism Part 17

Section CIII. THE JEWISH STATE DURING THE LAST CENTURY OF PERSIAN RULE

[Sidenote: Ps. 36:5-10]

Thy loving-kindness, O Jehovah, is in the heavens, Thy faithfulness reacheth to the skies, Thy righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Thy judgments are like the great deep; Thou preservest man and beast.

How precious is thy loving-kindness, O G.o.d!

And the sons of men put their trust in the shadow of thy wings.

They are fully satisfied with the rich things of thy house, And thou makest them drink of thy river of delights.

For with thee is the fountain of life, And in thy light shall we see light.

O continue thy loving-kindness to those who know thee, And thy righteousness to the upright in heart.

[Sidenote: Joel 2:1, 2b]

The word of Jehovah, which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: Blow a horn in Zion, Sound an alarm in my holy mountain, Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of Jehovah comes, For near is the day of darkness and gloom, The day of cloud and thick darkness!

[Sidenote: Joel 2:2c-6]

Like the light of dawn scattered over the mountains, A people great and powerful; Its like has not been from of old, Neither shall be any more after it, Even to the years of coming ages.

Before them the fire devours, And behind them a flame burns; Like the garden of Eden is the land before them, And after them it is a desolate desert, Yea, nothing escapes them.

Their appearance is as the appearance of horses, And like hors.e.m.e.n they run.

Like the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains they leap, Like the crackle of flames devouring stubble, Like a mighty people preparing for battle.

Peoples are in anguish before them, All faces glow with excitement.

[Sidenote: Joel 2:7-9]

Like mighty men they run, Like warriors they mount up a wall, They march each by himself, They break not their ranks, None jostles the other, They march each in his path, They fall upon the weapons without breaking, They scour the city, they run on the wall, They climb up into the houses, Like a thief they enter the windows.

[Sidenote: Joel 2:10-11]

Earth trembles before them, Heaven quakes, The sun and the moon become dark, And the stars withdraw their shining; And Jehovah uttereth this voice before his army, For his host is exceedingly great, Yea, mighty is he who performs his word, For great is the day of Jehovah, It is very terrible, who can abide it?

[Sidenote: Joel 2:12-14]

But now this is the oracle of Jehovah: Turn ye to me with all your heart, And with fasting and weeping and mourning.

Rend your hearts and not your garments, And turn to Jehovah your G.o.d; For he indeed is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger and plenteous in love, And relenteth of the evil.

Who knows but he will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind him, A cereal and drink-offering for Jehovah your G.o.d?

[Sidenote: Joel 2:16-17]

Blow a horn in Zion, Sanctify a fast, summon an a.s.sembly, Gather the people, make holy the congregation, a.s.semble the old men, Gather the children, and the infants at the breast, Let the bridegroom come forth from his chamber, And the bride from her bridal tent.

Between the porch and the altar, Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep aloud, Let them say, Spare, O Jehovah, thy people, And make not thine heritage an object of reproach, For the heathen to mock them.

Why should it be said among the nations, Where is their G.o.d?

[Sidenote: Joel 2:18-20]

Then Jehovah became jealous for his land, and took pity upon his people, And Jehovah answered and said to his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, And ye shall be satisfied therewith; I will not make you again an object of reproach among the nations, I will remove far from you the northern foe, And I will drive him into a land barren and desolate, His van to the eastern sea, And his rear to the western sea, And a stench from him shall arise.

[Sidenote: Joel 2:21-24]

Fear not, O land, exult, And rejoice for Jehovah hath done great things.

Fear not, O beasts of the field, For the pastures of the wilderness are putting forth new gra.s.s, For the trees bear their fruit, Fig tree and vine yield their strength.

Be glad, then, ye sons of Zion, And rejoice in Jehovah your G.o.d, For he hath given you the early rain in just measure, And poured down upon you the winter rain, And sent the latter rain as before.

The threshing floors shall be full of grain, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.

[Sidenote: Joel 2:25-27]

I will make restoration to you for the years which the swarmer hath eaten, The devourer, the destroyer, and the shearer, My great army which I sent among you, And ye shall eat your food and be satisfied, And praise the name of Jehovah your G.o.d, Who hath dealt so wonderfully by you, And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, That I am Jehovah your G.o.d and none else, And my people shall nevermore be abashed.

[Sidenote: Joel 2:28, 29]

And it shall come to pa.s.s afterwards, That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions, And even upon thy male and female slaves, In those days I will pour out my spirit.

[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 7:1)]

When Eliashib the high priest was dead, his son Judas succeeded him in the high priesthood. Then, when he was dead, his son Johanan a.s.sumed that dignity. It was on his account that Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes [Mnemon], desecrated the temple and imposed tribute on the Jews, that at public expense they should pay for every lamb fifty shekels. The reason for this was as follows: Jeshua was the brother of Johanan. Bagoses, who was Jeshua's friend, promised to secure for him the high priesthood.

Trusting, therefore, in this support, Jeshua quarrelled with Johanan in The temple and so provoked his brother that, in his anger, Johanan slew him. On this account the people were enslaved and the temple desecrated by the Persians. For when Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes, knew that Johanan, the high priest of the Jews had slain his own brother Jeshua in the temple, he immediately came against the Jews and began in anger to say to them, Have you dared commit a murder in your temple! And when he attempted to go into the temple they tried to prevent him doing so; but he said to them, Am I not purer than he who was slain in the temple? And when he had said these words, he went into the temple. Thus Bagoses made use of this pretext and punished the Jews seven years for the murder of Jeshua.

[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 7:2)]

Now when Johanan had departed this life, his son Jaddua succeeded to the high priesthood. He had a brother whose name was Mana.s.seh. And there was a certain Sanballat who was sent to Samaria by Darius, the last king of Persia. This man, knowing that Jerusalem was a famous city and that its kings had given great trouble to the a.s.syrians and the people of Coele-Syria, willingly gave his daughter, whose name was Nicaso, in marriage to Mana.s.seh, thinking that this marriage alliance would be a pledge that the nation of the Jews would continue their good will toward him.

[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 8:2a-c)]

The elders of Jerusalem, complaining loudly that the brother of Jaddua, the high priest, though married to a foreigner, was sharing with him the high priesthood, took sides against Jaddua; for they regarded this man's marriage as an encouragement to those who were eager to transgress by marrying foreign wives and that this would be the beginning of a closer a.s.sociation with foreigners. Therefore they commanded Mana.s.seh to divorce his wife or else not to approach the altar. The high priest himself joined with the people in their indignation and drove his brother from the altar.

[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 8:2d-g)]

Then Mana.s.seh went to his father-in-law, Sanballat, and told him that, although he loved his daughter, Nicaso, he was not willing to be deprived on her account of his priestly dignity, since it was the greatest dignity in their nation and had always continued in the same family. Thereupon Sanballat promised him not only to preserve for him the honor of his priesthood but also to procure for him the power and dignity of a high priest and to make him governor of all the places which he himself ruled, if he would retain his daughter as his wife. He also told him that he would build him a temple like that at Jerusalem upon Mount Gerizim, which is the highest of all the mountains in Samaria. Moreover he promised that he would do this with the approval of Darius, the king. Mana.s.seh, being elated with these promises, remained with Sanballat, thinking that he would gain a high priesthood as the gift from Darius, for Sanballat was then well advanced in years. Now there was a great disturbance among the people of Jerusalem because many of the priests and Levites were entangled in such marriages, for they all revolted to Mana.s.seh, and Sanballat offered them money and distributed among them land for cultivation and dwelling places also. He did all this in order in every way to gratify his son-in-law.

I. Prosperity of the Judean Community. Behind their restored walls the Jews of Jerusalem enjoyed a sense of security and peace that had not been theirs since the days of Josiah. At last they were free to develop the limited resources of little Judah and gradually to extend their territory northwestward over the fertile plain of Sharon. At the most their numbers and territory were small. The memories of their glorious past and their hopes for the future were their chief inspiration. The belief that in supporting faithfully the service of the temple and in conforming to the definite demands of the ritual they were winning Jehovah's favor was to them an unfailing source of comfort and thankfulness. In the rich services of the temple and in the contemplation of Jehovah's character and deeds they found true joy. These feelings are expressed in certain of the psalms, as, for example, Psalm 36, which probably comes from this period.

In their weakness they looked up in confidence and grat.i.tude to Jehovah who ruled supreme in the heavens, and who was able and eager to preserve those who "put their trust in the shadow of his wings." Their one prayer was that his loving-kindness would continue to protect them.

II. The Growth of the Psalter. Nehemiah's work apparently gave an impulse not only to the development of the law and the temple ritual, but also inspired poets to voice their own feelings and those of the community in certain of the psalms now found in the Psalter. It also encouraged them to collect the earlier religious songs of their race. The result of their work is the first edition of the Hebrew Psalter. In its present form the Psalter, like the Pentateuch, is divided into five books with a general introduction consisting of Psalms 1 and 2 and a concluding doxology (Ps.

150). At the end of each of these divisions are shorter doxologies or brief epilogues (e.g., 41:13 72:19 89:52 106:48). The Psalter itself is a library containing a great variety of poems written at different periods, from many different points of view and by many different poets. Like the Priestly Code and the book of Proverbs, it consists of a collection of smaller collections. Thus many psalms in the first half of the Psalter are repeated wholly or in part in later psalms. Psalm 14, for example, is identical with Psalm 73, except that in 14 Jehovah is used as the designation of the Deity and in 73 Elohim (or G.o.d).

The problem of determining the date of the individual psalms and of the different collections is exceedingly difficult, both because the superscriptions were clearly added by later editors who thought thereby to connect the psalm with an earlier writer or historic incident, and because the psalms themselves contain few historical allusions. A great majority of them reflect the teachings of the pre-exilic prophets or, like the book of Proverbs, come from the lips of the sages and deal with universal human problems. Some were written by priests or Levites for use in connection with the song service of the temple. Because of this timeless quality, however, an appreciation of them does not depend upon an exact knowledge of their authorship or historical background. It is possible that a few of the psalms in the first part of the Psalter come from the pre-exilic period, but the great majority reflect the problems, the hopes, the fears, and the trials of the faithful who lived under the shadow of the second temple. While the superscriptions clearly do not come from the original psalmists themselves, they do record the conclusions of the editors who made the earliest collections. The oft-recurring t.i.tle "Psalm to David"

either means that by the editor it was attributed to David as the author, or is a general designation of psalms that were recognized to be comparatively early. The two great Davidic collections, 3-41 and 51-72, were apparently collected not long after the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. They are deeply influenced by the inspiring teachings of the II Isaiah. They are remarkably free from that ceremonialism which became a powerful force in Judaism during the last century of the Persian rule.

Psalm 51:16, 17, for example, echoes the n.o.ble ethical teachings of the great prophets:

Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it, Thou delightest not in burnt offering, The sacrifice of G.o.d is a broken heart, A broken and a contrite heart, O G.o.d, thou wilt not despise.

They represent, therefore, the oldest edition of the Psalter and the songs which were probably sung by the temple singers and the people as they went up to the temple on the great feast days during the closing years of the Persian period.

III. The Prophecy of Joel. For a brief moment the clear light of contemporary prophecy is turned upon the Judean community by the little book of Joel. The immediate occasion was the invasion of a great swarm of locusts which swept into Judea either from the desert or from the mountains in the north. It contains in 3:6 the first Old Testament reference to the Greeks. From 3:2 it is evident that the Jewish race has already been widely scattered. In 3:2 the hope is expressed that the time will soon come when strangers shall no longer pa.s.s through Jerusalem.

The temple, however, and the city walls (2:9) have already been rebuilt, indicating that the prophecy followed the work of Nehemiah. The priests are exceedingly prominent in the life of the community, and Joel, though a prophet, places great emphasis upon the importance of the ritual.

When the community is threatened by the swarms of locusts, whose advance he describes with dramatic imagery, he calls upon the people to sanctify a fast and to summon an a.s.sembly, and commands the priests to cry aloud to Jehovah for deliverance.

IV. Hopes of the Jews. In his prophecy Joel has given a very complete description of the hopes which the people entertained regarding the coming day of Jehovah. It is the same day of Jehovah that Zephaniah described (Section Lx.x.xI:v) and yet the portrait is very different. A divine judgment is to be p.r.o.nounced, not upon Jehovah's people, but upon their foes. Here Joel reveals the influence of Ezekiel's graphic descriptions found in the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth chapters of his prophecy.

Vividly he describes the advance of Israel's hereditary foes. With Full panoply of war they are pictured as advancing to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the valley of judgment (popularly identified with the Kidron), where Jehovah is to pa.s.s sentence upon them. Then suddenly, as the harvester puts the sickle in the grain, they shall be cut down and utterly destroyed. Also in the prophet's imagination above this carnage rises Jerusalem, an impregnable fortress for the people of Israel, holy and no longer polluted by the presence of heathen invaders. Peace and prosperity shall then be the lot of Jehovah's people. Above all he will pour out his purifying, enlightening spirit upon all cla.s.ses, so that young and old, slave and free, shall be inspired by the consciousness of his message and presence in their hearts.

V. Rule of the High Priests. The few facts that have been preserved regarding the external history of the Judean community during the last century of the Persian rule are in striking contrast to the inner life and hopes of the people. At their head were the high priests, whose names we know, Eliashib, Johanan, and Jaddua. They const.i.tuted a hereditary aristocracy intrenched in the temple, which controlled not only the religious but also the civil life of the Jews. Like all hierarchies it lacked the corrective influence of a superior civil authority. The one safeguard of popular liberties, however, was the written law, which was fast becoming the absolute authority in the life of the community. To it the people could appeal even against the decisions of the priests. It therefore kept alive that inherited democratic spirit which had been the priceless possession of Israel through all its history.

There is every reason for accepting the detailed account which Josephus has given of the quarrel between the high priest Johanan and his brother Joshua which resulted in the murder of the latter within the sacred temple precincts. Such an opportunity would naturally be improved by the greedy Persian official to impose an onerous tax upon the Jews. The Elephantine letter establishes the fact that Johanan was high priest in 411 B.C. and that Baghohi (of which Bagoses is the Jewish equivalent) was the Persian satrap. It thus directly confirms the testimony of Josephus. References in late Greek writings (Solinus x.x.xV, 6; Syncellus I, 486) suggest that the Jews about 350 B.C. were involved with the Phoenicians in the rebellion against Persia. These historians state that at this time Jericho was captured and destroyed and that a part of the Jewish people were transported to the province of Hyrcania at the south of the Caspian Sea.

The rebellion was instigated by Tachos, the ruler of Egypt, who about 362 not only shook off the rule of Persia, but invaded Syria and stirred up the Phoenicians to defy the Persian king. Artaxerxes III, popularly known as Ochus, proved, however, the last ruler who was able to revive the waning power of the Persian Empire. At his accession he slew all the members of the royal family, and throughout his reign (358-337 B.C.) he trusted chiefly to the unsheathed sword to maintain his authority. In 346 B.C. he finally succeeded in collecting a huge army with which he invaded Syria and besieged Sidon. Its king betrayed his city into the hands of the Persians, only to be murdered by the treacherous Ochus. The citizens of Sidon, recognizing that they would receive no mercy from the hands of Their conqueror, shut themselves up in their homes and then burned them Over their heads. According to the Greek historians forty thousand Phoenicians perished in this revolt.

VI. The Date of the Samaritan Schism. Josephus has given an unusually full and detailed account of the final schism between the Jews and Samaritans. He dates it under the high priesthood of Jaddua, who died shortly after the close of the Persian period. He implies, therefore, that the schism took place not long before 332 B.C., when Alexander the Great conquered Palestine. This is also in keeping with the fact that the Elephantine letter written in 411 B.C. knows nothing of a division between Jew and Gentile. The fact that at the time of the division the defecting priests took from Jerusalem the Pentateuch in its final form strongly confirms the conclusion (as Professor Torrey has pointed out in his _Ezra Studies_, pp. 324-330) that the Sanballat who ruled over the Samaritan community was not the contemporary of Nehemiah, but his grandson, who as an old man was ruling in Samaria at the time when Alexander conquered the East.

VII. The Nature and Consequences of the Schism. The schism between Jew and Samaritan was but a revival of the ancient rivalry which dated from the days when the Israelites had first settled in Canaan. The destruction of Samaria in 722 and the strong policy of Josiah had apparently led the Samaritans to look to the temple at Jerusalem as the chief sanctuary of the land. Shechem, however, and Mount Gerizim, which rises abruptly on the south, enjoyed traditions which dated from the earliest days of Israel's history. The sacred oak and altar at Shechem figured even in the patriarchal period. At the temple of Baal-berith in Shechem apparently both Canaanites and Israelites worshipped during the days of the settlement. According to the Samaritan version of Deuteronomy 24:4, Mount Gerizim, not Ebal or Jerusalem, was the place where the Israelites, after entering Canaan, were first commanded to rear an altar to Jehovah, and to inscribe upon it the laws given to Moses. Even in the Jewish version of Deuteronomy 11:29 and 27:12 Mount Gerizim is the mountain of blessing. In the light of these pa.s.sages such commands as, for example, that in Deuteronomy 12:4, 5 would naturally be interpreted by the Samaritans as a reference to Gerizim rather than to Jerusalem. The destruction of the Judean capital and temple gave a great incentive to the revival of these Ancient traditions and a new prestige to the northern sanctuary. Until the close of the Persian period, however, the Samaritans evidently regarded Jerusalem as an important shrine and worshipped there side by side with the Jews. The ultimate schism appears to have come as a result of the growing jealousy with which certain of the Jews regarded foreign marriages. The marriage of Mana.s.seh, the brother of Jaddua the high priest, to Nicaso, the daughter of Sanballat II, and his ultimate expulsion by the Jews blew into a flame the smouldering jealousy and opposition that had long existed between the two communities. As Josephus recounts, Sanballat, in order to satisfy his son-in-law, ceded lands and special rights to him and to the other Jerusalem priests, who were attracted by these offers, and ultimately built the famous temple on Mount Gerizim over which Mana.s.seh and his descendants presided. In many ways the temple and service on Mount Gerizim appear to have been duplicates of those at Jerusalem. The same law was recognized by both communities; they shared together the same traditions and the same ideals; and yet their subsequent history ill.u.s.trates the psychological truth that of all forms of hatred that between brothers is the most venomous and lasting. The bitter rivalry and growing hatred that resulted from this act are reflected even in the wisdom teachings of Ben Sira (B. Sir. 47:21, 24, 25). They also fundamentally color the writings of the Chronicler. The strenuous efforts that he made to discountenance the claims of the Samaritans reveals the intensity of the feud even in the Greek period (cf.

II Chron. 11:13-16). His zeal in trying to prove that the rebuilders of the Jerusalem temple were of Jewish extraction was doubtless inspired by the Samaritan charge that during the Babylonian and Persian periods they had freely intermarried with the heathen population of the land. He was compelled to admit that even the high priestly families had been guilty of this sin, but a.s.serted that the foreign wives were later divorced or else the offenders were expelled from Jerusalem. In the light of the oldest records it appears that the Samaritans were able to establish almost as pure a lineage as the Jews. Naturally during the succeeding years the ancient breach continued to widen until it was beyond all healing.

THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN AGE