The Makers and Teachers of Judaism Part 21

[Sidenote: Ps. 22:27-30]

All the ends of the earth will remember and will turn to Jehovah, And all the families of the nations will worship in his presence; For the dominion belongs to Jehovah and he rules over the nations.

Verily, him alone will all the prosperous of the earth worship.

Before him all those about to go down to the dust will bow, A seed will serve him, it will be told to a generation to come; And they will declare his righteousness that he hath accomplished to a people yet to be born.

[Sidenote: Jonah 1:1-8]

Now this word of Jehovah came to Jonah the son of Amittai:

Arise, go to that great city, Nineveh, and preach against it; for their wickedness has come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah. And he went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare and embarked to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah.

[Sidenote: Jonah 1:4-7]

But Jehovah sent a furious wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest, so that the ship threatened to break in pieces. Then the sailors were afraid and cried, each to his own G.o.d; and they cast into the sea the wares that were in the ship, in order to lighten it. But Jonah had gone down into the bottom of the ship; and he lay fast asleep. And the captain of the ship came and said to him: What are you doing asleep? Call on your G.o.d, perhaps that G.o.d will think on us that we perish not. And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose sake this evil has come upon us. So they cast lots and the lot fell upon Jonah.

[Sidenote: Jonah 1:8-10]

Then they said to him, Tell us, what is your occupation, and whence do you come? what is your country and of what people are you? And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, and a worshipper of Jehovah, the G.o.d of heaven, who hath made the sea and the dry land. Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, What is this you have done? For they knew that he was fleeing from the presence of Jehovah, for he had told them.

[Sidenote: Jonah 1:11-13]

Then they said to him, What shall we do to thee, that the sea may be calm for us? for the sea grew more and more stormy. And he said to them, Take me up and throw me into the sea; so shall the sea be calm for you, for I know that for my sake this great storm has overtaken you. But the men rowed hard to get back to the land; but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them.

[Sidenote: Jonah 1:14, 15]

Therefore they cried to Jehovah, and said, We beseech thee, O Jehovah, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man's life, neither bring innocent blood upon us, for thou art Jehovah; thou hast done as it pleaseth thee. So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared Jehovah exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to Jehovah, and made vows.

[Sidenote: Jonah 1:17-2:1, 10]

Then Jehovah prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah was in the belly of this fish three days and three nights. Thereupon Jonah prayed to Jehovah his G.o.d, out of the belly of the fish. And Jehovah spoke to the fish, and it threw up Jonah upon the dry land.

[Sidenote: Jonah 3:1-4]

And the word of Jehovah came to Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go to that great city, Nineveh, and preach to it what I shall tell thee. So Jonah rose and went to Nineveh, as Jehovah said. Now Nineveh was a great city before G.o.d, of three days' journey. And Jonah began by going through the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

[Sidenote: Jonah 3:5-9]

And the people of Nineveh believed G.o.d; and they proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. And when word came to the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, and took off his robe, and dressed in sackcloth, and sat in the dust. And he made proclamation and published in Nineveh: By the decree of the king and his n.o.bles: Man, beast, herd, and flock shall not taste anything; let them neither eat nor drink water; But let them clothe themselves with sackcloth, both man and beast, and let them cry mightily to G.o.d, and turn each from his evil way, and from the act of violence which they have in hand. Who knows but that G.o.d may relent, and turn from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

[Sidenote: Jonah 3:10]

And G.o.d saw their works, how they turned from their evil way; and G.o.d relented of the evil which he said he would do to them, and did it not.

[Sidenote: Jonah 4:1-5]

But it displeased Jonah greatly, and he was angry. And he prayed to Jehovah, and said, Ah now, Jehovah, was not this what I said when I was yet in mine own country? Therefore I hastened to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a G.o.d, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in love, and relenting of evil. Therefore, O Jehovah, take now, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live! And Jehovah said, Doest thou well to be angry? Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat down before the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it, until he might see what would become of the city.

[Sidenote: Jonah 4:6-11]

And Jehovah G.o.d prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head. So Jonah rejoiced exceedingly over the gourd. But as the dawn appeared the next day G.o.d prepared a worm and it injured the gourd, so that it withered. And when the sun arose, G.o.d prepared a sultry east wind. And the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, so that he was faint, and begged for himself that he might die saying, It is better for me to die than to live. And G.o.d said to Jonah, Is it well for thee to be angry about the gourd? And he said, It is well for me to be angry, even to death! And Jehovah said, Thou carest for a gourd, for which thou hast not troubled thyself, nor hast thou brought it up--a thing that came in a night and hath perished in a night. Shall I, indeed, not care for the great city, Nineveh, in which there are one hundred and twenty thousand human beings who know not their right hand from their left; besides much cattle?

[Sidenote: Eccles. 1:12-18]

I, Koheleth, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I applied my mind to searching out and exploring wisdom, all that is done under heaven: it is an evil task that G.o.d hath given the children of men at which to toil. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, the whole is vanity and a striving after wind. The crooked cannot be made straight; and the wanting cannot be numbered. I communed with myself, saying, Behold, I have increased and gathered wisdom more than all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my mind has abundantly beheld wisdom and knowledge. And I applied my mind to know wisdom and knowledge, madness and folly: I know that this also is a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much trouble, and he who increases knowledge, increases pain.

[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:1-11]

I said in my mind, Come now, I will test you with pleasure; so look upon what is attractive; and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, It is mad; and of pleasure, What does it do? I searched in my mind, how to Stimulate my flesh with wine, while my mind was guiding with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, until I should see what is good for the children of men to do under the heavens all the days of their life. I did great works: I built for myself houses; I planted for myself vineyards; I made for myself gardens and parks, and I planted trees in them, every kind of fruit-tree. I made for myself pools of water, to water a grove springing up with trees. I bought male and female slaves and had slaves born in my house; also I had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than all who had been before me in Jerusalem. I also gathered for myself silver and gold, and the treasure of kings and of provinces. I secured for myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men, mistresses of all kinds. And I grew more wealthy than all who were before in Jerusalem; also my wisdom remained with me. And nothing that my eyes craved did I keep from them; I did not deny my heart any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no gain under the sun.

[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:12-17]

And I turned to behold wisdom and madness, and folly; for what can the man do who comes after the king? Even that which has been done already. Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as far as light excels darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness: yet I know that the same fate overtakes them all. Then I said in my heart, As is the fate of a fool so will be my fate; so why have I then been more wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise man, even as of the fool, there is no remembrance for ever, inasmuch as in the days to come all will have been already forgotten. And how the wise man dies even as the fool! So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun is evil to me; for all is vanity and a striving after wind.

[Sidenote: Eccles. 2:24-26b]

There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and find his pleasure in his labor. This also I saw that it is from the hand of G.o.d. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment without him? This is also vanity and a striving after wind.

I. The Ritualists. Liberty of thought as well as speech was from the first characteristic of Israel's life and thought. It was one of the many valuable heritages that the Hebrews brought with them from the free life of the desert. Their close contact with the outside world, and especially with h.e.l.lenic life and thought during the Greek period, increased this sense of freedom. The result is that many different currents of thought are reflected in the Old Testament writings that come from this age.

Most familiar and easiest understood is the ritualistic type. It is represented by the Chronicler, who lived and wrote some time between 300 and 250 B.C. For him all life and interest centred about the temple and its services. In general the vision of the ritualists was turned toward the past rather than the present and the future. In the traditions regarding the origin of the temple and its inst.i.tutions, in keeping the ceremonial law, in partic.i.p.ating in the formal ritual, and in joining their songs with those of the temple singers they found an escape from the pettiness of the age and attained that peace and joy which is expressed in many of the psalms of the Psalter.

II. The Legalists. Closely related to the ritualists were those whose interests were all fixed in the study of the law and the teachings of the earlier priests. They regarded the written laws as a complete guide to conduct and the embodiment of Jehovah's supreme message to his race.

Psalms like the fragment found in 19:7-14 voice their convictions:

The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul, The judgments of Jehovah are true and altogether just.

By them is thy servant warned; in keeping them is great reward.

They emphasized not merely external acts and words, but inner motives.

In character and in conduct they were n.o.ble products of that religion which Israel had inherited from the past. By them were probably treasured stories such as are found in the first chapters of the book of Daniel. The detailed references in chapter 2 to the marriage of Antiochus Theos and the daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus in 248 B.C. and to the murder of Antiochus by his former wife Laodicea, together with the absence of allusions to subsequent events, indicate that these stories were probably committed to writing somewhere between 255 and 245 B.C. Their aim was clearly to emphasize the supreme importance of fulfilling faithfully the demands of the law, even in the face of bitter opposition and persecution, and the certainty that Jehovah would deliver those who were loyal to him.

Their teachings were especially adapted to inspire the tried and tempted Jews of the dispersion, who were sorely persecuted by the heathen among whom they lived. The dramatic picture of men who dared face the fiery furnace or the hungry lions rather than depart from the demands of the law undoubtedly proved a great inspiration to the Jews of the Greek period.

III. The Disciples of the Prophets. Throughout the centuries that followed the destruction of Jerusalem the great ethical prophets of the pre-exilic period had never been without spiritual disciples. They faithfully studied and applied in their own lives the principles laid down by their earlier guides. Although the influence of the contemporary prophets constantly waned, yet the spirit of those earlier champions of the faith lived in the hearts of their followers. In many of the psalms of the Psalter Amos and Isaiah and Jeremiah speak in terms adapted to the changed problems of the Jews of the Greek period. In Psalm 46 the trust in Jehovah which Isaiah advocated has become a living force in the life of the Psalmist and of the cla.s.s in behalf of which he spoke. In the background one hears the march of the mult.i.tude armed by Alexander for world-conquest and the din of conflict as army met army; but over all stands Jehovah, protecting his sanctuary and people, supreme in the lives of men and nations. The narrow, nationalistic, messianic hopes have long since been abandoned, and instead Jehovah is recognized as the one supreme being whose kingdom or dominion includes all the nations of the earth. In imagination these disciples of the prophets saw the time when rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, should bow before Jehovah and be united in loyalty to him. Thus arose that highest conception of the kingdom of G.o.d which is the foundation of Jesus' teaching.

IV. The Date and Character of the Book of Jonah. From those who sat at the feet of the earlier prophets came one of the most remarkable books of the Old Testament. In literary form the little book of Jonah is closely akin to the stories in the opening chapters of Genesis and the first half of the book of Daniel. Its many Aramaic words, its quotations from the late book of Joel, its universalism, and its missionary spirit all indicate that it comes either from the closing years of the Persian or from the earlier part of the Greek period. The story of Jonah, like many similar stories in the Old Testament, was probably known to the Semites centuries before it was employed by the author of the book to point his great prophetic teaching. In the familiar Greek story of Hercules, Hesione, the daughter of the Trojan king, is rescued by the hero from a sea-monster which held her in its stomach three days. An old Egyptian tale coming from the third millennium B.C. tells of an Egyptian who was shipwrecked and after floating three days was swallowed by a great sea-monster and thus carried to the land. From India comes the tradition of a man who went to sea contrary to the commands of his mother. While on the way the ship was seized by an unknown power and not allowed to proceed until the offender was three times selected by lot and then cast overboard.

V. Teachings of the Book of Jonah. The value and message of the book of Jonah have in the past been largely overlooked because the true literary character of the book has been misunderstood. It was never intended by its author to be regarded as a historical narrative. Its hero Jonah, the son of Amittai, according to II Kings 14:25, lived during the reign of Jeroboam II (780-740 B.C.), and predicted the wide extension of the territory of southern Israel; but the Jonah of the story is evidently a type of the Jew of the Persian and Greek periods. By showing the pettiness of his att.i.tude toward the heathen the author sought to broaden the vision and quicken the conscience of his fellow-Jews. The portrait is remarkably vivid and suggestive. Jonah fled from Jehovah's land and took refuge in the sea, not because he feared the Ninevites, but, as he plainly declares later, because he feared that, if he did preach to the a.s.syrian foes of his race, Jehovah would repent and spare them. In the scene in the midst of the raging tempest the piety of the heathen Sailors and their zeal in sparing the guilty Israelite stand forth in favorable contrast to Jonah's action in refusing to carry out Jehovah's command. The Ninevites, clad in sackcloth, repenting for their sins, and craving Jehovah's forgiveness, are far more attractive than the sullen prophet, complaining because Jehovah has spared the heathen foes of his race and later upbraiding Jehovah because of the destruction of the gourd that for a time had protected his head from the burning sun. Jehovah's concluding remonstrance voices the message of the book. Like the New Testament parable of the Prodigal Son, the story of Jonah presents in graphic form the unbounded love of the heavenly father and contrasts it sharply with the petty jealousies and hatred of his favored people. It was a call to Israel to go forth and become a missionary to all the world and a protest against the nation's failure to perform its G.o.d-given task.

VI. The Book of Ecclesiastes. Very different is the spirit and purpose of the book of Ecclesiastes. It evidently comes from one of the many wisdom teachers who flourished during the Greek period and it speaks in the name of Solomon. It is an essay on the value of life. In its original form its thought was so pessimistic that it has been supplemented at many points by later editors. These insertions include (1) proverbs commending wisdom and praising the current wisdom teachings, and (2) the work of a pious scribe, a forerunner of the later Pharisees, who sought to correct the utterances of the original writer (who is commonly designated as Koheleth) and to bring them into accord with current orthodoxy. The language and style of the book are closely akin to those of the Chronicler and the author of the book of Esther. It also contains several Persian and possibly one Greek word. The book in its earlier form was evidently known to Ben Sira, the author of Ecclesiasticus, who lived about 180 B.C. In 4:13-16 and 10:16-17 there are apparent references to the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes, who came to the throne of Egypt at the age of five, and whose court was famous for its dissoluteness and profligacy. The book, therefore, may be dated with considerable confidence a little before 200 B.C. It was a corrupt, barren period. Crime was rampant in the temple as well as at the court in Alexandria (3:16). The people were crushed by the powerful and were without means of redress (4:1). A despot sat on the throne (10:5-7) and spies lurked everywhere (10:20).

VII. Koheleth's Philosophy of Life. The author of the original book of Ecclesiastes is the spokesman of that cla.s.s in Judaism who were oppressed and crushed by this dreary outlook. He evidently lived in Jerusalem and probably near the temple (5:1 8:10). From the allusions in 7:26, 28 it is evident that he was unhappily married. From the cla.s.sic description of old age found in 11:9-12:7 it would appear that when he wrote he was well advanced in years, and spoke out of the depths of his own painful personal experience, having been left without son or close kinsman (4:8). From his teachings it is clear that he had broken away from the orthodox wisdom school. Before his enfeebled vision rose the seamy, dreary side of life, and yet back of the lament of this ancient pessimist is revealed a man of high ideals, impelled by a spirit of scientific thoroughness. Though he was intense and eager in his quest for true happiness and in his a.n.a.lysis of the meaning of life, he found no abiding joy, for his outlook was sadly circ.u.mscribed. Life beyond the grave offered to him no hope or compensation. He was, however, by no means an agnostic. He believed in G.o.d's rulership of the world; but the G.o.d of his faith was inscrutable, far removed from the life of men. Hence, unlike many of his contemporaries, as for example the psalmists, he found little joy or inspiration in his religion. According to the conclusion, which he proclaimed in the beginning of his essay and held consistently throughout, all human striving and ambition, even life itself, are but superlative vanity, nor can man attain any permanent or complete satisfaction. The one positive teaching which Koheleth reiterates is that it is man's highest privilege to extract from pa.s.sing experiences the small measure of joy and happiness that they offer, and therewith to be content. Compared with many other Old Testament books, the religious value of Ecclesiastes is slight indeed. Its chief value, however, is historical: it presents one phase of thought in the Judaism of this period, and shows how sorely the Jewish people needed the spur of a great crisis to rouse them to n.o.ble and unselfish action. The book of Ecclesiastes also furnishes the darker background which brings out in clear relief the inspiring messages of the great prophets that had gone before, and of the greater Prophet who was to set before the human race a worthy goal and a fresh and true interpretation of the value of life.

Section CVII. THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS THE SON OF SIRACH

[Sidenote: B. Sir. 1:1-10]

All wisdom is from the Lord, And is with him forever.

The sand of the seas, and the drops of rain, And the days of eternity--who shall number?

The height of the heaven, and the breadth of the earth, And the depths of the abyss--who shall search them out?

Wisdom hath been created before all things, And keen insight from everlasting.

To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed?

And who hath known her shrewd counsels?

There is one wise, greatly to be feared, The Lord sitting upon his throne, He created her, and saw and numbered her, And poured her out over all his works.

She is with all flesh according to his gift, And he giveth her freely to those who love him.

[Sidenote: B. Sir. 2:1-5]

My son, if you would serve the Lord, Prepare your soul for temptation.

Set your heart aright, and be steadfast, That you may not be dismayed in the time of calamity.

Cleave to him, and depart not, That you may prove yourself wise at the last.

Accept whatever comes to you, And be patient in sickness and affliction, For gold is tried by the fire, And acceptable men in the furnace of affliction.

[Sidenote: B. Sir. 2:6-9]

Put your trust in the Lord, and he will help you, Hope in him, and he will make smooth your way.

You who fear the Lord, wait for his mercy, And turn not aside lest you fall.

You who fear the Lord trust in him, And your reward shall not fail.

You who fear the Lord, hope for good things, And for eternal gladness and deliverance?