The Makers and Teachers of Judaism Part 30

For the Jewish race is widely dispersed among the inhabitants of all the world; and especially was it intermingled with the population of Syria, because of the nearness of that country. Above all, in Antioch, because of the size of the city, it had great numbers. There the kings who followed Antiochus gave the Jews a place where they might live in the most undisturbed security; for although Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes, laid waste Jerusalem and plundered the temple, the kings who succeeded him restored all the gifts of bra.s.s that had been made to the Jews of Antioch, and dedicated them to their synagogue.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, VII, 3:3b]

The succeeding kings also treated them in the same way, so that they became very numerous, and adorned their temple with ornaments and at great expense with those things which had been given them. They also continued to attract a great many of the Greeks to their services, making them in a sense part of themselves.

[Sidenote: Jos. Jew. War, VII, 10:2d-3e]

Now Onias, the son of Simon, one of the Jewish high priests, fled from Antiochus [Epiphanes] the king of Syria, when he made war with the Jews, and came to Alexandria. And after Ptolemy [Philometor] received him very kindly on account of his hatred to Antiochus, Onias a.s.sured him that if he would comply with his proposal, he would bring all the Jews to his a.s.sistance. Now when the king agreed to do whatever he was able, Onias desired him to give him permission to build a temple somewhere in Egypt and to worship G.o.d according to the customs of his own nation. So Ptolemy complied with his proposals and gave them a place about twenty miles distant from Memphis. That province was called the province of Heliopolis.

There Onias built a fortress and a temple like that at Jerusalem except that it resembled a tower. He built it of large stones to the height of sixty cubits, but he made the structure of the altar an imitation of that in his own country. In like manner also he adorned it with gifts, excepting that he did not make a candlestick but had a single lamp hammered out of a beaten piece of gold, which illuminated the place with its rays, and which he hung by a chain of gold. The entire temple was surrounded by a wall of burnt brick, although it had a gateway of stone.

The king also gave him a large territory for a revenue in money, that both the priests might have plentiful provision for themselves, and that G.o.d might have abundance of those things which were necessary for his worship.

[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XIII, 10:4]

Now in the days of John Hyrca.n.u.s, not only did the Jews in Jerusalem and Judea enjoy prosperity but also those who were at Alexandria in Egypt and Cyprus. For Cleopatra the queen was at variance with her son Ptolemy, who is called Lathyrus, and appointed as her generals Chelcias and Ananias, the son of that Onias who built the temple in the province of Heliopolis similar to that of Jerusalem. Cleopatra intrusted these men with her army and did nothing without their advice. Strabo of Cappadocia also attests that only those who were called Onias's party, being Jews, continued faithful to Cleopatra because their countrymen, Chelcias and Ananias, were in highest favor with the queen.

[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 6:12-16]

Wisdom is brilliant and fades not away, And she is easily seen by those who love her, And found by those who seek her.

She antic.i.p.ates those who desire her, making herself first known.

He who eagerly seeks her shall have no toil, For he shall find her sitting at his gates.

For thinking upon her brings perfect wisdom, And he who lies awake for her sake shall quickly be free from care.

For she herself goes about seeking those who are worthy of her, And in their paths she graciously appears to them, And in every purpose she meets them.

[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 7:25-8:1, 7]

For she is breath of the power of G.o.d, And a clear effluence of the glory of the Almighty; Therefore nothing defiled can find entrance into her.

For she is a reflection of everlasting light, And a spotless mirror of the working of G.o.d, And an image of his goodness.

And though she is but one, she has power to do all things; And remaining the same renews all things, And from generation to generation pa.s.sing into holy souls, She makes them friends of G.o.d and prophets.

For G.o.d loves nothing except him who dwells with wisdom.

For she is fairer than the sun, And surpa.s.ses all the order of the stars; Compared with light, she is found to be superior to it.

For night succeeds the light of day, But evil does not prevail against wisdom.

But she reaches from one end of the world to the other, And she directs all things graciously.

The fruits of her labors are virtues; For she teaches moderation and good sense, Justice and fort.i.tude, And nothing in life is more profitable for men than these.

[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 1:1-8]

Love righteousness, O rulers of the earth, Think of the Lord with sincerity, And seek him in singleness of heart.

For he is found by those who do not tempt him, And manifests himself to those who do not distrust him.

For perverse thoughts separate from G.o.d, And his power, when it is tried, convicts the foolish; For wisdom will not enter into a soul that devises evil, Nor dwell in a body that is pledged to sin.

For a holy spirit which disciplines will flee deceit, And will start away from senseless thoughts, And will be frightened away when unrighteousness comes in.

For wisdom is a spirit that loves man, And she will not absolve a blasphemer for his words, Because G.o.d is a witness of his innermost feelings, And a true overseer of his heart, And a hearer of his tongue.

For the spirit of the Lord hath filled the world, And that which holdeth all things together knoweth every voice.

Therefore no one who speaks unrighteous things can be hid, Nor will justice, when it convicts, pa.s.s him by.

[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 1:12-15]

Do not court death by leading an erring life, And do not by the deeds of your hands draw destruction upon yourselves.

For G.o.d did not make death, And he hath no pleasure when the living perish; For he created all things that they might exist, And the created things of the world are not baneful.

And there is no destructive poison in them, Nor has Hades dominion on earth, For righteousness is immortal.

[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 2:23-3:1]

For G.o.d created man for incorruption, And made him an image of his own peculiar nature; But through the envy of the devil death entered into the world, And they who belong to him experience it.

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of G.o.d, And no torment can touch them.

[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 5:15, 16]

But the righteous live forever, And in the Lord is their reward, And the care for them with the Most High.

Therefore they shall receive the glorious kingdom, And the diadem of beauty from the Lord's hand; Because he will cover them with his right hand, And with his arm he will shield them.

[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 11:21-12:2]

For thou, O Lord, lovest all things that are, And thou dost not abhor any of the things which thou hast made, For thou wouldest never have formed anything that thou didst hate.

And how would anything have endured, if thou didst not wish it?

Or how could that which was not called into being by thee have been preserved?

But thou sparest all things, because they are thine, O Sovereign Lord, thou lover of men's lives!

For thine incorruptible spirit is in all things.

Therefore thou convictest the fallen little by little, And, reminding them of the things in which they sin, thou dost warn them, That freed from wickedness, they may believe on thee, O Lord.

[Sidenote: Wisd. of Sol. 15:1-3]

But thou, our G.o.d, art gracious and true, Long suffering, and in mercy directing all things.

For even if we sin, we are thine, since we know thy might.

But we shall not sin, knowing that we have been counted as thine; For to know thee is perfect righteousness, And to know thy might is the root of immortality.

I. Conditions of the Jews in Antioch and Asia Minor. Seleucus Nicanor, who in 311 B.C. founded the city of Antioch, like Alexander, granted many privileges to the Jewish colonies whom he thus sought to attract hither.

They not only possessed the rights of citizenship, but lived in their separate quarter. Their synagogue was one of the architectural glories of the city. There they engaged in trade and undoubtedly grew rich, taking on largely the complexion of that opulent h.e.l.lenic city. Later the Jewish colony was enlarged by the apostates who fled from Judea when the Maccabean rulers gained the ascendancy. The corrupt and materialistic atmosphere of Antioch doubtless explains why its Jewish citizens apparently contributed little to the development of the thought and faith of later Judaism. Similar colonies were found throughout the great commercial cities of Asia Minor. In many of these cities--for example, Tarsus--they seem to have enjoyed the same privileges as those at Antioch.

II. The Jews in Egypt. The chief intellectual and religious center of the Jews of the dispersion, however, was in Alexandria. It is probable that fully a million Jews were to be found in Egypt during the latter part of the Maccabean period. Industry and commerce had made many of them extremely wealthy and had given them the leisure to study not only their own scriptures but also the literature of the Greeks. The prevailingly friendly way in which the Ptolemaic rulers treated the Jews naturally led them to take a more favorable att.i.tude toward Greek culture. Alexandria itself was the scene of an intense intellectual activity. Attracted by the munificence of the Ptolemies and by the opportunities offered by its great library, many of the most famous Greek philosophers and rhetoricians of the age found their home in the Egyptian capital. Public lectures, open discussions, and voluminous literature were only a few of the many forms in which this intellectual life was expressed. Hence it was at Alexandria that Hebrew and Greek thought met on the highest plane and mingled most closely.

III. The Jewish Temple at Leontopolis. After the murder of his father Onias III near Antioch, whither he had fled from the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes, Onias IV sought refuge in Egypt. Here, as the legitimate head of the Jewish high-priesthood, he was favorably received by Ptolemy and granted territory in the Nile Delta to the north of Memphis in which to rear a temple to Jehovah. In the light of recent discoveries at Elephantine it is evident that this step was not without precedent (Section XCI:vii). Ptolemy's object was to please his Jewish subjects and to attract others to the land of the Nile. Josephus's statement in _The Jewish War_, VII, 10:4 favors the conclusion that the temple was built two hundred and forty-three years (not 343) before its final destruction in 73 A.D., that is, in 170 B.C. In any case it was probably built between 170 and 160 B.C., at the time when the persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes made pilgrimages to the Jerusalem temple impossible, and threatened its continued existence. The plan of the Leontopolis temple indicates that it was not intended to be a rival to the Jerusalem sanctuary, but rather a common place of meeting for the Egyptian Jews and of defence in case of attack. It never seriously rivalled the Jerusalem sanctuary, although in later days it was viewed with jealousy by the Jews of Palestine.

IV. Translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. Far more significant than the building of the Leontopolis temple was the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. The tradition preserved by Josephus that the translation was made in seventy-two days by seventy-two scholars, sent from Jerusalem by Eleazar the high priest at the request of Ptolemy, is clearly unhistorical. The impossibility of completing so vast a task in this limited time is obvious. Moreover, the character of the translation indicates that it was the work not of Palestinian but of Alexandrian Jews familiar with the peculiar Greek of Egypt and the lands of the dispersion. It was also the work not of one but of many different groups of translators, as is shown by the variant synonyms employed in different books to translate the same Hebrew words and idioms. In the case of several books the work of two or more distinct translators is readily recognized. The quality of the translation also varies greatly in different books. It is probable that the one historical fact underlying the tradition is that the work of translation was begun in the days of Ptolemy Philadelphus, who may have encouraged his Jewish subjects in their undertaking. From the character of the translations and the nature of the situation it is probable that the first books to be translated were certain historical writings, as Samuel-Kings and the books of the Law. The remaining books were probably translated by the end of the succeeding century (between 250 and 150 B.C.), for the grandson of Ben Sira implies in his prologue that he was acquainted with the Law, the Prophets, and the other writings in their Greek version.

The primary aim of this Greek translation was to put the Hebrew scriptures themselves into the hands of their Greek persecutors as the best possible answer to their false and malicious charges. Evidence of this apologetic purpose is found in the fact that glaring inconsistencies and expressions, where Jehovah is described in the likeness of a human being, were usually left out. Where the Hebrew text was corrupt the translators restored or else freely paraphrased what they thought was the original meaning. In time, however, the translation gained a new importance, for the Jews of Egypt soon began to forget the language of their fathers and so became increasingly dependent for a knowledge of their scriptures upon the Greek translation. In the end it almost completely superseded the original Hebrew version not only in the lands of the dispersion, but even in Palestine itself. A large proportion of the quotations from the Old Testament in the New are from the Greek rather than the Hebrew text.

Although it is only a translation, the Greek version, or Septuagint (the Version of the Seventy), as it is popularly known, still possesses a great value for the modern translator, inasmuch as it is based upon Hebrew texts centuries older than any which now exists. At many points, especially in the historical prophetic books it makes possible the restoration of the original reading where the Hebrew has become corrupt in the long process of transmission.

V. Apologetic Jewish Writings. During the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era the Jews of the dispersion, and especially of Egypt, were the object of constant attack. Manetho, an Egyptian priest, wrote a history purporting to give the origin and the early experiences of the Jews. Portions of this have been preserved and reveal the bitter and unjust spirit with which this race was regarded by the Greek and Egyptian scholars of the day. To defend themselves from these attacks the Jews not only translated their scriptures, but employed many different types of writing. A certain Jew by the name of Demetrius about 215 B.C. wrote a commendatory history of the Jewish kings. Aristobulus, the teacher of Ptolemy Philometor, wrote an "Explanation of the Mosaic Laws," in which he antic.i.p.ated, in many ways, the modern interpretation of the early traditions found in the opening books of the Old Testament. Like all Alexandrian scholars, however, he overshot the mark under the influence of the allegorical or symbolic type of interpretation. Other Jewish writers appealed to the older Greek historians and poets. Adopting the unprincipled methods of their persecutors, they expanded the original writings of such historians as Hecataeus, who had spoken in a commendatory way of the Jews. They even went so far as to insert long pa.s.sages into the writings of the famous Greek poets, such as Orpheus, Hesiod, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Menander, so as to transform them into ardent champions of the persecuted race. The culmination of this illegitimate form of defence was to insert in the famous Sibylline Books (III) a long pa.s.sage describing the glories of the Jewish race and voicing the hopes with which they regarded the future. It was in this atmosphere and under the influence of these methods that the anti-Semitic spirit was born in ancient Alexandria. Thence it was transmitted, as a malign heritage, to the Christian church.

VI. The Wisdom of Solomon. The n.o.blest literary product of the Jews of the dispersion was the apocryphal book known as the Wisdom of Solomon. It was so called because the author a.s.sumed the point of view of Solomon. In so doing he did not intend to deceive his contemporaries, but rather followed the common tendency of his day. Although the book has many characteristic Hebrew idioms, which are due to its Jewish authorship, it was without doubt originally written in Greek. Its author was evidently acquainted with the writings of many of the Greek poets and philosophers.

He accepted Plato's doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul (8:19, 20), of the limitations of the body (9:15), and of the creation of the world out of formless matter (11:17). He was especially influenced by the beliefs of the Epicureans and Stoics. He was acquainted with h.e.l.lenic art, astronomy, and science (7:17-29) and throughout shows the influence of Greek methods of thinking. His rejection of the teachings of the book of Ecclesiastes, his wide learning and his conception of immortality indicate that he lived some time after the beginning of the Maccabean struggle. His reference in 3:1-4 is probably to the persecutions through which the Jews of Egypt pa.s.sed during the reign of Ptolemy Psycon (140-117 B.C.). On the other hand the book clearly antedates the writings of the Jewish philosopher Philo, who lived during the latter part of the first century B.C. The Wisdom of Solomon, therefore, may be dated somewhere between 100 and 50 B.C.

VII. Its Important Teachings. The author of the Wisdom of Solomon aimed, first, to commend Israel's faith to the heathen by showing that it was in substantial accord with the n.o.blest doctrines of the Greek philosophers, and second, to furnish the Jews of the dispersion, who were conversant with h.e.l.lenic thought and yet trained in the religion of their race, a working basis for their thought and practice. From the first it appears to have been highly esteemed by the Jews outside Palestine, although it never found a place in the Palestinian canon. Like most wisdom books, it describes at length the beauty and value of wisdom. The figure of Proverbs 8 and 9 is still further developed under the influence of the Greek tendency to personify abstract qualities. In the mind of the author, however, wisdom is simply an attribute of the Deity which he shares in common with men. The book is unique in two respects: (1) it contains the earliest references in Jewish literature to a personal devil and identifies him with the serpent that tempted the woman in the garden (2:24, cf. Gen. 3) Elsewhere, however, the author traces sin and evil to men's voluntary acts (e.g., 1:16). (2) It teaches the immortality of righteousness and hence, by implication, the immortality of the individual. "G.o.d created man for incorruption," and "the souls of the righteous are in his hand." The doctrine here presented is ethical and spiritual rather than the belief in a bodily resurrection already formulated in the twelfth chapter of Daniel. It also teaches that both the good and bad will be rewarded according to their deeds. Its conceptions of G.o.d are exalted. He is the incorruptible spirit in all things, just and yet merciful, the lover of men. The book also places side by side with the Jewish teachings regarding men's duties to G.o.d and their fellow-men the Greek virtues of moderation, good sense, justice, and courage or fort.i.tude. It also teaches that, like G.o.d, each of his children should be a lover of men. Thus the book unites most effectively that which is best in the thought of Judaism and h.e.l.lenism and is an earnest of that still n.o.bler union that was later realized in the thought and teachings of Christianity.

Section CXVI. THE DECLINE OF THE MACCABEAN KINGDOM

[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:1]

After Aristobulus died, his wife Salome, who by the Greeks was called Alexandra, released his brothers from prison (for Aristobulus had kept them in confinement), and made Alexander Janneus, who was the oldest, king.

[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:2]

Now there was a battle between him and Ptolemy, who was called Lathyrus, who had taken the city of Asochis. He indeed slew many of his enemies, but the victory rather inclined to Ptolemy. But when this Ptolemy was pursued by his mother, Cleopatra, and retired into Egypt, Alexander besieged and took Gadara and Amathus, which was the strongest of all the fortresses that were beyond the Jordan, and the most valued of all the possessions of Theodorus, the son of Zeno, were therein. Thereupon Theodorus marched suddenly against him and took what belonged to himself, and slew ten thousand of the Jews. Alexander, however, recovered from this blow and turned his force toward the maritime districts and took Gaza, Raphia, and Anthedon.

[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:3]

But when he had enslaved all these cities, the Jews made an insurrection against him at a festival and it looked as though he would not have been able to escape the plot they had laid for him, had not his foreign auxiliaries come to his aid. And when he had slain more than six thousand of the rebels, he invaded Arabia, and when he had conquered the Gileadites and Moabites, he commanded them to pay him tribute and returned to Amathus and took the fortress and demolished it.

[Sidenote: Jos. War, I, 4:4, 5]

However, when he fought with Obedas, king of the Arabians, who had laid an ambush for him near Golan, he lost his entire army, which was crowded together in a deep valley and trampled to pieces by the mult.i.tude of camels. And fleeing to Jerusalem because of the greatness of the calamity that had overtaken him, he provoked the mult.i.tude, which had hated him before, to make an insurrection against him. He was, however, too strong for them in the various battles that were fought between them and he slew no fewer than fifty thousand of the Jews in the interval of six years. Yet he had no reason to rejoice in these victories, since he did but consume his own country, until he at length ceased fighting and desired to come to an agreement with them. But his changeability and the irregularity of his conduct made them hate him still more. And when he asked them why they so hated him and what he should do to appease them they said, "Die."