^J. ,'iu <^ ^„ '• r.^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V ^ '; /y /- % 1.0 I.I 1.25 2.0 1.8 U ill 1.6 (meaning "CON- TIN JED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboies suivants apparaftra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole y signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s d des taux de reduction diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est film6 d partir de I'angle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m6thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 •^^fm^^mf^ ^".•wv" - II I I tmwf^fmimmmmmmmmm^'mmmm 3m ^p ^IQ ^e -^-^ KjpU^yyU^y ^' M HISTORY, PROPHECY AND THE MONUMENTS uw nm^BW^r^^^mmawfom ^t^^mmmmmmmm ,m^ HISTORY, PlIOPHECY AND THE MONUMENTS OB ISRAEL AND THE NATIONS BY JAMES FREDERICK McCURDY, P„.D., LL.D. PROFESSOR OF ORIENTAL LANOUACiES IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, TORONTO VOLUME II TO THE FALL OF NINEVEH THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 1896 All righlH renerved I . . Jl-UJ-l, IHIII" •mt COPTEIOHT, 1896, By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. KortoaoB JJJresa i. 8. CuRhinR Si Co, - Berwick & Smith NurwuuU Masa. U.S.A. TO THE MKMOKV OF A FRIEXD -..OSK »,.,„, „ ,, ,„„^^ „^^^^._^^^ ,„,,,,„,„ I'N-TO THESI.; PACKS MmSXKB OK ST. AXnKKW's CH.UCH, XOKO.VXO A HKRO, A PKOPHKT, AXI> A SAIXT OK ooi> — T - A .OVKU Axn KXPOrx... OK XH.TH Oi'KATKH AS A .OVKU A>X, UKU-KB OK MKX PREFACE A woKD of explanation is due to those who have read the preface to the first of these vohinies. It was there stated that a second volume would complete the work. It soon appeared, however, that it was imi)ossible to deal fairly, much less adequately, under the i)roposed limitation, with the topics which claimed attention. Above all, the inner history of Israel seemed to demand fresh and thorough treatment. Thus it has resulted, that instead of the single chapter in Avhich I had intended to sketch the governmental, social, and nun-al progress of the Hebrew people, the whole of Book VII has been devoted to this fascinating theme. The complement thereof, the development of the ancient Hebrew literature, is a subject equally weighty and urgent. But it will, I think, be admitted that it cannot be intelligently and profitably taken up until Israel's career as a nation has been followed to its conclusion. Its direct discussion has, therefore, been relegated to the third and concluding volume. No apology is needed for the length to which Book VII has been allowed to run. The outward events of the history of Israel, mainly recorded in their own annals, are easily recapitulated. Not so obvious, however, and still more im- portant, are the inner life and movement, of Avhich these events are the expression or the occasion. We do not half understand, we do not even really know, the achievements of any people, unless we have learned in some measure how and why they have done what they did. The task of the historian of Israel is, therefore, not complete when he has shown, by the aid of contemporary monuments, how the narrative of the native chroniclers may be supplemented and elucidated. He needs to trace the rise, direction, and issue of the hidden cur- viii PRKFACE rents of the iiatiijual life. Acooidingly, I have laboured to make as clear and real as possible the growth of the Hebrew coinnnuiity, the distinctive character of its social and domestic institutions, its political evolution, its progress in the inter- dependent spheres of society, morals, and religion. Another motive, also, has induced me to elaborate this earlier half of the volume. Perhaps the greatest present need of the many earnest students of the Old Testament is a consistent and rational conception of the conditions under which the word of Revelation came to the people into whose moral and spiritual life it was interfused. The '' higher criticism " must abdicate the seat of popular authority unless it obviously rests upon a broad and sure foundation. Chief and foremost among its necessary preliminaries are the conclusions of philological and historical science. A sound philology appreciates the Hebrew literature in itself, as well as in its place among the other Semitic literatures. By the aid of historical insight and perspective, the career of the Hebrew people may V)e viewed as an orderly process, based upon a living principle of growth and development. Thus we may, in a very real sense, adjust the ])eople to their literature, their long-vanished na- tional life to their imperishable memorials. That this has been as yet so imperfectly done is perhaps largely due to the fact that it has not been hitherto systematically attempted. It is easy to be hypercritical ; and yet it seems reasonable to ask that there should be some recognized method of procedure among Biblical critics and historians, resting on principles that are valid in any wide field of historical and literary criticism. Bible readers are at present notoriously bewildered and dis- couraged by the elasticity of current critical schemes and the diversity of their results. Those who turn away from the rigid presuppositions of traditionalism are equally disappointed at the prevalent passion for an unlimited dissection of the sacred books Avhich excites distrust by its narrow inductions. It is true that upon any theory of Hebrew literary composition some important questions of date and authorship will always remain unanswered. But many that are still unsettled are surely capable of solution by the consenting verdict of com- petent men. These, however, are not matters that concern PHEFACK ix the learned few alone. It will be a l)lesse(l day for Biblical study when the way has been made dear for every incpiirer to become a competent critic. Meanwhile, the average students is in need of practical direction. I venture to suggest that, tirst of all, he gain a clear conception of the several stages of the political and social, intellectual and moral, development of the Hebrew people. Then let him familiarize himself thor- oughly with their distinctive moiles of thought and expression, their conceptions of the world anu human life, their views and estimates of national and individual history, and, above all, of moral and religious duty and obligation. Finally, let him, on the basis of his own inquiries, take note how the various si)e- cies and sections of the Hebrew literature fit into the external conditions, and illustrate the internal (qualities and attributes, thus observed to be characteristic of Israel as a race, a nation, and a social organism. It is scarcely necessary to add a word as to the more strictly narrative portion of the volume. The plan is here still pur- sued of making the history of the leading nations of "Western Asia illustrate in general the fortunes of the Semitic peoples, and in particular the career and fate of Israel. There is, per- haps, not so much that is novel as was furnished in the first volume. But the interest of the story should increase as the events related become more inii)licated with the larger move- ments which have drawn after them the main current of the Avorld's history. The first volume was generously received by all classee, of critics. I trust that the third edition, Avhich appears concur- rently with the present volume, will show that it has profited by the good will and good counsel of reviewers. I regret ex- tremely that it is not feasil)le to furnish an index until the conclusion of the work has been reached. ]\reanwhile, the table of contents has again been made as full and descriptive as possible. J. F. McCURDY. Univeksity Collkoe, Toronto, May 23, 18ytj. ..i--*Jti4Jn..j." CONTENTS OF VOL. II Book VII . INNER DEVELOPMENT OF ISRAEL CHAPTER I Retrospect and Prospect. § ;]G5-390. P. 1-29 § 3Go. Early historical movements of the Semites — § oflG. Babylonian aims and enterprise and the West-land — § 307. Kgyptians and Baby- lonians in Palestine and Syria — i? 308. Aranueans on this side the Euphrates— § 3G!>. The Hebrew occupation of Palestine, its motive and process — g 370. Progress and perils of the early settlement — § 371. The Kingdom; the rise of Southern Israel — § 372. Elements of discord; the disruption — § 373. Israel never really a complete unit ; religion the stnnigest unifying force — § 374. Early disabilities of the Northern Kingdom — § 37o. Slow develoi)ment of the institution of monarchy — § 37<>. The dynasty of Omri and the Aranueans of Damascus — § 377. Re- ligious policy of this dynasty ; nnn-al and political consequences ; inter- vention of the I'rojjliets — §378. Prevailing friendship between the two kingdoms mainly due to a common religion — § 37!). Subordinate role of .Tudah ; its chances of politicivl aggrandizement — § 380. Dynasty of Jehu in Northern Israel ; conflicts with Aramieans ; vassalage to the Assyrians ; rise of .Tudah and last revival of Israel — § 381. The IM iphets elucidate the politics and morals of their time and people — § 382. Great movements of the eighth century, u.c. ; Prophecy and the new Assyrian empire — S 383. The ruin of Damascus ; the vassalage of Judah — § 38 1. Relations of Western states to Assyria; fall of Samaria — § 385. General results of the summary; need of a deeper insight into the causes — § 380. A special canon of historical proportion to be applied to the career of Israel — § 387. Illustrations from the historical standpoint ju.st reached — § 388. Value of the study as a whole ; our right attitude towards the people and their age — § 380. Importance of judging by right moral stand- ards — § 390, What the true historical spirit involves xi I:- xu CONTENTS I H CHAPTER II Elements ani> Character of Hebrew Society. § 391-433. P. 30-77 § 391. Necessity of an accurate knowledge of the distinctive processes of tlie social life of Israel — § 392. Readiness with which the Hebrew language, literature, and institutions may be apprehended — § 393. Yet the terms which denote these institutions have individuality of their own — § 394. Vast range of the significance of such terms both literal and figurative — § 395. Analogies with the institutions of remoter and kindred nations — § 396. Terminology of Hebrew social institutions — § 397. Re- ligious bonds of the clan and the tribe — § 398. Relations to outsiders — § 399. Influences of tribal conceptions on the life and tliought of Israel — § 400. The tribe and the clan ; the clan the fundamental political unit — § 401. Its mutability and permanence — § 402. Essential features of clan-life — § 403. Why and how it was perpetuated — § 404. The house- hold and the family ; the clan and the family group — § 405. Constituents of the household : the house-father, wife, children, slaves — § 40(5. Status of servants — § 407. Significance of servitude in literature and religion — § 408, The house-father — § 409. Patria potestas among the Romans — S 410. The institution among other peoples — § 411. Not a question of primeval conditions — § 412. The Hebrew house-father in patriarchal times — § 413. Particular illustrations of the subjection of wives and children — § 414. Relations of Jacob and his sons — § 415. Conditions in subsequent times — § 410. The Rechabites — § 417. Status of wives and mothers according to specific laws and customs — § 418. The char- acter of the marital relation — § 419. Conditions of marriage and divorce — § 420. Gradual emancipation of women in spite of prescription — § 421. Parallel from Roman history — § 422. Appreciation of women among other Semites — § 423. Their function as rulers — § 424. Influence of polygamy and nomadic life on the status of women — § 425. The transition to settled life; effect of the acquisition of fixed property — § 420. The wifely relation in literature and religion — § 427. Relations of parents and children; the status of daughters — § 428. The po.sitions of sons ; primogeniture — §420. The first-born in literature and religion — § 430. Practical and essential meaning of fatherhood and motherhood — § 431. Early conceptions of fatherhood and their outcome in paternal- ism ; illustrations from China and .Tapan — § 432. Fatherhood and son- ship in literature and religion; development of the personal relation — § 433. Old and New Testament conceptions of the paternal relation w CHAPTER III The IIehuews as Nomaus and Semi-Nomads. § 434-464. P. 78-106 § 434. Underlying forces, material and moral, of Hebrew nationality — § i'-]'>. Meagreness of Biblical data to be explained from the Hebrew historical and literary canons — § 436. Survival of oppression in Egypt CON r I", NTS xiil — § 487. Disintefirating forces— § 438. Relations witli the Egyptiiui jM'Dplc ami lulcrs — § 4.'i9. Antipathy and distrust — § 44(t. Ocnasioiis (if enslavcnicnt — § 441. The survival indicates their organization and their nuinl)ers—§ 44l'. Thi'ir steadfast religious habits — §44;!. Intimate eonnectiou with the [irevioiis patriarchal era — § 444. (Consideration of difficulties in the story of the I'atriarclis — § 44.'). Need of a large interiirctation — § 440. Light upon the prolileni from liteniry considera- tions— S 447. I'er.-ional leadership necessiiry in the primitive stage — § 448. Change with the formation of clans — § 449. A new epoch; in what sen.sc it may be called " Mo.saic" — § 450. How the presidency of Moses answered to the immediate needs of his people — § 451. Means devised to .secure unity of sentiment and corporate unity — § 452. Unfa- vourable conditions — § 453. The " mixed multitude " — § 454. Favouring circumstances — § 455. Character of the first attempt to regulate the ad- nnnistration of justice — § 450. Important aspects of the new constitution — § 457. How it was not a matter of direct revelation — § 458. Necessity of this new and higher type of administration — § 459. ( )nly the beginnings of administrative refortn were now possililc — § 400. The old tribal system not speedily discarded — § 4(il. Wide sigiuticance of the new movement — § 4()2. Inner connection between the new judicial system and the legis- lation of Sinai — § 40.'{. Indications that both movements looked mainly to the future of the nation — § 4(i4. The application of the Law comes later CIIAPrKIl IV The Setti.e.ment in Canaan. § 405-510. P. 100-143 § 405. The transition period was very long ; late survivals of nomadic maimers — § 400. The light which they throw on Israel's past — §407. The establishment of the monarchy is the dividing point between the new and the old — § 468. Inward necessity therefor in the constitution of society — § 400. Data for the period of the .settlement in Canaan — § 470. Condi- tion of the Hebrews at their entrance into Palestine — § 471 . Prevalence of a patriotic and religious .sentiment — § 472. Reasonableness of the Hiblical theory of the invasion — § 473. Special considerations in ''s favour — S 474. The "Book of the Covenant" attests a semi-pastoral stage of culture: no mention of cities — § 475. Prominence of tillage, cattle, and other indications — § 47(t. The same features marked throughout the period of the Judges — § 477. Life in large citiis unknown till the kingly era — §478. Sununary of conditions till the time of Debondi and IJarak — § 479. Character of the struggles with the Canaanites — § 480. A critical epoch: breaking up of the tribal brotherhood — § 481. Helaxing of the religious bond — §482. Effect of city manners — § 483. The transition to city life — § 484. The new Hebrew city and its occupati(ms — § 485. Radi- cal changes brought about by civic life — § 480. Administration of justice ; the "elders" — § 487. The local "judges"— § 488. Judicial functions XIV CONTKN'I'S of priests and prophets — § 480. Rclii^ious f^atlieriiit^s and central courts — §4110. Di'cliiit' and failure of the ecnlral rcsuris — § 4!)l. 'I'lie fall of Sliiloh marks a second eiMicli — §41*2. Ktfects of the assaults of national enemies — § 4it;}. Era of friendship with tlie ("anaanitcs — § 4!)4. Heiif;inus compromises — § 4!)o. Jialionnli' of the process — § 4i)(i. Sunnnary of the occasions of social and political changes — § 407. Influence of religion in the recasting of Hebrew society — § 498. Religion dominant in the founding of cities — § 400. Religious festivals a controlling social force — §600. They gradually lost political significance — § AOl. Industrial and economical advantages of the growth of cities — § 502. The relaxing of tribalism neces.sary for the administration of justice — § 503 An Israelite of the time — § 504. His public and sf>cial worship — § 505. Domestic religion — § 500. Its crudencss and imperfections — § 507. Management of his estate ; treatment and condition of the servants — §508. Kmi)loy- ments of t'le day — § 500. The sphere of the house-nustre.ss — § 510. His public duties: their multiplicity and difficulty '•4i m 1 ,1 ■if ■23 rii.M'l'KH V \ Thk MoNAUciiY. § 511-5;3H. 1'. 144-1(57 V. §511. Lines of development: military and governmental — § 512. Limitations of the military spirit among the Hebrews — § 5i:!. Growth of a militia — § 514. Changes in weapons and armour — § 515. National and personal conditions of the establishment of a permanent military system — §510. First stage : an irregular militia — §517. Second stage : beginnings of the standing army under King Saul— § 518. The third stage begins with David's body-guard — § 510. Deficiency in horses and chariots — §520. Disadvantages of a body of mercenaries — §521. 'I'he first three kings represent distinct stagi's in the monarchy ; Saul's gov- ernment transitional — § 522. David's court officials — § 52;). His policy and his faults as a king — § 524. Land and people abused by Solomon — § 525. A sound united nation now an impossibility — §52(1. Results of the monarchy at the death of Solomon; gains and losses — § 627. roliti- cal disabilities of the Northern Kingdom — §528. Its discontent largely due to governmental neglect — § 529. Its lack of political development — § o.'U). Formation of administrative divisions — § 5;)1. The "provinces" and the "princes" — § 5;]2. Political and moral issues are now more clearly presented — § 5;!3. They are deternuned by the leaders of society, the nobles and rulers — §5:14. Absolutism in Israel — § 5;{5. The kings and the priests and prophets — § 5.'j(5. The kings and the local rulers and nobles — § 5.'57. Inllueiice of the leading men in making and unmaking kings — § 538. Freedom of action of the local magnates exi>lained CONTENTS XV CHAPTER VI Society, Morals, and Religion. § 539-619. P. 168-236 § 539. Grades of society : primary disliuctioa between master and slave — § 540. Slaves increased from the ranks of captives and tributa- ries — § 541. Also from the debtor and impoverished classes — § 542. Legal provisions for the protection of slaves — § 543. Unique position of Israel in this regard — §544. Benefits conferred by slavery; it was a means of assimilating vassals to Israel — § 545. The protection it afforded to the unfortunate and per.secuted — § 546. It developed in Israel the philanthropic temper— § 547. The lessons learned by Israel from its own history — § 548. Policy of Israel towards " strangers " ; definition of the ,/?,._§ 549. The foreigner, the temporary "guest," the "sojourner," and the naturalized citizen — § 550. Adoption of outsiders in early and later history — § 551. Large and speedy incorporation accounted for — § 552. Favourable conditions for application — § 553. The adoption of outsiders idealized in Prophecy — § 554. The same theme unfolded in the Psalms— § 555. Destructive forces in Israel — § 556. Foes without less noxious than evils within — § 557. The decline and fall the result of inherent tendencies and characteristics of the nation — § 558. Israel's unique prerogative of morality its only possible salvation — §559. The iniluentlal classes in Israel summarized — § 560. Primitive social equality — § 561. It was but little disturbed at first after the occupation — § 562. New elements of the population which gave shape and bias to the social life of Israel in Canaan — § 563. New prerogatives of the military leaders tending to permanence of authority. — § 564. Distribution of territory and the rC-ginie of "judges" — § 565. The decisive matter was the pos- session of land — § 566. Provision for freemen — § 567. Provision for .slaves and clients — §568. Aggrandizement of leading families through these dependents — § 509. Settled life favours the hereditary tenure of offices — § 570. Instances in Israel — § 571. Development of an aristo- cratic class — § 572. Impoverishment of the masses — § 573. Relative pro- portion of rich and poor — § 574. Moral causes widened the chasm — § 575. Employment of capital and the chances of the poor — § 576. Ivfiiu'dial statutes against usury and mendicancy — §577. Neighbourli- ness in the olden time — § 578. Social abuses under the monarchy — § 579. Classes of social wrongs in the literature of the people — § 580. Land was held from Jehovah — § 581. Hence the wrong done in expropriation — § 582. Parallel to the case of the unfortunate and destitute — § 583. Tes- timony as to the siioliation of fixed property — § 584. Steps towards im- poverishment; the giving of security — § 585. The debtor liable to be .sold into slavery — § 586. How were such oppressions and exactions possible in a state like Israel '.' — § 587. The influential classes were responsible for the evil — § 588. Wr-nt of independent tribunals: the priests as " judges" — § 589. Testimony as to the judicial conduct of the priests — 1 XVI CONTENTS It § oOO. Appeal to "judges"; character of their jurisdiction — § 591. Lack of gradation and organization in the order of judges — S r>92. The injurious results of governmental and popular indifference — § 690. Sweeping condemnation of the practice of justice in Israel — § 594. Trev- alence and virulence of bribery and corruption in Eastern lands — § 695. Instances from the several departments of the Hebrew literature — § 596. Couconutant and auxiliary vices — § 597. Universality and magnitude of the "social question " in Hebrew life and literature — § 598. How social disorders are characterized in the Tsalms — § 599. Job as supplementing the Psalms — § GOO. The I'salms as contrasted with Job, Proverbs, and the Prophets — § GOl. Significant positions assumed or maintained in the Psalms and Proverbs — § C02. Necessary connection between social phe- nomena and tlie religion of Jehovah — § 003. Aspirations after a re- fjrming king — § 004. Sociological basis of the Messianic conception — § 005. Inferences as to the date of the Psalms of " the poor" — § 000. Confirmation from the historical and prophetical writings — § 007. Effects of the struggle in the development of the religious life — § 608. Conse- (luence of the political and social isolation of the poor — § 009. Effects of personal trial on character and opinion — § 610. Bonds uniting our modern sociological problems with those of ancient Israel — § Oil. Place of Old Testament teaching in the evolution of human society — §012. Altruism a product of the Old Testament religion — § 613. Leading features of this moral and social evolution — § 614. We should learn how the Old and the New Testament are related — § 015. How the New Testa- ment is rooted in the Old — § 010. How the new spirit and teaching are an historical continuation of the old— § 017. How Jesus relieved ancient society of its disabilities — § 618. The new motive of his personality and character — § 619. " This is the Law and the Prophets " I Book VIII HEBREWS, EGYPTIANS, AND ASSYRIANS M \] CHAPTER I Assyrian Extension under Sakgon. § 620-033. P. 237-247 § 020. Varied character of Assyrian military operations ; rapid shifting of the scenes of warfare — § 021. Merodach-baladan the Chaldiean and his allies — § 022. Parallel between the West-land and Babylonia, and between Egypt and Elam — § 023. Temporary successes of the Chaldajan leader — §024. Subjection of Hamath and its allies — § 025. Submission of Gaza, in spite of Egyptian support — § 026. Combinations In the north- west and in the northeast — § 027. The Moschteaus and the Armenians CUNTENTS XVU — ii 028. Carchemish invnlverl with the northwestern insurgents ; its siege and capture — § 029. Heroism ami failure of an Armenian king; the nnrilnvestern regiuii gradually (MU'rccd — § ti.'lO. Conquest and tribute of- Nortii Arabian tribes; t't'tVct upon Kgypt — S 631. Revolt of Ashdod signilicant of general disaffection — § (i;!2. Capture of Ashdod and Gath — § (5;j;>. Parties to the conspiracy ; Judah not attacked by Sargon CIIAPTEK II 'M AiiAZ ANi> TUK AssvKiAN- I'oi.icv. § 6:14-048. p. 248-257 § O.'U. Review of affairs in Judah from the fall of Samaria — § 035. Im- portant chronological ([uestions — § 636. Relative value of the data — § 637. Date of the embas.sy from Babylon — § 638. Probable time of Hezekiah's accession — {( 639. Motives of religious clianges — §640. Se- rious iunovatimis under Ahaz, due to the influence of Assyria — § 641. Lsaiah's picture of moral corruption, ch. xxviii. — § 642. Contra.st with the religious and moral ideal — § 643. Proofs of degeneracy — §644. Isaiah supplemented by Micah, ch. i-iii. — §645. Micah's view of the threatened dangers — § 646. Isaiah's .symbols of chastisement by the As.syrians — § 647. Rebuke of the expectation of Jehovah's help — § 648. Judah secure from molestation during the reign of Ahaz CHAPTER III The New Policy i-nder IIezekiah. § 649-059. P. 258-265 § 649. Hezekiah, his character and disposition — § 650. His relations with Assyria — § 651. Religious and political revivals — § 652. The inde- pendence party and Egypt — § 653. The earlier years of Hezekiah's reign a time of intrigue — § 654. Isaiah's attitude towards the movement — § 655. Isa. xviii. and its wide outlook — § 656. Isa. xix. : Egypt to be subverted by Assyria — § 057. A distant vision of peace and reconcilia- tion — § 658. Isa. XX. : a symbol of the helplessness and humiliation of Egypt — § 659. Temporary influence of the Prophet's appeals CHAPTER IV SaRGOV and MEROnACn-nAI-ADAN. § 660-668. P. 266-271 § 660. The situation in Babylonia — § 661. Final campaign of Sargon against the Chaldeans and their allies — § 662. Retreat of the Chaldwans — § 663. Occupation of Babylon — § 664. Blockade, defeat, and flight of Jlerodach-baladan — § 665. Policy of Sargon in Babylon — § QiSd. Exten- sion and security of the empire — § 667. Sargon as a city and palace builder — § 668. His death, in 705 n.c, by assassination IP7B S^^i^ mmm mm \\ iy ►i ! i r . if I 1 •i i t > / ii XVIU CONTENTS CHAPTER V 81NACHERIB AND Merodach-hai-adan. § 669-074. P. 272-275 § 669. Accession of Siiiacherib ; his character — § 670. Change of policy in Babylonia — § 671. Reappearance of Merodach-baladan — § 672. His tinal defeat and exile — § 673. Resettlement of Babylonian affairs — § 074. Subjugation of eastern mountaineers CHAPTER VI SiNACHERIB, HeZEKIAH, AND ISAIAH. § 675- P. 270-;]21 § 075. Official Assyrian record of the expedition of 701 n.c. — §070. Character of the parallel accounts — §077. The interested parties in Palestine — § 678. Attitude and action of Egypt — § 079. The part played by Merodach-baladan — § 080. Invasion of Phoenicia — § 681. An account by Josephus — § 682. How it i.s to be harmonized with the A.s- syrian record — § 683. Valour and fortitude of the Tyrians — § 684. The plan of operations adopted by the invaders — § 685. The lines of march — § 680. Judah outside of Jerusalem desolated — § 087. Prophetic allusion to the invasion — § 088. Submission of Hezekiah, find its price — § 089. The Philistian cities — § 090. Centres of attack: importance of Lachish — § 691. Capture of Askalon — § 092. Revolution in Ekron and its .signilicance — § 693. Intervention of the Egyptians — § 094. Their disastrous defeat — § 095. Capture of minor towns and of Ekron — § 090. Jerusalem again menaced — § 697. J'arties and events within the city — § 698. Preparations for defence — § 699. Assyrian officers before Jerusalem — § 700. Speech of the legate — § 701 . Specious appeals to the populace — § 702. Hezekiah's appeal to Isaiah, and the Prophet's reply — § 703. Further Assyrian successes ; a second demand for surrender — § 704. Disaster to the Assyrians — § 705. Account of Herodotus — § 706. Some explanations — § 707. Character and extent of the infliction — § 708. The scene of the catastrophe — § 709. Connected summary of the later events — § 710. Isaiah's role in these occurrences — § 711. A striking series of prophecies — § 712. Isa. xxix. 1-9 : The siege and the relief — § 713. Lsa. xxix. 10-16: Stupidity and perversity of the leaders of the people — § 714. Isa. xxix. 17-24: The coming moral transformation — §715. Isa. XXX. 1-7: The futile embassy to Egypt — § 710. Isa. xxx. 8-17: The consequences of defying and ignoring Jehovah — § 717. Isa. xxx. 18-20 : The returning blessings that result from misfortune — § 718. Isa. xxx. 27-33 : The doom of the Assyrians as prepared by Jehovah — § 719. Isa. xxxi. : Jehovah's protection illustrated — § 720. Isa. xxxii. 1-8: The righteous king and his subjects — § 721. Isa. xxxii. 9-20: Frivolous women and what they suggested — § 722. Place of the remain- ing prophecies of this era — § 723. Isa. x. 5 ff. : The key to Oriental history — § 724. The moral of the judgment upon Assyria — § 725. Im- h' i 1 iP CONTENTS XIX if policy 172. His ,£f airs — agery of the catastnuihe — § 720. Isa. xi. 1-5: The attributes of the ideal King — § 727. Isa. xi. tt-xii. : The rciiin of pe.ace and the hymn of reunited I.srael — § 72^. Isa. xxxiii. 1-12 : 'I'lie coming redemption in spite of disap- pniutuieiits — § 729. Isa. xxxiii. lo-lH : Tlie trial and the deliverance — § 7;!ii. Isa. xxxiii. 20-24: Tlie redeemed city and its people — § 7ol. I's. xivi. : Tiie lyrical pendant of the later prophecies — § 732. Effect of the disaster on Sinacherib -321 n.c. — I parties rhe part 681. An [\ the i\s- 684. The march — ! allusion price — rtance of kron and )4. Their Ekron — ithin the Irs before tls to the ■t's reply •ender — idotus — infliction [imary of |§ "11- A and the leaders lormation llsa. XXX. 717. Isa. »rtune — Jehovah ;a. xxxii. lii. 9-20: remain- Oriental 1725. Im- CIIAPTER VII SiNACHKnn. AND Bauvlonia. g 733-744. P. 322-332 § 7.'!:5. Drift of affairs in Babylonia — § 734. Final disappearance of iMerodach-bahulan — § 730. Sinacherib's son made viceroy in Babylon — § T.'Jt). Ueprisals of the fugitive Chaldieans — ^ 737. A fleet built for Sinacherib by inland waters — § 738. A naval expedition acro.ss the (iulf — § 7;!(t. The Elamites and Chaldieans in Babylonia; battle of Halule — § 740. Capture and ruthless destruction of Babylon by Sina- cherib — § 741. Closing years of Sinacherib — § 742. His character and disposition — § 743. Disastrous results of his centralizing policy — § 744. The manner of his taking off CHAPTER VIII EsARHADDON, Bahvlonia, AND Egvpt. § 745-762. p. 333-350 § 745. The a.ssassins and the rightful heir — § 746. Esarhaddon's report of his success — § 747. Factors of the situation — § 748. Esarhad- don's commission to restore Babylon — § 749. His description of the work — § 750. Beneflcent effects of his policy — § 751. Outbreak and reconciliatioTi of the Chalda'ans — § 752. Good relations at length secured witli Eiam — § 753. The West-land ; revolt and capture of Sidon — § 754. Campaigns in Arabia and their motive — § 755. Incidents of these trans- actions — § 756. The coruiuest of Egypt — § 757. Tyre not taken by E.sarhadd m — § 758. The Kimmerians in the north — § 759. Their re- pulse by tlie As.syrians — § 760. New conditions ominous for A.ssyria — § 761. Death and achievements of Esarhaddon — § 762, His architectural monuments and his character CHAPTER IX AssHiiRnANiPAL AND THE Diss<)LviN<; Emi'ike. § 763-807. p. 351-390 § 763. .Accession of Asshurbanipal and his brother — § 764. Campaign in Egypt — § 765. Attitude of the vassal princes — § 766. Con.spiracy of the viceroys with Tirhaka, and their defeat — S 767. The new king Urda- man and his unsuccessful war against Assyria — § 768. Egypt finally Il If IM f! \ f' \ r ■ r XX CONTEXTS freed under Psanimetichus — § 769. The fortunes of Egypt and Isa. xix. — S 770, Nahuni iii. and the capture of Thebes — § 771. IMuenicia and Palestine under Asshurl)anipal — § 772. The capture of Tyre and Isa. xxiii. — § 773. The Kimnierians and Gyges of Lydia — § 774. Gyges and Asshurbanipal — § 775. Incitlents and lessons of the story — § 770. A vast disturbance in the empire — § 777. Minor troubles and the signs of insurrection — § 778. Conditions under the king of Babylon — § 779. Ris- ing of Chaldieans and Klainites — g 780. Parties to the great revolt — § 781. Babylon only partly responsible — § 782. Assyrians in Babylonia and troubles in Elani — § 783. A.ssyrian triumph and revenge in Babylo- nia — § 784. War with Elani ; grandson of Merodach-baladan — § 785. His fate and that of Elam — § 780. Babylon aided by Arabian troops — § 787. Arabians, Nebaioth, and Kedar in the later conflicts — § 788. As- syrian expedition.s and victories — § 789. Explanation of small revolts in Phffinicia — § 790. Revolt of Manasseh in Judah — § 791. Judah after Sinacherib's invasion — § 792. Little loss of territory — § 793. Acquies- cence in Assyrian suzerainty — § 794. Assyrian neglect of Judah — § 795. Lessons of the chastisement — § 790. Conditions favourable to centralization of worship — § 797. Hezekiah's death ; character of his epoch --§ 798. King Manasseh and liis early years — § 799. Occasions of his new religious policy — § 800. Decline of prophetism — § 801. Disaffec- tion against Assyria — § 802. Settlement of its date — § 803. Silence of Asshurbanipal on the event — § 804. Manasseh's sedition, exile, repent- ance, and death — § 805. Results of his regime — § 806. Brief reign of Amon — § 807. Young Josiah and the revival of the prophetic party CHAPTER X Downfall of the Assyrian Empire. § 808-833. P. 391-414 § 808. Condition of Assyria under Asshurbanipal — § 809. Its essen- tial weakne.ss — § 810. The Scythians — § 811. Duration and character of their invasions — § 812. Their devastations local and partial — § 813. Supposed allusions in Jeremiah — § 814. Ezekiel xxxviii. and Zephaniah — § 815. Immunity of Nineveh — §810. Personal character of Asshur- banipal — § 817. His literary tastes and influence — § 818. His significant dependence on Babylonia — § 819. His political and personal weakness — § 820. His two successors on the throne of Nineveh — § 821. The de- pendent states and Nineveh — § 822. Nabopalassar the viceroy in Babylon — § 823. Growth and character of the Median kingdom — § 824. The Median kings — § 825. Combination of Medes and Babylonians — § 820. Basis of the understanding — § 827. Time of the destruction of Nineveh and its character — § 828. Singular preservation of its monuments — § 829. Revival of Hebrew Prophecy before the event — § 830. Zephaniah upon the catastrophe — § 831. The book of Nahum — §832. Its vivid de- scriptions of the siege and capture — § 833. Prophetic images of Assyria CONTKNTS xxi Isa. xix. icla and and Isa. . Gyges § 770. A signs of 779. Ris- 1 revolt — Jabylonia 1 Babylo- _§ 785. v^^^H troops — 788. As- ill revolts tl^^H idah after JH Acquies- Judah — Durable to i ter of his M casions of . Disaffec- Silence of le, repent- >f reign of party -m AITENDIX P. 414-43:1 PAUB NilTK 1. Absolute rule in Israel 415 2. Sargon's first Babylonian expedition 410 3. The Aryan Medes 410 4. The siege of Aslidud 417 6. Sargcin and Judali 419 0. Biblical Cliroimlogy of the Kings 420 7. The Altar at Damascus 423 8. Date of Micah i-iii 424 0. Inscriptiniis of Sinacherib 425 1ft. Sinacherib and the siege of Tyre 420 1 1. The submission of Ilezekiah 420 12. The capture of Lachish 427 13. The jilague in Siuacherib's army 428 14. Course ot tlie invasion of Sinacherib 429 Ij. Isa. XXX. 7 432 10. Inscriptions of Esarhaddon 432 17. Inscriptions of Asshurbanipal 433 ADDITIONAL AIUJKEVIATIOXS )1-414 Its essen- character il_§8l3. iephaniah pf Asshur- Isignificant weakness The de- |n Babylon 824. The Is — § 826. If Nineveh luments — piephaniah vivid de- jf Assyria the ancient Semitic worhl. We have traced in broadest out- line the rise and [)r()gress of the nationalities that played their parts in remotest times in Western Asia. We have seen how, at the date still popularly accepted as tliat of the creation of man, the well-defined territory known as the home of the Northern Semites was already portioned out. We have been enabled to tell with some degree of consistency and intelligence the story of tlie enterprise and achievements of the early Babylonians. We have learned to recognize them as among the greatest benefac- tors of our race, as the pioneers of science, and as the founders of the useful and liberal arts. Comparing the Babylonia of those remote days with the Babylonia of the present, we have beheld the law of human progress apparently reversed. The region of the lower Euphrates, now a dreary marshy waste, is revealed to us as reclaimed by them from desolation and barrenness, and made the garden of the world, while its dead level of desert land was relieved by populous cities and adorned with countless temples and palaces. We have seen how, for a period of 1 B FORTUNES AND POLICY OF EARLY STATES Book VII '}' I time twice as long as the present Christian era, this same people, through endless vicissitudes of political fortune, retained control of the birthplace of civilization. We have observed the growth, and the rise to power and pride, of Assyria, the offshoot, the rival, and the conqueror of Baby- lonia. The fortunes also of Aramaeans and Canaanites enlisted our attention. In spite of the vagueness of their historical beginnings, we could at least follow the wander- ings of the one family along the rivers of Mesopotamia to their inland commercial stations, and those of the other to their settlements on the harbours, the hill-slopes, and the valleys of the Mediterranean coastland. We found the Euphrates standing in the way of the westward movement of the Aramaeans, and Northern Syria long unclaimed as a permanent abiding-place by any Semitic people. In earli- est historic times, and for two thousand years thereafter, we find nowhere any memorial of the Hebrew race. § 366. Such is the groundwork of a vast historic struct- ure. Symptoms of independent action and interaction among these Semitic peoples begin already with the first monumental records. A Babylonian empire appears about 4000 B.C. grasping at dominion, or at least aspiring to paramount influence, over the whole region between the Persian Gulf and the Sea of the West. Already arc to be observed tokens of a far-reaching foreign policy on the part of the world's first empire. Already is given expres- sion to that imperial idea which of itself gives unity and consistency to the most enduring national history the world has known. The first Sargon, with whom our nar- rative began, pointed the way westward to the second Sargon, with whom it has just come to a pause. The in- terval between the two is over three thousand years, and the dominant idea that vivifies and illumines it will be found operating to the end of our story, till the extinction of Semitism itself with the fall of Babylon. When the centre of political control was shifted from Sargon's city of Akkad to the southern region of Babylonia, the imperial ! 'M 5 ! 1 il< Cn. I, § 307 POLITICAL INFLUENCE ( »F EGYPT policy was still maintained. When, in the time of Abra- luim, the successive dynasties of native Babylonian princes were superseded by a brief foreign domination, the new rulers from over the Tigris fell in with the old aggressive movement towards Egypt and Palestine. During all the following centuries united Babylonia, whether under domes- tic rulers or princes of Kasshite descent, never abdicated tlie intellectual control of the West-land, though for con- siderable periods of time her military and political influ- ence was in abeyance. The gradual decline of Babylonia and the rise of the Assyrians to power involved no aban- (li)ument of the traditional policy. The way to the West was only traversed more directly and more swiftly by the more energetic and practical servants of Asshur. Slowly but surely these "Romans of the East" extended their dominion, till at last they are found with the whole of the coastland either incorporated into their empire or ready for absorption. § 307. The other claimant to dominion in Asia was a non-Asiatic power. Eg3'pt was at no time a nation of great political consequence to the world. It was not until tlie ancient role of Babylonia as a controlling force had l»een played out that she was able to secure any permanent footing in Asia, outside of the peninsula of Sinai. Nor did she evor extend her rule beyond the westerly sweep of the middle Euphrates. Moreover, lier first military interven- tion north of the Desert was indirectly a consequence of the early Babylonian dominion in that region. Previously to tlie beginning of the sixteenth century B.C. the relations of Egypt with Palestine and Syria had beeri almost wholly commercial and social. The constant intrusion for many centuries of nomadic Asiatic tribes into Egypt, culminating in the dominion of the Sheplierd Princes, was due in great part to the pressure of the P>abylonian occupation of the West. It was the instinct of self-preservation, as much as the desire of foreign possessions, which first urged the I'.gyptians to the invasion of Asia after the withdrawal of EGYPTIANS AND HKTTITES Book VII h^i W I that pressure which coincided in time with the expulsion of the Hyksos. The relations of Egypt with the Asiatic West-land were wholly changed at that momentous epoch. From being so long the invaded, she became for a time the invader. But she could only undertake the new adventure because the immemorial arbiter in Asiatic affairs was then quite divided and weakened. This the greatest opportunity of Egypt came to her when Babylonia had begun to decline under the Kasshite dynasty, and Assyria, though strong enougli to prevent the mother country from asserting her- self as of old, was not yet prepared to reach out and grasp for herself the coveted western coastland. Furthermore, when the Egyptian conquests in Asia in the sixteenth cen- tury B.C. were begun, the whole region both east and west of the River had long been under the intellectual as well as the political sway of Babylonia. And when, two centu- ries later, tlie empire of the Nile had relaxed its grasp upon its Asiatic subjects, the Babylonian culture was as much in vogue as ever, and the very language of Babylonia was employed in letters sent to Upper Egypt from the hard- pressed Egyptian commanders in Palestine and Syria. Yet it was not by Babylonians, or Assyrians, or Aramaeans, that the trespassers from over the Isthmus were extruded from their militar}' tenure. Mere local uprisings of the small communities which then made up the population of Pales- tine and Syria were sufficient to eject them. When they next appeared as invaders in the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries, they were met by a move formidable foe, the Hettites — a race of mysterious origin, but probably in part at least of native Syrian stock. The j^rolonged hos- tilities of these powers, on pretty equal terms, prevented Palestine from falling permanently into the hands of either, and thus left it open to the next formidable invaders, the heroes of our story. Thereafter followed soon the wliole- sale incursions from the islands and shores of the Medi- terranean, which damaged both of the rival claimants beyond recovery. The Hettite confederation was dissolved. Ch. I, § 3(30 ASSYRIANS IN THE WEST-LANU and Egypt did not appear in Asia again for four hundred years. Palestine was once more left open ; and while the Phcjenician seaports expanded tlieir commercial ventures to world-wide dimensions, their kindred in the interior were left to contend unequally with a new and more suc- cessful invasion. § 308. Meanwhile Assyria was gradually extending her power and resources, and the power of Babylon, though with occasional retrievals, was as surely waning. Organ- ized Assyrian colonies in Mesopotamia accelerated the movement of Aramieans westward over the Euphrates and their settlement in Northern and Middle Syria. Here they proved too strong for the renuiants of the ephemeral Hettite confederacy. Very gradually and spcjradically, after their manner, were their settlements made. But they had come to stay. This period in the checkered his- tory shows Babylonia still circumscribed, Assyria still gain- ing upon her as a militar}' power, and making occasionally a tremendous effort to subdue and hold the entire country as far as tlie Mediterranean. The task was different from that achieved by the old Babylonians. The country was now filled by busy and energetic communities, capable singly of offering a stubborn defence, and united, of repel- ling any power that could molest them from the east. They were, however, incapable of permanent confedera- tion, and their submissi>)n to the more highly organized Assyrians was only a question of time. But these future conquerors were not as yet prepared for successful action on an adequate scale. It was not till the ninth century that they appeared in Southern Syria. The period of their preparation was the time of the early decisive development of the Hebrew and Aramaic communities. § 369. When about the beginning of the twelftli cen- tury B.C. the Hebrews appeared as invaders upon the bor- ders of Canaan, they were sincerely asserting an hereditary claim. And though they had been for many centuries exiles from the Land of Promise, their memory had not : \ \ ' h ■' li §, I i THE IlEBKEWS IN CANAAN Book VII been entirely extinguished among the ruling occupants of its soil. Partly perhaps through tradition ^ and partly through the intercommunication between Palestine and Egypt, which was the order of the day till the time of the Exodus, a knowledge of the Hebrews as former inhabi- tants of the country was maintained among the people of Canaan. The " mixed nmltitude " of intermediate nomads who attached themselves to the fortunes of the marauders were also a connecting link with the people of the land. We must conceive of the " conquest of Canaan " as having been a very complex process. Battles and sieges no doubt formed some of the salient and decisive factors of the occu- pation. But however much the valour of the immigrants may have added to their prestige or accelerated their early encroaclimenLS, it did little directly to confirm their posses- sion of the territory they had won. We have to assume that the relations of the Canaanites and Hebrews were pretty much the same as those which have marked the struggles for existence and supremacy from time immemo- rial among the less cultivated peoples of the Semitic world. Peaceful assimilation by naturalization and adoption is the principal means by which tribes and clans inherently su- perior enhance their pre-eminence. And while the supe- rior organization of the Hebrews with their loyalty to, and trust in, Jehovah gave them an immense moral advantage over the peoples of the land, there was not such a radical 1 If the place-names Jacob-d ami Joseph-el (to use modeniized fonu.s), which have been for the last tliirty-tive years so famous among archie- ologists, refer at all to the ancestors of the Hebrews, and are not entirely Camianitish, they imply that the memory of these tribal heroes had been kept alive in Canaan for five hundred years. They are found in geographical lists of Thothmes HI (§ 145 ; c. 1500 n.c), the former being in Southern .Judah, the latter in " Mount Ephraim," just as would be expected. The deification of Jacob and Joseph is naturally accounted for if some of their descendants settled in Canaan before tiie Exodus. To explain them as Canaanitic heroes has the obvious disadvantage of the lack of known historical association. For an ingenious treatment of these and kindred names from other points of view, see Sayce, The Higher Criticism and the Munuments (1894), p. 337 ff. I'i Cii. I, § 371 PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT social difference between the opposing elements as to pre- vent their gradur^ amalgamation. Especially must we keep in mind that the Canaanites did not, like the Babylo- nians or the Egyptians, form large communities with an elaborate centralized administration. Hence, a basis of unification was afforded, upon which the morally weaker yielded to the stronger by surrendering the social and religious distinctions upon which depended their political autonomy. § 370. Considering the enormous difficulties of the situ- ation, the progress of the Hebrews in the new settlement was rapid. Scarcely two hundred years can have elapsed between the invasion and the founding of the monarcliy. At the latter epoch no considerable Canaanitic settlement remained intact in the region which formed the historic soil of Israel. After the passing away of the original leaders, we hear of but one combination of native commu- nities against the colonists, and that at a comparatively early period in the regime of the "Judges." Far more dangerous were the attacks from without, mostly from peoples nearly akin to the Hebrews. The inherent vitality of Israel and its internal cohesiveness are shown by the appearance of successive heroic deliverers, and, better still, by the devotion and loyalty of the masses of the people, who, in one district or anotlier, rallied around them for the defence of their newly acquired homes and to vindicate the supremacy of Jehovah. There is, however, no evidence that the ideal of a united Israel was ever accomplislied in this whole period. Rather, there is proof of perpetual tribal jealousy and a mournful record of intermittent bloody strife. Yet none of the native surrounding races could singl}' have dislodged or suppressed the Hel)rews. Their subjugation and obliteration were seriously threat- ened by the better organi/.cd half-foreign Pliilistines of the western border-land. § 371. The danger of speedy extinction at last made clear to all who were called by the name of Jehovah ^•w 1 : '■ 1- til THE TRIBES AND THE KINGDOM Book Vn the imperious necessity of pennaneiit conibiiuitioii. In the tiansitioii period from nomadism to settled life, the combinations of tribes were naturally made more fre- quently and successfully for defence than for aggression, and anything like a permanent union could only be effected on a scale mucli smaller than the national. More- over, the tribes thus temporarily united could only follow a leader of approved wisdom and the gift of command. A combination of them all against an hereditary powerful foe could only be led by a king. All the invaders of Israel before the Philistines had waged a local warfare. This enemy overstepped their border and aimed to engulf the whole. The first king was naturally chosen from that portion of the country which was most vitally interested in the repulse of the Philistines. But the choice also determined the destiny of the nation. It gave promi- nence to the south instead of the north, and thus attached to the banner of Israel the numerically strong but hitherto indifferentl}' loyal clans of Judah. The regency of Saul and Jonathan, though dashed with many failures and final overthrow, was a distinct advance for Israel. Judah, the inseparable companion in fortune of Benjamin, was now ready to lead on the forlorn hope, and that under an accomplished prince who had been trained iji the arts of war and peace, to be the deliverer and ruler of his united people. His triumphs over his personal rivals, over the dreaded Philistines, over ancient and newly made foes of Israel, gave hira and his country power and renown never equalled before or afterwards. His choice of Jerusalem as his capital secured the independence of his kingdom through the wars and tumults of four centuries. V? 372. But tribal jealousy and sectional feeling were only allayed and not extinguished. The upward and forward movement of the whole community had diverted for awliile the local forces of discontent. They again in- 'jvitably found expression when the country became quies- vjent and the heroic efforts of self-denying patriotism, Cii. I, § o73 DIVISIVE TENDENCIES wliicli had established a strong and auijust monarchy, gave phice to the less exciting business of sustaining the new institutions. Already in the time of highest national prosperity an adroit pretender like Absalom found the smouldering feeling strong enough to be fanned into a tlame, and to be turned almost successfully against his fatlier's kingship in Judah. Tlie reign of Solomon was marked at first by great external splendour. But it aggran- dized Judah and Benjamin at the expense of the northern tribes, the cultivation of whose interests was demanded alike by prudence and by justice. The division of the whole country into revenue districts, instead of obliterat- ing local distinctions, only aggravated them. At the same time the foreign states made tributary by David began to fall off one by one, and the expense of the centralizing and luxurious government at Jerusalem fell more heavily upon the over-taxed people. At the death of Solomon a schism took place under the lead of Ephraim, the natural centre of the community of Israel. The breach then made was never healed.^ § 373. There is a certain measure of propriety in speak- ing of "united Israel." But the phrase has to be used with a large reservation. An external political union of the tribes was just barely accomplished only to be speedily annulled. Under the Judges it was merely possible in a loose sense. Indeed, it would seem that all the tribes were never fully represented in a national council or on the field of battle. The reigns of David and Solomon over all Israel lasted but two generations. It is question- al )lo how far the organization of the kingdom extended. The census taken by the one, and the territorial redistri- bution attempted by the other, were doubtless contrived partly in order to bring within the scope of regular admin- istration the outlying northern and eastern tribes, whose associations with their heathen neighbours imperilled, and 1 An excellent essay on "Jerobotim and the Disruption." by Prof. C. F. Kent, may be found in tlie JSiblical World, .July, 1894, p. ;]8 ft". Jl- m 1 m H .1 'm 10 rp:al basis of union Book VH at last quite destroyed, their tribal autonomy and their national loyalty. They failed in their object. Probably no complete fusion was ever possible. Peaceful federa- tion for long among any branch of the ancient Semites seems to have been out of the question. The Hebrews were the best disposed thereto of all the race ; but with them also local interests finally triumphed over their own ideal of national centralization. The notion of a united Israel is imposing and persistent. A people or a race of endur- ing memories and tragic fates idealizes its earlier history, and even in its decline colours the whole horizon of its national outlook with the reflection of the bright imagined past. But the idea of Israel as a great political unit is based not merely on the ephemeral glory of the kingdom of David. It is the embodiment of the far profounder and more abiding conception of a religious unity. The real solidarity of Israel was always the outcome of a common allegiance and fidelity to Jehovah. It was not more true that Jehovah, their God, was One, than that they, his people, should be one also. But this union of heart and sentiment depended again upon the purity and spiritual- ity of his worship. In this, also, Israel has idealized its past. Though pure and spiritual in the ideal cherished by worthy souls throughout the history of Israel, the con- stant tendency of the mass of the people, including as a rule the governing classes, was to debase his worship, both after their own ancestral fashion, and after the still more sensuous and degrading models of the Canaanitish religions. This, however, did not do away with the sense of obliga- tion to serve Jehovah, in one tangible method or another. The Temple and its services in Jerusalem discouraged, from the very first, idolatrous or symbolic worship. But the Temple was nc w no longer Israelitish. It was at once the centre of the ^'udaic monarch}' and the most power- ful factor in its conservation and growth. The schis- matics of Ephraim and its northern allies recognized, as strongl}' as did the Judaites, the claims of Jehovah's wor- s VII their )al)ly ileia- nites were them ideal [svael nduv- stoiy, of its .criuecl mit is igdom er and le real •minon •e true jy, his rt and ritual- ed its rished e con- Ijt as a b, both more iigions. jbliga- liother. uaged, But lit once )Ower- schis- ^ed, as I's wor- Cii. I, §374 NOKTllKKN ISHAEL AFTER THE SCHISM U ship. The absence of his auspices meant the collapse of Israel everywhere. Hence the consecration of popular symbols of Jehovah among the northern tribes, whose shrines, in the ancient sacred places of their ancestors, were so distributed as to intercept and influence, in behalf of the specific Ephraimitish rites, the population of the land both near and far. Thus was the fiction of a national palladium cherished and maintained. § 374. The history of Northern Israel in its develop- ment and decline naturally falls into three main periods. The first division extends to the djaiasty of Omri and the founding of Samaria ; the second, to the end of the dynasty of Jehu ; the third, to the fall of the capital. The first period (925-885 B.C.) is one of disorganization, of blind struggling, and of confusion. In spite of the tadvantages which it had over its southern rival, in a greater popula- tion, a more seductive worsliip, and the chances of inmiu- nity from exorbitant taxation, its earlier years were marked by political and industrial misfortune. The elements of a strong kingdom were present, but there was no real gov- ernment of the nation as a whole. Indeed, it would be difficult to define the limits of the nation in this period, or to point out in what sense a nation really existed. The outlying tribes at the best held on to the commonwealth and the institutions of Israel by a very precarious tenure. Even the more central tribes, with Ephraim as the moral base of support and the rallying ground, were without a connnon state policy, or unity of feeling or of action, or national spirit, or loyalty to their leaders. It seems, in fact, that the whole of the nominal Israel never in this period clung to a single ruler. And while the people did not know how to obey, the kings were equally unable to govern. " The manner of the kingdom " that had been propounded carefully by its inaugurator could in any case be learned only by experience ; and the scattered, unsociable tribes and clans and families of Israel were but slow scholars in this department of political science. So far the kingly ■H SI J 12 TUOUHLES OF THE KINGDOM Book VII art had been practised almost exclusively in the family of Judah. Monarchical independence, suddenly asserted by the northern tribes, found them equally unprepared to enjoy its privileges and to exercise its prerogatives. Jero- boam's coup d'etat^ justifiable as it may have been under the conditions, was a political failure. Monarchy was never really at home in any section of Israel. Its rare compara- tive success was only gained through slow adjustment to the patent consequences of repeated and disastrous fail- ures. In things political, Israel, like most of the Semites, learned only under the sting of the lash. The recoil from Rehoboam's threatened whip of scorpions, while affording a temporary measure of freedom, brought about in effect a relapse into semi-anarchy. ^ 375. Evidence of governmental impotence and of popular distrust abound on every hand. The little rem- nant of Judah, compact and united, w^as the superior in war for the first twenty years after the disruption. The change of capitals, or rather of royal residences, shows not only the desperate character of the royal fortunes, but also, when we consider the functions of a king in Israel, reveals the difficulty experienced by the people in secur- ing the redress of social grievances. The facility with which so much of the country north of Esdraelon was transferred to the Aramceans of Damascus and retained by them, indicates that a chasm separated Naphtali and Zebulon from Ephraim, as deep as that Avhich sundered Ephraim from Judah. The succession of usurpations, dethronements, and murders which followed the death of Jeroboam were not so much the occasions as the symptoms of internal strife and confusion. They might almost seem to liave formed a necessary stage in the development of a genuine monarchy out of the nucleus of the loosely at- tached sections and tribes that still held fast to the name and the traditions of Israel. "Ephraim " was evolved out of " Israel " through a series of revolutions ; and the confusion and turmoil that agitated the whole chaotic body politic ('II. I, §370 REVIVAL OF NATIONAL Sl'IRIT l.J were as necessary to the consolidation of the surviving kingdom as the internal dislocations and upheavals, and the centrifugal ejection of the future satellites, are an essential part of the evolution of suns and planets. An attentive view of the historical conditions will bring us to see that the " Kingdom of the Ten Tribes " never ex- isted except as a splendid idealized possibility, and that from the governmental point of view the course of affairs iu Northern Israel, until the opening of the last period of decline and collapse, was not really a degeneration, but an advance, however broken and tortuous. § 376. The second period (885-784 li.c.) was, accord- ing to this view of Israel's political career, the epoch of its real development into a nation. Unity and solidarity came in fact to each of the kingdoms through their separa- tion ; and if the two main sections could not be fused together, it were much better that they should be severed, and crystallize each around its own centre. Samaria, founded by the genius and foresight of Omri, became to the Northern Kingdom what Jerusalem was to the South- ern. It proved a rallying-place and a sure defence for the harassed tribes and clans that gathered about Ephraim. The work of the founder and his successors was essen- tially to keep intact what had been saved from the disas- ters succeeding the schism. Their rdgime was coincident with the flourishing period of the Aramseans in Syria, and also with the first stages of the warfare of the Assyr- ians upon the liberties of the southwestern states. It is the conflicts with the Arameean kingdom of Damascus which have given its distinctive character, its life and colour, to the history of the kingdom of Samaria. Already, before the days of Omri, the northernmost portion of Israel had been absorbed by the Aramteans. The worth of the new fortress of Samaria was put to the test in the strenuous endeavour to save the central tribes. The Sj-rian wars marked the heroic era of the Northern Kingdom. The dynasty of Omri, whatever its shortcomings otherwise, was patriotic and 14 TIIK DYNASTY (»F OMUI Book VII brave. Its greatest struggle was made for the retention of Israelitish territory beyond the Jordan. Tiiere Damascus Avas [)ressing hard from the north, and Moab from the south. Moab, subjugated i)y Omri, was lost by Ahab to Israel for- ever. Gilead and Hashan were the scene of Israel's most intense struggles and most bitter sufferings. They also were virtually lost. The Aramaeans circumscribed Israel to its central domain, tne territory which might be con- trolled and defended from the fortress of Samaria. They would probably have crippled the Hebrews much more seriously were it not that the Assyrians inflicted upon them very serious losses on hard-fought battle-fields. The first great conflict was waged against the eastern invaders with the help of Israel and other Palestinian states, but thereafter Damascus bore alone the brunt of nuniberless attacks. It was for nearly a century the sentinel and guardian of Palestine. § 377. The policy of the dynasty of Omri was fateful in other spheres than that of war. Convinced that the misfortunes and losses and disintegration of Isruel were due to the unattractive simplicity of the services of Jeho- vah, these rulers sought to invest the national cult with the pomp and eclat of the dual worship of the Canaanitish Baal and Astarte, now made more imposing and seductive than ever under the auspices of the wealthy and luxurious cities of Phoenicia. The movement was doubtless success- ful for a time, as far as building up a court party with a powerful following served to realize the original purpose. But a deadly, twofold evil was the speedy and inevitable result. Corruption of morals was promoted by the legiti- mated vices of the rites of Astarte, and a selfish tyrannical spirit, the invariable accompaniment of degenerate Oriental courts, was rapidly developed among the ruling classes. Anotlier feature of the policy of Ahab, who, through his Tyrian queen Jezebel, was at once the inaugurator and the instrument of the Phtenician alliance, was the cultivation of friendship with the sister kingdom. Such a rapproche- (.K VII ion of [lascus south, .el for- s most y also Israel )e con- They I more I upon . The ivaders ;es, but iberless lel and fateful liat the il were if Jeho- llt with anitish lluctive urious luccess- Iwitli a p'pose. atable legiti- innical dental llasses. rh. his |nd the /^ation ^oehe- C'li. I, S ;378 ISRAEL AXl) .lUDAII 16 tncnf, deshable in itself, was confirmed b}' intermarriage hi'tweon the kingly houses, which came near enguUing .huhili also in tiie abominations of Baal-worship. The excesses of the new regime in Israel were the immediate occasion of the outburst of prophetic zeal with wliich the niimcs of Klijah and Klisha are imperishably associated. Though primarily the champions of Jehovah and his cause, their preaching had a very practical popular end. Their protests against the oppressions of the court, and in belialf of the outraged liberty of Israelitish freemen, gave life and force to the uprising against the votaries of Baal whicli it was the direct object of their crusade to provoke. The desperate nature of the evils may be inferred not merely from the drastic remedy of revolution, but also from the character of the ill-regulated instrument chosen to accomplish it. sj 378. The cleavage of the great schism between Judah and Israel was not so deep as its immediate consequences might seem to indicate. The political union had never been very close, and the hostilities that followed the revolt of Jeroboam, fierce as they were while they lasted, did not long prevail over the inherent conditions that made for harmony and mutual forbearance. The sanguinary wars that marked the earliest reigns were mainly due to the recriminations that followed the separation. It was the successful attacks of the Syrians upon Israel north of Jez- reel, invoked by their Judaic allies, that aroused the sur- viving northern tribes to a sense of the folly of fratricidal war. xVfter the accession of the dynasty of Omri we hear no more of treaties between Judah and Damascus, and very rarely of feuds between Israel and Judah. Certainly no quar- rel was provoked against the southerners by their northern brotliers till Samaria approached her fall. Religious dif- ferences had little to do at any time with keeping up the estrangement between the two Hebrew kingdoms. The practical distinction between the golden bulls at Bethel and the Ark in the Temple at Jerusalem was ^or a time not mm^m mmmm^^ ■n 10 JUDAII, RELIGIOUSLY AND POLITICALLY Book VII ■I , r so great as might appear. Of spiritual worship there was little or none connected with either ritual. The priesthood was, as a rule, suhservient to the court, and for twenty years after the disruption the idolatrous usages introduced by the degenerate Solomon held uninterrupted sway in Judah. Then a distinct change for the better was effected through the reforming zeal of Asa and Jehoshaphat. Be- hind this there was the silent working of prophetic teach- ing and the moral influence of the legitimate temple, the proper seat of the God of Israel. Hence it happened that when the attempt was mode to annex Judah also to the moral dominion of the Phoenician Baal, the daughter of Jezebel could not finally prevail against the forces that made for righteousness and loyalty in Jerusalem. The best possible evidence of the existence of a strong whole- some sense of the claims of Jehovah is afforded in the fact that the revolt against Athaliah was led by a priest. On the other hand, we gather from the alliances between de- vout and faithful princes of Judah and the recreant rulers of Israel, in the days of Elijah and Elisha, that Jehovah was not nominally discarded in the Northern Kingdom. Cer- tainly no quarrels rose between the two states on account of religious divergences. The territory embraced in both was always regarded as Jehovah's land, and its inhabitants as Jehovah's people. This was the fundamental reason why the relations between the kingdoms were normally fraternal and peaceful. Even the inherited enmity between Amaziah and Joash could not be prolonged or intensified into a vendetta. It was due to this bond of brotherhood that the victory of Joash was not followed up by the sub- jection of his rival's kingdom. § 379. The consolidation of Judah was much more easily and speedily effected than that of Israel ; and its internal troubles were proportionally much less serious. But its political role was quite insignificant till the time of Uzziah. For increase of population and of wealth it could draw only uppn the Philistian plain and the Desert to the 'I 1 Cii. I, § 380 THE DYNASTY OF JEHU AND ASSYRIA 17 south. After its early successes in war, due to the unsettle- ment of the Northern Kingdom, the military inferiority of Judah became manifest : the Syrians had to be invoked to save it from the vengeance of Baasha. Shortly after the disruption, the Egyptians were able to overrun Judah and enter Jerusalem with but little opposition. Judah be- came strong and prosperous whenever it was able to hold as tributary Edom and the surrounding region, which con- trolled the Red Sea trade and much of the overland tratlfic from Southern Arabia. This was not fully, though often partially, accomplished between the days of Solomon and Uzziah. Edom was the national pendant of a strong mon- archy to the north, but it was the home of a resolute and gifted people, the most cultured of the semi-nomadic com- munities that bordered on Palestine. No wars in which Judah ever engaged approached those waged against Edom in bitterness and persistency. Edom was to Judah, in this and in other ways, what Damascus was to Northern Israel. § 380. The overthrow of the dynasty of Omri and the accession of the line of Jehu mp'-k a momentous epoch in the fate of Israel. The worship of Baal was suppressed for a time ; but that of Jehovah was not duly re-estab- lished. Politicall}', the revolution was a disastrous failure. Israel was weakened, and Judah was alienated, to the great advantage of the Aramaeans. More significant still was Jehu's submission to Shalmaneser II. Henceforth the fate of Israel is inextricably intertwined with that of Assyria. The motives of the great tragedy now become manifold ; Israel is lifted out of its petty narrowness by choosing a world-conqueror for its patron, and thus pre- pares for its own eventual effacement. Jehu's submission did not even secure respite to his kingdom from the at- tacks of the Syrians. Damascus was now at the summit of its power and glory. In spite of intermittent attacks from the Assyrians, its armies invaded and almost capt- ured Samaria and ravaged the whole of Palestine. The destruction of Israel now seemed certain. But repeated \ 18 THE PROPHETS AND SAMAKIA Book VII N onslaughts of the Assyrians against Damascus succeeded at last. That great fortress was taken, and Israel was relieved. Then followed the retirement of the eastern invaders, overwrought and weary. For half a century they remained inactive. But they had done their work upon Damascus. Israel and Judah weie free. Their power and prestige revived, and reached a breadth and height undreamed of before. § 381. The first great literary Prophets illuminate for us the last period of the Northern Kingdom, and reveal at the same time the shady side of its transient era of pros- perity. Both from Amos and from Hosea we gather that the wide extension of dominion gained by Jeroboam II had but a brief existence. They give us also good reason to think that during his later years he was greatly sur- passed in power and prestige by Uzziah of Judah. But Avhat is most significant is the revelation we have of the essential unsoundness of Israel. The end of its troubled career, precipitated by assaults from without, Avas accel- erated and prepared by head and heart sickness within. Self-indulgence, luxury, and pride ; oppressiveness, greed, and cruelty, — these, with practical idolatry, wei'e the symptoms of a moral disease which must soon end in dis- solution. The earliest Prophets of Judah also turn their far-gleaming search-light upon the devoted monarchy, and announce its approaching and well-merited doom. Their own country is in somewhat similar case ; but the saving renniant there may bear the Temple and the house of David safe through the overwhelming floods. For Sa- maria there is to be no reprieve. The retribution that comes upon her from without only anticipates the work of death carried on by invisible foes fondly cherished within her own bosom. § 382. In the eighth century B.C., which was the era of written Prophecy in Israel, began also the most impor- tant and far-reaching political movements of the ancient world. The century which witnessed the founding of Cii. I, § ;J82 THE ruoriiKTS and the nations 10 and ie of Sa- Ithat rork era Ipor- lient of Rome and the rise of Sparta and Athens, Avas also signal- ized by the organization of the Assyrian empire. It was no mere coincidence that Amos and Isaiah appeared in the same age and in the same historic region as those which produced Tiglathpileser III and Sargon II. In the first half of the century Prophec}' attests its political insight by the announcement of tlie revival of the languishing power of Assyria ; during the second half that revival was completel}'' accomplished. The idea of political and mili- tary force Avas familiar to the Prophets. They recognized its mission in the world as one not wholly fraught with evil. It was an instrument in the hands of Jehovah, whom tliey acknowledged and proclaimed as the God of the whole earth. Their own race and nation were to feel its crush- ing weight, Jehovah's people though they were, and dwellers in Jehovah's land. The Prophets alone could explain the anomaly. It was a higher principle that was claiming and vindicating a right to rule, the universal principle of righteousness, divine and human. In its majestic progress it would utilize the Assyrian and then supersede him. What the earlier Prophets had most at heart in their political interests was the outcome of the increasing complications between Israel and the dominating power of the empire of the Tigris and Euphrates. His- tory has ap})roved their discrimination, verified their judg- ment, and justified their prevision. The involution of petty states like Israel and Judah in the movements of the gigantic power of Assyria was indeed a matter of com- paratively little moment as a mere political incident. But a significance even larger than that attaching to the deeds of all world-rulers was lent to the fate of Israel by those seers of the race, who discerned behind and beneath all these events the outstretched arm of Israel's God. Since the fate of Israel was the fate of Jehovah's earthly king- dom, its fortunes became of infinite moment. The}^ teach us also to look beneath the surface of the current of Asiatic affairs. Even the monotonous annals of Assyria's A^ 20 TIGLATIiriLESER III Book VII ' |i I vainglorious rulers now become of importance. We read there between the lines the underlying motives that guided their policy. These motives are invested for us with a living interest, for they determined in varied and persistent action the destiny of Israel. The relations of the subject states of the empire to the sovereign power; the conditions of protection or of tolerance on the one hand, and of repression or of obliteration on the other; the degrees of subjection ; the civil and religious obliga- tions of the dependent peoples, — these conditions, learned from the chronicles of the governing nation, assume now a dignity and importance which in their immediate setting they could never deserve. They are brought close to the immortal and priceless words of the Prophets of Israel, and both together furnish the key to the history of those memorable times. § 383. The ruler of the new Assyrian empire, when he came upon Syria and Palestine soon after his accession, found there a changed condition of affairs. Damascus had in the peaceful interval recovered a part of her former strength, and all of her old self-confidence. Israel and Judah, so soon to be divided in fate, were now also divided in spirit and in national aims and interests. For- tune had dealt hardly with the Northern Kingdom. In its decline, as well as in its beginning, it was torn asunder by faction, and irreparably weakened by internal violence. Dynasties lasting a year or less made a suggestive con- trast to the unshaken steadfastness of the "house of David," in the sister kingdom. After the permanent an- nexation of North and Middle Syria, Tiglathpileser moved upon Damascus and Israel, since both of them were con- structively the derelict vassals of Assyria. He was bought off at a heavy price, but returned four years later. Now he finds Northern Israel in alliance with its ancient rival, Damascus. This portends a combination of the south- western states against the Assyrian power, and thus affords a pretext to the invader for subjugating the Cir. I, § 384 ISRAEL, ASSYRIA, AND EGYPT 21 ien he 3ssion, fiascus f her srael also For- n its under ence. con- of an- ovecl con- ught Now ival, »uth- thus the 36 whole. Judah, however, refuses to join the leao,.e. Against it the allies declare and begin war, and are joined by Edom, its vengeful enemy, now again freed from the yoke of Uzziah. Ahaz of Judah invokes the aid of the Assyrians in opposition to the counsel of Isaiah, whose career as prophet and statesman is now well begun. The fateful bargain is struck. Judah becomes the vassal of Assyria, and the great conqueror becomes for the time its champion. It is rescued from a doubtful danger with the certain penalty of religious and political degradation. Damascus, as an ancient inveterate rebel, is annexed, and many of its people deported. Samaria, as a revolted trib- utary, is shorn of half its territory. Its ruler is deposed, and a successor appointed on rigorous sufferance. § 384. Other conquests bring all Palestine to look upon Assyria as its suzerain. The degree of subjection varies from the voluntary vassalage of Judah to the com- plete incorporation of Israel north of Jezreel. But in general the Ninevite may take toll and keep the peace as far as the borders of Egypt. One insurrection more, and the remnant of Israel will disappear from among the na- tions. Independent or hostile action in Jerusalem will make of Judah a suspected and amerced instead of a protected and favoured vassal. The fate of the two He- brew communities is very different. While Judah endures a century and a half longer as a kingdom, ten years make up Samaria's day of grace. Her fall is hastened by a for- eign ally, wliose friendship never boded well for Palestine. The empire of the Nile has a national revival also, like the empire of tlie Tigris, and the new Ethiopian dynasty resumes the old interest in the affairs of Asia. The mo- tive, however, is largely the sense of danger from a power which has already crippled Egyi)t in her Arabian posses- sions. Intrigue against Assyria is actively set on foot in Palestine. Judah is kept clear for a time through the counsels of Isaiah. Samaria ventures the last fatal step after the death of her conqueror. She is besieged by his 22 GKNEHAL SURVEY Book VII short-lived successor, and falls after a three years' block- ade, sustained without the promised help of Kg3'pt. With the accession of Sargon II, the obliteration of the kingdom of Israel is complete. ^ § 385. We have thus reviewed in long perspective the events and conditions that gave to the ancient history of Western Asia its enduring significance. We bear in our minds the image of a multitude of petty nations rising and falling struggling for existence or for short-lived power, all of them overshadowed and absorbed by a mighty civilization and a colossal empire whose imperial aims are pursued with the persistency of fate. Far from the origino^ seat of this world-ruling community a place is prepared a t >nle equally unique and potentially more important. V- ,e a glimpse of the outward condi- tions by which, through stage after stage, this petty nation was prepared "-'■' grow int;> a type of society higher than any which rested on forct; ( , culture alone. We have observed, also, that this consecration of Israel to the ser- vice of the Avorld only began when the motives of the larger inclusive history of Babylonia had long since come into play. We have followed the development of the Babylonian idea, as transferred to the empire of the Tigris with its more practical conceptions of conquest and gov- ernment. We have traced the changeful fortunes of the Palestinian states till they became meshed in the net of the Assyrian spoilers, till one Hebrew community is made actually their prey, and the other virtually their prisoner. The fate of the Northern Kingdom is decided forever; that of the Southern not obscurely indicated. Here we are brought to a pause. The problem of Israel is not yet solved. We need light for the full understanding of the past ; light also to make plain the future. We feel that, after all, we have not yet got to the heart of the matter. The events and conditions we have noted seem to be but the limbs and outward flourishes of the subject. We have seen to some extent the " how " of the process ; but Cn. I, § 380 THE TASK YET IXCOMl'LETE we cannot be satisfied till we also know a little of the " why." We look back over the way we have traversed, and we recognize many peaks and ridges, large and small, that serve us well as reminders and guides. But these are something more than mere historical landmarks. They are the results and tokens of movements below the sur- face, where hidden forces have been working throughout the ages. It may be given to us to lay bare the founda- tions of these everlasting hills of Providence ; to find the basal granite ; perhaps also to follow the lines of local disturbance, to trace out the causes and to measure the force of such monumental upheavals. To set aside the figures, it is proper, and indeed necessary, to search out the workings of the inner life of Israel, of which the out- ward movements and events and conditions have revealed themselves to us as the symptoms. We must see, if possi- ble, liow the social and political structure of Israel arose ; how the external organization came to be the expression of characteristic underlying causes and principles; how the intellectual and religious habits and productions of the people were the embodiment of sentiments proper to them and to them alone; how their distinctively Hebraic elements were differentiated from the antecedent Semitic inheritance of usage and belief; how Israel alone among the ancient peoples of the earth was admitted into the holy place of essential and everlasting truth in the supreme region of morals and religion. If the tale already told is worth the telling, much more memorable is the unfolding of the higher issues yet to be related. § 386. In making once more an exclusive claim for Israel's history and religion, it may not be out of place to restate, with some emphasis and particularity, the canon of historical proportion which has been followed in the present essay (§ 16). In the checkered history of the North Semitic states the fortunes of Israel furnish the dom- inant motive and the guiding thread. This is their func- tion, not so much on account of their immediate importance 24 CANON OF HISTORICAL PROPORTION Book VII I 11 I ; or intrinsic interest, as by reason of their implication in movements of mind and spirit which have transcended all national and ethnical limitations. It is not the fortunes of nations and races in themselves that engage our most earnest attention; it is rather the progress of a national idea invested with perpetual and universal significance. In like manner the surviving illustrative materials, chief of which are " Prophecy and the Monuments," perform their most signal service to '■' History," the one by indicat- ing the inner moral import of passing events, the other by showing us more clearly their causal relations. So also the great landmarks of our historical survey have their prominence lent them, not by their direct political impor- tance as occasions or effects of external changes, but by their significance in the chain of causes that gave ampler range and freer scope to the true missioi i of Israel among the nations. § 387. Of the justness of these distinctions, our present standpoint for review furnishes striking illustration. It is not merely the consequences of the fall of Samaria to the ruling peoples of the time which mark it out as a monumental epoch. As we shall have occasion to see, the empires of Assyria and Egypt were affected in some measure by the extinction of Northern Israel. And yet, important as were the immediate results of the conquest of Samaria, it appears, when viewed in historical perspec- tive, to be a comparatively slight incident in the mighty struggle for the dominion of Western Asia. The relations of Assyria and Egypt with the ill-fated monarchy were primarily military and diplomatic, and, therefore, in the main of an external character, affecting only for a time the troubled currents of Asiatic affairs. A higher signifi- cance is given to Samaria in its fall when viewed in con- nection with its own tragic history and with the doubtful fortunes of the surviving Hebrew state. Yet here again we must go below the surface for the deeper meaning of the memorable story. It was not merely or chiefly the ji it Cii. I, § 387 ISKAEL'S TRUK IMPORTANCE 26 ■esent I. It •ia to as a see, some yet, [uest spec- ghty ions iVere the irne nifi- icon- tful aiii of the political consequences to Judah of the course of events in the Northern Kingdom which made the ruin of the hirger state so fateful to the smaller, and so exemplary to all communities of men in the coming ages. In the little world of the sister kingdom the ill-learned lessons of Sama- ria's fate were soon forgotten in the tasks and obligations of its own hard servitude, and in the throes of its own impending dissolution. Only the unforgetting sentinels on the nation's watch-towers kept looking back witli fond regrets over the two centuries of separation, or cherished alluring visions of a reunited Israel. And these same events in Israel's history would soon have faded out from the records and the memory of our race if they liad not been set in the light of a larger illuminating principle. The informing divine idea in the career of Israel gives lasting importance only to those political transactions which illustrate its own vindication, its tardy recognition, and the lirst steps of its sure progress towards unchallenged supremacy. The intimate associations and subtle inter- actions of Northern and Southern Israel, springing from community of origin, of worship, and of traditions, would, to be sure, in any case, have been worthy of the attention of the later ages. But the story of other peoples also is full of moving human interest; and the fates of colossal empires and civilizations would have so overshadowed the petty fortunes of Israel, that its records, if surviving at all, would have attracted little regard except from arcluc- ological or sociological research. It is the dominating moral issues of this people's fortunes that have transferred its struggles and achievements to a higher region than that of state-craft and war, have brought them into play U[)on a Avider arena, and have endowed them with a more endui-- ing potency. Vitalized by the world-moving seers of the chosen race, they have, with an energy continually trans- muted and yet perpetually accelerated, given impulse and direction to the forces of history. And their unrelaxing momentum is felt to-day more strongly than ever in the 20 TlIK UEAL I'UOBLKM OF TIIK IIISTOUY B(.ok VII 4 , I f surging and beating of the restless tide of human thought and endeavour. )5 388. Such reflections remind us of the unique char- acter of the task upon which we have ventured. They also suggest to us in what spirit and temper and with what mental attitude we should approach the subject. We have before us a series of complex historical and social phenomena, in which it is not always easy to find uni- fying principles. Viewed broadly, however, we have to do with two communities, the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel, which arose from a nominal union of tribes and clans. AVe have paused in the narrative of their outward fortunes at the point where an aggres- sive and all-conquering empire has effaced one of them from among the nations and made the other its vassal. The fate of both is contained implicitly in the con- ditions with which they began their career among the peoples. As well as we can, therefore, we have to learn how the people of Israel used their resources and opportunities, and fulfilled their responsibilities, from the beginning of their settlement in Canaan till they reached this period, so fatal and so critical. Primarily, we have to do with one people, and not with two. But the causes of the separation run far back, and are in a sense funda- mental ; and now we have come to a point where they are parted forever. Looking behind from this epoch, and again returning to it, we are inevitably more pre- occupied with the Northern Kingdom, which has played the greater part and now has vanished from the stage of history. In dealing with its career, moral judgments are specially appro^jriate. We are called upon to sum- marize the causes that led to its decline and fall, to trace the progress of the inner motives that determined its destiny, and to estimate the character and value of the political and moral legacy which it bequeathed to the sur- viving nations. The task should not be fruitless, for the " kingdom of the Ten Tribes " furnishes within its brief sum- to ined the sur- - the brief Cn. I, §389 THE lUGIlT ClilTERlUN OF JUDGMENT *J7 compass of time and space the most favourable of all conditions for prolitable liistorical study. It was in many striking features, which are presented to us with exceptional fulness, almost a complete epitome of an Oriental kingdom, and thus it offers a rare field for the student of ancient politics. But it was typical and rep- resentative of much wider and more important human relations. Perhaps in the history of no other people of antiquity are the fundamental lessons of social and politi- cal morality so obvious, so luminously illustrated by con- crete examples, or so sharply and urgently enforced by contemporary teachers. What is true of the Northern is also true largely of the Southern Kingdom, since they never ceased to be one people, and in the largest aspect they present but one great problem. The practical dis- tinction is that the r81e of Judah is at this point of time still unfinished, indeed not more than well begun, that it soon becomes relatively much more important, and that it will have to come up again for final review. § 389. Tlie reader will mark that we are not setting up any special exalted standard of national and civic virtue according to which this moral outcome of Israel's history is to be valued. A judgment based upon such an ex- ceptional and invidious criterion would be invalid and inconclusive to the enlightened modern mind. The achievements and failures of Israel are to be judged like those of other communities. We must ask whether its resources were utilized or squandered, whether its respon- sibilities were accepted or evaded, whether its ideals Avere cultivated and cherished or renounced and discarded. It will also not be forgotten in the summing up that while the historian may point out the causes of success or failure in national life, it is not his duty to praise or to censure. It is his part to recognize conditions of national growth and decay as well as to observe their results, and to set forth the determining causes of the one and the other in the political and also in the ethical sphere. But the personal 28 AN EimOU TO Bi: AVUIDEI) Book VII 'in < I!f If "I ■■ 1 I I 'i enforcement of the lessons is left to the preacher and the essayist. To them is remitted the task of a[>|)lying the conclusions of the history of the past to the problems and obligations of the present, as also of determining the worth of our modern civilization and morality as compared with the achievements and failures of ancient Israel.^ And yet we must not forget that the great issues of Israel's career were primarily moral and only secondarily political, and that therefore the judgments of the historian upon the out- come of the history must be based upon moral standards. § 390. Mistakes and misconceptions are here very easily made, but at least one very natural and very com- mon error we must avoid. We cannot with any sort of justice or propriety transfer mechanically the ethical ideals and requirements of our Christianized and enlight- ened age to the social and personal conditions of these early peoples. It is perhaps even harder to surround our- selves in imagination with the social and moral atmosphere of the distant past than it is to appreciate its remoteness from us in conditions intellectual or material. But it is just as necessary in the one sphere as in the other. In all things we must cultivate the historical spirit. We must not only have the past brought before us, but we must learn to see it clearly. It should be not merely an exhi- bition, but a revelation. It is a great gift to us, the heirs of all the ages, that Oriental antiquity has been disen- tombed, resurrected, and brought into our very presence. But it is a gift equally great to have eyes to discern the inner movements that made its history, and hearts to feel for the struggles and sufferings, and failures too, of those who, in the time and within the sphere assigned them by Providence, lived and wrought for us as well as for them- 1 How our Christian civilization actually compares in some essential points of morality with the condition of things among the ancient Hebrews is suggestively set foith in an article in The Thinker of September, 189-1 (vol. vi, p. 220 f.), by Kev. W. P. Paterson, B.D., entitled, "The Politics of the Prophets." I I Cii. 1, S ■m TIIH n vK UISTOKICAI, SHIMT „ selves It would be lamentable "M^^TlTiA^T^ su-,-e,l up to »ou,etl,i„g n„„e tl,u„ a l.ugui,! iutere" u tl.e .„o.t „,»truelive „f „I1 national histories, we sIk n exehange the indifferent glance of ignoranee tor tl -•.Mn.,ng survey „f pharisaie self-coniplacency, or that we glasses of fas notiaWe or traditional prejudice. Know, ledge ,s the telescope that brings this eg on of antinu" v ." o vew; but sympathy, intellectual and n.oraTe ub e ethereal n.ediun, through which we gain a rre i" .ght nto .ts essential character. And since we are bou I bj .udmoluble spiritual bonds to this very peorde o^ Isn . .» certan, that if we fail to do justice to'thL, we Xu tireby prove our incapacity to do justice to on -selve ou relafons to the n.oral obligations of our ow ttnc Ha air "" '" '"''"'' ""'' "'' '"- 1- lt I •: j.) , li r ■< i\\ CHAPTER II THE ELEMENTS AND CHARACTER OF HEBREW SOCIETY § 391. What, then, were the occasions and conditions of Israel's rise, progress, and decline ? We may naturally divide them into causes internal and causes external. Thus far, since our attention has mainly been directed to the actual events of .the history, we have had to dwell somewhat unduly upon the external motives and influ- ences which were largely connected with the political eavironment of Israel. Now it will be proper to dwell more upon the inner life and intrinsic qualities of the people. The whole subject of the political vicissitudes of Israel, and of the moral and religious issues so intimately associated therewith, will become clearer if we can succeed in getting an adequate conception of the processes of the social and corporate development of the people. We have to begin this task by a reference to the general statements that were made (§ 31 ff.) in connection with the discussion of the founding of civic institutions among the Semitic j)eoples. These observations we shall need to amplify and supplement with some care and detail. The first essential step is to define the several terms which are employed to designate the various aggregations of the people, larger or smaller. One remark it may be well to make at the out- set. We will do well to remember that the English words used to translate the Hebrew technical expressions are not necessarily the exact equivalents of the same words used to describe ancient divisions among the peoples of Europe, Greek, Latin, Teutonic, Slavic, or Keltic, or contempora- 30 Cn. II, § 392 IIKBREW UNIVERSALITY 8t iieous communities among the less civilized races of man- kind. Each race h^s its own social instincts, and its own distinctive types of domestic as well as of political life. The handling of these special matters, and the study of the aspects of ancient life generally, require a just attitude of mind and a right method. § 392. To understand aright the distant past we must learn to live in it. Every nation in every age has an atmosphere of thought and feeling of its own distinct from every other. Its manners and customs, its political and social features, its views of this world and the next, its beliefs and prejudices, can only be appreciated by us if we study them from the point of view of those who lived under these institutions and were controlled by these ideas. Broadly speaking, our knowledge of ancient na- tions and civilizations comes to us through their surviv- ing literary monuments. The readiness and aptitude with which we appreciate the life and genius of any ancient community depend upon several conditions, not only in ourselves, but also in the people with which we may be dealing. Speaking generally, tlie more human and univer- sal the literature of anyjiation, the more quickly and deeply it enters into our minds and hearts. Among all ancient literatures there is none so human and so universal as that of tlie ancient Hebrews, including, of course, the New Testament as well as the Old. The experiences recorded in it seem more like wliat is either habitual or possible to ourselves than those embodied in any other ancient rec- ords or memoirs. The ideals which it exhi])its, illustrates, and enforces are more inspiring, l^etter worth realizing, and at the same time more attainable, than those set forth ])y any other intellectual or spiritual masters. As a matter of course, then, its language is more homely, more translucent, more intelligible, than that of other writings of antiquity. All this implies that the ideas with wliich the literature of Israel is conversant are not foreign to those of modern life, and, at the same time, not so complex as ■: 32 SPECIFIC HEBRAISM Book VII those which are the product of other civilizations. More specifically, in relation to our special theme, it is to ])e said that the institutions, domestic, civil, and religious, of the Hebrews are simple and comprehensible to a degree quite unique. Otherwise we could never, so to speak, have naturalized or domesticated the Bible. Otherwise we could never have brought it home to our hearts and lives. For the distinctive phraseology of the Bible is not merely coloured by the institutions, human and divine, of the Hebrew people ; it is actually founded upon them. The language of a people is the reflex of its religious and political, its social and domestic life, of its habitual mode of thinking and acting. The language of an ancient and primitive people is almost immediately expressive of its peculiar institutions ; the stamp has not yet been worn off from its intellectual and moral currency by the long and debasing friction of tlie world's exchange. There are certain characteristic Biblical terms, the mention of which brings us right at once into the midst of the religious and social life of Israel — words like covenant, sacrifice, sanct- uary, tabernacle, prophet, priest ; tribe, family ; father, mother, brother; master, servant; teacher, disciple. § 393. When such expressions as these occur to our minds, we feel that we may have by their means a grasp upon the thought and life of Israel more strong and sure than that by which we apprehend the mental and moral characteristics of any other ancient community. But this consideration of itself impels us to inquire into the exact force and significance of such terms. We have observed how obvious and how easy of apprehension these phrases are in their general import. And yet they are distinctively and genuinely Hebrew, sprung from the soil and climate of Israel. Each of these terms has had a special history of its own, involved in the larger history of Israel itself. What we call the usage or signification of words is simply the resultant of this history, the gathered and treasured associations of thousands of utterances, of endless differ- Cm. II, § 304 TERMS AND ASSOCIATIONS 33 self, iiply ured iffer- entiations of thought and feeling. And the history of such terms in the language of the Bible is necessarily different from tlie history of the corresponding terms in our own language, by as much as the history of our political, social, and religious institutions has differed from tliat of the Hebrew people. Words are a kind of spiritual phonograph. Eveiy new association, each added shade of meaning which they commemorate, is an im^Dres- sion made upon and recorded in the most delicate and en- during of all the instruments or appliances of mind and soul, — human speech. And the more intense and profound the thought and the feeling of any people, the more fully ciiarged will its vocabulary be with sentiment and emotion. The Bible is the richest repository of moral and religious experience. But the distinctive phrases which give colour and character to its diction were based upon the inner life of the people, and became ever more imbued with its spirit and flavour as the community changed and devel- oped in its checkered history. It is the high function of linguistic and archaeological research, as it turns the sacred roll, to make those long silent voices live again, to reawaken and bring once more to human ears these slumbering "accents of the Holy Ghost." § 394. We are now to occupy a few paragraphs with an inquiry into the usage of the leading social and domes- tic terms of Hebrew literature. From some such study we may now see how we incidentally should gain a fuller and clearer sense of the value of these terms in their appli- cation to moral and spiritual facts and ideas in the Bible itself. We shall accordingly not confine ourselves entirely to a discussion of the literal and every-day significance of the words that denote relationship and corporate associa- tion among the Hebrews. Such words as tribe, fdmily, father, mother, brother, servant, really play a more impor- tant part in the sacred writings in their figurative usage than in their literal application. They are the familiar diction of the higher Hebrew literature — the Prophets, f -\\ \ I 84 SPIRITUALITY OF SOCIAL TERMS Book VII the Psalms, and the New Testament. Through them the ever-widening conceptions of the moral and spiritual realm have achieved their eternal currency. They furnish the terminology of the new community, the greater Israel, the kingdom of Gotl. In dealing with these later and fuller aspects of such fundamental phraseology, we do not pass beyond the legitimate range of our subject. Just as the Hebrew literature itself is a single undivided whole, so the institutions which it commemorates, and of which it is so largely the outcome, have had an unbroken pi'ogre.ssive history. The passage from the outward and material, in the social and religious sphere, to the inward and spiritual, was not sudden and unprepared, but gradual and orderly. We must regard the simple, primitive social and domestic institutions of Israel not merely as types and symbols of that higher organism Avhicli has followed and superseded it. They furnished also in large measure its conditions, its groundwork, and its germinal elements. Accordingly, when we think, for example, of the spiritual application of "fatherhood," "brotherhood," "service," we can, on the one hand, only understand their Biblical significance when we have discovered what they stood for in the sphere of social life ; and, on the other hand, we have a better appre- hension of what such relationships really involved in the ancient Hebrew community when we have traced out the wide and profound symbolism given to them by the poets and seers of the race. § 395. The foregoing paragraphs have already sug- gested to us where we are to look for most of our infor- mation as to the social and domestic life of the ancient Hebrews. Direct knowledge comes to us almost wholly from the classical literature of the people. The Bible tells us all that we know of the outward forms of their insti- tutions, and almost all that we can learn of their social usages, as well as of the influences which were at work in their upbuilding as a people. From our familiarity with the sacred writings we have thus perhaps gained a some- I' Ch. II, § 395 ANALOGOUS INSTITUTIONS what one-sided view, as in other matters (§ 16), of the character and genius of the ancient life of the Hel)rews. We are inclined to think of them as a unique people in all respects ; or, at least, to draw a broad line of separation between them and every other communit}'. A brief remi- niscence of the book of Genesis will recall every observant Bible reader at once from his error. It is obvious, at least, that the Hebrews must have maintained to a large extent the social habits and traditions of the peoples from whom they sprang (§ 2G). We have, as was above suggested (§ 393), to insist upon and minutely register the distinct- ive features of Hebrew sociology. But the ever-increas- ing divergence of the tribes of Isi'ael from their progenitors and kindred, which gave them their characteristic stamp in human society, did not sunder them from the general Semitic type, least of all from the tribes and families near- est of kin. And we must go much further than this in reckoning up analogies for the early social and political life of the Hebrews, as well as in gathering illustrations of their tribal and national manners. We shall need to remember that a surprising likeness has always prevailed, and still prevails, throughout the world in the general features of tribal life, especially among nomadic peoples, and also among communities that are passing the earlier years of their fixed settlement in towns and villages. Accordingly, while guarding against absolute assimilation of Semitic conditions to those of non-Semitic peoples, we may find the rudimentary features of primitive Hebrew life variously illustrated from extraneous sources, and more particularly from the genius and habits of the early Greek and Keltic communities. Within the Semitic region the stereotyped tribal constitution of the nomads of Arabia furnishes a nearer and more instructive parallel. ^ 1 For the typical tribal conditions of Arabian societj', sec J. L. Rurok- Iiardt, Bedouins nml Wahabys (Engl. tr. 1831); A. von Krenicr, Geschichte der hnrscht'mh'H Idcen des Islams (1868), p. 343 fl. ; Culturgeschkhte des Orients (1875-7), vol. i, cli. iii ; vol. ii, clis. iii, vi; W. Uobcrtsou Y ■ffW^iiWi^iWBiP^ra^ wm^m mm SOCIAL TERMINOLOGY Book VII § 396. The two words tran.slated tribe and its equiva- lents in the versions ancient and modern, usf and nuo,* are identical in usage in the Hebrew, except that the for- mer is also significantly used for the principal subdivisions of the tribe (Numb. iv. 18; Jud. xx. 12; IS. ix. 21). As preceding and conditioning the tribe was the chm or sept (Lat. (jens, Gr. /3aT/3ta, etc.), expressed properly by s^'rx, literally, a community or association (E. V. " thou- sand," which the \A'ord in question also signifies). The same organization 1;= also often indicated by nnecfa,^ which, however, is the strictly correct term for the subordinate social division of the kin or family group. Preceding and underlying the clan, in the simpler forms of society, is this family group, which is made up of the individual families or " father's houses " (ax rrr, pi. ms« rrr). As we shall have to distinguish sharply between the family group and the clan, we may here note the chief external difference. The family group implies different degrees of relationship, and in it the degree of kinship is fundamental. In the clan, on the other hand, which consists, fundamentally, of individuals, and not of families, degrees of kinship are dis- regarded, or are, at least, secondary; and kinship itself is only assumed to be present, the uniting bond being really the associations of custom and belief. As the "father's Smith, Kinship in Earhj Arabia (1885). For the early Greeks, see especially Meyer, GA. II (189.3), § 6.3 ff. For general discussions one may consult C. N. Starclie, The Primitive Family (New York, Appletons, 1889); L. 11. Morgan, Ancient Soriet;/ (1877), and the articles "Clan" and "Family" in the iS'HCy<"^ liritannica. Most ethnological and anthro- pological works of a systematic character give inform.ation, often of the very highest value, on social conditions among savage and nomadic tribes. Special discussions will be cited further on. ^ In the so-called " Priestly Code " n::-; is the favourite term. For references, see Siegfried and Stade, Ilebr. ]Vorterbiich, s.v. 2 In these cases the clan is alluded to from the point of view of origin ; whereas i'^n characterizes it as an organization. Accordingly we find that the latter furnislies a special designation for the chief or leader of the clan, the ii^.s (E. V. "duke"). Observe that when the clans of the Edomites came to inhabit " cities," the ii*7n was transformed into a -f^z or "king" (Gen. xxxvi. :)1 If. ; cf. § 36). ? Cn. II, § 396 CLAN, HOUSEHOLD, AND FAMILY 37 llS- is 3ns, the Idic !or tin; Ihat Ithe Ithe or house" is a subdivision of the family group, it is properly used (as in Gen. xxiv. 40) to designate those most nearly related by blood, or the " family " in the modern sense of the word. On the other hand, the "household" (r"r alone) includes, like its equivalent, the Latin familut, the servitors and retainers of the establishment, and is, within its sphere, and after its fashion, the real administrative or political unit. It stands under the control of the house- father, the protector or guardian, who is usually, though not necessarily, the father of the kindred contained in it. It must, accordingly, not be supposed that the clan was constituted by the voluntary binding together of single families.^ Politically, the family, in the modern sense of the word, never formed an entity in the primitive com- munity. Among unorganized hordes, we find, to be sure, no aggregation higher than the family. But this is, natu- rally, merely a social institution, since, among such peoples as the Bushmen of South Africa, political life is still unde- veloped. From a political point of view, separate family life is inconceivable in any stage of society. A clan, viewed externally, may be thus provisionally assumed to 1 It does not seem to be yet fully made out whether the earliest clans gradually came into being as organizations through association of indi- viduals already members of families, or whether they were differentiated from unorganized hordes. I am inclined to the former view, thouglx rejecting the patriarchal theory defended by Maine, Spencer, and others, according to which the family was expanded or subdivided as an admin- istrative unit into the clan under the headship of the ancestral chief. Families may in any case have been the actual starting-point and nucleus of the clan (cf. Starcke, The rrimitive. Family, p. 270), as the most obvi- ous groups of individuals lilcely to be united by common usages. On the otiier hand, contiguous group-members of the horde might grow up to- gether to the adoption of common cu.stoms and religious observances, which would differentiate them from other gi-oups, especially as primitive kinship is known to have been of a very precarious sort. The solution is thus seen to depend upon the question whether or not the family as an institution preceded the combination wliicli resulted in the clans. It should be noted tliat these discussions do not touch the so-called " patri- archal " stage of ancient Israel, since Abraham and his people belonged to a period of social development subsequent to the conditions in question. T M 38 RELIGIOUS BASIS OF THE CLAN Book VII I be an association of households, or, possibly, of family groups, and to be neither an accidental aggregation nor a deliberate combination of related families. § 397. Attention must first be fixed upon the external features and marks of clanship, and then upon its internal development and its primitive principles. The clan was the centre and basis of the community of Israel, as it was when it adventured itself upon the borders of Canaan. Its constitution is clearly a fundamental matter. Its most obvious mark is, of course, blood-relationship, actual or assumed. But there are other characteristics, less obvious to us moderns, though they are essentially related to the underlying principle. We have already had occasion to remark the influence of religious beliefs and practices upon the social and political life of the Semitic peoples (§ 30 ; 57 f. ; 289 f. ; 299). Historically, the phenomenon in ques- tion is rooted in the persuasion common to all the primitive communities of the race that a real kinship and fellowship existed between the gods and their worshippers. The deities were not only propitiated by ofiferings ; they were also partakers of the sacrificial meals in common with the offerers, who regarded themselves, moreover, as the chil- dren and servants of their gods.^ Now, as each clan or tribe had its own special deity, it followed that the bond of natural kinship between its members was greatly strength- ened by the consciousness of a common association with the tribal divinity. It further came to pass, as a matter of course, that all the rites and ceremonies of religion, and all its practices, both public and domestic, formed addi- tional means and motives of union, as well as recognizable marks of tribal membership. To these must be added, as badges of the clan or tribe, characteristic social customs and usages, less formally of a religious character, and yet invested with the sacredness of religious sanctions, since 1 See Smith, 11. S., Lect. II, where the whole question of the relation of the sods to their votaries, according to the conceptions of the primitive Semites, is treated of by the most competent scholar of our time. Ch. II, § 399 RELATIONS TO OUTSIDERS 39 matters of religion and of common life were never divorced among the ancient peoples of the East. § 398. But again, the clan, or its expansion, the tribe, was not merely bound together by inner ties of such force and vitality ; it was also an alliance against aliens, who, whether organized into similar tribal association or living as "fugitives and wanderers," were equally regarded as natural enemies, from whom the kindly courtesies and the mutual proteation that prevailed within the exclusive com- munity were sternly withheld.^ Practically this offensive and defensive combination against all outsiders, which made the tribal bond such an inviolable union, found ex- pression in the law of " blood-revenge," which was univer- sal among the Semites, as among the ancient Hellenic peoples, and, indeed, in primitive society generally. Ac- cording to this law, " by the rules of early society, if I slay my kinsman, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, the act is murder, and is punished by expulsion from the kin ; if my kinsman is slain by an outsider, I and every other member of my kin are bound to avenge his death by killing the manslayer or some member of his kin. It is obvious that under such a system there can be no inviolable fellow- ship except between men of the same blood. For the duty of blood-revenge is paramount, and every other obligation is dissolved as soon as it comes into conflict with the claims of blood." ^ § 399. Such are the essential external features of clan- ship or tribalism, some clear apprehension of which is essen- tial to the understanding of the history of Israel. Tribal usages v/ere never fully abandoned by the ancient He- 1 This is claimed by Cain, the original type of outlaws and non-union men, as the reason why his life would be in danger (Gen. iv. 12, 14 ; cf. Smith, R. S., p. 262, note 1). And so the " mark " put upon him (verse 35), whatever was its specific character, must have been something which y/sis to indicate that he was under the protection of Jehovah, who would avenge his violent death. Notice also the beautiful plea of the " woman of Tekoa" in 2 S. xiv. 14. 2 Smith, P.. S., p. 254 ; cf. Kinship, p. 22 ft. w m ■ 40 TRIBALISM IN THE LITERATURE Book VII brews, nor are they yet completely relinquished by their descendants. On the other hand, it was out of the conflict between tribalism and wider, higher principles, social, polit- ical, and religious, that the new order of things was evolved which has given Israel its imperishable significance. In the social sphere, civic life, as far as it was developed (§ 32 ff.), replaced the tent and the encampment. In the political region, the establishment and development of the kingdom and the court led to the abandonment of the councils of the tribal chiefs. In the transcendent realm of religion, the conceptions and teachings of Prophecy found their central issue in their triumphant struggle with tri- balism, with its narrow conceptions of ritual and of duty. Thus the God of the clans, the tribes, and the nation of Israel was vindicated in his claim to be the God of all the families and kingdoms of the earth, their Father, their Counsellor, their Protector, and their Judge. Thus also the most germinal and potential idea of ancient tribalism, that of the kinship and fellowship of the members of the clan with their tutelary deity, became itself a kind of prophecy, as it was transmuted and transfigured into the larger conception (Ezek. xxxvii. 27) and the assured reality (Rev. xxi. 3) that He " from whom every clan ^ in heaven and earth has its name " (Eph. iii. 15) should pitch his tent among men, and should dwell with them, and they should be his peoples, and He should be their God. It is with this exulting announcement tha+^^ the universal brotherhood of Christianity finally parts company with the limitations of Semitism. § 400. In the foregoing observations attention has been directed almost exclusively to the clan, and not to the family on the one hand, or the tribe on the other, for the reason that the clan is the fundamental nucleus of political integration and expansion. It is possible now to go further and trace, at least in a general fashion, the development 1 Gr. irarpid, cf. irdrpa. The thoughtful Greek named the clan not only a "brotherhood" (^parp/a), but a "fatherhood." Cii. II, § 401 THE CLAN FUNDAMKNTAL m of the tribe and of the rudimentary state. The essential distinction between the chin and the family group has been given above (§ 396). The tribe is simply an aggregation of clans. It may be formed of sub-clans that have arisen by descent. Or very frequently it is an assemblage of clans that have come together by mutual consent, and are assimilated in habits and worship. The union, however, is looser than that existing between members of the same clan. Separate clans may be perpetuated within the tribes. Common kinship is quite a secondary matter, and is often a remote aftertliought. Nomadic life favours the clan ; semi-nomadic or early settled life, the tribe. We may now revert to the constitution and genius of the clan for an explanation of the formation of the larger organizations. The main point is to show the princii)les and conditions that affected the external changes of social and political aggregations. We start with the elan and its outstanding mark of presumptive kinship. But we must keep in mind the other main features of clanship just mentioned, and also remember that they all go hand in hand ; that if any is disregarded or forfeited, the bond of attachment is broken, and that on the other hand a partial fulfilment of the conditions of clanship cannot be accepted as en- titling to admission to the brotherhood. We here leave out of sight, as irrelevant to our immediate purpose, the question of the fundamental relations of the family to the clan, while keeping in view the household as living within the clan, and yet not being directly one of its genetic or formative units. We take our stand for the present at a point later than the fluctuating and uncertain stage or stages when the conditions were being made up which determined the formation of the clan, and assume its factor's and functions to be complete and in normal operation. § 401. We are now met with the notoriously universal fact that this social and political organization is in a con- stant state of flux, expanding or contracting, changing mem m 42 PKUMAXEXCK OF THE CLAN Book VII I its local habitat, adding to itself or parting with families or individuals, while all along the association retains its unity and homogeneity unimpaired, and performs all its functions unimpeded. There is involved in this gen- eral fact alone the external possibilities of decisive changes in the personnel, the numbers, the effective strength of the elan. We may thus be assured that our special subject of study, the community of Israel, for example, became greatly modified in all these respects before it exchanged its tribal constitution for the more stable conditions of civic life. Jiut the question that presses itself upon us is: How was this corporate con- tinuity, this conservation of type and tradition, secured? We see at once in this crucial problem the importance of being able to realize in some degree the genius of ancient and Eastern civilization. Placed as we are now among conditions of life and habit which we call higher and better than those of ancient peoples, and which, in any case, are essentially different from theirs, we are inevita- bly divided from them by a great negation of intellectual and moral sympathy, Avhich should yet be bridged over by an intelligent appreciation of their manners and usages, of their outlook upon the world, of their needs in bod}', soul, and spirit. Surrounded as we are by the manifold appliance J of our culture, and moving on as we do in an unbroken, perpetual advance in discovery and invention, we wonder how progioss was possible to a people whose only movement Avas made i^: one unending circle of senti- ments and ideas. Protected as we are, and needing pro- tection, even in our peaceful surroundings, by the police of the municipality or the state, we find it hard to under- stand how primitive homes and communities could be secured against robber}' and murder and lust from within, or the onslaught of rapacious enemies from without.^ We think of ourselves as being regulated and limited by cliecks and safeguards of all sorts, legal and govern- 1 Cf. Tjior, Anthropolofjii (1881), p. 405. Cm. it. § 40.T ESSENTIAL NOTIONS IN CLAN LIFE 18 be lliin. ited Jern- mental, wliich yet cannot guarantee even to our Christian society an immunity from the successful practices of the cunning or the greed of our rivals or our associates, and which sometimes threaten to give way altogether under the constant strain of corporate rapacity clashing with the more excusable turbulence of ill-fed and ill-guided masses morally, though not legally, defrauded of the rewards of their toil. iVnd we cannot but be astonished at the stabil- ity and permanence of some less-favoured races unblessed by those social, political, and religious institutions that would seem to embody and conserve all the gathered experience and all the well-tried wisdom of all peoples and all ages. § 402. Intricate as were the internal relations of the clans, the outstanding conditions of their growth and change were simple enough. Among the essential ele- ments or features of tribal life that have just been named we may make an obvious threefold distinction. We liud present and dominant hore belief, sentiment, and custom. We see exhibited the sentiment of kinship l^etween the clan members, the belief in the active influ- ence of the patron deity and his vital association with the people, along with other and minor beliefs ; and, finally, the various customs within the indivisible sphere of social and religious usage which mark the unity of the clan and impart to it its needed solidity. Now it is evident that these various sentiments, beliefs, and customs would be cherished and conserved, whatever their origin might be, ill proportion to the degree in which they would severally lid to the personal security and comfort of the members >f the clan, to the coherence and prosperity of the several iouscholds, and to the effective strength and growth of ihe whole community. § 403. It is further self-evident that what was really obligatoiv on the individual clansmen was the fuUllmeiit of the tr; tional tribal duties, all of which were invested with tilt redness of religious sanction. In other Avords, ■.nr" f \'< ■! 'N* i 44 PllOCESS OF FEUPETUATION Book VII the social cu.stoius being of ii roli^'ious character, and the religious practices being of a social character, the observ- ance f)f both constituted the sum of public duty. As the clan was supplied from the family groups, with their several households, these customs which mark the homo- geneity of the clan continued to be maintained not only on account of their intiinsic claims, but also, aiul to a great degree, because their perpetuation was essential to tlie preservation of the clan. The clan therefore was kept up for tlie sake of the observances, and the observances practicall}', though not of set purpose, for the benelit of the clan. Moreover, since subsistence, self-preservation, and the defence of auxiliary dependeiits are the great ends of society, whatever be the outward forms or usages of the community, that type of social life was necessarily maintained and fostered which was found to best secure these indispensable advantages. So it came to pass that the aggregation of family groups wliich grew up and was maintained without concerted action or prevision of the conse(piences, and was, therefore, in t'.ie strict sense of the phrase, not politically constituted, became, at lengtli, an end in itself. For it was found to secure the peaceful enjoyment of the fruits of labour or adventure ami of inherited possessions, .and to provide leisure, opportunity, and appliances for the practice of ancestral and family observances. Thenceforward, then, it is possible to speak of tlie political as well as the social functions of the clan, and to perceive liow it nuist be perpetuated as an organi- zation in order to conserve and utilize the primary' and fuiulamental coiulitions which brought it into being. § 404. We are thus brought to a stage in the incpiiry where it is proper to speak of the internal make-up and economy of the clan. The security, which has just been referred to as indispensable for continued corporate exist- ence, was, under the coiulitions of ancient society, unat- tainabl'.' either by the household or the family group. It was, however, provitled through the necessary extension i Cir. II, § 404 THE CLAN AND FAMILY GROUP 46 iind |p and been 'xist- liuiat- |.. It nsiim of functions that was realized in the clan, or, rather, by an enlarged application of the conception of social homo- geneity, of kinship), and of brotherhood. For the distinct- ive mark of the clan, in contrast with the family group, is the adoption of outsiders, and their assimilation under llie guise of factitious kinship to the corporate fellow- ship and unity of the other clansmen. This potent prin- ciple again needs a word of comment. First of all, we need to revert to the distinction that has been '.nade (§ 30G) between the "family" in the modern sense of the word and the "household." The former was a social institution inevitably and universall}- developed of itself by virtue of direct progeniture. Tlie latter was in a strict sense a political combination, involving the administra- tion of a composite body which possessed well-understood and permanent corporate functions.^ As the household is to the family, so is the clan to the kin or family group. It is hardly necessary to observe that since all political combinations are a matter of gradual growth and differ- entiation from simpler types, there was no hard and fast line of distinction between these forms of association. Families were continually being integrated into house- holds, and family groups into clans ^ wherever and when- ever a more complex condition of society than that of the lowest and simplest came into existence. The household is an especially instructive object for our present purpose, since it exhibits .'i type of structure very analogous to that of the clan. The essential distinction between the household iind the family is, that the former includes, as constituent elements, dependents, helpers, and retainers who are not necessarily within the kin either near or 1 This definition is put in general terms as characterizing the household everywhere. For the primitive Aryans, see W. E. Ilcarn, Tlir Aryan IIiiHschoId (Longmans, 1891), especially chap. iii. ^Notice the usage of the terms exjilained in § .300; on the one Jiaml aN r'2 is properly a house under iiaternal control {familia), and nnou's is used for both family group and clan. Tr^ It ^ii I i I -: ! i^ 40 CONSTITUENTS OF THE HOUSEHOLD Book VII remote. The same thing is characteristic of the chin as distinguished from the family group. ^ For the ohm is devek)ped not merely hy natural expansion of the kin, but also essentially by the absorption of new elements who adopt its b.adges and traditions, relinquishing the fellowship and forfeiting the privileges of their former associations. 2 § 405. Sufficient space has now been taken up with general distinctions, and we must proceed to specify and describe the internal processes of the household and the clan, the two fundamental political units among the Hebrews and their ancient congeners. In this most important region of inquiry theie is a great abundance of illustrative material, and we shall have to content our- selves with the most comprehensive of well-ascertained facts. Let us first take the household as being most easily apprehended. The "household" (§ 300) is a small heterogeneous community, whose members, having a diversity of function, are under the control of the 1 It will be understood that although the family group (which is at best an unstable and transitional association like all other purely social combi- nations) contains households, and might seem really to consist of them, the alien elements of the household are not recognized as belonging to the kin. 8 It is a problem which does not greatly concern us here, whether the household preceded the clan and was developed into it, or whether the household was really a later subdivision of the clan. But it may not be out of place to remind tiie reader that the een especially claimed for the ancient Semitic tribes by W. Robertson Smith. But it is immaterial for our pres- ent purpose whether such a state of society ever existed.^ What we have to do with is the accessible monuments of Semitic civilization and the testimony they bear as to the condition of the household in times which they illustrate. And particularly we wish to know something of those 1 For evidence as to the Greeks, see La Cite untique, p. 09 ; for the rest, Ilearn, Thv Aryan HdHschohl (1801), p. 02 ff. ; cf. the usage of terms derivid from words for "hand" as presented by Maine, Earhj History of IiiMitittions (New Yorlt, 1888), p. 210 f. - 'I'lie somewhat notable controversy between Sir Henry Maine and Mr. .T. F. McLennan turned primarily upon the orif/in of tlie family as a social and political institution. Maine was certainly rii,'ht in his claim for the prevalence of the patriarchal type of family life in many parts of the world, but it is quite possible that he was wronn in his a.ssum]>tion that it was the ultimate form of society, which the later types have displaced. ^IcLennan, on the other hand, apparently through his anxiety to refute the "patriarchal theory," went to undue lengths in endeavouring to di.s- in-nve any form of patria potestns among peoi)les by whom indications of it have been rather obtrusively manifested. It should be added that both parties appeal to instances which are not decisive at all for the purpose which they had in view, — at lea.st, within the Semitic sphere, — since what the Old Testament has to tell us of the Hebrews belongs to a compara- tively Ifite stage in Semitic social development. See McLennan as above cited, and Maine, Ancieut Law, p. 118 ff. p^ 64 THE I'ATRIAnCHAL TYPE Book VII h I i aspects of family life which gave form and colour to dom- inant leligious and moral conceptions and relations. The inunense significance of the facts in question becomes at once evident when we again call to mind how large a part is played in the religion of the Bible by the relations of fatherhood and sonship, and when we further reflect that the surest key to the meaning of much of the Biblical phraseology is provided by the domestic institutions of the people to whom the word of Jehovah came. 55 412. As far as the Hebrews are concerned, — with whom our interest more directly lies, — the most obvious source of information is the recorded usage of the family life of those liouseholds, whose history has been most fully related in the surviving literature. The widest induction may be made at once from the statement of Gen. xviii. 19, that the great ancestor of the Hebrews was chosen by Jehovah, "in order that he might command his children and his household after him." Accordingly, at the com- mand of Jehovah, Abraham prepares to dispose of the very life of the heir of his household (Gen. xxii. ; cf. xv. 2 ff.). He also settles the fate of his other children (Gen. xxi. 14 ; XXV. 6), born of the secondary wives of inferior rank. In these mattei-s the primary wife makes her wishes known,^ but even over the children of her own handmaid (female slave) she has no power (Gen. xxi. 10), not even over the handmaid herself, whose banishment, along with her son, is executed by the father of the household. In like manner Isaac has control of the destiny of his oldest son Esau, even after the marriage of the latter (Gen. xxvii. , cf. xxvi. 34 f.). Nor is it easy to see how the patriarchal blessing could be either given or withheld, unless the paternal authority remained with the head of the household till the day of his death. Again, though Rebekah advises the younger son Jacob to go to his Aramrean kindred, he has to appear before his father, who " commands " him formally 1 This transaction is regsirded as an " order " by McLennan, Patriarchal Theory, p. 48. mm Cii. II, § 413 THE FAMILY OF JACUlJ 55 to the same effect, and "sends him away *' ((ien. xxviii. 1, 5). The subsequent story is made much of by McLen- nan^ and W. K. Smith,''^ who attempt to show that Jacob contracted a " beenah marriage " (by which the husband transfers himself to the family of his wife) with the daugh- ters of Laban. But they have entirely misconceived the nature of the relations. Jacob became a member of the family of Laban, and actually worked as his servant, be- cause he had no choice but to come under the authority of the head of whatever household he might attach himself to. For a month he was a guest, but after this term (prob- ably the conventional period) of hospitality, Laban recog- nizes the permanent relation of servitude, and just because he was a kinsman, he proposes that he should have a tixed wage (Gen. xxix. 14 f.). In support of his contention, McLennan further says : " We find, first, that Jacob had to buy his place in Laban's family, as husband of Laban's daughters, by service ; and second, that the children born to him belonged to Laban's family, and not to him, both notes of beenah marriage, and the second denoting it be- yond possibility of mistake." Rather, we should say, tlie fact that the children were claimed by Laban as his own is an indication, and a very striking one, of the patria potes- tas. The claim is in fact asserted by Laban in a most pos- itive manner (xxxi. 43; cf. 28 f.), and Jacob was so much convinced of the soundness of it, that he could only escape from Laban's rightful jurisdiction by a secret flight. § 413. The episode of the theft of the teraphim by Rachel is another interesting parallel with the Roman household, where the Lares and Penates were the essential bond of solidai'ity in the ancestral community. Rachel's object in securing them was apparently to have the new household brought under the protection of the manes which had guarded and blessed her paternal home. This was in her view quite possible and natural. Jacob had been adopted into her father's family, and when in posses- Patriarchal Theory, p. 42 ff. 2 Kinship, p. 176. 60 JACOB AND LABAN Book VII 'fll it .■ sioii of the tutelary images, lie might well 1x3 exjieclecl to enjoy their patromige. The prominence given to this in- cident in the history of the fuunder.s of Israel (in spite of the renunciation of Gen. xxxv. 2) goes to show that the descendants of Jacob through Rachel ascribed for many generations considerable importance to the transfer of these ancestral guardians from Aram to Israel. Our spe- cial point here, however, is the indication given by the whole story that as long as Jacob's wives lived with their father, they, as well as their husband, were subject to him, and that only upon their departure was a new household set up, for which the teraphim were to furnish the neces- sary auspices. Moreover, it is clear that in the transaction Rachel did not act for herself, as in a beina/i marriage, but for her husband. Indeed, Laban illustrates the marital aspect of 2^(it''i(i potestas when he reminds Jacob (xxxi. 49 f.) that the latter has absolute power thenceforth over his wives. Lastly, the former state of things under the paternal rdgime of Laban is recognized in the very phrase- ology of that touching description of the final parting, when it is said (ver. 55) that " Tiaban kissed his sons and his daughters and blessed them." McLennan is of coui-se right in claiming that relationship through daughters as well as through sons was recogni/.ed, though we must re- member that this was not the only ground upon which Laban " claimed his daughters' children as his own " ; ^ since Jacob the father, when adopted into the household, became a male member of it. But it is not necessary to pafria potestas that kinship through the male line only should be recognized. What is involved in it is that let/al relationship is reckoned only through the male, and not through the female descendants. But of this, more pres- ently. v5 414. Jacob's farail}' having been thus established as a separate household, its history also is given with more than usual fulness. The narrative shows that while the 1 Patriarchal Theory, p. 47. «ll Cm. it. § 414 JACOB AND HIS SUNS 57 range of fruecloiii that was absolutely iiucussary to the life of shei)hertls was graiitutl to the children, tiiey yet, when uiKler the direct oversight of their father, were subject to 'his ('onnuands. The disposal of important affairs rests iduiuately with the father, and not with any or all of the grown-up sons. In the management of the expeditions to Kgypt for food, the sons seem to be merely trustees or agents for the father, the head of the huge househoUl of families (see especially Gen. xliii. 11 tL). MeLennan, as .lohu Locke did before him in his controversy with Sir Robert Kilmer,' makes much of the fact that lleuben offered his sons as hostages to Jacob for the safe return of Benjamin; and that .ludah actually became surety for it. As to this, Locke is (|uoted as saying, " which all had been vain and superfluous, ami but a sort of mocker}', if Jai.'ob had had the same power over every one of his family as he had over his ox or his ass." And McLennan says:^ "They show much deference to their father, no doubt ; but they address him like men that have a right to be listened to, and, for the general good, press him and almost coerce him into a course he was most averse to." Hut is moral influence and persuasion on the part of children excluded by patr'ui potestaa? Even among the Ilomans it was prescribed not that the father was hound to repress the wishes of his children, but that he had the power to do so if he willed it. Neither Locke nor Mc- Lennan would have maintained that all the young Romans who made a career for themselves (young Caius jNLarius, for example, who broke away from the plough to wield the sword) refrained from exercising any soi-t of influence upon the pafrcs famiUarum. Putria potestm did not make moral nonentities of the sons of Romans any more than it did of the mother of the Gracchi or of the daughter of Cicero. An apt illustration of this moral liberty of the member of the family within the realm of i)arental con- trol, is furnished by the sons of Eli, of whom it is said — 1 See Patriarchal Theory, \\ .'JO ff. 2 Ih. p. 40. lilt 58 UNDER THE JUDGES AND KINGS no(,K VII ^1 U and that while they were grown men — that " they were cursing God (Sei)t.), and he did not make them give up " (1 Saul. iii. iJJ)' i'o conchide the family history of Jacob, it should be noticed that after the patenuvl blessing and the i)artiKg charges, and after the death of the doughty old })atriarch, the oldei' sons recalled the fact that their father had left a positive command with them before he died (Gen. 1. IG f.). § 415. Passing on to the time of the Judges, it is worth mentioning that in spite of Gideon's independence of action against the worship of Baal, the young innovator was reckoned by the followers of Baal to be at the disposal of his father (Jud. vi. 30). In the early regal period we are struck l)y Saul's treatment of liis son Jonathan (1 Sam. XX. ']() Pf.), when the latter seemed to be intriguing with David. This might be accounted for on the supposition that Saul was here acting as a king and not as a pater- fumilias^ this having certainly been the case in an earlier instance of threatened punishment (1 Sam. xiv. 44). But the similar incident, when David was the intended victim, reminds us that both he and Jonathan were members of the household of Saul when the acts of violence were per- formed ; the attempt on the life of David having been made l)efore he was outlawed by the proclamation of the king (1 Sam. xix. 1), and he in fact Injing treated tis one of the kin?;'s sons (cf. 1 Sam. xx. 25 ft. with 2 Sam. ix. 11). Thereafter in the recorded history of Israel we have but few glimpses of doniostic life apart from the regal houseljolds, in '- iiose management it is difficult to distin- guish between the kingly and the paternal authority: the most conspicuous instance being the relations between David and his sons. § 41<>. But a decisive indication of fundamental cus- toms is afforded by the story of the liechabitcs (,Icr. XXXV.). 'I'hese people had held, in the middle of the ninth century ii.C. \\.Ja- abode somewhere between Jezreel antl Samaria (2 K. x. 15 ff.). .lonadal), their i liief at tlr.it VII til. II, § 417 THE RECHABITES 59 date, had enjoined upon his descendant-: to all generations that they should keep themselves free from all the haljits and employment of agriculture and civic life, drink no wine, build no house, and sow no seed — all this so that they might escape the enervating influences of that form of civilization which has always been injurious to those nomadic peoples who have in Palestine renounced the inunemorial traditions and customs of the desert and the pasture land. VV^ith such tenacity was this conservative princi[)le maintained among the clan that, nearly three luindred yeai-s after Jonadab, none of "the sons of the house of the Kcchabites" would bate one jot of the faitli they had so sternly kept with their ancestral head who still ruled their spirits from his to.nb. We may explain this devo- tion as the expression of the fanatical [irejudice of a sect, and yet we cannot account for the singular persistence of the belief and the habit except ui)on the ground alleged by the Prophet, deference to the paternal connnand. These Ilechabites, of the Kenite stock (1 Chr. ii. 55), though not descended from Jacob, were, at an early date (Jud. iv. 11, 17 ff. ; v. 24), the twelfth century M.c, very good Hebrews and an important part of the nation (cf. § 186). *-uch a deeply rooted principle as this, iiow- ever it might vary in its applii.'ation, was of course not contined to a small nomadic circle. We have accordingly very good reason to sujtpose that tlie head of the nomadic household exercised not only a moral inlliience U[)on his fiiinily, but also a prescriptive restraint, which had all tlie foici- of statutory law. v^ 417. The liislorical testimony of the Old Testament is clearer as to the status ol" the ciiiklren of the household tlian as to that of tlie wife or motlier, though, as we have incidentally seen, all the evidence of the narratives is in favour ot the hypothesis of the sujiremacy of the house- master in botli relations. We shall now take a glance at the siiecitic laws and institutions which have to do with the status and relations of the wives and motliers of the 60 THE LEVIUATE CUSTOM Book VII household among- the Hebrews. As l)earing upon the function and condition of the wife, allusion nui}- be made to the custom by which the nearest of male kin in a deceased husband's family was bound to marry the widow for the sake of [)erpetuating the name and family of the dead man. Nothing more plainly indicates the secondary position of the wife from the legal point of view than this deeiMooted institution. The kindred of the wife are shown to be as dead to her in law as they were in ancient Ho'uan society. McLcnnan's attempt to derive the levirate custom from polyandry ' is, at least in the case of the Hebrews, very precarious. The doubl}- or multiply married woman is here evidently only the necessary comiecting link l)etween the original husband as the family representative and the nuich coveted descendants. There was, in fact, no other way of securing the perpetuation of liis family except l)y means of the device of levirate marriage and its extension to even more remote kindred than the l)rothers of the deceased. And those who reject the derivation from primitive polyandry, and abide by the hypothesis of an established fiction of paternal descent, have no more diti'julty in accounting for the origin of that liction than they have in explaining the simulated sonship of adoi)tion — the exact counto part of the simulated fatljer- hood of the levirate household, and a usage of far wider lange and influence among ancient peoples, than the latter ever could become. § 41 S. There are but scanty indications in the Old Testament laws and customs as to the earliest Hebrew conceptions of the marital relation. Hut the evidence is strongly in favour of the assumi)tion that the wife was hehi, from the old Semitic times, to be the property of the husband. The fli-st aigument is to b(i drawn from the terminology of the relation. The immemorial word for "husband" in Hebrew and the cognate idioms is hti<(l, a lord oi owner, and the corresponding verbal root means J'atrntrchal Tkvonj, p. 100 ff. f Ch. II, §419 EVIDKXCK OF THE TKIlMIXOl.OGY 61 uiiivevsally to rule or possess, and in Hebrew in the passive as applied to the woman, to be married. It is needless to furnish many examples in the Old Testament: see, for instance, Gen. xx. 3; IIos. ii. 10; Isa. Ixii. 4, and the whole phraseology of the legal sections, and compare 1 i'et. iii. 0: "Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him h)rd." That in Arabic and Aramaic the same verbal root means "to possess a wife or concubine" is highly significant, when it is remembered, on the one hand, that concubines \\ ere slaves of the husband, and on the other, that a female slave might become the lawful wife of her owner. An argument may also fairly be based upon the language of the tenth commandment of the Decalogue (Ex. xx. 17), in which, among the most valuable items of personal i)rop- erty, the wife is mentioned, and actually placed l)etween the house and the domestic animals. There seems indeed reason to believe that according to primitive custom the wife or wives were be([ueathed to the care of the eldest son along with the other chattels.' § 419. Further, the means employed to secure a wife in primitive times furnish a striking illustration of the general [)rinci[)le. The method was essentially one of purchase, which in the case of Jacob and the daughters of Laban was conunuted into servile labour to the same purpose. The term translated "dowry," in Gen. xxxiv. 1*2 ; ICx. xxii. 10, means purchase money. That this was not always literally insisted on l)y the father or other guardian of the bride, and that, as in the case of Hebekah (Gen. xxiv.), the contract was just as readily ralitied by the giving of presents, is only what would be naturally expected. Rut that the fundamental usage could be en- forced at any time is shown from the conditions prescribed by Saul for David (1 Sam. xviii. 'J.*)), in connection with the suit for his daughter Michal. That the father of the ' Hence, the action of Heuben (Gen. xxxv. 22 xlix. 4), of Absalom (2 Siiin. xvi, '_'() ft'.), ami uf Abii-r. Saul's cuiisiii (2 Siuu. iii. 7 f.), was regarikil as an aiuuiia at usiaitauon. See Xowack, HA. I, 348. 02 HUSBANDS AND WIVES Book VII bridegroom was looked to for the procuring of the bride (e.g. Jud. xiv. 3), indicates both the paternal power of the liead of the house and the subjection of the newly ex- pected member of the family. Pointing in the same direc- tion are the privileges of divorce granted to the husband. The most explicit prescription on the subject is Deut. xxiv. 1, aimed at disgraceful or offensive conduct (cf. tlie same phrase in xxiii. 14, which has its explanation in xxiii. 9). With this passage compare Jer. iii. 1. and Isa. 1. 1, and the command in Matt. v. 31. Add to this the enactments as to the fulfilment of vows made by wives, given in Numb. xxx. These are summarized as follows (v. 13) : " Every vow and every binding oath to aOlict the soul her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void." Finally, we may defer to the statement of Paul (Horn. vii. 1 f.), who affirms directly that accord- ing to the usage of his nation the wife is legally subject to the husband. § 420. Exceptional instances must be looked at nar- rowly, for it is just such cases that are chosen by the deniers of patria potestas among the Hebrews to prove their contention. In apparent contravention of recog- nized laws and usages, women in the historical times of Israel appear to have enjoyed a considerable range of freedom and independence of action. While the father had the power to choose and procure a wife for his son or a husband for his daughter, young people are seen tc» mix freely enough with one a/iother, and virtually to do the choosing for themselves (of. Numb, xxxvi. 6). Again, in the case of married women, we observe that the initia- tive is sometimes taken by them in matters of importance, and what is more significant they would appear to l)e at liberty to dispose of a share of the common property (1 Sam. XXV. 14 ff. ; 2 K. iv. 8 ff.; cf. Isa. iii. 12, 10 ft"., xxxii. 1> ff. ; Prov. xiv. 1, ind especially xxxi. 10 ff.). The expla- nation of this [)henonienon does not lie uj)on the suifnce of the historical records ; but, as we shall see presently, it ! I Cu. II, § 421 PRACTICAL RELAXATION 63 is connected with the deepest and most potential forces in the life of Israel. § 421. The experience of the Israelitish family in this respect is ir. its outward aspect not witaout historical parallel. Indeed, tlie very best analogy is afforded by the history of that very civilization whose family life furnishes the extreme ancient exemplification of marital control. The original prescriptions as to marital gov- ernment, and the legal powers which they perpetually carried with them, throughout the history of ancient Rome, must be carefully distinguished from the actual practice that inevitably grew up with the expansion of the state and the differentiation of social habits and relations. Thus under the Roman law, while a widow could inherit property along with the children, both she and the other females of the family were debarred from its administration. Yet we find that at the end of the third century R.c. both the marital and tutorial powers were frequently set at nought by both widows and mar- ried women with respect to their propert}'; and in 169 B.C. they had accumulated so much capital that the states- men of the time resorted to the expedient of prohibiting to women, by statute, the right of inheritance. The law was thus actually made more stringent than it had been even in the days when the household laws were framed, and when the idea of emancipation of women was a thing quite inconceivable.^ Yet both traditional sanctions and legislation were ineffective. Tlu; marital power of disci- pline was generally held in jibeyance in all the later iiistory ; and the prerogative of the wife was gradually enlarged through various devices, ehief of whieh was the persistence of the bride in remaining under tiie mnniDi of her own family bead, so tliul she could legally continue a member of u.- iiniselu'ld of her birth.'- The lamenta- ble rc>uiti», in the ever-increasing laxity of the marriage 1 S«e Mtmmmn, Hi»tliiti<)iis ami cniniihiits, see .J. < (ppert aiulJ. M6nant, 7>orj(- nifiit:< inruU'fHi'H ,if V Ans'irie et de la ChahUf, Paris, 1877 ; and especially F. K. reiser, Keilschri/tUche ActenstUckcy 1889, and Jiabylonischc Ver- triiiie, 1800. I Cii. II, §424 PRKUOGATIVEK AND FATE OF WOMEN 05 "([ueens," \vlio still persist as an institution in many communities, civilized and uncivilized, to the present day, and who were frecjuent also among the ancient Semites, especially among the northern and southern Arahians.' Similar was the appearance of women as "judges" in early Arabia,'-^ and at least once among the Hebrews (Jud. iv., v.). The hypothesis may be well founded which ascribes the usage to u more primitive state of general female pre- domimince. In any case these abnormities are not the result of the causes which have led to the enfranchisement of women. But, on the other hand, they are not consistent with the usages of communities, such as those of later Arabian times, in which women are the virtual slaves of men. § 424. One or two general remarks are necessary at this point. At a certain stage in the history of every coinnuuiity that has permanently risen above savagerv, the predominance of the husband and father in the family is found already established by statute or by recognized usage. Whatever may have been the relative stantling of the mother in the comnuuiity before its arrival at tins stage, her position is now lixed and determined by the interests of the primitive state. The wife, as being the mother, now exists and is maintained and protected for the sake of the perpetuation of the family. The husband is necessarily the absolute controller of the whole liouse- hold ; but his i)ractical relations to wife and children are varied in dilVerent connnunities. From the fundamental rule of absolute subjection there are far greater deviations among various races and i)eoples in the case of the wife than are found in the case of the children. In ancient society there was practically little difTerence anywhere in the relations of the children to tho house-father. In the case of the wives, although theore'.ically the Imsband had the ultimate control, general social conditions materially » Cf. § .3:]4 ami W. K. Smith, Kinship, p. 104 ami 171. Kinship, I.e. 60 EFFECTS OF POLYGAMY Book VII N affected their actual status in the liousehold. Polygamj', for example, when practised within narrow limits, tended for a time to give comparative freedom to the wives, because the attention of the husband and father could not be so strongly concentrated upon each individual group of children with their several mothei's, as necessarily was the case with a single family group and the one mother. It was among the monogamous Romans that the strictest type of the marital as well as of the paternal relation was evolved. On the other liand, polygamy as perpetuated among any people, and virtually limited only by the ability to support the liousehold, tends to the subjection of the wives through their moral degradation. This is exemplified among the mediii'val and modern Arabs as contrasted with the early Hebrews, the ancient society of the peninsula having ap- parently had more resemblance to that of ancient Israel. A nomadic life, however, is apt to retard tlie emancipation of women, for the reason that there is little scope afforded for their interests and sictivities in their monotonous round of family service, and the stationary, unprogressive course of life in which the children have to play their parts. For as the wife originally received her status as being the mute rfaiu ilia s, so her appreciation, her increasing preroga- tive, in a word, her emancipation, is due to the development of the family as a whole ; above all, to the awakening of ambition in the souls of tlie children through the enlarge- ment of their career and the opening up of unlimited opportunities of activity and influence. § 42'). We lay stres;; on the relations of nomadic life, because they were the unseen foundations on which later society was constructed, as their traditions and their in- herited terminology equally attest. But we are more directly concerned with the transitions to settled civiliza- tion, and ohe social changes which accompanied the tribal and national development of the Hebrew people. And in this connection we may observe that the early family legislation of the Hebrews corresponds to their contempo- ■tl Ch. 11, § 425 EFFECTS OF FIXED PROPERTY 07 raiieous stage of social development pretty inuoli us tlio early constitution of Rome represented its stage of national advancement. This may account for the general similarity in tlie provisions made under the two systems for deal- ing with wife and children. In other wovds, it was the sense of the vital importance of the newly accjuired prop- ertif which led to the statutory provisions concerning tlie family. I^egislation is, strictly speaking, not necessary among nomads, and among them, as a matter of fact, usage takes its place. But where a permanent settlement has been made, and landed possessions have Ijeen acquired, fii-st hy the clans and then by the families, to whom they come to be permanently allotted, tlie conditions are essen- tially changed. The conventions and agreements that are made between clan and clan or family and family for the adjustment of concurrent claims involve as their necessary complement the gradual institution of family laws. The family or household is identilied with the property ; and in absolute accordance with the principle of civic gov- ernment which succeeded to the patriarchal rule, the house-master becomes the controller of the whole. Hence primitive laws about the disi)osition of wives and children are necessarily rigorous. And it was just among the people that had and continued to have the stronjrest sense of property that the marital and paternal [)rerogatives were the completest and most imperious. What enormous con- sc(|uences resulted from tl'e conception of the relations of the family and the home in the Roman state, which was in its essence merely the reproduction and ampliti- cation of the constitution of the household, the political and social history of the whole Western world reveals and attests. In the constitution of the Hebrew family, also, as modilied by its settlement in Canaan, we shall find the subsequent history of the people inq)licitly and iKitentially contained. There lay the secret spring of their racial vital- ity, their patriotism, their national solidarity. As we shall sec presently, it gave also form and col .ur to their literature. VCWi I f 1 i il li 11^ 68 ELEVATION OF IIEBKEW WOMEN Book Vll § 420. What we spt'ciiiUy observe in the Hebrews as contnistecl with other iineient peoples is, not merely the retaining of tite rigorous legal bonds by whieli the wife was subjected to the husband, but the establishment of a relation of moral ecjuality between them along with a real community of feeling and unity of aim and pur- pose. Without doubt tiiis was profoundly connected with the worship of Jehovah and its elevating and puri- fying Inrtuenccs. And now we may see clearly the social background of the manifold diversified representations given us of the relations of Jehovah to his people,^ as set forth under the guise of conjugal associations. This is not the place to [)articularize. But just observe how here again the claim of ownership and authority is asserted even over the spouse that has wilfully wandered farthest from the love and care of the husband, as in the inlin- itely pathetic and significant story of Hosea's marital experiences and its ap[)lication to Jehovah's relations with his people. Ownership is expressed even in the act of disowning (IIos. ii. 2 if.). On the other hand, we may see how the tenderness and affection of an ideal, and we may be sure not unconmion, Hebrew marriage is used to image fortii the inalienable and inextinguishable affec- tion of Jehovah for his peo[)le. Isaiah liv., that won- derful idealization of the marriage bond, presupposes an elevation and transfiguiation of woman in her relation to man as high and Ix'autiful as that which has been achieved in our Christian civilization. And the conn)rehensiveness of the picture is as admirable and touching as the intensity and tenderness of feeling displayed in its colouring. All that awakens interest, sympathy, and chivalric regard in 1 ".Jehovah's land," so closoly ulentified in the Hebrew conception with the people of .lehovali, is likewise associated with its Lord, its true Ba'al, by the terms of the marriage relation. See Isa. Ixii. 4. It was a common notion among the Semitic peoples ( W. U. Smith, KS. p. 05 ff. ) that the land was the spouse of its bu'dl. It was left to the Hebrews to spiritualize and refine this conception, with so many other traditional ideas. Cii. II, § 427 WIFELY RELATIONS IN LITERATURE 09 11 the vicissitudes of Jewish woiimnhuod is hiouj^ht hufore us by a single stroke of the pencil — the blushing slmnie of the slighted maiden, the re[)n)ach of the isolated widow, the hoi)eless grief of the deserted s[)0use (v. 4, 0). One central word gathers up the elements and motives of the atYection and devotion of the husband: Jehovah, who is the husband-lord (cf. Jer. xxxi. 32) of his people, is also their "Redeemer" their Goel (y. 5), the vindicator of family rights, the ciianipion of the abaiuloned, the wronged, and the oppressed. A sociological fact of Hebrew domestic life stands out here as clearly as do the spiritual lessons of the [)assagc: it is the liusband that is the emjincipator of the wife. The primary traditional autiiority is not foregone; but it yields at length to the diviner power of personal regard and loyal devotion. It is no great psychological interval that se[>arates the Prophet of the Kxile from the Apostle of the early Christian age. In one breath Paul asserts the lieadship of Christ over his Church, and his love and sacrifice for it, along with the authority of the husband over the wife, and the love with which he should cherish her; while, like his great prototype, he makes the human relation the counterpart of the divine (Kph. v. 'I'l tT.). § 427. A few words must be added as to the specific relations of the children to the parents. We have seen that, as far as the testimony of tlie narrative portions of the Old Testament is ccmcerned (§ 412 ff.), the power of the fatlier was reckoned to ha absolute. The meagre pro- visinns of the legislation confirm this view of the pateiiial right. In the all-important matter of marriage the father could espouse either the son or the daughter to whomso- ever he wished (Ex. xxi. 9 f. ; cf. Jud. xiv. 2 ff. ; 1 Sam. xviii. 17 ff., 27, XXV. 44; 2 Sam. iii. 13 ff.). As to the daughters, the whole system of procedure indicates that they were originally regarded and treated as slaves of the father. Thus brides were {)urchased by their suitors from their fathers, and though, no doubt, the rule came IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) <^ 1 V] ^ /a ^/,. 0% '"^ <^ #^ »3?W y -(^ 1.0 I.I 150 •? IIIIIM '^. m !" 1.40 1 2.2 1 2.0 1.8 ' 1.25 1.4 1.6 -^ 6" - ► PhotDgraphic Sciences Corporation \ ;v V *> >? 1 if! If , i ; ( CHAPTER III THE HEBREWS AS NOMADS AND SEMI-NOJVIADS § 434. What is usually called the miraculous in the Old Testament narratives does not exhaust its marvellous elements. Not less wonderful than the decisive events in which the people of Jehovah learned to see the direct intervention of the God of Israel, were those long ante- cedent processes which were their unmarked but necessary- preparation. The Hebrew mind took little note of second causes (§ 5); the modern philosopher deals with them alone. The student of the history of Israel may well cultivate both the ancient and the modern spirit. Habit- uated to the manifest presence of a controlling Power, he becomes more and more reverent, as his knowledge grows from more to more. As a thoughtful observer he has been measuring the importance of events and move- ments directly by the range and momentum of their his- torical influence. As a special inquirer he now becomes accustomed to estimate their greatness inversely by the meagreness and feebleness of their obvious contributory forces. If, as we moderns have been taught, there is nothing in historical phenomena which did not lie implic- itl}'^ in the antecedent elements and factors, material, intellectual, and moral, then our admiration may not unreasonably be evoked by the paramount marvel of the ancient world, the evolution of the Hebrew people out of a community of shepherds and slaves.^ It was a clever 1 It is hardly necessary to notice that the Bible writers themselves were much impressed by this phenomenon. See Deut. xxvi. 5 ; xxxii. 9 ft. ; Ps. Ixxx. 8 ft. ; Ixxxi. 6 ; cv. 11 ff. ; Isa. li. 1 f. ; Ezek. xvi. 3 ft. et al. 78 Cii. Ill, § 434 SIGNIFICANCE OF ISRAEL'S CAREER 79 answer tliat is said to have been given to a skeptical prince by his chaplain when he was asked to give him, in a word or two, convincing evidence of the truth of Chris- tianity. The reply Avas: "The Jews, your Majesty." But the Jews, both lancient and modern, are also silent witnesses to something without which neither Chris- tianity nor Judaism itself could ever have been. Their invincible persistence nitentea in adversum testifies to the potentiality of the forces that went to the making of Israel. The stream cannot rise higher than the fountain. From what divine heights then must have descended the influences that moulded and endowed that nation which gave us the Bible and the vitalizing moral forces of the world! This perpetual assertion of the presence and power of the Eternal is the message of Israel. It was the sentiment and conviction of its seers and poets, absorbed as they were in the thought of its history. We may well turn to it again and again while we examine that history, no matter how critically. Let it be said that it comes rather from the heart than from the mind.^ Be it so; it wells up from the undivided heart and mind of Israel. We may, at least, be impressed by what such faith has wrought for men, and by its ever-living, ever- widening dominion. Our latest idealists have attained to nothing higher or deeper or further-reaching. The conclusion of In Memoriam is no whit more victorious, no whit more rational. It is, in fact, the adaptation to the needs of this present cultured age of the faith in the living God, as it was kept by those in the olden time of Israel's hope and patience, r " Who rolled a psalm to wintry skies And built them fanes of fruitless prayer ; " 1 It will be remembered that the word for " mind " in Hebrew is the same as that for " heart." In otlier words, sentiment (as distinguished from emotion, which is otherwise expressed) and r^ection were one and tha same. wmma 80 HEBREW HISTORICAL CANONS BookVTI and yet could " lift from out of dust A voice as unto Him that hears A cry above the conquered years To One that with us works, and trust. " * § 435. Such reflections are suggested by the condition of ancient Israel at the earliest stage of their existence as a people. What the character of the Hebrew community was in the long ages which preceded the Exodus from Egypt we can learn partly from hints in the Bible narra- tive, partly by inference from the known condition of immigrant tribes in Northern Egypt, and partly by what modern comparative sociology has to tell us of the char- acter of settlements made by nomadic peoples on the borders of a cultured nation. We are particularly struck by the scantiness of the references by the sacred Avriters. It will be seen, however, that such as are made are very suggestive. It will not be forgotten that historical narra- tion among the Hebrews confined itself to leading inci- dents illustrative of the inception or progress of their own institutions. What followed the Exodus, and what immediately determined and accompanied it, were matters of the first importance, and therefore received particular attention. Critical events were elaborated and put in the foreground. Antecedent conditions dropped out of sight or were taken for granted. We may say a word by the way in explanation of this reticence. The reader is already familiar with the observation that historical writ- ing in the modern sense was unknown to the Hebrews and the Semites generally (§ 12). It would not occur to the chroniclers, from whose writings the early books of the Old Testament are compiled, to go into the question of the social and corporate condition of the Hebrews in Egypt. Such a procedure would have been deemed 1 See, for example, Ps. xxii., xxxvii., Ixxiii., Ixxvii., Ixxx., Ixxxv., xc, cii., cvi., exxi., cxxiv., exxv., cxxvi., cxxx.; the book of Job; the Prophe- cies as a whole, especially Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk. " Ch. Ill, § 436 SURVIVAL OF THE OPPRESSION 81 superfluous if it had been thouglit of, for the contempo- raries of the writers did not need enliglitenment upon matters "wiiich were familiar to them from every-day observation. To us the missing information is of the liighest importance, mainly because it helps to set in their true relations and proportions the phenomena of the early development of Israel. And it is a matter for devout thankfulness that modern scholarship is wont to call upon all the historical sciences to supply the missing lines and shading of the picture left us by the literary artists of the Old Testament. § -436. A few considerations will, I think, show that the Hebrews while in Egypt were already in possession of all the essential elements of a stable society. If our chronologicial estimate of the patriarchal period and of the time of the Exodus (§ 109; 114; 107) is correct, the residence of Israel in Egypt must have extended over several hundred years. To have endured so long it must have had inherent elements of permanence of a social character, apart from the virility of individual founders or early leaders of the race. The Bible narrative tells us that it survived a prolonged term of rigorous slavery, whose severity was aggravated by special repressive measures. Now there is every reason to believe that this period of enslavement was a very lengthy one. Indeed, we know that the attitude of the Egyptians towards the nomadic tribes, Avho came from over tlie Isthmus in search of food and pasturage, was normally hostile or, at least, suspicious and watchful. Thus under ordinary circum- stances the Hebrews could not long have remained inde- pendent occupants of a territory closely bordering upon the most thickly settled portion of the country, when the enterprise of the ruling inhabitants and their hereditary feuds with the shepherds of the Desert made them jealous of all encroachments of strangers. It is true that during a large portion of the time of the Hebrew residence the Hyksos, their kindred, formed the controlling element m Ml i '1 I i ! ■ ! I i Hi 82 disintp:grating forces Book VII ill the Egyptian population. But the toleration made possible during their regime was unknown and, in fact, impossible under their successors, who ruled Egypt for the latter half of the time of the Hebrew occupation. § 437. Such were the chances of extinction through oppression. If these had been successfully overcome, through some singular providence, there still lay behind elements of danger more subtle and more deadly. I mean the disintegrating forces which inevitably threaten the very existence of a community living within the juris- diction and influence of a people superior both in culture and in material power. The corporate survival of Israel in such circumstances is probably unique among the experiences of the tribes and nations of the earth. So inherently improbable does the phenomenon seem that it has been thought to be actually impossible. On this very ground it has been alleged that the settlement of Israel in Egypt is a fiction.^ The question is so funda- mental to our whole inquiry that a clearer and fuller statement is necessary. In seeking for light upon the early conditions of Hebrew life, some illuminating rays may fall upon the larger subject of their national move- ments and fortunes. § 438. The reader will remember that what we are now concerned with is the actual residence of the Hc- brcAVS within the territory of Egypt proper. Preserva- tion of social identity for long periods of time is quite 1 Thus Winckler in his AUorientalische Forschungen (1893), in the course of a dissertation on the Assyrian Musru ("border, border-land," etc., also a proper name, cf. vol. i, 409) claims, on the ground above men- tioned, tliat the Hebrews, instead of being in anxc ("Egypt"), really came into Canaan from a district mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions border- ing on Southern Palestine, and bearing the name just given. He also acutely suggests that in Gen, xvi. 1, the true translation is " Hagar the Musraite," instead of " Hagar the Egyptian." Both hypotheses are im- probable. It must be constantly kept in mind that until the expulsion of the Hyksos, the intercourse between Palestine and Egypt for many cen- turies was very close and frequent. Egypt was indeed the great ' ' border- land" of the Semites, and hence its name among that people. I Ch. Ill, § 439 RELATIONS WITH EGYPTIANS 83 possible when the tribes or clans live on the borders of a highly cultured nation or even when considerable num- bers of them mingle freely with the settled inhabitants. Such was the condition of the many tribes who, on the south and east of Palestine, maintained their name and autonomy for long ages after the Canaan ites and their Hebrew successors had brought that country to a fairly high degree of civilization. ^ Much more nearly parallel to the case of nomads on the borders of Egypt weie the tribes of Aramteans and Arabs who shepherded and traded on the lower Euphrates and Tigris under the shadow of a much more aggressive type of national culture than any that ever prevailed in Palestine (§ 339). Another in- structive analogy is that of the ChakUeans, who began their political existence in unknown early ages within the territory claimed by the opulent empires of Babylonia (§ 223; 293; 340), and ended by becoming proprietor of them all. The picture given us by the Bible writers, to whom we owe all our direct knowledge of the matter, represents Israel as within the administrative domain of the Egyptian rulers, and not as being on the outermost borders, whether on the Mediterranean shore or upon the Isthmus. § 439. This is the situation which makes the survival so remarkable. If mutual tolerance could have been kept up between the immigrants and the dominant people, the chances of the preservation of the former would, of course, be increased, though it would seem that in the course of a few generations the moral influences tending towards absorption would have prevailed. But such an agreeable state of affairs was out of the question. We are given to understand that even at the beginning of the intercourse they were separated from the body of the Egyptian people 1 Those peoples, for example, with whom Gen. x. and xxv. and xxxvi. as well as the book of Job and the last two chapters of Proverbs, have made us familiar. Cf . § 334 for allusions to some of them in the Assyrian annals. ill m 1 1 84 OCCASIONS OF ENSLAVEMENT Book VII 1 '!! ii Hi because their pastoral occupation was held in abomination by the latter. And we may be sure that while the Egyp- tian had a deep-rooted antij)athy for the race of shepherds, the Hebrew felt something approaching to contempt for a civilization which made a few rich and the great multi- tude a herd of slaves. Nor did the pyramids and temples and palaces of the Pharaohs either overawe or interest him. They rather excited his aversion as evidences of impious pride and folly. ^ § 440. Finally, however, the Hebrews found that if they were to remain on Egyptian soil they could only do so on precarious sufferance. The prosperity of such immi- grants depended not merely on the tolerance or favour of the Egyptian rulers. It was, also, in inverse ratio to the prosperity of the Egyptian state as a whole. If the empire languished, its rigorous rule was relaxed in the border regions : the pasture-lands increased and invited more and more the envious Bedawin. If, on the other hand, the nation prospered, its whole territory was utilized for its sustenance. The frontier was pushed further forward. Troops in garrison or on the march occupied the sites of nomadic encampments and held the routes of caravans. Store-cities were built for them, for the court officials and the tax-gatherers, and for the master-builders of public works. Such was the character of the empire of the Nile under the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties. Eco- nomical conditions were changed both for the natives and the foreigners. The multiplication of cavalry in the army (§ 144) of itself materially affected the disposition of the pasture-grounds. Further, the Egyptian dominion being extended far beyond the frontier into the midst of Asia, the Hebrew colonists found themselves in the very heart of an Egyptian administration. Then came the de- cisive strain upon their social and domestic institutions. 1 Cf. Renan, Histoire du penple iV Israel, I, p. 64 f., where, in another connection, the relations between nomads and settled populations are ingeniously discussed ; also ih. p. 137. . I Ch. Ill, § 441 EFFECTS OF SERVITUDE 86 They must toil as slaves or quit the countiy. Tlie latter alternative was impossible during most of the long period including the eighteenth dynasty and the twentieth. Slavery was inevitable and that upon a large scale. But slavery is a speedy destroyer of all social organization. It has been habitually resorted to in the East and West alike, not merely for the profit of the slave-holders, but witli the wider purpose of breaking up the tribal or national bonds of the communities thought by a superior state to be ag- gressive or in any way dangerous. It is not here main- tained that servitude, at the beginning, was abhorrent to the whole body of the Hebrews. At the time when it was being carried into effect it may have been welcome to many of them, whose subsistence was vanishing day by day. Indeed, after the nomadic state was resumed the precarious provision of the desert life seemed to the liber- ated wanderers a poor exchange for the rude but reliable rations of fish and onions supplied to them in the days of their bondage (Numb. xi. 5; cf. xxi. 5). It is only claimed that such an Oriental system of slave-holding was necessarily subversive of the sense of nationality, not to speak of patriotism, which may have been cherished by the disfranchised multitudes. § 441. Mark the consequences of this policy among the Hebrews in Egypt. Apparently their spirit was almost completely broken, especially after the atrocious but characteristically Oriental measures employed to cripple and obliterate the obnoxious aliens (Ex. vi. 9). The fact to be appreciated is that they held together at all. That they did hold together, that they did not allow themselves to become merged in the nameless multitudes oifellahin who have done the servile work of Egypt under all its countless changes of dynastic rule, must have been due to their organized social condition. Let us see what this implies. In the first place, they must have lived in Egypt in no small numbers, occupying a consider- able extent of country. A small isolated family or clan r! 7{li r'^ '^^"•"^mmmm^m' 86 INFERENCES FROM THE SURVIVAL Book VII It! ■T li ill I could not have endured even for the century which a recent brilliant historian has assumed as the whole length of the Hebrew occupation of Lower Egypt. ^ Moreover, their numbers must have increased during the tranquil period of their residence ; otherwise they would have dwindled away to extinction under outside pressure. Such is the law of growth and decay among nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples. Again, their organization must have become more rigid and prescriptive if not actually more specialized and complex. The lapse of time alone necessarily tended to fix the organic type. But there was, besides, the perpetual struggle for existence with newly arriving bands of immigrants from the Desert, and a constant effort of self-adjustment to the requirements of a more highly organized community, the potential masters of the soil. § 442. Above and beneath all, they must have observed the system of social and religious observances which they had brought with them into Egypt. This was not simply the unifying bond of the community ; it was, rather, its vital principle. No essential change in this was possible. To imitate the utterly foreign cult of the Egyptians was an impossibility from any point of view. It could only be done separately by members of the Hebrew tribes as individuals, who would thereby immediately lose their tribal membership. The question whether the Hebrews adopted any of the Egyptian beliefs or rites is an entirely different matter, which will come up later. The cardinal point is that the central attributes of the Hebrew religion must have remained intact, — above all, the worship of Jehovah, the national, or, if you Avill, the tribal God. Consider well what this means. It implies that for hun- dreds of years the same deity had been worshipped and the same characteristic observances maintained as an essential part of the tribal system. Otherwise, I repeat, the survival of Israel in Lower Egypt was impossible and 1 Renan, Histoire, I, 142. Ch. Ill, § 443 CONNECTION WITH THE PATRIARCHS 87 is to us unthinkable. The long and obscure interval between the Patriarchs and the Exodus is thus bridged over. The Exodus implies, or rather involves, the essen- tials of the patriarchal history. § 443. Such a conclusion reaches far both backward and forward. It can be rejected only by those who also wholly reject the early history of the times preceding the immigration into Egypt. The one stands or falls with the other; the one is the development of the other; the one is implicitly contained in the other. If the story of the Hebrews in Egypt is a fable, then the narrative of the simpler life of the nomad Hebrews in Canaan, lived so long before, is a fable also. But, what is of equal consequence, the converse is also true. If the patriarchal history contains a basis of truth, the Egyptian history of the Hebrews, or something closely corresponding, must also be accepted. As we shall see, the Hebrews were no mere nomads when they entered Canaan. They had already acquired the elements of a settled government, and these may well have been prepared for during a fixed residence, just sach as they enjoyed in Egypt. The argu- ment is broad and general, because it has to do with com- prehensive conditions and long periods of time. How does it comport with what the book of Exodus has to say of the Hebrews in Egypt? Let us look at the several points in order. We have seen that the people must have been numerous, if they were to survive at all. On this point the Bible testimony is emphatic enough, as it also lays stress upon the related fact of their increase. ^ That their status and social condition were necessarily affected by the inexorable pressure of the Egyptian power 1 With regard to the excessively large numbers found in the current text in the numeration of the tribes, I must content myself with a general reference to note in the appendix to vol. i, and with a reminder of the admitted principle that numbers have a tendency to grow larger in successive transcriptions of ancient documents generally. Editorial sys- tematizing must be held responsible for the final results. rl !| .If ■?!.... '#,..,!. 1" .JH. IWiP Sli" Tl A PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT Book VII we have clearly seen. Of the processes as well as the consequences of the oppression we have full details in the Hebrew records. The necessary elaboration ol the tribal government is also attested. The "elders of the people" (Ex. iii. 16, 18; iv. 29; xii. 21) are not men- tioned at all in Genesis. They, and not the heads of the "father's houses," or of the kins, are now the recognized representatives of the people; that is, of the clans or tribes. Finally', the perpetuation of the essential beliefs and usages of the old religion shines through the whole narrative. The people were, it is true, unsettled and discouraged by reason of the hard bondage ; and the mes- sengers of Jehovah received an unfavourable response from the mass of the people to whom they announced the coming deliverance. Yet he was still recognized as the God of Israel ; and no subsequent act of disloyalty before the entrance into Canaan was intended as a rejection of his paramount claims. To this central fact the whole story bears evidence, direct and indirect. Conclusions such as these, taken all together, make the strongest of arguments for the essential accuracy of the traditional conceptions of the character and career of Israel in the earlier stages of its history. § 444. It is a prevailing lashion among Old Testa- ment critics to give credit to the leading facts connected with the residence of Israel in Egypt, and its departure from it, and to discard as mythical and not merely tradi- tional the Bible narratives containing the history of the patriarchs. A modest suggestion may not be out of place. At least the religious history is self-consistent and satis- factory in the telling. The cult of Jehovah, with the essential accompanying observances, was undeniably a distinctive attribute of Israel before the entrance into Canaan. The legislation of Sinai could not and did not confer such an endowment, however much it developed and deepened it. It had already been possessed and cherished in Egypt. But no one will maintain that it Cn. Ill, § 446 THE PATIIIARCHAL STORY 89 could have had its beginnings in Egypt — a country for- eign morally and intellectually both to Israel and to the genius of its religion. It must therefore have begun earlior than the time or times of the settlement in Egypt. The Bible tells a story which sets forth in broad outline, and ill a concrete personal drapery, the early progress of that religion. The worship of Jehovah was taken up and fostered by men in a simpler state of society than even that of Israel in Egypt before the Exodus. Its arena was the land of Canaan, a region in the olden times most closely connected with Egypt. It was to Canaan, more- over, that the descendants of the first votaries of the religion returned, after the Exodus, as to an ancestral home. The main difficulty, I apprehend, that stands in the way of the acceptance of the cardinal elements of the patriarchal history, is this outstanding personal, individu- alistic role assigned to the early exponents of the relig- ion of Jehovah. There seems to be present perhaps too much of that heroic type of narrative, such as we are accus- tomed to associate with the mythical elements of ancient literature generally. If we could substitute for the persons of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their kindred, the names of clans, or even of families, much of the difficulty would probably vanish. § 445. It will be granted, I think, that the sacred narrative fills a necessary place. The framework of the social fabric of Israel in early days is not complete with- out some such foundation as that supplied by the condi- tions of the Bible story. But are we not at liberty to give a larger interpretation to the patriarchal narratives which will furnish a just and sufficient theory of the his- tory of Israel and its religion in pie-Mosaic times ? There is much that should commend such an interpretation to the sober judgment of a critical age. Abraham and his descendants in the time of historical influence were of course only the heads of the leading families in their respective clans. They were men of force of character, eo ENVIRONMENT OF THE PATRIARCHS Book VII and some of them according to the record were men of religious faith. But devout and heroic men were a pre- requisite to the rise and progress of Israel, if there was to be a race and religion of Israel at all, — a race and religion with the promise and potency of the moral trans- formation of the world. Such men are necessarily out- standing representatives of their class. § 446. Add to this the consideration (cf. § 435) that Hebrew narrative is eclectic and partial. It makes up by the brilliancy of its colouring and the vividness of its portraiture for the absence of grouping, shading, and per- spective. An epoch is characterized by one or two inci- dents ; a race or order of men by one or two instances ; a rule of life by one or two examples ; a national struggle or political or social revolution by one or two episodes. Its style and manner are naturally most strikingly exem- plified in the treatment of those stages of the national life which are commemorated more by tradition than by docu- mentary records. The concrete and the personal are the more appreciated, the more the historical background has become indistinct and shadowy. Hence the figures of the ancient heroes of the race fill up more and more the ever- narrowing avenues of the retrospect. It is not an undis- ciplined fancy, but a just historic imagination, which discerns behind and about these gigantic forms a living and moving social environment which was as indispensable to them as they were to it. With this interpretation of the patriarchal narratives we find that the early history of Israel is a consistent unity, harmonizing with sociolog- ical and historical principles. At the same time, it serves as the necessary foundation of the succeeding national development. § 447. On the other hand, we must not depreciate the personal significance of the patriarchs. While they were the children of their time, of their race, of their circum- stances and physical surroundings, yet as founders and pioneers they were separated from them and stood apart. Cii. Ill, § 448 DKVELOrMENT OF CLANS 01 This is, after all, the real meaning of their exceptional career. One family, conscious of its great destiny and inspired by faith and trust in Jehovah, refused to be held by its tribal associations, and formed a new social begin- ning for itself. The movement was promoted decisively when Jacob and his sons quitted their old-time pasture- grounds, cut loose from their environment, and pitched their tents in Egypt. Here a fresh start was made unfet- tered by the social bonds and entanglements inseparable from their residence in Canaan, ^ A change of condition was mainly what made this event critical. But such a change was potentially significant enough to create a new era. § 448. The distinction between Israel in Canaan in the olden time and Israel in Egypt was mainly this. In Canaan in the patriarchal stage a process of selection went on continually. In other words, the family was of more importance than the clan, in spite of the operation of the social usages of the country and its peoples. In Egypt, where the clan began its separate career untram- melled, the individual family lost its relative importance and became subordinate to the clan. Families and kins were speedily differentiated and retained their several names and badges. But the community was all the while developing with them and giving them countenance, unity, and dignity. Through change of place and occupation, and through family alliances, the original clan was divided, and Israel soon came to be constituted of several clans or tribes. These were varied indefinitely a.s to actual descent by intermarriage, and yet, according to the rule of paternal 1 Oi such influences an instructive instance is funiished in Gen. xxxiv. We learn from tliis account, liow the family of Israel mast have been en- larged from neighbouring aliens who adopted the naturalizing rite. " Jacob " was then plainly a clan as well as a family head, and a.s such was tran.s- f erred to a new home and arena in the grazing land.s of Ei.'jpt. Of affilia- tion with Canaanites, an example is furnished in Gen. xxxviii. 1 f. Nor must we overlook the statement of Gen. xiv. 14, which put^i Abraham at the head of a powerful clan. f m 92 THE MOSAIC EPOCH Book VII and filial right (§ 428), the autonomy of the original fami- lies was preserved in the male line, so that the lieads of the families who came down to Egypt gave their names perpetually to the several divisions. But these divisions were no longer social units as families or even kins, but closely associated political units, each with its own council of eldei-s, its own local sanctuary, and its own priesthood. •Nothing more, I may observe, is here assumed than what is necessary to explain the growth and conservation of the Hebrew community. § 449. We are now at length in some degree prepared to deal with the condition of Israel at the critical era of the Exodus. A new stage is now .about to be entered upon. The nation, if we may so call it, is coming under the influence of that majestic personality, that supereminent genius, that "man of God," with whom but few of the sons of men have vied in intellectual and moral grandeur. We may therefore well call this new age of Israel the Mosaic age. It is apparently the common belief that Moses made of Israel a nation out of a herd of slaves.^ This opinion is erroneous, at least in the vague and un- discriminating form in which it is usually held. That Hebrew society as a whole greatly deteriorated during the later stages of the Egyptian residence is certain ; but no less certain is it, as we have seen above, that large sections of it retained their tribal organization with their distinctive social and religious culture.^ These furnished 1 Such a view, equivalent to the belief in a certain sort of magical power on the part of the great legislator, is set forth and expounded by Dr. A. M. Fairbairu, The City of God, 2 ed. (1880), p. 110 ff. Wellhausen, also, in consequence of depreciating the pre-Mosaic career of Israel, was at one time obliged to exaggerate the political effect of the part played by Moses. See Skizzen viul Vorarbeiten (1884), I, p. 9 f. In his latest work, how- ever, his depreciation of the religious influence of Moses has apparently led him to detract from the importance of his political achievements. See IJG. p. .30. 2 Miriam and her song, whose essential originality it is vain to dispute (see Driver, Introduction, p. 27), are perhaps the best concrete evidence of the condition of the leading class in Israel before the Exodus. A Cii. Ill, § 450 THE WORK OF MOSES FOR ISRAEL 0:3 I a lallying-point and nucleus for such of the members of the community as had been scattered through the exigen- cies of poverty and servitude, and yet had not strayed far from the tents of Israel. The work of Moses was mainly regenerative and disciplinary. It was constructive, to be sure ; but it was constructive largely because it was recon- structive. The evolution of Hebrew society, which was slowly accomplished under the impulse of his presiding mind, was marvellous and unique. But it was after all an evolution, not a creation. It was moreover only made possible by his becoming himself a factor in the process, standing within and not without the sphere of operation. What Moses aimed to do for the Hebrew people was to energize them, to organize and unify them. This he in some measure accomplished directly for his own generation. § 450. But most of the unexampled influence of Moses was exerted indirectly and upon subsequent ages. It will be seen that but little of the legislation with which he is credited was intended for the tribes during their nomadic life. He in fact did not at firat expect that the wilderness would long detain them. The revelations of Sinai were made for a people already in fixed abodes ; and the law- giver hoped that but a few months would intervene before the occupation of Canaan would begin. In truth, but little in the way of special new legislation was needed by Israel in the Desert. And this of itself is strong negative evi- dence for the view that no serious outward disturbance had taken place in the social relations of the refugees in Egypt. What was chiefly needed of permanent value was personal self-reliance and courage, and persuasion of the society which could furnish the antecedents of this episode, -which pro- duced tlie poet, the singer, and the class to which they belonged, can hardly be called degraded. We must beware of thinking of such cases as isolated. Culture was no more sporadic or self-evolved in Old Testament times, or lands, or peoples, than it is in our own times and among con- temporary nations. hi m '1 am H MEANS TO SECURE UNITY Book VII reality and significance of the warrant of Jehovah for re-entering the ancestral domain. It was thought at first that a few months of desert life would harden their temper and prepare them for the risks and stress of military service. Hence they were led not by the way of the riiilistines, northeastward, but southward through the peninsula of Sinai. Finally, when it came to the question of an actual irruption into Canaan, they were found to be still unready. Steadfastness, more than courage in the field, was required for the perilous enteri^rise. The re- newal of the whole vital force of the people was found to be necessary. Their late habitual environment demanded its due. Nothing could be done hastily or suddenly. A whole people cannot be remade in a day or a year. Their spirit had been crushed by wholesale subjection to the rulers of the land, and they recoiled from the dangers which the freer and more independent desert inhabitants were accustomed to face. A new generation had to grow up inured to the perils of a life in the wilderness. § 451. Upon this new generation Moses impressed something of his own energy and faith. To speak of Moses making a "nation" of this people, in the strict sense of the term, is inaccurate, because a nation could not be made in the Desert (§ 46). He could, however, and he did, infuse into the people a new spirit of confident self- reliance, or more properly reliance upon Jehovah. He thus could and did make real and active within them the old beliefs which had not yet been fully learnt before, and which indeed could never be fully learnt except through practical experience of their validity. Their great inward need was unity of sentiment and purpose. Their chief outward disability was the lack of corporate unit3^ Pro- found and far-reaching were the means employed to secure both. The former was achieved by means of a common ritual ; the latter through an improved administration. We have seen .above that in Egypt each of the clans had its own priesthood and local sanctuary (§ 448). This in 1 •' i i Cm. Ill, §452 RITUAL AM) CIVIL tiOVKKNMENT W nowise contlicted with the general adherence to the cult of Jehovah. It only meant that in the rudimentary state of society the family groups which made up the clan were held together by their participation in common religious observances (§ 397; 402 f.). And of whatever simple rites the worship consisted, they were necessarily restricted in practise to the manageable circle of the clan and its dependents. The great triumph of Moses in the religious sphere was to make the ritual a matter of united observ- ance. That is to say, he instituted a single priesthood and a common sanctuary for all the tribes. It was only in accordance with the fitness of things that his own tribe should be charged with the priestly functions, and that his own brother should become the chief of the priests. For purposes of government this meant that the general civil administration and the religious should be closely allied. § 4o2. The other movement contemplated a redistri- bution and concentration of the governing power. This matter of internal government requires a somewhat close examination. It has been mentioned (§ 36) that the sheich of a nomadic tribe does not exercise absolute authority, nor even exercise primary jurisdiction. He is the arbiter, the leader in war, the judge on final appeal. Otherwise he is simply primus inter pares, and the pre- siding member of the council of elders. An association of several tribes or larger clans introduced no essential change in the constitution of this elementary democracy. The choice of a leader in war or in important negotiations was the only distinction conferred upon any one such chief above the rest. Moses, however, was confronted with an altogether exceptional governmental problem. He had to deal with a people whose normal social de- velopment had been rudely interrupted. As a result, very unequal degrees of social order were manifested among the several sections of the community. Tribal discipline and coherence had l)ecome suspended among large masses of the people, even where the bonds of the w^mmt^mrmm^. mm ■M El! i*'i i ifi i ' ii Si I 96 THE "MIXED MULTITUDE Book VII family or the kin had not been severed. The restoration of the body politic to order and right relations was ren- dered peculiarly difficult by the dislocations and inner disturbances due to the peregrinations of the whole com- munity. We realize better the chances of increasing confusion and disorder when we remember that 'the tent was the family rendezvous, and that during the critical early months of the desert life the encampment was shifted continually. § 4.53. A disturbing element of great ultimate influ- ence on the expansion of Israel was the so-called " mixed multitude." Such an appendage to the camp was an inevitable accompaniment of any considerable desert com- munity. It had the expectation and desire of becoming formally incorporated into the organized body to which it attached itself (§ 550). We are not to regard it as an undisciplined horde. Nor was it a miscellaneous con- glomeration of nondescript outlaws and refugees. On the contrary, it certainly represented in large measure small independent communities, remnants of tribes that were perhaps once powerful, but were now in danger of extinc- tion from the vicissitudes of the desert. They had become clients or wards of Israel, receiving protection and render- ing service in return, besides acknowledging Jehovah. § 454. The consolidation of such a badly assorted gath- ering, constantly on the move and much larger than an ordinary desert community, would have been quite out of the range of possibility if it were not for certain favouring conditions. One of these was the impetus that had been given to a common national sentiment by the successful passage of an arm of the Red Sea, and the signal overwhelming defeat of the Egyptian pursuers under the auspices of the accredited messenger and prophet of Jehovah. Food and water granted to Israel from the same potent source seemed to guarantee even to the parasitic retinue, as well as to Israel proper, the chief desiderata of desert life. Again, the necessity of ' Cii. Ill, § 455 ADMINISTRATIVE liEFOIJM 9T i i^ defence against predatory tribes or rivals for the possession of oases promoted that military spirit which is the strong- est external cohesive principle of nomadic life. And suc- cess in conflicts with foes like the Amalekites created an enthusiasm which promoted greatly, while it lasted, the growing sentiment of comradeship and unity. Men who before had been disheartened and aimless now felt them- selves bound together in the satisfying of a common desire and the putting forth of united efforts. Gratitude, depend- ence, confidence, and trust bound them at the same time to Moses their leader, and to Jehovah their God. As far as sentiment was concerned, as distinct from permanent qualities and virtues, everything was propitious for a beginning in popular government. § 45.'). How greatly this was needed is clear from the fact that, although under the new conditions men of the various tribes were continually brought into contact with one another, there were no common courts of justice or arbitration, to which resort could be had for the ratifying of any agreement or the adjustment of any dispute outside the limits of the single tribal division. Hence Moses him- self was constantly in demand as a judge, referee, and counsellor. The first decisive step was taken towards making a nation of Israel in a very few weeks after the crossing of the Red Sea. The time was propitious. A certain real preparation had been made among the people by the partial experience they had had of settled life in Egypt (cf. § 441 f.), as well as by their observation of the workings of Egyptian jurisprudence. The essential matter in the new system was that the administrative function should be divided and in a certain degree delegated. Moses, from being a great tribal chief over other chiefs, should become the head of a commonwealth. The revolu- tion was started by the introduction of a principle which ran quite across that of the tribal organization. In the latter there was the council of elders for general purposes of admuiistration. Also within each clan the heads of the !l w '\' A ♦ '.'' I - -M |i I LOCAL REPRESENTATION Book VII kins or family groups settled minor affairs and controver- sies. Their warrant was their personal authority ; and this rested on seniority or on a consent of the kinsmen, determined informally by obvious marks of fitness in those chosen to stand in the front. In any case, the choice came from below and not from above. The system now initiated was radically diverse. Instead of recognizing the sacred divisions of the tribe or the clan, or even those of the kin or the household, the principle of local relation was intro- duced. Groups, larger and smaller, were made according to residence or vicinage. Hence the basis of division was to be made numerical. Over the several sections rulers were appointed by Moses. " And Moses chose men of worth out of all Israel, and set them as heads over the people : rulers ^ of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they used to judge the people regularly ; the difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the minor cases they adjudicated themselves (Ex. xviii. 25 f.). At the same time these rulers were in a certain sense representative, "nee, according to the reminiscence in Deuteronomy (i. 13), the people were invited by Moses to co-operate in selecting them. More- over, the two systems were made to fit into one another, since the first choice at least was made from those who were already at the head of the tribal divisions (Deut. i. 15; cf. xvi. 18). § 456. This memorable institution presents some feat- ures of great interest. The first thing to be noticed is that it was introduced before the arrival of Israel at Sinai ; that is to say, it was preliminary to the specific ordinances which were to regulate the concerns of civic and religious life among the people of Jehovah as a nation. In other words, it was prerequisite to a settled mode of living gen- erally. Observe, further, that it was understood to be strictly of human devising. The same claim is not put forward for it that appears regularly in behalf of the sev- 1 The word is usually equivalent to " prince." Ch. m, § 457 THE REFORM NOT A " REVELATION " 90 i i I eral portions of the Sinaitic legislation. The latter were obtained directly in personal interviews with Jehovah upon his sacred seat. The former is expressly ascribed to a sug- gestion from the father-in-law of Moses. Jethro was, to be sure, a priest, and, as such, might seem authorized to deliver these counsels as an oracle from Jeliovah, espe- cially as he had presided, on the day preceding, at a sacri- fice to the God of Israel, whose supreme sovereignty he rejoiced to acknowledge (Ex. xviii. 10 £E.). But his act as a counsellor of Moses is, by the narrator, entirely dis- associated from his function as a priest, and it would, naturally, be only in the character of their official repre- sentative that he would have presumed to declare the divine will to the people of Israel. § 457. The distinction just pointed out is one of wide range and deep significance. It is only specific statutes and decisions that are ascribed by the sacred writers di- rectly to Jehovah. Political and social forms and institu- tions are either expressly or implicitly treated as popular movements. It was so with the later government by ''judges," and with the still later monarchical system. Nor was it otherwise after the Captivity. The matter is worthy of fuller discussion. It can only be pointed out here that the distinction is in perfect harmony with the whole spirit of Revelation, and with the Biblical concep- tion of the relation of the Deity to humanity. Human society is evolved out of primitive human relations. It is a product of practical skill, of adaptation, and contrivance, the slowly attained result of endless compromises and makeshifts. No social institution is of direct divine ap- pointment. The matter of Revelation is the unfolding and illustration of principles within the sphere of morals, of conscience, of conduct. The divine will is declared for the enlightenment and guidance of men within the social and political relations in which they stand, and which are in themselves, as mere institutions, without moral signifi- cance. The "law," or, rather, the teaching of Jehovah, is ;■' ) m 1| if* r I '. r I ^^mmm ^p^ ^1 100 NEED OF A COHESIVE PRINCIPLE Book VII a revelation of the righteousness and justice ^ which are the foundation of his throne (Ps. Ixxxix. 14; xcvii. 2). As a body of "precepts," "statutes," "commandments," "judgments," it is a record of the actual decisions of Jehovah revealed through his representatives the Proph- ets. It is, of course, not confined to the Pentateuch, though that portion of the Old Testament contains a systematized compilation of those announcements which have to do with the regulation of the ordinary affairs of life. The distinction, then, is clear that human society, as represented in Israel, is taken for granted as it stands. Its ultimate constitution and its established relations are not interfered with. But the duties which grow out of these relations are defined and insisted upon. Men are not held responsible for conditions which they find ready to hand, but for specific acts of their own free choice. § 458. Some radical change in the organization of the tribes was imperatively demanded for other reasons than those assigned by the priest of Midian (Ex. xviii. 14, 18). Even if the clansmen were merely to be held together until they should reach the borders of Canaan, some more cohesive principle than the prescriptive tribal government had to be adopted. And this numerical division and or- ganization of the people according to local groupings, in place of tribal associations, marked the first necessary stage of preparation for the higher and permanent type of civic administration. For military purposes alone an 1 These are the two key-words of the Old Testament moral revelation. The former (pnx) is the guiding subjective principle of right, whether in God or man. The latter (Dciyn) is its outward expression, its practical efficiency. Since it varies indefinitely with the relations and conditions of its application in human affairs, the term itself must be rendered and interpreted variously. It should not always be translated "judgment," as is usuJiUy done in the modern versions. This is only proper when it means a decision or adjudication. The original meaning is levelling; thence comes the sense of adjusting, regulating, deciding. The judicial usage predominates, since .lehovah is the decider, the adjuster, the judge, in human affairs. As the name of right conduct it answers, as an abstract, to "justice." Ch. Ill, § 459 THE NEW PRINCIPLE GERMINAL 101 advance was indispensable. It was impossible that any- general leader could permanently command the services or the ^^yalty of the warriors if these were at the absolute disposal of the clan leaders or the family councils. They must be habituated to consider themselves as parts of a greater whole, as owing allegiance to the community and its leader, and bound to stand together, not merely as kinsmen or clansmen, but as members of a larger brother- hood. Again, the rights of property must be conserved as between man and man, and not merely as between a man and his tribe or sept.^ Finally, the initiative in legal processes must be taken by some representatives of the people rather than by the family or clan alone. The new principle could not secure these ends directly, but it was the best means of showing the inadequacy and unfitness of the old bonds of union, and it pointed the way to some higher and better state of society that should provide secu- rity, confidence, and repose to the vexed and harassed wanderers. § 459. It is not to be supposed, however, that the new type of administration was at once made fully operative. Such a process, like other social change, must be one of natural and gradual adjustment. We are to understand that, in this episode of the journey between Rephidim and Sinai, the beginnings of a new order of things were made, and that these were improved upon continually according to a well-defined aim and upon a fixed principle. I may again remind the reader of the distinguishing mark of Hebrew narrative (cf . § 435 ; 446), — how it summarizes events, indicates great movements and epochs by single examples, puts a part for the whole and the whole for a m it 1 dne of the most grievous evils of the tribal system was that any one accused before his tribesmen would be acquitted or condemned by the judgment of his kinsfolk alone. Inasmuch, also, as levenge for injuries, real or supposed, was left to the kin, or ultimately to the clan or tribe, magisterial government would be desirable so as to mitigate the severity of vengeance, as well as to punish the olfender. 111 102 RETENTION OF OLD rillNCIPLES Book VII f'l if lif ■ > . i". -i part, foreshortens its historical pictures. In this instance, the end is given with the beginning, because the beginning implied and virtually involved the end. § 460. Finally, we must conclude, in the same way, that the old system of organization was not suddenly repealed. We know, indeed, that it was in force much later, even after the settlement in Canaan had been accomplished (e.^. Jud. vi. 34). The two principles were allowed to work side by side ; that which was inherently the stronger and more serviceable gradually superseded the other. Nat- urally, the patriarchal was perpetuated during long ages for the adjustment of family relations. Indeed, as we have seen (§ 455), the first officials under the new system were selected from the heads of the tribes and families. On the other hand, we do not need to assume that the numeri- cal division was strictly adhered to. " Thousands, hun- dreds, fifties, and tens" were, we may suppose, in most cases, approximations. The very term for " thousand " is one of the names for a clan or sept (§ 396). This, of itself, may suggest to us the propriety of not insisting rigorously on the literal accuracy of Old Testament sum- marizing numbers. § 461. The principle observed was to have justice ad- ministered within manageable divisions of contiguous groups, large and small. Details are wanting. We see here only the germ and first expression of public senti- ment, the political initiation of the people of Israel. Here- after something was felt to be standing between the unregulated freedom of the clansman and the rough jus- tice or matter of course protection of his kinsman or his tribe (see Deut. xvi. 18 f. ; xvii. 8 ff.; xxv. 1 ff.). There was a public tribunal where there was some chance of each case being decided wholly on its merits. This may seem to have been a slight step in advance. But it is the first step that counts, and the movement taken here was a practi- cal one. There is no such thing as justice in the abstract. The kingdom of righteousness would never have been Ch. Ill, § 462 RELIGIOUS BASIS OF THE WHOLE 103 established if rude men at the threshhold of civilized his- tory had not been taught justice and self-control from the discipline of their fellows more advanced than themselves. From this point of view the system suggested by Jethro is seen to be a comprehensive type of the social and political development of Israel.^ But it is more than this. It is a symbol also of the triumph and reign of law and order among men, which has furnished the outward conditions of the progress of righteousness and justice. Thus it seems, after all, to have been ultimately not less a divine institu- tion than the legislation on Sinai. § 462. But we are expressly notified that the human and the divine actually co-operated in this first political experiment of the Hebrew commonwealth. The people in resorting to Moses came to him " to inquire of God," and Moses, in " judging between a man and his neighbour, made them know the statutes of God and his laws " (Ex. xviii. 15 f.). As we have seen (§ 457), Jehovah was the fountain of all practical justice, and both seers and priests in dispensing justice and pronouncing judgment, did so in his name, and after inquiring of his will. This funda- mental aspect of the relation of the people of Israel to their God overshadows all others. It is in fact the basis of the Old Testament religion. When we think of the mission and work of the Prophets in Israel, we can only complete the retrospect by going back to these primary dis- closures among the tents of the Desert. We are at pres- ent, however, concerned more particularly with the social and political aspects of the public administration in Israel. And immediately after the record of the new organization, we find the people at Sinai receiving a complete system of instruction as to the details of life and conduct. The combination is now seen to be natural. The one in fact 1 Hence it is not surprising to meet tlie statement that sliortly after the camp breaks up again, Moses finds it necessary to liave the assistance of a council of "seventy elders" (Numb. xi. 16 ff.). Evidently the organi- zation was tentative and rudimentary. >! 11 : ^ 104 LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Book VII i; "11 : < ; i ii I ^'1. ■it ',■:• 'i i 1 m implies and requires the other. Indeed, in the summariz- ing review the political episode is regarded as falling within the epoch of Sinai (Deut. i. 6, 9 ff.). Its value as part of the record consists mainly, one would think, in the relation between it and the disclosures made on the holy mount. The meaning of this association obviously is that the precepts of Sinai and its administrative provisions generally were designed for the stage of society which was to be reached by virtue of the new civil constitution. § 463. A comprehensive glance at the enactments illus- trates clearly the foregoing observation. The new type of internal government went bej-ond the usages and re- quirements of nomads. It could only be, as it actually was, brought into complete operation under the conditions of settled life. Just so was it with the regulations of Sinai. Beyond its few general moral and religious pre- cepts, everything applies to the subsequent life of Israel in Canaan.i Scarcely anything is either specifically or implicitly adapted to the experiences of the wilderness. It is unnecessary to demonstrate this assertion. The same thing is to be said of the prescriptions in Deuteronomy. Just as the directions of the ritual imply a fixed place of worship, so the regulations for civil life imply a fixed abode for the people. The whole system is framed for a people living in towns and villages, and engaged normally in tilling the soil. And, as a matter of fact, not only do many of the statutes expressly contemplate a residence in a country populous and productive, but the people are con- tinually reminded of the necessity of observing them in the land to which they were being conducted. This is, therefore, the Biblical as well as the sociological view of the matter. § 464. There is little more to be learnt of the develop- ment of the Hebrew community from the narrative of 1 Even, as it would seem, the Decalogue. See Ex. xx. 10, "the stranger that is within thy gates " (i.e. cities), and v. 12. Cf. note to §474. |t|! Ch. Ill, § 404 THE APPLICATION COMES LATER 105 the wanderings in the Desert.^ We can only resume the inquiry at the point where the life of the nation can he considered to be fairly begun in its permanent home. We may then, and not till then, practically apply tlie prescrip- tion of the Law to the problems of the public and private life of Israel. The details of the census and muster-roll have only a mechanical basis and do not rest on any social or political movement. The tribal principle, moreover, is there still the governing one. i'. 1:1; 1 i i :i<' CHAPTER IV THE SETTLEMENT IN CANAAN il'. ' I •■ a , § 465. Political and social transitions are hard to under- stand and describe. Contemporaries usually fail to realize them because of the slowness of the processes. Or they fail to apprehend and estimate the causes on account of the multiplicity of the phenomena and the apparent com- plexity of their interaction. Later ages are at a loss because of lack of information, or perhaps still more fre- quently from the absence of intellectual and moral sympa- thy. The transition in Israel from the nomadic stage to the usages and achievements of settled life in Canaan is one of the most misunderstood passages of ancient history. General observations are first in order, because misappre- hensions as to the general conditions are widely prevalent. First of all, it behooves us to guard against the common error that the transition was brief and rapid. The very opposite is the truth. Rather may it be almost aflfirmed that the transition stage was prolonged indefinitely. Cer- tainly some sections of the population never fully emerged from the nomadic state. I do not now refer to the minor traces of tribalism in the permanent beliefs and social prejudices of the people. These were almost ineradicable, and they were only slowly extruded by the force of pro- phetic universalism (§ 399). Actual dwellers in tents, forming distinct communities, were found up to the very close of the monarchy, after a residence within Israel from the very beginning of the settlement (Jer. xxxv. 6 ff ; cf. § 416). Larger or smaller communities of shepherds 100 Cii. IV, § 400 SUUVIVAL OF NOMADISM 107 to ael ff; L'ds were scattered over extensive districts, not merely east of the Jordan, where they formed the prevailing type, but in Canaan proper as well, particularly in the territory of Judah. Even when these aggregations clustered about fixed centres, the manners and traditions of the nomad still prevailed. The difticulty of abrogating the essential tribal law of blood-revenge was anticipated in the funda- mental legislation (Ex. xxi. 13). The practice continued to prevail in the near neighbourhood of Jerusalem in the earlier days of the kingdom (2 Sam. xiv. 7). The conmion speech of the people bears testimony to the per- manence of the ancient social institutions. " To your tents, O Israel ! " ^ was the watchword of insurrection in times long after the encampment had been abandoned as the centre of national life (1 K. xii. 16; of. 2 Sam. xx. 1). In the days of Ilezekiah (Isa. xxxiii. 20; 701 ii.c), and even at the close of the Exile (Isa. liv. 2; cf. Jer. x. 20), the tent is still the symbol of the community. It is only in New Testament times that it becomes the symbol of an individual life (2 Cor. v. 1 ; 2 Pet. i. 13 f.). § 466. The importance of the tenacity of the nomadic spirit, along with the persistence of the nomadic habit, is not easily overestimated. Its suggestions for our imme- diate purpose are obvious. But its significance is not exhausted by its influence on the historical development of later Israel. The perpetual survivals, gaunt and rugged or kindly and gentle, of the genius of tribalism — in social usage, in religious belief, in the administration of justice, in the lingering reminiscences of word and phrase — testify eloquently and convincingly to a long antecedent history of the Hebrew community separate from the nations (Numb, xxiii. 9). This is a monument, variously in- scribed, that speaks trumpet-tongued where so many other voices are silent. The assumption that the Hebrews had but a brief corporate existence before they ajjpeared 1 A phrase implying a return to the primary independence of nomadic life, and a renouncing of allegiance to a centralizing monarch. / m\ ■i. : Bi'i r I ,- II h , Jil 108 THE MOXAUCIIY A DIVIDING I'OIXT Book VII on the borders of Canaan ean be shown from tliese memo- rials, if by nothing else, to be a baseless figment. § 407. A clear distinction must, howevei-, be made between the condition of the population as a whole and that of the less numerous and influential portion of the community which retained to the end a preference for the institutions land manners of the wilderness. This latter element it is not necessary to take particularly into account for the study of Hebrew society, except as affording illus- tration of primitive habits. With regard to the historic Israel, we may mark as a clear dividing point, in social as ■well as in political progress, the era of the establishment of monarchy. Before this epoch, the condition of Israel in Palestine may be characterized as hc mi-nomadic. This crisis, strictly speaking, marks the limit of the above indicated period of transition. The tendencies and movements that made for consolidation and complexity of social structure multiplied rapidly as soon as a central authority was established. And, as we have seen (§ 50 ; cf . 188 ff.), a wide extension of power was not attained by any of the leaders of Israel till the founding of the kingdom. § 468. Centralization was, in fact, impossible without the monarchy. There is probably no instance on record of a voluntary confederation of tribes, except where the society has remained essentially of the nomadic type. When nomads come to exchange the desert for the planta- tions or bazars or factories of iixed settlements, they break up into separate communities, and are united, if at all, only by force. This general fact throws light upon the original settlement of Palestine by the Canaanites, who are found to have had the kingly government only in petty city-states (§ 36 f.). The nomadic origin of these communities is thus apparent ajiart from general pre- sumptive evidence. What would have become of the Hebrew people if the monarchy had not been instituted is perhaps problematical. But their fate would in all likelihood have been that of their predecessors. As agri- Cii. IV, § JO!) DATA F(»U THE SKTTLEMKNT 109 culturists, tradespeople, aiicl artisans, their continuance under this senii-noniadic type of society was out of the question. The period of intertribal strife and anarchy, of which the closing chapters of the book of Judges give so mournful an account, would have been prolonged until in sheer weariness the distracted tribesmen had gathered around their respective local centimes of population and chosen for themselves leaders and ''judges" independent of former associations. The enterprise of Abimelech (Jud. ix.) would have been repeated with greater suc- cess than his in many cities, and numerous petty king- doms would ha.ve replaced the ideal of a united Israel. It was the unifying bond of a common allegiance to Jehovah, and the perpetual sense of common danger, that mainly kept the tribes together. But even these would not have much longer sufficed. How clear a proof is afforded by even the precarious coherence of the frag- ments of Israel that the time of the Judges d''d not extend over many generations ! To have survived a century and a half of abnormal distracting and exhausting social vicis- situdes is itself an evidence of unequalled racial and national vitality. § 409. But we are anticipating some of the results of a more special examination. What are our data for determining the character of the Hebrew community and its gradual development during this period of transition ? It is fortunate that while no direct delineation of the manners and usages of the time has been left us, we still have a twofold illustration of the subject which leaves nothing to be desired for pictorial and clarifying effect. We have on the one hand the incidental notices of the historical books, especially of Judges and Samuel ; on the other, we have the laws and kindred prescriptions, which were framed for the guidance of the people during the early years of the settlement. The one enlightens us from without; the other illumines the subject from witlun. As to the complementary matter of the growth of the :W Hii im m no ISRAEL ON ENTERING CANAAN Book VII \ •I i ■, community, our main recourse will be to trace the neces- sary workings of the institutions of Israel within the shifting boundary lines of the families, the clans, the tribes, and the nation. § 470. We naturally first inquire into the social and political status of the Hebrews at the time when they entered Canaan. If our conclusions already drawn are at all well founded, there is no difficulty in making at least a general answer to the question. What we were able to gather as to their condition in Egypt indicated that they were something more than ordinary bands of desert rovers. We found strong presumptive evidence of solidarity, of a grade of culture much advanced beyond barbarism, of such an increase in numbers as would justify their hope of becoming a nation (§ 436 ff.). Their sub- sequent life in the wilderness more than confirms the supposition. Their great need was a better organization and the inspiration of a national feeling. At least the beginnings were made in the way of discipline and of political education (§ 454 ff.). They became habituated under the direction and training of Moses to a wider outlook than the bounds of the family or the tribe, to a richer hope than the mere expectation of daily bread. Just as their survival of the long opj)ression in Egypt testifies to their inherent vitality and their numerical strength, so their triumph over the dangers and disin- tegrating forces of their long desert Avanderings avouches their increasing fitness to cope with more destructive and more insidious foes than Pharaoh and his taskmasters. § 471. But it would be a cardinal error to confine this advance to a mere augmentation of military power or of external resources generally. What was vital and potential in their development was the awakening and nourishing of a spirit of heroic endeavour, an assurance of a larger national destiny than the occupation and retention of the most eligible oasis of northern Arabia. Without such an inspiration, the possession of a permanent home in Canaan i Cii. IV, § 172 PATRIOTISM AND RELIGION 111 ler a Ins of ;ial he an an would have been to them an impossibility. Now that we see how they were animated by such a spirit, we perceive also that the feeling must have been widespread and general ; that it was, so to speak, a corporate conviction. What it really had for its vitalizing and nourishing prin- ciple was a common faith in Jehovah, the God of Israel. Rude and immature as this faith must have been, it was yet deeply rooted. And — what we are specially to mark — it was a national feeling. It drew its energizing force from motives broader and deeper than the interests or the ambitions of the family or the kin or the clan. Cherislied as it was by individuals, it was not cherished primarily as a merely personal sentiment. Such a thing was simply unimaginable in ancient Oriental society, where the single individual life was an anomaly and a religious as well as social disability. The family group, the clan, or the tribe was the horizon of the world into which the early Hebrew was born. And if his thought and imagination ranged beyond the widest of these limits, it could only be because he had already become virtually a citizen of a state, a compont it element of a nation. Such an assump- tion, I repeat, is demanded for Israel at the time of the occupation of Canaan, and in virtue of the very fact of that occupation. § 472. We are justified in proceeding a step further. When we recognize accomplished facts universally ad- mitted, we must be prepared to accept all the necessary antecedents. The conquest of Canaan by the Hebrews, while it supports the Biblical presuppositions as to their political and social status, confirms also the Biblical state- ments as to the successive stages and the method of the occupation. The general course of the conquest, as we gather it from the accounts given in Numbers and Joshua, is to the following effect. The Hebrews at first made an attempt upon the southern border of Palestine, and, hav- ing failed in this, they, after a icngthy period of prepara- tion, moved upon Canaan from the eastern side. Territory I J,(. s 1 \ , ! I ' 11 ■ f ^ ! 112 THE BIBLE ACCOUNT REASONABLE Book VH to the east of the Jordan was taken from a formidable remnant of the Amorites in Gilead and Bashan, and in this region the tribes of Reuben and Gad and a portion of Manasseh received their possessions. Canaan proper was entered at Jericho. From this point of vantage the subjection of the country was gradually effected. The correctness of this view of the matter was taken for granted in the historical summary given in our first vol- ume (§ 183 ff.). The reasonableness of the scheme has commended it to general acceptance by critics and his- torians. Even those who reject all the details of the sacred narrative admit at least that the entrance was made from the eastern side, and that the territory of Reuben and Gad was occupied and cultivated by Hebrews before Western Palestine was entered by them. § 473. Added assurance may be gained from a few brief considerations. (1) Canaan proper at the time of the Exodus could not have been entered successfully from the south except by an invading force vastly superior in war to anything which the Hebrews could muster. The natural defences on the south and west of the hill country, and. the barriers in the way of marching have always prac- tically decided this question. (2) The phenomenon of the conquest of Canaan by the Hebrews can only be explained on the assumption that the decisive movement was made by a wholesale, systematic, simultaneous inva- sion ^ by all the Hebrew clans together. The Canaanites were no doubt divided by their political genius and their long habit of segregation in their walled cities. But any 1 Stade, GVL p. IIG ff., 132 ff., while denying on critical grounds the whole story of the military operations of Israel east of the Jordan, tries to show how the Hebrews became an agricultural people in that region, cand then, through an increase of the population beyond tlie nourishing capacity of the country, migrated by detachments into Western Palestine. Wellhausen, the leader of his school, shows more historical insight (see Skizsen, etc., p. 7 and 14 ; and I.TG. p. 14 f.). Stade's theory of the occupation is fully disproved by G. A, Smith, HG. p. 659 ff. ; of. 274 ff. I I ■i t Cii. IV, § 474 THE AGRICULTURAL STAGE 113 considerable section of them was still strong enough to beat back a divided Israel, in spite of their losses through former invasions (§ 166 f.). (3) The Biblical story of the Exodus, the attempt on Southern Palestine, the desert marching, the attack from the east, the line of invasion, and the method of the conquest, is the only account that has come down to us of a unique event otherwise inexpli- cable. But, what is of equal importance, the main con- verging lines of the tradition harmonize with one another, and the essential elements of the whole representation are mutually consistent. If Israel's survival of the long Egyptian residence, the Exodus, the leadership of a great commander and organizer, the occupation of Canaan itself, are indisputable matters of history, then all of the material facts tliat set forth the successive stages in the action are not only natural, but we may even say necessary. § 474. We may now pass on to a consideration of the process of settlement and of the ways in wliich the new settlers grew and changed in their permanent home. A glance at the code of laws contained in Ex. xx.-xxiii., com- monly called the "Book of the Covenant," reveals the fact that it was intended for a people who had advanced beyond, but not very far beyond, the pastoral stage. Cities are never once alluded to directly,^ and there is not a single statute which necessarily has to do with conditions of life in walled towns. On the other hand, most of the enactments refer expressly to agricultural conditions, and most of the remainder imply them. The direct explana- tion of the phenomenon is obvious. The Hebrews for a long while after the general invasion did not inhabit cities, at least not in large bodies. Of those which they 1 In the fourth conunanclinent of the Decalogue (Ex. xx. 10), the phrase " tliy client (f/er) that is within thy gates " is quite excei)tinnal and is supposed by some to be of Deuteronomio origin. Notice that in the passage (Ex. xxi. 13) referring to an asyliun for the innocent nianslayer, the word "place" is used, and not the term "city" of refuge, which i.s the form used in Deuteronomy and the priestly code. 1, ., [l Mfn t ■■ ■ , ' ' : "' ■i * "I ^ ■ 1*1 i i ( 1 1 ,.,,/ in '■\ 114 LIFE IN CITIES CAME LATER Hook VII early succeeded in conquering, they occupied at first but few. One reason, therefore, is connected with the usage and policy of victorious invaders generally. As a rule, an alternative was struck between two entirely different kinds of treatment. When an eneni}' was rebellious, ex- cessively turbulent, and permanently dangerous, his cities would be destroyed. But the ordinary principle was to put the peoples holding the cities under tribute. By this means they became a source of profit to the new occupants of the land, who also had in view their ultimate amalga- mation, and the consequent strengthening of the dominant people. After a conquest was effected in any district, it was not so difficult as might be supposed to keep the Canaanites tributary, since (§ 37 ; cf. § 35) they were ac- customed to live in small, isolated communities. Thus they were in many instances allowed to continue their old manner of life, though the towns themselves were invested by a sufficient garrison (2 Sam. viii. 6, 14) ^ to keep order and prevent conspiracy or revolt. 8 475. Affain, the Hebrews did not as a rule live in the conquered cities during the earlier stages of the settlement, because they were not at all adapted or inclined to such a life. There were among them few of the commercial or industrial class. What they preferred to do was to occupy plantations and estates, once the property of the people of the land, and have them worked by their slaves, most of whom were naturally subjugated Canaanites, Vineyards, olive yards, barle}' and wheat fields, were found ready at hand. For the cattle which they brought with them pasture was available ; nor was it necessary to turn many of them to agricultural uses, since the oxen and the asses and the sheep of their serfs became their property along with the former owners. The promi- nence of these animals as valuable possessions in the earli- est legislation is very noticeable. Equally remarkable is 1 As was doue by the Philistiues among the Hebrews themselves, 1 Sam. xiv. Iff. Cii. IV, § 476 CATTLE, TILLAGE, AND JUSTICE 115 i the absence of all mention of the horse and the camel. Not that these animals were not familiar to the residents of Canaan. The camel was an indispensable means of com- munication with tlie desert and the lands beyond. The horse was, to be sure, not used by the Hebrews in agri- culture in the earlier times, ^ nor yet for riding, probably not even for war. Yet we cannot suppose it to have been entirely discarded in Canaan, where it had been in vogue for military purposes since the Egyptian times. The point to be noticed is that all other animals than the ox, the ass, and the sheep Avere irrelevant to the juris- prudence of a society which was so purely agricultural. Other indications of the sphere of application of this body of laws are the statutes relating to the protection (xxii. 5 f.) and cultivation (xxiii. 10 ff.) of fields and vineyards, to the law of the first-fruits, and to that of the three great feasts. But, indeed, surviving features of the pastoral life so slowly abandoned are everywhere apparent. Cattle are not only of practical service ; they constitute, also, the chief capital or chattels. Justice is to be carried on according to the elementary principles of retaliation and compensation. " Pers&nal injuries fall under the law of retaliation, just as murder does. The principle of retalia- tion is conceived as legitimate vengeance (xxi. 20, 21, manjin'). Except in this form there is no punishment, but only compensation." ^ § 476. Enough has been said to indicate at least the general condition of the people for many decades after the settlement. Broadly speaking, this semi-pastoral, semi-agricultural type of society prevailed throughout the period of the Judges. It was inevitable that it should be so. Not one generation or two could convert a race of cattle-tenders into tradesmen, or dwellers in 1 Isa. xxviii. 28, however, refers to long-established usages. It has been suspected that the reading is wrong, because the tenn used is the one employed for chariot-horses. •■! W. R. Smith, UTJC. 1st ed. p. ;j;}(5 ; cf. 2d ed. p. 340 f. I 1 t •■H [\n 116 THE "JUDGES" SHOW LITTLE CHANGE Book VII tents into builders of cities. The whole atmosphere of the contemporary records is redolent of the life of shep- herds and husbandmen. The song of Deborah and the book of Ruth represent the same social conditions all the more vividly from their poetic and idyllic character. The leading men up to the new era under David were men of the country or inhabitants of villages. David himself was the last of that renowned order of nobility. It is the land-holder with his retinue of " servants " who is the representative man in this democracy, the man of force and worth. ^ How different it became under the rule of the Kings, when this same land-owner, the first among his equals, became a peer in the new order of I)' bility ! He speedily developed into the grasping, oppres- ' i-nd-grabber, having his residence in the city, reduc- ing the small peasant proprietor to serfdom, and by this inversion of the natural order of things in Israel subvert- ing i:lie iCLU'dations of the state. § 47T. le mechanical euA'ironment. In all the products of 1 u action there are marks of life and thought and, therei ..e, also the conditions of variation as Avell as of per^^etua- tion of form and t3'pe. National character is depicted in the construction of houses, the style of their furniture, and in the products of the useful arts generally, as Avell as in the physical movement, the address, and the social bearinsf of the men of the time. § 484. Such features of the special life of the HebrcAv city Ave cannot Avholly reproduce. But of some matters of interest Ave may be reasonably sure. We may say, for example, that, except for purposes of Avar or training for Avar, or of tribal or national feasts and religious pilgrim- ages, the city Avas the exclusive gathering-point of its OAvn proper community. As city or village life grcAv more and more, the family at the one extreme, and the tribe or even the clan at the other, greAv less and less. Cii. IV, § 18o DEVELor.MEXT OF IXDUSTUIKS 1-JJ The residents of a city might possibly he all or nearly all of the same tribe ; they would hardly be all of the same elan, or of the same kin or family group (1 Sam. xx. 0). Their religious services, exce[»t upon great occasions, would be held more and more apart. Their work, whether commercial or industrial, would Ijecome greatly more specialized. New guilds of tradesmen would be added in the larger cities, such as makers of agricultural implements, carpenters, bricklayers, stonecutters. Hand- mills became the pro[)erty of nearly every house, but often the larger mills, turned by asses, were used for whole neighbourhoods. Husbandmen, before almost unknown, were now the prevailing type of labouring men. These branched off into several classes. The raising of cereals and of flax and hemp now divided the interests of the bulk of the people with the rearing and tending of cattle. Besides, there was the care of the vine, the fig, and the olive, which represented so largely the productiveness of Palestine. The smiths and founders, the potters and weavers, to keep pace with the demands of the new com- plex society, now developed into artists and designers. The stationary forge, the wheel, and the loom became the training schools f(n' the ingenuous youth who, in the freer, simpler times, had no apprenticeship to works of skill save in the school of the bow, the sling, and the lance. § 485. It is manifest that by the operation of such tendencies Hebrew society Avas gradually but surely undergoing a revolution. The change from tribal to civic life Avas, socially, far more radical and distinctive than the movement which later brought about the mon- archy. The latter altered the external aspect of the state b^ giving a common direction and purpose to a number of communities otherwise incapable of united action. Bu.t the former was an internal revolution. It created the communities themselves,, and determined forever the prevailing type of the social life of Israel. In trying to apprehend this transformation Ave have been specially con- li I *:i i m III 8' I. Hi r^ "«F ' i' 124 OFFICIALS; THK ELDERS Book VII cernetl with the occasions and forms of the new. mode of life in cities. We may now summarily complete this poitioii of our survey by pointing out how the processes by which tlie new type of society was evolved brought about, in spite of their benefits, a state of chings little short of anarchy, and only to be remedied by the ultimate surrender of individual and communal autonomy. § 48G. The dominant needs of the whole community were prompt and faithful administration of justice and ample provision for the fulfilment of religious duties. These two requirements, which to us moderns seem inhe- rently distinct, were to the ancient Semites, in their more primitive social stages, practicallv inseparable. A glance at the modes and agencies of the administraaon of law during this period is now in order, and will help us to a clear understanding of the whole main question involved. Under the fully developed cit}' government all the essen- tial classes of official life had ample play for their func- tions. There were first the "elders," who rei)resented the old heads of the families and clans under the tribal system. These functionaries were continued under the new con- ditions of local government. But hereditary claims, when accompanied by a sufficient property qualification, came at length to be an .adequate title to the office (§ 509), and in a society where prescription held such sway the right of no responsible member of the session was likely to be questioned. Their jurisdiction naturally embraced matters of family concern : disputes as to con- jugal lelations (Deut. xxii. 15 ff.), about inheritances, the division of property,^ the appointment of the (joel or 1 How natural it was f f., and wliich took place in times long subsequent ti> the ".Judges." The ditliculty which occurs to us as inevitable from the custom of liaving a bench of magistrates cho.sen neither by people nor king is (luite imaginary. It is to be noted that the elders sat to be consulted if necessary, not to thrust themselves on any one sup- posed to be in need of coun.sel or discipline. ; ym Cn. IV, § 488 THE LOCAL JUDGES 125 H s: t 1 upholder of the family (Ruth iv.), the settlement of blood- revenge (Deut. xix. 12). They also represented the city in controversies with other cities as to responsibility for crime, calamity, and the like (Deut. xxi. 1 ff.). § 487. Next there Avere the local "judges." These were, no doubt, originally appointed as arbitrators. They are not exactl}- a characteristic institution of civic as opposed to nomadic life, for the Bedawin have their kdrjls as well as their sheichs. TJiey naturally came more and more to the front as new classes of cases arose for which the law of the tribe or the family had made no provision. Such cases, for example, as are dealt witli in the " Book of the Covenant" (§ 474) must have led to complications for which no precedent could be found. And it is signifi- cant that the term "judges" does not occur in tliat pri- mary legislation. Yet the function is foreshadowed in the mention of "arbitrators" (E.V. "judges" Ex. xxi. 22) to whom appeal was to be made in a certain case of special dilificulty. What the "judges" eventuall}- had to do fall accordingly under two heads. They had to decide cases of appeal from the ordinar}- bench of elders at the cit}' gates; the}- had also to administer the new legisla- tion as it arose, and to establish precedents in unforeseen and novel instances. They were, doubtless, as a rule, taken from the body of the elders of the city, and also, when the more complete organization of tlie kingl}- time came into vogue (§ 530 f.), from the "princes" or chiefs of the military or fiscal divisions larger or smaller. With the further development of the kingdom the " judges " naturally became more important as compared with tlie elders, and played a great part in the social and moral history of the nation. § 488. A third kind of judicial function is that exer- cised by the priests, and later, also, by prophets. ^ In the 1 The difference between the position of the two classes does not lie so much in the binding force of their respective decisions as in the fact that the priests were from the first ofh'i-m/ judges, whereas the prophets were ' > 1 a I \\- ,1? ■J m Hi 1' i I'' III ii ii Ii' h 'it 126 PRIESTS AND PROPHETS Book VII Hebrew terminology it is called the giving of direction or "teaching" (E.V. "law," torat}, and it developed in the ministry of the prophets into absolutely immeasurable importance. Resort or appeal to the priest or prophet is called coming "unto God" (e.^. Ex. xxi. 6; xxii. 8),^ because the priest, or the prophet, was the direct repre- sentative of Jehovah. The term " direction " represents precisely the primary and fundamental notion of these decisions. They were essentially of an advisory char- acter, and thus constituted the "oracle" of the Hebrews. As originally each family group had its own priest, resort was naturally had to him for light on practical difficulties, not so much the settling of disputes as pointing out the safe, judicious, or righteous way for the individual or the household in embarrassment. And a glance at the instances of such appeals recorded in the Old Testa- ment will show that they were always mainlj^ of the same character, though often on a larger scale. But as the genius of the true religion abhors what is conven- tional and perfunctory, the part played by the priests receives little emphasis, and that borne by the prophets comes always more and more into prominence, until we find them swaying the destinies of the whole nation by "the word of Jehovah." The subject is fascinating as Avell as fruitful. In this connection I can only add that this third kind of "judgment" differed from the other two in this respect, among others, that the oracle of the priest or the prophet liad no outward compulsion, while the elders and the judges had apparently not only judicial but also executive functions, according to the practice and principles of ancient Semitic jurisprudence. Tliis distinction brings out into clearer relief the nearness of appeciled to on account of their wisdom and spiritual authority. It was, of course, as a " prophet " that Jesus was appealed to in the case above cited. 1 R.V. margin, " judges." The reader will see that this rendering is not strictly correct. In Ex. xxii. 28, it is entirely erroneous. Cii. IV, § 489 RELIGION AND THE LOCAL COURTS 127 « priest and prophet to Jehovah himself. What was essen- tially of the character of a revelation carried with it its own warrant. It was only when it became materialized into statute law that it needed to be administered by a set of officials (cf. § 590). § 489. Yet these more superficial distinctions must not blind us to the comprehensive general fact that all law was essentially of a religious character. Primaril}-- the family head, who was also the priest of his own house- hold, directed his family according to the counsel of God (Gen. xviii. 19, etc.). And as the Hebrew commonwealth expanded, the same fundamental principle continued to be recocfnized that .Tehovah was the ultimate fountain of all legislation. To this it was an obvious corollary that his direct representatives wielded a unique authority as law-givers. Passing over the more notorious cases of Moses and Aaron, it is sufficient to cite the fact that many of the " judges " were priests or prophets, and that they were also permitted to offer sacrifices upon occasion. Now we may note the connection between the administra- tion of justice and the observance of religious obligations on the part of the people at large. In the first place we observe that any laxity, irregularity, or deterioration of the religious services, which were the normal function of the priests, necessarily robbed the legal codes of their dignity and prestige, and, besides, checked or corrupted justice at its very fountain. Again (and this brings us back to our point of departure), if any influences, either local or national, interfered to prevent or seduce the mem- bers of the several communities from attending the pre- scribed religious ordinances, they would be thrown more completely upon the often inadequate local courts for tlie settlement of matters of controversy. It was to prevent both the tendency and the results that the national or sectional judges were a[)pointed. It was certainlj- the purpose of the Mosaic legislation to have a court of appeal (Ex. xviii. et al.') or of central jurisdiction; and ! I .5 ■ i \ II 128 DECLINE OF CENTRAL RESORTS Book VII >i one great end of the whole system was virtually nullified when this was neglected or contemned. § 490. Notoriously this ideal of a single religious and a single judicial centre Avas never fully realized for all Israel in the long period of the Judges. What then shall we say of the several leading centres?^ Of them, too, it must be confessed that they failed to secure a toleraljle measure of moral and social benefit for the people. One after another their influence and prestige declined. Even Shiloh, the most renowned among them all both as a seat of religion and of justice, the home of the Ark and of its tabernacle, came to an end as a resort of pilgrims and oracle-seekers. It would be a mistake to suppose that it ever served as such for the whole of Israel. We never liear of its clients extending beyond the plain of Jezreel on the north or as far as Hebron on the south. But for the central tribes it was long Avithout a rival for sanctity and attractiveness. It was at the height of its popularity and influence under the regime of Eli and his sons, priests and judges of Israel. It did not survive their administration. The inefficiency and corruption of Hophni and Phinehas would in any case have hastened its downfall, which took place shortly after their regime was brought to its tragic close (1 Sam. iv. 11 ft'.). The cir- cumstances of the dav of its visitation have not been recorded. We only know that it was overwhelmed by such a sudden and awful calamity that the event was recalled with horror through all the following centuries (Jer. vii. 14; xxvi. G; cf. Ps. Ixxviii. GO). § 491. This catastrophe marks a crisis and an epoch in the political as well as in the social and religious his- 1 How such resorts necesscirily sprang up here and there according to the needs of the scattered settlers, is shown in the case of Abel-Heth- Maacah, whicli, as we are toKI in 2 Sam. xx. 18, was famous as a centre of good counsel sought out by all the country-side. Verse 10 indicates at the same time its importance as the home of a large comnuinity, "a mother in Israel." i 1 vpv Cii. IV, § 49,3 ASSAULTS OF NATIONAL FOES 130 tory of the time. Just as the hist general rally under Deborah and Barak was the conclusion of the first main period of the history of the Hebrew settlement in Canaan (§ 480), so this failure of centralized administration and worship, upon a scale only less than national, marks the beginning of the end in this whole probationary forma- tive era. After their decisive overthrow the Canaanites ceased to play more than a local and insignificant part as a foe of the Hebrew commonwealth. Meanwhile other peoples had harassed Hebrews and (Janaanites alike. Above all, the half-foreign Philistines (§ 192; cf. § IGG, note) had become more than mere raiders (§ 479), and were now threatening the independence and the hope of Israel. § 492. The onslaughts of the Philistines, as well as the preceding attacks of other foreigners, must be reck- oned both as a disintegrating and as a unifying force among the tribes of Israel. As long as loyalty and devo- tion to Jehovah, which were much the same thing as patriotism, continued to animate the Hebrew people, the assaults of outsiders formed one of the strongest means of bringing and keeping them together. Indeed, the mere sense of danger continued throughout the Avhole history of the people to act of itself as a wholesome cohesive force. On the other hand, a successful invasion, followed by even a brief occupation of territory, neces- sarily kept the ill-cemented tribes and smaller communi- ties apart. § 493. We have now to add another nrcasion of sepa- ration more dangerous and noxious still. Allusion has just been made to the defeat of the last formidable com- bination of the native Canaanites. Tliis final military triumph does not carry with it the significance suggested by a victory over a deadly hereditary foe. The conquest was dearly bought. It was followed by, nay it even involved, disaster to the victors more deadly than the losses inflicted by Sisera with his chariots of iron. The .1^ ' r I 1 :,i i f * hi I' 'I i! 130 FRIENDSHIP WITH CANAANITES Book VII )t |4 w i friendship of tlie Canaanites was more dangerous than their enmity. The latter implied, at least, that the worsliip of Baal would have no hold upon the people of Jehovah. The former was in itself a compromise between the two religions. Of the friendliness between the two peoples during the latter half of the period of the Judges we have abundant evidence. The truces that had been made, sometimes as a modus vivendi, sometimes as a necessary alliance against a common invader, became at length a permanent peace (cf. 1 Sam. vii. 14). The conflicts of armies had, at first, given place to local feuds, to attacks upon and sorties from one walled town or another (§ 478). Even these had come to an end before the time of Samuel. The result Avas, in fact, something like an amalgamation. The issue, as we have seen, depended upon the fate of the Canaanitic cities. That these became even nominally Hebrew im[)lied an amalga- mation of the races. As far as the south was concerned, tlie way had been prepared very early by the adoption, on the part of Judah, of large foi-eign elements, chief among which were Kenites and Calebites. This far-reaching movement doubtless encouraged a similar rapprochement throughout the whole of Israel. Outwardly, no doubt, the process of union was in the guise of an absorption of the Canaanites by their Hebrew adversaries. More- over, the union implied of necessity an acknowledgment, on the part of the weaker, of tlie God of the stronger (§ 61). But where the acquiescent population was at all considerable a gradual union of the two parties was the actual result. § 494. This was the compromise, the surrender of the pure worship of Jehovah, so dreaded by the great Prophet of the olden time and by all loyal Israelites ever after his day. We shall appreciate the situation better if we try to follow the process in our imagination. The numerous surviving cities of the Canaanites, occupying as they so often did the sites of the " high places," came to be occu- il Cii. IV, § 495 RELIGIOUS COMPROMISE 131 #1 pied, or a least controlled, by the dominant Hebrew popu- lation. What could be easier than that which actually took place? We must remember that Israel had now for scores of years been following on the whole a career of selfish aggressiveness. However much the original leaders may have cherished a more spiritual and ideal view of the outcome of the conquest, we may be sure that the mass of the tribesmen thought of the matter as a business of ac- quiring wealtli and ease. The sphere of religion simply afforded new chances of self-aggrandizement and social advantage, coupled with rare facilities for a congenial fashion of worship. § 495. Religious service was inseparable from the daily life and work of all the Semitic peoples. What could be more obvious than the opportunity of utilizing the local sanctuaries which were already so flourishing and influen- tial ? What more easy than the ready device of honouring Jehovah and serving Baal ? How simple a thing to appro- priate the ready-made altars and shrines of Baal, and to convert them to the service of Jehovah I How easy to secure a host of retainers and patrons for the God of Israel, by permitting the votaries of the time-honoured shrines to continue their ancient ritual and to unite therewith the name and prestige of Jehovah I And how inevitable it was that the servants of Jehovah should adopt the cere- monies proper to the prescriptive cult of the locality I For these were redolent of the flavour and spirit of the very soil. They were repeated and perpetuated as natu- rally as the rising of the sun and the changes of the moon, the alternation of the seasons, the bloom of the flowers, and the ripening of the fruits. The very ties that bound the Hebrews to the land of Canaan were bonds which attached them most intimately and alluringly to the gods of the land. To learn outwardly that their dearly bought home was Jehovah's land, was a lesson speedily acquired. But the rivals of Israel's God, Avho claimed his preroga- tives and actually assumed his name, could only be sub- i' '- il ■I il :ii t 1 'i II ;1 I :r >i P'!i 132 RfeSUMf: OF rOLITlCAL CHANGES Book VII verted when the outward acknowledgment and service of Jehovah became transformed into the pure worship of the heart and the willing obedience of the life. To accomplish this result in Israel was the aim of the prophetic move- ment, Avhich had already begun before the commonwealth became a monarchy. § 496. There is no further need to illustrate the social disintegration of Israel before the days of the monarchy. But a rdsumd may be given of our leading points of view. The breaking up of the tribal system, inevitable under any form and mode of settlement in a land of cities, villages, and cultivated soil, was not followed by a durable reunion on any extensive scale and resting upon v.,y inner prin- ciple of cohesion. Among the occasions and motives of segregation and disruption, emphasis is to be laid upon the want of an administration of justice on a national or even tribal scale, and the failure of any central sanctuary to unify the tribesmen or to attract them as regular wor- shippers. On the other hand, special attention must be called to the necessary establishment of primitive local courts for the newly formed communities, and to the con- venience as well as the attractiveness of the local sacred places which were often the modified reproduction of the Canaanitic shrines. Particular stress should be placed upon the character of the civic communities that sprang up under the new conditions of life in Canaan, in their bearing upon both the political and the religious history of the Hebrews. This form of social aggregation was universal among the Semites after their abandonment of the nomadic life. It was also dominant among the Canaanites at the time of the conquest. Indeed, Israel, through the growth and multiplication of its own and its adopted cities, was fast drifting into Canaanitism § 497. If in the foregoing observations too much im- portance seems to have been ascribed to the influence of religious associations in recasting and moulding the forms of Hebrew society, I would ask the reader to transfer m Cii. IV, § 498 POWER OF RELIGIOUS HABIT 133 himself in imiigiuation to the times, the region, and the people that have been engaging our attention. Let him be reminded that in ancient and especially in Semitic society, religion was the elemental force which swayed most strongly both individual and social life. In thought, feel- ing, and motive, religion was the factor at once the most comprehensive, the most profound, and the most urgent. Yet it was most powerful as a habit of life and as a condi- tion of social existence. To understand this ariglit, we should divest the term "religion" of its modern and especially of its Christian associations. Rather we should have to modify the word and call it relifjiousness. It did not always include or imply morality; it was not even necessarily prompted by the spirit of devotion. Indeed, it was compatible with the absence of all the elements which we regard as essential, except that of reverence. Like every other expression of the .spirit of humanity, it was rooted both in sentiment and habit, the immaterial and the material, the supersensuous and the sensuous. To the vague but omnipotent and overawing world of the unseen the votary was united by the elastic cord of wonder, hope, and dread. To the visible world he was bound by the iron chain of custom, of ceremony, and of ritual. The power of the one was commensurate with the influence of the other; the manner of the one with the quality of the other. The grosser the beliefs, the more enslaving were the rite and ceremony. The purer the faith, the freer and less stringent were the forms of out- ward devotion. § 498. Reverting for a moment to the prevailing form of political and social life among the people of Canaan and among the Semites generall}', I would remind the reader that the very founding of a city was a religious act. The city itself was not the community; but it was its centre, its nursery, and its home. And just as the inner life of the community was mainly based upon and determined by its religious beliefs and customs, so the establishment of that • n I m. I U- w 134 FOUNDING OF CITIES Book VII : h \ f i , I t ; m .^ii 11. i which guarded it and gave it outward form and character, was a matter primarily of religious concern and control. We are familiar with the sacred rites which accompanied the founding of a city among Greeks and Romans.^ The records of Semitic history testify also, directly and indi- rectly, to tlie sacredness of walls and fortifications, and their consecration to the patron deity. The Hebrew litera- ture 2 tells the same story. For example, the destruction of the Canaanitish cities was not ordained as a military ex- pedient, but as a religious act. The character which the city bore at its foundation it retained throughout its his- tory. Hence it is that we find so many names of localities associated with the deities to whom they were originally dedicated. § 499. Another general indication that religious asso- ciations and practices were the controlling social force among the ancient Hebrews in Palestine should be par- ticularly noted. I refer to the outstanding fact that the festal gatherings of the people were mainly characterized by religious observances ; that every meal shared in common involved a religious sacrifice ; that all the public festivi- ties of the people, as well as their mourning and fasting, were stated and conventional, and were, in fact, part of a religious programme. Gatherings of a festal character were regularly held by kins or family groups, and also by clans or by tribes, at stated times or seasons in the month or in the year. Whatever was of interest or importance to each of these divisions of the people naturally also came up for discussion and settlement on these occasions, which 1 Explained by Fustel de Coulan,2:es, La Cite antique, p. 151 ff. 2 The prohibition of the rebuilding of Jericho has its explanation in the fact that it had been a city dedicated to false worship. Its very site was therelore doomed. This instance was intended for a precedent for the other cUies of the Canaanites. The punishment of Iliel, the Bethclite (1 K. xvi. 34 r of. Josh. vl. 20), was inflicted because by his rebuilding the city he had Identified himself with the idolatrous community which had laid its foundations, given it its distinctive character, and thereby rendered it "devoted" to Jehovah (cf. Josh. vi. 17, 21). Ch. IV, § 501 RELIGIOUS GATHERINGS 18ft thus became ii sort of clearing-house for the social and political transactions of the preceding term. ^ oOO. An important observation must here be made. During the greater portion of the time of the Judges the political uses of these assemblies and pf)pular gatherings became continually less prominent, while the social pur- poses remained the chief conserving influence as far as they continued to be maintained. Hence it followed, as a matter of course, that those divisions of the whole com- munity which mainly subserved political ends, found con- tinually less occasion and less internal motive for coming together ; while those which were fundamentally of a social character maintained, as far as possible, their prescriptive customs, with all the traditional observances connected therewith. That is to say, according to the distinction made at the beginning of our study (§ 404), the clans and the tribes, being properly political organizations, gradually became dissolved through loss of inward coherence and through outward compulsion, while the families and kins or family groups, as social combinations, retained the good old custom of regular gatherings (e.g. 1 Sam. xxi. 6, 29). All this is simply an illustration of the general political disintegration of the Hebrew people as a whole, and of its several political factors, the tribes and clans of Israel (cf. § 480). § 501. But it would be a grave misrepresentation of Hebrew history to claim that the changes in the forms and modes of life of the people just described were a real degeneration and deterioration. Religiously, no doubt, the effect of the absorption of the Canaanites was inju- rious. But the temptation to follow the gods of the land was present in any case (cf. Josh. xxiv. 19 f.) ; and both piety and moral strength were advanced in the struggle maintained by those who were true to the religion of Jehovah. From the political point of view, the changes were simply unavoidable and in the order of evolution. We have seen (§ 483 £E.) how life in towns or large vil- ''Hl 3'' « , T^ 1 i IN ', ' i ! 130 GKOWTH OF CITIES nooK VII liiges WHS begun and fostered, and the character of city institutions formed. It must not be forgotten that life in fortilicd, or at least protected, towns was absolutely neces- sary for the princii)al ends of settled life in Canaan, whether agricultural, commercial, or industrial. For the sheltering and guarding of farm property, including cattle, the prin- cipal asset of the farmer, the night patrols of unwalled villages afforded no adetiuate pi'otection in a well-inhal> ited country of mixed i)0[)ulation. Accordingly, we find that the landowners, in the later period of the Judges and thereafter, dwelt in towns, as also did the regular farm labourers (Ruth ii. 4 ; Jud. xix. 16 ; cf. 1 Sam. x. 26). The same thing is, of course, true of other employers of labour and their possessions. While life in large cities was un- known (§ 477), the city ^ was still the normal residence in the times that followed the transition period. As a lule, each man was regarded as belonging to one city or another, and so enrolled as a citizen and taxpayer. § 502. The breaking-up of the tribal system, which was involved in the establishment of city life and usages, was therefore in important respects a step in advance, and was a necessary preliminary to that form of government which alone could save Israel both from destruction at the hands of outsiders and from strife and political atrophy within. Add to this that the administration of justice, according to the principle of propinquity and approximate 1 The city, tliat is, in the larger sense of the term (as described in § 34 and 38), including the dependent, unwalled handets and pasture grounds. Through various causes tending to concentration of the population, par- ticularly the vicissitudes of war and the danger of attacks from l)ands of rohbers, the villages were as rapidly as possible enclosed within walls, with fortress and tower ; that is, they became cities. The number of • ' even in the semi-pastoral kingdom of .Tudah, was very great, as > from Sinacherib's report of their capture (§ 080 ; cf. 2 K "ii ' estates without elaborate defences, such as that of Na aui. • S, were protected by the retainers from ordinary dangers. los often .ed their origin in any stage of the history of the land to tlu- advantu^es of sites by fountains or groves, defensible heights, etc. St)me, as ^ mnria, wcri' built directly by the rulers of the time. See Nowack, HA. I. p. 148 f. Cii. IV, §601 TUKND OF POLITICAL rilANGE i;57 numerical groiqdnj^, forcsliadowed in Kxndus xviii. (§ 45')), was iinintMisi'ly advanct'tl liy aggicgation of sniall Loninniiii- tics apart from the associations (>f tribal life and government. The elders of the city and its judges at the gates took the place of the family or tril)al chiefs. With the adjustment of causes arising out of local business and local interests, the only solid foundation [)ossible was laid for the division of the country into larger administrative and judicial dis- tricts. The way was prepared, moreover, for the dominion of a sole ruler over a people slowly habituated to the restraints of a legal authority founded upon inherent i)rin- ci[)les of justice (Dent. xvi. 18; xix. 15 ff. ; xxv. 1 ff.), and not upon the imperfect and partial prescriptions of patriarchal government, with its preferential rights of the family and the clan. The reader will tind it instinctive to note that while the ''Book of the Covenant" (§ 474) deals with the entire portion of this long transitional period, the book of Deuteronomy has to do with the com- pleted results of the process, corresponding, as we have seen, to government in cities (Deut. vi. 10; xiii. 12 ff . ; xix. 1 ff. ; xxi. 2 ff. ; xxviii. 3, 10). § 503. " In those da} s there was no king in Israel : every man did that which was right in his own eyes " (Jud. xvii. (! ; xxi. 25 ; cf. xviii. 1 ; xix. 1 ; and § 50). The expression might naturally be interj)reted as implying a condition of anarchy pure and simple. It really alludes to the personal independence of the Hebrew freeman without even the theo- lotical restraints of the monarchy. Perhaps a clearei' view of some aspects of social and civic life may l)e gained from a glance at the home and estate of a representative Hebrew of the later [)eriod of the time of the Judges. § 504. The subject of our study is a well-to-do landed proprietor of Central Palestine. His home lies within the city walls, and the city is the sphere of bis social life. Here also dwell his retainers, except those immediately occupied with the care of the cattle in pasture or of the fruit trees, for whom he has erected booths in which they t, >• I jr •I 1. 1 < 1 1 138 A HOUSEHOLDER OF THE TIME Book VII pass the night and are armed against marauders. This householder is a devout Israelite and begins the day's work with family, or rather household, devotions. His means have permitted him to engage the services of a Levite as domestic priest, who naturally also officiates in a like capacity for the family group, of which the present household is the dominant centre (cf. Jud. xviii. 19). He has resorted occasionally to the central sanctuary at Shiloh, but has lately found little satisfaction in its cere- monies and sacrifices, mixed as they have been with social festivities and indulgences unfavourable to domestic moral- ity.^ It is well, he thinks, not to repair thither again till a time of reformation comes. It is not long since the sons of Eli guided the religion of Israel and administered its law, and through them both religion and justice A\ere outraged and profaned. But this evil does not interfere with the religious service of this loyal Israelite. Whether or not the yearly feasts are duly honoured in Shiloh, a still stronger obligation than the}' impose rests upon him to observe the stated gatherings of his clan at harvest or at vintage time or at sheep shearing ; and in these reunions religious offer- ings hold the primary place. § 505. But such sacrifices are, so to speak, only an intensive and extensive manifestation of the sentiment of devotion which claims an habitual expression in the daily worship of the home. No table is spread, no food i)ar- taken in common, without the priestly blessing (1 Sam. ix. 13) and the presentation of a portion to Jehovah. All 1 Coinp. Keble, The. Christian Year, Eighth Sunday after Trinity, stanzas 5 and U: "Thou knowest liow hard to hurry by, Where on tlie lonely woodland road Beneath the inoonliplit sky The festal warblini;s flowed ; " Where maidens to tlie Queen of Heaven Wove the gay dance round oak or palm, ( >r breathed their vows at even In liVMins as soft as balm." Ch. IV, § 507 rUBLIC AND PRIVATE WOIiSHIP 139 that is L'iiten or drunk is the produce of Jehovah's hind. To him the fjrateful tenant makes that sort of acknuw- ledgment which is at once most expressive and most obvious. But our typical Hebrew is swayed Ijy rever- jll itude. Th also h ence as wen as graiiiuiie. inis sentiment manifestation of the most practical kind. I'rayer to him is intensely real; it is an ascertainment of the will of the Deity, and that with regard to ordinary affairs of life. " Inquiring of God "' is asking counsel about a journey or about a business engagement, just us by a clan or tribe a decision is sought in the same fashion about a projected migration or a warli):e expedition. § 500. The method and the conception are, no doubt, somewhat rude and materialistic. The priest gives coun- sel for Jehovah by reans of teraphim and the epliod. But some symbol, some material intervention, is invari- abl}' associated with formal Old Testament worship. And wlien the tabernacle with the Ark and the cherubim is not accessible, these traditional images are, at least, a stay and support to the primitive faith of the trustful Israelite. He has, however, but little prophetic teacli- ing, and to him and his contemporaries is denied the spiritualizing influence of the united worshij) of "the multitude that keep holyday." It is better that he should worship Jehovah by ephod and ter.aphim than that he should follow a ccmimon fashion of liis tribesmen and adopt the rites of the Baalim, while acknowledging the supremacy of Jehovali. For now the old order has changed. The Canaanite is no longer the natuial enemv of the Israelite. The categorv of Hebrew is held to cover the descendants of both races. Nor can it well l)e otherwise. They are indistinguish.abh' in outward appearance. They speak the same language; achtpt the same (iodorgods; meet on equal terms in the markets or the courts of justice. § 507. If we follow the employments of this citizen of old Palestine, we shall be struck with the contrast to the lA If1| tit ,; ^ II >! B ': ii I 140 MASTER AND SERVANTS Book VII listless monotony of the life of the present time in that country. The earlier part of his busy day is occupied with the oversiglit of his household and property. Very little goes on in his well-regulated establishment without his personal attention oi supervision. In following him about his estate we notice with some surprise that he is on terms of easy familiarity, devoid of condescension, with his slaves, male and female. They are evidently regarded and trusted as members of his own family. Some of them are of the Hebrew race from the close neighbourhood. With one of the female slaves, the daughter of a friend of his who has seen better days, his eldest son has contracted an equal marriage. But the most of the slavjs are descendants of Canaanites. Their lot, or at least the lot of their parents, was at first a hard one. They had themselves been the proprietors of all the land thereabout ; and, having resisted strenuously its expropriation, their servitude was made proportionately rigorous. The wars of the invasion, and even the sub- sequent strifes and combats, are now, however, becoming fast a mere matter of tradition, and the only difference between the status of the two classes of servitors is rather one of hereditary sentiment than of practical discrimina- tion. Even that, too, is disapi)earing, with the unifying influences of the time and countrv, and of the dominant religion. The present slave-holder, at any rate, makes little distinction between the two classes among his ser- vants. The majority of them are now reckoned as home- born, since tlie more immediate ancestors of those of remote Canaanitisli descent were naturalized Hebrews. To all he is inclined to extend the privilege of optional release at the end of six years' service. All are admitted alike to the religious privileges and rites of tlie household. He is thus, perhaps consciously, ]>laying an important part in making Canaan more surely Jehovah's land, and in pre- paring the way for tlie freedom and tolerance which men have learned from tlie teaching of Israel (§ G40 ft'.). J Cii. IV, § 509 MANAGER AND HOUSEWIFE 141 lal § oOH. Over each ilepaitment of the work of his estate a competent shive is set. At early morning the master goes the rounds to see how all are progressing. We know how he talks to the reapers in harvest time. After conferring with the cliief of the band, he passes along amongst the ranks and salutes the workers, using not tlie ordinary salutation, ''Peace be to you," but that which reminils them all of their connnon supreme protecto)-, "Jehovali be with you." Their reply comes heartily and promiith', "Jehovah bless thee" (Ruth ii. 4). Having his home in a small city, where there are as yet no guilds of tradesmen, except, perhaps, smiths and builders, most of the needs of his household, for the uses and comforts of life, have to be provided by the labour of his own famil}' of children and slaves. Hence he himself must be a jack-of-all-trades, competent to superintend the making of all sorts of tools for the farm, and furniture and uten- sils for the house, the building of solid storehouses, or the construction of reservoirs and drains. § .509. Hardly less important is the work assigned to the women of the household — the preparing of food and meals, including the dailv grinding of the corn and the drawing of the water, weaving, si)inning, and the mak- ing of ordinary garments, and the care of the living ai)artments. Just as the house-master directs the work of the male servants, so the more domestic duties of the women are under the vigilant and, perhaps, more exact- ing control of the mistress. She herself has servants who, in a certain sense, arc her own slaves, but all of whom, like the wife and children themselves, are 'ilti- matcly the property of the head of the lutuse. The part played by the mistress, who is in the present ease the sole wife, is one of great responsil)ility as well as diffi- culty, especially in connection with the delicate relations and i)ossible social complications of the Hebrew house- hold. She has not as wide a ranofe f»f anthoritv or of action in matters of outside business as her famous sister •Ml' I I i ' I '■ 4 1 f.l i i ! IN ;^C r I 1 i 14: ELDKR AND LOCAL Jl'DCiK Book VII of the southern border- hind (Prov. xxxi.); but her (hjinestic influence is, on that account, perhaps all the steadier and stronger. § olO. The public activity of this Israelite of the time is no less noteworthy. Since the work on his estate begins with daylight, it is still early in the day when he leaves his fields and repairs to the city gate t(» take his seat among the "elders." In these times of unsettlement it is a heavy task that is laid upon the civic ofiicials. Disputes about trespass, about agree- ments of sale or exchange, ihe boundaries of estates, the title to property, loans and [)ledges, the ownership of slaves, the disposal of legacies, the protection of widows and orphans, and the choice of the (/oel, keep c(miing up in turn for settlement before this primitive and versatile tribunal. The litigants from the city proper are aug- mented by a constant influx of disi)Utants from the coun- try round about. In addition to such matters of inquiry as arise out of the normal conditions of life in the district, man\' othei"s are liable to occur through the prevalence of old tribal customs. A hearing of the court may, for example, be interrupted at any moment by the clamour of an avenger of blood, and the ap[)eals of his victim as he enters the city gates (Josh. xx. 4; Dent. xix. 12). So the case in hand must be adjourned till this more urgent matter is temporarily settled. The "elder" of our sketch is also a "judge" (j$ 487), a })osition as invid- ious as it is honourable. Among a people with such a rudimentary jurisprudence frequent appeals and references are inevitable. The practical difliculties of his position, great enough in tiiemselves, are aggravated by the fact that the local jjiiests are willing, if not for a bril)e, at least for the v.'!iMlit of their oflice, to give an oracle tliat does not agree with his unbiassed judgment. He often, however, linds his account in [jostponing the final adjudi- cation until his friend, tlie great judge Samuel, within whose jurisdiction lie has the good fortune to live, coniea Cii. IV, ;< r>io IIIXDKANCES IN OFFIClv 14.i Upon his city in liis regular circuit. In the frequent conversations between the two patriots as to the state of public affairs in Israel generally, they always end by declaring in common that unless a "judge" of ampler powers and of wider comi)etency is soon appointed all gc»vcrnment will cease. They both live also to see the establishment of the kingdom. ''i|fH*1 Ill m M Tr i\ CHAPTER V 1'' '. \\ THE MONARCHY § 511. The dividing line between the new Israel and the old (§ 467) was the much-wished-for and fondly idealized institution of the monarchy. The reader is fully aware that we cannot point to any single event or movement as being the real occasion of the revolution. In the history of the ancient Semitic world, while social changes great or small in single communities went on rapidly, political progress was very gradual (§ 557). The nature and the occasions of the external events that marked the establishment of the kingdom and its prog- ress for the first three centuries have already been sum- marized and briefly discussed (§ 195 ff., 371 ff.). Its internal development within the same period, which we have now to consider, will not require a lengthy exposi- tion. Now that the fundamental social and political institutions have been dealt with, it will appear that the motives of the succeeding history lie more upon the sur- face. They have in fact been to a large extent already presented. What we have now to do is to trace out two leading lines of development during the kingly era. These are the growth and regulation of the military power, and changes in the administration of civil affairs. § 512. The development of the military i)ower in Israel was naturally dependent upon two motives, the necessity of defensive and the disposition to offensive action. After the settlement, Israel's permanent policy was plainly marked out both by its position among the 144 Cii. V, § 512 THE MILITAKY iSPlIilT 145 surrounding nations and by the counsels of its wisest leaders. It was simply to retain the territory which it had succeeded in colonizing and to secure each trilje in its possession. Aggression outside of these limits was only warranted Avhen waged for self-preservation. Yet frequent wars with border nations were inevitable. Unsuccessful wars put Israel upon the defensive until the invaders were expelled. Successful wars were, as a rule, followed by offensive action to prevent retalia- tion on the part of a recuperated enemy. On the whole, Israel engaged comparatively little in aggressive warfare. Up to the end of the Judges a defensive attitude was the only one possible. In the later times the rule was broken chiefly by conflicts with Philistines and Edomites. Israel was not distinctively a warlike people. A settled policy of foreign conquest was seldom pursued except towards Edom, whose territory was coveted for reasons already familiar to us (§ 236, 254, 209). The era of David and that of Jeroboam II and Uzziah were quite exceptional. But this was due not so much to an unambitious and quies- cent temper on the part of rulers or people as to the circumstances of the nation already spoken of, and the influence of the religious movements inaugurated by the Prophets. The ploughshare and the pruning-liook came more naturally to the hand of the Hebrews than the sword and the spear. And yet, after all, there were very few grown men among them in the formative periods of their history who had not some training in the use of arms. Domestic feuds, tribal quarrels, irruptions of marauders, were frequent enough in the intervals be- tween the invasions of the Philistines or Syrians until the Assyrian came upon the land. Then, at last, peace was forced on all the petty combatants of the west, but their mutual antipathy became converted into a surly antagonism towards their common oppressor. In the insurrections that occasionally resulted thereafter the Hebrews did rather more than their share, and thus M t ■ t*'. -I m I HI [tf T 140 MILITIA AND WEAPONS Hook VII U i- ■ M ! i r. H tliuir weapons were never allowed to rust from lack of use. § ol3. The efficiency of a national militia depends upon its ability not only to match the enemy upon the field, but to protect non-combatants and the property of the citizens. In the tribal state of any peo[)le tliere is little fixed pro[)erty to defend, and there is, in conse- ([uence, no military profession. Every man is a warrior upon occasion, just as he is a hunter or tent-maker. When an attack or a repulse is undertaken, the whole of the lighting force is called out at once, the women and children and movable property being left in the rear or in a place of concealment. A single decisive defeat may mean the dispersion of the tribe. The survival of Israel between Egypt and Canaan is a proof not simply of the in- dividual courage of the triljesmen, but also of its advance be3'ond rudimentary tribalism (cf. § 441 f., 408). With the acquisition or control of property in land the conditions change essentially. Just as the formation of a "state," in the true sense, is thus made possible, so a system of national defence is rendered necessary. The militia still embraces all the men of fighting age and capac- it}', but both its training and its distribution are changed. § 514. In the desert every warrior was slinger, archer, and spearman. As citizens of Canaan the several roles were separated for service in the field, even though most of the men of the sjjear might also be dexterous with the sling and the bow. Special schooling with these imple- ments of war followed as a matter of course (cf. Jud. XX. 16). Swords, rarer yet not unknown in the nomadic stage (Gen. xlviii. 22), became a regular arm ; and soon the full-armed warrior appeared at the head of his trooj) with helmet and shield. At length heavy-armed infantry could be counted on as a regular portion of the armies of Israel, though the bulk of the levies were always provided with merely the spear, the bow, or the sling. Cii. V, § [>IJ GUOWTII OF THE SYSTEM 147 § 515. We have observed that up t«> the close «)f the Jiuljres Israel was in no true sense a state. It was not united, not cnnnpaet, not organized. Only with the slowly established king(h)in eanie the consciousness of inward unity and of national power. The sense of brotherhood and of eoniradeshi[t, which had helil them toirether as invaders and colonists, was fast dving out, till it was reawakened by the more urgent conviction of im[)ending conunou disaster at the liands of the Philis- tines. With such a reviving patriotic sentiment went hand in liand the evolution of a national defence. With tiie sense of unity, promoted by the aUmdonment of the tribal traditions, there gradually came an appreciation of the value of the kingdom to all who were called by the name of Israel. The invasions of the I'hilistines and their virtual occupation of the centre and heart of Israel, instead of sal<»m gained his tem- porary sway over a rigiitly discontented i)eople l)y quali- ties which fitted well with popular notions of kiugshii). :> ,V i! I, l^i if 148 IRREGULAR MILITIA Book VII ^',1 lII ii it; 1^ U f Thus the peitjonal ([luilities of the successive lepresentJi- tives of royality united with the sense of niitionul need to establish faith in the monarchy and devotion to the nionarchs. And these were essential conditions of a per- manent military system. The safety of the state rests upon a standing defence. The stability of the kingdom implies the sacredness and the security of the person of the king. Hence the development of the military system of the Hebrews. § 510. We may distinguish three periods or stages in the growth of the armies of Israel. At first there was no (question of a standing army. The methods of the camp were followed, though on a larger scale, in the early times of the settlement. After the conquest was fairly com- plete the troops whicli for years had encamped here and there throughout the country gradually disbanded. It was yet long before war was to become a science or even an art among the Hebrews. As they settled down to pastoral and agricultural life, there was less need to con- centrate forces for general defence. The development of local interests still further discouraged the training of a militia. Sometimes, even in the sorest need, as in the days of Shamgar and liarak (§ 478 f.), it was difficult to unite the scattered defenrestige of royalty. Nor was it guaided and stayed up by a cabinet of court oflicials responsible only to the king, whirh is the strength and supi)ort of every Semitic monarchy- This of itself weakened his dynasty and cleared the i)ath for a popular pretender. His lack of political talent, his incon- ' So tlic Syrians of Damascus, who wcrt- always faiiiiil for tholr cavalry and c'liarioli'crs (cf. a^iaiii \Uv n-port of Slialiuaiu'Sfr II, . no innovator. He simply gave the kingdom a eiianee to survive. Though he orjiani/.ed it for the first time, he reallv established no institutions new to the Semitic; world or unfamiliar to Israel among the natieo})le. David's ruling motive, iiowever, was the uiibuilding of Jehovah's people rather than his own aggrandizement. He strenuously sought to conciliate all the tribes r)f Israel without dis- tinction. II is public faults, at least, were not those of the typical Oriental despot. Even the census which he undertook (>^ 205), and which was so thoroughly made, was, from the point of view of mere statesmanshiii, rather connncndablc tban otherwise. It was rightly op[»osed by the politic .loab (2 Sam. xxiv. 8), who foresaw the discontent of the ])coiile as indicated in the popularity of the pretender Absalom. For the census was undertak n under military ausjiices, and was supposed to have iP. view both the conscription of every fiveholdei- (cf. 1 Sam. viii. 11 f.) and a scbeme of general taxation. It was opposed l;y the ]tro|thet of Jehovah a[)parcntly because of wi'.at it presaged, lieing the convenient basis of tax tion by system, it foreshailowed a whohjsale exaction of the peo|»lc's wealth, and a spoliation of Jehovah's poor; in sliort, tiie virtual enslavement of the nation (1 Sam. viii. 14 IT. ). If, therefore, the administration of David was faulty, it was so mainly because, according to Sanuiel's unsparing characterization, the kingh' rule in Israel nnist needs tend to sellish despotism. His conduct in tbc matter of I'liah the Ilettite was an indi- cation lit the l)iutalizing tendency of sinldenly ac(|uire(l, unlimited pdwcr. Wbat a light it throws upon the possibilities ). The prosperity induced by the stimulation of trade and manufacture was forced and artificial, and therefore shoit-lived. Perhaps the most stupendous jtractical folly of this grand vio- nanpte, who "never said a foolish tiling, and never did a wise one," was his attempt to make a commercial nation of Israel — a feat which no one has as yet sui'ceedcd in accomplishing for inland Palestine, and it is to be pre- sumed never will.' Indeed, if the attempt ha- nicnt of both kingdoms nuist go forwaid upon the same ideal lines, and be judged by the same ideal standards. Thougli parted forever, they were still brotiiers and neigh- bours, with the same intellectnal and spiritual inheritance and with common political traditions. § o27. In the foregoing sections I Iiave tried to show that the tv»-o main tribal aggregations of Israel never really eoalescc'd. It has also been shown how near they came to coalition, and why they failed to uniti' com- j)lctely. AVe are now pre[)ared to understand why the t\\(i kingdoms diverged so witlcly in their subseijuent history, in s[»ite of their close internal allliuitics and their fre(iucut interaction. The inoi'e obvious and out- ward dirt'crences bflwecii them, so marked in their st'ji- arale desiinie«H, have bci-n already snlVicifntly dttailed in con"ei'tion with the narrative sketch (^^ liTl IT. ; cf. § 37- IT.). It is now niae assumed that the administrative divisions, at least those contained within K[)hraim, Manasseh, and I.s.sachar, were established by royal ei.'ie;4l references, the usage is political or territorial, not gentile in the strict sense. r ' 1 i ,1 1 li I'M 1 «! 1 I i r 1, 1 r ; i ! V 169 RESrONSIUILlTY FOR EVILS IX THE STATE Itouu Nil of tribes or dans. About them, as about the king himself in his capital, clustered and throve a caste of nobles, often alluded to as "chiefs" and "heads'" of the people, who, by virtue of their landed possessions and their growing bands of retainei-s, exercised a sort of feudal authority, judicial as well as military and industrial. § 532. We are at length prepared in some measure to understand the social as well as the political condition of Israel in the times most fully known to us. From the days of Ahab onwards the inner life of the people is pre- sented to us witli realistic power and detail, parti}' through the [)ractical homely discourses of the Prophets, and partly because of the interest given to the internal history of both kingdoms by the proi)hetic way of looking at society ami politics (J^ 14, 214, 29r> ff. ). Tlie story, as it unfolds itself, is henceforth less of a compilation or series of reminis- cences, and moie of a contemporary portraiture. Through it we obtain a nearer ac both actual and ideal, and no higher conceptions of a good king have ever been given to the world than those which are pre- sented in the proverbial wisdom of the Hebrews. But no constitutional obligations were laid upon any one of the rulers, nor any restriction put upon his arbitrary authority.^ Whether they could most fairly be symbolized by the olive, the iig, tile vine, or the brand)le of Jotham's famous para- ble (Jud. ix. ff.), their good or their bad conduct alike was the expression of their own sweet will. Kings, strictly speaking, did not need advisers. Young princes like Absa- lom or Kehoboam might .seek counsel. Ohler nioiiarchs were a[)i)arently independent of it: none were bound t(» i See Note 1 in appendi.\. !i I: ^l% } '■<[ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I 1.25 148 j63 IIIIM IIIIIM m — 6" 2.5 12.2 12.0 1.8 U III 1.6 V] . 302 f. ■ I.^Al^U.'-lll. .JU- Cii. VI, §542 CONDITION OF HIRELINGS AND SLAVES 171 code seems to prove that servile labour was relatively more common at the time of the occupation of Canaan, and, indeed, that slaves performed all the needful work. That hired service did not displace slave labour at any- time, was in large measure due to the fact that wide- spread calamity was frequent in the history of Israel. Great misfortunes, such as prolonged unsuccessful wars like those against Damascus, dearth, famine or pesti- lence, must in various ways have shaken the organic framework of society, chiefly through the multiplication of hopeless debtors and the pauperizing of large masses of the community. An immediate result of famine espe- cially was to " swell the list of those unhappy poor who were reduced to barter liberty for bread "^ (2 K. iv. 1 ; Isa. 1. 1 ; Neh. v. 5, 8). It is noteworthy that Amos, whose reminiscences of such seasons of suffering (iv. 6 ff.) have given so pathetic an undercurrent to his prophecy, is also full of sympathy for the helpless poor (ii. 6 f . ; v. 11 f.; viii. 6), particularly because of their enslavement by the leading men, even for the trivial debt of a silver piece or a pair of shoes. § 542. The servile condition was within its limits very elastic. It reached from the extreme of rigour and cruel suffering to circumstances of ease and comfort, and even of affluence (2 Sam. ix. 9 ff.). It admitted of positions of responsibility as trusted agentt (Gen. xxiv.), and as coun- sellor (1 Sam. ix. 5 ff. ; xxv. 14 ff.), just as in Oriental courts a slave has often been the chief adviser of the king. In view of the initial hardships of most modes of slave-making, as above described, it is gratifying to know that in Israel, at least, the tendency was on the whole towards permanent amelioration. To this end economic prudence would conspire, in the minds of the masters, with the dictates of humanity and the sanctions of the 1 1 appropriate the words of Hallam (Middle Ages, American edition, 1880, vol. i, p. 317), employed to describe a similar state of things in Western Europe during the famines of the eleventh century a.d. '! ^ ii % f ^^ 172 FUGITIVE SLAVES Book VII it ' :i ! religion of Jehovah. Hence provisions for the protection of slaves occupy a large place in the earliest legislation (Ex. xxi. 20 f. ; 26 f. ; 32). These ordinances are to be judged of in the light of the general fact that according to primitive custom the master had the power of life and death over the slave.^ § 543. Extraordinary and admirable is the enactment made to suit the settled conditions of later times, that a fugitive slave was not to be delivered to his master, but should have his choice of residence unmolested according to his liking (Deut. xxiii. 15 f.). Thus Israel, by the an- nulling of its old " fugitive slave law," attained almost at a bound a moral and legal position which was not reached by England till the year 1772 of our era, nor by the United States of America till nearly a century later.^ The sab- 1 Slavery was in fact, at least in veiy many instances, an amelioration of the infliction of death. That is to say, slaves were originally, perhaps in the majority of cases, captives of war, to whom life was granted on condition of servitude. From this point of view slavery may justly be regarded like many another Old Testament and Semitic custom, which shocks our modern sensibilities, as a necessary and wholesome advance in the progress of our race (cf . Lecky, Hist, of European Morals, New York, 1879, vol. i, p. 102). At the same time we must beware of attributing the Institution to a universal sentiment of humanity, since the inclination to set other people to do our work is at least as " innate" or primary as the feeling of compassion. It is interesting to note how Augustine ( Cio. Dei, xix. 15) and the code of Justinian (^Just. i. 3, 3) explain the word set'vus. In the language of the latter the term arose "quod imperatores servos vendere, ac per hoc servare, nee occidere solent." The etymology is more than doubtful, but its currency is evidence of the prevalence of the notion it conveys. The like word SoOXos is possibly to be connected with a root meaning to fasten or bind. The Hebrew and general Semitic 'abd is of still less certain derivation. 2 Oddly enough, this statute seems to be commonly understood as pro- viding simply that "fugitive slaves from foreign countries are not to be given up" (Wm. Smith's Old Test. History, New York, 1873, p. 277; Ewald, Antiquities of Israel, Engl, tr., p. 217). That there was abundant occa- sion for action generally is clear from the observation of Nabal (1 Sam. XXV. 10). That the law did not exist from the beginning of the settlement, except as implied in the general Mosaic teaching, is very probable, since in the long turbulent stage of transition to fixed agricultural manners, it would have tended only to increase disorder. That it was not observed mm •mfrnm -i\l 'ed Cir. VI, § 544 ASSLMILATION OF SLAVES 173 batical and the jubilee year liacl tLeir chief significance in the emancipation of Israelitish slaves.^ To be sure, the distinction was sharply drawn here, as in other enact- ments, between slaves of Hebrew origin and those of for- eign birth. But this was inevitable in a state whose very existence depended on its social and racial exclusiveness. And it was a Hebrew writer of universalistic spirit, who makes his hero, non-Israelite though he is, speak so hu- manly of the rights of the slave : " If I were to disdain the right of my bondmen or of my bondmaid, when their cause comes before me, then what should I do when God rises up ? And when he calls to account, what sliould I answer him ? Did not he who made me in the womb make him? Yea, one framed us both in the womb"^ (Job xxxi. 13 ff.). § 544. It may be safely maintained that the Hebrew slavery was on the whole a great blessing to the land and the people. Like other Semitic institutions it was taken up by the religion of Jehovah, mitigated, regulated, and made to minister to the well-being of masters and slaves, and of the state at large. Apart from its indus- trial advantages, the principal benefits which under this saving regime were conferred by it upon society may, I apprehend, be summed up under three heads. In the first place, it was an indispensable means of assimilating the heterogeneous peoples of the country, and of thus building up the commonwealth of Israel. Only in this way, as we have seen (§ 540, cf. 507), could the vast numbers of sur- viving Canaanites be gradually, insensibly, and completely at the accession of Solomon we may perhaps indirectly infer from the incident recorded in 1 K, ii. 39 f . 1 We know that this was disregarded, at least as a rule, in the later days of the Judaic monarchy. Yet Jeremiah, who inveighs against Zede- kiah and his princes for having sent back int© bondage their Hebrew slaves whom they had released under the influence of a temporary panic, insists upon it that the rule was of very early origin ( Jer. xxxiv. 8 ff. ) . 2 The ameliorations of the lot of the Hebrew slaves are well summa- rized by Wallon, Histoire de Vesclavage dans Vantiqinte, 2 ed. (1879), vol. i, p. 11 ft. f ;.- »|;l !:|.ti| ■i III ''■'ill II ■ M ir • .1 1 ' i s ' if 174 SLAVERY A PROTECTION Book VII absorbed in the controlling element of the population. The process is not difficult to conceive. We remember that the type of servitude was fixed forever by the inalienable traditions of the old patriarchal system. It was a slavery of the house, not of the soil. Home privilege-j and asso- ciations were the boon of the slave, " bought with money," as well as of the "house-born." Not simply concubinage with the house-master, but marriage with him or his son, was a possibility to the female bond-servants. Necessary * participation by the bond and free in the same religious rites brought to the same general mental and spiritual level classes of people already pretty well equalized by similarity of occupation and of physical habit. The very divergence and disparity of servile conditions promoted the upward social movement. The interval from the lowest to the highest lot of Hebrew slaves marked an ascent unspeak- ably greater than the single bound by which the emanci- pated servant passed into the ranks of freemen. The system was so elastic and the transformations of con- dition so numerous and rapid that while we recognize the servile class as a weighty social element, we observe that politically a " slave question " was unknown in the history of Israel. § 645. A further benefit, entailed by the Hebrew institu- tion, was the protection it afforded to the distressed and op- pressed at home and abroad. That an Israelite should be compelled by adverse circumstances to sell himself and his children into slavery was no doubt often a cruel fate. But in the average case such a fortune was better than either starvation or vagrancy, even without the advantages se- cured by legislative enactments. For the fugitives from over the borders of Israel, the hunted survivors of the blood-feud, the night attack, and the woes of extermi- nation, the Hebrew system furnished a genial and hospit- able asylum. And a single generation might transform 1 If for no other reason, because otherwise unavoidable close personal contact with the slaves would have rendered the house-people unclean. II 31" 1- al Cii. VI, § 547 SLAVERY AND nilLANTHROPY 176 the cringing suppliant into a respected confidant and a father of freemen. § 54G. But the greatest blessing which the Jewish sys- tem of servitude brought with it was the development in Israel of the philanthropic temper, the spirit of compas- sion, the sense of a wide human brotherhood. As we have seen, the Hebrew legislation was unique among all pre-Christian codes for its protection of the enslaved and the oppressed. So the literature abounds above all other ancient literatures in expressions of sympathy for bond- men and captives and the victims of cruelty. We are in the habit of accounting for such phenomena by saying that they were the outcome of the revealed religion, the religion of Jehovah. And this is true: "Jehovah looseth the prisoners" (Ps. cxlvi. 7). If we go further, we ex- plain them as being due to the constant teaching of the Prophets. This also is true. And it is to be admitted that most of the touching references to the victims of oppression are not found in the literature of the times now under review, but in the comparatively late prophetic writings of the period of the Exile. Yet the chivalric and philanthropic spirit breathes through the discourses of Amos as strongly and purely as in those of the Second Isaiah. And we must discard the idea that the Prophets stood alone in Israel, and were the only effective force in the community in defence of righteousness and humanity. In the kingdom of Judah, at any rate, they spoke for a saving remnant which, though small (Isa. i. 9), was yet strong enough to survive the shock of national doom. No writer or thinker has ever quickened the heart of humanity by the propagation of sentiments cherished by himself alone. The " Prophet " is one who not only speaks for God, but for his fellows. The true Israel spoke in defence of the suffering and the down-trodden just as truly in the Law as it did in the Prophets. § 647. Why is it that alone among the Semitic peoples, ancient or modern, Israel has left no recorded traces of a i'l 'i i ; \V ■ ;.i; |i ■ i* ■ ' [ ffi ' !:l'^ !| m 170 HOW ISRAEL LEARNED SYMPATHY Book VII 4 ,>j ' 1 • traffic in the bodies of men, except in its prohibition (Ex. xxi. 16; Deut. xxiv. 7)? And yet this "was the only branch of commerce which it could profitably undertake. It was a refuge for fugitives from all the surrounding tribes. Its position gave it command of countless high- ways for pilgrims, travellers, merchants, emigrants, and exiles. The rich could be taken for their ransom, the poor because they had no helper. Close upon their bor- der, too, was the city of Tyre, the greatest resort of slave- traders known to the ancient East (§ 45). Why, again, is it that while we read of a great and successful uprising in Tyre of the slaves against their masters,^ in Jerusalem such a thing is unheard of and unthinkable ? The reason is not far to seek. Israel in this, as in all else, reaped what it had sown. It practised what it had learned. It was taught, divinely taught, the law of human kindness by its very contact with the needy and the oppressed. It learned, we may add, by its own experience of trial and bondage. If it was solitary among the nations in its moral and religious training, it was equally singular in its antecedent and subsequent fortune. Its cradle was the bondage of Egypt, and the recollections of its infancy were never allowed to die. " Remember that thou wast a slave in the land of Egypt" (Deut. v. 15; xvi. 12 ; xxiv. 18, 22), was a note that thrilled deep in the heart of Israel and lingered long. Its repeated strain mingled, too, with the trumpet warnings of a more bitter fate. Israel's child- hood had been bruised by servitude in Egypt ; its youth was being buffeted by the intermittent assaults of a multi- tude of smaller foes ; its manhood was to be crushed by captivity in Babylon. Thus Israel stood in Canaan : not utterly brutalized by conquest; not wholly hardened by greed and rapine ; its better self awakened by the remem- brance of its own sorrows as a people, and it may be of its own sins as well. Nowhere else have been illus- trated so memorably those lovely lines which the most 1 Wallon, Hist, de Vesclavage, I, 57. ■ II Ch. VI, § 549 "STRANGERS AND SOJOURNERS" 177 sympathetic of Roman poets puts into the mouth of an exiled Canaanite.^ ^le quoque per multos similis fortuna labores Jactatam hac demum voliiit consistere terra ; Nou ignara mali miseris succurrere disco. § 548. We may go so far as to maintain that the very existence of Israel was made possible by its exceptional tolerance and protection of the slave and the stranger. It has just been stated (§ 5-44) that the genial social sj'stem of the Hebrews in Canaan was a chief means of conciliating and assimilating members of outlying communities. We have now to look for a moment at a class of people living in the midst of Israel who were not of Israel, not even as much so as the slaves of the household. It was the policy and sentiment of the Hebrews towards these " strangers " which perhaps more than anything else contributed to the growth of the nation. The ger (ij) was one of a class peculiarly Semitic.^ Ke was properly a man belonging to no tribe, or rather one cut off from his tribe by accident or cruel fate. As a "sojourner," whether immigrant or fugitive, within the bounds of a hitherto alien community, he could become its "guest," receive its protection, and engage in the ordinary avocations of life, but without the political rights enjoyed by all the freemen of the tribe. He thus ceased to be an outlaw, " a wanderer and a fugi- tive," the fate most dreaded in tribal society. § 549. We may distinguish four stages or degrees. The most remote was naturally the " foreigner "" (ir: fs), one with whom, whether he lived outside of the holy land, or happened to be within its limits, no intercourse was held. Such a one at best could claim no rights, not even of shelter or protection, until he came within the second degree. Then he became a ger^ strictly speaking ; that is 1 Vergil, ^neid, I, G28 ff. 2 The best accounts of the gerim known to the writer are to be found in W. R. Smith, RS. p. 76 ff., and Nowack, IIA. I, 336 ff. • 1 1 11 i!i-i ^ I 1 i V ' 1 ' 1 ' ' 1 178 FOUR STAGES OF CLIENTSHIP Book VII to say, he was made a " guest " of some Israelite. This was usually done by partaking of the hospitality which was offered to all, according to the immemorial code of Semitic manners, as soon as the refugee came under the canopy of the tent. Eating in common, or the sacred oath, made the implicit covenant more sacred and inviolable. But even these solemnities, frequently and gladly as they were enjoyed by the stranger, were not indispensable. The tent, or the family within the tent, was the symbol and surrogate of the whole community, and so mere contact with the tent-rope assured the suppliant of the temporary protection not only of his immediate patron, but of the whole clan as well, whose honour was involved in up- holding the obligation. This privilege, however, was un- derstood to be valid for only a limited specified period, such as might be sufficient for rest and preparation for the continuance of the journey. Indefinite prolongation might be and was regularly granted in ancient Israel upon the supplication of the wanderer. Then he became " a guest and a sojourner " (stt'ini i| Gen. xxiii. 4 ; Lev. xxv. 35, 47 ; Ps. xxxix. 12 ; 1 Chr. xxix. 15 ; cf. Ps. cxix. 19). He con- formed to the social usages of the protecting community and made an acknowledgment of its deity or deities, con- tributing to the support of the institutions of the land, but not initiated into its sacred rites and mysteries. It would seem that such " sojourners " sometimes became men of property, to whom native-born freemen were beholden for money and to whom they might eventually become bond- men (Lev. xxv. 47). This, however, can scarcely have been a feature of early Israelitish times. By coming fully under all the prescriptions of Hebrew life, religious and social, the fourth stage was reached, when the client be- came an accredited citizen, and a full member of the com- munity, on a level with the native-born freemen (pnT«). He thus ceased to be in any sense a client of his former patrons, and was numbered with them among the clients of their God. Ch. VI, §650 ASSIMILATION OF "STRANGERS" 179 § 550. By the very nature of the case the last stage, that of complete absorption into the ranks of the tutelary community, was speedily reached by the great majority of strangers who ventured to enter upon the third. This was Israel's pre-eminent opportunity. From the beginning of its separate career as a prospective nation it had a substan- tial clientage. The "mixed multitude" (§ 453 f.) of its desert wanderings could only have been tolerated as a permanent following in view of its rapid assimilation. Some of the most conspicuous accessions soon became leaders in Israel. For example, the Kenites furnished the illustrious names of Heber, Caleb, Othniel, besides others not so renowned. When large bands such as these became a part of Israel, their acceptance of the religion of Jehovah and its peculiar rites was a matter of coui-se. Later we do not hear so much of whole clans, but of individuals, such as Uriah the Hettite, Ittai of Gath, Zelek of Amnion (2 Sam. XV. 19; xxiii. 37). Now Israel was absolutely dependent upon such clients. In the presence of countless hostile ele- ments which perpetually threatened confusion and destruc- tion, during the regime of the Judges and at long periods intermittently thereafter, the conciliation of outsiders was an obvious political duty. They were besides much in de- mand as recruits for the soldiery (§ 520). Of the two great classes, bondmen and strangers, the latter were permanently the most important as feeders and auxiliaries. With the Canaanites, war to the death was for a time the theoretical policy. Practically, as we have seen, they were in most cases made bondmen, and then in large numbers emanci- pated. The " strangers " were from divers communities, which were not under the sacred ban.^ 1 The prescription of Deut. xxiii. 3 ff. .against Moabites and Ammonites was evidently not observed, at least till after the time of David. The feud with Moab of the days of Ehud (§ 188) was (juite forgotten in the later portion of the epoch of the Judges, as the Book of Ruth shows plainly. The association of David and his family with Moab just before his acces- sion was of the most intimate kind ( 1 Sam. xxii. 3 f.). For Ammon, David's life-guurdsman, mentioned above, is a case in point. ■M '1 11 1? ■ t l;»i' i! |i I 1 4\ m Jill i re 'I 11 1 180 HOW FUSION WAS POSSIBLE Book VII |i § 551. It may be asked how it came to pass that assim- ilation and incorporation could take place so rapidly and on such an extensive scale. The answer is threefold. In the first place, the social conditions which prevailed through- out the whole ancient era made membership in one clan or another always desirable, and usually an absolute neces- sity for self-protection and even for the conveniences of life. Secondly, a transfer of political and religious alle- giance was the most natural thing in the world, when each country and often each locality had its own deity, whose tutelage was extended as a matter of course to his clients within his jurisdiction, and to them alone. Again, the reception into the new society with its special religious and social observances was not a matter requiring a serious change of conviction or indeed any sort of an inward struggle of mind and conscience. The essence of the matter was the observance of certain well-understood cere- monies and formal prescriptions. True, Israel occupied a high moral position, from the spiritual claims made upon the votaries of its religion. But we read the Old Testa- ment records to little ^^ urpose if we fail to recognize the abounding evidence they contain of wide-spread practical ignoring of these stern conditions during the greater portion of its history. Where Jehovah was sincerely wor- shipped under animal forms popularly associated with the rites of Baal; where "high-places" were everywhere to be found with altars dedicated to his service ; and where every hedge-priest could minister at the shrines of the God of the land, no conscientious obstacles to the acceptance of the popular religion were likely to suggest themselves. Moreover, the initial outward condition of attachment to the religion and community of Israel, the rite of circum- cision, was one not unfamiliar to the majority of Semites. It may be remarked that the clearest social distinction possible is made between the slaves and "strangers," by the enactment that the former were to be invariably cir- cumcised, as already being members of the household, ■ Cn. VI, §553 POLICY TOWARDS "STRANGERS" 181 whether they were bought with money or were home-born. The rite was, of course, prescribed for strangers only when they were adopted into the community. § 552. Naturally the accessions to the ranks of Israel from outside sources were more frequent in prosperous times and in seasons of peace. In times of hard fighting, soldiers of fortune might be naturalii.ed (cf. § 520), but the country would receive but few spontantoiT* i'nmigrants. The additions during the reigns of David and Solomon must have been very great. It is highly suggestive that just such epochs are chosen in the poetical literature as sym- bols of the ideal Israel, when it would be enlarged by the incorporation of foreign citizens who should come as in a stream to Jerusalem. The national policy in this regard seems to have been unaffected by prosperity or disaster. It was one of unvarying clemency and consideration. As toward the slave (§ 542 ff.), so towards the stranger, no harshness was to be shown. There was added too the same touching reminder, " For ye w^ere strangers in the land of Egypt" (Ex. xxii. 21 ; xxiii. 9; Lev. xix. 33 f. ; xxv. 23 ; Deut. X. 18 f . ; cf. Ex. xxiii. 12 ; Lev. xix. 10 ; Numb. XXXV. 15 ; Deut. i. 16). The invidious distinctions pre- scribed in certain matters, such as liberty to lend to them on usury (Deut. xxiii. 20), or giving them to partake of food ceremonially unclean (Deut. xiv. 21), were rather in the nature of favours to Israel than discriminations against alien residents of the land. On the other hand, the indirect encouragements to affiliation were very strong. When once the uniting bond had been ratified, the whole circle of Israelitic privileges was open: the Passover (Ex. xii. 48; Numb. ix. 14), the joyous feasts (Deut. xvi. 9 ff. ; xxxi. 12; cf. xxvi. 12 f.), and the solemn covenants (Deut. xxix. 10 f. ; Josh. viii. 33 f.). § 553. The Hebrew system of the adoption of strangers was the very soul and life of the universalism of the later prophets. In idealizing this relation, as when they trans- figure the associations of domestic life (§ 399, 407, 426, III >!i ; 1, ! ! V i I i fil 182 THE "STRANGER" IN LITERATURE Book VII ii w It 429, 432 f.), the seers and poets of Israel instinctively seize upon the national attitude and policy towards strangers in its grand potentiality and significance. In the prayer at the dedication of the Temple, which was "to be called a house of prayer for all the peoples " (Isa. Ivi. 7), and to which, as the religious centre of the world, all nations should come streaming (Isa. ii. 2 ff.; Mic. iv. 1 ff.), Solo- mon intercedes (1 K. viii. 41 ff.) in behalf of the " stran- ger" in Israel who should worship at the sacred place. Isaiah foresees that Egyptians and Assyrians shall join with Israel in oblation and sacrifice and privilege and blessed conditions (Isa. xix. 18 ff.). The Second Isaiah declares of the foreigners who join themselves to Jehovah, that their sacrifices should be just as acceptable to him us those of the native-born Israelites (Isa. Ivi. 6 f. ; cf. xliv. 5 ; xlv. 22 f. ; Ix. 3 ff. ; Ixvi. 18 ff. ; Jer. iii. 17 ; xvi. 19 ; Zech. ii. 11, and especially viii. 20 ff.). § 554. The same exulting anticipation is expressed in the lyrical accompaniments of the prophetic voices. That Jehovah is the Ruler of the nations is a frequent boast of the Psalmists (Ps. ii., Ixxii., Ixxv., Ixxxii., ex.). But some of them know of a more intimate and blessed rela- tion. One declares that the emancipation of Israel is to be followed by the gathering of the peoples and kingdoms in Jerusalem to serve Jehovah (Ps. cii. 19 ff. ; cf. Ixxxvi. 9). Another presents us with the picture of a great fes- tal sacrifice. A rejoicing over the deliverance of God's faithful ones from deadly peril is the immediate occasion. But the very thought of the great redemption makes all the ends of the earth turn adoringly to Jehovah ; and all the kindreds of the nations are invited to the feast of thanksgiving. All alike — the nobles, the serfs, and the half-famished poor — are then to partake of the sacrifice and share in the worship (Ps. xxii. 25 ff. ; cf. Isa. xxv. 6 ff.). The impassable gulf of separation is bridged over by the common meal and the common religious service. Here we have the essential elements in the naturalization Ch. VI, § 535 RELIGIOUS ADOPTION 183 of the "stranger." The hospitality of the feast makes him a guest of Israel ; fellowship in worship makes him a fellow-citizen. Another gives us a still wider and pro- founder view (Ps. Ixxxvii.), in beautiful consonance with a prophetic utterance already cited (Isa. xliv. 5). Fore- most among the thronging nations, the world-powers of the poet's time — Egypt, Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia — receive the birth-right of Israelites. In Zion, where the new citizens are proclaimed to be votaries^ of Jehovah, a record is kept of the old affiliations and the new. And see, the newcomers are not enrolled as prose- lytes and foreigners ! They are entered in the register as free-born citizens of Zion (cf. § 549). Lastly, still another Psalmist — the same Avho sings, "Jehovah looseth the prisoners " (§ 546) — sums up for us the essential spirit and motive of the law and sentiment of Israel with regard to outsiders, "Jehovah preserveth the strangers" (Ps. cxlvi. 9). § 555. We have thus seen that slavery of the Hebrew or Old Testament type, and the traditional treatment of aliens, were two of the most beneficent and conservative of the social institutions of Israel. We may now resume our inquiry into the effects of Hebrew life and manners as a whole upon the fortunes of the people. At the close of the era we have at present under review, we find the Northern Kingdom at an end. Judah, according to the estimate left us by the best contemporaries, is in a most unpromising condition. The witnesses ascribe the decline and fall of Israel to a variety of destructive agencies. These agencies were, in part, enemies who assailed the nation from I' : I ii ^ 1 n ml i ki m It 1 Not blind devotees or mechanical ritualists, as we learn from the descriptive phrase in ver. 4, "those that know me" (cf. Jer. xxxi. 34). This psalm — condensed almost to obscurity, and yet in some important respects the most instructive composition of the Old Testament — is not only one of the grandest of optimistic prophecies, but an a.ssertion at the same time of the inward and spiritual character of incorporation into the true Israel. What an interval of progress between it and the conceptions of the days of the Judges (Ruth i. 15 ff.)! w 184 INTERNAL ELEMENTS OF DECAY lio .iv vir i ■^^ li il without. One naturallj' asks whether the political ruin of Israel was not, after all, the work of these external foes. § 556. It is a question difficult to answer, what the fate of the two kingdoms would have been if their destiny had been determined by the action of outside nations alone, and if thej' had not bp.n a prey to decadence within. It is hard to say whether, for example, Israel as a whole was inwardl}- and morally made better or worse by the desperate Syrian wars. One indirect benefit at least was gained, apart from the development among the people of the patriotic and heroic temper. War with Damascus and the surrounding nations generally meant in large degree hostility to their debasing worship. And so far as the strenuous resistance of their assaults im- plied and induced greater fidelity to Jehovah, Israel was thereby vastly the gainer. The relations with Assyria were of a somewhat different character. Collision with that invincible power was not primarily a life and death struggle. The empire of the Tigris would have been contented with mere submission and payment of tribute. And vassalage of the first degree (§ 286) would not have involved the loss of autonomy. It would certainly be morally and religiously injurious, tending to weaken popu- lar faith in the supremacy of Jehovah and to familiarize the people with foreign modes of thought. But prolonged acquiescence in the Assj'rian overlordship would bring with it a degree of civil quietude and domestic contentment utterly out of the question amid the turbulence of stubborn rebellion. If we are to trust the judgment of the Prophets, we must, in any case, Ijelieve that the decay and dissolu- tion of Israel generally did not proceed from external enemies, but from noxious elements within. We have at an earlier stage summarized these moral principles and occasions of the dissolution of the state in their outward aspects and relations (§ 271, 320 ff.). We have now to inquire how they were connected with the constitution and internal workings of Hebrew society. Ch. VI, § 558 ANTECEDENT CHANCES OF ISRAEL 185 § 557. It might not be difficult to dispose of tlie prob- lem in a certain fashion by the application of a formula or the citation of a general principle. We may lay it down as an axiom that where there is little capacity of political development or adaptation, the social fabric is in danger of speedy overthrow. Now our sketch of the outward history of Israel simply confirms the general estimate of the political genius of the Semitic peoples given in our introduction (§ 28 ff.). A ready practical criterion of the political attainments of Israel may be seen in the fact that the prosperity and happiness of the people depended almost entirely upon the character of the rulers, who alone could give moral effectiveness to measures of internal state policy, or in the equally striking fact that the political re- formers were mainly ministers of religion. It was, there- fore, antecedently improbable that the Hebrew kingdoms could have either a lengthened or a prosperous history. Another point of view may be occupied. " Both history and science show us that social and economic changes to be permanent must be gradual, and fitted to the mental and moral conditions of the people." ^ Having already observed (§ 511) that while among the Semites political progress was extremely slow, social changes went on with comparative rapidity, we might accordingly maintain that the Hebrew national system could not in any case have become permanent. This position is tenable with the proviso just indicated (§ 556), that the causes of degen- eration are internal and inherent, not external and ad- ventitious. Our most obvious procedure is to take the theory of the decline of Israel held by the Prophets, and see whether the causes alleged are characteristic and suffi- cient. Fortunately, the case is in its main aspects very simple and easily disposed of. For this very reason it is the more exemplary and worth exhibiting. § 558. It is universally admitted that Israel was a singular community. Its singularity was due not so much 1 Henry Dyer, The Evolution of Industry (UB95), preface. 1 I !! ! i 1? :i II p:: i' ' iui m f.'!>ll M\W 1 180 INFLUENCE OF THE "CLASSES" Book VII • I ' to its distinctive race characteristics as a supreme develop- ment of Semitism, but rather to the religious and moral bias which marked its career (§ 386 ff.), and which made it, in its highest and most influential types of thought and life, run counter to the genius of Semitism. Above all, it was unique in its ideal morality and in its disavowal of polytheism. A phenomenon so remarkable among Semitic nations, and so pronounced, must necessarily be the con- trolling factor in the history of any people manifesting it. Through lack of representative government and popular institutions, no Semitic state has long continued to flourish unless when maintained by adequate physical force (§ 56). There was but one alternative possibility; namely, that when material resources were wanting, moral principles might prolong the life of the state. A general illustra- tion is afforded by the observation above made that the national weal always, as a matter of fact, depended, in Israel, upon the moral excellence of its rulers (cf. § 534). § 559. We are thus brought by general considerations to the same point which we reached (§ 533) in our in- ductive examination. That is to say, we are to inquire into the influence of the ruling classes in Israel. And we see again as clearly as before that the point at issue is their moral character and conduct. We have already learned (§ 534 ff.) what these social and political leaders were. Above all, yet with an authority more or less limited by that of the religious leaders, stood the absolute king. On the religious side were the priests and prophets, more or less subservient to " Jehovah's anointed." In the political sphere there were the local elders, the judges, and the princes, nominally responsible to the king, but in practice allowed as a rule to go their own way. The social leaders were naturally the officials just mentioned. But besides these, and continually forcing themselves or being forced into official positions, were the aristocracy of wealth, the large property ners and capitalists. Finally, there must be reckoned the courtiers, the continually in- Cii. VI, § 500 nUMITIVE EQUALITY 187 creasing throng of those who for purposes of intrigue or self-indulgence " ate at the king's table." At their head were the officers of the royal household. Theoretically these should have no separate place, since they were simply personal attach^ of the king. Practically, how- ever, they gradually attained to independent personal influence of the most decisive kind (Isa. xxii. 15 ff. ; Jer. xxxvii. 15 ff. ; cf. xxxviii. 25).^ It is the relations sus- tained by these magnates to the common people on the one hand, and to the supreme rulers on the other, that determined both the political and the moral destiny of Israel. These relations were practically fulfilled (1) in the possession and use of property, (2) in the adminis- tration of justice, and (3) in the observances of religion. § 560. Let us take a backward glance, and learn how the complicated conditions of the later decisive periods were evolved. Before the clans of Israel came over the borders of Canaan, their social system was as nearly homogeneous as it is possible for any organized society to be. There was no order of nobility supported either by hereditary right or by the rights of property. Indeed, the hereditary privilege, which is the life of aristocracy, is bound up with the possession of fixed property ; and the shifting, pre- carious character of proprietorship among nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples renders this condition ijermanently impossible. There is accordingly every reason to believe that just as it was and is with the Arab sheiohs,^ so it was also with the synonymous Hebrew " elders " of the olden time, and even Avith the "princes of the congregation." Age and repute for wisdom were the qualifications that determined the choice, as is attested by the very name 1 These are called "princes" in Jeremiah. In the later clays of the kingdom of Judah this term was thus applied to the king's council. 2 We are told by native Arabian authorities that it was something very remarkable when the chieftainship of a tribe remained in the same family for four generations. Kremer, Die herrschenden Ideen des Islams (1868), p. 316 ; cf. p. 311. Compare what was said in vol. i (p. 404) on the election of the modern Nestorian mdlik. II ; il ■111 lUM INTERFERING FACTORS Book VII " elder," common to all considerable ancient communities (cf. Job xxxii. 7). Again, the simplicity of living, among the highest and the lowest alike, made the multiplication of nobles of any grade out of the question. s5 561. We have thus to picture to oureelves the social conditions of Israel in its early settlement as being but little modified from its primitive uniformity. Only a slight differentiation was made when the allotment of the new possessions brouglit some families and individuals into greater prominence than others. The clansmen, there- fore, at this stage, when decisive changes were impending, were on a pretty even footing. Certain kins or family groups were, indeed, more powerful than others ; but of the heads of families as a whole, none were very rich and none very poor. Nor was any freeman so low as that his voice might not be heard in council with the highest. But these relations began to be seiiousl}' interfered with by the first stages of the process of settlement. § 562. What, then, were the various classes of the popu- lation that were to be reckoned with? Besides the free- men of Israel and their families there were their household slaves and their clients or gerim (§ 540 ff., 548 ff.). These latter cannot have been very numerous relatively to the whole people of Israel. The " mixed multitude " of the desert wanderings (§ 453) must have been in great measure absorbed by adoption or got rid of as superfluous. Yet a constant influx of adventurous or needy strangers was inevitable during the residence east of Jordan. And the lust of plunder and of fertile lands must have brought many outsiders, whole tribes in fact, to join them- selves to the invaders before tlie crossing of the river. Self-interest would impel these to profess the faith of Israel with all reasonable speed. Thus the armies and the households of the colonists were strengthened for w^ar and labour. But the same accession increased the number of those who were to be provided for in the new^ domain. The process of their settlement presented problems more m fir. VI, § &6;) MILITARY LEADERS 189 formidable than the campaigns which decided against the Canaanites the question of military predominance. It fur- nished to the social life of Israel the new elements which gave form, direction, and bias to its development. And wlien the determining movements had potentially done their work, the social aspect of Israel in Canaan differed as greatly from that of Israel in its wanderings as the con- tour of Palestine, with its mountains and valleys, its slopes and precipices, differed from the simplicity and monotony of the desert. § 5G3. The first step in the direction of a landed aris- tocracy was made by the military leaders. In the nomadic and semi-nomadic state, the chief who leads his tribe to successful battle does not thereby gain a permanent eleva- tion over his fellows. Upon his return to camp he becomes as before primus inter pares. The possession of land to be distributed or to be administered gives at once an entirely different character to the victorious leader. He is now the disposer of the land or eventually its trustee. That he himself personally retains a goodly share of the new possessions is to be expected. But his principal function in relation to the newly acquired territory is to portion it out among his family or his companions in arms.^ Thus the land west of Jordan, as far as it was conquered in his days, was allotted by Joshua to the clans that had occupied it under his leadership ; and the remainder was assigned to be divided among the tribes as they should succeed sever- ally in acquiring it. In this he followed the example of re 1 This is finely set forth in the blessing of .Jacob, where the dying patri- arch says : " I have given thee one height of land above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorites witli my sword and with my bow" (Gen. xlviii. 22). .Jacob as a .shepherd had no land to give. But in the persons of his descendants, returning to " the land of his sojourn- ings," claiming it as the land of promise and subduing it with the sword and the bow, he has it in possession to be portioned out among his children. The "height of land" here is the same word as " Sliechem," which was a place of great prestige and influence, and was, as a matter of fact, allotted to Ephraim. H *t M • 4 r » M W ■■■ i:; 1 ' i ii I ? 1 1 1 190 THE SECURING OF TITLES Book VII Moses in the distribution of the lands east of the Jordan, which, however, being rather grazing ground than arable soil, was never held by Israel with a fixed and certain tenure (§ 190). So, again, Caleb the Kenizzite is ap- pealed to as the proprietor and dispenser of the districts in southern Judah captured by his clan (Jud. i. 14 f.). In like manner, doubtless, the several sections of the northern tribes that gradually made their way to the more or less complete possession of their permanent homes, came to receive their allotments from the hands of their respective chieftains. § 564. The next stage in the process of settlement was the final securing of possessions by acknowledged title. Naturally the distribution was ratified by the approval of the heads of all the families of the preempting clan. This preliminary stage was in one district longer, in an- other shorter, but nowhere was the business easily or speedily concluded. That many, and often bitter, dis- putes preceded the final adjustment goes without saying. But conflicting claims could not be finally disposed of without the authoritative decision of the sectional leader, any more than the greedy Norman barons in England after the Conquest could have been safely left free to divide the helpless country among themselves. But how vastly must this function of supreme arbitrament have enhanced the* authority and moral advantage of the leader! And who so likely as the successful military chieftain to be the permanent head of the colony, its chief counsellor and its " judge " ? In this relation we have implicitly not merely the main condition, but the actual beginning of the rdginie of the Judges. § 565. We thus are again reminded that the matter turned finally upon the appropriation of land, mainly of cultivated land. On the one side there were the tracts of pasturage. But these also were formally allotted, though rather to family groups than to individual freemen. It is only among this less fixed population, and only in this - ;; Cii. VI, § 567 PROVISION FOR FREEMEN 191 sr transition period, that anything like a communal system could have prevailed (cf. i^ 50). On the other side there were the cities. These, too, represented and depended upon cultivated land. Thus their more tardy expropria- tion by the invadei's (§ 476 f.) did not involve the estab- lisliment of any other order of aristocracy than that of landed proprietorship. § 566. The homogeneity of the old pastoral life is now being threatened at the threshold of Israel's new home. The cultivation of the soil and the development of the industries proper to the life in towns and villages (§ 484) determine the most important permanent forms and grades of social life. We have just spoken of the freemen in Israel, and their acquisition of homesteads. That the great body of them were well provided for we cannot doubt. The immediate task of settlement was the sequel of the occupation. To that all the energies of the united clans had been bent. So here the feeling of brotherhood was too strong and universal to permit of continued dis- putes which would lead to exclusion from the common domain. The main endeavour was to secure enough for all. To accomplish this was, in fact, a matter of loyalty to Jehovah, whose cause was a constant and primary issue of the occupation. The necessary rule, at first, was protection and care for the Israelite, and merciless severity to the resisting Canaanite. For the wronged or impov- erished Hebrew, ample provision had already been made in the Mosaic enactments. § 567. But this acquisition of permanent homes for themselves was only a part of the great undertaking. Israelitish freemen were but a minority of the population. There were, besides, the submissive or subjugated Canaan- ites and the body of gerim. These, as we know, were not superfluous elements or permanent aliens from the com- monwealth of Israel. The very fact of their survival shows them to h.ave been taken up by the community. And iu the nature of the case they were indispensable to 192 PROVISION FOR SLAVES AND CLIENTS Book VII If >, J.i f'i the community. The ample institutions of slavery and clientage (§ 539 ff.) here began to play their beneficent and regenerative part in the evolution of the new Hebrew society. Slavery upon submission was the only alterna- tive to death ; and it was embraced by thousands of Canaanites. For these a use was immediately found, or rather had been from the first foreseen. The Hebrews were no agriculturists. Yet henceforth they were to get their living directly or indirectly from the ground. Tillers of the soil were at hand, ready to be set to work.^ In many cases we have to imagine the former masters and proprietors employed as slaves upon their own estates. The "strangers" were similarly utilized. To them the less laborious tasks would be allotted. Where the Canaan- ite serfs toiled in the field or in repairing or erecting walls, and the like manual employments, these clients would be called, according to fitness and training, to the less servile avocation of overseeing and directing the task-work (cf. Ex. V. 14 ff.). The care of the flocks and pastures would also largely devolve upon them. The gradual improvement in the condition of both of these classes has already been noticed (§ 544 f., 549 ff.). Our present interest is with the leaders of society whom they served and aggrandized. § 568. It is related 2 of the chiefs who followed Mo- hammed in the inauguration of Islam, and who maintained 1 Perhaps many old Canaanitic families were finally allowed to manage and cultivate the plantations for a fixed return of the produce. A sugges- tive parallel is furnished by the procedure of Mohammed and his followers after the subjugation of the cultivated Jewish settlement of Chaybar (a. u. 028). Half of the land was retained by the Prophet for himself and for sacred uses, and the remainder was divided among the faithful. But it was soon found that there were not hands or skill enough to work all the estates, so many of the conquered were permitted to return to their fields and till them on condition of paying one-half of lie Jinnual yield. See Sprenger, Lehen und Lehre des Muhammed (1869;, III, 275 ; Muir, Life of Mohammed (18(51), IV, 74 f. 2 See Kremer, Ideen des Mams, p. 348 f. Musa ibn Nosair, the con- queror of Africa, was a freedinau, and became in hia turn the owner of thousands of slaves and clients. ' 111 i'l Ch. VI, § 509 AGGRANDIZEMENT OF FAMILIES 193 its victorious progress after his death, that they obtained vast numbers of slaves through the conquests of Abu Bekr and of Omar; that many of these were freed by them, and raised to the rank of " clients " ; and that thus their respective households, and therewith their own power and prestige, were vastly increased. Not otherwise was it with the chiefs of victorious Israel upon the smaller arena of Palestine eighteen centuries before. That great- est of Semitic politicians, "the Cavour of Arabia," wlio knew so well how to adapt the institutions of the heathen- ism which he abolished, was anticipated by the greatest of Semitic statesmen and lawgivers. He, in a narrower field, and yet with a wider aim and achievement, utilized the common Semitic customs of servitude and clientage, and fitted them into the grander mission of his people. As Mohammed's lesson was followed up by his companions, so the policy of Moses was continued by his successors. Apart from the ultimate and consequential benefit of these institutions, their immediate effect was to furnish a num- ber of strong and resourceful local centres as rallying- points for the people of Israel during their long and checkered struggle for the complete control of the land (§ 478 ff.). That many of these heads of families and kins, strengthened and appreciated though they were, declined through the wear and tear of conflict or the injuries of time and nature, is morally certain. Yet a goodly number of them survived tlie storm and stress of the period of the Judges. Through the genuinely Semitic device of affiliation by adoption (§ 550 f.), they were per- petuated till the latest time, and preserved in genealogi- cal tables as well as in popular tradition the name and fame of the ancient heroes who came over with the Con- queror (1 Chr. ii. ff. passim}. § 569. But we naturally revert to the classes of "nobles" in Israel, whom we have credited with deter- mining, in their place and time, the moral destiny of Israel. How were these related to the early movements ;!i.| il r ' I I M i il m Vi ; % r > u ' 1 : I I j ■::i u , I 194 OFFICE BECOMES HEREDITARY Book VII that established so many dominant families ? In this way, above all, that the officials, the elders, judges, princes of the congregation, were according to the recognized prin- ciple chosen as a rule from among the leading men. But there was a concomitant reason which gave fixity and duration to their incumbency of the offices. The simple round of life on the desert plains had made it possible for any prominent man to act as " counsellor," and hence the office of elder or that of hlifl went around from one family to another. It became altogether different with the devel- opment of the new civilization. In Semitic life and his- tory, as we have had frequent occasion to observe, forms of administration run perforce from one extreme to the other. The freedom and looseness of nomadic govern- ment gives place almost at a bound to the despotism of city-states (§ 36). General society exhibits a similar, almost paradoxical, contrast. In a settled and compara- tively civilized community like that of Israel, where little or no general professional training was available, the vari- ous occupations (§ 484) became the monopoly of guilds. With the accumulation of knowledge and skill the advan- tage held by the hereditary craftsmen made these close corporations a matter of family propriety and privilege. Thus it was and is notoriously with all the trades and useful arts in every settled community in the Semitic world. § 570. In Israel, as we know, the highest spiritual as well as mechanical employments were vested in distinct families. The most stupendous example is the priesthood, which was awarded successively to Aaron, to his family, and finally to his whole clan and tribe. Nor was the occu- pation of prophet exempt, as the members of that class formed peripatetic bands or companies in the time of the Judges (1 Sam. x. 5 ff.) and were organized into the well- known guilds of " sons of the Prophets " ^ which played so 1 It is scarcely necessary to remark that the term "son" used in such cases of members of guilds or professions (§ 431 ; W. R. Smith, Pvophets, • Cii. VI, § 571 AN ARISTOCRATIC CLASS 195 large a part in the later history of the kingdom (1 K. xx. 35; 2 K. ii. ; iv. ; v 22; vi. 1 ; ix. 1; cf. Am. vii. 14). That the professions of elder or judge should be special- ized and differentiated in a similar manner was simply inevitable with the increasing complexity of city life and the various functions which such officials had to perform (§ 486 f.). We thus see fulfilled all the main conditions tending to establish, consolidate, and perpetuate through- out the realm of Israel families of influence, of wealth, position, and professional prestige. Add to this a more general motive that dominated every Hebrew, the desire to maintain the family unimpaired, and we have the socio- logical basis of that spiritual and civil aristocracy which was the moral controlling force of the nation. § 571. It will not be assumed by the reader that such an aristocracy was at any time very numerous. Indeed, the rule may apply in Israel that the influence exerted by powerful families was in inverse ratio to their number. Or, to put it more accurately, class influence is least when the number of well-to-do families is greatest. When in the earlier conditions none were very rich and none very poor (§ 560 f.), social influence in the strict sense was at its lowest. But the process of selection, indicated by the progress and the success of the favoured families, went on according to clearly defined principles. Long-continued possession of estates antecedes the accumulation of wealth. Property and social standing increase the clientele. Suitors as well as dependants attach themselves. The household enlarges by affiliation and adoption. A family group ab- sorbs or displaces rivals or collaterals. Family connec- tion, however remote, is now highly prized and utilized to the full. The common ancestral hero or heroes, act- ual or feigned, lend dignity to the whole connection.^ p. 85 ; 388 f.) is employed because of the prevailing hereditary character of the occupation. 1 Cf. Meyer, GA. II, § 66, with reference to the development of early Hellenic families. Ii r 11 H 1 I' f f! .'it ! ill \ ' « til 196 IMPOVERISHMENT Book VII Mutual aid to relatives and clients confirms the alli- ance. * § 572. With this self-aggrandizing development of the prosperous kinship goes hand in hand the decline of un- appreciated outsiders. This deterioration is slow but sure. " Wealth accumulates, and men decay." The capital of the country is small and is not being increased. There is no normal or continuous export trade to bring money into the country except that of agricultural products, whose limit of supply is speedily and early reached. When all live simply and frugally, as in the good old days, there is enough for all. But luxury demands more than enough, and always succeeds in getting it. Its success involves the impoverishment of the common man. " Fiat money," of no vJilue in any age of the world without money's worth behind it, is not issued in Israel even for temporary relief. War, famine, pestilence, come upon the nation (cf. § 264). The concomitant privation, suffering, anxiety, and terror strike hardest upon the lower middle class and the very poor. Their lingering consequences swell further the roll of the destitute and the helpless. § 573. The normal distribution of the population, according to wealth, in a fairly prosperous community, shows us, " a few rich ; a considerable number of well-to-do ; a large number of busy, fairly well-housed, and fully nour- ished working people, who are engaged in all the arts of life ; and a moderate proportion of poor." ^ In Israel, the last-named class became too numerous for the welfare of the state. Their case, and that of the unfortunate gen- erally, occupies so much space in the national Hebrew literature, that it must have formed a most important practical issue in the national history. In giving to its consideration the attention it deserves we have contrasted it v;iih that of the rich and powerful. It is necessary to ' o mrther and show that the antithesis is more than for- ^ ^. A. Atkinson, The Industrial Progress of the Nation, New York, IbyO, p. 222. 5 i'' Ch. VI, § 575 THE QUESTION A MORAL ONE 197 t ; mal or theoretical, that a chasm had been created between the rich and influential and the poor and insignificant, which widened and deepened ever till it rived the com- munity in twain. § 574. We must see that the question is fundamentally a moral one, like all the greater issues of Hebrew history. The determining cause of the social catastrophe was not so much the growth of a wealthy party whose affluence involved the depletion of the masses. The question was not ultimately one of money and its transfer to the coffers of a few leading men. Such matters were merely incidental to the play of greater forces than any known to the material world. Underlying the inequality of fortune, and largely accountable for it, was the hidden work of evil tendencies and motives. What the Hebrew commonwealth needed most of all was the conserving force of righteousness among its leaders. Character was to it, as to all element- ary communities, of more account than outward possessions. Character could not, perhaps, largely increase the capital of the people, but it could conserve it and secure that it be wisely distributed. All great moral revolutions either spring from social questions or are mainly promoted by them. It is these that bring out the possibilities of human nature by the stress and strain of some of the strongest and most persistent of passions known to men — ambition, emulation, avarice, greed. Thus it practically has come to pass that the welfare and prosperity of a country may be gauged and its fate forecast by the con- dition of its proletariat. § 575. Those who, in any age or country, are owners of capital, are morally bound not to hoard it or squander it or increase it unduly, but so to direct its employment — in other words, the work of the toiling majority — so as to ful- fil the end of all labour, the furthering of the common weal. In the early days of Israel, before the growth of large cities and the development of any general trade, domestic or foreign, there were few gross temptations to ! '■'■ \l i i m i 1 ■;:)! I, 1 198 INSOLVENCY AND USURY Book VII do otherwise than what was just or right in this matter. Ordinary trade and exchange were very slight and were in the hands of a few travelling merchants and market- men. The landed proprietors simply gave employment to their own retainers or liired servants, and it was their in- terest to have their employees well provided for. But the development of an indastrial and commercial population, and the changes brought about generally by the increase of wealth and luxur}- (§ 571 f.), created a large and ever- increasing class of people who were thrown sooner or later upon the tender mercies of the rich. To people in distress in the fully developed Hebrew community there were two recourses. One was to sell some or all the membei-s of the family into slaverj-. The other was to borrow money on usury. The latter was ordinarily the more severe ordeal of the two. Its usual issue was the beggary of the debtor, who then became the slave of the creditor, without the chance of the favourable conditions available in the former case. § 576. Such consequences of extreme poverty were so deplorable, that to prevent them, the taking of usury and even of moderate interest, from any but aliens, was forbid- den by statute (Ex. xxii. 25 ; Deut. xxiii. 19 f.). The result of the prohibition naturally would be, in a community where there was no commercial credit, that little borrowing of money was done at all, except under galling necessity. Lending to the poor was, indeed, urged as a humane and even as a religious obligation. But lending either money or goods, from a sense of duty or from pure benevolence, was not more fashionable even in the best ages of Israel than it is now. Relieving by actual gifts was also directly and indirectly enjoined as a doty to Jehovah himself. For the benefit of the poor it was ordained that the cultivated land, the vineyards and olive yards, should lie fallow every seventh year (Ex. xxiii. 10 f.). The Feast of Weeks was to be a time of general relief and solace to the poor (Deut. xvi. 10 f.). And the tithing of every third year Ch. VI, § 578 OLD-TIME NEIGHBOURLINESS 199 was expressly set apart for the help of those who had no inheritance, for "the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow " (Deut. xiv. 28 f . ; cf. xxvi. 12 f. ; of. § 552). § 577. In the old purely agricultural and pastoral times, it was doubtless possible to relieve the wants of the destitute without the irksome obligation of undue self-sacrifice. In the first place, the number needing re- lief was comparatively small. Again, the means of relief were near at hand, at least for the most obvious cases. Food was to be had in the well-to-do neighbour's grain field or vineyard, if the beneficiary would but content himself with merely gathering in the hands, or with eat- ing on the spot all that he might take (Deut. xxiii. 24 f . ; cf. xxiv. 19).^ These beneficent provisions were doubtless in many cases carried into effect, and we may assume that mendicancy, which it was their main aim to prevent, was in this age almost unknown.^ National calamities, of which there were many, were borne by all classes alike. § 578. With the new conditions under the kingdom (§ 521 ff.), and the establishment of an aristocracy of place and wealth, came the breaking of the bonds of brotherhood. The process we cannot trace in detail. The literature of the whole period until the Exile reveals to us these characteristics of the times in both of the kingdoms : oppression of the poor ; the taking of usury ; the disregard not merely of brotherly rights, but even of the claims of humanity ; the practical abrogation of all the kindly traditions and enactments which distin- guish the Mosaic legislation from other ancient codes. Hand in hand with the neglect and the abuse of the poor l^ iiit ■ '^W I'll 1 These specific provisions are found first in the Deuterononiic code ; but they are exactly in the spirit of the " Book of tlie Covenant," and are doubtless a reflex of the best usage of the early period. 2 The manner in which David's band of " those wlio were in debt or distress " expected to be relieved by Nabal (1 Sam. xxv.) is an indication of the dependence of the one class of the community upon the other at the close of the ancient period. In the times of the established kingdoms such wholesale relief would be given only to religious companies (2 K. iv. 42). i I 1 I ih m t iii jif 200 ARISTOCRACY AND INJUSTICE Book VII and unfortunate by the rich and prosperous, went the abuse of justice in the local and provincial courts, the perpetrators being often the same in the one case and in the other. We shall, to be sure, have to beware of assum- ing that the oppression and moral degeneration were gen- eral. We must avoid, above all things, the employment of Hebrew rhetorical hyperbole in a calm historical re- view. But we shall fnid, as a matter of fact, that this was the great theme and burden of the prophetical and poetical literature, which constitutes the centre and heart of the Old Testament. By registering the counts in this long and solemn indictment of the responsible men in Israel, we shall learn, as we can in no other way, the secret of the social and moral struggle, whose issue was to be the eter- nal enthronement of freedom, righteousness, and mercy. § 579. The abuses that shattered the framework of Hebrew society may be divided into the general cate- gories of private and public wrong-doing, though it will naturally be difficult to distinguish sharply between the two classes. The most obvious and serious evils which would come under the latter group, corruption and in- justice among the judges and the officers of the court, are so closely interwoven with the whole social fabric, that we can hardly make anything more than a formal distinction in their presentation. In taking our survey of this tragic and memorable season, we shall have to range freely over the literature of Israel. We shall have to bring under one rubric the most various forms and styles : — " The statesman's great word Side by side with the poet's sweet comment." ^ For lawgiver, prophet, psalmist, and moralist alike agonized with the burden that was crushing the life of the nation and breaking its heart. § 580. We may begin with the most fundamental insti- tution, the ownership of land and fixed property. If it 1 Browning, Saul, xiii. On. VI, § 581 JEHOVAH THE OWNER OF THE LAND 201 was a recognized principle that every person, or rather every family,' should be the independent possessor of a freehold in land (§ 506), it follows that any attempt to deprive the proprietors of their holdings was an encroach- ment on such a right. The Hebrew theory of the matter is characteristic. It might fairly be argued in a given case that the dispossession of the owners was accomplished under tlie forms and with the sanction of consuetudinary law, and that therefore it could not be wrong. The plea would not satisfy a true Hebrew publicist. He would be ready with the reply that the transfer might have been made, as in the case of a foreclosed mortgage, according to the terms of an explicit covenant, and yet it would be illegal, because it would conflict with a higher proprietor- ship. The owner of the land, while a freeholder, was yet a tenant. He, to be sure, did not pay any rent, as his own retainers never paid rent to him, such a system being un- known to this stage of social development. He as the head of his " family " was a tenant of the Owner of the soil. § 581. The land had not been held communistically ; hence the proprietor was not responsible to the community, whether family group, or clan, or tribe, or nation. Nor was it the property of the king, to whom the holder was to pay an annual tribute or tax for its use, as in ancient Egypt and modern India. No ; the land had been seized in the name of Jehovah, and was thenceforth administered for him. True, "the earth was Jehovah's and its contents, the world and the dwellers therein." But "Jehovah's land " in a special sense was the soil which liis people cul- tivated, whose produce was dedicated to him, where his altars were reared, and his name continually invoked. The occupant of any portion of that soil accordingly stood in the closest of relations to him ; and the alienation of such property by fraud or violence was not simply wrong done to the immediate cultivator, but despite against the 1 Comp. W. H. Bennett, "Economic Conditions of the Hebrew Mon- archy" in The Thinker, vol. Ill (1893), p. 128. t !' tiii I m m m ' f 1 :;| : I I, 1 1 I', \ 1 , :! ^ : i 1 1 i f I j !, 1 1 1 1 i M ^i k i „ i i ^ i; : ■ S i i i IL ■i. 202 TESTIMONY AS TO SPOLIATION Book VII supreme, ultimate Lord of the land, with whom the soil itself and his true worshippers were indissolubly united. Hence the sacrilege and impiety of land-grabbing and kin- dred practices. § 582. From this point of view we can now understand the motive of the provision for the destitute, the fatherless, and the stranger, made from the superfluity of the prosper- ous man's estate (§ 576) The poor and even the guests in Jehovah's land (§ 552) are the subjects of his care, and entitled to a share of what the soil brings forth under Jehovah's nurture. That is to say, if the occupant has rights against any intruder because he is Jehovah's tenant^ he has also obligations to the wards of the nation, because he is, after all, only Jehovah's trustee. § 583. How large this twofold obligation loom>^ before the open-eyed reader of the Old Testament! A curse is pronounced upon him " who removes liis neighbour's land- mark," or boundary stone (Deut. xxvii. 17). This simply follows up an explicit command based upon the plea that it is a landmark " which they of old time have set " (Deut. xix. 14). Unlike some of the injunctions of the Mosaic code, which had no discoverable practical application in the lives and manners of the people, this provision finds an echo in the most popular elements of the national literature. Thus, in the book of Proverbs, the prescription of the law is repeated with the same plea annexed (Prov. xxii. 28). And the whole case is presented besides in memorable words : " Remove not the old-time landmark ; and into the fields of the fatherless do not intrude. For their God is mighty; he will plead their cause against thee" (Prov. xxiii. 10 f.). But it is when the matter comes within the cognizance of the Prophets that its full significance is revealed. In the Northern Kingdom the expropriation of Naboth, accomplished by his judicial murder (1 K. xxi. 1-16), rises, under the moral indignation of Elijah, to the dignity of a national tragedy, whose catastrophe is the death of the offenders, inflicted with poetic justice, and Cii. VI, § 584 LOANS AND PLEDGES 203 tlie subversion of tlieir dynasty (2 K. ix. 24 ff.). In the kingdom of Judali, in spitu of its moral advantages (§ 271, 270 f.), the evil became rampant and intolerable. Tlie two prophets of the close of the period now under review place it in the forefront of the ini(|uities which excite the dis- pleasure of Jehovah and presage the ruin of the state ; which bring, moreover, desolation upon the inheritances that have been increased by assiduous plotting, unscrupulous usurpa- tion, and insatiable greed (Isa. v. 8 ff. ; Mic. ii. 1 ff.). § 584. Of the processes by which such rapacity secured its nefarious ends, we are not particularly informed. We are, however, justified in including therein many of the special forms of evil which make up the burden of the end- less complaints of those who were set for the defence of the oppressed and for the salvation of Israel. For inasmuch as personal possessions were an indispensable condition of the nurture and survival of the family, their alienation was the cardinal social wrong, the most comprehensive form of civic calamity. We may therefore imagine that the loan of money upon " usury " and with " pledges" resulted, in a multitude of cases, directly or indirectly, in the loss of the precious patrimony of house and field. Personal security by a pawn was extremely common from the earliest history of Israel (Gen. xxxviii. 17 ff.). Its employment in the most trivial transactions shows better than anything else the rudimentary character of business dealings and meth- ods, and at the same time that appreciation of property which has always distinguislied the Hebrew raoe. In ordi- nary transactions its tendency was to gradual impoverish- ment. A society Avhere the most common form of pledge was one's upper raiment, which served tlie borrower for his night-covering (Ex. xxii. 26 f. ; Deut. xxiv. 10 ff., 17),^ and 1 Notice that in Deut. xxiv. the word " pledge" (v. 10) is explained by "garment" (v. Vi) which had not previously been mentioned. This is evidence that the movable property possessed by the majority of debtors consisted of what was absolutely necessary for life, and nothing besides, else it would be given iiji pledge instead of raiment (cf. xxiv. C). I" ■ I I 1 i 1 : 1 - if Jl i»i| L i 204 tup: lot of the debtor Book VII • I'l 1 in which at the same time a taste for fine and showy rai- ment was indigenous,^ must have contained a large percen- tage of the miserably poor.^ The poetical and prophetical writers of all periods show, from their several points of view, how the number was increased and how the poor were made poorer, by the merciless enforcement of the pawnbroker's claim (Job xxii. 6 ; xxiv. 3 ; cf . Prov. xx. 16 ; xxvii. 13 ; Amos ii. 8 ; Ezek. xviii. 7, 12, 16 ; xxxiii. 15). Such experiences on the part of the indigent led inevitably in very many cases to the last stage of distress, — the alienation of the family domain. This left the hapless vic- tim homeless and helpless. The only recourse for the pres- ervation of the life of his household was servitude, with little or no hope of release at the end of the seventh year,^ in spite of the enactments of the Mosaic law. § 585. From these and many other tokens it becomes clear that for the common man in Israel it was often a great question not simply how he was to make a living, but how he was to maintain his personal freedom. The first serious misfortune of life — so easily occasioned by sickness, or tlie failure of crops, or a raid from over the border, or the knavery or trespass of a dishonest neigh- bour — was to many a one a sentence to life-long servitude. Statutes had been made for the relief of the debtor or for the mitigation of his lot. And yet his condition often became practically hopeless. While hard for himself, it 1 Comp. Van Lennep, Bible Lands, their modern Customs and Man- ners illustrative of Scripture, New York, 1876, p. 607 f. ; Nowack, HA. p. 124 f., 128 ft. ^ The Prophet's liabit of uutanned leather was doubtless not merely a protest against extravagance and display in costume, but also an expres- sion of sympathy with the poor and their plain attire (cf. 2 K. i. 8 and Matt. iii. 4 ; vii. 16 and xi. 8 ; Luke vii. 25). •' The fact that no mention i.s made of such release of bondmen till the very close of the Judaic kingdom ( Jer. xxxiv.) is presumptive evidence that the merciful provisions of Ex, xxi, 2, Dent. xv. 12, were more honoured ill tlie breach than in the observance. Moreover, Jer. xxxiv. 14 expressly ■says of the Deuteronomic statute : " Your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear." Cii. VI, § 586 EXTENT AND SOURCE OF THE EVIL 205 id y was apt to be still harder for his children. A case is cited as though it was an e very-day occurrence (2 K. iv. 1 ff.). A God-fearing man of the time of Elisha had died when in pecuniary difficulties. His widow is confronted by "the creditor," who seizes her sons to make them his slaves. Against tlie tyrant there is no redress. All that is left to the sympathetic prophet is to procure for her the means of satisfying his claim. A similar instance appears to be alluded to as typical in the prophetic style (Mic. ii. 9), with the additional horror that the children are sold out of Jehovah's land. The custom of selling the persons of debtors is so common that it is used as the basis of a wide- reaching metaphor (Isa. 1. 1). And the historical picture of a much later time (Neli. v. 3 ff.), which shows us a wholesale seizure of estates by usurious creditors, was doubtless but an extension under favouring circumstances of a system which prevailed in the days of the kingdom in many localities within a wider territory. § 586. A question naturally arises. How were such exactions and oppressions habitual, or at any time possible or consistent with the humanitarian spirit (cf. § 546 f.) which was an outgrowth of the higher life of Israel? It is not sufficient to say that the ameliorating or prohibitive pro- visions of the legal codes were merely idealizing schemes without practical significance. They were devised to remedy evils already gross and noxious, and only second- arily to prevent possible moral degeneration. The " Book of the Covenant " and the Deuteronomic code, which su1> stantially agree, as our citations have shown, in their treatment of the land and labour question, were, to be sure, apparently never actually canonized into the statute law either of the tribal or of the monarchical regime.' Yet 1 The opinion that all the minute regulations of the Pcntateuclial codes could liave been put in force as part of the jiuliciai administration of Israel hnplies a misunderstanding of Oriental government, and indeed of ancient society generally. So much was possible as the social and moral development of the ruling classes of the people was able to adapt and util- fca ^ i! h Hi I I 1: J> 1 . I I T h ii ;> 206 NO PUBLIC CONSCIENCE Book VII they were known and urged upon both king and people by the ministera of Jehovah. And their letter and spirit alike would have prevailed against the selfish and per- nicious practices of the rich and powerful, were it not for another great and evil feature of Hebrew life and morals, whose consideration brings us from the category of private into that of public wrongs (§ 579). •§ 587. The essential evil was that there was no potent public conscience, educated by frugality, self-denial, and the fear of God, alive to the needs of the suffering and the unfortunate, and alert to provide a remedy. We have spoken of the responsibility and influence of a king in Israel (§ 534, 559). But even in an Oriental monarchy the king was the product of the state. The public that was behind him, as it is behind all rulers in any type of society, was that to which he listened, that which man- aged his revenues, which proffered him counsel, which carried out his commands, well-reasoned or whimsical, and which kept him in good humour generally (Hos. vii. 3). He could only be influenced by those who had his ear; and they, as a rule, were the courtiers, the nobles, the judges, and the central priesthood. If we wish to learn the why and wherefore of the fate of moral movements in ancient Israel, it is to these we must look for the explana- tion (cf. § 533, 559). § 588. The prosperity and comfort of the masses in Israel were not merely checked by the natural disad- vantages under which they laboured in the struggle for existence. The special disabilities above described would in any case have been removed if there had been a righteous, independent court of justice to which the sufferers could appeal. The absence of such tribunals was the chief organic vice or defect in the constitution of Israel, as it was certainly the foulest blot upon its historic reputation. To whom would one in difficulties appeal in ize, and nothing more. Utopia is not to be found eitlier in the beginning, or middle, or end of the history of Israel. f i Cii. VI, § 589 THE PRIESTS AS JUDGES 207 his trouble ? In the okleii times, to the head of his clan, or to the elder of his " city," or, above all, to his priest.^ The last-named had this great advantage over the other dispensers of justice, that he was naturally resorted to in any case for the consecration of flesh and wine and the fruits of the earth, as well as for the offering of stated sacrifices, and for the still higher function of speaking in the name of Jehovah. Granting that the priests were usually invoked merely in questions of propriety or riglit, not involving pains and penalties (§ 488), it will appear what an enormous influence they must have wielded in the domestic and social economy of the people. Modern parallels of sacerdotalism suggest themselves. But these can give only a faint idea of the power of the priesthood in a community where little or no distinction was made between the sacred and the secular in any of the affairs of life (cf. § 61 f., 397). § 589. What such functionaries were likely to do in the administration of justice after the establishment of the central shrines in the times preceding the monarchy, we may infer from the example of the sons of Eli, notorious for greed and dishonesty, as well as licentiousness (1 Sam. ii. 12 ff.). We may well believe that with the establish- ment of higher civil powers under the monarchy the relative judicial influence and activity of the priests would be seriously abated. Yet it necessarily remained a perpetual function of the priest to give decisions from Jehovah. How this was done at the close of our period we learn from Micah (iii. 11), who declares that in his day they did so " for money," while Isaiah denounces them for giving unreliable or "vacillating" decisions (xxviii. 7). So much for the kingdom of Judah. For the priests of the Northern Kingdom, not long before its fall, we have the arraignment of Hosea (iv. 4 ff.). From the ministers of the local shrines of Northern Israel no high standard of 1 Cf. Kuenen, National Religions and Universal Eeligions (Hibbert Lectures), New York, 1882, p. 80 ff. f i f.f> 1 u i I* ;1' j^; II' u . hi h ¥^ 'II I 1 1 j I 208 THE LOCAL JUDGES Book VII morals was to be expected. But it is mainly the priests of the central sanctuary at Jerusalem that Isaiah and Micah have in view. That these functionaries kept up the worst traditions of their profession in still later times we learn from Zephaniah (iii. 4) and Jeremiah (vi. 13 ; viii. 10). Last of all, Malachi, in a withering indictment, accuses them of "respect of persons" in giving their decisions ^ (ii. 8 f.). § 590. Or the man with a grievance might resort to the local judges, either directly or on appeal from his natural family head, or the elders of his city. He would, indeed, be apt to do so in a matter of urgency (cf. Luke xviii. 2 ff.). For, while the judicial function of the priest ended with the giving of the decision, the judge possessed in addition the executive power. Indeed, this must have been the cardinal distinction between the two classes. The priests (and prophets), by the very nature of their office, were revealers of the will or counsel of " the highest God " (Gen. xiv. 18), while the " judge " was primarily rather a " regulator " (cf. § 51) than an arbitra- tor. Hence the execution of his own sentence is com- mitted to the judge (Dent. xxv. 1 ff.). In general, among "judges" no distinction was d-"wn between the judicial and the executive function. Nor can we speak of various classes of courts, such as higher or lower, of appellate or of concurrent jurisdiction. One might apply to any rec- ognized authority near at hand (cf. § 486, note). So, also, an aggrieved person might pass over the lower local official and apply for redress directly to the king himself 1 I scarcely need to include the order of Prophets among the officials charged with judicial functions. For, though they frequently gave de- cisions upon important matters, they did not act so much for individuals as for communities. Nor did they decide matters of practical controversy so much as announce proper plans of action in emergency or principles of the divine government. Notice that in the instance cited above (§ aSS) Elisha does not venture to act as judge, nor even to intercede for the vic- tim of oppression. Tiie prophets were often, however, venal and partial, like the priests, in their proper sphere. Ch. VI, § 592 NO riXP:D JUDICIAL SYSTEM 209 (1 K. iii. 16 ff.), or to the officers of his court as his re^ -e- sentatives. § 591. We must accordingly beware of supposing that there were fixed grades of judicial officers with well-defined duties for the several ranks. Such a thing is foreign to the Semitic genius, which does not organize or classify in any department of civic life, except where a powerful cor- poration has been self-developed, or where the very exist- ence of the state demands a well-arranged division of functions. There were three spheres of public activity in which some sort of gradation was made for these reasons. These were the priesthood, the military, and the officers of the revenue. From the last two classes the king drew the greater number of his chosen counsellors. In judicial affairs, just as reliance for practical guidance was placed mainly upon consuetudinary law, so seniority of rank was a matter of hereditary position, of wealth, or of favour with the court. Hence looseness in procedure and an absence of the sense of responsibility were inherent in the order of judges in Israel. § 592. Such conditions as these gave free play to the deadly vices that were fostered in the bosom of society. If the supreme rulers of Israel had appreciated as well as did the Prophets the vital importance to the state of a sound judicial system, doubtless some sort of reform of methods as well as of principles might have been attempted. But here, again, we see the working out of underlying national and racial tendencies. Slowly and imperceptibly, but with terrible certainty, men reap what they sow in the indivisible spheres of government and social morality. In an earlier chapter it was pointed out (§ 450 ff.) that the beginnings of judicial administration were of an element- ary character, and that they were not matters of divine revelation, which concerned itself with principles of con- duct and not with the creation of civil institutions. The cureless or patient acquiescence in the mere survival of outworn customs, and the indolent adaptation of ') I J P' iiB,,>.,:',( i I HI 1 m 210 CENTRALIZATION (JF AUTHORITY Book VII ancient usages to new and complex conditions, made the judicial system of Israel what it was in the days of the kingdom. These did not constitute "a crime for the judges " (Job xxxi. 11). But they prepared the way for the most flagrant abuses and for the inward decay of the nation. We see, indeed, that great changes went on in certain directions, notably in the j^^fi^oniiel of the ministers of justice. With the ever-increasing centralization that marked the history of the kingdom, the officers of the court, or the "princes" appointed by the king, gained in authority and in range of jurisdiction, while the local magistrates, I'olding an hereditary or an elective office, proportion?' '" declined. But the change only brought deteriorativ^u ms* • ' oi progress, as it increased the oppor- tunities of thf, ibu:. of power and of self-aggrandizement on the part of the central authorities. With these con- siderations in 1 ;:id ve fiai^ 't easy enough to fall in with the counsel: "Where thou .sccit the oppression of the poor man, and the violent taking away of justice and righteousness in the state, do not marvel thereat" (Eccl. V. 8). And we may trace the evil not merely to its direct occasion, the false passions of men, but also to the pre- scriptive system, which encouraged all sorts of disorders in the unfortunate body politic. § 593. But to return to the actual facts of the situation in the most critical times of Israel's history. No region of Hebrew life is so thoroughly illustrated for us by com- petent observers as the si^here of the administration of justice. And upon none has such unqualified condemna- tion fallen. Those Avho cared most for justice, and most for the essential welfare of the state — the historians, prophets, moralists, hymn-writers, who have left their im- pressions, and who were most likely to know the truth and to set it in its true relations — unite in stern rebuke and bitter invective, so unreserved and so persistent that it forms of itself the most extensive moral rubric in the literature of Israel. There is no space to present the 11^ Ch. VI, § 694 PRESENTS AND BRIBES 8U matter adequately. The following analysis may serve as a general characterization. § 594. The most frequent and virulent source of the abuse of justice was the venality of its ministers, whether local judges or the " princes " of the court. To a casual observer of Oriental life the prevailing ofiHcial corruption is something appalling. To the close inquirer it seems indicjenous and inevitable. To the true servants of Jehovah it was appalling, but neither inherent nor neces- sary. It was rather an exotic growtli, or a twist aside from the true bent of Israel's development. When we consider the social and governmental encouragements to laxity and neglect (§ 592), and, still further, the seductive moral atmosphere in which the leaders of the people moved, we shall marvel at the moral courage of the Prophets in opposing the dominant evil. We must also admire their insight in discerning its essential relations to society, and their ideality in conceiving the possibility of its being discarded anywhere in the Semitic world. One illustration may suffice. The common word for a " bribe " (nnr) is, properly speaking, a "present," and is used of the propitiatory gifts sent to a superior in order to secure his protection (1 K. xv. 19 ; 2 K. xvi. 8), or by one who seeks to evade deserved punishment (Prov. vi. 35 ; cf. xxi. 14). A similar combination of meanings is shown by a less common term (n:na; cf. Gen. xxv. 6 with Prov. XV. 27 ; Eccl. vii. 7). That is to say, a present is for the most part a sort of bribe. The one meaning leads up to the other by a sort of social necessity. Presents are the ordinary preliminaries of visits and negotiations. Their motive and effect naturally comes to be the influencing of the beneficiary (Prov. xvii. 8 ; xviii. 16). Citations of instances from Oriental or Biblical history would simply overcrowd my pages. Wherever and whenever we get a glimpse of the inner movements of Semitic society we find the custom and the motive. We shall only cite further Jacob's gift to Esau (Gen. xxxii. 13 ; xxxiii. 10 ; cf. xliii. ay ! m t4 I 4 212 THE EVIL IN LITERATURE Book VII I ■!: ' If'i' 11; 1 Sam. x. 27; Ps. xlv. 12) and the present of Meio- dacli-baladan to Hezekiah (Isa. xxxix. 1 ; § 637, 679). In general Semitic history we may go back some hundreds of years, and in the casually dLsclosed correspondence of the El Amarna tablets the Vjusiness is seen to be quite over- done (§ 149 f.). The annals of the Assyrian kings fairly swarm with instances. It is, therefore, the most natural thing in the world to send a present to a judge before a case comes up for hearing; though publicity was, of course, not desirable in the transaction (Prov. xxi. 14), and was usually avoided, as a suggestive proverb informs us (Prov. xvii. 23). Onlj- public opinion frowning down upon open and shameful corruption, or the spectacle of judges repudiating any sort of approach from the side of a litigant, would seem likely to discredit the custom. § 595. The evil, indeed, wa? dealt with by the lawgiver of the ancient code, and that in the most reasonable and persuasive fashion : " Thou shalt take no bribe ; for a bribe blindeth those that have sight, and perverteth the cause of the righteous '* (Ex. xxiii. 8 ; cf. Deut. xvi. 19). Yet the abuse was prevalent in the time of the Judges. In spite of the noble record and example of Samuel, his sons, judges by his own appointment, became notoriously venal (1 Sam. viii. 1 ff.). Samuel's protest and challenge ^ on his own behalf (1 Sara. xii. 3 £f.), were of themselves an indication that his Anrtues were rare. We may learn something of the processes of civil justice under the kingdom by consulting the Prophets. For the Northern Kingdom Amos asserts (v. 12) that bribery was a preva- lent evil of his time. For Judah and Jerusalem Isaiah cries aloud (i. 23; v. 23; x. 1), and his contempo- rary Micah sets forth the paradox that judge, priest, and prophet alike are greedy and corrupt and yet pro- 1 Samuel's custom of taking a small fee or " present " for giving coun- sel from Jehovah, doubtless followed by other "seers" of the period (1 Sam. ix. 7 ff.), was of a different nature ; but it was a practice very easily abused. j|: il* --• --MMt^ -trmm =1^ Ch. VI, § 596 CONCOMITANT EVILS 218 claim their trust in Jehovah (iii. 5, 11). He lets us also into the inner methods of those betrayers of the people (vii. 3).i Ezekiel's arraignment (xxii. 12 f.) is a review of the history of the kingdom. The long-continued prevalence of the abuse is perhaps best shown by the large place given to it in the proverbial literature of the nation (Prov. XV. 27 ; xvii. 8, 23 ; xviii. 16 ; xxi. 14 ; xxv. 14). The final deliverance on the subject refers to the corrup- tion practised by the king himself. This alone, it is de- clared, is sufficient to undermine and ruin the state (Prov. xxix. 4). We are brought into a somewhat different region when we turn to the lyrical poetry of the Hebrews. Here it is not the preacher of righteousness thundering out the judgment, nor the philosophical observer pointing the moral. It is rather the sympathetic partisan of the out- raged and oppressed, who voices their wrongs and their sufferings, and brings them into relation with the practical claims of religion upon both the transgressors and their victims (Ps. xv. 5; xxi v. 4; xxvi. 10; cf. Isa. xxxiii. 15; § 599 f.). § 596. Sufficient has perhaps been said to set forth the chief specific sources of the moral and social undoing of the people of Israel. We find, however, that kindred or at least concomitant evils, encouraged by the immunity afforded to wrong-doing, infested and poisoned the national life. The grosser vices which struck more directly at the in- dividual character, and indirectly at the welfare of the state, have already been characterized (§ 296, 320 ff.). Licen- tiousness and conjugal infidelity, promoted by, and in their turn promoting, idolatrous practices, were foremost among 1 Translate vii. 3, according to a restored text : " To make ready their hands for evil, The noble asks counsel, and the judge answers for hire And declares to him what his soul lusts for." This passage and the context were probably written, not by an unknown prophet, as many recent critics suppose, but by Micah himself in his later years under Manasseh. ^ ' i lit 214 DKUXKENNKSS, DECEIT, FUIVOLITY Hook VII these sins. To them must be added intemperate indulgence in strong drink, especially in Northern Israel (Isa. xxviii. 1, 3 ; Amos vi. 6), and that not only among men, but among the ladies of Samaria (Amos iv. 1). It was also rife in high places in Judah (Isa. v. 11 ; xxviii. 7 f.). It is the leaders of the people who play the crowned Bacchus in the drunken revels of Samaria ; and Isaiah ascribes to habitual intoxication the incompetency of priests and prophets in Jerusalem. Dishonesty in business transac- tions comes perhaps next to the vice of bribery in loosing social bonds. It is evidenced by the extraordinary earnest- ness with which suretyship is depreciated in the proverbial literature (Prov. vi. 1 ff. ; xi. 15 ; xx. 16 ; xxii. 26 f .) ; by the frequent use of false weights and balances (Hosea xii. 7 ; Amos viii. 5 ; Mic. vi. 10 f. ; cf. Deut. xxv. 13-15 ; Prov. xi. 1 ; xvi. 11 ; xx. 10, 23), and by various sorts of special knavery, ranging from the theft of small sacrificial offerings (Amos ii. 8) to making a "corner" in wheat (Prov. xi. 26 ; cf. Amos v. 11 ; viii. 6). Finally, we must not lose out of sight the degeneration and corruption of Hebrew womanhood (cf. § 271). No single general cause could contribute more to the internal decay and dissolution of society than the frivolity, extravagance, and luxurious self-indulgence of the mothers and wives of the citizens. It is therefore with unerring moral as well as sociological instinct that the reforming prophet Isaiah repeatedly con- nects disaster to the state with their evil character and doings (Isa. iii. 16 ff. ; xxxii. 9 ff. ; cf. § 721). § 597. We have, I trust, been able to get some light upon the nature of the "social question" in Israel, and also to learn why it was so long a " burning question." The best proof that social unrest and disorder, from the wrong-doing of those in power, were characteristic of Israel's history, is to be found in a fact already alluded to (§ 593). The cause of the unfortunate was not es- poused by legislators and reformers alone. These might be suspected of professional prejudice, if not of personal Cii. VI, § 598 MAGNITUDE OF THE MORAL ISSUE 215 interest in agitation. The champions and advocates of the distressed were, above all, those wlioni we may call the popular writers of the nation, those who made its songs, its proverbs, and its moral essays. We have presented to us here a phenomenon of the very highest moment. There is no practical question which occupies these great thinkers and patriots as much as this. It is literally harped upon in season and out of season. Among a people like the Hebrews, we expect that such a problem would assume a religious aspect. But we are surprised to find that it is constantly brought into relation with the widest issues of the spiritual life, the most fundamental duties, the most solemn sanctions of religion. Regard for the poor and the oppressed is, in fact, itself an essential part of religion. The inference is obvious. If, as will presently appear, the practical religious life of Israel was mainly conversant with these social matters, it must have been chiefly from this habit of mind and bent of soul that the moral and spiritual sentiment of Israel was fostered and developed. The con- cluding portion of this inquiry will be devoted to an attempt to exhibit the phenomenon in its literary and historical setting, and to justify the inferences which it suggests. § 598. Following the principle laid down at the begin- ning of this series of studies (§ 391), we shall, in order to get if possible at the innermost circle of the social life of Israel, take a fresh look at its sociological literature. It will be very helpful to take a cursory glance at the book of I'salms from the point of view of a member of the ancient society itself. (1) As it would strike a contemporary, the book seems to be largely made up of a sort of partisan literature. A majority of the Psalms at least would be quotable against a powerful party, or set, or class in the state, that is bitterly opposed by the authors of the poems. (2) This obnoxious party has continually the u[)per hand. (3) Its adherents are designated by various epithets which seem to be interconvertible terms. They are "wicked'' {e.g. Ps. i.; v.; vii.; ix.-xii. ; xiv. ; xxxvii. ; Ixii.-lxiv.), ^ 1 210 THE QUESTION' IN THE PSALMS Book VII H \ I ! :\ !. "malignant" («.//. vii.; lii.; liv. ; Ivii. ; Ixxi. ; xciv. ; cix.; cxxiii.-cxxv. ; cxxxix.), ambitious of honours and of influ- ence in wrong-doing (Ixxv. ; xciv.), cynical and frivolous (xiv.; XXXV. 16). (4) These moral characteristics are interchangeable with others which at the first glance seem merely social and material. The same people who are called " wicked " are directly or indirectly described as "rich" (xvii. ; xxxvii.; xlix.; lii.; Iv. 19; Ixxiii.), and, as such, deserving of equal reprobation. Greed and covetous- ness (x. 3; xlix. 6ff., 16) seem to be inseparable in the Psalms from the possession of riches. (5) The most per- nicious and far-reaching social abuse — the work of evil judges (§ 590 ff.) — is duly stigmatized, and the offenders put in an everlasting pillory (Ps. Iviii.). Just because their function makes them to be as "gods " (Ixxxii. 1, 6), the moral "foundations of the earth are moved out of course" through their unjust and partial decisions. Yea, the time is coming when the outraged people shall rise against them and hurl them down the sides of the rock (cxli. 6). It is "crime enthroned which produces mischief according to statute " (xciv. 20). § 599. The poetical books generally, and especially the Psalms, manifest an attitude towards this social question, and a spirit and temper different from those of the other interested books. All the Old Testament writings, it is true, reveal intense sympathy with the poor and the unfortunate. But the Psalms above all give a moral qual- ity to their condition. They are here made a special com- munity or class, enjoying not merely the protection of Jehovah, for that was the distinctive doctrine of the Hebrew legislation (§ 576, 582 f .), but his peculiar favour as well. If, on the other hand, we desire a minute descrip- tion of the lot of the poor, we must turn to the book of Job. No catalogue of social wrongs can be more graphic or more touching than that furnished in Job xxii. 5 ff., xxiv. 2 ff. It is there contended just as earnestly as in the Prophets that their sufferings are due in large measure to the mag- Cii. VI, §001 JOB, PROVEUUS, I'KOI'HETS, I'SALMS 217 nates who oppress aiul rob the helpless, aiul defy God hini- selt' in the eonfidenee born of prosperity.' This is the most piteous ery that is lieard in all aneient literature over the uinelieved sufferings of the poor and their unavenged wrongs. § 600. Naturally, however, it is rather a judicial tone that is adopted in the book of Job, the vindication of whose hero demands that lie should impartially look from all sides upon the problems of life. In Chapter xxxi. Job not merely offers a minute justification of his own career, but at the same time registers the temptations to which an elder and judge is subject. lie even goes so far as to say that while the wickedness of the world is due to evil judges, their partiality is tolerated by God's providence (ix. 24). The book of Proverbs, also, on the whole, views the matter from the outside, an attitude that befits the philosophy of life in general. The Prophets, who are the public and professional partisans of the poor and the oi)pressed, occupy themselves perforce in "speaking for" others, protesting against their wrongs, and showing the guilt of the leaders of society. But in the Psalms, the sufferers speak directly for themselves and always as a part of the afflicted community. The book, as a whole, is the record of practical life, the breathing out of feeling and sentiment evoked by the pressure and strain, the wear and tear, of its mixed and unequal conditions. It is here especially that the poor and the unfortunate find their voice and cry aloud to Jehovah the God of mercy and justice (§ 595). § 601. Note the following series of related facts which, by various paths, lead to the heart of the social and moral problems of ancient Israel. (1) Religion, simple as it is, includes, as one of its indispensable and essential elements, 1 On tho other hand, the fine picture of an ideal prince drawn in Ps. ci. (of. Ixxii. 4, 12-14) is more than matched in realistic and discriminating detail by the portrait of a just and noble judge and elder given in Job xxix. 7 ff. [ i;. i 218 SIGNIFICANT POSITIONS ASSUMED Book VII : : regard for the poor and the distressed. " Kindness " or mercy is one of the prophetic graces indispensable to re- ligion, but hard to find among the leaders of Israel (Mic. vi. 8; vii. 2 ff.). (2) But the possession of this general virtue is brought to a practical searching test when fellow- ship and sympathy with the unfortunate are held to secure the favour and protection of Jehovah (Ps. xli. ; Prov. xiv. 21; xix. 17; xxviii. 8, 27 ; contrast Ps. x. 3 ; xxxv. 10; xli. 5 ff. ; Prov. xxi. 13; xxii. 16, 22 f.), and to be of themselves an indication of religious character and standing (Ps. xli. ; Prov. xiv. 31 ; xxix. 7 ; ctr. Ps. x. 9 ff.). (3) The " poor " are actually made synonymous with the "righteous," as (§ 598) the "rich" with the "wicked" (Psalms, passim; Prov. xiii. 23; xix. 1, 22 ; cf. Isa. liii. 9). (4) The " poor " are engaged in an unequal struggle with the "wicked," which, however, is bound to terminate in their ultimate triumph ; in particular, they are contending for the posses- sion of "the land" (Ps. xxv. 13, 15 ff. ; xxviii. 3 ff. ; xxxvii. 3, 9, 18, 25, 34 ff. ; xHx. 10 ff. ; lii. 5 ff. ; cf. Prov. x. 3, 7 ; xiii. 22 f. ; xxi. 12 ; xxiv. 15 ff.). This issue is manifestly raised in consequence of the judicial oppression of the poor, and the extension of the estates of the rich and powerful (§ 580 ff.). (5) The conflict was more than a material one ; it involved also religious advantages. Partly through impoverishment, and partly, it would seem, through violent exclusion, the true representatives of Jehovah were some- times excluded from the Temple services (Ps. xiii. ; xliii. ; Ivi. 8, 12 f. ; cf. xxvii. 3 ff. ; Iv. 6 ff., 13-18). ((>) But the religious life generally being bound up with access to re- ligious services, local or central, the right to such spiritual privileges is an inalienable prerogative of true followers of Jehovali, to be rightly withdrawn from their persecutors and the ungodly generally (Ps. i. 5; v. 4-7; xv. ; xxii. 25 f. ; xxiv. 3-6 ; xxvi. 4 ff. ; xxviii. '2 ff. xxxi. 19 f. ; lii. 6-8 ; Prov. xv. 9 ; xxi. 27 ; Isa. xxxiii. 15-17). v^ 602. The above citations may suffice to set forth the position of the " poor " and " righteous " in society, and ; Cii. VI, § C03 THE SOCIAL STATE AND RELIGION 219 their attitude, theoretical and practical, towards the relig- ious and moral issues of their country and time. Here we stand within the threshold of that arena upon which the first great decisive contest was waged, upon eternal prin- ciples, for humanity, justice, and freedom. The urgent practical problem was, how to live under the social system of the Hebrew monarchy, and retain that for which life was worth the living. This was to the true Hebrew, (1) the possession of his patrimony ; (2) the conservation of his family and family rights ; (3) his religious privileges. All of these were, as we have seen, impaired by the oppressiveness and godlessness of the leaders of the com- munity. It is now plain enough how the material interests of life were inseparably interwoven witli the interests of the kingdom of Jehovah. It was this that made the issue eternal. It was Jehovah's rights that were being infringed, and his claims that were being denied, when wrong was committed against any of his true worshippers. When they were deprived of their property, it was He who was defrauded of his proprietorship. When the poor were mulcted and pillaged by judicial process or arbitrary en- croachment, it was his words that were outraged and his guardianship that was assailed (Ps. xii. 5). When they were hindered in the performance of those religious rites which made up so much of common life, it was his true worship that was contemned. When the purity of Jehovah's service was marred, either in form or spirit, eitlier in local shrines or in the central sanctuary, it was his true followers that were repelled and their consciences that were wronged. § (t03. We can now, perhaps, somewhat better ajipre- ciate the yearnings of i)rophets and psalmists for a reign of justice and freedom. Such aspirations assumed a charac- teristically Hebrew form and expression. So deep and certain was their consciousness of the diviiie righteous- ness, and the persuasion of its vindication and of its triumph over injustice and impiety, that these became 'i 'i: m ill 1 .1 ' ;! 220 A MESSIANIC HOPE Book VII fixed articles of faith and the watchwords of the party of Jehovah. Intermediate stages and auxiliary movements were ignored. The intensely realistic imagination of the poet and the seer brought the new era at once within the range of sight (§ 13). The long and weary night-watches had not blenched the steady gaze of faith; it only made the eye quicker and keener to discern amid the thickening gloom the signs of the coming of the "Sun of Righteous- ness." Naturally the restorer of Israel must be a king. For the king is all in all. A good elder, judge, counsellor, or minister of state might reform his own smaller or larger jurisdiction. But the king is historically (§ 36, 49 ff.) and potentially (§ 534 ff.) elder, counsellor, and judge in one. He alone could reform the state throughout. He would indeed defend the nation from the dreaded Assyrian and give peace to the people (Mic. v. 5). And so he would be a godlike hero and a prince of peace. But when he should take the government upon his shoulders, he would uphold the kingdom with justice and righteousness ; and SCI he would be "a wonder of a counsellor and an ever- lasting father" (§ 430) to his people (Isa. ix. 6 f . ; cf. xxxii. 1 f.). § 604. The cry of the afflicted and the oppressed had long been uttered in vain. At the best, the most worthy judges only heard the cases that came before them. For the great multitude for whom no man cared there was no advocate, no daysman. This was the burden of the pro- phetic complaint and appeal : " Inquire into justice, set right the cruel, do justice to the fatherless, take up the cause of the widow" (Isa. i. 17). The expected Ruler, as king and judge in one, was to fulfil this ideal (Ps. Ixxii. 4, 12, ff.): " He shall jutlge the afflicted of the people; lie shall save the cliiltlreu of the needy ; And shall crush the oppressor. lie shall deliver the needy cryinjif for help, And the afflicted when he has no helper. He shall have pity npoii tlie yoor and needy ; mmmm 1; Ch. VI, § G05 PERIOD OF PSALM COMPOSITION 221 And the souls of the needy he shall save. Against fraud and wrong he sliall champion their life,i And precious shall their blood be in his eyes. " Thus the Messianic hope, the anticipation of the " king who shall reign by righteousness," was not merely cher- ished as a stay and bulwark against the shock of war and the impending invasion of the Assyrians (Mic. v. ; Isa. vii. f.). It was an image evoked by mingled despair and trust, by baffled and yet irrepressible faith, of One who should right all social and civic wrongs, and bring Israel to its own again. Under him " Judah and Israel should dwell safely, each one under his own vine and his own lig- tree, none making them afraid " (1 K. iv. 25 ; Mic. iv. 4), enjoying the labour of his hands amid peace, order, good- will, and plenty. § 605. It will be proper at this point to anticipate the conclusions of our review of the literature of Israel, by a remark as to the period of Psalm composition. There is no need of going into the vexed questions that belong rather to special treatises. It is, however, most pertinent to our present discussion to say a word upon that division of the literature to which we have been so much indebted for illustration. The main consideration is that the domi- nant note of the Psalms is one of stress and conflict. So is it perhaps with the deepest and most moving religious poems in any age or nation. They are no nui-sery plants ; they are the growth of a soil watered w^ith blood and tears. So was it above all with the hymns of the ancient Hebrews. It was at midnight, and in the prison-house, that the faith- ful of Israel, like the apostles of the early Church, "prayed and sang hymns unto God" (Acts xvi. 25). We have seen how an understanding of the social question fur- nishes the key to the inter[)retation of many of the Psalms. It is manifest from the large place which is taken in the collection by the Psalms whicli we have been considering 1 " He shall be the ' Goel ' of their soul " ; cf. § 426. ; I J 'J- •i.\ {>! i 2;iu THE MORAL ISSUE IN ISRAEL Book VII It (2) Recognizing the validity of the evolutionary law of tlie struggle for existence, we notice that the decisive conflict in Israel was of a different kind from that waged in any other society. Others were lighting communities. " States are cradled and nurtured in continuous war, and grow up by a kind of natural selection, having wrested or subordinated their competitors in the long-drawn-out rivalry through which they survive." ^ And hardly differ- ing in kind, but rather in degree of barbarity, is the com- mercial war by which, as a rule, civilized nations have been endeavouring to starve and cripple one another be- yond recovery. In Israel, also, were greed and the lust of power. But though these controlled the outward forms of society, they were not the characteristic social forces which survived to tell the tale of Israel's struggle for Immanity. (3) The cause of virtue and righteousness in Israel did not, as in Greece and Rome, occupy the thoughts of an exclusive set of philosophers, moralists, and rhetoricians. It was the persistent intellectual and moral pursuit, for centuries, of a distinct class of people in the community. (4) The moral and social problems of Israel were, for the most part, wrestled with and solved, and their solution put on everlasting record, by poor, ob- scure, and unfashionable people, in spite of the inveterate prejudice of themselves and tlieir fellow-countrymen that prosperity was a mark of divine favour. (5) What has been not inaptly called "ethical monotheism" was asserted and vindicated, for their own time and forever, by the Prophets of Israel. And yet the belief or doctrine was not and could not have been a creation of the Prophets. These champions of the people simply brought to tlie front ond immortalized the moral and religious issues which were involved, and which were felt by every follower of Jehovah to be at stake, in the wrongs of c, I misgovernment, judicial oppression, and social injustice. (6) The problems Avhich occupied the Old Testament law- 1 1 Kidd, Social Evolution (1894), p. 46. Cn. VI, § 014 RELATION TO THE NEW TESTAMENT 2;]l makers aiul prophets are those whioh still press most urgently upon serious men. Deceit, selfishness, lust, with the innumerable forms of treachery, cruelty, and dishon- our, which are their perennial offspring, are still active everywhere, openly as savage brutality, or disguised as hypocritical Jitiesse. These issues have never been dealt with again in any literature or any national history as they were dealt with in the Old Testament and in the personal life of the ancient Hebrews. Hence the Old Testament cannot be dispensed with, in our time at least, either as a work of classical literature or as a manual of moral and sociological principles. § 614. I need hardly say that the position here taken with regard to the place and influence of the Old Testa- ment among the forces that make for righteousness and mercy does no injustice to the New Testament revelation and teaching. But while recognizing the indispensable part played by both of these mighty agencies in the social regeneration of the race, it is equally necessary for us to dee how they are related to and supplement one another. This is particularly expedient at the present time, when we are beginning to review the whole moral history of the world from a new standpoint, when we are trying not only to ascertain the movements and tendencies of past ages which have made the world actually and potentially what it now is, but also to measure their relative vitality and momentum. Moreover, it is now honestly fashionable to ignore the Old Testament as a factor in the uplifting of human thought and the enerj;izing of human endeavour.^ » Mr. Kidd, in his Social Evohdion (1894), p. 126, says truly enoudi liitt "we have in the religious beliefs of nianlciiid apparently the cliarac- ristic feature of our social evolution." And we may not (juarrel with iii-i broad working generalization, that "an ultra-rational sanction for the sacrifice of the interests of the individual to those of the social organism has been a feature common to all religions " (ibid.). But we must demur to his begi)ining his outline sketch of the historic influence of the domi- nant relic. iif the world (p. 1.33 ff.) with "the new force which was born into world with the Christian religion." The omission is made f! I i i! I if If) i,« wn< 2;]2 THE NEW ROOTED IN THE OLD Book VII i Hardly any more convincing fact than this can be adduced to show that the scientific study oi the Bible is as yet only in its initial stage. § 615. An estimate of what it would seem right to hold upon this vitally important question may be given very summarily as follows: (1) Both the Old Testament and the New have a twofold moral and sociological function for humanity. They contain, on the one hand, precepts, counsels, warnings, in short what we may call teaching. On the other hand, they present pictures of social life and conduct which either illustrate the teaching or point its moral. (2) As regards the teaching of these two collections of Hebrew literature, it may be affirmed that while the New Testament shows an advance upon the Old, the distinction between them is not that the former propounds an entirely new thecy of life and morals. It rather illustrates the law of ethical progress under new forms of social life and under a new inspiration.^ To maintain the contrary is to ignore the soil from which the New Testament sprang, its preparation in the minds of men educated as Hebrews of the time ; and, above all, its adoption of the moral and sociological principles of the old Hebrew reformera. The ethical system of Christiariity was never claimed by Jesus, or by his disciples of any age, all the more glaring by the fact that the author, in speaking of the influ- ence of Christianity, mentions " the nature of the ethical system associated with it" (p. 140 f.) as one of the characteristics "destined to render it an evolutionary force of the highest magnitude." ' A notable and widely read .article by (loldwin Smith in the North American Review for December, 1896, entitled " Christianity's Millstone," is worth alluding to in this connection. It treats the Old Te.stament as if it were one book instead of being a collection of books, whose produc- tion reaches over many centuries and diversified moral and social con- ditions. It makes it out to be at once .about the worst and at the same time the best production of .antiquity. It employs arguments against the authority of the Old Testament e(|ually valid against the New, which it holds up to us in contrast. Its cardin.al and fatal defect is that it recog- nizes no law of evolution or of historical development in the composition of the Old Testament. Such an essay belongs genealogically to the earlier half of the present century. Cii. VI, § 610 THE OLD CONTINUED IX THE NEW :on- ine the it OS- ion ier as a new force, or a new idea, or a new revelation given to the world for the first time at tlie beginning of the Christian era. Jesus spoke with original authority, but he abrogated no whit of the universal and characteristic teaching of the Old Testament. The precepts of the Sermon on the Mount are to be found implicitly or ex- plicitly in the Old Testament or in the best thought of the noble-minded teachers whose training was entirely pre- Christian, legal, and prophetical. § 616. (3) It therefore does injustice to the New Testa- ment itself to cut it loose from its moral antecedents. This is a common habit even with thoughtful writers, who make a strong point of contrasting it with the d^'ing pagan civilization which had just preceded.^ This obvious antith- esis brings out, indeed, most clearly the unique divine origin of Christianity. But it is of littie value either for historical purposes or for the practical ends which are subserved by the intelligent contemplation of the unfold- ing in human lives of the divine idea of mercy, justice, and freedom. (4) What we may call the new life of the Christian morality was not a new creation, but, rather, a glorious resurrection. We lose immeasurably if we fail to trace it to its roots in the truths which were wrought out, as never before or since, with teare and blood, in the social and national struggles of ancient Israel. We need to study the intervening centuries. The polemic attitude necessarily maintained by Christ and his apostles towards 1 As is done by Kidd, Social Evolution^ p. 134. Leeky's classical and invaluable work, History of European Morals, is almost LMjually one-sided. It rarely couples Jews with Christians in tlieir assertion of moral principle (see one line instance, however, in vol. i, )). 405). It confounds legal and ceremonial Judaism with the resultant religion of the old Testament. It is unjiLSt to the Old Testament as a wh )1(' as to the position assigned by it to wonuvn. It ignores in its sketch of the history of chastity (i. 10."'. ff. and elsewhere) the national example given to the world of that virtue by the ancient Hebrews — perhaps the mo.st potent and valuable of all its moral gifts to later ages. On the last-named point, see the essay " The Education of the World," contributed l)y Dr. Frederick (afterwards Bishop) Temple to Essays and lirriiics (1800). ii^i t^ M ■M i I 234 JESUS RENEWS ANCIENT SOCIETY Book VII 1'^]*/ ^ 1 Judaic Pharisaism has, with other influences, led to a popuhir notion that Hebrew societ}' before their time was morally and spiritually dead. This is a misconception. Then, as before and since, the saving remnant never failed. We regard, and rightly, the Reformation as the renaissance of practical and social Christianity. Looking back over the " dark ages,'' we can see through all their years the torch of faith and purity, now flickering and faint, now blazing up in triumphant splendour, and never utterly ex- tinguished. So was it with the stern heroic virtue * of the true Israel in the pre-Christian times. As the Reforma- tion was to the Middle Ages, so in its way and measure was the Christian era to the " silent centuries." § 617. (5) As regards the social ypes and underlying moral forces of the Old Testament times and people, in comparison with those of the New, we must bejir in mind that, in spite of all political and governmental revolutions, society in Palestine remained essentially unchanged. Tlie ecclesiastical aristocracy only became wider, more complex, and more arrogant, with the loss of political autonomy. Especially must we remember that still as of old the champions and martyre of justice, righteousness, and meek- ness were of the classes that counted for nothing in church or state. If Christ came to the poor and the despised in the days of his social life, it was because his spirit had always been with them. The early Christian Church was made up mainly of such elements as those which, according to the Hebrew Psalms, constituted the true community of Jehovah (§ 601). (6) Tlie decisive advance was made by Jesus through his Word and his Pei"son. He gave a death-wound to the old-world tyranny of caste and classes with their cruel prerogative. Ceremonial religion with its popular doctrine of salvation through ordinances involved the perpetual religious and social dis(|nalitication of the non-privileged orders. For this Jesus, by the force of his living word, substituted the idea of personal faitli and indi- 1 Uead, for exainple, 2 Macz. vii. Cii. VI, § 618 JESUS AND THE PERSONAL MOTIVE 235 vidual responsibility. To the credit of the Pharisees, be it said, the way was partly prepared for this saving evan- gel by their development of Judaism, which insisted on the individualistic instead of the national view of man's rela- tion to God. As interpretei-s of the Old Testament they could not fail to make this application of the Prophets and the Psalms and the social provisions of the Law. But (cf. Matt, xxiii. 3) they could not as a body disentangle then)- selves from the old-time system of Church and State aris- tocracy, which tended to make every ruler, judge, elder, and teacher in Israel self-satisfied and exclusive, and there- fore far from the kingdom of God. § 618. (7) The supreme innovation introduced by Jesus was the attracting and unifj-ing power of his own divine- human Person. There were democrats before his time ; — such was indeed every true projjhet of ancient Israel. But what with them was an impracticable dream was proved by Him to be a possibility, and by his followei-s, through his in- spiration, to be a glorious reality. In Him men recognized their moral Ideal to Ije their neighbour, friend, and brother. He who was higher than the highest made Himself as low as the lowest, and took upon Him the form of a slave. And so all races and classes found their meeting-place in Him. Since He is all and in all, there cannot be in Him Gentile or Jew, bondman or freeman. And by being lifted up on the Cross He has drawn all men unto him. Thus to the prophetic teaching, which was weak and in- effective against the cramping withering power of self- love, working through custom and tradition, there is superadded a motive which not onl}- opens the eyes, but melts the heart. When Christ came into the most relig- ious and moral community the world had ever known, it was easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into tlie kingdom of God. And ever since it has been perhaps true that not many wise, not many mighty, not many noV)le. are called. But all things are i)ossible in the moral realm where Jesus is king. (.■;; k •: i] i tmm l.' 236 THE OLD AS REFORMED IN THE NEW Book VII At his touch the old social fabric was dissolved. He spoke the word, and a new structure began to rise on a broader and enduring foundation. And, behold, the prostrate pil- lars of the old shattered edifice have a part, and that a worthier one than before, in the reconstruction I The new society, after all, is a readjustment of the constituents of the old. The antithesis of the Old Testament community (§ 698, 601) is annulled: a new tribalism takes its place (§ 399). The tabernacle of God is with men ; and here the rich and the poor meet together at last. But the con- dition of membership holds still as of old ; for now the rich are those who have become poor that they might make others rich. A standing proof is here that the regenera- tion of society has begun. Jesus has made it possible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. He has induced men born to wealth and power to regard these endowments not as rights, but as gifts, as conditions of "godlike hard- ship," self-imposed for the truth that makes men free, and for the love that makes them one. § 619. Our principal task has been not to trace the old in the new, nor in the old to find the new, but to test the old alone by its independent worth for the weal of human kind. Yet the larger survey is needed, however brief and imper- fect. In making it, we must learn, like the Master himself, to look back upon the past in the light of the present. In the retrospect we cannot but recognize those saving moral principles which, newly informed and energized by him, are leavening and renewing the individual and the race. And so we assent to those words of his which forever bind the Christian ages to the heart and life of ancient Israel : " for this is the Law and the Propliets." Book VIII HEBREWS, EGYPTIANS, AND ASSYRIANS m u>*io CHAPTER I ASSYRIAN EXPANSION UNDER SARGON § 620. The fall of Samaria (§ 352 ff.) was a propitious beginning for the reign of the new Assyrian king. Its surrender, however, had been assured under the auspices of his predecessor, and his easy triumph (§ 357) furnished of itself no indication of a genius for war and statesman- ship which was to secure to Assyria for a round century undisputed pre-eminence among the nations of the earth, and to assimilate, if not to unify, the innumerable petty states of Western Asia. The deeds and policy of Sargon soon showed him to be the true successor of the great Tig- lathpileser. In an empire like that of the Assyrians it was often necessary that military operations should be con- ducted upon a large scale simultaneously, or in quick suc- cession, in regions the most remote from one another. The generalship of the king was most signally displayed in massing troops, at the right moment, at the points of ex- treme danger; in the rapid marching for which tlie Assyr- ian armies were pre-eminentl}- distinguished: and in prompt and decisive action upon the field. His statesmanship was most severely taxed l)y the problems of repressing discon- tent among the individual principalities, and preventing dangerous combinations between them against their com- 2:J7 >Hm9 m i i.i'' li IS w ^ t I 'I ^,1 I i •'\ 288 SARGON AND THP: CHALDEANS Book VIII mon suzerain. The comparatively abundant records of Sargon's reign enable us to trace fairly well the military and civil administration of the empire at this critical period in the development of the imperial idea among its first promoters. Nothing better illustrates the urgency of the tasks pressing upon the new king than the fact that his principal operations had to be transferred immediately from the shores of the Mediterranean to those of the Persian Gulf. § 621. It was indeed in this region that the most doubt- ful and momentous of Sargon's conflicts were waged. At- tention has already (§ 223, 293, 340) been repeatedly called to the growing influence and political ambition of the Chaldsean principalities lying between Babylon and the sea. The most important of these had become vassals of Tiglathpileser III, and were, therefore, of right the tributaries of his successors. But one of the most ambi- tious of their rulers, Merodach-baladan by name (^Marduk- apil'iddin, "Merodach has given a son"), who is familiar to us from Isa. xxxix., was not content with this humiliat- ing position. Along with his patriotic desire to throw off the 3'oke of Assyria, he cherished a personal aspiration to become kirg of Babylon. He had (§ 340) sworn allegiance to Tiglathpileser in 731, and for ten years, or until the death of Shalmaneser, had apparently made no disturbance. But all the while he had been cultivating friendship with the neighbouring princes, most of whom were his fellow-sub- jects, and, what was of more consequence, with the powerful king of Elam. These friends being thus secured, he was able, upon the accession of Sargon, to convert them into active allies in his anti-Assyrian crusade. § 622. A striking parallel suggests itself between the relations to Assyria of the extreme southwest and those of the extreme southeast. Just as in the West-land, strife and insubordination were stirred up by Egypt against the all-devouring realm of Asshur, so in the eastern Sea-land the same part was played by Elam — a nation of equal Ch. I, § 623 SARGON AND THE ELAMITES 239 antiquity and with immemorial traditions of a dominion once extending as widely as that now claimed by Saigon (§ 106 ff.). Since the expulsion of the Elamites fifteen centuries before under the great Chanimurabi (§ 117), they had taken very little part in the affairs of Babylonia, though at the beginning of the tenth century they gave a king to Babylon. Still less had they to do with Assyria. Yet now, when Assyrian conquest was approaching the Gulf and passing beyond the Tigris, they began to show themselves formidable opponents of the aggressors, and it was not till nearly a century after the accession of Sargon that they were finally subdued. Meanwhile they furnished aid and comfort to the struggling princes of liabylonia ; and if the whole truth were known it would probably be found that with and without these allies they often proved to be a match for the northern invaders. § 623. The first movement of Merodach-baladan was to take possession of Babylon and make it his capital. He was there proclaimed king in Nisan of 721, three montlis exactly after the fall of Samaria, and precisely at the begin- ning of Sargon's official reign. As soon as it was possible, Sargon invaded Babylonia. He was met in battle by the ally of the Babylonians, Humbanigas^ king of Elam ; and, though he ascribes the victory to himself, it is plain from the impartial Babylonian chronicle that the battle was at least indecisive, and that the Assyrians were compelled to retreat from the country. The battle was fought without the presence of Merodach-baladan, but when he came to reinforce the Elamites, the allies were so strong that the southern portion of Assyria itself was overrun by them, and great losses were inflicted upon the inhabitants.^ Indeed, it was not till eleven years after this- that Sargon felt him- self strong enough to venture another attempt to depose his rival from the throne of Babylon. That the allies did not pursue their advantage further is probably to be accounted for by the difficulties which Merodach-baladan had to con- : If' "1 I J , ii if 1*1 ^ See Note 2 in Appendix. T ip""^ mm 11 f if ' I 240 HAMATH AND ITS ALLIES PviOK VIII tend with in keeping in subjection the ruling classes in Babylon, which had for some time coveted the protection of Assyria (cf. § 339, 341). Sargon was sagacious enough to let the question of the Babylonian succession rest till he had settled the disturbed affairs of the rest of the empire. § 624. He was now immediately recalled to the extreme west, where the emissaries of Egypt had been plotting against his authority with a large measure of success. A combination was formed which it was hoped would unite all the principalities of the West-land. These were fewer and feebler than they had been before the conquests of the great Tiglathpileser. Damascus, now only the shadow of its former self, and the "Land of Omri," were under Assyr- ian administration, and Central and Northern Syria had been so industriously colonized that there would seem to be little hope of encouraging revolt. But the malcontents were numerous, and were easily persuaded that the new untried king of Assyria would have more than enough to attend to in the north and southeast. Hamath, which had suffered so severely in the closing days of Uzziah of Judah (§ 307), became now the centre of disturbance, and, under the lead of an adventurer apparently of Israelitish origin (as we may judge from his name, Ilubi'id or Yahubi'id),i secured the alliance of Arpad, Simirra, Damascus, and Samaria (cf. § 364). The leader of this desperate under- taking took his stand at Karkar, the scene of the famous battle of 854 (§ 228 ff.), without his allies. Here the re- volters were defeated, and Sargon, in whose ej'es the defec- tion of Hamath must have seemed especially flagrant, flayed Iliibi'id alive as an exemplary punishment. § 625. Eager to strike at the fountain head of the trouble, the Assyrian king marched immediately down the Mediterranean coast. Reaching Gaza, he drove out Chanun, its kinglet, who again fled for refuge to Egypt, as he had fled from Tiglathpileser thirteen years before (§ 332). Seve (S'ifiu), the prince of Lower Egypt, with ^ Vol. i, p. 415. ZA. X, 222 ff. denies all coimectiou with Yahw6. Cii. I, § 626 PALESTINE AND EGYPT 241 whom Hoshea had intrigued (§ 343, 348), came to his relief. But these allies were in their turn defeated at Raphia (Assyrian Rapihu, the modern Blr-Iiefu), south- west of Gaza, on the coast, and Seve retired to his safe retreat in the Delta ; while Chanun was taken and carried captive to the city of Asshur. That his life was spared is certainly not without significance in the policy of Assyria. It will be noticed that the same leniency had been mani- fested to Hoshea (§ 350). Further, it would seem that Palestinian princes were very seldom put to death, even on account of rebellion (cf. § 644). The object apparently was to show to those who came directly under Egyptian influence, and therefore needed to be specially conciliated, that the yoke of Asshur was not galling. The treatment of Palestine was a matter of extreme difficulty to Assyrian diplomacy, and the mixture of rigour and gentleness which is manifested in the speech of Sinacherib's legate (2 K. xviii.) was typical of the whole policy. Sargon had n(j farther trouble from the side of Egypt during the reign of Sabako (§ 347 f.). As a matter of course Judah renewed its allegiance to Assyria during this visit of Sargon. The Palestinians had been severely crippled and were for a time thoroughly humbled. Samaria now remained permanently loyal. Nor do we hear of further trouble from the side of Damascus. Sabako was not strong enough at home to use Palestine as the base of active operations against Assyria, and he was compelled to cease his machinations. He died about 715, and was succeeded b}' his son Sabataka (715- 703), who will come under our notice later (§ 030, 632). § 626. Meanwhile Sargon was called to action in the northerly portion of liis liereditary sphere of influence. Here he was kept busy for the greater part of the next eight years, dissolvijig combinations, putting down insur- rections, forming new provinces out of the fragments of subjugated districts ; in a word, striving to unify and assimilate the whole vast domain that stretched from Cilicia to Media under a perpetual bond of common servi- R Ui ' 242 COMBINATIONS IN THE NORTH Book VIII I I tude and a common worship. The story of his campaigns presented in his own annals is not very clear. Indeed, these northern wars are in general the least intelligible portion of Assyrian history, mainly on account of our lack of exact knowledge of some of the localities as well as our general unfamiliarity with the peoples of these regions, their ante- cedents and their types of civilization. One thing, at least, is plain which does not lie on the surface of the official Assyrian records : Sargon must have met with several seri- ous reverses. Otherwise we cannot account for the quick recovery from disaster and the power of prolonged resistance manifested by the peoples whom the Great King assures us he so often subdued. As we are more directly concerned with those nations whose fortunes immediately affected the people of Israel and the progress jf Revelation, it will not be in place to narrate minutely the campaigns of Sargon in the regions of the north. A brief r^sum^ of the results is, however, indispensable. § 627. It will be observed that the main difficulties were encountered in two great regions, the country lying to the east of the Upper Tigris on the one hand, and those on the west of the Euphrates on the other. The interven- ing region seems, at this time, to have been kept pretty well in hand, and indeed the country north of Charran and Nisibis had occasioned very little trouble since the days of Asshurnasirpal (^ 218). Of the western lands, Mitii, king of the Moschi, was the insurrectionary leader. Of the eastern, Rusa, king of Ararat or Armenia, was the guid- ing spirit. With the former were drawn into sympathy all the discontented tribes as far south as Northern Syria, while the latter had for his allies the peoples on both sides of the Lakes as well as the western Medes. The task of dealing simultaneously with the insurgents scattered throughout these wide areas must have been divided with his generals by Sargon, who could not have been so ubiquitous as his annals taken literally would make us believe. f Ch. I, § 021) CARCHEMISH AND ARMENIA 243 § 628. In 719 a revolt, instigated by Rusa in the Assyrian province of Manna, south of Lake Van, and sup- ported by a neighbouring prince, was put down by Sargon, and many of the insurgents transported to Damascus. In 718 the chief theatre of action was Tabal (Tiba- rene), where an outbreak was put down and the leaders sent to Assyria. In the following year a more wide- spread revolt was set on foot. Carchemish, which since its unsuccessful rising against Shalmaneser II (§ 2'J.l) had remained quiescent and had contirnied its allegiance to Tiglathpileser III after the capture of Arpad (§ 294), was now ruled by a prince of the ancient Iluttite line, Pisiris by name. This ruler, perhaps in conse- quence of kinship with some of the ^loschi, received assistance from that people in an attempt to throw off the Assyrian yoke. Defeat and deportation followed this enterprise also, while the Assyrian treasury at Kalach was enriched Avith an enormous booty taken from tliis wealthiest of the old merchant cities on the immemorial route of Asiatic trade. The Moschcean allies were not yet subdued. § 629. In the northeast a terrific struggle was waged in the two succeeding years. Rusa succeeded in effecting a much larger combination than before and in loosening the hold of the Assyrians upon most of the tribes from Lake Van to the Median settlements far to the east of Lake Urmia,^ and southwards to the very borders of Assyria proper. In 715 the revolt had attained its widest dimensions, when the northwest was again also in a state of confusion. The enemies of Asshur were, however, routed one by one, and in 714 Rusii himself, bereft of all\'^ after ally in successive defeats, and pur- sued by the intrepid warriors of Sargon to his inmost retreat in the mountains of Armenia, put an end to his life with his own dagger. But in the west the subju- gation of Carchemish had not quenched the independent 1 See Note 3 in Appendix. 11 (I i\:i m ' 1*! i'- I •piii H: M4 ARABIAN EXPEDITION Book VIII 1; I m I' I ' i spirit of the insurgents. New allies along with the Mos- ehseans joined their ranks, encouraged by the doubtful issue of the conflict in Ararat. Considerable sections of the whole region from Cilicia (Kue) to the Euphrates were in arms in 715. Their complete subjugation was not accomplished till 711, when western Cappadocia (Gamgum) followed Tabal and Milid (jNIelitene) into forced submission. § 630. But even the details of these operations, ex- tensive as they were, would not fully indicate the activity of Sargon at this critical period. At least for several years after the revolt of Carchemish (717) an Assyrian army was busily occupied in securing the allegiance of the more southerly tribes of the west, with those already made tributary by Tiglathpileser. For 715, the year of supreme effort, the record runs : " The tribes of Tamud and Ibadid, Marsiman and Hayapa, far-off Arabians, inhabitants of the wilderness, of whom no sage or scholar had known, who had hitherto brought tribute to no king, I smote in the service of Asshur my lord ; the rest of them I carried away and settled in Samaria. From Pharaoh, king of Egypt, SamsT, queen of Arabia (§ 334), and Ithamar of Sabsea, kings of the seacoast and of the wilderness, I received as their tribute, gold the product of the mines, precious stones, ivory, tihi plants, spices of all sorts, horses and camels." ^ From this instructive passage we learn that an army was sent south of Palestine, and that the caravan roads were once more secured for Assyria after the necessary chastisement and deportation of some of the fiercer Midianitish tribes. We observe further that the effect of the demonstration extended to Egyi)t, which now for the first time in its history, under the Ethiopian Pharaoh, Sabataka (vol. i, p. 423), acknowledged the superiority of Assyria, and even to the most powerful > Annals, 04-99; cf. Cyl. 20. IJaijapa is the "Epha" (nc;) of Gen. XXV. 4 ; Isa. Ix. 6. See Par. 304, and for the other localities KGF. 263, and § 334 of this work. Cii. I, § 632 EXPEDITION TO ASHDOD 246 mercantile nation of the Arabian peninsula. After com- pleting the subjugation and settlement of the whole region west of the Euphrates, Sargon employed the year 71 li in securing the richest treasures of the country, especially in precious metals and stones. So great was the abundance of silver thus amassed that he claims to have reduced its price to that of copper in Assyria.' § 631. In 711 we have to note the famous expedition to Ashdod, of which special account is taken not only by Hebrew Prophecy, but also by King Sargon himself. He- sides other notices, he has left an inscription devoted solely to that enterprise.'^ These facts indicate the imi)ortance of the event, or rather of the circumstances which occa- sioned it. The revolt of a single canton was in itself of little consequence to a power like the Assyrian, but it became significant in this case because of what it implied. It was symptomatic of widespread discontent, of a possible explosion of the inflammable elements of Palestinian society, to which Egypt was eager to contribute the igniting spark. The danger was indeed great, or rather would become great, unless this insurrectionary movement were stifled at the beginning. § 632. The situation at Ashdod was this. Azuri, the former ruler of that city, had been deposed by the Assyri- ans (probably in 715) for refusing tribute and endeavour- ing to unite the other states of Palestine in revolt, and his more loyal brother Ahimiti was enthroned in his place. Subjection to foreign rule was, however, still unpopular, and a certain adventurer of Greek extraction succeeded in setting him aside and maintaining the antagonism to Assyria. A select body of veterans of the body-guard, with horses and chariots, was sent against Ashdod l)y Sargon. It reached that cit}' before any successful com- bination could take place in Palestine, or any effectual aid could arrive from Egypt, whose promised support was in any case problematical. Ashdod, Avith a dependency i Hi V- ill ii t ■ ! 1 :' 1 1 AunalH, 207 f. 2 ST. pi. 44. > t i ■ M 1 246 ASHDOD AND JUDAH Book VIII named Asdudimmu, and the famous old Philistian city of Gath, which seems to have been at this time absorbed in Ashdod, were quickly taken. The Ionian usurper fled to Egypt, whence he was delivered up to the Assyrians by Sabataka., the king of that country, who, after his propitia- tion of Sargon (§ 630) and his renewed intrigues, must have dreaded an inviision of his territory by the victorious troops of that monarch. The captured cities lost many of their inhabitants by deportation ; and these were re[)laced by exiles from other portions of the empire. Thus Philis- tia was formally made an Assyrian province. § 638. The other maritime principalities, as Sargon calls them. Judali, Edom, and Moab, were concerned in the conspiracy, in so far as they had negotiated with Egypt for an alliance in the projected revolt in concert with Ashdod.* Hut as there is no record, either in the Annals or in the synoptic Inscriptions, which give a full sununary of Sargon's campaigns, that they had been engaged in actual armed rebellion or invaded by the eytieditionary force, we may safely conclude that Sargon's lieutenant was satisfied with prompt submission on their part and the customary indemnity. Accordingly the hy- pothesis of an actual invasion and devastation of Judah by Sargon, which has been entertained by Cheyne, Sayce, and others, may be dismissed as untenable. It is not necessary, as we shall see (§ 687, 722), for the explana- tion of Isa. X., and inasmuch as such an invasion would necessarily hove included the other principalities just men- tioned, operations on so large a scale could not have es- caped mention in the annals of the conqueror. Besides, we must remembf that there is no evidence from any quarter that Judah or the kindred states of Edom anil Moab were put under Assyrian administration or stripi)ed of their inhabitants, as was the case with Aslidotl. Sin- acherib began to do this with Judah ten years later (§ 675 ff.), but that stage had not yet been reached, nor > See Note 4 in Appi'udix. Cii. I, § 633 PALESTINE PACIFIED 247 had Judah ineiited such treatment by any conduct of which we have information (of. § 288). On the other hand, the peace of the West must have been considered by Sargon to have been pretty well secured by the opera- tions of 715. He knew that Palestine, though it was in a chronic state of discontent, was helpless without the su|)- port of Egypt, and being well aware of the weakness of tlie reigning king, he calculated rightly upon the suth- ciency of a small body of chosen troops, under his lieuten- ant-general, to put an end to the trouble in Ashdod, and with that to the projected Palestinian rising. Then he felt that his hands were free to attend to the more serious difficulties in Bjibylonia. And yet we must assume that Judah at this time renewed its allegiance with payment of tribute, and had to submit to more rigorous terms than those imposed originally in consequence of the defensive league with Ahaz (§ 326, 336).i 1 See NoU' 5 in AppeaUiz. <||M I ;! ' ■'!' V 1 i' >> i>- CIIAPTKR II .lUDAH UNDEU Ahr.VZ AND THK ASSYKIAN I'OLICY § 634. The significance attached by the statesman- prophet, Isaiah, to tlie siege of Ashdod (Isa. xx.), sug- gests to us that this event marked a critical period in the international relations of Judali. It will, therefore, ho necessary for us to review the history and prophecy of the times from the point last reached by our survey, the fall of Samaria, in 722-1. The revolt of Ashdod(711) exactly bisects the period between that catastrophe and the more fanioiis invasion of Sinacherib (701 ). The first in(juiry mriM be of a chronological ciiaracter: Who reigned in Judah during the yeai's we have just been traversing? Was it the weak-minded and idolatrous Ahaz or the enterprising and (lod-fearing Ile/ckiah? The im- portance of the answer need !iot be pointed out. 15 68."). We have seen (§ 2f)9, 317) that Ahaz cannot have come ♦o the throne later than 73,'). 2 K. xvi. 2 informs us that he reigned sixteen years, This would bring his reign to a close in 720. As to Ilezekiuh's acces- sion we have two sets of dates. It is said in 2 Iv. xviii. !♦ f. that Shalmaneser came against Samaria in the fourth year of Hezekiah, and tliat the city was taken in his sixth year (722-1 ). That would make the date of his acces- .■»ion 727. Again, 2 K. xviii. 13 states that Sinacherib invade » Judah in Ilczekiah's f»»urtecnth year. As that event is known to have occurred in 701, Hezekiah, accord- ing to this reckoning, must have acceded in 715. Wo thus have in reality three different dates, 727, 720, and L'JH Cii. II, § ♦io7 CHRONOLOGICAL PATA •24\» 71o. The tiist two miglit possilily bo reconciled, if we chose to sup[)0.se that lle/ekiah was associated with his father in the government seven years before the death of the latter, so that 720 would thus l)c eliminated. Only theoretical possibility can be claimed for this assumption, for which we have not tljc least evidence of any sort. And we have still this difllculty in connection with any of the dates (cf. vol. i, Note 12 in Appendix), that according to 2 Iv. xviii. 2, Hez.ekiah was twenty-live years of age at his accession, while his father, since he was twenty years old when he acceded (2 K. xvi. 2), nnist have been born about Too, oidy a few years before the birth of He/ekiah. It is alleged in favour of 715 that Isa. xxxviii., as well as 2 K. xx., seem to make the sickness of He/.ekiah synchronous with the invasion of Sinacherib (7<>1). Now, as llezekiah lived iifleen years after his recovery, his death would then have taken jilaee in 686, and his reign of twenty-nine years have begun in 715 or 714. If this is the correct or approximate date, Ahaz must have reigned twenty years instead of ••sixteen." § 030. Is there any way out of this maze of contradic- tions? We naturally ask what sorts of data are the liioht to be deferred to? It will, I think, Ik; admitted on all hands that the reijorted length of any reign, which was presumably a matter of record, is a nuich safer guide than a numerical sym-hronism connected with any given year of that reign, which was of coui-se a matter of calculation. Again, of different sorts of syncluonisms, that which con- nects two memorable events is evidently of more weight than one of the numerical kind just mentioned, which in the lirst place is based on abstract rei-koning, and in the next place is liable to accidental clerical alteration through the absence of any obvious external eheck, such as that afforded in tlie other class of cases by popular aciiuaintance with epochs of history. {; 037. Let us a[ii)ly these canons to the (p)estion before us. What is, aftei' all, the most i)rol)al»le date of the sick- 'J' V i i If Pi ^lli m 260 A I'RUPOSEl) SOLUTION Book VIII ness of Ilezekiah? 2 K. xx. 1 and Isa. xxxviii. 1 connect that occurrence only vaguely with the invasion of Sin- acherib, according to the common loose formula "in those days," which is about equivalent to "in those times." One thing, however, is clear: it took place before the invasion, according to the express testimony of 2 K. xx. 6 and Isa. xxxviii. 6. But there is another event associated immediately with hezekiah's sickness, the emba.ssy of Merodach-baladan, king of Babylon, of which it is said with an exact indication of time : " At that time Mero- dach-baladan, king of Babylon, sent a letter and a present to King Ilezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had l)een sick." When did these negotiations take place? Not in 701, for then Merodach-baladan was no longer king of Babylon (5^ 072), but most probably in 705, the year of the accession of the new king, Sinacherib, against whom the indomitable ("haldjean ho[)ed to raise up a general combi- nation after the death of the dreaded Sargon (cf. § 621). § 638. If, then, these fifteen years are to be counted from 705, we get 690 or 691 as the close of Hezekiah's reign, and 719 or 720 as its beginning. This agrees with the sixteen years of the reign of Ahaz, and should, I think, have the preference over either 727 or 715, especially as no correction is now needed for any of the Biblical figures, leaving out numerical synchronisms, excei)t for the age of Ilezekiah. If we suppose that "twenty-five," for the years of Hezekiah's age, is a clerical error for fifteen in the Hebre..-, — a very slight and easy mistake, — all the conditions of the case are satisfied. The following is a scheme of the results : ' — Dale i>f »rceit«lt)n. Agi> at •ci>i>»»iiin. Lonirtli of ri'l^u. Dktf of (lektii Ahaz c. 7:$;') m 16 71!) IIe/L>kiah 719 w 21) 600 § 639. The reign of Ahaz was supremely critical for .hulali, both politically and religiously. Uzziah and Jotham ' See Note 6 In Appeiulix. dm. Ch. II, § 640 DEFERENCE TO ASSYRIA 251 had brought the little kingdoi of infli o a position oi intiuence ^■>th in war and commerce, and had made their people acquainted with some of the wider movements of the great world outside the narrow horizon of Judaic politics. But the early years of Ahaz, which had beheld the great Tiglathpileser marching at his will over the length and breadth of Palestine, and had seen the Judaite king wel- come him as his deliverer and own him as suzerain, witnessed also an inner transformation as significant as this outward revolution. The triumph of the irresistible Assyrians brought with it to Ahaz and to most of his people not only the evidence of invincible military power, but also tokens of the possession of singular supernatural favour. The acknowledgment of the superiority of the Assyrian gods, which this vassalage made obligatory (§ 01, 299), was commended alike to tlieir interest, their preju- dices, and their imagination. The deference due to the deities of their protectoi-s could, in superstitious minds, be scarcely withheld from a religion of such immemorial sway and of such unrivalled prestige, in its triumphant progress among the nations and in the pomp and splendour of its observance. One can imagine the impression made upon Ahaz and his courtiers by what they oliserved at the great ut are probably also to 1)e partly attributed to the necessities of the land and property owners, who were responsible (§ 810) for the payment of the Assyrian imposts, now becoming yearly more op- pressive. Micah thus supplements Isaiah in showing that the country outside of Jerusalem was being cursed by the miseries as well as the vices that were eating away the moral and spiritual life of the capital. He shows us also what was the political outlook of an intelligent and patri- otic citizen of the western or Philistian Iwrder of Judah. As the two Prophets thus agree in their portraiture of the civil and religious condition of their common countr}-, they still more strikingly coincide in their forecasts of its impending fate.' 5j 645. To both Isaiah and Micah it was a moral cer- tainty that their country would be crushed almost to de- struction by the power of Assyria. At the i)rescnt stage (just Ixjfore the fall of Samaria) the dangers that threat- ened Judah were seen more vividly and more in detail by Micah, because of his proximity to the Philistian plain. For this was the arena of international strife and the marching-road of the Assyrian hosta, a region also where Judaite suzerainty had recently been acknowledged and was d()ul)tless still upheld (§ 268). Hence his grief over the anticii)ated surrender of the border to^vns, down to his own little Moresheth-Gath (i. 10-16). The bitterness of his lament is disguised in any translation by being ex- pressed in accordance with the canons of Oriental literary style, which permitted unlimited playing on words in the most serious passages. § 646. Isaiah in the [u-esent prophecy is more general in his terms, but very explicit in his announcement of the peril. As was natural witb. this master of political ethics, the punishment is made to lit the crime: each moral offence is to be visited by its appropriate retribution. Where the frivolous debauchees who misruled the people ' See Nutu 8 iu Appeudix ,r V i r. ,.! '' m 1 m f^ u i '■•' 1 I 1 1 T 250 THE "OVEUWHKLMING SCOURGE" Book VIII i 1" 1 t n ' 1 1 Hi ; and made a hideous mockery of their judicial functions, caricature the Prophet's message in the stammering tones of babes and drunkards, he informs them that they sliall be practically taught the moral validity of his precepts of righteousness ; for Jehovah would speak to them through '* the barbarous lips and strange language " of the Assyrians (xxviii. 11). When they reply, in words put into their mouths by the Prophet, that by their adroitness and cunning they have made even death and Sheol their allies, so that the threatened scourge of the Assyrian invasion of Pales- tine would not reach to them (v. 15), he rejoins by assuring them that there is but one foundation on which Jehovah's land and people can rest and be secure, " the stone that is laid in Zion, the tried stone, the costly corner stone of sure foundation." He adds that as the righteous Jehovah is their true stay and refuge, so the fortress of their pres- ent hopes, which is but a refuge of lies, shall be tried by the line of justice and the plummet of righteousness (cf. Amos vii. 7 ff.) and, when found false and unsure, shall be swept away by the hailstorm of judgment, so that the waters shall overflow their hiding-place (vs. ItJ f.). v5 G47. Strange as such a catastrophe may seem, and foreign to the nature of the God of Israel in the popular conception, it will still most certainly be brought to pass, and that by the predetermined act of Jehovah, whose fixed purpose it is to chasten his whole land by repeated inroads of warriors on the march. So when this "over- whelming scourge " shall come in, none shall escape the terror or the ruin of the rushing tide of invasion (xxviii. 18, 19, 21, 22). In any case the present political and social relations are unnatural and galling — they are like a couch too sliort for rest, with a covering too scanty for shelter (v. 20). The God of Isrjiel is a God of order, and the laws that regulate his earthly kingdom are as rational and at the same time as imperative as those which divinely guide the familiar operations of liusbandry. To those laws his people and all peoples are amenable (vs. 23-29). Ch. II, § 648 IMrKNDING RUPTUKE 257 55 648. At the date of tlie utterance of these drastic projihecies there was manifestly as yet no break with the Assyrian suzerain. Even of negotiation with Kgypt on the part of Judah tliere is as yet no sign. A reference to it is commonly tijp[»ose(l to be made in Isa. xxviii. 1"), 18 (the "covenant with death and agreement with Sheol"). But the language employed then is of an entirely general character, and relates to the notorious disregard of truth and honour on the part of the rulers and judges, and their defiance of the judgments so frequently threatened by the Prophets. If Ahaz was still on the throne at that date, as we suppose ( § 6:55 ff.) there was no likelihood of any rupt- ure of the Assyrian league, galling as its exactions were doubtless l^ecoming. The "slave and the son" of his Assyrian deliverer, and the servile imitator of Eastern cus- toms in civil and religious life, was extremely unlikely to encourage or tolerate disloyalty. But very soon after the downfall of Samaria, and almost coincidently, as it would seem, with the chastisement inflicted on the same city in its league with Ilamath and Gaza and Sib'e of Egypt, a new r<;gime began in Judah, which was religiously and politically opposed to the Ninevite domination. It intro- duced at the same time the most important epoch in the history of the Southern Kingdom, the era of Hezekiah. f it m At I i' ''' ' 1 f ■ ■ 1 i 1 • H :' i 1 1; IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 j50 ™=^ «" IIIIIM :'' IIM |M 2.0 111= 14 II 1.6 v] <^ /a %/ A w a:

abylon. § 071. It must be confessed, however, that the affairs of Babylonia at his accession were not in such a condition as to naturally invite a very considerate or tolerant treat- ment. It soon appeared indeed that he would have to choose between letting Babylonia drift outside the sphere of Assyrian influence or setting things in order with a heavy hand. It was clear, at ar.y rate, that the altogether ex- ceptional and un-Assyrian regime of home-rule established by Sargon could not last. The first ruler of Babylonia after the accession of Sinacherib, of whom we know anvthinsr was Marduk-zdkir-mm (" Merodach announces the name "). We have the authority of Berossus for the statement that he put aside the brother of Sinacherib and made himself king. This was done in defiance of Sinacherib, who was of course the nominal king for the preceding two years (705-703), and in fact so appears in the Canon of Ptolemy. The adventurer's reign lasted, however, but one month, after which he was, in his turn, thrust out by no less a personage than the irre})ressible Merodach-baladan himself (§621 ft'., 637, 660 ff.), who, we may be sure, had been X i \ !l \ jNrfi i 111 ■•xa m it'*' !• i 1 ' 31 I 274 CHALD;EANS and their allies book VIII f..l ■■■■ 'W scheming and intriguing all the preceding six years. Now seeing that his old kingdom was going so cheap, he thought it absurd that he should not be foremost among the pre- tenders. § 672. During his short reign he set about establishing himself in the old fashion by cementing alliances with the other Chaldoean princes, to whom he was a natural leader, and to many of whom he was hereditary over-lord; also with the Aramtean chiefs, and the king of Elam. He soon had sore need of their aid ; for Sinacherib, nine months after the accession of the Chakkean, descended upon the land, and meeting him with his allies, not far from Babylon, at a place called Kisli, defeated him utterly. Merodach-baladan escaped this time also, though Assyrian troops spent five days in searching for him among the marshes, to which he had betaken himself. § 673. Sinacherib immediately occupied Babylon, where, apparently in confident reliance upon his recovered author- ity and his renewed alliance with the Elamites, Merodach- baladan had left all his treasure and the members of his household- These became the spoil of the conqueror, who further preceded to make all the Chaldsean adherents throughout Babylonia feel that the Assyrians henceforth were to be undisputed masters. Cities to the number of seventy-five, in Chaldfea proper, with four hundred and twent}" neighbouring villages, were taken and spoiled. The inhabitants of other cities, both in North and in South Babylonia, who had shown sympathy with the Chaldsean cause, including the capital itself, were taken away as prisoners. A like fate was shared by the Aramtean allies, the number of Avhose prisoners deported to Assyria was reckoned at two hundred and eight thousand, along with nearly a million of large and small cattle. Sinacherib now set a king over the Babylonians, Bel-ibni by name (other- wise Bel-t'pm), who had been brought up "n his own palace " like a little pet dog," as the inscription phrases it.^ Chal- 1 Bellino Cylinder, line 13. See Note 9 in Appendix. Ch. V, § G74 INCREASING DOMINION 276 dsea was, we may assume, put in charge of a military administrator directly under the king of Assyria. As the malcontents were found in every corner of the land, the mock kingship at the capital, by the grace of Asshur, was intended merely as a compromise and makeshift till the time should come for the formal annexation of the whole country. Meanwhile the titular king, whoever he might be, was always treated as the creature of Sin.icherib. vj 674. Closely upon these undertakings, though whether immediately or not is uncertain, followed two successful expeditions, the one directed against the Kasshites, who had, as in the old times, been harassing the Babylonian border, and the other against Ellip, a neighbour and ally of Elam. In both cases hard measure was dealt out to the inhabitants. The Kasshites received an Assyrian resi- dent viceroy. Many of them were constrained, by the burniufj of their tents and other drastic measures, to relin- quish their nomadic mode of life and dwell in lixed habi- tations. The peoi)le of Elli]) were still more harshly dealt with for their fidelity to Elam. They had to witness the desolation of theii' homes while they themselves were being dragged into captivity. In the Kasshite war, if his chronicler is to be trusted, the king siiowed marvellous enterprise and endurance, scaling on foot the almost im- passable mountains, and leading the way to the hitherto inaccessible retreats of the savage mountaineers. On his return march from the invasion of Ellip, tribute was sent him from some of the remote districts of Media, of Avhich he claims that the very name was unknown to his prede- cessors. These transactions taken together probably filled out the years 703 and 702. ,^i 01 I'Vl i 1 i .•i .M 1 1 * I ^« t: 'i CHAPTER VI i3r''ir SINACHERIB, HEZEKIAH, AND ISAIAH ;| i § 675. The year 701 witnessed an enterprise of far greater importance — a march to the West-land followed by an ignominious retreat. I cannot do better than to present the reader at once with the Great King's own ofticial account of the expedition. It is translated from his principal inscription, and follows directly upon the detailed report of the CA^ents last described above, wliich are assigned to his "second expedition." It reads as follows (Col. II, 34 ff.)i: In my third expedition I marched to the land of the Hettites. ^■^ Lull, king of the city of Sidon — fear of the sheen ^ of my sovereignty over- whelmed him, and he fled to a remote place ^' in the midst of the sea, and I placed his la ,d (under my yoke). ^^ Great Sidon, Little Sidon, ^^ Beth /iti. Sarepta, Mahalliba, *^ Usii, Akzibi (Ekdippa), Akko, '^^ his strong cities, his fortresses, granaries, '^^ reservoirs, and barracks — the might of the weapons '^^of Asshur my lord overwhelmed them and they submitted '*^at my feet. Tuba'al (Ithobal) on the throne of royalty *^I set over them. Tiibute and offerings of my suzerainty ^''yearl}-, without fail, I im- posed upon him. *' As to Menahem of Samsiruna, *8 Ithobal of Sidon, 49Abdili"tu of Arvad, ^^ Urumilku of Byblos, siMitiiitl of Ashdod, ^apudu'il the Beth-Ammon- ite, ^^ Chemosh-nadab the Moabite, ^ Melekram the Edomite, ^^ all the kings of the West-land, regions ''^ wide- extended, their weighty offerings with (other) belongings 1 In the "Taylor Cylinder," I R. 38, 3-4-39, 41. 276 St ). a, Ch. VI, § 675 SINACHERIB IN PALESTINE 277 ^' they brought before nie and kissed my feet. ^^ And Zedekia, king of Askalon, ^^who had not submitted to my yoke — his ancestral gods, himself, ^ his wife, his sons, his daughters, his brothers, his kindred ^^ I took away and deported to Assyria. ''^ yj^j-imiji,-! gon of Ilukibtu, their former king ^ I set over the people of Askalon : the ren- dering of tribute ^* and gifts of my sovereignty I imposed upon him, and so he became my vassal. *'^In the course of my expedition, Beth-Dagon, ^^Joppa, Banai-Barka, Azurn, ''"cities of Zedekia, which at my feet ''^had not promptly submitted, I besieged. I took, I carried off their spoil. ""^ The lords, the nobles, and people of Ekron, '^who Padi their king, against their covenants and oath '^ to Assyria, had cast into iron fetters, and to Hezekiah, "-the Judaite had given him up witli hostile intent (and he shut him up in a dungeon) — "'^ their heart was afraid. Tiie kings of Egypt, '^and the archers, chariots, and horses of the king of Meluha, "'^a countless army, they invoked, and they came ""to their relief. In view of Elteke "their :tle arrav was set against me, and they made appeal to "* their weapons. With the support of Asshur my lord, with them "^ T fought and accomplished their defeat. ^^ The captain of the chariots and the sons of the Egyptian king ^^ along with tlie captain of the chariots of tlie king of Meluha alive ^^ my hands took in the thick of the battle. Elteke **'^and Timnath I besieged and took and carried off their sj)oil. (Col. Ill) H drew near to Ekron, the lords 2 and the nobles who had committed sin I slew, and ^on stakes round about the city I suspended their corpses. * The people of tlie city who had done crime and wickedness ^ I made captive. The rest of them ** wlio had not practised sin and vileness and whose guilt " was not apparent, I declared acquitted. Pad! ® their king from the midst of Jerusalem ^I brought forth, and upon the tlirone of dominion over them ^" I set, and the tribute of my suzerainty " I imposed upon him. And Hezekiah ^^ the Judaite who had not submitted to my yoke — ^^46 of his i, li i ( / i ! , 'i i I :.] i\ I II :; ^J 'I' 278 THE FATE OF JUDAH Book VIII Ml: ■ fenced cities, and fortresses, and small towns i*in their vicinity without number, ^^by breaking them down with battering-rams and the strokes of ... ^^ the assaults of the breach-stormers(?) and the blows of axes and hatch- ets, ^' I besieged and took. 200,150 persons, small and great, male and female, ^* horses, mules, asses, camels, large cattle, ^^ small cattle, without number, I brought forth from the midst of them, '-^and allotted as spoil. As for himself like a caged bird in Jerusalem ^Uiis capital city, I shut him up. Forts against him ^I constructed, and any who would go out of the city gate I caused ^^ to turn back. His cities, which I had spoiled, from his land ^^I cut off; and to Mitinti king of Ashdod, "^ Pad! king of Ekron, and Sil-Bel ^king of Gaza I gave, and so curtailed his territory. ^To the former tribute, their yearly contri- bution, -^the gifts due to my sovereignty, I made an addition and ^9 imposed it upon them. As for Hezekiah himself, ®^the fear of the lustre of my sovereignty over- whelmed him; and ^Hhe Arabs and his (other) devoted Wiuriors, *^whom to strengthen Jerusalem his capital city *'^he had introduced there, became seized with panic fear. ^Together with 30 talents of gold and 800 talents of silver ^ . . . great stores of lapis-lazuli, ^ couches of ivory, arm chairs of ivory (covered) with elephant hide, ^" ivory tusks . . . wood . . . wood, and such like, an immense treasure, ^^his daughters, his palace-women, men-singers, ^''' women-singers, to Nineveh my capital *^ I made him bring : and for the rendering of the tribute ^^ and making homao-e, he sent his ambassador." § 076. So runs the report of the Great King. In order to understand it we must read it in the light of parallel accounts from other sources, and also bear in mind that the Assyrian official records, while correct in the main, are apt to exaggerate successes and to gloss over reverses, or omit entirely to mention them. In order to make a fair comparison with the Biblical story it is necessary to get from both sources a broad view of the whole international aril i! Ch. VI, § 677 INTERNATIONAL SITUATION situation. We must bear iu iniiul that one report Is written from the Assyrian imperial standpoint, ami the other in the interests of a religious and political party in a single one of the many western states opposed to Assyria in this contest. From Kgypt, moreover, the principal one of the western powers, we have nothing but an indirect tra- ditional refei-ence, while none of the other nations have left any moiniments of the occurrence whatever. The Biblical account has to do with the fortunes of .ludah and Jerusa- lem, and with these alone. It is not to be co-ordinated witli the professedly complete Assyrian report, but is to lie titled into the plan of campaign which the latter indicates. In spite of the difficulties that arise, it is perhaps possible, when both sets of documents are rightly considered, to comjiile a harmonious and fairly exact history of the whole affair. § 677. The general situation in 701 was somewhat as follows. For the three or four years immediately pre- ceding a general revolt had been preparing in Palestine. To bring this about was an easy matter on the accession of a new and untried king. There were also several distinct movers and motives that provoked it, and then sustained it to the point of resistance when the time for suppression came. Within the turbulent territory itself theie were two main centres of agitation against Assyrian control. And outside of the Asiatic West-land there were two per- sonages who took care that the seditious feeling was not allowed to slumber. The foregoing extract from the annals of Sinacherib shows clearly that the chief opjio- nents of the Assyrians were Phcenicia and Judah. as the main points of attack were Tyre and Jerusalem. Tiie position of the Philistian cities made their possession a matter of importance in itself; but their reduction was comparatively an easy matter and evidently quite inci- dental to the campaign against Judah. The other jteoples of the West-land, — Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites, — had no special interest iu the business of insurrection. Hence without much delay they placated the invadei-s. i; ! ! 1 1 4*' 1 il 'l J i.jin . The other chief instigator of revolt was the indomitable Merodach-baladan, of whom we have already heard so much. In t..e only Biblical passages that refer to the great Chaldc'can, his intervention in this affair is indi- 3iM % Ch. \'I, § 080 A GENKUAL t( ).\SI'11JACY i81 cated in the most suggestive manner. 2 K. xx. 1'2, Isa. xxxix. 1 (cf. 2 Chr. xxxii. 31), inform us that Merodarli- baladan sent a letter and a present to Hezekiah in coii- nec'tion with his wonderful recovery from illness. The signiticanee of such gifts, whose function in propitiating superiors, buying off invaders, and securing alliances, is illustrated not only hy Hihlical passages and by constant forinulie of the cuneiform inscriptions, but by the whole literature of Oriental history, and whose potency is attested by the aphoristic wisdom of Holy Writ (cf. § 504 f.), can here be read plainly between the lines of the story. The sketch already given (§ »;21 ff., 661 ft'., 671 ff.) of the adventures of the Chaldfean king of Babylon shows that in the year 704 he had the strongest inducements ^wssible to create a combination against Sinacherib with all the states of the West. And it is more than a mere coinci- dence of dates that Tirhakali, as is generally supposed, came to the throne of Egyjtt about the same time. The whole situation makes it plain, then, that the movement ff)r the overthrow of Assyrian domination had been under strong headway for two or three years by the time that the Assyrians came upon Palestine. This fact, and the general international relations as already detailed, being kept in view, we can noAV proceed to an examination of the details of the memorable expedition. § 680. The campaign begins, presumably in the spring or early summer of 701, with an invasion and partial con- quest of Southern Pluenicia. Northern Syria, with the dependent coastland, may be assumed to have been per- manently quieted by Sargon (§ 624 f.). Sinacherib's am- bassador boasts of their entire subjugation, as proved by the extinction of their religion (2 K. xviii. 34). The course of events at this stage is not quite easy to make clear, as it is plain that the Assyrian official account is partial and incomplete. The omission of the name of Tyre, the principal city, is of itself more than suspicious. The supremacy of Tyre over the kindred communities in 'I |ii § I' ! ff i :! i ill i 11 388 INVASION OF I'IKKNKIA Book VIII ■i these times is well established. The very fiiet that Tig- lathpileser III and Saigou II do not name Sidon at all is proof of the predominance of Tyre.^ The silence of Sinacheril) can only be due to the failure of an attack upon Tyre, since a collision on his part with the ruling city was unavoidable. , § 681. A key to the (juestion is found in a citation made by Josephus'-^ from Menander, the Ephesian historian of Tyre. According to the extract from Menander, Elu- hcus, who reigned thirty-six years, was king of Tyre at this time. 1 1 is kingdom being invaded by the Assyrians during his absence in Cyprus, where he was reducing the rebellious inhabitants of Kition ("Chittim") to subjection (cf. § 42), Sidon, Akko, and Old Tyre (>} irdXai, Tupo?) revolted from him, and, with many other cities, joined the Assyrians. They furnished their new allies with sixty ships and eight hundred men ; but these were defeated in a naval battle by twelve ships of Tyre, with the loss of live hundred men. The New or island city of Tyre was, liowever, besieged by the Assyrians for five years. But the Tyrians were able to hold out, their water supply being obtained by digging wells on the island itself, to replace the aqueducts that had been cut off by the be- siegers. Josephus states that the Assyrian king was Shalmaneser (IV), but this is perhaps a conjecture of his own. While in all ways improbable, it is made specially unlikely by the fact that Sargon, Shalmaneser's successor, and the heir of his projects, makes no mention of any part of the affair. § 682. The events described may much more fitly be harmonized with the facts related by Sinacherib. The in- vasion of Pha?nicia may possibly have been occasioned b}'' appeals of the Kitians to Sinacherib for help. It will be remembered that certain of the cities of Cyprus, of which Kition may have been one, had acknowledged the over- lordship of Sargon (§ 666). That Sinacherib calls Elu- 1 Cf. Meyer, GA. § 367. - Ant. ix. 4, 3. liW Cii. VI, § (583 KKSISTANCE UF TYllK 283 licus (^Lull') king of Sidon and not of Tyre is natunilly to bu t'xplained on tlie assumption that ho preferred calling attention to the city which submitted to him (Col. II. J]8, § 67;")) rather than to that which ballled his efforts to sub- jugate it. It is interesting to note that Sinacherib in the same inscription (II, 30 f.) declares that Eluheus fled to a remote place in the sea, which was obviously the island fortress of Tyre (rcfeiTcd to by Menander as above), while in another document^ he asserts that it was in Cyi)rus (^Yatnan) that he took refuge. Of course there was no reason for resort to C^'prus as long as the insular city was open to him, and Sinacherib gives us no reason to suppose that it was not. Additional probability is lent to the main hypothesis by the circumstance that Sinacherib claims for himself in detail (and rightly) the subjection of all Pha'uicia except Tyre. This can onl}' be ex[)lained on the assumption that the other communities had revolted from Tyre, of course under Assyrian instigation and pressure. § 683. The sea-fight related by INIenander is also now readily accounted for, and it is noteworthy that the superior prowess and seamanship of the Tyrians, which had given them predominance among the Phoenicians, gave them also the victory in this ease against tremendous odds. It only remains to be added in this connection that if it seems surprising that a siege of five years could be sustained by the island city, while Sinacherib was so busily occupied in other quarters, the difficulty vanishes when one considers that it could not have been the Assyr- ians who directly conducted the siege, but IMioMiician sailors and soldiers as vassals of Assyria. This most re- nowned maritime fortress of the ancient world was already giving proof of that matchless jiower of heroic resistance which afterwards defied Nel)uchadrezzai' and Alexander. The Tyrians, like the other Pluenieians, were at all times ready to pay tribute to the Great King, whether he was Assyrian, Babylonian, or Persian (cf. § 42). But in the 1 III H. l-\ 18. See Note 10 in Appeiulix. *\ i ! pi' \ W III H\\ i 1 ,' It ■ 'i ' , f. : • P' '■ 3 •! ■^■i : ; 1 t^ ( 284 TWO LINES OF INVASION Book VIII present ease it was not a question of allegiance, but of the abdication of maritime supremacy, and such pre-eminence Tyre was as little willing to forego as was afterwards her greatest colony, Carthage. 55 G84. Yet the success of Sinacherib in securing the submission of the greater portion of Phoenicia was brilliant and imposing. The allegiance of the outlying principali- ties of Palestine, — Amnion, Moab, Edom, — which had suffered little from Assyrian invasions and had compara- tivel}' little at stake in the quarrel (§ 677), Avas not long withheld (11, 52-54). Among the Philistines, who lay in the direct line of southern march, Ashdod, fresh from tiie memories of 711 (§ G81 f.), decided to remain true to Assyria. Secure with these essential advantages, the invader continued his progress. His great object now was to crush the head of the insurrection before Egypt could interpose. Thus he would be free to carry the war into Africa. Everything promised well for his designs, and his plans were executed with signal ability. They followed two lines of aggression. On the one hand, Judah must be subdued, to be forever held as the great vantage-ground against Egypt ; on the other, the Philistian coast-land, the international highway, must be seized and perpetually secured. The one enterprise was involved with the other, because some of the leading communities of the Philis- tines, in whose politics Judah had since the time of Uzziah (§ 268) taken a controlling place, were still Palestinian in sympathy, and were kept by Judaizing tendencies, as well as by diplomatic and military influence, on the side of independence and the Western league. These cities, then, must be won over or reduced, while Judah, beinjr itself attacked, would be powerless to prevent their sub- jugation. v5 685. Accordingly, the army of invasion moved simul- taneouslj' in two divisions: the one invaded Judah, the other took in hand the Philistian principalities, at the same time preparing to checkmate the Egyptians. The Cii. VI, § 0S7 DKVASTATION (»F .JUDAII 285 j^eiieml line of mairli was apparently as follows. Leaving a small number of troops to guard Assyrian interests in IMujenicia, the Great Iving led his forces southwest, across tlie plain of Jezreel, through territory which was now jier- manently loyal to liis sovereignty (§ o31, 304, G'24 f.). Soon thereafter the army was divided. A portion of it, at wliose head the king himself remained, marched south- ward along the coast, while a powerful force advanced soutlieastward through Samaria, into the heart of the Judteau kingdom, the stronghold of the revolt. § 68G. Here there fell upon Judah the heaviest blow which it had ever suffered since it became a nation. It is briefly touched upon in the surviving annals of the coun- try, and more fully detailed in the Assyrian accounts. It was nothing short of the devastation of the kingdom out- side of Jerusalem, north and northwest of the capital (cf. § 696). 2 K. xviii. 13 tells us that Sinacherib "came u[) against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them." The vagueness of the Hebrew style of expression, and the comprehensiveness of the statement, prevent the cursory reader, and have indeed prevented most Biblical students, from realizing the full measure of destruction and suffer- ing involved in this sunnnary statement. The inscriptional record, in spite of the obscurity of some of its terms (Col. Ill, 11-20), indicates clearly the fury of the successive attacks upon the forty-six walled cities which were one after another taken by assault, along with an unestimated number of smaller towns. The enormous number of pris- oners taken and deported to Assyria, seven times greater than those made ca[)tive after the surrender of Samaria (s? 362), is an additional indication of the widespread ruin and devastation invoked by the remorseless Ninevite. § 687. The course of the invasion is not indicated in any extant document except in one much misinter[)reted passage of Isaiah (Isa. x. 28 32). who traced the progress of the Assyrians in the latest stage of tlieir a[)[)roaeh to the capital from the north, the direct road from liethel, '' 1 I i I i m ■\ iii I i iSf 286 SUBMISSION OF llEZEKIAIl Book VIII r'-n M II through the deep gorge of Michmash, once held by a gar- rison of the Philistines when they too had come upon Judah by the same line of attack (§ 196, 1 Sam. xiii., xiv.). In language wliich in its minute particularization and abrupt transitions bears the stamp of reality, and betrays the intense excitement of the prophet on the watch, the itinerary of the enemy's army is given as accurately as it was noted in the tablets of the Assyrian general. This memorable march, which could almost be viewed from the walls of Jerusalem, represents, however, but little of the soil trodden by the desolating battalions of Asshur ; for the summary given in the Inscriptions doubtless embraces the whole extent of the injury wrought during the campaign. § 688. Isaiah's excited outburst over the approach of the destroyers forms the culmination of the first period of the active conflict between Assyria and Judah, since the irruption from the north was followed b}"" the submission of Hezekiah and his formal renunciation of the anti-Assyrian league. The Judcean record thus describes (2 K. xviii. 14- 16) the effect of tlie demonstration of what Sinacherib calls the sheen of his majesty (Col. Ill, 30) : "And Heze- kiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachisli, saying : ' I have sinned ; turn back from against me ; what thou mayst assign to me I shall pay.'^ And the king of Assyria laid upon Hezekiah king of Judah 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave up all the mone}^ which was at hand in the house of Jehovah and in the treasures of the king's house. At the same time Heze- kiah cut off the doors of the temple of Jehovah, and the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave them to the king of Assyria." The narrative implies, or rather asserts, that Sinacherib accepted Hezekiah's terms ; Hezekiah, in the technical language of the Assyri- ans themselves, declared that he had been a "siiuier" against the right of his suzerain (cf. § 290), asked liim to name the indemnity which would secure the withdrawal 1 Sec Note 11 iu Appemlix. AwMMi wii m W Cii. VI, § 090 CAMPAIGN IX I'lIILISTIA 28" of the army of invasion, and promised to furnish the full amount. The sum was named, and according to the re- port of Sinacherib himself, it was at least fully paid (Col. Ill, 34 ff.), and the threatened attack on the city was of course averted. Judah was thus humiliated and mulcted in an enormous fine, besides being put in bonds for an increased annual tribute ; but the city itself was spared. The submission of Hezekiali took place, we are told, when the Great King was at Lachish. We must now return to the story of the expeditionary force in the western coastland. § 689. The reader will remember what has been said of the peculiar constitution and history of the Philistian petty states (§ 54, 192 ff.). Of the five leading cities of the early days, Gath was now no more a community of any consequence (cf. vol. i, p. 291; Amos i. 0-8). Of the remaining four, Ashdod, with its environment of villages, had been organized in 711 under Assyrian administration (§ 632), and as has just been stated remained true to its allegiance, while Gaza bore only a very subordinate part in tlie international affairs of the time. Ekron and Askalon, on the other hand, were well to the front in the present business, and though, like Judah, divided in sentiment, were under the control of an energetic anti-Assyrian element. The former city, especially, needed attention from Sina- cherib on account of its intimate relations with Jerusalem (§ 692). To secure these cities, with the circumjacent terri- tory, as well as other strategic points, the army Avas formed into several divisions which operated simultaneously. The area of occupation was at the same time so easily traversed and so compact that the whole of the forces could be con- centrated upon any one i)oint to meet any combination which the allied Egyptians and Palestinians could muster. § 690. There appear to have been three centres of attack — Ekron, Askalon, and Lachish. The last-named famous old city, which has been so prominently brought before the world b}- the late excavations upon its site,^ is, 1 By F. J. Bliss, cf. vol. i, 187, note 2. !><■ -If Ai< j.? ;i. ft ):i I ir^ ii Si i \ 1; i 'i 1 ' 1 ( 11 ; 31 \i ■ V I 1 \ i tf in : 288 ASKALON AND EKRON Book VIII curiously enough, not mentioned in the Assyrian memoirs at all. But the prominence given to it in the Bible account is fully justified by a sculpture in relief upon the walls of Sinacherib's palace at Nineveh, commemorating its capture and indicating its importance in the history of the cam- paign.^ The omission from the written report must be admitted to furnish sufficient evidence of the incomplete- ness of the record, while, on the other hand, it forcibly suggests the extensive operations of tlie Assyrian armies. § GOl. Askalon was the first of the cities to surrender, if we may judge from the fact that its fall is mentioned '.n the official accounts (Col. II, 58 ff.)"^ before that of Ekron. Its kinglet Zedekiah had usurped the throne in the interest of tlie concerted revolt. Sinacherib dethroned him and carried him away to Assyria along with his near and remoter relations and his household gods. His predeces- sor, whose xVssyrian name, Sarlnddri (" may the king live forever "' ), speaks significantly of his former allegiance, and who was the son of a ruler installed by Tiglathpileser III in place of the seditious Metinti (§ 332, 33-4), had been expelled by Zedekiah, but was now restored to the place and the dignity of a vassal of Asshur. § 692. The fortunes of Ekron (Col. II, 69 ff.)3 are still more instructive as to the antecedent stages of the rebel- lion. There had been a fierce domestic struggle on the ([uestion of fealty to Assyria. Padl (or Padaiah) the king, whose name, like that of Zedekiah, indicates the political and religious influence of Judah (§ 26S), was, with his party, on the side of continued loyalty. Hezekiah of Judah, acting as it would seem the part of a suzerain, took sides with the insurgents, and in the revolution which ensued and which ended in the dethronement of Padi, seized the defeated chief and thrust him into a dun- geon in Jerusalem. The disaffected party in Ekron now made a desperate resistance to the Assyrian besiegers. 1 See Note 12 in Appendix, a Cf. Ill H. 1-', 22 f£. •^ Cf. the abstract III II. 12, 21 f. Cii. VI, §094 EGYPTIAN INTERVENTION 289 During the progress of the siege occurred the most im- portant --vent of the campaign, the long-delayed interven- tion of Egypt. § 693. We have a twofold indication of the relative point of time of this collision between the empires of the Tigris and the Nile. The cuneiform account (Col. II, 73 ff.) mentions it in eoiniection with the uprising in Ekron, and after the story of the episode is completed, returns imme- diately to the siege of that city. Hence we may conclude that the direct object of the Egyptian intrusion was the relief of Ekron. The Hebrew record (2 K. xix. 8 ff.) tells us that when Sinacherib heard of the advance of the Egyp- tian forces, he had just left Lachish and was engaged in the siege of Libnali. The time then was just after the fall of Lachish, when the reduction of its dependent towns had been begun. Now '1 K. xviii. 14, ali-eady quoted, indicates that the submission of llezekiah took place while Lachish was still under siege. That event, therefore, must have ha[)pened before the inroad of the Egyptian relieving force. The situation was accordingly in brief as follows. Judali had renounced the league under stress of dire necessity. Sinacherib, placated by tlie rich offering of the humiliated Hezekiah and trusting to his enforced lidelitv, had tempo- rarily withdrawn his army. One main division of his troops was begiiniing to besiege Ekron, while he himself, probably because he wished personally to guard the threat- ened frontier, remained with the force that was engaged with the southern towns that had joined the rebellious confederacy. When the Egyptian troops appeared on the scene with their allies from the Sinaitic peninsula (•■ Melfiha"), the Assyrian monarch withdrew his own innnediate force from Libiiah, while his turtan drew off his troops from Ekron and the neighbourhood and came to join Sinacherib at Elteke, nearly midway between Lachish and Ekron (Josh. xix. 44). § 694. In the battle which ensued (Col. II, 76 ff.) Sinacherib claims the victory, and that rightly. The V Ml '{ii ;, J 11 1. lil 290 FALL OF EKl'vOX Book VIII P !■ I i |l.ij i»'fi defeat of tliu Egyptiiiu combination was coni[)lete. Their success was antecedently improbable. The demoralization of the I'^gyptian governmental system as well as of the army, attested by Herodotus (cf. § 705), as Avell as by all other evidence, rendered an enterprise of this character one of very dubious promise. Notwithstanding the profuse offers of help to the revolting Palestinians, we maj^ believe that the campaign was undertaken rather from dread of an Assyrian invasion than from a desire to keep faith with hard-[)ressed allies. The best proof of the defeat of the Egyptians is, however, the fact that, in spite of the subse- quent vigorous regime of Tirhakah, they not only refrained from actively interfeiing again with Sinacherib, but kept themselves clear of Palestine for many' years thereafter. § 695. The consequences of the ill-fated expedition to the insurgent states in Palestine was naturally most unfavourable. Immediately after the battle, Elteke and the neighbouring Timnath were taken and plundered, while Ekron was besieged in earnest. In due course it was taken by storm. The (treat King, now thoroughly exas- perated on account of the intrigues with Egypt, resolved to inflict exemplary punishment upon the leaders of the revolt in Ekron (Col. Ill, 1-3). They were indeed treated with a severit}- quite rare in the history of the Assyrian ])olicy in Palestine (cf. § 0:25). But the lives of the rest of the inhabitants were spared. A discrimination between them was made, as had been done in the case of Samaria (§ 304). While those who were proved innocent of sedition were amnestied, the guilty^ were carried away into captivity. About the same time, or a little earlier, other towns within the domain of Ekron were taken, the names of the most of which, Joppa, Bene-berak (Josh. xix. 45), and Beth-Dagon (Josh. XV. 41), are familiar to students of the Bible. These the campaign annalist, Avho in this matter is heedlessly fol- lowed by modern scholars, describes (Col. II, 65-67 ; cf . 58) as dependencies of Askalon. But the sphere of influence of Askalon was necessarily local, and between it and the Mfi^M Cii. VI, §000 JETU'SALEM AGAIN THREATENED 201 .e towns in question there intervenetl not only Ekron but the Assyrianized Ashdod. Over E.iron itself was reinstated the former king Pad!, the prisoner of Ilezekiah, who had released him upon the demand of Sinacherib (Col. Ill, 7 ff.). § 096. It might seem that the subjugation and pacifi- cation of Palestine and Syria Avere now completed. But the Assyrian king thought otherwise. His army had not been long withdrawn from Jerusalem, before he saw reason for cancelling his agreement to spare the city. That com- pact had, perhaps, been concluded unadvisedly on his part. He may have thought it impossible that Hezekiah, impov- erished by long tribute-giving, could pay the fine he imposed. The effect produced by the prompt "raising" of the money, according to the unconditional pledge of Ilezekiah, was doubtless enhanced by the release of Padi, and the early prospect of his being replaced in Ekron, the other leading insvirrectionary state. Sinacherib, at all events, kept his eye on Jerusalem. He well knew that the strong Egyptian party there needed watching, and before long he suspected, or, perhaps, was informed, of renewed negotiations (2 K. xviii. 20 f.)^ This justified a second attempt on Jerusalem. That perfidious city must at last be made what Asshur had manifestly designed it for, an Assyrian stronghold. Sargon's policy of clemency in Palestine (§ 364, 625) must not be carried too far ; Jeru- salem, at least, must share the fate of her sister capital, Samaria. Hence the sending of the Assyrian army to Jerusalem, described in 2 K. xviii. 17 ; cf. Isa. xxii. 6 f. It, we ma}' suppose, resumed also the work of destruction and spoliation among the cities and villages of Judah, this time to the west and south of the capital (cf. § 686). 1 Tsaiali, in Ch. xxxiii. 8, accuses Sinacherib of liaviui; "broken the covenant." But in this he does not necessarily lay the blame upon the Assyrians alone. The "covenant" was, of course, the agreement made upon the payment of the fine by Hezekiah, including the promise, ex- pressed or implied, to leave Jerusalem unmolested. rifHi :| 5-'- I: f 292 AFFAIRS IN JERUSALEM Book VIII § 697. Meanwhile, Jerusalem was a scene of excitement and confusion and the clash of opposing interests. The Egyptian and revolutionary party, though still secretly active, had proved themselves but sorry counsellors. Their influence and j)7'e8ti(/e began to decline with the advance of the Assyrians into the home-land, and must have re- ceived notable shocks with the decision of Hezekiah to buy off Sinacherib (§ 688), the capture of Ekron (§ 69o), and, above all, with the disastrous overthrow of the tardy Egyptian army of relief (§ 694). The state of affairs in the capital is vividly pictured by Isaiah (ch. xxii.) as he looks out from his prophetic watch-tower over Kidron, '• the valley of vision " (xxii. 1, 5), now filled with the (•h.iriots and horsemen of Sinacherib and the contiufjents from his subject states.^ This chapter is, in fact, more important for its historical information than for its ethical value. From it we gather that although a general and strenuous endeavour was made to improve the defences of the city (§ 698), a fierce struggle was still going on between the two leading parties. It would seem that the palace faction, who had had their way so far in diplomatic and mili- tary measures, and who were responsible for the coup cVetat in Ekron and the understanding with Egypt, were under the guidance and inspiration of a certain Shebna, the king's chancellor (literally, " care-taker, manager," or the '• con- troller of the household," xxii. 15 ; § 522). This man was apparently of foreign origin (v. 16), and possibly an Aranifean, if anything is to be inferred from the form of the name. He was specially obnoxious to Isaiah as the head and front of a pernicious clique and a baneful policy. And now that this untheocratic party had been discredited 1 ludiciiteil, according to genuine Hebrew fashion, by the naming of two prominent sections, the troops from Elam and those from Kir (2 K. xvi. ; Am. i. 5 ; ix. 7). It is noteworthy that the Assyrian kings never mention tlie nationalities of thoir dependent or auxiliary troops, These are called indiscriminately and collectively "soldiers of (the god) Asshur," a striking evidence at once of tlie centralism of Semitic govern- ment and the strength of the religious sentiment (§ 57). 1 I Ch. VI, § 098 PARTY LEADERS IN THE CITY 203 by the course of events, Isaiah takes the opportunity of dealing it a death-blow. Against its leader, Shebna, he fulminates in territic tones, which bespeak the concentrated wrath and contempt nursed by years of self-restraint. The ambitious intriguer is rebuked for his presumption in preparing for himself a costly sepulchre like one of the native-born nobles (v. 16). He shall be deposed from his office and violently hurled from his seat into exile and obscurity as one throws a ball into an open field (v. 17 ff., 25). His official position is soon to be taken by the faith- ful counsellor Eliakim, to whom will be safely entrusted " the key of the house of David " (vs. 20-24). The threat was not wholly fulfilled at once. Eliakim was, however, made his successor, and he himself was placed, possibly to break his fall and save the self-respect of the humiliated king, his patron, in the inferior post of scril^e (§ Gi»0). Some of the members of his party fled frf)m Jerusalem, perhaps to avoid popular indignation as much as to escape the expected doom of the city (xxii. 3). The picture of disorder is concluded by the melancholy spectacle of other unworthy citizens who kept up their reckless revelry to the bitter end, saying, " let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die " (v. 13). § 698. The taking of Jerusalem would have been a serious but by no means an impossible undertaking for the Assyrian army. When the invaders first appeared in Judah, the capital was very inadequately prepared for a siege, and this may have been one of the reasons which induced Hezekiah to buy off the enemy (§ 688). But now, upon Sinacherib's change of policy and the sending of his army against Jerusalem, measures were taken at once to fortify the city more strongly and to provide an accessible water supply for the defenders (Isa. xxii. 8-11 ; cf. 2 Chr. xxxii. 3-5). The fountahis which were used Avithin the city, and which were ordinarily allowed to send their superfluous discharge beyond the walls, were provided with retaining reservoirs, for the double purpose of fur- !' - ■ in i ' 1 ! i ' 1 .■■ 1'; 29-1 PRF.PAHATIOXS 1 ■' J ■ 1t' 1 ■ 1 1 ' ! ! 3! ,81' 1'^' «'l y- 30C ISAIAH XXX Book VIII i ; • . I trust in crookedness and perverseness, give them only a fancied security; their iniquity of itself has made a flaw- in their defences, which shall soon end in a complete and sudden collapse, and a deadly breach for the entrance of their enemies. Their destruction then will be like that of a potter's vessel when no fragment is found large enough to carry a live coal or liold a sup of water (xxx. 12-14). (iod had given them often enough the saving counsel; "through returning and resting ye shall get de- liverance ; in quiescence and trust shall be your strengtli," bat they did not care to listen. They said, ''No; we will fly on horses and ride on swift steeds." But their only chance to show their swiftness will be to flee l)efore swifter pursuers, a liandful of whom will put a thousand to rout. In the country thus shorn of its people, what was once a tree of the forest surrounded by countless companions, shall become a beacon pole alone upon the liills, a warning instead of a defence (xxx. 15-17). § 717. These threatenings are, however, in large part conditional, depending on the attitude of the people when the work of destruction has begun. Therefore, .Jehovah will wait before striking the final blow, listen- ing for the cry of his rebellious but penitent children. Just because he is " a God who sets things right," ^ those who wait for him receive a blessincr that comes through his grace and mercy, and to those who dwell in Zion, his chosen abode, is promised an end of sorrow and weeping (xxx. 18, 19). But such a deliverance is not to be vouch- safed as a capricious or arbitrary boon. The " bread of adversity and water of affliction " (cf. the sarcasm of the Rabshakeh, xxxvi. 12) are to have their divinely ap- pointed uses. Ministers of Jehovah, long neglected and mute, are to be welcomed to the seat of public instruc- tion, and be looked up to as the true guides of the nation. The people shall there be directed infallibly as to the straight, sure path of national honour and duty. Another ^■1 : 't I 1 See note to § 457. 1 i t'li. VI, § 718 ISAIAH XXX 307 sure consequence will be that the false worship of Jeho- vah will be wholly forsworn, and the richly gilded and silvered images be tlung away with loathing and CDn- tunipt (xxx. 20-2-). This religious transformation sliall have its accom[)aninient and counterpart in the prosperity of the country, whose languishing industries, especially agriculture and its prerequisite irrigation, shall tlourish again after the repulse of the Assyrian invadeis and the tumbling down of the discredited bulwarks c)f national defence. And then when Jehovah has Ijound uj) his people's wounds, and healed the contusions and bruises of the state (cf. i. 5), the now regenerated land shall Ije so full of hope and gladness that its condition, as com- jmred with the present gloom, shall be as the brightness of the sun to that of the moon, or like the sjjlendour of the sun raised to a sevenfold brilliancy (xxx. 20-26). § 718. This vision of a glory for Zion truly Messianic does not, however, da/zle the eyes of the I'lopliet. but rather reveals to him more clearly the doom that must fust be fulfilled by the foes of Israel. The catastrophe is brought on by the appearing of the self-revealing Clod (''the name of Jehovah"), accompanied by those sympathetic commotions in the material world which the Hebrew seers and poets habitually represent as part of the pomp and terror of the vengeful Deity intervening on behalf of his chosen (cf. Ps. xviii. ; li. ; ]Mic. i. ; Hab. iii., etc.). In the lire and smoke which are tlie outbreathings of his wrath, he sweeps along like an overwhelming torrent, that makes the victims surge to and fro till they perish from exhaustion. At the same time they lose their way in the confusion, like wild beasts that are forced out of their accustomed haunts (cf. xxxvii. 29; Ezek. xix. 4) by the hunter's bridle (xxx. 27, 28). At this there is the sound of rejoicing among the redeemed of Jehovah, as free and gladsome as that which is heard in the nightly celel)ration of some great festival, or as the music of the pipe, to whose strains pilgrims wend their way to greet the Rock of Israel in Zion (xxx. 29). U ^y I ' 1:! '! ll ■■•tv 1 . " ! m 1; I SOS ISAIAH XXX, XXXI Book VIII m I H In iiwful contrast to this joyful interlude is heard the august voice of Jehovah in the thunder, and the stroke of his arm in the lio'htninsf.^ The strife and rush and tunuilt of the contending elements : the darting llame, the riven storm-cloud, the pouring rain, and the driving hail, enhance the terrors and grandeur of the sublime theoi)hany. As peal follows peal and stroke follows stroke, lighting upon the devoted Assyrian, the sound of the timbrel and the lute is heard in the camp of Israel in chorus with the surging din of Jehovah's battle (xxx. 30-32). Again the image of destruction is changed, liut the horror is only the more intensified, because the figure is one more hideously famil- iar to the hearers. Instead of celestial flame and smoke it is the lurid fires and stifling vapours of Tophet that are pre- sented as the agent of the Assyrian's doom. It is no longer a battle, but an immolation. The pile made high and broad has long been prepared for a worth}^ victim. It is the Great King himself that is to be offered. And it is the wrath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, that kindles the pyre (xxx. 33). § 719. Again the Prophet turns in indignation against the obnoxious party in the state. With lack of faith and lack of insight at once, they persist in going down to Egypt for help and staying themselves upon horses and chariots because these are many and strong. This policy of theii's is self-destructive, notably because the Egyptians were unreliable allies, but especially because, at the best, they could render only material defence. Along with those who ha\ '^ vainly sought their help they shall stumble and fall, and that by the outstretched arm of " the Holy One of Israel," whom they have ignored and defied (xxxi. 1-3). In contrast to such defenders the figure of Jehovah of hosts towers larger and more portentous than ever in the pro- [)hetic vision as the true protector of his city and his people. In an image such as Homer had already employed,^ and which the Old Testament prophets delight to use, the 1 Cf. Shelley's "Cloud. ■i Iliad xii. 299 ff. ; xviii. 161 f. n' Cu. VI, § 720 ISAIAH XXXI, XXXII :]0f) champion of Jerusaleni is represented as a lion guarding liis prey fiom a band of ballled shepherds, whose only weapon is their incessant and impotent shouting.' And, more expressive still, lie appears as an eagle flitting to and fro over the threatened nest, darting down upon and beat- ing off all intruders and assailants. Thus shall Jehovah take his stand upon tlie heights of Zion to do battle for his own (xxxi. 4 f.). With another .sudden but very natural turn of thought, Israel is adjured to give its allegiance once more to its own faithful and devoted ])roteetor. With swiftest glance the prophet's eye runs along the eventful days, till it pauses in view of two much-desired consum- mations. On the one hand the false gods of Israel are cast down as a manifest delusion and snare ; on the other, the Assyrian is overthrown by the sword, not of man, but of God (xxxi. 6-9). § 720. Still farther sweeps on the prevision and brighter trrows the ever-recediufj horizon. Jehovah will at lencrth rule through a king whose watchwords shall be " righteous- ness and justice " (xxxii. 1). The Holy City was not to be saved from imminent destruction that it should become again as of yore the victim and haunt of those judicial and governmental evils that were the most noxious ele- ments of its social and domestic life (§ 593 ff., <')03 f.). Freedom from merely material destruction was neither the aspiration of the Prophet nor tlie purpose of Jehovah. If this were all that Isaiah strove and prayed for, his protest against the league with Egy})t would lose half its mean- ing; for its motive was to disclaim the idea of a deliver- ance to be wrought by the policy of those whose character ' The "prey " of the lion is only mentioned here as sonietliinu which he sets himself to guard and jirotect ai,'ainst all comers. There is here no indication that Jehovah makes a jirey of those whom he thus drfcnds, as though the people of .Terusalem were first to be punished by his judgments before being shielded by his care. Much less are we "to be reminded how grim and cruel He must sometimes appear even in His saving provi- dences" (G. A. Smith, Lsniah I. 243). Such a mixing of figures implies very uuprophetic and unpoetic subtlety. , li 1 \ 1' .1 n t I'll; m , 1 1 it! I ! n 810 ISAIAH XXXII Book VIII .?.!:'.' w fe w i 3 and iiclioiis wore bringing Joliovali's rolir^ioii into contempt and ni't^leet. No : it was a reformed relioious serviee, and a re^L,^enerated soeiety, that he hoped to see emerge from the imjiending fiery trial. A true " man," wliose mission it was both to protect and to comfort, woukl shiehl the harassed and weary from the storms of op[)ression ^ the bui-ning heat of adversity (xxxii. 2). The dispei a of justice, once blinded through pi'cjudice or passion (of. xi. 2 f. ; xxix. 10), should then discern clearly and decide impartially for the riglit, with neither blundering precipi- tation nor halting uncertainty (xxxii. 3 f.). Men would appear as they really were to the newly awakened moral sense of the community. The hollow-hearted reprobate and the crafty rogue should no more practise their knavery and charlatanism with impunity. Their pernicious charac- ter should stand unmasked, and their impositions upon the needy and defenceless should cease, just as the noble- hearted friend of the people would be honoured and con- tinue his beneficent work with the backing of pv' opinion (xxxii. 5-8). § 721. Again the dark and disheartening present thrusts itself upon the Prophet's view. If there was one thing more hopeless than another in the condition of the society of the capital, it was the self-indulgence and luxuriousness of its Avomen of fashion (§ 271, 590). The thought, or perhaps the sight, of them stirs him up to bitter upbraiding and a definite announcement of the coming judgment. Remembering that their means for self-indulgence were drawn from the ill-requited toil of the suffering poor, his disgust at their heartless indifference rises to uncontrolla- ble indignation. The careless, irresponsible gayety of idle, frivolous, pampered women is one of the most exasperat- ing and discouraging symptoms of any civilized society; and to a reformer of the insijiht and moral earnestness of Isaiah, such a spectacle at such a time was more than could be calmly endured. And now the seer, as once before when moved to prophecy by the thought of the I'ii ill* ^ Cii. VI. § 722 ISAIAH XXXII 311 extiiiviigauco of the ladies of Jerusalem (iii. IGif.), si)eak.s out what he has seen with the inward siyht. What faie so littiug for that whole class of votaries of pleasure and (It'spisers of Jehovah and his ;)0or ones, as tlu; drying up of the source of sup^jly, the desolation of that very soil which had yieltled its choicest fruits for their selfish enjoy- ment ? A sudden plunge is to he made from giddy revehy to sore privation. " For a year and more," ' the people of the land have to suhsist as best they can without a harvest or vintage. The fields and the crops standing and garnered are to be ravaged, and in the capital itself, destitute and terror-stricken, the d.n and bustle of stirring life will be hushed. Thorns and briers will grow up everywhere, and flocks will be pastured beside the watch-towers and the Temple hill (xxxii. 0-14). The punishment, to be sure, is not to preclude the ultimate regeneration. The renew- ing spirit of Jehovah will again cloth' the land with verd- ure and the promise of harvest, and (piietness and security against every foe will follow the enthronement of right- eousness and justice (xxxii. 15-18). Only the judgment nuist first come; and happy are those who in faith and confidence abide the visitation and are permitted to enter into the work of cultivating the renovated well-watered land and to enjoy its productiveness (xxxii. 19 f.). § 722. Such reflections and forecasts of the great Prophet, in view of the expected Assyrian invasion, were uttered after the understanding between Ilezekiah and Merodach-baladan ( § 079 ; cf. ^ 037) and the negotiations between the court party in Jerusalem and Figy[»t (>^ t')7S, 697) and the Judaite intervention in Ekron (s^ 002) had ' Literally : "(laysbi'VoiKlaycar." 'riiisiilira>ii' is imt tube explained by xxix. 1, since the terms are not at all anali^ndus. We have ti) compare with xxxvii. 30, where it is said that the ploiighiui,' and seedinu'wmiM. nu accmnit of the devastation by tlie Assyrians, be suspended not only duriim the cur- rent, but also during the comin.u' year, when all that would spring up would be the product of chance droppings h\nn the preceding harvest . In the third year agricultural operations would lie fully resumed. Tliat is to say, tlie fallow time would be a part of two years or "days beyond a year." I' r ■; ^' Ah vn ' n ) <: '!■ 1 M 312 TWO CROWNING PROPHECIES Book VIII ■t II' w given his country a leading place in the revolt of the West- land, and made it plain that Judah and Jerusalem would have to bear the brunt of the invader's assaults. These utterances bring us near the close of 702 B.C. Cli. xxii., wliose contents are of more historical than of "pro[)het- ieal " significance, has been already fully considered (§ GOT f.). According to it the Assyrian troops are now encamped before the city (701 B.C.). The Egyptian policy and party in Jerusalem receive their death-blow in tliis sui[trising but characteristic outburst. With it, how- ever, we do not come to the end of the Prophet's disccurses. It stands in point of lime between two others, which illus- trate most completely both the versatile and soaring genius of Isaiah and the order and process of Providcijce and Revelation. I refer to ch. x. 5-xii. 6, and to ch. xxxiii. To the former of these deliverances allusion has already been made. Tliat the situation here presented corresponds rather to the invasion of Sinacherib tlian to the hurried march of Sargon has been already shown (§ 633, 087) ; and its internal character fully bears out the same conclu- sion. For example, the Prophet puts a boastful harangue into the mouth of the invading king as he approaches Jerusalem (x. 8 If.), and it differs only slightly from the language actually i^sed by the Rabshakeh when sum- moning the city to surrender (1 K. xviii. 33 ff.). Such terms were not suitable to any Assyrian aggressor in Judah before the time of Sinacherib. Observe also that "Jerusalem" is the objective jtoint of attack (v. 10 f.), wliich was out of the question for any expedition of Sargon. v5 723. In this magnificent discourse Isaiah gives the key to the interpretation of Oriental history. To him there are two principal nationalities immediately involved. In each of them the sui>reme Ruler of nations has a special concern. One of them is the great Assyrian power. It is now supreme in the civilized world. Its suiu-emacy has been gained by force skilfully organized and steadily ex- Book VIII the West- 3m would '• Tlie.se Cli. xxii., 'pro[)]iet- ansideietl oops are Egyptian li-blow in I it, how- sccnrses. ich illus- g genius Ji.ce and xiii. To uly heen responds hurried 5, 087); conclu- arangue )roaches ly from n sum- Such ssor in so that 10 f.), tion of OS the ^o liim v'olved. special It is r^y has ily ex- Ch. VI, § ;2:] ISAIAH X 313 erted as never before in the world's histor}-,. just as its hanglity ruler proudly asserts (vs. 7, 18). The smaller kincfdoms east and west go down before it sinjjlv or allied with or without resistance (vs. 8 f., 13 f. ). The other nationality is Israel, or rather the surviving fragments of what once was Israel. Crippled by disunion and misgov- ernment, it is now smaller and feebler than in the daj's of former Assyrian conquerors, and is surely becoming the })rcy of the great subverter of the nations (vs. 10 f.). Upon Israel Assyria is permitted to work its will almost to com- plete destruction (v. 6). With dramatic vividness the (Jreat King sets forth the might and policy of liis empire. And it would seem as if his boasts were justified. For who had been able to stay the force of his onset? and what god could deliver Jerusalem out of his hand? (v. 11). Fiom the common-sense point of view he was right. And Isaiah, who was no mere common-sense observer, neverthe- less acknowledges that of his own deeds he had spoken truth (cf. xxxvii. 18). Moreover, he would go on as he liad done. He would still by force and cunning remove the bounds of the nations, dethrone their princes, despoil them of their treasures, and seize and deport their families, taking up one by one from his home with as mucli ease and as little resistance as one puts his hand into a nest and takes out the eggs or the hushed, unsheltered nest- linos from whom the friglitened mother bird has flown. Further still: when the Assyrian robs and spoils the iii'lds and homesteads of Judah, the prophet as a states- man and [)atriot declares that the fate of his countrymen is a well-deserved punishment. Tlie paradox — an object lesson and t3'pical example for the ages — only Isaiah and such as he can solve. lie puts into the crucible his devd- tion to his country, along with his loyalty to Jehovah and to his righteousness, and it comc.-> forth as gold. It is divine justice that, for gracious ends, is meting out this punishment by the hand of the Assyrian oppressor. And so the truer patriotism is justified. ill . rMi. H 'i .! ! M *. . r.., . •I ' i i ' 1 1 i;, 314 ISAIAH X Book VIII 55 724. But the solution is incomplete till judgment is given upon the Ass3'iian despot. There is a meaning infinitely profound and far-reaching in this drastic disci- pline of Jehovah's people. One of its lessons for the time, and for all time, is that it is Jehovah himself who directs the stroke, and that, too, by the hand of his people's most hurtful foe. But this shows only one side of tlie swiftly unrolling scroll of Providence. The ministry of destruc- tion, even of wholesome chastening, cannot be perpetual. The vengeful destroyer himself will come to an end when liis work is done — the work to which, all unconsciously, he was set by Jehovah himself. How singular again was Isaiah in his judgment of Assyria ! The vicegerent of Asshur was now at the summit of liis power. All Pales- tine was witiiin his grasp. Jerusalem seemed about to fall before his triumphantly advancing troops, whose march from station to station could almost be followed from the heights of the hapless city (vs. 28 ff.). Egypt alone among the western lands was unsubdued. But its time also was obviously near at hand, as indeed it did yield to Assyria under Sinacherib's son. § 725. And yet the Prophet calmly pronounces As- syria's doom. While a "remnant" of Israel (vs. 20 ff. xxxvii. 4) was to be saved in perpetuity, the boastful, remorseless, resistless Assyrian power was to come to an utter end by Jehovah's own hand, as soon as it had sub- served his purpose (v. 12). The boastings of the Great King were as vain and impotent as though an axe or a saw ( cL vs. ?)3 f.) should claim to be self-moved and disown the driving aiul guiding hand of the workman; or as if the staff or the rod (cf. v. 24) should arrogate to itself not only the force of the stroke, but power over the striker ( v. 15), though all the while Assyria is tlie rod and the staff of -lehovah (v. 5). "Isaiah's genius now sup[»lies him with a splendid figure with which to depict the col- lapse of the Assyrian enterprise. The serried battalions of Assyria appear Iv) his imagination as the trees of some huge sub- rreat saw the the lldt ■iker the •lies eol- is of Ch. VI, § 72ti ISAIAH X 315 forest, irresistible in their strength and countless in their number, but the light of Israel kindles majestically into a (lame, and at the end of a single day a child may count them " (vs. 17-19). ^ And so prophetic insight discerns tlie essential weakness, and the elements of decay and retribu- tion, in the only enduring empire yet known to men. And prophetic foresight outruns a century's further march of conquest, and countless processions of captives and host- ages, who should come to kiss the feet of mightier monarchs than Sinacherib. " Jehovah of hosts shall stir up against liim a scourge, as in the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb" (v. 26). The view of the advancing Assyrian hosts, and the echo of the lieartrendinfj cries of the fugitives from the evacuated villages (vs. 28 ff.), only serve to make stronger the God-given assurance. The warriors of Asshur were as the trees of the forest and their leaders as the cedars of Lebanon ; but, " behold, the Lord Jehovah of hosts lops off the boughs with a terrific crash, and the tall of stature are hewn down ; the lofty ones shall be brought low, and he shall cut down with iron the thickets of the forest, and by the majestic One Lebanon shall fall " (vs. 33 f. ; cf. 15). It is evident that the Prophet was accustomed to walk with Jehovah on rare and command- ing heights of observation and prevision. § 726. A picture of the future, still more profound and far-reaching, follows the promise of Israel's deliverance and the forecast of Assyria's final doom. After all, Isaiah's main business was that of a teacher and preacher of right- eousness. To him the revival of Israel and the ruin of Assyria were no mere indication of Jehovah's superiority in strength and wisdom (cf. x. 13) to the gods of the na- tions. They were the tokens and conditions of a moral tri- umph, of the reinstatement of the moral order of Jehovah's world, a vindication of Jehovah's rightful title to suprem- acy among the peoples of the earth. Thirty years before, when the end of the Syro-Ephraimitish war was foreseen ' Driver, Isaiah, his Life and Times (Loudon, Nisbet & Co.), p. 71. 'j'" i ill t • 1 ' ■ i ' , [^ 1 I ^' I 1 ■ i. ,1 (■,'■1 ( '- I 1 Ltii^ '^tP^ flf-H • I I mi \\-l I: I I I ■ i i 1 816 ISAIAH XI Book VIIl to be the complete overthrow of the combination against Juclah (§ 326), the Prophet was filled with grief at the thought of the desolation as well as the faithlessness of the Northern Kingdom (cf. § 329) ; but his soul revived at the prospect of a peaceful restoration and joyous reunion of the true Israel (ix. 1-5). Then he uttered the great prophecy as to the birth and royal nature of the expected Immanuel (ix. 6 f.), who should be equal to the duties of the ideal government of the nation, and whose name was to be "the wonderful Counsellor, the perpetual Father,^ the god-like Hero, the Prince of peace." So now in the throes of a sterner conflict, whose issue he sees just as clearly, the prophet descries beyond the horizon of common sight a similar scene of peace and gladness (xi. 1-10). Again, as before (cf. ix. 7) the pillars of the regenerated kingdom shall be justice and righteousness. From the stem of David's royal house, though hewn so near to the earth, an offshot will arise to fulfil the real destiny and to attain to the ideal glories of that ancient and immortal line. His attributes, as here set forth, are an expansion of the manifold characterization of the earlier prophecy. The wonderful Counsellor,^ the god-like Hero, and the perpet- ual Protector are successively portrayed (vs. 2-5 ; § 603). § 727. Then in contrast with the turmoil of the na- tions in arms (ch. xvii. 12 f.) and the heavy tread of the marching warriors (ch. ix. 5) and the angry murmur of the Assyrian host, like the growling of the couching lion, or the moaning of the sea (ch. v. 29 f.), comes the reign of the Prince of peace, throned in Mount Zion. Under his benign and boundless sway the higher and lower creation cease their immemorial strife, and in innocent mutual con- ^ That is (cf. § 431) a never-failing Protector, not " a father of booty," as the phrase is sometimes rendered, with disregard alike of the context as a whole and of the parallelism. - That so large a role is here ascribed to the " counsellor " is to be ex- plaine " (vs. 13 f.). The answer is the vindication of the whole prophetic teaching (cf. Ps. xv. ; xxiv. 3 f. ; § 607 ff.). "He that walketh in righteousness and speaketh in up- riglitness, he that rejecteth the gain of extortion, who snatcheth away his hand from grasping a bribe, who stop- peth liis ears from liearing of bloodshed, who shutteth his 1 Most signally verified in the wrathful uprising of the nations for the destruction of Nineveh in (308 n.c. 2 Cf. W. R. Smith, Prophets, p. 354. the Cir. VI, § 730 ISAIAH XXXIll 819 eyes from looking upon evil ; he shall dwell among the heights, his stronghold shall be rock-built defences ; his bread is given him, his water is assured" (vs. 15, 16). The king (Hezekiah) is soon to be arrayed in splendid robes of royalty, instead of the garments of his humiliation (cf. xxxvii. 1). The view of the far-stretching recovered land of Judah is now unhampered by any besieging army (V. 17). The terror of the siege will now be matter for grateful recollection: "Where is he that counted out, where is he that weighed (the money paid to Sinacherib)? where is he that numbered the towns (in reconnoitring)?" No more shall the foreign speech of the fierce Assyrian grate liarshly upon the ears of the terror-stricken citizens (vs. 18 f .). § 730. Most cheering of all, the home of the Temple and the centre of Jehovah's worship remains unharmed and shall abide secure. The tent (§ 465) shall not be struck, nor the people deported like so many of their brothers (§ 080) outside of Jerusalem (v. 20). "For the name^ of Jehovah the majestic (cf. x. 34 : xxx. 27 f.) is to us in the place of broad rivers and canals, although no galley with oars goes there nor any stately ships pass through " — Jerusalem cannot rely upon the protecting and wealth- giving streams Avhicli flow by Nineveh and Babylon ; ^ but Jehovah is a surer protection and a more substantial boast — "for Jehovah is our judge; Jehovah is our lawgiver; Jehovah is our king: He will save us" (vs. 21 f.). Jerusa- lem, which was like a ship whose tacklings were loosed, its mast unshipped, and its sails unspread, suddenly awakes to triumphant life and energy. Its people seize upon the spoil of the fleeing Assyrians (cf. v. 4), even the crippled 1 So read, acconling to the Sept. and Syr. vcr.sions, by a change of vowels, histead of the word translated '• there.'' - The streams of Habylonia were always a matter f> Deliverer that were felt and sung by the faithful "remnant." We can imagine the situation. The king and the palace officials were now completely won over to the views and policy of Isaiah, and for a time there was no lack of enthusiasm among the people at large. In particular the Temple was the scene of a more spiritual and fervent worship (cf. Isa. i. 11 ff.), so that we may even imagine the priests to have lost for awhile tlieir mechanical and servile spirit. Accompanying the devout- ness of the worshippers, and in accord with the reforming movement now for a while taken up seriously by king and court, came the composition and public recitation of hymns of thanksgiving. The noblest of these ( Ps. xlvi.) was perhaps penned by Isaiah himself in the days of calm reflectiveness that followed the excitement of the siege and its vicissitudes. At any rate, it is the sublimated spirit of his contemporary prophecies, especially ch. xxxiii. The language of the hymn is universal and self-explaining.^ 1 The only .illusion not perfectly obvious is that of v. 4 : "There is a river whose rills make glad the city of God, the holy i)lace of the tents of the Most High." It is to be explained by Isa. xxxiii. 21 ; cf. viii. f. Jehovah himself is the protecting stream (cf. § 7oO). The little brook that fed the pool of Siloam, is more to Jerusalem than the great complex of rivers and canals to the cities of Assyria and Babylonia. The con- nection of Ps. xlviii. with the great event is not so obvious. To Ps. Ixxvi. the Sept. prefixes "against the Assyrian," from the supposed reference of V. 5 f. to the destruction of the army of Sinacherib. There are also other coincidences ; cf. v. 3 with xlvi. 9 and the tone and phraseology of the two Psalms generally. But an Aramaism in v. 6 of the Hebrew text points to a later composition. Probably Ps. Ixxvi. is an echo of xlvi. and the prophetic spirit of its time, awakened by the fall of Nineveh ; cf. Nah. iii. 18. Ch. VI, § 732 WITHDRAWAL (»F SINACHEHIB :]l'1 § 732. Tlie catastrophe on the border of Palestine (§ 704 ff.) was followed by a hasty march away from the seaboard, which had almost the aspect of a retreat. It is not difficult to conceive of the effect produced upon the superstitious mind of Sinacherib by the sudden and terrible infliction. Nor is it incredible that he should have traced the disaster to the intervention of Jehovah, who to him was the most powerful god of the West-land. For a time it had seemed to him, as to his versatile legate (2 K. xviii. 25), that Jehovah was on the side of the Assyrians — so complete had been his success in his inva- sion and devastation of Judah outside of the capital (§ 686). But well informed as he must have been of the occult and tremendous power behind the throne in Jeru- salem, he found something awe-inspiring even in the resistance of the fore-doomed cit}'. And so when the stroke fell in the unmistakable guise of a divine visita- tion (§ 707), it was inevitable that the God of Hezekiah and Isaiah should be accredited with the dire calamity. Sinacherib lived twenty years longer (§ 741) : but it is doubtful whether anj^ Assyrian expedition visited Pales- tine during the remainder of his reign. Certain it is that he never again came to the West-land in person, and we may well believe that henceforward the land was to him a place of evil omen.^ We must add to this the phenome- nal fact that Jerusalem, although a city marked out for destruction (§ 288), was never afterwards besieged by an Assyrian army (cf. § 801 ff.). 1 The almost incredible effects of sudden i^urprise upon occupants of a strange land are doubtless to be traced to some such sentiment of super- stitious awe. The god of the land (§ 58, 61) was invested with inalienable power, and an unexpected attack from any of his subjects would thus easily occasion panic dread. In this way we have to account largely for the victory of Abraham's band over the Elamites and their allies (Gen. xiv.), for that of Gideon's troops over the Midianites (.Jud. vii.), and even for the repulse of the Philistines by -Jonathan and his armour- bearer (1 S. xiv.). A night attack was naturally (cf. § 707) the most uncanny and deadly. 1 I I ^ V I I V . ! CHAPTER VII SINACHEUIB AND HABVLONIA h:: s U § 733. Sinaelierib's return to the east was probably accelerated by weighty causes apart from the disaster to his army and his disappointment at the survival of Jeru- salem. Babylonia, after all, had a stronger interest for him than Palestine or Egypt. Besides, he had partly gained his ends by his memorable western expedition. His bitterest lasting disappointment was probably the successful resistance of Tyre (§ 680 ff.). Egypt, too, was scarcely ready to occupy, and in the meantime, though the unyielding capital remained unscathed, tlie country of Judah itself, the centre of danger, was damaged beyond speedy recover}-, and the subjugation of the allied Philis- tian cities secured the route to the Isthmus. But in Babylonia affairs were not going at all to his liking; and his fear Avas that his newly assumed authority there (§ 673) should slip entirely out of his hands. As long as Merodach-baladan was alive, he apprehended peril and in- security for his own dynasty ; but the ambition and enter- prise which had twice given that adventurer the throne of Babylon, and prestige and influence as far as the Medi- terranean (§ 679), could only be quelled by his death or perpetual exile. The fourth campaign (B.C. 700)^ of the Assyrian king was, therefore, partly directed against Blt- Yukin, the moestral country of the redoubtable Chaldfean (§ 840). On his way thither he found it expedient to make an attack on a neighbouring prince, Suzub by name, 1 Taylor Cylinder. II f, 42 ff. Cii. VII, § 734 INVASION OF THE SEA-LAND 32.1 also ii Chaldajan, a confederate of the great pretender, and a prospective claimant of the throne of Babylon to which, in fact, he at length attained (§ 739). In true Chaldtean fashion the obnoxious chieftain betook himself to flight; "nobody could see a trace of him." § 734. Contented with the temporary subjection of the marshes, which were the nursery ^ and the refuge of the race which he could defeat but never really conquer, Sinacherib marched on to Bit-Yakin. What now took place may best be given in the words of the official Assyr- ian annalist, to whose formal and monotonous narrative unexpected dignity and pathos are lent by its heroic sub- ject and his fate : ^ '* I took the way to Bit-Yakin. That Merodach-baladan, whose defeat I had accomplished in the course of my first expedition, and whose strength I had shattered, feared the clanging of my strong weapons and the mighty shock of my onset ; he brought the gods of his whole land out of their shrines,^ embarked them in ships, and, like a bird, tied to the city of Nagitu-in-the Fens,* which is washed by the sea. His brothers, his kindred, who had withdrawn from the seashore, along with the rest of his subjects, I brought away from the land of Bit-Yrdvin, from out of the swamps and reeds, and made them my prisoners. His cities I razed and devas- tated and made like a wilderness." Of the fugitive noth- ing more is heard. When the Elamitic city of refuge was attacked by Sinacherib, six years later (§ 737 f.), no ' Anutlier in.stance of a "ten cumitry " breeding sui lieroic and lui- ciMKiuerable people ; cf. Kiiig.sley, Ileren-anl the Waki', prelude. Tiie C'halda'ans, like the English of the Norman period, were subjected to endless indignities and cruelties by the Assyrian overlords, but like the English they at length came to their own again in unprecedented greatness. "' Ibid. Ill, 50-(U. * I R . 4.'J, 8 f. contains the following important addition : "and gathered the bones of his ancestors out of their tombs." Evidently preparations had been made for a wholesale mii:ration (cf. Gen. xlix. 29 ff. ). It is, therefore, more than probable that the Assyrian account of the capture of his relatives and friends is greatly exaggerated. * Cf. Par. 323 f. So called in distinction from another yagitu. ■i [, : I. ^1 '■ ''I Ah 1^ 1i Ii *1 ) 1 M 324 CHANT.ES IN BABYLONIA Book VIII ■,, report was niade of Assyria's most stubborn foe. Doubt- less he died as he had lived, surrounded by his ancestral gods, bequeathing a legacy of perpetual war against his country's oppressoi', perhaps fondly imagining the rise and triumph of some mighty "goel," but hardly daring to dream of any such glorious empire as that which should be erected by Nebuchadrezzar the Chaldtean upon the ruins of Assyria. § 735. The South-Babylonian leaders could thus enjoy the protection of their ally the king of Elam, and while exiled in his territory they could furtlier intrigue for the expulsion of the Assyrians. In Babylon itself Bel-ibnl, the a[)pointee of Sinacherib (§ 073), had proved anything but a docile administrator of a vassal state. He was now deposed, and the heir to the throne of Assyria, Asshur- nfidin-sum, installed in his place. The peace of Babylonia was thus secured for seveial years, however irksome the less tolerant rdgime might be to the ancient priesthood and cultured aristocracy. The following years, till 696, were occupied with campaigns in Southern Armenia, and in Cilicia from the Gulf as far north as the border of Tabal (Tibarene). According to supplementary reports of Beros- sus, Sinacherib's progress in Cilicia was interfered with by an incursion of Greeks, whom he defeated after a severe struggle. He is also credited with having rebuilt the city of Tarsus (cf. vol. i, p. 290, note). 55 736. Meanwhile Elam was being used by Chaldrean refugees as a base of operations upon Babylonia, now un- der Assyrian military rule. The favourite plan of action pursued by these men of the mai'shes was to swarm over the estuaries of the Rivers in their boats and, when no' lodged by the Assyrian garrisons, to reoccupv th( abodes, and thus gradually win l)ack from .j^.. giance the land of their fathers. When ai I'ked a .d pursued by the troops of Asshur, they found it an '^asy task to reach their secure retreats by familiar ways. The sequel also shows that most of the merchant vessels of •1 f1 Cii. VII, § 737 CIIALD.KANS ACROSS THE GULF 325 the Babylonian cities^ must have been at the disposal of the patriotic freebooters, else Sinacherib would have availed himself of their aid. The Chaldaean colony across the Gulf, cut off from ordinary approach by the interven- ing territory of Klam, and continually strengthened l)y accessions of refugees, had become a serious menace to the Assyrian government, and must at all hazards be broken up. This was done by means of an ingenious undertaking carried out in 6!*4 B.C. with the energy and pertinacity so characteristic of the Assyrian people. The jjlan and its execution illustrate at the same time tlie resources and organization of the empire better than any other single recorded action of the time. ^ 737. The wide-spread maritime activity of the Phoeni- cian people, their enterprise, skill, and courage have been frequently referred to in this history (§ QQ, 97, 206, 683). It was characteristic of the rulers of Assyria at the height of its power to utilize not only the products of its various subject states, but also the genius of their people. The West-land particularly had from time immemorial been spoiled of its costliest productions by the ruling dynasties of the East (§ 96, 99). The cedars of Lebanon and Amanus were found in every palace and temple of the great capitals. Modes of Syrian architecture were intro- duced by predecessor of Sinacherib,^ of course under the direction of Syrian architects. Prisoners had been made of the maritime western peoples in great numbers in the preceding years. PhoMiician sailors were familiar with the navigation of the Persian Gulf as well as of the Red Sea. Here was an opportunity of making a good use of these clever newly acquired servants of Asshur. They 1 Some idea of the extent of the sliipping interests of Babylonia may be gained from K. 4378 (AL^ gg)^ Col. v, vi, where a list of the various kinds of vessels is given according to the place of building, form and style, or dedication to a particular deity ; also of the parts of a ship. Cf. Isa. xliii. 14. 2 Cf. § 341 ; Sarg. Cyl. 04 ; Khors. 102. etc. w f !• 4.1 M «'i I'i m ii 320 UNIQUE NAVAL EXrEDITION Book VllI were set to make ships for the Assyrian overlord, and then to man them. Nagltu, the asyhim of the trouble- some Chaldaean refugees, was inaccessible by land. They, and they alone, could be relied on to reach them by sea. " Lofty ships, after the model of their own country," were built on the Tigris, near Nineveh, and at Til-Barsip by the farthest western course of the Euphrates,* about seven liundred miles from the sea I § 738. When the ships had been made ready, they were brought down the Rivers to the shores of the Gulf. The sailors were sea-faring people, prisoners of war. according to Sinacherib, from Tyre, Sidon, and Cyprus. The troops were put on board not far from Babylon, wliile the king and his retinue marched along the bank. Here a novel and unexpected peril threatened the valiant -monarch of the four (juarter-' of the world." Having made a camp for the body-guard a few njiles from tiio sea close by the ships, he and his party were sur[irised by a tlood- tide, which rose and submerged their tents, so that they were fain to take to the vessels. Here they had to stay live days and nights, "as it were in a great cage." After this experience the king had no mind to try personally either the shore or the sea route. The soldiers and sailors, however, after the priestly blessing had been given, and costly sacritlces of a golden ship and a golden lish had been made to Ea, the god of the deep, set bravely forth, arrived without misha[> on the Elamitic side of the Gulf, todk and plundered Nagltu, and sinidrv neighbouring set- tlements of the hated Chakhoans, brought away much booty and many prisoners, — but no Merodach-baladan ! By this time, let us hope, he had laid his bones to rest 1 Siv Tar. 141. 2<5:5 f. ; KCJF. 100 f. Dolit/.scli (Par. 141) reminds as of the somewhat similar uiidertakiiii; of Alexander the Great, who. for the contjuest of Arabia, had ships made in Cyprus and rhoMiicia. and carried overland in sections to 'rhajtsacus on tlie Eupiiratcs. whence they were hroufjht on their natural element to Babylon ; Arriaa. vii, 19, ;} ; Strabo. xvi. 1, 11. Cii. VII, § 730 ELAMITIC INTEKVENTION ;327 beside those of his ancestors (J5 734). The Great King, in his secure position above the higliest flood-tide, welcomed back his trusty warriors and their spoil with liis wonted self-complacency.^ § 731). Thus one of the main obstacles to Assyrian pre- dominance in Babylonia was taken out of the way. But there still remained the hereditary Elamitic foe, and most dangerous of all, the patriotic citi:',ens in Babylon, Borsippa, and Akkad, embittered against Sinacherib and his house l)y the dread of national obliteration and the degradation of their stately worship. Whether the Great King had as able generals in Babylor.ia as in the West-land we do not know. In any case they seem to have left the eastern bor- der insufliciently guarded. Scarcely had Sinacherib re- turned with his Chaldican trophies to Nineveh, when ( n.C. r)94) the king of Elam overran North Babylonia, took possession of Sippar (§ '.•4 ), and put its inhabitants to the sword.2 1 1 is next step was to dethrone Sinaciierib's son, Asshurnadin-sum. and carry him off to Elam. In his place he set up a native Babylonian, Nergal-usezib b}- name, who without delay undertook to undo the late Assyrian achieve- ments in the south. But he liad not proceeded far on liis way when he was overtaken by an Assyrian army fiom the north, made prisoner, and carried to the land of his cap- V tors. Su7.ub^ the Chalda'an (i^ 733) now seized tlie oppor- tunity and seated himself upon the throne of Babylon. As an enemy of the Assyrians he was as acceptable to the native patriots as one of their own fellow-citizens. Fnder him they enthusiastically joined their forces to those of tiie Elamites (002 B-c"), who themselves had in the short inter- val since 004 })asse(l tln-ough two revolutions, and were now enjoying the rule of L'mman-menanu, a man of talent 1 This famous cxpoditioii is iiivcii most fully iu III 1{. lii f. - For act 'urate iufoiiuatiou uiimi tliis ami the subspriueiU events we are indebted to Hab. Clir. II :V,t ff. ' Called in llab. Chr. Muse/.ih-Marduk. Hither he made the change after coming to the throne, or the shorter niune is an abbreviation. ■mi Au ' ^ I! DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON Book VIII and resolution.^ His leadership of the allied forces was so successful that in a great battle fought at IJalule, on the banks of the Tigris (001 B.C.), he administered to Sinach- erib a severe check,^ if not a defeat, by which he was com- pelled to retire to Assyria, eager though he was to avenge the fate of his son and the usur[)ation of his authority. § 740. But the valiant Elamite was disabled by a stroke of paral^'sis in the spring of 089.^ His protection of r»abylon had, however, been so effective that the Great King did not venture to reclaim it for two years after the battle. Now that the land was deprived of its most power- ful defender, Sinaf^herib descended upon it in vengeance and fury. In Nov inber of the same year Babylon was taken and its Chahltean king carried to Nineveh. The treatment accorded to the doomed city has placed upon the record of Sinacherib its darkest blot. His vindictive cruelty was here only equalled by his almost incredible impiety. The sacred and venerable city was burned to ashes and levelled to the ground, its people remorselessly put to death or sent into captivity, and the waters of the Euphrates being turned upon its site, reduced it to a marshy waste. The destruction of Babylon by Sinacherib may be counted among the calamities of human history. For lack of detailed description the imagination must supply a pict- ure of the horrors of the scene, and of the wanton and irreparable devastation and ruin. The monuments of lit- erature, art, and science, the annals of temples* and dynas- 1 An opinion which is perliaps confirmed by Sinaclierib's .statement (Taylor Cylinder, V, 21 f.). that "he had no sense or judgment." - A defeat, according to Bab. Chr. Ill, IS, and the subsetpient indica- tions. It must also be regarded as in some mejvsure confirmatory that Sinacherib dcscrilies the battle (V, 47-VI, 20) with a circumstantiality and boastfuluess worthy of a Falstaff. ' Bab. Chr. Ill, 10 ff. lie was deprived of the power of speech, but he did not die till eleven months later (III, 25) ; that is, after the capture of Babylon. * Each of the great Babylonian temples, apart from it^ directly relig- iiius functions, was a huge business and scientific institution. With its the arshy av be lack )ict- and lit- nas- relig- th its Ch. VII, §741 LATEST YEARS OF SIXACHERIB 329 ties for thousands of 3'ears, the archives of anisieut families, the records of treaties and of legal and business transactions, the military and astronomical reports, the chronological notices — all these, and numberless other treasures of Baby- lonian life, thought, and history, became the prey of a venge- ful fury more destructive and intinitely less excusable than the vandalism of Kasshites or Elamites. Doubtless much that was of religious or historical value was rescued through the foresight and activity of officials. Hut this could only have been little compared with what fell a prey to the ruthless malignity of the narrow-minded concpieror.^ § 741. Eight years more of life were vouchsafed to the devastator of Judah and Babylonia. Over the latter country he proclaimed himself absolute king^ — the tirst Assyrian who claimed to rule there by the grace of Assliur and not by the grace of Bel and Nebo (cf. § 341). We can form only a general conce^^tion of his regime, for no particulars are as yet made known to us. Nor are we much better informed as to his activity in other directions. An expedi- tion to northern Arabia against a certain Hazael, which we learn of (§ Too) from his son Esarhaddon, was probably not conducted by him in person. The enterprise itself may have been undertaken in view of aggression from the side of Egypt, or with an eye to the subjection of that country, which was finally accomplished by his son and successor.^ The closing years of his life were, we must believe, mainly observatory and corps of observers and calculators, it was a centre of astrological and astronomical study. U was also a proprietor and mana- ger of great and numerous properties, with a vast number of employees. "On the materiivl side it must be conceived of rts a combination of landet property and factory, while at the same time it was kept running as ii, bank, a depository of records, and business establishment generally." reiser, Bahyhiiisrhe Vi rtriujc (IHStO), p. xviii. ' Tlie taking of Babylon is described in the Havian In.scription, lines 43 ff ; and its ruin, by Esarhaddon the restorer, in I U. 40 Cnl. I, II. '^ Bab. Chr. Ill, 28, says significantly: "Eight years there was no king in Babylon," that is. it was ruled directly from Nineveh. ■' According to an ingenious hypothesis of Winckler (GBA. p. 254 f. ; 256 ff.), the occurrences described in 2 K. xix. 3-37 are to be connected i '"1 '. ' f': f <: -r' i i liS?| 330 CHAKACTEK OF SINACHEUIB Book VIII ; 1 occupied with architectural works, for the embellishraeut of Nineveh, his chosen residence, and the erection and restoration of temples to his gods — a work which claimed the constant care of every Assyrian monarch in the inter- vals of his military campaigns and especially in the later years of his reign. Insurrections of a minor ch.aracter were left to be settled by his generals. It is possible that his natural self-conlidence made him careless as to the suc- cess of attempts against his pei-son and authority. How- ever this may be, his life and tyranny were brought to a sudden end on the 20th of Tebet (December), 681 B.C., by a conspiracy and insurrection headed by two of his sons. § 742. Sinacherib, on account of his prominent place in Old Testament history, is the best known to moderns of all the kings of Assyria. His character and disposition, base, harsh, and cruel to the last degree, give a fair indica- tion of the tendencies of unlimited power under a military regime in a semi-barbaric age. Yet Assyria, as a nation, was capable of some progress in other spheres of thought and activity than those of mere material interest; and Sinacherib had no part in raising it above the level to which it had been brought by his great predecessois of the century that closed with his accession. He showed, indeed, some appreciation of art, at least in its utilitarian applications. His new canals and aqueducts^ were numer- ous and beneficent. His two palaces'^ on the western side of Nineveh were larger and handsomer than any which had as yet adorned the city. The more southerl}', an arsenal and barracks, built of hewn stone, followed the with this expedition. Tliat is to say, the second part of the Biblical nar- rative lias to do with occurrences which took place after the fall of Baby- lon in 089 and not in 7:^'. The assumption is supported by some plausible arguments ; but apart .'. )m other difficulties in the way of its acceptance, it is hard for us to believe that facts of history, which were so notorious among all educated circles in Israel, could have been wilfully and pub- licly so distorted by the sacred writers. 1 Bavian InscriptiiMi, lines 6 ff. '^ Taylor Cylinder, VI, 33 ff. ; Constantinople Cyl. (I R.44), lines 65 ff. Ch. VII, § 743 RESULTS OF HIS POLICY m liar- }by- jible lice, liHlS lub- Syriaii style of architecture, which his father had also favoured (§ 737). These structures could not compete in grandeur or in wealth of sculptural embellishment with the magnificent palace erected by Sargon at Khorsabad (§ 607). But they were notable in the upbuilding of the city which was to become the greatest repository of Assyr- ian civilization. § 743. Other illustrations of his devotion to Nineveh wholly repel our sympathy. His policy of centralism, narrow, illiberal, and reactionary, was carried out not only with remorseless cruelt}-, but with injurious results to his own proper kingdom, which he sought to aggrandize. His treatment of Babylonia resembles in one of its aspects the policy pursued by the present Sultan of Turkey towards his Christian subjects. In another it reminds us of that followed by Louis XIV towards the Protestants of France. It was disastrous to the oppressed and outraged people ; but it also reacted disastrously uj)on himself and his own administration. What Assyria needed most was the refining and softening influence of intel- lectual culture and of genial manners. She stood now at the point of time most favourable for the introduction of milder influences, when the new empire, welded together by the force and wisdom of his predecessors, might have been consolidated on the basis of a just and enlightened government. Instead of utilizing the artistic skill and the scientific knowledge of the Babylonians, he dis- couraged and repelled them. Instead of seeking to con- ciliate that ancient nationality, which controlled the gate- ways to the sea and claimed the intellectual homage of the world, and so forming an august united empire, he alienated from Assyria the elements that were indis- pensable to its permanent strength and safety. The two great divisions of the eastern Semites were henceforth irreconcilable. Babylonia could not be brought to tolerate Assyrian leadersliip. And though the wise son and sue cessor of Sinaeherib reversed this wicked and suicidal u * I I 3:52 MAXXEU OF SINACIIKIUB'S DEATH Book VIII policy, its moral effect was never obliterated. When two generations later Assyria's hour was come, the Chaldieans took their share in the terrible work of vengeance. § 744. Mean and unworthy as were the parties and the issues, the death of Sinacherib rises almost to the dignity of tragedy. The scene and the action, if not moving, have at least a fascination of their own as an illustration of the ways and fates of Oriental royalty. The king is alone at prayer in the chapel which he has erected for his patron god. For with all his self-glorification he is a humble votary of the deities of Nineveh, and especially of Nusku,^ the devastating war-god in whom he sees his own fond likeness. Two of his sons, Nergal-sar-usur ^ and Adarmalik, one of them a pretended heir to the throne and the other his instrument, have been stirring up an insurrection in Nineveh. They now take the opportunity of settling the whole matter of the succession b}' striking down the old man when bowing before his god.'^ Poetic justice was thus meted out. But justice does not always nicely choose its instruments ; and the cause of the young assassins rightly failed to connnand success. ' So road, instciul of the unintelligible Xisrok of the Massoretic text of 2 K. xix. o7. The insertion in the word of ■>, as accidental repetition of the linal consonant i, is responsible for this very old error. The identitication with Xuskii was, 1 think, lirst proposed by Halevy. - The Biblical form Sharezer is a connnon contraction. Bab. Chr. Ill, 34 f.. speaks of only one son as the assassin. * An inconsiilerate readins of 2 K. xix. 37 would create the impression that Sinaclierib's death nuist have occurred very soon after his retirement from I'aU'stine instead of twenty years later. And so Winckler (GBA. 258 ; cf. § 741, note) uses the pjissage as eviilence in favour of the hypothesis that such was actually the case. But, according to the fashion of Hebrew narrative, which marked but slightly historical cause and effect (cf. § 4:15') . the juxtaiiositiou only means that his death was a worthy sequtl to his life, which the foregoing episode had duly characterized. "I ! »1 I CHAPTER VIII 't . ?l ESARHADDON, BABYLONIA, AND EGYPT § 745. The revolt, of which the murder of the king was the critical episode, was not in itself unwelcome to the people. Hence the leaders found themselves for a time at the head of a large following. But they soon had to reckon with a stronger rival. Esarhaddon {Asshio'-ah- iddin: "Asshur has given a brother") was, as the name implies, not the eldest, but probably the second son of the royal house. The original heir to the throne had been carried off by the Elamites (§ 739) thirteen years before, and Esarhaddon, as the destined successor, had for some time borne a share in the administration of the empire. His career and general policy as a monarch show that he had been subjected to more humanizing influences than those which had controlled his father. His generous treatment of Babylonia, and his keen interest in its affairs, suggest that he had had a prolonged residence in that province, and that he may have been its administrator. It is not clear, however, where or how he was employed when the news of the insurrection reached him.^ In all proba- bility, however, he was in the northwestern portion of the Assyrian dominions maintaining order in the turbulent provinces of that region. As the subject is of Biblical as well as Assyriological importance, a sketcli of the situation and its issue will not be out of place. 1 Winckler, GBA. p. ;i;)5, remarks that according to Bab. Chr.. Esar- haddon was proclaimed king in Babylonia immediately after the death of Sinacherib. But the Chronicle makes no statement to this effect. Qua A** Is ' •;i ■ft. hi 'I I 334 ESARIIADDOX'S KEPORT Book VIII § 740. 2 K. xix. 37 (cf. § 744) says of the young assassins after the murder of Sinaeherib: "they escaped to the land of Armenia ; and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead." This brief notice, given in the concise style which marks all the Biblical allusions to extra- Israelitish aftairs, is of essential value in the reconstruc- tion of the story. The Babylonian Chronicle also gives us data of importance for the leading motives of the revolu- tion : ^ " In the month of Tebet, the XX. day, Sinaeherib king of Assyria, his son in an insurrection slew him. XXIII. yeai-s Sinaeherib administered the kingdom ^ of Assyria. From the XX. day of the month Tebet until the II. day of the month Adar the insurrection in Assj-ria held together. In the month of Sivan, the XVIII. day, Esarhad- don his son seated himself in Assyria upon the throne." The new king's own report of the action taken by him is as follows : 3 " Like a lion I raged ; and my soul * was in a tumult. To administer the kingdom of my father's house, to take charge of my priesthood, towards Asshur, Sin, Samas, Bel, Nebo, and Nergal, Ishtar of Nineveh, and Ishtar of Arbela, my hands I lifted, and they deferred to my words. In their faithful grace an encouraging token they sent to me : ' Go ! Do not stop ! At thy side we are marching, and we shall subdue thy enemies.' For one day and ten days I halted not.'' I did not see the faces of my troops. I did not look backwards. The trappings of the hoi-ses harnessed to the yoke, and my arms and accoutrements, ^ I did not undo." My travelling ... I did not pour out(?). The snow and ice of the month ' nab. Chr. Ill, 34-38. - The regular expression for "reigned." 3 III U. 15, 2 ff. ; cf. AX/, 117, etc. See Note IG in Appendix. * Litenally, "my liver." * Literally, "I did not look around"; cf. Lotz, Tiylathpileser /, p. 112 f. ' Literally, " my utensils for battle." " The original, by transposition of wedge-combinations, has the im- possible form a-iiu:(ur instead of a-suh. Cii. VIII, § 747 FACTORS OF THE SITUATION 335 n- oabut, and tlie might of the frost I did not fear. Like a sis'iH bird with outspread wings to overthrow my enemies I stretched out my hands. The way towards Nineveh hard and fast I marched. Facing me in the land of Hani- rabbat, the whole of their doughty warriors took their stand to oppose my march, and drew out their weapons. The fear of the great gods my lords overwhelmed them : they beheld the shock of my mighty onset, and they became like beaten men. Ishtar, who presides over war and battle, who loves my priesthood, stood by my side, broke their bow,^ and shattered their serried array. Through all their ranks they said: 'Let that man be our king.' At her august command they came over to my side and said . . ." § 747. Only the Biblical account mentions the "escape" of the assassins to Armenia. The phrase evidently points to the linal result of the civil war. For according to the *' Chronicle " the insurgents held their own in Nineveh for about a month and a half, which they could not have done if their leaders had taken flight at once after the murder. It was, however, five months (from Tebet or Decemljer, 681, to Sivan or May, 680) after the death of the old king, that P^sarhaddou was proclaimed in Nineveh. We must accord- ingly assume that the loyal party in Nineveh or their troops in the neighbourhood succeeded in suppressing the revolt in the city itself by the second of Adar (February, 680), but that Esarhaddon was so busily occupied with the uprisings outside of Ass3'ria proper that he was only free to enter the city in peace after three months of further action in the field. His own report speaks of his setting out towards Nineveh, and then after a forced march in the snows and frosts of January, meeting the enemy in nortli- ern Cappadocia (where " Chanirabbat " was situated). It is thus apparent that the rebels had their plans carefully laid, and had spread the disaffection throughout the North Mesopotamian country over which Esarhaddon had to march. The success of the legitinmte claimant was accel- ! :-. A 1 1 1 I » Cf. Ts. xlvi. ; Ixxvi. .J. 3;i{i ESAHllADDON'S CAKEKK Book VIII a ill eratetl by tlie desertion to his side of at least a large portion of the insurgent army. And it was probably the news of his victory tluit caused the collapse of the revolt in the cap- ital. \Vh«'ther the pretender and his brother were in the defeated army or not, they would in any case find the way to Armenia open for their retreat. Moreover, a sympa- thetic people in that region would give them aid and com- iort. The reader will remember the alliances between the northeastern and northwestern districts of the Assyrian sphere of inlluence, which were broken by Sargon after strenuous exertions (§ 020 ff.). The heroic struggles of the Armenians doubtless lingered in the memory of the older generation, and the younger patriots were not loath to attempt a renewal of the strife with the help of Assyrian outlaws. That the conflict in Armenia was at any time doubtful is hardly probable. But Esarhaddon naturally im- proved the opportunity to fasten securely the bonds that had been relaxed under Sinacherib. Thus the time was oc- cupied until he could safely assume the crown in Nineveh. § 748. The comparatively brief reign of Esarhaddon (081^-068 H.c.) was memorable for two great events: the rehabilitation of Babylonia and the annexation of Eg3'pt. To the former task the new king applied himself as to a labour of love. His twelve j'ears were filled with impor- tant action, but he never lost sight of the claims of Babj-lon upon his attention and care, and of the duty laid upon him to undo, as far as might be, the ruin and misery wrought by his father. As soon as he was firmly settled upon the throne he began the work of restoration. The state of 1 Strictly speaking, from the beginning of January, (J80. The Babylo- nian (and Hebrew) year begins with the spring etiuinox in Nisan (March- April) and ends with Adar (February-March). Tebet, the tenth month, on the twentieth day of which Sinacherib died, would correspond to De- cember-January. A similar variation of notation occurs in the dating of SariTon's accession (cf. § 358 in the third edition), whose reign, strictly speaking, began with January of 721. We reckon Esarhaddon's reign from the death of his father, although legally there was no king ou the throne till May, 080. ,•1.1- itli, l)e- of ttly (11. VIII, )i7»'.» UKSTdiJATloX i>F HAHYLoX sr, tilings as he found them in Babylon may be described in the gnii)hic hinguage which distinguishes l»is inscriptions above those of all his predecessors : * '• Esarhaddon, king of all [teoples, king of Assyria, viceroy of IJabylon, king of Shumer and Akkad, the exalted prince, who adores Nebo and Merodach. liefore my time, under the government of a former king in Shumer and Akkad, liostile powers had . . . the inhabitants of Babylon . . . had laid violent hands on Blt-elu,'-^ the temple of the gods, and had sent gold and silver anil precious stones as blackmail to Elam.^ Then iSIerodach, the lord of the gods, was angry, and resolved to lay waste the land and to destroy its peo})le. The canal Aralitu . . . like a deluge it came over the city, its dwell- ings and its sacred shrines, and made them like waste land. The gods and goddesses that dwelt therein went aloft to the lieavens.^ The people that dwelt therein were j)or- tioned out for the yoke and fetter, and went into exile. XI '^ years, the (mystical) number of his own exaltation, had the merciful Merodach prescribed. His spirit was de- pressed and dull; he stood humbled, for lie had for XI years dismantled its dwelling-places. Me, Esarhaddon, to restore these buildings to their place, thou hast invoked from among all my brothers." § 740. The pious king then goes on ^' to ascribe to the patron god of Babylon his triumph over his rivals and ene- mies in Assyria. " To soothe the heart of thy great god- head and to tranquillize thy soul, thou didst invest me 1 In the Hlack Stono Inscription (III H. 49), col. laud II; of. § 740. 2 See note to § 74!». * The reffirnce is to Snzul) the Chiiltln^an (002 ii.r. ; § 7;>l)). Ksiir- haiUlon wishes to spare the memory of his father anil so diminisli tlie oiliiim of his own dynasty in IJabylonia. * That is, they abaiulniu'd the eartli because their seats, which were inseparable from tiieir divine funetinns i § 57, (51), were destroyed. So in the Delude .story (line 108) it is .saiil that the gods ascended from the desolated earth to the heaven of Ann, or the liic;hest heaven. "Kleven" is the .symbolic number representative of Merodach, as, for example, " tiftei-n " symbolizes Ishtar. III R. 49, col. Ill, IV. [I'l 1! K^^ 338 THE NEW I'ltLICV IN HAHYLON' It<»(>K VIII ] I with the sovereignty of Assyria." In the lirst year of his reign he proceeded to the work. In addition to his own sohUers he made a levy of workmen from all Bahylonia. To encourage the toilers,' he himself wore the lal)ourer's cap, the hadge of servile employment. After a description of the preparations and the materials he enthusiastically concludtts : " HIt-elu, the temple of the gods, and its sacreil shrines r*'^ Babylon, the protected city,^ Imgur-Bel its wall, Nemid-BeH its rampart, from their foundation to their sunnnit I built up anew, I made greater, loftier, and more imposing. The images of the great gods I renewed, and placed them in their sanctuaries. I tixed in i^erpetuity the due amount of their revenue which had fallen in abeyance. The sons of Babylon who had gone into exile, and had been portioned out for the yoke and fetter, I gathered together and I reckoned them as Babylonian citizens. Its rights as a protected state I established anew." § 750. There is something very impressive in the devo- tion of the son of Sinacherib to the country and city which his father had oppressed and desolated. It was a master- stroke of policy that, in relinquishing the despotic control which Sinacherib had exercised, he should have called himself, like his great grandfather, merely the vicegerent of Babylon. Nothing could have so greatly tended to restore the self-respect of the outraged i)eople as the su- B enthronement of their nations pr godt 1 Also to show them that he, as well as they, owed service to their common lortlH, the gods of Babylon. - The name of this famous temple of Merodach (cf. § 117) I still write Ji'tt-dfi, in spite of the correct statement of Jensen in the TltciiL LiU- ratiir.-i'itiDig, No. 20, 1805, in his review of vol. i of the present work, to the effect that Eii(tk(k)ilf conciliation, he was appointed to rule over his hereditary domains for the Assyrian over-lord.^ He became a faithful vassal, and the long strife between the Chaldjeans of the south-land and the empire of the Tigris was suspended for nearly a generation. § T')2. Other dilViculties which arose in the settlement of liabylonian affairs were of a minor character, ami their speedy adjustment tended to augment the general tran- (luillity. Even with Elam, the consistent opponent of Assyria's intervention in liabylonia, Esarhaddon succeeded after a few years in establishing a nioihix viri'iidi. The king who, strangely enough, had i)Ut to death the fugitive son of Merodach-baladan in r>79, made a murderous laid upon the ill-fated city of Sipi)ar in 074 (cf. ^ 780). But on his death in the following year his successor made peace with the ruling power in liabylonia in the way most expressive of ])ropitiation aiul good-will. He sent back to the city of Akkad, which was still a religious centre, if not a distinct conununity ( );• 94), images of ishtar and other deities which had been taken thence to lOlam.- § 70'{. These, however, were matters left to Ik» settled W'*;hout the personal intervention of l^saihaddon, who trusted to the new [lolicy in the southeast to work out its The time at length seemed pro- own Itenelieedt results » Rab. Chr. Ill, 30 ff, ; I «. 45 (Cyl. A), col. TI. .32 ff. ; III fl. 15 (nnikfii CvliiKlrr U\ col. II. I li. • Tliu tlii»loiimtic .siijnilicance of tlti>< cvein in iiuUoated by itH beiiii; recorded in llu" brief llnliylunian t'iirouicli.', with the exact date (ttiuli oi Adii''^. See Col. IV, '.t, IT t'. i i;. 1.-. Cii. VIII. §754 SIDON AND TYKE ;'.4i pitious for settling the long-neglected afTairs of the West- liind. Here the IMui-niciau states first claimed his atten- tion. How pressing was the need of his intervention may l)e inferred from the fact that he had been less than two years upon the throne when he relinijuished the over-sight of l{abyh)nia, and lieaded an ex[)edition against Tyre and SidoM. 'J'he latter city had been made by Sinaciherib an «>I)j('ct of peculiar care. It had Ijcen his policy to aggnui- dizt! and strengthen it as a rival to Tyre, whose sul)jection he had vainly sought to acconii)lish in 701 ii.c. (§ OhO ff.). Sidon had indeed i)erformcd good service for Assyria dur- ing the years that followed th(! expedition of that memo- rable year: for, as has been pointed out (>; tJyS), the five years' war against Tyre could (»nly have been carried on by IMioMiician cities, ships, and sail(iiif, i.s (cf. Winckler, GUA.2tir)) a desii;- iiation fur nortliwe.^^ilern Arabia. Tlie most .strikini; evidence is that with Ma^an (which, it is agreed on all hands, stands for Nortiieast Arabia) it IS used as an e(|nivalent of North .\rabi;i trenerally: p.ij. V U. l,r»2: cf. vj'.Kl. ■■' This double royalty is tiioii^'ht by Winckler to "put tlie pheiionieiicm (if female sovereii;nty in its rif,'ht lii;ht " ((illA. p. 2ti7). It is more likely, however, that this and the similar usau'e referred to by him as exi.stiiiR aiiu)!!!? the Xabatjeans, represent the transition stas,'e between a sole female reipn as a survival of the primitive matriarchate and a sole male reii^n (cf. W. U. Smith, Kinshi)>, p. 104, 171). The prevalence of a supreme quoeiwhip throuf^hnut the Aral'iaii desert from Palmyra to Sheba cannot be accounted for on the hypothesis of an exti'iision of the royal functions from king to (lueen. See if general § •12;{ and cf. § 334. f \i\ . V • ■ j » 1 1 1 (<" 344 CONQUEST OF EGYPT Book VIII 'U Hi i\. § 756. " 111 the seventh year on the fifth day of Adar the troops of Assyria inarched into Egypt." "In the tenth year in the month Nisan the troops of Assyria marched against Egypt." * So run the notices of the Babylonian chronicler The expedition of the end of 073 was apparently soon abandoned as premature after crofing the border. But in 670 the decisive movement was made. The same Tirhaka, who had taken part in the events of 701 (.5 693 f.), was still at the head of this Ethiopian twenty-fifth dynasty. Thus, even if pretexts for a justifiable invasion had been wanting, the attack upon the troops of Sinacherib could be cited. As the sequel shows, Esarhaddon did, in fact, treat the Egyptians as an old and inveterate foe. We may fairly assume that they were giving aid and comfort to the Phieiiician insur- gents. Though not fully informed of the details of tlie campaign, we are able to time the principal stages and events. Leaving Nineveh in Nisan, Esarhaddon reached Palestine early in Si van (May-June). After reconnoiter- ing before Tyre (§ 7o4), he mustered his troops at Ai)hek, near Samaria, for the invasion. Kaphia, near the Kiver of Egypt, the conventional bimndary of Egypt, is noted as one of the stations. The first battle was fought at Ischupri on Egyptian soil.'^ The march thence to Mem- phis occupied fifteen days'^ — an undue length of time, whic'li im[)lies steady resistance by the retreating Tirhaka to the Assvrian advance. Battles were fourjht on the third, the sixteenth, ami the eigliteenUi of Tammuz (June- July). On the twenty-second,^ .Mem[)liis was taken alter a siege of lialf a day.'' The famous old city was plundered and ' Hah. Chr. IV, 10, 2;{. Notice the accuracy with which the crossiiiL' of tlie Ejcyptian bonier (the "River of Eeypt") w. Ill ff. ' Stoic of Slnjirli. ♦The Hab. Chr. IV. 20 say.s "the twelfth," but this is probably a scribal vrvm-. * Bab. Chr. IV, 24 If. Stele of Siujirli. i^^ ^ 11 Cir. VIII, §757 UKSISTAN'CE OF TYHK 345 destroyed, while Tirliuka tied to hib Ethiopian father-land. The whole of Lower and Upper Egypt now subniilted without a blow. A thoroughly Assyrian administration was introduced, though in such a fashion as not entirely to ([uench patriotic self-respect. Native Egyptians, who had been in most cases viceroys under Tirhaka (cf. § 347 f.), were appointed to rule nominally with direct resi)onsi- bility to the (heat King. lUit the real administrators were the Assyrian ollicials,^ who were in constant and close communication with the Ninevite court. § 757. It is passing strange that the great warrior and statesman before whom fell, after a brief campaign, the empire of the Nile, should liave been bailled by the resist- ance of a single city. But true it is, that Tyre could not be reckoned among the Ass3'rian con([uests till after the death of Esarhaddon. Certainly the blockade (§ 7")4) was strictly maintained. But through tlie nature of its plan of defence which Sinacherib had found too hard to overcome (§ G83), it was long in a position to defy its besiegers. The island city, though cut ott" from its proper territory on the mainland, could obtain supplies from its colonies, througli its command of an element whose posses- sion was destined to remain an unrealized dream of Assyr- ian ambition. Esarhaddon, indeed, or an oljseiiuious artist, has left a monumental representation '-^ of a triumi)h over Ba'al, the Tyrian king. But his inscriptions more truth- fully omit the name of Tyre from the list of vassals. This memorial of Esarhaddon's western cami)aigns is ap- proja-iately set up at tiie meeting-place of the south and I: ' Essential iiiforniiUion :is to tlic AsHyriaii adiuinistratfun vvi' obtain troiii vcfort'iiivs of AsHlmrliaiiipal, V !{. 1 and '-'. -On tilt' stcli' of Snijirli. wlnrc iJa'ai is cxliiliittil as kin-cliii'.: before Ksarliadtb'ti and bi',i;>,'ini: tor nuicv, witii a linii tliioiii;ii iii- iips. atlatlit*! to a, cord in tlie hands of tlie Great Kinn. 'I'irlialia also, wlii> escaped to Kthiopia '!> ~'tenti4illy I'orrpct ; namely, that ICsurbaddua was able to put tluni in that >ituatiiin if lie only iiad the opportuiuiy ! II f A r \i ^r.' III « i \ ' '111 \ ^' i.l. I) il' ^•7 1' i i r , », f 340 THE KIMMERIANS Book VIII tlie north, and thus faithfully s /mbolizes his authority and tlie range of his dominion. § 708. In defending and maintaining his northern boundary, Esarhaddon achieved a success not the least among the triumphs of his brilliant career. The enemy that threatened from the north were the far-famed Kim- merians — to name them according to the spelling of the Greek authors." They are rightly described by Herodo- tus - as having lived north of the Black Sea, whence they had been dislodged by the Scythians. Late in the eighth century B.C. they descended, probably over the Caucasus, into Armenia. Thence they spread southeastward and westward and came within the Assyrian sphere of influ- ence, where they were known as Gimirre. Thus, also, they came to the knowledge of the Bible writers, who have spoken of them as Gomer^ (Gen. x. 2 f. ; 1 Chr. i. 5 f. ; Ez. xxxviii. 6 ; Sept. Va^iep). They were of Indo- European race,* and were apparently aware of kinship with the Medians (^Madai) ; for in their southeastern divis- ion they allied themselves with the latter, along with the people of Van (^Maunai)/' There seems to be no doubt ' 'riicsf wt>rc Idiii; known to the Greoks for the myth which aRrribed to them ail abode in darkm'ss beyond the bounds of the ocean (Od. xi. 14) is based upon the fact of their residence beyond the Euxine. - i. 1'), 104: iv. 11, 12. Amonii tlie many identitications that have been madr, we may leave aside the Ci^nhri and the C'ljmrij, nnd retain the local reminiscence perpetuated in the Crimen. ■' These people have naturally attracted much attention from scholars. Hesides the comments on tiie Bible puossases, the most notable discussions are ZDMd. XXIV, 7''. t«2 ; XXVI. (Jhi>; Lafjarde. (icsammclte Ahkand- hniiii'ii. 254; MitthrHnni/m, I, 227; ArmeniHche Studicn. ^ 448; \h- lifzsch.Par. 24r>f. ; Hommel. (JBA. 721 ff. ; Tiele, (JAB. .m f. ; Wimkler, (iHA. 2<>7 tf. ; Saycc, liahyliniinn LUfinttiiri', 78 ff. j Tln^ Iliyhfr t'vUi- riKiii and the Monuments, p. l%i it. ' And so named in Gen. x. among the sons of Tnphet, along with the Lyilians, Medes, Ionian-;, and Thrweians. In Kzekiel they an- spoken of as nomads, an, who refers t tlieir kin^ TeiiSpil as a •' Mnndu (Scythian) warrvr whi>m» home is remote." ' S. 2006 and K. 4008, transcribed in Sayce, Uabyl. Lit. I.e. Ch. VIII, § TJl) KI.MME.tlANS UKl'ULSED 347 Ml tli<> ken (I 11, «l, |\vh(>80 al)()Ut the general locality of this remlezvous, since we know that the Medians were settling to the east and northeast of Assyria proper (^ 248, 311), and that the .Mannai ^ dwelt on the western shore of Lake Urmia. § 7oO. Here, then, we have a combination of kindred tribesmen bearing down upon the ancient civilizations of the south, a forerunner of more formidable inroads yet to come. Tile apprehension excited in Nineveh by this new enemy appearing where Assyria's hardest struggles had always been waged was (juite extraordiiuuy. For one hundred daN-s the priests were bidden to sacrilice and [iray for their defeat. It would seem that the supplications were answered, foi it is apparently to the same critical juncture that the Babylonian chronicler refers when he says of the fourth year of Ksarhaddou : "The (Jimirre came into Assyria, and in Assyria they were defeated." ^ 'I'he refer- ence liere, of course, is to the Assyrian territory in the wider sense, which was held to extend northwai'd to the Lakes. Evidently the dreaded foe had come well over the border. It is very improbable that the western division of these undesiral)le immigrants came directly into contact with the Assyrians under Esarhaddon.'' Their time for action had not yet come. lint they helped to make the northwest provinces still more lax in their attachment to the empire of the Tigris. On the whole, their significance was rather i>rcnu)nitory than direct and immediate. It is plain that Esarhadilon had measured their potential capa- city for mischief and found their appearance upon the scene anything but reassuring. ' Tilt.' "Mimii" of .lor. li. 27, wIumc tlicy arc also closely associated with tiie .Mitlis. - Hab. Clir. IV, 2. 'i'hc name of tiie em iiiy is siipplietl by tlif acute .>ii^'u'estioii of Wiiiekler. •' It has been supposed (p.ij, I'ar. 24.')) that, the defeat of tin' Kimme- rians iiiciitioiu'd by KsarhaiMon in I K. 4.'> (cf. noti' 4 jirectdim;) was inllicttd in Cappadocia. lint lliiliiisifi tiiert' mentioned nnist be an error fnr IJuhuiik'ia in the northern bonU-r of Assyria i)roper — a continuation, in fai't. of the situation as made out for the strug^'le in the east. IrS \ ''■ 1:1 ' i » i 1 1 (J i! lii I""' !^ » li J48 (».M1N(>US CONDITIONS Book VIII § 7t!<>. There is iiotliinjj more striking' (ir instructive ill all Oriental history tlian the situation which we are now contom[>latiiig. After incredible toil . lul sacrifice Assyria has arrived at the sunnnit of her power. Ilcr wise and strenuous king has profited by all the errors of the i)ast. He has introduced a larger and surer method of goverinnent, conciliated the disaffected, consolidated the old possessions, and added to the realm the most val- uable of all the known regions of the earth. And just as he is laying the capstone u[)on the colossal structure, the work of underminins' the foundation becfins. True, the emi>ire endures for sixty years longer, and for a great por- tion of that period Assyria is still in its pride (Zech. x. 11). Hut mark that it maintains itself oidy l)y its superiority to the older enfeebled races of the south. It is of little per- manent moment that in its forward march the line of least resistance foHows the valhsy of the Nile. Its hold upon the stubborn north, now being perpetually reinforced by bands of sturdy aliens from beyond the inland .seas, is gradually relaxed. Another expedition * against the re- moter nortlieast availed at least for the spoiling and in- timidation of the Median confederates. Hut the waves thus rolled back returned again stronger than before, the precursors of the long lines of breakers which were at length to submerge the last defences of the outworn and exhausted empire. v? 7<)1. The suppression of a conspiracy in Nineveh in I H. 4tt. col. IV. S IT.; Ill H. KJ, rol. IV. 1 ff. - U.ib. Chr. IV. I'lt: '• In the ek'vtiitli \v\w the king (remained) in As- syri.i. Miiuy nobles lie put to deiUh with tlic sword." I ' i 1 Cri. VIII, § 702 ACIIIF-VEMENTS OF ESAUIIADDnN a40 IIu left his vast (loiniiiioiis with a fairer show of prosperity and safety than the Assyrian reahu had ever presented at the demise of any of his predecessors. What is perhaps of most significance is the fact that within the Semitic domain — the trne province of a nnited j::fovernment — no grave insnrrections were set on foot. Only snch conMnnnilies were as yet intractable which enjoyed a means (»f esca[)e from the soldiers of Asshnr. Tiie Tyrians li;id an ontlet to the sea; the Arabs to the desert. The West-land was in his days at last entirely (jniescent. 'I'ime and nnrelax- ing pressure had there done the work which had before been wrought throughout Syria (5^ -04, 807, 88.V). and ear- lier still in Mesojjotamia (v^ ITM f., 21S). "Manasseh of Judah" (!^ 71*8 tV.), the son of the rebel Ile/.ekiah, was among hi>< voluntary vassals, along with the ruh'is«»f Kdom, Moab, and Annnon, (laza, Askalon, Ekron, A>hdnd. and the princes of IMioMiicia, all of whom he coulil summon to furnish materials for the building of liis palaces.* i; 762. In the intervals of liis campaigns Esarhaddon also found time to illustrate his taste for art and archi- tecture. The great rebuilding of nal)ylon (§ 749) was at least inaugurated under his general direction. His own city received new and splendid additions. His '• South- west Palace," in Nebi Yunus, exceeded in size and mag- nificence that of Sinacherib, \\hich it was intended to su[)ersede. He named it "the storehouse of all things." inasnuich as it was both palace, arsenul, museum, and gallery of art. To another palace at Kalach lie sdinewhat irrev- erently transferred the monnnienlal inscriptions of Tiglath- pileser HI (i; 341 ). This structure, still incomplete at the time of his death, bore the proud iiiscrii)tion •• king of the 1 III K. 1(5, col. V. l;! If. (cf. I H. 47. ml. V. 11). Tn these were aiM.-d ten princes of tlio islaml of t'ypni.s. iiiiikini; t\vciiiy-t\vo in all, acccinliiin to his own enuincralioii. We iieeil not lie surpri.seil to lliitl Ila'al. kiin; of Tyre, ainoiiu the number, for he was iiuite willini; to furui.sh an ordinary rate of trii)nt(>, arnl only ohjerted to losini: his inflepemlfnce (of. § 'is;;). That K.sarhaihlon looked clo.sely after his provinces in the \Ve.st-land wc may infer from Kzru iv. 2 ; cf. -1 K. xvii. 24 fT. (§ 709). I ■ w i i 1 - ! 1 Hill 350 CHAKACTKU OF KSAUIIADDON Hook VIII Ir^ kings of Kgypt, Patliros (upper Kgypt), and Kush." These luul other hihours in various cities of his empire, along with his achievements in war and statesmanship, testify ta his Wonderful energy as well as his genius for government. Yet withal he was of a mild and generous disposition, per- hajts more so tlian any other noted king of Assyria. Though stern enough to ohstinate rehels, lie was eager to spare and I)ardon the suhmissive. No Assyrian king hefore or after him wielded such umiuestionedaiul widely extended power, ami none usi'd his power so wisely and temperately as lie. It may Ihj that he was always expectant of an early •leath, for he wrought in haste and ajjpointed his successors l}efore he set out on his last expedition. Yet though his work was done (juickly, it was skilful and solid, and miglit have been enduring, if the conditions which were slowly but surely preparing the dooni of Nineveh had not been beyond aJl human control. I I I h CHAPTER IX asshurhanii'Al and the dissolving empire § 7«J3. AssiiUKiiANii'AK (" Assluir begets a son," 668- 020), son of Esaihiiddon, was, as he himself informs us,' appointed and installed h}- his father as vieeroy in Nineveh and as i)rospective king, on the twelfth of lyyar (end of Ai)ril, 608). This was a wise precaution, perhaps taken with a view to avoiding the troid)le which had preceded liis own inauguration. At any rate the final enthronement of the new king was acconiidished without disturl)ance. The prestige of his father, and perliaps his own personal qualities, made his rule popular, and the favourable oniens were reinforced by a period of unprecedented national jirosperity.'^ Hut Asshurbanipal was not the sole ruler of the em[)ire. Another son, Samas-sum-ukTn (" Shamash has determined the name," 608-647), had been designated king of Babylonia, and he there took the throne concur- rently with his brother's accession in Nineveh. The dual sovereignty, with a subordinate role assigned to Babylonia, turned out to be a colossal failure. But of this more liereafter. § 764. The condition of the lately acquired Egyptian domain first called the young king into action. It was when Esarhaddon was on the way thither, to deal with an insurrectionary movement led by Tirhaka (§ 093), that H ' . , t 1 ■ i !• ■ ' r 1 ■ hii I : I ' V R. 1, 8 ff. See Note 17 in Appendix. Esarhaddon made the assem- bled princes of the empire swear solemnly by the names of the gods to protect his son, in view of his future kingship (lines 20-22). 2 V U. 1, 4r)f. 351 r 'l 1 , i It IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 1^ IIM »50 "" im m ■AO 110 U III 1.6 : Photographic Sciences Corporation •^ •^ \ (V \\ ^9> V ^> ri 6^ 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. M580 (716) 872-4503 4l> S'^ 6^ REVOLT IN EGYPT Book VIII I- ; (».!) ■ii M ■t ;.! he met with his untimely death. During his absence from Egypt (670-668), that veteran campaigner prepared, in his ancestral home in Ethiopia, to drive the new lords of the land from their usurped dominion. The death of the con- queror of Egypt was the signal for action.^ The Assyrian garrisons, from Thebes northward to lUemphis, were one by one overcome, while the foreign governors found it expedient to retire from their posts, and betake themselves to the desert till help sliould come from Nineveh. The expected succour Wixs not long delayed. A strong force was despatched to the relief of the loyalists. A battle was fought at Karbanit,^ near the Canopus mouth of the Nile, in which Tirhaka was defeated. He fled southward by the rivor, yet with the command of a sufficient army and suffi- cient public sympathy to make it advisable that the Assyr- ians should secure reinforcements. These were not back- ward in offering themselves, since all the subject states to the west of the Euphrates now felt that the fate of Egypt was sealed. Twenty-two vassals sent contingents by land and sea to join the forces of Asshurbanipal. In about forty days Thebes was reached. It was found abandoned by Tirhaka, and was taken without opposition. The reduc- tion of all the territory that had been subdued and garri- soned by Esarhaddon was now an easy matter. The baffied Ethiopian entrenched himself on both banks of the Nile some distance south of Thebes. Here he was not molested by the invaders, nor did he move northwards until the main Assyrian army of occupation had withdrawn. The'i the well-practised game began anew. § 765. The reader will understand the precarious posi- tion occupied by the princes of Lower Egypt under the Assyrian dominion. In transferring their allegiance from the Ethiopian over-lord to the king of iVssyria, they had 1 The Etryptian wars are comprised in the first two "campaigns" in the Annals of Asshurbanipal V R. 1 and 2, cf. K. 2G7o and K. 228, in G. Smith, History of Asshurbanipal, p. 80 rt. 2 See Delitzsch, Tar. 314. Cii. IX, § 700 ASSYRIAN ADMINISTRATION 353 by not simply uiuleigoiie a change of masters. Tlioy had always been true and patriotic Egyptians, forward to act of their own free will (cf. vol. i, p. 422) in defence of the home-land, or in aggression against the common oppressor. The old tolerant relation of suzerainty and general super- intendence, established by the first Ethiopian conqueror (§ 347), was still maintained essentially unimpaired. Now it had been the wise and comparatively generous policy of Esarhaddon (§ 756) to allow as many of these nome-rulers as possible to retain at least the nominal control of their own principalities, wliile administering them in behalf of the empire of the Tigris. It was in some respects a new situation which here confronted Esarhaddon, and his policy was a great experiment. That it succeeded so well is a testimony to the high degree of perfection now attained by the Assyrian governmental system. The conditions, in brief, were these. Only the over-lord Tirhaka was a pro- scribed enemy of Assyria. The governors of tlie provinces were virtual appointees of Esarhaddon, as nmch so as, for example, Hoshea of Samaria (§ 332) had been an appointee of Tiglathpileser III. In this first formidable uprising, therefore, none of them, even if under suspicion of disaffec- tion, were strictly called to account. After the defeat and flight of Tirhaka, and the renewed subjugation of the countrjs they, along with the governors of Assyrian origin, were reinstated or confirmed in their positions. It is easy to see, however, that with the conflicting claims upon tlieir allegiance, their native country must wield the stro)iger influence. And it is not surprising to find that Tirhaka still had power among tliem to conjure with the name of a united and independent Egypt. § 706. The witlidrawal of the main Assyrian ami}', without having extended the conquest of Upper Egypt or destroying the army of Tirhaka, encouraged some of these officials to make overtures to their former lord. The most important of them was Necho (" Necho I " of Ma- netho), who was indeed the most powerful of all the 2a <» ( « ■ i I .1i i! ' 354 SUBSEQUENT KEVOLTS Book VIII vassal kings of Egypt, being ruler of tlie whole territorj^ from Memphis, the ancient capital, to Sais, not far from the sea on the main western branch of the Nile. With him was allied Sarhuluri, the prince of Pelusium, and Pakrura, the viceroy of the neighbouring nome of Pesept, the key to Egyptian Arabia. The watchfulness of the Assyrian officers prevented the consummation of the plot. Incriminating letters were intercepted on the persons of the messenofers. Necho and Sharludari were seized and sent in chains to Nineveh. Tlie cities which were involved in the insurrection were taken and their inhabitants put to death with most cruel barbarity. Among them were Sais and the better known Biblical cit}- of Zoan. But strange to say, the fate of the captured ringleaders was mitigated. Neither of them seems to have lost his life, while Necho was actually pardoned, loaded Avith presents, and restored to the lordship of his old city, Sais.^ Tirhaka, in despair, fled still further south, where death soon put an end to his patriotic enterprises and his checkered life. § 7G7. But the forlorn hope of Egyptian independence was not extinguished with the passing away of the veteran agitator. His nephew Urdaman (Tanut- Anion) succeeded to the throne of Ethiopia and to the hereditary duty of war upon the Assyrians. The permanently available army of the foreigners was plainly insufficient for the suppression of the whole country. It could only continue to retain the Delta. Urdaman occupied Thebes, and thence marched northward and took his stand at On (Heliopolis). Thence he proceeded to blockade Memphis. It was abandoned by its defenders. Another army of relief came from Assyria. Before it the " rebels " once more retired. They retreated 1 A measure as politic as it wa» humane. It would seem as though Asshurbanipal followed for a time at least the generous policy of his father towards suppliant captives (§ 762). The cruel treatment of the seditious cities, now in the last stage of probation (§ 288), which reminds one of the conduct of Julius Ciesar at the siege of Munda (cf. § 169), was not inflicted by the Great King himself (V R. 2, 1 ft.), but by his generals. He himself was then at least in Nineveh (2, 7). I in 1 i;-t Cir. IX, § 700 INDEPENDENCE OF EGYIT i ough his tlie liinds (eo), his to the city of Thebes, ^vhich they soon abandoned to a cruel fate (§ 7G9).^ A decisive defeat awaited them still further south on the Nile, before the city of Kipkip, the capital of Nubia. With this event, Ethio[)ian predomi- nance in Egypt came to an end. § 708. For several 3'ears Lower Egypt was held securely by the Assyrians. The pardon and restoration of Necho had conciliated his people as well as himself. There seemed indeed to be no spirit of independence left in Egypt. The Ethiopian over-lordship was no more, and the ruling power in the Delta was enlisted in the cause of the foreigners. Thus Necho served his master faithfull}' till his deat^". But liis son Psammetichus I, though likewise placed upon the throne by the Assyrians, soon revolted against them in the name of ancient Egyptian autonomy. lie received aid not only from other princes of the Delta, but from Ionian and Carian troops sent down by Gyges, king of Lydia (§ 774 f.). He succeeded in maintaining his independence, and although the details of the struggle are not known to us, it is certain that by the year 045, while Asshurbanipal was still firmly seated upon his throne in Nineveh, Assyrian domination was forever at an end in the valley of the Nile. In closing our cursory survey of this remarkable international episode, we may point out that perhaps the most important permanent result of the Assyrian invasions and occupation of Egypt was to make it impossible for the Ethiopian dynasty to maintain its con- trol of the lower country. Egypt will soon re-emerge as a more formidable power, under changed yet more normal conditions. § 769. The fortunes of Egypt in this eventful era are not unnoticed in Hebrew Prophecy. The allusions are not very specific, yet they are unmistakable and illustrate the unique prevision of the Old Testament seers. Isaiah 1 Thebes was this time completely looted. Among the spoil, mention is made of two beautiful obelisks, of the weight of 2500 talents, which were taken to Nineveh (V II. 2, 41 ft.). ^ I ' (I i\ I m •111 350 EGYPT IN HEBREW I'HOPIIECY Book VIII i', A\ I: xix. has already come under our notice (§ G56), and an analysis of the section, vs. 1-15, was given, with the remark that the instrument to be used for the punishment of Egypt was her rival Assyria. We may now see how the picture here presented of the anarcliy and helplessness of the land of the Pharaohs corresponds in its main features to the Assyrian domination and its results. The internal strife of v. 2 reached its height when Necho, favoured by Ass3'ria, took up arms in favour of his patrons. The char- acter of the "cruel master" of v. 4 is illustrated by the treatment accorded to the revoltnig cities (§ 766). The folly of the princes of Zoan and Memphis (vs. 11-13) is exemjililied by their taking the lead in fomenting insur- rection in Egypt, because they were "the corner-stone of her tribes." The prediction, uttered half a century before, found its fulfilment at last, though the chief value of the prophecy is not its foresight of particular events, but its insight into the essential character of the Egyptian govern- ment, and its relation to the fortunes of the people of Jehovah. § 770. A more specific reference to the troubles of Egypt is found in a prophetic reminiscence of the capture of Thebes (§ 767), found in Nah. iii. 8-10. Prophecy is not simply the forerunner of the events that make up history ; it is also the interpreter of the past for the uses of the future (cf. § 14). The great catastrophe of the age was the impending fall of Nineveh (cf. § 760). Other tragic events were types and analogies of this appalling consummation. Thus Nahum, writing over thirty years after the close of the revolution in Egypt, survej'S the calamities of his time, and can find nothing so exemplary as the fate of " No-Amon^ that sitteth among the streams ; ' "Xo" is the Biblical name of the famous capital of Upper Egypt, the Greek " Thebes " and later " Diospolis." The Assyrian form is Xi', to which the native Egyptian JVn, " city," nearly corresponds. It is called No-Amon as being the principal seat of the worship of the £"*eat god Amen, the supposed analogue of Zeus-Jupiter ; cf. Jer. xlvi. 25. Other Biblical years the plaiy ■earns ; Egypt, is xr, ; called Amen, iiblical Ch. IX, § 771 TYRE COMES '!<• TEKMjj oo7 that has the waters round about htr: wh^i^e rampart is the sea,^ and her wall the waters.^ EtLio»|jiMi and Egypt were her strength, and that without end- Fimt nmd the Libyans ^ were among her helpers. Even she a* am exile went into captivity. Her infants, too, were daAitnJ in pieces at the corners of all the streets : and ujjon htr nobles they cast the lot, and all her grandees thej" lucKDiad with chains " (vs. 8-10). § 771. The doubtful possession of E^y|)t was not the only liard problem left in the AV^est hy Esarhaddon to be solved by his successor. At his deailu ioi fWH Tyre was still maintaining a precarious indepemidence. But not long thereafter it submitted to the incdH: favourable terms offered by the new king, who found it mo';'e^8ary to concili- ate all opposition in order to be unhaimjjisrirei'l in bis Egyp- tian campaigns. In the list of twenty-uwo princes who furnished contingents for the reconquesl lol Egypt appears the name of Ba'al, king of Tyre.* Il wx^ demanded of him that he should send his childie]! tiO» Xumeveh. Asshur- banipal was content to retain his diiuglateir Mid the daugh- ters of his brother ; but he released amicl sent back his son •'' with a pardon for Ba'al, on Qoudhmn, naturally, of references are found in Ez. xxx. 14 ff. Swe S'juj. Zl>*r and especially A. .Teremias, in Delitzsch and Ilaupt's BeitrCv^ zmir An^ijriulofjie, III, i, 104 f. 1 That is, the Nile, called also in modern AraMc "tliift'sea." 2 This correction (merely the change of vnwel-giiomnittSjnc) is obvious. •■J The location of Put is not yet definitely aeoyntBiimiftiiL Glaaer, one of the best and most recent investigators, makes it t3»e mume of a people in mid-west Arabia ; see Skizze der altcn Geschkidli. maai fj-nof/raiihie -Im- biens (1800), II, 332 ff. •• The list is given in S. A. Sniitli, Asurhanipal^ iiL iS ff, ; cf. Wiiickler, GBA. p. 3:57. Possibly the name is iuseited beate WKHv-Ay for the sake of symmetry. On the otlier hand, while the Egj-jniiam) w;us make up the first two campaigns, the capture of Tyre would Beitma iti* liuuve come later, since it forms part of the "third campaign"' in the amiu;8lI*of Ass h urban i pal. Tliese, however, do not maintain complete chroiit«lfj>ji'.'.iiL .)rder. The date can hardly be settled as yet. 5 Described significantly (V K. 2, 58) as a lad - Tirib* Ihn«I never crossed the sea," — that is, of course, not a "land-lubbw," 4«sill a mere school- i:| ^ ( ■ S58 THE TYRIANS IN PKOPHECV BooK VIII ; -■■{ il' an increase of tribute. It is noteworthy that the same leniency is here exhibited as marked the treatment of Palestinian insurgents generally (§ 025). As a matter of fact, to have destroyed Tyre, or even to have crippled it by excessive rigour, would have been to kill the goose that laid the golden egg. As to the condition of Palestine in these earlier years of Asshurbanipal, it may be sufficient to say that it lemained for a time as peaceful and con- tented as it liad been in the days of his father. The name of Manasseh of Judah appears again (cf. § 761) in the list of tributaries alluded to above. § 772. A remarkable prophecy (Isa. xxiii.) summarizes the condition and prospects of Tyre during this period of Assyrian aggression upon the Mediterranean coast-land. We liave a hint of the date at which it was written ; for, accoruuig to v. 13, the devastation of "• the land of the Chaldees " by the Assyrians, and the destruction of Baby- lon, are still fresh in the minds of the Prophet's readers or hearers. We nia}' be reasonably certain, therefore, that the time was after the vengeful work of Sinacherib in Babylonia (§ 733 ff., 740) and very near to the epoch of the restoration under Esarhaddon (§ 748 ff.). It can hardly have been earlier tlian the former date, since no previous Ass3Tian campaign resulted in such calamities to both land and capital as those here mentioned. It cannot well be much subsequent to the latter; for there would have been no significance in reminding the Tyrians of the fate of a people who had been long restored to prosperity.^ It is therefore quite possible that Isaiah him- boy. The phrase is probably quoted from the letters sent by the lad's father to the Great King. 1 In spite of the obscurities and peculiarities of certain expressions, the genei-al sense of the verse is clear. The first portion refers to evil wrought by the Assyrians upon the Chaldaean country, and the .second to their destruction of a city, which can only be Babylon itself. The phrase "this is the people which was not" apparently refers to the expulsion of the Chaldaean communities by Sinacherib ; and the fate of Babylon is most naturally associated therewith, because, as a matter of fact, the Chaldean 1300K VIII L lie same ment of L matter crippled le goose Palestine sufficient iiid cou- he name ) in the nmarizes )eriod of ast-land. ten ; for, :l of the Df Baby- iaders or jre, that herib in ;poch of It can mce no lamities led. It r there Tyrians ored to h hini- |the lad's t)ressions, to evil kecond to lie phrase lulsiou of In is most tbaldiean Cii. IX, § 77.] SIDOX AND OTHER STATES 369 ^elf wrote at least the greater portion of tlie chajjter in liis later years, perhaps about G85 B.C. ; that is, about twenty years before Tyre capitulated to Asshurbanipal. The situation is, as usual, indicated in broad and general terms, as well as somewhat idealized. Tyre is made most prominent, because of her importance and her steady resist- ance to the Assyrian arms (§ 680 ff.). IJut it is really southern Plut'iiicia as a whole that is the subject of the prophecy. Sidon is referred to mainly because of her being the mother city (v. 12; cf. § 44). Perhaps the most strik- ing historical allusion is that made to the frequent and increasing forced migrations from the home-cities to the colonies (vs. 6, 12; cf. § 42). Very noteworthy also is the statement that the report of the fall of Tyre should make the Egyptians quake (v. 5), an observation which our present survey enables us to appreciate (cf. § 753, 757, 769). Finally, we must not overlook the fact that the Assyrians, and no other, are the instruments of Jehovah's chastisement (vs. 9, 11), since otherwise the warning remi- niscence of V. 13 would be irrelevant.^ § 773. We may pass over, as being of little general in- terest, the voluntary homage and rich offerings of princes in northern Phoenicia, eastern Cilicia, and Tabal (Tiba- rene).^ The loyalty of the last named was perhaps inspired by fear of the ominous Kimmerians (§ 758 ff.). Of more importance is the history of the celebrated Gyges (Assyr. GCa/ii^, hing of L3-dia, who on account of these regime of Merodacli-baladan as "king of Babylon" (Isa. xxxix. 1) was one of world-wide fame, which had been displaced by the Assyrian domi- nation. The denial that Isaiah was the author of the chapter, on the ground of the occurrence of several words which do not appear elsewhere in his writings (r.f/., by Dillmann, Do- Prnphet Esaiu erklnrt, 1890, p. 210), would seem to involve the assumption that Isaiah's Hebrew vocabulary was somewhat limited. 1 The commonly held hypothesis that v. 13 is a later interpolation is very improbable. Though appropriate in its innnediate association with the context, what an elaborate historical construction it would involve as an afterthought ! See, however, Cheyne, Jntruduction, p. 139 ff. - V U. 2, 03-94 ; G. Smith, History of Asshurbanqial , p. 08 f. ; I ; I I 1 ii i i oOO GYGES OF LYDTA Book VIII !■■''', ' Hi'"' northern marauders was brought most strangely into rehi- tions with* the king of Assyria. The actual career of the Lydian prince is known from classical stor}-, which repre- sents him as a palace favourite who compassed the death of his master, Kandaules, and after his accession to the throne raised his feeble nation to a connnanding position.' But the mythological halo that invests his name has given him a wider currency; and Plato's "ring of Gyges " is better known than the })hiloso[)hy which it illustrates. By a curious fate his relations with far-off Assyria partake of a similar semi-mythical character, which, however, I may be permitted to set forth in the words of the Great King himself,^ especially as they help to illustrate the religious conceptions of the Assyrian people. § 77-4. " Gyges, the king of Lydia (^Lii-ud-cli), a region beyond the Sea, a remote district, the mention of which the kings ni}- fathers had never heard, Asshur, my beget- ter, caused to behold my name in a dream, saying : ' Em- brace the feet of Asshurbanipal, king of Assyria, and by uttering his name conquer thy enemies.' On the day when he saw that vision, he sent his courier to bid me hail.-'^ And the dream which he had beheld he sent by the hand of his messenger and he repeated it to me. From that very day when he embraced my feet, he overcame the Kimmerians, who were besetting his land, who had not feared mj' fathers nor embraced my royal feet. By the aid of Asshur and Ishtar, the gods my lords,* he cast into chains and fetters and bonds of iron two of the prefects of the Kimmerians, whom he subdued,^ and made them come before me with rich presents. His messenger, whom he had regularly sent to bid me hail, he (now) failed to send. 1 Ilerod. i, 8 ff. ^ V R. 2, 95-125. 3 Literally, "to ask for my welfare " ; so 1 Sam. x. 4, in the identical words of the Assyrian. ■* Notice that homage paid to the king of Assyria implies worship of his gods, and tlieir consequential protection (cf. § 01, 200). ^ That is, he subdued the Kimmerians, and then cast, etc. Il I II Cm. I.\, § 77') GYGKS AND ASSIIL'UnANIPAL entical ship of And because he regauleil not the cominaiid of Asshur my begetter, and relied upon bis own power, and (because) his own heart pionipted him, he sent bis forces to join Psam- metichus {Fi-sa-vH-il-ld}^ king of Kgypt, who had rejected the yoke of my lordship. J lieard of this and prayed to Assliur and Ishtar: ' liefore his enemies may his cor[)se be thrown down, and may bis l)ones be carried away.' ^ Ac- cording as I petitioned Assbui', it was fnllilled : before his enemies his corpse was thrown down, and his bones were carried away. The Kinnnerians, who l)y the spell of my name he had trodden down, came on and overwhelmed the whole of his land. Afterwards his son seated himself u[)on his throne. The evil deeds, wliicli through the u[)lifting of my hands the gods my defenders had executed against liis father, he reported by the hand of his messenger, and embraced my royal feet, saying, 'Thou art a king whom God has chosen."-^ Thou didst curse my father, and evil was inflicted upon him. ]\Ie, the slave that worships thee, do thou bless, and I will bear thy yoke.' " § 775. Here we have the first episode of the relations between the far West and the East which were a centur}^ later to become so full of interest and fateful results. Stripped of its religiosity and self-glorification the account is meagre enough, and it is difficult to say whether the Great King took any more active interest in the affairs of Lydia than to permit the hard-pressed king of Lj-dia to call upon the talismanic names of Asshur and Ishtar. Proba- bh^ he did nothing more ; and the story is related mainly for the purpose of showing that the name of the king of Assyria and his gods had still power to overawe tlie bar- barians of the north."'^ We have, however, some important facts. The rebellion of Psammetichus (§ 768) apparently 1 Cf. § 734, note. 2 Literally "has known." Cf. the same word (;-i>) in Hebrew. Gen. xviii. 10 ; Amos iii. 2. 3 Also, no doubt, in order to spite and belittle Gyges for assisting the Egyptian insurgents. i y ) I ]'• ■M-^ LYIJIAN.S AM) KIMMKKIANS Hu(.K VIII I . i'l owed its success in a large measure to the help afforded by Gyges and his mercenary troops. We see here the begin- ning of the colonizing of Egypt by Lydian and Carian troops on an extensive scale. It was certainly after the loss of these troops to Lydia that the Kimmerians made their worst assaults upon that country. According to the frreck historians the damage inflicted by them, and alluded to l)y Asshurbanipal, was serious indeed. Their first great invasion brought them to the acroi)olis of Sardis, the capi- tal. After the relief, alleged by Asshurbanipal to be the result of his prayer, they returned and elefeated Cryges and slew him in battle. We may anticipate later events by adding that the son of Gyges, Ardys II, also maintained an unequal contest against the Kimmerians, who, however, were finally expelled from the neighbourhood by Alyattes III, the grandson of the last-named prince. Finally, we cannot fail to be impressed by the widening of international relations that marks the present and the coming era. From the remotest times the Semitic peoples had to do mainly with one another in their enterprises of war and peace (§ 03, 97, 116, 153). But now we see the furthest coast of Asia Minor brought near by treaty and alliance to Egypt on the one hand and Assyria on the other. The next great stride is made when Europe receives upon her shores the ambassadors and the armies of the furthest east of this vast historic region. But this does not take place until the Semitic rdgime is outworn and superseded. § 776. And now a more genuine and effective solidarity than any previously displayed began to be realized among the dependent states of the Assyrian empire. The strenu- ous rulers of Nineveh had by dint of remorseless and unrelaxing pressure brought under one administration a multitude of unsocial and mutually hostile communities, and had " made them speak the one language " (cf. § 179) of homage and obedience to Asshur. Like all policies that are purely selfish, this also reacted against its promoters. The combination that had been effected by force had at MMM aaB ul Cii. IX, § 777 JSKINS OF A GHKAT UI'IIKAVAL no?, last been couvertetl into a conscious sense of unity, spring- ing from a just resentment against the common oppressor. The rebellion of Psamnictichus and his politic alliance with tlu^ Lydian king were no isolated movement. They were disturbances incident to a vast ui)heaval. All of the larger states not entirely deprived of their autonomy rose by a common impulse against their suzerain. The result in the extreme west we have already recorded (§ 7*58). A Hercer and more critical struggle was now waged in the extreme east, and the repression of the outbreak was the last great achievement of the Assyrian arms. The trouble seemed to owe its inception to comparatively trifling causes : l)ut these were, so to speak, openings in the embankments towards which the pent-up waters rushed to find an outlet. § 777. A revolt of the Mannajans ^ on the northern border (cf. § 758), which was suppressed without great difficulty (c. 055 B.C.), had no great significance for tlie general situation. Nor are we to lay especial stress, except as a premonition of a coming greater catastrophe (cf. § 700), upon an expedition against the land of Salii in the ncn-th- east.2 Its people had formerly submitted, and now by rebellion they brought upon themselves the customary punishment of invasion and spoliation. They were the advance guard of the Medians, who at length had come to occupy the whole country east to the Caspian Sea (cf. § 311). Ths life and death struggle which shook to its foundations the throne of Asshurbanipal was waged, not in the north, but in the Babylonian home-land, whence had come the first impulse to imperial enterprise, and where still lay potentially the elements of a more splendid empire than that of the proudest ruler of Nineveh. 1 Described in V R. 2, 120-326, and more fully in '-Cylinder B" III, 23 ff., or G. Smith, Hixtorij of Asshurbanipal, p. 89 ft'. 2 Cyl. B, III, 102-IV. 14, or Smitli, Ilistor;/, etc., p. 97 ff. Two princes^ sons of Gagu, prefect of Siichi, were concerned in this uprising. Giigu is usually identified with the "Gog" (ii Kzek. xxxviii.. wliich describes the incursions of the Scythians (§ 814;. The name Sachi suggested ■• i if is i: ^^ lit (Ii THE BABYLONIAN VICEROY Book VIII § 778. The brother of Asshurbanipal (§ 7G3), upon the vice-regal throne of Babylon, may have cherished, almost from the earliest years of his administration, the hopes of complete independence and freedom of action in all Baby- lonia. But it was long before he gave any sign of a revo- lutionar}' purpose. He had been set over Babylon in ac- cordance with the policy and the wishes of Esarhaddon, who desired to conserve and nurture its liberties and interests (§ 748 ff.). He seems to have followed in his father's footsteps ^ in the performance of this worthy task. But he was after all only administrator of a portion of the empire ruled from Nineveh, and the more his country pros- pered, the more irksome became to him his position of infe- riority to his brilliant brother. He could not forget that while his father had been by his own choice " viceroy " of Babylon, he himself had been designated as its king.^ Such control as he now lield on sufferance it was impossible to perpetuate. Divided dominion or concurrent jurisdiction within the same empires is virtually impossible in Semitic lands. If the rulers themselves agree for a time, the in- triguers and agitators of the rival courts make occasion for strife and collision. In countries where judicial admin- istration is so defective, conflicts of authority as to border to G. Smith the Qaka., the original form of the name "Scythian" (Skw^tjs). 1 In one of his inscriptions (V R. 62, 9 f.) he says that the great gods had approved of him for the task of gathering together the scattered peo- ple of Aliliad and of restoring their neglected shrines. It is not quite clear how far his jurisdiction extended. Probably he ruled over the whole of Babylonia except the southerly portions, which had been unset- tled by the Chaldean troubles. Winckler (GB A. 279) says that he did not control Shumer and Akkad. This is in direct contradiction to his own statement in V R. 62, 5. and his Cylinder Inscription, line 11. Winckler's mistake is perhaps due to his erroneous conception of "Shumer and Akkad " (see § 109). That Assyria directly controlled South Babylonia is clear from the history of the complications with Elam. 2 Even by Asshurbanipal himself, though he is careful to specify the relation as a kind of ''clientship." See Lehmann, De inscriptionihus cnneatis, etc., p. 24 ff., and especially Jensen in KB. II, 2o8 f. Book VIII Ch. IX, § 779 ELEMENTS OF STRIFE 305 troubles, as to fugitives, aiul the like difficulties, are inevit- able and seldom decided except b}' appeal to force. That the two brothers administered neighbouring territories for nearly twenty years without (quarrelling is really more remarkable than the fact of their final rupture. Samas- sum-ukln must have yielded many a time to arbitrary restraint before he attempted to throw off all control. We have the story of the quarrel told by Asshurljanipal alone, and the seditious brother is naturall}' put in the wrong. But until we hear the other side, and unless we hold tliat in the Semitic world niicfht was alwavs rig-ht and unsuccess- O I/O ful rebellion always wrong, we would do well to suspend our judgment. It is quite possible that Esarhaddon was more to blame for devising the dual rrgime, than was his unfort- unate son for seeking to give it due effect. At all events, the tragic ending of the present episode only confirms the inference, already made so clear, that Babylonia could flourish neither as a province of Assyria nor as an autono- mous dependent. § 779. Babylon was not directly involved in the first series of disturbances. The parties were the old discord- ant elements whose various combinations had already con- fronted the Assj'rians with many insoluble problems, Tlie Elamites had been conciliated towards Babylonia by Esar- haddon (§ 752) and appear to have kept on the best of terms with its new ruler. But the Gambulians, a race of semi-nomadic Aramroans on the lower Tigris (§ 33!>) who were trying to assert their independence of Asshurbanipal, joined the Elamites in active hostilities against Assyria.' These allies appear to have invaded Babylonia, and to have threatened Babylon itself. It seems remarkable that no mention is made of an attempt at defence by the Baby- lonians themselves. At any rate the insurgents under tlie lead of L'rtaku, king of Elam, were diiven o »'er the border 1 Cylinder H, IV, 4:1-58 (G. Sinitlu History >'fAssh' rhnnipah p. 100 ff .). According to Cyl. B. VI, 83 ff., they had incited U'taku of Elam against Assyria. ■ 1- ■ i '♦■: i 11 ■ y i ■'■ 1 « 1 ; ■ 4 \. ■i ' f I II i r 36G ELAMITES AND CHALDEANS Book VIII by the Assyrian troops. Singularly enough, all the leaders of the movement died about this time by the manifest judgment of heaven. Still more strangely this intervention of the offended gods in behalf of their pious cham[)ion only seemed to increase his troubles ; for a very " devil " of a man, named Teumman, now took the throne in Elam in the place of his brother Urtaku. The rightful heir, with his kindred, fled for protection to Nineveh, a fact which seems to show that in all probability there was a strong foreign party in Elam aided and abetted from the Assyrian capital. Teumman requested that the fugitives be extra- dited. Asshurbanipal refused to give them iip.^ A second advance of the Elamites into Babylonia was made and repulsed. They were pursued across the border, and defeated before the royal city of Susa. Teumman, who had been ^7arned by heavenly portents of his impending fall, and had been besides smitten with foul disease for his presumption, was now taken and slain, and Elam was virtually put under Assyrian administration. To save appearances, however, a son of Urtaku (one of the fugi- tives in Assyria), Ummanigas by name, was placed upon the throne.^ On the return march exemplary punishment was inflicted upon the Gambulians.'^ § 780. Now at length (c. 650 B.C.) the storm broke loose for which so many elements had long been gathering. Not since 701 (§ 677 ff.) had there been such a commotion in Western Asia. To estimate its character and motives we must once more be on our guard against taking literally the statements of our only witness, the Assyrian tyrant himself. The essential portion of his case against his brother is as follows,** made after enumerating the kind- 1 Scarcelj', however, on grounds of humanity. His magnanimity may be estimated by the fact tliat among other atrocities committed after the defeat of Teumman, he took out of Elam a grandson of the great Mero- daoli-baladan and put him to a shameful death in Nineveh. - V H. ;}, 27 ff. ; and much more fully and unctuou.sly in Cyl. B, IV, 71- V, 10;;. =* Cyl. B, VI, lU Cf. * V R. Ill, 90 ff. ]Ff! i ~. ' i\-S : ■ Book VIII le leaders manifest ervention pion only vil " of a Elam in leir, with ct which a stronor Assyrian be extra- A second iiade and •der, and nan, who npending se for his 11am was To save the fugl- ed upon [lishment tn broke ithering. mmotion motives iterally tyrant inst his le kind- mity may after the eat Mero- B, IV,71- Ch. IX, § 781 THE CASE AGAINST THE REVOLTERS 367 nesses he had shown him throughout his reign : '* Yet he, V Samas-sum-ukin, an unfaithful brother, who did not ob- serve the covenant made with me, incited the people of Akkad,^ the Chaldteans, the Aramaeans,"'^ the people of the sea-land from Akaba to Bab-salimeti, my servants and dependents,^ to rebel against me. Ummanigas, the fugi- tive, who had clasped my royal feet, whom I had placed on the throne in Elam, and the kings of the Gute,* of Palestine,*^ of Melulia, whom I had installed by the war- rant of Asshur and Beltis, — all of these he set at enmity against me, and they made common cause with him. The gates of Sippar, Babylon, and Borsippa he barred, and can- celled the bond of brotherhood." This must not be taken too seriousl}'. It is another wii}' of saying that at or about this time the peoples named entered into revolt. That the king of l^abj'lon negotiated with most of the princes named is very likely ; but they were as ready to revolt as he was, and some of them — those in the far west and in the north- east — were already in a state of disaffection. Wliat the court-annalist aims at is to place the blame of the genei'al and inevitable outbreak upon the most obnoxious of the insurgents. § 781. Further, it should be observed that even for the rising of the neighbouring peoples this "disloyal brother" receives too much credit. Let us look at his position for a moment, lie had, of course, a polic}-, being ruler of such a country as Babylonia. It was manifestly his interest and duty to follow out the lesson he had learned from his good father (J^ 750 ff.), to cultivate friendly relations with Elam and the ChakUeans. This, 1 Here, as freiiuciitly in the inscriptions of Asshurbanipal, e(iuivalent to all Babylonia, except the south-land. -That is, the AramaMUS on the lnwcr Tigris, the Ganibulians, and others (§ 3;50). 3 Literally. " who behold my face " ; cf. § 407. * Apparently here a general name for the northeastern peoples (cf. § 92, 109. 777). 5 The reference is in part to King Manaaseh of Judah (see § 801 ff.). ■if .tf! ( ' ■ I- f } 368 A PLKA FOR BABYLON Book VIII .■.', (;;f apparently, he had always done. Nor were the Elamites, as a rule, unfriendly to Babylonia. The incursions lately made by them over the border were, like those of the Chaldieans, not made against Babylon, but rather against Assyria, which was always regarded as an intrusive usurp- ing power. Twenty years' experience of the Assyrian r(igime in the lower River region, with its encroachments, intrigues, and cruelties, had taught him that it was by no means a blessing to its subjects. Besides, like other Babylonians, he could not but sjnnpathize with the strug- gling Chalda3ans as against the Assyrians. It was neither flattei'ing nor profitable to any ruler of Babylonia that the revenues of the seaports sliould be carried past the old commercial cities of Babj-lonia, and go to enrich the insa- tiable magnates of Nineveh. All things considered, it seemed right and expedient that I>abylonia and its neigh- bours should be left to themselves. Perliaps on the whole, instead of following a recent historian ^ in characterizing Samas-sum-ukin "as a conscienceless knave or else a weak-minded simpleton," it would be better to say that his chief fault was his misfortune in strikino- too soon. At all events, fanatic though he may have been, he moved upon the lines which at length led to deserved success in more propitious days. As to the deluded Elamites, Ara- maeans, and Chakheans, we may be sure that the Assyrian garrisons and tax-gatherers were a more powerful provo- cation to revolt than the seductions of the Babylonian j)rince.2 § 782. The veteran generals of Asshurbanipal, to whom, rather than to his own genius for war and statesmanship, he owed the preservation of his empire,^ met the uprising 1 Winckler, GBA. p. 280. 2 As Asshurbanipal himself seems to imply when he says (V R. 4, 07- 100) that, after being instigated by his brother, they came to antagonize him on their own account. * Asshurbanipal, unlike his predecessors, seems never, or very rarely, to have taken the field in person. After being told how he set out on the ^Tni Book VIII Elamite's, ions lattly •se of the er against ive usurp- Assyrian acliments, t was by like other :he struo- IS neither I that the t the old the insa- dered, it ts neigh- le whole, cterizinsr ' else a say that )on. At 3 moved iccess in :es, Ara- ssyrian l^rovo- )ylonian Cu. IX, § 7S3 WAUS IN BABYLONIA AND ELAM 309 ) whom, lanship, iprising- R. 4, 97- itagonize y rarely, It on tlie with adequate skill and resource.^ The great fortified cities, Sippar, Babylon, Borsippa, and Cutha (^ 94), were besieged and finally taken. Reverse after reverse attended tile insurgents upon the field. What perhaps contributed most of all to their ill-fortune was the characteristic inter- nal strife of the ruling party in Elam. Unnnanigas, the creature of the Assyrian king (§ 780), and at last, as the story goes, his rebellious vassal, was murdered by his own brother, Tannnaritu, also a pardoned fugitive, whom As- shurbanipal had appointed governor of one of the Elamitic provinces. The new king, true to the hereditary policy, ranjjed liimself on the side of the foes of Assvria, and placed an army at the disposal of the hard-})ressed king of Pabylon. Before, however, the promised help could be effective, he in his turn was dethroned by one of the nobles of the country, named Indabigas, who defeated him in battle and compelled him to flee the country with a band of his retainers. After a roundabout journey and many sufferings they found their way to Nineveh, where, by propitiation of the Great King and his gods, the deposed prince succeeded a second time in gaining pro- tection.2 § 783. The rebellious cities of Babylon were thus left without adequate defence. The army of Assyria, having ravaged the open country, cut off their supplies and con- march and defeated the enemy on such and such a field, we read regularly that the captives were brought before him in Nineveh or Asshur to be tor- tured and executed, Ills chief boast is, indeed, that he spent so much time in interceding with his favourite deities for success in war or vengeance upon his foes. This habitual employment was carried nn, of course, in the cities of Assyria proper, and is tloubtless recorded to show among other things that after all it was he who gave success to his armies. He was apparently a new type of Assyrian hero. 1 V R. 3, 128 ff. 2 V R. 3, 130-4, 41. The pardon of Tammaritu is another instance of Asshurbanipal's boasted magnanimity. If the whole story as told in the annals is true, the suppliant was the most grievous offender of them all. Most probably he had been all along a secret supporter of his old patron, and heuce his dethronement by his loyal subjects ! 2b fjH i i t :i ■ 370 FATE OF BABYLONIAN CITIES Book VIII fidently awaited their capitulation. For two full years they endured the blockade. But slow starvation, helpless isolation, and a spirit broken by long vassalage and the shame and suffering of repeated national humiliation, at length did their work. One after another Sippar, Cutha, Borsippa, and Babylon itself, fell a prey to the fury of the unsparing conqueror. The luckless prince in Babylon pre- ferred self-immolation to the tender mercies of his brother, and died in the flames of his own palace.^ Fearful ven- geance, with indescribable cruelties and barbarities, was inflicted upon all surviving rebels. Thus Asshurbanipal, in 648 B.C., became king of Babylon. The land was not further devastated. Nor were the cities destroyed. One redeeming quality, at least, the conqueror had. Unlike Sinacherib (§ 740), he had respect for the culture and science of Babylonia. His passionate desire to appropriate their choicest monuments, and to enrich and adorn there- with his own libraries and palace-walls, may have entered into the motives that swayed him to the side of for- bearance. § 784. To secure Babylon for Assyria one decisive step further was necessary, — the complete subjugation of Elam. With this must be combined the extirpation of the Chal- diean disturber of the peace. A plausible pretext for the invasion of Elam was never lacking, and least of all now that the turbulent monarchy was upon its last probation (§ 288). It was impossible now to allege against Elam a conspiracy with Babylon ; but friendly relations with the Chaldoean chiefs were sufficient to constitute a casus belli. ' As is well known, this is the death ascribed to Asshurbanipal himself (" Sardanajialus ") by the Greek writers. The tradition combined the fortunes of the two brothers. The narrative says naively that the gods threw the rebel prince into burning flame (V K, 4, 4G ff.). Among the deities referred to, Merodach, the tutelary god of Babylon, is conspicuous by his absence. Indeed, Asshurbanipal never claims the protection of Merodach except in connection with his installation (K. .3050 ; G. Smith, History, etc., p. 9 f. ; KB. III. 1, p. 23(5), while Esarhaddon, the friend of Babylon, rejoiced in his patronage. Ch. IX, § 785 ELAM'S TRnUBLE^ A\'I> FALL 371 It was quite iu the order of tLijj^'> tLat the family of Merodach-baladaii should Im (.ojicfiiiiiictt in the business. And so we find that another graiids-om wf the old patriot, Nabu-bel-sumi by name, was the ooe.aiAiiO'iai of intervention. We are assured that, while BabyloM was still unsubdued (c. 650), he persuaded the Assyiiamt* of friendly inten- tions, and afterwards went over to ttlwfr Elamites. After the subjection of Babylonia, he took mSnge with the king of Elam, Indabigas (§ 782). Whem everything seemed to be ready for successful iuti^i-fieiieiniee, Asshurbanipal demanded tlie surrender of the fugitive Chaldiean. Just at this time another revolution was aeie^mplished in Elam, and Indabigas gave place to a soldier named L'mmanaldas. He thought it his duty to refuse tluie (demand for extradi- tion, with the result that in a shon time ke was compelled to flee to the mountains. Tammaritni. ike twice-pardoned fugitive (§ 782), was then placed u|j»0)iiii ith,e throne by the Assyrians. With incredible liardiLifxjjd !ie revolted yet again, and with the customary :e!>iu3t. He now showed the world at last that he could take t<* tlirjht without finding the road to Nineveh. At aimiv rate, he is heard of no more, except in a vague stalemeat to the effect that the gods subjected him a seeoiinKd time to Asshur- banipal.^ The next turn of the kaSeodoscope shows us Ummanaldas again as king of Elam- aiiwi still again faith- ful to his client from the sea-land. § 785. ^Meanwhile AsshurbanipaL itKOnroughly weary of the scene-shifting, was preparing to Immg on the catas- trophe of the tragedy. An adequate force was collected. The land was devastated with lire and sword from end to end. Susa ("Shushan "'), the ca]iitaL waw taken, with its rich, long-undisturbed treasures. XotHjiM':; was left undone that miffht make more sure the ruin 'of the kingdom and exclude its princes and people fiom all liiioi|)e ol restoration. The gods of Elam were deported, and evem the tombs of the kings were rifled of their ghastly eioiniiienits and carried m .'■I V^' \i 1 V R. i>, ;J4 L 372 DEATH OF A TRUE CHALD.KAX Book VIII .s i '' S ' . to Nineveh.^ After the Assyrian army had finished its work of destruction and retired, the king of Ehim returned from his flight. Once more the demand was made upon liim for the surrender of the Chaldiean. But tiie grandson of Merodach-bahxdan asked no further proof of the fidelity of his patron. Sterner than King Saul and his follower, he and his armour-bearer turned their swords upon one another, and so evaded the last ordeal of Assyrian justice. But the vengeance of the conqueror was not wholly baflled. The spirit had perhaps n(jt left the body of the hated Chaldiean. There still remained the luxury of imagining him forever deformed and degraded among his peers in Sheol. The corpse is brought before him b}' his messenger, along with the head of the faithful ai'mour- bearer. But the deed must be left to be described in tlie words of the doer : *' His body I granted not to the tomb. jNIore dead than before I made him.- His head I cut off and bound it on the neck of Xabu-kfiti-sabat, an ofiicer (?) V of Samas-sum-ukin, my brother and enemy, who had joined with him in stirring up war against me in Elam." ^ § 780. Among the other parties to the general uprising (§ 780) perhaps the most formidable were the tribes of Northwestern Arabia. We are only beijinnino' to learn 1 The conquest of Elam is very fully related from the Assyrian stand- point in V U. 5, 3G-7, 8. It was on this occasion that the statue of the goddess Nanil-Ishtar, which had been carried from her temple at Erech to Susa sixteen hundred and thirty-five years before, was restored to its original seat (V K. 0, 107 ff. ; cf. § 107). - The horror of mutilation after death was due to the persuasion that the life of the spirit-world was a counteri)art in its external aspects of the earthly state of existence. Hence a whole body meant an undivided ghost. But to this was added the belief that the spirit did not leave the uncorrupted or unmutilated body till a certain period after the f^mt stage of dissolution (cf. John xi. '-VJ ; Job xiv. :;0). This, apparently, is the explanation of the expre.ssion (luoted above, '• More dead than before I made him." and it may account for the eager ha.ste with which a fallen foe was often beheaded (1 Sam. xvii. 4(i. 51). s This last episode of the war with Elam and the Chaldaeans is told in V R. 7, 9-81. 3o«)K VIII Ch. IX, § 787 BABYLON AIDED BY ARABS 373 the real inipoitiince of these peoples in ancient times. Frequent references have been made to the part they played as allies of the Egyptians, as independent traders of rich resources, and as unwilling subjects of the all- subduing Assyrians (§§ 3o4, 630, 708, 754 f.)- Since the empire of the Tigris had succeeded in securing the "West- land and in concjuering Egypt, it was of tiie very first consequence that these new possessions should be kept free from seditious entanglements with the restless tribes of the desert as well as from their raids over the border. After many costly attenq)ts to put them down, a policy was instituted by Esarhaddon of maintaining among them centres of influence friendly to Assyria and at the same time severely disciplining all maraudeis and malcontents (§ 754 f.). A people less predisposed than these Bedawin to outside interference could scarcely be imagined: and it is not surprising to find that just as two centuries before they had contributed their quota of men and camels to the defence of the west country against the encroachments of Shalmaneser II. (§ 228;, so now the}' were not backward in offering aid to the wider movement for freedom and revenge. Accordingly the leading chief of the Arabs east of Palestine, Yailta by name, son of the Hazael of whom we have heard in Esarhaddon's wars ( § 754 f.),^ refused to continue his tribute, and sent two of his chiefs with a con- tingent of riders to the assistance of the " disloyal brother," at the opening of the Babylonian war. This took place, of course, before 648 u.c. The new problems and their result- ing complications furnished motives for one of the most arduous and prolonged of the campaigns of Asshurbanipal. § 787. We cannot here go into tlie somewhat obscure details of the narrative of the Assyrian annalists. The main enterprise, however, is of great interest for two reasons. Palestine, especially the kingdom of Judah, was involved in the same insurrection. Besides, the story 1 V R. 7, 82 ff.; Cyl. B. VII, 87 ff.; Smitli. 283 ff., 290 ff. Cf. Haupt, '• Wateh-ben-IIazael," in Hthraica, vol. i. (1885). ; I- u hi I) i (I ^. \ < I ' ' ! |F ii In \ i ! 374 WAR WITH ARAB TRIBES Book VIII \ ! ■■\ 1 '. ., makes familiar and more real to us several of the Bible localities and peoples which have as yet scarcely come within the region of actual knowledge. We distinguish two great divisions of Arab tribes among those with whom the Assyrians had now to do. Yaiita was the leader among the one group, whose pasture-grounds and semi- nomadic settlements extended from the east of Moab to the north of Damascus as far as Zobah (cf. § 202). The Assyrian posts along the border were soon reinforced from Nineveh, and Yaiita, his allies, and dependents were de- feated in a series of encounters (c. 647 u.c.). The Great King describes the actions as having been fought in several localities ; among others in Edom (^ina Udumi'), in Amnion (ina Blt-Ammdni), in the territory of Hauran («'«« nagl ^a ffinirlna)^ and of Zobah {Sii-bi-ti). Yaiita himself sought refuge in vain with Natnu, the king of Nebaioth.^ In close union with these more northerly tribes at this time were the people of Nebaioth and of Kedar.^ The chief of the Kedarenes joined in the league against Assyria. His defeat was speedily effected. § 788. But unexpected developments brought much graver difficulties to the rulers at Nineveh. The sons of ^ Probably the Nabatreans of the cLassical writers, who are also famil- iar to lis from the inscriptions of about the time of the Christian era found in Sinai, Petra, and the Hanran, and from numerous coins. For Biblical notices, see Gen. xxv. l;) ; xxviii. 9 ; xxxvi. 3 ; Isa. Ix. 7. Ac- cording to the last-named passage they were a powerful tribe, as possess- inc; immense herds of cattle. As In the cuneiform records they are associated closely with Kedar, so also in the Bible, and in Pliny, Hist. Nat., V. II, (l.j. - It is the northerly tribes and their neighbours, lying to the east also of Palestine, that are called by the general name " Arabs" in the Bible, in the cuneiform inscriptions, and other early documents (see Glaser, Skizze Ardhiens, II, ol5). The others, such as Nebaioth and Kedar, lying south or southeast of Palestine, are distinguished by their own special names. Kedar lay to the east of Nebaioth as its nearest neighbour. It was a powerful community, as one might infer from the numerous references in the Old Testament (Isa. xxi. 16 f.; xlii. 11; Ix. 7; Jer. ii. 10 ; xlix. 28; Ez. xxvii. 21; Ps. cxx. o; Cant. i. o). For Kedar and Nebaioth see especially Par. 290 ff.; KAT.- U7 f. ; and Glaser, op. cit. 311 f. ' I <' Book VIII Cii. IX, § 788 KEDAR AND NEBAIOTH 87fi Yaiita had fared very badly in the expedition for the relief of Jiabylon (§ 786), and they gave themselves uj) to Asshurbanipal (648 u.c). They were pardoned by him, and upon the revolt of their father, the elder brother, Abiyate by name, was made king over the Kedarenes. After a time, however, the first love and hate resumed their rights in the soul of this typical son of the desert, and he joined Natnu, the chief of Nebaioth, against the Ninevite empire. This prince, who had formerly rejected Yauta, the foe of Assyria, and left him to some m3'sterious fate, was now ready to take up arms in a more general revolt, to which Uaite, the new king of the Arabians, also lent his aid. It was to meet this formidable uprising that one of the most remarkable expeditions of antiquity was organized and despatched. As the disturb- ances extended far to the north in the Syro-Arabian desert, and were participated in by Aranueans as well as Arabs, the march was not made either from southern or eastern Palestine, but direct from Nineveh over the Tigris and Euphrates and through the desert. The description of the campaign is done in the best style of the later school of Assja-ian annalists, and, along with much conventional bombast, contains passages of real rhetorical excellence. For example, the lamentation of the hunted and desolate Arabians is quoted ^ with an exquisite sense of their suf- ferings and yet without a softening touch of pity or com- punction, the whole series of calamities being referred, as a matter of course, to the just vengeance of Asshur upon the violators of his covenant. The first march of about four hundred miles brought the Assyrians to the midst of the desert of Mas, — the Syro-Arabian desert, — where the people of Nebaioth and their allies were met and overcome, and the survivors carried to Damascus. That central border-land city was now made the base of opera- tions, which were not stayed till all the leaders of the 1 V R. 9, 68 ff. The whole interesting record is given in V R. 7, 82- 10, 5, tlie longest of the campaign narratives. ,''■ .■ I r: ! li i; ,' 370 CUXCOMITAXr KKVOLTS UOOK VIII vious that some considerable portion of western Palestine had [)rompted these disturbances. Within this territory there was now only one community in a position to take such a step, namely, the kingdom of Judah. For with this exception the whole country west of the Jordan was now under direct Assyrian administration. § 700. Yet in the annals of Asshurbanipal, which re- count these affairs so completely, there is no mention of any uprising on the part of the Judaite monarchy. We find indeed an allusion in the Hebrew literature itself which appears to satisfy the requirements of the situation. In 2 Chr. xxxiii., after an account of the infidelity and idola- trous practices of the king of Judah, Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, the narrative goes on to relate (vs. 10-13): " And Jehovah spoke to Manasseh and to his people ; but they gave no heed. And Jehovah brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria. And they made Manasseh prisoner with hooks, and bound him with fetters, and led him to Babylon. And when he was in dis- tress he besought Jehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And he prayed unto him, and he was propitiated by him and heard his suppli- cation, and restored him to Jerusalem to his kingdom. So Manasseh knew that Jehovah was God." In trying to re- gard this episode from the true historical standpoint we find ourselves brought once more directly to our central theme — Israel in its relations to its dominant environment. We 1' 1 I ! : ! 378 JUDAH IN THE INTERVAL Book VIII Mi n '!! :» i\ m accordingly need to take a brief survey of the political his- tory of Judali from the point where it was broken off, leaving for later consideration its religious and moral features. § 791. The recuperation of the territory of Judah after its desolation by the army of Sinacherib went on slowly but surely for many years. The devastation was so wide- spread and complete that it was not till the spring of G99 B.C. that agricultural operations were resumed on an exten- sive scale ( § 721). The loss of over two hundred thousand of the population, most of whom would naturally be heads of families, placed a heavy burden on those who remained. The repairing or rebuilding of the houses, the restoration of city walls, the reclamation of fugitive children and rela- tives, must have, occupied many long and anxious months. Jerusalem was indeed intact, and within its defences had no doubt been gathered many from the surrounding coun- try (cf. § 352 ). But within the forty-six fortified towns taken by storm were also found many refugees whose fate was death or exile. Moreover, the second inroad of Sin- acherib (§ 696) must have taken the people by surprise, and rendered access difficult to the central city of refuge. Nothing is told us of the details of these pathetic attempts to retrieve the irretrievable. While to multitudes it meant the beginning of life over again, to the chastened Hezekiah and his counsellors it meant the reconstruction of the state upon new foundations. § 792. We must not suppose, however, that there had been any serious loss of proper territory. True, Sinacherib transferred (§ 675) certain districts formerly controlled by Hezekiah to the domains of Ashdod, Ekron, and Gaza ; but practically this amounted to little or nothing more than the restitution of lands normally Philistian, of which the king of Judah had despoiled these principalities (2 K. xviii. 8 ; § 651). Their retention after the calamities of Judah would in any case have been impossible.^ The 1 With a startling misconception of the condition of Judah after the Assyrian invasion, Stade (GVI. I, 624) gives it as his opinion that it was Book VIII i itical lus- f, leaving ;ures. dah after in slowly so wide- ig of 699 an exten- thousand be heads I'emained. oration of and rela- s months, snces had ing conn- ed towns ^hose fate d of Sin- surprise, f refuge, attempts it meant ezekiah the state iiere had Inacherib )ntrolled Gaza ; iig move M which 5S (2 K. lities of II The after the liat it was Cii. IX, § 793 RELATIONS WITH ASSYRIA 379 prostration of Palestine generally after the Assyrian scourge had done its work disinclined the petty com- munities towards reciprocal aggression, and Judah was at liberty to work out its own destiny, of course under the continued overlordship of the Great King. § 793. Any thought of further revolt against Assyria was out of the question. We grossly misconceive Lhe whole political situation if we suppose that the disaster which befell the army of Sinacherib in the autumn of 701 weakened upon the whole the prestige of Assyria in tlic West. Though Sinacherib and his forces had vanished, the permanent garrisons remained in the country, and the provinces were administered from Nineveh as before. The retention of the fortresses of Palestine and all their bases of supply was a matter vital to the very existence of tlie em- pire. That Sinacherib did not succeed in conquering Jeru- salem was no proof of inability to hold Palestine against all comers. The least sign of waning power in the Mediter- ranean coast-land would have been a virtual notitication to Egypt that she might enter in and take possession. But the Assyrians had in 701 actually extended their direct influence in Palestine, had besides beaten the Egyptians out of that country, and had retired at last, not before a more powerful enemy, but only before unmistakable por- tents of celestial displeasure. Least of all could Judah, prostrate, bleeding, and more than decimated, dream for many a year of asserting an independence which at best could be gained and maintained only by the help of a com- bination of powerful nationalities. We do not forget the failure and rebuff of Sinacherib. Put the significance fen- Jerusalem of that exceptional episode was simpl}- this, that it and its dependent territory were saved from Ijccomiiig an Assyrian province. There was a world-wide difference at this kiter time that Judali aciiuired tlie Pliilistian territory meiitioiietl ill 2 K. xviii. 8. Tliat KwaUl, Ifistory of Ism<:l (Engl, tr.), iv. 18(3, lichl a similar view was natural enough in his comparatively uiiunliiihlened time. *;. I I r ii 380 JUDAH LET ALONE BY ASSYRIA Book VIII i L between the continuance of such autonomous vassalajje^as Hezekiah had inherited from his fatlier, under the suze- rainty which Sargon had passed on to Sinacherib, and an obliteration of all political and social rights, along with tlie religious disabilities which must surely have followed in its train. On the other hand, the wreaking of vengeance upon Jerusalem, such as that which was afterwards inflicted upon Babylon (§ 740), was not beyond the bounds of pos- sibility under a prince who had already shown himself to be so cruel and remorseless. While Hezekiah and Isaiah lived, no such tempting of Providence would again be ven- tured as that which had brought almost total ruin upon city and country alike. On the whole, Hezekiah and his little "remnant" had enough to do to rebuild the shattered fabric of the state, to restore the waste places of Judah, and in general to cultivate the arts of peace and the ser- vices of the religion of Jehovah, vindicated b}' the great deliverance. § 794. Under ordinary conditions a countrj"- devas- tated by the Assyrian armies might expect aid from the conquerors themselves in its renewal and restoration. It Avas an essential element in the imperial Assyrian policy that, while rebels should be severely punished, thei'' lands, as tributary to the empire, should be conserved and devel- oped. Hence it was a necessary feature of the sj'stem of deportation that, in place of the nations of the country, who were transplanted to remote districts also under the sway of the Great King, others should be introduced, with the twofold purpose of habituating them to direct control from Nineveh, and of promoting the productiveness of the land and its prospective value to the empire. The wisest and best of the Assyrian kings adopted this policy towards Samaria long after its conquest (see § 799). Sinaclierib. after \vasting the country of Judah with fire and sword, loft it to itself. The attitude of the conqueror towards Judah was, in all respects, exceptional and notal)le. Why lie should not have occupied it after its devastation, contigu- Book VIII 3siilage,as the suze- b, and an f with tlie wed in its mce upon inflicted ds of pos- limself to md Isaiah in be ven- •uin upon h and his shattered of Judah, d the ser- the great r}' devas- from the ation. It an policy ei'' lands, nd devel- Isystem of country, nder the [ced, with t control ss of the le wisest ■ towards Inacherib. :ord. left Is Judah Wliy he contigu- Cii. IX, § 790 LESSONS OF NATIONAL TRIAL 381 ous as it was to other Assyrian possessions, and easily kept under control, can onl}' be accounted for on the liy})(>thesis of his aversion to having any further dealings witli a land so ill-omened for Assyria (§ 732). Such neglect of a country whose ruin he had well nigh accomplished, while it may have retarded its material development, was never- theless of moral and religious advantage to the surviving inhabitants. § 795. In caring for the kingdom thus remitted to his charge by the Assyrian invader, and in cariying out more earnest and effective measures for the reformation of re- ligion, the remaining ten years of the life of Hezekiah passed peacefully away. The political quiet which reigned throughout the land, while it was favourable to the former task (§ 791 f.), was equally so to the latter. The whole- some lesson had been taught more powerfully by the prac- tical discipline of war and devastation than by the aj^peals and denunciations of Isaiah, that plots and conspiracies and seditions against Assyria only unfitted the Hebrew people for their true mission. It put into clear relief the essential nature of Israel's struggle for its real interests, which lay in the conservation and cultivation of the re- ligion of Jehovah. The net results oi the unequal conflict were, first, that the kingdom of Judah, with its central city, was allowed to survive ; and, second, that it Avas allowed to retain its position as a state on probation ; suspected indeed, but yet tolerated on condition of regular payment of tribute. There was therefore no question, while the country remained quiescent, of forcing upon it either for- eign officials or alien gods. § 796. Equally favourable to Isaiah's particular plans of religious reform was the outward condition of the country at large. The reformation had man}' details of stricter and more earnest ritual (2 Chr. xxix.-xxxi.). But its great distinc- tion was that which in its earlier stages had been noticed even by the officers of Sinacherib (2 K. xviii. 22); namely, the centralization of the sacrificial services in Jerusalem, i ^ ' i-i i ; ■ 88a CENTHALIZATION OF WORSHIP Book VIII "What could be more propitious for this enterprise than the state of the country at large in its humiliation and desola-r tion? It was the local sanctuaries and the stated \A'orship and the ministry of the attendant priesthood that gave prestige to the towns in their respective neighbourhoods throughout the land. These were, as a matter of course, dismantled and disbanded by the "servants of Asshur" in their campaign of devastation ; and their restoration could only be accelerated with the rapid return of population and prosperity. The observance of these conditions made it easy for Hezekiah and his dominant counsellor to per- suade the surviving votaries of former shrines to resort to the central sanctuary on Mount Zion. What was of equal importance, especially for the first decisive movements towards centralization, was the outstanding fact that Jeru- salem, the special seat of Jehovah, had been spared, while the territory overlooked by the " high places " had wit- nessed the triumph and listened to the blasphemies of the enemies of Jehovah and his people.^ An inevitable result, in any case, must have been a large permanent accession to the population of Jerusalem. On all grounds a rare opportunity was now afforded for the completion of the work of reform in ritual and worship. § 797. Hezekiah, as we have seen (§ 638), must have died about 690 B.C. Our data make him to have been forty-four years old at the time of his death. The very tender age at whicli his son Manasseh, probably his eldest-born, suc- ceeded to the throne is additional evidence that he passed away as a comparatively 3'oung man. Yet his life had been eventful, and of great importance for the history and 1 Compare the argument of P.s. Ixxiv. 8-10, applying to somewhat sim- ilar conditions, though in a later age. We must not overlook the fact that the hardships of the deposed priests and the officials of the local sanctuaries must liave been much less than if they had been summarily expt'lled in a time of peace and prosperity. F. W. Newman, Ilistonj of the Ifebrew Mnnairhy (3d edition, 1805), p. 290, has some creditable but, as we can now see, exaggerated expressions of sympathy for these suf- ferers at the hands of the reforming party. Cm. IX, § 708 HKZKKIAH — HIS WOHK AND ErOCII destiny of his people. His reign is marked by three mon- umental distinctions. The first was that in spite of early successes in aggressive conquest and diplomacy their final issue brought about the adoption of the prophetic policy of national quiescence and trust in Jehovah. The second was the reformation in worship which was promoted so largely through the changed political conditions. The third was the composition and publication of the most powerful and fai'-reaching of the Old Testament prophecies. This was an age of great issues and decisive events in that little cor- ner of the world where the world's fate was being prepared. The most significant of all its lessons was one which was probably not understood by any except Isaiah and his dis- ciples, as indeed the complete apprehension of such a lesson is rarely within the reach of contemporaries. Under Hezekiah the sceptre was departing from Judah ; but in his time were forged some of those spiritual Aveapons which have reclaimed for the kingdom of God a territory much vaster than all that was wasted by the Assyrian. As for Hezekiah himself, it is no detraction to say that he was not always equal to his opportunities or his duty. He was not in any sense a great king. But few kings in any age have been great men, and still fewer have been good. It is only just to say that he stands out in moral stature above all the preceding kings of Israel or Judah. His errors of ambition and intrigue were those of an inherited policy and were committed by him while still a youth. His con- spicuous merit is that in his afflictions and reverses he sin- cerely humbled himself (Isa. xxxvii. 1 ff. ; xxxviii. 9 ff.), and that he bent himself at last without reserve to the pro- phetic work and purpose. He has thereby gained a renown more just than the adventitious distinction which has asso- ciated his name with the golden age of Hebrew literature. § 798. Manasseh, the son^ of Hezekiah (690-640), came to the throne of Judah under circumstances quite different 1 Possibly not his only son ; see the prediction Isa. xxxix. 7. The asser- tions of Siuacherib (§ 675, Col. Ill, 38), which seem to throw further Hi' «:■ .v 384 EARLY YEARS OF MANASSEH Book VIII I'l V .( '.' ■ i from those which had attended the accession of any of his predecessors. The most important outward change was that which had converted the territory outside of Jerusa- lem into an appanage of the capital, such as it continued to be until the close of the monarchy.^ Of the details of his civil government we have little or no information. Of one thing we may be sure, that no serious disturbance in any important line of policy was made during the years of liis minority. Centralization of government as well as of worship being a sure tendency of absolute monarchy, this was perhaps the only marked political and social feature of his earlier years. Upon another important point we can speak with confidence. Sinacherib did not cease to rule in Nineveh till Manasseh had been about ten years upon the throne. Non-interference of Assyria in Palestine was con- tinued by Esarhaddon, so that we must consider the first twenty years of the long reign of INIanasseh to have been free from harmful complications with the controlling state. What these years brought to Jerusalem, Bible readers well know. § 799. The change of religious policy in Judah so pro- nounced and disastrous was, we may safely assume, in- augurated about 680 B.C. At that time Manasseh must have attained to the years of independent action ; and as Isaiah and his chief supporters had passed from the scene, no opposition was given to the wild impulses of a misguided youth. Another coincidence it may be proper to note. It was at this date that a new king came to the throne of light upon the household circumstances of Hezekiah, are merely the regu- lar form of statement made in recounting the subjection of a rival king. 1 Notice, as bearing upon this revolution, the contrast presented by the later portion of the prophecy of Micah compared with the earlier. In the one case (chs. ii. and iii. ) the evils condemned by the prophet are those practised by great country landholders, as well as the nobles of the capital. In the other case it is the iniquities of city life that are expressly censured (vi. 9 £f.). It is indeed a question whether the latest chapters were not written by Micah himself (§ 595), now living in Jerusalem, to which we may perhaps assume that he retired after the devastation of his country home by the Assyrians (ch. i. 14 ff. ; cf. § 791, 790). !HB Book VIII I of any of his d change was lide of Jerusa- t continued to the details of arniation. Of listiirbance in ig the years of ' as well as of nonarchy, this social feature t point we can ease to rule in ears upon the itine was con- sider the first . to have been trolling state. 3 readers well Tudali so pro- r assume, in- masseh must ition ; and as >m the scene, a misguided to note. It le throne of iierely the regu- a rival king, rosfuted by the earlier. In the iphet are those s of the capital, ressly censured pters were not n, to which we of his coiintrv Ch. IX, § 799 NEW RELIGIOUS I^*LirT 385 Assyria. Now it may be observed llnat the religious revo- lutions which took place in Is;raiell hzd Lfenerally behind them a political occasion. Thus tine idolatrous career of Ahaz was begun after he had comie ramtler obligations to Assyria (§ 336). The reform of Hiezekiah was [)romoted through the withdrawal of Sinach^nk And the later re- form under Josiah was undertak<-iii when the power of Assyria, hitherto predominant, had tjKriran its rapid decline (cf. § 828). Manasseh necessarily ^iifer appeared in Nine- veh personally to render homage to E*airEa.otIliey was followed by Asshurbanipal in the earlier years of hu reign (Ezra iv. 9, 10), who as the conqueror of Susa «§ 7^5) transplanted thither people of that city,^ of BaWionii, Erech, and other less known localities. il. 1 Cf. I'ar. p. ;;^, 2c 380 DKCLIN'K (»F l'K(»I'HETISM Hook VIII i"! : i § 800. The most marked feature of the internal \\ie and history of tlie Judaite monarchy was the rejection of the prophetic control in the policy of tlie state. This was inseparable from the loss of prestige whicli the Prophets suffered from the degradation of the worship of Jehovah. Their counsel invariably was to hold a middle course be- tween restless intrigue against Ass3'ria, which had brought untold calamities upon the state, and that obsequious cul- tivation of Assyrian patronage which surely resulted in moral and religious evils still more disastrous. That they should have been at once put into the background was inev- itable. And yet it is remarkable tliat scarcely a pro[)hetic voice was raised during all those j-ears for purity of morals or of religion. Micah, indeed, in the closing days of his career, arraigns with dramatic force the false religion, the gloomy unspiritual ritualism, and the reckless immorality and dishonesty of the capital (ch. vi.). But the very ab- sence of his old aggressive bitterness is an evidence that he came less into public view than in the days of the ear- lier struggle. He was indeed the last of that great order of Prophets which began when Assyria was first looming up on the Jiorizon of Israel, and ended with its swift decline. : . . § 801. Thus the years went on till the time of general commotion came which resulted finally in the downfall of Babylonian independence, the devastation and annexa- tion of Elam, and the scourging of the tribes of Northern Arabia (§ 776 ff.). In connection witli these larger upris- ings came those smaller insurrections whose association with the leading centres of disturbance has already been shown (§ 786 ff.). At last Judah itself joined the list of disaffected states (§ 790). Its share in the rebellion was brief and inglorious. An armed force overran the country. The capital was sacrificed without resistance. Manasseh was taken and carried to Nineveh.^ 1" Babylon" is mentioned as the place of banisliment, instead of Nineveh, by a natural mistake of tlie writer or perhaps of some copyist. ^-Mi Cii. IX, § 803 THE UKVOLT AM) ITS DATK ;!87 s^ 802. It may niiturally be asked how it is known that Assliurbanipal and not Esavhaddon was the ruling king when this revolution took place in Judali. The question is already virtually answered in the preceding narrative. There was no opportunity or indeed possibility of such a change of attitude on the part of INIanasseh during the earlier reign. Nor was the motive of a rebellion under Assliurbanipal very obvious. We are, indeed, not to un- derstand that Judah took a prominent part in the insur- rection. IMost probaljly it wjis rather guilty of negotiation with the Arab tribes of the border (§ 786 ff.) than of armed resistance to the Assyrians. It may possibly have been the Arabs who, before the arrival of the Assyrian reinforcements, by terrorism and a system of blackmail, secured the promise of assistance from Jerusalem. This was sufficient to bring summary chastisement from the Assyrian over-lord. We may notice how strikingly the account in Chronicles illustrates the character of the war- fare of Assliurbanipal. According to his peculiar wont he did not proceed in person, but it was " the captains of the host " (xxxiii. 11) who carried Manasseh to Babylon. " Hooks " (cf. 2 K. xix. 28) were used to secure the cap- tive king — a favourite procedure of the same Assyrian monarch so noted for his whimsical cruelty.^ § 803. It may be asked further, " Why then was this transaction not mentioned in the annals of Assliurbani- pal?" The answer is that these records do not contain an account of all the numbeiless details of provincial wars. Only events of essential moment were recorded, particu- larly those which affected the status of the empire as a whole. Doubtless a multitude of other princes, before and after this episode, shared the fate of Manasseh for similar offences. Moreover, the disturbance was not so marked, because Manasseh submitted without resistance. Hence, also, his kingdom was not annexed. Nor was he himself subjected either to death or permanent captivity. 1 V R. 9, 105 ff. I I \\ i I ii It 388 MANASSKirs KXILK; HIS INFLLKXCK Book VIII Indeed, he was at last included among the nuniher of pris- oners of rank who found grace in the eyes of the tyrant. § 804. According to the Biblical narrative (2 Chr. xxxiii. 12 f.) ^lanasseh's captivity was to him a means of grace and an occasion of repentance. In answer to his prayer to Jehovah, whom he had slighted and dishonoured, deliverance was granted him and restoration to his home and kingdom. Now at las^t he began to show symptoms of right kingly sense. He manifested a regard not merely for the material defences of his country (v. 14), but above all an endeavour to undo, as far as might be, the evils which had been wrought through his cruelties and immoralities. He liad not very long to labour in this laudable work. He died about 640 B.C., seven years after the defeat of the border Arabians (§ 787), which we have assumed to be nearly synchronous with the beginning of his captivity. It would appear from this that he was liberated not very long after his imprisonment had begun. § 805. jNIanasseh's long reign was upon the whole one rather of moral than of political decline. The kingdom could not but continue for some time to recuperate under the peaceful r<3gime of Esarhaddon and the early 3-ears of his successor. Compromised as it was by the treachery of its king towards the Assyrians, it does not seem to have suffered permanently in consequence. On the other hand, a general deterioration must have been the result of the religious reaction. There is too much reason to believe that the " innocent blood " which Manasseh shed so pro- fusely in Jerusalem was to a great extent at least that of the adherents of the refoi-ming party and its leaders the prophetic guild.^ In the fury of persecuting zeal many of 1 It is unnecessary to say that tlie story thcat Isaiah at the age of ne.arly ninety was sawn asunder by the order of Manasseh has only tlie authority of remote tradition ; see Driver, IsrtiaJi, hin Life and Times, p. 2. It is not impossible (Hebr. xi. .37); and there is no objection to it on the score of the time of Isaiah's life. If he was thirty years old in 738 u.c. (§ 209; Isa. vi. 1), he must have been, if living, about eighty-eight at the date of the persecution (cf. § 700). 1 iA- Book VIII • of prikS- yrant. (2 Chr. a means er to his onoured, lis 1 10111 e pnptonis it merely ut above ils which oralities. ork. He it of the eel to be iaptivity. not very rhole one kingdom e under ears of cheiy of to have er hand, of the believe so pro- that of ers the many of of nearly authority 2. It is the score c. (§209; 16 date of C'li. IX, ^ 1*07 BRIEF CAREER OF A.MON 380 those who still preferred unmixed Jehovah worship would naturally be made to share their fate. Thus the best blond of the community was poured out like water, and both the head and heart of the state were smitten with a deadly wound. ^ 806. Manasseh was succeeded by his son Anion (G40-()39 B.C.). Unlike liis predecessor and successor, he was a mature man when he came to the throne,^ and thus entered upon his own chosen policy without delay. He apparently had already held the supreme power'-^ during his father's exile, and was a devoted adherent of the foreicfn worship and its cruel rites. Most probably for this reason the new king was intensely un[)opular. The brief inter- lude of righteousness and morality under the repentant Manasseh was perhaps more to the liking even of the men of the court. A conspiracy was formed by which Anion's life came to a sudden and violent end in his own palace. However we may demur to the metliod of assassination, it must be allowed tliat the continuance of the present [)olicy would have been destructive of the state. And yet the act itself was not popular. The feeling of loyalty to the king in Judah was so strong (§ 277 f.) that "the people of the land," that is, the freemen in general, as distin- guished from the court party, put the conspirators to death. They then set upon the throne Josiah, son of Anion, being little more than an infant (2 K. xxi. 28 ff.). § 807. That the prophetic and reforming party had at last gained the upper hand in the state is proved l)y the character of the youthful Josiah (639-608 B.C.). During 1 Probably a few years older than twenty-two (1 K. xxi. 19), for in this case he would only have been lifteen or sixteen years of age at the birth of Josiah (cf. 1 K. xxii. 1). - There must have been some " king " in Jerusalem during the absence of Manasseh, however brief that period was, for the simple reason that the Assyrian rulers invariably appointed a substitute for a dethroned monarch in a rebellious state. Now tiiere is no word of any other king than Anion in Judah at this period. This forms an additional argument in favour of his having been over twenty-two at his accession. n\ \ 'I 800 JOSIAII THE HKFOIJMEII Book VIII the ten years of his niiiioiity lie was preserved from the vices and idohitrous habits which wouhl inevitably liavi' ruined an}- hid not hedged in by better influences. The outlook for religion and morality, always the main issues in Israel, now became ])righter. Hence when Josiah was ready to undertake the most extensive and far-reaching ref- ormation known in the history of his people, he found about him both civil and spiritual oflicers eager to promote his designs. It would be putting it more fairly, perhaps, to say that the good work was prepared by them and per- formed at their instigation. Indeed, the great prophet Jeremiah had been called to the ministry five years before the work was formally begun (cf. 2 K. xxii. 3 with Jer. i. 2). We must, however, leave for a time these mixed con- ditions so fraught with fateful issues for Judah and Jeru- salem, and take a hurried survey of the closing scenes in the history of Assyria. !' I H.M)K VIH CHAPTER X 4 DOWNFALL OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE § 808. The events hitherto recorded have brouglit the story of Assyria down to about G44 n.c. At this date King Asshurbanipal had completed more than one-half of his long reign. The years thus traversed had been spent in almost continuous war, and at the close of the record Assyria was still standing in her strength and pride. True, Egypt was lost beyond hope of recovery. But, as a com- pensation for its loss, the feebler successor of its conqueror doubtless congratulated himself that the whole of tlic West-land and of Arabia was now held secure against Egypt. Moreover, the northern, northwestern, and north- eastern regions, so long coveted by the Assyrian kings, were also lost forever. If conquests in Cappadocia or Armenia, among the Mannteans or the non-Ar3'an Medians had still been possible, they would have soon to be sur- rendered to the new claimants from the farther north (§ 758, 773 ff.). With all of these aggressive warfare was at an end. But was extension or further conquest desir- able ? Had not the empire of the Tigris at last realizx'd the true measure of its strength? From the ^Mediterranean to the mountains of INIedia, from iNIount Taurus to tlie heart of Arabia, from Kurdistan to the Persian Gulf, the lordship of Asshur was still secure. These were the natu- ral limits of such an empire, the proper Semitic realm (§ 17). Assyria had learned at last that her dominion must be determined by the possibility of undistprbed ad- ministration. And within these boundaries the organiza- 391 i ! t : !' ti 392 LIMITS AND WEAKNESS OF THE EMPIRE Book VIII tion of provinces and subject states was alike perfect. The only exception was northern Arabia. But its people had been disciplined by many defeats, and were over- awed by the numerous watchful border garrisons. Else- where chances of serious trouble seemed sliglit. The most valuable, and at the same time the most uncertain, part of the empire was Babylonia. But here the Chaldreaus and I-^lamites had l)een taught by sword and flame and banishment that even among them Asshur was to reign supreme. Surely at last an Assyrian king might rest from strife and enjoy the fruits of long centuries of effort and of assiduous prayer to the great gods of Nineveh I § 809. But the strongest cohesive force in the empire was still phj-sical compulsion. Everywhere the generals and governors and officers of the revenue confronted a disarmed and yet hostile population. The great combina- tion of communities was, strictly speaking, not an organ- ism. It resembled one of those structures which are made up of pieces kept together by a keystone, whose natural tendency is to separate rather than unite, and whose func- tion is to keep the parts in place and prevent disturl)ance by unrelaxing pressure exerted equally upon them all. A movement of any one of the elements brings the un- cemented pile to ruin. The Assyrian empire could still survive the impact of border incursions, or tlie tremor of local uprisings. But let numerous enemies pass over the land, and no force as yet generated by the political agencies of the ancient world could save the structure from demo- lition. A crreat disinteofratinof factor — one of the most iniluential in all Oriental history — was brought into play by the famous invasions of the Scythians. § 810. The annals of Asshurbanipal do not go beyond about 642 B.C., and our best authority for the Scythians and their invasions is still Herodotus, who gives us a graphic picture of their mode of migration, their appear- ance and habits, and the extent of their depredations. There is much in his description to remind us of the Book VITT ! perfect, its people ere over- is. Else- The most tain, pai't lialda3an;s lame and to reign rest from effort and le empire generals :ronted a combina- m organ- are made B natural ose func- tui-hance hem all. the un- uld still emor of over the aofencies n demo- he most ito play beyond ivthians }s us a 1 appear- Idations. of the Cii. X, § 810 THE SCYTHIANS 303 Tatars and their repeated inroads into the oivili/.tMl regions of the south and Avest, especially of the later more abiding conquests of Huns, Mongols, and Turks. They are represented, no doubt with some exaggeration, as a people coarse and gross in their habits, with stout fleshy bodies, loose joints, and scanty hair. They never washed themselves ; their nearest approach to ablution was a vapour-bath. The}' lived either in wagons or in tents of felt of a simple and rude construction, and sul)- sisted on mares' milk and cheese, to which the boiled flesh of horses and cattle was added occasionally as a rare deli- cacy. In war their customs were very barljarous. Tiie Scythian, who slew his enemy in wrath, innnediately pro- ceeded to drink his blood. lie then cut off his head, after which he stripped the scalp from the skull, and hung it on his bridle-reiu as a trophy. The upper portion of the skull he commonly made into a drinking-cup. The greater part of each day he spent on horseback, in attendance on the huge herds of cattle which he pastured. His favour- ite w apon was the bow, which he used as he rode, shoot- ing his arrows with great precision. He generally carried, l)esid<-.-'- his bow and arrows, a short spear or javelin, and sometimes bore also a short sword or l)attle-axe. The nation of the Scythians comprised within it a number of distinct tribes. At the head of all was a royal tribe corresponding to the "Golden Horde" of the Mongols, M'hich was l)raver and moi-e numerous than anj' other, and regarded all the remaininij tribes as slaves. To this belonged the families of the kings, who ruled by heredi- tary right, and who seem to have exercised a ver}' con- sideral)le authority. Wo often heai' of several kings as bearing rule at the same time ; but there is generally some indication of dispai'ity, from which we gather that, in times of danger at any rate, the supreme power was always really lodged in the hands of a single man.^ 1 The above description I liave taken, with slijiht ahrid.irnient, from G. Eawlinson, The Fivo (iront .Vo)/''/v///(.< (1881), vol, ii, p. 22;] f., whose sum- I !| I ! f I? I i M U 1:1 I 394 CHARACTER OF THE INVASIONS Book VIII § 811. The details of the invasion that have thus come down to us must be treated with some ^liscrimination. The exact date of the incursions is in any case unceitain. Herodotus gives twenty-eight years as the duration of their visit. But this is manifestly impossible. So long a stay would amount to a settlement on the part of at least large sections of the confederation, and would have left permanent traces in types of population and manners. It may be, however, that the informants of Herodotus counted backwards in their rough fashion, from the capture of Nine- veh, 607 B.C. This would make the earliest inroads to have occurred in 635, a date which suits all the condi- tions as far as we know them. At that time there were still nine years left of the reign of Asshurbanipal, and it is likely that the most formidable of the Scythian inva- sions took place during the maintenance of military order under that king. If the most serious inroads had occurred during the brief reigns of his two feeble successors, they would have had a material share in the ruin of the empire. As we know, however, it was by neither Kimmerians nor Scythians that the Assyrian dominion received its final death-blow. Two further traditional exaggerations must be corrected. These people could not have come all in one swarm ; nor did they cover the whole face of the Ass3'rian empire at once. They arrived in successive migrations ; they made gradual advances, and that by definite routes. § 812. Indeed, the Assyrian empire proper, as above outlined (§ 808), could not possibly be the chief sufferer. Coming, as these Scythians did, iuto southwestern Asia from over the Caucasus, they had first to encounter the Aryan Medes, now already organized into a [)0werfnl kingdom (§ 822). With them, indeed, as it would appear, their most prolonged struggle was maintained, and appar- mary of the iufonnation given by the Greek writers has in a sense become chissical. Furtlier notices are given in tlie continuation of the above extract, along willi full references to tlie literature. :i^' Cii. X, § 813 THEIR DEVASTATIONS LOCAL 395 ently the Medians came off well from the conflict. Then they wonld have to meet the hardy warriors of Armenia, and, in their westward course, those of Cappadocia, to whose population the Kimmerian accessions lent a vigor- ous element. They avoided the desert ways. But as they traversed the rich plains of Mesopotamia, and marched against the strong fortresses of Syria, they had to encoun- ter not merely the Assyrian garrisons, but also many a troop of Arabs, who could match the invaders with their own weapons, and inflict endless damage by hanging per- petually upon their rear. As to the fortunes of the south- west under this visitation, we have good i-eason to believe that Palestine was little harassed, if at all.' It is related that Psammetichus, the prince of the Delta who had re- stored the independence of Egypt (^5 768), being warned of their approach when they had got as far as Askalon, bought them off from invading Egypt by valuable gifts.^ If Palestine suffered to any great extent, it must have been in the territory east of the Jordan, which might furnish congenial pasture ground to these rangers of the steppes. They were scarcely very formidable in numbers by the time they reached the south of the Philistian plain. We may safely take it for granted that the terror which they in- spired was their most serious infliction upon the peojile of Judah. The visitation was made during the minority of Josiah (§ 807), when the military spirit was at its lowest. If an assault had really been made upon the cities of Judah, little would have survived. And the calamitv, which would have been worse than the evils wrought by Sinacherib, would have found some historical notice in the Hebrew literature. § 813. Hence we cannot agree with those who tliink that the Scythians are the northern invaders described in 1 The name Scythonolis, tjiveii in later times to Reth-shean in Manas- seh west of .Fonlan ( Beimn), may possibly contain a reminiscence of this visitation, but we must be cautious about making a broad induction upon so narrow a foundation. - Herodotus, i, lOo ; cf. ii, 157. f I. I 896 SUPPOSED ALLUSIONS BY JEREMIAH Book VIII iv !■ [■:.! Jer. iv.-vi. Nor can we adopt the hypothesis that Jere- miah, one of the most practical of prophets, was here merely reproducing the details of the Scythian scourge, after the event, for the purpose of intimidating the faithless people of Jehovah. Jeremiah did not begin his prophetic work till 626 B.C. (eh. xxv. 3 ; cf. i. 2), the year of the death of Asshurbanipal, when the northern marauders had withdrawn from the Assyrian empire proper. Hence there can be no allusion to the Scythians directly. It is true that certain expressions (see ch. v. 17 ; vi. 22 f.) seem to point to them rather than to the other foe, the Chal- cliL'ans, who afterwards also came b}^ the way of the north. The key to the whole difficulty is found in ch. i. 15, where it is said, " Lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith Jehovah, and they shall come and shall set each one his seat at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and beside all her walls round about, and beside all the cities of Judah." The present prophecy, presumably the earliest of Jeremiah's comjjositions, is general in character, and does not refer to any one specific invasion. It was really fulfilled in the assaults and devas- tations of the Chaldii'ans (cf. ch. v. 15). Now as to the language employed, we need to keep three things in mind. We must remember that the " Chakhean " army was by no means composed of Babylonians alone. Like the Assyrian hosts, of which it was the direct successor, it was made up of detachments from the various subject states. And as the former were called by their leaders " soldiers of Asshur " (§ 697, note), so an equally comprehensive appellation must have been employed everywhere for the army of Nebuchadrezzar. The references to enemies that came armed with bow and spear and rode upon horses (ch. vi. 23) might apply to many a detachment in the Chal- da^an army not of Scythian origin. Again, it may be assumed that in consequence of the recent destructive march of the Scythians over the fairest portions of West- ern Asia, the language of the prophet would naturally be ?11 Cir, X, § 815 BY EZKKIEL AND ZEl'HANIAH sm coloured by that notable infliction. In like manner tlie "north" and the '• utter, .ost |)art!5 of the eurth "' (ch. vi. 22) are expressions which, while somewhat vague, are yet natural in the mouth of a Hebrew observer of the time, since the region in question had come to l)e the source of periodic invasions threatening ruin and destruction to the whole of the southern lands. Finally, tliere may very well have been companies of Scythians settled here and there within the Assj-rian empire at the date of this prophecy, wliom Jeremiah looked upon as eligible soldiery for the next great invasion, whoever might be the leaders. § 814. The case is quite different with Ezekiel xxxviii. Ezekiel was an idealist, who in some of his discourses made little note of the order of time or of external causal rela- tion. The suggestions and the terminology are here drawn from the inroads of northern barbarians, the last of which, the great Scytliian invasion, was perha}is one of tlie vivid reminiscences of the prophet's youth. In these references, however, Gomer, Togarmah, Gog and ]Magog, are merely symbols of the nations that were to assemble for the over- throw of Israel, to be themselves discomfited bv the inter- vention of Jehovah. They furnish in fact the psychological l)asis of much of the apocalyptic literature of both the ( )ld and the New Testament (cf. Rev. xx. 7 ff.). Of Zepha- niah, an early contemporary of Jeremiah, w^e can only say wdiat has been said already of his great colleague. His brief prophecy has for its motive the doom of impenitent Jerusalem, the lesson being enforced from the fate of the nations (ch. ii.), Philistia, Moab, Egypt, and Ethio})ia, and finally Assj'ria and Nineveh. With him also the rec- ollections of the Scythian invasion have lent a touch of colour to the picture, though the expressions used are mure general than those employed by Jeremiah. § 815. The Scythians doubtless invaded the territory of Assyria proper; but it is dilficult to believe tliat they there inflicted any very serious loss. Enfeebled as the em- lencies and colonies, in t i I ' 1 1 pn'( Tigi depi ! ;* 398 THE SCYTHIANS AND NINf:Vi:H Book VIII it . 1: I ".' ) ' w the closing years of Asshurbanipal, it was still strong in and around Nineveh. The disciplined veterans of the Babylonian and Arabian wars were not to be turned aside b}' these outlandish barbarians far from their homes and their patron gods. We may therefore assume that not only did Nineveh escape a siege, but that the savages were kepj at a safe distance from the capital. Nor must Ave ascribe to the Scythian invasion entirel}', or even chiefly, the swift decline of the great empire' of the Sargonides (§ 809). That they accelerated its disintegration is evident ; and a reconquest of the many regions, which ipso facto were liberated through their transient interference, was virtu- ally impossible even after they had disappeared as an organized aggressive force, through their absorption, dis- persion, disease, death on the battle-field, or voluntary return to the steppes of the north. § 816. It was thus as ruler of a dissolving empire that Asshurbanipal spent liis closing years, his pride rebuked, his power curtailed, his gods averting their faces. One solace remained to him to the end. His disthictive pas- sion was for literatui'e and art ; and it is for the encour- agement afforded to both that he deserves an eminent place among the rulers of the Orient. His character is more interesting to the historical student than that of any other of the Assyrian kings, for the reason that it was so fully a product not only of his nation, but of his memora- ble times. The preceding monarchs of his country had been strenuous statesmen and warriors, because the main- tenance of the glorj' of Asshur depended on a strong, directing mind. Esarhaddon had at length placed the crown upon all their highest ambitions, and when his son came to the throne, he fondl}' trusted that the empire, now so well organized, might dispense with the active intei'vention of its head. Hence, to a large degree, came the personal inactivity of Asshurbanipal in military affairs. Another occasion thereof was scarcely less potent. The personal sympathies and early associations of his father \»i Ch. X, §817 ASSHURBAXIPAL AXI» LITERATURE 399 had brought him into syiujjuathetic relation with Baby- lonia. It may indeed be said tlitat since the time of the great Tiglath-pileser, Assyria had B>een coming to under- stand the Babylonian life and elhiairacter. But the effect of this closer contact was coasptcino'asly seen in the edu- cation of Asshurbanipal, on Ts-hkh lie lays such stress in his own inscriptions.^ It was ateu also in the impetus which was given to literary pursniiu in the Assyrian cap- ital. Of this brief but brilliant ine-ma'^ence Asshurbanipal was himself the chief official I'epiris^je'ntative. Jj 817. But the literary activin- f>i his scribes and sec- retaries, which under an Ori-enital despotism was neces- sarily impersonal, was somethimg- (fjriite phenomenal in its extent and choice of subjects- We must suppose that the fashionable patronage of Babyloniani learning so favoured by Esarhaddon led to the eraploynanenitt of many Babylonian teachers, at least among the iie-onnlie- of the court and the wealthy magnates. Cultui-e wa* not confined to the priestly class. The aotronomieal and astrological know- ledge, which was at once tlje bmsiinie^s and the ornament of their profession, is supplemeui-e*! in the literary monu- ments of the age by geographieaL botanical, and zo(")logical learning, which would naturaMj he acquired by mili- tary and diplomatic attaches, C'ominniereial agents, or pri- vate travellers. Of this and a mamfold culture besides, Asshurbanipal was a munificent and apparently an intel- ligent patron. Even the official annals, supervised and inspired by himself, in spit€ of tlieir general adaptation to the monotonous prescriptive form of such documents, reveal in their ornate and polisL'e«l stylie and wealth of dic- tion the impress of a wide inxf the Ninevite rule a better unclerstanding had been arrived at with the ChaUheans. Perhaps it was the eonsciousness of growing decrepitude which brought the successor of Asshurbanipal to perceive that it was after all best to grant a measure of self-government to all Babylonia (cf. § 825). At any rate, we tind that, on the accession of the new Assyrian king in 625 B.C., ' ipalassar (^Nabil- apil-uijii)', "Nebo protect the soni' ,, a Chakhean, was made viceroy in Babylon.^ This we may assume to have been the result of a claim formally set up by the Chal- djean chief. Of the compromise thus effected the most was made by the ambitious pretender. He was prudent enough to take one step at a time ; and as the next step was to make him the heir to Nineveh itself, it behoved him to look well before he should leap. § 823. But Nabo})alassar had need of timely as well as of cautious action. A rival claimant — the king of the Medes — at the head of a young and vigorous nationality threatened soon to be master of Ninev h and therewith of the whole Semitic realm. It was him that Nal)o- palassar began that series of negotiatxo. md combinations which ended with the subjection of Asia from the Mediter- ranean to the l)orders of India to one single ruler, who was neither a Median nor a Babjdonian. The ]Medes were a composite nationality. We first hear of them in Assyrian history two centuries before the present crisis, under Shal- manezer II ^ mid his two successors (cf. § 247 f.). Their name seems to have been long a geographical rather than an ethnical expression. At first they were not more impor- tant than the numerous neighbouring tribes of non-Aryan ^ According to the Canon of Ttolemy he was 'king' in Babylon, but as we have seen (§ 820) Asshur-etil-ihlni was acknowledged in central Babylonia four years after that date. 2 See Winckler, UAG. p. 100 ft. : Zur medischen und altpersichen Geschichte ; alsoOppert, Le peuple et la langite des iledes, 1878 ; Delattre, Le peiiple et V empire des Medes, 1883. ^\ Cn. X, § 824 RISK OF THE ARYAN MKDES 405 race, who, like them, were repeatedly coerced by the Assyrians, and as often rejected their sovereignty. Sargon carried his conquests further among them,* though the absolute submission of them all was never achieved by him or by any other Assyiian ruler. Aftt'r his time there was little interference with them from the side of the Nine- vite empire ; and when once the inroads of tlie Kinnnerians and Si-ythians had begun it was quite out of the question. It is difficult to settle the time of the immigration of tlie Aryan Medes. There are signs of their presence in sug- gestions of Aryan forms in the names of Median chiefs in the time of Sargon, about 715 B.c.^ It is, then, most reasonable to assume that in the earlier half of the eighth century B.C. the Aryan element was so strong in several districts as to have assumed the leadership. At any rate, whatever may have been the original population which bore the Median name, the element wliieh became a new combinatory controlling power was the Iranian, which in its more southerly oi i'ersian immigration was to exhibit a faculty of organization and of government greater and more memorable still. § 824. Notwithstanding the illustrative material which has been gathered in recent years, we are still far from being able to make out a connected history of the early kingdom of the Medes. Even the brief list of kings sup- plied by Herodotus must be used with reserve. The earli- est ''king," Deiokes, was probably a powerful chief, who towards the end of his life was proclaimed king by the leading tribes. According to Herodotus he reigned from 699-646 B.C. There can be no doubt, at any rate, that about the middle of the seventh century B.C., the principal ^Median communities were united under one sovereignty, with Ekbatana (Hamadan) as the capital. If we may trust the 1 It will be remembered that a deportation of Samarians was made by him to "cities of Media " (2 K. xvii. ; § .']C2), a fact which shows that he confidently expected to completely subdue the country. 2 See Note 3 in Appendix. i|! I'. I i i,!l I 111 i ^It :. I :! ii 406 MEDES, CHALD^.AXS AND NINKVEll Book VIII story learned by Herodotus from Persian sources, the next king, Phraortes (646-625), extended the new dominion as far as the borders of Assyria, and even presumed to attack Nineveh itself. He was, however, defeated and slain in a battle outside the walls. The year of his death coincides with the accession of Asshur-etil-ilani (§ 820), and the tradition has at least a certain measure of confirmation, from the fact that the alleged attempt was made, according to the good old custom, at a time of transition in the gov- ernment.^ Phraortes was succeeded by his son Kyaxares. Still following the story of Herodotus, we learn that he at once renewed the Avar upon Assyria, and was engaged in besieging Nineveh, when he was called home by reason of an assault of Scythians upon his own capital. He was tlien occupied for many years in trying to rid his domin- ions of the intruders. Having finally disposed of them by combined valour and stratagem, he was at length in a position to take up what had now become an hereditary obligation, with the result known to all men, the capture and destruction of the world-renowned city. § 825. This much at least of historical truth is con- tained in the traditions ; namely, that repeated attempts were made by the ]\Iedes to subdue Assyria before the capital was finally taken. The whole situation corresponds admirably with the general facts most commonly held as to the direct occasions of the great catastrophe. Two tra- ditions have had currency, one from Berossus, a Baby- lonian, and the other from Herodotus by way of Persian informants. The former relates that it was by the com- bined forces of the Medes and Babylonians, that Nineveh was brought to its end ; the latter gives the credit to the Medes alone. According to Berossus a league was made between Kyaxares and Nabopalassar and confirmed by the 1 Ct, Tiele, BAG. p. 408. We may notice that the date of this attack agrees well with our assumption as to the time of the main Scythian inva- sion (§ 811). The later inr(ia and thsit those which may have been delivered upon this theme were then passed over as being no longer of special relevance. Cii. X, § 831 ZEPIIANIAII AND NAIIOI 411 iniquitous pride and speedy fall of the Assyrian capital. The whole world, that is the Semitic world, is to undergo exemplary punishment, particularly the apostates in Jeru- salem (i. 1-6). The classes of people to be thus visited are pointed out, — the royal household, the wealthy trad- ers, the careless and defiant citizens generally, — and their chastisement is set forth in language largely figu- rative (i. 7-18). Then comes the lesson from the nations (ch. ii.). Unless Jehovah's own people repent in time (vs. 1-3), their fate shall be the doom that is about to fall upon the Philistines (vs. 4-7), upon ]Moab and Am- mon (vs. 8-11), upon Egypt and Ethiopia (v. 12), and finally upon Assyria and Nineveh : " So He will stretch out His hand over the north, and shall destroy Assyria, and make Nineveh a desolation, and an arid waste like a wilderness ; and herds of beasts shall lie down in her midst, every animal of (every) nation ; pelicans and por- cupines shall lodge among her pillars,^ their voice shall sing in the windows ; desolation shall be on the thresholds ; for he hath made bare the cedar-work. This is the exult- ing city that dwelt in security, that said in her heart, ' I and no one else ! ' How has she become a desolation, a couching-place for beasts I Every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wave his hand " (vs. 13-15). § 831. It is Nahum, however, that is the chief censor of Nineveh among the Prophets of Israel. His book, written apparently about 610 B.C., is entitled, " the oracle concerning Nineveh." Its ultimate motive is still the welfare of his own and Jehovah's land; but to him tliis is absolutely involved in the destruction of Assyria. The decisive event is, moreover, the great tragedy of human history, so that the fate of no other nation comes under notice. The doom which was vaguely foreseen by Zepha- niah, is to Nahum immediately impending. The prophecy 1 Literally, the capitals of the pillars, an illustration of Hebrew synec- doche; compare "cedar-work," for palaces, temples, and state buildings in the same verse. i I I' ■ "E .1 I, r^' 1 1 if 412 THE BOOK OF NAHUM Book VIII begins with a sublime theopbany like that of Habakkuk, or of Mieah vi., or of Isa. xxx. (§ 718), or of Ps. xviii., or of Ps. 1. — an intervention of Jehovah demanded by world- wide issues (i. 1-6). The same Jehovah that is kind to those who trust to him now comes to devote his enemies to utter destruction, while Israel, relieved from the tyrant, shall welcome the messenger that brings the tidings of his fall (i. 7-15). Next comes a description of the assault upon Nineveh by terrible foes, here unnamed, but whom we may designate as Medes and Chaldteans. The desperate measures of defence, all unavailing, the capture and the spoliation, are set forth in a vivid, excited style, with ejaculations and abrupt transitions, corresponding to the actions portrayed (ch. ii.). The struggle within the walls and the dreadful carnage are the subjects of the next pen-picture, to which is appended the moral of the story (iii. 1-7). The destruction of Thebes in Egypt (§ 770) is cited as an example of what is to befall its conqueror, in spite of her defences, her wealth, and her military discipline, which only aggravate the terror of her well-deserved pun- ishment, her desolation, and her woe (vs. 8-19). § 832. The description of the coming siege and the destruction of city and people is so minutely realistic and so full of local colouring, that it has been held ^ to have been written by one personally conversant with the locality. At all events, Nahum was intimately acquainted with the modes of warfare and defence employed by the Assyrians. 1 Namely, by A. Jeremias in the essay above cited in the Bcitrlige zvr Assijriohxjie. The whole prophecy is there minutely treated, especially from the Assyriological standpoint, and many suggestive explanations given of special allusions in the text of the prophecy. The curious reader is also referred to the appended essay by Billerbeck on the siege, its antecedents and concomitants, the armaments, the fortifications, and the defence. An excellent analysis of the prophecy may be found in Farrar, The ?Iinor Prophets (Xisbet & Co.), p. 148 ff. Tlie main criticism to be offered to this and most other expositions is, that ii. 3-5 does not refer, as is supposed, to a contest in the street or a defeat of the defenders, but to hurried preparations for defence. Cit. X, § 833 A VIVID AND SfOVDfG DESCRIPTION 413 He brings before us the unifonn of the soldiers and their glittering shields ; the burnklned chariots gleaming in their swift career (ii. 3 f.) ; the desperate rush to prevent a threatened breach in the waE* by the erection of a " mantelet ; " the opening of the river-gates by which the citadel is reached (ii. 5 f., § 827) ; the terrible conflict in the streets after the entrance i* effected ; the cracking of whips, the rattle of wheek, the plunging and rearing horses, the jolting chariots, the cLaurging riders, the flaming swords, the glittering spears, the heaps of the wounded and dying, the unnumbered diead (ui. 2 f.). The prophet declares that the catastrophe of Xineveh is enacted for the relief of Israel. It sounds like irony. And yet who would have thought that the only account vouchsafed to later times of the siege and capture of the great city of Asshur would be a poetical sketch written beforehand in a petty subject state, nearly a thoiosand miles from the scene, by the servant of a rival and rictorious God I § 883. At the close of this sorvey of the achievements and fate of Assyria two prophetic images rise majestically into view. They stand worthily beside Isaiah's picture of the great spoiler harrying the nations and the peoples as birds are driven from their nests (^ 292, 723). Nahum re- sorts to the animal kingdom, and finds the counterpart of the Assyrians in the lion, who has his den in Nineveh stored with all the prey of the lesser Ijnex^ts of the forest — " the lions' lair and the feeding-plae-e of the young lions, where strode the lion, and where was the lioness and the lion's brood" (ii. 11 f.). EzekieL, the learned and reflective prophet, Avritiiig, moreover, twenty years after the fall of Nineveh, takes a more composed and tranquil view of the events and movements of hi* time. Looking back upon Assyria in her towering prominence among the na- tions, he chooses an image from the growth and luxuri- ance of the vegetable A\orld : — " Behftld, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches and overshadowing boughs. He was lofty in stature, and his top stood out fl S I I '< \ ft I 414 PROPHETIC IMAGES OF ASSYRIA Book VIII ' i from between his twigs. The waters made him great, and the water-depths made him tall. ... In his boughs all the birds of heaven built their nests; beneath his foliage all the beasts of the field had their young; and in his shadow dwelt many nations. . . . The cedars in the garden of the Lord could not match him ; nor did the cypresses have branches like his; nor were the plantains like him in foliage : no tree was like him for fairness in the garden of the Lord " (xxxi. 3 ff.). APPENDIX NOTE 1 (§534) ABSOLUTE RULE IN ISRAEL The kingly prerogative in Israel may be illustrated in some of its important asi^ects from the modern Mohammedan sultan- ate. The real character of the caliph's government is well set forth in the subjoined extract from Lord Salisbury's speech at Guildhall on November 9, 1895. Speaking of the reforms that were being pressed upon the Porte by the Powers, the Prime Minister said, among other things, according to the cable report : — " With regard to the result of the negotiations, if the reforms were carried into effect they would give the Armenians every prospect that a nation could desire — prosperity, peace, justice, and safety to life and property. But will they be carried out? If the Sultan can be persuaded to give justice to the Armenians, it will not signify what the exact nature of the undertaking may be. If he will not heartily resolve to do justice to them, the most ingenious constitution that can l>e framed will not avail to protect or assist the Armenians. Only through the Sultan can any real permanent blessing be con- ferred on his subjects. . . . But supposing the Sultan will not give these reforms, what is to follow? The first answer I should give is, that above all treaties, all combinations of the Powers, in the nature of things, is Providence. God, if you please to put it so, has determined that persistent and constant abuse of power must lead the government which follows it to its doom ; and while I readily admit that it is quite possible 415 41<{ APrENDlX Note 1 that the Sultan, if he likes, can govern with justice and be persuaded, he is not exempt any more than any other potentate from the law that injustice Avill bring the highest on earth to ruin." Those who would object to a comparison between the con- stitution of the kingdom of David and that of the Turkish empire, who confound the idealizing Mosaic economy with the actual government of Israel, as is done, for example, by the late Dr. E. C. Wines throughout his learned and elaborate work. Commentaries on the Laws of the Ancient Hebrews, may be referred generally to the later historical books of the Old Testament. Cf. § bQ, 523. NOTE 2 (§ 623) SARGOX'S FIRST BABYLONIAN EXPEDITION See the discussion, with references, in Winckler, ST. II, p. xvii f. The contradiction between the scribes of Sargon and the Babylonian chronicler is complete throughout. Winckler makes out too good a case for Sargon, since the statement of the chronicle that the Elamites after the battle of Durilu in- vaded Assyria with most disastrous consequences to the latter, cannot be a pure fiction. Sargon's first Babylonian expedition was doubtless an almost utter failure. NOTE 3 (§ 629, 823) THE ARYAN MEDES It is interesting to note in connection with the mention of the ]\le(les, that names of Indo-European origin are now begin- ning to appear among the northern tribes. For instance, the prince of Umildis, one of the tribes of Central Armenia (east of Lake Van), was called Bagdatta (Annals, 55-57), plainly an Iranian proper name (= " God-given," Theodotos, etc.). As his brother's name Ullusunu is non-Aryan, it is fair to assume that a jNIedian protectorate of some sort had been exercised over the district, and a native prefect appointed with a change of name to denote his new service. In the same way we find *^^ NoTK 4 APPENDIX 417 the Assyrian name Bohhazzav (Bd-.sar-nsur) as that of a niler in Xorthern ^Fedia, sulKlued by Savgon, whose doniain had been made tributary by Tiglatlipileser III (Winckh-i', ST. II, p. xxiii, note). The hypothesis is contirmed by tlie fact that an Assyrian governor in tlie same region of ^lanna, who revolted against Sargon (Annals, 7(5, 77}, bore the familiar Median name Dayakkit (Deiokes, § 8-J4}. NOTE 4 (§ G33) TIIK SIK(iK OF ASHDOP Thk expedition to Ashdod is very fully described in Sargon's* Inscriptions. See Annals, 215-228 ; the great synoptic In- scription, 90-112 (Winckler, ST. I, pi. 33 f.) ; the Ashdod Inscription (Winckler, pi. 44, 45; cf. Smith, AD., p. 288 ff.). The last named is the fullest document, l)ut it is unfortunately broken and incomplete, though it supi)lies us with some important details. It dates the expedition in the ninth year of Sargon, but as the Annals put it in the eleventh, Schrader (KAT. 401) rightly conjectures that the reckoning in the former case is made from the eponynuite of the king, which took place two years after his accession (cf. § 358, 3G0), accord- ing to established custom. I append a translation from the Annals : " Azuri, the king of Ashdod (As-du-di), had made up his mind not to pay tribute, and had sent to the kings round about seditious proposals against Assyria, and on account of the evil he had committed I had put an end to his rule, and installed as their king Ahi- miti, his full brother. The Hettites, plotting insurrection, re- belled against his rule, and exalted over themselves a (certain) Yatna, who was not of the royal house, and like-minded with them knew no reverence for the kingly authority. In the wrath of my soul, with chariots of my body-guard (lit. of my feet), and horsemen who do not quit my immediate presence (lit. do not fail from the place of the inclining of my hands), I marched rapidly to Ashdod, the city which he ruled. Ashdod, Gath, and Asdudimnui, I besieged and took. Of the gods who had their dwelling there, of himself, with the people of his 2e 418 APPENDIX Note 4 I I land, gold, silver, the treasures of his jtalace, I made spoil. Their cities I occupied anew, and settled in them people from the laiuls which I had conciuered. My viceroys I set as ad- ministrators over them. I reckoned them as of the people of Assyria, and they came luuler my yoke." The synoptic Inscription adds (lines 101 ff.) details sub- sequent to the Assyrian march : *• JUit Vamani heard from afar of the coming of my expedition, ami tied to the borders of Egy[(t, Avithin the limits of Melucha (§ DO), and it was not found out where he wao. . . . The king of ]\leliicha who [dwelt] in an obscure [out of] the way region, whose fathers since remote days, the time of the Moon-god (cf. Ps. Ixxii. 5), had sent no aml)assadors (riders) to the kings my fathers to ask for a treaty of peace, heard afar of the might of Asshur, Xebo, and Merodach ; fear of the splendour of my royalty overspread him, ami terror was shed forth upon him; he threw him into chains, and fetters and bonds of iron, and they brought him to Assyria into my ])resence." The Ashdod Inscription tells of defences made by the usurper, and of his canals made for water supply, which Smith compares Avith the similar work undertaken by Hezekiah about the same time (2 Chr. xxxii. 3 f.). Its most important state- ment, however, which immediately follows this, refers to the part taken in the revolt by other principalities in Palestine. As the passage has not been quite correctly understood, I give a rendering of the text (Winckler, pi. 44 D. lines L'o-oS) : — " [The kings] of Philistia, Judah, Edom, INIoab, dwellers by the sea, payers of tribute and gifts to Asshur, my lord, plotters of sedition, did not refrain from mischief, for in order to stir up rebellion against me they brought gifts of friendship to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, a prince Avho was no saviour to them, and sued with him for an alliance." — For menu (line 29) in the sense of "restraining, withholding." of. tlv vexed line V R. 1, 122. The above interesting extracts su The " Hettites " mentioned Ashdod of Palestinian on . as ( Grecian immigrants that had si-ttled in Philistia, and who now formed an influential class in Ashdoi One of these was the two remarks. s a he people of ■ nguished from the Ndtk 4 Note 5 AIM'KXDIX m Yatna of the Annals, the Yamani of the synoittii- and of tlie Ashdocl Inscription (line 15), who in the last-nanu'd passage is also called "a soldier." These names are in this case appella- tive surnames like the English proper niimt' •• French " when tirst employed. The former name (= "Cyprian") implies that he came from Cyprus (Assyr. Vatnan), and the latter (= |V) that he was of Ionian race. These phrases indicate that the Greek adventurers, who as pirates, kidnai»pers, and slave- dealers (cf. Joel iii. G ; Zech. ix. 13), had for centuries been harrying the Mediterranean coast as far as Kgypt, now had an actual settlement in Ashdod and its vicinity, and were aspir- ing to a leading place. AVe could not wish for a better ex- planation than this fact aifords of a passage written a few years before (§ 315) : " And a spurious race (LXX dAAoyti'*/?) shall have its seat in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines " (Zech. ix. G). Sargon in all these accounts says conventionally that he himself led his chosen troops to the West-land. The express testimony of Isa. xx. 1, to the effect that it was his general who led the corps against Ashdod, shows how his statement is to be interpreted, and reminds us that a great proportion of the triumphs of the Assyrian kings were won by the generals to whom they rarely give the credit that is their due (cf. § 57). The words applied to the Ethiopian king of Egypt by the scribe of Sargon, " no saviour to them," remind one of the sar- castic language of the Rabshakeh, 2 K. xviii. 21, and concisely expresses contemporary Assyrian opinion as to the value of Egyptian alliances to the heli)less people of Palestine. The " Pharaoh " alluded to is probably Sabataka, who had already rendered a kind of homage to Assyria (§ G30, G32). f: NOTE 5 (§ 633) .SAKGOX AND .H'DAH Besides this reference to Judah, there is but one other to be found in the numerous inscriptions of Sargon. In the so-called Nimrud Inscription (ST. pi. 48), in a list of self-exalting epi- thets based on his achievements, occurs the phrase (line 8): f I 4^ APPENDIX Note 5 mu-Sak-nii mdt Ya-u-du Sa a-hir-ia ru-a-kH: "The subjugator of the land of Judah whose situation is remote." This ex- pression has been much drawn upon in support of the hypothe- sis of a systematic invasion of Judali ; so, for example, by Cheyne, in his Prophecies of Isaiah (but virtually disavowed in his Iittrodndioii to Isaiah, lS\)o, p. lUl), and by Sayce in his Life and Times of Isaiah (where on p. 55 the phrase is twice mistranslated). But it has been pointed out (Wiuckler, ST. I, p. xvii, cf. p. vi, note 2) that this inscription found at Nimrud must have been composed several years before 711, the date of the supposed invasion, since no event occurring later than 716 is mentioned in it. To those familiar with the style and contents of the historical inscriptions, this considera- tion will be conclusive. What, then, can be the application of the words? There are two possible explanations. It may be supposed that Sargon was clai'iung for himself more than the words literally imply, that he speaks of himself as " subduing" the country when he had only received its formal subjection with or without a display of force. Or it may be conjectured (as by Wiuckler, I.e.) that he uses " Judah " by a curious inac- curacy for Israel, or the " Land of Omri," and therefore refers to the catastrophe of 722-1. I am inclined to press the former alternative, and to assume that the " subjugation," so-called, was effected in 720. In this critical year, when insurrection was rife throughout Syria and Palestine (see § 624 f.), it seemed necessary to put Judah under bonds to keep the peace, even if it had no intention of breaking it. Its relations to the riiilistines alone (§ 268), who were immediately concerned in the outbreak, would make this of essential consequence. It was doubtless in this year that the allegiance sworn to Tig- lathpileser III was formally renewed to Sargon. NOTE 6 (§ 638) BinHCAL CHROXOLOOY OF THE KIXOS I .SHALL not trouble my readers with a detailed discussion of the chronological problems which present themselves in con- nection with the era of Hezekiah, and which have given rise Note d ArPKXDiX 421 to unlimited speculation and controversy. The simple plan which I have adopted of following' a single main guidint,' thread downward to the end, ought to be justified l)y the results if the Biblical figures are right. Uy taking the lengths of the several reigns from the ascertained date of the accession of Ahaz onward, we should reach the correct date for the captivity of Zedekiah (§ 58G), the goal of the whole investigation. It will be in place here to make a general reference to the methods of timing events and marking the length of reigns among the ancient Hebrews. Without clear notions on these n^atters, it is impossible to understand either a date or a synchronism in the Old Testament, or to reckon up periods of time. As there was no fixed era among the Hebrews, it was necessary to date from some well-known event. At first, and for long, it would seem that some striking widely known occurrence (ct/. an earthquake. Am. i. 1) was chosen ; but from about the time of Ahaz, ami perhaps through Assyrio-Habylouian inHuence, the accession of the reigning king was used as the point of de- parture, just as is still the case with parliamentary statutes in Englaiul and her colonies. It has been supposed that the Jews, like the Assyrians, reckoned the first regnal year, not from the day of the accession, but from the beginning of the next civil year, that is, the first of Nisan following; in other words, the regnal years were dislocated, and conformed, for ])urposes of convenience, to the civil years. The interval which formed the actual beginning of the reign was included in the '• last year " of the preceding king, whose name would already have appeared iipon documents dated earlier in that portion of the current year preceding his death. It is altogether probable that this method was followed by the editors of the historical books in their arrangement of their materials. The Talmuint of connection between the primary and the derived inKtamnnip* of the root. It more- over leaves out of reckoning tlt'e dcerivatives Kt2?tt and riKlTD " contribution, present " ; cf. CC *' ttiribute " and " tributary " aaidl the Aram. pBX (see anul Josh. xvii. 3), meaning biltu " tribute " from abcda derived from 0C3 '* to raii?*', the Targ. of 1 K. v. 28 (13) '• contribute," also the Ass3'r- *' carry." As to the amount of the fine itedd hj Hezekiah, it has been conjectured that the Hebrew aii^l P!ii*niician silver talent stood in value to the Babylonian in the piwjiortion of eight to three. Hence the statement of .Sinaf A»f>iinn. The accompanying inscri])tine, and the captives of Lachish came forward into his pneseutt/' H i 428 APPENDIX Note 18 NOTE 13 (§ 707) THE I'LAGUE IX SINACHKKIH'm ARMY As the words stand, it is impossible to read 6180 as tlie number of the dead. But neither is it in accordance with classical Hebrew usage to write lKr)(M)0 in the fOrm which the present text offers. I believe there is no other instance in the Old Testament, in which hundreds (or a hundred) of thou- sands with tens of thousands is expressed without the word for thousand being used twice. (Jf. Numb. ii. 9, 10, 24, ,'51 ; xxvi. ol. Why is it used here only once ? If the hundred.s and thousands are transposed, 518(» will result. For the ravages of disease at night compare Ps. xci. T* f. Homer (Iliad, I. 37) makes Apollo as the pest-god descend "like the night" upon the Grecian camp. It is interesting also to notice that the name of Apollo as the plague-dealer is Smintheus, the mouse-god, and that he received his naiiit^ among the Teucrians, because by means of field-mice he indi- cated to them, when they had emigrated from Crete and landed in Asia Minor, the spot where they were to settle. When they encamped for the night, a large numl)er of these animals gnawed their baggage-straps and the thongs of their shields. Now the oracle had told thenx that they should make their home in tin' place where they should be attacked by the original inhabi- tants of the country, and in acknowledgment of this direction they gave Apollo the name in question. It is further signiti- cant that the rat, the symbol of pestilence, is also an emblem of night. On the Egyptian plague in Palestine, see G. A. Smith, H G. p. 157 ff. NOTE 14 (§ 709) rOUKSK OK THK IXVASIO.V OF SIXACIIERIB The foregoing sketch of Sinacherib's expedition differs in some imi)ortant jjoints from those made by my predecessors. A iirincijtal misconception as to the time of the invasion ut Judah and the siege of Jerusalem has, apparently, been due tw Note 14 APPENDIX 429 the supposition that Sinacherib's account is heUl to narrate the events in strict chronological order. But even a cursory read- ing makes it obvious that his report deals with and disposes of the several disaffected states in turn. The reason why, for example, the attack on Jerusalem is mentioned late, is because the affair with Judah was protracted, though this is not indi- cated in the Inscriptions. Between the beginning and the end- ing of it, several other events might intervene. As a matter of fact, it is apparent that the siege of Jerusalem, which was suspended on the submission of Hezekiah, must have taken place before the conquest of Ekron. Sinacherib could not have reimposed PadT, as king, upon that city, unless he had been delivered up by Hezekiah upon constraint. A monarch who would not submit till he had lost half his kingdom and subjects, would not have assisted his enemies by surrendering their ally without compulsion (against Stade, GVI. I. p. (ilO ; Driver, Isaiah, p. 73). ^Moreover, since it was clearly Sinacherib's policy to attack the rebel communities simultaneously, there was no reason why he should put off the invasion of Judah, the leading in- surgent state, till he could approach it from the southwest (Driver), when there was an equally good o})j)ortunity of enter- ing it from the northwest. As to the actual route chosen, though it is impossible to determine it exactly, it seems likely enough that the main body divided on the coast road opjiosite Samaria. The interior expedition, passing that Assyrianized city, and perhaps drawing recruits from it, Avould then have marched due south to Bethel, and thence through Miclunash, and so on, according to the expectation of Isa. x. Another misconception, based on a superficial view of tlie cuneiform reports, ha.s prevailed with regard to the place (occu- pied by Egypt in the plans and movements of Sinacherib. At the first glance this seems insignificant enough; so that Well- hauseii has a certain measure of right in alleging (in Bleek's Ehdeitung, p. 250) that the battle of Elteke formed only an episode in the siege of Ekron. If the documents had been based on despatches, or on the field reports of the officers, their present form would have to he taken as a fair represen- tation of the aims and actual achievements of the expedition. 430 Al'l'KNDIX Note 14 I I P But thpy '^I'f iii»'i"ply a ('oiiuiiPinonitive rehearsal of the brilliant deeds of the CJreat King, and tliey were drawn out after the return from the canipaij^'u when it was imitortant for imperial imrposes that the whole affair should be treated, not from the standpoint of the king's designs before the march from Nineveh, but from that of the situation of affairs at its close. Hence, in this case, Sinaoherib, being foiled in his great idti- mate plan of crushing Egypt, mentions his encounter with the troops of that country only incidentally, even though it ended favourably to himself. "With regard to what concerns us more nearly, — the Jtidaite account as compared with the Assyrian, — it is necessary to add a word or two of special comment. The account in Kings is divided into three sections: 2 K. xviii. 13-1(5; xviii. 17-xix. 7; xix. 8-.'io. The conclusions reached by recent criticism as to the composition of the whole narrative seem to the present writer to be of secondary importance for historical purposes. It may be that the tirst of these sections comes from a different source from that of the other two. The main point is tlie credibility of the passages in question, and it is comforting to find that Stade, who treats somewhat gingerly the whole Biblical account, concedes the accuracy of the essential state- ments in all three portions of the narrative (UVl. I, 021). One undesigned evidence of historical accuracy is too striking to be passed over by any well-informed critic, the information (2 K. xviii. 14, cf. xix. 8) that Sinacherib had his headcjuarters at Lachish (§ GDO). But the most conclusive proof of the general reliability of the large portion which Stade calls " legendary," is the verisimilitude of the arguments used by the Rabshakeh. These could not have been framed in a later age. Historical imagination was not the province of Hebrew literary genius ; and the political conditions implied in the dis- course are so truly representative of the Assyrian empire in its prime, anel of that alone, that they are perhaps our chief source, outside of the Inscriptions themselves, for information as to the inner working of the military policy of the Ninevite rulers towards subjugated peoples. The liiblical account is admittedly incomplete, especially in there being no mention in the section 2 K. xviii. 13-lG that Note 15 ArPKNDIX 4.11 Jt'rusalein liad actually been besieyed. l?ut we must not take this as seriously as Stade does, who charges that " tlie legends are in error in supposing that there was no siege of .lerusaleni at all." In the lirst place, omission in a mejigre extract is no proof of ignorance ; nor does the pledge given by Isaiah (xix. ',V2 f.), that the king of Assyria should not undertake siege operations, prove that the narrator sui»posed that no siege had preceded. In the second place, we must not take Sinache- rib's account of the siege too literally. Having nothing to boast about in the tinal outconn- of his relations with .ludah and Egypt, he not only keeps silence about all the events that followed the submission of Ilezi'kiah, but he tries to make as much capital as possible out of that achievement. .Inst as he invents the deportation of Hezekiah's " daughters and the women of his harem" (col. III. .'!.S f.). so he makes a great Hourish about his investment of .Terusalem. Closely exam- ined, it will appear that he only really means that the city was blockaded. A final remark should be made in connection with the part taken by Egypt. - K. xix. seems to imply that Tirhaka, the Ethiopian head king of that country, was the leader who con- fronted Sinacherib at the battle of Elteke. The Assyrian account, on the other hand, merely refers to the king of Egypt without naming him. Herodotus, again, gives the name Sethon (>5 705) to the king of Egypt to whom the divine interference was vouchsafed. In all probability it was the same ruler that was in command on both occasions, and it seems nnlikely that this was Tirhaka. It is, indeed, not absolutely certain that he had succeeded to the over-lordship of Egy^it at the date of these occurrences. NOTE 15 (§ 715) ISAIAlf XXX. ( The words nS^ CH SH"! are nndoubtedly wrong as they stand. No Hebrew would use such an eccentric combination to express any of the ideas which translators have extracted from them. If ZSH"! is a synonym for Egypt, as in ch. li. '.>, Ps. Ixxxvii. 4, Ixxxix. 10, the preceding phrase, '' I have called ' 432 APrENDIX Note 16 lior," implios that tlio rpiuiiindcr of the expression is an epithet (leseriptive of E^yp^* sueh as would naturally be introduced by tiic article. If H is the article required, we must draw the two words together and read DStt^On, literally "the 713^ maker " ; i.e. either " the one who (in others) causes inaction,"' or "the one whose working results in inaction.'' If this is not the reading, the text must be not only in disorder, but corrupt. NOTE 1() (§ 740) ixscRiPTioxs OP KSAKH.vnnoy Coxsn)KKiX(j the shortness of the reign of Esarhaddon. his monuments are fairly abundant. The most important is the six-sided cylinder found in two copies (known as A and C) and published in Layard 20-27, I R. 45-47, and in Abel and "NVinckler's Keibchrijltexte 22-24. Next comes another hex- agonal inscription of the year ()7.'i, in Lay. 54-08, III R. 15, 16, and Abel and Winckler 25, 2(5. This is known as (.'ylinder B or the liroken Cylinder. Then we have the so-called lilack Stone inscription in archaic characters, I U. 4'.), 50, which describes the rebuilding of Babylon. A line monolith was found in 1891 during the German excavations in Sinjirli (§ 757), bearing inscriptions relative to the campaign in Egypt, besides elaborately sculptured representations of the Great King receiving the homage of his vassals. Other sources of information, including fragments of inscriptions, are detailed in Tiele, BAG. 342. E. A. Budge has collected and translated (not very correctly) the larger and smaller inscriptions in his History of Esarhaddon, 1880. Cylinder A is well translated by R. F. Harper in his Leipzig doctor-dissertation, New Haven, 1888. He also helped {Ilehraica, vol. iii) to amend the text of the Esarhaddon documents. Translations are given in RP. and (by Abel and Winckler) in KB. II. In these texts we observe a more ornate style of description and narration, a tendency further developed in those of his successor. Pos- sibly the influence of Babylonian culture is here discernible. For the chronological data of the reign and important general notices we are indebted to Bab. Chr, III, 38-IV, 32. Note 17 AlM'f:M)IX 433 NOTH 17 (s 7(;;5) IXSCUII'TIK.NH <»K AS.SIILKHAXII'AL \Vk are fairly well iufonned as to the events of rather more than the first half of the rei^n of Asshurl)ani|)al. Of the first iiuportance are three ^'re;it eylinders: the two-sided Cyl. A l.uMished in HI U. IT-LT.; the ei^ht-sided ("yl. H in III H. .'>()-.'!4, and the ten-sided Cyl. U"' I, discovi-red by Kassani and ltnl)lished in V It. 1-10, which runs most nearly paralhd to <'yl. A. These texts are full and eoini»lete, hut dates are not K'iven, so that we are scantily informed as to the rehition and time of many events. IJesidcs. the Kponym Canons are here scarcely at all available. These records alou},' with ndnor documents accessible up to the date were publislied in a sepa- rate volume by (J. Smitii, Ilistorif of Asshiti'baiiipdl, 1S71, with transcription and translation. S. A. Smith's Die h't'ilHchrijltcj'te Asurb(Uiii)alft, Leipzig', lS.S7-i), contains in its three parts besides R'" 1, many letters, despatches, and (»ther documents transcribed and translated with remarks. Translations are also given of the principal inscriptions in 111*. The best transcription and translation so far p\d)lished are those by Jensen in KH. II, loL'-LMJU, where R'" 1 is giv«'n in full aloni? with supidementary extracts from the other cylinders. Inscriptions have also been tVnind of Sanuis-sum-ukin, the "disloyal brother,"' viceroy in liabylon. One of them, a "l)ilin- gual,"' appears in V R. 02. This and others have been published with transcrii)tion and commentary, by Lehmann, S(iinus-snm- iikin Kutn'y voa Babijlonieu (l.Si>L*), following his briefer doctor- dissertation on the same subject of ISSO. See also the tran- scription and translation by Jensen, in KR. Ill, 1, p. l*J4-207. END OF VOL. ri. I'F