+4«««4*«««««*«4+«*««0«e444 44«#«««S
 
 HISTORY, PROPHECY 
 
 THE MOXUMEXTS
 
 '*&&&
 
 HISTORY, PROPHECY 
 
 AND 
 
 THE MONUMENTS 
 
 ISRAEL AND THE NATIONS 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES FREDERICK McCURDY, Ph.D., LL.D. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF ORIENTAL LANGUAGES IN 
 UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, TORONTO 
 
 VOLUME III 
 
 COMPLETING THE WORK 
 
 Nefo gork 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 LONDON: MACMILLAN .& CO., Ltd. 
 1906 
 
 Alt rights ri'serned 
 

 
 Copyright, 1901, 
 By THE MACMILI.AX COMPANY. 
 
 Set up and electrotyped. Published March, 1901. 
 Reprinted July, 1906. 
 
 £ 
 
 XorrjjooB IPrcsa 
 
 J. S. Cnshing & Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 
 
 Norwood, .Mass., D.S.A.
 
 TO 
 DAVID BENTON JONES 
 
 AND 
 
 THOMAS DAVIES JONES 
 
 I N R E M E M B R A N CE OF 
 
 PRINCETON, 1872-1876 
 
 AND BEYOND
 
 PREFACE TO VOLUME THREE 
 
 It is now over four years since the publication of the 
 second instalment of the present work. The completion of 
 my task has been retarded by many interruptions, of which 
 the most serious came from the necessity laid upon me 
 of preparing a somewhat lengthy biography of a deceased 
 friend. Of the scope and subject-matter of this volume 
 little needs to be said. The importance attached to the 
 Hebrew prophecy of the period is justified when one 
 considers how greatly the inner as well as the outer 
 life of Israel was affected by other nations and peoples. 
 Moreover, the essential character of prophecy is still mis- 
 understood by most educated people, and in the popular 
 exposition of the prophets little attention is paid to the 
 permanent and essential elements of their unique dis- 
 courses. The best way to begin the study of the prophets 
 is to learn how their word and work are interwoven with 
 the life and history of their times. I have also made 
 an attempt to connect the non-prophetic and indirectly 
 prophetic literature of Israel witli its historical occasions 
 or antecedents, though in this region of inquiry we tread 
 upon much more uncertain ground. 
 
 I have again to express my gratitude lor the kindness 
 with which the two earlier volumes have been everywhere 
 received. For several corrections in matters of fact and 
 
 of opinion I have to thank those eminent specialists who
 
 PREFACE 
 
 have honoured the work with their notice. Of non- 
 specialist critics a very few have been unfair; and two 
 of these, in spite of the warning of my first preface, have 
 indulged in anonymous scurrility. These, however, were 
 writers for the London Saturday Review and the Edin- 
 burgh Scotsman. 
 
 The volume closes with the end of the Babylonian exile. 
 and thus rounds out the period during which the con- 
 temporary monuments illustrate the history and prophecy 
 of Israel. This epoch is also a turning-point in the career 
 of the Hebrew people, so that the subsequent times must 
 be treated from a different point of view. 
 
 J. FREDERICK McCURDY. 
 
 Toronto, 
 November 24, 1900.
 
 CONTENTS OF VOL. Ill 
 Book IX 
 
 HEBREWS AND EGYPTIANS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 The Kingdom of Jcdah under Josiah. § 835-841. P. 1-5 
 
 § 835. Special place of Israel in the closing Assyrian period — § 836. Re- 
 lations with the Eastern powers — § 837. The forward outlook and the 
 part played by Egypt — § 838. Effect of international relations on the 
 inner life of the people — § 839. Political relations of Judah at the acces- 
 sion of Josiah — § 840. Prophetic policy of acquiescence in Assyrian rule 
 — § 841. Religious reform favoured by freedom from Assyrian influence 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 The Great Reformation. § 842-8G4. P. 6-18 
 
 § 842. The reform of Josiah in spirit and purpose — § 843. Its chief 
 leaders — § 844. Little told us of antecedent movements or of popular 
 feeling — § 845. How the party of reform regained power — § 846. The 
 finding of the "book of direction" — § 847. What this book was, and 
 how it was found — § 848. Its probable history — § 849. The mandate of 
 the book and its effect on Josiah — § 850. A commission of inquiry — 
 § 851. Resort to a prophetess — § 852. A convocation and covenant — 
 § 853. Specific objects of the reform — § 854. Unspiritual worship of 
 Jehovah — § 855. Worship of old Canaanitic deities — § 856. Assyrian 
 (Babylonian) cults — § 857. Immoralities fostered by impure religions — 
 § 858. Popular superstitions ; divination supplanted by the word of 
 prophecy — § 859. A reformation of morals involved in that of religion — 
 § 860. Abolition of local shrines, and its motive — § 861. The centraliza- 
 tion of worship in Jerusalem — §862. Transference and transformation 
 of the feasts — § §63. Levitical priests — § 864. Widening out of our 
 inquiry 
 
 ix
 
 C< >XTEXTS 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Deuteronomy and Hebrew Literature. § 86-J-94-3. P. 19-80 
 
 § 865. Importance of Deuteronomy in the literature of Israel — 
 § 866. Vantage-ground for a survey of earlier literary history — 
 § 867. Salient points of literary progress — § 868. Difficulties of tracing 
 the history of Hebrew literature — § 869. Principles and facts to be 
 kept in view — § 870. Characteristics of Old Testament composition — 
 § 871. Conditions of its rise and growth — § 872. Acquisition by the 
 Hebrews of the art of writing — §873. Egypt probably not the source 
 of the Phoenician alphabet — § 874. Presumption in favour of Mesopotamia 
 
 — ji 875. Evidence of invention by Aramaeans — §876. Presumption of 
 a Babylonian basis and material — § 877. Whence and when did the 
 Hebrews acquire the art of writing? — § K7*. Writing universal among 
 early Semites — § 879. Testimony of Jud. v. — § 880. Israel before Moses 
 partook of the culture of Canaan — § 881. Literary bearings of the ques- 
 tion only indirect — §882. For what purposes writing was employed 
 successively — §883. Periods of Hebrew literature up to the Exile — 
 § 884. Distinction in modes of origination — § 885. Earliest stories of 
 Genesis — § 886. Distinction of motives in their composition — § 887. How 
 they came to be preserved — § 888. Poetic national memorials easily 
 remembered— § 889. The Song of Lamech — § 890. The Song of Miriam 
 
 — §891. The desert journey and the Mosaic legislation — §892. The 
 Decalogue — § 893. No surviving literature of the desert wanderings — 
 §894. -'Book of the wars of Jehovah" — §895. Other Pentateuchal 
 poems of later origin — §896. Fragment of the "Book of Jashar" — 
 §897. The Song of Deborah — §898. Lyric tradition maintained : David's 
 lament over Saul and Jonathan — § 899. Collections begun for an inter- 
 ested community — § 900. Effect of national unity — § 901. Influence of 
 professional scribes — § 902. Motives and themes of new compositions — 
 § 903. Origin of literary interest in the fates of individuals — § 904. Solo- 
 mon's reign more favourable to collection than David's — §90-3. The 
 "Blessing of Jacob" — § 906. Compilation of the two oldest poetical 
 books — § 907. The reign of Solomon the end of a period — § 908. Re- 
 maining quotations in the earlier literature — §909. Religious poems 
 ascribed to David — §910. What sort of "proverbs" are appropriate 
 to Solomon — § 911. Absence of the ethical and spiritual in this early 
 period — § 912. General characteristics of its literature — § 913. Its vital 
 and potential element — § ( .»14. Next period marked by the division of 
 the kingdom — § 915. In how far the Hebrew literature was •■ national" 
 
 — § 916. Inference from the general facts — § 917. The heroic narrative 
 of Judges — §918. Period of "heroic prose" and its conditions — 
 § 919. Narratives of Saul and David — § 920. First "Book of the Cove- 
 nant " — § 921. Earlier and later sections of the book — § 922. The non-
 
 CONTEXTS 
 
 practical portions the later — §023. Character of the "prophetic his- 
 tories,'' J and E — § '.124. The scope and purpose of these works — 
 § 925. Summary of the contents of J and J E — §926. The principal 
 contents of E — § 927. Characteristics of J — § 928. Characteristics of E 
 
 — § 029. Both J and E composite works — § 930. E composed in north- 
 ern Israel, probably about 770 b.c. — § 931. J written in the kingdom of 
 Judah — § 932. Possibly near the close of the eighth century b.c. — 
 § 933. The motives of its composition — § 934. The compilers compared 
 with the prophets — § 935. Succeeding literary productions — § 936. Re- 
 lation of written prophecy to the earlier literature — §937. Unknown 
 colleagues and helpers of the prophets — § 938. Prophetic writing' shows 
 the oratorical style — § 939. The manner of Amos implies earlier pro- 
 phetic writing — §940. Occasions and effects of public speaking — 
 § 941. Need of a new and living word during the Assyrian period — 
 § i»42. Prophetic literature held the field alone for a whole century — 
 § '.'4:1. Progress from the historians, through the earlier prophets, to 
 Deuteronomy — §944. Decisive practical advance made by the Deute- 
 ronomist — § !»45. Close organic association of J E and Deuteronomy 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Religion and Morals. § 946-1018. P. 81-125 
 
 § 946. Religion as a main factor in the moral history of Israel — 
 § '.'47. Estimate of the morality of the individual in earlier times — 
 § 948. Conditions of patriarchal morality — § 949. classes of moral acts 
 
 — § 950. How the will of the community determined the moral standard 
 
 — § 951. Obedience to the claims of the deities — ^ 952. Reliability of 
 our sources of informati >n — § 953. Deceit in primitive life — § 954. Com- 
 parison with other virtues — § 1)55. The record of patriarchal frauduleney 
 
 — § 956. Relations of the sexes — § 957. Violations of chastity — j 958. Al- 
 truistic virtues — § 959. Generosity and magnanimity — §960. Joseph's 
 character in connection with Ins history — § 961. Distinctive traits of 
 the patriarchs — >• ( .>62. Moral quality of their adherence to Jehovah— 
 § 963. Heroic and semi-barbarOUS virtues of the age of the judges — 
 § 964. Treachery ami tribalism § 965. Prevalent unchastity — § 966. In- 
 fluences for and against the altruistic virtues — § 967. The rise of the 
 kingdom distinguished by patriotism — § 968. Potential value of the cen- 
 tral sanctuary — § 969. Personal prowess and self-devotion among the 
 chiefs — £ 970. Veracity still unfashionable — § 971. Sexual irregularities 
 
 — §972. Generosity varied by cruelty and wrongs — § 973. Explanation 
 of tribal morality — § 974. The need of public teachers supplied by the 
 prophets — § 975. Mora! censorship a secondary matter in the ministry 
 of Samuel — § u~i'>. The significance of Samuel in Old Testamenl morals 
 
 — § 077. Advance shown in Nathan's rebuke of David — § 978. Prophecj 
 in abeyance under Solomon — § 979. Prophetic encouragemeul of the
 
 CONTEXTS 
 
 revolt of the "Ten Tribes " — § 980. Moral effect of the dread of Jehovah 
 
 — § 981. The moral crisis under Ahab — § 982. How the royal crime 
 awakened the popular conscience — § 983. Prophetic morality as repre- 
 senting a cause and a party — § 984. Conditions of moral progress — 
 § 985. Advance in the conception of the character of Jehovah — § 986. In- 
 telligent inward rejection of idolatry and its accompaniments — § 987. A 
 new conception of the religious community — § 988. Necessity of a self-sac- 
 rificing struggle — § 989. Moral results of national unification — § 990. In- 
 dustrial and commercial progress — § 991. Effects of the schism between 
 rich and poor — § 992. Concentration of national worship — § 993. A 
 system of moral education — § 994. Moral and spiritual contrasts in the 
 closing days of northern Israel — § 995. The party of Jehovah in Judah ; 
 Isaiah's disciples — § 996. Helpers and comrades of the prophets in the 
 whole course of prophecy — § 997. Periods of moral and religious history 
 from Hezekiah to the death of Josiah — § 998. Germinal ideas and prog- 
 ress in the time of Isaiah and Micah — § 999. First necessary limitation : 
 the localizing of Jehovah's influence and interest — § 1000. Second limita- 
 tion : corporate or representative character of moral responsibility — 
 § 1001. Third limitation : lack of proportion in estimating moral qualities 
 
 — § 1002. Significance of the reforming period of Hezekiah — § 1003. The 
 third period, the time of Manasseh, a preparation for the reforming pe- 
 riod of Josiah — § 1004. This third period determined the final issues — 
 § 1005. Parallel with earlier seasons of degeneracy — § 1006. Earnestness 
 of the worshippers of Molech — § 1007. Reaction in favour of Jehovah — 
 § 1008. Effect of religious and moral antagonisms on belief and doctrine 
 
 — § 1009. Nature and consequences of the conception of the holiness of 
 Jehovah — § 1010. Results in the development of moral individuality — 
 § 1011. The ideas of sin and forgiveness — § 1012. Preparation for Deu- 
 teronomy and the Reformation — § 1013. Moral influence of the priest- 
 hood — § 1014. The priests as securing divine favour for their clients — 
 § 1015. Priests in Israel as intercessors and counsellors — § 1016. Moral 
 helpfulness of the priestly profession — § 1017. Reforming and literary 
 work of the priests — § 1018. Moral and religious influence of men 
 unknown to history 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 The Reformation in Effect. § 1019-1026. P. 126-131 
 
 § 1019. Reforms accomplished during the lifetime of Josiah — § 1020. Ob- 
 stacles hard to overcome — § 1021. Inherent difficulties — § 1022. The cor- 
 porate unity of the nation the strength and weakness of the movement — 
 § 1023. The ethical and the ritual element compared — § 1024. Deuteron- 
 omy and the truer national life — § 1025. Its preparation for individualism 
 — § 1026. Effect of the prescribed ritual system
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 The Egyptians in Palestine. § 1027-1044. P. 132-142 
 
 § 1027. Military strength of Josiah's administration — § 1028. Fate- 
 ful results of a warlike movement — § 1029. Change in Egyptian policy 
 — § 1030. The new dynasty of Sais — § 1031. Enterprise of Pharaoh 
 Necho — § 1032. Revival of foreign ambitions — § 1033. Prospects of 
 an invasion of Western Asia — § 1034. Josiah and Necho at Megiddo — 
 § 1035. The mourning for Josiah — § 1036. Influence of his oath to As- 
 syria—I 1037. Explanation of his antipathy towards Egypt — § 1038. The 
 Egyptian occupation — § 1039. Accession and captivity of Jehoahaz — 
 § lniO. Eliakim (Jehoiakim) the vassal of Egypt — § 1041. Character 
 of the Egyptian regime— § 1042. The Babylonian Nabopolassar — 
 § 1043. The Egyptians succumb to young Nebuchadrezzar — § 1044. Judah 
 a dependency of Babylon 
 
 Book X 
 
 HEBREWS AND CHALDEANS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Babylon and Nebuchadrezzar. § 1045-1064. P. 143-159 
 
 § 1045. Scope and duration of Babylonian influence — § 1046. Interest 
 of the story of the Chaldseans — § 1047. Resume of their earlier history 
 — § 1048. Their devotion to Babylon — § 1049. They combine Assyrian 
 and Babylonian types of character — § 1050. They made few great 
 changes in the Semitic world — §1051. Nabopolassar and his plans — 
 § 1052. Character of Nebuchadrezzar — § 1053. His religious spirit — 
 § 1054. Purity of his religious feeling — § 1055. Point of view in our 
 study of Babylon — § 1056. Greatness of the city — § 1057. Description by 
 Berossus — § 1058. Situation and defences of Babylon — § 1059. Streets, 
 bridges, quays, and river traffic — § 1060. The temple of Merodaeh and 
 its belongings — § 1061. The tower of Babel — § 1062. The new royal 
 palace — § 1063. Borsippa, its temple of Nebo and its tower — § 1064. Life 
 of the people of Babylon 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Silences of Prophecy till the Chaldean Epoch. § 1065-1074. 
 P. L6O-106 
 
 § 1065. Prophetic silence during the Deuteronomic period — § 1066. 
 Why the work of the preaching prophets was non-official — § 1067. Jere-
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 rniali takes no part in the measures of reform — § 1068. His indifference 
 towards ritual and ceremony — § 1069. He had no official dealings with 
 Josiah — § 1070. The prophets stood in advance of as well as aloof from 
 the king and his officers — § 1071. Symptoms of this radical separation 
 
 — § 1072. Why prophecy concerned itself with international affairs — 
 § 1073. Were prophets or priests concerned in Josiah's fatal campaign ? 
 
 — § 1074. The Chaldsean era and public prophecy 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 Judah's Vassalage to the Chald.eans. § 1075-1081. P. 167-171 . 
 
 § 1075. Process of subjection of Syria and Palestine — § 1076. Atti- 
 tude of Nebuchadrezzar towards Judah — § 1077. Expected help from 
 Egypt an encouragement to revolt — § 1078. Repression of the rebellion 
 and death of Jehoiakim — § 1070. Young Jehoiachin and his surrender — 
 § 1080. Treatment of the conquered people — § 1081. Fate of the king 
 and the exiles of the first captivity 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Jeremiah and the Coming of the Chald.eans. § 1082-1127 
 P. 172-200 
 
 § 1082. Jeremiah almost wholly a prophet of the Chaldsean period — 
 § 1083. Date of his first great discourse, 605 b.c. — § 1084. His previous 
 silence and his sudden prominence — § 1085. Political occasions of the 
 opening prophecies — § 1086. Composition and occasion of the first dis- 
 course — § 1087. National trouble after the death of Josiah — § 1088. Second 
 condition: conflict at Carchemish — § 1089. The battle-song of Jeremiah 
 
 — § 1090. His forecast of the Chaldaeans — § 1091. Third condition : the 
 expected invasion from the north — § 1002. Dramatic scene at its an- 
 nouncement — § 1003. Jeremiah and his professional rivals — § 1094. 
 Modes of false and true worship — § 1005. Crime and punishment of 
 Tophet — § 1006. Exile and outlawry of souls — § 1007. Falsifying reve- 
 lation — § 1098. The prophet's mood of grief and vexation — § 1099. The 
 Old Testament Confession — § 1100. Punishment for the broken Cove- 
 nant — § 1101. Attempt at assassination — § 1102. Lesson from the 
 potter's art — §1103. Attitude of the priests and prophets — §1104. 
 Mutual hostility and Jeremiah's maledictions — § 1105. Aggravations of 
 his wrongs — § 1106. His blame for loyalty to Jehovah — § 1107. The 
 problem of his suffering — § 1108. Jeremiah the representative of a class 
 
 — § 1109. The supreme trial prepares him for conflict — § 1110. The 
 potter's vessel and the valley of Tophet — § 1111. Official punishment of 
 Jeremiah — § 1112. His inward conflict and victory — § 1113. Vindica- 
 tion of his attitude toward the Chaldreans — § 1114. Moral necessity of
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 national chastisement — § 1115. He plainly announces Nebuchadrezzar 
 
 — §1116. Jeremiah interdicted; his message committed to writing — 
 § 1117. Literary form of the discourses — § 1118. Time and place of 
 Baruch's public reading — § 1119. Consequences of the lecture — § 1120. 
 Burning of the roll by Jehoiakim — § 1121. Execution of Jeremiah 
 threatened — § 1122. Character and policy of Jehoiakim — § 1123. The 
 attitude of the politicians — §1124. Interval of political quiescence — 
 § 1125. Jeremiah and his rivals during the great drought — § 1120. The 
 prophet comforted and encouraged — § 1127. Jeremiah's vicarious min- 
 istry of suffering 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Habakkuk and the Chald.eaxs. § 1128-1139. P. 210-219 
 
 § 1128. Characteristics of the book of Habakkuk — § 1129. Parallel 
 with Nahurn — § 1130. The Chaldseans as scourges of Israel — § 1131. Why 
 are the Chaldseans not themselves punished? — § 1132. The prophet on 
 his watch-tower — § 1133. His answer of faith triumphant — § 1134. Fu- 
 tility uf the Chaldaean regime — § 1135. The moral case against them 
 and their merited doom — § 1136. Meaning of Hab. iii. — § 1137. Date 
 of the prophecy — § 1138. Progress from Zephaniah to Habakkuk — 
 § 1139. Habakkuk and Jeremiah 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Jeremiah amd the First Rebellion-. § 1140-1147. P. 220-226 
 
 § 1140. Prophecies of the first rebellion — § 1141. The Rechabites — 
 j 1142. Lessons for Israel — § 1143. Prophetic laments over Jehoiachin 
 
 — § 1111 Reminiscence of his fate — § 1145. Harshness of the Ian. 
 explained — § 1146. Misfortune as a measure of sin — § 1147. The actual 
 fate of Jehoiachin 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Jeremiah and Jcdah's Last PROBATION. § 1148-1173. 1'. 227-244 
 
 § Ills. Zedekiah as a Chaldsean vassal — § 1149. Situation of Jeremiah 
 
 — § 1150. An epoch in his public and literary career — § 1151. Zedekiah, 
 
 his ill-fortune and his weaknesses — § 1152. His people after the deporta- 
 tion — § 1153 Effect of the changes of fortune — § 1151. Their troubles 
 
 as payers of tribute — §1155. Their religious sentiments — § 1156. Effecl 
 upon their political views — ^ 1157. Movement towards revolt; how met 
 by Jeremiah — §1158. Encouragement to sedition by the prophet Hana- 
 
 niah — § 1159. Spectacular close of the controversy — ^ 1160. The fate
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 and case of Hananiah — § 1161. Counsel for Zedekiah — § 1162. Indict- 
 ment of the rival school of prophets — § 1163. Oracle concerning Edom — 
 § 1164. The prophet's care for the exiles in Babylon — § 1165. Prophetic 
 hopes centred in them — § 1166. Parable of the figs — § 1167. Embassy 
 from Zedekiah to Babylon — § 1108. Jeremiah's letter to the captives — 
 § 1169. His opponents in Babylonia — § 1170. The intrigue of Shemaiah 
 and its failure — § 1171. Zedekiah's journey to Babylon and renewed 
 submission — § 1172. The message of Babylon's final doom — § 1173. End 
 of Jeremiah's role as Babylonian prophet 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 Ezekiel in Exile and the Home-land. § 1174-1206. P. 245-267 
 
 § 1174. Ezekiel the priest-prophet — § 1175. His style and teaching — 
 § 1176. His interest in the home-land and its people — § 1177. Limitations 
 of his prophecies relating to them — § 1178. Siege of Jerusalem symboli- 
 cally portrayed — § 1179. Horrors of the siege symbolized — § 1180. Rep- 
 resentation of the subsequent fate of the people with bitter denunciations 
 
 — § 1181. Effect of Ezekiel's visions on the leaders of the people — 
 § 1182. Vision of Jehovah's glory and the contrasted "jealousy-image" 
 
 — § 1183. Vision of primitive beast- worship — § 1184. The weeping for 
 Tammuz — §1185. Illustration from Babylonian literature — § 1186. Ex- 
 planation of the myth — § 1187. Its religious motive — § 1188. An image 
 of a world-wide tragedy — § 1189. Its moral danger — § 1190. Historical 
 illustration of the evil — § 1191. A vision of sun-worship in the temple — 
 § 1192. The saving mark on the forehead — § 1193. Vision of the firing 
 of Jerusalem — § 1194. The doom of the plotters of sedition — § 1195. The 
 restoration and the change of heart — § 1196. The city as forsaken by 
 Jehovah — § 1197. A vision of sudden flight — § 1198. Current fallacies 
 due to false prophecy — § 1199. Evil work of false prophetesses — 
 § 1200. The people themselves ready to be deceived — § 1201. They are 
 not to be saved by the righteousness of others — § 1202. Parables of the 
 character and fate of Israel — § 1203. Ezekiel's preaching intermitted — 
 § 1204. The responsibility of the individual — § 1205. How the exiles 
 reasoned about their fate and its cause — § 1206. Discourse to the depu- 
 tation of elders 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 Rebellion, Siege, and Fall of Jerusalem. § 1207-1239. P. 268-295 
 
 § 1207. Change of riders in Egypt — § 1208. Egypt encourages revolt 
 in Judah — § 1209. Allegory of the two eagles, the cedar, and the vine — 
 § 1210. Nebuchadrezzar consulting the oracles — § 1211. The mode of 
 divination — § 1212. Parable of Judab's relations with foreign peoples — 
 § 1213. Expedition against Palestine — § 1214. Process of the siege of
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Jerusalem — § 1215. Zedekiah's appeal to Jeremiah — § 1216. The doom 
 of Zedekiah and its mitigation — § 1217. Treatment of the slaves in Jeru- 
 salem — § 1218. Their temporary release and their reenslavement — 
 § 1219. Jeremiah's indictment of the offenders — § 1220. Jeremiah pre- 
 dicts the return of the Chakkeans — § 1221. Arrest and imprisonment of 
 Jeremiah — § 1222. Retreat of the Egyptians and resumption of the siege 
 
 — § 1223. Mistaken heroism of the defenders — § 1224. Interview with 
 Zedekiah ; Jeremiah in the royal courtyard — § 1225. Property in Ana- 
 thoth transferred to Jeremiah — § 1226. The prophet's hope of future 
 restoration — § 1227. He is thrust into an empty cistern — § 1228. The king 
 persuaded to rescue him — § 1229. Last interview between Zedekiah and 
 Jeremiah — § 1230. End of the siege : the breach in the wall — § 1231. Flight 
 and capture of the royal party — § 1232. Treatment of the conquered city 
 
 — § 1233. Methods of devastation — § 1234. Deportation of citizens — 
 § 1235. Fate of the king and the leaders of the revolt — § 123G. The siege 
 of Jerusalem in Hebrew literature — § 1237. Authorship of the Lamenta- 
 tions — § 1238. The poems set forth historical situations ; do not relate 
 the facts of history — § 1239. Kindred literature probably of a later time 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 The Remnant in Palestine and Egypt. § 1240-1262. P. 296-312 
 
 § 1240. Condition of the remnant of Judah in Palestine — § 1241. The 
 Babylonian policy towards them — § 1242. Gedaliah, Jeremiah, and the 
 captain of the guard — § 1243. Formation of the new settlement — § 1244. 
 Jeremiah and the services of religion — § 1245. Ishmael the traitor — 
 § 1246. His murder of Gedaliah — § 1247. His other atrocities — § 1248. 
 Surprise and escape of Ishmael — § 1249. Panic and southward flight of 
 the Judaite chiefs — § 1250. Deportation of the remainder — § 1251. The 
 desolation of Judah — §1252. Jeremiah resorted to as counsellor — 
 § 1253. He gives an oracle dissuading from flight to Egypt — § 1254. Ilis 
 counsel disregarded : the march to Egypt — § 1255. Symbolical action of 
 the overthrow of Pharaoh Hophra — § 1256. Worship of the "Queen of 
 Heaven" — § 1257. Jeremiah's last denunciation and his martyrdom — 
 § 1258. His prophetic genius and its decisive test — § 1259. Illustration 
 from modern conditions — § 1260. The prophet's vision and the national 
 fiction — § 1261. Our modern prophets and our national fiction — § 1262. 
 Meaning of Jeremiah's life for humanity 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 The Exile as an Epoch. § 1263-1267. P. 313-317 
 
 § 1263. Paradox of the results of the exile and its antecedents — 
 § 1264. Problem of causes and effects — § 1265. Questions suggested by 
 the Babylonian residence — § 1266. Need of a particular inquiry — 
 § 1267. Historical clearness promoted by the exile
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 The Deportations. § 1208-1271. P. 318-320 
 
 § 1268. Preponderance of the deportation of 597 b.c. — § 1269. In- 
 ferences — § 1270. Various classes of the deported people — § 1271. Con- 
 dition of the exiles on the journey 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 The Hebrew Settlement in Babtlonia. § 1272-1289. P. 321-334 
 
 § 1272. Region of the principal settlement — § 1273. Local distribu- 
 tion of the exiles — § 1274. How their employments were determined — 
 § 1275. Their antecedent occupations in Palestine — § 1276. Agriculture, 
 trade, industrial and other arts in Babylonia — § 1277. A time of oppor- 
 tunity for settlers — § 1278. Social and business conditions; status and 
 treatment of slaves — § 1279. Classification of Babylonian slaves — 
 §1280. Distinctive advantages afforded by the Babylonian system — 
 § 1281. Freedom of movement possible to the higher order of slaves 
 
 — g 1282. The conditions summed up — § 1283. Importance of agricul- 
 ture in Babylonian life — §1284. The country round about Nippur — 
 § 1285. Effect of the rise of Babylon and of the Kasshite dynasty — 
 §1286. Later vicissitudes; disfavour of Nebuchadrezzar — §1287. The 
 business functions of the temple and the priests — § 1288. Source of their 
 influence upon the progress of the country — § 1289. Nebuchadrezzar's 
 displeasure towards them connected with the settlement of the Hebrews 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 Employments of the Exiles in Babylonia. § 1290-1306 
 P. 335-349 
 
 § 1290. What water was to Babylonia — § 1291. System of canaliza- 
 tion east of the Euphrates — § 1292. Condition of the region enjoying 
 the water supply — § 1293. How the Euphrates itself was affected with 
 its affluents: modern illustration — § 1294. Recent illustration east of 
 the Euphrates — § 1295. The general condition of the country character- 
 ized — §1296. The exiles to be restorers and repairers of wastes and 
 ruins — § 1l".i7. Agreement with the policy of Nebuchadrezzar — ; i 1298. 
 Summary of the situation — § 1299. The canals that gave the water 
 supply — § 130(1. Modern canals of this region — § 1301. Occupations of 
 the colonists after the settlement — § 1302. Extension of their avocations 
 
 — S 1303. Improvement of the land: its productions — § 1304. Need of 
 vigilance against constant dangers — § 1305. Uses of the Kebar for navi- 
 gation — § 1306. What became of the Hebrew artisans?
 
 CONTEXTS 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 The Exiles as a Community. § 1307-1312. P. 350-353 
 
 § 1307. Relations with the central government — § 1308. The king's 
 interest in the principal colony — § 1309. Solidarity of the exiles — 
 § 1310. Simple organization of the colonies — § 1311. Administration of 
 family heads and elders — § 1312. Leadership and general oversight 
 
 Book XI 
 
 HEBREWS, CHALDJEANS, AXD PERSIANS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Morals and Religion of Israel in- Exile. § 1313-1340. P. 354-079 
 
 § 1313. The true Israel revealed and on trial in captivity — § 1314. The 
 physical environment as affecting mind and temperament — § 1315. New 
 conceptions of life and history awakened — § 1316. A change of polit- 
 ical ideals fostered — § 1317. General conditions of social progress — 
 > 1318. Great determining moral factors — § 1319. Importance of business 
 relations — § 1320. Effect of business on character — § 1321. Careful pro- 
 tection of business interests in Babylonia — § 1322. Hebrew business 
 antecedents and principles — § 1323. Babylonian rules and procedure — 
 § 1324. Dealings in agricultural business — § 1325. The moral discipline 
 for Israel — § 1320. How slaves and servants could better their condition 
 
 — § 1327. Qualifying observations — § 1328, Limitations of the moral 
 influence — § 1329. Paramount importance of religious and moral issues 
 
 — § 1330. Danger and evil of unchastity — § 1331. A one-sided restriction 
 
 — § 1332. Encouragement of sacred prostitution — § 1333. How the He- 
 brews regarded it — § 13:i4. Their repugnance to idolatry in an alien land 
 
 — § 1335. Better opportunities for the prophetic teaching — § 1330. Re- 
 ligious dilemma: question as to the power of Jehovah — § 1337. Could 
 Jehovah actually be and have control in Babylonia? — § 1338. Effect on 
 prevailing conceptions of God — § 1339. Earlier progress in religious indi- 
 vidualism— § 1340. Effect of the scattering of the oation — § 1341. Jere- 
 miah's conception of the new Covenant — § 1342. Ezekiel's denial of 
 imputed guilt — § 1343. Ezekiel as continuing the spirit of Deuteron- 
 omy — § 1344. Summary of Ezekiel's later teaching — § 1345. The per- 
 manent elements of the religion of the exiles — § 1346. The Sabbath as 
 a Babylonian institution — § 1347. Advantage of a stated day of rest 
 
 — § 1348. Mourning and self-abasement of the religious meetings — 
 § 13 lit. Effect of the sifting and purifying process
 
 C< >NTEXTS 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 Hebrew Literature of the Exile. § 1350-1363. P. 380-388 
 
 § 1350. Internal causes of the literary activity of the Exile — 
 § 1351. Outward conditions, especially Babylonian influences — § 1352. Ef- 
 fect upon form and style — § 1353. Examples in post-exilic writers — 
 § 1354. Increased employment of symbol and allegory — §1355. Increase 
 of historical interest — § 1356. Effect of Deuteronomy in a one-sided view 
 of historic principles — § 1357. The books of Kings and the national cultus 
 
 — § 1358. References made to earlier sources — § 1359. Narrative addi- 
 tions to the annals of the kings — § 1360. The probability of two revisions 
 
 — § 1361. Revision and reshaping of Deuteronomy, Judges, and Samuel 
 
 — § 1302. Ritualistic work: the Law of Holiness — § 1363. Psalm com- 
 position 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 The Chaldean- Dominion. § 1365-1372. P. 389-394 
 
 § 1364. General policy of Nebuchadrezzar — § 1365. Siege of Tyre and 
 campaigns in Egypt — § 1366. Prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel con- 
 cerning Egypt — § 1367. Ezekiel's discourses on Tyre and Sidon — 
 § 1368. The closing stage of the Chaldsean empire — § 1369. Evil-Mero- 
 dach — § 1370. Neriglissar and his short-lived son — § 1371. Accession 
 and character of Nabonidus — § 1372. His policy toward the provincial 
 cities 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Cyrus and the Persians. § 1373-1389. P. 395-407 
 
 § 1373. The Iranians — § 1374. Iran and the westward migrations of 
 Medes and Persians — § 1375. The Iranian communities — § 1376. Their 
 religion — § 1377. Its contrast with Semitism — § 1378. Early history of 
 the Persian branch — § 1379. Conflict and compromise of the Medes and 
 Lydians — § 1380. Forecast of consequences — § 1381. Cyrus in myth 
 and legend — § 1382. Cyrus as conqueror of the Medes — § 1383. He thus 
 rids Mesopotamia of the Scythians — § 1384. Were the Scythians then in 
 control of Media'.' — § 1385. Explanation of the submission of the Medes 
 to Cyrus — § 1386. Rapid organization of a Medo-Persian empire — 
 § 1387. Invasion of Median territory by Crcesus of Lydia — § 1388. Con- 
 quest of his kingdom by Cyrus — § 1389. Annexation of the Greek colo- 
 nies and of eastern Iran
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Cyrus King of Babylon. § 1390-1399. P. 408-414 
 
 § 1390. Happy fortune of Cyrus — § 1391. His delay in marching upon 
 Babylon — § 1392. Misgovernment and folly of Nabonidus — § 1393. A 
 divine commission to right the wrongs of the Babylonians — § 13'.»4. Change 
 in the policy of Nabonidus — § 1395. The campaign against Babylon in 
 the Inscriptions — § 1390. The connected story — § 1397. Babylonia made 
 a Persian kingdom — § 1398. The native religion retained and patronized 
 by Cyrus — § 1399. Liberation of foreign slaves and exiles 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Prophetic Ideals. § 1400-1420. P. 415-431 
 
 § 1400. Occasions of a new literary epoch — § 1401. The Medes and the 
 doom of Babylon — § 1402. Picture of the fallen oppressor — § 140.!. The 
 Medes in Jer. 1., li. — § 1404. Persia and Media in Isa. xxi. 1-10 — 
 § 1405. Isaiah II: his training and outlook — § 1400. His genius for 
 expression : parallel with Vergil — § 1407. The prophet, his pupils and 
 coworkers — § 1408. How deliverance should be effected — § 1409. The 
 vision of Cyrus and his unknown Leader — § 1410. The prophet sees 
 results in conditions — § 1411. The prophetic view of Cyrus, and its 
 implications — § 1412. The reputation of Cyrus — § 1413. His moral 
 statesmanship — § 1414. His treatment of subject states — § 1415. The 
 restoration of captives — § 1410. The religion of Cyrus — § 1417. The 
 unfulfilled ideal of his deeds and character — § 1418. The unfulfilled 
 vision of prophecy — § 1419. Its larger realization — § 1420. Regenerative 
 ideas of prophecy
 
 ADDITIONAL ABBREVIATIONS 
 
 ATR. : 
 
 BA. 
 CIS. 
 PB. 
 EB. 
 
 Einl. ■ 
 
 HA. 
 Her. 
 
 Kosmologie ■■ 
 MVG. : 
 
 Nab. annals-. 
 Neb. 
 Nippur ■ 
 
 PCT. 
 
 RBA. 
 
 : R. Smend, Lehrbuch der alttestamentlichen Beligionsge- 
 schichte, 1893. 
 
 : Beitrage zur Assyriologie, edited by Delitzsch and Haupt. 
 
 : Corpus inscriptionum Semiticarum. 
 
 -- Dictionary of the Bible, edited by James Hastings. 
 
 : Encyclopaedia Biblica, edited by T. K. Cheyne and J. S. 
 Black. 
 
 : C. H. Cornill, Einleitung in das Alte Testament, 4th ed., 
 1896. 
 
 : J. Benzinger, Hebrdische Archdologie, 1894. 
 
 : Herodotus. 
 
 : P. Jensen, Kosmologie der Babylonier, 1890. 
 
 ■.Mittheilungen der vorderasiatischen Oesellschaft. 
 
 -. Annals of Nabonidus, § 1382. 
 
 ; Inscription of Nebuchadrezzar II. in IR, 53-58. 
 
 : J. P. Peters, Nippur, or Adventures and Explorations on 
 the Euphrates, 2 vols., 1897. 
 
 : Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania ; 
 Cuneiform Texts, vol. IX, 1898. 
 
 : M. Jastrow, Jr., The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria. 
 1898. 
 
 SBOT. 
 
 = Sacred Books of the Old Tt stament, edited by Paul Haupt.
 
 Book IX 
 HEBREWS AND EGYPTIANS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF JT7DAH UNDER JOSIAH 
 
 § 835. The fortunes of Assyria as the controlling power 
 of the Semitic world have been followed until the empire 
 and its capital ceased to exist. We have also traced the 
 slow but steady revival of Babylonia under ChakUcan 
 leadership and in a general way described the condition 
 of the wide region once subject to the rule of Nineveh 
 (§ 821). The survey of our field was, however, not quite 
 complete ; a special place is demanded for the people of 
 Israel during the closing years of the Assyrian regime. 
 To help to an understanding of the affairs of the kingdom 
 of Judah during this and the following period up to the 
 Exile, we may again refer to the normal political relations 
 lit-t ween Palestine and the dominant powers of Western 
 Asia. 
 
 § 836. From the beginning of recorded history until 
 Alexander the Great brought the forces of Europe into 
 play, the fate of Palestine and Syria was controlled from 
 the banks of the Tigris or of the Euphrates, [f a1 any t ime 
 a change took place in the general situation, it was brought 
 about by the restless endeavours of Egypt to gain a footing 
 in Asia, whenever the dominant Asiatic power was crippled 
 
 B 1
 
 2 FORCES OF POLITICAL HISTORY Book IX 
 
 for a time or was slowly making way for its successor. 
 We may recall the era of the domination of the separate 
 states in old Babylonia, as the now long-forgotten cities of 
 the lower Euphrates valley came each in turn to exclusive 
 power. We next bring to mind the political and intellec- 
 tual supremacy of Babylon itself in Syria and Palestine, 
 followed by the precarious Egyptian occupation, after 
 Assyria and Babylonia had begun their long contention. 
 Then comes before us the epoch of Israel in Palestine, 
 with the episodes of the border wars and the rise of 
 Damascus, all made possible by the inaction of the east- 
 ern powers whose strength was being wasted upon one 
 another. We next pass in review the era of Assyrian 
 aggression, its slow but certain acquisition of the Syrian 
 and Palestinian states, the subversion of Damascus, the 
 conquest and captivity of northern Israel, the vassalage, 
 the rebellion, and the chastisement of Judah. 
 
 § 837. If from the same historical standpoint we now 
 look forward instead of backward, we shall see the same 
 parts still being played by the leading actors in the drama. 
 The decline of Nineveh and the withdrawal of its garri- 
 sons afford Egypt the opportunity of grasping again at 
 Asiatic dominion, and even of masquerading awhile as the 
 heaven-sent ruler of Palestine (2 K. xxiii. 34), and once 
 more her fond illusion of an Asiatic empire is dispelled by 
 an older and stronger claimant from beyond the River. 
 Nineveh is gone, but Babylon remains and revives. The 
 Chaldreans succeed to the empire and the traditions of 
 Assyria. Egypt is extruded from her brief occupancy of 
 Palestine, and the old problem of Hebrew independence 
 or subjection is worked out as before, only now Nebuchad- 
 rezzar is the controlling factor instead of Tiglathpileser or 
 Sargon. Such are the main outward conditions of the 
 kingdom of Judah in the days of King Josiah and his ill- 
 fated house. 
 
 § 838. My readers do not need to be reminded that the 
 domination of Assyria and Babylonia in Palestine involved
 
 Cn. I, § 840 EARLY TIMES OF JOSIAH 3 
 
 much more than mere political results. But its religious 
 and moral consequences have not as yet been so obvious, 
 because they are not immediately suggested by the out- 
 ward events that more obviously mark the progress of 
 history. Yet it is in the movements of the inner life of a 
 people that we can best find out the sources and the pro- 
 cess of its development, as the qualities of a soil are tested 
 by the upturnings of the plough. The whole period in 
 the history of Judah from Josiah to the Exile is one of 
 those seasons of startling self-revelation which come to 
 nations no less than to individuals, and in studying it we 
 must not lose sight of this secondary aspect of international 
 relations. For the time of Josiah itself, which now more 
 immediately concerns us, we have ample evidence, often 
 indirect but none the less clear and strong, as to the inter- 
 nal condition of the kingdom, most of it drawn from the 
 literature of the most instructive religious movement of 
 pre-christian antiquity. 
 
 § 839. The reign of Josiah was indeed almost wholly 
 occupied with domestic concerns. When he came to the 
 throne (639 B.C.) at the age of eight years, peace prevailed, 
 as far as we know, throughout the dominion of Assyria. 
 Egypt had been lost to the empire about six years pre- 
 viously (§ 768). But the Scythians had not yet begun 
 their ravages (§ 811), and the empire was otherwise intact- 
 The great insurrection had been quelled, and no spirit 
 was left in the subject states for further revolt. And 
 when the collapse of the empire had begun, and that pro- 
 cess of degeneration was going on which preceded disso- 
 lution (§ 820 ff.), Josiah, the young monarch now come 
 to his majority, had little inducement to strike for inde- 
 pendence. All the freer was he, therefore, to engage in 
 that moral and religious work which has given him a 
 unique distinction among the kings of the earth. 
 
 § 840. The reforming party in the state, under whose 
 fostering care the young king spent the years of his 
 minority, had learned well the principles of the foreign
 
 4 VIRTUAL INDEPENDENCE OF JOSIAH Book IX 
 
 policy maintained by the prophetic teaching throughout 
 its history — to respect the oath of allegiance to the suze- 
 rain, to engage in no international intrigues, and to rest 
 quietly and confidently in the protection of Jehovah. Only 
 thus, they rightly insisted, was it possible to secure the 
 peace and tranquillity necessary for the worship and the 
 practice of religion. There was thus no inclination to 
 revolt, even when the chances of success were better than 
 ever before. Nor was there temptation to unite with any 
 of the feeble surviving communities of Palestine so as 
 to form a strong independent power. Thus the party of 
 reform did not fear any interruption in their task from 
 partisans of disorder and sedition. It is significant, how- 
 ever, of the freedom of action which Judah claimed for 
 itself that the district of Bethel, which was a part of the 
 Northern Kingdom, was now claimed by the king at Jeru- 
 salem and made the object of his reforming zeal, along 
 with the cities of Judah proper (2 K. xxiii. 15 ff.). 
 
 § 841. While Josiah did not formally renounce his 
 allegiance to the moribund kingdom of Assyria, there 
 were unmistakable evidences that the bond was morally 
 dissolved. It is in this very sphere of religious reform, 
 which is the distinction of Josiah and his epoch, that the 
 virtual independence of the nation is most plainly marked. 
 It is one of our cardinal principles (§ 200) that among 
 the ancient nations of the East political subjection was, 
 by moral necessity, followed by religious dependence. 
 The attentive observer will find this nowhere more clearly 
 exemplified than in the history of Israel in its vassalage 
 to Assyria. As in the days of Ahaz (§ 640), so in the 
 times of Manasseh, during most of whose reign all opposi- 
 tion to the Assyrian domination had ceased, the worship 
 of Israel bore in its most conspicuous features the stamp 
 of Babylonian or Assyrian influence. The situation gives 
 a valuable suggestion as to the external conditions under 
 which religious and moral progress was possible in the 
 kingdom of Judah. It was impossible, as we have just seen,
 
 Cii. I, §841 CONDITIONS FAVOURABLE TO REFORM 5 
 
 while foreign influence was irresistibly strong. It was 
 equally impossible during the political confusion attending 
 the intrigues and revolts that marked the reigns of the 
 latest kings. The most favourable occasions were offered 
 when the pressure of the suzerain state was withdrawn. 
 Such was the case in the later times of Hezekiah (§ 796) 
 and such also in these days of Josiah.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE GREAT REFORMATION 
 
 § 842. Since no important movement religious or polit- 
 ical could be undertaken without the formal sanction and 
 direction of the king, the reform which goes under the 
 name of Josiah, though long prepared for, could not be put 
 in operation until he assumed the direct control of the gov- 
 ernment. This reform aimed to be radical and complete. 
 It was, moreover, no mere fierce intolerant iconoclasm. 
 It was essentially a positive propaganda resting on pro- 
 found and well-considered views as to the right object 
 and mode of worship, and — what was most significant of 
 all — as to the necessary association of religion and morals. 
 
 § 843. It was a noble band of devoted servants of 
 Jehovah who, after being silenced by Manasseh and Amon, 
 reappeared to oppose the whelming tide of idolatry and 
 corruption in Jehovah's land. We know the names of a 
 few ; but they were necessarily the representatives of a 
 like-minded community. Of these the king's chief coun- 
 sellor was Shaphan, the state secretary or chancellor, the 
 founder of a worthy line of patriots (see 2 K. xxv. 22 ; 
 Jer. xxvi. 24 ; xxix. 3 ; xxxvi. 10 ff. ; xxxix. 14 ; xl. 
 5, 9, 11 ; xli. 2). He had perhaps been the guardian of 
 the king's tender youth, and was at any rate retained in 
 the highest place in the government on account of his years 
 and fidelity. Already his son Ahikani was bearing part 
 of his burdens (2 K. xxii. 12). Next to him was Hilkiah 
 the priest, also well advanced in life. 
 
 § 844. Such were the men whom we find to have been 
 Josiah's trusted counsellors when his public career began. 
 
 6
 
 Ch. II. § 846 HOW REFORM WAS FORWARDED 7 
 
 As in the other reigns described in the books of Kings, 
 there was here a large background of action and movement 
 which does not appear in the word-pictures that serve for 
 historical records. The change in dominant opinion that 
 marks the transition from Anion to Josiah is as significant 
 as it is obscure. Religious sentiment especially was hard 
 to move, and we must beware at the outset of assuming 
 that among the people at large it was greatly moved. In 
 the very nature of the case only moral causes working 
 through social conditions were sufficient to bring about 
 such a change, 1 and these are always difficult to ascertain 
 and to trace. The attitude of the leading men is more 
 clearly revealed, and in the present instance it is quite 
 fully described. 
 
 § 845. Under what influences did the chief men of 
 Josiah's time become so imbued with the theocratic spirit ? 
 In the time of Hezekiah, Israel's vantage-ground was 
 hardly and slowly won. It was more than lost in the 
 days of Manasseh. How was it recovered ? Negatively, 
 by the absence of noxious foreign influence (§ 840 f.). 
 From the positive and more important side a complete 
 answer is probably beyond reach. Some help may be 
 gained by following up the course of the literary and 
 moral development of Israel ; and this we shall attempt 
 later (§ 865 ft .). Meanwhile we can do little more than 
 remind the reader that the events recorded must have had 
 an adequate cause. And we must also repeat the reminder 
 that Hebrew narrative is extreme and one-sided from the 
 modern occidental point of view, ruder Manasseh not 
 merely a few devotees but a substantial party of Jehovah 
 must have kept their ranks unbroken, so that when the 
 favourable time arrived decisive action could be taken. 
 The circumstances attending the violent death of Anion 
 
 1 Tt is scarcely necessary to remind the reader that a "good" reign 
 was much more of a phenomenon in Israel than was an evil reign. The 
 king was ultimately the product of the people, and the popular religion 
 was mixed with heathenism during the whole duration of the kingdom.
 
 8 THE "BOOK OF DIRECTION" Book IX 
 
 and thf succession of his infant son are unknown ; but we 
 may take for granted that the theocratic party availed 
 themselves of the occasion to secure control of young 
 Josiah. It was the Jerusalem priests alone who had the 
 opportunity, through organization and official prestige, to 
 gain such an advantage. And since, as we have just 
 seen, a sort of priestly aristocracy was in control at the 
 time of the reformation, we may conclude that this power- 
 ful body had been brought into line with a movement 
 which, though rudely checked, was neither dead nor 
 sleeping during the oppression of half a century. 
 
 § 84(3. The story of this movement as brought into 
 effect may be written somewhat as follows, on the basis of 
 2 K. xxii., xxiii. (cf. 2 Chr. xxxiv., xxxv.). In the eigh- 
 teenth year of Josiah, when, as we may assume, the serious 
 work of his reign had been long begun, the business of 
 repairing the temple was being undertaken after the old- 
 fashioned method of first securing by free-will offerings 
 the money wherewith to do it 1 (cf. 2 K. xii. 4 ff.). When 
 a considerable contribution had been made, Josiah sent his 
 secretary, Shaphan, to Hilkiah to notify him that he might 
 now count and disburse the money. In the course of the 
 interview Hilkiah informed his visitor that he "had found 
 the book of direction in the house of Jehovah." The 
 book was handed to the secretary, who, having read it, 
 returned to the king, gave an account of his errand, and 
 having produced the book read it aloud to him. 
 
 § 847. Here an explanation is needed. What was the 
 book of direction ? and how did it come to be found in 
 
 1 The fact that Josiah repaired the defects in the temple is of itself no 
 proof that it had been neglected in the preceding reigns. As in Assyria 
 
 and Babylonia, where every king made it his boast in his memoirs that 
 he repaired the temple of his favourite god. it was doubtless a matter of 
 principle with the kings of Judah to keep the sacred places in order. 
 Yet so much had been added fur the purposes of heathenish worship that 
 it is perhaps fair to assume that during the long reign of Manasseh less 
 attention had been paid to the temple proper than to certain chambers 
 and annexes (2 K. xxiii. 4. 7, 11 f.), where, as in the next generation 
 (§ 1183 ff.), some of the idolatrous rites were observed.
 
 Ch. II, §848 HOW THE BOOK WAS '•FOUND" 9 
 
 the temple ? The former question is easily answered. 
 The book was a new and enlarged edition of the "Book 
 of the Covenant " (§ 920, 943 f.) prepared for the need of 
 the times. It comprises substantially the legal portion 
 of Deuteronomy (chs. xii.-xxvi. j, to which the hortatory 
 preface (chs. v.-xi.) was probably added somewhat later. 
 This legislative code is thoroughly interspersed with argu- 
 ments and appeals for a purer faith, a stricter ritual, and 
 a more spiritual habit of life. 1 The second question has 
 perhaps created more serious difficulty of another kind, the 
 ground of which is that the book, being almost or quite a 
 contemporary production, could scarcely have been lost in 
 the temple. The difficulty is in part removed when we ob- 
 serve that the narrative says nothing of the book having 
 been lost. All that is necessarily implied (xxii. 8, 13) is 
 that Ililkiah lighted in some way upon the book. 2 What 
 is harder to explain is the definite phrase "the book of 
 direction," which points to some book known as at one 
 time existing, and from which, since Josiah was apparently 
 unaware of its contents, it may be inferred that the book 
 had not been in circulation among his contemporaries. 
 
 § 848. The probable explanation is that the former 
 '• law-book," which wc now know as the first " Book of 
 the Covenant," and whose existence was a matter of noto- 
 riety in Israel, had never been in force as a statute-book, 
 
 1 Perhaps the whole of chs. i.-xi. was added by the same hand, i.-iv. 
 40 being a review of the history of Israel from the Exodus to the settle- 
 ment east of the Jordan, placed in the month of Muses just, before bis 
 death, followed by a solemn appeal to serve and obey Jehovah. Ch. 
 xxviii. was probably the original conclusion of xii.-xxvi.. ch. xxvii. having 
 been interpolated t<> conned its subject (the curses and blessings on Ebal 
 and Gerizim) with the similar ideas of ch. xxviii. Chs. xxix. and xxx. are 
 apparently a hortatory continuation of xii.-xxvi ; xxviii. by the same hand 
 as i.-xi. Chs. xxxi.-xxxiv. are from several sources, and did not belong 
 to tic older Deuteronomy. 
 
 - The word (nxd) in all the Semitic languages has the same meaning of 
 attaining or acquiring. For the Hebrew cf. Gen. x.wi. 1l' ; ii Sam. xx. 6. 
 our English find is identical with Latin peto- The meaning of invenire is 
 similarly developed.
 
 10 CONSTERNATION AND INQUIRY Book IX 
 
 and had been almost forgotten, kept as it was during the 
 unsympathetic regime of Manasseh in the hands of a small 
 theocratic circle ; and that it was now reproduced in an 
 expanded form, with the hortatory and minatory additions 
 which greatly impressed King Josiah. The work of pre- 
 paring the book having been done under priestly auspices 
 and perhaps within the precincts of the temple itself, the 
 volume might very well have been "found where it was not 
 lost." That there was a certain amount of conscientious 
 finesse in the business is, however, quite apparent, though 
 in this quality it has been outclassed by many of the 
 ecclesiastical intrigues of our better Christian times. 
 
 § 849. To realize the effect of the reading of the book 
 upon the susceptible soul of Josiah we must read it our- 
 selves, that is, read over Deut. xii.-xxvi., and imagine what 
 a pious king in old Jerusalem must have felt in hearing 
 for the first time a divine revelation of such tremendous 
 import. The book contained explicit directions as to 
 worship and conduct, and as the penalty for national 
 disobedience decreed the loss of home and country, the sen- 
 tence of the offenders was cumulative. For many genera- 
 tions warnings and precepts had been alike neglected, and 
 when the day of doom should come, the sins of the fathers 
 also would be visited upon the children. Could the doom 
 be averted by speedy and complete obedience and penitence? 
 
 § 850. Hilkiah himself was summoned and appealed 
 to. He was unable or unwilling to answer. A commis- 
 sion of inquiry was then appointed by the king, of which 
 Hilkiah was the head, and which besides included the state 
 secretary Shaphan and his son Ahikam, Achbor, one of 
 the royal council, and Asaiah, "the king's servant." 1 To 
 them the charge was given : " Go and inquire of Jeho- 
 vah on my behalf and on behalf of the people and on 
 
 1 For this peculiar title see Stade, GVI. I, 650, and the illustration 
 inscribed there and in Benzinger, HA. p. 258 (cf. p. 310). Stade's con- 
 jecture that the chief of the eunuchs is meant is unnecessary. The officer 
 had apparently to attend to the special personal business of the king, while 
 the other officials were servants of the state.
 
 Ch. II, § 851 ANSWER OF THE ORACLE 11 
 
 behalf of all Judah, concerning the words of this book that 
 has been found ; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that 
 has been kindled against us, because our fathers have not 
 obeyed the words of this book, to do what has been enjoined 
 upon us " (xxii. 13). 
 
 § 851. The deputation, under the lead of Hilkiah, sought 
 a prophetic not a priestly oracle (xxii. 14). This was the 
 fitting course in every way, particularly in an emergency, 
 and when the interests of the community were at stake 
 (cf. § 589 and note). Resort was had, however, not to a 
 prophet, but to a prophetess named Huldah, wife of the 
 keeper of the wardrobe. She is the only prophetess of 
 the Old Testament belonging to the higher prophetic era, 1 
 when "direction" implied a differentiation of the spirit- 
 ual from the civil or judicial function. 2 The action was 
 strictly regular. It lias been asked why some outstand- 
 ing prophet like Jeremiah was not appealed to. But the 
 question implies a misconception of the function of the 
 great prophets of the Old Testament. They did not be- 
 long to the prophetic guilds, nor had they anything to 
 do with the " directing " or with the official oracles, while 
 Huldah was a member of an inner circle of professionals 
 (§ 1066). Her answer as far as it is reported was wholly 
 in accord with the movement for reform. It was to the 
 
 1 Of Noadiah (Neh. vi. 14) we know only the name. The context 
 would suggest that she was a degenerate. 
 
 2 A development from the lower rudimentary function of Miriam and 
 Deborah. Comp. Professor I. J. Peritz, " Woman in the ancient Hebrew 
 cult." in Journal of Biblical Literature, 1898, p. 142 ff. The subject is 
 still somewhat obscure, but there seems to be no reason why we should 
 make the prophetess a development independent of the prophet. Roth 
 really belonged to one system, but the prophetess was a rarer functionary 
 and therefore all the more suited for appeal in a critical time, as carrying 
 exceptional inspiration. Moreover, we can hardly exclude the idea that, 
 as in the case of the Pythia, the Sibyl, the Witch of Endor, and others, 
 the power of divination was ascribed to woman when she assumed the 
 prophetic rdle, cf. Ez. xiii. 17 ff. (§ 1 100). That Huldah was a member of 
 the professional circle is made still more clear by the fact that her place 
 of residence is specially mentioned, since the professions occupied sev- 
 erally streets or quarters of the city by themselves (cf. Jer. xxxvii. 21).
 
 12 AIMS OF THE REFORM Book IX 
 
 effect that the penalty annexed to disobedience would 
 certainly be inflicted, but not in Josiah's day. since he had 
 humbled himself before Jehovah ( xxii. 14-20). * 
 
 § 852. Josiah immediately called a general assembly 
 of the people at Jerusalem, their elders and the orders of 
 priests and prophets taking the responsible places as rep- 
 resentatives. To them he read the book, and bound him- 
 self and them by a solemn oath and covenant to obey its 
 precepts and carry out its requirements (2 K. xxiii. 1-3). 
 The fulfilment of this engagement was the great work of 
 reform. 
 
 § 853. Since our present concern is with the reform as 
 it affected the policy of the kingdom and the condition of 
 the people as a whole, it will suffice to point out in a gen- 
 eral way its purpose as bearing (1) upon the mode and 
 form. (2) upon the place, of worship. As to the first 
 object, the reformers were to extirpate the foreign non- 
 Israelitish rites and observances, and to rid the worship 
 of Jehovah of everything sensuous and material. As to 
 the second, no place of worship was to be tolerated except 
 the temple at Jerusalem. That tins work was associ- 
 ated with an ancient kk law-book," revised, enlarged, and 
 adapted to present occasions, grew out of the fact that it 
 was intended to vindicate, reestablish, and develop what- 
 ever in belief and practice was rooted in the truest faith 
 and teaching of Israel's past history. 
 
 § 854. The religious abuses to be rooted out may be 
 grouped as follows : (1) The unspiritual worship of 
 Jehovah. The adoration of Jehovah in a symbolic mate- 
 rial form was never so great a danger in Judah as in 
 
 1 Huklah concluded by saying (v. 20) that Josiah should be gathered to 
 bis tombs i.e. added to those already in the family tombs, cf. Job xvii. 1) 
 in peace. On this point her oracular inspiration failed. Stade (GVI. I, 
 652 thinks that the oracle, as we have it, is a substitute for the 
 original, which must have been a command to go on with the practical 
 fulfilment of the injunctions of the book. The whole of the answer may 
 not be given in the text, though what is given has the air of being 
 expanded and elaborated.
 
 Ch. II, §855 IDOLATRY PURE AND MIXED 13 
 
 Israel. Idolatrous worship of Jehovah in the strict sense 
 perhaps never existed in Jerusalem. Indeed, the only 
 public authorized image appears to have been the brazen 
 serpent destroyed by Hezekiah (2 K. xviii. 4). But it 
 was inevitable that the rites of Jehovah in an unspiritual 
 age should degenerate by association with any one of the 
 various popular idolatrous symbols, from the compara- 
 tively innocent stone-pillars, with their traditional sug- 
 gestion of the presence of the deity, and the asheras or 
 conventionalized sacred trees beside the altar of Jehovah, 
 to the grosser symbols of imported foreign cults. The 
 radical remedy was the obliteration of all outward sym- 
 bols or accompaniments of worship according to the direc- 
 tion of Deuteronomy (xii. 3 ; xvi. 21 f.) ; and such was 
 the work of the reformation (2 K. xxiii. 14 f.). 
 
 § 855. (2) There was the worship of old Canaanitic 
 deities. This was one of the most noxious and persistent 
 of unlawful cults. Not that any distinct personal Baal was 
 adored in Judah after the downfall of Athaliah and her 
 Phoenician ritual (2 K. xi.). It was rather the intrusive 
 revival in times of laxness and infidelity of the cults of 
 the local deities, the "baals" of the several cities or 
 sacred places of ancient Canaan. The syncretism of 
 Jehovah and Baal worship was aggravated by the fact 
 that Jehovah was naturally and innocently called the 
 " Baal " or " Lord " of his people. Yet it seems open to 
 question whether there was not at least in Jerusalem a 
 generalizing of the old local Baal worship in one collec- 
 tive image which was abolished in this reform by Josiah 
 (2 K. xxiii. 4). There had been also the cult of the 
 Phoenician Ashtoreth (Astarte) introduced by Solomon. 
 the last trace of which was now effaced by Josiab along 
 with the former shrines of Chemosh of Moab ami Milcom 
 of Amnion 1 (xxiii. 13). It was the "high places*' that 
 
 1 A pantheon was the natural accompanimenl of the little world- 
 monarchy of poor Solomon. That it was revived under Manasseh Indicates 
 the inveterate inclination of old Israel to diverse worship (see Deut. xiii.)-
 
 14 BABYLONIAN MODES OF WORSHIP Book IX 
 
 particularly promoted all such degradation of the service 
 of Jehovah. To the category of Canaanitic deities must 
 be assigned the Molech (or more properly MelecK) to 
 whom children were offered by fire in the time of Manas- 
 seh (2 K. xxi. 6 ; cf. Mic. vi. 7). The mound of Tophet 
 in the valley of Hinnom where this most horrible of rites 
 was practised was destroyed by Josiah (2 K. xxiii. 10). 
 For prohibitions in the " law-book" see Deut. xii. 29-31; 
 xviii. 10. 
 
 § 856. (3) More imposing and more influential among 
 the ruling classes were the special modes of worship bor- 
 rowed from Assyria and Babylonia (§ 841). What had 
 been introduced by Ahaz in consequence of his subjection 
 to his Assyrian patron (§ 640) was now supplemented by 
 a complete priestly service. There were utensils for 
 sacrifice to the host of heaven in the temple itself, which 
 were burned by Josiah along with other idolatrous appli- 
 ances on the bottom flats of the Kidron valley (2 K. 
 xxiii. 4). There were priests who burned incense to the 
 sun and the moon, and the signs of the Zodiac, and all the 
 host of heaven (Deut. xvii. 2-7), who were got rid of by 
 Josiah (xxiii. 5 ; cf. xxi. 3 ; Jer. viii. 2). There were 
 the horses which the kings of Judah had dedicated to the 
 " Sun," and to which a place had been assigned on the 
 west side of the temple (cf. 1 Chr. xxvi. 18), and which 
 were now removed by Josiah, who at the same time 
 burned the chariots of the sun with fire (xxiii. 11). 
 There was on the roof of the cupola of Ahaz an astro- 
 logical observatory which Josiah broke to pieces (xxiii. 12). 
 Add to these the adoration of the " Queen of Heaven," 
 who was made the consort of Jehovah x (see Jer. vii. 18), 
 
 1 In the same way as the Babylonian Ann, the highest heaven-god, 
 ■was provided with a consort Anat (Jastrow, RBA. p. 153) ; compare Bel 
 and Bclit ('• Beltis"). The impersonal, indefinite character of the west- 
 ern or Canaanitic Baal is illustrated by the fact that there was no corre- 
 sponding feminine deity, Ashtoreth (Babyl. Ishtar) being a mere female 
 analogue and not a companion or mate.
 
 Ch. II, § 839 LICENTIOUSNESS AND SUPERSTITION 15 
 
 a cult which persisted even to the time of the Captivity 
 (Jer. xliv. 17 ff.). 
 
 § 857. (4) The most virulent of the evil practices of 
 the time, in large measure promoted by a perverted re- 
 ligious feeling and even made a religious institution, was 
 sexual indulgence, the universal attendant upon nature wor- 
 ship in the ancient East (§ 1188 f., 1330 ff.)- The minis- 
 ters of these obscene rites within the very precincts of the 
 temple were expelled by Josiah, and their apartments were 
 razed to the ground (2 K. xxiii. 7 ; cf. Deut.xxiii. 17 f.). 
 
 § 858. (5) Finally there were superstitious beliefs and 
 customs, partly native to the soil, partly inherited from 
 the old nomadic life of Israel, and partly imported from 
 abroad — above all from Babylonia, where sorcery and 
 magic had long been a science and an art (cf. Isa. xlvii. ; 
 § 1329). All such usages and their professors Josiah put 
 away, " that he might make good the words of direction 
 which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest 
 found in the house of Jehovah" (2 K. xxiii. 24; cf. Deut. 
 xviii. 10-14). The object of divination and necromancy 
 was to ascertain the will of the higher powers. Instead 
 of this the will of Jehovah was to be followed and might 
 be ascertained. For this end was issued the great procla- 
 mation of the prophetic word, of its authenticity and its 
 sufficiency (Deut. xviii. 15 ff.). 
 
 § 859. The foregoing may suffice as a representation 
 of the religious evils and abuses which abounded in the 
 early days of Josiah and in those of his predecessors. 
 It was characteristic of this great movement that it was 
 the first attempt on a large scale to remove not only 
 religious but moral evils, and that on the ground that 
 the one class was necessarily involved or rather included 
 in the other. In the account of the reform in Kings (cf. 
 2 Chr. xxxiv. f.) no mention is made of the purification 
 of justice and of the redress of social wrongs. For this we 
 must turn to the " book of direction," which was incident- 
 ally and yet virtually a hand-book of ethics for the people
 
 1G ABOLITION OF LOCAL SHRINES Book IX 
 
 of Jehovah. Besides inculcating justice in all the walks 
 of life, it breathes a lofty spirit of humanity and of regard 
 for the needy, the suffering, and the oppressed. Save 
 on the one point of intolerance toward the enemies of 
 Jehovah, it stands in these aspects almost upon a New 
 .Testament level. The central and controlling idea in 
 the book is, however, that which was asserted in the 
 reforms of Josiah, the doing away with all modes of false 
 worship, and the exclusive establishment of a spiritual 
 worship of Jehovah. In other words, the book is pri- 
 marily and fundamentally formal and ritualistic. 
 
 § 860. To secure this great end, however, it was not 
 enough that all the opposing or competing modes and 
 forms of worship should be prohibited and abolished. 
 Image-breaking would not cure idolatry. Idolatry was 
 mainly fostered not by image-worship, but by the con- 
 ception of the local manifestations of Jehovah. Idolatry 
 is inevitable if God exists or appears in many forms. In 
 other words, the unity of God secures his spirituality. 
 In every local shrine or " high place" (bdma) there were, 
 to be sure, seductions to mixed or debased forms of wor- 
 ship. That was a great evil, but by care and watchful- 
 ness it might be kept down. What could not be 
 quenched in the popular mind was the persuasion that 
 every shrine had its own type or manifestation of 
 Jehovah. The result was the prevalence of practical 
 polytheism with its attendant symbolism and image-wor- 
 ship. Hence the revolutionary idea of abolishing all 
 the high places, except the central shrine of Jerusalem. 1 
 The attempt had been made by Hezekiah, but it failed, 
 
 1 This idea was perhaps tirst suggested by Isaiah, the prophet of " Zion." 
 But Hezekiah, if we may judge from Isaiah's own teaching, probably 
 did m it attempt the thorough-going abolition of local worship aimed at 
 by Josiah (cf. Isa. xix. 10. 21, and i. 29). At any rate the age was 
 not then ripe for the revolution, though outward circumstances were 
 favourable. The difference between the reform of Hezekiah and of 
 Josiah is discussed by "W. R. Smith, OTJC.' 2 p. 355 ff., and more skepti- 
 cally by Smend, ATK. p. 268 f.
 
 Ca. II, § 862 CENTRALIZING OF WORSHIP 17 
 
 iii spite of the prestige that came to Jerusalem through 
 its great deliverance (§ 796). The idea, however, with 
 the purpose was not extinguished. It worked in the 
 faithful theocratic part}* all through the dark days of 
 Manasseh and Anion. It naturally proved a chief mo- 
 tive of Deuteronomy, placed at the opening of the " law- 
 book " (Deut. xii. 1-28), repeated and reiterated through- 
 out the work, and realized in the active measures of Josiah. 
 
 § 861. Hand in hand with the zeal of the reformers for 
 the purity of Jehovah's worship went their desire for the 
 aggrandizement and sanctity of Jerusalem as the exclu- 
 sive seat of that worship. Centralization was for Israel 
 as desirable and as inevitable in the religious as in the 
 political sphere. But for a religion such as that of Jehovah 
 it was far more difficult to realize. For it was in Jeru- 
 salem itself that the gravest obstacles to purity of wor- 
 ship were found, as the account of the attempted reform 
 will show (2 K. xxiii. 4 ft".). Thereafter, however, 
 Judah was more and more absorbed in Jerusalem, for 
 good or for evil. 
 
 § 862. Two far-reaching measures in the line of the 
 general purpose of the reform contributed to the central- 
 izing movement. One of these was the enhanced religious 
 value and dignity given to the great annual feasts : the 
 feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks, and the feast 
 of ingathering. These were agricultural feasts, long 
 cherished among the people as celebrations of the chief 
 events of the year, the first attending the barley harvest, 
 the second the wheat harvest, and the third the fruit har- 
 vest. These had always a religious character, for every 
 feast was a religious service (§ 499). J >nt if they could 
 be wholly detached from traditional half-heathen associa- 
 tions with the powers and processes of nature, they 
 might be made to subserve instead of impairing the true 
 worship of Jehovah. Hence it was ordained tli;it they 
 should be held only in Jerusalem at the temple. Bach 
 of them, moreover, was invested with a deeper and higher 
 «
 
 18 FEASTS AND PRIESTS Book IX 
 
 religious meaning. The first and the greatest of them 
 at the beginning of the year was especially honoured and 
 indeed transfigured for all coming ages. With it was 
 united the closely following ceremony of the offering of 
 the firstlings of the flock born in the springtime. Hence 
 the full significance of the combined feast of unleavened 
 bread and the passover. The celebration of this festival 
 was made the occasion of the ratification of the work of 
 reform ; " and the king commanded all the people, saying, 
 Keep the passover unto Jehovah your God, as it is writ- 
 ten in the book of the covenant " (2 K. xxiii. 21 ; cf. 
 Dent. xvi. 1-17). 
 
 § 863. Yet another decisive movement marked this 
 momentous religious epoch. The Levites had long been 
 the proper holders of the priestly office, though not always 
 the only sacrificers (Jud. xvii. 5 ff. ; 2 Sam. xv. 24), for 
 sacrifices could be offered by a man of any tribe, as by a 
 house-father for his household, or by a king for his people. 
 But now the order of the priesthood was made strict and 
 exclusive : only the descendants of Levi could be priests, 
 and all the members of the tribe were to have part in the 
 office (Deut. xviii. Iff.). Now as all the sacrifices were 
 to be performed at the sanctuary in Jerusalem, this priestly 
 system came to minister to the greater glory of the cen- 
 tral shrine, having all the political force of a close corpora- 
 tion and all the religious prestige of a divine institution. 
 
 § 804. Such was the great Reform in intent and war- 
 rant. What it was in effect we shall see somewhat later 
 (§ 1019 ff.). It behooves us now to inquire into the 
 history of the ideas and principles upon which it was 
 based. This inquiry will lead us (1) to trace the growth 
 and estimate the character of the literature which led 
 up to Deuteronomy ; and (2) to follow the progress of 
 moral and religious feeling and practice up to the era of 
 the Reformation.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 DEUTERONOMY AND THE HEBREW LITERATURE 
 
 § 865. Deuteronomy was not the work of a day or a 
 year. Much less was it the unaided work of those who 
 composed it. Its roots were struck deep and wide into 
 the moral and religious history of Israel. In substance, 
 far more than in form, it is an exhibition of the develop- 
 ment of the national religious thought and life. It is, 
 moreover, so comprehensive and far-reaching as to be cen- 
 tral and fundamental for the Old Testament Revelation. 
 It is indeed itself a perpetual revelation, a challenge to 
 each succeeding age to consider the depth and breadth 
 and length of the process of the religious education of the 
 race, as startling to each new inquirer as it was to Josiah 
 and his ministers. As the counterpart of the obscure yet 
 active and affluent historical period in which it saw the 
 light, we must resort to it if we would find the key to the 
 literature of ancient Israel. From the point of view of 
 literary history, it is of special importance because it is 
 essentially an expansion and adaptation of earlier docu- 
 ments (§ 043 if.), and also because the same school of 
 reformers and writers that produced it continued their 
 work in editing the earlier historical books of the Old 
 Testament, thus giving form and colour to a great portion 
 of the sacred writings. 
 
 § 866. We are thus at length in a position to review 
 the earlier literature of the Hebrew people. It is not our 
 province to give an analysis of the writings which com- 
 prise this literature. For this we must refer the reader 
 
 19
 
 20 RESUME OF LITERARY PROGRESS Book IX 
 
 to modern works too well known to require special men- 
 tion. Still less are we called upon to settle the questions 
 of date, authorship, and composition of the sacred docu- 
 ments whose discussion forms the staple of present-day 
 criticism of the Old Testament. Fortunately, there is 
 now general agreement among scholars as to at least the 
 principal components of the body of the literature which 
 was in the possession of the Hebrews up to the end of 
 the seventh century B.C. It is more properly the duty of 
 the historian to show how the literature of the several 
 epochs of the people's history is an expression of the 
 national life, and illustrates its progress and vicissitudes. 
 So far as most of the prophetic writings are concerned, we 
 have been able, as we have been compelled, to do this from 
 the beginning. They are, in fact, contemporary histori- 
 cal documents indispensable to the understanding of their 
 times. But other literary movements, including, strangely 
 enough, much of the so-called historical narrative, do not 
 fit in so readily with the ascertainable course of history. 
 Their relations to one another and to the Old Testament 
 as a whole cannot be understood until we reach some 
 turning-point in the nation's career with some great clari- 
 fying work as its literary record. Such a period is that 
 of Manasseh and Josiah, and such a work is Deuteronomy. 
 § 867. In a sense Israel as a nation was never without 
 a literature. From a time at least as early as the Exodus 
 heroic poems and popular traditions were in circulation. 
 Historical records were not made till the time of the king- 
 dom ; and it was late in monarchical times before these 
 were systematically compiled. All the literature that 
 could serve the purposes of a moral movement was for 
 ages based upon the principles announced by Moses. It 
 is to these principles that we must trace the development 
 of a code of morals resting upon the nature and the claims 
 of Jehovah, and of a system of civil law in conformity 
 therewith. But such productions could not have been 
 highly elaborated apart from a society prepared to receive
 
 Ch. Ill, § 8G8 DIFFICULTIES OF THE STUDY 21 
 
 them and to put them in practice. Such a society was 
 first developed through the ministry of the prophets. Yet 
 the prophetic writings did not wholly precede this moral and 
 legal literature ; for the preaching prophets had a literary 
 influence before the literary prophets began their work. 
 Such influence was mainly exerted upon the priestly 
 order, out of whose ranks came some of the prophets. 
 Under its auspices much of the book of Deuteronomy 
 was gradually compiled and collated before its publica- 
 tion as a separate work ; for the priests were practi- 
 cally concerned in the preservation of their religion as a 
 system, and for this a ceremonial, judicial, and ethical 
 code was indispensable. What was essentially new and 
 original had come, however, from Amos and his school, 
 and the era of the spiritual empire of Israel dates from the 
 apostle of Tekoa, in whose hands prophecy first took the 
 form of literature. 
 
 § 868. The difficulties of writing a history of Hebrew 
 literature 1 are very great. Some of them are : the length 
 of time covered by the production of the literature ; the 
 obscurity surrounding the lives and persons of the authors ; 
 the lack of obvious relation between much of the literature 
 and any known period of the nation's career ; our imper- 
 fect knowledge of much of the inner and outer history of 
 the people ; the intellectual interval between modern 
 critics and ancient Hebraic writers and speakers, and still 
 more that between the authors and the later Jewish edi- 
 tors and compilers ; the lack of literary self-consciousness 
 on the part of the authors, and their anonymousness; theii 
 ignoring of second causes and human agencies, leading 
 
 1 Apart from the suggestions and germinal ideas found in the epoch- 
 making works on the religion and history of Israel the most directly 
 
 instructive writings OH the literary history of the Old Testament are W. 
 R. Smith's OTJC, Stade's GVL, Book I, and Kautzsch's Abriss der 
 Geschichte des alttest. Schrifttums, appended to ATI!., and now trans- 
 lated intu English. An outline of recent conclusions is given in Bennett, 
 Primer of the Bible (1*'.'7 1, very handy, bul almost too concise.
 
 22 PRINCIPLES OF LITERARY STUDY Book IX 
 
 them to omit from their chronicle subordinate events and 
 occasions ; their dynamical rather than chronological con- 
 ception of the process of history, making it natural for 
 them to transfer the thoughts of one age or person to 
 another with which they were providentially associated ; 
 their imperfect mechanical methods and appliances, leading 
 to errors of omission, addition, or transposition, and occa- 
 sioning the combination of separate compositions on one 
 roll of manuscript ; uncritical theories and principles of 
 later scribes and compilers, creating confusion in the 
 arrangement of the books. 
 
 § 869. To understand the words and thoughts of 
 another age or people than our own, we need knowledge 
 and intellectual sympathy. Modern criticism seeks the 
 one while it cultivates the other. Not content with learn- 
 ing what preceding generations have thought and asserted 
 about the Old Testament writings, we examine the sources 
 themselves directly, in the light of contemporary monu- 
 ments, and with the established methods of historical 
 research according to the well-ascertained laws of mental 
 and moral, political and social evolution. Some of the 
 most serious of the above-named difficulties may thus 
 be overcome as soon as we have learned sufficiently the 
 genius and bent of the people, and the character of their 
 changing, as well as their permanent environment. Some 
 things we may be sure of in their literary history as char- 
 acterizing the early stages of the development of all 
 civilized ancient nations ; some other things we may infer 
 from the knowledge to be gained of their own peculiar 
 institutions. Certain factors conditioning the course of 
 their literature stand out as of supreme importance. Such 
 are the spirit and habit of their nomadic life and tribalism ; 
 their ancestral and primitive memories and traditions ; 
 their fortunes in war and migration ; their religious insti- 
 tutions, especially the priesthood and prophecy, and above 
 all the character of their God or gods ; the religious and 
 political habits and disposition of the influential neigh-
 
 Cn. Ill, § 871 LITERARY CRITICISM AND HISTORY 23 
 
 bouring peoples ; the character and aims of parties or 
 communities within the nation ; the principles and beliefs 
 of the party or community which became the true or sur- 
 viving Israel within Israel. 
 
 § 870. It would thus appear that we have to interpret 
 the Old Testament both as a history and as a literature. 
 Literary criticism is an adjunct and instrument, almost 
 a sub-department, of historical research, because (1) the 
 literature is a product of the history ; and (2) because 
 we need the results of literary criticism to check and con- 
 trol our scheme of the facts of history, and sometimes 
 even to explain the facts as ascertained. In this auxiliary 
 use of literary interpretation it is of the first importance 
 that we know the characteristics of the Old Testament 
 writers and writings : their mode and style of narrative 
 and description ; their use of figures of speech, especially 
 of synecdoche and hyperbole in longer or shorter passages; 
 their notions of time, space, and number; their conceptions 
 of the world and of events as related to human and extra- 
 human forces and powers ; their views of their own and 
 their nation's position and destiny, of their relations to 
 their God, of life and duty, of the state of the dead to 
 whom they were gathered. 
 
 § 871. The conditions under which literary composi- 
 tion was promoted in Israel are partly general, prevailing 
 wherever an indigenous literature has been cultivated, 
 and partly peculiar to the genius and history of Israel 
 itself. The former may be taken to include : 1. Uni- 
 versal and necessary factors. These have, perhaps, been 
 best set forth by Taine as " race, environment, and epoch, 
 or the permanent impulse, the given surroundings, and 
 the acquired momentum." 1 2. Those conditions which 
 are found to have attended the beginnings of every 
 ancient national literature. These may be summarized 
 as follows : (1) The occurrence in the young community 
 
 1 Littirature anglaise, Intr. § V.
 
 24 CONDITIONS OF A LITERATURE: WHITING Book IX 
 
 of memorable events, such as victories, deliverances, new 
 
 settlements, new social institutions. (2) Stated tribal 
 or national gatherings, gradually forming an interested 
 body of speakers and hearers. (3) The rise of a profes- 
 sion or guild of bards, minstrels, reciters, narrators, who 
 perpetuate and give shape to the traditions of the event- 
 ful past. These conditions have prevailed in most ancient 
 nations, and yet few nations have given birth to a great 
 or lasting literature founded upon such beginnings. All 
 depends upon the special conditions. What these were 
 in the case of Israel will appear in the course of the 
 inquiry. But there is one factor which has been so much 
 misunderstood and is of such prime importance, that it 
 demands a separate discussion at the outset. It is often 
 brought before us by questions like these : When did the 
 Hebrews learn the art of writing ? Is it possible to trace 
 the conditions under which the earliest writers found 
 their materials or did their work ? 
 
 § 872. That the art of writing was in vogue among 
 the Hebrews, even at the time when the oldest surviving 
 records were penned, is very probable, apart from the 
 value of the direct Biblical testimony. The notion now 
 widely prevalent that it became known to them only after 
 their establishment as a nation is a hasty assumption 
 which, however, deserves consideration. In the first place, 
 it has been held as a dogma that the knowledge of the so- 
 called - alphabet " came to the Hebrews from the Canaan- 
 ites (Phoenicians) after the settlement in Palestine, and 
 these Phoenicians in their turn are supposed to have 
 adapted the characters from the Egyptian hieroglyphics. 
 
 § 8To. Both of these positions are, however, somewhat 
 doubtful. The latter in particular is becoming continually 
 more precarious. 1 What once gave it almost exclusive cur- 
 
 1 The reader has an opportunity of seeing a summary presentation of 
 the evidence in favour of the Egyptian origin in DB. under " Alphabet," 
 where Mr. Isaac Taylor adds nothing to the evidence formerly published 
 by himself and others. Not more than one-third of the whole list of signs'
 
 Ch. Ill, § 874 THE ALPHABET 25 
 
 rency was an assumption that the Phoenician letters must 
 have arisen from the Egyptian : otherwise whence could 
 they have come ? Nothing was then known of any other 
 ancient system of writing than the Egyptian, and it 
 seemed to be morally necessary to derive the later sys- 
 tem from the earlier. Since then it has come to light, 
 (1) that the Egyptian language and writing never had 
 any footing in Asia ; (2) that the Babylonian language 
 and writing were in common use in Syria and Palestine 
 for centuries before the Phoenician alphabet was intro- 
 duced to the world ; (3 ) that at the time when cir- 
 cumstances most favoured the introduction of Egyptian 
 letters into "Western Asia, namely, the days of the Egyp- 
 tian occupation of Palestine and Phoenicia Iry the kings 
 of the nineteenth dynasty, the Babylonian language and 
 writing were used for ordinary purposes in these coun- 
 tries and even in correspondence addressed to Egyptians 
 residing in Egypt (§ 148 ff.). Hence, apart from the 
 fact that an obvious resemblance is lacking between most of 
 the Phoenician letters and any selected list of hieroglyphs, 
 no historical basis existed for the adoption by Asiatics of 
 the writing of the alien and self-centred Egyptians. 
 
 § 874. A survey of the known conditions may perhaps 
 warrant the conjecture that the "Phoenician" alphabet 
 came into general use after the disuse of the Babyloni;in 
 script, in consequence of the gradual withdrawal of Baby- 
 lonian influence from the West-land under the Kasshite 
 dynasty (§ 120 ff.). It is probable that it was devised in 
 the centre of the western Semites, and not among the peo- 
 ple of the .Mediterranean border-land, whose business deal- 
 ings were mainly with Don-Semites. Hence not Phoenicia, 
 but Mesopotamia, the centre of the land traffic, should he 
 looked upon as the region of its origin. The great empo- 
 rium, Charran (§ 141), a home of learned priests, and 
 
 resemble the corresponding Egyptian letters, which, moreover, are chosen 
 from forms which had gone oul of use long before the Phoenician charac- 
 ters came into existence.
 
 26 ALPHABET PROBABLY ARAM.EAX Book IX 
 
 one of the greatest resorts of travellers and merchants 
 in Western Asia, may possibly have been the city where 
 it was mainly elaborated. 1 
 
 § 875. Though direct evidence is wanting, certain 
 specific considerations tell in behalf of an Aramasan ori- 
 gin : (1) The language and writing of the Aramaeans 
 took the place of the Babylonian in the active business 
 life of the whole region west of the lower Euphrates and 
 the Tigris ; their language was the language of business 
 and diplomacy (2 K. xviii. 2H), as the Babylonian had 
 been. (2) Historically the common alphabet changed 
 far more among the Araniseans than among the Phoeni- 
 cians. 2 It was from the former that the Hebrew " square " 
 characters were derived. What can thus be traced in 
 surviving monuments suggests that before the earliest 
 period of which Ave have written record the same sort of 
 activity went on among the Aramaeans. (3) In the 
 eighth and seventh centuries B.C. the Aramaean language 
 and writing were frequently used in Assyria and Baby- 
 lonia along with the native cuneiform. 3 They thus pen- 
 
 1 Its growth was of course gradual, like every other system of conven- 
 tional signs. Its main motive and occasion were commercial, but its com- 
 plete elaboration involved the art and skill of the student, since it was 
 an almost perfect representation of the north Semitic sounds. Circum- 
 stances were favourable to the production of an improved method of 
 writing. As long as the Babylonian language was used for political and 
 commercial notes and correspondence, the cuneiform characters were 
 employed with it. Even non-Semitic languages were written in cunei- 
 form (§ 150, 154, 256). Its inadequacy to express the gutturals must 
 have contributed, with other occasions, to its abandonment when the 
 Babylonian language was crowded out of Syria, first by the Hettite 
 speech and writing, and later permanently by the Aramsean. 
 
 - The relative rate of change may be followed in Luting's table of the 
 Semitic alphabet in Bicked's Hebrew Grammar, tr. by Curtiss (1877), or 
 in his latest presentation in Zimmern's Veryleichende Grammatik der 
 semitischen Sprachen (1898). An excellent exhibit is made in Stade's 
 Hebr. Grammatik (1879) in Plate I appended, where the course of the 
 "western development" and of the "eastern development" is made 
 plain to the eye by sufficient examples. 
 
 s See III R. 46 ; CIS. Part II, vol. i., Plates 1-14, 15 ff., 73 ff. These 
 inscriptions are found on the signet-rings of citizens, on weights in-'
 
 Ch. Ill, § 875 ARGUMENTS FOR THE HYPOTHESIS 27 
 
 etrated into the private and public life of the people, 
 their daily business and civic affairs. The characters are 
 practically identical with the contemporary Phoenician. 
 On the supposition that alphabet-making began with the 
 Phcenicians and spread eastward, it is not easy to under- 
 stand how the Araimeans (who were in any case familiar 
 with the Babylonian script formerly in universal use) and 
 Assyrians with them should have employed such a Phoe- 
 nician alphabet, and especially that in their hands it 
 should have diverged so little from the Phoenician type. 
 If, however, the alphabetic system originated with the 
 Aramaeans, the facts are readily explained. (4) The 
 Aramaeans did most to spread the knowledge of the 
 alphabet throughout Western Asia. From the eighth 
 century B.C. onward their inscriptions are found from 
 Northern Syria to West-central Arabia, and from Egypt 
 to the banks of the Tigris. This does not exclude the 
 jmssibility of a borrowing ; but, taken with what has 
 been said, it makes it improbable. (5) The names of the 
 letters, as far as they can be understood, point to their 
 production among a people familiar with nomadic and 
 pastoral usages. Such names as "camel" (Gimel), 
 " tent-pin " ( Wail), " ox " (Aleph), and " ox-goad " 
 {Lamed) 1 , would hardly have been thought of by the 
 maritime Phcenicians. The Aramrean settlements were 
 everywhere centres of nomadic and pastoral life and 
 traffic. (6) The names of the letters adopted by the 
 Greeks from the Phoenicians have nearly all the Ara- 
 maic definite ending a. 2 In fine, the historic role of the 
 
 spected by public censors, and as dockets to business contracts drawn 
 up by clerks. Cf. de Vogue" in CIS. ibid. p. vi. 
 
 1 Stade, ILhr. Grammatik (1879), p. 25, note 7, observes that the 
 oldest forms of the letters Beth and Daleth correspond to the Bhapes of 
 the tent and the tent-opening rather than to those of a "house" and a 
 '• lmuse-door." 
 
 2 It should be noticed with regard to the guttural letters n. n, n, and r, 
 changed into Alpha, Epailon, Eta, and Omikron respectively, that the 
 way must have been already prepared for this transfer by the pronuncia-
 
 28 EARLIER IDEOGRAPHIC SYSTEM Book IX 
 
 Aramaeans, played during the formative era of the alpha- 
 bet, their function as intermediaries and negotiators, and 
 their geographical distribution, seem to have predestined 
 
 them to devise a more fitting medium of expression and 
 communication than that employed by their Babylonian 
 and Hettite predecessors. 
 
 § 876. It is useless to speculate upon the forms and 
 modes of writing that immediately preceded the alpha- 
 betic. Documents may yet be unearthed which will 
 settle the essential cpuestions. Meanwhile, it is natural 
 to assume that the Aramaean ••inventors" — if one may 
 use such a misleading term — received suggestion and 
 stimulus both from the Hettite and from the Baby- 
 lonian system, mainly from the latter. The "invention," 
 though of such tremendous consequence, was not in itself 
 a very wonderful feat. Its difficulty has been exaggerated 
 through the consideration that the Egyptians and Baby- 
 lonians, peoples more civilized and literary than the early 
 Phoenicians or Aramaeans, did not progress from the ideo- 
 graphic or syllabic to a completely alphabetic system. 
 But the Egyptians did actually devise a partial alphabet, 
 and the Babylonians were within reach of it at any time. 
 It may be said that if the decisive transition had really 
 been so simple and obvious, the Egyptians and Baby- 
 lonians would surely have made it. Those who offer this 
 plea ma}' be referred for an answer to the opponents of 
 reform in English spelling. With every conceivable 
 motive to adopt a purely alphabetic method, we adhere 
 to a mixed system somewhat analogous to the Egyptian 1 
 
 tion <>f the trailing Phoenicians themselves, who notoriously dropped their 
 gutturals all along the shore of the Mediterranean. The popular saying 
 thai the Phoenicians brought the alphabet to Greece means that the 
 < rreeks learned the alphabet from them in the intercourse of trade. How 
 important the naming of the letters was may be inferred from the fact 
 that the Greeks learned in addition to the signs, their Phoenician (Ara- 
 maic) names. 
 
 1 For example, the spelling though, which expresses two simple sounds 
 by six distinct signs, is more hieroglyphic than alphabetic.
 
 Cn. Ill, § 876 TRANSITION STAGE 29 
 
 and much less consistent than the Babylonian. It would 
 seem that the business of simplification could be done only 
 by a people familiar with imperfect modes of writing, yet 
 not wedded to them by the force of literary tradition 
 and sacred custom ; in other words, a people like the 
 practical ubiquitous Aramaean pupils of the Babylo- 
 nians. 1 Future discoveries may lead to exact inductions. 2 
 
 1 How simple the process was may be shown as follows : According to 
 the cuneiform system, a series of signs were read and pronounced, ba, bi, 
 bu, ab, ib, ub, da, di, du, ad, id, ud, and so forth through the consonants. 
 The Babylonians, among whom were ardent grammarians, knew as well 
 as we do that it was possible to analyze and classify the sounds thus 
 indicated, and they did, in fact, represent the vowels by special signs. 
 But they did not go any farther, even after the alphabetic Aramaean was 
 used in their midst, because they already had a system sufficient for their 
 purposes, and sacred to them as being the gift of Nebo (I R. 35, nr. 2, line 4). 
 The Babylonian signs were essentially combinations of strokes like the 
 Aramtean and Phoenician. Moreover, the signs had names given to them, 
 as the letters of the alphabet also had. 
 
 2 The literature on the ancient alphabet is large, but not very impor- 
 tant. The elaborate treatises for the most part maintain an Egyptian 
 origin, and are antiquated through the fact that the material for study 
 and comparison has of late years greatly increased and is still increasing. 
 The best known to English readers is that of Isaac Taylor, The Alphabet, 
 2 vols. 1883; notable are Wuttke, Die Entstehung der Schrift. 1S72 ; 
 Lenormant. Essai sur la propagation de Valphabet phenicien dans Vancien 
 monde, 1H72 ; Brugsch, Ueber Bildung und Entwickelung der Schrift, !*<'<* ; 
 Berger. Histoire de Vicriture dans Vantiquite, 1891. A good statement of 
 the history of opinion is given by Stade, Hebr. Gh'ammatik ( 1879), p. 23 IT., 
 cf. Nowack, HA. I, 279 ff. ; and (more independent) Benzinger, II A. 
 p. 278 ff. Deecke (DZMG. xxxi. 107 ff.) propounded the hypothesis 
 that the Semitic alphabet was derived from the cuneiform Assyrian. It 
 was impossible for him, however, to demonstrate the transition stages, 
 and the historical considerations were not fully available even as late as 
 1877. stade (I.e.), who rightly observes thai the old Babylonian is to be 
 thought of in any case rather than the Assyrian type of cuneiform script, 
 objects to tlie theory generally upon the following plea among others: 
 "that in the older time the Semitic peoples had much more active, 
 friendly intercourse with Egypt than with the lands of the Tigris and 
 Euphrates.' 1 This odd remark is repeated by Nowack in a slightly altered 
 form (p. 'J*:.'). Hommel, GBA. p. 60 ff., adduces strong arguments for 
 the view that the Semitic alphabet is of Babylonian origin. Meyer 
 (GA. § 197) thinks thai the Hettite writing had a decisive influence 
 upon the system. This is doubtful.
 
 30 WHEN THE HEBREWS LEARNED WRITING Book IX 
 
 § 877. The other point involved in the preliminary 
 question of the age and mode of writing among the 
 Hebrews (cf. § 872) has to do with the time when and 
 the source from which they derived this important aid 
 to literature. The opinion, now so generally accepted, 
 that the Hebrews had no acquaintance with the art until 
 they settled in Palestine after the conquest, is based upon a 
 manifold misconception. Its possibility may be admitted, 
 but not its probability. This opinion is thus stated by a 
 recent writer : ] " If — and this is a matter as to which we 
 have no certain information — the Israelites during their 
 nomadic life in the desert used any sort of writing, this 
 was without doubt in the lowest grade of development, 
 that is to say, a stage in which no syllable signs, much 
 less letters, were employed, but only mnemotechnic signs 
 or picture writing, such as at the present day the Bedawin 
 possess (wasTrb), with which they brand their cattle, or 
 put marks upon rocks and other available objects. The 
 Israelites became acquainted with alphabetic writing, as 
 with civilized life generally, only when they came into 
 contact with the Canaanites in the West Jordan or 
 possibly in the East Jordan country." To the same 
 effect another writes : 2 " When we consider that the old 
 Hebrew alphabet is identical with the Phoenician, that 
 the Moabites had the same alphabet as the Israelites, and 
 
 1 Benzinger, HA. p. 288. 
 
 2 Nowack, HA. I, 288 f. Kautzsck writes more generally in Ab7-iss 
 der Geschichte des alttest. Schrifttums (ATU., Appendix), p. 136: "The 
 conditions under which alone a real literature can at any time arise 
 — above all, the wide extension of the art of writing and reading, a settled 
 mode of life and comparative national prosperity — did not exist for 
 Israel till toward the end of the period of the Judges at the earliest, and 
 not during the wilderness journey or in the time of the continual struggle 
 for existence of the tribes after the entrance in Canaan." This judg- 
 ment, perhaps too sweeping, does not exclude the use of writing. Cornill 
 remarks sensibly (Einl. 4 1896, p. 8): "The Tell el Amarna discoveries 
 of 1887 have opened up to us wholly unimagined perspectives. In 
 view of such facts, there is no ground whatever for denying to Moses 
 a knowledge of writing. "
 
 Ch. Ill, § 878 OPPORTUNITY NOT LACKING 31 
 
 that the Canaanites in many things were the teachers of 
 the Israelites, it is natural to conjecture that the Israelites 
 learned from them the art of writing." 
 
 § 878. The solution of the problem is not, however, 
 such a simple matter. It is not certain that Israel was 
 never in Canaan before the final settlement. But grant- 
 ing that the Israelites led wholly a wilderness life before 
 the occupation, it does not follow that they knew nothing 
 of writing. To affirm that they must have been ignorant 
 of the art shows a misconception of the character of 
 ancient Semitic civilization. Because the Semites did not 
 attain to such a culture as that of the Greeks, it has been 
 assumed that they were essentially a barbarous people. The 
 " Phoenician " letters have been regarded as the sole and 
 exceptional means of culture, because of the commercial 
 enterprise of that offshoot of the race, and because it was 
 from them that the Greeks learned the alphabet. This 
 view we now know to be erroneous. Whatever we may 
 think of the kind and degree of the culture of the ancient 
 Semites, they seem to have been everywhere and at all 
 times writers. It was therefore not at all necessary for 
 Israel to have occupied Palestine in order to learn this 
 art. There is, as we have seen (§ 875), no evidence 
 either that the Phoenicians were the first to use the let- 
 ters called by their name, or that it was from them that 
 the other inhabitants of Palestine received the alphabet. 
 In any case the universal prevalence of writing before 
 Israel's final settlement made it quite possible for them to 
 learn to write, even apart from the special opportunities 
 open to favoured members of the race in Egypt. Wher- 
 ever trade was carried on within the vast region between 
 Egypt, South Arabia, 1 and Babylonia, there accounts were 
 
 1 Tlie facts about the Minsean kingdom of South Arabia and its trade 
 relations northward are not quite clearly made out. It is probable thai 
 this people, whose inscriptions are numerous, had close commercial rela- 
 tions with North Arabian tribes. The influence of Minpean culture and 
 writing has, however, been greatly exaggerated.
 
 32 TESTIMONY FROM JUDGES Book IX 
 
 cast up, contracts made, and records kept. It is there- 
 fore without warrant that writing - has been denied to 
 Israel during the Mosaic epoch. 
 
 § 879. But let us look at the question from another 
 point of view. In the ode of Deborah (Jnd. v.) we have 
 a document of about 1120 b.c., 1 which presupposes writ- 
 ing as a thing long established. In one passage (v. 14) 
 it is said, 
 
 " From Machir there came down the troop-leaders, 2 
 And from Zebulon those that march with the baton of the captain." 3 
 
 The names of the officers, meaning originally " engrav- 
 ers" and "scribes," taken in connection with the whole 
 of the splendid poem, throw a flood of light upon the cul- 
 ture of early Israel. They demonstrate that Hebrew was 
 the language of Israel before the Exodus, for such a mas- 
 tery of it for the highest literary purposes could not have 
 been acquired in a single generation, at least not by a 
 race of untutored nomads. The inferences are of decisive 
 importance. (1) The Hebrews in Egypt spoke Hebrew. 
 They conld have learned it only in Palestine, for it is 
 •■•the language of Canaan" (Isa. xix. 18). (2) Israel in 
 Egypt was an exile from Canaan, and the settlement was 
 a return homeward. Placing these facts along with the 
 
 1 It is useless to attempt to make out a chronology of the Judges from 
 the biblical numbers. The Exodus is now admitted to be tixed at about 
 1200 b.c — rather later than earlier than that date (§ 167). The first 
 inroad of the tribes into Canaan having been made about 1160, not much 
 more than a generation was required to bring about the state of things 
 described in Jud. iv. and v. 
 
 2 Literally, •' prescribers, ordainers " (cf. Isa. x. 1; Prov. viii. 15). 
 Our word "prescribe" has had an analogous history. The word meant 
 first to engrave, then to write down (naturally with a small graving-tool 
 or stylus), and lastly, from the fact that regulations were specially writ- 
 ten down, came the sense of ordaining. 
 
 3 Literally, "the scribe," i.e. the man who kept the muster-roll, who 
 was in this rudimentary military system the commander of his troop. 
 "The poet evidently seeks changing expressions for the often recurring 
 idea, chiefs" (Moore, Commentary on Judges, 1895, p. 151).
 
 Ch. Ill, § 881 WHITING IS NOT LITERATURE 33 
 
 evidence for Hebrew settlements in Canaan about 1500 
 B.C. (§ 3G9, note), and the still later proof that there was 
 a considerable settlement of Hebrews there shortly before 
 the Exodus, in the days of Merneptah, 1 we reach the con- 
 clusion that while the story of the patriarchal settlement 
 in Canaan has a substantial basis, the account of the resi- 
 dence in Egypt and of the events till the occupation is 
 only a part of the total history. 
 
 § 880. The special matter before us, hoAvever, is the 
 early acquaintance of Israel with the art of writing, and 
 this is clearly proved by the history of the terms used in 
 the above extract. Etymological inference is sometimes 
 precarious, but here it is certain and unmistakable. Writ- 
 ing was such an old national habit among the speakers of 
 Hebrew that words designating it had taken on secondary 
 and ulterior meanings, implying a long process of institu- 
 tional development. This process, however, as linguistic 
 comparison shows, was undergone in Canaan and not 
 elsewhere ; and we must therefore assume that Israel par- 
 took of the culture of that country from the days of the 
 Babylonian occupation onwards. There can therefore be no 
 question as to the external facilities for literary composi- 
 tion at the disposal of the Hebrews in the days of Moses. 
 
 § 881. The knowledge and practice of writing, how- 
 ever, only made a written literature possible ; it did not 
 necessarily imply its existence. Writing, even alphabetic 
 writing, was often, perhaps usually, employed among 
 ancient Semites by communities which had no literature 
 at all, since its motive and object were practical, not senti- 
 mental (see § 809). On the other hand, a literature, or 
 at least its materials, existed usually independently of and 
 sometimes previously to the practice of writing. The 
 foregoing discussion lias therefore merely served the pre- 
 
 1 According to the now famous hymn celebrating the power of that 
 Pharaoh, and discovered by Professor Petrie in 1896. Near the end it 
 
 contains the line, among others referring to his conquests in Palestine, 
 " Israel has been torn out without offshoot."
 
 31 EARLIEST USES OF WRITING Book IX 
 
 liminary though important end of helping to clear the way 
 for the settlement of the matter in hand and determining 
 its conditions. We may, besides, learn by analogy what 
 place was occupied by a written literature in the cultural 
 development of such a people as the Hebrews. Conclu- 
 sions may be drawn from the literary monuments of ancient 
 peoples taken along with the ascertained laws or .gradations 
 of their social and political evolution. 
 
 § 882. The following summary may serve to show the 
 purposes for which writing was employed successively 
 in a typical community of the ancient East. We may, I 
 think, say that writing was used (1) for business purposes, 
 such as trading accounts, notes of bargains or of formal 
 contracts, registration or indentures of slaves or hired 
 labourers, the defining of boundaries and sites of buildings ; 
 (2) for lists of men liable to serve in war or upon actual 
 service ; (3) for civil contracts, trading or manufacturing 
 rights guaranteed to guilds of skilled workmen, charters to 
 privileged tribes or cities ; (4) for family records, chiefly 
 genealogical ; (5) for songs and poems of the deeds of the 
 great of old or of former tribal leaders ; (6) for special 
 statutes based on legal decisions or "judgments" ; (7) for 
 official records usually if not entirely of a larger or smaller 
 " kingdom " ; (8) for traditions and legends running back 
 to prehistoric ages connecting the national history with the 
 remotest past. 
 
 § 883. The development of an actual literature has 
 also a periodicity of its own, and the observed progres- 
 sion of other literatures is helpful for our study of the 
 Hebrew. Literature may be broadly defined as the pub- 
 lished 2 productions of the human mind. In an ancient 
 national literature we can, of course, deal only inferen- 
 
 1 Published, that is. by word of mouth or by writing or printing. The 
 dictionary definitions confine literature to what is written or printed. 
 T!i is excludes the vast body of compositions which preceded and condi- 
 tioned the Iliad and Odyssey, the Vedas, the old songs of Israel and of 
 every people that has developed a national literature.
 
 Ch. Ill, § 885 LITERARY PERIODS 35 
 
 tially with what has passed out of the sight of men, which 
 is in most if not in all instances larger than what has 
 been preserved. Taking into view all the conditions and 
 the available evidence, we may distinguish the successive 
 stages of Hebrew literature, up to the Exile, as follows : 
 (1) the poetical heroic or epic ballad ; (2) the prose heroic 
 or epic narrative ; (3) the historical or national narrative ; 
 (4) the oratorical or prophetic. 
 
 § 884. For modes and directions of literary activity 
 we are thrown back upon the surviving literature itself. 
 The first question is : Are there among the extant Hebrew 
 writings any which plainly indicate that they originated 
 in the early days of the historic Israel ? We have, more- 
 over, to distinguish between literature which was pro- 
 moted and maintained by oral transmission, and that 
 which was committed to writing soon after its origina- 
 tion. 1 In these days of critical rearrangement it will be 
 a comfort to many to be assured that the opening chapters 
 of the Old Testament are also the oldest, in as far as they 
 contain the oldest materials of Hebrew literature. 
 
 § 885. Such are the venerable relics that are en- 
 shrined in the stories of the creation of the world and of 
 man, of the earliest history of mankind, of the flood, of 
 city building, of Babylonian civilization, and of the dis- 
 persion of races. Xot all, however, of the traditions that 
 went to the making of Gen. i.-xi. are of Hebrew origin. 
 One of the two writers 2 who contributed to our present 
 
 1 From the standpoint of the historical student intellectual and moral 
 movements are of more importance than editorial activity. Hence the 
 origin of the various portions of the Hebrew literature is of more concern 
 to us than questions as to the occasions of their assuming their present Conn. 
 
 2 Since critical analysis is not our present object, and in any case estab- 
 lished conclusions must be taken for granted, I shall continue to refer to 
 the documents which make up the historical or historico-legal books by 
 the usual marks : D = Deuteronomist ; E = Elohist ; II = Law of Holi- 
 ness ; J = Jehovist ; P = Priestly narrative. Explanations and particu- 
 lars the educated reader may find in Driver's Introduction, or more readily 
 in Bennett's Primer of the Bible (1897), not to mention other well- 
 known books.
 
 36 OLDEST LITERARY RELICS Book IX 
 
 Bible this introductory section (P or the priestly narrator) 
 may have drawn most of his materials relating to these 
 events directly from Babylonia. These presumably non- 
 Hebraic elements are the account of the creation of the 
 heavens and the earth (as distinguished from that of the 
 world of men by J or the prophetic narrator) comprised 
 in Gen. i. 1-ii. 3, and the longer systematizing, statistical 
 account of the deluge (as distinguished from the more 
 poetical and anthropomorphic story by J) in Gen. vi. 
 9-22, vii. 6, 11, 13-21, 24; viii. 1, 3-o, 13-19. The 
 basis of the remainder, that is the material used in the 
 narrative of J, was thus the oldest genuine Hebrew 
 literature. 
 
 § 886. There can be no reasonable doubt, however, 
 that, directly or indirectly, the germinal portions of both 
 narratives came from Babylonia. The important ques- 
 tion not easily solved is, What portion of these stories 
 formed the actual elements of ancient tradition or, in the 
 wide sense, of Hebrew national literature. We at once 
 perceive that two motives have been at work in the 
 narrative, the one aiming to perpetuate the original mate- 
 rial, more or less changed in the transfer from mouth to 
 mouth, and the other seeking to make the recital a vehicle 
 of the conceptions proper to the religion of Israel. It is 
 the additions and modifications made from the latter 
 motive that have really given to these chapters the char- 
 acter of biblical literature, just as it is the poetic and 
 mythological setting of the corresponding Babylonian 
 legends x winch have given to them their place among the 
 world's literary monuments. But the earliest period of 
 religious reflection, such as is implied in the theological 
 •cosmogony of Genesis, is later than that of the first literary 
 activity. Hence it is only for the popular traditional 
 
 1 For descriptions and analysis of the Babylonian creation legends 
 see especially Jensen, Die Kosmologie der Babylonier (1890); Gunkel, 
 Schopfung und Chaos (1895); Delitzsch, Das babylonische Weltschopf- 
 uixjscpos (1890); and Jastrow, RBA. (1898).
 
 Ch. Ill, § 887 THE CREATION AND DELUGE 37 
 
 elements of the stories that we can claim the greatest 
 antiquity. Moreover, we have these only in a modified 
 and eclectic form, such portions being selected as lend 
 themselves best to the scheme of interpretation. 1 Further 
 help in the difficult task of distinguishing the popular from 
 the theological elements in these chapters is gained by 
 noting the points which the Babylonian and the Hebrew 
 versions of the creation and the deluge have in common. 2 
 § 887. But how has it happened that this unsystema- 
 tized and fragile literary material had in primitive days 
 .such vitality and persistency ? We may answer this ques- 
 tion at least in part : (1) The subjects of the traditions 
 were intensely fascinating to men of all grades of culture. 
 
 1 So also in the Babylonian epic, Jastrow, RBA. p. 409. 
 
 2 It is unnecessary to show in detail that it is in Babylonia that we 
 are to seek for the originals of at least the principal of the earliest narra- 
 tives of Genesis, those of the creation and the deluge. Though many 
 attempts have been made to show close analogies between the Genesis 
 story of the flood and the legends or traditions of many other peoples in 
 all parts of the world, the best practical proof that these identifications 
 are baseless is furnished by the fact that no systematic comparison can be 
 made between them, while, on the other hand, scholars of the highest 
 eminence since the era of George Smith's " Chaldsean Genesis" (1875) 
 have been busy in comparing the details of the Hebrew accounts with 
 those of the Babylonian. Possibly there was at one time a body of 
 common north Semitic popular traditions, and it is unfortunate that the 
 Phoenician legends are accessible only in a late and fragmentary form. 
 Apart from striking resemblances in details of plot and incident the 
 Hebrew and Babylonian accounts are alike in making the sinfulness of 
 men the occasion of the deluge and their destruction its object. For the 
 quest ion of the Israelitish character of the Bible tradition as a whole the 
 most significant facts are (1) that conclusive evidence points to Babylonia 
 as the ultimate home of all the traditions; (2) that the narrative of P 
 containing elements different from those of J probably owes its materials 
 to the post-exilic residence of Israel in Babylonia ; (3) that the style and 
 plan of P reveal the influence of Babylonian education ; (4) that never- 
 theless J. which was composed not later than the eighth century n.o. 
 (§ 932 ), lias in its flood story, at least, more resemblances to the Babylon- 
 ian versions than are exhibited in the narrative of P. A rational recon- 
 struction of the early history will make it very probable that the ancestors 
 of the main stock of Israel were in a position to bring with them from 
 Babylonia the oldest elements of the national literature.
 
 38 POPULAR POEMS; SOXG OF LAMECH Book IX 
 
 (2) It is very probable that these traditions were never 
 quite disconnected. Even in their popular form they very 
 early made part of schemes of cosmolog}- which gradually 
 became highly refined and elaborate with the progress 
 of knowledge and reflection. Thus it is certain that the 
 material which was taken over from the Babylonians by 
 the Hebrew writers had already been worked up into 
 lengthy compositions of wide currency- (3) Almost from 
 the first these traditions were circulated and transmitted 
 from generation to generation in rhythmic or poetic form. 
 
 § 888. So much for these ideas or conceptions 
 symbolized in concrete form which furnish the motive 
 of the opening chapters of the Bible. But it was also 
 this poetic shaping and moulding which, more than any- 
 thing else, helped to preserve almost the exact words of 
 other early compositions. I refer particularly to memo- 
 rials and recollections of tribal or national achievement. 
 Such memorabilia thus framed strike the imagination, 
 and by reason of the parallelistic mode of expression and 
 the continual reshaping into concise and telling periods, 
 sink deep into the memory. 
 
 § 889. A unique example is the song of Lantech, of 
 which a fragment has been preserved by the Jehovist in 
 his earliest narrative of human fortunes (Gen. iv. 23, 24). 
 This mere remnant paints with Hebraic vividness the 
 titanic and pitiless temper of primitive tribalism. But 
 how much of both the earlier and the later history of 
 our race is summarized in this earliest war-song, in its 
 stern exultation over the dead and conquered foeman, in 
 its glorifying of revenge as the business and the joy of life ! 
 And this most human of passions, as old as sin and death, 
 and as new as the last anniversary of Sedan or of Majuba, 
 how shockingly vulgar it appears here in its essential 
 savagery ! And how this old barbarian of the song strips 
 our militarism of its gaudy trappings, showing it, in its 
 essence, to be mere manslaughter, and tenfold more mur- 
 derous than the vengeance of Cain ! The very primitive-
 
 Ch. Ill, § 801 FIRST HISTORICAL POETRY 39 
 
 ness and unconventional frankness of this old ballad are 
 proof of its remote antiquity. On this, as well as upon 
 other and more obvious grounds, we must assign to it the 
 rank of one of the oldest extant Hebrew poems, though it 
 would be vain to seek for the original author or even the 
 age to which he belonged. 
 
 § 890. The survival of such a poem of strife and vic- 
 tory gives a suggestion as to the kind of composition 
 which first became, in the strict sense, literature, irrespec- 
 tively of the time when it was committed to writing. It 
 was national, or rather tribal, perils and triumphs that 
 were first commemorated in enduring verse. The first 
 purely Israelitish poem is very probably the song in 
 Ex. xv. Not that the whole poem is of contemporary 
 origin, for important additions were apparently made by 
 the author of the work in which it is found (E). The 
 characteristic portion, however, or the first two-thirds of 
 the whole, is genuinely antique, and must go back to 
 the earliest period of the national existence. Archaisms 
 abound, even more exceptional than those of Jud. v. 
 (§ 804). Such are archaic inflectional forms (e.g. in vs. 
 2c, ha, 6c), archaic usage of words later employed other- 
 wise (vs. 2b, 4a, 6b, la). Equally striking are the primi- 
 tive religious conceptions such as that of Jehovah as a 
 "man of war" (v. 3) with the parallelism that "Jahwe 
 is his name." As a matter of fact, not literary but 
 historical considerations have convinced critics that the 
 whole poem is of later origin. Now that fuller light is 
 breaking in upon the history of Israel and its relation to 
 the culture of the times, a more conservative attitude 
 toward such questions as are here raised may be fairly 
 expected to prevail. 
 
 § 891. It is significant, however, that for the period 
 intervening between the Exodus and the close approach 
 to the eastern border of Canaan, there is little or no rep- 
 resentative literature. Doubtless a tradition of many 
 incidents that occurred during this interval was main-
 
 40 LEGISLATION OF SINAI Book IX 
 
 tained for several generations, until the documents were 
 drawn up which idealized them into close coordination 
 with the later religious history. Notes of the several 
 stations of the wilderness journey, of the conflict 
 with Amalek, the rendezvous with Jethro, and other 
 decisive events, may well have been made by the great 
 leader (cf. Ex. xvii. 14). But these are scarcely the 
 material of literary composition. There is, however, one 
 transcendent occurrence, of which, at first sight, there 
 seem to be copious literary memorials. The sojourn at 
 Sinai plays a more prominent part in the current theory 
 of the development of the nation than any other event 
 not excepting the Exodus itself. The narrative testifies 
 to the consciousness of the new epoch in Revelation. It 
 is not merely that Moses is here a legislator. That has 
 already been emphasized in Ex. xviii., which gives a pic- 
 ture of his activity true to the life. Such a picture, 
 however, might be the later expression of a traditional 
 conception, though none the less authentic on that 
 account. But in the Sinai narrative the very contents 
 of his inspired legislation are given. Of this whole body 
 of commands the three component parts are strikingly 
 dissimilar to one another. These are the Decalogue (Ex. 
 xx. 1-17), the Book of the Covenant (Ex. xx. 23-xxiii. 19), 
 both in E, and the Priestly Legislation, giving directions 
 concerning the tabernacle, the priesthood, sacrifices, puri- 
 fications, and atonement, vows and tithes (Ex. xxv.-xxxi., 
 xxxv. -xl., and all Leviticus), along with miscellaneous 
 laws mainly relating to the organization of the tribes in 
 view of their desert journey, the duties of the Levites, 
 the maintenance of ceremonial purity, and the adminis- 
 tration of the tabernacle (Num. i.-x.). 
 
 § 892. In the last-named large and varied bod}^ of 
 ordinances it is probable that some of the simple direc- 
 tions relating to the life and conduct and practical 
 management of the tribesmen are embodied. But the 
 whole legislative corpus is plainly an idealizing system,
 
 Ch. Ill, § 893 WHAT CAME FROM MOSES HIMSELF 41 
 
 the product of much later days, and it would be vain to 
 seek in it for literary material of the date of the sojourn 
 in Sinai. The other two stand in closer relation to the 
 earl}- times of Israel. The chief difficulty in the way of 
 ascribing the laws of the Book of the Covenant to Moses 
 directly and in their present form is the fact that they 
 imply a long period of settled agricultural life with a 
 corresponding social and political development. In itself 
 it seems reasonable that the lawgiver should have sought 
 to educate his people for their residence in Canaan as 
 actual proprietors of the soil in view of the enormous 
 moral and economic difficulties of such a social and indus- 
 trial revolution. And, therefore, there can be little doubt 
 that the spirit if not the actual words of his teaching per- 
 vades this most influential of all ancient law-books. The 
 preceptive portions of the Decalogue, as distinguished 
 from the prefatory sentences, which are still further 
 expanded in a later rendition (Dent. v. 6-21), are Mosaic 
 in spirit and possibly in language. Their antiquity is 
 proved by the sure tradition of their inscription on the 
 tablets of stone that Avere placed in the ark of the Cove- 
 nant. It is remarkable that there is another decalogue 
 (Ex. xxxiv. 17-26, from J) whose ten enactments contain 
 precepts found both in the Book of the Covenant and in 
 the Decalogue proper. It is impossible that the larger 
 documents could have been expanded from this smaller 
 one. The smaller is therefore an independent selection 
 from the materials which lay at the basis of the larger. 
 Hence it brings us even less near than the Decalogue of 
 Ex. xx. to the fountain of tradition. 
 
 § 893. The period between the encampment at Sinai 
 and the final march upon ( 'anaan is to be estimated accord- 
 ing to the principles already indicated. Except probably 
 in the names of the stations, the scanty materials supplied 
 by tradition have been expanded and modified to answer 
 to the idealistic conceptions of a Later age. But when we 
 come once more within the domain of stirring events, we
 
 42 BOOK OF -'THE WARS OF JEHOVAH" Book IX 
 
 are greeted with outbursts of national feeling of an origi- 
 nality and freshness that attest their antiquity and genuine- 
 ness. Here again, as at the Exodus, we have that intense 
 life and energy of a common struggle and a common 
 triumph, which in a gifted and patriotic community is 
 sure to find expression in popular song. 
 
 § 894. Such are the fragments of the poems preserved 
 by E (§ 923 ff.) and contained in Num. xxi. They are 
 all extracted from a lost work of the early days of the 
 kingdom, entitled the " Book of the Wars of Jehovah," to 
 which the first is expressly assigned (vs. 1-4, 15). It 
 is a mere topographical fragment, but is put into genuine 
 poetic form, and shows minute power of observation, com- 
 bined with an appreciation of natural scenery rare and 
 
 unexpected : 
 
 " The declivity of the valleys 
 Inclining to the dwelling of At 
 And leaning upon the border of Moab." 
 
 This poem is thus seen to be nearly or quite contem- 
 poraneous with Israel's march along the region thus 
 described ; for such language is the reminiscence of an 
 eyewitness. The next fragment is the famous " Song of 
 the Well *' (vs. 17, 18), which also is probably, though less 
 certainly, an actual reminiscence. The third and longest 
 is not quite intelligible. It may, as Meyer maintains, 1 ha ve 
 had reference originally to a victory gained by Northern 
 Israel over Moab, and have been transferred by E through 
 a misunderstanding to the Mosaic period. The history of 
 the first two fragments, at all events, seems to have been 
 as follows. They were composed by poets or minstrels 
 of the time. They were recited by rhapsodists till, at 
 some unknown date, perhaps in the time of David, they, 
 with other poems of the early wars of Israel, were col- 
 lected into a "book." Next they were incorporated by 
 E into his historical work. Characteristic of their time 
 
 i ZATW. I, 130 f. (1881).
 
 Ch. Ill, § 896 OTHER PENTATEUCHAL POEMS 43 
 
 of production is the title of the last collection of the period 
 when Jehovah was a "man of war" (§ 890; cf. 1 Sam. 
 xviii. 17; xxv. 28). 
 
 § 895. The remaining poems and poetic fragments 
 contained in the Pentateuch have little or no material of 
 Mosaic times. The prophecies of Balaam (Num. xxiii. 
 and xxiv.) are of admirable dramatic effect as placed in 
 the mouth of a heathen seer of Pethor ; but they no 
 more lend themselves to a theory of literal interpretation 
 than does the psalm of Jonah, composed according to the 
 rules of Hebrew rhythm and parallelism in the " sheol " 
 of the great fish. They were, moreover, a striking lesson 
 to outside nations, as well as to Israel, of the guardian 
 care of Jehovah over his own people in spite of all the 
 forces that threatened to destroy them. The whole story 
 is the outcome of various traditions based upon an histor- 
 ical episode (Mic. vi. 5) of which the central feature was 
 that the king of Moab unsuccessfully appealed to an alien 
 soothsayer 1 to bring misfortune upon Israel during its 
 march upon Canaan. The character of the poems them- 
 selves indicates that even the oldest stratum (xxiv. 
 17-19) can scarcely have originated before the time of 
 David, who was the conqueror of both Moab and Edom. 
 
 § 896. We naturally look for some contemporary 
 record of the struggle of Israel for the possession of 
 Canaan. But at least the earl}" history of that struggle 
 has left no direct literary memorial, with the exception of 
 a brief poem or poetical fragment placed in the mouth of 
 Joshua in connection with his great victory over the five 
 kings of the "Amorites" (Josh. x. 12). That this adju- 
 ration to the sun and moon, or its substance, was uttered 
 during: some noted encounter with formidable enemies is 
 made probable by the fact that it was misunderstood by 
 its later editors, and interpreted to mean thai the sun and 
 
 1 That the narrative is composite and assigns mure than one residence 
 to Balaam is now generally admitted. For details of criticism see the 
 article " Balaam M in EB. and the literature there cited.
 
 44 SONG OF DEBORAH Book IX 
 
 moon actually stood still until the issue of the battle was 
 decided. 1 According to the context of a later date the 
 verse is taken from the "Book of Jashar" (§ 906 f.). 
 
 § 897. ( )f the later stage of the conflict with the 
 Canaanites a memorial has been left which is at the same 
 time one of the gems of all Oriental literature. The 
 "Song of Deborah" (Jud. v.) is by many critics 
 thought to lie the earliest Hebrew composition extant. 
 Though so much as this cannot be conceded, it will be 
 agreed that it bears more numerous marks than docs any 
 supposed earlier composition of being the work of an eye 
 or ear witness. Its relation to the political and social 
 development of Israel has already been dwelt upon 
 (§ 479 f.), and it has also been shown (§ 879) how it 
 throws light upon the cultural progress of the people as 
 well. From the point of view of literary history, it is 
 clear that it obviously cannot be the first important pro- 
 duction of its kind, much less the first considerable poem 
 generally. In it we see the lyric poetry of war and 
 patriotism brought to perfection. Its treatment of the 
 theme from so many standpoints and with reference to 
 so many national interests is of itself a mark of long ex- 
 
 1 The mistake was due. in part at least, to a misinterpretation of mi, 
 which does not mean " stand still," but " be silent." then " cease " (Lam. 
 ii. 18 ; Ps. xxxv. 15), here naturally to cease shining. The Hebrews were 
 praying for darkness, not for light ; and the prayer was answered by the 
 coming on of a great tempest (v. 11). It may be added in support of this 
 view (1) that both sun and moon are appealed to, of course as represent- 
 ing the light-giving forces generally ; (2) that the staying of the moon would 
 not mid to the light of any day, however much prolonged ; (3) that the 
 appearance of the moon in the heavens with the sun is an exceptional 
 occurrence. We have to deal here not with meteorology or astronomy, 
 but with popular poetry. How natural this metaphorical use of being 
 '• silent " is may be seen in Samson Agonistes, 1. 86-88 : 
 
 " The sun to me is dark 
 And silent as the moon 
 When she deserts the night," 
 
 a passage imitated by Milton from Dante. Inferno, I. 56: " Where the 
 sun in silence rests," and V. 30 : " Where light was silent all " (Cary).
 
 Cn. Ill, § 899 POETIC TRADITION MAINTAINED 45 
 
 perience in literary composition. The song is, in fact, a 
 literary consummation, like the poems of Homer. Here 
 we may learn too that we are to judge of ancient society 
 by what it has itself to tell us of its possibilities and 
 achievements, and not according to criteria drawn from 
 the more familiar conditions of modern life. Thus we 
 see that a people may have developed itself greatly along 
 certain lines of art and reflection, while it may be very 
 rude and backward in other matters which seem to us to 
 be the first essentials of morals and civilization. 
 
 § 898. Having learned that the period of the judges 
 was not much more than a century in duration, we find 
 that there was no long abatement in the cultivation of 
 lyric poetry. In the restless, unsettled times that inter- 
 vened till the accession of David, there was nothing to 
 provoke any other sort of composition, and in the events 
 of the period there was much to encourage the continu- 
 ance of an art and habit already become national. Nothing 
 composed before the death of Saul and Jonathan has been 
 preserved ; but the essential thing is that the poetic tradi- 
 tion was maintained. Indeed, it was impossible that it 
 should die out as long as there were sacred festal assem- 
 blies, gatherings of the clans, and yearly family reunions, 
 with their minstrels and bards. Hence we cannot consider 
 David's elegy over the dead king and his much-loved son 
 (2 Sam. i. 19-27) as anything singular of its kind. Its 
 preservation indeed implies that it was but one of a class 
 of compositions prized and cherished by the people at large. 
 In a word, this poem, with its symmetrical structure and 
 fine sense of proportion, introduces us to an established 
 poetical literature. 
 
 § 899. David's Lament brings us, indeed, very near to 
 the time of the first self-conscious literary movement, 
 resulting in the collecting and editing of poems already 
 current. In his linn; there firsl came a direct provocation 
 to this epoch-making enterprise. We may explain by 
 referring once more to the art of writing. As we have
 
 40 PUBLICATION PROMOTED Book IX 
 
 said (§ 881), its use, even when widely extended, does not 
 make a literature, because literature does not imply writ- 
 ing, but merely circulation. Business documents may 
 and usually do exist mainly for individuals. They are 
 mere memoranda, whose use and reference lie outside the 
 writings themselves. But the material of literature, 
 whether poems or national records, has its interest in 
 itself. We are taken by it out of the region of calcula- 
 tion and routine, into the world of sentiment and reflec- 
 tion, from the outward adjustments of society to the move- 
 ment and expression of its inner life. And the interest in 
 it is not that of individuals or parties, but of a commun- 
 ity. In a word, literature is publication, and publication 
 implies a public. The first condition then is that there 
 must be a considerable circle of people interested in the 
 matter in hand ; that is to say, a circle wider than and 
 somewhat different from the gatherings which were wont 
 to be entertained by the reciters of songs or " saj-ings " 
 (Brtwtei Num. xxi. 27). 
 
 § 000. How was such a public created ? Obviously by 
 those events and ideas which left the deepest and most 
 permanent impression, or, in other words, which were felt 
 to have most to do with the vital interests of Israel. 
 Whatever commemorated these events and ideas became 
 precious and inalienable. The more closely the clans and 
 tribes were drawn together and became animated by a 
 common cause and a common impulse, the more they 
 learned to prize and cling to the traditions and monu- 
 ments of their common history. Chief among these 
 memorials were the songs and stories of the eventful 
 past, and it is to what was inspiring in them, by being 
 genuinely and passionately Israel it ish, that their preserva- 
 tion was due. They were thus at once bonds and sym- 
 bols of a growing nationality. But as long as there was 
 division of interest or action, with a multiplicity of sanc- 
 tuaries and other trysting places, popular tales and poems 
 were not apt to circulate widely and thus become the
 
 Ch. Ill, § 902 PROFESSIONAL SCUIBES 47 
 
 common property of many people. Hence it was that 
 only what was strongest and best, and but little of that, 
 survived the strife and separation of the days of the 
 judges or the unsettlement and confusion of the transi- 
 tion period of the early monarchy. But Avith the con- 
 summation of a united Israel, under the sway of David, 
 came not merely the opportunity, but the inner necessity 
 of a publication in documentary form of those traditions 
 which consciously and in a very real sense justified the 
 claim of Israel to be the chosen people of Jehovah. 
 
 § 901. Add to this that in David's time there was 
 introduced the practice of official and professional writ- 
 ing which must have greatly promoted the collection of 
 literary relics. The king's secretaries now for the first 
 time registered contemporary events of national signifi- 
 cance (§ 522). What more natural than that another 
 guild of scribes should grow up whose task it was to 
 engross and preserve the records of the past? Not only 
 so, but the same writers would soon be employed to indite 
 and transcribe the original utterances of the singers and 
 orators of the time and whatever contemporary produc- 
 tion was thought worthy of preservation. Between the 
 professional minstrel, if we may use the term, and the 
 professional chronicler and poet, there must needs inter- 
 vene the professional scribe. 
 
 § 902. Nor was there any lack of material. A gifted 
 people just arrived at national self-consciousness, and with 
 an inspiring poetic tradition behind it, could not fail to 
 give proof of its new attainments and powers, as the tree 
 must attest its maturity by the bearing of fruit. Fresh 
 subjects suggested themselves as the themes of poetry. 
 Even the new kingly order in the state deepened the 
 significance of Israel's vocation. Such a tragedy as the 
 life and death of Saul and Jonathan could not have been 
 enacted before on any arena of Israel's history, and its catas- 
 trophe must have moved many susceptible souls to pity 
 and terror, of which the deepest and strongest expression
 
 48 LITERATURE AND THE NEW MONARCHY Book IX 
 
 has survived in David's lament. Then there were the 
 great events of the time, transacted on a scale such as 
 Israel never knew before or after the redemption of the 
 land from the Philistines : the reunion of all Israel under 
 the warrior-statesman-poet who had long been the hope 
 of the nation ; the submission of the neighbouring peoples ; 
 the promise, however illusory, of lasting prosperity and 
 peace. And the very troubles that dashed the fair hori- 
 zon with a gloom that was never lifted impressed the 
 imagination and moved to utterances of sympathy and 
 grief. Of such a kind was the rebellion of Absalom 
 and his death, which again evoked a lament from David 
 (2 Sam. xviii. 33), whose distinction it was to pronounce 
 the most moving of all elegies over the noblest of friends 
 and the most ignoble of sons. 1 
 
 § 903. The mention of David's elegies suggests culti- 
 vation of a type of composition previously unknown. I 
 mean that which dealt with the fates of individuals instead 
 of the fates of the nation or of the community. It was 
 again the institution of the monarchy which prepared the 
 way for this enrichment of the literature of Israel with 
 the oldest and most essential portions of Judges and 
 Samuel. The fortunes of no man less than a national 
 leader could excite an interest wide enough to create for 
 itself the public which is necessary for a literature. It is 
 this that has given its special interest to the parable of 
 Nathan with regard to the appalling, yet kingly, crime of 
 David (2 Sam. xii. 1 ft.). Observe, moreover, how many 
 features and standpoints of interest are presented in the 
 personal history of David and his court, which did not fail 
 to play their part in the narratives of a somewhat later 
 time, the prose epics of ancient Israel (§ 918 f. ). 
 
 § 904. We can scarcely suppose, however, that the 
 actual collecting of writings on any large scale began 
 
 1 Compare also the pathos of his poetical lament over Abner 
 (2 Sam. iii. 33 f.). Translate freely: -'Should Abner die an ignoble 
 death?"
 
 Ch. Ill, § 905 THE ERA OF SOLOM* >X 49 
 
 under David. Collection follows publication, and there 
 was then hardly enough of the latter to suggest the 
 necessity of gathering up and arranging the various 
 compositions of that and the preceding ages. This is, 
 properly speaking, editorial work, which also involves a 
 comparison of texts and the addition or subtraction of 
 inherited materials. The beginning of such a work must 
 be assigned to the more expansive and leisurely time of 
 King Solomon. There all the conditions favourable to 
 such an enterprise were present. A new institution was 
 the temple with its services. Everywhere among Semitic 
 peoples a great sanctuary was a centre of intellectual 
 life and interest. In Jerusalem it never became in this 
 way what it was in Babylonia; but we are more apt to 
 underrate than to overrate its significance and that 
 of the priests, who through it became a guild of collectors 
 and compilers. Yet their influence was for a time less 
 direct than that of the poetical school. Tradition ascribes 
 to Solomon himself the authorship of lyric poems as well 
 as of proverbs (1 K. v. 12, or EV. iv. 32). But this is 
 merely an Oriental way of saying that he took the lead 
 among a school or circle of poets who were an ornament 
 as well as an appendage of his court, and by whom much 
 of his own reputed wisdom was loyally contributed. Thus 
 there is every reason to believe that in the Jerusalem of 
 his time there was much intellectual activity, stimulated by 
 growing knowledge of the world without, attained chiefly 
 through Phoenician and Egyptian trade and alliance. 
 
 § 905. It is probable that something of the original 
 thought and speech of this era has been preserved to the 
 latest times. We have already alluded to the nucleus of 
 the prophecies of Balaam (§ 895). Far more important 
 is the great historical poem known as the "Blessing of 
 Jacob," a survey of the tribes of Israel in their final 
 settlement in Canaan, placed in the mouth of the patri- 
 arch dying in Egypt (Gen. xlix.). The description is, 
 from a literary point of view, quite unique. It is a sort
 
 50 COMPILATION OF POETIC BOOKS Book IX 
 
 of character study, inasmuch as it gives a resume of 
 the achievements of the respective tribes, and connects 
 their fortunes with their outstanding characteristics sev- 
 erally. That it belongs to the time of the undivided 
 kingdom is reasonably certain. It cannot be earlier, 
 because, while the tribes are all mustered and dealt with 
 as individuals, they yet form one whole, at peace with 
 one another and prosperous. Moreover, the supremacy 
 of Judah (vs. 8-12) was not gained till the time of David. 
 It cannot be later, for such a poem is inconceivable after 
 the schism, and especially after the outlying tribes had 
 been in whole or in part lost to Israel. 1 
 
 § 906. It is also probable that we owe to Solomon's 
 scribes the compilation of the two books already cited, the 
 "Book of the Wars of Jehovah" and the "Book of Jashar," 
 the one being apparently a collection of poems celebrating 
 the triumphs of Jehovah the "man of war" (§ 894) as cham- 
 pion of his people Israel, up to the entrance into Canaan, 
 and the other a selection of national poems of more gen- 
 eral character, composed after that event 2 (§ 896). 
 
 § 907. The last quotation made from the book of 
 Jashar belongs to Solomon's time, 3 and there is nothing 
 of the sort of a later date. The fact is significant. It 
 is noticeable that with the book of Samuel the poetical 
 quotations end. The explanation is that with the estab- 
 lishment of the kingdom under David and the unification 
 of the tribes, the period of personal and family adventure, 
 the age of Hebrew romance and chivalry, comes to an end, 
 
 1 Contrast the "Blessing of Moses" (Dent, xxxiii. ; § 035). 
 
 2 "Jashar'' is an honorific name of Israel, of which " Jeshurun " 
 (Num. xxiii. 10 as amended ; Deut. xxxii. 15. xxxiii. 5, 26 ; Isa. xliv. 2) 
 is a diminutive. Both words were of course originally appellatives : " the 
 upright,'' or rather the "right," or well pleasing (to Jehovah), or, which 
 is the same thing practically, the successful, victorious one. 
 
 3 According to the Sept. of 1 K. viii. 5.°., which has a reference to the 
 book in the reading iv pipXLifi rijs w8rjs. This has been conjectured to 
 stand for -iip»n idd s j;, the last word having been turned into "vtfn. So 
 Wellhausen in Bleek's Einleitung (4th ed.), p. 236.
 
 Ch. Ill, § 009 OTHER ISOLATED POEMS 51 
 
 and with it minstrelsy and rhapsody decline. Hence, 
 when the historical compilers, working at a later time, 
 gave extracts from these books, and quoted other frag- 
 ments of popular songs and sayings, they placed none of 
 them later than the days of Solomon. 
 
 § 908. Besides the poems and poetic fragments and 
 sayings above noticed, qnite a number of others are 
 quoted in the earlier canonical books. Thus we have 
 the fine parable of Jotham (Jud. ix. 7-15), which itself 
 contains expressions in poetic or rhythmic form ; the 
 lament of Jephthah (Jud. xi. 35) ; the riddle of Samson 
 and its pendants (Jud. xiv. 14, 18) ; his exultation after 
 victory (Jud. xv. 16) ; the song of Hannah (1 Sam. ii. 
 1-10) ; Samuel's denunciation of King Saul (1 Sam. xv. 
 22-23) ; the popular song of David's prowess (1 Sam. 
 xviii. 7 ; cf. xxi. 11, xxix. 5) ; David's lament over 
 Abner (2 Sam. iii. 33 f.) ; David's great triumphal song 
 (2 Sam. xxii. ; cf. Ps. xviii.); and his "last words" 
 (2 Sam. xxiii. 1-7). 1 
 
 § 909. Of these quotations some are obviously genuine ; 
 others are clearly the product of later times, such as the 
 song of Hannah, and Samuel's denunciation. Others 
 are less clearly so, David's great psalm and his " last 
 words." It is with reluctance that any good son of the 
 church relinquishes the belief in Davidic psalms. But 
 many considerations combine to make such a belief impos- 
 sible. (1) Those Psalms which are held to be most cer- 
 tainly Davidic show traces of a later age. Some reserve 
 to David this same Ps. xviii. (2 Sam. xxii.) alone. 
 There is much in this sublime poem to remind us of 
 David's spirit ; but if the spirit is David's, the words and 
 the elaboration are scarcely his. A theophanv worked 
 out in detail (vs. 7-17), is a prophetic idea (Mic. i. ; Ilab. 
 iii. ; Ps. 1.) to which David and his age were incompetent. 
 The self-approbation of vs. 19-26 is inappropriate to David, 
 
 1 Add the sayings of 1 Sam. x. 12 (xix. 24), xxiv. 13, and the obscure 
 proverb of 2 Sain. v. 8.
 
 52 QUESTION OF DAVIDIC PSALMS Book IX 
 
 who with all his faults was not ignorant or forgetful of 
 fchem. (2) The Psalms throughout are not merely relig- 
 ious, but spiritual ; David was religious but, so far as we 
 know, he was not spiritual. His habit of life (§ 970 ff.) 
 Mas unfavourable to piety. The "last words" (2 Sam. 
 xxiii. 1—7), which are not a "psalm," being too individual 
 or autobiographical, are more in keeping with David's 
 character, and the personal groundwork is undoubtedly 
 his. It is touching in its naivete, and the unadorned 
 ruggedness of the style gives it a flavour of originality, 
 in contrast with the smoothness and harmony of most of 
 the Psalms, which are the work of trained disciples of 
 various schools. It may have received its present form 
 as part of the collection which contained the song of 
 Hezekiah (Isa. xxxviii. 10-20) of three centuries later. 
 (3) The time of David was unfavourable to psalm-mak- 
 ing. Even if " psalms " were the natural expression of 
 David's soul and heart, he could not have written the 
 canonical Psalms in the age in which he lived, any more 
 than Homer and his colleagues could have written the 
 Prometheus Vinctus or the Antigone. A great poet, 
 such as David was, may create a literary style, but he 
 cannot create a literary atmosphere, much less a world 
 of action and emotion which it envelops. The ruling 
 ideas of the Psalms are such conceptions of spiritual 
 needs, and of Jehovah's power to satisfy those needs 
 by his various and abounding grace, as the religious peo- 
 ple of David's time, from lack of education and experi- 
 ence, could not have cherished. (4) There is really no 
 biblical tradition to the effect that David was a psalm 
 writer, the titles to the Psalms being unauthentic. His- 
 torically we know of him as a lyrical poet indeed, but as 
 a poet of his time and circumstances, especially moved 
 by love and friendship, and also as a minstrel and a 
 patron of minstrelsy (Amos vi. 5). 
 
 § 910. The case would seem at first to be somewhat 
 different with Solomon and the Proverbs. Apophthegms,
 
 Ch. Ill, § 911 LITERARY FAME OF SOLOMON 53 
 
 parables, pregnant witty sayings, were indigenous in 
 Israel, and even apart from the evidence of the book of 
 Proverbs, it is doubtful whether any national literature 
 is so rich in such utterances as is the Bible. This gift 
 of proverb-making was shared by several peoples more 
 or less nomadic to the south and east of Palestine (cf. 
 Prov. xxx. and xxxi. and 1 K. iv. 30 f. EV.), whose 
 genius must have influenced that of the poets and sages 
 of Israel. The age of Solomon was, however, not the 
 time of the " Wisdom " school of Biblical literature, which 
 combined religious and ethical earnestness with philo- 
 sophic reflectiveness. No one of these qualities is to 
 be expected from Solomon and his colleagues, who appear 
 to have been chiefly distinguished for practical sagacity 
 and worldly shrewdness. Collections, oral and written, 
 of wise and witty observations, of parables like that of 
 Nathan, and of fables like that of Jotham, were doubt- 
 less made in Solomon's time ; and the first collection of 
 proverbs having borne his name, all subsequent ones, of 
 which it was the nucleus and the occasion, received a 
 similar honour. Yet we must beware of imagining that 
 very many utterances of Solomon and his associates have 
 been transferred to the book of Proverbs. The Hebrew 
 mdshal is just as comprehensive a term as is our " prov- 
 erb," and not every rndshal was religious or ethical in 
 its purpose. On the other hand, since a good deal of 
 Proverbs is non-religious and non-ethical, and so out of 
 harmony with the object of the final collection, it is probable 
 that some of the sayings of this more secular age were 
 borne along by mouth or pen to the latest days. 
 
 § 911. This distinction between the secular and the 
 religious in the development of Hebrew thought and life 
 is fundamental to any rational conception of the history 
 of biblical literature. The antithesis, as thus made, is 
 of course purely modern and critical. The Hebrews of 
 these times were not conscious of it. The sphere of reli- 
 gion, that is, of association with Jehovah, was universal
 
 54 END OF THE PERIOD OF HEROIC POETRY Rook IX 
 
 within the limits of Israel. His operation and influence 
 extended to every domain of thought and action. Hence, 
 Jehovah was supposed not merely to give oracles on the 
 outcome of human enterprises : He was also the giver of 
 wisdom and of all the endowments of the seer, the poet, 
 the warrior, and the ruler. 1 A very sane and wholesome 
 belief, it will be agreed; but the point now to be made is 
 that the men to whom canonical literature of a high spirit- 
 ual order is ascribed do not appear to have lived within 
 that sphere of religious experience with which this litera- 
 ture is conversant. The time came at length when the 
 best minds 2 in Israel received, enjoyed, and illustrated 
 the truths that nourish the life of the spirit, and they 
 were the authors of that which really makes the Old Testa- 
 ment what it has been to the world. 
 
 § 912. With the reign of David and Solomon the first 
 stage of Hebrew literature reaches its close. This we 
 have called (§ 883) the period of heroic poetry, or of the 
 epic ballad. The reader may now see in how far the term is 
 justified. It will be observed that though the subjects of 
 the compositions are somewhat varied, they all fall under 
 the one head of heroic tradition. Hence, also, there is 
 here no artistically developed epic 3 like the Iliad, the 
 Odyssey, or the JEneid. Yet there is what may be called a 
 rudimentary epic, a body of epical germs and materials, 
 
 1 Compare Cheyne, Jewish Religious Life after the Exile (1898), p. 131 f. 
 
 2 We do Nathan and other contemporaries of David and Solomon in- 
 justice if we assume that the latter were the highest religious spirits of 
 the time. It cannot have escaped attention that David and Solomon, 
 the first successful kings of Israel, were the only kings to whom any 
 large portion of the literature is ascribed. Is not this to be explained by 
 the fact that their successors, men like the rest of their kind, lived in the 
 clearer light of history ? 
 
 3 < >f the higher epic there is no genuine specimen in Semitic literature. 
 The Oilgamesh ("Nimrod") epic of the Rabylonians is the nearest 
 approach to it. But there is abundance of the ballad epos, which, if the 
 artistic genius had been present, might have been organized into a com- 
 manding epic poem. Cf. R. G. Moultou, Literary Study of the Bible 
 (1898), p. 229 f.
 
 Ch. Ill, § 914 VITAL ELEMENT IN EARLY POEMS 55 
 
 chiefly in the form of the heroic ballad. There is thus a 
 true epos in the earliest Hebrew literature, though it has 
 not been unified and coordinated so as to illustrate a single 
 great theme. We may sum up here by recalling the char- 
 acteristics of the literature of this period. Unlike that 
 of subsequent stages, it was mainly, if not wholly, circu- 
 lated by word of mouth. Another distinction is that it 
 was very fragmentary. Characteristic also is the con- 
 spicuous absence in it of spiritual religion as a motive 
 power in life and conduct. 
 
 § 913. This last-named distinction would seem to 
 mark a cardinal defect. And yet, from the earliest 
 known beginnings, there was in Hebrew literature, as in 
 the Hebrew community, the germ of the most powerful 
 religion which the world has felt and known, an intel- 
 lectual and moral impulse, a master idea destined for the 
 uplifting and propelling of the race. Since no epoch in 
 history or literature is cut off from a preceding epoch, and 
 no people develops except from itself, the later Israel 
 which we know of must have drawn some deep inspiration 
 from this first long period of its life and thought. And 
 that which we find in it, fitful and spasmodic, it is true, 
 — like the fortune of the tribes and the nation, — and j 7 et 
 a vital and inextinguishable force, is Israel's sense of 
 Jehovah's guardianship and of its own destiny. Hence, 
 we shall not go far astray in holding the most precious of 
 the poems and the sayings of the olden time to have been 
 the "Song of the Exodus," the "Song of Deborah," the 
 "Book of the Wars of Jehovah," the "Book of Jashar," 
 and the "Blessing of Jacob." 
 
 § 91-4. To show how this sentiment shaped itself 
 towards worthier ends, how it gradually came to be cher- 
 ished in its most vitalizing and potential form, with an 
 elevating and inspiring view of Jehovah's character, is the 
 task of the historian of Hebrew literature. Here it must 
 suffice to point out when and how the successive literary 
 periods were introduced. The next determining event
 
 50 THE TERM '-NATIONAL LITERATURE" Book IX 
 
 -was the division of the kingdom. This catastrophe and 
 the political condition of the time generally were unfavour- 
 able to poetical composition. But there was much to 
 suggest the employment of the new art of prose writing- 
 in preserving the traditions of the tribal and national heroes 
 of the times nearly preceding. 
 
 § 915. To appreciate this new development we must 
 make an important distinction with regard to the use- 
 ful, but easily misunderstood term "national" literature. 
 While the whole of the early literature may rightly be 
 called national, the inspiration of nationality as derived 
 from the united kingdom of David and Solomon (§ 900) 
 was rather that of an ideal than of an accomplished fact. 
 As has been shown already (§ 526 f.), it was only under 
 David that a real union of the tribes was officially fostered, 
 and even then nothing more was actually realized than a 
 coalescence of the northern and southern divisions. There 
 was, indeed, for a time a national aspiration. But as far 
 as it was a political sentiment it was an outgrowth of the 
 pre-regal rather than of the regal period. And after the 
 division whatever there was of patriotic feeling was nour- 
 ished only by the common worship of Jehovah among the 
 children of Israel, which was always the chief unifying 
 force throughout Hebrew history. 
 
 § 916. Hence we find (1) that in the subsequent lit- 
 erature the history of Israel is viewed from different 
 standpoints, according as the writer belongs to the north- 
 ern or southern kingdom; (2) that much of the history- 
 making consists of reminiscences of tribal or sectional 
 conditions; (3) that when the undivided kingdom bulks 
 largely in the literature it is more or less idealized ; (4) that 
 the national idea, if cherished at all, is cherished by those 
 who are most concerned for the religion of Jehovah, the 
 God of the whole of Israel; (5) that the insistence on 
 this idea necessarily involves the idealizing of the king- 
 dom as it was once united under David — hence the begin- 
 ning of the Messianic hope and ideal.
 
 CH. Ill, §918 FIRST CONSECUTIVE PROSE 57 
 
 § 917. We are now introduced to the first consecutive 
 prose writing that has been preserved in the canonical 
 books. There can be little doubt that the central and 
 earliest portion of the book of Judges (ii. 6-xvi.) l was 
 the product of a time not much later than the disruption. 
 It gives an account of the deeds of the local rulers who 
 kept order, in their several districts, between the time of 
 the settlement and the kingdom (§ 187 ff\). The recol- 
 lections of their actions are, for the most part, clear and 
 vivid. There is least adherence to the literal style of 
 narrative in the history of Samson (ch. xiii.-xvi.), which 
 is a separate, elaborate story of the purely heroic type. 
 This circumstance alone would suffice to show that the 
 tales were gathered and published in the northern king- 
 dom, remote from the scene of Samson's exploits. But 
 the way in which Judah is elsewhere ignored, and is here 
 referred to only as contributing a single champion, 2 puts 
 the matter be} r ond a doubt. We may well suppose that 
 the popular stories of David's career, which were so greatly 
 to the advantage of the kingdom of Judah, were matched 
 by the collectors of traditional tales with reminiscences of 
 the great deeds of the northern leaders. 
 
 § 918. That the composition of these stories in their 
 first published form is separated by a considerable inter- 
 val from that of the preceding cycle, appears plainly from 
 the fact that they are written in simple prose, and that 
 
 1 That is, apart from the song of Deborah (§ 897) and the phrases 
 introductory to each section, with other additions by the Deuteronomic 
 compiler (§ 1301), for whose agency here sec Driver, Intr., and Moore, 
 Commentary on Judges, pp. xix ft'., and the authorities quoted in these 
 works. Moore dates the older of the two sources, which he identities 
 (after Schrader, Stade, and Budde) with J and E respectively, in the firsl 
 half of the ninth century b.c. This is probably too late to afford a con- 
 nection with the stream of living tradition which comprises the narrative 
 of the greater judges. 
 
 2 Perhaps the story of Samson is introduced from the desire to give 
 some place (cf. iii. '-'>\ I to the wars with the Philistines, which were so 
 important in Israel's history, and in which the northern tribes played no 
 very distinguished part.
 
 58 HEROIC PROSE : LIVES OF SAUL AND DAVID Book IX 
 
 the style is already that of classic narrative Hebrew. 
 From the nature of the subject and the heroic style gener- 
 ally we must, however, assign this main part of Judges 
 to the period of the prose epic or "heroic prose " (§ 883). 
 That a prosaic garb was adopted instead of a poetical was 
 due to the fact that the age was prosaic. The land was 
 troubled; but it was not excited, only perplexed and 
 baffled. The old ideals were shattered; and, especially in 
 the northern kingdom, pressing problems of rehabilita- 
 tion and readjustment left no room for the play of the 
 genius of romance. We may infer from the fact that 
 the song of Deborah alone is given in the poetic form 1 
 that the narratives were of later composition. 
 
 § 919. Of kindred style and origin is the story of 
 David's reign and his personal life as king, which was 
 composed in Jerusalem, perhaps at a somewhat later date 
 than the tales of the judges. This narrative embraces 
 almost all of 2 Sam. v.-vii. and ix.-xx. It is an extraor- 
 dinarily faithful and vivid picture of one of the most 
 interesting and memorable kingly lives. A distinct work 
 is the history of Saul (1 Sam. ix., x. 1-16, xi., xiii., xiv.). 
 Some uncertainty hangs over the time and place of the 
 origin of this section. Yet the freshness and naturalness 
 of the narrative, and its presentation of the older view of 
 the establishment of the kingdom, that it was a necessary 
 movement approved by Jehovah (ctr. 1 Sam. viii. and xii.), 
 point to a comparatively early date. More doubtful is the 
 position of the remainder of the history of David, within 
 which the Jerusalem court history has been imbedded, the 
 whole running from 1 Sam. xvi. to 2 K. ii. The refer- 
 ence to "kings of Judah " in 1 Sam. xxvii. 6 would seem 
 
 1 The sayings of Samson (Jud. xiv. 14, 18 ; xv. 16) are merely inci- 
 dental to the narrative. Yet they are significant as illustrating the point 
 made above as to the special character of the tradition and story of 
 Samson. It is to be noted that it is only in the old heroic epos that the 
 characters speak poetically. So in the wisdom fables of India, (Ilito- 
 pade§a, Panchatantra, etc.), the narrative is prose, while the speakers talk 
 in verse.
 
 Cu. Ill, § 920 BOOK OF THE COVENANT 59 
 
 to bring the time pretty well down below the disruption. 
 It has also been argued that the absence of partiality for 
 either of the kings or for the institution of the kingdom 
 points to a later period. We must content ourselves 
 meanwhile with claiming for the first half century after 
 the schism the history of Saul and the Jerusalem biog- 
 raphy of David as king. Of somewhat later date is the 
 story of the fortunes of the Ark (1 Sam. iv.-vi.), cen- 
 tering in Shiloh and its sanctuary, and composed in 
 northern Israel. 
 
 § 920. We have now to deal with a different order of 
 composition, the first "Book of the Covenant," contained 
 in Ex. xx. 22-xxiii. Most critics assign the work to the 
 great E document (§ 923 ff.). But E was probably not 
 its first compiler: it bears the mark of a prior juridical 
 codification. Much of its contents, therefore, is of older 
 date, how old we cannot say. In any case it is a mistake 
 to make the time of David the absolute terminus a quo; 1 
 for the period of the judges was one in which the establish- 
 ing of precedents ("statutes") for new conditions and 
 emergencies was an absolute necessity. The laws repre- 
 sent the growth of a simple pastoral and especially agri- 
 cultural jurisprudence, and the absence of regulations 
 concerning the special relations of city life show that the 
 bulk of them were formulated, or at least practised, before 
 the monarchy. They are of priceless value, not simply 
 for the legislation itself, but also for the proof they afford 
 that Israel was not a wholly ill-regulated society under 
 the judges. 2 Now, if such laws existed long before their 
 final compilation, should they not be treated like the heroic 
 poetry as the literary records of earlier times? No; for 
 
 1 As is done by Cornill, Einl* (1890), p. 69. 
 
 2 The book of Judges is a reminder that the Hebrew historical narra- 
 tive is selective and dramatically one-sided and extreme. Critics have 
 thought that in my sketcli of a well-to-do householder of the later period 
 of the judges (§ 50:} ff.) I have transferred to this time the conditions of 
 a later age. But I avowedly chose a favourable specimen of his class, and 
 his environment is not pictured in the brightest colours.
 
 GO COMBINED LAWS AND EXHORTATIONS Book IX 
 
 laws were not "literature" (cf. § 899). They were not 
 published even by word of mouth at the time of their 
 first observance (cf. § 882). They were customs, usages, 
 prescriptions, which for ages needed no outward authen- 
 tication. The several courts which put them in force, 
 whether of elders, judges, or priests of the local sanctu- 
 aries (§ 486 ff.), were themselves the embodiment of law 
 or "direction," as representatives of Jehovah ; and it was 
 only some higher or wider necessity that led to their 
 collection and publication. 
 
 § 921. Moreover, the laws are, in the strict sense, a 
 digest or abstract of the best rules of procedure written in 
 the terse and business-like form that befits an age devoid 
 of preachers and moralists, and thus distinguished from 
 their successor, the Deuteronomic code. Yet we must 
 make a distinction. Those laws that were really practi- 
 cal and operative do not occupy nearly all of the document. 
 There is at least one other large element comprising prin- 
 ciples and appeals in the guise of ordinances. Thus we 
 have the commands not to wrong or oppress a "stranger" 
 (xxii. 21; cf. § 552), not to afflict a widow or orphan 
 (v. 22), followed by reasons grounded in the will (or the 
 character) of Jehovah (cf. vs. 26 f.); and these are not 
 coordinate with the preceding enactments. They are 
 rather of the tone and spirit of the long hortatory 
 appendix (xxiii. 20-83). 
 
 § 922. This combination is striking. What does it 
 imply? Two general explanations are possible. The 
 object of the publication was either literary and educative 
 or else it was intended as an authoritative manual with 
 official sanction. In the one case the compiler and editor 
 was one of a guild or class of thinkers and writers imbued 
 with high patriotic and religious aims. In the other 
 case the instigators were the king and nobles. At first 
 sight the latter view is the more plausible, for the aim 
 of the publication seems a practical one. On account of 
 the apparent influence of E, we then actually think of the
 
 Ch. EH, § 92:3 CRITERIA OF RELATIVE AGE 01 
 
 northern kingdom ( § 930) ; and the era of reconstruction 
 and readjustment under Omri (§ 212) seems a suitable 
 occasion. 1 But a closer view makes the other hypothesis 
 seem more tenable. Taken as a whole, the work is too 
 advanced ethically and religiously for that era or any 
 proximate date. Making all due allowance for the defec- 
 tive character of the narrative accounts of these times, it 
 remains certain (cf. § 979 ft.) that the religion and morality 
 of the leading men in either kingdom were still below the 
 stage of theory and propagandism ; and the publication of 
 the code in its complete form under their auspices is 
 therefore highly improbable. On the other hand, the sen- 
 timental, non-practical sections were superadded for a pur- 
 pose. They are already beyond the scope and intent oi. 
 the effective statutes which, as has been shown, 2 are 
 merely the best jurisprudence of a simple, half-patriarcha 
 societ}^ and not necessarily the outcome of exceptiona. 
 moral and religious sentiments. In fact, as will appeal 
 in the more obvious case of Deuteronomy, the Old Testa- 
 ment legislation as published never had statutory validity 
 or a directly practical purpose. It was intended to con- 
 nect the highest law and justice of the day with the 
 fountain of law and justice, Jehovah the true God of Israel. 
 Hence we have not yet arrived at the all-important point 
 where we can find the higher principle of life and thought 
 in active operation. For this we must turn to the two 
 great works J and E. 
 
 § 923. J and E are the somewhat vague and mystical, 
 but convenient designation of the remains of two documents 
 found interwoven with one another in the Hexateuch. 
 They were, when complete, two histories (to use the 
 modern term) of Israel, from the earliest times till the 
 settlement in Canaan. Neither of them appears to have 
 been originally a single composition, and each of them 
 
 1 Or, if the treatise be assigned (less reasonably) to J and the king- 
 dom of Judah, we will naturally think of the reformation of Asa (1 K. xv.). 
 
 2 See W. R. Smith, OTJC. 2 p. 340 1L
 
 62 "PROPHETIC HISTORIES/' J AND E Book IX 
 
 shows evidence of growth and of internal combination and 
 adjustment. Moreover, each of them had taken up into 
 itself, at least by the time it assumed its final form, some 
 of the compositions already mentioned in our survey; thus 
 it is probably E that contains the first "Book of the Cove- 
 nant"' just spoken of; while J has, among other things, 
 the oldest traditions of Israel and the race generally. 
 The}' were, however, combined in one complete and sepa- 
 rate work (J E) before the publication of Deuteronomy. 
 They are marked off by striking characteristics from P, 
 with which they have many topics in common. More 
 properly, P is marked off plainly from them as the product 
 of a different movement and stamped with the impress of 
 a much later age. J and E have strong mutual resem- 
 blances and, although produced within different environ- 
 ments, are evidently the result of the same or closely 
 associated literary and religious impulses. Yet the dif- 
 ferences in points of view and in purpose are so real and 
 important that no single term, except the very general 
 phrase "prophetic histories," has been devised to describe 
 them. This designation distinguishes them from the 
 priestly document (P), and also implies that they were 
 completed, if not entirely compiled, in the age of the great 
 prophets, and embody some distinctively prophetic ideas. 
 § 924. J, however, is so deeply imbued with the 
 prophetic spirit that the name is sometimes applied to it 
 alone. Its chief outward mark is its use of the name 
 Yahwe (Jehovah) for the Divine Being from the begin- 
 ning, while E is equally 'consistent in the employment of 
 Elohim; hence the term Yahwistic or Jehovistic applied 
 to the document and the writer as distinguished from 
 Elohistic. To the combined history in the Pentateuch 
 drawn from J, E, and P, 1 J furnishes the most continuous 
 
 1 Naturally authorities differ with regard to the assignment of many 
 passages to their sources, but these passages are seldom of great length 
 or importance, and a presentation of the results of criticism is quite feasi- 
 ble and very helpful. A detailed exhibition by chapter and verse of the
 
 Cn. Ill, § 926 CONTENTS OF J 63 
 
 stoiy. There are, indeed, no important breaks in his narra- 
 tive, as far as the career of the main characters and of the 
 nation as a whole is described, though significant facts 
 are supplied by E, even more than by P, which bulks so 
 much more largely and deals more with institutions and 
 their founders. E, indeed, although an original docu- 
 ment of immense importance, performs in our present text 
 a function mainly supplementary. It does not begin till 
 Gen. xv. Its most valuable contributions relate to the 
 legislative history and material. 
 
 § 925. A fairly good idea of the contents and spirit of 
 J and E may be gained from the statement of some of the 
 topics dealt with by each of them exclusively. Thus from 
 J, as already indicated (§ 885), we have the account of 
 the creation of the world of men (as distinguished from 
 that of "the heavens and the earth" by P). From him 
 alone proceeds the story of the probation and fall of "the 
 man " and his "helpmeet," of the first sacrifice, the first 
 murder, and the career of Cain and his descendants (Gen. 
 ii. 4-iv.). To the accounts of the Flood, the promise to 
 Noah, the national or racial genealogies (Gen. vi.-x.) 
 J and P have both contributed; but the settlement of 
 Babylonia (x. 8-12) and the dispersion thence of 
 the human race (Gen. xi. 1-9) are described only by J. 
 From him, too, we have the whole narrative of the rela- 
 tions of Abraham with Lot and the cities of the Plain 
 (Gen. xviii., xix.), the romantic story of the quest of a 
 wife for Isaac (Gen. xxiv.), and nearly all that is told 
 of the earlier life of Jacob and Esau (most of Gen. xxv.- 
 xxvii.), the episode of Judah's family history (Gen. 
 xxxviii.), and a large portion, partly duplicated with E, 
 of the stoiy of Joseph, particularly the actions and con- 
 respective contributions of J, E, and I' to the Pentateuch appears in 
 Cornill. Einl.* (1896), p. 10 f. The analysis of Genesis, Exodus, and 
 Numbers, with a discussion, is given by Driver. Tntr. 9 (1897), pp. 14-17, 
 22-24, 28-32, G0-G9. Leviticus is universally given entire to 1', and 
 nothing of Deuteronomy is credited to any of the three.
 
 64 J AND E OFTEN INSEPARABLE Book IX 
 
 versations in which Judah takes part. The Blessing of 
 Jacob (Gen. xlix. 2-27) was inserted by J (§ 005). In 
 Exodus, as a whole, J is less prominent than either E or P. 
 He is most largely represented in the account of the pre- 
 liminaries to the migration from Egypt, and of the flight. 1 
 But in Numbers, which is mainly an institutional and 
 statistical book, both J and E are overshadowed b} r P. 
 When they appear it is usually difficult to distinguish the 
 parts of the combined narrative (JE). From them come 
 the most interesting sections of Numbers: Hobab's guid- 
 ance of Israel, the murmuring of the people at Taberah, 
 the appointment of seventy elders, and the complaint of 
 Aaron and Miriam against Moses (ehs. x. 2'J-xii.) 2 and 
 the strictly historical or narrative portion of the book 
 between the departure from Kadesh Barnea to the settle- 
 ment of the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan, 
 including the extracts from ancient poems and the episode 
 of Balaam (chs. xx.-xxv. 6, and most of eh. xxxii.). 3 In 
 the book of Joshua, which, as part of an original Hexa- 
 teuch, is properly an appendix to the Pentateuch, and in 
 which the distinction of the sources is very difficult to 
 make, 4 J E is to be taken as practically one document, 
 comprising most of the story of the conquest of Canaan 
 (chs. i.-xii.), 5 while the account of its allotment among 
 the tribes (chs. xiii.-xxiv.) is chiefly the work of P. 
 
 § 92G. The most important contributions of E may 
 be summarily indicated: an essential part of Abraham's 
 vision of Israel's possession of Canaan (Gen. xv., not 
 easily separable from J), the exposure of Sarah at Gerar, 
 the expulsion and relief of Hagar, the covenant at Beer- 
 sheba, the trial of Abraham's faith (Gen. xx.-xxii.), 
 
 1 See below (§ 920) what is said of E in this connection. 
 
 2 Ch. xii. is generally thought to belong to E. 
 
 3 Ch. xxiv. probably belongs mainly to J, and chs. xxi.-xxiii. to E. 
 
 4 Cf. Cornill, Einl* p. 80 f. 
 
 5 Very important, however, are the Deuteronomic additions, compris- 
 ing the whole of ch. i. and frequent later insertions ; see Driver, p. 104 If.
 
 Ch. Ill, § 926 CONTENTS OF E 65 
 
 Jacob's vision and vow at Bethel (Gen. xxviii. 11 ff.), 
 the ascription of Jacob's prosperity to divine providence, 
 the flight of Jacob and his wives from Laban, and the 
 covenant between Jacob and Laban (most of ch. xxxi.), 
 Jacob's renunciation of "strange gods," and his second 
 visit to Bethel (Gen. xxxv. 1-8), and the death of Rachel 
 (Gen. xxxv. 16-20), large portions of the story of 
 Joseph, 1 Jacob's blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen. 
 xlviii.), Joseph's formal forgiveness of his brethren, and 
 his death (Gen. 1. 15 ff.). In Exodus comes first E's ver- 
 sion 2 of the events leading to the departure from Egypt, 
 apparently resting on a distinct tradition and enhancing 
 the providential character of the deliverance by emphasiz- 
 ing the feebleness and dependence of Israel and the 
 haughty sternness of Pharaoh. E inserts, also, the song 
 of the Exodus (§ 890). He alone tells of the contest 
 with Amalek (ch. xvii.) and the attempt to organize the 
 tribes on an administrative principle (Ex. xviii. ; cf. 
 §455 ff.). He is the principal source of what is told 
 of the primary Sinaitic legislation — its preliminaries 
 (ch. xix.), the Decalogue (ch. xx. ; § 892), the first Book 
 of the Covenant (chs. xxi.-xxiii. ; § 920), the narrative of 
 the golden calf, and the appointment of Joshua as min- 
 ister to Moses (chs. xxxii. 1-xxxiii. II). 3 Of E in 
 Numbers and Joshua enough for our present purpose has 
 been said in the last paragraph, but we must not over- 
 look the poetical extracts in Num. xxi. (§ 894) or the 
 "Blessing of Moses" in Deut. xxxiii. (§ 935). 
 
 1 For a skilful exhibition of the points of difference, with a citation of 
 the passages assignable to each of the sources, see Driver, pp. 17-19. 
 
 2 Developed by Bacon in Triple Tradition of tin- Exodus (1894), fol- 
 lowing up his articles in the Journal of Biblical Literature (1890-1893). 
 His analysis Bhows the antithesis between .1 and E to be much greater 
 than had been supposed. J, for example, makes Israel in Egypt to have 
 been prosperous, socially important, and numerous. 
 
 3 The remainder of tins legislative section (xxxiii. 12-xxxiv. 28) is an 
 intricate combination of J and E, except perhaps the " Little Book of the 
 Covenant " (xxxiv. 11-28), which is by most critics assigned to J. 
 
 F
 
 66 CHARACTERISTICS OF J Book IX 
 
 § 927. A glance at the passages above cited will reveal 
 the main characteristics of J and E. J is the story teller 
 and the dramatist of the Old Testament. For vividness, 
 selective and graphic skill, and touching simplicity, he 
 is unsurpassed in any literature. He is at once the most 
 realistic and the most sympathetic of narrators; witness 
 the trembling of Isaac, the cry of Esau (Gen. xxvii. 33 f.), 
 and the appeal of Judah (Gen. xliv.. 18 ff.). Nothing 
 human is alien or repulsive to him (Gen. xxx. 14 ff. ; 
 xxxviii.); and he is equally at home with the divine. 
 Thus he is the most anthropomorphic of Old Testament 
 writers in his representations of the Deity. " He fashions, 
 breathes into man the breath of life, plants, places, takes, 
 sets, brings, closes up, builds, etc. (Gen. ii. 7, 8, 15, 19, 
 21, 22), and even walks in the garden (iii. 8). He comes 
 down to see the tower built by man and to confound their 
 speech (Gen. xi. 5, 7; so xviii. 21; Ex. iii. 8), visits 
 the earth in visible form (Gen. xviii., xix.), meets Moses 
 and seeks to slay him (Ex. iv. 24), takes off the chariot 
 wheels of the Egyptians (xiv. 25)." * His moral and 
 religious teaching is well characterized by Dillmann : 2 
 "He is distinguished by the abundance of choice and 
 instructive thoughts, of weighty ethical and religious 
 truths, which he knows how to breathe into his legendary 
 stories, or rather to draw from them, without detracting 
 from the poetic flavour and childlike simplicity of expres- 
 sion which they cariw with them from their currency upon 
 the lips of the people. Among the three narrators he 
 shows the deepest knowledge of the nature, origin, and 
 progress of sin among mankind, of God's counteracting 
 work, of his plan of salvation (Gen. iii. 15 f. ; v. 29; 
 viii. 21 f . ; ix. 26 f . ; xii. 2 f . ; xviii. 19), of the choice 
 of God's chosen instruments and their education towards 
 
 1 Driver. IntrS' pp. 0. 121. The italics are our author's. 
 
 2 Di' Genesis erkldrt (4th ed.), p. xiii. See also the more detailed 
 analysis by Dillmann, in his Numeri, Dent, und Josua (1886), p. 629 1.. 
 quoted by Driver, p. 120.
 
 Ch. Ill, §928 CHARACTERISTICS OF E 67 
 
 faith, obedience, and rightful living, of the destiny of 
 Israel to bring about the saving of the nations." 
 
 § 928. E has not the literary charm and power wielded 
 by J, though he is not deficient in narrative skill (Gen. 
 xxii.). He has a fondness for details; uses freely the 
 names of persons and places. He does not so much try 
 to tell a story as to keep alive the occasion and the remem- 
 brance <3f beliefs and traditions. Hence, he is specially 
 attracted by the ancient sanctuaries, particularly those of 
 the northern kingdom, and at the same time gives a chief 
 place to the laws and customs that have grown up under 
 the theocracy. Thus, while J is most deeply concerned 
 about the ideas or principles of Jehovah's government and 
 revelation, E is set upon exhibiting the various forms and 
 modes in which God rules and manifests himself to his 
 people. On the one hand we have from him the history of 
 national organization and legislation (Ex. xviii.-xxiii.), 
 and on the other a record of the indirect disclosures of 
 dreams and visions of the night and voices from heaven 
 (Gen. xv. ; xxii. 11, 15; xxviii. 11 ft. ; xxxvii. 5 ft.), as 
 contrasted with the bodily appearances of Jehovah set 
 before us by J. Though not so deeply imbued with the 
 prophetic spirit as J, he represents the progress of insti- 
 tutional religion up to the highest pru-Deuteronomic 
 level. In his story of Jacob he speaks of the patriarch 
 erecting a pillar as a Bethel 1 or " residence of God " (Gen. 
 xxviii. 18, 22) on the site of the most important sanc- 
 tuary of the northern kingdom ; yet he records, also, how 
 Jacob put away the "alien gods " from his household (Gen 
 xxxv, 2 ff. ; cf. Josh. xxiv. 14 ff.). Abraham is to him 
 a "prophet" (Gen. xx. 7), though of a very unspiritual 
 type; while in his sketch of the career of Moses the pro- 
 phetic ideal is more nearly reached (Ex. xxxiii. 11; Num. 
 
 1 Greek ^ahv\os and patrvXiov, a sacred stone (in Damascius and oth- 
 ers), came from Canaanitic Phoenicia. On the worship of sacred stones, 
 see especially \V. R. Smith, RS. 2 p. 207 ff. The literature of this aspect of 
 "Bethel" is given in DR. I, 278 note.
 
 68 J A COMPOSITE WORK Book IX 
 
 xii. 6 ff.). Above all, he is concerned to set forth God's 
 providential guidance and control of his people. 
 
 § 929. J is a composite work. This is not the place 
 for the proof of this position by a detailed analysis, 1 but 
 considerations of a broader kind maybe urged: (1) There 
 is evidence of divergent views in J on matters of fact. 
 Among the instances are the following. In Gen. ix. 18 f. 
 Shem, Ham, and Japhet are the ancestors of all succeed- 
 ing mankind, while in vs. 25-27 Canaan, as son (or repre- 
 sentative) of Ham, is coordinated with Shem and Japhet, 
 as the head of a distinct people. In Gen. iv. 20-22 con- 
 temporaries of the writer seem to be descended from Cain- 
 ites, and therefore not from the sole survivors of the Flood. 
 This with the survival of Nephilirn (Num. xiii. 33, J E; 
 cf. Gen. vi. 4) seems to show that an authority was used 
 by J who did not take account of the destruction by the 
 Deluge. (2) Such a startling break in continuous dis- 
 course as is shown in Gen. xxxviii. indicates a direct sec- 
 ondary contributor to J's narrative of the patriarchs. This 
 is not a case of the insertion of older compositions, such as 
 those frequently found in E or such as the Blessing of 
 Jacob in J himself. The material has been adapted by the 
 hand of the responsible writer of the book. (3) This in- 
 stance suggests a more general observation. The moral and 
 sentimental interval between Gen. xxxviii. and the his- 
 tory of Joseph in the context is but one of many apparent 
 literary inconsistencies in the work. What is the expla- 
 nation ? Not merely that J was a realistic writer of wide 
 human sympathies (§ 927), but besides that the materials 
 
 1 See the resiuiv' in Cornill, Eiril.* pp. 42-46, tracing the brief 
 history of the question, and cf. Kautzsch, Abriss, p. 153 f. The 
 inquiry so far has been systematically pursued only in connection with 
 Genesis. Budde's Biblische Urgeschichte (1883) has given the strongest 
 impulse to the discussion. See Konig, Einh-itung (1893), pp. 197-200, 
 for a conservative view. Agreement as to the sections and their limits 
 has not been reached. Driver, in his Intr. (p. 123), scarcely touches the 
 subject. The question is one of importance from its bearing on the his- 
 tory of prophetic ideas.
 
 Ch. Ill, §930 COMPOSITION AND ORIGIN OF E 69 
 
 of his book came from different sources in different regions 
 
 of Palestine, and also from different ages. It may be said 
 that no writer would introduce into his work what was 
 not in harmony with his own ideals, and that such scru- 
 ples, if justified, should also throw doubt on the final 
 unity and completeness of the work. Not necessarily so; 
 for the Old Testament compilers habitually made use of 
 various traditions which attained a certain canonical 
 standing through venerable age and ancestral associations, 
 and what the later Jehovistic circle might not have 
 appropriated from current literature it adopted and util- 
 ized from the old. 1 The composite character of E, 
 though extremely probable, is more difficult of proof; 2 
 nor is the question of such biblical importance as that of 
 the composition of J. It is understood that E has trans- 
 ferred bodily much older literature, chiefly poetical and 
 legislative (§894, 925 f.) ; but the narrative portion does 
 not lend itself to obvious partition. 
 
 § 930. It is the unanimous opinion of critics that E was 
 composed in the northern kingdom. The prominence of 
 Joseph, Ephraim, and Reuben (as contrasted with Judah 
 in J) and such sacred places as Bethel, Shechem, and 
 Beersheba (cf. Am. v. 5 ; viii. 14 ; 1 K. xix. 3), with 
 many other indications, point surely to this conclusion. 
 Nor can the approximate time of composition be a ques- 
 tion of much uncertainty. (1) E's religious position is 
 far beyond that of the time of the early kings, while there 
 is no evidence that the author had come under the influ- 
 ence of either Amos or Ilosea. Thus the time would not 
 be later than 770-760 B.C. (2) The early turbulent 
 
 1 This is little to be wondered at when Samson is cited as one of the 
 ancient worthies even in the later New Testament times (Ileb. xi. 32). 
 Have we not also our " Saint " David ? 
 
 - Cornill, Einl* pp. 39-41, following in the main the lead of Kuenen, 
 approves of a division into E 1 and K-. So far there has been no genera] 
 acceptance of Kuenen's results, though his discussion has opened a prom- 
 ising field of inquiry.
 
 70 DATE OF E — ORIGIN OF J Book IX 
 
 times of the kingdom are past; their history lies before 
 the writer; the traditions have been gathered up and are 
 grouped around definite persons and places; legislative 
 digests have been made. The date therefore is probably 
 after the Syrian wars. (3) There is in the book a con- 
 sciousness of national strength and achievement with no 
 note of trouble to mar the harmony of the retrospect. 
 The decline of the kingdom had therefore not begun. 
 All this points to the first part of the reign of Jero- 
 boam II. (1) While linguistic marks in general are not 
 obvious, there is one of high significance. In Genesis E 
 uses "Yaliwe" for the Deity not at all, and even after the 
 declaration of Ex. iii. 14 f. very sparingly. Whatever may 
 have been the motive of the preferential use of "Elohiin," 1 
 there is no doubt that an age of theological reflection had 
 been reached; and that while the book may have been 
 composed by a single writer, he was a member of a sort 
 of Elohistic school. Taken all in all, the evidence points 
 to very nearly 770 B.C. 
 
 § 931. Similar questions relating to J are not so easily 
 disposed of. While the majority of inquirers hold that 
 the work proceeded from the southern kingdom, a few 
 critics of weight, such as Reuss, Kuenen, Schrader, pro- 
 nounce in favour of the northern, on the ground that no 
 Judaite would have given prominence to the northern 
 shrines of Shechem, Bethel, and Peniel (Gen. xii. 6; xxviii. 
 13 ff . ; xxxii. 30 f.). This phenomenon has given rise to 
 the hypothesis 2 that the foundation of the work (''J 1 "; 
 cf. § 921)) was laid in the northern kingdom, while the 
 later form of the book is a Judaite recension. But such 
 a supposition appears unnecessary when we consider that 
 the prophets of Judah were patriotic Israelites and held 
 
 1 It is conceivable that in the struggle waged by the prophetic party in 
 northern Israel against false worship, the use of Elohim as a singular 
 (with a plural verb in Gen. xx. 13, xxxi. 5:3) was encouraged as an 
 effective protest against the plurality of deities. 
 
 2 See Kautzsch, Abriss, p. 154.
 
 Ch. Ill, § 032 DATE OF J 71 
 
 fast to all the treasures of common ancient tradition. On 
 the other hand, the association of Abraham and Jacob 
 with Hebron, and the prominence given to Judah, the 
 head of the tribe, as well as the subordinate place 
 assigned to Joshua, are explicable only on the theory of a 
 Judaite origin. 
 
 § 932. To fix the date of J, that is, the date of the fin- 
 ished work, is not easy. There are no allusions to his- 
 torical events that justify a certain inference. 1 General 
 considerations may, however, be presented : First, the 
 manifold geographical and ethnological knowledge shown 
 by J points to a stage of culture not earlier than the days 
 of Uzziah. Notice particularly the accurate transcription 
 and grouping of Babylonian and Assyrian (Gen. x. 11 f.) 
 and of south and east Arabian names (vs. 26 ft.). Sec- 
 ondly, there are strong indications of Assyrian (Babylo- 
 nian) influence in J's primitive history. While it is in 
 every way probable that the earliest traditions of Genesis 
 came to J by direct tradition (§ 880), the details of the 
 setting of the creation story (Gen. ii.) and of the disper- 
 sion (Gen. xi.) were evidently due to contemporary 
 information. In other words, the acquaintance with 
 Babylonia shown by J was acquired through direct 
 knowledge of the country itself or of its literature. 
 Such advantages were possessed by Judaites only after 
 the reign of Ahaz, to whose initiative it was due that 
 Assyrian and Babylonian worship and manners became 
 fashionable in Jerusalem (§040, 856). Thirdly, the 
 advanced stage of theological reflection shown in the 
 profound conception of human nature and its moral ten- 
 dencies and possibilities (Gen. ii.-iv.), and of the inner 
 
 1 It lias been supposed that a terminus a quo is given in Gen. ix. 25 f. 
 in an allusion to the servitude of the Canaanites, which is thought to have 
 been realized in the days of Solomon (1 K. ix. 21). But the reference 
 is too general to be of value. At any rate, it cannot be seriously held 
 that any essential part of the work was written as early as the time of 
 Solomon.
 
 72 HISTORY AND MORAL POSITION OF J AND E Book IX 
 
 conditions of righteousness (Gen. xv. 6), place J not only 
 in advance of E but also on a level with the literary 
 prophets. It was therefore quite probably toward the 
 close of the eighth century B.C. that J was composed. 
 § 933. We cannot conjecture the motive that prompted 
 the composition of the earlier stratum, or strata, of J. 
 But the book, as it has come to us, may perhaps be 
 accounted for as follows. It was not written from the 
 Judaite point of view alone, as opposed to that of the 
 northern kingdom, but rather from the standpoint of Judah 
 as representing the whole of the true Israel. This is 
 shown by its impartial reference to places and persons of 
 common ancient tradition (§ 931). Hence it can scarcely 
 have been written while the northern kingdom, with its 
 religious and (from 734 B.C.) political rivalry, was still 
 in existence. But after the downfall of Samaria 
 (722-1), E being in the hands of the prophetic [tarty in 
 the southern kingdom as a literary and spiritual legacy, 
 what more natural than to set forth, in a work of similar 
 scope and plan, that all things from the beginning of the 
 world were under Jehovah's control ; that his was a world- 
 religion ; and that the type of worship and belief cherished 
 in Judah and Jerusalem was that of the patriarchs ? Why 
 the theme was not pursued further, why neither J nor E 
 systematically continued his narrative beyond the settle- 
 ment in Canaan, may be understood in the light of the 
 fact that histories of the judges and the early kings were 
 already in circulation (cf. § 917 ff.). 
 
 § 934. Another observation may be allowed. It may 
 seem unfitting that J should be placed on an ethical and 
 spiritual level with the early literary prophets, in spite of 
 the inequalities and the chiaroscuro colouring of his work. 
 But we may remember that we have here to do with 
 Hebrew "historical" writing, which, while it is true to 
 the past as far as manners and customs are concerned, also 
 idealizes the past and invests its characters with the 
 glamour of that quality which we may call the traditional
 
 Ch. Ill, § 935 OTHER WRITINGS OF THE PERIOD 73 
 
 heroic (cf. § 929). We must, in all fairness, judge of 
 such an author by his best; and this best is no whit below 
 the moral and spiritual heights attained by the prophets 
 of the eighth century B.C. Yet we must beware of classi- 
 fying J, or the compilers of the "prophetic histories" 
 generally, with the literary prophets, or the reforming, 
 preaching prophets, who preceded them. They were 
 pupils, while the prophets were the masters. They were 
 not public men, but quiet observers and students. They 
 were not originators but conservators of truth. Hence 
 only the best that they preserved to us can be compared 
 with the genuine prophetic revelation. Their strength 
 lay partly in this discipleship, and partly in a literary 
 brotherhood or guildhood, to which the spirit and habit 
 of the inspired prophets were altogether alien. 
 
 § 935. But these great works do not make up the total 
 literary history from 900 B.C. (cf. § 919) to the flourishing 
 period of literary prophec}^. J and E were themselves 
 united into one work (J E) soon after the completion of 
 J. The "Blessing of Moses" (Deut. xxxiii.), preserved 
 in E (§ 920), was perhaps written in the period of the 
 revival of Israel under Joash and Jeroboam II (§ 262). 
 As contrasted with the "Blessing of Jacob" (§ 905), of 
 which it is an imitation, we observe that now the tribe 
 of Simeon does not appear, that Reuben is near its end, 
 and that Levi has gone over wholly to sacerdotalism. 
 The centre of the poem is the exaltation of Joseph and 
 Ephraim (v. 13-17), and this is significant for the date 
 of its composition. From northern Israel came, also, the 
 stories of Elijah and Elisha (1 K. xvii.-xix., xxi. and 
 2 K. ii.-ix.), with the historical notices included. The 
 career of Elijah probably formed at first a special work, 
 as did also that of Elisha, while the historical records 
 were of course added by the compiler from special sources. 
 Finally, that account of the history of Samuel and Saul 
 which emphasizes the evils and perils of the institution 
 of the kingdom (cf. § 919), along with the associated
 
 7i AMOS AND HIS SCHOOL Book IX 
 
 narratives (1 S. i.-iii. , viii. ; x. 17-24: xv. ; xvii.-xix. ; 
 xxi. ; xxii. ; xxvi.), 1 is, perhaps, to be assigned to an 
 Ephraimitic writer living in the declining period of 
 northern Israel. 
 
 § 936. Of the writings of the prophets up to the time 
 of Josiah a summary has already been given in connection 
 with the domestic and international events that affected 
 their ministry. Thus, we have passed in review Amos 
 and Hosea in northern, and Isaiah and Micah in southern 
 Israel. Two things are yet lacking for the proper histori- 
 cal treatment of their prophecies. We should show 
 how the most essential elements in their teaching were 
 related to the antecedent thought and life of Israel; and 
 we should, also, try to account for their writings as liter- 
 ary productions. The former question is one that may be 
 more suitably discussed in connection with the develop- 
 ment of religion and morals (§ 946 ff.). On the latter 
 topic a few words should be said here. 
 
 § 937. Amos of Tekoa made an epoch (§ 867), one of 
 the greatest in the history of our world. But he did not 
 create the epoch. There were prophets of his own class 
 before him. Those to whom he refers as his colleagues 
 (iii. 7; cf. ii. 11 f.) were not professionals who followed 
 the business merely to earn their bread (cf. vii. 12). 
 Whether, like him, they were born outside of the prophetic 
 guilds or not, they as well as he had something to 
 "prophesy," that is, to speak out spontaneously, as the 
 word literally means. They were of the school of Elijah, 
 who, passing beyond the function of seer 2 and of court 
 counsellor (Nathan, Gad), became a preacher. It was 
 
 1 I give this list of passages tentatively from Kautzsch, Abriss, p. 157 f. 
 Cf. Budde, Dif Bilcher Richter und Samuel (1890), and The Text of Samuel, 
 in SBOT. ; Driver, Intr. ; and Cornill, Einleitung, on the chapters in 
 question. The subject is difficult, but a comparatively late date must 
 be assumed for at least most of the material indicated here. 
 
 2 See 1 Sam. ix. !>. where the consciousness of the distinction between 
 the seer and the later prophet is significant for the date of that section of 
 the book (cf. § 919).
 
 Ch. Ill, § 009 THE ORATORICAL PERIOD 75 
 
 these unordained and itinerant preachers that turned the 
 ancient world upside down. Their theme was righteous- 
 ness and justice, urgently demanded for the pleasing of 
 Jehovah and for the saving of the state. Their commis- 
 sion was simply to have heard the word of Jehovah (Am. 
 iii. 8). 
 
 § 938. As they heard, so they spoke (Num. xxii. 8, 
 18, 38; xxiii. 3, 12, 20; Am. vii. 15 ff. ; Isa. vi. Off.; 
 Jer. i. 7 ; et al.~). Yet Amos and Isaiah and Jeremiah 
 had each a well-defined language and style of their own, 
 and these were the result of education and training. But 
 what is more important for our present purpose, there was 
 a characteristic prophetic manner from the beginning. 
 Both in matter and form the discourses of Amos reveal 
 to us a mature and finished work. There is structural 
 completeness in the parallelism of the more strictly poetic 
 portions, and the author has everywhere a command of 
 those rhetorical figures that give grace and form to a 
 masterly oration. But there is, besides, a distinct manner 
 of address and argument which is characteristic of all 
 written prophec}'. It is the style of classical Hebrew 
 oratory, and we may call this stage of Hebrew literary 
 development the oratorical period. 
 
 § 939. We have, however, no verbatim reports of the 
 extant prophetic speeches. They have come to us in a 
 form more or less condensed, and in some cases the 
 addresses were never delivered at all. We have to feel 
 our way through them for impressions of the living voice, 
 of the place and the time and the hearers. Much more 
 difficult is it to catch the voices of which the words of the 
 earliest prophecies are the echo. By what intellectual 
 discipline, by what favouring occasions, through what 
 stimulating influences, — apart from moral and religious 
 motives, — was the prophetic type of literature developed ? 
 Of one thing we may be certain. The book of Amos was 
 not the first written composition of its kind. Practice in 
 speaking alone cannot account for the concentrated force
 
 70 EFFECT OF PUBLIC SPEAKING Book IX 
 
 of expression, 1 the lucidity of order and reasoning distinc- 
 tive of a work which, in nine short chapters, gives the 
 substance of a score of sermons, which is itself a hand- 
 book of social ethics, which gives a survey of the nations, 
 and minutely describes the moral and religious condition 
 of a kingdom. Much practice in writing upon kindred 
 themes must be assumed as an antecedent. This habit of 
 writing, however, was secondary, and was not always, 
 perhaps not often, the business of the prophets themselves. 
 Moreover, the written memorials were sometimes com- 
 posed much later than the spoken discourses. 
 
 § 940. We shall not, then, go far astray if we regard 
 the practice of public speaking as the chief external 
 stimulus to prophetic composition. Properly considered, 
 Old Testament prophecy, as distinguished from the pri- 
 vate or official revelation of the seer, is essentially ora- 
 tory, 2 the addressing of an assemblage or a community. 
 The occasions were doubtless furnished mainly b} r the 
 popular gatherings at feasts and for worship at the favour- 
 ite shrines. Amos himself spoke at Bethel (Am. vii. 10, 
 13), and the language of the indignant chief priest of the 
 sanctuary implies that the prophet was out of order only 
 because he had inveighed against the royal proprietor of 
 the sanctuary. The roll of Jeremiah was read (Jer. 
 xxx vi. 9 f.) on a great fast day before the temple in 
 Jerusalem. But before the Deuteronomic revolution 
 (§ 860-802), both in northern Israel (Am. v. 21; Hos. 
 ii. 13; EV. 11) and in the kingdom of Judah ( Isa. i. 
 13 f.), festal gatherings were frequent at the principal 
 shrines. The keen interest which the prophets took in 
 them shows that they made them a chief occasion of their 
 
 1 Condensation was favoured by the scarcity and costliness of writing 
 materials, just as conversely the average book of the present day mainly 
 consists of cheap stationery. Fancy Amos turning over the pages of his 
 commentators ! 
 
 2 It is probable that tpj, a synonym for "prophesy," meaning to 
 "drip, 1 ' and causative, to "drop - ' (e.g. Am. vii. 1G), is in some way 
 connected with the oral delivery of prophetic messages.
 
 On. Ill, § 942 VITAL MOTIVE OF PROPHECY 77 
 
 utterances. Thus the part played by popular assemblies 
 in stimulating the earliest literature of Israel (§ 871, 898) 
 was now reenacted on a higher plane in the making of 
 "some better thing," apart from which the older revela- 
 tion could "not be made perfect." 
 
 § 941. In this communication with the people through 
 the living voice of the prophets there was a vitalizing 
 principle ; the same, indeed, as that which, as a saving 
 element, informed the whole of the Old Testament lit- 
 erature. What gave a more than Promethean tire and 
 potency to prophecy was this, that it seized upon and was 
 possessed by living issues of eternal moment. The 
 prophets were the messengers and organs of the ever 
 living God, and hence they found their work and its joy 
 in the present, — in its duties, its hopes, its possibilities. 
 The previous literature had now done its part. The 
 stories of the fathers, the struggles and triumphs, the 
 failures and sins, of the generations that were gone, had 
 linked Israel with a God of revelation and providence, of 
 holiness and faithfulness. But a new order of things had 
 begun. Egyptians and Canaanites and Philistines were 
 no longer dreaded. They were like the Rephaim, huge 
 but impalpable shades. Even the Syrians no longer 
 inspired Israel with terror. But a greater foe was to 
 come, as yet hardly seen except from afar. And who 
 would abide the day of his coming? It was not clear that 
 Jehovah himself would then save and defend his people. 
 Nay, Ik; would turn to be their enemy and would fight 
 against them. For they had forsaken Jehovah, and 
 despised the Holy One of Israel (Isa. i. 4). The very 
 "day of Jehovah," for which they looked, would be 
 "darkness and not light" (Am. v. 18, 20). Only a new 
 and living word could o-uide and comfort in the gathering 
 gloom. And this was the word of the prophets, a word 
 of light and life. 
 
 § 942. A clear century of literary history, from J E to 
 Deuteronomy, was occupied by prophecy and the prophetic
 
 78 PROGRESS TOWARD DEUTERONOMY Book IX 
 
 lyrics alone (§ 605 f.). The fact is eloquent of the 
 originality, force, and timeliness of the prophetic word. 
 The literature up to the middle of the eighth century B.C. 
 had dealt with the old order of things that ended with the 
 establishment of a lasting peace and a vigorous govern- 
 ment under Jeroboam II and Uzziah. The motives and 
 the progress of the long antecedent history, with the lives 
 of the founders of Israel and the checkered career of Israel 
 itself, had been set forth at large. The fundamental insti- 
 tutions, legal and moral, that were the guardians of its 
 past and seemed to guarantee its future, were written up. 
 But this could not of itself avail to guide and steady the 
 people of Jehovah in the confusion and disorder, inter- 
 national and domestic, of the new Assyrian times. Men 
 who are in an underground labyrinth may see around 
 them by the light of a candle, but only the inbreaking 
 light of the sun can guide them to the upper day. Such, 
 in its way, was the "sure word of prophecy" to all who 
 would heed and follow. 
 
 § 943. And what of the next great event, the publica- 
 tion of Deuterononry ? It was in the true line of evolu- 
 tion of the ancient literature, as it had been deflected by 
 the prophetic movement. Deuteronomy was essentially a 
 completion of the old histories in the spirit and under the 
 impulse of prophecy. J and E showed, in the motive of 
 their composition, that they were looking toward the goal 
 aimed at by the prophets who took their place in the order 
 of revelation. But what to them was an aspiration and 
 an ideal became to the prophets the very breath and bread 
 of life. Where they ended their work, the prophets began 
 theirs. The historians gave the facts of history and of 
 providence. The prophets brought these into vital rela- 
 tion with present issues. They showed that the past, 
 present, and future of Israel were determined by the God 
 of the whole earth, who adjudged the fate of his people 
 according to the laws of his own moral nature. Then 
 came the Deuteronomist, who revived and reinforced the
 
 Ch. Ill, §944 HISTORY, PROPHECY, DEUTERONOMY 79 
 
 old rules of life and conduct by the application to them 
 of these prophetic principles, thus bringing both the rules 
 and the principles into active operation. J E was a book 
 of institutions and ordinances and of the leadings of 
 Providence (§ 924 ff.). How closely Deuteronomy is 
 connected with it appears from a comparison, which 
 shows that " the laws in J E form the foundation of the 
 Deuteronomic legislation." 1 
 
 § 94-1. Thus, Deuteronomy took a practical step be- 
 yond J E and the earlier prophets, though still in the 
 same line of development; for it showed that the spirit 
 of obedience to Jehovah and the moral purpose of the 
 former revelation alike required that there should be, on 
 the part of the people, a more complete surrender of the 
 heart and life to his service. To secure a fuller conse- 
 cration and a purer worship new enactments were made, 
 broader and stronger, dividing sharply between the holy 
 and the unholy, the sacred and the secular, the lawful 
 and the proscribed. Hence Deuteronomy was not merely 
 a repetition of the ancient law: it completed it; it justi- 
 fied it; it spiritualized it. The old historians and seers 
 built an ark of safety for Israel. The prophets guided it 
 through the swelling waters and drifting wrecks of the 
 national deluge. The Deuteronomist took possession of 
 the devastated land, settled it anew, and rededicated it to 
 Jehovah. And with the reenactment of the Covenant 
 (Gen. ix. 13 ; Deut. v. 3) a bow of promise was seen for 
 a moment in Israel's troubled sky, the storm-cloud of 
 judgment blending with the sunshine of mercy, and 
 showing how earth might be reconciled to heaven. 
 
 1 I quote from Driver, to whose useful comparative table of the laws 
 of the Pentateuch (Intr. G p. 73 ff.), I would refer the reader for further 
 details. A general division of Deuteronomy having been given in § 847 
 and note, no further analysis need be attempted here, especially as the 
 book is of simple structure, and the recent literature is in every respect 
 adequate. Among special works, the commentaries of Driver (1895) and 
 Audrew Harper (lb95) are to be particularly recommended.
 
 80 NEED OF FURTHER INQUIRY Book IX 
 
 § 945. Here we must close our historical survey of 
 the literature that culminated in Deuteronomy. What 
 specially distinguishes that profound and far-reaching- 
 work is the spirit and the sanctions of its teaching and 
 its commands. To appreciate this more subtle quality of 
 the book we need to follow closely the development of 
 moral and religious principles and ideas, as shown in the 
 life and thought of the leading men in Israel's history.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 RELIGION AND MORALS 
 
 § 946. Our review of the inner history of Israel 
 (Book VII) has taught us that it was religion that 
 made the deepest lines of cleavage between parties in 
 society and in the state. As far as public policy was 
 concerned, the " Opposition " was normally composed of 
 religious puritans. Civil broils had as their chief excit- 
 ing cause religious discontent, and the determining if not 
 always the primary political issue in both kingdoms was 
 the question whether Jehovah was to be honoured by a 
 pure and exclusive worship, or whether his rites should 
 be adulterated with those of inferior and discredited 
 deities. Still more profound was the social schism that 
 resulted indirectly from the predominance of the party of 
 religious compromise. It was the partisans of Jehovah 
 who took the side of the suffering and the oppressed, 
 and with their wrongs and their vindication the cause of 
 Jehovah was identified (§ 597, 602). Naturally, it is the 
 political antagonism that is noted in the historical records, 
 and the social strife that finds expression in the reflective 
 literature (§ 598 ff.). It was these political and social 
 crises that led to the composition of the classical writ- 
 ings on the subject ; and the movements or events con- 
 nected with such crises furnish us with our data for an 
 estimate of religious forces and religious progress. 
 
 § 947. We thus see that the great moral issues in 
 Israel were practically religions issues as well. We can- 
 not, however, determine directly the course of moral 
 G 81
 
 82 PRIMITIVE MORALITY Book IX 
 
 progress in Israel from the history of its worship and 
 beliefs. We must rather test the genuineness, depth, and 
 power of religion by the moral conduct of its professors. 
 Our earlier studies upon the "society morals and reli- 
 gion " of Israel up to the fall of Samaria and the acces- 
 sion of Hezekiah (§ 539 ff.) dealt mainly with the 
 question of social morality, since the inner development 
 of the people could best be traced in the progress of 
 the community as a whole. Now that we are confronted 
 with the problem of the results of prophetic teaching 
 as tested by the great reformation, we must examine the 
 prevailing types of individual morality in the preceding 
 times. Our inquiry will show that before the prophetic 
 era the morality of the best men in Israel was as a rule 
 both rudimentary and partial. A personal conscience 
 seemed scarcely yet awakened. The higher modes of 
 life and conduct seemed unknown. Such virtues as were 
 practised were of that coarse and robust kind which 
 belongs and is indeed necessary to primitive society. 
 
 ^ 948. 1 We have to begin with the so-called patriarchal 
 epoch. Before Abraham there is no Bible history in any 
 true sense of the term ; and where there is no history 
 there is no morality that can be tested and described. 
 Morality is always much of a social matter, especially 
 among primitive peoples. What the community is in the 
 habit of doing is in general the norm and guide of indi- 
 vidual conduct. The practical limits are set on the one 
 side by what the community tolerates, and on the other 
 by what it desires. Further, we know the facts of ancient 
 tribal life only from the record of the deeds of the leaders, 
 in which the figures of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the 
 Twelve stand out in solitary relief. 
 
 § 040. In reading the story of the ancient patriarchs, 
 we must be at once struck with the apparent freedom 
 
 1 The substance of § 948-993 is taken, by permission, from my article, 
 •'The Moral Evolution of the Old Testament," in the American Journal 
 of Theology, I, G58 ff.
 
 Ch. IV, § 050 CHANGE OF MORAL STANDARDS 83 
 
 and breadth of movement and action which it reveals, 
 the absence of moral restraints, the self-impnlsiveness, 
 so to speak, of moral choice. This phenomenon has, to 
 a large extent, its explanation in the conditions of the 
 nomadic life. We have to make, in any case, a distinc- 
 tion between classes of moral acts. There are some deeds 
 which are wrong in the very nature of things, while 
 there are others which are wrong because they are injuri- 
 ous to our fellows or to society. The latter class may 
 at one time be permissible and at another reprehensible. 
 A monumental instance is the discrimination made by 
 Jesus between the ideal marriage bond and the loosening 
 of the relation tolerated in an earlier stage of the history 
 of Israel. Polygamy also is now regarded as immoral in 
 civilized states. But it was sanctioned by high example 
 in ancient Israel. The same is true of slaveholding. 
 Indeed, slaveholding was not, and could not be at any 
 time, interdicted in ancient society. Yet the abuse of 
 the relations thus tolerated or approved was always 
 reckoned an offence. Harsh treatment, either of a wife 
 or a slave, was always wrong. Thus social institutions, 
 themselves subject to change and readjustment, may 
 within their proper spheres raise or lower the conditions 
 and standards of moral obligation. 
 
 § 950. The fundamental consideration in such variable 
 cases is the interest of society. Not that this was a mat- 
 ter of agreement or of contrivance in any way. It was 
 simply the unconscious adjustment of the community to 
 its necessities. Society has progressed mainly by the 
 suppression or gradual abandonment of habits and cus- 
 toms which have been found to be injurious. It is an 
 important and difficult question, how far we are to distin- 
 guish between the evils which are in themselves wrong 
 and those whose culpability varies with the requirements 
 of society and its consequent varying moral standards. 
 If we go far enough back in social history, we shall come 
 to a stage where almost any sort of action is justifiable
 
 84 DEFECTS OF TRIBAL MORALITY Book IX 
 
 under given circumstances. The decisive sanction was 
 the will of the community ; in other words, the usages 
 and customs which formed the basis and bond of union. 
 In ordinary eases individual choice was overborne by the 
 interests of tin' clan or the family. A striking instance 
 is afforded by the difference of treatment accorded to 
 kinsfolk and clansmen, on the one hand, and to aliens, on 
 the other. Kindnesses, or even the ordinary offices of 
 humanity, would by usage, that is upon principle, be 
 withheld from the latter. What would lie counted a 
 crime done to a tribesman was sometimes a meritorious 
 and even an obligatory act when done to an outsider. 
 For the avenger of blood there was no punishment, but 
 rather approbation, since the duty to take up the cause of 
 a kinsman, even if he were in the wrong, was paramount 
 (§ 398). Thus no claim of compassion could avail even in 
 behalf of one who had unwittingly provoked such corpo- 
 rate resentment. It is difficult to see how social morality, 
 which rests essentially on the equal claims of all men for 
 justice if not for mercy, could flourish in these primitive 
 communities. The matter was aggravated by the fact 
 that the sole judge of the avenger was the family or 
 tribal head. It would be strange, indeed, if the common 
 virtues were maintained in the stress and strain of daily 
 life when the vendetta was kept up by the community 
 from a sense of right. When individual action was sub- 
 ordinated to the claims of the community there was lit- 
 tle room for that spontaneous choice between opposing 
 courses which is at once the test of moral quality and the 
 basis of moral discipline. Qualities of mind and heart 
 essential to the moral life of the individual were, in the 
 very nature of the case, not yet evoked, since in that 
 stage of society the solidarity of the social unit was a 
 much more obvious thing than the individuality of its 
 several members. Indeed, the notion that the members 
 of the family or kin formed by themselves an undivided 
 life lies at the very foundation of tribalism.
 
 Ch. IV, § 952 RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES 85 
 
 § 951. Another great moral determinant was the claim 
 of the deities upon the obedience of their followers. We 
 may say in general that in the primitive tribal condition 
 the obligations of a man to his deity are analogous in 
 some respects to those which bind him to the usages or 
 behests of his community. In a very profound sense the 
 same ties united the members to one another and to their 
 common divinity. Even if we do not accept the view 
 that most tribal religion was based upon ancestor-worship, 
 we must concede that the tribesmen regarded themselves 
 as being akin to their gods, as in fact sharing with them 
 a common life (§ 307). This was certainly one of the 
 sources of the power wielded over them by the objects 
 of their reverence and homage. There were two prin- 
 cipal ways in which such power was exercised. One was 
 connected with sacred places, the proper seats of the gods, 
 where the rites of their worship were performed, and 
 whose sacredness conferred a special sanctity or immunity 
 upon special things or actions. Another was associated 
 with the declared will of the gods, which was made known 
 through various channels, but mainly by the domestic or 
 communal priests, who ministered within the family or 
 family group, or in the common sanctuary of the tribe. 
 
 sj 952. We revert now to the moral standards and 
 ideals of the so-called patriarchal society among the 
 Hebrews. The subject has already been glanced at in 
 connection with the moral inferiority of some portions of 
 J E. This was explained on the ground that the biogra- 
 phers bad faithfully recorded {he traditions of the fathers 
 which did not stand on the ethical level of the prophetic 
 times (8 929, el'. 934). We have thus obtained an inci- 
 dental guarantee of the accuracy of the pictures of ancient 
 life found in the book of Genesis. Such accuracy is. 
 moreover, generally conceded, since the narrative answers 
 to any fair test thai may he applied by archaeological and 
 sociological criticism. The question before us is the rela- 
 tion in point of morality between the Israel of tradition
 
 86 PATRIARCHAL RECTITUDE Book IX 
 
 and the Israel of later history ; and there can be no 
 doubt that with the stories of patriarchal life we stand 
 at the fountain head of an unbroken stream of national 
 tradition. 
 
 § 9")o. Moral actions may for convenience be divided 
 into those which spring from ordinary human relations 
 and those which have a special religious motive or war- 
 rant. Of the former class the most prominent offences 
 are deceit and fraud. Oriental deception has been ncto- 
 rious chiefly because the civilization of "Western Asia has 
 been specially unfavourable to the promotion of veracity 
 and justice. These virtues are seldom highly developed 
 in communities of low political organization. That men 
 are naturally liars is a fact of anthropological science as 
 well as of biblical and historical observation. It is only 
 by slow gradations of self-discipline that truthfulness has 
 been established anywhere as an attribute of individuals 
 or communities. 
 
 § 954. It would therefore naturally be expected that 
 the virtues of sincerity and rectitude would be rudimen- 
 tary or wanting in nomadic or semi-nomadic peoples. 
 The foundation of such qualities is the sense of responsi- 
 bilit} r for one's acts to God or to man, or to both. But 
 when religion consists mainly of ceremony or ritual, there 
 is little chance for the evoking of the former. And when 
 property is. attached so precariously to the individual, no 
 large issues or powerful motives are present that might 
 arouse and foster the latter. "When the individual subor- 
 dinates his personality to the interests of his tribe, the 
 demands of conscience are weakened, or rather, the sense 
 of moral obligation cannot be developed. At the same 
 time other virtues may be conspicuous which are in a line 
 with the surrender of oneself to the cause of the commu- 
 nity. Thus it happens that the early age of great races is 
 an age of heroism, and that we find among them well- 
 grounded traditions of noble deeds of courage and devo- 
 tion that serve as an inspiration to all later generations.
 
 Ch. IV, § 955 THE CAREER OF JACOB 87 
 
 In some such way must we represent to ourselves the 
 earliest or patriarchal age of ancient Israel. 
 
 § 955. Of the propensity to deceive and cheat, the 
 recorded habits of the three great patriarchs may be taken 
 as fairly representative. Very ancient must be the social 
 laxity exhibited in Abraham's betrayal of his wife (Gen. 
 xii. 10 ff. in J ; Gen. xx. 1 ft", in E) and Isaac's duplication 
 of the crime (Gen. xxvi. in J). A more normal type of 
 deception is exhibited in the career of Jacob, which illus- 
 trates, on the one hand, the advantage of family leadership 
 and the ancestral blessing, and, on the other, sets forth 
 the means that might be resorted to in order to secure 
 these priceless gains. I do not dwell at length on the 
 lessons of the story, which was made entirely true to life 
 and which, at the same time, seems in every instance to 
 show that dishonesty is the best policy. A larger idea 
 may have inspired this cherished national tradition, which 
 we may express as follows after the manner of the modern 
 Jacob: The outcome of the self-aggrandizement of Jacob, 
 from the time when, under the guidance of his crafty 
 mother, he cajoled Esau out of the blessing till his per- 
 manent settlement in Canaan, was a better thing for Israel 
 and humanit} r than would have been his discomfiture by 
 his rivals ; just as, at the present time, the success of the 
 policy of Cecil Rhodes and the vindication of his "per- 
 sonal honour" are better for England and mankind than 
 the continued possession by a kindred but unprogressive 
 community of an auriferous territory and of its birthright 
 of freedom. Even from the industrial and cultural points 
 of view, not to speak of the spiritual interests ultimately 
 involved, it was better that the higher and more progres- 
 sive type of man should have the promise and the posses- 
 sion of Canaan, than that the lower and undeveloped type, 
 the huntsman of the wilderness, should be the heir of the 
 "father of the faithful." This conception of history is, 
 we may say, hardly on a level with the true prophetic 
 (e-g. Jer. xvi. 13) or Christian spirit. But by the time
 
 88 RELATK >NS OF THE SEXES Book IX 
 
 when the tradition was embodied in the record (§ 923 ff.), 
 it had become the valid interpretation of the original 
 story. The narrative of the fact has already been dealt 
 with (§ 929). 
 
 vj 956. We may now briefly examine the moral conduct 
 and standards of the ancestors of Israel in the equally 
 fundamental matter of the relations of the sexes. At the 
 outset we may say that in such a society as theirs there is 
 no question of extreme grossness or utter self-abandon- 
 ment to revolting vice. Their life was on the whole 
 simple and moderate. It was, speaking generally, life 
 in cities which promoted institutional vice, if the term 
 may be permitted. And to this stage the early Hebrews 
 had not yet become accustomed. Vices associated with 
 the worship of those deities which were regarded as the 
 type of the procreative or sexual instinct naturally flour- 
 ished where great temples were erected and maintained to 
 their honour. Thus it came to pass that that passion of 
 human nature, whose unbridled indulgence has tended 
 more than anything else to demoralize society and to bring- 
 about the destruction of families and nations, received, so 
 to speak, an apotheosis in the transition from nomadic to 
 city life (see § 1184 ff., 1332 f.). 
 
 § 957. We have, accordingly, to deny to the most 
 ancient of the Hebrews any form of rank sensuality. On 
 the other hand, polygamy, intermarriage of near rela- 
 tives, and the still more debasing practice of concubinage 
 were freely tolerated. Yet we must take into account the 
 effect on the whole social fabric of the institution of 
 slavery, the most important factor in ancient life and 
 manners (§ 539 ff.). A notable secondary result of the 
 system was the custom which accounts for the pathetic 
 story of Gen. xvi. In general, the inferiorit} 7 of the wife 
 as part of the property of the house-master (§ 412) had 
 tin- consequence that the freedom which was granted to 
 him was denied to her, that the dismissal of a wife was 
 customary and easy, while that of a husband w r as unknown.
 
 Ch. IV, § 958 LICENTIOUS PRACTICES 89 
 
 The conception of "adultery" in such a society was, 
 accordingly, quite different from ours: the infidelity of 
 a husband involved no separation from his wife, while 
 that of the wife or betrothed maiden might be a capital 
 offence, according to the decree of the head of the family 
 (Gen. xxxviii. 24). As to the prevalence of adultery in 
 this semi-historic period we are not informed. We can 
 speak with more definiteness as to the relations of people 
 unmarried or unbetrothed. These were, as a rule, toler- 
 ably innocent, as is usually the case among a nomadic 
 people of long endurance and established fame. There 
 Mould otherwise have been no guarantee of purity of race, 
 the first essential of tribal stability. It is a pleasing- 
 feature of the oldest Hebrew society, as also of the oldest 
 Arabian, that 3 r oung men and women were at liberty to 
 consort freely with one another — a thing impossible were 
 sexual irregularity either approved or frequent. It is quite 
 another question how sexual vice was regarded from the 
 moral point of view. That professional harlotry was not 
 unknown to the earliest Hebrew society we have abundant 
 proof, though we have no direct evidence that any mem- 
 ber of the degraded sisterhood belonged to the community 
 of Israel. But the institution of sacred prostitutes was 
 prevalent among the Canaanites of the time, according to 
 the stories of Genesis. Significant is the matter-of-fact 
 way in which the notices are recorded. The act ion 
 ascribed to Judah on the way to Timnah (Gen. xxxviii. 
 15 ff.) is mentioned as the most natural thing in the world. 
 § 958. We have now to look at the Hebrew patri- 
 archal society from a point of view which more nearly 
 approaches the altruistic. This convenient term compre- 
 hends the various sentiments and impulses that provoke 
 to deeds of self-sacrifice in any form — magnanimity, 
 generosity, compassion, self-denial. It suggests directly 
 the essential basis of morality, which in all ages and 
 places rests fundamentally upon the giving up of self. 
 For these primitive ages, however, the two qualities
 
 itO VIRTUES OF ABRAHAM Book IX 
 
 already discussed are much readier tests of moral progress 
 than those about to be considered. Veracity and chastity 
 are virtues which presuppose not merely a strong per- 
 sonal self-discipline, but also a public or social sentiment 
 which is attained only after a long period of education 
 and cultivation has gradually raised the moral standards of 
 the community. If, therefore, there is any such thing as 
 moral progress in human history, these later virtues must 
 be given a higher place than the more primitive. Qualities 
 which are more elementary still, such as endurance and 
 courage, we do not need to discuss at all. They are found 
 in all kinds and stages of society, and, in fact, may be 
 said to be a necessary condition of the survival of any 
 society whatever. Indeed, they are so far from being cri- 
 teria of moral progress that they are not even exclusively 
 human. In civilized human society their real significance 
 does not consist in their exercise or display by itself, but 
 only in the occasion or issue that has called them forth. 
 § 959. Instances of generosity and magnanimity are 
 frequent in the patriarchal history. In the character of 
 Abraham these virtues are perhaps the most distinguished 
 traits. He is the type of an enterprising chief formed to 
 be a leader of men and the pioneer of a great enterprise. 
 It is a true instinct which associates these qualities with 
 such an epoch-making man. Of the moral character of 
 Isaac we know almost nothing. He is represented as 
 being largely under the control of his cunning Aramaean 
 wife. He is evidently intended, however, to be merely a 
 connecting link between Abraham, the head of the race, 
 and Jacob, the head of the nation. Of the last-named we 
 cannot find any positively meritorious trait recorded. 
 The meaning of this seems to be that while his story is 
 true to patriarchal life, it is also a reminiscence of the 
 successful endeavours made by "Israel" to gain a footing 
 among the nations (cf. § 955). Thus he is a type of the 
 national advancement generally, — 
 
 Tantce molts erat Judceam condere gentem.
 
 Cii. IV, § 061 IDEAL CHARACTER OF JOSEPH 91 
 
 The only sort of nobleness of which the family of Isaac 
 could boast is to be credited to the wild and passionate 
 hunter Esau, the type of laggard races. 
 
 § 900. The character of Joseph presents the highest 
 type of ancient Hebrew morality. His story is remarkable 
 from several points of view. But its most remarkable 
 feature is the grandeur and symmetry of the moral por- 
 traiture of its hero. His would be a great character in 
 any age; but the marvel of it is that it exhibits a life 
 lived in that primitive stage of social development which, 
 as we have already seen, is most unfavourable to the 
 manifestation of high moral qualities. Fidelity, honour, 
 sense of personal responsibility, ideal chastity, magna- 
 nimity, — not of the pagan, not of the Old Testament, but 
 of the Christian type, — these are some of the traits of the 
 favourite son of the subtle and selfish Jacob. The easiest 
 solution is that the story is an idealizing parable drawn 
 for the instruction of a later reflective age of Israel's his- 
 tory. And yet, however the narrative may have assumed 
 its present literary garb at a later date, the events recorded 
 are not impossible. The two most prominent features of 
 Joseph's character are his fidelity in service and his self- 
 repression. But he was invested with responsibilities 
 beyond those possible in the semi-nomadic environment 
 of his early days. Trained in this school, he meets the 
 supreme temptation with an answer which shows that he 
 feels himself to be a moral trustee (Gen. xxxix. 8). 
 
 § 961. With Joseph there is a still more solemn 
 restraint: "How can I do this great evil and sin against 
 God?" Nothing shows more clearly than this the excep- 
 tional place in the patriarchal history held by Joseph. 
 The others are typical of their time and place. But such 
 an appeal to divine authority in matters of moral conduct 
 stands alone in the early Hebrew history. There is much 
 said of religious acts on the part of the patriarchs and of 
 their fidelity to Jehovah. Their faith in Him determined 
 also their course in important matters. But we do not
 
 92 RELIGIOUS ELEMENTS Book IX 
 
 find that it determined them strongly and steadily toward 
 righteousness and mercy. What, then, is their signifi- 
 cance in the history of morality? They were men of large, 
 original genius (§ 445, 447). True, we cannot but oppose 
 the view that sets them in the category of Old Testament 
 saints and moral exemplars. Yet we must admire the 
 independence, enterprise, and success with which these 
 early leaders of the race broke through the force of tradition 
 and custom and hewed out new paths for themselves, thus 
 becoming the prototypes and forerunners of the religious 
 leaders who gave character to the later Israel. And this 
 they did most conspicuously in their faith and worship. 
 If they were historical characters, Jehovah was their God, 
 or at least their supreme divinity. The narrative is con- 
 sistent in showing how they came to discard ancestor- 
 worship and strange deities generally (Gen. xxxv. 2 ff.). 
 § 962. Such adherence to Jehovah did not of itself 
 constitute morality. It was merely a ceremonial, and, as 
 it would appear from the history of Jacob, sometimes a 
 purely selfish form of primitive religion. But we are not 
 seeking merely for evidences of high moral sentiment and 
 achievement. What we desire is an explanation of the 
 morality afterward characteristic of Israel. And here, as 
 it would seem, we have an essential antecedent. While 
 it is questionable whether in any age, or under any form 
 of civilization, a deep and true morality can be developed 
 except upon the foundation, or with the aid, of a religious 
 sanction, it is certain that among a people such as ancient 
 Israel religion is the only basis of any morality worthy 
 the name. Where industrial pursuits were maintained 
 systematically, if at all, by exclusive hereditary guilds; 
 where commerce was confined to travelling merchants and 
 occasional caravans; where no political system above the 
 assembly of the elders had ever been devised, the indus- 
 trial, or commercial, or political morality that has formed 
 the precarious support of the great western civilizations 
 was beyond attainment, as it was beyond imagination.
 
 Ch. IV, § 904 RUDE VIRTUES OF THE JUDGES 93 
 
 To either national or individual morality a long antece- 
 dent process of discipline is a prerequisite. To Israel 
 such a discipline could only come through the religion 
 whose feeble yet sure beginnings were made by the fathers 
 before the perilous adventure was made of the migration 
 to Egypt. The strenuous adherence, even b}- a half-blind 
 and groping instinct, to Jehovah as the tribal God was of 
 itself an inward exercise that had a moral quality of its 
 own. So true is that saying which has transfigured the 
 primitive and rudimentary faith of the founder of the race: 
 " And he trusted in Jehovah, and he reckoned it to him 
 as righteousness " (Gen. xv. 6). 
 
 § 903. What do we find to be the moral features of 
 Hebrew societjr in the period of the judges? Did any 
 decisive changes take place in the community of Israel 
 which would tend to develop the national and individual 
 conscience and make it a controlling force in speech and 
 act as between Hebrew and Hebrew, and Hebrew and 
 foreigner? Were the three prime qualities, rectitude, 
 chastity, and magnanimity, largely exemplified? How 
 did the occupations of the people and their general social 
 environment affect them? It must be confessed that the 
 virtues most likely to be encouraged were those of the 
 hcii »ic or semi-barbarous type. Courage, endurance, 
 fidelity to clan, family, and companions in arms, must 
 have been often and signally displayed. The long 
 struggle with the native Canaanites, over wide areas or 
 in isolated holdings, for the possession of fortresses, fer- 
 tile valleys and plains, vineyards and olive groves, or 
 with various swarms of foreign invaders, played a prin- 
 cipal part in moulding the Hebrew temper into strength, 
 elasticity, and hardness. It was this discipline that gave 
 to Israel the resisting and recuperative power which was 
 and is the marvel of the ancient and modern world. 
 
 § 964. Not very much can be said of influences favour- 
 able to the development of the rarer and more precious 
 moral endowments of a people, in a community trained
 
 94 TREACHERY AND UNCHASTITY Book IX 
 
 to irregular warfare, swift reprisal, deadly revenge, little 
 stimulus could be afforded to any latent or incipient open- 
 ness or candour which might have been educed in the more 
 peaceful occupations of earlier days. Ehud (Jud. iii.) 
 can be a moral hero only to those who hold that no means 
 are reprehensible which can secure a desirable end. Like 
 his, but much more treacherous, was the act of Jael, the 
 wife of Heber the Kenite. In it we have not only gross 
 deception, but a violation of the laws of hospitality, which, 
 when it has once been freely offered, is inviolable, accord- 
 ing to all inter-tribal usage. The outrage was heightened 
 by the circumstance expressly recorded (Jud. iv. 17) that 
 an alliance actually subsisted between the half-Israel- 
 itish Kenites and the followers of the Canaanitish king. 
 Moreover, the splendid lyric which celebrates the triumph 
 of Israel over the last great combination of the Canaanites 
 counts Jael blessed above all women who dwell in tents 
 (Jud. v. 24), because she had come to the help of Jeho- 
 vah (cf. v. 23) by deluding into fatal security an enemy 
 of his people. 
 
 § 965. Such cases are characteristic of the times and the 
 people, and so stand out boldly in the record. How was 
 it in this period with the virtue of chastity? A sample 
 or two will suffice to show that the standard of morals 
 had not been raised during this later period. Gideon, 
 one of the best-approved leaders of Israel, had not only 
 many wives, but a concubine as well. What we call 
 lust in Mohammed we can only extenuate in Gideon on 
 the ground that he lived in a remoter age. Jephthah 
 was the son of a harlot. Samson resorted to harlots as a 
 matter of habit. Delilah, in spite of her Hebrew name, 
 may have been a Philistine. But the Baal worship which 
 was rife in most of Israel during this whole period must 
 have brought with it its due measure of licentiousness 
 more or less professional. Concubinage was but one 
 remove from harlotry (Jud. xix. 1 ff.). A still darker 
 shadow is seen to rest upon at least a portion of the land
 
 Ch. IV, §967 ALTRUISTIC VIRTUES 95 
 
 in the prevalence of the worse than bestial crime in the 
 city of Gibeah (xix. 22). Israel, as a whole, was at last 
 shocked into horror and indignation. But the succeed- 
 ing narrative, ending with the rough and ready method 
 of securing wives by capture (xxi. 21 ft .), recalls vividly 
 the essential spirit of the people and the age, their primi- 
 tive habits and manners, and their rudimentary conception 
 of the saving virtues of society. 
 
 § 966. An aspect scarcely more favourable is presented 
 by the practice of the altruistic virtues. At least, the 
 book of Judges gives no suggestion of their prevalence. 
 It is to be admitted that allusions to the gentler side of 
 life and conduct are hardly to be expected in the memorials 
 of a rude and warlike age, which naturally record only 
 extreme instances. And among the larger households in 
 the more settled districts, particularly in the later days 
 of the judges, there were doubtless many manifestations 
 of neighbourly kindness and perhaps even of chivalrous 
 generosity. The institution of the goel especially gave 
 scope and occasion for actions of the latter class. While 
 in the rudeness and savagery of the times the services of 
 the protector of kinship were perhaps most frequently in 
 demand as an avenger of blood (Ex. xxi. 12 ff.), the 
 necessities of unfortunate kinsfolks, particularly of widows 
 and orphans, must have evoked innate feelings of compas- 
 sion and sympathy in many a heart. Such a traditional 
 picture as that which is presented at the close of the book 
 of Ruth can scarcely represent an isolated instance. It is 
 not to be supposed, however, that this is an indication of 
 the prevailing type of manners. 
 
 § 967. It was scarcely possible that any essential 
 change in the national morals could take place during the 
 historical period immediately following tin- judges. Yet 
 the early vicissitudes of the kingdom had a great deal to 
 do with building up the national character. And it was 
 especially the new spirit infused into the people by the 
 personality and achievements of David that prepared the
 
 90 UNITED ISRAEL AND THE TEMPLE Book IX 
 
 way for that larger nationalism which made possible an 
 historic Israel and is even yet not extinct in Judaism. 
 The predominant note of the rise of the monarchy is patri- 
 otism. The deliverance of the individual family groups, 
 the first thought of the beleaguered clansmen, was found 
 to depend upon common action against the Philistines. 
 The idea of a united Israel was first realized under Saul 
 at the instance of the prophet-priest-judge Samuel. The 
 rising tide of loyalty to Jehovah and his cause, as against 
 the aliens and their gods, swelled by the first successes 
 of Saul and still more by the heroic daring of Jonathan, 
 Mas checked by the king's mental and moral collapse; 
 it retreated with the defection of David and the ensuing 
 intestine strife; it fell to its lowest ebb with the tragedy 
 of Gilboa. The accession of David to the tottering 
 throne, and his steady advance to preeminence, first 
 within Israel itself and thereafter in Palestine and the 
 whole of the West-land, were the real making of Israel 
 into a nation. No later failures or disgrace or ruptures 
 could efface the memory of this triumph; nor could any 
 subsequent national success rival it as an ideal of kingly 
 achievement or as a measure of Israel's greatness. 
 
 § 908. There was now wanting but one deep common 
 source of inspiration, one cardinal element of national 
 solidarity, — a central, dominant sanctuary. This idea, 
 cherished so fondly by David, was realized in the temple 
 of Solomon. Thus were established at last the main 
 outward conditions of a permanent state under the most 
 potent of guarantees. But of far more enduring impor- 
 tance than the promise of political stability, soon to be 
 so rudely disturbed, was the foundation then laid for 
 progress in morality and for the practice of a religion 
 which should be something more than ceremonial for- 
 malism. The larger relations of political, business, and 
 social life then inaugurated gradually brought with them 
 a sense of responsibility which must have sobered and 
 steadied the new self-conscious community. The oath
 
 Ch. IV, §969 THE HEROIC VIRTUES 97 
 
 or the vow made before Jehovah became more binding 
 with the recognition of his enthronement for righteous- 
 ness upon Mount Zion, the place where he had chosen 
 to set his name. It is not necessary to inquire now how 
 and when such claims were ignored or weakened. We 
 ma}- content ourselves with remarking that while these 
 were conditions essential to moral advancement, they 
 might naturally be expected to be only slowly opera- 
 tive, finding their true scope and vindication in a later 
 time. What, however, we wish particularly to know is 
 the actual moral standing of the best men of Israel in this 
 age of the early or undivided monarchy. Examples here 
 crowd upon us, and we must limit ourselves in the choice. 
 § 969. Again, we have to emphasize the prominence 
 of the military or heroic virtues. This is, in fact, pre- 
 eminently the heroic age of Israel. Physical courage was 
 universal, as befitted a people engaged in a protracted life 
 and death struggle. Not to lack of bravery, but to want 
 of discipline, to the decline of the kingly qualities in the 
 monarch, to the effect of panic fear in a superstitious age, 
 are to be ascribed the half-heartedness and the frequent 
 retreats of the armies of Israel during the regime of 
 Samuel and Saul. Of individual prowess every leader 
 gave proof during the whole of the period. David's 
 worthies (2 Sam. xxiii.) were a product of the spirit 
 that was now moving in Israel like a lung pent-up flood. 
 They were the flower of that age of Hebrew chivalry. 
 Nor was there larking that self-devotion which in the 
 undisciplined warfare of a struggling community is really 
 more heroic than the most gallant charge of a regular 
 army. No deed of daring done by David's men, inspired 
 by his example, could surpass the brilliant achievement of 
 Saul's knightly son at Michmash. A nation which bred 
 such heroes could scarcely hereafter be utterly ignoble. 
 And in these actions, the theme of sung and Legend 
 till the latest generation, were indirect occasions of nobler 
 manners and purer motives throughout the moral realm, 
 ii
 
 98 DAVID'S DECEIT AND TREACHERY. Book IX 
 
 No man can risk his life non-professionally in a worthy 
 cause without being stirred to the depths of his soul by an 
 il.ct ric thrill which reacts b} r moral sympathy through 
 his whole spiritual nature. The clods, once disturbed by 
 celestial fire, were henceforth magnetic and responsive to 
 the touch of spiritual forces which else had found and 
 left them useless and dead. 
 
 § 970. But these secondary movements had as 3 7 et 
 scarcely begun ; and it is a sad descent that brings us to 
 the level of the everyday morals of the early monarchy. 
 The virtue of veracity seems especially wanting in the 
 make-up of the men of the period. For the sake of brevity 
 we shall confine ourselves to the career of David. We 
 are at once struck with the fact that whenever any danger 
 threatened, if a falsehood served his turn it was immedi- 
 ately employed (1 Sam. xix. 13 ff. ; xx. 5 ff. ; xxi. 2 ; 
 xxvii. 10 ff. ; 2 Sam. xv. 34). He deceived friends and 
 enemies indifferently. It was especially in his relations 
 with the Philistines that deceit was systematically prac- 
 tised, ranging from simple disguise to the grossest of 
 falsehoods. His affair with his faithful servant, Uriah 
 the Hettite, shows him at his worst. There is probably 
 no record of treachery and lying consistently pursued 
 that surpasses this in remorseless cruelty and moral base- 
 in--. If the narrative contained all that we know of 
 David, the deed would have been universally regarded as 
 one almost unequalled in the foul and blood-stained annals 
 of kingly rule. We may at any rate say this about the 
 matter, that it belonged to the stage in David's life when 
 he was as yet untouched b}' any deep religious feeling. 
 
 § 071. In the relations between the sexes we see at 
 best no marked advance. Not to speak of polygamy, 
 concubinage was fashionable in the best families. The 
 promptness with which David, the outlaw chief, espoused 
 the wife of the newly dead Nabal, and with which David, 
 the king, made a lawful wife of the widow of the mur- 
 dered Uriah, speaks plainly of the subserviency of well-
 
 Ch. IV, § 072 SEXUAL VICE 99 
 
 born women. The act of Absalom, by which he proclaimed 
 to all Israel his usurpation of his father's rights (2 Sain, 
 xvi. 21 f.), does not appear to have shocked the moral 
 sensibilities of his fellow-citizens, or even of the "elders 
 of Israel" (2 Sam. xvii. 4), who still adhered to his 
 cause. In the more enlightened time of Solomon, the 
 increase in outward prosperity and the glamour of a 
 brilliant court were the accompaniment of gross and 
 unbridled sensuality. David's harem, extensive as it 
 was, could not compare with that of Solomon. And one 
 knows little of social history, or of human nature, if one 
 supposes that the evil of excessive self-indulgence was 
 confined to the recreant who sat on the throne, and who 
 in these vital matters was a law unto himself. Courtiers 
 and nobles, and the wealthy and fashionable generally, 
 were as certain then as they are now to imitate and rival 
 the sins and follies of a prince. Nor was sexual vice 
 confined to the legalized license of polygamy and con- 
 cubinage. The worship of the foreign deities introduced 
 by Solomon along with his heathen wives of necessity 
 included religious prostitution. True, we still have no 
 reason to suppose that many daughters of Hebrew families 
 gave themselves to this or to any form of illegitimate vice, 
 "for no such thing ought to be done in Israel " (2 Sam. 
 xiii. 12). But Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians or 
 Phoenicians (1 K. xi. 5), could not enjoy the royal patron- 
 age without enforcing the usages inseparable from her 
 debasing cult. 
 
 § 972. What shall be said of the practice of the altru- 
 istic virtues during the earlier times of the monarchy? 
 The imagination summons up at once the figure of the 
 heroic and magnanimous Jonathan. An age which pro- 
 duced a man so unique in nobility of soul should not be 
 called (piite morally barren. We are seeking, however, 
 for cases of sympathy with the poor and oppressed, the 
 friendless and the weak, and of the relaxation of the piti- 
 less code of revenge upon family, or personal, or national
 
 100 BLOOD-REVENGE AND TRIBALISM Book IX 
 
 enemies. Of what was done in private we know little. 
 The temper of representative men may best be judged of 
 by their conduit toward their rivals or foes. David's 
 treatment of the Moabites (2 Sam. viii. 2) and of the 
 
 A mini mites (2 Sam. xii. 31) was a war measure, and was 
 neither better nor worse than that which the Assyrian 
 kings before and after his time boasted of inflicting upon 
 obstinate rebels. The claims of blood revenge were 
 enforced as remorselessly as in the days of Gideon (Jud. 
 viii. 18 ff.). The circle of leading men that stood nearest 
 to David suffered particularly from the law of reprisal. 
 To his account must be reckoned the pitiful fate of Riz- 
 pah, the daughter of Aiah, and of her innocent children, 
 done to a shameful death as the victim of a blood feud. 
 True it is that repentance here again manifested itself, and 
 that he sought to quiet the soul of the comfortless mother, 
 and to reunite in Sheol the distracted ghosts of the family 
 lie had supplanted (2 Sam. xxi. 11 ff.). 
 
 § 973. It is now time, however, to draw some general 
 conclusions as to that portion of Israel's history which we 
 have been permitted to survey. In the first place, Ave see 
 how morality still moved and worked its way within the 
 sphere of the family, the clan, and the tribe. Its sanc- 
 tions sprang from the beliefs of the community rather than 
 from the independent conviction of the individual; cus- 
 tom ruled rather than conscience, prescription rather than 
 self-impulsion. One essential ground of the limitation is 
 obvious. Duties and employments were few and simple. 
 These were prescribed by paternal injunction; and when 
 spontaneously assumed they created no new conditions 
 that would bring intelligence into play and so evoke the 
 moral sense through the balancing of conflicting claims. 
 Secondly, the most striking apparent exceptions to this 
 general fact were the leaders of the people, who seemed 
 to strike out new paths for themselves, or were commis- 
 sioned to fulfil higher functions than any yet known to 
 the nation.
 
 Ch. IV, §975 PUBLIC TEACHERS; SAMUEL 101 
 
 § 1*74. But we have now to take account of a moral 
 factor of the first importance : I mean the public teachers. 
 The great popular leaders from the time of the earliest 
 judges till the end of the undivided kingdom, had very 
 little to do with the moral education of the nation. The 
 judges themselves appear to have done little to rectify 
 popular misconduct. Nor were the priests, whose duties 
 included also the judicial function (§ 585 f.), conspicuous 
 for their high sense of moral obligation. The sons of 
 Eli and the sons of Samuel, who came into office as a 
 matter of course by hereditary succession, are much more 
 likely to have represented the average priest and judge 
 than their fathers, who are singled out for special distinc- 
 tion. What we learn of the influence of the religious 
 officials comes out naturally in their bearing toward the 
 leading men of the time. In this matter two interesting 
 points declare themselves. First, we notice that no inter- 
 ference is made with the conduct of any influential man 
 till the time of the kings. Second, it is a new order of 
 men who attempt a reformation in public morals. These 
 men were the prophets. 
 
 § 975. What, then, was the character of this epoch- 
 making intervention by the prophets? The first instance 
 is that of Samuel in his role of mentor and censor to King 
 Saul. And here we are surprised to find that he does not 
 appear to have intervened in questions of morality at all. 
 His only recorded protest against Saul's conduct is made 
 on the ground of disobedience to an arbitrary command 
 (1 Sam., chap. XV.). When Saul spared Agag and the 
 best of the spoil, it cannot be maintained that he did what 
 was wrong in itself. Unfortunately we can, on the other 
 hand, hardly visit with stern condemnation the terrible 
 war of extermination waged by Israel. Such conflicts — 
 blood feuds on a larger scale- were the order of the day 
 among the neighbouring peoples of the time, and Israel 
 had suffered more than Amalek in the long series of re- 
 prisals. Nor can we put Saul's comparative moderation
 
 102 SAMUEL AND NATHAN Book IX 
 
 to the credit of his humanity. His preservation of Agag 
 was too much a departure from the prevailing usages of 
 war to have been intended for more than a temporary 
 purpose. On the whole, it would appear that the rebuke 
 to Saul, and the terrible penalty annexed thereto, were 
 inflicted not on the ground of the inherent wrongfulness 
 of his acts, but because he had not deferred to the pro- 
 phetic word. 
 
 ^ 976. Samuel's significance generally, in the history of 
 Old Testament morals, may be thus stated: He is the 
 first in the long list of the leaders of Israel whose conduct 
 in fundamental matters of morality is brought directly 
 into view (1 Sam. xii. 3). The last of the judges, he is 
 the first the character of whose administration of justice 
 is spoken of at all. He tolerated the institution of the 
 monarch}*, but made it the prime essential of the charac- 
 ter of the king that he should bow to the will of Jehovah, 
 and to his representative, the prophet-priest. He virtu- 
 ally founded the prophetic guilds, the chief conservative 
 influence in the life of northern Israel. His services to 
 morality were great, but mainly indirect and potential. 
 
 § ( J77. A distinct advance along one line was made by 
 the next kingly mentor, the prophet Nathan. His rebuke 
 of David for his most atrocious crime goes to the founda- 
 tion of the moral principle of conduct. As his parable 
 shows, it looks at David's sin in the light of his relation 
 to his environment : it shows the disturbance (or wrong) 
 thereb}' occasioned in the system of which he was the 
 moral centre. To stigmatize a sin as a sin on account of 
 its selfishness was something new in the recorded history 
 of the world. True, the outrage was so obvious that it 
 could not well escape challenge ; but it is just one of the 
 providential occasions of moral evolution that men and 
 communities should be startled into a sense for better 
 things by a sudden revelation of the effect of their 
 offences. Such a case is isolated, to be sure, in the moral 
 ministry of the prophets of the time. But the crime was
 
 Cn. IV, § 979 SOLOMON AND HIS CENSORS 103 
 
 rank and grievous, and as it struck at the sanctity and 
 peace of the home of the common man in Israel it was 
 made monumental. The rule that the sins and follies of 
 a monarch excite emulation rather than repulsion, finds 
 in this instance, at least, a wholesome exception. 
 
 § 078. It is remarkable that no prophet appears as a 
 censor of morals till the time of the divided kingdom 
 with the exception of Gad, who acted as the minister of 
 Jehovah in connection with David's ambitious scheme to 
 take a census of Israel. On the other hand, we find in 
 the person of Nathan the prophetic influence wielded in 
 behalf of the cruel and treacherous intrigue through 
 which the rivals of Solomon were put out of the way (2 K. 
 i.). The moral paradox is solved when we consider that 
 the paramount interest was the preservation of the state, 
 in the furthering of which the individual was made of lit- 
 tle account. Thereafter Solomon seems to have dispensed 
 with prophetic help and guidance. His only religious 
 achievement, the building of the temple, being an affair 
 of worship and ritual, was done under the auspices of the 
 priests. On the whole, his reign was probably more harm- 
 ful to public and private morals than that of any other 
 king of either Israel or Judah, with the possible exception 
 of Manasseh. 
 
 § 979. It is significant, however, that the secession of 
 northern Israel was instigated by a prophet of Jehovah 
 (1 K. xi. 29 ff.). Among the considerations that impelled 
 him was doubtless the fact that Solomon's extravagance 
 and exactions were injuring Israel as a whole and mak- 
 ing the predominance of Judah a national curse. 1 lie thus 
 follows in the line of Nathan and Gad (£ 977 f.). But 
 what Judah thus lost in moral character and prestige as 
 compared with the " Ten Tribes," it more than made up 
 finally through the possession of a temple free from Lmage- 
 
 1 Notice also that Ahijah was of Shiloh, in the wry heart of the terri- 
 tory of the rival and much-wronged tribe of Ephraim.
 
 104 MORALITY IX NORTHERN ISRAEL Book IX 
 
 worship : while the semi-idolatry instigated by Jeroboam 
 I, and the political unsettlement of his kingdom, 1 with 
 its accompaniment of intrigue, proscription, and murder, 
 defeated the worthy ends aimed at in the revolution. 
 
 § 980. We thus see a growth in moral sensibility 
 among the religious leaders of Israel, and we also dis- 
 cern the principle of its development. It was the harm 
 
 .1 to tin' people of Jehovah which awakened a sense 
 
 of the wrath of Jehovah himself. This can hardly be 
 called as yet a genuine sense of sin ; for in the first place. 
 the feeling aroused was fear rather than sorrow, and, in 
 the second place, it Avas as members of the community 
 rather than as individuals that the responsibility was 
 felt. Yet here was the germ of spiritual morality, and 
 this was the region in which it unfolded itself, for only 
 thus could that consciousness of wrong-doing be awakened 
 which is of the essence of the saving repentance that 
 seeks and gains forgiveness. But the story is a long 
 one, and we must be content if we can follow its leading 
 motives. 
 
 § 981. Our next glimpse of moral progress in Israel is 
 gained from the memorable reign of Ahab. The tumultu- 
 ous times of the first dynasties were over, and Omri had 
 made himself strong at home and abroad (§ 212). His son 
 came to the kingdom as a matter of course, and the sense 
 of power without responsibility (1 K. xxi. 7), the typical 
 Oriental absolutism, bore its natural fruits. There was 
 nothing upon which he might not lay his hand, not even 
 the patrimony of one of the people of Jehovah. When 
 he seized the estate of Naboth the wrong was irreligion, 
 and therefore immorality. -Jehovah was the owner of the 
 land, and Naboth was his tenant (§ 580). Besides, the 
 patrimony was a sacred trust for his family (xxi. •"> I, 
 where rested the dust of his ancestors under the guardian- 
 ship of Jehovah. 
 
 i Cf. Montefiore, Hihbcrt Lectures (1892), p. 85 f.
 
 Ch. IV, § 983 AIIAB, NABOTH AND ELIJAH 105 
 
 § 982. Very probably this act of oppression and prof- 
 anation did not stand alone in the reign or time of Ahab. 
 But, like the great transgression of David, it was because 
 it ended in an appalling tragedy that it became monu- 
 mental. The vengeance denounced against the offender is 
 a measure of the offence. This is a rare historic occasion. 
 It makes us feel at one with the outraged people of Israel. 
 As Ave shudder with their horror at the deed, we follow 
 them with eager sympathy in their gradual appreciation of 
 its essential wickedness. Indignation at the conspiracy, 
 the judicial murder, the robbery, was followed by a moral 
 revulsion at the enormity of the misdeed. It was the 
 crime against the community which stirred the common 
 heart. Every freeman in Israel was for the moment a 
 Naboth in imagination, at the mercy of a rapacious king 
 and a cruel, lustful queen. Ordinary petty wrongs done 
 to persons or to property were a matter of course from 
 the days of old. They were the mere trickling of a 
 mountain stream. This was the breaking up of the foun- 
 tains of the great deep. The sense of being wronged 
 grew into the sense of wrong, and the offence against 
 Israel was felt to be a sin against Jehovah. It was the 
 word of the great prophet that startled the true Israel 
 into a knowledge of itself. The message came in thunder- 
 tones, and between the strokes gleamed the lightning- 
 flashes of revelation. It was not a very clear or sus- 
 tained illumination, but it served God's turn and man's 
 need. 
 
 § 983. With Elijah prophecy enlarged its range and its 
 depth. The prophet was no longer a mere seer or oracle 
 or mentor of princes. lie was the guardian and censor 
 of national morals ; in short, a preacher and teacher. But, 
 what is even more important to observe, there was a cor- 
 responding advance; among the best minds and spirits of 
 his people. Let us learn, once for all, that the prophet 
 never stood quite alone, and that lie was, apart from his 
 special commission, merely a foremost representative of a
 
 106 A COMMON MORAL INTEREST Book IX 
 
 class or society or school. We arc warned of the clanger 
 of overlooking this obvious sociological and psychological 
 principle by the reminder which was addressed to Elijah 
 himself at the very opening of this new era of prophecy 
 ( 1 Iv. xix. 18). : The essential thing for the future was 
 that from this time onward there was a worthy common 
 cause and common interest, and a party in the state that 
 stood for the rights of the defenceless and the oppressed 
 on the ground of religion and justice, and in whose con- 
 sciousness the practical conflicts of rights and wrongs 
 wrought out a sense of the necessary antithesis of right 
 and wrong. 
 
 § '.'84. The fortunes of this class or party in their rela- 
 tion to society and public life have already been sketched 
 (§ 597 ff.). The perpetual antagonism and ever widen- 
 ing chasm between the rich and the poor, the oppressor 
 and the oppressed, the wicked and the pious, are depicted 
 in letters of flame by Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah, 
 and here we need not reproduce the familiar picture. 
 What concerns us now is to see how the idea of moral 
 responsibility, once awakened, was developed up to the 
 time of Josiah. For this end we cannot do better than sum 
 up the essential conditions of moral progress, giving first 
 those which are inward or subjective, and then those which 
 are subjective and external. The summary necessarily con- 
 sists in part of a resume of previous observations. 
 
 § 985. 1. A purer and loftier conception of the charac- 
 ter of Jehovah. Morality has never progressed in any 
 community without the stimulus of a religious sanction. 
 Men have looked to their gods or God as requiring from 
 them the most solemn duties of their lives. Moreover, 
 something besides mere ceremonial service is always 
 thought to be demanded. Even where the crudest forms 
 of faith and worship prevail, and where morality in the 
 
 1 "Seven thousand"' is merely a very general number, and possibly 
 stands here for a much larser sum of faithful adherents of Jehovah.
 
 Ch. IV, § 987 IDEALS AND WORSHIP OF THE DEITY 107 
 
 positive sense can hardly be predicated of the votaries, 
 such duties as are incumbent on them (that is, whatever 
 has the character of solemn obligation, the motive of all 
 moral action) are regarded as the will of the supernatural 
 being who is the head and patron of the community. 
 And among the Semites deference to the will of the deity 
 is usually absolute. As their vocabulary indicates, they 
 had really no "will" of their own : the only real agents 
 in the world were their divinities. This conception is 
 both cause and effect of their singular religiousness. It 
 explains also their exclusiveness, their fanaticism, their 
 deadly persistency. Given a wrong or debasing view of 
 the desire of the deity and they are the most hopelessly 
 intractable and noxious of mortals, (liven a lofty and 
 inspiring view of the deity and they become the elect of 
 their species. This is a master-key to Hebrew Prophet- 
 ism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism. Hence in pro- 
 portion as the conception of the character of the presiding 
 and informing deity is raised and refined the nature of 
 his requirements is correspondingly purified and exalted. 
 That is, moral motive and conduct change for the better. 
 
 § 986. 2. A divorce between the worship of the single 
 and only true God and the adoration or service of any and 
 all other objects of devotion. This is only accomplished as 
 the individual learns by experience the emptiness and 
 spiritual unsatisfactoriness of false; worship — not merely 
 the helplessness of the false gods ; because to a people 
 gradually emerging from superstition such a tact is not 
 so easily demonstrated. With this experience goes the 
 practical observation that God does not always punish his 
 enemies directly, but that lie does reward those who tear 
 him and do his will : the sense of the ncn and the roittN 
 of Jehovah ; the completion of the formula, "Surely God 
 is good to Israel," by the addition, "to such as are pure 
 in heart" (Ps. lxxiii. 1). 
 
 § 987. 3. In this way a new and higher conception of 
 society is eventually gained. The ideal of the social
 
 108 PERSONAL TRIAL; NATIONAL UNITY Book IX 
 
 order is no longer the family, the elan, the tribe, or even 
 i lie organized nation, but the people of Jehovah. A new 
 community arises from the riving of the old, containing 
 the genus of indefinite progress and expansion. 
 
 § 988. 4. On the side of conduct there must be a practice 
 of the common virtues which are at once the mainstay of 
 the social order and the expression of the will of Jehovah: 
 honesty, chastity, mercy, and helpfulness. These and 
 other essential virtues can only be maintained along with 
 the vindication of the lofty character and the pure wor- 
 ship of Jehovah. This vindication can be accomplished 
 only after and through an inevitable prolonged struggle 
 between parties in the community and the state. Only 
 by suffering, discipline, and the enduring of wrong can 
 the principles of a party of righteousness be put to the 
 proof and finally secure a moral triumph : — 
 
 " There is no gain except by loss, 
 There is no life except by death ; 
 There is no glory but by shame, 
 No justice but by taking blame." 
 
 By adherence under stress of trial to the true worship of 
 Jehovah and the practice of 4t righteousness," which is the 
 obligation and test of his service ; and, on the other hand, 
 by an observation of the lives and fates of the opposing 
 party in church and state, idolatry or mixed worship plus 
 immorality — luxury, greed, sensuality, cruelty — is con- 
 tinually made more odious and disreputable. 
 
 $ 989. Some of the accompanying or cooperant external 
 conditions are: 1. National unification. This was in a 
 measure secured by the kingdom. Only by some such 
 assimilation could the tribal habits, restricted views of 
 obligation, local prejudices and antipathies, arbitrary 
 administration of justice, be to any considerable degree 
 done away. Terrible evils came with the kingdom. But 
 by it the necessary antithesis of good and bad, pure and 
 impure, righteousness and injustice, was brought to self-
 
 Cir. IV, § 091 BUSINESS TRAINING; CLASS FEELING 109 
 
 consciousness in an influential party loyal to Jehovah and 
 his cause. 
 
 § 990. 2. Industrial and commercial development. 
 This undoubtedly fosters the greed and selfishness of the 
 grasping and covetous. On the other hand, no commu- 
 nity becomes honest and veracious unless by business train- 
 ing it is made to realize as a people the advantages of 
 honesty and veracity, and the evils of cheating and crook- 
 edness in matters of bargain and sale. How greatly 
 such convictions were needed may be suggested by the 
 business habits of any nomadic or semi-nomadic com- 
 munity in the East. The Hebrews did not have this aid 
 In morality in full measure till the Babylonian exile 
 (§ 1319 ff.). A concomitant advantage is the possession 
 of iixed property, which develops character by the respon- 
 sibility of ownership and trusteeship, and steadies the 
 practical purpose and endeavour of business life. 
 
 § 991. 3. Social changes, resulting in the creation of 
 privileged classes of the rich and powerful, including 
 Icings and nobles. Everywhere, but especially in Oriental 
 countries, such changes develop the worst passions and 
 instincts of human nature — selfishness, cruelty, self-com- 
 placent indifference to suffering and wrong. These 
 classes also adhered to and patronized the forms of false 
 and mixed worship which minister to lust and fashionable 
 vices and pleasures. On the other hand, the plain-living 
 votaries of Jehovah had their numbers chiefly augmented 
 from the ranks of the poor and the oppressed. The gulf 
 between the two classes became steadily wider and 
 deeper. The true nature, the essential character, of the 
 antithesis became better appreciated. Vague and abstract 
 conceptions of the relations of Jehovah to his people were 
 replaced by a concrete realization of his power to help, to 
 sustain, to uplift. Blind reliance upon, or dread of, his 
 power was mitigated and neutralized by the consciousness 
 of his love and grace. The prosperity of the wicked. 
 accompanied as it was by hateful and injurious conduct,
 
 110 A CENTRAL SHRINE; MORAL TEACHING Book IX 
 
 was now less envied. Jehovah put gladness into the 
 heart of his followers more than others had when their 
 corn and their wine increased (Ps. iv. 7). 
 
 § 992. 4. A concentration of the national worship. 
 The essential evil of the local sanctuaries was that the 
 "high places" were infected with nature worship in one 
 or more degrading forms ; and that such associations, 
 based on tradition and habit, and falling in with natural 
 inclination, were ineradicable. In northern Israel such a 
 centralizing system was never accomplished. In Judah it 
 was favoured by many circumstances, and when secured by 
 a reforming monarch the prestige of the central sanctuary 
 made it perpetual. Thus, in spite of frequent and gross 
 debasement of the national worship, a solidarity of senti- 
 ment, a communrtw of belief, a cooperation in policy and 
 action were promoted which were essential to the progress 
 of the cause of righteousness. 
 
 § 993. 5. An educative system. This was mainly sup- 
 plied by the genuine prophets of Jehovah. Ritual and 
 ceremony were needed ; and in Israel they were not 
 always unspiritual. But the priests as a class Avere 
 incompetent and mechanical, though there was no enmity 
 between the two orders, and the priesthood contributed 
 signally to the ranks of the prophets, as well as to the 
 outward reformation of the state. It was the line of the 
 prophets that received and kept the saving truth and 
 " passed from hand to hand the torch of life." From sim- 
 ple and rude beginnings, at the opening of Israel's career 
 as a nation, they maintained the one essential principle of 
 fidelity to Jehovah, growing steadily in inspiration, 
 insight, and devotion. Thus they became the light of 
 Israel and the world. But, as educators of their people, 
 they secured no permanently effective agency till they 
 created a literature under Amos and his successors, or, 
 what is much the same thing, until they reached intui- 
 tions and conceptions of God and duty which were worthy 
 of permanent record.
 
 Ch. IV, § 995 A FAITHFUL REMNANT 111 
 
 § 994. The highest and most spiritual of these condi- 
 tions were slow and tardy in coming into play, and Israel's 
 moral progress during this prophetic period may be very 
 summarily stated. For the northern kingdom, besides the 
 indirect testimony of J E (§ 92G, 930), the principal evi- 
 dence comes from Amos and Hosea. Of the nation as a 
 whole, no favourable judgment can be formed. But for 
 purposes of moral history discrimination is necessary. 
 The chief obstacle to reformation was the perpetuation of 
 the local shrines, and this for the reason that the rem- 
 nant of the faithful had little community of worship, in 
 spite of the sacred feasts, the new moons and sabbaths, 
 and other feast-days (Hos. ii. 11). That some were found 
 true we learn from the wonderful though obscure per- 
 sonality of Hosea. While, like Amos, he draws prophet- 
 wise a picture wholly dark of the times and the people, 
 he himself, as revealed in his writings, is a proof of the 
 existence of a small but intrepid band of pure and loyal 
 souls. A life like his, Whose very breath was love and 
 faith, demanded spiritual fellowship for its nurture and 
 its daily sustenance. That his followers and supporters 
 were a very small company we can scarcely doubt. 
 But they were necessarily a power as well as a witness 
 for righteousness, even in the evil times of Samaria's 
 downfall. Nor did they altogether perish with the going 
 down of the kingdom. It was not in the nature of such 
 a society to dissolve and cease, even with the extinction 
 of the nation. They were not a forlorn hope, losing all 
 for which they fought and died. They were rather a 
 hard-pressed army of patriots who cut their way through 
 their foes to join their allies across the frontier, whom 
 they reinforced and inspired to victory. 
 
 § 995. The party of truth and righteousness in the 
 kingdom of Judah was in the line of true succession to 
 this heroic, prophetic band. It was in the very centre 
 of the moral struggle in Jerusalem, and with tin- fall of 
 Samaria in view, that Isaiah gathered his disciples about
 
 112 THE FOUNTAIN OF MORALITY Book IX 
 
 him. Far from the riot and ribaldry of voluptuaries, and 
 the taunts of frivolous scepties, and the intrigues of false 
 and seditious politicians, he discoursed to them of the 
 one sure foundation-stone on which the community could 
 rest its hopes, of the "overwhelming scourge" which 
 should come upon those who had made lies their refuge 
 and hidden themselves under falsehood, of the hail-storm 
 which should sweep away the refuges of lies. lie declared 
 that everything must bide the test of the measuring-line 
 of justice and the plumb-line of righteousness, and that a 
 divine ordinance, fixed and inviolable, determines the 
 application of the rule (Isa. xxviii. ; cf. viii. 6 ff.). 
 
 § 996. With this revelation we are brought close to the 
 fountain of Old Testament morality. We see running 
 la re in its early course that stream of ethical thought 
 and sentiment that swells and broadens to all eternity. 
 Here we have the explanation of the prophetic life and 
 work, the key to the history of prophecy itself. It 
 is not Amos and Ilosea and Isaiah and Micah and 
 Habakkuk and Jeremiah, alone, but they and their 
 teachers, and their disciples, that raised the walls of the 
 spiritual temple upon its unseen, immovable foundation- 
 stone. Their principles, their endurance, their successes 
 and defeats, their own spiritual progress, give unity and 
 consistency as well as motive and meaning to the in- 
 ner history of Israel. We think of the profound pro- 
 phetic conceptions in the Jehovistic history (§ 931 ff.). 
 We do not forget the other forces that wrought for the 
 purification of the state, which we may call for conven- 
 ience the reforming priestly party and the reforming court 
 party, and of these we must take serious account in our 
 st udy of moral progress under the monarchy. But much of 
 their inspiration they owed to the genuine prophetic influ- 
 ence, and. being essentially official and professional, they 
 were more easily reformed from without than from within. 
 § !><)7. To trace that history in broadest outline up and 
 through the great Reformation is now a comparatively
 
 C ii. IV, § 999 EARLY LITERARY PROPHETS 113 
 
 simple task. Like all spiritual processes this, the most 
 decisive movement of the ancient world, was a matter of 
 personal experience. Hence the outward events are little 
 known and of little direct importance until the conflict 
 with the party of repression and moral reaction became 
 public and national. AVe may conveniently make four 
 periods. The first reaches to the deliverance of Je- 
 rusalem from Sennacherib ; the second to the death of 
 Hezekiah ; the third to the accession of Josiah ; the 
 fourth through the Reformation till his death. 
 
 § 998. In the first period we observe the moral arraign- 
 ment of the civil and religious evil-doers brought to a 
 climax by Isaiah and Micah. The excitement caused by 
 the denunciations of Micah is attested by their being 
 called to mind at a critical period more than a century 
 later (Jer. xxvi. 17 ff.). That Isaiah had a wider out- 
 look and did a greater work is partly due to his position 
 in the capital, and to his skill and sagacity in keeping in 
 touch with the leading people of the state, and at length 
 carrying them along with him — a class of people who 
 would have been alienated by the indiscriminate bitter- 
 ness of his provincial colleague. The most obvious out- 
 ward mark of the success of this double prophetic vocation 
 was the partial reform instituted by Hezekiah (§ 795 f.). 
 A more permanent result was the increase of attachment 
 to Jerusalem as the centre of national hope and worship, 
 due on the one hand to Isaiah's doctrine of the inviola- 
 bility of Zion, and on the other to the dread of the deso- 
 lation predicted by Micah. Still more potential morally 
 was Isaiah's conception of a community of Jehovah's 
 worshippers, which was partly realized in his own 
 little circle, and which kept itself intact in the darkness 
 of the following generation. Of this community the 
 lineal successor is the church of God, and its Literary 
 monument is the Old Testament. 
 
 § 9 ( .*'.i. With all the strength and nobleness of the ger- 
 minal ideas of this splendid prophetic era, it was marked
 
 114 PROPHETIC LIMITATIONS Book IX 
 
 by the limitations incident to its stage of moral develop- 
 ment. It is the gradual emancipation from these tram- 
 mels that distinguishes the comparative spiritual freedom 
 attained during the Exile. First, there was the notion 
 that the presence of Jehovah and the benefits of worship 
 were confined to his own land and people and his special 
 seat. This conception was not merely a necessity in the 
 evolution of religious thought, but it was also a saving- 
 practical doctrine, as it served to discourage the abound- 
 ing nature-worship and superstitions of the local shrines. 
 From the point of view of religious truth, however, it 
 manifestly tended to narrowness of view, intolerance, self- 
 sufficiency, and formality. 
 
 § 1000. Second, the view still prevailed that Jehovah 
 had an interest in the people as a whole rather than in 
 individuals. Hence the responsibility for good and evil 
 was rather national than personal. It is true that the 
 antithesis between the righteous and the wicked was 
 bound ultimately to make clear the principle of personal 
 responsibility. Indeed, the fundamental doctrine of proph- 
 ecy, that sin is a defiance of the will of Jehovah and 
 goodness a compliance with Ins will, implied freedom of 
 choice on the part of the individual. But these Hebrew 
 seers were not logicians or psychologists. They con- 
 cerned themselves more with the effect and issue of sin 
 than with its cause and origin, and it was a work of time 
 for them to break entirely with the traditional conception 
 of men as having a corporate rather than a personal exist- 
 ence. Hence the sinner was one of the community, a class 
 of " sinners " ; and the righteous man in the same way 
 was one of the community of the "righteous" or the 
 "pious." So persistent was the inherited tribalistic 
 notion (§ 397) that a single life resided in the clan and 
 was shared by its members, whose patron god was at the 
 same time its ultimate ancestor or life-giver. The power 
 of this inwrought idea could only be broken when a sense 
 of moral obligation was awakened in such men as Jere-
 
 Ch. IV, § 1003 DEFECTS AND OBSTACLES 115 
 
 miah and his pupils. But at this stage, when the party 
 of Jehovah or of righteousness was formed, the antithesis 
 was still felt to be between two communities and not 
 between two associations of individuals. 
 
 § 1001. A third limitation was the lack of proportion 
 and consistency in the prophetic estimate of virtues or 
 moral qualities. What affected the claims of Jehovah 
 and what touched the life of the community was of cardi- 
 nal importance. Hence to those prophets the great trans- 
 gression was the mixed or hypocritical or merely formal 
 worship of Jehovah; and next to it in impiety was the 
 oppression or robbery of Jehovah's wards, the poor and 
 humble. Thus is to be explained the fact that the most 
 obnoxious sets of people were the rich (§ 598) and the 
 priests. What we miss the most is the virtue of charity 
 and tolerance and a regard for man as man. The perse- 
 cuting and vindictive spirit and the threats of destruction 
 were not due, however, to odium theologimm, but to the 
 higher motive of indignation for wrong perpetrated 
 against Jehovah and his suffering people. 
 
 § 1002. The preservation of Jerusalem from the armies 
 of Sinacherib (see § 704 ff.) introduced a second period, 
 which was, however, very brief, as it lasted only till the 
 death of Hezekiah. It was marked by an increased regard 
 for the prophetic word on the part of king and people, 
 as well as more earnest efforts to put down the Canaanitish 
 modes of worship with their Babylonish accompaniments, 
 which had been fostered by Ahaz. The disturbed con- 
 dition of the country (§ 791) must have greatly obstructed 
 the moral and spiritual progress which the prophetic party 
 had hoped for. It is impossible, however, to get definite 
 information as to this obscure period generally, or even to 
 infer anything from subsequent conditions. 
 
 § 1003. Nor can we learn anything at first hand of 
 the devoted followers of Jehovah during the third period, 
 the cruel times of King Manasseh. But we know that 
 this was a time of intense occupation with the ideas
 
 110 REACTION UNDER MANASSEH Book IX 
 
 and aims of the faithful community. Only so can we 
 explain the strength of the reforming movement under 
 Josiah, and, what is more significant still, the ethical 
 wisdom and depth of the book of Deuteronomy. Thus 
 the fourth period (that of Josiah's regime) from the 
 point of view of moral and religious development, really 
 forms one great epoch along with the third, from which 
 it differs so greatly in all external features. In the later 
 time we see the embodiment of the ideas of the earlier, 
 the execution of its plans, and the fulfilment of its hopes. 
 
 § 1004. We have here a rare opportunity to balance 
 the opposing claims of the two communities thus engaged 
 in a struggle upon whose outcome depended the fate of 
 the world. Nowhere else were the true character and 
 tendency of the forces arrayed against prophetism so 
 clearly displayed. Just as signally revealed were the 
 aims and methods of the party of progress and reform. 
 Moreover, the issue of the conflict was then virtually 
 determined, or at least conditioned, since it was at this 
 stage that a movement was made all along the line 
 through which at last the conquered part)- became the 
 conqueror. Hence the very situation challenges our 
 inquiry into the merits of the contest. We ought to dis- 
 cover what was saving and permanent in the contentions 
 and principles of the party of progress and reform. 
 
 § 1005. There were two outstanding features in the 
 religious policy of Manasseh and his ministers. First, 
 lie made a systematic effort to repeal the reforming 
 measures of Hezekiah, and to substitute for his plain, 
 unsymbolizing worship of Jehovah a more imposing cult, 
 which should enthrall the multitude and extinguish reli- 
 gious puritanism. Second, he took active measures against 
 the reforming party, which culminated in persecution to 
 the death. The situation is obviously similar to that 
 of the reign of Ahaz, and also reminds us in several 
 respects of the religious strife of t lie days of Ahab and 
 Elijah. In both cases the adoration of strange deities
 
 Ch. IV, § 1006 SINCERITY OF THE DEVOTEES 117 
 
 was superadded to the symbolical image-worship of 
 Jehovah and to the old Canaanitish demonology. As 
 Ahab had been led by the prestige of the Tyrian alliance 
 to enter upon the service of the Phoenician Baal, so the 
 glamour of the victorious gods of his suzerain impelled 
 Manasseh to the erection of shrines for the celestial 
 pantheon of the Assyrians (§ 856). Under both Ahab 
 and Manasseh violence was resorted to for the suppres- 
 sion of the pure religion of Jehovah. The parallel is 
 made more striking still by the sequel of both adminis- 
 trations. When Jehu and Josiah came to power, they 
 alike retaliated in kind against the votaries of the alien 
 worship. Still more striking than these parallels is the 
 contrast shown in the fact that while the forms of wor- 
 ship promoted by Manasseh showed little or no moral 
 advance over those favoured by Ahab, the type of reli- 
 gion and morals exhibited in Deuteronomy is far higher 
 than that exemplified or tolerated by Elijah, Elisha, and 
 Jehu. 
 
 § 1006. One moral distinction, however, must be 
 granted to the religious practices of the time of Manas- 
 seh. I mean their intense earnestness and profound sin- 
 cerity. The variety of cult and ritual which they 
 exhibited, far from being an indication of spiritual fri- 
 volity, was rather a proof that every possible effort was 
 made to conciliate the native deities of Canaan and the 
 powerful gods of Assyria and Babylonia. The pathetic 
 appeals for light on the dark and urgent problems of 
 worship and sacrifice, which in Mic. vi. 6-8 are put into 
 the mouth of a pious contemporary, show that even a 
 votary of Jehovah could lie tempted to offer to Him that 
 form of oblation which was most horrible, and at the same 
 time most fascinating, in the heat lien rites of his time and 
 people. To offer up one's own offspring to Molech was 
 the acme of Canaanitish self-devotion, and that Israelites 
 could bring themselves to it shows a religious desperation 
 that could only be quelled by revolution.
 
 118 CONFLICT DOCTRINE AND DOGMA Book IX 
 
 § 1007. The ethical character of the prophetic religion 
 was promoted by the antagonism which sprang up on this 
 crucial question and other practical issues in the religious 
 life of the nation. The revolting cruelty of the deity 
 who could require such sacrifices could be easily learned 
 by all except misguided fanatics. A recoil was inevitable 
 in favour of Him who proclaimed to men baffled and dis- 
 heartened by the tyrannical claims of rival ceremonial 
 systems : " What doth Jehovah require of thee but to do 
 justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy 
 God? " True, the yoke of bondage to rites and cere- 
 monies could not be thrown off, and indeed it soon had to 
 be tightened in the interest of that very religion to which 
 it was essentially alien. The prophetic note, as often 
 afterwards, sounded far above the practical reason of 
 those who were charged with the offices of religion. 
 
 § 1008. But the ruling classes and the majority of the 
 people, both in and outside of Jerusalem, continued to 
 follow an organized system of heathen and half-heathen 
 worship, of which the most repulsive of practices were 
 a customary adjunct. Hence to the faithful minority 
 everything in the popular religion which detracted from 
 purity of thought and worship became more repugnant, 
 along with everything in practical life not in accord with 
 justice, mercy, and submission to the will of Jehovah. 
 The effect on belief or doctrine was necessarily intense 
 and lasting. Never is feeling so quickly crystallized into 
 an article of faith as in times of religious hardship and 
 conflict. To speak of dogma in the modern metaphysi- 
 cal sense as an expression of the Old Testament spirit 
 would be, it is true, an impertinence almost amounting 
 to blasphemy. The prophetic word, the basis of all 
 pre-Christian teaching, was not logical or philosophic 
 statement, but a revelation of concrete facts as to the 
 nature of Jehovah and the duty of men. And such a 
 communication of new truth had not only an outward 
 form but also an inner history that was human and per-
 
 Cii. IV, § 1009 HOLINESS OF JEHOVAH 119 
 
 sonal. The truth itself, as far as known, was the resultant 
 of manifold forces, social and individual, working under 
 the impulse and direction of the inscrutable divine spirit 
 in the souls of those through whom the message came. 
 All teaching was at once spontaneous, subjective, and con- 
 crete, based in its substance and expression upon the 
 experience and aspirations of men who had the gifts of 
 feeling, seeing, and speaking. Hence abstract dogmatic 
 statement was inconceivable and unimaginable, apart from 
 the fact that the language was incapable of being used 
 for the purpose. 1 Yet doctrines and principles may exist 
 without and before dogmas and maxims, and faith without 
 and before either. 2 These doctrines and principles were 
 propounded and practised in those days of storm and 
 stress with a conviction and energy of which philosophiz- 
 ing and critical peoples and times can have no conception. 
 § 1009. Such a doctrine was the holiness of Jehovah. 
 His sanctity had been always admitted. But it was a new 
 experience to preach and believe that He was both righteous 
 in action and essentially pure in character. The name 
 of Jehovah came to include holiness in this twofold aspect ; 
 and as the word (or) implies, it was his " mark " ■ — that 
 by which He was known. The foregoing observations 
 have led up to the conclusion that such a knowledge of 
 Jehovah was, in part at least, the outcome of moral 
 and religious antagonisms. The effect of such a belief 
 upon the character of the believer was regenerative. The 
 conception worked by reflex influence. To adapt the old 
 
 1 Even such familiar New Testament expressions as " God is Light,'' 
 " God is Love," are foreign to Hebrew conception and linguistic usage. 
 1 1 is scarcely necessary to remind the reader that the most abstract of the 
 doctrines of Jesus are given in concrete form ; for example : --lam the 
 Way. the Truth, and the Life." 
 
 2 "Faith" is never mentioned in the "hi Testament, though it is there 
 throughout in the form of "trust." Such is the faith that is even 
 ascribed to Abraham (§ 962), who had neither doctrines nor principles. 
 And the Roman centurion, who showed greater faith than any in Israel 
 (Luke vii. 9), had principles and no doctrines.
 
 120 SPIRITUAL [NDIVIDUALITY Book IX 
 
 saying: us a man's God is, so must he himself be. But 
 the converse also holds : what a man is, that his God must 
 also be. God, however, is an ideal, and man, essentially 
 a mere animal, but with head aloft and gazing into heaven, 1 
 normally aspires towards that ideal, lie can never become 
 as great and good as his visions. Yet it is only by strain- 
 ing that he rises at all. It is the pure in heart who see 
 God (Matt. v. 8) and "he that hath this hope in him 
 purifieth himself even as He is pure " (1 John iii. 8 ; cf . 
 § 994). 
 
 § 1010. Observe also how this clarified notion of Jeho- 
 vah's character tended to develop moral individuality 
 (cf. § 1000). The knowledge of his holiness could come 
 through personal experience alone. Whatever else was 
 a matter of traditional belief — his faithfulness to Israel, 
 his swiftness to punish his own and his people's enemies, 
 his readiness to accept a sacrifice — this vitalizing concep- 
 tion at least was a matter of conviction, and could be 
 certified to the individual soul alone. All that it implied 
 and all that it brought with it served to confirm and 
 deepen a personal relation with Jehovah. 
 
 § 1011. The most potent consequence was a new idea 
 of sinfulness and the results of forgiveness. Upon this 
 I need not here enlarge. What is of importance, how- 
 ever, is to see how the condition of the feeble and strug- 
 gling minority loyal to Jehovah favoured these spiritualiz- 
 ing ideas. Necessarily its members were excluded from 
 the services of the sanctuary (cf. § (109). How such a 
 privation tended to refine and ennoble the believer is 
 shown in one of the most beautiful and artistically perfect 
 of sacred poems (Ps. xlii., xliii ). Spirituality always 
 costs, and it was a heavy price that was paid for the bless- 
 ing. But the gain was worth more than all that was 
 suffered. Precious above everything else was the dis- 
 
 1 According to the well-known line of Ovid : " Os homini sublime dedit 
 caelumque tueri," Met. i, 85.
 
 Ch. IV, § 1013 THE COMPROMISE IX REFORM 121 
 
 covery anticipated by earlier prophets (Amos v. 21 ff., 
 Hos. vi. 6, Isa. i. 11 ff., et «/.), but now for the first time 
 verified by a community of separate worshippers, that 
 after all a sanctuary and its propitiatory sacrifices were 
 not necessary for the essential exercises of religion or for 
 pardon and peace with God. None the less did they 
 yearn for the renewal of those outward communications 
 with Jehovah which Old Testament saints always regarded 
 as channels of grace and help. And perhaps they them- 
 selves scarcely realized that greater blessings came through 
 the discipline of loss and separation than through the 
 enjoyment of the unbroken privileges of the sanctuary. 
 
 § 1012. Thus the national and official degeneracy of 
 the period of Manasseh reacted according to sure moral 
 laws upon the chosen spirits from whom came the words 
 and the deeds that were to save Israel and the world. 
 Practically the effect was seen most clearly in the period of 
 Josiah and Deuteronomy. But the reaction of unfettered 
 freedom did something more and something less than 
 fulfil the moral promise of the years of repression and 
 discipline. It invaded the spiritual sphere proper to 
 prophetic thought and activity, and it fell below the pro- 
 phetic ideal in laying excessive emphasis upon law and 
 ritual. The compromise was, however, inevitable. The 
 drafting of the reforming principles and methods came 
 into the hands of professionals, and the carrying out 
 of the reforms into the hands of politicians. On the 
 whole they did better for their time than the prophets 
 alone would have done in their place, for practical men 
 "are wiser for their own generation " than idealists, and 
 are saved .by a marvellous instinct from apprehending 
 more of new and saving ideas than they themselves arc 
 able or willing to put into practice. 
 
 § 1013. It will be remembered that the reform of Josiah 
 was conducted under the auspices of the priests. Their 
 interest in the matter requires that a. few words should 
 be said of the part played by them in the moral and reli-
 
 122 PRE-PROPHETIC PRIESTHOOD Book IX 
 
 gious education of Israel, 1 especially that it may be seen 
 whether or not it was purely formal. This vital point 
 may be decided by observing the tendency of their official 
 work to affect the character of their clients. 
 
 § 1014. To begin with, the primitive man felt that he 
 vas completely under the power of his God or gods. It 
 was this power that gave him thriving cattle or fertile 
 fields or a prosperous family, or, perad venture, scattered 
 his flocks, 1 (lighted his grain, or sickened or slew his chil- 
 dren. But such curses or blessings might be arbitrary 
 and inevitable. It was a decisive advance when a causal 
 and necessary connection between them and the character 
 of the individual was established ; in other words, when 
 some sense of moral responsibility was created in his 
 mind. Here the institution of propitiatory sacrifice 
 played a preliminary and auxiliary but most important 
 part. The matter of first consequence always was that 
 the deity should be conciliated. Even when national 
 issues were hanging in the balance, he might not always 
 intervene, for he might be indifferent or angered toward 
 the people. The business of the priests was to secure 
 his continual interest and favour. At first the}' inter- 
 ceded or sacrificed for the community, then for its repre- 
 sentative, above all the chief or king, then for individuals 
 in proportion to their prominence or the value of the 
 offerings presented at the shrine. Individuals also might 
 present their supplications or their piacula, the fruits of 
 the field or the firstlings of the flock. But this they did 
 in connection with sacred places and, if possible, through 
 sacred j;>ersons. 
 
 § 1015. In the Hebrew community, even before the 
 rise of prophecy, the conditions were peculiarly favour- 
 able to the development of an individualistic or spiritual 
 idea of religion in connection with ceremonial worship. 
 First, there was the prime advantage that in Israel after 
 
 1 Supplementing what has been noted of their judicial work in § 488 ff. ■
 
 Ch. IV, §1016 PRIESTS AS JUDGES AND ORACLES 123 
 
 the time of Moses there was very seldom a multiplicity of 
 coordinate deities to distract the worshipper or to weaken 
 the religious sentiment. What was most seductive was 
 the degradation of the worship of Jehovah by a sensuous 
 symbolism, and the survival or revival of ancient popular 
 superstitions. The purification of the worship of Jehovah 
 was, therefore, of itself a distinct gain for the religious 
 consciousness of the nation. Secondly, there was the fact 
 that the priests, the active and moving religious force of 
 the community, the mediators between Jehovah and the 
 people, were also counsellors and mentors in the place of 
 God (Ex. xxii. 7 f.; Deut. xxxiii. 9 f.) as givers of 
 oracles and decisions in matters of dispute. They thus 
 associated the life and conduct of their suppliants with 
 their religious services (§ 488 f.). So essential was 
 "direction" or "judgment" to the priesthood that the 
 very last of the Old Testament prophets, while indulging 
 in a pathetic reminiscence of the lost ideal, gives an ex- 
 haustive definition of this most spiritual of the priestly 
 functions as follows : " Trustworthy direction was in his 
 mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips : in 
 innocence and in uprightness he walked with me, and 
 many did he turn away from iniquity. For the lips of a 
 priest should guard right knowledge, and men should seek 
 direction at his mouth, for a messenger of Jehovah of 
 Hosts is he" (.Mai. ii. 6 f.). 
 
 § 1010. But in the very nature of things such offices 
 could not be a permanent attribute of the priesthood. 
 They could in truth only be duly fulfilled in an element- 
 ary stage of society. Partly on account of their abuse, 
 (cf. § 490) and partly on account of the gradual and per- 
 manent restriction of the priests to intercessory and sac- 
 rificial work, their judicial and oracular functions fell into 
 abeyance and were taken over by the prophets, or in more 
 businesslike fashion by the local elders (§ 486). It is 
 impossible to say how far the public or the individual con- 
 science was affected by this ministry of the priests. Prob-
 
 ]-2i PRIESTLY MORAL INFLUENCE Book IX 
 
 ably their influence for good was mainly conservative, 
 
 preventing' a relapse of the unstable society of the times 
 into social anarchy and strife, depredations and reprisals. 
 Vet we may be sure that their work was of positive bene- 
 fit in two directions. When honest and faithful, they 
 encouraged a spirit of justice and toleration among their 
 clients. What was perhaps of more potential value, they, 
 in their own persons, familiarized the people with the 
 fundamental principle that their common life was reli- 
 gious throughout, and consisted of something more than 
 religious service ; that their ordinary duties had a reli- 
 gious sanction ; that their obligations rested upon the 
 behest of a supernatural power, who was also the head of 
 the whole community. The consciousness or subconscious- 
 ness of this relation to supernatural powers gave of itself 
 no ethical quality to an action, but it furnished a basis 
 upon which the prophets raised the structure of spiritual 
 morality, thus taking up the higher work which an official 
 priesthood was incompetent either to apprehend or to 
 achieve. 
 
 § 1017. Thus neither the work nor the word of the 
 priests, as far as it was official and professional, could aid 
 directly in the moral and spiritual elevation of the indi- 
 vidual, since it did not operate in the realm of conscience. 
 But their indirect influence for good upon individual life 
 was immeasurable. Not only, as we have seen, did they 
 keep Jehovah before the mind of Israel in the twilight of 
 its reason and faith, but the larger ministry into which 
 they grew with the increasing complexity of both religious 
 and civil life made provision for ever enlarging and real 
 needs of worship and ritual. Ceremonial religion could 
 not, it is true, renew the individual heart and life; its 
 abuse could and did induce in the worshippers arrogance, 
 hypocrisy, and the exclusion of God himself by means 
 of the very symbols of his presence ; the unfaithful- 
 ness, venality, and sensuality of many of its ministers 
 drew upon them bitter and persistent prophetic denuncia-
 
 Ch. IV, § 1018 UNKNOWN WORKERS AND WRITERS 125 
 
 tions * (e.g. Am. ii. 8 ; Hos. v. 1 ff. ; Mic. iii. 11). Yet 
 this very priestly guild, when in harmony with the true 
 prophets, wrought salvation in Israel in critical times, 
 instigated all the reforms in worship, collected and 
 guarded both the civil and ceremonial law of the nation, 
 preserved the continuity of religious thought and knowl- 
 edge in the long dark ages of Israel's history, and edited 
 large and indispensable sections of the Old Testament. 
 
 § 1018. When we see how little the literary prophets 
 of the time had to do with the so-called " legislation " as 
 given in Deuteronomy, and, on the other hand, keep in 
 mind those who w r ere in most sympathy with its special 
 enactments, we gain an insight into the conditions of 
 moral and religious progress that is quite invaluable. 
 We are apt to suppose that it was the great prophets and 
 well-known guides of the people who had most to do with 
 epoch-making moral and religious movements that have 
 left their mark in the literature of the Old Testament. 
 The present instance shows plainly that this was not nec- 
 essarily the case. It indicates besides that a great deal 
 of the work which lay behind the moral, ceremonial, and 
 civil law of the Hebrews was done by obscure priests and 
 by disciples of the prophetic school (§ 937) in periods of 
 history which we usually regard as religiously dead and 
 unproductive. The growth of Deuteronomy, not merely 
 as a literary, but as a moral and religious achievement, 
 is proof of this. We know who the men were that were 
 concerned in bringing this book to light and in securing 
 its practical validity. We have no record of the epoch- 
 making men who were concerned in its production. 
 
 1 In degenerate times false prophets Leagued themselves with recreant 
 priests, a combination which virtually included tin' professionals of both 
 orders. It was then that the true prophets were most outspoken against 
 
 botli. The dark picture is completed by Jer. v. 31, vi. 13, viii. 10, 
 xxiii. 11, :)4 ; Zeph. iii. i; Ezek. xxii. 26. Cf. S l<»0(i.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE REFORMATION IN EFFECT 
 
 § 1019. Of the details of the work of reformation we 
 are not informed beyond the overturning of the abuses in 
 worship already noted (§ 854 ff.). There can be little 
 doubt that uniformity of religious service was secured 
 during the rest of the life of Josiah, that the high-places 
 were dismantled, that the idols disappeared from view, 
 and that resort to the central sanctuary at the stated 
 feasts was general and regular. Jerusalem itself was 
 thoroughly cleared of ceremonial and moral impurities, 
 and the ritual worship of Jehovah gained a dignity 
 and prestige which it never wholly lost. Among the 
 various adjustments of the new system special difficulty 
 must have been felt in settling the cases of the deposed 
 guardians of the loeal shrines. The provision whereby 
 the priests were brought to Jerusalem and maintained 
 there (2 K. xxiii. 8 f . ) must have been, if persistently 
 carried out, a heavy burden on the sacred revenues, as 
 well as socially injurious. Equal difficulty must also 
 have attended the organization and settlement of the 
 whole body of the Levites at Jerusalem (Deut. xviii. 
 1 IT. ). Practical obstacles must indeed have rendered 
 this special legislation to a great degree ineffective. 
 
 § 1020. The new programme had a fair trial. It was 
 maintained for twelve years, and during that time it had 
 behind it the official force of the kingdom, with the king's 
 authority and active support. A fair measure of success 
 
 126
 
 Ch. V, § 1021 DIFFICULTIES OF REFORM 127 
 
 attended it as far as it interfered with established usages 
 which were the vehicle and support of the popular reli- 
 gion. But the enforcement of the ethical provisions of 
 the "'book of direction" was a task beyond legislation and 
 its executive processes. The evils were inveterate and 
 virulent ; native to the soil (§ 405); the long habit of the 
 nation ; bound up with the practice of the great world, 
 Hebrew and Gentile, outside the coterie of prophets and 
 priests in Jerusalem, whose zeal must have been regarded 
 by many as an outburst of intolerance, and by many more 
 as a tumult of Utopian folly. It was easier to break down 
 an altar than to set free a family enslaved for a petty debt ; 
 to dismiss an idolatrous priest than to bring down from 
 his place of power and pride a grandee grown rich by 
 oppression and usury, or a judge in league with him 
 through bribery and perjury (Mie. vii. 2 f.). 
 
 § 1021. There were insuperable difficulties in the very 
 nature of the case. First, there was an inner contradiction 
 between the principles of the reform and its methods. Its 
 moral groundwork, and its pleas for repentance, trust, 
 and submission of the heart and life, were inconsistent 
 with the notion of physical compulsion. The due effect 
 of the appeals to the spiritual nature of the people was to 
 create an ideal of religious service which must have been 
 impaired by the drastic measures adopted to secure an 
 external reformation. Thus was presented, as in the book 
 of Deuteronomy itself, so in the system of conformity 
 and uniformity which it prescribed, that practical antithe- 
 sis between prophetic ideals and administrative necessi- 
 ties (cf. § 1012), and the far more profound antithesis 
 between zeal for truth and zeal for a system, which have 
 both sustained and marred the historic churches of Juda- 
 ism and Christendom. Accordingly, while the ideal of 
 Deuteronomy was to be at some time realized in the world, 
 it was impossible to accomplish by force what could be 
 effected only by moral influence and by the slow induce- 
 ments of Providence within the sotds of men.
 
 128 THE ANTITHESES OF REFORM Book IX 
 
 § 1022. Again, a fundamental and necessary defect of 
 the movement lay in the fact that while Deuteronomy 
 and its crusade appealed to Israel as a whole and as a cor- 
 porate entity, its arguments and exhortations could prop- 
 erly affect only the individual heart and life. And yet, 
 on the other hand. Deuteronomy had to hold fast to the 
 idea of the solidarity of the community, not merely be- 
 cause it was a traditional conception, but because nearly 
 all the pleas for a more spiritual religion and a nobler 
 mode of life were based upon it. It was upon the ground 
 of the common relation to Jehovah that the unity of the 
 nation was felt and recognized, and it was upon the same 
 ground that a common worship and loyal obedience were 
 claimed for Him, and that help for the poor and unfortu- 
 nate, and redress of all the wrongs within the community, 
 were made a matter not merely of sentiment but of practi- 
 cal legislation. Thus this dominant conception was at 
 once the strength and the weakness of the reforming- 
 cause. 
 
 § 1023. But it is easy to make a radical mistake in 
 summing up the effect of the Reformation and of the 
 manual of reform which an eminent critic has adjudged to 
 be "perhaps the most influential and far-reaching book 
 that was ever written." 1 We must not suppose that the 
 whole matter is settled by saying that on the one side 
 there were mere external regulations that rested jon force, 
 and on the other a proclamation of principles that ap- 
 pealed to the heart and conscience. It is not to be 
 assumed that ritual was wholly an outward thing. We 
 must, in the first place, distinguish according to their 
 nature and history between the ethical and the ritual in 
 revelation and religious usage. Each of them must be 
 regarded as a product of the higher religious life of Israel. 
 They were not antagonistic, though they wen- antithetic 
 (§ 1021). They ran from the beginning along parallel 
 
 1 Coruill, Der israelitische Prophetismus (2d ed. 1890). p. 91.
 
 Ch. V, § 1024 THE ETHICAL AND THE RITUAL 129 
 
 lines. The one was mainly impelled by prophetic inspira- 
 tion and direction ; the other sprang from the necessities 
 and proprieties of formal worship. The one was the free 
 and untrammelled outcome of reflection and discourse ; 
 the other was the result of official deliberation and agree- 
 ment, arrived at from time to time and finally embodied 
 in rule and statute. Both are rooted in the same great 
 dual motive, to secure the holiness of Jehovah's people 
 and the purity of his worship ; a motive working in long 
 lines of historic development, beginning with the first pre- 
 scriptions of Moses and ending perhaps in eternity. But, 
 looking at the inherent force and potency of the two ele- 
 ments of Deuteronomy, we see that the ethical is both 
 before and after the formal, the restrictive, and the puni- 
 tive, because it is inward ''in the heart " (I)etit. xxx. 14), 
 because it is spontaneous and unforced, because it is 
 self -at testing and self- justifying. The one is like the 
 cosmic influences, silent, sure, and constant, that '"pre- 
 serve the stars from wrong " and that give us the sun- 
 shine and the seasons. The other is like the terrestrial 
 forces, irregular and uncertain, that bring us clouds and 
 rain, lightning and tempest. The one, like the air of 
 heaven, is the very breath and life of soul and spirit. 
 The other, like the wind that bloweth where it listeth, is 
 often boisterous and harsh ; yet it keeps the moral atmos- 
 phere pure and sweet, and bears the voyager safe over 
 life's treacherous sea. 
 
 § 1024. The ethical and spiritual ideas of Deuteronomy 
 have given dignity and immortality to the book because 
 they inspired and vitalized its rules and ordinances 
 and because in themselves they have been among the 
 chief of all historic forces and agencies. Notice their 
 adaptation to the most urgent needs of the Hebrew com- 
 munity of the time. We are impressed by the patriotism 
 of the book, as being of the deepest and truest sort. To 
 
 the people of Israel, denationalized as they were by for- 
 eign customs as well as by long servitude to foreign po-
 
 130 PATRIOTISM AND INDIVIDUALISM Book IX 
 
 tentates, the doctrine was asserted and reiterated, that 
 tin- land was Jehovah's, and that they were the tenants 
 of it as Jehovah's people. " The land " or "the rest and 
 the inheritance" (xii. 9) or "thy gates" (i. e. thy city, 
 xvi. 5) " which Jehovah thy God giveth thee," is a stand- 
 ing phrase (cf. § 580 f.). This notion has ever since 
 inspired the must fervent and steadfast patriotism known 
 to the world, from ancient Palestine to modern South 
 Africa. Jehovah's service by Jehovah's people in Jeho- 
 vah's land may be taken as the theme of Deuteronomy. 
 See how even the formal prescriptions of the religious life 
 are permeated by the spirit of this threefold conception : 
 " And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruits 
 of the ground, which Thou, Jehovah, hast given me ! " 
 (xxvi. 10). Such Deuteronomic sentiments must needs 
 spiritualize and purify from pride and selfishness the feel- 
 ings cherished by men everywhere for home and family 
 and country. 
 
 § 1025. Even the conception of the corporate unity of 
 Jehovah's people, which has been noticed as a necessary 
 defect of the book in its practical enforcement (§ 1022), 
 became in the hands of the writer an actual preparation 
 for the later and truer principle of the relation of the in- 
 dividual to God. For the obedience and worship and 
 love of the heart, which were demanded upon the ground 
 of the common union with Jehovah, were bound at length 
 to manifest themselves as a personal experience and privi- 
 lege, known besides to God himself alone. But we 
 must leave the subject here, content to have merely 
 pointed out some of the ethical treasures that lie on the 
 surface of the book, or at a little depth below the surface. 
 
 § 1026. And yet in the book as it stands the purely 
 spiritual and ethical elements are secondary, introduced 
 for the purpose of upholding and commending a thorough 
 and rigorous system of ritual observance (§ 860 fL). 
 They are the pillars of a great structure, strong and 
 stately, but still in this building only pillars. The con-
 
 Ch. Y, § 1026 OUTLINE OF THE RITUAL SYSTEM 131 
 
 sequences of the ritual system itself may be summarized 
 
 as follows : 1 (1) The old religion of Israel found God 
 everywhere in the Holy Land, revealing his power by 
 various tokens : hence the multiplication of shrines and 
 images. The reformers, by abolishing images and sanc- 
 tuaries, left the common man outside of Jerusalem, the 
 favoured shrine, without the manifest signs of God's 
 presence, and therefore in a sense without God, since they 
 had not arrived at the conception of the divine omnipres- 
 ence. (2) Religion in the old time "had been a matter of 
 course and a constant element of everyday life. Every 
 meal was in fact a sacrifice. With the restriction of the 
 Israelite to the three great feasts and to worship at Jerusa- 
 lem alone, he was led to think of and to pass through life in 
 a great measure without religion, which had shrivelled up 
 to the observances of these three festal seasons. (3) In 
 the olden time every man was a priest in his own house, 
 and sacrifices were offered by many besides the priests. 
 Now, with the exclusive concentration of the priesthood 
 in the tribe of Levi, the distinction between clergy and 
 laity was created. At the same time the priestly func- 
 tion was modified. The priests, instead of being counsel- 
 lors and givers of oracles at the local sanctuaries, became 
 expounders of the written law. (4) Deuteronomy also 
 created the distinction between church and state. For- 
 merly the king and the government cared for and admin- 
 istered the affairs of religion. Now all this Mas in the 
 hands of a caste or order distinct from nobles and people 
 alike. Thus it was made possible for Israel, through 
 this churchly system, to survive the destruction of the 
 state. (5) Now for the first time religion was grounded 
 upon a book, and became itself a system of statutes or a 
 '•law.'' Ainl tints the doctrine of a Holy Scripture and 
 its inspiration is to be traced finally to Deuteronomy. 
 
 1 In what follows of this paragraph I have dene little inure than 
 abridge the observations of Cornill in p. 84 ff. of his admirable little 
 book, Der israelitische Prophetismus (2d ed. 1890).
 
 CHAPTEK VI 
 
 THE EGYPTIANS IX PALESTINE 
 
 § 1027. Outward conformity to prescription was at 
 best of little significance for the ultimate fate of the peo- 
 ple. The chances of a single life were all that lay between 
 it and a revulsion which might more than undo all that 
 had been effected at so great a cost. But thirteen years 
 of the new religious regime had passed when that life 
 came to an end, and in a way which seemed to belie the 
 promise of a happy reign. During the years of Josiah's 
 maturity his people must have increased in numbers, 
 wealth, and outward strength. Assyria having relaxed 
 its hold upon the district of Samaria, a portion of the 
 country to the north of the old boundary of Judah must 
 have been annexed, if it were only to secure protection 
 against bands of marauders from the other provinces of 
 Assyria now left without a settled government (cf. § 840j. 
 Josiah had excellent business men about him to administer 
 the revenues of his kingdom, lie was a strong ruler, and 
 his virtual independence increased his interest in tin- 
 development of his country. lie had a loyal army which 
 was ready to follow him even in hazardous enterprises. 
 Hence when it was thought necessary to attack a foreign 
 invader, the superiority of the enemy was not sufficient 
 to prevent his taking the field against him. 
 
 § 1028. The conflict witli this trespasser upon the soil 
 of Palestine brings the Hebrew people again upon the 
 arena of a world-moving struggle. It was the singular 
 distinction of this little community to be perpetually in- 
 
 132
 
 Cn. VI, § 1030 THE DYNASTY OF SAIS 133 
 
 volved in movements that turned the channels of human 
 history. When it was at peace, it was creating and work- 
 ing out the conditions of moral and religious progress 
 
 that were to be the example and the inspiration of all 
 coming time. When it was at war, it took a part far 
 beyond its relative political importance in those inter- 
 national contentions which decided the fate of the most 
 powerful of ancient empires. Now, after many years of 
 profound internal repose, it dashed, all of a sudden, into a 
 conflict on which depended the fortunes of the two great 
 civilizations of Oriental antiquity. 
 
 § 1020. Of the reigns of Esarhaddon and Asshurbani- 
 pal, not tlif least important events were the Assyrian con- 
 quest of Egypt under the former king, and its reconquest 
 and final abandonment by the latter (§ 756, 764 ff.). 
 Among other interesting matters was the great enlarge- 
 ment of international relations (§ 768, 775). The libera- 
 tion of Egypt from the Assyrian yoke was due in large 
 measure to mercenary troops of Ionians and Carians sent 
 to the support of Psammetichus I by Gyges, king of Lydia. 
 This dependence of the ruling dynasty upon the most 
 available foreign support continued to be a feature of 
 Egyptian history. The Ethiopian dynasty had been 
 crushed by Assyria. It had been self-reliant, patriotic, 
 and unbending. Necho 1, the prince of Sais in the 
 Delta, was a favourite of the Assyrians (§ 766); and to 
 them he owed not only pardon ami reinstatement after 
 rebellion, but support during the rest of his life. His 
 son Psammetichus was fortunate in securing the aid of 
 foreigners, who demanded only their pay and rations, in 
 driving out another set of foreigners, who strove for 
 dominion, homage to their gods, and unfailing tribute. 
 
 | 1030. This dynasty of Sais grew in power and in 
 largeness of aim and outlook. Sais, the capital, throve 
 apace, though Memphis, the old-time northern seat of 
 empire, was also patronized. The name of another city. 
 Thebes, or No-Amon, recalls a calamity that thrilled with
 
 134 NECHO II Book IX 
 
 its horrors the lands across the Isthmus (§ 770) and 
 reminded the world that the glory of Upper Egypt had 
 departed. The seat of power was permanently fixed in 
 the Delta, and the old sacred cities on the undivided Nile 
 took their place among the numberless monuments of the 
 past. Sais became our of the world's centres of influence. 
 Greek mercenaries and Tyrian merchants, both of whom 
 were granted settlements in the Delta, spread the fame of 
 the reviving empire of the Pharaohs among the nations. 
 The reign of Psammetichus, remarkable in so many ways, 
 was distinguished also for its duration. He was prince 
 of Sais in 664 B.C., deliverer and undisputed ruler of 
 Egypt in 645, and died about 610. 
 
 § 1031. Necho II, the Necho of the Bible, continued 
 his father's general policy and sought to surpass his 
 achievements. The encouragement of foreign soldiers, 
 sailors, and traders brought with it an astonishing spirit 
 of commercial enterprise. He attempted to restore the 
 old Suez Canal, but the work was too heavy, and he was 
 compelled to desist. 1 Herodotus 2 informs us that Xecho 
 had fleets of triremes in the Red Sea as well as in the 
 Mediterranean. His statement 3 that this Pharaoh sent 
 Phoenician ships from the Red Sea, which sailed around 
 Africa ("Libya") and returned through the straits of 
 Gibraltar in the third year of their voyage, is now accepted 
 as true, being confirmed by the report of the mariners 
 that during the trip they came to a stage where the 
 rising sun was on their right hand; that is, they turned 
 to the north after sailing to the south. 
 
 § 1032. Of more direct concern to us is the new de- 
 parture of Pharaoh Necho in foreign political relations. 
 His father had spent his chief energies in building up and 
 securing the kingdom which he had freed, and had forti- 
 fied his frontier cities south, northwest, and northeast: 
 
 1 This must be the real meaning of the exaggerated story of Herodotus, 
 II, 158. 
 
 2 Book II, 159. 3 P). IV, 42.
 
 Cii. VI, § 1003 INVASION OF SYRIA 135 
 
 Yet Herodotus x tells of his having taken Ashdod after a 
 long series of campaigns, ending perhaps about 015 B.C. 
 It is doubtful if this conquest was maintained, but it 
 shows how eager the Egyptians were to secure a base of 
 operations in Asia against Assyria. When Necho came 
 to the throne, that empire had been shorn, of its power, 
 stripped of its possessions, and dethroned from its suprem- 
 acy. The lion was no more king of the forest, but was at 
 bay in his lair (Nah. ii. 11 f.), and was being pressed hard 
 by the hunters, furious at the loss of the choicest of their 
 flock. Now at last Egypt seemed to have her opportunity. 
 It was long since she had ruled in the Westland of Asia. 
 For centuries she had played a waiting policy, acting on 
 the defensive, except when she was herself a subject state 
 of the hated Assyrian. 
 
 § 1033. It was in Necho's third year (008 B.C.) that 
 he brought his motley army across the Isthmus. Nineveh 
 had not yet fallen and had still a name to live, but now 
 there was none to defend the rich provinces of Mesopo- 
 tamia and Syria, whence her garrisons had been with- 
 drawn. Visions of a larger Egypt rose before the 
 Pharaoh's imagination, an empire unrestrained by the 
 desert, of which Tyre, the market-place of the world, 
 should be the centre. The conquests of Thothmes and 
 Rameses, immortalized in papyrus and stone, should be 
 outdone by his achievements. When he took the fateful 
 step, crossed the River of Egypt and entered the Philis- 
 tian plains, he looked to meet with such a welcome as 
 that which, a century before, had greeted from afar 
 the expected march of Egyptian armies! Then Egypt 
 was the hope of the desperate communities <>!' Palestine, 
 goaded to madness by Assyrian extortion. Eg\ pt was the 
 traditional ally of the oppressed peoples all along the line 
 of march. They will, lie thinks, make no opposition to 
 
 1 Il>. II, 1")7. Jeremiah xxv. 20 speaks of " Askalon, Gaza, and Ekron, 
 and the remnant of Ashdod."
 
 L36 JOSIAH SLAIN IN BATTLE Book IX 
 
 him now, and perhaps some sturdy bands of shepherds or 
 hunters will join his ranks for pay or the hope of plun- 
 der, lie does not dream of an attack from the only self- 
 contained nation this side of the Euphrates. He knows, 
 to be sure, that Josiah had sworn fealty to the king of 
 Assyria; but that was thirty years ago, and who, in any 
 case, would keep faith with a moribund oppressor ! He 
 p;i>scs the slopes of Judah and Benjamin and Ephraim. 
 He will not enter their territory now. or even negotiate 
 with the king of Judah. But on his return, victorious 
 over Nineveh and lord of Western Asia, how eagerly will 
 the remnant of Israel come forth to offer him homage ! 
 
 § 1034. He enters the [tlain of Jezreel, so full of names 
 that recall the old-time glories of the Pharaohs. Here he 
 becomes aware of an enemy on his flank. It is none other 
 than Josiah of Judah, who undertakes to cut off his march 
 and challenges his right to pass through the limits of 
 ancient Israel. Necho sends him a friendly message. 
 He is anxious to conciliate him, in view of the great busi- 
 ness now in hand. " What have I to do with thee, thou 
 king of Judah ? I am not against thee this day. but against 
 the (kingly) house with which I am at war" (2 Chr. 
 xxxv. 21). But Josiah will not listen. The armies come 
 together at Megiddo, at the first available point after the 
 plain of Esdraelon (Jezreel) had been entered from the 
 southwest by the pass that leads from the vale of 
 Sharon. 1 Josiah is hard pressed by the archers and 
 
 1 See the beautiful map in HG. Plate VI. Professor Smith argues 
 rightly againsl the supposition of Herodotus (II, 159) that Necho senl his 
 troops by sea to the coast and then followed the land northeastward, and 
 remarks that in that case he would have landed at Akko and not marched 
 as far south as Megiddo. The ev MaydSXip of Herodotus points to a con- 
 fusion of Megiddo with the frequently occurring "Magdala." The site 
 of Megiddo is the modern Lejjun ; see HG. p. 385 ff. The Kddvris which 
 Herodotus mentions as a large city of " Syria." captured by Necho after 
 the battle, cannot be Gaza, as some suppose, much less Jerusalem (isn-tp : 
 el Kuds), It is probably an Egyptian reminiscence of Kadesh on the 
 Orontes (§ 162 f.). The allusion in Jer. xlvii. 1 may perhaps be ex- 
 plained as an episode of the expedition of 587 (xxxvii. 5).
 
 Oh. VI, § 1037 HIS CASE AGAINST EGYPT 187 
 
 "sore wounded " (2 Cli. xxxv. 23). He is transferred 
 by his men to a "-second chariot," and over the hills of 
 Ephraim he is brought home to Jerusalem to die. 
 
 § 1035. The calamity was great and irreparable, and the 
 grief of the people of Judah could not be restrained. 
 "And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. And 
 Jeremiah lamented for Josiah. And all the singing men 
 and singing women celebrate Josiah in their dirges until 
 this day. And they made them a custom in Israel, and 
 behold they are written in the dirges " (2 Chr. xxxv. 21 f.). 
 But no lamentations could bring back the good king to 
 the land that he alone could rule aright ; or to his boys, 
 who were exposed by his death to dangers and temptations 
 from without and within ; or to the work of Jehovah, 
 which none of his kingly successors had the grace or the 
 power to continue. 
 
 § 1036. But to the stricken people the folly was not so 
 obvious as it is to us. Let us see what Josiah's motives 
 must have been. We may well suppose that he was 
 influenced by his oath of allegiance to Assyria. We 
 know what the prophetic view of this relation was. 
 In the solemn adjuration it was not simply the gods of 
 the suzerain whose vengeance was invoked upon the 
 recreant, but the God of his own land also, who was held 
 to have abjured his prerogative, and to have placed his 
 subjects at the disposal of the servants of Asshur (cf. 2 K. 
 xviii. 25; § 200, 700). And in proportion to the piety 
 and fidelity of Josiah must have been his sense of the 
 obligation to keep faith with his superior. Josiah's com- 
 pact with Assyria doubtless also included the obligation 
 on his part to protect, as far as possible, the whole of 
 Palestine, over which the empire of the Tigris had held 
 direct sway for more than a century. 
 
 § 1037. However we may regard this aspect of the 
 situation, we would in any ease find a justification for the 
 aggressive action of the king of Judah, in the Egyptian 
 invasion of his northern border. Egyptian success in
 
 138 EGYPTIANS EN SYRIA Book IX 
 
 Syria meant the certain subjection of Judah, the exchange 
 of a nominal vassalage to Assyria for assured submission 
 to Egypt. How abhorrent this must have appeared to a true 
 servant of Jehovah we can readily imagine. Among other 
 evils it might involve the addition of African deities to the 
 mixed and impure worship which had just been suppressed 
 but not extirpated. A student and disciple of the proph- 
 ets must have borne in mind their warnings against an 
 Egyptian alliance, and their denunciations of Egypt itself. 
 In the impending struggle Judah must be either an ally 
 or an enemy of Egypt ; and the choice made by Josiah 
 was not unworthy of a kingly soul, desperate as was his 
 march to the fatal plain of Megiddo. 
 
 § 1038. Thus Judah came, for the first and last time, 
 under Egyptian control. But the badge of servitude was 
 not at once affixed. Assured of the ultimate acquisition 
 of Jerusalem, Necho continued his northward march till 
 he reached a point whence he could direct operations 
 simultaneously against both northern and southern Syria, 
 and at the same time prevent an uprising in Palestine 
 itself. It was at Riblah on the Orontes route to the 
 Euphrates (§ 202) in the northern portion of Ccele-Syria, 
 that lie fixed his camp — a station which remained the 
 headquarters of great foreign armies of occupation till the 
 end of the Judaite monarchy : (§ 1213). 
 
 § 1039. Meantime the inevitable revolution took place 
 in the little kingdom thus bereft of head and hope. As 
 often happened in an ancient Oriental state suddenly left 
 kingless, two parties were formed. The one counselled 
 submission to Egypt. The other, consisting of the "people 
 of the land" (§ 806), stood tor patriotic independence. The 
 
 1 It is interesting to observe how the general conditions of warfare in 
 the Westland had changed since the days of Tiglathpileser III. Then 
 the great vantage points were Arpad, Ilainath, and Damascus (§ 204. 
 307, 335). Now from one central rendezvous the whole of Syria and 
 Palestine could be overlooked and controlled ; so much had the Assyrian 
 arms and government and military routes unified the lands and the 
 peoples.
 
 Ch. VI, § 1039 KING JEIIOAHAZ 1:39 
 
 sturdy freeholders, who had begun to feel the blessings 
 of a long peace and righteous administration, foreboded 
 impoverishment from the Egyptian yoke with its fines 
 and tribute, and set upon the throne Josiah's son Jehoahaz 
 (2 K. xxiii. 30). Of his unfortunate young life only 
 shadowy recollections were left even to his own and the 
 next generation. We are not quite sure what place he 
 held in the family of Josiah. 1 It is probable that he was 
 the second son and that the older, Jehoiakim, being fav- 
 ourable to Egyptian rule (cf. 2 K. xxiii. 34), was put aside 
 by the independent faction. His given name seems to 
 have been Shallum (Jer. xxii. 11). Of his general 
 character we have little or no indication. The poetical 
 sketch by Ezekiel (xxi. 3), which is identical with that 
 drawn of Jehoiakim (xix. 6), is nothing more than a charac- 
 terization of the average king of Judah. His reign of three 
 months was, indeed, too brief to leave any definite impres- 
 sion. Courage, at least, was shown by his defiance of the 
 Egyptian king and army. The next step was the natural 
 sequel to the overthrow of Josiah. A force was sent 
 against Jerusalem. The city was besieged and soon 
 capitulated. Jehoahaz was dethroned and brought in 
 
 1 According to 2 K. xxiii. 31, Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old 
 at his accession, and according to xxiii. 36 his brother Jehoiakim was 
 twenty-five. Hence we would infer that Jehoahaz was the second in age. 
 But, the list of the sons of Josiah in ] Chr. iii. 17 f. (in which the Lucian 
 Sept. reads correctly "Jehoahaz" instead of the unknown "Johanan" 
 of the received text) declares him to be the eldest. What is still more 
 extraordinary, the same list, giving four sons, calls the youngest " Shal- 
 lum," the name by which Jehoahaz is known to Jeremiah (xxii. 11). 
 From this one might be tempted to infer that Jehoahaz was really the 
 youngest son, whom the landholders had enthroned as a mere lad and as 
 tlms being more likely to yield to their purposes; that ••Johanan." the 
 eldest, had died in infancy ; and thai the " twenty-three " of 2 K. xxiii. 31 
 (copied in 2 Chr. xxxvi. 2) is an error. More likely is it, however, that 
 the compilers of the list of sons, overlooking the identity of Jehoahaz and 
 Shallum. found a place foi the latter name by putting it at the end of 
 the group. Again, it is quite possible that the same compilers, taking 
 account of the fact that Jehoahaz was the first to ascend the throne, 
 assumed that he was the eldest.
 
 140 THE EXILED KING AND HIS SUCCESSOR Book IX 
 
 chains to Pharaoh in his northern encampment. His 
 fate was such as in those days befitted a rebel of the first 
 degree. He was carried away to Egypt (2 K. xxiii. 34) 
 with every mark of ignominy (cf. Ez. xix. 4 and § 802). 
 With him were deported a considerable number of the 
 people, who formed a sort of colony for a few years at least 
 (Jer. xxiv. 8). There he remained a prisoner, and no man 
 knows when death released him from that ancient "house 
 of bondage."" Though little trace is left of him in the 
 records of history or in human memory, certain words 
 uttered concerning him, more perhaps in sorrow than 
 regret, are unforgetable. 
 
 " Do not weep for the dead, 
 And do not mourn for him ; 
 Weep sore for him that goeth away, 
 For he shall never more return, 
 And see the land of his birth. 1 
 
 " For thus saith Jehovah as to Shallum, son of Josiah, 
 king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father, 
 and who went forth from this place : He shall not return 
 thither any more. For in this place whither they carried 
 him captive there he shall die, and this land he shall see 
 no more." (Jer. xxii. 10 f. ; cf. § 1143.) 
 
 § 1040. Eliakim (••Whom God establishes"), presuma- 
 bly the eldest son of Josiah, was now placed upon the 
 throne by the Egyptian invader to advertise to the world 
 his own supremacy in Palestine, and to impress upon the 
 people of Judah their change of masters. Pharaoh modi- 
 fied his name 2 to Jehoiakim ("Whom Jehovah estab- 
 
 1 Cf. § 301, ami the article. "What Exile meant to Israel," in the 
 Sunday School Times, Sept. 9. 1809. 
 
 - There was no usage among ancient Orientals more expressive than 
 the giving of personal names. The name was not a label, as it is with 
 us, but a characteristic. In Hebrew phraseology it is sometimes even 
 equivalent to the person himself, as '-the name of Jehovah." Among 
 other relations it specially indicates that of dependence, above all when 
 it is " theophorous," or bears the name of a deity (cf. §407.. In the 
 pr< si hi case Necho would not alter the essential meaning of the name, for
 
 Cii. VI, § 1042 EGYPT AND THE CIIALD.EAXS 141 
 
 lishes"). A line of one hundred talents of silver and 
 one talent of gold was levied directly upon the land, and 
 this amount was duly exacted from the baffled freeholders 
 (2 K. xxiii. 33). 
 
 § 1041. Jehoiakim had as king a difficult task to fulfil, 
 and neither his mental nor his moral endowments Mere 
 equal to his responsibilities. I lis character will require 
 our attention later, as a matter of Biblical interest (§ 1122). 
 AYe are now more directly concerned with the events of 
 his reign. For three years and longer the Egyptian yoke 
 was worn by the people of Judah. Probably a reasonable 
 autonomy was granted them. Egypt's best policy was 
 to make the dependence as little galling as possible ; for, 
 though rebellion was certain to be unsuccessful, the hands 
 of the Egyptians were tied by the necessity of guarding 
 the eastern frontier of their newly acquired possession. 
 And ere long their light-hearted campaign was completely 
 frustrated by the Chaldsean conqueror, who had already 
 claimed the Assyrian realm as his inheritance and was 
 steadily advancing to the realization of his purpose. 
 
 § 1042. The reconquest of the Assyrian provinees of 
 the West was, however, not to be the achievement of 
 Nabopalassar himself. According to the account which 
 Ave get from Berossus by way of Josephus, the Chaldsean 
 leader remitted this arduous task to his son Nebuchad- 
 rezzar, who was said to have borne an important share in 
 the conquest of Nineveh, lie had had a busy life, spent 
 in the slow process of building up his native state till 
 it could divide with the aggressive Median power the 
 sovereignty of the richest port inn of the world. He had 
 now spent two years at least (cf. § < s 27 ) in the business of 
 introducing law and order into his eastern provinces. I Jut 
 it was a matter of time to win over the country between 
 
 Judah was still Jehovah's land. Hut the very slightest chant:!' in the form 
 
 would imply bis authority as the namer, and therefore the master, of the 
 subject prince. At the same time the term chosen would indicate his 
 patronage of the local religion of Jehovah.
 
 1 12 EGYPT GIVES PLACE TO BABYLONIA Book IX 
 
 the Rivers to the new regime, and to adjust so many un- 
 settled districts to the new government. 
 
 § 1043. It was, accordingly, not till 605 that young 
 Nebuchadrezzar was ready to cross the Euphrates. His 
 encounter with the Egyptians must have seemed a predes- 
 tined success. Pharaoh Necho, in spite of his years of 
 occupation, soon realized how insecure was his tenure of 
 the old Egyptian possessions (§ 1033). He did not dare 
 to meet the advance of the Chakheans on the east of the 
 River, but made his stand at Carchemish (Jer. xlvi. 2), 
 the famous old fortress and emporium on the western 
 side. The defeat of the Egyptians was followed by their 
 retreat and their eventual abandonment of their Asiatic 
 dominions. Thus the futility of Egypt as a military 
 ] lower was once more demonstrated, and its fondest hopes 
 of an Asiatic empire shattered forever. 
 
 § 1044. The kingdom of Judah fell in due course to 
 the victorious Chakkean. The fate of the Hebrew peo- 
 ple was henceforth for nearly ninety years bound up with 
 the policy and fortunes of the Babylonian empire. Our 
 interest in their outer and inner history becomes more 
 intcllierent when we remember their wider relations. 
 Whether at home as a subject state, or in exile as a band 
 of slaves, the Hebrew community was but one of a number 
 which owned the sovereignty of Babylon, and played their 
 parts in the world under its protection and surveillance, 
 and under the external conditions which it imposed. We 
 must therefore try to get some tolerably correct notion 
 of the genius and scope of this later Babylonian regime, 
 and of the policy of the ruler who made so deep an impress 
 upon his own and later times.
 
 Book X 
 HEBREWS AND CHALDuEANS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 BABYLON AND NEBUCHADREZZAR 
 
 § 1045. We have now arrived at one of those turning- 
 points in the affairs of Israel and of the world, which may 
 well make us pause for a brief retrospect. There is a 
 widespread impression that ancient Semitic history, in con- 
 trast with that of the Western lands, is monotonous and 
 lifeless, devoid of a continuous purpose and of great 
 inward motives. One of the aims of the present work 
 is to rectify this error, and to show to what great issues 
 the history of the North Semitic communities continually 
 and coherently tended. Next to Israel itself the most 
 potent factor in this process of the ages was Babylonia. 
 The significance of some of the very earliest movements 
 in the valley of the lower Euphrates has been already 
 foreshadowed (§ 93, 116, 291), and will soon appear 
 more clearly in the unfolding of the decisive events. 
 Even the history of the Assyrian empire, involving the 
 fate of Israel and of Western Asia during its critical 
 epochs, was but a side-current in a larger stream, fed at 
 the beginning, and ever and anon replenished, by Baby- 
 lonian thought and endeavour. 
 
 143
 
 144 STORY OF THE CHALDEANS Book X 
 
 § 1046. From the political and moral standpoint none 
 of these movements was more important than the latest 
 of the Babylonian revolutions — that which made the 
 Chaldseans leaders of the Semitic world. Apart from 
 the essential significance of this movement there attaches 
 to the story of the Chaldseans a romantic interest but 
 seldom awakened by the achievements of Oriental com- 
 munities. The nearest parallel is that afforded by the 
 history of the rise of Judah to predominance among the 
 trihes of Israel. But in the vicissitudes of the Chahhean 
 princes there is even more of heroic and patriotic achieve- 
 ment than that which has made so illustrious and fasci- 
 nating the career and adventures of David. Their efforts 
 to expel the Assyrians from Babylon, and to secure for 
 themselves the dominion which they alone had the genius 
 and the courage to administer, lasted for a century and 
 a half, and was carried on during most of that period 
 against fearful odds. 
 
 § 1047. To recall to the reader their deeds and their 
 fate I need only refer to the earlier passages in this work 
 devoted to their commemoration. Under their own proper 
 name they come first into view in the ninth century B.C. 
 (§ 223). For a hundred years they submit with but little 
 resistance to the Assyrian kings. Next we see their 
 tribes resisting in common the Assyrian encroachments, 
 and showing on their own part an equal and unique 
 aggressiveness. Then we find them during the reigns of 
 Sargon and Sinacherib under the leadership of the great 
 Merodach-baladan aspiring to the possession of Babylon 
 itself, and maintaining there an intermittent authority, 
 fraternizing with the patriotic party throughout Babylonia, 
 winning over for a time the all-powerful priestly interests,' 
 and when forced to retreat to their native haunts by the 
 sea, proving themselves to be almost an invincible foe. 
 The persistent onslaughts of Sinacherib kept them in the 
 background, and thereafter till the end of the Assyrian 
 empire they were forced to content themselves with re'
 
 Ch. I, § 1049 THEIR ORIGIN AND GENIUS 145 
 
 prisals and precarious alliances with the foes of the op- 
 pressor. The leaders of the Chaldrean uprising were 
 hunted down and exterminated to the third generation by 
 the last of the great Assyrian kings. But the overthrow 
 of his dynasty and the destruction of his empire soon fol- 
 lowed as the Nemesis of this and kindred atrocities, and 
 swift as was Assyria's decline and fall, swift also was the 
 rise of the Chakhean power. 
 
 § 1048. Obscure as is the origin of these adventurers 
 from the " Sea-land," their national character and politi- 
 cal methods are unmistakably clear. Though their 
 antecedents seem unfavourable to such an historical 
 role, they were genuinely Babylonian in their spirit and 
 aims, and completely identified with the old Babylonian 
 policy in church and state. Nor was this attachment to 
 Babylonian things ami ideas a mere result of their acquisi- 
 tion of the city of Babylon with its imposing institutions 
 and inspiring traditions. From the earliest time of their 
 appearance in history they show evidence of a certain 
 community with the very locality which afterwards 
 became the centre of their dominion. Their favourite 
 objects of worship, as we learn from the naming of their 
 children, were precisely those deities which were honoured 
 above all in Babylon and Borsippa, the gods Merodach 
 and Nebo. This coincidence, with the fact that they 
 seemed to claim a certain right to rule and protect 
 the city of Babylon, suggests that whatever may have 
 been the origin of the bulk of the population (ef. § 223), 
 at least the ruling class were of Babylonian origin in the 
 strictest sense of the term. They were possibly a colony 
 driven southward by the Kasshite invaders (§ 120 if.). 
 
 § 1049. Along with these tendencies the Chabhean 
 empire established by Nebuchadrezzar exhibited a genius 
 for centralizing government which was distinctively Assyr- 
 ian. The new establishment, standing as it did in the 
 direct line of imperial development which culminated in 
 the Roman empire (§ 6), naturally enough assimilated the
 
 14G NO CHALDJEAN REVOLUTION IX ASIA Book X 
 
 antecedent political and national types. The temper of 
 the Babylonian people, encouraged by the religious and 
 mercantile habit, was politically too inert to secure the 
 supremacy or even the continued liberty of the state. 
 Assyria, on the other hand, had perfected a military and 
 political system, which if imitated with moderation and 
 caution, might well be expected to endure in peace 
 and safety. It is this synthesis in the Chahhean mon- 
 archy of the Babylonian and Assyrian types of national 
 spirit and purpose which has given such significance to the 
 closing epoch of the ancient Semitic regime. But of this 
 later on. We are now to see how Nebuchadrezzar the 
 Chahhean dealt with the old subject states of the West. 
 
 § 1050. Though the Chahhean type of government 
 had such a general resemblance to its predecessor, the 
 process of erecting the new empire upon the ruins of the 
 old almost seems to have violated a necessary law of 
 Oriental history. Nineveh had fallen ; but would not 
 the victor ruling in Babylon continue the policy and the 
 methods of the Assyrian empire in all their rigour? 
 "Western Asia had never known such a stern regimen as 
 that which was wielded from the banks of the Tigris, 
 nor was any such to be henceforth known in that ill-fated 
 land, until Tartar cruelty and Muslim intolerance were 
 made secure by "Christian" diplomacy, until Assyrian 
 paganism was outdone in savage lust by a system which 
 follows up conquest with devastation, and prolongs the 
 horrors of war in official rapine and murder. In the 
 remaking of the nations, after the collapse of Assyria, 
 there was something new under the sun. It had been 
 the standing order of the ancient world that one form 
 of tyranny over feeble states should be superseded by 
 another equally galling, that the resettlement of affairs 
 in the subject territory should involve the turmoil and 
 bloodshed of a tedious reconquest. Such was not the 
 fate of the lands that had owned the sceptre of Nineveh. 
 The reason was. in part, that they were weary of resist-
 
 Ch. I. § 1051 NABOPALASSAK 147 
 
 ance and of strife, and were ready to accept any rule that 
 would not press too heavily. The work of subverting 
 the nations had been done by the Assyrian once for all. 
 No subjugation in detail was needed by Chaldaean or Per- 
 sian or Macedonian or Roman. Hence the wonder of the 
 Chaldaean revolution. Momentous as was the effacement 
 of the first empire of the world, the establishment of the 
 second, under a new autocrat, did not reverse the political 
 fortunes of the dependent peoples. With them the deci- 
 sive question was whether the Assyrian should have an 
 imperial successor. When this issue was fully decided, 
 the affairs of the Semitic world resumed their normal 
 course, with Babylon at the helm instead of Nineveh. 
 Syria and Palestine were longer disturbed than the other 
 old dependencies of Assyria, but the distortion was soon 
 set right again. 
 
 sj 1051. This freedom from disturbance was also due, 
 in large measure, to the character of the first two rulers 
 of the new empire, who were men remarkable for energy 
 and wisdom. The earlier career of Nabopalassar (625- 
 605 B.C.) 1 has already been described. His breadth of 
 view was shown by his alliance with C}*axares of Media, 
 and by his plans for the organization of the dominion that 
 fell so suddenly into his hands. The allotment of the re- 
 spective spheres of control, which eventually became, in 
 both rases, actual possessions, was made on the simple and 
 
 1 Of tliis epoch-making prince something more personal is known from 
 his own inscriptions. He appears as the devout restorer of the temple 
 of Merodach, ••tin.' temple of the foundations of heaven and earth" in 
 I'.alivlon, and of the temple of Mr-lit i Melt is) at Sippar. His care for Sip- 
 par is also shown by his having built a canal for restoring the deflected 
 waters of tin' Euphrates to that ancient city (§94). These acts indicate 
 his desire to make northern Babylonia, which had been longest under 
 Assyrian control, more surely Chaldaean. The Merodach temple inscrip- 
 tions are published by Strassmaier, in ZA. iv, 129 ff.. with translation (for 
 
 which ef. KB. iii. "_'. p. 'J. ff.), and. after a more complete copy, by Ilil- 
 
 precht, in OBT. I. pi. ::•_'. ••)••; i transcribed by l». W. McGee, MA. iii, 52 
 those relating to Sippar, by Wmckler, in ZA. ii. •!'.» ff., 145 f.. and 172 f. 
 
 (cf. KM. iii, 2, p. 6 ff., and MA. iii. .VJT f.).
 
 148 MKDIAN AND BABYLONIAN LIMITS Book X 
 
 obvious basis that the Medes should have the highlands and 
 the Chaldaeans the lowlands of Western Asia. Each peo- 
 ple thus chose according to its previous habit of life and 
 native preference, and upon the lines thus indicated each 
 advanced till the limit of extension was reached. 1 Hence 
 the Chaldsean realm embraced nearly all that the As- 
 syrians had succeeded in organizing and controlling — a 
 territory thus made ready for a new imperial adminis- 
 tration. Assyria proper (§ 74) was itself divided. The 
 northern portion lying - on the mountain slopes fell to 
 Media, which thus kept guard over Nineveh, while that 
 which lay to the south of the Lower Zab became Baby- 
 lonian. The boundary lines, defined by nature, were, as 
 far as we know, always settled amicably, in spite of the 
 expansion of the two empires along contiguous lines. 
 Moreover, the Medes became indirectly protectors of 
 Babylonia. The chief danger which had long threatened 
 the Semitic country, and which contributed greatly to the 
 ruin of Assyria, was the incursions of mountain tribes 
 from the north. These were kept in hand by the Medes, 
 who made them either allies or subjects. 
 
 § 1052. Only two years of life remained to Nabopalassar 
 after the fall of Nineveh, and it was reserved to his illus- 
 trious son to give its permanent character to the Chaldeean 
 name and empire. Nebuchadrezzar II (Nabu-kudur-usur, 
 "Nebo, preserve the boundary, " 604-562 B.C.), though 
 the heir of the Assyrian monarchy, was a genuine Babylo- 
 nian in spirit and temper. lie is, indeed, the representa- 
 tive Babylonian, as Tiglathpileser III is the representative 
 Assyrian. With him conquest Mas not the occupation nor 
 dominion the end of the life of a monarch. These were a 
 part of his responsibilities as successor t<» a line of warriors 
 and world-rulers ; but his real interest was the worship of 
 
 1 It is noteworthy that the Medo-Persian expansion under Cyrus 
 (S 1386 S. : continued in the same direction, the Babylonian empire re- 
 maining intact long after Cyrus had subdued tin- whole of tin/ highlands 
 
 as far as the coast of the -35gean.
 
 Ch. I, § 1053 NEBUCHADREZZAR 140 
 
 his gods, the care of their temples, unci the upbuilding of 
 Babylonia, especially of its capital city. As the head 
 of an empire he stood midway between the Assyrian and 
 the Persian types : he did not harass and ravage his subjects 
 like the former, while he did not study local interests like 
 the latter (see § 1414). He cannot fairly be called an 
 aggressive ruler. His general policy was rather to keep 
 the empire intact, according to its Assyrian limits, than 
 to extend its boundaries. Hence, as a ride, he avoided 
 aggressive war throughout his long reign. His slowness 
 to undertake suppressive campaigns, and the freedom he 
 allowed his vassals, as in the case of the kings of Judah, 
 were due to his tolerant and generous disposition, as well 
 as to his preoccupation with his beloved Babylon (§ 1055). 
 He reminds us somewhat of Esarhaddon (§ 762) in his 
 largeness of view and o-oodness of heart. Of Nebuchad- 
 rezzar also it can be said that, while stern toward the 
 Leaders of a rebellion, the mass of the offending com- 
 munity were treated with consideration — a fact to which 
 the people of Judah owed their survival. 
 
 § 1053. Under the old Semitic type of government a 
 strong monarch literally made the kingdom or the em- 
 pire (§ 51, 534). The importance of Nebuchadrezzar 
 for the history of Israel and of Revelation makes it fortu- 
 nate that he is one of the few ancient Orientals of whose 
 personality we can gain some knowledge. There are 
 two aspects of his character which specially reveal the 
 source of his influence. In one of these he appears as a 
 religious man and in the other as a patriot. 1 Strictly 
 
 1 It is only these aspects of liis character thai arc illustrated in his 
 numerous inscriptions so tar discovered. Like other Babylonian kings, 
 he describes his temples, palaces, ami public works, and ignores Ins mili- 
 tary and political achievements. The principal published inscription is 
 
 that in the possession of the Last Indian Office in London, in archaic 
 characters, I R. 53-58 (in cursive or modern Babylonian, 59-64). I R. 651 
 also gives the cylinder inscription firsl published by the famous Grotefend 
 
 in 1 S IS. and a few shorter ones appear iii I li. 51 f. Since the date of I K. 
 
 ( 1861 ), several others have been found and published. Si e the transcrip-
 
 150 A RELIGIOUS CHALDJEAN Book X 
 
 speaking, the religious sentiment explains most of his 
 public actions. Babylonian kings generally, as compared 
 with those of Assyria, showed their devotion to the gods 
 by preserving and beautifying their sanctuaries rather 
 than by subduing the nations in order to increase the 
 number of their Notaries. How much more highly he 
 estimated his favourite form of practical religion is evi- 
 dent from the tenor of his principal inscription, in which 
 he makes almost the only allusion to his warlike achieve- 
 ments found on his monuments. In this passage, 3 which 
 merely forms part of an introduction to the story of his 
 works of piety at home, he speaks of having subdued 
 many countries near and far in the service of Merodach. 
 § 1054. The inscriptions of Nebuchadrezzar are not 
 singular in being full of devout expressions. What we 
 observe in him is the concentration of his devotion upon 
 a few gods of the Babylonian pantheon, especially Mero- 
 daeh, the healer and protector of mankind, and his son 
 Nebo, the god of revelation and knowledge. These 
 were, to be sure, the tutelary deities of Babylon and the 
 surrounding region, so that he would worship them 
 chiefly in any ease. But it is the kind of worship paid 
 to any deit}- that indicates the character of the wor- 
 shipper. Now what is conspicuous in Nebuchadrezzar 
 is the purity and self-abandonment of his adoration, as 
 contrasted with the self-laudatory grandiloquence of the 
 Assyrian kings. Indeed, there was none among all the 
 ancient Semites whose recorded utterances are so little 
 unlike those of the worshippers of Jehovah. The follow- 
 
 tions and translations by Winckler in KB. iii, 2, pp. 10-71, forming a 
 valuable handbook of the monuments of the great Chaldsean. There 
 nearly all the published inscriptions are given except Pognon's Inscrip- 
 tions babyl. de Wadi Brissa (§ 1211 note). A long inscription in fine 
 preservation lias been obtained by the Pennsylvania expedition. Brief 
 inscriptions, at least, he must have written about other matters, for a 
 fragment much mutilated tells of an expedition to Egypt in his thirty- 
 seventh year. See Pinches, in TSBA. vii, 210 ff., and Tiele, BAG. 435 f. 
 1 Neb. II, 12 ff.
 
 Ch. I, § 1055 RELIGIOUS MOTIVE DOMINANT 151 
 
 ing is a prayer to Merodach : " Everlasting ruler, lord of 
 all that is, the king - to whom thou hast given a name well- 
 pleasing to thyself, make thou him x to prosper and lead 
 him upon a plain path. 2 I am the prince obedient to 
 thee, the creature of thy hand ; thou hast created me and 
 hast allotted to me the dominion of the whole race of 
 men. According to thy grace, O Lord, which thou hast 
 made to pass over them all, let me love thy glorious do- 
 minion ; let the fear of thy god-head dwell in my heart ; 
 grant what seemeth good to thee, O thou who hast created 
 my life." 3 Such was the religion of the Chaldaian "ser- 
 vant of Jehovah " (Jer. xxv. 9.). Thus were fulfilled 
 the pious hopes of Nabopalassar, who has left on record i 
 that in restoring the great temple of Merodach in Baby- 
 lon, he himself and his two sons joined in the tasks of the 
 workmen (cf. § 749), and that he bade the older lad carry 
 mortar to the walls and bring offerings of wine and oil. 
 
 § 1055. In his patriotic endeavours to build up and 
 strengthen Babylon, the main motive was also religious. 5 
 Indeed, every public work was a religious performance, 
 Moreover, the temples and the priestly organization held 
 such practical control that no business interest was un- 
 touched b} T them. But the reader should have a clearer 
 idea of the city and the country which made a second 
 home for Israel during so many years. Of the plans for 
 developing the country at large we can speak better when 
 we come to describe the Hebrew colony on the Kebar 
 (§ 1272 ff.). The Babylon of the time, where some of the 
 exiles dwelt, and which was virtually a creation of the 
 Great King, may here be very briefly described. 
 
 1 Literally, " his name." (Cf. § 1410 note.) 
 
 2 Ps. xxvii. 11. The words tor "plain" in the two prayers are from 
 the same root "\vh. 
 
 '■■ Xeb. I, 55 ff. ; II, 1. 
 
 4 Inscription fur the temple of Merodach, II. 00 ff. 
 
 5 This hail the result, of undue care fur Babylonia, at the expense of 
 the interests of the subject states ; cf. § 1 L62.
 
 152 BABYLON THE GREAT Book X 
 
 § 1056. The Bible student and the student of history 
 are equally moved by the name of Babylon. 1 It is per- 
 haps our most familiar type of fallen and desolate grandeur. 
 Complete as is its present desolation, its former glory 
 was equally conspicuous. Oriental antiquity bad nothing 
 to equal it, and to the western world it long remained the 
 ideal of human magnificence. It was the immemorial 
 capital of a great community, to which, above all other 
 nations, ancient traditions were precious and sacred. In 
 it were gathered the treasures of the literature, science, 
 and art of a people among whom knowledge and skill were 
 always appreciated and always progressive. It was the 
 emporium, the workshop, and the university of Asia. It 
 was the survivor and the heir, not merely of many opu- 
 lent cities, but even of old superseded civilizations. It 
 was now prosperous as never before. The time, too, was 
 propitious. The Semitic world was enjoying the blessings 
 of peace, after the downfall of the Assyrian disturber and 
 the tumults and strife of many centuries. The Chaldaan 
 
 1 Any description of the Chaldsean Babylon must still be very general. 
 Since the era of modern rediscovery, the native records have given us the 
 first authentic accounts (see note to § 1053). But from the point of view 
 of the writers, the details are necessarily selective rather than descriptive, 
 and valuable information is to be gained from classical writers, especially 
 Herodotus (I, 178 ff.), who personally viewed the city about 450 n.c. 
 The account of Ctesias (in Diodorus Siculus) is somewhat less reliable. 
 Very important, though scarcely more than panoramic, are the state- 
 ments of Berossus (in Josepbus against Apion, I. 10, § 1057), himself a 
 resilient of Babylon. One of the best modern descriptions is that of 
 Tiele ( BAG. pp. 441-454), and there is a good, though too reserved, dis- 
 cussion by Pinches, in EB., art. '-Babylon," with a plan. In both of 
 these essays the observations of the modern travellers — Rich, Taylor, 
 Ainsworth, Loftus, Rawlinson, Layard, and others — have been taken 
 into account. Dr. 1). W. McGee, lecturer in University College, Toronto 
 (drowned in 1895 at the age of twenty-three), had nearly completed a 
 treatise, Zur Topographie Babylons auf Grund der Urkunden Nabopa- 
 lassars und NebuJcadrezars, which is now in course of publication in BA., 
 edited by Professor Delitzsch. The present excavations by the German 
 expedition under Koldewey promise to clear up many unsolved difficul- 
 ties of the gravest kind.
 
 Cn. I, § 10G7 THE CITY RENEWED 153 
 
 princes had brought Babylonia to its own again. With 
 the inspiration of a swift and splendid access of freedom 
 and power, they were eager to repair the former devas- 
 tations (§ 740, 783), and make the resurgent capital the 
 centre of the world. And stronger than mere political 
 motives in the new kingly line was a holy jealousy for 
 the name and dominion of Merodach and Nebo. Rival 
 deities must abdicate their thrones in the many-templed 
 cities of Babylonia for the greater glory of the gods of 
 Babylon. What was their loss was the gain of Merodach 
 and Nebo and of the city of their love and choice. Mero- 
 dach, indeed, had always been greater than any single 
 name could express. As patron of Babylon the great, he 
 was invested with the attributes of the old Babylonian 
 Bel. Thus Bel, once worshipped at Nippur, the most 
 ancient centre of the Semitic religion, was now resident 
 in the seat of the world's empire as Bel-Merodach. 1 
 Thus it was that in the phrase of a Hebrew prophet 
 (Tsa. xiii. 19) Babylon became "the glory of kingdoms, 
 the proud adornment of Chaldaea." 
 
 § 1057. Speaking of Nebuchadrezzar Berossus says : 
 " He adorned the temple of Belus and the other temples 
 in an elegant manner out of the spoils he had taken in 
 this war. 2 He also rebuilt the old city and added another 
 to it on the outside, and so far restored Babylon that 
 none who might besiege it after that time should be 
 able to divert the river, so as to make an easier entrance 
 into the city. And this he effected by building three 
 walls about the inner city and three about the outer. So 
 
 1 Cf. Jensen, Koamologie, pp. lot, 307 ; Jastrow, BBA. i>. ">i f.. 1 16 S. 
 The identification of Bel and Merodach was as old as the political suprem- 
 acy of Babylon under Chammurabi (S 11") ; hut the absorption oi B61 
 by Merodach, with a complete interchange of names, is characteristic of 
 the Chaldaean era. The indirect effect upon Israel of this depreciation 
 (if Nippur and its •• Bel" will be pointed ou1 later (§ 1286 f.). 
 
 2 That is. the early campaign in the West, interrupted by his father's 
 death, which Ber08SU8 or Josephus) combines in one description with the 
 liter operations in the Wi -i.
 
 154 THE CITY AND ITS WALLS Book X 
 
 when he had fortified the city with walls and adorned the 
 gates magnificently, he added a new palace to that which 
 his father had dwelt in, close by it also, but loftier and 
 more splendid. . . . Immense and magnificent though it 
 was, it was finished in fifteen days. In this palace he 
 erected very high promenades supported on stone pillars : 
 and by planting what was called a hanging garden, and 
 replenishing it with all sorts of trees, he made it resemble 
 exactly the scenery of a mountainous country. This he 
 did to please his queen, because she had been brought up 
 in Media, and w r as fond of mountainous surroundings." 
 
 § 1058. The above may serve as a vague outline to 
 which some definiteness may be given by details from other 
 sources. First, as to the general situation of the city. 
 It lay mainly on the east or left bank of the Euphrates, 
 the most thickly settled portion occupying a space of 
 about four miles across from north to south within the 
 irregularly bending course of the river, which turns south- 
 west, south, and east, and then runs due south for five 
 miles, the modern village of Hillah being three miles south 
 of the easterly bend. The features of most interest and 
 importance were the walls, the canals, the temples, and the 
 palace. The outer wall was of enormous extent. Accord- 
 ing to Herodotus, the city was 480 stadia or 55 miles in 
 circumference, and this wall 80 feet wide. Alongside 
 of it ran a moat so broad that no arrow could be shot over 
 it. 1 Above its w r ide summit stood dwellings of officials, 
 and between them lay a street where chariots might run. 
 This wall, said to be mountain-high, was the greatest struc- 
 ture known to antiquity. It was the work of Nebuchad- 
 rezzar and his men, devised to make the defences of the 
 city doubly sure. It was pierced with "a hundred" gates 
 <it' bronze. This was, however, not the outermost obstacle 
 to a possible invader. Eastward still was dug an immense 
 
 1 There were enclosing walls for this moat, which may explain the 
 reported statement of Berossus, quoted above, that there were three 
 walls around the outer city.
 
 Ch. I, § 1060 THE CITY PROPER 155 
 
 artificial lake supplied by an overflow of the Euphrates 
 and by diverted affluents of canals. Four thousand 
 cubits inward from the outer wall stretched the rampart 
 Nemitti-Bel (" The station of Bel '*) and the inner wall 
 Imgur-Bel (" Bel is propitious"). 1 This immense inter- 
 vening space was occupied with fruit and vegetable gar- 
 dens, groves, suburban residences, brick-kilns and other 
 factories. The rampart and the inner wall had been begun 
 by Nabopalassar and were now finished by Nebuchadrez- 
 zar. The numerous gates in both of these walls leading 
 to the city proper were inlaid with bronze and splendidly 
 ornamented. Between Nemitti-Bel and Imgur-Bel lay a 
 moat, itself enclosed with walls of no mean altitude, and 
 having its slopes completely bricked. 
 
 § 1059. In the city itself the numerous streets ran at 
 right angles to one another, as in the most modern of our 
 own towns. At the ends of certain principal streets the 
 moat was bridged over, and bridges also spanned the chief 
 canal east of the Euphrates, which ran from north to 
 south through the city. On both banks of the Euphrates 
 long lines of quays received the merchandise of the 
 world, and the river between was thronged with boats 
 and barges of every description known to inland naviga- 
 tion (cf. § 1305). The Euphrates formed the main 
 western defence of the city proper, but doubtless the 
 smaller city on the right bank of the river had its own 
 system of fortification. 2 
 
 § 1060. A colossal temple and the royal palace crowned 
 the work of the Great King within the walls. The great 
 temple, known in the artificial priestly terminology as 
 
 1 Besides Nebuchadrezzar's own Inscriptions, see II R. 50, 20. 21, a, b. 
 It was in Babylonian surroundings that a Hebrew prophet said of the 
 ideal restored Jerusalem, "Thou shalt call its walls 'Salvation,' and its 
 gates • Praise'" (Isa. lx. 18). 
 
 2 In the time of Herodotus there was a considerable portion of the city 
 mi the west of ihc river (I. 180). Berossus (Josephus against Apion, i, 
 20) seems to implj that new walls were erected in the reign of Nabonidus. 
 Put the inscriptions of Nabonidus say nothing of this.
 
 156 TEMPLE AND TOWER Book X 
 
 Esagila ( k> the lofty house "),* was a very ancient struc- 
 ture ami it was the pride of all the kings of Babylon to 
 keep it in repair and beautify it. This temple and the 
 shrines of which it was composed lie adorned with lavish 
 generosity and unrivalled elegance and splendour. The 
 temple proper resembled in arrangement and functions 
 the temple in Jerusalem, 2 but some of the features which 
 \\ere distinctly Babylonian were also of great importance 
 for the history of Oriental religion. We can only remark 
 here the threefold division of a vestibule, a long inner 
 court, and a most holy place or oracle, entered ever}- Xew 
 Year's day (the first of Nisan) to know the will of Mero- 
 dach. Of the appliances of the temple we note particu- 
 larly the chief altar in front, two large columns at the 
 entrance to the court, 3 a large basin or ''sea" (ajpsw), and 
 a ship, adorned with precious stones, in which Mard.uk 
 was carried in festal procession. 4 
 
 § 1061. Most characteristic of the chief Babylonian 
 temples was a four-sided building called a zikkurat ("high 
 tower"'), which was separate from the main structure, 
 though an essential part of the whole sanctuary. It was 
 at Babylon and Borsippa of seven stages corresponding to 
 the seven planets : Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus. Mars, 
 Jupiter, Saturn. Originally, however, it was merely an 
 erection of indefinite height upon a mound or terrace — 
 the "high place" of primitive worship. While in Israel 
 and elsewhere the temple was a development of the high 
 place and its shrine, in Babylonia, with its complex sys- 
 
 1 Assyr. bit elu (§ 117). 
 
 - See the summary of the parts in Tiele, BAG. p. 444, and, for the 
 whole subjecl of Babylonian temples, Jastrow, RBA. p. »'>12 ff. 
 
 ■ ; Found at Nippur ami Lagash, and doubtless a feature of Babylonian 
 temples generally, apparently a survival of a gateway. See RBA. p. <'>•-' •") f. 
 
 4 This was a prominent feature of the Babylonian cult. Each god had 
 his own vessel, which had a special name given t<> it. The custom was a 
 survival from the times when the chief cities lay on the Persian Gulf. 
 See RBA. p. 654 f. May it nol also symbolize the belief that the ocean 
 was the ultimate source of the divine beings ?
 
 Ch. I, § 10G2 TEMPLE AREA AND PALACE 157 
 
 tem of worship, this storied tower was the direct evolu- 
 tion of the high place itself, the other structures being 
 developed from the shrine and its belongings. This 
 tower of gradually narrowed stages was the most impos- 
 ing single feature of the whole sacred establishment. 1 To 
 relieve its monotony enamelled bricks of gorgeous colours 
 were employed for many, at least, of the rows. This lofty 
 structure had also numerous shrines attached to it, and 
 the space between it and the temple proper was the gath- 
 ering place of votaries, where stood the chief altars, and 
 where offerings were presented. Perhaps in the same re- 
 gion were the tables of the money-changers, with their 
 constant noisy traffic. Within the sacred precincts were 
 also many chambers and separate buildings in which was 
 transacted the business, sacred and secular, of the vast 
 institution (cf. § 1287). The whole temple area was 
 enclosed by a wall, which thus, in Babylonia at least, 
 embraced a city within a city. 
 
 § 1062. To match the grandeur of the city and temple 
 of Merodach, and to further protect Imgur-Bel, the king- 
 erected a new palace alongside of Nemitti-Bel and 
 between the two walls, probably to the north of the tem- 
 ple area. A terrace of 490 cubits in length was prepared, 
 and in fifteen days the actual building of the palace was 
 completed. 2 It was protected by a double wall of brick 
 
 1 At Borsippa (§ 1063), where the ruins are best preserved, Sir Henry 
 Rawlinson reckoned its height at 140 feet, the first stage being 272 feet 
 square and the seventh 20 feet. In most ruined cities the remains of these 
 structures are the most prominent object. The minor temples had no 
 such storied towers, since each of these originally marked the site of a 
 separate city, the founding of which was an act of worship i ^ ins i. on the 
 symbolical idea of the structure, sit Kosmologie, p. 256; I { ISA. ]>. 614 If. 
 
 - This is the statement of the kin- himself (Neb. VIII, 64 f. ) : " In fif- 
 teen days I completed its construction." Thus the account of Berossus 
 (<; 1057) is confirmed. The site of this mosl renowned of ancient pal- 
 aces, where Nebuchadrezzar lived, where Cyrus held court, ami where 
 Alexander died, is generally held to he el Kasr, " the palace," the central 
 mound of the city proper (cf. Her. I. 181). See the plan in EB. by 
 Mr. Pinches.
 
 158 BABYLON AND BORSIPPA Book X 
 
 and stone. The gates were inlaid with bronze, bordered 
 with gold and silver, and inlaid with precious stones. 
 This palace he then connected with the old palace of his 
 lather. What he himself thought of the structure we 
 learn from his own words : ''That house I made an object 
 of admiration to be gazed at by all mankind. I decorated 
 it splendidly. With a prodigality of strength and with 
 the awe of my majesty its walls are compassed round. 
 Nm evil or unrighteous man doth enter it. The attack of 
 the hostile and the unsubmissive l I have kept far from 
 the sides of the citadel of Babylon. The city of Babylon 
 I have made as strong as a wooded mountain." 2 
 
 § 1063. A word must be said of the neighbouring city 
 of Borsippa. to the south, but on the western side of the 
 Euphrates. This was not, as was formerly thought, en- 
 closed within the outer wall of Babylon, from winch its 
 own outer wall must have lain at least four miles distant. 
 Its sacredness to Nebuchadrezzar was due to its being the 
 proper seat of Xebo, who shared with Merodach, from the 
 remotest times, the divine sovereignty and protectorate 
 of the district of Babylon or Babylonia proper. Its tem- 
 ple town Ezida ("the enduring house"') 3 we have already 
 spoken of (§ 1061, note). The king restored the de- 
 cayed temple of Xebo and his consort Nana, renewing 
 also the temple tower with great magnificence and maj- 
 esty. This famous structure, "the house of the seven 
 lights of heaven and earth " (the planets, § 1061), can 
 hardly have been the "tower of Babel" (Gen. xi.). This 
 phrase seems to be a generalized expression for a great 
 city foundation, of which "Babel" was the type. The 
 tower of Babylon itself (Esagila, "the lofty house"), 
 which was probably, at least, as large as that of Borsippa, 4 
 
 i la babil pani, " who does not present the face," i.e. refuses to appear 
 before the king and do homage. 
 
 - Neb. VIII, 29-14. a Assyr. bit kenu (§117). 
 
 - The •• tower " of Sargon at Khorsabad (§ GG7) was of about the same 
 elevation as that of Borsippa. The identification of Borsippa with the
 
 Ch. I, § 10C4 THE LIFE OF CITY AND PEOPLE 159 
 
 is more naturally to be understood. Borsippa was also 
 strongly fortified, the king's concern for it being scarcely 
 less than that which he felt for Babylon. 
 
 § 1064. To get a more adequate conception of Babylon 
 as the Hebrew exiles saw it, we must think of the mani- 
 fold occupations and employments carried on in the city. 
 We must imagine the warehouses filled with the products 
 of Europe, Asia, and Africa. We must picture to our- 
 selves the manufactories large and small, each branch of 
 industry being assigned to its own quarter or quarters of 
 the city. We must visit in fancy the shops where "goodly 
 Babylonish garments " and rich carpetings were offered 
 for sale, where the finest work of the potter was displayed, 
 where precious unguents and perfumes were to be had, 
 where countless articles of bronze, of silver, of gold, and 
 of all sorts of precious stones, were enticingly set forth. 
 We must observe what a number and variety of clay 
 cylinders and tablets were made and sold, and realize that 
 we have before us the panorama of an Oriental Athens 
 and Rome in one — a place of knowledge and inquiry; 
 of universal reading and writing ; of immense monetary 
 and property interests ; of system, law, and complex ad- 
 ministration. We must have before our mind's eye the 
 men of the city, with their long linen tunics reaching 
 to the feet, their woollen mantles, and the short white 
 cape over all; their thick-soled sandals, their long hair 
 bound up into fillets, and their delicate perfumes ; every 
 one of them with a staff in his hand carved with an apple, 
 a rose, a lily, an eagle, or some other fanciful device. 1 
 Finally, to understand what manner of men the Baby- 
 lonians were we must resort to their temples, and see 
 how much of their life was attached to and moulded 1>\ 
 the worship of their gods. 
 
 famous tower of Genesis has been favoured by the preservation of its 
 gigantic ruins. But, according to Eerodotua 1 1, 1*1 ), the tower <>f Baby- 
 lon was one stadium square at the base, that is, about six hundred feet. 
 1 See Her. I, 195.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 SILENCES OF PROPHECY TILL THE CHALD^EAN EPOCH 
 
 § 1065. Prophetic disciples were active during the 
 reign of Mauasseh and the Deuteronomic time (§ 042 >, 
 but prophecy did not cry aloud. It may have been stilled 
 in the attempt in the former period. But why did it not 
 find a voice during the latter? 1 Was it because it was 
 making- itself felt in legislation ? Not exactly ; for in 
 Deuteronomy it was resounding in echoes and vibra- 
 tions rather than in its own fresh, spontaneous utterance 
 (cf. § 943, 1012). Inter leges silent prophetce. One figure, 
 greater than Josiah or Hilkiah or any other contemporary, 
 is missing from the picture drawn for us of the episode of 
 Deuteronomy and the reformation (§ 846 ff.). Jeremiah, 
 the most spiritual of the prophets, and personally the 
 most interesting, had begun his prophetic career in 626 B.C. 
 (Jer. i. 1 ), live years before the finding of the "book of 
 direction." Why did neither he nor Zephaniah nor Hab- 
 akkuk take part either in the promulgation 2 of the " law " 
 or in the direction of religious affairs generally during 
 the life of Josiah ? The fact itself is startling. The 
 great prophets of the Old Testament fill the whole stage 
 
 1 Zephaniah (§ 830) probably delivered his brief prophecy before 
 G21 b.c. Nalium (§ 831 ff.) confined himself almost entirely to Nineveh. 
 Jeremiah's work under Josiah will be considered later (§ 922 ff.). 
 
 - It is usually supposed that in Jer. xi. 1-8 the prophet is charged "to 
 make an itinerating mission in Judah for the purpose of setting forth 
 the principles of Deuteronomy and exhorting men to live accordingly" 
 (Driver, Intr. & p. 255 ; cf. Cheyne, Jeremiah, liis Life and Times, p. 5(5). 
 Such a commission, however, was out of harmony with the vocation of 
 Jeremiah (§ 1066 f.). The true explanation is given in § 1100. 
 
 100
 
 Ch. II, § 10G6 THE INDEPENDENT PROPHET 101 
 
 of its action with their substance or their shadow, and we 
 naturally associate them with all that was monumental in 
 church or state. The subject has been glanced at already. 
 We have said that they were not professionals (§ 851), 
 and that they were idealists rather than practical men 
 (§ 9^3). But the case demands somewhat fuller notice. 
 § 1066. As to the more official character of the work 
 of the prophets, we ma}* observe : (1) They were licensed 
 to preach and ordained to the ministry by Jehovah alone, 
 and their divine investiture placed them not only above 
 but outside of the prophets of the official or hereditary 
 class. Moreover, just in proportion as the teaching of 
 the prophets concerning Jehovah and his claims upon his 
 people became purer, the prophetic office was more widely 
 separated from officialdom of any sort, from association 
 with any class or order of men. (2) Hence the true 
 prophet was an immediate, original force, unfettered by 
 personal entanglements. An official position of any kind 
 would detract from the moral influence of the prophetic 
 word. A professional prophet might be suspected of 
 ulterior motives in delivering his message, especially in 
 a community where divining and soothsaying were in- 
 digenous customs. An independent prophet of Jehovah 
 might perhaps be thought fanatical or fallible, but he 
 could never be fairly regarded as designing or mercenary, 
 as an intriguer or a conspirator. (3) Similarly, the word 
 of the true prophets, unlike that of the professionals, had 
 no external validity or authority. It claimed simply to 
 be the word of Jehovah. Its speakers were neither the 
 slaves nor the agents of a king or a court or a hierarchy. 
 The age of Deuteronomy and the succeeding time shows 
 clearly the distinction, from this point of view, between 
 them and the prophetic guilds. The prophets generally 
 appear as closely connected with the priests, and, indeed, 
 in some cases, subject to them (Jer.xx. 2 ; xxix. 26) 1 ; 
 
 1 Cf. W. R. Smith, Prophets, pp. 85, 889.
 
 162 JEREMIAH AND THE REFORM Book X 
 
 and the subserviency of both alike to the ruling forces in 
 the state is notorious. 1 The ministry of the independent 
 prophets was as much a protest against professional ser- 
 vility as it was against the tyranny of tradition and 
 custom. Compulsion was alien to them, and persuasion 
 was their chief resource. 
 
 § 1067. We see accordingly how such a man as Jeremiah 
 stood aloof from the enforcement of the practical enact- 
 ments of Deuteronomy. He could not identify himself with 
 the violent measures of repression, for that would have 
 prejudiced him with the people who were, as far as his 
 agency was concerned, to be won over by the genial meth- 
 ods of moral inducement. His commission to proclaim far 
 and wide the penalties of the violation of the moral law 
 (§ 1100) makes him a typical prophetic figure, standing 
 out in relief from the scenes of image-breaking and evic- 
 tion and scourging and imprisonment that marked the 
 practical operation of the law of Deuteronomy. What an 
 interval separates Samuel (1 Sam. xv. 26 f.) or Elijah 
 (1 K. xviii. 40) from Jeremiah ! The one executes offi- 
 cial punishment, the other does not even announce it. 
 
 § 10G8. Something similar may be said of his lack of 
 interest in the other great feature of the Deuterono- 
 mic movement — the reformation of ceremonial worship. 
 What distinguishes him here is his noble disdain of ritual 
 or ceremony as a spiritual or even as a religious func- 
 tion. This is characteristic of the true prophet every- 
 where. But Jeremiah stands in the very midst of the 
 idolatry (ch. vii. 16 ff., 31) which it is the aim of Deuter- 
 onomy to supplant by a centralized and more rigorous 
 ceremonial, and tells the worshippers that God does not 
 care for sacrifice at all (vii. 22 f . ; cf. § 1094). 
 
 § 1069. Something more startling still confronts us. 
 
 1 A good instance is afforded in the history of Jeremiah himself. His 
 fellow-townsmen of the priestly village of Anathoth, who doubtless had 
 acted under Josiah in harmony with the Reformation, actually attempted 
 to put him to death under Josiah*s successor (Jer. xi. 21).
 
 Ch. II, §107 JEREMIAH AND JOSLA II 163 
 
 Not only did Jeremiah stand aloof from the enforcement 
 
 of Josiah's reforms ; he seems to have had no official 
 dealing's with him at all. Yet eighteen years of his pro- 
 phetic career had passed before Josiah's death. It is true 
 that he must have spent a part of his time, especially in 
 the earlier years, in his native Anathoth, where he had re- 
 ceived the call to the prophetic office, and with which he 
 continued to have much to do throughout life (cf. xi. 21 ff.; 
 xxxii. 7 ff.). But his mission was mainly to Jerusalem 
 (ii. 2 </?.), and his message was such as to challenge the 
 attention of the highest and lowest alike. Moreover, 
 Jeremiah, in spite of his diffident sense of youthfulness 
 (i. 6), was little if at all younger than Josiah, and in view 
 of his commanding gifts and aggressive ministry one 
 would expect that he would hold a sort of tutelary rela- 
 tion toward the young king. What is perhaps the most 
 striking of all is the fact that in the extant prophecies of 
 Jeremiah there is not a single contemporary personal allu- 
 sion to Josiah (see xxii. 15 ff.). Could Josiah dispense 
 with him ? Or, what is much the same thing, did he 
 merely tolerate his preaching and mildly patronize him? 
 Either the one or the other, it would seem. 
 
 § 1070. Are we prepared for such a conclusion? Does 
 it shake our faith in the theocratic character of Josiah's 
 work of reform? Not necessarily. God fulfils himself 
 in many ways, and for its immediate purpose, at least, the 
 scourge of Josiah and his priests was as necessary as the 
 pleadings and remonstrances of Jeremiah, and apparently 
 as effective within its proper sphere. And if the king 
 moved in a lower and narrower spiritual sphere than that 
 of the prophet, we may assure ourselves thai he could not 
 do otherwise. We have no evidence that he was a man 
 after Jeremiah's heart, or was deeply imbued with the 
 most advanced prophetic spirit. Was any Hebrew ruler 
 of a kindred mind with the truest prophet of his time? 
 We have credited Hezekiah with deference to the pro- 
 phetic word (§ T'.tT), but he did not enter fully into
 
 164 PROPHETS AND OFFICIALS Book X 
 
 the spirit of reform until his chastisement had brought 
 him under the ascendency of Isaiah. The case of Josiah, 
 who. would seem likely to be the most amenable of all 
 kings to direct prophetic influence, shows that the inde- 
 pendent prophets were always in advance of the best au- 
 thorities of their time. The broad explanation is that 
 precedent and custom, which determined the occupation of 
 most of the citizens, ruled also in affairs of religion and 
 worship by means of the professional priests and prophets, 
 who had a powerful moral hold upon king and people 
 alike through ceremonial and legal prescription. In short. 
 the most enlightened and progressive officials of the nation 
 were able to utilize the finest results of the prophetic 
 teaching of an earlier era. but could not reach out be- 
 yond them. The reformers under Josiah were not dis- 
 coverers like the independent prophets. They were 
 inventors, and the king gave and secured them their 
 patent rights. 
 
 i; lull. What we learn definitely of the relations of the 
 preaching prophets to t lie king and officials generally is 
 this : That the two spheres lay quite apart ; that the 
 prophets interested themselves in all parties and classes in 
 the state, but only in their moral and spiritual relations ; 
 that their function was critical ; that they confined them- 
 selves to reproof and admonition and did not take part in 
 theories or measures of practical reform. Hence while 
 they did not inveigh directly against evil kings, they did 
 not enter into formal relations with those of the better 
 sort. They even exercised their oracular functions but 
 little, and, to do the later kings justice, they troubled 
 even the greatest of the prophets very seldom by asking 
 their counsel, except in circumstances of extreme national 
 peril. Even Josiah. therefore, had little public association 
 with Jeremiah, and of private friendship between these 
 two illustrious Israelites we have no information. 
 
 § 1072. There was one apparent exception to the gen- 
 eral fact that prophecy did not concern itself with spe-
 
 Ch. II, §1073 THE PROPHETS AND POLITICS L65 
 
 cific public measures. Prophecy took for a special prov- 
 ince the international relations of Israel. This, however, 
 is just in accordance with its fundamental character as 
 shown in its historical development (e.g. § 295 ff., ~-o ff.). 
 And the active interest of the prophets in international 
 matters was promoted by the fact that as far as moral influ- 
 ence was concerned they here had the field to themselves. 
 While reform in worship or ritual, or even in outward 
 manners, was under the direction of the priests and the 
 rulers of the people, with the king at their head, in the 
 region of foreign adventure these national guides were 
 all at sea, and especially incompetent to estimate its 
 moral and religious dangers. This wider region of 
 statesmanship accordingly fell to the prophets. 
 
 § 1073. What the prophet Isaiah dared and achieved 
 in this preeminent region forms one of the most inspiring, 
 and at the same time one of the most fruitful, themes of 
 Old Testament history. It might be supposed that there 
 was also room and occasion for prophetic intervention and 
 counsel in the difficult and tragic situation which arose 
 toward the end of the reign of Josiah. Did the tolerance 
 of the prophets extend to this critical point ? Perhaps 
 the most surprising of all the biblical silences of this time 
 is the absence of allusion, direct or indirect, to the pro- 
 phetic attitude toward the policy of the court party, and 
 especially toward Josiah's ill-fated campaign against Pha- 
 raoh Xecho. Did .Josiah consult the prophets at all ? 
 What counsel did they give him ? We can hardly con- 
 ceive of Jeremiah encouraging such aggressive warfare. 
 Where was he at tins crisis? Where were Nahum 
 and Zephaniah and Habakkuk ? Or did Josiah resort 
 t<> the priests for an oracle? We have perhaps a hint 
 from a distant source. The beautiful Twentieth I'salm 
 Mas possibly composed on this occasion. It certainly 
 was not the product of a later time, for after Josiah 
 no king reigned in Israel who had the divine approval. 
 This hymn of sacrifice on the eve of a campaign may very
 
 16(3 PROPHETS OF THE PERIOD Book X 
 
 well have been composed just before the battle of Me- 
 giddo. Celebrating as it docs a sacerdotal function, it 
 represents a time when the kingly authority and the 
 priestly service were richly informed by the propheti- 
 cal spirit. Such a time was that of Josiah. 
 
 § 1074. We have now perhaps sufficiently defined the 
 sphere of the genuine prophets of Jehovah, and explained 
 their silence on what might seem to be matters of vital 
 moment to religious morals. We have also found that 
 no public acts come under their censure up to the death 
 of Josiah. What concerns us at present is the views they 
 have placed on record of the events which culminated in 
 the first great captivity of Judah. There are four pro- 
 phetic names which give distinction to the period from 
 Josiah to Jehoiachin : these are, Zephaniah, Nahum, Hab- 
 akkuk, and Jeremiah. We have already considered the 
 message of the first two (§ 830-832) and have observed 
 that their practical outlook does not extend beyond the 
 consequences of the destruction of Nineveh (§ 1065 
 note). Habakkuk shares with Jeremiah the distinction 
 of interpreting the career and heralding the fate of the 
 Chaldaean monarchy, and of unfolding their significance 
 for Israel and the kingdom of Jehovah. It will now be 
 proper for us to give a rapid summary of the history up 
 to the captivity, and then to try to understand it in 
 the light of the prophetic commentary.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 JUDAH'S VASSALAGE TO THE CHALDEANS 
 
 § 1075. Shortly after the battle of Carchemish (§ 1043) 
 Nebuchadrezzar received the news of the death of his 
 father, who had already named him as the successor to the 
 throne. So strongly established in popular favour was the 
 Chaldiean dynasty that when he arrived in Babylon to 
 make good his claim he was acknowledged on all hands 
 as the rightful heir. The task of relieving Syria and Pal- 
 estine of the Egyptians and their influence was one which 
 required the personal direction of the king, and it could 
 not have been long ere he returned to the scene of con- 
 flict. The details of his progress southward and the 
 retreat of the African intruders are not known to us. 
 His advance, however, could not have been long delayed. 
 Not to follow up the victory by driving the Egyptians out 
 of Asia would have been to invite the enemy to divide 
 the Westland with him, after the fashion of the old 
 Hettite compact (§ 163). To delay would have given 
 the Egyptians time to establish themselves more firmly 
 than ever in Palestine. We accordingly conclude that the 
 army continued to operate in Syria during the absence 
 of the king, and that in the course of the next year (604 
 B.C.) Nebuchadrezzar himself appeared in Palestine, and 
 received the. submission of Jehoiakim. * 
 
 1 This is nnt the usual construction, which is based upon the assump- 
 tion of the correctness of the Dumber " three " in the text of -i K. xxiv. 1. 
 There it is said that Jehoiakim was the willing subject of the Chaldseans 
 for three years out of the eleven of his reign. He died in 598 while in 
 
 167
 
 168 SUBMISSION AND INSURRECTION Book X 
 
 § 1 < >7« I. We have every reason to suppose that Jehoi- 
 akim offered no direct opposition to the Babylonian 
 advance. In any case, if he had done so, he must 
 have been promptly deposed. It is indeed an evidence 
 of the clemency of the new dictator that he did not pro- 
 ceed at once tn extreme measures, when he saw that the 
 allegiance of the kingdom of Judah was withheld. In 
 general he was desirous of disturbing as little as possi- 
 ble the already existing relations, the only condition he 
 required anywhere being the acknowledgment of his 
 sovereignty and the payment of the accustomed tribute. 
 One perpetual source of suspicion and irritation there 
 undoubtedly was : the proximity of Egypt and her 
 habitual intrigues with the Palestinian communities. 
 A projected or incipient insurrection, or the very 
 whisper of a conspiracy aided and abetted there by 
 Egypt, brought down the wrath of the Chaldsean over- 
 lord, and then it went hard indeed with the luckless 
 offender. 
 
 § 1077. It could, indeed, have been only the expecta- 
 tion of help from Egypt that encouraged the ruling class 
 at Jerusalem to the act which we have next to record. 
 It was toward the end of his reign that Jehoiakim refused 
 to wear any longer the yoke of subjection. Of the feelings 
 of the people toward the suzerain we are informed by 
 Jeremiah (§ 1091 ff.). But we do not know all the circum- 
 
 rebellion. and Nebuchadrezzar would thus seem not to have become his 
 suzerain till 002 or 001, three or four years after Carchemish. Josephus 
 goes so far as to say that the king of Babylon took at once "all Syria as 
 far as Pelusium, except Judah," and that four years later he sent a great 
 army against Judah, which then submitted for three years (Ant. x. 0, 1). 
 All the historical conditions are suited if we may assume that "six"' 
 i j"j i was originally written and not "three" (b>W). That is, Jehoiakim 
 would have submitted from 001 till ">'.»*, when Jerusalem was actually 
 besieged by the Ohakheans. Little light is thrown on the question by 
 Dan. i. 1. where the old interpreters have found ground for assuming a 
 '• tirsi captivity" in "the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim." That 
 was, however, one year before the battle of Carchemish '
 
 Ch. Ill, § 1078 REBELLION AND REPRESSION 169 
 
 stances that led to this fatal step. Most probably it was 
 due to the disinclination of the landed proprietors and 
 
 independent classes generally to pay their annual share 
 of the tribute due to Nebuchadrezzar. In the event of 
 their refusal to provide the stated indemnity, Jehoiakim 
 had no resource but to deliver up the royal treasures, or 
 to despoil the temple of its revenues or its adornments. 
 Impoverishment, if such really threatened him and his 
 people, was, however, to be preferred to the certain ruin 
 which unaided rebellion would entail upon them. On the 
 other hand, the expectation of help from Egypt was, to the 
 people of Judah, not so unreasonable as it appears to us. 
 The new Chaldeean empire, victorious though it had been, 
 was still without the prestige of long-established renown. 
 Nor could the ordinary observer realize that it had 
 inherited the genius and power of old Assyria. More- 
 over. Egypt had all the advantage of being an aggressive 
 neighbour, whose interest lay in keeping the Chaldseans 
 at a distance from her border. 
 
 § 1078. The mode of repression adopted by Nebuchad- 
 rezzar showed an advance in military methods beyond 
 that employed by the Assyrian overlords. To harass 
 and impoverish the open country he put in commission 
 the irregular warriors of the half-nomadic peoples of the 
 cast of Judah, 1 — Aramaeans, Ammonites, and Moabites 
 (2 K. xxiv. 2). Though accustomed to forage and border 
 raids, they had been restrained from such incursions during 
 the good conduct of the people of Judah. Hence their 
 employment against them as rebels to the central authority 
 added a twofold terror to the unequal si rife. Behind these 
 came the troops of the regular army. How Long the war 
 lasted we cannot tell with exactness. We know that it 
 came to an end in 507 B.C. But before its close, Jehoiakim, 
 
 1 The enmity of border tribes contributed much to the disasters and 
 humiliation of the closing days of the Judaic monarchy. See Ps. cxzzvii. 7 ; 
 Jer. xii. 14; Obadiah ; Micah vii. 8.
 
 170 SURRENDER AND DEPORTATION Rook X 
 
 whose life and liberty were forfeit, 1 died in Jerusalem 
 [■2 K. xxiv. 6). 
 
 § 1079. Jehoiachin, the son of Jehoiakim, -was now 
 placed upon the throne by the court party, who still dared 
 to hold out against the Babylonian assault. He was but 
 eighteen when his father died, and three short months 
 sealed the fate of the hapless youth called thus early to 
 this forlorn hope. Scarcely had he ascended his tottering 
 throne when the Great King himself appeared with his 
 army before the city. What injury he had wrought upon 
 the surrounding country we cannot say. Probably it suf- 
 fered less from the imperial troops than from the raiders of 
 the border; for Nebuchadrezzar was no Sinacherib, and did 
 not indulge in savage and wanton destruction. When 
 further resistance was seen to be useless, the young king- 
 appeared outside the Avails with his widowed mother and 
 all the officers of his court and surrendered at discretion 
 (2 K. xxiv. 8 ff. ; cf. Jer. xxii. 24 ff.; Ezek. xix. 8 f.). 
 
 § 1080. The chastisement of the insurgent state was 
 severe and effective, though the loss of population was 
 numerically not very great. The purpose of punishment 
 for rebellion under the Assyrian regime had usually been 
 to intimidate from further revolt by remorseless severity. 
 The Chaldsean policy aimed in this instance to discourage 
 any further insurrection by making it physically difficult — 
 by depriving any future seditious movement both of leaders 
 and resources. The captives, who numbered in all about 
 ten thousand, were divided into three classes, the nobles or 
 the officials and courtiers of the capital, the princes or heads 
 
 1 It is hardly necessary to point out that the apparent harshness of 
 Nebuchadrezzar implied no departure from the regular procedure toward 
 vassal states described in an earlier chapter (§ 285 ff.). The fact that 
 Judah did not submit at once after the defeat of the Egyptians, he had 
 already overlooked (§ 1076). That the punishment of rebellion upon 
 second probation was so severe was apparently due to the presumptive 
 intriguing with Egypt. It is needless to remind the reader that the sub- 
 jects of Assyria were regarded by Nebuchadrezzar as legitimately his 
 own, and that their submission was expected as a matter of course.
 
 Ch. Ill, § 1081 JEIIOIACIIIX IN EXILE 171 
 
 of the local communities (§ 536), and the skilled artisans 
 (2 K. xxiv. 14). 1 The money indemnity was paid in due 
 course, and was provided from the royal treasures and the 
 utensils and ornaments of the temple, most of which had 
 been spared since the days of Solomon. The sacred vessels, 
 being of no particular use as such to the Great King 1 , and 
 being also mostly of inconvenient size, were broken up for 
 the melting-pot (v. 13). 
 
 § 1081. Jehoiachin was made a close prisoner for life ; 
 and thus, in less than a decade, there was afforded the 
 spectacle of one Hebrew king led captive to Egypt and an- 
 other carried away to Babylon. His final fate is recorded 
 with unusual minuteness ( 2 K. xxv. 27 ff.). Of his inter- 
 vening experience we know nothing except that several 
 children were born to him in captivity (1 Chr. iii. 17 f.). 
 Imprisonment, as a rule, did not mean the destruction of 
 family and domestic life. After thirty-seven years, on the 
 accession of Evil-Merodach ( § 13(39) in 560, he was not 
 only given his liberty, but in compensation for his long 
 restraint was made a member of the king's household, 
 enjoying his favour and bounty till death put an end to 
 his checkered career (Jer. xxii. 2(3, 30). The bulk of the 
 people were carried away to a thinly settled district by 
 tin- Kebar, a canal near Nippur (§ 1272), in northern 
 Babylonia. This unique settlement, of which the prophet 
 Ezekiel was one of the most influential members, will soon 
 require our attention again. Here we must pause for a 
 little to hear the comment of the prophets upon these 
 stirring events. The story itself has not yet been half 
 told; for its leading incidents and characters can only 
 be fairly understood in the light that falls upon them 
 from the prophetic record. 
 
 1 l tiic might infer from the language of the reeord that '-all'' of the 
 available spoil, animate and inanimate, was deported to Babylon, lint 
 the comprehensive phrase designates merely a large Dumber, according 
 
 to familiar Hebrew literary usage. The depletion was serious, but by no 
 
 means general, as we learn from the subsequent history.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 JEREMIAH AND THE COMING OF THE CHALDEANS 
 
 § 1082. Jeremiah is almost wholly a prophet of the 
 Chaldaean era. There is little or nothing in his extant 
 works which can be directly connected with an earlier 
 time. Jeremiah was as little an historian as might be, and 
 what he reproduced of his earlier utterances in 604 B.C., 
 twenty-two years after his call to the prophetic office 
 (Jer. xxxvi. 32 ), was so intermingled and overlaid with 
 thoughts and interests of the present as to be seldom dis- 
 tinguishable. 1 Even the greatest political event of his 
 
 1 As is well known, the book of Jeremiah is in more disorder than any 
 other prophetical work of the Old Testament. The two main recensions, 
 that nt the Massoretic text and that of the Septuagint, differ greatly both 
 as regards the text itself and in tin- order of the several prophecies. The 
 subject cannot even be touched upon here; the reader must turn to 
 Driver's Introduction and to special treatises. Fortunately, the substance 
 of tin' bunk is little affected by the variations, though, as far as mere bulk 
 is concerned, the Septuagint is the shorter by about one-eighth. 
 
 A- our business is mainly historical, we are not so much concerned 
 with the order of the writing down or the publication of the several 
 prophecies, as with the order of the events in connection with which they 
 wen- respectively written. — two things which, in the book of Jeremiah, 
 are by no means identical. As a guide to the reader, a preliminary 
 explanation is necessary on but one point. According to Jer. xxxvi. 4, 
 Baruch, at the dictation of Jeremiah, wrote down the prophecies which 
 had been delivered up to that date, G05 b.c, or the fourth year of 
 Jehoiakim (xxxvi. 1). And according to xxxvi. 32, after the burning of 
 the roll by Jehoiakim in his fifth year (xxxvi. 9), or 604 B.C., Baruch 
 took down in like fashion the contents of the original roll, and -'there 
 were added besides unto them very many words. 1 ' When we come to 
 inquire what things were said or done by .Jeremiah up to December. 004, 
 v. e iind that in the book itself there are three distinct sources : (1) a con- 
 
 172
 
 Ch. IV, § 1083 EARLIEST DISCOURSES 173 
 
 early ministry, the inroad of the Scythians, is not plainly 
 alluded to (§ 813). He makes no direct allusion to the 
 reformation of Josiah, the most important religious move- 
 ment of the first half of his life (§ 1065), nor yet to 
 the death of that monarch, the catastrophe which revo- 
 lutionized Israel and his own career (§ 1069). The first 
 event to which he makes unmistakable reference is the 
 banishment of Jehoahaz (xxii. 10-12 ; § 1039) ; but his 
 utterance was not written down till the reign of Zedekiah 
 (cf. § 1143). We are forced to the conclusion that our 
 prophet was an entirely subordinate figure in Israel until 
 the Egyptian and Chaldsean epoch. That he should have 
 ignored the events of his earlier and most impressionable 
 years is unthinkable if these occurrences had coloured his 
 thought or enlisted his interference. The same general 
 conclusion has already been reached in our stud)- of the 
 specific function of the prophets (§ 1069 ff.). 
 
 § 1083. Indeed, we may be reasonably sure of the time 
 when Jeremiah made his first authoritative appeal to the 
 conscience of his people. If chapters ii. and iii. rep- 
 resent in part his first extant discourse, as is generally 
 supposed, we learn from it directly what we are seeking. 
 They were given out at a time when Egypt was the riding 
 influence in Judah. One of the references is general : 
 "And now, what hast thou to do with the way to Egypt 
 to drink the waters of the Nile? or what hast thou to do 
 with the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the Eu- 
 phrates?" (ii. 18). The other is specific : "Thou shalt be 
 disappointed in Egypt, as thou wcrt disappointed in As- 
 
 nected series of discourses, substantially chs. i.-x.. with no special nota- 
 tion of time or circumstance; (2) another set of discourses with the 
 occasions or conditions stilted or indicated, chs. xi., xii., xviii., xxv., xlvi.- 
 xlix.; (3) a briefer group, mainly biographical, apparently written after 
 the death of Jeremiah, chs. six., xx.. xxvi., xxxvi.. xlv. From these three 
 collections we shall have to make our citations as the order of events may 
 demand. It is worth inquiring whether group (1) does nol contain whal 
 Baruch rewrote in December, 004, and group (2) the substance, at least, 
 of the " very many words" which •• were added besides unto them."
 
 174 OCCASION OF PUBLIC APPEARANCE Book X 
 
 Syria " (ii. 36). The only occasion suitable for such utter- 
 ances was the time after the battle of Megiddo in what 
 mighl be called the Egyptian interregnum, when also he 
 uttered the lament over Jehoahaz (§ 1039), who was 
 dethroned and exiled by Pharaoh Necho. At no time 
 during the latter half of Josiah's reign was there any need 
 of negotiations with Egypt, nor can there have been any 
 political occasion of seeking help in that quarter. During 
 the latest years of Josiah the relations were actually hostile. 
 A third passage would be absolutely conclusive, if it were 
 not questionable whether it properly belongs to this dis- 
 course or not, since the section in which it occurs inter- 
 rupts the course of the argument. 1 It runs thus : " The sons 
 of Noph and Tahpanhes break the crown of thy head," fol- 
 lowing up the words: "His [Israel's] cities are burned 
 up and are without inhabitant " (ii. 15 f.). 
 
 § 1084. Why then was it not till 605 B.C. that Jeremiah 
 committed any of his discourses to writing ? Because in 
 the days of Josiah he was only a preaching not a liter- 
 ary prophet, and if he had died with Josiah, we would 
 have had no knowledge of him whatever, not even of 
 his name. The conclusion just reached suggests some 
 practical observations. We now have a satisfactory expla- 
 nation not only of the silences of Jeremiah for the earlier 
 years of his ministry, but also of his sudden and startling 
 appearance in 605 B.C. It cannot be too clearly understood 
 that none of the literary prophets made their record on 
 merely domestic or local issues (cf. § 1072). In propor- 
 tion to the magnitude of the international issue prophecy 
 itself became of importance. This has been sufficiently 
 illustrated by the various phases of the complications with 
 Assyria. Now that the petty role of Egypt in Palestine 
 is being abolished by Nebuchadrezzar (Jer. xlvi. 2), and 
 
 1 Sec Cornill, The Book of Jeremiah in Hebrew (SBOT.), p. 67. It 
 seems to be admitted that Jeremiah himself is the author of the interpo- 
 lated passage. He must, then, have inserted it as an additional illustration 
 of the state of things .set forth in the main discourse.
 
 Cii. IV, § 1086 POLITICAL CONDITIONS 175 
 
 the larger Chakkean sovereignty comes before the prophet's 
 mind, he is called to give a more memorable message. 
 We can also now account for the vagueness of Jeremiah's 
 allusions to the eventful time of Josiah. The usual sup- 
 position is that the earlier chapters of the book have 
 these prior events as their substratum, and that their in- 
 definiteness is due to the original discourses having been 
 repeated from memory. It is more correct to say that his 
 earlier sermons were in the very nature of the case of 
 comparatively little importance and hence were not re- 
 corded at the time. 
 
 § 1085. Having thus found the historical setting of Jere- 
 miah's earliest literary productions, we may now follow 
 more intelligently the most luminous points of his public 
 career. In the opening series of his written prophecies 
 there are three principal determining political conditions. 
 The first is the Egyptian domination ; the second is the 
 situation created by the Chaldsean triumph at Carchemish ; 
 the third is the expected descent of the Babylonian forces 
 upon Judah. The last named coincides with the occasion 
 of the book of Habakkuk (§ 1130), and thus furnishes a 
 fine opportunity of comparing the respective points of view 
 and ruling motives of those master spirits of prophecy. 
 As to Jeremiah himself, we cannot but observe how, 
 from this epoch onward, his discourses become constantly 
 clearer, deeper, and wider, and how, at the same time, the 
 purpose and character of his life are more fully disclosed. 
 
 § 1086. Jeremiah's first written discourse (ii. 1-iv. 4) 1 
 reveals eloquently the religious and political condition of 
 Judah after the revolution brought on by the death of 
 Josiah. It must have been delivered shortly after the 
 accession of Jehoiakim, 608 B.C. In its literary form 
 we find the substance of several distinct addresses, which 
 the author, and Baruch his scribe (xxxvi. 4), made up 
 
 1 That is, with the exception of iii. 6-18, which is now generally 
 admitted to be out of place. Cornill (The Book of J< remiah in II, brew, 
 1895, p. 45) drops iv. 1,2; iv. 10 he' also rejects.
 
 176 CHARGE OF APOSTASY Book X 
 
 into one continuous composition. The whole discourse 
 is a complaint on two main grounds: religiously Judah 
 lias been guilty of apostasy from .Jehovah ; politically it 
 lias committed folly in consorting with Egypt. The head 
 and front of the offending in both cases is inconstancy 
 and treachery. The moral and religious situation is 
 naturally made most of. Doubtless the contrast with the 
 days of Josiah, 1 when all forms of false worship were at 
 least publicly and legally discountenanced and made a 
 capital offence, gives point and emphasis to the charges ; 
 but perhaps nowhere in Prophecy is the degeneration of 
 a people so realistically and powerfully set forth. Apos- 
 tasy from Jehovah is declared to be in a sense treason to 
 human nature (ii. 10-12). No island or continent, 2 the 
 world itself, has ever seen the like. Every land, every 
 people, has and keeps its own god. "See if there has 
 been anything like this. Hath any nation made a change 
 of gods which are yet not God? But my people have 
 exchanged their glory for what is worthless, lie aston- 
 ished at this, oh heavens! shudder and wither up." 
 
 § 1087. This religious aspect of the popular infidelity 
 looms so large before Jeremiah that we must read be- 
 tween the lines to find out the national situation. His 
 people are clearly in some adversity from which their 
 assiduous cultivation of the false deities can not and shall 
 not deliver them : "Where are thy gods, which thou hast 
 made for thyself? Let them rise up if they would save 
 thee in the time of thy misfortune ; for as the number 
 
 1 These chapters cannot have as their historical basis the time of Josiah. 
 It is conceivable and probable that reminiscences of the former period and 
 its discourses are found here (e.g. hi. 1!)). Ch. iii. (5-18 is avowedly a 
 reproduction of a discourse of that period. But there the complaint is 
 general, and is couched in die somewhat stereotyped language of pro- 
 phetic accusation. Here the charges are various, minute, and specific, 
 and reveal a condition of things simply impossible under Josiah. 
 
 - Represented by Chittim (§ 42) and Kedar (§ 787). A striking in- 
 stance of the synecdoche which is one of the most characteristic features 
 of Hebrew rhetoric.
 
 Ch. IV, § 1088 EGYPTIANS AND CIIALD.EAXS 177 
 
 of thy cities have been thy gods, oh Juclah ! " (ii. 28). 
 The trouble, we apprehend, is that which followed the 
 death of Josiah: the deposition and captivity of Jehoahaz, 
 the vassalage of Jehoiakim, and the uncertainty of the 
 fate of the country in view of the aggressive and rising 
 Chakhean power. One thing, at least, was very clear to 
 the prophet, as to his predecessors, that nothing was to 
 be gained by relying upon Egyptian protection. " How 
 dost thou change thy course so very lightly ? 1 Thou 
 shalt be disappointed in Egypt, as thou wast disap- 
 pointed in Assyria" (ii. 3G). And yet like Habakkuk 
 (§ 1135), near the same date, Jeremiah here insists that, 
 though Israel must be punished for its sin, the instru- 
 ments of that chastisement shall be held to account for 
 that same providential work which they are commissioned 
 to perform. " Israel is sacred to me, and the first fruits 
 of his increase. All that devour him shall be held guilty, 
 evil shall come upon them, saith Jehovah" (ii. 3). 
 
 § 1088. The second subject of prophetic comment in 
 this series of discourses is the ensuing conflict between 
 the Egyptian and Chaldsean forces at Carchemish (605 
 B.C.). Jeremiah's celebration of the downfall of the 
 Asiatic empire of Egypt (Jer. xlvi. 3-12) is one of the 
 most poetical of his compositions and assumes the form 
 of a triumphal ode. It is easy to understand the feelings 
 of the author. To every true prophet Egypt was an 
 object of aversion often mixed with contempt. Jeremiah 
 saw on the one side the hollowness of its pretensions, and 
 the certainty of its demolition whenever the Chaldsean 
 power, "the hammer of the whole earth" (.Jer. 1. 23) 
 should strike it full and hard. On the oilier side, he 
 beheld with indignation the spectacle of his people rely- 
 ing upon the friendship of Egypt, and, what was far 
 worse, welcoming as counsellor and protector the ruler 
 that had struck down the patriot Josiah. 
 
 1 Head "fya ( sL r) with Giesebreeht after the Sept. Literally: "How 
 dost thou make so very light of changing thy cuur.se ? "
 
 178 ODE OF CARCHEMISH Book X 
 
 § 1089. The poem speaks for itself. It has all the 
 energy but none of the obscurity of its prototypes, the 
 old battle-songs of Israel. It has, however, much of their 
 implacable and vengeful spirit, a spirit inseparable from 
 the desperate struggles with foes equally remorseless and 
 more powerful, which moulded both the history and the 
 temper of the Hebrews. It begins with a derisive sum- 
 mons to the usurpers of the sovereignty of Asia to furbish 
 up their weapons, don their armour, and rush into the 
 light (xlvi. 3, 4). But this is only a reminiscence of the 
 vast array that went proudly into battle ; for the conflict 
 is already over : the field all bestrewn with fallen warriors 
 is abandoned in terror (vs. 5, G). Then follows a fine 
 Homeric figure. "Who is this that rises high like the 
 Nile, whose waters heave like the rivers? Egypt rises 
 high like the Nile, and his waters heave like the rivers. 
 He saith, I will rise high, I will overspread the land ; I 
 will destroy the cities and their inhabitants " (vs. 7, 8). 
 This overweening boastfulness evokes another challenge 
 from the prophet, who calls for the horses and chariots 
 that were the ancient pride of the Egyptian army, and 
 bids the mercenary troops take the field with them : the 
 Ethiopians (Cush), the Abyssinians 1 (Put), and the 
 Libyans 2 (Lubim). The expected march to victory will, 
 however, turn out to be a going forth to defeat and death. 
 It is Jehovah whom the Egyptians shall meet at Car- 
 chemish, and his sword shall be satiated with their blood, 
 the only sacrifice that will appease his vengeance (v. 10). 
 The blow thus falling upon Egypt will be fatal, the wound 
 incurable beyond easing by the balm of Gilead, or healing 
 
 1 This name is used here for Put for want of a better word. Accord- 
 ing to W. Max M idler. Asien "//</ Europa, pp. 106-120, their country would 
 seem to have lain north of Abyssinia along the Red Sea. Egyptian Punt 
 is South Arabia, whence come the Abyssinians. It is seductive that the 
 original Egyptian name of the people, Chabet, is so similar to Chdbesh, 
 "Abyssinia." 
 
 2 Read here and Gen. x. 1.°, Lubim for Ludim. The Lydian mercena- 
 ries were not a permanent auxiliary of Egypt, like the Libyans (§ 345) .
 
 Ch. IV, § 1091 FORECAST OF THE CHALD.EANS 179 
 
 by any medicine (v. 11). The cry of Egypt is heard 
 over all the earth, and with it goes everywhere her shame 
 and reproach among the nations (v. 12). 
 
 § 101*0. Such were Jeremiah's sentiments as to the 
 Egyptians and their fate. What was his forecast of their 
 successful rivals ? His words regarding the Chaldieans 
 furnish a much better test of his prophetic insight and 
 foresight. The fortune of the Egyptians was not beyond 
 the outlook of a shrewd observer. In any case in deal- 
 ing with the Egyptians he had to do with merely nega- 
 tive results. Their power was broken, and Palestine and 
 Syria would soon see the last of them. But to cast the 
 horoscope of the new and adventurous Chakhcan empire 
 required a true vision of coming realities from a loftier 
 standpoint. Jeremiah, however, shrinks back from no 
 pinnacle or steep of the divine ascent, and from the height 
 of prevision which he now attains he never after descends. 
 One may say, indeed, that upon the all-important question 
 of the relations of the Chakhean monarchy to his own 
 people he gained no essentially new light to the end of 
 his days. From the beginning he accepted all the horror 
 and shame of his country's probable ruin as a matter of 
 divine and necessary right. The future had no great sur- 
 prises for him, though many a bitter disappointment. 1 
 
 § 1091. The third subject which engaged the atten- 
 tion of Jeremiah at this eventful period (§ 1085) is accord- 
 ingly the expected descent of the Babylonians upon Judah. 
 It is alluded to in the second of those discourses contained 
 in the summary destroyed by Jehoiakim and rewritten 
 by Baruch (§ 1082 note), that is, in Jer. iv. 5 — vi. 30. 
 In chapter xxvi. it is thrust upon public attention as a 
 practical question, though, as far as we know, the invaders 
 or their leader are not mentioned by name till after the 
 
 1 Like other large and sensitive souls, Jeremiah met (lie greater 
 calamities ami decisive strokes of fortune with calm serenity, while lie 
 was perpetually tortured by the wear and tear of the daily struggles and 
 vexations incident to them.
 
 180 A PUBLIC ARRAIGNMENT Book X 
 
 battle of Carchemish. The former passage (iv. 5 ft'.), 
 while containing a summary of the offences charged 
 against Israel during the whole preceding portion of the 
 pn>phct*s ministry, has for its more direct object to point 
 out t<> the people the specific form in which their sin is to 
 be punished. The agents were to be a people from the 
 north ( iv. 0, 15; vi. 1, 22; cf. xxv. 9). The Hebrews 
 knew little about the exact relative position of distant 
 nations. Babylon was almost due east from Jerusalem, 
 but Jeremiah was thinking of the fact that the great in- 
 vading armies of the past had come by way of the north, 
 notably the destroying Assyrians; and he knew that the 
 army which was predestined to put an end to the Egyp- 
 tian sovereignty was soon to cross the Euphrates, and 
 descend from the north upon Syria and Palestine. We 
 may add to this what is recorded in chapter xxvi. 4-ii. to 
 the effect that Jerusalem wa.s, for its sins, to be made 
 desolate like Shiloh (§ 1093, cf. § 490). 
 
 § 1092. We are now at the threshold of Jeremiah's 
 memorable struggle with the ruling classes among his 
 own people. Let us look at the parties and the issues in 
 the light of the leading incidents. We turn to the nar- 
 ration in chapter xxvi. 7 ff. The story opens (xxvi. 7) 
 with a scene assigned to " the beginning of the reign of 
 Jehoiakim." a vague expression which apparently includes 
 the regnal period up to G05 B.C. The narrator does not 
 go behind the actual events, but lets the story speak for 
 itself. The prophet appears at one of the great annual 
 feasts, and gathering up his former complaints and appeals 
 into one terrible warning, he declares that not only the 
 holy city but the temple itself shall be destroyed and 
 desolated, because the people had so persistently refused 
 to listen to the prophetic word. Those of the ruling 
 orders whose prerogative was most directly attacked, the 
 priests and professional prophets (§ 10G6 ff. ), broke out 
 in a frenzy of rage, demanding the death of that one of 
 their own original circle who had ventured to oppose the
 
 Ch. IV, §1093 RAGE OF PRIESTS AND PROPHETS 181 
 
 orthodox traditional belief of the inviolability of the tem- 
 ple, and to ignore the representatives of religion generally 
 in the state. The priests and prophets had the popular 
 feeling with them, since it was easy to convince the people 
 that such utterances against the sacred place were profane 
 and blasphemous. The tumult that followed brought the 
 matter to the attention of the princes of the king's house- 
 hold (§ 531, 536 ff'.). To them the priests and prophets 
 appealed as civil judges, demanding capital punishment for 
 Jeremiah. The princes, hearing both sides impartially, 
 declared that he had done nothing worthy of death, since 
 he had simply spoken in the name of Jehovah. The fact 
 was, that inasmuch as he had not gone into the details of 
 the ruin of the city and no special national foe was named, 
 his announcement did not so directly touch their dignity 
 or prerogative, and hence they could afford to treat the 
 case on its merits. Their decision was reinforced by the 
 voice of the "elders" of the people (§ 486, 537), who had 
 concurrent jurisdiction with the princes. One of these 
 cited the case of Micah the Morasthite, who in the days 
 of Hezekiah had made a similar denunciation with im- 
 punity, and was in fact deferred to b} r the king and peo- 
 ple, so that the divine judgment was revoked (vs. 17-19), 
 But the priestly faction was abetted by a stronger influ- 
 ence than any enlisted in his protection — the king himself 
 and the most servile of his ministers. An illustration of 
 the spirit of this whole repressive movement is afforded 
 by the fate of a loyal colleague of Jeremiah, Uriah son 
 of Shemaiah. This faithful follower, delivering the same 
 message, was obliged to flee to Egypt in order to escape 
 the vengeance of the king. Thence he was dragged back 
 a prisoner to Jerusalem, where Jehoiakim put him to 
 death, and cast his body into the burial-place of outlaws 
 and criminals. The powerful friendship of Ahikam (§843) 
 served for a time to shield Jeremiah. 
 
 £ 1 <>**-i. rmcouraged M .v the anti-prophetic spirit of 
 the king, the rivals of Jeremiah left no means untried
 
 182 DEVELOPMENT OF DISCOURSE Book X 
 
 to accomplish his proscription and death. The next 
 change in the situation shows them to have almost gained 
 their end. They were not scant of material on which to 
 base their attacks. Chapters vii. to x. 1 of his prophecy 
 contain a reiteration and expansion of the sermon which 
 had so deeply stirred all classes of the people. The dis- 
 course strikes right at the religious leaders. It also 
 shows well how the specific message of the prophet was 
 being shaped and moulded by the quickening forces of 
 Providence into a thing of abiding life and power. We 
 observe how he defines more sharply the true relation of 
 the temple to the national existence : "Trust not in deceit- 
 ful words, saying: these (holy places) are Jehovah's temple, 
 Jehovah's temple, Jehovah's temple. For if ye thoroughly 
 amend your ways and your doings, if ye do justice between 
 man and man . . . and do not go after other gods to your 
 own hurt, then I will cause }'ou to dwell in this place, the land 
 which I gave to your fathers from of old and forevermore. 
 Behold ye trust in deceitful words that count for nothing. 
 Will ye go on stealing, murdering, committing adultery. 
 and swearing falsely, and offering incense to Baal, and 
 going after other gods which you know nothing of. and 
 then come and stand before me in this place which is 
 called after my name, and say : we have been preserved 
 in order that we do all these abominations? 2 Has this 
 house, which is called by my name, become a robbers' cave 
 in your eyes ? " 3 (vii. 4-11). The fate of Shiloh (cf. xxvi. 6) 
 is then more amply detailed as a warning, and also the 
 rejection of the Northern Kingdom. 
 
 1 Exclusive, as is now generally admitted, of x. 1-1G, of uncertain date. 
 
 - This is one of the clarifying sentences in which the book of Jeremiah 
 abounds. The meaning is that the opponents of the true prophetic party 
 actually claimed that Jehovah had set the seal of his approval on their 
 e- induct and religious practices by having '• delivered " them and the holy 
 places (v. 4), during all the Egyptian imbroglio, from the sword and pes- 
 tilence and famine. 
 
 3 That is to say, "Do you approve of its being like a robbers' 
 cave ? "
 
 Ch. IV, § 1095 FALSE AND TRUE WORSHIP 183 
 
 § 1094. More specific also now is his reference to the 
 modes of false worship (cf. § 1086) practised by his people: 
 "Do not thou pray on behalf of this people ; and do not 
 utter for them a cry or prayer, and do not intercede for 
 them, for I shall not hear them (cf. xi. 14). Dost thou 
 not see what they are doing in the cities of Judah and in the 
 streets of Jerusalem? The children are gathering sticks, 
 and the fathers are kindling a fire, and the women are 
 kneeding dough to make sacrificial cakes for the Queen 
 of Heaven, 1 and to pour out libations to other gods, so as 
 to provoke me to anger " (vs. 16-18). We next encounter 
 another of the great sentiments of our prophet (cf. § 1068). 
 " Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, add (if 
 you will) your burnt offerings to your festal sacrifices, and 
 eat the flesh. 2 For I did not speak to your fathers, nor 
 did I command them, when I brought them out of the 
 land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and festal sacri- 
 fices. But this thing I did command them, saying : Listen 
 to my voice, and I will be your God and ye shall be my 
 people ; and ye shall walk in all the way that I shall enjoin 
 upon you, so that it may be well with you" (vii. 21-2-3). 
 
 § 1095. The prophet's mood now turns to fierce denun- 
 ciation. Only the strongest and most lurid images can do 
 justice to his feelings. Of Tophet we have already heard 
 (§ 718) in connection with the judgment upon Sinacherib. 
 Jeremiah knows of victims more worthy still of such a 
 fate, those who have themselves made its burning piles the 
 scene of their profane and cruel rites. As one reads the 
 
 1 Usually explained as Venus, goddess of the evening-star. In Stade 
 (ZATW. VI. 123-132, 289-339) the view that the phrase is a collective for 
 the host of heaven, finds a strenuous but unsuccessful defender. The 
 worship is Assyrio-Babylonian as well as Canaanitish. 
 
 - The implication is thai the sacrifices of the t .in] >l* ■ were kept up by 
 the worshippers largely on account of the social and festive gatherings; 
 for in these sacrificial Eeasts the god, the offerer, and the priest were com- 
 mon participants. Rut however they mighl vary or multiply the types of 
 sacrifice, their motive was always unworthy and ignoble, in tin' view of 
 the propbet.
 
 184 TOPIIET AND THE ONBURIED DEAD Book X 
 
 judgment of the prophet, one cannot but think of what 
 constitutes the essence of that Gehenna of which the val- 
 ley of Hinnom was both the original and the Old Testa- 
 ment symbol — sin bringing not simply suffering but 
 its own proper punishment. This is indeed the only 
 explanation, the only moral vindication, of the worm that 
 dieth not and the lire that is not quenched. "Cut off thy 
 head-tire. 1 and cast it away : and utter a lament upon 
 the woodless heights : for Jehovah hath despised and cast 
 off the generation of his wrath. For the children of 
 Judah have done evil in my sight, saith Jehovah ; they 
 have set their abominable things in the house which is 
 called after my name, to desecrate it. And they build 
 the high places of Tophet which is in the valley of the 
 son of Hinnom to burn their own sons and daughters in 
 the fire — a thing which I have not prescribed and which 
 has not entered into my mind. 2 Therefore, behold the 
 days are coming, saith Jehovah, when it shall no more 
 be called the Tophet or the Valley of the son of Hinnom, 
 but the Yale of Slaughter : for they shall bury in Tophet 
 till no place is left to bury. And the corpses of this 
 people shall be food to the birds of heaven and the beasts 
 of the earth, and there will be none to scare them away " 
 ( vii. 29-33). 
 
 § 1096. Still another horror is announced, the most 
 ghastly of all to an ancient Oriental and the most to be 
 deprecated: "At that time, saith Jehovah, they shall 
 bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones 
 "[' its princes, and bones of the priests, and the bones of 
 the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jeru- 
 salem, from their graves. And they shall scatter them to 
 the sun and to the moon, and to all the host of heaven, 
 whom they have loved and whom they have served, 
 
 1 Tin- city is. as usual, personified as a maiden. 
 
 - Equivalent to saying, '-which I disavow and abhor." Litotes is a 
 favourite usage of Hebrew rhetoric.
 
 Ch. IV, § 1097 FALSIFYING REVELATION 185 
 
 and after whom they have walked, and of whom they 
 have inquired, and to whom they have bowed down. 
 They shall not be gathered up, nor shall they be buried ; 
 they shall be garbage on the face of the earth. And 
 death shall be chosen rather than life by all the remnant 
 that shall survive of this evil race in all the places 
 whither I have thrust them out, saith Jehovah of hosts" 
 (viii. 1—3). Such was the fate reserved for recreant 
 Israel : death without a grave, no resting-place for the 
 disembodied ghosts, no union with the ancestral shades, 
 no reunion under the family head, for souls fugitive and 
 outlawed, exiled and homeless forever. 
 
 § 1097. Next we have a glimpse, all too rare, into the 
 inner workings of ecclesiastical parties in Jerusalem. 
 The keynote of the complaint is found in ch. viii. 10 : 
 "From prophet to priest every one of them acteth deceit- 
 fully." The preacher wonders why there is no sign of 
 change or turning in the course of the offending people, 
 who rush into sin as the horse rushes headlong into battle 
 (viii. 4—6). More insensate than the bird of passage, 
 which unfailingly observes the times of its going and re- 
 turning, they ignore the imperious law of life and conduct 
 of loyalty and duty which is just as truly a law of nature 
 under the ordering of Jehovah 1 (v. 7). In defence 
 of their course in any special case, they appeal to their 
 written teaching (law) of Jehovah. To this Jeremiah 
 replies that their scribes have falsified Jehovah's revela- 
 tion : "The pen of the scribes has wrought deceitfully" - 
 
 1 Observe that to the ancient Semites the divine influence and control 
 were operative just as truly in the life of animals as in the spirit of man, 
 since superhuman action impelled all activity in all alike. Moreover, to 
 them there was no well-defined distinction between nature and the super- 
 natural such as we so confidently make. 
 
 2 This reference is somewhat obscure. It cannot be meant that any 
 portion of the writings already "canonical " was falsified by the scribes. 
 This they did not dare, and probably did not desire, to do. Two explana- 
 tions are possible. Either, like their New Testament antitypes, they 
 '•made void the commandments of God by their traditions'' (Mark
 
 186 WRATH AND TEARS Book X 
 
 (v. 8). Having thus added treachery toward their coun- 
 trymen and unfaithfulness toward Jehovah to their shame- 
 less moral and religions abominations, nothing remained 
 for them but the extremest modes of exemplary suffering 
 (vs. 10-13). Again as before it is the foe coming from 
 the north that is to execute the vengeance of Jehovah : 
 "From Dan has been heard the snorting of his horses: at 
 the sound of the neighing of his steeds all the earth hath 
 trembled" (v. 16). 
 
 § 1098. In Jeremiah grief perpetually struggles for 
 the mastery with indignation. In the fierceness and fury 
 of his wrath there is often heard an undertone of pity 
 and remorse, like the far-off moaning of an indignant 
 sea, or the wind's wailing interlude in the roaring of 
 the tempest. Ever and anon we hear a half-stifled sob 
 suddenly quenched by an outburst of anger. But at 
 last the heart within the man insists on utterance ; the 
 revulsion throws him prostrate in an agony of distress ; 
 and then a torrent of tears follows upon the thunder 
 of his passion. In such a passage of his discourse the 
 hyperbole requires no explanation. Tears are at once 
 an intellectual and a spiritual solvent, and clarify alike 
 the deepest thought and feeling. Thus with tears of 
 smitten grief he utters the incomparably pathetic words 
 of his lamentation for his people seen in banishment 
 without their king, still unsaved at the end of the season 
 of grace, beyond the reach of healing by all the balm of 
 Gilead (vs. 18-22). Equally moving and translucent are 
 his tears of shame for the vices and crimes of his people, 
 mingled with vexation at their incorrigible treachery and 
 deceit. "Oh that my head were waters and my eyes a 
 fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the 
 
 vii. 13. Matt. xv. 6), — that is, they nullified the received •• teaching" by 
 their comments and glosses, — or else, while divine revelation was ad- 
 mittedly still made in Israel, these prophets and their scribes, in contra- 
 distinction to Jeremiah and Baruch, misrepresented Jehovah and thus 
 falsified his teaching. The latter solution is the more probable.
 
 Ch. IV, §1100 A GREAT CONFESSION 187 
 
 slain of the daughter of my people ! Oh that I had in the 
 wilderness a lodge for wayfaring men! . . .'" (ix. 1-9). 
 
 § 1009. We must make room for another passage 
 without which any account of the spiritual and mental 
 history of our prophet would be defective. It may not 
 be in its right place in the current texts ; but it is 
 appropriate almost anywhere among these discourses. 
 It sets on the broadest basis Jeremiah's own faith and 
 devotion as a speeies of moral enthusiasm, inspired by 
 the knowledge and contemplation of a God whose very 
 nature expresses itself in righteousness and mercy. "Thus 
 saith Jehovah : let not the wise man boast of his wis- 
 dom ; and let not the mighty man boast of his might ; 
 let not the rich man boast of his riches ; but if any one 
 will boast, let him boast of this, that he understandeth 
 and knoweth me, that I am Jehovah that doeth kindness 
 and justice and righteousness in the earth, for I have 
 pleasure in these things, saith Jehovah " (ix. 22 f.). This 
 specimen of the grand prophetic style is the Old Testa- 
 ment confession of faith, to be set beside the victorious 
 avowal of St. Paul, Gal. vi. 11 (cf. also 1 Cor. i. 31 ; 
 2 Cor. x. 17). 
 
 §1100. The next step — a brief one in Jeremialfs 
 career — brought him from the position of an indignant 
 accuser to that of a suspected traitor. The transition 
 stage is described in chapter xi.-xii. 0. The rather frag- 
 mentary record is introduced by a reminiscence of an 
 earlier time 1 (cf. § 961), when Jeremiah was directed to 
 
 1 This section was, of course, not written down till <>05 n.c. (§ 1082); 
 but xi. 1-8 are introductory and explanatory. Tin' formula, xi. 1. ••The 
 word which was to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying," is the one usually 
 employed when the time or occasion is indefinite. An attentive view of 
 the whole section will show clearly the motive "i' the initial reminiscence, 
 The charge bromrht against the people of conspiracy (xi. '.)). which is 
 naturally connected with the actual plot against Jeremiah | \i. 18 ff.), is 
 directly based upon their infraction of the "covenanl " (xi. 10), which 
 covenant Jeremiah himself had been commissioned to preach to his 
 fellow-countrymen (xi. 1 ff.).
 
 188 COVENANT-BREAKING AND CONSPIRACY Book X 
 
 address the people of Judah and Jerusalem, exhorting 
 them to observe the commands of Jehovah, particularly 
 the "covenant "" ( Ex. xxiv. 7 ; Deut. v. 3), thai is. virtu- 
 ally the moral and spiritual requirements contained in JE 
 and Deuteronomy. In contrast with the ideal community 
 that was to be schooled and nurtured into obedience and 
 purity of life and worship, the people of Jehovah are a 
 band of recreant idolaters ( xi. 9 f.) whose gods are as 
 man)' as their cities, and in whose cities every street has 
 an altar breathing incense to Baal (xi. 13). Therefore the 
 threats of the book of the Covenant must lie carried out 
 (xi. 8), and when the doom is fulfilled there shall be no 
 reprieve : their own gods shall be deaf to their cries ; 
 Jehovah shall be deaf and dumb ( xi. 11 f.), nor shall any 
 intercession be made for them (xi. 14). All this is a 
 matter of moral cause and effect, and not of ceremony and 
 ritual (§ 1065 note). 
 
 § 1101. These denunciations, sweeping and general as 
 they sound, have a specific and definite occasion, and this 
 is none other than an attempt on the life of the prophet 
 himself, made by his fellow-townsmen of Anathoth. The 
 exact circumstances are not related. It is natural, how- 
 ever, to couple the plot with the threats uttered at the 
 entry of the temple (§ 1002). Still more significant is 
 the fact that in the appeals for capital punishment against 
 Jeremiah, the official priests had taken the leading part, 
 and that Anathoth, where the attempt was made, was 
 a community of priestly families. The local priesthood 
 were of course under the control of the central body at 
 Jerusalem. Without the instigation or authority of the 
 latter they would scarcely have undertaken such a serious 
 enterprise, odious as Jeremiah was to the whole of the 
 regular priesthood. In the present case a blow straight 
 and strong had been aimed at the priesthood, and the 
 resentment was uncontrollable. Jeremiah, however, had 
 a powerful friend at court (^ 1092), and the time had not 
 come for an open attack upon his life. Hence treachery
 
 Ch. IV, § 1103 LESSON FROM THE TOTTER 189 
 
 was resorted to, and it would even seem that some of his 
 own kindred were concerned in the nefarious scheme (xii. 6). 
 
 § 1102. The guilty parties are connected with the 
 plot by Jeremiah himself (eh. xviii.). The record runs 
 parallel with the account of the scene before the temple 
 (ch. xxvi.). and apparently relates what occurred soon 
 thereafter. The prophet sees a potter at his wheel, reject- 
 ing work which had been spoiled, and making a new vessel 
 according to his own design (xviii. 1-1). This transaction 
 is applied to the case of Israel, which is a vessel spoiled for 
 Jehovah's purposes, so that He has to reject it, according 
 to the theory and practice of his government of the world. 
 The vessel, however, is a living people, endowed with the 
 power of choice, so that repentance may yet stay the hand 
 stretched out to destroy (xviii. 5-10). When the crisis 
 is presented to the rulers of the people, they stubbornly 
 persist in their own destruction (xviii. 11 f.). When 
 the sentence is pronounced against their land and nation 
 (vs. 13-17), they enter into a formal conspiracy against 
 Jeremiah, basing their action on the ground that he has 
 usurped the function of the regular guides of the people, 
 the priests, counsellors, prophets: "for direction shall not 
 fail from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the 
 word from the prophet" (v. 18). Here again the imme- 
 diate question was one of professional rivalry (cf. § In'.):',). 
 But the grievance that brought upon Jeremiah the enmity 
 of the whole ol'tieial class was his supposed treason, in 
 giving over his country to the new foreign power that 
 should take the place of the routed Egyptians (§ 101*1 f. ). 
 
 § 1103. This conflict was to Jeremiah the beginning 
 of sorrows. He had ardently hoped that the prospect 
 of subjugation by an irresistible foe would move king 
 and people to sonic serious attempt at reformation. 
 Bui they could not see things with his eyes. This false 
 worship, imitative, exotic and sickly, and the depend- 
 ence on foreigners which it had encouraged, had made 
 them feeble, hesitating, and vacillating in all civic ac-
 
 190 JEREMIAH AND HIS PERSECUTORS Book X 
 
 lion, internal or external, so that a practical fatalism 
 paralyzed both thought and enterprise throughout the 
 body politic. Thus the threatened invasion, real and 
 imminent as it was to Jeremiah, was to them only a 
 remotely contingent peril, till it came thundering at 
 their gates. In like manner, though habituated to the 
 formulae of prophetic teaching for generations, the}' could 
 not interpret its language, which could only be u spiritu- 
 ally discerned." Above all, the range and scope of 
 its practical application were wholly beyond their ken. 
 Slaves as they were to ceremony and ritual, even when 
 giving Jehovah the chief place in their formal services, 
 they were without that "inspiration" which endowed Jere- 
 miah and his little circle with a sense of the living power 
 of Israel's God both in the political and in the moral 
 realm. As the outward functions of religion filled out 
 their idea of worship, so they could not conceive that the 
 object of their devotions was active and potent beyond 
 the visible sphere of their customary formalities. As 
 religion with them took the place of morality, so sight 
 took the place of faith, the present of the eternal, Jeru- 
 salem of the world. The vulgar belief reasoned thus : 
 "Jehovah dwells in Zion : He must protect Jerusalem 
 against all enemies, else how should lie save himself? 
 We, who are his people, dwelling in Jerusalem, are safe as 
 
 lone' as Jerusalem and Jehovah himself are safe." Doubt- 
 er 
 
 less in many minds similar sentiments prevailed, grounded 
 upon like arguments, with regard to the gods associated 
 with Jehovah in the popular worship. 
 
 § 1104. No intellectual and moral hostility can be 
 stronger than that which arises between a prophet and a 
 professional dogmatist. When the issue at stake is one of 
 supreme practical importance the contest is virulent and 
 deadly. Since neither party, in the strict sense, reasons, 
 recourse is had to other modes of attack. In the present 
 instance the official prophets and priests construed Jere- 
 miah's judgment upon the city and temple as treason, while
 
 Ch. IV, § 1105 THE PROPHET'S MALEDICTIONS 191 
 
 he assailed them in good set terms as the real enemies of 
 Jehovah and of his government, as aiders and abetters 
 of all those forms of impiety and immorality which were 
 rife under their administration. In their view death was 
 the only fate that he deserved ; by fair and open means 
 if possible, if not, then by assassination. On his part 
 there is, at this crisis, just as little self-restraint. His 
 mouth also is full of cursing and bitterness (xviii. 21 ff. ; 
 cf. xii. 3), and he invokes upon them, their wives, and 
 children, the most terrible of divine visitations. Making 
 all allowance for Oriental extravagance and rhetorical 
 redundance, the imprecations are so appalling and, as we 
 may say, so unchristian, that some comment upon them 
 is necessaiy even in an historical summary like the present. 
 An explanation may help to satisfy us, since justification 
 is impossible, and since the process of explaining away 
 has justly become discredited. 
 
 § 1105. Observe firstly the form and mode of this 
 attack upon Jeremiah. His opponents were guilty of 
 the basest treachery. There was apparently nothing to 
 extenuate the wrong, except perhaps Jeremiah's aggres- 
 siveness and iteration. Machinations against his life, 
 the plan of assassination being frustrated only by special 
 revelation (xi. 18), were bad enough ; but his own kin- 
 dred were actually employed as the instruments, and that 
 while, as it would seem, he was on one of his accustomed 
 visits to the home of his youth. Secondly, the sting of 
 the cruel design was its ingratitude. Jeremiah knew 
 that his message was the true one, and that its accept- 
 ance alone could save his city and country. If he claimed 
 any superiority over his rivals, it was because he was the 
 accredited messenger of Jehovah. Moreover, his moral and 
 spiritual demands were in accord with earlier revelation, 
 and therefore should have been at least respected by all 
 parties in the state. But he was sentenced as an impostor 
 by nearly all his fellow-citizens, with the king at their 
 head, and persecuted as a traitor.
 
 102 THE PROPHET'S SUFFERINGS Book X 
 
 § 1106. What most concerned Jeremiah was the vindi- 
 cation of the truth of God, the determination of the ques- 
 tion whether in critical instances the faithfulness and 
 righteousness of Jehovah would be demonstrated. To his 
 rivals the main question at issue was whether Jehovah 
 would approve of their present political measures (cf. Jer. 
 xxviii. 1 ff.). His intense insistent temper made it a 
 wearying business to abide the long-deferred decision. 
 But it was not this that made the sharpness of his heart- 
 ache. It was that he must endure the defaming and 
 mocking of the majority for his belief and trust in Jehovah 
 — in his own words, "because the word of Jehovah is made 
 a reproach to me and a derision all the day" (xx. 8). 
 
 § HOT. Another consideration presents itself. He 
 was confounded and baffled by the mystery of his trouble. 
 Old Testament prophets, pre-exilic and post-exilic alike, 
 regarded suffering, no matter how inflicted, as the direct 
 consequence of their own transgression. Indignation 
 against his enemies, as his interviews with Jehovah reveal, 
 was mingled with reflections as to his own shortcomings, 
 of which the disappointments and apparent failure of his 
 life seemed to be the result. The elements of human 
 sorrow were never presented to any soul more bitter or 
 undiluted. But neither he nor any other sufferer of the 
 olden time could analyze the contents of the cup which 
 the Father had given him to drink. And so, if we 
 wonder at his self-despair, alternating with incoherent 
 maledictions against his persecutors, our pity of him must 
 be tempered with something like admiration, as w r e behold 
 him in the very desperation of bewilderment, casting him- 
 self at the feet of the Master and taking to himself the 
 blame for the w r reck of his hopes, of his career, and of the 
 cause of Clod and Israel. 
 
 § 1108. Again, this spirit of revenge belonged to a 
 special stage of Jeremiah's experience and of his prophetic 
 career. Such a consideration is of biographical and liter- 
 ary value, since it enables us to group into one collection
 
 Ch. IV, § 1100 HIS VICARIOUS MINISTRY 103 
 
 those scattered passages of his memoirs which exhibit an 
 extreme of rancour and intolerance. But it is also in- 
 structive as showing that it was a transient phase of his 
 development; in fact, a necessary stage in his spiritual 
 and moral education. Finally, we may think more justly 
 of these outbursts if Ave recollect that, while they would 
 be sinful in us, they were not necessarily so improper in 
 the ancient prophets of Jehovah. We have been taught 
 by the incarnation and sacrifice of the Christ, that even 
 the most evil of men are not entirely reprobate. On the 
 other hand, Jeremiah and his fellows were in a real sense 
 not acting or speaking for themselves alone, but for the 
 faithful people of Jehovah, that nameless band who were 
 despised and wronged, and could speak only through 
 him for justice, righteousness, and mercy. To claim ven- 
 geance for oneself alone is always ignoble. But it is a 
 species of " noble rage " to demand condign punishment 
 for those who have contemned and crushed the suffering 
 saints (cf. § 597 ff.). 1 
 
 § 1109. In every strenuous and victorious life there 
 comes a time, soon or late, when the climax of effort and 
 endurance is reached, and after this supreme ordeal has 
 
 1 Reference may be made in general terms to the so-called vindictive 
 or imprecatory psalms, some of which are supposed to have been com- 
 posed by Jeremiah himself at this period of his life. The proof of such 
 authorship is not very obvious. Rut it is not necessary to suppose that 
 the canonical prophets, and the psalmists known or supposed to be known 
 by name, were the only examples or " types" of vicarious suffering in the 
 olden time. It is not out of place to observe that if the right historical 
 method of interpreting the Old Testament did nothing more than further 
 the explanation of such obnoxious passages, it would deserve well of the 
 church and the world. The writer lias known a lady, the wife of a 
 clergyman and the mother of two clergymen, who refused to the end of 
 her long life to read or sing the "cursing psalms." Why they are ever 
 sung by modern Christians is one of the mysteries that can only be ex- 
 plained by the final philosophy of human nature, lint it is to be Imped 
 that the coming generation may be able to read them without either feel- 
 ing shame for the Book of Books or uttering apologetic sophistries in 
 behalf of its consistency and moral perfection. The Bible is only con- 
 sistent with itself when viewed as an historical development. 
 o
 
 194 COMFORT AFTEB CONFLICT Book X 
 
 been passed the soul is sure of itself and proof against all 
 new disclosures and surprises. Such a time came to Jere- 
 miah with this -sorrow's crown of sorrow"; and it is 
 strange, divinely strange, that his strengthening and 
 confidence came not with a promise of relief or com- 
 fort, but with the assurance that his present conflict was 
 but a foretaste of sterner and more agonizing strife. 
 "For thou hast run against footmen and they wearied 
 thee; then how wilt thou compete with horses? In a 
 peaceful land thou art secure; but how wilt thou do amid 
 the jungles of Jordan?"" 1 (eh. xii. 5). Yet it was well 
 for him that he should now know the worst that could 
 befall. Henceforth he knew that there were none upon 
 whom he could rely (cf. xii. 6) save Jehovah alone. The 
 rock which clashed his ship to pieces bore him up, wounded 
 and bleeding, beyond the reach of the breakers. And so 
 we soon find him still in the midst of bitter conflict, with 
 no abatement of outward storm and stress, but maintain- 
 ing against all appearances his confidence in Jehovah, by 
 reason of the word of faith and promise within him (ch. 
 xx. 9 ff. ; § 1112). 
 
 § 1110. Before this point is reached, however, events 
 take place which intensify the outward conflict and bring 
 Israel some steps nearer to its doom. Again the potter's 
 vessel (§ 1102) and the valley of Tophet (§ 1095) come 
 into view. A finished product of the skilled workman's 
 labour is brought by Jeremiah before a company of " elders 
 of the people and elders of the priests," outside the city 
 gate that led to Gehenna. An irrevocable decree of de- 
 struction is pronounced upon Jerusalem, whose terrors 
 are to be concentrated in that scene of horrible desecra- 
 tion. Then the vessel is broken before their eyes, to 
 
 literally, the "splendour of Jordan," that is, the thick foliage and 
 rank vegetation with which the banks of the Jordan were arrayed, and 
 which, according to ch* xlix. 19 (cf. li. 44) and Zech. xi. 3, were the 
 haunt of wild beasts, represented by the lion, and therefore avoided as 
 dangerous for travellers.
 
 Ch. IV, §1112 PROVOCATION AND PUNISHMENT 195 
 
 symbolize the catastrophe (Jer. xix. 1—13). Naturally 
 the ire of the priesthood was excited by the harangue 
 and the judgment. Daring their fiercest rage, Jeremiah, 
 after the symbolic action, returned to the cit}*, and, taking 
 his stand in the court of the temple, reiterated the Avoids 
 of doom in the audience of the people (v. 14, 15). 
 
 § 1111. At length it was felt that a warning, public 
 and exemplary, must be given to such an incorrigible 
 offender. Accordingly, a member of a leading priestly 
 family, Pashhur, son of Immer, who was chief officer of 
 the temple, had Jeremiah arrested for sacrilege, basti- 
 nadoed, and placed in the stocks over night near the 
 "upper gate of Benjamin," at the northern side of the 
 temple court. On the following morning he was released, 
 the legal punishment having been fully inflicted. Jere- 
 miah then, fully aroused and implacable, pronounced a 
 judgment upon his persecutor personally, in addition to 
 a detailed repetition of the sentence upon the land and its 
 rulers (xx. 1-6; cf. Am. vii. 16). 
 
 § 1112. After this strain upon a mind and soul to 
 which all personal antagonism was a fiery trial, the har- 
 assed prophet, borne down for a moment with a sense of the 
 terrible destiny which he had accepted, breaks out against 
 himself and his own fate in terms almost as horrible as 
 those which he had employed against his foes (xx. 14-18). 1 
 This utterance (cf. Job iii.) sounds to us like an arraign- 
 ment of Providence. But "cursing one's da}' " was a 
 practice in which Orientals, pious or impious, frequently 
 indulged when in a despairing mood; and the language 
 of Jeremiah is merely an expansion of familiar formula 1 . 
 It is accompanied, however, by a direct protest to Jeho- 
 vah, which turns at last into words of adoration. This 
 noble passage runs as follows: "Thou didst beguile me, 
 
 1 These verses are placed by Cornill, following Ewald, before vs. 7-1.*]. 
 The whole passage (vs. 7-18) is assigned by Cornill to the lime of Zede- 
 kiah, but its contents suit the presenl Btage in Jeremiah's lite admirably, 
 
 following up as they do his complaints in chs. xi. ami xii.
 
 196 JEREMIAH'S INWARD VICTORY Book X 
 
 Jehovah, and I was beguiled. Thou hast overpowered 
 me and overcome me. I have become a laughing-stock 
 all the day; everyone is mocking me. For whenever I 
 speak I cry out, 'injustice and oppression,' because the 
 word of God has become a reproach to me and a scorning 
 continually. And I keep saying. 'I will mention it no 
 more, and speak no longer in his name;' and then it 
 becomes in my heart like a burning lire shut up in my 
 bones, and I become weary of holding in, and I cannot do 
 it. For I have heard the slanders of many people, and 
 fears are all about me. 'Denounce him. and we will 
 denounce him, too,' say all my sworn companions, who 
 are watching for my fall; 'perhaps he will be entrapped 
 and we shall prevail against him, and take vengeance 
 upon him.' But Jehovah is on my side as a mighty 
 champion ; therefore my persecutors shall stumble and 
 not prevail. They are grossly put to shame because of 
 their folhy, yea, with an everlasting reproach which shall 
 not be forgotten. And, Jehovah of Hosts, that dost try 
 the righteous, that seest into the reins and the heart, I 
 shall see thy vengeance upon them, for to Thee I have 
 confided my case. Sing ye to Jehovah; praise ye Jeho- 
 vah, for He hath delivered the soul of the needy from the 
 hand of evil doers " (xx. 7-13). Truly this hard-trained 
 spiritual athlete ran better against the horses than against 
 the footmen (cf. § 1109). 
 
 § 1113. We are now in a position to measure more 
 accurately the moral interval between Jeremiah and the 
 ruling parties in the state. Except from one point of 
 view Jeremiah's course was unpatriotic and wrong, and 
 that point of view, though all-important to him, seemed 
 to his opponents ridiculously irrelevant. He was to them 
 an unpractical amateur in politics, and, as a matter of 
 fact, lie Mas anything but a politician. The Chahheans 
 were nothing to him, nor he to the Chaldteans, save for 
 the kingdom of God. But that kingdom was bound up 
 with the body-politic, which was its material mode of
 
 Ch. IV, § 1114 HIS PROPHETIC DISTINCTION 197 
 
 expression. He did not distinguish between its outward 
 form and the inward spirit or motive, which employed 
 king and princes and elders and priests and prophets as its 
 instruments and servants. But with that clear singleness 
 of view which is perhaps the surest note of Hebraic in- 
 spiration, lie regarded every event that affected the fate 
 of Israel as the direct aetion of Jehovah, while his profes- 
 sional rivals did not differentiate Jehovah from the other 
 divinities except as the controller of Zion and the temple, 
 his sacred seat. Another and more cardinal distinction 
 was that according to his genuine prophetic conception 
 Jehovah was not only immanent and active in Israel, but 
 being the God of the whole world he controlled also the 
 actions of outside nations upon Israel. 
 
 § 1114. All this, however, is only theoretical and 
 belongs to the sphere of Biblical theology. Jeremiah's 
 discourses, his pleadings and threatenings, his reproaches 
 and denunciations, his strong crying and tears, belong to 
 history and literature, that is, to humanity. What was 
 it that converted the belief of the universality and neces- 
 sity of Jehovah's interference in human affairs 1 into the 
 inward sense of his presence and his urgent concern for 
 his earthly kingdom? More definitely still, what gave 
 Jeremiah his assurance of the hostile advance of the 
 Chaldseans, such as Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah entertained 
 of the Assj-rians, and of the divine necessit}' of their 
 ci lining, while his compeers and colleagues entertained 
 neither the one idea nor the other? The answer is the 
 open secret of the Old Testament, of its history and its 
 teaching. Jehovah has a moral not a mere mechanical 
 relation to his people. lie demands their worship not 
 merely because he is the God of Israel, requiring rites 
 and ceremonies as the badge and expression of sen i- 
 tude, but because true homage paid to him is a suh- 
 
 1 A doctrine which, of course, was never formulated by Jeremiah or 
 any other of the prophets, <>r abstracted by them from their consciousness 
 
 nf Jehovah's activity in the sphere of human history.
 
 198 THE ENEMY PUBLICLY NAMED Book X 
 
 mission of the heart and life to his moral requirements 
 — righteousness, justice, and mercy (ix. 24) — which 
 supersedes all ritual and sacrifice ( vii. 2'2 f.). On the 
 other hand, all immorality — injustice, faithlessness, cru- 
 elty, deceit — is rebellion against Jehovah, or, in other 
 words, violation of his moral law, which, in its very 
 nature, demands punishment. National immorality de- 
 mands national punishment. The scourge of the nation 
 must he the strongest of the foreign powers, that is, once 
 the Assyrian, now the Chahhean. Because of the god- 
 lessness and unrighteousness of Jehovah's people, their 
 chastisement by the Chakheans is an inexorable neces- 
 sity. Hence this was the great burden of Jeremiah's 
 messages to the people and the king. And this purpose 
 so dominated him, that he was emphatically a man of one 
 idea, and therefore one who, bej'ond the circle of his few 
 devoted followers, was feared and suspected. 
 
 § 1115. One more public appearance was vouchsafed 
 to the importunate, hard-beset prophet. Ch. xxv. 1-13 con- 
 tains the abstract of a discourse delivered by Jeremiah "to 
 all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusa- 
 lem " in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (xxv. 1, 2). This 
 address marks an advance. The message gains in force 
 and clearness. But, as we shall see, it has serious conse- 
 quences to the preacher himself. What is essentially new 
 in it reads as follows (xxv. 8, 9) : " Thus saith Jehovah 
 of hosts, because ye have not heard my words I will send 
 and take all the families of the north — and to Nebuchad- 
 rezzar, king of Babylon, my servant — and will bring 
 them against this land and against its inhabitants, and 
 against all these nations round about, and I will devote 
 them to destruction." That Jeremiah should now name 
 directty the author of the impending disaster was appro- 
 priate and perhaps inevitable. For four years the young 
 Chaldaean conqueror had been famous throughout western 
 Asia. He had perhaps just been proclaimed viceroy by 
 his father. Moreover, it was his triumph at Carchemish,
 
 Oh. IV, § 1116 A GENERAL EAST 199 
 
 achieved in this very year (xlvi. 2), which made it obvi- 
 ous to the prophet that the ultimate subjection of Syria 
 and Palestine was inevitable. 1 But hitherto, in accord- 
 ance with the habit of prophecy, he had spoken in general 
 terms, since there is but one reference in the earlier dis- 
 courses to Jehovah's personal agent in the humiliation 
 of his people (iv. 7; cf. li. 44, Num. xxiii. 24). 
 
 § 1116. The immediate effect of the message was, 
 however, practically nothing more than this, that the 
 ruling class, with the king at their head, had now a 
 better case than ever against Jeremiah. To him it ap- 
 peared more than ever necessary that the people should 
 be collectively warned, and that the real character of 
 the impending danger should be plainly stated. The 
 national gatherings at the temple furnished the best 
 opportunity, and in those days none were so numerously 
 attended as the general fasts. These were not statutory, 
 but were convoked by the priests, under the direction of 
 the court. It was the anxiety and unrest of these troub- 
 lous times that prompted the people to propitiate Jeho- 
 vah at his shrine. Thej^ were prepared to listen. The 
 prophet was eager to speak. But he was now " restrained " 
 from appearing in the temple (Jer. xxxvi. 5), probably 
 on account of temporary ceremonial impurity. 2 Hence 
 
 1 It is fair to say that the words alluding to Nebuchadrezzar in xxv. 
 9 are regarded by Hitzig, Kuenen, Cornill, and others, as having been 
 taken over from xxvii. 0. Their absence from the Sept. counts for 
 little (cf. note to § 1082); but they are here introduced ungrammati- 
 cally, and may be out of place. However, the same thing is virtually 
 said in v. 11, which is retained by Cornill. The interesting question 
 of the genuineness of other portions of ch. xxv. 1-13 cannot he dis- 
 cussed hei-e. See Schwally, in ZATW*. VIII, 177 ff., who is closely 
 followed by Cornill in his Text of Jeremiah; and cf. Driver. Intrfi 
 p. 270, 272 f. The suspected passages are not necessary to the develop- 
 ment of the story, and are therefore nol taken into account here. We 
 have, of course, nothing to do at present with what follows v. 13, which is 
 a summary of one or more discourses on foreign nations, ami is therefore 
 in the Sept. united with the series chs. xlvi.-li., being indeed separated 
 from vs. 1-13 and placed after ch. xlviii. 
 
 - See \V. R. Smith, RS. 2 p. 45G.
 
 200 DISCOURSE READ IN PUBLIC Book X 
 
 be committed his discourses to writing, by the hand of 
 Baruch, who was also to read them in the hearing of the 
 people. His former addresses were to be also included 
 in the volume, because they had now become of public 
 importance (Jer. xxxvi. 1-7). 
 
 § 1117. This change of form suggests one to two 
 observations. In the first place, it was something new 
 in the history of prophecy that the author was not the 
 preacher. We have here the beginning of the public 
 reading of the Scriptures. In this first instance some- 
 thing was both lost and gained by the delegation to another 
 of what was once a function of the prophet. The mes- 
 sage was bereft of the personal force of the seer and orator. 
 On the other hand, when it came to the business of read- 
 ing instead of speaking, it was appropriate that a practised 
 writer should appear in a role to which Jeremiah was so 
 little accustomed. One whose strength lay in appeal, 
 invective, and warning, would be apt to lose his power 
 over his audience when obliged to present his impassioned 
 thoughts in a formal recital. Moreover, the occasion 
 was notable in the literary history of revelation by reason 
 of this change of the form of discourse. Observe that the 
 discourses of Jeremiah, as we have them, are not unsuit- 
 able for public reading. They are copious, often diffuse, 
 and, as a rule, expressed in the homely phrase that needs 
 no analysis to bring it home to the understanding and the 
 heart. Contrast with this style of prophetic oratory the 
 discourses of the other great prophets from Amos onward. 
 These are mere summaries of the spoken discourses which 
 never appeared in such a form as that given by Baruch to 
 the words of his master. 
 
 § 1118. As we have seen, the command to write 
 was given in 605 B.C. There is no record, however, 
 of any public reading during that year, and we must 
 assume that none took place till December of the next 
 year, the fifth of Jehoiakim (Jer. xxxvi. 9). There is 
 little doubt that the gathering during which the read- 
 
 O O O
 
 Ch. IV, § 11 111 SCENE OF THE LECTURE 201 
 
 ing took place was the first national fast that was pro- 
 claimed after the command given to Baruch to write down 
 the discourses. 1 The writing was therefore done carefully 
 and deliberateh*. The place chosen for the lecture 
 (xxxvi. 10) was one already distinguished by addresses 
 to the throngs of temple visitors. Jeremiah himself had 
 spoken there (§ 10i»2), and it Mas close thereby that he 
 had suffered the punishment of the stocks at the hands of 
 the overseer of the temple (§ 1111). 2 This noted resort 
 was at the northern and most frequented gate of the inner 
 temple court. Here the king's chancellor, Gemariah, 
 son of Shaphan, had an office, whence he could, in the 
 name of his master, exercise control as far as it might be 
 needed over the public administration of religion. He 
 and his brother Ahikam were protectors of Jeremiah; and 
 Baruch doubtless felt a greater measure of security in the 
 proximity of a friend at court. 
 
 § 1119. The solemnity of the occasion, the novel mode 
 of address, the reiterated challenge to the king and rulers 
 in the announcement of Nebuchadrezzar's coming domina- 
 tion, created a deep impression among the hearers. A 
 son of Gemariah, named Micaiah, was present to repre- 
 sent the highest official authority, while the magnates 
 themselves, though well aware of what was going on, 
 
 1 Our modern versions and many expositors fail to represent the origi- 
 nal fairly. In 1!V. a new paragraph begins with xxxvi. 9, as though the 
 fast in question were a different one from that referred to by Jeremiah in 
 v. 6. But there is no break in the original at this point, and the natural 
 understanding of the story must be that Jeremiah, at a time s< vera! 
 months after the command to write (v. 4), instructed Baruch to read at 
 the approaching fast. This injunction ends with v. 7. and v. <s begins the 
 description of the reading and the subsequent episode. 
 
 2 Various designations are given to this gate of the temple forecourt. 
 In xxvi. 10 and xxxvi. 10 it is named "tin' new gate of the house of 
 Jehovah," in allusion to the fact that it was built, or perhaps rather 
 rebuilt, by Jotliam. In "J K. xv. 35, where this facl is recorded, it is called 
 '• the upper gate," while in Jer. xx. ■_' it is designated " the upper gate of 
 Benjamin," as being on the north side of the temple area (cf. Ez. viii. '.) ; 
 ix. 2). See Nowack, HA. II, 36 f.
 
 202 EFFECT OF THE READING Book X 
 
 ignored the proceedings by absenting themselves. The 
 young man was s<> startled by the contents of the roll, 
 that he deemed it his duty to report them to his father 
 and the council, who were assembled, probably in antici- 
 pation of the disclosure, in the room of the under-secre- 
 tary Elishama in the royal palace. The result of the 
 communication was that Baruch was summoned to appeal- 
 before them in person with his portentous volume. On 
 his arrival they bade him read the document before them. 
 A great consternation was the result (xxxvi. 11-16). 
 
 § 1120. The king could be kept in ignorance no longer. 
 The princes, now cognizant of the manifesto, would be 
 held guilty of treason if they failed to report. They 
 dreaded the consequences to Jeremiah, whom some of 
 them regarded with superstitious fear and some with 
 profound regard. Hence they bade Baruch see to it that 
 he and Jeremiah hide themselves with all possible secrecy. 
 Then they repaired to the northern side of the court quad- 
 rangle where lay the suite of rooms set apart for the winter 
 residence of the king (cf. Am. iii. 15). Here Jehoiakim 
 was found sitting before a fire of coals that was burning 
 in the brazier in the middle of the room. They did not 
 bring the roll with them, but laid it by in the secretary's 
 office, hoping that the king would be content with an oral 
 report. When this had been given he demanded that the 
 roll be brought and read in his presence. The effect 
 upon Jehoiakim of the reading was even worse than the 
 courtiers had feared. Not more than three or four pages 1 
 had been read when he seized the manuscript, and taking 
 the secretary's pen-knife, cut it into fragments and threw 
 them on the fire till they were entirely consumed. Gema- 
 riah and two others had appealed to the king not to com- 
 mit the sacrilege, but after the deed had been done all 
 
 1 Literally "doors," that is, the rectangular columns into which the 
 manuscript was divided, the successive lines of each page being written 
 parallel to the length of the roll. The material in this instance was prob- 
 ably papyrus.
 
 Ch. IV, § 1122 JEREMIAH AND JEHOIAKIM 203 
 
 the by-standers, dreading' the royal displeasure, refrained 
 from any expression of horror or dismay ( xxxvi. 17-24). 
 
 § 1121. The reverence for the person and office of 
 Jeremiah entertained by some of the principal nobles was 
 thus offset by the reckless impiety and petulance of the 
 king, who, we may be sure, was supported in his attitude 
 by many, probably most, of his advisers. 1 But even in 
 Jehoiakim we notice a change of policy toward Jeremiah. 
 When the leader of the independent prophets had made 
 his previous harangue beside the court of the temple 
 (§ 10! »2) the protection of Ahikam sufficed to safeguard 
 him. Now, however, the command went forth that Jere- 
 miah must be put to death. He hid himself to save his 
 life, and the secret of his hiding-place was faithfully kept. 
 
 § 1122. Such an edict was in keeping with the harsh- 
 ness and moral insensibility that marked Jehoiakim. Jere- 
 miah himself has recorded his reputation for injustice, 
 greed, and selfish luxuriousness (xxii. 13 ff.). Like all 
 covetous men he was essentially irreligious. He disliked 
 extreme opinions, and as he had a lofty conception of his 
 kingly rights, he was determined to put down all agitation 
 that would make government troublesome. Though idola- 
 try nourished under him, he was no innovator in matters 
 of faith and worship like Ahaz or Manasseh. 2 Indeed all 
 the successors of Josiah, young men and immature and 
 anything but statesmanlike, were rather opportunists and 
 time-servers than radical subverters of the time-honored 
 theocratic institutions. Jehoiakim simply adapted him- 
 self to the ruling conditions. He found that the popular 
 type of religion now established by prevailing usage, 
 
 1 Not, however, in his burning of the roll. One of them, who was the 
 king's instrument in (he execution of Uriah (Jer. xxvi. 22 !'., £ L092), 
 namely, Elnathan, son of Achbor, joined with Gemariah in imploring the 
 king not to do such a perilous thing. 
 
 2 Notice that the invasion of Judah by Nebuchadrezzar and his irregu- 
 lar auxiliaries (§ 1078) is declared to have been a chastisement brought 
 upon the land on account of the sins of Manasseh (2 K. xxiv. 3 f.l, not 
 of Jehoiakim, under whom the calamity was endured.
 
 204 THE KING AND THE POLITICIANS Book X 
 
 suited best the mass of his subjects, made the kingdom 
 more congenial to the neighbouring states, and most easily 
 satisfied the cliques of priests, prophets, diviners, and their 
 parasites, who. with the decline of the kingdom and the 
 curtailed jurisdiction of the civil authorities, tended more 
 and more to become the dominant element in the state. 
 Hence he favoured the concurrent exercise of all prescrip- 
 tive modes of worship, and compromised Jehovah's pre- 
 rogative all the more willingly because of the reaction that 
 Mas in progress against Josiah's reformation. .V similar 
 temper seems to have governed his general public policy. 
 He accepted the yoke of Egypt, and wore it after the 
 sceptre of Syria had passed from that ambitious monarch. 
 He exchanged it for the yoke of Babylon without making 
 any useless resistance. And yet he was finally cajoled 
 into a fatuous rebellion against his all-powerful suzerain. 
 § 1123. Moreover, it was Jeremiah's persistence in pro- 
 claiming the approach of Nebuchadrezzar that made Jehoi- 
 akim his open and implacable foe. With the king went 
 the majority of the nobles and princes, who now found 
 themselves united with the priesthood in opposing ' the 
 alleged betrayer of his country. One cannot entirely 
 condemn the attitude of the politicians, who were doubt- 
 less animated by intense though mistaken patriotism. 
 But they would have had more sympathy from the 
 pmphet himself as well as from the after-world if their 
 course had been more open and independent ; for the great 
 question with them was how they should play their part as 
 between the opposing forces of the Chaldseans and Egyp- 
 tians. They held that the power to be deferred to in the 
 meanwhile was Egypt, which was still the nominal suzerain 
 of Palestine. But the battle of Carchemish had shown 
 that its control was precarious at best, and the time might 
 soon come when the practical question would be how 
 best to conciliate the victorious Chaldseans. Meanwhile 
 a waiting policy was maintained, with a leaning toward 
 Egypl as the nearest power and the one in present posses-
 
 Ch. IV, § 1125 THE PROPHET'S TWOFOLD LIFE 205 
 
 sion. The attitude of Jeremiah, who, among men of lead- 
 ing, was almost alone in the contrary opinion, and who at 
 the same time placed the stigma of impiety and wicked- 
 ness upon all who did not agree with him, must have been 
 exasperating' in the extreme to the heads of the state. 
 They were willing to tolerate his prophesying, as the pre- 
 scriptive privilege and craft of his order ; but it was quite 
 a different matter to let his Avoids steal away the hearts 
 of the fighting men, weaken the hands of the leaders, and 
 bring shame and confusion to Israel. 
 
 § 1124. This irreconcilable antagonism remained to 
 the end. At critical periods the errors and recklessness 
 of the king and his counsellors provoked the indignation 
 of the prophet, and denunciations and threatenings were 
 poured upon the heads of the delinquents. But Jere- 
 miah's career was not one of unbroken warfare with the 
 chiefs of the people. During his interdiction from public 
 speech (§ 1121) his disquieted sotd found other means of 
 expression. The stream was as strong and full as ever, 
 but instead of wearing away or tearing down the banks 
 it deepened its channel or broke tumultuously upon the 
 hidden rocks. The section, chs. xiv.-xvii., gives a partial 
 record of his utterances and reflections during this period 
 which apparently extended nearly to the death of Jehoia- 
 kim. If our chronological data are correct, t lie dreaded 
 Nebuchadrezzar did come upon the land within a few 
 months of the public announcement (§ lOTo). Then 
 Jehoiakim submitted to the Chaldsean yoke. 
 
 § 1125. Along with this humiliation came other trou- 
 bles i»f national magnitude. Chief among these was a. 
 terrible drought (Jer. xiv. 1—6) which Jeremiah inter- 
 preted as «i token of Jehovah's displeasure and for whose 
 removal he intercedes in the most piteous terms (xiv. 7 'h- 
 Hear how this "Israelite indeed" (cf. Amos vii. 2, 5) 
 pleads for his country with his God! "Oh, Thou, the 
 hope of Israel, and its saviour in the time of distress! 
 Why shouldst thou be like a sojourner in the land, or as
 
 206 DIALOGUE WITH JEHOVAH Book X 
 
 a traveller who 1ms turned aside for a night's lodging?" 1 
 (v. 8). The interview with Jehovah now becomes a dia- 
 logue — a passage peculiarly valuable for the psychologi- 
 cal study of the mode and process of prophecy. It is the 
 very centre and heart of the book of Jeremiah. In it the 
 motives of his life and work appear in vivid contrast with 
 the spirit and conduct of his professional rivals, while the 
 interests at stake in the contest are brought out in excep- 
 tionally dramatic form. The outlook for himself and his 
 mission was of the darkest, but no darker than the pros- 
 pect which lay before his country. And here he was in 
 hiding, helpless and mute, thrown back upon himself, or 
 rather upon his God. The fire within him burns so that 
 his words seem to be flashed upon the page in letters of 
 flame. Jehovah renounces his people : their fastings and 
 prayers and oblations an- of no avail. He forbids his and 
 their own true messenger to intercede for them ; their 
 portion is death by sword and famine and pestilence (xiv. 
 10-12). Jeremiah replies: "Alas, Lord Jehovah! the 
 prophets are saying to them: ye shall not see the sword, 
 and ye shall not suffer famine, for I will give you sure 
 prosperity in this place" (xiv. 13). To this Jehovah 
 rejoins that the prophets have given a lying message, that 
 they shall perish by that very sword and famine which 
 they have decried, and that the people whom they have 
 deceived shall share their fate (xiv. 11-18). 
 
 § 1126. Jeremiah, however, need not reproach himself 
 with failure, though his people perish in disobedience and 
 impiety ; for Jehovah continues : " If Moses and Samuel 
 were to stand before me (Ps. xcix. G) my soul would 
 
 1 There is a twofold meaning here. In the first place, this was Jeho- 
 vah's own land, and he was inseparable from it (§ 581). Hence the very 
 tie of nature seemed to be broken by his disregard. In the second place, 
 it was the function of Jehovah to give rain (Ps. lxv. 9 ff., civ. 13 ff.), and 
 not of the Baal, whom the people of Canaan looked upon as the fertilizer 
 of the land and especially as the rain-giver (Smith, RS.' 2 p. 100 ff.). Cf. 
 xiv. 22, where this prerogative is denied to " the vanities of the nations" 
 and the powers of the heavens.
 
 Ch. IV, § 1126 THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL 207 
 
 not turn toward them: send them out of my presence 
 and let them depart . . . those that are doomed to the 
 pestilence, to the pestilence ; those that are doomed to 
 the sword, to the sword; those that are doomed to the 
 famine, to famine ; those that are doomed to captivity. 
 to captivity . . . because of Manasseh, son. of Hezekiah, 
 king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem. For who 
 will have compassion on thee, O Jerusalem? and who 
 will bemoan thee? and who will turn aside to ask for thy 
 welfare ? . . . Thou hast rejected me, saith Jehovah, 
 going away backwards, and I have stretched out my hand 
 against thee, and have given thee to destruction. I am 
 weary of repenting . . ." (xv. 1-9). The dialogue ends 
 with strong words of comfort. And thus he fared in many 
 a terrible struggle into which he fell after inactivity had 
 been forced upon him, and his work seemed worse than 
 vain, — when he was a shunned and hated man, haunted 
 by the mystery of the fate that made him, against his 
 will and his very nature, "a man of strife and conten- 
 tion with all the earth " (xv. 10) ; persecuted for the 
 cause of Jehovah himself, whose words were the joy and 
 gladness of his heart : (xv. 15 f.) ; a lonely man shut ottt 
 from the cheerful ways of men (xv. 17) ; whose pain was 
 perpetual and his wound incurable ; deserted even by his 
 God, who seemed to him like the vanishing waters of a 
 summer brook sought in vain by the thirsty traveller 
 (xv. IS). What he anchored his storm-driven soul to 
 at last was the assurance that Jehovah had not really 
 deserted him or disowned his work : "If thou wilt stand 
 before me again, I will let thee stand before me, 2 and if 
 
 1 Vs. 12-14 are quite foreign to this otherwise closely connected dis- 
 course and evidently belong elsewhere. Vs. 13, 1 I are mutilated from 
 xvii. 3, 4. V. 12 is in the manner of Jeremiah, but it is difficult to know 
 where it should be placed. V. 11 anticipates vs. 19-21, bul spoils the 
 beauty of this unique discourse in the place where it stands. Ii is perhaps 
 best with Cornill to exscind vs. 11-14 entirely. 
 
 2 For the construction, see Kbnig, Syntax der hebraischen Sprache, 
 § 3G1 )»., and his index of passages.
 
 208 THE LONELY PROPHET Book X 
 
 thou will bring out the precious from the worthless, 1 thou 
 shalt be my mouth-piece, and thy enemies shall resort to 
 thee (Gen. iii. 16; iv. 7) and not thou to them. And 1 
 shall make thee for this people an impassable wall of 
 bronze, and when they fight against thee they shall not 
 prevail against thee ; for I am with thee to preserve and 
 to deliver thee, saith Jehovah . . .' , (xv. 1 ( ,>-21). 
 
 § 1127. Still deeper must the prophet go into the 
 valley of deep darkness in the fulfilment of his media- 
 torial ministry. He had served his people as teacher, 
 monitor, accuser, and intercessor. Now he must in his 
 own person and fate symbolize their ruin, their reproba- 
 tion, and their abandonment by Jehovah. As fathers and 
 mothers were everywhere to be made childless, and chil- 
 dren made orphans, by the sword and famine and pesti- 
 lence, so he in his personal experience must forego the 
 hope of domestic jo}% the love and solace of wife and 
 child. Not for himself alone did he remain through life 
 a singular solitary man : the bareness and isolation of his 
 lot must recall to him the grief and desolation of unnum- 
 bered homes visited by the angel of death (xvi. 1-4). 
 For any who should die — even for his own nearest and 
 dearest — he should forbear to grieve, keeping far away 
 from the stricken house and the circle of mourners. In 
 the day of Israel's calamity, the dead should be so many 
 that the wonted tokens of sorrow would be discarded ; all 
 kindly offices and all compassion would go out of use, 
 because God's "peace" would be cancelled in the land 
 (xvi. 5-7). Nor must he enter the house of feasting. How 
 can he feast and make merry when the voice of mirth 
 and of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and of the 
 
 1 The expression is a pregnant one : bring out the -old from the base 
 metal so as to separate the two. Jeremiah is admonished that steadfast 
 adherence to the rightful moral principle of God's government, and abso- 
 lute reliance upon Him, are the conditions of his service. The "precious" 
 is the will and the truth of God; the "worthless" is all that tends to 
 obscure or belittle them, including the prophet's own repining ami want 
 of perfect faith. We thus learn Jeremiah's ideal of duty.
 
 Ch. IV, § 1127 THE FINAL PROTEST 209 
 
 bride, are heard no more ? (xvi. 8, 9 ; cf. xv. 17). Again, 
 the evil is traced to its source (xvi. 10-12 ; xvii. 1, 2) 
 and the doom of banishment pronounced (xvi. 13) with 
 all the accompanying miseries " (xvi. 16-18 ; xvii. 3, 4) 1 . 
 Then the prophet, more humble than ever toward God 
 and sterner than ever toward his rivals and persecutors, 
 prays that his wounded spirit may be healed and his safety 
 made sure, while with proud humility he protests the sin- 
 gleness and purity of his purpose and desire : " As for me, 
 I have not hasted away from following Thee as shepherd, 
 nor have I desired the desperate day : 2 Thou knowest it ; 
 what my lips uttered came straight before thee " (xvii. 
 14-18). 
 
 1 No attempt is made here io bring into consistency with the discourse 
 ch. xvi. 14. 15 ; xvii. 5-13, which interrupt the connection, though they 
 are the thought and expression of Jeremiah. 
 
 2 Literally. " the incurably sick day " ; like the Homeric 6\edpiov rjtxap, 
 vTlXets -qixap, etc. Cf., for the epithet, xv. 18, xxx. 12, 15; Isa. xvii. 11.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 HABAKKUK AND THE CHALDiEANS 
 
 § 1128. Habakkuk is reckoned a star of the second 
 magnitude in the firmament of Hebrew literature, yet he 
 shines with a splendid radiance all Ins own. Only the 
 brevity of his work precludes him from a place in prophecy 
 beside Isaiah and Jeremiah. His little book is unique 
 among the prophetic writings in its perfection of form. 
 It is at the same time all aglow with life and energy, and 
 fascinates us with its various beauty. In its combination 
 of grace and strength it is equally rare and admirable. 
 In its harmonious union of passion and reflectiveness it is 
 unrivalled in all Biblical literature. Moreover, it is the 
 most suggestive of all prophetic poems. Few composi- 
 tions of the Old Testament are so closety packed with 
 educative thought. Amos and Isaiah are the only com- 
 peers of Habakkuk as interpreters of events, as masters 
 of the Hebrew philosophy of history. Intellectually he 
 is chiefly distinguished by largeness of view; morally 
 by his impartial sense of right and justice, in which he 
 lias a close kinship with the writer of the book of Job 
 and with Jeremiah. Perhaps no other poem of equal 
 length has a range of vision so wide and so lofty. Jeho- 
 vah's immortality, his purity, his supreme exaltation, 
 his general and special providence, his control of the 
 nations, his consistency and veracity among the paradoxes 
 of history, his justice and zeal in the judgment of oppressors 
 and in the vindication of his servants ; the essential per- 
 sonal character of national and corporate sin ; the function 
 
 210
 
 Ch. V, § 1130 THEME OF HABAKKUK 211 
 
 of the world-powers as moral scourges ; the selfishness 
 and wrong of oppression, its crime against struggling 
 humanity, its futility when matched against the retribu- 
 tive justice of Jehovah, its self-destructiveness ; the secu- 
 rity afforded by steadfastness and rectitude ; the serene 
 confidence and joy that only trust in Jehovah can give — 
 these are the themes that are suggested or elaborated in 
 this incomparable poem. 
 
 § 1129. With all the variety of subject-matter the 
 prophecy of Habakkuk is a unit ; the unifying interest 
 being its great theme, the Chaldsean power. In this sin- 
 gleness of view there is a remarkable parallel with the 
 prophecy of Nahum, whose exclusive attention to the fall 
 of Nineveh we have already considered (§ 831). It is 
 significant that these two brief compositions, which resem- 
 ble one another so greatly in general literary type and 
 in moral purpose, should deal with the character and 
 career of those two nationalities which most decisively 
 determined the fate of Israel. Their similarity in theme 
 and plan and style, as well as in mental and moral atti- 
 tude toward the problems before them, make it probable 
 that one production influenced the other. Nahum wrote 
 very shortly before the fall of Nineveh, and it will appeal 
 (§ 1137) that Habakkuk composed his prophec} r within 
 the next decade. 
 
 § 1130. The theme of Habakkuk is the part and place 
 of the Chaldseans in tin; order of Providence and in the 
 discipline of Israel. The foundation of his argument is 
 the eternal postulate that sin must be punished by suffer- 
 ing, lie starts out by boldly inquiring why Jehovah 
 shuts his eyes to the notorious and flagrant wrong-doing 
 and oppression that are rife in the land. "The oracle is 
 torpid, and justice never comes to light; for the wicked 
 encompass the righteous, and therefore justice comes forth 
 awry" (i. 2-4). The poet now brings Jehovah upon 
 the arena with the reply: "'Look ye among the nations, 
 and consider, and wonder greatly, for I am to do a work
 
 212 PROBLEM OF THE CHALDJEANS Book X 
 
 iii your days which ye .shall not credit when it is told. 
 For, behold, 1 am bringing up the Chaldseans, that fierce 
 and impetuous nation that marches over the breadth of 
 the earth to take possession of dwelling-places not its own. 
 They are fearsome and terrible. Their right and their 
 might 1 come from themselves alone. Their horses are 
 swifter than leopards and fiercer than wolves of the 
 desert ; their war-steeds gallop as they come from afar, 
 flying like the vulture that hastens to devour. Every one 
 of them comes for outrage ; their faces are set straight 
 forward, and they gather captives as the sand. They 
 have a contempt for kings, and princes are their sport. 
 They scorn every kind of fortress ; they raise earthworks 
 and capture it" (vs. 5-10). 
 
 § 1131. Thus far the Chaldseans appear as instruments 
 of Jehovah's punitive justice. But the prophet is too 
 clear-sighted as well as too patriotic to be satisfied with 
 judgment upon the transgressors in Israel. It is not 
 because his own people are worse than the Chaldseans 
 that they receive from Babylon this chastisement. Nay; 
 as compared with the true Israel, these foreigners are the 
 most flagrant of offenders. His sense of justice now 
 challenges Jehovah again with equal boldness, as the suc- 
 cessful impiety of the conquering nation rises before his 
 imagination. "And then he rushes like the wind and 
 passes on; but he is guilty — he whose god is his own 
 strength. Art Thou not from of old, Jehovah my God, 
 Thou holy one of Israel? Thou 2 dost not die. Thou, 
 Jehovah, hast set him here for judgment, ami as a stone 
 of chastening (cf. Isa. viii. 14) hast Thou founded him. 
 Too pure of eyes Thou to behold iniquity, and who canst 
 not look upon evil, why dost Thou look upon trans- 
 gressors and keep silence, while the wicked are devouring 
 men more righteous than themselves?" (i. 11-13). The 
 
 1 More exactly, " their prerogative ami their exaltation." 
 
 2 This and a few other needed emendations are here made without 
 special comment.
 
 Cii. V. § 1133 THE .MORAL SOLUTION 213 
 
 poet here implies that Jehovah, whose everlastingness is 
 but the proof and symbol of his righteousness and faith- 
 fulness has made it plain that the mission of the Chal- 
 dseans is to test and sift Israel. But still the puzzle 
 remains how their triumphant impiety can be tolerated by 
 the God of innate purity. He then goes on to say that 
 men, who have been created by Jehovah as numerous and 
 yet as unprotected as the fish of the sea or the creeping 
 things of the earth, have been wantonly snared by the 
 Chaldaean. Elated by his success and impunity, the 
 spoiler makes an idol of his own huge drag-net. and con- 
 tinues to seize and slay his defenceless victims (i. 14—17). 
 
 | 1132. In search of a moral interpretation of these 
 paradoxes the prophet resorts to his watch-tower. Only 
 thence can he discern the far horizon where the earthly 
 blends with the heavenly without a break in the line of 
 vision. "At 1113- post will I stand, and take my station 
 on the watch-tower; and I will look out to see what he 
 will speak to me and what reply he will make to my 
 argument. And Jehovah answered me and said: 'Write 
 down the vision and make it plain upon the tablets, so 
 that one may run while reading it. For the vision is yet 
 to come to pass in its time, it hastens toward the con- 
 summation, and shall not belie itself, if it lingers, wait 
 patiently, for it shall surely come and shall not be 
 deferred. As to the faint-hearted, 1 his soul is not light 
 within him; but the righteous shall survive by his stead- 
 fastness'" (ii. 1-4). 
 
 § 1133. It is, then, the revival of faith and confidence 
 in the prophet's own soul that gives him the answer. It 
 is his own steadfastness and fidelity 2 thai carries him 
 
 1 I follow Bredenkamp, I ^ ^ ;^" 1 for r\o^-; nan. It is wanl of steady trust in 
 Jehovah that makes the " vision," or the expected solution of the ('),;,]_ 
 puzzle, appear a delusion ami disappointment. The steadfastness 
 that bears a man up is the property of the •• righteous." 
 
 - This is the Old Testament inrocrTairis of things hoped for ( Ilehr. xi. 1), 
 the basis and potency of the New Testament " faith." The quotation of 
 in Bebr. x. 38 is thus justified. Cf. § 962, 1008, note.
 
 214 FUTILITY OF THE CHALDvEAXS Book X 
 
 through the crisis of trial. This inward process of self- 
 renewal, this readjustment of his relations to Jehovah, is 
 part of the life of the true prophet. Such a solution of 
 the problem is subjective, but it is none the less sure and 
 real. Coming as it did on the verge of Israel's last great 
 national struggle, it became the watchword of the faithful 
 then, and forever thereafter. Just because it so reveals 
 the impulse and motive of the religion of Israel, it is the 
 vital centre of the Old Testament. Here we can place 
 our finger upon the heart of Israel and feel it beat. This 
 text must be the starting-point of our study of biblical 
 theolog} T ; for the saving truth of olden time was a vision, 
 born in the life and death struggle of individual souls. 
 
 § 1134. When this has been said there is no need of 
 further perplexing thought. In imagination the prophet 
 has already overborne the crisis. He sees clearly now 
 the essentially futile character of the Chaldaan regime, 
 and the rest of his vision is devoted to characterizing it. 
 It is so essentially and variously bad, that it will work 
 out its own punishment in a series of terrible revenges. 
 As Habakkuk always sees historic events and processes in 
 mental images, the records of which are a sort of half-tone 
 reproduction, we must not look for descriptions, but 
 poetic pictures, in which sentiments, hints, suggestions, 
 side-lights and Hashes of truth take the place of accurate 
 delineation. They are, for that very reason, all the more 
 instructive, for what they lack in exactness the} r gain in 
 depth and power, since the illustrations employed are not 
 the naked facts of history, but essential principles of 
 Jehovah's moral government. A mere summary of the 
 remainder of the prophecy will suffice now that the main 
 thesis has been established. 
 
 § 1135. The poet having already (i. ff.) set forth 
 the irresistible force of the Chaldaeans in the impending 
 conquest of Israel, turns now to their general policy of 
 aggression and spoliation which is to meet its well- 
 deserved and inevitable doom. This is hit off in a preg-
 
 Ch. V, § 1136 A TRIUMPHANT ENDING 215 
 
 nant sentence or two: "He is treacherous like wine, 1 a 
 turbulent and restless wight, who has enlarged his appe- 
 tite like Sheol; he is insatiable like death; he draws to 
 himself all the nations and gathers to himself all the 
 peoples." Having given the moral key to the situation, 
 the poet now disregards, characteristically, the details of 
 the Chalckean decadence, and produces the climax of 
 rhetorical effect by bringing upon the scene, like the 
 assessors of a Roman court of justice, the nations them- 
 selves that now lie prostrate under the feet of the op- 
 pressor. Through their mouths he utters a series of 
 epigrams containing the gist of the moral case against the 
 Chaldsean power, and connecting with each of the charges 
 the announcement of doom (ii. 6-20). 
 
 § 1130. If the closing chapter of the book was written 
 by Habakkuk himself, 2 the sublime theophany which takes 
 up most of it is appropriate to the occasion of the prophecy 
 as a whole. By such appearances of Jehovah in the glory 
 of his power, bending all the powers of nature to his ser- 
 vice, prophets and poets habitually represent (e.g. Ps. 
 xviii.) his intervention in behalf of his suffering people. 
 No crisis more worthy of divine interposition had ever 
 occurred in the history of Israel ; for the faithful few whose 
 destruction was thus threatened were the forlorn hope 
 of the kingdom of God upon earth. Even the closing 
 passage, the serenest and most victorious in all prophetic 
 poetry, is consistent with the main idea of the book. 
 The absolute trust in Jehovah here exemplified is the best 
 illustration of the central truth, which is, after all, a fact 
 
 1 I have retained substantially this expression of the received text, but 
 its connection is very doubtful, and, without a slight emendation of the 
 introductory words, quite unintelligible. 
 
 - It is thought by many to be post-exilic. 15nt the language is not of 
 the distinctly later type, and the only arguments of weight are based 
 upon the liturgical words which were used Eor the hymns of the second 
 temple: the title, the musical terms, and the colophon. But as the 
 chapter is a pure ode or psalm, it may very well have been adapted to 
 a liturgical use from its original prophetic purpose.
 
 210 DATE OF HABAKKUK Book X 
 
 of personal experience, that the righteous is saved by his 
 steadfastness (§ 1132). J 
 
 § 1137. From what has been said there can be no doubt 
 as to the approximate date of the prophecy of Habakkuk. 
 It was written after the battle of Carchemish, and also 
 alter the Chaldseans had supplanted the Egyptians in Pal- 
 estine. More definitely, it was composed just before the 
 rebellion of Jehoiakim had brought the forces of Nebu- 
 chadrezzar against the land. This situation suits the 
 conditions exactly. The prevailing impiety (cf. 2 K. 
 xxiv. 3; Jer. xiv.-xvii.), all the more lamentable after the 
 reformation of Josiah, was, in the prophet's view, to be 
 
 1 The analysis and explanation of the book given in the preceding 
 paragraphs are not accepted by all scholars. A number of influential 
 critics, dissatisfied with the alleged strained and artificial interpretation 
 resulting from the current arrangement, place i. 5-11, the rise and char- 
 acter of the Chakheans, after ii. 4, the vision on the watch-tower. This 
 transposition is adopted by G. A. Smith in his recent work, TJie Book 
 of the Twelve Prophets (II, 116 ff.), to which the student is referred for 
 a succinct account of the matters at issue. The two essential points of 
 the change are that the evils complained of in i. 2-4 are viewed by these 
 authorities not as having been wrought in Israel itself, but as having been 
 inflicted by an outside nation, and that the Chaldseans are regarded as 
 about to be raised up for the purpose of quelling the oppressor, the author 
 of these evils. An appearance of consistency and simplicity is undoubt- 
 edly gained by the new arrangement; but I am constrained to stand by 
 the received order chiefly on the following grounds : (1) The evils of i. 
 2-4 are such as more readily spring from internal disorder and maladmin- 
 istration than from foreign pressure. (2) It is impossible to determine 
 who the outside oppressors arc that are supposed to be described in 
 i. 2-4. 12-17. They are certainly not the Assyrians, who had ceased to 
 exercise direct influence upon Judah at any date to which Habakkuk can 
 be reasonably assigned. To maintain the opposite is to misunderstand 
 the Asiatic situation after the Scythian invasions. They cannot be the 
 Egyptians, to whom the description of i. 14-17 is almost ludicrously in- 
 applicable. (3) As has been pointed out by Davidson, it is most remark- 
 able, on the theory of transposition, that the supposed foreign people of 
 these verses is not mentioned by name. The difficulties raised by the 
 hypothesis are greater than those which it seeks to remove. Some weight 
 must be attached to the traditional order. Nor must we forget that a 
 c< rtain degree of obscurity as to the plan and purpose of the prophecy is 
 to be expected from its condensation and the abrupt transitions which it 
 exhibits throughout.
 
 Cn. V, § 1138 THE PROPHETIC SUCCESSION 217 
 
 punished by the oncoming of the Chaldtean troops (Ilab. i. 
 6 ff.). The Babylonian power had been felt by the nations 
 generally, and was known by Habakkuk to be irresistible. 
 But it had not yet been let loose upon Israel. As we 
 have already seen (§ 1080), Nebuchadrezzar's treatment 
 of Judah had been studiously forbearing; and it was only 
 the conspiracy of Jehoiakim that brought down his wrath 
 upon that luckless people. 1 The date of the prophecy is 
 therefore about 600 b.c. 
 
 § 1138. It was thus in the very midst of Jeremiah's 
 prophetic work that Habakkuk gave his message. But 
 the greater and more important part of Jeremiah's task 
 was wrought after that event, and it is fitting that we 
 adjust the one to the other just at this critical point. It 
 is instructive to notice the progression of prophecy up to 
 the date before us. Jeremiah was contemporary with all 
 three: Zephaniah, Nahum, and Habakkuk, and doubtless 
 learned from them all. Zephaniah (§ 830), with the two- 
 fold burden of the Scythian invasion and the apostasy that 
 followed the reformation of Josiah, sees no clear way out 
 of the trouble, and contents himself with objurgations 
 upon the sinners in Jerusalem and the wicked nations 
 round about, with Assyria in the forefront. Nahum is 
 more specific. He made a special study of Nineveh as the 
 long triumphant, but now moribund incarnation of vio- 
 lence, cruelty, pride, and ambition which are preparing 
 for her unique and absolute ruin. Habakkuk, supreme 
 seer and poet, confronted with the image of the new 
 ( haldsean power rising upon the crumbling ruins of the 
 
 1 Thus we may explain the use of the phrase in i. 0: "Iain raising 
 up the ChaldaBans." Smith says (Book of the Twclvi Prophets, ii, L23 : 
 " How can the Chaldseans be described in i. ". as just <ii>mi/ n, in raised 
 up, and in 14-17 as already fur a long tune the devastators of the earth? " 
 The answer is that they are described as raised up for a special purpose, 
 
 namely, to punish Israel, exactly in accord with 2 K. xxiv. -2. The 
 instance is parallel to Am. vi. 11. where the Assyrians, who had been 
 long noted as world-scourgers, are mentioned, aboul 7('>u r..< .. as being 
 "raised up 1 ' against northern Israel.
 
 218 THE DIVINE PARADOX Book X 
 
 Assyrian, finds the old formula of national sin and pun- 
 ishment insufficient. He sees paradoxes in the divine 
 providence where his predecessors were content to make 
 every national trial a vindication of Jehovah's moral gov- 
 ernment. The Chaldseans are, indeed, the instrument 
 chosen to punish the sins of Israel, but the Chaldseans 
 themselves require explanation. Will that which the 
 great Isaiah said of the Assyrian a hundred years ago 
 (Isa. x. 5 ff.) hold true of the more brilliant and irre- 
 sistible Babylonian? It will, if the punishment of the 
 lesser offender can be brought under the same law as the 
 triumph of the greater (ii. 13). This is the problem upon 
 which the prophet wreaks his soul. Can it be that Jeho- 
 vah is behind the remorseless tyrant that slays his creatures 
 (i. 14) unceasingly as a sacrifice to his own power and 
 pride? The answer comes to him who sees the end of the 
 oppressor's career (cf. Ps. lxxiii. 17). But to discern 
 the final issue is given only to patient, steadfast trustful- 
 ness, in other words, to the soul that has already found 
 the source of its own salvation in trusting God and doing 
 the right. This is the pearl of great price which the 
 prophet has found in the deep dark waters of doubt and 
 perplexity and set in the bosom of his discourse. 
 
 § 1139. Habakkuk thus summarizes and appraises the 
 career of the Chaldaeans as the scourge of Israel, before 
 that career has well begun. He not only supplements, 
 but in a manner anticipates the work and word of Jere- 
 miah, the martyr prophet of the Chaldpean era. But what 
 a contrast in temper, genius, and style between these two 
 greatest moral teachers of the time! The one was so 
 brilliant, so serene, so self-poised; the other so humanly 
 passionate, so self-distrustful, so minutely dutiful. The 
 one was a man of thought; the other, with all his diffi- 
 dence, a man of action. Habakkuk is like a searchlight, 
 that travels far and near and reveals the danger points for 
 many a league around. Jeremiah resembles a ship's head- 
 light, which shows the rocks and shoals that lie directly.
 
 Cn. V, § 1139 HABAKKUK AND JEREMIAH 219 
 
 ill her course. The enthusiasm and serenity of Ilabakkuk 
 must have sustained many a fainting soul in the days of 
 Israel's humiliation. Jeremiah's active devotion and his 
 priestly consecration made him a tower of strength to all 
 faithful ones in every vicissitude. The book of Habak- 
 kuk forms the best general introduction to the inner 
 history of the true Israel during the Chaldcean period, and 
 from it we now return to the word and work of Jeremiah.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 JEREMIAH AND THE FIRST REBELLION 
 
 § 1140. The agony of such a struggle could not last 
 much longer, and it was well for the prophet that a 
 change in the whole political situation relieved him of 
 the strain of the irreconcible strife. AW- may assume that 
 with the coining of the Chakkean he was relieved from 
 surveillance and the public ban. Probably he did not 
 feel called upon to prophesy till the rebellion of Jehoia- 
 kim brought turmoil and hopeless disaster to his country. 
 When the " desperate day" (§ 1127) arrived, raiders 
 and freebooters swept across the border, following the 
 half-disciplined levies of Moab and Damascus and backed 
 up by the imperial army itself (§ 1078). Israel had now- 
 still further reason to respect the prophetic word. But 
 there is no chiding in his recorded utterances, only an 
 outburst of grief, in the name of Jehovah, for the suffer- 
 ings and desolation of his people, followed by a judgment 
 upon the merciless invaders. " I have forsaken my 
 household, I have rejected my inheritance. I have given 
 the beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies. . . . 
 Many princes have destroyed my vineyard : they have 
 trodden down my possessions, they have made my pleasant 
 possessions a desolate wilderness. . . . For a sword, the 
 sword of Jehovah, is devouring from one end of the land 
 to the other: no mortal hath any peace. The}- have sown 
 wheal and reaped thorns: they have made themselves sick 
 without profit. . . . Thus saitli Jehovah concerning all 
 my evil neighbours who break in upon my inheritance 
 
 220
 
 Ch. VI, § 1142 THE RECHABITES 221 
 
 which I have bestowed upon my people Israel, Behold I 
 will tear them up from off their land, and the house of 
 Judah I will tear up from their midst" (xii. 7-14). 
 
 § 1141. An episode of the invasion and the blockade 
 of Jerusalem, recorded in Jer. xxxv., furnished the 
 prophet with a rare text for a new discourse. It is also 
 worth noting because it suggests to us the condition of a 
 great part of Israel during such times of peril and dread. 
 A band of Rechabites, to save their lives from the Chal- 
 dsean and Aramaean soldiery, had given up their wonted 
 life in tents and taken refuge within the walls of the 
 capital. They were but one of many little communities 
 whose pasture-lands and open fields were shorn by the 
 razor that had been brought from over the River to make 
 smooth and bare the land of Jehovah (Isa. vii. 20). 
 Jeremiah had lived over in imagination the horrors and 
 the sufferings of the invasion and devastation of his 
 country. He now made a practical use of this case of the 
 fugitive Rechabites. Permitted once more to go "in and 
 out" among the people, he at the divine command invited 
 the heads of this pastoral tribe into one of the rooms of 
 the court of the temple, where the sacrificial feasts were 
 wont to be held (xxxv. 3, 4). There he set bowls of wine 
 before them and bade them drink (v. o.). They refused 
 to imbibe on principle, though, as the names of the leaders 
 imply (v. 3), they, with their ancestor, Jonadab, were 
 adherents of Jehovah, of whose service wine was the chief 
 libation. The ancestral prohibition (§ 41<>), along with 
 the custom of their tribe, was enough to keep them firm 
 against all solicitation (vs. 6—11). 
 
 § 1142. Jeremiah then came out to the open court, 
 where the people were assembled for worship and sacri- 
 fice, and gave them a notable sermon (vs. 12-17). The 
 Rechabites had obeyed their father in this matter, because 
 they held his command to be sacred. The people of 
 Judah and Jerusalem had disobeyed Jehovah's revealed 
 will. This was an affair of outward observance: the
 
 222 JEREMIAH AM) JEHOIAKTM Book X 
 
 other a concern of heart and soul and life. The one 
 was an injunction delivered but once, and that long ago ; 
 the other a charge reiterated perpetually by Jehovah's 
 messengers sent to them for that very purpose. Both 
 parties were sincere in their professions of attachment to 
 their respective patrons and lawgivers. To which must 
 the praise of obedience lie awarded? The lesson is an 
 obvious one to us. But we must not think that his audi- 
 tors were conscience-stricken and abashed. They most 
 probably thought that what he said was clever and strik- 
 ing : but they also had abundant precedent for the way 
 in which they honoured Jehovah, of whose worship this 
 unfashionable prophet seemed to have such a narrow con- 
 ception. The armies of Nebuchadrezzar marching to 
 Jerusalem gave, for the time at least, a stronger support 
 to the prophet's appeals than did the case of these eccen- 
 tric and outlandish ascetics. Yet the men of the tent oc- 
 cupied a moral position far superior to that of the more 
 privileged men of the city. The} r stood for a principle 
 held consistently for hundreds of years (see § 416). And 
 it had been their salvation morally as well as physically. 
 This is the secret of the "-first commandment with 
 promise " (Ex. xx. 12 ; Eph. vi. 2 f.). 
 
 § 1143. We pass now to Jehoiachin, the ill-fated son 
 of an ill-fated father. For one whose reign w r as so short 
 he furnished much matter for prophecy- But the brief 
 term of this boy-king was the most fateful yet known to 
 Judah and Jerusalem. His fate deeply impressed Jere- 
 miah who witnessed his banishment, and Ezekiel who 
 shared it. The retrospective lament of the latter (Ezek. 
 \ix. 5-9) is a poetical embellishment of the king's fierce 
 defiance of the ChaldsBan and of the manner of his surren- 
 der and deportation, and thereby he also typifies the for- 
 tunes of all the latest kings of Israel. To Jeremiah, already 
 committed to the task of prophet and censor of an expiring 
 monarchy, the events of these three months were of more 
 direct and practical interest. Israel was rapidly nearing
 
 Ch. VI, § 1144 WARNINGS AND ELEGIES 223 
 
 its doom. Striking figures (Jer. xiii. 1-14) set forth 
 Jehovah's rejection of his people and their folly and 
 pride, the prelude to their utter destruction. Then comes 
 a passage of wondrous power and beauty (vs. 15-17) : 
 "Hear ye and give heed; be not haughty, for Jehovah 
 hath spoken. Give honour to Jehovah your God, before 
 He brings on the darkness and before your feet stumble 
 upon the murky hills. And ye shall look for light, and 
 He shall make it deep darkness and change it to thickest 
 gloom. And if ye will not hear, my soul shall weep in 
 secret for your pride ; and my eyes shall weep bitterly 
 and run down with tears because the flock of Jehovah is 
 carried away captive." This last pathetic warning ad- 
 dressed to Jerusalem is the prelude to an elaborate elegy * 
 (vs. 18-25). It first commemorates the hapless Jehoia- 
 chin and the queen-mother : — 
 
 " Say to the king and the queen-mother 
 Take a lowly seat, 
 For there has fallen from your heads 
 Your diadem of beauty." 
 
 Then it turns to the cities of Judah and especially the 
 terror-stricken capital, bewailing their misery and tracing 
 it to its cause. 
 
 § 1144. What Jeremiah further says about Jehoiachin 
 seems to be partly a reminiscence and partly an after- 
 thought written down in the reign of Zedekiah (Jer. xxii. 
 20-30). In it, as in ch. xiii., the fate of Jerusalem with 
 its cedar-built palaces — compared to an eagle whose nest 
 is in Lebanon — is closely linked with that of the youthful 
 king. The language employed is strangely harsh and 
 pitiless. "As I live," saith Jehovah, "though Coniah, 
 
 1 See Cornill, Text of Jen miah, p. 16 f., for the arrangement in elegiac 
 "metre." The unpoetical vs. 26 and 27 make a lame and Lmpotenl 
 conclusion to this noble discourse. Much better would it be to regard 
 them as a later addition by a writer ignorant of the elegiac measure. 
 Verse 26 is merely a prosaic repetition of v. 22 b, and v. 27 is a brief 
 cento of some of the harsher of Jeremiah's accusations.
 
 224 A PROBLEM OF PROPHECY Book X 
 
 ilif son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet-ring 
 
 upon my rig-lit hand, surely I would tear him away from 
 it. And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek 
 thy life and whom thou dost dread, into the hand of Nebu- 
 chadrezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of the 
 Chaldseans. And I shall hurl thee away, and thy mother 
 that bore thee into another land, where ye were not born, 
 and there shall ye die. ... Is this man Coniah a de- 
 spised broken thing, or a vessel for which no one cares? 
 Why have they been hurled away and cast into a land 
 which they know not ? " 
 
 § 1145. One would have expected some pity or sym- 
 pathy for this luckless youth called at the age of eighteen 
 to a post of terrible responsibility, danger, and difficulty. 
 His case was altogether different from that of his father. 
 The perilous insurrection against Babylon had been under- 
 taken by Jehoiakim, who left it as a legacy to his son. 
 That Jehoiachin failed to send his submission till the city 
 was besieged w r as doubtless largely due to the same coun- 
 sellors who had encouraged his father to hopeless rebel- 
 lion. What could this boy have done to draw down upon 
 him such an explosion of indignation and scorn? It is 
 difficult to believe that this discourse was ever actually 
 delivered to or at the distracted and helpless young king 
 whose misfortunes were, for all that the record shows, as 
 great as his offences. Apart from the hyberbole that 
 marks Hebrew and especially prophetic rhetoric, we have 
 to account for the phenomenon by assumptions which 
 touch the very nature and inner process of prophecy. We 
 have to remember that the Old Testament prophets almost 
 exclusively regard suffering as the direct punishment of 
 sin (§ 1107). Compassion was not always withheld from 
 the sufferer (see e.g. xxii. 10), but he was held to be 
 •■siricken, smitten of God, and afflicted," and therefore 
 "he was despised and rejected of men" (Isa. liii. 3 f.). 
 There were many who went into captivity with Jehoiachin 
 whose guilt was greater than his ; but it is the head of
 
 Crr. VI, § 1147 THE CASK OF JEHOIACHIN 225 
 
 the state that bears the brunt of the popular national 
 calamity, as in a thunderstorm the lightning strikes the 
 loftiest summit. Yet there is a law of compensation in 
 the eternal reckoning of the good and ill of human fates ; 
 and if we knew all, we should doubtless see that besides 
 the amelioration of his lot in exile (§ 1147) the thirty- 
 seven years of Jehoiachin's imprisonment brought at least 
 a vicarious blessing to his repentant fellow-exiles. 
 
 § 1146. But there is, besides, another view of the ap- 
 parently unfeeling language used of Jehoiachin. In the 
 prophetic literature we must perpetually be on the watch 
 for rhetorical colouring and figurative speech when the 
 terms employed would scarcely suggest the peculiarity to 
 a modern Occidental reader. We are familiar (§ 870) 
 with the habit of the prophets of putting a part for the 
 whole, so that a few leading traits of character are made 
 to stand for the total personality. We are therefore not 
 ready to make an exhaustive estimate of Jehoiachin on 
 the basis of the selective and therefore one-sided rhetoric 
 of the extant prophecies. But what is equally important 
 though less obvious is the fact that the prophets in their 
 interpretation of events represent as the immediate effects 
 of the divine agency those ordinary events of human life 
 and fortune which we are in the habit of ascribing to so- 
 called second causes. As there was to the Semitic mind 
 but one great and only cause, his action is set forth as 
 involved in all human experience. Thus here the details 
 of the fate of Jehoiachin are rendered, so to speak, into 
 their equivalent of divine moral causation. A twofold 
 literary phenomenon is thus presented. Evil brings the 
 result of sin ; the evils of Jehoiachin's lot appear in the 
 guise of his sins. And Jehovah, as the cause of all things, 
 is described as carrying out his own moral laws in the 
 dethronement and banishment of the King. 
 
 § 1147. But to prove that this outburst with regard 
 to Jehoiachin was mainly subjective we have something 
 better than deductive argument. The case of the exiled
 
 22G FOREBODINGS AND TACTS Book X 
 
 king was not in all respects so hard as is here prognosti- 
 cated. The concluding verse runs (xxii. 30) : " Write ye 
 down this man childless; a man that shall not prosper 
 in his days ; for none of his seed shall sit in prosperity 
 on the throne of David, or rule any more my people 
 Israel." But, according to 1 Chr. hi. 17 if., Jehoiachin 
 had several sons in captivity (cf. § 1081), and Zerubbabel, 
 the hero of the Return, was his grandson. Moreover, ac- 
 cording to the genealogy of Matt. i. 12 ff., he thus be- 
 came an ancestor of the Saviour of the world.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 JEREMIAH AND JUUAHS LAST PROBATION 
 
 § 1148. Our narrative of the later history of Israel, 
 and our review of the story in the light of prophetical 
 comment, have brought us to the first great captivity of 
 Jmlah and Jerusalem. Upon the throne left vacant by 
 the banishment of Jehoiachin, his uncle Mattaniah (" Gift 
 of Jehovah "), the youngest son of Josiah, was placed by 
 Nebuchadrezzar, his name being changed to Zedekiah 
 ( •• .My Righteousness is Jehovah") to indicate the change 
 of relation (cf. § 1040). This new epithet possibly had 
 reference to the solemn oath which he took before his own 
 God (2 Clir. xxxvi. 13; Ez. xvii. 18 ff.) to be a faithful 
 vassal to the Chaldsean king. His reign was one of the 
 most unfortunate in the annals of royalty. His evil fate 
 must be attributed in part to his unhappy circumstances* 
 and in some degree also to his own folly and weakness. 
 From the historical books of the Old Testament we get- 
 but little actual knowledge of the earlier and longer part 
 of his reign. We are therefore the more indebted to the 
 prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel for information which to 
 some extent supplies the want. Indeed, so large a part 
 docs prophecy play in the subsequent history till the close 
 of the Exile, that it naturally weaves itself into our narra- 
 tive as one of the elements of a single story. 
 
 §1149. The prominence of these two great prophets, 
 the one in Jerusalem and the other among the exiles in 
 Babylon (§ 1174 ff.), is suggestive of the changes that came 
 with the collapse of the kingdom. Jeremiah was left 
 
 227
 
 228 JEREMIAH'S POSITION IMPROVED Book X 
 
 behind by the ChakUean authorities, probably because he 
 might be defended upon to exercise a conservative influ- 
 ence upon the new and struggling administration. Hence 
 he became relatively more important in a community 
 
 depleted of its strongest personal elements. Again, 
 the fulfilment of his predictions gave popular prestige 
 for the moment not merely to himself, but also to the 
 prophetical school or party of which he "was the head. 
 Accordingly, his oracular utterances were listened to for 
 a time with deference, if not with approval, and. though 
 finally opposed even with violence, he was henceforth 
 more sure of himself and moved among the higher circles 
 of his people with less apprehension. Moreover. Zedekiah 
 and his immediate surrounding were quite different in 
 character from the king and nobles who had silenced Jere- 
 miah. Zedekiah, naturally self-distrustful, was little 
 likely to be overbearing and intolerant with the burden 
 upon him of a fallen cause and dilapidated kingdom. 
 Thus we never find him personally resentful toward 
 Jeremiah, though so often upbraided and condemned by 
 the plain-spoken prophet. 
 
 § 1150. These conditions provided Jeremiah with a 
 motive to active work such as had hitherto been denied to 
 him. The revolution thus marks an epoch in his public 
 life, in his personal experience, and in his literary career. 
 In a man of his brooding introspective disposition, and 
 yet of ardent impulse, intense action is needed to bring 
 out the highest possibilities of his nature, as the lark 
 cannot sing until it flutters its wings and rises above 
 the earth where it is wont to nestle. One remarkable 
 result of his unimpeded energy is seen in the absence of 
 querulousness and self-distrust in all the later prophecies 
 of Jeremiah, as contrasted with those of the period of 
 Jehoiakim. 1 
 
 1 The perception of this fact might perhaps have prevented Cornill 
 from assigning Jer. xx. 7-18 to the period of Zedekiah ; see his Text of 
 tin' Book of Jeremiah, p. 28.
 
 Ch. VII, § 1152 ZEDEKIAH AND Ills PEOPLE 229 
 
 § 1151. Of Zedekiah, the other outstanding figure in 
 Jerusalem, one could wish to say something more favour- 
 able than that he was lenient and forbearing toward the 
 stern and unbending prophet of Jehovah. But it is im- 
 possible lor the impartial historian to set down much in 
 his praise. He was but twenty-one when he came to the 
 throne, and he had to rule a set of poverty-stricken, shift- 
 less people, headed by turbulent, intriguing princes and 
 nobles. Thus he had a task of almost insuperable diffi- 
 culty to fulfil, and his failure does not of itself deserve 
 condemnation. But he was no ruler of men. Perhaps lie 
 assumed the throne unwillingly. At any rate, he never 
 played the king, and at critical times admitted to his own 
 courtiers their superior power (Jer. xxxviii. 5). He was 
 not petulant or headstrong, like Jehoiakim, but rather 
 timid and vacillating. With good intentions, he yet 
 failed signally in two capital affairs of state. Though 
 aeeessible to the prophetic word he tolerated all sorts of 
 abuses in the public services of religion, even to the gross- 
 est idolatry (§ 1155, 1183 ff.). Again, as a sworn vassal 
 of Nebuchadrezzar, it was his plain interest, as well as his 
 duty to his declining kingdom and war-cursed people, to 
 remain the friend and confidant of the great Chahhean. Yet 
 he allowed himself to drift away from his allegiance and 
 to make a league with foreign conspirators whose alliance 
 had been for five generations the snare and bane of Israel. 
 
 § 1152. And what of the people whom the unhappy 
 young king was called to govern? To understand their 
 condition we must look at the character and results of 
 the Chahhean invasion. Ordinarily, under the original 
 Assyrian regime, deportation was accompanied by the 
 total subversion of the state (§ 288 f.). In such a case 
 the suzerain became the actual ruler, entered into pos- 
 session of the forfeited territory, and administered it 
 directly through his officers. Though Nebuchadrezzar did 
 not deal with Judah in this fashion, he made no pro- 
 vision for the rehabilitation of the prostrate kingdom.
 
 230 A SOCIAL REVOLUTION Book X 
 
 After the terrible chastisement it was left to shift for 
 itself, and the luckless remnant of the population were 
 an object of solicitude to the head of the empire only in 
 connection with their payment of tribute. Hence, after 
 the selection and deportation of the captives had been 
 accomplished, the Chaldeean government ceased to have 
 anything to do with the internal affairs of Judah and 
 Jerusalem. Its duties to the rebel state ended with call- 
 ing off the auxiliary bands of marauders (§ 1078) and 
 withdrawing the imperial army of occupation. There 
 was, apparently, even no resident agent to look after the 
 revenue or to report to the court at Babylon matters that 
 touched the welfare of the empire (cf. Ez. xvii. 13 f., 
 § 1156). 
 
 § 1153. The matters of most pressing concern to 
 the remaining Judaites were the readjustment of private 
 property and the raising of the tribute. The former 
 process must have amounted to a complete social revolu- 
 tion, since, with the exception of some of the officials, 
 only the poorest of the people were left behind. The 
 details of the new allotment we do not know. It goes 
 without saying that many bondmen and debtors would be 
 freed, and that in the redistribution many fortunes would 
 go to unworthy proprietors. In the scramble for wealth 
 the deserving would often be thrust aside, and enmities 
 created without number, which would continue to increase 
 the social disturbance consequent upon the revolution. 
 All this would happen in spite of the best attempts of the 
 king's officers to do justice. There is one circumstance, 
 however, which must have lessened the chances of a 
 wholesale sequestration of property. Ezekiel, writing in 
 the ninth year of this captivity (ch. xxiv. 21), speaks of 
 the fate of sons and daughters left behind in the home- 
 land. When such were found their claims to the ancestral 
 property were doubtless respected. Besides, the nearest 
 of kin to the exiles would often be appointed trustees 
 for the absentees or agents for the sale of their estates.
 
 Ch. VII, § 1155 TRIBUTE-PAYING AND SEDITION 2:51 
 
 § 1154. The payment of the tribute was of most per- 
 manent practical concern to king and people. As it was 
 to be sent yearly to Babylon, the question of ways and 
 means became at once a matter of urgency. A more 
 embarrassing situation can scarcely be imagined. The 
 chief difficulty was created by the fact that those who 
 were looked to as tax-payers were, for the most part, 
 unused to the duties of freeholders and must have grudged 
 every shekel which they were forced to give. At best, 
 the raising of the first year's contribution was a terrible 
 drain upon the impoverished and newly enfranchised 
 classes of the community. If a strong man had been at 
 the head of affairs, — to use the phrase of Ezekiel (xxii. 
 30; cf. xiii. 10 if.), one who would repair the wall and 
 stand in the breach on behalf of the people, — or if there 
 had been patriotic counsellors in the cabinet, order, tran- 
 quillity, and a working fiscal system might have been 
 established. But all that we can learn as to the conduct 
 of the government goes to show that with the passing of 
 the years of Zedekiah's reign the rulers became less able 
 to cope with their difficulties. Thus, the dreadful alter- 
 native of rebellion, perhaps urged upon them at first 
 against their will, became ever more welcome to them 
 as the lesser of the two evils. The complications were 
 added to by the condition and conduct of the surround- 
 ing peoples, Samaritans, Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, 
 Philistines of one city or another. All of these were 
 communities of little wealth or responsibility, and of 
 slight financial importance to the common suzerain. But 
 we know that some of them greatly troubled the Judaites 
 (Jer. xxvii. 3) by their seditious intrigues. It was 
 natural that the citizens of Jerusalem, thinking of the 
 lighter burdens of their neighbours, would find in the 
 contrast to their own grievous imposts an additional 
 motive to throw off the yoke of Babylon. 
 
 § 1155. Besides the social troubles and the money 
 question, the religious condition of the people was an
 
 232 RELIGION UNDER ZEDEKIAH Book X 
 
 additional element of disorder and discontent. The 
 stereotyped phrase of 2 K. xxiv. 1!» declares that Zede- 
 kiah "did evil in the sight of Jehovah according to all 
 that Jehoiakim had done." Under his regime the popu- 
 lar religion was still of that merely conventional kind 
 which tolerated any traditional mode of worship, any 
 Canaan itish or Babylonian cult, as of equal ceremonial 
 value with the direct and exclusive service of Jehovah. 
 It, indeed, often combined the one with the other, or even 
 sometimes gave the preference to foreign abominations. 
 And yet to the opponents of the school of Jeremiah, 
 whether of high or of low degree, Jehovah was still the 
 supreme deity, and the ascertainment of his will was the 
 great business of prophecy. Thus we have on the one 
 hand the practice of the grossest and most grotesque 
 usages of heathenism (Ezek. viii. ; § 1182 ff.) on the 
 part of representative men ; and on the other the defiant 
 assertion of a rival prophet, their oracle and champion, 
 that he knew the mind of Jehovah better than did Jere- 
 miah himself (Jer. xxviii. 1 ff.). 
 
 § 115G. Such worship of Jehovah expressed itself some- 
 what in this fashion: "Jehovah is the God of the nation. 
 He cannot abandon his people utterly or finally. It is 
 true, he has permitted a calamity to fall upon us. But it 
 is not so great as we thought it at first. We are still 
 a people. Like other nations in our position we were 
 not entirely subverted, and that meddlesome Jeremiah 
 only guessed half of the truth after all. We are still the 
 most important nation of the whole coast-land. Other 
 peoples are coming to us for countenance and support 
 (cf. Jer. xxv ii. 3). Our brethren in exile are not dis- 
 persed among the nations, and they Mill soon return to 
 our side (cf. Jer. xxviii. 4). Our preservation is a proof 
 that Jehovah intends us to beat down our enemies. 
 Babylon will come to an end like Nineveh, and the 
 house of David shall be established for ever." Thus 
 was the phantom of independence pursued till the very
 
 Cm. VII, § 1157 BEGINNINGS OF REVOLT 233 
 
 form and substance of national existence were lost. Ac- 
 cording to Ezekiel (xvii. 13 f.) "the king of Babylon 
 took away the mighty of the land, that the kingdom might 
 be made base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by 
 keeping his covenant it might endure." He did not know 
 the capacity of resistance and self-assertion left in the 
 little kingdom' — the fermenting spirit that lingered in 
 the very dregs of the wine bottle which lie had decanted. 1 
 § 1157. Already, early in the fourth year (50-1 B.C.), 
 the people seemed ripe for revolt. At least, the discon- 
 tented communities round about hoped to bring them to 
 open insurrection (§ 1151). A combined embassy, with 
 this end in view, was sent from the kings of Edom, 
 Ammon, Moab, Tyre, and Sidon (Jer. xxvii. 3 f.). 
 Their arrival brought into sharper antagonism the revo- 
 lutionary and the conservative elements in the state. 
 The professed prophets of Jehovah, looked up to by 
 both parties (§ 1155), were now in greater vogue and 
 estimation than they had been since the days of Josiah. 
 They had the ear of king, court, and people. Jeremiah 
 appears to have taken the initiative (xxvii. 5-22). He 
 addressed a message to the intriguing kings through the 
 ambassadors, to the effect that Jehovah, the creator and 
 ruler of the earth, had given the whole known world into 
 the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, his "ser- 
 vant" (cf. Jer. xxv. and § 1115); that the nation which 
 would not submit to him should be punished with the 
 sword and famine and pestilence; that the prophets, 
 diviners, dreamers, soothsayers, and sorcerers, who had 
 advised them to revolt, had merely uttered falsehoods. 
 To Zedekiah also the word was sent, that he ami his 
 people should "bring their necks under the yoke of the 
 king of Babylon and live," that they must turn a deal' 
 
 1 1 use the phrase of Jer. xlviii. 11 and cf Charles Reade, '/'Ac Cloister 
 mill thr Hearth, ch. xxxiii. when' the greal dramatist suggests the horrors 
 ef deportation by making us sec and feci how sad a thing it is even mi the 
 smallest scale and in the least distressing form,
 
 2U A BELLICOSE PROPHET Book X 
 
 ear to the prophets who were advising insurrection. An 
 appeal was also made to the national pride in the temple 
 and its appointments. The priests were addressed, per- 
 haps for the first and only time (xxvii. 10), and were told 
 that in ease of a revolt the sacred vessels still remaining 
 from the calamity of Jehoiachin would be carried away 
 to Babylon, whereas the opposing prophets had actually 
 declared that those already deported would soon be re- 
 stored. 
 
 § 1158. Provoked by these utterances, with their pun- 
 gent rhetoric, the official rivals of Jeremiah at once took 
 up the public challenge. A dramatic scene was enacted 
 when a certain leader among them, from the priestly city 
 of Gibeon (cf. Josh. xxi. 13, 17), Hananiah byname, him- 
 self also perhaps a priest, confronted Jeremiah in the temple 
 in the presence of the priests and the worshippers. Jere- 
 miah, to make his message more impressive, had illus- 
 trated his references to the yoke of Nebuchadrezzar by 
 wearing in public a wooden yoke upon his own shoulders. 
 His antagonist, full of the schemes for revolt to which 
 he was a party, and pressing for speedy action, boldly 
 declared, in the name of Jehovah of Hosts, the God of 
 Israel, that the yoke of Babjdon would be broken within 
 two full years, that the vessels of the temple and Jehoia- 
 chin himself would be restored to Jerusalem along with 
 all his fellow-captives (Jer. xxviii. 1-4). This was a 
 much more satisfactory announcement than any which 
 Jeremiah could make. It suited the popular mood and 
 temper exactly, and must have made a hero of Hananiah 
 on the instant. Besides, it had the merit of explicit ness, 
 and a reasonably brief time limit was set as a test of its 
 verity. The main objection to it was that to have the 
 test applied would involve the experiment of a rebellion 
 against the most formidable power in the world, which 
 had already brought Jerusalem and its beloved temple to 
 the verge of destruction, and had only given them a par- 
 tial respite by exceptional clemency.
 
 Ch. VII, §1159 A SPECTACULAR DEBATE 235 
 
 § 1159. To offset this seductive promise, Jeremiah 
 could only express his sympathy with the patriotic desire 
 for the return of the sacred vessels and the captives, but 
 lie udded the warning to Hananiah that just as in the 
 former days, the surest test of a prophet's divine commis- 
 sion is the fulfilment of his specific predictions (vs. G-9). 
 This was virtually an assertion by Jeremiah of his own 
 superior credentials and authority, which could not be put 
 down by a counterclaim on the part of his rival. Hana- 
 niah then resorted to something more spectacular and 
 impressive. He took the bar of the yoke that was on the 
 neck of Jeremiah and broke it before the people, saying, 
 in the name of Jehovah, "Even so will I break the yoke 
 of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, within two full 
 years, from off the neck of all the nations." As there 
 was nothing more that could be well said or done, Jere- 
 miah went his way 1 (vs. 10, 11). This, however, was not 
 to be the end of the matter. A revelation came to Jere- 
 miah soon thereafter, that the yoke of wood should become 
 a yoke of iron, 2 for Jehovah had put j T okes of iron upon 
 the necks of all the nations so that they might serve the 
 king of Babylon. He addressed Hananiah as follows: 
 "Hear now, Hananiah, Jehovah hath not sent thee, but 
 thou makest this people trust in falsehoods. Therefore 
 thus saith Jehovah, 'Behold I will send thee away from 
 off the face of the earth; this year thou shalt die, for thou 
 
 1 Cornill's usual sagacity fails him in rejecting the last sentence of 
 v. 11, which stands in the Sept. and all the other versions. He says •• it, 
 would be utter nonsense to suppose that the prophet, after this action, 
 goes quietly home and dors not speak what follows till several days have 
 passed" (Tex/ of JiTcmiah, p. 71 ). Bui there is no indication that sev- 
 eral days passed between the two encounters. On the contrary, the 
 language of v. 1l' implies, according to Hebrew usage, that the second 
 interview followed very close upon the first. Most probably it occurred 
 the very same day, while the people were still discussing the question of 
 
 the hour; and Hananiah may have remained to make the most of the 
 impression already excited. 
 
 -In xxviii. 13, for ••thou shalt make," read, according to the Sept., 
 
 " I will make."
 
 236 MISTAKEN PATRIOTISM Book X 
 
 hast spoken sedition against Jehovah.' * And, as a mat- 
 ter of fact, Hananiah died two months after the public 
 controversy. Thus the victory remained finally with 
 Jeremiah, the prophet of the greater resource. 
 
 § 1160. We can hardly regret the issue, though we 
 may recoil from the violent measures that preceded it. 
 We need not suppose that the death of Hananiah was 
 accelerated by remorse for evil deeds. Professional 
 prophet as he was (§ 1066), he was no conscious deceiver, 
 though he was a mischievous fanatic. The folly of his 
 policy did not wholly consist in its short-sighted ignoring 
 of the logic of events. The fact that he had the evil 
 elements in the state at his back should have made him 
 hesitate about promoting their designs. Doubtless many 
 plausible reasons suggested themselves to him in justifi- 
 cation of his course (cf. § 1154). At bottom his error 
 was the still very common one of imagining that true 
 patriotism demands resistance to a foreign yoke, at any 
 moral or material cost. He stood rather for Jehovah king 
 of Zion than for Jehovah king of righteousness ; and he 
 became a victim of the stern exigencies of the conflict 
 that was waged upon that issue. 1 
 
 § 1161. The advocates of rebellion now ceased their 
 agitation for a time, partly, we may assume, on account of 
 the signal triumph of Jeremiah. The death of Hananiah 
 gave him a momentary ascendency in Jerusalem, and lie 
 used his advantage to the full. It is to this period that 
 we have to assign the remarkable series of discourses con- 
 tained in chs. xxii. and xxiii. of his book. The reminis- 
 cences of the earlier reigns (xxii. 10—30) we have already 
 dealt with (§ 1030, 1122, 1144). They were intended to 
 point a moral for Zedekiah, who is adjured (xxii. 1-9) to 
 execute justice and righteousness, and deliver the wronged 
 
 1 The case of Hananiah is well treated by Bennett, The Book of Jere- 
 miah, xxi.-lii.. p. 115 ft'. His conflict with Jeremiah is discussed by 
 Professor Konig, of Rostock (now of Bonn), in the Sunday School Times, 
 Nov. '-'(J, 1898, not quite impartially.
 
 Ch. VII, § 1162 KINGS AND PROPHETS INDICTED 237 
 
 from the hand of the oppressor. If this saving counsel 
 were heeded, even his own tottering throne would be made 
 perpetual ; but if not, the royal house should become a 
 desolation. "For thus saith Jehovah: Thou art Gilead 
 to me and the summit of Lebanon, yet I will make of thee 
 a wilderness and eities uninhabited." Then the rulers of 
 the people generally are addressed by Jehovah under the 
 name of." the shepherds that destroy and scatter the sheep 
 of my pasture" (xxiii. 1-4). In contrast to these recre- 
 ants and the unworthy kings just characterized, the great 
 declaration is made : k * Behold the days are coming, saith 
 Jehovah, when I will raise up to David a righteous scion. 
 and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall do 
 justice and righteousness in the land . . . and this is 
 the name wherewith he shall be called, 'Jehovah is our 
 Righteousness ' " 1 (xxiii. 5, tj). To this is appended the 
 magnificent conception so characteristic of Jeremiah, that 
 the time would come when even the deliverance from 
 Egypt should be held as insignificant compared with the 
 restoration of the exiles from all their places of captivity 
 (xxiii. 7, 8 ; cf. xvi. 14 f.). 
 
 § 1162. But it is to " the prophets " that Jeremiah 
 mainly devoted himself during this crisis. This was the 
 opportunity of his life to deal with his rivals on equal 
 terms. He had before said many bitter words and made 
 many complaints against them ; now he arraigns them 
 formally, on well-considered grounds. Some of the main 
 ] mil its in the indictment are these: He declares that lie is 
 completely stunned and unmanned because of the awful 
 consequences, past, present, and to come, of the wickedness 
 of the people to which they have been instigated by priests 
 
 and prophets, so that the land has heeii made like Sodom 
 
 and Gomorrah (xxiii. 9—15). To distinguish between the 
 
 true and false prophets he claims that the latter utter a 
 \ ision out of their own mind, and not the word of Jehovah 
 
 1 'With evident reference to the name " Zedekiah " (S L148).
 
 238 THE DOWNFALL OF ELAM Book X 
 
 (v. 10 : cf. xiv. 1-1). They also invariably promise good 
 fortune to the wicked, an impossible event in the very 
 nature of things ( vs. 17-20). Moreover, if they had been 
 in the counsel of Jehovah, they would have turned the 
 people from their evil ways and deeds (vs. 21, 22). 
 Jehovah, who fills heaven and earth, sees through even 
 the most plausible delusion and exposes the pretence of 
 impostors. The}' rely merely upon empty dreams. But 
 the true prophet receives and declares the immediate 
 word of Jehovah. The one is chaff ; the other wheat. 
 In contrast to the elusive and unsubstantial dream, the 
 genuine word is " like a fire and like a hammer that breaks 
 the rock in pieces" (vs. 23-29). 
 
 § 1163. Intense as was Jeremiah's anxiety for the moral 
 betterment and political safety of his fellow-citizens, he 
 was not so preoccupied as to ignore the condition and 
 the fate of his brethren in exile. Indeed, at this very 
 moment, his mind was exercised about the final fate not 
 only of Judah in bondage at home anil far away, but also of 
 the Babylonian oppressor whose fall was to bring about the 
 liberation of his people (rL Jer. xxv. 12 ff . ; xxvii. 7. 22). 
 Such is the motive of his utterance made " in the begin- 
 ning of the reign of Zedekiah '' (Jer. xlix. 34 ff.) 1 with 
 regard to the downfall of Elam. In this passage, the 
 impending subjugation of Elam is announced. The con- 
 quering people are not named ; but it is not difficult to 
 find out who they were. The time limit is fixed by the 
 representation of Ezekiel (xxxii. 24 f .) regarding Elam in 
 586 B.C. (xxxii. 17), according to which that country 
 had lately been crushed by a foreign power. On the other 
 hand, Elam had a king of its own in 604 B.C. (Jer. xxv. 25). 
 The prophecy was presumably uttered in connection with 
 the military preparations that were being made by the 
 
 1 The irenuineness of this prophecy lias been disputed by several crit- 
 ics, e.a. by Giesebrecht, Das V>">h Jeremia, p. 245 f. His principal ob- 
 jection is that '-a special oracle against Elam in the time of Jeremiah is 
 very surprising in view of the great distance of the Elamites from Juda±a."
 
 Ch. VII, § 1165 THOUGHTS OF THE EXILES 239 
 
 aggressive power, and -which were known to the Hebrews in 
 exile as well as to other residents of Babylonia. Accord- 
 ingly the fall of Elam took place about 595 B.C., 1 when it 
 became subject to the little kingdom of Persis. Thus 
 Jeremiah, the prophet of exile, links himself with the earli- 
 est of those movements which finally led to the overthrow 
 of the Chaldsean power and the liberation of his people 
 from their captivity by Cyrus, "king of Anshan " (Elam), 
 '•king of Persia/" ami "king of Babylon " (§ 1382 ff.). 
 
 § 11(34. This was the most wide-reaching of the visions 
 of Jeremiah. His thoughts, which so often crossed the 
 Desert and the River, lingered among the canals, the 
 pasture-grounds, and the templed cities of Babylonia. 
 Many of the companions of his youth were there. There 
 were those who had sheltered him from cruel wrong in 
 his lifelong struggle, those by whom he had once hoped 
 to save the state of Israel. There were his best pupils 
 in the school of prophecy, above all, the idealistic, intrepid 
 Ezekiel, to whom he had bequeathed the spiritual guidance 
 of the colony. There was the better part of Israel awaiting 
 its purification and deliverance. He was also supported in 
 this sentimental regard for the remnant of Israel in cap- 
 tivity by the close political and civil relations maintained 
 with them from the beginning by the people of Jerusalem. 
 
 § 1165. Captivity could not sever the bond that united 
 the exiles with the home-land, because their solidarity was 
 not merely political or social. The blow dealt by Nebu- 
 chadrezzar to Judah was one almost to the death ; but 
 scarcely had it been given when the perpetual paradox of 
 Israel's vitality asserted itself in a new and surprising 
 form. The hope of the ultimate redemption of their 
 people was a necessary part of the faith of the true 
 prophets ; and as the prospect of a regeneration in 
 Jehovah's own land grew faint, the assurance was more 
 and more borne in upon them that it would be accom- 
 
 1 Cf. Meyer, G.A. I, § 40(3, who, from tin- same data, chooses 696 as 
 the year of the Persian conquesl of Elam.
 
 240 GOOD AND BAD FIGS Book X 
 
 plished by the discipline of exile. Thus what had been 
 regarded and set forth as the climax of all national and 
 personal woes (§ 301 ; cf. § 1039 and Deut. xxviii. 04 ff.) 
 came to be viewed and dealt with as a saving and puri- 
 fying process of education. Hence an interest in the ab- 
 sentees of Israel began to be cherished by the prophets 
 proportionate to their despair of the remnant which sought 
 to maintain the throne of David in Jerusalem. 
 
 § 1166. This new attitude of prophecy is vividly shown 
 in a "vision" of Jeremiah, vouchsafed to him apparently 
 very soon after the departure of Jehoiachin and his fellow- 
 exiles (Jer. xxiv. 1 ff.). Two baskets of figs placed as an 
 offering before the temple, the one of them having very 
 good and the other very bad fruit, set forth respectively 
 the exiles and the people of Jerusalem. 1 The former 
 were to be built up and restored to their homes, and 
 should return to Jehovah with their whole heart. The 
 latter were to be tossed hither and thither among the 
 nations and be consumed by the sword and famine and 
 pestilence. The central and essential truth of this pre- 
 diction is a matter of history. With the hyperbole that 
 marks the representation the readers of prophecy are 
 familiar. 
 
 § 1167. The first steps in the struggle against the revo- 
 lutionists at home had ended with the death of Hananiah 
 (§ 1159). The danger of rebellion had passed for the time. 
 But a new danger had been aroused by the agitation. The 
 embassy of the neighbours of Judah apparently excited 
 the suspicions of Nebuchadrezzar. At any rate Zedekiah 
 and the court found it advisable to send messengers to 
 
 1 With them are associated "those that dwell in the land of Egypt" 
 (xxiv. 8). This division of the dispersed of Israel included not only those 
 who were carried away with Jehoahaz (§ 1000), but probably many fugi- 
 tives also, who would attach themselves to the little colony as to a 
 nucleus. The reference is instructive, (1) as it sets forth the disfavour 
 with which Egypt was always regarded by the prophets ; (2) as it illus- 
 trates the hopelessness of any sort of association with " Kahab " (Isa. 
 xxx. 7) and its futile intrigues and alliances.
 
 Ch. VII, § 1109 A DEPUTATION AND A LETTER 241 
 
 Babylonia to assure him of their loyalty. 1 The legates 
 were friends of Jeremiah (Jer. xxix. 3), one of them, 
 Elasah, being a brother of Ahikam, and the other, Gema- 
 riah, son of Ililkiah (§ 1118). The opportunity was there- 
 fore seized by the prophet to send a messenger to the leaders 
 of the colony. 
 
 § 1168. This letter with its appendix is Jeremiah's 
 chief contribution to the history of Israel in Exile. Fol- 
 lowing up the motive of the vision of the figs (§ 1166) 
 Jeremiah seeks to counteract the efforts of those prophets 
 who were trying to persuade the exiles that they were 
 soon to return to Jerusalem. He urges them to make 
 themselves at home in Babylonia, to build houses, plant 
 gardens, take wives and rear families; also to seek the 
 welfare of the country of . their banishment, if it were 
 merely for their own sakes as its residents. For there 
 would be no returning to Jerusalem till seventy years 
 should pass. Yet Jehovah would watch over them with 
 "thoughts of peace and not of evil," and they would be 
 led to "seek Jehovah with their whole heart." As for the 
 king that reigned in Jerusalem and his people, their doom 
 was fixed ; Jehovah himself would pursue them with sword 
 and famine and pestilence and scatter them among the 
 nations (xxix. 4-20). 
 
 § 1169. The letter as it appears in our present texts 2 
 contains an instructive notice (xxix. 21-32) of the efforts 
 
 1 This cannot have been the first rendering of homage by Zedekiah in 
 connection with his accession, as might be inferred from xxix. 2. for the 
 contents of Jeremiah's letter imply that the colony in Babylonia had been 
 in existence tor some little time ; see especially vs. s. n. 15, 21, 24 if. 
 
 - 1 agree with Cornill that vs. -_'2 h-:\\ it did not form part of the letter 
 of Jeremiah, but were added by the author of the narrative portion of the 
 book. The answer of Shemaiah to the letter) vs. 26-28) and the fulfil- 
 ment of the prediction against Ahab and Zedekiah (vs. 22 >>. •_'•'!) are on 
 the face of them supplementary. Giesebrecht, Das Buch •/< >•< miah, p. w, 
 fil, looks upon the whole chapter as part of the memoirs of Baruch, 
 of which vs. 3-23 contain his recollection of the contents of the letter. 
 This is not in itself impossible ; but the interpolations are not in accord- 
 ance with Baruch's method.
 
 242 MISCHIEF-MAKERS IX EXILE Book X 
 
 made by certain of the exiles to break the force of Jere- 
 miah's appeals and to undermine his influence generally 
 at home and abroad. Foremost among them were three, 
 named Ahab, Zedekiah, and Shemaiah. Fired with mis- 
 taken patriotism, and trusting that some political change 
 might release them from captivity, they were enraged that 
 Jeremiah should seem to shatter all hopes of restoration. 
 It is not improbable that Ahab and Zedekiah committed 
 some overt act of sedition in Babylonia. It is significant 
 that these ultimately underwent the horrible fate of being 
 burnt alive by Nebuchadrezzar — a punishment often 
 enough inflicted by Assyrian kings upon rebels. 1 The 
 magnanimous Nebuchadrezzar would scarcely ordain such 
 a punishment for any other crime. The additional charge 
 of adultery (v. 23) is an illustration of the moral plane 
 upon which these degenerate prophets moved. 
 
 § 1170. The other case, that of Shemaiah (xxix. 24 ff.) 
 throws also a reflected light upon affairs at Jerusalem. 
 He sent a letter to the "second priest" Zephaniah (see 
 2 K. xxv. 18), citing Jeremiah's message to the exiles and 
 imploring him to use his authority to put the obnoxious 
 fanatic " in the stocks and in shackles." Zephaniah 
 contented himself with reading the letter to Jeremiah, 
 and took no action. The position of Jeremiah had im- 
 proved since the days of Jehoiakim. A priest as a state 
 official is here called upon to suppress a prophet (cf. 
 § 1066). Zephaniah is invoked as an officer of the temple, 
 and the punishment, here cunningly suggested, was the 
 same as that already inflicted upon Jeremiah by the first 
 officer of the temple, Pashhur (§ 1111). It is also 
 shrewdly insinuated in the description of Jeremiah as 
 a crazy, self-intoxicated prophet (v. 26) that the public 
 safety required his arrest. The reply of Jeremiah was in 
 the form of a message to the whole colony, to the effect 
 that as Shemaiah had usurped the function of a prophet 
 
 i Cf. KGF. i>. 526 f., Tiele, BAG. 510 f., and Dan. iii. G ff.
 
 Ch. VII. § 1172 PROSTRATION OF ZEDEKIAII 243 
 
 of Jehovah he should be left childless among his people. 
 What a vivid picture these incidents give us of the per- 
 petual strife between the claimants to divine inspiration ! 
 And what a background do we see! A half-desperate 
 people are looking continually for direction to their 
 spiritual guides, and are only brought to a temporary 
 acquiescence in right principles by the triumph of a true 
 prophet through an appeal to the divine vengeance! 
 Three times have we seen Jeremiah vanquish an oppo- 
 nent by cursing him in the name of Jehovah (cf. § 1159, 
 1169). 
 
 § 1171. The embassy sent by the king of Judah seems 
 not to have satisfied Xebuchadrezzar. The Great Kino- 
 was, however, appeased by the coming of Zedekiah in 
 person in the course of the same 3-ear 591 (Jer. li. 59). 
 To the poor suppliant the lesson should have been salu- 
 tary. The long journe}*, the dread of sterner punishment, 
 the humiliating ceremony of prostration and penitence, 
 the oath of allegiance before Bel and Merodach, these were 
 things which must have quenched in him any thought of 
 future rebellion. Indeed, if he had been left to himself 
 he would probably not have cherished the first seditious 
 project, and certainly would not have countenanced the 
 second. His tragic career is a tale of weakness rather than 
 of deliberate folly or wickedness. 
 
 § 1172. But the punishment came to Zedekiah and to 
 his country all the same. Nor could his truest friend or 
 counsellor say that it was undeserved or that the Chal- 
 dseans were the wrong-doers in the work of punishment. 
 It was the fate of Jeremiah to defend this paradox all 
 through his prophetic career, though as he was no specula- 
 tive poet like Habakkuk, who made the paradox immortal 
 (§ 1131 ff.), he left the solution to Jehovah, and made the 
 grief his own. He had, however, this partial compensa- 
 tion, the assurance that the disturbed balance of justice 
 would be rectified by the destruction of Babylon herself. 
 Perhaps it was with some such feeling as this that he
 
 244 JEREMIAH TO THE EXILES Book X 
 
 gave a special commission to Zedekiah's courier-attend- 
 ant, Seraiali, the brother of Baruch (cf. Jer. xxxii. 12). 1 
 Seraiah was charged to read to the exiles all the words of 
 doom that had been spoken concerning Babylon. Then, 
 when he had finished the reading, he was to bind a stone 
 to the roll and cast it into the Euphrates, saying, " Thus 
 shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again/' In thinking 
 of the discipline of the captivity we must not leave this 
 Lesson out of account. Here were the exiles bidden to 
 make Babylonia their home, since their proper home was 
 to be made desolate. But the time was coming when 
 Jerusalem should be free and Babylon be the captive. 
 Yet not at once, not till one generation and another 
 should have passed away. The exiles were to live in 
 hope, not for themselves but for their country and their 
 religion. That is to say, they were summoned to lives of 
 self-sacrifice. Without such a discipline of self-renuncia- 
 tion, with its ministry of faith and hope, the great restora- 
 tion itself would have come in vain ! It is thus from the 
 most practical of the prophets that we learn best what a 
 vitalizing and restorative force prophecy was to Israel. 
 By this, rather than by the death of Hananiah, he showed 
 that he was the messenger of Jehovah. 
 
 § 1173. This message, so germinal and potential, was 
 Jeremiah's last direct service to the exiles of 597. 2 With 
 this his work for them was finished. Preaching must be 
 specific, prompt, and pertinent, else it is unavailing. From 
 distant Jerusalem he could not continue such a crusade 
 as that which he had begun against the false prophets. 
 But both his polemic and his teaching were at once taken 
 up and developed by a prophet of their own who had long- 
 been in training for the work. 
 
 1 The choice of one so close to Jeremiah for this responsible position 
 during the journey is evidence that the prophet stood well with Zedekiah, 
 at least at this juncture. 
 
 -Jer. xxx.-xxxiii.. which deal mainly with the final restoration, in- 
 clude, of course, the exiles of the first deportation ; but the outlook and 
 treatment are throughout general and comprehensive.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 EZEKIEL IN EXILE AND THE HOME-LAND 
 
 § 1174. Jeremiah relinquished the rule of prophet to 
 the exiles in 593 B.C., and in 592 Ezekiel assumed it 
 (Ez. i. 2). But Ezekiel though in exile was also a 
 prophet of Jerusalem. He thus fulfilled a double func- 
 tion more completely than did his master Jeremiah. The 
 same may be said of him as regards his profession and life- 
 work. He was priest and prophet in one more fully than 
 any other Israelite, or indeed than any Christian except, 
 perhaps, Savonarola, though no mere man can combine the 
 priestly and the prophetic character in completeness and 
 harmony. Jeremiah was also of priestly birth, but he 
 seems to have discarded the lessons of his youth, or perhaps 
 rather to have outgrown them. To Ezekiel, who in exile 
 m;is debarred from the sacerdotal functions which from the 
 surroundings had perhaps never been congenial to him 
 in Jerusalem, clung to the priestly habit of thought all 
 through life. He became a theologian, while Jeremiah 
 remained always merely a religious man, and therein was 
 the greater prophet, replete with spontaneous power be- 
 cause full of human sympathy and passion. 1 Ezekiel was 
 somewhat cloistral, always meditative and idealistic, yet 
 withal intensely practical and statesmanlike in a large 
 constructive fashion. In him the idea of the theocracy 
 was matured. The kingdom of God was for him some- 
 thing built up out of the people of his choice according to 
 
 1 In this and in some other respects, Jeremiah was to Ezeki 
 
 Luther to Calvin. 
 
 245
 
 246 THOUGHT AND STYLE OF EZEKIEL Book X 
 
 principle and method. Yet this process was of the moral 
 order throughout, aud Ezekiel, as he developed his system 
 in vision and reflection, did die work of a unique priestly 
 prophet in laying a foundation of righteousness and holi- 
 ness for a new kingdom of Jehovah. 
 
 § 1175. The glory of Ezekiel has been obscured partly 
 by his lack of mental and rhetorical tact and grace, but 
 still more by the corruptions of his text, which have pre- 
 vented his readers from getting readily at his mean- 
 ing. His composition is laborious and massive, built up 
 of many details. His style as well as his intellect itself 
 has rightly been called architectonic, 1 and it therefore 
 suffers all the more by apparent imperfection, as a care- 
 fully planned structure is marred by the dislocation of a 
 stone or the fall of a column. But the few that have 
 studied him profoundly have been most impressed with 
 the depth and sublimity of his thought. His long-drawn- 
 out visions are anything but visionary : in them his imagi- 
 nation bodies forth the profoundest convictions known to 
 the ancient world of the divine holiness, majesty, and spirit- 
 uality. In this he imitates and advances beyond Isaiah 
 (S 1176, note). The same largeness of view is shown in 
 his conception of the providential guidance of Israel under 
 the grace and omnipotence of a God supreme among the 
 nations (ch. xx.). In the somewhat less congenial but 
 more difficult sphere of human nature and its divine edu- 
 
 1 Skinner, art. " Ezekiel," in DB. This and Cornill's sketch in Israel. 
 Brophetismus (189G) are among the best estimates of the prophet that 
 have been written. Good commentaries on Ezekiel are not abundant, 
 bat they are more numerous than those mi Jeremiah. Davidson, in the 
 Cambridge Bible for Schools (1896), and Skinner, in the Expositor's 
 Bible series, are excellent within their practical limits. More critical, 
 though less expository, are Smend (1880. second edition of Hitzig. 1847 
 and Bertholet (1897). Orelli (1888) is instructive, though too con- 
 servative. The text is treated in the work of Cornill. Das Buck des 
 Troph. Esechiel (1886) and that of Toy in SBOT. (1899). A reference 
 to Driver. Tntrod., or to Ewald's work in his Propheten, is almost super- 
 fluous. A study of the style and the logical and literary method of 
 Ezekiel is indispensable for even a general understanding of his writings.
 
 Ch. VIII, §1176 HIS INTEREST IX JERUSALEM 247 
 
 cation, he is less independent, following Jeremiah in his 
 doctrine of the new heart and right spirit (xi. 19 ; xviii. 
 31 ; xxxvi ; 26, cf. Jer. xxiv. 7 ; xxxii. 39) and setting 
 forth more fully and inductively the great principle of 
 individual responsibility (ch. xviii. ; cf. Jer. xxxi. 29 f.). 
 His influence on the history of his people is not easily 
 estimated in a sentence or two, but will appear clearly in 
 the course of our narrative. 
 
 § 1176. We think first of his interest in the life and 
 fate of Jerusalem during the four years that intervene 
 until the final rebellion. He is all the more drawn to 
 prophesy of Jerusalem because his fellow-exiles are unwill- 
 ing to hear him (iii. 7 ff.). 1 The fortunes of the home-land, 
 viewed in the light of its tragic and sinful past, furnished 
 an ample field to his uncurbed imagination. It was mainly 
 for this part of his work that he was prepared by those 
 wonderful visions 2 which were vouchsafed to him by the 
 
 1 It is after he ceases to be a public censor (iii. 22-27) that he sees the 
 woes of Jerusalem (ch. iv. ff.). But the references to the opposition of 
 his fellow-exiles must not be understood too literally, and the allusion to 
 violence in iii. 25 is of course to be taken as a part of the general repre- 
 sentation. In the first four years of exile he was naturally in sympathy 
 with the efforts of Jeremiah to discourage the hopes of a speedy return 
 (cf. § 1168), and doubtless he was looked upon with extreme disfavour 
 by the opposing prophets and their parly. But alter the submission of 
 king Zedekiah at Babylon, and the execution of the ringleaders Ahab 
 and Zedekiah (>; 11G9), there would not be so much open antagonism. 
 On the contrary, we read of the elders of the people at this very period 
 coming regularly to consult him ( viii. 1 ; xiv. 1 ; xx. 1), and at a later time 
 the people generally are represented as resorting to him to hear his dis- 
 courses with great show of interest (xxxiii. 30 ff.). He was separated 
 from them by a spiritual and moral chasm and repulsion rather than by 
 personal enmity. 
 
 2 These visions stand above rather than upon the arena of historical 
 action, and do not enter into the main current of the life and thought 
 that give character to Israel and form the normal basis of Revelation. 
 It is highly probable that the original suggestion (Isa. vi.) furnished by 
 the cherubim of the temple, was enlarged by familiarity with the im- 
 posing yet grotesque composite figures, symbolizing various superhuman 
 attributes, which guarded the dwellings, palaces, and temples of the Baby- 
 lonians. The subject of the cherubim is still somewhat obscure, though
 
 248 MODES OF REVELATION Book X 
 
 Kebar (i. 4 — 28; viii. 1 — -4; x.). In these the holiness 
 and majesty, the irresistible power as well as the omnia, 
 cience of Jehovah, are expressed in images drawn from 
 the symbolical figures of Hebrew and Chaldsean worship. 
 These revelations brought to his mind what Jehovah was 
 to his distracted people. The thought of these attributes 
 of the God of Israel bore him up in view of the destruction 
 of the holy city and the temple. For Jehovah is greater 
 than his favourite dwelling-place ; He may leave it and 
 it falls defenceless; but He may appear in his glory on 
 the alien soil of Babylonia. 1 The same thought sustained 
 him in the presence of the overwhelming material greatness 
 of Babylonia, as contrasted with the meanness and feeble- 
 ness of the remnants of Judah. For they with Him on 
 their side were yet to be stronger than all their oppressors. 
 
 § 1177. Of actual occurrences in the history of Jerusalem 
 before its final siege by Nebuchadrezzar, we learn nothing 
 from Ezekiel His prophecy is made up of a series of judg- 
 ments, and these are of an abstract character, evoked by 
 general conditions rather than by special incidents. His 
 predictions also do not relate to any intervening events of 
 national importance, but to the all-absorbing catastrophe 
 alone. 
 
 § 1178. Very characteristic of Ezekiel are the means 
 by which he represents the details of Jerusalem's distress 
 and of the final calamity. The main process of destruction 
 is the siege. This he beholds four years in advance by the 
 
 many have written upon it. For good short discussions one may consult 
 Smend, Alttest. Beligionsgeschichte, p. 21 f., 467 f., Nowack, HA. ii. 38 f., 
 and the article " Cherubim.' 1 in DR., by Professor J. E. Ryle. The bibli- 
 cal usage is well summarized in article 3113 in Brown's Gesenius. 
 
 1 It has been pointed out (as by Cornill. Der israelitische Prqphetis- 
 ,,'i's. 117 f.) how closely Ezekiel resembles Isaiah in his view of the ex- 
 altation of Jehovah above his creatures. But notice the advance made 
 by Ezekiel. The "seraphim" of Isaiah represent Jehovah only in his 
 temple. But EzekiePs cherubim appear even in an unclean and hostile 
 land. Fresh revelations were associated with revolutionary events in the 
 history of Israel, which implied an aspect of Jehovah's nature and provi- 
 dence hitherto unknown or unfelt (§ 1335 ff.).
 
 Ch. VIII, § 1178 PICTORIAL IMAGES 249 
 
 inward eve. The vision is so clear that he can objectivize 
 it in a picture. What he sees is engraved upon a tile, such 
 as were found by the thousand in Babylonia bearing 
 inscriptions or pictorial representations. 1 Thereon the 
 main events and actions of the aggressive work of a for- 
 mal siege are depicted in the order of their occurrence 2 
 (Ez. iv. 1-3; cf xxvi. 8 f. ). 
 
 1 The setting and the details of this representation are Babylonian. The 
 very idea of a picture is foreign to Israelitish usage, which forbade the 
 making of any image or likeness as promoting idolatry. Certain results 
 of the singular absence of this form of art culture may be remarked. 
 Inasmuch as even mechanical drawing was discouraged thereby, con- 
 structive skill in all directions, notably in architecture, was lacking all 
 through the history of Israel. Again, the faculty of nice observation, 
 which is so greatly promoted by the artistic habit, was very slightly 
 developed. For example, there is no description of or even allusion to 
 scenes or occurrences in the realm of nature in the Bible, except the most 
 familiar and imposing objects and phenomena. Thirdly, the form and 
 style of the literature are a constant testimony to the absence of this half- 
 aesthetic, half-scientific education. On the other hand, Ezekiel, who lived 
 so long in Babylonia, is the most methodical of writers (§ 1175) in the 
 conception, plan, and style of his compositions. He, moreover, shows 
 knowledge of designing and architecture (ch. xl. ff. ; cf. Davidson, Book 
 of Ezekiel, p. xxvii). The detailed working out of the siege is also Baby- 
 lonish. 
 
 2 No objection can well be taken to the above explanation of the com- 
 mand given to the prophet to " take a tile and engrave upon it a city." 
 The other alternative is to understand the terms literally. In the present 
 instance the carrying out of the command by actual mechanical process, 
 while somewhat eccentric, would be neither impossible nor unexampled. 
 In other cases {e.g. iv. 4-6) the absurdity of the literal interpretation 
 becomes manifest. Here again we have a suggestion of the caution that 
 is necessary when canons of Hebrew literary form and style are discussed. 
 We should remember that just here the prophet forebore to teach the 
 people in any way (iii. 2G). so thai the only conceivable motive of a spec- 
 tacular performance could nol have been present. The public silence 
 imposed upon him must have lasted until the end of this scries of visions 
 and symbolical actions, that is, to the close of the siege of Jerusalem. 
 Otherwise iii. 26 is meaningless. After this point was reached, he had 
 free communication with the people, and then doubtless the command to 
 
 explain the Signs was fulfilled (cf. XXiv. 27). In the meantime, ••shut 
 up in his house'* (iii. 24), he was visited by those who chose to come 
 to him (cf. § 1 170 note), and by them the visions and symbols were 
 observed (viii. 1, etc.).
 
 250 SYMBOLICAL ACTIONS Book X 
 
 § 1179. Another symbolical action, to be interpreted on 
 similar principles, represents the sufferings and the fate 
 of Israel and Judah. The prophet must lie on his left 
 side one hundred and ninety 1 days to represent the number 
 of years of the captivity of northern Israel, and for the 
 years of the captivity of the kingdom of Judah to lie on 
 his right side fur forty days. In this way lie was "to bear 
 the iniquity of the house of Israel " (iv. 5) and of " the house 
 of Judah " (iv. 6). " Lying on his side, held down as with 
 cords (iv. 8) and unable to turn, he represents Israel 
 pressed and held in the grasp of the punishment of its 
 iniquity." 2 Simultaneously with this performance, that is, 
 during the one hundred and ninety days, he is to live on 
 a frugal and at the same time ceremonially unclean diet 
 prepared by him in a peculiarly repulsive manner to set 
 forth the scarcity of food during the siege, the sufferings 
 of the beleaguered people, and the desperate means to 
 which they would resort in the fight against famine. 3 
 The symbol also meant, in the spirit of Hos. ix. 3 f., 
 that captivity would in a sense prolong such horrors, 
 since all food partaken of in a foreign land was unclean, 
 because it could not be offered to the absent Jehovah 
 (iv. 9-17). 
 
 § 1180. Still another symbolical action was enjoined. 
 The prophet must disfigure himself by cutting off the hair 
 of his head and his beard, and that with a sword. The 
 hair must then be divided into three equal parts, one of 
 
 1 The Hebrew text gives three hundred and ninety days, but the Sept., 
 as given above, is undoubtedly correct. In this number the last forty 
 years were common to the captivities of Israel and Judah. The reckon- 
 ing is to be made from 722 b.c. (§ 360). We need not seek for exactness 
 here. While Ezekiel uives forty years for the exile of Judah. Jeremiah 
 had already announced seventy, and this was probably known to Ezekiel. 
 Neither number is. nor was intended to be, accurate. The " left side " in 
 Hebrew is a synonym for the north, and the " right side " for the south. 
 
 - Davidson, The Book of Ezekiel, p. 30. 
 
 3 Compare the horrible sarcasm and hyperbole of the Assyrian legate 
 addressed to the defenders of Jerusalem in 701 b.c. (2 K. xviii. 27).
 
 Cii. VIII, § 1182 EFFECT OF THE VISIONS 251 
 
 which was to be burned, another to be struck with the 
 sword, and the third to be scattered to the winds (Ez. v. 
 1— t). This procedure sets forth the fate of the people of 
 Jerusalem (vs. 12 ff.), some of whom should be consumed 
 by pestilence and famine during the siege, others fall a 
 prey to the sword of the conqueror, and others flee far 
 and wide to peril and death. Upon this there follows a 
 discourse couched in the familiar prophetic language of 
 threatening and denunciation but marked by more than 
 usual severity and bitterness (chs. vi. and vii.). 
 
 § 1181. The foregoing citations afford sufficient idea of 
 the occupation of the prophet of the early exile during 
 the first year of his official ministry. His work may seem 
 to have had no great historical importance, inasmuch as 
 he now held aloof from public life and did not seek 
 directly to promote definite action either in Babylonia 
 or in Jerusalem. Yet his peculiar methods of prophesying 
 were not wholly without practical effect. The leaders of 
 the people who had been hitherto hostile or indifferent 
 now showed an interest which was more than curiosity. 
 In the words of the promise made to Jeremiah (§ 1126), 
 they resorted to him while he did not resort to them. 
 Shut up in his house, he was visited by " the elders of 
 Judah " in the sixth year of his captivity, just a year 
 after the first of his previous visions. In this situation 
 he fell into a trance, in the course of which he felt him- 
 self borne away to Jerusalem. Here he beheld various 
 actions performed by leading citizens (Ez. viii.-xi.), winch 
 are the most instructive revelations made to us of the 
 moral and spiritual condition of the people since the 
 attempted reformation of Josiah. 
 
 § 1182. This is what the prophet saw after his vision- 
 ary journey through the upper air to the sacred haunts 
 of his earlier days (viii. 3). First of all the glory of God 
 was displayed as it had been in the plain of the Kebar 
 (viii. 4). Then in startling contrast was seen an Ashera, 
 such as that which King Manasseh had put in the temple
 
 252 ABOMINATIONS IN THE TEMPLE Book X 
 
 (^2 K. xxi. 7) and Josiah had removed and burnt (§ 854), 
 it having apparently been restored under Zedekiah. It 
 is significantly called the " jealousy-image," as challenging 
 most of all the indignation of the jealous God of Israel. 
 This incitement to sensual iniquity, in the very precincts 
 of Jehovah's dwelling-place, stood well within the outer 
 court of the temple. 
 
 § 1183. Passing this image he enters the gateway that 
 leads from the outer to the inner court and the various 
 adjoining side chambers and offices of the temple function- 
 aries. In some of these cells, to which access was only 
 gained secretly (cf. the symbolical action of vs. 7 and 8), 
 many of the elders of the people were burning incense to 
 various bestial objects 1 (viii. 6-12) in the desperate hope 
 of moving all the supernatural powers in behalf of the de- 
 clining monarchy. Those deities which were specially 
 propitiated were native to the soil of Canaan, since the 
 votaries were now dreading the forfeiture of home and 
 country. Significant in this connection is the watchword 
 of the obscure and clandestine mysteries: "Jehovah hath 
 forsaken the land." It was as though the land, devastated 
 and depopulated, and held in fee by a foreign tyrant, had 
 been abandoned by its God, and given over to the demons 
 
 i Cf. W. R. Smith, Prophets, p. --'02 ; RS. 2 , pp. 290 ff., 357. The cult 
 of these unclean animals was a survival and revival of primitive totemistic 
 habits, and not an imitation of Egyptian beast-worship, which had to do 
 only with living animals, and was, indeed, never naturalized in Israel or 
 among any Semitic people. The representation of these objects of super- 
 stitious regard, as "carved on the wall round about"' (viii. 10), — not 
 "pourtrayed" (EV.) or "painted" (Smend), — is probably another 
 touch of Babylonian influence (cf. xxiii. 14). These bas-reliefs were 
 entirely foreign to Hebrew usage (§ 1178), and, however serious the 
 innovations of the time may have been, the temple chambers would 
 scarcely be decorated with such elaborate foreign devices to set forth 
 the objects of a rude and simple cult. Ezekiel has in large measure 
 transferred the associations of Babylonian temples and palaces to the 
 temple of Jerusalem. The sacrifices made by lebrews at a somewhat 
 later period ( Isa. lxvi. 3, 17), of various unclean creatures, were also in 
 some way connected with demoniacal beliefs. Their motive, however, is 
 as yet obscure.
 
 Ch. VIII, § 1184 WEEPING FOR TAMMUZ 253 
 
 that held their sway before even Baal and Ashtoreth had 
 come in with the corn and the vine and the feasts of the 
 blossoming year ! 
 
 § 1184. The prophet next sees in vision the part 
 played by the women in the deterioration of faith and 
 morals. He turns northward again to the most fre- 
 quented entrance of the temple (cf. § 1118), "and behold! 
 there were sitting the women weeping for Tammnz " 2 
 (Ez. viii. 13 f.). As in the previous exhibition, so we have 
 here a specimen of a religious custom whose observance 
 shows a radical departure from the pure worship of 
 Jehovah. No symbol was more beautiful and more seduc- 
 tive than the great nature-myth which in one form or 
 another enthralled the North-Semitic world from the 
 Tigris to the Mediterranean. It was the everlasting 
 mystery and process of the decay of nature, the ebbing 
 away of the illumining, vitalizing, gladdening effluence of 
 the spring and summer sun. The usage which is 
 here commemorated, though it has its parallel in the Phoe- 
 nician custom of the mourning for Adonis, and its founda- 
 tion in immemorial Canaanitic tradition, is in the view of 
 
 1 The myth of Tammuz has two main branches. In both he figures as 
 a solar deity. In the primary and fundamental form, he is the princi- 
 ple of fertility, particularly in the vegetable world. Hence midsummer 
 is tin- proper season of Tammuz. Indeed, "Tammuz" is the name of 
 the fourth month of the Babylonian or Semitic year. Then the sun is 
 in his strength, the powers of nature are most active, and it is then that 
 in many parts of the world, if no1 indeed everywhere, the chief rites of 
 Slin-WOrship were celebrated. Even yet, among the Indians of the North- 
 west, the sun-dance perpetuates the universal cult. Tin re, too, a (while) 
 d.>L r is sacrificed (cf. RS., 2 p. 202 note). Tammuz is the analogue of 
 Adonis, whose worship, naturalized in Greece, was originally Phoenician, 
 and therefore Canaanitic. But the cult of Adonis corresponds rather to 
 the second or special aspect of Tammuz worship, which is exemplified in 
 this passage of Ezekiel and described further below. The name Tammuz 
 is found only twice in the Bible, and nowhere else except as derived from 
 the Babylonian. It is explained in cuneiform texts as equivalent to 
 "child of life," on the assumption that the original form is dumuz. 
 Dumuz, however, may be an artificial construction of priestly anti- 
 quarianism.
 
 254 THE .MISSION OF ISHTAE Book X 
 
 our prophet specifically Babylonian, else he would not 
 have used the exclusively Babylonian name. 1 
 
 § 1185. Fortunately the treasures of the cuneiform 
 literature afford an explanation worth giving of this much- 
 debated passage. Notice in the first place that the vision 
 is seen in the sixth month of the year (viii. 1). Turning 
 to the native cuneiform table of months, we find that the 
 sixth month Ulul ( the " Elul " of Neh. vi. 15 ) is described 
 as •• the month of the mission of Ishtar." 2 What is the 
 meaning of this portentous phrase? The main part of the 
 answer is furnished by the famous kt Descent of Ishtar," 3 as 
 it is usually called, a poem describing the journey of Ish- 
 tar to the underworld, the realm of Allatu, in search of her 
 consort Tammuz. The poem in its present form embodies 
 more than one variety of Ishtar-myth. An astronomical 
 motive, based on the rising and setting of the planet Venus, 
 is there combined with an eschatological motive having 
 the practical purpose of setting forth to anxious inquirers 
 
 1 The reader should bear in mind that Tammuz is not the same pre- 
 cisely as Adonis. The analogy of the respective rites does not constitute 
 identity of the objects worshipped or celebrated. A community of origin 
 between the Canaanitic mourning for Adonis and the Babylonian weeping 
 for Tammuz is not yet proved, though it may be considered probable. 
 We have to think similarly of the analogy of Venus and Ishtar. 
 
 2 See V K. 29 nr. 1, line 6j cf. Haupt. Keilschrifttexte, p. 04, and 
 Delitzsch, Assyrische Lesestiicke, p. '•'-! f. In a list of months, with their 
 presiding divinities ( IV E. 33), Ulul is named as sacred to Ishtar. In the 
 epic of Gilgamesh (formerly held to be "Nimrod"), the sixth tablet or 
 book among the twelve (following the signs of the zodiac) describes the 
 love of Ishtar for the hero and its results. The name -'Virgo" for the 
 sixth zodiacal constellation commemorates these associations. 
 
 s Published in TSBA. II, 179 ff., and IV R. 31 ; extracts in Assyr. 
 Lesestiicke, and Lyon, Assyrian Manual. The first translations with 
 comments were made by Talbot, in TSBA.. as above, and in EP. I. 141 
 ff. ; by G. Smith, Chaldcean Genesis; by Schrader, Die Hdllenfahrt der 
 Istar, these three having done most to break and clear the way. Recent 
 3 are those of Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, 1887; of A. Jeremias. Die 
 babylonisch-assyrischen Vorstellungen vom Leben nach dem Tode (1887); 
 and Jastrow, RBA. (1898). Talbot, Schrader, and Jeremias have also 
 given transcriptions of the text.
 
 Ch. VIII, § 1187 TAMMUZ AND ISHTAB 255 
 
 or mourners the condition of the departed in the under- 
 world. 1 The fundamental idea is, however, evident in the 
 main features of the story, and to this we shall have to 
 confine ourselves here. 
 
 § 1186. Tammuz, the impersonation of the fructifying, 
 gladdening sun, is at the height of his glory in the heavens, 
 shining " with all-triumphant splendour," 2 in the month 
 of July, and at the same time he has fully ripened the 
 precious fruits of the earth. In September, when " the sun 
 crosses the line," when the lengthening night begins to 
 overcome the day, his supremacy is at an end ; he has suc- 
 cumbed to the powers of darkness. This process of decline 
 and deca} r , the harbinger of winter, was figured by the 
 naive fancy of primitive men as the banishment of Tam- 
 muz to the realm of the dead. But there is another 
 factor in the fully developed myth. It was inevitable, in 
 the very nature of things, that as the counterpart of Tam- 
 muz, regarded as the male principle of productiveness, a 
 goddess should be thought of as expressing the female 
 principle. And so it came to be popularly felt that the 
 love and union of Tammuz and Ishtar were the source of 
 all the beaut} 7 and fertility of the earth, of the perpetuation 
 of the race of plants, animals, and men, of life itself, with 
 its manifold activities and enjoyments. Hence, when 
 Tammuz was exiled to the under-world, it was fancied 
 that Ishtar descended thither to seek him and bring him 
 back before his doom of banishment should become irrevo- 
 cable. Thus with each returning year came the month 
 of " Tammuz " and the month of the "mission of Ishtar." 
 
 § 1187. But many of these old nature-myths were not 
 merely symbols of the wonder-inspiring phenomena of the 
 
 1 See Jastrow, KBA. p. f>05, 571; Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 227 ff. 
 
 2 So Shakespeare, Sonnet xxxiii. In these exquisite lines the supreme 
 poet suggests to us how in sucli natural phenomena the whole ancient 
 world could see an allegory of the gladness and sorrow, the hopes and 
 disappointments, of humanity. A reading of the sonnet is a good prepa- 
 ration for the study of the nature-myth.
 
 256 A GREAT NATURE-MYTH Book X 
 
 outer world — they became also parables of some of the 
 most profound and mysterious processes and passions of 
 human life. The imposing fact of life itself, with its vary- 
 ing sum of joys and sorrows, and the inevitable coming of 
 death, with its silence, inaction, and gloom, exercised a 
 potent influence on the imagination as well as on the sensi- 
 bilities of early humanity. Behind it all lay the mystery 
 of production and reproduction linked with that sexual 
 passion which runs in all sensuous being. Moreover, 
 primitive peoples were much more closely united by 
 unconscious sympathy to lower forms of life and to the 
 very earth itself, than the reflective and tutored men and 
 women of our modern civilization. They did not philoso- 
 phize or theorize. In types and symbols, made moving 
 and memorable by poetic fancy, they "bodied forth the 
 forms of things unknown." Yet such poems and stories, 
 in which we philosophizing moderns have found the key 
 that unlocks the antique mind and heart, were but the 
 outward sign and expression of what was at once the inspi- 
 ration and the habit of the deepest spiritual life which 
 these poor children of the earth could know. They 
 belonged to the potent realm of religion guarded by grati- 
 tude and fear. In the fond but real fictions of Tammuz, 
 Ishtar, and their supernal and infernal colleagues, they 
 generalized the countless influences and motives that were 
 felt or suspected in the springing of the grass, the bloom- 
 ing of the flowers, the ripening of summer fruits, the pair- 
 ing of birds and beasts and men, and the coming into the 
 world of a new generation. 
 
 § 1188. Thus appeared the two chief forms of the 
 myth of Tammuz, the one being to the other as the winter 
 is to the summer or as the autumn is to the spring. By 
 them the miracle of the changing seasons was brought 
 within the magic circle of the joys and sorrows and hopes 
 and fears of human life, and transformed into a perpetual 
 parable. It is with the second form of the myth that we 
 are here particularly concerned. The " weeping for Tarn-
 
 Ch. VIII, § 1189 THE EVIL OF THE SYMBOL 257 
 
 muz " was, in the widest sense, the universal expression 
 of sadness not merely for the departure of the beauty and 
 richness of summer, but for all which this loss Symbolized, 
 the manifold evils which the course of nature brings to 
 mankind. Among those peoples with whom thought and 
 language, feeling and expression, were so closely allied 
 as to be identical in common speech, among whom wailing 
 and beating the breast were synonymous with mourning, 
 the weeping for the dying lord of the day was simply the 
 vicarious utterance of a widespread regret, a little noisy 
 drama of cries and tears to image forth a world-wide 
 tragedy, silent and perpetual as the process of the suns. 
 What was most important of all, it became a religious rite 
 and ceremon}*, simple, natural, and fascinating. 
 
 § 1189. But here we are pointed to "the women weep- 
 ing for Tammuz," and that within the precincts of the 
 temple. An explanation of this obnoxious rite is furnished 
 by the mission of Ishtar, or rather by the whole series of 
 relations between the god and the goddess, of which Ish- 
 tar seeking her lost consort is the most significant episode. 
 The suggestive feature of these associations is the desire 
 for Tammuz. Here we strike upon the essential evil, the 
 danger-point in the old nature religions. When the 
 forces or phenomena of the outer world are viewed merely 
 as natural emblems of the events and vicissitudes of 
 human life, their contemplation has nothing injurious 
 in it; it is as innocent as are the reflections upon it of a 
 modern philosopher. 1 But when the emblem is made a 
 symbol, and the resemblance becomes a representation, 
 and the powers of nature are personified into the likeness 
 of the gods, a new and mighty motive, the sanction of 
 religion, is added to the human impulses which the super- 
 nal beings symbolize. Whatever passion or desire of 
 
 1 It is almost needless to observe here that such a stage of the contem- 
 plation of nature never really existed among primitive men, with whom 
 feeling took the place of reflection, and nature worship the place of 
 objective observation, 
 s 
 
 i
 
 258 RELIGION AND SENSUALITY Book X 
 
 men is either directly set forth or necessarily involved in 
 this species of religions symbolism is thereby consecrated 
 and legitimated, idealized, and intensified. In the pres- 
 ent' instance it is human love or Inst that receives its 
 apotheosis in the worship of Ishtar and Tammnz, and 
 the inseparable common history of ancient religion and 
 ancient morality testifies to the influence of such a 
 deification. 1 
 
 § 1190. Herein lay the danger and the significance of 
 "the women weeping for Tammuz " in the view of the 
 prophets of Jehovah. This rite, as actually performed in 
 Jerusalem in the sixth month of 591 B.C., may not have 
 been directly associated with acts of sexnal vice perpe- 
 trated under the license of religion. But at any rate, the 
 moral evil was inevitably promoted by the religious cere- 
 mony. Indeed, at this stage in the history of Israel the 
 introduction of the custom was tantamount to an author- 
 ization of those shameful practices which marked antique 
 Semitic religion wherever a temple was reared and dedi- 
 cated. Against them, as a concomitant of Baal-worship 
 and a chief incentive to its cultivation, the true priests 
 and prophets of Jehovah had inveighed and contended for 
 centuries. The legislation of Deuteronomy (xxiii. 18) 
 sought to suppress it entirely. Instances of its preva- 
 lence are recorded both of the northern (Am. ii. 7; Hos. 
 iv. 13 ff.) and of the southern kingdom (1 K. xv. 12; 
 xxii. 46; cf. xiv. 24). The very names (tth|3 and ntfhj?) 
 of the votaries of this most pernicious of all social cus- 
 toms indicate this function as ministers of religion ; 2 they 
 were a common designation for profligate men and women 
 (Gen. xxxviii. 21 al.~). Repulsive as are some of the 
 features of Tammitz worship, and ministering as it did to 
 debasing and deteriorating passions, its history, taken as 
 
 1 For the unethical character of the observance generally, see the re- 
 marks of W. It. Smith, RS. 2 , p. 413 ff. 
 
 2 Cf. Assyrian l.;<nlisti< ; and see Zimmern, Bahylonische Busspsalmen, 
 p. 40; Jastrow, BBA. p. 475 f. ; Jeremias, Izdubar, p. 59 f.
 
 (ii. VIII㤠1191 ADORATION OF THE SUN 259 
 
 a whole, is the most instructive of all subjects that engage 
 the attention of the student of comparative religion. There 
 is nothing which so plainly demonstrates the need of man- 
 kind for a divine purifying energy to withstand the most 
 insidious and virulent of spiritual tempters. This was the 
 monster that the religion of Jehovah slew in seemingly 
 unequal fight. It was the veritable serpent of Eden, 1 
 and no miracle of the Old or New Testament was so great 
 as the crushing of its head. 
 
 § 1191. After this disclosure of the worship of a solar 
 deity or special manifestation of the power of the god of 
 day. the direct adoration of the sun himself by the elders 
 of the priests (cf. ix. 6) is witnessed in vision by the 
 prophet. In the Holy Place, in front of the altar, a score 
 of men were seen, with fates averted from the glory of 
 Jehovah in the Shechinah, doing homage to the sun-god 
 (viii. 15 f. ). 2 Like the other forms of idolatry, this was 
 promoted by Babylonian influence. Already, at or near 
 the same place in the temple, a representation of the horses 
 and chariots of the sun in his journey through the heavens 
 had been imported in deference to Assyria, presumably 
 by Ahaz or Manasseh. It had been destroyed by Josiah 
 
 1 Cf. Jastrow, RBA. p. 477. 
 
 - It is singular that most expositors (Davidson being an exception) 
 hare seen in viii. 17 a new and extreme form of false worship, mistrans- 
 lated in the words of EV., ••and 1<»! theyput the branch to their nose." 
 But the expression, which is quite obscure, must, whatever its exact- 
 meaning, be an amplification of the statement just preceding, " they have 
 filled the land with wrong-doing. " The other forms of idolatry are elabo- 
 rately introduced with an indication of the places ami modes of observ- 
 ance ' vs. 2-16 ) ; ;ui<l this would be SO distinguished also if it were some- 
 thing so strange and specific. Some perceive a ret'rn nee to " the Persian 
 habit of holding before the mouth a bundleof twigs while invoking the 
 god of light' 1 (Orelli, Das Buch Ezechiel ausgelegt, L888, p. 38). But 
 how should the Hebrews, or, for that matter, the Babylonians, at this 
 
 Stage of their history, have been led to caricature, or adopt in any fashion, 
 
 a religious custom of a people then so obscure and remote? A grotesque 
 interpretation may be seen in the recent commentary of Bertholet, Das 
 Hud, Hesekiel erkldrt (1897), p. 50.
 
 -mi FOREDOOMED TO DEATH Book X 
 
 (§ 856). But when Babylon became supreme the sun- 
 god was again made an object of reverence. This was 
 the climax of ""abominations," since it was a more fla- 
 grant defiance of Jehovah than any other mode of false 
 worship practised in Jerusalem. 
 
 § 1192. The scene is now changed: after this vision 
 of sin comes a vision of the oft-predicted punishment. 
 Characteristically, the image takes its form from in- 
 cidents of Assyrian and Babylonian warfare, such as 
 have been brought in abundance before our own eyes in 
 the cuneiform records. In the annals of the great con- 
 querors it is often related 1 that the leaders in revolt and 
 those of the people generally who had ""committed sin" 
 were put to a cruel death, Avhile those who were guiltless 
 of rebellion were spared. Sometimes the number of the 
 slain or the deported is given with absolute exactness. 2 
 Such discrimination must have been the result of careful 
 inquiry, after which the doom was relentlessly fulfilled. A 
 similar process of selection, condemnation, and execution 
 is seen Ivy Ezekiel as enacted in Jerusalem (ch. ix.). 
 Seven messengers from the throne of Jehovah are charged 
 with "the impending punishment of the city." 3 To one 
 of these legates, arrayed in white, the S}"mbol of the 
 divine righteousness (cf. Dan. x. 5; xii. 0; Rev. iii. 4 f . ; 
 xv. 6), and bearing writing materials, was committed 
 the task of marking with a cross the foreheads of those 
 who " were nioaninp- and sighing for all the abomina- 
 tions " that were done in Jerusalem. The remaining 
 six, with "weapons of destruction" in their hands, 
 were charged to follow him and slay without mercy all 
 who had not the badge of immunity (cf. Rev. vii. 3, ctr. 
 xiv. 9). 
 
 1 E.g. by Sinacherib, in his report of the capture of Ekron (I R. 41, 
 1 ff.); see § 675. 
 
 2 As was actually done in fulfilment of this prediction by Nebuchad- 
 rezzar's general (2 K. xxv. 18 ft'.). 
 
 3 See Cornill, Der Prophet Ezechii-1, p. 226 f., note on ch. ix. 1.
 
 Ch. VIII, § 1195 VISIONS Or DESTRUCTION 261 
 
 § 1193. To set forth the utter destruction of the city 
 itself a new image is resorted to, whose reality was only 
 too well known in the Assyrian and Babylonian times 
 throughout western Asia. Still in the guise of a vision 
 the city is revealed as about to be enveloped in the flames 
 of avenging lire. A corresponding revelation is nude of 
 the shining brightness of the cherubim, who are again 
 displayed in the Holy of Holies. The terrible conception 
 that the firing of Jerusalem by the Chaldaean conquerors 
 after its capture was actually of divine ordination is 
 vividly symbolized: A cherub takes of the coals of fire 
 that burn within the Avheels of the celestial figures and 
 delivers them to the white-clad angel of destruction to be 
 seattered over the city (eh. x.). 
 
 § 1104. Transported again to the east side of the 
 temple, the prophet sees before the gate a number of the 
 princes (cf. § 1183), "devising iniquity and wicked 
 counsel," which the context shows to refer to the suicidal 
 policy of rebellion against Bab}don (xi. 1-3). The atti- 
 tude of the revolutionists is instructive. They said, "It 
 is not just now that we must build houses: 1 this city is 
 the cauldron and we are the flesh"; or, in modern lan- 
 guage, "This is no time for the occupations of peace. 
 We are stewing here in our own juice; let us strike for 
 freedom." At this, the prophet is commanded to declare 
 that they shall not in any case remain in the city, but 
 shall be delivered up to strangers for captivity and violent 
 death. While he is prophesying, one of the ringleaders 
 suddenly falls dead (xi. 4-13). 
 
 § 1195. Before the vision fades, however, there comes 
 an enlargement of the prophet's outlook. Not all Israel 
 was in Jerusalem. The exiles, present and to come, 
 banished from the city and the temple, Jehovah himself 
 
 1 The full expression is given in Ez. xxviii. l'ij ; Isa. lxv. l'1 ; Jer. xxix. 
 5, 28. The phrase is equivalenl to settling down quietly. The am i thesis 
 is the saying, "to your tents, o Israel !"" referring to the unsettlement 
 and strife characteristic of the nomadic life (§ 4'',;,,.
 
 2G2 THE FLIGHT SYMBOLIZED Book X 
 
 scarcely revealing his presence to them, 1 were yet to be 
 restored to their own and Jehovah's land and city. 
 "And they shall come thither, and they shall take away 
 all its horrors and all its abominations. And I will give 
 them another 2 heart, and a new spirit I will put within 
 them, 8 and will remove the heart of stone from them and 
 give them a heart of flesh, to the end that they may walk 
 in my statutes and keep my judgments and do them, and 
 may be to me a people and I to them may be a God. ..." 
 (xi. 14-21). 
 
 § 1196. After the promise and the curse the glory of 
 Jehovah removed from before the temple and rested upon 
 the Mount of Olives (vs. 22, 23), no longer to protect 
 and bless his city, but to stand aloof while it fulfilled 
 its doom. Released from his trance the prophet finds 
 himself once more among his companions in exile, to 
 whom he relates all that it had been given him to see 
 (vs. 24, 25). 
 
 § 1197. Soon thereafter, at a date not indicated, Eze- 
 kiel, in an ecstatic mood, is impelled to another symbolic 
 action, so as to make still more impressive the impending 
 fall of Jerusalem and the end of the kingdom. He is to 
 take his worldly possessions out of his house in the day- 
 time, making ready for a flight under the cover of darkness. 
 Then, when the night has come, he is to break through the 
 wall of the city and seek to escape with his burden upon 
 his shoulder (Ez. xii. 1-7). This proceeding is explained 
 to mean that the " prince " Zedekiah is to attempt to save 
 himself by flight at the taking of his city, but should be 
 caught outside the wall in a net which Jehovah himself 
 was to spread over him (cf. xvii. 20; xxxii. 3; Hos. vii. 
 12). Thence he was to be brought as a captive to Babylon. 
 That city he was not to see with his eyes (cf. 2 K. 
 xxv. 7), though he was to live there till his death. Of 
 
 1 Notice xi. 16, " I have been a sanctuary to them but little." 
 
 2 So the Sept. 8 So the ancient Versions.
 
 Cii. VIII, § 1199 PROPHETS AND DIVINERS 263 
 
 his subjects but a few should survive the destroying sword 
 
 (xii. 8-1D). 1 
 
 § 1198. A series of instructive utterances are now 
 recorded, which show the inherent necessity and the 
 moral justification of the fall of Jerusalem and the ruin 
 of the state (Ez. xiii.-xix.). Prefaced to these are two 
 striking declarations aimed at the popular delusion that 
 effective prophecy was at an end in Israel and the kindred 
 belief that any prediction that came from Jehovah must 
 apply, not to the near, but to the distant future (xii, 
 21-28). The current sayings thus denounced ran thus: 
 " The da}-s keep stretching out and visions come to 
 naught" (v. 22), and, "The vision that he is seeing is 
 for many days hence, and for distant times he is prophesy- 
 ing." Against those who thus bring true prophecy into 
 disrepute the genuine prophet of Jehovah brings a formal 
 indictment (ch. xiii.). They accelerate the destruction 
 of the house of Israel because they "prophesy out of their 
 own minds," so that they never really "see" in the true 
 sense of the word (xiii. 2-7). With want of practical as 
 well as spiritual insight they announce peace when turmoil 
 and calamity are inevitable (xiii. 8-10), like men who 
 would stay up a decaying wall with a mere coat of plaster. 
 With the first storm of the wrath of Jehovah it shall 
 tumble to the ground (vs. 11-10). 
 
 § 1199. A fitting companion rule to that of the prophets 
 was played by their female colleagues, the employment of 
 whom, as a class of professionals, was as much an evidence 
 of social disorganization as of religious degeneracy. It 
 is noteworthy how in times of personal or national per- 
 plexity, when ordinary means of redress are exhausted, 
 resort is had to occult superstitions thai are usually 
 ignored or derided. As intelligent people of the present 
 da}' resort in sore sickness to a "Christian Scientist," 
 or as Saul, sore pressed by the Philistines, sought counsel 
 
 1 Another symbolical action (xii. 17-20), if it may be so called, ia 
 
 simply an amplification of iv. 10, 11, 10 (cf. § 1179).
 
 264 OCCASIONS OF FALSE PROPHECY Book X 
 
 from the divining women, whom, as a class, he had sup- 
 pressed, so now the desperate people of Jerusalem turned 
 from the prophet of Jehovah to necromancers and enchant- 
 ers. The art of these "prophetesses" 1 apparently con- 
 sisted in procuring tokens of the divine will or omens 
 from responses given in connection with peculiar amulets 
 consisting of fillets or kindred attachments worn by the 
 suppliants. By means of these enchantments they "slew 
 the souls that should not die and saved the souls that 
 should not live . . . made the heart of the righteous sad, 
 and strengthened the hands of the wicked that he should 
 not return from his wicked way*' (xiii. 17-23). 
 
 § 1200. But the blame does not rest entirely upon 
 false prophets or prophetesses, as Ezekiel tells certain of 
 the elders of Israel who come to him to hear his word. 
 The prophets are themselves borne away by the tempta- 
 tion to answer their clients according to their desires (cf. 
 Mic. vii. 3). And when the people come to these seers 
 fresh from idolatrous practices, or with idolatry in their 
 hearts, an "answer of peace" is in any case impossible 
 (ef. Ps. lxvi. 18). Nay, Jehovah himself may lead the 
 prophet astray in his vision (cf. Isa. xxviii. 7), with the 
 result that both deceiver and deceived have to bear their 
 iniquity, and both alike perish from out of Israel (Ez. 
 xiv. 1-11). 
 
 § 1201. In a passage of more than usual power of 
 expression Ezekiel next sets forth his favourite doctrine 
 of individual responsibility. If his hearers doubt his as- 
 sertion as to this wholesale destruction, they are assured 
 that even the presence in Jerusalem (cf. v. 21) of re- 
 nowned spiritual heroes of tradition, such as Noah, 
 Daniel, 2 and Job, would not avail to save their people, 
 
 1 W. R. Smith, Journal of Philology, xiii. 280 f. Cf. Peritz, Woman 
 in tin- Ancient Hebrew <'n1t. p. 141 f.. and above, § 8-31 note. 
 
 2 Here and in ch. xxviii. Daniel seems to be a national and even a 
 world-wide celebrity. According to Dan. ii. 1, 48, he was, at a tender 
 age, made chief ruler in Babylon in 003 b.c.
 
 Ch. VIII, § 1204 PARABLES OF ISRAEL'S FATE 265 
 
 since, indeed, it was impossible in the very nature of 
 things that they could save any but themselves by their 
 own righteousness (ctr. Gen. xviii. 82). How much 
 more when Israel is without the presence of such saints 
 of Jehovah, and the four dark messengers, the sword, and 
 famine, and noxious beasts, and pestilence, are already on 
 their way to Jerusalem to smite and not spare. "And ye 
 shall know that not without cause have I done all that I 
 have done there, saith the Lord Jehovah" ( Ez. xiv. 12-23). 
 
 § 12')2. In two parables the prophet further illustrates 
 the character and fate of the remnant of Israel. They are 
 compared (Ez. xv.) to a vine-stock that bears no fruit, 
 and being useless for aii}^ sort of work is east into the 
 lire. The more familiar figure of an unfaithful spouse is 
 elaborated with all possible detail. Jerusalem has abused 
 all the kindness of Jehovah (xvi. 1-14), has been guilty 
 of the vilest ingratitude by her idolatrous alliances with 
 alien nations, following upon her own abominations, in- 
 eluding even the sacrifice of children (vs. 15—34). The 
 punishment shall be greater even than that of Samaria and 
 Sodom, which she had surpassed in iniquity (vs. 35-51). 
 But Samaria and Sodom and even Jerusalem shall at 
 length be restored to favour (vs. 52-63). 
 
 § 1203. Before the utterance of Ezekiel's next recorded 
 prophecy, there is an interval of about three years (592- 
 589 B.C.). It was apparently a time in which the politi- 
 cal ferment of the home-land was allayed and the prophet 
 of the Exile could minister with less reserve to his fellow- 
 captives. Naturally, this brief period is devoid of Stir- 
 ling incident. Two passages remain as memorials. 
 
 § 1204. One of these is the great discourse of the free- 
 dom and responsibility of the individual in the sight of 
 (rod ( Ez. xviii.). This conception, in which he follows 
 his master, Jeremiah (cf. Jer. xxxi. 20 f.), was, as has 
 been often pointed out, peculiarly suited to the needs and 
 susceptibilities of the exiles. Their whole education in 
 Palestine, personal and national, had tended to encourage
 
 266 INDIVIDUAL RESP0NSD3ILITY Book X 
 
 in them the notion that the individual had no obligations, 
 moral or religions, apart from the community to which he 
 might belong — the state, the tribe, the clan, or the fam- 
 ily group (cf. § 1000). Traditional prejudices and in- 
 veterate customs; intercommunal leagues and feuds; the 
 centralizing tendencies of the national worship; the asso- 
 ciations of ritual and sacrifice; the sacerdotal caste and 
 functions, — all these stood in the way of independence in 
 thought and endeavour in the moral and religious sphere. 
 But these intellectual and spiritual bonds received a shock 
 by the breaking up of that political and social system 
 which had forged them and kept them fast. And the 
 prophet, himself just emancipated, would fain strike a 
 blow that should rid his clients of such fetters forever. 
 
 § 1205. Providence threw at his feet the opportunity 
 in the expatriation of the exiles. Their complaint was 
 that they, though the most patriotic and devout of Israel, 
 were now in captivity, while the less worthy were enjoy- 
 ing liberty and citizenship in Jerusalem ; that in the very 
 nature of the case they must now be suffering for the 
 offences of their fathers, quite apart from any sin of their 
 own (cf. Lam. v. 7). With bitter resentment against the 
 obvious injustice of their lot the} 7 passed from lip to lip 
 the popular satire, " The fathers have eaten sour grapes 
 and the children's teeth are set on edge." "Not so," 
 reasoned Ezekiel. " Every soul is in the hands of Jeho- 
 vah, not in the grip of fate, and he allots to each the doom 
 which it has earned for itself, by its own righteousness 
 or by its own iniquity." Such is the inference to be 
 drawn from the doctrine of Jeremiah. The personal 
 application to those who have the care of these souls 
 under Jehovah is peculiar to Ezekiel, and is taken up by 
 him elsewhere (cf. § 1342). 
 
 § 1206. The last discourse of this group (Ez. xx. 
 1-44) is given as a stern reply to those of the elders of 
 the community who came to him for counsel in August, 
 591 B.C. It is a copious rehearsal of the shame and sin of.
 
 Ch. VIII, § 120G PUNISHMENT JUSTIFIED 267 
 
 Israel's past history as a justification of the coming wrath, 
 with a promise of final redemption in its captivity. The 
 theological importance of the discourse is that the chas- 
 tisement and salvation of Israel are represented as de- 
 pending upon the sovereign will of Jehovah and the 
 necessity of his being exalted among the nations of the 
 earth.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 REBELLION, SIEGE, AND FALL OF JERUSALEM 
 
 § 1207. The political agitation in Jerusalem which 
 had not been wholly allayed by the failure of the half- 
 f( unied conspiracy and the journey of Zedekiah to his mas- 
 ter in Babylon (§ 1157, 1171), was again stirred up four 
 years thereafter (589 B.C.) in a more active and danger- 
 ous form. Now it was not the petty communities of Pal- 
 estine that urged revolt, but the turbulent empire of the 
 Nile. Pharaoh Necho died in 594 B.C., having lived to 
 witness the occupation of Syria and Palestine by his 
 Babylonian rival, and the defeat of the efforts made in 
 Palestine in 598, doubtless with encouragement from 
 Egypt, to get rid of the yoke of Nebuchadrezzar. That he 
 did not actively intervene on behalf of Jehoiakim and 
 Jehoiachin was perhaps due to the need of action in 
 Nubia. At any rate his son Psammetichus II. (594-589) 
 found himself obliged at the beginning of his reign to 
 march in that direction. Inscriptions in the Greek, Carian, 
 and PhoBnician languages at Abu Simbel, a little below 
 the Second Cataract, are probably memorials of the en- 
 campment there of some of the mercenary troops to which 
 the dynasty of Sais owed its security. The rule of 
 Necho in Asia was attempted by the next king Hophra 
 (•• A pries," 589-564) after the conclusion of this Nubian 
 war. 
 
 § 1208. The ambitious designs of this Pharaoh gave 
 to the promoters of sedition in Jerusalem the pretext for 
 action against the Chaldeean tyrant which they had so 
 
 268
 
 Ch. IX, §1209 NATIONAL AND MORAL SITUATION 209 
 
 long desired. It became now a difficult task for Jeremiah 
 or any of his colleagues to make head against the tumul- 
 tuous passion for revenge and civic freedom, nor was it easy 
 for the average patriot to perceive how romantic was the 
 scheme of insurrection. The petty kingdoms of Pales- 
 tine, which had been cowed by the threats of Nebuchad- 
 rezzar in 593, now banded together again. They gave 
 little material help at the testing-time. But the alliance 
 with Tyre seemed to guarantee the sinews of war ; and 
 Tyre held out bravely for many years (§ 1213). So now 
 Jerusalem's heart went out toward Egypt, untaught by 
 the sad two centuries of her cajolery and fickleness. The 
 exact time of the agreement with Egypt and the begin- 
 ning of the revolt we cannot determine, but the accession 
 of Hophra in 589 suggests an approximate date, and we 
 know that Nebuchadrezzar marched into Judah before 
 the end of 588. 
 
 § 1209. We have a graphic picture of the moral situ- 
 ation 1 from the pen of Ezekiel in a famous allegory or 
 riddle. A great eagle, broad-winged and variegated, 
 came to Lebanon, broke off the topmost bough of a cedar, 
 and carried it to the land of the merchants, an image of 
 the capture and deportation of Jehoiachin. Then he took 
 of the seed of the land and planted it as a vine (cf. Ez. 
 xix. 10 ff.) beside its native waters, trusting that its 
 branches might turn toward himself — an image of Nebu- 
 chadrezzar installing Zedekiah as his vassal king. But the 
 ungrateful vine spread its branches toward another great 
 eagle, — Zedekiah turning toward Egypt, — rousing the 
 just resentment of the one who had planted and .watered 
 it (Ez. xvii. 1-10). The application is then made in lit- 
 eral terms: It was a solemn covenant confirmed by a 
 
 1 The chronological order of Ezekiel's prophecies is exceptionally dis- 
 turbed by the position of ch. xvii., which would naturally come between 
 chs. xx. and xxi. The occasion of the transposition is apparently the 
 desire to place together the three illustrations of the unfaithfulness, 
 ingratitude, and perfidy of Judab and its kings (chs. xv.-xvii.).
 
 270 THE GREAT KING DIVINING Book X 
 
 sacred oath to which Zedekiah had " given his hand." * 
 This covenant he has broken by sending- ambassadors to 
 Egypt. But his perjury and treachery will avail him 
 nothing. Even his allies the Egyptians will give him no 
 help when his city is besieged by the Chaldseans. It is 
 Jehovah himself whom he has offended, and it is his judg- 
 ment which shall be executed upon Jerusalem by the king 
 whom he has deceived (Ez. xvii. 11-21). Yet from the 
 very topmost bow of the cedar — the house of David — 
 a twig shall be taken and planted which shall become a 
 goodly tree, making a home for birds of every wing — the 
 restored kingdom of Israel (Ez. xvii. 22-24). The whole 
 passage is a pendant to the great discourse of Jer. xxvii. 
 delivered in 503, following up the earlier declaration of 
 Jer. xxv., made in 604, at the very beginning of the reign 
 of Nebuchadrezzar (§ 1115, 1157). 
 
 § 1210. In default of an official report of the march 
 of Nebuchadrezzar against Palestine (cf. § 1213) we have 
 from Ezekiel an ideal picture of the Great King taking 
 counsel with his gods as to the attack on Jerusalem. It is 
 given in the course of a declamation almost lyrical in 
 form and spirit, upon " the sword of Jehovah," which is 
 described as sharpened and furbished for its terrible work 
 among the doomed and guilty people of Jerusalem 
 (Ez. xxi. 1-17). It is the sword of the king of Babylon 
 which Jehovah uses as his own. Before it is drawn to 
 strike, he who is wielding it stands "at the parting of the 
 ways " at a place where the prophet sets up two finger- 
 posts, one pointing to Rabbath Amnion, and the other to 
 Jerusalem. In perplexity as to which road he should 
 take, the Great King resorts to his oracles : " He shook the 
 arrows to and fro ; he consulted the teraphim, he in- 
 spected the liver. In his right hand comes the lot 
 
 1 Presumably the oath was sworn both by the gods of Babylonia (cf. 
 Ez. xvii. 1G) and by Jehovah (Ez. xvii. ID), the God of the land whose 
 favour the over-lord supposed he had acquired (2 K. xviii. 25), and in 
 whose local existence and power he fully believed.
 
 Ch. IX, § 1211 WORKING THE ORACLE 271 
 
 ' Jerusalem,' that he may open his mouth with shrieking 
 and raise the battle-ciy, set battering-rams against the 
 gates, throw up ramparts, and erect siege-towers " (xxi. 
 18-22). 
 
 § 1211. The figure, though somewhat mixed, gives its 
 own interpretation. One feels himself transported to the 
 Babylonian environment of the prophet, the proper home 
 of oracles and prognostications (cf. Isa. xlvii. 12 ff.), whose 
 literature abounds with records of omens for kings prepar- 
 ing for warlike expeditions or setting out upon them. 1 
 The procedure here indicated was somewhat as follows. 2 
 The king of Babylon, or rather the priest as his mediator, 
 comes before the image of his god, a prescribed formula 
 of prayer is recited, and an animal sacrifice offered. The 
 deity gives his answer through special forms of the lot. 
 Here two are instanced. The liver of the animal might be 
 inspected, to see whether its colour or texture indicated a 
 propitious result. But in the present case, where a choice 
 between two courses is aimed at, a more specific mode of 
 decision must be adopted. Hence resort was had to belo- 
 mancy or rhabdomancy, 3 as it is called, or divination by 
 
 1 The omens noted for the expeditions of Sargon I and Naram-Sln 
 (§ 00) were of this general character. The subject of such omens of 
 national import is treated in Jastrow, RBA. p. 332 If. Contrast the style 
 and spirit of the beautiful prayer in Ps. xx., uttered under similar circum- 
 
 - (§ 1073). 
 
 2 The " teraphim " are named here as a general expression in deference 
 to Hebrew usage. The fitness of the term as used for the special personal 
 protecting deity of the king is obvious : (1) the teraphim were domestic 
 tutelary divinities; (2) they were often consulted for oracles. Cf. Jud. 
 xvii. 5 ; '2 K. xxiii. 24 ; Hos. iii. I. 
 
 '■'> It is to Jerome that we owe these terms, as well as the earliest account 
 of the process of divining by arrows, which he gives in his commentary 
 on the present passage. SeeGesenius, Thesaurus, s.v. ddp, where authori- 
 ties are also quoted as to the prevalence of the usage in Arabia. In con- 
 nection with the same subject, Wellhausen, Reste arabischi n Heidentuna s 
 (1887), p. 126 f., comments fully upon our text. Cf. W. R. Smith; Jour- 
 nal of Philology, siii, p. 27s. On Babylonian divination generally, see 
 Lenormant. La divination chez les Chaldeens i largely superseded i; King, 
 Babylonian Magic and Sorcery (1896) ; Jastrow, RBA. chs. xvi.-xx,
 
 l'TU MORAL SUMMING DP Book X 
 
 means of arrows. A number of these were put in a quiver 
 or case, after being inscribed with the name or some other 
 distinguishing mark of the several objects represented by 
 them. They were then shaken, and the arrow which 
 was first drawn out indicated the choice — in this case 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 § 1212. Thus Ezekiel interpreted the preparations for 
 war. the rumours of which were borne by bus3 r tongues 
 to his secluded dwelling. Pending the actual march he 
 repeats his denunciations against Jerusalem, on account of 
 her many gross and incorrigible vices (Ez. xxii.). He then 
 concludes these intervening prophecies by an allegorical 
 review of the relations between Samaria and Jerusalem, on 
 the one hand, and the several foreign nations with which 
 they have intrigued, on the other, showing the moral and 
 religious infidelities against Jehovah of these two sister- 
 kingdoms (Ez. xxiii.). In these as well as in his vaticina- 
 tions during the siege of Jerusalem, we see a paradox some- 
 what similar to that presented by Jeremiah (§ 1107 f.). 
 A prophet overflowing with love for his people uses 
 against them the language of contempt and loathing, 
 while he seems to gloat over their sufferings and their 
 punishment. The explanation is (1) rhetorical extrava- 
 gance of speech; (2) indignation against wrong and irre- 
 ligion ; (3) the racial habit of looking at people not as 
 individuals but as a class, whose sensibilities are not so 
 obvious to a censor. 
 
 § 1213. The expedition of Nebuchadrezzar against Pal- 
 estine started in 588 B.C. It was vast (Jer. xxxiv.) and 
 formidable. He established his headquarters at the central 
 strategic point, at Riblah on the upper Orontes (§ 1038). 
 There he was midway between Carchemish, the fortress 
 Avon from Egypt, and the border of that country which he 
 intended to subdue. 1 Thence also he could strike speedily 
 
 1 We have monumental reminders of the marches of Nebuchadrezzar 
 through Syria and Palestine, though unfortunately they contain no 
 reference to his military operations. In the Wady Brissa, not far
 
 Ch. IX, §1213 THE CAMPAIGN BEGUN 273 
 
 at the revolted cities of Phoenicia. Tyre, indeed, was with 
 Jerusalem a chief point of attack. It had long been 
 the only Phoenician state capable of resisting a strong 
 foreign power. 1 Now, more prosperous than ever, it was 
 as unwilling to yield its commercial franchise to Nebuchad- 
 rezzar as formerly to Esarhaddon (§ 754). It is probable 
 that a force was sent at once to blockade the Tyrians — 
 who, after their manner, retired to their " new Tyre " (cf. 
 § 681) and long resisted the besiegers. We do not know 
 that the Ammonites, after all (cf. § 1210), remained in 
 revolt. At any rate, they were unfriendly towards Judah 
 during this whole period (Ez. xxv. 1 ff. ; Jer. xl. 14 ; cf. 
 xlix. 1 ff.). The territory of Judah was certainly the chief 
 field of the Chalda3an military operations. While a suffi- 
 cient army advanced upon and invested Jerusalem, the 
 other fortified cities were rapidly taken, till soon Lachish 
 and Azekah alone offered resistance (Jer. xxxiv. 7), and 
 these doubtless surrendered before the fall of the capital. 
 
 from Riblah, at the foot of Jebel-Akkar, on the eastern slope of the 
 Lebanon range, two long inscriptions, accompanied by bas-reliefs, were 
 found by II. Pognon, French vice-consul at Beyrut, who published them, 
 with plates, in his work, Les inscriptions hiilnjloiu'ouirs <lu Wadi Brissa, 
 Paris, 1887. They relate, like most of the other inscriptions of the Great 
 King, to his buildings and fortifications in Babylon. Another is written 
 in archaic characters on the right side of the Xalir el Kelb, or Dog River, 
 eight miles north of Beyrut, and was discovered beneath an overgrowth 
 of shrubs and ferns in 1881. The old high road from Damascus to the 
 coast led along this river, and on the opposite side had already been found 
 tin' names df Ramses II., Sinacherib, and Esarhaddon. The inscription is 
 mostly undecipherable through weathering. What can be made out most 
 surely is a list of wines of southern Syria, in which that of Helbon stands 
 ( spicuous (cf. Ez. xxvii. 18). The contents of the Wady Brissa in- 
 scriptions show thai they could not, have been written as early as Nebu- 
 chadrezzar's first campaign (§ 1078), as Kenan seems to suppose (Histoire 
 du peuple d'Israel, III, 'J88). 
 
 1 We cannot infer from Ez. xxviii. 20-24 that Sidon had revolted from 
 the Chaldseans. This brief prophecy is of -,i general character ami merely 
 indicates that Sidon shall be punished, because of old time it had been " a. 
 galling brier and a smarting thorn to the house of Israel." — an allusion 
 apparently to the men-stealing raids of the Phoenicians (Am. i. 0).
 
 274 ZEDEKIAH SEEKS COUNSEL Book X 
 
 § 1214. It was on the tenth day of the tenth month of 
 the ninth year of Zedekiah, that is, in January, 587 (2 K. 
 xxv. 1; Jer. xxxix. 1; lii. 4; Ez. xxiv. 1 f.) that the 
 Chaldaean army appeared before Jerusalem. Of the details 
 and progress of the siege operations we are not informed. 
 Presumably the north side of the city, as in all the ancient 
 sieges, was the quarter chiefly assailed. Only there indeed 
 could the storming towers and mantelets be brought into 
 play. The resistance was stubborn and brave; for it was 
 known that this final revolt if unsuccessful would meet 
 with no mere}'. 
 
 § 1215. Of the feelings and temper of the besieged 
 some indications are given by Jeremiah. Zedekiah fell 
 into a panic as soon as the extent and energy of the 
 besieging force were fully displayed. The words of Jere- 
 miah were still ringing in his bewildered ears. Now that 
 their fulfilment seemed possible the stern and faithful 
 preacher gained an ascendency over the king which he 
 never wholly lost. Zedekiah had always felt that Jere- 
 miah had the ear of Jehovah as the rival prophets had 
 not, and as an oracle was now in great request, he sent 
 a deputation — Pashhur, 1 son of Malchiah, and Zepha- 
 niah the priest — with a message : " Inquire, I pray thee, 
 of Jehovah for us ; for Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, 
 is making war upon us : perhaps Jehovah will deal with 
 us according to all his wondrous deeds, and he will go 
 away from us " (Jer. xxi. 1, 2). The expectation was not 
 so fatuous as it might appear. The nearest precedent 
 for the present situation was the siege of Jerusalem by 
 Sinacherib. If Jeremiah was the true successor of the 
 great Isaiah, might not Zedekiah be equal in fate to his an- 
 cestor Hezekiah, and receive such an answer as that which 
 presaged the destruction of the Assyrian host ? Jeremiah's 
 client was, however, soon undeceived. The answer was, 
 if possible, a fiercer and more cruel threatening than any 
 
 1 Not to be confounded with the son of Immer, who put Jeremiah in 
 the stocks (§1111).
 
 Ch. §IX, 1217 UNFAVOURABLE REPLY 275 
 
 yet delivered. It told of the helplessness of the armed 
 defenders of the city, because Jehovah himself was to 
 fight against them. Jerusalem was to be taken and put 
 to the flames. There was but one chance of safety for 
 the inhabitants: if they were to go out and fall away to 
 the Chaldaeans, they should live (Jer. xxi. 3-10). 
 
 § 1210. For such a heart-breaking reply the king was 
 scarcely prepared. He had become accustomed to these 
 reiterated threats and had looked upon them as outworn 
 generalities. But they took on a more serious aspect 
 when the swords of the besiegers flashed before him in 
 the level rays of the January sun. Moreover, the answer 
 contained an element of danger. The very suggestion 
 that safety might be gained by individuals if they were 
 to go out and enter the camp of the besiegers must have 
 weakened the defence (cf. xxxviiL 4), and indeed in ordi- 
 nary cases would justify a charge of high treason. Yet 
 this prophet of evil now added to his offence by again 
 assuring Zedekiah that Jerusalem would fall and he him- 
 self be brought before the king of Babylon for judgment 
 (Jer. xxxiv. 1-3). There was, however, a certain mitiga- 
 tion of this cruel fate: the life of the captive king was to 
 be spared, and he was to be interred at last with a royal 
 funeral (xxxiv. 4, o). 1 
 
 § 1217. The prophet's softening mood towards Zede- 
 kiah was in some measure both cause and effect of a tem- 
 porary change in the conduct of both king and people. 
 The resentment of the army officers was smothered for a 
 
 1 Indicated by the words, "With the burnings of thy fathers, the 
 former kings which were before thee, so shall they make a burning for 
 thee." This was the burning of aromatic spices performed al the burial 
 of Asa 2 Chr. xvi. 14) and denied to Jehoram (2 Chr. xxi. 19). We 
 mus1 nol take tno literally the details of sueli persona] predictions. It is 
 - to say thai such an interment was possible in Babylonia to the 
 exiled king of Judah, and equally unnecessary to explain the promise as 
 conditional, like Jer. xxxviii. 20 -so Hitzig and Orelli). Rather musl we 
 put the declaration in the same categorj as the unfulfilled prediction 
 concerning Jehoiachin (§ 114-1 if.).
 
 270 FREEING THE BONDMEN Book X 
 
 while, and the terrors of the siege unnerved the courtiers 
 lately so bellicose and confident. Jeremiah seized the 
 opportunity to promote a practical work of grace among 
 his intimidated fellow-citizens. We recall here the part 
 played by the system of slavery in the social and national 
 life of the Hebrews (§ 539 ff.). The condition and treat- 
 ment of slaves at this period was of vital importance to the 
 state, of more importance indeed to the masters than to 
 the servants themselves. The habitual temper of the rul- 
 ing classes (§ 587 ff.) and the sudden changes of fortune 
 which had brought some of the poorest of the people sud- 
 denly to the front (§ 1153), combined with popular irreli- 
 gion and frivolity to foster the selfishness and cruelty which 
 seem almost inherent in Oriental social life. Against 
 these evils such legislation as Israel had ( § 586) seemed 
 to have but little effect. For example, it was an ancient 
 prescription of the first Book of the Covenant that pro- 
 vided for the release of Israelitish slaves after six years' 
 servitude (Ex. xxi. 2) ; and it was not long since the same 
 enactment had been published in a more precise and elab- 
 orate form (Deut. xv. 12 ff.). This humane and whole- 
 some statute had been disregarded. Now it was suddenly 
 brought home to the masters that such a policy was sui- 
 cidal. Every freeman counted as a warrior, fighting at his 
 own expense (§ 520) : a body of freemen counted for more 
 in the defence of the city than a force largely made up of 
 discontented slaves, and Jerusalem never had sorer need 
 of defenders. 
 
 § 1218. But now this year 587 witnessed such a jubi- 
 lee as was never seen in Israel before or since. Partly 
 moved by interest and partly pricked by an uneasy con- 
 science, the masters released all their slaves, not merely 
 those who had passed the legal term of servitude, but those 
 also who had been lately acquired (Jer. xxxiv. 8 ff.). 
 The manumission seemed to propitiate the offended Law- 
 giver, for it was followed by the withdrawal of the besieg- 
 ing army. And what appeared doubly auspicious, it
 
 Cii. IX. § 1219 THEIR REBNSLAVEMENT 277 
 
 was an army of relief from Egypt that led to the raising 
 of the siege. "For Pharaoh's army was come out of Egypt, 
 and when the Chaldseans that were besieging Jerusalem 
 heard tidings of them they went away from Jerusalem " 
 (Jer. xxxvii. 5). The grateful people now became elated 
 with the prospect of the defeat of their enemies, and ere 
 long they were as confident and careless as ever. Soon it 
 occurred to them that perhaps their great sacrifice had 
 been unnecessary. Their gratulations were mixed with 
 the remorse of disappointed avarice as they saw themselves 
 defrauded of their property by their own sentimental weak- 
 ness. Such an act of romantic generosity should be undone 
 if possible. The king and the nobles took the lead in 
 showing that it was possible, and soon the poor freedmen 
 found themselves again under their accustomed burdens. 
 Nothing better illustrates the moral degeneracy of Jerusa- 
 lem, or shows how good a case Jeremiah had against the 
 leaders of his people. 
 
 § 1219. The occasion demanded a strong word from 
 the prophet. His fierce denunciation was perhaps more 
 telling than any he had hitherto uttered. He did not now 
 give an oracle whose authenticity might be questioned, or 
 any assertion of his personal prerogative. Nor was the 
 offence one of the conventional sins of the upper classes,. 
 whose reprobation had become a commonplace. His in- 
 dignation had all the moral force and freshness of Elijah's- 
 denunciation of the crime against Naboth. Jeremiah's 
 charge was irresistible because he could claim that the suf- 
 ferers were defrauded of rights which had been granted 
 to unfortunate Hebrews from the very beginning of 
 the nation (xxxiv. 13 f., cf. § 543). Thus the sin was 
 committed against Jehovah not merely as the God of 
 righteousness and mercy but also as Israel's ruler and law- 
 giver. Finally, the guilt of perjury was brought home to 
 the sacrilegious oppressors; for the emancipation had been 
 confirmed by a solemn oath and covenant (xxxiv. 18 f . ; 
 cf. Gen. xv. Off.).
 
 278 EFFECT OF APPARENT RELIEF Book X 
 
 § 1220. The transaction furnished a fine opportunity 
 for a renewed announcement of the coining doom of the 
 city. Indeed, it was a sort of moral vindication of Jere- 
 miah's next disclosure. For Zedekiah had in the mean- 
 time sought once more a favourable oracle. Thinking 
 that the liberation of the slaves would procure the divine 
 favour, and that the Chaldaeans would be worsted by 
 the Egyptians, he had sent another deputation to Jere- 
 miah, saying, "Pray now to Jehovah our God for us." 
 Thus Hezekiah had sent to Isaiah when Jerusalem was 
 ready to fall before Sinacherib. The answer now was 
 that the Chaldaeans would return to fight against Jeru- 
 salem and would take it and burn it with fire (Jer. xxxvii. 
 3-10). The oracle seemed cruel and improbable, and 
 reawakened the resentment of the rulers against Jeremiah. 
 The Egyptian interlude lengthened itself out, and the 
 Chaldaeans did not soon return. 
 
 § 1221. The hopes of the deluded Jerusalemites rose 
 yet higher. With the lengthening reprieve of the city 
 the popular wrath against the prophet of evil omen grew 
 almost beyond control. It was apparently only the moral 
 advantage given him by their selfish poltroonery that kept 
 them from laying violent hands upon him. Such an out- 
 spoken rebel would be sure, however, to furnish occasion 
 for a plausible charge of high treason. The opportunit}' 
 soon came, and in a fashion that left his enemies nothing 
 to be desired. He had business to attend to in his native 
 Anathoth, connected with his personal share of the family 
 estate (cf. § 1225). Making his way northward through 
 the gate of Benjamin, 1 he was arrested by a sentinel named 
 Irijah on the ground that he was "falling away to the 
 
 1 It was near this gate that the Chaldaeans had been encamped (§ 1214); 
 and although it was also the chief avenue of communication with all the 
 northern country, the worse of the two possible motives for his attempted 
 exit was naturally attributed to him. Doubtless, also, many of the citi- 
 zens had already passed through that same gate and " fallen away to the 
 Chaldeans 1 ' (cf. xxxviii. 19).
 
 Ch. IX, § 1222 JEREMIAH A PRISONER 279 
 
 Chalcheans " (Jer. xxxvii. 11-13). He denied the charge, 
 but in vain. Irijah brought him before the " princes," who 
 
 constituted the king's council. The charge was not so 
 flimsy as at first sight it seems to us. The main body of 
 the enemy was, to be sure, far from Jerusalem, but spies 
 and bands of scouts were everywhere. It may even have 
 been believed that he was seeking a meeting with one 
 of their emissaries, in the neighbourhood of the city. 
 As he was professedly expecting the surrender of the 
 city within a very few days, was it not fair to suppose that 
 he would help to make good his prediction ? One or two 
 influential well-wishers in the council might have cleared 
 or at least shielded Jeremiah. But now there was no 
 Ahikam at court to champion his cause (§ 1092). Zede- 
 kiali, though the greatest sufferer then and thereafter by 
 the word of Jeremiah, was still well disposed to him. But 
 he was powerless against his own courtiers (cf. xxxviii. 5). 1 
 So the judgment was passed: the prophet was denounced 
 and beaten, and then cast into the prison reserved for state 
 criminals. It was the house of Jonathan, the official secre- 
 tary, beneath which vaulted cells had been constructed 
 (xxxvii. 14 f.). Here he was left, to die of starvation 
 and neglect, like many thousands of Oriental prisoners 
 before and after him (cf. Isa. li. 14). 
 
 § 1222. Meanwhile the decisive turn of affairs had 
 taken place which settled the fate alike of accused and 
 accusers, of masters and slaves, of true men and traitors. 
 Not many days passed when, as any experienced observer 
 might have foreseen, the Chaldsean army again appeared 
 before Jerusalem. How it had disposed of the Egyptian 
 army of relief we are not informed. The Egyptians may 
 have occupied Gaza (Jer. xlvii. 1 ) and advanced no farther. 
 
 1 Another passage (xxxii. 3-5), apparently written by a. biographical 
 compiler (cf. Comill, p. 63), states thai Zedekiab had pul Jeremiah in 
 prison because of his announcement of the impending capture of the city 
 ami (if the king himself. This is also true in the sense that the royal 
 authority hail to he given t" the sentence of imprisonment for treason.
 
 280 AN HEROIC D EFE N C E Book X 
 
 Certainly no great battle was fought, and it is reasonable 
 to suppose that after a slight skirmish the troops of Pha- 
 raoh llophra beat a hasty retreat (Jer. xxxvii. 7). The 
 ( !haldaeans met with no opposition from the fortified towns 
 of Judah. The Chaldseans resumed the blockade of the 
 capital, fearing now as little from the restless Egyptians 
 as from the unwarlike Tyrians. 
 
 § 1223. The leaders of the revolt had had control of 
 civic affairs from the beginning of the siege, and they 
 maintained it to the end. They were, indeed, the only 
 ones in the city capable of leadership in any fashion, and 
 to their credit be it said, they met the crushing reverse 
 of fortune like truest patriots. They could hardly expect 
 deliverance now, and prolonged resistance could only 
 aggravate the final punishment. Yet there was no sign 
 of flinching, no compromise with the enemy, or offer of 
 surrender for easier terms. They strove to the last to 
 keep up the spirit of the defenders ; and however their 
 own hearts may have failed them, they frowned sternly 
 upon every symptom of despair and every suggestion of 
 submission. Let us give our meed of admiration to this 
 forlornest hope of a desperate yet not wholly ignoble 
 cause. At this distance of time we can afford to be im- 
 parl ial. We are not dealing with modern South Africans 
 but with ancient Hebrew patriots. Some of them had 
 acted wickedly and all of them foolishly; but as to the 
 mainspring of the rebellion for which they were now suf- 
 fering the penalty, who can say that the motive was 
 wholly wrong? That they believed they were right may 
 be argued from their heroic demeanour in the presence 
 of the cruel death which from the beginning they kept 
 in view as the fate of unsuccessful rebels. To most 
 interested contemporaries it always appears that of two 
 opposing policies one is entirely light and the other 
 entirely wrong, because the feverish demand for immediate 
 action obscures the larger issues of the controversy. For 
 us it should be possible to see that the higher and broader
 
 Ch. IX, § 1225 JEREMIAH A PRISONER 281 
 
 patriotism of Jeremiah might coexist in the same moral 
 realm with the more impulsive and erratic self-devotion of 
 his rivals, as the retrograde motion of the comet is made 
 in obedience to the laws of the solar system as well as 
 the direct motion of the planet. 
 
 § 122-1. Jeremiah lay helpless for a time in his dungeon. 
 It was to Zedekiah himself that he owed his comparative 
 freedom. With the return of the Chaldseans, the king's 
 trembling heart again turned towards the prophet, whose 
 predictive word had once more been verified. He had 
 him secretly to his house, and said : " Is there any word 
 from Jehovah ? " and Jeremiah said : " There is," and added : 
 " Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Baby- 
 lon." After reminding him of the failure and collapse of 
 the rival prophets, he concluded by begging Zedekiah not 
 to let him go back to the dungeon in the house of Jonathan. 
 The king succeeded in having him placed in the " court 
 of the guard," that is to say, in the court-yard adjoining 
 the royal residence, where suspected persons and other 
 less obnoxious civil prisoners were kept in a sort of 
 " honourable confinement," though probably fettered by 
 the foot-chain. Here he was not to be dependent, as in 
 the dungeon, upon a casual visitor for a precarious supply 
 of food, but was by the king's command to receive a 
 griddle-cake daily from the baker's bazar. This was sup- 
 plied to him regular^ till all the bread in the city was 
 exhausted at the end of the siege (xxxvii. 16—21). 
 
 § 1225. To prisoners of his present class, friends and ac- 
 quaintances were admitted under the surveillance of the 
 guard. While in this court of the guard Jeremiah received 
 a visit from Ilanameel, his cousin-german of Anathoth. 
 Between these two a transaction took place, singular for 
 the place and time, but signally illustrative of Jeremiah's 
 transcendent faith and foresight. It was in connection 
 with the family estate that he had made the frustrated 
 attempt to go to Anathoth (§ 1221), ami now Hanameel 
 comes to see him in his prison upon the same business.
 
 282 A REAL-ESTATE TRANSACTION Book X 
 
 Jeremiah was asked to fulfil the duty incumbent on him 
 as the representative of the family (cf. Ruth iv. 4), to buy 
 the property from Ilanameel. 1 This settlement of the 
 title to his property suggested the whole question of the 
 gloomy and desolate future of the fatherland. The visit 
 of Ilanameel, thus fulfilling his own thwarted purpose, he 
 greeted as a providential token of the final restoration 
 of peace and order. Hence he made the purchase from 
 I [anameel, according to all the legal requirements, 2 on the 
 ground of Jehovah's promise: " Houses and fields and vine- 
 yards shall again be bought in this land" (xxxii. 6—15). 
 § 1*22(3. The inspiration to transact this business he had 
 thus recognized at once as coming from Jehovah. But no 
 
 1 There seems to be general misunderstanding of the nature of this 
 transaction. It -was only the legal title to the estate that was in question. 
 Legally, Jeremiah, as the chief agnate, should own it, but he could only 
 secure the right by paying the occupant the value of this right, not neces- 
 sarily the full value of the property. This helps to explain why so trifling 
 a sum was paid. The expositors attempt to show that the seventeen shek- 
 els (about eleven dollars) was not an unreasonable price. 
 
 - The legal process of the transfer of the title is fully described in 
 Jer. xxxii. 9-14, a passage which is our only source of information on 
 the matter. The minute account needs scarcely any commentary except 
 to say that it is now generally agreed that the words rendered in V.Y.. 
 "according to the law and custom," which are wanting in the Sept., 
 should be omitted. Stade (in ZATW. V, 176 f.) and Cornill {Text of 
 Jeremiah, pp. 22, 04) follow Hitzig in maintaining that there was only 
 one copy of the contract, a part of which was folded up and sealed ami 
 a pari left open. This is unnecessary. It is not supported by v. 10 (cf. 
 v. 44), which speaks not of one copy, hut of one document or record. 
 Moreover, the text, as left to us after the emendations of Stade (followed 
 by Cornill), speaks just as plainly as ever of two copies, " the sealed and 
 the open" (vs. 11, 14). The only difficulty in this natural view of the 
 matter comes from v. 10, which seems to say that, the deed was sealed 
 before it was signed by the witnesses. Giesebrecht, who has well treated 
 the question (Das Buch Jeremia, p. 17<i if.), suggests satisfactorily that 
 the witnesses signed their names on the outside of the sealed copy to 
 avouch the Eacl that it was sealed by both contracting parties. The open 
 copy was to be used for ordinary reference, and the one that was sealed 
 could he appealed to in eases of dispute. Such we know was the custom 
 among the Babylonians, among whom the forms of business procedure in 
 thw East originated.
 
 Ch. IX, § 1227 SURRENDER ADVISED 283 
 
 sooner was the deed handed over for safe keeping to his 
 secretary Baruch than the audacity of the performance 
 suddenly overwhelmed and disheartened him. It is such 
 traits as these that bring this typically human prophet so 
 near to us ! Our deepest and truest intuitions are those 
 which surprise and awe us most by their presumptuous rash- 
 ness. Their worth is approved to our trembling faith when 
 we have turned them over and over in the lip'ht that flows 
 from the fountain of truth. So Jeremiah appeals to Jehovah 
 in his embarrassment. " Alas, Lord Jehovah ! the earth 
 works have been brought close to the city 1 to take it ; and 
 the city is given into the hand of the Chaldseans, and 
 what Thou hast spoken has come to pass, and, behold, Thou 
 seest it ! And Thou hast said unto me : Buy the field 
 for money and call witnesses, whereas the city has been 
 given into the hand of the Chaldseans " (xxxii. 16, 24, 25). 
 To this appeal an answer came rehearsing fully the pre- 
 vious announcement of the city's doom and its justification 
 (xxxii. 28-35), but assuring the prophet more strongly 
 than ever of the final restoration of the old order of things 
 in civic and business life (vs. 36-44). 
 
 § 1227. As the impending fall of the city drew nearer 
 and nearer, Jeremiah, eager to save the lives of the citi- 
 zens, became more urgent in advising a general surrender. 
 His plea was as far as possible from being a seditious 
 harangue, and was indeed a common-sense appeal to the 
 instinct of self-preservation. " He that abideth in the city 
 shall die, and he that goeth out to the Chaldaeans shall 
 live " ( xxxviii. 2). But as this sort of counsel would make 
 an end of all discipline, it had to be checked and punished. 
 Hence the civil and military leaders demanded that Jere- 
 miah be put to death. "For he is weakening the hands of 
 the fighting men who are left in this city, and the 
 hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them" 
 (xxxviii. 4). The poor king, broken in heart and hope. 
 
 1 The point of this special consideration may be learned from § 1230.
 
 284 JEREMIAH SAVED FROM DEATH Book X 
 
 and dreading a revolt against his own person, yielded to 
 their request, with the deprecating remark : " Behold, he 
 is in your hand, for the Icing cannot do anything against 
 you." When, however, they had gained the coveted 
 opportunity, they hesitated. The fatal deed was too 
 great a crime. What seemed at first a military necessity 
 began to look like murder, or at any rate like sacrilege 
 against a prophet of Jehovah. A happy thought struck 
 them. They would not slay him ! they would merely let 
 him die ! In the courtyard, in the quarter assigned to the 
 king's son Malchiah, was a foul empty cistern. Into this 
 Black Hole they lowered him ; then left him to sink and 
 suffocate, or failing that, to starve to death (xxxviii, 5, 6). 
 § 1228. From the fate thus prepared for him he was 
 delivered through the good offices of an Ethiopian 1 court- 
 officer, a trusty servant of the king, Ebed-melech by name. 
 Taking pit} r on Jeremiah, he resolved, if possible, to secure 
 relief. To make his case good, he appealed to the king on 
 general principles of equity, and therefore approached him, 
 not in his palace, but at the city gate of Benjamin, where, 
 within sound of the siege operations, he still dispensed the 
 royal justice. Here his bewildered mind, freed from official 
 intimidation, could right itself for a moment. Perhaps with 
 the hope that in some way the prophetic function might yet 
 bring help to the state, he asserted his kingly authority, 
 defied the princes, and gave orders for the release of Jere- 
 miah. At his command Ebed-melech with a sufficient 
 guard of thirty men rescued the prophet from his perilous 
 durance. The prisoner was restored to the court of the 
 guard. There he remained till the day when Jerusalem 
 was taken (xxxviii. 7-13, 28). To Ebed-melech came the 
 
 1 It is suggestive of the immemorial servitude of the non-Semitic Afri- 
 cans that Oushites were employed as body-servants in Israel through all 
 the history of the kingdom. Compare 2 Sam. xviii. 21 f. and Jer. xxxvi. 
 14. The latter passage tells us that the great-grandson of a certain 
 Cushite in Jerusalem was called "Jehudi" (Judaite), possibly that the 
 prejudice of colour might be disarmed (cf. Jer. xiii. 23).
 
 Cii. IX, § 1230 THE LAST INTERVIEW 285 
 
 prophetic word that because of his faith in Jehovah his 
 life would be spared in the ruin of the city (xxxix. 15-18). 
 
 § 1229. The nobles respected the resolution of the king, 
 and let Jeremiah alone. Perhaps they had not so much 
 reason to fear him now. They had apparently secured 
 some sort of a pledge from Zedekiah that he would not 
 follow the counsel of Jeremiah and leave the city suddenly, 
 to make terms with the enemy for himself and his retinue. 
 This he could easily do, as the palace commanded the gate 
 of the king's garden (§ 1231). We have a full report of 
 the last recorded interview between Zedekiah and Jere- 
 miah. By his private orders the king had Jeremiah brought 
 to him in one of the chambers of the temple. Here he 
 beg-o-ed of him a final word from Jehovah. Jeremiah could 
 do nothing but repeat his well-worn message that the only 
 safety for himself, his family, and the city lay in his going- 
 out to the Chakkeans (xxxviii. 11-18). The king, afraid 
 to venture against his council, protested that he dreaded 
 the mocking of those who had already deserted to the 
 besiegers. Jeremiah urged upon him the prospect of the 
 far more bitter reproaches of his own household who would 
 through him be delivered up to the king of Babylon, be- 
 sides the sure fate of his wives and children, and the sack 
 and burning of the city (xxxviii. 19-23). With this com- 
 fortless assurance the king's last hope was gone. He 
 could only beg from Jeremiah that when the nobles should 
 inquire of him what he had said to the king, he would 
 reply that he had begged of him not to let him go back in 
 the dungeon in the house of Jonathan the scribe. Zede- 
 kiah's fears were well grounded. The inquiry was made 
 and the answer given as he had desired (xxxviii. 24-27). 
 
 ^ 1230. Not long thereafter came the end. Famine 
 within the city, with its heart-breaking horrors ( Lam. ii. 
 20; iv. 10), pressed the defenders sorely. lint surer and 
 swifter than famine itself was the work <>i' the Chahheans. 
 A year and a half had passed since the blockade began. 
 But this was a short time for the successful siege of a
 
 28G THE END OF THE SIEGE Book X 
 
 great fortress ; and the period of active hostilities had 
 been shortened by the inroad of the Egyptians (§ 1218). 
 In an important siege the greater portion of the time was 
 occupied with the erection of the storming-wall and the 
 other preparations for direct assault upon the fortifications l 
 (cf. § 1178). When the city wall was high and strong, it 
 was useless to attempt to undermine it. It must be attacked 
 not far from the summit. It was from the earthworks 
 erected for this purpose (Jer. xxxii. 24) that the battering- 
 rams and storming-towers were brought to play upon the 
 wall. Hence enormous labour was necessary before a suit- 
 able base of operations could be secured upon the sloping- 
 approaches to the city. When aggressive action was fairly 
 begun, unless the besieged were numerous and skilful enough 
 to disable the besiegers b} T arrows or other deadly weapons, 
 only the very strongest walls could long endure the constant 
 battering, followed by the pickaxes, crowbars, and wall- 
 hooks by which the stones were dislocated and removed. 
 Moreover, a force of defenders, weakened or diminished by 
 famine, could not long withstand a constant shower of 
 missiles from the siege-towers. So we are told of Jerusalem 
 that on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah's 
 eleventh year (July, 586 B.C.) a breach was made in the 
 city wall (Jer. xxxix. 2 ; lii. 5 ff. ; cf. 2 K. xxv. 3 f.). 2 
 
 1 It is from the sculptures of the Assyrian kings that we get our chief 
 information as to the methods of sieges in the ancient East, and the 
 explanation of such terms as are used in Ez. xxvi. 7 ff . (where " buckler," 
 in KV.. should be replaced by mantelet or testudo, and " axes'' by wall- 
 hooks or f alces). The Assyrians first made of besieging an art and 
 science which were nol essentially changed till the general introduction 
 of explosives. Illustrations are given in Nowack, HA. T. 367 ff., and in 
 BA. III. 178 ff. Cf. the lifelike description of the siege and defence of a 
 small fortress of the fifteenth century a.o. in Readers The Cloister and the 
 Hearth, chs. xlii. and xliii. 
 
 - The entrance was forced on the north of the city. We are not to 
 understand that one of the great gates w r as broken in. The gates were 
 virtually impregnable against ancient modes of attack, being made of the 
 toughest wood, overlaid with copper or iron, and being shut and securely 
 barred when the siege was closely pressed.
 
 Ch. IX, § 1232 CAPTURE OF THE CITY 287 
 
 § 1231. When an opening had been forced in the city- 
 wall, it was resolved to make the entrance by night, so 
 that escape might not be easy to any of the people. 
 Among the Chaldreans were many Jndaite fugitives who 
 would act as guides. The city was not given over at once 
 to pillage and devastation. This was rightly considered 
 folly by the business like Assyrians and their successors. 
 Important points were seized, and when all was securely 
 held, a council of the leaders decided in detail the fate 
 of the place and people. Accordingly the Chaldsean 
 king's chief officers in Palestine, who had been summoned 
 in view of the impending capture, were among the incom- 
 ing troops (cf. Jer. xxxix. 3). The lower or newer sec- 
 tion of the city in the north was abandoned by the besieged 
 as soon as the} 7 saw that all was lost; and the Chaldseaus 
 advanced to the Middle Gate in the inner or older wall that 
 separated the lower from the main city". Here no defence 
 was in any case possible, but already, as soon as the enemy 
 had been descried, Zedekiah and his party, taking advan- 
 tage of the darkness, escaped by the way of the gate of the 
 King's Garden, in the southeast of the city, at the entrance 
 to the Fuller's Field, at the point where the eastern inner 
 and outer walls came together. The Chaldseans were 
 surprised; for it was thought that a sufficient guard had 
 been set at all the possible places of exit. The discovery 
 of the flight was not made till the king and his troops 
 were missed by the searchers. By this time the fugitives 
 of the royal party were well on their way up the Arabah. 
 They were overtaken near Jericho, and brought before 
 Nebuchadrezzar in Riblah for judgment (Jer. xxxix. 4, 5 ; 
 lii. 7-9; cf. 2 K. xxv. 4 6). 
 
 § 1232. The occupation of the city was conducted under 
 strict discipline and without rapine. 3 TheChaldaean commis- 
 
 1 A word or two upon this poinl arc needed. It is impossible to det< r- 
 iiiinc exactly what was done or tot done by the Chaldaean army of occu- 
 pation, because there is no official reporl of the taking of thje city. We 
 
 can, however, infer a great deal from what we know of the procedure of
 
 DETAILS OF THE OCCUPATION Book X 
 
 sion made up its report with customary thoroughness, and it 
 was a full month before the chief executive officer, Nebu- 
 zaradan (Nabuzeriddin, " Nebo has given progenj- ") entered 
 to dispose finally of life and property in the name of the 
 Great King (Jer. lii. 12; cf. 2 K. xxv. 8). Cases calling 
 for capital punishment were remitted to Nebuchadrezzar 
 (§ 1235). As to the city itself the principles were kept in 
 view that had been followed by the sanest of the Assyrian 
 kings in their treatment of Palestine: only so much 
 destruction was wrought as would make the repetition of 
 disorder impossible. 
 
 § 1233. (1) For this end the effacement of the na- 
 tional worship was essential. The temple was therefore 
 destroyed by fire — a catastrophe which subverted at a 
 single blow the traditions, the symbols, and the appliances 
 alike of the religion of Jehovah and of the usurping cults 
 that had roused the wrath of reformers and prophets. 
 (2) Before this or any other house in Jerusalem was set on 
 fire, care was taken to remove all valuable property. The 
 
 conquerors under this regime, which was essentially a mitigated imitation 
 of the Assyrian. We may observe : (1) The army was a great machine, 
 operated with a single purpose. — the carrying out of the imperial policy. 
 The officers were civil as well as military functionaries, and their troops 
 obeyed orders with mechanical precision. (2) Under the Assyrian sys- 
 tem as developed by Tiglathpileser III, the object of war was not the 
 destruction of enemies, but the utilization of their country and resources 
 for the service of the great gods and their vicegerent the Great King. 
 Hence, as a rule, deportation, or the enslavement of prisoners, took the 
 place of slaughter. (3) The minute details of the disposal of conquered 
 cities, given by the later Assyrian kings. — the ringleaders slain, the rest 
 of the people spared, so many men, women, and children carried away 
 captive, so much spoil of various kinds confiscated, — imply a careful 
 inventory of the contents of the city and their conservation under the 
 eye of responsible officials. Hence the mention of these officers in con- 
 nection with the entrance of the- troops into Jerusalem in Jer. xxxix. J. 
 — a passage added to the original account, but not a mere idle interpola- 
 tion. (4) Women and children had a value as merchandise or as 
 servants, and they were carefully spared. But the infliction of the death 
 penalty was an execution, and as such was a matter of formal record. 
 2 Chr. xxxvi. 17 is a rhetorical embellishment. "The king" did not 
 enter the city at all.
 
 Ch. IX, § 1233 FATE OF THE CITY 289 
 
 smaller utensils of the temple could be transported intact. 
 But the larger articles of copper or bronze were broken 
 up and carried away to Babylonian foundries — a per- 
 formance which must have impressed the vulgar mind as 
 a signal triumph for Bel and Nebo, and which to the new 
 administration served as a partial compensation for the 
 loss of tribute and for the " sacrifices " made by Babylon 
 during the war, if one may apply here the cant of modern 
 imperialistic warfare. (3) The city wall was broken 
 down. In this the lord of Nemitti-Bel and of Imgur-Bel 
 (§ 1058) would see the predominance of his gods. The 
 temple and the wall were the two essentials of an ancient 
 city, and both were of deep religious import. In the one 
 the deity revealed his grace ; the other, with its gates and 
 fortresses and battlements, was the seat of his power and 
 the symbol of his rule. 1 (4) Every dwelling in the city 
 was not destroyed. But every " great house " was put to 
 the flames. Thus were obliterated all the monuments of 
 civic or personal pride, and all that gave value and desir- 
 ableness to a residence in Jerusalem, whose future inhab- 
 itants might house themselves with fugitives and outlaws 
 among men or beasts. Thus the Great King's officers 2 
 
 1 See e.g. Vs. xlviii. 12 ff. ; Isa. xxvi. 1, xlix. 16, liv. 11 f. ; 2 K. iii. 27 ; 
 Neh. xii. 27, 30; Rev. xxi. 1.2 ff.; Matt. xvi. 18. 
 
 2 A list of these commissioners is given in the additions to Jer. xxxix. 
 (v. 3 ; cf. 13). It has been copied from some Babylonian record quite 
 imperfectly, the compiler not understanding the titles nor distinguishing 
 them from proper names. Hence we are not quite certain how many 
 there really were. " Xergalsharezer " is here accidentally repeated. 
 It was a common name among Babylonian nobles (Nergal-sar-usur^ 
 "Nergal, protect the king," cf. § 744). He was probably Neriglissar, 
 the son-in-law of Nebuchadrezzar, who became his second successor 
 (§1370). " Samgar-Nebo " (properly Bumgir-Nabu, "Nebo, show kind- 
 ness ") is the only other one of v. 3 who appears to be mentioned by his 
 personal name, and possibly " Sarsechim,' 1 meaning "prince of the cap- 
 tains," is merely his title. li Rabsaris " is the designation of an office — 
 "chief of the heads," i.e. of the heads of the army (Cf. 2 K. xviii. 17). 
 Perhaps •' Neboshazban " (Nabu&ezibanni, "Nebo. save me!" v. 13) is 
 the Rabsaris here meant. "Rab-mag" has usually been explained as 
 " chief of the Magi." But the stem of fi&yos is maguS ( Behistun Inscrip- 
 
 v *
 
 290 CLASSES OF CAPTIVES Book X 
 
 fulfilled their task (2 K. xxv. 9-10, 13-17, cf. Jer. lii. 
 13, 14, 17-24 ; xxxix. 8). 
 
 § 1234. The chief sufferers in the city were the wealthy 
 and influential, and those who had taken a leading part 
 in the revolt. The prime movers in sedition were rele- 
 gated to Nebuchadrezzar's judgment-seat (§ 1235). The 
 poorest of the people, with a few leading men as over- 
 seers, were left in the country (§ 1240 ff.). But the 
 people of any importance were taken away to Babylo- 
 nia. As to the numbers of the latter we have remark- 
 able statements in Jer. lii. 28-30, to which little credence 
 has usually been given, because of the smallness of the 
 sum of the captives. The writer makes out three dis- 
 tinct deportations. The first, in the seventh year of 
 Nebuchadrezzar, consisted of 3023 persons. The second, 
 in the eighteenth year of the king, comprised but 832 ; 
 while in the third (§ 1268), in the twenty-third year, 745 
 were carried away. The total thus made up 4000. The 
 writer draws from a Babylonian source distinct from those 
 used in 2 Kings, and a sober view of the situation will show 
 that his information is reliable and evidently refers only 
 to people whose names were recorded. Of these there 
 would be much fewer in 586 than in 597. To Zedekiah 
 had been left but a remnant of the freeholders (§ 1152), 
 and the kingdom never became what it was under his 
 predecessor. 1 
 
 tion), qoI mag. Moreover, the Babylonians had as yet nothing to do 
 with the '-Magi." For another explanation of the still obscure name 
 Bab-mag see KAT. p. 420. 
 
 1 The question of the relative numbers of the several deportations has 
 been a subject of controversy, as well as the more fundamental question 
 as to how many deportations there really were and when they severally 
 took place. To settle the meaning of Jer. lii. 28-30, Ewald conjectures, 
 followed by Graf, Keil, Orelli, and Giesebreeht. that "seventh" is a 
 copyist's error for seventeenth, on the supposition that this was a depor- 
 tation of people of the land during the first period of the siege (b.c. ">87). 
 This is improbable. (1) The year named coincides with the deportation 
 of Jehoiachin. (2) The principal deportation occurring in this seventh 
 year would not be made till after Jerusalem was taken. The obvious
 
 Cii. IX, § 1236 FATE OF THE LEADERS 291 
 
 ^ 1235. Few words are needed to tell the fate of the 
 leaders of the revolt. Besides the king's party taken near 
 Jericho, those adjudged guilty by Nebuzaradan and his coun- 
 cil were brought before Nebuchadrezzar at Riblah. Against 
 them the rigorous code of the law of rebellion was strictly 
 enforced. These were the chief priest and his deputy, 
 three keepers of the temple, five (or seven) of the king's 
 courtiers left in the city, the commander of the garrison 
 and the secretary of the army, besides sixty men of undis- 
 tinguished name (2 K. xxv. 18 f ; cf. Jer. lii. 21 f.). These 
 were put to death, probably by beheading, along with the 
 sons of Zedekiah. The hapless king seems to have been 
 the only subject of torture. After witnessing the death of 
 his sons, his eyes were put out and he was carried to Baby- 
 lon, not so much to adorn the victor's triumph as to be a 
 warning to all who might be tempted to rebel against the 
 king of kings (cf. § 1052). 
 
 § 123G. Such was the fall of Jerusalem and such were its 
 concomitants. Events like these could not pass without leav- 
 
 meaiiing of the statements in Jer. lii. has been discredited because 
 :ms so improbable that the deportation of 597 could be larger 
 than that of 586. Meyer (Entstehung des Judenthums, 1890, p. 112 f.) 
 gives the weight of his great name to the hypothesis that in 586 the 
 greater number went into exile. IJv him, as by the others, it is not per- 
 ceived that only those would be numbered who were independent persons. 
 Slavt-s, as well as women and children, would not be recorded. Of these, 
 a much smaller proportion were carried away in 597 than in 586, since 
 
 on the former occasion it was made a matter of policy to remove the most 
 influential citizens, according to the express statement of 2 K. xxiv. 11 tf. 
 When the writer in 2 Kings makes ou1 " ten thousand " as the number of 
 captives in 597, he is using a round number (the Looser reckoning in v. 16 
 being from another source) and reckons in, besides, the women, children, 
 and slaves. In the lists of Neh> vii. <<■(. Ezra ii. ) the slaves are bunched 
 together separately and without mention of the households (§ 406) to 
 which they belonged. As to Jer. lii.. Stade (ZATW. IV. 271 ii. 
 Meyer favour an improbable hypothesis, that "the first number given 
 refers to a deportation made in 598 from the country towns before the 
 taking of Jerusalem ; the second enumerates the runaway- during the 
 siege and before the fall of the city, thai is, in 581 ; and the third, 
 perhaps a supplementary deportation, in 582" (.Meyer, he). For the 
 
 third deportation see § 1260.
 
 292 THE LAMENTATK >XS Book X 
 
 ing their mark on the Hebrew literature. In one sense, and a 
 very important one, they were the cause of this literature. 
 For the passions and sentiments that gave life and colour 
 to what was strongest and most vital in Hebrew thought 
 and speech centred in the fate of Jerusalem, even before 
 the Chaldsean era (Micah iii. 12). But it was what this 
 catastrophe involved that made the doom of Israel: the 
 loss of the temple, the pains and disabilities of exile, the 
 hiding of Jehovah's face from his outlawed people. 
 The calamity itself has but a meagre and defective record. 
 The Hebrew mind lent itself but little to description or 
 exact narration. The event w r as greater than the fact, and 
 the moral significance of the event greater than either. 
 Even the imaginative narrative of the epic is wanting; 
 while Troy has had its Iliad the greater woes of Jerusalem 
 have been sung only in dirges. 
 
 § 1237. Yet these dirges, or "Lamentations," are the 
 best known of ancient elegiac poems ; and, strangely 
 enough, the popular estimate of their reputed author has 
 been based upon them rather than upon his actual works. 
 For Jeremiah did not write the Lamentations. The notion 
 that he was their author is the offspring of an age which 
 believed that any biblical writer could have composed 
 any or all of the sacred books, and that only those men 
 win) are named in the Bible could have been concerned 
 in its composition. Many reasons may be urged against 
 the traditional view, which was started by the Septuagint 
 translation, misled by an ambiguous suggestion of 2 Chr. 
 xxxv. 25. Jeremiah, though he has been a great force in 
 literature, was himself no literary artist. But the Lamen- 
 tations reveal more conscious structural elaboration than 
 any other book of the Bible. Again, these dirges do not 
 indicate Jeremiah's essential temper or his prevailing 
 mood ; for though a man of sorrows, he was also a man of 
 action. When once his outbursts of grief were over, he 
 was forming plans for the future and cherishing hopes. 
 The writer of Lamentations is absorbed in his despair.
 
 Ch. IX, § 1238 THEIR ORIGIN AND VALUE 293 
 
 He sees no lifting of the cloud. His thoughts dwell in 
 the past. His words show nothing of the original fore- 
 sight and insight of the great prophet. Moreover, Jere- 
 miah had no time or opportunity after the capture of 
 the city for laborious composition, which must have 
 required the leisure of the student as well as the practised 
 hand of the poet. 1 Such a series of poems would seem 
 to have been produced some years after the calamity 
 which they depict, as the result of reflection and amid a 
 circle of meditative devotees. The place of composition 
 was most probably Babylonia. 2 
 
 § 1238. The chief value of these unique elegies is 
 that they give us a picture of the destruction and desola- 
 tion of Jerusalem, not as foreseen or dreaded, but as accom- 
 plished facts. They are of course not descriptions. There 
 is in them no single complete picture or representation. 
 They are a stream of ejaculatory reflections, whose note 
 is that of breaking waves rather than that of a running 
 brook. Yet the total conception of the subject which we 
 gain from them is fairly complete, because every one of the 
 poems touches upon all the phases of the great catastrophe. 
 
 1 Poetry may be composed rapidly, but not the poetry of the Be 
 Contemptu Mundi of Bernard of Clugny nor the poetry of the Lamen- 
 tations. It was supposed that Bernard mastered his metre by special 
 inspiration, so difficult was ii witli its triple rhymes, following the three- 
 fold division of the hexameter. Any careful student of the original of 
 t!if Lamentations will acknowledge the skill and patience of their author,. 
 with his dexterous management of the so-called Kina metre, the sym- 
 metrical struct ure of his strophes, and the laborious adaptation of the 
 letters of the alphabet to form a complete acrostic. Ingenious rhyming 
 was a favourite occupation of the scribes of < Hugny, and the writers that 
 moulded the Lamentations were of a kindred school. 
 
 2 For the treatment of special questions, the reader is referred to 
 Cheyne, in the Pulpit Commentary (cf. Jeremiah, his Life and Times, 
 1888, p. 177 it". > ; Driver. Tntrfi, p. 456 ff. ; art. " Lamentations," in Encyel. 
 Iirit. : W. R. Smith); Lohr, Die Klagelieder des Jeremia (in Nowack's 
 •• Bandkommentar "), 1893. It is not quite certain whether allot' these 
 poem- come from the same author. Chap, iii., at least, which differs 
 most from the others, is possibly later. This question is not of great 
 practical importance, as the theme and contents of all are so uniform.
 
 294 AN ELEGY OF SORROWS Book X 
 
 If we do not seek for the actual facts of history, but for 
 historical situations, we shall be amply rewarded for our 
 sea nh. There are mainly three sets of circumstances 
 exhibited, — the condition of the city, of the temple, and 
 of the survivors of the siege. The sufferings of the 
 besieged b} r famine are made especially prominent (i. 11, 
 19; ii. 11 f., 19 f.; iv. 3-9). Less is said of the horrors 
 that accompanied the capture of the city (ii. 12, 20 f.; 
 v. 11), which are to be judged of in the light of the restric- 
 tions set forth above (§ 1232). The desolation of the 
 city, and above all the ruin and profanation of the sanc- 
 tuary, with the abolition of the temple services (i. 4; ii. 
 6 f. ; iv. 1; cf. ii. 9), are a burden of shame and humilia- 
 tion to the followers of Jehovah. The poet is compelled 
 to believe that Jehovah himself is the author of the ca- 
 lamity, owning with consternation (i. 12 ft*. ; iv. 11 ft*.), or 
 with submission and penitence (ch. iii.), that all this evil 
 has come as a punishment for the sins of the prophets, 
 priests, and people. Most instructive is it to note that 
 the author himself takes the place of the suffering people 
 and the ruined city (i. 11-22; ch. iii.). This representa- 
 tive conception, especially in ch. iii., is a development of 
 Jeremiah's intercessory pleadings (§ 1127), and is a sure 
 mark of the progress of prophetic teaching. 1 
 
 § 1239. The Book of Lamentations is really a group of 
 psalms, and these elegies would probably have found a place 
 in the Psalter, the repository of the anonymous lyrical poetry 
 of Israel, were it not that one topic is so elaborately and va- 
 riously treated in them, and that they became associated 
 with the name of Jeremiah at a very earl)- date. Are there 
 any other literary memorials of the great calamity ? Two 
 of the psalms of our present collection have been by some 
 
 1 Namely, as contrasted with the position assumed by the poets and 
 prophets of the preexilic times. They spoke as members of a suffering 
 community, not as themselves bearing affliction on its behalf. Here we 
 have again a criterion of the relative aires of important sections of the 
 Hebrew literature, especially of the Psalms (cf. § 599, 605). '
 
 Cii. IX, § 1239 OTHER MEMORIALS 295 
 
 ascribed to this occasion, — Ps. lxxiv. and, with more confi- 
 dence, Ps. lxxix. The latter, indeed, is almost a formal re- 
 sume of the contents of the Lamentations. This fact does 
 not exclude a connection with the Maccabaean era, to which 
 Ps. lxxiv. really belongs. It may still, however, be used 
 for the illustration of the supreme calamity, and it shows 
 how the lanjjuasfe of these mourners for Zion has become 
 forever the classical idiom of patriots and exiles, giving 
 articulate expression to their deepest grief and yearning : 
 " If I forget thee, O Jerusalem. . . . ' " Behold and see 
 if there is any sorrow like unto my sorrow ! "
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE REMNANT IN PALESTINE AND EGYPT 
 
 § 1240. The fate of the survivors in Palestine has now 
 to be recounted. The story is one of the most melan- 
 choly in the records of Israel. For the few leaders who 
 remained the situation was almost desperate. The 
 chances were all against rehabilitation. Deprived of the 
 walled city and the temple, and of political autonomy, 
 even a multitude of Hebrews in Palestine would have 
 counted for little. Shorn of such advantages an Oriental 
 community quickly dissolves, loses its name, and is ab- 
 sorbed in other tribes or peoples. Such a fate befell most 
 of those who were left behind by Nebuzaradan (§ 1234). 
 It was of little avail that measures were taken by the 
 Babylonian government to give them a chance of self- 
 support, that the estates of the disinherited exiles not 
 ruined by the fire were given to the landless sur- 
 vivors of the siege. The spiritless occupants of the soil, 
 without a strong city of refuge or a protecting Babylonian 
 force, made but a feeble resistance to the Philistines, 
 Edomites, 1 Moabites, and Ammonites who witnessed with 
 malicious satisfaction the destruction of Jerusalem, and 
 
 1 That the Edomites especially exulted over the fall of Jerusalem (cf. 
 Ps. cxxxvii. 7; Lam. iv. L':i ; Ez. xxxv. 5 IT. ; Ob. 10 ff.) has its explanation 
 in the long and bitter struggles between that people and Judah. The 
 frequent seizure of the Edoinitic territory by the Judaites now brought 
 a terrible reprisal. Somewhat different was the gratification of Tyre at 
 the downfall of Judah as that of a commercial rival (Ez. xxvi. 1 ff . ) . 
 
 296
 
 Ch. X, § 1242 A NEGLECTED PROVINCE 297 
 
 thereafter prowled through the neighbourhood in quest 
 of booty. Over this remnant a native governor Mas 
 appointed, Gedaliah, son of that Ahikam who had been 
 the patron of Jeremiah, and presumably an opponent of 
 the ill-fated revolt. It was at Mizpah, not far to the 
 north of Jerusalem, that his headquarters were fixed. 
 
 § 1241. But why should not the Chaldgeans have 
 protected the remnant of Judah ? Gedaliah was governor 
 under the king of Babylon, and Judah was now a Baby- 
 lonian province. There were several reasons why Nebu- 
 chadrezzar decided to take as little trouble as possible 
 with Judah from this time forward. He had no senti- 
 mental interest in Judah any more than in Samaria, 
 Damascus, or Tyre. Indeed, to him, as to the rest of the 
 world (cf. § 40), Judah meant practically the city of 
 Jerusalem, and that city he had just levelled to the 
 ground. Even if he were to restore it so as to re-create 
 the nation, it would probably be again a centre of intrigue 
 and disaffection. Judah had acquired that reputation for 
 independence and turbulence which was afterwards used 
 to its disadvantage by envious rivals (Ezra iv. 12 ff.). 
 Moreover, political and military conditions had changed in 
 the Westland. There important states had once played 
 their part ; but now they were obliterated or prostrate, and 
 what the Great King cared most for was the possession of 
 Tyre for commerce, and the command of the Philistine 
 coast-road for defence or offence against Egypt. Hence, 
 while making the province responsible for order and obe- 
 dience, a native Judaitc was appointed governor, and not 
 a Babylonian officer, and the army of occupation was with- 
 drawn. 
 
 § 1242. Gedaliah set to work loyally and bravely to 
 fulfil his double trust to his country and to the Chaldsean. 
 His first care was to gather about him the true men who 
 were left. Prominent among these were Jeremiah and 
 Baruch. It would appear that Jeremiah at first preferred 
 to share the fate of the exiles ; for according to the more
 
 298 JEREMIAH REMAINS IX JUDAH Book X 
 
 probable of the two reports left to us 1 he was among the 
 captives at Ramah, live miles to the north of Jerusalem, 
 and on the way to Babylonia, when a proposal, which had 
 the force of an appeal, was made to him that he attach 
 himself to the settlement in the immediate neighbourhood 
 at Mizpah (Jer. xl. 1-6). In this generous offer Xebu- 
 zaradan was doubtless influenced by Gedaliah himself, who 
 had regretted the loss of Jeremiah from his counsels and 
 who saw in him the right religious head of the struggling 
 community. Here apparently a final opportunity to return 
 was given to those who voluntarily accompanied their 
 
 1 It is a matter of uncommon difficulty to ascertain exactly what became 
 of Jeremiah between the fall of the city and his settlement in Mizpah. 
 There is an absolute contradiction between the statements of Jer. xxxix. 
 11-14 and xl. 1 ff. The divergence is lessened if we drop xxxix. 11-13 
 with the Sept.. which in fact leaves out the whole passage vs. 4-13. It 
 then remains for us to combine and reconcile xxxix. 14 with xl. 1. If 
 Jeremiah had been banded over to Gedaliah to be cared for, how could 
 he have been found later among the captives at the halting-place Ramah? 
 Among the solutions so far proposed, the best seems to be that of Giese- 
 brecht (Das Buch Jeremia, p. 213), who remarks that Nebuzaradan, on 
 his arrival, superseded the princes named in xxxix. 3. and that the same 
 event Led to the transfer of Gedaliah from Jerusalem to Mizpah. He sup- 
 poses then that Jeremiah, who was unknown to Nebuzaradan. was by him 
 assigned to the ranks of the deported, but that when the train of exiles 
 halted at Ramah, Gedaliah put in a successful claim for his release. The 
 main objection to this hypothesis is that it is inconceivable that Jeremiah's 
 career should have remained unknown to Nebuzaradan, who acted on the 
 report of the " princes.*' and who must also have conferred with Gedaliah. 
 Jeremiah, as a virtual partisan of the Chahkeans and one of the most 
 influential of the citizens, was, from the beginning of the judicial inquiry, 
 persona grata to the conquerors. This and every kindred theory assumi s 
 that Jeremiah had no freedom of action till the decision was made at 
 Ramah. Such a supposition is indeed favoured by the mention of his 
 ■• chains" in xl. 1, 4, but this is perhaps a graphic embellishment of the 
 narrative. On the same principle we must not take the language of xxxix. 
 14 too literally. It is a working up, with realistic touches, of the general 
 fact that Jeremiah was released after the capture of Jerusalem and 
 handed over to Gedaliah. Bennett (The Book of Jeremiah, ii. 174 f.; 
 comp. Cheyne, Jeremiah, hi* Life and Times, p. 183) thinks that it was 
 at Ramah that Nebuzaradan first " found leisure to inquire into the deserts 
 of individual prisoners." Stade (GVI. I, 696) rejects the whole of ch. 
 xxxix. as well as xl. 1.
 
 Ch. X, § 124:5 THE GOVERNOR'S APPEAL 299 
 
 exiled friends. To Jeremiah the main question was where 
 he could best serve the cause and people of Jehovah. 1 
 Possibly the prospect of a revival of the national spirit 
 under the lead of Gedaliah, and the desire to prepare the 
 way for the restoration, after the fulfilment of the " seventy 
 years," helped to turn the scale. So here at Ramah, a 
 place already associated in his deepest prophetic musings 
 with the grief and fate of Israel (xxxi. 15), he bade a 
 tearful farewell to his lifelong companions. Knowing 
 that they would come under the care of his pupil Ezekiel, 
 he felt the more reconciled to the breaking of the bond. 
 Then the lonely man, now doubly homeless, turned to 
 the remnant of his people with some little hope, and with 
 imconquered faith. With him was Baruch, who was learn- 
 ing the lesson of his life's disappointment and finding in 
 the desolation of the kingdom and its cities the explana- 
 tion of the master's startling message of eighteen years 
 before (Jer. xlv.). 
 
 § 1243. The first official duty of Gedaliah was to take 
 measures to reconcile the scattered bands of Judaites to the 
 new government. Hence he issued a formal appeal to the 
 chiefs who came to him (Jer. xl. 8) and sent messengers 
 with the same declaration to those who still stood aloof. 
 The announcement was to this effect : " Fear not to serve 
 the Chald;eans : make your abode in the land, and serve 
 the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. As for 
 me, I am going to abide at Mizpah as agent for the Chal- 
 dieans 2 who will come to us. 3 But do ye gather in wine 
 and summer fruit and oil and put it into your vessels, and 
 abide in the cities which ye have occupied" (Jer. xl. 9 f.). 
 For a time the outlook was promising. Foremost among 
 
 1 Very improbable is the conjecture of Gr&tz, partially approved by 
 Cheyne. that Jer. xv. 10--_>i reproduces the inward debate of Jeremiah mi 
 this occasion ; see § 1120. Bennett (Book of Jin mink, ii, 176-178) well 
 describes the prophet's state of mind before bis decision was reached. 
 
 2 Literally, •• to stand before tin' Chaldeans." 
 
 3 That is, for tribute and to take account of the administration.
 
 300 HINDRANCES, HELPS, AND WORSHIP Book X 
 
 those who fell in with the administration, along with some 
 of lesser note, were Ishmael, son of Nethaniah, and 
 Johanan, 1 son of Kareah (xl. 8). Besides these there was 
 an influx, smaller or greater, of Judaite refugees from 
 Moab, Amnion, Edom, and other border lands, who were 
 lured by the promise of a settled government and of an 
 unmolested tenancy of the lands left unoccupied. No 
 details are given of the progress of the settlement. It was 
 said in Babylonia that those left in the old land were full 
 of hope and ambition (Ez. xxxiii. 24). But we can read 
 between the lines of the record a story of hard struggles 
 on the part of the people, who had border raids to repel and 
 domestic quarrels to settle, with little genius for coopera- 
 tion and little disposed to submit to authority. We must 
 also keep in mind that to the most of them the Chakkean 
 overlordship was scarcely apparent, being displayed only 
 to Gedaliah and his officials during the stated visits of 
 the goveruor-in-chief from Riblah. 
 
 § 1244. A chief conservative element was the charac- 
 ter of Gedaliah. He was ingenuous, patient, large-hearted, 
 mediating admirably between the governor-general of 
 Syria and his own turbulent fellow-countrymen. But 
 there was another helpful influence, of which Jeremiah 
 was the directing genius. They were still in Jehovah's 
 land, though his ancient seat was overthrown. In the 
 "Watch-tower" city, 2 within view of the ruins of Jerusa- 
 lem, they could erect an altar to his worship. There is 
 indeed a tradition (2 Mace. ii. 1 ff.) to the effect that at 
 the command of Jeremiah his companions took with them 
 the fire from the altar of the temple, and that he bore 
 
 1 The Hebrew text adds here "Jonathan," but the name does not 
 appear in 2 K. xxv. 2:3 nor in the Sept., nor is it again mentioned. It is 
 a clerical error, due to the similarity of the two common names. 
 
 - Mizpah is the modern Neby Samwil (cf. 1 Sam. vii. 5), about four 
 miles northwest of Jerusalem, commanding one of the most extensive 
 views in Palestine. It was a fortress of the second class (cf. 1 K. xv. 22), 
 and was probably rebuilt after its destruction by Sinacherib.
 
 Ch. X, § 1246 CONSPIRACY OF ISHMAEL 301 
 
 away with him to Mount Pisgah the tabernacle and the 
 ark. The allusion to the sacred fire is especially signifi- 
 cant, as it is apparently a distorted reminiscence of this 
 reelection of Jehovah's altar on Mount Mizpah. More- 
 over, there is more direct evidence that Mizpah, an ancient 
 shrine and gathering-place (Hos. v. 1), was now a reli- 
 gious centre for the remnant of Israel. The pilgrims who 
 were slain by Ishmael (§ 1248) as they came to Mizpah 
 are said to have been on their way to u the house of 
 Jehovah" (Jer. xl. 5). Here then a new sanctuary was 
 set up under meaner yet purer auspices; and there at 
 last Jeremiah had his way in the conduct of the sacred 
 services. 
 
 § 1245. But the enterprise which loyalty and piety were 
 cariying on against tremendous odds was frustrated in a 
 moment by fanaticism and treachery. Ishmael, son of 
 Nethaniah (§ 1243), the cleverest and most unscrupulous 
 of the chiefs, was ill at ease from the beginning of the 
 settlement. He wished to live in his native land, but 
 he would not endure the yoke of the Chakkeans. He hated 
 Gedaliah because of his noble character, because he had 
 been set above himself who was of the royal race, and 
 because he represented the detested foreigners. lie dis- 
 simulated his feelings ; but finding it intolerable to live in 
 the same region with the governor, he resorted to an old 
 ally and kindred spirit, Baalis, king of the Ammonites. 
 The two worthies hatched a conspiracy. They could not 
 hope to overthrow the Babylonian domination ; but if the 
 governmental experiment should end in disaster, the over- 
 lord might abandon the country in disgust, and then 
 would come the chance for the predatory Ammonite and 
 the caitiff Israelite. Seizing an opportune time, he came 
 over the Jordan with a small band of raiders. 
 
 § 1246. Taking ten leading men with him of his own 
 kindred, enough to do sudden murder, but not enough 
 to excite apprehension, he paid a visit, to Mizpah. His 
 coming was not unexpected by Gedaliah, for Johanan,
 
 302 TREASON AND MURDER Book X 
 
 son of Kareah, had got wind of the plot and warned the 
 governor, -even offering to go out and put Ishmael to death 
 while his expedition was getting under way. Gedaliah, 
 however, was too magnanimous to believe such treachery 
 possible, and forbade Johanan to take any action whatever 
 (Jer. xl. 13-ir>). On their arrival, he invited Ishmael and 
 his party to his table, where some of his council and the 
 resident Chaldseans were present to meet them. At a 
 concerted signal the guests fell upon the host and his 
 friends and did them to death (Jer. xli. 1—3). So little 
 had Gedaliah mistrusted the villains that he had, as it 
 would seem, left himself without a sufficient guard, and 
 Johanan also was absent at the very time when he was 
 needed most. It was the season of the pilgrimage. The 
 most popular of the ancient feasts (Jud. ix. 27 ; xxi. 19 ff.), 
 the feast of Tabernacles, in the seventh month (§ 8G2), 
 had survived the national temple ; and Ishmael and his 
 [•arty may have made themselves welcome to the townsmen 
 by coming in the guise of offerers. 
 
 § 1247. Their real feelings towards Mizpah, its shrine, 
 and the administration of which it was the centre, were 
 shown on the following day. A company of eighty pil- 
 grims from Samaria, Shechem, and Shiloh, 1 with the marks 
 of penance upon them, and bringing offerings to the sacred 
 place, were approaching the town. Ishmael went out to 
 meet them, also in the guise of a mourner, and offered to 
 bring them at once to the governor, so that their safety 
 and comfort might be secured. Xo sooner were they well 
 within the walls, than he and his band murdered the whole 
 company except a few of them who saved their lives by 
 revealing certain places where they had stores of wheat 
 and barle} T , oil and honey. The dead bodies were thrown 
 into an ancient reservoir, originally intended for a military 
 
 1 The coming of those worshippers from the old territory of Ephraim 
 i- a striking evidence that the settlement at Mizpah was a religious suc- 
 cess, and thai its " house of Jehovah " had, as a resort of devotees, taken 
 the place of the temple at Jerusalem. '
 
 Cn. X, § 1249 THE SURVIVORS MIGRATE 303 
 
 water-supply x (Jer. xli. 4-9). The massacre would deter 
 others from resorting to Mizpah, and thus weaken the 
 governor's defence. He then decamped, fearing the ven- 
 geance of Johanan, carrying with him the daughters of 
 king Zedekiah and other residents of Mizpah who had 
 been committed to the care of Gedaliah (Jer. xli. 10). 
 
 § 1248. Tidings of these atrocities came soon to the 
 officers at their stations. Johanan with some of his col- 
 leagues and a sufficient force pursued after Ishmael and 
 overtook his motley band, " b}^ the great waters that are 
 in 0106011." At this spot, less than two miles to the 
 north of Mizpah, already renowned for two historic 
 tragedies (1 Sam. ii. 12-24; xx. 8-10), the pursuers fell 
 upon the freebooters ; Ishmael escaped to the Ammonites 
 with eight of his men. The prisoners had made their 
 escape from Ishmael before the attack. Among them 
 were Jeremiah and Baruch (Jer. xli. 11-15). 
 
 § 1240. Under a stable government this episode of 
 Ishmael would have been merely a serious incident. But 
 to the remnant of Judah it seemed to portend certain ruin. 
 Gedaliah was the only leader in whom both the Chal- 
 da-ans and their subjects had confidence. He was a rare 
 and noble soul, the last scion of a worthy house, fitted 
 to do great things in better times, but not to deal with 
 hypocrites and cutthroats. The vengeance of the over- 
 lords for the assassination was now to be dreaded, and 
 none of the chiefs had the address or the courage to pro- 
 pose a conference. Flight from the ill-fated country was 
 the first and governing impulse of the panic-stricken com- 
 pany that thronged from all quarters about Johanan. 
 Instinctively they moved southward. Passing Jerusalem, 
 they halted near Bethlehem. It was already agreed among 
 
 1 Translate xli. 9, after the Sept. (cf. Cornill and Giesebrecht) ; " Ami 
 the cistern into which Lshmael casl all the corpses of the men whom he 
 had slain was the greal cistern which King Asa had made on accounl of 
 Baasha, king of Israel. Ii did Ishmael, boh of Nethaniah, fill with the 
 slain." (See 1 K. xv. 17-2:2.)
 
 304 LAST CAPTIVITY AND DESOLATION Book X 
 
 the leaders that it would be best to migrate to Egypt 
 (Jer. xli. 16-18). 
 
 § 12.")0. Their fears turned out to be not entirely- 
 groundless. The punishment that fell upon the land was 
 presumably aggravated by the desertion of the chiefs, 
 which left the Babylonian province in a state of anarchy. 
 It took the form of another and final deportation. Of 
 this we learn quite incidentally from a merely statistical 
 passage which gives the number of the exiles. "In the 
 twenty-third }'ear of Nebuchadrezzar. Nebuzaradan, captain 
 of the guard, carried away captives of the Judaites seven 
 hundred and forty-five persons" (Jer. lii. 30; cf. § 123-1). 
 Xone of these belonged to Johanan's following, for these 
 by this time were well out of the country. In this final 
 displanting, the Chakheans were not so discriminating as 
 before. They took all the surviving males whom they 
 could secure with their families. This was in 581 B.C. 
 The ill-fated regime of Gedaliah had thus lasted over four 
 years. 
 
 § 1251. The province then reverted to utter desola- 
 tion, being apparently even disregarded by the governor- 
 general of the West-land save for general strategic pur- 
 poses. The old kingdom of Judah and Benjamin became 
 a waste, visited only by Bedawin shepherds, fugitives, and 
 travellers under escort. The Edomites, Moabites, and 
 Ammonites made less of the desire of their eyes than they 
 had hoped. They haunted the borders, however, and 
 among them a few Israelites found precarious protection. 
 If we wonder that there are no sure signs of political or 
 literary activity there during the next forty-five years, the 
 reason is now manifest. And this was in a sense the end 
 of ancient Israel. Henceforth we know only of Judaism. 
 It was the end also of Semitism as a governing force in 
 southern Palestine. 
 
 § 1252. Among the fugitives encamped near Bethle- 
 hem ( § 1249) none had the reputation or the dignity of 
 Jeremiah. He had proved his political sagacity beyond
 
 Cn. X, § 1254 JEREMIAH'S COUNSEL 305 
 
 cavil ; and if he had not been so true a prophet and so 
 profound a statesman he would have been chosen the chief 
 counsellor of the enterprise. But the nobles of Judah 
 never lacked a policy of their own, and the present leaders, 
 reasoning from precedent and surface indications, like mere 
 politicians, thought that their course was marked out for 
 them beyond possibility of mistake. To stay in Judah, so 
 they argued, was out of the question ; and where were the 
 conditions of living so obviously easy as in the borderland 
 of Egypt ? Pharaoh Hophra was still king of that country, 
 where trade and agriculture were flourishing, and he had 
 shown the will at least to help the Judaites in their time 
 of greatest need (§ 1218). True, Nebuchadrezzar might 
 come down upon Egypt for this and other acts of defiance ; 
 but such an eventuality could be reckoned with when it 
 should arrive. The minds of Johanan and his colleagues 
 were made up. But they would not go forward without 
 the divine sanction, and Jeremiah was asked to furnish the 
 needed approval (Jer. xlii. 1-3). They begged him to 
 declare to them the mind of Jehovah (xlii. 4-6 ; cf. v. 
 20) ; but they felt sure of a favourable oracle. 
 
 § 1253. It was not till the tenth day after this inter- 
 view that Jeremiah received the divine answer. It ran 
 directly contrary to the wishes of the would-be emigrants. 
 It was delivered by Jeremiah to the whole company with 
 characteristic comments of his own. Jehovah's declared 
 will was that they should abide in the land, where He 
 would protect and prosper them, and would make the 
 king of Babylon favourably disposed to them instead of 
 their dreaded foe. If, however, they would go to Egypt, 
 the sword and the famine from which they were fleeing 
 would follow them thither (Jer. xlii. 7-22). 
 
 § 1254. With the assured hope of Jehovah's approba- 
 tion, Johanan and the other chiefs had been perfecting 
 the organization and preparing for the southward march. 
 The exasperating delay in the arrival of the oracle must 
 only have strengthened their purpose. They would rea-
 
 300 .MARCH TO EGYPT Book X 
 
 son that if the divine will was so unmistakably unfavour- 
 able, it might have been communicated sooner, so as to 
 relieve their anxiety and make some other course more 
 possible. They therefore suspected that Jeremiah's mes- 
 sage was not a genuine word of Jehovah, and his seclusion 
 during the nine days with his trusty Baruch gave occasion 
 to a surmise that Baruch was the prime mover in this dis- 
 courao-ino; business. Making this a direct charge against 
 the prophet and his secretary, they repudiated the oracle 
 as a forgery (Jer. xliii. 1-3). The march to Egypl was 
 begun or rather resumed, and ere long the whole of the 
 settlement of Mizpah with the addition of many fugitives 
 from far and near, besides the men of the military posts 
 appointed by Gedaliah, found themselves in the frontier 
 district surrounding the town of Tahpanhes. In spite of 
 his evil prognostications Jeremiah was carried along with 
 them, still attended by Baruch (xliii. 4-7). Smaller Jewish 
 colonies were already in the country, not only in Lower 
 but also in Upper Egypt (xliv. 1). 
 
 § 1255. The prophet's work was now almost done. At 
 Tahpanhes (the Greek Daphne, the modern el Defenneh, 
 between Pelusium and Zoan, on the Tanitic branch of the 
 Nile), Pharaoh Hophra had a palace. There was the 
 manifest beginning of the empire of the Nile — a sover- 
 eignty always odious to the prophets of Israel, and par- 
 ticularly so to Jeremiah. The remnant of Judah had just 
 evaded the jurisdiction of Nebuchadrezzar, the " servant 
 of Jehovah," and had chosen to take refuge under the 
 shelter of the Pharaoh. How little the exchange of mas- 
 ters would profit them was shown by a symbolic action 
 which Jeremiah was commanded to perform. He Mas 
 told to take large stones and bury them in the brick-work 
 at the entrance to the palace. 1 Upon these stones Nebu- 
 
 1 At el Defenneh, Mr. W. Flinders Petrie found, in 1880, the ruins of 
 a fortress now called the ''palace of the Jew's daughter," having a great 
 open-air platform of brick-work, a sort of mastaba. Naturally, the stones 
 of the prophetic story were not found, and never will be, since they were
 
 Ch. X, § 1256 THE "QUEEN OF HEAVEN" 307 
 
 chadrezzar should pitch his tent and set up his throne. 
 Then he should smite the land of Egypt with his invincible 
 sword, burn the temples of its gods, and carry off us his 
 spoil its most splendid monuments (Jer. xliii. 8-13). 1 
 
 § 1250. In Jeremiah's bitter cup the bitterest drop was 
 the last. He had already seen more than enough of what 
 his people could do in the way of impiety and idolatry as 
 well as ingratitude and despite to Jehovah's messengers. 
 It has already been remarked (§ 1183) that in the most 
 desperate public situations the superstitious populace resort 
 most eagerly to supernatural powers other than the proper 
 national God. What Ezekiel saw in vision of their prac- 
 tices in Jerusalem just before the fall of the city (§ 1183 f.) 
 is paralleled by the religious observances of the colony in 
 Egypt. In each case the women, as at once most devout 
 and most impressible, were most active in the ceremonies 
 of the idolatrous cult. Their own goddess or goddesses 
 were naturally the favourite objects of adoration; and in 
 the present instance they had (xliv. 10) the support of the 
 male part of the community. The particular deity here 
 honoured was the " queen of heaven," whose worship in 
 the streets of Jerusalem had been denounced b} r Jeremiah 
 himself twenty-live years before (§ 1094). This cult of 
 Ashtoreth or Ishtar was universal among northern Semites, 
 and therefore much more easily transferred to a foreign 
 
 never really put in the place described. If an attempt had been made 
 to fulfil the command literally, the prophet or any other outlander would 
 have been severely punished, — probably put. in death, without benefit of 
 clergy. The Judaites, of course, occupied a quarter by themselvi 
 
 ;i~ possible from the Egyptian magnates. The symbolic action 
 was of a character similar to that of biding a girdle by the Euphrates, 
 and the like performances § 11781, Jer. xiii. 1-7). It is hard to sec just 
 whal is Lllu $1 rated by this inuch-talked-of discovery. 
 
 1 By synecdoche for the obelisks of Heliopolia c >n, the •• Beth-Shemesh " 
 of the text). The business of carrying off Egyptian obelisks was b 
 by the Assyrian kings (§ 767 not.,, and has been carried on at intervals 
 ever since. The fulfilment of tins prediction was of ;1 very general char- 
 acter. The victorious campaign of Nebuchadrezzar in Egypt (§ 1865) was 
 undertaken after the death of the present Pharaoh.
 
 308 THE REWARD OF MARTYRDOM Book X 
 
 land than the worship of Jehovah himself. The plea of 
 her votaries that they had abundance of good things in 
 the old days before the worship of their goddess was 
 interdicted, that is, before the Deuteronomic reform (xliv. 
 17 f.). is not to be taken too seriously (cf. Num. xi. 5). 
 
 § 1257. Lesser souls have found satisfaction in con- 
 tempt for idolatry and idolaters. To Jeremiah indignation 
 was more natural and proper. And it actually seemed to 
 increase in proportion to the danger which he incurred by 
 expressing it. His final denunciation (xliv. 2-1 1, 20-30) 
 was never surpassed in terrific wrath. His last spoken 
 words sound like a veritable curse upon the miserable 
 remnant of his people, scattered about in this alien land. 
 But no words of his were more truly fulfilled. Egypt 
 became their grave ; and there has been no resurrection 
 save of the indignant soul of the prophet himself. Per- 
 haps it was the consciousness that Jeremiah was in the 
 right, and the sting of his invective, that led the rabble to 
 put him to death by stoning. This tradition as to the 
 manner of his taking off is in itself very probable. It was 
 not an unfitting conclusion to his life, which for nearly 
 thirty years had been a continued martyrdom. 
 
 § 1258. The career and character of Jeremiah are the 
 most valuable personal gift which we have received from 
 ancient Israel. In the whole history of his race he stands 
 in independence and fortitude nearest to the Christ. He 
 is typical of all who contend for righteousness against 
 public opinion, who defer to the voice of God because it is 
 the truest and in the end the strongest. This, it might be 
 thought, is nothing rare in religious or civil history. Per- 
 haps not, since Jeremiah and Jesus set the example. But 
 this is not all ; courage and fidelity, moral attributes alone, 
 do not make the prophet, but, along with courage and fidel- 
 ity, the more spiritual quality of insight. What, then, was 
 Jeremiah's distinction ? Not merely that he was brave and 
 true against fearful odds. He has gained his immortality 
 and his power mainly by taking his stand upon a single
 
 Ch. X, § 1260 JEREMIAH AS OUB JUDGE 309 
 
 concrete practical issue ; namely, whether he should, as 
 a servant of Jehovah, acquiesce in or oppose the policy 
 of his country when he felt it to he wrone. The great 
 conflict of his life was waged upon this issue. By this 
 more than anything else has his prophetic character been 
 estimated, and upon this ground he challenges our 
 judgment. 
 
 § 1250. The only way to judge of his position is to put 
 ourselves in his place. How many to-day of the servants 
 of God in Church and State in Britain and the Colonies 
 take the position of Jeremiah ? How many reject the 
 motto: "Our country right or wrong"? How many try 
 to define true patriotism aright to themselves and others ? 
 How many have without prejudice, and in the light of God's 
 truth and justice alone, tried to find out how and where 
 the responsibility is to be fixed for the cruel and ignoble 
 war waged between Great Britain and a handful of her 
 kindred in South Africa ? How many, in the spirit of 
 Jeremiah, hold up to reprobation the doctrine that what 
 is individually and personally wrong may be nationally or 
 internationally or diplomatically right ? How many seek 
 to look at the moral issues and the alleged causes of the 
 war in the right proportion and perspective? And how 
 man}-, like Jeremiah, can appreciate the character and the 
 divine mission of the national adversary ? How many 
 think it worth while to contradict the countless unre- 
 tracted slanders against the Boers, heard or read, and for 
 a time believed, by as many millions of people as the 
 Boers number thousands? How many rebuke the popular 
 jubilation and triumph over the defeats and retreats of a 
 numerically insignificant enemy? Very few appear to 
 have done any single one of those tilings. Yet multitudes 
 of God's servants in the British empire have courage equal 
 to that of Jeremiah. Can the explanation be that " her 
 prophets find no vision from the Lord" ( Lam. ii. 9)? 
 
 §1260. "Where no vision is the people arc uncon- 
 trolled" (Prov. xxix. 18). How and why? Essentially
 
 310 PRESENT-DAY PROPHETS Book X 
 
 because the professional moral leaders, such as Jeremiah 
 had to contend with, do not know the truth and effect of 
 things. In other words, they do not look into the motive 
 of moral forces and their consequences in the national life. 
 Insight is the gift of the prophet ; but this induces and 
 implies foresight. Rather they are one and the same en- 
 dowment, two modes of action of the same faculty. Here 
 again Jeremiah gives us an example and suggests a practi- 
 cal test of our latter-day prophesying. Jeremiah's public 
 mission was to expose a popular or national fiction. That 
 fiction was the belief held by his countrymen that God was 
 necessarily on their side because they had been the people 
 of his choice. Other prophets had already asserted the 
 opposite. But it was reserved for Jeremiah to make clear 
 the practical issue. We know how the memorable contest 
 resulted. Jeremiah was right because he saw that the ques- 
 tion was not a political one, not even mainly a religious 
 one, but a moral one, — that God's providence itself fol- 
 lowed the moral law, that good could not come to the nation 
 from evil devised or cherished by rulers and people. 
 
 § 1261. Our prophets have a corresponding fiction to 
 expose. Instead of Zion and the temple we take our 
 stand upon the Empire ; and most of our preachers and 
 editors as well as our politicians assert that the supremacy 
 of our nation must be established at any cost in order that 
 civilization and morals and Christianity may be advanced 
 (cf. § 955). And when all hell is let loose in any part of 
 God's fair earth (Britain's soil and her non-combatants 
 being immune by the divine complacency), pretty senti- 
 ments are uttered from hundreds of presses and thousands 
 of pulpits about the triumph of righteousness, the spread 
 of freedom, and the regeneration of the race. A true 
 modern prophet would say: "What have been the motives 
 and the methods of those who abetted the war? Have 
 conciliation and forbearance and the Christian virtues 
 generally played their part in diplomacy? Has everything 
 possible been done both to avoid and to avert bloodshed ?
 
 Ch. X, § 1262 SIGNIFICANCE OF JEREMIAH 311 
 
 Have the wrongs or the sensibilities of the rival people 
 been regarded as well as our own ? If not, though we 
 may triumph now, we shall lose in the end. The better 
 part of Britain's strength is her moral prestige. Her bit- 
 terest woe and shame is the ebbing out of her moral force. 
 Unrighteous or unnecessary wars insure and accelerate her 
 national decadence." It is the gloiy of Jeremiah to have 
 shown that practical politics are within the sphere of a 
 divine moral law. The terrible fulfilment of his predic- 
 tions indicates his foresight and his insight. Only results 
 that might be felt could quell the practical politicians ; and 
 their successors to-day are slowly but surely receiving the 
 same lesson. 
 
 § 1262. The wider meaning of the life of Jeremiah 
 is for mankind. He is the most human of the prophets, 
 with some failings both of word and act, yet with the 
 strength of a moral and spiritual hero. He is one of the 
 few men of history who, even while we regard them, are 
 enlarged and transfigured from individuals to types. He 
 was the ideal patriot, of an order of patriots scarcely 
 known as yet to our Christian communities ; a typical 
 preacher and teacher, who wielded a rod indeed, but 
 used it oftenest upon himself ; a burden-bearer for his 
 people ; a man of sorrows, who suffered for them in his 
 own person, as he loved them with a devotion sacrificial 
 and intercessory (§ 1127). Thus, too, he continued to 
 minister to his people and to humanity after the tragedy 
 of his life had been finished. " The prophet never dies." 
 His life and teaching formed a transition stage to the con- 
 ception of the " suffering servant of Jehovah," so infi- 
 nitely profound and potential. And now, still more than 
 of old, his spirit rules the true Israel from the tomb. For 
 while law and ritual (§ 1068) are shrinking slowly but 
 surely into the background, and are going the way of all 
 that rests on form and force, love and faith take the abdi- 
 cated seats and gain an ampler and mure potent sway. 
 And when we are tempted to be untrue to the highest
 
 312 "THE PROPHET NEVER DIES" Book X 
 
 interests of our country or of humanity, or to our life's 
 divine commission whatever it may be (Jer. xvii. 16), the 
 tear-stained face of Jeremiah appeals to us through the 
 beclouded past like the look of a wronged and deserted 
 friend ; and we hear his great strong word sounding high 
 above the babble of our time, a trumpet call to loyalty 
 and duty.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE EXILE AS AN EPOCH 
 
 § 1263. The Babylonian Exile of Israel mast seem, 
 even to the casual observer, the most extraordinary event 
 in the world's history. The whole career of the chosen 
 people was a series of marvels, but compared with this 
 all the other events of that career were commonplace. 
 Such must be the judgment of the modern scrutineer; 
 and such was the judgment of the greatest of spiritual 
 seers, who was not permitted to share in the Exile, but 
 whose faith was nourished upon the foresight of its results. 
 To Jeremiah even the deliverance from Egypt was made 
 insignificant by the outcome of the captivity (Jer. xxiii. 
 7, 8). To him the preservation of his people through the 
 Exile to the Return was the climax of the self-revelation 
 of the "ever living God." At the beginning of our sur- 
 vey of the national development of Israel our attention 
 was arrested by the vitality and persistence of the people 
 of Jehovah (§ 434), as seen in its evolution out of a com- 
 munity of fugitive slaves. Through that stage of its 
 history, however, we may follow, by flights of imagina- 
 tion, if not by measured steps of scientific research, the 
 upward and onward progress of the race. But here it 
 would seem that the; laws of development must be set 
 aside. It appears not like a process of evolution, but like 
 a work of recreation. In the ancient East, even more than 
 elsewhere, the loss of political autonomy meant the obliter- 
 ation of a people. Judah and Jerusalem suffered absolute 
 
 313
 
 314 PARADOX OF THE EXILE Book X 
 
 national extinction, and yet the Jews have survived. 
 There, too, deportation brought to pass what it was designed 
 to accomplish, the crushing out of the national spirit; and 
 yet exile had the effect of intensifying the patriotism of 
 the banished Judaites (Ps. cxxvi., cxxxvii.). In all ages 
 and regions the genius of a community or a people is most 
 active and fruitful upon the soil of the home-land and 
 under its skies. But the genius of Israel, which had 
 been almost extinguished in Palestine, flamed out in 
 Babylonia with unequalled splendour. The spiritual 
 endowments of Israel, the faith and insight and devo- 
 tion that were the hope of the world, were stifled and 
 quenched in the days of its freedom and opportunity. 
 But the spirit of Israel in its captivity reclaimed its 
 heritage: it "led captivity captive and received gifts 
 among men, that Jehovah God might dwell among 
 them." 
 
 § 12(34. But it is not the task of an historian to resolve 
 paradoxes. The seeming contradictions and inconsis- 
 tencies of Israel's career are not isolated or irrelevant 
 incidents. They are facts in vital and essential inter- 
 relations. We must strive to find the conditions of that 
 foreign soil and atmosphere into which Israel was trans- 
 planted and from which it drew the physical and intellec- 
 tual nourishment that repaired its lost vitality so that it 
 could be called "a scion of Jehovah's planting*' (Isa. lx. 
 21). We must learn how the loss of external privileges 
 and advantages became itself at last actually a means of 
 grace, and how, besides, they were replaced by new moral 
 and religious helps, that touched more nearly the life of 
 the spirit. We must inquire what that real Israel was 
 which remained intact during a social and political catas- 
 trophe, and what was the essential vital truth that made 
 this saving remnant the salt of the earth. We must 
 learn how hope came from the loss of hope, and a new 
 and deathless ideal from the destKrying of the real; 
 how the visions of a restored Jerusalem, cherished by a
 
 Ch. XI, § 1265 THE QUESTIONS IT SUGGESTS . 315 
 
 nameless prophet, laid the unseen foundations of the City 
 of God. 
 
 § 1265. The necessity of a broad and comprehensive 
 view and method is most obvious when we come to deal 
 with Israel in Exile. It was a time of political revolu- 
 tion, or rather devolution. What sort of government was 
 that which was then forfeited? How much of the past 
 had it retained? What elements passed over perma- 
 nently into the new society? How was this society out- 
 wardly moulded under the foreign regime? It was a time 
 of social change. How were the exiles distributed in 
 Babylonia? How were they grouped together? What 
 were their employments? How did Babylonian ways and 
 business methods affect them? It was a time of moral 
 testing and sifting. How did they abide the trial ? 
 What moral characteristics did they bring with them? 
 Were these improved in exile, or did they deteriorate? 
 How were they influenced by what they did and saAv and 
 heard in Babylonia? It was a time of intellectual stimu- 
 lus. What writings did they bring with them into exile? 
 What region of their life in Palestine did it especially 
 touch or move? What were the new literary produc- 
 tions? How were these evoked and moulded? What 
 were the gains from contact with the cultured and book- 
 learned Babylonians? How did these fit in with their 
 previous knowledge and conceptions? It was a time of 
 religious trial and revolution. What religions views and 
 beliefs did they bring with them into captivity? How- 
 were these rooted in their life and experience in the old 
 land? What new light came to them through their resi- 
 dence among the kindred and } r et alien Babylonians? 
 How were their preconceptions altered through the recent 
 facts of their own history and their wider knowledge of 
 the world? How were they led to regard Jehovah in the 
 light of his dealings with them and of the fates of the 
 nations? It was a time of change in worship. The old 
 sacred places were theirs no more. The temple, the
 
 316 ISRAEL REMADE BY THE EXILE Book X 
 
 official priesthood, the feasts, were perforce discarded. 
 How had they regarded these sacra when in Palestine? 
 What if anything now took their place? 
 
 §1266. Israel was remade by the Exile: this is a 
 patent fact of history. It did not simply outgrow and 
 shuffle off its past: it was torn away from it. It was 
 seized and hurled far away over the desert. It was 
 wrenched away from its land, its home, its hearth, its 
 vine and rig tree, its market-place, its burying-ground, 
 and its sanctuary. It had to begin life over again. 
 To understand the new life we must once more take 
 account of elementary social, political, and moral forces. 
 The questions of transference and a new environment 
 are now of primary importance; and their significance is 
 enhanced when we consider not merely the strangeness 
 of Babylonia, but its culture, its wealth, its antiquity, its 
 organization, its easy supremacy over mankind in what 
 appealed to sense or reason or imagination; and all this 
 in contrast with the forlornness and helplessness of the 
 bewildered captives. 
 
 § 1*267. At the same time, no period of the history of 
 Israel serves better than the Exile as a standpoint for 
 review and perspective. Although but few well-ascer- 
 tained events excite the attention, the situation and the 
 historical conditions are exceptionally clear and distinct. 
 Israel's world is being shaped anew. The sun and moon 
 and stars are out of the sky, but in the primordial light 
 that comes from the play of cosmic forces the old familiar 
 objects are seen in clear relief, in separate, unshaded dis- 
 tinctness. Here we have Israel reduced to its essential 
 elements. It is now a people more manageable, more 
 plastic, more intelligible than in the past. There is a 
 haziness about the outlines in all the images that we form 
 of the political and religious movements of the ages pre- 
 ceding the Exile. This is partly due to the gaps in the 
 record, but partly also to the intrinsic obscurity of the 
 mixed social conditions and politics of the country and
 
 Cn. XI, § 1267 ADDED LIGHT AND CLEARNESS 317 
 
 the people. In both directions the Exile brings light and 
 clearness. Henceforth for centuries the political rela- 
 tions of the Hebrews are simple and constant. They til 
 themselves, directly or indirectly, into the service of the 
 empires that control the new order of the world; and 
 there they stay. The writings, also, that illustrate the 
 new era are plainer and more practical. The new proph- 
 ecy, even when grandiose and expansive, is more objec- 
 tive, being always relevant to known contemporary events, 
 while the earlier discourses often produce general rather 
 than definite impressions. But what is of most conse- 
 quence is the fact that in the Exile the whole intellectual 
 and spiritual heritage of Israel — its beliefs, it usages, and 
 its laws — are brought to the test of new conditions, and 
 revised and readapted to the needs of a new community. 
 And the further acquisitions made in the time and place 
 mark of themselves a new epoch, bearing unmistakably 
 the stamp of Babylonia.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE DEPORTATIONS 
 
 § 1268. But first of all we must see exactly what is 
 meant by the Babylonian captivity. As already indicated 
 (§ 12o4 and note, 1250), there were three separate 
 deportations. The total of forty-six hundred, supple- 
 mented by the wives, children, and slaves, might easily 
 represent twenty thousand souls, and of these the first 
 deportation contributed between nine and ten thousand. 
 It accordingly equalled the other two combined. Not 
 only was it the largest numerically, but with it, according 
 to the express statement of the record {- K. xxiv. 11), 
 went the flower of the city and nation. Besides Jehoi- 
 achin and bis circle of nobles it contained such men as 
 Ezekiel, and men of influence like the prophets who 
 opposed the policy of himself and Jeremiah (Jer. xxix. 
 21 ff.). On the other hand, most of the popular leaders 
 of the final revolt were put to death at Riblah (§ 1235), 
 and the others, including such commanding figures as 
 Jeremiah and Gedaliah, did not goto Babylonia at all. 
 
 § 1269. Certain preliminary inferences may be made 
 from these facts. First, the people of the Exile, in the 
 comprehensive sense of the term, had laid in Babylonia 
 the foundations of their social and civil system before the 
 fall of Jerusalem. Second, we are to find among Ezekiel 
 and his companions the men who determined the religious 
 character and tendencies of the first half of the Captivity. 
 Third, while the fall of Jerusalem was still a decisive 
 factor in the religious and political life of the Exile, it 
 
 318
 
 On. XII. § 1271 CLASSES OF EXILES 319 
 
 was so mainly because of its importance to the people 
 already in exile, who comprised nearly all of Israel that 
 were to tell upon the future. 
 
 § 1270. Let us look into the proscription and banish- 
 ment of the exiles as a whole. The second deportation 
 differed from the others mainly in the exceptional sever- 
 ity shown to the leaders of the final revolt. During the 
 actual journey eastward the same general plan was 
 followed in all three. In pursuance of the system so 
 carefully followed out, a classification of the prisoners 
 was made at the very beginning (§ 1232, note). The 
 distinguished rebels were kept by themselves with a 
 special guard. Those who were to be subjected to 
 punitive servitude Avere also marked out. How many 
 there were of the last-named class we cannot say with 
 certainty. To judge from the silence of the Hebrew 
 records and the evidence that the Judaites prospered in 
 Babylonia, it would seem probable that these were not 
 very numerous. Those who were free of blame or "sin " 
 among the captives, and who were not to be subjected 
 to hardship, also formed a separate division. This class 
 would include those who chose to go into exile either 
 from patriotic motives or from a desire not to be sepa- 
 rated from their families or friends. While the lives 
 and services of all the population of revolted countries 
 and cities were forfeit, those to whom clemency was 
 extended became merely prisoners of the state. Thus 
 the choice was offered to Jeremiah and Baruch to go 
 whither they would (§ 1242). 
 
 § 1271. Representations are found on Assyrian bas- 
 reliefs of men, women, and children being driven away 
 from conquered cities, marching with bowed heads and 
 with hands fastened behind their backs, and beaten by 
 staves in the hands of their guards. Such pictures, like 
 the other decorative sculptures, are typical, and there- 
 fore extreme. The march on foot, the fetters, and the 
 drivei's, were, however, facts of the Assyrian regime,
 
 320 TREATMENT OE CAPTIVES Book X 
 
 ameliorated doubtless by the Chaldaeans, and yet retained 
 by them in their essential features. We must not, how- 
 ever, base our conceptions of the march of the Hebrew- 
 exiles upon these exaggerated designs. "We must keep in 
 mind the methods of the Chaldsean administration. Its 
 governing principle was utilization and conservation. In 
 the process of classification just alluded to, lists of the 
 captives were made out by the "man with the writer's 
 inkhorn at his side "' (Ez. ix. 2 ff . ; § 1191). The numera- 
 tions and descriptions were sent to the capital, to be there 
 put on record, and the officers in charge of the expedition 
 were held responsible for the safe arrival of the conscripts. 
 Excessive cruelty or neglect were therefore precluded by 
 the mere official routine of an advanced civilization. Nor 
 are we to assume that the whole of the exiles of each 
 deportation formed one great band or caravan by them- 
 selves. Their arrangement and distribution would be 
 determined by convenience — by the availability of troops 
 for a military guard, by the facilities for transportation, 
 by the season of the year, by the eharacter of the several 
 classes of the travellers as above defined, to whom differ- 
 ent sorts of treatment would be given according to their 
 rank, their merit, or demerit, and their ultimate destina- 
 tion or condition of servitude. In fine, we can only get 
 a clear conception of the character of these deportations as 
 a whole if we remember that this form of banishment was 
 less a personal than a national penalty, consisting in the 
 loss of the home-land by a transfer of residence.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE HEBREW SETTLEMENT IX BABYLONIA 
 
 § 1272. But what of the exiles after their arrival in 
 Babylonia? And, first of all, in what places exactly were 
 they settled? Upon this point we have some definite in- 
 formation with regard to a large portion of the greatest, 
 or first deportation. The allusions of Ezekiel make it 
 clear that there was along the stream called Kebar a large 
 colony of his countrymen. The Kebar was an important 
 canal of central Babylonia. In two business documents 
 of the reign of Artaxerxes I (464-424 B.C.) mention is 
 made of the stream Kabar, which, as Hilprecht says, 1 
 was a large navigable canal near the city of Nippur. 
 Though its exact location has not }-et been fixed, we may 
 assume as almost certain that it was a branch of the larger 
 canal, the Shatt-en-Nil (§ 94). Inasmuch as the Hebrew 
 colonists could not well have been placed in a thickly 
 settled district, it is probable that the Kebar lay to the 
 east of the great canal. 
 
 § 1273. Where the other bands or groups of exiles 
 were settled it is, at least for the present, vain to conjec- 
 ture, except that some, besides the royal captives and 
 their households, were doubtless taken to the city of 
 Babylon. The Great King, while eager for the develop- 
 ment of the country as a whole, was specially concerned 
 about his capital (§ 1055 ff.) ; and for labour upon his vast 
 public and private works a contingent would be taken 
 
 1 PCT. IX, p. 28. The word itself significantly means " large." 
 t 321
 
 322 DISTRIBUTION OF EXILES Book X 
 
 from every considerable importation of prisoners of war. 
 That man)- were placed in other great cities of the empire 
 is not probable. Naturally, many of the Hebrews made 
 their way ultimately to one centre of industry or another, 
 above all, to Babylon. But at first their residences would 
 be determined by the policy of the king; and that was not 
 favourable to the upbuilding of any possible rival to his 
 beloved city. From the conditions of half a century 
 later it would seem that the exiles came at length 
 to be pretty widely distributed. Among the lists of 
 those returning from the Exile occurs a group of names 
 of places 1 from which certain persons, 652 in number, 
 came to join the main body of pilgrims : Tel-melach, Tel- 
 harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer (Ezra. ii. 59 f. ; Neh. 
 vii. 61 f.). It is said of these people that they could 
 not prove their genealogical connection with Israel, from 
 which we infer that during these two generations they 
 were separated from their brethren. 2 At any rate, the 
 centralization of the exiles would be discouraged by the 
 imperial authorities in order to preclude the possibility 
 of a concerted uprising. We conclude, then, that in the 
 gradual allocation several small groups of the exiles were 
 formed in separate districts (cf. § 1306). 
 
 1 The names are interesting and some of them may be explained, 
 though so far none of them is certainly found in the Inscriptions. Hil- 
 precht (PC'T. IX. 47) thinks Addon was originally the name of a person 
 which is of frequent occurrence in the time of Artaxerxes I, and regards 
 the word as Hebrew (ib. p. 27). It is not clear, however, why it should 
 not be native Babylonian, whether as place or person. Cherub is proba- 
 bly Babylonian, though familiar to us as a Bible word, not a place-name. 
 Tel-melach may be "Mound of salt,*' if the word is Hebrew; if Baby- 
 lonian, it would be correctly Tel-malah, and means "Mound of the 
 boatmen." Tel-harsha is probably Babylonian, though the meaning is 
 uncertain. The "tels" are interesting as showing conditions similar to 
 those of Tel-Abub (§ 1107). Place-names, indubitably Hebrew, are not 
 found as yet in Babylonia, Kasiphia (Ezra viii. 17) is an additional set- 
 tlement, named over a century later, and Ahava (Ezra viii. 17, 21, 31), 
 also on a canal, seems to have been more than a mere gathering-place. 
 
 - We may note that nevertheless they grew to be quite numerous, and, 
 still bearing the Hebrew name, were not absorbed by other populations.
 
 Ch. XIII, § 1275 CONDITIONS OF .EMPLOYMENT 323 
 
 § 1274. We are on somewhat surer ground when we 
 come to deal with the employments of the captives and 
 their companions. The determining factors were (1) the 
 antecedent occupations of the Hebrews; (2) the indus- 
 trial requirements of the country; (3) the demands of the 
 royal policy and projected measures of internal adminis- 
 tration ; (4) the ruling social and legal conditions of the 
 employment of labour. Each of these matters should 
 have some brief consideration, because it is only when 
 we can follow a people through their daily occupations 
 that we can trace intelligently their history as a com- 
 munity. 
 
 § 1275. Taking the exiles of the three deportations as 
 a whole, the majority of them were better fitted for agri- 
 cultural employments in Babylonia than for any other 
 occupation. They represented fairly well the population 
 of Judah, who could not immediately adapt themselves 
 to the requirements of art and manufacture in a highly 
 civilized community. Outside the cities most of the 
 inhabitants were shepherds, 1 independent or tenant 
 farmers, farm labourers, vine dressers, and olive growers. 
 Within the large towns and in the capital itself were many 
 employed in the service of the landed proprietors on their 
 country estates. On the other hand, the members of the 
 guilds of craftsmen, such as the "carvers and joiners" 2 
 
 1 The persistency of the shepherd class, even in a semi-nomadic form, 
 is illustrated by the case of the Kechabites. This class is of interest here, 
 because some, at least, of its members were carried to Babylonia among 
 the people of Jerusalem, where they had taken refuge during the first 
 blockade (§ 1141). That they survived the exile, in fulfilment of the 
 prediction of Jeremiah (ch. xxxv. 19), we learn from 1 Chr. ii. 55 and 
 iv. 12 (Sept.). Cf. Meyer, Entstehung des Judenthums, ]>. 117. 
 
 - EV., "craftsmen and smiths." The former word (tshn), however, 
 denotes those who worked with cutting instruments; hence it is used 
 mine explicitly of workers in wood, stone, bronze or copper, iron, gold, 
 and silver. The second word (i.)D-) cannot mean simply •■smith." nor 
 "locksmith," as it is often l'endcred. Probably the former refers to the 
 cutting and shaping of the material, the latter to the construction of the 
 manufactured article (literally, "one who closes up").
 
 324 TRADES AND PROFESSIONS Book X 
 
 (2 K. xxiv. 14, 16; Jer. xxiv. 1; xxix. 2), weavers, 
 potters, dyers, tanners, and house-builders, were not in 
 considerable. 
 
 § 1276. What the Hebrews in Babylonia ultimately 
 became depended mainly upon themselves. Their cir- 
 cumstances at the outset depended upon the imperial 
 policy and the needs of the country. Looking at the 
 latter first, we observe that there were certain permanent 
 demands for labour which were never abated during times 
 of national prosperity and vigour. The weal of Baby- 
 lonia was bound up with the water supply and its utili- 
 zation. Works of canalization and irrigation could be 
 multiplied indefinitely; and whenever established they 
 recpuired unremitting and intelligent oversight. The cul- 
 tivation of the soil and the various processes of agricul- 
 ture, thus made easier and more general, called for a large 
 force of workers. Partly independent of agriculture was 
 the care of cattle by the shepherd class. To these must be 
 added the various avocations that furnished the appli- 
 ances of rural toil and increased its efficiency and comfort. 
 Hence, nourished by this fundamental industry, the arts 
 of life which in Palestine (§ 484) had been practised 
 only as far as was possible to a small and secluded 
 community, were in Babylonia developed to a degree of 
 perfection elsewhere unknown in Western Asia. Such 
 were the arts of weaving, tanning, metal-making, brick- 
 making, and the building and furnishing of dwellings. 
 Within the realm of leisure and luxury was the making 
 of ornaments, of statues and statuettes, of decorated 
 pottery, instruments of music, and other pursuits that 
 served the arts of pleasure. Highest of all was the 
 art of the writer, with the stylus, the graving tool, or 
 the reed. Again, upon the same agricultural basis was 
 erected an extensive sj'stem of trade and commerce, as 
 active as it was various, and regulated by every safeguard 
 and restraint that the experience of the trader or the wit 
 of the lawyer or clerk could devise (§ 1064).
 
 Ch. XI11, § 1278 PUBLIC WORKS AND LABOURERS 325 
 
 § 1277. These were what we may call permanent 
 industries and means of employment. But Israel came 
 to Babylonia at a time of exceptional opportunity. 
 Nebuchadrezzar, the great restorer of Babylonia, treated 
 his prisoners of war as vassals and wards rather than as 
 lifelong criminals. His administration, moreover, was 
 hospitable towards foreigners, since the improvement and 
 development of his country made their services desirable. 
 His domestic statesmanship had a twofold aim. On the 
 one hand, the wealth and power of Babylonia, as a whole, 
 were to be enhanced by works of internal improvement, 
 especially by extending the area of productive soil and 
 increasing its annual yield. On the other hand, the work 
 of putting and keeping in order the irrigation works and 
 other great enterprises demanded a strong administrative 
 and financial centre, so that the capital was necessarily 
 aggrandized at the expense of other important towns as 
 local rivals. It was mainly in carrying out the former 
 of these aims that the Hebrews played their part. If 
 they had come to Babylonia and had spent their years 
 of tutelage under a cruel or a declining regime, their 
 life, as a people, might have been crushed out by tyranny 
 or exhausted by hopeless and impotent effort. 
 
 § 1278. Most important of all the elements that made 
 up their new environment were the conditions under 
 which they made their living and did their work. The 
 first question that presses upon us is that of the tenure 
 and status of slaves in Babylonia, since we must take for 
 granted that most of the Hebrews w r ere assigned at first 
 to bond-service (§ 1281). What has been said (§ 539 ff.) 
 of Hebrew slavery may serve as a general guide, for in 
 civilized ancient society usage and legislation prescribed 
 nearly the same rules everywhere for the treatment of 
 slaves. The main difference between ancient and modern 
 slavery does not concern the treatment of slaves so much 
 as their social position and prospects. Among the Baby- 
 lonians, as w r ell as among the Egyptians and Hebrews,
 
 326 CLASSES OF SLAVES Book X 
 
 slaves, especially prisoners of war and victims of border 
 raids, might be treated with the utmost cruelty. Of this 
 we have abundant evidence from the sculptured represen- 
 tations of labourers urged on in their tasks under the lash 
 of taskmasters. 1 On the other hand, slaves were often, in 
 everything save civic privileges, the equals of freemen. 
 Many of them were far better off as slaves than they could 
 have been as their own masters; and this good fortune 
 apparently befell the chief part of the Hebrew exiles. 
 
 § 1279. The privileges and duties of the servile class 
 in Babylonia may be set forth by facts gathered from the 
 monuments. Slaves were of several classes. First, there 
 were the slaves of the state. These were mostly prisoners 
 of war, who had been taken in battle or at the capture of a 
 fortress or the surrender of a city. Originally, in days of 
 savagery, such captives formed the bulk of the servile 
 population (§ 542, note). Their treatment w r as, upon the 
 whole, ameliorated by advancing civilization; but even 
 under the least rigorous administration barbarous severity 
 was shown to actual instigators or leaders of strife or 
 rebellion. In the later Assyrian and Chaldaean times a 
 careful classification of prisoners was made, according to 
 which harsher or milder measures were adopted toward 
 them (§ 1270). They did not all necessarily remain the 
 property of the crown, for those of them to whom special 
 leniency was to be shown might at any time be handed 
 over to corporations or private employers of labour. The 
 
 1 As in the parallel instance referred to above (§ 1271), we must beware 
 of taking this as typical of the general system. Prisoners of war and 
 state criminals usually furnished the labourers employed in great public 
 works, where the rudest and heaviest mechanical force was required. 
 Thus the Hebrew slaves in Egypt had been enemies of the state. It is 
 colossal works of this character that are represented in the sculptures, 
 which are in fact an illustration throughout of the prowess and author- 
 ity of the monarch. The fact that a driver is placed over very small 
 groups of workmen shows that such slave labour was of value only as it 
 was forced, differing thus from ordinary servitude, as set forth in the 
 following paragraphs.
 
 Oh. XIII, § 1279 TEMPLE AND PRIVATE SLAVES 327 
 
 second class were the temple slaves. Their number and 
 importance naturally depended upon the fortune of the 
 temples themselves, and this was fluctuating and uncer- 
 tain. In Babylonia, however, there never was a time 
 when the temples were not numerous and enterprising; 
 and as their business included the whole range of handi- 
 work, trade, manufacture, and mercantile employment 
 known to the age and country, the central government 
 itself did not make a more various and extensive use of 
 slave labour than did these seats of the gods. At the 
 present epoch, however, on account of the favour shown to 
 Babylon and Borsippa (§ 1060 ff.) the provincial temples 
 were declining in importance, and business under sacred 
 auspices was being concentrated in the precincts of the 
 fortunate shrines. Again, there were the slaves of private 
 citizens, who were of various classes and orders — the 
 manufacturers, merchants, and landed proprietors taking 
 a leading place as the owners. Slaves were normally 
 acquired by purchase ; but both temples and individual 
 citizens might come into their possession by endowment 
 from the state, in consideration of services rendered or 
 of an ancient claim. During the frequent changes of 
 dynasty in the later Babylonian times, each successive 
 administration sought to propitiate the powerful priest- 
 hood by substantial gifts, of which confiscated lands and 
 their occupants came readiest to hand; and to the families 
 of loyal supporters similar benefactions were made. The 
 possession of slaves, however, was far from being a 
 monopoly of the wealthier classes, and, in the course of 
 business and changes of fortune, most people who had a 
 modicum of money or land had also their servile retainers. 
 Almost entitled to be classed by themselves were the 
 slaves of slaves 1 (cf. § 1280). 
 
 1 See Peiser, " Skizze der babylonischen Gesellschaft," in Mitthvihingen 
 der vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1896, — an essay to whicb I am bere 
 greatly indebted. Peiser makes a special class also of tbe glebce 
 adscrijiti, those assigned or attached to a particular domain, who, at
 
 328 OPPORTUNITIES OF SLAVES Book X 
 
 § 1280. For our present purpose it is important to 
 notice that in Babylonia slaves generally, even those who 
 were originally state prisoners, had the chance of rising 
 through the several grades of servitude, and bettering 
 their condition by sale, by gift, by endowment, by legac}-; 
 that they could become free by their own purchase, or by 
 redemption through another, or by the generosity or the 
 necessities of their masters ; that they could be adopted 
 into the family of an owner and eventually succeed to the 
 possession of great estates ; that by a very common form 
 of business contract they were, when hired out by their 
 masters, entitled not only to compensation during siek- 
 ness or for injuries, but also to a remuneration for their 
 labour, so that it was possible for them to accumulate a 
 small capital and acquire slaves of their own ; moreover, 
 that they could become skilled craftsmen by a course of 
 legal apprenticeship. These essential differences from 
 modern and western slavery set in relief a fact of vital 
 significance in the history of the Exile, that social con- 
 ditions were not unfavourable to the enfranchisement and 
 advancement of the Hebrew captives. It will also be 
 observed that while in the main the system of servitude 
 prevalent in Babylonia was similar to that with which they 
 had been familiar in Palestine, it was at the same time 
 better regulated by law and custom. Moreover, the posi- 
 tion of freedmen was more secure under the more stable 
 legal and business conditions of the Chaldasan empire. 
 In general we may conclude that for the majority of the 
 exiles, even for many of those who in the home-land had 
 servants of their own, slavery was, for the first few years, 
 better than freedom, even apart from the fact that in the 
 servile state they were provided for in sickness, want, and 
 
 stated times, had to perform certain services for their owners, some- 
 what in the fashion of the villeins of mediaeval Europe (cf. Hallam's 
 Middle Ages, New York, 1880, I, 106 f.). They seem to have been 
 mostly subject to the temples. The subject is obscure, and it can hardly 
 be made out that serfdom on a large scale prevailed in Babylonia.
 
 Ch. XIII, § 1282 FREEDOM OF ACTION POSSIBLE 329 
 
 old age — a matter of consequence to many who had to 
 begin anew the struggle of life in a foreign land with 
 nothing which they could call their own. 
 
 § 1281. The supposition (§ 1278) that most of the 
 exiles were slaves in Babylonia, whether they had been 
 free in their own land or not, may seem to be inconsistent 
 with the glimpses of their life in that country which Ave 
 gain from the book of Ezekiel, and with the exhortation 
 addressed to them by Jeremiah (ch. xxix. 4 ff.) to make 
 homes for themselves and to take part in the life and work 
 of the country (§ 1168). But such freedom of movement 
 and action as is thus implied was quite possible to 
 Babylonian slaves, the only restriction being that the 
 labour of their hands was at the disposal of others, and 
 that they were not endowed with civil rights. We cannot 
 insist on this point too strongly for the correct conception 
 of Hebrew life at the beginning of the Exile. At the 
 same time it is quite possible that several people of means 
 who had not favoured the rebellion, besides those who 
 were invited or permitted to accompany their banished 
 brethren, were granted lands for their support, and became 
 house-masters and men of property at the very threshold 
 of their "captivity." But the number cannot have been 
 great even in the chief agricultural settlement. Political 
 reasons alone would impose a restriction, and there was, 
 besides, the broad, economic fact that in all departments 
 of industry most of the actual work was done by slaves. 
 
 § 1282. We may resume and sum up as follows : The 
 exiles may from the point of view of their relation to the 
 state and to society be divided into four classes. There 
 wen; first those who were political prisoners, such as the 
 royal captives and their following of seditious nobles. 
 They were kept in prison on a life sentence. Yet their 
 confinement was not necessarily perpetual. Nor did the 
 imprisonment in all cases involve the seclusion and priva- 
 tions of a dungeon (§ 1147). Extreme cruelties in Ori- 
 ental imprisonment speedily end the life of the prisoner.
 
 330 AGRICULTURE PARAMOUNT Book X 
 
 But many descendants of royalty and of noble families are 
 found to have survived the Exile. Secondly, there were 
 those who having property of their own, and not having 
 been attainted as rebels, were permitted or encouraged to 
 join the ranks of the deported (§ 1270). These would 
 probably be allowed to purchase estates for themselves and 
 become guests of the country (cf. § 549) without acquiring 
 civil rights. Thirdly, there were the rank and file of 
 active rebels. They were doubtless employed, at least at 
 the beginning, as state labourers at the most servile tasks 
 under rigorous compulsion. Finally, there were the body 
 of the deported people not specially obnoxious. These 
 were set to work as slaves, in various occupations. 
 
 § 1283. The paramount importance of agriculture 
 (§ 1276) is abundantly shown in surviving business 
 documents. It is also clearly illustrated by the inci- 
 dental testimony of the monuments, in the sculptured 
 sketches of irrigating machines, in school-book exercises 
 on the task and operations of husbandry, and in temple 
 lists of vegetable productions due as contributions and 
 classified according to the implements used in tilling the 
 producing soil. All inquiry into the industrial, com- 
 mercial, and social features of Babylonian life must 
 begin with a study of its agriculture and the antecedent 
 conditions of climate, soil, and Avater supply. Moreover, 
 the principal colony of the exiles was planted in a region 
 which demanded this employment and no other. To learn 
 under what conditions they plied their calling will enable 
 us not merely to follow aright their outward fortunes, but 
 to understand how their character was moulded in their 
 new national training school. 
 
 § 1281. We must picture to ourselves a vast level region, 
 whose surface is varied only by the mounds of cities or vil- 
 lages ruined or inhabited, or by occasional fortresses or mili- 
 tary stations, and by the beds of watercourses. It was the 
 very heart of Babylonia geographically that the chief 
 colony occupied, but the most populous area was to the.
 
 Cn. XIII. § 1285 NIPPUR AND ITS TEMPLE 331 
 
 west and north where hi}' Babylon and its suburbs, and 
 cities more ancient still. Nippur, the great old city in the 
 neighbourhood, was once the central resort of the Baby- 
 lonian Semites. Recent investigations upon its site have 
 revealed the turning-points in its history. Like the rest 
 of the most ancient cities of the lower Euphrates region, 
 and indeed like ancient cities generally, its importance de- 
 pended upon the supremacy of its leading temple. Nippur 
 was the seat of the most ancient worship of Bel. The 
 predominance of a rival temple of Bel would mean the 
 decline of Nippur, and perhaps its forcible demolition. 
 
 § 1285. What prejudiced Nippur most seriously was the 
 rise and prosperity of Babylon. The great Chammurabi 
 (§ 117), who aimed to make Babylon the centre of the 
 revived and extended native monarchy, united the worship 
 of his local deity Merodach with that of the more ancient 
 and widely revered Bel. 1 The consequences to Nippur 
 and its prestige and prosperity were disastrous. It is not 
 certain but that violence was used to make more complete 
 the degradation of the venerable cult of Bel. According 
 to a recent explorer of its site " its temple was sacked, its 
 statuary and rich votive gifts wantonly destroyed." 2 The 
 same policy of neglect and disfavour was continued for sev- 
 
 1 The results of this combination of the titles and attributes of Bel and 
 Marduk are well shown by Jastrow, RBA. p. 117 f. The appreciation of 
 Marduk leads to his appropriation of the role and his assumption of the 
 great name of Bel, while " Marduk-Bel and Marduk are blended into one 
 personage, Marduk becoming known as Bel-Marduk, and, finally, the first 
 part of the compound sinking to the level of a mere adjective, the god is 
 addressed as ' lord Marduk.' " One of the monumental indications of this 
 syncretism is found in the designations of the outer and inner walls of 
 Babylon (§ 1058). Singularly enough, the outer and inner walls of Nip- 
 pur were called respectively Nemitti-Marduk and Tmgur-Marduk (II R. 
 50. 28, 20 a and /;). Dr. Peters simply refers to the outer wall as " Nimitti- 
 Bel" (X>i>j<iir, II, 212, 372). 
 
 2 Peters, in Nippur, II, 257. It is just possible that, according to 
 Hilprecht's supposition (PCT. I. ii. 33), this desecration was the work of 
 the invading Elamites shortly before (cf. § 10(5 ff.). At any rate, it is clear 
 that Chammurabi did nothing to repair the ruin wrought in the temple.
 
 302 NIPPUR DEPRECIATED Book X 
 
 eral centuries. The kings of the Kasshite dynasty, who as 
 foreigners had no local prejudices, restored the ancient 
 splendour of the temple of Bel, and therewith the pros- 
 perity of the city and district returned. 
 
 § 128G. But a new work of destruction was undertaken 
 under Nebuchadrezzar I (§ 178), and the temple was razed 
 to the ground. It was not until near the close of the As- 
 syrian supremacy that it was again reinstated. Esarhaddon 
 recognized no rivalry between Babylon and Nippur, and his 
 equanimity towards the former (§ 748 f. ) was matched by 
 a generous interest in the latter. His son Asshurbanipal, 
 with more leisure and a more active Babjdonian policy, 
 continued to favour Nippur, with the hope of dividing the 
 religious and therefore the political interest of Babylonia, 
 which caused him so much trouble and loss. Large monu- 
 mental remains of these patrons of Nippur have been found 
 by the latest explorers. They have also discovered proofs 
 of the opposition displayed by the revived Chaldaean 
 dj-nasty in the days of which we are now writing. If the 
 conjecture of Peters : is correct, Nippur was destroyed by 
 the great Nebuchadrezzar in his zeal for the aggrandize- 
 ment of Bel-Merodach in the capital city of Babylon. 
 
 § 1287. The demolition of a temple and the subversion 
 of its worship involved loss of prestige and of business, 
 both of which depended mainly upon the appreciation of 
 the local shrines. Allusion has already been made to the 
 business functions of that remarkable institution, a great 
 Babylonian temple ( § 740, note). We can partly account 
 for them if we remember that religion was the centre of 
 Babylonian life generally. In practice this meant that the 
 priests and other ministers of the dominant cults gained 
 riches for themselves and their shrines through the sacrificial 
 and votive offerings, the fees for divination, the gifts of chiefs 
 and princes. It meant, however, more than this. In most 
 civilized countries the professional ministers of religion 
 
 1 Nippur, II, 262.
 
 Cn. XIII, § 1288 THE PRIESTHOOD IN BUSINESS 333 
 
 have been sooner or later debarred from civil functions and 
 from civil business on any extensive scale. Even when, as 
 in ancient Egypt, circumstances favoured their usurpation 
 of the functions of state, 1 their authority was not tolerated 
 for long. Neither in Babylonia nor in Assyria do we read 
 of priests indulging in state intrigues, though in the revo- 
 lutionary periods of Babylonian history their powerful sup- 
 port was sometimes given to one side or the other, so that 
 they virtually were in those troublesome times a political 
 force. Their strength, however, always lay in their own 
 essential merit and efficiency. And this accounts for what 
 is so remarkable, that, though usually without civic ambi- 
 tion, they became a great power in the general life of the 
 country and the people. 
 
 § 1288. Peculiar to these priests of Babylonia were their 
 culture and their science, so that their prestige was not a 
 mere illusion based on the credulity of the superstitious 
 masses. They had the power which special knowledge 
 always gives. They were the teachers and educators of 
 the people, and they were liberal enough to profess in 
 their schools not merely the mysteries of their own special 
 calling, but all the learning of the time. This was the 
 secret of their unique enterprise and success as business 
 men. They were able to acquire and maintain great estates, 
 to make large loans, to own many slaves and employ many 
 labourers, to cultivate much land, to establish farms and 
 buildings and waterways, and rear vast flocks of sheep and 
 cattle. Of course there was in their favour the popular 
 notion that the whole land was the property of the god or 
 gods of whom they were the ministers. Hence they or 
 the temples received tithes and substantial offerings, and 
 hence landed property in their parishes easily fell into 
 their hands. But the idea of the divine ownership of 
 the soil was a common belief among ancient peoples ; and 
 
 1 In the twenty-first dynasty (§ 207). Significantly, the priestly rulers 
 are not recognized as legitimate by Manetho, who acknowledges the 
 rebellious dynasty of Tanis.
 
 334 WHY THE COLONY WAS PLANTED Book X 
 
 nowhere else was the priesthood so cultured, so sagacious, 
 so wealthy, so enterprising, and so enduring. 
 
 § 1289. This survey may help us to understand the con- 
 dition of the district in which the main body of the colonists 
 found themselves. Notice that, on the one hand, Nippur 
 was after the earliest times never a great political centre, 
 and that, on the other hand, its excavated records show 
 that when not neglected or injured by an unfriendly king, 
 its business interests flourished greatly. 1 The surrounding 
 country shared inevitably in the prosperity or the decline 
 of Nippur. What is the inference as to the question before 
 us ? I think it is fair to assume that the great Nebuchad- 
 rezzar, whose policy was unfavourable to Nippur and its 
 institutions, but who had at heart the internal development 
 of his kingdom, was now taking charge of the natural 
 domain of that city, and that the planting of this colony 
 of Hebrews in the neighbourhood was an incident of his 
 administration of the district. It is further fair to assume 
 that this community of Hebrews, like many others, was 
 under the special oversight of state officials, to whom the 
 provincial or district authorities were responsible for the 
 good conduct and efficiency of the settlers. 
 
 1 See, for example, Nippur, II, 114 f., where mention is made of the 
 business records of the great temple under the friendly Kasshite dynasty. 
 The mass of business documents found by Mr. Haynes (of the Pennsyl- 
 vania expedition), in May, 180:], of which the first instalment is published 
 by Hilprecht and Clay (PCT. vol. IX), belong to the Persian period, but 
 they illustrate the historic importance of Nippur as a business centre.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 CHIEF EMPLOYMENTS OF THE EXILES 
 
 § 1290. As to the immediate environment and occupa- 
 tion of this principal colony, it is to be observed that the 
 whole of Babylonia is normally, and in a sense naturally, 
 unproductive ; that according to the season of the year or 
 the vicissitudes of the River, its sandy or marshy lands are 
 inundated by floods or parched by drought ; that some- 
 times it is easy and best to travel over much of its surface 
 by boats or rafts, while at other times there is no water in 
 the Euphrates itself for many miles of its course, and 
 very little in any of its countless affluents ; that the canal 
 Kebar lay at or near the eastern limit of a network of 
 watercourses included between the two great streams, the 
 Euphrates and the Shatt-en-Nil. The first and the last care 
 of the typical Babylonian was to regulate, conserve, and 
 utilize the water of the River. His life was spent in 
 reclaiming the soil and extending its productive area, by 
 drawing off the superfluous water of the canals and reser- 
 voirs, by conveying it in a constant stream to needy regions, 
 or by occasional outlets to districts dried by the summer 
 sun. It was this that made Babylonia ; but more — it was 
 this that made the Babylonians. The difficulties and prob- 
 lems of the case were greater than in Egypt, and the energy, 
 watchfulness, and contrivance that were needful made the 
 people of the Euphrates greater than those of the Nile. 
 Naturally there was need of state or corporate aid. 
 
 § 1291. We may refer here to the description of 
 the Babylonian river system already given (§ 71 ff.).
 
 336 BABYLONIAN CANAL SYSTEM Book X 
 
 It was pointed out that, as this lower country was a 
 perfect plain, being little more than a deposit of the two 
 great rivers, 1 the course of the Euphrates was slow, and 
 at the flood season there were great overflows ; that at 
 various points reservoirs were made for use in the dry 
 season ; and that besides, an immense number of canals, 
 large and small, were created for purposes of irrigation 
 and navigation. We shall now further divide the canal- 
 ization of the country east of the Euphrates into three 
 sections, determined mainly by the water supply of the 
 Euphrates and Tigris, and the varying distance from one 
 another of these two sources, or " heads," as they are 
 called in the book of Genesis. The first division would 
 embrace a district extending from a little north of Bagh- 
 dad to the neighbourhood of Babylon. This region is 
 marked by the numerous canals running from the Eu- 
 phrates right across the narrow strip of land which here 
 separates the Rivers. The second comprises a large region 
 irrigated by the Euphrates by means of canals, which, 
 however, do not reach to the Tigris, but either return to 
 the parent stream or are spent in the sands and marshes. 
 Roughly speaking, it would extend southward to about 
 the ancient Tello (§ 95). The third portion contains 
 what may be strictly called Southern Babylonia, including 
 such ancient sites as Tello, Erech, Ur, and Eridu ( § 100 f.). 
 Here the waters of the Euphrates are nearly exhausted by 
 subsidence and deflection, and new sources of supply are 
 found in the great canals that were led off from the fuller 
 and more rapid Tigris well up the stream, and brought 
 southwestward towards the lower Euphrates. 
 
 § 1292. It is in the middle division that we are par- 
 ticularly interested. At the era of the Exile the life of 
 the world pulsed to and from Babylon unceasingly. The 
 
 1 It would be more correct to refer to prehistoric conditions and to 
 say that this territory is a deposit of the several streams that formerly 
 ran into the sea, branching off from the Euphrates and Tigris at the end 
 of their middle course. Cf. Gen. ii.
 
 Ch. XIV, § 1293 THE WATER SLTPLY 337 
 
 water of the Euphrates clothed with verdure and beauty 
 the soil which it had brought down from the far-away 
 mountains of the north. Wherever the waters flowed 
 regularly or were judiciously distributed there was fer- 
 tility and plenty. Wherever there was either prolonged 
 inundation or continued dryness there was desolation and 
 barrenness. The last-named conditions are those which 
 prevail at the present day ; the former were maintained 
 in the old Semitic centuries or rather millenniums, the 
 times of Babylonia's greatness. But the main practical 
 question then was, how to make the life-giving water 
 reach far enough ; how to economize it in one place that 
 it might be available in another. It was only in excep- 
 tional seasons that there was a superabundance of the 
 supply. By careful management there was enough for 
 the region of the Euphrates proper such as I have indi- 
 cated above. That is to say, this territory was not only 
 habitable but luxurious ; not only good for pasturage, but 
 the most productive part of the world for grain, for herbs, 
 and the fruits of the earth generally. But to the eastward 
 of the range of regular irrigation there was barrenness, 
 at least there was merely pasturage for flocks great or 
 small. Instead of cities there were villages or encamp- 
 ments of Aramcean shepherds, whose tents were most 
 numerous near or along the Tigris. Naturally the extent 
 of arable and productive land varied greatly with the 
 political fortunes of the people, their industrial habits and 
 training, and their control of the water supply. 
 
 § 1293. But everywhere and at all seasons vigilance 
 and energy were essential to prosperity or even to a sub- 
 sistence, possible affluence and equally possible penury 
 being separated by narrow chances. The principal condi- 
 tions, natural and artificial, were the height or breadth of 
 the river at its flood and the number and size of canals 
 drawing off water above the region affected. What the 
 possibilities were may be illustrated from modern expe- 
 riences. When the members of the second American
 
 338 MODERN WATER SUPPLY Book X 
 
 exploring expedition to Babylonia reached Hillah, the 
 region of ancient Babylon, on Jan. 2, 1890, they found 
 the bed of the Euphrates at that point nearly dry, after 
 months of drought which had left the river, in its normal 
 course farther up the stream, much lower than usual. I 
 quote from the narrative of Dr. Peters: "The rains which 
 had fallen in the last two weeks had not been sufficient to 
 make good the drought of the summer. What was left of 
 the Euphrates seemed to have deserted its original course 
 almost entirely and poured itself through the Hindieh 
 canal into the Abu Xejm and other marshes." * This 
 canal, which finally merges itself in the Pallakopas of the 
 Greeks (§ 100), runs southwestward from a point about 
 halfway between Babylon and Sippar (§ 94). A later pas- 
 sage gives an instructive explanation. 2 "Since the time 
 of Alexander the Great, if not before, the Hindieh caiial 
 has been a perpetual source of trouble to the rulers of the 
 country. . . . The lay of the land, as already stated, is 
 such that the Euphrates soon showed a tendency to abandon 
 its proper course, and descending by the Hindieh to form 
 great marshes to the west and south of Borsippa. Dam 
 after dam has been erected, and broken. The last dam 
 broke about ten years ago, 3 and by the summer of 188!) 
 the Euphrates had entirely abandoned its proper course. 
 For months, at Hillah and below, the river bed was en- 
 tirely dry. At Babylon the ancient quay of Nebucha- 
 drezzar was exposed in its full extent, and to get water to 
 drink people dug wells at the foot of it. On the other 
 hand, the country to the west of the Euphrates suffered 
 almost as seriously from excessive inundation, a great part 
 of the region being converted into swamps. At the time 
 of my visit the work of restoring the Euphrates to its 
 proper bed had been going on under the direction of 
 French engineers for two years. At a favourable point, 
 where the Euphrates and Hindieh are only a kilometre 
 
 1 Nippur, II, 53. 2 Ibid, II, 335 f. 3 Written apparently ia 1897.
 
 Ch. XIV, § 1294 DRIED-UP RIVER BED 389 
 
 apart, a canal was dug connecting the two. A dam was 
 then erected in the Hindieh for the purpose of forcing one- 
 half of the water back through this canal into the old bed. 
 Contracts were made with the sheikhs of various villages 
 to furnish bricks from the ruins of Babylon. Boats loaded 
 with these bricks and with stones brought from Hit and 
 other points higher up the Euphrates were sunk to make 
 a foundation, and on this was erected a dam of brush, 
 earth, and bricks. The Avork was finally completed after 
 my departure from the country, and I am informed that 
 one-half of the water now descends by the old bed of the 
 river." 
 
 § 1294. Another set of conditions to the east of the 
 Euphrates may be illustrated from the same narrative. 
 A few days later the party crossed the river at Diwanieli, 
 a town west by south of Nippur, and now the most 
 important official post in central Babjdonia. Dr. Peters 
 writes : " At Diwanieh, all was changed since our last 
 visit. There was not a drop of water in the Euphrates, 
 and had not been for six long months. The people drank 
 water from wells dug in the dry bed of the stream. The 
 same condition prevailed in the Affech marshes, 1 we 
 were told. The wells ran dry every few days, so that new 
 ones must be dug. The next day a little stream of water 
 came trickling down the Euphrates, and the whole town 
 turned out to welcome it. . . . It was clear to me that as 
 the water had reached Diwanieh, it must also reach the 
 Affech marshes through the Daghara canal." 2 Two days 
 later Dr. Peters went to Nippur on horseback. Of this 
 stage of his journey he says : " We found all the canals and 
 marshes dried up, and were able to take a straight course 
 to Nippur, making the distance between that and Diwanieli 
 only live hours; something less than fifteen miles. What 
 
 1 To the west and southwest of Nippur, named from the Arab tribo 
 which holds the district; also written Affq, originally Affek. 
 
 J A canal which once ran to Nippur from the, Euphrates, leaving the 
 latter at a point twenty miles below Babylon.
 
 340 RISING OF THE WATERS Book X 
 
 water had come down the Daghara canal had been dammed 
 first by the Daghara Arabs, and then by the Behahtha, 
 and the marshes were as dry as a bone." * During the 
 excavations which followed, the water appeared in its 
 usual beds and canals, partly on account of exceptionally 
 heavy rains. Finally, when the camp broke up in May, 
 nearly all of the party and the workmen with the bag- 
 gage were sent out in boats to Hillah. Peters with a 
 small escort went southeastward by water to visit Ur, 
 Erech, and other famous old sites in southern Babylonia. 
 Of his departure he writes : " We floated down to Hamud- 
 al-Berjud's camp in turadas, 2 through the reeds, in canals so 
 covered with the white ranunculus that one might have 
 fancied snow had fallen. Here we lunched with our three 
 chiefs and took a siesta. In the cool, toward eventide, 
 we started again, and as darkness was falling, landed in 
 front of the magnificent new muthif 3 of Hajji Tarfa, . . . 
 and as we journeyed thither we heard on all sides a chorus of 
 men's voices, working at the dams in the rice fields, for the 
 waters were rising mightily, and the dry and parched 
 land of a few weeks before was like to be turned into one 
 mighty lake." 4 
 
 § 1295. The following resume of the condition of 
 the whole region from the same source may fitly be 
 appended here even at the risk of some repetition : 
 " In ancient days this whole country teemed with a 
 vast population, and was dotted with innumerable cities. 
 . . . Another class of ruins, the ruins of the ancient 
 canals, I have not noticed at all, although they are, if pos- 
 sible, more numerous, more striking, and more character- 
 istic than the ruins of the cities. They run like great 
 arteries through the country, lines of mounds, ten to thirty 
 feet high, stretching in all directions as far as the eye can 
 
 1 See Nippur, II, 60-63. 
 
 2 Round boats used on Babylonian streams and marshes (§ 1305). 
 
 3 The guest house, or, more frequently, hut, of an Arab chief. 
 
 4 Xippur, II, 102. Cf. the vision of rising waters in Ez. xlvii. 1-12.
 
 Ch. XIV, § 12% THE COUNTRY AT PRESENT 341 
 
 reach. Once they carried life-blood to every part of the 
 land, for the life of this country is water. Give it canals 
 and reservoirs and dams, to distribute and control the 
 water supply, as Nebuchadrezzar and other great kings 
 did, and it is capable of supporting, by its enormous produc- 
 tivity, an incredibly large population. Break its dams, 
 choke its canals, and it lapses into poverty and barbarism. 
 Such is its present condition. There is a very scanty popu- 
 lation, largely in the bedouin state. There are few towns, 
 and those without industry or commerce. There is no 
 irrigation except of the rudest sort, close to the river banks ; 
 and the land is alternately inundated and parched. There 
 is no government excepting heavy oppression and irregular 
 bribes and taxes. There is a general state of insecurity. 
 There is not a road in the whole country, and no means of 
 locomotion, and the most primitive and obstructive igno- 
 rance prevails eveiywhere. The first parent of our civil- 
 ization is in his decrepit second childhood, but in the Tigris 
 and Euphrates exists for him a fountain of perpetual youth. 
 Some day water from that fountain will be held to his 
 shrivelled lips, the life-blood will course once more through 
 his atrophied veins and arteries, and he will rise to a new 
 life, strong and vigorous as when in days of yore he begat 
 nations and knowledge together. " 1 
 
 § 1296. It was in the most vigorous and productive 
 age of all the long history of Babylonia that the exiles of 
 Israel were planted within its borders. It was in the 
 eighth year of Nebuchadrezzar that the settlement was 
 made. He was then freed from the embarrassments in 
 east and west which had kept him busy in the beginning 
 of his reign. With all his energy he was devoting himself 
 to the development and enrichment of his empire. Hence 
 his various public works great and small. The captives 
 of his necessary wars must be made to fit into his plan. 
 
 1 Nippur, II. 306. Compare the fine but all too short article, " Euphra- 
 tes," in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. viii, by the late Sir Henry 
 Rawlinson.
 
 342 SITE OF THE CHIEF COLONY Book X 
 
 Hence the Hebrews were placed in the region of the 
 Kebar. The very name of their chief gathering-place, 
 Tel-Abub, 1 is suggestive of the work which they were to 
 undertake. It means the " ruin-mound of the delude." 
 Jt was perhaps "a desolation of many generations," 2 and 
 distinguished among the similar ruined settlements of the 
 country from a supposed association with the great deluge, 
 which was commemorated alike in the traditions of the 
 captive people and in those of the lords of the land. How 
 appropriate was the fate of the exiles, that their life work 
 was to be the repairing of a ruined settlement while their 
 own home was itself in ruins ! 
 
 § 1297. There is another indication that the exiles occu- 
 pied an abandoned district. If the land had been already 
 in a satisfactory state of cultivation, it would have had a 
 population, bond and free, which it would have been folly 
 to extrude for the sake of untrained foreigners. Again, as 
 some of the exiles were apparently men of property, the 
 freeholds which they could most readily acquire were the 
 waste-lands of the country, just as in the present century 
 homesteads have been granted on easy terms to settlers in 
 the United States and Canada. The whole situation thus 
 assumed fits in well with the policy of Nebuchadrezzar. 
 All economical and political considerations would move 
 him to employ the immigrants in such a way as to gradu- 
 ally accustom them to the life and business of the country, 
 without interfering with the possessions of others. 
 
 1 Ezek. iii. 15, usually written, after the slight error of the received 
 Hebrew text, Tel-Abib, and explained as " mound of corn-ears," or 
 '■ Cornbill." But the word is a very common one in the Assyrian litera- 
 ture, though not as the name of a city, just as the phenomenon itself was 
 very usual. The Babylonians did not speak Hebrew ! 
 
 2 The business of restoring waste places, assigned to his fellow-coun- 
 trymen, may have suggested the frequent references to such a task or 
 achievement in the writings of the Second Isaiah ; e.g. Isa. xlix. 10, lviii. 
 12, lxi. 4. Observe also his allusions to the rushing, destructive flood 
 (lix. 19), to the overflowing stream with its enriching waters (xlviii. 18, 
 lxvi. 12), and to the " well-watered garden," in connection with the 
 building up of waste places (lviii. 11).
 
 Ch. XIV, § 1209 LOCAL CANAL SYSTEM 343 
 
 § 1298. To resume : the chief community of the exiles 
 was planted as a crown colony in the centre of Babylonia ; 
 in a temporarily abandoned district ; close to the mound of 
 a noted ruin ; on the edge of a considerable canal not far 
 from the famous old city of Nippur, naturally within its 
 sphere of influence, yet not under its jurisdiction ; and the 
 most important condition of its prosperity was the possi- 
 bility of a good water-supply. 
 
 § 1299. The general distribution of the canal system 
 has already been indicated (§ 1291). A more particular 
 survey of the watercourses of this region will show that its 
 chances were not unfavourable. The Euphrates was not 
 directly the main feeder of its streams. The great source 
 of supply was the Shatt-en-Nil, the most important canal, 
 indeed, of all Babjdonia, because the most central besides 
 being one of the longest. It is sometimes described as 
 having left the Euphrates just above the city, running 
 eastward to the Tigris and sending down a branch as far 
 as Nippur. 1 This, however, can hardly be correct. The 
 canal which thus starts from near Babylon was at first an 
 independent artificial stream, parallel to the S} T stem of 
 interfluvial drainage of North Babylonia above described. 
 Through its importance to the capital and its union with 
 the Shatt-en-Nil proper, it came to be considered the pri- 
 mary source of this great canal, which was really at first an 
 independent branch of the Euphrates, like the Pallakopas. 
 It separated from the main stream near Sippar, running- 
 downward by Nippur, and thence far along beside Erech 
 to the sea, in the days when no dry land lay farther south. 
 We have to think also of other watercourses as supplying 
 the settlement, having the Euphrates as their source, such 
 as the Daghara canal (§ 1294), running east or south from 
 the parent stream. Most probably not one of these, but 
 one derived from the Shatt-en-Nil, and running eastward, 
 was the Kebar. 
 
 1 Sir Henry Rawlin.son, article " Euphrates," in the Encycl. Brit.
 
 344 OPENING OF BRANCH CANALS Book X 
 
 § 1300. The function of the Kebar probably was to ex- 
 tend the water-supply farther out into the barren region 
 that stretched away towards the Tigris. How such 
 streams larger or smaller came to be multiplied is suggested 
 by an entry in the diary of Dr. Peters of March 17, 1889, with 
 regard to this very neighbourhood, Nippur being then the 
 centre of his survey. " Yesterday Harper and I rode out to 
 two small mounds about an hour and a half away to the 
 northeast, called Abu Jo wan or Father of Millstones. . . . 
 There are several large canal beds in the neighbourhood. 
 One we followed westward, but it disappeared about half an 
 hour from Nippur. I think it originally went on and joined 
 the Shatt-en-Nil to the north of the mound. 1 We passed 
 several cross canals on the way. The sand-hills lie to the 
 north and northeast of us ; they are of fine sea-sand, 2 and 
 constantly change shape as blown about by the wind. The 
 Euphrates seems to be rising, and the water is approaching 
 the mound on the north and west.'' 3 In the period of re- 
 construction with which we are concerned, there were, 
 doubtless, also, apart from the Kebar, many old canal beds 
 to be reopened, and, what was of equal consequence, new 
 watercourses had to be dug until the whole country be- 
 came reticulated with them. Not until then could it be 
 permeated with the " water of life." 
 
 § 1301. "When the colony had been quartered in this 
 region, they began to build more permanent dwelling- 
 places. Those of them who soon or later came to have 
 houses of the better class had no need of elaborate brick- 
 making. The chief materials were obtained from the 
 mounds of ruined towns in the neighbourhood ; or a 
 
 1 The great mound, namely, that of Nippur. 
 
 2 This ''sea-sand'' gives the explanation of the arenaceous character 
 of much of the surface of the country. It is brought up in large quanti- 
 ties by the frequent winds from the seashore and the adjacent desert. 
 These winds, by the way, occasion many of the cyclones, which, com- 
 bined with inundations or rain storms, produce a "deluge " (cf. § 1290). 
 
 3 Nippur, I, 258.
 
 Ch. XIV, § 1302 VARIETY OF EMPLOYMENT 345 
 
 lot of sun-dried bricks was ordered from the nearest 
 factory. Most of them as slaves of native planters had, 
 however, to put up with the ordinary simple structure — 
 a hut of reeds matted together with tough marsh-grass 
 and overlaid with bitumen. While shelter was thus being 
 provided, their essential work had already begun. Dams 
 and dikes were created to prevent possible overflows. Old 
 watercourses half choked up were cleaned out, and new 
 ones were started. The soil had also to be prepared in 
 many places, especially on the marshy lands, where the 
 reeds and thick grasses had to be removed by burning. 
 Contrivances for the raising and carrying of water to the 
 fields were also set in place and order before the first grow- 
 ing season had been entered upon. 
 
 § 1302. Such in the main was the early employment 
 of this important section of the exiles. We must not 
 think, however, of these essays as being, to any large 
 extent, independent work. The few who secured estates 
 for themselves hired or bought native labourers, skilled 
 and unskilled. The majority found their places under 
 native overseers. To follow them up further at their 
 work would be to see an extension of the same opera- 
 tions. We should observe the cutting of new aqueducts 
 for lands newly reclaimed from the sand or the marshes, 
 with reservoirs for the needs of the growing population ; and 
 here and there larger streams for towns and villages, with 
 smaller channels planted at the centres of irrigation, divert- 
 ing the water to the separate estates or to fields of grain, 
 or to groves of date-palms. With increasing wants and 
 resources came the adoption and use of various mechanical 
 devices for the conservation, distribution, and regulation 
 of the waters, the sluices, gates, and locks of the canals, 
 the wheels 1 and other contrivances for raising water in 
 smaller quantities and for conveying it to needy places. 
 
 i These water-wheels deserve more than a mere mention. We can 
 judge of them only from modern survivals, but we may be sure that they 
 were employed by the ancients also, though in a far better fashion, since
 
 346 PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT Book X 
 
 § 1803. Thus went on, under the eyes and by the 
 growing skill of the toilers, the regeneration of the district 
 for which they were made so largely responsible. Acres 
 of rich vegetation were yearly added to the productive 
 areas — wheat and sesame indigenous to the country, and 
 abundance of vegetables, particularly of melons and cucum- 
 bers, radishes, leeks, and onions, for which the country was 
 renowned. 1 Palm trees abounded, not like the isolated 
 grove of Jericho, but in long and stately rows wherever 
 the kindly moisture bade them grow and thrive. And not 
 least important were the pasture-grounds, widening out 
 with the expansion of the water-meadow and the tilth. 
 Here were reared the sheep and cattle that now served for 
 food or wealth alone, and not also for sacrifice, and oxen 
 for labour at the plough or the wagon or the water- 
 wheel. 
 
 § 1304. Thus " the desert was rejoicing and blossom- 
 ing like a meadow-flower" (Isa. xxxv. 1), and the exiles 
 still half-enslaved were renewing their life and prosperity. 
 They were now in a goodty land. To north and south, 
 but especially to the west, one looked over smiling fields 
 and meadows of the richest green, and among them here 
 and there the glimmering waters. Only to the east the 
 
 the latter-day inhabitants of the region invent nothing. The great water- 
 wheels (naoura) are used where there is a strong current. Dams are 
 run far out from the bank to raise the level of the stream and so increase 
 the water power. This is used to turn large wheels, often of thirty feet 
 in diameter, made mostly of boughs, with paddles of palm leaves. The 
 wheels are attached to the ends of the dams or piers, and raise the water 
 to a trough, whence it is distributed to the fields of grain or melons, or to 
 tin- gardens along the banks. These wheels impede navigation seriously. 
 The ox water-wheels (jird) are far more common and are used more in 
 canals of lower Babylonia than in the main Euphrates. On a declivity 
 on the bank of the stream, ropes on block-wheels run up and down, hav- 
 ing water-skins attached to them, and being raised and lowered by oxen 
 on the shore. See the illustration in Nippur, 1, 13G, and cf. ibid., p. 154 f. 
 ami 320, and the article " Euphrates" in the Encycl. Brit. 
 
 1 Cf. the list of vegetables and plants — seventy in number — in the 
 garden of Merodach-baladan ; see Delitzsch, Prolegomena, p. 84.
 
 Cu. XIV, § 1305 OCCASIONAL DRAWBACKS 847 
 
 view was of bare and uncultivated steppes. This outlook 
 was an incentive as well as a disappointment. In that 
 spreading waste was the hope of a larger conquest of nature. 
 Yet it suggested to them the presence of enemies. It 
 was not always a time of verdure and fertility. Floods 
 and storms and drought came now and then with desola- 
 tion in their train. During the long months of drought it 
 was the cattle that suffered most severely. Unless driven 
 off from the dried-up marshes and meadows to other pastures 
 near or far, they must perish as they perish frequently in 
 less-favoured modern days. Nor were drawbacks lacking 
 in the best of times. The greed or the carelessness of 
 neighbours or rivals higher up the streams might preempt 
 the water of a whole settlement ; and it was not impossi- 
 ble that dams might be built over night that would dry 
 up the aqueducts for a score of miles below. Always and 
 for all things in this rich and capricious land vigilance 
 and alertness were the first essentials, not on the part of 
 individuals so much as on the part of the whole com- 
 munity who here were committed to common action and 
 mutual helpfulness which their general condition other- 
 wise did not easily evoke. 
 
 § 1305. Such or the like was the chief employment of 
 the Hebrew exiles as rooted in the watercourses which 
 they found or made. But the Babylonian canal was 
 something more than a giver of fertility. It was also a 
 navigable stream, an avenue of commerce and travel. 
 Such was the Kebar, over whose surface boats and barges 
 moved to and from and past Tel-Abub. To some extent, 
 this may from the beginning have given some employment 
 to the exiles; at any rate they were ultimately involved 
 in it with the development of the district, and contrib- 
 uted their quota to the man}- hands required to man and 
 propel the vessels. Thus an essential part of their environ- 
 ment was the river craft familiar to Babylonians, who, 
 from the scarcity of timber, often constructed their ves- 
 sels of lighter materials. Thus there were seen rafts kept
 
 348 CANAL NAVIGATION Book X 
 
 afloat by inflated skins ; 2 or oblong punts, half raft and half 
 wherry, made of hides stretched over willow branches; 2 or 
 round little coracles, the modern turadas ; or canoe-shaped 
 vessels, often attaining to the dignity of barges, either 
 propelled by oars or towed along the shore. 3 
 
 § 1306. There is room for plausible conjecture as to 
 what became of the ''carvers and joiners" (§ 1275) and 
 the artisans in general, who were carried away in the first 
 captivity (2 K. xxiv. 16). Insomuch as the chief demand 
 was for agricultural labourers, it is altogether likely that 
 many of these working-people were drafted off to the canals 
 and the marshes. For the remainder, places would be found 
 in various factories, especially in Babylon (§ 1273). These 
 were naturally kept in bondage, though not necessarily in 
 perpetuity (§ 1280). 4 After a time they would be undis- 
 tinguishable except by name from artisans of Babylonian 
 descent. Their chief disability as Hebrews would be that 
 
 1 Illustrated on the Assyrian monuments. They were used for many 
 purposes and were of various sizes, from the simple structures required 
 t i ferry over one or two passengers, to the larger rafts put together for 
 the transport, in sections, over large rivers, of armies on the march, as 
 by Tiglathpileser I, Asshurnasirpal, and Shalmaneser II. 
 
 2 As described minutely by Herodotus, I, 194. 
 
 3 On the modern streams of Babylonia the most characteristic vessels, 
 besides the tub-like coracles, are the large boats, averaging about thirty 
 feet in length, and made of a wooden frame, over which a thick matting 
 of closely plaited grass or reeds is placed, secured by cords of bulrush, the 
 whole being thoroughly pitched with melted bitumen. At Hit, one hun- 
 dred miles above Babylon, on the Euphrates, there is a ship or boat yard. 
 The process of making is fully described in the diary of Dr. W. H. Ward, 
 of the Wolfe expedition, published in Nippur as an appendix to Vol. I 
 (see p. :157 f., and cf. Peters, ib. I, 101 f.). For modes of navigating the 
 Euphrates and Tigris, cf. Kaulen, Asst/rini und Babylonien, p. 7 ff., where 
 illustrations are given. On the largest streams, but scarcely on the Kebar, 
 were still more capacious vessels, of which the " ark " of the Bible and 
 of the Babylonian Flood story is a projection. 
 
 4 Artisans were usually slaves in all ancient countries where manufac- 
 tures of any extent were carried on. Even the foremen might be slaves. 
 We are familiar with the employment of slaves in Athens as armourers and 
 upholsterers. Naturally, only the masters were members of the guilds.
 
 Ch. XIV, § 1306 OTHER GROUPS OF EXILES 349 
 
 they could not easily mingle with their brethren or take 
 an active part in the affairs of the remnant of Israel. Yet 
 we must not lay too much stress on these disadvantages. 
 After all, the chief factor in the case was loyalty and 
 devotion to the fatherland and its institutions ; and the 
 sequel shows that at length many from all classes of the 
 exiles took part in the restoration of Israel.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE EXILES AS A COMMUNITY 
 
 § 1307. The relations of the settlements to the central 
 government are not definitely known. We can only infer 
 from general allusions in the Bible that in the manage- 
 ment of their affairs as a people they were left pretty 
 much to themselves. The king's officers who directed the 
 march to the banks of the Kebar were replaced there by 
 others, who disposed of the persons of this principal 
 detachment and secured their orderly settlement. There- 
 after royal officers had to exercise a general supervision, 
 make a periodical inspection, and report to the proper 
 department at Babylon, while others collected as regu- 
 larly the inevitable imposts from the landholders and ten- 
 ants of the district. As the settlement was an outgrowth 
 of the policy of Nebuchadrezzar, we may assume that he 
 kept himself informed of its progress. 
 
 § 1308. As everything that concerns the Great King 
 is a matter of biblical interest, it touches us sympatheti- 
 cally to know that this business of canal-making and of 
 reclaiming the soil of his country was one of the things 
 that were nearest his heart. In this he was but following 
 in the path of the most patriotic kings of Assyria and Baby- 
 lonia, who counted it one of their chief titles to honour 
 that they had, by the making and equipment of canals and 
 aqueducts, enriched and blessed their subjects. We are 
 perhaps too apt to regard these ancient kings as mere 
 selfish conquerors, and to forget that much of their time 
 was spent in devising means for the upbuilding of their 
 
 350
 
 Ch. XV, § 1310 THE EXILES AND THE NATION 351 
 
 country by the arts of peace. The very names 1 which 
 they bestowed on the chief watercourses reveal their deep 
 sense of the life-giving properties of the streams, and their 
 gratitude to the gods for their bounty to the land which 
 was held to be their peculiar care. Nor will their piety 
 seem to us superstitious or ridiculous when we remember 
 that these "givers of life" converted into a blessing to 
 the land what else would have been, as it once was and 
 now actually is, a bringer of desolation and death. A 
 principal result of our inquiry accordingly is that we have 
 gained a conception of the living bond of interest between 
 the humble Hebrew husbandmen and the rulers of the land. 
 This goes far to explain the anomaly given in the fact that 
 these exiles survived and prospered in the country of their 
 conquerors for two generations. 
 
 § 1309. For the question of the internal organization 
 of the Hebrews in Babylonia we must confine ourselves to 
 the larger settlements, to which was left the possibility 
 of self-government. And the first thing that strikes us is 
 the fact that in some way from the very beginning the 
 solidarity of the survivors of Israel was maintained. 
 There was no obliteration of any large number at any 
 time. There was communication between the several 
 sections of them when there was need of conference, 
 always of course by the leave of the government officials, 
 who were intolerant only of sedition, and with the con- 
 sent of the employers of their labour. 
 
 § 1310. What, then, was the internal organization of 
 the colony or colonies? Fortunately, we may give at 
 
 1 It is significant of the honour in which these beneficent streams were 
 held that each of them had a name and character of its own. This is 
 shown, for example, by a business inscription published in PCT. IX.. 
 nr. 48 (cf. p. 3G f.), where a single property producing a very 
 moderate rent is described minutely as lying between two canals, one of 
 them bearing the lordly name of Sin, and the other called Shilihtu, or 
 "outflow," a name kindred in form and meaning with the "Shiloali '" of 
 Isa. viii. 6 or the "Siloam" of John ix. 7. Compare the names of the 
 greater aqueducts cited by Delitzsch in Par. p. 187 ff.
 
 352 A SIMPLE GOVERNMENTAL TYPE Book X 
 
 least a general answer. Our preliminary studies as to the 
 development of Hebrew society have shown us how simple 
 and elastic was its fundamental structure. The com- 
 munity that so long maintained itself as a nation in Pal- 
 estine was now reduced to its essential elements; and this 
 was effected directly, not by exile, but by the abolition of 
 the kingdom. We have to eliminate the last two main 
 stages of development. First, we are to conceive the 
 Hebrews in Babylonia as being without king and nobles 
 (536 f.), and next as having discarded the administra- 
 tive divisions with their rulers or princes (§ 530 f.). 
 The doing away with city government is not so cardinal 
 a distinction as it might seem, since the cities were 
 administered virtually on the same principles as the old 
 tribal communities, that is, by the "elders" and the 
 family chiefs (§ 486). And these are just the functiona- 
 ries whom we find referred to in the meagre records of 
 the time and people. 
 
 § 1311. That a great deal of social confusion prevailed 
 in the earlier days of the colony must be taken for granted. 
 It was the reerection of a community, the formation of a 
 new and unique social organism, that then went on. 
 But here, again, we must not exaggerate the difficulties 
 or suppose that the changes amounted to a social revolu- 
 tion. In the large first deportation very many, perhaps 
 most, of the families were left intact — not so much in 
 the interest of the people affected, as for the benefit of the 
 land to be cultivated. And where the old heads of the 
 family groups and clans did not survive, new ones were 
 readily chosen, the very disorder of the settlement making 
 a choice imperative. The elders also would take their 
 places, as in the times of old, by obvious merit, some 
 simply holding over from the Palestine days, and others 
 being newly elected. Hence, we find that in 591 B.C. 
 elders act in a full representative capacity (Ez. viii. 1; 
 xiv. 1; xx. 1). So much autonomy, indeed, was granted 
 to the community, and so great was the influence of the
 
 Ch. XV, § 1312 AN IDEAL OF ROYALTY 353 
 
 heads of the people, that we find some few of them early 
 in the history of the colony planning sedition and able to 
 (•any their measures to the danger-point (cf. § 1169). 
 
 § 1312. On the whole, then, the Hebrew society held 
 well together in exile. The fidelity with which the 
 family records and genealogies were kept was both cause 
 and effect of this social survival. There is no doubt that 
 there were leading men who exercised a strong moral 
 influence, and perhaps direct supervision, not merely in 
 their own several communities, but over the exiles as a 
 whole. Naturally, these had a recognized civil position, 
 and were not merely great prophets or priests, like Eze- 
 kiel. A singular evidence of persistent loyalty and patri- 
 otism is the figure of the king or "prince " : as head of the 
 nation, which was kept before the minds of the people all 
 through the captivity, until at length the dream was, in 
 a measure, realized in the person of Sheshbazzar and 
 Zerubbabel (Ezra i. ff.). It was out of the question, 
 however, that there could be any sort of magisterial head- 
 ship to the exiles as a whole, this office being purely 
 theoretical and ideal. 
 
 1 For the period of the Exile itself, notice the usage of Ez. xlv. 7 ff. and 
 xlvi. 2 ff., and cf. vii. 27, xii. 10. The two passages last-named are inter- 
 esting as showing how the language of Ezekiel was influenced by his sur- 
 roundings. In Assyrian the word for "king" (Harm) is Hebrew for 
 "prince," and the word for "prince" (malku) Hebrew for "king." 
 Compare the play on the words in Isa. x. 8. 
 
 2 a
 
 Book XI 
 HEBREWS, CHALDEANS, AND PERSIANS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 MORALS AND RELIGION OF ISRAEL IN EXILE 
 
 § 1313, What next concerns us is the progress of 
 the exiles in their new home. Here we must narrow 
 somewhat the scope of our inquiry. What was formerly 
 most important to Israel now becomes more vital and 
 significant than ever. That for which Israel was born 
 (Isa. xliv. 1 f., 21, 24; cf. xliii. 7), made into a nation, 
 and honoured with the divine favour and love (Isa. xli. 
 8 f . ; xliii. 3 f.), is now to be made alone conspicuous. 
 All else that marked Israel as a people — everything that 
 was political and secular, and even what was officially 
 religious — was now stripped off. Only "Israel" itself 
 was left, to test the voluntary principle pure and simple 
 in religion and morals. 
 
 § 1314. To the making of the new Israel the exter- 
 nal conditions contributed mightily. We naturally think 
 first of the influence exercised upon the exiles by their 
 plrysical environment. How different from the old sur- 
 roundings was all that now met the eye! In the land 
 of Judah hills and valleys formed the constant outlook. 
 Almost the only plains were the bottoms of mountain 
 gorges. The only streams were mountain brooks, or the 
 deep-running Jordan, whose overflow went to the profit of 
 
 354
 
 Ch. I, §1315 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT 355 
 
 reeds and jungles, and which lost itself in a lake of salt. 
 It was, after all, a poor country, in spite of its vine-clad 
 slopes and its olive-crowned heights — a land best fitted 
 for humble shepherd folk with small flocks of small cattle 
 and a hand-to-mouth subsistence. Here they beheld an 
 illimitable plain, almost a dead level. Yet it had not the 
 dull uniformity of the great desert which in the old land 
 they had seen from afar, and which they had just traversed 
 for many a weary mile. A naked plain, unrelieved by 
 nature's kindly green or the incidental gatherings of 
 human kind would have been intolerable, and would have 
 tended to the degeneration and not to the regeneration of 
 Israel.. Even as it was, the aspect of the new land must, 
 by unconscious contrast, have brought many a tear to 
 homesick exiles, as they looked westward over the river 
 and the Arabian waste and fancied that they saw in some 
 sunset mirage the mountains that were round about Jeru- 
 salem. But the land of their banishment, level as it was, 
 proved to be the very reverse of monotonous. Wherever 
 they looked, to north or west or south, they beheld the 
 mounds of cities great and small, the homes or the monu- 
 ments of multitudes of men. Nor was there lack of 
 variety in physical features. What the mountains and 
 valleys were to Palestine the rivers and canals were to 
 Babylonia. Nay, they were ever so much more; for they 
 were the source and the chosen symbols of such wealth 
 and prosperity as the exiles had never seen or imagined. 
 § 1315. The effect of such an environment upon the 
 new inhabitants was unique and profound. Insensibly 
 they adjusted themselves to their surroundings, and 
 gained from them deep and lasting impressions. One. 
 sphere of observation was of special importance In the 
 home-land the Hebrews had no conception of imperialism 
 except from the effects upon themselves or their neigh- 
 bours of the power of a real empire. Nationality, in 
 the larger sense, was impossible in Palestine because 
 the country was physically so broken and diversified.
 
 356 LARGER POLITICAL CONCEPTIONS Book XI 
 
 Here, on the far-stretching plain, tribes and cities were 
 welded together, and from the unified kingdom as a centre 
 a levelling and combinatory influence had gone forth over 
 almost all the known world. The distinction between a 
 people and a nation, hardly possible to them before, now 
 became quite familiar, and there grew within them a 
 sense of the ineffectiveness of the squabbling communi- 
 ties among which they had run their career as compared 
 with the empire into whose centre they were flung. 
 
 § 1316. Another and an analogous mental departure of 
 vital moment was induced by the thought of their own polit- 
 ical history as contrasted with the growth of the colossal 
 world-kingdom. Always loyal to their country's destiny 
 in the past, always ambitious and sanguine, the slightest 
 revival of patriotic hope now brought to them visions of a 
 dominion not like to the narrow domain of the kings of 
 Israel and Judah, but like to that of the king of kings. 
 At least the controlling minds among the people were 
 influenced by such associations, which, to be sure, acted 
 in any case but slowly and subtly. 
 
 § 1317. We are more particularly concerned, in the 
 meantime, with the causes which promoted obviously the 
 advancement of the people as a whole. To get any in- 
 telligent notion of their progress we should have to con- 
 sider these causes as operating during a series of years or 
 during the lifetime of the first generation of the exiles. 
 Recalling what was said of the purpose for which the 
 exiles were planted beside the Kebar, we perceive that 
 their very emplojunent there contributed to make them 
 a community such as they had not been in Palestine. 
 There the chief unifying bonds had been governmental 
 and ceremonial. Both of these were now seriously 
 impaired by reason of the destruction of the kingdom and 
 of the temple (§ 1313). It was only a new social era 
 that could offer similarity of occupation to any large 
 section of the people. And here most of the shepherds, 
 the vine-dressers, and the olive-growers became tillers
 
 Cii. 1, § 1320 EMPLOYMENTS AND MORALS 357 
 
 of the soil, like those to the manner born. The nearer 
 view which we have gained of Babylonian agriculture 
 ( § 1301 ff.) shows how it could become a factor of prime 
 order in the development of character. 1 
 
 § 1318. In our studies of the inner development of 
 Israel one conclusion stood out with special prominence. 
 Apart from influences of belief and worship it was the 
 habit of life, the social environment, and the daily avoca- 
 tions, that were the great determining moral factors. The 
 good and evil of the common life of the Hebrews in Pal- 
 estine before the Exile were educed very largely through 
 the stress and strain of social antagonisms through the 
 relations of the master and the slave, of the creditor and 
 the debtor, of the landed proprietor and the labourer, of 
 the judge and the suitor (§ 571 ff.). We are now in a 
 position to illustrate these observations by comparison 
 with the new conditions in Babylonia. 
 
 § 1319. In considering the employments of the exiles 
 in their adopted home (§ 1290 ff.) we have learned 
 that their occupation brought them into contact with a 
 system of business vast in itself and having many con- 
 nections. Thus not only was a new direction given 
 to their practical energies, but their work was uniform, 
 involving cooperation and minimizing conflicting inter- 
 ests. Moreover, this occupation was the main source of 
 the national wealth of Babylonia itself, and the perma- 
 nent calling of most of the inhabitants, consolidating 
 their industrial and social life, and limiting their internal 
 movements. The contrast with the conditions of the old 
 life in Palestine, and especially in Judah, is obvious and 
 need not be exhibited at length. The moral consequences 
 of the change were effected somewhat as follows. 
 
 § 1320. According to the testimony of the prophets, 
 Israel was being inwardly and outwardly ruined by three 
 great causes connected with the moral life of the people. 
 
 1 Cf. Peiser, Keilschriftliche ActenstUcke aua babylonischen Stadten 
 
 (1889), p. viii f.
 
 358 MORAL EDUCATION OE BUSINESS Book XI 
 
 These were sins of sensual indulgence, of cruelty and 
 oppression, of treachery and falsehood. Of these the last 
 sort of evil was most pervasive and dangerous, because it 
 was involved in and promoted by the other two classes. 
 But it was. in a sense, encouraged by the habits and tra- 
 ditions of the business life characteristic of the age and 
 country. Industrial and commercial morality is a neces- 
 sary step in the moral evolution of any community, and no 
 considerable state has ever been sound and en during with- 
 out it (§ 990). Lying and cheating in sale and barter are 
 universal in small communities everywhere. They are 
 checked, in some degree, where the number of partici- 
 pants in the various lines of business is large enough to 
 make covenant-breaking expensive and dangerous, and 
 where the defrauding of the poor or weak by the rich or 
 powerful would throw the wheels of commerce out of 
 gear. Lying is so natural, easy, and apparently profit- 
 able, that where the religious motive is wanting, it is 
 abated only when and where it becomes unpleasant to the 
 liar. In earlier society nearly all morality being social. 
 the practice of honesty, slowly and preeminently gaining 
 ground and becoming an understood necessity in public 
 and business transactions, Avas recognized at first in the 
 courts of the local judges, and was at length made the basis 
 of statutory law. In Israel, which had the additional 
 sanction of the religion of Jehovah, and of legislation, 
 more or less practical, given in his name, honesty never 
 became the general practice, either in private or public 
 life, till after the prophetic era (§ 953, 970). Social 
 integrity being alien to the community as a whole and to 
 the ruling classes, the prophets, who never succeeded in 
 any case in breaking the force of social custom, put their 
 protest on record and left the case with Jehovah. Their 
 vindication and the enforcement of their lessons came in 
 the strangest fashion. Where precept upon precept and 
 line upon line had failed, their people were taught by men 
 of strange lips and of another tongue (Isa. xxviii. 10 f.).
 
 Cu. I, § 1322 PROPERTY AND MORALITY 359 
 
 s; 1321. Wherever there is landed property there is a 
 potential germ of business morality, since security in the 
 possession and transfer of such property is the foundation of 
 settled life. Accordingly, we find that while oppression, 
 treachery, and fraud were still rife in Judah, ample legal 
 safeguards were thrown around the titles to real estate. 
 Thus, immediately before the final captivity a contract 
 was formally made in duplicate, signed and sealed, and 
 subscribed by witnesses, which provides for the sale of a 
 small portion of land near Jerusalem (Jer. xxxii. ; cf. 
 § 122.3). The terms employed suggest that the usages in 
 detail were borrowed from Babylonian procedure. But 
 this indirect allusion to the judicial forms of the great 
 commercial community gives but a faint suggestion of the 
 minute and careful provision that was made in Babylonia 
 for the guarding of the rights of the parties to any busi- 
 ness transaction whatever. 1 
 
 § 1322. Among the cuneiform records, the so-called 
 contract tablets are the most numerous. They represent 
 a period of over two thousand years, and are numbered 
 literally by thousands. 2 Those of them which have been 
 
 1 We have the testimony of Nicolaus of Damascus (in Mailer's Frag- 
 menta Historicorum Gfrcecorum, Fr. 131) that the Babylonians "practise 
 straightforwardness" (do-KoOct euduT-qra) : quoted by Rawlinson, KM. 
 "Fourth Monarchy," eh. iii. 
 
 - What has been published of business documents is only a small part 
 of those already excavated. To the publications mentioned in note to § 422 
 are to be added: Strassmaier's Babyl. Texte continued, containing inscrip- 
 tions of the reigns of Nebuchadrezzar. Cyrus, Cambyses, an. I Darius I 
 (1889-1893); PCT. IX (1898) by Hilprecht and Clay: business docu- 
 ments from Nippur of the time of Artaxerxes T. The last named is of 
 great palaeographic value. It also contains transliterated and trait-, 
 specimens, and a concordance of proper names, with an introduction. 
 For the general reader the most instructive discussions are those of 
 Kohler and Peiser in Babyl. Vortrage and in a series of essays issued by 
 them (1890 ff.) in which, among nth,.]- things, an attempt is made to show 
 that many of the ideas of Roman law proceed from Babylonia. Frag- 
 ments of old Babylonian laws of the age of Chammurabi are published and 
 translated with commentary by Meissner in BA. III. 493-523. KB. IV, 
 Texte juridischen vmi geschaftlichen Tnhalts, is a selection "f documents
 
 360 LAW AND USAGE OF CONTRACTS Book XI 
 
 most studied and are best understood belong to the Chal- 
 dgean epoch, with which we are now occupied, and the 
 early Persian immediately following. Taken altogether 
 they bear telling testimony to the antiquity, permanence, 
 and complexity of the Babylonian business and juridical 
 systems. A few points may be instanced to show what 
 the Hebrews had to learn in adapting themselves to the 
 necessities of settled life in their eastern home. Notice, 
 on the one side, the entire absence of any system of credit 
 in ancient Israel. A debt was the sign of helpless pov- 
 erty (cf. § 575). If interest was to be paid, it was apt to 
 be ruinous usury, so that all taking of interest was for- 
 bidden by the lawgivers. The only kind of security for 
 a loan was the giving of a pledge, either by the debtor or 
 by a friend in his behalf. The non-payment of a debt 
 involved, as a rule, the enslavement of the debtor or his 
 children. These semi-barbarous conditions were naturally 
 both effect and cause of social instability (§ 584 ff.). 
 
 § 1323. Now let us turn to Babylonian rule and pro- 
 cedure. Among this people the primitive conception that 
 the creditor had a claim upon the person of the debtor, 
 while leaving traces in the current forms of stipulation, 1 
 was superseded by the view that the creditor was entitled 
 simply to the money due, along with interest or a fine for 
 persistent non-payment. The borrower or debtor might 
 have a credit with an agent who could settle on his behalf. 
 On these principles there was developed a system of finan- 
 cial concerns, which to a commercial agency added the 
 essential functions of our modern banks. Extraordinary 
 care was taken to secure from any subsequent claim the 
 
 of all periods transliterated and translated by the competent hand of 
 Peiser. Along with them should be read the treatise of V. Marx, " Die 
 Stellung der Frauen in Babylonien " in MA. IV, 1-77 (1899) with remarks 
 appended by Delitzsch. L. Demuth and E. Ziemer give transliterations 
 and translations with notes of one hundred texts of the times of Cyrus 
 and Cambyses in BA. Ill, 393-492 (1898). See also Sayce, Babylonians 
 and Assyrians, Life and Customs (1899), chs. vi and vii. 
 1 See Kohler in Peiser's Babylonische Vorlrdge, p. xxxiv.
 
 Ch. I, § 1324 CHARACTER OF LOCAL BUSINESS 361 
 
 debtor once freed from legal obligation. The rate of 
 interest, usually twenty per cent per annum, was fixed 
 if not by law at least by usage. It was slightly greater 
 than that of Athens in the time of Demosthenes. With- 
 drawal from bargains, and business agreements generally, 
 was made a matter of peculiar hardship. Nothing speaks 
 more clearly for the business seriousness of this great 
 people than the formal deprecation of bad faith by the 
 parties to any sort of contract. In earlier times the curse 
 of the gods was denounced upon the covenant-breaker. 
 Later, a binding statement was frequently added in the 
 instrument to the effect that the agreement would not be 
 reversed. When, however, the contract was for any 
 reason annulled, the dissident party paid at a fixed rate 
 of interest for his release. The strict observance of 
 these principles contributed as much as anything else 
 to the maintenance of Babylonian domestic institutions 
 through all political and dynastic changes. 
 
 § 1324. Babylonia being an agricultural country, a large 
 proportion of these business documents are deeds of sale 
 or notes of hand relative to products of the soil. Corn, 
 dates, date-wine, and onions are mentioned with special 
 frequency. Very often a tenant paj-s the rent of his land 
 in kind, according to a minute specification of the amount 
 made in advance of the harvest. Sometimes there is merely 
 an obligation to furnish a certain quantity of food or drink 
 at a stated time. Cattle also figure in the contracts. A 
 plantation may be mortgaged as security for the payment 
 of a certain amount of its yield during a given year. Cul- 
 tivated and waste lands on the banks of a canal are leased 
 for a long term of years 1 with the buildings erected there- 
 upon. Trained oxen with their implements of irrigation 
 are hired, 2 along with a quantity of barley-seed. 
 
 1 Sixty years in PCT. IX, nr. 48 (§ 130s. note , 
 
 2 By three brothers for three years in PCT. IX, nr. 49, transliterated 
 
 and translated, p. 39.
 
 362 SLAVES AS APPRENTICES Book XI 
 
 § 1325. Such was the school for business training 
 afforded to the Hebrews in captivity, as the}- gradually 
 adapted themselves to their new surroundings and their 
 proper employments, as they became assimilated in outward 
 conditions to the native population, and began to compete 
 successfully with those rivals when their business standing 
 was once established. Their submission to those exacting 
 requirements which for ages had closed the way to every 
 talent except energy and educated skill, and had made 
 difficult the acquiring of sudden wealth or unlawful 
 gain, was itself a priceless and essential moral discipline. 
 We must think of them not as unwilling guests or as tran- 
 sient occupants of the land, but as having at length fol- 
 lowed the saving counsel of their martyred friend, to seek 
 homes for themselves in the country of their exile, and to 
 aid in its development and prosperity (§ 1168). 
 
 § 1326. A decisive change in the condition of most of 
 the exiles was made when they passed from slavery into 
 freedom. The system of Babylonian slavery was, as we 
 have seen, favourable to such an attainment. Special 
 features seem to have been particularly helpful : for in- 
 stance, the custom of apprenticing slaves for a fixed term 
 of years to masters of one trade or another (§ 1280). The 
 conditions were specified with great exactness, with a 
 heavy fine for either party who should break the agree- 
 ment. 1 We learn from this usage how the owner was eager 
 to increase the value to himself of his human property. 
 
 1 An instructive Babylonian contract of the time of Cyrus — the contin- 
 uation of the social regime now under consideration — is explained by 
 Demuth in BA. iii, 418 f. A certain lady binds over her slave to a 
 master-weaver for the term of five years, she to feed and clothe the appren- 
 tice during that period. If the master fails to teach hi in properly within 
 this time, he is to make good the deficiency by paying what the slave 
 would otherwise have earned by his toil. A half-mina (about $22) is 
 tin' penalty on either side for breach of the contract. Similar docu- 
 ments are published (ibid. p. 420-422) relating to apprenticeship to other 
 occupations, one of which is that of a stone-cutter, the term in this 
 instance being four years.
 
 Ch. I, §1328 RESTRICTIONS AND LIMITS 363 
 
 But the advantages to the slave were equally evident. 
 Among these were the chances of his bettering his estate 
 after he should become master of the trade. 
 
 § 1327. We may thus see in the business and juridi- 
 cal systems of the Babylonians a moral agent of great 
 value, working gradually but surely among the exiles, 
 promoting their self-respect and ambition, and their 
 advancement generally. That we may better estimate 
 its actual influence, certain observations should be made 
 at this point. First, all classes of the colonists were not 
 equally benefited by these Babylonian institutions. The 
 sequel shows that while many Hebrews rose to influence 
 and dignity very many also remained dependent or ser- 
 vile. It was apparently this class that furnished most of 
 the population of Jerusalem under the Persians. Again, 
 such a moral education must be conceived of as affecting 
 the Hebrews not merety during the Babylonian but in the 
 Persian period. Certainly the most substantial of the 
 Hebrew people remained in Babylonia after the conquest 
 by Cyrus, and it was they who gave to the restored Jew- 
 ish community for the first two centuries its moral as well 
 as material backing. 
 
 § 1328. Further, while such moral improvement as 
 was effected by Babylonian influence was indispensable to 
 the progress of Israel, the influence thus extended was not 
 of itself a thorough-going instrument of reform. Veracity 
 and honesty in business are rather an essential stage or 
 condition in the saving of a people than a means of its sal- 
 vation. The followers of Confucius are, it is true, much 
 more likely to be christianized than those of Mohammed, 
 for the reason that moral teaching pure and simple is better 
 than theological teaching pure and simple; but the moral- 
 ity of the Confucian theory and practice has not saved 
 China morally. What Israel learned from Babylonia 
 helped it towards larger and truer views of the practical 
 duties of life, and a wider and juster conception of the 
 world and of its own place in the world's future. Beyond
 
 364 THE SIX OF LICENTIOUSNESS Book XI 
 
 this, as a moral environment, its educative influence was 
 not directly beneficial. 
 
 § 1329. How then were the exiles otherwise affected 
 by what they saw and heard in Babylonia? There were 
 certain Babylonian institutions noxious in themselves 
 which yet afforded a wholesome discipline to the Hebrew 
 aliens. These were vitally bound up with the religion 
 of the country, and they told upon the religious as well 
 as the moral sentiments of the colonists. This twofold 
 relation was at once the danger and the safeguard of 
 Israel. The chief sources of peril were sexual immorality 
 and idolatry. Within the sphere of the latter, as being 
 closely akin to false worship, we may include magical 
 superstition for which Babylonia was notorious, and which 
 had already played a part in Hebrew social and religious 
 history ( § 858, 1199). 
 
 § 1330. Israel's chief safeguard against licentiousness 
 was the religion of Jehovah. It was so foreign to the 
 community of Jehovah's people that unchaste men and 
 women were called " strange " or illegitimate. This 
 notion was intensified by the direct encouragement and 
 patronage of sexual indulgence by the most influential 
 of foreign religions. The true religious teachers in Israel 
 also made it a social evil as being a sin against one's neigh- 
 bour (Ex. xx. 17). Sexual vice is generally but little re- 
 strained except when it is held to be not merely wrong but 
 irreligious. Neither regard for the interests of society, nor 
 philosophical reasoning as to its essential hurtfulness, can 
 greatly avail anywhere against the impetuosity of passion. 
 There is in truth but one all-sufficient and universal reason 
 why unchastity is wicked — that it is a form of selfishness, 
 and always involves a disregard of the rights of our fellow- 
 beings. Even the least frequent offender must fairly 
 admit that one at least of the participants is degraded or 
 depreciated. This of necessity involves a lack of chivalry 
 on the part of the other, and finally his moral self- 
 surrender. But it is only under the influence direct or
 
 Ch. I, §1332 CHECKS AGAINST ADULTERY 305 
 
 indirect of religion that a saving regard for our fellow- 
 mortals is awakened and maintained. We may ascribe 
 such regard to a " religion of humanity " when we will. 
 But in the history of human society the restraining 
 power has been found at its strongest and purest in the 
 religion of the Bible. Proof is furnished by the career 
 of the Hebrew people themselves. That unchastity was 
 very prevalent in Israel up to the Exile is shown partly 
 by the testimony of protesting prophets (as far as Ez. 
 xxxiii. 26) and partly by the prevalence of "strange" 
 religious rites of which such a form of immorality was 
 an essential and constant feature (cf. Dent, xxiii. 18). 
 After the Exile, when the noxious cults had ceased to 
 prevail, little complaint is heard. 
 
 § 1331. At least one form of immorality was guarded 
 against with special care by the Babylonians. Adultery 
 on the part of the wife was, from the days of the earliest 
 to those of the latest legislation, punished with death, yet 
 desertion of the wife by the husband entailed merely the 
 payment of a reasonable money compensation. 1 There 
 was also a certain discrimination in old Hebrew law, 
 according to which an adulterer was not punished for 
 the offence against his own wife, but for that against the 
 injured husband (see Deut. xxii. 22 ff.). Indeed, there 
 was not much theoretical difference in this sphere of juris- 
 prudence throughout the ancient East. All the more 
 emphasis must accordingly be laid upon the moral and 
 religious training of the chosen people. 
 
 § 1332. Wifely fidelity was thus well conserved in 
 Babylonia. But, on the other hand, prostitution was 
 
 'SeeVR. 25, 1-7 ab (AL», p. L31) for early Babylonian usage (cf. 
 Delitzsch in BA. IV, 85 f.), and Eor the time of Nebuchadrezzar II. Bee 
 
 the raarriag* ntracl published by Strassmaier, and explained by Marx. 
 
 BA. IV. 7. In the former instance the unfaithful wife was to be thrown 
 into a river or canal, and the husband to pay a half-mina of silver ; in the 
 latter the wife was to be slain with an iron dagger, and the husband to pay 
 six silver minas.
 
 366 BABYLONIAN PROSTITUTION Book XI 
 
 extensive and fashionable. In the first place, it was indi- 
 rectly but greatly promoted by the social system. One of 
 the most numerous classes of the contract tablets are the 
 marriage covenants, 1 in which the principal matter is the 
 settlement of the amount of the dowry with strict engage- 
 ments for its payment under carefully stipulated penalties 
 in view of possible withdrawal. Marriage was thus sel- 
 dom a matter of sentiment. The consequences in the 
 depreciation of female virtue were what they have been 
 everywhere else where marriage has been made a con- 
 venience. Again, in the cities of Babylonia prostitution 
 was encouraged by a religious sanction, which also gave 
 countenance and character to the usage, even when it 
 was carried on professionally and publicly 2 apart from 
 the associations of religion. But when such indulgences 
 took the aspect of sacrifices to the goddess of Nature 
 (cf. § 1188 f.), they were immensely promoted by official 
 patronage. The fees received by the female votaries as 
 servant-maids of their respective temples were handed 
 over to the sacred treasury and augmented the priestly 
 revenues. It has. indeed, been general^ believed upon 
 the statement of Herodotus that every Babylonian woman 
 was obliged once in her life to appear in the temple of 
 Ishtar and play the role of the professional votary of the 
 goddess. 3 But a slight acquaintance with Babylonian life 
 would show an}- one the absurdity of this belief. Such 
 
 1 See especially Marx in BA. IV, 13-39. 
 
 - Those who pursued their vocation on the public streets (see V R. 25, 
 7, 8, cd) were still regarded as sacred prostitutes, just as in the instance 
 recorded in Gen. xxxviii. 14 ff. , where the fee of a kid indicates the asso- 
 ciation with the impure goddess (cf. Dillmannonv. 17). From the two 
 following lines in V R. it would seem that such persons were eligible for 
 marriage. The word used is the same as that in Gen. xxxviii. 21 (see 
 § 1190). But all the names applied to prostitutes in Assyrian, unlike the 
 Hebrew rmr, were given to them in their character of religious devotees. 
 
 3 See Her. I, 199. It may seem strange that Herodotus, who had been 
 in Babylon, could have been so grossly deceived. But he was not allowed 
 (as an alien) to visit the interior of the shrines (I, 183), and indeed he 
 has very little to say of the sacred mysteries generally.
 
 Ch. I, § 1334 A MORAL REVULSION 367 
 
 compulsory degradation is inconsistent with what we know 
 of the position accorded to woman in Babylonia. The 
 assertion has not a particle of monumental evidence to 
 support it. 1 But that it had credence in its time serves 
 to show how far the custom of which it was a carica- 
 ture had been carried in wealthy, luxurious, and devout 
 Babylonia. 
 
 § 1333. Of such abuses the Hebrews had known enough 
 and more in the home-land (§ 1190). But their point 
 of view was now different, and the system itself was not 
 the same. For although the indulgence of lust in the 
 name of religion was sometimes permitted at local shrines, 
 or even in the central sanctuary, the practice was thought 
 of by the people at large as either a phase or an abuse of 
 the national worship. Here, however, it appeared to be 
 the direct outgrowth of an alien religion, a religion, more- 
 over, which flaunted itself everywhere as the badge and 
 boast of their conquerors. The system came to be a direct 
 demonstration of the baleful effect of the worship of alien 
 gods, since in Babylonia immorality seemed to be made 
 the special property of the state and of the state religion. 
 
 § 1334. Such a wholesome revulsion of sentiment was 
 in its measure both cause and effect of an inward revolt 
 against the Babylonian religion, which led finally to a 
 renunciation of non-Israelitish worship generally. For the 
 Hebrews in Palestine were still followers of Jehovah, even 
 while they joined in the political recognition of the su- 
 premacy of the gods of Assyria and Babylonia or had resort 
 in times of extreme distress to Canaanitic superstition 
 (§ 1183). Above all, their daily life in the home-land had 
 been largely made up of religious usages whose dominant 
 motive was the acknowledgment of Jehovah by prayer 
 and sacrifice. Here not only the objects but the forms 
 and modes of worship were entirely changed. They saw 
 
 1 On the contrary, many extant contracts imply freedom from such 
 reproach on the part of those offered in marriage.
 
 308 THE WORD OF PROPHECY Book XI 
 
 the religion of their conquerors enthroned in its undis- 
 puted realm. They were unable either to understand or 
 to participate in its complicated ritual; and were at the 
 same time cut off from that observance of their own rites 
 and ceremonies, which had been the habit, and, with all 
 its abuses, the inspiration of their lives. 
 
 § 1335. Strictly speaking, we must regard the condi- 
 tions just spoken of as not causes but occasions. The 
 main influence was still as ever the prophetic teaching. 
 And even now, had prophetic direction been absent, those 
 very impressions would have led not to an exclusive faith 
 in Jehovah, but to a state of practical godlessness, which 
 would ultimately have resulted in an absorption into the 
 Chaldaean religion. But here everything favoured the 
 cause of the nation's true God. The testimony of his 
 advocates in the past was on record. The gathered litera- 
 ture of Israel, which now at length came to have a sacred 
 character as the relic and symbol of a national hope and 
 purpose, appealed to minds and consciences which were 
 formerly closed to it through perversion or indifference. 
 What struck most powerfully was that which was most 
 relevant. The protests against idolatry, the denunciations 
 and appeals of Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah, the com- 
 mands and proclamations of Deuteronomy (vi. 4 ; vii. 9), 
 now fell upon attentive ears ; and along with the written 
 went the living word proclaimed by the living voice. 
 
 § 133G. The preachers were, in the first generation of 
 the Exile, disciples of Jeremiah with Ezekiel himself and his 
 followers. In the second period others came forward, of a 
 new and larger school (§ 1401 ff.). And never did preach- 
 ers have a better text. The labourers at the close of the 
 day, wearied by servile toil, and sore with the galling sense 
 of loss and a broken destiny, were in themselves a challenge 
 to the prophets to take up their parable. 1 The whole situa- 
 
 1 Notice that in Ezekiel the exiles are represented as being willing to 
 listen to the words of the prophet, though at first they would give no heed 
 (iii. 7) and complained that he spoke in figures (xx. 49). Significantly
 
 Ch. I, § 1337 JEHOVAH IN BABYLONIA 369 
 
 tion compelled inquiry. The supreme calamity had fallen. 
 The earlier captives were not restored as had been hoped, 
 and the coup de grace had been given to their country 
 in the captivity of their brethren. They were given leave 
 to live in a strange land ; but nearly all that made life 
 worth the living was gone, — home and the home-land, the 
 scenes and associations of earlier life, temple, altars, the 
 very means and motive of religion. It became a question 
 whether indeed they had or had ever had a God worthy of 
 their regard. The gods of Babylonia might be monstrous 
 and strange, but they were at least gods that could help 
 their followers. What had Jehovah done for his people 
 in their hour of need ? 
 
 § 1337. This dilemma was the opportunity of the proph- 
 ets, who had now become pastors and watchmen for souls 
 (Ez. ii. 17 ff. ; xxxiii. 2 ff.). The case of the common man 
 was this. He had thought of his Jehovah as a god of 
 Israel not merely in the national but in the local sense. 
 Even the first band of exiles, in expecting restoration to 
 Palestine (§ 1169), looked forward to coming again under 
 his direct protection. After the second captivity the 
 whole colon}- thought of Jehovah as still being in Pales- 
 tine, where indeed an attempt was made to continue his 
 worship (§ 1244). But this was a vague and dishearten- 
 ing belief. Their teachers must now make them know 
 and feel that their own God was in Babylonia, indeed more 
 really in Babylonia than in Judah. But could it be so ? 
 Could a deity dwell where he could not be worshipped, on 
 an alien and hostile soil? Yes, he dwells wherever his 
 presence is felt. And he could prove his presence first of 
 all through the sense of his power. But if he had been 
 as powerful as the gods of Babylon, would his people have 
 been vanquished and exiled? This was the old inveterate 
 enigma, and now was the time t<> resolve it. Yes, for 
 
 they are described just after the fall of Jerusalem as being stirred by his 
 words and eager to !>• ar more of them | xxxiii. :]0 f.) while the prospect 
 
 of impressing them finally is more favourable (v. 33).
 
 370 JEHOVAH'S CLAIMS VINDICATED Book XI 
 
 what if he had chosen to let his people be conquered and 
 even dragged away from their own and his own land into 
 this very region of the earth ? Did he not do so ? This 
 present captivity was foretold by a succession of his pro- 
 fessed spokesmen, whose authority was now vindicated 
 by the event. One decisive step further was taken, in 
 some such fashion as this : " Might not such a God, who 
 evidently has an interest in Babylonia, wield some power 
 also in Babylonia, or possibly even over Babylonia ? Surely. 
 Did not Jeremiah, whom we thought a fanatic and a traitor, 
 always say that Nebuchadrezzar was the servant of 
 Jehovah, to do his work in our punishment and banish- 
 ment? So far, at least, he spoke truth. Here we are, 
 as he foretold, without our temple, our altars, our vine 
 and fig trees. But Jeremiah said, and Ezekiel says, 
 that this is only part of his work, that in the fulness of 
 time, but not at once, He will restore us to our land 
 and our city. We have been forced to believe the 
 harder part of the prediction. Perhaps the easier part 
 may also come to pass. But only so if our God is 
 here with us." 
 
 § 1338. By some such reasonable process the sense of 
 the truth of things spread in ever widening circles. And 
 thus was gradually popularized in this remnant of Israel 
 the notion of God's spirituality and omnipresence, of his 
 moral supremacy, of his singular providence and purpose. 
 Practically the exiles became monotheists, like the line 
 of prophets whom they could now trace from Moses down- 
 wards. There was much difficulty and delay and bitter 
 disappointment. Some perhaps were beyond the reach of 
 persuasion ; others through perversity or under false leader- 
 ship lapsed into the idol-worship of the environment. How 
 the seductions of Babylonian worship became more power- 
 ful within the very centre of the colony we learn from a 
 later prophet of the Exile (sec Isa. xl. 20 f.; xliv. 12-20). 
 The process of education was slow and gradual, but there- 
 fore all the surer and more thorough.
 
 Ch. I, §1340 INDIVIDUALISM 371 
 
 § 1339. This popular enlightenment on the vital ques- 
 tion of true and false deities and the activity and power of 
 the God of Israel, was monumental in the history of religion 
 as the first example of the influence of " Scripture " upon a 
 whole community. Progress having thus begun, an advance 
 was made in actual religious knowledge and in the reli- 
 gious life. Prophetic reflection and teaching tended now, 
 as before, to two great ends of Revelation, — a knowledge 
 of the true relation of the individual soul to God, and a 
 right conception of the character of God himself and his 
 relation to his people and to the world. The former, which 
 concerns us most at this point, was prepared for mainly 
 through personal trial, which brought the sufferers near to 
 God for help. The earlier stages in this training in spirit- 
 ual individualism have been already traced (§ GOT ff., 987 
 f., 1009 ff., 102.5, 1204). It now remains to indicate some 
 of the ways in which the experiences of exile promoted the 
 sense of a personal relation to Jehovah. 
 
 § 1340. The old popular conception is familiar to us. 
 The community, that is to say the nation as a whole, 
 claimed Jeliovah as its protector and gave Him homage 
 and service. The ties that bound God and people together 
 were the national modes of outward worship, tending to 
 uniformity and finally unified in the reform of Josiah. 
 Thus Deuteronomy, while promoting individualism by in- 
 culcating holiness towards God, actually prejudiced it by 
 the concentration of worship and the wide extension of a 
 single type of ritual. Moreover, the renewal of the cove- 
 nant in Deuteronomy was for and with the nation as a 
 whole. However we may deplore the abandonment of the 
 u book of direction " by the successors of Josiah, we must 
 find some compensation in the march of events that shat- 
 tered its practical logic while they strengthened its spirit- 
 ual lessons and appeals. For if Jehovah was the God of 
 his people in Babylonia, their relation to him must be 
 different from that assumed in all previous current con- 
 ceptions. Here they were not a people at all except in
 
 372 A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE Book XI 
 
 precarious continuity with an eventful past. They were 
 scattered in broken and helpless bands of captives, with 
 none of the means or appliances of worship indispensable 
 to the winning of God's favour and inseparable from his 
 self-revelation. And yet lie had shown that lie was with 
 them still (§ 1337). And having felt his presence among 
 them even there, they could not but reflect upon the new 
 situation. The thought of each serious man was perhaps 
 such as this : " The nation is gone : then Jehovah must be 
 something more than the God of the nation. The tribes, 
 clans, families, are all broken up : then He is not merely 
 a God of tribes and families. Then He must be my own 
 God." Many a poor soul, in its baffled longings for the 
 courts of Jehovah, doubtless at length was able to say in 
 the spirit of the psalmist (Ps. xliii. 3 f.) what he could not 
 have said before his banishment: — 
 
 "Send forth thy light and thy truth; 
 Let them lead me ; 
 Let them bring me to thy holy hill 
 And to thy tabernacles ; 
 Then will I go to the altar of God, 
 To God, the gladness of my joy." 
 
 § 1341. This idea of God's direct relation to the indi- 
 vidual soul, like that of his spirituality (§ 1338), was 
 nothing new in Israel. Did not the prophets in ever 
 increasing measure realize it and live by it? But the 
 j>rophets were always singular. It was the work of the 
 Exile out of their gold to make current coin. This coin, 
 to be sure, had much alloy in it from the soil of Canaan 
 and Babylonia. One cannot but think of Jeremiah, who 
 first crave articulate utterance to the doctrine of individual 
 responsibility (xxxi. 30). We have just spoken of the 
 renewal of the national covenant (§ 1340). We remem- 
 ber how Jeremiah was summoned to proclaim it to his 
 people (Jer. xi. 2). And we have seen how out of sym- 
 pathy he was with form and ritual (§ 1068). It is, 
 therefore, in keeping with his character and ideals that
 
 Ch. I, § 1342 TEACHING OF EZEKIEL 373 
 
 he should conceive of a new and profounder spiritual 
 relation. " See, the days are coming, saith Jehovah, when 
 I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel 
 and the house of Judah. ... I will put my law in their 
 inmost being, and in their heart will I write it 1 . . ." 
 (xxxi. 31 ff.). Such a thought was not transcended by 
 any successor until the days of the Christ, who also 
 brought about its fulfilment. 
 
 § 1342. Yet when Ezekiel elaborates the idea of in- 
 dividual responsibility (§ 1204 f.), his vivid and ample 
 illustration makes a weightier impression than the brief 
 declaration of his master. 2 The sense of God's nearness 
 to the several members of his community ("all souls are 
 mine,*' v. 4) and of their consequent responsibility, seems 
 more sure and real in the concrete presentation of the 
 later prophet. Practically Ezekiel did his best work for 
 his own time and people in his much-needed application 
 of this doctrine, in asserting and reiterating (ch. xxxiii.) 
 that the children should not suffer for the sins of the 
 fathers, that every man should " die " through his own 
 sins, or " live " through his own righteousness. The 
 notion was natural to men not yet half emerged from 
 tribalism that the solidarity of the family from the first 
 ancestor downward involved the inheritance of sin and 
 its punishment. And now that the acme of suffering 
 and chastisement had been reached, they could not but 
 regard their lot as the consequence both of their own 
 offences and of those of their fathers. However imper- 
 fectly Ezekiel may have conceived of the actual conse- 
 quences to men of the sins of the past, he ranks high as 
 a friend of humanity in helping to rid men of a belief 
 in imputed guilt and predestined doom, — the awful bug- 
 bear of ancient tribalistic superstition and of modern 
 scholastic theology. That he concerned himself so greatly 
 
 1 Cf. Pb. xl. 8 (EV\). This psalm is largely a reflex of the experiences 
 of Jeremiah. 
 
 2 Cf. Skinner, The Book of Ezekiel, p. 144 f.
 
 374 RITUALISM OF EZEKIEL Book XI 
 
 with this question of the moral life and fate of men betrays 
 his intense sympathy with his people, intellectual and 
 spiritual. He was, perhaps, the first prophet to whom 
 was committed, in the ecelesiastical sense, "the cure of 
 souls ; " * and it was the Exile that gave him his parish. 
 
 § 1343. Yet it was inevitable that Ezekiel should 
 work more for the community than for the individual, 
 not merely because he was the child of his time and 
 environment, but also by virtue of native and pro- 
 fessional bias. His sympathy with Jeremiah in moral 
 teaching, and his unlikeness to him in intellectual tastes 
 and habits, we have already indicated (§ 1174). No 
 better suggestion can be given of the dominant purpose 
 of his life and ministry than to say that it was the con- 
 tinuation and adaptation of Deuteronomy. What Josiah 
 and his men did in their time and measure for the later 
 kingdom of Judah, Ezekiel sought to effect for the 
 exiled community. His aims were practical and definite. 
 He knew that without rites and ceremonies at holy places 
 his Israel could not permanently survive. But he had 
 to labour in an ideal region, for the essential conditions 
 of the historic ritual were now wholly wanting. 
 
 § 1344. This spirit in Ezekiel is shown in a deference 
 to legal prescriptions and ritual obligations, such as the 
 earlier prophets had not displayed (iv. 14 ; v. 11 ; xviii. 6 ; 
 xx. 12 ; xxiii. 38 et a?.). His ritualistic proclivities come 
 out most clearly in the latest section of his book (chs. xl.— 
 xlviii.). There he describes the restored and purified 
 theocracy ; and he does not refer to its moral and spiritual 
 basis, but dwells upon its constitution and its modes of 
 worship. He describes the new temple (xl.-xliii.) with its 
 courts and gates and chambers (ctr. Jer. iii. 16). This is 
 the single sanctuary of Deuteronomy. But he goes beyond 
 Deuteronomy in restricting the priesthood not to the Le- 
 vites, but to the family of Zadok alone (ch. xliv.). He 
 
 1 Renan, Histoire du peitple d' Israel, III, 395.
 
 Oh. I, § 1345 THE PERMANENT IX RELIGION 375 
 
 allots lands to the priests near the temple (ch. xlv.). The 
 civil ruler is to make it his main business to look after 
 the sacrifices (ch. xlvi.). He also prescribes for the ob- 
 servance of feasts, and for a lustration of the temple at the 
 opening of the year (ch. xlv. 18 f.). 1 And he divides up 
 the Holy Land into parallel sections from the Jordan to 
 the sea (ch. xlvii. 13-xlviii. 29) . 2 
 
 § 1345. This vision of the new Jerusalem was seen in 
 the twenty-fifth year of the prophet's exile, and his only 
 subsequent utterance (xxix. 17 ff.) was made two years 
 later (570 B.C.). His ministry thus almost covers the 
 earlier half of the Captivity. At its close the moral and 
 religious bent and tendency of the exiles were pretty well 
 determined. Temptations to idolatry had now done their 
 worst, though they were ever present (§ 1338). The test- 
 ing and fashioning of character was a long and complex 
 process. What Ezekiel says of the condition of his people 
 comes in the form of objurgations, and is to be understood 
 as representing the most unfavourable view. As helpful 
 influences, we must count not merely the slow-acting moral 
 forces that entered into their discipline (§ 1314 ff.), but 
 also the permanent elements of the old religion. These 
 now became doubly valuable. The sabbath could not be 
 made a sacred feast-da} r ; but it could still be a day of con- 
 vocation, with a more direct and heartfelt worship. The 
 priest might not present the worshipper's offering to Jeho- 
 vah ; but a richer blessing came from an answer to direct 
 personal prayer. While the priest, as a living personal 
 influence, became less and less, the prophet became more 
 and more, till the acme of prophecy was reached in the 
 
 1 That is. on the first of Nisan, in conformity with Babylonian usage. 
 The old Hebrew year began in autumn (Ex. xxiii. 1G ; xxxiv. 22). This 
 usage continued to the end of the kingdom, as we learn from the fact that 
 the feast of the Passover was celebrated in the same year as that in which 
 " the book of direction " was found (§ 852). The post-exilic date of Ex. 
 xii. 2 may be inferred from this facl alone. 
 
 2 Uomp. Marti, Geschichte der israel. Religion (1897), p. 204 ff.
 
 376 SABBATH OF THE EXILE Book XI 
 
 Second Isaiah. While the living prophetic word was 
 presumably also present in the middle years of the Exile, 
 the written word was prized, and was read and expounded 
 also in the sabbath assemblies. 
 
 § 1346. Too much can scarcely be made of the sabbath 
 of the Exile. Whatever we may think of its earlier ob- 
 servance, 1 it certainly became henceforth a more than 
 theoretical or formal holy day. It was also a Babylonian 
 institution. In this possibly lay a peril, but one not so 
 great as we might imagine ; for Israel was cut off from its 
 celebration as an alien rite, while the moral force of its 
 weekly recognition by the ruling people of the world re- 
 mained unaffected. It is quite possible that it was recog- 
 nized as having been a sacred season common to the two 
 peoples in remotest antiquity. As the Hebrews necessa- 
 rily conformed their calendar to that of the people of the 
 land (cf. § 1344), they may also have adopted the same 
 sabbath days, the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, and 
 twenty-eighth of the month. The Assyrian and Babylon- 
 ian sabbath seems to have been practically a fast-day, 2 
 
 1 In Hosea ii. 13 (EV. 11) the sabbath appears as a day of "enjoy- 
 ment." This accords with its statutory recognition as a "breathing- 
 spell " (^o:\ Ex. xxiii. 12). The idea of rest and refreshing is, however, 
 secondary, as the root row properly means to " cease " (cf. the Assyrian 
 usage as synonym of gamaru). This original sense of " quitting," came 
 naturally to be applied to cessation from normal activity. The proscrip- 
 tion of regular work (Ex. xvi. 4 f. JE.) was extended to trading (Am. 
 viii. o). Like the new moon celebration, also a day of enjoyment (Hos. 
 I.e.), it became a time of religious gathering where oracles might be con- 
 sulted (2 K. iv. 23). 
 
 2 The essential facts regarding this sabbath are the following : The 
 word itself (Sapattu) occurs, so far, but once (in II R. 16, 32 ab) in the 
 Assyrio-Baby Ionian monuments. It is explained there as " the day for 
 quieting the heart," a common phrase for propitiating (the gods). But 
 in IV R. 32 there is given a hemerology of the month Elul (September), in 
 which it is said that on the days above mentioned (and also on the nine- 
 teenth) the " shepherd of many peoples " (that is. the king as representing 
 the people, like the "prince" in Ez. xlv. 22 ff. ) should eat no flesh 
 roasted in the coals, and no food that had come in contact with lire, 
 should not change his clothes nor wear a white garment, or yoke (?) a-
 
 Ch. I, § 1348 THE BABYLONIAN SABBATH :!77 
 
 whose observance was guarded with extraordinary strict- 
 ness. This may help to explain the fact that during- and 
 after the Exile the Hebrew sabbath was also more rigor- 
 ously observed as a day of rest and abstinence. 
 
 § 1347. But the Babylonian sabbath was of importance 
 to the Hebrews mainly because it afforded them the needed 
 opportunities for the cultivation of the religious life. 
 Their religion, being of a social character, was chiefly pro- 
 moted by stated meetings. As slaves, the greater number 
 of them had no opportunity of assembling either in large 
 or small groups for any formal purpose, except when leis- 
 ure was granted to them in consequence of general social 
 and industrial usage. Now if the employing and employed 
 classes both observed the same day of rest, the opportunity 
 came of itself. The sabbath meetings would thus be the 
 chief occasion of religious development. 
 
 § 1348. The main determining factor was the felt needs 
 of the community. In view of past failures and present 
 distress, the ruin of Jerusalem and the banishment and 
 shame, the former mirth of the sacred feasts would give 
 place to sighing and weeping. The situation and the mood 
 itself are set forth by one of the surviving worshippers in 
 immortal verse (Ps. cxxxvii.) : — 
 
 chariot, or speak with authority (that is, officially) ; that no seer should 
 give an oracle in a secret place ; that no physician should minister (bring 
 his hand) to a sick person. Each of these days is described as " baleful " 
 (limnu). But this apparently means that it is unlucky to do any ordi- 
 nary work on that day. We have here a Pharisaic strictness of observance. 
 Though the word ''sabbath" is not vised, it, is plain that it is intended. 
 
 This is shown by its hebdomadal recurrence as well as by the character of 
 its prohibitions. So far only the ancient Hebrews and Assyrio-Babylon- 
 
 ians arc proved to have had the sabbath, though the new moon was cele- 
 brated by all the Semites. The current view that the Hebrews learned 
 the custom from the Canaanites {e.g., Smend, Alttesb. Eeligionsgeschichte, 
 
 p. b°.!)) is a mere assumption. The week of seven days was based upon 
 the four phases of the moon ; but the religious use of the seventh day is 
 quite distinct from this division. This institution of the sabbath is the 
 strongest single evidence of a close connection between the earliest 
 Hebrews and Babylonia.
 
 :378 SACRED ASSEMBLIES Book XI 
 
 •• By the stream of Babylonia there we sat down; 
 We wept, too, as we thought of Zion. 
 On the willows in the midst thereof 
 We hung u]> our lyres. 
 
 For there our captors asked of us words of song, 
 And our spoilers ! words of mirth: 
 ' Sing to us of the songs of Zion.' 
 How shall we sing Jehovah's songs on an alien soil?" 
 
 Such days of assembly were days of fasting, humiliation, 
 and prayer. Every religion takes its complexion from 
 the temper and circumstances of its first worshippers ; 
 and the Jewish, as distinct from the old Hebrew type 
 of religion, owes much of its sombre aspect and plain- 
 tive tone to the habits and associations of the exiles in 
 Babylonia. Such a tone and temper have been, perhaps, 
 more of a grain than a loss to Judaism. Nothing; binds 
 men together like the remembrance of common suffering 
 kept alive by a perpetual memorial. From the Exile 
 came forth the Synagogue. 
 
 § 1349. Thus were laid among the exiles the founda- 
 tions of a new religious community. What threatened 
 to destroy the kingdom of Jehovah proved the best pos- 
 sible means of its restoration. The sifting process was 
 long, of which Amos had spoken (ix. 9) ; and after much 
 chaff had fallen, to be absorbed by the "-alien soil," not 
 all of the grain that remained was found good and 
 worthy. But the good was of the choicest known in all 
 God's husbandry. Only the most strenuous and patient 
 could endure the strain on faith and hope. Only the most 
 ardent and loyal could hold to the promise of Jeremiah 
 or be sustained by the visions of Ezekiel. But the 
 work in heart and conscience was done as never before or 
 after in Israel's history. Self-searching, reflection, intrepid 
 devotion, reached forth after a God who was not very far 
 off, and found him to be nearer at hand than he had 
 ever been in the temple or by the altars of Jerusalem. 
 
 1 A slight emendation (n for t) after the Targum.
 
 Ch. I, § 1340 MARKS OF PROGRESS 379 
 
 Moral steadfastness, always the most authentic warrant 
 of inner convictions, here made assurance doubly sure. As 
 the resultant of the working of these forces of mind and 
 soul, two great facts were projected clear and full before 
 the spiritual gaze. There was an Israel left, a people of 
 Jehovah ; and Jehovah was here among his people. Thus 
 the great word of Jeremiah was being fulfilled (§ 1341).
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 HEBREW LITERATURE OF THE EXILE 
 
 § 1350. The Exile was perhaps the period of great- 
 est literary activity in the history of Israel. It certainly 
 made a literary epoch of unequalled importance. This 
 intellectual movement was in part due to inner develop- 
 ment, in part to the effect of the environment. In the 
 first place, with the passing away of the kingdom, there 
 arose a desire to collect and arrange the records of the 
 past, as well as the scattered fragments of its literature. 
 Then came the work of the reforming school, which 
 reasserted itself in the Exile after its policy had been 
 vindicated by events. In its interest, earlier documents 
 were edited, remodelled, and supplemented, so as to bring 
 them into accord with the teachings of history and provi- 
 dence. Of spontaneous literary work, that of projecting 
 a new ritual for the future restored Israel, was of epoch- 
 making significance. Nor did the living words of proph- 
 ecy fail to find a permanent record. 
 
 § 1351. Such inner impulses to written composition 
 were promoted by exceptional outward circumstances. 
 Men of the priestly class, who had shown so much liter- 
 ary activity in the preceding age (§ 1017), were now 
 without official occupation. At the same time, the inter- 
 est of the priests in the edification of their people was 
 as great as ever, and the business of informing them by 
 tongue or pen would flourish b} T the mere conversion of 
 energy. Possibly the strongest external influence was 
 that of the people and institutions of Babylonia. The 
 
 380
 
 Ch. II, § 1352 BABYLONIAN INFLUENCES 381 
 
 gradual diffusion of technical education by means of the 
 employments of Babylonian life (§ 1301 ff.J) was of itself 
 a general preparation. A special incentive was the habit 
 of writing, almost universal among the people of the 
 land, and necessarily made general among the Hebrews 
 as they came to be engaged in varied business. Add 
 to this the effect upon a gifted people of a literary atmos- 
 phere and of a great literature of immemorial antiquity. 
 The Hebrew literature of the Exile shows many tokens 
 of Babylonian influence direct and indirect. Such are a 
 more copious and systematic form and style of compo- 
 sition, the use of Babylonian imagery, allusions to Baby- 
 lonian scenery and national customs, the employment of 
 characteristic Babylonian phrases, and a larger view of 
 the world and of the scope of providence and history. 
 
 § 1352. Special emphasis must be laid upon two of 
 the ways in which Hebrew literature was affected by the 
 Exile, and chiefly through Babylonian influence. In the 
 first place, distinctness and regularity of form were 
 given to Hebrew composition. No production of an 
 earlier time, except the prophec}' of Amos, is marked 
 by symmetry of structure. The works of Hosea, Micah, 
 Isaiah, Zephaniah, Nahum, Ilabakkuk, and, to a large 
 extent, Jeremiah, have all come to us in a greater or 
 less degree unshapen and in disorder. 1 Single passages 
 may be and often are models of choice rhetoric. Sanity 
 and energy of thought, and the constant pressure of the 
 realities of the outer and inner life of men, ensured 
 the coherence and reasonableness of each single dis- 
 course. But there is not the coordination and concur- 
 rence of several parts, the continuity of purpose, the 
 cumulative effect, which mark a considerable work of 
 art. We do not expect from any Hebrew writer the 
 sustained logical argument or the elaborate design that 
 
 1 The abruptness of the transitions thereby entailed creates as much 
 difficulty in the critical analysis as does the absence of the names of the 
 authors.
 
 382 CRITERIA OF STYLE AND MANNER Book XI 
 
 distinguish the Greek philosopher or tragedian. But 
 largeness and comprehensiveness of conception, with due 
 adaptation of auxiliary details, were not beyond the scope 
 of the Hebrew orator and poet. 
 
 § 1353. The distinction in style and method between 
 the earlier and the later is felt immediately when we ob- 
 serve the plan and system of Ezekiel, who was after all 
 only mechanically an artist ; or a little later, when we are 
 confronted with the majestic unity and triumphal progress 
 of the Second Isaiah ; or, later still, when we follow the 
 profound moral reasoning and internal cogency of the book 
 of Job. It was not the habit of earlier writers or speakers 
 to arrange their works artistically. 1 They sometimes 
 edited their own separate discourses by writing them down 
 and condensing them, as Baruch edited what was com- 
 mitted to him of the utterances of Jeremiah ; but the dis- 
 position of their complete works was left to other and later 
 hands. That the book of Amos forms an exception shows 
 either that he was a unique original artist, or that the 
 matter of the book was rearranged after the Exile. 2 
 
 § 1354. Another literary effect of the Exile was the 
 increased employment of artificial, or rather of indirect 
 modes of description and instruction, especially of symbol, 
 parable, and allegory. I need only instance the prevailing 
 types of EzekieFs discourses and of those of Zechariah, and 
 that greatest personification in all literature, the Servant 
 of Jehovah, in the Second Isaiah. Apart from the influ- 
 ences of environment (§ 1351), it is quite probable that ban- 
 ishment, national and personal, promoted in its measure 
 this form of composition. Friedrich Schlegel has expressed 
 
 1 Longer compositions with an historical framework (J and E) neces- 
 sarily involved a plan suited to the general purpose, but this scarcely 
 comes within the province of literary art. The original Deuteronomy 
 certainly shows no definite progress in its arrangement of topics. Con- 
 trast its structure with the systematizing of P. 
 
 - II. J. Elhorst, Deprofetie van Amos (Leiden, 1900), claims for Amos 
 an intermediate date, 008 to 621 b.c.
 
 Cii. II, § 1356 LITERARY OUTCOME 383 
 
 the opinion 1 that the prohibition of sensible images of the 
 Deity fostered the employment of types and symbols in 
 the Hebrew literature. We may go further and say that 
 the same propensity was encouraged by the complete ab- 
 straction of the writers of the Exile from all the outward 
 reminders of the faith and history of their people. How 
 different were the visions of Ezekiel in Babylonia from the 
 single vision of Isaiah in Jerusalem! Was it not through 
 a similar subtle interaction of mind, spirit, and environ- 
 ment, that Dante the exile became the seer of the Middle 
 Ages, and that Bunyan the prisoner composed the most 
 realistic and effective of allegories ? 
 
 § 1355. The literary activity of the exiles resulted in 
 (1) historical compilation ; (2) ritual and legal prescription: 
 (3) original or living prophecy ; (4) sacred song. An 
 intense occupation with the past history of Israel, was, like 
 the changes in literary form above mentioned (§ 1352 ff.), 
 in great measure the result of disassociation from the 
 long-cherished life and scenes of Palestine. While there 
 was, in a sense, no present for the nation, the past appeared 
 all the more significant and imposing. Historical interest 
 became more intelligently directed, as well as more intense, 
 when the survival of Israel in its banishment was changed 
 from longing to hope and from hope to certainty. The 
 past must be viewed not merely as a great fact, but as a 
 lesson ; not merely as a discipline, but as a preparation. 
 The humble dwelling of the scribe was changed from a 
 study into a school. Thought and utterance shaped them- 
 selves by the ideals and obligations of a wider future. 
 
 § 1356. The conception of Israel's history which had 
 been formed during the evil reign of Manasseh, and which 
 found expression in Deuteronomy, became crystallized into 
 a religious dogma during the Exile. The code of Deuter- 
 onomy, now canonized by the fall of its despises, was a 
 
 1 Geschichte der alten mid neuen Litteratur (1812). oh. i\. He remarks 
 that a similar prohibition has produced a similar effect among the Mo- 
 hammedans.
 
 384 REVISION OF HISTORY Book XI 
 
 monumental proclamation that the one great offence of 
 Israel had been the false worship of Jehovah and the com- 
 bination of his service with that of alien gods. Alreadj r , 
 before the Exile, this conception had apparently affected 
 the treatment of the earlier literature. But now the 
 whole previous history of Israel was revised and supple- 
 mented in accordance with this interpretation. So deep 
 and strong was the impression of the evil wrought in the 
 heart and life of the nation by idolatry and disloyalty 
 to Jehovah that no room was left in the minds of the 
 scribes for the consideration of any other cause. Hence 
 chiefly the striking absence from the historical books of 
 reference to the actual sins and crimes of the people or 
 its leaders, apart from the worship of idols or of Jehovah 
 Himself in an unlawful fashion. 1 We feel that the ex- 
 treme but searching moral indictment of the prophets is 
 truer to the life ; and we turn to them with satisfaction 
 from the stereotyped phrases in which the religious de- 
 linquencies of this and that period or ruler are catalogued 
 in the historical books. Probably the mass of the Hebrew 
 people could be moved in no other way. Being Hebrews, 
 they were accustomed to hyperbole in all sorts and modes 
 of discourse, and it was necessary to present what was ob- 
 noxious in such a way as would admit of no qualification 
 or abatement. But the Deuteronomic editors went further 
 in their definition of false worship. Since all religious 
 rites were interdicted by Deuteronomy, except at Jerusalem, 
 the test of the " rightness " of any reign was its conformity 
 to the code. 
 
 § 1357. It was upon these lines that the book (or, as 
 we now have them, the books) of the Kings was revised 
 and reconstructed. The obvious divisions of this work 
 are : (1) the reign of Solomon, 1 K. i.-xi. ; 2 (2) the con- 
 current 4-eigns of the kings of Israel and Judah, 2 K. xii.- 
 
 1 Cf. Montefiore, Religion of the Ancient Hebreios (Hibbert Lectures, 
 1892), p. 232 f. 
 
 - Cbs. i. and ii. are a close continuation of Samuel.
 
 Cm II, § 1358 BOOK OF KINGS 385 
 
 xvii. ; (3) the reigns of the surviving kingdom of Judah 
 alone, 2 K. xviii.-xxv. As for Solomon, the chief distinc- 
 tion accorded to him is that of builder of the Temple, the 
 act which fixed the central worship, while his own reli- 
 gious infidelit}' is not overlooked. In the second and third 
 divisions a striking contrast of modes of treatment is to be 
 noted. Since the Northern Kingdom was founded under 
 the auspices of the sj-mbolical worship of Jehovah, this is 
 regarded as the primal apostasy. Hence it was made a 
 standing phrase descriptive of every northern king with- 
 out exception, that " he did evil in the sight of Jehovah," 
 or " walked in the way of Jeroboam (son of Nebat) who 
 made Israel to sin." Of many of the kings of Judah a 
 similar condemnation is given. Eight of them are com- 
 mended, yet of all of them except Hezekiah and Josiah 
 it is said that they failed to remove the " high places." 
 
 § 1358. The book of Kings brings a new feature into 
 Hebrew historical writing, in that for the first time the 
 sources of certain facts are regularly mentioned. These 
 are for the first division " the book of the acts of Solo- 
 mon " (1 K. xi. 41) ; for the Northern Kingdom "the book 
 of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel "; and for the 
 Southern, " the book of the Chronicles of the kings of 
 Judah." 1 The natural supposition is that allusion is made 
 to works already existing, which would thus seem to be a 
 digest of the events of the reigns of the two sets of kings 
 and of their principal actions. 2 It is possible, but not so 
 probable, that the official annals of the kingdom are in- 
 tended. However, it was from them that the information 
 was ultimately obtained. 
 
 1 I need scarcely remind any of my nailers that these books are not to 
 be confounded with the canonical books of Chronicles. 
 
 2 How little there is in Kings of "history" in the modern sense is seen 
 for example in the account of Azariah (Uzziah), the most influential king 
 that ever reigned over Judah. of his public life nothing whatever is said 
 (2 Kings xv. 1-7), so that we get our knowledge of him from the much* 
 decried Chronicles and the Assyrian inscriptions. 
 
 2c
 
 386 SOURCES AND DATE OF KINGS Book XI 
 
 § 1359. A second principal element in this work is a 
 series of stories interrupting the skeleton-like record of the 
 reigns of the kings. These recitals have mostly to do with 
 the temple and its worship and the acts of the greatest of 
 the prophets. They are not written in the compiler's own 
 manner, nor, so far as we can judge, in the manner of his 
 time. On all grounds we may assume that they formed 
 part of compositions already existing. Thus we have in 
 Kings abundant evidence of the continuance in both king- 
 doms of that narrative and biographical writing which 
 characterized the early monarchy (§ 914 ff.). 
 
 § 1360. The date of the composition of Kings cannot 
 be fixed with absolute certainty. 1 That additions were 
 made during the Exile is clear, and the prevailing opinion 
 of critics now is that the work had two Deuteronomic re- 
 dactors, the former doing his work about 600 B.C., and the 
 other perhaps towards the end of the Exile. It is reason- 
 able to suppose that the former completed his task with 
 the account of the reformation of Josiah, and the latter 
 concluded his with the story of Jehoiachin (2 K. xxv. 27- 
 30). The authorship it is useless to conjecture. It is 
 enough to say that the work was the product of a formal 
 priestly-prophetic school, and that this was not (cf. § 1068) 
 the school of Jeremiah. 2 
 
 § 1361. In the spirit of Deuteronomy a revision and re- 
 adjustment were made of Deuteronomy itself, which was 
 enlarged by the addition of chs. i.-iv., an historical, and 
 v.-xi., a hortatory introduction; also of chs. xxvii., xxix., 
 xxx.; chs. xxxi. to xxxiv. being added after the Exile 
 (cf. § 847). Judges was made virtually as we have it, 
 
 1 Passages such as 2 Kings viii. 22 ; xvi. G (" unto this day "), merely 
 indicate that the compiler was not always careful about his method of 
 quoting from his sources; for "this day" is there clearly not his day. 
 
 - Who was formerly held to have written the book ! Even Driver 
 (Intr. 6 p. 199) says that " the compiler was a man like-minded with Jere- 
 miah." There was as much mental and moral kinship between them as 
 there was between the priest Newman and the prophet Carlyle.
 
 Ch. II, § 1363 RITUAL AND PSALMS 387 
 
 without the later addition of chs. xx., xxi. Something 
 similar may be said of Samuel, whose Deuteronomic form 
 is reached by taking away the Song of Hannah and ch. 
 xxii. of the second book (§ 909), these being of later date. 
 
 § 1362. For the ritual and ceremonial service of the 
 future Israel (§ 1355) an important work was done by 
 the composition of the so-called " Law of Holiness " 1 
 found in Lev. xvii.-xxvi. It consists mainly of ordinances 
 relating to ceremonial cleanness, to the Sabbath, the great 
 feasts, and the temple service. Its association with Deuter- 
 onomy is shown in its hortatoiy conclusion and its insistence 
 upon a single central sanctuary. This is not quite so 
 significant of its date as is its more striking resemblance to 
 Ezek. xl.-xlviii. (§ 1314). Like EzekieFs scheme, it goes 
 beyond Deuteronomy by its minutiae of prescription, being 
 thus intermediate between D and P in method and spirit. 
 The chief interest is sacerdotal and ceremonial. AVe may 
 assume that it was intended as a law-book for the new 
 Jerusalem of Ezekiel, and written by a pupil of that 
 priest-prophet in the latter half of the Exile. 
 
 § 1363. Prophecy in the Exile has already been dis- 
 cussed for the first half of the period. Its continuation 
 belongs to the closing years of the Babylonian monarchy, 
 and the history of its literary treatment is in large part 
 post-exilic. But a word must be said on the difficult 
 yet pressing question of exilic Psalms. On the question 
 of pre-exilic Psalms we have already spoken (§ 605, 909). 
 If we disabuse our minds of the notion that the Psalms 
 in general were written for liturgical purposes, and ac- 
 knowledge that the most original and vital of the sacred 
 songs of Israel were, like the choicest hymns of every 
 other country and time, the offspring of an intense and 
 deep religious life, we shall see at once that no period 
 of Israel's history was more; likely to give rise to such 
 
 1 A modern name, happily suggested by Klostermann, on the ground 
 of the ruling idea of the work as given in Lev. xix. 2. As we have it. it 
 
 is imbedded in the work of 1'. It is known mystically as II.
 
 388 PSALMS OF THE EXILE Book XI 
 
 poems of the heart than was the Exile. Hence, to make 
 as small a choice as possible, it ma}- be conceded on in- 
 ternal grounds that at least Ps. xxii., li., lxix., lxxi., lxxxiv., 
 cii. belong to this period of suffering and probation. Others, 
 such as Ps. cxxvi. and cxxxvii., written in Palestine after 
 the first Return, belong virtually to the same period.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE CHALD^EAN DOMINION 
 
 § 1364. The reign of Nebuchadrezzar was long and 
 prosperous. His devotion to the material and spiritual 
 development of his own proper country kept him from 
 the ambition and the curse of Assyrian imperialism. Our 
 interest in him as a ruler is, therefore, an interest in civili- 
 zation and patriotism. His influence on the destiny and 
 character of Israel, which was of more consequence to 
 the world than all his other achievements combined, was 
 an indirect consequence of this statesmanlike policy. Of 
 his wars after the fall of Jerusalem in his eighteenth 
 year (586 B.C.), we know but little, for reasons already 
 given (§ 1053, note). There is no good reason to suppose 
 that they were numerous. Those with Egypt and Tyre, 
 which are of the greatest biblical interest, were certainly 
 the most important of them. 
 
 § 1365. The war with Egypt consisted of a series of 
 intermittent campaigns. Its main motive was to make it 
 impossible for Egypt to again seize upon Palestine and 
 Syria. This war and also that with Tyre have a biblical 
 importance in connection with the prophecies of Jeremiah 
 and Ezekiel. This makes regrettable the absence of full 
 information regarding them. The general situation, how- 
 ever, is clear enough. The twenty-sixth Egyptian dynasty, 
 or that of Sais (§ 1030), as we have seen, had great com- 
 mercial aims and enterprise, and sought to secure the 
 trade of the Mediterranean. For the most part at least, 
 a close alliance was maintained with Tyre, which placed 
 
 389
 
 390 BABYLONIA AND EGYPT Book XI 
 
 its ships at the disposal of Egypt. 1 Tyre, being besides 
 an ally of Judah in the revolt of Zedekiah, was besieged 
 by Nebuchadrezzar in 585, just after the fall of Jerusa- 
 lem. It sustained a blockade by land of thirteen years, 2 
 the besieging forces with all the ships they could muster 
 (cf. § 081) not being able to cut off supplies by water. 
 Egypt was also invaded while Pharaoh Hophra (Apries), 
 the ally of Zedekiah, was still on the throne. An Egyp- 
 tian inscription mentions that the Babylonian army 
 overran Egypt as far as its southerly border at Syene 
 (Assouan). Egypt, therefore, for a time was subject or, 
 at least, tributary to Babylonia. The next ruler, Amasis, 
 a general under Hophra, was made king by the native 
 Egyptian troops in an uprising against the Greek and 
 Carian mercenaries who were favoured by Hophra. 3 At 
 his ascension he would seem to have thrown off the 
 Babylonian suzerainty, for the thirty-seventh year of Neb- 
 uchadrezzar, in which an expedition was made against 
 Egypt ( § 1053, note), falls in 567, soon after the Egyptian 
 revolution. This, however, was near the close of the 
 Great King's reign, and there is no evidence from any 
 source that the subjugation of Egypt was effected anew. 
 Perhaps it was found that in the divided and weakened 
 condition of that country there was little danger of 
 another invasion of Asia. 
 
 § 1306. The biblical prophecies regarding these events 
 are lengthy and specific. Jeremiah's predictions, given in 
 chs. xlvi. 13 ff., were uttered in view of the impending 
 retreat of Pharaoh Necho 4 from Syria and Palestine before 
 
 1 Herodotus (II, 1G1) asserts that Hophra inarched against Sidon and 
 fough.1 a naval battle with Tyre. This must have taken place at the 
 beginning of his reign, and hostile relations were only temporary. 
 
 - Josephus against Apion, i, 21. 
 Herod. II, 163, Ki'.i. 
 
 4 Noteworthy is the imitation of Isa. xxx. 7, gained by a slight change 
 in the pointing of v. 17 : ('all the name of Pharaoh king of Egypt, 
 •' A noise, that lets the occasion pass" — in English phrase, "a blusterer 
 that misses his chance " (see Giesebrecht on the passage).
 
 Ch. Ill, § 1367 COMMENTS OF PROPHECY 391 
 
 the army of Nebuchadrezzar (cf. § 1089). Among other 
 calamities, the destruction of Memphis (v. 19) and the 
 capture of Thebes (v. 25 f.) are foretold. Briefer, but 
 equally explicit, is the prediction at Tahpanhes in xliii. 
 10 ff. (cf. § 1255). Ezekiel discourses of Egypt and its 
 fate in four chapters (xxix.-xxxii.), delivered just before 
 and after the fall of Jerusalem, except the later brief 
 prophecy (xxix. 17-21). The oracles are modelled upon 
 the same general plan, the overthrow of Egypt and its 
 king being set forth in all, but with a variety of detail. 
 Striking figures are employed and elaborated: the croco- 
 dile of the Nile (xxix. 3 ff.; xxxii. 2 ff.), the lofty, cedar- 
 like Assyria (xxxi. 2 ff.). The king of Babylon is the 
 agent of destruction, but he is a mere passive instrument 
 in Jehovah's hands (xxx. 10 ff., 24 ff. ). 1 Very singular is 
 the later prophecy above alluded to, which was delivered 
 fifteen years after the latest of the others (cf. xxix. IT 
 with xxxii. 17). In it Egj-pt is promised to Nebuchadrez- 
 zar as a recompense for his failure to gain anything by his 
 campaign against T}-re. Here the Great King is described 
 plainly as a servant of Jehovah, to whom he was to look 
 for his wages. It is the image of a mercenary soldier, 
 whose pay depends upon his success. 
 
 § 13G7. In view of this latest oracle another series of 
 prophecies is more remarkable still. These are directed 
 against Tjn-e (chs. xxvi.-xxviii.) and Sidon (xxviii. 20- 
 24). Tire first discourse was given toward the end of 586, 
 the year of the fall of Jerusalem (xxvi. 1, 2); the other 
 two are not dated, but belong to the same period. In ch. 
 xxvi. a detailed description is given of the impending siege 
 of the city by Nebuchadrezzar, of the capture of the sub- 
 urbs, of the taking of the metropolis and the slaughter of 
 its people, its utter destruction and perpetual desolation. 
 In ch. xxvii. Tyre is represented as a splendid merchant 
 
 1 Fur other points see the summary in Davidson's Ezekiel I "Cambridge 
 Bible"), i>- 210 fi. Note especially the concluding dirge (xxxii. 17-82), 
 
 which Davidson calls "one of the most weird passages in literature."
 
 392 EVIL-MERODACH KING IX BABYLON Book XI 
 
 vessel laden with the produce of all lands, and at last 
 wrecked amid the lamentations of all the merchants and 
 
 mariners of the world. In eh. xxviii. a lament is uttered 
 over the tall of the ruler of Tyre, in spite of his sagacity, 
 skill, wealth, and magnificence. Vet at the close of the 
 thirteen years" siege 1 the prophet states plainly that 
 Nebuchadrezzar gained nothing by his operations. This 
 is perhaps the plainest instance in Scripture of the condi- 
 tional character of prophetic prediction. 2 The prophet's 
 secular learning was not displayed in vain : for eh. xxvii. 
 gives us the fullest description of Phoenician vessels and 
 commerce that has come to us from antiquity. 
 
 ^ 1368. In 562 the greatest kingly career that Western 
 Asia had known was ended by the death of Nebuchadrez- 
 zar, lie passed away full of years and honours, leaving 
 an empire which to all outward appearance might last for 
 centuries. In less than a quarter ci a century it went the 
 way of the Assyrian. The tale, brief as it is. is well worth 
 the telling. The motives of the catastrophe lie without 
 as well as within Babylonia and its people. External as- 
 saults from the rising Aryan power might in any case have 
 brought it about eventually, but it was accelerated by its 
 own lack of inner eohesiveness and by misgovernment. 
 
 S 1369. The successor of Nebuchadrezzar was his son 
 Evil-Merodach (Amel-Marduh^ "the manor servant of Me- 
 rodach" ). His reign lasted but two years. As we have no 
 inscription from him as yet. we learn of him only from a 
 brief biblical notice (2 K. xxv. '2~ >, and from a sentence 
 in Josephus which says, on the authority of Berossus, that 
 he eroverned lawlessly and wantonly. 3 This does not well 
 
 1 The siege ended in ">72. and this final prophecy was given in 570. 
 
 - Not of "prophecy," as is usually said. "Conditional prophecy" is 
 an unmeaning phrase. Observe, by the way. that even this latest expedi- 
 tion against Egypt, of whose preparation Ezekiel was aware in ">70. did 
 net bring greal success to Nebuchadrezzar (§ 1365). 
 
 :! rii'ouu>s Kai iffeky&s I Against Apion, i. 20). Another allusion in Ant. 
 x. 11. •_'. merely repeats the biblical statement
 
 Ch. III. § 1371 KING NERIGLISSAB 
 
 agree with the magnanimous deed ascribed to him in 
 Kings. The liberation and honouring of Jehoiaehin was 
 of course only one of a number of similar actions. Per- 
 haps, as has been suggested, 1 he was not very deferential 
 to the dominant priestly party, to whom the harsh judg- 
 ment is to be traced. At any rate his reign was very 
 short, and had a tragic end. He was slain in a revolt 
 headed by his sister's husband Neriglissar (JVi rgal-sar-usur, 
 •■ Nergal protect the king ! "), who naturally took his place 
 upon the throne (-J»iU-556). 
 
 §1370. Neriglissar vied with his father-in-law 2 in 
 building up Babylon, regulating the Euphrates, repairing 
 the palaces and especially the temples. This, in fact, is 
 the sum of what is known of his reign. He appears, how- 
 ever, as an important personage in several contract-tablets 
 of the reign of Nebuchadrezzar. He was probably the 
 " Nergalshareser " of Jer. xxxix. 3, 13, who was one of 
 the officers entrusted with the care of the captured city 
 of Jerusalem (§ 1233, note). 3 If this is so, he was a con- 
 temporary of Nebuchadrezzar himself, and his brief reigu 
 of four years may have been terminated by old age. lie 
 was succeeded by his son, Labasi-Marduk, the " Labaro- 
 soarchod" of Berossus-Josephus, who reigned, however, 
 but nine months (556), when he was slain by a conspiracy 
 of nobles. 
 
 ^ 1371. One of the participants of the plot was a mag- 
 nate named Nabonidus (Nabu-ncfidi "Nebo is exalted"), 
 who was elected king and reigned till the downfall of the 
 empire (556-539). From him we have several important 
 
 i Winckler, GBA. p. 314. 
 
 - This relationship seems indubitable, hut Btrangely enough Neriglissar, 
 
 in the longer <>f his two known inscriptions I the Cambridge cylinder, I K. 
 - i. n . calls his father Bel-sum-iskun, "king of Babylon.' 1 This 
 puzzle lias given rise to much conjecture. See Tiele, BAG. \>. 466 f. There 
 is no evidence that Nabopalassar made any one joint-king with him. Yet 
 this is, after all. the most probable hypoth cially as the name of 
 
 Neriglissar would seem to indicate royal paternity. 
 »Cf. Winckler. (.HA. p. :;.;* (nob -
 
 394 THE LAST KING, NABONIDUS Book XI 
 
 personal inscriptions ; 1 and very many business-tablets of his 
 time have also been found. He is famous as an explorer 
 of ancient ruins and their buried records, and also as a 
 builder and renewer of temples. His chief distinction, 
 however, is that he paid more attention to the temples 
 of the gods outside of the district of Babylon 2 than he 
 did to those of the capital itself. Add to this the fact 
 that he preferred not to reside in the capital, but lived in 
 a suburban town named Tenia. The command of the army 
 fell to his son Belshazzar (Bel-lar-usur^ " Bel, protect the 
 king ! "), whose name is familiar to us from the book of 
 Daniel, and who played his part well to the end. Early 
 in his reign trouble came in Mesopotamia, but it was 
 removed by outside interference (§ 1383). On the whole, 
 his empire held well together by inertia. 
 
 § 1372. Was his policy more popular with his people 
 than that pursued by his predecessors? It would seem to 
 have been so for a time at least. Certainly centralization 
 had been carried too far. The temples being the centres 
 of business, as well as the boast of the several cities of 
 the country, the aggrandizement of the capital actually 
 at length impoverished the provincial towns and threatened 
 them with ruin (of. § 1285 ff.). At any rate, this course of 
 conduct which the present king's religiousness led him 
 to pursue was welcome to the outside cities. But the 
 time came when something more than piety and indiscrimi- 
 nate temple-building was demanded of the ruler of Baby- 
 lonia, and the people of the capital at last grew indifferent 
 to a king of antiquarian tastes and subterranean habits. 
 
 i Published in IP. 68 and 09, and in VP. 63-G5. All of the inscrip- 
 tions of his reign available up to date, 1134 in number, are given in 
 Strassmaier, Inschriften von Nabonidus, Eonig von Babylon (1889). Of 
 the transcriptions and translations should be mentioned V It. 64 by 
 Latrille (with commentary) in ZK. II, and ZA. I, and all of the inscrip- 
 tions in I It. and V R. (with the addition of Br. M. 85-4, 30. 2) by Peiser 
 in KB. Ill, ii. p. 8(1-120 (1890). For his annals, or the "chronicle of 
 Nabonidus and Cyrus," see note to § 1382. 
 
 2 For his work at Sippar, in the temple of the Sun-god, see § 87.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 CYRUS AND THE PERSIANS 
 
 § 1373. We have arrived at the point of time when 
 the old Semitic regime in Western Asia gives way 
 to the Medo-Persian, or in a wider sense to the Aryan. 
 Of the Medes we have had to speak repeatedly as a chief 
 agent in the destruction of Nineveh. Now we shall have 
 to regard them and their Persian congeners as partners in 
 a still greater enterprise. Both of them were offshoots of 
 the Iranian race. The Iranians were one of the many 
 branches of the Indo-European family. This people, what- 
 ever may have been their starting-place, had long made 
 northern and central Europe and west central Asia their 
 home, and for many centuries had been seeking to secure 
 a permanent residence in more southern lands. The 
 Iranians along with their kindred, the Sanskrit-speaking 
 people of Hindustan, constitute what is termed, in the 
 strict sense, "Aryans." They were also closely allied to 
 the Scythians, eastern and western, and the Armenians. 
 What the condition of the Iranians was in prehistorical 
 ages we can only vaguely gness. In historical times we 
 know simply that along with the more or less civilized 
 members of the race settled in Iran itself, there were great 
 numbers of kindred nomads ranging along the northern 
 steppes. From the settled tribes and clans was derived 
 the name "Iran" (Ariana). 
 
 § 1374. The country is a mountain plateau of about 
 fifteen hundred miles in breadth stretching from the Tigris 
 
 396
 
 306 IRANIAN TERRITORY AND RACK Book XI 
 
 to the Indus and from the Persian Gulf to the present 
 frontiers of Russia in Asia. It is divided into Western 
 and Eastern Iran by the Great Salt Desert. The whole 
 was about conterminous with the modern Persia, Afghanis- 
 tan, and southern Turkestan. The principal seat of the 
 early Iranian civilization was Baktria on the northern slopes 
 of the Parapamisus or Ilindu-kush. This also seems to 
 have been the distributing centre of immigration, which 
 moved in two main streams. One passed southward, 
 occupying the whole of the eastern side of the plateau as 
 far as the modern Beluchistan. Thence its advance guard 
 marched westward below the salt desert and took up the 
 southwest corner of the highlands, which was to become 
 the kernel of the Persian empire, and was known to the 
 ancients as Persis. The other migrators moved west- 
 ward and made their home to the south and southwest 
 of the Caspian, where they laid the foundations of the 
 Median empire. It is noteworthy that while East Iran 
 was settled long before West Iran, which was not occupied 
 by Aryans till the eighth and seventh centuries B.C., it was 
 the latter which gave the Iranians their place in history. 
 The cause of this phenomenon is not difficult to discover. 
 Eastern Iran was not fertile enough to form large centres 
 of population, and it took no share in the culture of India, 
 where the other great branch of the Aryans had early 
 developed its own literature, philosophy, and art. The 
 art of writing was unknown to the Iranians till they 
 learned it from their western neighbours, to whom, indeed, 
 they owed their advance in civilization. 
 
 § 1375. The ancient people of Iran were a vigorous 
 race, of simple temperate habits, and in their new home 
 in the highlands they long maintained the traditions and 
 customs of their primitive life on the northern plains. The 
 social conditions of the old patriarchal system were trans- 
 ferred to the new state of things when agriculture be- 
 came the basis of the community. The great landholders 
 formed an aristocracy by themselves, to whom the peas-
 
 Cii. IV, § 1376 IRANIAN RELIGION 397 
 
 ants, mechanics, and traders were alike subordinated. As 
 larger settlements were formed, the same type of social 
 and civic organization was continued by the promotion of 
 the more influential members of the ruling class. But no 
 very extensive communities were developed in East Iran ; 
 and when in West Iran the Median monarch}' arose, it was 
 founded in emulation of the Assyrian empire. 
 
 § 1376. "What chiefly distinguished the Iranians as a 
 people and gave them their predominance in Asia was 
 their religion. The Iranians had the purest form of faith 
 and worship known to any of the Indo-European peoples. 
 The position and functions assigned to the chief deity 
 are significant. With the other Indo-European nations 
 they inherited the old belief in the supremacy of the sky- 
 god, the lord of the shining heavens, invested him with an 
 active personality, and ascribed to him the care of the 
 lower world. The Aryans of India dethroned him from 
 his ancient seat, and exalted in his place a series of gro- 
 tesque and impalpable abstractions ; while the Greeks and 
 Romans and other Europeans degraded him by endowing 
 him with the baser passions of the men whom he governed. 
 In both cases the moral ideal was unrealized. The Iranian 
 religion conserved the old simple childlike trust in the 
 supreme dispenser of blessing, and it added to him other 
 ennobling attributes. The god of light became here the 
 god of truth and purity, the lord of wisdom (Ahuramazda, 
 "Ormazd"), the spirit of holiness, through whom the 
 blessings of which creation is full are conveyed to the 
 creatures. To him was opposed the spirit of evil, of 
 impurity, of falsehood, of death and destruction (Angra- 
 manyu, " Ahriman"), at the head of an army of demons, 
 who continually fight against the good and righteous spirit, 
 and fig-lit in vain. Fire, the perpetuator of light, was 
 primarily reverenced as its finest symbol, and the great 
 purifying element. Thus truth and falsehood, order and 
 disorder, life and death, were arrayed against one another 
 in unchanging antithesis; and all men were incited to
 
 398 CONTRAST WITH SEMITISM Book XI 
 
 become allies of the powers of good in their war upon the 
 powers of evil. To every man life must be an unbroken 
 campaign against malignant foes within and without, who, 
 even though perpetually vanquished, were never slain. 
 This conflict must be real. Every subject of Ahuramazda 
 was thus called to a holy war without reprieve or discharge. 
 Every good action would advance the kingdom of the just, 
 and every bad deed retard the final overthrow of the realm 
 of evil. Nor was the motive confined to this world alone. 
 After life was ended, the spirit (Fravashi) of the faithful 
 warrior was transported to the realm of Ahuramazda, 
 where he continued to be the helper of his descendants 
 still on the earth. Hence arose the highest type of ancestor- 
 worship known to men. Where deification was impossi- 
 ble, veneration, pure and intense, was kept within the 
 bounds of reason. 
 
 § loTT. Such are some of the principles of the Iranian 
 religion. In spite of its necessary dualism, it was thus 
 a noble spiritual and ethical system. When we consider 
 that such principles as these were cherished by the rulers 
 of the race in its conflict with Semitism, we are at once 
 struck with the contrast to that system of thought and 
 action which had held sway so long over the peoples of 
 Western Asia. This contrast has not escaped the notice 
 of broad-minded historians. " The monarchy of Persia," 
 observes Ranke, " fulfils a lofty mission. It has other 
 aims in view than conquest and plunder. It rises far 
 above the cruel Assyrian monarchy. For the divinities 
 of Iran, pure and shining like the hosts of heaven, demand 
 neither hecatombs nor licentious rites. They are not to 
 be imitated by destroying life, but by increasing and 
 developing it. If they make war, it is not from motives 
 of ambition, but to triumph over the powers of evil, to 
 assure the final victory of the god of life. Asshur and the 
 goddess who for the most part is named with him are 
 warrior deities. Ahuramazda is a god of righteousness 
 and truth. Subjection means, with the Assyrians, subju-
 
 Ch. IV, § 1378 FIRST PERSIAX DYNASTY 399 
 
 gation by violence; with the Persians, the fulfilment of 
 a supreme will." 1 
 
 § 1378. Few words are needed to tell all that is known 
 of the early history of that branch of the race which has 
 given historical importance to the Iranians. Exactly when 
 the little district of Persia (§ 1374) was settled by the 
 peoples who gave it the name is not certain. It was at 
 all events some time after the rise of the Medes C§ 823 f.). 
 All the kings of old Persia trace their descent from Achae- 
 menes (Jlakhdmanisli). He was the fourth ancestor of 
 Cyrus the Great, 2 and may possibly have been the founder 
 of Persis ; that is to say, the first of the Persian chiefs who 
 maintained a permanent settlement in that district. His 
 son Teispes is the first who is named as king, 3 and that not 
 king of Persis, but king of Anshan, a title by which all his 
 successors are also named as far as Cyrus the Great. This 
 Anshan (also written Anzcui) is a very ancient region of 
 southern Elam, which, probably about 595 B.C. (§ 1263), 
 after the Assyrians had relaxed their hold upon that coun- 
 try, was occupied by a Persian colony 4 and made into a 
 kingdom, after the pattern of the northern and western na- 
 
 1 Quoted by Pressens6, The Ancient World and Christianity, p. 138. 
 
 2 For convenience the ancestry of the two earliest lines of Persian kings 
 may be appended. The names are given in the forms employed by the 
 classical writers. 
 
 1. Achsernenes 
 
 2. Teispes 
 
 3. Cyrus 1 3. Ariaramnes 
 
 4. Cambyses I 4. Arsames 
 
 5. Cyrus II 5. Ilystaspes 
 G. Cambyses II G. Darius I 
 
 Cf. Tiele, BAG. p. 469; and on the possible ways of reconciling the 
 lists of Herodotus, Darius, and Cyrus, Winckler, UAG. p. 126 ff. ; Rost, 
 in MY(.. (1897), p. 208 f. The genealogy of Cyrus is given in his Cylin- 
 der inscription (VR. 35) 1. 20-22 ; that of Darius in his Behistun inscrip- 
 tion, and in Herod. VII. 11. 
 
 8 By Cyrus, VR. 35,21. 
 
 4 Rest, in MVG. (1807), p. 205 f., points out the importance of Susa, the 
 old Elamitic capital, in the early history of the Persian empire.
 
 400 MEDIANS AND LYDIANS Book XI 
 
 tions. But the name of Persian was always borne by all 
 the race, and it is therefore probable that Persis itself re- 
 mained the chief centre of population. Anshan, however, 
 became tributary to Media, as this empire extended itself 
 over the old Assyrian provinces east of the Tigris. 
 
 § 1879. Under the policy of mutual tolerance and 
 friendship pursued by the Medes and Chaldeeans, the 
 former at length extended their dominion westward over 
 all the uplands as far as the river Halys. This was done 
 in the lifetime of Cyaxares, the conqueror of Nineveh, 
 who reigned till 584 B.C. The Halys, indeed, was fixed 
 as the boundary by a remarkable international agreement. 
 We have had occasion to mention the early kings of Lydia 
 (§ 773 ff.) down to Alyattes III (617-560), who finally 
 expelled from his borders the Kimmerian raiders that had 
 long disturbed the peace of his kingdom. Alyattes was 
 the real founder of Lydian greatness. With the expulsion 
 of the Kimmerians, Phrygia and Bithynia fell under his 
 power. Many of the Greek cities of the coast submitted 
 to him. In his eastward progress he met the advancing 
 forces of Cyaxares, king of the Medes ; and for several 
 years war was fiercely waged between them. On May 28, 
 585, occurred that famous battle which was interrupted 
 by an eclipse of the sun, said to have been foretold by 
 Thales of Miletus. Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and the 
 kino- of Cilicia offered to mediate, since it was to their 
 interest that the balance of power should be maintained. 
 It was by the ensuing treaty that the boundary was settled. 
 
 § 1380. After the compromise, Lydia continued to 
 thrive apace. With the acquisition of Greek colonies on 
 the coast it gained much culture and greater wealth. 
 Through its trade with east and west it became a great 
 commercial nation, whose monument is the coinage of 
 money, first devised in Lydia. In 500, Alyattes was suc- 
 ceeded by his more famous son Croesus, under whom pros- 
 perity was more than maintained. In 584, Cyaxares died: 
 his successor was A sty ages. Nebuchadrezzar died in 562.
 
 Ch. IV, § 1382 CYRUS 401 
 
 The sole heir of the empires of Croesus, Astyages, and 
 Nebuchadrezzar was neither a Lydian, nor a Median, nor 
 a Babylonian, but Cyrus the Persian, the conqueror of Asia, 
 the liberator of the Jews, " the friend and the anointed of 
 Jehovah." 
 
 § 1381. The fame of Cyrus was so great among the 
 Greeks that the} r retailed fictions without end about his 
 birth, his life, and his death. His influence upon the world 
 was such that an extensive supernatural machinery was 
 required to explain the catastrophes which he wrought. 
 I shall have to pass over the entertaining stories which 
 have been related about his infancy and childhood. They 
 are not idle tales, because they had a serious motive. But 
 they are not histoiy. They are partly traditions, partly 
 legends, and in the Greek handling at least very largely 
 myths. Most of them describe him as having been of 
 lowly origin but accompanied from his birth by dreams, 
 portents, and marvellous auspices in general, till his great 
 merits attested the fitness of the supernatural omens. 
 
 § 1382. Cyrus (KurasK) was born about 590 B.C., one 
 hundred years before the battle of Marathon. He was a 
 son of Cambyses I, and the second of the name. Of his 
 childhood and youth we really know nothing. It is not 
 possible that he was the grandson of Astyages the Mede, 
 as Herodotus and Xenophon assert. The first authentic 
 notice reveals him already as an antagonist of Astyages, 
 and at the same time throws a new and unexpected light 
 upon the history of the time. It occurs in the annals or 
 state chronicle of Nabonidus, 1 in the record made, as it 
 
 1 Col. II, 1 ff. The entry of the year, as well as the beginning of the 
 statement itself, is broken off, but the next entry is '■ year seventh." 
 This document, sometimes called the " Nabonidus-Cyrus Chronicle," has 
 been published last by <). E. Hagen in his treatise •• Keilschrifturkunden 
 zur Qeschichte des Koniga Cyrus" in BA. II. p. 205-257. It was first 
 edited by Pinches in 1880 (TSHA. VII, 139-176). Winckler also gives the 
 original text in UAG. p. 154 f. Pinches and Hagen have a transcription, 
 translation, and commentary ; and Schrader in KB. Ill, ii, p. 128-loG, 
 gives a transcription and translation. I cite it as Nab. Annals. 
 2d
 
 402 SCYTHIANS AND MEDES SUBJECTED Book XI 
 
 seems, for the sixth year (550), and runs as follows: 
 " [Astyages his army] assembled and marched against 
 Cyrus, king of Anshan to take [him prisoner]. Astyages 
 his army revolted against him, seized him and gave [him] 
 up to Cyrus. Cyrus (marched) to Agamtanu (Ecbatana). 
 Silver, gold, goods and chattels of all sorts he carried as 
 spoil to Anshan." 
 
 § 1383. Shortly after this record was made Xabonidus, in 
 a famous inscription already referred to (§ 87), gives impor- 
 tant additional facts. He was eager to rebuild the decayed 
 temple of Sin in Charran. He relates how Merodach, his 
 chief deity, acting on behalf of the neglected Sin, told 
 him in a vision that he must perform this pious work. He 
 then continues : " Reverently I say to the lord of the gods 
 Merodach : ' That temple which thou hast commanded me 
 to make, the Scythian is round about it, and his forces are 
 might}*.' But Merodach says to me : ' The Scythian of 
 whom you speak, he, his lord, and the kings his auxiliaries 
 will be no more.' When the third year came round, they 
 (the gods) set Cyrus his pett} r vassal on the march. With 
 his little band he dispersed the wide-extended Scythians. 
 Astyages, king of the Scythians, he seized and carried 
 away prisoner to his country." * Xabonidus then goes on 
 to say that when Charran had thus been cleared of the bar- 
 barians he proceeded to rebuild the temple. 
 
 § 1384. Our first remark concerns the word loosely trans- 
 lated " Scythian." As a collective, it means literally " wide- 
 spreading hordes," and is a general term for the nomads, 
 such as Kimmerians and Maniueans (§ 758, 773 ff.), and 
 Scythians (§ 810 ff.), who since the days of Esarhaddon 
 had invaded from time to time the uplands of Western 
 Asia, and here and there had broken into the lowlands. 2 
 It is passing strange that Astyages the Mede should be 
 
 1 V It. 04. col. I, 18-33. 
 
 2 See Delitzsch, HWB., on the word in question, Umman-manda I which 
 apparently means " a large horde "). and Hagen in BA. II, 231. I trans- 
 late " Scythian " so as to give the nearest name of a distinct people.
 
 Ch. IV, § 1383 MEDIAN SUBMISSION EXPLAINED 403 
 
 called by this foreign name. The explanation must be 
 either that he was a " Scythian " who superseded the 
 Median Cyaxares, 1 or that so many of these roving people 
 had settled in Media, that they had given character and 
 name to the people and country. I think that until fuller 
 light is given we should decide for the former alternative. 
 That the nomads under a strong leader were able to ex- 
 trude the Medes from the ruling place is quite credible. So 
 great was their influence that through them the Median 
 policy (§ 1051) was changed, and before 552 they occu- 
 pied Mesopotamia. The association of Charran with the 
 successes of Cyrus gives colour to this hypothesis. Evi- 
 dently Nabonidus was given a free hand in Mesopotamia 
 after the northern hordes had retired. But why did 
 they retire unless the victory over Astyages was a blow 
 at the " Scythian " leadership ? For the submission of 
 Astyages, as we shall see, was not followed by a contrac- 
 tion of the Median dominion. The solution, therefore, 
 seems to be that these turbulent foreigners were too 
 strong for the legitimate government, and that the con- 
 quest of the Medes by Cyrus involved in the first instance 
 the repression and perhaps a partial expulsion of the 
 northerners. If this is so, the motive of Cyrus in oppos- 
 ing Astyages was not merely to overthrow the Median 
 suzerainty, but to intervene in behalf of his Iranian kindred 
 against these outlanders. It is further reasonable to sup- 
 pose that a native Median party was discontented with 
 the foreign regime 2 and that this gave encouragement to 
 Cyrus to throw off the Median yoke. 
 
 § 1385. How finely this conclusion harmonizes with the 
 surprising fact reported by Herodotus 13 and signally con- 
 
 1 So Winckler, UAG. p. 124 S. 
 
 2 Possibly a vague reminiscence of thia state of things glimmers through 
 the account given by Herodotus ( I, 107-124 | of the hostility of Efarpagus, 
 the trusted minister of Astyages. towards his master, which finally led 
 him to invite Cyrus to dethrone that monarch. 
 
 3 I, 127 ; ci. 125.
 
 404 A MEDO-PERSIAN EMPIRE Book XI 
 
 firmed by the contemporary scribes of Babylon, that when 
 the Medes and the Persian revolters met, many of the 
 former went over to the banner of Cyrus! Only dis- 
 content with the home government can account for an 
 immense army making terms with a small one. And only 
 the knowledge of such a feeling can account for the revolt 
 by a petty underling with a handful of followers against 
 the most powerful empire of the world. Cyrus, therefore, 
 did not begin his matchless career either as a foolhardy 
 adventurer or as a wanton aggressor. The story goes that 
 Astyages was spared and well treated after his overthrow. 
 
 § 1386. Henceforth the world-empire was Medo-Persian. 
 Its moral force was mainly Persian, but its population w r as 
 overwhelmingly Median or of former Median allegiance. 
 Yet for purposes of administration it was soon made an 
 absolute unit. Of the " Scythians " as a separate force we 
 hear nothing thereafter. The adjutants of Cyrus were 
 drawn from all portions of the empire. Mazares, Har- 
 pagus, and Grobryas, his chief generals, were Medes. 
 Hyrceades, who took the lead in mounting the citadel of 
 Sardis (§ 1388), was an Elamite. The speedy completion 
 of the organization is to be explained by assuming that 
 Cyrus visited the provinces in person, conciliating the 
 local chiefs by his affability, and choosing with unerring 
 instinct the most capable men as his governors. Thus first 
 in the world's history was exemplified on a large scale the 
 principle of delegated power (cf. § 56). He seems also 
 to have established an efficient intelligence department. 
 
 § 1387. During the two j-ears thus occupied the career 
 of the young conqueror and statesman was being anxionsly 
 watched by three nations — Babylonia, Egypt, and Lydia. 
 Aggressive action was first taken by Lydia. A memorable 
 campaign was undertaken by Croesus. He had expectation 
 of help from Egypt, and a definite promise from Sparta in 
 Greece. Seeking an omen from the oracle at Delphi, he 
 received the famous answer, " By crossing the Halys thou 
 wilt destroy a great empire." Thus encouraged, he ad-
 
 Ch. IV, § 1388 WAR MADE BY LYDIA 400 
 
 vancecl against the Medo-Persians in the spring of 547 
 without waiting for his allies. Cyrus, when informed of 
 the movement of Croesus, gathered his army, crossed the 
 Tigris below Arbela, 1 and took the Mesopotamian route 
 to Cappadocia by forced marches. Before he came up 
 with the troops of Croesus they had occupied the strong 
 fortress of Pteria, 2 in the north of Cappadocia, and laid 
 waste the surrounding country. In that neighbourhood a 
 desperate but indecisive battle was fought. Croesus, find- 
 ing the army of Cyrus unexpectedly strong, retired to Sar- 
 dis, his capital, to wait for his allies, thinking that Cyrus 
 would not follow him, in view of the difficult terrain. 
 
 § 1388. In this Croesus was deceived. In less than two 
 months after he had crossed the Tigris, 3 Cyrus marched 
 
 1 Some details of the movements of Cyrus possibly form part of the 
 record for the "ninth year" in Nab. Annals (II, 15-18). I give a trans- 
 lation of the somewhat mutilated passage. "(15) In the month Nisan, 
 Cyrus, king of Persia, mustered his troops (16) and made a forced pas- 
 sage over the river Tigris below Arbela. In the month Iyyar, to the land 
 . . . (he went). (17) Its king he vanquished and seized his possessions. 
 He made his garrisons occupy it, and (18) thenceforth his garrisons and 
 a (?) were kept there." As to the translation of the disputed word i-rab 
 (1. 16), cf. Delitzsch, HWB. at 3:0 II, and observe that the rapid Tigris 
 was at this season fast rising. Various conjectures have been made as 
 to line 16. Winckler (UAG. p. 131) says that some little kingdom be- 
 tween the Tigris and Euphrates is meant. Hagen (BA. II, 240) says- 
 that "the country in question lay not far from the Tigris below Arbela." 
 Conjecturing from traces in the text as published by Hagen that the end 
 of the line might have been mat Lu-ud-di, I inquired of Mr. Pinches his 
 latest opinion. The eminent decipherer replied that after an examination 
 in February, 1898, he then thought that the passage might easily read 
 mat I. a and a part of ud, the rest of the line being worn off. That " the 
 laud of Lydia" is meant is therefore possible. On other grounds it 
 had already been concluded that Cyrus just at this time was engaged 
 with CrOBSUS (Meyer, GA. 1, §502 f.). Moreover, Nabonidus reported 
 only the most important actions of Cyrus before his attack on Babylonia. 
 He had already noted the conquest of Media i § 1383), and lie would natu- 
 rally mention the fall of Lydia. 
 
 2 Near Pteria is the modern town of Boghaz-keui, where are the remains 
 of a great fortress, with Bettite sculptures on the walls of rock. 
 
 :i Assuming, meanwhile, that Nab. Annals, II, 16 (see note above), is to 
 be referred hither.
 
 406 SUBJECTION OF LYDIANS AND GREEKS Book XI 
 
 direct upon Sardis, and before the autumn was over, the 
 capital and the kingdom were in his hands. The Lydian 
 troops having been defeated before the city, it was invested 
 by Cyrus, and in fourteen days it was taken by a stratagem 
 similar to that employed in the capture of Quebec. A 
 story is told 1 to the effect that Cyrus had prepared to burn 
 Croesus alive, that the pyre was raised, the tire kindled, and 
 then extinguished by a miraculous shower. The cruelty 
 of the tale has gained credence in recent times from no 
 less an authority than Noldeke. 2 But Cyrus was, at all 
 events, neither superstitious nor whimsical, and the credible 
 tradition 3 that Croesus was spared and honoured by him 
 during the rest of his life is inconsistent with the underly- 
 ing motive of the story. 
 
 § 1389. Sardis became the permanent centre of Persian 
 power in the West. But of greater ultimate consequence 
 was the annexation of the Greek cities and colonies de- 
 pendent upon Lydia, for thereby came about the Grseco- 
 Persian wars that shook the world. Cyrus himself did 
 not remain longer than was necessary to direct the plans 
 for organizing the new realm. The Median Harpagus 
 made the Greek settlements secure. To him the Ionians, 
 the Carians, and finally the Lycians, submitted. The king 
 of Cilicia became voluntarily a Persian vassal, and the 
 same thing is related of the princes of Paphlagonia. 4 
 
 1 By Herodotus (I, 87), whose narrative, as that of a resident of the 
 coastland, may be relied upon for the leading historical events, but not 
 for stories in which religious credulity may be suspected. 
 
 2 Art. "Persia" in the Encyi. Br. (Vol. XVIII. p. 566) by Noldeke and 
 Gutschmid, who can find no better terra to describe Cyrus than "a sav- 
 age conqueror." Much more just is the eulogium of the greatest of Ori- 
 ental historians (Meyer, GA. I. § 506). Cf. the judgment of Duncker, 
 History of Antiquity (tr. by Abbot), VI, 128 ff. The attempted crema- 
 tion, Duncker (VI, 42 f.), followed by Meyer (GA. I, § 503), interprets as 
 self-immolation on the part of Crcesus. 
 
 3 In which Herodotus from Lydian, and Ctesias from Persian, sources 
 agree. The latter says that Cyrus allotted to Crcesus a manor near the 
 Median capital Ecbatana. 
 
 4 Cf. the summary in Meyer, GA. I, § 503.
 
 Cir. IV, § 1389 EAST IRAN MADE PERSIAN 407 
 
 Cyrus meanwhile returned to the East, and soon all of east 
 Iran (§ 1374) was attached to his rule. With the sub- 
 jection of Baktria he became the recognized head of the 
 Iranian peoples. Among them little coercion was needed. 
 Yet their organization and protection from border tribes 
 of the north required time, patience, and skill. To these 
 eastern provinces, the proper home of his own race, Cyrus 
 devoted some of the best years of his life ; though his 
 deeds which moved the civilized world were performed 
 in other regions.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 CYRUS KING OF BABYLON 
 
 § 1390. The empire of Cyrus now extended from the 
 river Indus to the ^Egean Sea, the whole of the settled 
 part of it having fallen to him in three years (550-547). 
 Still more marvellous than the rapidity of acquisition was 
 the manner of it. By the happiest fortune he had been 
 spared the need of fighting many battles, and had never 
 appeared in them as an oppressor. Even the subjection 
 of the Greek cities was a part of the reduction of Lydia. 
 That he burned no captured cities and villages and that 
 he sought to protect their inhabitants instead of making 
 slaves of them, 1 was also something new and welcome. 
 It seems to have been appreciated by the subject peoples, 
 for we hear of but few insurrections during his lifetime. 
 Thus lie played the role of a deliverer, such as that as- 
 signed to him in the Hebrew prophecy of his time. 
 
 § 1391. It is not quite certain how the war with Baby- 
 lon was directly occasioned. According to the most 
 probable data it was not undertaken till eight years after 
 the conquest of Lydia. By all precedent, it ought to 
 have begun immediately, since Babylon had been in al- 
 liance with Crcesus, and the seizure of the whole empire 
 of Nabonidus, except a few fortified cities, could have 
 been possible at any time. It is clear that the generals 
 
 1 We have no authentic details except with regard to Bahylon. We 
 have, however, results. Besides, what he did in Babylon (§ 1395) he nat- 
 urally did elsewhere. 
 
 408
 
 Ch. V, §1392 POLICY OF NABONIDUS 409 
 
 of Cyrus were held back, during these years, from descend- 
 ing upon the fertile and wealthy provinces that had been 
 the spoil of invaders from time immemorial. 
 
 § 1392. Of the internal condition of Babylonia during 
 the closing j-ears of the reign of Nabonidus, we gain some 
 hints from the king's own records. 1 In his ninth year (547) 
 the death of his mother is recorded. Belshazzar, in com- 
 mand of the army, and his men bewailed her three days, 
 and an official mourning was also proclaimed in Akkad, or 
 the district of north Babylonia. In the same year, as also 
 in the seventh, tenth, and eleventh, the entry is made : 
 " King Nabonidus was in Tenia ; the king's son, the mag- 
 nates, and the army were in Akkad. The king did not 
 come to Babjdon for Nisan. Nebo did not go to Babylon, 
 the New Year's feast w r as not held." The significance of 
 these statements is obvious (cf. § 1371 f.). The king did 
 not show any interest either in the affairs of the capital 
 or in the defence of the country. Of that religion which 
 was the strength and pride of Babylon, the New Year's 
 feast was the crown. On this day Nebo was brought from 
 his temple in Borsippa to Babylon, and there led along the 
 streets by a prescribed route, in solemn procession. That 
 Nabonidus should habitually ignore this ceremoii}*, and 
 thereby occasion its discontinuance, was a direct affront to 
 the state religion, and an act of folly on his part which 
 foreboded destruction. 2 The popularity which he had at 
 first gained in the provincial cities (§ 1372) at length 
 changed to indifference ; while in the capital a feeling of 
 resentment was aroused which Avas the forerunner of re- 
 bellion. There is abundant evidence that the priesthood 
 of Babylon were more loyal to their profession and their 
 
 1 Nab. Annals, col. II and III. The entries for only a few years have 
 been well preserved. Fur the eighth year (548) no record was made. 
 The eventful seventeenth (539) is recorded with greal minuteness, the 
 work having been i ipleted after the king's deposition. 
 
 2 The. records themselves, primarily minuted by officials of Nabonidus, 
 indicate the discontent. Forthe grand ceremony see RBA. i>. 078 f.
 
 410 NABONIDUS TO BE SUPPLANTED Book XI 
 
 craft than to any existing government (cf. § 660). It 
 would have been easy to get the king out of the way, and 
 Belshazzar was a man of character who would make a 
 strong ruler in his place. Deeper designs, however, were 
 cherished by these leaders in Babylon and Borsippa. The 
 existing regime must be subverted, and who so worthy a 
 successor as the tolerant and genial Cyrus? Of such a 
 feeling Cyrus was perhaps made aware. 
 
 § 1393. On this subject we may hear the scribes of Cyrus 
 himself. In an inscription written 1 after his occupation 
 of Babylon, they say of Nabonidus that he neglected the 
 sacrifices of the gods, did despite to Merodach himself, 
 and oppressed his subjects, so that the gods abandoned 
 their seats in anger. They then continue : " Merodach 
 took compassion on the people of Simmer and Akkad, 
 who had become like unto dead men. In all the nations 
 he looked over his friends, seeking a righteous prince 
 after his own heart, to take by his hand. ' Cyrus, king 
 of Anshan,' he called his name, nominating him to uni- 
 versal sovereignty. The land of Gutium, the whole of the 
 wide-spreading hordes, he subdued to his feet. The people 
 of mankind, whom he gave into his hands, he cared for 
 in justice and equity. Merodach, the great lord, the 
 protector of his people, beheld with joy his generous 
 deeds and his righteous heart, and bade him take the 
 
 1 Upon a cylinder now in the British Museum which was published 
 in 1880, in JRAS., by Sir Henry Rawlinson, and by Pinches in V P. 35. 
 It has also been given in Abel and Winckler*s Keilschrifttezte (1890), 
 and finally in the most exact form by Hagen in BA. II (1894 1 as 
 an appendix to his treatise, " Cyrus-Texte." Translations and tran- 
 scriptions are given by Hagen and also in KB. III. ii (1890), p. 120-127 
 by Schrader. Cf. Delitzsch in BA. II, 248 ff. and the art. " Cyrus"' by 
 King in EB.. §09. I cite it for convenience as VI!. 35. A brief inscription 
 found in 1850 by Loftus at Warka (Erech) is published by Hagen, BA. 
 II. 257. It runs : •• Cyrus, rebuilder of Esagila and Ezida, son of Caui- 
 byses, the mighty king, I am." Very many contract tablets have been 
 found nt the reign of Cyrus. Those in the British Museum are published 
 by Strassmaier, Inschriften van Cyrus (1890). For others see Peiser, 
 Keilschriftliche Aktenstiicke (1889) and Babyl. Vortrage (1890).
 
 Ch. V, § 1395 FALL OF BABYLON RECORDED 411 
 
 road to Babylon, going by his side as a friend and com- 
 panion." 1 
 
 § 1394. Turning now to the annals of Nabonidus, we 
 see that in 539, the year of the march of Cyrus upon Baby- 
 lon, a great change came over the spirit of the roi faine- 
 ant. Nebo came from Borsippa to Babylon (§ 1392). Bel 
 went out to join him in procession. The New Year's feast 
 was celebrated "as was proper." But this was not enough. 
 Whereas formerly Merodach and Nebo had been slighted, 
 and the provincial deities honoured with rebuilt and re- 
 dedicated shrines, now the images of those favoured gods 
 were dragged from their seats to Babylon, and implored 
 to protect the threatened capital. 
 
 § 1395. But the presence of all the gods and their pro- 
 pitiation were a vain reliance (cf. Isa. xlvi. 1 ff.). Hear 
 the next statement of the chronicle : 2 " In the month 
 Tammuz (July), when Cyrus gave battle to the troops of 
 Akkad in Opis by the stream Zalzallat, 3 he overcame the 
 men of Akkad. Wherever they gathered he vanquished 
 them. On the 14th day Sippar was taken without a battle. 
 Nabonidus took to flight. On the 16th day Gobrvas 
 (f^yharu), the prefect of Gutium, and the troops of Cy- 
 rus, without a battle, entered Babylon. Nabonidus, while 
 looking behind him, 4 was taken prisoner. Till the end of 
 the month the shields of Gutium surrounded the gates of 
 Esagila ; no one's weapon came into Esagila or into the 
 sanctuaries ; nor was any ensign advanced. In Marchesvan, 
 on the third day, Cyrus entered Babylon." A few words 
 from Cyrus himself describe the conclusion of the cam- 
 
 1 VR. 35, 7-15. For parallels with Isaiah II see § 1411 and note. 
 
 2 Nab. Annals, 1. 12-18. 
 
 8 Hagen understands u ("and") before the word for "stream," and 
 thinks of two localities and two distinct engagements (HA. II, 222 f., 
 243 f.). He is probahly in error. It is not necessary to limit Upe to the 
 mere city of Opis. The district of Opis is meant ; notice the determina- 
 tive ki "place," not al "city." A single locality only is therefore to be 
 assumed. Hagen is right in thinking that Zalzallat is a canal. 
 
 4 Compared by Hagen with Gen. xix. 17, 26.
 
 412 THE CAMPAIGN IX DETAIL Book XI 
 
 paign : " His wide-spreading host, whose numbers like 
 the waters of a river were not known, girt with their 
 weapons, march by his side. Without conflict or battle 
 he (Merodaeh) made him enter Babylon, his city. Baby- 
 lon he spared from harsh treatment. Nabonidus, the king, 
 who did not fear him, he delivered into his hand. The 
 people of Babylon, all of them, and the whole of Shumer 
 and Akkad, magnates and magistrates, bent low before 
 him, and kissed his feet. They rejoiced in his sovereignty ; 
 their faces beamed delight. The Lord, who through his 
 might gives life to the dead, who spares all from destruc- 
 tion and (?), they blessed with rejoicing ; they honoured his 
 name." x 
 
 § 1396. A few words of comment will make the whole 
 situation clear. This campaign of Cyrus is one of the 
 marvels of history. As was its wont, his army marched 
 suddenly, swiftly, and in perfect discipline. There was 
 thus the less opposition, the less fighting, the less destruc- 
 tion of life, and the greater chance of an early peace and 
 conciliation. Every movement was carefully planned 
 beforehand. The force was mobilized in Gutium, which 
 had become thoroughly Persian. Thence it moved south- 
 westward till it reached the Tigris near Opis, or the north- 
 east border of the Babylonia of that day. There the troops 
 of Belshazzar, mainly drawn from Akkad — for the people 
 of Shumer (§ 110), that is, the country around the capital, 
 had no mind to resist — ventured to oppose the invaders at a 
 point where a canal leaves the Tigris. They were defeated 
 and scattered. This was the only battle of the campaign. 
 Sippar, about foily-flve miles southwestward, was entered 
 without opposition. The capital was over fifty miles distant. 
 In two days 2 it also surrendered without a blow being struck. 
 Belshazzar was probably captured at the battle of Opis. 
 Nabonidus, who had roused himself and gone northward 
 
 i vi!. 35, 16-19. 
 
 - An instance of the mobility of the armies of Cyras. The campaign 
 seems to have lasted less than a week.
 
 Ch. V, §1397 THE NEW REGIME 413 
 
 to be with or near the army of defence, fled to Babylon at 
 the surrender of Sippar ; but while hesitating about further 
 flight was captured, presumably in his own palace grounds. 1 
 The fortifications of Nebuchadrezzar ( § 1058), which could 
 have held out long against an} r army of the time, were as 
 if they had not been. The mighty gates were thrown 
 open and a welcome given to the army of Cyrus. The 
 army had been in part, at least, loyal to the king; but after 
 its defeat, a popular uprising confirmed the wiser choice of 
 the priesthood (§ 1392). 
 
 § 1397. It is not certain that Cyrus was with the army 
 at any time during the actual campaign. But his ruling- 
 purpose was shown at its close as well as through its course. 
 At once his policy was announced. "Peace was secured for 
 the city. Cyrus proclaimed peace to all Babylonia." 2 But 
 he himself did not appear in Babjdon till three months 
 and a half after the surrender. Meanwhile things took 
 their course in the city as before. Neither sacred nor 
 secular business was interrupted. The general Gobryas 
 was entrusted with the appointment of royal prefects. 3 
 How much further the civil administration was changed 
 we are not informed. Babylonia, however, was not 
 treated as a province. Cyrus was really an emperor with 
 at least two distinct kingdoms, and he ruled Babylonia 
 immediately as its king. The contract tablets, while 
 indicating this principal fact, give no hint of the rule of 
 petty Persian officials during his reign. There was, of 
 necessity, a court. Cyrus himself sometimes resided here 
 
 1 So far as made out the contemporary documents throw no further 
 lighl upon the final fate of Nabonidus ami his son. According to Beros- 
 SU8, ( lyrus granted a handsome residence in < larmania t< > Nabonidus for the 
 rest of his days. A slightly mutilated passage in Nab. Annuls (I. •_'■_' f. ) 
 appears i" say thai "the son of the king died." This, however, is not 
 quite certain. If Belshazzar's death is really there recorded, it took place 
 during the same year. The Belshazzar, son of Nebuchadrezzar, of the 
 book of Daniel, is doubtless tin' son of Nabonidus of tin- cuneiform texts, 
 But the story of ch. v. finds no confirmation in the records of the time. 
 
 2 Nab. Annals, III, 19 f. a Nab. Annals, III, 20.
 
 414 RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL SEQUEL Book XI 
 
 and sometimes in Ecbatana, when his movements per- 
 mitted him to live quietly anywhere. 1 He made Baby- 
 lon at once a permanent seat of empire by having 
 ( ambyses, his son, consecrated as his heir by the priests 
 of Merodach. 2 
 
 § 13D8. We know more about the religious than the 
 political life of Babylon after the surrender. Cyrus 
 ordained not merely that the native religion should be 
 tolerated and respected, but that it should be encouraged 
 by his officers. It was, in fact, formally made the state 
 religion of the kingdom. He himself appears as a wor- 
 shipper, not merely of Merodach, but of the gods of Baby- 
 lonia generally. He was indignant at the sacrilege 
 committed by Nabonidus in dragging them from their 
 seats and deporting them to the capital, and ordered them 
 to be restored to their proper shrines. 3 The propitiation 
 of the gods of Babylonia and his acknowledgment of their 
 sovereignty he thus made his prime duty and privilege as 
 king of the country (cf. § 1-416). 
 
 § 1309. Finally, we note his treatment of foreign slaves 
 and exiles, of whom there were many in Babylonia. His 
 proclamation giving permission to the Plebrews to return 
 to their homes and their God we learn of from the book of 
 Ezra (ch. i.). It is pleasing to know that this boon was 
 not conferred upon them alone. He himself tells us of 
 cities as far as the border of Gutiuin whose gods and peo- 
 ple alike had been deported to Babylon. Now both the 
 one and the other were restored : " The gods who inhabit 
 them I restored to their seats, and made for them a dwell- 
 ing-place there forever. All of their people I gathered and 
 restored to their homes " 4 (cf. § 1415). 
 
 1 Traditions seem to agree that Cyrus was busily occupied in the east- 
 ern provinces towards the close of his life. But even the place and man- 
 ner of his death cannot be confidently stated. 
 
 2 Cf. V B. 35, 27. 35, and Nab. Annals, III, 24 ff. 
 
 3 V B. 35, 6. 32 f. Cf. Nab. Annals, III, 21 f. 
 *VB. 35, 31 f.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 PROPHETIC IDEALS 
 
 § 1400. In a very real sense Israel in Babylonia began 
 anew its spiritual life. There in servitude it was taught 
 elementary lessons which it could never have learned in 
 freedom. Its prison-house was from the very beginning 
 its nursery, and was soon made its school. There its 
 teachers, too, were trained ; there they were broadened, 
 deepened, and lifted above themselves, their people, their 
 times, and the world itself. The moral influences of 
 the Exile (§ 1313 ff. ) had been acting long before the 
 imagination of even the seers was fully awakened. It 
 was the death of Nebuchadrezzar and the succeeding com- 
 motions which stirred the smouldering prophetic fire ; and 
 then it flamed forth brighter than ever. New thoughts 
 were given forth in the noblest forms of poetic oratorv : 
 new conceptions of Jehovah, of his might and providence 
 and purpose, of the destiny of Israel and the world. 
 
 § 1401. The reign of Nebuchadrezzar had been so long 
 and imperious that the Hebrew exiles thought of deliver- 
 ance as an event in the indefinite future. But when he died, 
 there was, after the manner of the ancient East, unrest and 
 anxiety everywhere. Evidences of the inherent weakness 
 of Chakheism soon appeared and multiplied. The ensuing 
 conspiracies and revolutions (§ 1369 f.) could not but con- 
 firm distrust, and the character and habits of Nabonidus 
 (§ 1371 f.) added thereto. It Avas probably early in his 
 reign that Isa. xiii.-xiv. 23 was written and circulated 
 privately among the exiles. It has for its theme the 
 destruction of Babylon by the Medes, and was apparently 
 suggested by the aggressive spirit manifested by that people 
 
 415
 
 41(3 PROPHECY OF THE MEDES Book XI 
 
 when under "Scythian" control (§ 1384). We know 
 from Nabonidus that the northern frontier of Babylonia 
 was harassed by subjects of Astyages (§ 1382 f.), and that 
 it was not till Cyrus intervened that relief was given. The 
 popular dread of them was reflected in that felt by Naboni- 
 dus himself. That this and no later date is that of the proph- 
 ecy is probable (1) because the Medes 1 and not the Persians 
 are referred to as the enemies of Babylon, and (2) because 
 the mode of warfare ascribed to the aggressors (xiii. 15 ff.) 
 was not that of the armies of Cyrus, but rather that which 
 would be naturally expected from Scythian hordes ; (3) be- 
 cause the invaders are said (xiii. 5) to " come from a far 
 country, from the remotest horizon," an expression inap- 
 plicable to the Medo-Persian forces (see § 1390). 
 
 § 1402. The predictive portions of this majestic dis- 
 course show strong assurance of the ruin and desolation of 
 Babylon (xiii. 19-22) and of the restoration of Israel to 
 its own land (xiv. 1, 2, 22, 23). But more significant is 
 the characterization of the Babylonian world-power, which 
 is given with such lyrical splendour in the ode inserted in 
 the prophecy proper. It was not merely the Chaldsean regime 
 of the time that was in the mind of the poet. When, in the 
 most dramatic passage of the Old Testament, he pictures 
 the oppressor of the nations quelled at last b}^ death, and 
 his former vassals in all the pacified earth rejoicing in their 
 deliverance, and all the dead tyrants starting up with 
 incredulous surprise as the king of kings comes to join his 
 peers in Sheol, he is thinking of the historic tyranny of 
 Assyria and Babylonia meeting its long-delayed, divinely 
 predestined doom : " How is the oppressor ceased, the rag- 
 ing stilled ! Jehovah hath broken the rod of the wicked, 
 the sceptre of the rulers, that smote the peoples in fury 
 
 1 No contemporary writer, as far as we know, refers to the Persians as 
 Medes. In Isa. xxi. 2 the Medes are mentioned, but as forming part of 
 the forces of Cyrus (see § 1404). It is inconceivable that both the tower- 
 ing personality of Cyrus and the race to which he belonged could be 
 omitted in a prophecy of deliverance written after 547 b.c.
 
 Cn. VI, § 1403 FALL OF THE TYRANT 417 
 
 with unceasing blows, that played the tyrant over the 
 nations, treacling them down without restraint. The 
 whole earth is now at rest and quiet; it breaks forth into 
 singing. . . . Thy pomp is brought down to the shades 
 and the sounding of thy viols. . . . How art thou fallen 
 from heaven, O Day-star, son of the morning ! How art 
 thou hewn down to the ground, who didst lay low the 
 nations ! And thou saidst in thy heart, 'I will ascend into 
 heaven ; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God ; I 
 will sit upon the mountain of assembly in the recesses of 
 the north. 1 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; 
 I shall be like the Most High.' . . . They that see thee 
 shall look narrowly at thee, and stare at thee : 'Is this the 
 man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake king- 
 doms, that made the world a desert and overthrew the 
 cities thereof, that let not loose his prisoners to their 
 homes?'" (xiv. 4 ff.). 
 
 § 1403. Of an entirely different literary type is a long 
 discourse (Jer. 1. 1-li. 58), indicating clearly the same 
 historical situation. Apparently on account of some 
 resemblance in style, it has been annexed to the genuine 
 prophecies of Jeremiah. Here again the Medes are named 
 as more specifically "-the kings of the Medes" (li. 11, 28; 
 cf. 1. 41), a phrase which points to the semi-independent 
 nomad chiefs of the later Median times. More definitely 
 still the aggressors are said to be coming from the north 
 country, 2 and to be a gathering of great nations (1. 9, 41), 
 for instance, " the kingdoms of Ararat, of Van, and of Ash- 
 kenaz " 3 (li. 27), such as belonged to the half-organized 
 
 1 That is, in the north pole of the heavens, the seat of the chief of the 
 gods, Anu (Jensen, Kosmologie, p. 22 f.). Cf. Ez. i. 4, also written in 
 Babylonia, but not Vs. xlviii. '■). 
 
 2 Contrast Cyrus and the Persians, who are said to come from "the 
 east" (Isa. xli. 2 ; x!vi. 11). 
 
 '■'■ For Van (Manual F.V . "Minni") see § 758, where its association 
 with the Medes is pointed out. Ashkenaz is the Ashgus of II R. 45, col. 
 If, 20 (Esarhaddon). See Delitzsch in Baer's text of Daniel, p. IX, and 
 KAT. 2 p. 010.
 
 418 BABYLONIA. MEDIA, AND ELAM Book XI 
 
 empire of Media before the day of Cyrus. The general 
 tone of the prophecy is bitter and vengeful like Isa. xiii., 
 and thus differs from the impartial temper of Isa. 
 xl.-lv.. and the more genial Persian era. Nebuchad- 
 rezzar himself (Jeremiah's "servant of Jehovah") is here 
 represented as a lion that crunched the bones of the 
 hunted sheep, Israel, after another lion, Assyria, had 
 devoured his flesh (1. 17). Hence vengeance is to be 
 taken upon "the king of Babylon" (1. 18). That the 
 author wrote in Babylonia is shown by his intimate know- 
 ledge of the country. 1 
 
 § 1404. Another prophecy (Isa. xxi. 1-10) intervenes 
 between the Median period and the fulness of the time of 
 Cyrus. The standpoint of the author clearly appears in 
 v. 2 : "Go up, Elam ! lay siege, Media ! " Here " Elam " 
 is used by synecdoche for Anshan (§ 1378), before the 
 title " king of Persia " had been assumed by Cyrus. 2 The 
 discourse is intensely dramatic. The prophet sees in vision 
 the siege of Babylon by the Persians and Medes (vs. 1, 2). 
 The approaching catastrophe stuns him with its magnitude 
 (vs. 3, 4). The anxiety as to the result is pictured in the 
 successive reports of a watchman, who finally answers : 
 " Babylon is fallen, is fallen " (vs. 5-9). The issue is then 
 declared to the prophet's interested people. One cannot 
 but feel that as the fall of Babylon approaches, the word 
 of prophecy, in whatever form it may be uttered, becomes 
 more sober and dio-nifled. 3 
 
 1 Thus he not only refers to Pekod (§ 335). but to the " salt sea land " 
 Marratim (1. 21). that portion of Babylonia washed by the Persian Gulf. 
 Par. p. 182. Remarkable are the cases of the so-called Athbash, in 
 which the last letter of the alphabet is put for the first, the second-last 
 for the second, and so on. Thus in li. 1 'Dp ab is put for d-hbo •• Chahhea." 
 and in li. 41 -\vv is put for ^22 "Babylon" as in xxv. 26. The use of 
 cryptic writing was learned from the practice of the Babylonian schools. 
 
 2 That is, 547 b.c. ; see Nab. Annals, II, 15 (§ 1387, note). 
 
 3 Isa. xxxiv. should be mentioned here, though its subject is not Baby- 
 lonia, but Edom. It is very rancorous in tone, a feature which is no good 
 indication of the time of composition, since the enmity between Judah
 
 Ch. VI, § 1405 THE SECOND "ISAIAH" 419 
 
 § 1405. The destruction of Babylon is the prevailing 
 theme in the compositions which have just been considered. 
 But in the last and greatest work of the Exile this event 
 is less prominent and is overshadowed by its consequences 
 with the new perspective of divine revelation which it 
 opened up. The author, whose writings for this period 
 include at least Isa. xl.-lv., composed these discourses 
 shortly before 539 B.C. To him the consummation is 
 close at hand. It is so near and sure that he sees 
 through and beyond it. It is to him no longer an object, 
 but a medium of vision. Such indeed are all the events of 
 his fateful time that touched the fortunes of his people. He 
 is thus above all else a seer, the seer of a new and larger 
 Israel. But he is more than this, he is the crown and flower 
 of Hebrew prophecy. His supremacy was due in part to 
 what he was in himself, and in part to his age and environ- 
 ment. He lived in the time of the greatest prophetic 
 opportunity. He had the wider vision, not merely because 
 he stood on the shoulders of Isaiah and Jeremiah, but also 
 because he had seen more of God's world than they. Intel- 
 lectually he is a product of two kindred but divergent 
 civilizations. A pupil of the school that cherished the 
 past of their country as only exiles can, he throws himself 
 into line with the great motives of Israel's divinely 
 ordained career (ch. xliii. 3 ff. ; xlix. 5 ff.). But he can 
 also follow the great world-forces, and sees as no native 
 Palestinian could, how these apparently diverging ten- 
 dencies meet at last in the harmony of universal subjec- 
 tion to Jehovah's reign. To use an astronomical figure, 
 his visions were truer because their parallax was less, since 
 they were made from the centre of the earth. Thus Baby- 
 lonia prepared him to become the herald of a universal 
 
 and Edom was ineradicable and perpetual. Ps. exxxvii. and Ez. xxxv. 
 might suggest the time of the Exile ; but the composite Obadiah and Mai. 
 i. 2 ff. warn us to be cautious here. Isa. xxxv. has nothing to do with 
 xxxiv. It is a hymn appended to the works of Isaiah ; but its tone and 
 resemblance to Isa. xl. ff. suggest the end of the Exile as its date.
 
 420 CULTURE AND STYLE OF THE PROPHET Book XI 
 
 providence. But this was not all. He had a rare educa- 
 tion. His easy mastery of all his themes, his imperious 
 command of the forms of speech, his happy geniality, his 
 tolerance and breadth of sympathy, were not merely the 
 result of long study and reflection, but of wide and close 
 observation added to native endowment. He was espe- 
 cially familiar with Babylonian life and customs (ch. xli. 7 ; 
 xliii. 14; xlvi. 1 ff; xlvii. 2, 12 f.). He knew the contents 
 of historical inscriptions (§ 1411). But most of all is his 
 Babylonian home revealed in his style and in his literary 
 allusions. His discourse, serene, affluent, and glowing, is 
 an image of a Babylonian landscape. As it unrolls itself, 
 we think of fields and gardens and stately palms and bend- 
 ing willows and gently flowing streams, stretching away 
 over an ample plain, and all standing out clear in the light 
 of a cloudless sky. 
 
 § 1406. What impresses one most in the writings of 
 Isaiah II is the consummate beauty and power of his mere 
 language. Words with him seem not an instrument of ex- 
 pression, but an actual organ of thought and still more of 
 feeling. They are not so much voices that charm or thrill 
 us as hands that hold us, caress us, and move us as they 
 will. What Macaulay said of Milton, that his poetry acts 
 like an incantation, is much more true of our author ; for 
 Milton had little of his pathos, his feeling of the lachrymoB 
 rerum, the tearfulness at the heart of things, his sense of 
 the yearning needs of all sentient beings, 1 such as brings 
 together the divine Shepherd and his tired lambs (xl. 11), 
 
 1 Very marked in Isaiah II is the absence of harshness and rancour. He 
 does not abuse the idol-worshippers (xliv. 9-20 : xlv. 20 ; xlvi. 6 f.). One 
 feel* that he is sorry for their stupidity. He is contemptuous of the 
 insensate idols ; but he does not describe them as thrown down (1 Sam. 
 v. :; f.) or hurled from their seats. They "stoop" and "bow down,*' and 
 one can even trace the pity of the prophet as he depicts the vain efforts 
 of the <;ods once carried in festal procession (§ 1392) to save themselves 
 from deportation (xlvi. If.). On the other hand, bow he enters into the lot 
 of the really suffering : the captive, the prisoner, and the oppressed (xlii. 
 7 ; li. 13 f.), the faint and weary (xl. 29 f.), the poor and needy (xli. 17 ff.)!
 
 Ch. VI, § 1407 PARALLEL WITH VERGIL 421 
 
 and even makes the Creator call his heavenly host by name, 
 that they may not straggle from their ranks (xl. 26). * 
 The peer of Isaiah II is not Milton but Vergil ; and these 
 two are alone in their combination of subtle, all-perva- 
 sive tenderness and sympathy, sustained and not over- 
 strained fervour, splendour and simplicity of diction, the 
 enchantment of perfect speech set to the music of the 
 universal human heart. They stand, therefore, together 
 among the chief of poets, though neither was a great 
 creative genius, nor the first in power of thought in the 
 literature of his own nation. Nor does the parallel end 
 here ; for Vergil, too, was a prophet of the fulness of the 
 times. As Isaiah II gathered in himself the best hopes and 
 promises of the earlier prophets, so Vergil was swayed by 
 the purest moral ideas and aspirations of Greek thinkers 
 and sages. Lastly and most remarkably, each of them stood 
 at the close of a long period of international strife and 
 bitterness, and expected the speedy coming of an age of 
 peace and blessedness. How different the two conceptions 
 were! And yet the coincidence is more significant than 
 the difference. Of each of them it may be said, as Victor 
 Hugo wrote of Vergil: 2 — 
 
 " II est un des coeurs que deja, sous les cieux, 
 Dorait le jour naissaut du Christ niysterieux." 
 
 § 1-107. Such writing as that of Isa. xl.-lxvi. is not spon- 
 taneous. The eloquence that moves one's contemporaries 
 may be improvised, but that which sways the world forever 
 is the long travail of mind and soul. These gems of 
 thought and feeling with their incessant pla} r of many- 
 coloured lights were polished to perfection. Moreover, if 
 we confine our attention to those chapters which primarily 
 belong to the end of the Exile, we must see that their per- 
 manent form was not given at once, so that, as was said 
 
 1 Cf. the imitation in Ps. cxlvii. 4, and note the parallelism with vs. 
 ■i and ::. 
 
 2 Lea voix interieurea, XVIII (1807).
 
 422 THE PROBLEM FOR THE PROPHET Book XI 
 
 already (§ 1363), their literary history extends beyond the 
 period under present review. 1 But the most important fact 
 is that, as we have them now, they are not wholly the 
 production of the individual prophet whose genius moulded 
 and elaborated them. The thoughts, so comprehensive, 
 far-reaching, and final, are the ripe conclusions of a school 
 led by the unnamed author. In the finished product the 
 earlier writings of the period (§ 1401 ff.) found their cor- 
 rection and completion. 
 
 § 1408. Hence the great political catastrophe was 
 scarcely a problem to our author. Nor was it now hard 
 to convince his hearers or readers that the day of Babylon 
 was near to come. Cyrus and his omnipotence were in the 
 mouths of all men. To an Israelite the overthrow of the 
 oppressor was not the goal of desire ; it was instrumental 
 and secondary. The more difficult question was whether 
 such an event would help or save the Hebrew exiles. To 
 give the answer was the great practical achievement of the 
 prophet. He had two classes among his own people to 
 deal with. Among the new generation now grown up 
 there were many who had lost interest in the hope and 
 destiny of Israel. Those he sought to instruct and ener- 
 gize. Then among even the faithful leaders were many, 
 perhaps the majority, who reasoned that the approaching 
 change of dynasty, national and even racial as it was, meant 
 only a change of masters. To show that it meant deliver- 
 ance was now his great prophetic task. The personality of 
 Cyrus was necessarily the main human factor. He studied 
 Cyrus, followed his career of conquest, and especially 
 his policy of conciliation. The truth was flashed on his 
 mind that Cyrus was Jehovah's vicegerent or Messiah 
 
 1 We have to conceive of several stages : the converse of the disciples 
 and the master over the critical times ; the communication to the little 
 circle of the mind of Jehovah in broad suggestions as to the duty and the 
 hope of Israel ; the preparation by the master of separate discourses free 
 and copious for wider circles ; the condensing and coordinating and 
 arrangement of such discourses for the permanent uses of the com- 
 munity.
 
 Ch. VI, § 1409 CERTAINTY OF REDEMPTION 423 
 
 ("anointed one "). It was God's work that he had been 
 doing. When Babylon's time should come to be subjected 
 to him, he would still be doing God's work. And how so 
 truly and well as in freeing God's own people, who were 
 predestined to a new and more glorious national life ? 
 Hence Cyrus became an important factor in his theodicy, 
 which was, of course, not metaphysical but concrete, and 
 to be verified by the accomplished fact. 
 
 § 1409. Hence, while the Restoration was the end in 
 view, it was not the mode but the certainty of its accom- 
 plishment that forms the prophet's argument. Character- 
 istic of him is his serene outlook upon the action of the 
 gigantic forces that were to bring about the result, and his 
 estimate of their relative competency. The world was filled 
 not merely with the fame but with the deeds of Cyrus. 
 There was and had been nothing seen or temporal to match 
 him. As far as tangible power was concerned the prophet's 
 own client, Israel, was, even as compared with moribund 
 Babylonia, a mere worm of the dust (xli. 14). This genu- 
 inely prophetic and patriotic sense of the limitations of its 
 own national power — something so hard to be acquired by 
 any people, Hebrews or Romans, Boers or Britons — had 
 been literally pounded into Israel through its centuries of 
 tribulation. It was now indeed an ever-present thought in 
 the mind of the bewildered exiles. Israel, therefore, was 
 not a factor in the movement, except as it was itself to be 
 moved. Cyrus had the field to himself. Even to the com- 
 mon man in Israel, no one else was in sight. But march- 
 ing beside him, and holding his right hand, though he 
 knew it not, and knew Him not (xlv. 4), was One who was 
 subduing the nations before him, throwing open the gates 
 of cities, endowing him with his eagle-like swiftness and 
 easy success (xli. 2 ff. ; xlv. 1 f . ; xlvi. 11). And all this 
 was being done not for Cyrus himself, not for the Persians 
 or the Medes, the Lydians or the Greeks, but for the puny 
 remnant of Israel, exiled for two generations from their 
 home across the desert !
 
 424 THE GREAT THEOPHANY Book XI 
 
 § 1410. How the career of Cyrus was to affect Israel 
 was nut the concern of the prophet. He did not, strictly 
 speaking, foresee events ; he saw conditions. Prediction 
 is essentially a view of details, while the spiritual element 
 in prophecy has primarily not to do with results, but with 
 factors and principles and their divinely constituted inner 
 relations. Thus while the dazed secretaries of Nabonidus 
 were noting the crossing of the Tigris, and the surrender 
 of Sippar and of Babylon itself, and while the word came 
 swiftly down the Shatt-en-Nil and along the Kebar that 
 Babylonia had become Persian, the prophet was not greatly 
 surprised. He had had a vision already which had seemed 
 to involve these or some such incidental affairs. He has 
 given us his theophany, compared with which the finest 
 lyric representations of Jehovah's interventions (Ps. xviii. ; 
 Mic. i.; Hab. iii.)are as the Jordan is to the Euphrates, or as 
 Sharon is to Eden: " Hark! there is a voice crying: Clear 
 away in the wilderness the path of Jehovah ; level up in 
 the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be 
 raised, and every mountain and hillock shall be lowered ; 
 and the rugged ground shall be made level and the ridges 
 a plain ; and the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed ; and 
 all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of Jehovah 
 hath spoken it" (xl. 3-5). 
 
 § 1411. Yet our prophet did also make great account 
 of Cyrus and of the world outside of Israel. Herein lies 
 the sanity and trueness of his vision. To Cyrus, a non- 
 Israelite, even a non-Semite, is given a unique distinction. 
 He is called the anointed and the friend * of Jehovah. He 
 is the one whom Jehovah calls in righteousness. 2 Jehovah 
 
 1 Isa. xliv. 28 ; road 'jn " my friend" for <jh "my shepherd " (as also 
 in Zech. xiii. 7). Two parallels have been quoted in § 1393 : "In all the 
 nations he surveyed his friends,' 1 and, more striking still, "going by his 
 side as a friend and companion." 
 
 2 xlii. 6, so also xli. 2, cf. xlv. 13. See again § 1393 : " a righteous 
 prince after his own heart." The contention of G. A. Smith {The Book 
 of Isaiah II, 1G5) that the expressions about "righteousness" on the
 
 Ch. VI, § 1411 THE CALL OF CYRUS 425 
 
 calls him by name, and surnames him as well. 1 What makes 
 the tribute more impressive is that the language is imitated 
 from that of C} r rus himself, with reference to the patron 
 god of Babylon. 2 Our prophet gives him a nobler calling. 
 Specifically as a co-worker with Jehovah, he is to rebuild 
 Jerusalem, lay the foundations of the Temple (xliv. 28), 
 and (xlv. 13) restore the exiles to their homes. His larger 
 commission was, to be the instrument of letting the world 
 know that Jehovah was God alone (xlv. 6). How is all 
 this to be understood and justified? As already said, we 
 are not in this, or in any other forecast of the sort, to 
 look for a fulfilment in detail. 3 There are two things only 
 which touch the character of the inspired prophecy. One 
 is the character of Cyrus, and the other is his religion. 
 Unless these were approved by the prophet to whom both 
 
 cylinder and in Isaiah II, are not parallel is only technically correct. 
 They run rather on converging lines. The righteous Cyrus was the 
 agent whom Jehovah sought and called in and for righteousness. 
 
 1 xlv. 4. The exact parallel is in the words of Cyrus (§ 1393) : " 'Cyrus, 
 king of Anshan,' he called his name." To "name" is here to choose 
 beforehand, to predestinate. The phrase is used very frequently in the 
 inscriptions of the choice of a king (sometimes ages beforehand) by his 
 patron god to rule as his vicegerent. To bear a name means also in Baby- 
 lonian (and Hebrew) to have an existence ; in connection with the divine 
 election the underlying notion is therefore that of calling into being. 
 The "surname" (i::) is an honorific title, like the cognate Arabic 
 kunya and the Latin cognomen. Comparing with xliv. 5 we learn that 
 "Cyrus, king of Anshan," is analogous to "Jacob Israel." 
 
 2 Our prophet was doubtless familiar with the language of Babylonian 
 royal annals and proclamations, and a general reference to the phraseol- 
 ogy would not he surprising. But such close analogies wiiii several expres- 
 sions occurring in one brief section of an inscription of Cyrus himself can 
 scarcely be accidental. Is it not probable that in the literary working up 
 of the discourses after the fall of Babylon the author adapted the phrases 
 in question from the cylinder of Cyrus then just published ? I have not 
 by any means exhausted the parallels. In the quotation § 1393 every 
 expression of the passage beginning, " In all the lands," seems to be imi- 
 tated and specially applied by the prophet. 
 
 3 Yet, after all, the only fulfilment required by the terms of the pre- 
 diction is that which has been already noted in § 1399.
 
 426 CHARACTER OF CYRUS Book XI 
 
 were fully known, lie could not have either honestly or 
 intelligently written of him as he did. 1 
 
 § 1412. The material for a judgment of the character 
 of Cyrus is scanty ; but it is in a general way conclusive. 
 The first thing to be noted is the largeness of his fame. 
 In his own land his name is still a household word, sur- 
 viving all political and social revolutions. No man out- 
 side the Greek and Roman world has been so much the 
 theme of the classical writers, historians, poets, and philos- 
 ophers. No one outside of Israel has such a place in the 
 Hebrew literature. This singular preeminence of sacred 
 and secular renown can have but one explanation. We 
 may take for granted what may be called his Napoleonic 
 qualities, force of will, energy, enterprise, versatility. But 
 these are not the substance of his traditional reputation, 
 which was that of a good rather than of a great man. 2 
 
 § 1413. His military genius may be taken for granted. 
 But we have already had reason to note the absence of a 
 merely aggressive spirit in his wars (§ 1390). Of his states- 
 
 1 That is to say, Cyrus appears here as the agent, not as the mere 
 instrument of Jehovah. If he were only the latter, his character might 
 be, at least according to the ruling doctrine, a matter of indifference, as 
 is that, for example, of Cecil Rhodes to those present day prophets who see 
 the cause of righteousness prevailing in South Africa. 
 
 2 As far as they go, his own records already cited confirm the impres- 
 sion produced by Isaiah II. The popular estimate of him is still based 
 upon the accounts of the Greek writers, above all Herodotus and Xenophon. 
 The former mentions his repeated acts of generosity to his rivals and 
 otherwise gives a favourable picture. His story of the death of Cyrus 
 at the hands of the queen of the Massagette is told to illustrate an 
 underlying assumption of his history that acts of violence and presump- 
 tion are followed by divine punishment (cf . Duncker, History of A ntiq » it>/, 
 Eng. tr., VI, 121). The Cyropwdia of Xenophon was written to show 
 to the individualizing Greeks that several distinct peoples could form a 
 single nation and be governed successfully by one man. Hence the 
 idealizing of the life and work of Cyrus (cf. Duncker, ib. V, 358). But 
 Xenophon had good opportunities of learning from the Persians the essen- 
 tial traits in the character of their hero. The men of the fifth century 
 B.C., moreover, were able to trace the enduring results of the career of 
 Cyrus : they could measure the shadow which was still cast by his person- 
 ality upon the face of western Asia and eastern Europe.
 
 Cii. VI, § 1415 STATESMAN AND RULER 427 
 
 manship and his habit of command we can speak more 
 positively. He swayed men and nations with equal 
 facility and b} r the same sort of faculty, winning their alle- 
 giance by winning their hearts. He was magnanimous, 
 considerate, tolerant, as well as wise and daring. His 
 spirit was cosmopolitan, and his happy genius fitted him 
 to deal with all the races of the world. It was a new 
 thing in history to find conquered peoples quietly acqui- 
 escing in a dominion wielded from a centre a thousand 
 miles away. The marvel increases when we think how 
 diverse his subjects were, of whom the most prominent 
 only were Persians, Medes, Armenians, Scythians, Lyd- 
 ians, Greeks, Babylonians, Aramaeans, Palestinians, not to 
 mention the subdivisions of each, or the unclassified east- 
 ern communities. And this array of peoples, never before 
 united under one or two or three sovereignties, were for a 
 time fused into one by the magic of his genius. His faculty 
 of organization alone, supreme as it was, could not have 
 sustained his power during a month of his lifetime. 
 
 § 1414. We see a moral trait also in his new art of gov- 
 erning, which gave freedom of action to each section of 
 his empire, and thereby attached all to the central power. 
 It had not occurred to his Semitic predecessors that any 
 subject could serve the state voluntarily. Tiglathpile- 
 ser III, Nebuchadrezzar, and Cyrus stand for three Ori- 
 ental types of government. The first aimed to rule by 
 denationalizing and disintegrating, the second by denation- 
 alizing and conserving, the third by local protection and 
 personal oversight. This was as far as it was possible to 
 go in the direction of local self-government without repre- 
 sentation of the provinces in the councils of the empire. 
 And it was an unspeakable blessing to the people of 
 western Asia, harassed as they had been for ages by 
 tax-gatherers and slave-drivers. 
 
 § 1415. As far as the Semitic realm was concerned the 
 most signal boon of the new system was that outgrowth of 
 the sympathetic spirit of Cyrus, the revocation of the old
 
 428 LIBERATOR AND PROTECTOR Book XI 
 
 Assyrian system of the deportation and exile of offending 
 subjects. To have put an end to this custom was of itself 
 a unique distinction. But it was the rarest kingly sym- 
 pathy which led him to decree that those already cap- 
 tive should be restored to home and country. One can feel 
 that this is the mainspring of the personal gratitude and 
 admiration felt for Cyrus by our prophet, as he sets before 
 us in rapid strokes the pathetic picture of an Oriental 
 prison and the joy of deliverance : " The cramped-up cap- 
 tive hastens to be freed, and he shall not die and descend 
 to the pit, nor shall his bread run short" (li. 14 j. 1 
 
 § 1416. The question of the religion of Cyrus is one of 
 historical interest as well as of Biblical importance. The 
 first thinsr that strikes us is his tolerance. Under him and 
 his successors religious wars of the Assyrian or Semitic 
 type (§ 169) were impossible and unknown (cf. § 1377). 
 But here again he was not content with relieving his 
 world of an unspeakable curse. He became an actual 
 patron of the local religions — endeavoured, in fact, to have 
 as many established churches as there were separate peo- 
 ples under his dominion. His proclamation regarding 
 the returning Hebrews and their worship in Jerusalem is 
 matched by his own report of what he did for the gods of 
 Babylonia (§ 1398). It is thought by some that being 
 a Zoroastrian (§ 1376), he had some sympathy with the 
 spiritual religion of the Hebrews. This is not altogether 
 impossible ; but it does not explain his patronage of other 
 forms of worship. Another opinion is that his whole pro- 
 cedure was a piece of good politics, and that he showed 
 himself a religious indifferentist. There is no doubt about 
 the excellence of the politics, but indifferentism is not to 
 be inferred from his policy. This notion that Cyrus was 
 
 1 We should not forget that this is Hebrew prophetic poetry. Our 
 author does not mean to describe here the lot of the average exile. But 
 his artistic sense is justified. It is the extreme instance which shows the 
 effect of the system or the principle. In Oriental dungeons men starve to 
 death, unless ministered to (Matt. xxv. 44) by friends ; cf. § 1227.
 
 Ch. VI, § 1417 THE CYRUS OF HISTORY 429 
 
 a man of no religion is only less ill-considered than the 
 view formerly held 1 that he learned the superiority of 
 Jehovah from these very prophecies. What, however, is 
 reasonably certain is that he was neither an agnostic nor a 
 bigot, but a serious Zoroastrian ; that, as a follower of 
 Ahuramazda, he believed in the principles and practice of 
 righteousness and in the possibility of its advancement ; 
 that as a good man he abhorred the idea of using force to 
 spread his religious views, and as a sagacious ruler he was 
 aware of the futility of that time-honoured practice ; that 
 while the religious motive actuated his career, it acted 
 within as an impelling and directing force, and not without 
 as an occasion of wrong and misery ; that he saw sufficient 
 good in all the greater religions to justify him in both 
 tolerating and encouraging them ; and that he promoted 
 the happiness and welfare of his subjects by giving them 
 the opportunity of serving God according to the dictates 
 of conscience. 
 
 § 1417. Cyrus, Alexander, Caesar, these three changed 
 the face of the ancient world. Men of the after time, 
 even more than men of their own day, have been awe- 
 struck by the almost superhuman genius and force of these 
 rulers of the race. The historian, as he looks before and 
 after, is moved more to thought and wonder by the effects 
 of their deeds than by their deeds themselves, by what 
 they left for others to do rather than by their own achieve- 
 ments. Such men can have no successors; and when they 
 pass away, the world after them has to be made over again. 
 After Cyrus came Cambyses, and then the collapse, inevit- 
 able when the force of the one strong hand had been fully 
 spent. Under the great Darius the structure was recom- 
 posed, in part at least, after the mind of the founder; and 
 the Persian dominion was better for the harassed races of 
 
 1 Based in part on Ezra i. 2 ff. and in part Oil the statement of Jose- 
 phus (Ant. xi, 2) that, the predictions of "Isaiah" relating to him were 
 shown to him after the capture of Bahylon, and that he was sei/.ed with 
 a desire to fulfil them by restoring the Hebrew exiles.
 
 430 PROPHECY AND ITS IDEAL Book XI 
 
 Asia than the outworn yoke of Semitism. Yet the genial- 
 ity, the tact, and the humanity of Cyrus were wanting. 
 These, however, were rather the attributes of an ideal 
 ruler, such as the world has seldom seen, but such as, 
 through and since Cyrus, it has desired and expected. 
 Hence the better part of the Cyrus of history and prophecy 
 is not that which he wrought for the Hebrews or the 
 Babylonians or the Persians, but that which he was and 
 is for humanity. 
 
 § 1418. As with this hero of prophecy so was it with 
 prophecy itself. The beauty and glory of the Second Isaiah 
 were not reflected in the state or church of those exiles 
 that returned to Palestine by the leave and encourage- 
 ment of the great deliverer. No contrast could be greater 
 than that between the prophetic picture of Israel's restora- 
 tion and its actual process. Instead of " songs and ever- 
 lasting joy " (Isa. li. 3, 11) there was continual bitterness 
 of soul. Instead of imperial patronage and aid (xlix. 23) 
 there was mere official tolerance or neglect. Instead of a 
 host of eager patriots triumphantly reclaiming Jehovah's 
 land and thronging thither from the ends of the earth 
 (Isa. xlix. 19 ff.), a feeble band of settlers were huddled 
 between the mounds of Jerusalem, which long remained 
 without the bare essentials of walls and temple. Nor 
 were the spiritual visions and hopes of the great prophet 
 of the Exile more fully realized. The new Jerusalem, 
 which was to be a light to the Gentiles (xlix. 6) and the 
 hospitable shrine of votaries from the north and west, and 
 even from the far land of China (xlix. 12), became the seat 
 of a formal and exclusive worship, with a minute and rigor- 
 ous ritual as the handbook of the most spiritual of religions. 
 
 § 1419. But all this was inevitable, and in the order of 
 providence if not according to the letter of prophecy. Is 
 there a contradiction here ? No, only a paradox. If the 
 God of providence is also the God of prophecy, the paradox 
 is solved as soon as we understand history, which is only 
 the human side of providence. History is the fulfilment
 
 Ch. VI, § 1420 PROPHECY, PROVIDENCE. HISTORY 431 
 
 of prophecy as the finished statue or painting is the fulfil- 
 ment of the artist's dream, with the superadded details of 
 toil and circumstance. If God rules the world, then the 
 actual must be the slow but sure fulfilment of his ideal. 
 And his ideal, if any of his votaries have caught it at all, 
 has been caught by the Hebrew prophets. It is their 
 visions and none other that are being fulfilled in the moral 
 progress of our race. The visions of the prophets are 
 truer for us than the half-learned incidents of history, 
 because they herald the fixed and necessary issues to 
 which human events and actions tend in their zigzag 1 and 
 uncertain course. Moreover, the prophetic ideal is a 
 living force which assures its own fulfilment (§ 13). 
 Prophecy is thus not merely the interpreter and the fore- 
 runner of history, but also its guide and its goal. If there 
 is anything fortuitous, it is the fate of men and nations. 
 If there is anything certain, it is the progress of the pro- 
 phetic ideal: justice, kindness, humility (Mic. vi. 8). 
 
 § 1420. As we close our present survey, two ideas of in- 
 finite regenerative potency appear on the spiritual horizon, 
 projected by our last great prophet — a universal brother- 
 hood of men redeemed by Jehovah's grace, and the re- 
 demptive ministry of Jehovah's suffering Servant. These 
 ideas are the forces that heal and uplift our hurt and 
 stricken humanity. The last enemies to be destroyed in 
 human society are tribalism surviving in militarism, and 
 injustice materialized in cruel greed. They involve or 
 induce all forms of impiety, crime, and misery ; and in 
 some of the most illusive and noxious of their disguises 
 they deceive the very elect. Against them the Hebrew 
 prophets, with their Goel the Christ and their true succes- 
 sors, have declared and waged eternal war. With weapons 
 that are not carnal, but yet are mighty before God to the 
 casting down of strongholds, they shall win the day. Men 
 shall study war no more ; the meek shall inherit the earth.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINES 
 
 B.C. 
 
 Before 7000. 
 
 Before 6000. 
 
 Before 5000. 
 
 5000-4000. 
 
 c. 4000. 
 c. 3800. 
 
 c. 3700. 
 c. 3600. 
 c. 3000. 
 c. 2280. 
 c. 2240. 
 
 c. 2000. 
 c. L900. 
 
 c. 1600. 
 c. 1580. 
 
 c. 1500. 
 2f 
 
 First agricultural settlements in the Delta of the Euphrates 
 in north Babylonia, the sites of the later south Baby- 
 lonian settlements being still under the slowly receding 
 waters of the Persian Gulf. 
 
 Semitic emigration to Egypt, probably by way of South 
 Arabia ; agricultural settlements in Middle Egypt. 
 Founding of cities, as Nippur and Kish, in central and 
 northern Babylonia. Nippur, a central Semitic sanctu- 
 ary sacred to Bel. 
 
 Rise of south Babylonian cities, as Erech and Ur. Kingdom 
 of Simmer (Shinar) in central Babylonia. Development 
 of petty kingdoms in the lower Nile valley. 
 
 Successive rise of kingdoms throughout Babylonia. Akkad 
 in north Babylonia takes the place of Simmer. Lagash 
 (Shirpurla), then close to the Persian Gulf, rises to prom- 
 inence in south Babylonia. Upper and Lower Egypt 
 develop rival kingdoms. 
 
 Union of Upper and Lower Egypt — First dynasty. 
 
 Empire of Akkad extends to the Mediterranean under Sar- 
 gon I, and Naram-Sin. 
 
 Age of the great pyramids in Egypt. 
 
 South Babylonia dominant in west Asia. 
 
 City of Ur dominant in Babylonia. 
 
 Babylonia subdued by the Elamites. 
 
 Rise of city of Babylon. Chammurabi (Amraphel of Gen. 
 xiv.) its king expels the Elamites and unites all Baby- 
 lonia. 
 
 Shepherd chiefs (Ilyksos) found Asiatic dynasty in Egypt. 
 
 Babylonians completely occupy and civilize Syria ami 
 Palestine. A large part of Israel goes down to Egypt. 
 
 Babylonians retire from Syria and Palestine. 
 
 Ilyksos expelled from Egypt. Asiatics oppressed. Hard- 
 ships of Israel in Egypt begin. 
 
 Egyptian empire founded in Syria and Palestine. 
 133
 
 434 CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINES 
 
 B.C. 
 
 c. 1400. Rise of the Hettite league in Syria. Egyptians give way to them 
 
 in Syria, 
 c. 1326. Treaty between Rameses II of Egypt and the Hettite king ; 
 
 Egyptians retain Palestine, and Hettites Syria. 
 c. 1260. Merneptah of Egypt subdues Palestinian Israelites, 
 c. 1200. Exodus of Hebrews from Egypt. 
 c. 1190. Egyptians retire wholly from Palestine. 
 c. 1170. Entrance of Egyptian Israelites into Canaan. 
 c. 1130. Deborah and Barak judge. 
 c. 1100. Assyria becomes more powerful than Babylonia, but does not 
 
 occupy the lat+er country. Gideon judges. 
 c. 1080. Decline of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia gives opportunity for 
 development to Aramaeans in Syria (Damascus, Zobah, etc.) 
 and to Israel, with other peoples, iu Palestine. Jepthah 
 judges. 
 c. 1050. Samuel judges, 
 c. 1030. Saul is made king. 
 c. 1000. David begins to reign. 
 c. 965. Solomon begins to reign. 
 c. 950. Temple in Jerusalem completed. 
 
 945. Libyan dynasty begins in Egypt under Shishak. Rise of Da- 
 mascus. 
 934. Division of the kingdom. Jeroboam I in northern Israel, Reho- 
 
 boam in Judah. Wars between Israel and Judah. 
 929. Shishak invades Israel and Judah. 
 918. Abijah king of Judah. 
 915. Asa king of Judah. 
 913. Nadab king of Israel. 
 911. Baasha king of Israel. 
 890. Baasha loses territory in the north to Ben-hadad I of Damascus. 
 
 Revival of Assyrian power. 
 888. Elah king of Israel. 
 887. Zimri king of Israel. 
 886. Omri king of Israel. Founding of Samaria. Long peace with 
 
 Judah. 
 875. Assyrians begin systematic conquest in Syria. Ahab king of 
 
 Israel. 
 872. Jehoshaphat king of Judah. Alliance with Judah against 
 
 Damascus. 
 855. Peace with Damascus under Benhadad II. 
 
 854. Shalmaneser II wages battle at Karkar with a western confeder- 
 acy, including Israel and Damascus. 
 853. Truce broken ; Ahab killed at Ramoth-Gilead. Ahaziah and 
 
 Joram kings of Israel. 
 850. Jehoram king of Judah.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINES 435 
 
 B.C. 
 
 843. Ahaziah king of Judah. 
 
 842. Jehu king of Israel ; Athaliah queen of Judah. Shalmaneser 
 receives tribute from Jehu. 
 
 836. Israel saved from destruction through the attacks of Hazael of Da- 
 mascus by the Assyrian assaults upon the latter. Jehoash king 
 of Judah. 
 
 815. Jehoahaz king of Israel. 
 
 799. Ethiopian inroad on Upper Egypt. Joash king of Israel. 
 
 797. Damascus taken by Ramman-nirari III of Assyria. Amaziah king 
 of Israel. 
 
 783. Revival of north Israel. Assyrians retire. Jeroboam II king of 
 Israel. Azariah (Uzziah) king of Judah. 
 
 769. Expansion of Judah. Azariah (sole reign). 
 
 763. Prophet Amos. 
 
 761. Jotham king of Judah. 
 
 743. Prophet Hosea. 
 
 742. Zachariah and Shallum kings of Israel. 
 
 741. Menahem king of Israel. 
 
 738. Israel terrorized and made tributary by Tiglathpileser III (Pul) of 
 Assyria (745-727). Jotham (sole reign). Prophet Isaiah. 
 
 736. Pekahiah king of Israel. 
 
 735. League of Damascus and north Israel against Judah. Pekah king 
 of Israel. Ahaz king of Judah. 
 
 734. Tiglathpileser III invades Palestine. Judah tributary to Assyria. 
 
 733. Damascus and Samaria taken by Assyrians ; part of Israel deported ; 
 Hoshea Assyrian vassal in Samaria. 
 
 728. Ethiopian dynasty in Egypt (728-645). 
 
 724. Revolt of Hoshea. Prophet Micah. 
 
 722. Sargon II, king of Assyria (722-705), deports 27,290 people of Sa- 
 maria. Annexation to Assyria. 
 
 719. Hezekiah king of Judah. 
 
 704. He joins in revolt against Assyria. 
 
 701. Sinacherib (705-681) invades Palestine; deports many people of 
 Judah ; retires from Jerusalem because of plague in his army. 
 
 090. Manasseh king. 
 
 689. Sinacherib destroys Babylon. 
 
 681. Esar-haddon (681-668) restores Babylon. 
 
 672. Esar-haddon conquers Egypt. 
 
 667. Asshurbanipal (668-4526) reconquers Egypt. 
 
 648. Asshurbanipal ends great revolt by capture of Babylon. 
 
 645. Assyrians withdraw from Egypt. 
 
 641. Anion king. 
 
 639. Josiah king. 
 
 626. Swift decline of Assyria. Prophet Jeremiah. 
 
 621. Finding of the Book of Direction ; reform in religion and worship.
 
 436 CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINES 
 
 B.C. 
 
 620. Prophet Zephaniah. 
 
 608. Pharaoh-necho invades Palestine and Syria. Josiah killed in battle 
 
 with Necho. Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim kings. Judah a vassal 
 
 of Egypt. 
 607. Nineveh destroyed by Medes. Prophet Nahuin. 
 604. Necho defeated at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar (604-562). 
 
 Judah submits to Nebuchadnezzar. 
 GOO. Prophet Habakkuk. 
 
 598. Jehoiakim revolts. Chaldseans invade Judah. 
 597. Jehoiachin king. First captivity. 
 597. Zedekiah king. 
 592. Prophet Ezekiel. 
 
 588. Zedekiah rebels. Jerusalem invested. 
 586. Jerusalem taken. Second captivity. 
 581. Murder of the governor Gedaliah. Many remaining Hebrews 
 
 migrate to Egypt. Others deported — a third captivity. 
 567. Nebuchadnezzar conquers Egypt, but does not retain it. 
 562. Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon. 
 556. Nabonidus, last king of Babylon. 
 
 550. Cyrus, prince of Persia and Elam, becomes king of the Medes. 
 547. Cyrus conquers Lydia. 
 
 539. Cyrus conquers Babylon and becomes its king. 
 538. Proclamation of Cyrus freeing the exiles of Judah.
 
 INDEX I 
 
 SUBJECTS 
 
 The numbers refer to the paragraphs of the work. 
 The tables of Contents should be used in connection with this Index 
 when several references are set down for the same topic. 
 
 app. = appendix 
 
 L = land, region, or district 
 
 b. = son of (ben) 
 
 M = mountain or mountain 
 
 bat = daughter of 
 
 range 
 
 C = city or city state 
 
 n. = note 
 
 Ch = chief 
 
 = officer or official 
 
 Cr = commander 
 
 P = people or race 
 
 D = divinity or demon 
 
 Q = queen 
 
 G = governor or viceroy 
 
 R = river 
 
 I = island 
 
 S = settlement or site 
 
 J = judge 
 
 T = tribe or clan 
 
 K = king or kinglet 
 
 "W = watercourse 
 
 Aahmes I (K), 144, 346. 
 Abdashirti (Cr), 152. 
 Abditaba (G), 152. 
 Abdiii'tu (K), 675. 
 Abel-beth-maacah (C), 331, I. app. 
 
 13. 
 Abijah (K), 210. 
 
 Abimelech (K), 49, 189; (G), 152. 
 Abiyate (Ch), 788. 
 Aimer (Cr), 203. 
 Abraham i Abram, Ch), Hi'.), 406, 
 
 412. 115. 447 »., 7:i2 ,,., 955, (CO. 
 Absalom b. David, 205, 515, 526, 
 
 971. 
 Abu-Habba (S), 87. 
 Abu Nejra (S), 120:;. 
 Al.u Simbel (C). 1207. 
 Abyssinians ("Ethiopians"), 18, 
 
 Z<j. 
 
 Accho (Akko, C), 152, 226, 675, 
 
 789. 
 Achsemenes (Ch), 1378. 
 Acharu (" West "), 133 n. 
 Achbor (O), 850. 
 Achimiti (K), 632, II. app. 4. 
 Achish (K), 107. 
 Achuni (K), 227. 
 Adar (Nineb, D), 57, 220, 818. 
 Adarmalik 1>. Sinacherib, 744. 
 Adbeel (I'), 334. 
 Addan (S), 1273. 
 Addar (C), 152. 
 Adinnu (C), 228. 
 Adonijah b. David, 20.">. 
 Adonis (D, of. Tamrauz), 330, 1 184 n. 
 Adoption, family. 4H I ; tribal ami 
 
 national. 548 ff, 568 : seeStrangers. 
 Adoniba'al (K), 228. 
 
 437
 
 438 
 
 INDEX I 
 
 Adrammelech, see Adarmalik. 
 Agriculture, Hebrew, 475, 484, 540, 
 
 567 ; Babylonian, 1270, 1283, 1317. 
 Aguni-kak-rime (K), 123. 
 Ahab (K), 213 ff., 221, 228, 231 ff., 
 
 239, 519, 981 f., 1005; (exile), 
 
 1169. -" 
 
 Ahava (C), 1273 n. 
 Ahaz (K), 270, 308, 317 ff., 325 ff., 
 
 336 ; I. app. 12. 
 Ahaziah (K), of Judah, 221, 236, 
 
 254 ; of " Israel, 1 • 235, 635, 638 ff. 
 Ahijah (prophet), 979. 
 Ahikani b. Shaphan, 843, 850, 1092. 
 Ahriman (D), 1376. 
 Ahuramazda (U). 1376, 1416. 
 Ai (C), 185. 
 Akaba, gulf of, 755. 
 Akaba (C), 780. 
 Akkad (Agade, C), 80, 87 ff., 93 f. 
 
 98 f. 102, 105, 752; (L), 782, 
 
 1392, 1395 f. 
 Akkadian, see Sumerians. 
 Akk! (0),89. 
 Akzibi (Ekdippa, C), 675. 
 Aleppo (Chalman, C), 141, 202, 
 
 226, 228. 241. 
 Alexander of Macedon, 42, 737 «., 
 
 1417. 
 Allatu (D), 1185. 
 Alliances, see Federations. 
 Altruism in the Old Testament, 
 
 611 ff. ; among the Hebrews, 9581, 
 
 966, 972. 
 Alusharshid (K), 91 f. 
 Alyattes III (K). 775. 
 Amalekites, 183, 197, 204, 975. 
 Amanus (M), 96, 125, 201, 219, 
 
 257, 307. 
 Amarna (Tell el Amarna, S), and its 
 
 inscriptions, 146 ff. 
 Amasis (K), 1365. 
 Amaziah (K), 254, 260 f. 
 Amedi (C, Diarbekr), 247. 
 Amen (I)), 144 f., 207, 346, 770 n. 
 Amenophis (K), III, 145 ff., 162; 
 
 [V, 147 ff., 162, 175. 
 Ammonites, 26 (18), 48, 50, 183, 
 
 190 f., 196, 204, 209, 215, 228, 263, 
 
 268 f., 273, 302, 337, 550 n., 675, 
 
 677, 761, 787. 972, 1078, 1157, 
 
 1213, 1240, 1243, 1251. 
 Anion (K), 806, 845. 
 Amorites, 26, 41, 48. 117, 131, 132 f., 
 
 160, 163, 183 ff., 201, I. app. 3. 
 Amos, the prophet, 24>v 2#i. 30>ffr, 
 ' 320, pf, I. app. 4, oyjr, ^£4fr, 
 
 Amraphel. see Chammurabi. 
 
 Amu (P), 132, 135. 
 
 Anat (D), 856 n. 
 
 Anathoth (C), 1101, 1221, 1225. 
 
 Animal worship, 1183. 
 
 Anshan (L), 98. 106, 1378, 1404. 
 
 Anthropomorphisms, 927. 
 
 Anti-Lebanon, 125. 
 
 Anu (D). 172. 856». 
 
 Anunit (D), 94. 
 
 Aphek (C), 194. 231, 234, 756. 
 
 Arabah (L), 262. 273. 
 
 Arabia and Arabs (collectively), 18, 
 23, 471, 1251. 132, 1341, 141, 
 228, 230, 675, 7051; North A., 
 97, 132. 1341. 163, 228. 334. 630, 
 7081, 741, 7541, 786 ff., 802; 
 South A., 145, 878 ; Arabs in 
 Babylonia, 114, 117, 438 ; in Jeru- 
 salem, 675. 
 
 Aramaeans, distribution, 25 (17), 
 75 ; I. app. 5 ; achievements. 64. 
 202, 368 ; political conditions. 47, 
 284, 286 ; trade, 64, 141, 202, 212 ; 
 language, 701 ; settlements and 
 history, 1601, 179,188.2011.211, 
 223, 228. 247, 293. 351. 438. 6601, 
 672, 780, 1078 ; see especially 
 Damascus and Mesopotamia. 
 
 Arami (K). 228. 
 
 Aram-Naharaim (L). 75, 132. 
 
 Ararat (L), see Armenia. 
 
 Architecture. 341, 667, 737, 742, 
 762, 830. 
 
 Ardys II (K), 775. 
 
 Argana (C), 228. 
 
 Argistis (K), 256. 
 
 Argo (I), 346. 
 
 Ariel (Jerusalem). 772. 
 
 Arioch (K), 108 ff.. 1131, 117. 
 
 Ark of the Covenant, 194, 919. 
 
 Armageddon (C), 145.
 
 INDEX I 
 
 439 
 
 Armenia (L), 154, 179, 222, 247, 
 250, 258, 284, 294, 811, 020, 735, 
 747, 1403. 
 
 Army (cf. Warfare and Weapons) : 
 Hebrew, 199, 205, 210, 245, 204, 
 266, 208 f., 458, 512ft'., 531, 700, 
 879 ; Egyptian, 144 ; Assyrian, 
 697 n., 813 ; Medo-Persian, 1396. 
 
 Anion (R), 183, 243. 
 
 Arpad (C), 141, 226, 294, 624. 
 
 Arsu (K), 166. 
 
 Art in Israel, 269, 1178 m. 
 
 Arvad (C), 125, 145, 152, 180, 675. 
 
 Aryans, contrasted with Semites, 
 51, 28 f., 56; in Asiatic history, 
 823, 1373 ft. ; cf. Kimmerians, Scy- 
 thians, Greeks, Medes, Persians. 
 
 Asa (K), 211, 215, 1247 ?«. 
 
 Asdudimmu (C), 632. 
 
 Ashdod (C), 192, 032, 034 (053 f., 
 058 f.), 075, 084, 089, II. app. 4, 
 1032. 
 
 Asher (T), 186, 272. 
 
 Ashera (D), 152 «., 321, 330, 854. 
 
 Asherites (P), 530. 
 
 Ashkenaz (P), 1403. 
 
 Ashtoreth (Astarte, cf. Ishtar, D), 
 137, 200 n., 213, 321, 855, 856 n., 
 971, 1256. 
 
 Asi (Cyprus, I), 133. 
 
 Askalon (C), 152, 192, 332, 675, 
 689 ft. 
 
 Asshur (C), 74, 171 f., 179 f., 247, 
 258 f., 283; (D), 57, 59 f. 
 
 Asshnrbanipal (Asshurbanapil, K), 
 90, KI7, 703 ft., 802, 810 ft., II. 
 app. 17, 1286. 
 
 Asshur-bel-nishesu (K), 175. 
 
 Asshur-dan (K), I, 178; II, 216; 
 III, 258. 
 
 Asslmr-etil-ilani (K), 820, 824. 
 
 Asshur-nadin-shum (K), 739. 
 
 Asshur-nirari (K), 258, 281. 
 
 Asshurnasirpal (Asshurnasrapil, K), 
 180, 210 ft., 282. 
 
 Asshur-ivsh-ishi (K), 178. 
 
 Asshur-ubaUit (K), 175. 
 
 Asslmr-zfikir-shnm (K), 071. 
 
 Assiah (O), 850. 
 
 Assouan (Syene, C), 346, 1365. 
 
 Assyria (L). 74. 
 
 Assyrians (P) : classification, 18; 
 character, 108 f., 208; extension, 
 39 f., 808 f. ; culture, 816 if. ; colo- 
 nies, 41, 175 ; trade, 141 ; political 
 tendencies and government, 41, 
 52, 108, 172, 217, 221 ft., 282 11, 
 301, 303, 382 ff., 723, 743, 1050, 
 1402 ; religion and deities, 57, 59, 
 108 f., 172, 220, 228, 259, 040; 
 achievements, 65, 365 f., 368, 830 ; 
 language, 80 ff., 115, 153 f. ; monu- 
 ments, 217, 220 n., 221 n., 237, 242, 
 248, 208, 281 n., I. app. G, 15, 10, 
 666 1., 675, 690, 757, 817, II. app. 
 9, 16, 17 ; general history, 76, 78, 
 145, 150, 155, 170 ft., and see Con- 
 tents ; relations with Syria and 
 Palestine, 101, 174, 212, 250 ff., 
 294, 305 ff., 326, 331 ff., 343 f., 349 
 ff., 512, 550, 024 f. ; relations with 
 Egypt, 150, 332, 025, 030, 632, 
 675, 678 f., 705, 708 ff., 756, 761, 
 764 ff., II. app. 14. 
 
 Astarte, see Ashtoreth. 
 
 Astrology in Israel, 850. 
 
 Astyages (K), 1380, 1382 ff. 
 
 Ataroth (C), 235. 
 
 Aten (D), 147. 
 
 Athaliah (Q), 235, 254, 320. 
 
 Athbash (cypher). 1403 n. 
 
 Atlantic navigated, 42, 00, 1031. 
 
 Azariah, see Uzziah. 
 
 Azekah (C), 1213. 
 
 Azupiranu (C), 89. 
 
 Azuri (K), 032, II. app. 4. 
 
 Azuru (C), 075. 
 
 Ba'al, lord and husband, 418, 426 n. ; 
 
 (K), 757, 701 11. 
 Baal (ba'alim, D), worship, 59 f., 
 
 137,213, 321, 855, 856 n. 
 Baalis (K), 1245. 
 Baasha (K), of Israel, 211, 1247 n. ; 
 
 of Amnion, 228. 
 Bab-salimeti (C), 780. 
 Babylon | Babel, C), 34, 39 f., Ill f . , 
 
 117, 180, 247, 623, 660 f., 668, 073, 
 
 740, 748 ff., 783, 1050 ff., 1273, 
 « 1292 f., 1371 f., 1392 ff.
 
 440 
 
 INDEX I 
 
 Babylonia : extent, 73 ; physical as- 
 pect, 1314. 
 
 Babylonians : classification, 18 ; age, 
 70; character, 122 ; language, see 
 Assyrians ; civilization, 70 ff. ; 
 achievements, 65, 93, 116, 153 f., 
 365 ff., 836 f. ; religion and deities. 
 57, 87, 941, 99 ff., 1071, 112, 117. 
 122, 700, 10531, 1060ff., 1185, 
 1332, 1340 ; industry, 1004, 1270 f. ; 
 trade, 901, 961, 103, 1059; gen- 
 eral history, 80 ff.. 140, 153, 174 ft'.. 
 223 1. 247. 293, 3391, 670, 733 ff., 
 748 ft'., 778 ff., 822, 10251, 1045 ff., 
 
 1304 ff. ; relations with Syria and 
 Palestine, 90 ff., 96, 109, 116, 123, 
 137, 141, 153 ff., 174, 679, 10431, 
 1171, 1210 ff., 1241, 1250; rela- 
 tions with Egypt, 96, 149, 1222, 
 
 1305 f. ; relations with Medo-Per- 
 sians, 1301 ff. ; monuments, 87 ff., 
 95 ff.. 117 h., 140 ff., 1051 »., 1053 
 n., 1371 n., 1382 «., 1393m. See 
 also Agriculture, Business, Water- 
 courses. 
 
 Baghdad (C), 71. 
 
 Baktria (L), 1374, 1389. 
 
 Balaam's prophecies, 895. 
 
 Balich (R), 75, 218, 228, 343, 302. 
 
 Ban. the sacred, 550. 
 
 Banai-Barka (C), 675, 695. 
 
 Barak (J),' 188, 479. 
 
 Barkal (M), 347. 
 
 Baruch b. Neriah, 1082 «., 1116 ff., 
 
 1242. 1248, 1254. 1353. 
 Bashan (L), 186, 243, 272, 315. 
 Bazu (P), 755 n. 
 Bedawin, 127. 
 Beenah marriage, 412 f. 
 Bekenrenf (Bocchoris, K). 317. 
 Bel i D), 57, 94, 112, 341, 12841 
 Bel (and Nebo), 311, 663. 
 Bel-epush (K), see Bel-ibne. 
 Bel-ibne (K), I, 172 ; II. 073, 735. 
 Bel-kapkapu (K), 172. 
 Bel-Merodach (D), 1056, 1285. 
 Bel-nirarl (K). 175. 
 Belshazzar (Ch), II. app. 3; 
 
 (prince ), 1371, 1392. 
 Bel-shum-ishkun (K), 1370 n. 
 
 Bene-berak, see Banai-Barka. 
 Benhadad (K). I, 211 ; II. 221, 228 
 
 (" Dadda-idri "), 231 ff., 236 1, 
 
 241; III, 245. 
 Benjamin (T), 188, 194, 196, 200, 
 
 204, 208, 275. 
 Bera (K), 109. 
 Bernard of Clugny, an illustration, 
 
 1237». 
 Beth- Amnion, see Ammonites. 
 Beth-arbel (C), 314. 
 Beth-Dagon (C), 075, 695. 
 Beth-Eden (L), 227. 
 Bethel (C), 185 f., 477, 687, 840, 928. 
 Bethlehem (O), 107. 
 Beth-shean (C), 812 n. 
 Bethshemesh (C), 260; (Heliopolis), 
 
 1255 n. 
 Beth-ziti (C), 675. 
 Beyrut (C), 152. 
 Bingani (K), 92. 
 BIt-Chumri (X. Israel), 133-212, 
 
 243, 248. 331. 
 Bit-Pakkuri (C). 662. 
 Bit-elu, see Esagila. 
 BIt-kenu, see Ezida. 
 Bit-Yakin (L), 223, 340, 664, 666, 
 
 7331, 751. 
 Blood-revenge, 398, 465. 486, 950. 072. 
 Boats and rafts, 1305 and n. 
 Boer question, illustrated, 955, 1223, 
 
 1258 ff. 
 Borsippa (Barzip, C), 112, 663, 783, 
 
 1061 n., 1063, 1392. 
 Bribery, see Venality. Gifts. 
 Bronze, I. app. 3. 
 Bubastis (C), 345. 
 Bunyan as a seer, 1354. 
 Burial of a Hebrew king, 1210 n. 
 Burraburiash (K). 140. 175. 
 Business, society, and morals, 990, 
 
 1318 ff.' 
 Business documents, 422 n., 899, 
 
 1225. 1321 ff. 
 Buz (P and L), 755 n. 
 Byblus (Gebal, Gubal, C), 145, 152, 
 
 675. 
 
 Caesar, Julius, 766 «.. 1417. 
 Cain the outlaw, 398 n.
 
 INDEX I 
 
 441 
 
 Caleb the Kenizzite, 493, 550, 563. 
 
 Calendar, 748 n. (cf. 746 f.), 1344 n. 
 
 Caliphate, 47. 
 
 Cambysea (K), I, 1382; II, 1397, 
 1417. 
 
 Camels, 475. 
 
 Canaanites : classification, 24 (18) ; 
 how far distant from Amorites, 
 131, 1, app. 3 ; settlements, 126 ft'. ; 
 political tendencies, 37, 47, 491, 
 52 ft., 127, 144, 184; culture, 141, 
 164, 166, 184 ; religion, 184, 495 ; 
 relations with Israel, 185 ft'., 200, 
 369 f. , 472 f. . 477 ft. , 493 ft. , 506 f . ; 
 relations with Egypt, 135 ft., 104. 
 
 Canals, see Watercourses. 
 
 Caphtor (L), 192. 
 
 Cappadocia (L. Kummuch, etc.), 
 154, 157, 179, 281, 294, 311. 
 
 Captivity, see Deportation, Exile. 
 
 Caravan traffic, 135, 202, 334. 
 
 Carchemish (C), 120, 141, 145, 162, 
 179, 201 f., 219, 227 f., 237, 628, 
 827, 1043, 1088 f., 1115. 
 
 Carians (P), 768, 1389. 
 
 Carthage (C), 42. 43, 45, 683. 
 
 Caspian Sea, 247 f . 
 
 Cattle among the Hebrews, 475. 
 
 Cavalry, see Army and Horses. 
 
 Census (cf. Imposts). 523. 
 
 Centralism, Hebrew, 52 ; Semitic, 
 56 ; Assyrian, 743. 
 
 Centralization of worship (cf. Tem- 
 ple). 992. 
 
 Ceremonialism in Israel (cf. Ethics 
 and ritual), 1006 f., 1011 f., 1017, 
 1021, 1023, 1020, 1068, 1094, 1114, 
 1314. 
 
 Chabet (P), 1089 n. 
 
 Chabire (P), 152. 
 
 Chabor (Ilabor, Chaboras, R), 71. 
 75, 218, 343, 302 f. 
 
 "Chaldaeah Genesis," 886 n. 
 
 Chaldaeans (P), 18, 112, 223 f., 237, 
 2471, 293,3391, 438. 621ft.. 660 
 ff.,071 ft., 733 ff., 751, 7801,7841, 
 822, 1046 ff., 1090 ft., 1129 ft. 
 
 Chalule (C), 739. 
 
 ( liainmurabi (Amraphel, K), 109, 
 111, 1131, 117, 1056 n., 1285. 
 
 Chanirabbat (L, cf. Chanu), 746 f. 
 Charm (L, N. Syria), 123, 161 n. 
 Chanun (K), 332, 625. 
 Chariots (cf. Army), 144, 519 f. 
 Charran (Haran, C), 26, 47, 75, 141, 
 
 874, 1383 f. 
 Charu (S. W. Palestine), 132. 
 Chastity among the Hebrews, 616 f. ; 
 
 cf. Sexual Morality. 
 Chattin (L, Patin ?), 226 ft., I. app. 9. 
 Chayapa (Ephah, P), 030. 
 Chedorlaomer (K), 109, 114, 117. 
 Chemosh (D), 59, 235, 855. 
 Chemosh-nadab (K), 675. 
 Cherub (C), 1273. 
 Cherubim, 1176 n. 
 Chetta-sira (K), 163. 
 Chiefs, 36, I. app. 2, 396 n. , 444 f . , 
 
 452. 560. 
 Chinnereth (Lake), 211. 
 Chittim (C), 42, I. app. 3, 681. 
 Choaspes, see Uknu. 
 Choser (R), 341, 827 n. 
 Christian Science illustrated, 1199. 
 "Christianity's Millstone," 615 n. 
 Chronicles, see Kings. 
 Chronology, 871, 107, 1181, 167, 
 
 180, 199, 234, I. app. 6, 634 ft., II. 
 
 app. 6. 
 Chubushkia (L), 759 n. 
 Chu-en-Aten, see Amenophis IV. 
 Chumbaba (K), 107. 
 Chuinbanigash (K), 623. 
 Cilicia (L), 132, 201, 206, 226, 243, 
 
 294, 311, 735, 773, 1379. 
 Circumcision, as an adoptive rite, 
 
 540, 551. 
 Cities and city life, Semitic, 31 ft., 
 
 47 ; Hebrew (Canaanitic), 477, 
 
 482 ff., 493, 490, 498, 501 1, 
 
 505. 
 Clans, 390 ft., 444 1, 448, 451. 500. 
 Clientage in Israel, 548 ft'., 567. 
 Clothing, of the poor, 584. 
 Coele-Syria (1), 125, 141. 
 (olonies, Semitic, 41ft.; and see 
 
 Phoenicians, Aramaeans, Assyr- 
 ians. 
 Communism. Hebrew, 50, 565. 
 Confucianism, 431, 1828.
 
 442 
 
 INDEX I 
 
 Conquered enemies, how treated 
 
 (cf. Deportation, Warfare), 1192, 
 
 1232 ff., 1270 f. 
 Copper in commerce, I. app. 3; cf. 
 
 630. 
 Corporate (tribal, national) religion, 
 
 1000, 102-2, 1021. 
 Court officials. 205, 521 f., 590, 592, 
 
 697, 1154. 
 Covenant, Book of the, 474, 487, 
 
 502, 58(5, 847 f., 891 f., 1100. 
 Creation literature, 885 ff. 
 Cretans (P), 192, 520. 
 Croesus (K), 1380, 1387 f. 
 Cuneiform, see Writing. 
 Cush, and Cushites, 145, 346, 655, 
 
 1207, 1228 n. 
 Cushanrishathaim (K), 188. 
 Cutha (Kutfi, C), 94, 102, 783. 
 Cyaxares (K), 1379. 
 Cyprus (I), 90, 93 n., 125, 133, 145, 
 
 I. app. 3, 666, 681 f.,738, II. app. 4. 
 Cyrus (K), 1. 1378 n. ; II, 359, 1378, 
 
 1381 ff., 1408 ff. 
 
 D, see Deuteronomist. 
 
 Daban (W), 247. 
 
 Daghara (W), 1294. 
 
 Damascus (C L), 34 and n., 40, 47, 
 55, 126, 128, 141, 201 f., 209, 211 f., 
 215, 226, 228 ff., 235 ff. , 248, 250 ff ., 
 257, 262 f., 270, 273, 302, 310, 
 315 f,. 333, 335 f., 376, 380, 516, 
 556, 624, 788, II. app. 7. 
 
 Dan (Laish, C), 109 ; (T), 50, 62, 
 186, 193. 
 
 Daniel the prophet, 1201. 
 
 Dante, as seer, 1354. 
 
 Darius Hystaspes (K), 359, 1378 k., 
 1417. 
 
 " Dark-haired " race, 89. 
 
 David (K), 197 ff., 415, 476, 478, 515, 
 518, 5221, 529, 967 ff. ; his poems, 
 898, 902, 908 f. ; his biographies, 
 919. 
 
 Dayan-Asshur (K), 228. 
 
 Dead Sea, 273. 
 
 Deborah (prophetess), 188, 479; 
 Song of, 187 f., 476, 479, 879, 897, 
 913, 918. 
 
 Debts and debtors in Israel, 575 f., 
 584 f., 1322 ; in Babylonia, 1323. 
 
 Decalogue, 463 n., 891 f. 
 
 Deceit and fraud in Israel (cf. Hon- 
 esty), 296, 592 ff ., 644, 955 ff., 970, 
 1320. 
 
 Deiokes (Dayakka, K), 824; (G), 
 II, app. 3. 
 
 Deities, national, 59, I. app. 2, 854 ; 
 and morality, 951, 985. 
 
 Delegated power, 56, 1386. 
 
 Delilah, see Samson. 
 
 Delphic oracle, 1387. 
 
 Delta of the Nile, 347. 
 
 Deluge literature, 885 ff. 
 
 Deluges, 1296, 1300 n. 
 
 Dependencies: Semitic, 39 f., 53, 55, 
 61, 683; Hebrew, 53, 204 ff., 112, 
 215, 262, 268, 474, 540, 645 ; Baby- 
 lonian, 921, 97 ff., 109, 116, 123, 
 178, 1044, 1076 ff., 1152 ; Egyptian 
 (and Ethiopian), 1341, 143 ff., 
 3461, 678, 12401, 12501 ; Assyr- 
 ian, 175, 179 ff., 218 ff.. 242 ff., 
 282-316, 326, 33111, 339, 3431, 
 348 ff . , 357 ff . , 382 ff. . 630 ff . , 650 ff ., 
 675,688, 733, 741, 7491, 750, 762, 
 765, 768, 771, 776, 793ff., 806 «., 
 8211, 839 ff., 1036. 
 
 Deportation, 01, 283, 288 ff., 302, 
 666, 673, 675, 1156 n., 1232 k., 
 1234, 1250, 1268 ff. 
 
 Desert literature, 891 ff. 
 
 Deuteronomic editing, 925 n. , 1356 ff. 
 
 Deuteronomy. I. app. 4, 502, 586, 
 846 ff . , 865ff. , 943 ff. , 1018, 1020 ff ., 
 13431, 1361. 
 
 Diarbekr (Amedi, C), 247. 
 
 Dilmun (I), 89, 96, 606. 
 
 Diplomacy, Oriental, 148 ff., 163, 
 175, 207, 213, 231, 249, 316, 655, 
 679, 8251, 1051, 1379. 
 
 Direction (teaching, the Law), 457, 
 488, 610 ; Book of Direction (cf. 
 Deuteronomy), 8461 
 
 Disciples of the prophets, 995 1 , 998, 
 1065. 
 
 Districts, administrative, 206, 530. 
 
 Divination, see Oracles. 
 
 Divine influence, 1097, 11131
 
 INDEX I 
 
 443 
 
 Doctrines (cf. Faith), 1008 f. 
 Drunkenness in Israel, 590, 041 ff. 
 Dungi (Ba'ukln, K), 102. 
 Dur-il (C), 80. 
 Dur-Sharrukin (C), 607 ff. 
 Dur-Yakin (C), 664. 
 Dushratta (K), 150. 
 
 E, see Elohist. 
 
 Ea (D), 85, 112, 738. 
 
 Earthquakes, 204 f . 
 
 Ebal (M), 186. 
 
 Ebedmelech (0), 1228. 
 
 Eclipses of the sun, 259, 265, I. app. 
 6. 1379. 
 
 Eden (L), 73, 112. 
 
 Edessa (C), 75. 
 
 Edom and Edomites, 18, 26, 48, 55, 
 132, 152, 204, 209, 215, 235 f., 248, 
 250, 254, 269, 273, 302, 325, .",37, 
 379, 512, 633, 675, 761, 787, 1157, 
 1240/l, 1243, 1251, 1404 n. 
 
 Egypt and Egyptians, language, 80 ; 
 writing, 872 f. ; trade, 97, 33 1 ; 
 place-names, 132 f. ; relations with 
 western Asia generally, 134 ff., 
 151 ff., 161 ff., 210, 215, 313, 348 
 ff., 367, 440, 653, 756; relations 
 with Hebrews, see Hebrews, 
 Judah, and N. Israel; references 
 to Dynasty IV, 134; VI, 134; 
 IX and X, 135 ; XII, 135, 346 ; 
 XIII-XVII, 130 ff.; XVIII, 143 
 ff., 161 ff.; XIX, 103 ff.; XX, 
 106 f. ; XXI, 207; XXII, 207, 
 210, 215, 345; XXIII, XXIV, 
 313, 347 ; XXV, 313, 348, 075, 
 678; 693 f., 756, 704 ff.; XXVI, 
 1029 ff., 1222, 1305. 
 
 Ehud (J), 188, 964. 
 
 Ekallati (C), 180. 
 
 Ekbatana (C), 824, 1382, 1397. 
 
 Ekron (C), 55, 192, 075, 689 ff., 695. 
 
 Elah (K). 212. 
 
 Elain and Elamites, 54 f., 79, 90, 92, 
 98, 100 ff., 113 f., 120, 178, 247, 
 021 ff., 000 ff., 672, 736 ff., 751 f., 
 779 ff., 1163, 1285 «., 1404. 
 
 Elasah b. Shaphan, 1107. 
 
 Elath(C), 209, 325. 
 
 Elders, 36, 443, 486, 560, 1092, 
 1310 f. 
 
 Elegies, 898, 902, 1237 ff. 
 
 Eli (J), 195, 414, 490. 
 
 Eliakim (O), 097, 099 ; b. Josiah, see 
 Jehoiakim. 
 
 Eliezer (slave), 400. 
 
 Elijah, the prophet, 239, 982 f. ; bi- 
 ography, 935. 
 
 Elisha, the prophet, 239-244, 012; 
 biography, 935. 
 
 Elishama (O), 1119. 
 
 Ellip (L), 674. 
 
 Elnathan b. Achbor, 1121 n. 
 
 Elohist, I. app. 4, 890 f., 894, 922 f. 
 
 Elohistic school, 930. 
 
 Elteke (C), 675, 695, II. app. 14. 
 
 EIuIbbus, see Lule. 
 
 Employments of Hebrews : in Pal- 
 estine, 483 f., 507 ff., 1275; in 
 Babylonia, 1274 ff., 1301 ff. 
 
 Ephod, 500. 
 
 Ephraim, 186 (185), 188 f.. 191, 190, 
 200, 212, 275, 935; (L), 275 n. ; 
 see Israel, Northern. 
 
 Ephron (Ch), 158. 
 
 Epical poetry, 883, 912. 
 
 Eponym canon, 210, 294, I. app. 6. 
 
 Erech (C), 88, 101 f., 104, 107 f., 
 1291. 
 
 Eridu (C), 101, 104, 112, 1291. 
 
 Esagila (Bit-elu, temple), 112. 117, 
 123, 749, 1060f., 1395. 
 
 Esarhaddon (K), 341, 745 ff., II. 
 app. 10, 1286. 
 
 Esau (Ch), 412. 
 
 Ethbaal, see Ithobal. 
 
 Ethics and ritual, 1017, 1023 ff., 
 1094, 1114. 
 
 Ethiopia, see Cush. 
 
 Eukeus, see Ulai. 
 
 Euphrates (R), 22. 71 f., 141, 145, 
 219, 222, 225, 228, 237,329, 730 n., 
 1058 f., 1290 ff. 
 
 " European Morals," 010 n. 
 
 Evil-Merodach (K), 1081, 1369. 
 
 Exile (cf. Hebrews Exiled, Deporta- 
 tion), 290, 301 ff. ; Babylonian, its 
 character and influence, 1263 ff. 
 
 Exiles in Babylonia, 1399.
 
 444 
 
 INDEX I 
 
 Exodus, of Hebrews from Egypt, 
 667, 879 ; the book, 925 f. 
 
 Explorations in Babylonia, 87, 91, 
 95 ; in Assyria, 667. 
 
 Ezekiel (the prophet), I. app. 3. 
 814, 833, 1081, 1143, 1174 ff., 
 I268f., 1336, 1342 ff., 1353 f., 1362, 
 1360 f. 
 
 Ezida (BIt-kenu, temple), 112, 117, 
 1063. 
 
 Ezion-geher (C), 209. 
 
 Faith, Old Testament, 607, 1008, 
 
 1132 f., 1138. 
 Families, 396 ff., 448, 1310 f. 
 Fasts, 1116, 1118, 1346w. 
 Fatherhood, 427 ff. ; figuratively, 
 
 431 ff. 
 Fayum, the (L), 347. 
 Feasts and social gatherings, 400 f. , 
 
 504, 576, 862, 871, 040, 994, 1092, 
 
 1246. 1344 ff. 
 Federations, of tribes, 47 ff., 53 f., 
 
 468 ; of states, 54, I. app. 5. 
 Fen countries, 734 n. 
 Fenchu (P), 132. 
 Finno-tartaric language, see Sume- 
 
 rians. 
 Foresight, prophetic, 1260, 1410. 
 Fortresses (cf. Sieges), 204. 212, 
 
 268, 311, 357, 664, 827, 1058, 1396. 
 Fuller's Field, 608, 1231. 
 
 Gad (T), 183, 191, 235; (prophet), 
 
 978. 
 Gagu (Gog, Ch.), 777 «., 814, 
 Galilee (L), 272, 274, 331, I. app. 
 
 13. 
 Gambulu (P), 339, 661, 779. 
 Gaingum (L), 228, 629. 
 Gate of Benjamin, 1221, 1228. 
 Gath (C), 152, 192, 197, 243??., 632, 
 
 689, II. app. 4. 
 Gaza (C), 152, 163, 192, 332, 625, 
 
 675, 689. 
 Geba (C), 194, 106. 
 Gebal, see Byblos. 
 Gedaliah (G), 1240 ff., 1249. 
 Gemariah b. Shaphan, 1119 f. ; b. 
 
 llilkiah, 1167. 
 
 Genesis (book), 925 f., 952. 
 
 Ger, see Strangers. 
 
 Geriziin (M), 180. 
 
 Gezer (C), 152, 207. 
 
 Ghor ( L), 13ii. 
 
 Gianium (K), 228. 
 
 Gibeah (C), IOC, 477, 965. 
 
 Gibeon (C), 185, 1248. 
 
 Gideon (J), 49, 51, 189, 415, 732 n., 
 
 965, 972. 
 Gifts (cf. Venality), 149 f., 594 f. 
 Gihon (W), 697. 
 Gilboa (M), 198, 515. 
 Gilead (L), 129, 138, 141, 180. 190 f., 
 
 190, 212. 233, 243, 262, 272, 274 f., 
 
 337 (331), I. app. 13, 530?!. 
 Gileadites, 316. 
 Gilgal (C), 185, 188, 477. 
 Gilgamesh epic, 912 n. 
 Gilza (C), 228. 
 Gimirre. see Kiinmerians. 
 Gmdibu'u (Ch), 228 and n., 230. 
 Girgashites (P), 130. 
 Gobryas (Cr), 1386, 1395 f. 
 Gods, see Deities, Polytheism. 
 Goel (vindicator), 426, 486, 604?;., 
 
 900, 1420. 
 Gog, see Gagu. 
 Gomer, see Kiinmerians. 
 Government, seeespeeiall} - Hebrews, 
 
 Assyrians. 
 Gozan (L), 343, 302. 
 Greece and Phoenicia, I. app. 3. 
 Greeks in Palestine, 032. II. app. 4 ; 
 
 in Cilicia, 735 ; in Egypt, 768, 
 
 1030 ; in Asia Minor, 1389. 
 Gubi (L), 96. 
 
 Gudea (Nabu, K), 96, 98, 171. 
 Guilds and professions, 484, 509 f., 
 
 851 andn., 871. 934, 1066, 1306 n. 
 Gutium (L), 92, 109, 171, 780, 1393, 
 
 1395 f. 
 Gyges (Gugu, K), 708, 773 ff. 
 
 Habakkuk and his prophecy, 1128 
 
 ff.. 1172. 
 Iladad (D), 59; (Ch), 209. 
 Hadadezer (Dadda-idri, K), 204, 
 
 228. 
 Iladad-Pimmon (C), I. app. 5.
 
 INDEX I 
 
 445 
 
 Hadrach (Chatarika, C), 258, 307 n., 
 315. 
 
 Hagar, the Egyptian, 430, 437 re. 
 
 Ilalvs (R), 1379. 
 
 Hamath (C), 125, 141, 201 f., 226, 
 228, 230 f., 237, 241, 247, 262, 
 305 ff., 315, 331, I. app. 9, 624. 
 
 Hanameel of Anathoth, 1225. 
 
 Hananiah (prophet), 1158 f. 
 
 Hannah, mother of Samuel, 430 ; 
 her Song, 908 f . 
 
 Haran, see Charran. 
 
 Harpagus (Cr), 1384 n., 1386. 
 
 Hauran (L), 242 f., 787. 
 
 Hazael (K of Damascus), 236, 
 241 ff. ; (Arabian), 741, 755. 
 
 Hazo (P), 755 re. 
 
 Hazor (C), 152, 331. 
 
 Heber (Ch), 550. 
 
 Hebraic peoples, 26, 284 ; and see 
 Amnion, Edom, Moab. 
 
 Hebrews : origin, 26 (18) ; racial 
 endurance, 434 ff., 963, 1263 ; char- 
 acter and spirit (cf. Semites), 
 434 f., 526, 546 f., 558 ; relation to 
 outsiders, 548 ff., 556 ; colonies, 41 ; 
 general political conditions, 47 ff., 
 266, 296, 372 ff . , 470 f . , 521 ff . , 557 ; 
 government, see Rulers, Chiefs, 
 Elders, Judges, Princes, King, 
 Court, Imposts, Law ; achieve- 
 ments and mission, 67 ff., 385 ff., 
 1028 ; chronological place, 70 ; 
 language, 153, 392 f. ; writing, 
 877 ff. ; trade, 206, 212, 231, 236, 
 524 ; culture, 1178 re. , morals and 
 religion, 61, 183, 195, 200, 210, 
 239 f., 271, 296 ff., 314, 317 ff., 
 354 ff., 373, 377 f., 381 f., 442, 451, 
 480 ff., 489 f., 493 ff., 504 ff., 533, 
 574 ff . , 007 ff . ,613, 640 if., 795 f ., 799, 
 805, II. app. 7, 840 ff., 927 f., 940 ff., 
 962, 1155 f., 1182 ff., 1320 ff. ; tribal 
 history, 165 ff.,436 ff., 182 ff.,369 IT., 
 472 ff., 879 ; the single monarchy, 
 195 ff.; the divided kingdom, see 
 Israel and Judah ; Hebrews ex- 
 iled : in Assyrian lands, 302 f. ; in 
 Egypt, 1039 (1254 ff.) ; in Baby- 
 lonia (cf. Agriculture, Employ- 
 
 ments, Slaves, Watercourses). 289 
 1081, 1165 ff., 1176 »., 1272 ff. 
 
 Hebron (C), 137, 139, 152, 205. 
 
 Hereditary office, 560, 569 f. 
 
 Hermon (M), 125, 242. 
 
 Herodotus, 1332 ?t., 1412 re. 
 
 Heroic poetry, see Epical. 
 
 Heroic prose, 918 f. 
 
 Heroic virtues, 954, 903, 969. 
 
 Heshbon (C), 183. 
 
 Hettites (Chetta, Chatte, P), 41, 130, 
 132, 152, 156 ff., 179, 201, 200, 219, 
 226, 284, 294, I. app. 5, 367 f., II. 
 app. 4. 
 
 Hezekiah (K), 55, 287, I. app. 12, 
 635, 637 f., 075, 688, 092 f., 095 ff., 
 791 ff., II. app. 11, 800 re., 1002; 
 his Song, 909. 
 
 Hiel (Bethelite), 498 n. 
 
 High places, see Shrines. 
 
 Hilkiah (priest), 843, 846 f., 850 f. 
 
 Hillah (C), 1293. 
 
 Hindieh (canal), 1293. 
 
 Hinnom (valley), 855, 1095. 
 
 Hirelings, 541. 
 
 Hirom (Hiram, K), I. 45, 206; 11.310. 
 
 History, its scope and treatment, 
 4 ff. ; of the Semites, 5 ff. ; of the 
 Hebrews, 9 ff., 385 ff. ; Hebrew 
 conception of, 434 f., 955, 1356. 
 
 History and prophecy, 131, 382 
 (386), 723, 1419 f. 
 
 Hivites (P), 127, 130. 
 
 Honesty, 1320 ff., 1328. 
 
 Hophni (J), 490, 589. 
 
 Hophra (Apries, K), 1207 f., 1252, 
 1255, 1365. 
 
 Horses (cf. Army), 144, 475, 419 f., 
 716. 
 
 Rosea, the prophet, 304, 312 ff., 320, 
 354, I. app. 10, 600, 994. 
 
 Hoshea (K), 287, 332, 34:; f., 348 ff-. 
 
 Hospitality, see Strangers. 
 
 Host of heaven, 850. 
 
 House-father, 405, 408 ff. 
 
 Household, 396, 400. 404 ff. 
 
 Huldah (prophetess), 851. 
 
 Hunting, 180, 819. 
 
 llyksos (!'), 135 ff., -".It;. 436, 437 n. 
 
 llyrojades (Cr), 1386.
 
 446 
 
 INDEX I 
 
 Ibadid (P), 630. 
 Ibleam (C), 267. 
 
 [deals and practice in religion, 1012, 
 1021. 
 
 Idolatry (cf. Deities, Polytheism, 
 Religion), 320 f.. 639 f., 799, 854, 
 860, 986, 1087, 1333 f. 
 
 Ijon (C). 331. 
 
 Ilubi'id (K), see Ya'ubi'id. 
 
 Imgur-Bel (wall), 749. 1058, 1061. 
 
 Irnmanuel, 327 ff., I. app. 12. 
 
 Iramer (S), 1273. 
 
 Imperialism, 1261, 1315 f., 1364. 
 
 Imposts (taxes, tines, tribute, assess- 
 ment), Hebrew, 2051, 310, 474. 
 523, 1040 ; Assyrian and Baby- 
 lonian, 286 f., 310, 675, 688, 1080 ; 
 Egyptian, 1040. 
 
 Imprisonment, 108 f., 1221, 1224, 
 1227, 1415. 
 
 Indabigash (K), 782. 
 
 Individualism, spiritual (ef. Relig- 
 ion, personal), 1000, 1010, 1014 f., 
 1201, 1204 f., 1340 ff. 
 
 Individuals as sufferers, 606. 
 
 Industry in Israel (cf. Employ- 
 ments), 268, 483 f., 651. 
 
 Interest (usury) in Israel, 552, 576, 
 1322 ; in Babylonia, 1323. 
 
 Ionians, see Greeks. 
 
 Iran and Iranians (P), 823, 1374 ff. 
 
 Irchulini (K), 228. 
 
 Irijah (O), 1221. 
 
 Irkanati (K), 228. 
 
 Iroquois compared with Semites, 29. 
 
 Irrigation, see Watercourses. 
 
 Isaac (Ch), 412. 444. 955, 959. 
 
 Isaiah, the prophet. 309, 318 ff., 
 3.26 ff., 354 f., 606, 641 ff., 649, 652, 
 654 ff., 702, 704, 710 ff., 728, 995, 
 998, 1354. 
 
 Isaiah the Second, 1345, 1353 f., 
 1405 ff. 
 
 Ischupri (C), 756. 
 
 Ishbosheth i [shba'al, K), 203. 
 
 Islnnael b. Hagar, 430 ; b. Netha- 
 niah. 1243, 1245 ff. 
 
 Ishme-Dagan (K), Babyl., 104; 
 Assyr., 172. 
 
 Ishtar (D), 94, 101, 1185 ff. 
 
 Isin (C), 104, 110. 
 
 Israel (see Hebrews), names, 133, 
 228, 232. 
 
 Israel (northern), 208C, and see 
 Contents; national conditions, 
 212, 264, 271 ff., 374 ft'.. 527 ff. ; 
 changes of dynasty, 211 f., 236 ff., 
 267, 278, 310. 332'; extent. 211 f., 
 230, 235 ff., 243, 262, 272, 352 ; re- 
 lations with Judah, see Judah ; 
 relations with Phoenicia, 213, 233, 
 
 230, 264, 377 ; relations with 
 "Syria' 1 (Damascus). 231 ff., 
 243 ff., 252, 262 f., 270, 316, 376, 
 380 ; relations with Assyria, 228, 
 
 231, 240 f., 250, 253, 267, 314, 
 331 f., 380, 382 ff. ; relations with 
 Egypt, 210, 313 f., 344, 348 ff. ; 
 outcome of its history, 386 ff. 
 
 Issachar (T), 212. 
 Ithamar (K), 630. 
 Ithobal (Ethbaal, K), of Tyre, 92, 
 
 213; of Sidon, 675. 
 Ittai of Gath, 550. 
 Itti-Bel (K), 92. 
 
 J, see Jehovist. 
 
 Jabbok (R), 183. 
 
 Jabesh (C in Gilead), 191, 196, 575. 
 
 Jacob (Ch), 412 ff., 444, 447 n., 955, 
 
 959. 
 Jacob's "Blessing," 905, 913. 
 Jacob-el (C), 369 n. 
 Jael (heroine), 964. 
 Jahaz (C), 183. 
 Jair (J), 191. 
 Janoah (C), 331. 
 Jashar (book), 896, 906, 913. 
 Jebusites (P), 130, 204. 
 Jehoahaz (K). of Israel, 245 f. , 252, 
 
 1039 ; of Judah, 1039. 
 Jehoash (Joash, K), of Judah, 221, 
 
 243, 254. 317. 
 Jehoiachin (K), 1079 ff.. 1143 ff. 
 Jehoiada (priest), 254. 
 Jehoiakim (K), 1039, 1075 ff., 
 
 1120 ff. 
 Jehoram (Joram, K), of Judah, 221, 
 
 235 f. 
 Jehoshaphat (K), 221, 231,235.
 
 INDEX I 
 
 447 
 
 Jehovah (Yahwe), in proper names, 
 I. app. 9; his character, 1009 f., 
 1099, 1131, 1176; his relation to 
 Israel, 378, 407, 420, 429, 444, 454, 
 457, 462, 488 f., 526, 535, 581 ft'.. 
 602, 700, 726 f., 894, 906, 911, 922, 
 999 1., 1024, 1099. 1114, 1034 ft ; 
 his false worship, 320 f., 854, 
 1005 f., 1015; his omnipresence, 
 1337 f. 
 
 Jehovist, I. app. 4, 885, 923 ff. 
 
 Jehovist and Elohist (J E), 923, 935, 
 943 f . 
 
 Jephthah (J), 191, 965 ; his lament, 
 908. 
 
 Jeremiah, the prophet, 813, 1065, 
 1007 ff., 1082 ff., 1139 ff., 121') ff.. 
 1242, 1252 ff., 1341, 1349, 1366; 
 his disciples, 1336 ; the book, 
 1082 n. 
 
 Jericho (C), 185, 498 n. 
 
 Jeroboam (K), I, 200 ff., 1357; II. 
 262 ff., 3(16, 519. 
 
 Jerusalem (C), 40, 57, 126, 128, 139, 
 152, 204 ff., 210, 243, 254, 260, 
 276 f., 318 ff., 325, 478, 075, 677, 
 687 i., 696 ff., 730, 861, 998, 1039, 
 1079, 1178, 1180, 1214 ff., 1230 ff., 
 1238 f., 1241. 
 
 Jesus and the Old Testament, 015 ff. 
 
 Jezebel (Q), 213. 
 
 Jezreel (Esdraelon, L), 139, 141, 
 198, 2(13. 213, 2-10, 272, 331, 304, 
 479, 530 »., 685, 1034 ; (C), 236. 
 
 Joab (Cr), 57, 203, 205, 523. 
 
 Joah (O), 699. 
 
 Joash (Jehoash, K), of Israel, 252 f., 
 202. 
 
 Job (the book), 599 f., 1353. 
 
 Johanan (G), 1243, 1246, 1248 f. 
 
 Jonadab (< !h), 410. 
 
 Jonathan, b. Saul. 196 ff., 415, 515, 
 732 //., OOO, 072; (scribe), 1221. 
 
 Joppa (C), 152, 675, 695. 
 
 Joram (Jehoram), king of Israel. 
 221, 231, 235 ff. 
 
 Jordan (R), 125, 120, 141, 1109. 
 
 Josepb 1). Jacob, as a moral type, 
 960 f. ; tribally, 935. 
 
 Joseph-el (C), 869n. 
 
 Joshua (Ch), 183 ff.; (book), I. 
 app. 4. 
 
 Josiah (K), 807, 838 ff., 1027, 
 1033 ff., 1009 ff. 
 
 Jotham (K), 269, 308 f. 
 
 Jotham b. Gideon ; his parable, 908, 
 910. 
 
 Judah (T), 180, 188 f., 196, 200, 905. 
 
 Judah (L and P) : national condi- 
 tions, 210, 272 ff., 296, 379, 527, 
 686, 791 ff., 1027, 1314; relations 
 with N. Israel, 210 ff., 215, 239, 
 260 f., 208, 315 f., 378; relations 
 with Edom, 215, 235 f., 254, 325; 
 relations with Syria, 215, 231, 
 238, 243, 254, 270 ; relations with 
 Assyria, 254, 300 ff., 383 f., 633, 
 648, 050 ff., 075 ff., 085 ff., 793 ft'., 
 II. app. 5. ; relations with Baby- 
 lonia, 670, 837 f., 1044, 1070 ff.. 
 1090 ff., 1113 ff., 1130 ff., 1148 ff., 
 1208 ff. ; relations with Egypt, 
 210, 215, 273, 652, 654 ff., 697, 
 711, 715 f., 719 f., 10761, 1087 f., 
 1123, 1105 »., 1208 f. ; after the 
 kingdom : in Palestine, 1240 ff. ; 
 in Egypt, 1254 ff. ; in Babylonia, 
 see Exiles. 
 
 Judaism, 1251, 1348. 
 
 Judges (rulers), 43, 50 f. , 455, 457. 
 408, 487, 510, 590 f., 598. 
 
 Judges, the, 187 0'.. 564, 920, 963 ff. 
 
 Judges, book of, 408 f., 917 f., 920, 
 1361. 
 
 Justice in Israel (cf. Law), 457, 
 461, 475, 486 ff., 502, 510, 578 f., 
 588 ff., 859, 1228; in Babylonia, 
 1322 ff. 
 
 Kadesh (C), on the Orontes, 145, 
 162f., 202, I. app. 5; Ka.lcsh- 
 Barnea, 183. 
 
 Kaftu (L), 132. 
 
 K'alach (Calah. ('), 175, 220, 249, 
 283, 3ll, 667, 820. 
 
 Kallima-SIn K). 149. 
 
 Kalparuda | K >, 22s. 
 
 Kana'na | < !anaab, L), 132. 
 
 Karaindasb ( K 1, 176. 
 
 Karbanit ((J), 764.
 
 44S 
 
 INDEX I 
 
 Karduniash (L. Babylonia), 121. 
 
 Karkar (C), 228 ff., 624. 
 
 Karaak, see Thebes. 
 
 Karon, .see L'lai. 
 
 Kasiphia (S), 1273 ;;. 
 
 Kasshites (P), 79, 120 ff., 141, 174 ff., 
 
 219»., 223, 074, 1285. 
 Kaiishmalak (K). 337. 
 Kebar (Kabar, Chebar, W), 1081, 
 
 1272. 12!»0, 1299 f., 1305. 
 Keclar (LP), 787 f. 
 Kedesh (C), 331. 
 Keileh (C), 152. 
 Kenites (P), 186, 416, 493, 550. 
 Kenizzites (P), 186. 
 Khorsabad, see Dur-Sharruken. 
 Kidron (valley), 697. 
 Kimmerians (P, Gomer, Gimirre), 
 
 758 f., 774 f., 814, 1384. 
 King and kingdom : Semitic, 36 f., 
 
 50 ff., 396 n.; Hebrew, 50 ff., 195, 
 
 199, 205 f., 277 f., 371 ff., 468, 
 
 521 ff., 528 f.. 534 ff., 587, II. app. 
 
 1, 844 »., 989, 1070 f.; idealized. 
 
 603 f.; Assyrian, 171 f., 182 ff.; 
 
 Babylonian, 98, 108, 120 f. 
 Kings (book). 1357 ff. 
 King's Garden, 1231. 
 Kinnereth (lake), 331. 
 .Kinship, 396 ff. ; its symbolism, 
 
 426, 429, 432 f. 
 Kipkip (C), 767. 
 Kir (L), 336. 
 
 Kirte (Kirche?), 179, 217 f., 220. 
 Kish (C), 672. 
 Kishon (R), 479. 
 Kissia (L), 106, 120. 
 Kitlala (C), 228. 
 Kommagene, see Kummuch. 
 Kudur-mabug (K), 108, 114. 
 Kudurnanchundi (K), 107. 
 Kudurlagamar, see Chedorlaomer. 
 Kue (L, E. Cilicia), 228, 230, I. app. 
 
 5, 029, CAM). 
 Kummuch ( L, Kommagene), 179, 
 
 218, 226, 228, 284, 294, 666. 
 Kundashpi (K), 228. 
 Kurigalzu (K), I. 149; II, 175. 
 Kushites (Cushites), see Ethiopians. 
 Kyaxares (K), 824 f. 
 
 Laban (Ch), 412 f. 
 
 Labasi-Marduk (K), 1370. 
 
 Lachish (C), 152, 688, 690, 693, II. 
 app. 12. 14, 121:;. 
 
 Lagash (C), 95 ff. 
 
 Laish (Dan, C), 41. 
 
 Lalli (K), 228. 
 
 Lamech's Song, 889. 
 
 Lamentations (book), 1237 ff. 
 
 Land, its acquisition and parti- 
 tion, 563 ff., 1344; private tenure 
 (cf. Property), 580 ff., 610 n. 
 
 Landmarks, 583. 
 
 Language and social institutions, 
 391 ff . 
 
 Larissa (S). 827 n. 
 
 Larsa (Elasar, C), 101, 104, 108, 111. 
 
 Law, the, see Direction. 
 
 Law and legislation, 450. 474, 486 ff., 
 541 ff., 552, 5761, 584 »., 847 f., 
 
 882, 891 f., 920 ff. 
 Law of Holiness, 1002. 
 
 Lebanon (M), 90, 125, 141, 219. 315. 
 
 Leontes, see Litany. 
 
 Levi (T), 935. 
 
 Levirate custom, 417. 
 
 Levites. as priests, 504, 863, 1019. 
 
 Leviticus (book), 924 n. 
 
 Libnah (C), 703. 709. 
 
 Libyans (P), 207, 345. 
 
 Litany (K), 125, 144. 
 
 Literature, defined, 883, 899 ; and 
 writing, 882, 901. 
 
 Literature, Hebrew : conditions and 
 occasions, 866 ff., 891 ff.. 898 ff., 
 914 ff., 939 ff., 1350 11, 1405; its 
 spirit and style, 11 ff. , 253. 435, 
 446, 440,,.. 459, 007, 728f., 744 »., 
 868, 890, 893,. 904, 913, 927 f., 034, 
 1080 »., 1086h., 1134, 1145 f., 1175, 
 1178 h., 1212, 1238, 1351, 1350, 
 1402, 1405 ff., 1415 n. ; contents, 
 442 ff., 883 ff., 1335 ff., 1401 ff. ; 
 form, 887 f., 918, 938, 1117, 1237, 
 1352 f. ; non-Hebraic elements, 
 886 f., 932; periods and epochs, 
 
 883, 899ff., 007, 012, 937 f., 1350, 
 14DO f. 
 
 Local government, Hebrew, 52. 
 " Lost Tribes," 363.
 
 INDEX I 
 
 440 
 
 Lull (Elulseus, K), 675, 081 f. 
 Lybians (P), 210, 343, 770, 1080. 
 Lycians (P), 1389. 
 Lydia (L), 157, 773 ff., 1379 f., 
 1387 ff. 
 
 Maacha (L), 204. 
 
 Machalliba (C), G75. 
 
 Madai, see Medes. 
 
 Magdiel (C), 152. 
 
 Magic (cf. Oracles), 644. 
 
 Magog (LP), 814. 
 
 Makan (Magan, L), 91, 96. 
 
 Makara (Q), 145. 
 
 Maledictions, 1104 ff., 1112, 1159, 
 
 1169 f., 1257. 
 Malik and mall- (" counsellor " and 
 
 " king "), 36, I. app. 2. 
 Manasseh (T), 183, 189, 196, 212, 
 
 275; (K), 761, 780, 790, 798 ff., 
 
 1003 ff., 1122 n. 
 Manda (Scythian), 758 n. 
 Mannai (PL), 628, 758, 777, 1384, 
 
 1403. 
 Mansuati (C), 250. 
 Mar(u)duk, see Merodach. 
 Marduk-nadin-ache (K), 180. 
 Marduk-zakir-shum (K), (571. 
 Mari (K, Benhadad III), 251 f. 
 Marratim (L), 1403 n. 
 Marriage, 417 ff., 426 f., 949, 1332. 
 Marsiman (P), 630. 
 Mash (L), 788. 
 Mashga (C), 228. 
 Masius (M), 71, 217 f., 220. 
 Matinu-ba'al (K), 228. 
 Mazares (Cr), 1386. 
 Media and Medes (Madai), 224, 
 
 247 f., 258, 294, 311, 3621, 627, 
 
 629, 674, 758, 760, 777, 812, 
 
 823ff., 1051, 1374, 1379, 1401. 
 Mediterranean Sea, 00 f., ISO, 219 ; 
 
 Assyrian name, 170 f. ; coast land. 
 
 71, 331 ; coast land peoples, IOC. 
 Medo-Persian empire, 1386 ff., 1413. 
 Megiddo (C), 141, 145, 152, 163, 
 
 210 n., 1034. 
 Melchizedek (K), 37. 
 Melikoff (name), I. app. 2. 
 Melkart (D), 59. 
 
 Melucka (D), 96, 675, 678, 755 n., 
 
 780. 
 Memphis (C), 313, 347, 050, 750, 
 
 707, 1030. 
 Menahem (K), Hebrew, 207, 306, 
 
 310, 610 ; Phoenician, 675. 
 Mentu (D), 144. 
 Memeptah (K), 166 f., 879. 
 Merodach (Maruduk, Marduk, D), 
 
 85, 112, 117, 123, 748 f., 818, 1054, 
 
 1383, 1393 ff., 1398. 
 Merodach-baladan (K), 340. 021, 
 
 037, 600 ff., 071 f., 079 ; his sons, 
 
 751. 
 Mesha (K), 212, 221, 235. 
 Meshech, see Mushke. 
 Mesopotamia (L), 18, 41, 71, 75, 
 
 132, 137, 141, 145 f., 154 f., 173, 
 
 175 f., 178, 181, 188, 217 f. 
 Messianic ideal, 603 f., 916, 1161. 
 Metenna (K), II. app. 10. 
 Micah (the prophet), 319, 321, 354, 
 
 356, 606, 644 f., 798 ?«., 800, II. 
 
 app. 8, 998, 1092. 
 Micaiah b. Gamariah, 1119. 
 Mice, 705, 707, II. app. 13. 
 Michmash (C), 196, 087. 
 Midianites (P), 50, 183, 189. 
 Mikado, as illustration, 431. 
 Milcom (D), 59, 855 ; cf. Molech. 
 Militarism (cf. Warfare), 318, 613, 
 
 889, 1261, 1420. 
 Militene (Milid,C), 228, 029. 
 Milton and Isaiah, 1400. 
 Minseans (P), 878 n. 
 Minni (P), see Mannai. 
 Miriam and her Song, 44i> n., 890, 
 
 913. 
 Mita (K). 027. 
 
 Mitani (L), 132, 150, 154 f., 102. 
 Mitinti (Metinti, K), of Askalon, 
 
 332 ; of Ashdod, 675. 
 "Mixed multitude" (Bedawin), 
 
 453. 550. 
 Mizpah (C), 1240, 1242 ff. 
 Moab and Moabites, 18, 20, 4s. 50, 
 
 138, 183, 188, 100, 201. 201), 215, 
 
 231, 233. 235. 203, 268 f., 273, 
 
 337, 550 »., 633, 075, 701. sol f., 
 
 972, 1157, 1240, 1243, 1251. 
 
 2g
 
 450 
 
 INDEX I 
 
 Mohammed (cf. Islam), 567 ».. 568, 
 965, 1328. 
 
 Molech (Moloch, I> . 1. app. 2, 855, 
 1006. 
 
 Monarchy, see King. 
 
 Monotheism (of. Jehovah, Religion), 
 L338. 
 
 Monuments, see especially As- 
 syrians, Babylonians. 
 
 Mi ion-worship, 856. 
 
 Morality: its evolution, 611 fl, 950, 
 980 ff. ; Christian and Hebrew, 
 615 ff. ; its criteria and standards. 
 948 ff., 964, 1258 ff. ; conditions 
 and basis, 950, 958, 962, 984ff., 
 1000 f., 1016. 
 
 Moresheth-Gath (C), 356. 
 
 Moschi, see Mushke. 
 
 Moses, the lawgiver, 18.'!. 440 ft*. ; his 
 Blessing, 935. 
 
 Motherhood, 430. 
 
 Mughek (Ur, S), 100. 
 
 Musa ibn Nosair (Ch), 568 n. 
 
 Mushke (Meshech, "Moschi. LP), 
 179, 217, 027 ff., 666. 
 
 Musri (L), 228, 230, I. app. 5; cf. 
 437 n. 
 
 Mm -Adda (Cr), 152. 
 
 Mutilation of the dead, 285 n. 
 
 Myth making. 1184 ff. 
 
 Nabatseans (P), 755«. 
 
 Nabonassar ( K), 293. 
 
 Nali. .nidus (K), 87, 1371 f., 1392 ff., 
 
 1401. 
 Nabopalassar (K), 822 f., 8251, 
 
 1042, 1370 n. 
 Nabopaliddin i K), 219n. 
 Naboth of Jezreel, 583, 606, 981 f. 
 Nabu-bel-shumi (Ch), 784. 
 Nadab (K), 211. 
 Nagitu (C). 734. 737 f. 
 Naharlna (Mesopotamia), 132, 145, 
 
 150. 
 Nahrel Kelb, 1213 n. 
 Nahum, the prophet, 831 ff., 1129, 
 
 1138. 
 Na'iri (L), 179, 216. 
 Naming, in Israel, 1040 n., 1411 n. 
 Nainri (Nainar, L), 258. 
 
 Nana (Ishtar, D), 101, 107. 
 
 Napata (C), 347. 
 
 Naphtali (TL), 272, 276, 331, I. 
 app. 13, 47V. 
 
 Naram-Sin (K), 87 ff. 
 
 Nathan (prophet), his parable, 910, 
 077 f. 
 
 National literature. 915 f. 
 
 Nationalism, Hebrew (cf. Patriot- 
 ism). 4701, 515, 0071 
 
 Nationality. Semitic 46 ff., 13151; 
 and religion, 61. 
 
 Natnu (Ch), 7871 
 
 Naturalization, see Adoption. 
 
 Nature-worship, 321, 1184 ff. 
 
 Navigation, Phoenician, 66 ; Babylo- 
 nian, 1305 n. 
 
 Nebaioth (Nabatseans, LP), 787 f. 
 
 Nebo (D), 57, 59, 112, 117. 240. I. 
 app. 7. sis. 820, 1054, 1056. 1063, 
 1302. 1394 : (M), 188; (C), 235. 
 
 Neboshazban (Cr), 1233 n. 
 
 Nebuchadrezzar (K) : I, 178, 1280; 
 II, 42. 4o7. 825, 1042, 1052 ff., 
 1075ff.. 1115. 1137. 1107. 1171. 
 1210. 1213. 1231, 1235. 1241. 1273. 
 1277. 1286, 1296 1, 1337, 1364 ff.. 
 1370, 1403. 1414. 
 
 Nebuzaradan (Cr), 1232, 1240, 
 1242. 
 
 Necho (K) : I, 766, 768, 1029 ; II, 
 827, 1031 ff., 1043, 1207. 
 
 Negeb (L), 273. 
 
 Nemitti-Bel (rampart), 740, 1053. 
 
 Nergal (D), 85, 94, 228, 818. 
 
 Nergal J shar-usur : (1) b. Sinacherib, 
 744 ; (2) see Neriglissar. 
 
 Nergal-ushezib (K), 739. 
 
 Neriglissar (K), 1233 n.. 1370. 
 
 Nestorians, 30, I. app. 2. 
 
 New Testament and Old, 01-", ff. 
 
 New Year's festival. 1302. 1304. 
 
 Nile valley. 3461 
 
 Nimrud. see Kalach. 
 
 Nina (Ishtar, D), 171 f. 
 
 Nineveh (C), 391, 74, 141. 1711, 
 175. 247. 283. 341, 741 ft'., 750, 
 762, 815. S24 ff. 
 
 Ninus (K), 210. 
 
 Niphates (M), 71.
 
 INDEX I 
 
 4.", I 
 
 Nippur (Xuffar. C), 91, 04, 101, 
 104 f., 108, 110, 112, 293, 1081, 
 1284 ff. 
 
 Nisibis (C), 75. 141, 217. 
 
 Nisroch, see Xusku. 
 
 Nobles, see Rulers. 
 
 Nomads and nomadic life (cf. Tri- 
 balism), CO, 400 11, 416, 424 1., 
 438 ff., 405 ff., 11411, 1384. 
 
 Noph (C), see Memphis. 
 
 Nubia, see Cush. 
 
 Numbers ia < lid Testament, I. app. 
 6, 443 »., 460, II. app. 6, 13; 
 (book), 0251. 
 
 Nur-Raminan (K), 108. 
 
 Nusku (I)), 744, 818. 
 
 Obadiah (book). 14()4 //. 
 Obelisks (^Egyptian), 767 n., 1255 n. 
 Occupations, see Employments. 
 Old Testament, in our evolution, 
 
 611 ff. ; and New, 614 ff. 
 Omri (Ki, 212, 239. 
 Omri-land (N. Israel), see Bit- 
 
 Chumri. 
 On (Heliopolis, C), 657, 767, 1255 n. 
 Onesimus (slave), 406. 
 Opis (0), 1395 f. 
 Oracles, 488, 702 (1071), 1073, 1210, 
 
 1215. 1220. 1253, 1387. 
 Oratorical literature, 938 ff. 
 ( (ratory. Hebrew, 940. 
 Ormuzd, see Ahuramazda. 
 Orontes (R), 125, 141, 161, 282, 
 
 226. 
 Osorkon II (K). 215. 
 Othniel .! |, 188, 550. 
 
 P, see Priestly narrative. 
 Padan-Aram (L . 75, I. app. 9. 
 Padi (K). 075. 692, 695, II. app. 
 
 14. 
 Pakrura (G), 700. 
 Palestine 'collectively), 17, 51 f., 
 
 90, 125 1Y.. L32 f . , L35ff., 151 li., 
 
 163 ff., 204, 291, 780. 
 Pallakopas i W), 100, 1293. 
 Panics explained, 702 n. 
 Parentage, 430. 
 Parsua (L), 221. 
 
 Parties and partisanship in Israel. 
 598ff., c.07, its;), 987 f., 991, 
 1093 ff., 1149, 1157 ff. 
 
 Pasebchanu (K), 207. 
 
 Pasbhur (b. Immer), 1111 ; (b. 
 Malchiah), 1215. 
 
 Past nial life (cf. Nomads;, 470, 47'.». 
 
 Pasture-grounds, 38, 565, 1304. 
 
 Patin, see Chattin. 
 
 putrin potestas, 408 ff. 
 
 Patriarchs of Israel, 137 ; in history, 
 442 ff. ; their morality, 948 ff.. 001 . 
 
 Patriotism : Semitic, 61 ; Hebrew, 
 470 f., 470, 900, 915, 907. 1024, 
 1123, 1156, 122:; ; prophetic, 723, 
 1113f., 1258ff., lino. 
 
 Pekab (K), 316 (325), 332, 1, app. 13. 
 
 Pekahiah (K), 316. 
 
 Pekod (P), 339, 1403 n. 
 
 Pelusium (C), 705, 709. 
 
 Penned (Peniel, C), 210. 
 
 Pepi (K), 134. 
 
 Perizzites (P), 127, 130. 
 
 Persia (Persis, E), 1374, 1378. 
 
 Persian Gulf, extent, 71 ; naviga- 
 tion, 737 f. 
 
 Persians (cf. Iranians), political 
 tendencies, 56. 
 
 1'. sept. (L), 766. 
 
 Pestilence, 259, 201 f,., 704, 707,709, 
 II. app. 13. 
 
 Pethor (Pitru, C), 228. 
 
 Petra (C), 251. 
 
 Pharisaism. 010 f. 
 
 Philemon (slave-owner), 406. 
 
 Philistian plain (Palastu), 13d, 141,. 
 250, 645, 684. 
 
 Philistines and their cities, 50. 54,, 
 ic,4, 100, 192ff., 100 ff., 200, 
 203 ff., 211, 243, 248, 264, 268, 
 27:;, 302, 015. :;2-, :::12, 371, 470, 
 491 f., 512. 515. 631 f., 651, 675, 
 077. 684, 690ff., 701, li>4o. 
 
 Phinehas (J), 490, 589. 
 
 Phoenicians, classification, 18; 
 names. 102 f. ; achievements, 66, 
 151. os.",; colonies ami govern- 
 ment, 12 \<i.. I. app. 0. 772 ; trade 
 
 and navigati 12 11.. 1 97 1, 128, 
 
 184, 206 (209), 230, 1. a]. p. 0,
 
 452 
 
 INDEX I 
 
 737 f., 1031, 1307 ; religion and 
 deities, 137, 213 ; events in his- 
 tory, 126, 144 f., 152, 104, 100. 
 180. 184. 219, 230, 311, 315. 675, 
 680 ff., 753, 761, 772 f., 821. See 
 especially Sidon, Tyre. 
 
 Phraortes (K), 824. 
 
 Pianola (K). 347. 
 
 Pisgah (M), 1244. 
 
 Pisiris (K), 028. 
 
 Planet worship, 1061, 1063. 
 
 Polyandry. 417 f. 
 
 Polygamy-, 200, 424, 449. 
 
 Polytheism, national, 59 f. 
 
 Poverty in Israel : its occasions, 541, 
 572, 575 ; its consequences, 573 ff. , 
 601 ; the " poor " as a class, 598 ff. 
 
 Preaching, see Prophesying. 
 
 Prediction (cf. Foresight), 1147, 
 1367. 1410 f., 1418 f. 
 
 Priest-kings. 57, 98, 172. 
 
 Priestly narrative, 885 ff., 891 f., 
 923 ff. 
 
 Priests and priesthood in Israel, 488, 
 504 f., 570. 588 f., 042 f., 974, 
 1013 ff.. 1101, 1170, 1344 f., 1351 ; 
 as counsellors, 488 f. , 1015; their 
 achievements, 1017 f. ; Babylo- 
 nian, 339, 660, 1287 f., 1392. 
 
 Primogeniture, 420. 
 
 Princes (rulers), 455, 476 n., 487, 
 531, 592, 1092, 1221. 1312. 
 
 Professional prophets, 1093, 1103 ff. 
 
 Property (cf. Land), its influence 
 in society and politics, 425, 563. 
 
 Prophesying, 937 ff. 
 
 Prophetic histories, 923 f., 934. 
 
 Prophets and Prophecy, 195, 214, 
 244, 295 ff., 313 ff., 318 ff., 382, 
 402, 488, 532, 540, 570, 589 re., 
 GOO, 606, 610, 725, 829, 851, 930 ff.. 
 983, '.".'3, 1005 ff., 1133, 1145 f., 
 1172. 1200, 1258ff., 1336ff., 1315. 
 lion if., 1418 ff. 
 
 Proverbs (book), 600, 910; their 
 limitations, 999 ff. 
 
 Psalms, by David (?) 909 ; motives 
 of composition, 605 f. ; partisan, 
 598 ff.; " vindictive," 609 re., 
 1108 re. i of exile, 1363. 
 
 Psammetichus, (K) I, 768, 774 f., 
 
 812, 1029 ; II, 1207. 
 Ptah (D), 705. 
 Pteria (C), 159, 1387. 
 Ptolemy, canon of, 293, I. app. 6. 
 Pudu'il(K), 075. 
 Pul, Pulu, see Tiglathpileser III, 
 Punt (P), 145, 1089 n. 
 Put (P), 770, 1089. 
 Pythia, the, 851 n. 
 
 Queen of Heaven. 850, 1094, 1256. 
 Queens, see Women. 
 
 Rabbath-Ammon (C), 204. 
 
 Rabmag (title), 1233 re. 
 
 Rabsaris (title). 699, 1233 n. 
 
 Rabshakeh (title), 290, 099 ff., II. 
 app. 14. 
 
 Rachel bat Laban, 413. 
 
 Ramah (C), 477, 1242. 
 
 Ramman (cf. Rimmon, D), 172, 
 228. 
 
 Ramman-nadin-ache (K), 177. 
 
 Hamman-niiTiri (K), I, 175; II, 210 ; 
 III, 248 ff., 282. I. app. 7. 
 
 Ramoth (C). 212. 215. 231, 235 f. 
 
 Ramses (K), II, 103, 105 ; III, 166 f., 
 207. 
 
 Raphia (Bapichu, Befa, C). 025, 
 750. 
 
 Reading, public. 1117. 
 
 Rebekah hot Bethuel, 412. 
 
 Keehabites (T). 410, 1141 f. 
 
 Red Sea traffic, 97. 200, 209, 2*15, 
 236, 254, 201. 269. 
 
 Reforms in Israel. 852 ff., 1019 ff. 
 
 Regnal year, II. app. 6. 
 
 Rehob (L), 204. 
 
 Rehoboain (K), 208, 210. 
 
 Religion among the Semites : its po- 
 litical influence, 58 ff., 99. 299, 
 551. 039, 774 h., II. app. 7,841; 
 syncretism, 00, 299. 495. 855, 
 1155 ; religion and kinship, 397. 
 4o-_' f. ; boundtothesoil,61,289f., 
 495, 551. 009, 1024 : its scope and 
 motive, 495. 497 ff!, 504 ff., OOl. 
 911, 985 ; Hebrew religion distinc- 
 tive, 62, 613 ; personal religion in
 
 INDEX I 
 
 45c 
 
 Israel, 607 ff., 980, 985 ff., 1009 ff., 
 1840, 1349; in a Gentile, 1054. 
 For the types, see the several divi- 
 sions of the Semitic race. 
 
 Representative government, 50 (29, 
 37). 
 
 Reshep (D), 137. 
 
 Eetenu (L, Syria), 132, 145. 
 
 Reuben (T), 183,204, 935. 
 
 Rezon (K), I, 209 ; II, 310, 333, 335. 
 
 Rhabdomancy, I2iuf. 
 
 Rhapsodists, 871, 894. 
 
 Rhodes (I). I. app. 3. 
 
 Rhodes, Cecil, as an historical type, 
 955, 1411 n. 
 
 Rib-addi (G), 152. 
 
 Riblah (C), 1038, 1213. 
 
 Riches and the public weal, 571 ff. ; 
 the "rich" as a class, 98 ff.; cf. 
 018. 
 
 Eimmon (Ramman, D), of Damas- 
 cus, 59 ; of Aleppo, 228. 
 
 Eizpah bat Aiah, 972. 
 
 Eoads, great, 202. 
 
 Roman social institutions cited, 
 408 ff., 413 f., 421, 424 f., 427. 
 
 Rulers (cf. Princes, Judges, Chiefs, 
 Elders). 530 ff., 559, 509, 587, 
 642 f., 974. 
 
 Ruth (book), 470, 550 n. 
 
 Saba'a (P. North Sabseans), 334, 630. 
 
 Sabako (K), 347, I. app. 14, 625. 
 705. 
 
 Sabataka (K), I. app. 14, 625, 630, 
 632, II. app. 4. 
 
 Sabbath, 1346 f. 
 
 Sachi (L). 797. 
 
 Sacrifice and sacrifices, 738, 10061, 
 1014. 
 
 Sacrificers, 489, 505, 585, 863, 1014. 
 
 Saia (C), 766, 1030. 
 
 Salamanu (K ; cf. Shalman), 837. 
 
 Samaria (C), 40, 128, 212, 264, 
 275 f., 289, 848, 349 ff., I. app. 
 10, 1247 ; (L) see Israel North- 
 ern ; Assyrian province, 024 f., 
 t;58, 686, 799. 
 
 Samgar-Nebo (Cr), 1233 n. 
 
 Bamsi (Q), 334, 080. 
 
 Samsiruna (C), 675. 
 
 Samson (J), 193, 905 ; his biogra- 
 phy. 908, 917 f. 
 
 Samsu-iluna (K), 118. 
 
 Samuel (J ), 1951, 430, 595, 0751 ; 
 (book), 908 1, 935, 1361. 
 
 Sanibu (K), 337. 
 
 Sapalel (K), 163. 
 
 Sardanapalus, see Asshurbanipal. 
 
 Sardis (C), 775, 1387 ff. 
 
 Sarepta (C), 075. 
 
 Sargon (K): I, 89 ff., 112 »., 007 ; 
 II, 42, 287, 358 ff., I. app. 10, 
 15, 16, 020 ff., 653 ff., 000 ff., 722, 
 II. app. 2, 4, 5. 
 
 Sarsechim (title), 1233 n. 
 
 Satarna (K), 150. 
 
 Saul (K), 190 ff., 415, 517, 5211, 
 525, 975 ; his biography, 919, 935. 
 
 Scythians (P), 777 n., 810 ff., 821, 
 824, 13831, 1401. 
 
 Scythopolis (C), 812n. 
 
 Seers (cf. Prophets), 937. 
 
 Seir (M), 109. 
 
 Semiramis (Q), 249, I. app. 7. 
 
 Semites (collectively), characteris- 
 tics, 51, 1140 ; course of history, 
 9 ff., 171, 174, 1045; territory, 
 17 ff. ; classification, 181; dis- 
 tribution, 20 ff., 79 ff., 105m., 223 ; 
 languages, I. app. 1 ; religion 
 and deities, 57 ff., 187. 104, 283, 
 289 f. ; political tendencies, 28 ff., 
 289, 591, 097 «., 778, 14141 See 
 the several divisions of the race. 
 
 Senir (Sanir, M), 242. 
 
 Senkereh (Larsa, C), 101. 
 
 Sepharvaim (C), 94, 34'.). 
 
 Seraiah b. Neriah, 1172. 
 
 Seraphim, 1 1 7 1 '. u. 
 
 Serpent, Brazen, 854. 
 
 Servant of Jehovah, 1202. 1420. 
 
 Servants and servitude, cf. slaves 
 ami hirelings. 
 
 Sesostris, see Ramses II. 
 
 Sethon (Seti, K), 705. 
 
 Seti [(K), 163. 
 
 Seve (K), 343, 349, I. app. 14, 025. 
 
 Sexual morality, 213, 321 1. 59<;, 
 867, 9501'., 965, 971, 11891, 1330,
 
 154 
 
 INDEX I 
 
 1332 ; in law and prescription, 
 
 957, 1190, 1330ff. 
 Shabara'in (C). 349. 
 Shagur (Pethor, C). 228. 
 Shallum (K), 207. 
 .shallum b. Josiah, see Jehoahaz. 
 Mialnian (K ). 314, I. app. 8, 681. 
 Shalmaneser (K), I. 175; II. 221 ff.. 
 
 237 f., 240 ft'.. 341 : III. 256 f. ; 
 
 IV, 342 ff., 349 ; Fort, 228. 
 Shamash (Shainsu, D), !)4. 
 Shamash-shum-ukin (K). 763, 77s 
 
 780ff., II. app. 17. 
 Shamgar (J). 479. 
 Shamshi-Ramman (K): I. 172; IV. 
 
 247. 
 Shangar (K), 228. 
 Shaphan (O), 843, 840, 8-30. 
 Shapiya C . 340. 
 '■' Sharezer," 744 /;. 
 Sharhldari (K), of Askalon, 67"), 
 
 691 ; of Pelusium, 7G6. 
 Sharuhen ,C). 144. 
 Shasu (Bedawin), 132, 135 ff.. 
 
 167. 
 Shatt-el-Hai (R), 95, 100. 
 Shatt-en-Nil (R), 94, 100 f.. 1274, 
 
 1290, 12991 
 Sheba (L). 145. 
 Shebna (O), 697, 609. 
 Shechem (C), 49, 189, 208, 210, 477, 
 
 563 >/., 1247. 
 Shemaiah (exile), 1109 f. 
 Shepherd princes, see Hyksos. 
 Sheshbazzar (prince), 1312. 
 Shian (L), 228. 
 Shiloh (0), 186, 194, 400, 504, 1001, 
 
 1003, 1247. 
 Shinar i Shumer, L), lOOff. 
 Sliishak (Sheshonk. K), 207, 210, 
 
 345. 
 Shrines (cf. Temple). 400. 400, 504, 
 
 800. '.''.'I. n 160 f., 1244, 1247. 
 Shumer (see Sumerians), Shumer 
 
 and Akkad, 102, 104, 108, 110, 
 
 175. 223, 293, 778 n., 1393. 
 Shushau, see Susa. 
 Slmznb (K), 733, 739. 
 Sibraim (C). 349. 
 Sib'u (K), see Seve. 
 
 Sidon (C), 34, 30. 431, 126, 152, 
 243, 248, I. app. 3. 675, 6811, 
 75:;. 772. 1157. 1213 »., 1367. 
 
 Sieges (cf. Fortresses), 236, 251, 
 357,664, '175. 681,698, 783, 824 ff., 
 8311, II. app. 14. 1030 (1178;. 
 1214 ff., 12301, 1388 
 
 Sihon (K), 183. 
 
 Sil-bel (K), 675. 
 
 Siloam (Siloah, brook and pool), 
 329 cf. 326), 008 (730), 731;;. 
 
 Silver in commerce, I. app. 3; cf. 
 630. 
 
 Simeon (T), 186. 
 
 Simirra (C), 624. 
 
 Sin (D), 94, 100, 104, II. app. 4. 
 
 Sin (political), 290, 675, II. app. 11. 
 
 Sinacherib (K), 42. 55. 261 «., 635, 
 037. 669ff., 716. 722 1. 732ff., II. 
 app. 0-14. 
 
 Sinai (M), 183, 450. 
 
 Sinaitic peninsula, 134, 450, 755 ; cf. 
 North Arabia. 
 
 Sin-iddin (K), 108 (104). 
 
 Sinjirli inscriptions, I. app. 0, I. 
 app. 10. 
 
 Sin-shar-ishkun K . 820. 
 
 Sippar (C i, 86 ff., 04. 293, 739, 7:,-. 
 7-:;. 13951 
 
 Slavery, its occasions, 4 75. 539 fl, 
 584 1 ; its effects, 544 ff., 1278; 
 its morality, 949 : its symbolism, 
 4H7. 
 
 Slaves in Israel, social relations, 
 405 ff., 507 ff., 540. 542, 544. 551 ; 
 employments, 507 ff., 567 i 12'js 
 n.) ; emancipated. 1218 ; their lot 
 ameliorated, 542 ff. ; their legal 
 protection. 5421; fugitive, 543, 
 545; in literature, 510; their 
 unique position, 542 ff. ; Egyp- 
 tian, 346, 436, 44n ; Babylonian, 
 740. 1279ff., 1326 ; Tyrian. 547. 
 
 Slave-trade, 15. 264, 106, 539. 
 
 Smintheus D . II. app. 13. 
 
 Snefru (K), 134. 
 
 So (K). see Seve. 
 
 •• Social Evolution," 014 n. 
 
 Social changes in Israel, 562 ff. t 
 569ff., 578, 991, 1153.
 
 INDEX I 
 
 455 
 
 Social questions in Israel, 569 ff . ; 
 their importance, 574, 578, 607. 
 
 Society, Hebrew, its constitution, 
 see Family, Household, Clans, 
 Tribes, Slaves, Strangers, Clien- 
 tage, and cf. Hebrews, govern- 
 ment, religion and morals. 
 
 Sociological literature, Hebrew, 
 598 ff. 
 
 Sodom (C), 109. 
 
 Solomon (K), 205 ff., 519, 524 ff.. 
 971, 1357 ; his poems, 904, 910 ; 
 his "Acts," 1358. 
 
 Son (member of guild), 570. 
 
 Sorcery, 858. 
 
 Sparta (C), 1387. 
 
 Spelling, 876. 
 
 Spirituality, see Religion, personal. 
 
 Stone-pillars, 854. 
 
 Strangers (sojourners, guests, cli- 
 ents), their naturalization, 548 ; 
 factors of Israel, 550 ff., 567; in 
 literature, 552 ff. 
 
 Subject states, see Dependencies. 
 
 Suchu (L), 219. 
 
 Suez Canal, 1031. 
 
 Sumerians (Shumer), 80 ff., 95 f. 
 
 Sun-chariots, 856. 
 
 Sun-worship, 321, 856 (1186), 1191. 
 
 Superstitions, 732, 858, 1183. 
 
 Supnat (R), 215, 218. 
 
 Surety in Israel, 584, 596. 
 
 Suru (C), 218. 
 
 Susa (Shushan, C), 106 f., 785, 
 799. 
 
 Susiana (L), 106, 120. 
 
 Suzerainty, see Dependencies. 
 
 Sybil, the, 851 n. 
 
 Symbolical prophetic actions, 658, 
 1158 f„ 1172, 1178 ff., 1197 (1243), 
 1255. 
 
 Synagogue, 1348. 
 
 Syria and Syrians (collectively), 
 17 1., 90, 125, 132 f., 135 ff., 160 ff., 
 201 f., 204, 230, 250, 257, 291 ; 
 Northern Syrians, l-'-'i. L52, 157 ff., 
 219, 226, 213, 247, 294, 308, 
 311. 316, 624, 680; Middle and 
 Southern Syrians, 226, 397, .ill, 
 315, 624. 
 
 Tabal (Tibarene, LP), 217, 338, 
 628, 773. 
 
 Tabel, of Damascus, 326. 
 
 Tab-Rimnion (K), 211. 
 
 Tabua (Q), 755. 
 
 Tadmor (Palmyra, C), 141. 
 
 Tahpanhes (C), 1083, 1254 f. 
 
 Talent, II. app. 11. 
 
 Tammaritu (K), 782, 784. 
 
 Tammuz (D), 1184 ff. 
 
 Tamud (P), 636. 
 
 Tanis. see Zoan. 
 
 Tarshish (C), 128. 
 
 Tarsus (Tarzi, C), 243 re,, 735. 
 
 Tartan (title), Lapp. 14, 699. 
 
 Taurus (M), 71. 
 
 Taxation, see Imposts. 
 
 Teispes (K), 1378. 
 
 Tekoa, the woman of, 398 re. 
 
 Tel-abiib (S), 1290, 1305. 
 
 Tel-harsha (S), 1273. 
 
 Tel Ibrahim (S), 94. 
 
 Telloh (S), 91, 95, 1291. 
 
 Tel-melach (S), 1273. 
 
 Tenia (P), 334. 
 
 Tema (C), 1371, 1392. 
 
 Temple in Jerusalem, 206, 276 f., 
 589, 601, 731, 796, 846 »., 904, 
 968, 1118 m., 1183 f., 1233; of 
 Ezekiel, 1344 ; Babylonian tem- 
 ples, 740 »., 10601, 1063, 1279, 
 1287 f., 13711 
 
 Teraphim. 413, 506, 1210 f. 
 
 Teumman (K). 779. 
 
 Teushpa (K), 758 n. 
 
 Thapsacus (C). 737 //. 
 
 Thebes l No-Ainen, C), 143 f., 207, 
 210 n., 345, 704, 767, 770, 831, 
 1030. 
 
 Theophanies, 350, 718, 909, 1410. 
 
 Thi (O). L50. 
 
 Thothmes(K): I. 145,340; III, 146, 
 1<;2. 173. 369n. 
 
 Tibarene, see Tubal. 
 
 Tidal (K), 109, 117. 
 
 Tiglathpileser (K) : I. 179f. ; II, 
 216; III., 110, 27911, 305 ff., 
 326, 33] ff.,842ff„ I. app. 8,13.14. 
 
 Tigris (R), 71 f.. 117, 216, 218, 222, 
 339, 1291 f., 1387.
 
 45G 
 
 INDEX I 
 
 Til-Barsip (C), 737. 
 
 Tilshapalachi (C), 228. 
 
 Timnath (C), 675. 
 
 Tin in commerce, I. app. 3. 
 
 Tirhakah (K), 678, 756, 704 ff., II. 
 app. 14. 
 
 Tirzah (C). 212, 267. 
 
 Titles of kings. 98, 102. 
 
 Tiyari (L), I. app. 2. 
 
 Tub (L), 204. 
 
 Togarmah (LP). 814. 
 
 Tophet (valley), 718, 855, 1095, 
 1110. 
 
 Toruadotos (Turnat. R), 218. 
 
 Totemism, 1 183 n. 
 
 Tower of Babel, IOC: 1 ,. 
 
 Trade, see especially Aramaeans, 
 Babylonians, Hebrews, Phoeni- 
 cians, and Caravan. 
 
 Tribal conditions in Israel, 186, 100, 
 200, 200, 363, 372 ff., 443, 480 ff., 
 530. 
 
 Tribalism (cf. Nomads), 397 ff., 458 
 7i.. 401, 510 (618), 950, 954, 964, 
 973, 1420. 
 
 Tribes (cf. Clans), 396 ff., 458, 500. 
 
 Tubal, see Tabal. 
 
 Tuklat-Adar (K) : I, 175 ; II, 216. 
 
 Tunip (C), 145. 
 
 Turkish regime in Asia, 27 i., 743, 
 1050. 
 
 Turushpa (C), 311. 
 
 Tyre (C) and Tyrians, 34, 39, 42 ff., 
 126, 128, 141, 145. 152, 206, 243, 
 248. 264. 302. 310, 338. 677, 680 ff., 
 7531, 757, 771 f., II. app. 10, 
 1030, 1157, 1208, 1213, 1240 w., 
 1365 If. 
 
 Uaite (Ch), 788. 
 
 Uklnzir (K), 340. 
 
 Uknu (Choaspes, Kercha, R), 107, 
 
 339, 601. 
 LTai (Eulaeus, Karun, R), 107. 
 CHuba (L), 307. 
 Ullusunu (Ch), II. app. 3. 
 Ululai (K), I. app. 8 ; see Shalmane- 
 
 ser IV. 
 Ummanaldash (K), 784f. 
 Ummanigash (K), 779 f., 782. 
 
 Umman-Manda (P ; cf. Scythians), 
 
 1383 f. 
 Umman-menanu (K), 739f. 
 Universalism, prophetic, 553 f., 1420. 
 Ur (C), 94. 100 ff., 104, 108, 110, 
 
 1291. 
 Ur-Ba'u (K). 95 ff. 
 Ordaman (K), 767. 
 Ur-gur (K), 101. 
 Uriah, the Iliitite, 520 n., 523, 550; 
 
 b. Shemaiah, 1092. 
 Urijah (priest), 540. 
 Urmia (lake). 217. 248, 256. 
 Ur-Nina (K), 95. 
 Urtaku (K), 779. 
 Urumilku (K). 075. 
 Usertesen III (K), 346. 
 Ushu (C), 675, 789. 
 Usury, see Interest. 
 Uzziah (Azariah, K), 261, 268 f., 
 
 306 ff., 325, I. app. 9, 1358 n. 
 
 Van (lake). 217. 256; (C), see Tu- 
 rushpa; (P). see Manual 
 Vassalage, see Dependencies. 
 Venality in Israel, 594 f. 
 Venus (planet). 1185. 
 Vergil and Isaiah, 1406. 
 Villages (un walled), 38. 
 Virgo (constellation), 1185 n. 
 Virtues, their moral quality, 958 ff. 
 
 Wady Brissa. 1213 n. 
 
 Wady Haifa. 310. 
 
 Walls and gates, their significance, 
 1058 and«., 1233. 
 
 War, see Militarism. 
 
 Warfare: Hebrew, 512 ff., 540; As- 
 syrian. 620, 1192, 1230 ff. 
 
 Warka (Erech, C), 101. 
 
 Warriors, see Army. 
 
 •'Wars of Jehovah" (book), 894, 
 900, 913. 
 
 Watercourses, 72, 117, 663. 742. 
 1051 »., 1276, 1200 ff., 1308. 
 
 Water-wheels. 1302 /'. 
 
 Weapons, 479, 4S4, 514, 516. 
 
 Week, cf. Sabbath. 
 
 Well, song of the, 894. 
 
 West-land, Asiatic, 125 ff.
 
 INDEX I 
 
 457 
 
 Witch of Endor, 851 n. 
 
 Women: as rulers, 334, 423, 755; 
 as prophetesses, 423, 851 ; in fam- 
 ily relations, 417 ft, 427, 430, 
 1199; as property-holders, 422; 
 emancipated, 421 ff. , 426; mor- 
 ally and socially, 271, 322, 596, 
 721, 1184, 1189 f., 1256, 1332. 
 
 Words and their associations, 392 f. 
 
 Writing, by marks, 877 ; cuneiform, 
 80 ff . , 104 f . , 153 f . , 873 ff . ; Hettite, 
 159; alphabetic, 154, 872 ff. ; 
 among the Hebrews, 872, 877 ff. ; 
 Aramaeans, 874 f. ; Phoenicians 
 (Canaanites), 872, 875, 877 f. ; 
 earliest uses, 882. 
 
 Written discourses, 939. 
 
 Xenophon, 1412 n. 
 
 Yamani ("Ionian"), II. app. 4. 
 
 '• Yareb," I. app. 10. 
 
 Yatbur (L), 662. 
 
 Yatna ("Cyprian"), II. app. 4. 
 
 Yatnan (Cyprus, etc.), 133, 682. 
 
 Ya'ubi'di (K), I. app. 9, 624. 
 
 Ya'udl (L), I. app. 9. 
 Yaiita (Ch.), 786. 
 
 Zab (R), Lower, 74, 123, 171 ; Upper, 
 
 74. 
 Zadok (priest), 1344. 
 Zahi (L), 132. 
 Zalzallat (W), 1395. 
 Zarpanit (D), 123. 
 Zebulun (TL), 272, 479. 
 Zechariah (K), 207. 
 "Zechariah," ix.-xi., 304, 315, I. 
 
 app. 11. 
 Zedekiah (K), of Judah, 11481, 
 
 1150 ff., 1215 ff., 1247 ; of Askalon, 
 
 675, 691 ; exile, 1169. 
 Zelek of Amnion, 550. 
 Zephaniah (prophet), 814, 830, 1138 ; 
 
 (priest), 1170, 1215. 
 Zerah, see Osorkon. 
 Zerubbabel (prince), 1147, 1312. 
 Zikkurat (temple tower), 1061, 1063. 
 Zion (M), 204. 
 
 Zoan (Tanis, C), 137, 656, 766. 
 Zobah (L), 201, 204, 209, 787. 
 Zodiac, 856.
 
 INDEX II 
 
 ANCIENT AUTHORITIES AND ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 (Passages translated are marked with an asterisk.) 
 
 A. BIBLICAL 
 
 GENESIS 
 
 § 885-888 
 
 932 
 
 1291 n. 
 
 105 n. 
 
 120 
 
 1126 
 
 927 
 
 1126 
 
 398 n. 
 
 431,929 
 
 889 
 
 927 
 
 927 
 
 944 
 
 929 
 
 929 
 
 540, 927 
 
 758 
 
 334 
 
 101, 111 «. 
 
 932 
 
 74 
 
 1089 n. 
 
 130 h. 
 
 932 
 
 111, 932 
 
 927 
 
 931 
 
 955 
 
 I. app. 4 
 
 109,111, 153, 276, 
 
 732 n. 
 
 xiv. 14 447//.,. 520 
 
 xiv. 18 590 
 
 ii. 
 
 10 
 
 ii. 
 
 13 
 
 iii 
 
 .6 
 
 iii 
 
 . 15 f . 
 
 iv 
 
 7 
 
 iv 
 
 12, 14, 15 
 
 iv 
 
 20-22 
 
 iv 
 
 23, 24 
 
 v. 
 
 29 
 
 viii. 21 f. 
 
 ix 
 
 13 
 
 ix 
 
 18 f. 
 
 ix 
 
 25-27 
 
 ix 
 
 26 f. 
 
 X. 
 
 2f. 
 
 X. 
 
 7 
 
 X. 
 
 10 
 
 X. 
 
 11, 12 
 
 X. 
 
 12 
 
 X. 
 
 13 
 
 X. 
 
 15-18 
 
 X. 
 
 26 ff. 
 
 xi 
 
 
 xi 
 
 . 2f. 
 
 xi 
 
 . (i 
 
 xi 
 
 . 10 ff. 
 
 xiii. 7 
 
 xiv. 109, ] 
 
 xv. 2ff. 
 xv. 6 
 xv. 9ff. 
 xv. 19-21 
 xvi. 
 xvi. 1 
 xvi 12 
 xvii. 19 
 xviii. 19 
 xviii. 32 
 xix. 17, 26 
 xx. Iff. 
 xx. 3 
 xx. 7 
 xx. 13 
 xxi. 10, 14 
 xxi. 20 
 xxi. 21 
 xxii. 
 xxiii. 
 xxiii. 4 
 xxiv. 2s ff. 
 xxv. 3 
 xxv. 4 
 xxv. 6 
 xxv. 9 f. 
 xxv. 13 
 xxv. 27 
 xxvi . 34 f . 
 xxvii. 
 xxvii. 3ff. 
 xxviii. 1, 5 
 xxviii. 13 IT. 
 xxix. 14 f. 
 xxx. 11 IT. 
 xxxi. 21 
 
 412, 
 
 §412 
 
 932, 962 
 
 1219 
 
 130//. 
 
 957 
 
 437 ii. 
 
 :;i4 
 
 I. app. 12 
 
 774 n., 927 
 
 1201 
 
 1395 n. 
 
 955 
 
 418 
 
 928* 
 
 930//. 
 
 412 
 
 337 n . 
 
 430 
 
 412 
 
 160 
 
 549 
 
 405/?., 419 
 
 334 
 
 630 
 
 412, 594 
 
 460 
 
 334 
 
 337n. 
 
 160, 112 
 
 412, 428 n. 
 
 337 n., 927 
 
 412 
 
 931 
 
 412 
 
 927 
 
 1. app. 9 
 
 xxxi. 43 
 xxxi. 49f.,55 
 xxxi. .">:! 
 
 §412 
 
 413 
 
 930 n. 
 
 xxxii. 13, xxxiii. 10 ,Vi4 
 931 
 447,/. 
 130 n. 
 419 
 I. app. 4 
 961 
 418 n. 
 396 n. 
 152 
 238 
 927, 929 
 447//. 
 1332n. 
 957 
 584 
 928* 
 1190 
 960 
 414, 594 
 927 
 
 i.;i 
 
 132n. 
 
 428 n. 
 
 514, 563 7i.« 
 
 905 
 428 n. 
 
 Ill 
 
 xxxiii. 30 f. 
 xxxiv. 
 xx xiv. 2 
 xxxiv. 12 
 xxxiv. 30 
 xxxv. 2ff. 
 xxxv. 22 
 xxxvi. 31 ff. 
 xxxvi. 4:'> 
 xxxvii. 25 
 xxxviii. 
 xxxviii. 1 f. 
 xxxviii. 14 ff. 
 xxxviii. 15 ff. 
 xxxviii. 17 ff. 
 xxxviii. 18, 22 
 xxxviii. 21 
 xxxix. 8 
 xliii. 11 ff. 
 xliv. IS IT. 
 xiv. s 
 xlvi. •".! 
 xlviii. 14 ff. 
 xlviii. 22 
 xlix. 
 xlix. 3f. 
 1. I6f. 
 
 EXODUS 
 iii. 16 143 
 
 iv. 22 429, 432 
 
 iv. 29 143 
 
 459
 
 400 
 
 INDEX II 
 
 v. 14 ff. §567 
 
 vi.it 440 
 
 xii. 21 44:; 
 
 xii. 4S 552 
 
 xv. 890 
 
 xvi. 4f. 134671. 
 
 xvii. 14 891 
 
 xviii. 30, 455 ff.. sill 
 
 xviii. 21 470 ». 
 
 xviii. 25 f. 455* 
 
 xx.-xxiii. 474 it'.. 891 
 
 xx. 22-xxiii. 920-922 
 
 xx. 10 463??., 474//. 
 418, 1330 
 
 xx. 17 
 xxi. 1-11 
 xxi. 2 
 xxi. 6 
 xxi. 7ff. 
 xxi. 12 ff. 
 xxi. 13 
 xxi. 16 
 xxi. 20 ff. 
 xxii. 5ff. 
 xxii. 7 f . 
 xxii. 16 
 xxii. 21 f. 
 xxii. 25 
 xxii. 26 f. 
 xxii. 28 
 xxiii. 8 
 xxiii. 9ff. 
 xxiii. 12 
 xxiii. 16 
 xxiii. 20-23 
 xxv.-xxxi. 
 xxxiv. 17-26 
 xxxiv. 22 
 xxxv. 41 
 
 541, 584 71. 
 1217 
 
 488 
 
 427 
 
 966 
 
 465, 474 //. 
 
 547 
 
 475, 487, 542 
 
 475, 488 
 
 1015 
 
 41it 
 
 552, 921 
 
 576 
 
 584, 921 
 
 488 n. 
 
 595* 
 
 475, 552, 570 
 
 1346 n. 
 
 1344 n. 
 
 921 
 
 891 
 
 si '2 
 
 1344 n. 
 
 891 
 
 LEVITICUS 
 
 XV11.-XXV1. 
 
 xix. 2 
 xix. 33 f. 
 xxv. ."..">, 47 
 xx vi. 30 
 
 1362 
 
 1362». 
 
 552 
 
 549 
 
 321 
 
 xxi. 14-18, 27- 
 xxi. 15 
 xxii. 8 
 xxiii., xxiv. 
 xxiii. 3 
 xxiii. 9 
 xxiii. 10 
 xxvi. 51 
 xxvii. 8 
 xxx. 13 
 xxxv. 15 
 xxxvi. 2ff. 
 xxxvi. 6 
 
 -30 § 894. 89! I 
 
 894* 
 
 938 
 
 s'X, 
 
 938 
 
 299, 400 
 
 906 n. 
 
 II. app. 13 
 
 427 
 419* 
 552 
 427 
 420 
 
 NUMBERS 
 
 i.-x. 891 
 
 ii.9, HI, 24, 31 II. app. 13 
 
 iv. 18 396 
 
 xi. 5 440 
 
 xi. Kiff. 461 n. 
 
 xiii. 33 929 
 
 xxi. 5 4Ki 
 
 DEUTERONOMY 
 
 i.-iv. 40 
 i.6, 9 
 i. 13, 15 
 i. 16 
 
 iii. 9 242 
 
 v. 3 
 v. 6-21 
 v. 15 
 vi.4 
 vi. 10 
 vii. 9 
 x. 18 f. 
 xii. 1-28 
 xii. 3 
 xii. 9 
 xii. 29-31 
 xiii. 
 
 xiii. 12 ff. 
 xiv. 21 
 xiv. 28 f. 
 xv. 12 ff. 
 xvi. 1-17 
 xvi. 5 
 xvi.9ff. 
 xvi. 18 
 xvi. 19 
 xvi. 21 f. 
 xvii. 2-7 
 xvii. 5 
 xvii. 8ff. 
 xviii. 1 If. 
 xviii. 10-14 
 xviii. 15 ff. 
 xix. 12 
 xix. 15 if. 
 xxi. 1 ff. 
 xxi. 15-17 
 xxii. 15 ff. 
 xxii. 22 11. 
 xxiii. 3f. 
 
 I. 
 
 847/1. 
 
 462 
 
 455 
 
 552 
 
 app. 3 
 
 944 
 
 892 
 
 547 
 
 1335 
 
 503 
 
 1335 
 
 552 
 
 860 
 
 854 
 
 1024* 
 
 855 
 
 855 n . 
 
 502 
 
 552 
 
 576 
 
 584 n., 1217 
 
 862 
 
 1024* 
 
 ."47. 552, 576 
 
 455, 461, ."i)2 
 
 595 
 
 854 
 
 85t; 
 
 34 
 
 461 
 
 863, 1019 
 
 855, 858 
 
 858 
 
 48(5, 510 
 
 502 
 
 486, 850 
 
 428 
 
 486 
 
 1331 
 
 550 n. 
 
 xxiii. it, 14 
 xxiii. 15 f . 
 xxiii. 17 f. 
 
 xxiii. 19 ff . 
 xxiv. 1 
 xxiv. li 
 xxiv. 7 
 xxiv. 10 ff. 
 xxiv. 19 
 xxv. 13, 15 
 xxvi. 1 ff. 
 xxvi. 5 
 xxvi. 10 
 xxvi. 12 f. 
 xx vii. -xxx. 
 xxvii. 17 
 xxviii. 64 ff. 
 xxix. 10 f. 
 xxix. 14 
 xxx. 14 
 xxxi.-xxxiv 
 xxxi. 12 
 xxxii. 6 
 xxxii. 9ff. 
 xxxiii. 9f. 
 xxxiii. 28 
 
 §419 
 
 543 
 
 857, 1190, 
 
 1330 
 
 552, 576, 577 
 
 419 
 
 584 n. 
 
 547 
 
 584 
 
 577 
 
 596 
 
 461, 502, 590 
 
 26, 4:U//. 
 
 1024* 
 
 552, 57ij 
 
 847//. 
 
 583 
 
 lit ,5 
 
 552 
 
 583 
 
 1023 
 
 847 i). 
 
 552 
 
 432 
 
 434 n. 
 
 loir, 
 
 299 
 
 JOSHUA 
 
 vi.26 
 vii. 21 
 ix. 7, 17 
 x. 12 
 xi. 3 
 xv. 3 
 xv. 41 
 xix. 44 
 xix. 45 
 xx. 4 
 xxiv. 19 f. 
 
 498 n. 
 1064 
 
 130 n. 
 896* 
 
 130//. 
 152 
 695 
 693 
 695 
 510 
 501 
 
 JUDGES 
 
 i.4f. 
 i. 14f. 
 i. 18 
 i. 19 
 i. 26 
 i. 28 ff. 
 i. 34 
 iii. 3 
 iii. 31 
 iv. 4 
 iv. 11, 17 
 
 I. app. 4 
 
 563 
 
 192 
 
 478 
 
 I. app. 5 
 
 540 
 
 136 n. 
 
 130 n. 
 
 479,917//. 
 
 423 
 
 416, 964 
 
 479
 
 INDEX II 
 
 4G1 
 
 v. 8 § 188 
 
 v. 14 87'.)* 
 
 v. 24 416, 964 
 
 vi. 27 ff. 482 n. 
 
 vi. 30 415 
 
 vi. 34 460 
 
 vii. 732 n. 
 
 viii. 18 ff. 972 
 
 viii. 22 f. 51 
 
 viii. 33 f. 482 »., 552 
 
 ix. 6ff. 534 
 
 ix. 7-15 908 
 
 ix. 27 1246 
 
 ix. 46 33, 482 n. 
 
 ix. 51 ff. 33 
 
 x. 3ff. 191 
 
 x. 12 896* 
 
 xi. 35 908 
 
 xiii.-xvi. 917 
 
 xiv. 2 f . 427 
 xiv. 14, 18, xv. 16 
 
 908,918?;. 
 
 xv. 16 908 
 xvii.5ff. 503,863,1211?i. 
 
 xvii. 10 431 
 
 xviii. 7, 28 I. app. 3 
 
 xviii. 19 431, 504 
 xix.-xxi. 193, 482 n., 965 
 
 xix. 16 501 
 
 xix. 22 965 
 
 xxi. 12 396 
 
 xxi. 19 ff. 1246 
 
 xxi. 21 965 
 
 xxi. 25 503 
 
 RUTH 
 
 i. 16 
 ii. 4 
 iv. 1 ff. 
 iv. lOff. 
 
 58 
 501,508 
 
 477, 4S6 
 34 
 
 1 SAMUEL 
 
 ii. 1-10 
 ii. 12 If. 
 iii. 13 
 v. 3f. 
 vi.4f. 
 vii. 14 
 viii. Iff. 
 viii. 9 IT. 
 viii. 12 
 viii. 19 f- 
 ix. 5ff. 
 ix. 9 
 
 430 
 
 908 
 
 589, 124s 
 
 414* 
 
 1406 n. 
 
 707 
 
 4! 13 
 
 595 
 
 534 
 
 517 
 
 51 
 
 542 
 
 937 n. 
 
 ix. 21 
 x. 4 
 x. 15 ff. 
 x. 12 
 x. 26 
 x. 27 
 xii. 3ff. 
 xiii. 2ff. 
 xiii. 8ff. 
 xiii. 19 
 
 xiv. 1 ff . 4' 
 xiv. 44 
 xiv. 
 xv. 
 
 xv. 22. 23 
 xv. 26 f . 
 xvii. 17 
 xvii. 18, xviii. 
 xvii. 46, 51 
 xviii. 7 
 xviii. 17 ff. 
 xix. 13 ff., xx. 
 xx. 6 
 xx. 8-10 
 xx. 18 
 xx. 25 ff. 
 xxi. 6, 29 
 xxii. 3f. 
 xxiv. 13 
 xxv. off. 
 xxv. 10 
 xxv. 14 ff. 
 xxv. 44 
 xxvi. 19 
 xxvii. 6 
 xxx. 14 
 xxxi. 10 
 
 §396 
 
 7*73 n. 
 
 570 
 
 908 n. 
 
 57, 501 
 
 594 
 595, 976 
 
 517, 687 
 
 57' 
 
 129 n. 
 
 Tin., 732//. 
 
 415 
 
 152, 517 
 
 975 
 
 908 
 
 1067 
 
 520 
 
 517 
 
 785 n. 
 
 908 
 
 427 
 
 970 
 
 484 
 
 1248 
 
 490?!. 
 
 415 
 
 500 
 
 550 n. 
 
 908?/. 
 
 520 
 
 543//. 
 
 420, 542 
 
 427 
 
 58 
 
 919 
 
 192 n. 
 
 200 n. 
 
 13 
 
 5 ff 
 
 2 SAMUEL 
 
 19-27 
 
 i. 7f. 
 
 i. 13 ff. 
 
 i. 17, v. ; 
 
 i. 33 
 v. 8 
 v. 21 
 vii. 10 f. 
 viii. 2 
 viii. 3 
 viii. 6, 14 
 viii. Off. 
 ix. Off. 
 xi. 1 
 xi. liff. 
 xi. 16 
 
 8! is 
 
 418 n. 
 
 427 
 
 537 
 
 902 ».*, 908 
 
 908 n. 
 
 299//. 
 
 195 
 
 972 
 
 I. app. 5 
 
 171 
 202, 523 
 415,542 
 
 233 n. 
 
 620 n. 
 
 236 n. 
 
 xii. Iff. 
 xii. 26 ff. 
 xii. 31 
 xiii. 12 
 xiv. 7 
 xiv. 14 
 xv. 2 
 xv. 19 
 XV; 24 
 xv. 34 
 xvi. 1 ff . 
 xvi. 20 ff. 
 xvii. 4 
 xvii. 21 f. 
 xviii. 1 
 xviii. 33 
 xix. 43 
 xx. 1 
 xxi. 2 
 
 xxi. lift. 
 
 xxii., see Ps 
 xxiii. 1-7 
 xxiii. 37 
 xxiv. 3 
 xxiv. 6 
 
 xxiv. 15 ff. 
 
 418 n. 
 
 §903 
 
 57 
 
 972 
 
 971 
 
 465 
 
 398 ?i. 
 
 34 
 
 550 
 
 863 
 
 970 
 
 520 
 
 971 
 
 'J71 
 
 520 
 
 518 
 
 902 
 
 II. app. 11 
 
 465 
 
 130 n. 
 
 972 
 
 xviii. 
 
 908 n. 
 
 550 
 
 523 
 
 130 n., 204 n., 
 
 I. app. 5 
 
 707 
 
 1 KINGS 
 
 12) 
 
 . 41,45 
 i. 39 f. 
 
 ii. 16 ff. 
 
 ii. 28 
 
 v. 25 
 
 v. 30 f. 
 
 v. 32 (v 
 
 r. 20 
 
 .ill. 41 f. 
 
 iii. 53 
 
 x. 11 
 
 x. 18 
 
 x. 26 ff. 
 x. 22 
 
 x.28 230 n., 
 xi. 41 
 xii. 1, 20 
 xii. 16 
 xiv. 23 
 
 XV. 
 
 xv. 12 
 
 xv. 14 
 xv. 19 
 xv. 22 
 xvi. 9 
 xvi. 31 
 
 33 
 543 n. 
 
 590 
 
 726 
 
 604 
 
 910 
 
 904 
 
 I. app. •'> 
 
 553 
 
 907 n* 
 
 272 
 
 141 
 
 523 
 
 52 1 
 
 Lapp. 5,51!i 
 
 1358 
 
 5: '.7 
 
 465 
 
 320 
 
 922//. 
 
 1190 
 
 320 
 
 .V.l i 
 
 1214//. 
 
 520 
 
 92, 1, app. •;
 
 462 
 
 
 INDEX II 
 
 
 
 xvi. 34 
 
 § 498 ??. 
 
 xiv. 4 
 
 § 320 
 
 xix. 12 
 
 § 227 
 
 xviii. 25 
 
 732 
 
 xiv. 7 
 
 254 
 
 xix. 13 
 
 349* 
 
 xviii. 40 
 
 KMi7 
 
 xiv. 8-14 
 
 260 
 
 xix. 32 f. 
 
 II. app. 14 
 
 xix. 3 
 
 930 
 
 xiv. 22 
 
 209 
 
 xix. 35 
 
 II. app. 13 
 
 xix. 15 
 
 241 
 
 xiv. 25 
 
 262 
 
 xix. 37 
 
 744??., 740 f.* 
 
 xix. IS 
 
 983 
 
 xiv. 28 
 
 I. app. o 
 
 XX. 
 
 635, 637 
 
 xx. 
 
 231, 23.", 
 
 xv. 1-7 
 
 1358 n. 
 
 xx. 9ff. 
 
 040 
 
 xx. 14 IE. 
 
 531 
 
 xv. 4 
 
 320 
 
 xxi. 5, 
 
 799, 855 
 
 xx. -j.;ff. 
 
 58,520,/. 
 
 xv. 5 
 
 308 
 
 xxi. 7 
 
 1182 
 
 xx. 34 
 
 34, 212, 231 f. 
 
 xv. 10 
 
 267??.* 
 
 xxi. 19, 2:; IT. 800 
 
 xxi. :;, 7 
 
 981 
 
 XV. 13 
 
 315 
 
 xxii.-xxiii 
 
 3 846-852 
 
 xxi. 10-16 
 
 239, 583 
 
 xv. 1(3 
 
 306 
 
 xxii. 10 f. 
 
 1039* 
 
 xxii. If. 
 
 231 . 234 
 
 xv. 10 f. 
 
 280, .'no* 
 
 xxii. 20 
 
 698 
 
 xxii. 43 
 
 320 
 
 
 I. app. 8 
 
 xxiii. 4-20 
 
 853-858 
 
 xxii. 4!) 
 
 1100 
 
 xv. 20 f. 
 
 272, 2so. 331* 
 
 xxiii. 4. 7, 
 
 11 846ji. 
 
 xxii. 48 
 
 236 
 
 
 I. app. 13 
 
 xxiii. S f. 
 
 1019 
 
 
 
 xv. 35 
 
 US/,. 
 
 xxiii. 12 
 
 040 
 
 2 
 
 KINGS 
 
 xvi. 2 
 
 635 
 
 xxiii. 14 
 
 3,21 
 
 i. 
 
 978 
 
 xvi. 3f. 
 
 319. .",20 
 
 xxiii. 15 ff. 
 
 840 
 
 i. 8 
 
 584 n . 
 
 xvi.Sff. 
 
 325, 335 
 
 xxiii. 24 
 
 1211 n. 
 
 i. 9 
 
 518 
 
 xvi. (i 
 
 1360??. 
 
 xxiii. 29 
 
 827 
 
 ii. 12 
 
 431 
 
 xvi. 7 280 
 
 286, 320, 540 
 
 xxiii. 30 
 
 1039 
 
 iii. 
 
 235 
 
 xvi. 8 
 
 594 
 
 xxiii. 31 
 
 1039??. 
 
 iii. 2 
 
 321 
 
 xvi. 007/1., II. app. 7 
 
 xxiii. 33 
 
 1040 
 
 iii. 27 
 
 1233 n. 
 
 xvi. 10 
 
 280, 336 
 
 xxiii. 34 
 
 1039 
 
 iv. 1 ff. 
 
 541, 585 
 
 xvi. 18 
 
 II. app. 7 
 
 xxiii. 36 
 
 1039??. 
 
 iv. 8ff. 
 
 420 
 
 xvii. 3 
 
 540 
 
 xxiv. 1 
 
 540, 1075,,. 
 
 iv. 23 
 
 1346 n. 
 
 xvii. 4-0 
 
 343*, 362, 
 
 xxiv. 2 
 
 1078 
 
 iv. 42 
 
 577 /,. 
 
 I. 
 
 app. 0, 823 n. 
 
 xxiv. 3f. 
 
 1122,,. 
 
 v. 2 
 
 233 
 
 xvii. 24. 30 
 
 94, 701 n. 
 
 xxiv. 
 
 1078 
 
 v. 15 
 
 701 
 
 xvii. 20 ff. 
 
 58, 01 
 
 xxiv. 8 
 
 1039, 1070 
 
 v. 17 
 
 01 
 
 xviii. 13-xix 
 
 . 35 11. app. 
 
 xxiv. 13 ff. 
 
 1080,1234,,., 
 
 vi., vii. 
 
 236 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 1275. 1306 
 
 vi. 8, 24 
 
 231 
 
 xviii. 2 
 
 635 
 
 xxiv. 18 
 
 II. app. 
 
 vi. 21-23 
 
 129 n, 233,431, 
 
 xviii. 4 
 
 321, 854 
 
 xxiv. 19 
 
 1155 
 
 
 012* 
 
 xviii. 8 
 
 051, 700. 792 
 
 XXV. 1 
 
 1214 
 
 vii. ti 
 
 I. a pp. 5 
 
 xviii. 9-11 
 
 $43, 362* 635 
 
 xxv. 2 
 
 II. app. 
 
 \l\. 13 
 
 510 
 
 xviii. 9-13 I 
 
 app. 0. 501 ;,. 
 
 xxv. 3-10 
 
 1230-1233 
 
 viii. 12 
 
 244 
 
 xviii. 13 
 
 635, 686 
 
 xxv. 7 
 
 1197 
 
 viii. i:;t'f. 
 
 241 
 
 xviii. 14-10 
 
 287, 290, 
 
 xxv. 18 ff. 
 
 1170, 1192,,., 
 
 viii. 22 
 
 1360 n. 
 
 088* 
 
 , 693, II. app. 
 
 
 1235 
 
 ix. 14 
 
 23G?;. 
 
 
 11*. 14 
 
 xxv. 22 
 
 843 
 
 ix. 24 ff. 
 
 583 
 
 xviii. 17 
 
 ooo. 12:;:;,,. 
 
 xxv. 2:; 
 
 124:;,,. 
 
 x. 15 ff. 
 
 410 
 
 xviii. 20 f. 
 
 696 
 
 xxv. 27 IT. 
 
 1081, 1360, 
 
 x. 26f. 
 
 321 
 
 xviii. 21 
 
 IT. app. 4 
 
 
 1369 
 
 x. 32 f. 
 
 23l>, 243 
 
 xviii. 22 
 
 58, 29;:, 7110 
 
 
 
 xi., xii. 
 
 25 1 
 
 xviii. 2:; 
 
 519 
 
 1 CHRONICL 
 
 xi. 4. 10 
 
 51 S 
 
 xviii. 25 
 
 1036, 1029??. 
 
 
 
 xi. 20 ff. 
 
 070 
 
 x xiii . 26-35 
 
 701 
 
 i. 12 
 
 100,,. 
 
 xii. 3 
 
 320 
 
 xviii. 27 
 
 1179,,. 
 
 ii. 55 
 
 410. 1275 „. 
 
 xii. 4ff. 
 
 846 
 
 xviii. .".2 
 
 74, 353 
 
 iii. 17 f. 
 
 1039 71., 1081, 
 
 xii. 17 f. 
 
 243 ami n. 
 
 xviii. 34 
 
 94, 349,680 
 
 
 1147 
 
 xiii. 4f. 
 
 240*. 252 
 
 xix. 
 
 702-701 
 
 iv. 12 
 
 1275 „. 
 
 xiii. 7 
 
 245*. 510 
 
 xix. 3-37 
 
 741 n. 
 
 v. 
 
 280 
 
 xiii. 14 
 
 431 
 
 xix. Ml. 
 
 078. 693, 
 
 v. 20 
 
 280 
 
 xiii. 21 f. 
 
 251 f. 
 
 
 II. app. it 
 
 xv. 17 
 
 337 n.
 
 
 
 INDEX II 
 
 
 463 
 
 xxvi. 18 
 
 § 856 
 
 xxii. 5ff., xxiv. 2ff. 
 
 lxviii. 5 
 
 § 432 
 
 xxvii. 25 ff. 
 
 540 n. 
 
 
 §584,:.:".i 
 
 lxviii. 29 
 
 28li//. 
 
 xxix. 15 
 
 54'. I 
 
 xxix. 7ff. 
 
 34,600??. 
 
 lxix. 
 
 L363 
 
 
 
 xxxi. 
 
 600 
 
 lxxi. 
 
 1363 
 
 
 
 xxxi. 11 
 
 592 
 
 lxxii. 
 
 600 n. 
 
 2 CHRONICLES 
 
 xxxi. 13 ff. 
 
 406, 543* 
 
 lxxii. 4, 10 ff 
 
 604* 
 
 i. 16 
 
 230 n. 
 
 xxxii. 7 
 
 560 
 
 lxxii. 10 
 
 286 n. 
 
 viii. 4 
 
 141 
 
 xxxviii. 28 
 
 432 n. 
 
 lxxiii. 
 
 598, 608, 986 
 
 xiv. 4 
 
 321 
 
 xlii. 10 
 
 301 
 
 Ixxiv. 8, 10 
 
 796 n., 1239 
 
 xvi. 14 
 
 1216 n. 
 
 xlii. 15 
 
 430 
 
 lxxvi. 
 
 731??. 
 
 XX. 
 
 215 
 
 
 
 lxxviii. 60 
 
 490 
 
 xxi. 10 
 
 1216 n. 
 
 PSALMS 
 
 Ixxix. 
 
 1239 
 
 xxiv. 23 f. 
 
 243 n. 
 
 i. 5 
 
 601 
 
 lxxx. 8ff. 
 
 434 it. 
 
 xxv. 7 
 
 275 n. 
 
 ii. Of. 
 
 432 
 
 lxxxi. 6 
 
 434 n. 
 
 xxvi. 
 
 268 f., 540 ??. 
 
 iv. 7 
 
 991* 
 
 lxxxii. 16 
 
 598 
 
 xxvii. 5 
 
 269 n. 
 
 v. 4ff. 
 
 601 
 
 lxxxiii. 
 
 215 
 
 xxviii. 5 ff., 
 
 18 325 
 
 x. 3 
 
 598 
 
 lxxxiv. 
 
 1363 
 
 xxviii. 20 
 
 280 
 
 xi. 5 
 
 320 
 
 lxxxvi. 9, Ixxxvii. 554 
 
 xxviii. 23 
 
 640 
 
 xii. 5 
 
 602 
 
 lxxxix. 14 
 
 457 
 
 xxxii. 3-5 
 
 698 
 
 xiv. 
 
 598, 608 
 
 lxxxix. 26 f. 
 
 429, 4;;2 
 
 xxxii. 27 f. 
 
 651 
 
 xiv. 20 
 
 785 n. 
 
 xc. 2 
 
 432 
 
 xxxii. 30 
 
 698??.* 
 
 XV. 
 
 595, 601 
 
 xci. 5f. 
 
 II. app. 13 
 
 xxxiii. 10 
 
 790* 
 
 xvii. 
 
 598 
 
 xciv. 20 
 
 598 
 
 xxxiii. 11 
 
 798 
 
 xviii. 7 
 
 18, 908 f., 1410 
 
 xcvii. 2 
 
 457 
 
 xxxiv. 4, 7 
 
 321 
 
 XX. 
 
 1073, 1211 it. 
 
 ci. 
 
 600/?. 
 
 xxxv. 21, 23 
 
 1034* 
 
 xxii. 
 
 1363 
 
 cii. 19 ff. 
 
 554 
 
 xxxv. 24 f. 
 
 1035*, 1237 
 
 xxii. 25 ff. 
 
 554, 601 
 
 ciii. 13 
 
 433 
 
 xxx vi. 13 
 
 1148 
 
 xxiv.-xxvi. 
 
 595, 601 
 
 ciii. 20 f. 
 
 407 
 
 xxxvi. 17 
 
 1232». 
 
 xxvii. 11 
 
 1054 n. 
 
 cv. 11 ff . 
 
 434n. 
 
 
 
 xxviii. 2ff. 
 
 601 
 
 cxix. 19 
 
 549 
 
 EZRA 
 
 xxxi. 19 f. 
 
 601 
 
 cxxvi. 
 
 1263, 136:1 
 
 i. 2ff. 
 
 1416 n. 
 
 xxxv. 15 
 
 896 n. 
 
 cxxxvii. 
 
 1263, 1348 s1 
 
 i. 8, etc. 
 
 1312 
 
 xxxv. 16 
 
 598 
 
 cxxxvii. 7 
 
 1078//., 
 
 ii. 59 f. 
 
 1273 
 
 xxxvi. 
 
 609//. 
 
 
 124(1//. 
 
 iii. 3 
 
 61 
 
 xxxvii. 
 
 598,601, 609 
 
 cxxxix. 
 
 609??. 
 
 iii. 7 
 
 45, 67 
 
 xxxviii. 
 
 609 
 
 cxli. 6 
 
 598 
 
 iv. 2 
 
 761 ?/., 799 
 
 xxxix. 
 
 549, 609 
 
 cxlvi. 7 
 
 546 
 
 iv. g 
 
 101 ?<., 7'. mi 
 
 xl. 12 ff. 
 
 609 
 
 cxivi. 9 
 
 554 
 
 iv. 12 ff. 
 
 1241 
 
 xli.-xliii. 
 xlii., xliii. 
 
 601 
 607//., 609, 
 
 cxlvii. 2-4 
 
 1406;?. 
 
 NEHEMIAH 
 
 xliii. 3f. 
 
 1011 
 1340* 
 
 PROVERBS 
 
 v. 3ff. 
 
 541,585 
 
 xiv. 12 
 
 286/i., 594 
 
 iii. 12 
 
 4.",:: 
 
 v. it 
 
 606 
 
 xlvi. 
 
 733 
 
 vi. Iff. 
 
 596 
 
 vi. 14 
 
 851 n. 
 
 xlvi. 4 
 
 7."»1 //.* 
 
 vi. 20 
 
 430 
 
 vi. 15 
 
 1185 
 
 xlvi. 9 
 
 746//. 
 
 vi. 35 
 
 :.:ii 
 
 vii. 61 f. 
 
 1273 
 
 xiviii. 3 
 
 1402 n. 
 
 viii. 15 
 
 879//. 
 
 viii. Iff. 
 
 34 
 
 xlviii. 12 IT. 
 
 1233 n. 
 
 x. 3, 7 
 
 (Mil 
 
 viii. 17 
 
 1273 ii. 
 
 xlix. (iff. 
 
 598, 601 
 
 xi. 1, 15, 26 
 
 596 
 
 xii. 27, 30 
 
 1233 n. 
 
 1. 
 
 909 
 
 xiii. 22 f. 
 
 cm 
 
 
 
 1. 11 
 
 I. app. 7 
 
 xiv. 1 
 
 420 
 
 JOB 
 
 li. 
 
 718, 1363 
 
 xiv. 21, 31 
 
 001 
 
 i. 15 
 
 334 
 
 Hi. 
 
 598, 601 
 
 \v. 27 
 
 594. 595 
 
 iii. 2ff. 
 
 1112 
 
 Iv., lvi. 
 
 .v. is, 601 
 
 xvi. 11 
 
 596 
 
 vi. 19 
 
 334 
 
 1 viii . 
 
 598 
 
 xvii. 8, 23 
 
 594, 595 
 
 iv. 24 
 
 600 
 
 lxiii. 1,5 
 
 609 
 
 xviii. 16 
 
 594, 596
 
 464 
 
 INDEX II 
 
 xix. 1, 17, 22 
 xx. 10, 23 
 xx. Hi 
 xxi. 12, 13 
 xxi. 14 
 xxi. 27 
 xxii. 22f. 
 xxii. 26 f. 
 xxiii. 10 f. 
 xxiv. 15 ff. 
 xxv. 14 
 xxviii. 8, 27 
 xxix. 4 
 xxix. 7 
 xxix. 18 
 xxx. 10 ff. 
 xxx., xxxi. 
 xxx. 10 ff. 
 xxxi. 1, 10 ff. 
 
 §601 
 
 596 
 
 584, 5!)6 
 
 601 
 
 594, 595 
 
 601 
 
 34,601 
 
 .V.Hi 
 
 583* 
 601 
 595 
 601 
 595 
 601 
 1260* 
 420 
 910 
 420 
 420(910) 
 
 ECCLESIASTES 
 
 v. 8 
 vii. 7 
 
 i. 6 
 
 .9 
 
 . 11 
 
 . 13 
 
 . 17 
 
 . 21 
 i. 23 
 
 . 29 
 1 
 
 i. 1-8 
 
 i. 6 
 
 . 16 
 
 . 18, 20 
 
 i. 2f. 
 4, 12 
 16 f. 
 v. 8ff. 
 v. 25 
 vi. 9f. 
 vii. 
 vii. 3 
 vii. 14 ff. 
 viii. Iff. 
 viii. 
 viii. 6 f. 
 viii. si. 
 viii. 19 
 viii. 22 
 
 ii. 
 
 in. 
 
 iii. 
 iii. 
 
 592* 
 594 
 
 ISAIAH 
 
 309 
 
 213 
 
 236 7i., 309 
 
 546 
 
 1011 
 
 940 
 
 604* 
 
 33 
 
 595 
 
 321, 860 n. 
 
 318 n. 
 
 318, 321, 553 
 
 643 
 
 67, 269 
 
 321 
 
 321 
 
 317, 420 
 
 321, 59(5 
 
 583, 596 
 
 309 
 
 319, 938 
 
 ;;25 ff. 
 
 698 
 
 I. a pp. 12 
 
 329, 640 
 
 698//.. 995 
 
 730 n., 1308 n. 
 
 I. app. 12* 
 
 321 
 
 329 
 
 Tin. 23 
 
 ix. off. 
 
 I. app. 12, 
 431 n.*, (i03, 72(5 
 
 ix. 8-x. 4 
 ix. 12 
 x. 1 
 
 x. 5-xi. 16 
 x. 5 
 x. 7 
 x. 8 
 x. 9 
 x. 14 
 x. 28-32 
 x. 33 f. 
 xi. 2f. 
 xiii.-xix. 
 xiii.-xiv 
 xiii. 19 
 xiv. 4 ff. 
 xv., xvi., 
 xvi. Iff. 
 xvii. 1-11 
 xvii. 8 
 xviii.-xx. 
 xix. 1-13 
 xix. 18 
 xix. 19, 20 
 xix. 24 
 
 23 
 
 325 n. 
 325 
 
 595, 879 n. 
 
 722-727 
 
 3, 297, 725 
 
 78 
 
 1312 n. 
 
 llln. 
 
 292 
 
 687 
 
 725*. 730 
 
 720 
 
 324 
 
 1401 f . 
 
 1050 
 
 290, 1402* 
 
 27.' > >i. 
 
 269 
 
 330, 355 
 
 321 
 
 655-659 
 
 769 
 
 153, 879 f . 
 
 860 n. 
 
 129n. 
 
 xx. 1531, 634, 658 f., 711 
 II. app. 4 
 1404 
 1401 n. 
 097 f., 722 
 696 
 559 
 772 
 5.54 
 1233 n. 
 321 
 
 xx. 1 
 xxi. 1-10 
 xxi. 2 
 xxii. 
 xxii. 6 f . 
 xxii. 15 ff. 
 xxiii. 
 xxv. 6 ff . 
 xxvi. 1 
 xxvii. 9 
 xxviii. 
 xxviii. 1-4 
 xxviii. 5-29 
 
 xxviii. 7 
 xxviii. 28 
 xxix.-xxxii. 
 xxix. 10 
 xxx. 3-7 
 
 xxx. 7 
 
 xxx. 9 ff . 
 xxx. 15 f. 
 xxx. 22 
 xxx. 27 f . 
 xxxi. 1 
 
 XXXI. I 
 
 xxxii. Iff. 
 xxxiii. 
 xxxiii. 7 
 xxxiii. 8 
 xxxiii. 13-16 
 xxxiii. 15 
 xxxiii. 18 
 xxxiii. 20 
 xxxiii. 21 f. 
 xxxvi. 12 
 xxxvii. 7 
 xxx vii. 18 
 xxxvii. 25 
 xxxvii. 29 
 xxxvii. 30 
 xxxvii. 36 
 xxxvi ii. 
 xxxviii. 6 
 
 §321 
 603 
 
 728-730 
 
 703 
 
 696 n. 
 
 729* 
 595, 601 
 
 729* 
 405 
 
 730* 
 717 
 709 
 72: i 
 708 
 7 IS 
 721 a. 
 
 704* 
 635 
 637 
 
 995 
 
 212, 355. 596 
 
 580, 596, 
 
 642 f., 046 f. 
 
 1200 
 
 475 n. 
 
 711-721 
 
 720 
 
 286 n., 700, 
 
 II. app. 15 
 
 II. app. 15*. 
 
 1366 n. 
 
 420, 596, 721 
 
 716* 
 
 321 
 
 730 
 
 520 
 
 xxxviii. 10-20 909 
 
 xx xix. 1 594, 679 
 
 xxxix. 7 798 n. 
 
 xl.-lv. 1405 ff. 
 
 xl. 3-5 1410* 
 
 xl. 20 f. 1338 
 
 xl. 29 f. 1406n. 
 
 xli. 2ff. 1403 n., 1409, 
 
 1411//. 
 
 xli. 7 Ho:, 
 
 xli. 8f. 1313 
 
 xli. 14 1409 
 
 xli. 17 ff. 14oo„. 
 
 xlii. 6 1411 n. 
 
 xlii. 7 1400/z. 
 
 xlii. 15 72 
 
 xlii. 21 298 
 
 xliii. 3, 7 1313, 1405 
 
 xliii. 14 1405 
 
 xliii. 27 431 
 
 xliv. If. 1313 
 
 xliv. 5 407*. 553 
 
 xliv. 12-20 1338,1400,/. 
 
 xliv. 28 1411//.* 
 
 xlv. 3 310 
 
 xlv. 4 1409 
 
 xlv. 6 1411 
 
 xlv. 13 1411//. 
 
 xlv. 20 1400 ;;. 
 
 xlv. 22 f. 553 
 
 xlvi. Iff. 299n., 1405, 
 
 1406 n. 
 
 xlvi. 11 1403 n., Hoo 
 
 xlvii. 2 1405 
 
 xlvii. 12 ff. 858,1211, 
 1405 
 
 xlviii. 18 1296 n.
 
 INDEX II 
 
 465 
 
 xlix. 5ff. 
 xlix. 12 
 
 xlix. 1(3 
 xlix. 19 
 xlix. 23 
 li. 
 
 If. 
 
 3,11 
 
 13 f. 
 
 14 
 
 ii. 3f. 
 
 9 
 
 4-6 
 
 v. 11 f . 
 lvi. 6f. 
 Iviii. 11 f. 
 lix. 19 
 lx. 3ff. 
 lx. 6 
 lx. 7 
 lx. 8f. 
 lx. 18 
 lxii. 4 
 lxiii. 16 
 lxiv. 8 
 lxv. 21 
 Ixvi. 3, 17 
 lxvi. 12 
 lxvi. 18 ff. 
 
 § 1405, 1418 
 
 1418 
 
 1233 n. 
 
 1296 //., 1418 
 
 1418 
 
 419, 541, 585 
 
 434 n. 
 
 1418 
 
 1406 n. 
 
 1221, 1415* 
 
 1 145 
 
 601 
 
 465 
 
 426 
 
 1233/1. 
 
 553 
 
 1296 n. 
 
 1296 n. 
 
 553 
 
 630 n. 
 
 787 n. 
 
 66 
 
 1058 n. 
 
 418, 426 n. 
 
 432 
 
 432 
 
 1194 n. 
 
 1183 n. 
 
 1296 n. 
 
 553 
 
 JEREMIAH 
 
 i. 6 
 i. 15 
 ii. 1- 
 
 v. 4 
 
 3 
 
 10 f. 
 
 15 f. 
 
 18 
 
 28 
 
 36 
 iii. 1 
 iii. 6-18 
 iii. 17 
 iv.-vi. 
 iv. 7 
 v. 15, 17 
 v. 31 
 vi. 13 
 vi. 22 f. 
 vii.-x. 
 vii. 4-11 
 vii. 14 
 vii. 16 ff. 
 
 1069 
 
 813* 
 
 1086 f . 
 
 1087* 
 
 1086* 
 
 1083* 
 
 1083* 
 
 1087* 
 
 1083, 1087* 
 
 419 
 
 1086 n. 
 
 553 
 
 813, 1091 
 
 1115 
 
 813 
 
 1017 n. 
 
 589 
 
 813 
 
 1093-1099 
 
 1093* 
 
 490 
 
 856, 1068, 
 
 1094* 
 
 vii. 21 ff. 
 vii. 29-:;:i 
 viii. 1-16 
 viii. 2 
 viii. 10 
 viii. 18-22 
 ix. 1 
 ix. 22 f . 
 ix. 24 
 xi. 1-8 
 xi. 1-xii. 6 
 xi. 2 
 xi.21 
 xii. 5 
 xii. 7-14 
 xii. 14 
 xiii. 1-7 
 xiii. 1-27 
 xiii. 15-18 
 xiv.-xvii. 
 xiv. 8 
 xiv. 13 
 xv. 1-9 
 xv. 10-21 
 xv. 19-21 
 xvi. 13 
 xvi. 19 
 xvii. 5-13 
 xvii. 14-18 
 xviii. 
 xix. 1-15 
 xx. 2 
 xx. 7-13 
 xx. 7-18 
 xx. 9ff. 
 xx. 14-18 
 xxi. 1-10 
 xxii. 1-9 
 xxii. 10, 27 
 
 xxii. 15 ff. 
 xxii. 20-30 
 xxii. 24 ff. 
 xxiii. 1-8 
 xxiii. 9ff. 
 xxiv. 1 IT. 
 xxv. 1, 2 
 xxv. :; 
 xxv. 8, 9 
 xxv. 9 
 
 xxv. 20 
 xxv. 25 
 xxv. 26 
 xxvi. (i 
 XX vi. 7-21 
 
 § 1068, 10« 14* 
 
 1095* 
 
 1096 f .* 
 
 856 
 
 589 
 
 1098 
 
 1098* 
 
 1099* 
 
 1114 
 
 1065 n. 
 
 1100 f. 
 
 1341 
 
 1066 n., 1069 
 
 1109* 
 
 1140 
 
 KITS/;. 
 
 1255 n. 
 
 1143 
 
 1143* 
 
 1124-1127 
 
 1125* 
 
 1125* 
 
 1126* 
 
 1242//. 
 
 1126* 
 
 955 
 
 553 
 
 1127 n. 
 
 1127 
 
 1102-1104 
 
 1110 
 
 1066, 1118n. 
 
 1112* 
 
 1150//. 
 
 1109 
 
 1112 
 
 1215* 
 
 1161 
 
 301, 1082, 
 
 1145 
 
 1069 
 
 1144-1147* 
 
 1079, 1081 
 
 1161*, 1263 
 
 1162 
 
 1166, 127.". 
 
 11151 
 
 813 
 
 1115' 
 
 1054, L091, 
 
 1115 n. 
 
 1032 n. 
 
 1163 
 
 1403 //. 
 
 4'. hi 
 
 1002 
 
 xxvi. 10 
 xxvi. 18 
 
 xxvi. 22 f. 
 xxvii. 3f. 
 xx vii. 5-22 
 xxvii. 16 
 xxviii. 1 ff. 
 
 xxviii. 11, 13 
 xxix. 
 xxix. 2 
 xxix. 5, 28 
 xxix. 21 ff. 
 xxix. 26 
 xxx.-xxxiii. 
 xxxi. 9 
 xxxi. 15 
 xxxi. 20 
 xxxi. 29 f. 
 xxxi. 30 ff. 
 xxxi. 32 
 xxxi. :!4 
 xxxii. 3-5 
 xxxii. 6-44 
 xxxii. 7 ff. 
 xxxii. 9-14 
 xxxii. 24 
 xxxiv. 
 xxxiv. 13 f. 
 
 § 1118n. 
 644, II. app. 8, 
 
 90S 
 
 1121 n. 
 
 1154, 11561. 
 1157 
 1157* 
 1106, 1155 f., 
 1158 f.* 
 1150//.* 
 1167-1170 
 1275 
 
 1194//. 
 
 1268 
 
 1066 
 
 117:;//. 
 
 429 
 
 1242 
 
 432 
 
 1204 
 
 1341* 
 
 426 
 
 554 //. 
 
 1221//. 
 
 1225 f., 1321 
 
 1000 
 
 1225 n. 
 1230 
 
 1216-1219 
 584//., 1219 
 
 xxxv. 416,465,11411. 
 xxxv. 19 1275 //. 
 
 xxxvi. Iff. 829n. 
 
 xxxvi. 4 1082 n., 1116 f. 
 xxxvi. 9f. 940, I082n.*, 
 1118 f. 
 xxxvi. 11-24 843, 1119 f. 
 xxxvi. 32 1082 
 
 xxxvii. 1220-1224 
 
 xxxvii. 5 1034n., 1218* 
 xxxvii. 7 1222 
 
 xxxvii. 14 f. 1221 
 
 xxxvii. l."> IT. 559 
 
 xxxvii. 21 34,851//. 
 
 xxxviii. 1227-1229 
 
 xxxviii. 4 1210 
 
 xxxviii. 5 1151, 1221 
 
 xxxviii. 19 1221 n. 
 
 xxxviii. 20 1216n. 
 
 xxxviii. 25 559 
 
 xxxix. 2-8 1230-1233 
 
 xx xix. 3 1232 7i., 
 
 1233?/.*, 1370 
 xxxix. 11-14 1212//. 
 
 xl. 1212-1216 
 
 xl. 11 12J3 
 
 2 ii
 
 46G 
 
 
 INDEX II 
 
 
 
 xli. 
 
 § 1246-1249 
 
 vii. 27 
 
 §1312n. 
 
 xxvii. 13, 17 
 
 §45 
 
 xli. 9 
 
 1247n.* 
 
 viii. 1-4 
 
 1170 
 
 xxvii. 18 
 
 lii:; „. 
 
 xiii. 
 
 1252 f. 
 
 viii. 1 1176ft., lis". 1311 
 
 xx viii. :; 
 
 1201ft. 
 
 xliii. 
 
 1254 f . 
 
 viii. 3 
 
 1118;/. 
 
 xxviii. 20-24 
 
 1213/,.* 
 
 xliii. lo ff. 
 
 1366 
 
 viii. 3-14 
 
 1182-1190 
 
 xxviii. 26 
 
 1194//. 
 
 xliv. 
 
 1256 f. 
 
 viii. 10 
 
 1183 «.* 
 
 xxix. -xxxii. 
 
 L366 
 
 xliv. 1 
 
 1254 
 
 viii. 15 f. 
 
 1191 
 
 xxix. 17 ff. 1345, 1366 
 
 xliv. 17 ff. 
 
 850. 1256 
 
 viii. 17 
 
 1191 ft.* 
 
 xxx. 14 ff. 
 
 770//. 
 
 xlv. 
 
 1212 
 
 ix. 
 
 1191 1'. 
 
 xxxi. :;if. 
 
 833* 
 
 xlvi. 2 
 
 827, 104:;. 1084 
 
 ix. 2ff. 
 
 1272 
 
 xxxii. 17-32 
 
 1366n. 
 
 xlvi. 3-12 
 
 1088 f. 
 
 X. 
 
 1193 
 
 xxxii. 24 f. 
 
 1163 
 
 xlvi. 9 
 
 1089 n. 
 
 xi. 
 
 1194-1196 
 
 xxxiii. 
 
 1342 
 
 xlvi. 13 if. 
 
 1366 
 
 xi. 16, 18 f. 
 
 1195* 
 
 xxxiii. 2ff. 
 
 1337 
 
 xlvi. 17 
 
 1366 ft.* 
 
 xii. 
 
 11971'. 
 
 xxxiii. 15 
 
 584 
 
 xlvi. 23 
 
 77()//. 
 
 xii. 10 
 
 1312ra. 
 
 xxxiii. 24 
 
 124:; 
 
 xlvii.ff. 
 
 324 
 
 xiii.-xvi. 
 
 1198-1202 
 
 xxxiii. 20 
 
 1330 
 
 xlvii. 1 
 
 1034 n., 1222 
 
 xiii. 10 ff. 
 
 1154 
 
 xxxiii. 30 f. 
 
 1336 ft. 
 
 xlvii. 4 
 
 166 ft. 
 
 xiii. 17 ff. 
 
 851 n. 
 
 xxxv. off. 
 
 1240//. 
 
 xlviii. 
 
 273 n. 
 
 xiv. 1 
 
 1170//., 1311 
 
 xxx vii. 27 
 
 399 
 
 xlviii. 11 
 
 1156 n. 
 
 xvi. 3 
 
 100*, 434//. 
 
 xxxviii. 
 
 814 
 
 xlix. 1 if. 
 
 273//., 274. 
 
 xvi. 53 
 
 301 
 
 xl.-xlviii. 1178 
 
 /., 1344, 
 
 
 1213 
 
 xvii. 
 
 1209 
 
 
 1362 
 
 xlix. 19 
 
 1109ra. 
 
 xvii. 13 f. 
 
 1152, 1150* 
 
 xlv. 7ff. 
 
 1312 ft. 
 
 xlix. 34 ff. 
 
 1163 
 
 xvii. 16, 19 
 
 1209,,. 
 
 xiv. 18 f. 
 
 1344 
 
 1. 1-li. 58 
 
 1403 
 
 xvii. lsff. 
 
 1148 
 
 xlv. 22 ff. 
 
 1346 ft. 
 
 1. 21 
 
 339, 1403?i. 
 
 xvii. 20 
 
 1197 
 
 xlvi. 2ff. 
 
 1312/,. 
 
 1. 23 
 
 loss 
 
 xviii. 
 
 1204 
 
 xlvii. 1-12 
 
 1294 ,/. 
 
 li. 1 
 
 14o:;,/. 
 
 xviii. 6 
 
 1344 
 
 xlvii. 10 
 
 349 
 
 li. 41 
 
 140:;//. 
 
 xviii. 7, 12, 
 
 10 584 
 
 
 
 li. 44 
 
 li. 59 ff. 
 
 1109 ft. 
 1171 f. 
 
 xix. 4 
 xix. 5-9 
 
 718, 1039 
 
 114:; 
 
 DANIEL 
 
 
 lii. 5-14, 1' 
 
 "-24 1230-1233 
 
 xix. 
 
 1039 
 
 i. 1 
 
 1075,/. 
 
 lii. 28-30 
 
 12:34. 1250 
 
 xix. 10 ff. 
 
 1209 
 
 ii. 1. 48 
 
 1201 //. 
 
 
 
 xx. 1-44 
 
 1200 
 
 iii. 10 if. 
 
 1100//. 
 
 LAMENTATIONS 
 
 XX. 1 
 
 xx. 12 
 
 1170//.. 1311 
 1344 
 
 viii. 2, 10 
 x. 5 
 
 km; 
 
 1192 
 
 i. 4 etc. 
 
 1238 
 
 xx. 49 
 
 1330//. 
 
 
 
 ii. 9 
 
 1259 
 
 x.xi. 
 
 1210 
 
 HOSE A 
 
 
 ii. 18 
 
 896 n. 
 
 xx i. 3 
 
 1039 
 
 i. 4 
 
 240. 312 
 
 ii. 20 
 
 1230 
 
 xxi. 21 f. 
 
 12lo* 
 
 i. 7 
 
 320 
 
 iv. 10 
 
 1230 
 
 xxii. 
 
 1212 
 
 i. 11 
 
 315 
 
 iv. 22 
 
 1240//. 
 
 xxii. 12 f. 
 
 .v.!.", 
 
 ii. 2ff. 
 
 420 
 
 v. 7 
 
 1205 
 
 xxii. 26 
 
 1017//. 
 
 ii. 11 940. 994 
 
 1346 ft. 
 
 
 
 xxii. 30 
 
 1154 
 
 ii. 10 
 
 4 is 
 
 EZEKTEL 
 
 xxiii. 
 
 1212 
 
 iii. 2 
 
 427 
 
 i. 2 
 
 1174 
 
 xxiii. 14 
 
 lis.;,,. 
 
 iii.4f. 312 
 
 1211 //. 
 
 i . 4-28 
 
 1170 
 
 xxiii. 23 
 
 339 
 
 iv.-xiv. 
 
 312 
 
 i. 4 
 
 1402 ft. 
 
 xxiii. 38 
 
 1344 
 
 iv.4f. 
 
 5S9 
 
 ii. 17 ff. 
 
 1337 
 
 xxiv. 1 f. 
 
 1214 
 
 iv. i:l If. 
 
 1190 
 
 iii. 7ff. 
 
 117U 
 
 XXV. ff. 
 
 324 
 
 iv. 15 
 
 320 
 
 iii. 15 
 
 1296*, 1336n. 
 
 XXV. 1 ff. 
 
 1213 
 
 iv. 10 f. 
 
 275 // . 
 
 iii. 22-27 
 
 1176 ft., 1178 ft. 
 
 xxv. 10 
 
 192,/. 
 
 v. 1 if. 
 
 1017 
 
 iv.-vii. 
 
 1178-1180 
 
 xxvi.-xxviii. 1367 
 
 v. 1 
 
 1244 
 
 iv. 4tf. 
 
 1179*. 1344 
 
 x.xvi. Iff. 
 
 1240,,. 
 
 v. 3 
 
 275/,. 
 
 V. 11 
 
 1344 
 
 xxvii. 
 
 I. a pp. •"> 
 
 v. 9 
 
 275 n. 
 
 vi. 4, 6 
 
 32] 
 
 xx vii. 7 
 
 00 
 
 v. 10 
 
 320
 
 
 
 
 
 INDEX II 
 
 
 4G7 
 
 V. 11 
 
 
 
 §314 
 
 vi. 5 
 
 §909 
 
 iii. 8-10 
 
 §770 
 
 v. 13 
 
 
 
 314* 
 
 vi. (i 
 
 275 /)., 596 
 
 iii. lOf. 
 
 78 
 
 v. 18 
 
 
 
 941 
 
 vi. 7 
 
 302 
 
 iii. 18 
 
 7:;i //. 
 
 vi. 4 
 
 
 
 320 
 
 vi. 14 
 
 262n., 302, 1137< 
 
 
 
 vi. •; 
 
 vi. 10 
 
 
 
 1011 
 275 n. 
 
 vii. 7 ff 
 
 vii. 10 
 
 (i4ti 
 
 940 
 
 HABAKKUK 
 
 vi. 11 
 
 
 
 320 
 
 vii. 14 
 
 57(1 
 
 i. 2-ii. 4 
 
 1130-1132* 
 
 vii. .'! 
 
 
 
 538, 587 
 
 vii. 15 
 
 938 
 
 i. 
 
 1137 n. 
 
 vii. 8flF. 
 
 
 
 313 f. 
 
 vii. Hi 
 
 940//. 
 
 ii. 5 
 
 1135* 
 
 vii. 12 
 
 
 
 1197 
 
 vii. 17 
 
 302 f. 
 
 ii. 6-20 
 
 11. -.5 
 
 viii. 8-10 
 
 
 
 314* 
 
 viii. 5 
 
 596, 1346 n. 
 
 iii. 718 
 
 909, 1136, 1410 
 
 viii. 14 
 
 
 
 320 
 
 viii. (i 
 
 541. 596 
 
 
 
 ix. 3 f. 
 ix. ii 
 
 
 
 303, 314* 
 313 
 
 viii. 14 
 ix. 4 
 
 930 
 302 
 
 ZEPHANIAH 
 
 ix. 13, 17 
 
 
 
 314 
 
 ix. 7 
 
 ."., 166 n., 297 
 
 i., ii. 
 
 830 
 
 x.5f. 
 
 
 299 n. *, 355 
 
 
 
 ii. 
 
 324, si 4 
 
 x. 14 f. 
 xi.'l 
 
 
 
 314* 
 
 1* 15, 432 
 
 
 3BADIAH 
 
 ii. 5 
 ii. 8ff. 
 
 192//. 
 
 27:'.//. 
 
 xi. 8 
 
 
 
 275 a . 
 
 10 ff. 
 
 1078 «., 1240 n. 
 
 ii. 13-15 
 
 830* 
 
 xi. 10 
 
 
 
 '.. app. 11 
 
 
 
 iii. 4 
 
 589, 1017/.. 
 
 xi. 12 
 xii. 1 
 xii. 2 
 
 
 
 320 
 
 31:? 
 320 
 
 i. 
 
 MICAH 
 
 718, 140.'! 
 
 ZECHARIAH 
 
 xii. 7 
 
 
 
 596 
 
 i.-iii. 
 
 II. app. 8 
 
 ii. 11 
 
 5.-,:; 
 
 xiii. 1 
 
 
 
 275 // . 
 
 i. :$f. 
 
 356*, 909 
 
 viii. 20 ff. 
 
 55:; 
 
 xiii. 10 f. 
 
 
 
 314* 
 
 i. 5, 9, 13 319 
 
 ix.-xi. 
 
 324 
 
 xiii. 15 f 
 
 
 
 355 
 
 i. 10-16 
 
 645 
 
 ix. 1 ff. 
 
 258;/.. 315 
 
 
 
 
 
 i. 14 If. 
 
 798 ii. 
 
 ix. 6 
 
 II. app. 4 
 
 
 JOEL 
 
 
 ii., iii. 
 
 798//. 
 
 ix. 13 I. a 
 
 pp.11, 11. app. 4 
 
 iii. 6 
 
 
 
 [I. app. 4 
 
 ii. 1 ff. 
 
 583, 044 
 
 x. 6 
 
 315 
 
 
 
 
 
 ii. 9 
 
 585 
 
 x. 11 
 
 760 
 
 i. f. 
 
 AMOS 
 
 324 
 
 iii. 2f. 
 
 iii. 5 
 
 G44 
 5! i5 
 
 xi. 1-17 
 xi. •"> 
 
 315 
 
 1100//. 
 
 i. 1 
 
 
 
 II. app. ii 
 
 iii.t>-ll 
 
 321, 589, oil. 
 
 xii. 11 
 
 I. app. 5 
 
 i. 3ff. 
 
 :u 
 
 254 
 
 , 264, 274 
 
 
 1017 
 
 xiii. 11 
 
 1-ill //. 
 
 i. 6-8 
 
 
 
 689 
 
 iii. 12 
 
 II. app. 8. 1236 
 
 xiv. 5 
 
 2( 15 
 
 i. 9 
 
 
 
 1213 n. 
 
 iv. 1 ff. 
 
 553, 604 
 
 
 
 ii. 4 
 ii. (if. 
 
 
 
 320 
 541, 1190 
 
 v. 3-45 
 
 v. 12 f. 
 
 I. app. 12, 603 
 321, >\i\ 
 
 MALACHI 
 
 ii.8 
 
 
 584, 
 
 596, 1017 
 
 vi. 5 
 
 895 
 
 i. ii 
 
 326, 133* 
 
 iii. 2 
 
 
 
 774 n. 
 
 vi. 6-8 
 
 1006 
 
 ii.iif. 
 
 loir. 
 
 iii. 9ff. 
 
 
 
 '. 155 
 
 vi. 7 
 
 855 
 
 ii. 10 
 
 4:;2 and //. 
 
 iv. 1 
 
 
 
 596 
 
 vi. S 
 
 G01, 141:i 
 
 
 
 iv. 2f. 
 iv. (iff. 
 
 
 
 302. 355 
 264, 511 
 
 vi. 9ff. 
 
 vi. 10 f. 
 
 798 n. 
 596 
 
 2 MACCABEES 
 
 iv. 10 ff. 
 
 34 
 
 ,264 
 
 ,265,596, 
 
 7(17 
 
 vi. Hi 
 vii. 2 
 
 319 
 601 
 
 ii. 1 ff. 
 
 1244 
 
 v. :; 
 v. 5 
 
 
 
 264, 518 
 930 
 
 vii. 3 
 \ii. 8 
 
 595*. 120(1 
 1078 n. 
 
 MATTHEW 
 
 v. 8, 18, 
 
 20 
 
 
 265 
 
 
 
 i. 12 11'. 
 
 1117 
 
 v. 11 f. 
 
 v. 15 
 
 
 541 
 
 , 5'. c>. 596 
 
 275 „ . 
 
 
 NAHUM 
 
 iii. 4 
 v. 8 
 
 584 u. 
 1009 
 
 v. 16 f. 
 
 
 
 355 
 
 i.-iii. 
 
 831-833 
 
 v. :;i 
 
 410 
 
 v. 21 ff. 
 
 
 
 Kill 
 
 ii. 3-5 
 
 832 n. 
 
 \i. :i 
 
 4:;:; 
 
 v. 27 
 
 
 
 302 
 
 ii. ii 
 
 S27//.* 
 
 vii. 12 
 
 619 
 
 vi. 2ff. 
 
 
 Uln., 355 
 
 ii. 11 f. 
 
 7s, 833*, 1032 
 
 vii. 15 
 
 68 1 n .
 
 408 
 
 INDEX II 
 
 viii. 28 
 xi. 8 
 
 §130n. 
 384/1, 
 
 ROMANS 
 
 
 HEBREWS 
 
 xvi. 18 
 
 l •_';;:; ,,. 
 
 vii. 1 f. 
 
 §419 
 
 ii. luff. 
 
 
 §429 
 
 xxv. 44 
 
 HI."./,. 
 
 viii. 29 
 
 429 
 
 x. 38 
 xi. 1 
 
 
 1133 n. 
 1133 n. 
 
 MARK 
 
 
 2 CORINTHIANS 
 
 xi. 32 
 xi. 37 
 
 
 929 n. 
 
 805 n . 
 
 vii. 13 
 
 in'.'?//. 
 
 v. 1 
 
 465 
 
 xii. 23 
 
 
 429 
 
 LUKE 
 
 
 GALATIANS 
 
 
 1 
 
 PETER 
 
 
 vii. 9 
 
 1008 n. 
 
 iv. 1 428 n* 
 
 iii. 6 
 
 
 418 
 
 vii. 25 
 xii. 13 f. 
 XV. 11 ff. 
 
 584 n. 
 
 486 n. 
 433 
 
 vi. 10 
 vi. 14 
 
 407 
 1099 
 
 2 
 i. 13 f. 
 
 PETER 
 
 -tir. 
 
 xviii. 2ff. 
 
 590 
 
 EPHESIANS 
 ii. 19 
 iii. 15 
 
 407 
 
 399* 
 
 1 
 iii. 3 
 
 JOHN 
 
 1(109 
 
 JOHN 
 
 ix. 7 
 
 1308)1. 
 
 v. 22 ff. 
 
 426 
 
 REVELATION 
 v. 2 713 
 
 xi. 39 
 
 785 « . 
 
 
 
 vii. 3 
 
 
 1192 
 
 xiv. 6 
 
 1008 n. 
 
 PHILIPPIANS 
 
 
 xvi. lti 
 
 
 145 
 
 
 
 i. 1 
 
 407 
 
 xx. 7 ff. 
 
 
 814 
 
 ACTS 
 ix. 11 
 
 34 n. 
 
 COLOSSIANS 
 
 
 xxi. 3 
 xxi. 12 ff. 
 
 
 399 
 1233 n. 
 
 xii. 20 
 
 45 
 
 i. 15, 18 
 
 429 
 
 xxii. 3f. 
 
 
 407* 
 
 B. INSCRIPTIONAL 
 
 Amarna tablets 
 
 
 IV, 5 
 
 Br. M.: 
 
 
 IV, 16, 23 ff. 
 
 2 
 
 §149 
 
 IV, 2 
 
 8,9 
 
 154, 162 
 
 IV, 29 
 
 28,30 
 
 154 /,. 
 
 
 64 
 
 152 
 
 C».: 
 
 AN: 
 
 
 258 n., 293 n., 311, 
 
 (IR, 17-26) 
 
 217 ff. 
 
 CIS: 
 
 1,4 
 
 57* 
 
 ILL pi. 1-14, 15 ff 
 
 I, 25 
 
 57 
 
 7:; ff. 
 
 III. 17 ff. 
 
 219 n. 
 
 
 Ill, 23 f. 
 
 223 
 
 Deluge Story : 
 line 1G8 
 
 BA: 
 
 
 
 II, 257 (Cyrus) 
 
 1393 n* 
 
 " (4udea" : 
 
 U,258ff.(Merodach- 
 
 B. VI, 64 
 
 baladan) 
 
 665 //. 
 
 
 Bab. Chr. : 
 
 
 K: 
 
 I, 23-28 
 
 342 
 
 2801 
 
 II. 39 ff. 
 
 7:i9 
 
 3082, 3086 
 
 Ill, 18 ff. 
 
 7.".9,i. 
 
 4378, col. v, vi 
 
 111,28 
 
 740/,. 
 
 4668 
 
 III, 34 ff. 
 
 744, 746* 
 
 
 III. 39 ff . 
 
 751 
 
 Lay. : 
 
 IV, 9,17 f. 
 
 752 
 
 17, 4-7 
 
 IV, 3, 6 
 
 753 
 
 29 331 f. 
 
 §755* 
 756 
 
 . 759 
 761* 
 
 ,341,1. 
 
 875 ,1. 
 
 r48n. 
 
 '.is 
 
 172 
 756 
 
 7: ''7 ,/. 
 758 
 
 293 
 
 334 f . 
 
 46, 1-9 
 
 §229 
 
 63, 13 
 
 673 
 
 66-68 311 
 
 331 f., :;:i4. 
 
 
 I. app. 13 
 
 72 f . 331 
 
 98, 2 
 
 242* 
 
 Mesha stone : 
 
 
 lines 9 ff. 
 
 235, 274 
 
 Mon. (IIIR, 7 
 
 f.): 
 
 29-75 
 
 227 
 
 78 ff. 
 
 228* 
 
 Nab. Annals 
 
 
 II, HI 
 
 1392 n. 
 
 II, Iff. 
 
 L382 
 
 II, 15-18 
 
 1387 ».*, 
 
 
 1388 n. 
 
 HI, 12-18 
 
 1395* 
 
 III. 19f., 
 
 1397* 
 
 Ill, 21 f. 
 
 1398 n. 
 
 Ill, 22 f. 
 
 1396 n. 
 
 Ill, 24 ff. 
 
 1397 n. 
 
 Neb. : 
 
 
 I, 55 ff. 
 
 1054* 
 
 11, 12 ff . 
 
 1053
 
 INDEX II 
 
 400 
 
 VIII, 20-44 
 VIII, 64 f. 
 
 § 1062* 
 1062 n* 
 
 Obel. (Lay, 87 ff.) : 
 26-49 227 
 
 54-66 229 
 
 83 ff. 237 
 
 96 ff. 242 
 
 138 243 n. 
 
 PCT (OBT) : 
 
 I 
 
 pi. 2 02 
 
 pi. 4. 02 
 
 pi. 9-13 104 
 
 pi. 32. 1051 n., 1054* 
 
 IX: 
 nr.48 1308 n., 1324 n. 
 nr.49 1324 n. 
 
 I R: 
 
 2, nr. Ill, IV 104,108 
 
 3, nr. VII 91 
 5 104 
 
 7, VIII, 1 H.app.12* 
 
 8, nr. 3 820 n. 
 28 180 
 29-31 247 
 20, 30-53 247 
 35, nrs. 1-4 248 ff. 
 35, nr. 4, 21 ff. 172 
 
 38, 34-30, 41 675 ff* 
 
 39, 42 ff. 733 
 
 39, 50-01 7:34* 
 
 40, 26 07 
 
 41, Iff. 1102 
 
 41, 21 ff. 739 n. 
 41.47-42,23 739 
 
 42, 33 ff. 742 
 
 43, sr. 743 n.* 
 4:;, 23 ff. 07 
 
 44, 55 ff. 742 
 
 45, 1,10 ff. 753. 
 
 45, II. 6 758 n.*, 759n. 
 45, 11,32 ff. 751 
 
 46, III, 25 755* 
 
 46, IV, 8ff. 760 
 
 47, V, 11 761 
 40, col. i., ii. 740, 748* 
 40, col. iii., iv. 740' : 
 07, col. i. 14 1370//.* 
 00,11,20; 111,27 04 //. 
 00.11, IS; 111,28 95 n. 
 
 II R: 
 
 16,32 §1346n.* 
 
 45,11,20 1403 n. 
 
 50, 20 f. 1058 n. 
 
 50, 28 f. 1285 n. 
 
 53.30.57.50 250 
 
 • 17,5,42 203, 340, :ill 
 52-55 i ;; 14 
 
 60 314/;. 
 
 07. 57-66 336-338 
 
 III K: 
 
 3, 11 r. 178 //. 
 
 4, nr. 2 175 
 
 4, nr. 7 .so 
 
 5, nr. 6 242* 
 0, nr. 2 307??, 
 
 0, 30 ff . (nr. 3) 307. 
 
 311* 
 10, nr. 2, 1. 0-15 331 f., 
 I. app. 13* 
 10, 30-38 334 
 12 f. II. app. 9, 97, 738 
 12, 18. 21 ff . 082, 001 f. 
 14. ff. 742 
 
 14, 43 ff. 740 n. 
 
 14, 48 ff. ISO 
 
 15, I, 2 ff. 740* 
 15, II, 1 ff. 751 
 
 15, IV, 1 ff. 700 
 
 16, V, 13 ff. 701 
 16, nr. 2 820 n. 
 30. 31, col. iii., iv. 777 
 3.1-33, col. iv.-vi. 770 f. 
 34, col. vii. 786 
 40 875 n. 
 40, col. i., ii. 748* 
 
 IV R: 
 
 7, 1, 17 ff. 112 
 
 31 1185)?. 
 
 32 1340 n* 
 
 33 1185 n. 
 
 34 90,02,03//. 
 361, nr. 21 [13 
 361, nr. 45 118 n. 
 30(44 f.) 175 
 
 VR: 
 1,2 756, 764 0. 
 
 1,8 IT. 763 
 
 1, 31 ff. 816 
 l,45ff. 763 
 1,52 755,/. 
 2,7 706//. 
 
 2, 41 ff. 767//. 
 2, 58 771* 
 2, 63-94 773. 
 2, 05-125 774* 
 
 2, 126-326 §777 
 
 3, 27 ff. 770 
 3, 06 ff. 780 
 
 3, I28ff. -4,41 782 
 
 4, 97 ff. 781 n. 
 
 5, 34 f. 784 
 5, 36-7, 81 785 
 6,l()7ff. 88,107,785?*. 
 
 7, 82-10, 5 786-789 
 
 8, 27 ff., 0, 42 ff., 
 
 9, 103 ff., 9, 
 
 115 ff. 788 n. 
 
 25, 1-7 1331 n. 
 
 25, 7 ff. 1332 //. 
 
 29, nr. 1, 1185 
 
 33 123 
 
 35,0 1398 n. 
 
 35.7-15 1393* 
 
 35, 10-10 1305* 
 
 35, 20-22 1378 n. 
 
 35,27.35 1307//. 
 
 35. 31 f. 94, 1300* 
 
 35, 32 f. 1398 
 
 55-57 17S 
 
 62,5ff. 778ti. 
 
 04, I, 18-33 1383* 
 
 04, I, 32 xi:,n. 
 
 04,1,41 125??. 
 
 64, II, 50 ff. 87 
 
 66,11,7 117//. 
 
 S: 
 2005 758 
 
 2027 756 
 
 Sargon : 
 Annals : 
 1. 55-57, 70, 77 
 
 II. app. 3 
 1. 94-00 630" 
 
 1. 207 f. 630 
 
 1.215-228 II. app. 4* 
 1. 235 f. II. app. 6 
 Cyl.: 
 20 630 
 
 64 737 a . 
 
 ST: 
 pi. 1,1.10 0. 
 
 Lapp. 16* 
 pi. 30 f., 1. 23-25 
 
 I. app. 16* 
 pi. 33f. II. app. 4* 
 pi. 38, 1.3.1 f. 
 
 [.app. 16 
 
 pi. 44f. 63.1. 
 
 II. app. 4*
 
 470 
 
 
 
 INDEX 
 
 II 
 
 
 pi. 4-. 1. 8 
 
 
 
 VII: 
 
 
 p. 148-152 (II R, 
 
 
 II. 
 
 n i >j>. 5* 
 
 43 f. 
 
 §178n. 
 
 66, III K. 4j §175 
 
 TP: 
 
 
 
 60-70 
 
 172 
 
 
 (IT!. 1-16) 
 
 
 § 170 
 
 TSBA : 
 
 
 
 1 . 62 ff. 
 
 
 170 n. 
 
 V. 422 
 
 91 
 
 ZA: 
 
 VI : 
 
 
 
 
 
 II, 69 ff. 1051 n. 
 
 39-48 
 
 
 179* 
 
 GAG: 
 
 
 IV, 400 02 
 
 58-84 
 
 
 180 n. 
 
 p. 145-147 
 
 113 
 
 
 
 
 
 C. 
 
 JOSEPHUS 
 
 
 
 
 Ant. : 
 
 
 
 X, 11 
 
 2 
 
 
 1369 n. 
 
 I. 20 
 
 1059 n. 
 
 1369 n 
 
 VIII. 5, 3 
 
 
 42 n. 
 
 XI, 2 
 
 
 
 1410;,. 
 
 I, 21 
 
 
 1365 n 
 
 IX, 4, 3 
 
 
 681 
 
 Apion : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 IX. 14. 2 
 
 
 42;/. 
 
 I, 14 
 
 
 
 136 
 
 
 
 
 X. 6, 1 
 
 10 
 
 f5«.* 
 
 I, 19 
 
 
 1056 n 
 
 ., 1057* 
 
 
 
 
 />. GREEK AND ROMAN 
 
 Herodotus: 
 
 
 I. 195 §1064 
 
 Iliad: 
 
 I. 15. 104 
 
 §758 
 
 1,199 1332?*. 
 
 i. :!7 II. app. 13 
 
 I. 87 
 
 1388 n. 
 
 11.141 705* 
 
 xii. 299ff., xviii. 
 
 F. 105 
 
 812 
 
 II, 157 812. 1032 
 
 1011. §710 
 
 I, 107-124 
 
 1384 n. 
 
 I!. 158. 159 1031 
 
 Odyssey, xi. 14 758 //. 
 
 I. 12.",. 127 
 
 1385 
 
 11. 101. It;:;. li;o 1365n. 
 
 /Eneid, i. 628 ff. 547 
 
 I, 178 ff. 
 
 1056 «., 
 
 IV. 11. 12 758 
 
 Ovid, .!/<-/. i. 85 100971. 
 
 
 1058 ff. 
 
 IV. 42 1031 
 
 Diodorus, II. 20 827 n. 
 
 1,180 .°>4n. 
 
 . 1059n. 
 
 Ml. 11 1378n. 
 
 Pliny, Hist. X-<t. 
 
 I. 181 1062%. 
 
 . I063n. 
 
 Xenophon, Anub. 
 
 V, 11, 05 787//. 
 
 I. 183 
 
 1332 n. 
 
 111. 4, 9 827//. 
 
 Lucian, Charon, ch. 23 
 
 I. 104 
 
 1305 n. 
 
 
 827 n.
 
 13
 
 >ATE Dt 
 
 3 1205 03366 2062