THE PUBLISHERS' COMPLIMENTS, BOOKS WHICH INFLUENCED OUR LORD AND HIS APOSTLES. PRINTED BY MORRISON AND GIBB. T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH. LONDON, HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. DUBLIN GEORGE HERBERT. NEW YORK, CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. BOOKS WHICH INFLUENCED OUR LORD AND HIS APOSTLES: BEING A CRITICAL REVIEW OF APOCALYPTIC JEWISH LITERATURE. JOHN E. H. THOMSON, B.D., EDINBURGH: T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET. 1891. TO THE MEMBERS OF THE e CLUB, TO WHOSE SUGGESTION IT OWES ITS ORIGIN, Ws gook IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY THEIR BROTHER THE AUTHOR. 2017286 PREFACE. nPHE present work owes its origin to a paper read by the author to a Theological Club a society in which a few friends discuss theological questions. The subject seemed to the members one of interest, and at the same time one very little known, and they suggested the advisability of enlarging the paper into a volume. Notwithstanding the advice given, the author still hesitated, as the field he would occupy had to a great extent been already filled by Schiirer's Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ (transl., 5 vols. and Index vol. : T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh) ; Hausrath's New Testament Times (transl., 2 vols. : Williams & Norgate, London) ; Langen's Judenthum in Paldstina zur Zeit Christi, among Germans ; and by such works as Drummond's Jewish Messiah (Long- mans, London), and Stanton's Jewish and Christian Messiah (T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh), for English readers. But on further consideration the thought of the many points on which he had found himself com- pelled to differ from his predecessors in this field, and of the important, if only indirect, bearing the contents of the apocalyptic books had on evangelic history, led him to listen to the advice so kindly tendered. The primary object of the present work was to give vii viii PREFACE. an analysis and description of the little known Jewish apocalyptic books. But to make this analysis really intelligible, it was imperatively necessary also to give the setting of these books and their origin. This further involved the study of the peculiarly intimate connection they had with early Christianity. The more these Apocalypses were studied, the more clearly did the writer seem to see that our Lord and His apostles must have stood in a close and intimate relation with the school from which these books proceeded. The primary object now became subsidiary to another, viz. to show the links connecting the Jewish Apocalypses with Christianity. In pursuance of this design, it was the author's intention to have given a full digest of the doctrinal standpoint of the different books here taken under con- sideration, and to have shown how this formed a bridge from the position of old Judaism to Christianity ; but time and space both failed. He has simply devoted a single chapter to this subject, and gives in it merely the outlines of what he had purposed. As the doctrinal evolution of the books in question implied a knowledge of the order in which they were written, it was necessary to subjoin to the analysis and description of them a criticism of their date, language, and probable place of origin. In this part of his inquiry the writer thought that it would be merely confusing to carry on the investigation by calling together all the theories he objected to, and, by dint of combating them, establish his own. It seemed better to lay down canons, and work rigidly in accordance with them. These canons, although not stated in so PKEFACE. IX many words by any one of the numerous writers on this subject, so far as the present writer is aware, are implied in the criticism of every one of them. Instead of loading the pages with references, which few persons verify, but which would have increased unduly the bulk of the present volume, it has been deemed better to give a vidimus of the reading advisable for one who would master the subject. If, from the perusal of this volume, any one is led to have a fuller comprehension of the character of Christ, and a deeper reverence for it, the utmost hopes of the writer will be fulfilled. If the reader is only led to a line of study which is fitted to produce this reveren- tial feeling, the writer will regard himself as not having laboured for naught or in vain. The writer must, in closing, tender his thanks to Dr. John Hutchison, of the High School, Glasgow, and to David Jerdan, Esq., Greenock, for their kindness in correcting the proofs ; to the Eev. Andrew Carter, for general literary counsel ; and to the Eev. W. B. R. Wilson, Dollar, for his kindness in preparing an index. He has also to thank Professor Calderwood for kindly permitting him to use his page in the Library of Edinburgh University. His thanks are also due to the Librarians of the University Libraries in Glasgow and Edinburgh, for kind advice and assistance in con- sulting authorities. LITERATURE OF THE SUBJECT. SOUKCES. ENOCH. Laurence Ethiopic and Latin, English. Dillmann German. Schodde English. De Sacy Latin (first 16 chapters). BARUCH. Ceriani Syriac. Fritzsche Latin. PSALTER OF SOLOMON. Hilgenfeld Greek. Frabicius do. Fritzsche do. De la Cerda Latin. Wellhausen German. BOOK OF JUBILEES. Dillmann Ethiopic. Schodde English. Ceriani (Ronsch) Latin. ASSUMPTION OF MOSES. Volkmar Latin. Fritzsche do. Hilgenfeld Greek. Volkmar German. ASCENSION OF ISAIAH. Dillmann Ethiopic. Do. Latin. FOURTH ESDRAS. Hilgenfeld Greek (v.). Do. Latin. Do. Arabic (v.). Do. Syriac (v.). Do. Armenian (v.). Do. Ethiopic (v.). Apocrypha English translation. TWELVE PATRIARCHS. Fabricius Greek and Latin. Sinker Greek. Clark's Ante - Nicene Christian Library (Lactantius, vol. ii.). PHILO Keviere, Geneva Greek and Latin. Bohn's translation English. JOSEPHUS Oberthiir, Leipzig Greek and Latin. L'Estrange's translation English. Xll LITERATURE OF THE SUBJECT. SIBYLLINA. ORACULA Alexandra Paris Greek and Latin. FRAGMENTS OP JEWISH- ALEXANDRIAN WRITERS Clemens Alexandrinus Heinsius (Paris 1629) Greek and Latin. (English transl., Ante-Nicene Fathers : Clark's ed.) Eusebius, Preparatio Evangelica Greek and Latin Vigne's (Cologne 1688). Historia Ecclesiastica, Bright: Clarendon Press English (Bohn's Series). Plinius Secundus, Historia Naturalis (Frankfort A/M. 1682). GENERAL HISTORIES OF THE PERIOD. Ewald's History of Israel. Transl., Longmans. Do. Antiquities. do. Milman's History of the Jews. Murray. Gra'tz, Geschichte der Juden. Stanley's Jewish CJiurch. Murray. Jost, Geschichte des Judenthums. Wellhausen, History of Israel. Transl., Longmans. Hengstenberg's Kingdom of God under the Old Dispensation. T. & T. Clark. Kenan's Histoire du peuple Israel. Derenbourg, Histoire de la Palestine. SPECIAL HISTORIES OF THE PERIOD. Schiirer's Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ. Transl., T. & T. Clark. Hausrath's New Testament Times. Transl., Williams & Norgate. Morrison, The Jews under the Romans. Story of the Nations. Fisher Unwin. Langen, Judenthum in Palastina zur Zeit Christi. Nicolas, Doctrines religieuses des Juifs. LIVES OF CHRIST. Lange, Life of Christ. Transl., T. & T. Clark. Farrar, Life of Christ. Cassels. Geikie, Life of Christ. Hodder & Stoughton. LITERATURE OF THE SUBJECT. Xlll Edersheim, Jesus the Messiah. Longmans. Keim, Jesus of Nazara. Transl., Williams & Norgate. Jesus the Carpenter of Nazareth. Kegan Paul. Kenan, Les Origines du Christianisme. Weiss, Life of Christ. Transl., T. & T. Clark. Beyschlag, Leben Jesu. Neander, Life of Christ. Bohn. Pressense, Jesus Christ. ON THE MESSIANIC IDEA IN THE APOCALYPTIC BOOKS, INCLUDING DANIEL. Drummond's JewisJi Messiah. Longmans. Stanton's Jewish and Christian Messiah. T. & T. Clark. Colani, Croyances Messianiques. Vernes, Histoire des Ide'es Messianiques. Anger, Der Messianische Idee. Hitzig, Messianische Weissagungen. Biehm, Messianic Prophecy. Transl., T. & T. Clark. Delitzsch's Messianic Prophecies. Transl., T. & T. Clark. Hilgenfeld's Judische Apocalyptik. Hengstenberg's Christology. Transl., T. & T. Clark. Pusey, On Daniel. Murray. Keil's Daniel. Transl., T. & T. Clark. Philippi, Dos Buch Henoch. Lticke, Offenbarung Johannis. Kuenen, Prophets of Israel. Transl., Triibner. INTKODUCTION TO BOOKS OF OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS AND APOCRYPHA. Keil, Introduction to Old Testament. Transl., T. & T. Clark. Bleek, Introduction to Old Testament. Transl., T. & T. Clark. De Wette, Einleitung. SECTS OF THE JEWS. Montet, Les Pharisiens et les Sadduce'ens. Cohen, Les Pharisiens. S. de Sacy, Correspond, avec les Samaritains. Wellhausen, Pharisaer und Sadducaer. Hanne, Pharisaer und Sadducaer als politische parteien. Lucius, Essenismus. xiv LITEKATUEE OF THE SUBJECT. ON THE VIEWS OF PHILO. Bitter, Geschichte der Philosophic, vol. iv. Ueberweg, History of Philosophy, vol. ii. Transl., Hodder & Stoughton. Zeller, Philosophic der Griechen, Division iii., 2nd Section, vol. ii. (This volume contains also an account of the Essenes.) JEWISH WOEKS. Targums Several old folio editions. For particulars, see Peterman's Chaldee Grammar. Winer has published extracts. Talmud Also several folio editions. A good recent edition is that of Cracow. A French translation was recently in course of publication ; whether it is now completed the writer is not aware. A translation of the Mishna into English was published some few years ago in London. A large number of sections were omitted, as they plaintively remark, because they would not suit " the English taste." Several articles commendatory of the Talmud have from time to time been published, especially that of the late Emanuel Deutsch. It is easy from such a mass of material as the Talmud consists of to extract something good. Eisenmenger, Entdecktes Judenthum, gives a great mass of information. TOPOGKAPHY OF PALESTINE. Tristram's Tlie Land of Israel S.P.C.K. Picturesque Palestine. Virtue. Thomson's The Land and the Book. Nelson. Bitter's Geography of Palestine. Transl., T. & T. Clark. Henderson's Palestine : Its Historical Geography. With Topographical Index. T. & T. Clark. Further, there are articles in various German, English, and American theological periodicals; articles in Herzog's Real- Encyclopadie ; Wetzer und Welte, Kir chen- Lexicon ; Ersch und Grube's Encyclo- paedia ; the Encyclopedia Britannica ; Smith and Wace's Dictionaries, which are too numerous to particularise. The writer would not he held as asserting that this is all or nearly all that is written on the subject; but what is mentioned above he has perused more or less carefully as seemed necessary from the nature and importance of the several works. CONTENTS, PACK INTRODUCTION, . . . 'V . . . 1 BOOK I. BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. CHAP. I. THE CONSTITUTION OF PALESTINE, CIVIL AND EELIGIOUS, . 21 II. THE SAMARITANS, ...... 41 III. THE SADDUCEES, ...... 50 IV. THE PHARISEES, ...... 58 V. THE ESSENES, . . . . . . 75 ' VI. THE ESSENES : THEIR EELATION TO THE APOCALYPTIC BOOKS, ...'.... 93 VII. THE ESSENES : THEIR RELATION TO OUR LORD, . . 110 VIII. THE LITERATURE OF THE PERIOD THE APOCRYPHA, . 123 IX. ALEXANDRIAN THOUGHT AND LITERATURE, . . 147 X. NON- APOCALYPTIC PALESTINIAN LITERATURE, . . 170 BOOK II. EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. I. THE NATURE AND OCCASION OF APOCALYPSE, . . 193 II. THE HOME OF APOCALYPTIC, .... 213 III. THE ENOCH BOOKS, ...... 225 IV. THE ELEVENTH OF DANIEL, ..... 249 V. THE APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH, .... 253 VI. THE PSALTER OF SOLOMON, ..... 268 VII. THE BOOK OF JUBILEES, . . . ' . . 297 VIII. THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES, .... 321 IX. POST-CHRISTIAN APOCALYPSES, . . . , . 340 Xvi CONTENTS. BOOK III. CRITICISM OP APOCALYPTIC. CHAP. PAGE I. RISE OP APOCALYPSE, ..... 363 II. THE BOOK OP ENOCH : ITS DATE AND LANGUAGE, . . 389 III. THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER OF DANIEL : ITS DATE, . . 412 IV. THE LANGUAGE AND DATE OP THE APOCALYPSE OP BARUCH, ...... 414 V. THE LANGUAGE AND DATE OP THE PSALTER OP SOLOMON, . 423 VI. THE LANGUAGE AND DATE OF THE BOOK OF JUBILEES, . 433 VII. THE LANGUAGE AND DATE OF THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES, 440 VIII. THE CRITICISM OF THE POST-CHRISTIAN APOCALYPSES, . 451 IX. VISCHER'S THEORY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE APOCALYPSE OF ST. JOHN, . . . . .461 BOOK IV. THEOLOGICAL RESULT. THEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE APOCALYPTIC BOOKS, . 475 INDEX, . . . . . . . . 489 BOOKS WHICH INFLUENCED OUR LORD AND HIS APOSTLES. INTRODUCTION. ~YTHEN we think of Christ, when we attempt to ^ * comprehend in any small degree the mystery of His Person, we instinctively shrink from too close inspection. It was lest they should be guilty of irrever- ence that the command was given to warn the people of Israel to keep back from Mount Sinai when God descended upon it, " lest they should break through to gaze." We feel as if there were something of the same irreverence in too closely contemplating, even in thought, a human nature that had been made awful by the personal presence of Deity within it. We feel we must take the shoes from off our feet, for it is holy ground. Many shrink back from any delineation of His form as tending to lower the awful majesty that ought, even in thought, to encircle Godhead when tabernacling with men, and veiled in flesh. If this awe fill us when we contemplate the earthly form which our Lord wore, do we not feel it even more when we attempt to pierce within the veil of flesh, and think of the soul of Him who knew no sin ? We 2 INTRODUCTION. feel doubly the need of putting the shoes off our feet and veiling our faces, when we attempt to think Christ's thoughts after Him. If even to contemplate Christ, actual man and true God, very man of very man, and very God of very God, fill us with wonder, and overwhelm us with a sense of mystery, does not the idea of growth prove more trying for us, as it seems to contradict the idea of Deity even when incarnate ? When we allow our minds to dwell upon it, we feel as if we were lifting that innermost veil, behind which dwells the Shechinah of God's presence, and that forth from that awful glory the fire of God may come and consume us in a moment. If that be the case with regard to the growth of the body, do we not feel it to be much more KO in regard to the mind ? To think of growth in regard to that mind and spirit which were drawn into such intimate union with Godhead, and to attempt to realise the process of that growth in thought, seems as much of the essence of desecration as to have pierced within the Holy of Holies, and laid hands upon the Ark itself. Yet may there not be an opposite danger here ? It may seem hardly possible to imagine such a thing as an excess in reverence. Yet when Isaiah offered Ahaz, in the name of the Lord, a sign, " either in the depth or in the height," and when he refused it, say- ing, " I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord," we feel that the reverence here is not true, it is excessive, and therefore unreal. The Jews hedged the law about with a reverence that extended even to the parchment on. which it was written ; yet in that very reverence INTRODUCTION: 3 for the outer vehicle of the law they lost all real reverence for its spirit. Christ has come down to dwell among us, to be a man among men, to be " the Son of man," to be our brother; surely we must regard that reverence as excessive that would deprive us of this nearness to Him, and drive Him away from us. We feel that Peter's reverence, though true, was mistaken when he said to our Lord, " Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Lord." Our reverence may be as real as Peter's, and yet as much mistaken in its mode of expression, when we absolutely shun the contemplation of the humanity of Christ in all its completeness. There are signs of a reaction, there are pictures of the early life of our Lord, in which He is represented as the infant, the child, and the young man pictures in which the artist has endeavoured, with all the help of recent knowledge, to realise what Jesus actually was. We have the growth of the human frame depicted, and we are not shocked by it. When \ve think a moment we remember that His body .had all the sinless infirmities of humanity. We know that He might be wearied with journeying, that His body had to be built up with food, and had to be refreshed with sleep, and finally, that that body died and was buried. Growth is as real an attribute of an organic body as sleep or death. And we are told that He " grew in wisdom and in stature." It would have been the most impious desecration to have pierced within the Holy of Holies when once the Ark was placed there, yet we have an elaborate account of how part after part of the framework of that dwelling-place of God 4 INTRODUCTION. was made, and of how curtain after curtain that covered it was woven. It cannot be more irreverent to contemplate the upbuilding by vital and physical forces of that human frame, in which God, manifest in the flesh, was to dwell. But man " liveth not by bread alone," but rather by the words of God. The body is not all, it is really because it is the instrument of the spirit of man which is in him. As the true analogue of the Tabernacle is not so much the outward frame as the inner spirit, where the Second Person of the adorable Trinity found His dwelling-place, surely, then, it does not necessarily savour of irreverence to contemplate the growth, mental and spiritual, of Jesus. To exclude from reverent contemplation the mental and spiritual character of Christ is really to fall into the heresy of Apollinaris, who denied to our Lord the possession of any spiritual nature apart from indwelling Godhead. This growth implies education and amassing of information, the general effects of surroundings, physical and mental. Many of the writers of the lives of Christ which abound have dwelt on the scenery of Nazareth, the swelling hills and the breezy uplands that surround it, and have endeavoured to indicate the effect that this scenery would have on the exquisitely sensitive nature of Christ. Certainly it is impossible that He who had adorned the world with so much beauty should not love to contemplate the beauty He had made. It is impossible that the human nature framed to be the instrument of His divine sacrifice should not have been peculiarly open to everything lovely and beautiful. If any ordinary INTRODUCTION". 5 child, with some slight modicum of poetry in his nature, is impressed almost unconsciously by the symbolism of nature, surely much more He who was the dwelling-place of that God who made nature and man, and made them so related to each other that man sees in nature the mirror of his thoughts, and that which gives these thoughts language. The fact that Jesus was the Messiah does not oblige us to assume that He knew this fully from the first. He could only gradually have attained the full con- sciousness of His mission. We must assume that His apprehension of the fact that He was the Messiah, and the character that the Messiah's office ought to have, would be defined by a study of the Old Testament Scriptures, and the prophecies there concerning the Messiah. As with Timothy, His teacher was, in all likelihood, His mother. There that bright-eyed boy stood at His mother's knee, and began His knowledge of the law, the prophets, and the psalms. Then came the synagogue school, taught by the old hazzan. 1 By him He would be taught to read Hebrew and to write it. Of course no book had so much influence on our Lord as the Bible the prophecies in which the Spirit of God had foretold His life and sufferings must of necessity have filled His mind. We cannot know, cannot even more than faintly imagine, what His feel- ings must have been as gradually it was forced home upon Him that He was the Messiah, and that He was to suffer, not to be happy ; to die, not to possess an earthly kingdom. 1 An official of the synagogue who united the functions of a Scotch beadle to those of a parish schoolmaster. 6 INTRODUCTION. We 'would unduly lessen the culture of our Lord and of Palestine generally did we imagine that Hebrew was the only tongue He knew. Aramaic had been the commonly spoken language of the Jewish people from the days of the later Persians till the influence of the Lagid princes made Greek popular. Gradually was Aramaic dispossessed of its pre-eminence, and the language of Plato and Aristotle became more and more spoken. In regard to these two languages we have several proofs of our Lord's familiar acquaintance with both. When He comes to raise Jairus' daughter He addresses her in Aramaic, Talitlia cumi a phrase we once heard well paraphrased by an aged Scottish minister, " My wee lammie, get up." When He opens the ears of the deaf man He says Ephphatha, also Aramaic. But in the most trying circumstances of all, when, hanging on the cross, the great darkness swept into His soul, and His agony found expression in the words of the twenty-second Psalm, He does not quote it in Greek nor in the original Hebrew, but in Aramaic, Eloi, Eloi, lama sdbachthani. This last fact is full of meaning, as it affords proof that our Lord knew Hebrew as well as Aramaic. No Aramaic version from the Hebrew was then in use. He must have translated for Himself. The question in regard to Greek, however, is more interesting, for the literature laid open by the posses- sion of Aramaic was relatively small compared with that of which one was made free by the possession of Greek. It seems indubitable, however contrary to ordinary statements in regard to this matter, that not only did our Lord know Greek, but it was the language INTRODUCTION. 7 which He customarily used. To a religious people as, for instance, to the Highlanders in Scotland there may be little objection to carry on business transactions in a foreign language, but the offices of religion must be in their own tongue ; above all, the Bible must be quoted in the language sacred to them by the recollec- tions of childhood. Unless the foreign tongue has completely got the mastery, this is always the case in similar circumstances. Now what do we find ? Our Lord invariably is represented as quoting the Scripture in the words of the Septuagint, or only with such small variations as may be due to a copyist. Thus far we have seen that our Lord was master of three languages, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Acquaintance with a language, however, is a different matter from acquaintance with its literature ; yet knowledge of a language makes the possessor of that knowledge free of the whole literature of that language. What books then do we find traces of in the language of our Lord? We have seen that He had, speaking of Him as a man, an accurate acquaintance with the Septuagint version, but before we proceed further we must look at what indirect light may be thrown on the probable culture to apply this word with all reverence to our Lord's human nature of Christ. In regard to this the knowledge of books manifested by the apostles and by His brethren is an important element of proof. Even the Apostle Paul may be brought in evidence, though from the fact that he belonged to the Pharisaic sect his culture is less conclusive, yet does it afford some proof in regard to the books generally known and read among the Chris- 8 INTRODUCTION. tians of the first century. Paul quotes the heathen poets as if his hearers ought to know them. The circle of believers was so small and so closely united that their knowledge, as at the beginning their goods, might be said to be in common. Another way in which we may form some estimate of the literary influences to which our Lord was subject, is to consider what opportunities a youth, situated as was our Lord, would have. Books certainly were very much rarer and more expensive in the days of our Lord than now, yet this difference may easily be exaggerated. Though the publisher of those days had no printing-presses at his service, slave labour was cheap, and many slave scribes might write to the reading of one. School books, if such they could be called, were mere fragments of books ; but in the synagogue schools these fragments were portions of the Old Testament, and therefore precious. But the private individual was not left wholly to his own resources in the matter of books. We learn from Justin Martyr in his Dialogue ivith Trypho that the synagogues had each a complete copy of the Scriptures ; indeed, they must have had a nearly complete copy of the Old Testament for the liturgic Sabbath readings. If Epiphanius is to be trusted, they had other books also, though that may be more doubtful. We may imagine the studious Youth, when the toil of the day was done, wending His way into the synagogue, and with covered head reading what the prophets said con- cerning Himself. Far into the night He read, while the flickering, uncertain light of the pendent lamp threw strange shadows on the walls of the silent synagogue. INTKODUGTION. 9 Not improbably He had besides the synagogue roll, with its sacred wrappings, also the Greek translation. Of. Hebrew literature beyond the Scriptures, there certainly was not much. The First Book of the Maccabees and the book of the History of John Hyr- canus, which has disappeared these for historical books. There were also the stories of Tobit and Judith. Then there were the Wisdom books, the Wisdom of Solomon and the Ecclesiasticus of the Son of Sirach. That was all, if we except the apocalyptic books, of which we shall speak shortly. Some writers would assert that the Mislma, or at least part of it, had been already composed. This, however, is in direct contra- diction to the assertions of Jewish tradition, that not till the days of Jehudah Haqqodesh was the Mishna committed to writing. Indeed, much later than this it still seems to be merely oral. Hence the actual Hebrew open to a youth in the early days of our Lord's sojourn upon earth was, so far as the books have come down, merely what we have mentioned. As for Aramaic, it is doubtful whether from the period preceding our Lord any works have come down to us written in that tongue. The Targums, though they may have been handed down by tradition from a respectable antiquity, yet as committed to writing are not of earlier date than the end of the second century after Christ ; not impossibly much later. As, however, our Lord knew Greek, is there any trace that the splendid literature of that language was known in His circle ? The Apostle Paul certainly makes three quotations from Greek poetry, but that is all the effect that, as far as appears, Greek literature had on the 1 INTRODUCTION. apostle who passed his boyhood in what may be called a Greek university town. With all its formal beauty, we cannot feel sorry that there is no association that unites in one thought the literature of Greece and our Lord. Aristophanes could never by any process be baptized into Christ. Even the sublimities of Homel- and JEschylus are so far below Job, Isaiah, and the Psalms that we can have no sense of loss. But there is one slight hint of the presence of philosophic influences in Palestine. When the rich young ruler asks our Lord what good thing he should do in order to inherit eternal life, He answers him according to Matt. xix. 17, in the best reading, " Why askest thou me concerning the good? One there is who is good." This seems an assertion of the Platonic doctrine that " the good " is God. One may parallel this with our Lord's greeting to Nathanael, telling him of his retirement under the fig-tree. There in his closet the youth may have pondered the words of the great philo- sopher, and for this reason it is that Christ couches His answer in terms that are fitted to make the young man recognise in the omniscience displayed God manifest in the flesh. Indeed, the question concerning the good was one discussed by most of the Greek philosophers, Platonists, Aristotelians, and Cynics, but was not a marked subject of dispute among the Eabbins. It is perhaps less likely that the works of Plato would be directly studied than that some early treatise of Philo or of some similar writer had reached the young Jew. The intercourse between Egypt and Palestine, always considerable, was greater at the time of our Lord than before, now that both were united INTRODUCTION. 1 1 under the power of Rome. We admit that the influence of Alexandrian thought is not very manifest, and that it would be easy to exaggerate the evidence contained in this saying if it stood alone. But along with this we must take the prologue of the Gospel of John. No one who has read Philo would dream of identifying the Philonian doctrine with that of John. On the other hand, no one can read Philo and the prologue to the fourth Gospel without feeling that the apostle has taken advantage of the phraseology of Philo as a suitable vehicle for conveying truth higher and deeper than it had been originally framed for. It was the language of Philo, but the thoughts of the beloved disciple. If we may deduce from Luke iv. 18 that in Nazareth they were accustomed to read the Septua- gint in the synagogue, it is not an unlikely thing that some of the works of the Alexandrian Jews, especially of Philo the great Alexandrian, would be found in the library of the synagogue. For Philo was, though the contemporary of our Lord, considerably His senior, probably by at least a quarter of a century. If they were within His reach Christ might with rapid eyes scan them. Their teaching only at one point touched His system, and therefore only at that point operated as a preparation for the gospel. What our Lord read was not all that influenced His teaching. What those who were His audience read and were moved by, that He made His own by His divine insight. Thus any books commonly read in Judea at the time might be said to have influenced Jesus; as knowing "what was in man," He modified His teaching to meet the know- 1 2 INTRODUCTION. ledge or ignorance of His audience; thus, whatever the books read, our Lord's teaching would of necessity be modified by them, even though He might not have read them. It is a different matter with another class of books, of acquaintanceship with which there are many traces in the Gospels. The Apocalyptic books were, as we shall show, the product of that mysterious sect, the Essenes. One thing is clear, they were the product of one school, which was clearly neither that of the Pharisees nor of the Sadducees. They could not have proceeded from the latter, as they affirm the doctrines of the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, the existence of angels doctrines which the Sadducees denied. The Talmud is the product of the Pharisaic school, and its whole method is different from that of the Apocalypses. There is almost no sign in the Talmud that these books were known at all to the writer, and what signs there are, are probably due to the fact that in Christian hands these books were open to the world. These books were secret, sacred books of a sect. That this sect was Jewish, even a cursory study of the books suffices to prove. They are not, as we saw, Sadducean or Pharisaic. The only sect that meets the requirements of the case is the Essenes. Our Lord meets the Pharisees very frequently, has a Zealot among His chosen band of disciples, en- counters the Sadducees not seldom, and the Herodians, a sect otherwise unknown, at least once ; but He never meets an Essene. They were numerous enough, and were spread all over the country. If they were less INTRODUCTION. 1 3 numerous than the Pharisees, they were much more numerous than the Sadducees, and incomparably more so than the Zealots or Herodians. How was it, then, that our Lord never encountered the Essenes ? Is it not the simplest solution, that it is for the same reason that a man cannot meet himself ? If He belonged to one of the outer circles of this wide-spread sect, then one can understand His silence. It is clear, however, that our Lord did not belong to that order of Essenes who maintained themselves in solitude by the Dead Sea. There seem to have been many orders. According to Ginsburg, there were eight classes of Essenes ; but this opinion is based on his view of the name under which, as he supposes, they are referred to in the Talmud. This, of course, is not equivalent to a demonstration ; and his further assumption, that they were merely a stricter sect of the Pharisees, is contradicted by Josephus. There is no evidence that these orders were superimposed one upon the other, so that a man proceeded from one to another, as in the case of academical degrees. Further, our Lord must be regarded as thoroughly and divinely original in His own views, not in any true sense borrowing them from any school. Hence it is no disproof of our view to find our Lord's doctrines at variance with the opinions attributed to the Essenes by Josephus or Philo. In the matter of Sabbath observance, especially, He went directly in the teeth of the teaching of the Essenes according to Josephus. What traces are there that these Apocalyptic books were known to our Lord and His apostles ? Leaving more careful consideration of this question till we 14 INTRODUCTION. discuss the books themselves, we may now note some points which press themselves upon us at the risk of having to repeat ourselves later. The title by which our Lord most frequently describes Himself is "the Son of man." Only in Dan. vii. 13 is there any application of this title to the promised Messiah. In Daniel, however, the term is simply descriptive ; the passage merely asserts that the Judge at the Last Day would be one that wore a human form, or, at all events, a form like the human. It is not at all used as an appellation. Our Lord uses it regularly as an appellation, and as one that conveys to the initiated the claim to Messiahship. No one could leap from the solitary use of the phrase in Daniel to the general use of it, and the use of it, too, in a more developed and definite sense, without some intermediate steps. These must have occurred in the four centuries that divide the canon of the Old Testament from that of the New. In the Book of Enoch, as we shall see, this title is regularly used of the Messiah. Other examples might be brought forward. ;:; L To turn to the apostles, we find them influenced by these very books ; Jude quotes avowedly from Enoch, and by implication from the Assumption of Moses, and the Apostle Peter in liis Second Epistle (assuming it to be genuine) implies a knowledge of the former of these works. The Apostle Paul uses phrases that occur- in those Apocalyptic books, and the Book of Revelation is full of tokens of an intimate ac- quaintance with them. As for the early Church, no one can deny that the Christians of the first two INTRODUCTION'. 1 5 centuries were well acquainted with these books, as we find express reference to them in many of the Fathers. What facilities for reading these sacred books of the Essenes would one have, situated as was our Lord? The Essenes were dispersed all over the country, as we shall see presently, and had their houses of call in most of the towns and villages of Judea and Galilee. There would almost certainly be one in Nazareth. In it nightly, after their work was done, the inmates would assemble round the table to their evening meal, and would listen while they ate their simple repast to portions of these sacred books read. This meal was a sacred office with the Essenes, as the Lord's Supper is with ourselves. Indeed, to carry the parallel further, they regarded this feast as a veritable sacrifice, as the Roman Catholics have changed the Lord's Supper into the sacrifice of the Mass. But it may be urged that ' strangers would not be permitted to be present at tliese sacred evening feasts. While this is certainly true, another fact ought also to be borne in mind. There were several different kinds of Essenes. While there was a nucleus that kept the Essene vows with the greatest strictness, there was around this a large mass of sympathisers who were connected more or less loosely with the Essene society, and from these the central brotherhood was recruited. They came themselves, and took on the vows, or they devoted their children to the Essenes to be brought up by them. If, then, Joseph and our Lord's mother belonged to this outer circle of Essenes, 1 Q INTEODUCTION. His acquaintanceship with the Essene books becomes easily understood. It would derogate from His divine insight to hint that He believed that these pseudo-prophecies had come from His Father, yet what an interest they must have had as revealing how the thoughts of men were dwelling on the coming of the Messiah, and how attribute after attribute was being unveiled to those who were anxiously looking for His appearing ! It would only be perhaps as a special act of favour that the sacristan would admit this strange Youth to see those sacred books and peruse their contents. But He "grew in favour," and the privilege once granted would never be recalled. Seeing thus the anticipations of His people, and feeling within Him the stirrings of His mighty destiny, He would grow more and more mighty in spirit. In the eventide, when perhaps there were no guests in the dwelling of the Essenes in Nazareth, the Youth, with His lustrous eyes full of thought, would stop before the narrow green side-door that breaks the white surface of the wall of the flat-roofed house near the gate where the Essenes had their lodging. It is opened to Him by the guardian, an old man, most likely with long beard, clad in pure white garments, who leads Him away to the inner room, where, in a scrinium or two, the scanty but precious library of the house is kept. The swinging lamp is lit, and there He sits and reads far into the night the strange visions recorded in the Books of Enoch, or of Baruch, about the Son of man who was to sit on the throne of His glory, and before whom all shall appear, and of the blessings of the days pf the Messiah. INTRODUCTION. 1 7 One tiling that intensified at once the Messianic hopes of the Jews and the importance they attached to the discussion of academic questions, was the Roman supremacy. It was only after Athens came under the sway of the Macedonian kingdom that she devoted herself fully to philosophy. It was not in the days of Pericles that the garden, the porch, the academy, and the Lyceum flourished, but when freedom was ex- tinguished ; so it was with Judaism. The sceptre had departed from Judah ; even the Herodians no longer reigned when the Jews devoted themselves more and more to the study of the Law, with an eagerness that only deepened when Jerusalem was captured and their nation had ceased to be. But though the sceptre had disappeared, the hope that it would be again possessed by Judah in a way it had never been before became all the more intense. Those Messianic hopes founded on the prophecies of the greater prophets, and raised even higher by the study of the Apocalyptic writers, became a dominant factor in Jewish life in the days of our Lord. Hence to understand the time when Christ was in the world, and the influences then at work, we must master the Apocalyptic books. They, above all, are full of the hope of Messianic times and the glories of the Messianic king ; but to understand them, we must realise the background they had. It is necessary, therefore, as a preliminary, to study the times during which these books were written, all the more, that no class of literature is more affected by such influences than the Apocalyptic writings few classes of literature nearly so much so. The background 1 8 INTRODUCTION. of historical events, and of constitution, civil and religious, however important, would give an incom- plete idea of things as they then were ; we have to consider along with it the contemporary literature of Judaism. We shall, then, in the sequel consider 1st, The Background of Apocalyptic ; and 2nd, The Historic Evolution of Apocalyptic. As the documents are of importance, we shall add, 3rd, The Criticism of Apocalyptic. BOOK I. THE BACKGKOUND OF APOCALYPTIC. CHAPTER I. THE CONSTITUTION OF PALESTINE, CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS. R Empire in India gives us many illustrations of a state of matters similar to that existing in the Empire of Rome at the time of Herod. From this fact we can piece together the information that we get from Josephus and the New Testament, fragmentary as it is, and form the result into a consistent whole. Round the avowed provinces of the Roman Empire, administered by procurators and proconsuls, were numerous small States administered in the name of native rulers, who had a certain limited authority as allies of the Roman Empire, very much as the Nizam is an ally of Great Britain, and has a certain inde- pendent authority, but dare not be the ally of any other power on pain of deposition. When we learn that Herod got into trouble with the emperor because, becoming impatient at the Syrian procurator's delay, he took the law into his own hands and attempted to wreak vengeance on those Arabs whose inroads had led him to appeal to the Roman governor, we realise this clearly. He might be called a king, and might be permitted to maintain a standing army, but he was not to be permitted to break at will the "pax Romana." Suppose Scindia or Holkar in India were to attempt anything similar, he would need all his 22 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. parliamentary interest to avoid deposition. When we read of the deposition of Archelaus or Herod Antipas for misgovernment, we remember as a parallel incident the trial of the Gaekwar of Baroda, and the deposition of the King of Oudh. There does not seem to have been an actual Kesident, such as we have in the courts of our various subject allies, but through the publicani very accurate information reached the nearest Koman governor of all that was transacted in any of these semi -independent States. Herod was in the position of Scindia or Holkar, with this difference, that the territory did not pass from father to son without the distinct consent of the emperor ; whereas we admit of the right of inherit- ance, and allow it to take effect, unless there is some definite reason to the contrary. The rise of the dynasty of Herod was one of those cases frequent in all history where the mayors of the palace became the rulers of the kingdom. When the two sons of Alexandra the weak Hyrcanus and the energetic Aristobulus quarrelled after her death, the former had Antipater as his friend. At first this was to his advantage to all appearance. Certainly Antipater secured in the first instance the victory of Hyrcanus by calling in the help of Pompey. Pompey captured the temple at Jerusalem from the hands of the party of Aristobulus, and led Aristobulus captive in his triumph. Judea now became really a province of Home, and the transference of the throne from Hyrcanus to Herod only deepened this dependence. Many parallels to the history of Judea at this time may be read in the annals of our conquest of India, a disputed succession, THE CONSTITUTION OF PALESTINE, CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS. 23 the side of the one taken who is least popular ; then the necessity soon arises to administer his affairs for him. Under the Lagid and Seleucid dynasties there was no princely house over the Jewish people ; they were directly subject to the king who reigned in Alexandria or in Antioch, as the case might be. There was, how- ever, an element of this Hellenic government which we are apt to neglect. Hellenism even when united to monarchy in the Macedonian rule expressed itself natur- ally, and indeed necessarily, in the autonomous city. Wherever the successors of Alexander set up their power, there these autonomous cities were established. Right into the centre of the Holy Land ran the territory of the Decapolis ten cities united together by some sort of league. Many of these cities had been conquered by Alexander Jannseus ; but Pompey, acting as the representative of the supreme power of Rome, deprived the sovereign whom he set up at Jerusalem of all rule over these Hellenic cities. Some of them were given afterwards to Herod ; but the authority permitted the sovereign over these cities was always precarious, and their existence formed a fruitful occasion of Roman interference in the affairs of subject allies. One marked difference, however, there was between the Roman method of governing even its provinces and that in which Britain governs India. Only higher matters were brought before the tribunal of the Roman magistrate, whereas in India practically all the magis- trates are of British birth, though bound to judge in accordance with Indian or Mohammedan law, as the case may be. Every little town in Judea had its judges, twenty-three in number ; and every petty dis- 24 THE BACKGEOUND OF APOCALYPTIC. pute was settled by the intervention of three arbiters. There was, as final Court of Appeal, the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, with its seventy-one members. Even after Judea had become a Eoman province, and the last sign of royalty and independence had departed from Jeru- salem with Archelaus, the Sanhedrin had still judicial functions, as may be seen in the trial of our Lord. Their power of life and death was limited ; but even in regard to such matters it seems probable that unless the action contained some elements which in- volved the elastic Icesa majestas, the Roman authority took little cognisance of their doings. From the trial of the Apostle Paul we learn that the Romans con- sidered themselves at liberty to intervene in a trial at any point that seemed good to them, though it may be noted that the action of Claudius Lysias was protested against by the Jewish representatives at Csesarea. At the head of this court sat the high priest, as president or Nasi. There was also a vice-president, Ab-beth-din, " father of the house of judgment." How he was chosen we have really no means of knowing, as the information to be derived from the Talmud is too late to be worth anything, and neither Josephus nor the New Testament gives us any hint. The whole Talmudic representation goes on the assumption that the Sanhedrin was really an assembly of scholars, and consequently the leading Rabbins of the opposed schools were respectively president and vice-president. It is little likely that the Sadducean priestly party would allow the principal court of the nation to pass so completely out of their hands, that the high priest THE CONSTITUTION OF PALESTINE, CIVIL AND KELIGIOUS. 25 should become merely an ordinary member. That he was present at most of the meetings of the Sanhedrin, and presided, seems clear from many facts in the Gospels and the Acts. Although the high priest presided, and was usually a Sadducee, the Pharisaic party seem to have had considerably the preponder- ance. It goes without saying that the members of the Sanhedrin did not attain their position through election by any body of constituents. Such a method of securing a governing body it was reserved for later days to develop. Men became members of the Sanhedrin by the method of co- optation, a method fitted to maintain the supremacy of the Pharisaic party in the court when once they had secured it. Eound the Sanhedrin gathered all the hopes and aspirations of the national party, alike Pharisaic and Sadducean. All the legal knowledge of the scribes was there ; and all the authority with the multitude, which resulted from their acquaintance with the sacred treasure committed to the Jewish people, was united with the ceremonial reverence drawn from the presence in their midst of the high priest. Although chosen by the ruler for the time being, Herod or the Roman governors, the Jewish priest, evil as .he might be, seems never to have sunk during the time immediately preceding the Lord to be the mere tool of the Romans or of Herod, in short, never occupied to these later rulers over the land the purely subservient position occupied by Jason and Menelaus during the time of the sovereignty of the Seleucids. The very frequency of the changes in the high priesthood is 26 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. indirect evidence of this. We see also how Caiaphas manoeuvred against Pilate at the trial of the Lord, and how he baffled the wish of the governor to set Him free. While the national hope gathered, as we have said, round the Sanhedrin as its natural centre, the hopes of the Hellenising and Romanising party gathered round the palace of Herod. At first sight it is difficult to imagine the existence of a Roman party among the Jews, their national pride and exclusiveness being so prominent in all records of the time. But if their king- were an alien, or at all events asserted to be so, if Roman money formed their ordinary coinage, and the Roman publicani and their underlings formed quite a marked part of the population, the Jews had still in some limited sense " their place and their nation." All those who had had any opportunity of estimating the power of Rome must have recognised that any attempt at inde- pendence was foredoomed to ignominious failure. They would know that any such attempt after having been put down would be punished by denuding the nation of many of the national privileges they still retained. Moreover, they might claim the example of Jeremiah, who counselled submission to Nebuchadnezzar, and of Isaiah, who rebuked Hezekiah for his joining Merodach Baladan in his league against Nineveh. Besides, there were not a few who managed, as did Josephus, to reap personal advantages from the Roman rulers. Rome never seriously attempted to Latinise the East, hence the Roman party joined with the Hellenic. All those who maintained any close relations with Alexandria, or with the flourishing Jewish communities of Asia Minor, THE CONSTITUTION OF PALESTINE, CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS. 27 would naturally unite themselves with the Herodian or Roman party. 1 These two parties stood like hostile armies facing each other, both eager for the combat, but both afraid to begin it. Here and there Zealots might gather together in bands that united ardent patriotism with a desire for plunder, and the Sanhedrin would in a covert way manifest their sympathy with the outlaws ; but they dared not openly commit themselves to a conflict with Herod, backed as he was by all the military power of Imperial Rome. Herod might, in his fits of ungovernable rage and suspicion, slay prominent members of the Sanhedrin, but it must be as indi- viduals for individual crimes, not as members of the sacred council. Herod knew well that an appeal might be made from him to the emperor, and that however he might, by dint of intrigue and bribery, maintain some influence in Rome, yet anything like wholesale massacre was likely to be followed by deposition. Thus there was in Judea a state of unstable equilibrium that could not be permanent. The Roman influence produced many changes in Jewish manners. Slavery had never been an institution that flourished in Israel. The Mosaic law was too merciful to encourage such an institution, and under the Mosaic restrictions it was not advantageous to have slaves. Now slaves became common, so that many of our Lord's illustrations are drawn from the relationship of master and slave. From the Mosaic regulations in regard to inheritance, the possession of 1 Epiphanius (Hcer. xx. vol. i. p. 268, Abbe Migne) records the opinion that the Herodians were a party that saw in Herod the promised Messiah. 28 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC large estates was discountenanced ; but now not only the Herodian family, but the great priestly houses were possessed of large estates. Some of our Lord's parables turn on this also. The fact that the final court of appeal was in every instance Koine, pro- duced a growing tendency on the part of the Jewish nobility to spend much of their time in Rome. If they wished advantage for themselves, or desired to wreak vengeance on their adversaries, intimacies with those who were themselves intimates of the emperors were absolutely necessary. And such intimacies could, as could anything else, be bought in Rome. The high priest was, as we have seen, the titular head of the Sanhedrin, and as such the head of the national party. This, however, was due to the fact that the high priest was the ceremonial head of the whole nation in its religious aspect. In the earlier pre-exilian days, the Davidic monarchy over- shadowed the high priesthood. The anointed of the Lord had as sacred an office in the hierarchy, for the whole state was really a hierarchy, as the priests. The prophetic office, too, was in all its glory ; men like Isaiah and Jeremiah were statesmen and poets as well as moral teachers and organs of the Divine Spirit. Kept in the background alike by the kingly and the prophetic office, the high priesthood only occasionally came to the front, as when Hilkiah planned and carried out the revolution that overthrew the usurpation of Athaliah. Whenever Joash grew up we see that he put his foster-father Hilkiah, high priest though he was, into the background. Royalty in the house of David ceased with the Exile, prophecy ceased THE CONSTITUTION OF PALESTINE, CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS. 29 with Malachi ; but the priesthood still continued, and thus drew to itself all the respect and reverence that had formerly been shared with the kingship and the prophetic college. We see in the rapturous description given by Siracides of the appearance of Simon the high priest to how great an extent this had taken place. Some of Simon's successors were anything but worthy of their office, and were ready to yield to the flood of Hellenism that seemed about to sweep away Judaism bodily. With the persecution of Epiphanes, and the retirement of Onias into Egypt, there was a break in the succession. Then came the gallant struggle of Judas Maccabseus and his brethren, and the consequent change of the high priesthood to the Hasmonsean line. When at length Judea secured independence under Simon the Hasmonsean, the civil supremacy was added to the sacred. He was succeeded by his son, John Hyrcanus ; even he, however, did not assume the title of king, but his sons did. The Hasmonsean dynasty continued to unite kingship and priesthood until John Hyrcanus II. was deposed and slain by Herod, the husband of his grand-daughter. After the failure of the Hasmonsean line, the high priesthood ceased to be hereditary, and further, ceased to be a life office. Some- times, indeed, the high priest occupied the place for little more than a single year. Although the office was not hereditary, the choice seems to have been practically restricted to a few families. . It seems the most natural explanation of the liigli priests we see repeatedly men- tioned in the Acts, that these were members of those families that had practically a monopoly of the high priesthood. 30 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. Besides the high priest, there were a large number of other priests. These were arranged in twenty-four courses, which each took their turn in ministering in the temple ; and thus twice in a year the turn of each course came round in which it had to supply ministrants for the sanctuary. Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, belonged to the eighth course, that of Abia ; whereas Josephus tells us with evident pride that he belonged to the first course, that of Jehoiarib. These courses had been originally appointed by David, but after the exile to Babylon they naturally got broken up. Only four of the original courses returned, and they divided themselves so that each family became reckoned as six, and in this way the twenty-four courses were restored. Notwithstanding that they had lost so many by the Exile, for the great majority preferred to remain in Babylon, these were now far too numerous for all to come up to the temple when the turn of their " course " came round. We do not know how the selection of those who were to represent in the ministration of the sanctu- ary the house of their father was affected, but it prob- ably was by lot. When their week of service was ended, the priests returned to their homes, whether in Jerusalem, in Jericho, or in the hill country of Judea, as in the case of Zacharias, to whom we have referred. There were many priestly cities ; but if Eabbinic tradi- tion is in this case to be trusted, a third of the priest- hood was resident in Jericho ; there was also a large number in Jerusalem, hence the number in the country, exclusive of these two cities, must have been relatively small. Besides the priests there were also Levites sons of THE CONSTITUTION OF PALESTINE, CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS. 31 Levi who could not claim descent from Aaron. The assertion that the Zadokite priests were merely the priests of the sanctuary in Zion, while the Levites were the priests of those local sanctuaries called " the high places," which were put down finally by Josiah, and that while the Zadokites maintained their superiority, the other priests were supported by putting them in inferior offices in the temple, may have a grain of truth in it. The story of Micah and his teraphim shows how anxious those proprietors of local shrines were to gain a quasi sanction for their sanctuaries by getting " a Levite for their priest." That being so, it is not unlikely that the priests, especially of the Judean high places, would be Levites. It would not follow from this that " Levite " was merely a class name for those dis- possessed priests irrespective of any blood connection with Levi. These Levites, like the priests, were divided into twenty-four courses, and also served by weekly turns. One thing ought to be noted, comparatively few Levites came back from the Babylonian captivity. The inferior ceremonial position they would occupy in the temple worship formed no inducement to leave the peace and plenty of Babylon for the privation of Judea. The sacrifices of the temple necessarily employed a large number of priests. There were the morning and evening sacrifices on the great altar daily. The victim, a lamb, was fastened to a ring, and then the priest approached from behind, in order not to frighten it, and with a knife, sharpened and tested with special care, slaughtered it. The body was then divided into due portions on a marble table, and washed pre- paratory to being burnt upon the great altar. Each 32 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. part of the operation, from the clearing out of the fireplace on the great altar, was arranged by lot. One special duty which a priest only once in his life was permitted to perform, was that of burning incense on the altar as representative of the people. Mean- time the Levites, as singers, chanted the sacred psalm for the day, and two priests blew with the silver trumpets as the people assembled for prayer. This morning and evening sacrifice was offered for the whole nation ; and the Levites, as the representatives of all the people, raised the song of praise. The whole idea of the temple and its worship was that here the nation had its sacred hearth, and here con- tinual atoning sacrifice was offered and intercessory prayers were presented. The priests and Levites as connected with this of necessity had a prominent place in the national life ; the more centralised the worship, in some respects, the more prominent, as the imagina- tion was the more impressed by it The representa- tive character of the priesthood came to its acme in the solemn Day of Atonement, when, bearing the blood of the sacred victim, the high priest entered into the Holiest of All and made atonement, " first for himself and then for the people." The representative character of the priesthood is brought out by its institution. In every patriarchal or primitive family the father was the priest, and next after him his eldest son. Thus the first-born became peculiarly sacred to the service of Deity, especially among Semitic nations. When a sacrifice was to be offered of special value to appease the gods when some terrible calamity was impending, then the father offered THE CONSTITUTION OF PALESTINE, CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS. 33 his son upon the altar, as we see in the case of Mesha, king of Moab, when Jehoram of Israel and Jehoshaphat of Judah were pressing in upon him, and threatening to take his capital. In the earlier history of Israel, the way was opened for Levi gaining the place of the first- born by the sin of Reuben against his father ; the sin of Simeon and Levi both against the Shechemites had transferred the place of first-born to Judah, a place that he occupies in the interview with Joseph in the matter of Benjamin. The Levites regained the dignity of priesthood by their zeal for the Lord in the matter of the golden calf. Again, the additional fact that Moses and Aaron belonged to the tribe of Levi, and had led the nation out from the house of bondage, aided the Levites in maintaining their priestly rank. But the most prominent historical incident in the early history of the tribe was the redemption of the first-born, when, instead of the first-born of all Israel the family priests that is to say the family of Levi were taken. The house of Levi represented thus the national first-born, the first-born of Jacob, and then the family first-born, as each first-born had been re- deemed by the consecration of the Levites. The diffi- culty of disentangling the actual and historical from the symbolic becomes very great in regard to this matter. In the Book of Jubilees we see the influence of the priestly predominance very obvious. Levi and Judah are always put forward ; but of the two a great prominence is assigned to Levi, who is repre- sented as family priest even during the life of his father. This view is emphasised by the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. 34 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. While, on the one hand, the return from exile had made the Jewish people value especially the regular service of the temple, on the other hand the seventy years during which the temple had lain desolate had made the people depend for the maintenance of their religious life on other ordinances than that of sacrifice or temple ritual. They had no city which represented the political life of the nation, no temple to be the symbol of its home, no altar to be the national sacred hearth. Any such assembling of themselves together on the part of these deported captives would have been looked at askance by the Babylonian authorities. Yet unless they met together they would soon lose altogether the sense of being one nation. If they could no longer sacrifice they could still pray, and in that way maintain some form of religious life. Above all, they had their law, with its enactments, pervading every nook and cranny of their lives. This threefold necessity led naturally to the synagogue worship. In every city where there was a Jewish community they fixed on some place where they met, most likely the dwelling of some one of the wealthier captives. There they read the law and offered up liturgic prayers ; and if they could not offer sacrifice, they sang at least the psalms that had been wont to accompany these sacrifices. It became a city in miniature, a city of Jews within this Gentile city in which they dwelt. As in the city the main authority rested in the council of the elders, so here the elders of the synagogue had the authority, not merely in matters of worship, but also in civil matters. To a great extent in a huge heterogeneous empire like that of Babylon every THE CONSTITUTION OF PALESTINE, CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS. 35 nationality was left very much to itself, to be governed by its own laws and in its own way. And what was true of nations was true also of those small com 1 munities of captives which were found in many of the Babylonian cities they were let alone. When the captives returned to their own land, they introduced the synagogue worship, and spread it among the descendants of those who had never left Judea. At first sight it might be thought that on their return to Judea the synagogue worship would have been abandoned, if not immediately, at all events when the temple was rebuilt. But the very fact that a consider- able interval elapsed before the temple could be rebuilt, and that during that time their only mode of maintaining the worship of their faith was by the mode of service they had learned in Babylon, would lead to the forma- tion of a habit of synagogue worship even in Palestine and a habit of two generations' growth is difficult to root out at any time. We have to add to this nearly another generation before the temple could be rebuilt, if we would see the whole period during which this habit was being formed and strengthened. Had the temple been already built when they returned, the change of habits involved in transferring themselves from Babylon to Palestine might have combined with the presence of the temple to induce the abandonment of the worship of the synagogue. Once it had been transplanted to Palestine, it of necessity took root there and flourished. With the founding of Alexandria this new mode of worship spread into Egypt. Indeed, the conquests of Alexander may be said to have opened the world to the Jews ; and wherever the 36 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. Jews went, there they erected their synagogues. If the number of Jews was too small for a synagogue, at least a proseucha was built near some river bank, where the people might assemble for prayer, and for the performance in quiet of the various ablutions ordained by the law. The officials of the synagogue were somewhat numerous. Besides the elders of synagogue who were at the same time elders of the city, or, at all events, for the Jewish community in the city, if it were a Gentile one there was an archisynagogus, a ruler of the synagogue, whose duty was specially connected with the right ordering of the worship. Further, there were certain Gabaei tzadiqah, receivers of alms (righteousness), and ten batlanim, men who were paid to be present at every service in order that there might always be a sufficient number to constitute a congregation. There was also the minister (hazzan hakkenneseth), nearly equivalent to our " beadle," whose duty it was to put the books of the Law or the Prophets before the reader for the day, and to replace them in the sacred ark again after service. He had to administer scourging to those to whom it was adjudged. He taught, as we have already said, the children of the congregation. In the synagogue the main service, as we have already stated, was reading the Law, repeating liturgic prayers, and singing, or rather chanting psalms. The Law and the Prophets were divided off into portions for each several day, so that the whole Law might be read over in the course of three years. Originally only the parashoth, or portions of the Law, were read; but during THE CONSTITUTION OF PALESTINE, CIVIL AND EELIGIOUS. 37 the time of the persecution under Epiphanes, when the reading of the Law was forbidden, they read hapli- taroth, or portions of the Prophets. When the time of tribulation had passed away, they continued the read- ing of the Prophets along with the Law, as we see in the case of our Lord in the synagogue in Nazareth. The reading of the Law led naturally to the explanation of the Law, and the enforcement of its precepts. There was a considerable divergence in Babylon between the sacred Hebrew in which the Scriptures were written and the Aramaic in which the ordinary business of life had to be carried on. The difference between Dutch and German may convey some idea of the extent of the difference between the two cognate tongues. The Hebrew of the home of necessity gradually became con- taminated by the Aramaic of the market-place, so that translation was soon necessary. Mere interpretation was not enough, however; the Law had not only to be understood, but also to be obeyed. In consequence of this, there were a vast number of distinctions devised to meet the difficulties of distressed consciences. These often became means of evading the Law. The Law of eruth is an example of this. One might only walk a very limited distance on a Sabbath day a distance which seems to have varied at different times. At all events, there was permitted a walk of some three-quarters of a mile beyond the walls of the city in which a man dwelt. But should a man desire to go farther, all he had to do was to go the night before within three- quarters of a mile of the place to which he wished to go and eat some food, deposit as much as would serve for another meal, and return to his own house. On 38 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. the following day lie could reckon his starting-point from that place, the whole intervening distance being regarded by legal fiction as part of his house. This is an example of what are called the Halachoth. Incitement to duty was needed, and interest in the Law required to be excited. This was accomplished by stories, expansions of the text, additions to it, or illustrations of the principles supposed to be contained in it. These were called the Hagadoth. The apocry- phal additions to Daniel give examples of this. Still better is the Book of Jubilees. They were otherwise called Midrashim. This necessitated a class of persons who had a pro- fessional acquaintanceship with the sacred books. This class was the scribes. There were scribes in the days even of David, and all through the time of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel ; but they seem merely to have written out decrees, and kept the records of the kingdom. They had no special connection with the sacred books. There must have been sacred scribes too, but they do not come into prominence. The inscriptions in the conduit from Solomon's pools prove the general diffusion of writing among the people to have been greater than some would imagine. The fact that an upper workman could thus commemorate the success of the excavators in meeting underground, though starting from opposite points, is a proof that writing was at least somewhat common. With the captivity and the growth of the synagogue, the office of scribe came into greater prominence. Every syna- gogue required to possess a book of the Law, that had to be written by the scribe. Generally also THE CONSTITUTION OF PALESTINE, CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS. 39 they had copies of some of the prophets ; that implied further writing. As writing was a matter of some labour, there was a long training required, in order that an adequate knowledge might be attained. It is probable that at first there would not be those puerile exactnesses that we find in the present Masoretic text ; yet there would be in all probability some germs of what was to come. From the all - prevailing character of the Jewish Law the influence of these interpreters of it was very great. There were so many ways of falling into sins of ignorance, and so many ways of evading the Law, of doing the thing one wished to do and yet not breaking the Law, that the counsels of these scribes were held as invaluable. In fact, latterly, their decisions in explanation of the Law were regarded as being more valuable than the Law itself; while the Law itself was as water, the commentary of the scribes was as wine. What made them of yet greater import, if not importance, was the political position they secured in the Sanhedrin. The members that were added to that court by co-optation were almost all drawn from the class of scribes. The existence of a learned class like the scribes implies the means of attaining this learning. The scribe, in short, implies the school. In every town there was a teacher of the Law, to whom children were sent from the age of seven. At first the children were under the charge of that functionary whom we have paralleled with our beadle. Then the child was sent to a higher school. What was mainly taught in the first school was the reading of the Law and the recitation 40 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. of certain prayers. When the child proceeded to the higher school, he was taught the Mishna. At length the pupil was sent to Jerusalem, where were the special academies in which the Gemara was taught. Such is the account we get from the Jewish tracts of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and downwards. It is probably, while incorrect in form, not far from the truth in the matter. It would certainly be the tradition of the fathers the youth was taught when- ever he passed beyond childhood. From these academies in Jerusalem, presided over by men like Hillel or Shammai or Gamaliel, the leading members of the Sanhedrin came. There is certainly much in the synagogue worship which is preparatory to the worship of the Christian Church. Above all is the use of preaching, which became the great instrument of evangelising the world. In his Hibbert Lecture, Dr. Hatch maintains that preaching came from the Greek philosophic schools; but the proof is deficient. CHAPTER II. THE SAMARITANS. TT has been thought one of the peculiar felicities "^ of our British Constitution that there should be always two leading political parties, the party of advance and the party of stability. Between the extreme wings of each party there is an infinite grada- tion of changing opinion, and according as that middle portion swings forward or falls back, do we advance or stand still. So great was this advantage thought to be, that the framers of the Constitution of the United States introduced a similar element into it. There is the party that would broaden State rights, as against those of the central government ; and there is the party that would increase the function of the central authority at the expense of State rights. Every form of government, except absolute despotism, has in these days political parties, and all these parties represent tendencies pointing to the future. In the Greek cities there were also parties. The oligarchic and the democratic factions strove each to get the mastery over the other, and the long and fierce Peloponnesian war was really a conflict between oligarchy and democracy. Here it was two theories of the State that were at war. In the Middle Ages, when savagery in some respects came back upon the world, there were 41 42 THE BACKGKOUND OF APOCALYPTIC. factions that had no basis of thought or theory, it was simply an individual's name or claim that formed the point of union. This affected even the republics of that period, as may be seen in the history of the Italian Republics, with their feuds between Montagues and Capulets, between Bianchi and Neri. After the Greek cities became subject to the Mace- donian rule they ceased to have sufficient political life to have parties. They had factions certainly, but these expressed themselves in riots and no more. The real life of Greece went out into philosophy, and the conflict of opinion occupied the minds of those whose ancestors had debated the questions of peace and war, and had entertained the envoys of the great king. This conflict of opinion was, however, in the region of the purely abstract, and these parties had no political meaning. In our own day we have, in religious matters, sects and parties that have mainly a basis of thought and opinion, and have certainly some political significance ; but a significance that results from causes external to these sects themselves. Sects among the Jews were unlike our political parties and unlike our denominations, and yet they had points which bring them in line with both. They were unlike the Greek political parties and unlike philosophic schools, and yet they had many points of resemblance to both. We must bear in mind that each of the four sects of the Jews occupied the position it did in relation to its fellows from reasons peculiar to itself alone. There was no hard and fast line of logical division on one side of which every one said " yes," and on the other every THE SAMARITANS. 43 one said " no " to certain questions. They were not so much like separate branches of one and the same tree, as like separate trees in the same soil. The mention of the soil brings to remembrance the fact that, unlike our religious sects, which may roughly be said to embrace among them the whole population, those sects left the Am haaretz, the people of the land, greatly unaffected. 1 This is true of the strictly Jewish sects. It is, however, necessary, if one wishes to gain a notion of what really the tendencies of thought in Palestine were, to know not only the three sects, whose doctrines Josephus expounds to us, but also the doctrines of the Samaritans. We have, then, to consider four different sections of those who inhabited Palestine, all claiming the same ancestry, all using the same sacred books, at least so far as the Pentateuch was concerned, and all claiming to worship the same God and in the same way. We have, first, the Samaritans, geographically distinct from the Jews, and distinct also from them in race, if the evidence of the Jews is to be received ; next, we have the Sadducees, the party of the priestly aristocrats, holding views more by way of negation to those of the Pharisees, simply because the Pharisees advanced them, than as having been associated in order to defend those anti-Pharisaic views ; next, we have the Pharisees or legal Puritans, who carried out to logical completeness the law as the people in general interpreted it. Last of all, we have the mysterious party, the Essenes, who represent, if their views have been correctly described, 1 Most people who desired to be thought religious seem to have belonged to one or other of the sects as adherents. 44 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. a development of Jewish thought totally unlike any- thing else in Judaism, and manifesting peculiarities which bring them specially within our sphere as in- vestigating the origin of the apocalyptic writings. When the ten tribes broke off from the Davidic kingdom they betook themselves to the old tribal worship which preceded the temple worship at the one great altar of the nation but with modifications ; Jeroboam, falling back on some tradition of the golden calf, introduced image worship, an addition which not improbably continued to shock religious people even among his own subjects, as we see from Hosea. 1 The Northern kingdom, despite its apostasy and the repeated revolutions to which it was subject, became very much more powerful than its southern neighbour, though it, by the continuance of the Davidic dynasty, was free from civil overturns. Powerful though Israel was as compared with Moab, Ammon, or Edom, it was still very inferior to the great empires of Assyria and Egypt. The latter had sunk from the warlike to the diplomatic stage, and endeavoured, by means of in- trigues carried on in all the petty courts of Syria, to hamper the advance of its vigorous rival from the banks of the Tigris. After a season of comparative decrepi- tude, under Shalmaneser II., Syria was assailed by the Ninevite power. Ahab joined Benhadad to repulse the invader ; but at length under a later monarch, Tiglath- pileser, a large portion of the country was overrun, and its principal inhabitants deported, a process that was carried out to greater completeness by Shalma- neser IV. and Sargon. 1 viii. 5, x. 8, xiii. 2. THE SAMARITANS. 45 Into a country left desolate thus by the tramp of Eastern armies and by the deportation of a large pro- portion of the survivors, colonists from distant parts of the Assyrian empire were sent by the conqueror to Samaria. During the interval between the final deportation and the sending the new colonists, the country had become savage, and wild beasts had multiplied. In their terror at the wrath of the god of the land, whom they considered they had excited against themselves, they prayed the Assyrian monarch to send them a priest to teach them " the manner of the god." At first they mingled the worship of Jehovah with the worship of their former gods ; but gradually, through association with the inhabitants left in the land, they abandoned their idolatry wholly, and became worshippers of Jehovah alone. When the Jews of the Southern kingdom commenced to rebuild their temple, the Samaritans evidently had passed beyond the tribal standpoint, and were anxious to unite with the Southern kingdom in the worship of Jehovah. Until Ezra came it would appear that the Jews had no special objection to this idea, indeed they seem to have contemplated a complete fusion of the peoples. How far the action of Ezra and Nehemiah in resisting this was wise or right may be doubted. The result of it was that ere very long a temple was built in Mount Gerizim, to which the Samaritans attributed all the sanctity that the Jews ascribed to Mount Zion. Of the history of the Samaritans during the later Persian period as little is known as concerning that of the Jews during the same time. Josephus represents them as trying to secure the favour of Alexander the 46 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. Great for themselves, and to envenom the conqueror against their neighbours ; and this failing, they declared themselves Jews. In this there is no inherent improb- ability. Under the Lagid princes the hatred between Jew and Samaritan seems to have continued unabated, but no overt acts of special malevolence are recorded. Both Samaritans and Jews had representatives among the colonists in Alexandria, and their feuds sprang out afresh there on the occasion of the Septuagint transla- tion being made. The Samaritans had interpolated into the Pentateuch a statement that Mount Gerizim was the place where God was to be worshipped. This statement was not found in the Septuagint, hence the quarrel. During the Maccabean struggle the Samari- tans were against the Jews; and when, finally, the cause of the Jews prevailed under John Hyrcanus, he wreaked the national vengeance on them by burning Samaria and overturning the temple in Mount Gerizim. The power of the Maccabean kingdom went down before the Romans in little more than a generation from this time, and the Samaritans had to some extent their national position restored to them by Gabinius ; but only for a little while, for by Augustus, Samaria was added to the dominions of Herod. After Herod's death Samaria along with Judea formed the dominion of Archelaus. When Archelaus was deposed, and Judea became a procuratorship, Samaria was still united to Judea. Sometimes the bitter hatred of the one against the other expressed itself in outrage, as when the Samaritans defiled the temple during the feast of the Passover by scattering dead men's bones in the holy place. THE SAMARITANS. 47 On the outbreak of the war, which resulted in the fall of Jerusalem, they did not maintain their separation from the Jews, and thus did not escape altogether the destruction that befell their southern neighbours. In his march towards Jerusalem from Galilee, the fact that 3000 Samaritans had taken up a position on Mount Gerizim necessitated Vespasian to send a detachment to capture the place, which they did. The Samaritans are little heard of during the long period that followed. They are little referred to by the Fathers. Justin Martyr, geographically a Samaritan, takes no note of their religious position. He himself was a heathen by birth, but still their neighbourhood to his birthplace would lead one to expect him to know something of them. Simon Magus, mentioned in the Acts, if we may trust Irenseus, had a considerable following among the Samaritans. After this, with the exception of Hippolytus and Epiphanius, the Samaritans may be said to disappear. There were edicts against them issued by several of the Christian emperors, and in consequence they were scattered over the Levant. In the Jewish writings there are several accounts of the Samaritans, all disrespectful, and none of them trustworthy. Among other things they are accused of worshipping a dove, and disbelieving in angels and in the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body. In the beginning of this century M. Sylvestre de Sacy opened communications with the small surviving remnant of the Samaritans, and discovered that these Jewish accusations were utterly false. The only excuse for the assertion that they worshipped a dove seems to have been, that a dove was embroidered on the 48 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. cloth that covered the ark where they kept the book of the law. They believed in good angels, but not in an Archangel. They reckoned the obligation to sacrifice had ceased with the disappearance of the tabernacle. Like the Jews, they had Messianic hopes ; but it was of necessity not an anointed king, a descendant of David, but an anointed prophet, "one like unto Moses," that they expected. They still remain a small remnant in the neighbourhood of their old sacred place, still going through the rites of their old worship, and still maintaining their claim to be descendants of Israel. It seems their main points of difference from the Jews are now on matters of phylacteries and fringes. They have a version of the Pentateuch and of Joshua which differs in several points from the Masoretic text. The claim made for this by the Samaritans themselves is, as may be supposed, that it has come to them directly from the ten tribes. It is asserted that ap- pended to the ancient manuscript preserved by the remnant of the Samaritans in Sichem, is a declaration that it was the work of Abisha, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, in the thirteenth year after taking possession of the land of Canaan ; but the scroll with these words has not been seen by any of the many scholars who have examined this ancient codex. There is no question that if such an inscription were found it would be a forgery. Not only is the manuscript much later than the date implied in this alleged inscription, but the recension itself is evidently of much later date. When it was first brought to Europe, scholars, especially belonging to the Eomish Church, were inclined to put a high value on the THE SAMARITANS. 49 readings of the Samaritan Pentateuch, regarding that recension far above the Masoretic. Closer examination destroyed any idea of superior antiquity, although the arguments from the mistaken letters which would go to prove that it was copied into the present Samaritan characters out of the square Hebrew may not be worthy of implicit credit. One thing may be noted, that, with the exception of the assertion above referred to, that Gerizim, not Zion, was the place where God would put His name, there is no evidence to be drawn of the opinions of the Samaritans from their recension, of the Pentateuch. Some writers have seen traces of Samaritan influences in the Book of Jubilees ; but this view is a mistaken one. CHAPTER III. THE SADDUCEES. E class we have just been considering was separated from the Jews proper by a quasi national difference. The two nationalities were both worshippers of Jehovah, but difference of nationality meant no real essential difference in mode of worship. But now in taking up the Sadducees, we enter the region of Judaism properly so called. The origin of the Sadducean party is one that has been much dis- cussed, and on which no thoroughly reliable opinion can be formed. A certain Antigonus of Socho, said to be a scholar of Simeon the Just, and thus a younger con- temporary of Alexander the Great, is recorded to have warned men against following righteousness merely for the reward of Heaven. He was alleged to have had a disciple named Zadok, and from him the Sadducees are said to have taken their rise. The existence even of Antigonus the master is sufficiently doubtful, seeing it is only vouched for by late Talmudic authority, and therefore that of his disciple Zadok is also doubtful. The fact that he has a Greek name makes it almost certain that at all events Antigonus belonged to a later time. It was not until the time of Philadelphus that it became common in Palestine for Jews to assume Greek names. A considerable number of writers have THE SADDUCEES. 51 adopted this old Rabbinic view. Another view, sup- ported by Cohen, is that the name is descriptive, and means simply the righteous. To this it may be ob- jected that the word Sadducee seems to be derived, not from zaddik (?*??), but from zadtik or zadok (pro), the name of the Davidic high priest. Since the days of David one of the family of Zadok always ful- filled the function of the high priest, and from this the priests were spoken of as " sons of Zadok." According to some, it is from this old Zadok that the name of Sadducee comes, and it is held to mean a member of the priestly party. While it is certainly true that as a matter of history the Sadducees were the sacerdotal party, still it is not improbable that there was a certain play on the resemblance of the words, which had this excuse, that the name itself was evidently intended when applied to the person to mean " righteous." They most probably claimed respect on the plea that they represented in their adhesion to the law the mean- ing of the name, while they claimed the emoluments and immunities connected with the priesthood from the fact that they were the descendants of Zadok, the priest of the days of David. Mere questions of etymology are less important in matters such as we are here considering than historical facts. In investigating the history of Sadduceeism there is the difficulty to be encountered that in earlier times the name does not appear at all. Not only so, but even the events themselves are lost in obscurity. The space of nearly a century elapsed between the death of Artaxerxes Longimanus and the invasion of Alexander the Great, yet of it Josephus chronicles nothing ; in 62 THE BACKGKOUND OF APOCALYPTIC. fact, he seems unaware that there was more than one Artaxerxes, and appears to imagine that Darius Codomannus succeeded Artaxerxes Longimanus. It is scarcely possible to believe that he does not confound Sanballat who lived in the time of Nehemiah with one alleged to live in the time of Alexander the Great. In these circumstances, it is not surprising that we know nothing of Jewish history during the missing century. At the end of the period, the high priest seems to occupy without rival the principal place in the nation. The position is one to be intrigued for, and even is one for the attainment of which some would shrink from no crime. Of the early Greek period we are nearly as ignorant as of the later Persian period ; we know more of the ex- ternal vicissitudes of the Jewish nation, but as little of its internal condition. This much is clear, the heredi- tary priestly class ruled the internal affairs of the nation. We see in this class a great desire to adopt Greek manners, and even abandon those portions of the law that most marked the Jewish nation off from all others. The priestly party was thus at the same time the aristocratic party and the Hellenizing party. That it should be the former is not extraordinary ; but that it should be the latter is more strange, but is due doubtless to the contact with the Greeks imposed upon them by their position as the civil heads of the nation. While the Lagid princes left the Jews very much to themselves, the Seleucids wished to hurry the process of Hellenization : especially Antiochus Epiphanes did so, in order that he might weld his empire into one, and thus be able to present an undivided front to the THE SADDUCEES. 53 encroachments of Rome. The aristocracy yielded in the main ; only the Hasidim resisted, headed by Mattathias the priest of Modin and his sons. As the struggle pro- gressed, the sacerdotal party joined the patriots and got some control in its councils, with the result that the Hasidim moved off from Judas Maccabseus. He died in battle, and was succeeded by Jonathan first, then Simon, each of them more and more associating themselves with the party to which by descent they naturally belonged. The Hasidim held that the sacred people were not merely to keep themselves separate and free to worship God according to the law of their fathers, but that they must also make no treaties with Gentiles, and take no part in the intrigues of the court of Antioch. The priestly party were past-masters in the arts of diplo- macy, and would have none of these puritanic notions. While this went on there was no violent outbreak of dissatisfaction with the Hasmonsean rule. So long as Simon lived, gratitude for what he and his brothers had done and suffered for the cause was strong enough to keep down dissatisfaction. Simon was made high priest and prince, and these honours were to be hereditary. John Hyrcanus was still more of the politician, therefore more of the Sadducee, for we may now begin to use this term, than his father. The process begun by circumstances was precipitated by the insult offered to the memory of his mother at his table by a Pharisee. The result was that John Hyrcanus threw himself into the arms of the Sadducees. The sons of John Hyrcanus carried their favour for the Sadducees even further, Alexander Jannseus even going the length of instituting a severe persecution 54 THE BACKGKOUND OF APOCALYPTIC. of the Pharisees. The events of his reign somewhat modified his views ; and his widow, who succeeded him, threw herself into the arms of the Pharisaic party. Certainly the persecution of Alexander Jannseus had been fierce : he had, it is said, crucified eight hundred of the Pharisaic party. Now, when they had the power, every one that had had any part in that tragedy suffered death. How far the proscription of the Sadducean party would have gone it is impossible to say ; but Aristobulus interposed, and his mother, recognising the services in military and civil matters which the Sadduceans had rendered the State, used her influence to stop the persecutions. Not long after Alexandra Salome fell sick, and died. After the death of Salome, her two sons, Aristobulus and John Hyr- canus, represented the two parties, and they brought the difference between the parties to the arbitrament of the sword. Always the party of business and diplomacy, the Sadducees gained the mastery at first ; but rougher methods prevailed. Their relation to the law must be noted. They took the text of the Pentateuch as it came to them, and rigidly opposed themselves to all changes. From the fact that they were the sacerdotal party, the terms in which any set of ceremonies was enjoined was enough for them. Religion among the Greeks had become merely ceremonial observance, and the Sadducees, the party most associating with the Greeks and having most to do with sacrifices, naturally reduced Judaism to the same level. But to ceremonial the mode of doing anything is the all-important matter, hence the statements of the law were not to be tampered with or THE SADDUCEES. 55 explained ; everything must stand still. Religion was merely an external thing, useful for amusing the masses and keeping them in check, but not for any educated man really to believe in seriously; hence any change from within was to be deprecated. They themselves, however, moved by their contact with Greek thought, had not been unfruitful, and they took more to Greek philosophy than to Greek religion. It is to be noted as a singular thing that popularly the greater philosophies of Plato and Aristotle had fallen into the background as compared with Stoicism and Epicureanism. The latter form of thought, if we are to believe Josephus, had influenced them more than the former. The latter enabled them to talk glibly about sacred matters, but had no moral earnestness. They met the Pharisaic dogmas, drawn from inter- pretations of the law and the prophets asserted to be handed dow T n by tradition, by demanding verbal proof from the law that such was enjoined, and by casting- ridicule on these traditions. It may be doubted whether they held the immortality of the soul ; they certainly did not hold the resurrection of the body. They did not believe in Divine Providence ; with them Jehovah was like the Greek deities ; according to Epicurus, He lived apart from the world and care- less of mankind. They could not therefore believe in a God that continually guided His people in the world, as of old Israel had been guided through the desert by a pillar of fire and cloud. The affairs of the nation were to be guided on principles of earthly policy without any dependence on Providence. While they held by the legislative portions, they 56 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. evidently treated the historical portions of the Pen- tateuch rationalistically. We are told, Acts xxiii. 8, that the Sadducees did not believe in angels. If this is to be taken absolutely, then the account of angelic appearances which we find in the Pentateuch must all have been explained away. It might have been that, while believing in angels having appeared in ancient times to the fathers, they disbelieved all alleged appearances in their own day. The narrative referred to does not necessarily imply more than this, for the Pharisees proclaim their willingness to acknow- ledge that Paul might have been addressed by an angel. The doctrine of the resurrection of the body does not stand on that footing. It is most probable that intercourse with the Greeks had to do with their repudiation of this doctrine. To the Greeks, as we learn from what took place when Paul preached on Mars Hill, it was foolishness ; they could not com- prehend what was meant by the resurrection of the body, and thought the word Anastasis was the name of a new goddess whom Paul proposed to introduce to the worship of the Athenians. Associating continually with those who thus regarded the very notion of the resurrection as incomprehensible, it was but natural that the Sadducees should not believe in it themselves. Another thing that followed from their political pre- occupations, was a total neglect of the Messianic hopes of Israel. The coming of a Messiah would be the destruction of the whole fabric they had been building up. It would be the introduction of an incalculable factor in the problem of Jewish politics. Not less was THE SADDUCEES. 57 it to be objected that their opponents the Pharisees, and still more the Essenes, looked for the Messiah ; hence the triumph of the Messiah would be their definite overthrow. Sacrifices and all the temple worship might be changed if the prophet like unto Moses should arise, and then they, the priestly party, would be deprived of the functions that had given them importance. But chiefest of all the motives that influenced them was the fear expressed by Caiaphas, that the Romans would come and take away their place and their nation. CHAPTER IV. THE PHARISEES. rflHERE are few but have pretty distinct notions "- of what is meant when a man is declared to be a Pharisee. Literature is full of characters that express the common view by what, it cannot be denied, is caricature. It seems to some that in the New Testament we have the highest evidence for the truth of this view, which may roughly be stated as identifying Pharisee and hypocrite, the difference between the two being that, if anything, the Pharisee is the worse. If there be an element of unconsciousness in the Pharisee, unconsciousness, to a certain extent, that he is insincere, there is a further element of censoriousness in regard to others on the one hand, and self-complacency on the other, with regard to himself in very small outside accuracies of conduct. Such is very much the notion we have when we speak of Pharisaism, or hear a Pharisee referred to. Our Lord certainly has denounced the Pharisees in the severest terms as "whitened sepulchres," as "say- ing and not doing," as "devouring widows' houses," and "for a pretence making long prayers." In the parable of the Pharisee and the publican, we have the self-complacent nature of the Pharisee presented to us THE PHARISEES. 59 forcibly, and his desire to be seen of men to get all the credit he thought he deserved. Such is the picture presented to us by one that could not lie, and who knew what was in man. Such a result, however, is not the natural product of Judaism ; it means a long course of decadence from a high moral elevation. If hypocrisy is but pinchbeck virtue, were there no gold there would be no pinch- beck. In the seventeenth century, plays and satires assailed hypocrites as of necessity from their function they were obliged to do. The hypocrites of the play- wright were the Puritans. While, on the one hand, no one can deny the wonderful power the Puritans had of doing and daring when they were at their best, nor their courageous suffering for righteousness' sake when that was required of them, it can scarcely be denied that there were false Puritans as well as true, else the satires would have had no point. In Scotland we had the Covenanters, who supplied a later genera- tion with their models of hypocrites. Later still in England the Quakers and the Methodists were pilloried in the same way. Every class associating much together gets certain tricks of manner in common, certain tones of voice, and certain pet phrases. These have been unconsciously adopted, one person from another, and when one of the sect thinks of those serious matters which unite him to his fellow-sectarians, he naturally by association assumes the tones and mannerisms of the society. All that is outside and connected with manner is easily imitable, hence any one who wishes to gain the advant- age of being reputed to possess its virtues imitates the 60 THE BACKGKOUND OF APOCALYPTIC. mannerisms of the sect. This seems to have been the history of the sect of the Pharisees. In the First Book of the Maccabees (ii. 42) we are told that in the beginning of his conflict against Antiochus Epiphanes, Mattathias was joined by a company of " Assidaeans who knew the law," and " were men of valour." The meaning of the term " Assidsean " (D'Tpn) is pious. This, then, was a company of pious men of valour. When they are mentioned as joining the Has- monseans, it is not as a new and previously unknown class of persons. They were connected, according to some, 1 with the older scribes and students of the law. They came from their studies, threw away roll and stylus, and manifested their zeal for the law by grasping sword and spear in its defence. Their actions and their tenets so far as we know them make them parallel very much with the Cameronians in Scotland those implacable hill-folk that took to the " bent " rather than acknowledge an uncovenanted king. During the earlier part of the struggle against Antiochus they were with Judas, and formed the flower of his army. Their zeal for the law sometimes led them into difficulties. When Bacchides came bearing with him Alcimus, a legitimate descendant of Aaron, they were anxious to make peace with him ; and paid the penalty of their legalism with their lives, for sixty of them perished through the treachery of that unworthy de- scendant of Aaron. Zealous as they were for the cause of national independence with which the Hasmonseans had identified themselves, their zeal was somewhat 1 Cohen. THE PHARISEES. 61 dashed by the fact that the political Sadducean party began to secure an influence in the councils of Judas Maccabseus. Led by these hereditary diplomats, Judas made a treaty with the Eomans. One easily sees how the Hasidim would regard such a treaty by recalling the attitude assumed by the Cameronians to the Prince of Orange. This feeling of suspicion against Judas produced bitter fruit at the battle of Eleasa, where these Hasidim, who had formerly been such valiant soldiers, deserted him, and so Judas was defeated and slain. Their conscience was injured by this treaty with a heathen power, and conscience makes cowards of us all (1 Mace. ix. 4). After the death of Judas, the Hasmonaeans became more and more politically wise, and learned to balance one claimant to the Syrian throne against another, and entered into en- tangling alliances with heathen potentates, with the result that the Hasidim fall more and more into the background, and mercenary troops are employed in war. We have here assumed that the Hasidim and the Pharisees were really the same party. The evidence for this is mainly the fact that the parties occupied much the same relation to the Hasmonsean rulers on the one hand, and to the external nationalities on the other. Further, the names Pharisees and Hasidim regarded etymologically are not really different ; the Hasidim mean the " saints," the Partishim mean the " separate." A similar historic change of name occurs in our own country in the case of those who were called Puritans in the seventeenth century being now called Noncon- formists. In their first appearance they were zealous 62 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. for the law, and were called "saints" on account of their reverence for it ; but when the Hasmonaeans associated themselves with the priestly aristocracy, then the Hasidim separated themselves from them and became Partishim, "separate." The word might be rendered "dissenters" without straining the meaning greatly. The Pharisees " dissented " from the policy and practices of the governing party, and from the form of religion established by law. We have seen that the Sadducean party was essenti- ally a political one, and that what religious notions it defended against the Pharisees, it was led to assume out of antagonism to them and in self-defence. On the other hand, the Pharisees were essentially a religious party to begin with, and were compelled to take political action by necessity of their position. Thus the Puritans in England and the Presbyterians in Scotland, during the seventeenth century, while primarily religious parties, ere the century had reached the middle of its course, were triumphant political powers. The history of the Pharisaic party seems to have been very similar ; in the first place, they are eager for a reformation purely puritanic and precisian in its character ; then, on finding that their views were not followed in regard to alliances and other matters, they broke away, and, like the Presbyterian clergy in Scotland with James L, rebuked their rulers to the face. In some cases, notably that in which the final breach occurred between Hyrcanus and them, the Pharisees were clearly in the wrong. On the vamped-up story that his mother had once been a captive, Eleazar, a Pharisee, demanded that John Hyrcanus surrender the high priesthood. The THE PHARISEES. 63 sting of this lay in the implication that she had yielded her honour to her captor. John Hyrcanus became avowedly a Sadducee. While Wellhausen regards it as laughable (Idcherlich) to call the Pharisees, as Cohen does, the democratic party, there yet is a sense in which it is true. There is no natural connection between puritanism and republicanism ; yet in the great struggle between Charles I. and his Parliament it is well known on which side the Puritans were. That they were the ecclesi- astical opponents of the aristocratic Sadducees neces- sitated their being democratic. While thus politically democratic, no aristocrat held the "people" in pro- founder contempt than did the Pharisee, they were the people of the earth (am haaretz), n?P"V, the " people that know not the law," and are cursed (John vii. 49). Even contact with one of the despised common people defiled. Were the wife of one of them left alone in a room of a Pharisee's house, all within her reach was reckoned unclean. 1 At first sight it seems strange that such contempt of the people should be repaid by them with unbounded respect, but we see the same thing with regard to the Popish clergy in Ireland. In Ireland, also, we see the members of the ofticial aristocracy of the priesthood allying themselves with the democratic party. They were, moreover, in sympathy with the people in their Messianic hopes. In every time of deepest depression Israel always had an outlook to the future ; 1 Tins, however, rests simply on the evidence of the Talmud. It is not impossible that the am haaretz meant simply the non-Jewish inhabitants of the land-- Judea or any other country where the Jews were. 64 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. there was always the Messianic time and the Messianic King to be hoped for, the King who would right their wrongs and break the yoke of the oppressors, who should bring in the time of universal joy and peace. To this hope the Pharisees gave scientific precision, and supplied it with scriptural proof. While this made them popular with the people, it of necessity exposed them to the wrath of the aristocracy, and of the aristocratic Hasmonsean kings. The assumption of kingship by the sons of John Hyrcanus was a violence done to the Messianic hope, which declared for a king only in the lineage of David. Since the Pharisees denounced the assumption of regal honours by Alexander Jannseus as usurpation, it was but natural that the haughty high priest and king should respond with a wasting persecution, which resulted in a rebellion that, fostered by the heathen powers outside, \vorked disastrously. At his death he was succeeded, as we have said above, by his wife Salome, or to give her the Greek name by which she is more generally known, Alexandra. As a legacy he had left her, with the kingdom, the advice to trust herself to the Pharisees. The Pharisees showed them- selves as willing to tyrannise as their predecessors, so a reaction set in, and the Herodian family finally seated themselves on the throne. When this was accom- plished, of necessity the Pharisees were the popular party. Herod they opposed, because he was not only not a descendant of David, but was not even an Israelite. If the Hasmonseans had allied themselves with Eome, Herod subjected himself to Rome, and toadied to Roman fashions and Roman wishes. All this THE PHARISEES. 65 hatred against Rome as the real oppressor against Herod as the tool of Rome concentrated itself in the Pharisees, and found expression through them. As the exponents of popular feeling, the Pharisees were thus the popular party. Another thing that gives a democratic complexion to the Pharisaic sect, is the fact that many of their most famous teachers came from the lowest ranks, and wrought with their own hands for their support, even while influencing the opinions of their countrymen. This was the case with Hillel, according to the account in the Talmud. Although of Davidic descent, he was so poor that, to support himself, he had to act as a day-labourer, and found it difficult to get money to pay the porter for admittance to the Beth-Midrash or school ; sometimes he failed to get enough ; then, in his eagerness for learning, he took advantage of a window and listened at it ; and on one occasion he sat there during a winter's night in the snow, and was taken down the following day the Sabbath half- frozen. This exploit made him free of the schools. He repaid his teachers by his diligence, so that his learning became marvellous. He was made president of the Sanhedrin, and enjoyed that honour as long he lived, till he was one hundred and twenty. Our only authority for his existence is the Talmud; and evidently many features in this account of him and his history are false. He probably did exist, and was a teacher of some note, though Josephus does not mention him ; that he was not president of the Sanhedrin is certain. The assertion is merely a specimen of the vagaries of the Talmud. The fact 66 THE BACKGKOUND OF APOCALYPTIC. that the accounts of Hillel and other Pharisees in- culcating high moral precepts were written some four centuries after Christ, disposes effectually of the pre- tence that our Lord borrowed from Hillel. Another fable of the Talmud is that there were pairs of teachers at the head of the Sanhedrin respect- ively president and vice-president. Of these, that composed of Hillel and Shammai was the most famous, that is to say, the most spoken of in the Talmud. They are contrasted characters, who probably existed; whether they spoke any one of the numerous speeches assigned to them in the Talmud is very doubtful. In these Talmudic legends Hillel is represented as always gentle and ready to take the merciful view of things, whereas Shammai always took the more strict and severe view of matters. Each, so runs the Talmud, had a school or following. This is so far probable that there is a constant reference to the stricter and freer views on given points ; and these are attributed, the first to the B'ne Shammai, and the second to the B'ne Hillel. One thing that throws suspicion on the whole matter is that neither in Josephus, the New Testament, nor Philo is there any reference to these disputes. In both Josephus and the New Testament there is reference to a class of Zealots who may be the followers of Shammai. The Talmud, however, makes no reference to the blood- thirsty violence of the Shammaites, a characteristic that is the leading one of the Zealots in Josephus. Josephus in one place, indeed, speaks of these Zealots as if they were quite separate from the Pharisees, and formed a fourth philosophic school. Such an aspect is eminently unsuitable to the real facts of the case. THE PHARISEES. 67 No set of persons could be less like a philosophic sect than those wild fanatics. If one had only Josephus' account of the wars of the Jews, one would be apt to regard these Zealots as taking their origin with the trouble which immediately preceded the cam- paigns of Vespasian and Titus ; but the fact that one of the apostles of our Lord belonged originally to this class, proves the incorrectnesss of this view. Paul also, if we may follow Ewald's interpretation of Gal. i. 14, in which the apostle says he " was exceedingly zealous for the traditions of the fathers," may have been a Zealot. The movement began evidently much earlier. In his Antiquities Josephus attributes the rise of this sect to Judas the Galilean, whose rising took place A.D. 6. But the movement may really be dated back to the time when the Eabbin Judas and Matthias headed their scholars in hewing down the eagle Herod had caused to be placed over the gate of the temple. The account Josephus gives of their manners and methods reminds one of the Nihilists in Russia at the present time. They sat in secret tribunal, and doomed to death those whom they imagined to be in their way. The execution of the sentence was com- mitted to certain members of the sect, and by them was carried out. In the history of Scotland we have the rise of a sect that bore considerable resemblance to these Zealots. The Presbyterians were practically subdued by the dragoons of Claverhouse, except the Cameronians, to whom we have already referred ; and though not to be mentioned in the same breath with such men as Simeon ben Gamaliel or John of Gischala, yet they condemned to death those who were 68 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. obnoxious to them, as we see in the murder of Arch- bishop Sharp on Magus Moor. Other lesser criminals were, we know, condemned by them and executed in a similar summary fashion. 1 Indeed, to men with the Pharisaic belief in a coming Messiah, who would deliver Israel from all their enemies, the quiet stand- ing still that was required of them would be very difficult to maintain. The more thoroughly they were imbued with the certainty of the coming Messianic times and Messianic glory, the more difficult would it be for them to wait. They would be prone to hasten the approach of the Lord by coming to His help against the mighty. Springing from the Pharisees, they had really the same general tenets. But while the school of Hillel was contemplative, the Zealots were essentially men of action. Of course, as the disorder increased, the Zealots came more and more into prominence. A fever of excite- ment seized the nation, and this was aggravated by outrages perpetrated on their countrymen in the Greek cities where they were resident. Murders of the cruellest sort took place, and wholesale massacres, of which the victims were Jews. Each successive governor was with the sole exception of Festus, who lived but a short time worse than Jiis predecessor. Each procurator was ravenous for money, and justice, like everything else, was sold. Every now and then Roman contempt for everything Jewish was made cynically manifest by deeds in which Jewish national feelings were outraged. All this tended to make the 1 The relation of the German reformers to the Anabaptists somewhat resembles that of the Pharisees to the Zealots. THE PHARISEES. 69 Zealots prominent, who declared that as they were God's people, fighting for God's cause, God would pro- tect His own, and they would thus be sure of victory. The milder school that ordinarily represented the Pharisees in the Sanhedrin were overborne ; even the priestly Sadducean party, whose whole strength lay in adherence to Rome, were swept away by the torrent of popular feeling. When the Roman conqueror pressed on to Jerusalem, and shut in the various contending Jewish sects within the walls of Jeru- salem, there was a perfect carnival of slaughter. The terrible story is too familiar in the pages of Josephus to need repetition. The remnant of the milder schools betook themselves, before the final struggle, to Jabne, and devoted themselves to the composition of those restrictions and definitions which in a century and a half later formed the Mishna. But the Zealots did not wholly disappear in spirit, though the party externally was annihilated. It took another rising and another series of terrible sieges and over- throws to convince the Jews that they were not so favoured by God as to be able to throw off the Roman yoke that they had ceased to be the inheritance of the Almighty. Their lofty Messianic expectations and the confidence they had in divine angelic aid, despite all their blood- thirsty cruelty, make them more akin to the class who wrote the Apocalypses than the Sadducees, 1 or even the quieter Pharisees of the school of Hillel. An excitable fanatic sect like the Zealots was the very 1 Montet's idea, that the Zealots were half Sadducean, is untenable on the face of it. (Les Sadduceens ct Us I'harisiens.) 70 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. public to devour with avidity the tales of strange visions of Messianic times as seen by this or that great prophet of the past. But there is a want in them of that con- templative faculty so prominent in these books. This Messianic hope seems to have attracted these fanatics to our Lord, however unlike fanaticism His teaching was. Some have even credited Judas with having their wild hopes, and, eager to force his Master into the violent career he desired Him to take, betrayed Him, as the only means that seemed likely to secure his end. The relation of our Lord to the Pharisees is one full of interest. The Messianic hopes they cherished and inculcated made them feel an interest in one who claimed to be the Messiah. The fact that in many, nay most, points where they differed from the Sadducees He was on their side, though He had not sprung from their schools, must have tended to attract them almost as much as His denunciation of the false Pharisees tended to drive them away. His great influence with the multitudes had a double effect on them. His influence on the people might be regarded as antagon- istic to theirs, and that might well move them to oppose Him ; but, again, the great resemblance there was between their doctrinal position and His would be prone to make them imagine that it might be easy to win over the Galilean peasant Eabbi to them, and make Him their tool in strengthening their power over the masses. These two tendencies are observable in almost every chapter of the gospel history. The one tendency leads them to lie in wait for His words, in order that they may twist them to His disadvantage, THE PHARISEES. 71 especially with the multitude, or failing that, with the Sanhedrin. The other leads them to invite Him to their houses, and entertain Him at feasts. Every now and then His wonderful sayings attracted them by their breadth and beauty, and anon the way He brushed aside the web of finical refinements they had wrapped round the law refinements that had come down to them from the fathers roused their bitterest wrath. They were always hoping that He would become the Messiah they expected, and lead the people victoriously against the Romans ; and always were their hopes disappointed. It may be that Lange is right, that even in the taunt to our Lord while hanging on the cross, " If He will come down from the cross, then will we believe in Him," there was latent half- despairing hope that He would put forth His miraculous power, and, saving Himself from the death of shame, be the Messiah promised to the fathers. The general thesis, that the opposition of the Pharisees to Jesus was rather scholastic than political, more like that within their own schools, is maintained by Cohen with great plausibility. One thing is obvious, it was the Sadducees, not the Pharisees, who delivered Him up to the Romans, and forced Pilate to condemn Him to be crucified. The Sadducees had no Messianic hopes, and were sure that the troubles that must follow a rising against the Romans would be neither small nor few. The Sadducean hate was founded on self-interest, and therefore deadly and implacable. However plausible the view advocated by Cohen, the statements of the Gospels certainly represent the Pharisaic hate of our Lord to be far deeper and more 72 THE BACKGKOUND OF APOCALYPTIC. venomous than he would admit. If we admit that the Talmud represents Pharisaic thought and feeling at the time of our Lord, which to a certain extent is doubtful, we find there how little of that respect for Jesus attributed to them, these later Pharisees pos- sessed. We need not refer in proof of this general assertion to the later book the Toldoth Jeshu, the ordinary names by which He is referred to are enough. It may well have been that the milder school of the Pharisees, the followers of Hillel, if there was a Hillel, and he had a school, were averse to go the length the Sadducees and the more extreme Pharisees wished to go ; and that may explain the reason of the falling back of the Pharisees at the time of our Lord's final trial and the prominence of the Sadducees. The fact that Christ's claims to Messiah- ship tended to excite a conflict with Rome, was reason enough for the Sadducees to wish Him put down. His unsparing unmasking of their hypocrisy earned the hatred of the Pharisees ; a hatred, though not so envenomed as that of the Sadducees, that might still be deep all the deeper for the many points of resemblance between His doctrines and theirs. If we now proceed to consider the doctrines of the Pharisees, we find ourselves in the first place obliged to decide the relation in which scribes and Pharisees stood to each other. The last occasion in which the scribes appear in the history of the New Testament is at Paul's trial before the Sanhedrin, when (Acts xxiii. 9), on Paul's declaring himself " a Pharisee, a son of a Pharisee," " the scribes that were of Pharisees' part arose, and strove," etc. This statement would THE PHARISEES. 73 seem naturally to imply two things first, that all the scribes were not Pharisees ; and further, though not so necessarily, that all the Pharisees were not scribes. The fact really seems to be that " scribe " was merely the name of an employment ; and of the members of this profession some were Pharisees and some Sadducees, though it might well be that most of the scribes adhered to the Pharisaic party. When the priests had become followers of Greek learning, and adepts at foreign politics, the scribes who studied the law r for its own sake came into greater prominence. When the transference of the high priesthood from the direct line to that of the Hasmonseans lowered the sanctity of the office, although it gave it outward splendour, the influence of the scribes tended to increase. Hence they became most important functionaries in the State, and practically all the members of the Sanhedrin were scribes. The other passages where there seems to be a distinction made between scribes and Pharisees, really asserts that all the Pharisees were not scribes. The Pharisaic form of doctrine was essentially founded on " scribism." They were all full of reverence for the Law down to the smallest and most unim- portant peculiarities even of the writing. The Law as they had received it from the fathers had to be made commensurate with the needs of a much later time. Their ingenuity was shown in deducing from the arrangement of the words in some passage in the Law an authoritative decision in regard to some new matter that in fact was unforeseen by the original writer. Doctrinally, also, the people had advanced, 74 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. and these doctrines generally held by the people had to be defended by passages in the Law, and again their ingenuity was shown. The doctrines that, according to the New Testament, most distinguished the Pharisees, were the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, and the existence of angels. Josephus adds a doctrine of "fate" or providence. In all these points it is obvious enough that the Pharisees held the same doctrines that were afterwards held in the Christian Church. The direction their ingenuity took of finding pro- found meanings in odd shapes of letters, and of drawing deductions from the numerical value of the letters that go to form a given sentence, was widely different from the spirit of the Apocalyptists. Even when they indulged in imaginative Hagada, and took good-bye of history in the most summary fashion, they did not pry into the future. They had Messianic hopes, but did not dare, as did the Apocalyptist, to portray the coming of the Messiah. CHAPTER V. THE ESSENES. "YVTHO were the Essenes? whence did they spring ? What were their relations to Judaism on the one hand, and to Christianity on the other ? These are questions that meet us when we enter upon the study of Essenism. How difficult this investigation, how doubtful its results, may be understood when we mention that Hilgenfeld says, Jildische Apocalyptik, p. 245 : "Essaism is the most enigmatical phe- nomenon of later Judaism ; " and Lucius (der Essenis- mus, p. 63) makes a remark precisely similar. The very name is subject of dispute. Sometimes we find them called 'Ea-aaloi, sometimes 'Eo-o-fjvot ; and if Epi- phanius is included among our authorities, we have several further variants. The etymology of the name is to the last degree enigmatical. There are some Greek etymologies suggested ; all of these, however, may be neglected, save that which seems to have been favoured by Philo. Both in Quod Omnis Probus Liber and in the fragment of the Apology he refers to the resemblance between the name Essene and the word oo-tot ; but it may be doubted whether he seriously meant to assert that there was any etymological connection between them. It is need- 75 76 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. less to say that whatever was Philo's real opinion, the derivation is impossible. The probability is, that the name "Essene" is derived from some Hebrew or Aramaic word. It is, however, a very difficult process to argue back from Greek to Hebrew. As may be seen from the form Hebrew names assume in the Septuagint and Josephus, Hebrew letters have no fixed equivalents in Greek. The result of this is, that the etymologies proposed are practically numberless. 1 The number of these proposed derivations may, however, be somewhat lessened if one assumes that in transferring the name from Hebrew to Greek, Philo and Josephus used the most ordinary equivalents. This at once disposes of the impossible suggestion that the name is derived from w, Jesse. While none of the four gutturals are impossible as the first letter of the original Hebrew word, we may rule out, as at least improbable, all those that are represented in several different ways. Since Philo, Josephus, and Epiphanius give different Greek versions of the name, indeed, the last named gives us two forms of it, the probability is, if the guttural in question was liable to be represented in two different ways in Greek, both ways would have come down to us. If we are correct in this, all those derivations which assume that y is the first letter must be dis- missed, as that guttural was fully as frequently repre- sented by P as by a simple vowel, e.g. FoOokla, ^bnj? 5 for Athaliah; and TojjLoppa, rnbg, for Gomorrah. Further, although 'nun becomes 'Evd>x, yet |i~>3n becomes 1 Any reader desirous of information on this matter should consult Bishop Lightfoot's dissertation appended to his Commentary on Colossians. THE ESSENES. 7*7 hence, though with scarcely so near an approach to certainty, we can put aside those derivations which have n as their first letter. In this case the etymology suggested by Bishop Lightfoot namely, that Essene is derived from N'f?, "to be silent" must be regarded as improbable, on the grounds suggested above. It is further improbable from the fact that, though the Essenes had a silent period of probation, it was not a characteristic that would strike the public in regard to them. Josephus tells us of many appearances of individual Essenes, and it is usually as proclaiming the future, not maintaining an obstinate silence. The first letter, then, was probably either N or n. The case of 'Iea/3e\ (Jezebel) from ^rx } compared with 'leo-o-ato? of Epiphanius, would be in point here ; but evidently we have not the original name, as the meaning shows ; however, we have a^, To>/3. This would indicate that x is the initial letter. As to the second radical of the five sibilants, we may be sure it cannot have been r, as that is invariably represented by Z. This excludes, among others, the suggestion of Ewald, that Essene is derived from Ijn, to be strong ; thus I^DN becomes 'O^o^W, and up, Keveg. Either of the other letters may be represented by a-. Thus NDX becomes 'Aa-d, and ^V?, Baaad ; WIX, 'Aftea-o-d ; E^'?* 5 , 'A/3ea-K> as KrrtHp, thus interpreting that difficult title. There are several other instances that might be mentioned. The Targum of Jonathan is considerably more para- phrastic than that of Onkelos. Keally, however, it is exceedingly doubtful how far the Targums reveal much of Jewish opinion. The probability certainly is that to some extent there was a close family resemblance among the Aramaic ver- sions given by each successive reader in the synagogue from the earliest times, yet nothing can be rested on this. As these versions were not written, a change in the popular mood of thought would excuse a slight variation in the words, and would be almost imper- ceptible. While each change individually might be very small, successive changes might involve in the end the greatest difference between the first version and the last. Of course, against this is the tendency of the liturgies to become stereotyped even when handed down by tradition. While this applies to a certain extent to Onkelos and Jonathan ben Uzziel, much more does it NON-APOCALYPTIC PALESTINIAN LITERATURE. 175 apply to Joseph Csecus, the pseudo- Jonathan, and the Jerusalem Targum. One usage in the Targums must be referred to which has been examined by Winer, De Onkeloso. Instead of using **, the Aramaic equivalent of nirr, very frequently the Targumists write instead K'jo'o, "word." This suggests certainly the " Word " of the prologue of the Gospel of John, the connection of which with Philo has been already noted. Whether this practice on the part of the Targumists was due to the influence of Philo, or whether it sprang up independently, is difficult to say. While the Platonic ideas gave a starting-point for the Philonian ^0709, no similar source can be suggested in regard to Babylonian Judaism of the fourth century ; hence the balance of probability seems decidedly in favour of this usage being borrowed from Philo. This transference of influence from Hellenic thought to Judaism in an indirect way may be seen in the confusion of Aquila with this fabled Onkelos. It does not invalidate this to take Szinessy's view, that the meaning of the title Targum of Onkelos is one " after the manner of Aquila." Another work, or rather collection of works, requires to be looked at. The Talmud occupies in the Baby- lonian and Jerusalem recension something like twelve or thirteen volumes, folio or quarto according to the edition. When one opens a volume, the page that he sees presents a strange appearance. Kather nearer the top than the centre of the page is a quadrangular patch of clear printing, in ordinary Hebrew ; the letters are of the ordinary size of character to be found in an octavo Hebrew Bible, the size of the page to which the quadrangular patch we spoke of approximates. 176 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. Around this on every side, above and below, is a mass of printing in much smaller type, late Hebrew this is a dialect abounding in Aramaisms, and printed in Rabbinic character. The quadrangular patch is the Mishna, and the black mass round it is the Gemara or commentary on it. There are, further, considerable appendices. Other pages present other peculiarities, but this is the most general appearance. The Mishna, as its name indicates, is the repetition of the Law. It is mainly composed of Halachoth, or decisions of successive Rabbins on points regarded of importance by the Pharisaic party. It is asserted to have been committed to writing somewhat late in the second century by Rabbi Jehudah the holy, but it professes to contain the decisions of the fathers back to the days of the great synagogue. Rabbinic scholars have been prone to represent these decisions as of high value ; and they might be so were there any evidence that they were accurately recorded ; but the exaggera- tions, trivialities, and absurdities that abound render it extremely difficult to imagine that those who had so completely lost the sense of the credible and seem never to have possessed the instinct of accuracy, should be credited with scrupulous accuracy in regard to the opinions of those who had preceded them. The way that certain names recur and re-recur is in itself highly suspicious, even if there were no other grounds of suspicion. Even the date at which it was committed to writing is very doubtful. The fourth century is almost as probable a date as the second for the origin of the written Mishna. The Mishna is divided into six Sedarim or sections, NON- APOCALYPTIC PALESTINIAN LITERATURE. 177 each of these into ten tracts on an average, or sixty-one tracts in all, and each of these into rather less than nine chapters on an average. The first section is in regard to " seeds," the second in regard to " festivals," the third in regard to " women," the fourth in regard to "damages," the fifth in regard to "holy things," and the sixth in regard to "justification." This general summary gives an idea of the nature of the subjects taken up. The whole subject is in each case treated from the low level of ceremonial, and the reasons for the decisions come to are absurd to the last degree. The numerical value of the letters composing a phrase is equal to the numerical value of the letters composing another phrase, and from this a deduction is made. A phrase vocalised one way means one thing, vocalised another way means another thing ; these two meanings are made to limit each other. Again, a verbal turn is made to serve as the foundation for a principle. Unwitting that it is the greatest condem- nation of themselves and their methods, the Rabbins assert that the law concerning the Sabbath is like a mountain suspended by a hair. A favourable example is the question with which the Mishna opens "When may the Israelite say his evening stima, (Hear, Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord) ? " one Rabbi gives one decision and another gives another, through some half a dozen, till at length Rabbi Gamaliel's opinion is given, with the occasion of it. His sons had been at a banquet, and they came home after midnight and appealed in distress to their father whether they could still repeat their evening confession of faith. Gamaliel's answer was, "You 178 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. can do so till the pillar of day appears in the sky." In many instances fantastic reasons are added for each of the decisions. Little as the 'value of these decisions may be in themselves, they would have some value as evidences of thought and feeling in Palestine at a given time, could we have any confidence that the successive Eabbins whose names are connected with the several decisions had really given them. But this confidence we certainly cannot have. The Talmud is literally saturated with falsehood. Thus we have the fiction of two schools with always parallel masters, the most famous pairs being Abtalion and Shemaiah, and Hillel and Shammai. To say that this invariable parallelism was highly improbable is to put it very mildly, when we remember that Hillel is asserted to have lived over the century. Was it likely Shammai was head of the opposing school as long as his long-lived rival ? As unlikely is it that in the long line of pairs there would occur no case where the teacher in the one school overlived two successive teachers in the other. This brings up another mis- representation of which the Talmud is guilty. These teachers in what we may call the Pharisaic academy were represented as being the president and vice- president of the Sanhedrin. A view of matters nearly as absurd as if an Oxonian of future genera- tions were to maintain that the late T. H. Green and Professor Jowett were members of Her Majesty's Government ; or as if a Cantabrian of the present time were to hold that the Speaker of the House of Commons in the days of Queen Anne was Eichard Bentley. We find a similar growth of unreliable legends among the NOX-APOCALYPTIC PALESTINIAN LITERATURE. 1*79 monks in the Middle Ages. The Jews, at the time when the Mishna was compiled, were shut off, like the monks, from all opportunity of healthy ambition or -any hope of influencing history. They retired therefore into their imagination, and invented a history of the past. This characteristic appears most in the Hagadic portion of the Mishna, and is therefore more noticeable still in the Gemara. The Gemara is a commentary on the Mishna ; and some would restrict the term Talmud to the Gemara, as does Schiller- Szinessy. The Hagada is an enlarge- ment or extension of some precepts in the Mishna. In some instances there are beauties to be found among these ; in so many folio volumes it is scarcely possible but that something precious should be found; but it is little in comparison to the numerous trivialities. The childishness of the mass of these tracts is their most striking characteristic. Later Jewish tracts carry into yet greater excess all the worst qualities of the Talmud. Were it not that the reader is impressed with this childishness, he would at times be horror-struck at the hideous blasphemy of representing the Almighty as arguing in the schools with their legal doctors, and by no means with success ; in fact, the Almighty is re- presented as needing to be informed by these Eabbins of what actually was in His own law. Thus in Avoda Sara, Rabbi Jehuda said that Kaf has said, " The day has twelve hours ; in the first three God sits and studies the law, in the next three He sits and judges the whole world, in the third three He sits and nourishes the whole world, and the last three He sits and plays with Leviathan." This may be regarded as bad enough; 180 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. but another of these wonderful stories narrates how there were discussions in heaven as to the question of ceremonial uncleanness in regard to blisters and whitening of the hair in leprosy, and in this matter God Almighty maintained one opinion, and the rest of the " academy " of heaven maintained the opposite. In order to settle the dispute, the angel of death was sent for a certain Rabbi ben Nachmani, and when brought ben Nachmani graciously took the side of God Almighty, who blessed him in consequence. Sometimes even they go the length of representing the Almighty as defeated in argument. Nay more, they relate that when the temple was burned, the Almighty sat still, complaining, till Asaph came and ordered Him to leave off; and that when He buried Moses He became ceremonially unclean. Of course there are numerous and nameless blas- phemies of Christ, which, horrible as they are, may be regarded as the endeavour to excuse their unbelief to themselves. Yet there is a childishness in their most venomous statements that induces contempt rather than hatred. We need not waste any more time witli this really worthless collection of tracts ; at least they are worthless for our purpose. They do give us some information of the opinions of the Jews in the earlier portion of the Middle Ages, but as to the state of opinion in Palestine in the days of our Lord, or while the Apocalyptic books were written, their evidence is simply worth nothing. The proofs that are brought forward that our Lord borrowed from Hillel, rest on the resemblance between the maxims attributed to Hillel in the Talmud and the NON- APOCALYPTIC PALESTINIAN LITERATURE. 181 sayings recorded of our Lord. The whole evidence for Hillel's sayings is this Talmud, written at the earliest some hundred and fifty years after Hillel's death, more probably actually committed to writing a couple of centuries later still. In any other matter such evidence would be reckoned absolutely worthless. If Hillel were such an important personage as the Talmud represents him to be, why does Josephus never so much as mention him ? Fear and hatred alike might keep him silent about our Lord, if silent he was, but these reasons cannot be advanced to account for his silence in regard to Hillel. While, as we saw in regard to the Targums and the Septuagint, the object of the writers was to soften or remove everything savouring of anthropomorphism in regard to God, in the Talmud the writers seem to delight in the absurdest anthropomorphisms. The same tendency to remove anthropomorphism may be seen in the Book of Jubilees, as we shall see later, and also in Josephus, which we shall have occasion to discuss immediately. The strange fantastic mood o'f mind manifested by the Talmudists was thus diametri- cally opposed to that exhibited by the writers whose dates we know fall within the period with which we have to do. This would indicate that these sayings belong to a totally different period, and prove, even if there were nothing else, how valueless is the evidence of the Talmud for our present purpose. In regard to the Messianic hopes of Israel also, the whole atmosphere of the Talmud, unlike that of our period, is that of disappointment and the sense of failure. " The times have all flowed past when the 182 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. Messiah was to come," and this, although they in- terpret Messianically the reference in the blessing of Jacob to the coming of Shiloh, and also many of the prophecies. Notwithstanding, their imagination runs riot over impossible glories to be experienced when He does come. Such flights are really a reductio ad impossibile of the national hopes. What other is it when it is asserted that each Israelite should have two thousand eight hundred servants? This latter statement is from the Jalkut Shimoni, but still it represents the same movement. Still less can any value be assigned to the Kabbala. This system of theosophic doctrine is mainly known to us through the book Zohar, which claims to be written by Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai, who is traditionally re- ported to have lived in the end of the first century of our era to have flourished, in short, just after the fall of Jerusalem. It further claims that he has embodied in it the esoteric wisdom that had been revealed to prophet after prophet from Adam downwards. Taking the text of the books of Moses, this book applies to the words all manner of absurd methods methods already in use in the Talmud. Sometimes a word is treated as a cipher, and atJibash or albam applied to it, and new meanings are extracted. Again gematma is used a method we have already referred to, by which the numerical value of two clauses being equal, they are regarded as equivalent in meaning. About the period of the Renascence, the doctrines of the Kabbala had considerable influence among Hebrew scholars both in church and synagogue, and the veritable existence of Simeon ben Jochai was believed in. Subsequent in- NON- APOCALYPTIC PALESTINIAN LITERATURE. 183 vestigation has proved that the book in question was not written till about A.D. 1300. It may or may not contain elements as old as the date it claims as that of its author, but there are no means of testing it, and most of its contents are worthless, whatever their date. We thus see it is extremely doubtful whether we have any remains in Hebrew or Aramaic of the first or of even the second century of our era, still less of the period of the Apocalyptists. If Professor Roberts' theory is correct, that the language of business, and therefore of literature, and even of worship, was Greek, it is but natural that there should be few Hebrew remains from that period. We shall see that we have the fragments of works more or less copious that were originally composed in Hebrew and Aramaic. It is, however, only the translations and retranslations of these that have reached us. We shall now turn to Greek historical works of Palestinian origin. The earliest of these of which we have any notice is the history of the reign of John Hyrcanus the First. It is referred to in the end of the First Book of the Maccabees. We have no fragments of it surviving. While we assume it to have been written in Greek, it may have been written in Hebrew or in Aramaic. It is to be presumed that Josephus has made use of it in his account of the reign of Hyrcanus. Nearly as voluminous as Philo, Josephus has been much more generally read and studied ; partly, no doubt, because his works are in the main narrative, but greatly because by the account he gives of the siege 184 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. of Jerusalem, the fulfilment of our Lord's prophecy is seen in all its terrible reality narrated by an eye- witness. While in regard to Philo our information is in the last degree scanty, in regard to Josephus it is singularly full, as he has left us his autobiography. He was of the seed of Aaron, and belonged to the course Joiarib, the first of the twenty-four courses ; his mother was of the race of Hasmonseans. He thus could claim to belong to the highest caste of his nation. He was born in the year A.D. 37, the first year of the Emperor Caligula, and, along with his brother, was carefully educated. In order to attain a knowledge of the different sides of Judaism, he became a follower of one Banus, who seems to have been an Essene, or perhaps a Judaising Christian. He became a Pharisee after having been three years with Banus. As one of priestly caste, he would be acquainted with the Sadducean party ; indeed that is the party to which he naturally belonged. Josephus may then be regarded as having gone the round of the Jewish sects, and thus is in a position to say what their respective peculiarities were. It must be noted here that in his accounts there is a tendency to parallel the Jewish religious sects with the Greek philosophic sects. Thus he declares the Pharisees to be like the Stoics, and the Sadducees like the Epicureans. This so far militates against the absolute accuracy of what he says. At a comparatively early age he was sent to Eome, and after suffering a shipwreck on his way thither, in which, like the Apostle Paul, he was a night and a day on the deep, he landed, again like Paul, at Puteoli, and thence proceeded to Rome, and, securing NON-APOCALYPTIC PALESTINIAN LITERATURE. 185 Aliturus as advocate with Nero, got a favourable presentation at the Imperial Court. He gained the ear of the Empress Poppsea, and by her influence with the emperor succeeded in having the priests released whose imprisonment by Felix was the cause of his mission. Not long after his return the war broke out in Judea, and he was appointed to a command in Galilee. At first, according to his own account, he was exposed to considerable intrigue on the part of John of Gischala, from which he successfully extricated him- self. When the campaign against Galilee was actually commenced by Vespasian, Josephus threw himself into Jotapata, and defended it long and vigorously, only surrendering when the supply of water was cut off. When he was made prisoner by the Romans he was taken into the favour of Vespasian by prophesying that he should become emperor, a vaticination which he declares he made from the old prophets. He made out Vespasian the Messiah promised to the fathers. He thus sold the birthright of his people, the hope of a Messiah the son of David, for a mess of pottage. After the capture of Jerusalem, Josephus went to Rome with his patron, Titus, the son of the Emperor Vespasian, and partook in the glories of his triumph. It must have been with mingled feelings that he looked on the spectacle which signalised the suppression of his nation and the overthrow of its worship after unheard-of sufferings. Nevertheless he set himself to perpetuate that triumph by writing his first literary work, TJie History of the Wars of the Jews, an account of the conflicts of the Jews with the Romans. 186 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. Some twenty years after the publication of this work, when Vespasian and Titus his son were both dead, Josephus published his Antiquities of the Jews, an account of the history of the Jewish people from the earliest times. In the beginning the Scriptures are drawn upon, and later he draws on the First Book of the Maccabees and the history of John Hyrcanus I. In regard to the Persian period, after the Biblical record fails him, his account is decidedly defective. Reading his account one would, as we have remarked above, be left with the impression that Darius Codomannus succeeded immediately to Artaxerxes Longimanus. He certainly does not say that the last king of Persia succeeded directly to the grandson of Darius Hystaspis, but that as certainly is implied. He next wrote a defence of this work against Apion. Apion seems to have been an inveterate opponent o Judaism. This book contains a fuller exhibition of the theological views of Josephus than his histories do. Last of all, he wrote the book usually called his life, but which is really a defence of himself against the accusations of one Justus, who wrote a history, no part of which, however, has come down to us. The account of the sufferings of the Jewish Maccabean martyrs, commonly known as the Fourth Book of the Maccabees, is sometimes attributed to him, and is usually bound along with his works. Its authorship, however, is extremely doubtful. The year of his death is not known, but he seems to have lived to the reign of Trajan. As a youth, he probably learned both Greek and Aramaic. The first edition of his work on the wars NON-APOCALYPTIC PALESTINIAN LITERATURE. 187 of the Jews was in Aramaic ; but afterwards, finding possibly that his work was not popular with the limited public to which it alone was open, he trans- lated it into Greek. In this work he owns he had the help of certain assistants, na-l a-wepyois, in translat- ing it into Greek. This explains, probably, the way in which he has succeeded in avoiding all Hebraisms. To see the difference of writings composed under such auspices, and truly Hebraistic writings, one has only to compare Josephus with the Septuagint. He probably knew Greek as well as, or better, than the apostles ; but living among those who were greater purists in Hellenic style, he felt his need of assistance. It may be noted in support of our view, that he most generally is guided by the Septuagint where it differs from the Hebrew ; that in regard to the ante- diluvian patriarchs, the numbers he gives are accord- ing to the Septuagint, save in the case of Lamech, where he follows the Hebrew. He evidently used the Hebrew as well as the Septuagint, as may be seen when he tells the story of David and Goliath ; the parts omitted in the Septuagint are evidently used. Edersheim notes cases where his Hebrew is at fault, a fact which contradicts the statement that the doctors of the law came to consult him when he was a boy of fourteen. As to his dependence on the Kabbins, a good deal of what is brought forward in support of this may be explained the other way. Great as was the Rabbinic hatred of him, some of these matters, in which he agrees with them, may have come from him to them. Dr. Edersheim's view, that Josephus has been influenced by the Essenes, is extremely probable, 188 THE BACKGROUND OF APOCALYPTIC. the more so as he relates that he was, as we have already said, at one time the disciple of the Essene Ban us. After the temple was laid in ruins, the Essene position of the worthlessness of sacrifices was the natural one for a person situated as was Josephus to take up. One cannot leave Josephus without taking notice of his well-known testimony to the character of Christ. It seems impossible that, seeing he mentions the death of the Apostle James and the preaching of John the Baptist, he can totally omit all reference to our Lord. If strictly analysed, there is nothing in the passage which is absolutely impossible for a Jew to have written and yet remained a Jew. Even the phrase, "if man he could be called," etye avSpa avrbv \?3 VM) coming in the clouds of heaven to judge the world, to whom a universal and eternal dominion is to be given. Dr. Drummond asserts that this has no Messianic reference. It seems difficult to imagine the grounds of this assertion. This "one like a son of man " is, if not the Messiah the anointed of the Lord, at all events one to whom the Ancient of Days gives royal and universal dominion, such as is ascribed to the Messiah. If there is nothing about His being " anointed," His practical kingship is asserted. By implication here this ruler is not man, but a super- natural being who assumes human form. These world empires gave a breadth to this conception of the 210 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. Messiah's kingdom that intensified their desire for it, and their realisation of it in imagination. Angelology was a subject specially dear to the apoca- lyptists as distinct from the prophets. In the earlier prophets angels are not introduced at all as instru- ments of revealing the will of God. In fact, the word ^P only occurs thrice in exilic or pre-exilic prophecy, and in two of these cases it is of a theo- phany that the prophet speaks (Hos. xii. 4 ; Isa. Ixiii. 9), and the remaining case is in the historical portion of Isaiah (xxxvii. 36), concerning the destruc- tion of Sennacherib. Certainly, in Isa. vi., we have an account of the seraphim, and in Ezekiel repeated accounts of the cherubim, but we have no right to identify these with the angels. Even though we should do so, yet the function these beings fulfil, if they are really separate independent beings at all, is not that of revealing the message of God to the prophets, but of enhancing the glory of the Divine manifestation. The word of the Lord comes to the prophet without any intermediary ; among the apocalyptists, again, the message is frequently brought by an angel to the seer. In Daniel, the earliest of the apocalyptists, it is Gabriel who is commissioned to reveal to him the things that are about to come to pass. In the Apocalypse of John we find the apostle has always an angel beside him to explain to him the meaning of the vision he sees. The angelology of the Book of Enoch is very extensive and complex. The revelations of the Book of Jubilees are also made by angelic agency. The prominence given to angels by the apocalyptists will be made clear when we consider them separately. THE NATUEE AND OCCASION OF APOCALYPSE. 211 Although a belief in angels was part of the faith of Israel before the captivity, it became much more defined afterwards. It has been usual to recognise in this the influence of Zoroastrianism. The alleged discovery that Cyrus was not a Zoroastrian, however, militates against this. It seems somewhat hasty to come to the conclusion that Cyrus was an idolater, because in his proclamation to the Babylonians he assumes the rdle of a worshipper of their national gods. He seems to have got possession of Babylon by a conspiracy of priests and nobles, and hence was obliged to appear as the worshipper of the national gods of Babylon. Napoleon assumed the tone of a Mohammedan when he took possession of Egypt. More nearly a contemporary of Cyrus, we find Sen- nacherib claiming that it is in obedience to the command of Jehovah he comes against Jerusalem. It seems natural to think that the theology of Persia would have an effect on the Jews. Contact with the idolatry of Babylon might, however, have a tendency to develop a doctrine of a hierarchy of holy spirits. There was an elaborate hierarchy of gods, whom they recognised as evil beings ; over against these it was not unnatural that they should elaborate an opposing hierarchy of spirits, who would defend the worshippers of Jehovah from the power of these gods of the nations. Between two markedly distinct claims in nature there are often transitional classes that unite the characteristics of both the others ; thus birds and mammalia are in nature as distinct from each other as classes can well be, yet between these two is the 212 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. paradoxical ornithorhynchus in which the characteris- tics of both classes are mingled. We have seen how distinct prophecy and apocalypse are, yet between these two are the opening chapters of the prophecies of Zecharia,h. In these chapters we have many char- acteristics of Apocalypse mingled with those that are peculiarly prophetic. To Zechariah, all revelations are made by the angel " that talked with him." Frequently he tells us his visions in the manner of the apocalyptist ; yet, on the other hand, there are frequent references to his message as direct from God, " thus saith the Lord," and at times there are bursts of song that remind us of Isaiah and the earlier prophets. Had we the prophecy of Haggai in a complete form, instead of what seems to be merely the headings of his prophecies, we should probably have had another example of this transitional form of prophecy. This transitional form is itself prepared for by the pro- phecies of Ezekiel. If we accept the traditional date of Daniel, this state of transition is quite intelligible. It would naturally be some time before a startling innovation in the method of prophecy would be accepted by the prophetic schools, yet it would not be without its effect ; hence the transitional forms like those of Zechariah's opening chapters. CHAPTER II. THE HOME OF APOCALYPTIC. are few more desolate places in the whole * world than the immediate shore of the Dead Sea. Save at special spots, the whole shore is lifeless, with huge blocks of salt standing up square and piti- less from the sand ; it is all sad, hopeless, and dead. Not that the sea itself is always sullen or leaden ; sometimes its contrast to its surroundings is almost startling. Its surface, gleaming like emerald in the sunlight, may give it a look of beauty ; wavelets even may laugh on its surface, and chase each other to the shore, moved by the breeze that is sucked down by the heat, and may give it a look of life but it is dead. The waters are edged round with a glittering incrusta- tion that is the very frost of death. The heat round the lake is oppressive, even when a breath of wind does agitate the air that stagnates in this the deepest depression on the earth's surface. Nothing lives in the lake save at the very mouth of some of the streams that come down from the hills ; nor wherever its unhallowed waters come can there be life. Rising around it are bare and castellated cliffs of limestone that, by their height, give some idea of the depth of the depression. These cliffs in the fierce sunlight glare in orange and tawny yellow, but every here and 214 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. there the bright coloured rock gives place to crags of black basalt and trap. The harshness of the contrast gives the whole scene a weird aspect. Brooding over the scene are strange memories from sacred history, and strange legends, the product of Arab fancy. Somewhere beneath those silent waters sleep, according to common belief, the ruins of the cities of the plain, which God overthrew. Somewhere on the waste rises a melancholy pillar of salt the monument and winding-sheet of Lot's wife. Eye may never have seen it, but firmly is its existence believed in, and towering pillars of limestone have been identi- fied with that weird story. Strange tales of the ex- halations from this mysterious lake causing death mingle with the sad facts of history that of prisons with dungeons dark with tragedies. It is not, however, all death and desolation. The sky sends down rain ; and that rain falling on the mountains, and taken into their bosoms, is given forth in streams. Wherever the healing waters of those streams come there is fertility and beauty. Down those bald white cliffs descend ravines, and in winter through those ravines rush torrents which, though their courses are nearly dry in summer, carry healing with them. From the mouth of those ravines the ground slopes gradually to the mysterious lake, and on this slope tropical plants flourish in tropical beauty and luxuriance. Even in these streams the element of mystery is not wanting ; they all, or almost all, spring from fountains of warm water. This warmth tells of central fires that may now be beneficent, but may anon be kindled into fierceness of destroying THE HOME OF APOCALYPTIC. 215 heat should a mission of judgment be entrusted to them. But the warmth adds to the tropical luxuriance of those dells. These fountains had healing virtues ascribed to them, as Josephus tells ; to one of these, that called Callirrhoe, Herod betook himself in his last illness. Near Engedi, too, where was another of those healing streams, grew balsam, whose medicinal properties are told us by Josephus. In olden days Engedi must have been much more beautiful than now. It still is beautiful, with its fertile strip of ground, its streams shining and clear unless when in mid-summer the thirsty soil drinks them all in, and its luxuriant vegetation. In all it is about a mile and a half from north to south, and slopes gently down from the mountains that rise up towards Hebron to the edge of the sea. It is formed by the confluence of two " Wadys " or streams with the ravines cut by them. The streams in this case are perennial, though lost in the sand during the dry season. Well up on the face of the sloping hill between these two ravines rises the Ain Jidy, the fountain of the kid, which gives its name to the place. It gushes out, leaps, and gambols down to the sea a perennial stream a line of white foam that sparkles in the sunlight. Like most of the fountains in the neighbourhood, it is a warm spring, though not hot, and so promotes the tropical luxuriance around. Engedi is now absolutely void of permanent inhabitants, the shifting tent - living Arabs cannot be reckoned in that category, but there are traces of an abundant population in long past times. There are the remains of terraces on which, in the days of the Hasmonseans 216 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. and the Herodians, luxuriant vines were trained. If there is now not a single palm-tree to justify the old name Hazazon Tamar, there are petrified by the water, which is impregnated with lime, numerous fronds of the palm. Numerous cisterns are found all over the face of the slope with conduits reaching up the " Wadys " evidently for the irrigation of the gardens that had bloomed here in those old days. Not only is it beautiful from its luxuriant vegeta- tion, but it is relatively cool. Not only does green luxuriance contrast with the barrenness all around, but also the comparative moderateness of the tempera- ture makes it a more pleasant abode than almost any other place in that sultry region. The richly oxygenated air has an exhilarating effect on the system, affording capacity for physical exertion un- wonted in so hot a climate. The very weight of air itself gives a physical buoyancy that reacts on the spirits. Such is the home of apocalyptic as it is now. But in old days its vineyards were famous, for Solomon mentions them in his Song of Songs. Interspersed with the vineyards were groves of fragrant henna, called camphire in our Authorised Version. Towering around were the palms from which the place got its other name of Hazazon Tamar, " the pruning of the palms." Josephus, too, tells us how the palm groves beautified this spot among the scene of surrounding desolation. From it the spectator has a striking view of the Salt Sea and its surroundings. Across the green waters rise the mountains of Moab, with threatening precipices that go sheer down into the depth of the THE HOME OF APOCALYPTIC. 217 sea. Up the lake the eye can see the gorge of the Jordan and the flat plain of Siddim ; but rising over it is the range of Abarim, one of the peaks of which was Pisgah, from which Moses had his first, last look at the land promised to his fathers, and for the posses- sion of which he had led the people of Israel all these forty years of the wilderness journey. Somewhere there, in those deep gorges that seem black by contrast of the brilliant sunlight which beats upon the bright rocks around, is the secret tomb of Moses, the man of God. And from these mountains, too, ascended to heaven another man of God. There Elijah, having cleft the waters of the Jordan with his mantle, mounted those heights, and then, swept away in a fiery chariot, was borne up to the presence of God. Beyond these mountains, too, had been the terrible sacrifice of Mesha king of Moab, when Jehoram king of Israel and Jehosha- phat king of Judah, with the king of Edom, came against him. All these memories clung to those mysterious mountains. The masses of black basalt that break in upon the orange coloured limestone seem the very embodiment of the mystery that hangs around these mountains. Memory colours imagination, and solitude quickens in this spot of bright beauty. By this Ain G'di, " the well of the kid," did there dwell for many generations a mysterious race of solitaries in this region suited at once for solitude and for mystery. They were solitary at least in this, that they separated themselves from all other race and sects, and lived apart from civil society. Denying themselves the business of every- day life, they supported themselves by agriculture of a 218 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. simple sort. Their mode of life was simplicity itself, every comfort was shunned, much more every luxury, as if it were a sin. They observed the law of Moses with great exactness, save in some particulars which are to be noted ; they avoided bloody sacrifices, and what sacrifices they allowed they did not offer in the temple. They had priests of their own, who presided at the simple meals they had in common, and led their devotions. While they reverenced the law, they did not, as did the scribes, restrict themselves to the canonical books ; for they had visions of their own which they noted down, and secret sacred books which they cherished. Solitaries dwelling at the side of the Dead Sea were the very people to have strange apocalyptic visions. The very absorption in their own states of feeling, the natural result of the solitude in which they lived, in which there was nothing to show the true perspective of things, and above all the contrast of fact and fancy, made their minds peculiarly ready to assume any delusion to be true. And that strange sluggish sea, and those sombre mountains, with their mysterious memories, were specially fitted to give these delusions an apocalyptic colour. Let us picture a day at Engedi, and give its history. When the clear sky over the mountains of Moab had begun to assume a faintly silver tone, softening down the blue of the night, the community was awakened possibly by the weird sound of the ram's horn trumpet. After a baptismal bath has consecrated them for the service of the day, they stand before their small flat-roofed houses and wait for the dawn. The sky to the east is all covered with THE HOME OF APOCALYPTIC. 219 a flush of pink, and the gleam from the sky fells upon the faces of the worshippers who stand with their faces towards the sunrise and their backs towards Jerusalem, with its temple polluted by unholy priests who offered unworthy offerings on the altar, and lights up with a rosy tint the white cottages that peep from among the vineyards and oliveyards of Engedi, and the white garments of the waiting brethren. The morning breeze, precursor of the dawn, tosses the great leaves of the palms that sway gracefully over Hazazon Tamar. Then as the first dazzling gleam is seen above the heights opposite, from all the row of worshippers who are standing with mantles over their heads rises a hymn to God who has caused morning to arise upon the earth. Then the brethren disperse to their various labours ; one shouldering his mattock goes to break up the clods of the field ; another with pruning knife, it may be, goes to the groves of fragrant henna; yet another retires into his cell to further some indoor work for the benefit of the community. The sun becomes high in the heaven, work is no longer possible, and once more the brethren assemble and slowly their robes girt about them again after being laid aside for their second lustral bath they defile into the large upper chamber where their simple mid-day meal is eaten. While they rest during the heat of the day, the reader takes one of their sacred books and reads to the listening brethren. After he has finished, another, possibly the chief of the community, expounds. When the afternoon is still warm, about two as we reckon, they resume their labours, and continue until the sun has sunk in golden glory behind the hills of 220 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. Judah, gilding, it may be, with its farewell rays the mountains that are round about Jerusalem. While the bright stars are beginning to rush out from the ever deepening blue of the sky, the brethren may be seen returning to their cells from, it may be, labouring as hired servants to rich men around. After again a delay for the sacred ablution, they assemble in their refectory. Those who had been labouring as hirelings deposit their earnings in the hand of the chief of their brotherhood. They all recline on the rough benches round the wall. A simple prayer is offered and a hymn sung, and then the ministers enter, bearing each a dish, one for each member. These ministers pass round and set before the members each his dish. This meal is a sacrifice ; it is prepared at the time when the priest at Jerusalem slays the evening sacrifice ; and these priests, whose duty it was to see the meal pre- pared, solemnly bless it and the worshipping brethren. After the meal, once more are these Sacred Scriptures read and expounded, and then the assembly breaks up ; each member of the community retires to his cell for work, for reading, for meditation and prayer, and then the twinkling lights one after one go out. The moon in a cloudless heaven shines down upon a silence that is only broken by the yelping howl of the jackal, the bleating of the sheep from the folds, and if it is not mid-summer the rush of the Sudeir down the rocks. While we say of these Essenes for it is of them we speak that they were solitaries, we ought to men- tion that this was only true of the main body ; they had houses dispersed over the whole land of Palestine, THE HOME OF APOCALYPTIC. 221 where any travelling brother of the order might be entertained in the simple fashion they permitted them- selves. Indeed, Josephus says they were " many in every city." They appear on the scene of public events as recorded by Josephus, and disappear from it with the unaccountableness of Elijah, whose translation from the opposite mountain will be prone to come into their thoughts when with the central society. Like him, they intervened in politics at times, and did so with force, but only for a moment. From this solitary place of observation the central society kept itself informed of the progress of events ; and they must have watched at times with eager interest the changes that passed over men as dynasty after dynasty rose and toppled and fell. True, new generations arose, each succeeding the other ; new- members came in wearied with life, or taken as children grew up among them ; but the spell once on them they grew into the traditions of the sect till the whole community assumed a solidarity which is only seen in such monastic orders as the Jesuits. To an outside spectator these Essenes seem like one person : they appear and declare approaching judgment or dignity, and then disappear, unlike the fussing Pharisees and diplomatic Sadducees. Their very reticence inspires awe. Among the books of the canon one book was especi- ally to their taste the Book of Daniel. The strange tales of empires rising and falling it related in its mys- terious symbolism, and the fuller angelology it implied, all were fitted to affect a community like that of the Essenes. The interpretation of the symbols and numbers 222 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. of Daniel would occupy them, as later they occupied the monks of the Middle Ages. What were the monarchies that were one after another to dominate the Holy Land ? to what point had they now come in the evolution of history ? The question was one that might well affect them. They had for more than a century been under Greek domination, mainly as represented by the Lagid princes of Egypt. These, on the whole, had treated the Jews with kindness, and given them a place in Egypt of equal rights with native born citizens of the country. Sacrifices were offered in the temple in the name of each successive Ptolemy. Meantime the progress of change had been rapid. The very kindness with which, on the whole, they had been treated, had made the Jewish people look without their usual hatred of idolatry at the graceful heathenism of Greece. From gazing without reprobation to gazing with admiration was an easy step when the attractive power of Greek art aided the advance. From admira- tion to imitation the descent was as easy, the more so, that in a Hellenic state Hellenic manners always gave alike civil and social advantage. All throughout Palestine was this process going on, accelerated by the number of Hellenic cities that had sprung up and had received autonomy. To be received into citizenship in these cities was advantageous ; to be so received practically implied a certain amount of Hellenisation. In Jerusalem itself the influence of Greek life was already becoming marked. The old Jewish Hebrew names, with their sacred associations, were giving place to Greek names, which had either a somewhat similar sense or sound. Even high priests were called Menelaus THE HOME OF APOCALYPTIC. 223 and Alkimus rather than Joseph or Jaddua, names that sufficed their fathers. The Palaestra was instituted, and youths, out of shame lest their religion might be recognised, put themselves under painful surgical treatment to erase the mark of circumcision. It was a period that seemed to portend universal national apostasy. Along with this, and closely connected with it, were the extravagances resulting from the new luxurious habits and the artistic acquirements of the new civilisation ; and this, as a natural consequence, produced the oppression of the poor by the rich. Outside the circle of Judaism signs of change were manifesting themselves. Young Antiochus, the son of Seleucus Callinicus, had succeeded his brother Seleucus Ceraunus. Unlike those monarchs, Antiochus was energetic ; and if not a military genius, was yet a man of very considerable military talent. The Parthians had rebelled against his father, and Arsaces, their leader, had inflicted a disastrous defeat on Cal- linicus, his brother. Rumours of those disasters must have reached Palestine, and even pierced the solitary habitation of the Essenes. Again, with the early man- hood of Antiochus, there were reports of disturbances on the banks of the Euphrates. Away to the East flew the young monarch, overthrew the revolt of the Medes, hurried west, dashed into Syria to drive Ptolemy Physcon out of Palestine. At first he was successful, but at length at Raphia he sustained a defeat, which left Palestine still in the hands of the Lagids. After a rest of a year or two again there were rumours of conflicts in the far east; again the Median provincials had risen, this time openly backed 224 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. by the Partliians, and secretly supported, it was sup- posed, by treasure from Egypt. Then came news of the young king being again triumphant over his eastern enemies ; and the idea was rife that as, after his former victory in the east he had retraced his steps, he would again at once fall upon the Egyptian territory. As before Jerusalem had escaped without direct assault, so it was hoped it would happen now. CHAPTER III. THE ENOCH BOOKS. "VfTHEN the tidings we have just referred to were brought, they caused speculation among the recluses of the community at Engedi. One among them, probably old, and certainly affected by Greek physical speculations, is much moved by the intelli- gence as it comes. As he broods in his cell, it seems to him that a prophet earlier than Elijah, and even greater than he, is present with him in his cell, a prophet who, like Elijah, had been trans- lated, that he should not see death. He felt that these visions of nature in its inmost core that were revealed to him, and the denunciations of the evil of the world, really proceeded from Enoch, not from himself. Unnatural conditions of life produce unnatural forms of thought and perverted views of right and wrong, so that such strange hallucinations as those we speak of, far from being unnatural, become to this false unnatural condition really natural the natural results of these conditions. In the name, then, of Enoch was written the book of " the three parables," or rather pictures. Enoch tells how " a cloud and a whirlwind seized him from the face of the earth and carried him to the end of the heavens ; " there he saw the dwellings of the just and p 226 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. the abiding-places of the holy ones. While there he tells what he sees in this abiding-place of the saints, " under the wings of the Lord of spirits," and a great longing fell on him to be in this place ; happy and peaceful as might be the glade of Engedi, and sweet the society of the brotherhood, this was far better. In comfort to his soul there was brought in the con- solation that his portion was there. And as he thought of this, he breaks forth into a song of blessing and praise, and he calls upon all the angels to join him in his song of praise. And he heard the song of the watchers of heaven " Blessed art Thou, God, and blessed be the name of the Lord for ever." As he gazes he sees an immense multitude of spirits, "ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thour sands." In the midst of this is seen the glory of the Lord of spirits, and the awful glory shapes itself into four faces. From these four faces that shone out of the glory there came voices. The first praised the Lord of spirits, the second voice praised the Chosen One, the Messiah, the third was an entreating prayer for the saints of God upon the earth, and the fourth pealed forth in warning against the Satans, the accusers of the saints. And these four, he learned, had each names ; the first was Michael, the merciful .; the second was Rufael, the healer; the third was Gabriel, the mighty ; the fourth Phanuel, who is over the penitence of those who shall inherit eternal life. 1 .Next, all the secrets of the kingdom of heaven are shown him, and the weighing of all the deeds of men. All nature, too, is unveiled to him, the pathway of the 1 Schodde, pp. 112-115 ; Dillmann, p. 20 ; Laurence, p. 42. THE ENOCH BOOKS. 227 stars and of the sun and the moon, and how through it all there is praise to the God of spirits. But in all these Wisdom did not find a place to dwell ; she came to earth and found no rest among men, and so she returned to be with the angels again. This is the conclusion of the first parable. In the second parable Enoch is still in the dwelling- place of the holy, but is shown the fate of those that will not obey. The main subject of this second parable is the judgment of all before the Chosen One, the Messiah. He sees in his vision the Ancient of Days, whose head was white as wool, and with Him was a second whose countenance was full of gentleness, who was like a man, and yet like one of the holy angels. Enoch asked who this was that thus went with the Ancient of Days, and he was told it was the Son of man " who hath righteousness, and all righteousness dwelleth with Him, and all secret treasures of hidden knowledge He revealeth, because the Lord of spirits hath chosen Him." Here appear the Messianic hopes, the cultivation of which was such a marked charac- teristic of the Essenes. It is no merely spiritual Messiah that the writer expects or imagines that Enoch reveals through him, but a warlike Messiah who will " arouse kings from their couches," will expel them " from their thrones and from their kingdoms because they do not exalt Him and praise Him, nor humbly acknowledge Him by whom the kingdom is given unto them. He will confound the countenance of the strong, and fill their faces with shame who lift their hands against the Most High, and tread down the earth whose deeds are all unrighteousness and 228 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. who manifest unrighteousness, whose power resteth in their riches." It is to be observed that it is not persecuting monarchs he fears, but rich men "whose trust is in gods whom they have made with their own hands, and who have denied the name of the Lord of spirits." These are not heathen who are so by birth, for they could not be said to "deny" God's name, since they had never known Him. Further proof of this may be drawn from the fact that these people are "to be cast out of the houses of His congregation, the synagogues that is to say, and " out of the assemblies faithful that hang on the name of the Lord of spirits," congrega- tions and assemblies into which the heathen never dreamed of entering. His vision still continues, and he sees the throne set and the books opened, as we see in the Book of Daniel. Then comes a remarkable sentence: "Then the saints shall rejoice because the number of righteous ones is fulfilled, and the prayers of the just have been heard, and the blood of the Just One has been demanded before the Lord of spirits." This does not necessarily imply that the writer recognised that the Suffering One was also the Messiah who was crowned in the heavens. He knew from the prophecies of Isaiah that the Holy One was to be cut off, but he felt it difficult to reconcile this with the idea that was becoming growingly more distinct among his sect, that the Messiah, to fulfil all that was prophesied about Him and hoped from Him, must be, if not quite Divine, at least more than human. In the Talmud there is the theory of two Messiahs one the son of THE ENOCH BOOKS. 229 Joseph who shall suffer, the other the son of David who shall reign. Beside the throne of judgment the writer " saw a fountain of righteousness, and around it many fountains of wisdom ; and all the thirsty drank of them and were filled with wisdom, and had their dwelling with the righteous and the holy and the chosen ones." While he was gazing at this, " the Son of man was called before the Lord of spirits." Here the reference is to the Messiah ; and the title given is one which, as we have already had occasion to show, our Lord regularly uses of Himself, not unlike in reference to the usage in the Essene school of which this book is a product. The natural interpretation of our Lord's use of the title is that He regarded it as equivalent to an assertion of Messiahship. It might not be so re- garded by the Pharisaic school or the Sadducean ; it would be enough if it were in accordance with the custom of the Essenes. High honour is to be done to this Son of man : "All that live upon the earth shall fall down before Him, and shall bend the knee to Him." l This, however, is not all, the resurrection comes, when " the earth shall return that entrusted to it, and Sheol shall return that entrusted to it which it has received, and hell shall return again what it owes. 2 And He shall choose the just and holy from among them, for the day has come that they shall be saved. At this there is universal joy and jubilation. This joy is de- scribed in terms drawn from the Psalms ; we are told of mountains skipping like rams, and hills like lambs. 1 Vide Phil. ii. 10. 2 Vide Rev. xx. 13. 230 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. From this scene of joy Enoch is carried away by a whirlwind, and is brought to a region very different in character away to the east were the mountains of Moab, with their mystery. But the writer had not always dwelt in Engedi ; time was when he had stood on the mountains above Joppa, and looked away out across the great and wide sea. As he gazed he saw the grey clouds gathering the portent of storm around the gates of the west. But the sun descended towards them, and the clouds became transformed into mountains that glowed in metallic splendour; there was gold and silver, ruddy copper and black iron ; at the edges there was the blue grey of dull lead, lighted up by sparkles that spoke of quicksilver. His fancy, taught by vision, constructs on the model of it the land to which he is brought. As the evening rapidly deepens and the mountains disappear, in place of these golden mountains dark clouds, bearing in their bosom lightning, thunder, and whirlwind, quickly cover the sky. The roll of the thunder sounds like the careering wheels of weighty chariots rushing to battle. The lightning, that flashes from the cloud, seems the gleam of the armour of the warriors who man the chariots. It is the hosts of the Lord hurrying to battle. Some such vision as this he had seen from the mountain above Joppa. His imagination taught by this, on the remembrance of it in days long after it may be, constructed on the model of it the land to which he is now brought, and the events that happen. It is a land where he sees a group of six mountains, each composed of a different metal one of iron, one of copper, one of silver, one THE ENOCH BOOKS. 231 of gold, one of quicksilver, 1 and one of lead. These mountains are away to the west beyond the great sea, in the region of the setting sun. They are to vanish at the coming of the Messiah. Near these mountains there appeared a vast open valley, into which all nations poured their gifts to the Messiah, yet it was not filled. Another valley he saw lit up with lurid fire. This is the place of punishment. There is introduced here, somewhat inconsequentially, the prophecy of the Flood among the scenery of the last judgment. But this is quite in accordance with the ordinary usage in prophecy ; the absolutely last things are brought into close juxtaposition with things in the immediate future. It is again in close proximity to this message concerning the Flood that Enoch tells of the angels of punishment going to stir up the kings of Media and Parthia a conjunction that did not happen later than the days of Antiochus the Great. This parable concludes with a mysterious vision of "a host of chariots " borne on the wings of the wind, in which men were riding. The noise of the chariots was heard ; the holy ones observed it, and the pillars of the earth were moved from their place, and the noise was heard from the ends of the earth to the end of the heavens ; and with this final overthrow of the wicked the second similitude ends. 1 I have followed here Hoffmann's rendering. Archbishop Laurence renders the word "JfTl r fl' T l r tl nafatydb, which indicates the material of the fifth mountain by " fluid metal" and Dillmann by " Tropfmetall" Schodde by "soft metal." It is quite true that in Hi. 6 this metal is represented as being melted as by heat ; but we must not test the visions of the apocalyptists by our notions of accuracy. Something may be said for translating natabtdb, " tin," as may be seen by referring to Hi. 8. 232 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. The third similitude has come down to us in a frag- mentary condition. It would seem that it was a vision of bliss that he intended to leave to his brethren, but either he died or his writing was damaged, so that as has so often happened the last leaf has been lost. Another Enoch-book may be regarded as beginning with chap. xcii. The writer of the nucleus is impelled to map out the history of the world, but, at the same time, the oppression of the poor by the rich moves him to wrath. There in his cell he is prepared to denounce them. In his wanderings, it may be, he has seen this oppression, if it may not even be that the oppression of the rich has driven him to Engedi ; but when he denounces them, he must do so, he feels, under figure of Enoch. So the seer, who had been in heaven and had read the tablets there, in the first place, relates to his children the history of the world in ten weeks. The first of these is occupied by the history up to his own time, and the rest by all history then future ; the second week ends with the Flood ; the third with the call of Abraham ; the fourth week records the giving of the law to Moses, and the formation of the nations ; the fifth week terminates with the dedication of the Solomonic temple ; in the sixth week there is a compendious history of the Jewish nation down to the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar ; the seventh week is the time when a rebellious race will arise, and many will be their deeds all their deeds will be re- bellious. In this the seer points to the Hellenisers among the Jews ; but in the end a plant of wisdom is to spring up for them. This part of the vision seems certainly to have been written before the Maccabean THE ENOCH BOOKS. 233 struggle. The coming of the Messiah proves the history of apocalyptists to have ended and the fancy to be beginning. In the eighth week judgment is to be executed on the heathen by the saints. The ninth week declares that righteousness shall be revealed to the whole world a uuiversalism utterly unlike the attitude assumed by the Pharisees. When the tenth week comes the final judgment takes place. It may be noted here that the judgment takes place after the coming of the Messiah has been long past. After this vision of history, the seer proceeds to exhort his descendants to follow righteousness and truth. The sins of his time seem to be those of a relatively peaceful period ; though a time of the oppres- sion of the saints by the wealthy Hellenisers, they are exhorted not to fear, for their enemies will be destroyed before them. He denounces woes on the sinners with the fervency of one of the old prophets. "Woe to you, sinners, for your riches make you appear righteous, yet you are sinners. Woe to you who devour the marrow of the wheat and drink the power of the root 1 of the fountains," seize on the clearest water, " and tread the lowly with violence under your feet ! Woe to you who gain silver and gold without righteousness, yet say, ' We have become rich, we have treasure and possess everything we desire ! And now we will do what we purpose, for we have gathered silver and our treasuries are full, and as water so many are the work- men of our houses.' Like water shall your lies float 1 So Schodde and Uillmaim ; Laurence, " the strength of the deepest spring." 234 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. away, your wealth will not remain to you, ye shall be given once to a great condemnation." Those whom the seer denounces with so much force seem to be fond of wealth and of gaudy apparel, but there is no distinct mention of idolatry as among their sins. It is difficult to decide, but it would seem to have been written about the time of the nucleus, before the addition of the Noachian fragments. Inspired by the strange record left by this brother who regarded himself as the amanuensis of Enoch, another later brother assumed the name of Noah. It is somewhat uncertain whether there ever was a com- plete Noah-book or not. If there was, it must have been slavishly dependent on the Book of Enoch. It seems more probable that the second visionary brother, desirous of completing the work of his comrade, as he was unable to claim the inspiration of Enoch, feigned that he was the amanuensis of Noah, who in his youth had seen and talked with Methuselah, indeed, had been contemporary with him for nearly five centuries. Further, there is suggested that after his translation Enoch revealed to Noah what he saw in the heavenly places. There is, however, a sad falling off in the Noachian fragments as compared with the original Book of Enoch. The fragment begins with a date, the five hundredth year of the life of Noah (by a mistake Enoch appears instead of Noah). Next he proceeds to give an account of the creation of Leviathan and Behemoth, very much after the fashion we have it in the Talmud and other Jewish tracts. It may be noted that Noah is under the impression that Enoch, not Methuselah, is his THE ENOCH BOOKS. 235 grandfather. A great deal of time is spent in elaborate physical speculation, and functions are assigned to the angels in the physical world. The spirit of the sea is masculine and strong ; the spirit of the hoar frost is his own angel ; the spirit of hail is a good angel, who has left the spirit of snow on account of its strength. He is most excellent in his account of thunder and light- ning. He tells us the treasury of flashes is like sand, and the spirit makes equal divisions between them. There are, it seems, places for the thunder to rest, and then it utters its voice and the flash is let out, " and the spirit causes a rest during the flash." There is a certain picturesque revelation here of what from their nest in Engedi the Essenes saw of thunderstorms. When thunderstorms break over the Dead Sea the re-echoing of peal upon peal, caught up now by one range of mountains now by another, would seem an almost cease- less roar, and in the momentary brilliance of the flash, attention being directed to it, the thunder would be unheard. One striking passage in the Noachian frag- ment must not be omitted, in which the Messiah is spoken of, not as Son of man, but as " Son of woman," who is " sitting on the throne of His glory." There is greater complexity in the angelology of this Noachian fragment than in the genuine Book of Enoch. In Enoch angels are numerous, but not classified ; in the Noachian fragment we have seraphim, cherubim, and ophariim, the last name being derived from the wheels in the prophecies of Ezekiel. This greater elaboration is a sign of a later period. A Noachian fragment occurs at chap, cvi., to all appearance of a similar date to that we have been 236 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. considering. In the period of comparative peace fancy might go out to speculate on the birth of such an extraordinary person as Noah. This whole passage has more the aspect of Hagada than of apocalypse : it would thus seem to be the work of some Pharisee who had come over to the Essenes. The same mood of exaggeration is also found in the gospel of the infancy and such like documents of a period slightly later. Monastic writers have similar legends, due not impos- sibly to the fact that they lived under similar con- ditions. After the Noachian additions were made to the Book of Enoch, stirring times ensued, the bruit of which pierced the solitudes of Engedi. When Antiochus the Great had died, he was succeeded by Seleucus Philo- pator, and he again by Antiochus Epiphanes his brother. Even more brilliant and talented than his father, he made war against Egypt, and seemed in a fair way to subdue it wholly, when envoys appeared from Rome and ordered him to desist on pain of war with the Republic. Enraged at this check to his victorious career, Antiochus returned homewards towards Syria. Whether it were policy a desire to have a homogeneous empire should he have to confront the terrible Republic or whether it were merely irrita- tion, he entered Jerusalem with the determination, as it seemed, to Hellenise completely the Jewish nation. Sacrifices were offered to the Olympian Zeus in the Temple court, and men were compelled to defile themselves with unclean food. The most terrible persecution was set on foot to abolish Judaism. In- stead of producing the effect intended, it roused the THE ENOCH BOOKS. 237 nation to fury. The whole country was like a powder magazine, and it needed only the gallant act of Mattathias, the priest of Modin, to burst into a flame. When the Maccabean struggle began, the whole religious feeling of the country went with the patriots. It would seem not improbable that the Essenes, though usually peaceful, took to arms at this time and joined the Maccabeans. At all events, they must have watched the struggle with intense interest. The persecutor seems, if we may make what appears to be a reasonable deduction from the words of Philo, to have visited the Essenes with his persecution, after surrounding them with flatteries, probably suggested by the external resemblance they bore in belief to the Greek philosophic sects. The struggle was a sublime one, and makes the blood stir within one, even at the end of more than twenty centuries, Judas the Maccabean, with little more than three thousand men, overthrowing in battle after battle all the might of the Syrian monarchy, recaptur- ing Jerusalem from the oppressors, and purifying the Temple. Ever as marvellous victory after marvellous victory was won in spite of all adverse chances, the feeling of hope seemed mingled with something almost akin to despair. It seemed impossible that this could last, or that the struggle could, by merely human means, be brought to a successful issue. The Messiah would surely appear to deliver His people. Scenes of persecution have a tendency to produce seers. " The killing time," as it was called, in the days of the Scottish Covenanters produced Alexander 238 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. Peden. This " killing time " produced its prophet in the writer of the first and third portions of the Book of Enoch. His relation to the nucleus of the book is much less slavish than that of the writer of the Noachian fragments. One may almost imagine that he, too, regarded himself as used as a pen by the spirit of the ancient patriarch. He is occupied with the angels and with the physical universe, much as is the author of the Noachian fragments ; but the names of the angels are different, and the physical theories suggested are even more elaborate than those of the Noachian fragmentists. The prophet of the Antiochian persecution begins with a general exordium, which in the course of pro- claiming judgment on all sinners, intimates also that he, the seer, had all the secrets of nature unveiled to him. In the course of this exordium occurs the passage quoted in the Epistle of Jude. The physical portion appears to be an interruption of the course of solemn apocalyptic denunciation with which the seer begins. Not impossibly this exordium was written after the additions were made to the original nucleus, and the author, aware that these speculations were to occupy a good deal of space in his works, gives this intimation in the beginning as a preparation for what is coming. After this general overture, to use a musical equiva- lent to exordium, the seer now proceeds historically. He proceeds to give an account of the fall of the angels, which he dates at the time preceding the Flood, when the sons of God loved the daughters of men. In preparation for the satisfaction of their love, a large THE ENOCH BOOKS. 239 number of the angels " left their own place," as Jude says, and came to Ardis, which was called, on account of the oath they swore to each other, Hermon, from the Hebrew ton, a curse. Next followed the birth of the giants, and the increase of sin in the world ; for the angels taught men astrology and the manufacture of weapons of war, and the art of making and using cosmetics. At this point the holy ones, Michael, Gabriel, Surjan, and Urjan looked down upon the earth ; they call to the other angels concerning the evil wrought upon the earth. In answer to the call of the four, the angelic host raises a song that is also a prayer to the Most High. In answer, the Almighty sends forth Kufael to heal the earth, and to bind Azazel hand and foot, lay him among rocks, and cover him with darkness. Michael is sent to bind the other angels who had sinned, and place them under the hills for seventy generations, until the day of judgment, a state of matters that Jude evidently has in his mind when he speaks of the rebellious angels being " reserved in everlasting chains unto the judgment of the great day." It may be noted that sin in the angelic sphere is regarded by the writer in this passage as following the introduction of sin into the world, and, indeed, in some sense as the result of it. But Enoch does not narrate what thus happened merely for the sake of narrative ; he introduces his further function of messenger to those angels thus con- signed to imprisonment. When he came to them he found the watcher sitting and lamenting at the meadows of Jael, 1 which is near Lebanon and Seneser. He re- 1 Ublesgdel, Ethiopia. De Sacy transliterates Oubilsalayel 240 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. buked them, and yet he promised to present a- petition to the Most High, although he warned them that it would be unsuccessful. He saw in his sleep what he scarcely dared describe with tongue of flesh. The vision appeared to him ; the white mist beckoned him to follow ; the stars in their courses impelled him on ; and the flashing lightning seemed ever driving him forward. And the wind on its mighty wings bore him on till he came to the palace of the great King. He came to a mighty house built of shining crystal, and round it played a flame of fire ; foundation and floor and walls were all of crystal, and its ceiling showed the course of the stars and of the lightning, and there were the cherubim between. This was not the true palace yet, it was at once cold as ice and hot as fire ; and fear enshrouded 1 the prophet, and trembling seized hold of him. Through this house he passed, and a second house more glorious and magnificent appeared to him. It was all built of fire ; its floor, its ceiling, and its walls were all of fire. In the centre was a great white throne, gleaming like hoar frost. All about was dazz- ling light, as of the sun shining in his strength ; and from out the glory came the voice of the cherubim, from under the throne came floods of flaming fire. On the throne One sat whose garments shone brighter than the sun, and neither man nor angel could look upon His face. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him, but came not nigh Him. He needed not counsel of any. As Enoch was in great fear a voice called him, " Come hither, Enoch, and to my 1 De Sacy renders, timor obtexit me. THE ENOCH BOOKS. 241 holy word ; " 1 and Enoch, despite his fear, approached the door that stood open before him. The voice of the Almighty then declared to him the irrevocable doom of the fallen ivatchers. While so much of this looks forward and is caught up by the Book of Eevelation, the title watchers looks back to Dan. iv. 13, where Nebuchadnezzar saw one of the " watchers " descend to order the tree that represented himself to be hewn down. After he has received this message for the fallen angels, Enoch is guided by Uriel (Urjan) to the place of woe, it was away to the west, where fire receives the setting sun, and went on to the great darkness, where all flesh wanders. There are gathered all the black clouds of winter. The corner-stone of the earth he saw, and the treasures of the wind. Then he came to the abyss which had no firmament of heaven above it, and no foundation of earth beneath it. No water was in it, and no birds cleft the awful gloom with their wings. But over it rolled stars on fire, and Uriel said, " These are they that have transgressed the command of God, wandering stars that came not in their season." In this awful void were seven stars bound together in fetters of fire. These were angels who were bound for ten thousand ages, till their sin has been ended. And he saw in this abyss great columns of fire that rose and fell back in the vast abyss that was full of lurid fire. Ever and anon out of the gloom flickered blue flashes of lightning, and Uriel said, " This is the place of pain, this is the prison of the angels." 1 Schodde, De Sacy, ad vocem meam sanctam ; Laurence, "at my holy word ; " Dillmann, zu meinem heiligen Worte. Q 242 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. After he had visited the place of woe, Enoch pro- ceeds to the intermediate state, where the souls of men await judgment. The whole scene was beautiful ; spots of beauty among hard rocks, much like Engedi in the wilderness of the mountain of Judea. Along with the signs of happiness there were voices of lamentation and woe ; and one voice especially he noted the voice of Cain. From this place of mingled joy and sorrow he proceeds to the place of the blessed. Like Dante, Enoch proceeds from the Inferno to the Purgatorio, and thence to the Paradiso. His Paradise, like his intermediate state, is modelled on what he saw around him. Mountains are the ruling figure in the picture. In his Paradise are seven great mountains, with magnificent rocks that are beautiful to look upon. One can easily see how his imagination had been educated by the visions of the mountains of Moab all glowing in the golden lights of sunset. South and north these mountains rose one above the other till the centre was reached on which was the throne of the Most High. There was all the pomp of groves there, and deep shady ravines. Above all was the tree of life of delectable fragrance. At the end of time its fruits shall be given to the chosen ones the just and the humble. As John Bunyan saw the gateway of hell not far from the very gate of heaven, so among those beautiful mountains is a deep and sterile valley. This sterile valley was a place of punishment for men who had spoken insolently con- cerning the Most High. After this follow further wanderings through mountains covered with trees from which nectar and galbanum flowed. There were THE ENOCH BOOKS. 243 trees that exhaled sweet odours, sweeter than ever had been felt before. One tree especially drew his admiration it was like the carob tree, but its fruit was like the grape. Rufael told him this Was the fatal tree of knowledge. He proceeded on to the end of the earth, and saw the portals from which the sun issued in different days of the year. Also he saw 'the treasury of the winds, and the portals from which they burst forth upon the earth. Such is the first portion of the Book of Enoch. After the portion which we regard as the nucleus, the writer of this first part resumes his physical speculations. At the end of the first portion there was reference to the portals out of which the sun issued at certain times ; this becomes more elaborate. The moon's movements are also accounted for in the same way. It may be noticed that the year is assumed to be only three hundred and sixty-four days. It would seem as if the author, knowing something of Greek speculation, wished to propound a theory more elaborate than anything devised by these heathens. Hence, not only are the portals of the sun given more elaborately than in the Noachian fragment, but also the portals of the winds are shown to Enoch, and the seven mountains from whence came hoar frosts. Uriel acts as interpreter in regard to these things ; Rufael and Michael are the main interpreters earlier in the book. All these movements of the heavens Enoch is taught to regard as due to the influence of the angels. Leaving his physical speculations, he proceeds to tell of a dream he had of seeing the heavens fall upon the earth, and all the mountains plunging into the abyss. 244 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. His grandfather, Mahalaleel, when told of his dream, at once recognised the impending calamity of the Flood. Seeing the distress of his grandfather, he prays to God not to annihilate the human race. In this prayer the acquaintance of the writer with the Psalms and prophets is obvious to the most careless reader. He had a second vision, which is very interesting as containing several notes of time. It is singular when we think of the turmoil of the time, of the death and life struggle in which the Maccabees were engaged with the Syrians, that the writer is so much occupied with the course of the luminaries of the heavens. It may have been that this struggle occurred while he was composing his additions. However that may be, this second vision is full of the struggle. It gives an account of the history of the people of God from the creation downwards. Till the time of Abraham the saints are symbolised as white bullocks, after that the saints are a flock of white sheep. This latter symbol bridges over the distance that separates the Old Testa- ment and the New. In the Old Testament there is the twenty-third Psalm, with its assertion of confidence in God as the Shepherd. In the New Testament Christ declares Himself to be the Good Shepherd who giveth His life for the sheep, and says to His disciples, " Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Again is introduced the sin of the angels. They are figured as stars that assume sex in consequence of their inner fall. The giants, their progeny, are symbolised as elephants, camels, and asses. Eager to tell of the THE ENOCH BOOKS. '245 Flood, yet not wishful to change the figure too soon, Noah is mentioned as a bullock which became a man and built an ark. It is mentioned that of the three bullocks that accompanied this bullock which had become a man, one was red, another black, and a third white. This would seem to show that in the days when this part of the Book of Enoch was written it was the recognised opinion that the negro race was of Hamitic descent. It may, however, be the moral symbolism of the colours that is intended to be pro- minent, black wholly evil, white wholly good, and red between the two, neither wholly good nor wholly evil. This history does not display imagination, but occasionally some little fancy. If the description of Ishmael as a wild ass be regarded as a reminiscence of the blessing given by the oracle before Ishmael was born that he should be a " wild ass man," the de- scription of Esau as a wild boar seems a fit symbol both of the man and of the race which proceeded from him. Jacob is symbolised by a sheep. When Israel went clown to Egypt they were sheep in the midst of wolves a figure that is repeated by our Lord (Matt. x. 16) in sending forth the apostles : " Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves." It would be needless waste of time to follow the whole course of Israelitish history thus symbolised. The only change is that the writer begins to particularise Saul, David, and Solomon as rams that rise up to defend the sheep. 1 But the true apocalyptic spirit has not wholly deserted him. He sees behind this great flock of sheep, prone to wander 1 Schodde say " bucks," but the meaning seems unsuitable. I make use of Laurence and Dillmann here. 246 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. on evil ways, seventy angelic shepherds who one after the other guide the sheep, but not always wisely. Indeed, when as angels of judgment it was their duty to slay the evil, the seer declares that they slew more than they ought to have done. These angels represent the seventy nations, into which, according to Jewish belief, the Gentile portion of the human race was divided. This, therefore, refers to the various heathen nations that were used by God to discipline His people. One half of the shepherds had finished pasturing the flock when the advent of the Hellenic power changed everything. The Egyptians are wolves, the Assyrians and Babylonians lions and tigers, but the Greek power is symbolised by birds, eagles, vultures, ravens, and kites, 1 a symbol chosen to represent the greater rapidity of motion. Now the writer dwells with evident earnestness on the struggle of Maccabean times. Judas the Maccabee is symbolised as a notable ram, against whom the kites and vultures came and at- tempted to saw away his horn ; but the Lord of the sheep helped him. The struggle seems to the seer a hopeless one, and he sees the Lord of the sheep give a great sword to the sheep, and all these destructive breeds are cast down to the earth, and the throne of the Judge of all the earth is set up near the Holy City, and, in full accord with the representation in Daniel and in the nucleus of the present prophecy, the " books are opened." In full harmony with the apocalyptic tendency to put angels in a place of prominence, the angels are judged first ; the stars, those angels who 1 Crows and buzzards, Schodde. We follow Dillmann here. THE ENOCH BOOKS. 247 had been guilty with the daughters of men, and the shepherds, those who had been appointed to guide and govern the nations under whom Israel had lived subject, and, if need be, oppressed are judged, and condemned for their sin and shortcomings. Away beyond this scene of judgment, with its great throne, the vision of the seer pierces, and he sees the coming of the Messiah, whom he figures as a white bullock with large horns, before whom all the beasts of the earth and birds of the air were to fear. In a mysterious passage he says this is "that word." This, however, is probably due to blunder on the part of the Ethiopic translator from the Greek, and ignorance on the part of the Greek translator from the Hebrew. 1 After the vision comes an exhortation. Methuselah is called upon to summon all the sons of Enoch in order to hear his parting counsels. In course of giving advice he becomes prophetic. He tells of oppression and wrong, but he sees also the approach of the Messiah, when the just one who now sleeps shall awake. He sees Him not only subduing all Israel to Himself, but also the Gentiles, who will also be all brought into subjection to Him. His sword will destroy injustice and unrighteousness down to the roots. The Messiah the writer looks forward to is a conqueror who will be judge of all men in virtue of His victories. One might be almost inclined to regard this (chap, xci.) as the work of a different hand from that which wrote the chapters immediately preceding, from the fact that these roots of unrighteousness are cut by the Messiah ; but the appearance of the Messiah of chap. xc. is after 1 Translated "unicorn," Ps. xxix. 6 ; Deut. xxxiii. 17. 248 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. the judgment. The writer therefore does not contem- plate the end of the world's history when the great judgment is over. There was thus now a considerable mass of tracts, all connected with Enoch, in the hands of the com- munity at Engedi, and read by them with great interest. It occurred to some one of the members that it might be well to have them all together, so he combined all the portions, and added the last chapter, which is somewhat colourless. CHAPTER IV. THE ELEVENTH OF DANIEL. "TlfT'HILE the Book of Enoch was thus being slowly compiled, another writer also was impressed with the suffering of his people. The book, however, that most affected him was the canonical Book of Daniel. The solitaries in Engedi had necessarily a peculiar reverence for Daniel as a person. He had abjured all animal food, and ate only pulse and drank only water. In fact, in his mode of life he was their great example. This simple mode of life was regarded as being specially conducive to Divine revelation, since to Daniel, who lived on pulse, the dream was revealed that was hid from all the wise men of Babylon. When thus their whole system rested on Daniel, why should they go away back to Enoch ? Would not the spirit of Daniel be ready to descend upon them ? The Book of Daniel was not the special property of the solitaries, as was the Book of Enoch, for it was much more generally known, as may be perceived by the quotation from it in the First Book of the Maccabees, which, as we have seen, was really a Sadducean book. At the end of the reign of John Hyrcanus the first Daniel was recognised as canonical, and so indisputably so that the writer imagines Mattathias quoting for the encouragement of his fellow- 250 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. countrymen the case of the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, and of Daniel in the lions' den. To the inhabitants of the cells in Engedi, the revelation of the future in the canonical Daniel, though grand, was not nearly particular enough. The imagination could not fail to be filled with the majestic visions which Daniel himself saw, or which he interpreted for his master Nebuchadnezzar, their wide sweep, and the glory of the Messianic kingdom toward which all history was travelling ; but still it lacked some- what for them. That to the Persian empire the Greek had succeeded, as the Persian had followed the Baby- lonian was true ; that another empire should succeed the Greek, was also probable and very grateful to them. Still as that deliverance was in remote futurity, their minds dwelt longingly on the more immediate struggle and difficulties. Surely Daniel must have foreseen all this conflict, all this elaborate network of diplomacy. The next step is to think how Daniel would have told the tale of the struggle of Egypt with Syria for the possession of the Holy Land. Brooding over the position of past and future, and having his thoughts defined by the movements of the armies, one of the solitaries as by a flash seemed to see it all, how now an army from the north would enter Palestine from the way of Hamath, and spread over Galilee and on toward Egypt ; how again, crossing a river of Egypt, an army from the south would pass along the Philistine cities of the sea coast ; how sometimes it was the one that con- quered, sometimes it was the other. Syria and Egypt were too local, and merely temporal names for the THE ELEVENTH OF DANIEL. 251 lofty regions of prophecy. To him, the new Daniel, they were kings of the north and kings of the south. The first beginning of the vision is the founding of the Lagid dominion of Egypt, followed by the founding of that of the Seleucids of Syria, The next step is the marriage of the daughter of Philadelphus to Antiochus Theos, who soon repudi- ated her, and she was slain. Her brother, Ptolemy Euergetes, took vengeance on Syria and Seleucus Callinicus for what had been done to his sister. But the swing of the pendulum brings Antiochus the Great down upon Syria. At first he is defeated, " all his multitude are given into the hands of Philopator," who makes tens of thousands fall. Though defeated, Antiochus returns and defeats the Egyptians. All, however, is but preparing the way for the advent of that portent of wickedness, Antiochus Epiphanes, the son of Antiochus the Great. He did what neither his father nor his father's father had done ; he invaded Egypt successfully, and in all probability would have conquered it had not the Eoman power intervened. All this is seen by the seer, and then follows the terrible time of persecution. When he was grieved by the arrival of " the ships of Chittim," he " had indignation against the holy covenant." The death of Onias III. seems to have filled the hearts of men with peculiar horrors, and thus not only is the death of the prince of the covenant referred to here, but it is also in the Book of Enoch. The general godlessness of Epiphanes is described ; even the heathen deities whom he professed to honour, he robbed. His worship of Jupiter Capitolinus is well indicated by saying 252 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. that he worshipped the god of forces whom his fathers knew not. What probably Epiphanes meant was to sedulously honour Eome under cover of Jupiter Capi- tolinus, although he had been snubbed by the Roman envoys so badly in Egypt. It may be, however, that with that strange mingling of superstition with godlessness so often observed, he had the idea that Jupiter Capitolinus, the deity of Rome, was somehow the cause of her commanding greatness, and therefore he sought by sacrificing to the Capitoline Jupiter to gain the talisman which secured victory. But the prophet watches the progress of his devastation, sees the tyrant planting his tents in the glorious and holy mountain, and then he is smitten. It must have come upon the Jews with a sense of relief when their adversary fell in Persia. It would seem, however, that the chapter before us was written before the event. The seer in his full trust in a God who judges righteously is confident that the tyrant who has thus insulted the Lord of Hosts shall fall, and it shall not be in the power of any one to help him. If we may understand Epiphanes as leading the persecution against the Essenes, there would be an additional horror in the presence of the camp of Epiphanes some twenty miles off, and therefore an additional certainty that he would fall by the hand of God. CHAPTER V. THE APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH. A POCALYPSE is the result of some crisis in the T^- spiritual history of the people of God, when, either from internal faithlessness or external violence, the cause of truth is endangered. The Maccabean struggle ended in victory, and in the establishment of a new dynasty. To those visionaries who, by the silent shores of the Dead Sea, maintained the old hope of a Messiah of the house of David, this assumption of the throne and crown by the Hasmonseans must have been shocking, and naturally made them withdraw even more and more from all participation, or even interest, in public affairs. When Alexander Jannseus persecuted the Pharisees, or when his widow, Alex- andra, favoured them, it was equally without interest to the Essenes. Alexander had usurped the crown which belonged alone to the son of David, and the Pharisees, with all their minute objection to lesser matters, had condoned that greater fault they had not protested against his marriage with his brother's widow. He was high priest, therefore might not marry a widow, and therefore the levirate law did not hold. Hence the persecution the Pharisees endured at the hand of Alexander, and that they in turn inflicted on the Sadducees under his widow, were equally 254 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. unimportant to them. The " society people " in Scot- land, from whom the later Reformed Presbyterians sprang, stood aloof in the same way from the struggles of the Marrow men and the Moderates of the beginning of the eighteenth century. Both parties alike had acknowledged an uncovenanted king, and the differ- ence between the guilt of the one and the guilt of the other was of little importance. The Essenes, as we have seen, certainly had their dwellings here and there in the various cities of the country; but though they did at times appear as prophets, and they seem to have given isolated forecasts of the future of individuals, the circumstances were not such as to prompt a manifestation of the apocalyptic spirit. With the death of Alexandra, and the terrible fratricidal struggle between John Hyrcanus II. and his younger brother Aristobulus, a new era dawned. It was always in seasons of trouble and distress that apocalypse flourished, so we may imagine how the news of these bloody conflicts between the two sects must have stirred the hearts of the solitaries. Their attitude in the conflict was probably that of Onias, who, when desired by the adherents of Hyrcanus, who was besieging his brother in Jerusalem, to pray against him and his followers, prayed to the Almighty to grant to neither of them their desires against their brethren. Hyrcanus and Antipater, his friend, had called in the Arabs ; but now Rome appeared on the scene, and after some diplomatic vacillation, Pompey entered Jerusalem and took the temple with great slaughter. This was worse than anything that had befallen the people since the days of Epiphanes. THE APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH. 255 As the terrible tidings came that the Romans had made this and that new advance towards the south, the excitement of the Essene rose higher and higher, till at length the tidings arrived that Jerusalem was surrounded by the armies of Rome, led by the invincible Pompey. Day by day did tidings come that the city had opened its gates the people had shut themselves in the temple it was besieged ; then came daily news of the progress of the siege. There is a delay, for the conqueror has no battering train ; it has to be brought from Tyre. At last the battering train arrives, the rams and catapults are set up and begin work. Then at last a breach is effected the temple is taken the people of God slain. The last, most terrible tale comes the Holy Place is desecrated. Into the Holy of Holies has entered Pompey, attended by his officers. A horror in some respects even greater than that which attended the much worse deeds of Epiphanes greeted this act of Pompey. It was as if the whole sanctity of the temple had been taken away. To those who, in the valley of Engedi, had retired from the struggles of the political world, it seemed like the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. As Zedekiah and his sons had been removed to Baby- lon, so Aristobulus and his family were taken to Rome, the new Babylon, to adorn the triumph of the conquerors. The similarity of the circumstances suggested that Baruch, the secretary of Jeremiah, must have looked with similar feelings on the earlier scene. One of the community who had studied, not only the sacred apocalyptic books, but also the prophets, commenced to write. 256 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. The word of the Lord came to him as he feigns it in the twenty -fifth year of Jeconiah (Jehoiakin), 1 and tells him of the impending fate of Zion. He is told to proclaim this to Jeremiah and those like himself. As the writer casts his mind away back to the past he knew of the schools of the prophets he imagines that the prophetic community was like the society of which he was a member that the sons of the prophets gathered round Elijah or Elisha, or whoever it was who was prophet, to get his counsels and commands, and that every one obeyed the prophets, as the Essenes submitted to the head of their order. In consequence of this message that he is appointed to deliver to Jeremiah, Baruch is represented as carrying on a dialogue with the Almighty. He laments that he is appointed to see the distress of "his mother" Jerusalem. In answer, the Almighty assures him that this is only for a time, for a chastisement ; that His promise to keep Zion, since its name was engraven on the palms of His hands, still held good ; but He points Baruch to the more glorious Zion which is above, concerning which, in truth, His promise really was given the city which had been revealed to Adam before he fell, to Abraham when God made His covenant with him, and to Moses in Mount Sinai. 2 The new Jerusalem which John in Patmos saw descending out of heaven 1 Evidently a blunder either of the copyist or of the original writer. If the latter, it presupposes an amount of ignorance of the national history that is difficult to understand. This latter supposition seems indeed in- comprehensible when, as we see below, Chap. VIII., the writer is quite aware that it was Zedekiah that was bound and carried to Babylon. 2 Comp. Heb. xi. 16. THE APOCALYPSE OF BAKUCH. 257 from God is evidently derived from this, and also the heavenly city mentioned by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews as the hope of the ancient patriarchs. When Baruch pleads in the words of Moses for the people, " What wilt Thou do for Thy great name ? " he is told that God's name is eternal. He then leads Jeremiah and the rest down to the valley of the Kedron. the stream that falls into the Dead Sea a little to the north of Engedi, and proclaims the unwelcome tidings that Zion was to be taken by her enemies. When the Chaldean army closed around Zion, in vision he saw four angels with torches standing in the towers of Mount Zion, but another angel descended from heaven to commit the holy vessels to the custody of the earth. The earth at the command of the angel opened her mouth and swallowed down the ark, the ephod, the altar of sacrifice, the altar of incense, and the sacred ephod, to guard them from the heathen till the time when she should be called upon to restore them. Then the angels said, " Let us overturn the walls, even to the foundation, lest the enemies boast themselves and say, ' We have overturned the wall of Zion ; we have burned the place of the mighty God ; ' " and thus it befell, " because He that guarded the house had deserted it." The seer knew that in mistaken obedience to Sabbatic law the defenders did not main- tain such vigorous sorties on Sabbath as on other days, and so the Romans advanced their approaches most on the Sabbath. It seemed, then, as if the God to whom, the city and all that it contained belonged had deserted it. It was as if its walls had been undermined by other than mortal hands. 258 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. After the city has fallen, Jeremiah is commanded to accompany the captives to Babylon to strengthen them while Baruch remains. Baruch returns to Jerusalem, and seats himself at the gate of the temple and laments over Zion. He then denounces judgment on Babylon, by which he evidently means Rome. At this point the dialogue between Baruch and God is resumed. There is an echo of the prophets and the Psalms in the profound reverence of Baruch's words, "Who, Lord Jehovah, may comprehend Thy judgments, or search out the depths of Thy way ; who may reckon the weight of Thy path, or who is able to think Thine incomprehensible counsel ; or who even of the sons found the beginning or end of Thy wisdom ; and we all are as a breath ? " Baruch's difficulty is that the world was created because of the righteous, 1 and now the world remains and the righteous are taken away. God answers him that the world which now is, is only a strife and a pain to the saints, but they shall possess the future world, and in it a crown and great glory. Where Baruch complains of the shortness of life, a natural thing to one who thought of the study of the law, with a Jew's reverence for it and a Jew's belief in its endless possibilities, God's answer is, that He does not reckon " time much or years few." He does not, in fact, reckon by time relations at all ; how- ever, he further promises that the times of blessing will come and will not tarry. Baruch then departs from the threshold of the ruined temple to the valley of the Ivedron, and there in a cavern of the earth he hides Himself and purifies his soul to receive the revelation 1 Assumption of Moses. THE APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH. 259 of the future by fasting, neither eating bread nor drinking water, yet suffering from neither hunger nor thirst. After he had prayed the heavens opened, and he hears a voice admonishing him that undue haste ruins all. The Almighty proceeds to lay down the doctrine of original sin in a form that suggests the theology of the Apostle Paul. There is a marked distinction, however the death that follows the sin of Adam, and is inherited by his descendants, is death physical, not moral or spiritual. It is further added, that when Adam sinned the number of those that should be born was fixed, and the place of the dead was prepared also. To the apocalyptist the final judgment always appeared in the not distant future. The great throne and the books of judgment are here also. In the book there is a notion which reminds the reader of the Roman Catholic doctrine of the treasury of the Church ; there are treasures in which the righteousness of those who are justified is collected. Baruch is told that he shall be preserved till the time of the coming of the Messiah. The sign when that time approaches is given him, " when astonishment shall lay hold of the inhabitants of the earth, and they shall fall into many tribulations, and again into great torments." l Baruch puts a question, whether this time of tribu- lation shall be long a question that seems to be im- plied, or, at all events, is answered by implication by our Lord, when he says, " Except those days should be shortened, no flesh should be saved." The answer in 1 The reader can scarcely fail to note the resemblance to what our Lord says of His own second coming, Matt. xxiv. ; Luke xxi. 260 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. this case is that these times of tribulation are divided into twelve parts, in which there are successive woes manifesting themselves on the people. It is added, " the measure and computation of that time will be two parts-weeks of seven weeks." The ordinary meaning of this would be fourteen weeks, or little more than a quarter of a year; but the probability is that the reference is to the jubilees, and this assertion is, that the coming of the Messiah would be two jubilees after the time of Baruch, a time that was long overpast by the time the Essene, who here feigns himself Baruch, was writing. It is, however, difficult to put any interpretation on this that is perfectly satisfactory. Another portion is interesting as revealing the influ- ence of Rabbinic tradition even among the Essenes. Behemoth and Leviathan were created in order that they should be meat for the saints of God in Messianic times. Behemoth comes out of his place and Leviathan from the sea. These are regarded, not as species, but as individual. Next follows a still further description of the bliss of Messianic times which is full of interest, as it is quoted by Papias, 1 and attributed by him to our Lord. " The earth," we a"re told, " will bring forth fruit, one producing ten thousand ; in the vine there will be a thousand branches, and every branch a thou- sand clusters, and every cluster a thousand berries, and every berry will yield a cor of wine." The coming of the Messiah was closely associated in the minds of the Essenes with the resurrection. " After these things, when the time of the coming of the Messiah is fulfilled, and He shall return in glory, then all who 1 Irenasus, Adv. Hcer. v. 33. THE APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH. 261 have fallen asleep in hope shall arise," a sentence that certainly recalls the exhortation Paul addresses to the Thessalonian Christians, that they should not sorrow as others who had no hope, seeing " them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." He proceeds to tell how the souls of the just shall come out of the repositories in which they had been guarded, and all the souls of men shall appear also ; "the former shall rejoice, and the latter shall be sad." " The souls of the impious, when they see these things, shall waste away." For they know that the time of their judgment has come, and that their perdition is at hand. A change now is introduced. After this fasting in the cave of the earth, the seer goes to the people in Zion. Evidently no such utter ruin as befell Jerusalem after the capture by Titus is before the mind of the writer. Neither after the capture of the city by the Chaldeans, nor after that by the Romans, was there so much of civil or municipal life left that there w r ere ciders of the people. Yet Baruch calls the people to " assemble unto him their elders." He then tells them what will befall the city and the temple. He tells them that the temple will be rebuilt again to be over- turned and left desolate for a season, after that it shall be crowned with perpetual glory. This is the classical passage of those who place Baruch late ; but it seems to us that this opinion under-estimates the horrors that thrilled through the people of Judah when Pompey pierced into the Holy of Holies. The writer places unconsciously his meeting with the elders at Jerusalem at the mouth of the Kedron, near 262 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. Engedi, and so he represents Baruch telling his audience that he would depart to the Holy of Holies and pray God for their sake, for the sake of Zion, that he should have further illumination. In consequence, he has a vision of a vine with a quiet fountain beneath it, surrounded by a great wood. A flood carries away all the trees of this wood but one lofty cedar. It stands for awhile ; then it, too, falls, and is swept towards the vine, which dooms it to destruction. There is an interpretation given, from which we learn that this forest of trees is the last world-empire, that of Rome, and the lofty cedar which survives all the rest is the last Roman leader. 1 It is not a king, as may be noted, who thus survives. It is evidently Pompey that is in the mind of the seer, who then was towering over the heads of all others, and who, he imagines, will be swept in the catastrophe of time to the feet of the Messiah, who, along with the Jewish people, is the vine and the quiet fountain beside it. The Almighty, who shows him the vision, tells him that some of his people will, at that time, cast themselves free from the yoke of the law, and that others, heathens presumably, should leave their vanity and flee under the wings of Judaism, a state of matters which began to be marked about the time of Pompey. God further commands him to leave his people and fast seven days, in order that he may be in a fit state to receive a further revelation. After this, Baruch returns to his people and makes known to certain of them the things he has heard and what has been commanded him. Those that are chosen 1 Dux Ceriani iJDiO, leader. THE APOCALYPSE OF BARUCII. 263 for this revelation are his own eldest son, Gedeliah, 1 and seven from the elders of the people. They protest against this desertion, but he persists and goes to Hebron. When there, he prays, interceding for his people, " Protect us in Thy mercy, and in Thy pity aid us ; look to the children who have been subject to Thee, and save all those that approach unto Thee, neither take away the hope of our people, nor remove the time of their help. For this is the people whom Thou hast chosen, these are the folk to whom Thou hast not found the like." But the answer is, " My judgment requires its own, and my law demands its right ; " then follows the sin of the people, and hence the necessity of wrath being poured forth upon them. When he hears this, Baruch exclaims, " Adam, what hast thou done to all those springing from thee ; and what shall be said of Eve, who first hearkened to the serpent ? Because this whole multitude has gone to torment, nor can those be numbered whom the fire devours." Emboldened, he renews his petitions for his people, and receives the promise of the resurrection. " The earth shall certainly restore the dead which now it has received that it may guard them, for I have delivered them to it that it may raise them." Then follows all the splendour into which the righteous shall be changed, a statement that reminds one of the Pauline declaration, 1 Cor. iii. 18, that believers " shall be changed into the same image from glory to glory." But there is also the astonishment that shall fall on the wicked when they see this. " At the sight they shall 1 Ceriani renders " Godalm? amicos meos," which would seem to be a blunder of some copyist, who has added the sign of the plural. 264 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. very much melt away ; and afterwards shall depart; that they may be tormented." This theme is soon left and the more pleasing theme of the glory of God's people is dwelt upon : " They are forced from this world of tribulation, and have laid down the weight of distress." " In what then have those men lost their life ; and for what have they, that have been in the earth, exchanged their soul ? " 1 When he hears this Baruch implicitly confesses his error, for he says, " Wherefore do we give an account of those who die, or weep for those that go into the grave ? " When he had heard these things he fell asleep, and another vision was granted to him. In his vision he sees " a cloud which crossed the heaven swiftly in its hasty career and covered the whole earth ; then it happened after these things that the cloud began to rain water upon the earth." He then noticed a peculiarity in the waters that came down from the cloud. First the waters came down very black, then after a time they came down bright and clear. Some such phenomenon would be seen when a thunderstorm swept over the regions about the Dead Sea. First, the heavy black cloud covering the whole heaven and the rain seem black as ink ; then a " rift " behind the cloud lets the light shine through, and the rain, which seemed so black before, now seems to be bright and shining. This process of alternate darkness and light went on for twelve times, and then came these two addi- tional times of darkness and light. Filled with the mystery of this vision, Baruch prays to God. His prayer is largely adoration, and his request occupies 1 Comp. Mark viii. 37. THE APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH. 265 but a small space in the many words he uses. In course of his prayer he gives a statement of doctrine in regard to Adam's sin and its effects, which is almost Calvinistic, though the doctrine of election is different : " For if Adam the first sinned and brought death too soon upon all ; so of those born from him, one has prepared future torment for his soul, and another chooses for himself future glory ; for certainly he who believes shall receive the reward." After his prayer he rests under a tree, and Ramiel is sent to explain the vision to him. These differing showers are different periods of history. The first, dark waters, the history up to the Flood ; the second, clear waters, the call of Abraham. So on down the course of history till the twelfth represents the restora- tion of the Jews by Cyrus. Then came the other black waters, which seem to be the time of the Epi- phanes. Next, there are waters that are neither black nor bright ; this represents the times of the later Maccabees, when there was mingled glory and disgrace. Thus the last black waters were the coming of Pompey, and beyond, behind were the bright and glorious times of the Messiah. The times of the Messiah are described in terms which, though somewhat conven- tional and prolix, are not deficient in beauty. " Then health shall descend in dew, and weakness leave, and care and sorrow and groaning shall depart from men, and joy shall walk about the whole earth ; nor shall any die till he is of full age, nor shall any adversity fall suddenly on any man. And judgments, and accusa- tions, and contentions, and revenges, and blood, and coveting, and envy, and hatred, and whatsoever things 266 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. are like to these, shall depart into condemnation. And wild beasts shall come out of the forest and shall minister to men, and serpents and dragons shall come from their holes and submit themselves to a little child. And it shall be in those days that the reapers shall not weary nor the builders toil ; for work shall go on freely with them who do those things in much tranquillity." After Baruch has acknowledged grate- fully the vision, it is announced to him that he shall " depart, but not to death, but to the resurrection of time." He is then ordered to ascend up into a lofty mountain that he may see " all the regions of the earth in order that he may learn what shall happen in the last times." We are not told what he saw, for immediately thereupon he assembles all his fellow- countrymen, and urges upon them the duty of serving the Lord by reminding them what the Lord had done to Sion. The people then gave a hearty response to his exhortation, and desired him to write to their brethren in Babylon. He answers with a praise of the law : " There are shepherds and lights and fountains from the law ; although we depart, yet the law re- mains. If, therefore, ye shall have respect to the law, and be prudent in wisdom, ye shall not want a lamp ; a shepherd will not depart from you, nor your fountain become dry." After having thus spoken, Baruch sat him down under an oak and wrote two Epistles. Then he sum- moned an eagle, and commanded him to bear one of these letters to the nine tribes and a half, the other he sent by the hands of three men to Babylon. In this letter to the nine tribes and a half he tells THE APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH. 267 them of the disasters that had befallen Sion ; how it had been surrounded by armies and taken, and most of its inhabitants led into captivity. After having told this sad part of his message, and sending it home by telling them that what they and their brethren were suffering was but according to their deserts, he proceeds to open up to them the promise of the future. " Now the righteous are gathered together, and the prophets have fallen on sleep. We, too, have gone out from our own land. Sion is taken from us, nor have we anything more now but the Almighty and His law. If, then, we shall have directed and disposed our hearts, we shall receive again all that we have lost,, and things more excellent than those we have lost, and more in measure. What we have lost was cor- ruptible, what we shall receive shall never be cor-, rupted." Again, the words suggest those of Paul, of the " body sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body ; it is sown in corruption, it is raised in glory. When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, then shall death be swallowed up of victory." In a similar way he testified to his brethren in Babylon. Having written these Epistles, he bound the one on the eagle's neck, and committed the other to faithful messengers. Thus ends the Apocalypse of Baruch. CHAPTER VI. THE PSALTER OF SOLOMON. rpHE Essenes did not stay only in Engedi, but had ^ all through Palestine houses where they dwelt when occasion called them to leave their retreat at Engedi. In Jerusalem there was one of these houses near one of the gates, which from this fact got the name of the Gate of the Essenes. In the Middle Ages the preaching friars were thus accommodated in the houses of their order wherever they happened to find themselves. In those houses dwelt certain persons appointed to keep them members of the order who thus dwelling in cities can scarcely be said to have been of them. They were Essenes first, citizens afterwards were, in fact, more spectators than actors in the events that transpired. About the time when the struggle between the sons of Queen Alexandra was reaching an acute stage, there seems to have dwelt in the Essene house in Jerusalem one who chose as his favourite study, not Daniel or Isaiah, but the Book of Psalms. But while the cadence of David, of Asaph, and of later psalmists kept ringing in his ear, still the apocalyptic leaven was in him. His eye was fixed, not so much on the present, with its miserable intrigues and hatreds, its roi faineant John Hyrcanus II., its coxcomb pretender Aristobulus THE PSALTER OF SOLOMON. 269 II. , its cunning mayor of the palace Antipater, as on the future, the Messianic times and the Messianic glories. Although others have named the composi- tions in which he expressed his feeling the Psalter of Solomon, he never claims such a title, nor ever gives a hint to lead one to make the deduction. He seems rather to be at pains to tell us what manner of man he is, and in what circumstances he is living. The first of these psalms shows a saint vexed with the ungodly deeds of sinners. He calls to God in his trouble when sinners assailed him. Suddenly he heard the sound of war, 1 and he heard the sounds " because he was filled with righteousness," the warning sound came to him because of his righteousness. He heard away across the mountains the tread of the advancing armies of Rome. He thought himself righteous from the thoroughly Hebraistic reason that he had prospered and had many children. This leads us to see that the writer belonged to that section of the Essenes who did not eschew matrimony. But after he has assigned this reason for his conviction of his righteousness, he meditates on the matter, and finds that though the honour of the rich may be to the very end of the earth, and one may be sure they never can fall, yet they may have secret sins that will destroy them. Nay, he seems to imply that the wealthy in his own days were so bad that for a man to be wealthy was in all pro- bability to be wicked. ic Their iniquities are beyond 1 Greek firxxovafTcti pw, evidently from Hebrew >#> ; the translator has read this 3 preterite with suffix instead of infinitive with suffix. Wellhausen translates this second verse, Plotzlich drang mir Kriegsgeschrei zu Ohren "er erhort mich weil ich voller gerechtigkeit bin" making the latter clause the war-cry, which seems absurd. 270 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. those of all the heathen before them beyond those of nations that God cast out before the children of Israel. They utterly profaned the holy things of Jehovah." l He begins his second psalm by stating the occasion of it : " When the arrogance of sinners overturned the strong walls with their battering rams, and Thou didst not hinder." It is difficult for us to realise the horror that must have filled the heart of a pious Jew dwelling in Jerusalem at what took place during the time that Pompey held possession of the city of Jerusalem and besieged the temple. All through the day was heard the heavy crash of the ram with its iron head as it thundered against the wall. How every blow must have gone through the heart of each Jewish saint when the silence of the Sabbath was continuously broken by the hideous clangour ! Every now and then would be heard the sharper crash, when now one part, now another of the sacred building fell in under the blows dealt by some stone from a catapult. Although they were Sadducees who were thus besieged, yet it was the house of God in which they were besieged, and the priests on whose heads had been poured the anointing oil were there offering undismayed and unceasing sacrifice to the Most High. How often must the cry have been ready to rise from the lips of our psalmist, " Why sleep the thunders of Sinai ? W T hen will the arm of the Lord awake ? " The siege and capture of the temple by Pompey was an event specially trying for the faith of the Jews. In their reverence for the 1 Wellhausen assumes without hint at proof that the religious com- munity in Israel is personified in this first psalm. He does the same with the second psalm with as little justification. THE PSALTER OF SOLOMON. 271 Sabbatic law, the Jews in the temple did not make sorties on the Sabbath, and the Romans taking ad- vantage of this pressed on their approaches most on the Sabbath. Yet and this was the mysterious thing God did not interpose to hinder. So that these foreigners in their arrogance ascended the very altar and trode it under foot. More terrible than all that altar is defiled with the blood of the sacred priests of the Lord who are slain while ministering at it. The only explanation he can give of this mystery is that " the sons of Jerusalem had defiled the holy things of Jehovah, and by their iniquities had pro- faned the gifts of God." It was on account of these crimes that God has " cast them from Him, and declared He would have no pleasure in them"- " brought their glory to nought." What affects him most, as most clearly giving evidence that God is against them, is the fact that the sons and daughters of his people are sent into evil captivity. The Baby- lonian captivity, however terrible in many aspects at the time, had been softened by distance. The sorrows of four hundred years ago are not felt very keenly. Now Babylon had become a second home of Judaism, where it flourished even more than in Palestine. But the crossing of the great and wide sea to Rome to be sold in the slave market, that was a far more terrible captivity than the deportation inflicted on their fathers by Nebuchadnezzar. Yet he acknowledges that it was because none had ever acted as they had done. God had set Jerusalem for a mockery on account of their impurity, " because they had sinned had He destroyed them." Although he acknowledges the 272 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. justice of God, yet his bowels are pained within him for all these things. " I will justify Thee, God, in Tightness of heart, because in Thy judgment is Thy righteousness, God, because Thou hast rendered to sinners according to their works, according to their exceedingly vile sins. Thou hast unveiled their sins, in order that Thou mightest manifest Thy judgment." Speaking of Jerusalem he says : " She put on sack- cloth instead of a beautiful garment, and had a rope upon her head instead of a diadem. She laid aside the mitre of glory which God gave her. Her beauty is cast in dishonour on the ground." But he prays and entreats God to be merciful, that what had befallen might be regarded as sufficient. It was true that the heathen had been the messengers of Divine vengeance, yet they acted in wrath and passion, and therefore he prays that they may not be unpunished, that God delay not to pour out upon their own heads the reward of their arrogance. Thus far we may suppose the writer to have pro- ceeded with his psalm in the year 62 B.C. For years, Pompey, great as no other Roman had ever been before him, seems to be above the judgments of God, but then comes the civil war. Great as Pompey is, there is a greater in the field Pompey is overthrown at Pharsalia. What a thrill the strange tidings must have sent into the heart of this Jew, who had seen the horrors of the siege. At last vengeance is over- taking the man of pride. Defeat and death are not all that is in store for Pompey ; to have died on the field, that would not have satisfied the demand for retributive justice. But God showed him Pompey, THE PSALTER OF SOLOMON. 273 a fugitive landing on the shores of Egypt, slain by those he had benefited, and his body left there a prey until some kind hands gave him the rites of Roman sepulture. It seems that Pompey himself must confess his pride as the reason of his fate. 1 " J said, ' I will be lord of earth and sea, and I recognised not that God is great and mighty in His great power. He is the King of the heavens, and judgeth kings and rulers, raising me to honour, giving over the arrogant to eternal destruction because they did not know Him.' " He ends his psalm with an exhortation to rulers and great ones to remember that God is great, and to the saints to bless God because He is always mindful of His people, and that He is good to them that call upon Him in patience. He ends with a doxology. Blessed be the Lord for ever, before His servants. The third psalm begins with praise : " Wherefore dost thou sleep, my soul, and dost not bless the Lord ? Sing a new song to the God who is worthy to be praised." Having thus introduced the psalm, he describes the just as those who always remember the Lord in confessing and justifying His judgments. " Being chastened by the Lord, the just does not regard as a light matter ; his satisfaction is always before the Lord. The righteous stumbleth and justifieth the Lord ; he falls, and looks to see what God will do unto him, and he looks steadily whence his salvation cometh." One side of repentance is here exhibited ; the righteous man falls into sin, but from the depth Reading uxov instead of tiT S 274 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. of his sin lie looks up to God his Saviour and acknowledges his sin and submits to Divine chas- tisement. But the truth of his contention is exhibited by this, " sin upon sin does not dwell in his habitation." He watches over his dwelling to cast out transgression from it. The Essenian character of the book is seen in the fact that the just makes atonement by fasting for sins of ignorance, and thus " shall he humble his soul." The psalmist recognises Divine sovereignty, declaring, "Jehovah purifies every holy man and his house." The psalmist proceeds now to contrast the sinner with the righteous. " The sinner stumbles and curses his life, the day of his birth, and his mother's birth pangs." No one can fail to see a reference here to the Book of Job ; yet it is strange that thus by implication censure is passed upon Job. Perhaps the psalmist would make the difference depend on the fact that Job had not stumbled consciously, whereas the sinner has. The parallelism with the righteous is carried on yet further ; they fall, and " their corpse is evil, and shall not be raised up." That conditional immortality is intended here may be regarded as confirmed by the next statement, " The destruction of the wicked is for ever, and they shall not be remem- bered when God looks upon the just." The psalmist concludes by declaring, "Those who fear the Lord shall rise again to life everlasting, and their life shall be in the light of the Lord, and shall never be quenched." The psalmist having thus contrasted the righteous THE PSALTER OF SOLOMON. 275 and sinners, proceeds in the fourth psalm to assail some one in high place who is unworthy of it, demand- ing of him why he sits in the Sanhedrin. " Thy heart is far from the Lord," he says ; "by thine iniquities thou enragest the God of Israel." It is impossible not to think that the writer had an indi- vidual before his eyes, "excessive in words, exces- sive above all in pride ; 1 harsh in his words when condemning sinners in judgment, and as if from zeal his hand is among the first upon the culprit." The reference here evidently is to the punishment of stoning, especially as inflicted on one guilty of adultery, "and he himself is guilty of manifold sins and excesses." Such a man must have been the lineal ancestor of those who brought the woman taken in adultery before our Lord. They, one and all, convicted by their own conscience, by going out confessed themselves as guilty as the woman was. " His eyes are upon every woman without exception a tongue that perjures itself in covenants. In the night and in secret he sins when he is not seen. With his eyes he speaks to every woman for sin ; yet swift in entering in every house with joy, as if innocent." Modern life presents us with a similar spectacle magistrates who from the bench in the morning unctuously rebuke those sins in others of which nightfall shall certainly see themselves guilty. We know the Sadducean party were very harsh in their judgments, especially in the matter of adultery, 1 Greek : ayfitiuoi; ; this may mean secret signals, as nods or winks. Wellhausen translates the clause iiberrayend in Worten iihcrragend in Hoffahrt sie alle. 2*76 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. and common report made the whole priestly party flagitious to the last degree. Some have thought that Antipater, the father of Herod, is here intended. We do not know enough of his private character to be sure whether he would suit this portrait ; there are, however, none of the features that, judging the father from the son, are at all unlikely. There are two objections that seem fatal : there is no hint that the person the Psalmist is assailing is of alien birth as Antipater was, at all events, alleged to be ; further, the description seems intended for one of the Sadducean party, and Antipater was the friend of Hyrcanus, who was supported by the Pharisees. The psalmist cries to God to remove those who live in hypocrisy with the saints ; prays that their works be held up to mockery and contempt ; that the saints shall justify the judgments of their God when He takes away sinners from the presence of the just. They are full of envy, and make use of sophistries to destroy. Having described the evil-doer, the writer, his mind evidently full of the words of the 109th Psalm, prays down curses on the wicked doer : " Let his outgoing be with groans, and his entrance with a curse. Let sleep forsake his eyes in the night, and success his hands in the day. Let his old age be in the solitude of childlessness, and his flesh scattered by men-devour- ing beasts." In assigning a reason for his demand for judgment on the sinner, the psalmist passes rapidly from the individual in question to the class, " because they desolated many houses in contempt and squandered THE PSALTER OF SOLOMON. 277 in lust. They did not remember God ; in nothing did they fear Him." He ends with a song after his denunciation: " Blessed are they who fear the Lord in their innocency ; the Lord will save them from men of craft and from sinners, and will save us from every stumbling-block of transgression. Let Thy mercy, Lord, be upon all those who love Thee." An enlightened trust in God, even while suffering affliction, is one of the characteristics of the psalmists of the canon ; in his fifth psalm our psalmist assumes the same attitude. He commences by praising God for His goodness and extolling His might. This, how- ever, is but the prelude to the statement of his trust in God. " When we are afflicted we will call to Thee for help, and Thou wilt not turn away our prayer, for Thou art our God. Let not Thy hand be heavy upon us, lest we be forced to sin. If I am hungry I will cry to Thee, God, and Thou wilt bestow upon me. Thou feedest the birds and the fishes ; Thou givest rains in the desert for the springing of grass ; Thou preparest herbage in the desert for every living thing. Thou feedest kings and rulers and peoples ; who is the hope of the poor and the needy except Thee, Lord ? The goodness of a man to his friend 1 endures for a day ; should he repeat it without murmuring, thou mayest marvel at it. Upon all the earth, Lord, is Thy mercy in goodness." As in former cases the psalmist ends with a song : " Blessed is he whom the Lord remembereth on account 1 Hilgenfeld reads

O /cara/SoX^? *oo>iot>). He, Moses, had been so chosen and strengthened ; and now Joshua, having been chosen, might have good confidence in playing the man, for God would be on his side. We see here the absolute preordination implied in this, a hyper-Calvinism, in short, that has something of the sublimity of reach, that all Calvinism has. This 1 Baruch. 324 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. suits thoroughly the representation which Josephus gives of the theological position of the Essenes. 1 But, further, he announces to Joshua his approach- ing death, and tells him that he will relate the things that are to come to the consummation of all things. He requires of him to arrange and embalm (hedriabis) 2 the writings which he shall give him, and " put them in a vessel of earth, and hide them in a place prepared for them from the creation, that his name might be called upon laid up for the day of repentance when God shall look upon His people at the end of the days." The writer evidently adds this to explain the discovery of this prophecy. We can imagine the strange mingling of fanatical piety and a taste for forgery which led the man to write out in crabbed characters what really was the solemn exhortation to his fellows, and then wander away up those Moabite mountains and hide the writing in an earthen vessel in some cranny of the rock. After sufficient time had elapsed to make the earthen vessel look mouldy and old, and the parchments grow musty, though he had prepared for them being found fresh by the em- balment, he allures some of his fellow solitaries away up the mountain, and as arranged by this pious man, they find the Book of the Prophecy of Moses. It is brought back to Engedi with great triumph, and opened with reverence and read with awe. The prophecy proper commences, " Behold, 3 now they shall by thee enter into the land which God 1 Antiq. xiii. 5. 9. 2 Hilgenfeld, 3 The words here are awanting ; they are supplied by Hilgenfeld *.*\ vvv ; Fritzsche, et mine. We have followed Volkmar, as his sug- gestion is more in accordance with Hebrew usage. THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES. 325 decreed and promised to give to their fathers." This revelation was itself fitted to encourage Joshua. But Moses now looks farther into the future, " And thou shalt bless them, and shalt divide l to each tribe his portion, and confirm them in their lot, and assure 2 to them the rule; 3 and thou shalt in judgment and righteousness hand over the local authority to them, according to what shall please their God. 4 But they, after they have been in the land [five] 5 years, shall be then ruled over by judges and kings for eighteen and nineteen years." It is obvious enough that it is not merely ordinary years that are here intended ; the time would be too short. The most diverse opinions have been held as to the space meant by this " year." If we were to judge merely a priori, seven years might be thought a probable number ; it would certainly harmonise with the representation in the Book of Jubilees, so far at least that a week of years is one of the units in that book. It will not, however, suit the period to be occupied. Langen suggests that the period intended is ten years. In that case the first period of five years may be regarded as indicating the period of Joshua and of the elders that outlived Joshua. From the death of Joshua to the death of Samson, the period embraced in the history of the Book of Judges is 370 years, that is to say, thirty-seven decennial periods, or eighteen and nineteen decennial periods. But on that principle there is no time assigned for Eli, Samuel, Saul, David, 1 Dabis. 2 ConstaUlibis. s Regimen. 4 Reading illi with Fritzsche. 5 The number is awanting ; this is Volkmar's suggestion. 326 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. or Solomon ; and these must come in, for immediately- after the nineteen years is mentioned we are told that the ten tribes would break away from the centre of worship. Again, only twenty years are allowed for the continuance of the kingdom of Judah after the revolt of the ten tribes. If we take the period indicated to be twenty of those decennial periods sup- posed by Langen, then we have a period of in all 200 years much too short, for the actual time that elapsed must have been over 400 years. From the syn- chronism that exists between Jewish history and the Babylonian canon, we learn that the Jewish chronology is somewhat too long. The difference, however, is not at all equal to the task of reducing 467 to 200. Another difficulty suggests itself in regard to the number ten. We have no indication that it had any sacred significance which would suggest its employ- ment, it is purely arbitrarily chosen. Much more may be said for Volkmar's view, that by "year" a reign is intended. The fifteen judges and the three kings make up eighteen, and the nineteen may be merely the inclusion of Eehoboam. We are then told that for twenty years offerings would be presented. Strangaly enough there were nineteen sovereigns in both king- doms, with the possibility of counting in one more in both cases, Athaliah in the southern kingdom, and Tibni, the son of Ginath, in the northern. The reference probably is to the Davidic kingdom. The author makes Moses prophesy that seven would surround themselves with walls, and that him God Himself would guard, and they should agree to His covenant. This sentence clearly proves that the period THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES. 327 called a year has a personal reference. If we reckon in Athaliah's reign, there were sixteen sovereigns from the accession of Rehoboam to the death of Josiah. In regard to seven of these it is recorded they " did evil in the sight of the Lord," and of nine that they "did good in the sight of the Lord." After these kings had ended their reign, then would the people begin to pollute themselves, and God would bring upon them " a king from the east, who would cover the land with his cavalry ; " the reference, of course, here is to the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar, but the writer evidently has in his mind the terrible Parthian invaders, who after the defeat of Crassus had burst into the Holy Land, had driven Herod out of Jerusalem, and had set Antigonas, the son of Aristobulus on the throne ; and this colours his description of the earlier invasions. As a matter of fact, although in the Ninevite and Babylonian armies cavalry soldiers in the proper sense of the word are represented, there are more charioteers, and the vast majority of the army was always infantry, spearmen, and slingers. On the other hand, the Parthian armies were almost wholly cavalry. After the people of the southern kingdom are carried away captive, they invoke the help of their brethren, who are in the same case. They humble themselves before God, and remember how Moses, who had led them out of Egypt, had prophesied " that so it would happen to them if they forsook God." Then after about seventy-seven years they are returned to their own land. Here the years are literal years, and the number taken from Jeremiah. The writer connects the return with the prayers of Daniel. 328 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. " Then one who was over them went within and spread out his hands and fell on his knees and prayed for them, saying, ' Lord of all (Domine omnis), King in the height, who didst choose this people, and desirest to be called their God, according to the covenant which Thou didst make with their fathers, they have even gone into captivity with their wives and their children into a strange land and are about the gate of the heathen. And where is (Thy) great majesty ? 1 Have respect unto them, and pity them, heavenly Lord/ " It was as an answer to this prayer that God remembered His covenant and replaced the two tribes in their own land ; the ten tribes grew and multiplied, however, where they were. The two tribes fortifying the city and renewing the Jewish state, yet groaned because "they could not offer sacrifices to their God." It would seem that the sect to which our author belonged did not believe that in the second temple possibly because there had been no descent of the pillar of cloud and of fire in its dedication, as at that of the Solomonic temple acceptable sacrifices could be offered. This explains the abstention of the Essenes from the temple worship in Jerusalem. He looks forward to a general restitu- tion of Israel, when all would be as the saints desired, when all the people would be united again " in the time of the tribes." The author now overleaps all the intervening history 1 Here we follow Volkmar ; maiestas is in the text. If taken as an affirmative statement and not a question, the clause is evidently nonsense ; hence Hilgenfelcl and Merx would read mastitia, and Fritzsche molestia instead of maiestas. It seems simpler to imagine tua has dropped out, and that the clause is to be read interrogatively. THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES. 329 between the return of the Jews under Cyrus to the later Hasmonseans. This he regards as the time of punishment, when men assumed the priesthood who were not of the true priestly race, but were " slaves born of slaves." Evidently the writer had every sympathy with Eleazar the Pharisee when he demanded that John Hyrcanus I. should give up the high priesthood, because he alleged his mother had been a captive in a Syrian camp. The tendency the Has- monseans had of following Hellenic ways was evidently much blamed by him. We have no means of knowing that this Hellenising fashion went further than assum- ing Greek names and using them rather than the Hebrew, with perhaps a liking for Greek manners and Greek philosophy and arts ; but our author sees in it the worship of false gods. A Puritan of the seven- teenth century would have extended no toleration to works, however beautiful artistically, that depicted sacred subjects, and would have regarded as an indubitable sign of a Homeward tendency the intro- duction of anything of that sort into a place of worship. It is well known that, recently in Scotland, the question of purity of worship was regarded as inex- tricably involved with that in regard to the exclusion of instrumental music from congregational praise. Not only did they assume the priesthood, but more, they would even mount the throne. This was an additional act of guilt the throne belonged to the seed of David. The people acquiesced in this usurpa- tion, and so they had to endure punishment. Bad as those priest -kings were, a worse thing befalls the nation, a " petulant king, not of the priestly race," 330 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. ascends the throne. " He is rash and evil, and will slay their nobles with the sword. He will cast out 1 their bodies into unknown places, and no one shall know where their bodies are. He will slay old and young, and will not spare." To make it perfectly certain whom he means, the author informs us how long this tyrant is to reign " thirty-five years." The picture of Herod is clearly drawn, evidently by the hand of a con- temporary. How Langen can imagine it can refer to Aristobulus it is difficult to comprehend. He extends his ten year period to this also, and is necessitated to change the reading, so far as one can see, gratuitously. The author goes on, " He shall have sons who shall succeed him and rule for a short while." This is literally true ; Herod was succeeded, not by one son, but by three. Archelaus was made ethnarch of Judea, and Philip tetrarch of Iturea, and Herod Antipas tetrarch of Galilee. Now comes a point at which our author breaks away from his- tory. He expects that the reign of the Herodian princes would be cut short by the arrival of a powerful king of the West, whose cohorts would assail and capture the city, burn it with fire, and, in addition, crucify certain of them about the city. This fate had befallen Aristobulus, and the city in consequence, at the hands of Pompey. Later, the same thing had occurred when Herod was replaced on the throne by Sosius. A more recent, and in some sense more tremendous, example of the power of Rome 1 Cod. singuli et ; instead of this Fritzsche suggests stranyulabit, for which there seems no justification. Volkmar and Hilgenfeld, sepelit. Might not ejiciet suit ? The tyrant was little likely to take the trouble of burial. THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES. 331 was the expedition of Varus, in consequence of the uproar that took place during the absence of Archelaus in Kome. Then the Koman general crucified no less than two thousand rebelling Jews. We do not think, however, that this is used for more than suggestion. The author was under the impression that the Herodians would all be dispossessed, and similar disasters would befall their followers. He tells his readers that the end approaches; that when the four hours shall have come, then the end will be. To find what the writer means by hour we must bear in mind that in Greek a>pa does not generally mean an hour, but any definitely fixed period of time a year, a season, or a day. As we are in the region of symbol and pseudo-prophecy, not of prose and fact, we must expect to find an hour have a much more indefinite meaning. Unfortunately, all attempts to fix definitely what the writer means here are rendered all but futile by the number of lacunce that occur here in the manuscript. The intelligible fragments are few, and these intelligible only as fragments. Volkmar has the idea that the four hours are four imperial dynasties that had one after the other occupied the imperial throne. So far, how- ever, as can be deciphered, there is nothing about the imperial dynasties at all. It is rather more than can be expected, that suggestions which supply a word from a letter should be treated as if they were clearly words legible in the manuscript. From the fact that the writer commences at once with the signs of the last times, and these four hours are part of these signs, it would seem, at all events, a possible solution that the 332 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. "hour," instead of meaning a definite space of time, means a mood of the time in which he was living. Our Lord addressing those who had come to arrest Him, says (Luke xxii. 53) : " This is your hour, and the power of darkness." If one may deduce the meaning of the whole from the fragments that have come down to us, it would seem that these hours were characterised by the presence of certain moral features. Thus we have immediately after these lacunce a description of certain persons that seem to have been the Pharisees ; at all events they are accused of the very things of which our Lord accuses the Pharisees, and in nearly the same terms : "Then shall men, pestilent and impious, bear rule on account of these things, 1 who yet shall say that they are righteous." This seems a description of the Pharisees ; they certainly had secured the majority in the Sanhedrin, but their opponents, the Sadducees, are also sketched with an equally steady hand. These shall excite wrath in their minds, who are men of craft, living to please themselves, unreal in all their relations ; 2 loving banquets every hour of the day ; throats that are devourers : this is, or was, evidently directed against the Sadducees, the party of the priestly nobility, who above all were men of affairs, and played chicanery against power, as may be seen in their dealings with Pilate in our Lord's trial. 1 De his; Volkmar renders unter diesen, saying that the Greek was probably \K\ -tovrav, though the German and the Greek do not seem pre- cisely similar. If we take the usage of the Vulgate as our guide, de represents e*, Matt. xiii. 41 ; John iii. 31 ; dm, Matt. xiv. 29; the genitive simply, xviii. 28 ; mpt, xxvi. 24. 2 Ficti in omnibus suis. THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES. 333 There follows here another passage, where time has left us only detached letters and syllables which cannot with any degree of real probability be filled up. When we again reach an intelligible portion of the manuscript, we find ourselves now in company, not of the Pharisees, as we think, but of the publicans. The persons are described thus : "Devourers of the goods of the poor, saying that they did these things for mercy's sake;" i.e. take away the goods of the poor for the Eoman taxes, and pretend that they are merci- ful because they do not take much more ; " they are exterminators, ready to lodge complaints and untrue statements ; concealing themselves lest they should be known ; impious in crime, full of iniquity from east to west." Wherever these publicans were there were works of iniquity and wrong. They rejoiced in all manner of chambering and wantonness ; and as they think of the wealth they have amassed, say, "we shall be princes." With hands and teeth they drag unclean things to them. They speak great things beyond measure. As he thinks of their actions full of horror, Moses says, " Touch me not, lest you defile me." Again there comes a passage that is little more than a series of lacunce marked off by disjointed syllables and detached letters. As it seems to us, the Sad- ducees and Pharisees formed one of these portents which we hold to be symbolised by the "hours;" the publicans another. Now there comes a third persecution, such as the Jews had endured under Antiochus Epiphanes, only worse, as crucifixion was the penalty meted out to those who confessed their circumcision. Those who 334 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. denied it were betrayed and sent to prison, their wives given to the Gentiles, and their sons cut by physicians to efface the mark of circumcision. These horrors never could happen literally. Rome never much cared to make a nation abandon its faith. Rome persecuted Christianity because her statesmen suspected a political meaning in the secret evening meetings of the Christians, and could not comprehend a religion that was not an affair of state. Could any one imagine even the fantastic Commodus or the cruel Caracalla paying medical practitioners to remove from Jewish children the sign of their faith ? And still less would Augustus or Tiberius have done so. Is it not rather more likely that this is an exaggerated re- presentation of the action of the Herodians ? Those who confessed their circumcision by hewing down the eagle over the gate of the temple suffered the last penalty of the law ; those who denied their faith suffered im- prisonment, in order that some lewd Roman might dishonour the wives of their prisoners. As a matter of fact, though the Jews were as a rule freed from the obligation of military service, sometimes, how- ever, they were pressed into it, and the writer antici- pates that this will become general. Jews will be punished for military disobedience with torture and fire and sword. What he regards as worse than torture, is being compelled to bear the standards with their heathen emblems. The military oath is full of untold horrors for him ; "by those tormenting them" these Jews "shall be compelled to enter a secret place, and be forced by goads to blaspheme the law and the altar and what is upon it." THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES. 335 The fourth sign or hour that will intimate the coming of the end is the appearance of a Levite, whose name is Taxo, who with his seven sons retires to a cave in utter despair at the state of the holy people. When he assembles his seven sons he says, " See, my sons, there is yet another cruel vengeance to be exacted from the people betrayal of the princedoms * without mercy or clemency ; for what race or what land or what people of those impious against God, who have com- mitted so many crimes, who have endured so many evils as those which have fallen upon us ? Ye see and know that never have they tempted 2 God, nor their parents, nor their grandparents, that they shall lay aside the commandments." These other nations never were in any covenant relationship with God, and have therefore cast aside His commandments. There is only one way that Israel can be saved, physical might will avail nothing in such a conflict. Let them but die for God, and God will come forward as their avenger. True to the legal ideal, shared by Pharisees with the Essenes, they determine to fast three days and then retire into a cave to die. Whether they intended to starve themselves to death, or whether they were to take more active means against their lives, does not appear. Who it is that is designated by the name Taxo is the great problem of the book. Volkmar, who places the date of this book as late as the days of Hadrian, will believe it to stand for Rabbi Aqiba. His proof, though ingenious, is scarcely convincing ; it 1 Reading with Fritzsche principatuum instead of princepatum (Cod.), dementia (Merx) instead of eminent! 2 Reading with Hilgenfeld temptnrunt instead of temptans : Cod. 336 EVOLUTION OF APOCALYPTIC. involves among other things the assumption that the number of the Beast in Revelation is the name of Nero, and that the 153 great fishes in John xxi. designates Simon Peter. Hilgenfeld has another theory ; he holds the original Greek to have been T L, splendour, in places where #007*09 would suit, but which do not suit the notion of splendour as in iii. 7, implies that the translator took the wrong meaning of #007-109. On the other hand, there seems evidence that the Greek recen- sion was itself a version of a Hebrew original, e.g. labisc - "> - ; this almost certainly represents 'lyafiris of the Septuagint, 1 Chron. iv. 9, 10 (Heb. P3JP, Syriac ^AiJl). 1 The probability then is that we have a Syriac translation of a Greek translation of a Hebrew original. Given that this conclusion is a correct one, the question of place may be regarded as settled, for there seems little probability that such a book would be written in Hebrew in any place out of Palestine. As we have 1 Harvey, the editor of Irenseus, argues that the Greek, of which the passage in Irenseus is a Latin version, must have had a Syriac original. This argument, however, would suit with a Hebrew original. LANGUAGE AND DATE OF THE APOCALYPSE OF BAKUCH. 415 said elsewhere, our opinion is that it was probably written in Engedi, the main seat of the Essenes. The Syriac version by which alone we know this Apocalypse was discovered by Ceriani in the Ambrosian Library, Milan, a treasure-house that has rivalled Abyssinia in restoring to us books that had disappeared from the knowledge of Christendom. In 1866, Ceriani published a Latin version of the Syriac original ; five years later this was followed by the Syriac text. There have been several editions since that date. It seems hardly needful to prove that the writer is a Jew. Everything is Jewish, and Jewish only. Further, there is no reference to the Christians. At first sight xli. 3 might seem to apply to them, but other things make this reference less probable. The date of this book is of necessity a question of more importance than the language in which it was written or the place where the writer was dwelling when he wrote. Externally we find one of our termini in the fact that Papias quotes a sentence from it, but attri- butes it to our Lord. That is to say, it certainly was written some time before A.D. 130, the approximate date of Papias. If any stress is to be laid on the fact that he ascribed it to our Lord, then the date of Baruch must be placed much earlier. It is a possible thing that our Lord might have quoted it much as He has made other quotations, as Matt. v. 43, and as Jude has quoted from Enoch, without assigning any sanctity or inspiration to the work. Indeed, from the careful way Papias went to work, however little respect may be had for his judgment, it may be regarded as pro- bable that our Lord did use the words attributed to Him 416 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. by Papias, that is to say, did quote from Barucli. We certainly have not the work of Papias, but this state- ment of his is quoted by Irenseus, adv. Hcereseos, v. 33 ; further, Irenaeus at this point has not come down to us in the original Greek, but only in a Latin version. Still it may be regarded as fairly certain that Papias did attribute to our Lord Barucli xxix. Even though we do not regard Papias' assertion as proving that our Lord had quoted these words descriptive of the millennial glory, yet the fact that the source of the words was not known seems to imply that the book by this time had practically disappeared. But to have even a sentence made common property, proves it to have at least had a certain vogue. If it had gained that, and then had so utterly disappeared that no one, until the book turned up a quarter of a century ago, knew that the sentence in question had been quoted from it, this proves that some considerable time must have elapsed. On the other hand, it must have been written after Enoch, for Ivi. 12, 13 evidently refers to the sin of the angels in regard to the daughters of men, with which the Book of Enoch opens. This leaves a pretty wide margin, A.D.I 30 and B.C. 160. It has been thought by Langen, Renan, Stahelin, Hilgenfeld, Drummond, and others, that this book was borrowed largely from Fourth Ezra. Schiirer's Jewish People, sec. ii. vol. iii. 89, shows, however, pretty conclusively that what dependence there is may easily be the converse of the supposition above referred to. Moreover, dependence in regard to doctrine is a very uncertain matter, especially when, in the case both of Baruch and Esdras, the doctrine is a thing LANGUAGE AND DATE OF THE APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH. 417 indirectly introduced. As has been well shown by Schiirer (loc. cit.), the sadness in Esdras is far deeper than in Baruch. Baruch has a certainty that the temple will be restored after a time, but Esdras has no such hope. One peculiarity of Apocalyptic books is, that as a rule they bear signs of the time of their composition more unmistakably than any other class of work. That being so, it behoves us to direct our attention to the contents of this Book of Baruch. Let us apply the canons we have laid down in regard to the Book of Enoch. If we take our first canon, " the time of the composition of an Apocalypse is after the latest event clearly described, and before the first distinct break with actual history," and apply it to the book before us, we find several notes of time of this schematic form. There are the twelve showers, these twelve terminate with Cyrus. After this comes a period of terrible blackness, unlike anything that had been. This, as we have already said, represents the period of the Maccabean struggle. Then there is a period when the black is neither united with the black nor the white with the white. This suits the representation of the lightning that healed the corruption caused by the latter dark rain. Then come twelve rivers w T hich quench the healing lightning. The interpretation goes further, it not only has the " last black waters, aquse nigrse postretnse" which may be supposed to be equivalent to the rivers that quenched the healing lightning, but away beyond them are bright waters which represent the Messianic times. After the Macca- bean period there are two periods, one when the 2 D 418 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. flashing lightning is healing what the black rain is corrupting, and the other when the corrupting waters have prevailed. The first evidently refers to the reigns of John Hyrcanus, Aristobulus I., Alexander Jannseus, and Alexandra, when there were efforts made by the scribes and Pharisees to spread the knowledge of the law and increase the reverence for it. But, on the other hand, there was a constant spreading of Hellenistic habits and customs. These habits and customs were in- timately associated with the moral corruption of heathen- ism. Then came the terrible time of Aristobulus II. and John Hyrcanus II., the time of the last corruption (chap. Ixx.), when brother went to war with brother, and where the mean man the Edomite Antipater exalted himself over the rich Aristobulus. All this was ended with Pompey's capture of Jerusalem when the rising sea quenched the light of Judah. In the near future after this the writer expected the advent of the Messiah. Another scheme of history is presented to us in chap, xxxix. taken in connection with chap, xxxvi. As we saw above in chap, xxxvi., the writer gives an account of a vision he had of the last times in which the Messiah and His kingdom are symbolised as a vine with a quiet fountain flowing from beneath it. Eound this vine-covered fountain is a vast wood of many trees, and especially one towering cedar. A flood comes and carries away this wood gradually, the towering cedar being the last to be swept off. In chap, xxxix. the explanation of this vision is given. We learn that there are to be four world empires, a thought borrowed from Daniel, and the forest is the fourth empire. It needs no seer to tell us LANGUAGE AND DATE OF THE APOCALYPSE OF BA11UCH. 419 that Rome is this fourth empire. One thing that must be noted is, that to outsiders at the time when the book before us was written, the Roman executive presented the appearance of multitudinousness leaders numerous as trees in a wood. Such an im- pression might be conveyed by the contemplation of Republican Rome, but not at all by Rome as Imperial. Imperial Rome was represented by Csesar, and prac- tically Caesar alone, and therefore to appearance differed in kind but little from such monarchies as that of the Seleucids ; but Republican Rome produced a very different impression, as may be seen on looking at the description of the Roman Senate found in the First Book of the Maccabees. We find the change of leading magistrates, a thing that was well fitted to impress the Jews with a feeling of multitudinousness in regard to the rulers of the Romans. 1 The last cedar that sur- vives all the others is "the last leader (ultimus dux) of the Romans." It is noticeable that the term king is not used, but leader. The Imperial dignity became confounded with the regal in the East in the days of Tiberius and downwards. 2 Yet it is a leader a tree 1 In 1 Mace. viii. we have an account of how the Roman mode of govern- ment impressed the Jews. After describing the deeds of the Roman, the account proceeds, " yet for all this none of them wore a crown or was clothed in purple to be magnified thereby. Moreover, they had made for themselves a Senate-house in which 320 men sit in Council daily con- sulting alway for the people, to the end they might be well ordered ; and they committed their government to one man every year who ruled over all their country, and that all were obedient to that one, and that there was neither envy nor emulation among them." Here the great number of the rulers and the repeated changes are evidently the matter most remarkable in the eyes of the narrator. 8 Especially is this the case in the Apocryphal books. Nero is called a matricide king, Ascension of Isaiah. The Syriac is ]i ; ^ VQ 420 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. greater certainly than its neighbour, but simply a tree like them. This would certainly be an accurate de- scription of Pompey. If the terrible disaster which befell the army of Crassus had recently happened, one might understand the expectation of the flood even better than otherwise. The exulting contempt with which this last leader is addressed implies some special cause of hatred against him ; a state of feeling thoroughly explicable in regard to Pompey. A different view of the date is generally held. This opinion is based on chap, xxxii. : "After a little time the building of Zion shall be shaken down, that it may be built again ; but that building will not remain, but again after a time it will be rooted out and remain desolate for a season." Certainly at first sight this indicates a complete overturn, such as fell upon Zion when Titus took Jerusalem. But in this view we are forgetting the absolute desecration that had fallen upon the temple when the eyes of a heathen general had with curious gaze pierced into the Holy of Holies. Its sanctity had to appearance been rooted out, and it was desolate. We admit that did this passage stand alone, we should feel ourselves compelled to admit a late date ; but the other passages seem to us to more than counterbalance the weight of this isolated passage, which may be an interpolation. Our second canon was : " The date of an Apocalypse is that which affords a background which harmonises best with that implied in the book." What is the state of matters taken for granted in Baruch ? Jerusalem certainly has been taken and the temple desolated, but still the mourning worshippers can seat themselves on LANGUAGE AND DATE OF THE APOCALYPSE OF BARUCH. 421 the steps of the Temple. The city has suffered severely, and the people are reduced to poverty ; many of them have been carried away captive, but still they have an organised community, with elders of the people to rule over them as in the time of their prosperity. This was a state of things precisely like that after the capture of the city by Pompey, but utterly unlike the thorough destruction and overturn that was wrought by Titus. Pliny, Nat. Hist. v. 70, speaks of Jerusalem as having completely ceased to be. In the war of Barcochba the Jews never possessed Jerusalem at all. The whole city seems to have lain desolate for half a century. There was no possibility of elders of the people assembling together, still less of the whole people being gathered together. On all these grounds we feel that the date of this book cannot be much after the capture of Jerusalem by Pompey in the year 63 B.C. It must, however, have been before the death of Pompey or the rise of Herod, the date, therefore, may be approximately fixed as 59 B.C. There is another much later treatise, called some- times " the rest of Baruch" and sometimes " the rest of the words of Jeremiah." While in some respects it is related to the Apocalypse of Baruch we have been considering above, in other respects, it contradicts it. In the Apocalypse of Baruch only one eagle is employed and sent to the nine tribes and a half; whereas to Babylon the message is sent by the hand of three mes- sengers. In this book the eagle carries the message to Babylon and returns again with an answer. There is a fuller account of the destruction of the city by the 422 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. angels, and more is made of the eagles who act as the carriers of the Epistles than in the Apocalypse. A good part of the book is taken up with the story of Abimelech. In order to spare him a sight of the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah sends him for figs to the vineyard of Agrippa, and on his way back he falls asleep, and only awakes after the return from the captivity. The mention of the vineyard of Agrippa proves it at any rate to be late probably it may be late in the second century. At all events a Christian community is now in Jerusalem. There is an account given of the founding of Samaria, which is interesting as revealing the deficient attention bestowed upon the sacred records by Jews and Jewish Christians. The writer declares that Samaria was founded by those who returned from Babylon with Jeremiah (!); but having Babylonian wives and not wishing to divorce them, they would have returned to Babylon, but were not suffered to do so, and hence they built Samaria. CHAPTER V. THE LANGUAGE AND DATE OF THE PSALTER OF SOLOMON. Enoch and the Apocalypse of Baruch only became known to modern scholars during this century, for the years during which the Ethiopia manuscripts of the former book were lying untranslated in the various libraries cannot be regarded of any account, the Psalter of Solomon was edited so far back as the beginning of the seventeenth century. In 1626, De la Cerda, a Jesuit, printed, with a Latin trans- lation, these eighteen psalms from a manuscript which had been brought from Constantinople to the library at Augsburg in 1615. Several times have they been pub- lished since, and several additional manuscripts collated. Although not quoted by any of the ancient Fathers, a fact adverted to by Fabricius, yet in the Stichometry of Nicephorus the length of the Psalter is given. In the Catalogue of the contents of the Codex Alex- andrinus the Psalter of Solomon occurred after Clement. In other manuscripts of the Bible it occurs among the Solomonic and pseudo-Solomonic books. It is a singular irony of fate that while the Book of Baruch should be received into something like canonicity, the Psalter of Solomon has never been placed even in the position of quasi-canonicity assigned to First and Second Esdras. 423 424 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. In fact, too little attention has been directed to these psalms ; only seven years ago was the first English translation of them given in the Presbyterian Revieiv. 1 The manuscripts some five are all Greek. The first question that must be decided is then, Is this the original tongue, or have these psalms been translated from Hebrew or Aramaic ? For the Greek being the original language, the only name of note is Huet. In fact it seems difficult to imagine any one reading over the Greek of these psalms and coming to any other conclusion than that they are translations from Hebrew or Aramaic. The traces of a Hebrew original are numerous e.g. the frequency of the noting of time by eV with the infinitive (=f) for ore. There is further the comparatively rare occurrence of the substantive verb. In the whole eighteen psalms it only occurs about a dozen times. This characteristic is observable in the Septuagint version of the Psalms, but not in the New Testament. When one remembers how comparatively seldom the verb to be requires to be used in Hebrew, the feature we have named will seem easily explicable on the assumption that the Greek Psalter is a transla- tion from the Hebrew or Aramaic. The title of the Psalm ro5 2o\o/j,(t)v answering to ribbp^ supports the same view. The comparative rarity of the article might seem to point to an Aramaic original, but some other constructions seem more to suggest Hebrew. Moreover, the writer in imitating the structure and subject of the psalms of the canon would naturally imitate their language. 1 We have not had the benefit of that translation. We refer to it on the authority of Schiirer. LANGUAGE AND DATE OF THE PSALTER OF SOLOMON. 425 The language being determined to be Hebrew, it follows that the original author was a Palestinian Jew. Hebrew was but little known outside of Palestine, and even those who knew it had little motive to compose in it. We have assumed that these psalms are all by one hand ; the perpetual recurrence of similar phrases proves this clearly. As w r e have seen from attentive perusal, the writer was in all likelihood one accustomed to the sight of the country and of the desert. This makes it probable that he was one of the Essenes. But then his knowledge of what was taking place in the city, especially in the Sanhedrin, renders it almost certain that he was a resident in Jerusalem. But we know that the Essenes had a house in Jerusalem where brethren of the order stayed. Drummond's hypothesis (Jewish Messiah, p. 134), that it is a Palestinian Jew resident in Egypt, has little to support it. He rests his conclusion on xvii. 6 : " On account of our sins, sinners rose up against us, and assailed and put us out," this is certainly a description of the action of the Sadducean party against the Pharisaic ; but the " thrusting out " was simply out of the city, not out of the country. The Essenes seem after the days of Aris- tobulus II. to have been much less frequent in the cities. There remains still further the question of the date when the Psalter was written. No one holds the opinion advocated by De la Cerda, that Solomon actu- ally was the author. 1 Fabricius, in recoil from the above- 1 For the alleged Solomonic authorship there is simply nothing to be said. The writer never suggests that he is a king ; he speaks of kings as belonging to a class quite apart from himself. The titles to the psalms may have been added at any time. Fabricius suggests that the dative (equivalent to the Hebrew ^) simply means after the manner of Solomon. 426 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. mentioned view, held the Psalter to be of Christian origin. This view was afterwards espoused by Gratz, though later again abandoned by him. The sole argu- ment in defence of such a position is the use of %/OIO-TO$ tcvpios, xvii. 36 ; XP- K - ov > xviii. 8. In the first place, in xvii. 36, K.OV is suggested as a reading; if so, the whole peculiarly Christian complex of the passage vanishes (Drummond, Jeivish Messiah, p. 283). But further, Kvpto? may represent V" 1 ^ as well as rtn\ } and hence more nearly akin to the ordinary classical usage of the word. Even though the word represented be nj'T, which certainly suits the analogy of the Septu- agint, yet Zech. iii. 3 shows that the name Jehovah may be given to one who yet says to Satan, "Jehovah rebuke thee." "We saw how nearly Divine the Messiah becomes in the Book of Enoch. As has been well pointed out, the whole complexion of the passages where these phrases occur, while Messianic, and tending to exalt the Messiah's office, is yet essentially Jewish. The Messiah is to have the peoples of the Gentiles in slavery, e' \aovs e6vwv Bov\evetv avra> VTTO %v occurs in the Hebrew Bible are represented both in the Ethiopic and Latin by the simple s. Thus in the account of the building of the tower of Babel, it is mentioned that the building took place in the plain of Senaar, precisely in accordance with the Septuagint. "W>?>, Shinar, the Hebrew name, could easily have been transliterated into Ethiopic. There are, further, several other accom- modations to the peculiarities of the Greek tongue which all go to prove the same thing. Another matter is its agreement with the Septuagint even in points when it is at variance with the Hebrew. There is, be- sides, knowledge of the authorities quoted by Josephus, e.g. Manetho, which certainly were extant in Greek. It may be assumed then as certain that the book as it has come down to us is from a Greek source, be it the original or a translation. Is the Greek the original ? or is it also a translation from a Hebrew or Aramaic original ? It seems clear that it was a translation from a Semitic original. In both the passages in which Jerome refers to it, the occasion of his doing so is the use in it of some Hebrew word that, occurring only once in Scripture, was therefore uncertain in meaning, ana^ Xeyopevos. Only this difficulty remains, that one cannot recog- nise the passages in the Book of Jubilees to which he refers as containing the words in question. In the book as we have it there is evidence apparently incontestible that there was a Hebrew original behind LANGUAGE AND DATE OF THE BOOK OF JUBILEES. 435 the Greek. Then in chap. xi. 3, " and Ur the son of Kesed built Esa of the Chaldees, and called its name after his own name and the name of his father," the reference evidently here is to the Hebrew name of the Chaldees, Q*]'^? (cas'dim). Other instances might be brought forward which would prove the same thing. But between the two Semitic tongues, Hebrew and Aramaic, the question is more difficult of decision. The fact that the Book of Jubilees is of the nature of a Targum, and that the Targums were written in Chaldee, would render it to a certain degree probable that it also was written in Aramaic. Against this may be urged the fact, that the great majority of the Apocalyptic writings have been presumably written in Hebrew. It somewhat weakens, however, the probative force of this, that the evidence on which in each case the decision, that it was written in Hebrew, rests, is purely a balance of probabilities. The strongest affirmative evidence is that of Jerome ; but there is nothing in the passage to show that the distinction between Hebrew and Aramaic was before his mind. Hebrew and Aramaic are continually confounded by the Fathers. One of the words, ncn a t any rate, is common to Hebrew and Aramaic, for it occurs in Onkelos as well as in the Hebrew Bible. In the New Testament when such an adjective as 'E/fyai'/eo? is used, we know that it means Aramaic, as John xix. 13, 'Eftpala-rl Se rafifiada. As Jerome certainly was a greater scholar than any other of the Fathers, we cannot presume that the popular confusion would be perpetuated in his language; thus the balance of Jerome's evidence is slightly in favour of Hebrew being the language. 436 CKITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. Against this may be put two facts. The name given to Satan is Mastema. This, however, is simply the participial noun from the Aphel of &tpb> } to accuse, with N the sign of the status emphaticus; while &9f is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew Jt?fe>, meaning the same thing, from which 19^, Satan, is derived. Further, in chap. xii. 28, the angel of the presence informs Moses that he spoke to Abraham in Hebrew, " in the tongue of creation ; " he further says that "Abraham took the books of his father, and they were written in Hebrew." Had Hebrew been the language in which the rest of the book was written, there would have been no occasion to make such a statement. On the whole, the balance of probability is that this book was written, not in Hebrew, but in Aramaic. Elsewhere we have in passing shown our belief that the Book of Jubilees was written, as were the other Apocalyptic books, by an Essene. 1 The great reverence for the Sabbath is one characteristic which our author manifests in common with the Essenes. Further, Josephus mentions that the priests of the Essenes were their cooks. Our author speaking of the father-in-law of Joseph says : " He was sacrificer at Heliopolis, chief of the cooks." Certainly, as the Essenes probably had members who had greater affinity, now with the Sadducees, now with the Pharisees, the Essene who wrote the Book of Jubilees was more akin to the Pharisees. There seems little to recommend the opinion, supported by Beer, that it is the work of a Samaritan. Although, on account of his romantic 1 This is the opinion advanced by Jellinek. LANGUAGE AND DATE OF THE BOOK OF JUBILEES. 437 history, Joseph is prominent, he is not so prominent as Judah and Levi. The question of the date is an important one, though somewhat difficult to determine definitely, as we can only apply one of our canons. As the author gives no sketch of history to the end of the world, we cannot identify his period by that means ; but there are several indications of a background that may enable us to make a decision. One element in the background seems clearly to show that there was a special reason for hating Edom. There was certainly an apologetic reason for it, but the attack is carried on with a bitter- ness that implies a point in the present state of matters. This might indicate Herod to be on the throne, carrying on his cruelties at the expense of the best of the Jewish people. It would, however, equally apply to Archelaus who was not less cruel, but only less able and less magnificent than his father. In the Talmud, Edom is the received symbolic name for the Roman power, as Babylon is the received name for Rome as a city. It might therefore be suggested that the hatred exhibited to Esau was covert hatred of Rome, and therefore might mean that Jerusalem was destroyed ; but it is not absolutely certain that this was so early in vogue. The fact that he distinguishes between the sons of Esau and the Edomites (xxxvii. 12), implies, that if he had the symbolic meaning of Edom in his mind, he intended to distinguish from them those whose evil deeds he was describing. The Edomites are represented in the passage to which we referred above as called to the help of the sons of Esau ; this would suit admirably the position of the Herodian rulers 438 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. over the Jews by the grace of the emperor and of the Senate and people of Kome. Further, the fact that the author enjoins that the Passover be slain before the doors of the temple or tabernacle, proves the temple still to have been standing. Such a command never would be given if the temple was in ruins. Another indirect proof that the country was not under Roman power is, that the author blames his countrymen for making use of a calendar with a lunar year of three hundred and fifty-four days. This was the year used during the Greek supremacy, and only displaced by the Eomans after Judea became a province of the empire. Throughout, Josephus makes use of the Greek calendar. Roman governors, however, would and did make use of the Roman calendar in regard to courts and such state business as came under their immediate superin- tendence. The year he advocated was almost identical with the Roman, and this he scarcely would have done had the Romans been in possession of the land of Palestine. The probability therefore is that this book was written before the deposition of Archelaus. A passage that may possibly contain a note of time is to be found in chap, xxxix. taken in common with John iv. 4 ; the narrative then fits into the statement in the Gospel. We know that Jacob gave to Joseph a portion of ground which he had taken with his sword and with his bow. We know also that he purchased from the Shechemites a parcel of ground in the neigh- bourhood of Shechem. Only in the Gospel of John and the Book of Jubilees are we informed that the conquest, as well as the purchase, were in the neighbour- hood of Shechem. From this we may deduce that the LANGUAGE AND DATE OF THE BOOK OF JUBILEES. 439 Book of Jubilees was composed before the fourth Gospel. As, despite the assertion of certain critics, we venture to hold the fourth Gospel to have been composed in the last decade of the first century, that may be regarded as a terminus ad quern, though an earlier date, as we have seen, is more probable. If we may hold that it was written before the end of the first century A.D., we may also show that it was written after the beginning of the first century B.C. The large space occupied by Enoch in the narrative, the reference to the tablets of Heaven, and the fact that special astronomical knowledge is attributed to him, a characteristic fitting the representations in the Book of Enoch, render it probable that the writer of the present book has borrowed from the Book of Enoch ; a view that becomes a certainty when we read the account of the fall of the angels, and find it identical with that given in the Book of Enoch. What may be looked upon as a note of time is found in chap. xxvi. 36, in the blessing which Isaac gives to Esau after Jacob had stolen his main blessing : " It will happen when thou art great, and shalt break his yoke from off thy neck, that thou shalt commit a sin unto death, and all thy seed shall be rooted out." The sin unto death may almost certainly be regarded as the assumption of the Hasmonsean throne by the Edomite race in the person of Herod the Great. The slaughter that Herod wrought among his own family might well induce the hope that they would soon all be killed off. The probable date of the Book of Jubilees is from B.C. 5 to A.D. 6. CHAPTER VII. THE LANGUAGE AND DATE OP THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES. TN the Epistle of Jude there is a reference to a -- mysterious conflict between the archangel Michael and Satan concerning the body of Moses. Origen tells us that this is derived from a book which he calls avdXijtyis Mwvo-eW Earlier than Origen, Clement of Alexandria gives an account of Joshua and Caleb see- ing, what seems to have been really, the translation of Moses "one Moses," the spirit "taken by angels, one on the mountains honoured by burial." This was seen by Joshua and Caleb, but not equally, as the former was the more spiritual. This seems certainly borrowed from the same writing. There are also other references to this book. Didymus Alexandrinus in his commentary on Jude refers to it. (Ecumenius some six centuries later also mentions the Assumption of Moses in his commentary on the same Epistle. He adds that in the contention about the body of Moses the point of the devil's plea was the murder of the Egyptian. Evodius, a contemporary of Augustine, mentions this book, and refers to the fact quoted by Clemens Alexandrinus, in the Stromateis of whom there is a story of considerable length, drawn LANGUAGE AND DATE OF THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES. 441 from the Assumption. After that time the book may be said to have disappeared, till about thirty years ago Ceriani published in his Monumenta sacra et pro/ana a fragment of a Latin version of this Assumptio Mosis. The quotation in the Acts of the Second Nicene Council enabled men to identify it with the work referred to by the Fathers. As it is unfortunately only a fragment, we cannot point to the passages from which Jude drew his illustration, nor verify the quotation in Clemens Alexandrinus. Yet the point at which the book stops indicates that in what followed the references made by Clemens Alex- andrinus and by Jude would have been found. As we have said, the fragment is in Latin. It is full of blunders in transcription, indicating that the last copyist had by no means an accurate knowledge of the tongue he wrote. Many of the blunders go deeper, and show that the translator was by no means perfect in the grammatical structure of the Latin language ; and perhaps his knowledge of Greek is defective. Such a common word as 6\fyis he does not know, but endeavours to transliterate it, and fails in the attempt, for he renders it clibsis. He is equally at sea as to an equivalent for d\\6(f)v\oi, " foreigners," the term com- monly employed in the Septuagint for the Philistines, and again transliterates allqfile. So he deals with afctjvr). Finding in his Greek original some such verb as /eefyjow, and unable to find an equivalent, he forms a new Latin verb, chedriare, to preserve with cedar oil. Another failure in adequate transliteration occurs near the beginning, where we have the mysterious word fynicis, which may either stand for faivueo? (Hilgen- 442 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. feld) or fyoivUw (Volkmar), the latter being, on the whole, the more probable. Another translation requires to be noticed. We have the phrase arbiter testamenti evidently standing as a representative of o ^ea-Lr^ TT)? BiaO^K^. In regard to this phrase, we happen to have the sentence quoted by the Second Council of Nicsea from this work where the terms occur, and we can thus prove the Latin equi- valents for the Greek words. In this the translator does not follow Jerome, who renders the equivalent phrase, Heb. viii. 6, testamenti mediator. In this Jerome evidently is following the Itala, as Tertullian, De Came Christi, quoting 1 Tim. ii. 5, renders /neo-tV?;?, mediator, as also in Gal. iii. 20. Another phrase in the passage in question is irpo Kara/3o\ij. For our part, we think that unlikely to have been the Greek of this phrase ; Trpoo-wTTov was but rarely used in this sense only once is it so used in the New Testament. There is certainly a plausibility in Langen's suggestion that it represents the Hebrew nnion ivh& t were it not that there is no Biblical example, for Dan. xii. is scarcely in point. His suggestion for the Greek is more natural, avOpcoiroi eTTiQvfuwv, only it is difficult to understand why the translator did not translate homines ; though all vagaries are possible to one who, having mediator as a good (ecclesiastically) classical equivalent for ^eo-m;?, chose to translate it arbiter. Langen brings forward another example of a Hebrew construction, sub nullo dextrse illius sunt, taking dextrte as nominative to sunt, and regarding it as a translation PPJ through Se&ai. However, Volkmar, Hilgenfeld, and Fritzsche read sub annulo dextrse, etc., making dextrse genitive and omnia coeli Jirmamenta nominative to sunt. It seems a somewhat violent reading to find nullo and read annulo, the more so that the letters involved are very distinct in the manuscript. Altogether the question is difficult of decision. For our part, from the relation in which it stands to the Book of Jubilees we feel inclined to regard it as having been probably written in Aramaic; a view that is confirmed by the occurrence of the word horas itself, there being no equivalent to this in Hebrew, while there is in Aramaic, Dan. iv. 19. Nicephorus in his Stichometria gives the length of the avdXrjn^ Mwvaiws as 1400 (rrtot. As there are in LANGUAGE AND DATE OF THE ASSUMPTION OF MOSES. 447 Ceriani's manuscript fragments 766 lines (o-rt^ot), we may say we have about the half of the original work. Of course, as the v dfaipea-is. The word (Lev. vi.) aairLt is given as the derivation of the name of a mountain in Palestine called Aspio. No mountain of that name is known, but it is certain no Palestinian place name would have a Greek etymology. The name of the books, SiaOrffcr), is used in its ordinary classical meaning of testament or will, not in its scriptural meaning of covenant (=rp")3), which was the only meaning it could have to the Jews, as they had no testaments in the proper sense of the word. The country assumed is Egypt, and there is nothing to indicate that this is not where it actually was written. It was written where Greek was the spoken language, and yet where there were many Jews. It was written away from Palestine, yet near enough to cherish a hope of a return ; all of which features suit Egypt fully as well as any other country. As to the date the data are somewhat scanty. There are few internal proofs, since the writer gives no view of universal history, as do so many apocalyptists. We can see, however, from the state of matters implied, that while it has been written after the capture of Jerusalem by Titus, and before the utter subversion of 460 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. the Jewish nationality on occasion of the overthrow of Barcochba in the reign of Hadrian, that is to say, somewhere between 70 and 130 A.D., in all likelihood it was composed in the course of the first decade of the second century of our era. CHAPTEK IX. VISCHEH'S THEORY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE APOCALYPSE OF JOHN. E of the features in the evolution of Biblical Criticism that strikes a spectator, is the com- pleteness with which it reverses its relation to the questions at issue in the course of a few years. Forty years is not long in the life of a science. Some forty- five years ago Schwegler published his Nachaposto- lische Zeitalter. It was then regarded as the most scientific statement of the results of New Testament Biblical Criticism, and for thirty or forty years has it been so regarded by the advanced school of critics. In that work he says of the Apocalypse (i. 66) : " No writing of the New Testament canon has so continuous a line of such old and such satisfactory witnesses to produce for itself." Again (ii. 249) : "It is the only one of the collected New Testament Scriptures that can rightly lay claim to be composed by an apostle who was an immediate disciple of Christ." And this view is held also by the author of Supernatural Religion. 1 Given the authenticity of the Apocalypse, then it was 1 Supernatural Religion, ed. i. Part iii. vol. ii. p. 392 : " The external evidence that the Apostle John wrote the Apocalypse is more ancient thaii that for any book of the New Testament, excepting some of the Epistles of Paul." See also Reuss, Geschichte der heiligen Schriften News Testament, p. 249. 462 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. argued the fourth Gospel could not have been written by John. Now, however, a comparatively young student, Vischer by name, has overturned all that, and his opinion is being rapidly received in advanced circles. The view he brings forward is, that the Apocalypse of John is a Jewish Apocalypse, written over by a Christian. This process of writing over is a different one from mere interpolation. The writer is supposed to have gone over the whole book, adding a word here and a clause there, till he has modified the whole character of the book. No one can deny that this process is a possible one. It has been done in regard to the Ignatian Epistles, as the Long Recension abundantly testifies. The question : Has the Apocalypse been treated in this way ? is not without pertinence. Having thrown doubt on the Apocalypse, one wonders whether the critical school will hasten to admit the fourth Gospel to the place of honour from which the Apocalypse has been ousted. 1 No one who reads Vischer's tractate can fail to be struck with its great cleverness and ingenuity. In the first place, he throws off as Christian the first three chapters, and the last chapter with the exception of the first five verses. Then he carefully goes over the whole book, marking off words and clauses that are necessarily Christian. It further must be admitted that in many cases the construction is made simpler by the omission. Such cases where we see an expres- 1 Martineau, Seat of Authority in Religion, p. 227 : "The Apocalypse is put out of court altogether as a witness, and the old argument against either from its contrast with the other can no longer be pressed." VISCHER'S THEORY OF ORIGIN OF APOCALYPSE OF JOHN. 463 sion by implication of the unity subsisting between the Father and the Son, between God and the Lamb, to use the phraseology of the Apocalypse, he sees simply grammatical confusion caused by the work of the Christian Ueberarbeiter ; as, for instance, xxii. 3 and 4, the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in her, and His servants shall serve Him, and shall see His face ; and His name shall be upon their foreheads. So too, in the sixth chapter, when the kings and rulers and rich men call upon the mountains and rocks to fall upon them, it is to hide them " from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb ; for the great day of His w r rath has come." While this is very ingenious, we cannot help feeling that equal ingenuity expended on Macaulay's History might prove it written by an ardent Tory but over-written by a zealous Whig. It seems strange that the Christian who has over-written this Apocalypse did not put the grammar right. The interpolator of Ignatius would never have hesitated in such a case. The fact that it does by implication express a truth that is above logic, and therefore above grammar, is explanation enough for us. But even on his own hypothesis his theory does not hold. Given that it is a Jewish Apocalypse, then the probability is that it would be written in Hebrew, a view that might be held even by those who maintain it to be the work of the Apostle John. If so, there would be a perpetual liability to drop into parallelism, especially in passages where there is any passion. Now, there are cases where the alleged Christian additions complete the 464 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. parallelism, which would otherwise be left incomplete. Thus xxi. 23 The city had no need of the sun, Neither of the moon to shine upon it ; For the glory of God did lighten it, [And the Lamb was the lamp thereof]. We see that the fourth line is absolutely necessary to complete the verse. It is a parallelistic passage, as is proved by the relation of the first two lines, and so we necessarily expect the third line to be followed by a fourth. Yet by Vischer's hypothesis this fourth line is the work of the Ueberarbeiter. Other similar instances might be adduced. But Vischer's arguments are not wholly verbal or grammatical, but also logical. He is unable to under- stand how, in the fifth verse of the fifth chapter, the apocalyptist is informed that " the lion of the tribe of Judah " is to open the book ; and the sixth verse sees that information made good "by a lamb as it had been slain." Nor can he understand how the lamb could stand and appear to have been slain. He suggests that the Hebrew word was *?, and the sound was like apvlov, so the Christian Ueberarbeiter changed the one into the other. It seems strange that Herr Vischer should fail to advert to the two aspects of the Messiah's history, the conquering and the suffering to be seen in the prophets, and to some extent in the apocalyptists. This at once harmonises the lion and the lamb. He surely must have been but a careless student of apocalyptic w T ritings to have ever brought as an objection to " the lamb as it had been slain," that ist es rein unmoglicli ein Lamm vorzustellen das VISCHER'S THEORY OF ORIGIN OF APOCALYPSE OF JOHN. 465 dasteht wie geschlachtet. Had Herr Vischer been better acquainted with the Jewish Apocalypses he would have known that impossibility of representing pictorially or presenting clearly before the imagination is no barrier to the formation of an apocalyptic symbolic figure. These figures are built up by the judgment, not by the imagination. Certain elements have to be present, whether they form when put together a creature conceivable by the imagination or not. It would be beyond the power of any artist to represent the beast of the present Apocalypse, or not to speak of the fourth beast of Daniel the living creature of Ezekiel's vision, or the eagle of the eleventh chapter of Fourth Esdras. Had he been a little better acquainted with apoca- lyptic writings, Herr Vischer would never have brought the objection he does to the ordinary interpretation of the woman " bringing forth the man child." He agrees with us that this must refer to the birth of the Messiah, but asserts that it cannot refer to Christ, as the book professes to be about the future, and our Lord was already born, if the writer was a Christian. Surely he never can have read the Book of Enoch, or he would not have made that assertion. In the first chapter of that book, second verse, Enoch, telling of the vision he saw, says, they were " not for this generation, but for far off generations which are to come ; " yet in chap. vi. he relates the fall of the angels through women, an event already past in his day, for he visits the angels in their condemnation " between Lebanon and Seneser." He had also failed to understand the close and intimate connection between the first and 2G 466 CKITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. second coming of their Lord in the minds of the early Christians. It was necessary to explain Satan's wrath against the Church ; and this the writer does by showing that Satan, baulked in his attempt to destroy Christ upon earth, and expelled from heaven, would destroy the Church that has the testimony of Jesus. Satan is, however, to be overthrown by the second coming of our Lord. We may also add that the woman is not the virgin mother of our Lord, but the Church, Old Testament and New regarded as one. He seems to have failed to remember the late origin of the Talmud, or to realise its utter untrustworthiness, when he appeals to it to explain this twelfth chapter in the light of the Talmudic statements given by Schiirer. The statement in the Talmud was in all likelihood borrowed from Christian sources, not improbably from this very passage. We would not, however, be thought to occupy merely a defensive position in this question, and to be able only to meet the arguments advanced against the Apocalypse, but have no positive arguments to bring forward on the other side in favour of its authenticity. As to interpolations, we have seen that parallelism proves that some of the instances of alleged interpola- tion belong to the original document ; and as these are Christian, the whole case is broken down if one of these clauses is proved to have a necessary connection with the context. But more : although the marriage rela- tionship was one frequently, in certain aspects, used by the old prophets to show forth Jehovah's relation to Israel, yet never is the marriage-feast used as a symbol of Messianic times, and of the bliss of those times. It VISCHER'S THEORY OF ORIGIN OF APOCALYPSE OF JOHN. 467 is used more than once by our Lord, e.g. in the parable of the Marriage Supper. Now, one of the parts of the Apocalypse that Herr Vischer acknowledges to be genuine is the conclusion in chaps, xx. and xxi. This is, then, an exclusively Christian element which involves in it that the bride be " the Lamb's wife." A point that the author thinks he makes is with regard to the measurement of " the temple of God and the altar, and those that worship therein." That he declares can only be the temple at Jerusalem. We, for our part, would bring forward this as proof, absolutely conclusive, that it could not be the actual temple at Jerusalem ; because not only is the temple to be measured, but also " the worshippers." We opine that no ordinary measuring - rod yet framed could measure the worshippers in the sense of the Apocalypse. Measurement applied to them must have a spiritual meaning. Moreover, " the court which is without the temple " was not to be measured, "because it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city they shall tread under foot forty and two months." When the Romans had the city after the capture by Titus, the whole temple was trodden under foot not the outer court merely. It must then be a spiritual temple that is referred to. The holy city is certainly Jerusalem, now taken by Titus ; the temple is the Church, Jewish at starting, with an immeasurable outer court of Gentiles. But we will go further, and maintain that in the light of external evidence this hypothesis is impossible. Our author makes no attempt to solve the number 666. The names of none of the three Flavians will suit ; yet Harnack, in his note to Vischer's tractate, declares that 468 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. the Jewish Apocalypse was written under Domitian. More important, as hostile to this view, is the impossi- bility of finding any place where this alleged Jewish Apocalypse could be composed pace Herr Harnack and his conclusion. He is correct : the Apocalypse must have been written after the fall of Jerusalem, at all events, if it is not prophetic. The city is being trodden under foot of the Gentiles ; yet, singularly, the temple and the altar are still there to be measured. Laying aside this little difficulty, which it is not open to him to meet by a spiritual interpretation, grant that it was written be- tween 81 and 96, then how is the fact to be explained that Papias, the disciple of John, wrote a commentary on it evidently understanding it to be by his master ? This commentary must have been written about 120, at no great distance from Ephesus, to which the pro- logue refers. Would a falsarius have succeeded in palming off a work of some unknown Essene on the Christian community as the work of the apostle who had stayed so long among them ? Some twenty years later, in his dialogue with Trypho in this very city of Ephesus, Justin cites the Apocalypse as by John. Before 120 the Christianised version had got vogue as written by John. But before this date the Jewish Apocalypse, alleged to be the Grundschrift, must have been written. Within little more than thirty years this double process has to take place. Moreover, by the later date the Apocalypse is so universally recognised to be by John, that one of his disciples writes a commentary on it. Leaving for the moment the utter improbability that Papias could be mistaken in that, it must be seen that VISCHER'S THEORY OF ORIGIN OF APOCALYPSE OF JOHN. 469 the thirty years or so that are left between the reign of Domitian and the time of Papias for the Jewish Apocalypse to be so composed is too short. But before the Flavians the Jews were enduring no persecution, and the Christians were. So far from that, in con- sequence of Poppsea's favour for the Jews, as we learn from Josephus' Life, they enjoyed something of the sunshine of the court favour. Later than Domitian it could not be, for the difficulties would only be increased. Although we admit the accuracy of Harnack's con- clusion as to the date of the Apocalypse, we doubt the correctness of the reasons by which he reaches it, on the assumption that it is a Jewish Apocalypse. He makes Domitian the eighth, who is one of the seven. He attains this number by starting with Augustus, and excluding Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. But Fourth Esdras reckons the emperors to be twelve, and Augustus to be the second. On that assumption Otho would be the eighth. If we take the common reckoning of Jewish Apocalyptic, not Domitian, but Otho would be the emperor under whom this alleged Jewish Apocalypse was written ; but Otho's reign was so short, and his authority had such a limited acknow- ledgment, that, unless he wrote in Eome, the author would not have given Otho such a place of prominence. We thus see how impossible it is to find a time when this alleged Jewish Apocalypse could be written. It has been urged by Vischer as an argument for regarding Eevelation as an " over-written " document, that all other Apocalypses have undergone this process. The accuracy of the statement we doubt. The " Psalter 470 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. of Solomon," the "Book of Jubilees," and the "Assumption of Moses" are not usually reckoned as " over- written." Even the Book of Enoch, extensively interpolated as it is, can scarcely be said to be " over- written." But grant the premises to be true, and there would certainly be some little force in the argument. Let us now turn the argument another way. A universal peculiarity of those pseudo-apocalyptic writ- ings is that the alleged author is one living in an age remote for its antiquity. The books are attributed to Moses, Enoch, Elijah, Solomon, by writers really living in the time of the Maccabees. Here is a work by a Jewish scribe which is over- written and ascribed, not to some old Jewish prophet, but to John, a man whom many of those living at the time the book in its baptized shape was published had known well. Apply the same sort of argument here, and we come to the conclusion that this cannot be like those pseudonymous Apocalypses which were so plentiful in that age. It might be answered that this might apply equally to the Apocalypse of Peter and the Apocalypse of Paul, works acknowledged to be apocryphal. There was also an apocryphal Apocalypse of John distinct from our canonical Book of Revelation. These, however, were the product of a considerably later date. Further, as counterfeit coin implies the existence of true, these false Christian Apocalypses imply one at least that is true and genuine, and all these must have been composed after the canonical Book of Revelation. Of course, if it were proved that behind the present Book of Revelation there was a Jewish Apocalypse, we would not be obliged to abandon the Johamrine authentica- VISCHEU'S THEORY OF ORIGIN OF APOCALYPSE OF JOHN. 47 1 tion of the book. If John, finding a Jewish Apocalypse that represented the future as he was enabled by the Spirit to see it, took it, " over-wrote," and so baptized it unto Christ, we might still hold it to be Johannine. There would certainly be the difficulty that John asserts the vision to be revealed to him personally, and this would seem to us an insuperable difficulty. This is not on a par with the relation between Second Peter and Jude, where one writer has evidently borrowed from another. We are, however, not under any likeli- hood of having to discuss this question seriously. The phenomena that have led to the evolution of the latest critical results are really due, as it seems to us, to other causes. John was a Jew with strong Essenian leanings. He had studied the Apocalypses in which the Essenes had expressed their hopes and fears con- cerning the future ; and when God revealed the future to him, the figures, imagery, and style of the works he had studied in earlier days came back to him and formed the natural vehicle by which he could express the message God had given him. In this way would we explain the difference of the styles of the Apoc- alypse and the Gospel. When wrapt in apocalyptic vision John naturally thought in Hebrew ; and even if he wrote in Greek, it was really translation from a Hebrew original in his mind. Whereas in the Gospel he wrote simply the language which he most generally spoke. If we were compelled to make the choice between the Gospel of John and his Apocalpyse, if the admission of the one being true and authentic imposed necessarily the repudiation of the other, we think no Christian would have any hesitation. Much as we value 472 CRITICISM OF APOCALYPTIC. the Apocalypse, we value more the Gospel of John. But we are not reduced to this. Both books are evidenced in a way that would be regarded as over- whelmingly convincing were they the works of any classical author. The difference of style, though great, does not present an insuperable difficulty. It would be amusing were it not somewhat sad to see how little flutters the critical schools. A young German privat-docent is anxious to earn promotion, and brings out some startlingly new theory. If he is a classical scholar he maintains that Juvenal did not write the Satires that go by his name, or Xenophon his Anabasis. If his study is history, he may demon- strate that Herod was kindly and magnanimous, or that Charles the Bold was chicken - hearted ; if it is philosophy, that, generally speaking, everything is everything other than it is. The sad and at the same time the amusing thing is that such performances, which deserve certainly to be often highly commended for the cleverness and erudition displayed, when the subject is Biblical criticism, are taken au serieux, and anger or jubilation, as the case may be, is excited by them. BOOK IV. THEOLOGICAL EESULT. 478 THEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE APOCALYPTIC BOOKS. ^PHOUGH God is one and unchangeable, men are many and perpetually changing. This change is not like the cyclic change of the tides, which rise and fall with unfailing regularity to the same points on an average year after year. Still less is it like the boiling and bubbling of a caldron, a movement that tends in no one direction more than another. It is rather like a stream that broadens and deepens as it advances towards the infinite ocean. There is a perpetual evolution which is not the effect of chance, but takes place under the influence of the Divine Spirit, who educates the race more and more "to be able to com- prehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge." Each age has something which those before it had not, but which it has attained because those preceding it had attained so far. Every age builds on the foundation its predecessors have laid, and without these foundations its own further advance would be impossible. Even inspiration does not supersede this educative preparation. Our Lord's teachings implied a certain kind and degree of culture toward which His exhort- ations were directed. This doctrinal soil on which the great sower was to sow the precious seed of the 475 476 THEOLOGICAL RESULT. kingdom was of necessity the product of the apo- calyptists. In order then to understand Christianity itself in its first publication, we must endeavour to estimate the theological position exhibited in these Jewish Apocalypses. If we begin with Theology proper, the doctrine of God, we find a change in progress which is perfected in Christianity. In the Old Testament we find a con- stant anthropomorphism, certainly merely figurative in the inspired prophets and psalmists, but in all pro- bability representing the non-figurative belief of the common people. When the psalmist hears in the thunder the roll of the mighty chariot of Jehovah as it careers along the sky ; and sees in the dazzling gleam of the lightning the flashing descent of His glittering spear, in the lips of the psalmist it is poetry ; but it was believed in sober earnest as literally true of the common people P^C 1 " ^- The doctrine of the prophets, that Jehovah was in some sense God of the Gentiles as well as of the Jews, disturbed the notion, that God was only an Almighty Israelite sitting in the clouds ; but it always recurred. Moreover, with Him, according to the prophets, moral delinquency was not condoned on account of ceremonial accuracy, as the people were anxious to believe. Hence it was that they were so prone to apostatise and worship other gods. The gods of the nations were more easily pleased and more thoroughly partisan in the favour of their worshippers than was Jehovah. But even taking the Old Testament prophets as the examples of the spiritual development of their time, and their language as its gauge, there is an immense THEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF APOCALYPTIC BOOKS. 477 advance in the New Testament in regard to the lofty spiritual views of God presented. Compare the de- scription of Deity in Ezekiel's vision, Ezek. i. 26-28, sublime and reticent as it is, with the still sublimer and more reticent description in Kev. iv. 3. Between these two we find the description in Enoch xlvi. 1. There is certainly none of the sublimity of the two seers who possessed the genuine inspiration of the Divine Spirit, but there is more of the reticence which we have seen to be the characteristic of the New Tes- tament than we find in Ezekiel. In Enoch, God as judge is shown " as one who had a head of days," but no form nor feature is alluded to. Another element in the conception of God, where the contrast between the Israelitish and Christian position is marked, is the universality of the Divine relationship. God is the God, not only of the Jew, but "also of the Gentile" in the theology of Paul. Al- though sometimes the breadth of God's loving-kindness is taught by the prophets, as in the story of Jonah to them, yet the general aspect is one of particularism. Israel, and Israel alone, is God's inheritance ; and God is entreated by Jeremiah to " pour His fury upon the heathen that know Him not ; " and Isaiah apostrophises God : " We are thine : Thou never barest rule over them ; they were not called by Thy name." In Enoch the idea that every nation was under the care of a special angel, Israel included, a view which is implied in Daniel, is developed, where the seventy shepherds, the angels of these heathen nations, are represented as ruling over Israel. In Baruch (xli.) we see that some of the heathen would see the error of 478 THEOLOGICAL EESULT. their ways and take refuge under the wings of the Almighty. But Christianity is not only more universal than Judaism, it is also more particular. God is not only the God of every nation that dwells upon the face of the whole earth, but also of each individual saint. " The Lord knoweth them that are His." Above all, we are taught to pray and to say, " Our Father," to trust Him, and realise that " our Father knoweth what things we have need of before we ask Him." This finds its fullest expression in the doctrine of election, which regards each individual believer chosen by God from before the foundation of the world. To a certain extent, certainly in the prophets, and still more in the psalms, the saints of God express a deep personal trust in God which has resulted from a personal covenant with Him ; but in the minds of the people, as reflected by the history of Israel and by other prophetic utter- ances, Jehovah was the covenant God of the people, Israel, not of the individual Israelite. The nation sins and the nation is punished ; the nation is faithful, and is rewarded. In Christianity the nation has dis- appeared ; the nation, in short, is not a Christian entity. " In Christ Jesus there was neither Jew nor Greek barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free ; but all are one in Christ Jesus." When we turn to the Apocalyptic books, we find in the Psalter of Solomon the personal relation of the saints to God strongly emphasised. And in the Apocalypse of Baruch we find the doctrine of election, or something like it, indicated. The point where the progress towards the Christian position is most marked in these Apocalyptic books, as THEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF APOCALYPTIC BOOKS. 479 compared with the earlier standpoint of the prophets and psalmists, is in Christology. There is in the old prophets the purely human view of the Messiah ; He is to be the new David, the new Moses. He is to rule the nations as with a rod of iron. Certainly there are mysterious accounts of how He was to suffer for the sins of the people. Still the royal prerogatives were most dwelt upon, although there are statements that in the light of Christian knowledge we can see, imply that the anointed of the Lord should be more than man, as the passage in the 110th Psalm, appealed to by our Lord Himself in that connection, and that in the ninth chapter of Isaiah, which has afforded words for Handel's chorus in the Messiah. Yet all these, even the last, are capable of an explanation which makes the Messiah simply human. In the Christian position the Divinity of Christ is an essential doctrine, and the regal dignity is regarded as flowing really from this, and not from His Davidic descent. In preparation for this we have the Messianic passages in the Book of Enoch, in which One like the Ancient of days is beside Him on the throne of judg- ment. And God calls Him " My chosen One." There is also the passage in the Psalter of Solomon, Ps. xvii. 36, in which the hoped-for Messiah is called X/^O-TO? Kvpios. It is true that the regal aspect of the expected Messiah is very prominent in the Psalter, but pitched so loftily that the step to the Divine is not great. The 27th verse of the same psalm says the Messiah is appointed by God " to destroy the lawless nations by the word of His mouth ; at His rebuke the heathen shall 480 THEOLOGICAL EESULT. flee from His face ; and to convict sinners in the reason- ing (Xo'76)) of their heart." In the prophecy of Baruch the coming of the Messiah is associated with marvels that imply Him to be more than human. Further, we are told that when the Messiah returns in His glory, then " all who have slept in hope of Him shall rise." When we turn to the functions of the Messiah in the prophets, we find that while He is the representative of the Almighty, He can scarcely be said to be the "mediator" between God and man. It is needless to note how prominent this idea is in the New Testament. In the Apocalyptic books we certainly have not the mediatorial function of the Messiah stated in terms, but it is present by implication. Moses was recog- nised as the type of the coming Messiah, promised in the Book of Deuteronomy. The promise is twice referred to in the Acts of the Apostles. In the Assumption of Moses the title " Mediator " is again and again assumed by Moses as given to him from before the foundation of the world. In one aspect of the Messiah's work there is a distinct retrogression in the apocalyptists from, at all events, the highest point reached by the prophets as compared with the Christian view. The atonement made for the sins of the world is one of the most fundamental of Christian doctrines. Although it is perhaps scarcely likely that the full meaning of their words was compre- hended by their Jewish contemporaries, it seems difficult to believe that some of the truth conveyed by the prophets in what we feel to be such clear language did not pierce into the minds of their hearers. When the evangelical prophet proclaimed the coming of Him THEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF APOCALYPTIC BOOKS. 481 who " was bruised for our iniquities," and upon whom " the chastisement of our peace was laid," " by whose stripes we were healed," it is difficult to see how the hearers could escape some knowledge of the atoning work of the Messiah. Although there is a sense of sin as sin expressed in the Apocalypses, there is no recognition of the need or possibility of an atonement being offered, much less the faintest hint that they expected that the Messiah they looked for should offer such an atonement. In the Psalter of Solomon the psalmist indicates that in his view atonement for sin was attained by welcoming the afflictions of the Lord. Although the sacrifices of the temple might have taught them this great need, yet the Apocalyptists have dis- tinctly receded from the position of the prophets in regard to it. It is possible that as the unholy lives of the priests had led the Essenes to withdraw very much from the temple worship, these scandalous lives might have a further effect. The Essenes had already been convinced by them that the sacrifices of the law had no intrinsic efficacy, and from this the step was easy to deny that they had any symbolic or sacramental efficacy as the types and emblems of a greater sacrifice yet to come. Whatever teaching the sacrifices of the law were fitted to afford men as to the nature of the atone- ment was thus lost to the Essenes ; hence their retro- gression. Yet they had the idea that somehow the Messiah was to purify the house of Israel from their sins. It may be doubted whether the writer of the Book of Enoch fully recognised the import of the title he gave the Messiah when he spoke of Him as " Son of 2 1 482 THEOLOGICAL RESULT. man ; " but there must have been some notion of it, for it is associated with the idea of His presiding along with the " Head of days at the last judgment." This title " Son of man " is never really given to the Messiah in the Old Testament ; the passage in Daniel being merely descriptive, intended, as we have said above, to convey the notion that one wearing the human shape would judge the world at the last. This we may regard as a distinct preparation for the gospel. The advance in anthropology is very marked in some directions, and chiefly in regard to immortality. While at times the prophets and psalmists rise to what seems a recognition of this doctrine in general before the captivity, there was no clear belief in immortality. Some of the statements even in the psalms seem almost hopeless in their outlook : " The dead praise not the Lord, neither such as go down into silence." Other instances might be brought, too numerous to be noted here. When we turn to the apocalyptists we find not only immortality, but also the resurrection of the body assumed as true, and regarded as universally acknow- ledged. This is specially prominent in the Book of Enoch and the Apocalypse of Baruch. Thus, in the former, chap, xxiii., Enoch is shown the apartments where the souls of the dead are separated, the good from the bad, until the day of judgment. This repre- sentation is assumed in the Apocalypse of Baruch, chap. xxx., in which we are told that when the Messiah comes the receptacles for the souls of the just shall be opened. There was also a great assembly of souls. All this proves that the doctrine of immortality was held generally, at least, by the Essenes. In regard to THEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF APOCALYPTIC BOOKS. 483 this we have the testimony of Josephus as confirmatory of this view. But, further, with the immortality of the soul is invariably conjoined the resurrection of the body in the apocalyptists, a Christian doctrine adum- brated in the Old Testament, but sedulously ignored by Josephus, who knew how incomprehensible such a doctrine would be to his Hellenized Koman masters. 1 Another question which belongs to anthropology is freedom. According to Josephus, only the Sadducees held the absolute freedom of the individual. The Pharisees and Essenes both believed in elpapnevr), the latter in its most absolute sense. In studying the apocalyptists we find no trace of such absolute fatalism. Throughout the Book of Enoch certainly the saints are called "the elect," "the chosen ones." In the Book of Jubilees there is a much nearer approach to this view, though even in it the references to the tablets of Heaven do not imply so much that they have written on them the account of what is to happen, as that they contained the ceremonial laws that are valid to the children of Israel. This becomes much more decided in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. In the Testament of Levi we are told that it was written on the tablets of the Heavens that Levi and Simeon should slay the Shechcmites. Yet, on the whole, we may say that nothing like the absolute fate indicated by Josephus as believed by the Essenes, or even that more modified form ascribed by him to the Pharisees, is found in the Apocalyptic books. The doctrine in which there was most development 1 The doctrine of pre- existence which we find asserted in the Wisdom of Solomon is not maintained in the apocalyptists. 48'4 . ' THEOLOGICAL RESULT. in the period of the apocalyptist was that of angel- ology and its cognate subject demonology. While in the Old Testament there are frequent references to angels, and in the Pentateuch to one, "the angel of the presence," yet only in Daniel are any of the angels named. In Daniel two of the angels are made known to us by name, Michael, the angelic prince of the house of Israel, and Gabriel. In this matter the New Testament adds nothing to the doctrine of Daniel. Michael and Gabriel are named in the New Testament, and they alone. In Tobit, which is pro- bably the oldest of the Apocryphal books, another angel is named, Raphael. But in the Book of Enoch the names of the angels are numerous beyond all easy reckoning. All this bears out the statements of the Rabbins, that the Jews brought the names of the angels with them from Babylon. In Daniel we find reference to angelic princes of certain nations. In Christianity the nation has dis- appeared, and instead of the nation we have the Church, and in the Book of Revelation every Church has its angel. In the Book of Enoch all the Gentile nations of the world are regarded as seventy-two, and certain of these have dominion over Israel during the course of its history. In Daniel, however, there is no mention of special angels being over special physical forces ; this we find in Revelation. There is the angel of the sun, the angel of the four winds, the angel of the waters. This physical function we find largely assigned to angels in the Book of Enoch, especially in the Noachian fragments. Another set of angels merely referred to in Daniel are prominent THEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF APOCALYPTIC BOOKS, 485 in Enoch, the " watchers ; " these do not recur in the Johannine Apocalypse. There is, however, a more mysterious subject in regard to which the Apocalyptic books have formed a point of transition between the Old Testament and the New. In the sixth chapter of Genesis there is a reference to unions between the sons of God and the daughters of men. When we turn to the Epistle of Jude, we find in close connection with a quotation from Enoch, a reference to the angels leaving their own dwelling-place (oUirrrpiov) and not guarding their rule (apxn). 1 The punishment inflicted on the angels is referred to as " everlasting chains." It seems hardly possible to avoid the conclusion that Jude re- ferred to the transaction in Gen. vi. 2 through Enoch. In regard to demonology, the Apocalyptic books represent an aberrant movement. The function of Satan, as exhibited in Job, Zechariah, and Chronicles, is certainly to some extent fulfilled by Mastema in the Book of Jubilees. But, on the other hand, Satan's share in the fall of man is not at all alluded to. In fact, in his account of the history of the race, Enoch, though he mentions the murder of Abel, does not mention the sins of Adam. The fact that Adam sinned, and by his sin brought death, is certainly made prominent in the Apocalypse of Baruch, but there is no reference to Satanic temptation. In the Book of Jubilees the Fall is described, but the tempter seems to be regarded merely as a serpent. The The view we indicate is that maintained by most commentators, Huther, Fronmuller, etc. ; others admit the reference to Gen. vi. 2, Alford, Delitzsch, etc. 486 THEOLOGICAL KESULT. doctrine of the New Testament, asserted by Paul and implied in the Revelation, that the serpent was but the instrument of another higher, more subtle and more wicked being, is nowhere stated in the Apocalyptic writings save in Baruch, where the envy of the devil is regarded as the cause of man's fall. We should have wished to consider those mysterious beings, the Cherubim, who disappeared, so far at least as the name is concerned, from the New Testament. To us, Cherubim and Seraphim alike seem to be symbols of the Holy Spirit. In the Book of Enoch not only have we Cherubim and Seraphim, but also Ophanim. This last denomination is borrowed from Ezekiel's vision, and is nothing else than "wheels." The doctrine of the Holy Spirit, which is in Justin Martyr so closely identified with that of the angels, would also repay more careful elucidation than we can now give to it. One of the aspects which most strikes the student on entering upon the study of the apocalyptists is the frequency of general views of history, terminating in a final judgment. The earliest clear statement of a final judgment is in the earliest of the Apocalypses, the Book of Daniel. From him downward it is a frequent feature of Apocalyptic writings ; noticeably this is the case in the last and greatest of the Apocalypses, that of the Apostle John. Certainly his description of the awe- inspiring concomitants of that day of final assize is full of a grandeur nothing in any of the pseudo-Apocalypses can equal. Following the last judgment, of course, is the state of rewards and punishments. It is not easy to discover how far the Jews held this doctrine in THEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF APOCALYPTIC BOOKS. 487 prophetic times. Of course there are grandly poetical descriptions of the descent into Sheol of such as Pharaoh, yet still there is no proof, at least no indis- putable proof, that this represented the common belief of the Jewish people. Certainly their nearness to Egypt, and their constant intercourse with it, rendered it all but certain that some views on the momentous subject of the future state must have been prevalent. In the New Testament there is no equivocal sound given on this question. From our Lord's parable of Dives and Lazarus, down to the visions of the Johan- nine Apocalypse, the future condition of saints and sinners is clearly portrayed. In the apocalyptists of the inter-Biblical period we find considerable space occupied with pictures of the future state. In Enoch we have the place of the punishment of the fallen angels which we have already referred to, the place also where the wandering stars (&-Te/>e9 irXavrjrat) are punished, and also places where the wicked are kept to the day of judgment. These last are away to the west. As he saw the fiery sun sinking in the blazing sea, it was not unnatural that he should think of rivers of fire away beyond the verge of the horizon ; perhaps there was something of the Grecian ideas of Styx and Phlegethon in his views as well. In Baruch also there is mention of the state of the lost; xlviii. 38, 39, "Because they oppressed, and walked every one in his own works, and did not remember the law of the Mighty One ; on account of this fire shall devour their souls, and in flames shall the care of their reins be examined : for the judge will come, and will not tarry." 488 THEOLOGICAL RESULT, But the future life has not only its place of woe, but also its place of joy. This is dwelt on lovingly by the writer of the nucleus of the Book of Enoch. He evidently closely associates it with the earthly paradise. In the Apocalypse of Baruch the glory of Messianic times is closely associated with the state of future bliss to be enjoyed by the righteous. We all know what a large space the bliss of heaven occupies in the New Testament, and how relatively small is the space occupied by the same subject in the Old. It seems probable, then, that the apostles and their con- temporaries were prepared for receiving the truth con- cerning the future by the writing of the apocalyptists. INDEX. Abraham, history of, in Book of Jubilees, 309, 310. Adam and his family history in Book of Jubilees, 305. Adam, Apocalypse of, 858. Alexander, conquests of, opened the world to the Jews, 35, 36. Alexander Polyhistor and Pliny quoted, 87. Alexandre on the Sibylline Books, 166-168. Alexandrian Thought and Literature, 147-169 ; influence of, on Christ and His apostles, 12. Ambrose, reference by, to Fourth Esdras,354. Angelology of Apocalyptic writings, 127, 210, 211, 239, 484. Angels disbelieved in by Sadducees, 56 ; fall and judgment of, account of, 239, 245, 306, 307. Anna the prophetess an Essene, 113. Anthropomorphism of Old Testament modified in the Apocalyptic books, 476, 477. Antigonus, Esseue prophecy of death of, 85. Antiochus Epiphanes, "Wars of, against Jews, 236-238, 251, 252. Antipater, father of Herod, noticed in Psalter of Solomon, 276. Apion answered by Josephus,' 186. Apocalypse distinguished from pro- phecy, 197; rise of, 363-368; theme generally world - history, 197, 198. Apocalypse of John, Vischer's theory of, 461-472; refutation of, 463- 468. Apocalypses, notes on post-Christian, 451-460. Apocalyptic Books, authorship and origin of, 12, 94-114; canons for ascertaining the date of, 398 ; Christ's possible study of, in Kazareth, 16; doctrine of atone- ment omitted, 480 ; home of, 213-224; ideal representation of perfect state, 204, 205 ; known to our Lord and His apostles, 12- 14 ; Messianic character of, 208 ; nature and occasion of, 193-212 ; relation to Essene schools, 12, 94- 97 ; study of, necessary to a full understanding of Christ's time, 17. Apocrypha, Canonical, account of, 123-146. Apostles, culture of, 8. Aqiba Rabbi identified with Taxo, 448. Aramaic distinguished from Hebrew, 37 ; language of Palestine in our Lord's time, 6, 107, 171 ; nature and origin of, 170, 171 ; use in portions of Daniel, reasons for, 388. Archisyna(;o(/us, duty of, 36. Aristeas, letter of, 165, 166. Aristobulus, result of rivalry with Hyrcanus II., 22 ; struggle with Hyrcanus, 254, 255; work of, 164, 165. Ascension of Isaiah, composed of two separate works, 452 ; discovered in Abyssinia, 451 ; Gnostic and Montanistic elements in, 455 ; Hebrew probably the language in which it was written, 454 ; period of composition determined, 455, 456 ; version first published by Laurence, 451. Asceticism of Essenes, 108. Assideans, and their relations to the Pharisees, 60, 61. Assumption of Moses, analysis of, 321-339; date fixed, with reasons, 447-450; Jude's acquaintance with, 14 ; language and date discussed, 440-450 ; reasons for thinking it an Aramaic work, 441-445; refer- ence in early Christian literature, 440, 441. 490 INDEX. Atonement, doctrines of, absent from Apocalyptic books, 480. Augustine, Saint, on bishop of Roman Church, 341. Autonomous Cities, a feature of Hellenic government, 23. Babylonian Captivity, its influence on the Apocalyptic books, 199. Balkira, the Samaritan, his accusa- tion of Isaiah, 345. Baruch, Apocalypse of, additions to, 421, 422; analysis of, 253-267; date fixed, with reasons for the same, 417-421 ; language and date discussed, 414-422 ; passage from it quoted by Papias as from our Lord, 415, 416 ; Syriac version found iu Milan, 415; published by Ceriani, 415. Baruch, Apocryphal Book of, account and analysis of, 94, 139-142, 285. Beer on authorship of Book of Jubi- lees, 436. Behemoth and Leviathan in Apocalyp- tic books, 261. Bel and the Dragon, account of, 142. Bertholdt quoted, 126. Bible, changes introduced into Eng- lish Authorised Version by printers and others, 384. Bleek on the four world-empires of Daniel, 378. Blessedness of God's people, version of, 232. Bonnar, Dr., on the Great Interreg- num, 198. Books known to Christ, 8 ; known to Paul, 9 ; making of books in Christ's time, 9. Bruce, the Abyssinian traveller, brings Book of Enoch to Europe, 389. Bretschneider on language of Fourth Esdras, 456. Buddha and Clement of Alexandria, 104. Buddhism, its relation to Essenism, 104, 105. Canon, date of the close of the, 139. Cave on bishops of the Roman Church, 341. Celibacy of the Essenes, 108. Cerda, De la, editor of Psalter of Solomon, 423. Ceriani, discovers and publishes Apocalypse of Baruch, 414, 415 ; publishes Book of Jubilees, 433 ; publishes Fourth Esdras, 456. Cherubim, symbology of, 486. Christ, Essene relations of, 13, 110- 121 ; humanity of, now a common theme of Christological discussion, 3, 4 ; Josephus as a witness to, 188, 189 ; Messianic consciousness of, gradually reached, 5 ; Nazareth, scenery of, its influence on, 4, 5 ; the true priest king, 356-358 ; student of Scripture in the syna- gogue of Nazareth, 9, 10; His teaching modified by reading and culture of His hearers, 11, 12; second advent of, 349 ; shrinking of a Christian from the discussion of the nature of Christ's person and development, 1, 2. Christology of Book of Enoch, 407- 410; of Apocalyptic books, 479- 482. Clement, Epistle of, refers to Book of Judith, 128. Clement of Alexandria and Buddha, 104 ; quotes Assumption of Moses, 338, 440. Ccenobitism of Essenes, 108. Cohen on cause of Pharisaic hostility to Christ, 71. Colani on the language of the Assumption of Moses, 443. Colossian heresy of Esseue origin, 115. Communism of Essenes, 81. Cyaxares identified with Darius, 387, 388. Cypriani referred to, 442. Cyrus, proclamation of, 374. Ddhne on the Platonism of the Sep- tuagint, 153. Daniel, Book of, arguments for its authenticity, 371-375; for early date, 385, 386 ; contrasted with Isaiah, 193-196 : explanation of a Chaldee portion of the book, 363- 369 ; the true origin of apocalyp- tic, 95, 365-368; prized by the Essenes, 221 ; quoted in the Book of the Maccabees, and by Christ and Josephus, 376, 385, 386; language and authorship, 388. Daniel, Eleventh Chapter of, 249- 252, 368 ; its date, 412, 413 ; the INDEX. 491 work of an interpolator, 384, 412, 413. Darius and the Medo-Persian em- pire, 379, 380; difficulty of ex- plaining his relation to Cyrus, 386, 387 ; his place in history exhibited, 387, 388. Dead Sea, The, and the Essenes, 86, 217 ; description of scenery of, 213-224. Decapolis, governed by Roman vice- roys, 23. De la Cerda, edits Psalter of Solomon, 423. Delitzsch on four world-empires, 378 ; on Darius, 387. Demoniacal possession in Book of Tobit, 127. Demonology of the Apocalyptic books, 484, 485. De Sacy, translation of Book of Enoch, 241. Didymus, Alexandrinus, and Assump- tion of Moses, 440. Dillmann on Book of Enoch, 233, 241-246 ; on Ascension of Isaiah, 346. Doilinger on bishops of Roman Church, 342. Drummond, Professor, on four world- empires, 378, 379 ; on date of Book of Enoch, 408. Eagle, TJie, vision of, and the Roman empire, 350. Eccksiasticus, Book of, 94 ; analysis of, 133-136 ; date and style of, 137-139. Edersheim, Dr., on Josephus, 187 ; on Philonic authorship of Quod Omnis Probus Liber, 80. Egyptian and Syrian conflicts, de- scribed in eleventh chapter of Daniel, 250-252. Egypt, influence on Palestine, 147- 149. Eichhcrn, on four world-empires, 378; on work of Aristobulus, 165. Eisenmenger quoted, 301, 302, 406, 411. " Election, Doctrine of, taught in Apo- calypse of Baruch, 478. Elijah, Apocalypse of, 98. Engedi, central home of the Essenes, 92 ; description of, 215, 216. Enoch, Book of, 95, 103, 108; analysis and account of, 225-248 ; attempt to fix its order of composition, 397 ; Book of Similitudes dated, 399-402 ; Book of the Fall of the Angels dated, 402-405 ; Christo- logy of, 407-410 ; cited as Scrip- ture by the Fathers and by Jude, 14, 389; date and language of, 389-411; dependent on Daniel, 384, 385; explanation of the Seventy Shepherds, 405-407; Noachian fragments, date of, 402 ; published and translated by Arch- bishop Laurence, 390 ; reasons for thinking a Palestinian work in Aramaic, 390, 391 ; and the pro- duction of several hands, 391-396; title Son of man in, 14, 408-410 ; trifling influence on later Judaism, 410. Epiphanius on books found in syna- gogues, 9. Esau and Jacob, story of, 313, 314. Eschatology of the Apocalyptic books, 486, 487. Esdras, Fourth, 94, 96, 124 ; analysis of, 348-355 ; date and language of, 348, 455-458 : manner of com- position, 352, 353 ; probably writ- ten at Rome, 457. Esdras, Third, 124. Esdras, first two books of, 124, 125. Essene, etymology of name, 75-78, 112, 113 ; Christ probably an, 13, 34. Essenes, account and criticism of, 75-92 ; authois of the Apocalyptic books, 12, 93-109; aversion of, to oil and oaths, 83 ; avoidance of the temple, 85-88 ; avoidance of the sacrifices, 89 ; became con- verts to Christianity, 87 ; Christ's relation to, 12, 110-121 ; contra- dictory accounts, 89-91 ; celi- bacy and communism of, 81, 83, 86, 88 ; description of by contem- poraries, 79-87 ; dispersed over Palestine and in Jerusalem, 15, 288 ; dress of, 83 ; evening meal sacred to, 15 ; fate, their doctrine of, 84; first established under Lagid dynasty, 103 ; four classes of, 13 ; gate of the, 268 ; Judais- ing Christians, all, 341 ; manner of life of, 217-224; Maccabeau 492 INDEX. and later Jewish government odious to, 253, 254 ; marriage relation to, 83 ; number of, 111; not a sect of Pharisees, 13 ; Sab- batic doctrines denounced by Christ, 13 ; sacred books of, 89 ; sympathisers numerous, 15, 111; Talmudic references valueless, 88 ; women, how admitted to the order, 84. Essenism and Buddhism, 104 ; modi- fied by Hellenism, 101 ; account of, 75. Esther, Apocryphal additions to Book of, 130, 131. Eupolemiits. a Jewish Alexandrian writer, 154. Eusebius quotes Philo, 81. Evodius quotes Assumption of Moses, 440. Ewald on etymology of name Essene, 77, 78 ; on Book of Enoch, 364 ; on four world-empires, 378 ; on Tobit, 126. Ezekiel, the Jewish poet and his work, 154. Ezra, reputed author of all the Jewish books, 354. Falricius quoted, 389. Fate, doctrine of, and the Apocalyptic books, 483. Fellmann on date of Enoch, 407. Flood, The. account of, 307 ; vision of, 231-244. Frankel on etymology of name Essene, 78. Freedom of the Will in the Apocalyp- tic books, 483. Fritzsche on the Assumption of Moses, 328. Future State, doctrine of, in Apoca- lyptic books, 487, 488. Gebhardt on the seventy shepherds of Book of Enoch, 406. Gemara, analysis and account of, 179, 180. Gfrorer on etymology of Essene, 78. Gicseler, Dr., version of Ascension of Isaiah, 451. Ginsburg, Dr., on the Essenes, 15, 19. Glaphyra, Dream of, interpreted by an Essene, 85, 86. Gnostic elements in Ascension of Moses, 455. Gnosticism, Essene in origin, 115. Grabe, edits Testaments of Twelve Patriarchs, 459. Gratz on authorship of Psalter of Solomon, 426. Greek language and literature known to Christ, 6, 7 ; power symbolised by birds in the Apocalypses, 246. Grosseteste, Hugh, discovered Testa- ments of the Twelve Patriarchs, 458. Hacjadoth, definition of, 38. Halachoth, The, illustrated, 37, 38. Harnack on date of the Apocalypse of John, 468. Harvey, editor of Irenaeus, quoted, 414. Hasidim and the struggle for Jewish independence, 53. Hasmonieans, history of, 329, 330. Hatch, Dr., on the origin of preach- ing in the Church, 40. Hausruth on the date of the Assump- tion of Moses, 448. Hazazar Tumar, 216. Hazzan denned, 36. Hebrew, The Three, Children, Prayer of, 142. Hebrew Literature in Christ's time, 10. Htbreie Scriptures quoted by Matthew in Gospel, 7. Hebrew Language, reasons for its use in parts of Daniel, 388. Hebrews, Epistle to the, and Psalter of Solomon, 286, 291. Hegesippus on Essene character of James the Lord's brother, 116, 117,121. Hell, vision of, 241, 242. Hellenising , influence of the Seleucid monarchs on Jewish religion and its sects, 52-54 ; party among the Jews, its policy, 26 ; proclivities of Josephus and Philo, and the effect on their writings, 99, 100. Hellenism, influence on Jewish thought, 201. Hernias, Apocalyptic character of Pastor of, 353. Herod, re ; gn of, prophesied by Men- shem the Essene, 85 ; rise of dynasty of, 22. Herodotus on the capture of Babylon, 374. .INDEX. 493 High Priest, Rise of, to political power, 289 ; not subservient to Romans in time of Christ, 25. Hilgenfeld referred to, 102, 277, 282, 324, 406, 443, 444. Hillel, notice of, 65 ; relation to Christ, 180, 181. Hitzig on four world-empires, 380, 381. Hochma Literature described, 131. Hoffmann referred to, 231, 407. Holy, Dwelling place of the, vision of, 225, 226. Huet on language of Psalter of Solomon, 424. Hyrccmus, John, becomes a Sadducee, 53 ; history of, 183. Ignatius, Epistles of, relation to Psalter of Solomon, 287. Immortality, Conditional, taught in Psalter of Solomon, 274-288 ; doc- trine of, in Apocalyptic books, 482, 483. India, English empire in, analogous to Roman empire in Asia Minor, 21 ; difference in methods of government between English in, and Romans in Asia, 23, 24. Jrenxus quoted, 260, 416. Isaiah and Daniel contrasted as pro- phets, 193-198. Isaiah, Ascension of, 96, 199 ; ac- count of, 342-344 ; discovered in Abyt-sinia, 451. Israelite captives led to Rome by Pompey, 281, 282. Israelite Kingdom, origin of, 44 ; origination of idol-worship there, 44, 45 ; fall of, 44, 45. Jacob, history of, in Book of Jubilees, 311-314. James the Lord's brother an Essene, 116. Jannaeus, Alexander, persecutes Pharisees, 54 ; kingship of, odious to Essenes, 107. Jellinek referred to, 436. Jeremy, Epistle of the Prophet, 141, 142. Jerome, St., on Book of Jubilees, 433. Jerusalem captured by Pompey, 278- 280. Jesus $on of Sirach author of Ecclesi- asticus, 136, 137 ; character and date of, 136-139. Jeu's, Manners of, affected by Roman influences, 27. John, Apocalypse of St., 359 ; reasons for not treating, 359 ; Gospel of, and Psalter of Solomon, 294, 295. Jonathan ben Uzziefs Targum, 172, 173. Joseph and Mary Essene in sym- pathy, 15, 113. Joseph, story of, in Book of Jubilees, 315-317. Josephus, account and analysis of his works, 183-189; Antiquities of the Jews, 186 ; Daniel refers to prophet, 376 ; History of Wars of the Jews, 185 ; Life of, sketched, 184-186; priestly family of, 30; testimony to Christ, 188, 189; treats Essene habits and doctrines, 79. Jubilees, Book of, analysis of, 297- 320 ; copy of, brought from Abys- sinia to Germany, 433 ; edited by Dillmann, 433 ; language and date discussed, 433-439; lan- guage Aramaic, why, 434-436 ; date fixed, 95, 437-439 ; a speci- men of Hagadoth or Midrashirn, 38. Judaising Christian Essene?, 116-118. Judaism modified by Hellenic influ- ences, 101 ; evolved Essenism without foreign aid, 107. Judas the Essene and the temple service, 107, 108. Judas the Galilean and the Zealots, 67. Jwie, Epistle of, quotes Book of Enoch, 238 ; Assumption of Moses, 440, 441 ; knowledge of Apo- calyptic books, 14. Judea, its autonomous powers in Roman period, 24. Judith, Bonk of, account of, 128- 130 ; criticised by Ren an and Volkmar, 128; referred to by Clement, 128. Judgment, doctrine of final, in Apocalyptic books, 486, 487; vision of general, 227-231. Justus the Jewish historian and Josephus, 89. Kablala, account of, 182, 183. 494 INDEX. Keim on date of Psalter of Solomon, 4'28. Kohut, Dr., on Parsee influence on Judaism, 104, 105 ; quoted, 410. Laqid Rulers, relation to the Jews, 52. Langen on the Assumption of Moses, 325. Languages known by Christ, 5, 6, 8, li. Laurence, Archbishop, on Book of Enoch, 231-241, 246; translation of Book of Enoch, 890; pub- lished Ethiopia version of Ascen- sion of Isaiah, 452 ; published edition of Fourth Esdras, 455, 456. Law, Jewish, strictness and minute- ness of, 39 ; importance of its interpretation, 39. Leighton, Archbishop, criticised by Cameronian, 286. Lenormant on the fidelity of Daniel's narrative to the customs of Baby- lon. Leviathan in the Apocalyptic books, 261. Levitts, courses numbered, 31 ; few of the tribe returned from Baby- lon, 31 ; relation of, to priests, 30, 81. Lightfoot, Bishop, etymology of Essen e name, 76, 77 ; holds Colossian Judaisers to be Essenes, 341 ; origin of Essene doctrines illustrated, 104; Parsee influence on Essenes considered, 105 ; views on Essenes criticised, 112 ; views on their relation to Christianity criticised, 115, 116. Literature, Hebrew, in Christ's time, 9 ; stylistic differences of Hebrew literature at different periods, 363,. 364 ; a new form of, must originate in a man of genius, 363, 364. Logos - Doctrine, relation of, to Philo and to the Wisdom of Solo- mon, 132. Lucius on date of Assumption of Moses, 448. Liicke on the groundwork of Enoch, 393. Luminaries of Heaven, Book of, ap- proximate date, 403-405. Maccabees, four Books of, analysis of, 143-146. Macedonian empire and Daniel's vision, 380, 381. Mai, Cardinal, published Ascension of Isaiah, 452. Manasses, Prayer of, 142. Manetho on the cause of the exodus, 318. Margoliouth, Professor, on author- ship and language of Daniel, 413 ; on the literary language of Pales- tine, 413 ; on the Wisdom of Solomon, 132, 133, 370, 371. Martineau, Dr. James, quoted, 462. Martyr, Justin, on use of Scripture in the synagogue, 9. Mastema, Apocalyptic name of Satan, 309 ; endeavours to slay Moses, 319. Matthew's Gospel chiefly quotes from original Hebrew, 7. Mediatorial Function of Messiah present in the Apocalyptic books, 480, 481. Medo-Persian Empire and Daniel's vision, 378-380. Menahem predicts Herod's reign, 85. Merx on the Assumption of Moses, 329. Messiah, absence of expectation of, among Sadducees, 56, 57 ; vision of the coming and kingdom of, 247, 248, 265, 266, 336, 337. Messianic Character of Apocalyptic books, 208; of Psalter of Solo- mon, 283-285 ; hopes of Jews deepened by Roman supremacy, 17. Metakon, the, account of the angel called, 410, 413 ; identified as the Angel of the Presence, 301. Midrashim, account of, 38. Millennial Glory described by Apo- calyptic writers, 205-208. Mishtia, analysis and account of, 176, 179 ; date of its compilation, 10, 176; valuelessness of, 178, 179. Mvnasticism, origin of, and relation to Essenism, 118. Montanistic elements in Ascension of Isaiah, 455. Mosaic Lair, relation of, to slavery and large landed estates, 28. INDEX. 495 Moses, Assumption of, 95, 1 99 ; story of, in Book of Jubilees, 318- 321. Moivrs on date of Psalter of Solomon, 428. Nabunahid, last king of Babylon, identified with Belshazzar, arid epigraphic proof of the authenticity of Daniel, 371, 372. Nazarenes described by Epiphanius, and identified with Essenes, 87. Neander on bishops of Roman Church, 342. Ntro identified with Berial, and supposed to be his incarnation, 347 ; the matricide king of the Ascension of Moses, 454. Aeronian persecution, account of, 344, 345 ; influence of, 342. Kicephorus, Stichometry of, referred to, 423, 427, 446. Nicolaus of Damascus and the Her- odian court, 299. Noachian Fragments, account of, 234- 236, 394, 395 ; date of, 402-405. Nobles, Jewish, why they spent much time at Rome, 28. Ockley, Dr. Simon, discovered Arabic version of the Ascension of Isaiah, 451 ; published Arabic version of Fourth Esdras, 455. (Ecumenius on the Assumption of Moses, quoted, 440. Oil Testament, a school - book in synagogue schools, 9. Onkelos, Targum of, 172. Uriqen quotes Assumption of Moses, 440. Palace of the Great King, vision of, 240, 241. Palestinian Literature, non-Apoca- lyptic account of, 170-189 ; of Greek origin, 183-189. Papias, quoting Apocalypse of Baruch, ascribes it to Christ, 260, 415 ; eA'idence for authenticity of the Apocalypse of John, 4G8. Paradise, vision of, 242. Parsee influence on the Essenes, 104, 105. Parables, Book of, or Similitudes, 393 -397 ; denounces the rich, 399 ; date fixed, 399-402. Parthian invasion of Palestine, 327. Particularity of Providence taught in Apocalyptic books, 478, 479. Party, relation of, to government in ancient and modern times, 41, 42. Parties, philosophic, contrasted with religious sects, 42. Patriarchs, Testaments of Twelve, 96 ; analysis of, 355-359; on Eirenikon between Judaisers and Pauline party, 358. Patriotic and Romanising parly, jealousy of each other, 27. Paul, Apocalypse of, 358. Paul, St., quotes thrice Greek poets, Peden, Alexander, compared to Jewish apocalyptist?, 238. Pentateuch and Joshua, Samaritan version of, 48. Persian Empire, influence on Apo- calyptic books, 200. Peter, Apocalypse of, 358. Pharisees, account of, 58-74 ; demo- cratic party, 63-65 ; denounce kingship of Alexander Jannaeue, 64 ; doctrines of, 72-74 ; etymo- logy of name, 61 ; Messianic hopes of, 64 ; opposed Herodian family, 64, 65 ; relation to Christ, 70-72 ; relation to the scribes, 72, 73 ; religion essentially the bond of their union, 62. Philippi on date of Book of Enoch, 407. Philo and the Fourth Gospel, 11 ; anthropology of, 161, 162; ethics of, 1 63 ; on the Essenes and their habits, 75, 76, 79, 81 ; harmoniser of Greek and Hebrew thought, 154-156; knowledge of Chris- tianity, and relation to it, 164 ; Messianic hope not present to his mind, 100, 163, 164; philosophy of, 158-161 ; works of, 157, 158 ; some of them possibly known to Christ, 10, 11. Physics of Book of Enoch, 243, 244. Plato, suggestion of a knowledge of his writings in our Lord's inter view with the young ruler, 10 ; repre- sentation of the perfect state, 203. Pliny on habits of the Essenes, 79. Pompey, capture of Jerusalem and the temple by, 22, 254, 255, 270- 272 ; carries Jews to Rome, 280, 496 INDEX. 281 ; death and doom predicted in Psalter of Solomon, 272, 273, 430 ; relation to the Apocalypse of Baruch, 261, 262 ; relation of, to Psalter of Solomon, 270-272. Preaching, Christian, origin of, 40. Priests, cities of the, 30 ; courses of the, 30 ; origin of their power in Jerusalem, 28, 29 ; predomin- ence of, as seen in Apocalyptic hooks, 33 ; relation of, to temple, 31, 32 ; representative of the nation, 32, 33. Prophecy, a general belief, implies existence of true, 375. Prophecy, Old Testament, known to Christ, and led to the development of His Messianic consciousness, 5. Psalm cix., imitated in Psalter of Solomon, 276, 277. _ Psalms teaching suffering as purify- ing, 282. Psalter of Solomon, analysis of, 268- 296 ; date and language of, 423- 432 ; edited by. De la Cerda, 423 ; imprecatory psalms in, 285, 286 ; paradise referred to in, 2^9 ; written in Hebrew, 424-432 ; no Christian elements in, 426. J'tolemy, conflict between Antiochus and, 223. Purgatory, vision of, 242. Pnsey, Dr., on the authenticity of Daniel, 371. Pythagoreans and Essenes contrasted, 102, 103 ; influence of doctrines of, in Book of Jubilees, 298. Rabbinic Ordination of both John Baptist and Christ, 118, 119. RapUa, battle of, 223. Renan on Judith, Book of, 128 ; on Neronian persecution, 345. Resurrection of body taught in Apo- calytic books, 263, 483 ; rejected by the Sadducees, 56. Revelation, Book of, shows know- ledge of Apocalyptic books, 14. Reverence, when excessive, as dan- gerous as too great freedom, 2, 3. Roberts, Professor, on language in common use in Palestine in Christ's time, 183. Roman influence on Jewish manners, 27 ; supremacy, influence of, on Messianic hope, 17. Romanising party among Jews, policy of, 26. Rome the Fourth Empire of Daniel's vision, 375-379. Rdnsch on the Book of Jubilees, 433. Ruler and Christ in the Gospels, and the knowledge of Plato suggested by their conversation, 11. Sabbatic Doctrines of Essenes con- tradicted by Christ, 13; law in Book of Jubilees, 320. Sacy, Sylvestrede,&ud the Samaritans, 47, 48 ; on Book of Enoch, 390. Sadducees, account of, 50-57 ; Christ delivered to Romans by, 71 ; Epi- cureans in principle, 55 ; history of, 51-57 ; origin of, 50, 51 ; rela- tion to Greek philosophy, 55 ; rela- tion to the law of Moses, 54, 55. Samaritans, account of, 43-49 ; composed of Assyrian colonists and native Israelites, 45; dis- appearance of, after the fall of Jerusalem, 47 ; Jewish charges against, 47 ; history under Per- sian, Greek, and Koman govern- ment, 45, 46; their temple de- stroyed, 46; remains of this people still linger in Palestine, 48. Sanhedrim, Account of, and its func- tions, 25. Schodde on Book of Enoch, 231-233, 246. Schools, Jewish, in our Lord's time, 39. Scribes, nature and office of the, 38, 39 ; relation of, to Pharisees, 72, 73. Schurer on Book of Ecclesiasticus, 134, 135 ; on Apocalypse of Baruch, 410; on Aristobulus,165; on Rab- binic ordination, 119. Scriptures, complete, found in every synagogue, 8. Sects, four Jewish, nature, origin, and relations of, 42-44. Septuagint Version, date of, 148; peculiarities of, 152-154 ; always quoted by Christ, 7, 149, 156 ; quoted in Epistle to Hebrews, 151 ; read in Galilean synagogues, and probably in Nazareth, 8. Seventy Gentile nations assumed by the Apocalyptists, 246. Shammai, notice of, 66. Shammaites identified with Zealots, 66. INDEX. 497 Sibylline Books, analysis of 167-169; nature and origin of, 166, 167. Simeon the prophet an Essene, 113. Similitudes, Book of, date of, 399- 402. Slavery opposed to the genius of Israel, 27 ; Mosaic law discouraged it, 27. Solomon, Psalter of, analysis of, 95, 268-296 : Messianic hope in, 290- 295. Solomon, Wisdom of, account of, 181, 132. Son of man as title of Messiah de- rived from Apocalyptic books, 14, 229. 408-410, 482. Son of woman as title of Messiah, 229. Stahelin on date of Apocalypse of Baruch, 416. Susanna and the Elders, account of, 142. Stanton on date of Book of Enoch, 407. Synagogue, nature of worship in, 34; introduced from Babylon, 35; offi- cials of, 36 ; spread of, 35. Syncellus, George, and Book of Enoch, 389. Szinessy Schiller on the Targum of Onkelos, 175 ; on the Gemara, 179. Tablets of the Heavens, source of in- formation to the apocalyptists, 301. Talmud ignorant of Apocalyptic books, 99; and of the Essenes, 112 ; work of the Pharisees, 13. Targums, date of, 9, 171 ; criticism of, 173, 174 ; nature and origin of, 171, 172 ; number of, 172, 173. Tarmuth, Pharaoh's daughter and Moses, 318, 319. Taxo the Levite and his sons, 335. Teaching of Christ modified by read- ing and culture of His hearers, 12, 13. Tempest in the Sea, vision of, and the second coming of the Messiah 350-352. Ten tribes, restoration of, 352. Tertullian referred to, 341, 442. Testaments of Twelve Patriarchs, language and date of, 458-460. Theodotus, a Jewish Alexandrian author, 154. Theological features of Apocalyptic books, 475-488. Therapeutas and Essenes, 118, criti- cism of, 175-182. Titus and Vespasian's deaths in Tal- mud, 386. Tobit, account of Book of, 125-127 ; date, etc., 127. Universality of God, relation to the world and men, as taught in Apo- calyptic books, 477, 478. Vernes on the groundwork and date of Book of Enoch, 393, 407. Vespasian identified with theMessiah, 100. Vischer's theory of the origin of the Apocalypse of John, 461. Vulkmar on Book of Judith, 128 ; on Assumption of Moses, 322-324, 328. Wellhausen, views of, criticised, 269, 270, 275, 289-291. Westcott on four world-empires of Daniel, 378. Winer on the Targum of Onkelos, 175. Wisdom, Book of, 94. Wisdom of Solomon, account of, 131-133 ; influence of, on Apostle Paul, 132. Woman, Creation of, 803, 304. World- History, vision of, in ten weeks, 232, 233. World-History, vision of, in twelve storms and sunshines, 264-267. Xenophon on the capture of Babylon, 374 ; on Darius the Mede, 387. Zealots, Account of, 66, 67; com- pared to Nihilists, 67, to Came- ronians, 67, 6b ; Judas Iscariot one of the, 70; part played by them at siege of Jerusalem, 68, 69. Zechariah a transition to Apocalypse, 211, 212. Zeller on the Essene relation to the Apocalypse, 99 ; on Neo-Pytha- gorean origin of, 101. Zerubbabel, story of, 125. Zockler on four world-empires of Daniel, 377. Zo7mr,Book of, and the Kabbala, 182, 183. Zonaras quotes Book of Jubilees, 434. Zoroastrianism and Judaism, 106. 2 I MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH- T. and T. Claris Publications. Just published, in post 8vo, price 7s. 6d., PSEUDEPIGRAPHA: AN ACCOUNT OF CERTAIN APOCRYPHAL SACRED WRITINGS OF THE JEWS AND EARLY CHRISTIANS. BY THE EEV. WILLIAM J. DEANE, M.A., RECTOR OP ASHEN, ESSEX; AUTHOR OF 'THE BOOK OF WISDOM, WITH PROLEGOMENA AND COMMENTARY' (OXFORD: CLARENDON PRESS), ETC. BTC. CONTENTS: INTRODUCTION. I. LYRICAL The Psalter of Solomon. II. APOCALYPTICAL AND PROPHETICAL The Book of Enoch. 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'Most heartily do we commend this work as an invaluable aid in the intelligent study of the New Testament.' Nonconformist, 'As a handbook for the study of the New Testament, the work is invaluable and unique.' British Quarterly Review. ** Prof. Schiirer has prepared an exhaustive INDEX to this work, to which he attaches great value. The Translation is now ready, and is issued in a separate Volume (100 pp. 8vo). Price 2s. 6d. 7! and T. Clark's Publications. PROFESSOR SGHAFF'S CHURCH HISTORY. HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. BY PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D., PROFESSOR IN THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK. Five ' Divisions ' (in Two Volumes each, 21s.) of this great work are now ready. Each Division covers a separate and distinct epoch, and is complete In itself. 1. APOSTOLIC CHRISTIANITY, A.D. 1-100. Two Vols. Ex. demy 8vo, price 21s. 2. ANTE-NICENE CHRISTIANITY, A.D. 100-325. Two Vols. Ex. demy 8vo, price 21s. 3. NICENE and POST-NICENE CHRISTIANITY, A.D. 325-600. Two Vols. 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For the student, who wants to get at facts, to understand the rationale of the facts, and to have the means of verifying them, there is no book so good as this.' Church Bells. T. and T. Clark's Publications. In demy 8vo, price 10s. Qd., THE REDEMPTION OF MAN. DISCUSSIONS BEARING ON THE ATONEMENT. BY D. W. SIMON, D.D., PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY, CONGREGATIONAL THEOLOGICAL HALL, EDINBURGH ; AUTHOR OF 'THE BIBLE, AN OUTGROWTH OF THEOCRATIC LIFE.' PRINCIPAL FAIRBAIRN, Mansfield College, writes ' I wish to say how stimulating and helpful I have found your book. Its criticism is constructive as well as incisive, while its point of view is elevated and commanding. It made me feel quite vividly how superficial most of the recent discussions on the Atonement have been.' 'A thoughtful, able, and learned discussion. . . . The author is full of his subject, and handles the literature of -it with the facility which comes of sound and laborious application of his mind to it. 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' I have just seen your excellent " Introduction to Theology," and feel prompted to thank you for this excellent help to students. I have been lecturing on this subject for forty years, and long wished for some such substitute for Hagenbach (too German to be translated or even reproduced), which I could recommend to my students.' PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D. ' Years of diligent research must have preceded the production of a work like this. It surveys the whole field of Theology, and offers to the student the guidance of which he stands most in need, carefully mapping out the ground to be traversed, showing the approaches to its several divisions, and specifying their peculiar features, their relations, and inter-relations, putting us in possession of results which have been obtained, and indicating also the processes by which they have been reached. His long lists of books recommended to students at the end of each section are a tribute to his erudition and good judgment. 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Consequently more than half of the New Testament portion has been re- written.' Extract from the Preface. ' We wish to draw particular attention to this new work on the important subject of Sacrifice. If we can induce our readers not only to glance through the book, but to read every line of it with thoughtful care, as we have done, we shall have earned their gratitude.' Church Bells. T. and T. Clark's Publications. HERZOG'S ENCYCLOPEDIA. In Three Volumes, imperial 8vo, price 24s. each, ENCYCLOPEDIA OR DICTIONARY OF BIBLICAL, HISTORICAL, DOCTRINAL, AND PRACTICAL THEOLOGY. BASED ON THE REAL-ENCYKLOPADIE OF HERZOG, PLITT, AND HAUCK, EDITED BY PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D., PKOFKSSOB IN THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK. 'As a comprehensive work of reference, within a moderate compass, we know nothing at all equal to it in the large department which it deals with.' Church Bella. ' The work will remain as a wonderful monument of industry, learning, and skill. 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Forty-five years have now elapsed since the commencement of the FOREIGN THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY, and during that time Four Volumes annually (or 180 in all) have appeared with the utmost regularity. It is now, however, difficult to preserve this regularity ; and, whilst the Publishers Avill continue to issue translations of the best German and French works, they will do so as occasion offers, and thus the publications will be even more select. In completing the FOREIGN THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY as a series, they desire anew to express their grateful thanks to the Subscribers for their support. They trust and believe that the whole series has exercised, through the care with which the books have been selected, a healthy influence upon the progress of theological science in this country and the United States. 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