Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN CLABK'S FOEEIGN THEOLOGICAL LIBRAllY. NEW SERIES. VOL. XXII. relli'g to ^Testament EDINBUEGH: T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEOEGE STEEET. 1885. PRINTED BY MORRISON AND GIBB, FOR T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH. LONDON, .... HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. DUBLIN GEO. HERBERT. NEW YORK, * SCR1BNER AND WELFORD. THE CONSUMMATION OF GOD'S KINGDOM, TRACED IN ITS HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT. BY C. VON ORELLI, PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY, BASEL. STranglatefc 6g REV. J. S. BANKS, HEADINGLEY COLLEGE, LEEDS. EDINBURGH: T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET. 1885. TRANSLATOR'S NOTE. following work aims at ascertaining the meaning which a certain section of Old Testament prophecy must have had for its first hearers and readers. The tendency of Christians has ever been to read the New Testament into the Old. However natural this tendency may be, it is not without injurious effects on the intelligent study of Scripture. Under its influence the difference between the two dispensations is overlooked ; type and antitype, promise and fulfilment, childhood and maturity are con- founded; ancient believers are credited with knowledge and ideas which go far beyond their circumstances ; a weight of meaning is put upon Old Testament passages which they are too weak to bear. Evidently our first effort should be to ascertain what the earlier Scriptures meant in the age to which they spoke ; and this is what Dr. Orelli tries to do in the present volume. While doing ample justice to the Christian fulfilment, he first considers every prophecy of the divine kingdom in its relation to speaker, hearers, and the general historical circum- stances out of which it arose. The student is placed at the Old Testament standpoint, as far as this is possible to us. We need not fear the results of such an investigation. Even granting that on single points the author may have gone too far, and that some details of his exposition cannot be regarded as fully 2000628 vi TRANSLATOR'S NOTE. established, enough remains to demonstrate the divinity of Old and New Testament alike. Prophecy and fulfilment correspond as bud to flower. Neither is intelligible without the other. It is refreshing to note the energy with which the author, who certainly cannot be charged with ignorance or prejudice, main- tains at his special standpoint the miraculous element in prophecy. In this respect the new method of interpretation is far preferable to the old. We do not need to read Christian ideas into prophecy in order then to bring them out again. Eeduce the teaching of prophecy to its most literal form, and yet the image of the future undeniably shines through it. The unity of subject pervading the whole from first to last, the uninterrupted progress both in the form and matter of revela- tion, the correspondence between prophecy and fulfilment, are evidences of divinity which nothing can explain away. I thought at one time of retaining the author's spelling of Jewish proper names. I found, however, that to do this con- sistently would give the pages a very repulsive look, at least to English readers, and the compensation would not be great. " Yahveh " is the only exception. This more accurate form of the word has now become tolerably familiar. I only wish to note further that the term " authorities " is used in Part I. for the German Quellen (sources), to denote the original documents on which the early books of the Old Testament are supposed to have been based. Perhaps a better English term might have been found. CONTENTS. PAGE INTRODUCTION, 1 SEC. 1. Biblical Prophecy, 4 2. Are Phenomena analogous to Biblical Prophecy found in Heathenism ? . 13 3. The Kingdom of God as the Subject of Biblical Prophecy, ... 25 4. Influence of the Age on the Prophecy of God's Kingdom, ... 31 5. The Office of Type in the Development of God's Kingdom, . . . 37 6. Are Phenomena analogous to the Prophecy of God's Kingdom found in Heathenism ? 41 7. Fulfilment in general, 50 8. Fulfilment in the New Covenant, 54 9. The Treatment of the Subject in Christian Theology 62 FIRST PAET. THE PROPHETIC WORD HERALDING THE RISE AND ACCOMPANYING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH. FIRST SECTION. PATRIARCHAL PRELUDES OF PROMISE. 10. General View, 77 11. The Primitive Divine Capacity and Destiny of Man, .... 82 12. Man's Common State of Sin (the Protevangelium), .... 86 13. The Threefold Development of Mankind, 93 14. The Promises to the Fathers of the Covenant People, .... 104 15. The Leading Tribe, Judah, . . 115 SECOND SECTION. MOSAISM. 16. The Law of Moses, 125 17. Mosaic Outlooks, 130 18. Balaam's Oracles, 134 THIRD SECTION. THE LORD'S ANOINTED. 19. The Prophetic Testament to the Davidic Royal House, . . . .148 20. The Echo of the Prophetic Word in the Songs of the Anointed One, . 158 21. Typical Significance of David, Solomon, and the Davidites, . . . 167 22. The Dwelling of Yahveh on Zion, 186 7 viii CONTEXTS. SECOND PART. TUK PROPHETIC WORD AS THE HERALD OF THE NEW BIRTH OF GOD'S KINGDOM AND THE SECURITY FOR ITS FUTURE CONSUMMATION. FIRST SECTION. THE PROPHETS OF THE PRE-ASSYRIAN AGE. SEC. PAGE 23. General Character of Prophecy in the Pre-Exilian Period, . . .191 24. Obadiah 196 25. Joel 204 SECOND SECTION. THE PROPHETS OF THE ASSYRIAN AGE IN THE NORTHERN KINGDOM. 26. Amos, 224 27. Hosea 228 28. Zechariah ix.-xi 244 THIRD SECTION. THE PROPHETS OF THE ASSYRIAN AGE IN THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM. 29. Isaiah and Micah : The exalted Zion 255 30. Isaiah's Oracles of Immanuel, 264 31. Further Omcles of Isaiah respecting Zion (chaps, xxviii.-xxxix.), . 285 32. Isaiah's Visions respecting the Gentiles and the World Judgment, as well as the glorifying of the World from Zion, 295 33. Micah, Nahum, 305 FOURTH SECTION. THE PROPHETS OF THE DECLINE (CHALDJEAN PERIOD). 34. Zephaniah, 314 35. Habakkuk, 323 36. Jeremiah's Prophecies of the New Covenant, 329 37. Zechariah xiL-xiv 345 FIFTH SECTION. THE PROPHETS OF THE EXILE. 38. Ezekiel's Oracles and Visions, 361 39. The Prophecies of the Servant of Yahveh, Isa. xl.-lxvi., . . .376 SIXTH SECTION. THE POST-EXILIAN PROPHETS (PERSIAN PERIOD). 40. Haggai and Zechariah, 419 41. Zechariah's Visions, 426 42. Malachi's Sayings respecting the Herald of the Lord, .... 447 43. Daniel's Apocalypse, 454 CONCLUSION, 467 OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. INTRODUCTION. IN the whole of creation there dwells a profound longing after perfection, a noble instinct for completeness. By degrees nature has brought forth more and more perfect creatures upon earth. In considering the structures of past aeons, when man as I yet was not, we seem to see the creative spirit struggling after! something perfect, without reaching it. And where the formative force has spent itself for a time, and the contradiction between the imperfection of existence and the perfect idea makes itself felt, the instinct for completion changes into longing for redemption. Whoever is able to catch the innermost tones vibrating through nature hears issuing from it sad, yearning voices, beseeching redemption from the burden of imperfection a sighing of the creature, as the apostle calls it, more plainly in the plant-world than in inorganic nature, more audibly in the animal kingdom than in the plant-world. Man, then, as the most perfect creature of earth, feels all the more powerfully the instinct for completion. The desire for i likeness to God grows stronger in him, the nearer he stands to God, the nobler he is. This instinct is a mighty factor in history, impelling to the creation of new forms, when things are ripe for further advance. Although the passion for innovation is a morbid excrescence, it is still the caricature of something noble and divine in man ; it testifies to a striving after completeness that is never satisfied. And when all the lauded, hardly- won steps in advance bring one no nearer to the goal, which rather seems to recede farther and farther away, the yearning after a better world arises among all uncorrupted peoples. Among many this yearning takes the form of lamentation over a far-distant happy past. Presages of the future also are heard, as if there were a golden age to come. ORELLI. A 2 OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. But as nations grow more rational and mature, such dreams are given up, and the completion which life fails to supply is sought in the region of art and idea. That both are powerless to satisfy the inmost craving of man's heart was confessed reluctantly by Goethe, the last of the Hellenes, who, if any one could, would have reconciled the contradictions of life by harmony of form. After he, in his masterwork, had pictured, but not really healed, the anguish of the human spirit in its utter impotence to com- pass perfection, the antagonisms became still fiercer, the discords more painful. Sorrow for the imperfection of existence is felt all the more keenly when the hope that has been placed in advancing culture turns out on the whole illusory in every field. Twenty years ago liberalism preached on every house-top its favourite dogma, man's capacity for eternal progress. To-day in the most advanced circles this is looked down on with scorn. An actual progress of real value is no longer believed in. The pessimism which in our days has gained so large a following, learned and unlearned, is itself a witness to the imperfection under which man groans. It yearns for release from the ban, without believing in a future consummation. Instead of redemption, nothing but a dissolution of existence will satisfy it, so strongly does it feel its burden. This, then, is the end of modern intellectual progress, as it was the end of ancient heathenism, even of buoyant-spirited, idealistic Hellenism an unsatisfied turning away from the world with nothing to take its place, despair of reaching the ideal w r hich man instinctively cherishes as his best possession. Are we nowhere to find any solution but this despair, which cuts the knot of fate and at the same time the sacred life-thread of humanity ? One nation in the human family felt this drawing to perfection, to God-likeness, in a peculiarly powerful way, the nation of Israel, to which the true God revealed Himself. In the revela- tion of this God the goal of its effort stood clearly before its eyes to be holy like God, to keep His commandments perfectly, and thus to be made partaker of the highest good perfect peace. That the perfection, for which man's soul thirsts, has complete subjection to the holy God for its indispensable condition, and fellowship with Him for its essential contents, dominion over creation being the natural consequence, the knowledge of this truth distinguished Israel from all nations of antiquity, and was not so much a fruit of its own musing and reflection as rather the INTRODUCTION. 3 result of the miraculous converse this nation had with its God, and of the legal discipline to which God subjected it above all other nations. But while this nation was chosen before others to experience the blessing of the divine rule, it was also compelled to look deeper than any other into the abyss separating sinful man from the holy God. The divine law that privilege of Israel was also a thorn in its flesh. In the light of revelation it saw human imperfection in all its depth to be sin, sin in all its gravity to be deadly guilt, and all unhappiness in the creature to be punishment. Hence a yearning for redemption, for a complete transforming of humanity in God's service and of all creation, goes hand in hand with a desire for the establishing of the divine rule. The con- viction is more and more definitely expressed, that no simple improvement of the existing can lead to perfection, but a total change must take place, a new creative act of God. But what we find in Israel is more than a deep, holy longing for completion and redemption. It is the actual certainty that both will be realized. As the law presents itself to the nation with sovereign independence as God's demand, so the nation receives prophecy as a positive pledge, which with the seal of the divine veracity stands secure above the vacillation of ages and nations and the vicissitudes of circumstance. The prophecies are not ideals, such as men fashion for themselves to strive after but can never reach ; they are ideas which God purposed to Himself to realize. What is it that gives us a right, nay, compels us, to assert the divine reality of these words of the future ? The answer is simple. In one man the perfection which prophecy sets before us has been actually realized, in a Son of man, who was also Son of God. Through Him also the felt need of reconciliation with God has found its full satisfaction. In these marvellous facts \ve have security that the divine rule thus founded will spread over the earth and thoroughly permeate the world, that through it redemp- tion from evil, inward and outward, will be perfected, as announced already by the prophecies of the Old Covenant. Thus the sacred voices of the prophets are an answer, not merely to 5 .' the inquiry of their people and age, but also to the noblest seek- ing and searching of man's heart, to the longing and sighing of the whole creation. They point to Christ, and proclaim to the world to-day what it may find in Him. They remind the Chris- 4 OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. tian how wondrously in the long period of waiting the morning stars bore witness to the coming sun, until at last it rose. But they also point him beyond our days to the days of the consummation of that kingdom of God, to behold which is our deepest longing. Let us then, before bringing forward these prophetic oracles of the Old Testament, take account of the source from which they spring, the peculiarity of nature and contents distinguishing them (in contrast with everything of a like kind presented by the extra- Israelitish world), of their fulfilment already accomplished or still future, and of the different attitudes which the Church and theology of Christian times have assumed to them and their fulfilment. 1. Biblical Prophecy. 1 Prophecy is the product of prophesying. In answering the question, What is to be understood by it on Biblical ground ? we start from the definite, uniform statements of the Bible. Accord- ing to these, prophesying is in general the speaking of individuals under the influence of the Spirit of God. And by the Divine Spirit we do not understand the general potency of life dwelling in all men and giving breath to living beings generally, 2 but the supramundaue Spirit of God, who only comes on man exceptionally to qualify him for work beyond his natural powers, and only settles in permanence upon him extraordinarily, and, moreover, is clearly distinguished from man's natural life-spirit (note A). In accordance with the free working of this Divine Spirit, pro- phecy is not bound to office and order. Even those who were not organs of God by their life-calling might be seized momen- tarily by Him, obtain glimpses into hidden things, and under the 1 Cf . with this section especially : A. Knobel, Der Prophetismus der Hebrder, 1837. Fr. Koster, Die Propheten des A. und N. T., 1838. Redslob, Der Begri/ des Nabi, 1839. Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, vol. iv. p. 396. A. Tholuck, Die Propheten des alten Bundes, 1860. H. Ewald, Die Propheten des alien Bundes, 2nd ed. Bd. i. 1867. A. Dillmann, art. " Propheten," in Schenkel's Bibellexicon, 1872. G. F. Oehler, Theology of the Old Testament, 1873 (T. & T. Clark) ; cf. his art. " Prophetenthum," in Herzog's R.-E. H. Schultz, Alttesta- mentliche Theologie, 2nd ed. 1878, p. 187 if. F. Hitzig, Biblische Theologle des A. T. und messianischeWeissagungen, herausg. von Kneucker, 1880 (cf. also Hitzig's Commentar zu Jesaja, the Introduction). Kleinert, art. "Prophet," in Riehm's Handworterluch des biblischen Alterthums, 1880. * Isa. xlii. 5 ; Job xxxiii. 4, xxxiv. 14 f. ; Ps. civ. 29 f. ; cf. Gen. ii. 7 ; Xura. xvi. 22, xxvii. 16. INTRODUCTION. 5 impulse of the same Spirit publish what they saw. In Genesis, for example, such illuminations are related of the patriarchs, especially before death. Prophetic words were uttered by Balaam the heathen seer, by David the king, and in the New Testament by Caiaphas the high priest. On the other hand, the Old Testament prophecies come as a rule from the lips of those who enjoyed in abiding converse with the Lord the gift of the prophetic spirit more frequently and served as His standing instruments. 1 Still they clearly distinguished their natural sub- jectivity from revelation, and even as to time believed they heard the word of the Lord and were empowered to speak in His name only in stated hours. The work of the prophet in prophesying is twofold, as is expressed by his two most common appellations. He is called n&p (seer), 2 and N 11 ^ (speaker^) (note B). The first name implies the receptive, the second the productive side of his attitude. On the former point Isidorus Hispal. (Etymol. viii. 1) says not amiss : " Qui a nobis prophetae, in V. T. videntes appellantur, quia videbant ea quae ceteri non videbant et prsespiciebant quae in mysterio abscondita erant." Their endowment consists chiefly in an extraordinary heightening of the perceptive faculty. Whether the sensuous organs are or are not concerned in this is primarily indifferent. But the essential element to be maintained in prophecy 3 is, that it sees its contents before announcing them, although as to time the two acts may be combined. For not merely where the contents take sensuous forms, as in the vision proper, but even where the more abstract medium of speech obtains, the Hebrew designedly uses nth to express how the prophet came by 1 Such an one is called rpfin E^K, Hos. ix. 7 ; more generally 1 Sam. ix. 6. 2 According to 1 Sam. ix. 9 his earliest popular name. This passage proves that the idea of n&\'~l an d fcfQj is substantially identical. Synonymous with it is nfh beholder. But the verbs n&O an( l !"ltn must be distinguished to this extent, that the former denotes simply the relation of the eye to an object which it sees, the latter the dwelling of the glance on the form of an object, therefore on an image. Accordingly, they are related to each other as our "seeing" and "beholding." 3 "We use the word "prophecy" in the more general sense, according to which it is not so much the product of prophetic activity as rather a designation of this activity itself. Both uses of the word are warranted linguistically. Cf. Rom. xii. 6, 1 Cor. xii. 10, xiii. 2, with 1 Cor. xiii. 8, and -rpixfnTii* (from vptQtiTtv*) with pnroptia. (from pnroptuu), the gift of rhetoric, then the artistic discourse itself. Thus we do not need to take refuge in Knobel's phrase " prophetism. " 6 OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. his knowledge. 1 The contents of prophecy are, consequently, not sonic-thing thought out, inferred, hoped, or feared by the prophets, but something directly perceived. This explains the categorical certainty with which they announce their oracles. They know these oracles to be independent of their own subjectivity. The revelation comes before their gaze as something independent, nay, belonging to another. It is God who discloses 2 these things to them things with- drawn from human gaze (fivartjpia in N. T. language). The fundamental assumption always is, that the attitude of the genuine prophet to the contents of his discourse, if not passive, is primarily receptive. 3 Only false prophets announce what they themselves have thought out or inferred on grounds of proba- bility. 4 The heathen wonder-workers or diviners are called B^H or D^irr " wise men " or " experts," because they fabricate oracles by certain arts and devices. 5 What has thus forced itself on the seer in direct intuition as divine certainty, lie then feels himself compelled by the same power of the Spirit to utter. This divine causality, compelling the seer not merely to see, but also to tell what he sees, is pictured most vividly in Amos iii. 8 : " The lion hath roared, who will not fear ? The Lord God hath spoken, who will not prophesy ? " Just as involuntarily as one starts in terror when the mighty voice of the king of beasts roars, must the prophet prophesy when God's revealing word comes to him. 6 Only false prophets are led by outward human considerations to proclaim what pleases others or brings gain to themselves. 7 But when a word has issued from that living stream of thought which the prophet plainly distinguishes from his own thoughts and feelings, he proclaims it not as his own conviction, but as a word of the Lord, demanding correspondent obedience and the trust due to 1 Cf. the general headings, Amos i. 1 ; Isa. i. 1, ii. 1, xiii. 1 ; Micah i. 1 ; Bab. i. 1, etc. 1 ^N VriD !"6ji Amos iii. 7 ; in N. T. language, ax), a man like a dress, thus making him His bodily veil (Judg. vi. 34 ; 1 Chron. xii. 18 ; 2 Chron. xxiv. 20). Along with this, hy rw is found of the Spirit : to settle on one, rest on him (Num. xi. 26 ; 2 Kings ii. 15 ; Isa. xi. 2). In consequence of this the Spirit of God is upon a man (Num. xi. 25 ; Isa. Ixi. 1). This expression points to a permanent state of inspiration, in which, however, its higher origin is also distinctly intimated. The dis- penser of these extraordinary gifts is still more conspicuous, where it is said of God : He gives (^J? jru, Num. xi. 29 ; Isa. xlii. 1) or pours out (Joel ii. 28 f.) this Spirit on men. Accordingly it is everywhere something new and higher that must come upon man if his words are to be divine. And even where this Spirit has become his permanent possession, this relation has taken its rise from a divine, creative act, w T hich does not coincide with the imparting of the general spirit of life, either as a rule in regard to time, or in any case in regard to substance. NOTE B. The signification of the word x^ cannot be obtained from the Hebrew verbal stem K33, because of the latter only the denomi- native formations niph. and hithp. occur : to act or behave as a &023- On the other hand, the kal of the nearly-related JD3 occurs, at least in the participle (Prov. xviii. 4) JD3 ^H3, bubbling brook, which mean- ing is confirmed by the more frequent hiph. J^an, to make to gush forth, pour forth abundantly, sounds or words for the most part forming the object (Prov. xv. 2, 28 ; Ps. xix. 2, cxix. 171). With this agrees also the signification of the Hebrew and Arabic root 23, to rise, come to light, swell, with many variations. The ques- tion whether in 5033 the form ^Jp[5 is active or passive in meaning has indeed been answered by most in the latter sense, because in Hebrew it is almost always passive; cf. vpx, K^|5, roasted grain, along- side "6i3 ; also Vjps, overseer, properly, one appointed to oversee, alongside *npB. Accordingly Eedslob interprets : one made to 12 OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. bubble (der Angcsprudclte), namely, with God's Spirit, who is thought of originally as fine fluid, one inspired. Similarly Keil (on Gen. xx. 7) : the God-addressed or inspired. With this may be compared yaK (Prov. i. 23), although this very place shows that ran means not to bubble, with accusative of person, but can only be joined with the accusative of the thing. Just tit as passively Kb'ster : instructed, taught; he appeals to ljJ> and Hupfeld. But such a passive derivation is plainly unjust to the sense of the Hebrew word, which may be most clearly seen by comparing Ex. vii. 1 with iv. 16. Also the compromises between the passive and active sense, attempted by Oehler and previously by Schultz, are unnatural. On the other hand, the matter assumes a perfectly simple shape when the active, or at least intransitive, signification of the form ^DP is recognised from the first. That this signification occurs in Hebrew, is proved by 7*01^ locusts, properly devourers, T'pn, which Hupfeld wrongly interprets in the passive : favoured, B^B, fugitive, P'ny, glistening, synonymous with pny D!?B, Ewald, Ausf. L. R 149 e. Cf. also Hitzig on Sefarya, i. 11. Katil so intensifies the active participle as to make it express a permanent quality. In Arabic the form stands far oftener in the active sense ( J^Ull L5 -**t), and Fleischer (Delitzsch, Comm. zu Genesis, 4th ed. p. 551 ff.) has proved that s especially the ;, exactly corresponding to our word, is to be so regarded. Cf. also Marti, Jahrb. fur protcstantische Theologie, 1880, i. p. 147. If there can no longer be any doubt respecting the active signification of this word (which is also acknowledged by Delitzsch, von Hofmann, Ewald, Dillmann, and now by Schultz), the question at most is, whether the word describes the prophetic discourse as breaking forth involuntarily, violently (the bubbler), in which case the peculiarity distinguishing the Nabi from other speakers would lie in the utterance itself, or whether we should be content with the meaning divulger, announcer, speaker, and then supply conventionally : of God and divine secrets. The latter is *.' i favoured by the Arabic Ijj, as well as by the parallels quoted by Ewald (on Jesaja, p. 7) : Sanscrit vddi or fddica, Latin votes, from vad, to speak, Moses = (r'$i*.u'rixt> aviv u.tt<.u;. Plutarch also remarks expressly : auruXXay/Wa/j K,VT'.TO,I rou ^sAXovros (De def. orac. c. 40). 4 etitf l!rtt S.Sa^snj, Plato, Phcedr. 244. Cf. Cicero, De divinat. i. 6, ii. 63 ; De Leg. ii. 13. 14 OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. closely to Israelitish prophecy, that man receives oracles with a certain personal independence, and these oracles are partly conditioned by his individual peculiarities. 1 But, first of all, it is to be noted, that both the direct intercourse of the gods with men, and also their revelation through individual, spiritually illuminated seers, where these things occur, scarcely ever belong to historical times, but to that happier age when gods and men lived together in more intimate and unconstrained inter- course. Eich as the mythical period everywhere is in such intercourse, much as fable has to relate (e.g. among the Hellenes) of the elect favourites of the gods, 2 to whom it was granted to behold past, present, and future, these noble figures remain on the threshold of the nation's historical life. In Homer, the seer Tiresias, Calchas(//. a. 69 ff.), Helenas (II rj. 44 f.), Polydamas (II. or. 250), Amphiaraos (Od. o. 244 ff.), Halitherses (Od. a>. 451), still stand in high esteem ; but already they rely in part on out- ward signs, which they have only to interpret (cf. Halitherses, Od. /3. 157ff.). And while traces of doubt respecting such divine gifts are found even thus early (//. o>. 220 ff. ; Od. a. 415 ff.), the seers sometimes appearing in historical times, who prophesied extempore in accordance with an inner spiritual communication, were regarded as adventurers, at least by the educated. 3 Apart from the spiritual import of the divine oracles, we see a funda- mental antithesis in this respect to the Israelitish literature, where the prophets, sustained by the bare power of the Spirit, appeared in every period of the classical history, and were able to maintain their reputation in presence of a critical age. And yet the whole of heathen antiquity thirsted for divine revelation, and listened and looked for every intimation of the Deity. Even the precarious substitutes sought and found in place of prophecy exercised incredible influence on the entire life of heathen nations, both cultured and uncultured. We have now to consider somewhat more closely the variety of means by which men sought to place themselves in contact with Deity. The less a divinely superior power positively entered into con- sciousness, the greater the attention given in the heathen world 1 See Plutarch's account, De defectu orac. 21, 22. 2 Cf. as to the Chinese, in Victor v. Strauss, Schi-kiny (1880), p. 7, the words of the supreme God to King Wen. 3 Cf. Nagelsbach, Nachhomerische Theologie, p. I74f. INTKODUCTION. 1 5 to such utterances as at least did not seem to be under the control of man's reflective consciousness. Involuntary, inevitable present^ ment was regarded as a reflection of the divine will. Nor was it always illusory, but often inexplicably fitted in to the connection of events. So far as such feeling is of moral character, divine dignity cannot be wholly refused to it. Compare the Bamoviov of Socrates in its affinity with conscience. Presentiments at the moment of death seemed least deceptive, 1 since man was then all but released from bodily life and its limiting influences. In particular, dreams were marked out by their relative indepen- dence of conscious thought as inspirations of a higher power. In ancient Egypt as in the Homeric world, among the ancient Eomans as among the Germans, among the Babylonians as among the Chinese 2 (and where not ?), they were often held of the highest importance. 3 Experience indeed showed that their reality could not be trusted without reserve. Already in Homer (Od. r. 560 ff.) dreams are divided into such as issue from the ivory gate and befool men (as intended occasionally by the gods), and such as issue from the gate of horn and are trustworthy. No criterion by which to distinguish them is known. In dream a deity or a departed spirit may appear and speak to the sleeper, so that he receives intelligible information. But the dream-image is also often symbolic, needing interpretation, as in the Egyptian story in Joseph's life and the Babylonian in Daniel's. Hence an important branch of ancient mantism is always dream-interpreta- tion, which, of course, degenerated into wilful trickery, unless a spirit possessing control over the system of nature inspired the interpretation as well as the dream (Gen. xl. 8, xli. 16). For the rest, the Bible, while placing dreams at God's service, draws a clear distinction between dream -vision and prophetic vision. Zechariah's night-visions are no dreams. The Arabs also keep the two apart, placing the dream, which always has something sensuous about it, far below the vision. 4 The significance attributed to dreams led to express efforts to produce dreams by artificial means, 5 and to the setting up of 1 Cf. Plato, Apol. Socr. 30. 2 Strauss, Schi-king, p. 11. 3 Cf. H. a.. 63, xxi ya.f r / tx Ait; tffny ; /3. 22. 56. Od. |. 495, &'.7e; evupos. See especially Cicero, De, divinatione, i. 29. 4 Cf. Fleischer's remark in Delitzsch's Biblical Psychology, p. 332. T. & T. Clark. 5 Cf. as to the ancient Egyptians, Ebers, Mfjijpten und die Biicher Hose's, i. 321 f. 16 OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. dream-oracles. 1 We find this wilful inducing of an unconscious state, in order to obtain higher revelation, especially in ecstasy, which seemed all the more favourable to higher influence, because it was always regarded as a momentary possession by a higher power. Even the settled state of lunacy was explained by the sway of a demon, on which account lunatics were sacred, as they still are among the Bedouins. 2 But in temporary ecstasy the inspired state differed still more from the natural. Of course there are countless gradations in it, from the rational self-control which is laid hold of by inspiration, up to complete loss of self-control, where a real alienatio mentis intervenes. Cicero describes the furor, where the spirit, withdrawn from the body, is excited by divine impulse (instinctus), as a heightening of the presentient faculty natural to man. 3 Elsewhere also with respect to this enthusiasm, which has something in common with the state of drunkenness, release from the ties of the body, unshackling the soul, is held to condition the revelation of the divinity slumbering within. 4 The exalted state then (pavta) being regarded as a voucher for supernatural discourse, attempts were made to induce it by arti- ficial means. Thus arose mantism (divination) in the proper sense of the word (fiavn/cij, sc. re-^vrf]. Stupefying vapours, herbs, movements, conduced to this end. In this way a mysterious state was brought about, such as not seldom presents itself in the diseased human organism (somnambulism, etc.). What was said in this state was no longer under the control of reflection, and often went beyond the field of ordinary perception in a surprising manner. 1 Kings xviii. 26 depicts a dance designed to induce the state of madness, similar to the conduct of dervishes to-day. The opposite to this is beautifully seen in Elijah, who without artificial intensity of feeling, relying on bare faith in the living God, accomplishes more by his simple prayer than the whole crowd of Baal's prophets. It is true, even the K*2J is in a sense released from bodily life and the limits of his surroundings ; nay, some 1 See in Pauly, as above, ii. 1124 f. ; and as to the Babylonians, Lenormant, p. 404. 1 Cf. v. Orelli, DurcWs heilige Land, 2nd ed. p. 140 f. 3 De divinatione, i. 31 f., and especially i. 50. 4 So especially by Plato and Plutarch. Cf. the latter's utterance, De def. orar. 39 : r, $ux>l Tilt ftatrix.*!* eux itixra.Ta.1 ltitap.it tKf>a.ffa. TOU ffup.a.rt>s, uttrif v'ifcu;, aXX' i-^auffet Kxt i;y, rvQKovTati 3< Tj irpif r fttiron a.\Kfiis,n a,VTr,s nai ffv-y%vfin. INTEODUCTION. 1 7 hints in the older history show us prophets in a state of stupor, like that of possession (cf. the casting away of clothes, 1 Sam. xix. 24). But if inspiration took this violent form in the disciples of the prophets and in a Saul, this was not the case in a Moses, in Samuel, in an Isaiah or Jeremiah. Those indeed who had to convey the Word to men appear more or less in a state of unusual excitement and enthusiasm, which is seen even in the form of their written oracles. But the security for the divinity of their message does not lie in their speaking in a half-conscious or un- conscious state, but they heard the voice of the Lord and saw His visions with clear consciousness. 1 Balaam is rather an example of a clairvoyant. The emphasizing of his state in his account of himself should be observed, Num. xxiv. 3 f. Nearly allied to this example is the Shamanism still flourishing among the Tunguse. 2 Here by outward incitements the physico-mental torpor is induced, which makes a man the channel of words, whose meaning he himself does not know. Among the Hellenes also such artificial inspiration is found. The Pythian oracle has such an origin. Vapours rising from a rift in the earth were used to stupefy the Pythia, her words or sounds being then expounded by priests (-nyjo^Tai). 3 Such interpretation gave still larger play to human influence. The interpreting priests were of necessity regarded as inspired by the Deity. But, in any case, something human inheres in the artificial character of every oracle, since the initiative belongs to man. If, in a state of emancipation from the limits of reflection, such as occurs in dreams, lunacy, and at the approach of death, special disclosures were expected from man's spirit respecting what was concealed from it in the normal state, they were espe- cially expected from the spirits of the departed, to whom of necessity insight was granted into the other world where the roots of earthly events lie. As the demons were supposed to know what was hidden from man, 4 so also the souls of the 1 The LXX. rightly translate the Hebrew 5033 invariably by v/>o$nm{, never by /ttavr/j. 2 See Tholuck as above, p. 8 ff. 3 Cf. Justin, xxiv. 6 : Profundum terrse foramen, quod in oracula patet, ex quo frigidus spiritus, vi quadam velut vento in sublime expulsus, mentes vatum in vecordiam vertit, impletasque deo responsa consulentibus dare cogit. 4 Cf. Dieterici, Thier und Mensch vor dem Kdnig der Genien, Leipzig 1879, OKELLI. B 18 OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. departed, to whom a demon-like existence was ascribed. Hence necromancy (calling up and questioning the dead) is found among the most diverse nations, Babylonians, 1 Egyptians,' 2 Canaanites (Deut. xviii. 12), Persians, 3 Thracians, 4 Greeks, 5 Etrus- cans, and Romans. 6 In the Old Testament this mode of ascertain- ing future events is not seldom mentioned, of course as a gross abuse altogether in opposition to the Divine Spirit. We thus see that this gift of summoning spirits was not a general one, but was only in the power of certain media who had a divining demon (note B). The strict prohibition in the divine law, which directs all its severity against such over-curious arts that were held criminal even among the Babylonians, 7 was fully justified by their ungodly character. Not merely was the imposture connected with these things condemned, while the folly of the superstition is also emphasized, 8 but still more the guilty licence with which man transgresses the limits of the sphere allotted to him, in which divine revelations enough were granted. In 1 Sam. xxviii. we see that this art was not always ineffectual, but that occasionally it might lead man to knowledge, although never to salvation. That conscious deceit played a part in these inquiries from the first and everywhere, is a quite untenable supposition. The wide extension and the high importance attributed to these oracles imply of necessity that, if nothing substantial lay beneath apparitions of the dead, the deception was originally at least a universal self-deception, in which even the media were involved. As in magic everywhere, art was resorted to afterwards, and so the superstition was purposely turned to profit. Ventriloquism often produced the voices ; yet the beginning of the superstition is not to be sought in mere art. How far demonic influences were actually at work, is a question we need not examine here, and one which lies beyond the reach of scientific examination. p. FT i_^jui!l ^Lii' >^J (jyuJ^I ^y ( .^\ l^-O l^j (the demons persuaded men that they knew what is hidden). 1 Cf. Lenormant, p. 508 ff. ; Scholz, p. 89 ff. * Cf. Isa. xix. 3. 3 Cf. Strabo, xvi. 2. * Cf. Herod, iv. 94 If. 6 Cf. Odyss. xi. 29 fF. ; Argonaut, iii. 1030 ff. ; Ovid, Met. vii. 240 ff. ; see Greek or.icles of the dead in Nagelsbach, Nachhom. Theol. p. 189. 6 See on Etruscans and Romans, Lenormant, p. 512. 7 Lenormant, p. 517. Isa. viii. 19. INTRODUCTION. 1 9 In the case mentioned in 1 Sam. xxviii., a divine interposition is to be supposed, such as may occur also in dreams. But the yearning of all ancient nations for living intercourse with the Deity, and inquiry into His will, early attached itself to other revelations than to speech springing from the human spirit in those of its emotions which were regarded as divine. As the Deity Himself was believed to be most directly known in nature, so His intimations were there most certainly apprehended. In lightning and thunder, in the flight of birds, in the rustling of the wind, in the state of the stars, divine voices, hints, and signs were recognised from the earliest days. Certainly special inner illumination was needed rightly to understand such repara and o-?7//,eta, and thus, in Homer, their interpretation was practised by the seers, or a definite class of seers, at least pre- eminently. Signs and interpretation were also often exposed to the attacks of scepticism by reason of their ambiguity and untrustworthiness. 1 And in this field mantism proper developed into a profession, observing and interpreting natural phenomena by certain rules of art apart from all inspiration. But even where, in the noblest, because most direct manner, the secrets of Deity are discovered in the sighing of the wind, the rustling of the grain, the murmur of the fountain, something obscure, indefinite clings to such intimations, plainly distinguish- ing them from clear prophetic speech. An enigmatic character belongs essentially to such natural revelation as the Hellenes and Romans under Oriental influence personified in the Sibyl. 2 And where, as at Dodona or Delos, in some sanctuary of nature a standing oracle was established, 3 of necessity in the course of time purely rational observation, or even calculation that avails itself of any kind of help, and in the best case the moral con- sciousness, take the place of immersion in nature. Most of the oracles, even the one at Delphi, 4 although somewhat differently, 1 Cf. Nagelsbach, Homerische Theologie, p. 177 ff. 3 Cf. H. Ewald, Abhandlung iiber Entstehung und Werth der Sibyllinischen Biicher, 1858, p. 8. 3 At Dodona the natural media of divination were the motion of the leaves in the sacred oak (