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Cornell University Library 
 BS1171 .W41 
 
 Origin and meanino of the Oid Testament, 
 
 oiin 
 
 3 1924 029 279 960 
 
ORIGIN AND MEANING OF 
 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
Origin and Meaning of 
 
 The Old Testament 
 
 BY 
 
 THEODORE WEHLE 
 
 R. F. FENNO & COMPANY 
 
 18 EAST SEVENTEENTH STREET 
 NEW YORK 
 
 8 
 
A-^oSifc»2> 
 
 COPTMOHT, 1914 
 BT 
 
 TBBODORB WEHLE 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 chapter page 
 
 Introduction 9 
 
 L The Hebrew Records 27 
 
 11. The Invasion of Canaan and the Es- 
 tablishment OF the Monarchy . . ^42 
 
 III. The Division of the Kingdom to the 
 
 Fall of Samaria 73 
 
 IV. The Kingdom of Judah to the De- 
 
 struction OF Jerusalem 105 
 
 V. Exile and Return 132 
 
 VL Foundation of Judaism 163 
 
 Chroi^ological Tables 185 
 
 Index 191 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The purpose of this little treatise is to de- 
 scribe in a concise intelligible manner the re- 
 sults of modern criticism of the Old Testament 
 writings. 
 
 Thanks to the long continued and indefati- 
 gable labors of most able and original investi- 
 gators the whole meaning of these books has 
 assimied an entirely new aspect, which as yet 
 is not suflSciently known and appreciated. The 
 study of such original scientific works, however, 
 is intricate and the aim of the present effort has 
 been to divest the subject of technical difficul- 
 ties, and to make the new views more accessible 
 to the general reader. 
 
 The treatment throughout is strictly histori- 
 cal, there being neither a religious nor irreligi- 
 ous bias, while every intimation of the super- 
 natural is avoided. During the narration of 
 political events, current beliefs are introduced 
 
 5 
 
6 Preface. 
 
 and their development indicated, until finally at 
 the end of the exile the essentials of the Old 
 Testament writings have assmned snch shape 
 that the foundation of the later Judaism may 
 be said to have been established. Only then, 
 when the separate steps of the process have 
 been followed, does the reader fully realize 
 that the so-called five books of Moses were not 
 written by him nor at his time, but that they are 
 the compilation, enlargements and alterations 
 of old legends, traditions, rites and ceremon- 
 ials, interspersed with additions of centuries 
 of advanced thought by prophets, priests and 
 scribes. 
 
 In presenting this subject now in such form 
 that the general reader can pursue it with com- 
 parative ease and that the student may use it as 
 an introduction to a more detailed study, a re- 
 newed interest may be aroused in a question 
 that is so intimately interwoven with our whole 
 modem civilization. 
 
 Since all the material is treated in an im- 
 partial and objective manner, the facts as far as 
 they can be ascertained being used without any 
 bias or any other consideration, this little volimie 
 
Preface. 7 
 
 may also serve as a text-book in public schools 
 for the study of the history and development 
 of the people of Israel, a knowledge of which is 
 as important as that of any of the nations of 
 antiquity. 
 
 New Yoek, Apbil, 1914. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 OuB modern civilization may be traced to 
 three principal factors that were active in mold- 
 ing it and tended to develop it to the shape it has 
 assumed. To the Greeks we are ever indebted 
 for the high intellectual stimulus inherent in 
 their philosophy, the refined sense of the beau- 
 tifid displayed in their plastic art, drama and 
 literature and to some extent for the invention 
 of their musical systems. To the Romans, a 
 people more practical than ideal in its aims, 
 we owe the basis of the intricate structure of 
 our jurisprudence, our sense of legal justice 
 and the methods of administration which fur- 
 nish the groundwork of the modem state. And 
 finally and most important of all we must men- 
 tion the Jewish people, who began to permeate 
 decaying Roman society with its monotheistic 
 religious ideas, which intermingling for cen- 
 turies with many pagan notions and usages 
 
 9 
 
10 Introduction. 
 
 finally emerged into the forms of Christianity 
 now prevalent. 
 
 While the first two influences were largely 
 in abeyance during the formative period, the 
 first centuries of our era, religion was a con- 
 tinuous, potent factor steadily acting on all 
 classes of society and closely connected with 
 the emotional life of the people. In fact during 
 the present state of disintegration, when social, 
 religious and moral ideals are being under- 
 mined and no authority is held sacred, we can 
 hardly realize those primitive conditions when 
 religion underlies and affects every phase of 
 life. To these we must revert to get a proper 
 understanding of the Bible. 
 
 Until comparatively recent times the books 
 of the Old Testament, particularly the Five 
 Books of Moses, have been looked upon by be- 
 lievers as a revelation from the Deity, and 
 every sentence and every word has been as- 
 sumed to be literally inspired. Not but that 
 they contain statements that appear contradic- 
 tory, assumptions that are incompatible with 
 modern knowledge and many narratives that 
 unmistakably point to a mythological origin. 
 
Introduction, 11 
 
 Indeed to reconcile all these incongrnities has 
 presented a task to theologians that has taxed 
 their ingenuity and resourcefulness to the ut- 
 most. 
 
 When the period of enlightenment had come, 
 men like Voltaire in the eighteenth century 
 found it necessary to break down the power of 
 the clergy because it was closely allied with the 
 autocracy of the state. They accordingly at- 
 tacked the Bible and pointed out its deficiencies 
 and its seeming absurdities in scathing terms 
 and did not refrain from ridicule or from any 
 method likely to undermine its authority. 
 
 The Rationalists however, were imbued with 
 a more reverent spirit and desirous of preserv- 
 ing the moral force of the Bible, endeavored to 
 explain everything that was repugnant to 
 modem thought by construing it as being meant 
 figuratively or allegorically and not literally. 
 
 But neither of these methods could lead to 
 a systematic and scientific examination of the 
 real problems underlying these writings. The 
 first brilliantly original and fundamental step 
 in that direction was taken not by a theologian, 
 but by a French physician. It was Jean Astruo 
 
12 Introduction. 
 
 who pointed out in 1753 that Genesis, the First 
 ^Book of Moses, could not be wholly the work 
 of one mind, but must be composite, in fact a 
 compilation of different and in part of contra- 
 dictory versions. Since then the subject has 
 been attacked with all the resources of modern 
 historical, philological and ethnological methods 
 and results have been attained that are of the 
 highest importance to everyone interested in 
 the development of the human race. But be- 
 fore we can enter upon some of the details of 
 this large problem, we must cast a hurried 
 glance at the conditions and the peoples that 
 had exerted the greatest influence upon Canaan 
 previous to the emergence of the Hebrew peo- 
 ple from obscurity. 
 
 Until the beginning of the nineteenth century 
 our precise knowledge of the history of the 
 world did not extend beyond the eighth century 
 y before the Christian era when Greece first 
 emerges from the dawn of the legendary period. 
 What was known of countries previous to that 
 time cannot be considered historical. During 
 the last century the remarkable achievements 
 
Introduction 13 
 
 in the exploration and discovery of very old 
 civilizations, has changed the whole aspect of 
 the subject. Varied relics and records of very 
 early times have been unearthed and among 
 them those in the regions of the Tigris and 
 Euphrates are of particular interest. At Nine- 
 veh, Babylon, and other points the ruins of 
 palaces, temples, towers and even libraries have 
 been found, some of which may have been buried 
 for thousands of years. They give an insight 
 into the political, social, intellectual and religi- 
 ous life of the peoples who flourished long be- 
 fore Greece and Rome appeared in history. 
 The decipherment of the records thus obtained 
 bears testimony to the astounding ingenuity and 
 perseverance of man. The documents consist 
 chiefly of tablets of baked clay upon which in- 
 scriptions have been impressed. They have 
 been called cuneiform from the shape of the 
 characters of the later period, that were pro- 
 duced by a wedge-like tool. Thus they have 
 been preserved in libraries where hundreds of 
 thousands were accumulated, many of which 
 haye been recovered in good condition. They 
 reveal three different kinds of writing and it 
 must be noted that although neither tho gounds, 
 
14 Introduction 
 
 nor words, nor the meaning of the languages 
 they represent were known, they were de- 
 ciphered and the contents ascertained. When 
 we consider that they date back seven thousand 
 years and that written symbols had been in- 
 vented at that period, we have some inkling of 
 how very old the beginnings of human culture 
 must be. 
 
 While it is as yet not definitely settled, it 
 seems highly probable that the founders of this 
 civilization were a race known as Sumerians 
 and that to them is due a part of the religion 
 and much of the general culture of the Baby- 
 lonians. At that period cities like Sumer and 
 Akkad were the seats of civilization and were 
 ruled by kings who struggled for supremacy, 
 until gradually they were welded into larger 
 aggregates. But it is certain that at a very 
 early date a Semitic race predominated in the 
 land, and spoke languages that are usually 
 called Babylonian and Assyrian. They are 
 closely afl&liated with the Hebrew, Phenician 
 and several Aramaic languages of the Semitic 
 type. While the latest discoveries carry the 
 history of this region as far back as about 
 
Introduction. 15 
 
 5000 B. 0*, there is no doubt that since Sar- 
 gon I., about 3800 B. C, the country remained 
 nearly always under the rule of Semitic kings 
 until the time of the Persian conquest in 538 
 B. C. They were very aggressive and made 
 many conquests extending their sway at times 
 over Babylonia, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, 
 Phenicia, Canaan and even Egypt, with which 
 they were often at war. 
 
 What has been called the first dynasty was 
 founded about 2450 B. C. The sixth king of this 
 dynasty, Hammurabi, ruled from about 2267 to 
 2213 B. C, and he united all Babylonia under 
 one scepter and the city of Babylon became its 
 capital. Thereafter Babylon remained the in- 
 tellectual and religious center of this section of 
 the world, resembling somewhat the position of 
 Eome at a later period in Europe. 
 
 A French expedition under J, de Morgan in 
 January 1902 made a remarkable discovery in 
 finding a tablet of stone at Susa bearing in- 
 scriptions about Hanunurabi. It shows him 
 standing before the Sun-god who is seated and 
 who instructs him in the law which is given be- 
 low in 282 paragraphs. It is probably a coUec- 
 
16 Introduction. 
 
 tion of decisions or decrees and presented here 
 in a codified form. It is the oldest and among 
 the most important documents of the kind that 
 mankind possesses. Private and criminal law, 
 regulations about marriage, family possessions, 
 inheritances, adopted children, slaves and in- 
 numerable subjects are intermixed and show a 
 varied and high state of civilization not pre- 
 viously suspected. While promulgated at the 
 date stated, many of the provisions must be of 
 much older date and probably antedate the 
 Mosaic laws by 1200 to 1500 years. It is as- 
 sumed by some Assyriologists that Hammurabi 
 may be identical with Amraphel, King of Shinar 
 who is mentioned in Genesis as a contemporary 
 of Abraham. But while the consolidation of 
 the whole kingdom under Hammurabi is of great 
 political importance, his reign is also noted 
 for internal improvements and the stimulus 
 given to mental activity. 
 
 Much of the Babylonian chronology of the 
 older periods is quite uncertain as to reigns or 
 rulers. 
 
 They did not seem to have had any chroni- 
 clers or historians, but registers have been 
 
Introduction. 17 
 
 found giving names of rulers, length of reigns 
 and dynasties and these as yet show many gaps. 
 Considerably more is known of the social, re- 
 ligious and intellectual condition of the people, 
 because these were not subject to rapid changes. 
 Everything centered about their religious life 
 and each city had some deity that was specially 
 revered. Their aims were always practical and 
 not dominated by ideal strivings. Their cults 
 required observation of the stars and this led 
 to the elaboration of a system of astrology con- 
 taining many elements of superstition and mys- 
 ticism, but also data of real astronomical value. 
 
 They had ascertained that the sun-year con- 
 sisted of about 3651/4 days and in practice they 
 adopted 12 months of 30 days each, and a week 
 of 7 days and the insertion of an additional 
 month at proper intervals. They also divided 
 the circle into 360 degrees of 60 minutes and 60 
 seconds each and had a fairly advanced system 
 of reckoning. 
 
 Their canals and other internal improve- 
 ments, their architecture, their highly developed 
 commerce, their written contracts and their lit- 
 
18 Introduction. 
 
 erature embracing epic and lyric compositions 
 are all noteworthy. 
 
 With the last of this dynasty about 2098 B. C, 
 our information becomes scanty and no occur- 
 rence of importance is known until we reach 
 the third dynasty, which extended from about 
 1700 to 1140 B. C. This period is one of in- 
 ternal struggles and the temporary supremacy 
 of an invading race in Babylonia, while Assyria 
 developed gradually into an independent king- 
 dom. Finally under Nebuchadnezzar I. Assyria 
 virtually assumes the lead and becomes a con- 
 quering power. 
 
 But this whole epoch of incessant revolts and 
 wars was of far more than local range and im- 
 port. It was a period of general unrest and 
 movement of peoples, that affected all the coun- 
 tries from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean 
 and to the Nile. 
 
 It is generally assumed now, that we must 
 look to Arabia as the seat and origin of all the 
 Semitic peoples. As these nomads outgrew the 
 scanty resources of the Arabian oases, they were 
 attracted by the fertile land adjoining them. 
 They either migrated peacefully and settled 
 
Introduction. 19 
 
 in the plains of the Euphrates and in Mes- 
 opotamia or in the west in Syria, Phenicia and 
 Canaan, or they came in large numbers and 
 took forcible possession of the land. These 
 movements took place at all times and caused 
 much trouble to the countries involved, but in 
 the period we are now discussing they assumed 
 momentous proportions. In Egypt, Semitic 
 hordes defeated the Pharaohs, gained control 
 and ruled the land for about three centuries. 
 This is known as the dynasty of the Hyksos. 
 During the fifteenth century the revolt against 
 these intruders began and by the end of the 
 century the rule of the native Pharaohs was re- 
 stored. Stimulated by this success the Egyp- 
 tians who had been generally a peaceful peo- 
 ple, became aggressive and overran Syria, 
 Mesopotamia and even crossed the Euphrates. 
 The Assyrian and Babylonian kingdoms at the 
 time were too weak to offer resistance and lost 
 the sway over the countries they had previously 
 controlled. 
 
 The accidental discovery of the so-called Tel- 
 el-Anaarna correspondence in 1887, sheds a re- 
 markable light upon the conditions then pre- 
 
20 Introduction* 
 
 vailing. It is dated about 1400 B. C. and com- 
 prises nearly 300 documents, embracing letters 
 from Asiatic kings to the Pharaohs, and what 
 interests us most in this connection, reports 
 from governors and other officials from Syria 
 and particularly from Canaan to the Egyptian 
 rulers. They are all written in cuneiform char- 
 acters and in the Babylonian language and 
 prove that it had become the means of diplo- 
 matic intercourse and also that Babylonian cul- 
 ture had made so deep an impress upon Canaan 
 that some of the people spoke the language and 
 its officials employed it in their reports. Egyp- 
 tian influence does not seem to have been great 
 or lasting, for about 1200 B. C. when the Hebrew 
 invasion began, the country was again indepen- 
 dent and entirely under native rulers. 
 
 The Egyptians were a Hamitic people, that is 
 a white African race, or perhaps a mixture of 
 these with Semitic elements, and their civiliza- 
 tion is nearly as old and as interesting as that 
 of the Babylonians. There are reliable hiero- 
 glyphic records to about 3500 B. C, but as their 
 influence upon the religious development and 
 the history of the Israelites was not im- 
 
Introduction. 21 
 
 portant in the early times, we need not pay any 
 further attention to them here. 
 
 For many centuries the Assyrian kings strove 
 to regain the territory that Babylonia had once 
 occupied. They were ferocious and unyielding 
 in their methods of warfare and had to meet 
 rebellions and conspiracies on every hand. By 
 740 B. C. Tiglath-pileser, one of their great 
 kings, was in possession of a large part of Syria. 
 In 732 he captured the northern section of the 
 kingdom of Israel and compelled the king to 
 pay tribute. Ahaz, the king of Judah, also had 
 to do homage to him. 
 
 His successor, Sargon IL, in 722 B. C. took 
 the city of Samaria, the capital of the kingdom 
 of Israel, seized the king, Hoshea, and exting- 
 uished the northern Hebrew state. He deported 
 the flower of the nation, to the number of 27,- 
 290 persons to Mesopotamia and Media, where 
 later on captives from Babylonia and Assyria 
 were settled. That was the method generally 
 employed by the Assyrian kings, who never 
 ceased to pursue a policy of expansion and con- 
 trol of other states. During the seventh century 
 they controlled twenty-two vassal states, includ- 
 
22 Introduction. 
 
 ing Egypt, Tyre, Sidon, Judah, Damascus, Mes- 
 opotamia and many smaller provinces, com- 
 prising a large part of the territory from the 
 Tigris to the Mediterranean. 
 
 A later Mng, Ashurbanipal (668-626), de- 
 serves mention for the remarkable library which 
 he founded. It contained tens of thousands of 
 clay tablets and furnished an insight into the 
 religious, historical and scientific literature of 
 the Babylonia-Assyrian world. 
 
 But twenty years after the brilliant reign of 
 Ashurbanipal the Assyrian empire came to an 
 end. The whole energy of the state had been 
 concentrated solely upon conquest. The sub- 
 ject races were not conciliated, but feared and 
 hated their oppressors. They were ever ready 
 for revolts and conspiracies. At home com- 
 merce was fostered and reached large propor- 
 tions. Enormous wealth was accumulated, 
 but the priesthood was very powerful and ex- 
 acting. It was a vast empire with little in- 
 ternal cohesion. When new forces asserted 
 themselves that had been slowly gathering 
 unnoticed, the collapse came. 
 
Introduction. 23 
 
 A Semitic race, known as the Chaldeans, had 
 been settled in the southern part of Babylonia 
 for centuries. They had repeatedly struggled 
 for supremacy and had virtually become an 
 integral part of the people. When they found 
 that an Aryan race, the Medes and Persians, 
 hitherto of small importance, had grown in 
 power and showed the impulse for expansion, 
 the Chaldeans combined with them to over- 
 throw the Assyrian dynasty at home. They 
 made Nabopolassar their king and he became 
 heir to the Assyrian empire. The king of Judah 
 thought the time was opportune to renounce his 
 allegiance and Nabopolassar having died, his 
 son and successor Nebuchadnezzar proceeded 
 to besiege Jerusalem. The city was taken in 
 597 and the king, Jehoiachin, and some of his 
 most prominent subjects were carried to 
 Babylonia, His uncle Zedekiah was appointed 
 in his stead, but before long he too joined a 
 confederation of neighboring states in opposi- 
 tion to the Chaldean rule. Nebuchadnezzar 
 again overran the country and besieged Jerusa- 
 lem, which was desperately defended. On its 
 fall the king was blinded, his sons and many 
 
24 Introduction. 
 
 others slain. A large number of the leading 
 families were then deported to Babylonia and 
 Jerusalem was demolished in 586 B. C. 
 
 Before long the Medes also encountered a 
 rebellion. Their province of Persia revolted 
 and under the leadership of Cyrus overthrew 
 the Median state in about 550 B. C. and he made 
 himself king of the whole country. He was a 
 very able ruler of far-reaching ambitions and 
 before long he was embroiled with the Chal- 
 deans. In 530 he besieged Babylon and through 
 the treachery of the priesthood the gates of the 
 city were opened to him. This was the end of 
 the Chaldean empire. The Persian dynasty 
 that succeeded it, remained in power for two 
 centuries until it was overthrown by Alexander 
 the Great. 
 
 While the civilization initiated by the Baby- 
 lonians had many defects, nevertheless posterity 
 owes it a debt of deep gratitude, not only as be- 
 ing the oldest, but because it laid foundations 
 of permanent value. It is true the Babylonians 
 were essentially a commercial people and busi- 
 ness permeated every walk of life. Their textile 
 fabrics and other manufactures were highly de- 
 
Introduction. 25 
 
 veloped and found a ready market. They origi- 
 nated a quite intricate financial system, stamped 
 coins and fixed a ratio of 1 to 12 between gold 
 and silver, about the same as in medieval 
 Europe, The rate of interest ranged from 10 
 per cent to 20 per cent and mortgages on build- 
 ings were granted. Their methods of irriga- 
 tion and their canals were of great benefit to 
 agriculture, which was aided by rich soils and 
 favorable climate. They invented writing and 
 left noteworthy monuments in architecture and 
 the plastic arts. In astronomy and many other 
 sciences they laid foundations of real value. 
 Rawlinson thinks that Greece received the im- 
 petus for its high intellectual culture from Baby- 
 lon and that but for its efforts civilization might 
 not even yet have dawned upon the earth. 
 
 While in religion they were very superstitious 
 and accepted a remarkable system of polytheis- 
 tic worship, they rose at times to a fervor and 
 purity of emotion that reminds one of the 
 Psalms and prayers of the Hebrew religious 
 poets. 
 
 The following supplication by Nebuchadnez- 
 
26 Introduction. 
 
 zar to Marduk, the principal deity of Babylon, 
 is a fine specimen : — 
 
 * * eternal prince ! Lord of all being I 
 As for the king whom thou lovest, and 
 Whose name thou hast proclaimed 
 As was pleasing to thee, 
 Do thou lead aright his life, 
 Guide him in the straight path. 
 
 I am the prince, obedient to thee, 
 
 The creature of thy hand ; 
 
 Thou hast created me, and 
 
 With dominion over all people 
 
 Thou hast intrusted me, 
 
 According to thy grace, Lord, 
 
 Which thou dost bestow on 
 
 All people, 
 
 Cause me to love thy supreme dominion, 
 
 And create in my heart 
 
 The worship of thy godhead, 
 
 And grant whatever is pleasing to thee, 
 
 Because thou hast fashioned my life." 
 
 Such were the conditions and the surroundings 
 that met the elite of Jewish society when they 
 were transplanted to Babylonia, 
 
THE HEBEEW RECORDS. 
 
 We have seen that the sources from which 
 we derive our information about the Assyrians 
 and Babylonians consist chiefly of written docu- 
 ments of a general character and of inscriptions 
 and edicts of rulers. These are often fragmen- 
 tary and at times show large gaps. No histories 
 or chronicles have been found, but such docu- 
 ments as we possess, making allowance for the 
 vain-glorious and boasting inscriptions of 
 rulers, are reliable and truthful in the sense of 
 having no tendency or desire to represent or 
 color events for any special purpose. It is quite 
 different with the sources of information about 
 the Hebrew people. From probably an exten- 
 sive literature there has been preserved sub- 
 stantially only one set of writings in Hebrew, 
 known as the Old Testament and a translation 
 of it in Greek called the Septuagint. This be- 
 gins with the Pentateuch, the Five Books of 
 
 27 
 
28 The Old Testament: 
 
 Moses, which claims to be a history of the world 
 from its creation to the death of Moses. It is 
 followed by the Book of Joshua, a successor to 
 Moses, who leads the Hebrew tribes in their 
 entry upon Canaan. After him the Book of 
 Judges describes the warfare and the struggles 
 of the invaders with the resident inhabitants, 
 under the leadership of chieftains who are called 
 Judges. Then we have the rise of the kingdom 
 depicted in the two Books of Samuel, followed 
 by the two Books of Kings, narrating its later 
 division into Israel and Judah, the obliteration 
 of the former in 722 and the destruction of the 
 latter in 586 B. C. by Assyrian kings. These 
 historical works are supplemented by the two 
 Books of Chronicles that cover in part the same 
 period, but are written at a much later date, 
 possibly two or three centuries after the exile. 
 The events after the exile are related by Ezra 
 and Nehemiah. 
 
 In addition to these historical writings we 
 have other literature which is quite peculiar to 
 the, Jewish people and most likely the most im- 
 portant factor in the development of their racial 
 traits. This consists of the Books of the Prop- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 29 
 
 hets, ranging from the eighth century before to 
 within two centuries of the beginning of the 
 Christian era. Then we have the Psalms, Books 
 of Wisdom, Job and similar literature of de- 
 votional, philosophical, moralizing and didactic 
 tendencies. 
 
 The Old Testament, therefore, contains not 
 only the beliefs and religious notions of the 
 Hebrew people, but also an outline of their 
 political history. It is true that this latter is 
 often scanty and that it, as well as the narra- 
 tions of religious events, has been edited and re- 
 written at a comparatively late date and in part 
 unconsciously and to some extent intentionally 
 colored by the religious standpoint of th« 
 writers of that period. But modern investiga- 
 tion indicates that while Moses must have been 
 a real historical person, all that has been trans- 
 mitted to us is of merely traditional character 
 in legendary form. It would seem that he was a 
 great leader who may have formulated some of 
 the ceremonial and rites of the primitive cult 
 of his people and most likely took a prominent 
 part in the exodus of some Hebrew tribes from 
 Egypt. Biat it ie just as certain that the dlabor- 
 
30 The Old Testament: 
 
 ate system of laws and ritual that we find em- 
 bodied in the Pentateuch was not promulgated 
 by him; for this whole intricate code was not 
 introduced until many centuries after his death. 
 This becomes evident when we examine the 
 writings of the great prophets who appeared 
 in the eighth century B. C. who while they ar- 
 raigned their countrymen for the neglect of 
 their national worship, did not mention nor in 
 any way allude to Moses or the Mosaic laws. 
 Not until the latter part of the seventh century 
 were the scattered tribal laws and customs of 
 the Hebrews collected and those more modern 
 humane ideas incorporated that we find as- 
 sociated with them in the Pentateuch. This im- 
 portant legislative act, which also restricted the 
 performance of sacrifices to the temple at 
 Jerusalem, was brought forward as though it 
 were a divine command and enforced by the 
 authority of the state. It wrought far reach- 
 ing changes by introducing ideas that ultimately 
 led from a primitive belief in a tribal god to 
 that higher monotheistic conception gradually 
 reached at a later date. During the exile in 
 Babylonia in the sixth and fifth centuries B. C, 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 31 
 
 the beginnings here indicated were elaborated 
 and finally merged -with other old traditions 
 and legends into the essential contents of 
 what are now known as the five books of 
 Moses. Finally toward the latter part of the 
 fifth century these writings in the shape they 
 had then attained were brought to Jerusalem 
 by a party of the exiles and rigidly enforced 
 as divine laws, whereby the basis of the 
 Jewish religion was permanently established. 
 The intermediate steps by which these results 
 had been achieved were totally misunderstood 
 by the scribes who composed these books and 
 they felt impelled to assume that the contents 
 of the Pentateuch had been revealed to Moses 
 and were written down by him under divine 
 inspiration. Views that were the result of a 
 long progressive development were thus made 
 to appear as being held by rude primitive tribes, 
 and only by the aid of modern critical methods 
 has it been possible to present a picture that 
 shows the successive historical, political, as well 
 as religious changes in their true perspective. 
 The first chapter of the Old Testament deals 
 with the description of creation. ** In the be- 
 
32 The Old Testament : 
 
 ginning Elohim created the heaven and the 
 earth. And the earth was waste and void; and 
 darkness was upon the face of the deep and the 
 spirit of Elohim was brooding upon the face 
 of the waters.'* 
 
 It will be noted that it is not claimed that 
 God created darkness or chaos (their existence 
 is assumed), but that he created light and the 
 cosmos, the orderly arrangement of matter. 
 
 And the spirit of Elohim brooded upon the 
 waters, as though the world had been gradually 
 hatched. Both of these conceptions are found 
 in older creation stories and show that this one 
 is composite and of different origins. 
 
 Then the narrative continues. On the second 
 day the firmament was formed and the waters 
 divided between the heaven and the earth. On 
 the third, the vegetable kingdom was created 
 and on the fourth the sun, moon and stars, those 
 bodies whose radiation gives us light, after light 
 in the abstract had been established on the first 
 day; on the fifth day, ** every living creature 
 that moveth upon the sea and every winged 
 fowl in the air; '' on the sixth finally, ** every 
 living creature, cattle, and creeping thing and 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 33 
 
 beast of the earth. " And then on the same day, 
 *' God created man in his own image, in the 
 image of God created he him; male and female 
 created he them." 
 
 The first three verses of the second chapter 
 bring the statement that God rested on the 
 seventh day and hallowed it and blessed it. 
 
 The creation story had to be crowded into 
 six days so as to make the seventh a day of rest 
 and to specially emphasize that fact. Why? 
 Because the Hebrews in Canaan accepted the 
 Babylonian division of the week into seven days 
 and in the exile kept the seventh as a day upon 
 which all work was forbidden, a day of rest. 
 The Babylonian name for the day was Subattu 
 and the word Sabbath is borrowed from it and 
 is not Hebrew. 
 
 It is apparent that the opening chapter of 
 the Pentateuch was not intended or written for 
 a rude and illiterate people as the Hebrew tribes 
 originally were, but that it is the work of an 
 author, dry and systematizing and acquainted 
 with the scientific thought of an advanced age. 
 It is ascribed to a priestly editor of a much later 
 period, as will be seen subsequently. 
 
34 The Old Testament: 
 
 The second chapter begins with the three 
 verses about the Sabbath and continues in a tone 
 and manner quite different from the first. 
 
 The fourth verse opens *' These are the gen- 
 erations of the heavens and of the earth when 
 they were created, in the day that Jehovah * 
 Elohim made the earth and heavens. And no 
 plant of the field was yet in the earth, etc., for 
 Jehovah Elohim had not caused it to rain upon 
 
 * While the proper name Jehovah, which is employed 
 throughout this treatise, has been in use for several cen- 
 turies, it must be pointed out that it is an incorrect form due 
 to a misunderstanding. The now commonly accepted pro- 
 nunciation of the original is Yahveh. Hebrew written words 
 did not contain the vowel sounds which had to be supplied 
 in accordance with the context by the intelligent reader. 
 In the early centuries of our era the Hebrew language was 
 no longer spoken and a thorough knowledge of its peculiar- 
 ities was restricted to the small number of the learned. 
 Then it became necessary for the Jews to invent a system of 
 vowel notation which was placed under, in and between the 
 consonants so as to make reading easy. 
 
 The name Yahveh had become so revered and holy that it 
 was not to be pronounced and whenever it occurred it was 
 read as adonaj, Our Lord. So the vowel notation applying 
 to this word a o a was placed under the consonants J H V H 
 making it sound Yehovah. During the Reformation period 
 when theologians studied the Hebrew text anew they believed 
 that Yahveh had always been pronounced Jehovah, and the 
 King James translation of the Bible firmly established this 
 spelling. Modern scholars recognize the error, but it has 
 been popularly accepted and been in vogue so long that it 
 has been retained here to preserve the tradition. 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 35 
 
 the earth and there was not a man to till the 
 ground. And Jehovah Elohim formed man of 
 the dust of the ground, and breathed into his 
 nostrils the breath of life; and man became a 
 living soul.'' Then the Garden of Eden was 
 planted and '^ out of the ground — every tree 
 that was pleasant to the sight, and good for 
 food " was made to grow. Later on, '* every 
 beast of the field, and every fowl of the air " 
 was formed out of the ground and brought to 
 the man *^ to see what he would call them." 
 Finally Eve was created out of a rib taken from 
 Adam. Then follows the story of the tree of 
 knowledge, and the temptation by the serpent 
 and the fall. And Adam and Eve had their 
 eyes opened and * ' knew that they were naked ; 
 and they sewed fig leaves together and made 
 themselves aprons." And they ** heard the 
 voice of Jehovah Elohim walking in the garden 
 in the cool of the day.^* After questioning them 
 he pronounced punishment upon them for their 
 disobedience. And later on Jehovah Elohim 
 said ** Behold the man is become as one of us, 
 to know good and evil ; and now lest he put forth 
 his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and 
 
36 The Old Testament: 
 
 eat, and live forever; therefore Jehovah Elohim 
 sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till 
 the ground from whence he was taken. So he 
 drove out the man; and he placed — Cherubim 
 and a flaming sword to keep the way of the tree 
 of life." 
 
 After expulsion from Paradise, children are 
 born to Adam and Eve. And the older Cain 
 kills Abel, his younger brother, for which he is 
 punished by Jehovah Elohim by being driven 
 from home, an incessant wanderer. This is fol- 
 lowed by a recital of the building of cities and 
 the introduction of the arts and by long genea- 
 logical tables of patriarchs of fabulous age, of 
 whom Methuselah is best known. Ultimately 
 we reach Noah and the flood. 
 
 At a glance it is evident that the second nar- 
 rative beginning with the fourth verse of the 
 second chapter ** These are the generations of 
 the heavens and of the earth, etc.," is part of 
 another creation story, the opening of which 
 may have been left off and the rest added as a 
 continuation to the first. The version as a 
 whole, regardless of the discrepancy of the de- 
 tails, is entirely different in tone and character. 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 37 
 
 The first considers Elohim as the creator of the 
 universe, a sublime being, impersonal in his 
 relations to man. The second, in which Jehovah 
 Elohim appears is a naive, childlike narrative, 
 where the Deity is on a familiar footing with his 
 creatures, talks with them, meets them in the 
 cool of the day and seems astonished and angry 
 at their disobedience. 
 
 Then again in the first version mankind, 
 male and female, are created after the mammals 
 on the sixth day, while in the second narrative a 
 single man is created first, then vegetation and 
 afterwards the animal kingdom. The woman is 
 formed out of the man's rib, probably with the 
 purpose of inculcating the lesson that she is 
 subordinate to him, a notion certainly not com- 
 patible with modem views. Still more remark- 
 able is the introduction of the tree of knowledge 
 and the tree of life. Man is not expelled from 
 Eden on account of his transgression but *' lest 
 he also eat of the tree of life and live forever 
 and become as one of us." This is not in con- 
 formity with a monotheistic conception and 
 points clearly to a polytheistic, mythological 
 origin. 
 
38 The Old Testament : 
 
 But the most valuable feature of this second 
 version to us, is the use of the name Jehovah 
 Elohim for the Deity, as this has given the clue 
 to a proper analysis of the Biblical writings. 
 In the first narrative of the creation the word 
 Elohim is always used. The special proper 
 name Jehovah was combined with Elohim in the 
 second, probably so as not to make the transi- 
 tion appear too abrupt. Later on either one or 
 the other is generally used alone and then both 
 the details and the tone of the recital are dif- 
 ferent when they relate the same story. The 
 inference is irresistible that originally there 
 were extant two independent versions treating 
 of similar traditions, and that they were merged 
 and interwoven with other matter into what we 
 now call the Old Testament. The author that 
 wrote down the one has been named the 
 Jehovist, the other the Elohist. Modern Bible 
 criticism has been able to point out these 
 separate parts, explain their origin to a con- 
 siderable extent, and present an entirely new 
 view and meaning of these writings. 
 
 About the flood we again have two divergent 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 39 
 
 stories that overlap each other at various points 
 and which we need not follow in detail. 
 
 But most interesting is the problem of the 
 origin of the whole idea of the deluge, for it is 
 established beyond doubt that no such universal 
 flood occurred at the time assumed. Here for- 
 tunately most important evidence has been dis- 
 covered. A cuneiform tablet has been found 
 which forms the eleventh division of an epic 
 poem assumed to date from at least 2000 B. C. 
 It is damaged in parts, but enough is left to give 
 a fair insight into the composition. Fragments 
 of other versions have also been recovered and ^ 
 they are all very old. There are remarkable 
 resemblances with the Bible stories as well as 
 some differences in the details. 
 
 The gods determine to send a deluge to punish 
 the corruption of mankind. One of the gods in- 
 forms a man who is devoted to him and bids him 
 build a ship which he describes, and to save his 
 family and his servants and to take seeds of all 
 life, cattle of the field, etc., with him. The flood 
 lasts seven days and the ship is then stuck on a 
 mountain for seven days. At the end of that 
 time the man permits a dove to fly out first, 
 
40 The Old Testament: 
 
 later a swallow and finally a raven. On landing, 
 a sacrifice is brought to the gods. It seems 
 highly probable, since the tradition is so very 
 old, that it was current in Canaan when the 
 Hebrews came into the land. 
 
 The three specimens here given, all from 
 Genesis, will suffice as illustrations of the Elo- 
 hist and Jehovist versions as they occur in many 
 of the books of the Old Testament. 
 
 After Noah and his descendants we reach the 
 three patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and 
 the twelve sons of the latter. Then the experi- 
 ences of Joseph in Egypt, as well as the settle- 
 ment of his family in the country are given and 
 finally the Exodus. To these narratives we will 
 recur presently. Of the Exodus and of Moses 
 we have no corroborative evidence, as the Egyp- 
 tian inscriptions do not mention them. That a 
 great leader must have arisen to spur on and di- 
 rect his people is certain. Such movements can- 
 not originate spontaneously and nothing can be 
 accomplished without a superior intellect to 
 guide and to control. But the personality of 
 such a leader of prehistoric times becomes so 
 overladen with legendary and traditional accre- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning, 41 
 
 tions, that his true character and the achieve- 
 ments of his life cannot be isolated and ascer- 
 tained. As a proof of the propensity to attach 
 current stories to men of renown, the narrative 
 in Exodus may be mentioned, that the mother of 
 Moses placed him as a baby into an ark of bul- 
 rushes at the banks of a river where he was 
 found by Pharoah^s daughter. This is probably 
 an adaptation of an inscription of Sargon I. 
 3800 B. C. wherein he relates how his mother 
 similarly placed him into a little boat which 
 floated down the river, where he was picked up 
 by a farmer who reared him. 
 
IL 
 
 THE INVASION OF CANAAN AND THE 
 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MONAECHY. 
 
 It is most likely that some small Hebrew 
 tribes hailing from Arabia were settled for a 
 time in parts of Egypt and for some reason were 
 impelled to leave and to resume their nomadic 
 life. That there were 600,000 men on foot as 
 Exodus has it, which would indicate a popula- 
 tion of at least 3,000,000 is preposterous. When 
 they reached the Sinai peninsula they were 
 probably joined by several other related Hebrew 
 tribes and all may have remained with their 
 flocks in this fertile spot for a long time until 
 they determined to invade Canaan. How Moses 
 inspired them with faith in their tribal Grod 
 Jehovah who was their patron and always led 
 them to victory and what decrees he issued af- 
 fecting their cult, their sacrifices and cere- 
 monies, we do not know, for no written record 
 could have been made at the time. They were a 
 
 42 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 43 
 
 rude semi-barbarous people who did not differ 
 much from the other nomadic tribes with whom 
 they came into contact. 
 
 The versions contained in the Pentateuch and 
 Joshua were transmitted orally for many cen- 
 turies, and the original legends with the tradi- 
 tional accretions and many later views are so 
 intermixed that the historical basis is very diffi- 
 cult to determine. The bond that held all the 
 different but related elements together was their 
 faith in their tribal God Jehovah who had never 
 deserted them and whom they may have wor- 
 shiped long before Moses. 
 
 ** The promised land "which they determined 
 to invade appeared in roseate hues to them in 
 comparison with their former haunts. In 
 reality, however, only some parts were very 
 fertile, some mountainous and others bleak and 
 barren. The territory was quite small in extent, 
 only about 150 miles in length and varying from 
 50 to 100 miles in width, an area comparable 
 with the little state of Vermont. It is situated 
 between latitude 31 degrees and 33 degrees 20 
 minutes, which corresponds to the most southern 
 part of the state of Georgia. At the time of the 
 
44 The Old Testament : 
 
 Hebrew invasion a narrow strip along the 
 southern coast of Canaan was occupied by the 
 Philistines. They were not of Semitic origin 
 and had come by sea. They were warlike and of 
 advanced civilization, wearing helmets, using 
 metallic weapons and chariots and knew the 
 art of building fortifications. 
 
 Somewhat farther north along the coast ex- 
 tending towards Sidon and Tyre, we find the 
 Phenicians, a peaceful commercial, seafaring 
 people, the most successful traders of the 
 period, whose ships covered the Mediterranean 
 and even ventured to the coasts of France and 
 Spain. They were of Semitic origin and in 
 speech closely related to the Hebrews. 
 
 The greater part of the population that oc- 
 cupied the rest of the country were the Canaan- 
 ites, who were also of Semitic origin, while a 
 few other tribes and clans were interspersed. 
 They had been under Babylonian sway and no 
 doubt had acquired some of their culture. 
 Afterwards, up to the fourteenth century B. 
 C. they had been ruled by Egypt, but at the 
 time of which we are treating its control wai 
 safrely nominal. 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 45 
 
 The Hebrews first occupied parts of the ter- 
 ritory east of the Jordan. As they crossed the 
 river they met opposition and had to fight a 
 people far superior to them in civilization, with 
 fortified towns and much better means of of- 
 fence and defence. But their valor and per- 
 sistence enabled them to gain a foothold here 
 and there and to settle peacefully at other 
 points. It was not only fighting and extermina- 
 tion, for they intermarried and intermingled 
 with the people and ultimately obtained a con- 
 siderable hold upon the land, although struggles 
 never ceased in some localities. 
 
 As the Hebrews began to occupy the land to 
 the west of the river Jordan, other tribes pushed 
 in after them and took possession of some of 
 their sites east of the river. It must be men- 
 tioned that the name Hebrew meant ** the peo- 
 ple from beyond the river " and was applied to 
 these as well. The special twelve tribes we have 
 in view called themselves Bene-Israel, but they 
 were closely related to others occupying part of 
 the outlying land and known as Moabites, Edo- 
 mites and Ammonites. The organization and 
 the religious beliefs of all were similar. Each 
 
46 The Old Testament : 
 
 tribe worshiped one particular God, who was 
 their protector and led them to victory, some- 
 what as Jehovah was looked upon in the earliest 
 stages of development by the children of Israel. 
 The Moabite stone discovered in 1868 and the 
 only monument of any importance thus far 
 found, makes this perfectly clear. The Moabite 
 king Mesha, 860 B. C, erected this stone in 
 honor of his God Chemosh, because while this 
 god was angry with his grandfather, he allowed 
 the king of Israel to oppress his people, and 
 now when Mesha had again found favor in the 
 eyes of Chemosh he told him ** Go and attack 
 the Hebrew king Omri and thereupon he had 
 gained a great victory, killing 7,000 men and 
 boys and women and girls.'' It must, however, 
 be stated in fairness, that a female goddess was 
 also mentioned and not all critics are agreed 
 that the three tribes fuUy accepted monolatry. 
 This form of belief is called monolatry, the 
 worship of one particular god without denying 
 the existence of others, and is very different 
 from monotheism, the worship of only one 
 supreme being. Primitive Arabic religion 
 shows striking resemblances to the beliefs of the 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 47 
 
 Israelites. It also accepted monolatry, devo- 
 tion to only one God, and knew nothing of poly- 
 theism or the gross dualism of some other 
 Semitic peoples. 
 
 It was this firm faith in Jehovah that prob- 
 ably welded all the Israelitish tribes into one 
 common bond and made them an irresistible 
 power. For Jehovah had led them out of Egypt 
 and would never desert them and while not 
 visible he manifested himself in natural phe- 
 nomena and was present in the ark of the cove- 
 nant. If they prospered it was Jehovah's bless- 
 ing, if adversity met them it was his punishment 
 for disobedience. Whatever happened it was 
 not Jehovah's fault but their own. 
 
 If we keep this in mind the Book of Judges 
 becomes quite clear. It deals with the two cen- 
 turies during which the conquest of Canaan was 
 accomplished, and is not so much a historical 
 recital of events as an effort to group old 
 legends in such a manner as to teach a religious 
 lesson. It is full of discrepancies and indicates 
 how different versions were used by a late 
 editor. The men called Judges were rather suc- 
 cessful chieftains who led bands in warfare and 
 
48 The Old Testament : 
 
 thereby attained a certain administrative and 
 judicial authority. There was not at first any 
 united action, but each clan struggled for itself. 
 Nor were the twelve tribes such fixed entities as 
 they were made to appear at a later date, and 
 they did not originate as descendants from the 
 twelve sons of Jacob as described in the Penta- 
 teuch. All the stories of the patriarchs Abra- 
 ham, Isaac, and Jacob and their sons, as pro- 
 genitors of the twelve tribes are at present 
 considered by all critics as merely legends in- 
 vented to account for certain conditions. The 
 names for these men were associated with some 
 old sanctuaries in Canaan — Abraham with Bar- 
 sheba and Hebron, Jacob with Bethel and oth- 
 ers with similar places — and about these local 
 shrines a mass of traditions gathered. These 
 were used to explain the origin of the tribes and 
 genealogical tables were invented and con- 
 structed accordingly. It is possible that some of 
 them were real historical personages, but it is 
 certain that they could not have played the role 
 assigned to them in the Old Testament nar- 
 ratives. 
 We must keep in mind, moreover, that at this 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 49 
 
 stage the notion had not arisen that Israel was 
 the chosen people of God and that cult and cere- 
 monial did not keep them apart from others. 
 In fact many of them while holding Jehovah as 
 a special God, also sacrificed to Baal and other 
 deities. They came into the land as rude semi- 
 barbaric nomadic hordes and brought in con- 
 tact with the inhabitants possessing a higher 
 civilization they settled among them, inter- 
 married and acquired agriculture and other 
 arts of peace. They were in fact related in 
 race and language to the Canaanites and when 
 , _ they had defeated them, these readily merged 
 with the Hebrew clans and tribes, which at no 
 time were of such significance as they were 
 made to appear at a much later date. 
 
 While thus the larger part of the Canaanites 
 had either been amalgamated with the Israelites 
 or lived in peace with them, the Philistines 
 were troublesome neighbors. Towards the end 
 of the period described as the rule of the 
 Judges, they overran a considerable section of 
 the territory occupied by the Hebrews and put 
 a most galling yoke upon them. These condi- 
 tions seemed to have had a very depressing ef- 
 
50 The Old Testament: 
 
 feet upon the mass of the people and many be- 
 gan to doubt that Jehovah was really their pro- 
 tector or that he was more powerful than the 
 Baalim and other gods. As a counterpart bands 
 of religious zealots began to arise that were 
 called '* Sons of the Prophets," but these must 
 not be confounded with the later prophets, who 
 were men of a quite different type. These bands 
 collected about the sanctuaries and with wild 
 music, dances and similar exhortations worked 
 themselves into a state of ecstasy similar to 
 Mohammedan dervishes or participants in re- 
 vival meetings of southern colored folks. Such 
 performances had not been known in the 
 Jehovah cult and they were probably adopted 
 from the Canaanites who employed them in 
 their Baal worship. However, these religious 
 fanatics, while haranguing for Jehovah also 
 aroused the patriotic instinct, for in the minds 
 of the people Jehovah worship and the welfare 
 and prosperity of the country were identical. 
 
 Samuel, a man of larger grasp and deeper 
 insight while not one of them must have been 
 in touch with them and to have appreciated 
 their usefulness. He was a man of much in- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 51 
 
 fluence, acted as judge and local leader, was 
 looked upon as a soothsayer and enjoyed respect 
 generally. The principal sanctuary at Shiloh 
 over which he had presided was in ruins, the 
 priests scattered and the conditions desperate. 
 He must have often brooded upon the means of 
 throwing off the Philistine yoke and re-estab- 
 lishing the Jehovah worship and freedom. 
 Among the people the conviction was beginning 
 to prevail that a king was wanted, a leader who 
 could unite them to attack the Philistine rule 
 and to overthrow it. 
 
 By happy chance a young man from the tribe 
 of Benjamin, Saul by name, came to consult 
 Samuel as a soothsayer on a private matter. 
 He was a giant in stature and his bearing and 
 manner impressed Samuel to such an extent 
 that he became convinced he was the person 
 to lead the revolt against the Philistines. He 
 anointed him as king and proclaimed to the 
 people that Saul would lead them in battle and 
 restore them to liberty and re-establish the wor- 
 ship of Jehovah. 
 
 Saul assembled the men of his tribe, attacked 
 the garrison at Geba and killed its commander. 
 
52 The Old Testament : 
 
 The Philistines at once collected an army, but 
 the men of the other tribes of Israel did not dare 
 to join Saxd or to rise against their oppressors. 
 When Saul had defeated the Philistines his 
 victory at once inspired the timid, and he was 
 hailed as the deliverer whom Jehovah had sent 
 and support reached him from many tribes. 
 Naturally there were opponents too, but the con- 
 tinued struggles against the Philistines and the 
 other neighbors compelled the people to act 
 in common and to rally around him. For the 
 Moabites and Ammonites east of the Jordan and 
 the Arameans to the north harried them inces- 
 santly while they were occupied with their prin- 
 cipal foes. However, warfare against the in- 
 habitants east of the Jordan produced results 
 of lasting value, because they remained loyal 
 and became a strong support to Saul's suc- 
 cessors. Saul's attack on the Amalekites in the 
 southern part of the land west of the Jordan is 
 also of great importance. This territory with 
 Hebron as its center was not as yet combined 
 with Judah and neither it nor Judah had been 
 incorporated into the Hebrew state. 
 While Saul under the circumstances accom- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 53 
 
 plished much and was generally successful, he 
 seemed to have fallen into displeasure with 
 Samuel and the priestly party. The reason for 
 this is only intimated and not clearly expressed. 
 He was very astute in selecting military cap- 
 tains to assist him, but probably being more of 
 a warrior than a statesman he looked chiefly to 
 political results and did not satisfy the demands 
 of the zealots and the priestly party. The 
 harassing border warfare and the intrigues and 
 jealousies of his own supporters finally induced 
 a state of deep melancholia in him. To distract 
 and amuse him a young man from the tribe of 
 Judah was invited to court. This was David, 
 whom he had already recognized as a gallant 
 warrior of great promise and had entrusted 
 with a command. He soon gained favor at court 
 so that Saul married him to his daughter. But 
 these very successes aroused suspicion and 
 jealousy in Saul and to save himself David had 
 to flee. Being restless and enterprising he led 
 the life of an outlaw and a free lance. 
 
 The warfare that the Philistines waged had 
 never led to a decisive result. At times they 
 were victorious and then again they suffered 
 
54 The Old Testament : 
 
 defeat until at length they determined to make 
 an overwhelming effort to crush the Hebrew 
 forces. They collected a large army and took 
 their position on the northern side of the plain 
 of Esdraelon. Saul's troops were encamped on 
 the southern side of the plain, but it is doubtful 
 whether he had the full support of all the tribes. 
 The battle took place at Gilboa and though 
 Saul was disheartened he fought with great 
 valor. When the rout set in he committed sui- 
 cide rather than fall into the hands of his 
 enemies. Three of his sons were also killed in 
 the same battle. The defeat was crushing. 
 
 Saul had ruled for about 20 years from 1030 
 to 1010 B. C. and while not a great king he ac- 
 complished results that laid the foundations for 
 the future state. He was a man of simple habits, 
 direct in his methods and of a fiery and 
 impetuous temperament which inspired others 
 to follow him. In fierce assaults he was irresist- 
 ible but he lacked the foresight and planning of 
 generalship. He united the tribes in warfare 
 and taught them the lesson of patriotism and 
 cooperation. Beyond that he did not go. He 
 did not introduce institutions or administrative 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 55 
 
 methods that could weld the divergent elements 
 into one homogeneous nation. That task was 
 left to his successors. 
 
 When David had been hard pressed in his 
 pursuit by Saul, he finally fled to Achish, Mng 
 of Gath, one of the Philistine cities. He re- 
 ceived a friendly reception as an enemy of Saul, 
 and Ziklag on the southwest of Judah was as- 
 signed to him as a residence. Here he played a 
 difficult role in professing loyalty to the Philis- 
 tines while at the same time endeavoring to 
 preserve the affections of the Israelites. At the 
 battle of Gilboa he was to join Achish as his fief, 
 but fortunately being distrusted, he escaped the 
 dilemma. 
 
 It must be admitted that the relation between 
 Saul and David, as presented in the narratives 
 preserved, is somewhat obscure. It does not 
 appear why Saul was so jealous of David. Did 
 he read in his character the ambition to assume 
 the kingship and also traits that seemed treach- 
 erous and unscrupulous*? 
 
 Another question is why the Philistines re- 
 ceived David so heartily and entrusted Mm with 
 
56 The Old Testament: 
 
 a certain power. Possibly solely because be was 
 an enemy of Saul. 
 
 While tbese problems cannot be solved posi- 
 tively by sucb information as we possess, tbey 
 have given rise to some speculation. Certain 
 critics bring forward the notion that David may 
 not have been of pure Semitic stock, but de- 
 scended in part from Philistine ancestry and 
 hence the affiliation and his warlike and domi- 
 neering character. 
 
 Far reaching conclusions are drawn from 
 these conjectures upon which the limited space 
 of a short outline of the subject does not permit 
 us to enter. 
 
 After the battle of Gilboa when the Philistines 
 were masters of central Canaan, the Judeans 
 were glad to make David their king. The Philis- 
 tines cheerfully acquiesced since he was their 
 vassal and he was installed in the chief city of 
 the south, at Hebron. But David's ambition 
 was from the first to make himself king of the 
 whole Hebrew people. With that object in view 
 he was wary and politic. He openly lamented 
 the death of Saul and praised him in glowing 
 terms, and intimated to the northern tribes that 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 57 
 
 he would willingly include them in his rule. For 
 that the time was not yet ripe. Saul 's leading 
 general, Abner, had retreated with the remnants 
 of the shattered army to the other side of the 
 Jordan and proclaimed Saul's son, Ishbaal, 
 king. He was a mere boy and Abner was the 
 real ruler. A fratricidal struggle led by Abner 
 and David's general Joab was kept up for seven 
 years at the end of which time the Judeans were 
 masters of the field. David had kept in the 
 background and had greatly strengthened his 
 position before the people. The elders of north- 
 ern Israel began to realize that David was the 
 only man that could consolidate the nation. 
 During the negotiations for peace, Abner was 
 treacherously murdered and Ishbaal was killed 
 by two Benjamite captains. David was innocent 
 of these crimes, punished the perpetrators and 
 promptly and openly proclaimed his disap- 
 proval of such deeds. In fact his policy was 
 opposed to such methods, for he strove con- 
 stantly to impress the northern tribes that he 
 was a friend of Saul's and as his son-in-law his 
 rightful successor. The northern and eastern 
 tribes could not fail to see that, surrounded as 
 
58 The Old Testament : 
 
 they were by enemies on every side, their salva- 
 tion lay in entrusting the rule to a strong hand 
 that could combine them and free them from 
 foreign oppression. 
 
 In this connection it must be pointed out, that 
 Judah which now played so prominent a role, 
 was a recent creation. Saul had begun by con- 
 quering some of the clans that surrounded the 
 insignificant tribe of Judah located around 
 Bethlehem. David continued this policy with 
 great skill and on a larger scale and merged all 
 the inhabitants of the south that he could reach 
 into the now mighty tribe of Judah. But this 
 strength and commanding influence of the south 
 provoked the jealousy of the northern tribes 
 and constituted a danger to the new state. How- 
 ever, there was no alternative and David was 
 again solemnly crowned king of all Israel at 
 Hebron about 1000 B. C. This was virtually a 
 challenge to the Philistines who immediately 
 opened warfare against their vassal, which was 
 long and tedious and ended in their complete 
 discomfiture. David next captured the old, 
 strong fortress of the Jebusites, a Canaanitish 
 tribe, and called it Jerusalem, and made it his 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 59 
 
 capital. It was very favorably situated on the 
 border between Judah and Benjamin and being 
 neutral ground tended to allay the antagonism 
 between north and south. David also made 
 Jerusalem the religious center of the state, and 
 the ark was transported there with great cere- 
 mony and he ** danced before the Lord with all 
 his might." 
 
 After the Philistines had been so thoroughly 
 defeated that they lost some of their strongholds 
 and were restricted to a narrow strip along the 
 coast, they kept quiet. David then had time to 
 subjugate in turn the Moabites, the Edomites, 
 the Amalekites, the Ammonites and the Ara- 
 means. Some of the territory he annexed out- 
 right, other parts he left under their former 
 kings, but made them all tributary. His king- 
 dom at its height extended from the Eed Sea in 
 the south to Damascus in the north and, with 
 the exception of the narrow strip held by the 
 Philistines, from the Mediterranean in the west 
 to the Arabian desert in the east. It was the 
 largest in extent ever controlled by the Hebrew 
 people. Their position was so commanding that 
 their friendship was sought by the king of Tyre 
 
60 The Old Testament : 
 
 and other neighboring states. Joab, captain of 
 the host, was ordered to take a census and re- 
 ported 800,000 fighting men in Israel and 500,000 
 in Judah. Of course this was a mere guess and 
 enormously overestimated. It would indicate a 
 population of probably 5,000,000, while modern 
 historians estimate that at no time could it have 
 exceeded 1,000,000. Our state of Vermont which 
 compares with it in area has but 350,000 in- 
 habitants. 
 
 These conquests brought about the consolida- 
 tion and prosperity of the people and are a 
 proof of the great ability and statesmanship of 
 David. However, they were possible only be- 
 cause Egypt as well as Assyria was too pre- 
 occupied with other matters to pay any heed to 
 foreign affairs. 
 
 In his family relations David was not so 
 fortunate. A large part of his difficulties were 
 due to the number of wives that filled his 
 harem. Some of the marriages were contracted 
 with a view of strengthening his position and 
 acquiring wealth. One at least was not free 
 from unscrupulousness and even criminality. 
 The names of seventeen of his sons are men- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 61 
 
 tioned. The intrigues that are inseparable 
 from such conditions can readily be imagined. 
 
 Complications of a more serious character also 
 arose. One of his sons, Absalom, had been guilty 
 of the murder of a brother, who, however, had 
 fully deserved punishment for his ill conduct. 
 Absalom fled to escape his father's wrath, but 
 after a few years he was allowed to return. 
 He immediately began to ingratiate himself 
 with the people, and after years of deceit and 
 hypocrisy succeeded in collecting the discon- 
 tented elements about him. The conspirators 
 met at the old Judean capital, Hebron, and 
 most of the nobles of David's court joined the 
 movement and proclaimed Absalom king. This 
 action of the nobles is not astonishing since 
 every strong monarch must curb the arbitrari- 
 ness and encroachments of local chieftains 
 whereby he is apt to incur their emnity. 
 
 David was completely taken by surprise and 
 had to flee. He was accompanied by Joab and 
 his principal military leaders, as well as by his 
 faithful bodyguard of six hundred Philistines 
 upon whom he could always depend. Some of 
 the higher priesthood also went with him. He 
 
62 The Old Testament : 
 
 made a stand at Mahanaim among the tribes 
 east of the Jordan, where he found many sup- 
 porters that rallied around him. Absalom had 
 lost the opportunity of striking quickly and 
 when the two armies met, he was defeated in 
 the decisive battle that followed. In his flight, 
 Absalom was caught by his hair in the branches 
 of a tree and Joab stabbed him, contrary to the 
 injunction of the king. This ended the re- 
 bellion, but David lamented the death of his 
 son. At this crisis he again showed his astute- 
 ness and ability as a rtder. He displayed great 
 moderation towards the defeated party and 
 felt the necessity of conciliating them. The 
 animosity between the north and the south and 
 the hatred of Saul's partisans were elements of 
 danger that he fully realized and he granted 
 full amnesty to all. Another small rebellion 
 occurred somewhat later but it was quickly sub- 
 dued by Joab. He was a cruel and remorseless 
 man, but his energy and military ability pre- 
 served the unity of the state. 
 
 The last years of David's reign passed peace- 
 fully. When he was far advanced in years 
 and very decrepit, his oldest surviving son, 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 63 
 
 Adonijah, aspired to become his successor and 
 surrounded himself with the leading nobles and 
 military chiefs, including Joab. No overt act 
 was done but the opposition feared his eleva- 
 tion to the throne. The consummation of this 
 scheme Bath-sheba, David's favorite wife, was 
 determined to prevent for she wished her son 
 Solomon to be the next king. The relation of 
 David to this wom,an was a blot upon his char- 
 acter, for he had ordered her husband, his gen- 
 eral Uriah, to a most dangerous position in an 
 assault, with a view of having him killed that 
 he might marry his widow. By intrigue and 
 pleadings she now induced David to proclaim 
 Solomon king. He was duly anointed and his 
 opponents had to acquiesce. David passed away 
 shortly thereafter. 
 
 He had reigned forty years and was un- 
 doubtedly the greatest king the Hebrew people 
 produced. Eising from a humble station to the 
 position of a powerful monarch he founded a 
 kingdom by shrewdly judging and utilizing men 
 and situations, favored by fortunate circum- 
 stances. He was not only an able warrior like 
 Saul, but showed tact and constructive states- 
 
64 The Old Testament: 
 
 manship. He was not the saintly character 
 later prophetic writers endeavored to make him 
 appear. He was a man of his time, brutal, un- 
 scrupulous and deceitful, but with great per- 
 sonal charm and kindness of heart withal. He 
 was no worse than his contemporaries, but by 
 no means the ideal hero and the devout, hmnble 
 worshiper of the Jehovah of the prophetic 
 period. 
 
 In his religious views and acts he did not rise 
 above the concepts of his time. Jehovah was 
 to him a powerful tribal God whose good-will 
 he must obtain to be successful. He adhered 
 to all the superstitious rites of the Jehovah 
 worship then prevalent, largely influenced by 
 the Baal service, and sacrificed and danced 
 before the Lord with all his might. During 
 a drought he consented to the slaughter of 
 seven of Saul's relatives at the behest of the 
 Gibeonites, to appease the wrath of Jehovah. 
 
 He possessed various accomplishments, 
 played on musical instruments and was a poet. 
 Of the many psalms ascribed to him some may 
 have been written by him, although this is not 
 clearly established. Considering how much he 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 65 
 
 had done for the nation, it is not astonishing 
 that he was idealized by later generations when 
 general decay had set in and he shone with 
 additional luster by contrast. 
 
 Solomon had won his throne by intrigue, 
 probably against the wishes of his people, and 
 at once proceeded to secure it by the methods 
 of an oriental despot. On some slight pretext 
 he had his brother Adonijah killed, as well as 
 the aged warrior Joab, who had been his 
 father's trusted supporter and had conducted 
 all the campaigns in the latter part of his reign. 
 He did not dare to treat the high priest in 
 the same manner, but deposed and banished 
 him, as well as all others whom he feared. 
 
 Solomon had neither the taste nor the apti- 
 tude for war and the weakness of his policy 
 became apparent at once. Shortly after 
 David's death the standard of revolt was 
 raised at Edom and Solomon lost the control 
 of this province. Before long a leader appeared 
 in the north who made himself king of Damas- 
 cus and freed the Arameans from the Hebrew 
 overlordship. This monarch became the 
 founder of a dynasty that proved to be one of 
 
66 The Old Testament : 
 
 the most dangerous foes the kingdom of Israel 
 had to meet in the following centuries. In the 
 south, Egypt that had ignored Canaan for a 
 long time, began to assert itself. The reign- 
 ing pharaoh appeared with an army and cap- 
 tured the fortress of Gezer. This danger was 
 averted by diplomacy. Solomon married the 
 daughter of the pharaoh and Gezer was re- 
 turned to him as his wife's dowry. Instead 
 of pursuing his father's policy of aggression 
 he depended almost entirely upon diplomacy 
 and the building of fortresses and defensive 
 works at all exposed points. On the other hand 
 some of his relations with foreign potentates 
 were of great value to his people. The friendly 
 intercourse with the king of Tyre which had 
 been established by David, became more cordial 
 under him and was of epoch making importance 
 to the Hebrew nation. Its immediate purpose 
 was commercial, an exchange of commodities, 
 which in fact was always one of the leading 
 aims of Solomon's reign. He made treaties 
 with other neighboring states whereby trade 
 was facilitated and caravans from all direc- 
 tions arrived in his territory. With the help 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 67 
 
 of Hiram, king of Tyre, he even manned ships 
 on the Eed Sea that went on long voyages, 
 possibly to India, and came back laden with 
 treasures and curiosities of all kinds. 
 
 The Hebrews thus far had struggled to get 
 a foothold, then to possess the land and finally 
 to weld the different elements into an inde- 
 pendent homogeneous nation. From nomads 
 they had become agriculturists, but excluded 
 from contact with more advanced peoples they 
 remained in a rude and primitive condition. 
 Now, with the introduction of better metallic 
 tools and implements of various kinds from 
 Tyre and other sources and with increasing 
 commerce and wealth, better houses and 
 walled cities arose. These changes in their 
 material surroundings modified their whole 
 social life. But of more value and of greater 
 influence upon their progress was the continued 
 intercourse with civilizations of a higher type 
 that could not fail to widen the narrow scope 
 of their own limited horizon. Through their 
 relations to Tyre they became acquainted with 
 the highest culture of the time and profited 
 much from its teachings. Among other things 
 
68 The Old Testament: 
 
 they adopted the alphabet and probably learned 
 the art of writing from the Phenicians as the 
 Greeks did at a later date. Solomon certainly 
 deserves high praise for his intellectual and 
 artistic tastes, and for his endeavors to im- 
 press them upon his people. 
 
 Necessarily there is also a dark side to this 
 picture. Solomon was too pleasure loving and 
 too luxurious in his habits, and with the un- 
 limited power that he possessed there was a 
 tendency to display the traits of an oriental 
 despot. He maintained a very large harem 
 and the whole court was conducted on a scale 
 of magnificence and extravagance in glaring 
 contrast with the simple and homely manner 
 of his predecessors. He had a passion for 
 building and wasted sums quite out of propor- 
 tion to his means. The king of Tyre furnished 
 him cedars from Lebanon and other materials 
 which amounted to about $5,000, 000 and since 
 he could not pay for them, he had to cede twenty 
 cities in the northern part of the kingdom to 
 the Phenicians. To increase his revenue he re- 
 organized his whole administration. He di- 
 vided the kingdom into twelve districts over 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 69 
 
 each of which he placed an official, Judah alone 
 being excepted. Through this device the old 
 tribal distinctions were intentionally obliter- 
 ated, and the remnants of the old Canaanitish 
 inhabitants were absorbed and ceased to exist. 
 While the power of the elders was considerably 
 curtailed by this change, the breaking up of 
 tribal distinctions had a unifying effect upon 
 the people and in that respect must be con- 
 sidered an advance. 
 
 But to carry on these extensive building 
 operations and his luxurious court, he had to tax 
 the people very heavily and many Canaanites 
 and even some Israelites were compelled to do 
 forced labor, a peculiar kind of oriental serf- 
 dom. Such measures were exceedingly oppres- 
 sive and distasteful to an independent and 
 liberty-loving people such as the Hebrews had 
 always been. 
 
 One of the achievements that added greatly 
 to Solomon's renown in the eyes of subsequent 
 generations, was the erection of the temple. 
 Priestly and prophetic writers of a later period 
 were under the impression that worship in his 
 time had been conducted in strict conformity 
 
70 The Old Testament: 
 
 with the commands of Jehovah and also that 
 Solomon had been imbued with such a concep- 
 tion of Jehovah as they themselves held. But 
 both of these notions were erroneous, for his 
 form of worship as well as his beliefs do not 
 seem to have differed much from those of 
 David. He looked upon Jehovah as the par- 
 ticular God and protector of the Hebrews, but 
 as he erected numerous altars for the various 
 gods of his many wives, he could not have con- 
 sidered it sacrilegious to recognize these as 
 well, however inferior he might have thought 
 them in potency. He shared the notion that 
 Jehovah lived among his people and that he 
 would make his abode in the innermost chambers 
 of the Temple. This was the Holy of Holies 
 which was dark and we read in I Kings, VIII- 
 12-13:— 
 
 '* Then spake Solomon, the Lord hath said 
 that he would dwell in the thick darkness. I 
 have surely built thee an house of habitation, a 
 place for thee to dwell in forever." 
 
 The Israelites were too rude and unskilled 
 to build the temple themselves and artisans and 
 material had to be brought from Tyre to ac- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 71 
 
 complish it. The architectural designs as well 
 as the ornamentations clearly point to Egyp- 
 tian, Syrian, and Babylonian models. Nor was 
 it in size or impressiveness as overwhelming as 
 assumed at a later period. It was intended and 
 was in fact a part of the palace buildings with 
 which it was connected and served also as a 
 strong defensive structure. 
 
 At this time the functions of the priesthood 
 were not yet clearly defined and both David 
 and Solomon frequently performed sacrificial 
 rites. Any person was at liberty to do so and 
 it was quite customary to erect altars on high 
 places and to sacrifice without the assistance 
 of priests. The duties and functions of the 
 priesthood were not restricted to this one rite, 
 but consisted also of taking charge of sanc- 
 tuaries, determining the will of Jehovah by cast- 
 ing the holy lot, consulting oracles and similar 
 performances. For the new temple, priests 
 were appointed by Solomon and the chief of- 
 fices thereafter became hereditary. The whole 
 service was probably remodeled and made more 
 impressive, and aided by the imposing new 
 
72 The Old Testament : 
 
 structure everything tended to unify and con- 
 centrate the worship in Jerusalem. 
 
 It is most difficult to explain the great fame 
 Solomon has enjoyed for superhuman wisdom. 
 Modern critics seem to think that he had a 
 ready wit and was subtle and cunning. He as- 
 similated the foreign culture so readily that his 
 people were dazzled by it. Of the extensive 
 writings attributed to him, he is the author of 
 probably only a small part. 
 
 The reign of Solomon extended from 970 to 
 933 B. C. and it must undoubtedly be considered 
 a period of prosperity, national unity and im- 
 portance that the Hebrew state never attained 
 again. That the personality of Solomon had 
 largely contributed to these conditions is equally 
 certain, while the elements of decay, for some 
 of which he was responsible, were already mani- 
 festing themselves during his reign. It is 
 the defect of every despotism that it does not 
 create institutions, but is solely dependent upon 
 one personality with whose demise the whole 
 structure is imperilled. 
 
ni. 
 
 THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM TO 
 THE FALL OF SAMAEIA. 
 
 Our principal information about the erection 
 of the monarchy is derived from the two books 
 of Samuel and before continuing with the re- 
 cital of historical events after Solomon's death, 
 something must be said about the sources that 
 are available. These are the first and second 
 books of Kings and the first and second books 
 of Chronicles. They frequently do not cor- 
 respond in details and some matter contained 
 in one is not given by the other. Besides they 
 repeatedly refer to the book of the kings of 
 Judah and Israel and other writings which have 
 been lost. This makes it evident that both were 
 compilations for which additions, omissions, 
 and coloring have been supplied by the editors. 
 Particularly is this apparent in the books of 
 Chronicles, for there is strong internal evidence 
 that they were not written before 300 B. C. and 
 
 73 
 
74 The Old Testament : 
 
 that the author uses expressions and ideas cur- 
 rent in his age and ascribes them to these early 
 times. 
 
 To elicit the real course of events from these 
 data has been the aim of scientific criticism. 
 The length of reigns and other dates are also 
 somewhat confused in the Hebrew records, but 
 the whole chronology has been fixed with con- 
 siderable precision with the aid of the Assyrian 
 inscriptions. Unfortunately the political events 
 recorded are few and meagre, the main pur- 
 pose being to relate small details of priestly 
 and religious concern at length and to color 
 everything from that standpoint. Happily how- 
 ever we obtain much information and gain a 
 most vivid insight into many political and 
 historical events from the writings of the 
 prophets. 
 
 Upon the death of Solomon his son Eehoboam 
 assumed the crown. The northern tribes, how- 
 ever, were discontented with the heavy taxa- 
 tions and the burdens imposed by Solomon and 
 with his partial and arbitrary rule. They met 
 in the old northern capital of Shechem and de- 
 manded that Eehoboam should promise to 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 75 
 
 lighten the ** grievous burdens laid upon them 
 by his father." Rehoboam was sufficiently 
 impressed to meet them in person, but when he 
 saw the temper that prevailed, he was alarmed 
 and was glad to escape to Jerusalem. He con- 
 ferred with his associates and took the advice 
 of the younger defiant element who induced him 
 to send a message that he would add to the 
 heavy yoke imposed by his father, and where 
 his father chastised them with whips, he would 
 chastise them with scorpions. When this 
 reached the assembly the revolt immediately 
 took form. The old cry was revived *' We have 
 no portion in David, every man to his tents, 
 Israel.'' 
 
 During the reign of Solomon a man by the 
 name of Jeroboam had started an uprising 
 which was quickly suppressed and he escaped 
 to Egypt where he was hospitably received by 
 a new pharaoh who had overthrown the old 
 dynasty. When Jeroboam heard of the death 
 of Solomon he hurried back and was at once 
 proclaimed king of Israel. He had the support 
 of all the tribes with the exception of Judah 
 and a small section of Benjamin, which was 
 
76 The Old Testament: 
 
 joined with it. Rehoboam remained king of 
 Judah and the little state had the advantage 
 of being homogeneous and contented also that 
 the kingship was hereditary. Modern histori- 
 ans estimate the population of the kingdom of 
 Israel at 850,000 and that of Judah at 220,000. 
 
 The result of the division was a more or less 
 continuous warfare which extended over sixty 
 years. With such discord and the growth of 
 neighboring nations the destruction of the 
 Hebrew nation was only a question of time. 
 
 Rehoboam at first made an effort to subdue 
 the northern kingdom, but afterwards confined 
 himself chiefly to erecting fortresses and to 
 strengthening all defensive positions. The new 
 pharaoh of Egypt, Shishak, encouraged Jero- 
 boam to divide the Hebrew state, and at one 
 time made a raid during which he captured 
 Jerusalem, carried off all the treasure collected 
 in the temple and the palace, and proceeded far 
 into the territory of the northern kingdom. 
 After this episode the war between the two 
 brother nations was resumed, but Judah could 
 not sustain itself and had recourse to desper- 
 ate means to ward off certain defeat. 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 77 
 
 Eehoboam died probably about 917 B. C. and 
 his son Abijam succeeded him. He applied to 
 the king of Damascus for assistance against 
 Israel, for which he had to pay tribute. It was 
 a short-sighted and dangerous step, for ever 
 thereafter the growing Aramean kingdom did 
 not cease to intrigue and to try to intervene in 
 Hebrew affairs. To Abijam it may have 
 brought temporary relief, and at least he had 
 no foes to fear at home because his right to the 
 throne was never questioned. He died about 
 914 B. C. and was succeeded by his son, Asa. 
 
 Jeroboam of Israel on becoming king made 
 Shechem his capital and designated Dan and 
 Bethel as sanctuaries under his special patron- 
 age. He set up a golden calf or bull in each, 
 which in later times was construed as idolatry. 
 But a bull was always considered a symbol of 
 majesty among Semitic peoples and it was em- 
 ployed in Solomon ^s temple at various points. 
 Altogether he was a conservative in religion and 
 clung to old practices and forms, although at 
 this time as under Solomon, the Jehovah and 
 Baal worships were probably not kept apart 
 
78 The Old Testament : 
 
 very rigidly, either in the northern kingdom or 
 in Jerusalem. 
 
 Jeroboam died in 912 B. C. after a reign of 
 twenty-one years and was followed by his son 
 Nadab who was assassinated almost immedi- 
 ately by a man named Baasha. Baasha made 
 himself king and prosecuted the war against 
 Judah vigorously. The Judean king, Asa, was 
 so hard pressed by him that he sent all the 
 treasure he had left to Benhadad, king of Da- 
 mascus, to assist him. This attack from the 
 north compelled Baasha to withdraw from 
 Judah and give Asa tinie to erect fortifications ; 
 but for this temporary relief he paid dearly by 
 virtually becoming a vassal of Damascus. On 
 Baasha 's death in 888 B. C. he was followed 
 by his son Elah, who ruled only a short time 
 when he was assassinated by one of his officers. 
 As soon as the army heard of this, it elected 
 its general, Omri, king. An opposition party 
 selected Tibni and only after his death and a 
 civil war that lasted four years, was Omri 
 generally recognized. 
 
 He was a general and proved an able ruler. 
 Still Benhadad, king of Damascus, was a power- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 79 
 
 ful and dangerous foe and compelled Omri to 
 cede a number of cities to him and also to set 
 aside particular streets for Aramean traders 
 in his new capital Samaria. After having ob- 
 tained these concessions which secured certain 
 trade routes to Damascus, peace was restored. 
 Omri was more successful in his expeditions 
 against Moab, which he seems to have subdued, 
 as the Moabite stone testifies. He also opened 
 negotiations with Phenicia and married his son 
 Ahab to Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king 
 of Tyre. This again permitted the civilizing 
 influences of a higher culture to reach the king- 
 dom of Israel, but with them the baneful effects 
 of Phenician cults. 
 
 The erection of the new capital, Samaria, a 
 few miles from Shechem was a step of great 
 importance, as its location was central and it 
 was admirably situated for a defensive posi- 
 tion, Omri was very successful in restoring 
 order and peace in the land, which is proved 
 by his dynasty remaining in power for four 
 generations. He was a wise ruler who did much 
 to bring about more friendly relations with 
 Judah. He was undoubtedly the ablest king 
 
80 The Old Testament: 
 
 that Israel had and his position somewhat re- 
 sembles that of David. He died in 877 B. C. 
 after a reign of ten years and was succeeded 
 by his son, Ahab. 
 
 As already stated Ahab married Jezebel, the 
 daughter of the king of Tyre, and thereby re- 
 verted to the policy of David and Solomon of 
 making alliances with adjoining states, and par- 
 ticularly with such an important trading center 
 as Tyre. He also somewhat resembled Solo- 
 mon in being splendor-loving and very fond of 
 extensive building. But Ahab was more of a 
 general than Solomon had been and showed 
 energy and enterprise in military operations. 
 
 In his policy towards Judah he pursued a 
 broad and liberal tendency and improved the 
 friendly relations which his father had initiated. 
 In fact the Judean kings had become vassals 
 of Israel and joined Ahab as well as his sons 
 in their wars. 
 
 As the Assyrians extended their conquests 
 towards the west, they began to exert consid- 
 erable pressure upon Damascus and this situa- 
 tion Ahab endeavored to utilize to free himself 
 from the overlordship of the powerful Aramean 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 81 
 
 state. He was soon involved in a series of 
 wars with Benhadad of Damascus and com- 
 pelled him to restore a number of cities which 
 had been captured from his father Omri. He 
 was lenient to his defeated foe, possibly as a 
 matter of policy. 
 
 From Assyrian inscriptions we learn that 
 Ahab fought side by side with Benhadad and a 
 number of princes against Shalmaneser II. at 
 Karkar in 854 B. C. The Assyrian king claims 
 to have defeated the combination, but the 
 victory could not have been decisive, for he 
 did not follow it up and Damascus and Israel 
 again found time to resume hostilities. It 
 seems Benhadad did not fully keep his promise 
 to restore certain cities, so that war was re- 
 sumed by Ahab. He was killed in battle and his 
 army deprived of its leader was defeated. This 
 occurred in 854 B. C. 
 
 After the death of Asa, King of Judah, in 
 873 B. C. his son Jehoshaphat ascended the 
 throne and went to Samaria to pay tribute to 
 the king of Israel. Later on cordial relations 
 between the two countries were still further 
 strengthened by the marriage of Jehoram of 
 
82 The Old Testament: 
 
 Judah, son of Jehoshaphat, to Athaliah, a 
 daughter of Ahab of Israel. After this the 
 court of Judah lost its individuality entirely and 
 aimed only to imitate the example of Israel. 
 
 Jehoshaphat showed much enterprise hoth 
 in his internal administration, as well as in his 
 foreign relations. He built cities, reorganized 
 the army, and, subdued some wild desert tribes 
 in the south, which again gave him access to the 
 sea. On the other hand the Edomites revolted 
 and elected their own king, which weakened the 
 little state still further. He died in 849, and his 
 son Jehoram who followed him reigned only 
 seven years, to 842 B. C. 
 
 Ahaziah, son Jehoram of Judah, had hardly 
 ascended the throne when he was murdered 
 by Jehu. 
 
 In the other kingdom on the death of Ahab 
 of Israel, his son Ahaziah ascended the throne, 
 but he was soon seriously injured by an acci- 
 dent and died within a year or two. His 
 brother, Jehoram of Israel, cousin of Jehoram 
 of Judah, succeeded him. While he endeavored 
 to continue his father ^s policy he did not pos- 
 sess his ability. Mesha, the King of Moab, re- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 83 
 
 belled and Jehoram with his vassals besieged 
 him in his capital. All seeming lost, Mesha in 
 desperation sacrificed his oldest son to his god 
 Chemosh in full view of the enemy, which pro- 
 duced such consternation among the Hebrew 
 army that it fled. This enabled Moab to finally 
 throw off the yoke of Israel and to make itself 
 independent. 
 
 A change of dynasty at Damascus, and the 
 threatening attitude of Assyria towards it, in- 
 duced Jehoram to make an effort to free him- 
 self from Aramean dominion and to recover 
 the territory he had lost. During the siege of 
 the town of Ramoth-Gilead he was seriously 
 woimded and removed to his residence at 
 Jezreel to recover. He entrusted the command 
 of the army to his chief general, Jehu. Shortly 
 thereafter, in 842 B. C. Jehu hastened to Jez- 
 reel and killed Jehoram and made himself king. 
 
 This event was of the greatest importance 
 not only to the political, but particularly to the 
 religious history of the nation. 
 
 The sons of the prophets whom we first met at 
 the time of Samuel and Saul, had become an es- 
 tablished institution and seemed to have formed 
 
84 The Old Testament: 
 
 a kind of guild. They either lived together in 
 groups or congregated about the sanctuaries, 
 and exhorted the people to the Jehovah wor- 
 ship by their ecstatic performances. They 
 also threw the holy lot, foretold events and by 
 similar contrivances made a precarious living 
 and do not seem to have exerted much influence. 
 But during the reign of Ahab a man ap- 
 peared, who while belonging to the class, was 
 of far higher intellectual and moral calibre. 
 This was the so-called prophet Elijah. He was 
 not one of the later prophets whose writings 
 we possess, but he was undoubtedly a real per- 
 son, although most all that is related of him 
 in the Old Testament is purely legendary. He 
 was a man who had preserved the rude sim- 
 plicity of the original Jehovah worship and 
 looked with horror upon the inroads the Pheni- 
 cian Baal cult had made upon it. He feared 
 that under a king like Ahab who had erected 
 a Baal temple for his wife Jezebel, and had 
 himself occasionally sacrificed at its altar, a 
 complete amalgamation might be effected. He 
 agitated and preached so powerfully that Ahab 
 COTold not prevent the people from meeting at 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 85 
 
 Mt. Carmel-and on that occasion from killing 
 all the priests of Baal that were present. The 
 result however was merely transitory, for 
 Jezebel retained her old power. Elijah had 
 some disciples among whom Elisha was his 
 favorite. 
 
 He was a man of high purpose and sterling 
 character and endeavored to impress his peo- 
 ple with the idea that Jehovah was a jealous 
 God, who permitted no other gods besides him. 
 Later legend describes him as a man so pure 
 that he is not allowed to die a natural death, 
 but that Jehovah had him ascend to Heaven in 
 a fiery chariot. 
 
 On his death Elisha becomes his successor 
 in the agitation for a rigid Jehovah worship. 
 Being less scrupulous than Elijah he thinks the 
 time has come for more drastic measures to 
 rid the state of the rule of the king Jehoram. 
 When he hears that the king is wounded, 
 Elisha sends a son of the prophets with some 
 oil to the camp at Ramoth-Gilead to anoint 
 Jehu and to proclaim him king. Whether there 
 was a previous understanding or not, Jehu ac- 
 cepts at once and secures the support of all his 
 
86 The Old Testament: 
 
 oflScers. Then in great haste he drives to Jez- 
 reel where he kills Jehoram and his cousin 
 Ahaziah of Jndah, and to complete his task 
 thoroughly he has Jezebel, all of Jehoram 's 
 children, relatives and adherents ruthlessly 
 massacred. To still further secure his ascend- 
 ancy he assembles all the priests of Baal under 
 the pretence of worship and has them killed. 
 
 When the Queen Mother Athaliah in Jerusa- 
 lem heard of these happenings, she feared Jehu 
 might also aspire to the throne of Judah. She 
 promptly has all her former husband's rela- 
 tives slaughtered and makes herself queen. 
 There was only one exception, her little grand- 
 son Joash, son of Ahaziah, who was concealed 
 by his aunt who had married the high priest 
 Jehoiada. Considering the times and the uni- 
 versal custom of blood revenge that prevailed, 
 which imposed it as a sacred duty upon the 
 nearest of kin to slay the murderer, we are not 
 astonished at such display of brutality. 
 
 These drastic measures terminated the Baal 
 services, but the Jehovah bull worship by which 
 it was replaced partook of many features of 
 idolatry. Still in one direction the revolution 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 87 
 
 produced permanent results by making Jehovah 
 supreme, no matter what the form of worship 
 might be, and by setting the Hebrew nation 
 apart as Jehovah's special people. The amal- 
 gamation with other gods became impossible 
 thereafter. 
 
 Preceding these events in Israel, Damascus 
 had gone through similar experiences. Benha- 
 dad the Second being ill was assassinated by 
 Hazael who usurped the throne. He was a man 
 of great energy and ability and showed these 
 qualities in coping with the Assyrians. Shal- 
 maneser the Second of Assyria defeated Hazael 
 and laid waste the land, and invested the city 
 of Damascus but could not capture it. After 
 another raid which was unsuccessful the Assy- 
 rians stayed away for probably thirty years 
 because they were kept busy by other wars. 
 This circumstance was utilized by Hazael to 
 renew hostilities with Jehu. When Hazael was 
 battling with the Assyrians, Jehu instead of 
 coming to his assistance, had together with 
 Tyre and Sidon paid tribute to Shalmaneser the 
 Second, as we learn from cuneiform inscrip- 
 tions on the Black Obelisk at London. Hazael 
 
88 The Old Testament: 
 
 partly in revenge for what he considered de- 
 sertion, attacked Jehu, captured a considerable 
 part of Israel and ravaged the territory mur- 
 dering and torturing the inhabitants in the 
 most cruel manner. He also invaded Judah and 
 Jerusalem only escaped by paying a heavy 
 tribute. 
 
 Jehu was succeeded by his son Jehoash in 
 815 B. C, who could not prevent the dominion 
 of Damascus to be still further extended over 
 Israel. Nearly the whole kingdom founded by 
 David was controlled by the Aramean power 
 and Jehoahaz was humiliated by being per- 
 mitted to keep an army of only fifty horsemen, 
 ten chariots and ten-thousand footmen. The old 
 enemies of the Hebrews, the Philistines, Moab- 
 ites, and Edomites took advantage of these con- 
 ditions to pillage, to plunder and to carry 
 off the defenseless inhabitants to slavery. 
 Drought, famine and pestilence did their share 
 to complete the desperate situation. Jehoahaz 
 died in 798 B. C. and his son Joash succeeded 
 him. 
 
 The little Hebrew state would undoubtedly 
 have succumbed to the rule of Damascus in a 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 89 
 
 short time if relief had not come. But Assyr- 
 ian inscriptions tell us that the new Assyrian 
 king Eammannirari again took up the policy 
 of western conquest. About 800 B. C, Tyre, 
 Sidon, Philistia and Edom were subjugated and 
 the Aramean kingdom overrun. Under this 
 favorable turn of affairs Joash became king and 
 he was able to recover a number of towns that 
 had previously been captured by Damascus. 
 
 His son Jeroboam II. succeeded him in 783 
 B. C. He again took possession of Moab and 
 Damascus was too weak to interfere. He ex- 
 tended his sway in every direction and as Judah 
 was also able to recover lost ground, and had 
 in reality become a vassal to Israel, the two 
 Hebrew kingdoms comprised nearly as much 
 territory as the original state of David. As the 
 Assyrians were too busy to pay any attention 
 to Israel, the tribute to them was discontinued 
 and Jeroboam II. felt and showed an independ- 
 ence not exhibited since the most prosperous 
 period of the Hebrew state. 
 
 In Judah the reign of Athaliah had been of 
 short duration. After six years, in 836 B. C. 
 a revolution was effected by her son-in-law 
 
90 The Old Testament: 
 
 Jehoiada, who had her killed and proclaimed 
 her grandson, Joash, king of Judah. 
 
 This movement was initiated and carried 
 out by the priesthood of Jehovah and not by the 
 prophets, as in Israel. They destroyed the Baal 
 temples and shrines and killed the Baal priests 
 and impressed upon the people their special 
 relation to Jehovah. 
 
 With Joash, the dynasty of David was rein- 
 stated, and owing his elevation to the priest- 
 hood, he was under their influence. He was a 
 weak and very insignificant person and his long 
 reign is devoid of interest. When Hazael of 
 Damascus threatened Jerusalem, Joash bought 
 him off by giving him all the treasure in the 
 palace and temple. He finally fell a victim to a 
 conspiracy of his servants in 797 B. C. He was 
 succeeded by his son Amaziah whose policy to- 
 wards the Jehovah worship was similar to that 
 of his father. While he was not directly ex- 
 posed to the attacks of Damascus as long as 
 the northern kingdom of Israel was able to 
 cope with it, still he felt that now when the 
 Arameans were kept busy by the Assyrians 
 he could act with more freedom- He attacked 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 91 
 
 Edom which had declared its independence of 
 Judah and reconquered it. He also recovered 
 other territory, so that his sway again extended 
 to the sea and opened valuable trade routes for 
 his people. These successes seem to have made 
 him overestimate his power and his ability, for 
 he challenged his cousin Joash of Israel. At 
 the battle of Bethshemesh he was deserted by 
 his army and woefully defeated. Joash cap- 
 tured Jerusalem, destroyed a part of the walls 
 of the city, carried off the treasure and took 
 hostages with him. Amaziah, like his father 
 became the victim of a conspiracy. He was 
 succeeded by his son, Azariah, or TJzziah in 
 779 B. C. 
 
 During the period we are now describing, 
 beginning with 780 B. C. the Hebrew state 
 under Jeroboam of Israel and Azariah of Judah 
 attained a very high degree of prosperity. The 
 original invading tribes had been nomads, then 
 shepherds and finally settled down as agricul- 
 turists on a small scale. There was no manu- 
 facturing industry, but the Canaanites had been 
 somewhat of a trading people and with their 
 absorption the Hebrews also began to engage 
 
92 The Old Testament : 
 
 in it. While they occupied a part of the coast 
 on the Mediterranean they did not have a single 
 harbor in that direction and their maritime 
 ventures were confined to the Red Sea whenever 
 they had access to it, as now. On the other hand 
 most important trade routes traversed the land, 
 connecting Egypt with the Persian Gulf, with 
 Phenicia and Damascus and allowing caravans 
 to carry on a lucrative trade. These very ad- 
 vantages, however, were the cause of many 
 wars by Damascus as well as by Egypt to 
 control them. But worst of all the little state 
 formed the connecting link between the Ara- 
 mean and Phenician territory and Egypt, and 
 made its possession a necessity to the aggres- 
 sive conquering Assyrian power in its desire to 
 control these countries. 
 
 Now when war had ceased for the time and 
 order was restored in the internal administra- 
 tion, the natural resources of the land soon 
 brought about a considerable degree of pros- 
 perity. But the results of the long wars upon 
 the economic and social status of the people 
 could not be obliterated so quickly. Conditions 
 had been created that were of great danger to 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 93 
 
 the social order. Conquest of neighboring 
 states was always connected with plunder and 
 it went to enrich the military leaders and the 
 favored classes. The great body of the people 
 had furnished the soldiers, of whom many had 
 been killed or maimed, and left the masses im- 
 poverished and living in wretchedness and 
 misery. While the state was a monarchy its 
 social constitution had remained democratic. 
 The tribal organization and the elders that rep- 
 resented it wielded much influence and there 
 was no feudal system or any hereditary nobility 
 of any consequence. But the wars had under- 
 mined the economic and with it the social struc- 
 ture. The small landowners could no longer 
 sustain themselves and the rich adventurers 
 acquired large tracts of land. The sudden ac- 
 cumulation of great wealth in the hands of the 
 few brought with it luxury, extravagance and 
 a degree of immorality that threatened to wreck 
 society. Under these conditions a new order 
 of prophets arose who had nothing in common 
 with the so-called sons of the prophets, but who 
 pointed out in scathing terms the prevalence of 
 an amount of corruption and vice that would 
 
94 The Old Testament : 
 
 lead to the utter destruction of the state if not 
 remedied. 
 
 We have seen how Elijah and Elisha in their 
 zeal and enthusiasm for Jehovah had brought 
 about the reaction or revolution through which 
 the Baal cult was extirpated. They were men 
 of purity of character with strong faith in their 
 conviction, but their conception of the attri- 
 butes of Jehovah did not rise above the old 
 ideas of monolatry. Within a century, how- 
 ever, about the middle of the eighth century, 
 men appear who fully realize the critical con- 
 dition of society and who by word of mouth and 
 in writing preach in a tone and in a spirit so 
 exalted, so inspiring and so advanced, that 
 their advent must be considered epoch-making. 
 Their importance is generally recognized, but 
 while the opinions of critics very nearly coin- 
 cide as to the course of development of the 
 Hebrew people and their religion up to this 
 period, somewhat divergent views are held 
 about the origin and the construction of the 
 writings of the prophets. None of them have 
 come down to us in their original form and 
 the problem arises to determine what passages 
 
Its Origin and Meaning, 95 
 
 and what parts may he additions, alterations 
 or interpolations due to copyists or editors of 
 mncli later times. The difficulty of the subject 
 is further complicated by the standpoint from 
 which it is viewed. Critics with a theological 
 bias quite naturally incline to ascribe a divine 
 inspiration to the opinions and acts of the 
 prophets, while they do not insist upon such in- 
 fluences previous to this period. The historical 
 school on the other hand, examines every record 
 in connection with this subject with the same 
 freedom and desire to ascertain the true course 
 of events, that it applies to every human occur- 
 rence. We shall endeavor here to present the 
 subject as construed by these purely historical 
 methods. 
 
 We meet the first of the prophets in Amos, 
 a herdsman born in Tekoa five miles south of 
 Bethlehem in Judah. He goes to the royal 
 sanctuary at Beth-el in Israel and addresses, 
 the people Avith an impetuosity and a frank- 
 ness that startles the high-priest, who advises 
 him to escape and to make his living by his 
 regular profession of prophet. The sons of 
 the prophets here meant were looked upon with 
 
96 The Old Testament : 
 
 contempt as either sycophants or excitable half- 
 mad fanatics. He replies that he is not a 
 prophet by profession nor by descent, but that 
 he is a herdsman and dresser of fig-trees and 
 that Jehovah has called him to his mission. 
 His prediction of the fall of the dynasty and his 
 open attack on social conditions makes his posi- 
 tion untenable and he is compelled to flee to 
 Jerusalem where he probably met a circle of 
 faithful adherents of the Jehovah worship and 
 from where most likely his appeals were dis- 
 seminated in written form. 
 
 The essence of his sermons consists in point- 
 ing out the immoral social conditions that pre- 
 vailed and the oppression and extortion of the 
 poor. He says ^' Ye trample upon the poor and 
 take exaction from them ; ye have built houses 
 of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; 
 ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall 
 not drink the wine thereof. Ye that afl&ict the 
 just, that take a bribe, and that turn aside the 
 needy in the gate from their right,'' He as- 
 serts *^ The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall 
 no more rise : she is cast down upon her land ; 
 there is none to raise her up.'' 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 97 
 
 There are a number of prophecies as to coun- 
 tries that the Lord will punish, giving the im- 
 pression as though Jehovah were a God of the 
 Universe. Nevertheless and while he has 
 chosen Israel as his special people, he will for 
 that very reason punish them more severely 
 than others. These latter passages are consid- 
 ered by many critics as additions and interpola- 
 tions of a much later period. It seems indeed 
 most unlikely that he could have held pro- 
 nounced ideas of a monotheistic character, but 
 the great advance that he introduced in that 
 direction is the overwhelming stress he lays 
 upon morality and that he specially emphasizes 
 Righteousness as the lundamental attribute of 
 Jehovah. As a man of clear vision he foresaw 
 that the struggle with Assyria while postponed 
 was sure to come, and that the little Hebrew 
 state must succumb unless all the moral forces 
 were rallied to withstand the onslaught. Such 
 a general reform however was impossible at 
 the time, for the moral decay was probably 
 hardly perceptible to the average man and the 
 state seemed more prosperous than ever. This 
 very prosperity was construed as a sign that 
 
98 The Old Testament: 
 
 Jehovah approved of his people and as long 
 as sacrifices were brought and other ceremonial 
 observed Jehovah could not permit them to be 
 destroyed. 
 
 But when the very able and long reign of 
 Jeroboam II. ended in 743 B. C. the scene 
 changed quickly. His son, Zechariah, who suc- 
 ceeded him was killed after six months through 
 a conspiracy headed by Shellum, who again was 
 slain within a month by Menaham, military gov- 
 ernor of Tirzah. He retained his power only 
 by the most brutal methods of suppression of 
 all opposition. In his foreign policy he became 
 a vassal of Tiglath-pileser III. of Assyria and 
 paid him tribute. 
 
 The dynasty of Jehu had continued about 
 100 years and its fall was due besides other 
 internal conditions, to the struggle for su- 
 premacy of different parties favoring alliances 
 with either Assyria, Damascus or Egypt. With 
 the accession of Menahem the Assyrian party 
 had gained control. Tiglath-pileser III. was a 
 mighty conqueror and by 738 B. C. he had oc- 
 cupied much territory north of Israel and al- 
 most stood at its borders. Menahem died after 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 99 
 
 six years in 737 B. C. and his son Pekahiah who 
 followed him was killed within a year or two 
 by Pekah, a captain of his army, probably about 
 735 B. C. This led to the ascendancy of the 
 anti-Assyrian party. The impending struggle 
 was between the two great powers of Assyria 
 and Egypt and the control of Canaan was de- 
 sired by both of them. It was constantly a game 
 of intrigue and war. 
 
 The smaller states felt the terrible extortion 
 and oppression of Assyria and growing des- 
 perate they thought their only hope lay in com- 
 bining against Assyria and relying upon the 
 promised support of Egypt. Many however 
 considered such a step most dangerous, having 
 little faith in either the strength of Egypt or 
 its reliability in case of need. Among the op- 
 ponents of such an alliance was Hosea, the only 
 prophet that came from the northern kingdom 
 of Israel. He had married a wife that proved 
 faithless to him, but such was his love for her 
 that he took her back again. This personal 
 experience he applied figuratively to the rela- 
 tion between Jehovah and his people. While 
 they have deserted him he still loves them so 
 
100 The Old Testament : 
 
 that after their deserved punishment he will 
 take them back into his favor again. 
 
 While Amos dwelt principally upon social 
 and political conditions, the extortion and op- 
 pression of the people, the absence of justice 
 and emphasized the righteousness of Jehovah, 
 Hosea lays stress upon the religious aspect and 
 Jehovah's love for his people. He says, ** For 
 the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabi- 
 tants of the land, because there is no truth, nor 
 mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. . . . 
 For I desire mercy and not sacrifices : and the 
 knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. 
 They have dealt treacherously against me — 
 and as the troops of robbers wait for a man, 
 so the company of priests murder in the way 
 towards Shechem. . . . Yet I am the Lord, thy 
 God, from the land of Egypt: and thou shalt 
 know no God but me." 
 
 But Hosea was not a simple countryman like 
 Amos, for he showed himself a man of the world 
 who seemed well versed in the intrigues at court 
 and the current political talk of his time. Again 
 he says, ** And Ephraim (Israel) is like a silly 
 dove, without understanding: they call unto 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 101 
 
 Egypt, they go to Assyria; and they make a 
 covenant with Assyria and oil is carried into 
 Egypt," 
 
 He foresees the inevitable destruction of the 
 kingdom and hopes for the rehabilitation of his 
 people by Jehovah after their chastisement. 
 He does not always speak in the direct open 
 manner of Amos. He is often allegorical and 
 much of his writing is obscure. No doubt the 
 text is intermixed with much foreign matter, 
 some of a very late date. 
 
 The preaching of the two prophets probably 
 had little effect upon their contemporaries, but 
 their efforts were not in vain for they exerted 
 great influence upon the religious development 
 of their people. 
 
 Under Pekah in 734 B, C. the time seemed 
 favorable for shaking off the Assyrian yoke be- 
 cause Tiglath-pileser III. was engaged in the 
 East. This could only be accomplished by a 
 combination of the smaller states, and Israel, 
 Damascus and some Philistine cities were 
 united, but Judah would not join them. The 
 allies attacked its territory to compel its ad- 
 hesion to their union and after ravaging the 
 
102 The Old Testament : 
 
 land they invested Jerusalem. Before they 
 could capture it Tiglath-pileser had arrived in 
 Canaan. He occupied a large part of the north- 
 ern territory of Israel, then hurried south to 
 cut off all possibility of Egyptian aid. Jerusa- 
 lem being relieved he completed the subjuga- 
 tion of all his opponents. The larger part of 
 Israel was placed under Assyrian governors. 
 The king Pekah was killed and the Israelite 
 Ho shea was appointed in his stead over what 
 remained of the kingdom, probably as a reward 
 for his treachery. Damascus, parts of Philistia 
 and Arabia were all incorporated into the 
 Assyrian empire. The results of the war were 
 the virtual extinction of Israel, while Judah had 
 only preserved its nominal independence by its 
 refusal to join the coalition. 
 
 During the reign of Hoshea of Samaria a 
 change of dynasty had occurred in Egypt and 
 the new pharaoh again held out promises to 
 him if he would rebel against Assyria. Shal- 
 maneser IV. successor of Tiglath-pileser seemed 
 to be apprised of this and at once invaded 
 Samaria, defeated the army and made Hoshea 
 a prisoner. The city of Samaria was too 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 103 
 
 strong to be taken by assault and was besieged 
 for three years before it surrendered in 722 
 B. C. Shalmaneser died before this was ac- 
 complished and his successor Sargon continued 
 his policy with the same vigor and unrelenting 
 severity. We read in cuneiform inscriptions 
 that 27,290 inhabitants were sent into captivity, 
 mostly into the province of Mesopotamia. 
 These captives consisted chiefly of the wealthy 
 ruling classes and the military and priestly 
 leaders. Here they were surrounded by a peo- 
 ple of Aramean stock, closely related to them 
 in speech and habit and no doubt were soon 
 completely amalgamated with them. Later on 
 another colony was planted among the Medes. 
 All that has been written about the ten lost 
 tribes is utterly meaningless for there were no 
 lost tribes. The great bulk of the Israelites 
 remained in their country. In the northern 
 part which was afterwards called Galilee, the 
 population had offered little resistance to the 
 Assyrian rule and consequently they were not 
 disturbed and none were transported. In Sa- 
 maria on the other hand the struggle was bitter 
 and stubborn and the leading families were 
 
104 The Old Testament: 
 
 carried off. These gaps in the population were 
 filled by captives of all kinds of people that were 
 brought from different parts of the empire. In 
 course of time they became merged and while 
 many gods were worshiped the cult of Jehovah 
 predominated. After the exile this heterogene- 
 ous mixture of people did not readily accept 
 the new laws brought by the returning Jews 
 from Babylon and relations were often strained. 
 The population of Galilee, however being more 
 homogeneous, had never deserted the Jehovah 
 cult and aflBliated with the returned exiles more 
 easily. 
 
IV. 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH TO THE DES- 
 TRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 TuENiNG now to the kingdom of Judah we 
 last spoke of the accession of Uzziah in 779 B. 
 C. He was a youth of sixteen, but possessed 
 of great energy and marked ability, so that his 
 reign was probably the most successful since 
 the division of the kingdom. His territory was 
 extended in every direction, securing access to 
 the sea, promoting and stimulating commerce 
 and bringing about a period of exceptional pros- 
 perity. He had suffered from leprosy for a 
 long time and died in 740 B. C. His son Jotham 
 who had been co-regent with his father on 
 account of his sickness survived him by only 
 about four years. 
 
 Ahaz, who followed, had to face the coalition 
 under Israel that was determined to compel 
 him to join them in opposition to Assyria. 
 There were divided opinions in the city, many 
 
 105 
 
106 The Old Testament : 
 
 favoring support of the allies. Isaiah the great 
 prophet, was a young man when these differ- 
 ences arose. Quite apart from his religious 
 mission of which we will speak presently, he 
 was a man of great political insight and fore- 
 sight, well informed generally and thoroughly 
 acquainted with conditions at court. He en- 
 deavored to persuade the king to keep aloof 
 from all alliances, to defy the coalition, but not 
 to appeal to Assyria. He foresaw the destruc- 
 tion of Israel, but did not wish Judah to become 
 an abject vassal of Assyria. But Ahaz was 
 cowardly and self-indulgent and sent a message 
 to Tiglath-pileser at Damascus when the war 
 had virtually obliterated the kingdom of Israel. 
 After the division of the Hebrew state into 
 two kingdoms, Judah had fallen behind the 
 larger and more progressive northern state. 
 Its population was almost entirely agricultural 
 and it retained much of its primitive simplicity 
 of manners and customs. But after the last 
 successful and prosperous reigns with access to 
 the sea and increased commerce, conditions be- 
 gan to approximate those of Israel. The picture 
 of social and economic extravagance and decay 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 107 
 
 drawn by the prophets Isaiah and Micah, re- 
 sembles the descriptions of Israel made by the 
 northern prophets Amos and Hosea. 
 
 The appearance of the prophetic school, its 
 work and its influences, is probably the most 
 remarkable and most important event in the 
 history of the Hebrew people and deserves 
 special consideration. As it led to monotheism, 
 the Messianic expectation, the formation of the 
 Jewish religion and ultimately to Christianity, 
 it has a potent bearing upon our present civili- 
 zation. 
 
 The bands of the so-called sons of the proph- 
 ets that we first met under Samuel and Saul 
 were fanatics that were found around shrines 
 and sanctuaries and harangued the people in be- 
 half of the traditional Jehovah worship. They 
 were also soothsayers that foretold all sorts of 
 events, somewhat like modern fortune-tellers 
 and claimed to divulge the views of Jehovah. 
 They grew in numbers and formed a kind of 
 guild that was not respected. At the time of 
 Elijah they prophesied and were at times con- 
 sulted by kings, but in such cases were mere 
 sycophants simply wishing to gain royal favor. 
 
108 The Old Testament : 
 
 Both Elijah and Elisha were in some way 
 affiliated with them, but were men of an entirely 
 different stamp, being imbued with seriousness 
 of poirpose and displaying a conviction and 
 fervor in their Jehovah worship that was 
 in glaring contrast with these professional 
 agitators. 
 
 Within about a century after Elijah we see 
 the great men arise that are called the true 
 prophets. They seem to have appeared sud- 
 denly and spontaneously, no intermediate steps 
 or gradual development being known. This is 
 particularly remarkable as their views and 
 teaching are revolutionary. It was not their 
 vocation to foretell events as popidarly as- 
 sumed, but they expressed opinions as to what 
 would happen to the people, based upon their 
 knowledge of affairs and their sound judgment. 
 In these they were often correct, at other times 
 they were mistaken. They never stooped to 
 petty affairs, but often foretold in the form of 
 visions what would befall the nation if it per- 
 sisted in its social, moral and religious in- 
 iquities. These were the greed and oppression 
 of the poor, the injustice of the mighty and the 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 109 
 
 reversion to worship and to rites that were 
 deemed idolatrous. Their significance is to be 
 found chiefly in that, while still retaining the 
 ancient notion that Jehovah was the mere tribal 
 God of Israel who had specially favored their 
 nation, they ascribed such attributes of Right- 
 eousness, Justice and Moral Grandeur to him 
 that the final step to monotheism, a belief in a 
 god that is the creator of the whole universe, 
 was inevitable. 
 
 When we examine these writings in detail 
 however we find great difficulties in determin- 
 ing the authors and the dates of the different 
 parts. The Book of Isaiah as it has come down 
 to us, criticism shows not to be the work of 
 one man but really a collection of writings of 
 different authors, or reports of them, extend- 
 ing over many centuries. At first sight this 
 seems very strange but it becomes quite clear 
 on closer inspection of the circumstances. The 
 prophets delivered their orations or sermons to 
 the people and no doubt repeated them with 
 variations at different times. For these they 
 may have made notes that were preserved or 
 their followers and admirers wrote them down 
 
110 The Old Testament t 
 
 from memory. These versions no doubt differed 
 and through repeated copying underwent many 
 changes. But that is the smallest part of the 
 difficulty. It was the universal custom of the 
 time when literary activity was restricted, for 
 any person who wished to gain the attention 
 of contemporaries to write under the name of 
 some recognized authority. But besides this 
 practice, during the exile and the centuries fol- 
 lowing priests, scribes and prophets combined 
 and intentionally rewrote and edited most of 
 the Old Testament literature with the object of 
 inculcating religious views that were dear to 
 them. This need not be looked upon as neces- 
 sarily pious fraud, but rather that they had 
 lost all historical connection and imagined that 
 the beliefs they then held must have prevailed 
 at all times in Israel. 
 
 In Isaiah modern critics discover at least 
 three well distinguishable strata, besides many 
 smaller interpolations and additions. They are 
 now known as the original Isaiah, Deutero- 
 Isaiah, (second) and Trito-Isaiah, (third). 
 Deutero-Isaiah is assumed to have been written 
 in the sixth century B. C. in Babylonia, and the 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. Ill 
 
 third probably in the course of several follow- 
 ing centuries, the work having received its 
 final present shape at a very late date. To show 
 in detail how these results of criticism have been 
 attained is of course impossible in a short out- 
 line, while in their substance they are very gen- 
 erally accepted. 
 
 The message of Isaiah is similar to that of 
 Amos and Hosea. He says, '* To what purpose 
 is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? " 
 saith the Lord : * * I am full of burnt offerings of 
 rams, and the fat of fed beasts ; and I delight not 
 in the blood of bullocks or of lambs, or of he- 
 goats. Wash you, make you clean ; put away the 
 evil of your doings from before mine eyes ; cease 
 to do evil: — relieve the oppressed, judge the 
 fatherless, plead for the widow. — The princes 
 are rebellious and companions of thieves ; 
 everyone loveth gifts, and follows after re- 
 ward: and it shall come to pass in the latter 
 days that the mountain of the Lord's house 
 shall be established in the top of the moun- 
 tains, — the Lord of Hosts, which dwelleth in 
 Mount Zion— the land is also full of idols; they 
 
112 The Old Testament: 
 
 worship the work of their own hands, that 
 which their own fingers have made.'' 
 
 Now the idols mentioned here were not im- 
 ages of foreign gods but talismans, amulets, 
 family idols and various representations of 
 Jehovah that had been worshiped at all times, 
 but were now repugnant to the prophet's ele- 
 vated views. Still it will be seen he held to the 
 conception that Jehovah dwelt in the temple. 
 Formerly he had been present at all shrines and 
 sanctuaries in Palestine, but after the destruc- 
 tion of the northern kingdom his permanent 
 abode was in Jerusalem. 
 
 Isaiah also indulges in prophecies that 
 Jehovah would punish his guilty people, that 
 Assyria had been chosen as the tool to execute 
 his wrath and that after the chastisement the 
 purified remnant could look forward to a 
 glorious future. 
 
 Micha, a contemporary of Isaiah, lived in 
 Judah and preached in a similar vein. 
 
 The chief weakness of the criticism brought 
 forward by all the four prophets of which we 
 have spoken lies in their position towards re- 
 ligion. They point out the grossness of the 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 113 
 
 prevailing cult and exalt moral actions above 
 mere ceremonial, but they do not indicate of 
 what the true worship should consist. Moral 
 ideas cannot take the place of sacrifice and 
 ceremonial among a people in the stage of de- 
 velopment of the Hebrews at that time. And in 
 this connection it must occur to the attentive 
 reader that there is no allusion whatsoever to 
 any standard, to any revelation, nor to the great 
 leader and prophet Moses or to any Mosaic 
 laws. This is incontrovertible proof that at this 
 time such belief did not as yet exist. The 
 prophets could never be popular, on the con- 
 trary, they often aroused people and rulers to 
 anger. Their influence was not immediate, but 
 still it produced an undercurrent of thought 
 that prevailed ultimately. 
 
 Isaiah's activity extended over 52 years, 
 from about 740 to 688 B. C. He was a man of 
 such commanding ability and of such high social 
 standing that in great political crises his advice 
 could not be easily ignored. He tried to dis- 
 suade the king Ahaz from appealing to the 
 Assyrians, but was not successful. Judah then 
 became a vassal. But the fall of Samaria in 
 
114 The Old Testament: 
 
 722 B. C. made a deep impression upon the 
 people. 
 
 Ahaz died in 720 and was succeeded hy his 
 son Hezekiah. During his reign the oppressive 
 yoke of Assyria led the petty states of Palestine 
 to conspire with neighboring states to free 
 themselves. In Judah a party was formed to 
 seek the support of Egypt. Isaiah, who had 
 opposed the appeal to Assyria in 734 now 
 strenuously argued against any alliance and 
 counselled quiet and abstention from all dem- 
 onstration. But he was overruled and Judah 
 joined the revolting states. 
 
 The new Assyrian king, SennacTierib, moved 
 with great celerity, defeated Phenicia, then the 
 Philistines and finally an Egyptian army that 
 had come to their aid. He occupied 46 towns 
 in Judah and at last summoned Jerusalem to 
 surrender. In this desperate situation Isaiah 
 counselled confidence in Jehovah who wished to 
 punish his people but would never allow the 
 Assyrians to capture the city of his abode and 
 advised to hold out. At this juncture, the 
 Egyptian king, Tirhakah, advanced and Sen- 
 nacherib marched to meet him, but on the 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 115 
 
 borders of Egypt he suddenly turned back and 
 withdrew altogether. The causes for this unex- 
 pected move are not definitely known, but are 
 supposed to be due to the outbreak of the 
 plague. Naturally this result was construed as 
 vindicating the power of Jehovah and Isaiah 
 and the prophetic party rose in estimation and 
 influence. This was in 701 B. C. The effect 
 upon Hezekiah was that he instituted a few re- 
 forms by destroying some of the images and 
 prohibiting certain features of the cult. How- 
 ever, with the accession of his son Manasseh in 
 685 B. C. a great religious reaction set in. 
 
 The zeal of the prophetic party and the in- 
 fluence of Isaiah had carried the reforms under 
 Hezekiah. The chief argument had been the 
 deliverance by Jehovah of Jerusalem in 701, 
 which had been foretold by Isaiah. But as the 
 tyranny of Assyria continued and a heavy trib- 
 ute was steadily exacted, the force of such 
 reasoning wore off. With the accession of the 
 new king, Manasseh, the inevitable reaction be- 
 gan. The prophetic view of Jehovah was too 
 elevated for popular appreciation, the desire to 
 return to old superstitions and beliefs again as^ 
 
116 The Old Testament: 
 
 serted itself and was strengthened by the influx 
 of new ideas and forms of worship derived from 
 Assyria. It was seen that while the city had 
 been saved, Jehovah was not strong enough to 
 free them from Assyrian rule and that the As- 
 syrian gods who helped their people to conquer 
 in every direction must be far more powerful. 
 Not only were the reformatory measures of 
 Hezekiah revoked, but the worship of foreign 
 gods was introduced into the temple. According 
 to the Book of Kings even human sacrifices were 
 brought to Moloch in the valley of Hinnom south 
 of Jerusalem. The Babylonian star worship 
 also found many adherents and altars were 
 erected to the sun and moon. Under such con- 
 ditions the prophetic party was not only help- 
 less but was persecuted and the writer of the 
 Book of Kings charges Manasseh with having 
 *' shed innocent blood very much." 
 
 But during his long reign of 43 years, taken 
 all in all, the people seem to have been prosper- 
 ous and quiet. Since the prophets were not 
 allowed to speak, our records of the period are 
 very meager. 
 
 In his foreign policy Manasseh was rather 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 117 
 
 fortunate. He saw it was useless to oppose 
 Assyria and he submitted in good faith. As- 
 syrian power continued to grow and not only 
 Sidon and Tyre, but even Egypt succumbed, 
 Thebes having been captured in 657. During 
 such a state of affairs there could be no 
 Egyptian party in Judah. 
 
 Manasseh died in 642 B. C. and his son Amon 
 only ruled two years when he was slain by a 
 conspiracy of his nobles. The populace was 
 enraged at this and killed the guilty parties. 
 Amon's son Josiah, a child eight years old, 
 ascended the throne about 639 B, C. 
 
 While the prophetic party could not assert it- 
 self publicly it must have worked secretly and 
 probably at this period began to cooperate with 
 the priesthood. The clergy was always power- 
 ful in Judah, their position in the temple at 
 Jerusalem and their relations with the mon- 
 archy giving them a standing they never at- 
 tained in the northern kingdom. At length the 
 prophetic teachings must have impressed the 
 more intelligent and more patriotic among them 
 and the evident danger that the national 
 Jehovah worship might be entirely submerged, 
 
118 The Old Testament: 
 
 inclined them to joint action with the reform 
 party. By 627 B. C. the prophets again began 
 to appear in public and to urge their cause. 
 Among these Zephaniah must be mentioned 
 and above all Jeremiah, a man of the highest 
 character who attained a commanding in- 
 fluence. The high-priest Hilkiah was his 
 friend and must have supported the movement 
 in secret at least. 
 
 At length these preparations culminated in 
 an act of the utmost significance. In 621 the 
 high-priest Hilkiah claimed to have found the 
 Book of the Law in the Temple and it was 
 brought to the king by his messenger. After 
 examining it and having it verified by a proph- 
 etess as being really inspired by Jehovah, he 
 called all the people together in the temple and 
 read it to them. The King and all the people 
 then made a covenant that they would keep 
 the commandments prescribed therein. 
 
 This book, all critics are agreed, must have 
 consisted of the chapters XII to XXVI of the 
 fifth book of Moses, now known as Deuter- 
 onomy. The main stress is laid upon the de- 
 struction of all shrines, sanctuaries and high 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 119 
 
 places outside of Jerusalem and the prohibi- 
 tion of all idolatrous practices, Jehovah being 
 the only God that may be worshiped and all 
 sacrifices are restricted to the temple at Jerus- 
 alem. To make Israel a holy people before the 
 Lord, prescriptions about clean and unclean 
 are given. There are also many most humane 
 regulations, like the freeing of all slaves at the 
 end of every six years, and charitable provi- 
 sions for the poor. While the main purpose is 
 the prevention of idolatrous practices and the 
 concentration of all worship in the temple, a 
 complete code of religious laws is also pre- 
 scribed. With these innovations are embodied 
 provisions of old customs and usages that had 
 been preserved orally as coming from the old 
 leader and law-giver Moses. The spirit animat- 
 ing the document, however, is that of the proph- 
 ets, but modified by the advice of the priest- 
 hood to prescribe a fixed religious code, as the 
 surest method to keep the Jehovah worship 
 intact and separate from all possible contamina- 
 tion. 
 
 The king, Josiah, immediately proceeded to 
 carry out the necessary measures with great 
 
120 The Old Testament : 
 
 vigor. He destroyed all the sanctuaries and 
 shrines outside of Jerusalem and invited the 
 priests to accept subordinate positions at the 
 temple. He also extirpated and prohibited all 
 idolatrous rites and ceremonies. 
 
 The effect of these changes upon the habits 
 and the social life of the people outside of 
 Jerusalem was very great. Sacrifices and re- 
 ligious rites had formed a part of their daily 
 life. No animal was killed and used for food 
 before it was sacrificed and a part offered to 
 the Deity, No priest was required, anybody 
 could officiate in that capacity. Every such 
 occasion became a kind of family festival to 
 which friends were often invited. This was for- 
 bidden now and for religious rites only prayers, 
 either individually or in synagogues, were sub- 
 stituted. The command that every person 
 should go to Jerusalem for the three great 
 festivals and sacrifice at the temple could apply 
 to a limited number only. The change was more 
 than a reform, it was a revolution. It led in- 
 evitably to monotheism and to the formation 
 of a church with fixed written laws and com- 
 mands. Jeremiah and the prophets preached 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 121 
 
 and agitated for the new measures and out- 
 wardly at least they seemed to have been 
 enforced. 
 
 The introduction of these innovations had 
 been helped by the changed international situa- 
 tion. Wild hordes of the Scythians from 
 the Black Sea overran western Asia. They 
 menaced the Modes and the Assyrians. This 
 danger together with other difficulties pre- 
 vented the Assyrians from enforcing their 
 rigid rule in Judah. Josiah probably did not 
 pay a tribute and was enabled to extend his 
 power into a considerable part of the former 
 kingdom of Israel. It was a period of pros- 
 perity and of a wide intellectual activity and 
 the faith in Jehovah was thereby considerably 
 enhanced. 
 
 In Assyria a change of dynasty had occurred. 
 The Chaldean Nabopolassar had ascended the 
 throne in 625 B. C. and had become successor to 
 the Assyrian empire. While the new monarch 
 was surrounded by many difficulties, Necho, the 
 pharaoh of Egypt, thought the time opportune 
 to attack him, to wrest some of his territory 
 from him. He marched along the Mediter- 
 
122 The Old Testament : 
 
 ranean towards Syria. While he did not enter 
 Judah he had to cross parts of Israel which 
 were now controlled by Josiah and the latter re- 
 fused to let him pass. A battle was fought at 
 Megiddo where the Judean army was utterly 
 routed and Josiah himself was slain in 608 B. C. 
 What prompted Josiah to attempt such a fool- 
 hardy step was probably the fear, that barely 
 released from the Assyrian yoke he might fall 
 under Egyptian control and also overconfidence 
 created by the conviction that Jehovah would 
 not desert his people, now that they had com- 
 plied with his commands. But the death of 
 Josiah was a severe blow to the reform party. 
 Necho appointed the younger son of Josiah, 
 Eliakin, as king, named him Jehoiakim and 
 made him his vassal. He proved a pleasure- 
 loving, ostentatious despot, who tried to imitate 
 the larger luxurious courts of the orient. Under 
 him the reaction that had been preparing at- 
 tained full sway. The people were not ripe for 
 such radical changes as had been forced upon 
 them and the defeat by Necho proved to them 
 that Jehovah was not as powerful as the 
 prophetic party had claimed. All the old forms 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 123 
 
 of idolatry were resumed, at least in private. 
 On the other hand most of the reform party per- 
 sisted with remarkable shortsightedness in their 
 narrow view. They thought that now since the 
 service at the temple was conducted according 
 to the commands of Jehovah, he would not allow 
 his people to be destroyed, and they also 
 entirely misunderstood the international situa- 
 tion. Only Jeremiah supported by some minor 
 prophets, and with a limited following, had the 
 courage and the judgment to warn against the 
 prevailing folly. 
 
 Within four years the situation changed. 
 Nebuchadnezzar, son of the Chaldean king, 
 Nabopolassar, met Necho in battle at Carchem- 
 ish and defeated him in 604 B. C. His 
 father's death compelled him to return to 
 Babylon and he did not enter Syria until about 
 600 B. C. During this interval, Jeremiah fore- 
 seeing the inevitable doom of his people, boldly 
 told them that they as well as the other neigh- 
 boring nations would feel the chastisement of 
 Jehovah. He warned them that their con- 
 fidence, based upon the idea that Jehovah would 
 not permit his temple and his city to be de- 
 
124 The Old Testament: 
 
 stroyed, was an illusion. His open and bold 
 counsel probably contributed to accepting 
 Chaldean overlordship for a time at least. 
 But Jeremiah was most unpopular for always 
 prophesying disaster and constantly attacking 
 idolatrous practices and was persecuted and for 
 a time had to hide to escape death. At length 
 in 597 Jehoiakim took the final step of revolt 
 and the smaller adjoining states instead of as- 
 sisting him, began to invade his territory. At 
 this juncture Jehoiakim died and his eighteen 
 year old son succeeded him under the name of 
 Jehoiakim. But his reign lasted only a very 
 short time for the king and the court sur- 
 rendered at once to the Chaldeans when they 
 proceeded to invest the city in 597 B. C. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar adhered to the policy of the 
 Assyrians and deported the king with seven 
 thousand trained warriors, one thousand ar- 
 tisans and probably two thousand of the priest- 
 hood, nobility and other educated classes, so 
 that including women, children and slaves the 
 number may have reached 30,000 to 40,000. As 
 they were given time to dispose of their lands 
 and other property and to prepare for the re- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 125 
 
 moval, the act was not specially harsh, consider- 
 ing the custom of the period. 
 
 As the ablest and best citizens had been re- 
 moved, those that remained, necessarily con- 
 sisted largely of the least efficient, the most 
 ignorant and more depraved classes. At first 
 they considered themselves as being better than 
 the exiles, because these had been selected for 
 punishment by Jehovah. It was not an easy 
 task to keep the unruly mass in order. Nebu- 
 chadnezzar appointed a younger son of Josiah 
 as king and named him Zedekiah. Unfortu- 
 nately he had neither the character nor the 
 ability to perform such a difficult duty prop- 
 erly. Instead of being sobered by disaster 
 the people became more turbulent, the strife 
 of the parties increased and the reactionaries 
 carried everything before them. Many lost 
 faith in Jehovah and returned to the old 
 superstitions. They were encouraged by the 
 false prophets who foretold that within two 
 years Jehovah would destroy the power of 
 Babylon and restore their independence. Their 
 arguments were as plausible as those of 
 
126 The Old Testament: 
 
 Jeremiah and his school, and certainly more 
 cheering. 
 
 Finally in 588 B. C. the vassal kings of Moab 
 and Ammon in Palestine and the king of Tyre 
 urged the king Zedekiah to join them in a league 
 with Egypt to overthrow the Chaldean rule. 
 Thereupon Judah refused to pay tribute and 
 Nebuchadnezzar acting promptly, appeared be- 
 fore the gates of Jerusalem in the early part of 
 587 B. C. Jeremiah again urged submission as 
 the only hope of escape, but his advice was not 
 heeded. 
 
 There was great rejoicing when the Chaldean 
 armies suddenly withdrew to meet the pharaoh 
 Hophra in battle, but Nebuchadnezzar utterly 
 defeated the Egyptian army. He returned to the 
 investment of the city, which did not surrender 
 for about a year and a half. The famine, priva- 
 tions and horrors that the besieged suffered are 
 almost indescribable. The Chaldeans finally 
 entered in July 586 B. C. The king fled but was 
 captured, his sons were killed and he himself 
 blinded. Many nobles, leading priests, military 
 leaders and others were also slain. The city was 
 plundered, the walls and fortifications de- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 127 
 
 stroyed, and the houses burned. Most of the 
 remaining inhabitants were deported to Baby- 
 lonia and their number is estimated at 12,000 to 
 15,000. 
 
 But Nebuchadnezzar did not intend to leave 
 the country a waste, so he allowed a number 
 of shepherds and husbandmen to remain with 
 some nobles whom he could trust, and appointed 
 Gedaliah, a Judean, as governor. He was 
 located at Mizpah, a town a few miles north of 
 Jerusalem. Many fugitives returned and re- 
 sumed their agricultural pursuits. But these 
 conditions did not last long, for after two 
 months Gedaliah was assassinated and the peo- 
 ple that remained fled in fear of Chaldean ven- 
 geance. The prophet, Jeremiah, urged them to 
 remain, but finally joined them. They migrated 
 to Egypt where they were given shelter, be- 
 cause they were the enemies of the Chaldeans. 
 Besides going to Egypt the Judeans scattered in 
 many directions, although some gradually ven- 
 tured to return to Palestine. The deportation 
 had been confined principally to the city of 
 Jerusalem and its vicinity, while the country 
 districts were not so seriously affected. 
 
128 The Old Testament: 
 
 In this dark picture of the destruction of a 
 state and the annihilation or dispersion of so 
 many of its citizens, the figure of the prophet 
 Jeremiah stands out in glowing colors and in 
 heroic proportions. For forty years, from 626 
 to 586 B. C, he battled for principles that were 
 dear to him, at the risk of his life and in spite 
 of the animosity and often the contempt of his 
 fellow-citizens. He was descended from an old 
 priestly family and felt an irresistible call to 
 preach and to agitate for his conception of 
 Jehovah, 
 
 The difficulty of determining what part of 
 the writings appearing under Jeremiah's name 
 are truly his own, is even greater than in the 
 case of Isaiah, It is however safe to assume 
 that his religious standpoint is an advance over 
 that of Isaiah. His conception of Jehovah, 
 while still looking upon him as the special 
 patron of his chosen people, tends in the direc- 
 tion of a Universal God. He tells the people 
 that the fact that Jehovah is supposed to dwell 
 in the temple is no safeguard that in his 
 chastisement he will not destroy the city and 
 the temple, in fact he felt certain that he would. 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 129 
 
 He preaches against idolatry and heathen 
 practices, but emphasizes that a moral life is 
 commanded by Jehovah. He is convinced that 
 the destruction of the state and of his people is 
 inevitable, and can think of no way to avert it, 
 except by the moral regeneration of the com- 
 munity. He prophecies evil because he cannot 
 help it, but like the prophets that preceded him, 
 he sees in his visions that after the chastise- 
 ment Jehovah will institute a golden age in 
 Palestine, in which his regenerate people will 
 participate. But here too he shows an advance 
 by saying, ** In those days every man shall die 
 for his own iniquity,'' that is there shall be 
 personal responsibility and that the nation will 
 not be judged as a whole only. He was truly a 
 man of rare mental and moral fibre. 
 
 In the career of Jeremiah as well as that of 
 Isaiah we have a striking illustration of the 
 varied activities and the inevitable vicissitudes 
 that accompanied the whole school of the proph- 
 ets. They could not confine their efforts to 
 religious, moral and social questions only, but 
 were compelled also to take part in the political 
 issues of the time. In fact the two sets of 
 
130 The Old Testament: 
 
 problems were closely connected and reacted 
 upon each other. The kings when powerful and 
 successful often sought foreign alliances and 
 close trade relations with adjoining states. 
 These with their beneficent effects of increased 
 wealth and enlarging views brought with them 
 the baneful consequences of contact with pagan 
 cults and rites that were dangerous to the 
 simpler and purer forms of primitive Hebrew 
 worship. At the time of Elijah and Elisha the 
 danger seemed so imminent that the latter did 
 not shrink from a bloody revolution and the ex- 
 termination of the whole dynasty to avert the 
 threatened submergence of the traditional 
 Hebrew faith. 
 
 The great prophets of the following centuries 
 had nobler ideals and occupied a plane of intel- 
 ligence which gave them a remarkably states- 
 menlike insight into the political problems of 
 their times. They opposed alliances with either 
 of the two great contending powers of Assyria 
 and Egypt, because they knew that defeat meant 
 not only destruction of their political, but what 
 was even dearer to them, of their religious life. 
 They counselled neutrality and partial submis- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 131 
 
 sion by paying tribute when inevitable, in pref- 
 erence to the risk of utter annihilation. Such a 
 policy was too far sighted and unselfish to suit 
 rulers and could not be popular with the masses 
 and hence these great men, particularly Jere- 
 miah, while they foresaw the impending fate 
 could not avert it. They were sustained by the 
 conviction of having performed their duty re- 
 gardless of sacrifice and by the firm faith that 
 after deserved punishment, Jehovah would in- 
 itiate an era of ideal moral, religious and social 
 conditions for his chastened people — a consum- 
 mation of the vision of a Golden Age. 
 
V. 
 
 EXILE AND EETURN. 
 
 With the destruction of Jerusalem, the 
 Hebrew people ceases to exist and the history of 
 the Jews and the Jewish religion begins. Had 
 the kingdom of Judah fallen at the time of the 
 capture of Samaria in 722 B. C. instead of 586 
 B.C., it seems highly probable that the Hebrews 
 of the two kingdoms, scattered among nations 
 so closely related to them in race, language and 
 habits, would have readily accepted their re- 
 ligious worship, merged with them and have 
 totally lost their identity. But the course of 
 development in Judah during the last century 
 and a half made such an eventuality impossible. 
 During this period the teaching of the prophets 
 and the active cooperation of the priesthood 
 brought about the promulgation of Deuter- 
 onomy and the reforms instituted by Josiah, 
 which were in conformity with these views. The 
 important step in advance of monolatry that had 
 
 132 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 133 
 
 been taken, in combination with a fixed system 
 of laws and ceremonial, could never be entirely 
 effaced and necessarily had to lead to a 
 peculiar monotheistic conception imbedded in 
 rigid forms of worship. To this tendency the 
 exile did not prove a hindrance, but rather a 
 stimulating factor that accelerated the move- 
 ment. The best educated and most capable 
 citizens were collected here and free from the 
 daily cares of political problems and dangers, 
 they could concentrate their thoughts and 
 efforts upon the all-absorbing religious ques- 
 tions. Removed from their native soil and with^ 
 it from the old way of worship of their national 
 god, new forms had to be evolved and the 
 changed conditions naturally tended to broaden , 
 their views. 
 
 Nor does the harsh word exile fairly describe 
 their state. For Nebuchadnezzar was not a 
 mere despot, but a man with aims of far-seeing 
 statesmanship. The deported were in fact more 
 of involuntary colonists, transplanted to the 
 region of the navigable canal Chebar (Kabaru), 
 not far from Nippur, It was a very fruitful 
 section lying between the Euphrates and Tigris, 
 
134 The Old Testament: 
 
 south of the city of Babylon. They were placed 
 there as agriculturists and soil and climate were 
 far superior to what they had been accustomed 
 in their native home. They seemed to have 
 enjoyed perfect political freedom and to have 
 continued their social organization pretty much 
 as they brought it from Palestine. The Baby- 
 lonians were a great trading people and prob- 
 ably Nebuchadnezzar wished to increase the 
 agricultural products of the land. The Jews at 
 first looked with contempt upon commerce, but 
 probably also engaged in it to some extent at a 
 later date. At any rate they seem to have been 
 prosperous and many of them attained posi- 
 tions of respect and honor. All this applies to 
 the first settlement, while those deported in 
 586 B. C. were sent to different localities and 
 were probably treated far more harshly. 
 
 Among the first colonists in 597 B. C, there 
 was one person who was destined to play a most 
 important part in shaping the development of 
 the Jewish religion. This was Ezekiel, a young 
 man belonging to aristrocratic circles and a 
 member of the priestly class. In 592 B. C. he 
 felt the call to preach in the style of the prophets 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 135 
 
 and until the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B. C. there 
 was a very active intercourse between the 
 Babylonian Jews and the mother country, in 
 which he participated. After the destruction of 
 the kingdom of Judah the exiles were in a very 
 desperate condition, for their hope of return 
 which they had never relinquished, seemed now 
 destroyed forever. The colony was as much 
 divided in sentiment and religious observance 
 as the individuals had been at home. Many had 
 brought their talismans and family idols and 
 having lost all faith in Jehovah, were ready to 
 accept any form of idolatry that offered. For 
 twenty years, from 592 to 572 B. C, Ezekiel 
 devoted his whole energy and zeal with remark- 
 able devotion to the task of preserving the faith 
 of his countrymen in Jehovah. He was led step 
 by step to evolve ideas and to suggest religious 
 forms and ceremonies that became the starting 
 point and foundation of Judaism. 
 
 There were a number of theoretical questions 
 that presented themselves for solution at once. 
 He had foreseen like Jeremiah the inevitable 
 destruction of the state, the city of Jerusalem 
 and the temple, and felt convinced that Jehovah 
 
136 The Old Testament: 
 
 would permit these calamities as a proper 
 chastisement for the transgressions of his peo- 
 ple. But now the questions arose where was 
 Jehovah since his holy abode had been abolished 
 /and how is he to be worshiped. Ezekiel still 
 I held the view, however exalted the attributes 
 I ascribed to Jehovah, that he was a national God, 
 ' who lived in the land of his people and that he 
 ! could only be worshiped there according to the 
 prescribed forms. Where could he be now? 
 Had he retired for the present to ^' his mount 
 in the uppermost parts of the north ''? 
 
 On the other hand Ezekiel was born about the 
 
 time of the promulgation of Deuteronomy and 
 
 had been educated in the firm conviction that the 
 
 commands contained therein were ordained by 
 
 I Jehovah and that consequently a temple could 
 
 \ not be erected nor sacrifices brought in Baby- 
 
 1 Ionia. But what was to be substituted, what new 
 
 forms could take the place of the sacrifice and 
 
 the temple worship? On this point the trained 
 
 priest asserted himself. He with the rest of the 
 
 Deuteronomic school believed that the Book of 
 
 Deuteronomy was of very old origin and that 
 
 its commands had been literally obeyed in the 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 137 
 
 time of Solomon, and that consequently ever 
 thereafter the rulers and the people that had 
 ignored its teachings had grievously offended 
 Jehovah and were the cause of their present 
 chastisement. He never doubted the ultimate 
 return of his people to Jerusalem and in his 
 many visions he intimated how the future 
 temple was to be built and what the functions of 
 the priesthood would be and outlined a form of 
 theocratic rule that somewhat resembled the 
 system introduced at a later date. 
 
 As priest there was another idea that dom- 
 inated him which he elaborated and that was 
 the notion of holiness and clean and unclean. In \_ 
 its practical applications to food and ceremonial 
 he enlarged upon the prescriptions in Deuter- 
 onomy, but transferred to the spiritual sphere 
 he initiated a great moral progress. For he 
 held that the Jews would only be fitted for their 
 return to Jerusalem after they had all become 
 a holy people, especially devoted to Jehovah. 
 And this holiness did not only consist in the, 
 necessary observance of ceremonial, but chiefly ) 
 in the attainment of a higher moral standard, ;' 
 In this view lies his greatest advance. Hereto- 
 
138 The Old Testament: 
 
 fore Jehovah was always assumed to judge his 
 people as a whole and to reward or punish 
 them as a nation. Now Ezekiel proclaims the 
 moral responsibility of the individual. He 
 quotes Jehovah as saying to him that the prov- 
 erb current in Israel that ** The fathers have 
 eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are 
 set on edge " shall no longer hold. '' All souls 
 are mine ; as the soul of the father, so also the 
 soul of the son is mine : the soul that sinneth it 
 shall die. But if a man be just, and do that 
 which is lawful and right — he shall surely live, 
 saith the Lord God.^' 
 
 The insistence upon making the sabbath a 
 holy day and the strict observance of rest and 
 devoting it to prayer, is also part of Ezekiel 'a 
 scheme for the new holiness. The day always 
 had a meaning for the ancient Hebrews, but 
 whether it may be traced back to an original 
 moon cult or was accepted from the Canaanites 
 who may have borrowed it from Babylonia, is a 
 debatable proposition. While it was a festival, 
 there were periods when it was neglected and 
 almost forgotten and the prophets upbraided 
 the people for this transgression. Of course 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 139 
 
 the rigid observance of the many petty pre- 
 scriptions that were ultimately grafted upon it, 
 was only attained in the course of many cen- 
 turies. The day was kept by the Babylonians 
 as one on which no work was to be undertaken 
 and it was also devoted to propitiatory sacri- 
 fices. These surrounding influences also no 
 doubt acted upon Ezekiel and it fitted into his 
 plan to make it a day of prayer. 
 
 A large part of his difficult task was now, 
 since the wrath of Jehovah had been accom- 
 plished and did not need to be foretold or 
 threatened, to inspire his people with hope and 
 confidence that Jehovah was just and loving 
 and that as soon as they were purified and 
 hallowed he would lead them back to Jerusalem. 
 Ezekiel had many visions in which he pictured 
 this Messianic age when his regenerate country- 
 men would return to the holy city and enjoy 
 peace and prosperity and Jehovah woidd live in 
 their midst and they would be the model for all 
 nations to imitate. This Messianic expectation 
 was as yet quite impersonal, in no way con- 
 nected with the leadership of any individual, 
 although the reinstatement of the dynasty of 
 
I40 The Old Testament: 
 
 the house of David was hoped for, but every- 
 thing was to be under the direction of Jehovah 
 himself, a pure theocracy. 
 
 In one of these ecstatic prophesies he pictures 
 a scene where Jehovah takes him to a valley that 
 is full of dry bones and commands them to 
 assemble and form bodies of flesh and blood and 
 he instills life into them. And then Jehovah 
 continues '' These bones are the whole house 
 of Israel — I will open your graves and cause 
 you to come up out of your graves. Oh, my 
 people; and I will bring you into the land of 
 Israel/' Ezekiel may not have meant this 
 literally, but it is the first allusion to the notion 
 of the resurrection of the body which at a much 
 later period became a generally accepted doc- 
 trine of Jewish belief. 
 
 While still a prophet, EzekiePs methods dif- 
 fer from the older school and by his very sys- 
 tematizing and constructive work he eliminates 
 the necessity for the seer. After the ritual 
 and ceremonial and all laws have been elabor- 
 ated and written down in detail there is no 
 longer a scope for the prophet, who as the inter- 
 mediary for Jehovah has to reveal his com- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 141 
 
 mands. Ezekiel may therefore be looked upon 
 as the father of Judaism, who with Jeremiah 
 broached the new idea of personal moral re- 
 sponsibility, which led to individual piety, and 
 in another direction by continuing the work be- 
 gun in Deuteronomy tended to develop religion 
 into dogma and ritual. 
 
 In these labors Ezekiel did not stand alone, 
 but was supported by a number of minor proph- 
 ets and teachers whose names have not been 
 preserved. The aim of all was to evolve a sub- 
 stitute for the sacrifices which had been the 
 principal form of worship, particularly as part 
 of national festivals. Naturally a new and holy 
 importance was impressed upon the sabbath and 
 prayer and devotional exercises were made the 
 prominent feature of the day. Possibly the 
 writings of the great prophets were read and 
 certainly many of the Psalms were composed for 
 devotional purposes. The formless sacrificial 
 worship was gradually transformed into the 
 services of the synagogue, the beginning of an 
 organized church. 
 
 While considerable literary activity had al- 
 ready appeared in the declining years of the 
 
142 The Old Testament: 
 
 kingdom of Judah, it was now stimulated by the 
 advanced culture of Babylonia, where writing 
 was nearly universal and employed in everyday 
 affairs. A class of prophets, priests and scribes 
 was formed among the Jews, who began to col- 
 lect, transcribe and annotate the various writ- 
 |ings brought from Canaan. During the whole 
 duration of the exile the historical, prophetic 
 and poetical works were edited, in part re- 
 written and all colored from the new Deuter- 
 onomic standpoint. To this subject we will re- 
 turn hereafter. 
 
 It seems that the Jews were not directly 
 affected by the political revulsions that took 
 place in the Babylonian empire. When Nebu- 
 chadnezzar died in 562 B. C. after a brilliant 
 reign of 43 years, there were several changes of 
 rulers interspersed with assassinations, which 
 indicated the decline of the empire. Finally 
 Nabonidus, a prince of Babylon, attained power 
 in 555 B. C. Towards the end of his reign his 
 son Belsharuzur probably shared his authority. 
 In the Bible he is called Belshazzar and men- 
 tioned as the last king of Babylonia. Nabonidus 
 was a very weak king who gave his time to re- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 143 
 
 ligious worship and building operations and was 
 not fitted to cope with the mighty problems that 
 confronted him. For after the death of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar the international situation had as- 
 sumed a quite different aspect. Cyrus had made 
 himself King of Persia about 553 B. C. and sub- 
 dued a number of adjoining states. By 547 B. C. 
 he had reached Lydia in his conquering march to 
 Asia Minor, had defeated Croesus the King of 
 Lydia and obtained control of the Greek colonies 
 on the Aegean Sea. At this time it became evi- 
 dent to the Jews that the Babylonian empire in 
 its general decay and corruption would not be 
 able to withstand the trained and victorious 
 armies of the Persian monarch. With intense 
 excitement they followed every move, because 
 they felt that the defeat of Babylonia was the 
 first step required to secure their freedom and 
 liberty to return to Jerusalem. 
 
 At this time a great prophet arose whose, 
 name has not been preserved, but who is iden- 
 tified as the writer of the chapters XL. to LV. of | 
 the book ascribed at a later date to Isaiah. It [ 
 has already been stated that all the pro- I 
 phetic books have interpolations, additions and 
 
144 The Old Testament: 
 
 changes and some of the larger ones are in fact 
 a collection from different authors that seemed 
 to the editors to have some resemblance to one 
 another. In the case of Isaiah up to about 
 chapter XXXVIII. most of the text, but not 
 all, is probably written by himself, while the 
 chapters XL. to LV. are by Deutero-Isaiah 
 ( second) and the balance by Trito-Isaiah 
 (third). It is not often that such distinctions 
 can be so clearly determined, but in Deutero- 
 Isaiah, it is so evident, that it was recognized 
 at a very early period by criticism and has since 
 been universally accepted. For our author fore- 
 sees the destruction of the Babylonian empire 
 by Cyrus, mentions him by name, glories in it 
 and calls him the deliverer chosen by God to 
 bring about this result. 
 
 Among his pithy sayings we may mention : — 
 
 The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of 
 the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is 
 weary, there is no searching of his under- 
 standing. 
 
 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
 neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 
 
 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 145 
 
 whose right hand I have holden, to subdue the 
 nations before him: 
 
 I have raised him up in righteousness, and 1 
 will make straight all his ways ; he shall build 
 my city, and he shall let my exiles go free. 
 
 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the right- 
 eous man his thoughts : and let him return unto 
 the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him: 
 and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. 
 
 Whether Deutero-Isaiah wrote anonymously 
 or whether his name has not been preserved 
 or whether he assumed the name of Isaiah to 
 give greater authority to his words cannot be 
 determined. But the style, the tone and con- 
 tents of his message show a marked and great 
 individuality, not equalled by any prophet who 
 preceded him. This advance is so pronounced 
 that it initiates a new epoch of thought and be- 
 lief. He is the first that looks upon Jehovah - 
 as the creator of the universe, that dwells in 
 heaven and directs and determines the fate of v, 
 every nation. He has chosen Israel as his peo- 
 ple to live in holiness and righteousness as a 
 prototype, an example to be followed by all 
 nations. Jehovah is no longer merely the God 
 
146 The Old Testament: 
 
 of wrath and chastisement, but the loving father 
 who is desirous to pardon and to show mercy 
 to the repentent. These chapters of Deutero 
 Isaiah have ever since been the great solace and 
 comfort of the suffering and desponding be- 
 liever. 
 
 Deutero-Isaiah's prophecy did not have to 
 wait long for its fulfillment, for within a few 
 years, in 538 B. C. Cyrus entered the city of 
 Babylon and incorporated the kingdom into his 
 great Persian empire. He was not only a super- 
 ior general, but also a statesman of the highest 
 rank and a subtle diplomat. The policy he 
 pursued towards the conquered provinces was 
 the very opposite to the one the Babylonian 
 kings had employed. Instead of harshness he 
 showed leniency and thereby won not only the 
 submission but the affection of his new sub- 
 jects. At a time when religion formed an in- 
 tegral part of life, he recognized the gods of 
 his various peoples and erected temples in their 
 honor. The same policy he applied to the Jews 
 and gave them permission to return to Jerusa- 
 lem, to re-build their temple and even promised 
 to contribute to the cost of its erection. Did 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 147 
 
 they avail themselves of this privilege and did 
 they return at once in large numbers? 
 
 According to the books of Ezra and Nehemiah 
 as we now have them, 42,360 men and women 
 and 7,337 slaves went to Palestine. This state- 
 ment was generally accepted as correct until 
 recently, but the latest opinion of many com- 
 petent critics discredits this view and assumes 
 that the numbers mentioned cannot possibly be 
 true. Our present books of Ezra and Nehemiah 
 were originally a part of Chronicles and are the 
 work of the same author. While he uses some 
 of the documents composed by these eminent 
 men, he wrote about 300 to 250 B. C, a long time 
 after the events he relates and depicts and 
 colors everything from his own standpoint. 
 
 One would think that such an influx of 50,000 
 persons as given by him into a sparsely settled 
 and devastated little state like Judea would 
 have brought starvation and destruction. It 
 seems more probable, as the latest critics point 
 out, that at the time but very few exiles availed 
 themselves of the liberty accorded them. The 
 wretched conditions at Jerusalem were well 
 known to them, while their own status in Baby- 
 
148 The Old Testament: 
 
 Ionia was prosperous and satisfactory. The 
 glowing picture of the Messianic age that their 
 prophets had drawn, was not suflScient to over- 
 come the advantages of present well-being. Nor 
 must we forget that the mere right to return to 
 Palestine and to live there, was not a real ful- 
 fillment of Messianic prophecies, as its citizens 
 still remained subjects of the Persian empire. 
 Nor is theory and practice found to correspond 
 very often in the realm of religious belief. For 
 instance our modern idea of heaven and an 
 eternal life of bliss therein, should prompt the 
 devout to hope for an early death, while cer- 
 tainly no such wish is entertained. 
 
 Cyrus appointed Sheshbazzar, a son of the de- 
 posed king Jehoiakin, as governor of Judea and 
 he was succeeded by his nephew Zerubbabel. 
 Undoubtedly a number of exiles accompanied 
 him to Jerusalem, but the conditions were by 
 no means encouraging. The native population 
 had never given up some kind of Jehovah wor- 
 ship and had built a simple altar on the old 
 site. The influx of some Babylonian, Egyptian 
 and other Jews stimulated the desire for re- 
 building the old temple. The material wants 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 149 
 
 and suffering of the conamunity were such how- 
 ever, that the execution of the project could not 
 be thought of. The reality was in sad contrast 
 with the glorious future the prophets had de- 
 scribed. 
 
 Cyrus died in 529 B. C. and a number of 
 dynastic changes and assassinations followed, 
 until in 521 B. C. Darius ascended the throne 
 and finally established his authority in 519 B. 
 C, after having put down various revolts in 
 different parts of his large domains. About 
 this time in 520 B. C. the two prophets Haggai 
 and Zechariah began to agitate in Jerusalem 
 and to stimulate the people to rebuild the tem- 
 ple. Haggai argued that having acquired com- 
 fortable homes, it was the duty of the wor- 
 shipers of Jehovah also to erect a house for 
 him, for he had already shown his displeasure 
 by giving them poor crops and hard times. 
 Should they comply with his wishes he would 
 give them peace and prosperity and make them 
 independent of the heathen nations. While- 
 Haggai was a layman, Zechariah was a priest 
 and he assumed a loftier tone and appealed to 
 
150 The Old Testament: 
 
 higher motives. The building of the temple pro- 
 gressed and was completed in 516 B. C. 
 
 After this event there is an absolute gap of 
 at least seventy years in our information about 
 occurrences in Palestine. It is not difficult to 
 draw a picture in a general way about the con- 
 ditions prevailing. While the Persian officials 
 preserved order and collected taxes vigorously, 
 they do not seem to have paid any attention to 
 minor movements among the peoples as long as 
 they did not lead to acts of absolute insubordina- 
 tion. The little Persian sub-province of Judea 
 surrounded by deadly enemies had shrunk to 
 insignificant dimensions. The Philistines on the 
 west had encroached largely on its territory, 
 while the Edomites advanced from the south 
 to Hebron, and the Ammonites and Moabites 
 also pressed upon them. At the time of Ezra 
 and Nehemiah the little colony only extended 
 about twenty miles from north to south and 
 about as much from east to west. The people 
 were impoverished and discouraged. The Je- 
 hovah worship was kept up in some fashion 
 after the prescriptions of the Deuteronomic ref- 
 ormation but it is difficult to determine in what 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 151 
 
 way, and then also many had lost all faith in 
 their Grod. The wealthier classes and even 
 the higher priesthood intermarried' freely with 
 the heathen inhabitants and the extinction of 
 the distinctive Jewish race seemed imminent. 
 There was however a small but devoted class of 
 true adherents of the Jehovah worship left 
 and to these the fervent appeals of Malachi and 
 Trito-Isaiah were addressed about the middle 
 of the fifth century B. C. 
 
 Malachi told them that the golden age, the 
 promised prosperity, did not come because 
 they did not obey the commands of Jehovah and 
 did not live up to the law of Moses. Trito-Isaiah 
 on the other hand speaks in an exalted tone of 
 the one and only God, of the glorious mission 
 of his people, when all the nations of the world 
 will join them in acknowledging him and he 
 cheers and comforts them. These two prophets'! 
 preaching a pronounced monotheism together! 
 with a rigid observance of a cult, prepare the 
 way also for a church organization and a theo- 
 cratic system. 
 
 Of the Jews in exile we do not have more than 
 a general knowledge during this period. Cer- 
 
152 The Old Testament: 
 
 tainly only a very small number could have re- 
 turned to Palestine and one of the chief reasons 
 must have been the prosperous conditions which 
 they enjoyed in Babylonia. During the Persian 
 period perfect freedom of domicile was ac- 
 corded them and many settled in the Persian 
 capitals of Susa and Ecbatana. 
 
 Among others a young man of wealth and 
 standing, of Jewish descent, Nehemiah by name, 
 had attained an honored position. He had been 
 appointed a cup-bearer to the king, Artaxerxes 
 at Susa. He was a man of true piety and imbued 
 with a sincere love for his people. When he 
 heard of the terrible plight of the Jews in Judea, 
 he implored the king to allow him to go there. 
 Artaxerxes not only complied with his wish but 
 appointed him governor of the province, gave 
 him an escort and ample means and power to 
 carry out the object of his wishes. When Ne- 
 hemiah arrived there in July 445 B. C. he found 
 that the first and most important problem was 
 to rebuild the walls and fortifications of Jerusa- 
 lem to prevent roving hordes from overrunning 
 the city at will. In this undertaking he was 
 thwarted in every possible way by the inhabi- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 153 
 
 tants of the surrounding country and even by 
 some of the Persian officials. But by dint of 
 courage, foresight and perseverance he over- 
 came all difficulties. He divided the population 
 into shifts and had them work under the protec- 
 tion of armed men and accomplished the feat of 
 erection in 52 days. When he wished to man the 
 fortifications and to protect the gates, he found 
 that there were not men enough in the city 
 and had to draft them from the adjoining coun- 
 try and to settle them in Jerusalem. This is 
 another proof how small the population was at 
 the time and that the immigration from Baby- 
 lonia could not have' reached large numbers. 
 
 Security against the attack from without 
 having been attained, he turned his attention to 
 remedy some of the most glaring defects of the 
 social, religious and moral conditions of the 
 people. He found that the oppression of the 
 poor and the helpless by the wealthy and pow- 
 erful, had reached such proportions that the 
 economic and moral tone of the community had 
 sadly deteriorated. He intervened in person 
 and induced the return to the sufferers of fields, 
 vineyards and houses that had been improperly 
 
154 The Old Testament: 
 
 acqiiired by the unscrupulous. He exacted 
 promises that exhorbitant rates of interest 
 should no longer be exacted from the needy. He 
 insisted on the most strict observance of the 
 sabbath. This was really an innovation and 
 required very strong measures to be enforced. 
 For a while he had the gates of the city closed 
 and traffic of every kind stopped. He visited 
 the people in the country districts in person 
 and obtained their promise to abstain from work 
 and to hallow the day. The worship at the 
 temple he found in a deplorable state of decay 
 and corruption. While the Deuteronomic law 
 was nominally observed, it was not kept in 
 spirit and many heathen practices had crept in. 
 He found the priesthood poor, discontented and 
 corrupt. This he remedied by introducing 
 tithes that were regularly collected and distrib- 
 uted to the different orders of the priesthood, 
 which gave them a secure income and raised 
 their standing and influence in the community. 
 
 Another most pernicious practice which he 
 thought had been introduced, but most likely 
 had always existed in the Hebrew state, he now 
 felt impelled to oppose. That was the inter- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 155 
 
 marriage with heathen women. The Jewish 
 colony in Babylonia at an early day saw the 
 necessity of keeping apart from their heathen 
 neighbors so as to preserve their identity. 
 Such an aim was inseparable from a religion 
 that was based on race and nationality. Nehe- 
 miah may have arrived at such conclusions by 
 his own observations, but most likely consid- 
 ered it a part of the laws ordained by Jehovah. 
 While he rebuked and condemned these mixed 
 alliances he could not as yet enforce their dis- 
 solution in every case. In fact all the reforms 
 here indicated required much time and the ef- 
 fort of many years before they could be made 
 effective. Changes of such a sweeping char- 
 acter could not have originated within the com- 
 munity and it required the strong personality 
 of Nehemiah with his indomitable will, his de- 
 votion and self-sacrifice, supported by his of- 
 ficial capacity as Persian governor, to initiate 
 them. 
 
 It must be stated at this point that the views 
 presented here, that Nehemiah 's activity which 
 began in 445 B. C. preceded that of Ezra by 
 probably thirteen years, is not in accordance 
 
156 The Old Testament: 
 
 with the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah as we 
 now have them. The author writing at a time 
 remote from the date of the occurrences may 
 have mis-stated the names of Persian kings he 
 mentions, or he may have been biased and 
 wished to accord the greater merit to the scribe 
 Ezra in preference to the layman Nehemiah, 
 However that be, many modern critics are con- 
 vinced that the great reforms introduced by 
 Nehemiah and particularly the building of 
 the fortifications and establishing a safe and 
 ordered government, must have been accom- 
 plished before the religious innovations ef- 
 fected by Ezra could have been undertaken. 
 
 The Jews in Babylonia always retained a 
 very active interest in the affairs in Palestine 
 and encouraged and supported their brethren as 
 far as they could. They felt that now when 
 ordered conditions had been established the 
 time had arrived for taking an important step 
 that had been in preparation for a long time. 
 We have intimated how the intellectual and re- 
 ligious activity during the exile centered largely 
 in the efforts of the scribes in collecting all the 
 old traditions, legendary material and other 
 
Its Origin and Meaning, 157 
 
 writings of their ancestors and in enlarging, 
 editing and welding it into a well connected sys- 
 tem. Most detailed prescriptions of worship 
 and ritual and directions intended for the whole 
 life of the people, destined to be holy and 
 specially chosen by Jehovah, were elaborated. 
 Such a work could not be complete until it had 
 been actually introduced in Palestine and ap- 
 plied in practice. They thought that the time 
 had now come to make this effort and the priest 
 and scribe Ezra determined to undertake this 
 mission. 
 
 Accordingly he applied to King Artaxerxes 
 I. for permission to go to Palestine. This was 
 granted and since his aims were purely religi- 
 ous, he was given power to enforce the laws 
 that his God had given his people. The mon- 
 arch thought this would tend to order and quiet, 
 but Ezra was not entrusted with any civil ap- 
 pointment. 
 
 The party led by Ezra arrived in Jerusalem 
 in 432 B. C. after a difficult journey of four 
 months. It consisted of 1,760 men, comprising 
 probably 6,000 to 7,000 souls, and they brought 
 much valuable treasure with them. After study- 
 
158 The Old Testament: 
 
 ing the situation for four months he became 
 convinced that the most serious evil he had to 
 combat was the large number of mixed mar- 
 riages, including many high officials and wealthy 
 citizens with heathen wives. At this he was 
 horrified and determined to have them all ter- 
 minated. He called a public meeting of the 
 whole people and it was resolved (December, 
 432 B. C), in spite of the opposition of some, 
 that all foreign women and their children must 
 be removed. 
 
 A commission was appointed to examine every 
 case and to execute this measure with strict 
 impartiality. The hardship of this procedure, 
 the breaking of family ties, and the changes 
 in social life that it entailed, make it astonish- 
 ing that it could have been executed. Nor did 
 all accept this decision and many animosities 
 were aroused not only among the Jews, but 
 also with influential heathen neighbors whose 
 daughters and sisters with their children were 
 thus expelled. 
 
 After this had been settled Ezra called a 
 great assembly of the whole people in October 
 431 B. C. and read to them the law that he had 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 159 
 
 brought. They were greatly shocked and horri- 
 fied to hear how in their ignorance they had 
 sinned, and all pledged themselves by solemn 
 oath hereafter ** To walk in God's law, which 
 was given by Moses, the servant of God." 
 They also subscribed their names, including 
 those who had returned with Ezra and all 
 others whether of Jewish descent or not, who 
 with their families had separated themselves 
 from the peoples of the land unto the law of 
 God. Thereupon the Feast of Tabernacles was 
 celebrated for the first time according to the 
 directions of the law. 
 
 While under Josiah the Deuteronomic law 
 had been decreed by the king and forced upon 
 the people, in this case it was voluntarily ac- 
 cepted. But of course the practical execution 
 and the sincere adherence to its manifold pre- 
 scriptions was not so easily effected and must 
 have required a long time and many struggles. 
 By a strange irony, with the institution of the 
 new law, Ezra lost his previous standing and 
 prominence and became a simple priest and 
 scribe, while the whole power of the new the- 
 ocracy became centered in the high-priest. At 
 
160 The Old Testament: 
 
 this time Eliashib was the occupant of this office, 
 although he was a friend and relative of the 
 Anunonite Tobiah, and his grandson Manasseh 
 had married the daughter of the Samaritan of- 
 ficial Sanballat. Under the semblance of ac- 
 cepting the new law he ignored it and violated 
 it whenever it suited him. He gave special 
 privileges to his heathen friend Tobiah and 
 continued to support his grandson who had 
 married the daughter of a Samaritan who de- 
 fied the law. Many of the heathen wives began 
 to return with their children and one of the 
 leading features of the new institution was 
 openly violated. At thi« stage the strong hand 
 of Nehemiah, who had been absent for a time, 
 again asserted itself. He could not remove the 
 high-priest but he drove his grandson Manasseh 
 and his friend Tobiah out of Jewish territory 
 and rigidly enforced the prohibition against 
 mixed marriages. This action produced im- 
 portant consequences, for it led to a complete 
 split between the Jewish and the Samaritan 
 communities. Manasseh established a separate 
 Samaritan worship and was made high-priest. 
 At a later date a temple was erected at Mount 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. i6i 
 
 Gerizim near the former capital of Shechem 
 in Israel. 
 
 The Samaritans while largely of old He- 
 brew race were considerably mixed with heathen 
 elements. Nevertheless the Jehovah worship 
 predominated and the Denteronomic reforma- 
 tion had been nominally accepted. Even now 
 after the separation they introduced most of 
 the precepts of the law brought by Ezra, for 
 the Samaritan Bible which has been preserved, 
 agrees in its essentials with the Hebrew Bible. 
 There is still to this day a small sect of Sa- 
 maritans who adhere to the old Faith. 
 
 The laws that were read to the people by 
 Ezra have been called the Priestly Code by 
 modern critics. Its peculiar character and the 
 language in which it is expressed is such, that 
 it can be detected in the different parts of the 
 Pentateuch into which it has been embodied. 
 It deals largely with ceremonial regulations re- 
 lating to sacrifices and purification, the pro- 
 hibition of all intermarriage with heathen peo- 
 ples, the strict observance of the sabbath, the 
 command to bring the first-fruits and the first- 
 born to the temple for the priesthood and tithes 
 
1 62 The Old Testament: 
 
 for the Levites and other measures for the sup- 
 port of the temple-service, besides numerous 
 other subjects. At one time this code formed 
 part of an independent narrative, but now it is 
 contained principally in sections of the Books 
 of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers of the Pen- 
 ^tateuch. Such far-reaching changes entering 
 into the minutest details of daily life could not 
 have been adopted quickly and it must have 
 taken many years before a whole people ob- 
 served them cheerfully and without effort. In 
 practice no doubt many modifications of the 
 original provisions, particularly as to the tem- 
 ple service with its castes of priests and Levites, 
 had to be adopted. It is not certain whether 
 Ezra brought only the Priestly Code with him 
 which he read to the people or whether he also 
 introduced the whole of the Pentateuch and 
 Joshua as elaborated in Babylonia. Anyway 
 within a few years, by about 400 B. C. they were 
 known and accepted in Palestine, as the Samari- 
 tan Bible testifies. The Pentateuch must have 
 been completed before or shortly after Ezra's 
 departure for Jerusalem and we will endeavor 
 to give at least some hints as to the probable 
 method of its composition. 
 
VL 
 FOUNDATION OF JUDAISM. 
 
 We have seen that the prophets before the 
 exile were not acquainted with the contents of 
 what we call the Pentateuch, or at any rate 
 they did not allude to it in their writings. 
 That does not preclude the probability that dif- 
 ferent legendary narratives were believed and 
 repeated by the people and that Moses occu- 
 pied a prominent part as a great national leader 
 and law-giver in them. Whatever position may 
 have been accorded to him in these stories, there 
 is nothing whatsoever known about him posi- 
 tively as a historical personage. 
 
 Critics are agreed that he could not have 
 been the author of the Pentateuch, because there 
 is overwhelming internal evidence against such 
 a view. Whatever popular belief may have 
 been we know of no written record that refers 
 to him until the book of the Law, which was 
 said to have been found by the high-priest in 
 
 163 
 
164 The Old Testament: 
 
 the reign of Josiah in 621 B. C. While the pre- 
 cise contents of this book are not known, it is 
 assumed that it probably consisted of certain 
 chapters of the later fifth part of the Penta- 
 teuch called Deuteronomy and that the impres- 
 sion was given as though this had been written 
 by Moses under the inspiration of Jehovah. 
 The commanding figure accorded to Moses in 
 the Pentateuch does not seem to have been at- 
 tained until the virtual completion of this work, 
 say about the time of Ezra. 
 
 When the Hebrew tribes invaded Canaan and 
 settled in it, they became acquainted with all 
 the legends and traditions that were current in 
 the land. The occupation of the country was 
 so gradual that it probably required two cen- 
 turies before it was accomplished and about 
 that time they had largely merged with the 
 resident population and had come to believe 
 that all the stories they had heard, related to 
 their own ancestors. This new material was 
 incorporated with their, own older traditions 
 and the whole repeated, enlarged, and trans- 
 mitted by word of moutk It is diffcult to say 
 when it was reduced to writing, but critics 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 165 
 
 point to many indications that it must have 
 been near the middle of the eighth century 
 
 B.C. 
 
 But besides the innumerable modifications 
 that had accrued during the long period of for- 
 mation, we have two independent sources for 
 these *' Sagas " as we may call them. The two 
 may yet be distinguished and separated to a 
 considerable extent, because in the one the name 
 of Jehovah is used and in the other the word 
 Elohim is employed to designate their god, as 
 previously pointed out. The Jehovist version 
 is generally supposed to have appeared in the 
 southern kingdom of Judah, the Elohist in the 
 northern Israel. Many of these stories origi- 
 nated and were associated with Canaanite 
 shrines and sanctuaries and were connected with 
 the primitive worship at these places. One in- 
 teresting illustration may be given how these 
 legends were used to connect Hebrew traditions 
 with these local heroes. In Genesis XXXII-24 
 we read that Jacob wrestled with a man all 
 night and his thigh was strained and when the 
 man wished to leave in the morning and Jacob 
 would not allow it until he should bless him, he 
 
i66 The Old Testament: 
 
 asked him Ms name. On replying that it is 
 Jacob, the stranger says, *' Thy name shall be 
 called no more Jacob, but Israel : for thou hast 
 striven with God — and hast prevailed." An- 
 other version is given in Genesis XXXV-10 
 * * And God said unto him, thy name is Jacob : 
 thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, 
 but Israel shall be thy name : and he called his 
 name Israel." The object is to prove that 
 Jacob and Israel are identical persons and that 
 the Hebrew tribes Bene-Israel were descended 
 from Jacob. 
 
 The origin of some of the narratives can 
 be surmised, others directly traced. The Para- 
 dise story with its polytheistic ending express- 
 ing fear lest man on eating fruit from the Tree 
 of Life may become as one of us, is taken from 
 ^ some unknown mythology, possibly Babylonian. 
 Likewise Genesis VI. when the *' Sons of God 
 intermarried with the daughters of men and 
 their children were the Nephilim, the giants, 
 and the mighty men which were of old, the men 
 of renown." The story of the tower of Babel 
 and the confusion of tongues given in Genesis 
 XL seems to be from a similar source. '* And 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 167 
 
 they said, Let us build us a city, and a tower, 
 whose top may reach unto Heaven — ^And God 
 came down and said, Behold, they are one peo- 
 ple and they have all one language; and this 
 is what they begin to do : and now nothing will 
 be withholden from them which they purpose 
 to do. Let us go down there and confound 
 their language, that they may not understand 
 one another's speech." 
 
 The narrative of the ten antediluvian patri- 
 archs, of whom Methuselah is best known, (and 
 of which there are two versions) has recently 
 been proved to have been borrowed from Baby- 
 lonia, as well as the stories of the Deluge 
 previously mentioned. 
 
 After these narratives had been committed 
 to writing for about a century, and had under- 
 gone new changes and alterations, they were 
 merged into one book which critics call the Je- 
 hovist-Elohist, not long before the promulga- 
 tion of Deuteronomy, say about 640 B. C. This 
 literary effort probably emanated from the 
 same group of scribes who prepared Deuter- 
 onomy. In some cases the two versions are 
 given in succession, in others a part of one is 
 
 1/ 
 
i68 The Old Testament: 
 
 omitted or they overlap and then again both do 
 not treat precisely the same material. In 
 Genesis II. Jehovah Elohim are used together, 
 possibly so as not to make the transition from 
 one name to the other too abrupt. An inter- 
 esting indication of the endeavor to explain 
 the use of the two terms is to be found in 
 Exodus VI-2 ** And God spake unto Moses, 
 and said to him, I am Jehovah : and I appeared 
 unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as 
 God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah I was 
 not known to them." 
 
 Besides the narratives just referred to there 
 are very many that clearly indicate that they 
 are derived from Hebrew traditions. As such 
 we may point out some of the stories in con- 
 nection with the patriarchs, their wives and 
 their children, the migration to Egypt, besides 
 others. They relate family history in a child- 
 like manner, assume that a single family 
 grew to become a whole nation and show 
 how the desire to explain present condi- 
 tions quite unconsciously transformed dim rec- 
 ollections into legends. They were permeated 
 with religious ideas some of which are very 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 169 
 
 old, others bearing traces of prophetic in- 
 fluences. In other words, they are a remarkable 
 mixture of views, notions and folk-lore from 
 different periods and different localities, joined 
 and fitted together at a late date with much 
 skill and literary ability. 
 
 Within this material critics discover certain 
 strata that they separate and designate by 
 special titles, such as the book of the Covenant 
 and others, some of very old origin. The Je- 
 hovist has the revelation take place at Mount 
 Sinai, the Elohist at Horeb. We have only 
 pointed out a few salient features here, for to 
 enter upon all the details would require ex- 
 tended study. 
 
 Independently of these collections there 
 grew up quite naturally a series of rules and 
 regulations about the priestly functions, the 
 sacrifices, and the cult generally in connection 
 with the sanctuaries. At these places all the 
 usages, customs and primitive legal notions 
 pertaining to the civil as well as the religious 
 affairs of the people were preserved, forming 
 a kind of common law of which the priesthood 
 had charge. At first all was transmitted orally, 
 
lyo The Old Testament: 
 
 but as the material accumulated and grew in 
 importance and possibly a certain uniformity 
 was desired, it was found necessary to commit 
 it to writing. 
 
 A part of this priestly code together with 
 new matter suggested by the prophetic teach- 
 ing, was incorporated into the Deuteronomic 
 law promulgated in 621 B. C. We find therein 
 such old barbaric commands as, '^ When thou 
 drawest near to a city to fight against it — and 
 it will make no peace, but will war against you, 
 then thou shalt besiege it : and when the Lord, 
 thy God, delivereth it into thine hand, thou 
 shalt smite every male thereof with the edge 
 of the sword — thus thou shalt do unto all the 
 cities which are very far off from thee " 
 
 This is evidently very old, most likely from 
 the early times of the invasion. Compare these 
 directions with injunctions of the same code, 
 that put to shame our modern economic con- 
 ditions : 
 
 *' If there be a poor man, one of thy brethren 
 in thy land — thou shalt surely open thy hand 
 unto him, and shalt surely lend sufficient for 
 his need in that which he wanteth — and thy 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 1711 
 
 heart shall not be grieved when thou givest 
 unto him. — Thou shalt surely open thine hand 
 unto thy brother, to thy needy, and to the poor 
 in thy land. 
 
 *' If thy brother be sold unto thee and serve 
 thee six years; then in the seventh year thou 
 shalt let him go free from thee. And when 
 thou lettest him go free from thee, thou shalt 
 not let him go empty: thou shalt furnish him 
 liberally out of thy flock," etc. — '* Thou shalt 
 not oppress an hired servant that is poor and 
 needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of 
 thy strangers that are in thy land: In his 
 day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall 
 the sun go down upon it; for he is poor and 
 setteth his heart upon it." 
 
 Imagine that such commands and injunctions 
 should have been addressed to rude and no- 
 madic tribes in the desert. 
 
 The Deuteronomic law of which we have just 
 spoken, probably also had an introduction em- 
 bodying a short outline of the essential part 
 of the Jehovist-Elohist book. The fifth book of 
 Moses as we now have it, bearing the same 
 name is a late elaboration of this fundamental 
 
172 The Old Testament: 
 
 material with the addition of much new matter. 
 While the reform instituted under Josiah did 
 not find general acceptance and did not remain 
 enforced long, it had a permanent and stimu- 
 lating effect upon the literary activity of the 
 scribes. When the leaders of the priesthood 
 were carried into the exile they took with them 
 the whole literature then extant. Temple ser- 
 vice being impossible, they had leisure and 
 under the necessity of elaborating to a large 
 extent a new system of worship adapted to 
 the new conditions, they revised and modified 
 everything in this new Deuteronomic spirit. It 
 was their firm conviction that after the chastise- 
 ment Jehovah would lead them back to Pales- 
 tine, and that it was their duty to prepare 
 themselves for this reinstatement. To do so 
 they must live up to the standards of the laws 
 proclaimed by their God. Ezekiel, the ablest 
 of this school had visions about the temple- 
 service, the sacrifices, the priestly caste and 
 Levites and ceremonial generally. Much of 
 this no doubt was an enlargement and develop- 
 ment of the traditional priestly records. Hav- 
 ing accepted the Deuteronomic law as being of 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 173 
 
 very old origin, they could not help gradually 
 becoming convinced that it had been promul- 
 gated by Moses, the great leader and prophet 
 of the earliest times. Jehovah always com- 
 municated with his chosen people through his 
 prophets and the great trust imposed upon 
 Moses made him the most important and most 
 holy of them all. 
 
 Furthermore, the reigns of David and Solo- 
 mon, representing the unity of the whole nation, 
 the high order of prosperity that prevailed 
 and the strength and glory of their rule, stood 
 out in glowing contrast to the present. Je- 
 hovah appeared to have been well pleased and 
 to have blessed his people then and conse- 
 quently they must have obeyed and strictly 
 followed his commands and injunctions. In 
 looking back the whole period seemed glorified 
 with the halo of a golden age and David be- 
 came the ideal national hero. 
 
 The temple service in Solomon's temple must 
 have conformed in every detail to the revealed 
 law and it became their aim to reconstruct it 
 in its original grandeur, so as to be prepared 
 to establish it when occasion permitted. 
 
174 The Old Testament: 
 
 Such were the leading thoughts by which 
 they were guided, although a long time elapsed 
 before they grasped their full significance. The 
 next step was inevitable. If Jehovah wished 
 his people to obey his commands and had re- 
 vealed them to Moses, it became their duty to 
 reconstruct the history of these events from 
 such traditional and written records as were 
 available. They were undoubtedly sincere and 
 no deception was intended, but they became 
 obsessed with certain ideas and could not re- 
 frain from drawing the last inevitable conse- 
 quences. This process was a gradual one and 
 extended over a century and a half until the 
 Pentateuch was completed in its essential 
 features. Nor was it confined to one coterie, 
 but is the work of many hands and varied in- 
 fluences. Critics again recognize different 
 strata such for instance as the Holiness code, 
 Leviticus 17-26. This has been called so be- 
 cause much stress is laid on holiness and the 
 recurrent phrase ** I am the Lord, which sanc- 
 tify you, am holy.'' Many other details which 
 analysis reveals we need not follow. 
 
 Finally it was thought necessary to combine 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 175 
 
 all the different versions into one consecutive 
 whole, taking the form of historical recital and 
 including a large part of what is called Joshua 
 to-day. At a much later period it was sub- 
 divided into the six books we now possess. 
 The Jehovist-Elohist book was supplemented 
 by the dry genealogical tables and other matter 
 from priestly hands. The historical or narra- 
 tive parts were entirely subordinated to the cen- 
 tral idea of liturgical and religious commands 
 and injunctions, as well as to the relation of 
 Jehovah to his chosen people, all of which are 
 scattered indiscriminately through the whole 
 work. Many things are repeated in different 
 books in varying forms, old and new concep- 
 tions at times strangely intermingled. 
 
 The influence of the surroundings, the re- 
 markable civilization of Babylonia must not be 
 forgotten. The first chapter of Genesis with 
 its systematic, scientific thought in regard to 
 the order of creation clearly points to it. The 
 pronounced monotheistic conception of a God 
 who is the creator of the Universe shows that 
 it is of very late date and is hardly compatible 
 with many parts of the book. 
 
176 The Old Testament: 
 
 On the other hand the highly developed Baby- 
 lonian temple services and their pomp, as well 
 as the predominance of the priestly caste are 
 clearly reflected in many of the ritualistic pro- 
 visions of the Jewish priestly code. 
 
 The Pentateuch and Joshua are followed by 
 the book of Judges. This endeavors to relate 
 the struggles associated with the invasion and 
 settlement of the country and contains some 
 of the oldest traditional material in the Old 
 Testament, including some of the most forcible 
 epic poetry. Intermixed with this are subjects 
 and views that make it most incongruous in its 
 present form, so that it is impossible to deduce 
 any chronological order of the events related. 
 
 After the judges we have the historical 
 books Samuel and Kings. They are based upon 
 old chronicles and historical writings to which 
 frequent reference is made and that have been 
 lost. 
 
 They describe the period of Samuel from 
 the first king Saul to the destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem and close with the statement that the son of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, on his accession to the throne 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 177 
 
 in 562 B. C. liberated tlie Jewish king Jehoia- 
 cMn who had been dragged into captivity. 
 
 That alone apart from many other indica- 
 tions proves that they were written during the 
 exile and were drawn from various sources. 
 The whole treatment is in the Deuteronomic 
 spirit, subordinating historical data entirely to 
 religious views and aims. Take as an illustra- 
 tion: Kings 11-24 *^ And the Lord sent against 
 him bands of Chaldeans and bands of Syrians, 
 and bands of Moabites, and bands of the chil- 
 dren of Ammon, and sent them against Judah 
 to destroy it, according to the word of the 
 Lord, which he spake by the hand of his ser- 
 vants the prophets. Surely at the Command- 
 ment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to re- 
 move them out of his sight, for the sins of 
 Manasseh, according to all that he did ; and also 
 for the innocent blood that he shed; for he 
 filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the 
 Lord would not pardon. Now the rest of the 
 acts of Jehoiakin, and all that he did, are they 
 not written in the books of the chronicles of 
 the kings of Judah? '' 
 
 As in the quotation above the political events 
 
178 The Old Testament : 
 
 are frequently introduced merely to show how 
 Jehovah punished the Hebrew people for its 
 religious trespasses and for details the reader 
 is then referred to historical works. 
 
 Finally we have the two books of Chronicles 
 and Nehemiah and Ezra, which are now di- 
 vided into four books, but originally were one. 
 They begin with many pages of mostly dry 
 genealogical tables which purport to give the 
 history of the holy people from Adam to David. 
 Then follow descriptions of the reigns of David 
 and Solomon and the kingdom of Judah to the 
 destruction of Jerusalem. The northern king- 
 dom and its rulers are mentioned more inci- 
 dentally while the interest centers in events oc- 
 curring in Judah, as the true representative of 
 the people of Jehovah, and the temple, the cult 
 and religious institutions are treated at length. 
 In the earlier parts, the same books are referred 
 to and quoted as in Kings, but later on the 
 writer seems to have drawn on sources not 
 available to the older historical work. 
 
 After that we have a very detailed recital of 
 the return and exile and the re-establishment 
 of the Jewish community under Ezra and Nehe- 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 179 
 
 miah, and here still more the religious tendency 
 dominates everything. The author or more 
 properly editor, is assumed to have lived about 
 300 B. C, because besides other evidence he 
 mentions Jeoiada, who was high-priest at the 
 time of Alexander the Great, 
 
 Of the works of the prophets of importance 
 we have spoken, while some of the minor ones 
 do not essentially change the picture. As al- 
 ready pointed out none of them is solely the 
 writing' of the author under whose name they 
 appear. They are mostly collections, often 
 from periods widely apart in time and grouped 
 as though emanating from one highly honored 
 source. The matter in many cases has been 
 altered, interpolations added and transposi- 
 tions made to suit the views and tendencies of 
 a later period. 
 
 The prophetic movement, especially as per- 
 sonified in its noblest and greatest representa- 
 tives, is the most remarkable phenomenon in 
 Hebrew history. These men attack moral, 
 social and religious defects and evils among 
 their countrymen, which probably at the time 
 were equally prevalent everywhere. They are 
 
i8o The Old Testament: 
 
 moved by a righteous indignation, a fervor, a 
 spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion to their 
 ideals, that not only left an impress upon the 
 Hebrew religion, but has ever since been a 
 potent factor in the moral elevation of man- 
 kind. They were led irresistibly from the 
 narrow notion of a mere national tribal god to 
 the conception of a God of the universe upon 
 whom all the noblest attributes could be cen- 
 tered. Their strong moral feelings prompted 
 them to accept concepts, that the more subtle 
 Greek mind acquired at a somewhat later period 
 through the methodical but slower process of 
 reasoning. 
 
 Of the other large and unique literature em- 
 braced in the Old Testament writings no suf- 
 ficient outline can be given in condensed form. 
 The lyric poetical beauty and fervor of the 
 Psalms can be appreciated only when read in 
 full. Ecclesiastes and Proverbs are collections 
 of practical wisdom of which no mere outline 
 can give an adequate idea. Finally Job with 
 the philosophical and moral problems which it 
 propounds, is quite unique of its kind. 
 
 The Old Testament canon, that is to say the 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. i8i 
 
 books that have been admitted and recognized 
 as regular and authentic, was not closed earlier 
 than about 150 B. C, probably later. A Greek 
 translation of the Pentateuch was made in Alex- 
 andria about 250 B. C. and the other books of 
 the Bible shortly thereafter ; and this version 
 has been of great service in showing what 
 changes had been introduced in the original 
 during that interval. 
 
 The attentive reader has probably be- 
 come convinced what inestimable service the 
 scientific labors of the critical school has ren- 
 dered to a correct understanding of these writ- 
 ings. Where the old books abound in contra- 
 dictions, incongruities and wearisome repeti- 
 tions and allow only of a confused notion of 
 the historical and religious development of the 
 Hebrew people, we now have a consistent and 
 continuous narrative giving a clear picture of 
 all the events involved. For while there are of 
 course many divergent opinions about details, 
 all critics are agreed as to the essential features 
 here outlined. Those that accept all the Old 
 Testament writings as being literally of divine 
 inspiration of course are not critics. 
 
1 82 The Old Testament: 
 
 Our task is herewith at an end, for what fol- 
 lowed the mission of Ezra no longer pertains 
 to the Old Testament, but rather to the history 
 of Judaism. Unfortunately we have but meagre 
 records of the events of the next century to the 
 time of the destruction of the Persian empire 
 by Alexander the Great in 333 B. C. There is 
 evidence however that after Ezra there were a 
 number of expeditions of exiles from Baby- 
 lonia, who returned to Palestine when order 
 was finally established and the long hoped for 
 temple service restored and expanded. These 
 immigrants being morally, intellectually and 
 economically superior to the great body of the 
 old residents, must have exerted a powerful 
 influence upon them. Besides the new Jewish 
 community while exclusive and exacting, was 
 not opposed to proselytes if they could be ob- 
 tained upon their terms — absolute acceptance 
 and submission to the new code and perfor- 
 mance of all commands in every detail. The ob- 
 jection to the heathen women and their children 
 under Ezra was their persistence in worship- 
 ing their pagan gods and rearing their chil- 
 dren in the same superstitions. We find that at 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 183 
 
 the end of a century the larger part of the old 
 Palestine, with the exception of Samaria but 
 including northern Israel, the later Galilee, was 
 devoted to the Jewish cult and looked upon 
 Jerusalem as its religious center. 
 
 As a partial offset to the rigid observance 
 of law the new idea of not only national, but 
 individual moral responsibility had a broaden- 
 ing effect. The influences that acted upon 
 Judaism were manifold. They were to some ex- 
 tent Babylonian, but more largely Persian and 
 Greek. Thereby such ideas as the resurrection, 
 Satan and the immortality of the soul were in- 
 troduced, which were quite foreign to the old 
 Hebrew notions. But to pursue these subjects 
 is outside the object of this little treatise, for 
 its chief aim has been simply to sketch in out- 
 line the meaning of the Old Testament and with 
 it the origin and development of that mono- 
 theistic belief which became the basis of re- 
 ligions that have ruled the thought and helped 
 to shape the destinies of so large a part of 
 civilized mankind. 
 
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES. 
 
 DATES OF REIGNS AND IMPORTANT EVENTS AS NEARLY AS 
 THEY CAN BE ASCERTAINED. 
 
 1250 — 1200 Invasion of Canaan by the Hebrew Tribes. 
 
 1030—1010 Saul, the first king, is anointed by Samuel. 
 
 Defeated by the Philistines in the battle at Gil- 
 boa and killed. 
 
 1010—970 David succeeds Saul, being elected king by 
 Judah. 
 
 1000 After a long struggle crowned as king of all the 
 
 Hebrew tribes. Makes Jerusalem his capital. 
 Extends his rule in every direction. 
 
 970 — 933 Solomon succeeds his father. Kills or banishes 
 all opponents. Makes Commercial treaty with 
 Tyre. Builds the Temple, is lavish in build- 
 ing and lays heavy taxes. 
 
 933 Division of the Kingdom. 
 
 Kingdom of Israel. 
 
 933—912 Jeroboam I. First king of Israel, Capital at 
 Shechem. 
 
 912—910 Nadab, son of Jeroboam assassinated by Baasha. 
 
 910—888 Baasha. king, succeeded by his son Elah. 
 
 888—887 Elah, ruled a short while when he was assas- 
 sinated. 
 
 887 — 877 Omri, recognized as king. 
 
 Subdues Moab and makes Samaria the capital. 
 Marries his son Ahab to Jezebel, daughter of 
 the king of Tyre. 
 
 185 
 
186 
 
 The Old Testament : 
 
 877—854 Ahab, succeeda his father Omri. 
 
 Joins Benhadad of Damascus in the battle at 
 Karkar against Shalmanaser II of Assyria. 
 854—853 Ahazia succeeds his father Ahab, is injured and 
 
 dies shortly. 
 853 — 842 Jehoram, hia brother, succeeds him. 
 
 Killed by Jehu. End of the Omri dynasty. 
 842 — 815 Jehu usurps the throne. 
 815 — 798 Jehoash succeeds his father Jehu. 
 
 The kingdom la overrun by the kinga of 
 Damascus. 
 
 The state suffers from oppression, drought 
 and famine. 
 798 — 783 Joash succeeds his father Jehoash. 
 
 Defeats Damascus and recovers a number of 
 towns. 
 783 — 743 Jeroboam II succeeda his father Joash. Subdues 
 
 Moab and extends his sway in every direction. 
 
 Together with Judah comprises as large a 
 
 territory as the kingdom under David. 
 
 The moat prosperous conditions ever attained. 
 The prophets Amos and Rosea appear 
 towards the end of this reign, 
 743 Zechariah succeeds hia father Jeroboam II. Killed 
 
 within six months by a military conspiracy 
 
 under Shellum. End of the Jehu dynasty. 
 743 Shellum makes himself king. Killed by Mena- 
 
 hem. 
 743 — 737 Menahem usurps the throne and becomes a vas- 
 sal of the Assyrians. 
 737 — 735 Pekahiah succeeds his father Menahem. 
 
 Killed by Pekah. 
 735—730 Pekah makes himself king. 
 734 Joins Damascus to force Judah to combine with 
 
 them in opposition to Assyria. 
 732 Damascus captured by the Assyrians. 
 
 730 Pekah defeated and killed and the northern part 
 
 of Israel incorporated as an Assyrian province. 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 
 
 187 
 
 730 Hoahea appointed king. 
 
 724 — 721 Rebells against Assyria. 
 
 Investment and capture of Samaria by the 
 
 Assyrians, and deportations of the leading 
 
 citizens. Obliteration of the kingdom of 
 
 Israel. 
 
 Kingdom op Judah. 
 933—917 Rehoboam first king. 
 928 Pharaoh Shishak takes Jerusalem. 
 
 917 — 914 Abijam succeeds his father Rehoboam. 
 914 — 873 Asa, son of Abijam, becomes king. Pays trib- 
 ute to Damascus. 
 873—849 Jehoshaphat succeeds his father Asa. 
 
 Kings of Judah become vassals to Israel. 
 
 His son Jehoram marries Athaliah, daughter 
 of Ahab, King of Israel. 
 849—842 Jehoram succeeds his father Jehoshaphat. 
 842 Ahaziah succeods his father Jehoram. Killed by 
 
 Jehu. 
 842—836 Athaliah, wife of Jehoram, kills all her husband's 
 
 relatives, except her grandson Joaah, and 
 
 makes herself queen. 
 836 In a revolt inaugurated by the high priest Jeho- 
 
 iada, Athaliah is murdered. 
 836 — 797 Joash, son of Ahaziah, becomes king, being the 
 
 reinstatement of the dynasty of David. Killed 
 
 by a conspiracy of his servants, 
 797 — 778 Amaziah, succeeds his father Joash. Defeated 
 
 by his cousin Joash of Israel. Jerusalem 
 
 taken. Like his father, killed by a conspiracy 
 
 of his servants. 
 779—740 Azariah or Uzziah succeeds his father Amaziah. 
 
 A very prosperous and successful reign. 
 
 His son Jotham his co-regent for a number of 
 years. 
 
 The prophet Isaiah appears toward the end of 
 his reign. 
 
188 
 
 The Old Testament : 
 
 740 — 736 Jotham succeeds his father Uzziah. 
 736—720 Ahaz, succeeds his father Jotham, 
 
 Cowardly and self-indulgent, becomes abject 
 vassal of Tiglath-Pileser. 
 
 The kingdom of Israel destroyed during his 
 reign. 
 720 — 685 Hezekiah succeeds his father Ahaz. 
 
 Vassal of Assyria. 
 701 He joins a revolt against the Assyrians, and Jeru- 
 
 salem is besieged. Sennacherib raises the 
 
 siege to attack Egypt and then withdraws 
 
 altogether. 
 688 Death of the prophet Isaiah. 
 
 685—642 Manasseh succeeds his father Hezekiah. 
 
 Supports religious reaction and permits many 
 
 foreign cults, even human sacrifices to Moloch. 
 
 Altogether his long reign is very prosperous. 
 642 — 640 Amon succeeds his father Manasseh. 
 640 — 608 Josiah, son of Amon follows. The opponents of 
 
 Assyrian ascendency in control. 
 
 The prophets Jeremiah and Zephaniah active. 
 621 Finding the Book of the Law in the Temple. 
 
 Religious reforms in the spirit of the Deuter- 
 onomic law introduced. 
 608 Josiah marches to attack the Pharoah Necho and 
 
 is routed and killed at Megiddo. 
 608—597 Jehoiakim, second son of Josiah, appointed king 
 
 by Necho. 
 
 Revolts and Nebuchadnezzar proceeds to in- 
 vest Jerusalem. Dies and is succeeded by his 
 son Jehoiakin. 
 597 Jehoiakin only rules a few months. 
 
 Surrenders Jerusalem. The king and leading 
 citizens deported to Babylonia, including the 
 later prophet Ezekiel. 
 597—586 Zedekiah a son of Josiah appointed king by 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar. 
 588 Joins revolt and refuses tribute to the Chaldeans. 
 
Its Origin and Meaning. 189 
 
 587 Nebuchadnezzar promptly appears before Jerm- 
 
 lalem. 
 
 The prophet Jeremiah counsels submission. 
 586 Capture of the city of Jerusalem after a long and 
 
 desperate resistance. Destruction of the 
 
 Temple and the city. Second deportation of 
 
 citizens. 
 686—582 Gedaliah appointed governor. Assassinated 5&2. 
 
 Many citizens flee. 
 Thb Exile and Thereafter. 
 592—572 The activity of the prophet Ezekiel during the 
 
 exile. 
 538 Cyrus captures Babylon. Appoints Zerubbabel 
 
 governcr of Judea and permits the Jews to 
 return. 
 620 The prophets Haggai and Zechariah agitate the 
 
 rebuilding of the Temple. 
 516 Completion of the Temple. 
 
 445—433 Nehemiah appointed governor of Judea by Artax- 
 
 erxes. 
 
 Rebuilds walls and fortifications of Jerusalem. 
 432 Ezra permitted to return to Judea by Artaxerxes. 
 
 431 Calls a great assembly of the people and reads to 
 
 them the book of the law he had brought. 
 429—424 Return of Nehemiah as governor. His final 
 
 activity. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Abijam, King or Judah 
 Succeeds his father Reho- 
 
 boam, 77. 
 Appeals to Damascus for 
 assistance, 77. 
 Abneb, General, 57, 58. 
 Abraham, 40, 48. 
 Absalom, 61. 
 Ahab, King of Israel 
 Succeeds his father Omrl, 
 
 80. 
 His reign, 81. 
 
 Battle at Karkar against 
 Shalmaneser II of As- 
 syria, 81. 
 Defeated and killed in Bat- 
 tle, 81. 
 Erected a Baal temple for 
 his wife Jezebel, 84. 
 Ahaz, King of Judah 
 Succeeds his father Jotham, 
 
 105. 
 Is compelled to face the 
 coalition headed by Is- 
 rael, 105. 
 Submits to Tiglath— Pl- 
 
 leser III, 106. 
 Social conditions during his 
 
 reign, 107. 
 Succeeded by his son Heze- 
 klah, 114. 
 Ahaziah, King of Israel 
 Succeeds his father Ahab, 
 dies shortly, 82. 
 Ahaziah, King of Judah, 82. 
 
 Killed by Jehu, 86. 
 Akkad, 14 
 Founder of Babylonian civ- 
 ilization, 15. 
 
 191 
 
 Alexander the Great, 179, 
 
 182. 
 Amalekites, 52-59. 
 Amaziah, King op Judah 
 Succeeds his father Joash, 
 
 90. 
 Reconquers Edom and re- 
 covers other valuable ter- 
 ritory, 91. 
 Challenges his cousin Joash, 
 is defeated and Jerusa- 
 lem is taken, 91. 
 Conspirators kill him and 
 his son Azariah succeeds 
 him, 91. 
 Amon, King of Judah 
 
 Succeeded his father Man- 
 
 asseh, 117. 
 After two years is followed 
 by his son Josiah, 117. 
 Ammonites, 45, 52, 59. 
 Amos, the Prophet 
 His activity and his teach- 
 ing, 95, 9^ 97. 
 Arabia 
 Original seat of the Semitic 
 Race, 18, 42. 
 Arameans, 52, 59. 
 Artaxesxes, 152. 
 Appoints Nehemlah gover- 
 nor of Judea, 152. 
 Gives permission to Ezra to 
 return to Judea, 157. 
 Asa, King of Judah, 78. 
 
 Succeeds Abijam, 77. 
 Assyria 
 See also Babylonia. 
 Language, 15 ; Conquests 
 and historical Import- 
 ance, 15, 22» 
 
192 
 
 Index 
 
 Dynasty overthrown by 
 Chaldeans, 22, 24; Civil- 
 ization, 25, 26. 
 Abteuc Jean, 11. 
 Athaliah, daughter of Ahab 
 Marries Jehoram of Judah, 
 
 82. 
 Has all her husband's rela- 
 tives killed and makes 
 herself queen, 87; Only 
 her grandson Joash saved, 
 87. 
 Azaeiah, King of Judah (ob 
 
 TJZZIAH ) 
 
 The state attains the very 
 highest prosperity under 
 him, 92, 93. Social and 
 moral conditions, 93. 
 
 A new order of prophets 
 arises, 94. His reign, 105. 
 
 His son Jotham co-regent, 
 105. 
 
 Baal, 50. 
 
 Baasha King of Israel 
 Assassinates Nadab and 
 makes himself king, 78. 
 Babylon 
 Excavations at, 13. Scien- 
 tific knowledge, 17. 
 Social life, 17. Captured 
 
 by Cyrus, 24, 146. 
 Civilization, 24-25. 
 Babylonia see also Assyria 
 Its language and its rela- 
 tion to other Semitic 
 Languages, 14. Last King 
 
 Belshazzar, 142. 
 Temple service, 176. 
 Bathsheba, 63. 
 Belshazzar, 142. 
 Benhadad I King of Damas- 
 
 cua, 78, 78, 8L 
 Bensadao II 
 
 Assassinated by Haza«l, WT, 
 Book of the Law, 
 
 Its character and purpose, 
 118, 163. 
 Canaan 
 
 Under Egyptian rulers, 20. 
 
 Extent and location, 44. 
 
 Under Babylonian sway, 44. 
 
 Conquest and settlement by 
 the Hebrews, 45-164. 
 Canaanites, 44. 
 Chaldeans. 
 
 Gain power by overthrow 
 of Assyrian dynasty, 23. 
 Chronicles, Books of, 28, 
 
 147, 178. 
 Covenant, Book of, 169. 
 Cuneiform Inscriptions 
 
 Decipherment of, 14. 
 Cyrus 
 
 Becomes king of Persia, 24, 
 143. His victories, 143. 
 
 (Captures Babylon, 24, 146. 
 
 Statesmanship and policies, 
 
 14a 
 
 Appoints governor of Judea, 
 148. 
 
 Death, 149. 
 Darius, 149. 
 David, 55. 
 
 Married to Saul's daughter, 
 53. 
 
 Takes refuge with Philis- 
 tines, 55. Relation to Saul 
 ak times obscure, 55. 
 Elected King by th« 
 Judeans, 56. 
 
 Crowned king of all Israel 
 at Hebron, 58. 
 
 Renewed struggle with Phil- 
 istines, 59. 
 
 Jerusalem made capital, 59. 
 
 Subdues hostile peoples and 
 extends limits o| king- 
 
Index 
 
 193 
 
 dom, 59. His marriages, 
 60. 
 
 Absalom's revolt, 61. 
 
 Defeats Absalom, 62. 
 
 Appoints Solomon Ms suc- 
 cessor, 63. His character, 
 63-64. 
 
 Conception of Jehova, 64, 
 174. 
 
 Deluge 
 
 Cuneiform tablets found, 39. 
 Deutero-Isaiah, 110, 144. 
 Proclaims Cyrus the de- 
 liverer, 144. 
 Purely monotheistic concep- 
 tion of Jehovah, 145. 
 Assumes a tone of highest 
 moral elevation, 146. 
 Deutebonomic Law, 170-171- 
 
 172. 
 Deuteronomy 
 
 Its basis the book of the 
 Law, 118, 172. 
 ecclesiastes, 180. 
 Edomites, 45, 59. 
 Egypt 
 
 Invasion and conquest by 
 Semitic tribes, 19. 
 Origin of the Egyptian 
 Race, 20. 
 Elah, King of Israel, 78. 
 Eliashib, 161. 
 Eojah, Prophet 
 His character and his life, 
 85. Elisha his favorite 
 disciple, 85. Affiliated 
 with the Sons of the Pro- 
 phets, 108. 
 Elisha 
 Successor to Elijah, urges 
 rigid Jehovah worship, 85. 
 Sends a son of the Prophets 
 to anoint Jehu, 85. 
 
 Affiliated with the Sons of 
 the Prophets, 107-108. 
 Elohim, 37, 165. 
 Elohist, 40-165-169. 
 Exile 
 Stimulus to monotheistic 
 
 development, 133. 
 Favorable condition and 
 political freedom of the 
 deported, 134. 
 Difficulty of the religious 
 problems, 136. 
 Exodus, 40, 41, 42. 
 Ezekiel, Prophet 
 Among the deported, 135. 
 Active as teacher and 
 prophet, 135. 
 Progressive monotheistic 
 
 views, 136, 137. 
 Evolves new ideas of wor- 
 ship 136. Initiates higher 
 moral aims, 136, 137. 
 Emphasizes the moral 
 responsibility of the in- 
 dividual, 138. Institutes 
 the Sabbath as a holy 
 day, 138. Urges confi- 
 dence in Jehovah and 
 foreshadows a messianic 
 age, 139. Outlines the 
 theocratic state, 140. 
 First intimation of the 
 resurrection of the body, 
 
 140. His systematizing 
 of worship entitles him 
 to be considered the 
 founder of Judaism, 140, 
 
 141, 172. 
 Ezra 
 
 Books of, 147, 150. Goes to 
 Jerusalem, 157. 
 
 Has a commission appointed 
 to examine marriages 
 with Heathen wives, 158. 
 
194 
 
 Index 
 
 Calls a great assembly and 
 reads the law lie brought, 
 158. 
 
 Priestly Code, 161, 164, 
 165, 178, 179, 182. 
 
 Galilee, 104. 
 Gedauah, 127. 
 Genesis 
 Criticism by Jean Astruc, 
 
 11. 
 Creation stories, 31, 32, 34. 
 Their different character, 
 37, 166, 168, 175. 
 
 Haggai, Pbophet 
 Agitates for the rebuilding 
 of the temple, 149. 
 Hammurabi 
 Importance of his reign, 15, 
 
 16. 
 Discovery of his code, 16. 
 Possibly identical with Am- 
 raphel, 16. 
 Hazael 
 Kills Benhadad II and 
 usurps throne of Damas- 
 cus, 88. 
 Attacks Jehu and ravages 
 Hebrew territory, 88. 
 Hebrews 
 Language, 14. Invasion of 
 
 Canaan, 42. 
 Meaning of the name He- 
 brew, 45. Tribes, 48, 164. 
 Hezekiah King of Judah 
 Succeeds his father Ahaz, 
 
 114. 
 Joins revolting states 
 
 against Assyria, 114. 
 Sennacherib invests the city 
 and then withdraws, 114, 
 115. 
 Institutes some religious re- 
 forms, 115, 
 103. 
 
 Succeeded by his son Man- 
 asseh, 115. 
 
 HiLKIAH, HIGH PBIEST, 118. 
 
 Holiness Code, 174. 
 Hosea, Prophet 
 Opposes alliances, 99. 
 His teaching and events of 
 his life, 99. 
 Hoshea, King of Samaria 
 Appointed King by Tiglath- 
 
 Pileser III, 102. 
 The rebels and Assyrians 
 attack Samaria and take 
 the city, 102. 
 Hoshea made prisioner, 102. 
 Large number of leading 
 citizens sent into captiv- 
 ity, 103. 
 Hyksos, 19. 
 
 immortaiity of the sotjl, 
 183. 
 
 Isaac, 40, 48. 
 
 Isaiah, see also Deutero and 
 Trito-Isalah. 
 
 Opposes alliances with for- 
 eign powers, 106. 
 
 Critics distinguish three 
 different strata in his 
 writings, 111. 
 
 His message, 111. His con- 
 ception of Jehovah, 112. 
 
 His activity, 114. Again 
 opposes alliances, 113. 
 
 Counsels holding Jerusalem 
 against Assyria and in- 
 stils confidence, 114. 
 Israel 
 
 Northern part of kingdom 
 captured by Tlglath-Pil- 
 eser III, 21, 102. 
 
 Samaria taken and King- 
 dom obliterated by Sargon 
 II, 21, 103. 
 
 Inhabitants deported, 21, 
 
Index 
 
 195 
 
 Jacob, 40, 49, 166. 
 Jehoiada 
 High priest in Judah, helps 
 to conceal Joash, 86. 
 Jehoiakim, Kino of Judah 
 Younger son of Josiah ap- 
 pointed king, 124. His 
 reign, 124. 
 Revolts against Assyria, 124, 
 Succeeded by his son Jehola- 
 kin, 124. 
 
 JEHOIAKIN 
 
 Surrenders to the Chaldeans, 
 23, 124. 
 
 Deportation of leading citi- 
 zens, 124; Liberated, 177. 
 Jehoash, Kino of Isbael 
 
 Son of Jehu. Humiliated 
 by Hazael, 88. 
 
 Terrible suffering of the 
 people, 88. 
 
 Succeeded by his son Joash 
 of Israel, 90. 
 Jehobam, King of Israel 
 
 Succeeds his brother Aha- 
 ziah, 82. 
 
 Mesha, king of Moab, rebels 
 and makes himself inde- 
 pendent, 82-83. 
 
 Fights against Damascus 
 and is wounded at siege 
 of Ramoth-Gilead, 83. 
 
 Killed by Jehu, 83-86. 
 Jehobam, King of Jtjdah 
 
 Marries Athaliah, daughter 
 of Ahab, 81. 
 
 Succeeds Jehohaphat, reigns 
 seven years, 82. 
 
 His son Ahaziah succeeds 
 him, 82. 
 Jehoshaphat, King of Judah 
 
 Ascends throne, 82. His son 
 Jehoram marries Atbaliab, 
 daughter of Ahab, 82. His 
 reign, 82. 
 
 Jehovah, 38, 43, 47. 
 
 As tribal god, 42, 64. Bull 
 worship, 86. 
 JEHOVIST, 38, 165, 168, 175. 
 Jehu 
 
 Kills Jehoram of Israel 
 and makes himself king, 
 83. 
 
 Accepts the crown, 85. Kills 
 Jehoram of Israel, his 
 cousin Ahaziah of Judah, 
 Jezebel and many other 
 relatives of the crown, 86. 
 
 Attacked by Hazael of Da- 
 mascus and land ravaged, 
 8S. 
 
 Succeeded by his son Jeho- 
 ash, 88. 
 Jeeemiah, Pbophet, 118. 
 
 Supports the introduction 
 of the Book of the Law, 
 120. 
 
 Foretells the chastisement 
 by Jehovah, 123. 
 
 His life and his activity, 
 129. Conception of Je- 
 hovah, 129. 
 Jeeoboam I, King of Israel, 
 75. 
 
 Proclaimed King, 75. Made 
 Shechem his capital, 77. 
 
 Succeeded by his son Nadab, 
 78. 
 Jekoboam II, King of Isbael 
 
 Took possession of Moab 
 and extended his kingdom 
 in every direction, 89. 
 Discontinued tribute to Assy- 
 ria, 89. 
 
 State attains the very high- 
 est prosperity under him, 
 91. 
 
 Social and moral conditions, 
 93, 
 
196 
 
 Index 
 
 A. new order of prophets 
 
 arises, 94. 
 Succeeded by his son Zech- 
 
 arlah, 9a 
 
 jBBtTSAI£M 
 
 First and second siege by 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar, 23. 
 Destroyed by Nebuchadnez- 
 zar, 23, 127; Made capital 
 by David, 69. 
 Captured by Shlshak, 76. 
 Jewish People, 9. 
 
 Monotheistic ideas, 9. 
 Jezebel 
 
 Marries Ahab of Israel, 79; 
 Killed by Jehu, 86. 
 JoASH, King of Israel 
 
 Recovers a number of towns 
 previously captured by 
 Damascus, 90. 
 Succeeded by his son Jero- 
 boam II, 89. 
 JOASH, King of Jubah 
 Son of Ahaziah, 86. 
 Made king, 90. 
 His reign, 91. 
 Killed by his servants, 91. 
 His son Amaziah succeeds 
 him, 91. 
 Job, 181. 
 
 Joshua, 28, 43, 164, 175. 
 JosiAH, King of Judah 
 Successor of Ammon, 117, 
 
 172. 
 Finding of the Book of the 
 
 Law, 118. 
 Its enforcements and revo- 
 lutionary effects, 120, 121. 
 His reign and the changed 
 International situation, 
 123. 
 Battle at Meglddo, his rout 
 and death, 122, 164. 
 Jotham, King op Judah 
 
 Succeeds his father Azarlah, 
 
 105. 
 Dies shortly and is followed 
 by his son Ahaz, 105. 
 Judah 
 First and second deporta- 
 tion, 24 ; Largely created 
 by David, 63. 
 Judaism, 182, 183. 
 Judea, 150. 
 
 Social and religious condi- 
 tions, 151, 152. 
 Judges, 28, 47, 176. 
 
 Kings 
 
 Books of, 28, 177, 178. 
 
 Leviticus, 174. 
 
 LiBEABY OF ASHUEBANIPAL, 22. 
 
 Lost Tribes of Isbael, 103. 
 
 Malachi, Prophet, 151. 
 Manasseh, King of Judah 
 Succeeds his father Haze- 
 
 kiah, 115. 
 Reformatory measures re- 
 voked and worship of for- 
 eign gods introduced, 
 115. 
 His reign, 117. 
 Succeeded by his son Amon, 
 117. 
 Manasseh, gbandson of Eli- 
 
 ashib, 160. 
 Menahem, King of Israel 
 Kills Zechariah and makes 
 himself king of Israel, 98. 
 Pays tribute to Tiglath-Pi- 
 
 leser, 98. 
 Struggle of parties for dif- 
 ferent alliances, 99. 
 Succeeded by his son Peka- 
 hiah, 99. 
 Mesha, King of Moab, 46, 47. 
 Methuselah, 167. 
 
Ind 
 
 ex 
 
 197 
 
 ^ICHA, Pbophbt, 112. 
 MoABiTES, 45, 53, 59. 
 
 MOABITE StONB, 46. 
 
 monolatby, 47. 
 Monotheism 
 
 Difference from monolatry, 
 47. 
 Moses, 28, 41, 163, 164, 174. 
 Mount Geeizim 
 
 Temple erected, 160. 
 
 Nadal, King of Ibeael 
 
 Succeeds his father Jero- 
 boam I, 78. 
 
 Assassinated by Baasha, 78. 
 Nebuchadnezzab, 23. 
 
 Supplication to Marduc, 26. 
 
 Defeats Pharaoh Necho at 
 Carchemish, 123. 
 
 Orders deportation of lead- 
 ing citizens of Judea, 124. 
 
 Appoints Zedekiah King, 
 125. 
 
 Jerusalem destroyed, 127. 
 
 Second deportation of citi- 
 zens, 127. 
 
 Gedaliah made governor, 
 127. 
 
 His death, 143. 
 Nehemiah, Goveenob of 
 Judea 
 
 Book of, 28, 147, 150. 
 
 Appointed governor of Ju- 
 dea, 152, 153. 
 
 Conditions in Judea, 153. 
 
 Rebuilds walls and fortifi- 
 cations, 153. 
 
 His activity in improving 
 social, moral and relig- 
 ious conditions, 153, 155. 
 
 Prohibits marriages with 
 heathen women, 155, 156. 
 
 Precedes Ezra, 156. 
 
 Returns and enforces law 
 against marriages with 
 heathen women, 161, 178. 
 
 Old Testament 
 
 Classification of writings, 
 27, 28. 
 
 Creation stories, 32, 33, 34. 
 
 Their different character, 
 35, 181. 
 Omri, King of Isbael, 47. 
 
 Elected king, 78. 
 
 Cedes cities to Benhadad, 
 79. 
 
 Expedition against Moab, 
 79. 
 
 Marries his son Ahab to 
 Jezebel, daughter of the 
 king of Tyre, 80. 
 
 Erects Samaria as new 
 capital, 80. 
 Peka, King of Israel 
 
 Kills Pekahiah and be- 
 comes king, 99. 
 
 Ascendancy of anti-Assy- 
 rian party, 99. 
 
 Opponents of this policy, 
 99. 
 
 Prophet Hosea, 99. 
 
 Combination of Israel, Da- 
 mascus and Philistine 
 cities to compel Judah to 
 join them in opposition 
 to the Assyrians, 102. 
 
 Investment of Jerusalem, 
 102. 
 
 The larger part of Israel 
 occupied by the Assy- 
 rians, 102. 
 
 Peka killed and Hoshea ap- 
 pointed king, 102. 
 Pekahiah, King of Iseael 
 
 Succeeds his father Mena- 
 hem, 99. 
 
 Killed by Pekah, 99. 
 Pentateuch, 12, 27, 43, 163, 
 
 165, 175. 
 Persia 
 
 Conquest of Assyria, 15. 
 
198 
 
 Index 
 
 Philistines, 44, 50, 54. 
 Phoenicians, 44. 
 Priestly Code, 162, 171. 
 Pbophets 
 Distin^ished from the 
 Sons of the Prophets, 50. 
 Political and historical 
 events treated by their 
 writings, 75. 
 A new school arises, 95. 
 Their aims and their teach- 
 ing, 95, 107, 108. 
 Ascribe high moral attri- 
 butes to Jehovah, 109. 
 Critical study of their 
 
 writings, 110. 
 Characteristics and weak- 
 ness of the school, 112. 
 Do not mention Moses or 
 any Mosaic laws, 113, 
 114, 115, 117. 
 Their relation to political 
 
 issues, 130, 131. 
 Prophetic movement, 179. 
 Provebbs, 181. 
 Psalms, 141, 181. 
 Romans, 9. 
 Rationalists, 11. 
 Rehoboam, King op Jtjdah, 
 75, 76. 
 
 Sabbath, 34. 
 Derivation of word, 33. 
 Instituted as holy day by 
 Ezekiel, 138. 
 Sackificial Rites 
 
 At the time of Solomon, 71. 
 Samabia, Made capital, 79. 
 ' Hoshea appointed king of 
 the state by Tlglath-Plle- 
 ser III, 102. 
 Samaritans, 161, 162. 
 Samballat, 160. 
 Samtiel, 51. 
 Samuel 
 
 Books of, 28, 176. 
 Saegon I, 15, 41. 
 Sabgon II 
 
 Captures Samaria, 21. 
 Satan, 183. 
 
 Saul, First King of the He- 
 brews 
 
 Anointed as king, 51. 
 
 Defeated the Philistines, 
 53-54. 
 
 Battle with Philistines at 
 Gilboa, 54. 
 
 His defeat and death, 54. 
 Semitic Race 
 
 Predominated at Baby- 
 lonia, 15. 
 
 Origin, 18. 
 
 Migrations, 18-19, 
 Septuagint, 27-181. 
 Shellum, King of Israel 
 
 Kills Zechariah and usurps 
 the throne, 98. 
 
 Again slain by Menahem, 
 98. 
 Solomon, King of the He- 
 brews 
 
 On accession to the throne 
 kills and banishes all op- 
 ponents, 65. 
 
 Loses Edom, 65. 
 
 Arameans revolt and be- 
 come dangerous foes 
 thereafter, 66. 
 
 Marries Pharaoh's daugh- 
 ter, 66. 
 
 Makes commercial treaty 
 with Tyre, 66. 
 
 Improves social conditions, 
 66. 
 
 Phoenician alphabet and 
 higher culture Intro- 
 duced, 68. 
 
 Extravagance and passion 
 for building, 6a 
 
Index 
 
 199 
 
 Divides kingdom Into dis- 
 tricts, obliterating tribal 
 distinctions, 69. 
 
 Lays heavy taxes and in- 
 troduces forced labor, 69. 
 
 Erects Temple, 70-71. 
 
 Conception of Jehovah simi- 
 lar to that of David, 71. 
 
 Remodels Temple service, 
 71-72-173. 
 
 Fame for vpisdom, 72. 
 
 His character, 111. 
 Sons of the Pbophets, 50- 
 
 83-95-107. 
 Sttmebians 
 
 Pounders of Babylonian 
 civilization, 14. 
 
 Tel-El-Amarna Coeeespond- 
 
 ENCE, 19. 
 XlGLATH-PlLESEB III 
 
 Conquers northern part of 
 
 Israel, 21-98-102. 
 Compells Ahaz of Judah to 
 
 pay tribute, 21. 
 Menahem pays tribute to 
 him, 98. 
 TOBIAH, 160. 
 Tkito-Isaiah, 110-144-151. 
 
 UZZIAH OB AzABIAH, BEE 
 
 Azabiah, 91-105. 
 
 Voltaiee, 11. 
 
 Wisdom Liteeattjee, 29-180. 
 
 Yahwe, see Jehovah, 42-43. 
 
 Zeghaeiah, King of Iseael, 
 98. 
 Succeeds his father Jero- 
 boam II, 98. 
 Assassinated by Shellum, 
 98. 
 Zeghaeiah, Peophet 
 Urges the rebuilding of the 
 temple, 149. 
 Zedekiah, King of Judah, 
 125. 
 Appointed king, 125. 
 His reign, 125. 
 Joins league to overthrow 
 
 Chaldean rule, 126. 
 He surrenders Jerusalem, 
 flees, is captured and 
 blinded, 126. 
 Zephaniah, Pbophet, 118. 
 Zebubbabel, 148.