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BR 45 .H36 v. 16 
 
 Fairweather , William 
 
 From the exile to the advent 
 
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 ■I 
 
antiboofes for MMt Classes 
 anti ^ritoatt ^tutients, 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 REV. PROFESSOR MARCUS DODS, D.D., 
 
 AND 
 
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HANDBOOKS 
 
 FOR 
 
 BIBLE CLASSES 
 
 AND PRIVATE STUDENTS 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 PROFESSOR MARCUS DODS, D.D. 
 
 AND 
 
 REV ALEXANDER WHYTE, D.D. 
 
 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 EDINBURGH 
 T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET 
 
 1895 
 
PRINTED BY MORRISON AND GIBB, 
 FOR 
 
 T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH. 
 
 LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, AND CO. LIMITED. 
 NEW YORK : CHARLES SCRIBNER's SONS. 
 TORONTO : THE WILLARD TRACT DEPOSITORY 
 
FROM THE EXILE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE ADVENT 
 
 / 
 
 REV. WILLIAM FAIRWEATHER, M.A. 
 
 KIRKCALDY 
 
 -M- 
 
 EDINBURGH 
 T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET 
 
 1895 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 BOOK I 
 THE EXILE AND THE RETURN, B.C. 588-538 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 l'AGE 
 
 THE EPOCH OF THE EXILE II 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE HOME OF THE EXILES l6 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE STORY OF THE EXILE 23 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE RETURN FROM EXILE ....... 32 
 
 BOOK II 
 
 THE PERSIAN PERIOD, D. C. 537-333 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE JEWS UNDER CYRUS AND HIS SUCCESSORS ... 38 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE JEWS UNDER DARIU3 48 
 
 7 
 
8 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 PAGE 
 THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES . . . . 6l 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 INNER LIFE OF ISRAEL DURING THE PERSIAN PERIOD . . 84 
 
 BOOK III 
 THE GREEK PERIOD, B.C. 333-167 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE 99 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE CONFLICT BETWEEN HELLENISM AND JUDAISM . . 105 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE GREEK DOMINION Il6 
 
 BOOK IV 
 
 THE MACCABEAN PERIOD; OR, THE PERIOD OF 
 FREEDOM, B.C. 167-135 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE JEWISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE I33 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS . I4O 
 
CONTENTS 9 
 
 BOOK V 
 
 THE A SAW NE AN DYNASTY, B.C. 135-63 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 l'AGE 
 
 JOHN HYRCANUS AND THE PHARISEES . . . , .15" 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 REVIVAL OF HELLENISM jfo 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 PHARISAIC REACTION UNDER ALEXANDRA .... l67 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 CONQUEST OF PALESTINE BY THE ROMANS .... 170 
 
 BOOK VI 
 
 THE ROMAN PERIOD, B. C. 63-4 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE DOWNFALL OF THE ASMONEANS 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE REIGN OF HEROD THE GREAT . 
 
 INDEX 
 
 173 
 
 185 
 
 203 
 
BOOK I 
 
 THE EXILE AND THE RETURN, B.C. 588-538 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 The Epoch of the Exile 
 
 1. The Name and what it covers. — The name Exile, when used 
 
 without qualification, cannot be said to give a very correct idea 
 
 of the historical relations of the period under review. It is an 
 
 improvement on the designation so long in use— that of the 
 
 Captivity ; but even when we distinguish between the Assyrian 
 
 and the Babylonian Exile it is very inadequate, and does the 
 
 history no justice. Deportation is perhaps the word that best 
 
 conveys a right conception of what happened to the Israelitish 
 
 people at this crisis. It was a favourite principle of Eastern 
 
 despotism to remove large numbers of people from their native 
 
 settlements to some region within the domains of the conquering 
 
 power. This weakened the alien and strengthened the empire ; 
 
 while the mixture of blood tended also to the spread of general 
 
 culture. The dregs of the population were usually left behind. 
 
 It was upon the nobility, the youth, and the intelligence of a 
 
 vanquished community that the victors liked to prey. The 
 
 application of this principle by Nebuchadnezzar to the Hebrew 
 
 nation brought about the condition of things known as the Exile. 
 
 It will be necessary to keep in view the following facts : — 
 
 (1) The deportation of the Ten Tribes to Assyria, about B.C. 740. 
 
 11 
 
12 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 What became of these tribes is a question which has been the 
 theme of much fruitless discussion. May they not have returned 
 to Jerusalem with their fellow - countrymen of Judah ? The 
 general number who did so return is stated at 42,000, while the 
 particulars as given in Ezra amount to only 29,000. The differ- 
 ence of 13,000 may very well have been composed of persons 
 belonging to the other tribes. (2) The name Exile, however, is 
 usually associated with an event vastly more important for 
 Israelitish history, although directly affecting only a minority 
 of the nation, viz. the downfall of the kingdom of Judah, the 
 destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, and the carrying away 
 of the inhabitants to Babylon. The position of Judea between 
 Egypt and Babylonia was a very critical one. It was the natural 
 battlefield over which swept the ever-shifting tide of conquest. 
 In the course of events the Judeans had become tributary to the 
 growing empire of Babylon, and vainly thought with the help of 
 Egypt to throw off their vassalage. The end of their abortive 
 attempts in this direction was the deportation under Jehoiakim, 
 in B.C. 598. After plundering the temple, Nebuchadnezzar took 
 away as prisoners to Babylon the boy-king and his Court, and 
 the cream of the people, including Ezekiel and many other 
 priests. (3) Ten years later, in B.C. 588, came the bitter end, in 
 the form of another and more complete deportation. Zedekiah, 
 who had been appointed king over the impoverished remnant, 
 weakly allowed himself to be drawn into a confederacy with 
 Egypt. This proved his ruin ; for Nebuchadnezzar once more 
 marched against Judea and laid siege to Jerusalem. Zedekiah now 
 sent for Jeremiah, who had been cast into prison for maintaining 
 that the siege would be successful. Again he desired to know 
 from his lips the message of Jehovah. It was still the same, 
 and the infatuated king sent the faithful prophet back to his cell. 
 Within the year Jerusalem was taken and destroyed by fire. 
 Most of the people were carried to Babylon. No one was left 
 who was worth removing. The fate of the king himself was a 
 very sad one. After seeing his sons slain, he had his own eyes 
 
THE EPOCH OF THE EXILE 
 
 J 3 
 
 put out, and ended his miserable life in a Babylonian prison. 
 The Jews kept alive the recollection of this calamity by special 
 days of fasting. As for the miserable remnant in Judea, over whom 
 Gedaliah had been appointed governor, we find that they soon 
 fled to Egypt for fear of the Chaldees. The personal history of 
 Jeremiah loses itself in this sea of troubles. All we know is 
 that he was carried by force to Egypt, where he continued to 
 assert the divine mission of Nebuchadnezzar, and his coming 
 conquest of the very land to which his poor countrymen had fled 
 for refuge. 
 
 2. Significance of the Exile. — With the destruction of the Holy 
 City a great turning-point in the national development is reached. 
 The Exile is like a line bisecting the history, all that goes before 
 having a well-marked character of its own, and all that follows 
 taking colour from this signally important event. Hitherto there 
 had been a feeling in Jewish hearts that even amid their many 
 defections from His service, Jehovah was still with them. Had 
 they suffered calamities ? The Holy City had remained never- 
 theless, its walls defended by His power. And was not their 
 great temple the visible embodiment of the divine presence ? 
 But now came the rude awakening. They had been " haughty 
 because of God's holy mountain," and with one fell blow the 
 source of their pride was swept away. The earlier bands of 
 exiles went forth no doubt with lighter hearts than did the later. 
 They had thought matters would right themselves again, as they 
 had always done before ; but consternation must have seized on 
 them when they heard that their countrymen whom they had 
 left behind were also on their way to Babylon, with the ashes of 
 Jerusalem — walls, palaces, and temple together — smouldering in 
 the rear. Everything distinctive of God's Israel was now wiped 
 out. Monarchy had failed. The kings had been weighed in the 
 balances and found wanting. Under them the people had sunk 
 deeper than ever into corruption and idolatry. The noble part 
 played by the prophets at this juncture stands in brightest 
 
14 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 contrast to the miserable character of the later Jewish kings. 
 The only exception to the general worthlessness of these men 
 was Josiah ; his successors were all more or less like Zedekiah, 
 of whom Josephus says that he was "a despiser of justice and of 
 his duty." 
 
 3. The Rationale of the Exile. — Why was there such a thing at 
 all ? It was the execution of the divine judgment which had 
 long been threatening the chosen people. The cloud had been 
 gathering and thickening on every side. Egypt on the south, 
 and the newly-consolidated empire of Chaldea on the north, were 
 both ready to swallow up the little Israelitish kingdom that lay 
 between. There is something of an analogy in the present posi- 
 tion of Bulgaria in relation to the great neighbouring powers of 
 the Slavs and Teutons. Add to this that the Israelites were 
 harassed by their hereditary foes, the Philistines and Edomites, 
 and by the plundering banditti of the desert, and there can be no 
 dubiety regarding the outward occasion of an event whose real 
 inner cause lay in the unfaithfulness to God of the Israelitish 
 nation. The degeneracy extended in considerable measure even 
 to prophets and priests; while, as for the great body of the people, 
 they had given themselves up to idolatry and worldliness. Josiah's 
 reform — the only bright spot in their later history — had not been 
 radical enough. This was proved by the rampant wickedness 
 that sprang up after the good king's death. Heathen abomina- 
 tions were substituted for the worship of Jehovah. Moloch and 
 Ashtaroth had become the favourite divinities of a sunken people ; 
 they had even embraced the animal worship of Egypt, and did 
 obeisance to reptiles and creeping things. The whole framework 
 of society was rotten, from the Court downwards. Home life, 
 public life, and religious life were equally corrupt. The day of 
 visitation, so often proclaimed by the prophets, and as often 
 unheeded by the people, had now come. 
 
 It would, however, be a mistake to regard the judgments meted 
 out to Israel as merely punitive ; they were educative as well, and 
 
THE EPOCH OF THE EXILE 
 
 15 
 
 intended to fit them for their unique divine calling and destiny. 
 From them was to arise the Messiah, the Man of His right hand, 
 whom Jehovah was to exalt to be a Prince and a Saviour. But 
 they were not yet ready for this. The nation must be purified by 
 a complete severance from the scene and associations of a long 
 course of evil-doing. In political servitude they must regain 
 spiritual freedom, and in a strange land and amid unwelcome 
 surroundings they must revert to the love of truth and righteous- 
 ness, and to the practice of faith and holiness. We must there- 
 fore view the Exile as a great forward step in the development 
 of Israel's religion. Their special mission as a nation could never 
 be fulfilled so long as they clung in selfish isolation to the forms 
 of a material temple. 
 
 Only by the severest measures could they be brought back to 
 their true position as the chosen of God. The punitive instru- 
 ment arose in the person of Nebuchadnezzar, whom the prophets 
 speak of accordingly as Jehovah's "servant." God made the 
 policy of the earthly monarch subservient to His own : Nebuchad- 
 nezzar needed citizens at the same time that God wanted a 
 purified people. The King of Babylon and his empire were 
 simply the means He was pleased to use for the accomplish- 
 ment of His own designs. And what designs of His were being 
 wrought out in the history of Israel? No Christian needs to be 
 told that in the fall of Jerusalem there was the death of a seed- 
 corn that carried with it a fulness of power not yet exhausted, 
 but working on wherever the gospel is preached. 
 
 The crushing nature of the Babylonian yoke had now become 
 only too apparent. By degrees it had advanced until the 
 enemy's heel was fairly upon Judah's neck. The epoch of the 
 Exile lasted, strictly speaking, little more than half a century, the 
 seventy years of Jeremiah being reckoned from the fourth year of 
 Jehoiakim, or the first of Nebuchadnezzar. Yet even half a 
 century is an important period in a nation's history, and it can 
 well be conceived that half a century in exile— the peculiar case 
 of the Hebrews — must have been particularly so. 
 
l6 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 The Home of the Exiles 
 
 1. General Plan of Babylon. — Ancient Babylon was in many 
 respects the most remarkable city the world has ever seen. The 
 great monarch whose creation it was, being now at rest from 
 war, resolved to apply his mind to the task of strengthening 
 and adorning his capital— a task which he executed with charac- 
 teristic energy up to the day when he made the proud boast, " Is 
 not this great Babylon which I have built ? " In trying to form 
 some idea of the magnificence of this old-world metropolis, we are 
 thrown back upon such accounts as have come down to us from 
 ancient history, for the glory of Babylon has long since passed 
 away. These accounts are not numerous, and even when they 
 were written Babylon was on the wane. The decipherment of the 
 cuneiform inscriptions has brought to light many important facts 
 which supplement, and to some extent correct, the historical 
 statements. Both alike corroborate, however, what is said in 
 Scripture as to the hugeness of the city, and the immensity of the 
 scale on which everything connected with it was contrived and 
 carried out. Situated on a vast level plain, with the Euphrates 
 flowing through it and dividing it into two almost equal sections, 
 ancient Babylon took the form of a perfect square. As to the 
 size of this square, our chief authorities — Herodotus and Ctesias 
 — differ considerably, the one probably giving the measurement 
 from the outer, and the other that from the inner wall ; but the 
 lowest figure given by any writer of antiquity compels us to think 
 of a city four times as large as London. The plan was that of 
 Nineveh, but Nebuchadnezzar resolved to make Babylon an im- 
 provement upon Nineveh. Having finished the wall begun by 
 his father, he built another inside of it so as to render the place 
 impregnable. That these "walls" were really huge mounds or 
 
THE HOME OF THE EXILES 1 7 
 
 artificial hills thrown round the city, we might infer from their 
 height, which, on the lowest reckoning, was more than 300 feet ; 
 and from their breadth, which was such that six chariots could 
 drive abreast upon the top. The Chinese Wall is perhaps the 
 only work of man that can be compared with them in magnitude. 
 On each side of the square were 25 gates of solid brass ; and 
 placed at irregular intervals round the wall were 250 towers, 
 each raised above the general altitude. According to Herodotus, 
 the gates on the opposite sides of the square enclosure were so 
 placed that the streets ran from gate to gate, each of them being 
 1 5 miles long. This would give in all 50 streets of that length, 
 25 running in one direction, and being crossed at right angles by 
 an equal number. There were also four streets built on one side 
 only, immediately adjoining the walls. The whole city was there- 
 fore composed of 676 squares, each 2\ miles in compass. The 
 houses, to the height of three or four storeys, were built on the 
 outside of the squares, a space within being left for gardens and 
 general cultivation. Probably from sanitary considerations, and 
 as a safeguard against fire, there were also gaps left between the 
 houses ; indeed, the greater part of the city cannot have been 
 occupied by buildings at all. A large proportion of its huge area 
 was laid out in fields and gardens, so that in case of siege the 
 inhabitants could grow their own provisions within the walls. 
 Such was the general plan of Babylon, not more vast than it was 
 exact. It was a bold conception, and boldly carried out. Nature 
 supplied no fortresses, but the genius and energy of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar made them. Huge trenches were dug both inside and 
 outside the walls. Herodotus tells us how they set to work : "As 
 fast as they dug the moat, the soil which they got from the 
 cutting was made into bricks, and when a sufficient number 
 were completed they baked the bricks in kilns. Then they 
 proceeded to build, and began with bricking the borders of 
 the moat, after which they proceeded to construct the wall 
 itself, using throughout for their cement hot bitumen, and 
 interposing a layer of wattled reeds at every course of bricks." 
 2 
 
1 8 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 Thus there was produced one of the seven wonders of the 
 world. 
 
 2. Architecture. — Among the many remarkable buildings in 
 Babylon, Bab-bel, the Temple of Bel (i.e. gate of God), carried 
 the palm. Upon a base of 200 square yards it rose in terrace- 
 fashion to the extraordinary height of 600 feet — a record that 
 eclipses the magnificence of any cathedral ever erected. 1 This 
 was the ancient shrine of the Babylonians, believed by many to 
 have been the actual tower of Babel. For long it had been the 
 great seat of paganism in Mesopotamia, and was designated " the 
 terrace tower, the everlasting house, the temple of the seven 
 lights of the earth." It was here that Nebuchadnezzar deposited 
 the sacred vessels carried away from Jerusalem. The wealth 
 stored up in it is stated in figures that appear quite fabulous. 
 Before the magnitude and gorgeousness of this temple the 
 beholder must have stood amazed. Its seven stages were dedi- 
 cated to as many planets, with appropriate colouring, — gold for 
 the Sun, silver for the Moon, azure for Mercury, and so on. Upon 
 the place of honour at the summit was the sanctuary of Nebo, 
 referred to in the prophetic song over the fall of Babylon, " Bel 
 sinketh down, Nebo stoopeth." No fewer than forty-two kings 
 had feared to complete this tower, after the destruction that 
 attended its first erection, but Nebuchadnezzar has proudly put it 
 on record that he did not hesitate to undertake the work. Another 
 of the most notable buildings in Babylon — erected, too, say the 
 historians, in the incredibly short period of fifteen days — was the 
 Palace Royal. It stood within ample grounds, and was sur- 
 rounded by a wall seven miles in circumference. Externally and 
 internally the palace itself was of great magnificence ; it could 
 boast of " many chambers and lofty towers," and lacked nothing 
 in the way of beautiful fabrics or splendid painting. But the city 
 was chiefly remarkable for its " hanging gardens." These were 
 
 1 The towers of Cologne Cathedral, which are the loftiest in Europe, rise 
 to an altitude of 512 feet. 
 
THE HOME OF THE EXILES 1 9 
 
 raised in huge successive terraces, supported by great arches and 
 strengthened by thick walls. After they were laid out and 
 planted, the effect was that of beautiful and extensive pleasure- 
 grounds, with hill and dale, flowers and fountains, trees and 
 grass. Nebuchadnezzar had married a Median princess, and " to 
 gratify her herein," says Prideaux, " was the reason of erecting 
 this monstrous work of vanity." 
 
 It is impossible here to make any detailed reference to the 
 intricate and ingenious system of river-banks, bridges, tunnels, 
 canals, and artificial lakes by which this unique city was watered, 
 connected, safeguarded, and adorned. " Of the great waters," — 
 so reads an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar, — "like the waters of 
 the ocean, I made use abundantly." Under his magic hand the 
 inland capital became thus a sort of floating emporium to which 
 traders from every quarter were attracted. Whatever could 
 be done by an unlimited supply of bricks and bitumen, for 
 these were furnished by the clay soil and the river springs ; 
 whatever could be achieved by an equally unlimited supply of 
 labour, for that had been obtained from the wars ; whatever an 
 iron will and a great genius could accomplish, for both were 
 united in Nebuchadnezzar, — all this combined to produce ancient 
 Babylon. 
 
 3. Education. — The Babylonians were a literary people. Books 
 were plentiful, and, being stored in public libraries, were accessible 
 to all. The great bulk of them were written upon clay tablets, 
 although in some instances papyrus would seem to have been 
 used. Schools for both sexes were established ; and, notwith- 
 standing the difficulty of acquiring the ideographic system, a 
 large proportion of the inhabitants could read and write. More 
 advanced instruction was also given. History and geography 
 were both subjects of study, and a knowledge of several 
 foreign languages (such as Aramaic, Assyrian, and even Hebrew, 
 was deemed indispensable to a liberal education. Borsippa is 
 mentioned by Strabo in terms which justify us in thinking of it as 
 
20 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 a famous university seat. That many availed themselves of these 
 facilities for learning is beyond doubt. Who has not heard of 
 the wise men of Babylon, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the 
 magicians ? In the motley society of the Chaldean Empire they 
 formed a most powerful and influential order ; for the education 
 of the country, its politics, and its religion were all controlled by 
 them. They were the leaders of thought, and the representatives 
 of culture ; the greatest force in civilising, the main factor in 
 developing, the complex national life. Counsellors to the king, 
 and fathers to the people, they were looked upon as the embodi- 
 ment of the wisdom of the age. Whole treatises on grammar, 
 mathematics, geography, natural history, astronomy, law, and 
 government have already been deciphered from those curious 
 tablets of clay on which these Chaldean sages were wont to 
 chronicle the results of their observation and research. We owe 
 to them the beginnings of astronomical science. They con- 
 structed a zodiac with its twelve constellations, and a sphere on 
 which our own is largely modelled. To them we owe also the 
 invention of the sun-dial, and our division of time. They could 
 calculate eclipses, and were diligent in recording their observa- 
 tions of them. On taking Babylon, Alexander the Great came 
 into possession of a catalogue of eclipses observed there during 
 nearly two thousand years. We still possess the records of some 
 of them, and they are of infinite value both to the astronomer 
 and chronologist. Their habit of transmitting the outcome of 
 their united labour from generation to generation accounts for 
 the wonderful progress made by these old-world star-gazers. 
 We do not know the names of the giants among them ; they 
 were a body engaged in a common enterprise for the advance- 
 ment of knowledge, and were nobly indifferent to personal 
 fame. 
 
 4. Eeligion of the Babylonians. — This was intimately connected 
 with their scientific teaching ; the two were, in fact, one. Their 
 mathematical calculations fostered the scientific spirit, but their 
 
THE HOME OF THE EXILES 21 
 
 star-gazing induced likewise a spirit of contemplation and religious 
 awe. They looked up to those glittering worlds for the power 
 that is divine, and saw in them the outward manifestation of 
 Deity. Particularly was this the case as regards the seven out- 
 standing heavenly bodies — the sun and moon, and the five planets 
 then known to them. The Semitic races in general appear to 
 have been addicted to this nature-worship, which centred for the 
 most part in the celestial bodies, and which usually goes by the 
 name of Sabeism. Once the stars are viewed as divine beings, 
 with the attributes of intelligence and power, it is an easy step to 
 ascribe to them the ordering of human destiny. Their every 
 motion and change of aspect came to be interpreted as fraught 
 with good or evil to the children of men, whose entire lot was 
 thus conceived as being plainly written in the sky, if only it could 
 be read. None but the most gifted spirits could hope to acquire 
 this power. And where were these to be found save in the 
 priesthood ? Who else could penetrate into the secrets of 
 heaven ? A powerful weapon was thus put into the hands of the 
 priests as the accredited medium for ascertaining the will of the 
 gods. Such a system was, of course, polytheistic, although the 
 priests' language showed a tendency towards the grander con- 
 ception of one Supreme Power, unseen and inaccessible, to whom 
 these lower divinities, so regular in their motions, were under law. 
 They spoke of the forces of nature as emanations of God ; but 
 they had no thought of a creation, and their idea of one Almighty 
 Power was at the best cloudy and obscure. On the other hand, 
 they went on dividing and subdividing their numerous so-called 
 emanations, ascribing different functions to each, till one gets 
 lost in trying to wade through the mazes of their groups of deities. 
 Each member of their pantheon had many temples all over the 
 land, every town having its own favourite divinity. Much atten- 
 tion was paid also to the art of divination, which was applied to 
 the most meagre details of life, until life must have been made 
 ridiculous. Omens were drawn from the rustling of trees, the 
 form of lightnings, the flight of birds, the smoke of sacrifices, etc. 
 
2 2 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 And thus, besides the star-watchers and their astronomy, there 
 were the sorcerers with their incantations, and the soothsayers 
 with their fortune-telling ; and in these we have descending 
 grades of these clever sons of Babylon. In so far as they led 
 the way in pure scientific observation they deserve our gratitude ; 
 but we can hardly be thankful for the mass of absurdities they 
 contrived to hand down along with it. The very word magic, 
 and many of the lingering superstitions that still pervade ignorant 
 people of nearly every nation, we probably owe to these ancient 
 wizards. With all their acquirements, their science was a strange 
 compound of accurate knowledge and superstitious lore. If our 
 leading scientists were to dabble in witchcraft, and to act as 
 fortune-tellers and interpreters of dreams, we should have some 
 sort of parallel to the part played by these wise men of the East. 
 Their sincerity was probably on a level with that of the Roman 
 augurs, who laughed to one another in the streets ! The better 
 side of their activity is seen in some of their hymns. The 
 jumbling of religions that took place in Babylonia, and the 
 development cf new creeds out of fragments of old ones, pro- 
 duced in the later days of the empire the astonishing result that 
 the hymns and prayers of the oldest settlers in Chaldea, though 
 still addressed to the Sun, began to take on a more spiritual 
 and sometimes almost biblical aspect. For example, a conjuror 
 prays thus for his patient : " O Sun, leave not my uplifted hands 
 unregarded ! Eat his food, refuse not his sacrifice. . . . May his 
 sin at thy behest be forgiven, his misdeed be forgotten ! May 
 he recover from his illness ! . . . " x In this petition there is 
 evidently the thought of trouble being the punishment of sin. 
 There are also, in some hymns, deep outpourings of penitence. 
 Perhaps we can best account for this advance in spirituality on 
 the supposition that it was the reflection of the silent but subtle 
 influence of the Hebrews in their midst. 
 
 Such were the outward surroundings, and such the intellectual 
 1 See Ragozin's Chaldea, chap. iii. 
 
THE STORY OF THE EXILE 23 
 
 and religious conditions, amid which the exiled Jews were called 
 to live, and work, and wait. 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 The Story of the Exile 
 
 1. The Course of Empire.— There never was a more dazzling 
 empire than that of Babylonia ; but if it was brilliant, it was also 
 short-lived. She had risen on the ruins of Assyria ; but so had the 
 kingdom of the Medes and Persians, and they were prepared to 
 contest with her the supremacy of Asia. While weaklings and 
 conspirators were passing from one to another the sceptre of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, the founder of the "silver empire" which he 
 had beheld in his dream, Cyrus the Persian was startling the 
 world by his successes in war. Nabonidus, who had usurped the 
 throne of Babylon, began to strengthen its fortifications in view 
 of a possible attack ; and as he had married a daughter of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, he made his son Belshazzar, while yet a boy> 
 partner of his throne, in order to curry favour with the populace. 
 This is that Belshazzar of whom we read in the Book of Daniel, 
 and whose tragic death sounded the knell of Babylon's greatness. 
 It was a night of revelry with him and his courtiers, and while 
 they were madly feasting and fancying themselves secure, Cyrus 
 as God's anointed appeared within the gates. 
 
 The real supremacy of Babylon had died with Nebuchadnezzar. 
 His successor, Nabonidus, was at first disposed to welcome Cyrus 
 because he had crushed the Median King Astyages. Little did 
 he think that the warlike Elamite regarded his exploits up to 
 this point as merely preliminary to the acquisition of Babylon 
 itself. But in time the designs of Cyrus became unmistakable, 
 and Nabonidus resorted to strong defensive measures. Hitherto 
 
24 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 Cyrus had gradually been getting command of the outworks ; 
 now he was to strike at the citadel. This was an ambitious 
 programme, and it took him almost a decade to go through with 
 it ; but between fighting and scheming he succeeded at last, 
 to the great delight of the exiled Jews, who had watched his 
 campaign with a wistful interest begotten of keenest expectation. 
 The decisive event was a battle fought in Accad (south-eastern 
 Chaldea) in B.C. 539. The Babylonians were put to rout, and 
 the people of the province went over to the flag of Cyrus, 
 whose religious toleration made him a not unwelcome ruler. 
 From this to Nebuchadnezzar's throne there was but a single 
 step. The people did not choose to make use of their unrivalled 
 means of resistance, and, without a blow struck on either side, 
 the city changed its sovereign. The unfortunate Nabonidus clied 
 soon after in prison, and Cyrus wore the Chaldean crown. 
 
 2. Inner Life of the Jews in Babylon. — (1) Social. — The 
 writings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel make it clear that the condition 
 of the exiles was not one of great oppression. 1 It cannot be 
 compared with the tyranny their fathers endured in Egypt, nor 
 even with the silly persecution still meted out to their descendants 
 in some parts of Europe. Many of them would doubtless have 
 to toil in the brickworks of Babylon, and a certain contingent 
 would likely go to swell the imperial army. But the great body 
 of the people were allowed to settle in clans, and to possess their 
 own houses and plots of land (Ezek. iii. 24, xxxiii. 30). The only 
 restriction to which they were subject was that they were obliged 
 to remain where they were. The social framework of Judah was 
 in large measure transplanted to Babylon. Though in reality 
 prisoners, the Jews were treated as settlers, their ancient tribal 
 system being still recognised. Several of them were taken into 
 the palace itself to fill important offices of State. The prince of 
 the house of Judah, though imprisoned by Nebuchadnezzar, was 
 set at liberty by his son, and made to rank higher than any other 
 
 1 Cf. Jer. xxix. 5 sqq. 
 
THE STORY OF THE EXILE 25 
 
 captive king. The Talmud also asserts that they marked out 
 one of their number as head of the captivity ; and we know from 
 the genealogies they were so careful to keep, that they were never 
 in any doubt as to who was heir to David's crown. 
 
 (2) Religious. — They lived for the most part in the enjoy- 
 ment of perfect religious liberty. The well-known exception of 
 Nebuchadnezzar's edict, by which all were ordered to bow down 
 before the image of Bel, is more apparent than real. It was 
 more a political affair than a religious, and no foreign cult had 
 anything to fear from Nebuchadnezzar so long as it did not 
 imply hostility to the State. The Jews had still the services of 
 their priesthood, and could observe, so far as was possible 
 without the temple, the ceremonies of their law. A new 
 importance was attached to the rite of circumcision, and to the 
 observance of the Sabbath, as bonds of religious unity. No 
 animal sacrifices could meanwhile be offered, but no outward 
 circumstances could prevent them from offering the better 
 sacrifice of prayer. They got into the habit, therefore, of 
 assembling on the Sabbath for prayer and the reading of the 
 word ; and there can be no doubt that the great institution of 
 the synagogue, which has played so important a part in all their 
 subsequent history, was a product of the Exile. There is also a 
 tradition of an academy having been founded for the study of 
 the Scriptures as they then possessed them, and in this academy 
 such men as Ezra and his coadjutors are supposed to have been 
 trained. Four special days of fasting l were instituted in com- 
 memoration respectively of the unhappy day when the siege was 
 begun ; of the Chaldean entry into Jerusalem ; of the destruction 
 of the city and temple ; and of the assassination of Gedaliah the 
 governor. By careful attention to such legal observances as 
 were not bound up with the Holy Land, and by these new 
 enactments, the place of the Levitical worship was to some 
 extent filled up. 
 
 (3) Literary. — During the Exile the literary activity of the 
 
 1 Zech. viii. 19. 
 
26 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 Israelites was very considerable. That they were intellectually 
 quickened by their new surroundings there can be no doubt. 1 
 The crisis at which they had arrived naturally produced several 
 prophetic books. After the deportation by Nebuchadnezzar, 
 Jeremiah, who remained in the land until the seventh month, 
 arranged and partly composed the work which bears his name. 
 Part of the Book of Ezekiel falls within this period, and perhaps 
 the prophet gave its final shape to the whole only towards the 
 end of his life. The little Book of Obadiah also must be ascribed 
 to this epoch, although it bears no trace of having been written 
 in Babylonia. Above all, the marvellous collection of writings 
 appended to the Book of Isaiah, and forming in our Bibles 
 chaps, xl.-lxvi. of that work, were distinctly, for the most part, 
 the product of the Exile. The high-water mark of Hebrew 
 prophecy is reached in these oracles of a great prophet whose 
 name we do not know. It is a somewhat remarkable fact that 
 the finest creation of Hebrew poetry — the Book of Job — should 
 also be anonymous. Although its date cannot be positively 
 fixed, many scholars assign it likewise to the exilic period. That 
 some of the Psalms were written in Babylon is highly probable. 
 Nor was the important field of history neglected, for it is 
 practically certain that the latest redaction of the Books of 
 Kings took place during the Exile. 2 And although vexed 
 questions are still debated with regard to the books collectively 
 composing " the law," it can scarcely be maintained that the 
 Hexateuch {i.e. the Pentateuch and Joshua) had taken final shape 
 prior to the captivity. In respect of the general body of Hebrew 
 literature, the period of the Exile contributed at least its own share. 
 
 1 " Literary activity is one of the consolations of captives, prisoners, and 
 exiles. Bunyan wrote the Pilgrim's Progress in Bedford jail ; Spenser's 
 Faery Queen was composed mainly in an Irish wilderness, and was thus, as 
 the author tells us, ' the fruit of savage soil.' With books written under 
 such conditions, none can compare for sweetness, beauty, and calm, solemn 
 dignity. How much of the best Book do we owe to the exiles of Babylon ! " 
 — Bruce, Apologetics, p. 266. 
 
 - Cf. 2 Kings xxv. 27. 
 
THE STORY OF THE EXILE 27 
 
 (4) Material. — The mild treatment they received was not in 
 every way an advantage to the Jewish exiles. Probably if they 
 had had to endure persecution it would have been better for 
 them. As it was, many of them got to love only too well the fertile 
 plains to which they had been transported. The vast majority 
 were able to live in comfort, and some appear to have amassed 
 wealth. The old propensity to idolatry was not rooted out of 
 them in spite of all that had occurred. The sensuous worship, 
 the unbridled luxury, and in particular the stirring commercial 
 life of Babylon, proved to such a temptation too strong to be 
 resisted. And of course, in proportion as the idea of abandoning 
 the fields they had tilled, and the houses they had built, became 
 distasteful to them, their wish to return to Judea became a 
 diminishing quantity. In many cases they lapsed into 
 heathenism altogether, and in this sad fact we may recognise 
 the secret of the bitter scorn with which the great prophet of 
 the Exile exposes the foolishness of serving idols. To this 
 degeneracy, however, there were not a few noble exceptions. 
 There was a faithful remnant in whom the ardour of religious 
 patriotism began to glow as it had never done before. These 
 realised their calling, and pursued their religion with a power 
 and purity begotten of adversity. The true Israelite could never 
 be reconciled to Babylon. " To eat defiled bread among the 
 Gentiles " was repulsive to him. Exile from Canaan was in itself 
 the essence of misery ; to be deprived of the temple was nearly 
 equivalent to being cast off by the Lord. And thus, while the 
 more worldly-minded Jews were making up their minds to settle 
 in Babylon, the more faithful of the exiles kept aloof from 
 heathen habits and sympathies, and clung to their own 
 worship, and the hope of restoration to their own land. For 
 them no amount of material wealth could remove the bitterness 
 of captivity. They had the consciousness that God had chosen 
 them for an exalted destiny, and the thought that the working 
 out of this had meanwhile been checked, was in itself a grief 
 sufficient to swallow up every joy. "They wept when they 
 
28 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 remembered Zion." Goldsmith might have drawn from their 
 experience his picture of " the pensive exile bending with his 
 woe." As the years passed by they felt ever more keenly that 
 they " were lying under a sort of vast interdict," and breathed 
 with growing intensity the vow, " If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, 
 let my right hand forget her cunning." 
 
 The conditions of life became harder for the exiles after 
 Nebuchadnezzar's death. For one thing, the stability of the 
 empire was no longer what it had been. The removal by 
 Nabonidus of all local deities to the temples of the gods of Babylon 
 had produced widespread disaffection. Foreign settlers and 
 native priests were equally offended — the one class because of the 
 dishonour done to their gods, and the other because of the inroad 
 made upon their time-honoured religious usages. The Chaldeans, 
 moreover, could not but see that these Hebrews viewed the situa- 
 tion with feelings very different from their own. To them the fall 
 of Babylon would be a welcome relief ; and when they had to take 
 their share in fortifying their house of bondage, they would no 
 doubt show that the task was not to their taste. The appointed 
 period of their exile had nearly run its course. Some were im- 
 patient to be free — too impatient, seeing God had promised their 
 deliverance. The result was seen in mutual hatred between them 
 and their temporary masters. The Chaldeans tightened their 
 grip upon the Jews ; the Jews waited eagerly and hopefully for 
 the discomfiture of the Chaldeans. 
 
 3. The Agency of the Prophets. — During this crisis the prophets 
 had a twofold mission to discharge, for through them Jehovah 
 sent His message both to the Jews and to the heathen. The great 
 prophets of the time were Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Second Isaiah, and 
 Daniel. Now that kings were no more, and the priests could not 
 discharge their more important functions, the leadership of the 
 people naturally devolved upon the prophets. What, then, was 
 their combined God-given message to their own countrymen ? 
 Serve the Lord, and trust Him to make " Chaldea a spoil" and 
 
THE STORY OF THE EXILE 29 
 
 bring you back to your land, that as a purified people you may be 
 fitted for all His will. 
 
 The tearful and high-souled Jeremiah, whose warning voice had 
 been unheeded in Jerusalem, but the truth of whose words had 
 been proved by the judgment which had overtaken them, now 
 wrote a letter of comfort and good cheer, full also of loving and 
 sagacious counsel, to the exiles of Babylon. He bade them pay 
 no heed to the dreams of the false prophets who had already 
 deceived them ; urged them to live quietly in the city of their 
 captivity, building houses and planting gardens ; and exhorted 
 them to seek the Lord with all their heart in prayer, for His 
 thoughts towards them were thoughts of peace and not of 
 evil, and in seventy years He would turn away their bondage 
 (Jer. xxix. 5-14). 
 
 But in addition to the written letter, they were favoured with the 
 guidance of the living voice. One day " as Ezekiel was among the 
 captives by the river of Chebar, the heavens were opened, and he 
 saw visions of God." To him the meaning of recent calamities 
 became perfectly plain, and he spent the days of his captivity by 
 the waters in expounding it to the people. Everything earthly 
 had gone down under them ; the prophet now put it to them 
 whether there was not something better for them to set their 
 hearts upon, even an eternal spiritual good. He set before them 
 the vision of the true Zion, the ideal holy commonwealth, having 
 the imperishable glory of the city of God (Ezek. viii. 3, 4), and 
 with the book of life for its burgess-roll. Jehovah would raise up 
 for them a plant of renown, and they should endure the shame of 
 the heathen no more (xxxiv. 29). Let them only bear their exile 
 aright ; let them fence themselves in from the heathen by observ- 
 ing the ceremonial law (xliv. 9, 23), and especially by hallowing 
 the Sabbaths (xliv. 24). In due time Jehovah would gather His 
 scattered sheep, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by 
 the rivers (xxxiv. 13). A new heart also would He give to His 
 people, so that they should walk in His ways (xxxvi. 26, 27). 
 
 Second Isaiah, the perfervid evangelist of the Old Testament, 
 
30 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 co-operated with Ezekiel in assuring the exiles that there was no 
 cause for despondency. The Lord's anointed was at hand (Isa. 
 xliv. 28), the days of bondage were practically over. The king 
 of Babylon and his golden city would soon become a proverb 
 in the mouths of those whom he had oppressed (Isa. xiv. 4). 1 
 Go ye out of the midst of her (Isa. lii. 2), and "say ye. The Lord 
 hath redeemed His servant Jacob" (Isa. xlviii. 20). Such was 
 the luminous voice of prophecy to the down-trodden servants 
 of Jehovah. 
 
 What Jeremiah sought to accomplish by his writings, and 
 Ezekiel by his winged words, Daniel effected still more power- 
 fully by the influence of his life. Promises and symbols alone could 
 hardly sustain the faith of the exiles. But in the position and 
 devoted example of Daniel they had a standing reply to all their 
 doubts and fears. It was evident that God was with him^ and 
 therefor till with them. He was high in station, the king's most 
 trusted counsellor, yet he had never wavered in his loyalty to the 
 faith of his fathers. His presence at Court was to them a strong 
 consolation, for they knew how firmly with his keen prophetic 
 vision he believed in the restoration of their national life. 
 
 According to the united showing of the prophets, therefore, hope 
 might yet beat high in Jewish hearts. Their noblest possession 
 was not lost. Let them lament over their long record of sin and 
 folly, but let them not suppose that any earthly revolution could 
 ever destroy the eternal spiritual truth of which the lost forms 
 were only the temporary expression. There were promises of 
 grace behind the judgment (Isa. xl. 2). With such men as these 
 great prophets to advise them, live for them, and die for them, 
 there was necessarily a future before the exiles as the people of 
 God. 
 
 And what was the prophetic message to the heathen ? That 
 
 1 While it cannot, of course, be affirmed that the oracle against Babylon 
 (Isa. xiii.-xiv. 23) is from the pen of the author of chaps, xl.-lxvi., there are 
 strong reasons for regarding its date as exilic. Cf. G. A. Smith's Isaiah, i. 
 p. 403 ; and Driver's Isaiah, pp. 85, 126, as well as his Introduction to the 
 Literature of the O. T. 
 
THE STORY OF THE EXILE 
 
 31 
 
 their idols were vanities, and that Jehovah was rightful Lord and 
 fudge of all the earth. The prophets' mission to the Babylonians 
 was to show the difference between Jehovah and their gods, and 
 to cause the light of divine truth to shine forth in the stronghold 
 of heathen divination. The soothsayers of Chaldea had occasion 
 to measure their strength against the word of the Most High, 
 and, needless to say, they signally failed in the unequal contest. 
 As before in Egypt, so now in Babylon, confusion covered the 
 gods of the land. What were they but powerless nonentities 
 laboriously manufactured by their worshippers? (Isa. xl. 19, 20). 
 What was the might of Babylon and of all other world-powers 
 put together when thrown into the scale with the omnipotence of 
 Jehovah ? Rightly reckoned, it was but as the small dust of the 
 balance (Isa. xl. 15). The Gentiles were to be taught where to 
 look for the revelation of the will of the Supreme, who alone 
 controls the destiny of nations, and to whom alone therefore are 
 known the things of the future. Daniel, who was versed in all 
 the wisdom of the Chaldees, did special service here. He was 
 the brilliant and consistent representative to the idolaters on the 
 plain of Dura of a wisdom that exceeded theirs as far as the 
 heavens are higher than the earth. This bold advocacy of the 
 claims of Jehovah as the Supreme God not only exposed Daniel 
 to the envy and hostility of the wise men of Chaldea, but also 
 helped to bring down upon the Hebrew nation — of which he 
 was the greatest living ornament — the virulent hatred of their 
 heathen oppressors. Pious men who dared to publish a word of 
 hope to their enslaved brethren were obliged to have recourse 
 to anonymity, and even thus many of them probably died a 
 martyr's death. 
 
32 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 The Return from Exile 
 
 The crash of Babylon's fall resounded throughout the Eastern 
 world (Jer. 1. 46). The long-looked-for tidings, " Babylon is 
 fallen, is fallen," had at length reached the ears of the captive 
 Israelites, and both they and the Chaldeans had now to call Cyrus 
 lord. In this Persian prince they had as humane and generous a 
 ruler as ever sat upon a throne. The Israelites especially received 
 the most considerate treatment at his hands, and were preferred 
 before their former rulers, who had to " take the millstones and 
 grind." The change of dynasty did not affect the position of 
 Daniel, who wore his honours as aforetime, and hailed the advent 
 of Cyrus, of whom Jehovah had said, " He shall build My city, 
 and let My captives go." It was this that made the Persian 
 monarch of so much consequence to Daniel and his nation. 
 
 1. The Decree of Liberation. — When would freedom's morning 
 dawn ? As the time appointed for the Return drew near, this 
 question continued to exercise increasingly the mind of the aged 
 prophet who was bearing the burden of his nation, and than 
 whom there is no grander figure in history. How often had he, 
 " the typical Jew of his day," who spent his life amid the 
 splendours of an Eastern Court, shut himself up in his chamber, 
 laid aside his purple robe, and " with fasting, and sackcloth, and 
 ashes," poured forth the prayer of penitence for himself and his 
 fellow-countrymen before Him who turneth the hearts of princes 
 whithersoever He will ! With yearning eyes he looked ever 
 upward and homeward ; for as he prayed " the windows of his 
 chamber were open towards Jerusalem." To him her very dust 
 was dear. His noble self-sacrificing patriotism was now to have 
 its reward. In all probability he had the satisfaction of drawing 
 
THE RETURN FROM EXILE 33 
 
 up with his own hand the decree issued by Cyrus in the first year of 
 his reign at Babylon, permitting and calling upon the exiled Jews 
 to return to their own land. There can indeed be little doubt 
 that, under God, Daniel was the means of persuading Cyrus to 
 this magnanimous action. Jeremiah and Ezekiel had gone the 
 way of all the earth ; but he was still spared to see how Jehovah 
 would turn again the captivity of His people. And so at last the 
 word was spoken that was to set Israel free. The language of 
 Ezra i. 2, 3, would seem to indicate the correctness of the Jewish 
 tradition that the prophecy of Isaiah — where he is mentioned by 
 name — had been shown to Cyrus, and that this was what led him 
 to publish the edict of restoration. Whatever may have been his 
 motive, one thing is clear — he reversed the policy of the Assyrian 
 and Babylonian kings, and permitted the exiles to leave the land 
 where they had groaned beneath the yoke of the alien. God had 
 fulfilled His promise : " I will say to the north, Give up ; and to 
 the south, Keep not back ; bring my sons from far, and my 
 daughters from the ends of the earth." 
 
 2. The returning Remnant. — The eagerness with which Daniel 
 awaited the result may be imagined. He must have had his own 
 fears ; for it could not have escaped his observation that life in 
 Babylon had great attractions for many of his countrymen. In 
 point of fact, multitudes of them elected to remain in the busy 
 capital, where they could live in ease and opulence. They had no 
 mind to go and help to clear away the rubbish from a barren 
 rock, or to share the hardships awaiting the new settlers. Would 
 not the neighbouring tribes annoy them with their petty hostili- 
 ties ? Besides, what could a merchant do in Judea ? And for 
 what were they asked to make such a sacrifice ? For a mere 
 sentiment. So reasoned some among the exiles — exiles now, alas ! 
 by choice. Others simply did not feel any interest in the proposed 
 undertaking. They had intermarried with foreigners, and were 
 virtually Babylonian citizens, no longer caring about Jewish 
 genealogies. But there were also those who received the news 
 3 
 
34 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 about the edict with enthusiastic delight. These were the faith- 
 ful and pious souls who counted the wealth and pleasures of 
 Babylon as nothing compared with the blissful prospect of 
 dwelling once more in their own land. To see the walls of 
 Jerusalem rise again, and the temple service restored, would 
 more than compensate for every loss. In those who were thus 
 minded lay the hope of Israel. Happily they had two good 
 leaders — Zerubbabel, the hereditary prince of Judah, and Joshua, 
 son of Jozadak and grandson of Seraiah, the last high priest who 
 had officiated at Jerusalem. In the prime of life, and imbued 
 with a spiritual earnestness equal to their social eminence, both 
 were well fitted to serve their nation at this important juncture. 
 
 The number of Jewish exiles who proceeded to Palestine with 
 Zerubbabel and Joshua was 42,360. Of these the great majority 
 belonged to the tribe of Judah. Servants were not included in 
 this enumeration, which is probably indeed confined to heads of 
 households, in which case the full complement of persons who 
 left Babylon must have been about 200,000. It is interesting to 
 note the personnel of the returning remnant, all of whom had 
 made good their title to rank as true Israelites. Out of the 
 twenty-four courses of priests there went back but four ; 1 and if 
 this be an index to the choice of the exiles generally, it would 
 imply that only one-sixth of them returned to Jerusalem. Yet 
 these " sons of Aaron " had apparently retained more faith in the 
 promises of God than the lower order of the Levites, of whom 
 only seventy-four joined the patriotic band. Perhaps they were 
 actuated by jealousy. In the plan of the new theocracy drawn up 
 by Ezekiel, Jerusalem was to be the only place of sacrifice, and 
 the sons of Zadok the only ministrants at the altar. The Levites 
 were to be prohibited from exercising the priestly office, "because 
 they ministered unto the house of Israel before their idols," and 
 were to be practically servants to the Zadokites. It is therefore 
 easy to understand how the Return would be much more attract- 
 
 1 These numbered between them, however, more than 4000 priests (Ezra 
 
THE RETURN FROM EXILE 35 
 
 ive to the priestly caste than to the Levitical. One other infer- 
 ence may be drawn from the figures given in Ezra : it was not 
 the men of princely fortune who went back to settle in Judea. 
 Among the whole company there were but 736 horses, 245 mules, 
 435 camels, and 6720 asses. Had they been rich people as a 
 rule, their beasts of burden would have been more numerous. 
 But it was better to have held fast their faith throughout those 
 years of exile than to be increased with goods. No doubt some 
 remained without apostatising from their religion ; and these did 
 great service in keeping alive the worship of Jehovah. In after 
 years, when the apostles went forth everywhere to preach the 
 gospel, they could appeal with special power to these brethren 
 of the Dispersion. 
 
 What an interesting sight it must have been to see the Jews 
 leaving Babylon ! Chiefs and priests, Levites and people, singers 
 and servants, went forth in joyous procession, inspired by the 
 feeling that they were the children of God. Had they not, every 
 one of them, proved their Jewish lineage, as well as their unques- 
 tionable devotion? Gradually, to the sound of trumpets, and 
 with singing, they filed through the eastern gate. The days 
 of their exile were ended. The ransomed of the Lord were 
 returning to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. 
 Both the sorrows of exile and the joy of restoration are reflected 
 in the literature of the period. The shout of gladness succeeded 
 to the dirge of woe. They had a long and arduous journey before 
 them, a second pilgrimage through the wilderness, but they 
 viewed it as a march of victory. In the year B.C. 538 the exiles 
 turned their backs on Babylon. Daniel remained behind. His 
 heart was with them, but he felt that for their sakes he must still 
 abide in the king's court, and await his death in the land where 
 he had spent his life. After four or five months of toilsome 
 journeying across 800 miles of desert, the pilgrims reached at 
 length the shapeless ruins of the holy city. 1 The day of their 
 
 1 ' ' They travelled along what was afterwards called the royal road. It led 
 them by the banks of the Tigris, past the mounds which marked the desolate 
 
36 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 arrival was the day of Israel's resurrection ; on this day the name 
 Jew was born. 1 
 
 3. The Moral Effect of the Exile. — How thoroughgoing and 
 valuable were the lessons they had learned in Babylon appears 
 from the spirit of the restored remnant. They had undergone a 
 purifying process. The evil heart of unbelief had been cast out 
 of them, and their idolatrous propensities killed. They had gone 
 away steeped to the lips in corruption ; they came back a reverent 
 and pious people. Like many persons still, they had learned in 
 adversity what nothing could impress upon them so long as they 
 were in prosperity. As Dante has said — 
 
 " Here are the treasures tasted that with tears 
 Were in the Babylonian exile won, 
 When gold had failed them." 2 
 
 The Israelites were now prepared, as they had never been before, 
 to think of a suffei'i7ig Messiah. Their own acquaintance with 
 grief was the illustration to their minds of the ideal servant of the 
 Lord as the Man of Sorrows. The whole prophetic picture of 
 Jehovah's servant, "tried and glorified by sufferings," rests upon 
 that experience of sorrow by which they themselves had been 
 disciplined and purified. Thus did the Exile prove to be rich in 
 ethical and spiritual results. A moral revolution had taken place 
 in the character of the nation. There was such a revival of 
 spiritual life as is pointed to in Ezekiel's prophecy : " From all 
 your filth iness and from all your idols will I cleanse you, . . . 
 
 site of Nineveh, and the ancient city of Haran, with its temple of the Moon- 
 god, which had been recently half destroyed by barbarian invaders, to the 
 ford over the Euphrates that had once been commanded by the Hittite capital 
 Carchemish. From thence the exiles must have turned to the south by the 
 way of Aleppo and Hamath, and so at last have found themselves again in 
 their own land." — Sayce, Introd. to Ezra, etc., p. 19. 
 
 1 " That is the name they were called by from the day that they came up 
 from Babylon." — Josephus, Ant. xi. 5. 7. It arose, doubtless, from the pre- 
 dominance of the tribe of Judah. 
 
 2 Paradise, xxiii. 128-130. 
 
THE RETURN FROM EXILE 37 
 
 and ye shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers ; and 
 ye shall be My people, and I will be your God." Those who had 
 returned from Babylon now felt the force of the prophetic doctrine 
 of the remnant, and realised that before that remnant there lay a 
 glorious task. For this their bondage in a foreign land had fitted 
 them by throwing them back completely on themselves. The 
 loss of outward power and pomp had the effect of strengthening 
 their inward life, and this gave them a far greater power than 
 any temporal prosperity could bestow. How truly had Ezekiel 
 declared there was some better thing than earthly glory ! The 
 arm of flesh had failed them ; but now they began to have a new 
 consciousness that the everlasting arms were underneath them. 
 To the nation at large the blow of the Exile had seemed like 
 death; the true saints of the time perceived it to be the resurrec- 
 tion to a new life. 
 
BOOK II 
 
 THE PERSIAN PERIOD, B.C. 537-333 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 The Jews under Cyrus and his Successors 
 
 1. Cyrus the Deliverer. — The royal dynasty of Persia first 
 attained world-wide eminence in the person of Cyrus the 
 Achaemenian. 1 The accounts of his origin are very obscure. 
 Scripture is silent, and the Greek historians are contradictory 
 and unreliable. Herodotus had apparently to choose between 
 different traditions ; and in his Cyropcedia, Xenophon romances. 
 In the pages of these writers it is the ideal ruler rather than the 
 actual Cyrus that is presented. Apart from the fact that he was 
 related to the last of the Median kings, and served in some 
 capacity at the Court of Astyages, the early years of Cyrus 
 remain, so far as the historians are concerned, enveloped in 
 myth. We are, however, no longer wholly dependent on these 
 authors, who lived long after him, for information regarding his 
 extraction, his achievements, his religious standpoint, and his 
 political aims. This old-world monarch has now spoken to us 
 himself. There came to our country, in 1850, a Babylonian 
 brick, on which he declares himself to be " the son of Cambyses, 
 king of nations." His princely descent is therefore established. 
 
 1 Whether Achoemenes is to be regarded as a historical figure is 
 
 uncertain. 
 
 38 
 
THE JEWS UNDER CYRUS AND HIS SUCCESSORS 39 
 
 This find has, however, been dwarfed by more recent discoveries. 
 Two documents which have been brought to light disclose the 
 real circumstances attending the collapse of Babylon, the en- 
 trance of Cyrus into the city, and his seizure of "the sceptre 
 of the world." One of these, a tablet of clay, has preserved to 
 us the annals of the reign of Nabonidus. The other is the 
 famous Cylinder Inscription of Cyrus. 1 In this valuable literary 
 relic, which is virtually a continuation of the history, he magni- 
 fies his own exploits, and calls himself the vicegerent of Bel- 
 Merodach, the city's patron god. 
 
 It is as the conqueror of Media that Cyrus steps out into the 
 arena of history. After the capture of the seven-walled Ecbatana, 
 he found himself " the great king." In a year or two (B.C. 549— 
 546) he had added Persia to his territory, the people being con- 
 tent to find in him one who was likely to lead them to the 
 victorious possession of regions long coveted. Lydia, the realm 
 of the wealthy Croesus, and the Greek cities of Asia Minor, next 
 came to own his sway. The conquest of Babylon left him the 
 most powerful monarch in the world. 
 
 The results of the fresh light thrown upon the rise of the 
 Persian power by the cuneiform writings are mainly these : (1) 
 Cyrus was king of Elam before he was king of Persia, and 
 therefore retained Susa as one of his capitals in preference to 
 Persepolis. 2 This also explains the reference in Isa. xxi. 2 
 to Elam 3 and Media as the source of Babylon's downfall. (2) 
 
 1 " The Cylinder of Cyrus is barrel-shaped, about 9 inches long, with a 
 diameter of 3J inches at the end, and 4J inches at the middle. It contained 
 originally nearly one thousand words, in Babylonian cuneiform. Apparently 
 it had been deposited by Cyrus among the archives of one of the great 
 temples of Babylon, soon after his capture of the city. The Annalistic Tablet 
 measures about 4 inches by 3J inches, and originally contained two columns 
 of writing on either side. Both cylinder and tablet are now in the British 
 Museum." — Hunter, After the Exile, i. p. 2. 
 
 2 The empire, now firmly established, could boast of three royal residences : 
 Susa or Shushan (spring), Ecbatana (summer), and Babylon (winter). 
 
 3 Elam is probably to be identified with Susiana, a rich province of Lower 
 Mesopotamia, situated between the mountains of Iran and the Tigris. Its 
 
40 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 Cyrus entered Babylon in peace. (3) Cyrus was not a disciple 
 of Zoroaster, but a polytheist, prepared to recognise the gods 
 worshipped by every section of his subjects. 1 To the Jews, 
 indeed, he calls Jehovah "the God of heaven" (Ezra i. 2) ; but 
 to the Babylonians he has another name for the Supreme — 
 " Merodach my Lord." His religious policy, in fact, was like 
 that of Frederick the Great, who, shortly after his accession to 
 the throne of Prussia, gave forth these memorable words : " All 
 religions must be tolerated, and the fiscal must have an eye 
 that none of them make unjust encroachment on the other ; for 
 in this country every man must get to heaven in his own way." 2 
 
 The traditional opinion as to the character of Cyrus is well 
 known. The historians are lavish in their praise, but they simply 
 record the Persian estimate. The picture drawn by them is that 
 of an upright and noble prince, under whose administration even 
 the subjugated nations could live in happiness and prosperity. 
 On any view Cyrus must rank high among great conquerors. 
 The records given up by the dead past show, however, that his 
 success in building up the vast empire which stretched from the 
 Black Sea to the Persian Gulf was due more to the shrewdness 
 of his policy than to any exceptional strength of moral or re- 
 ligious principle. Apparently he considered the deportation of 
 vanquished peoples a mistake in policy, and bade the various 
 nationalities that had been forcibly carried to Babylon betake 
 themselves to the several quarters whence they came. This, of 
 course, earned their gratitude and goodwill. It proved, more- 
 over, that he was a wise prince, who knew human nature. For 
 
 population was originally Semitic (Gen. x. 22). It possessed a civilisation as 
 old as that of Babylonia, which in the days of Abraham seems to have been 
 in a measure subject to it (cf. the way in which Chedorlaomer king of 
 Elam figures in Gen. xiv.). Elam was blest with a race of men who knew 
 how to defend their country. They were clever archers (Jer. xlix. 35 ; 
 Xenophon, Cyrop. ii. 1. 16). 
 
 1 " May all the gods whom I have restored to their strong places daily 
 intercede before Bel and Nebo, that they should grant me length of days." — 
 Cylinder of Cyrzis. 
 
 2 Carlyle's Frederick the Great, iv. p. n. 
 
THE JEWS UNDER CYRUS AND HIS SUCCESSORS 4 1 
 
 the rest, he generously rewarded those who served him well, and 
 refused to stain his hands with the blood of his three great 
 adversaries. 
 
 The real importance of Cyrus for Israelitish history lies in his 
 decree permitting the Jews to return to Palestine and rebuild 
 their temple. Those who availed themselves of the offer received 
 also his hearty good wishes, his powerful protection, and a liberal 
 provision for the work of building and for the sacrificial rites. 
 The sacred vessels removed by Nebuchadnezzar he magnanim- 
 ously restored, counting out every one to " the prince of Judah " 
 prior to the departure of the caravan. There are diverse accounts 
 of his death ; but all (except Xenophon) agree that, after having 
 reigned for twenty-nine years, Cyrus fell in battle (B.C. 529). His 
 body was rescued by the Persians, who buried him in his native 
 quarter of Pasargadas. Near the ruins of Persepolis his tomb is 
 still pointed out, and some pillars bear the inscription : " I am 
 Cyrus, the king, the Achaemenian." 
 
 A marvellous career, truly, was that of Cyrus ; but it is fully 
 accounted for by the simple explanation that he was " Jehovah's 
 Shepherd," of whom it had been said : " He shall perform all My 
 pleasure" (Isa. xliv. 28). The prophet assured the Jewish people 
 that there was nothing degrading about the way by which liberty 
 had come to them. That Cyrus was a foreigner simply showed 
 that Jehovah could gather His weapons from any quarter He 
 chose. The appearance of the mighty Persian was like a star 
 of hope to the Jews. Under his reign matters became much 
 brighter for them, although they soon discovered that their fore- 
 cast had been over-sanguine. They could not indeed connect 
 him directly with the fulfilment of their Messianic hopes, which 
 centred around One who was to arise out of their own nation ; 
 but, short of this, what was there of good that they did not look 
 for at the hands of "the righteous man from the East" ? 
 
 2. Back to Jerusalem. Preparations for rebuilding the Temple. 
 —The exiles seem to have reached Palestine in spring. All 
 
42 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 were obliged to settle in the vicinity of the capital, with a view to 
 consolidation against the hostile elements around. During the 
 half century they had spent in Babylon their land had been 
 overrun by incomers from various quarters. Only by the express 
 authority of Cyrus had a space of little more than twenty miles 
 square been cleared for them. But even this narrow lodgment 
 was a welcome change from the indignities connected with 
 captivity. Restoration to Jerusalem meant possession of the 
 temple, and in their eyes this was more to be desired than the 
 world itself. It was their zeal for Jehovah's house that had made 
 them leave the fertile plains of Babylonia for a region which, 
 whatever it had once been, was now by comparison a barren 
 waste. The ravages of Nebuchadnezzar's armies had been 
 followed by the still greater ravages of Time. In such a hilly 
 district as that of Judea, where vines were grown on the terrace- 
 system still in vogue in the Rhine provinces, the degradation 
 arising from neglect must have been of a very rapid kind. In 
 spite, therefore, of the great hope by which they were inspired, 
 the prospects of a comfortable existence for these patriotic Jews 
 were manifestly remote. Everything was to do ; temple, city, 
 walls — all had to be built. Their first care was, of course, to get 
 themselves housed. Nor was this an easy matter, especially for 
 the dwellers in Jerusalem, which had become a mass of ruinous 
 heaps, and a jackals' den (Jer. ix. n). Their next task was the 
 restoration of their ancestral worship. Only six months elapsed 
 before " the people gathered themselves together as one man to 
 Jerusalem " to begin the holy work. In haste they built the altar 
 of burnt-ofTering, so as to be free alike from any harassing 
 opposition or embarrassing offer of co - operation from the 
 " people of those countries." The site of Solomon's altar having 
 been discovered, a wise and tender regard for old and sacred 
 associations led them to set up the new one on the same spot. 
 They brought back no new religion from Babylon ; it was theirs 
 merely to restore. From the first day of the seventh month 
 (Tisri) — afterwards celebrated as New Year's Day — the sacrificial 
 
THE JEWS UNDER CYRUS AND HIS SUCCESSORS 43 
 
 service began to be regularly observed. It happened, too, to be 
 the season of the Feast of Tabernacles, which was joyfully kept. 
 The enthusiasm of the people, indeed, was such that they went 
 on to restore as far as possible the religious year. But they felt 
 sadly the need of a temple. Their relation to the Holy Land, 
 the possession of the sacred vessels, and the presence of the 
 priesthood as a revived order — all this painfully reminded them 
 that they had as yet no "house of Jehovah." It was to their 
 credit that they were too zealous to wait for a temple before 
 instituting their sacrificial worship, but equally so that they were 
 too devoted to remain content without a temple now that they 
 had an altar. They were, besides, committed to this by the 
 terms of their release from Babylon, and accordingly they began 
 to make the needed preparations. Money flowed in ; there was 
 plenty of stone to be had for the quarrying ; and as formerly, in 
 the days of Solomon, rafts of cedars were floated from Lebanon 
 to Joppa, the port of Jerusalem. Many of their own number had 
 gained skill as masons and carpenters in Babylon, and wages 
 were paid to these workmen out of the general building fund. 
 
 Seven months were spent in getting materials ready, so that 
 spring had again come round when the foundations of the Second 
 Temple were laid. This ceremony took place in the month Ijar 
 (April), B.C. 536. It was a great event for the new community. 
 In one sense it was the goal they had looked forward to ; but it 
 was also the starting-point of their new life. An outburst of 
 praise, like the shout of Xenophon's men on sighting the sea, 
 accompanied this first instalment of their glorious task. The 
 priests blew their trumpets, the sons of Asaph sounded their 
 cymbals, the people " sang together by course." The choral 
 service over, Zerubbabel proceeded to lay the foundation-stone, 
 whereupon " all the people shouted with a great shout." Yet the 
 feelings called forth by this event were of a mingled kind. 
 While the younger generation shouted for joy, the aged, who 
 remembered the glory of the former Zion, broke forth into 
 weeping. It is a touching picture — an emblem of man's life and 
 
44 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 work, in which the sorrows of memory frequently contend with the 
 pleasures of hope. The prevailing feeling, however, must have 
 been that which found expression in the Psalm : " Thou shalt 
 arise, and have mercy upon Zion : for the time to favour her, 
 yea, the set time, is come." 
 
 3. The Feud with Samaria. — But trouble was in store for the 
 Jewish patriots. The recent doings at Jerusalem had necessarily 
 attracted the attention of the neighbouring tribes, 1 the "peoples of 
 the land," and " adversaries of Judah and Benjamin." Although 
 these are general terms, the history makes it clear that the 
 reference is to the singular composite race who for five and 
 twenty centuries have borne the despised and distinctive name of 
 " Samaritans." They formed the new population arising from 
 the union of the settlers drafted in from Assyria with the portion 
 of Israel still remanent after the deportation of the ten tribes. The 
 facts as to their origin afford the best clue to the religious life of 
 the earlier Samaritans. Theirs was by no means a pure worship, 
 but a syncretistic compound ; and the foreign cults seem to have 
 at first overshadowed the worship of Jehovah. Possibly the 
 stricter Jews had been from the beginning offended at this 
 jumbling together of Jehovahism and paganism, and had kept 
 themselves aloof from these Samaritans ; but there are no distinct 
 traces of this before the Exile. In Josiah's time the state of 
 matters in the northern sanctuaries was very much what it had 
 been during the prophetic activity of Amos and Hosea ; and there 
 is evidence to show that the royal reformer had succeeded in 
 keeping many of the Samaritan people in touch with the temple- 
 service at Jerusalem (Jer. xli. 5). It was upon the Return that 
 there was brought about the fierce estrangement expressed in the 
 proverb : "The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." 
 
 Soon after the laying of the foundation-stone, the Samaritans 
 requested to be allowed, as worshippers of the same God ever 
 
 1 The Septuagint says : " They came to find out what was meant by the 
 sounding of the trumpets," o'ltpifo v. 63. 
 
THE JEWS UNDER CYRUS AND HIS SUCCESSORS 45 
 
 since Esarhaddon had settled them there, to join in the national 
 work of rebuilding the temple. There is no reason for doubting 
 the good faith of this approach. It was probably made at the 
 instance of the nobler part of the community, who, in their 
 struggle against the polytheistic tendencies that continued to 
 influence their public life, perceived what benefit would accrue to 
 them from union with the fountain-head of the ancient faith. 
 Thus early, at all events, did the affairs of the new colonists 
 reach a crisis. They had now to settle once for all their attitude 
 towards outsiders ; for this was the larger question raised by the 
 offer that had been made. It soon transpired that the great body 
 of the people, instead of being prepared to welcome the outside 
 world, desired to keep themselves hermetically sealed against it. 
 They had suffered enough from coquetting with heathen neigh- 
 bours, and would not enter into relations with any community 
 whose Hebrew faith and lineage were open to suspicion. They 
 were determined to cling to the religious isolation learned and 
 practised in Babylon ; and undoubtedly there was a lofty morale 
 in the spirit that dictated their choice. Zerubbabel and his co- 
 adjutors cannot have been blind to either the fair side or the 
 dark side of the Samaritan proposal. Wisely enough, however, 
 they based their decision on grounds entirely political. They 
 said they must keep to their bond : Cyrus had given them no 
 power to combine with others for the purpose mentioned in the 
 royal edict. So keenly did the Samaritans feel the rebuff, that 
 they at once became the declared enemies of the Jews. The old 
 animosities of North and South were kindled afresh. In several 
 respects the Samaritans had a strong position, and they began to 
 make their power felt. They resolved on a policy of malicious 
 and* organised revenge, which was only too successful. By an 
 opposition at once active, scheming, and persistent, carried on 
 not only by terrorism in Palestine, but also by lying intrigues at 
 the Court of Persia, they contrived to obstruct the progress of the 
 building " all the days of Cyrus," and during the next two reigns 
 as well. Not that the edict of Cyrus was cancelled, but the mere 
 
46 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 fact that inquiries had to be made delayed matters indefinitely. 
 Busied with the affairs of a vast kingdom, the Persian monarch 
 could not give his attention to an insignificant community like 
 that of Jerusalem. And so the poison of calumny proved 
 effectual in spite of all that Daniel and other Jewish friends at 
 Court could do. It was not until the second year of Darius 
 Hystaspis that any real progress was made. The people's hearts 
 began to sink under the weight of difficulties for which they 
 were not prepared. They had put too much "confidence in 
 princes" (Ps. cxviii. 9). 
 
 4. The Successors of Cyrus. — Cyrus was succeeded in the year 
 529 by his son Cambyses, whom he had already installed as 
 " King of Babylon." The one ambition of Cambyses was the 
 subjugation of Egypt, and towards this end immense military 
 preparations were made. He began a dark career by secretly 
 murdering Bardes, his younger brother, lest he should endeavour 
 to supplant him. After this foul deed, which was soon to bring 
 its own nemesis, he made, in 527, his contemplated invasion of 
 Egypt. This was so successful that, after the battle of Pelusium 
 and the siege of Memphis, the country of the Pharaohs became 
 a Persian province. Cambyses remained for some time in Egypt, 
 intending to make it a base for further conquests. But fortune 
 favoured him no more. Offended at the treatment which his 
 ambassadors, who were really spies, received at the hands of the 
 Ethiopian king, he madly ordered his army to march, regardless 
 of the fact that they were altogether unequipped for such an 
 expedition. One contingent of his troops, caught in a simoom, 
 perished in the desert ; and with the other he was forced to 
 retreat, owing to the failure of supplies. On his return to 
 Memphis there was great rejoicing over the birth of an Apis, or 
 peculiarly marked bull-calf, regarded by the Egyptians as divine. 
 Interpreting the general mirth as a public gloating over his 
 misfortunes, Cambyses is said to have dealt the sacred beast a 
 mortal wound, thereby giving deep offence to the whole native 
 
THE JEWS UNDER CYRUS AND HIS SUCCESSORS 47 
 
 population. According to the Greek authors, his occupation of 
 Egypt was characterised by horrible and sacrilegious outrages. 
 It is alleged that priests, temples, and even the resting-places of 
 the dead, suffered at his desecrating hands. Herodotus, indeed, 
 records it as his conviction that " by a great variety of proof, 
 Cambyses was stark mad." Much of this "proof," however, the 
 Apis story included, would seem to be fabulous. If not insane, 
 he was certainly dissolute, brutal, passionate, despotic. His 
 reign was a short one. A pretender, Gaumata by name, and a 
 Magian, having in 522 personated his younger brother and 
 usurped the government, the miserable king, while returning 
 homeward to assert his supremacy, was deserted by his soldiers, 
 and in his despair committed suicide. The false Bardes now 
 ruled without a rival. He seems to have enjoyed considerable 
 popularity — due perhaps to the announcement that for three 
 years no one would be asked to pay taxes or serve in the army. 
 His supremacy had lasted only seven months, when by a con- 
 spiracy of the leading Persian families, who knew him to be an 
 impostor, he was done to death in a Median fortress (B.C. 521). 
 
 Of the condition of the colony in Judea during those eight 
 years we have no chronicle, but Jewish tradition represents them 
 as having been extremely calamitous. Persian armies, with 
 recruits probably from Edom and Samaria, would frequently be 
 passing through Palestine, and this must have pressed sorely on 
 the Jews. Nothing is known of the relations between them and 
 these Persian monarchs beyond what is implied in the general 
 statement that the temple-building ceased until the reign of 
 Darius. 1 From this we may infer that these kings continued the 
 policy of obstruction. There could indeed be little doubt that as 
 a Magian who would have nothing to do with temples at all, and 
 
 1 Josephus refers to this period the narrative in Ezra iv. 6-23, and in this is 
 followed by Ewald and others, who identify Ahasuerus with Cambyses, and 
 Artaxerxes with Bardes. But elsewhere in Scripture Ahasuerus is Xerxes, 
 and it is therefore most natural to suppose that the section iv. 6-23 is 
 episodic, and that the events it records really belong to the reigns of Xerxes 
 and Artaxerxes 1. 
 
48 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 who razed to the ground the Persian temples of Ormazd, Bardes 
 would be ready enough to oblige the Samaritans by placing an 
 interdict upon the operations at Jerusalem. His own lease of 
 power, however, was a very brief one ; and his death was the 
 occasion of the dawn of fresh hope to the Jewish settlers. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 The Jews under Darius 
 
 1. Accession and Government of Darius. — One of the con- 
 spirators against Bardes, Darius Hystaspis, was the next 
 monarch. He began to reign B.C. 522. A scion of the ancient 
 house that produced the founder of the empire, his name rivals 
 that of Cyrus himself. In his Great Inscription on the rock of 
 Behistun, graven in the Elamite, Persian, and Chaldean tongues, 
 he says : " Eight kings of my race have held the kingdom 
 before me : in two lines 1 we have been kings." Darius pro- 
 claimed himself the true successor of Cyrus ; but as a Persian 
 and a disciple of Zoroaster his sovereignty was unwelcome to 
 many of the nationalities whom that monarch had subdued. 
 Cyrus had been so versatile and accommodating in his religious 
 views, that they had felt it to be no indignity to be his subjects ; 
 but with Darius it was otherwise. They rightly anticipated that 
 if he was to be head of the empire, the influence of Persia would 
 be supreme, and Zoroastrianism the religion of the State. For 
 some years, therefore, his tenure of the throne was insecure. In 
 Susiana, Babylon, 2 Armenia, Arachosia, and even in Persis, 
 
 1 Those, viz., of Elam and Persia. 
 
 2 At this time probably occurred the protracted siege of Babylon referred 
 to by Herodotus, and in connection with which the otherwir.e unknown 
 "Darius the Mede" figures in the Book of Daniel. 
 
THE JEWS UNDER DARIUS 49 
 
 serious troubles arose. Claimants, really or professedly de- 
 scended from old and royal lines, were in some cases actually 
 crowned as kings. Darius was, however, a man of extraordinary 
 vigour and decision, and contrived to unify the empire so that he 
 " reigned from India even unto Ethiopia," as did his son after 
 him. His next care was to introduce a detailed system of 
 government ; and in this he succeeded so well that the institutions 
 of Persia became henceforth monuments to his genius. His 
 government, which was despotic, had its headquarters at the new 
 capital of Susa, where the main roads converged. Dividing his 
 empire into nearly thirty provinces, Darius appointed over each 
 a governor or " satrap," who was held bound to raise and send 
 into the imperial exchequer a certain fixed yearly tribute, and to 
 maintain law and order within the sphere of his jurisdiction. By 
 employing them as satraps he restored the prestige of the Persian 
 nobles, who had been harshly treated under Bardes. For most 
 of the provinces there was a separate military officer, and in all 
 of them were located royal secretaries like Rehum (Ezra iv.), 
 whose duty it was to transmit annually to the king a report upon 
 the conduct of the satrap. An efficient system of roads, bridges, 
 and posting stations was maintained out of the national funds. 
 The tribute-money also sufficed to enable Darius to issue a 
 coinage famed for its purity. His gold darics exceeded by about 
 i^th the value of an English sovereign. To the gross revenue of 
 four or five millions sterling, Persia itself contributed nothing. 
 The Indian province yielded the largest amount, and Babylon 
 the next. Syria was one of the smaller satrapies, and included 
 the district of Judea, which was managed by a ftekhah, or officer 
 under the satrap. Like the Roman governors in later times, 
 these men were often guilty of extortion. The Jews knew this to 
 their cost after Zerubbabel had passed away. During the reign 
 of Darius, whose religious creed sufficiently resembled theirs to 
 incline him to be sympathetic, their lot seems to have been a 
 tolerably happy one. So long as they paid their taxes (Neh. 
 v. 4), which were not oppressive, and provided the stipulated 
 4 
 
50 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 number of army recruits (Neh. ix. 37), they had perfect liberty 
 both social and religious. 
 
 2. Apathy of the Jews. — But their first experiences in Palestine 
 had been peculiarly trying. Ever since the check sustained while 
 Cyrus yet reigned, the building of the temple had been at a stand- 
 still. The word "anarchy" might be written across the twelve 
 years that had intervened. In consequence, the Jews had been 
 largely at the mercy of unfriendly neighbours. Their crops, too, 
 had failed, so that their condition must have been truly miserable 
 (cf. Zech. viii. 10). A selfish spirit began to infect the community. 
 They cared more to provide themselves with cieled houses than 
 for the restoration of the house of Jehovah (Hag. i. 2-4), and easily 
 persuaded themselves that it was not a suitable time for the latter 
 work. The blight of apathy had fallen upon the people, and 
 withered up their holier instincts. They had lost heart. Instead 
 of watching for an opportunity of resuming their task, they settled 
 down into lazy acquiescence. A year and a half had now passed 
 since the accession of Darius without an effort being made. Even 
 the zeal of their leaders would seem to have become dormant. 
 Their hands had been " made idle," not merely by the opposition 
 of their adversaries, but by the sluggishness of their own hearts. 
 It is when enthusiasm is low that resistance becomes formidable. 
 The gain of the new settlers amounted simply to this, that they 
 had once more got a footing in their own land. For the rest, they 
 had but exchanged the yoke of Babylon for that of Persia. Not 
 yet, it would seem, was Jehovah propitiated towards them, not yet 
 could they hail the arrival of the predicted Messianic days. 
 
 3. Haggai and Zechariah. — The little community was shaken 
 out of its torpor by the powerful instrumentality of a prophetic 
 voice. The crisis was such as to call for divine interference. If 
 the temple possessed the highest significance for the kingdom of 
 God in its Old Testament form, this was more than ever the case 
 now that the Jews had practically ceased to be a nation, and had 
 
THE JEWS UNDER DARIUS 5 1 
 
 become a religious sect. The rebuilding of it was the presup- 
 position of the renewal of covenant fellowship. So long, there- 
 fore, as they permitted it to lie waste, they were shutting them- 
 selves off from the fulfilment of the divine promises. This had 
 been felt all along by the minority among the Jews— the party of 
 progress ; but now they found a spokesman in the prophet Haggai. 
 Although nothing is known as to the circumstances of his life, it 
 is probable that he was old enough to remember Jehovah's house 
 in its first glory (ii. 3). It was in the sixth month of the second 
 year of Darius (B.C. 520) that this venerable figure appeared before 
 the national leaders as "the Lord's messenger in the Lord's 
 message." Not for sixteen years had the voice of prophecy been 
 heard, but it had lost none of its ancient power. In some respects, 
 indeed, there is a marked contrast between Haggai and the great 
 prophet of the Exile. There is no lofty idealism in his utterances. 
 His range is narrowed to the one consideration of building the 
 temple, which in post-Exilic days acquired a new significance as 
 the visible centre of Israel's worship. So long as it lies waste, 
 they and their offerings are alike unclean in His sight (ii. 14). 
 This prophet's language, too, is very homely and unadorned ; he 
 is pre-eminently a practical preacher. His lively and interrogative 
 periods, addressed in turn to people, prince, and priest, demand 
 an answer at once. With unsparing severity he rebukes the 
 inclination of many to enter into nice calculations as to whether 
 the " seventy years " have yet run their course. He implores them 
 to consider not their hindrances, but their ways, and assures 
 them that if they build the temple the Lord will take pleasure in 
 it (i. 8). A month later he asks them not to allow any comparison 
 between the magnificence of the former temple and the poverty of 
 their own to slacken their zeal. The silver and the gold are the 
 Lord's. He will destroy the kingdoms of the heathen, and out of 
 their treasures so beautify this latter house that its glory shall 
 exceed even that built by Solomon (ii. 17). Once more, using an 
 illustration from the priestly ritual, he alleges that they have only 
 to proceed with the erection of the temple to be free from the 
 
52 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 pressure of famine, and to win the blessing of God (ii. 10-19). 
 The experiences of the Exile had taught the danger of disregard- 
 ing a prophetic oracle, and the response was immediate. Jehovah 
 so "stirred up the spirit" of both leaders and people, that within 
 three weeks from the day of Haggai's first remonstrance the work 
 of restoration was being briskly carried forward (i. 15). 
 
 The spirit of enthusiasm was still further aroused, when two 
 months later one of the younger men, Zechariah the son of 
 Berechiah, the son of Iddo, upon whom the prophetic mantle had 
 also fallen, joined with Haggai in urging the prosecution of the 
 sacred task. Both prophets had essentially the same message ; 
 their theme was repentance. They declared that there was no 
 justification for delay. Nor indeed was there. Although the 
 hostility of the neighbouring tribes had hitherto prevented it from 
 being carried out, the decree of Cyrus had never been revoked. 
 The Jews were therefore still at liberty to proceed. But the two 
 prophets based their exhortations upon a far higher ground — that 
 of duty. Apart from the erection of the temple, the new colony 
 must prove a failure. Let them penitently abandon their ungodly 
 sloth, and address themselves with diligence to this work. Such 
 was Heaven's " categorical imperative " for them. Zechariah, who 
 belonged to the priestly aristocracy, and whose prophecies date 
 from Marchesvan (October), B.C. 520, to Chisleu (November) 518, 
 proved a valuable coadjutor to Haggai. He quite overshadows 
 his older fellow-prophet, and is altogether a man of larger mould. 
 At once he saw the peculiar canker that was eating the heart out 
 of the popular effort to re-establish on a proper footing the worship 
 of Jehovah, and with characteristic force set himself to uproot it. 
 What seemed likeliest to wreck the good enterprise was the 
 disposition of many to dwell upon the glories of the past in such 
 a way as to dishearten the workers of the present. With this 
 tendency, which is to some extent inherent in human nature, 1 
 Zechariah had no patience. To his thinking there was not much 
 
 1 Compare the way in which Horace satirises the "laudator temporis acti 
 se puero." — Ars Poefica, 173. 
 
THE JEWS UNDER DARIUS 53 
 
 that was ideal about Israel's past. If there was one word more 
 than another which he wished to address to his hearers, it was this : 
 " Be ye not as your fathers " (i. 4). Who had brought all these 
 calamities upon them ? Their fathers, who had been appealed to 
 again and again to abandon their evil ways, and would not. Let 
 them therefore refrain from this false glorification of a bygone age • 
 let the past history of their nation be their warning rather than 
 their pride. 
 
 4. Interference of Persian Officials : continued Influence of the 
 Prophets: Edict of Darius.— Under this prophetic stimulus the 
 work of rebuilding went forward by leaps and bounds. The breath 
 of opposition did not, however, cease to blow. The Persian 
 officials, prompted by the Samaritans, or by their own sense of 
 duty, demanded to know by what authority and by what persons 
 the work was being carried on. As the Jews took high ground, 
 asserting themselves to be " the servants of the God of heaven," 
 and fell back on the decree of Cyrus as their political justification, 
 Tatnai could do nothing until "the matter came to Darius." In 
 his reference of the question to the Great King he suggested that 
 a search should be made among the official records of Babylon, so 
 as to test the accuracy of the Jewish contention. Meanwhile, "as 
 though God's eye protected them," and with His prophets at their 
 back, the people prosecuted their arduous task. Still they could 
 not forget that everything depended on the outcome of the official 
 report. What if the record bearing that Zerubbabel was the emis- 
 sary of Cyrus were lost ? On the 24th of the ninth month, Haggai 
 once more exhorted the people, and assured Zerubbabel that amid 
 the upheaval of thrones and kingdoms that would precede the 
 glQrious establishment of God's house, his would be a position of 
 absolute security, seeing he was the chosen servant of the Almighty, 
 precious to Him as His signet ring. Although the story narrated 
 in the apocryphal book of 1 Esdras is unhistorical, it is not 
 unlikely that at this stage Zerubbabel visited in person the Court 
 of Darius, with the view of checkmating the influences there. 
 
54 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 Nor would the home interests of the Jews thereby suffer. They 
 had in Zechariah one who could more than fill the place of their 
 absent leader. In any case this prophet now came to the front. 
 With the tongue of the learned, and the voice of authority, he 
 knew how to speak the seasonable word to a people weary with 
 disappointment, and much in need of wise guidance. On the 
 24th of the eleventh month (January), Zechariah, in language 
 glowing with Eastern imagery, exhorted the people to exercise 
 patience, to look at their growing city, to confide in their leaders, 
 to expect the expulsion of evil-doers, to look for a happy ending 
 to all their distresses, and for perfect immunity from oppression 
 on the part of such powers as Egypt and Babylonia. It was a 
 mistake to despise the day of small things. Not by might nor by 
 power did success come, but by the Spirit of the Lord. The 
 foundation of the house had been laid by Zerubbabel ; his hands 
 would also finish it (iv. 7-10). The prophet closed his address 
 with the remark that the Spirit of the Lord was resting on the 
 north country (vi. 8) ; and indeed — as appears from the appendix, 
 vi. 9-15 — the sympathetic attitude of the Babylonian Jews soon 
 showed itself in the arrival of three deputies with gifts for the 
 temple. These wealthy brethren of the Dispersion had been 
 rather tardy with their help. Haggai had already indicated a 
 coming change in this respect (ii. 7) ; and Zechariah pointed to 
 the offerings conveyed by these sons of the captivity as evidence 
 that at last the flowing tide was with the patriotic dwellers of 
 Jerusalem. Many of their kindred " from afar would come and 
 build in Jehovah's temple " (vi. 15). Meanwhile the prophet must 
 make out of the precious metals transmitted from Babylon a 
 crown for Joshua the high priest. It is significant that the 
 prophet, while predicting the speedy completion of the temple, 
 says nothing about the restoration of the monarchy. Probably 
 he wanted to indicate that, even in the absence of a king, Israel 
 had in the high priest a foreshadowing of the Messiah. In chap. 
 vi. 12, 13, Zechariah places ruler and priest — "the two anointed 
 ones " (iv. 14) — upon a level, with a forward look to the combina- 
 
THE JEWS UNDER DARIUS 55 
 
 tion of both offices in the person of " The Branch," the true 
 Builder of Jehovah's temple. After it had served its purpose in 
 calling attention to this, the coronet which had been placed on 
 Joshua's head was to grace the new temple, and be to future 
 generations a memorial of an act of piety that deserved to become 
 historic. While it should glitter on the sacred walls, the three 
 bearers of the offering — Helem, Tobijah, and Jedaiah — and their 
 worthy host, Josiah, would never cease to be held in honour ; so 
 often as the worshipper's eye should light upon it, he would 
 rejoice in it as a symbol of Israel's unity. 
 
 That the prophets, in urging on the work of building despite 
 the challenge of the Persian governor, did not buoy up either 
 people or leaders with a false hope, the event soon showed. At 
 Babylon, indeed, the necessary document was not found ; but 
 there existed in the library at Ecbatana, along with similar State 
 papers, a " roll " with a copy of the edict of Cyrus. The decision 
 therefore was in favour of the Jews. The government officials 
 were instructed to " let the work of the house of God alone." 
 Darius, in a new decree, even required them to supply funds for 
 building and materials for sacrifice, and that daily as the priests 
 might appoint, penalties, both civil and religious, being enacted 
 in the event of non-compliance with the statutory provisions. 
 
 5. Completion and Dedication of the Temple : its Inferiority to 
 the First. — In the sixth year of Darius, B.C. 516, on the 3rd Adar 
 (February), twenty-one years after the laying of the foundation, 
 the headstone of the temple was brought forth with shoutings, 
 and the people cried, "Grace, grace unto it!" (Ezra vi. 15; 
 Zech. iv. 7). As in the case of Solomon's temple, the event was 
 celebrated by the keeping of a solemn festival. It was impossible 
 for Zerubbabel to vie with the magnificence of Israel's most pro- 
 sperous monarch, and of her palmiest days ; but what could be 
 done was done. A comparison of Ezra vi. 17 with 1 Kings viii. 
 63 shows that on this occasion the sacrifices were in the propor- 
 tion of only one to two hundred ; yet, if they were few in number, 
 
56 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 they were, at all events, accompanied by that humble confession 
 of sin, without which the greatest plethora of sacrifices would 
 have been unacceptable. The feeling of national unity found 
 fitting expression in the offering of " twelve he-goats " as a sin- 
 offering for all the tribes of Israel. They looked upon the temple 
 as their common possession. As before the sorrows of exile and 
 the trials of the restoration-time, so now the success of their 
 enterprise welded them into one. The peculiar gladness that is 
 felt after sorrow made this the occasion of a joy more intense 
 even than that called forth by the dedication of the first house. 1 
 
 From this date also the public service of God began to be 
 carefully ordered. " The priests were set in their divisions, and 
 the Levites in their courses." No time was lost in using the 
 completed building, for this after all was the true consecration. 
 The Passover was observed on the 14th of Nisan, the first month 
 of the new year (March, B.C. 515). Not since the days of Josiah 
 had this feast been kept, so that one more was added to the list 
 of memorable Passovers. The sacred observance was shared in by 
 " all such as had separated themselves from the filthiness of the 
 heathen of the land." "Jehovah had made them joyful" ; He 
 had touched the heart of the Assyrian king, and had gathered 
 together these outcasts of Israel. Surely these were signs that 
 He was building up Jerusalem (Ezra vi. 21, 22 ; Ps. cxlvii. 2). 
 
 We have little detailed information regarding this second 
 temple. According to Ezra vi. 3, 4, it had a height and breadth 
 of sixty cubits, and was surrounded by three storeys of chambers. 
 This apparently exaggerated estimate — it throws the Solomonic 
 temple into the shade — is probably reached by reckoning the 
 height from the door of the outer court to the pinnacle, and the 
 breadth as between the outer walls. But it is also possible that 
 Cyrus may have designed a larger edifice than Zerubbabel was 
 able to build. The new structure stood upon the site of the 
 earlier one, which it probably resembled in plan as well. Several 
 courts and chambers, porches and vestibules, were attached to it 
 
 1 Cf. Luke xv. 32. 
 
THE JEWS UNDER DARIUS 57 
 
 (i Mace. iv. 38, 48). Josephus mentions that there were galleries 
 in the porches, and that at the time of Pompey a bridge con- 
 nected it with the city on the north-west side. There seems to 
 have been ample accommodation for the priests and for the 
 sacred vessels used in the Jewish ritual (Ezra x. 6 ; Neh. xiii. 5). 
 Hecateus of Abdera says that no trees were planted within the 
 precincts — a very obvious precaution against idolatry. Other 
 distinctive features about the temple were the Court of the 
 Gentiles ; the fortress (Bira) on the north side ; and the Eastern 
 Gate, designated the Beautiful Gate (Acts iii. 2), or the Gate of 
 Shushan, owing to its being adorned with a representation in 
 sculpture of that Persian palace. 
 
 The Jews never looked upon the new building as equal to the 
 temple of Solomon. Its inferiority lay not so much in size, how- 
 ever, as in grandeur. The gorgeous drapery, the exquisite carved 
 work, the abundance of gold and silver plate, which were the 
 glory of the first temple, were beyond the reach of the new 
 settlers. A period of prosperity might go far to remedy this ; 
 but there were other things precious in the eyes of the pious Jew 
 which were absent from this temple, and which could never be 
 regained. They had their altar once more ; they had " the 
 candlestick of light and the table of the shewbread" (1 Mace. i. 
 21, 22) ; and on the day of atonement the high priest in his 
 official robes again entered the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the 
 sacrificial blood. But the Urim and Thummim no longer 
 adorned the high priest's breastplate ; and there was a sad blank 
 in the Holy of Holies. 1 The ark of the covenant was gone ; it 
 had been burnt at the destruction of Jerusalem. The cherubim 
 and the shechinah no longer visibly symbolised the presence of 
 Jehovah. The tables of stone and the pot of manna, Aaron's rod 
 and the golden shields, had all disappeared. This was certainly 
 not an unmixed loss, in view of the more spiritual worship 
 
 1 " In the Holy of Holies there was nothing at all." — Josephus {De Bell. 
 Jud, v. 5. 5). " Nulla intus deum effigie vacuam sedem et inania arcana" is 
 the description of Tacitus {Hist. v. 9). 
 
58 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 towards which God was gradually leading His people. One 
 other feature of the second temple must be noticed : it was much 
 more of a priestly institution than the first. 1 The laity were 
 railed off from a part of the inner court altogether ; and per- 
 vading the whole ritual was the idea of the mediation of the 
 priests. 
 
 6. The People's Lack of Spirit : their Meagre Territory. — The 
 joy manifested at the dedication of the temple was apparently 
 but a fitful gleam. In the fourth year of Darius, Sharezer and 
 Regem-melech, the authorities at Bethel, 2 sent deputies to con- 
 sult the priests and prophets in Jerusalem as to the propriety of 
 keeping up the fast days instituted during the Exile (Zech. vii. 
 2, 3). Zechariah promptly declared that their fasts had never 
 been of much value, and that in the sight of God the important 
 things were truth, mercy, and righteousness. It was not the 
 presence of the temple, but the possession of these qualities by 
 the people, that would make Palestine the Holy Land. Instead, 
 therefore, of defending the old days of mourning, the prophet 
 recommended "joy and gladness and cheerful feasts" as better 
 befitting the altered circumstances. Brighter days, he said, were 
 in store for Jerusalem. The general happiness of the inhabitants 
 would be betokened by the arrival of many at a serene old age, 
 and by the mirthful gambols of boys and girls in the streets (viii. 
 4, 5). The triumph of the divine kingdom also would be seen in 
 the coming of many nations to seek and pray before the Lord ; 
 people of every tongue would yet come under the spell of the 
 Jewish faith (viii. 20-23). The tendency to keep up the days of 
 mourning outlived, however, the check it thus received. Wor- 
 
 1 "The first temple was primarily the royal chapel, and the kings did as 
 they pleased in it ; the second temple was the sanctuary of the priests, whose 
 chief now became the temporal as well as the spiritual head of the people." — 
 W. Robertson Smith, article " Temple " in Encyclopedia Britannica. 
 
 2 Zech. vii. 2. Compare the marginal reading of the Revised Version, and 
 C H. H. Wright, Zechariah and his Prophecies, p. 166. 
 
THE JEWS UNDER DARIUS 59 
 
 shipping their great past and dreaming about their still greater 
 future, combined to produce in the hearts of the majority an 
 almost morbid dissatisfaction with their present condition. 
 
 This is not the spirit of which growth comes ; and as a matter 
 of fact the new community continued to occupy a very limited 
 territory. Even with the further accessions they received from 
 Babylonia, and from the ranks of compatriots who had been left 
 behind in Palestine, the reconstituted Jewish nation covered but 
 a fraction o the ancient kingdom of Judah. Hemmed in on 
 every side by their enemies — Philistines to the west, Samaritans 
 to the north, and Edomites to the south — they were restricted to 
 an area not exceeding that of an ordinary Scottish shire , until 
 three or four centuries later, under John Hyrcanus, they acquired 
 some fresh tracts of territory. 
 
 7. Zerubbabel, the last Prince of Judah. — The work of restora- 
 tion was regarded as the prelude to the restoration in all its glory 
 of the Davidic kingdom. But did this imply a return to the tem- 
 poral sovereignty ? This question will be best answered by a glance 
 at the career of Zerubbabel, in whom the great dynasty of David, 
 after lasting for more than five hundred years, came to an end. The 
 son of Shealtiel, and the grandson of King Jeconiah, Zerubbabel 
 was during the Exile the recognised head of the tribe of Judah. 
 With the dew of his youth yet upon him, he had patriotically led 
 forth from Babylon the flower of his nation. Prior to this, under 
 the name of Sheshbazzar, he had probably been a faithful servant 
 at Court. Cyrus appointed him pasha or tirshatha of Judea, and 
 in this capacity he continued to bear sway under Darius. Zerub- 
 babel was the last of his race who held a princely office. In 
 Judea his descendants were simply private citizens, although 
 among the Jews of the Diaspora the title "Chief of the Captivity" 
 was applied to the leading member of this family for the time 
 being. Great hopes centred on Zerubbabel. But to himself, as 
 to others, it became increasingly manifest that the Davidic 
 throne was not to be re-established in his person. The way in 
 
60 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 which his name drops out of the history is in itself an evidence 
 that the temporal sovereignty was now an impossibility in Israel. 
 To not a few this was a bitter disappointment. It was felt that 
 Jehovah had again cast off His people (Ps. lxxxix. 38) ; and that 
 the suppression of the throne was inconsistent with the divine 
 promise (Ps. lxxxix. 49, cxxxii. 10). This, of course, was not 
 really so ; but if even in the time of our Lord many had not 
 ceased to expect a temporal prince, we can understand the out- 
 look of wistful regret that dictated such sentiments in the Persian 
 epoch. To those who longed for the appearance of the Great 
 Deliverer who was to arise from the stem of Jesse, Zerubbabel 
 was naturally an object of interest as being, if not the Saviour of 
 Israel, at least His forerunner. And certainly " the way of the 
 Lord" was prepared in no small degree through his instrument- 
 ality and work. The importance of his official position was, 
 however, greater than the force of his personal character. 
 Oftener than once the prophets had to rouse his flagging zeal ; 
 and but for the stimulus thus supplied, it is probable that the 
 latter part of his work would never have been accomplished. It 
 was no doubt a difficult task that he had to perform. His status 
 as a Persian official consorted ill with his claims as heir to the 
 throne of David, and the ever-increasing power of the priesthood 
 must have made it hard to preserve "the peace of Jerusalem" 
 (Ps. cxxii. 6). Such a situation demanded exceptional tact and 
 strength of will, and Zerubbabel was not the man to cope with it. 
 Tradition says that he died in Babylon. Along with him there 
 disappear also from the scene his leading associates — Joshua the 
 high priest, and the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. At this 
 stage the curtain falls on the little colony at Jerusalem, and 
 when it rises again a new generation is disclosed to our 
 view. 
 
 8. Subsequent Career, Death, and Character of Darius. — The 
 Great King had succeeded in consolidating his empire. But it 
 was not possible for an Eastern prince to rest content with a 
 
THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES 6 1 
 
 " scientific frontier." On the banks of the Indus and of the 
 Danube (about B.C. 515) he sought to win fresh laurels. In the 
 latter case, however, owing to the nature of the country and 
 climate, he was obliged to retreat. Darius now resolved to 
 measure his forces against Greece. About the year 500 the cities 
 of Asia Minor had risen in rebellion, and ultimately the lonians 
 and Athenians came to their aid, but in vain. They were routed 
 at Ephesus, at Salamis, and at Miletus. An attempt was sub- 
 sequently made under Mardonius to conquer Greece itself; but, in 
 spite of some preliminary successes, the Persians were completely 
 vanquished on the storied field of Marathon by the Athenians 
 and Platasans under Miltiades. This may, without extravagance, 
 be described as a turning-point in the world's history. Darius 
 died in B.C. 485 at the age of sixty-three, while his armies were 
 quelling an insurrection in Egypt. His long and interesting 
 reign was distinguished not only by exceptional successes in war, 
 but by many wise acts of peaceful administration. He was 
 essentially a man of deeds. Weak, perhaps, in stratagem, he was 
 yet prompt and impetuous in action. His ways were simple 
 compared with the magnificence of Cyrus ; his spirit, strong and 
 robust as that of Cambyses was luxurious and weak. Brave and 
 relentless, he could be trusted to keep his word. His usual 
 mode of designating his enemies was to call them rebels and 
 liars ; and he sedulously fostered the impression that no one had 
 anything to fear from the Great King unless he " spoke lies." 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES 
 
 1. The reign of Xerxes, B.C. 485-464. — Darius was succeeded by 
 his eldest son, Xerxes. The brief statement of Ezra iv. 6, com- 
 
62 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 prises all that is known of the condition of the Jews in Palestine 
 under this monarch ; indeed, it is the only scrap of information 
 we possess for the fifty-eight years between the dedication of the 
 temple and the arrival of Ezra in the seventh year of Artaxerxes. 
 What, then, do we learn from it ? Simply that " the people of the 
 land, in the beginning of the reign of Ahasuerus (Xerxes), wrote 
 unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and 
 Jerusalem." The grounds of this charge are not specified, but 
 the effect of it was to put a damper upon the new settlers. They 
 soon found that they had nothing to hope for from Xerxes, destroyer 
 though he was of Babylon, their ancient foe (Isa. xlvi. i) ; and 
 during his reign they seem to have degenerated socially, morally, 
 and religiously (Neh. v. 3, 7, 9). Endeavours have been made to 
 fill up this blank in the history, but none of them are satisfactory. 
 Some of the early Church Fathers look to this period for the 
 fulfilment of certain predictions regarding the repulsion of hostile 
 invaders by the Jews (Ezek. xxxviii.; Joel hi.; Mic. iv. 11). 
 Ewald finds the circumstances of the time reflected in a group 
 of eight psalms, to which he assigns this as " the true date." In 
 vain do we look for side-lights from extra-canonical sources. 
 Part of the fleet wherewith Xerxes unsuccessfully assailed Greece 
 (B.C. 480) is said by Herodotus to have been forthcoming from 
 the coasts of Palestine ; but the reference points rather to the 
 Philistines than to the Jews. Josephus (c. Aflwn, i. 22) cites a 
 Greek poet who mentions the Solymi as having assisted Xerxes, 
 and assumes that this name is given to the Jews ; but the Solymi 
 were Lycians, and it was not till long after that Jerusalem was 
 known as Solyma. 1 Additional interest circles round Xerxes as 
 the Ahasuerus of the Book of Esther, which introduces us to him 
 in "Shushan the palace," where he had gathered his tributary 
 princes, and " showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the 
 honour of his excellent majesty many days." This work, how- 
 ever, throws no light on the state of the Palestinian Jews. There 
 is no reference in it to the temple, or to the struggles of the 
 1 Abbreviated form of Hierosolyma. 
 
THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES 63 
 
 colonists ; they are not within its horizon at all. It is simply a 
 story of the Persian Court, written probably just after the close 
 of the Persian age, showing how a great danger to their foreign 
 brethren was averted, and telling of the inauguration of the Feast 
 of Purim to commemorate the deliverance. In character, Xerxes 
 was a "loud" man. No one ever walked more in a vain show 
 than he did. His fondness for display was the visual image of a 
 weak and cowardly spirit. " He was accustomed to act like a 
 spoilt child," which very likely he was. Mothers like Atossa 
 do not produce great sons. Professedly a monotheist, and a 
 worshipper of Ormazd, Xerxes destroyed the temple of Bel, the 
 headquarters of idolatry in Babylon. In the twentieth year of 
 his reign he was assassinated by Artabanus, the captain of his 
 bodyguard. 
 
 2. Ezra the Scribe. — When, in B.C. 458, the Jewish colony 
 emerges once more from historic darkness, it bears the marks of 
 decided deterioration. Eighty years had passed since, full of 
 hope, the exiles had returned from Babylon ; for the third 
 generation of their descendants the star of hope had nearly set. 
 The apparently revived interest of their kinsmen in foreign parts 
 had not been sustained ; offerings for the enrichment of the 
 temple had not poured in according to expectation. The Persian 
 governors, too, laid on them grievous burdens (Neh. v. 15) ; and 
 with their neighbours they had long been at daggers drawn. In 
 their straits they began to modify their exclusiveness towards 
 " the people of the land," even to the point of intermarriage with 
 them. The first to take this step were the priests and Levites, 
 and their example was largely followed. But foreign wives did 
 not come alone ; they brought with them a foreign spirit. The 
 consequence was that laxity soon took the place of zeal in con- 
 nection with the observances of the law. The Jews of the 
 Dispersion were really better representatives of their religion 
 than those now living in Jerusalem ; and if they did not visit the 
 temple so often or contribute to it so richly as they might have 
 
64 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 done, they at all events kept holy the Sabbath, and were filled 
 with reverence for the Mosaic law. 
 
 " To Kerke the narre, from God more farre, 
 Has been an old sayd sawe." x 
 
 Reform was urgently needed ; but where were the few who 
 desired it to look for the reformer ? The instrument was being 
 providentially prepared in Babylon in the person of Ezra the 
 Scribe. 
 
 Ezra possessed many qualifications for his difficult task. His 
 priestly lineage through Seraiah was in itself no small advantage. 
 But even more serviceable to him were his acquirements as a 
 scribe or exponent of the Mosaic law. As a student, interpreter, 
 and copyist of the law he had no equal ; "he was a ready scribe" 
 (Ezra vii. 6). It was not at every point that the old law could be 
 applied in the altered circumstances of the nation, and it would 
 fall to the discernment of Ezra to make plain its essential prin- 
 ciples, and to see that these found due expression in the national 
 life and worship. The character and accomplishments of Ezra 
 had also given him influence at Court. He was in high favour 
 with Artaxerxes Longimanus, the son and successor of Xerxes. 
 It was in the early part of this king's reign that Ezra heard about 
 the prevailing defection in Judea. He took the matter before his 
 royal master, who despatched him on a mission of inquiry " con- 
 cerning Judah and Jerusalem." Artaxerxes was no doubt a mild 
 prince, "easy to be entreated"; but the sort of carte blanche 
 given to Ezra points to a religious motive. He had learned, if 
 not to worship Jehovah, to have at all events a superstitious 
 dread of Him (Ezra vii. 23). Perhaps Esther's influence may be 
 traceable here. Ezra's deep and earnest piety may be reckoned 
 as a further element of fitness for his mission. He was a con- 
 secrated man, a saint and a patriot who had " set his heart to 
 seek the law of Jehovah, and to do it, and to teach in Israel 
 statutes and judgments." In his view the state of matters at 
 1 Spenser, The Shepherd's Calendar (July). 
 
THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES 65 
 
 Jerusalem was most ominous for the future of Judaism. The 
 temple was, after all, but a means to an end, viz. the observance 
 of the law. To neglect the legal ordinances was simply to throw 
 away their opportunity as a nation. 
 
 3. Decree of Artaxerxes : Second Return of the Jews under Ezra. 
 — Artaxerxes issued a decree allowing Ezra a free hand in his work 
 " for Jerusalem's sake." Both men and means were placed at his 
 disposal. Liberal provision was made for the adornment of the 
 temple and for the sacrificial service, the priests and other officials 
 being also exempted from payment of tribute. It was made 
 plain that Ezra went on his mission as a plenipotentiary of the 
 Persian Empire. His great object was, of course, to instruct the 
 people in the law, and on that basis to reform their public life ; 
 but with a view to this he had conferred upon him the fullest 
 magisterial powers. Those who refused to submit to his juris- 
 diction he was authorised to visit with imprisonment, confiscation 
 of property, banishment, or even death. 
 
 It was on the first of Nisan (March), in the seventh year of 
 Artaxerxes, that, accompanied by a quota of sympathetic dis- 
 ciples, Ezra set out for Judea. He had found men of character 
 and position—" chief men "—to organise the expedition in various 
 parts of Babylonia, and bring forward their several companies to 
 the place of meeting by " the river of Ahava," a district which 
 has not been identified. Ezra drew up a complete list, according 
 to their several families, of those who were prepared to share his 
 fortunes ; and from this it appears that the Aaronic and Davidic 
 houses were not unrepresented. Including the contingent who 
 joined them a few days after the halt at Ahava, the entire 
 strength of the emigrants was about 1800 men ; and if allowance 
 be made for their wives and little ones, we must think of a 
 gathering of something like 7000 souls. On reviewing his company, 
 Ezra discovered that it included no Levites. Desiring, however, 
 to take with him a thoroughly representative band of colonists, he 
 ultimately induced 38 Levites and 220 Nethinim to cast in their 
 5 
 
66 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 lot with him. The only thing needed now was God's protection, 
 and for this special supplication was made. They had reason to 
 be concerned for their safety. At no time was the desert free 
 from brigands, and least of all would it be without its dangers 
 now that the Persian troops, under Megabyzus, had been drafted 
 to put down a rebellion in Egypt. Ezra might have had the 
 usual military escort, but in view of his already professed reliance 
 upon the divine " hand," he was " ashamed " to ask for it, and 
 determined to illustrate on a grand scale the sufficiency of his 
 principle of trust in the Unseen. Freewill offerings for the 
 temple having been given into the custody of twelve priests and 
 twelve Levites, the new emigrants left Ahava on the 12th of the 
 first month (Nisan), and arrived at Jerusalem in the beginning of 
 the fifth (Ab). After a sacrificial expression of thanksgiving for 
 journeying mercies, they delivered their commissions to the 
 Persian authorities, who then "furthered the people and the 
 house of God." 
 
 4. Ezra's Reformation. —Ezra assumed at once the role of the 
 reformer. The people had been drifting into lawless fusion 
 with the neighbouring tribes, and endangering the Jewish faith 
 and nationality. The discovery of the extent to which the evil 
 had been carried filled Ezra with horror, shame, and bewilder- 
 ment ; he " sat astonied until the evening sacrifice." Then he 
 rent his garments, fell on his knees, and acknowledged before 
 God the trespass of his nation. While yet he lay paralysed with 
 sorrow, his friends had gathered around him, and gradually, as 
 the hour of the evening oblation approached, all eyes were 
 turned towards the unwonted spectacle. Many were in tears, 
 as one of the people, Shechaniah, whose own family was im- 
 plicated, spoke by way of interpreting Ezra's action. He pro- 
 posed that the mixed marriages should be dissolved, and the 
 strange wives and their children put away. He urged Ezra, 
 moreover, to strike while the iron was hot. Ezra was not the 
 man to hesitate. Immediately he rose, and the people took an 
 
THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES 67 
 
 oath " that they should do according to this word." The stern 
 scribe withdrew to one of the side chambers of the temple, 
 and conferred with the leaders of the community as to the best 
 means of giving effect to the decision arrived at. It was agreed 
 to summon to Jerusalem on the 20th of the ninth month all 
 the "children of the captivity." All came, and undertook to 
 separate themselves from their foreign wives. Ezra boldly de- 
 clared this to be God's pleasure, although the dismissal of the 
 heathen women (and in some cases also of their children, 
 Ezra x. 44) was scarcely in accordance with the precepts of the 
 Mosaic law 1 (cf. Ex. xxi. 10; Deut. xxi. 15). It is surprising 
 that so few dissented 2 from the proposal to appoint a standing 
 committee, with Ezra as president, to deal with the mixed 
 marriages in each district. This body began its work on the 
 1st of the tenth month, and by the beginning of the new 
 year, to use the rather callous phrase of the chronicler, "they 
 made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives." The 
 names of such as had promised to put them away were officially 
 published, the list including four of high-priestly rank, thirteen 
 other priests, ten Levites, and eighty-six laymen belonging to ten 
 separate families. With this catalogue the Book of Ezra abruptly 
 ends, and there are no further accounts of his administration 
 until after an interval of twelve years. 
 
 5. Ezra's Unsuccessful Attempt to fortify Jerusalem. — Some light 
 is thrown, however, upon the state of matters at Jerusalem during 
 this period by the episode related in Ezra iv. 7-23, which falls 
 chronologically between the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. 
 
 1 " Owing to the wife's dependent state, marriage with women not 
 Israelites could not in general be specially objected to : compare the law 
 on marriage with virgins taken in war, Deut. xxi. 10-13 (even Moses 
 himself had a Cushite as wife, Num. xii. 1); only marriage with Canaanite 
 women was absolutely forbidden, Ex. xxxiv. 16 ; Deut. vii. 3." — Oehler, 
 Old Testament Theology, i. p. 334. In taking this step Ezra already began 
 the process of "hedging " the law. 
 
 2 See Ezra x. 15, where for "were employed about" read "stood up 
 against. " 
 
68 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 From this it appears that Ezra and his associates, on effecting 
 their work of reformation, went on to fortify the city also. As 
 a community devoted to the law, they wished to defend their 
 temple, and to shut out the contaminating influences of a pagan 
 world. The envious opposition of their vigilant adversaries was 
 soon excited, and letters of complaint were sent to the Persian 
 Court. One was written in Aramaic, apparently by the satrap of 
 Syria ; and another, the contents of which have been preserved, 
 was despatched on behalf of the nationalities inhabiting the 
 province of Samaria by " Rehum the lord of official intelligence, 
 and Shimshai his secretary." x Their appeal was directed to the 
 self-interest of the monarch, and was entirely successful. A 
 search among the records, which bore that the city had, as 
 alleged, a bad repute for insurrection, coupled with the fact that 
 at the time he had his difficulties with Egypt, led Artaxerxes 
 to veto the building operations at Jerusalem. For Ezra and his 
 sympathisers the outlook must have been of the gloomiest. A 
 deadly blow had been struck at the prestige and authority of the 
 Great Scribe. His position was that of a statesman driven from 
 office ; he had to possess his soul in patience while witnessing 
 the reversal of his policy and the undoing of his work. The 
 course of events had proved unfavourable. Megabyzus, the 
 satrap of Syria, had quarrelled with the Court of Persia ; and 
 Artaxerxes, after some years of warfare, was obliged to 
 negotiate for peace. No Persian monarch had hitherto shown 
 such weakness in dealing with a subject prince, and this 
 fact may help us to understand the turn things had taken in 
 Judea. The royal support was no longer worth what it had 
 
 1 Ewald takes a peculiar view of Ezra iv. 6-23. Apart from his declinature 
 to consider it as parenthetical, he regards the letter alluded to in ver. 7 as 
 having been friendly to the Jews, and written by some of their own leading 
 men in order to commend their newly-settled nation to King Artaxerxes. In 
 this case the second letter (v. 8 sqq.) must be viewed as a counter-petition 
 despatched to the same quarter, and we must think of a situation somewhat 
 analogous to the modern practice of rival railway companies opposing each 
 other's Bills before Parliament 1 
 
THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES 69 
 
 been, even if it had been continued to the extent that Ezra 
 desired. His great weapon had fallen from his hand, and for 
 it there was no substitute. It seems also probable that he 
 wanted backing on the part of the local authorities. These 
 things rendered him powerless for a time ; but only for a 
 time. 
 
 6. Nehemiah the Governor. — Ezra's work, which bore fruit in 
 all the subsequent history of the nation, was vigorously carried 
 on by one who brought to bear upon it some important qualifica- 
 tions not possessed by himself. This was Nehemiah, the dis- 
 tinguished man who gives his name to the book which continues 
 the narrative from this point. It takes the form of an autobio- 
 graphy, and reveals a very strenuous personality. Throughout 
 his Court life Nehemiah had kept himself " unspotted from the 
 world." His transparent honesty, his absolute fidelity, his 
 unaffected piety, are mirrored in every line of his memoir. 
 Possessed also of tact, sagacity, and wealth, he soon extended 
 his influence over the whole community. Although of no priestly 
 family, like Ezra, he had a strong arm and a resolute will, and 
 was also in the good graces of the king. All this made him well 
 fitted to advance the interests of Israel. Jerusalem had again 
 fallen into a miserable condition. This Nehemiah learned from 
 Hanani, his brother, who, along with some other Jews, visited him 
 at Shushan, where he held the coveted post of king's cup-bearer. 
 At once he patriotically resolved that, God helping him, he 
 would go and do what he could for his nation. On a favourable 
 opportunity presenting itself, he opened his heart to his royal 
 master, and obtained leave to proceed to Judea as governor, with 
 authority to restore the walls of Jerusalem. Artaxerxes also 
 gave him an escort of " captains and horsemen," letters to the 
 authorities of the intermediate provinces, and an order to Asaph 
 the king's forester to supply him with timber. It was in the 
 month Nisan, B.C. 444, that Nehemiah started on his pious 
 mission. As he was able to announce the royal sanction, he 
 
70 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 had little difficulty in persuading the Jews to begin the work of 
 restoration. 
 
 7. Rebuilding of the Walls: External Opposition and Internal 
 Difficulties. — The plan of campaign — for such it literally proved 
 to be — was simple and thorough. The work was portioned out 
 among separate parties to the number of about forty, all to act 
 simultaneously, and each to be responsible for its own share. A 
 photograph of the scene has been preserved in Neh. iii. The 
 various sections were intrusted to men of character and position, 
 those who were inhabitants of Jerusalem undertaking to build the 
 portion over against their own houses. There were many helpers 
 from all the country round, and the members of the priesthood, 
 as well as the laity, did their part. No sooner had a beginning 
 been made with the preliminaries to the work, than there appeared 
 signs of opposition. This was led by three men, Sanballat the 
 Horonite, the crafty governor of Samaria ; Tobiah the Ammonite, 
 apparently a ransomed slave raised to authority in the house of 
 his master ; and Geshem the Arabian, probably an independent 
 sheikh or free-lance, for whom a fight always had its attractions. 
 These raised the cry of rebellion against the king ; but Nehemiah 
 resented their interference as gratuitous and insulting. San- 
 ballat's enmity to Nehemiah was not personal, nor was it even 
 against the Jewish race that his hatred burned. His aim was to 
 prevent the adoption by the Jews of the policy of isolation advo- 
 cated by Ezra. He wanted no " wall in Judah and in Jerusalem" 
 which would shut out the surrounding population from the reli- 
 gious inheritance of Mount Zion. At first he and his confederates 
 had been inclined to scoff. " What do these feeble Jews ? " was 
 the question with which he had entertained the Samaritan army. 
 Tobiah, too, opined that even a jackal, should he bound on it, 
 would break down the wall they should build. They soon ceased 
 from their mockery, however, and resolved forcibly to inter- 
 dict the work of building. A league was formed with all the 
 neighbouring tribes jointly to attack Jerusalem, in the hope of 
 
THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES 7 1 
 
 surprising, with sudden slaughter, those at work upon the walls. 
 But Nehemiah knew how to watch as well as pray. Whenever 
 the enemy approached, they found the people in solid phalanx 
 arrayed against them, and were compelled to draw off without 
 striking a blow. Nehemiah, however, did not relax his vigilance. 
 Every builder who plied the trowel was girt also with a sword. 
 Day by day, "from the dawning of the morning till the stars 
 appeared," did the work go on apace. It is not surprising that 
 such rare devotion should have been crowned with success ; but 
 bound up with it there was something better still. Under this 
 experience the Jews improved immensely in nerve and tone. The 
 discomfiture of Sanballat meant to some extent the resurrection 
 of the national spirit of independence which had been slumbering 
 during their long vassalage. For the first time since the Exile 
 they tasted the sweets and felt the strength of victory. 
 
 At this stage, however, a new difficulty cropped up. To the 
 problem of outward defence was now added that of internal 
 reform. Happily the statesmanship that had so well organised 
 the one was also capable of dealing with the other. The crux 
 arose in connection with the complaints of a needy proletariat. 
 Obliged to abandon their several occupations in order to take 
 part in rebuilding the walls, the poorer classes were forced to 
 mortgage their lands and enslave their families as the condition 
 of obtaining bread and paying the royal tribute. Discouraged 
 "because of the dearth," and exasperated by the exactions of the 
 money-lenders, they at last gave vent to their grievances. " There 
 was a great cry of the people, and of their wives, against their 
 brethren the Jews." Nehemiah felt "very angry" over the pitiful 
 revelation. His first act was deliberately to rebuke the nobles, 
 priests, and rulers, and to denounce the practice of usury ; then, 
 in presence of a "great assembly," he showed how differently he 
 had himself acted, and besought them, "for fear of God, lest they 
 should become a reproach to the heathen," to restore at once the 
 lands and houses they had seized, and to remit a part even of 
 their legal claims. It was a straightforward, high-toned appeal, to 
 
72 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 which the creditors felt constrained to yield. Nehemiah made 
 them ratify their promise by an oath ; and uttered a severe male- 
 diction against those who should fail to keep it. The governor's 
 wisdom had saved the colony. " All the people said, Amen, and 
 praised the Lord." 
 
 The fortification of the city was now so far advanced that the 
 national enemies determined to make a last effort to prevent its 
 completion. They abandoned coercion for craft, and were unfor- 
 tunately aided in their intrigues by the treachery of " the nobles 
 of Judah," who were in close correspondence with Tobiah. The 
 new governor was invited to meet Sanballat and Geshem in con- 
 ference at Kephirim, 1 in the plain of Ono, near the Philistine 
 frontier. Too shrewd a man to walk into this trap, Nehemiah 
 pleaded in excuse the importance of his work. Four times they 
 repeated their proposal in vain. The adversaries of Israel then 
 resolved once more to change their tactics. The state of declen- 
 sion into which prophecy had now fallen enabled them to purchase 
 prophetic aid in the matter of intimidating Nehemiah. A certain 
 Shemaiah, at once prophet and priest, but temporarily disqualified 
 from appearing in the temple, represented to Nehemiah that his 
 life was in danger, and urged him to secrete himself within the 
 sacred building, offering at the same time, despite his ceremonial 
 defilement, to accompany and remain with him. This fresh 
 attempt to discredit him was frustrated, however, by the courage 
 and piety of the governor, who refused either to be a coward or a 
 breaker of God's law. 
 
 8. Completion and Dedication of the Wall : Population of 
 Jerusalem supplemented. — "So the wall was finished on the 25th 
 of Elul (August, B.C. 444), in fifty-two days." With signal bravery, 
 and with marvellous rapidity, Nehemiah had executed his great 
 task. The moral effect of his achievement was felt in all the 
 region round about, the enemies of Israel being much dejected 
 
 1 Neh. vi. 2. It seems better (with Bertheau) to take the word as a proper 
 name than to translate "in the villages." — A.V, 
 
THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES 73 
 
 by this tangible evidence that they had been fighting against a 
 superhuman power. Jerusalem was once more a fortified city, 
 and it was remitted to " the porters and the singers and the 
 Levites " to act as guards, the general administration of affairs 
 being intrusted to Hanani, Nehemiah's brother, and Hananiah, 
 the captain of the temple fortress. But though " the city was 
 large and great, the people were few therein, and the houses were 
 not builded" ; and Nehemiah perceived that the next thing to be 
 dealt with was the question of population. A census revealed 
 the fact that, exclusive of servants, there were only 3044 adult 
 citizens — less than a tenth of the number who had accompanied 
 Zerubbabel from Babylon. It was therefore resolved to make up 
 the deficiency by casting lots among the Jewish settlers in the 
 vicinity. Every tenth man on whom the lot fell was obliged, 
 unless some other volunteered to take his place, to transfer his 
 household to the holy city. In adopting this plan, Nehemiah 
 practically did for Jerusalem what Theseus had done for Athens, 
 and Gelon for Syracuse. Some time after the completion of the 
 walls — how long is uncertain — they were formally and joyfully 
 dedicated to Jehovah, without whose blessing the strongest 
 ramparts were of no avail. 
 
 9. Public Heading of the Law. — Ezra now comes once more 
 to the front. Nothing is said as to the events which led up to 
 his reappearance ; we do not even know for certain whether the 
 Great Scribe spent the interval in Jerusalem at all. Nehemiah's 
 only mention of him is in connection with the dedication of the 
 wall (xii. 36) ; 1 and it was about the same time that, at the 
 popular request, he resumed his work as a teacher of the law. 
 Long neglect had produced general ignorance as to its contents ; 
 but, wearied perhaps by the priestly ritual, the people were now 
 thirsting for the Scriptures. An immense throng assembled on 
 the first day of the seventh month " in the square in front of the 
 
 1 Chaps, viii.-x., where there is a change from the first person to the 
 third, being probably the work of another writer. 
 
74 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 water-gate," and from early morning until midday listened attent- 
 ively while Ezra, who stood upon a lofty wooden platform, read 
 to them out of the "book of the law of Moses." He was sup- 
 ported by Nehemiah, and by thirteen priests. An equal number 
 of Levites were present to explain what was read. The people 
 showed their reverence by standing up when Ezra unrolled the 
 sacred parchment, as well as by their fervent Amens and devout 
 attitude when he led them in prayer. A band of Levites lent 
 their aid by reading from the new law-book " distinctly," and by 
 giving an Aramaic paraphrase of the passages read. The read- 
 ing of the Torah produced a deep impression — " all the people 
 wept." They felt keenly the national degeneration that had 
 taken place, and the painful discrepancy between the enactments 
 of the law and their own practice. It was pointed out to them 
 by their leaders, however, that the occasion of a great festival 
 was essentially one for rejoicing, and that they ought to diffuse 
 their joy by sending seasonable gifts to the poor. This advice 
 was acted upon, and the mist of tears melted away in the sun- 
 shine of joy. 
 
 The law of God which Ezra the scribe had "in his hand" when 
 he first came to Jerusalem, and which he was at length enabled 
 to publish and put in force in or about B.C. 444, was practically 
 the Pentateuch as we possess it. According to the prevailing 
 verdict of modern criticism, the distinctively new feature of the 
 written law as thus promulgated was the so-called Priestly Code, 1 
 which began to be drawn up by the captive priests after the 
 destruction of the temple. No longer able to practise the sacred 
 ritual, they preserved the memory of it by reducing its details to 
 writing. Ezekiel and others laboured at this task, and during 
 the Exile there arose a school of men devoted to the systematic 
 study and codification of the old priestly usage. There was thus 
 gradually produced and completed the ritual code which formed 
 the law of the Second Temple. This code, embodied in the 
 
 1 I.e. the Book of Leviticus and the ceremonial sections in Exodus and 
 Numbers. 
 
THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES 75 
 
 Pentateuch, became " the definitive Mosaic law " ; and upon this 
 as a whole, and not as previously upon the Deuteronomic legisla- 
 tion alone, the covenant now came to be based. This hypothesis, 
 it should be clearly understood, does not imply that the Priestly 
 Code was exclusively the creation of this period, but only that it 
 was a readjustment of the older ritual to the altered circum- 
 stances. Thus, to use the words of a leading exponent of this 
 view, "this double aspect of the Priests' Code is reconciled by 
 the supposition that the chief ceremonial institutions of Israel 
 are in their origin of great antiquity ; but that the laws respect- 
 ing them were gradually developed and elaborated, and i?i the 
 shape in which they are formulated in the Priests' Code that they 
 belong to the Exilic or early post-Exilic period. In its main 
 stock, the legislation of the Priests' Code was thus not (as the 
 critical view of it is sometimes represented by its opponents as 
 teaching) ' manufactured ' by the priests during the Exile : it is 
 based upon pre - existing temple usage, and exhibits the form 
 which that finally assumed." x 
 
 10. Festival, Fast, and Covenant. — Ezra well knew that to 
 indoctrinate the more influential citizens with its principles, and 
 to secure their adherence to its precepts, was half the battle as 
 regarded the introduction of the new law-book. It is therefore 
 not surprising to find, on the day after the festival, the chiefs of 
 the community gathered round the Great Scribe to " consider the 
 words of the law." One passage most appropriately submitted 
 to them was Lev. xxiii. 39-43, containing the instructions as to 
 the Feast of Tabernacles. Joyfully, and to the last legal detail, 
 the people observed this feast, which had apparently been 
 neglected since the days of Zerubbabel. It was just the season 
 for its observance. Loads of tree-branches from the Mount of 
 Olives were transformed into " booths " ; the flat roofs, the city 
 squares, the temple courts, were all dotted over with these pic- 
 turesque erections ; and for the full eight days Jerusalem was 
 1 Driver, Introdziction to the Literature of the O.T. 
 
76 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 en fete. On every one of the days Ezra " read in the book of 
 the law of God," thus following up the advantage he had got. 
 Altogether it was a festival to be remembered, and one for which 
 no parallel could be found without going back to the far-off days 
 of Joshua and the conquest. 
 
 The feast was separated by but a single day's interval from a 
 solemn fast, which was observed on the 24th of the month as a 
 special act of national humiliation. Only Jews took part in this 
 function. "The seed of Israel" gathered in their thousands, 
 every one of them wearing the external signs of grief. They 
 spent three hours in listening to the words of the law, and for 
 another three hours they made confession of their sins. At this 
 stage the Levites rendered a choral ascription of praise. Then 
 followed from Ezra's own lips l an elaborate acknowledgment of 
 the divine goodness and justice, and a humble confession of 
 Israel's manifold sins. This penitential prayer took the form of 
 an epitome of the national history, so framed as to impress the 
 people with the fact that on Jehovah's side it had all along been 
 a history of blessing and deliverance, and on theirs one of pro- 
 vocation and iniquity. 
 
 That Ezra had rightly interpreted the feelings of the assembly, 
 was proved by the people's readiness to enter into a solemn 
 covenant to observe God's law. This covenant was written out 
 in careful terms, probably by Ezra, who was again able to make 
 his influence felt. It provided that there should be no inter- 
 marriage between Jews and outsiders ; that there should be 
 no trading on Sabbaths ; that every seventh year should be 
 signalised by a remission of debts ; that the temple service 
 should be maintained by a yearly tax of one-third of a shekel 
 upon every adult male ; 2 that the covenanters should take their 
 turn in providing fuel for the altar ; and that they should duly 
 respect the legal obligations as to the offering of first-fruits and 
 
 1 The Septuagint prefaces Neh. ix. 6 with the words : " And Ezra spake." 
 
 2 The law (Ex. xxx. 13) prescribed half a shekel, but this seems to have 
 been too large an amount to levy at this time. 
 
THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES 77 
 
 the payment of tithes to the priestly order. In due course there 
 followed the formal sealing of the covenant. Nehemiah, as 
 tirshatha, was the first to append his signature. Next to his 
 name stands that of Zedekiah, whom some suppose to have been 
 his secretary. Ezra's concurrence seems to have been taken for 
 granted ; but that of Eliashib, the high priest, was manifestly 
 withheld. Heads of houses, as representatives of the priests, 
 the Levites, and the laity, signed to the number of eighty-four, 
 all the rest of the people simply giving in their adherence. 
 
 11. The Last of the Prophets. — The supremacy attained by the 
 law inevitably led to the decline of prophecy. With the elabora- 
 tion of the written code, there was no longer the same need for 
 the guidance of the living voice. True prophecy could have 
 maintained itself only as the vehicle of further revelation, and 
 had really no adequate function to discharge in an age when 
 men's minds were wholly concerned about gathering up, assimi- 
 lating, and conserving the results already reached. For a time, 
 therefore, its work was done. The centre of authority was 
 changed. The influence of the prophet gave way to that of the 
 priest and the scribe ; the living, progressive, spoken oracle, to 
 the external rule of the law ; the development of doctrine, to that 
 of ceremonial detail. In reading Malachi we become conscious 
 of a transition to a new style of prophetic speech. The dialectic 
 skill with which this last representative of his order lays down 
 theses, starts questions with reference to them, and then replies 
 to the objections raised, already savours of the manner of the 
 schools. To the Socratic method he unites, moreover, somewhat 
 of the new legalistic spirit — that he can rise above it is evident 
 from chap. i. 11 — denouncing marriage with Gentiles, and calling 
 on the people to " remember the law of Moses " (iv. 4). Through 
 neglect of its precepts a curse rested upon their nation (iii. 8, 9).. 
 They had plenty of questions to ask, and of complaints to put 
 (ii. 17), but what was wanted was obedience to the law (iii. 7). 
 The priests profaned the altar by mechanically going through an 
 
78 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 insincere service (i. 7, ii. 9) ; the people refused to pay the 
 temple dues (iii. 8). Room was made for heathen wives by the 
 divorce of the daughters of Israel, whose tears covered the altar 
 (ii. 11-13). A sceptical spirit pervaded the community (iii. 14); 
 sorcery, immorality, perjury, and oppression were rampant (ii. 5) ; 
 the truly pious were few (iii. 16). There was widespread 
 murmuring because Jehovah's judgment upon the heathen was 
 delayed (ii. 17). But the Messianic deliverance, which would 
 certainly come (iii. 1), was deferred owing to the unchanging 
 love which would not consume the sons of Jacob (iii. 6). Mean- 
 while Jehovah would send His messenger, the prophet Elijah 
 (iii. 1, iv. 5), to prepare His way, by turning the hearts of fathers 
 and children alike, before the day when He should suddenly 
 come to His temple and subject the covenant people to a sifting 
 judgment that would effectually distinguish between the righteous 
 and the wicked (iii. 18, iv. 1). Such is the last word of Old 
 Testament prophecy. While protesting against an externalism 
 that afterwards budded into Pharisaism, Malachi is himself 
 tinged with the spirit of the period. His beautiful word-portrait 
 of the true priest (ii. 6, 7) reflects the fresh conception of the 
 scribe. And in thus signalising the entrance of the Jewish 
 Church upon a new era, that was to last until the nation's 
 greatest need should be supplied in the shape of a mighty 
 prophet like Elijah, Malachi practically announced that the 
 activity of the prophets had come to an end. Ere long this was 
 fully recognised ; the people did not look for the perfect develop- 
 ment of their religion until the great reformer should arise 
 (1 Mace. xiv. 41). At first they hardly knew what a fountain of 
 life and power had ceased to play upon the national spirit, so 
 overjoyed were they to possess in writing the sacred praxis ; but 
 they were yet to have ample time to discover that even this could 
 not wholly compensate for the absence of the living messengers 
 of Jehovah's will. Between the sunset glow of Malachi and the 
 morning dawn, as represented in Him of whom he prophesied, 
 there intervened the long space of 400 years. Then at length 
 
THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES 79 
 
 did the greatest yet born of woman, coming in the spirit and 
 power of Elias, point to the Sun of righteousness as already risen 
 with healing in His wings. 
 
 12. Reforms carried through by Nehemiah. — After twelve years 
 of governorship, Nehemiah returned to King Artaxerxes, then 
 resident, apparently, at Babylon. Here he probably resumed his 
 former occupation, but after a short interval he was permitted to 
 go back to Judea. The reformation effected by him did not stand 
 the test of his absence. Deeply mortified to discover this, he began 
 de novo. To cleanse a desecrated temple was the first business 
 laid to his hand. Eliashib had proved a singularly traitorous high 
 priest. He not only did not disdain to "ally himself unto Tobiah," 
 but had even placed at the disposal of this foreigner one of the 
 temple chambers. As heathen occupant of Jehovah's house, 
 Tobiah was to the zealous governor still more repulsive than he had 
 formerly been as conspirator against his own life. His furniture 
 was cleared out of the chamber so sacrilegiously allotted to him, 
 and, after it had been purified, the tithes and other priestly pro- 
 visions were stored in it as aforetime. The desecration of the 
 temple had not unnaturally been accompanied by the desecration 
 of the Sabbath, and Nehemiah, determined that this abuse also 
 should be rectified, gave orders that the city gates should be closed 
 from Friday at dusk until Saturday at sunset. There remained 
 still another evil to which the newly returned tirshatha was not 
 blind. Intermarriage with Gentiles had again become general. 
 Nehemiah "saw Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of 
 Ammon, and of Moab." Their children spoke a mongrel dialect 
 in which Hebrew was jumbled up with " the speech of Ashdod." 
 The governor's treatment of the defaulters was very severe, and 
 he made them swear that such marriages should no longer be 
 contracted. One painful feature about this defection was that 
 the leading reactionaries were found among priestly families. A 
 grandson of Eliashib's was son-in-law to Sanballat, and flatly 
 refused to dissolve his marriage with Nicaso, his alien wife. The 
 
So FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 indignant Nehemiah "chased him" from his presence, and 
 expelled him from Jerusalem, as one who had " denied the priest- 
 hood." 
 
 13. The Samaritan Schism.— The Manasseh whom Josephus 
 {Ant. xi. 8) mentions as founder of the Samaritan temple was 
 doubtless this same excommunicated priest, although he 
 erroneously ascribes the incident to the time of Alexander the 
 Great. A considerable number of Judeans, both lay and clerical, 
 made common cause with Manasseh. The laxer portion of the 
 community refused to sacrifice their natural affections to the 
 dictates of a severely exclusive and unbending rule, conceived 
 though it was in the interests of a pious patriotism. They pre- 
 ferred to sever their connection with the new colony, and betook 
 themselves to the Samaritans. To the powerful Sanballat this 
 Jewish secession opened up a new vista towards the fulfilment of 
 his hopes. The new-comers could furnish a copy of the Pentateuch 
 and a high priest of Aaron's line. What need then of further 
 parley ? Sanballat determined that Samaria should have a temple 
 of its own, around which the spirit of nationality might grow. 
 From this date, accordingly, no more friendly overtures were 
 made to the Jews by the Samaritans, who now became a separate 
 religious sect. They built an independent temple on Mount 
 Gerizim, and boldly attempted to transfer thither the glorious 
 traditions of Zion — an attempt in which they have persisted even 
 to the present day. 1 Ever since their foundation they have 
 claimed a monopoly of the true religion of Moses, accepting as 
 Holy Scripture nothing beyond the Pentateuch, which they possess 
 in a text for the most part identical with that of the Jews. The 
 rite of circumcision, the Sabbath, and the yearly Jewish festivals, 
 are duly observed by them. But they renounce the Jewish 
 
 1 Stapfer {Palestine in the Time of Christ, p. 124) asserts that the Samaritans 
 are now extinct ; but this is not the case. According to the Quarterly State- 
 ment of the Palestine Exploration Fund for January 1888, the number of 
 Samaritans now living is 165. This accords also with the estimates given by 
 travellers in still more recent years. 
 
THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES 8 1 
 
 sanctuary and priesthood as unauthorised and schismatic, main- 
 taining that not Zion but Gerizim is the place of God's choice. 
 There Joshua had been commanded of old to build a temple ; and 
 that " this mountain " is still the place where men ought to worship, 
 they prove by reading Gerizim for Ebal in their Pentateuch (Deut. 
 xxvii. 4). The breach thus made was never healed. In the new 
 cultus on Gerizim the Samaritans gave to their hatred " a local 
 habitation and a name." Not only did they shun all social inter- 
 course with Jews, and, as in the case of our Lord Himself, refuse to 
 harbour them (Luke ix. 52) ; they even attacked bands of pilgrims 
 on their way to Jerusalem, defiled the temple with dead bodies, 
 and kindled false beacon-fires on their mountain tops to deceive 
 the Babylonian settlers, who looked for such signals from their 
 countrymen in Judah on the first appearance of the Paschal moon. 
 The Jews were equally bitter on their side, reproaching the 
 Samaritans with their heathen origin, and assailing their worship 
 as idolatrous, their character as mendacious. To taste a morsel 
 of Samaritan food was an abomination like the eating of swine's 
 flesh. 1 The recorded sayings of the Rabbis prove the severity of 
 the ostracism practised on this alien race. 2 " If anyone receive a 
 Cuthean into his house, and show him hospitality, he is simply 
 preparing exile for his sons." " Mius ben Ihi said, May I never 
 hold intercourse with a Cuthean ; but Abo ben Ihi said, May I 
 never set eyes on a Cuthean." The state of Jewish feeling is also 
 well illustrated in the taunt thrown out to Jesus, "Thou art a 
 Samaritan, and hast a devil" — these being viewed as convertible 
 terms. 
 
 A direct challenge was thus given to the Judeans to prove them- 
 selves the people of God ; and they knew that henceforth they 
 had nothing to expect but hatred and annoyance from the quarter 
 
 1 Lightfoot, Horce Hebraicce, p. 993. There were, however, some differences 
 in the degree of exclusiveness on this point, as may be inferred from the fact 
 that Jesus let His disciples buy meat in Samaria (John iv. 8). Lightfoot 
 quotes Hieros. Avoda Zara, fol. 44. 4: " Victualia Cuthaeorum permissa 
 sunt, si non immisceatur iis aliquid vini eorum, aut aceti." 
 
 2 Compare the epithet kxkoyivfc applied to them by Christ (Luke xvii, 18). 
 
 6 
 
82 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 whence the challenge came. The rival communities tried to outdo 
 each other in gaining the favour of the successive conquerors of 
 Palestine. Both set up a claim of right to the name and privilege 
 of the ancient Israelitish nation. They were too nearly equal in 
 strength to allow of the suppression of the one by the other, and 
 so they lived on to harass and persecute each other to the utmost. 
 
 14. Consolidation of Judaism under Ezra and Nehemiah. — With 
 the establishment of the spurious worship in Gerizim there disap- 
 peared, however, one danger which had been threatening the Jews 
 — that of syncretism. Amid the general wreckage of contem- 
 porary religious and national usages, Judaism remained a distinct 
 entity. Bereft of the usual attributes of nationality, the Jews yet 
 held together in virtue of their law. They gradually gained so many 
 adherents in Palestine, that the Aramaic dialect now began to 
 supersede the older Hebrew. The speech of trade and diplomacy, 
 it ousted Hebrew as Arabic has in turn ousted it. 
 
 Nehemiah's memoirs close with the characteristic prayer : 
 " Remember me, O my God, for good." The curtain drops here 
 upon the life of this zealous man. He was the civil, as Ezra was 
 the ecclesiastic, patriot of his age. In the case of both, the 
 circumstances of their death are unknown to us. Several legend- 
 ary stories are connected with the name of the powerful governor. 
 The statement of Josephus, that Ezra " died an old man, and was 
 buried in a magnificent manner at Jerusalem," probably rests only 
 on the popular belief. There is a Talmudic tradition that he died 
 in Persia. For a time the reputation of the Great Scribe seems to 
 have been overshadowed by that of Nehemiah : in Ecclesiasticus 
 (xlix.) only the latter is named in the list of " famous men." But 
 as time rolled on the two reformers came to be seen in their true 
 perspective, and as the influence of the scribes increased, Ezra 
 especially was considered great. Revered as a second Moses, 1 
 he was invested with the authority of a prophet, and accorded the 
 position of an independent lawgiver. Portions of the Pentateuch, 
 
 i Cf. 2 Apoc. Ezra xiv. io, where a voice addresses Esdras otet of a bush. 
 
THE JEWS UNDER XERXES AND ARTAXERXES 83 
 
 as well as other parts of Scripture, were ascribed to his pen. It 
 is beyond dispute that under Ezra the written law became a new 
 power in Israel ; and the inference that to his labours we are under 
 God, indebted for the preservation of not a little of the sacred text, 
 is a warrantable one. The order of the scribes owes its origin to 
 him, and we are probably to trace to the same source the im- 
 portant institution of the synagogue. Ezra's influence thus lived 
 on after his death, and became far greater than it had been during 
 his lifetime. Conjointly with Nehemiah, he had effected a 
 restoration which practically amounted to the consolidation of 
 Judaism. In re-establishing the law to the extent of its possible 
 observance, the Great Scribe had shown the Jewish people wherein 
 lay their strength, had endowed them with an imperishable 
 possession, had filled them with a quiet determination never again 
 to forsake the path of their true development, and had put them 
 at last in a position patiently to wait for the advent of Christ. 
 
 15. Close of the Persian Dominion. — Artaxerxes died in B.C. 424, 
 after a peaceful reign of forty years. His successors did not 
 share his consideration for the Jewish people or the Jewish faith. 
 Most of them were worthless characters, and some of them 
 positively brutal and wicked. Almost every corner of the empire 
 became the scene of discontent and insurrection. The expedition 
 of the "Ten Thousand" 1 had disclosed the military weakness 
 of Persia. Cyprus, Egypt, and Phoenicia made a combined 
 although abortive effort to throw off the imperial dominion. 
 But the war was carried on by the chiefs of Asia Minor and 
 others. This must have borne hard upon Judea, as a part of the 
 province which more than any other was devastated by the 
 sanguinary conflicts of the period. Although we know next to 
 nothing of the Jewish settlers under the successors of Artaxerxes, 
 there is reason to suppose that it was now theirs to groan under 
 the yoke of Persia as their fathers had done under that of 
 Babylon. Among the scattered facts which give indication of 
 1 For detailed account, see Xenophon's Anabasis. 
 
84 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 this, may be mentioned the destruction of Jericho by Ochus, the 
 attempt of the foreign superiors to take into their own hands the 
 appointment of the high priest, the taxation of the daily sacrifices, 
 and the transportation by Artaxerxes III. of a number of Jews to 
 the Caspian seaboard. But the civil commotions of the time 
 made little impact upon the now solid structure of the Jewish 
 Church. Every year saw the breach widen religiously as well as 
 politically between the colony at Jerusalem and the nation whose 
 vassals they were. The religion of the earlier Persians was not 
 without its high qualities, or even without some affinity to 
 Judaism ; but in these later and more degenerate days, especially 
 under Mnemon and Ochus, it was mixed up with elements that 
 made every true-hearted Jew recoil from its adherents. The 
 downfall of the Persian dominion was, however, at hand. The 
 wonder is that the huge colossus staggered so long ere it fell, 
 for moral and material decay are never far separated. The 
 victorious son of Philip the Macedonian king was on the march : 
 and first on the banks of the Granicus, then on the plain of Issus, 
 and finally at the battle of Arbela, he defeated the demoralised 
 and disorganised Persians, and so decided the fate of the great 
 Monarchy that had held sway in the East for more than two 
 hundred years. 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 Inner Life of Israel during the Persian Period 
 
 The life of the nation was developed by the interaction of forces 
 from without and forces from within. The external forces were 
 the foreign influences to which it was subjected ; and the internal 
 forces consisted of those imperishable impulses which sprang 
 from their own Messianic hope, and embodied themselves in the 
 institutions of the period. 
 
INNER LIFE OF ISRAEL DURING THE PERSIAN PERIOD 85 
 
 I. The Introduction of Foreign Elements. — The Chaldeans had 
 exercised no appreciable influence upon the religion of the Old 
 Testament. If the pious Jew borrowed anything at all from 
 Babylon, it was the visionary mode of speech with which Ezekiel 
 has familiarised us. There was, of course, much more affinity 
 between the religion of the Jews and that of the Persians ; but it 
 may be questioned whether the Persian influence on Old Testa- 
 ment doctrine was of a very strongly-marked character. We 
 can pass from Ezekiel to Haggai or Zechariah without being 
 conscious of the introduction of any foreign elements of im- 
 portance. Persians and Jews were undoubtedly at one in their 
 monotheism and in their hatred of idolatry. But to say that the 
 Jews derived such fundamental doctrines as those of immortality 
 and the resurrection from the system of Zoroaster, is to overstate 
 the Persian influence. If in the passage mainly relied on to 
 support this view — Dan. xii. — there be any distinct advance upon 
 such older statements as those of Ps. xvi. and Job xix., must we 
 necessarily ascribe it to the adoption of Zoroastrian tenets ? 
 The doctrine of the resurrection is an organic product of Old 
 Testament religion. Only in non-essentials, and especially in the 
 matter of angelology, is the Persian influence traceable. The 
 main features of Zoroastrianism were its doctrine of the co- 
 existence of good and evil as eternal and antagonistic principles, 
 and its extraordinary use of numbers and images. Out of these 
 tempting materials Judaism now sought to weave for itself an 
 ornamental fringe, so to speak, but that was all. An instance 
 of this occurs in Zechariah's picture of the new Jerusalem (iii. 9, 
 iv. 10). To the poetic imagination the spirit- world began to be 
 peopled with hierarchies of good and evil powers, a tendency 
 that developed until it affected even ordinary prose narrative 
 (1 Chron. xxi. 1). It is not observable in Ezekiel, who, with all 
 his fondness for images, makes no mention of evil spirits. 
 Another fact to be noted in this connection, is that even among 
 Jews it now became a regular practice to date events by the year 
 of the reigning Persian king. 
 
86 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 2. Nature and Growth of the High-Priestly Power. — A notable 
 factor in the development of Judaism during the Persian period 
 was that of the priesthood. But while the age was an age of 
 priests, the one figure that stands out with incomparable 
 prominence is the head of the hierarchy. It was now that the 
 high-priestly power began to assume the unique supremacy 
 which it afterwards attained. Under the kings of Judah and 
 Israel, the high priest held an honourable yet subordinate 
 position. Even in his own department he had been subject to 
 the king ; but now he held his office directly from Jehovah, whose 
 earthly representative he was. Other things, too, combined to 
 make the office a new centre of influence. Its ancient prestige 
 as a relic of the former constitution ; the principle of heredity, 
 according to which Joshua's successors were his own descend- 
 ants ; and the life-tenure attaching to the appointment, all told 
 in this direction. Although the Urim and Thummim had 
 vanished, and the holy oracle could no longer be consulted as 
 of yore, the people yet saw in the high priest their natural 
 head. And thus, without his ever claiming it, secular power 
 also drifted into his hands. No other dignitary could find 
 a place by his side. He was leader of the community, not 
 only religiously, but socially and politically as well. From the 
 account given in Sirach of the son of Onias, we can gather how 
 influential was the position of this functionary when his worth as 
 a man at all corresponded to the dignity of the office. Unhappily 
 this was not always the case. The conditions already mentioned 
 opened up opportunities for self-seeking, and many of the high 
 priests made their office a ladder to personal power. The post 
 of civil governor in Jerusalem, which had been held by 
 Nehemiah, seems to have been subsequently abolished, the 
 Persian satrap of Syria deeming it expedient to vest the entire 
 secular authority in the person of the high priest. An incident 
 recorded by Josephus shows us the new arrangement apparently 
 in actual operation. Judas, the son of Eliashib, died, leaving 
 two sons, Johanan and Joshua, both of whom sought to obtain 
 
INNER LIFE OF ISRAEL DURING THE PERSIAN PERIOD 87 
 
 the office demitted by their father. Johanan, as the elder, held 
 the legal title, but Joshua was the nominee of Bagoses, the acting 
 Persian general, who was his friend. Relying on this influential 
 support, Joshua provoked his brother to a quarrel, and was slain 
 by him within the sacred precincts. Bagoses immediately went 
 to Jerusalem and forced his way into the sanctuary. The Jews 
 raised the cry of profanation, but he retorted that he was cleaner 
 than a murdered body, and as a punishment for this fratricide 
 he imposed on them for seven years a tax of fifty shekels 
 (drachmas) 1 for every lamb used in sacrifice. From all this it 
 is obvious that the increased political importance of the priest- 
 hood was not an unmixed blessing to the Jewish people. It 
 led to moral degeneracy, as it did in the parallel case of the 
 Papacy during the Middle Ages. Under such a system the 
 high priest frequently cared less for his sacred office than for 
 the worldly influence which it carried with it. Not that 
 this was true of all the high priests ; some of them were what 
 they were expected to be — the visible embodiment of " the 
 divine purity and joy." But after the Persian dominion had 
 passed away, the evil results of the system became more 
 apparent. 
 
 3. The Scribes and their Traditions. — The most potent 
 influence in the national development must be sought, however, 
 in connection with the new order of professional students of the 
 law, named Sopherim or Scribes. These men were lawyers, 
 teachers, and judges, all in one. Jerusalem being conceived as 
 the Holy City, a growing importance was assigned to the Holy 
 Scriptures, especially to the law. It became from the time of 
 Ezra the centre of thought and religion in Judea — the recognised 
 embodiment of all wisdom, and the venerated palladium of the 
 people. The highest employment open to an Israelite was 
 the study and interpretation of it. Diligent hands wrote out 
 numerous copies, and so arose the office of the Sopherim. What 
 1 The total amount for the seven years would be about ,£12,000. 
 
88 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 was best, as well as what was worst in Judaism, was henceforth 
 represented by this order. 
 
 The scribes were a learned caste, located all over Palestine, 
 but having their headquarters at Jerusalem. As guardians of 
 the law, they formed a guild with common interests, and main- 
 tained their authority by observing uniformity in their teaching. 
 Originally they sprang from the priesthood. It belonged to the 
 priestly function to expound the law (Mai. ii. 7), and to settle 
 questions regarding it (Hag. ii. 11); but the law had now such 
 a position in Israel that the study of it necessarily became an 
 independent avocation. The moral influence of the hierarchs 
 passed thus into the hands of the Rabbis, who were for the most 
 part earnest-minded laymen. They were held in the greatest 
 public esteem, and demanded of their pupils a reverence 
 exceeding even that accorded to parents. 1 Usually they gave 
 their services free of charge, and supported themselves by 
 practising a trade. They were furnished with rooms in the 
 temple porches, where they sat and taught. 
 
 The basis of Scribism was the claim that every Jew was bound 
 to obey the law in all its particulars. It was the acceptance of 
 this responsibility, and the attempt to discharge it, that marked 
 off the Jew from other men. One might Judaise himself and 
 establish his own righteousness by laborious conformity to legal 
 enactment. This became indeed the one occupation of the 
 pious, for to do everything by rule was of the essence of Judaism. 
 An encyclopaedia of human conduct can never be written, 
 although the scribes contrived to do it to the utmost extent 
 possible. Despite omissions, seeming contradictions, and 
 changing circumstances, they set themselves by processes of 
 inference to bring every conceivable case within the range of 
 the law, that the piously-disposed Jew might be at no loss how to 
 perform the obligations of the covenant. The effect of Scribism 
 was thus to multiply the legal points to be attended to in the 
 conduct of life, until the burden got to be intolerable. The 
 
 1 Cf. Matt, xxiii. 6, 7. 
 
INNER LIFE OF ISRAEL DURING THE PERSIAN PERIOD 89 
 
 written law contained 613 commandments ; but obedience to 
 these by no means exhausted the religious obligations of a Jew. 
 The Rabbis assert — and to this day Jewish children are taught 
 — that God gave to Moses on Sinai not only the written law, but 
 also an equally binding oral law. This latter is usually desig- 
 nated the traditional law, or Halachah. 1 According to the Pirke 
 Aboth, Moses "delivered it to Joshua; he to the elders; the 
 elders to the prophets ; and the prophets to the men of the 
 Great Assembly," of whom Haggai (B.C. 520) was the first, and 
 Simon the Just (B.C. 300) the last. From Simon's time the 
 precious tradition passed by an unbroken succession of pairs of 
 learned men (whose names are preserved) to the Christian era. 
 The ever-increasing body of oral tradition thus handed down 
 from master to scholar was finally embodied in the Talmud. 
 It cannot be said that the devotion of the Jews to their 
 sacred tradition did much either for the higher learning or 
 the higher life ; but such as it is, the Talmud represents 
 the cumulative labours of 500 years. Although often referred 
 to as a useless pile of rubbish, it illustrates in many ways the 
 inner life of the Jewish people during the centuries preced- 
 ing the birth of Christ, and helps us to understand His 
 position as a public Teacher opposed to the Rabbis and their 
 traditions. 
 
 If mere law could ever sustain the religious life of a people, the 
 endless casuistry of the scribes would have accomplished this 
 for Israel. But they failed, because religion is neither an art to 
 be learned nor a trade to be wrought at, but a principle to be 
 imbibed. Here it was that Jesus of Nazareth joined issue with 
 the scribes. To what they considered of most importance, He 
 ga\*e only a secondary place, and taught that the spirit must be 
 left to express itself in forms of its own creation. He charged 
 them with having developed the law in a wrong direction 
 altogether, and with having by their traditions made it void. 
 The inward life and freedom of the divine word lay buried 
 1 Literally, that which goes, and hence applied to the law of custom. 
 
90 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 beneath a load of outward precepts. This marks the funda- 
 mental difference between Christianity and the traditionalism 
 of the schools. Scribism meant externalism, and fostered 
 the worship of the letter at the expense of the better wor- 
 ship of the spirit. It produced a purely artificial piety, 
 which was concerned only with the doing of what was pre- 
 scribed. 1 In such an atmosphere both morality and religion 
 were stifled. 
 
 4. The Synagogue. — It was in keeping with the new spirit 
 accompanying the restoration of the law, that this period should 
 also have seen the land dotted over with synagogues. Tradition 
 ascribed to them a much earlier origin, but they were really an 
 outgrowth of the post-Exilian age. By the time of Christ the 
 synagogue was an old-established institution. Every village in 
 Palestine had long had its meeting-house (Acts xv. 21) ; and this 
 was the case throughout the Dispersion also. The expense of 
 building and maintaining these "houses of God" seems to have 
 been borne by the worshippers in each district ; although some- 
 times poor congregations were indebted to the munificence of 
 private individuals for a place of worship (Luke vii. 5). Syna- 
 gogues were often built on the seashore, or beside some stream, 
 to facilitate Levitical purification. In the choice of sites, prefer- 
 ence was also shown for hills (Luke iv. 28, 29), street corners, 
 " the openings of the gates," and in later times for " the 
 sepulchres of the righteous" (Matt, xxiii. 29). Regard was had 
 in all cases to the Kibleh, or fixed direction of worship, Jerusalem 
 being in this respect to the Jew what Mecca is to the Moham- 
 medan. The spot on which a synagogue was built could never be 
 used for any secular purpose. In the large towns there were 
 
 1 "A late scribe gave apt expression to the genius of the whole school, 
 when he declared that the great commandment of the law was the law about 
 fringes. Take care of the fringes, and the garment will take care of itself : 
 keep the little commandments, and you cannot break the great ones ; — that 
 was the spirit in which the scribes developed the law of God." — Skinner, 
 Historical Connection between the Old and New Testaments, p. 16. 
 
INNER LIFE OF ISRAEL DURING THE PERSIAN PERIOD 9 1 
 
 several of these structures, 1 which varied, like our modern 
 churches, in size and style of architecture. 
 
 The internal arrangements were very simple, although modelled 
 somewhat after those of the temple. Corresponding to the outer 
 court was the space allotted to the body of the people, who took 
 their places according to rank and age. The sexes sat apart. In 
 the raised platform which took up the remaining room we have 
 the analogue of the inner court. At the further extremity, point- 
 ing towards Jerusalem, was the ark containing the holy books, 
 and in front of it hung a curtain in imitation of the veil of the 
 temple. The chief seats were appropriated by the leading 
 officials, the leisured elders, the scribes (Matt, xxiii. 6), and the 
 vulgar rich (Jas. ii. 2, 3), who liked to have a reputation for piety 
 (Matt. vi. 2), and to sit facing the congregation. Further forward, 
 and in a central position, was the raised seat for the reader or 
 preacher, and the desk on which rested the sacred parchments. 
 Among the other fittings were lamps, alms-boxes, a chest for 
 musical instruments, and boards for writing up the names of the 
 excommunicated. 
 
 A Sabbath morning service began with the recitation of the 
 Shema, 2 which consisted of three paragraphs from the Penta- 
 teuch. It was a confession of faith rather than a prayer, and was 
 preceded and concluded with a benediction. Then with the 
 formula, " Let us bless Jehovah," the reader summoned the people 
 to pray. This they did standing, their faces turned towards 
 Jerusalem. The prayer, which formed part of an established 
 liturgy, was said by the leader, the congregation giving the 
 responsive Amen. Next came the lessons from the law, 3 and the 
 
 1 " Large families often had synagogues of their own. Thus in the East to- 
 day we find a number of mosques quite out of proportion to the population , 
 many of them being family mosques. Sometimes a corporation founded a 
 synagogue. We know that the coppersmiths in Jerusalem had established 
 one." — Stapfer, Palestine in the Time of Christ, p. 335. 
 
 2 So called from the opening word of Deut. vi. 4-9, xi. 13-21 ; Num. xv. 
 
 37-41- 
 
 3 The Torah was divided into 154 sections, so as to admit of the entire 
 Pentateuch being overtaken in a cycle of three years. 
 
92 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 prophets (Luke iv. 17), with Aramaic translation. 1 This was 
 followed by an expository sermon from a scribe or other com- 
 petent male worshipper. Finally, the blessing was pronounced 
 by a priest, or, in the absence of a priest, invoked by a layman, 
 whereupon the congregation dispersed. The leading feature in 
 this service was that of instruction in the law. " To hear the law 
 and to learn it accurately " — that was the chief end for which the 
 people congregated. But every synagogue was also a house of 
 prayer, in which the worshippers realised that nearness to God 
 does not depend upon a gorgeous ritual. 
 
 A great national institution like the synagogue had to be well 
 organised. The general management was in the hands of a body 
 of elders, who watched over the morals of the flock and exercised 
 discipline. Every synagogue had its " ruler " ; sometimes there 
 were several in the same synagogue (Acts xiii. 15). They were 
 managing directors, to whom was committed the general over- 
 sight of worship. Other officers of subordinate rank were the 
 business secretary, who usually recited the prayers ; the collectors 
 of alms, whose duty it was to receive and distribute the weekly 
 offering ; and the attendant or minister, whose functions were to 
 take charge of the sacred books, to open and close the synagogue 
 and see to its being properly kept, to teach the children to read, 
 and to scourge those who had been sentenced to receive stripes 
 (Acts xxii. 19 ; 2 Cor. xi. 24). In addition to these were the 
 " ten unemployed men," who were paid to give constant attend- 
 ance during the hours of public worship, so as to ensure that 
 there would always be a congregation. 
 
 As affecting the religious life of the people, the synagogue was 
 an institution of the highest moment. It was the nursery of 
 Mosaism ; by means of it the rank and file of the nation attained 
 to the knowledge of the law. It made them practically inde- 
 pendent of the temple and its ritual, freed them from the domina- 
 tion of the priestly hierarchy, and gave them a portable religion. 
 
 1 This was known as the Targum, while the translator was called the 
 Methurgeman. 
 
INNER LIFE OF ISRAEL DURING THE PERSIAN PERIOD 93 
 
 Josephus pointed out with truth, that while the Roman procurators 
 could not go to their provinces unaccompanied by legal experts, 
 "in the Jewish household every servant-maid knew from the 
 religious service what Moses had ordained in the law in every 
 single instance." Notable also is the warm tribute of Philo : 
 " Our houses of prayer in the several towns are none other than 
 institutions for teaching prudence and bravery, temperance and 
 justice, piety and holiness ; in short, every virtue which the 
 human and the divine recognises and enjoins." 
 
 Christianity itself owes not a little to the synagogue. The 
 lessons read from the prophets prepared the way of the Lord by 
 creating and intensifying in many hearts the Messianic hope ; 
 and when the Messiah Himself did come, He preached freely in 
 the synagogues. The apostles made use of the same medium 
 for the propagation of Christian doctrine. Our modern sermon 
 is just a development of the Midrash, or homily of the synagogue. 
 The early Church was simply the synagogue Christianised ; the 
 resemblance extended both to the style of building and to the 
 form of worship. In this Jewish institution we see the master- 
 stroke of Ezra's genius, and the bridge by which Christianity 
 crossed over on its mission of blessing to all families of the 
 earth. 
 
 5. Germs of Future Sectarianism. — In Judea the balance of 
 power was gradually shifting. Hitherto it had rested with the 
 priests ; henceforth it was to drift increasingly into the hands of 
 the scribes. These were the two most influential classes, and 
 they both sought to get the nation under their control. During 
 the Persian period, and for at least half a century longer, the 
 priests maintained their supremacy ; they might have done so to 
 the end but for their unfaithfulness to their sacred trust. It was 
 the spiritual poverty of the priesthood, their lack of national 
 feeling, and their unscrupulous conduct, that gave nerve and 
 sinew to the opposition, which crystallised at length into a dis- 
 tinct party. Their official status could not compensate for their 
 
94 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 lack of piety. The earnest-minded chose to hold by the men 
 who held by the law, and as the apostles of Judaism the scribes 
 found their influence daily increase. When the priests were 
 afterwards fascinated by the subtle attractions of Greek culture 
 and art, and were freely embracing practices foreign to the 
 spirit of their own religion, the scribes were so successful in 
 hoisting the flag of danger as to prove the saviours of their 
 country. They fought Hellenism until the madness of Antiochus 
 Epiphanes came to their aid, and caused the extraordinary 
 revival of Judaism under the Maccabees. In New Testament 
 times the scribes are found naturally among the Pharisees, and 
 the priests as naturally adhering to the Sadducees. These 
 opposing parties were the developed product of tendencies 
 already at work in the Persian age, and these tendencies were 
 themselves consequent upon the decay of spiritual power which 
 characterised the period. The loss of this meant the loss of 
 many things, and, among others, of that religious unity which 
 had for generations enabled the little Jewish nation to present a 
 solid front towards the pagan world outside. Where men are no 
 longer agreed in their philosophy of religion or of life, the 
 development of party feeling is inevitable. 
 
 6. Results attained during the Persian Period. — Two centuries 
 had passed since the Jews returned from exile. Their bright 
 expectations had not been realised. The hostility shown by 
 Assyria and Babylon towards the Jewish sanctuary had certainly 
 not been continued under the Persian Empire ; and despite the 
 petty limitations and annoyances to which they had been subjected, 
 the new community remained gratefully conscious of the service 
 done to the cause of the theocracy by the permission to rebuild 
 the waste places of Zion. In other respects, however, they hardly 
 fared better than they had done before. The goal was not yet ! 
 Depression sat on the brow of the nation. Many began to 
 pessimise : all was " vanity and vexation of spirit." The literature 
 of the period felt the incubus as much as any other department 
 
INNER LIFE OF ISRAEL DURING THE PERSIAN PERIOD 95 
 
 of the national life. Neither in quantity nor in quality was it 
 equal to that of the earlier times. In the history itself, moreover, 
 there are many blanks. Yet it would be a mistake to set down 
 these two hundred years as a day of small things to be despised. 
 They were years of the highest significance for Judaism, and the 
 seeds then planted were not uprooted by the conflicts of succeed- 
 ing centuries. Among the results attained were these : (1) The 
 age was characterised by an intense devotion to the law. This 
 was the engrossing study of the best heads, the centre of endeav- 
 our for the noblest wills, in Israel. The promulgation of the 
 Torah turned the Jewish nation into a hive of workers. They 
 laboured to master its precepts, and to reduce them to practice. 
 And this reverence for the law was surely something gained, 
 notwithstanding that they mistook the means for the end. Re- 
 demption could not come along the lines of legalism. There is 
 something tragic about the Herculean zeal with which the scribes 
 consecrated their strength to the maintenance of a lost cause. 
 Like that of Hypatia and of Julian in a later age, it was a " zeal 
 not according to knowledge." (2) A higher conception of worship 
 was another of the distinct gains of this period. The synagogue, 
 in practically obliterating the distinction between priest and lay- 
 man, did much to create a more spiritual idea of worship than 
 that represented in the symbolism of the temple ritual. Fellow- 
 ship with God, they found, could be had directly through His 
 word and prayer. Without priest or Levite, without animal 
 offering or hidden type, the pious Israelite could now draw near 
 to God. (3) During this period there was also a notable growth 
 of natio7ial feeling. The idea of Israel as the chosen people 
 became exceedingly prominent after the Exile. She was God's 
 turtle dove (Ps. lxxiv. 19). " Touch not Mine anointed, and do 
 My prophets no harm " — such was the glorious motto with which 
 a divine hand had wreathed her crown. On the other hand, 
 stung by the treatment they had received from them, the Jews 
 now began also energetically to hate and despise the heathen as 
 fools and enemies of God (Ps. lxxiv. 18). Babylon and Edom 
 
g6 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 were the objects of a hatred peculiarly fierce (Ps. cxxxvii.). In the 
 rejection of the advances made by the Samaritans, in the expul- 
 sion of the foreign wives under Ezra and Nehemiah, and in the 
 story told in the Book of Esther, we have other concrete examples 
 of this tendency. In spite of the unlovely features mixed up with 
 it, all this meant a certain accession of moral and religious 
 strength. Though shorn of their power as an independent 
 nationality, they were the conscious possessors of the only true 
 religion, and this in the end would bring the truest supremacy. 
 All nations would yet flock to the mountain of the Lord's house. 
 The Plant of renown must first spring up, however, before this 
 hope could be fulfilled. They had still to look to the future for 
 this. If meanwhile they were an oppressed people, they realised 
 that their vocation was a far higher one than simply to be a unit 
 among many nations. (4) The Persian period was further dis- 
 tinguished by the cordial recognition of the sovereignty of holiness. 
 The Israelites could now dispense with the outward monarchy 
 they were once so anxious for. They could even accept the 
 heathen dominion as a passing experience. A lofty conscious- 
 ness of their position as Jehovah's people, holy through separation, 
 lifted them above such relations as these. It was by laying hold 
 on the eternal, the true, and the holy, and by that alone, that 
 they could arrive at national perfection. This was the great 
 power that was now to have sway over them. Their ancestral 
 faith was all they had saved from the wreck of the Exile, and 
 perhaps it was all that was worth saving. At all events, it was 
 the one thing needful for them in the carrying out of the divine 
 purpose of salvation for themselves and for the world. This 
 holiness, then, was to be the starting-point of a new development 
 for Israel. Whatever the hollo wness of the religious life in many 
 quarters may have been, the system itself could not yield perfect 
 results, "for the law maketh nothing perfect." It had, however, 
 "a shadow of good things to come," and the people of the 
 Old Covenant were gradually moving on towards those good 
 things. 
 
INNER LIFE OF ISRAEL DURING THE PERSIAN PERIOD 97 
 
 7. Jewish Literature of the Persian Period. — Towards the close 
 of the Exile there had been something of a renaissance both in 
 prophecy and in general literature, but the oppression of the 
 Persian rule checked its further development. Prophecy had 
 ceased, and although there was no want of books (Eccles. xii. 12), 
 they were mostly of a comparatively inferior order. In the his- 
 torical field a new feature appears in the autobiographies of Ezra 
 and Nehemiah. These are embraced in the larger work of the 
 Chronicler, who also inserts in his history the texts of royal edicts 
 affecting the national life. This writer sketches in a Levitical 
 spirit the course of the divine kingdom from the creation down to 
 the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Exile. Of the prophetic 
 books which fall within this period, those of Haggai and 
 Zechariah are earlier by nearly a century than that of Malachi. 
 There are substantial grounds for ascribing to this age the puzzling 
 Book of Ecclesiastes. In general tone and standpoint it seems 
 to fit in with the circumstances of the Persian rather than with 
 those of the later Graeco-Syrian rule. The apocryphal books of 
 Baruch and Tobit are perhaps also to be assigned to the Persian 
 age. But the best literature of the period belongs to the sphere 
 of sacred song. Although it is not easy to distinguish the psalms 
 of this from those of the succeeding age, it would seem, from the 
 way in which quotations are made from the Books of Chronicles, 1 
 that the bulk of the later psalms had their origin in the Persian 
 period. These hymns of faith and hope are charged throughout 
 with the feeling of the peerless value of the true religion. For 
 the human soul it means safety (xci. 10), rest (cxvi. 7), and blessed- 
 ness (cxxxix. 17) ; it is for the individual the chief good, and 
 affords for the nation that possesses it the best security (cviii. 13) 
 and ..the truest happiness (cxliv. 15). There were, however, 
 unmistakable signs that Jewish literature was on the wane. The 
 nation had begun to live on the past. 2 A race of scholastics 
 
 1 Ps. cv. and cvi. are cited in 1 Chron. xvi. 8-36, and Ps. cxxxii. in 
 2 Chron. vi. 41, 42. 
 
 2 ' ' Even poets were fond of topics from ancient history, and employed 
 
 7 
 
98 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 collected and edited the classical works of former times. Arti- 
 ficial arrangement took the place of creative energy ; the writer 
 who could hardly produce a poem could put together an acrostic. 
 Every literary device was in request. Zoroastrian images and 
 numbers came into vogue ; writings were issued under the name 
 of some great man of a former age ; even the reversal of the order 
 of the alphabet was a welcome novelty. 1 
 
 them at some length in songs for every kind of instruction and exhortation." 
 ■ — Ewald, History of Israel, v. p. 191. Ps. xcix. and cxxxii. are cases in 
 point. Detailed references to the past occur also in Neh. ix. 7-47, xiii. 18, 
 26. 
 
 1 This was known as the Atbash, so called from the first two pairs of 
 letters interchanged, viz. a and t, b and sh. 
 
BOOK III 
 
 THE GREEK PERIOD, B.C. 333-167 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Alexander's Empire 
 
 1. Alexander the Great. — While yet a youth of twenty, Alex- 
 ander was crowned King of Macedonia. Born at Pella (B.C. 356), 
 he became at thirteen the pupil of Aristotle, and remained ever 
 after the faithful devotee of Greek culture. After asserting his 
 position against rivals in Macedonia, he entered upon his work 
 of conquest. His first achievement was the subjugation of 
 Greece. He then marched into Asia with 40,000 well-disciplined 
 soldiers. Meeting the Persian troops near the river Granicus, 
 he utterly annihilated them (B.C. 334). 1 His next step was to 
 make sure of Asia Minor, on the coasts of which two able 
 generals commanded the fleet of Darius (Codomannus). At 
 Halicarnassus alone did he encounter serious resistance. Leaving 
 one of his generals to besiege its citadel, he made himself master 
 of the Southern provinces, and was now ready to follow out his 
 design of humbling the Great King himself. That monarch, 
 who still underrated his enemy, paid no attention to tactics ; he 
 left Alexander's handful of Greeks a free course until he could 
 
 1 For an account of Alexander's tactics, pursued at this and succeeding 
 battles, see Professor Mahaffy's work on Alexander's Empire, pp. 15, 16. 
 
 99 
 
IOO FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 effectually crush them on the Syrian plain. The Macedonian 
 did not, however, arrive so soon as he had expected, and the 
 impatient monarch, having abandoned his advantageous position, 
 was defeated at Issus in Cilicia (B.C. 333). Alexander now made 
 for Phoenicia, which fell into his hands after a seven months' 
 siege of Tyre. The victor then turned to Egypt, taking Palestine 
 on the way, and spending two months in besieging Gaza, which 
 paid dearly for its resistance. Egypt was quite ready to change 
 its ruler, and the city of Alexandria remains to this day the 
 peaceful monument of his visit to that country. Alexander had 
 already announced himself as King of Persia, and only one other 
 decisive blow was required to give him the undisputed lordship 
 of Asia. This was struck (B.C. 331) at Arbela in Mesopotamia. 
 The conqueror now entered in succession the four great capitals 
 of the Persian Empire, and drained them of their treasures. His 
 marriage with Roxana, the daughter of a Sogdian prince, solved 
 his difficulties in the Northern provinces. Alexander's watch- 
 word was still Eastward-ho ! Over the heights of the Hindu 
 Kush, through the passes of Kabul and Khyber, across the rivers 
 Indus and Hydaspes, in the face of every obstacle he led his 
 troops, conquering the bravest of Indian armies, and confidently 
 expecting in a few days more to reach the Ganges itself. But at 
 this point his hardy Macedonians failed him ; they declined to 
 go further, and the king was obliged to turn his back upon the 
 East. In Alexander the lust of conquest grew by what it fed on ; 
 he was essentially a man-hunter. Arabia seems to have been 
 the next item on his programme, and with a view to this campaign 
 he ordered new ships to be built in Phoenicia and Babylon (B.C. 
 331). To the latter he made his way in spite of priestly presages 
 of danger, and amid the homage of ambassadors from all parts of 
 the world. But the limits of his empire, which now extended 
 from the Nile to the Indus, had been reached ; he had, as it 
 were, but made a beginning when there came the sufficiently 
 inglorious end. A prolonged drunken revel induced an attack of 
 fever. The army viewed the situation with the utmost alarm. 
 
ALEXANDERS EMPIRE IOI 
 
 Oracles were consulted ; bulletins were issued ; and when the 
 Great King was no longer able to speak, his Macedonians 
 marched past his bedside and sorrowfully bade him farewell. A 
 few hours afterwards he was dead, and the greatest career the 
 world had yet seen was ended. 
 
 2. Alexander's Character, Policy, and Place in History. — In 
 point of military genius Alexander certainly merits the epithet of 
 Great, but in the sphere of character he has no claim to it. With 
 loftier ends in view perhaps than most conquerors, he neverthe- 
 less allowed the teachings of Aristotle to be overborne by 
 ambition. Probably he became intoxicated by his unheard of 
 success ; it is impossible otherwise to account for his fatuous 
 notion that he was divine. 1 In reality he was very far from being 
 even what Spinoza was called, a "God-intoxicated" man. The 
 untamable fierceness of the tiger, the brutal disregard of the 
 Oriental for human life, the coarse excess of the Thracian 
 reveller, the heartless tyranny of the ancient despot, were all 
 exemplified in him. No doubt it ought to be remembered that 
 his history has not been written by a contemporary, and that the 
 fabulous element has entered into it largely. 
 
 Alexander's policy is summed up in two words — conquest and 
 fusion. To build up one mighty kingdom, in which victors and 
 vanquished alike should be embraced, and which should be per- 
 meated by the spirit and civilisation of Greece, was the ruling 
 idea of this remarkable man. This, however, was a work 
 demanding more than great ability and tenacity of purpose : it 
 could scarcely even be inaugurated apart from an exceptionally 
 long reign. His death at thirty-three necessarily left it incom- 
 plete (B.C. 323). 
 
 But life is not really measured by days and years, and 
 
 1 Plutarch says that Alexander's claim to divinity was not believed in by 
 himself ; that it was with great caution and in a small degree asserted among 
 the Greeks ; and that he only used it as a weapon for the subjugation of 
 barbarians. 
 
102 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 Alexander has left his mark in history. He occupies indeed a 
 unique position in the annals of the human race. To him directly 
 are to be traced the two great movements which prepared the 
 way for Christianity, viz. the Jewish Dispersion, and the spread 
 of Hellenic culture among Orientals. The significance of this 
 monarch's life for biblical history is not therefore exhausted by 
 the place he fills in the visions of Daniel or in the pages of 
 i Maccabees. He had a vocation as a revolutionary. Through 
 his conquests a way was opened up for the fusion of the diverse 
 tendencies and thoughts of East and West, and this again was to 
 result in nothing less than the development of a cosmopolitan 
 religion for man. But if the upheaval of ancient racial ideas and 
 customs which followed in the wake of his army, and the clear- 
 cut antagonisms of Greek and Semitic thought which were 
 thereby revealed, constitute Alexander a sort of forerunner of 
 Christianity, yet, by his acceptance of the idolatrous worship of 
 the Persians, he became, so to speak, an incarnation of the world- 
 power which in every generation opposes itself to the kingdom 
 of God. 
 
 3. Alexander and the Jews. — Some interesting traditions have 
 been handed down regarding this monarch's relations with the 
 Jews. Josephus states that during his siege of Tyre he wrote to 
 the Jewish high priest " to send him some auxiliaries, and to 
 supply his army with provisions"; but only to get back the retort, 
 that his oath of allegiance to the King of Persia forbade such a 
 thing. Alexander vowed vengeance, and, after taking Tyre and 
 Gaza, marched against Jerusalem. On reaching the eminence of 
 Sapha, with both city and temple full in view, he was met by a 
 strange procession streaming forth from the open gates. At its 
 head was the high priest Jaddua in his pontifical robes ; beside 
 him walked the priests in their linen garments ; the entire popu- 
 lation, dressed in white, followed in the rear. Thus calmly the 
 Jews awaited the approach of the conqueror. To the surprise of 
 his followers, Alexander prostrated himself before the Jewish 
 
Alexander's empire 103 
 
 leader, and adored the ineffable name inscribed upon his mitre. 
 Parmenio alone ventured to ask an explanation. " Why should 
 he whom all men worship, worship the high priest of the Jews?" 
 " Not him," replied the king, " but the God whose high priest he 
 is I worship. Long ago, when at Dium in Macedonia, I saw in 
 my dreams such an one in such an attire as this, who urged me 
 to undertake the conquest of Persia, and succeed." Amid an 
 escort of priests he then entered the city, and, under the direction 
 of the high priest, offered sacrifice to God in the temple. Shown 
 the prophecy of the overthrow of Persia by a Grecian, he at once 
 interpreted it in his own favour. As if in gratitude for this 
 unlooked for omen of success, Alexander granted the Jews 
 absolute religious liberty, and exempted them from taxation 
 every seventh year. On his also offering the like privileges to 
 those who would join his army, many elected to accompany him 
 in his wars. The story is probably legendary, but it may at least 
 be taken as evidence of Alexander's humane treatment of the 
 Jews. In exchanging the Persian dominion for the Greek they 
 certainly reaped no disadvantage. 
 
 4. The Diadochoi. — Alexander's death fell like a thunder-clap 
 upon the world, and many complications arose in connection 
 with the government of the empire. The half-witted Philip of 
 Aridasus was made interim king, and for seven years nominally 
 enjoyed the sovereign power, those who had distinguished them- 
 selves in the army being appointed military satraps over the 
 various provinces. But this proved an unworkable arrangement, 
 owing to the ambition of these satraps, who were anxious to 
 establish independent kingdoms for themselves. Some of them 
 aimed even at the imperial crown. Doubt has been thrown upon 
 the statement that "Alexander parted his kingdom among his 
 servants while yet he was alive" (1 Mace. i. 6) ; but, at anyrate, 
 they divided it among themselves after he was dead. Upon the 
 murder of Roxana and her boy of thirteen by Cassander in order 
 to secure himself in the possession of Macedonia, they made no 
 
104 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 secret of their selfish designs. Ultimately, in B.C. T£>\,five kings 
 shared the vast inheritance. These were Seleucus, the powerful 
 lord of Babylon ; Antigonus, the ambitious ruler of Phrygia, and 
 the ablest of the Diadochoi or Successors ; Ptolemy Lagi, who 
 obtained Egypt ; Lysimachus, who had Thrace and Bithynia ; 
 and Cassander, who reigned over Macedonia and Greece. But 
 this partition did not bring peace to the world. Antigonus 
 especially was not satisfied with his portion, and soon showed 
 that he meant to seize the whole empire. Aided by his talented 
 son Demetrius, he all but succeeded in his struggle for the 
 mastery. But the generalship of Lysimachus and the countless 
 hosts of Seleucus, together with his own senile impatience, turned 
 the scale adversely for Antigonus. After a well-contested battle 
 at Ipsus in Phrygia (b.c. 301), he was slain, and his troops laid 
 down their arms. Demetrius fled with some thousands of men, 
 and, by utilising his superior fleet, kept the world in commotion 
 until he was taken captive by Seleucus. Only at the end of 
 more than twenty years of warfare were the four generals in a 
 position to divide the empire between them. Even then they 
 were filled with mutual jealousies. Seleucus, Ptolemy, and 
 Lysimachus kept a sharp eye upon each other's movements ; 
 while Demetrius, on the death of Cassander, seated himself on 
 the throne of Macedonia, and began to meditate a repetition of 
 his father's tactics. Of these monarchs only Seleucus and 
 Ptolemy play any part in the history of Israel. The former 
 profited most by the battle of Ipsus. Ptolemy had put in a 
 claim for Phoenicia and Syria, but, owing to his half-heartedness 
 in the war, this territory fell to Seleucus, who now became lord 
 of all the East. That Syria gave its name to his kingdom was 
 due to the situation of Antioch, his capital, in the extreme west of 
 his dominions. Ptolemy I. (Soter), besides retaining Egypt, 
 obtained possession of Palestine and some other parts adjacent 
 to the Mediterranean. From its situation between Syria and 
 Egypt, Judea had the misfortune to be for more than a century 
 the battlefield of these two powers, which are referred to in 
 
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN HELLENISM AND JUDAISM 1 05 
 
 Dan. xi. as the kingdoms of the north and south respectively. 
 All the Diadochoi continued the Hellenising policy of the great 
 Macedonian. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 The Conflict between Hellenism and Judaism 
 
 The legend of Alexander overawed at the sight of the high 
 priest is one very befitting the rise of the new era, in which we 
 see Judaism in contact with the aggressive influences of the West. 
 Two very different currents met at this time and mingled their 
 waters, and the broad stream that was made up of the two 
 tributaries flowed on in a subsequent course that would have 
 been impossible apart from this union. Greek worldliness 
 clashed up against Hebrew religion ; Greek freedom encountered 
 Hebrew legalism ; Greek philosophy was met by Hebrew 
 simplicity ; Greek radicalism was resisted by Hebrew con- 
 servatism. It was the shock of progress. Each had something 
 to gain from the other. The blending of two such contrary 
 forces proved rich in results for the whole world. The spiritual 
 inheritance God had given could no longer be confined within 
 the limits of a single race. Not only were the Hebrew Scriptures 
 translated into Greek, but many Jews and Gentiles were living- 
 side by side, and exercising often an unconscious influence "on 
 one another's modes of thought and articles of belief. All this 
 was providentially ordered. It was the divine preparation on 
 the path of history for the advent of Him who is " the desire of 
 all nations." 
 
 The time, then, was one of restless and revolutionary change. 
 New cities were being built in Palestine by Greek enterprise, 
 and increasing numbers of Jews, either from stress of circum- 
 
106 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 stances or from their own choice, began to emigrate eastwards 
 as far as India, and westwards to Phoenicia and other countries. 
 The tide of Hellenism 1 swept over Jewish territory, while 
 Judaism, on the other hand, compensated itself by colonisation 
 all over the civilised world. Very far-reaching were the results 
 of these two simultaneous movements. 
 
 1. The Diffusion of Hellenism. — At this epoch the splendid 
 civilisation of Greece began to be sown broadcast over the 
 earth. Colonists from Miletus alone spread themselves in 
 numerous townships round the entire coast of the Black Sea. 
 Italy as well as Western Asia became the home of Greek arts 
 and sciences, of Greek philosophy and literature. Cities colonised 
 by Greeks sprang up everywhere in the wake of Alexander's 
 army. The movement asserted itself on Jewish soil as else- 
 where. Pella and Dium on the east of Jordan ; Paneas and 
 Scythopolis in Galilee ; Anthedon on the coast, and Arethusa in 
 the interior, may be taken as typical examples of cities whose 
 names sufficiently attest their Greek origin. Judea was now the 
 only part of Palestine with a purely Jewish population, and it was 
 enclosed by a network of Greek cities. Of these, some were new, 
 built and inhabited exclusively by Greek colonists ; others were 
 simply restored, and contained a mixed population of Jews and 
 Greeks ; but all alike had become saturated with the Hellenistic 
 spirit. Native customs had everywhere retired before this great 
 assimilating force. The presence of the Greek civilian had 
 wrought more transformation than the invasion of the Greek 
 phalanx. The subtle leaven of Hellenism had entered into the 
 life of the various communities, and it had not been long at work 
 before the whole was leavened. Every department of life was 
 affected. The Greek mind stamped itself not only on education 
 
 1 The term Hellenism does not point to racial descent ; it indicates rather 
 a certain bent of mind, type of character, and peculiarity of spirit. It may 
 be described as the subtle soul of Greece which asserted itself as a civilising 
 force in every sphere of life. 
 
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN HELLENISM AND JUDAISM 107 
 
 and learning, but also on religion and politics, on trade and 
 fashion. Its attitude towards every kind of foreign culture 
 was that of a plastic accommodation ; but, in return for this, it 
 always constituted itself the ruling element. The most powerful 
 influence in disseminating Greek ideas and customs was doubtless 
 the world-wide adoption of the Greek tongue. It now became 
 the universal language, much as Latin became the common 
 language of learned Europe during the Middle Ages, and as 
 French subsequently gained the position of la langue universelle. 
 With the acquisition of the Greek speech the mixed races of the 
 East imbibed almost necessarily the Greek spirit. 
 
 2. Adherence of the Jews to their ancestral Faith. — There 
 was no apparent bar to the process of fusion between Greek and 
 Hebrew. The larger culture of the one, and the stricter ethic of 
 the other, were invaluable contributions towards the formation of 
 a finer type of human life than had been reached by either of them 
 separately ; and the union of these two elements must have pre- 
 sented to many minds an attractive picture. But this union could 
 never take place on the Greek terms, which were that Judaism 
 should consent practically to efface itself in favour of Hellenism. 
 The Jews were still determined to adhere to their charter of 
 nationality — the religion of their fathers ; and in Palestine the 
 Greek influence made itself felt only very slowly. The establish- 
 ment of Greek townships as missionary centres of Greek culture 
 did not serve its purpose among the Jews as among other nation- 
 alities. They could live under a Greek constitution, and still 
 refuse to be Grecised, and to this circumstance was due the bitter 
 struggle which bulks as the central fact in the Israelitish history of 
 the period. The gradual and persistent encroachment of the Greek 
 ideal of life only served to bring into bolder relief the essentially 
 antagonistic features of Judaism. How indomitable was the spirit 
 of the latter the Greeks were to learn later on. Their philosophy 
 and culture, so far from annihilating it, were but the chisels used 
 to tone down the sharp corners of Judaism, and the instruments 
 
I05 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 in the hand of God for placing on a wider basis the essence of 
 that truth which is eternal. 
 
 3. The Jewish Dispersion. — The term "Dispersion" 1 is used 
 to denote all Jews living in foreign parts, and maintaining their 
 distinctive religious testimony among the heathen. The area 
 over which the Dispersion extended was largely increased by the 
 Greek conquests in Asia. At least a century before our era there 
 were Jewish inhabitants in eveiy corner of the civilised world. 2 
 Four well-defined groups of non-Palestinian Jews are distinguish- 
 able : (i) Jews dwelling beyond the Euphrates. These were held 
 in the highest repute by their brethren in Palestine, and had their 
 headquarters in the cities of Nehardea and Nisibis. (2) Jews were 
 very numerous also in Syria, especially in Antioch and Damascus. 
 From Syria they penetrated into Asia Minor. Antiochus the 
 Great planted 2000 loyal Jews in the rebellious regions of Lydia 
 and Phrygia. They showed a marked preference, however, 
 for Ephesus, Pergamos, Sardis, and other large commercial 
 cities on the west coast. (3) But the greatest exodus was to 
 Egypt. Many went there with Alexander's army, and settled in 
 the new city called by his name. Under Ptolemy I. and his suc- 
 cessor they formed about two-fifths of the whole population. In 
 Philo's day they were reckoned to be about a million strong. 
 From Egypt the tide of emigration flowed westwards along the 
 African coast. In Cyrene the Jews numbered one-fourth of the 
 inhabitants. (4) There was also "the Dispersion among the 
 Greeks" (John vii. 35). At Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and 
 Corinth, St. Paul found his way to " the synagogue of the Jews." 
 Cyprus, Crete, and the smaller islands of the ^Egean were also 
 favourite resorts of the Jews. Latterly, they formed a numerous 
 community in Rome, lived in a locality of their own across the 
 
 1 In Hebrew Galuth, which means "stripped naked" ; in Greek, Diaspora, 
 which conveys the idea of seed sown with a view to harvest. Cf. John vii. 35 ; 
 Jas. i. 1 ; 1 Pet. i. 1. 
 
 2 Cf. Ac.tsii. 9-1 1. 
 
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN HELLENISM AND JUDAISM 109 
 
 Tiber, and played a considerable part in the history of the 
 empire. 
 
 The civil standing of the Jews throughout the Dispersion was 
 not a fixed quantity. In Alexandria they had all the rights of 
 citizenship. This was recognised by Israelites everywhere as 
 the ideal position to be aimed at. Conscious of their religious 
 superiority, they could afford to be content with political equality. 
 And in many quarters they enjoyed this, as, e.g., in Cyrene, Bere- 
 nice (Tripolis), Sardis, Ephesus, as well as in Antioch and all 
 towns founded by Seleucus I. Nicator. Under the Ptolemies and 
 the Seleucidas (with some exceptions), the Jews were everywhere 
 treated with toleration ; under the Romans also, religious freedom 
 and exemption from military service were conceded to them by 
 law. In social standing the Jews naturally fell somewhat behind 
 the dominant races of the various municipalities, but they some- 
 times filled influential and responsible public posts. In Egypt 
 especially, under the Ptolemies, many of them held the highest 
 offices, both civil and military. 
 
 The type of Judaism developed in the Dispersion differed con- 
 siderably from that which obtained in Palestine. Influenced by 
 its environment, it took on a colour of its own in accordance with 
 the forces of Gentile culture with which it came in contact. Thus 
 one type prevailed in Babylonia, and another in Egypt. The dis- 
 tinction between the Palestinian and the Babylonian Jew was, how- 
 ever, owing to the current Aramaic dialect, slight compared with 
 that which marked off both from the cultured Jew of Alexandria. 
 That city soon grew to be the acknowledged literary capital of the 
 world. It was the meeting-place between Jew and Greek. On 
 the soil of Alexandria first Judaism, and afterwards Christianity, 
 encountered the subtle influences of Greek thought. And thus 
 arose a process both of assimilation and of conflict which lasted 
 for centuries before the true faith was able finally to declare itself 
 the victor. The Alexandrian Jew was in reality both a Jew and 
 a Greek ; he held the faith of Jehovah, and sincerely worshipped 
 the God of his fathers ; but he spoke the Greek language, had 
 
110 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 received a Greek education, and had contracted many Greek ideas 
 and habits. Still, those in this position were Jews first and Greeks 
 afterwards, and on all the "fundamentals" were in thorough sym- 
 pathy with their Palestinian brethren. 
 
 The relation of Judaism in the Dispersion to the central sanctu- 
 ary was wonderfully close and well maintained. Two things in 
 particular served to keep up the connection — the sending of the 
 temple dues payable by every male Israelite over twenty years of age, 
 and the custom of making pilgrimages to the holy city at the feasts. 
 Notwithstanding the Dispersion, the heart of the nation continued 
 to beat in Jerusalem, which thus became to the Jewish what Rome 
 has long been to the Latin Church, and Mecca to the Muslims. 
 
 Another feature about the Judaism of the Dispersion was that 
 bound up with the name " proselytes." Under this designation 
 were included those of the heathen who had more or less com- 
 pletely attached themselves to Mosaism (Neh. x. 28), and whom 
 the prophetic vision pictured as flocking to the Lord's house from 
 the four winds of heaven to share the inheritance of the tribes of 
 Israel. 1 The spread of Jewish principles became a matter of 
 first-rate importance in view of the realisation of these hopes, and 
 under the Greek and Roman supremacy the claims of Judaism 
 were vigorously pushed, not only by the Alexandrian Jews,. but by 
 the Palestinian Pharisees, who " compassed sea and land to make 
 one proselyte." In apostolic times, the " proselytes " constituted 
 an important link between Jewish and Gentile Christians. Theo- 
 retically they were entitled to equal privileges with the lineal 
 sons of Abraham, but they were never held in quite the same 
 esteem. Their position was very much like that accorded to 
 converted Jews by Christian communities in the present day. 
 
 4. The Septuagint. — As the Jews who had migrated to Alex- 
 andria and other parts had exchanged their mother tongue for 
 the Greek, a translation of the Old Testament into that language 
 became a religious necessity. This is the most natural explana- 
 1 Mic. iv. 1, 2 ; Isa. ii. 2, 3 ; Ezek. xlvii. 22. 
 
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN HELLENISM AND JUDAISM III 
 
 tion of the origin of the Alexandrian version, although it probably 
 derives the title of Septnagint or LXX. from a legend ascribing its 
 production to seventy (or more precisely, seventy-two) translators 
 drafted from Jerusalem by the literary zeal of the Egyptians. The 
 story, as given in the letter of Aristeas, and adopted by Josephus, 
 is as follows : Demetrius Phalereus, librarian at Alexandria under 
 Ptolemy II. Philadelphus (B.C. 284-247), suggested the desirability 
 of enriching the royal collection with a Greek translation of the 
 Jewish law. The king despatched the captain of his guard and 
 Aristeas to Jerusalem, with rich gifts for Eleazar the high priest, 
 and with the request that he would, from each of the twelve tribes, 
 send six elderly men of character, learning, and ability to under- 
 take the work. Eleazar sent the seventy-two scholars with a 
 copy of the law, which he asked should be returned after it had 
 been translated. Arrived at Alexandria, the Jewish deputies were 
 feasted for seven days at the king's table, and answered his 
 questions in such a way as to fill him with admiration for their 
 wisdom. Thereafter a quiet retreat was provided for them on the 
 island of Pharos. Each day they set to work independently upon 
 a certain portion of the Pentateuch, and then by comparing notes 
 agreed upon a harmonious version, which was written down by 
 Demetrius. The whole was thus overtaken in seventy-two days. 
 The translation was then read to the Jewish residents, who formally 
 accepted it as a faithful and final interpretation of the law. 
 
 Whatever be the truth as to its origin, it is clear from the 
 linguistic peculiarities of the Septuagint itself that we do not owe 
 it to the scholars of Palestine. 1 On the other hand, everything 
 points to the conclusion that the new version was prepared at 
 Alexandria ; that the work was begun in the reign of Ptolemy 11.; 
 and that the Pentateuch was translated first. 2 The completion 
 
 1 "Sive regis jussu, sive sponte a Judaeis, a Judseis Alexandrinis fuisse 
 factam. " — Hody. 
 
 2 " The translation of the law is advantageously distinguished above that of 
 the majority of the other books by its fidelity, intelligibility, and uniformity." 
 — Ewald, History, v. p. 251 
 
112 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 of the Greek Bible by different hands was only a matter of time. 
 It is impossible to fix the precise dates at which the several 
 books were rendered ; but the Prophets must have taken pre- 
 cedence of the Hagiographa, some of which were not written till 
 a comparatively late date. From the prologue to Ecclesiasticus, 
 it appears that by the middle of the second century B.C. the whole 
 of the Old Testament had been translated into Greek. 
 
 The new version was everywhere adopted by the Hellenistic 
 Jews, and soon won for itself in popular esteem a place hardly 
 second to that of the Hebrew original itself. It was through the 
 LXX. that the Old Testament became the property of the whole 
 world. Even in Palestine the story of its origin appears to have 
 found acceptance, and no question was raised as to its inspira- 
 tion. Josephus makes more use of it than of the Hebrew text. 
 It was only when it began to be employed as a weapon against 
 them in the great controversy with Christianity, that the Jews 
 assumed a contemptuous attitude towards it, and showed a 
 marked preference for other versions. 
 
 5. The Jewish- Alexandrian Philosophy. — After the translation 
 of the Scriptures, foreign influences swept in upon Judaism like a 
 flood. It became common for the colonial Jew to take a Greek 
 alias ; and Greek customs were accepted as freely as Greek 
 names. Jews remained Jews, however — at least outwardly — 
 wherever they went. In the mental and spiritual exchange which 
 took place at this epoch the men of the East gave as much as 
 they received. If the Greeks contributed their philosophy, the 
 Orientals contributed their religion. We see in the Jewish- 
 Alexandrian philosophy the historical form in which was blended 
 the spirit of both races. The elaboration of the structure was due 
 to the philosophical acumen of the Greeks ; whatever soul there 
 was in it was implanted by Judaism. But if the Alexandrian 
 Jews had still old roots binding them to Jerusalem, there were 
 also new roots ever more firmly attaching them to Alexandria. 
 Here the most powerful forces at work in the world— Greek, 
 
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN HELLENISM AND JUDAISM 113 
 
 Oriental, Egyptian — met in mutual action, and gave new direc- 
 tion and impulse to the thought of the age. In the time of the 
 Ptolemies, Alexandria was at once the centre of the world's in- 
 dustry and commerce, the seat of regal magnificence and Oriental 
 luxury, and the metropolis of Hellenic art and science. The 
 better minds among the Jews could not remain insensible to the 
 charms of this rich and throbbing life. They became philo- 
 sophers, designating themselves by one or other of the distinctive 
 names applied to the existing schools of Greek philosophy. In 
 doing this they had no intention of renouncing their ancient faith. 
 What they did was rather to make use of the new methods which 
 philosophy supplied for its defence and propagation. All this, 
 however, tended to the putting of pagan wisdom on a level with 
 revealed wisdom, and afterwards resulted in desperate efforts to 
 bring about a final adjustment between philosophy and Judaism. 
 The influence of Alexandrian thought is already traceable in 
 the pages of the Septuagint, particularly in connection with such 
 passages as speak in an anthropomorphic way about Jehovah. 1 
 In the oldest as well as in the more recent portions of this 
 version these are very much toned down. The same tendency 
 is still more marked in the Greek Apocrypha of the Old Testa- 
 ment, in parts of which the spiritual nature of God is appre- 
 hended in a remarkable degree. 2 Specially worthy of note in 
 this connection is the Wisdom of Solomon, one of the finest 
 products of the Alexandrian school, and presenting their philo- 
 sophy in a somewhat developed form. The Jewish Sibyllines, 
 too, collected in the latter half of the second century B.C., 
 
 1 Compare Dante's lines — 
 
 " From things sensible alone ye learn 
 That, which, digested rightly, after turns 
 To intellectual. For no other cause 
 The Scripture, condescending graciously 
 To your perception, hands and feet to God 
 Attributes, nor so means." 
 
 — Paradise, iv. 41-46. 
 
 2 See Ecclus. xliii. 31, 32 ; Wisd. i. 7, ix. 17, xiii. 1. 
 
 8 
 
114 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 exhibit many of the characteristics of Hellenistic thought. But 
 there was also a corresponding attempt to introduce Hebrew 
 theology into Greek literature. A little tinkering of the original 
 text, together with the desire to read the truths of revelation into 
 well-known pagan works, produced sometimes astonishing results. 
 The doctrine of the world's creation in six days and the Sabbath- 
 rest upon the seventh was found in the Odyssey, while Sophocles 
 was brought under contribution as an exponent of the unity of 
 God. Many writers dealt also with sacred themes in the style of 
 the recognised masters of the poetic art. 
 
 It was in connection with the Alexandrian speculation that the 
 habit of allegorising the Old Testament Scriptures came into 
 fashion. These philosophers discarded the literal meaning as 
 vulgar, misleading, and insufficient. With the object of wedding- 
 philosophy to religion, they got into the way of using the sacred 
 writings as a peg on which to hang their own ideas — a purpose 
 which, from their antiquity and authority, they were excellently 
 fitted to serve. But the absurdities of interpretation into 
 which they were thus led were equal to, if not greater than, 
 those which on other lines were indulged in by the Rabbis of 
 Palestine. In the hands of such men the Bible could be made 
 to mean anything or nothing. The first well-known Jewish 
 author devoting himself to this kind of work was Aristobulus, 
 who lived at Alexandria under Ptolemy Philometor (B.C. 180- 
 146). He was held in great honour at Court, and is described by 
 the Fathers as an Aristotelian. The task to which he addressed 
 himself was that of harmonising the early Greek philosophy with 
 the record of revelation, from which he alleged it had been 
 borrowed. The allegorical style reached its height in the works 
 of Philo, a century and a half later. So long as it prevailed, the 
 support of Scripture could be claimed for speculations of the 
 most outrh description. It was to the detriment of Judaism that 
 it was thus dropped into the crucible of Hellenistic philosophy ; 
 and the consequences were not less disastrous when the Platonic 
 method was afterwards applied to Christianity. There may be a 
 
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN HELLENISM AND JUDAISM 115 
 
 philosophy of religion legitimate enough ; but it can never be 
 legitimate to apply philosophical methods to Bible statements 
 with the design of conserving certain philosophical views, i.e. 
 until we are prepared to discard all authority and make reason 
 supreme. 
 
 6. Hellenism in Judea. — The necessities of trade compelled the 
 Jew to have intercourse with the Gentile. This could be had 
 only through the medium of the universal language. But as 
 they gained fluency in the Greek tongue, many Jews began to 
 adopt the Greek customs. This was especially the case with the 
 educated and upper classes. Attracted by the glitter of the 
 Greek life, they began to covet Greek liberty. As they were 
 introduced to Greek art, their sense of beauty was awakened and 
 developed. There seemed to open before their astonished gaze a 
 new world of whose existence they had scarcely dreamed. The 
 spectacular displays of the amphitheatre, the allurements of the 
 gymnasium, the orgies of the Bacchanalian festival, completely 
 intoxicated them. Some renounced Judaism altogether ; others, 
 more sober-minded, wished merely to avail themselves of the 
 advantages and pleasures of Greek life without otherwise giving 
 up religion. Under the Seleucidse matters became worse ; the 
 magic spell of Hellenism had at length fairly fallen upon Judea. 
 
 Simultaneously, however, with the influx of Greek culture, there 
 had been, owing to the labours of the scribes, a great perfect- 
 ing of legalistic Judaism. The two systems were essentially 
 antagonistic, and the war-cry had sooner or later to be raised. 
 Accordingly, the movement in the direction of Hellenism was 
 counteracted by another in favour of the utmost rigour in carrying 
 out the precepts of the law. Those who identified themselves 
 with the latter were known as " the pious." Perceiving that the 
 Greek civilisation was as inwardly rotten as it was outwardly 
 fascinating, they strove to live in the undisturbed practice of their 
 laws and customs, and to follow out the ideal set before them by 
 the scribes. Besides this unwearied study of the law, there were 
 
i K» PROM i m EXILE TO ill I ai>\ E n i 
 
 in the national life oi fudea other elements ol permanence with 
 which Hellenism had to reckon. To the worthier section of the 
 community the inheritance oi then past history was very precious, 
 while the unfailing observance of the temple worship continued 
 also to give strength and purpose to Hebrew sentiment Yet it 
 could not roll ba< k the wave oi pagan i ivilisation : .ill it could do 
 u.i'. to offei ii .1 successful resistance on its rtligious side. The 
 heathen worship was kept out oi Judea : but in all other depart 
 ments oi lit* 1 the Hellenistic spirit continued to make headway. 
 \ majority oi the people, indeed, appear to have been more or 
 less in sympathy with the Greek party, when the madness of 
 Antiochus Epiphanes came to the .ii»l of "the pious." His 
 attempt to abolish Judaism) root and branch, caused the Maccabean 
 revolt, .nui ended in the banishment from Jewish territory oi 
 everything that savoured oi Hellenism) at .ill events in the sphere 
 oi religion. Ere the dawn oi the Roman period) however) it had 
 again to .1 * considerable extent overrun the Holy 1 and. 
 
 CHAPTER Ml 
 The Greek Dominion 
 
 1. The Ptolemies. The Ptolemaic dynasty wis founded by 
 Ptolem) 1 agi) the fai seeing general to whom Egypt was allotted 
 upon the division of Alexander's empire, rhe campaigns in 
 which he had to fight Antigonus for the possession of Phoenicia 
 ami Coele Syria, form the first of .1 long series of wars between 
 the Egyptian and Syrian power-, in B.C 320, on .1 Sabbath day t 
 he took Jerusalem \ but five years latej he had to retire before 
 Antigonus. Atun several changes in the balance of power, the 
 battle oi tpsus h x ti him in possession oi Palestine) which for .1 
 centur) thereaftei remained an appanage of the Egyptian crown. 
 
THE GREEK dominion 
 
 117 
 
 Although for twenty years involved in warfare, Ptolemy's own 
 decided preferences lay in the direction of cultivating the arts 
 () i peace. 11 he did nol himself found the famous museum and 
 library of Alexandria, he al all events colle< ted the materials. 
 
 After having reigned for thirty-eigfht years, Ptolemy Soter 
 handed over his kingdom to his youngest son, Philadelphus 
 (B.C. 284 247). The latter, being in weak health, did not conduct 
 the Syrian campaign, bul (fortunately for Palestine) commissioned 
 
 his allies in Cnnr and Asia Minor to cany on the war. While 
 
 prepared to defend Ins kingdom by the sword, Ptolemy Phil- 
 adelphus sought other nu-ans of strengthening it. He did much 
 for learning and commerce. His collection of hooks, statues, 
 and pictures was such as no prince had ever yet possessed. 
 Under his benign influence there took place a revival of letters 
 which reacted In several important respects upon Judaism, in 
 the Alexandrian school, criticism hulked more largely than in- 
 dependent thought ; hut through the prevailing eclecticism of the 
 age Jew and Gentile were broughl more into line intellectually, 
 
 and lor the Inst lime found it possible to undeisl.ind each 
 
 other. 
 
 With Philadelphus disappeared "the last representative ^\~ the 
 old Greek 'tyrannos' whom Pindar has made known to us": 
 the next emperor, Ptolemy in. Euergetes (b.c. 247 222), re- 
 sembled more one of the fighting " I >iadoc hoi." The war hetween 
 
 Philadelphus and Antiochus Theos had been terminated by a 
 marriage-treaty, in terms <>i which the Syrian monarch divorced 
 his wile Laodice, and married Berenice, the daughter of Ptolemy, 
 
 Bttt on the death of I 'hiladelphns the situation was reversed by 
 
 the expulsion of Berenice, and the reinstatement of Laodice as 
 queen. The latter, to prevent another change, poisoned her 
 fickle husband, caused her rival, along with her son and all the 
 
 I ;:\ ptian retinue, to he slain, and placed the crown upon her <>w n 
 
 son, Seleucus Callinicus. 'ho avenge his sister's death, Ptolemy 
 (ait off Laodice, and brought the kingdom of Syria to the verge 
 oi destruction. The remainder of his reign was principally 
 
Il8 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 devoted to the extension of his empire. Euergetes was not, 
 however, a mere soldier. He inherited the literary instincts of 
 his predecessors, and their considerateness towards the Jews. 
 On his return from Syria he showed his goodwill by " offering- 
 sacrifices in the temple at Jerusalem, and adding gifts worthy of 
 his victory." Some time afterwards, however, the imprudence 
 of the high priest Onias II. came near to causing a rupture with 
 Egypt. Apparently an adherent of the Syrian party, and now a 
 surly old man, he obstinately kept back the usual tribute-money. 
 Ptolemy threatened summary measures, and everything pointed 
 to a crisis. But through the exceptional address shown by the 
 high priest's ambitious nephew, Joseph the son of Tobias, who 
 approached in person the angry king, the matter was amicably 
 settled. Not only so ; Joseph's wit, affability, and open-handed- 
 ness made him a ftersofia grata at the Egyptian Court, and he 
 secured the coveted post of receiver-general of taxes for the whole 
 of Palestine. 
 
 The century covered by the reigns of the first three Ptolemies 
 forms the golden age of the Jews in Egypt, and was also for their 
 Palestinian brethren a period of comparative quiet, prosperity, 
 and happiness. Things altered very much under the son and 
 successor of Euergetes, the voluptuous and indolent Ptolemy 
 Philopator (B.C. 221-204). Irritated that an Egyptian garrison 
 should have been quartered in Seleucia, Antiochus (in.) the 
 Great, king of Syria, attempted to seize upon Palestine and 
 Ccele-Syria. Ptolemy was forced at length to take action, and 
 defeated Antiochus at Raphia, near Gaza, in B.C. 217. The 
 disputed territory was recovered as a condition of peace, and 
 Ptolemy signalised his victory by a tour through the Eastern 
 provinces. In due course he arrived, it is said, at Jerusalem, 
 offered sacrifices of thanksgiving, and bestowed rich gifts on the 
 temple. As he was on the point of forcing his way into the 
 inner sanctuary, however, he was struck down with paralysis. 
 On his return to Alexandria he disfranchised and persecuted the 
 Egyptian Jews, and even meditated the extermination of the 
 
THE GREEK DOMINION 
 
 II 9 
 
 whole nation. This narrative (in 3 Mace.) may contain a his- 
 torical germ ; Ptolemy may have treated the Jews with great 
 barbarity. The Jews, moreover, had hitherto enjoyed the pro- 
 tection of the Court, but no sooner was this withdrawn than they 
 found themselves between two fires. Their Greek neighbours 
 envied their material prosperity, and the native Egyptians could 
 ill brook that privileges denied to themselves should have been 
 conferred upon an alien race. 
 
 Because the slothful Philopator did not follow up his victory 
 over Antiochus, there was rebellion in Egypt. This first revolt 
 of the natives against their Greek masters was, however, success- 
 fully overcome, and thereafter Ptolemy abandoned himself to 
 vice. He died in B.C. 204, and was succeeded by his infant son, 
 Ptolemy v. Epiphanes (204-181). The kings of Macedonia and 
 Syria at once made a combined effort to wrest from Egypt and 
 divide between themselves the outlying provinces of that empire. 
 Antiochus successfully invaded Palestine, and, finding that the 
 Jews, whether owing to the cruelty of Philopator, or from utili- 
 tarian motives, were largely on his side, he showed his appre- 
 ciation of their friendly attitude by lavishing favours alike on 
 the temple and the city. Not long afterwards, however, the 
 Egyptian general Scopas succeeded in placing a garrison in 
 Jerusalem. But in B.C. 198, Antiochus more than retrieved this 
 disaster by inflicting on him a heavy defeat at Paneas, in the 
 valley of the Jordan. Antiochus would fain have invaded Egypt 
 itself, but an intimation from the Romans that they had taken 
 the young Ptolemy under their guardianship caused him to 
 desist. In these circumstances Antiochus proposed that his 
 daughter Cleopatra should wed the young Egyptian king, and 
 promised Ccele-Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine as her dowry, 
 on condition that the revenues should be shared equally by the 
 two kings. This offer was accepted, and peace concluded. The 
 goal which the Syrian monarchs had long been striving to reach 
 was now attained, and Palestine was merged in the kingdom of 
 the Seleucida^, 
 
120 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 2. The Book of Ecclesiasticus. — Towards the close of this period 
 was written, in Hebrew, 1 the important work to which the Latin 
 Church has given the name of Ecclesiasticus (liber, i.e. a book 
 for the use of the Church), but which is better characterised by 
 its Greek title, "The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach." 2 
 The form in which we possess it is that of the translation into 
 Greek by the grandson of Jesus, executed in Egypt in B.C. 132. 
 We may therefore conjecture that the original work was com- 
 posed within the decade B.C. 190-180. A high value was attached 
 to this book, not only by the Rabbis, but by the early Christian 
 Fathers, who freely cite it as Holy Scripture. 
 
 The style of writing is akin to that of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. 
 The book is a further development on the same lines, and a 
 contribution to the Hebrew Hochmah or Wisdom. If the 
 Hebrews can be said to have had a philosophy at all, it was 
 that embodied in proverbs, and in the later ages of Jewish 
 history this species of writing was much in vogue. As in 
 Proverbs, it is the relation of God to the individual that occupies 
 the mind of the writer ; but there is more connection in this 
 book, and a more extended handling of distinct topics. 
 
 The ruling conception is that of wisdom. To be wise is to 
 have found out the secret of a God-pleasing and happy life. The 
 author seeks to help all who desire to lead such a life. His book 
 is essentially practical in its aim, and sets forth the results of 
 thought and study, observation and experience, as the true basis 
 of conduct. As a devout Jew he ascribes wisdom to a divine 
 source. The Almighty, in whom this attribute of wisdom has 
 resided from eternity, has revealed it to men through the medium 
 of the Jewish law. The book exhorts to fulfilment of the law as 
 a whole : there is no detailed exposition of single commandments 
 after the manner of the later Scribism. On the other hand, we 
 
 1 Jerome mentions having seen a Hebrew text. 
 
 2 Of his personal history nothing is known. The statement that he was a 
 high priest (Syncellus) is groundless. It is much more likely that he was a 
 scribe. Cf. chap. li. 23-25. 
 
THE GREEK DOMINION T2I 
 
 have an exceedingly detailed treatment of the various relation- 
 ships of life from the standpoint of the truly wise. The author 
 practically sets himself to answer the question, Given a particular 
 case affecting any condition of life or class of persons, what is 
 the proper course for the wise man to take? The book is a 
 manual of conduct, and meant to be to the seeker after wisdom 
 what his ready-reckoner and his tables of interest are to the 
 trader. Rules are laid down directing one how to act in all 
 emergencies of individual, social, commercial, religious, and 
 domestic life. If occasional tendencies to coarseness of lan- 
 guage, false teaching, and worldly prudence mark it off from 
 the loftier tone of the canonical writings, by far the greater 
 portion of this long work of fifty-one chapters is distinguished by 
 remarkable elevation and spirituality. Quite an original feature 
 is the long eulogium on the historical heroes of Israel's past. 
 The writer to the Hebrews no doubt took the idea of his eleventh 
 chapter from Ecclesiasticus. This interesting book is not only 
 the greatest monument of the Palestinian Judaism, but also the 
 brightest and fullest reflection of the manners and customs of the 
 age that produced it. 
 
 3. The Seleucidae.— One result attending their new conditions 
 was that the Israelitish nation was swept into the current of 
 general history, and had given to it a visibility which it never 
 could have possessed as part of the geographically detached 
 kingdom of Egypt. Jewish expectations were again, however, 
 doomed to disappointment. Owing to the incessant wars be- 
 tween Syria and Egypt, the political position of their country 
 lacked stability, and tended to create a distaste for the Greek 
 dominion in any form. There was, indeed, between it and the 
 spirit of Judaism an essential contradiction, which was becoming 
 daily more apparent. In point of fact, the Jews had now entered 
 on one of the darkest eras of their history. Antiochus might 
 have continued to befriend them, but his own difficulties rendered 
 this impossible. The Romans were easily persuaded by some 
 
122 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 Greek cities in Asia Minor to interfere with the ambitious designs 
 of the Syrian monarch, who declined, however, to listen to their 
 ambassadors. In B.C. 195, Hannibal, having reason to flee from 
 Carthage, joined Antiochus, and advised him to invade Italy as 
 the only way of vanquishing the Romans. What between sus- 
 pecting Hannibal and wasting his strength in a fruitless expedi- 
 tion into Greece, the Syrian king lost the opportunity of his life. 
 The Romans surprised and defeated him at Thermopylae. 
 Hastily retreating beyond the Hellespont, he next tried his 
 fortune at sea, but the losses of his fleet proved to be greater 
 than their gains. Finally, in B.C. 190, his army was utterly 
 routed at Magnesia. The terms of peace were that he should 
 cede all territory west of Mount Taurus, and pay the entire cost 
 of the war in twelve yearly instalments. His son Antiochus was 
 also sent to Rome, along with other hostages, in security for the 
 payment of the money. Henceforth the Syrian kings were little 
 more than tax-gatherers for the Romans. Compelled to replenish 
 their empty exchequer, they adopted the desperate policy of 
 plundering temples within their own dominions. It was while 
 engaged upon an expedition of this sort at Elymais that Antiochus 
 met his death in B.C. 187. 
 
 Under his son, Seleucus IV. Philopator (187-176), the Syrian 
 kingdom continued to suffer from chronic impecuniosity. In his 
 straits Seleucus was only too ready to welcome any means of 
 obtaining money. An opportunity soon arose. A priest named 
 Simon, a Benjamite, and governor of the temple at Jerusalem, 
 had quarrelled with the high priest, Onias ill. Out of spite 
 against Onias, and in the hope that, with the help of the Syrian 
 king, he would himself be promoted to the high priesthood, this 
 "son of Tobias" went to Apollonius, then governor of Ccele- 
 Syria, and advised him to despoil the temple of what he alleged 
 to be i*s vast and superfluous treasures. Seleucus sent Heliodorus 
 his treasurer with an order to seize " the foresaid money " (2 Mace. 
 iii. 4-7). Heliodorus is said to have been deterred from entering 
 the sanctuary only by a miraculous apparition from heaven. 
 
THE GREEK DOMINION I 23 
 
 ;i By the hand of God he was cast down and lay speechless" ; 
 but through the prayers of Onias his life was spared. Mean- 
 while Simon was furthering his designs at the Court of Syria, 
 where he diligently " slandered Onias," and maintained that the 
 mission of Heliodorus had failed owing to the trickery of the 
 high priest. As these proceedings at Antioch were simultaneous 
 with certain outrages committed by " one of Simon's faction in 
 Jerusalem," Onias thought fit to visit the Syrian Court in person. 
 Ere he was ready to leave the banks of the Orontes, Seleucus 
 was poisoned by the dastardly hand of Heliodorus. The latter 
 hoped to obtain the crown for himself, the true heir, Demetrius, 
 having just been sent to Rome as a hostage in room of Antiochus, 
 the younger brother of Seleucus, who had not yet returned to 
 Syria. But this project did not succeed. An adroit appeal to 
 Eumenes, king of Pergamus, enabled Antiochus on his return to 
 displace Heliodorus and peaceably to usurp the kingdom. 
 
 On his accession, Antiochus IV. assumed the title of Epiphanes 
 (the Illustrious), but this soon gave way to the nickname Epimanes 
 (the Madman). He is alluded to in Dan. xi. 21 as "a vile 
 person,'' and he lived to justify the description. According to 
 Polybius, he was characterised by a strong individuality, in which 
 the prominent features were a fondness for display, a tendency to 
 indulge in various kinds of tomfoolery with low-class people, and 
 an erratic but kingly munificence. His relations to the Jews, 
 however, were marked less by an absurd eccentricity than by 
 brutal and savage cruelty. Hitherto they had fared at least as 
 well under the Syrian rule as they had done at the hands of the 
 Ptolemies, and had once and again received gifts for the temple. 
 All this was now to be changed. Antiochus seems to have 
 formed the idea of a dominant State religion as the best means 
 of giving unity to the [empire. Hence his ill-starred attempt to 
 compel the universal adoption of the Greek polytheism. A 
 section of the Jewish people were not only prepared to acquiesce 
 in his plans, but to give them their active support, and in return 
 for this he was disposed to let them have the upper hand in 
 
124 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 Judea. But these apostates misled Antiochus when they repre- 
 sented to him that the country was ripe for Hellenisation. A 
 strenuous opposition was offered, and this engendered in the 
 mind of Antiochus a particular antipathy to the Jewish religion, 
 and a deep-seated hatred to the entire Jewish nation. The 
 temple was plundered and desecrated ; every sort of violence 
 was used to suppress the observances of Judaism ; and the 
 adoption of Greek manners and customs was ruthlessly enforced. 
 Matters were thus brought to a crisis. It soon became evident 
 that Antiochus could secure his end only by exterminating the 
 Jewish race. Goaded at length into open rebellion, they took up 
 arms in the name of Jehovah, and fought for their lives and 
 their religious liberty. Although this reign lasted but eleven 
 years (175-164), the stirring events by which it was marked make 
 it for Jewish history by far the most important in the dynasty of 
 the Seleucidas. 
 
 4. Farming of the High Priesthood. — The high priest was still 
 the centre of power in Israel. From the time of the Ptolemies, 
 however, an aristocratic Council of Elders assisted him in the 
 administration. This court was called the Gerousia^ and appears 
 to have been either constituted or reorganised under the reform- 
 ing influence of Hellenism. Subsequently it developed into the 
 Sanhedrin. In the roll of the high priesthood from the time of 
 Alexander to that of the Maccabees there are three names of 
 outstanding merit. Simon the Just, grandson of Jaddua, was 
 distinguished for his piety, for his kindliness, and for his scholar- 
 ship. Simon II., who showed the greatest enterprise in fortifying 
 the temple and city of Jerusalem, ministered also very nobly to 
 the spiritual necessities of the nation. 1 In Onias III. we see a 
 godly man traduced by sordid relatives and victimised by cruel 
 circumstances. He made a mistake in going to the Syrian Court, 
 where his lofty character counted for little so long as he main- 
 
 1 The glowing tribute paid to him by the Son of Sirach (1. 1-21) is a highly 
 characteristic specimen of the style of the period. 
 
THE GREEK DOMINION 1 25 
 
 tained the sacredness of the temple treasures, stood out for the 
 observance of the Jewish rites, and opposed the spread of the Greek 
 culture. Epiphanes at once accepted the proffered co-operation 
 of the Greek party in Judea. This party was led by Joshua, 
 a younger brother of the high priest, who had given one proof of 
 his fitness for the position, by discarding his Hebrew name and 
 calling himself, as a Hellenist, Jason. He offered to pay yearly 
 to Antiochus 440 talents, provided he would depose Onias from 
 the priesthood and confer it on himself ; with an additional sum 
 of 1 50 talents should the king authorise him to set up a gymnasium 
 at Jerusalem, and an Ephebeion or place for training the youth 
 in the practice of Greek games and sports, and also to sell the 
 burgess rights of Antioch to dwellers in the Holy City. Antiochus 
 was naturally willing to agree to these proposals ; they suited his 
 policy, and were advantageous to his purse. Onias was detained 
 in Antioch so as to rid the pagan propaganda in Judea of its 
 most powerful adversary ; the base supplanter of his brother, on 
 the other hand, proved himself an energetic apostle of heathen 
 customs and ways. Under the very citadel of Zion a gymnasium 
 was erected ; multitudes donned the Greek dress ; even the 
 priests neglected their duties in the temple to play at Discus 
 (2 Mace. iv. 11-14). Laughed at by their Greek antagonists in 
 the palaestra, the Jewish youths did their best to remove from 
 their bodies the sign of the covenant (1 Mace. i. 15). So much 
 had Jason already been able to effect ; but his most shameless 
 action was still to come. Several Jews, whom he had made 
 citizens of Antioch, were despatched by him to witness the Quin- 
 quennial games in honour of the Phoenician Hercules at Tyre, 
 and with a contribution towards the expenses of the sacrifices 
 offered to the heathen deity. They shrank from this impiety, 
 however, and handed over the money for behoof of the navy. 
 When, in preparing for a war with Egypt, Antiochus visited 
 Jerusalem, he was received with every mark of honour. In all 
 this Jason did not mean deliberately to renounce Judaism : he 
 only desired to be a Jew in Hellenistic style, and to conform to 
 
126 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 the pagan practice of respecting not only the native religion but 
 other religions as well. The Jews had foreign princes sacrificing 
 to Jehovah in Jerusalem ; why should they not send an offering 
 to Hercules in Tyre? In the eyes of devout sons of Israel the 
 two things were entirely different. The true God might be 
 glorified by offerings from any quarter, but it never could be 
 right for a son of Abraham to present gifts to the gods of 
 heathendom. To do so, with Jason and his company, were to 
 "revolt from the holy land and kingdom" (2 Mace. i. 7). 
 
 After three years' tenure of office (B.C. 1 74-1 71), Jason was in 
 his turn supplanted by Menelaus, a Hellenistic Jew of the 
 tribe of Benjamin, and brother of that Simon who had first 
 recommended the spoliation of the temple. By outbidding 
 Jason to the extent of 300 talents, he secured for himself the high 
 priesthood. Things had indeed reached a sad pass in Israel when 
 this sacred office could be sold to the highest bidder by a heathen 
 king. But Menelaus, although armed with the royal rescript, did 
 not easily dispossess Jason, who was supported by the mass of 
 the people. As a member of the Tobias party, the newly-appointed 
 high priest had no religious ideals, and he now shamelessly 
 announced his entire apostasy from Judaism. This led Antiochus 
 to give him military support, and Jason was obliged to retreat 
 across the Jordan. Menelaus, however, had another tough pro- 
 blem on hand in the shape of his debts. He was unable to pay 
 the heavy tribute he had promised, and for a time managed to 
 tide over his difficulties only by plundering the temple. Being 
 upbraided for this sacrilege by the exiled Onias III., he bribed 
 Andronicus, whom the king had left in charge at Antioch during 
 his absence, to murder that "prince of the covenant." 1 Lysimachus, 
 his brother, had meanwhile acted for Menelaus, and had contrived 
 to supply his needs by repeated raids upon the temple treasury. 
 On ascertaining this the people were furious ; 3000 armed men 
 were routed by them, while " as for the church robber himself, him 
 they slew beside the treasury." Three delegates from the Jewish 
 
 1 Dan. xi. 22. 
 
THE GREEK DOMINION 127 
 
 Gerousia appeared before the king at Tyre to impeach Menelaus 
 for sacrilege. By resorting to bribery, this unprincipled scoundrel 
 once more got his own way, while his righteous accusers, to the 
 disgust of the Tyrians, were led forth to execution. 
 
 Jason had meanwhile been anxious to regain the priesthood ; 
 but as long as Epiphanes favoured Menelaus this was hopeless. 
 During the king's second expedition into Egypt, however, a false 
 rumour of his death obtained currency in Palestine. At the head 
 of a thousand men Jason suddenly bore down upon Jerusalem, and 
 forced Menelaus to secure himself in the castle. Jason's position 
 would have been difficult even had Antiochus been really dead, 
 but with the despot already hastening from Egypt to punish a 
 Jewish revolt, it became impossible. Driven again into exile, he 
 died at length in Lacedasmon. 
 
 5. Desecration of the Temple : Keligious Persecution of the Jews : 
 Formation of the Party of the Assideans. — In B.C. 170, Antiochus 
 arrived at Jerusalem, and, being told that the news of his death 
 had been received there with joy, he ordered his troops to fall upon 
 the ill-fated city. In three days 40,000 Jews were massacred, and 
 as many were afterwards sold into slavery. Proceeding to the 
 temple, with the traitorous Menelaus for his guide, he rifled it of 
 all the valuables that it still contained, haughtily entered the Holy 
 of Holies, and carried the sacred vessels to Antioch. 
 
 A still more dreadful experience awaited the sorrow-stricken 
 community at Jerusalem. In B.C. 168, Antiochus set out on his 
 last Egyptian campaign. Just as he was ready to grasp his prize, 
 and stood once more within sight of Alexandria, Popilius Lsenas, 
 the ambassador of the Imperial Senate, suddenly appeared, and 
 charged him, if he valued the friendship of the Romans, to 
 abandon all hostile measures against Egypt. Antiochus evasively 
 said he would consider the matter. But the proud Roman, draw- 
 ing a circle round him with his staff, ordered him to make his 
 decision before he moved from the spot. Brought thus to bay, 
 Antiochus prudently promised to respect the Roman demand. 
 
128 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 Thwarted in his schemes against Egypt, the tyrant determined to 
 stamp out once for all the Jewish religion in Palestine. Accord- 
 ingly, in B.C. 168-167, he sent Apollonius against Jerusalem with 
 22,000 men. Waiting for a Sabbath, "that detestable ringleader" 
 fell upon the defenceless city, slew many of the people, and sold 
 multitudes of women and children as slaves. After being looted, 
 the city was set on fire ; the houses and walls also were demolished, 
 and the sanctuary laid waste. All who could made their escape. 
 Many fled to Egypt ; others hid themselves in caves or desert 
 wilds. Strangers, on the other hand, were drafted in as colonists ; 
 and as Menelaus and his adherents remained in possession, there 
 was for the time an approximation to the ideal cherished by 
 Antiochus. Jerusalem wore the aspect of a pagan city, and a 
 Syrian garrison was placed in Acra. 
 
 But these were merely preliminary measures. Apollonius had 
 been commissioned to destroy Judaism and establish paganism by 
 force. Although this man's zeal needed no stimulus, Epiphanes 
 issued an edict enjoining religious uniformity all over his kingdom, 
 and wrote specially to the Jews, forbidding them on pain of death 
 to observe their own religious rites. The Mosaic worship was 
 now a thing of the past ; temple sacrifices, Sabbath observance, 
 and circumcision were but Jewish reminiscences. No one was 
 allowed to read or possess a copy of the Law. So far the negative 
 side of the unholy programme. Its positive provisions were 
 equally vile. The temple at Jerusalem was dedicated to Jupiter 
 Olympius, and became the scene of licentious heathen orgies. In 
 all the cities of Judea altars were erected, at which the Jews were 
 forced to offer to pagan deities animals which to them were un- 
 clean, and then to eat of what had thus been sacrificed to idols. 
 When the festival of Bacchus came round, they were compelled 
 to join the public procession in honour of that deity. But the 
 crowning profanation took place when, on the 25th day of Chisleu, 
 B.C. 168, the first heathen sacrifice was offered upon an altar 
 erected over the great altar of burnt-offering, and facing a statue 
 of Jupiter. This is the "abomination of desolation" referred to 
 
THE GREEK DOMINION 129 
 
 in the Book of Daniel, and marks the height of the terrible 
 religious persecution, which had its roots partly in the im- 
 pecuniosity of the Syrian monarch, and partly in the unpatriotic 
 mercenariness of many Hellenistic Jews. Antiochus appointed 
 officers to see that his commands were enforced throughout the 
 land. A monthly inquisition was held, and whoever was found to 
 have concealed a copy of the Law, or to have had a child circum- 
 cised, or refused to eat unclean meats, was put to death. At the 
 instance of one Ptolemy, these regulations were extended to the 
 heathen cities around, so that it was nowhere " lawful for a man 
 to keep Sabbath days or ancient feasts, or to profess himself at all 
 to be a Jew." 
 
 Many were, of course, content to conform to Gentile customs in 
 order to save their lives ; but the flower of Israel, the energetic 
 men and women who loved their country, were prepared to die 
 rather than renounce their faith. And these were in the majority. 
 The details given in 2 Mace, about the tortures endured by 
 Eleazar, an aged man of ninety, and about the cruel martyrdom 
 of seven brothers and their mother in succession, for refusing to 
 eat swine's flesh, may be more or less coloured, but they go to 
 establish the fact that a large section of the people still clung to the 
 religion of their fathers. Nothing sifts a nation like persecution ; it 
 forces every man to take his side. Those who continued faithful to 
 the law now entered into a solemn league to maintain their sacred 
 institutions. Known at first by the name of the Chasidim, or pious 
 ones, and afterwards by that of Pharisees, they soon embraced 
 within their party all that was bravest and best in Israel. Their 
 action had no political significance : the one thing for which they 
 contended was liberty to worship God according to their con- 
 science. So extreme was their regard for the strict letter of the 
 law, that as many as a thousand of them permitted themselves to 
 be butchered by the Syrian soldiers rather than do anything in 
 self-defence on the Sabbath day. But, with all their reluctance 
 to take up arms, these pious men — the Covenanters of that age — 
 soon perceived that they must choose between this and extermina- 
 9 
 
130 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 tion. And so at last, along with all who were like-minded, they 
 took the sword, and " smote sinful men in their anger, and wicked 
 men in their wrath." 
 
 6. Literature of the Persecution-time. — A vivid picture of the 
 havoc wrought by the enemy, and of the spirit shown by the 
 people under the persecution of Antiochus, is supplied by certain 
 psalms in the Psalter. Although most of the later psalms belong 
 to the Persian period, it is certain that our collection contains 
 psalms composed during the Greek supremacy also, some of 
 these being undoubtedly Maccabean. There appears, indeed, to 
 be a growing disposition on the part of Old Testament scholars to 
 assign to this late date a considerable part of the whole collection. 
 The objection that the Canon had been already closed, and that 
 the theory of Maccabean psalms is therefore precluded, will 
 satisfy no one. The real question is not as to the possibility, but 
 as to the number, of such psalms. In our own country this 
 subject has recently been lifted into prominence through the 
 publication of Professor Cheyne's Bampton Lectures for 1889. 
 Although we may not be able to accept all the conclusions of 
 this writer, the perusal of his book must deepen the conviction 
 that, if we could only date more of the psalms with certainty, the 
 history of the post-Exilic period might be written as it has never 
 yet been done. Unfortunately, it is too much ever to expect 
 substantial agreement among critics with regard to the date of 
 a good many psalms having no definite historical background ; 
 and in point of fact there has hitherto been the greatest diversity 
 of opinion as to the number of psalms entitled to be considered 
 as Maccabean. To this period Calvin ascribes 2, Theodore 1 17, 
 Cheyne 27, and Reuss as many as 38 psalms. Hitzig and 
 Olshausen are even more sweeping. There are, however, at 
 least four, the Maccabean origin of which has been very 
 
 1 Bishop of Mopsuestia in Cilicia {ob. A.D. 429). He was the friend 
 and fellow-student of Chrysostom, and the renowned "Interpreter" of the 
 Syrian Church. 
 
THE GREEK DOMINION I31 
 
 generally admitted, viz. Psalms xliv., lxxiv., Ixxix., and lxxxiii. 
 The internal grounds for ascribing them to this time of per- 
 secution are exceedingly strong. 
 
 But it is in the Book of Daniel that we have the most 
 significant reflection of the state of mind into which patriotic 
 Jews were thrown by the exciting events of this period. While 
 the narratives in the book have a historical basis — the historicity 
 of the prophet-statesman Daniel being unquestionable — it prob- 
 ably did not exist as we have it until the rising of the Maccabees. 
 The author's thoughts manifestly revolve around Antiochus and 
 the relations in which that monarch stood to the Jews ; and, 
 looking to the analogy of prophecy, it is difficult to accept the 
 view that all these revelations respecting the Syrian king were 
 vouchsafed to an exile in Babylon hundreds of years before the 
 events took place. If, on the other hand, we regard the book as 
 " the direct product of the Maccabean struggles," 1 its point and 
 significance are unmistakable. This hypothesis furnishes the 
 key to its main design. Real prophecy was now a thing of the 
 past ; but the writer, as a Jewish patriot, desires to remind his 
 fellow-countrymen that the God of Daniel is wont to observe and 
 protect those who amid many trials continue in His fear, while at 
 the same time He defeats the best laid schemes of the mightiest 
 potentates. This is a strong consolation much needed by saints 
 in those sore times, and his object is to nerve them to endure. 
 The narratives of the first part of the book (i.-vi.) are all 
 hortatory, and intended to encourage the victims of persecution 
 to maintain the struggle, by placing before them some shining 
 examples of piety from a former age. The prophetic visions of 
 the future which make up the remainder of the book (vii.-xii.) 
 go to show that the day of deliverance is at hand. As a nation, 
 
 1 Schiirer, who declares that " it is only as viewed in the light of this period 
 that the book can be said to have either sense or meaning." — The Jewish 
 People in the Time of Jesus Christ, div. ii. vol, iii. pp. 49, 52. For a detailed 
 statement of the evidence, historical and linguistic, that can be adduced in 
 favour of this date, see Driver's Introduction to the Literature of the Old 
 Testament, 
 
132 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 they have reached the thick darkness which precedes the dawn. 
 The heathen dynasties are tottering to their fall ; the last and 
 vilest of them is on the verge of being destroyed by the special 
 intervention of the Almighty, who will, as soon as " the 
 indignation is accomplished," transfer the dominion to Israel. 
 Then " shall the saints of the Most High take the kingdom, and 
 possess it for ever and ever" (vii. 18). This is the comforting 
 truth which is fitted to sustain them even under the pressure of 
 the dreadful ordeal to which meantime they are exposed. 
 
BOOK IV 
 
 THE MACCABEAN PERIOD ; OR, THE PERIOD 
 OE FREEDOM, B.C. 167-135 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 The Jewish War of Independence 
 
 1. The Hero of Modein. — While the Jews were drawing con- 
 solation from the Book of Daniel, there occurred an event which 
 changed the whole aspect of affairs in Palestine. An aged priest, 
 of the order of Joarib, Mattathias by name, and belonging to the 
 family of the Asmoneans, 1 had withdrawn with his five sons from 
 the persecution at Jerusalem to his native town of Modein, some 
 twenty miles distant. In due course this quarter was visited by 
 the king's myrmidons, with the view of extorting from every 
 citizen a public acknowledgment of adherence to the Greek 
 worship. Apelles, the chief commissioner, having summoned 
 the inhabitants to offer sacrifice according to the pagan form, 
 called upon Mattathias, as the foremost personage of the place, to 
 lead the way. This he refused to do. When another Jew weaker 
 
 1 From the circumstance of his tracing his descent to a man named 
 Asamonaios, his family are known as " the Asmoneans." The names and 
 surnames of his sons are Johannes Gaddi, Simon Thassi, Judas Maccabasus, 
 Eleazar Avaran, and Jonathan Apphus. Little is known for certain 
 regarding the origin and meaning of the various surnames. It is at least 
 probable, however, that they were not intended to be symbolic, but were 
 simply used for purposes of better designation. 
 
 133 
 
134 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 than himself approached the heathen altar with an offering, the 
 noble priest rushed forward and slew both him and the king's com- 
 missioner, and tore down the altar. The signal was thus given for 
 open rebellion all over the land ; and in this unpremeditated way 
 there arose in the providence of God a religious war, which was 
 to end in the victorious restoration of the Jewish worship. 
 
 No longer safe in Modein, Mattathias invited all the faithful 
 to follow him, and fled with his sons into the mountains. Mean- 
 while many other fugitives from various quarters vainly sought 
 concealment in the wilderness; being pursued by their persecutors, 
 who studiously chose a Sabbath day for their attack, they tamely 
 submitted to be slain rather than handle a weapon on that day. 
 Mattathias and his followers determined to adopt a more spirited 
 policy, and to meet force with force even upon the Sabbath. 
 They were now joined by the Assideans, and by as many as were 
 prepared to fight for their ancestral faith. Mattathias thus found 
 himself at the head of a band of insurgents, who commenced a 
 sharp guerilla warfare against the Syrian oppressors. They went 
 up and down the country, overthrowing heathen altars, slaying 
 apostates, enforcing circumcision, and reviving Jewish rites. The 
 death of Mattathias in B.C. 167-166, ere the work was well begun, 
 came as a heavy blow to these zealous Israelites ; but happily for 
 the future of the movement, the direction of it still remained in 
 his family. Five valiant sons were left to carry out his solemn 
 charge to give their lives for the covenant of their fathers. 
 
 2. Judas Maccabseus. — In accordance with the recommendation 
 of Mattathias, who had advised his sons to take Simon as their 
 counsellor and Judas as their captain, the latter now assumed 
 the conduct of the war. He was the third son of Mattathias, 
 and bore the surname Makkabaios, 1 from which his adherents 
 
 1 The derivation of the name has been much contested. The meaning 
 now usually ascribed to it is that of the " Hammerer," although in a treatise 
 on " The Name Maoliabcc," Curtiss maintains that it signifies the 
 " Extinguisher" (viz. of his enemies). 
 
THE JEWISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1 35 
 
 generally have received the name of Maccabees. A better 
 leader could not have been found. Enemies flew terror-stricken 
 before him ; friends entered at his call upon projects which in 
 their cooler moments they would have pronounced impracticable. 
 Like our own General Gordon, he combined in a remarkable 
 way military genius with absolute faith in God. To such a man 
 nothing was impossible. In his hands the struggle soon passed 
 beyond the phase it had already assumed ; and henceforth we 
 have to do, not with mere night skirmishes, but with regular 
 war. In B.C. 166 the Syrian general Apollonius, who led an 
 army out of Samaria against him, was defeated and slain ; and 
 in the same year Seron, the governor of Ccele-Syria, was routed 
 at Beth-horon. His fame was now secure : " all nations talked 
 of the battles of Judas." 
 
 These disasters drove Antiochus nearly frantic, and only the 
 impoverished condition of his treasury prevented him from 
 swooping down upon Judea. Choosing to march against some 
 eastern provinces which had been withholding tribute, he left his 
 western domains as well as his youthful son Antiochus in charge 
 of his kinsman Lysias, whom he also commissioned to destroy 
 the Jewish nation root and branch, and to people the land with 
 strangers. For this purpose he had left the half of his available 
 troops, and Lysias lost no time in despatching a strong force 
 against Judea under command of three trusted generals, 
 Ptolemy, Nicanor, and Gorgias. The result was so far dis- 
 counted that Syrian merchants were in the camp ready to buy 
 up the Israelites as slaves ; but between them and the realisation 
 of their hopes lay the generalship of Judas Maccabseus. While 
 the Syrian army encamped at Emmaus, the faithful Israelites 
 gathered at Mizpah. On this sacred height they observed a day 
 of prayer and fasting in preparation for the impending battle. 
 Before God they exhibited the affront put by the heathen upon 
 their faith ; they spread out a copy of the Law painted over with 
 heathen pictures ; they brought the priestly garments which 
 could not be used, and the offerings which could not be pre- 
 
I $6 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 sented ; they pointed to the Nazarites whose days were fulfilled, 
 but whom they were powerless to release from their vows. After 
 they had breathed a common prayer to Heaven, Judas set about 
 organising" his company into a regular army. He exempted 
 from service all those for whose case the law had made pro- 
 vision, 1 so that no one might show himself listless or cowardly in 
 battle. Straightway he left Mizpah, and pitched his camp on 
 the south side of Emmaus. Adroitly turning to his own 
 advantage a stratagem of the Syrian general's, who thought with 
 a detachment of 6000 men to surprise the Jewish camp at night, 
 Judas and his followers suddenly abandoned their position and 
 moved on to attack the main body of the king's army, while 
 Gorgias vainly wandered about seeking them among the 
 mountains. With 3000 poorly armed men he confronted at 
 break of day the Syrian host and put them to flight. Gorgias 
 and his contingent returned only to see the smoke of their 
 burning tents, and the Jews marshalled for battle, whereupon 
 they also fled in confusion. Much booty fell into the hands of 
 the victors, who went home praising the Lord in grateful 
 songs. 
 
 Lysias now resolved to proceed against Judea in person ; and 
 the next year, B.C. 165, saw an army of 60,000 foot and 5000 
 horse enter the country from the south by way of Idumea. But 
 Judas with 10,000 men met them at Beth-zur on the road from 
 Jerusalem to Hebron, and was again victorious. With 5000 
 dead upon the field, Lysias deemed it prudent to retire to 
 Antioch and raise an army against which the little handful of 
 Jews, valiant as they were, could not hope to stand. 
 
 3. Re-dedication of the Altar. — Judas availed himself of this 
 temporary lull in the hostilities to re-establish the Jewish 
 worship on Zion. Deep sorrow filled the hearts of the faithful 
 when they beheld the neglected state of the sacred courts. 
 Although the citadel still remained in the hands of a Syrian 
 1 See Deut. xx. 5-8 ; 1 Mace. iii. 5, 6. 
 
THE JEWISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1 37 
 
 garrison, the vigilance of Judas kept them at bay until pious 
 priests had cleansed the sanctuary. The polluted altar was 
 pulled down ; the sacred furniture was restored in accordance 
 with the provisions of the law ; and on the 25th Chisleu, B.C. 165, 
 the very day on which three years before the heathen had first 
 profaned it, the temple was reconsecrated by the offering of 
 sacrifice on the newly-erected altar. The Feast of the Dedication 
 was celebrated for eight days, and remained an annual observ- 
 ance while the temple stood. As soon as the festivities were 
 over, Judas set about fortifying the temple mount. Defensive 
 works were also undertaken at the important southern frontier 
 town of Beth-zur, which was held by a Jewish garrison. With 
 the purification and fortification of the temple, and the restoration 
 of the ancient worship, the first stage in the history of the Jewish 
 war of independence comes to a close. It is a record of unbroken 
 victory, and a bright illustration of the power of a noble en- 
 thusiasm. Thanks to the valour of the Maccabees, Jewish 
 religion was not only as yet not destroyed, but established 
 more firmly than ever upon the basis laid down by Ezra the 
 Scribe. 
 
 4. Jewish Military Aggression.— The success which had attended 
 the Maccabees in war was distasteful to the heathen tribes 
 around, and these now subjected all Jews in their vicinity 
 to a relentless persecution. This caused Judas once more to 
 take the field. Edomites, Beanites (otherwise not known), and 
 Ammonites having been severally discomfited, he returned to 
 Judea, but only to receive further pressing calls for relief from 
 Gilead and Galilee. It was determined in both cases to send 
 the help implored. Simon marched to Galilee with 3000, and 
 Judas to Gilead with 8000 men. Both expeditions proved 
 successful. Simon pursued his enemies as far as Ptolemais, and 
 then escorted the rescued Jews to a place of safety in Judea. 
 This policy of strengthening the Jewish power at the centre was 
 also acted upon by Judas, who took the city of Bosra and the 
 
138 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 various towns of Gilead, gathered together all the Israelites in 
 that region, and with them set out for Judea. The fortified city of 
 Ephron, which refused them passage, was taken, and all its male 
 inhabitants put to the sword. Returning to Judea, in B.C. 163, 
 without loss of a single man, they joyfully offered sacrifice upon 
 the holy mountain. Meanwhile Joseph and Azariah, " captains of 
 the garrison," who had been left in charge at Jerusalem, were so 
 anxious to emulate the deeds of the Maccabees, that, despite the 
 caution given them by Judas, they made war against Gorgias in 
 Jamnia. They were, however, miserably beaten, and lost 2000 
 men ere they regained the frontier. From the standpoint of the 
 writer of 1 Maccabees, nothing else was to be expected, for 
 " these men came not of the seed of those by whose hand de- 
 liverance was given unto Israel." The national hopes were 
 centred in " the man Judas and his brethren," who now made a 
 fresh raid upon the Edomites, and destroyed the old fortress of 
 Hebron. But the closing scene in this chapter of Jewish 
 offensive warfare was enacted in the land of the Philistines. 
 Marching thither by way of the town of Mareshah, they 
 arrived in the region of Ashdod, pillaged the towns, pulled 
 down the altars of the heathen, and burned their idols. These 
 iconoclastic measures showed that what had at first been 
 merely a movement in defence of Jewish religion, had already 
 assumed the form of a campaign to re-establish the Jewish 
 State. 
 
 5. Death of Antiochus Epiphanes, and Concession of Religious 
 Liberty. — The government of Syria had meanwhile undergone an 
 important change. In B.C. 164, Antiochus Epiphanes, after a 
 reign of fourteen years, unexpectedly died. Foiled in an attempt 
 to rob the rich temple of Nanea in Elymais, he fell back upon 
 Babylon, but only to hear of the defeat of his armies in Judea. 
 He appears to have taken these reverses much to heart. Nor, 
 according to the Jewish historian, did he escape the tortures of 
 an accusing conscience with respect to the wrongs he had done 
 
THE JEWISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 1 39 
 
 at Jerusalem ; for to this cause he ascribed his troubles, and 
 " perished through grief in a strange land." 
 
 Difficulties as to the succession materially influenced the 
 further development of the struggle for religious freedom. 
 Epiphanes had nominated Philip, one of his officers, as guardian 
 to the minor Antiochus v. (Eupator) ; but Lysias, who had no 
 notion of letting power slip out of his hands, arrogated this 
 function to himself; while Demetrius, the rightful heir, who had 
 been supplanted by Epiphanes, vainly sought to push his claims 
 at Rome. Practically, therefore, the sovereignty remained with 
 Lysias ; but his zeal for the supremacy of Hellenism in Judea 
 was as nothing to that of the despot who had died. Men of 
 influence at the Syrian Court appear even to have wished to 
 pacify the Jews by just and generous treatment (2 Mace. x. 12), 
 and it seemed as if they might remain unmolested ; but things 
 fell out otherwise. Deeming the time opportune, Judas had laid 
 siege to the fortress of Jerusalem, the sole outpost now held 
 by the Syrian garrison. Certain of the besieged contrived to 
 escape, and along with some Jewish apostates made a strong 
 appeal to the king for help. Then at length, in view of these 
 entreaties, and of the fact that Philip had gone to Egypt, and 
 might induce Ptolemy Philometor to take up arms against Syria, 
 it was determined to suppress the revolt in Judea. With an army 
 of 100,000 infantry, 20,000 horsemen, and 32 trained elephants, 
 Lysias and the young king beseiged Beth-zur. Abandoning his 
 attack on Acra, Judas made a gallant attempt to relieve the 
 fortress, but in vain. At Beth-zachariah he suffered a serious 
 defeat, and the loss of his younger brother Eleazar, who with 
 magnificent indiscretion fought his way to the finely-caparisoned 
 elephant on which the king was said to be riding, and stabbed 
 the animal from beneath, but was himself killed by the falling 
 carcase. The victorious Syrians marched straight upon Jerusa- 
 lem, and beseiged the temple mount. Unfortunately for the 
 Jews, it happensd to be the Sabbatic year, and the garrisons in 
 both strongholds were ill-provided against a siege. Beth-zur 
 
140 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 was forced to capitulate, and Mount Zion was also on the point 
 of yielding, when suddenly, owing to urgent affairs of state which 
 rendered imperative his presence in Antioch, Lysias deemed it 
 advisable to come to terms with the Jews. Philip was trying to 
 force his way to the regency ; and in order to have a free hand 
 against him, Lysias at once ceded to the Jews by treaty all that 
 they had been fighting for. They were to be as they had been 
 prior to the reign of Epiphanes — politically subject, but religiously 
 free. On this understanding they yielded the fortress ; but the 
 king still judged it best to demolish the strong wall by which 
 it was surrounded. He then returned to Antioch, and soon took 
 the city out of the hands of Philip. 
 
 With the concession of religious liberty, another important 
 stage in the conflict is reached. Henceforth there was no 
 attempt to Hellenise the Jews by force. They had successfully 
 asserted the sacred rights of conscience, and preserved intact 
 their own peculiar institutions and customs. This fact had 
 necessarily the greatest significance for " the pious," who, though 
 prepared to die rather than part with religious freedom, would 
 not follow the Maccabees in fighting for political independence. 
 The struggle was now to proceed upon an entirely different basis : 
 it became essentially a contest for supremacy between the Greek 
 party and the champions of the law. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 Further Developments 
 
 1. Party Strife between Judas Maccabams and Alcimus, the newly- 
 appointed Aaronic High Priest. — On the advice of Lysias, Eupator 
 gave up the hated Menelaus to an ignominious death ; and 
 Alcimus, who was at least of Aaron's line, was installed as high 
 
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS 141 
 
 priest. This promotion, however, he owed not to any special 
 claims of his own, but to the fact that he was likely to prove a 
 pliable tool in the hands of the government. Meanwhile, in B.C. 
 162, with the assistance of the historian Polybius, Demetrius 1. 
 (Soter) had escaped from Rome and landed at Tripolis. 
 Advancing to Antioch, he took possession of the Syrian throne, 
 and had both Lysias and his ward put to death. This change in 
 the political situation brought to a point the opposition between 
 the rival factions in Judea. Alcimus and his supporters 
 approached the new king with complaints against Judas and 
 his brethren, whom they represented as rebels against the 
 monarchy and enemies to peace. Demetrius accordingly con- 
 firmed Alcimus in his office, and sent a large army under 
 Bacchides into Judea to force the recognition of his nominee, 
 and to seize the person of Judas. Now that they had "a priest 
 of the seed of Aaron," the Assideans saw no reason for further 
 opposition. But the confidence of Judas was not so easily won : 
 he distrusted the fair promises which were being made. The 
 soundness of his judgment was proved by the insane conduct of 
 Alcimus, who, under cover of Bacchides and his troops, slew 
 sixty of the Assideans in one day. The Syrian general, on 
 returning to Antioch, left a contingent of troops to protect 
 Alcimus. But Judas soon became too strong for them, and by 
 his masterful treatment of apostates induced a reign of terror 
 throughout the land. Alcimus was obliged once more to repair 
 to the Syrian Court for assistance. Demetrius sent another 
 army into Judea under Nicanor, who first of all made a mean 
 but abortive attempt to seize Judas by stratagem. A battle 
 followed at a place called Capharsalama, and ended in the defeat 
 of Nicanor, who fell back upon Mount Zion. There he took 
 occasion to insult the priests, and swore that unless Judas and 
 his followers were delivered up to him, he would on his 
 triumphant return burn up their temple. Proceeding to Beth- 
 horon, he awaited the arrival of fresh troops from Syria. With 
 only 3000 men Judas lay entrenched in Adasa. The battle was 
 
I4 2 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 fought on the 13th Adar 161. Nicanor was himself the first to 
 fall, and his army fled. For a whole day the troops of the 
 Hammerer pursued them, and, with the help of the population in 
 the different towns of Judea, hemmed them in and slew them to a 
 man. The head and hand of the blasphemer were publicly 
 "hung up toward Jerusalem"; and the 13th Adar, the day 
 before the Feast of Purim, was afterwards kept as " Nicanor's 
 day." This victory near the scene of one of his early triumphs 
 won over to the side of Judas Maccabasus the entire Jewish 
 nation. He was the popular hero once more. 
 
 2. Last Days of Judas Maccabaeus. — Judas was resolved to 
 abjure the Syrian yoke, and with this object made an appeal to 
 the great power of Rome. Two Jewish ambassadors, Eupolemus 
 and Jason, were favourably received by the Roman Senate, and a 
 treaty concluded. Its provisions were graven on brass tablets 
 and sent to Jerusalem ; they were, however, rather vague, and 
 nothing came of the agreement. A message was sent, indeed, to 
 Demetrius, warning him that further molestation of the Jews 
 would mean war with Rome ; but the Syrian king had so far 
 anticipated this interference that the power of Judea had been 
 effectually crushed before it could take effect. In April 161, 
 within two months after the defeat of Nicanor, Demetrius sent a 
 fresh army to Judea under Bacchides. Judas had but 3000 men 
 at Eleasa, and of these all but 800 deserted him when they 
 saw the fearful odds against which they had to contend. Even 
 those who remained faithful dissuaded him from entering on such 
 a battle ; but, with a true spirit of knight-errantry, Judas refused 
 to retire. The battle lasted from morning till night. Judas and 
 his best men broke the enemy's right wing, and were in full pur- 
 suit, but the left wing veered round and attacked them in the 
 rear. A fierce conflict ensued ; but when at last their brave leader 
 fell, the Jewish survivors took to flight. The body of Judas was 
 secured by his brothers, and interred amid a nation's tears in the 
 family sepulchre at Modein. 
 
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS 143 
 
 Perhaps no leader of a forlorn hope ever succeeded to the 
 extent that Judas did ; yet the unequal contest in which he had 
 engaged could have only one end. It was impossible for the 
 Jewish people to hold their own in war against the imperial 
 power of Syria ; and the flourishing condition to which the 
 Maccabean party afterwards attained, must be ascribed more to 
 the factions that rent the Syrian Empire than to any inherent 
 strength of its own. 
 
 3. A Jewish Temple at Leontopolis. — One result of the situation 
 in Palestine appeared in a bold attempt to transfer the head- 
 quarters of Judaism to Egypt. In the reign of Ptolemy 
 Philometor there fled into that country Onias iv., son of the high 
 priest Onias in., who was murdered by Menelaus. Under the 
 friendly shelter of the Egyptian Court, he conceived a plan 
 whereby at once his own rights as legitimate high priest and the 
 interests of Alexandrian Jews would be conserved. This was to 
 establish a temple in Egypt itself. Having observed in the 
 district of Heliopolis, near the city of Leontopolis, an old heathen 
 sanctuary in ruins, he obtained leave from Ptolemy and his queen 
 Cleopatra to set up there a temple similar to that at Jerusalem. 
 A grant of crown lands was also made for its maintenance. This 
 royal complaisance may have been partly due to the traditional 
 alliance between the Ptolemies and the high-priestly house, but 
 was mainly prompted by the desire to see the wealth of the 
 Egyptian Jews kept in the country instead of being drained into 
 Jerusalem. A regular staff of priests and Levites officiated at 
 Leontopolis, which acquired considerable sanctity in the eyes of 
 the Hellenists. Onias found scriptural authority for his action 
 in the prophecy of Isa. xix. 18, 19, that there should one day be 
 " an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt," and 
 claimed that the very spot was marked out in the expression 
 " city of the Sun." 1 This Egyptian temple declined in import- 
 
 1 The place is rich in historical interest. It is mentioned under the names 
 of On (Gen. xli. 45) and Beth-shemesh ( Jer. xliii. 13). Joseph's father-in- 
 
144 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 ance as soon as the Maccabean party fairly got the upper hand 
 in Judea, and an Aaronic high priest ministered at the altar in 
 Jerusalem. It still remained, however, a favourite resort of the 
 Egyptian Jews until its destruction in the reign of Vespasian. 
 
 4. Jonathan chosen Successor to Judas. — To the Jewish nation- 
 alists the death of Judas proved a stunning blow. The Greek 
 party, with Alcimus at their head, were again masters of the 
 situation ; for Bacchides " chose the wicked men and made them 
 lords of the country." But the Maccabees elected as their leader 
 Jonathan, who, if inferior to his brother Judas as a soldier, sur- 
 passed him in diplomatic wisdom. Already the conflict had 
 become political, and in the hands of Jonathan, who manifestly 
 fought for his own house, it did so more and more. His party 
 could not at first contemplate regular warfare ; they could only 
 exist as freebooters. 
 
 The death of Alcimus in B.C. 160, following closely upon his 
 sacrilegious interference with the inner court of the temple, was 
 regarded as a divine judgment. No successor to the high priest- 
 hood appears to have been appointed by the Syrians, who were 
 presumably tired of having always to protect this functionary by 
 force of arms. Bacchides now returned to Antioch, and for two 
 years Judea had rest. The effect of this was to strengthen 
 greatly the Maccabean party. Their opponents invoked once 
 more the aid of Bacchides, engaging to deliver Jonathan into his 
 hands forthwith. The latter, however, got wit of the plot, and 
 retaliated by slaying about fifty of those who had hatched it. 
 Thereafter he entrenched himself in the wilderness at Beth-basi, 
 
 law was a priest of the Sun-worship practised in its famous temple, and under 
 his learned successors Plato studied. The visitor to Heliopolis is shown an 
 ancient sycamore, under which, according to tradition, Joseph and Mary- 
 rested when they fled with the child Jesus into Egypt. But the oldest 
 monument of the locality is the spendid granite obelisk — the only one now 
 remaining out of the many that once adorned the temple of the Sun — erected 
 in the reign of Sesertesen L, founder of the 12th dynasty, cir. 2050 B.C. 
 Heliopolis, which is situated about 8 miles to the north-east of Cairo, is now 
 quite a small township. 
 
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS 1 45 
 
 and awaited the Syrian general, who besieged the fortress in vain. 
 Jonathan made successful raids in the desert, and Simon severely 
 punished the besiegers. Irritated by these reverses, Bacchides 
 fell out with his advisers and put many of them to death. 
 Jonathan proposed an armistice, and to this Bacchides, who was 
 heartily sick of the whole business, agreed. He undertook never 
 again to lift a finger against the Jewish nation. 
 
 From his residence at Michmash, Jonathan, no longer a party 
 leader, but the hero who had won peace with honour for his 
 nation, governed the people after the manner of the ancient 
 Judges. The removal of Syrian coercion showed that the Greek 
 party had no hold upon the hearts of the Jewish people. They 
 were glad to renounce Hellenism for the law. Jonathan was now 
 free to work at the problem of Jewish independence. He 
 shrewdly availed himself of Syria's troubles, and was ever ready 
 to trim his sail to the advantage of his nation. Rivals for the 
 throne of the Seleucidse now found it worth their while to compete 
 for the favour of the Maccabees. When accordingly, in B.C. 152, 
 Alexander Balas, ostensibly as the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, 
 but in reality a tool in the hands of the king's enemies, seized 
 Ptolemais and laid claim to the crown, Demetrius lost no time in 
 making friendly overtures to Jonathan. He empowered him to 
 raise an army and to liberate the hostages in Acra. Thereupon 
 Jonathan took possession of Jerusalem, and began to fortify the 
 city and the temple mount. The only places of refuge left for 
 the Hellenisers were the citadel of Jerusalem and Beth-zur. 
 
 5. Jonathan made High. Priest. — But Alexander Balas knew 
 better how to prepare the bait for the ambitious Jonathan. He 
 sent him a purple robe and a crown of gold, saying, " We ordain 
 thee to be the high priest of the nation, and to be called the 
 king's friend." Jonathan accepted this offer, donned the sacred 
 robes at the Feast of Tabernacles, and gratefully espoused the 
 cause of Balas. Demetrius now in turn tried to outbid his rival. 
 But Jonathan declined to change sides : he distrusted Demetrius, 
 10 
 
146 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 and he had faith in the ultimate ascendancy of Balas as the ally 
 of Rome. The event proved the wisdom of his choice, for in the 
 battle that ensued Demetrius I. was defeated and slain, and the 
 victorious Balas heaped rewards upon Jonathan. At Ptolemais, 
 where in B.C. 150 he married the Egyptian princess Cleopatra, he 
 received the Jewish high priest with every mark of favour. 
 
 Jonathan soon had an opportunity of showing his fidelity 
 towards the worthless Balas. In B.C. 147, Demetrius II. came 
 from Crete to claim the throne. He secured an adherent in 
 Apollonius, the governor of Ccele-Syria, but Jonathan declared 
 against him. This led to hostilities between Apollonius and 
 Jonathan, in which the former had the worst of it. His garrison 
 at Joppa was forced to capitulate ; he lost a pitched battle at 
 Ashdod ; and the temple of Dagon, in which his scattered 
 horsemen had taken refuge, was burnt down. In consideration 
 of these services, Alexander presented Jonathan with a buckle of 
 gold, and with the city and lands of Ekron. But Balas had 
 nearly reached the end of his career. His father-in-law, Ptolemy 
 Philometor, having marched into Syria, Jonathan met him at 
 Joppa and accompanied him to the river Eleutherus, but 
 returned to Jerusalem on ascertaining that he had allied himself 
 to Demetrius II. The high priest could not, however, save 
 Alexander from disaster. After taking back Cleopatra and 
 giving her to Demetrius as his wife, Ptolemy entered Antioch 
 and assumed the crown of Asia. Alexander, defeated in battle, 
 fled to Arabia, where he perished by the hand of an assassin. 
 Ptolemy, who had been wounded in the fray, lived only to see 
 brought to him the severed head of his former son-in-law. In 
 B.C. 145, Demetrius became king. 
 
 Jonathan now laid siege to the tower of Jerusalem ; but, at 
 the instance of " the ungodly," Demetrius summoned him to 
 Ptolemais. With great savoir faire Jonathan took with him 
 an imposing retinue of priests and elders, besides rich presents 
 for the king, and secured not only his position as high priest, 
 but almost all the concessions which he had refused to accept 
 
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS I 47 
 
 from Demetrius I. as the price of his adherence. The boundaries 
 of Judea were enlarged, and 300 talents annually were to be paid 
 in lieu of tribute. 
 
 6. The Treachery of Trypho. — Soon afterwards Demetrius 
 caused great dissatisfaction by dismissing his regular troops. 
 A certain Trypho took the opportunity to bring forward 
 Antiochus, son of Alexander Balas, as a claimant for the crown. 
 At the same time Jonathan boldly applied for the cession of the 
 citadel of Jerusalem and other fortresses of Judea, and to this 
 Demetrius consented, on condition that the Jews should come to 
 his aid against the rebels of Antioch. The high priest sent 3000 
 men, who turned the scale in the king's favour. But Demetrius 
 did not keep faith with his Jewish ally ; Acra was still held by 
 the Syrians. Jonathan accordingly went over to the side of 
 Trypho, who had made himself master of Antioch, and who not 
 only confirmed the high priest in all his honours, but also ap- 
 pointed his brother Simon commander for Palestine. Ostensibly 
 in the interests of Syria, Jonathan now overran and subdued the 
 whole territory between Jerusalem and Damascus. Ascalon 
 opened its gates to him ; Gaza he captured, and forced to send 
 hostages to Jerusalem. Leaving Simon to reduce Beth-zur, 
 Jonathan met the generals of Demetrius on the plain of Hazor. 
 A sudden onset by a party of Syrians, who had lain in ambush, 
 caused his troops to flee ; but the sight of the high priest rending 
 his robes revived their courage, and their loss was soon retrieved. 
 After this, Jonathan, repeating the policy inaugurated by Judas, 
 sent ambassadors to Rome and Sparta to establish friendly 
 relations with these powers. Finding himself again menaced by 
 the armies of Demetrius, he marched northwards to meet them 
 at Hamath ; but on learning that their plan of a night-attack was 
 discovered, the Syrians withdrew. The Jewish leader accordingly 
 turned towards the desert of Arabia, and subdued the Zabadeans ; 
 he also occupied Damascus. Meanwhile Simon garrisoned 
 Joppa and fortified Adida, a town between Joppa and Jerusalem. 
 
148 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 On his return to the capital Jonathan strengthened the fortifica- 
 tions and isolated the citadel. 
 
 Trypho now began to look askance upon the powerful ally 
 who had enabled him to get the better of Demetrius. Secretly 
 coveting the throne for himself, he feared that Jonathan might 
 frustrate his designs. He therefore resolved to get rid of him. 
 Cunning as he was, Jonathan let himself fall into a trap. Under 
 pretext of gifting Ptolemais to him, Trypho induced him to ac- 
 company him to that city with only 1000 men. As soon as he 
 had entered the gates he was made a prisoner, and his men were 
 put to the sword. 
 
 7. Leadership of Simon. — At this juncture it was inevitable 
 that Simon, the only one now left of the five brothers of the 
 Maccabees, should come to the front. Immediately he pushed 
 on the work of fortifying the city, and saw to the occupation of 
 Joppa. Trypho soon invaded Judea, with Jonathan as his 
 prisoner. Simon intercepted him at Adida. Trypho pretended 
 that he held Jonathan in ward because he had not paid his 
 imperial dues, and offered to release him on receiving 100 
 talents of silver and two of his sons as hostages. More 
 trickery, thought Simon ; yet, to silence criticism, he acquiesced. 
 As he had expected, Jonathan was still kept a prisoner. Trypho 
 then sought to reach Jerusalem by way of Adora on the south, 
 but found himself checkmated by Simon at every point. The 
 starving occupants of Acra appealed to him for supplies ; but 
 when his horsemen were ready to proceed, a fall of snow blocked 
 the route through the wilderness. Foiled and irritated, he led 
 his troops round the Dead Sea to Gilead, and at a place called 
 Bascama took a mean revenge by putting Jonathan to death 
 (B.C. 143). Simon recovered his body, and buried him in the 
 family ground at Modein, over which he also erected a splendid 
 tomb, which was visible from the Mediterranean. This was 
 more than a family monument : it was an education to youth, an 
 inspiration to posterity. While it stood, the sons of Israel would 
 
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS I 49 
 
 be reminded of the heroic band of brothers whose prowess and 
 patriotism had delivered their land from an alien yoke, and 
 would, while thus constrained to honour the Maccabees, be also 
 likely to imbibe something of their spirit 
 
 8. Declaration of Jewish Independence. — It was given to Simon 
 to put the copestone on the work which had been begun and 
 developed by the other members of his house. Judas had fought 
 and won the battle of religious freedom ; Jonathan had secured 
 for his party the control of affairs in Judea ; and now under 
 Simon the Jewish people actually regained their independence. 
 In the contest between Demetrius and Trypho for the Syrian 
 crown, Simon took no part further than to renew the friendship 
 with Demetrius, who acknowledged him as high priest and 
 king's friend, remitted all arrears of taxes, and granted exemp- 
 tion from tribute for the future. " Thus the yoke of the heathen 
 was taken away from Israel." The political emancipation of the 
 Jews was at last an accomplished fact, and they signalised it by 
 adopting a new mode of reckoning. The Seleucid year 170, or 
 B.C. 143, corresponded with the first year of Simon, the high 
 priest, governor, and leader of the Jews. All Jewish documents 
 were now dated according to this new era. 
 
 Although freedom had been conceded to Israel, Simon did not 
 lie on his oars. He determined to capture the fortresses of 
 Gazara and Jerusalem. The one was necessary to protect his 
 frontier and cover the haven of Joppa ; so long as the other was 
 held by the Syrians, Jewish freedom could be little more than a 
 name. After some resistance Gazara capitulated. Simon cast 
 out the heathen, "placed such men there as would keep the 
 law," and appointed his son John ruler of the city. He also 
 made himself master of Acra. That fortress was practically 
 impregnable, but the garrison were at last starved into sub- 
 mission. In effectually separating the tower from the city, 
 Jonathan had sowed, and now Simon reaped. All along it had 
 been the ambition of the Maccabees to possess this stronghold ; 
 
150 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 and after it had been duly purified, Simon entered it in triumph 
 on the 23rd May, B.C. 142. He further asserted the independ- 
 ence of his rule by the issue of a new coinage in silver and 
 copper, 1 and by renewing the treaties with Sparta and Rome. 
 
 9. Simon's Official Rank declared Hereditary. — The kings of 
 Syria being no longer in a position to intermeddle in Judea, 
 Simon set himself to promote the inner well-being of his country. 
 As an administrator he surpassed all his brethren. Under his 
 wise guidance trade and agriculture, law and social order, simul- 
 taneously began to flourish. It was a time of moral and material 
 prosperity unequalled since the Exile. " Then did they till their 
 ground in peace, and the earth gave her increase, and the trees 
 of the field their fruit. The ancient men sat all in the streets, 
 communing together of good things, and the young men put on 
 glorious and warlike apparel. He provided victuals for the cities, 
 and set in them all manner of munition, so that his honourable 
 name was renowned unto the end of the world. He made peace 
 in the land, and Israel rejoiced with great joy ; for every man sat 
 under his vine and his fig-tree, and there was none to fray them : 
 neither was there any left in the land to fight against them : 
 yea, the kings themselves were overthrown in those days. More- 
 over he strengthened all those of his people that were brought 
 low : the law he searched out ; and every contemner of the law 
 and wicked person he took away. He beautified the sanctuary, 
 and multiplied the vessels of the temple" (1 Mace. xiv. 8-15). 
 
 1 The silver coins struck were of the value of a shekel and a half-shekel. 
 Several specimens of them are still extant. They do not bear Simon's name, 
 but are ascribed by most numismatists to his reign. The right of coinage 
 was not formally granted to the Jews till about B.C. 140 (1 Mace. xv. 6) ; but 
 it seems probable that the appearance of the new coins which bear the year 
 numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, was coincident with the era of Simon alluded to in 
 1 Mace. xiii. 42. These Jewish coins were prepared from the Greek models, 
 but with due regard to the precept against graven images. They are, 
 however, tastefully executed, and adorned with figures of sacred cups, lily 
 blossoms, palms, grape-clusters, etc. On one side they bear the inscription 
 "Jerusalem the holy," and on the other " Israel's shekel" or " half- shekel." 
 
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS 151 
 
 It was fitting that such services to the nation should be publicly 
 recognised. On the 18th September, B.C. 141, at avast assembly 
 of the priests, people, rulers and elders of the land, the offices of 
 high priest, commander, and ethnarch were conferred upon 
 Simon "for ever" {i.e. as hereditary possessions), "until there 
 should arise a faithful prophet" {i.e. either the Messiah Himself, 
 or His immediate forerunner ; or, more generally, until God 
 should otherwise direct). Thus arose the new high-priestly 
 dynasty of the Asmoneans. 
 
 10. Last Days of Simon. — But darker days were in store for 
 Simon. He was once more drawn into the vortex of Syrian 
 politics. Trypho had murdered his ward Antiochus vi., and had 
 also got rid of Demetrius 11., who was held as a prisoner by the 
 Parthians. But in B.C. 139, Antiochus vn. Sidetes, younger 
 brother of Demetrius II., secured a following, and defeated 
 Trypho at Dora ; and although he had shortly before written to 
 Simon, and sought by lavish promises, including the right of 
 coinage, to win his friendship, he now changed his policy. 
 During the siege of Dora, Simon sent him gifts and 2000 
 auxiliaries. This proffered help was declined, and a demand 
 made for the surrender of Joppa, Gazara, and the fortress of 
 Jerusalem, or failing this for 1000 talents. Simon offered 100 
 talents for Joppa and Gazara. Antiochus at once sent his general 
 Cendebeus to make war against the Jews. Simon, now an old 
 man, intrusted his sons Judas and John with the conduct of the 
 campaign. Near Modein they completely routed the Syrians. 
 Judas was wounded, but John pursued the enemy as far as 
 Ashdod. 
 
 Simon was no more molested by Antiochus. Yet he was not 
 to die a natural death. His own son-in-law, Ptolemy, the rich 
 commander over the plain of Jericho, coveted the supreme power, 
 and waited for an opportunity to destroy the ruling family. This 
 came to him in February B.C. 135, when, with his sons Mattathias 
 and Judas, Simon was engaged upon a magisterial visitation of 
 
152 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 the townships of Judea. At Jericho they were invited by Ptolemy 
 to a banquet in the castle of Dok, and treacherously slain. 
 
 More than a generation had passed since Mattathias struck the 
 first blow for freedom to worship God. These thirty years form 
 the most glorious epoch in Jewish history. The old priest's 
 bravery had borne fruit in the remarkable achievements of his 
 sons. Almost from the beginning, however, the scope of the 
 contest had been altered. The battle for religious liberty had 
 ended with the concession of Lysias ; after that the war was a 
 war for independence. This involved, unfortunately, a departure 
 from the ideal of a holy commonwealth cherished by the leaders 
 after the Exile. The alliance with Rome, the merciless treat- 
 ment of opponents, the unsatisfactory relations with the Syrian 
 monarchy — these were severally sources of disaster for the 
 future. 
 
 It is impossible not to admire the character of Judas. His 
 piety and unselfish devotion to his country were unquestionable. 
 The aims and methods of Jonathan were by no means of such an 
 exalted type. Clever, cunning, and unscrupulous, he even used 
 the priest's office as a ladder to power. In some respects Simon 
 was the greatest of them all. The elevation of his subjects was 
 as dear to him as the honour and prosperity of his house. He 
 was a good priest and a born statesman — "the David of his 
 aqe." 
 
BOOK V 
 
 THE ASMONEAN DYNASTY, B.C. 135-63 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 John Hyrcanus and the Pharisees 
 
 1. John Hyrcanus.— Ptolemy intended Simon's third son, John 
 Hyrcanus, governor of Gazara, to share the fate of his relatives. 
 But John, warned in time, slew his would-be assassins, and 
 immediately occupied Jerusalem. He also assumed the high- 
 priestly dignity. Thereafter he laid siege to the fortress of 
 Dagon, whither Ptolemy had retired on finding the gates of the 
 capital closed against him. Only one thing stood between the 
 murderer and the doom he merited. John's mother had fallen 
 into his hands, and he not only had her tortured before her son's 
 eyes, but threatened to hurl her headlong from the walls unless 
 the siege were raised. This dastardly policy enabled Ptolemy to 
 hold out until the Sabbatic year called the Jewish army to rest 
 from war. He then had his prisoners slain, and fled across the 
 Jordan. 
 
 In B.C. 135, Antiochus VII. Sidetes took the field in person 
 against Hyrcanus. Having devastated Judea, he laid active 
 siege to Jerusalem. The strength of the walls afforded no pro- 
 tection against famine ; and despite the valour of the besieged, 
 who harassed the enemy by frequent sorties, the city was, after 
 well-nigh a year, reduced to such straits that John drove out all 
 
 153 
 
154 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 who were unfit for war. But the Syrians would not allow them 
 to pass, and many perished of hunger before the survivors were 
 readmitted at the Feast of Tabernacles. In order to observe 
 this festival, Hyrcanus applied for a seven days' truce, and 
 Antiochus wisely granted it. Not only so, he even presented 
 splendid sacrificial gifts. Thereupon the Jews designated him 
 Antiochus the Pious, and negotiated for peace. He demanded 
 that they should deliver up their arms, pay tribute for Joppa and 
 other outlying possessions, and admit a Syrian garrison into 
 Jerusalem. Instead of the last-named obnoxious condition, 
 Hyrcanus induced Antiochus to accept hostages and 500 talents 
 of silver. After destroying the walls of Jerusalem, he withdrew 
 his army from Judea and fought against the Parthians. In this 
 war Hyrcanus was associated with him as his vassal. Judea had 
 thus already lost its hard-won independence ; the Syrian yoke 
 was once more a reality. 
 
 But in B.C. 128, Antiochus fell in the Parthian campaign, and 
 Demetrius II. was once more king of Syria. A contest arose 
 about the succession, which enabled Hyrcanus to retrieve his 
 losses. He extended the Jewish territory to its ancient dimen- 
 sions. In one respect his policy was certainly more worldly than 
 that of his predecessors. With treasure abstracted from the 
 sepulchre of David he maintained a large body of foreign troops. 
 Thus reinforced, he took Medeba and other fortified cities east of 
 the Jordan. Then, turning northwards, he captured Shechem, 
 and destroyed the Samaritan temple on Gerizim. Finally, 
 marching to the south, he subdued Adora and Marissa, and gave 
 the Idumeans the alternative of accepting the Jewish law or 
 quitting the country. They submitted to the rite of circumcision, 
 and so became merged in the Jewish nation. Forced conver- 
 sions, however, are never satisfactory, and these Edomites proved 
 a disturbing element in the sacred community. 
 
 Continuing the policy of his predecessors, Hyrcanus now sought 
 to renew the alliance with Rome. His immediate object was to 
 repudiate with some show of justice the bargain which he had 
 
JOHN HYRCANUS AND THE PHARISEES 1 55 
 
 struck with Sidetes. The Jewish embassy was politely received, 
 and as politely bowed out, by the Senate. In the times of the 
 Gracchi the internal commotions of the Roman commonwealth 
 were too serious to permit of interference in Syrian politics. 
 
 After the death of Antiochus Sidetes, Syria became a prey to 
 internal discord. At the instance of Ptolemy VII. Physcon, king 
 of Egypt, Demetrius II. was displaced by a certain Alexander 
 Zabinas (125), who in his turn was overthrown by Antiochus VIII. 
 Grypos (122). The latter, after a reign of eight years, during 
 which the Jews remained unmolested, was ousted by his step- 
 brother Antiochus ix. Cyzicenus. To none of these kings did 
 Hyrcanus pay tribute. " Neither as their subject nor as their 
 friend did he any longer pay them the least regard," x but wisely 
 occupied himself in furthering the interests of his country. 
 
 The closing event of John's reign was an expedition against 
 the Samaritans, who in league with the Syrians had attacked the 
 Jewish colony of Marissa. Having surrounded the city of Samaria 
 with a trench and a double wall, he left his sons Antigonus and 
 Aristobulus to conduct the siege. Twice over the Samaritans 
 invoked the aid of Cyzicenus, but in neither case did it prove 
 effectual. After holding out bravely for a year, Samaria was 
 captured and razed to the ground. The Jewish legends tell that 
 a heavenly voice announced to Hyrcanus the final victory of his 
 sons while he was officiating in the temple. This was an experi- 
 ence like that of the banished Ezekiel when Jerusalem was taken 
 by Nebuchadnezzar, and won for Hyrcanus the title of prophet. 
 A special halo of sanctity was thus thrown round his high priest- 
 hood. Externally his reign (B.C. 135-105) was prosperous and 
 even brilliant. He was the first Jewish prince whose name was 
 stamped on the coins. Josephus eulogistically points out that 
 God esteemed him worthy to fill the three offices of ruler, priest, 
 and prophet. His was a bright image truly, and destined to 
 become still more bright amid the thickening darkness of the 
 days that were at hand. 
 
 1 Josephus. 
 
156 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 2. Rival Schools and Parties in Judea. — Closely connected with 
 the Maccabean struggle, though not directly resulting from it, 
 was the rise of political and religious parties in Israel. These 
 really existed in germ before, but the conflicts of the period gave 
 a strong impulse to their development and consolidation. The 
 party of the Pharisees sprang from the scribes ; that of the 
 Sadducees, from the priests. But the essential distinction between 
 them was not, originally at least, a religious one ; it was rather 
 practical and political. The Pharisees were above all the party 
 of the law ; the Sadducees, that of the aristocracy. 
 
 (1) The Pharisees. — The new zeal with which the law was 
 observed, and the diligent manner in which it was added to, 
 soon opened the way for Pharisaism. The Parush was an 
 exclusive separatist, not merely from the uncleanness of the 
 heathen (Ezra vi. 21), but also from what he considered the 
 uncleanness of multitudes of Jews. The term separatists, 
 scornfully applied to them by their opponents, the Pharisees 
 accepted as a title of honour. It was their aim to exemplify 
 in practical life the punctilious legalism worked out by the 
 scribes. Believing that nothing could hold the nation together 
 but acts of piety, they attempted to create a principle of unity out 
 of mere external uniformity of practice and profession. Under 
 this system, as we see from the New Testament, piety became a 
 trade, and men little better than religious machines. There were 
 doubtless among the Pharisees a number of sincere and righteous 
 men (John iii. 1), but as a class their righteousness was of a purely 
 mechanical type (Matt. v. 20). They made ostentatious and long 
 prayers, went about with advertisements of their piety pinned on 
 to their clothes, and boasted before God and men of their good 
 works and almsdeeds. These characteristics brought down upon 
 them the severe denunciation of Jesus. 
 
 According to the Pharisees, the traditional or " oral " law was 
 equally binding with the written law, and to teach in opposition 
 to the former was even more criminal than to contradict the 
 latter. Doctrinally, they were exponents of the orthodox form of 
 
JOHN HYRCANUS AND THE PHARISEES 157 
 
 later Judaism. They held the free activity and moral responsi- 
 bility of man in conjunction with a full recognition of God's 
 omnipotence and providence in all that comes to pass ; they 
 maintained the existence of angels and spirits ; they believed in 
 the immortality of the soul, in the resurrection of the body, and 
 in future rewards and punishments. 
 
 It must be said for the Pharisees that they had the courage of 
 their convictions. They endeavoured to live out their creed. In 
 their view it was the business of the nation to keep the law, seeing 
 that along this path alone could they inherit the promises. They 
 therefore kept themselves studiously free from political entangle- 
 ments, except in so far as they were obliged to contend for free- 
 dom to carry out the provisions of the law. So long as this was 
 granted them, the particular government under which they lived 
 was to them a matter of indifference. Their one concern was to 
 secure Israel's fidelity to what they conceived to be her great 
 mission, viz. to hasten on, by faithfulness to the covenant, the 
 coming of the promised Deliverer. The Pharisees certainly 
 rendered a great service in thus keeping alive the hope of a per- 
 sonal Messiah in an age when there was little living faith in this 
 fundamental doctrine. Bound up with this also was their strenuous 
 advocacy of the doctrine of the resurrection. Their teaching 
 helped towards a much clearer apprehension of a future life than 
 had obtained previously. Everlasting torment, they asserted, 
 was laid up for the wicked ; but when the Messiah's kingdom 
 should be established, the righteous would rise to share in its 
 blessedness. 
 
 The Pharisees were the Assideans of a somewhat later date. 
 They had no political ambitions, and fought along with the 
 Maccabees only so long as the contest was one for religious free- 
 dom. Their influence, however, was paramount in Israel. This 
 was due not so much, perhaps, to their democratic standpoint, as 
 to the strictness of their religious practice. In these scrupulously 
 holy ones the rank and file of the nation beheld their natural 
 guides, and reverenced them as much as they were despised by 
 
158 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 them. The Pharisees did not shrink from the logical conclusion 
 of their principles, and regarded the true Israel as confined to 
 their own ranks. 
 
 (2) The Saddncees. — It can hardly be wondered at that an 
 opposition party should have arisen in Israel, and that they carried 
 their opposition to a very extreme point. These were the 
 Sadducees, who probably derived their name from Zadok, the 
 high priest in whose family the priestly office remained from the 
 time of Solomon to the death of Onias III. As a party they were 
 more select than numerous, and may be described as consisting of 
 the priestly aristocrats and their adherents. Their spirit was as 
 secular as that of the Pharisees was religious. As to their peculiar 
 tenets, they refused to acknowledge the binding force of Pharisaic 
 tradition ; they denied the existence of angels and spirits ; they 
 rejected the belief in a resurrection of the body, in a final judg- 
 ment, and in the immortality of the soul ; they held that man is 
 the exclusive architect of his own fortunes, and that God takes 
 nothing to do with human actions. This creed of theirs, which 
 simply amounted to the negation of the Pharisaic position, was 
 not so much the result of a conservative clinging to the older 
 Hebrew standpoint, as of sheer and unadulterated worldliness. In 
 matters religious they were disposed to be content with little. 
 While maintaining a lofty contempt for questions of dogmatic 
 theology, they showed a very keen front when it was proposed to 
 interfere with any of their legal rights. It was the secular side of 
 politics that they cared for. They valued the favour of a reigning 
 prince far more highly than the observances of Mosaism. 
 Although they professed to believe in the authority of the written 
 law, they made the civil regulations of the State the measure of 
 their obligations. Quite satisfied with common justice, they had 
 no desire to be so excessively virtuous as the Pharisees, whose 
 minute scrupulousness they held up to ridicule. " These 
 Pharisees," they said, "will purify in the end the sun itself." In 
 spite of the low tone of morality which the Greek supremacy had 
 brought with it, they were anxious to engraft Greek freedom and 
 
JOHN HYRCANUS AND THE PHARISEES 159 
 
 culture upon the national life and character. The antagonism 
 between them and the Pharisees was thus really a secondary- 
 version of the old feud between the Hellenists and the Assideans. 
 The spirit of the party, as subsequently developed, has been well 
 caught and expressed in a sentence by Thackeray : " The Baptist 
 might be in the wilderness, shouting to the poor who were listen- 
 ing with all their might and faith to the preacher's awful accents 
 and denunciations of wrath, or woe, or salvation ; and our friend 
 the Sadducee would turn his sleek mule with a shrug and a smile 
 from the crowd, and go home to the shade of his terrace, and 
 muse over preacher and audience, and turn to his roll of Plato, or 
 his pleasant Greek song-book, babbling of honey and Hybla, and 
 nymphs and fountains of love." As time went on the struggle 
 between Sadducees and Pharisees became keener and keener. 
 There could be only one issue to it. It was a conflict of Patricians 
 with Plebeians, and the latter were constantly increasing in 
 numbers and in power. 
 
 (3) The Essenes. — Writing for Greeks and Romans, Josephus 
 speaks grandly of " three philosophical sects among the Jews " 
 — the Pharisees, who corresponded to the Stoics ; the Sadducees, 
 who were presumably the counterpart to the Epicureans ; and 
 the Essenes, whose position he describes as akin to that of the 
 Pythagoreans. This somewhat oblique presentation of the actual 
 facts of the case has made it usual to reckon the Essenes as a 
 third party in the Israelitish life of the period. But in truth 
 these men represented not a political party, but a religious 
 tendency. Their principles precluded them from interfering in 
 public affairs. To all intents and purposes they were a monastic 
 order, sworn to a life of asceticism and to secrecy respecting their 
 peculiar doctrines. Their name and their origin are alike obscure. 1 
 In the time of Philo they numbered 4000, and lived chiefly in 
 villages by themselves. Their favourite haunts were in the 
 
 1 The most probable derivation of the name is from a Syriac word meaning 
 pious ; and the first historical reference to them points to the middle of the 
 second century B.C. 
 
160 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 vicinity of the Dead Sea. The Essenes formed a communistic 
 brotherhood, admission to which was signalised by the symbolic 
 gifts of an axe, an apron, and a white robe, and completed only 
 after a lengthened probation. Like the primitive Christians, they 
 had all things common, and knew no distinction of purse, 
 property, or house. Most of them were engaged in agriculture. 
 They wore a special garb, forbade marriage, and abjured 
 slavery and war, and even trade as conducive to covetousness. 1 
 While sending gifts to the temple, they did not offer sacrifices, 
 "having more pure lustrations of their own." 2 In their ex- 
 cessive zeal for rigorous legalism and ceremonial purity, they 
 surpassed the Pharisees as much as the Pharisees surpassed the 
 general body of the people. The more effectually to separate 
 themselves from everything unclean, they retired from public life 
 altogether. Their common meals, prepared by one of their own 
 priests, were as nearly as possible religious services ; " they go 
 into the dining-room as into a certain holy temple." As a class 
 the Essenes lived a life of great piety, simplicity, and gentleness. 
 In their quiet retirement they showed much diligence in the 
 study of Scripture ; and on this account, as well as by reason of 
 their elaborate purifications, they came to be in high repute as 
 foretellers of future events. In spite of their rejection of animal 
 sacrifices, and their strange habit of turning in prayer, not 
 towards the temple, but towards the sun, the general standpoint 
 of the Essenes was essentially Jewish. No doubt these two 
 peculiarities, together with some others, amount to a direct 
 deviation from Judaism, and must be attributed to foreign 
 influences of some sort. What these influences were — whether 
 Syrian, Parsee, or Greek — can scarcely be determined. All that 
 can be said with certainty is, that while Essenism had a truly 
 Jewish basis, its straining after absolute purity led to results 
 irreconcilable with genuine Judaism. As regards its non-Jewish 
 
 1 Reuss describes Essenism as "a singular combination of estimable virtues, 
 extravagant prejudices, and puerile forms." — Apostolic Age, i. p. 106. 
 
 2 Joseph. Ant. xviii. i. 5. 
 
JOHN HYRCANUS AND THE PHARISEES l6l 
 
 features, we may perhaps with Josephus ascribe them to the 
 influence of the Pythagoreans. 
 
 3. Hyrcanus deserts the Pharisees. — The Maccabean party had 
 been essentially Pharisaic in its origin, and John Hyrcanus was 
 himself a valued disciple of the Pharisees. But the relative im- 
 portance attached by them to political supremacy and religious 
 praxis was gradually bringing about an estrangement between 
 this powerful sect and the reigning high priest. The Pharisees 
 cared nothing for political prestige ; all they wanted was freedom 
 to carry out the provisions of the law. Hyrcanus, on the other 
 hand, subordinated his zeal for the law to the worldly interests of 
 his own house. An open rupture seems to have come about in a 
 somewhat trivial manner. Josephus relates that on one occasion, 
 when a number of Pharisees were his guests, Hyrcanus asked 
 them to point out anything faulty in his conduct, that he might 
 correct it. A certain Eleazar boldly said : " Since thou desirest 
 to know the truth, if thou wilt be righteous in earnest, lay down 
 the high priesthood and content thyself with the civil government 
 of the people." Hyrcanus inquired the reason of this demand. 
 As given by Eleazar, it was even more distasteful than the 
 demand itself. " We have heard it from old men," said he, 
 "that thy mother had been a captive under the reign of 
 Antiochus Epiphanes." This, however, was false ; and Hyrcanus, 
 greatly enraged, asked the Pharisees how such a slanderer 
 should be dealt with. They adjudged him worthy of " stripes 
 and bonds " ; but with this mild verdict Hyrcanus was not 
 satisfied. He suspected that Eleazar had expressed the real 
 sentiment of his party, and that the Pharisees were anxious to 
 strip him of his priestly dignity. He accordingly abandoned 
 the sect, repudiated their traditions and their interpretation 
 of the law, enacted penalties against the observance of their 
 precepts, and formally joined the Sadducees. In the freer atmo- 
 sphere breathed by the sons of Zadok the law need never clash 
 with what he conceived to be conducive to the independence 
 ii 
 
1 62 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 of the Jewish State. Hyrcanus was right in so far as his action 
 was a moral protest against the Pharisaic mode of handling the 
 law ; he was wrong in so far as it was a claim that the royal and 
 the priestly power should be exercised by the same person. 
 That the Pharisees entertained no imaginary distrust on this 
 score, but perceived a real danger to all that they held sacred, 
 events Avere soon to prove. The interests of religion were only 
 too frequently sacrificed to the exigencies of worldly politics. In 
 the history of the Asmonean princes we are already face to face 
 with the problem of Church and State. 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 Revival of Hellenism 
 
 1. Judas Aristobulus. — From the days of Hyrcanus, who was 
 strong enough to weather even the opposition of the Pharisees, 
 the Asmonean dynasty rapidly degenerated. John bequeathed 
 the civil power to his wife, and the high priesthood to Judas 
 Aristobulus, the eldest of his five sons. But Aristobulus resent- 
 fully imprisoned all his relatives except his brother Antigonus, 
 and assumed the title of king, which no Jew had borne since the 
 Exile. The coins, indeed, were inscribed with the simple name 
 " Judas the high priest," for there were many in Israel who would 
 own no earthly king, or at all events none outside the Davidic 
 line. But the Greek proclivities of the young prince were very 
 decided, and even won for him the surname of Phil-Hellen. The 
 withdrawal of Hyrcanus from the Pharisees had initiated a 
 reaction in favour of the Greek culture. He called his sons by 
 Greek names, and they gave themselves up to Greek manners. 
 In Aristobulus the civic ruler completely overshadowed the high 
 priest. The work of the early Maccabees was already being 
 
REVIVAL OF HELLENISM 1 63 
 
 undone by their own descendants. Not that every shred of 
 genuine Jewish feeling had as yet departed from the Asmoneans. 
 Aristobulus overran and annexed Iturea in the north of 
 Palestine, and forced circumcision upon the inhabitants, as 
 Hyrcanus had done in the case of the Idumeans in the south. 
 After a brief reign of one year, which saw no other enterprise 
 of consequence, he died of a painful disease. During his ill- 
 ness he was led to suspect that Antigonus meant to supplant 
 him. He ordered his brother to come to him unarmed, and 
 instructed his guards to slay him if he carried weapons. The 
 very parties who aroused the king's suspicion now represented to 
 Antigonus that Aristobulus desired him to present himself in 
 new armour. The plot succeeded, and the innocent Antigonus 
 was slain. Remorse for this crime is said to have precipitated 
 the king's death. Strabo, quoted by Josephus, describes 
 Aristobulus as "a man of candour, and very serviceable to 
 the Jews." Possibly the accounts we have of his unnatural 
 treatment of his relatives are coloured by the malice of the 
 Pharisees. 
 
 2. Alexander Jannaus : his Earlier Campaigns. — Aristobulus 
 left no son to succeed him. After his death, his widow, Salome 
 Alexandra, liberated his three brothers, and made the eldest of 
 them, Alexander Jannaus (Heb. Jannai = Jonathan), king and 
 high priest. In accordance with Hebrew custom, she also became 
 his wife. Alexander began his reign of twenty-six years (B.C. 
 104-78) by putting to death one of his brothers who aimed at the 
 kingdom. He gave the same support to Hellenism as did his 
 predecessor, and had his coins inscribed in Greek as well as in 
 Hebrew. Essentially a man of war, Jannaus first of all set his 
 heart on acquiring the coast of Philistia, and laid siege to 
 Ptolemais. This brought him into collision with Ptolemy 
 Lathurus, who had been expelled from Egypt by his mother 
 Cleopatra, and had established himself in Cyprus. First the 
 inhabitants of Ptolemais, and afterwards the people of Gaza, 
 
164 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 invoked the assistance of this prince against Alexander. Aided 
 by the skilful generalship of Philostephanus, Ptolemy inflicted a 
 crushing defeat upon the Jews near the Jordan, and perpetrated 
 barbarous cruelties in the surrounding villages. This success 
 led Cleopatra to despatch a fleet and an army against him. 
 The Egyptian queen soon made herself mistress of Palestine, 
 and was advised to annex it. But her Jewish general Ananias 
 so resolutely opposed this course, that she consented to ratify 
 by treaty the independence of the Jewish State. Ptolemy then 
 judged it prudent to return to Cyprus. Alexander found a fresh 
 field for his warlike energies in the north-east of Palestine. He 
 took Gadara after a ten months' siege, and also the fortress of 
 Amathus. On the Philistine seaboard he captured Raphia and 
 Anthedon, and laid siege to Gaza. For a whole year this 
 ancient stronghold stood out, and ultimately fell into his hands 
 only through the treachery of Lysimachus against his brother 
 Apollodotus. How thoroughly Gaza had been Hellenised 
 appears from these names, and also from the fact that 500 
 senators were in sederunt at the time of the attack. Jannaus 
 gave over the city to fire and sword. 
 
 3. Civil War between Jannaus and the Pharisees. — But Jannaus 
 had to pay dearly for his victory. His dominions had been 
 extended at the cost of internal strife. The sons of Hyrcanus 
 identified themselves with the Sadducees ; but the party of the 
 law had nevertheless been steadily gaining in power and influence 
 with the people. It was no longer as in the days of the earlier 
 Asmoneans, when the popular enthusiasm made it impossible for 
 them to do more than take their own course as men who had to do 
 with God and the law, and not with war and politics. Thousands 
 of Jews were scandalised to see a man like Jannaus, whose hands 
 literally reeked with blood, discharging the functions of the 
 high priest. The ranks of the Pharisees were largely recruited 
 from those who were thus minded. On. the king's return from 
 Gaza the smouldering discontent at last broke out. During the 
 
REVIVAL OF HELLENISM 1 65 
 
 Feast of Tabernacles he was pelted by the mob with the citrons 
 which they were required to carry along with the festal palm- 
 branch. They also reviled him as the son of a prisoner of war, 
 and not worthy to fill the priest's office. Jannaus avenged this 
 insult by ordering his foreign troops to fall upon the assembled 
 multitude, of whom no fewer than 6000 were slain. After this 
 exciting episode Alexander invaded Perea, and made tributary 
 the Arab tribes who dwelt there. He also demolished Amathus. 
 But his next movement was attended with disaster. During a 
 battle with Obodas, king of Arabia, at Gadara in Gilead, he was 
 caught in an ambush, lost all his troops, and barely escaped 
 with his life to Jerusalem. The people then openly rebelled. 
 For six years there raged a fierce civil war between the two 
 opposing parties. The Sadducees sided with the king ; the 
 Pharisees, with the populace at their back, tried to throw off his 
 yoke. Mercenaries were hired on both sides, and 50,000 Jews 
 are said to have lost their lives in the struggle. Wearied with 
 the protracted misery, Jannaus besought the Pharisees to look on 
 him with a kindlier eye ; but their bitterness knew no bounds. 
 When he asked them what he could do to satisfy them, they 
 told him to kill himself, and presently summoned to their aid 
 Demetrius Eucarus, then governor of Damascus. Near Shechem 
 a battle was fought ; Alexander was worsted, and fled to the 
 mountains. A strange thing then happened to turn the scale 
 once more in his favour. Out of pity for the helpless condition 
 of the heir of the Maccabees, 6000 Jews from the opposite camp 
 went over to Alexander. This reawakening of the national 
 sentiment caused Demetrius to leave the country, and enabled 
 Jannaus to suppress the revolt. He took a wolfish revenge on 
 his Pharisaic foes. During a dissolute revel he had about eight 
 hundred prisoners crucified, and while they were yet alive ordered 
 their wives and children to be butchered before their eyes. After 
 this his enemies, to the number of 8000, fled away in the night, and 
 remained in exile as long as he lived. " Son of a Thracian " was 
 the contemptuous epithet currently applied to him ; but so far as 
 
1 66 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 the Pharisees were concerned he reigned henceforth in peace 
 The tranquillity of the land was, indeed, soon again to be dis- 
 turbed, but this time from without. 
 
 4. Later Campaigns of Alexander Jannaus — A contest for the 
 throne of the now tottering Syrian Empire was taking place 
 between Philip and Dionysius, the only surviving sons of 
 Antiochus Grypos. Dionysius was also conducting a campaign 
 against Aretas, king of the Arabians, and determined to pro- 
 ceed by way of Joppa to the trans-Jordanic region in order to 
 meet his enemy. Although Jannaus vainly endeavoured to 
 obstruct his passage through Judea, Antiochus fell in the battle 
 that ensued. Thereupon Aretas took possession of Ccele-Syria, 
 and defeated Jannaus at Adida. By mutual agreement, however, 
 the conqueror withdrew from Judea. Whatever were the terms 
 of the treaty with Aretas, the next three years (B.C. 84-81) were 
 devoted by Alexander to the reconquest of those districts east 
 of the Jordan which he had been forced to part with during 
 the civil war. Having captured Pella, Dium, and the wealthy 
 Gerasa, he marched northwards upon Golan and Seleucia, both 
 of which fell into his hands, as did also the fortress of Gamala. 
 Pella he laid waste because its inhabitants refused to embrace 
 Judaism. His dominions now equalled those of the ancient 
 Davidic kingdom — a result attained, however, at great cost of 
 men and means. Although physically enfeebled by his exertions 
 and excesses, Alexander Jannaus could not, during the three 
 years that yet remained to him, altogether rest from war. His 
 death, which was hastened by hard drinking, took place at the 
 siege of Ragaba in Perea, in B.C. 78. 
 
PHARISAIC REACTION UNDER ALEXANDRA 167 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 Pharisaic Reaction under Alexandra 
 
 1. Alexandra (B.C. 78-69). — The accession of Alexander's widow 
 was signalised by a reversal of the policy pursued since the time 
 of Hyrcanus. To the leading representatives of the Pharisees 
 she declared her intention of conducting the affairs of the king- 
 dom in accordance with their principles. The elated Pharisees 
 gave a splendid funeral to their deceased antagonist, and even 
 praised his virtues. Alexandra's elder son, Hyrcanus II., a spirit- 
 less weakling, was appointed high priest, while Aristobulus, the 
 younger and more energetic, was studiously left out in the 
 cold. All the Pharisaic observances abrogated by Hyrcanus 
 were restored, and everything arranged to the liking of the new 
 masters. While, however, she allowed them a free hand in 
 moulding the internal life of the nation, the queen asserted her 
 authority in the control of external affairs. By maintaining a 
 strong army of foreign mercenaries, who might transgress the 
 law without complaint from the Pharisees, she effectually secured 
 the peace of the country. 
 
 The excessive zeal of the Pharisees, however, again threw the 
 nation into a ferment. Instead of letting well alone, they urged 
 the queen to punish by death those who had advised the cruci- 
 fixion of the 800 rebels. But after Diogenes and other friends of 
 Jannaus had been cut down, the leaders of the Sadducees openly 
 remonstrated with Alexandra, and invoked her protection. To 
 their representations were added the bitter reproaches of her 
 own son, Aristobulus ; and the unhappy queen, utterly at a loss 
 how to create a rapport between the two parties, handed over 
 to the Sadducees all the fortresses except those of Hyrcania, 
 Alexandrium, and Machaerus. They now waited for a favourable 
 opportunity to revolt. This came soon. As his mother lay 
 
1 68 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 dangerously ill, the wily Aristobulus stole away from Jerusalem 
 by night, and within a fortnight got ^twenty-two fortresses to 
 declare for him. A large army flocked to his standard. The 
 news of these proceedings was carried to Alexandra's deathbed 
 by Hyrcanus and the elders, who besought her to intimate her 
 wishes. She reminded them that they had a nation in good 
 heart, an army, and a well-filled treasury ; these resources they 
 must use as they thought fit ; she was no longer for this world. 
 Alexandra then died (B.C. 69), in the seventy-third year of her 
 age and the ninth of her reign. In ambition she resembled 
 Athaliah, the only other woman who ever held the Jewish sceptre. 
 
 2. Aristobulus II. (B.C. 69-63).— The downfall of the Asmonean 
 house was now at hand. On the death of Alexandra, Hyrcanus 
 II., the high priest, assumed the government, but within three 
 months was compelled to retire in favour of his younger brother, 
 Aristobulus II. After his defeat in a battle at Jericho, many of 
 the soldiers of Hyrcanus went over to the opposite camp. He 
 then fled to the citadel of Jerusalem, and sued for peace. For- 
 tunately for him, the wife and family of Aristobulus, who had 
 been shut up in the tower by Alexandra, still remained there ; 
 otherwise the conqueror might not have been so easy to deal 
 with. As it was, Aristobulus was willing that Hyrcanus should 
 live in Jerusalem and retain his private revenues, provided he 
 gave up all claim to the throne and the priesthood. To this 
 Hyrcanus agreed, and the two brothers publicly pledged them- 
 selves to observe the terms of the compact. The accession of 
 Aristobulus meant the disappearance of the Pharisaic influence 
 from the national councils, and the revival of the policy in vogue 
 prior to the reign of Alexandra. The law and its devotees were 
 alike thrust into the background. To another class also this 
 change of regime was distasteful. The foreign generals to whom 
 Alexandra had given the charge of her army must have perceived 
 that their position was no longer secure now that the Sadducees 
 were once more in power. 
 
PHARISAIC REACTION UNDER ALEXANDRA 169 
 
 3. The Idumean Antipater. — But no one was more dissatisfied 
 with the abdication of Hyrcanus than a certain Idumean called 
 Antipater, who, together with his son Herod, was practically to 
 shape the course of Jewish politics down to the Christian era. This 
 man's father had been appointed governor of Idumea by Alex- 
 ander Jannaus, and had sedulously ingratiated himself with the 
 neighbouring tribes. The youthful Antipater pursued the same 
 policy, and continued through life to act on the principle of self- 
 aggrandisement by alliance with the powerful. As one having 
 his own axe to grind, he had hoped much from his friendship 
 with Hyrcanus, and looked with anything but equanimity on the 
 elevation of his energetic opponent, Aristobulus. He accordingly 
 resolved to secure, if possible, the restoration of Hyrcanus. First 
 of all, he represented to prominent Jews the injustice of the arrange- 
 ment whereby the younger son usurped the rights of the elder. 
 Then he tried to persuade Hyrcanus that his life was in danger 
 while his brother remained king. At first Hyrcanus would not 
 listen, but after a while he was induced to flee to Petra, the capital 
 of Aretas, who had agreed to give him a friendly reception. The 
 scheming Idumean further got the Arabian monarch to promise 
 to reinstate Hyrcanus in his kingdom, on condition that the latter 
 should restore to him the twelve cities which Jannaus had taken 
 from the Arabians. Aretas then marched against Aristobulus, and 
 defeated him. This caused many of his troops to desert him for 
 Hyrcanus, to whom the Pharisees and the bulk of the people also 
 attached themselves. With a small following of priests, Aristo- 
 bulus retired to the temple mount, where he was besieged by the 
 Arabs and Pharisees. The morale of this coalition army seems 
 to have been of the lowest type. According to Josephus, they 
 got hold of a certain holy man called Onias, and desired him to 
 invoke the curse of God on Aristobulus and his partisans. Onias 
 entreated God to hearken to the prayers of neither party against 
 their brethren, whereupon the bystanders, not appreciating such 
 neutrality, stoned him to death. The besiegers also meanly with- 
 held from the priests certain animals for sacrifice at the Feast of 
 
170 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 the Passover, although they had been paid for at the rate of a 
 thousand drachmas each. 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 Conquest of Palestine by the Romans 
 
 1. The Arbitrament of Rome. — Meanwhile a new element entered 
 into the situation. That intimate relationship with Rome which 
 the Jewish leaders had once and again vainly sought to establish, 
 they were now to experience, though scarcely in the form that 
 they had anticipated. While Aristobulus was being besieged in 
 Jerusalem, Pompey the Great was busied with his conquests in 
 Asia. In B.C. 65, during the war with Tigranes, king of Armenia, 
 he sent Scaurus into Syria. At Damascus that general heard 
 enough to induce him to proceed forthwith to Judea, where both 
 parties solicited his support. Scaurus decided in favour of Aristo- 
 bulus, and ordered Aretas to withdraw, unless he chose to incur 
 the enmity of the Romans. The restoration of Hyrcanus would 
 have meant the supremacy of the Arabs in Palestine ; and it was 
 the policy of Rome to maintain the independence of the several 
 petty kingdoms in Syria until they could be merged one by one 
 in the great republic. Thus threatened, Aretas took himself off, 
 and Scaurus returned to Damascus. Aristobulus, however, fell 
 upon the retreating Arabians, and defeated them with great 
 slaughter. 
 
 The appeal to the arbitrament of Rome was renewed in B.C. 64, 
 on the arrival of Pompey himself at Damascus. Three separate 
 parties appeared to state their case before him. Antipater claimed 
 the crown for Hyrcanus as the legal heir, and denounced Aristo- 
 bulus as a freebooter and a pirate ; Aristobulus was represented 
 by a certain Nicodemus, who urged the incapacity of Hyrcanus ; 
 
CONQUEST OF PALESTINE BY THE ROMANS I 7 T 
 
 the Jewish people also, wearied with the degeneracy of the ruling 
 house, sent an embassy, praying that the monarchy should be 
 abolished, and that the ancient constitution, according to which 
 the nation was subject only to the priests of God, should be 
 restored. Although Aristobulus had prefaced his claim by send- 
 ing a rich present to Pompey, the latter put off a final decision 
 on the controversy. He had first, he said, to deal with the Naba- 
 teans ; but afterwards he would visit Jerusalem in person, and 
 settle their affairs. Dissatisfied with this temporising policy, 
 Aristobulus marched by way of Dium across the Jordan, and 
 entrenched himself in the mountain fortress of Alexandrium. 
 Pompey deferred his expedition against the Nabateans, and 
 advanced by Pella and Scythopolis to Coreae, against Aristobulus. 
 The latter, after some parley, surrendered his fortresses, but fell 
 back upon the capital, and prepared for war. Pompey, however, 
 pitched his camp at Jericho, and in the morning appeared before 
 the walls of Jerusalem. Aristobulus approached him with pro- 
 mises of money, and offered to surrender the city. But when 
 Pompey despatched his favourite Gabinius to see that these 
 conditions were fulfilled, the king's soldiers closed the gates 
 against him. Aristobulus was thereupon thrown into prison, and 
 Pompey in wrath attacked the city. 
 
 2. Jerusalem besieged and occupied by the Romans. — Inside 
 the walls Jerusalem was divided against itself. Eventually the 
 party of Hyrcanus got the upper hand, and surrendered the city. 
 But the followers of Aristobulus withdrew to the temple mount, 
 cut off the bridge, declined all terms, and prepared for a siege. 
 Any assault on the temple was feasible from the north side only, 
 and even there the fortifications were exceedingly strong. With 
 much difficulty the Romans contrived to fill up the deep moat, 
 and to place their battering-rams in position. It was only by util- 
 ising the Sabbaths, when the Jews would not handle a weapon, 
 save in self-defence, that these measures were accomplished. 
 After a three months' siege, a breach was made in the fortifica- 
 
172 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 tions. A son of the dictator Sulla was the first to scale the wall. 
 The Romans poured in at his heels, and the sacred precincts ran 
 with blood (B.C. 63). Twelve thousand Jews perished ; and many 
 priests were cut down at the altar. But to the Jewish mind the 
 greatest enormity of all was the sacrilegious act of Pompey in 
 entering the Holy of Holies. This he did apparently out of 
 curiosity, for he abstracted none of the temple treasures. He 
 even gave orders for the purification of the sanctuary, and for the 
 continuance of the legal sacrifices under Hyrcanus II., who was 
 designated high priest and ethnarch, without the title of king. 
 The instigators of the war were beheaded, and the country was 
 made tributary to the Romans. At one blow the fabric of Jewish 
 freedom, so laboriously built up, fell down, never to rise again. 
 This, then, was the outcome of their miserable internal strifes, 
 and of the insane policy of inviting the interference of strangers. 
 The spirit of the Maccabees was dead, and the work of a century 
 annulled. Judea was once more reduced to the dimensions of a 
 small shire, and a Roman garrison occupied Jerusalem. Galilee, 
 Samaria, the cities to the east of the Jordan, and the maritime 
 towns, were all taken from the Jews and joined to the Roman 
 province of Syria. Pompey then travelled by way of Cilicia, in 
 order to celebrate his triumph at Rome. Aristobulus and his 
 family he carried along with him as prisoners. The elder son, 
 Alexander, effected his escape ; but his brother Antigonus, and 
 his two sisters, had to march beside their father in front of 
 Pompey's chariot when in B.C. 61 that commander paraded the 
 streets of the metropolis in all the pomp of victory. Many other 
 Jewish captives also were forced to walk in that procession. 
 These were subsequently set at liberty, and formed the nucleus 
 of the important Jewish community existing at Rome a century 
 later. 
 
BOOK VI 
 
 THE ROMAN PERIOD, B.C. 63-4 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 The Downfall of the Asmoneans 
 
 1. Syria under the Romans. — The power of the Seleucidae had 
 been destroyed by Pompey in B.C. 65 during his campaign in 
 Asia, and Syria had become a Roman province. As Palestine 
 was still subject to the oversight of the governors of this province, 
 its history continued to be bound up with that of Syria, and began 
 to be a factor in the larger history of Rome. Some account 
 must therefore here be taken of the leading events in the Roman 
 history of the period. In B.C. 60, Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus 
 formed the so-called First Triumvirate, which was, however, 
 merely a secret compact between themselves. Seven years later, 
 Crassus, after being defeated by the Parthians at Charrae (the 
 ancient Haran), was murdered while attending a conference. 
 He was succeeded in the administration of Syria by Cassius 
 Longinus. Civil war broke out between Caesar and Pompey in 
 B.C. 49. In August of the year following Pompey was worsted 
 at Pharsalia, and shortly thereafter was assassinated in Egypt. 
 Caesar now acted as sole dictator, and appointed Sextus Caesar, 
 one of his own relatives, governor of Syria. But meanwhile 
 many difficulties cropped up in connection with the civil govern- 
 ment, and various classes became discontented. At length, in B.C. 
 
 173 
 
174 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 44, Caesar perished through a conspiracy headed by Brutus and 
 Cassius. Driven from Rome after the funeral oration of Mark 
 Antony, these two leaders of the republicans hastened to establish, 
 if possible, their dominion in the East. At Rome there was set 
 up a new Triumvirate, consisting of Antony, Octavian (grand- 
 nephew and heir of Caesar), and Lepidus, the governor of 
 Narbonese Gaul. Their armies encountered and defeated those 
 of the conspirators at Philippi in B.C. 42. Brutus and Cassius 
 both committed suicide. In B.C. 38, Sosius, then governor of Syria, 
 subdued Antigonus, whom the Parthians had set up as king in 
 Judea. The new Triumvirate also was to split on the rock of 
 selfish ambition. First of all Lepidus declared his independence, 
 but only to be deprived of his province and relegated to private 
 life. Then heart-burnings arose to alienate Antony and Octavian, 
 and war broke out between them in B.C. 32. In September of the 
 next year the decisive battle was fought at Actium, and ended in 
 the overthrow of Antony. He then fled to Egypt, but in B.C. 30 
 he was once more defeated by Octavian. After this fresh disaster, 
 Cleopatra, with whom he had lived a voluptuous life, joined him 
 in seeking a voluntary death. Left thus without a rival, Octavian 
 assumed the title of Augustus, and the sovereignty of the Roman 
 Empire. In B.C. 23 his gifted captain, confidential friend, and 
 future son-in-law, Agrippa, was sent with large powers to Syria, 
 which (often by means of legates) he continued to govern for ten 
 years. 
 
 2. Revival of Patriotic Sentiment among the Jews. — After having 
 tasted freedom, the Jewish people were in no mood tamely to 
 submit themselves to a foreign yoke. Under Pharisaic influence 
 the national life had no doubt been largely diverted from state- 
 craft into the peaceful channels of religion and commerce. At no 
 time had religious thought attained more prominence and strength. 
 From the legalistic standpoint it was firmly held that Israel was 
 the people of God, and would experience the fulfilment of the 
 divine promises through punctilious attention to duty. This idea, 
 
THE DOWNFALL OF THE ASMONEANS 1 75 
 
 which runs through the whole of the apocalyptic literature sub- 
 sequent to the Maccabean age, had certainly been well drilled 
 into the public mind. But all this religious zeal did not in the 
 circumstances prevent a wonderful revival of Jewish national feel- 
 ing. The question, what was their duty, still pressed for solution. 
 The ardent spirit of the masses rejected as antiquated the doctrines 
 of the stricter Pharisees, and began to regard patriotic sentiment 
 as a means of realising their Messianic hopes. Their efforts to 
 throw off the Roman dominion they took as the measure of their 
 faith in the promises of God. Men forgot the religions character 
 of the Messiah. He was conceived as a temporal prince ; and for 
 the most part the idea of the personal ruler was lost sight of in 
 the anticipation of the temporal kingdom. This could never have 
 happened but for the fact that in Judea Church and State were 
 one. The theocratic views of the people made it impossible for 
 them to separate the thought of the Messiah from that of a 
 victorious earthly king, and caused them to cling to the political 
 idea till it was finally extinguished in the ashes of the Holy City. 
 Formerly, under the Persians, and for a long time under the 
 Greeks also, the Jews were content to bear their political vassal- 
 age so long as they had spiritual independence. Now it was 
 otherwise. For a generation they persisted in the struggle for 
 freedom, and earned the reputation of being an unusually intract- 
 able and turbulent race. 
 
 3. Ineffectual Efforts of the Asmoneans to assume Power. — When, 
 accordingly, in a.d. 57, Alexander the son of Aristobulus, who 
 had escaped from the Romans, appeared in Palestine, they were 
 ready to fight in support of his claims to the throne. Hyrcanus 
 II. they looked on as but the tool of Antipater and the Romans. 
 As the accepted representative of the national cause, Alexander 
 soon drove Hyrcanus from Jerusalem, but was hindered by the 
 Roman garrison from rebuilding the walls, which Pompey had 
 demolished. The chief fortresses, however, fell into his hands before 
 Gabinius, now proconsul of Syria, could lead his troops against 
 
176 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 him. Alexander was defeated in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, 
 and obliged to fall back on Alexandrium. Leaving part of his 
 army to conduct the siege, Gabinius went to superintend the 
 restoration of Ashdod, Gaza, and other cities devastated by the 
 Asmonean princes. This policy was crowned with success, and 
 earned the gratitude of multitudes. Out of concern for the 
 captives at Rome, the mother of Alexander ultimately induced him 
 to surrender, and on this condition he was set at liberty. 
 
 Gabinius now took measures which gave a new political com- 
 plexion to Palestine, and deprived the Jews of what little freedom 
 Pompey had left them. Hyrcanus he restored to Jerusalem, but 
 committed to him the care of the temple only. For purposes of 
 jurisdiction and administration he partitioned the country into five 
 districts (<rvuehpt»\ each having its own council or Sanhedrin for 
 the decision of local questions. The headquarters of these circuits 
 were Jerusalem, Gadara, Amathus, Jericho, and Sepphoris. In 
 vain were these steps taken to weaken the prestige of Jerusalem, 
 and to destroy the national unity. The change from a monarchy 
 to an aristocracy was, however, a popular one, especially with the 
 inhabitants of the provinces, and with the Pharisees, who had 
 never approved the attempts made to secure political independ- 
 ence. 
 
 In B.C. 56 the Sadducean party made another effort to recover 
 their lost supremacy. Aristobulus and his son Antigonus had 
 escaped from Rome, and had raised a considerable army in 
 Palestine. But the insurgents could not cope with the legions of 
 Gabinius, and Aristobulus, after a brave struggle, in which he 
 sustained heavy losses, retreated across the Jordan to Machserus. 
 Covered with wounds, he was forced to surrender after a two days' 
 siege, and was once more carried a prisoner to Rome. As 
 Gabinius now went into Egypt to reinstate the ousted King 
 Ptolemy XI. Auletes, Antipater took occasion to ingratiate him- 
 self with the Roman general by handing over supplies for his 
 army, and by influencing in his favour the Egyptian Jews located 
 at Pelusium to guard the frontier. His services were also requisi- 
 
THE DOWNFALL OF THE ASMONEANS I 77 
 
 tioned by Gabinius, when, on returning from Egypt in B.C. 55, he 
 found Judea again in revolt under Alexander. After Antipater 
 had brought a number of Jews to submission, Gabinius defeated 
 Alexander and his 30,000 irreconcilables at Mount Tabor. 
 
 In B.C. 54 the triumvir Crassus came to Syria as successor 
 to Gabinius. To defray the costs of his expedition against the 
 Parthians, he robbed the temple at Jerusalem ; but soon after- 
 wards both he and his army perished at Carrhae. This was the 
 signal for another Jewish rising, which, however, after repulsing 
 the Parthians, Cassius promptly suppressed. Near the Lake of 
 Galilee he routed the Jews in battle, and reduced 30,000 of them 
 to slavery. 
 
 On the flight of Pompey and the Senate from Rome in B.C. 49, 
 Caesar released Aristobulus from prison in order to send him with 
 two legions into Syria. Before this plan could be carried out, 
 however, the adherents of Pompey managed to cut off Aristobulus 
 by poison ; and about the same time his son Alexander was 
 beheaded by Scipio at Antioch. 
 
 4. Antipater becomes Procurator of Judea. — Although Hyrcanus 
 ir. was nominally head of the Jewish people, he was in reality 
 only the puppet of Antipater. Nor did the defeat and death of 
 Pompey break the power of the clever Idumean. His project of 
 securing the kingdom for his own house could only be realised, 
 as he clearly perceived, by siding with the Romans, and with 
 whatever party among the Romans might for the moment be in 
 the ascendant. Accordingly, after the battle of Pharsalia, this 
 past master in finesse became an active supporter of Julius 
 Caesar. In B.C. 47 he rendered valuable service during the 
 Dictator's campaign against Ptolemy in Egypt. After the war 
 was ended, Caesar went to Syria and heaped rewards upon 
 Hyrcanus and Antipater. In vain did Antigonus, the sole 
 surviving son of Aristobulus n. , appeal to Caesar to confer the 
 government upon himself. The only result of his interference 
 was to benefit still further his opponents Hyrcanus was now 
 12 
 
178 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 appointed ethnarch of the Jews, with the political power of which 
 he had been deprived by the five synedria of Gabinius ; and 
 Antipater was made procurator of all Judea {i.e. including Samaria 
 and Galilee). 
 
 Caesar wisely granted a large measure of liberty to subject 
 races ; this led them to regard the Roman rule not as an irritating 
 yoke, but as a defence against enemies. When, therefore, about 
 this time a golden shield was presented by a Jewish embassy at 
 Rome, it was cordially accepted, and protection promised to their 
 country and harbours, just as if Judea had been an independent 
 State. Moreover, the fast friendship which had sprung up between 
 Caesar and Antipater secured many special advantages to the 
 Jews of Palestine, and also to those of the Diaspora. This was 
 strikingly shown when, in B.C. 46, as Caesar was preparing to fight 
 against Scipio and Cato in Africa, Jewish ambassadors came to 
 ask for fresh concessions. He ordained that the regulations of 
 their law as to the annual payment of tribute should be respected, 
 and that the high priest should have his customary revenues ; 
 that no military burdens should be imposed upon Judea ; that the 
 city of Joppa should be handed over to the Jews as an inheritance 
 for the high priest ; that Lydda and other places which Pompey 
 had taken from them should be restored ; that seats of honour 
 should be reserved for Hyrcanus and his friends at the gladia- 
 torial shows in the Roman amphitheatre ; and that he should have 
 special facilities in the matter of approaching the Senate. By 
 reason of their Sabbath law the Jews were also freed from 
 military service. Although these privileges were practically the 
 result of Caesar's gratitude to Antipater, the Jews chafed under 
 their growing subjection to the Idumean. He now openly used 
 threats to enforce his will ; and as a step towards making his 
 power hereditary in his own house, he appointed his eldest son, 
 Phasael, governor of Jerusalem, and his second son, Herod, 
 governor of Galilee. These measures excited much hostility 
 towards him throughout Judea. The Sadducean aristocracy, 
 who had held influential positions in the synedria, exerted them- 
 
THE DOWNFALL OF THE ASMONEANS 1 79 
 
 selves to make the power of Hyrcanus something more than a 
 name. For once the Pharisees sided with them, and even the 
 indolent Hyrcanus shared the general discontent. The address 
 and courage of his two sons, however, combined with his own 
 ability, enabled Antipater to surmount all difficulties so long as 
 Caesar was alive ; but not even his foresight could discount such 
 an event as the assassination of "the foremost man in all the 
 world" (B.C. 44). This suddenly threw his machinery out of 
 gear, and made the Jews less inclined than ever to endure the 
 hated domination of the Idumeans. When, therefore, Antipater, 
 true to his uniform policy, transferred his service to the republican 
 cause, and zealously began to collect the exorbitant taxes levied 
 by Cassius, a certain ambitious protege of his, named Malichus, 
 had him secretly poisoned, thinking thereby to preserve Judea for 
 the Jews (B.C. 43). But by this course he overshot the mark ; it 
 caused Antipater to be thought of as a just, pious, and patriotic 
 man, and left the Jews to deal with a greater than Antipater in 
 the person of his distinguished son. 
 
 5. The Sons of Antipater. — Phasael appears to have shown zeal 
 and tact in managing the affairs of Jerusalem ; but Herod was in 
 every way the stronger of the two brothers, and was destined to 
 leave his mark upon Jewish history. While yet a youth, as 
 governor of Galilee, he had courageously executed the robber- 
 chief Hezekiah. This endeared Herod to the Syrians, and also 
 to the Roman governor, Sextus Caesar ; but it brought him into 
 collision with the Sanhedrin, which had the sole right to pro- 
 nounce a death sentence. Hyrcanus was persuaded to summon 
 Herod to answer for his conduct before this body. But the head- 
 strong culprit defied them ; he appeared before his judges clothed 
 in purple and attended by a bodyguard. They were thoroughly 
 cowed, and remained silent. Only one scribe— the famous 
 Shammai — inveighed against the toleration of so scandalous an 
 attempt to overbear justice. After this reproachful speech it 
 would certainly have gone hard with Herod, had not Hyrcanus, 
 
l8o FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 to whom Sextus Caesar had written ordering his acquittal, weakly 
 adjourned the trial and advised him to escape. Herod accord- 
 ingly retired to Damascus, and was appointed by Sextus governor 
 of Ccele-Syria. He then advanced with an army against Jeru- 
 salem to avenge the affront that had been offered to him ; but 
 his father and his brother, like the relatives of Coriolanus before 
 the walls of Rome, induced him to withdraw his troops. 
 
 Shortly after this, in B.C. 46, Sextus was slain and supplanted 
 by Caecilius Bassus, one of Pompey's adherents. Thereupon, 
 under the successive leadership of Vetus and Murcus (B.C. 45-44), 
 Caesar's party, aided by Antipater, besieged him in Apamea, but 
 without result. When, however, after the murder of Caesar, 
 Cassius arrived in Syria, he succeeded in getting both Bassus 
 and Murcus to join him. This gave him supremacy in Syria. 
 In order to maintain his army, he levied taxes on the various 
 towns. No regard was paid to the right of exemption held by 
 the Jews. They were ordered to pay 700 talents, which sum 
 Antipater and his sons, eager to ingratiate themselves with 
 Cassius, as formerly with Caesar, did their utmost to raise. 
 Herod was the first to hand over his contribution of 100 talents 
 from Galilee, and was reappointed governor. 
 
 The murder of Antipater, which took place about this time, 
 although not unwelcome to Hyrcanus, naturally roused the 
 indignation of his own sons. Herod was for taking immediate 
 vengeance, but Phasael persuaded him to wait for a convenient 
 opportunity of dealing with Malichus. When, therefore, the 
 latter simulated sorrow for Antipater's death, the two brothers 
 allowed him to think that his ruse had succeeded. Shortly after- 
 wards, both Herod and Malichus went into Asia Minor to con- 
 gratulate Cassius on the capture of Laodicea. Malichus repaired 
 to Tyre with the view of rescuing his son, who was living there as 
 a Roman hostage, and of subsequently raising a revolt in Judea. 
 But ere he could execute his designs, he was, at Herod's instiga- 
 tion, stabbed on the seashore by the soldiers of Cassius. 
 
 On the departure of Cassius from Syria in B.C. 42, fresh dis- 
 
THE DOWNFALL OF THE ASMONEANS 151 
 
 turbances arose in Judea. Phasael repulsed the Roman general 
 Felix, and Herod drove the brother of Malichus out of the strong- 
 holds. But the two brothers had another enemy to encounter. 
 Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus II., once more attempted to 
 assume the sovereignty. He was assisted by his brother-in-law, 
 Ptolemy Menneus of Chalcis, and by Marion, whom Cassius had 
 made despot of Tyre. Herod compelled the latter to relinquish 
 three Galilean fortresses, and earned some popularity by his 
 generous treatment of the Tyrians. He then marched against 
 Antigonus, and defeated him on the Jewish frontier. Although 
 Hyrcanus had sided with Felix against the Idumeans, Herod knew 
 that, as high priest and heir of the Maccabees, he was still a force 
 to be reckoned with, and he now astutely betrothed himself to 
 Mariamne, who, as granddaughter to both Hyrcanus and Aristo- 
 bulus, united in her own person the two contending branches of 
 the Asmonean house. 
 
 The battle of Philippi, in B.C. 42, secured for Antony the lordship 
 of Asia. At Bithynia he was met by a crowd of ambassadors. 
 Among these were some Jewish nobles, who complained that the 
 government of Hyrcanus was a farce, and that all the power was 
 in the hands of Phasael and Herod. But Antony, who had been 
 the friend of Antipater, was easily bribed by Herod to pay no 
 heed to their accusations. A second deputation, consisting of a 
 hundred of the most influential Jews, appeared before Antony at 
 Daphne in Syria to renew their suit. It succeeded no better 
 than the first. Herod was defended by a certain Messala ; and 
 Antony, having elicited from Hyrcanus the admission that Herod 
 and his friends governed the nation best, appointed Phasael and 
 Herod tetrarchs of Judea (B.C. 41). The reception given to their 
 deputies at Antioch raised quite a storm in Pharisaic circles. 
 Although it had already required Herod's intercession to prevent 
 Antony from putting to death fifteen of his accusers, no fewer 
 than a thousand Jews assembled on the shore at Tyre, in order to 
 impeach the Idumeans before him on his arrival in that city. 
 Antony issued a contemptuous order for their punishment. In 
 
182 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 vain did Herod and Hyrcanus implore them to disperse ; they 
 were scattered only before the resistless argument of Roman 
 daggers. When they continued their agitation against Herod in 
 the town, Antony wrathfully slew the prisoners whom formerly he 
 had spared. 
 
 6. Antigonus set up as King by the Parthians. — In B.C. 40, 
 
 while Antony remained captivated by Cleopatra in Egypt, the 
 Parthians, led by their prince Pacorus and the satrap Barzapharnes, 
 seized upon Syria. Antigonus promised them 1000 talents and 500 
 women if they would help him to obtain the kingdom. In two 
 divisions the Parthian troops bore down upon Palestine, and 
 were enthusiastically received by the Jews as deliverers from the 
 thraldom of Herod and the Romans. Herod had but a slender 
 foothold in Jerusalem, and the Sadducean party, allying itself with 
 Antigonus, made a last effort to regain its influence. Pacorus 
 meanwhile arrived at Jerusalem, and induced Hyrcanus and 
 Phasael to walk into a trap. Herod, however, was wily enough 
 to escape by night to Masada, at the southern end of the Dead 
 Sea. He was, of course, pursued by the Parthians, and so dis- 
 heartening did the situation appear that he actually meditated 
 suicide. Before gaining the fortress he had to cross swords 
 with the Jews also, whom he defeated on the site of the future 
 citadel of Herodium. After plundering Jerusalem and its envi- 
 rons, the Parthians enthroned Antigonus, and delivered Hyrcanus 
 and Phasael into his hands. The former was taken to Babylonia, 
 after his ears had been cut off, so as to unfit him for the high 
 priest's office, which Antigonus himself assumed under his Hebrew 
 name of Mattathias. Phasael, on the other hand, having heard 
 of Herod's escape, cheerfully killed himself in prison. Supposing 
 his brother to be alive, Herod set out for Petra, in the hope of 
 getting from the Arabian king Malchus money sufficient for his 
 redemption. Malchus, however, through dread of the Parthians, 
 warned him off his territory. He then went to Alexandria, and 
 sailed for Rome. Straightway he poured into the sympathetic 
 
THE DOWNFALL OF THE ASMONEANS 1 83 
 
 ears of Antony the tale of his misfortunes. Octavian also was 
 readily induced to take up the cause of Antipater's son, and by 
 decree of Senate Herod was proclaimed King of Judea. Mean- 
 while only an opportune rainfall saved Masada from falling into 
 the hands of Antigonus, and the Roman general Ventidius and 
 his lieutenant Silo, who were sent to oust the Parthians, both 
 accepted bribes from the Jewish pretender. His fortunes were 
 therefore distinctly on the wane when in B.C. 39 Herod landed 
 at Ptolemais. But the plundering policy of the Parthians now 
 led the masses, especially in Galilee, to revert to the Idumean 
 standard, and Herod soon commanded a large army. Having 
 taken Joppa, he marched to the relief of his relatives in Masada, 
 and finally to Jerusalem itself. Here he met with but a half- 
 hearted support from Silo and his Roman troops, who first 
 clamoured for better rations, and then withdrew to winter quarters. 
 As nothing could be done at Jerusalem, Herod sent his brother 
 Joseph with an army to Idumea, settled his relatives securely in 
 Samaria, and marched in person into Galilee. He quickly drove 
 out the garrison of Antigonus from Sepphoris, and after some 
 severe fighting subdued the robbers of Arbela. 
 
 In spite of all his efforts the ambitious Idumean had as yet 
 made little headway. The Jews clearly preferred a degenerate 
 Asmonean to a half- foreigner like Herod. If he was ever to 
 secure the kingdom, help must come to him from outside. Mean- 
 while the defeat of the Parthians in B.C. 38 enabled Ventidius to 
 send auxiliaries to Herod ; but their general Machseras, disap- 
 pointed in an attempt to master Antigonus by artifice, took to 
 slaughtering Herodians and Sadducees indiscriminately. It hap- 
 pened that Antony was then present at the siege of Samosata. 
 Herod, seizing his opportunity, hastened thither, and, after 
 rendering timely aid to the Romans, received the assurance that 
 he would be established in his kingdom. Sosius was ordered to 
 go to his assistance with two legions. 
 
 During his absence, however, many disasters befell the cause of 
 Herod. His brother Joseph had foolishly risked a battle and lost 
 
184 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 his life ; the Galileans, again in revolt, had drowned many in- 
 fluential Herodians in the lake ; the disaffection had spread to 
 Judea ; and Machaeras had retired to the fortress of Gitta. These 
 tidings reached Herod at Daphne. With all haste he marched 
 into Galilee, which he soon once more subdued. He then pro- 
 ceeded to avenge his brother's death by burning down five 
 small towns near Jericho, and by the slaughter of 2000 men. 
 At I sana he routed Pappus, whom Antigonus had sent with an 
 army against Samaria. As soon as the rigour of winter was past, 
 he laid siege to Jerusalem, and repeated the tactics of Pompey. 
 Everything having been thus set in train, Herod calmly pro- 
 ceeded to Samaria, in order to celebrate his marriage with 
 Mariamne. The event was well timed, for it enabled him to 
 pose as a sort of champion of the Asmoneans. Returning to 
 Jerusalem, he was joined by Sosius, and the united armies pro- 
 secuted the siege. In spite of the dearth of provisions entailed 
 by the Sabbatic year, the Jews inside the capital resolved to hold 
 out to the last. Their courage was sustained by the belief that 
 the Messianic deliverance was at hand. In five months, however, 
 the city was taken, and the streets ran with blood. This took 
 place in June, B.C. 37, on the twenty-sixth anniversary of the 
 capture of the city by Pompey. By distributing presents to 
 Sosius and his army, Herod contrived to restrain them from acts 
 of desecration and plunder. Antigonus fell down cringing at the 
 feet of Sosius, who contemptuously named him Antigone, and 
 carried him bound to Antioch, where Antony had him executed 
 in order to gratify Herod. The latter now obtained the kingdom 
 which the Roman Senate had made over to him three years pre- 
 viously, and the Asmonean dynasty was at an end. 
 
THE REIGN OF HEROD THE GREAT 185 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 The Reign of Herod the Great 
 
 Herod's family had long been a potent factor in Jewish politics, 
 and had in his person attained its persistent object. But although 
 his own reign was to last for more than a generation, the new 
 dynasty which he had founded scarcely survived himself. The 
 political atmosphere was so charged with electricity as to render 
 a storm inevitable. In the days of his son Archelaus it broke out 
 with fearful intensity. It is hard to say which was the greater — 
 the infamy of many of his proceedings, or the retribution that 
 followed them. 
 
 1. Consolidation of his Power. — The beginning of Herod's reign 
 was marked by an outburst of cruel selfishness. Forty-five of the 
 leading Sadducean nobles who had been supporters of Antigonus 
 were executed, and their property confiscated ; while Pollio 
 (Abtalion) and Sameas (Shammai), the leaders of the Pharisees 
 who had counselled the opening of the city gates during the siege, 
 were raised to honour. Herod was almost compelled by force of 
 circumstances to throw himself into the arms of the Pharisaic party, 
 which in his days reached the height of its prosperity. It was 
 divided into two great schools, those of Shammai and Hillel. The 
 adherents of Shammai advocated the strictest interpretation of the 
 law ; those of Hillel held views somewhat more liberal. 1 Only 
 by allying himself with the Pharisees could Herod hope to main- 
 tain the security of his throne. He seems to have had a shrewd 
 
 1 By his extraordinary thirst for knowledge, combined with a singularly 
 beautiful character, Hillel, who came from Babylon to Jerusalem in extreme 
 poverty, ultimately took precedence of all the Rabbis. It is scarcely sur- 
 prising that many should have formed an exaggerated estimate of such a 
 man. See Delitzsch's interesting essay on "Jesus and Hillel." 
 
1 86 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 perception of this from the first, when he wisely saved the temple 
 from profanation by the Roman soldiers. He had nothing to 
 hope for from the Sadducees, who, although in many respects 
 more akin to his tastes, were Asmonean partisans ; and he knew 
 that the Pharisees, as standing aloof from politics altogether, 
 would not hinder, if they did not help, his political projects. 1 The 
 consideration shown by Herod for the religious susceptibilities of 
 the Pharisees and Essenes implied no regard on his part for the 
 doctrines which they taught. His adherence to the religion of 
 Israel was purely external and prudential. That he never meant 
 the Pharisaic standpoint to be realised in his kingdom, is shown 
 by his attitude to heathenism. It was his aim to amalgamate 
 pagan forms with Jewish traditions. He surrounded himself with 
 classical influences, and endowed heathen shrines. The ideal he 
 set before himself was to mould his country with the laws of 
 Rome and the spirit of Greece. His Judaism was hardly skin 
 deep ; indeed, there was not a spark of religion in his nature. 
 He followed Antiochus Epiphanes and Aristobulus in disregarding 
 the hereditary character of the high-priestly office, which became 
 a mere appanage of the secular power. Creatures of his own, 
 mostly obscure nonentities from Babylon and Egypt, were set up 
 and removed at pleasure. In this way the power of the old priestly 
 aristocracy was broken, and the Sadducees were reluctantly com- 
 pelled to abandon politics for controversial discussion on moot 
 points of theological casuistry ; but in this field they were no 
 match for the Pharisees. It was not until after Herod's death that 
 they succeeded in regaining something of their former prestige. 
 
 Meanwhile another hostile element had to be dealt with, in the 
 shape of the still surviving Asmoneans. On them, it was quite clear, 
 the national hopes were fixed ; Herod was regarded as the minion 
 of the Romans. His marriage having failed to win for him 
 popular acceptance as the heir of the Asmoneans, Herod's gloomy 
 
 1 For active aid in this direction he had to look to the " Herodians " — 
 soldiers or attache's in his Court, whose weapons, however, were diplomatic 
 rather than military. 
 
THE REIGN OF HEROD THE GREAT 187 
 
 apprehensions led him, during the earlier years of his reign, to 
 extirpate one by one the remaining members of that dynasty. 
 A beginning was made with Aristobulus III., son of Alexander, 
 and brother of Mariamne. Complications had arisen with refer- 
 ence to the high priesthood. The mutilated Hyrcanus, who had 
 returned from Babylonia, was no longer eligible ; while Aristo- 
 bulus III., being only a youth of sixteen, was under the age pre- 
 scribed by law. Herod nominated for the office one Ananel, a 
 Babylonian Jew of Aaronic descent, but otherwise of little account. 
 This was strongly resented by Alexandra, who regarded the 
 dignity as the birthright of Aristobulus, and wrote to Cleopatra 
 to bespeak her good offices with Antony in the matter of forcing 
 Herod to confer the high priesthood on her son. As these repre- 
 sentations promised to be effectual, and as he also continued to 
 be badgered on the subject by his wife, Herod saw nothing for it 
 but to displace Ananel and give the office to Aristobulus. Both 
 acts were contrary to the law. Herod's suspicion was now 
 thoroughly roused, and Alexandra's life was rendered so miserable 
 by constant espionage, that she determined to escape with her 
 son to Cleopatra. A servant's treachery enabled Herod to frus- 
 trate this design, and he resolved to be rid of Aristobulus. The 
 enthusiasm of the people for their youthful high priest, on his 
 appearance at the Feast of Tabernacles, filled the tyrant with a 
 murderous jealousy. One day he was entertained by Alexandra 
 at Jericho, Aristobulus also being present. After the banquet, 
 at Herod's instigation, he joined others who were bathing in the 
 fish-ponds attached to the house. Some of the king's reptiles 
 plunged him under water as if in sport, but held him down until 
 he was drowned (B.C. 35). Herod shed copious tears, gave Aris- 
 tobulus a magnificent funeral, and reappointed Ananel high priest. 
 Alexandra, who took in the situation at once, succeeded through 
 Cleopatra in getting Herod summoned to defend himself before 
 Antony at Laodicea. With his usual address, however, and by 
 lavish presents, the Idumean once more ingratiated himself with 
 the voluptuous Roman, and returned in triumph to Jerusalem. 
 
1 88 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 There fresh troubles awaited him. Before departing, he had given 
 orders to Joseph, his brother-in-law, to slay his wife Mariamne in 
 the event of his own destruction by Antony, so that she might 
 never belong to another. The garrulous Joseph divulged his 
 secret, and on Herod's return Mariamne reproached him with his 
 cruel intentions. This led him to credit some scandalous reports 
 circulated by his mother Cypros and his sister Salome, with the 
 result that he had Joseph executed and Alexander thrown into 
 prison. 
 
 A third source of trouble to Herod lay beyond Palestine 
 altogether. The Egyptian Cleopatra coveted his territory, and 
 induced Antony to make over to her some of the most valuable 
 parts of it, including the coast towns and the palm-growing 
 district of Jericho. For these he had to pay tribute to her. Had 
 not his advisers dissuaded him, he would at this time have 
 assassinated Cleopatra, who visited Palestine on her way back 
 from Armenia, whither she had accompanied Antony. As it was, 
 he received her with every mark of friendship, and escorted her 
 to Egypt, while studiously eluding her wiles. The great war 
 between Octavian and Antony being now at hand, Herod pre- 
 pared an auxiliary force to aid the latter. Antony, however, 
 urged by Cleopatra, ordered him to invade Arabia and punish 
 Malchus for non-payment of tribute. By thus setting her two 
 vassals against each other, the queen of Egypt hoped to weaken 
 the power of both ; but, after a severe struggle, the Arabians 
 were forced to acknowledge the lordship of Herod. 
 
 The defeat of Antony by Octavian at Actium was a serious 
 thing for the Jewish king. It meant that the world had a new 
 master, and that master one whom he had opposed. But Herod 
 knew how to play a desperate game. First of all he removed 
 Hyrcanus from his path (B.C. 30). At such a crisis he could not 
 brook the thought of a possible rival, however old and feeble. 
 The general conduct of affairs he committed to his brother 
 Pheroras. His mother, sister, and family he placed in the 
 Stronghold of Masada. Mariamne and Alexandra were located 
 
THE REIGN OF HEROD THE GREAT 189 
 
 at Alexandrium, under the charge of two trusty men, Joseph and 
 Soemus, who were enjoined to slay them both should any mischief 
 befall himself. Having thus put his house in order, Herod 
 appeared before the conqueror in Rhodes. Upon his frankly 
 stating that he had deserted Antony not because of his defeat, 
 but because he refused to recover his fortunes by killing Cleopatra, 
 Augustus at once re-established him in his kingdom. Soon after, 
 Herod entertained his new patron with royal magnificence at 
 Ptolemais, and supplied the wants of his army. Augustus was 
 not long in gaining a victory in Egypt, where both Antony and 
 Cleopatra committed suicide. Herod hastened to meet him, and 
 received as a present not only Cleopatra's bodyguard, together 
 with all the territory of which she had deprived him, but also 
 Gadara, Hippos, Samaria, Gaza, Anthedon, Joppa, and Strato's 
 Tower. 
 
 All this public success was neutralised by domestic misery. 
 Chafing under what was practically imprisonment, provoked at 
 the wilful murder of her kinsmen, and once more aware of his 
 cruel purpose regarding herself, Mariamne received her husband 
 with haughty resentment. Herod's mother and sister did all 
 they could to foster the discord between the unhappy pair. They 
 bribed the king's cup-bearer to accuse Mariamne of an attempt to 
 poison him. Her eunuch confessed under torture that she hated 
 her husband because of his injunctions to Soemus. Herod took 
 this as a proof of his wife's infidelity, and immediately put 
 Soemus to death. A packed jury condemned Mariamne, and she 
 too was led to execution in B.C. 29. As soon as she was dead, 
 Herod was seized with remorse, and vainly resorted first to 
 feasting and then to hunting in order to drown his grief. 
 Presently he fell ill at Samaria. As his physicians seemed 
 unable to cope with the disease, Alexandra attempted to get 
 possession of the two strongholds in Jerusalem, with the view of 
 controlling the succession to the throne. When Herod heard of 
 this he ordered her execution (B.C. 28). Not content with having 
 cleared out of the way the last descendant of the Asmonean 
 
190 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 house, the bloodthirsty monster contrived to slay all who for any 
 reason were obnoxious to him. There perished thus the Idumean 
 Costobarus, Salome's second husband, and a number of his con- 
 federates. After the execution of these persons in B.C. 25, there 
 no longer remained anyone to endanger Herod's power. 
 
 2. Herod's Promotion of Pagan Culture. — Once secure in his 
 kingdom, Herod began in various ways to gratify his own 
 peculiar tastes, and to pose as the friend of the Romans. 
 Affecting to be a man of culture, he brought to his Court Greek 
 scholars and artists, honoured them with his friendship, conferred 
 upon them important offices of State, and even became their pupil 
 in philosophy and rhetoric. To this learned circle belonged the 
 historian Nicolaus of Damascus and his brother Ptolemy ; 
 another Ptolemy, who was custodian of the royal seal ; Andro- 
 machus and Gemellus, who acted as tutors to Herod's sons ; and 
 Irenaeus the orator. Except that he abstained from violence, 
 Herod's introduction of foreign practices into Palestine was such 
 as to recall the times of Antiochus Epiphanes. A theatre 
 embellished with the trophies of nations vanquished by Augustus, 
 and also an amphitheatre, were erected at Jerusalem. Festal 
 games were held every fifth year in honour of Caesar. Other 
 nations were invited to take part in the contests. These included 
 racing and wrestling, wild-beast fights and shows, musical com- 
 petitions, and other exercises familiar to the Roman arena. 
 Dispirited by recent calamities, the mass of the Jewish people 
 feebly acquiesced in this subversion of their country's law ; but 
 the more sober among them detested these sports as heathenish 
 innovations. Ten citizens of Jerusalem even conspired to murder 
 Herod in the theatre ; they were, however, betrayed and executed. 
 Soon after the informer was lynched, and Herod must have per- 
 ceived how welcome his death would have been to his subjects. 
 As a protection against their hatred, he began to, cover the land 
 with fortresses, and to maintain an organised espionage. Outside 
 the limits of Judea, he erected pagan temples and endowed com- 
 
THE REIGN OF HEROD THE GREAT 191 
 
 petitive games. In many instances he undertook costly enter- 
 prises beyond Palestine altogether. When the temple of Apollo 
 at Rhodes was burnt down, he rebuilt it at his own expense. 
 Gymnasiums at Tripoli, Damascus, and Ptolemais ; temples and 
 market-places at Berytus and Tyre ; theatres at Sidon and 
 Damascus ; baths and fountains at Ascalon ; colonnades at 
 Antioch ; and a piazza at Chios, rose as monuments of his 
 liberality. He also buttressed up the declining revenues of the 
 Olympic games. His transparently thin apology for these gifts 
 to heathen shrines and foreign cities was that as the vassal of the 
 Romans he was obliged to consult their wishes rather than his 
 own. The truth is that he was in no real sense a Jew, and that 
 behind the flimsy pretext of honouring the Romans he was 
 indulging his own vainglorious ambition. 
 
 3. Herod's Passion for Building. — At first this took the strictly 
 utilitarian form of erecting fortresses. The ancient citadel of 
 Baris was rebuilt and called Antonia ; Samaria, Strato's Tower, 
 Gaba in Galilee, and Heshbon in Perea, were all fortified and 
 garrisoned. Well-known strongholds like Alexandrium, Hyrcania, 
 Machaerus, and Masada were splendidly restored. Of the other 
 citadels built by Herod, two were named Herodium after himself, 
 and one Cypros in honour of his mother. Many new cities also, 
 built on the Roman model, owed their existence to his enterprise. 
 One, situated in the valley of the Jordan, was called Phasaelis in 
 memory of his brother. Capharsaba and Anthedon were recon- 
 structed under the new names of Antipatris and Agrippaeum. 
 A spacious royal palace was built at Jerusalem in the upper city, 
 and its main wings bore the names of Caesar and Agrippa. Out- 
 side of Judea proper, two cities especially had reason to con- 
 gratulate themselves upon his favour. These were Samaria and 
 Strato's Tower. On being reconstructed, they both received new 
 names in honour of the Roman emperor ; Samaria was called 
 Sebaste (Augusta), and Strato's Tower, Caesarea. The former 
 was considerably enlarged, and enclosed by a splendid wall 
 
192 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 twenty furlongs in length. In the middle of the city, within a 
 sacred grove, there towered a great Samaritan temple dedicated 
 to Caesar. Herod's operations at Caesarea were on a still grander 
 scale. Twelve years were spent by him in erecting this maritime 
 capital of Judea, which then stood forth as an embodiment of the 
 magnificence of his conceptions. At vast expense, on a seaboard 
 singularly destitute of safe harbours, he constructed a haven 
 rivalling the Pirnsus at Athens. Overlooking the harbour, and 
 visible far out on the Mediterranean, rose the temple of Caesar. 
 Caesarea could also boast of a substantial theatre, amphitheatre, 
 and market-place. The completion of the city was celebrated 
 with fitting pomp in the year B.C. 10. 
 
 Herod's crowning architectural achievement, however, was the 
 rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem. Zerubbabel's temple, 
 dwarfed as it was by many of the newer buildings, was no longer 
 suitable for the headquarters of Judaism. Besides, a monarch 
 who had gratuitously equipped so many pagan temples in 
 Hellenistic towns within his own dominions, could scarcely fail to 
 do something for the great Jewish sanctuary. His proposal was 
 nevertheless received with such suspicion, that he had to delay 
 commencing the work until all the materials for it were collected 
 and prepared. Then at last the old foundations were removed. 
 A thousand priests were specially trained as masons and car- 
 penters, so that only sacred hands should rear the temple. It was 
 built with huge blocks of white marble. Its length was 100 cubits, 
 and its greatest height 120 cubits — dimensions exceeding those 
 of Solomon's temple. The internal arrangements were practic- 
 ally those of the previous structures. The eastern entrance was 
 hung with embroidered curtains, over which was emblazoned a 
 golden vine as an emblem of God's favour (cf. Ps. lxxx. 8). The 
 building of the temple proper was commenced in B.C. 20, and 
 finished within a year and a half. It was then consecrated with 
 great eclat on the anniversary of Herod's enthronement. Eight 
 years more were devoted to the erection of splendid porticoes ; 
 indeed, building operations were still being carried on in the time 
 
THE REIGN OF HEROD THE GREAT 1 93 
 
 of Christ. The sacred edifice was garnished throughout with the 
 spoils of vanquished nations. Over the outer forecourt was an 
 inscription, forbidding foreigners to enter under pain of death. 
 The inner temple, the space around the altar, and the cloisters of 
 the priests, were inaccessible to Herod himself, who was not of 
 sacerdotal descent. His erection of a golden eagle over the 
 great gate of the temple, however, neutralised all his concessions 
 to Pharisaism. This was not a mere case of pandering to Rome ; 
 it was an affront to Judaism, and resented as such. But Herod 
 was the last man to care for religious consistency. 
 
 4. Herod as a Ruler. — In his foreign policy he was conspicuously 
 successful. It was a fixed principle with him to maintain friendly 
 relations with Rome, and to this worldly-wise attitude he owed 
 much of the external splendour of his reign. Herod lost no 
 opportunity of cultivating the friendship of Augustus and his son- 
 in-law, Agrippa. In their expeditions he was always ready to assist 
 them. Thus it came about that in the emperor's estimation Herod 
 stood next to Agrippa, and in Agrippa's next to Augustus. His 
 sons were sent to Rome for their education. Augustus showed his 
 appreciation of these civilities by adding to Herod's territory the 
 districts of Trachonitis, Batanea, and Auranitis, and subsequently 
 the valuable regions of Ulatha and Paneas, at the sources of the 
 Jordan. Near Paneas Herod built a splendid temple, which he 
 dedicated to Caesar. He also now got his brother Pheroras 
 appointed tetrarch of Perea, and was himself associated with the 
 procurators of Syria, whose administration was made subject to 
 his approval. Through his influence with the Romans a new 
 position was also won for Judaism in the eyes of the pagan world. 
 Far less satisfactory was his administration in Judea itself. Not 
 that it lacked its good points. The utility of some of his public 
 works was unquestionable, and his regime was favourable to com- 
 merce. He once remitted a third of the burdensome taxation, 
 and at another time a fourth. Towards the close of his reign he 
 placed 3000 Idumean colonists in Trachonitis to check the robber 
 
194 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 tribes in that region. During a famine in B.C. 24 he parted with 
 his rich furniture and plate. The money thus realised he sent to 
 Petronius, governor of Egypt, and received in return supplies of 
 corn, which were freely distributed among the poor. Clothing 
 was similarly furnished during the winter, and extensive gifts of 
 seed were bestowed on Jews and Syrians alike. These liberal and 
 energetic measures did much to restore general prosperity, and 
 even to reconcile some of his bitterest enemies. But his popu- 
 larity was short-lived. No generosity could atone for his offences 
 against the law. One of the worst of these was his expulsion from 
 the high priesthood of Jesus the son of Phabet, in order to confer 
 the dignity upon Simon the son of Bcethus, whose daughter 
 Mariamne he had married. He also enacted that thieves should 
 be sold out of the kingdom. This high-handed procedure roused 
 the rebellious instincts of the people ; but Herod took refuge in a 
 very thoroughgoing police system. The right of public meeting 
 was withheld ; dangerous persons were taken to the citadel 
 Hyrcania and put to death ; spies everywhere kept a sleepless 
 watch ; even the king himself, like James V. of Scotland in a later 
 age, went about in disguise in order to ascertain how his subjects 
 were affected towards him. An oath of fidelity was exacted from 
 all except certain Pharisees who had been of service to him, and 
 the gentle Essenes, one of whom, Menahem by name, had even 
 in Herod's boyhood predicted that he would be king of the 
 Jews. These last were but slight and exceptional exhibitions of 
 clemency, and cannot appreciably affect the character of a reign 
 which for vengeful purpose, selfish cruelty, tyrannical despotism, 
 and wanton bloodshed, has happily few parallels in history. 
 
 5. Last Years of Herod. — Herod reigned in all thirty-three years. 
 The first twelve (B.C. 37-25) were spent in fighting his way to 
 power ; during the next twelve (25-13) he ruled in all his glory ; 
 the last nine (13-4) formed an ignoble period of family cruelties. 
 He was now to suffer a poetic retribution for the crimes of his 
 earlier days. The slayer of the Asmoneans became the slayer 
 
THE REIGN OF HEROD THE GREAT 1 95 
 
 of his own sons ; his heart became a hell within, his home a 
 howling wilderness, and his whole existence a nightmare. 
 
 About the year 18 B.C., when their studies had been completed, 
 Herod went to fetch his sons Alexander and Aristobulus from 
 Rome. Their mother's looks and royal bearing had been trans- 
 mitted to the two young men, and the people recognised this with 
 delight. But the jealousy of Salome was aroused, and she began 
 to plot against them as she had plotted against Mariamne. It 
 was given out that it was repulsive to them to live with their 
 mother's murderer. For a time, however, Herod paid no heed to 
 these rumours, and married Aristobulus to Berenice, Salome's 
 own daughter, and Alexander to Glaphyra, the daughter of 
 Archelaus, king of Cappadocia. In B.C. 15, Agrippa visited Judea 
 and offered sacrifices in the temple at Jerusalem. The visit was 
 returned by Herod in the spring of the following year. He met 
 Agrippa at Sinope in Pontus, and assisted him in his campaign 
 at the Bosphorus. Thereafter the two friends travelled through 
 Asia Minor, and at Herod's instigation Agrippa confirmed the 
 Jews inhabiting those parts in the observance of their national 
 customs. 
 
 Meanwhile in Herod's household things had been going from 
 bad to worse. Salome and Pheroras hated the young men, and 
 tried to inflame them against their father ; the youths themselves 
 undisguisedly disliked these Idumeans. On Herod's return, 
 Salome and Pheroras hinted that his sons were on the point of 
 avenging their mother's death. Suspicious and alarmed, the 
 king took the worst of all plans to prove to these proud-spirited 
 youths that their succession to the throne was not a foregone con- 
 clusion. He brought back to his Court his first wife Doris, and 
 her son Antipater, towards whom he began to show a marked 
 partiality. Mariamne's sons resented this ; Antipater, on the 
 other hand, made the most of his position. By adroitly flattering 
 his father and calumniating his half-brothers he contrived to widen 
 the breach between them. At the same time he wormed himself 
 more and more into favour with Herod, who sent him to Rome in 
 
I96 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 the company of Agrippa, with every recommendation to Caesar. 
 Even from the Roman Court this wretch continued to send stories 
 fitted to increase his father's jealousy against the two guileless 
 youths. At last Herod accused them before Augustus at Aquileia. 
 They were declared innocent, and a reconciliation was effected on 
 the understanding that their father should have power to nominate 
 his successor. On his arrival at Jerusalem, Herod addressed an 
 assembly in the temple, claimed for himself the rights of ruler 
 while he lived, and nominated as his successors his three sons, 
 Antipater, Alexander, and Aristobulus, in the order of seniority. 
 
 Soon afterwards Herod's cupidity led him to plunder the 
 sepulchres of David and Solomon. Conscience-stricken on 
 account of this sacrilege, and anxious to magnify the history of 
 his nation, he proceeded to erect a splendid marble monument 
 over the ancient graves. These exploits were followed by fresh 
 outbreaks of strife in his family. Antipater's profession of 
 pleasure at the reconciliation between Herod and the sons of 
 Mariamne was a piece of hypocrisy. Aided by Pheroras and 
 Salome, he still continued his cunning intrigues, until the 
 atmosphere of the Jewish Court became rank with suspicion 
 and invective. Alexander's sayings were communicated by spies 
 to Antipater, who in turn brought garbled versions of them to 
 Herod. This "mystery of iniquity" further inflamed the king's 
 jealousy by apologising for Alexander. Herod now became a 
 terror to his own domestics and adherents ; his palace was 
 turned into a wild beast's lair. Servants were tortured, and old 
 friends expelled. Only one poor creature on the rack could be 
 got to compromise Alexander, who was then thrown into chains. 
 With the recklessness of despair the prisoner wrote to Herod, 
 incriminating not only himself but also many of the king's most 
 faithful friends. At this critical stage King Archelaus happily 
 appeared upon the scene, and with great tact and wisdom poured 
 oil upon the waters. 
 
 It was now Herod's misfortune to incur the displeasure of 
 Caesar. During his absence in Rome the inhabitants of 
 
THE REIGN OF HEROD THE GREAT 1 97 
 
 Trachonitis had once more risen in rebellion. Although defeated 
 by his generals, about forty of the ringleaders retreated to a place 
 of safety provided by the Arabian minister Syllasus, to whom he 
 had refused Salome in marriage. In concert with the Roman 
 governors in Syria, Herod demanded the cession of the robbers. 
 Syllasus meanwhile went to Rome to lodge a complaint against 
 Herod. The Jewish king, however, invaded Arabia, demolished 
 the robber fortress of Raepta, and transported 3000 Idumeans to 
 Trachonitis. Syllaeus presented an aggravated report of these 
 proceedings to Augustus, who wrote to Herod in terms of strong 
 disapproval. The attitude of both the Arabians and the people 
 of Trachonitis immediately became more defiant, and on the 
 death of King Obodas things were in a state of anarchy through- 
 out Arabia and Judea. Herod had already sent ambassadors to 
 Rome to plead his cause, but in vain. He now despatched his 
 historiographer-royal, Nicolaus of Damascus, to answer the 
 charge laid against him. Nicolaus very cleverly turned the 
 tables upon Syllasus, who was condemned to death ; through his 
 able advocacy Herod was also reinstated in the royal favour. 
 
 In the Jewish Court the old sores had broken out afresh. The 
 former conspirators were reinforced by a disreputable Spartan, 
 Eurykles, who flattered Alexander to his face and slandered him 
 to Antipater. Every calumny reached the ears of Herod, who 
 became implacable in his hatred of his sons, and put to torture 
 all whom he considered likely to compromise them. Nothing 
 could be elicited, however, beyond the fact that they had resolved 
 to flee to King Archelaus. That monarch again did his best to 
 restore harmony, but in vain. The jealous tyrant kept the 
 youths in fetters and apart, while letters were carried to the 
 emperor charging them with treason. Augustus allowed Herod 
 a free hand in dealing with his sons, but advised that the case 
 should be judicially tried at Berytus. The decision was against 
 the young men, who were not permitted to appear for them- 
 selves ; they were condemned to death. The whole nation now 
 waited to see whether the sentence would be carried out. An old 
 
198 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 soldier, Teron, openly protested, and even privately remonstrated 
 with the king. On the other hand, Trypho, the king's barber, 
 accused Teron of having urged him to cut Herod's throat ; 
 whereupon Teron and his son, the barber, and 300 other 
 suspects, were stoned to death. The last act in the tragedy 
 speedily followed. About the year 7 B.C., Herod ordered 
 Alexander and Aristobulus to be strangled at Sebaste, where 
 their mother Mariamne had become his bride. No wonder 
 Augustus caustically declared that he would rather be Herod's 
 pig than his son ! 
 
 Antipater had now got rid of his rivals, but only to become the 
 object of general hatred. His father associated him with himself 
 in the government of the nation, and in deference to his wishes 
 even altered his plans of marriage for the children of the 
 slaughtered Asmoneans — indulgences which this monster of a 
 son repaid by scheming for his removal. It was part of his plan 
 to lavish gifts on Herod's influential Roman friends, whose good- 
 will was essential to the fulfilment of his hopes. He had also 
 private cabals with Pheroras, while in public he always opposed 
 him. But the lynx-eyed Salome, who at Herod's instance had 
 married his friend Alexas, soon detected what was going on, 
 and reported everything to the king. Special blame was thus 
 attached to the wife of Pheroras. In the circumstances Antipater 
 thought it advisable to pay a visit to Rome. Prior to his 
 departure, Herod provided him with a document settling the 
 succession upon himself, and afterwards upon Herod, son of 
 Mariamne, the high priest's daughter. As Pheroras refused to 
 part with his wife, both were ordered to leave the kingdom. 
 They retired to Perea, where shortly afterwards Pheroras died. 
 This proved the ruin of Antipater. On receiving a hint that his 
 brother had been poisoned, Herod had the matter fully investi- 
 gated. The first result was to incriminate Antipater's mother. 
 It also turned out that Antipater, with the complicity of his uncle 
 Theudio, had sent poison to Pheroras in order that he might 
 administer it to Herod while he was in Rome. This discovery 
 
THE REIGN OF HEROD THE GREAT 
 
 I 99 
 
 involved others also. Mariamne's son Herod was disinherited ; 
 she herself was expelled from the palace ; and Simon her father 
 was deprived of the priesthood, which was conferred upon one 
 Matthias. The application of torture to the women of Pheroras' 
 household brought out several damaging particulars as to the 
 conversation of Antipater at those midnight meetings. It 
 happened also that another emissary of Antipater's arrived with 
 more poison for his father, and with forged letters full of slanders 
 against Archelaus and Philip. Herod's one desire now was to get 
 this arch -plotter into his hands. Although seven months had 
 elapsed since his crimes were discovered, he was still in the dark 
 about the matter. When, therefore, Herod asked him to return 
 to Jerusalem, he unsuspectingly complied. Everyone shrank 
 from him as a toad. Herod denounced him as the murderer of 
 his brothers, and ordered him to stand his trial next day before 
 Quintilius Varus. His unblushing impudence could not deliver 
 him ; Herod put him in chains, and wrote to Caesar for advice. 
 Antipater's guilt was still more clearly exposed by a slanderous 
 letter purporting to have been written by Salome to the Empress 
 Julia, but in reality forged by himself and sent to Herod by 
 Acme, Julia's maid, whom he had bribed. 
 
 The king was now an old man of seventy, enduring the 
 remorseful agonies of one who perceived that he had slain 
 his children for nought. His miseries induced a severe bodily 
 illness, which never left him. He was, besides, greatly disliked. 
 The consciousness that the nation would be relieved to hear 
 of his death served only to increase his native ferocity. 
 Emboldened by the news that his trouble must prove fatal, two 
 popular Rabbis, Judas the son of Sariphaus, and Matthias the 
 son of Margaloth, incited their pupils to pull down the heathenish 
 image from the main entrance to the temple. In broad daylight 
 they hacked in pieces the golden eagle. From his couch at 
 Jericho Herod sentenced forty of the delinquents to be burnt 
 alive. 
 
 His own struggle with death was daily becoming more 
 
200 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 desperate. In vain he repaired to the warm baths of Callirrhoe 
 beyond Jordan. On his return to Jericho he summoned the 
 elders from every village in Palestine, shut them up in the 
 hippodrome, and gave instructions to Salome and her husband 
 Alexas to have them all slain as soon as he expired, that so there 
 might be lamentation all over the land. This diabolical idea, 
 however, was not carried out. Herod's last pleasure was the 
 receipt of letters from Rome empowering him to deal with 
 Antipater as he thought fit. A false rumour of his father's death 
 led that scheming scoundrel to offer a bribe to his keeper with 
 the view of regaining his freedom. Herod then ordered his 
 execution, and nominated Archelaus king of Judea, Antipas 
 tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, and Philip tetrarch of Trachonitis 
 and the neighbouring region. On the fifth day after the execution 
 of Antipater, in the year B.C. 4, he breathed his last, and was 
 buried with pomp at Herodium. 
 
 The surname of "the Great" cannot be applied to Herod with- 
 out qualification. He merits it only as one of the most prominent 
 personalities of his age, and relatively to his own descendants of 
 the same name. Physically, he was strong, active, and capable 
 of much endurance ; mentally, he was shrewd, cunning, and 
 tenacious of purpose ; morally, he was passionate, selfish, and 
 ambitious. The one thing he cared for and pursued with un- 
 wearied energy was the extension of his own power and glory. 
 His reign presents a strange combination of splendour and 
 misery. In Herod we see a king — 
 
 " Feastful and fearful; ever ill-content 
 'Mid plots and perils ; girt with singing boys 
 And dancing girls of Tyre, and armoured noise 
 Of Cassar's legionaries." l 
 
 6. The Advent of Christ. — At length we turn over the blank 
 leaf between the Old Testament and the New. The opening 
 chapters of the Gospel narrative tell of the birth of Jesus Christ 
 1 Sir Edwin Arnold, The Light of the World. 
 
THE REIGN OF HEROD THE GREAT 201 
 
 at Bethlehem, and throw a lurid light upon one tragic episode of 
 Herod's last days not elsewhere recorded. In the story of the 
 slaughter of the Innocents, the suspicious, cruel, and unscrupulous 
 character of the tyrant shows itself once more. But the same 
 year that saw Christ born (B.C. 4) 1 saw Herod buried. The 
 false glitter of the Idumean paled before the true glory of the 
 Nazarene whose kingdom is not of this world. 
 
 The Jews had waited so long for the Messiah that many had 
 ceased to cherish the hope of His coming. But all through these 
 centuries of struggle and vicissitude there had also been shining 
 the spiritual light of the truly pious who waited for the consolation 
 of Israel. A nation's life is never entirely made up of selfish 
 schemers, unprincipled politicians, and fighting ecclesiastics. 
 " The middle ages of sacred history " were sometimes dark 
 enough, yet even then God had not left Himself without witness. 
 In the virgin mother, in the parents of the forerunner, in the 
 group that gathered round the cradle of the infant whose advent 
 brought the great Renaissance for which a still unconscious 
 world was weary, there is disclosed to us the fairest type of pure 
 religion. It had never been extinct. Over every mile of the 
 devious road from the Exile to the Advent, holy hands had held 
 the torch of piety. 
 
 The names associated with the direct revelation of the Messiah 
 are not those of earth's mighty ones ; they are those of the men 
 and women who then represented true godliness in Israel. The 
 simple shepherds who tended their flocks on the plains of Bethle- 
 hem ; the aged Simeon who devoutly searched the Scriptures for 
 their testimony regarding the Christ ; the prophetess Anna who 
 
 1 Herod's death is known to have occurred between 13th March and 4th 
 April in the year of Rome 750. As the Nativity was prior to this event 
 (Matt. ii. 1-9), the universally accepted modern chronology, which places 
 the birth of Christ in A.u.c. 754, is wrong by at least four years. Thus, 
 assuming that Jesus was born on the 25th of December, the twentieth 
 century really begins not later than December 25th, 1896. This anachronism, 
 due to Dionysius Exiguus, the Roman abbot of the sixth century who intro- 
 duced the Christian era, cannot now be remedied ; and hence we are shut up 
 to the apparent paradox that our Lord was born in the year B.C. 4. 
 
20 2 FROM THE EXILE TO THE ADVENT 
 
 literally dwelt in the house of the Lord ; — these, and others like- 
 minded, were looking for redemption in Jerusalem, and while yet 
 they looked it came. But not by the wonder and adoration of 
 such alone was the child Jesus encircled ; the Gentile world also 
 laid its tribute of wealth and learning at His feet. Wise men 
 from the East, sharing the general feeling of expectancy then 
 abroad, and led on by a bright temporary star, came to present 
 their gifts and their homage. This act foreshadowed the all- 
 embracing nature of the Messianic kingdom, in which "there is 
 neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, bar- 
 barian, Scythian, bond nor free ; but Christ is all, and in all." 
 
INDEX 
 
 ACCAD, 24. 
 
 Achaemenes, 38. 
 
 Acme, maid of Empress Julia, 199. 
 
 Acra, 128, 139, 145, 147-149. 
 
 Actium, 174, 188. 
 
 Adasa, 141. 
 
 Adida, 147, 148, 166. 
 
 Adora, 148, 154. 
 
 Advent of Christ, 83, 200, 201. 
 
 Agrippa, son-in-law of Augustus, 
 
 174, 193, i95» 196. 
 Agrippaeum, city = Anthedon, 191. 
 Africa, 178. 
 Ahava, 65, 66. 
 Alcimus, 140, 141, 144. 
 Alexander the Great, 20, 99-105. 
 Alexander Balas, 145, 146. 
 Alexander Zabinas, 155. 
 Alexander Jannaus, 163-166, 169. 
 Alexander, son of Aristobulus 11., 
 
 i7 2 . ^7$-t-77, 187. 
 Alexander, son of Herod, 194-198. 
 Alexandra Salome, wife of Aristo- 
 bulus n. and Alexander Jannaus, 
 
 167, 168, 195-200. 
 Alexandra, daughter of Hyrcanus 11. , 
 
 187, 188. 
 Alexandria, 100, 109-112, 118, 127, 
 
 182; library of, 117; Jews of, 
 
 143 ; School of, 1 17. 
 Alexandrium, fortress, 167, 171, 176, 
 
 189, 191. 
 Alexas, friend of Herod, 198, 200. 
 Amathus, 164, 165, 176. 
 Ammonites, 137. 
 Amos, 44. 
 
 Ananel, high priest, 187. 
 Ananias, son of Onias IV., general 
 
 of Cleopatra, 164. 
 Andromachus, 190. 
 Andronicus, 126. 
 
 Anna, the prophetess, 201. 
 Anthedon, 106, 164, 189, 191. 
 Antigonus, one of the Diadochoi, 
 
 104, 116. 
 Antigonus, son of Hyrcanus, 155, 
 
 162, 163. 
 Antigonus, son of Aristobulus IL, 
 
 172, 176, 177, 181-185. 
 Antioch, in Syria, 104, 108, 125, 
 
 126, 136, 140, 141, 144, 146, 147, 
 
 177, 184, 191. 
 Antiochus II. Theos, 117. 
 Antiochus in. the Great, 108, 118. 
 Antiochus IV. Epiphanes, 94, 116, 
 
 123, 125, 138-140, 161, 186, 190. 
 Antiochus v. Eupator, 139, 140. 
 Antiochus VI., son of Balas, 147, 151. 
 Antiochus vii. Sidetes, 151, 153, 154. 
 Antiochus vill. Grypos, 155. 
 Antiochus IX. Cyzicenus, 155. 
 Antiochus XII., son of Grypos, 166. 
 Antipas, son of Herod, 200. 
 Antipater, father of Herod, 169, 170, 
 
 175-181, 183. 
 Antipater, son of Herod, 195-200. 
 Antipatris = Capharsaba, 191. 
 Antonia = Baris or Bira, 191. 
 Antony, Mark, 174, 181-184, 187- 
 
 189. 
 Apamea, in Phrygia, 180. 
 Apelles, 133. 
 Apis, 46. 
 Apocrypha, 113. 
 
 Apollo, temple of, at Rhodes, 191. 
 Apollodotus, of Gaza, 164. 
 Apollonius, Syrian general, 122, 128, 
 
 135- 146. 
 Apostles, 35, 93. 
 Aquileia, 196. 
 Arabia, 100, 188, 197. 
 Arabians, 169, 170, 197. 
 
 203 
 
204 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Arabic, 82. 
 
 Arachosia, 48. 
 
 Aramaic language in Palestine, 63, 
 
 74, 82, 92, 109. 
 Arbela, battle of, 84, 100. 
 Arbela, in Galilee, 183. 
 Archelaus, king of Cappadocia, 195- 
 
 197. 
 Archelaus, son of Herod, 185, 199, 
 
 200. 
 Aretas, king of the Arabians, 166, 
 
 169, 170. 
 Arethusa, 106. 
 Aristeas, letter of, in. 
 Aristobulus, Jewish philosopher, 
 
 114. 
 Aristobulus 1., son of Hyrcanus, 
 
 155, 162, 163. 
 Aristobulus II., 167-172, 176, 177, 
 
 181, 186. 
 Aristobulus in., high priest, 187. 
 Aristobulus, son of Herod, 195, 196, 
 
 198. 
 Aristotle, 99, 101. 
 Armenia, 48, 170, 188. 
 Artabanus, 63. 
 Artaxerxes Longimanus, 62, 64, 68, 
 
 69, 79, 83 ; decree of, 65. 
 Asaph, sons of, 43. 
 Ascalon, 147, 191. 
 Ashdod, 138, 146, 151, 176. 
 Asia, 170, 173, 181. 
 Asia Minor, 108, 117, 122, 195. 
 Assideans, 127, 134, 141, 157, 159. 
 Assyria, 23, 44, 94. 
 Astyages, 23, 38. 
 Atbash, 97. 
 Athaliah, 168. 
 Athenians, 61. 
 Athens, 73, 108, 192. 
 Atossa, mother of Xerxes, 6^. 
 Auranitis, district, 193. 
 Azariah, 138. 
 
 Babylon, 16-19, 35- 36, 39. 40, 60, 
 
 62, 63, 94, 95, 100, 104, 186. 
 Babylonia, 12, 23, 42, 59, 109, 182, 
 
 187. 
 Bacchides, Syrian general, 141, 142, 
 
 144, 145. 
 Bacchus, festival of, 128. 
 Bagoses, Persian general, 87. 
 Baris = Bira (later Antonia), 57, 
 
 191. 
 1 aruch, Book of, 97. 
 Barzapharnes, 182, 
 
 Bascama, 148. 
 
 Batanea, district, 193. 
 
 Baths of Callirrhoe, 200. 
 
 Beanites, 137. 
 
 Bel, or Bel-Merodach, 18, 25, 39 ; 
 
 temple of, 63. 
 Belshazzar, 23. 
 Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy 
 
 Philadelphus, 117. 
 Berenice, daughter of Costobar and 
 
 Salome, 195. 
 Berytus, 191, 197. 
 Beth-basi, 144. 
 Bethel, 58. 
 
 Beth-horon, 135, 141. 
 Bethlehem, 201. 
 Beth-zachariah, 139. 
 Beth-zur, 136, 137, 139, 145, 147. 
 Bithynia, 104, 181. 
 Black Sea, 106. 
 Borsippa, 19. 
 Bosphorus, 195. 
 Brutus, 174. 
 Bulgaria, 14. 
 
 Cecilius Bassus, 180. 
 
 Caesar, Julius, 173, 174, 177-180. 
 
 Caesar, Sextus, T73, 179, 180. 
 
 Cassarea (Strato's Tower), 191, 192. 
 
 Callirrhoe, 200. 
 
 Calvin, 130. 
 
 Cambyses, 46, 61. 
 
 Capharsaba, 191. 
 
 Capharsalama, 141. 
 
 Cappadocia, 195. 
 
 Carthage, 122. 
 
 Cassander, 103, 104. 
 
 Cassius, C. Longinus, 173, 174, 177, 
 
 179-181. 
 Cato, 178. 
 
 Cendebeus, Syrian general, 151. 
 Chalcis, 181. 
 Chaldea, 14, 31. 
 Chaldeans, 23, 85. 
 Charrae = Ha ran, 173, 177. 
 Chasidim = Assideans, 129. 
 Cheyne, 130. 
 Chios, 191. 
 
 Christian Fathers, 120. 
 Christianity, 90, 102, 109, 112, 114. 
 Chronicles, Books of, 97. 
 Church and State, 162, 195. 
 Cilicia, 172. 
 Circumcision prohibited by Anti- 
 
 ochus Epiphanes, 129. 
 Cities, Hellenistic, in Palestine, 106. 
 
INDEX 
 
 20S 
 
 Cleopatra, daughter of Antiochus 
 in., wife of Ptolemy v., 119. 
 
 Cleopatra, daughter of Ptolemy v., 
 wife of Ptolemy VI., 143. 
 
 Cleopatra, daughter of Ptolemy VI., 
 wife of Alexander Balas, Deme- 
 trius II., and Antiochus VII. 
 Sidetes, 146. 
 
 Cleopatra, another daughter of 
 Ptolemy VI., mother of Ptolemy 
 viii. Lathurus, 163, 164. 
 
 Cleopatra, wife of M. Antony, 174, 
 182, 187-189. 
 
 Coele-Syria, 118, 119, 122, 135, 146, 
 166, 180. 
 
 Coinage, Jewish, 150. 
 
 Coreae, 171. 
 
 Corinth, 108. 
 
 Coriolanus, 180. 
 
 Costobarus, 190. 
 
 Crassus, the triumvir, 173, 177. 
 
 Crete, 108, 146. 
 
 Croesus, 39. 
 
 Ctesias, 16. 
 
 Cuneiform, or wedge-shaped, writ- 
 ings, 19, 39. 
 
 Cuthean = Samaritan, 81. 
 
 Cypros, mother of Herod, 188 ; a 
 citadel in her honour, 191. 
 
 Cyprus, 83, 108, 163, 164. 
 
 Cyrene, 108, 109. 
 
 Cyrus, 23, 24, 32, 33, 38-41, 50, 61 ; 
 edict of, 33. 
 
 Dagon, temple of, 146. 
 Dagon = Dok, fortress of, 153. 
 Damascus, 108, 147, 170, 180, 191. 
 Daniel, 28, 30, 31, 33, 35, 42, 46, 
 
 102. 
 Daniel, Book of, 23, 129, 131, 134. 
 Dante, 36, 113. 
 Danube, 61. 
 Daphne, 181, 184. 
 Darius Hystaspis, 46, 48, 49, 58, 60, 
 
 61 ; decree of, 55. 
 Darius the Mede, 48. 
 Darius Codomannus, 99. 
 David, sepulchre of, 196. 
 Dead Sea, 160, 182. 
 Dedication, Feast of the, 137. 
 Demetrius I. , son of Antigonus, 104, 
 
 139, 141, 142, 145-149- 
 Demetrius 11., 146, 154, 155. 
 Demetrius ill. Eucarus, 163. 
 Demetrius, son of Seleucus IV., 
 
 123. 
 
 Diadochoi, 103. 
 
 Diaspora. See Dispersion. 
 
 Diogenes, 167. 
 
 Dionysius, son of Antiochus Grypos, 
 
 167. 
 Dispersion, Jewish, 35, 63, 90, 102, 
 
 108 -1 10, 178. 
 Dium, city, belonging to Decapolis, 
 
 106, 166, 171. 
 Dium, in Macedonia, 103. 
 Divination, 21. 
 
 Dok, fortress, 152. See Dagon. 
 Dora, city, 151. 
 Doris, wife of Herod, 195. 
 Dura, plain of, 31. 
 
 ECBATANA, 39, 55. 
 Ecclesiastes, Book of, 97, 120. 
 Ecclesiasticus, 82, 112, 120, 121. 
 Edomites, 14, 59, 137, 138, 154. 
 Egypt, 14, 24, 61, 68, 83, 100, 104, 
 
 109, 119, 128, 139, 143, 174, 176, 
 
 177, 182, 186, 188, 189. 
 Ekron, 146. 
 Elam, 39, 40. 
 
 Elders in the synagogue, 92. 
 Eleasa, 142. 
 Eleazar, brother of Judas Mac- 
 
 cabasus, 139. 
 Eleazar, a Pharisee in time of Hyr- 
 
 canus, 161. 
 Eliashib, 77, 79. 
 Elymais, 132, 138. 
 Emmaus, 135, 136. 
 Ephesus, 61, 108, 109. 
 Ephron, city, 138. 
 Epicureans, 159. 
 Eras, (1) of Persian kings, 85; (2) 
 
 Seleucid, 149 ; (3) of Simon the 
 
 Maccabee, 149, 150 ; (4) Roman, 
 
 201 ; (5) Christian, 201. 
 Esdras, First Book of, 53. 
 Essenes, 159-161, 186, 194. 
 Esther, 64 ; Book of, 62, 96. 
 Ethnarch, as title of Jewish high 
 
 priest, 172. 
 Eumenes, king of Pergamus, 123. 
 Euphrates, 16, 108. 
 Eupolemus, Jewish ambassador to 
 
 Rome, 142. 
 Eurykles, 197. 
 Ewald, 47, 62, 68, 98, 111. 
 Ezekiel, 12, 24, 26, 28-30, 33, 74, 
 
 85, 155 ; Book of, 26, 36. 
 Ezra, 25, 62-69, 76, 82, 83, 96, 137; 
 
 Book of, 6j, 
 
2o6 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Felix, Roman general, 181. 
 Frederick the Great, 40. 
 French language, 107. 
 
 Gaba, fortress, 191. 
 
 Gabinius, general of Pompey, 171, 
 
 175-178. 
 Gadara, city, 164, 165, 176, 189. 
 Galilee, 137, 172, 178-180, 183, 184, 
 
 191, 200; Lake of, 177. 
 Gamala, fortress, 166. 
 Games, Hellenistic, in time of 
 
 Caesar, 190. 
 Gaumata, 47. 
 Gaza, 100, 102, 118, 147, 163, 164, 
 
 176, 189. 
 Gazara, fortress, 149, 151, 153. 
 Gedaliah, 13, 25. 
 Gelon, 73. 
 Gemellus, 190. 
 Gerasa, city, 166. 
 Gerizim, Mount, 80, 154. 
 Gerousia, 124, 127. 
 Geshem, an Arabian, 70, 72. 
 Gilead, 137, 138, 148, 165. 
 Gitta, fortress, 184. 
 Glaphyra, 195. 
 Golan, 166. 
 Goldsmith, 28. 
 Gorgias, 135, 136, 138. 
 Gracchi, The, 155. 
 Granicus, 84, 99. 
 Greece, 61, 62, 104, 106, 117, 122, 
 
 186. 
 Greek colonists, 106 ; language, 
 
 107, 109 ; philosophy, 105, 106. 
 Greeks at Court of Herod, 190. 
 Gymnasium at Jerusalem, 125. 
 
 Haggai, 51, 53, 54, 60, 85, 97. 
 
 Hagiographa, 112. 
 
 Halachah, 89. 
 
 Halicarnassus, 99. 
 
 Hamath on the Orontcs, 147. 
 
 Hannibal, 122. 
 
 Harbour of Caesarea, 192. 
 
 Hebrew Hochmah, 120 ; religion, 
 
 105 ; Scriptures, 105. 
 Hebrews, 22. 
 Hebron, 136, 138. 
 Hecateus of Abdera, 57. 
 Helem, Babylonian Jew, 55. 
 Heliodorus, 122. 
 Heliopolis, 143. 
 Hellenism, 94, 106, 107 ; in Judea, 
 
 115, 116, 139. 
 
 Hellespont, 122. 
 
 Hercules, Phoenician deity, 125. 
 
 Herod the Great, 169, 178-201. 
 
 Herodium, fortress, 182, 191. 
 
 Herodotus, 16, 17, 38, 47, 48. 
 
 Heshbon, city, 191. 
 
 Hexateuch, 26. 
 
 Hezekiah, robber-chief, 179. 
 
 Hillel, 185. 
 
 Hippos, city, 189. 
 
 Hitzig, 130. 
 
 Holiness, sovereignty of, 96. 
 
 Holy of Holies, 57, 127, 172. 
 
 Horace, 52. 
 
 Hosea, 44. 
 
 Hydaspes, 100. 
 
 Hypatia, 95. 
 
 Hyrcania, fortress, 167, 191, 194. 
 
 Hyrcanus 1. See John Hyrcanus. 
 
 Hyrcanus u., 167-172, 175-182, 187, 
 
 Idumea, 183. 
 
 Idumeans, 163, 169, 179, 181, 197. 
 India, 106. 
 Indus, 61, 100. 
 
 Inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar, 18, 
 19 ; of Cyrus, 39 ; of Darius, 48. 
 Ipsus, battle of, 104. 
 Irenneus, orator, 190. 
 Isaiah, Book of, 26. 
 Isaiah, Second, 28-30. 
 Isana, 184. 
 Issus, 84, 100. 
 Italy, 106. 
 Iturea, 163. 
 
 James v. of Scotland, 194. 
 Jamnia, city, 138. 
 Jannaus. See Alexander. 
 Jason, high priest, 125-127. 
 Jason, Jewish deputy, 142. 
 Jedaiah, Babylonian Jew, 55. 
 Jeremiah, 12, 13, 15, 24, 26, 28 30, 
 
 33. 34- 
 Jericho, 151, 152, 171, 176, 184, 187, 
 
 188. 
 Jerome, 120. 
 Jerusalem, 12, 13, 15, 34, 43, 128, 
 
 139, 145, 153, 155, 167, 171, 172, 
 
 176, 177, 179-184, 187, 190-192, 
 
 195, 202. 
 Jesus Christ, 81, 83, 89, 156, 200- 
 
 202. 
 Jesus, son of Phabet, 194. 
 Jesus Sirach, 86, 120. 
 
INDEX 
 
 207 
 
 Jew, 36. 
 
 Jewish - Alexandrian philosophy, 
 
 112-115. 
 Job, Book of, 26. 
 Johanan, son of the high priest 
 
 Judas, 86. 
 John Hyrcanusi., 153-155, 161, 162, 
 
 167. 
 Jonathan, Maccabee, 144-148, 152. 
 Joppa, 43, 146-148, 151, 154, 178, 
 
 183, 189. 
 
 Joseph, son of Tobias, 118. 
 Joseph, Jewish captain, 138. 
 Joseph, brother of Herod, 183. 
 Joseph, brother-in-law of Herod, 
 
 188. 
 Josephus, 47, 57, 62, 82, 86, 93, 
 
 102, in, 155, 159, 161, 163, 169. 
 Joshua, son of Jozadak, 34. 
 Joshua, son of Judas, 86. 
 Josiah, king of Judah, 14, 44. 
 Judaism, 94, 95, 105, 107, 115, 128, 
 
 192, 193 ; in the Dispersion, 109 ; 
 
 in Palestine, 121. 
 Judas, son of Eliashib, 86. 
 Judas Maccabaeus, 134-143, 152. 
 Judas = Aristobulus I., q.v. 
 Judea, 106, 138, 139, 142, 148, 150, 
 
 153, 166, 170, 172, 174, 177-180, 
 
 184, 193, 195, 197. 
 Julia, Empress, 199. 
 Julian, Emperor, 95. 
 Jupiter Olympius, 128. 
 
 Kephirim, 72. 
 
 Kibleh, 90. 
 
 Kings, Books of, 26. 
 
 Laced^emon, 127. 
 
 Laodice, wife of Antiochus Theos, 
 
 117. 
 Laodicea, 180, 187. 
 Latin, 107. 
 Law, the Jewish, read in public by 
 
 Ezra, 73-75- 
 Lebanon, 43. 
 Legalism, 95. 
 Leontopolis, 143. 
 Lepidus, Roman triumvir, 174. 
 Levites, 56, 63, 65, 74. 
 Lightfoot, 81. 
 Literature of the Exile, 25, 26 ; of 
 
 the Persian period, 87 ; of the 
 
 Persecution-time, 130. 
 Lydda, 178. 
 Lydia, 108. 
 
 Lysias, Syrian general, 135, 136, 
 
 139-141, 152. 
 Lysimachus, one of the Diadochoi, 
 
 104. 
 Lysimachus, brother of Menelaus, 
 
 126. 
 Lysimachus, brother of Apollodotus, 
 
 164. 
 
 Maccabees, 94, 137, 140, 144, 145, 
 
 149, 172, 181 ; derivation of name, 
 
 134 ; Books of 1 Mace, 102, 138 ; 
 
 2 Mace, 122 ; 3 Mace, 119. 
 Macedonia, 99, 103, 104, 119. 
 Machaeras, Roman general, 183, 
 
 184. 
 Machaerus, fortress, 167, 176, 191. 
 Magic, 22. 
 Magnesia, 122. 
 Malachi, 77, 97. 
 Malchus, an Arabian, 182, 188. 
 Malichus, 179-181. 
 Mardonius, Persian general, 61. 
 Mariamne, granddaughter of Hyr- 
 
 canus 11., wife of Herod, 181, 184, 
 
 187-189, 195, 196. 
 Mariamne, daughter of the high 
 
 priest, wife of Herod, 194, 198, 199. 
 Marion, despot of Tyre, 181. 
 Marissa = Mareshah, city in Idu- 
 
 mea, 138, 154, 155. 
 Masada, fortress, 182, 183, 188, 191. 
 Mattathias, father of the Maccabees, 
 
 133. 134. i5 2 - 
 Matthias, high priest, 199. 
 Matthias, son of Margaloth, 199. 
 Mecca, 90, no. 
 Medeba, city, 154. 
 Media, 39. 
 
 Mediterranean, 104, 192. 
 Megabyzus, 66, 68. 
 Memphis, 46. 
 
 Menahem, an Essene, 194. 
 Menelaus, high priest, 126-128, 140, 
 
 143- 
 Messala, an orator, 181. 
 Messiah, 15, 36, 201. 
 Messianic hope, 41, 93, 175, 201. 
 Michmash, 145. 
 Middle Ages, 87, 107. 
 Midrash, 93. 
 Miletus, 61, 106. 
 Miltiades, Greek general, 61. 
 Mizpah, 135, 136. 
 Mnemon, Artaxerxes, 84. 
 Modein, 133, 134, 148, 151. 
 
208 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Money-lenders, 71. 
 
 Mosaism, 92, no. 
 
 Moses, 89, 93. 
 
 Murcus, Roman general, 180. 
 
 Nabateans, 17*. 
 
 Nabonidus, 43. 
 
 Nanea, temple of, 138. 
 
 National sentiment among the Jews, 
 
 95, 174, 175. 
 Nazarites, 186. 
 Nebo, Babylonian deity, 18. 
 Nebuchadnezzar, 12, 13, 15, 23, 24, 
 
 25. 155. 
 Nehardea, city, 108. 
 Nehemiah, 69-74, 77> 79> 80, 82, 83, 
 
 86, 96. 
 Nethinim, 65. 
 Nicanor, Syrian general, 135, 141, 
 
 142 ; day of, 142. 
 Nicaso, daughter of Sanballat, 79. 
 Nicodemus, a partisan of Aristo- 
 
 bulus 11., 170. 
 Nicolaus of Damascus, 190, 197. 
 Nile, 100. 
 Nineveh, 16, 36. 
 Nisibis, city, 108. 
 
 Obadiah, Book of, 26. 
 
 Obodas L, Arabian king, 165. 
 
 Obodas II., 197. 
 
 Ochus, Darius, 84. 
 
 Octavian, Augustus, 174, 183, 188- 
 
 190, 193, 196-199. 
 Odyssey, 114. 
 Oehler, 67. 
 Olshausen, 130. 
 Olympic games, 191. 
 Onias, a man who had wonderful 
 
 power in prayer, 169. 
 Onias II., high priest, 118. 
 Onias III., high priest, 122, 124, 
 
 127, 143, 158. 
 
 Onias IV. , founder of temple at 
 
 Leontopolis, 143. 
 Ono, plain of, 72. 
 Ormazd, Persian deity, 6^. 
 Orontes, the, 123. 
 
 Pacorus, Parthian prince, 182. 
 Palestine, 82, 88, 90, 100, 104, 105, 
 107, in, 112, 114, 118, 119, 127, 
 
 128, 143, 147, 164, 173, 175, 176, 
 178, 182, 188, 191, 200. 
 
 Paneas, near sources of the Jordan, 
 106, 119, 
 
 Papacy, 87. 
 
 Pappus, general under Antigonus, 
 
 184. 
 Parmenio, 103. 
 Parthians, 154, 173, 174, 177, 182, 
 
 183. 
 Parties, Jewish, 156-16 1. 
 Pasargadce, 41. 
 Pasha = tirshatha, 59. 
 Passover, 56, 170. 
 Pekhah, Persian officer, 49. 
 Pella, in Macedonia, 99. 
 Pella, east of Jordan, 106, 171. 
 Pelusium, 46, 176. 
 Pentateuch, 74, in. 
 Perea, 165, 166, 191, 193, 198, 
 
 200. 
 Pergamos, 108. 
 Persepolis, 39. 
 Persia, 83, 103. 
 Persis, province of Persia, 48. 
 Petra, 169, 182. 
 
 Petronius, governor of Egypt, 194. 
 Pharisees, no, 129, 156, 161-164, 
 
 167, 169, 175, 176, 179, 185, 186, 
 
 194. 
 Pharos, 111. 
 
 Pharsalia, battle of, 173, 179. 
 Phasael, brother of Herod, 178-182. 
 Phasaelis, city, 191. 
 Pheroras, brother of Herod, 188, 
 
 I 93- !95. I9 6 . x 9 8 - 
 Philip of Macedon, 84. 
 Philip of Aridaeus, 103. 
 Philip, Syrian general, 139, 140. 
 Philip, son of Antiochus Grypos, 
 
 167. 
 Philip, Herod's son, 199, 200. 
 Philippi, battle of, 174, 181. 
 Philistia, 163. 
 Philistines, 14. 
 Philo, 93, 108, 114, 159. 
 Philostephanus, 164. 
 Phoenicia, 83, 100, 104, 106, 119. 
 Phrygia, 104, 108. 
 Pindar, Greek poet, 117. 
 Piraeus, 192. 
 Plataeaus, 61. 
 Plato, 144. 
 Plutarch, 101. 
 Pollio = Abtalion, 185. 
 Polybius, 141. 
 Pompey, 57, 170-173, 175-177. l8 °> 
 
 184. 
 Pontus, 195. 
 Popilius Laenas, 127, 
 
INDEX 
 
 209 
 
 Prayer, 25, 95 ; in the Synagogue, 
 
 91 ; of Onias, 169. 
 Prideaux, 19. 
 
 Priesthood, Jewish, 86, 87. 
 Priestly Code, 74. 
 Prophets of the Exile, 13, 28-31. 
 Proselytes, no. 
 Proverbs, Book of, 120. 
 Psalms, 26. 
 Psalter, 130. 
 Ptolemais = Accho, 145, 146, 148, 
 
 163, 183, 189, 191. 
 Ptolemies, The, 109, 113, 116-119, 
 
 143, 166. 
 Ptolemy I. Lagi(Soter), 104, 116, 117. 
 Ptolemy ir. Philadelphus, in, 117. 
 Ptolemy III. Euergetes, 117. 
 Ptolemy IV. Philopator, 118. 
 Ptolemy v. Epiphanes, 119. 
 Ptolemy VI. Philometor, 114, 139, 
 
 146. 
 Ptolemy VII. Physcon, 155. 
 Ptolemy vni. Lathurus, 163. 
 Ptolemy XI. Auletes, 176. 
 Ptolemy, Syrian general, 135. 
 Ptolemy, son-in-law of Antiochus 
 
 vii. Sidetes, 151. 
 Ptolemy, an assassin, 146. 
 Ptolemy, son-in-law of Simon the 
 
 Maccabee, 151, 153. 
 Ptolemy Menneus of Chalcis, 181. 
 Ptolemy, minister under Herod, 190. 
 Ptolemy, brother of Nicolaus of 
 
 Damascus, 190. 
 Purim, Feast of, 63, 142. 
 Pythagoreans, 159, 161. 
 
 Quintilius Varus, 199. 
 
 Rabbis, The, 89, 114, 120. 
 Raepta, robber-fortress, 197. 
 Ragaba, fortress, 166. 
 Raphia, 118, 164. 
 Regem-melech, 58. 
 Rehum, Persian official, 49, 68. 
 Reuss, 130, 160. 
 Rhine, 42. 
 Rhodes, 189, 191. 
 Roman Senate, 184. 
 Romans, The, 121, 122, 127, 170- 
 173, 175, 177, 182, 186, 190, 191, 
 
 193. 195- 
 
 Rome, 108, no, 122, 139, 141, 146, 
 147, 152, 154, 170, 172, 176-178, 
 182, 186, 193, 195, 197, 198, 200. 
 
 Roxana, 100, 103. 
 
 14 
 
 Sabbath, 25. 
 
 Sabeism, 21. 
 
 Sadducees, 158, 164, 166-168, 183, 
 
 186. 
 Salamis, island, 61. 
 Salome, Alexandra. See Alexandra. 
 Salome, sister of Herod, 188. 
 Samaria = Sebaste, city, 70, 155, 172, 
 
 183, 184, 189, 191, 198. 
 Samaritan Pentateuch, 80, 81. 
 Samaritan temple, 80. 
 Samaritans, 44, 53, 59, 80, 96, 155. 
 Sameas = Shammai, 179-1S5. 
 Samosata, 183. 
 Sanballat, 70, 72, 80. 
 Sanhedrin, 124, 176, 179. 
 Sapha, near Jerusalem, 102. 
 Sardis, 108, 109. 
 
 Scaurus, general of Pompey, 170. 
 Scipio, Q. Metellus, 177, 178. 
 Scopas, Egyptian general, 119. 
 Scribes, 87-90. 
 
 Scythopolis in Galilee, 106, 171. 
 Sebaste. See Samaria. 
 Seleucia, near Antioch, 118. 
 Seleucia, in Palestine, on Lake 
 
 Merom, 166. 
 Seleucidae, The, 115, 119, 121-124, 
 
 145. 173- 
 Seleucus 1. Nicator, 104, 109. 
 Seleucus II. Callinicus, 117. 
 Seleucus IV. Philopator, 122. 
 Sepphoris, city, 176, 183. 
 Septuagint, 44, 76, 110-113. 
 Seron, Syrian general, 135. 
 Shammai. See Sameas. 
 Sharezer, 58. 
 Shechem, 154, 165. 
 Shema, 91. 
 Shemaiah, 72. 
 Shushan=Susa, 39, 62, 69. 
 Sibyllines, The Jewish, 113. 
 Sidon, 191. 
 
 Silo, lieutenant of Ventidius, 183. 
 Simeon, 20T. 
 
 Simon I., the Just, high priest, 124. 
 Simon II., high priest, 124. 
 Simon the Maccabee, 145, 147, 148- 
 
 152. 
 Simon the Benjamite, 122. 
 Simon, son of Boethus, 194. 
 Sinope in Pontus, 195. 
 Sirach. See Jesus Sirach. 
 Soemus, 189. 
 Solomon, 158, 196. 
 Solomon's temple, 56, 57, 192. 
 
2IO 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Sophocles, 114. 
 
 Sosius, 174, 183, 184. 
 
 Sparta, 147, 150. 
 
 Spinoza, 101. 
 
 Stoics, 159. 
 
 Strabo, 19, 163. 
 
 Strato's Tower =Caesarea, 189, 191. 
 
 Suffering Messiah, 36. 
 
 Sulla, the Dictator, 172. 
 
 Susiana, 48. 
 
 Syllasus, Arabian minister, 197. 
 
 Synagogue, 25, 90-93. 
 
 Syncellus, author, 120. 
 
 Synedria, 176, 178. 
 
 Syracuse, 73. 
 
 Syria, 104, 108, 117-119, 143, 147, 
 
 155, 170, 172-175, 177, 180, 182, 
 
 193. 197- 
 
 Tabernacles, Feast of, 75, 145. 
 Tabor, mountain, 177. 
 Tacitus, 57. 
 Talmud, 25, 89, 
 Targum, 92. 
 Taurus, mountain, 122. 
 Temple, The second, 55-58 ; dedi- 
 cation of, 55. 
 Temple at Leontopolis, 143. 
 Teron, a soldier, 198. 
 Thackeray, 159. 
 Theodore of Mopsuestia, 130. 
 Thermopylae, 122. 
 Theseus, 73. 
 Thessalonica, 108. 
 Theudio, uncle of Antipater, 198. 
 
 Thrace, 104. 
 
 Tigranes, king of Armenia, 170. 
 
 Tirshatha, 59, yj, 79. 
 
 Tobiah, 70. 
 
 Tobijah, Babylonian Jew, 55. 
 
 Tobit, Book of, 97. 
 
 Trachonitis, district, 193, 197, 200. 
 
 Tradition, rabbinical, 89. 
 
 Tribes, The Ten, 11, 12. 
 
 Tripolis, 109, 141, 191. 
 
 Trypho, 147, 148, 151. 
 
 Tyre, 100, 102, 125, 127, 180, 181, 
 
 191, 200. 
 
 Ulatha, district of country, 193. 
 Urim and Thummim, 57, 86. 
 
 Ventidius, Roman general, 183. 
 Vetus, Roman general, 180. 
 
 Wisdom of Solomon, 113. 
 Worship, Jewish, 95 ; of emperor, 
 
 192, 193. 
 
 Xenophon, 38, 41, 43, 83. 
 Xerxes, 61-63. 
 
 Zabadeans, an Arabian tribe, 1^7. 
 
 Zadok, high priest, 158. 
 
 Zadokites, 34, 161. 
 
 Zechariah, 52, 54, 58, 60, 85, 97. 
 
 Zedekiah, 12. 
 
 Zerubbabel, 34, 43, 49, 53, 54, 59, 
 
 60, 75 ; temple of, 192. 
 Zoroaster, 40, 48, 85. 
 
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