Optimism and Pessimism Old and New Testaments -GUTTMACHER fA! 'xsattlF 4 THE FRIEDENWALD COMPANY BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A. DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY PABENTS PREFACE The subject of this investigation is too broad and too complex to receive exhaustive treatment within the pages of one volume. Yet, I may hope, to have contrib uted something toward a better knowledge of the phil osophy of life of the Old and ISTew Testaments. The many problems involved in the investigation have been discussed in an impartial philosophical spirit, uninflu enced by theological bias. Due credit has been given in footnotes to all whose researches have been helpful to me. I welcome this opportunity to express my best thanks to my honored teacher. Prof. Paul Haupt, for the assistance given me in the pursuit of my work. My thanks are also diie to my esteemed friend, Eabbi Clifton H. Levy, who has kindly looked through the sheets of the entire work. Adolf Gctttmaohee. Baltiniore, Md., November, I'JO'i. CONTEMTS PAGE Intkoddction 13 Chapter I. View of the World — Persia, Greece, India Bl Chapter II. View of the World in the Old Testament. 27 Chapter III. Origin and View of Evil in the Old Testament 33 Chapter IV. View of Life in the Old Testament 57 Chapter V. Reward and Punishment in the Old Testament 91 Chapter VI. Messianism in the Old Testament 115 Chapter VII. Resurrection in the Old Testament 151 Chapter VIII. The Talmud 167 Chapter IX. Christianity, Buddhism and Essenism 181 Chapter X. The Kingdom of God and the Messiah 191 Chapter XI. Pauline Christianity 305 10 Contents Chapter XII. View of the World and of Life in the New Testament 213 Chapter XIII. 3in, Atonement, Satan, in the New Testament 231 Chapter XIV. Conclusion 241 Excursus I. Eden 243 Excursus II. Ecclesiastes 247 ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS A. E. V American Revised Version of the Bible. D Deuteronomy (original document). Dt Additions to Deuteronomy. E Elohistic document. H Law of Holiness. Int. J. of Ethics. . . .International Journal of Ethics. J Jah vistic document. J. A. 0. S Journal of the American Oriental Society. J. Q. R Jewish Quarterly Review. K. A. T Die Kellinschrif ten und das Alte Testament (Schrader). Kautzsch's A. T Die Heilige Schrift des Alten Testaments. Ed. hy E. Kautzsch. Kautzsch'a A. u. P. .Die Apokryphen und Pseudepigraphen des Alten Testaments. Ed. by E. Kautzsch. LXX Septuagint. M Massoretic Text. N. T New Testament. O. T Old Testament. P. B The Sacred Books of the Old Testament. Ed. by Paul Haupt. R. S Revue S^mitique. R. V Revised Version of the English Bible. Z. A. T Zeitschrift fiir die alttestamentliche Wissen- schaft. Z. D. M. G Zeitschrift der deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft. INTRODUCTION The terms Optimism and PessiAaism are of compara tively recent date. Optimism became current in the first part of the eighteenth century to designate the doc trine of the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz (1646-1716), that this is the best possible world.' Pessimism as a designation for a system of philosophy originated with Arthur Schopenhauer (1788- 1860), who contends that this is the worst of all pos sible worlds.'' A similar system of Pessimism was later developed by Eduard von Hartmann (1843 — ). The fact that every human being desires to be happy, but does not find happiness, furnishes him the basis for his ' Leibnitz endeavors to prove in the Theodic6e, published in 1710, that our world, among all possible worlds, is the best, and that physical and moral evil are the consequences of man's limitation and imperfection, while, at the same time, evil is considered as a means for ultimate good. Here Optimism reaches its philosophic culmination. Wickedness is thus tolerated as a condition, sine qua non, in a world which but for it would not possess magnanimity and a host of other virtues. See also M. Kayserling. Moses Mendels sohn, Leipzig, 1888, p. 464. ^ Schopenhauer calls the arguments Leibnitz advances, to show that this is the best of all possible worlds, sophistical. Instead of being the best of all possible worlds, Schopen hauer contends that it is the worst of all possible worlds (Schopenhauer: Die Welt als WlUe und Vorstellung, Gries- bach ed., vol. II, p. 687 ) . 14 Introduction philosophical system of Pessimism.' Hartmann eaUs Kant the father of modern Pessimism. To his fortieth year Kant was an optimist, a follower of the Leibnitz- Wolf school, later he became a pessimist.* But long ere the terms Optimism and Pessimism were coined, Optimism and Pessimism existed as veins of feel ing and of belief. These may readily be traced through the poetry and the religion of all peoples that had a literature. Pessimism is as old as mankind. It abounds in the religious speculations of Buddha," and long before him is met with in the cuneiform inscrip tions." The purpose of this dissertation is to point out the optimistic and pessimistic thoughts and tendencies in the Old and New Testaments. In doing so, we strenu ously avoid following the little currents that spring from the subjective or personal experience of this or that 'Hartmann: Das Religiose Bewusstsein der Menschheit, Leipzig, 1888, p. 27. * Cf. Hartmann: Zur (Jesch. und Begriindung des Pessimls- mus, 2d ed., Lpzg., 1891, pp. 64 £f. Cf. Ooeitein: Der Optim- ismus und Pessimismus, Berlin, 1890, p. V, note 2. Also, Kant's essay in " Berliner Monatsschrift " (1781), " tJber das Misslingen aller philosophischen Versuche in der Theo- dicSe." ° Buddha lived in the sixth century B. C. Buddhism teaches that to live on earth is weariness, and that there is no bliss beyond. Cf. Hopkins: The Religions of India, Boston, 1895, p. 316. ° Cf. Haupt: The Book of Ecclesiastes in Oriental Studies, Boston, 1894, pp. 249-250; comp. Notes 20 and 21, p. 267. Introduotion 15 individual; for no individual, however great, mirrors in himself all the aspirations and activities of his time. We have walked up and down the shores of life's broad river in search of the longings and aspirations, the Joys and sorrows, the virtues and vices, of the men and women who lived during the time covered by the term "biblical." The terms Optimism and Pessimism we use in the broad sense of philosophy to denote two specific theories of life. Optimism afiirms existence as essentially good and conducive to happiness. In brief, existence is pre ferable to non-existence. Nor could it be otherwise, the optimist asserts in a world called into being by a Cre ator of infinite goodness and wisdom. Pessimism affirms that existence when summed up, has an enormous sur plus of pain over pleasure, and that real good can only be had by abnegation and self-sacrifice. It thus con cludes, that non-existence is better than existence. Op timism denies that there is anything evil, if the Uni verse be considered as a whole, but not that there are many particular evils in the world. Pessimism denies that there is anything really good in relation to the Universe as a whole, but not that there are some things good as regards the particular interests of particular beings. The main distinction between Optimism and Pessimism is, that while the former looks upon evil as temporary and alterable, the latter regards it as final and unalterable. 16 Introduction Schopenhauer states,' that the characteristics of Juda ism are Eealism and Optimism, views of the world that furnish the main elements for a Theistic belief. If there be an infinite God possessed of infinite power, it would seem to follow that He would originate the best possible system. Then, a true Theism cannot, possibly, give rise to a belief that existence is essentially evil. The optimistic theory finds its origin in the belief in a Moral Governor." But for the Theist who has freed the idea of God of its naturalism, and who has come to identify it with the ideals of goodness, and wisdom, and justice, there arises the necessity of a Theodicy — " a justification of the ways of Providence." For Theism asserts that the existence of the world is an intended consequence of God's goodness and omniscience, and sees itself, therefore, driven in the presence of evil to the necessity of attempting a Theodicy.' Whether men be ' Cf . Schopenhauer: Parerga and Paralipomena, Griesbach ed., vol. II, p. 397. 'All 'theories of divine beings may, indeed, be said to have an optimistic bearing in so far as these beings are con ceived as accessible to man and susceptible of being influ enced by his prayers. Yet the conception of gods delight ing in evil, and of a nature to awaken terror seems rather to be connected with those impulses which give rise to the cruder forms of Pessimism. On the other hand, the doctrine that the world is the work of a wise and just Being obvi ously leads up to an optimistic solution of the question. Cf . Sully: Pessimism, N. Y., 1891, p. 36. 'Cf. Hartmann: Philosophy of the Unconscious, London, 1884, vol. 11, p. 274; also, James: The Varieties of Rel. Ex perience, London, 1902, p. 131. Introduction 17 votaries of theistic or non-theistic beliefs, they com monly do not look with indifference on pain or poverty. They will be far from thinking that poverty, loss of children, sickness and death, are no evils, and that a bounteous harvest, hope of posterity, and good health are not things to be desired. It is but human to look upon the one as a curse, and upon the other as a blessing. Man may be indifferent to search for the source whence spring the blessings that come to him, but he will burn with desire to ascertain the cause of his sorrows and misfortunes. Life teaches him that evil is due to some external cause, and he comes to look upon it as a power superior to himself. The next step is to appease by sac rifice and prayer, fasting and voluntary suffering, the wrath and displeasure of that superior power, that he may ward off further and greater evil. Thus every gen eration asks anew : " What is the origin of evil ? " " How can it be conquered ? " These queries, or rather the attempts to find a satisfactory answer to them, led to the formation of the different religious creeds and phil osophical systems.'" For the central problem which lies at the root of all religion is concerned with the origin of evil and the deliverance from it. We thirst for life, not only for life in general, but for individual life and for the preservation of our personal existence, its con tinuance and its welfare. Yet does not life involve us in labors, struggles, siclmess, pain and misery? The " Cf . Hartmann : D. rel. Bewusstsein d. Menschheit, Lpzg., 1888, p. 27. 3 18 Introducition very contents of life seems to be made up of evils, as a means of escape from which religion was sought." The manner in which the problem of evil is solved deter mines the optimistic and pessimistic theories of life. Schopenhauer states '' that on the whole the spirit of the Old Testament is optimistic, and that of the New Testament pessimistic — i. e. of course, so far as this life is concerned. The Old Testament religion is favorable to an optimistic view of life, for besides supplying a uni versal Optimism in relation to the moral order of the world by its undaunted faith in the final victory of good over evil, it teaches a kind of national Optimism with respect to the hedonistic value of life in the idea that the Creator is controlling all things for the special benefit of His chosen people; it is a shout of joy at God's glorious world, joy at His righteous government of men's affairs, at the certain realization of His purposes in His Kingdom. The New Testament so far as this life is concerned leans strongly towards Pessimism," " " AUe Religion beruht auf dem Gefuhl des Brlosungs- bediirfniss, auf dem Verlangen nach Erlosung, nicht nur von der Siinde, sondern auch von dem tJbel." Cf. Hart mann: Zur Gesch. u. Begriindung d. Pessimismus, Lpzg., 1891, pp. 23 ff. ^'^ Sammtliche Werke (Frauenstadt ed.), vol. Ill, p. 713; also, Haupt in Oriental Studies, Boston, 1894, p. 265, note 15 ; Bacon's Essays, London, 1877, p. 17. ^' If pessimistic be the conviction that life on earth is not worth living, this view is shared by the greatest of earth's religions. If Pessimism be the view that all beauty ends with life, and that beyond there is nothing for which it is Introduction 19 it speculates about the future and the grave and depre ciates this life and its affairs. Thus Friedrich Paulsen, speaking of Christianity and Buddhism, states:" "In their origin both religions are religions of salvation. They promise not happiness, but deliverance from evil, not by the means of civilization, and by the satisfaction of all needs, but by deliverance from desire, by deliver ance from the will to live, from the pursuit of worldly goods, wealth, honor and lust. Their judgment on the pleasure-value of life is unanimous — life is suffering; sin and misery form the contents of life of the natural man. In keeping with Christian views, our terrestrial life is teleologically justified by the fact that it bears relation to a higher life, to the life beyond the grave. It has meaning and import, not as an end in itself, but as a period of preparation and probation for life eternal." The passages of the Old and New Testaments bearing upon Optimism and Pessimism will be chronologically arranged according to the teachings of modern biblical criticism. For research has abundantly proven that the Books of Scriptures are not chronologically arranged, and that some of the Books themselves are of composite structure.worth while to live, then India has no parallel to this Homeric belief. If, however. Pessimism mean that to have done with existence on earth is the best that can happen to a man, but that there is bliss beyond, then this is the opinion of Brahmanism, Jainism, and Christianity." Cf. Hopkins: The Religions of India, Boston, 1895, p. 316. "Paulsen: Introd. to Philosophy, N. Y., 1895, p. 177. CHAPTER I View of the World — Persia^ Greece, India In nature-religions the beneficial operations of nature are ascribed to heterogeneous causes. The evil malevo lent gods and spirits are opposed to those that are good and beneficent. Pfleiderer states ' that this dualism is fotmd in some form in all nature-religions. In the cult of Osiris, Adonis, Melkarth, etc., the two hostile princi ples stand side by side on such a footing of equality, that in the circle of the year alternately the one and the other conquers, without a final victory being reached. Furthermore, nature-religions look upon the world as void of history and design, which view stamps them as pessimistic. The struggle for existence, due to the sterility of the soil and to excessive and enervating heat, is reflected among the Persians in their dualistic belief of spirits, contrasted as light and darkness, beneficial and prejudicial — Ahriman and Ormuzd." The softer climate of Judaea and the fruitfulness of the soil may, ' Genetisch-spekulative Religionsphil., Berl., 1884, pp. 355 fC; also, Tiele: Gesch. d. Rel. im. Altertum, Gotha, 1898, vol. II, pp. 153 fC; Jastrow, Jr.: The Study of ReL, Lon don, 1901, p. 83. " These names are corruptions of earlier names found in Avesta, Ahura-Mazda and Angra or Anra-Mainyll; cf. also Art. "Angra-Mainyus" in J. A. O. S. 5:380; 13:187; also Jackson: Zoroaster, N. Y., 1899, p. 171, and Art. "Avesta" in Am. Encycl; Tiele: Gesch. d. Rel. im Altertum, vol. II, pp. 128 ff; DoUinger: Heident, u. Judent., Regensburg, 1857, pp. 357 f£; 382, 33 View of the World possibly, help to explain the joy and the happiness the ancient Hebrews found in life. Greek thought, was, on the whole, conducive to Optimism rather than to Pessimism.^ The polytheism of the Greeks was char acterized by joy and cheer. There enters into it how ever, a purely pessimistic element — ^the fatum,^M7^a. The idea of an all-embracing principle of fate by which the gods, as well as men, were bound, makes for Pessi mism, since all limitation of will is a diminution of good which the will can reach. This gloomy view is voiced in Greek tragedy.'' The early Greeks are contin ually held up to us in literary works as models of native youthful Optimism, or as Prof. James calls it, "the healthy-minded joyousness." ° But even in Homer »Cf. Nicklin: "The Greek View of Life," in Int. J. of Ethics, Jan., 1901. 'Theognis, 425-428: "Best of all for all things upon earth is it not to be born nor to behold the splendors of the sun; nexf best to traverse as soon as possible the gates of Hades." Comp, the almost identical passage in CEdipus in Colonus, 1225 : " Not to have been born at all is superior to every view of that question; the next best thing for him who has seen the light of day is to return whence he came." Similarly in Euripidis Hippol, 189: "The whole life of man Is full of grief, nor is there any rest from toil and moil." The Anthology of Theognis is full of pessimistic utterances that remind one of Job and Ecclesiastes: "Naked came I upon the earth, naked I go below the ground— why then do I vainly toil when I see the end naked before me?" "Being naught I came to life: once more shall I be what I was." " Nothing and Nothingness is the whole race of mortals." "James: The Varieties of Religious Experience, London 1892, p. 142. Persia, Greece, India 23 the reflective passages are cheerless,"" and the moment the Greeks grew systematically pensive and thought of ultimates, they became unmitigated pessimists." This transition from Optimism to Pessimism is most instruc tive. Greek polytheism, that seemed to have trans formed the world into a veritable Paradise, ends in the religious-philosophical speculations of Neo-Platonism which regards the same world as an abode of dismal darkness and error, and life on earth as a time of pro bation.' But Greek Pessimism differs from the oriental and modern variety. The Greeks had not made the dis covery that the pathetic mood may be idealized, and fig ure as a higher form of sensibility. Their spirit was still too essentially masculine for Pessimism to be elab orated or lengthily dwelt on in their literature.'^ Among the Aryans of India we find a remarkable groundwork for Pessimism. Their philosophy of de spair makes life itself a sin, and existence a grave mis take, if not a fatality. " The sense that life is a dream, or a burden," says Max Miiller, " is a notion which Bud- "a Iliad, XVII, 446: "Nothing then is more wretched any where than man of all that breathes and creeps upon this earth." " For a characteristic utterance of Greek Pessimism comp. passage in Sokrates' Apology where Plato puts in the mouth of the wisest of men, " that death even if it should rob us of all consciousness would still be a wonderful gain, inasmuch as deep dreamless sleep is by far to be preferred to every-day, even of the happiest life." Jowett's transl. of the Dialogues of Plato, N. Y., 1887, pp. 305 fC. ' Cf . Horowitz : Untersuchungen iiber Philon's and Pla ten's Lehre von der Weltschopfung, Marburg, 1900. 'a James: The Varieties of Rel. Experiences, p. 142. 24 View op the World dhism shares with every Hindoo philosophy." ' So Schopenhauer : ° " The fundamental characteristics of Brahmanism and Buddhism are Idealism and Pessi mism, which look upon life as the result of our sins, and upon the existence of the world as in the nature of a dream." Buddhism is pessimistic Pantheism, it de nies existence not only of a Creator, but of an Absolute Being." There is no reality anywhere, neither in the past nor in the future. Life is suffering — this is the burden of the teachings of Buddha." For life is filled with a desire of the soul for goods that are not, and which by their very transitoriness prepare a constant illusion. Hence, man must make himself free from all desire. He must endeavor to become wishless and hope less that he may find peace and rest." " True wisdom,'^ says Max Miiller, " consists in a perception of the nothingness of all things, and in a desire to become nothing, and to be blown out to enter into Nirvana, ^ Chips from a German Workshop, London, 1868, vol. I, p. 227. 'Cf. Saunders: Essays of Schopenhauer, London, 1895, p. 274. "Cf. Schopenhauer (vol. II, p. 331): "Der Buddhismus legt uns eine Welt dar, ohne einen moralischen Regierer, Lenker, oder Schopfer." "Cf. Oldenberg: Buddha, Berl., 1897, p. 241; also. Ben der: D. Wesen d. Rel., Bonn, 1886, p. 274. "Buddha believed that man's evil desire, and not his material existence, was the root of evil. As a remedy he proposes the radical extinction of all desire. Cf. Cams: Buddhism and its recent Christian Critics, Chicago, 1899, p. 24; Happel: Die rel. u. philos. Anschauungen der Inder, Giessen, 1902; Dilger: D, Erlosung d. Menschen, Basel, 1902, Persia, Greece, India 25 i. e. extinction." " When Nirvana is reached, every thing that constitutes our separate individuality, feeling, thought, the very consciousness of personal existence is annihilated, the oil that fed the lamp of life is drained off, and the flame goes out of itself." "Chips from a German Workshop, vol. I, p. 231; also, Rhys-Davis: " The Buddhistic doctrine of Nirvana " in Contemporary Review, Jan., 1877; Oldenberg: Buddha, p. 237; J.A. 0. S., 1:292. " Carus in opposition to Oldenberg asserts that Nirvana does not mean annihilation, but rather deliverance from evil. Cf. Buddhism and its recent Christian Critics, p. 75; James: The Varieties of Religious Experience, London, 1902, p. 165. CHAPTEE II View of the World in the Old Testament The creation of the Universe forms the beginning of the early records of all great civilizations.' For creation is the presupposition of all subsequent history and, at the same time, the first act of revelation on the part of a creator. Thus, among the Hebrews, the early chapters of their sacred records reveal their conception of creation and creator. It is, generally, conceded that in Genesis are two ac counts of creation imperfectly fused together.^ Though they differ in style and in the order of creation, God is the Creator in both.' God is placed outside of the world, but in sole and direct control of all that occurs.'* He wills that something should be, and it is. The Universe is not self-existent, as some cosmo gonies teach, not inherently evil, nor antagonistic to God and man, but it has come into being at the will of a Divine Creator. " He does not lose Himself in what 'Cf. White: A Hist, of Warfare of Science and Theol., N. Y., 1896, vol. I, pp. 1-4. ^ Gen. 1:1 — 2:4a (first account) known as priestly, also the Elohistic account, c. 500 B. C. Gen. 2:4b— 3:24 (second account) known as prophetic. Judaic or Jahvistic account, c. 850 B. C. Cf. Kaulen: " Der Biblische Schopfungsbericht. Gen. 1:1—2:3," Freiburg, 1902. ' Cf. Driver: Introd. to O. T., 6th ed., p. 8; also, Spurrell: Notes on the text of Gen., Oxford, 1896, Introd.: Hol- zinger: Gen. (Marti), Freiburg, 1898, pp. 37 ff; Gunkel: Schopfung u. Chaos, Gott., 1895, p. 5. =aCf. Jastrow, Jr.: The Study of Rel., London, 1901, p. 234. 28 View of the World is created; nor does He merely passively suffer things to go forth from Him; but He actively brings them forth, and keeps Himself independent of them in the sameness of His eternal Godhead. He has nothing in antithesis to Himself, nothing outside of Himself which He could not, or only gradually could, overcome; but everything outside of Him stands open to His free dis posal."* That God is the Creator, independent of all that He created, is a conception deeply rooted in the consciousness of the ancient Hebrews, and explains the optimistic view of the world that prevails in the Old Testament. But this Creator not only is independent of all creation, he has created everything good, i. e. in the perfection which corresponds to His own goodness. This is, especially, clear from the Priestly account of creation.' After each and every act of creation God proclaims the work 31D"»3 "to be good." After the completion of creation God seems to be still more pleased with what He had wrought, for we find ^Np 31D"n.?n.l " behold, it was very good." ° Judaism was the first religion to recognize that this world " is very good " — the work of One Almighty Beneficent God. Thus we read in Isaiah : ' " For thus says JHVH, the Creator of the heavens, — He is the true God; The Former and Maker of the earth, — He established it. Not a waste did He create it, to be inhabited He formed it." (P. B.) *Cf. Dillmann: Gen., Edlnb., 1897, vol. I, p. 43. " Cf . Jastrow, Jr. : " The Hebr. and Babyl. account of Cre ation," J. Q. R., July, 1901. "Cf. Gunkel: Schopfung u. Chaos, p. 12. '45:18 (546 B. C); comp. Jer. 10:12 (not genuine); cf, Cornill's ed. of Heb, text in P. B. in the Old Testament 29 Similarly, in the Psalms : " By the words of JHVH were the heavens made, And all their host by the breath of his mouth." « (P. B.) "For He spoke, and it was! He commanded, and it stood forth!"" (P. B.) Again and again do the Psalmists extol the untold beauties of nature, and the bounties she so lavishly be stows upon man : " Thou causest springs to flow in the valleys, Between mountains they glide away; They give drink to every beast of the field. Wild asses thereat quench their thirst; Birds of the air build their nests on the banks. And warble forth songs from the branches. From Thine upper stories of clouds. Thou glvest drink to the mountains. And the earth is sated with the fruit of Thy works. Thou causest grass to grow for cattle. And herbs for the service of man. So that bread may come forth from the earth." " (P. B.) Nature not only provides man with those things neces sary to sustain his life, but she furnishes him with luxu ries that cheer the heart and lighten the spirit : " And wine to cheer man's heart, Oil to make his skin to shine"" (P. B.) In the eighth Psalm,"" which " is a lyric echo of the tradition committed to writing in the Elohistic account of creation," " we read : «Ps. 33:6 (480 B. C.) •Ps. 33:9. "Ps. 104:10-14. "Ps. 104:15. "a Older than Job 7:17, later than Gen. I; cf. Wellhausen's crit. notes on Ps. 8 in P. B. (Engl, transl.) '^Cf. Delitzsch: Genesis, Edinb., 1888, vol. I, p. 65. 30 View of the World " When I see Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained, What is man that Thou takest thought of him. And a son of man that Thou heedest him." " (P. B.) The Optimism which roots in the conception that God is the Creator is deepened by the belief that He, the Creator, rules over that which He has called into ex istence, and it is significant that He is always spoken of as a " Eighteous Judge." " JHVH has assumed the sovereignty, let the earth rejoice. Let the multitude of countries be glad! Clouds and darkness are round about Him, Righteousness and justice are the foundations of His throne." " " For JHVH, the Host High, is to be feared, A great King over all the earth." " For King of the whole world is God." " God has begun His reign over the heathen. He has taken His seat on His holy throne." '' (P. B.) " He loves righteousness and justice; Of the goodness of JHVH the earth is full." '» (P. B.) Long before Leibnitz did the Talmudic doctors assert that this is the best possible world. For we read in Midrash Eabboth " that Eabbi Abahu of Caesarea (about 300 C. E.) said : " " How do we know, that God several "Ps. 8: 3, 4. "Ps. 97:1,2 (c. 350 B. C.) "Ps. 47:2, 7a, 8 (c. 350 B. C.) ^"Ps. 33:5 (c. 480 B. C); comp. Zeph. 3:5; Micah 7:9; Amos 5:24; Hosea 14:9; Jer. 11:20; Isa. 3:14, 15; Ps. 96: 10-13; 103:6; Dan. 9:14, 16; Eccl. 3:17; 8:12. " Midrash Rabboth is a collection of Midrashim on the Pentateuch and the five Megilloth. Bereshith Rabba was compiled during the sixth Christian century. Cf. Karpeles: Gesch. d. jud. Lit, Berl., 1886, vol. I, p. 335. " Bereshith Rabba, chapt. 9. IN THE Old Testament 31 times created worlds and then destroyed them until He created these worlds, for He said, these are good, and the others are not." In another place we read: "All that God has wrought was for the good."^° " Talm. Berachoth 60b. lUi; 30^ KJOm nun ^3 CHAPTEE III Origin and View of Evil in the Old Testament The Biblical accounts of creation imply that God cre ated everything out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo).^ The opening sentence of the Priestly account of creation: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," ' expresses the negation of primary matter (Ur- stoff ) . This view is never contradicted in the Old Tes tament. During Post-biblical ages, too, it was the pre vailing view." Those who differed from it were under the influence of Greek speculation. Thus Aristobulus (160 B. C), who was the chief exponent of the Jewish- Alexandrian school of philosophy, held that God formed the world out of material previously existing.'* This view is also met with in the Wisdom of Solomon * and in ^PKD a>^ nsni (Creatio ex nihilo). ' (Gen. 1:1) (P) y-^tin nsi D^OB'n riK Din?N n-i3 n^csia Cf. also Isa. 44:24 (550-545 B. C.) : " Thus says JHVH, thy Redeemer, and He who formed thee from the womb: I am JHVH, who wrought everything. Who stretched forth the heavens, alone, who spread forth the earth — ^who was with me " (P. B.) ; also Ps. 90:2; 33:5; Job 26:7. ' Cf. Hamburger's Real Encycl. " Schopfung aus Nichts," and " Religionsphilosophie." "aCf. Ueberweg: Hist of Phil., N. Y., 1896, vol. I, p. 223; Joel: Blicke in die Religionsgesch., Excursus I Aristobulus. *Cf. Wisdom of Sol. (150 B. C), "For Thine Almighty hand, that made the world of matter without form" (11: 17a). 3 34 Origin and View of Evil the Jerusalem Talmud.'* Advocates of both theories are foimd among the Fathers of the Church." Heathen dom had but the one theory, that matter existed before the world was created. To find an explanation for the mixed state of things which prevails, i. e. good and evil, solution was sought in Dualism, the doctrine that there are two independent divine beings or eternal principles, one good and the other evil : characteristic especially of Parsism and of various Gnostic systems. The Old Tes tament in negating primary matter looks for evil not in matter, but in man to whom freedom has been vouch safed. Evil, thus, becomes the result of the abuse of freedom, it is, as it were, concocted in the laboratory of the human heart. " Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compas sion every man to his brother . . . and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart." ° " Yet even now, says JHVH, turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning: rend your heart, not your garments, and turn to JHVH, your God."' *aR. Jehuda b. Pasi (400 C. E.) teaches (77 Col. I): "At first the world was water in water, for it is written: And the spirit of God was brooding upon the waters." Cf. Joel. Blicke i. d. Religionsgesch., vol. I, pp. 162 fC; cf. ibid.. Gnosis. Excursus II. "Cf. White: A Hist of the Warfare of Science with The ology, N. Y., 1896, vol. I, pp. 4fe; Ueberweg: A Hist, of Philosophy, N. Y., 1896, vol. I, pp. 274 fC. "Zech. 7:9,10 (520 B. C.) 'Joel 2:12, 13a (post-exilic). Kautzsch and Cornill place passage as late as 350 B. C. IN THE Old Testament 35 " Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." ' In Ecclesiasticus (200 B. C.) a sharp distinction is drawn between moral and physical evil. The former being due to man's free-will, the latter coming from God. Thus we read : " Say not, it is through the Lord that I have fallen. For thou ought not to do the things He hates." • " Say not. He has caused one to err: For He has no need of the sinful man."' '" " He Himself made man from the beginning. And left him to his counsel." " Before man is life and death." " Concerning the source of physical evil we find : " Pros perity and adversity, life and death, poverty and riches, come of the Lord," ^' either as a punishment, or for the purpose of testing man's strength of character. "What is brought upon thee take cheerfully, and be patient when thou art changed to low estate. For gold is tried in the furnace, and acceptable men in the fire of ad versity." " The Old Testament boldly grapples with the difficult problem of evil by resting in absolute ideal faith upon the wisdom and goodness of JHVH, who created this »Prov. 4: 23. D^'i'n mvW MgiD '3 ^3^ nXJ lOB'p-'psp Cf. in loc. Miiller and Kautzsch's critical notes on the Heb. text of Prov. in P. B., where the Massoretic text 730 is changed into 733. As to the age of the passage, I agree with those who place the first nine chpts. in the Greek age (c. 250 B. C.) Cf. Driver, Introd. sixth ed., p. 405. The pre-exilic view is defended by Nowack: Die Spriiche Salo- mo's, Lpzg., 1883, §5. "15:11. "15:12. "15:14. "15:17a. "11:14. "2:4,5. 36 Origin and View of Evil world in wisdom and goodness." Its trust is uncon ditioned, though there be nothing whatsoever between evil and Divine Omnipotence. The burden is placed upon the shoulders of every individual who has mis used the freedom God has granted him. He, and he alone, is responsible for evil. If he has fallen, his own will has dragged him down. In Pagan mythology, man was once an angel. He rebelled agaiast the gods and henceforth was expelled from the heavenly abode."" The cosmology of Egypt makes the rebellion of the angels precede the creation of the Universe. The earth was to be a place to which the rebellious were exiled, who once on earth were sub- '"Cf. Philippson: Weltbewegende Fragen, Lpzg., 1869, vol. I, p. 126. "The story of the fallen angels in Enoch is built upon Gen. 6:2, 4 (J). The date of Enoch is uncertain, about 70 B. C. In Enoch (chpts. 6-11) (cf. Beer's translation in Kautzsch's Apok. and Pseudepig.) we read: " It happened after the children of men had multiplied in those days, that fair and beautiful daughters were born to them. And the angels, the sons of the heavens, saw them and lusted after them, the children of men, and said unto each other. Come, let us choose wives among them, and beget children. And Semjaza, the first of them, said unto them: I fear, lest ye may not want to accomplish the deed, and then I alone shall have to suffer punishment. And each selected one for himself, and they began to go in unto them, and misled them, and taught them witchcraft and incantations, and informed them how to cut roots and different kinds of wood. But they became pregnant and brought forth mighty giants whose length was three thousand cubits, and these giants were iniquitous, and occasioned the flood. These evil angels taught men war and bloodshed and every wicked work, and were punished by being confined In the bowels of the earth till the great day of judgment." IN THE Old Testament 37 ject to pain and suffering like ordinary mortals. This belief was common to most Pagans. Socrates, who op posed it, paid for his scepticism with his life." The pessimistic and fatalistic elements, characteristic of Paganism, may be traced to the belief that man is a fallen being, a prisoner on earth. Even the Talmud is not wholly free from that belief. We read there of a conflict in Heaven, and of the banishment of souls into mortal bodies." The names of two fallen angels (giants) are mentioned — Uzziel and Shamkhazai."^ Such vaga ries, however, left no impress upon the development of Judaism. The monotheistic belief was too deeply im bedded within the Jewish consciousness not to prove fatal to all such imaginings. Fatalism (excepting one passage in Jeremiah " and a few references in the genu ine " portion of Ecclesiastes ") flnds no echo within the Old Testament. The doctrine of free-will is enunciated in clear and unmistakable language and is in thorough "Cf. Jowett: The Dialogues of Plato, N. Y., 1887, vol. I (The Apology), pp. 316 ff. '* Targum : Jer. to Gen. 6 : 4. "a Ssi-lir and ¦<^l'31??> " (15:2. 597 B. C.) "And it shall be, when they say to thee, whither shall we go? then shalt thou tell them, thus says the Lord: such as are for death to death; and such as are for the famine, to famine, and such as are for cap tivity, to captivity." ='°Cf. Haupt: The Bk. of Eccl., in Oriental Studies, pp. 243 f. ^ (9:7) " Come, eat thy bread with joy. And drink thy wine with a merry heart; For God has long ago approved of (all) thy doings." Comp. 9:9; 8:14. Cf. also Haupt: The Bk. of Eccl. in Ori ental Studies, p. 257. 38 GRiGrcf AND View o* Evil keeping with the dignity and worth which the Old Tes tament ascribes to human nature : " I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse, and thou shalt choose life." ^ In the Talmud the doctrine of free-will is often re ferred to. " He who wishes to purify himself is helped by Heaven towards his aim, while he who seeks to defile himself will find means of doing so." " As soon as evil cannot be longer explained, it becomes in the Old Testament punishment of God for sin. Thus Eliphaz asserts in the Book of Job that the innocent never perishes," which implies that the guilty does per ish. Sorrow remains what it is, but its sting is extracted in the reflection that it has a moral ground.'"' Man's moral strength lies in his will, upon it depends his being great or weak. His whole character is built upon it. Free-will relieves the Creator, according to the Old Tes tament, of the responsibility for evil. It is to be noted that among the efforts to explain God's responsibility for existing evil nowhere is it stated that it is a property of matter; that evil inheres in matter was the view of the Neo-Platonic school. It is as true of Eabbinical as of Old Testament the ology that it is weak in the theories of the origin of sin. ^^Deut 30:19 (Dt). =» Talm. Sabbath 104a. N3 D'DBTI \K) l"? pW^'DD inD!? N3 =M:7 comp. Deut 30:17, 18 (Dt); also Isa. 55:7 (in LXX this sentence is omitted). '" In O. T. physical evil is traced to moral evil, and moral evil has its cause in man's free-will, presupposed in Deut. 30:15 ff (Dt). IN THE Old Testament 39 The third chapter of Genesis simply relates a fact; at any rate, it stands by itself, and is nowhere referred to again in the Old Testament.^""- Though little thought is bestowed in the Old Testament upon the cause and origin of sin, it holds out the hope of conquest of sin by unremitting effort on the part of the sinner. Man endowed with reason and free-will is the archi tect and arbiter of his own fate: " Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; the blessing, if ye shall hearken unto the commandments of JHVH your God . . . and the curse, if ye shall not hearken . . . ""» " Wherefore does man murmur while he lives, a man on account of punishment for his sins? Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to JHVH." " " Train a child in the way he should go. And even when he Is old he will not depart from it." " These passages indicate that man may by the exercise of his wiU rid himself of sin. The Talmudic doctors seem to be of the opinion that no man who- can reason will sin : " No man sins unless his mind has been clouded.'"" Akabya (70 C. E.) said: "Eeflect upon three things and thou wilt not come within the power of sin: Know whence thou comest, "°a ct Cheyne: The Book of Psalms, N. Y., 1895. Notes to Ps. 51; also Zunz: Gottesdlenstliche Vortrage, Frankfurt a/M, 1892, second ed., p. 44; also Jastrow: The Study of Religion, London, 1901, p. 223; Giidemann: Das Juden- thum, Wien, 1902, p. 17. =»Deut 11:26, 27 (D); comp. ibid., 30:15-19 (Dt). "Lam. 3:39, 40; comp. Ps. 18:26. '"Prov. 22:6. " nitsB' nn n dj33 3'ss s^n ni'3i? 1311; dix tk (Baw. Sutta 3a.) 40 Origin and View of Evil and whither thou art going, and before whom thou wilt in future have to give account and reckoning." °° The text of Genesis 4:7 (J" 650 B. C), frequently quoted to explain the attitude of the Old Testament in regard to free-will, is, by nigh unanimous opinion, con sidered very doubtful. Dillmann thus holds that the text has been early corrupted, and later restored in the pres ent unsatisfactory manner." The Massoretic text is: 1\^xi Y?^ nKBn nnsib iip^n i6 dni mf I'-p'-n-QN Nibq i3-'?B'pn nm) ing-iB';? " If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door: and unto thee shall be its desire, but do thou rule over it" (A. R. V.) LXX:'" ovK f'av 6p6&s npocrfVfyKTjs, opBas 8f /i^ SteXjr, iJiiapTes', " Dost thou not sin if, while thou presentest rightly, thou dost not rightly divide the offering? be at peace. Holzinger " correctly observes that it is evident that the Septuagiata presupposes a different Hebrew text than the Massora has preserved, viz. : nn?? (Lev. 1 :12) or "1^3? (Gen. 15 :10) for nnsp. Holzinger adopts the Septuagintal nxb'^ for the Massoretic r[W The circumlocution of the Targum Onkelos," as well =» Pirke Aboth. Ill, 1. Cf. Taylor: Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, Cambridge, 1897. '^ Genesis, Edinburgh, 1897, vol. I, p. 189. '= Cf . Ball's ed. of Heb. text in P. B. =» Genesis, Freiburg, i. B. 1898, p. 47. °* Aramaic translation of the Pentateuch dates from the middle of the first century B. C. Geiger in Urschrift (Bres- lau, 1857, p. 164) places it about 350 C. E. Karpeles: Gesch. der jiid. Lit., Berlin, 1886, vol. I, p. 353, puts it still later, into the sixth century C. E. IN THE Old Testament 41 as of the Peshito,"' show how difficult the text appeared in those early days. 3-inn DS1 s-inn s"? dn pD nv)Sin>i6 n»ni?n iita: •nson xin : *: ; t • Pt» t:t:': .-. - ..jt;- t» " If thou doest thy work well thou wilt be pardoned — If not — for the day of judgment the sin is laid up, ready to take vengeance upon thee, if thou dost not repent — but if thou dost repent, thou shalt be forgiven." ™ "Behold, if thou dost well thou receivest: and if not, at the door sin crouches" (Peshito). The Vulgate follows the reading of the Peshito : " None si bene egeris reclpies, sin autem male, statim in foribus peccatum aderit." Graetz '' substitutes n.jsn for DKBn After studying the various versions and commentar ies"* I have adopted the reading of Eev. C. J. Ball," which is actually given by the Septuagint, except that I prefer the Massoretic inpiETi to Ball's in31E5'n Psy chologically the Massora seems preferable here. Cain is sullen, not because his conscience upbraids him for what he has done, but he feels humiliated having his gift re jected, while his brother's gift is accepted. Now JHVH lets him know that his sacriflce was not accepted on '"Syriac translation of the Old Testament (200 C. B.) '"Salomon b. Isak of Troyes, generally quoted as Rashi (1040-1105), one of the most famous commentators of the Old Testament and the Talmud, agrees with Onkelos {vide ad loc). " Emendationes, Breslau, 1894. == Spurrell: Genesis, Oxford, 1896, p. 52; Fiirst: ZDMG XXXV, p. 134; Dillmann: Gen., vol. I, p. 188; Delitzsch: Gen., vol. I, p. 182. ¦^ Ball's critical ed. of Heb. text (P. B.), p. 49, note. 42 Origin and View of Evil account of his sin. To find favor with JHVH he must avoid the temptation that has caused him to sin. Eev. Ball reads : ybn) Y2-\ nmn im^ s'idti x"? dxi nst^'^ s'idti dn nhn 13 h^an nnsi in3it;'n " Is it not so? If you have not rightly (properly) sacri ficed (offered), if you have not properly divided the vic tims, you have done wrong (sinned). (You have no right to be angry at the consequences.) Be quiet (rest) thy brother's return will be to thee (i. e. he will defer, submit to you) and you will rule over him." The story of the Fall, a sad and somewhat pessimistic tale," from the pen of the Jahvist, is but another attempt of the human mind to find a satisfactory explanation for the existence of sorrow and suffering, of sickness and death. Just as in the Greek fable of the Grolden Age, man, in his pristine state of innocence, lived at peace, without moil and toil eating what the earth produced, but later was sentenced to earn his bread by agricultural toil, so in the second account of creation man falling a prey to temptation is driven from Paradise, henceforth to till the soil in the sweat of his brow. Evil, with all its consequences, is thus the result of man's sinfulness." "Gen. 2:25-3:9 (J') (850 B. C); cf. also Worcester: The Bk. of Gen., N. Y., 1901. Nork (Braminen u. Rabbinen, Meissen, 1836, pp. 87 ff, 108 ff, 138 ff) claims that the myth is taken from Persia and Egypt. "Gen. 2:17-19 (J'). The terms for "sin" in Hebrew as well as in other Semitic languages, frequently do also sig nify the consequence of sin, as punishment or the condition into which one is brought by sin. Thus In Gen. 4:13 (J) Jir SIK'JD ''311; "pnj »> h« ]''p nDN»1 "My punishm.ent is greater than I can bear," expresses both punishment and sin (comp. Isa. 5:18). At the same time the various expressions for sin give the different degrees of in the Old Testament 43 As far as the Old Testament is concerned, there is little convincing evidence that the story of the Fall was much in the thoughts of the sacred writers.'" The Old Testa- punishment and moral culpability. Thus in Lam. 3:39 KDH in the verse: VNDn-^i; 133 *n QIH JMSn'.-nD " Wherefore does a man complain while living, a man on account of the punishment for his sins." Comp. Lev. 19:17; 20:20; 22:29; 24:15; cf. also Lohr (Nowack) Die Klagelieder, Gott., 1893, note to 3:39. Also "pii; in Lev. 19:15 (H) : DSB'»3 'pii; •IB'rn-K'? " Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment." Also DK'N in Jerem 51:5 (not genuine, late): ni6i2 DX-iK ''3 nix3S *»p 1^'^¦^^!P n-i-inii '?nik>< t?^^"'*' ''? " For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah of JHVH . . . though their land Is full of guilt against the Holy One of IsraeL" Comp. I Chron. 21:3. Also rt^a in Gen. 50:17 (JE 640 B. C.) n3r vz>eh m nb nnn " So shall ye say to Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the transgression of thy brethren, and their sin, for evil have they done thee: and now, we pray thee forgive the trans gression ..." Also Oti>-\ in Jer. 14:20 (597 B. C.) : "We know, O JHVH, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers ..." Cf. on subject of sin H. Schultz: Alttest Theologie, p. 684; Spurrell: Genesis, p. 55; Briggs: The Higher Criticism of Hexateuch, N. Y., 1897, pp. 153 ff; Cheyne: Origin of Psal ter, p. 356 n; Casanowicz: Pronomasia in O. T., Boston, 1894, p. 55; Haupt: Hebraica, I, p. 219; Lohr: Die Klage lieder, Gott., 1893, p. 16 n; Bernard's art. " Sin " in Hast ings' Diet, of the Bible, vol. IV, p. 528 b. "The garden of Eden is possibly alluded to by the prophets of the captivity. Ez. 28:13; 31:9; Isa. 51:3. The tree of life, Prov. 3:18; 11:30. 44 Origin and View of Evil ment does not anywhere teach a corruption of human nature derived from Adam, still less an imputation of his guilt. Sin, as an offence of man against God, occu pies a most prominent place in Old Testament thought, but nowhere is it traced to Adam's disobedience. The peculiar social and political conditions which sponsored Christianity, prepared a fruitful soil for the reception of a myth of the fall of man, common among all ancient peoples." In fact, it made such an impression that it became one of the chief dogmas of Primitive Chris tianity. The theory that human nature is a ruin gained credence among the awful degeneracy and corruption that mark the period when the Eoman Empire was tot tering to its fall. Men fancied that, with the rapid decline of that great and proud world-power, the world itself was hastening to its end. The view of man's nature, as moulded by Paul into a dogmatic belief, gave a decidedly pessimistic tinge to Christianity, and is re sponsible for much of the gloom that pervaded the ages in which the Church was the supreme arbiter of the Western world. Wenley thus states," that of the prob lem of evil with its speculative question, respecting origin and end, the Jew knew nothing." Punishment in the mind of the ancient Hebrews was ever intimately associated with sin. This practical view of sin pre supposes a Personal Creator and a personal creation, presuppositions amplified in the Old Testament by the "Cf. Nork: Braminen u. Rabbinen, Meissen, 1836, pp. 87 ff, 108 ff, 138 ff; Robertson Smith: The Rel. of the Sem ites, p. 307; "Fall of man in Babylonian seals," J. A. O. S. 11:17, 39, and "Serpent" in J. A. O. S. 15:19ff. "Aspects of Pess., p. 1. "Cf. Giidemann: D. Judenthum, Wien, 1902, p. 17. IN THE Old Testament 45 direct and intimate relation of the Holy One of Israel to the chosen people. Thus we read in the Psalms, which " coin the longings and yearnings of the human heart into words," how man is a child of God, sur rounded by the love of a Father who has pity and for giveness for the weaknesses and failings of his offspring. Nowhere any trace that may lead one to suppose that there was a fall, or any discord between a father and his children. " Bless JHVH, O my soul! Forget not all His benefits (Ps. 103:2) (P. B.) Who has forgiven all thy trespasses. And has healed all thine infirmities (ibid. 3), Who has redeemed thy life from the pit. And has crowned thee with goodness and mercy (ibid. 4). As a father loves his children. So JHVH loves those who fear Him. For He understands our nature. He knows that we are dust " (ibid. 13, 14) " Thou causest grass to grow for cattle. And herb for the service of man. So that bread may come forth from the earth. And wine to cheer man's heart. Oil to make his skin to shine. And bread to strengthen man's heart" (Ps. 104:14, 15) P. B.) In the eighth Psalm, rather than in Job, we find ex pressed the Old Testament idea of the destiny and dig nity of man. In Job we read : " What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify him, and that Thou shouldest set Thy mind upon him ? " *' In the eighth Psalm, which is older than the passage "(7:17) i3'?ijn »3 m:ii n» 13'? vha JT'cn '31 46 Origin and View op Evil from Job and more recent than the Priestly account of creation," we read : " What is man that Thou takest thought of him. And the son of man that Thou heedest him! " This query finds an answer in what follows : " Thou hast made him in rank little less than divine. Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor! Thou hast given him dominion over the creatures of Thy hand. And to him hast Thou made all things subject " (P. B.) In the Mishnah Aboth a similar thought finds expres sion: Eabbi Akiba (died 136 C. E.) said: " Beloved is man, for he was created in the image of God: but It was by a special act of grace that this was made known to him." " Man, created in the image of his Maker," and to whom God Himself appeals in the words, "Ye shall be holy: for I JHVH your God am holy," " could not have been created burdened with sin. To become holy he must start life without any heritage of sin. The New Testament teaching that death came into the world through sin " is not known to the Old Testa ment, at least not in the categorical way in which it is stated in the New Testament and in the Tabnud. That death is the consequence of sin, and not an event com- "Cf. Wellhausen's critical notes on Psalm VIII (Engl. transl. of P. B.) "111:18 1^ nr-iu nin? n|n d^m n"i53e^ d'is 3>3n idis n3''pi; "i D'nbs D?V3 S133ty "Gen. 1:26 (500 B. C.) "Lev. 19:2b (H). D3»n^N " <3K mip O rnn W^lp '' Romans, chpts. 5-8. IN THE Old Testament 47 mon to aU physical life, is but a natural sequence of the Old Testament conception of reward and punishment developed throughout Daniel and the Apocryphal liter ature. This view of the causal relation between sin and death is the dominant one in the Talmud. Thus we read: Eabbi Ami"^ said: "There is no death without (preceding) sin, and no suffering without (preceding) transgression." '^ In support of this Eabbi Ami quotes two scriptural passages — Ez. 18 : 4b, " The soul that sinneth, it shall die," and Ps. 89 : 32, " Then will I visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iuiquity with stripes." Similarly, Eabbi Chijah b. Abba," who said : " The sick will not be restored to health unless his transgressions had been forgiven." '" I fully coincide with Stade,"" who denies that ancient Israel looked upon death as punishment for sin solely. Death is something natural, the consequence of man's physical nature from which no one can escape. Stade argues with much cogency, that as all must die, death cannot well be punishment for sin. It is true, that for "2 Fourth century C. E. ™ (Sabbath 55a) pK S^3 fniD* |'«1^ K!?n S53 nn^D t»K Comp. Berachoth 33a; Aboda Sara 5a; Pesikta 76a; Sifre 138b; Midr. R. Gen. XXI; ibid., Exod. III. Cf. also Spira: Die Bschatologie d. Juden., Halle, 1889, chpt. I. " Third cent. C. E. '' Nedarim 41a. ITllSli; S3 l"? "l^niDB' -\V vhno IIDV n'?inn pK Comp. Sabbath 32a. K3n ¦h Dinoix nbni oh^ rhw n'7K> D''Dn-i ons typT D?ir'? ¦ntaani nisr " Man should pray for health, for if he falls ill people will say to him. Show your merits in order that healing may come to you" (from God). " Gesch. d. V. Jisroel, Berl., 1887, vol. I, p. 513. 48 Origin and View oe Evil some sias death appears as punishment — thus the dese cration of the ark of the covenant was visited with death." All must die, must pay the same debt to nature. " Where is the man who has lived, and did not see death. Who would save his life from the hand of Sheol? " "* There are several references in the Apocalyptic lit erature to the Fall: " Of the woman came the beginning of sin, and through her we all died." ™ " Nevertheless through the envy of the devil came death into the world." °° " The first Adam having a wicked heart transgressed and was overcome and so we all that are born of him. O, thou Adam, what hast thou done? for though it was thou that sinned, thou art not fallen alone, but we all that come of thee." '"a Yet, side by side with these sentiments we frequently meet with the Old Testament conception, i. e. that death is a law of physical nature. "All things that are of the earth shall return to the earth.""" " He gave them a few days and a short time." " The Judaic author of the account of creation intro duces the serpent into Eden "^ as a tempter. Not until the time of the Wisdom of Solomon is Satan identified with the serpent. " For God created man to be immor tal .. . yet through envy of the devil came death into the world " (2 : 23, 24). The Talmudic doctors, un- "I Sam. 6:19 ff; II Sam. 6:6 f. "= Ps. 89:49 (after 721 B. C.) ; comp. Ps. 49:8-12; Eccl. 3:19. "Sirach 25:24. ™Wis. of Sol. 2:24a. ""all Esdras 3:20, 21. "Sirach 4:11 (31t5» pN ^N pSD !?3) "Sirach 17:2a. « Cf . Excursus. Eden. IN THE Old Testament 49 der the influence of Primitive Christianity, speak of an original sin and of Satan as the evil principle, who in the guise of a serpent had sexual intercourse with Eve, and owing to this the descendants of Eve were contami nated, which contamination lasted until the giving of the Law on Sinai." This element of Pessimism was to correct the fundamental error of Optimism, necessitated by the facts of existence.'" Evil and error had to be ac counted for in some way. To make God the Creator of a good world,"" at the same time the author of evil and of death " would never do. Theism is forced to seek the cause of evil outside of God, i. e. since save God only his creatures exist, the cause must be in them. The third chapter of Genesis bears on its face the mark of a simple folk-tale."* The writer seems to repeat it because his ancestors had believed that the origin of clothing, etc., could be explained in that manner. Sin, depravity and the need of redemption, were never focal in the Old Testament. In the scheme and system of the Old Tes tament interpretation of the world and man, the vital thought is man rising, not man fallen. The belief in the perfectability of human nature was a belief strongly ¦" Talm. Sabbath 164a. '*'Cf. Schopenhauer: Griesbach ed., vol. V, p. 397. '" First account of creation. "' " For God made not death," W. of Sol., 1:13a. "'Cf. B. Worcester: The Book of Genesis in the light of modern knowledge, N. Y., 1901; B. T. A. Bvetts: New Light on the Bible and the Holy Land, N. Y.; C. J. Ball: Light from the East, or the Witness of the Monuments, London, 1899; H. Zimmern: The Babylonian and the Hebrew Genesis, London, 1901; F. Delitzsch: Babel and Bible, Chicago and London, 1902; H. Radau: The Creation — Story of Genesis I, Chicago and London, 1902. 4 50 Origin and View of Evil ingrained in the consciousness of the ancient Hebrew. Man born in the image of a God, who is holy, shall en deavor to realize holiness in his daily life, yes, it be comes his duty to do so."° With the growing conception of God and of the world around them, the old doctrine of Eetribution, never wholly overcome in the ages of the Old Testament litera ture, seemed to conflict. Satan becomes a most oppor tune expedient for the need of an advanced religious reflection, to put God out of relation to the evil of the world." In proportion as men began to conceive a widening gulf between God and His creation, or, as the concept of JHVH became to the Hebrews more trans cendent, it was easy enough to find some use for angels and demons in the affairs of the world. The exiles com- iag in contact with the civilization of Babylonia and Persia" must have felt that their own views of the world were narrow and limited, and that their national God JHVH had power over all the nations and peoples of the world. JHVH was thus looking also after the affairs of others besides those of His chosen people. This growing knowledge made God seem more distant, further removed from them in space, as it were. This led the Jews in post-exilic days to borrow sufficiently of the Dualism of Persia as to dream of an archangel rebellious in Heaven who became the enemy and tempter of man. This is substantiated by the Talmud where it is said ™Lev. 19:2b (H). ™Cf. Meinhold: "Das Problem d. Buches Hiob" in Neue Jhrbch. f. deutsche Theol., I, p. 70 (Bonn); also, Hart mann: Das religiose Bewusstsein, p. 451. '"This belief seems to be opposed to by Isajah 45:5-7 (cf. Cheyne's edit, of Hebrew text in P. B., where this passage is considered as not being genuine). IN THE Old Testament 51 " that the names of the angels came from Babylonia." " In one of the latest Midrashic collections Samael, i. e. Satan, was banished from Heaven for rebellion." Satan endeavored to draw Michael after him into banishment when God saved Michael. There seems to be general agreement as to the Jewish religion having received a wholesome stimulus during the period of the Captivity (586-536 B. C.)." The exiles returned to their native land with a purified faith and a deepened religious fervor. This may be due to their wonderful deliverance. JHVH had foretold through His prophets their deliverance, and He has called Cyrus from the ends of the earth to chastise Israel's enemy and to give them freedom." Henceforth, they were faithful followers of the one God, the God of Israel. "Cf. Graetz: Gnosticismus, Krotoschin, 1846; also Kohut: tJber. d. jiid. Angelologie u. Demonologie, 1866, and " Was hat d. talm. Eschatologie v. d. Parsismus auf genommen " in Z. D. M. G., 1867, pp. 552 f; Geiger's Ztschf., vol. IV, p. 70; Jackson (Zoroaster, N. Y., 1899, p. 140) states: "Zoroaster's teachings had already taken deep root in the soil of Iran when the Jews were in captivity in Babylon; " alsoRosen- zweig: D. Jahrhundert n. d. Babyl. Exil., Berl., 1885, pp. 10 ff; Graetz: Krit. Comm. z. d. Psalmen, Breslau, 1883, vol. II, p. 513; Moulton: "Zoroastrianlsm " in Hastings' Diet. of the Bible, vol. IV. •" Midr. Jalkut to Gen. No. 68. " Cf. Cheyne: Jewish Rel. Life after the Exile; N. Y., 1898, p. 173; also Pfleiderer: Wesen d. Rel., Lpzg., 1869, p. 344; Tiele: Gesch. d. Rel. im Altertum, Gotha, 1896, vol. I, pp. 362 ff; Graetz: Hist of the Jews, Phila., 1895, vol. V, pp. 720 ff; Geiger: D. Judent. u. seine Gesch., Breslau, 1864, vol. I, pp. 67 ff; Wellhausen: Israel and Judah, London, 1891, pp. 124 ff. ™Isa., chpts. 40-48 (538 B. C.) Cf. Cheyne's critical notes in Engl, transl. of Isa. In P. B., p. 209. 52 Origin and View oe Evil The germ of the Satan-idea may possibly be traced to I Kings 22:19-23,'" where a prophet in the days of King Ahab (919-897 B. C.) vividly depicts a scene in the council of JHVH, in which a certain spirit volunn teers, and is commissioned to be a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab's prophet, that thereby the king may be deceived. Satan in Job " is an angel skeptical not of righteousness in general, but of the righteousness of a certain individual. In no sense is he a tempter. He is still one of the sons of God, who like the other angels has free access to the council-chamber of the Great Judge. He is dependent upon God, and has no part whatever in the management of the affairs of the earth. God alone is the author of all." The Talmudic doctors condemn the Essenes for heterodoxy, because they make God the author of good, but not of evil.™"- Satan occu pies a subordinate position, he is a creation of God's hand, and shares the fate of all creation."'' ™Cf. Kautzsch: "Die Heilige Schrift" who calls it an Bphralmitic narrative from the ninth century. " Chpts. 1 and 2. '"n\iiv httn '''> ''jN i?-i S1131 mh^ nWv i^'n m3i ms ivi* rha 53 n Isa. 45:7 (546 B. C.) Cf. Cheyne's ed. of Heb. text of Isajah in P. B., p. 46; also his critical notes in Engl, transl., note 20, p. 176. "a Cf. Talm. Megillah 25a; Berachoth 23b. ™b Traces of belief in evil spirits may be found in Lev. 17:7 (H); Deut 30:17 (Dt) ; Isa. 13:21; Jer. 1:39. The belief that certain animals were endowed with demonic powers, somewhat like the Arabic jinn, must have existed in comparatively early pre-exilic days, since Gen. 3 : 1-19, con taining the temptation of Eve by the serpent, belongs to the earlier stratum of J (comp. Numbers 22:22-34, the same documentary source). But in the narrative of the tempta- IN THE Old Testament 53 But the Jewish idea of Satan received some additional features from the attributes of the gods of the surround ing nations. Nothing is more common in history than the change of deities of hostile nations into demons of evil. Thus Beelzebub, the Phoenician god, became an other name for Satan," and Hinnom (i. e. Gehenna), the place where Moloch had been worshipped became the Hebrew name for hell in place of Sheol. In the third chapter of Zechariah ™ Joshua, the High-Priest, is stand ing before the angel of JHVH, and Satan stands at his right side to be his adversary. Satan is, here, obviously a regularly accredited official in Heaven, whose duty it is to present before JHVH'S tribunal charges against mankind. In Chronicles'^ Satan has developed into a distinct personality, at enmity with JHVH and right eousness, gifted with power almost equal to that of God Himself. He stood up against Israel, and moved David to number the people. If we contrast this incident with the one related in Samuel '' (pre-exilic) where we read : " And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them, saying. Go number Israel and Judah," we discern that in the more tion of Eve there is no hint that an evil spirit resided in the serpent. Cf. Whitehouse article. Demon, in Hastings' Bibl. Diet, vol. I; Duschak: Die Bibl. Talmudische Glaub- enslehre, Breslau, 1885, pp. 137 ff; A. Wise: "The Origin of Jewish Angelology and Demonology," Conference Papers, N. Y., 1888; Boswell: "The Evolution of Angels and De mons " in Open Court, Chicago, Aug., 1900. ™ Cf. Art. " Beelzebub " In Jewish Encycl., vol. II, p. 629b. " (520 B. C.) In the Targum Jonathan ben Uzziel (c. 35 C. E.) the term |t3E' in Zech. 3:1, 2 is rendered nstjn and KDn; the latter meaning one who tempts to sin. "I Bk. 21:1 (300 B. C.) *' II Sam. 24:L 54 Origin and View op Evil recent account Satan assumes the task ascribed to God in the pre-exilic narrative. The conception of Satan, which finds its source in the belief in supernatural beings, common to all peoples in their early stage of civiliza tion, is more and more developed by the Apocalyptic "^ and Apocryphal writers,'^* until it reaches its final devel opment in the New Testament where Satan is looked upon as the veritable Master of this world. As Master of this world he is antagonistic to God. Satan is " the God of this world " who " hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving." " This view of Satan is foreshadowed in the Wisdom of Solomon,*" where Satan is possessed of power independent of God and dares to oppose God's plan — "through envy of the devil came death into the world." °° When Eome finally conquered Judsea (70 C. B.), and JHVH failed to interfere in behalf of those who looked upon Him as their special Protector and Friend, Satan's position became more exalted, hence- "^ Deane states (Pseudepigrapha, Edinb., 1891, Introd.) : " The degradation of Israel under its pagan oppressors, and the temporary triumph of the chosen people In the Macca- bean period, gave rise to the Apocalyptic literature. An un swerving zeal for the Law, and a glowing hope of a happy future, formed the characteristics of this period." Cf. also Hibbert Lectures, 1892, p. 467. ssa Writings, partly in Hebrew and partly in Greek, having some pretension to the character of Scriptures, or received as such by certain sects, but excluded from the Canon. Cf. Art. "Apocrypha" in Jewish Encycl., vol. II; Karpeles: Gesch. d. jiid. Lit., Berl., 1886, vol. I, pp. 168 ff; Joel. Blicke i. d. Religionsgesch., vol. I, pp. 68 ff. "II Cor. 4:4. ^=Cf. Siegfried's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. I, p. 479. «2:24. IN THE Old Testament 55 forth he is the Prince of Evil to whom God has assigned the rule of the present world until He Himself will in tercede and bring about the Kingdom of God. In the New Testament his powers are fully recognized." Jesus, his disciples, and all the writers of the New Testament, had a profound and vigorous belief in the devil and in evil spirits.'" In the Book of Tobit (c. 100 B. C.) angels and demons, for the first time in Jewish literature, play an important part. Here the angels are possessed of power to save men from impending trouble, also from evil spirits. Eaphael, the archangel, cures blindness and other ills human flesh is heir to ; also Sara he gives for a wife to Tobias, and he has the power to bind evil spirits." The angels are on friendly footing with men." Tobias sends the angel to fetch some money, and to gether they attend a wedding." "Matt 13:39; John 12:31. ««Matt 12:25-28; Luke 10:17-20. '"3:17. "'5:16. "Chpt IX; cf. Spencer (Principles of Sociology, N. Y., 1901, vol. I, p. 242) : " In the earlier days the Hebrews em ployed some physical process, akin to the process we find among savages, such as making a dreadful stench by burn ing the heart and liver of a fish. Through such exorcism, taught by the angel Raphael, the demon Asmodeus was driven out and fled to Egypt when he had smelled the smoke. But later as in the exorcism of Christ, the physical process was replaced by the compulsion of superior super natural agency." Cf. also Kohut: " D. B. Tobit" in Geiger's Ztschf t., 1872, p. 50; Kohut: Angelology u. Demon ology, p. 72, where Asmodeus is identified with Aeshman in Zend Avesta; Carus: The Hist, of the Devil and the idea of Evil, Chicago, 1900; Everett: "The Devil" in New World, March, 1895, and "Der Damon Asmodeus i. B. To bias " in Theol. Quartalschrift 1856, pp. 422-445. CHAPTEE IV View of Life in the Old Testament Everywhere in the Old Testament the joyous and harmonious notes of life are accentuated. Life is syn onymous with good and blessing, death with evil. Therefore, in Genesis 3: 19 (J^) death is spoken of as a curse and a punishment.'' The optimistic view of life came naturally to the ancient Hebrews. It stood at the foundation of their religious creed. Not, that the ancient Hebrews were ignorant of any discordant note in life's symphony, but they reasoned, that as God created the world, evil must be the work of man. Judaism, as soon as it made itself felt as a philosophy of life, was conquered by an ardent faith in Providence, and Optimism remained the dominant view through the ages. Schopenhauer, greatly struck by this fact, as serts,' that the fundamental distinction between reli gions was not a matter of Monotheism or Polytheism, Pantheism or Atheism, but of Optimism and Pessimism. That makes, Schopenhauer continues, the fundamental distinction between the Old Testament and New Testa ment. The Old Testament was a religion of Optimism, the New Testament that of Pessimism. "And God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very * Giinzig: Der Pessimismus im Judenthum, Krakau, 1899, p. 9. 'Griesbach ed., vol. II, p. 196. Cf. Lowenstein: Schopen hauer und d. Judentum In Dr. Gossel's " Popular-wissen- schaftliche Vortrage, Frankfurt a/M, 1902. 58 View of Life in the Old Testament good " ° holds the entire philosophy of Optimism. Ex cept in the Books of Job and Ecclesiastes, and in a few of the Psalms, it scarcely occurred to the Hebrew mind that there could be any other view cf life than that which looked out upon it through the medium of satis faction and hope. The predominant note of cheerful ness running through the Old Testament was, undoubt edly, the outcome of faith, a complete dependence upon a God who had ordered all things for a beneficent pur pose.* The course of human civilization conclusively indicates that all peoples start from a simple Optimism, but, that owing to the exigencies of life, Pessimism crowds out Optimism, as it were. Thus in India and Greece the pessimistic philosophy of life was developed into a system. In the Old Testament, on the other hand, the pessimistic tendency was successfully over come by faith in a Creator and the goodness and wis dom of His work." The Proverb : " A merry heart causes good healing But a broken spirit dries up the bones." ' expresses tersely the Old Testament view of life. In the midst of the joy and gladness of life the few pessi mistic utterances are lost sight of in the Old Testament. If it depicts life as full of troubles, it portrays life as full of victory over troubles. If clouds that overhang men often seem black and sullen, in the very heart of = Gen. 1:31a (P) iKp 3ii3-n.iin) nm •\pH-'?ym D'n^N N-I'l *Cf. Mechilta to Ex. 16:4: iriDJIS N13 DV NISC 'O "He who created the day, prepared also the daily suste nance." Comp. Talm. Sota 48b. 'Philippson: Weltbewegende Fragen, Lpzg., 1869, vol. I, p. 134. '17:22: D'irB'3'Pi ns3p nni nn3 stp.v.nijB' 3^ View of Life in the Old Testament 59 the cloud " springs the bow of Hope." One cannot read far in its pages without meeting with expressions of ethical courage and strains of hope and joy in moral victory. The moral achievement is assumed as a mat ter of course, and is attended by the blessedness of dwelling in the Divine Presence. This is voiced in the flfteenth psalm: " O JHVH, in Thy tent, who dares to sojourn? On Thy holy mountain, who dares to dwell? He who lives blamelessly, and practices righeteousness. And speaks from his heart what Is true. Who utters no slander with his tongue. Does no wrong to another. And his neighbor he does not calumniate. Pompous arrogance he despises. The God-fearing man he respects. He pledges his word to his neighbor and keeps it. He puts not out his money at Interest, And cannot be bribed to injure the innocent. He who does this, for all time cannot be shaken." (P. B.) " Be glad in JHVH, and exult, O ye righteous. Shout for joy, all ye who are honest of mind" (Ps. 32).' " Though I walk in the midst of distress. Thou keepest me alive; Against the anger of my foes Thou stretchest Thy hand; Thy right hand helps me. JHVH recompenses me. Thy goodness, O JHVH, is ever-enduring. Forsake not the works of Thy hands " (Ps. 138:7, 8).' ' Pre-exilic. Cf . Bwald : Die poetlschen Biicher des Alten Bundes, Gottlngen, 1835, vol. II., p. 45; cf. also Cheyne: Origin of Ps., N. Y., 1895, p. 89 ad locum; " Note how the O. T. religion is throughout one of joy." ' 500 B. C. 60 View of Life in the Old Testament " Whither can I go from Thy spirit? Or whither flee from Thy countenance? If I ascend to heaven. Thou art there! If I should take the wings of the dawn. And alight in the uttermost parts of the sea. Even there would Thy hand lead me. And Thy right hand hold me." (Ps. 139:7-10.) (P. B.) Expressions of despondency, bordering on despair, serve only to throw into greater relief the unconquer able faith in a living God, a faith re-echoed in all the writings of the Prophets and Psalmists: " What Is man that Thou takest thought of him. And a son of man that Thou heedest him? " (Ps. 8:4.) These cheerless and gloomy musings of the poet are suddenly changed to a tone of hopefulness, he, evi dently, catches himself in time and the native Optim ism of his people reasserts itself and he continues: " Thou hast made him in rank little less than divine. Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor! Thou hast given him dominion over the creatures of Thy hand. And to him hast Thou made all things subject." (Ps. 8:5-6.)" In the forty-niath Psalm, a composition later than the eighth Psalm, the process is reversed. The Psalm ist opens with an expression of confldence in JHVH and puts from him any thought of fear in the day of misfortune. But after some reflection upon the variety of things men are accustomed to value, and upon the universality of death, he falls into a pessi mistic mood: » Later than 500 B. C. View of Life in the Old Testament 61 " Why should I fear in days of misfortune. When the malice of mine oppressor surround me. Man does not continue in lordliness; He is like to the beast that is slaughtered." (Ps. 49: 5, 12.) Studying the Old Testament one must be impressed with the fact that the optimistic, as well as the pessi mistic views held therein, do not lose themselves in shallow vaporings or in morbid vapid reflections as both views are represented by ideal conceptions of what is perfect and satisfying. The optimist believes in his notion as a possibility and certainty; the pessimist, on the contrary, uses his ideal purely as a concept for bringing into bolder relief and clearer outlines the worthlessness and the unsatisfying character of reality. These views are clearly enunciated in the Old Testa ment. The ancient Hebrews felt that there are things in the world that they desired. The ever-recurring burden of prophecy as well as the basic thought of the Khokma literature, is the flnal vindication of virtue, and the destruction of vice. The ancient Hebrews felt withia themselves the desire to combat the evil and to help the cause of justice and righteousness. The mere belief that evil can be lessened, if not wholly removed, and that vice and injustice can be conquered, makes for an optimistic view of life. The joyous strain of existence bursts forth every where. The cult, too, is marked by a characteristic of joy and cheer, for it signified union between the Creator and his creation — man." 10 " preude war der Grundton des althebraischen Cultus, well er die Vereinigung der Menschen mit Gott und unter- einander bedeutete." Cf. Smend: Religionsgesch., Freiburg, 1893, second ed., p. 125. 62 View of Life in the Old Testament Thus we read: " Rejoice in thy feast." " " Rejoice, thou and thine household." " " And thou shalt be altogether joyful." " " Rejoice in all you do." " " And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God." ^' " Serve JHVH with delight. Come before Him with songs of gladness." ^° " Rejoice, young man, in thy youth." " " Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy." " It is characteristic of the Optimism of the Old Testa ment that he who took upon himself the vow of the Nazarite had to bring a sin-offering (Num. 6 : 2-20 P), to atone, evidently, for having foresworn the joys and pleasures of life."^ The conception of joy, in the Old Testament, is free from the charge of being extreme. It means neither surrender to the world and its pleasures and pastimes, nor escape from them. All things having emanated from God — the sourse of perfection — are, therefore,- good. Over-indulgence or abuse makes them evil. The Pagan was an extremist in his mode of living. Either, he gave himself wholly up to a life of license "Deut 16:14 (D), 623 B. C. "Deut 14:26 (D), 623 B. C. ^"Deut 16:15 (D), 623 B. C. "Deut 12:7 (D), 623 B. C. Cf. I K. 8:66 (Dt), 600 B.C. '=Lev. 23:40 (H), 500 B. C. "Ps. 100:2 (post-exilic). "Eccl. 11:9a (37-4 B. C.) (genuine). Cf. Haupt: The Bk. of Eccl. in Oriental Studies, p. 256. "EccL 9:7a (37-4 B. C.) (genuine). "aCf. Talmud Nasir 19a; 22a. View of Life in the Old Testament 63 and sensuality, or he fled from the madding world as from something to be abhorred. Wiinsche correctly sums up the Old Testament view of life:" "Enjoy ment of life and true piety," he states, " are not incom patible with one another." Nowhere does joy degen erate, in the Old Testament, into frivolity and immor ality. In his most joyful mood the Hebrew never for got his dependence upon JHVH, who being a God of holiness required, " to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God.'"" To the Greek god and man were not even contrasted as perfect and imperfect, for Olympus repeats and exaggerates all the vices of men. The god of the Greeks was simply an intensifled, not a purified, man.^ Greek religion grew out of the self-assertion of man. It knows nothing of the antithesis of Creator and creature, so strongly em phasized in the Old Testament. Furthermore, it must be noticed that to the ancient Hebrew the hedonistic value of life did not imply sel fishness. He consecrated his joy by making others par ticipants in it; he understood that if we would make our own life joyful, we must send sunshine into the lives of others. In brief, to have joy, we must give joy. The commandment that enjoins the celebration of the "Cf. Wiinsche: D. Freude in d. Schriften d. Alten Bundes, Weimar, 1896, p. 44. "Micah 6:8 (650 B. C). ^Cf. Nietzsche: tJbermensch., Stuttgart, 1897, p. 24, 71; also by same author, "Also sprach Zarathustra," Lpzg., 1897, vol. I, p. 112; Fouillee: "The Ethics of Nietzsche and Guyan," in Int. J. of Ethics, vol. XIII, No. 1 (Oct., 1902). 64 View of Life in the Old Testament Feast of Weeks '' closes with the injunction, " thou shalt rejoice before JHVH, Thy God, thou, thy son, thy daughter, thy man-servant, thy maid-servant, the Levite who is within thy gates, the stranger, the father less and the widow who are in thy midst." '' In addi tion to the feasts enjoined by the Law, festal-gather ings to celebrate joyful domestic events were frequent. Laban celebrated the nuptials of Jacob and Eachel.^* Prominent strangers are made welcome by a gathering to which many are bidden.^" Also when Isaac is weaned Abraham celebrates the event,"" and the harvest was a time of song and mirth." The attitude of the Old Testament toward external goods was, upon the whole, sensible and manly. They were neither overvalued nor despised." The ordinary external joys of life have, ever, seemed to the ancient Hebrew very real and precious. The desire for wealth is, nowhere, looked down up, and poverty that is voluntary is not extolled as a virtue. Poverty is rather looked upon as an evil, as is expressed by one of the sages of the Talmud, " the life of the poor is no life." " On the other hand, the dangers of great wealth are pointed out as leading to idolatry and to oppression of ^Deut 16:9-11 (D) ; comp. ibid., 25:25-28 (D). =»Deut 16:11 (D); comp. ibid., 16:14. "Gen. 29:22 (J»). ==Exod. 18:12 (RJB). ^«Gen. 21:8 (B). "Isa. 16:10 (c. 540 B. C). Cf. Cheyne's critical notes to Heb. text in P. B., p. 126, 1. 5. =»Cf. Pfeiffer: D. Religlos-sittliche Weltanschauung d. B. d. Spruche, Miinchen, 1897, p. 232; cf. also Eccl. 40:25-27; Wellhausen: Israel, u. Jiid. Gesch., Berl., p. 215. =» (Talm. Nedarim 64b) "131 miSDI 'jr nD3 piltfn ni?3ns comp. ibid., 7b. View of Life in the Old Testament 65 others."" The prophets denounce wealth as the cause of selfishness: " Woe unto those who join house to house, who add field to field, till there Is no more room, and ye are settled alone in the midst of the land!" (P. B.)^^ Then wealth leads to enervating luxury as described by Amos."" There is reason to believe that the insti tutions of the Shemitta and of the Jubilee year "" were called forth as a check upon the amassing of great wealth and as a prevention of pauperism. The Wisdom-literature, which reflects the practical affairs of life, is of much importance for the study of the view of life common among the people. From that literature we glean that wealth is not despised, it is rather a blessing that comes in the shape of reward to the pious, yet, wealth is not the one and only thing that conditions earthly happiness. " Eiches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivers from death.""* " Weary not thyself to be rich, cease from your plans."™ " Better is little with righteousness, than great revenues with injustice." '° " How much better is it to get wisdom, than gold. Yea, to get understanding is rather to be chosen than silver." "' " Better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith. Than a house full of sacrifices (practically banquet) with strife." ^ '"Deut 8:11-14 (D); ibid., 32:15,16 (c. 570 B. C). "' Isa. 5:8 (c. 735 B. C.) ; comp. Micah 2:1, 2. ='6:1-7. ==Lev. chpt 25 (H). "Prov. 11:14; comp. Ps. 49:6-12, 16-20. "° Prov. 23 : 4. =° Prov. 16:8. ' "' Prov. 16 : 16. =* Prov. 17 : 1. 5 66 View of Life in the Old Testament " He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; Nor he that loveth abundance, with increase; this is also vanity." ™ Children, and especially sons, were regarded as a great blessing from God: " Sons are a gift from JHVH, The fruit of the womb is a present. As arrows in the hand of a warrior So are the sons of the days of youth. Happy the man who has his quiver full thereof; They will not be put down, when they argue with foes be fore judges." *¦ Children were not only a gift from God, bringing joy and happiness to the home-circle, but they were re garded as future supporters of God's Kingdom" and the main support of the home.*" Among the Greeks in Homeric times childlessness was looked upon as a dire misfortune, a punishment of the gods," and so it was among the Hebrews. The fol lowing quotations will make this clear: " And Abram said, O Lord God, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go hence childless." " ==Eccl. 5:9. "Ps. 127:3-5, 536 B. C; cf. Wellhausen: Critical notes on Psalms in P. B. (English transl.), p. 210; also, Haupt in KAT, vol. Ill, 229:8; 39:50; cf. Johns Hopkins Circulars, July, 1894, p. 109; also, Stevens: Notes of a Critical Com mentary on the Songs of the Return, Chicago, 1896, p. 162. "Ps. 8:3 (later than 500 B. C). " Ps. 127:4. 5 (586 B. C.) ; comp. Addis: Documents of the Hexateuch, London, 1892, vol. II, p. 125. "Cf. Schmidt: Gesch. d. Padagogik, Cothen, 1890, fourth ed., vol. I, p. 484. "Gen. 15:2 (JE). View of Life in the Old Testament 67 " And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, she envied her sister, and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die." " "And she conceived and bare a son; and said: God has taken away my reproach." "a " And now hear this, O Voluptuous One, who sittest se curely. Who sayest in thy heart: I, and none but me! I shall not sit in widowhood and know the loss of chil dren." *" True morality and genuine goodness consist in in creasing the sum of life. Eespect is, therefore, en joined for the life of others, and it is one's duty to save others from direct or indirect danger of life. If an ox was known to be dangerous and it gored a human being to death, its owner was guilty of murder." Again we find: "When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thy house, if any man fall from thence." *" Wherever capital punishment is decreed in the Mosaic Code it is, indirectly, for the preservation *=Gen. 30:1 (E) ; cf. I Sam. 1:6.11 (about 740 B. C). «aGen. 30:23. "Isa. 47:8-10 (about 546 B. C.) ; cf. Giidemann: Das Judenthum, Wien, 1902, p. 11; comp. Talmud B. Moed Katon, 27b. '33 ^^3 "j'TXI JKo"? iOH k'?3S ^27 '?tK i6 "Weep for the dead, that is for him, who dies childless; " also, Midrash Rabba to Genesis §45, "He who has no chil dren may be compared to one who is dead." "Exod. 21:8 (E) ; comp. ibid., 20:13; 21: 12, 14, 20 (E); Lev. 24:17, 21 (H). Rashi explains (Lev. 19:16b H) " Do not leave your neighbor when his life is in danger." «Deut 22:8 (D). 68 View of Life in the Old Testament of life,"* for even the sins, other than murder,"*" for which it could be incurred, were each and all of a character to undermine the physical life and well-being of the community. Thus idolatry, which offered free and unrestrained play to the lowest passions, as well as adultery, sodomy and incest are punished with death." That the world is very good; that mankind should multiply to cause happiness to others; that life is sacred because it is a gift of God; these are reflections of one who is thoroughly satisfied with life and prefers exist ence to non-existence. Long life was, therefore, some thing desirable, especially when the hoary head could point to his children and his children's children who were to maintain the name and the honor of the family. " The crown of old men are children's children And the glory of sons their fathers."™ Where life was so greatly valued, death was viewed as the greatest of evils, especially, premature death."' The Old Testament view of life becomes clearer when contrasted with the views among contemporaneous peo- «aGen. 1:28a (P) 1311 113 Om lOK'l D'n'?N DHK 113*1 Y-\i nsin vh " Thou Shalt not murder," Exod. 20:13 (E) ; cf. Deut 5:17 (D). «Deut 22:23-26 (D); Exod. 22:18 (P) ; Lev. 20:2.9-21; chpt 18 (H). »» Prov. 17: 6. In Babylon, too, many prayers were directed to the Deity for long life and earthly immortality. Cf. Jere- mias: Holle u. Paradies bei d. Babyloniern, Lpzg., 1900, p. 5. "Cf. Gen. 42:38 (J); also Frey: Tod. etc., Lpzg., 1898, p. 186 ff. View of Life in the Old Testament 69 pies. The unsatisfactory state of affairs must needs suggest to the thoughtful an ideal, i. e., either a de terioration from, or a development into, a perfect state. Paganism believed in the gradual decline of mankind from a pristine state of innocence and bliss — the golden age — through successive ages, such as the silver, the brass, and the iron age. In keeping with this belief the poor old world has been on the down grade from the beginning, getting worse and worse as the world grows older. The cause of the world's gradual but steady decline is due, according to the reasonings of the heathen philosophers, not to the transgression of man, but to the nature that inheres in the world and to the antagonism existing among the gods. Man, not re sponsible for the downward course of the world, has no means at his command to stay it. Thus, the golden age will never return. The myth of a primitive state of innocence and happiness is not peculiar to classical mythology; it appears, also, among Oriental peoples. Brinton, is authority for the statement, that the myth of the terrestrial Paradise is found among American Indians, the Polynesians, and the Semites." In the Old Testament the golden age is not in the past but in the days that are to come. It places its Messianic glory not in any achievement of past ages, but in the advent of some glorious hour. There is a most re markable Talmudic legend °" that relates how a certain Eabbi one day meets Elijah, the Prophet, and inquires "^Cf. Brinton: Religions of Primitive Peoples, N. Y., 1897, pp. 126 ff. ==Talm. Sanhedrin, 98a; cf. Matt 27:47; 17:10; also Geiger: Was hat Mohammed aus d. Judenthumg auf genom men, Lpzg., 1892, p. 188. 70 View of Life in the Old Testament of him the time of the coming of the Messiah. " Go," replies the Tishbite, "and ask the Messiah himself, you will find him at the city-gate, and by this token you will know him, that he sits among the poor and the sick. A man of sorrows himself, he administers lovingly to those who suffer, and binds up their wounds." The Eabbi finds the Messiah, and asks his question — "When wilt thou come 0, Master?" "Today" is the given reply. Meeting Elijah again, the Eabbi exclaimed, " the Messiah has deceived me, he said he will come today, but he has not come." " Nay," answered Elijah, "he is no deceiver, in truth will he come today — yes, today — as the Psalmist says, 'if ye will hearken unto the Lord's voice.' " We shall lose the meaning of this story if we do not see that, in speaking of the Messiah, it is speaking not merely of a hero who is to establish the reign of Universal peace by a sudden miracle, but of a general uplifting of the human race, which is to be one of the conditions neces sary for the realization of the golden age.""* It can be easily explained, why the Hebrews should have formed the exception and placed the Millennium in a future time, while all other peoples looked back upon it. Not a warlike nation, nevertheless they are continually involved in warfare with the tribes, dwell ing on the borders of their country. If we except the time of Joshua, under whose leadership Canaan was subdued, the Hebrews had no glorious past to look back to. Then, most singularly, the Israelites were cursed with bad and unprincipled rulers, who by their misrule "'aM. Joseph: The Ideal in Judaism, London, 1893, pp. 132 f. View of Life in the Old Testament 71 fostered all manner of contention and strife at home and abroad. Yet, as JHVH'S chosen people they were conscious of a certain superiority, and, therefore, confi dently they looked forward toward the realization of their hopes. This formed one of the favorite themes of the Prophets, as it gave encouragement to the people to hope for better days, it is also the burden of many songs in post-exilic days: " And I will re-establish my people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them. . . . And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land. . . . " " "And in the latter days the mountain of JHVH's house will be established as the highest of the mountains, and will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it, and many peoples will set forth, and say: Come let us go up to the mountain of JHVH, To the house of the God of Jacob, That He may instruct us out of His precepts. And that we may walk in His paths; For from Zion goes forth instruction. And the word of JHVH from Jerusalem. Then will He judge between the nations. And give decision to many peoples; And they will beat their swords into mattocks. And their spears into pruning-knives ; Nation will not lift up sword against nation. Neither will they learn war any more." (P. B.)°^ " And all nations shall call you happy; for You shall be a delightful land. . . . " " " And it shall be, that the mountains shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk. . . . But "Amos 8:14, 15 (about 760 B. C). "Isa. 2:2-4 (post-exilic); cf. Micah 4:1-4, "Mai. 3:12 (458 B. C), 72 View of Life in the Old Testament Judah shall be inhabited for ever, and Jerusalem from gen eration to generation." " " Grant Thou Thyself no rest, O God, Be not silent, and be not quiet, O God! For lo! Thine enemies rage. And high do Thy haters carry their heads. They take crafty counsel against Thy people. And conspire together against Thy chosen ones. Deal with them as with the Midianites, To shame and to horror may they be committed forever! Let pallor spread over their features, and may they perish! And learn that Thou alone art called JHVH, The Most High over all the world." ™ Prophets, and poets are thus watching and waiting for the better day, which they also suppose that people enjoyed in the dim past. The moral lesson they draw is the degeneracy of their own time as compared with the olden days. It is this feeling of imperfection that kindles within them the spirit of righteous indignation. The prophets rebuke the people for having forgotten the covenant they concluded with JHVH, and in con sequence of it, the promise originally attached to it cannot be fulfilled. "Eetum to JHVH, live up to the articles of the agreement you made with JHVH " and the era of universal peace and happiness will be ushered in. "Joel 3:18-21 (about 400 B. C). °'Ps. 83 (Maccabean about 165 B. C); compare Micah, chpt 4 and 7:8-12 (586-536 B. C); Jer. 30:3 (after 586 B. C); Ez. 34:11-17; 37:21-28 (572 B. C); Zech. 8:23 (518 B. C); Zeph. 3:14-20 (510 B. C); Joel 3:1, 2; 3:18-21 (400 B. C); Zech. 9:10; 14:9 (280 B. C); Psalms 18:2,3; 29:11, 12; 62:7; 119:84-88 (all post-exilic); 94. View of Life in the Old Testament 73 The story of the Garden of Eden" is more than likely of foreign origin. This may be accounted for by the fact that it made no impression upon the thought-life of Biblical times. Furthermore, there is no reference to Eden in any of the pre-exilic writings of the prophets.™ The references in post-exilic litera ture are uncertain." In view of the emphasis given to the narrative in later Theologies the reserve in the New Testament is, likewise, significant. Yet the reason is patent. The prophets in ancient Israel, the apostles and the apocalyptic writers vie with one another in de scribing the glory of renewed humanity in the coming Kingdom of God. Here, there is no place for tears over the remote past, the dawn of the great day of peace and righteousness is the hope and prayer of the hour. The Optimism of the ancient Hebrews was due not only to the belief that God is the Creator, but that He also controls all things for the special happiness of His chosen people: " For thou art sacred to thy God, JHVH; The Lord, thy God, has chosen thee to be a peculiar peo ple unto Himself, out of all peoples that are upon the face of the earth." " There are many other references to Israel as the chosen people, and to JHVH as Israel's special Friend ™ Vide, Excursus : "Eden." ™ Joel 2 : 3, often quoted to show that the garden of Eden is mentioned in pre-exilic literature, but Joel is post-exilic about 400 B. C. "^Ez. 28:13; 31:16, 18; 36:35; Isa. 51:3. '"'Deut 7:6 (D); comp. Exod. 6:6-8 (P); Isa. 65:19-25; Ps. 103 (late). 74 View of Life in the Old Testament and Protector."' The joy of life, an instinctive desire of every individual, was deepened and strengthened by the national consciousness that Israel is God's chosen people." It was due to this optimistic feeling that the solidarity of the nation remained intact for so many centuries. As a matter of fact, the prophets in Israel, even in their most universalistic visions, never lost sight of the national existence of Israel. Prof. Toy correctly states,"' "that religious vigor and religious pride were the resultant of the intimate relations between JHVH and His people. On the one hand, it brought God in close touch with every unit of the nation, but, on the other hand, the contrast between the righteous Israel and the ungodly heathens generated not merely a deep- seated particularism, but also a marked sense of reli gious superiority." Pfieiderer makes similar observations;"" he says: " Among the Jews the national Egoism and contempt for the Gentiles were even harsher than the disdain which prevailed among the Gentiles for the Barbarians, because the national consciousness was heightened by ¦"Cf. Hosea 13:14 (740 B. C.) ; Isa. 5:7 (740 B. C); Micah 6:3-5 (650 B. C); Jer. 1:19; 15:19-21 (628 B. C); Ps. 90 (pre-exilic); Jer. 50:11, 17-20; 51:50 (597 B. C); Deut 32: 43; 33:29 (Dt) ; I Sam. 12:22 (Dt) ; Ps. 95 (540 B. C.) ; Isa. 49:3-8; 52:9; 54:5-10; 61:6 (538 B. C); Psalms 121, 124 (536 B. C); Isa. 40:10, 11; 41:8-10, 17; 43:1-19; 44:1-5; 45:4; 48:17-21 (546-539 B. C); Neh. 4:14; 9:9-16 (445 B. C); Psalms 78; 18:50; 20:6-8; 23:1-6; 68:5, 16 (400 B. C); Joel 2:25-27 (400 B. C); Psalms 149:4; 44:1-8 (very late). "•Cf. Pliimacher: D. Pessimismus, p. 37. " Judaism and Christianity, p. 72. "¦"Essence of Christianity" in New World, Sept., 1892, pp. 401 ff. View of Life in the Old Testament 75 that of their religious peculiarity and superiority." Whenever any incongruity appeared between reality and the belief, that they, the Israelites, were especially favored by Providence, refuge was taken in the hope of the establishment of a D'DB' ni37» " A Kingdom of Heaven," which hope plays an important part in the life of the nation. Not only did Israel deserve divine favor in the future, if not now, by reason of its superior righteousness and its knowledge of the true God, but God Himself was pledged, for His own sake, to secure Israel's triumph and prosperity. God's honor was at stake among the heathen peoples, therefore, JHVH would be magnified in the glory of His people: " Be triumphant, O heavens, JHVH has finished His task. For JHVH has redeemed Jacob And glorifies Himself in Israel." " " But thou, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen. Offspring of Abraham, my friend. Thou, whom I fetched from the ends of the earth, and called from its remotest parts. To whom I said: My servant art thou, I have chosen and have not rejected thee; Fear not, for I am with thee; cast no look of terror, for I am thy God. I strengthen thee, yea, I help thee; yea, I uphold thee with my triumphant right hand. Behold, all who were enraged at thee will be ashamed and confounded. The men who contended with thee will become nought and perish." " "'Isa. 44:23 (546 B. C.) ; comp. ibid., 41:21; 43:28b; 45: 6, 7 (546 B. C.) ; also Micah 7:20 (536 B. C); Mai. 3:6 (458 B. C); Ps. 105:8 ff (400 B. C). ¦"Isa. 41:8-11 (546 B. C). 76 View of Life in the Old Testament During the Maccabean struggle (167-130 B. C.) Israel felt that its heroic stand for JHVH and its attachment to the Law, were offered up as a sacrifice to the cause of JHVH, who, therefore, is entreated to work speedy deliverance, as He was losing in the estimation of the heathen. If sins still preclude Israel's redemption, then let JHVH cancel them for His name's sake. Thus we read in two of the Maccabean Psalms: " Not to us, O JHVH, not to us. But to Thy Name, give glory. Because of Thy goodness, because of Thy faithfulness. Why should the heathen say: Where is that God of theirs? " ™ " Nay, for thy sake are we continually killed off. We are treated like sheep to be slaughtered. Arise! why dost Thou slumber, O Lord. Awake! do not forever discard us." "¦ The nations hostile to Israel were regarded as being hostile to JHVH. Thus we read in the Mechilta: " He who rises up against Israel rises up against God; hence the cause of Israel is the cause of God, their ally is His too."'°a That the prevailing temper of the Old Testament is optimistic has been shown, and at the same time, that this is largely the result of the faith that the world, in =»Ps. 115; cf. Fiirst: D. Heilige Schrift, note on Ps. 115, where 144 B. C. is the date given; cf. Wellhausen's crit. notes on Psalms in P. B. in loc. (Engl, transl.). ™44:22, 23; cf. Wellhausen's crit notes on Psalms in P. B. in loc. (Engl, transl.), where Psalm is assigned to Macca bean period; Kautzsch, Cornill, Cheyne and Driver favor the same date. "aCf. Weiss: Mechilta, Wien, 1865, p. 39; Rashi to Talm. Chulin, 20a. View of Life in the Old Testament 77 general, and Israel, in particular, are under the imme diate Providence of JHVH." Yet strains of pessimistic complaints are not wholly absent from the Old Testa ment. The earliest pessimistic note is struck in those parts of the Hexateuch that are from the pen of the Jahvist." After long experience he concludes that evil is increased by man's progress, that primitive condi tions and a simple civilization are favorable for the development of the moral man. Every onward move ment, or rather every change, he deprecates as being in opposition to the Creator's original plan.'" To show the Pessimism of the Jahvist,"^ I need only refer to the second account of creation." While the first ac count of creation, written about three centuries later, closes with God's bestowal of blessing upon the seventh day, " God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, for He rested on the seventh day from all His work He had made," " the second account concludes with the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden for having eaten " from the tree of knowledge of good and evil." But being exiled from the garden was not their only punishment."* The ground and the animal world were cursed; trouble and sorrow, henceforth, " Cf . Pliimacher: D. Pessimismus, p. 37. " Rev. C. J. Ball in his crit. notes to Gen. in Heb. text of P. B. places J^ c. 850 B. C; J^ c. 650 B. C; cf. also Cornill Einl. i. d. A. T. Freiburg 1. B., 1896, pp. 42 ff; Budde: Die biblische Urgeschichte, 1883. ™Gen. 4:16 ff (J'); ibid., 11:1 ff (J'). "aCf. Winckler: Gesch. Israels, Lpzg., 1895, vol. I, pp. 78-113. " Gen. 2 : 4b to 3 : 24. " Gen. 2:3. "aCf. Fritzsche: "Schopenhauer u. d. pess. Ziige in A T " in Protest. Kirchenzeltung, 1894, No. 10, p. 227. 78 View of Life in the Old Testament were to be the lot of man; woman is to bear children with pain." Later, Cain the nomadic shepherd be comes the first fratricide. Cain slays Abel who tills the soil, an occupation that binds him to a settled habi tation, and is the second step in civilization. Then, in the time of Noah, mankind is steeped in sin, and the deluge is sent to destroy all sentient life. Because men desire to live together and plan, for that purpose, the building of a high tower, JHVH is displeased and pun ishes them in such a manner that they are obliged to scatter and live separated from one another. In this connection it may be well to call attention to a passage, often referred to as an indication of the pessimistic tendency of Talmudical Judaism; the pas sage is a commentary upon the first account of creation in Genesis. In Midrash Eabboth " we read that in the scroll of the Law of Eabbi Meir, who lived during the second Christian century, the words nND 3lD-njni "be hold, it was very good " were altered to read 310 nam niD "behold, it was good to die." Further on we read his comment on IXD 3it3 " very good " ni»n 'qs'pD nt " this means the angel of death." '" Another striking pessimistic utterance is found in the Talmud Jerushalmi where the world is compared to the night." " The pain of childbirth was proverbial among the He brews as the most severe; comp. Micah 4:9 ff; Ez. 13:13; Isa. 13:8. " To Gen., chpt. 9. "Cf. Blumenthal: Rabbi Meir, Frankfurt a. M., 1888: Excursus " D. Thoraexemplar; " see also n. 3 to p. 24; n. 2 top. 18; also Delitzsch: Gen., vol. I, p. 104. '•chagigah 2:1: n'?*^^ nDnt5> ntn d'?w3 ^r"? rh'hn ¦"3:19. "'1:3. "=Ps. 38:2; Job 8:8-19. "'Ps. 44 (167 B. C). View of Life in the Old Testament 87 the inevitable and unavoidable outcome of the misery of life. And yet, Ecclesiastes is not a Pessimist, in the mod em acceptation of that term. Unlike the modern Pes simist, he nowhere makes assertion that this is the worst of all possible worlds."* Nor do we detect in Ecclesiastes the plaint of modern Pessimism that the world is speedily going to ruin and to destruction, or a denial of the world (Weltverneinung)."" Ecclesiastes preaches the Gospel of work. If there be no absolute good, Ecclesiastes suggests that one should seek satis faction in relative good, i. e. in work. " Whatever thy hand finds to do, do it with might. ..." "° The hopeless Pessimism of the modem school evinces itself in its estimate of work. " Work is an evil " says Hartmann, "no matter how beneficial its results may prove to be to the worker, to mankind and to human progress." "' Ecclesiastes has no system of philosophy. His are the musings of one who met many disappointments, and who, having no faith in Providence, expects no improvement in his future condition. Cheerless is the view he holds of the future life and the state of '^*Cf. Schopenhauer, vol. II, p. 687. "'Cf. Bickell: Der Prediger iiber den Wert des Daseins, 1884, p. 35. ""9:10: nm ¦^nba nitJ'r^ ^"7; svpiyi ¦^E'^? ?iD "'Cf. Hartmann: Phil, des Unbewussten: "Die Arbeit ist fiir den, der arbeiten muss ein tjbel, mag sie auch in ihren Folgen fiir ihn selbst, wie fiir die Menschheit und den Fortschritt in ihrer Bntwickelung noch so segensreich sein." Comp. Schweinburg: Jvidische Pessimisten, Wien, 1885, p. 39. 88 View of Life in the Old Testament the dead."" Indeed, he could not have written the book, had he believed in a personal immortality: "' "Who can tell whether the spirit of the sons of men ascends upwards, and the spirit of the beasts descends down wards? " "° The Massorites intended by their vocalization to give that turn to the passage which would rid it of scepti cism. The n in Q^?? ^^^ ^^ ^1^'^ they punctuated not as the article, but as an interrogative particle.'" It may be interesting to note that the passage in Ecclesiastes: " The dust shall return to the earth (to become) what it was, but the spirit will return to God who gave it" (12:7), is a theological gloss.™ In spite of all this despair on the part of Ecclesiastes, he is not led to a denial of God's existence, as Schopen hauer, Hartmann, and Omar Khayyam.""* Nor does he accept the Pantheistic alternative that denies to God "»Cf. Wright: Ecclesiastes, London, 1883, p. 191. "»Cf. Luzzatto in nonj 1X1? Ill, p. 17; also Krochmal in JDtn 13133 mi» (Lemberg, 1863, p. 121), who claim that Koheleth denies immortality; cf. also Geiger: Das Ju denthum und seine Geschichte (Breslau, 1864, p. 92), and Gass: Optimismus und Pessimismus, Berlin, 1876, p. 12. ™Cf. Haupt: "The Book of Ecclesiastes," in Oriental Studies, p. 248. nnni'n nDnan n-m. n'^oob ni? n^Vrj Disn ij? n-n aiv ip (3:21) ]>nK^ nBD^ N»n '^Similarly in Sept. Targ. Peshito. Vulg.; cf. Geiger: Urschrift, Breslau, 1857, p. 175; also Hitzig: Der Prediger Salomo's, Lpzg., 1883, p. 234. "» Cf. Haupt: " The Bk. of Eccl.," in Oriental Stuaies, p. 263. "=aCf. E. Fitzgerald: Rubalyat of Omar Khayyam, 4th ed., N. Y., 1900 (XVI, XXIV, XXV, XLVIII, LXIII, LXXIV). View of Life in the Old Testament 89 freedom of will and makes Him act from necessity."" He believes in God, as the Creator, and does not at tempt to improve the Deity out of existence. He sees God in the law and order that permeates the Uni- "^Cf. White: Spinoza's Ethics, N. Y., 1883, p. 32; also Elwes: The Chief Works of Benedict de Spinoza, London, 1891, vol. II, p. 70. "* Pessimistic passages in Ecclesiastes: 1:2-11, 14, 17, 18; 2:11, 15-17, 22, 23; 3:9, 18-21; 4:3, 4; 5:14, 15, 20 (to 14 comp. Job 21 and Ecclus. 40:1) ; 6:3-9, 11, 12; 7:1b, 2; 8:14; 9:2-6; 10:14; 11:8. CHAPTER V Rewaed and Punishment in the Old Testament The Mosaic Code is peculiarly practical in charac ter, contemplating the weal of the commonwealth and the welfare of its citizens. The transgression of divine ordinances, embodied in the code, is to be followed by earthly misfortune and physical sufferings; ' while obe dience is rewarded with happiness in this life. In the one case one must expect disease, death, swarms of lo custs, barrenness of soil, and, ultimately, exile; in the other, rich harvests, plentitude, tranquillity, longevity, and a numerous progeny. Post-mortal gratifications, as a reward for righteousness and piety, are not prom ised. As the mental and moral horizons became more expanded, the teachings, touching upon reward and punishment, became the source of much anxiety and doubt, and, here, we must look for the germinal seed of Pessimism. So long as the patriarchal and na tional solidarity remained unassailed, people never questioned the old teachings concerning reward and punishment. But, later, when the solidarity of the nation was seriously threatened, by a long succession of misfortunes, reward and punishment became a ser ious problem. The solidarity of the nation, of such great moment ^"Leiden sind eine Folge der Siinde; " cf. Goitein: Der Optimismus u. Pessimismus, Berl., 1890, p. 1. 92 Rewaed and Punishment for the political and religious life of the ancient He brews, stands in close relation to the doctrine of reward and punishment. Whether in religious or secular af fairs, the habit of the old world was to think much of the community and little of the individual. First of all it is to be noted, says Robertson Smith : " " that the frame of mind in which men are well pleased with themselves, with their gods, and with the world, could not have dominated antique religion, as it did, unless religion had been essentially the affair of the commun ity rather than that of the individual. It was not the business of the gods of heathenism to watch by a series of special providences over the welfare of every indi vidual. The benefits which were expected from the gods were of a public character, affec.ting the whole community. Fruitful season, increase of flock, and suc cess in war, all so essential to ancient life, were, wholly, the business of the community. Their ideal of life was based upon the social idea: ' first the home with its patriarchal regime, and later the home broadening out into the wider community of the Theocracy. The Hebrew idea of the relation of the individual to the community came near the Hellenic idea of the relation of the citizen to the State." The relation of God to each human soul is far less marked in the writings of the prophets than in the so-called Khokma literature and in the Psalms. While in the New Testament the community gradually re- ' Rel. of the Semites, 1894, p. 258. 'Cf. Causse: Les Soclalisme des Prophetes, Montauban, 1900, pp. 8 ff. IN THE Old Testament 93 cedes behind the individual, in the Old Testament the individual is lost in the community. It is the nation that is of paramount significance, not the single units. For Israel's continuance as a Theocracy it is requisite that there should be a continuity of self-identity from age to age. There is, indeed, something sublime in that complete effacement of personal interests, often times of ambitions, in those of the community. The solidarity of the nation is so real that it carries with it the consequences that are most important for they suggest many a moral problem. In keeping with the traditional solidarity of the family, of the tribe, and of the nation, there was a universally accepted theory of joint and several respon sibility for sin. Thus retributive judgment might fall upon the subject for the sin of the king; on the son for the sin of the father; on the whole nation for the sin of a single individual. Furthermore, upon the assumed solidarity of the family, the city, and the nation, the Deity is supposed to act frequently in the earliest periods; for each family, clan and people had its own god or gods, who cared for the individual only as a member of the broader social organization. The Priestly-Code recognizes the solidarity of the nation by the institution of the sin-offering brought by the High-Priest, as the representative of the whole people, on Yom-Kippur, the Day of Atonement.* In the story of Sodom, ten good men would have sufficed to secure forgiveness for the inhabitants of the *Lev., chpt. 16 (H); comp. Neh. 10:34. 94 Reward and Punishment doomed twin-cities." For the sins of King Manasseh ' captivity is predicted for the whole people.' Later this conception was extended so as to include the dead. The dead were believed to exercise an influence upon those they left behind. The living were to be the recipients of the rewards and punishments of the dead. Sehechter states " that the most important passage in Rabbinical literature relating to the solution of the problem, how to reconcile the lot with the life of man, is the following: With reference to Exodus 33:13 Rabbi Jochanan ben Saccai said, that among other = Gen. 18:16-33 (J). 'Manasseh followed Hezekiah and ruled from 694-639. His reign marks a time of reaction from the beneficent rule of his predecessor. Jerusalem became the hospitable cen tre of the gods of Syria. His own son passed through the fire of Moloch (II K. 21:1-9). ' Cf. Joshua 7:11 (E) ; also ibid., 22:20 (P), where Achan takes forbidden spoil and the people are punished; also II Sam. 21:1, 9, where the plague is due to Saul's cruelty against the Gibeonites, and the execution of Saul's sons stays the plague; also II Sam. 12:16-19, where David sins and his child die's for his sin; also II K., chpt. 16, where Ahaz (739-723 B. C.) introduces the Moloch-worship, later he repents and the punishment is postponed for his sons; compare Isa. 39:7; also II Chron. 28:19. Such was the in exorable law of JHVH as found in the Decalogue: "For I JHVH, your God, am a zealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children ..." (Exod. 20:6 E). Similarly we read in Aboth (Mishnah V: 12-15), "Pestilence comes into the world for the capital crimes mentioned in the Torah . . . the sword comes upon the world for the suppression of judgment . . . Captivity comes for strange worship, incest, shedding of blood." Cf. also Toy's crit notes on Ezekiel in P. B. (Engl, transl.), p. 122, n. 14. ' Studies in Judaism, Phila., 1896, p. 218. IN THE Old Testament 95 things, Moses also asked God to explain to him the method of His Providence, a request that was granted him. He asked God, "Why are there righteous peo ple who are prosperous, and righteous people who suf fer; wicked who are prosperous, and wicked who suf fer? " The answer given to Moses was, that the pros perity of the wicked, and the suffering of the righteous are a result of the conduct of their ancestors, the for mer being the descendants of righteous parents and enjoying their merits, whilst the latter coming from a bad stock suffer for the sins of those to whom they owe their existence." In the course of time the elementary notions of jus tice seemed to cause a conflict with the old ideas con cerning reward and punishment. For the nation was growing weary and saddened under most cruel oppres sion. The weight of the father's sins became an un endurable burden: While the author of Lamentations (570 B. C.) patiently enough says: " Our fathers sinned, and are not; And we have borne their iniquities." " The author of the Maccabean psalm (169 B. C.) boldly exclaims: " Remember not against us the sins of our forefathers. May Thy compassion soon come to meet us. For deep is our misery." " Individualism was groping its way, awakening even in its denial. The prophets of the eighth century do not, as yet, raise the question of individualism. Col- ' Talm. Berachoth, 7a. The opposite is found in Talm. Sanhedrin, 104a, " The father is rewarded for his son, but not the son for the father." "5:7. "79:8. 96 Rewaed and Punishment lective punishment and collective guilt still loom large on their mental and moral horizon. Yet, even Amos " draws a distinction between the rich cruel oppressors and the suffering poor, though he does not indicate in how far the latter would escape the catastrophe he saw approaching. Ezekiel" is the flrst of the prophets who probes deeper and clearly discusses the religious difficulties in the way of social solidarity. Prof. Toy correctly states" that Ezekiel lays down the rule of absolute individual responsibility. The announcements of the principle (in Deut. 24: 16, Jeremiah and Eze kiel) marks an epoch in Israelitish ethical develop ment. Similarly, Wellhausen : " " Ezekiel promises the resurrection of the people. In the midst of these oracles a section is to be found from which we can see that Ezekiel conceived his task of encouraging the exiles in still another and quite different manner. The people were dead, and could only be awakened to life by a miracle from JHVH. But individuals still lived." In a very characteristic way Ezekiel now applies indi vidualism as a principle of comfort. " His father, be^ cause he practiced oppression and committed pillage and did what was not good among his people, behold, he died for his iniquity. But ye say: Why should the son not bear the consequences of his father's ini quity? If the son execute justice and righteousness, keep all my statutes and do them, he shaU live. The person who sins — he shall die. A son shall not bear "Amos (760 B. C); cf. chpt 6:1-9. " (590 B. C.) "Cf. Toy's critical notes on Ez. (Engl, transl.) in P. B., p. 130, note 2. " " Babylonian Exile " in New World, Dec, 1893, p. 605. IN THE Old Testament 97 the consequences of his father's iniquity, and a father shall not bear the consequences of his son's iniquity: The righteousness of the righteous shall be put down to his own account, and the wickedness of the wicked to his own account." "' I hold with Sehechter" that the individualizing of the doctrine of divine retribu tion was flrst seriously attempted in the exile by Eze kiel. Whether there are traces of this doctrine in pre- exilic literature is a disputed question. Stade's asser tion that there are none, is too extreme. The passages in Jeremiah 12: 1, 2; 17: 5-10; 32: 18, 19 Kuenen con siders as genuine; Stade as secondary. Cornill in his Hebrew text of Jeremiah in the Polychrome Bible, considers only the first two passages as genuine. Con cerning Isaiah 33: 15, Kuenen and Stade also disagree: Cheyne " does not consider the passage genuine. Traces of individualism are found, here and there, outside of the Prophetic Books. There is David's exclamation. " These sheep what have they done." " Then there is the Deuteronomic law: "Every man shall be put to death for his own sins." ^ In the story of Achan "' "18:18-20; comp. ibid., 33:12 ff; II K. 14:6a Dt; ct. Smend: Religionsgesch., Freiburg, 1893, pp. 312 ff, where it is stated that Ezekiel here supplements the teaching of the prophets that sin is caused by man's free will; also Well hausen: Skizzen, etc., second ed., Berl., 1884, Heft I, p. 91; Montefiore: The Hibbert Lectures, 1892, pp. 251-253; Goi tein: Das Problem der Theodicee, Berl., 1890, pp. 1 ff. "J. Q. R., vol. Ill, p. 60. " Cf. Cheyne's Heb. text of Isaiah in P. B., p. 21. "II Sam. 24:17, 560 B. C; cf. Driver: Notes on the He brew text of the Books of Samuel, Oxford, 1890, p. 289 ad locum; cf. also Budde's ed. ^»Deut 24:16 (D) ; cf. Deut 7:10 (D); II K. 14:6 (Dt). "Josh. 7:11 (JE). 7 98 Rewaed and Punishment one man sins and the wrath of God is heavy upon the whole community; later" Moses and Aaron enter strong protest against this very principle: "And they feU upon their faces, and said, 0 God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation ? " It is in the Wisdom-literature ^ that the problem is fully stated. The individual takes the place of the nation, it is his lot that presses hard for some solution. The individual no longer found comfort and solace in the promises JHVH had made to the Israelitic nation, for they had not been fulfilled. He, the individual, was primarily interested in his own well being. Wen- ley thus pertinently states : ^ " When the idea of jus tice acquired prominence, its essential incompatibility with simple Eudaemonism came home not to Israel, but to some Israelites."" True, the ideal of God, bound to reward and to punish, was never wholly passed in the Old Testament literature. But the peculiar needs of the individual imperatively called for a God, who was able to save, not only the nation, but the individual also. In Job ^ these pessimistic doubts were overcome "Num. 16:22 (P). ^ nD3n 'ISD This literature is characterized by an intelli gent and moral universality. == Aspects of Pess., Edinb., 1894, p. 10. -* The Sages of the Talmud seem as much at sea about the date of Job as modern scholars, placing it in almost every age from that of Moses to the Persian period (B. Bathra, 14b) ; Michaelis and Reggio favor the time of Moses; De litzsch (evangel. R. Encycl.), the time of Solomon; Ham burger (R. Encycl.) and Noldeke, the time of Hezekiah; Bickell (Wiener Ztschf. f. d. Morgenland, 1892, pp. 137 ff; IN THE Old Testament 99 by the native Optimism of the Jewish creed that, come what may, God is just. In Ecclesiasttes,^' written much later, the pessimistic doubts had been intensified by the degeneracy of the Hasmonean dynasty, from which so much had been expected after the glorious campaign against the Syrians.''" Although the Jewish nation seemed to have regained political independence after the Syrian host had been expelled from Palestine, it had virtually ceased to be a nation at the beginning of the Babylonian exile, henceforth it was a religious community. The Macca bean uprising inspired by a desire to frustrate the machinations of Antiochus to Hellenize the Jews, ended in a victory for the Pharisaic party, the religi ous enthusiasts who had incited the people to rebel. But this victory broke the national power, remnants of which had remained since the exile, for now the Pharisees being in the saddle made the observance of the Law the aim and object of life. In a certain sense, too, the Pharisees sowed the germ of personal religion 1893, pp. 241 ff; 1894, p. 121), after 721 B. C; Kuenen (Rel. of Israel, Edinb., 1882, vol. II, p. 47), 608 B. C; Bwald, Hirzel, Bleek, Riehm, c. 580 B. C; Driver, Davidson, Zunz, Gesenius, Knoble, the time of exile; K6nig-Einl„ p. 417, 540 B. C; Haupt in Oriental Studies, p. 247, time of Darius Hystaspes (521-485 B. C), some parts of it as late as Anti ochus (175-163 B. C); Hoffmann (Hiob., Kiel, 1891), 500 B. C; Duhm (D. B. H.), c. 450 B. C; Budde, 400 B. C; Cheyne's art. Job in Cheyne's Encycl. Bibl. makes the book a composite of Persian and Greek periods; Cornill, Einl., 6th ed., p. 348, c. 250 B. C. 2' Cf. Excursus Ecclesiastes. ^"Cf. Marti: Israelit Gesch., Strasburg, 1897, pp. 266 ff. 100 Rewaed and Punishment by mak:ing obedience to the Law the guiding principle of the individual's life.'"'' The doctrine of individuality lies at the very root of personal religion, leading, also, to a recognition of responsibility and of the need and value of repentance. These make possible the moral improvement of the individual. But as soon as the gospel of individualism was comprehended human life became a more difficult problem to solve. Those instances where the innocent suffered and the guilty seemed to escape all punish- ment were too numerous to be explained away either as mere exceptions or as incidents of depravity. The untimely death of Josiah (638-608) seems to have fur nished material to the thinking minds and fanned the flame of doubt and discontent. Josiah's death on the battlefield of Megiddo (608 B. C.) was looked upon, according to Jeremiah, as an awful national calamity. " Defeat at Megiddo meant subjection to Egypt. Then so much had been expected from the reforms intro duced by Josiah. The conception of JHVH'S justice ''"aCf. Kent: "The Growth of Israelitish Law" in Bibl. and Semitic Studies, Yale Bicentennial Publications, N. Y., 1901, pp. 84 ff; also Deutsch: The Philosophy of Jewish History, Cine, p. 80. "'22:10, 11, 18; cf. Giesebrecht: Comm. Z. A. T. (No wack), Gott., 1894, reads with LXX D^b 133n-'?N for the Massoretic riD? referring It to Josiah, who is bet ter off, having died in his own land, than those who die in exile, far away from home and kindred; cf. also Cornill (in his Hebrew text of Jeremiah in P. B.), who accepts the Massoretic text, and refers riD? to the dead in general; Kautzsch (Die Heilege Schrift) reads with Giesebrecht, ns^ (p. 520, note). IN THE Old Testament 101 called for perfect accord of lot and life. How was Josiah's death to be explained in the light of JHVH'S justice? Shortly afterwards (586 B. C.) the people were ruthlessly torn from their hearths and homes and carried captive to a foreign land. Then, the indefinite postponement of the Messianic age upon their return from exile caused a powerful recrudescence of the idea that the former sins of the nation still are being vis ited upon a comparatively law-abiding generation. For the prophets of the exile had led the people to believe, that upon their return to Judsea things would be brighter and better. This spark was fanned into a flame by Haggai and Zechariah (c. 520 B. C.) who held out to the people a speedy realization of the Mes sianic dreams. These enthusiasts had some warrant for their expectations.''' Zerubbabel, of the House of David, was to be the Messiah; he was to inaugurate the new age.™ Conditions did not change for the better, in their own country they were the subjects of a Hea then-power. If the captivity in Babylon was to atone for the sins of their forbears, why were they still suf fering? While they were hoping and waiting for JHVH and putting their trust in Him, the Heathens, ^ Some of the vassal states were in open rebellion against Darius. Haggai and Zechariah filled with Messianic hopes believed that they saw in these rebellions the end of Persia's power, and looked for a speedy beginning of the Messianic Kingdom. But Darius succeeded in stamping out the re bellions in his empire, and the hopes of the prophets came to naught. * Haggai 2:20-23; ct Graetz: Gesch. d. Juden., vol. II, pp. 109 ff; Grimm: Euphemistic Liturgical Appendixes, Balto., 1901, p. 63 n. 103 Rewaed and Punishment their masters, put their trust in the strength of war chariots and in the fleetness of horses: " There are those who trust in chariots and horses. But we in the Name of JHVH, our God . . . " » To advance proof for the justice of Providence from the fate of the nation was not a difficult task. For the people were never so whoUy blameless as not to justify some punishment. But when the postulate of just re tribution was applied to the individual, as in the case of Job, it was difficult to justify the ways of Provi- dence.'^ Those who participated least in the guilt of the people, nay, even those who had strenuously re sisted evil, had often to suffer most, while the careless, and the thoughtless, and the unjust enjoyed good for tune. Within this position there was raised for the pious, the question of the Theodicy, as propounded in the Book of Job.*" Why do the pious suffer ? Can evil »Ps. 20:7, 8 (167 B. C); cf. Driver: Introd., 6th ed., p. 388. '' Cf. Wellhausen's critical notes on Psalms in P. B. (Engl, transl.), to Ps. 37: "The prosperity of the wicked is a sore offense and painful mystery to the godly." "= It is generally conceded that the Book of Job is not the work of one author. The thought developed in prologue and epilogue differs from the central idea of the interven ing poetical sections. Prologue and epilogue are pre-exilic, written, possibly, before the discovery of the Law of Retro spect (621 B. C), for there is no reference in them to the Sanctuary or to the Priesthood. Job still exercises the pre rogatives of the patriarch, offering in his home sacrifices for his children (1:5). A well-known popular tale seems to form the setting for the poetical section of Job and this tale Is used by a post-exilic author for the framework of his philosophical theories (cf. Macdonald: "The Original IN THE Old Testament 103 and misery and the disproportion between merit and recompense, be explained on the hypothesis of a wise and beneficent Ruler? How can the mere existence of evil, and the apparent injustice in the affairs of men be reconciled, not merely with the fundamental teach ings of the Law, but with any form of Theism, what ever? These and similar questions press for a solution in the Book of Job. The accepted belief, handed down from sire to son since days immemorial, that compensa tion, either in the positive form of reward, or in the negative shape of retribution, determined everything that befell man, no longer satisfied every one. The Form of the Legend of Job," in Journal of Bibl. Lit., vol. XIV, pp. 63 ff; also Kohler: "Job in Folklore" in "Semitic Studies," Kohut Memorial Vol., Berl., 1897; Nork: Bra minen und Rabbinen, Meissen, 1836, p. 240, who asserts that Job is an Indian legend). This seems also to have been the view of the Talmudic doctors (B. Bathra 15a it is stated: "Job did not exist, and X133 nh'l n'ri tih 31''N n''n be'D n'px the book is an allegory"). Budde: D. B. Hiob. (Nowack), Gottingen, 1896, Einl. VIII; Mai- monides: More Nebuchim, III, 23; Wellhausen's notice of Dillman's Hiob. Kom. im. Jhrbch. f. d. Theol., 1871, p. 555; Kautzsch: D. Sogenannte Volksbuch von Hiob., Lpzg., 1900; Driver: Introd. to 0. T., 6th ed., p. 411; Duhm: D. B. Hiob., Freiburg, 1897, chpt I; E. Miiller: D. echte Hiob., Hanover, 1902. The book belongs to the Khokma lit. It deals with difficulties, which in kind, if not in degree, might occur to all men, to any man. Cf. Kent: Uber d. philos. Versuche in d. Theodicee, Lpzg., 1838, p. 399, who calls Job " a con secration of free critical inquiry into the ways of Provi dence." Cf. Carlyle (Sartor Resartus, Boston ed., I, p. 280), who speaks of Job as "the first luminous statement in books of the problem of the destiny of man and the way God takes with him on earth;" cf. Blumenthal: Rabbi Meir, Frankf., 1888, p. 74. 104 Rewaed and Punishment principal elements of Ezekiel's teaching" concerning individualism reappear in Job. Here it is shown that the doctrine of man's individual worth and of a strictly individual retribution, are really irreconcilable. The former doctrine receives, in the person of Job, its no blest exposition in all ancient literature, while in Job's actual fortunes the extravagance and fiction of the lat ter are demonstrated to the full. In the highest de gree conscious of his own worth and rectitude. Job claims that God should deal with him in accordance with what he deserves. Job, like all those among whom he lived, believes that everything which befalls man reflects God's disposition towards him — misfortune be tokens anger, prosperity God's favor. In brief, there is a strictly retributive judgment enforced in the affairs of man. But Job discerns that this is not always the case," for the wicked prosper, grow old and go down to the grave in peace, and, more than all this, his seed is established on the earth. But the conflict between faith and experience is most pronounced in Job's own lot. He may, possibly, err in regards to others, not knowing every detail of their lives, but his own life is open before him, as from an open scroU he may read all that has transpired. He comes to the conclusion that as things are out of joint in this world, faith does not receive its full recognition." Eliphaz, one of Job's "Cf. note 15. "21:1-15. ^ There is a curious passage in the Talmud (B. Bathra, 16a), which seems to deny the right of God to judge man. Rabba (299-352) said: "Job sought to free the world from judgment. Thou didst create the ox, . . . the ass, Eden, . . . Gehenna, . . . the righteous and the sinner — who can prevent Thee from doing it." IN THE Old Testament 105 friends, in order " to justify the ways of God to man," asserts that suffering, though oftentimes seemingly undeserving, is not without purpose : "Happy the man whom God corrects; despise not, there fore, the chastenings of the Lord." '" Especially, Elihu" insists upon the disciplinary value of suffering. Suffering, as he opines, is not only the con sequence of sin, but may be a judgment, warning the sinner by repentance to escape from heavier judg- ment.^' ='5:17 (Comp. 8:5-7; 11:13 f; 36:8-15 Elihu) ; also Prov. 3:11, 12, where about the same thought is expressed: " 3n8N riNi »? inn3'in3 pn-^Ni DSon-'pK *33 •" id-id nvi: t3-n^ 3K3-1 n'sr " My son, despise not the chastenings of JHVH; Neither be weary of His reproof; For whom JHVH loveth He reproveth; Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth " (A. R. V.) Ct Hebrews 12:5, 6; Rev. 3:19; also Talm. Berachoth 5a: riiDU 1X310 13 ysn n'3pnE' h^ "Whom God loves He chastises; " cf. Frankenberg (Gott, 1898, who reads Prov. 3:12b with LXX {/iaarvyo'i) 3K31 for 3K3-1 " He chastises the son in whom he delights." Kautzsch (A. T.) in loc. prefers 3*!<«3'. 1 Hiphil for Piel as the Piel is not found. Nowack: D. spriiche Salomo's, Lpzg., 1883, adapts the LXX reading. Cf. also M. Kayser ling: Moses Mendelssohn, Lpzg., 1888, p. 465. '>' Chpts. 32-37, a later insertion. Cf. Kautzsch's A. T., p. 844, note; Driver: Introd. 6th ed., p. 410; Budde: D. B. H., Gott., 1896, Einl. XXXV; Smend: Altest-Theol., p. 502, note 3. =« 33:19 ff; 36:8-10; cf. Driver: Introd. 6th ed., pp. 409 ff. 106 Reward and Punishment The author of Job puts into the mouth of the friends the current theological view about reward and punish ment. They continue appealing to the traditional the ory; though it be in flagrant contradiction with the facts of life, they insist upon it being accepted.'' They possess a cut and dried formula to solve all inconsist encies that others may see in the affairs of men — God is just. He rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked." If this connection is not always discernible, it is because the sin, of which the calamity is a punish ment, has remained hidden from mortal eyos; or the punishment has been deferred, where sin has been dis covered and remained unpunished; in God's own time it will be meted out to the transgressor, or visited upon his progeny. Hence, according to the Theology of the friends, one is justified to infer their character from the evident conditions of men. In keeping with this theory, the prosperous are the righteous, while those who are poor and suffer are the unrighteous, for there can be no suffering without sin having been incurred. Thus Eliphaz addresses himseK to Job, who, in spite of all his friends' theories, protests his innocence: " Is it for thy fear of Him that He reproves thee. That he enters with thee into judgment? Is not thy wickedness great And without end your transgressions? " " ''Cf. Studer: D. Pess. im Kampfe mit d. Orthodoxie, Bremen, 1881. "Cf, Barth: Beitr. z. Erkl. d. B. Hiob., Lpzg., 1876. "22:45. in the Old Testament 107 Zophar speaks in a similar vein : " Should thy boastings make men hold their peace? And when thou meekest, shall no man make thee ashamed? For thou sayest, my doctrine is pure. And I am clean in thine eyes. But Oh that God would speak. And open His lips against thee. Knov/ therefore that God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth." " In the eyes of his friends. Job, so terribly afflicted, was regarded as steeped in wickedness. But Job's wickedness was aggravated by his attempt to argue against the theory of his friends; such resistance was iniquitous, for it meant a denial of God's justice. But Job does not concern himself about their remon strances. He quotes instances where neighbors who had ridden roughshod over all law, human as well as divine, were not only exempt from punishment, but prospered and lived on the fat of the land. Where did providential equity come in ? ¦" Deeply does Job search for the cause of all the dire visitations that came upon him. Must it be necessarily inferred that his misfor tunes are the result of waywardness and sin? as his friends contend, who first doubt his innocence, then deny it, and finally accuse him openly of iniquity." Manfully Job struggles against such conclusion," and sustained by the unconquerable power of his con- science, he makes up his mind that life's blessings and adversities are not distributed in keeping with the "11:3-6. "Chpt 2L "8:5; 11:6; 22:4ff. " Ct Kayserling: Moses Mendelssohn, Lpzg., 1888, p. 465. 108 Rewaed and Punishment principle of justice, yet he concludes to continue on the path of righteousness, conscious that, whatever others may think of it, he is pursuing the right way: " My eye is dim on account of sorrow, and the members of the body are as a shadow. Upright men will be astonished at this, and the Innocent is wroth at the wicked. Yet the righteous holds fast to his way, and he that has clean hands waxes stronger and stronger." " In the poetical section of the book the problem re mains unsolved. JHVH appears to the persecuted Job, and in a series of questions, demonstrates to him the infinite power of the Deity." Job, overwhelmed by the depicting of JHVH'S power, is compelled to make admission that the human mind cannot and ought not to scrutinize the mysteries of Providence."' This does not offer a solution, it acknowledges that it exists but must ever remain a problem to mankind. It is an appeal of Job to the God of faith. The fact that the writer does not seek to solve the antinomies of the problem, by making his argument, as one might antici pate, lead up to the doctrine of a future life, shows that " the larger hope " was, as yet, not a part of the ac cepted teachings of that generation. The Psalmists, as well as the men whose sayings are preserved in the Proverbs, are equally impotent to solve the riddle. Their vision does not extend to a life beyond as a solu tion for the complex mystery of life. With Job they 10 3^7. 7.9 "38-42:6. ¦"Cf. Goitein: Der Optimismus und Pessimismus, Berl., 1890, pp. 6ff. IN THE Old Testament 109 take refuge in the firm conviction that JHVH is just, be appearances what they may. Whatever the facts of life may prove, to interpret them as conflicting with JHVH'S justice would be folly. In the narrative conclusion of Job the problem finds a ready solution in keeping with the good old theory according to which Job being a righteous man is richly indemnified by reparation of all his losses."" Similarly the ways of Providence are justified in the Book of Tobit,°° which, in a sense, is also a Theodicy. The author admonishes us to follow the moral and ceremonial law strictly, and promises rich reward to the obedient. While virtue was its own reward, God would see to it that the pious were well cared for. The book centres around the zeal of Tobit, who is ever busy burying the friendless and homeless." His very life he jeopardizes in the practice of this meritorious and God- pleasing act, for the ruling powers were hostile to bur ial and had interdicted it."^ But Tobit escapes pun- "42 :10b; ct Macdonald: "The Original Form of the Legend of Job " in Journal of Bibl. Lit, vol. XIV, pp. 63 ft. ™ Lohr's transl. of Tobit in Kautzsch's Apokryphen und Pseudepigraphen places the date bet. 175-25 B. C; Graetz: Gesch. d. Juden., second ed., vol. IV, note 17, argues for the time of Hadrian (76-138 C. E.) ; Kohut in Geiger's Jiidische, Ztsch., 1872, pp. 70, 99, puts it still later, about 250 C. E., at the time of the rule of the Guebres in Persia; Noldeke (" Die Texte d. B. Tobit" in Monatssch. der Kgl. Akad. der Wiss., Berl., Jan., 1879) places the date of book before 70 C. E.; Hitzig (Zeitsch. f. wissenschaftl. Theol., 1860, pp. 250 ff) favors the time after 70 C. E. "1:8, 17ff; 2:2-9; 4:3; 9:9. "aCt note 63. 110 Rewaed and Punishment ishment, God rewards him for carrying out His be hest."^ Thus we read: " And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, anc^ he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him the same day; ..." The dignity ascribed to man in the Old Testament literature " has possibly some connection with the rite of burial. Burial was regarded as indispensable to the comfort of the departed. It was rarely withheld in Israel. Criminals who were hanged," or stoned," as well as suicides, were accorded burial.™ The corpse was an object of devout and tender respect only because it was thought that between it and the soul that had taken wing some continuing relation needs must be, because the Hebrew mind was possessed by the poetic thought, that this world and the world to come held out, as it were, arms to embrace each other. Hence, it was thought, that the separation of the two elements of earthly existence, body and soul, could not be sudden and abrupt, but the latter still for some days hovered and lingered around the mansion which had sheltered it so long, taking its final departure only when death had begun to set his seal irrevocably on his work in ""Deut 21:22, 23 (D). In Talm. Moed Katon, 27b, burial is spoken of as an act pleasing to God. In Talm. San hedrin 46b and Jebamoth 63b burial is said to be a biblical precept found in Deut. 21:22, 23; cf. also Spira: D. Eschato logie d. Juden., Halle, 1889, pp. 20 ff. ¦^Gen. 1:27 (P). "Deut 21:22, 23 (D). == Joshua 7:24-26. ""Ct Josephus: Bell. Jud., Ill, VIII, 5. in the Old Testament 111 the visible marks of corruption.'" To be refused hon orable interment was looked upon as a most grievous calamity." The awful sentence of the prophet of JHVH pronounced on Jezebel, the wicked spouse of Ahab (919-897 B.C.) is: " And the dogs shall eat Jezebel . . . and there shall be none to bury her." °'' An awful denunciation of Amos against Amazia (836- 807 B. C.) is "that he shall die in a strange land " '" away from his kindred who could not show him the last honors. It was the fate that awaited Israel's ene mies."' The most awful punishment that Jeremiah sees in store for Judsea, on account of her idolatry and wil fulness, is contained in the opening sentences of the eighth chapter: " At that time, saith JHVH, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah . . and the bones of the princes . . . and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusa lem, out of their graves; and they shall spread them before the sun . . . they shall not be gathered, nor be buried . "62 "Cf. Perles: "On Interment of the Dead in Post-Bibl. Judaism," in Frankel's Monatsschrift I860; ct also Ben- zinger: Hebr. Archaeologie, Freiburg, 1894, pp. 163 ff. ''"Talm. Jebamoth 63b; ct Kohut: Angelologie u. De- mouol., p. 12. ™ II K. 9:10 (Dt). This may explain why childlessness was looked upon as a dire misfortune; also the Institution of the Levirate (Lev. 18:6 H) may derive its origin hence. Prof. Mielziner (The Jewish Law of Marriage and Divorce, Cine, 1884, p. 55) considers the Levirate an agrarian law. "7:17b.'=' Jer. 25:33; ibid., 14:16; Ps. 79:3 (169 B. C). "'S-.l-'i (c. 620 B. C); ct ibid., 9:21b; II K. 9:10 (Dc) ; Ez. 29:5 (588 B. C); Baruch 2:24. 11^ Rewaed and Punishment To disturb the rest of the second home was regarded as an act of cruelty and inhumanity. The barbarous custom of the Parsees, who tore their corpses from their graves to be devoured by vultures, drew from Jewish breasts many sighs of anguish.'" The dread of being unburied was common to almost all peoples.'"" Thus among the Assyrians to be refused burial was regarded a terrible misfortune. The destroyer of the Assyrian royal inscriptions is threatened with the curse: "His life shall end by famine, his corpse a grave shall not receive." °" Another time we are told that a rebel who had committed suicide was refused burial.'"'' Surbani- pal relates that after the overthrow of Elam he de- troyed the sanctuaries and uncovered the tombs of the kings, " their bones I took along to Assyria, I imposed restlessness upon their shades and excluded them from the libations." ""'' Two causes may help to explain the dread of being unburied."'^ Sacrifices could not be offered to the dead unless they had received proper burial. Sacrifices were offered at the grave; for the °=( Jebamoth 63b); ct Kohut: Angel, u. Demonol., p. 12. ™a-Cf. Robertson Smith: Rel. of the Semites, London, 1894, p. 370. "* Cf. Rawlinson: The cuneiform inscriptions of W. Asia, 61, col. VI, 55. (Gibira a irsi, May he not receive a grave.) "'aCf. Delitzsch: Handworterbuch s. v. Kibru. "bCt also Jer. 8:1; comp. Baruch 2:24. "c Cf. Charles: A Crit. Hist of the Doct. of a Future Life, pp. 32 ff; also Schwally: D. Leben n. d. Tode, pp. 9-16; Stade: Gesch. d. v. Jisroel, vol. I, pp. 387 ff; Benzing.^r: Hebr. Archaeol., pp. 102, 165 ff; Nowack: Hebr. Archaeol., vol. I, pp. 192 ff; Bertholet: Israelit. Vorstellungen n. d. Tode, Freiburg, 1899; Frey: Tod., Lpzg., 1898, pp. 188 ff. IN THE Old Testament 113 grave was in some measure the temple in Ancestor Worship. That traces of Ancestor Worship lingered in the popular mind may be the cause of the Mosaic Code prohibiting all mourning customs that may pos sibly revive the old worship. From the standpoint of JHVH-religion everything connected with death was declared unclean. Priests shall have little to do with it, the High-Priest nothing at all.*" The second cause for the dread of remaining unburied was the current conception that the soul was connected with the body even after death. Hence every outrage to the dead body was also an outrage to the departed soul. This view appears as late as Job's time.""'' As the Greeks and Romans believed that those who had not received burial were wandering about on the shores of the Styx, similarly the Hebrews believed that the soul of the unburied would seek vengeance and bring about all kinds of evil.'" Except in cases of necessity cremation was looked upon by Babylonians, Assyrians and Jews as an awful disgrace." But not only burial, but burial in the family sepul chre, was the desire of every Jew. Peters'^ speaks of sacred burial-sites in Persia to which caravans, carry ing some beloved dead, may be met at every season of the year. The repeated mention made in the Old "^Lev. 21:11, 1 (H) ; ct Frey: Tod., pp. 173 ff; Nowack: Hebr. Archaeol., vol. II, pp. 275 ff. «act Job. 14:22. "Deut 21:1 ff (D). "Ct Jeremias: Holle u. Paradies, Lpzg., 1900, p. 10. "Cf. Peters: "Civilization in Babylonia," J. A. O. S. 17: 163 ff; also Jastrow: " Burial Customs in Babylonia," J. A. O. S. 20, pp. 133 ff. 114 Rewaed and Punishment Testament of " being gathered to the fathers," 33S}' ") (mux Dr, or "' to his people " (vm "?« f|DX3 ™), proves what hold this sentiment had upon the people. «»Gen. 15:15 (JE). ™Gen. 49:29-33 (P) ; Num. 27:13 (JE). CHAPTER VI Messianism in the Old Testament Throughout the Old Testament there is no ethical significance attached to life after death, nor is a hope ful view of life after death ' to be found, except the passage in Daniel 12 : 2. Everywhere it is the old Semitic conception of a cheerless existence in Sheol," a gloomy underworld. Sheol was first conceived as a combination of the graves of the clan or the nation, and thus as a final abode. Jian's destiny ends in Sheol ; into its precincts all men alike find admittance: ^ ^ George Adam Smith in his Lectures on Hebrew Poetry at the Johns Hopkins University (1895-96), stated that the Semites had no genius for immortality because they lacked a sustained sense for speculation. Cf. Jastrow: Study of Religion, London, 1901, p. 223. '^ Cf. Jeremias: Holle und Paradies, Lpzg., 1900, p. 31; also Charles: A Critical Hist, of the Doctrine of a Future Life, London, 1899, p. 34, note. PIXB* (pit) corresponds exactly with the Assyrian sualu. Both denote the place under the ground where the dead reside. In Assyrian the term is explained as the place of judgment, among the Jews as the place where every living being shall finally be demanded; (the root piXK" means to ask, to demand), a place of ingathering. Thus Habakkuk (2:5) compares the vicious man's desire to Sheol or death, who cannot be satis fied, but gathereth unto him all peoples. Cf. Carus: "The Babyl. and Hebrew view of man's fate after death," in Open Court, June, 1901, p. 346. 'Isa. 14:9, 10 (c. 550 B. C); ct Cheyne's crit notes on Isa. in P. B. (Engl, transl.) in loc; comp. Ez. 31:14-17; Job 30:23; 26:5; Ps. 16:10 (167 B. C). 116 Messianism in the Old Testament " Sheol beneath is startled because of thee, expecting soon thine arrival; It makes arise from their thrones all the kings of the nations. They all address thee . . . and say to thee: Thou, too, art made strengthless as we are — to us hast thou been leveled!" Just as one desired burial in the family sepulchre that he may join the circle of his ancestors, so honorable interment was a prerequisite to an honorable place in Sheol, i. e. to a union with his people there. Other wise, he is thrust into the lowest and outlying parts of the pit." Sheol has different divisions or chambers ni» mn (Prov. 7 : 27); it is also provided with gates (Job 38 : 17), and these are secured with bars (ibid., 17 : 16). It was located in the lowest parts of the earth (Ps. 63: 9), below the sea (Job 26: 5), yet above the subterranean waters (Ps. 71:20). It is, therefore, without light. Job speaks of it as " the land of dark-. ness." ° Upon the whole, the outlook beyond the grave is dreary. The Psalmists assure us again and again that JHVH enjoys life and not death. Man must praise Him while living, for the dead cannot praise God: " Wilt thou for the dead work a wonder? Will shades rise to render Thee thanks? Do they tell in the grave of Thy goodness? Of Thy faithfulness, in the world down below? Can Thy wonders be made known in the darkness? And Thy righteousness in the land of oblivion?"' *Ez. 32:22 f. = 10:21 f; comp. Jonah 2:7. "Ps. 88:10-12 (c. 536 B. C). Messianism in the Old Testament 117 " It is not the dead who praise JAH, Nor all those who are gone down to the silent land, But it is we who bless JHVH, From this time forth for ever and ever." ' In Ecclesiasticus we read: " I hate idolatry with all earnestness; Who will praise the Most High in Sheol? For all the living can praise, but the dead that are no longer cannot praise. Therefore praise the Lord whilst thou livest and art whole." 7a Two cases are on record of men who were not doomed to abide in Sheol — Enoch and Elijah.* But these exceptions are nowhere mentioned as indicative of hope for other mortals to escape the doom of a re tention in Sheol. For the mass of mankind Sheol re mains a monster whose maw is constantly open to de vour life with all its pomp, noise and confusion: " Therefore Sheol gapes ravenously, and opens the mouth to its widest; And the splendor of Zion, and her busy throng, and all who are joyous within her, plunge headlong into it." " " Let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, And whole, as those that go down into the pit." " And yet the very conception of Sheol warrants the belief that some vague idea of a future state was cur- 'Ps. 115:17 f (167 B, C.) ; comp. Ps. 6:5. 'a 17: 24-27. 'Gen. 5:24 (P) ; II K. 2:11 (c. 830 B. C). •Isa. 5:14 (c. 735 B. C). "Prov. 1:12 (c. 200 B. C); ct Driver: Introd. 6th ed., p. 405; comp. Prov. 30:16. 118 Messianism in the Old Testament rent among the Hebrews. The mere fact that the dead followed with much interest and sympathy the fate of those left behind on earth " led to conjuration and necromancy. The classical example is the story of the Witch of Endor.'^ The appearing of Samuel to Saul did not admit complete cessation of the life of the spirit after death. The consultation of the occult powers by Saul throws a flood of light upon the Escha- tological belief of his countrymen." A sharp distinc tion is drawn between body and soul, or, rather, the spirit, which after the dissolution of the body was be lieved to continue as a ghost." Samuel's spirit was in "Isa. 14:9, 10 (550 B. C). "I Sam. 28:7-16 (about 950 B. C.) ; comp. Isa. 65:4; 57:9; 29:4; 8:19. " " The 0. T. supplies us with an admirable illustration of the method of obtaining oracles through the dead. Saul, when he desires to know what the outcome of a battle will be, seeks out a sorceress and through her calls up the dead Samuel (I Sam. 28:11) and puts the question to him. Simi larly, in the Gilgamish Epic, the hero, with the aid of Ner- gal, obtains a sight of Eabani and plies him with ques tions. ... It is natural, therefore, to find the Baby lonian term sualu paralleled by the Hebrew sheol." Jas trow: The Rel. of Babyl. and Assyria, Boston, 1898, p. 560. "Cf. Briggs: Semitic Studies (in Kohut's Memorial Vol., Berl., 1897, pp. 94-105) on the use of zh and 33^ in the O. T. ; also Goodwin: "On the use of 37 and KnpSia in the O. and N. T.," in Journal of Bibl. Lit, vol. I, pp. 67 ff; also Ges. Buhl (13th ed.), p. 765a, 2; also Wohlge muth: Die TJnsterblichkeitslehre in der Bibel, Berl., 1900, pp. 5 ff. " According to the primitive Hebrew view, man was composed not of three essentially distinct elements — a trichotomy — spirit, soul and body, but only of two — a dich otomy — spirit, or soul, and body. Spirit and soul were one Messianism in the Old Testament 119 Sheol and had been disturbed by the necromancer. The dead retains the personal appearance that belonged to him while among the living, for both Saul and the witch instantaneously recognize Samuel, who is dis pleased at being disturbed (1 Sam. 28: 15). Also the habits of the living seem to be preserved among the shades in Sheol. The prophet is thus distinguished by his mantle (ibid., 28 : 14); kings by their thrones (Isa. 14:9); the uncircumcised by the foreskin (Ez. 32 : 24) . Schwally is of the opinion that life in Sheol was regarded as a kind of continuation of life on earth.'" Sheol, first a place for all dead alike," became later a kind of intermediate abode," later still, a place of pun- and the same. They were synonymous in their primitive signification as " breath " or " wind." The conception of both was arrived at by observation. When the breath (nn or B'SJ) left the body, death ensued. Thus the principle of life was identified with the soul or spirit." Cf . Charles : Doctrine of a Future Life, London, 1899, p. 45 ; cf. also Toy's crit. notes on Ez. in P. B. (Engl, transl.) to chpt. 37, where it is stated that "breath (^spirit) and wind are in form identical in Hebrew as in many other lan guages, and in the earliest ideas of men the two things were identical." "^D. Leben n. d. Tode, Giessen, 1892; ct also Spira: D. Eschatol. d. Juden., Halle, 1889, pp. 23 ff; Derenbourg in Revue des etudes juives, XV, 29, p. 109; Frey: Tod., Lpzg., 1898, pp. 188-228. "Isa. 14:9-11 (c. 550 B. C.) ; comp. ibid., 38:18 (post- exilic); Ez. 31:14-17; 32:18-31; Job 30:23; 26:5; Isa. 26:14, 19 (c. 332 B. C); Ps. 55:15; 6:5; 16:10. " The idea of Sheol as an intermediate abode became the prevailing view after 200 B. C. Abr. Geiger states (Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume aufgenommen, 2d ed., Lpzg., 1902, p. 67) that while the D'pnv (the pious) 120 Messianism in the Old Testament ishment." Like the Babylonians and the Greeks, the Jews developed the idea that there must be a differ ence in the fate of the dead. In the Old Testament there is no distinction between Gehenna and Paradise, all mortals are after death gathered into Sheol. But the gloomy picture of Sheol must have aroused aver sion, and at the same time doubt as to the justice of JHVH. If Sheol be the end of the just and imjust alike, how is this fact to be reconciled with JHVH'S justice? Such reflection must needs lead to the idea of a retribution after death, reward for the pious and good, punishment for the godless and sinful. This idea is not fully developed within the Old Testament, for such a development presupposed belief in a Messianic dwelled in Paradise, the DTB'1 (the wicked) dwelled in Gehenna. Those who were between the pious and the wicked (D'3iy3) lived in a place between Paradise and Gehenna. He quotes a Midrash (to Eccl. 7:14) in proof of his statement. " How much space is there between the two, viz.. Paradise and Gehenna? R. Jochanan said — a wall. R. Acha, a hand's breadth. While other Rabbis claimed that they were close to one another, so that one could see from one place into the other. Cf. Charles: Doct. of a Future Life, p. 69, who discerns a reference to an inter mediate state in Job 19:25-27; comp. Isa. 26:19 (c. 332 B. C); II Mace. (c. 20 C. E.) 7:9, 11, 14; 12:44. " The subdivision of Sheol into Paradise and Gehenna is late. In the Old Testament no such division is found. Sheol is not as in the dualism of Persia a realm of evil as opposed to good, but it is a part of the general plan of divine creation. Thus R. Zeira (257-320) explained njn nXD 31ti " behold it was very good," with pi; p -if "this is Eden," and IXD 31D mni "and behold it was very good " he explained with D3*nJ IT " this is Ge henna " (Midr. Rabb. to Gen. chpt. 9). Though the word Messianism in the Old Testament 121 age and a hope in individual immortality. Messianism, as well as individual immortality, did not constitute real elements in the consciousness of the Jew until political independence began to wane and with it the hope of ever rehabilitating it. Therefore, retribution after death does not find its complete development until the centuries that witnessed the decline of the classical world and the rise of Christianity. For the same fundamental beliefs that shaped the religion of the nation, and determined the development of every other department of its religious literature, showed themselves to be fully operative also in the Old Testa ment ideas concerning " the last things." It was the doctrine of the chosen people which shaped and mould- Gehenna occurs in the Old Testament it never refers to a place of torment in the spirit world. The worst punish ment ever threatened against evil in Old Testament is death (Cheyne: Introd. to the Bk. Isa., p. 380, thinks punishment in Gehenna is implied in Isa. 50:11; 64:24; cf. also Smend: Alttest. Religionsgesch., p. 506.) The word Gehenna is de rived, ultimately, from Djn \i (Valley of Hinnom). It lay to the south of Jerusalem. The name is possibly taken from some ancient hero, the son of Hinnom (Joshua 15:8; 18:16). Solomon erected high places there for Moloch (I K. 11:7), whose horrid rites were revived by later idola trous kings. Ahaz and Manasseh made their children pass through the fire in this valley (UK. 16:3) (comp. II Chron. 28:3; 33:6); and the fiendish custom of sacrificing infants seems to have been kept up for some time in Tophet (Jer. 7:31; II K. 23:10). Josiah polluted the place to put an end to the abominations (II K. 23:10, 13, 14; II Chron. 34:4 f), and it became the common cesspool of the city (comp. Jer. 7:31, 32; 19:6, 11; 32:35a). In the Midrash to the eleventh Psalm we read : " There are seven dwelling places for the wicked in Gehenna; cf. Talm. Sotah, 11a. 122 Messianism in the Old Testament ed the growth of Hebrew and Jewish Eschatology. The ideal was not individual but national. The reali zation of this ideal was laid in this world — it was Ca naan re-established as a politically independent state under the sceptre of one of the House of David." In modern days, under the name of Zionism, the na tional ideal of the ancient Hebrews has been resus citated.™ Zion is again the watchword for the op pressed and persecuted to gather on the holy soil of Palestine as an independent nation. The ideal of the individual could be only attained in the realization of the national ideal. Here was noth ing to direct the gaze of one beyond the grave. Good and ill as he experienced them, were either reward "Hosea 1:11; 12:9; 14:4-7 (c. 750 B. C); Amos 9:11-15 (a later addition); cf. Driver: Introd. 6th ed., p. 318; cf. Ez. 11:16, 17; 20:42; 36:28; 37:24-28; 39:25-29 (592-570 B. C); Obadiah 12-17 (586 B. C); Jer. 32:42-44; 33:7-13 (586 B. C); Jer. 31:1-4 (after 586 B. C.) ; Zech. 8:1-8 (518 B. C); Joel 3:16-21 (400 B. C); Zech. 10:6-12 (280 B. C.) ™ Zionism dates from the year 70 C. E., which witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome. From that time on the Jew became a wanderer on the face of the earth. Many efforts have been made to gather the Jews, dispersed over the face of the earth, in Zion. The love for Zion was ever strong among the Jews. (Cf. Songs of Exile, Nina Davis, Jewish Publ. Soc'y, Phila, 1901.) In more recent days (1864) a journalist by the name of Hess published a pamph let, " Rome and Jerusalem," in which he advocates the re- nationalization of the Jew in Palestine. The Zionist move ment of the present is indirectly due to the assassination of the Czar Alexander II, in 1882. The Jews were held respon sible for the crime and the consequence was an awful perse cution. As a result of this, a score of men met in Odessa and resolved to start a movement to lead the Jews back to Palestine. A number of societies by the name of " Lovers Messianism in the Old Testament 123 and punishment for his doings, or the consequence of some good or bad deed on the part of the nation. Sickness, loss, and death, were the sure wages of trans gression. As JHVH settled his accounts on earth, there was no need to look for a future reward. Death is the punishment for extreme wrongdoing; and life, life prolonged, life honored, life enriched, life made happy by many children, life filled with all those things men care for — this is the greatest reward ever offered for goodness within the pages of the Old Testament. The deprivation of these is the worst threat made in the way of punishment: "Behold the righteous shall be recompensed on earth; how much more the wicked and the sinner." ^'' of Zion " were organized among the Jews in Russia, and also outside of it. But the movement for some cause lan guished for about twelve years, when the celebrated case of Captain Dreyfus infused it with fresh life. The move ment henceforth assumed an International character under the leadership of Drs. Herzl and Nordau, two men of letters. Dr. Herzl published " The Jewish State," in which he co gently advocates the acquisition of Palestine and its con version into a Jewish state. Inspired by this publication a meeting of representative Zionists from all parts of the world took place in Basle in August, 1897. The following is taken from a Zionist publication (The Maccabean, N. Y., July, 1902) : " Zionism is a movement which voices the feel ing that has pervaded the Jewish people since the Diaspora — the desire for the re-establishment of the Jews in their ancient fatherland. The modern movement is endeavoring to replace remote yearnings by organized effort; It is con scious of a variety of influences, bringing necessity up to the level of the strongest sentiment." Cf. J. de Haas: Zionism, London, 1901; also Max Nordau: "Zionism," in the International Quarterly, vol. VI, No. 1 (1902). '''Prov. 11:31. 124 Messianism in the Old Testament " The curse of JHVH is in the house of the wicked, but He blesses the habitations of the righteous." " Neither the authors of the Pentateuch," nor the Prophets, ever taught that after death the soul would enter upon another existence, in which virtue would be rewarded with eternal happiness and vice with eternal pain. The Old Testament horizon lies wholly on this side of the grave.'" But the reward of virtue is not always bestowed on him to whom it rightfully belongs, nor is punishment, even, meted out to him who is de serving of it. This led to a problem most diificult of solution. Job wrestles with it without avail, also Eccle- siastes,''' and before them, Jeremiah '" makes reference to it. So early was the problem set, but it cannot be said that it has ever been solved within the pages of the Old Testament. Of necessity an ethical sense must spring up among the ancient Hebrews, because it springs up among all ^''Prov. 3:33; comp. Deut 28:16-68 (D). ^Ct Bwald (Gesch. d. V. Israel, third ed., vol. II, pp. 190-93) says: " Mosaism neither denies or afBrms any view concerning the life after death, it remains wholly indiffer ent to it." '"Ct Lev. 26:3-34 (H) ; comp. Deut 29:21-28 (Dt) ; Jer. 22:8, 9 (586 B. C.) ; cf. Hartmann (Das rel. Bemusstsein der Menschheit, Berl., 82, p. 432), who seems to think that the promise of reward and punishment was not the essential contents of the Law, but merely an additional motive to have it obeyed. Cf. also Dillon (Sceptics of the O. T., London, '95, p. 11), "It was one of the saddest theories ever invented. Virtue was at best a mere matter of business, one of the crudest forms of utilitarianism, a bargain between JHVH and his creatures." ^'Ct Eccl. 1:2; 3:8, 21; 4:2, 3; 6:3; 7:15; 8:10; 9:11, 12. ^'12:1-5 (626-604 B. C). Messianism in the Old Testament 125 peoples after they reach a certain stage of develop ment. Unclouded skies and perfect happiness are con ditions of innocent childhood. But as the child grows older, clouds appear in the skies and happiness be comes less and less perfect. Thus while the ancient Hebrews during many centuries seemed wholly satis fied with the affairs of life, never doubting for one moment that JHVH had ordered everything for the best, the time came when they began to ask the why and wherefore of many happenings. Good and evil was the weightiest of the problems pressing hard for some solution. How can the undoubted evil of the world be reconciled with the supposed original perfec tion." To the Theist the existence of evil must ever be a most perplexing problem. How could God have created evil which implies imperfection on the part of God? From this problem it was but a short step to the other problem: " Can the disproportion between merit and recompense be explained on the hypothesis of a wise and beneficent Ruler? " Human standards of equity and justice look for a causal connection between sin and suffering, righteousness and happiness. The discord between the actual and what our sense of justice would seem to demand, was in truth the bur den of the Prophetical writings. It is a characteristic of the ethical-religions in contrast with nature-religions that the former have as their contents not chiefiy the present, but seek true satisfaction in a future state. "Ct Munk: "Melange de phil.," Paris, 1859, p. 462: "Ce qui devait surtout preocuper les sages des Hebreux c'etait I'existence du mal dans un monde de I'etre qui est le Su preme Dieu." 126 Messianism in the Old Testament In Mosaism religious hope had but little place; the in dividual's goal fl'as circumscribed. While the prophets, on the whole, cling to the Mosaic idea of reward and punishment, they supplement it with the hope of a Messiah, or rather a Messianic Kingdom here on earth to be ruled over by a representative of JHVH who is to mete out justice. " The spirit of the Lord JHVH is upon me, because JHVH has anMnted me. And has sent me to bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the broken-hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, and opening of the eyes to the blind. To proclaim JHVH's year of favor and the day of ven geance of our God, To comfort all mourners, to give them instead of ashes a coronal, Oil of joy for the garment of mourning, a song of praise for a failing spirit. So that men will call them Children of Righteousness, the planting of JHVH with which He adorns Him self. For I, JHVH, love justice, I hate unjust spoil. And I will give them their recompense faithfully, and make with them an everlasting covenant." -' This became necessary to give a satisfactory expla nation to those who were dissatisfied with the apparent injustice in the lot of man, but chiefly to point to the transitoriness of the success of the heathen nations. Retribution would ultimately even up all inequalities. Similarly, the poets and philosophers of the classi- ='Isa. 61:1-4, 8 (432 B. C); comp. Jer. 31:23 f (586 B. C.) Messianism in the Old Testament 127 cal age of Greece, unable to solve the painful and per plexing riddle of the conflict between guilt and faith, sought at first a solution in the conception of retri bution in the world below, by which Hades, hitherto thought as indifferent, was differentiated into places of reward and punishment. Hartmann observes,'" " that the empirical Pessimism which takes in Eccle siastes ™ the place of the old Israelitic Optimism, be came an incentive for the large majority of people to save Theism and the justice of God by going beyond the empirical conditions of life and adopting the Per sian belief in Resurrection. The transcendent continu ation of life, and being repaid for the ills and woes of life form a theory (Hilfstheorie) of Theism necessary from the moment the misery of this life has been found out." Though the term " Messianic " " was the product of -''Das rel. Bewusstsein d. Menschheit, p. 460; cf. also Stade, Akad. Reden und Abhandlungen, Giessen, 1899, p. 41. "'1;4-10. " The term " anointed," n''B'p does not appear in the Old Testament as a technical term; it is always used in its general significance. Any person might be spoken of as " anointed," " an anointed one." Of course the term was used of but few; these were the High-priests, as Aaron and his sons (Exod. 30:22-33; Lev. 4:3 P), the kings (I Sam. 10:1; 16:13), occasionally the prophets (Ps. 105:15). In this metaphysical sense the term was always applied to any individual upon whom the spirit of JHVH seemed to have descended to lay on him a commission (Isa. 61:1, 432 B. C). This applies to Cyrus (Isa. 45). In 45:13 Cyrus (558-529 B. C.) is to rebuild the city of JHVH and in 44:26 he is to lay the foundation of Jerusalem. Cf. also Grimm: Euphemistic Liturgical Appendixes, Balto., 1901, p. 12, note on H'K'D 128 Messianism in the Old Testament the ideas of a later time, the hope it implied existed for many centuries before the term came into actual use as a designation for the Messianic or Theocratic government. The expectation of a particular person age is found in the Psalter of Solomon '^ (63-45 B. C), where the technical title of " Messiah " first occurs. The '2 Under the title " Psalter of Solomon " there is extant in a Greek translation a collection of 18 psalms, modeled, evidently, on the canonical psalms. The psalms are quick with Messianic hope. It seems to be certain that the orig inal language of these psalms was Greek (cf. Ryle and James: The Psalter of Solomon, Cambridge, 1891, pp. 77 ff; Kittel's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II, pp. 129 ff). Perles: "Zur Erkliirung d. Ps. Sal.," Berlin, 1902. These psalms were not known during the Middle Ages. The earliest traces of their existence are found in the IVth Bk. of Ezra (90 C. E.). Hilgenfeld (Messias Judaeorum, Lip- siae, 1869, pp. 13 ff) states that the author of Ezra must have been familiar with the psalms, as is shown by com paring passages of Ezra (13:39; 4:25) with psalms (8:34; 9:18). The date (63-45 B. C.) seems to meet with general favor. That the second psalm refers to Pompey (48 B. C.) is the opinion of Noldeke, Geiger, Schiirer; cf. also Pick: "Psalter of Solomon," in Presbyterian Review, 1883; also Cornill: Einl., p. 295; Cheyne: Rel. after the Exile, p. 245; Kittel's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II, p. 218; Gunkel: Schopfung u. Chaos, p. 79. The Maccabean time is favored by Ewald, Oehler and Dillman. Delitzsch argues for the time of Herod; ct also B. E. Geiger: D. Psalter Solomo's, Augsburg, 1871; Hilgenfeld: "Ztschf. f. wiss. Theol., 1868, pp. 134-168; Drummond: The Jewish Messiah, 1877, pp. 133- 142; Winter u. Wuensche: Gesch. d. Jiid.-Hellenlst. u. Talm. Lit., Berl., 1897, vol. I, p. 687; Zunz: "tlber den Glauben d. Juden an elnen Kiinftigen Messiah," Ztsch. f. d. Wiss. d. Judent., Berl., 1822, vol. I; Frankenberg: Die Datierung d. Psalmen Solomo's, Giessen, 1896. Messianism in the Old Testament 139 Messiah"^ is, here, the son of David and King of Israel. His mission it is to cleanse Jerusalem from all heathenish abominations and to slay all the god less."" Robertson Smith correctly states that the idea of a personal Messiah is post-canonical with reference to the Old Testament." Dean is of the opinion " that the Psalter of Solomon"" was conceived in the spirit of Old Testament prophecy, and was designed to con sole the Jews under national calamity by confirming their faith in future retribution and Messianic hopes: " Behold, 0 Lord, and raise up for them their King, the son of David, at the time which Thou, 0 God, knowest." "" "¦ The Messianic hope expresses the faith deeply rooted, that the Israelitic nation is immortal, '"a On n'K'D (Messiah) see Lagarde, Psalt. Chpt. VII; Semitica, 1:50; Symmicta 11:92; Ubersicht iiber die im Aram., Arab. u. Hebr. iibliche Bildung d. Nomina, Gott, 1889, pp. 90-109; Register u. Nachtriige, pp. 62-65; Mltth. 4, p. 389; Deutsche Schriften, Gott., 1892, pp. 53, 95, 128. On Mess. Psalms cf. D. G. Stevens in the Johns Hopkins Univ. Circulars, No. 106 (June, 1893), p. 108b. See also Stade: Akad. Reden u. Abhandl., Giessen, 1899, pp. 39 ff; cf. also Weinel n'E'D und seine Derivate in Z. A. T., 1898, pp. 1 ff. '" 17:21 ff; 18:5-9. "•Ct Art. "Messias" In Encycl. Brit., XVI; Philipson: Weltbewegende Fragen, Lpzg., 1874, vol. I, pp. 282 ff. '^ Pseudepigraphe, Edinb., 1891, introd., p. 6; Miihsam: D. Jiidische Sibylle, Wien, 1864. '" The name Solomon did not occur in the original title of the Psalter. But as the Psalter became known and was beginning to be used, as it could not be ascribed to David, and thus become a part of the canonical psalms, it was ascribed to Solomon and reached the early Christian writ ers under that designation. Cf. Dean: Pseudepigrapha, p. 27. '"a 17:23. 9 130 Messianism in the Old Testament that violence and oppression were forces that must ulti mately exhaust themselves and that under the guid ance of JHVH things were working toward that end. For the knowledge of JHVH was gradually spreading over the world; it could only be a question of time when it should fill every corner of the globe and light up its dark places. To despair of the future would be to give up faith in JHVH Himself. The strong belief in God and the unshaken confi dence that at last this God, the God of Israel, will be the God of the whole world, is the belief that underlies Messianism in the literature of the Hebrews and the Jews."' The Messianic idea is thus bound up with the belief in Israel's providential destiny, and is the bur den of the thoughts and activities of the prophets in pre-exilic as well as in post-exilic times."* In the uni versal teachings of the prophets, the coming of the Messiah is not a time, but, rather, a condition in the affairs of mankind. That kingdom was to consist of a regenerated nation; a community in which the Divine ''Ct Sehechter: Studies in Judaism, Phila., 1896, p. 151.; comp. Mal. 2:10; Zech. 14:9; Zeph. 3:8, 9; Micah 4:1-5; Joel 3:11, 2; Isa. 2:2-4; 45:23; 61:11; 66:18 ff. " " If the term ' Messianic ' be understood to refer to gen eral hopes of temporal salvation for the Israelitish people, there are, undoubtedly. Messianic predictions in the O. T. Such passages as Isa. 2:2-5; Micah 4:1-4; Isa. chpts. 11, 49, 53, 60 ; Zech. 9 : 9 and chpt. 14 express the conviction of pious men that the religion of JHVH would become the religion of the world, and that the nation would be rescued from its oppressors and dwell in its own land in peaceful security. Other passages such as Isa. chpts. 35 and 40-48 relate to the return of the exiles " (Prof. Toy in Christian Register, June 29, 1899). Ct also Stade: Akad. Reden und Abhandlungen, Giessen, 1899, pp. 57 ff. Messianism in the Old Testament 131 Will should be sedulously fulfilled; an organized society interpenetrated and welded together, and shaped to ever higher issues by the presence of God; in brief, that condition of world-wide arbitration among nations when the instruments of war shall be supplanted by the implements of peace. This sentiment is most beauti fully voiced in Isajah: "" " And in the latter days the mountain of JHVH'S house will be established as the highest of the mountains, and will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it, and many peoples will set forth and say: Come let us go up to the mountain of JHVH, To the house of the God of Jacob, That He may instruct us out of His precepts, And that we may walk in his paths; For from Zion goes forth instruction. And the word of JHVH from Jerusalem. Then will He judge between the nations. And give decision to many peoples: And they will beat their swords into mattocks, And their spears into pruning-knives; Nation will not lift up sword against nation. Neither will they learn war any more." Since the Messiah formed no organic part of the Messianic idea, he was sometimes conceived as present at its head, sometimes as absent."" Two factors were ™ Isa. 2:2-4 (post-exilic Mess. Appendix); comp. Micah 4:1-4 (a post-exilic Insertion); cf. Cheyne's crit. notes on Isa. in P. B. (Engl, transl.), p. 147, 1. 27; Jost: Gesch. d. Judent., vol. I, p. 309; also Talm. Berachoth, 34b. "Cf. Dalman: Chrlstentum und Judentum, Lpzg., 1898, pp. 11 ff; cf. Talmud B. Sanhedrin 98b, where Hillel is quoted as having said ^Xlt}**^ IT'B'D px " Israel has no Messiah; " ct Rashi ad locum, 1DXi;3 ^^D* n'3'p'n X^X 113^ d'pXVI " God himself will reign. He alone will redeem them." 132 Messianism in the Old Testament indispensable to its realization; it must be a commun ity of Israelites, or of these together with non-Israel ites, and it must be a community in which the will of JHVH is the paramount law. With the expansion of the horizon of human thought, the prophets empha size more and more strongly the moral and religious genius of their expected Messiah as the head of the kingdom. Ever greater and grander were the qualities assigned to him and his dominion was not to be limited to Israel alone, but took on more and more clearly the qualities of universal world-wide influence and power. That the conception of the Messianic kingdom is as early as the seventh century may be deduced from the writings of Amos (c. 760 B.C.):"' "In that day will I raise up the fallen tabernacle of David, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins. and I will build it as in days of old. . . . And I will bring again the captivity of the people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them. ." "' Hosea (c. 740 B. C.) too refers to the establishment of the Messianic kingdom: "" " Yet the number of the " Cf. Hartung: Der Prophet Amos, Freiburg i/B, 1898. "9:11, 12. Wellhausen, Smend, Cheyne and Nowalk doubt the genuineness of passage, considering it an exilic addi tion. So Geiger (Nachgel. Schrift, vol. 4, p. 214) and G. A. Smith (Twelve Minor Prophets, p. 195), Preuschen (ZAT, vol. 15, pp. 23 ff); ct also Schwally: ZAT, vol. 10, p. 227. The opposite view is defended by Cornill: Einl. 3, p. 184; Driver: Joel and Amos, 1897, pp. 119-123. " As in Amos so these references are considered as later additions, but I consider them, as the passage in Amos, gen uine; cf. Driver: Introd. to O. T., sixth ed., p. 306; also Marti : Gesch. d. Israel. Rel., pp. 181 f . Messianism in the Old Testament 133 children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered; and it shall be that, in the place where it was said to them, ye are not my people, it shall be said to them, ye are the sons of the living God. And the children of Judah and Israel shall be gathered together. . . ." "" "And the children of Israel shall abide many days without a King . . . afterward shall they return and seek the Lord their God, and David their King." "" Isajah (before 701 B. C.)"° makes reference to the kingdom in the following terms: " Therefore this is the oracle of the Lord, the Hero of Israel : Aha! I will vent my displeasure on mine adversaries, and take vengeance on mine enemies; I will turn my hand against thee, and will smelt out in the furnace thy dross, I will bring back thy judges as at first, and thy coun selor as at the beginning; Thereafter thou wilt be called Citadel of Righteousness, Faithful City." What follows is a post-exilic appendix: "' " Zion will be set free through judgment, and those in her who have turned from evil through righteousness; But there will be a destruction of the apostates ..." JSTahum (664-607 B. C), too, speaks of the Messianic Kingdom. "The day of JHVH" and the estabHsh- "1:10, 11. "=3:4, 5. "1:24-26. Ct Cheyne's Engl, transl. of Isajah in P. B., p. 42. "1:27-28; cf. Cheyne's Engl, transl. of Isajah in P. B., p. 44. 134 Messianism in the Old Testament ment of the Messianic Kingdom axe the theme of chap ters 1-2: 2."" Jeremiah (626-586 B. C). living in the midst of the storm that was gathering, saw through the dark and threatening clouds the approach of the kingdom. He takes a broad view and includes among those who will benefit by its coming the very nations that have been hostile to Israel, but who have experienced a change of heart: " Thus says JHVH against all mine evil neigh bors, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit: Behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them up ... I will bring them again every man to his heritage, and every man to his land." "° " Behold, the days come, saith JHVH, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land." ™ Ezekiel (593-571 B. C), like Jeremiah, had also vis ions of the brealdng of the new morning : " Thus says the Lord, JHVH : When I gather the House of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and manifest my sanctity through them In the sight of the nations, then shall they dwell in their own land which 1 gave to my servant Jacob." °^ «Ct Gunkel (ZATW, 1893, pp. 223 ff) speaks of chpts. 1-2:2 as an alphabetical psalm; Bickell: Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserl. Akad. der Wiss. in Wien, vol. 131, v, p. 1 ff ; also Nowack: Die klelnen Propheten, Gottingen, 1897, p. 231. "Jer. 12:14, 15 (597 B. C). ""Jer. 23:5 (596-586 B. C); comp. ibid., 16:14,15 (596-586 B. C). ''28:25. Messianism in the Old Testament 135 " I will manifest my greatness and my sanctity, and make myself known to many nations; they shall learn that I am JHVH." '^ The Servant of JHVH-cycle idealizes the faithful of Israel, through whose suffering was to arise the great est blessing not only for Israel, but, ultimately, the whole world was to share in it: " And now JHVH says, — He who formed me from the womb to be a servant to Him, That I might bring Jacob back to Him, that Israel, — might be gathered; — It is too light a thing to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; So I set thee as a light of the nations; that my deliver ance may be the end of the earth." '^ Also in Zechariah (14: 9, c. 300 B. C.) ""'' we read: " And JHVH shall be King over all the earth; on that day shall JHVH be only and His name one." " These passages indicate that the establishment of the Messianic kingdom was an important element in the religious consciousness of the spiritual guides of the nation. It is worthy of note, that during periods of ==38:23. ="49:5, 6. The cycle of poetic passages (42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50: 4-9; 52:13-53:12) of the Servant of JHVH dates from about 432 B. C; cf. Cheyne's crit. notes to Isa. in P. B. (Engl. transl.), p. 209, 1. 20; also Toy: Jud. and Christianity, Bos ton, 1892, p. 225; Montefiore: Hibbert Lectures, 1892, pp. 276 ff; Duhm (Nowack), 1892, who agrees with Cheyne that the Servant passages are of independent origin. »»aCt Driver: Introd., 6th ed., pp. 349 f. "Comp. Haggai (520 B. C.) 1:8; 2:6-9, 20-23; Joel (400 B. C.) 3:1,2; Ps. 86 (167 B. C); Ps. 87 (500 B. C); Ps. 65: 22 (post-exilic). 136 Messianism in the Old Testament prosperity little is heard of a Messianic kingdom. It is in times of storm and stress that the hearts of the people are fired with new faith and hope in a coming Redeemer.'" The Messianic idea of the prophets was an off-shoot of their fervent faith in divine goodness. They could not shut their eyes to the prevalence of injustice and of oppression, and to the supremacy of the Pagan nations over JHVH'S own people. And as the relative position of Israel among the nations be came more and more apparent, and the impossibility of gaining any lasting political supremacy grew more certain, the belief in the Messianic age, when right eousness and true religion would hold undisputed sway, came more prominently into the foreground. The sad der the reality the brighter the futiu-e seemed to the religious enthusiast."" When Babylon conquered Ju dsea "' political independence seemed to be crushed for ever,"' yet Jeremiah saw rising in his visions a more glorious Zion."" Buffeted by every nation, oppressed by her own rulers, Israel yearned for some one endowed by JHVH with power to conquer and restore the for mer prestige of Israel among the nations,"" and to rule ==Ct Brinton (Rels. of Primitive Peoples, N. Y., 1897, p. 128), who speaks of wonderful mythical cycles concerning the Deliverer and Savior common among many races. ™Cf. Cheyne's ed. of Heb. text of Isaiah in P. B., p. 199; Wellhausen (Sketch of the Hist, of Israel and Judah, Lon don, 1891, p. 213), where he states "that the ancient He brews regarded the history of the world as a great suit between themselves and the heathens." "597, 586, 581 (B. C). •* Chpts. 30-33; cf. also Giesebrecht: D. B. Jeremia (No wack), pp. 265 ff. »"Cf. Talm. Berachoth, 34b. Messianism in the Old Testament 137 the nations as the representative of JHVH."° This hope was strengthened during the terrible persecu tions of the Maccabean period. Daniel, carried along by the wave of religious enthusiasm, dreams of a king dom to be realized in the near future."' "The Book of Daniel," states Graetz,"" "with its mystical revela tions, was undoubtedly read with great interest by the Assidaeans. The apocalyptic form which gave each line a peculiar meaning, and reflected the present condi tions, lent it a great attraction. Moreover, it solved the problem of the present calamities, and showed the object of the horrible persecutions; these were in- ¦" There were many pseudo-Messiahs in Jewish history. About 135 C. E. arose Bar-Kochba, " Son of the Star," who was welcomed by the greatest Rabbi of his time. Rabbi Akiba, as the Messiah. The scattered sons of Israel were aroused as never before, and the first great Zionistic move ment of Jewish history was inaugurated. Funds were col lected, armies raised, and a widespread revolt set on foot to restore the ancient Zion. Three centuries after Bar-Kochba the first pseudo-Messiah arose in Europe, Moses of Crete. He gathered his fellow-Jews in the island around him and proclaimed himself Messiah. With the settling of the dark ages over the world, the Messiahs became more frequent Now it is David Alroy, or Alrui (1160 C. E.) in the Bast; again it is Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia in the West (Sara- gossa, 1284 C. B.) ; at another time it is David Reubeni (Sol omon Molcho) at Rome (1528 C. E.) ; Isaac Luria, the Kab- balist, in Egypt (1569 C. E.); Sabbatai Zevi, who declared his Messiahship in Smyrna in 1666. The last of the pseudo- Messiahs was Jacob Frank (Jankiev Lejbovicz), who died 1791. (For Sabbatai Zevi cf. ZangwiU: Dreamers of the Ghetto, Phila., 1898; essay, "Turkish Messiah," also art. "Shabbathai Zevi." J. A. O. S., 2:1-16; for Alroi ct Bea- consfield's romance, David Alroy. "¦ Jan., 164 B. C. " Cf . Hist of the Jews, vol. I, p. 466. 138 Messianism in the Old Testament tended, on the one hand, to destroy sin, and on the other, to ennoble believers. It was evident that the duration of the period of affliction had been determined from the beginning, and this very duration, too, had a secret meaning. The worldly kingdoms would dis appear, and at the end of this time, God's kingdom, the kingdom of the holy ones, would commence, and those who had died or had been slain during the per secutions would awake to eternal life." Thus, when iSimon,"^ the brother of Judas ilaccabeus, was anointed King, it was with the distinct declaration, that he should hold authority only until Elijah should return as the forerunner of that Prince of the House of David, who should assume hereditary rule. The essential element of the Messianic Kingdom in the Old Testament on the material side, was the re-establishment of Israel's national independence, coupled always with unalloyed prosperity and well- being, at times, also, with world-wide dominion."" On the spiritual-ethical side, the Messianic conception im plied the rule of righteousness and purity, the destruc tion of sin, and the complete triumph of the Law. Idolatry shall cease, and war will be no longer prac ticed. The new order of things will also extend to the animal world. " Then shall the wolf and the lamb feed together, and the lion eat straw like the ox." "" The shaping of the Messianic conception was the result of the political conditions that obtained. In periods of persecution, the Messianic age was looked forward to as a time of peace and freedom; in time of war and » 142-135 B. C. "Isa. 11:11, 12 (post-exilic); ct Ibid., 27:13 (334 B. C). '»Isa. 65:25a (450 B. C). Messianism in the Old Testament 139 bloodshed it represented an era of human love and universal brotherhood. Thus the older prophets hoped simply for deliverance from Assyria and for the main tenance of the existing political state."" During the bitter days of exile, the kingdom was to be ushered in by " the Day of JHVH," and Israel was to emerge re generated."' Jeremiah makes repentance a condition of the restoration of Israel to its political independence. The change of heart, which follows sincere repentance, will cause every member of the nation to return to JHVH and to obey Him: " I will give them a heart to know me, that I am JHVH, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return to me with their whole heart." "" Ezekiel, too, traces the woes that had overtaken the nation to their wilful disobedience of JHVH'S laws : " I will gather them from the nations, and assemble them from the lands whither I scattered them . . . and I will give them a new heart, and put a new spirit "" within them; I will take away the heart of stone out of their bosom, and give them a heart of fiesh, that they may fol low my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them." ™ "''Isa. 14:24-27 (711 B. C). "Ct Charles: A Crit Hist, of the Doctrines of a Future Life, p. 101. »»24:7 (597 B. C); comp. 31:33, 34; Cornill's ed. of Hebr. text (P. B.) considers passage later than 586 B. C; Giese brecht: D. B. Jeremia (Hdkt. Nowack) ascribes passage to Baruch. ""Cf. Toy's critical notes on Ez. (Engl, transl. P. B.) ex plains " the new spirit " not regeneration in the modern sense, but a general disposition to obey the Law of God, espe cially to avoid idolatry. ™ 11: 17-21; ibid., 36:25-28; ct also Kent: "The Growth of Israelitish Law," in Bibl. and Semitic Studies, Bicentennial Publications (Yale), N. Y., 1901, p. 78. 140 Messianism in the Old Testament Haggai and Zechariah, the prophets of the Return," sinking down from the pictures of glory to the stern realities of the present, confine themselves to the task before them, i. e. the rebuilding of the Temple, and the securing of a livelihood in a land that had been devas tated by famine.'" The reality seemed hard, for they were led to believe that Persia was falling to pieces and that JHVH had sent Zerubbabel as the Messiah. But Persia's power did not wane, and the political inde pendence of the Israelitic nation remained a dream.'" The advent of Ezra and Nehemiah '* fixed attention on the legal religious organization of the people,'" and for the moment, there was no inducement to indulge in visions of future glory. Yet even now the hope in a Messianic age had not died out. For in a letter Nehe- miah receives from Sanballat he is accused of being- disloyal to Persia and of being desirous to be the King of the Jews: " Then Sanballat sent his servant unto me in like man ner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand, wherein " Koster publ. in 1893 his theory, which upsets all former traditions. He asserts that the return of the exiles under Cyrus was an invention for some purpose. Also the rebuild ing of the Temple was not the work of the exiles, but of those who had remained behind and had never been in Babylon (cf. Meyer: Die Entstehung d. Judenthums, Halle, 1896, Einl.). Wellhausen combats Koster's theories in " Die Riickkehr d. Juden aus d. babyl. Exil." in Nachrichten d. Gott. Ges. Phil. hist. CI., 1895, pp. 166 ff; vide Koster's reply in Theol. Tijdschrift, XXIX, 1895, pp. 549 ff. "Zech. 7:14; 8:9. '= Ct V, n. 28. "Koster dates Ezra's return 432 B. C. " Oct., 444 B. C, the P. C. was adapted and became a part of the Law. Messianism in the Old Testament 141 was written: It is reported among the nations, and Gashmu said it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel; for which cause thou art building the wall; and thou wouldst be their king." '° Eduard Meyer believes" that Nehemiah is wrong when he states,™ the accusations brought against him and his people at the Persian court, were for the purpose of goading them on to open rebellion. Meyer is of the opinion that it was the work of harmless fa natics who did not stop to think what the consequences of their action might be. The feeling of solidarity that made itself felt in the writings of Kahum and Habakkuk, but especially in Ezekiel, reappears in intensified form in Ezra and Nehemiah.'" While Jeremiah and Deutero-Isaiah fore told the incorporation of the Gentiles into the Messi anic kingdom, the prophets that follow them, classing Micah as post-exilic but holding the more catholic view, speak of the destiny of the Gentiles as being one of subjection and final annihilation. Where a religion is confined, solely, to one nation, as in the case of Judaism, the purport of the estab lishment and course of the world is found in the aims of that peculiar nation, in the fulfillment of the hopes of a glorious future and of external might added to internal prosperity and welfare. All this came into severe collision, in the instance of the Jewish people, ™Neh. 6:5, 6 (425 B. C); ct Guthe's ed. of Heb. text in P. B., p. 14. " D. Entstehung d. Judenthums, Halle, 1896, p. 242. ™6:14.'"Ezra 9:10; Neh. 9:2; 13:1-3; cf. also Herzfeld: Gesch. d. V. Jisrael, vol. I, p. 32; Wellhausen: Israelit. u. Jiidische Gesch., 4th ed., p. 178. 143 Messianism in the Old Testament with the stern facts of reality. Instead of triumphing over their enemies, they were triumphed over by them. Yet, side by side with the spirit of solidarity which some of the prophets sought to strengthen, one discerns a growing sympathy with the affairs of the world beyond the borders of Judasa. FTom the time of the exile, when the Jews came into contact with the civili zations of Babylonia and Persia, they seemed to ha\'e modified their views as to the religions of those peo ples. Then, as the world grew apace, so also did the conception of JHVH. The future kingdom was to in clude not only JHVH'S chosen people but, at the same time, all the nations; it was to be a world monarchy and JHVH was to be its Ruler. " Sing praises to God, sing praises. Sing praises to our King, sing praises. For King of the whole world is God. God has begun His reign over the heathen. He has taken His seat on His holy throne. Men, of their own free will, from the peoples, join the people of Abraham's God. For to God, our Shield, belongs the world; He is exalteil on high." " Under this ever broadening outlook the individual began to see that his fate was no longer inexorably »»Ps. 47:6-9 (516 B. C); ct Wellhausen (crit. notes on Psalms, Engl, transl. P. B., to 47, p. 148) : "The conversions to Judaism, which became much more numerous after Alex ander the Great, gave rise to this lofty Messianic hope; they signalized the beginning of JHVH'S universal rule. The remarkable spread of Judaism among the heathen at that time was undoubtedly a significant fact; it arose out of the Messianic hope, to which, in turn, it gave fresh vigor." Messianism in the Old Testament 143 bound up with the fate of the nation; JHVH re garded all peoples and nations, and He watched over him too. In brief, he was a distinct personality.""* This conception is apparent in the Khokma litera ture, as well as in the Psalms, where the community gradually retreats behind the individual, and the " I " stands for the " we." "' Concurrently with the growth and development of the Messianic hope in the national consciousness, the claims of the individual forced itself irresistibly upon the notice of the religious thinkers, so that no repre sentative of the future could look for general accept ance and approval that failed to render them adequate satisfaction. There were people who held the faith in a coming age, who cherished it and looked forward to its realization in their own day, but who were dying one after another without having seen it and profited by it. This did not seem wholly just. Those who be lieved it, and strove for it by being faithful to JHVH, ought to participate in the glory at its coming. Here is the germ of the conception of the Resurrection of those who were just and pious. By and by it led to the idea that the righteous who died are really not quite dead, that they are leading a shadowy existence in Sheol."" Later, this view was enlarged to include the wicked and godless. They, too, dwelled in Sheol, they, too, were to be raised, and behold the triumph *°a Cf. Ehni: " Ursprung u. Entwickelung d. Religion," Theol. Studlen u. Kritiken, 1898, p. 636. "' Chpt. IV, n. 92a. *' Dan. 12:2, 3; Enoch XXII (ct Beer's transl. of Enoch in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II). 144 Messianism in the Old Testament of the righteous — this would be their punishment, then they would be returned to their shadowy abode."" In Daniel the Messianic age and the Resurrection synchronize with each other : ""* " And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. But the wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that led many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." *'' According to Daniel all the pious will share in the glories of the kingdom, and he who is seized by death before its coming, may hope that one day he will be raised up and transplanted to the kingdom. The ob ject of the resurrection is participation in the king dom, and the basis of that faith is the ever more pow erfully developing interest in salvation. This expecta tion of a personal share, by means of a bodily revival, in the Messianic age,""'' gave the Messianic hope itself '= Enoch LXIII:10; XCIX:11; CIII:7ff; ct also Harnack: What is Christianity? p. 143. "aCt Montefiore: Hibbert Lectures, 1892, p. 457; also Geiger (Lesestiicke aus d. Mischnah, Breslau, 1845, p. 43 j, who states that in Mishnah the time of resurrection and Messianic age are identical. Einhorn (Sinai, Balto., vol. VII, 1862, Judenthum u. Christenthum) combats Geiger's view by citing Talmud Sebachim 118b and Niddah 61b, where a sharp distinction is made between the two. Later under the influence of Christianity resurrection and Mes sianic age were identical. **Dan. 12:2, 3 (164 B. C). ¦"a In the Apocryphal books of the Old Testament (vide Kautzsch: Apokryphen und Pseudepigraphen, vol. I, Einl.; also Hamburger: Real Encycl., vol. II, pp. 66 ff, article "Apokryphen; " also Konig: Einl. in das A. T., Bonn, 1893, pp. 466 ff) the Messianic hope cannot, by reason of the his torical or didactic nature of these books, be brought promi- Messianism in the Old Testament 145 added vitality. " Indeed," says Montefiore, " the hope of a personal resurrection naturally becomes even more powerful as a motive of religious action, than the re-establishment of the national kingdom." "" The reign of Antiochus Epiphanes accentuated the belief in individual resurrection. The confidence in divine justice that rewards virtue in this world and does not forsake him who abides by the Law, was shaken to its depths by the daily experience that showed the pious and the righteous as victims of An- tiochus's wrath. These martyrs sealed their faith in JHVH by giving up their lives. Such faith must surely be rewarded. Divine justice must extend its sway beyond the limits of this life; this is the only solution of the vexed problem. Daniel, written in the very throes of the Maccabean struggle, reflects the sentiment of his day when he makes " retribution at some future time " the watchword that is to inspire nently forward (cf. Oehler in Herzog's Real Encycl., vol. IX, second ed., pp. 653 ff). But it is by no means absent from them. In Ecclesiasticus all the essential elements of the older Messianic hope, the expectation of penal judgment upon the heathen world (32:18, 19; 33:1), and Israel's deliv erance from oppression (1:24), and the ingathering of the dispersed (33:11), are mentioned. Similarly in some of the other Apocryphal books, as in Judith 16:17; 2 Mace. 2:18; Tobit 3:12-18. In the "Wisdom of Solomon,'' which is per meated with Hellenic speculation, the national element is lost sight of. By reason of his Platonic leaning the author of the book cannot imagine true happiness for the soul till after death (3:8; 5:1). Cf. Volkmar: Hdbch. d. Einl. in die Apokryphen, vol. II, Tubingen, 1863; cf. Freudenthal: Die Flavins Josephus beigelegte Schrift. Das sog. IV Makkabaer- buch, Breslau, 1869. »" Hibbert Lectures, 1892, p. 456. 10 146 Messianism in the Old Testament the faithful not only to live but also to die." The martyrdom of the faithful is repeatedly referred to in Daniel and in the Second Book of the Maccabees."' The men and women who so cheerfully laid their lives upon the altar of JHVH'S religion, should they abide forever in Sheol? No, they will arise and re joice in the glories of JHVH that He prepares for those who are His faithful followers. The Book of Daniel became the initiator of that class of literature known as Apocalyptic which flour ished from about 160 B. C. to 140 C. E. The begin ning of this period corresponds with the Maccabean uprising and with the growth of the doctrine of the Resurrection. The end of the period fell after the horrors of the conflict with Rome — a conflict that did not end with the fall of Jerusalem, but which burst forth again in the wars against Trajan and Hadrian. This literature exercised an influence upon the religi ous thought both of Judaism and of Christianity."" The association of the advent of the Messiah with the promise of reward and punishment is the limit the doctrine attained within the Old Testament. In the Book of Daniel the hope is crystallized into an assurance of resurrection, its ideal of the future is the '"3:8-13, 17, 18; cf. Fiirst: Gesch. d. Karaerthums, Lpzg., 1S62, p. 7. ''¦6:18ff; 7:lff. '»Ct Hilgenfeld: Die jiid. Apokalyptic, Jena, 1857; Deane: Pseudepigrapha, Edinb., 1891, Introd.; Buttenwieser: Apoca lyptic Lit. in Jewish Encycl., vol. I, pp. 675 f£; Steinschnel- der in Z. D. M. G. 28:627 ff; 29:162 ff; Wellhausen: Skizzen, etc., Pt. VI, 1899, pp. 226 ff; Smend: Ueber d. jud. Apokalyp- tik in ZATW, 1885, pp. 221-251; Charles: "Eschatology" in Cheyne's Encycl. Bibl., vol. II; Torrey: "Apocalypse" in Jewish Encycl., vol. I, pp. 671 ff. Messianism in the Old Testament 147 Messianic kingdom which is to be established here on earth, after the Greek era shall have passed away. In the Ezra-ApocalyiDse '"'' a fuller development of the eschatological conception is found; and in the Baruch Apocalypse "' the general resurrection of the dead, judgment of all souls. Paradise and Gehenna, are taught.""'^ The re-establishment of the nation as politically independent is no longer the goal; it has been made a side-issue, a passing incident in the activ ities of the Messiah, who is to prepare an era of peace and of prosperity for the pious Jews. At the end of that new era the Messiah dies and with him his gene ration ceases to be. Then will be " the end of time," with resurrection for all, the great Day of Judgment, and the division of the world into Heaven and Hell."" That hour will be marked by an overthrow of the exist ing order of things — the new regime to be ushered in by " The Day of JHVH." The end of time (d'D'H nnnx) ''a IV Ezra 7:28, 78-99; 7:43; ct Gunkel's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II, Einl. '"81-96; cf. Montefiore (some notes on 4th Bk. of Ezra in Jewish Chronicle, London, Nov. 29, 1901), who claims that the first two and the last two chpts. are probably of Chris tian origin. '°a Harnack (What is Christianity? p. 142) states that, " though the Messianic doctrines prevalent in the Jewish nation in Jesus' day were not a positive dogma, they formed an essential element of the hopes, religious and political, which the nation entertained for the future." Cf. also Zunz: D. gottesd. Vortrage, second ed., 1892, pp. 379 ff; Hirsch: D. Religionsphil., p. 627; Wohlgemuth: D. Unster- blichkeit i. d. Bibel, Berl., 1900, 3d chpt. "Ct Wellhausen: Skizzen, etc., Pt. VI, pp. 230 ff; cf. also IV Ezra, chpts. 3-9 : 25 in Gunkel's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II. 148 Messianism in the Old Testament will be heralded by great and wonderful portents and convulsions of nature, and by the appearance of signs on earth and in the sky.°" The most complete eschatological ideas, current dur ing the transition period from the Old to the New Tes tament, showing close kinship with the spirit of the New Testament and the Talmud, are in the pre-Chris tian Apocalypse Enoch."'' Here, the practical applica tion of the belief in a future state becomes the motive for conduct."" Angels, and Satan with his satellites. Paradise and Gehenna with the status intermedins,""'' the everlasting kingdom of bliss, the latter offset by the everlasting torments of hell in store for the wicked ; Jerusalem the centre of the Messianic glories; the du ration of the kingdom and Judgment-day — all these find discussion in Enoch."" The date of the Apocalypse is generally conceded to be pre-Christian."" The language was originally He- "IV Ezra 5:1-13; 6:18-28; comp. Isa. 24; Zeph. 1:15; Zech. 14. =- (70-60 B. C.) ; ct Beer's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II, p. 233; Deane: Pseudepigrapha, pp. 15 ff. '"Enoch 91:1-11 (Beer's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II). "^act Enoch 10:12; 100:5; IV Ezra 7:75, 80. "* Cf. Beer's transl. of Enoch in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II, pp. 220 t '=Ct Gelbhaus (D. Apologetik d. Judent., Wien, 1896) favors 160 B. C. and Palestine as the place where it was written; Weber (Open Court Chicago, April, 1899), 125 B. C; Dillmann (in Herzog's Real Encycl., 2d ed., XII, pp. 351 ff), 64 B. C; Cheyne (Bampton Lectures, p. 412) says: "In the main Enoch is of pre-Christian origin, though there are some interpolations by Christian hands; " Marti (Israelit. Rel. Lehre, p. 271), end of first pre-Christian century; Toy (Quotations in N. T.), 130 B. C. Messianism in the Old Testament 149 brew or Aramaic."" Few believe that the language was Greek."' The book has come down to us in an Ethiopic trans lation made from a Greek translation extant in Egypt during the first Christian century."'* In the New Testa ment quotations from the Ethiopic translations are found."" The Apocalyse was held in much esteem by the Fathers of the Church, especially by Tertullian."" ™Cf. Dean: Pseudepigrapha, pp. 75 ff; Beer's Einl. to Enoch in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II, p. 17; Levi: Revue des etudes juives, XXVI (1893), p. 149. ='Ct Volkmar: Z. D. M. G., pp. 131 ff; Philippi: D. B. Henoch, 1868, pp. 124 ff; Dietrich: D. B. Henoch Nekyia, p. 216. °' Ct Beer's Einl. to Henoch In Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II, p. 218; Hallevi: Journal Aslatique, 1867, pp. 352-395; Dill mann in Sitzungsber. der Akad. d. Wissenschaft z. Berlin, 1892, pp. 1039 ff; Konig: Einl. in d. A. T., 1893, p. 494; Bouri- ant in " Memoires publiee par les membres de la mission archeologique frangaise an Cairo, vol. IX, 1892 (Lods) ; Schodde: The Bk. of Enoch, Andover, 1882; Charles: The Bk. of Enoch, London, 1893; A. Geiger: "Binige Worte iiber d. B. H." in Jiidische Ztsch., 1864-65, Breslau. "" Cf . Beer's : Einl. to Henoch in Kautzsch's A u. P., vol. II, p. 218. '"Ct Zahn: Gesch. d. neutest. Kanons, 1888, vol. I, p. 122. CHAPTER VII Resukkection in the Old Testament The doctrine of Resurrection is a genuine product of Jewish genius, its factors are indigenous to Jewish thought. The way was prepared for it in the inde pendent and concurrent eschatologies of the nation and of the individual, the synthesis of which could not admit of any other resurrection, save that of the pious.'' Many have held as an undisputed fact that post- exilic Judaism owes its most characteristic elements to foreign sources. Recent developments have shown that similarity of usage and custom among peoples does not necessarily imply that one has borrowed from the other, but that both may have drawn from the same common source. Thus, the similarity that is urged to exist between Judaism and Mazdeism is due to a common origin — the Religion of Chaldee.' That the later eschatology of the Old Testament shows traces of Persian and Greek influence is well nigh es tablished. But it has been the fashion to exaggerate 'Dan. 12:2, 3. ^Cf. Ed. Meyer: D. Entstehung d. Judenthums, Halle, 1896, p. 239, note; also Tiele: Gesch. d. Rel. im Altertum, Gotha, 1896, vol. I, p. 365; ct Budde: D. A. T. u. d. Aus- grabungen, Giessen, 1902, in which Budde protests against the current tendency to trace the rel. development of Israel entirely to Babylonian influences. 152 Resukeection in the Old Testament this influence and make the Old Testament eschatology a copy of that of Persia and Greece." Gunkel believes that resurrection is foreign to the Old Testament, nor could it have risen from the eschatology of prophet or psalmist. The prophets, he claims, preached a fu ture for the nation, not for the individual, and the psalmists believed in a God who could only be glorified and praised in the land of the living. But in Daniel we meet with a belief that is complete." This view of Gunkel is extreme. Granted that before Daniel ° indi- ^ Greek thought influenced Judaism greatly in Alexandria, which adopted the Platonic doctrine of the immortality of the soul. The Jews in Palestine under the influence of Per sian thought accepted the teaching of Zoroaster of the resur rection of the body and a judgment after death. "Cf. Gunkel: Schopfung u. Chaos, p. 291, n. 2; Mills: "Zoroaster and the Bible" in 19th century, Jan., 1894; Laing: A Modern Zoroastrian, London, 1893, 8th ed., chpt. 13; Hang: Essays on the Sacred Languages of the Parsees, London, 1884, pp. 310 ff. ^^(164 B. C.) The traditional view of the date is the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Josephus (Antiq., XI:8) makes the un- historical statement that Jaddua showed Alexander the pre diction of his world-conquests. Keil (Daniel, Edinburgh, 1872) makes Daniel a contemporary of Ezekiel, referring to Ez. 14:20; 28:3. Noldeke (Die Semitlsche Sprachen, Lpzg., 1887, p. 21) places the date 166 or 167 B. C. Herzfeld (Gesch. d. Volkes Jisrael, vol. I, Lpzg., 1863, p. 416), before 164 B. C. Kautzsch (Die Heilige Schrift d. A. T.), end of 165 or beginning of 164 B. C. Knobel (Der Prophetismus der Hebraer, Breslau, 1837, vol. II, p. 406) favors 163 B. C. Karpeles (Gesch. d. jiidischen Lit., Berl., 1886, pp. 126 ff) argues for 176-168 B. C. Stelnthal (Zu Bibel und Religions phil., Berl., 1895, p. 166) asserts that the author of Daniel knew nothing of the Maccabean uprising; he places the book Resureection in the Old Testament 153 vidual resurrection was unknown to the Hebrews," how could the idea find its complete expression in Daniel, unless it had been matured before in the religious consciousness of the people ? Such conceptions are of slow growth, for nations are conservative in matters that touch the fondest hopes. The real beginning of eschatology in the Old Testament is not before the exile, not during the exile, but must be looked for in the centuries that follow the return, when the proph ecies that foretold the re-establishment of the Davidic House were not realized, and for two centuries blow had followed blow. From the awful days of Antiochus the nation never had any rest, and the woe that fol lowed the destruction of the Second Commonwealth (70 C. E.) and the final expatriation of the people emphasized still more the hope of a future reward. Distinct references to resurrection are found before the time of Daniel. The references in Ezekiel and in Isaiah point to a national resuscitation: "^ between 200-164 B. C. Terry (Biblical Apocalyptics, N. Y., 1898, p. 183) favors the Maccabean time. Cf. Wildeboer: Lit. d. A. T., Gottingen, 1895, §27; also Behrmann: Das B. Daniel, Gottingen, 1894; Kamphausen: Das B. Daniel und die neuere Geschichtsforschung, Lpzg., 1893. ' Ib'n Esra, as well as Hitzig, interpret Dan. 12 : 2, 3 to refer to national resurrection. Schwally (D. Leben nach dem Tode, p. 135) thinks that it refers to the martyrs who had died for their religion during the persecutions of Antio chus. Cheyne (Bampton Lectures, 1889, p. 406) states: " Not for all men — only for the chosen nation, for there is no natural immortality." °a Cf . Prof. Toy's critical notes on Ez. (Engl, transl.) in P. B., note 5, p. 171 (Ez. 37:1-14); ct Talm. Sanhedrin 92b. 154 REStrSBBCTION IN THE OlD TESTAMENT " Thy dead shall arise; the inhabitants of the dust shall awake, and shout for joy; For a dew of lights is Thy dew, and to life shall the earth bring the shades." ' Cheyne" believes that this passage has reference to the resurrection of individual Israelites, the lateness of the passage favors his view." One more reference to the revival of the nation is found in Hosea (6 : 2). This passage if not post-exilic, is not earlier than the exile: " After two days will He revive us : on the third day He will raise us up so that we shall live before Him." " The passage commonly referred to as a clear expres sion of individual resurrection is found in Job 19 : 25. But the study of the Hebrew text reveals that the word »b^53, upon which the meaning of the passage hinges, has been mistranslated. The correct transla tion shatters all hope that here is a clear statement of an individual resurrection."* The word 7SJ in the ' Isa. 26:19 (332 B. C.) ; cf. Cheyne's ed. of Heb. text in P. B., p. 76; ct ibid., 25:8 (334 B. C). 'Cf. Cheyne's critical notes on Isa. (Engl, transl.) in P. B. on 26:19, p. 207, n. 25. » Cf. Smend and Kuenen (in ZATW, 1884, pp. 161 ff) assign Isa. chpts. 24-27 to the fourth century; also Duhm (D. B. Jesaia, p. XII), who argues for the close of the second cen tury B. C. >°aCf. Smend (Lehrb. d. Alttest. Religionsgesch., 2d ed., p. 499) states that Job does not mention an eternal life after death. The hope that God will vindicate him after his death is what he understands under living again. Graetz argues (Monatssch., 1887, pp. 247 ff) that the author of Job had a conception of resurrection which he represents Eliphaz and Bildad as adopting, but Job himself as repudi- Resheeection in the Old Testament 155 text" is connected with the ancient custom of blood- revenge,"* and Job says — just as the nearest kin does ating. This view of Graetz seems to be strengthened by Jarchi, who lived in the 13th cent. (cf. Zunz: Zur Gesch. u. Lit., Berl., 1845, p. 463). In reference to Job 7:7 he says: " Since Job denied the resurrection of the dead." Cf. Stade (Ueber d. alttest. Vorst. v. Zust. n. d. Tode, Lpzg., 1877) in loc. transl. 7SJ " Erloser," and adds that this does not imply the least hope of immortality, it expresses his firm faith in having his innocence proven by God after his death; Duhm (D. B. Hiob., pp. 102 ff) transl. ^KJ " Blutriicher. ' When Job dies, Duhm states he is looked upon as a crim inal worthy of death. The Blood-avenger's duty is to save his innocence and honor. God is his nearest friend, because everybody has turned from him. Cf. Bathgen (Hiob. deutsch fiir Ungelehrte, Gott., 1898, p. 44, note), who agrees with Duhm; ct Budde (Nowack), 1896, pp. 102 ff, who sees no reference to resurrection in 19:25. The reference is to a lawsuit in which witnesses and an advocate are present; the use of hm in that sense is common; cf. Prov. 23:11; Ps. 119:54; Jer. 50:34. ^ (M) D-ip» nau-^r ]\in«) *n •'htii *nfT 'Jjiii i^On Q'ln b^3 Blood-avenger, cf. Jastrow's paper publ. in the Independent, Aug. 27, 1896; also, Jastrow's Study of Rel., London, 1901, p. 339. Prof. Jastrow's con clusion is that the goel is the avenger legitimately consti tuted as such and recognized by the verdict of ancient Semitic society and that in the last stage the term meets us in a spiritualized meaning. At the time of the exile the Hebrews needed a goel. To whom could they look for the realization of this hope but to JHVH? God thus became the goel. Job thus uses it In 19:25. Of the 33 passages in the O. T. in which goel is used, no less than 19 occur in exilic and post-exilic passages, viz., Isa. 52:3,9; 48:20; 62:12; 49:26; Ps. 107:2; 19:15, etc. On mn ^NJ ct Driver: Deuteronomy, N. Y., 1895, p. 232; also Volk und Oettli: Die poetlschen Hagiographen, Nordlingen, 1889, p. 51, note. 156 Resheeection in the Old Testament not rest until he has avenged, thus will JHVH justify me in the eyes of the world. Job is confident that JHVH will exonerate His faithful servant before the world and thus testify to his innocence. Resurrection is not suggested here. The passage is so well known that a lengthy reference to it may not seem out of place. There are two distinct views concerning this passage in Job. Some opine that it has reference to resurrection when Job's innocence will be made known, — others look upon it as a declaration of Job's inno cence, in this life he will be shown to be innocent," possibly through having his fortune restored to him or through some other act of God. The view that holds the theory of resurrection is advocated in the oldest and most important translations,^" as well as by the Fathers of the Church," the other view has been the one commonly adopted by modern Biblical scholars.'" '=Cf. Szold: "R. V." in Menorah, N. Y., April, 1888, p. 338. » LXX. Vulgate. The Targum renders '^SJ with 'pnST (Redeemer). Saadia transl. "human friend" (for Targum cf. Bacher: D. T. z. Hiob. in Frankel's Monatssch., 1871; for Saadia cf. Cohn: D. B. Hiob. von Gaon Saadia, Altona, 1889). " Ct Hieronymous ad Paulin Ep. (LIII al CIII, §8) ; also Lagarde: Mittheil: Gott., 1887, II, pp. 189-237. '° Cf. R. v., where Vindicator is placed in margin for Re deemer of A. v.; cf. also Albertus Schultus (Liber Jobi 1737), who transl. " vindicem meum." Similarly, Riehm (Alttest Theol., Halle, 1889, p. 361) and Ewald (D. poet. Biicher d. A. T.), Gott, 1836, vol. II. Ct Cheyne (Job' and Sol., p. 104): "The idea In Job is a supramundane justice, which will one day pronounce in favor of the righteous suf ferer, not only in this world (ibid., 16:18; 19:25; chpt. 42), so that all men recognize his innocence, but also beyond the grave." Cf. also Cheyne: J. Q. R., vol. X, p. 13; Kennedy's art., " Goel," in Hastings' Diet, of the Bible, vol. II; Grobler: Resubkection in the Old Testament 157 Siegfried considers 19 : 25-27b a gloss.'" He interprets the whole passage as follows: " I know that my avenger liveth, and that a surviving kinsman shall arise upon my grave as my defender. He will infuse new life into my skin, which had to suffer lep rosy, and will thus give an actual proof of my rectitude (ibid., 42:10). And it is God Himself who shall avenge me, He shall raise me up out of the grave and make me whole again." Another passage (Ps. 16:10,11) is frequently re ferred to as pointing to individual resurrection, but it has reference to the community and not to the indi vidual:" " For Thou dost not commit me to Sheol, Nor sufferest Thy faithful ones to see the pit; Thou teachest me the path of life: In Thy presence is fulness of joys Fair gifts in Thy right hand forever." As stated above, there is but one passage in the Old Testament (Dan. 12: 2, 3) that speaks of individual re surrection. In the centuries that elapse between the close of the Old and the beginning of the New Testa- D. Ansichten iiber Unsterblichkeit, etc., in Theol. Stud. u. Krit., 1879, pp. 651 ff, 670, 696 f. (For full discussion cf. Beer: D. Text d. B. Hiob., Marburg, 1897, pp. 124 ff.) •"Ct Siegfried's ed. of Heb. text in P. B., notes, pp. 37 f: " The passage is a later gloss in which the resurrection of the just is considered a possibility (cf. Dan. 12:2, 3; 2 Mace. 7:9, 11), contrary to the views put forth in the Bk. of Job with regard to Sheol (chpt. 3) ; cf. also J. Royer: D. Eschat ologie d. B. Job, Freiburg, 1901. "Cf. Wellhausen: Notes to the transl. of Psalms in P. B., p. 167, n. 7; also Duhm: Die Psalmen, ad loc, p. 46; Baeth- gen (in Nowack's Hdk., 1892);, all of these refer the Psalm to the whole community and not to the individual. 158 Resubeection in the Old Testament ment evidence abounds that individual resurrection had become the generally accepted belief. Before bringing proof from the Apocryphal and Apocalyptic literature, a brief reference to that belief in the religion of Persia, which had much influence upon the Jewish belief, would seem in place. Prof. Jackson, an Iranian scholar, says: " " The confident belief that the good wiU be rewarded after this life and the wicked will be punished; that right will triumph and evil will be destroyed; that the dead shall arise and live again; that the world shall be restored and joy and happiness shall reign supreme — this is a strain that runs through all the writings of Zoroastrianlsm for hundreds of years, or from a time before the Jews were carried up into captivity at Babylon until after the Koran of Moham.- med and the sword of the Arabs had changed the whole religious history of Iran. The firm belief in a life here after, the optimistic hope of regeneration of the pres ent world and of a general resurrection of the dead, are characteristic articles in the faith of Persia and Anti quity." According to the belief of the Parsees, the souls of the dead must pass the bridge of Cinvat (Bridge of Gathering). The wicked fall from it into Hell (the habitation of the Drukhs) where eternal misery (sadra) awaits them, while the righteous pass it safely and enter Heaven (Gara demanna, dwelling of song), where dwells Mazda with his courtiers and they live on Naurvatal and Ameretat (food and drink of the 18 Qf << rpjjg Ancient Persian Belief in a Future Life," in Biblical World, 1896, pp. 149 f; also his book, "Zoroaster," N. Y., 1899 (cf. Doctrine of a Future Life, J. A. O. S., 1858, p 8, and Doctrine of Resurrection, ibid., 16, pp. 38 f). Resheeection in the Old Testament 159 Immortals); then finally a Savior (Saosyos) will appear who shall exterminate all evil, renew the world, annihi late by his fire the wicked, and raise the dead.'" In discussing the eschatological conceptions of the Apocryphal and Apocalyptic literatures Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus ben Sirach, offers a fruitful field. The book is cast in a purely Jewish mould. In the Talmud the book is referred to as Ben Sira (niid p) . Talmud, Midrash and New Testament quote from Ecclesiasticus without giving due credit.^" The book contains proverbs, maxims and moral lessons gathered by Joshua (Jesiis) the son of Sirach, who was a con temporary of the High-priest Simon II (319-199 B. C.) Joshua's grandson migrated from Judsea to Egypt, where he translated (132 B. C.) into the Greek tongue the work of his grandsire, that the book might become accessible to those ignorant of the original. Fortunately for science, a part of the original text " Cf . Kohut : Ueber die Jiidische Angelologie und Daemon- ologie, Lpzg., 1866; Tiele: Gesch. d. Rel. im Altertum, Gotha, 1898, pp. 161 ff; Huebsohman: "Die parsische Lehre vom Jenseits " in Jhrbch. t Prot. Theol., 1879, V, pp. 114, 222 f. =°Talm. Chagigah 13a; Jebamoth 63b; B. Bathra 98b; Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1; comp. Luke 18:22 with Ecclus. 29:4. For citations from Ecclus. in Rabbinic literature cf. Duke's Rabbinische Blumenlese, Lpzg., 1844, pp. 67 ff; Joel Blicke in d. Religionsgesch., Breslau, 1880, pp. 71 ff (Pt. I) ; Hamburger: R. Encycl. Suppl., 1886, pp. 83 ff; Sehechter: The Quotations from Ecclus. in Rabbinic lit., J. Q. R. Ill, pp. 682-706; Cowley and Neubauer: The Original Hebrew of a portion of Ecclus., Oxford, 1897, pp. xix-xxx; Schloegel: Ecclus. 39:12; 49-16, Vindobonae, 1891. For citations from Ecclus. in Christian lit. cf. Werner in Theol. Quartalschrift, 1872, pp. 265 ff. 160 Resheeection in the Old Testament (39 : 15; 49 : 11), from which Saadia, the Goan, a thou sand years ago, made several quotations, and which had been regarded as lost, was discovered by Profs. Sehechter and Neubauer." Like the authors of the Biblical Proverbs, Ben Sira recommends the acquisi tion of wisdom, faith in God, and the practice of kind ness and charity. Retribution, without any exception, seems to be confined to this life; in this respect he stands upon Old Testament ground: " Fear not death," exclaims Sirach, " that is destined for you; Remember that they who went before thee and they who come after thee will meet the same fate. This is the portion of all flesh from God, and why wilt thou rebel against the decree of God? Whether thou wilt live ten, hundred or a thousand years — One cannot quarrel about life's duration in Sheol." ^^ Levi's translation, which is supported by LXX, " there are no chastisements for life in Sheol," is doubtful; Ryssel's rendering "nicht kann man hadern iiber die ^'Cf. Sehechter and Taylor: The Wisdom of Ben Sira, Cambridge, 1899; Margoliouth: The Original Hebrew of Ecclus., London, 1899; Bacher: "An Hypothesis about the Heb. Fragments of Sirach," J. Q. R., XII, pp. 92 f; Toy: " Remarks on the Heb. Text of Ben Sira," J. A. 0. S. 23, pp. 38 ff; Smend: D. heb. Fragment d. Weisheit d. Jesus ben Sira; Zunz: Die gottesd. Vortrage, second ed., pp. 101, 199; Ryssel: D. Spruche Jesus' d. Sohnes Slrachs in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. I, Einl., pp. 230 ff; Peters: D. jiingst Wieder- aufgefundene heb. text d. B. Ecclus., Freiburg, 1902. ¦=^41:3, 4: fi^ evXajSov Kpifia Qavarav, p.v^a'&tiTi nporipav aov koI kaxaTGrv, rovro TO Kptfia TTapa Kvptov irdat) oapKtj koI t'l diravahri kv evdonia v^lgtov. elre Sena, sirs exaTov, elre xCkia Irr). ovu iariv kv gSov k^cy/ibg fu^f. Resheeection in the Old Testament 161 Lebenslange in Sheol" seems to be more in keeping with the meaning of the whole preceding passage.'" " Give, and take and sanctify thy soul, for there is no seeking of dainties in the grave." ^ " Who shall praise the Most High in the grave, instead of them which live and give thanks." == Ben Sira supplements Ezekiel's teaching concerning individual retribution by seeking to cover its obvious defects with his theory of the solidarity of the family. A man's wickedness must receive its recompense either in his own person in this life, or, failing in this, in the person of his surviving progeny, since rfetribution in unknown to Sheol : " Do not praise anyone happy before his death. For man shall be known in his children.-" " Children curse a godless parent. For they are despised on his account." ^' In the Wisdom of Solomon (100-50 B. C.) "" we dis cern that the conception of immortality is fully devel- == Cf. Ryssel's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. I. ='Ibid., 14:16: dof Kal TUlI^Sj Kal drraTfiaov rf/v ipv^yv ffov, bn ovk egtlv kv d'Sov l^Tjrrjaai Tpv^v. ^=Ibid., 17:27; comp. Ps. 115:17, 18. " Ibid., 11:28; ct Ryssel's transl. in Kautzsch's A u. P., vol. I, p. 294, note. '¦Ibid., 41:7; comp. 41:6. ™ Cf. Siegfried's transl. in Kautzsch's A u. P., vol. I, p. 479, who favors 100-50 B. C. Similarly Haupt (cf. Oriental Studies, p. 251); Konig (Einl., §107), 150 B. C; Pfieiderer (Jhrbch. t protest. Theol., XV, 2, 1889, pp. 319 f) places date in the first pre-Christian cent. 11 162 Resheeection in the Old Testament oped.'* This may be due to the fact that the author shows familiarity with Platonic and Stoic thought, with Greek poetry and science."" From Plato and his school he adopts the doctrine that matter is eternal (11: 7), and that this eternal matter is essentially evil, and that, therefore, the human body is evU: "For the corruptible body presses down the soul." "' That the soul is pre-existing and divine shows also the infiuence of Platonic speculation : " For I was a witty child, and had a good disposition — yea, rather, being good, I came into a body undefiled." "" From the Stoics he seemed to have derived the four cardinal virtues — temperance, prudence, justice, and fortitude (8:7). There is no reference to a personal Messiah, but to a Messianic or rather a Theocratic Kingdom (3:7, 8). Owing to evil that is inherent in matter, there can be no resurrection of the body, the soul is the proper self, it alone is immortal, because ^ In the I Bk. of Mace. (100-70 B. C.) there is no reference to immortality. The book seems to have been written in Hebrew (cf. Kautzsch's new transl. in his A. u. P., vol. I, p. 25); Niese: Kritlk d. beiden Makkabaerbiicher, Berl., 1900. '° Cf. Siegfried's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. I, p. 476; Cornill (Einl., 4th ed., p. 278) sees besides Platonic and Stoic infiuences traces of Pythagoras and Heraclites; Schiirer: The Jewish People, II, Vol. Ill, p. 233; Cheyne (Origin of Psalter, p. 411) speaks also of a neo-Platonic in fluence. "9:15a (comp. ibid., 1:4): (ji'^aprbv yap aapa Papinisi ipyxv". =''8:19, 20 (comp. ibid., 9:15; also Siegfried's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. I, p. 477). Resheeection in the Old Testament 163 divine."' The book has been aptly called " a Gospel of Immortality." Thus we read : " For God created man for incorruption." =¦' " But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, And there shall no torment touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die. And their departure was taken to be their hurt, And their journeying away from us to be their ruin, But they are in peace. For though they be punished in the sight of men. Yet is their hope full of immortality." '= " But the righteous live forever, And in the Lord is their reward. And the care of them with the Most High." '» The Pessimism that in course of time is engendered by the belief that the physical nature of man is evil and thus is an obstacle to the development of the higher life and its virtues is overcome by the author by his teachings that wisdom is the redeemer of the soul from the bondage of the physical body; that all things are ordered by a Providence, and that God is the Savior of all : " When I considered these things in myself. And took thought in my heart. How that immortality lieth in kinship to wisdom." " " Because of her (wisdom) I shall have immortality." " ^''Cf. Wiinsche: " D. Vorst. v. Zust. n. d. Tode nach Apok ryphen, etc.," in Jhrbch. f. protest. Theol., 1880; also Grober: " D. Ansichten iiber Unsterblichkeit, etc.," in Theol. Stud. u. Krit, 1879, pp. 651 ff; 670; 696 ff. '*2:23: brc 6 Qeog ektlce tov dv^poxirov ett' df&apGia. "'3:1-4. '=5:15. "8:17. "8:13. 164 Resheeection in the Old Testament And again: " And the love of wisdom is observance of her laws; And the giving heed to her laws is an assurance of incor ruption; And incorruption brings near unto God." '• " For thou lovest all things that are, and abhorrest nothing which Thou hast made. For never wouldst Thou have made anything, if Thou hadst hated it. For Thou sparest all, for they are Thine, O Lord, Thou lover of souls." *" If we except the works of Josephus and Philo, the Wisdom of Solomon is the most important contribu tion to the Grseco-Judaic literature. That the book was written in Greek and not in Hebrew seems to be fairly well established.*' The book gains in importance by the fact that some regard it as an answer to Ecclesiastes, as opposed to some of its teachings. Thus Prof. Haupt states: "" "It is true that the Wisdom of Solomon seems to have been designed as Anti-Ecclesiastes. Of course that is conclusive only as far as the genuine portions of Eccle- "6:18,19. "11:24-26. " Cf. Margoliouth (J. of. Asiatic Soc, 1890, pp. 263 ff), who believes that the original was Hebrew. This view is refuted by Freudenthal (What is the Original Language of the Wisdom of Sol.?) J. Q. R- 111:722 ff. Siegfried in transl, of Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. I, p. 476, favors a Greek original; cf. also Thumb: D. griechische sprache im Zeitalter d. Hel- lenismus, Strassburg, 1901. « Oriental Studies, p. 251; also Barthauer: Optimismus u. Pess. im B. Koheleth, Halle, 1900, p. 12; Ginsburg: Qoheleth, London, 1861, p. 28. Resheeection in the Old Testament 165 siastes are concerned. The theological interpretations may be considerably later and perhaps partly based on the Book of Wisdom." In the Second Book of Maccabees,"" a professed abridgment of a larger work in five volumes by Jason of Cyrene, the idea of resurrection is expressed in clear language: Thus the second of the seven brethren ad dressed Antiochus before he was to lay down his life for his faith : " Thou, 0 miscreant dost release us out of this present life, but the King of the world shall raise us up who have died for His laws unto an eternal revival of life." "" In the same strain speaks the youngest of the seven who had witnessed the martyr- deaths of his six brothers : " For these our brethren, who have endured a short pain, have now died under God's covenant of everlasting life." "" The mother who saw her seven sons slain in one day bare it with good courage because she hoped in the Lord. And she ex horted every one of them and inspired them with cour age by saying unto them : " I cannot tell how ye came into my womb, for I neither gave you breath nor life . . . But doubtless the Creator of the world . . . will also of His own mercy give you breath and life again " Cf. Kamphausen's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. I, p. 84. "7:9. ''7:36; comp. ibid., 7:11. « 7:20-23. CHAPTER VIII The Talmud The Optimism and Pessimism of the Talmud is im portant for our investigation. The Talmud, it must be remembered, does not represent an independent thought-movement in the life of the Jew. Old Testa ment ideas and conceptions we find here developed under the influence of ever changing political and so cial conditions. Then, parts of the Talmud' fall within New Testament times and help to a better un derstanding of the teachings of the New Testament." To trace a system of philosophy and theology in the Talmud is nigh impossible. This becomes patent when one considers that the work covers a period of eight centuries (300 B. C. - 500 C. B.) and embodies the thoughts and opinions of several hundred persons." "Rab Ashi (»C^'K 21) (Surah 367-427) was the first com piler of the Talmud; the compilation was finished by Rab Abinah (nmx 21) in 499 C. E., who was assisted by R. Jose (IDT''")) the head of the Academy of Pumbaditha. ^ Cf . article " Talmud in relation to early Christianity," J. A. 0. S., X, pp. 100 t 'Ct Mielziner: Introd. to the Talmud, Cin., 1894; Weiss: VB'nni nn in (The Hist, of Jewish Tradition), Wien, 1873, 1876, 18S5; Sehechter: "The Hist of Jewish Tra dition" in Studies in Judaism, Phila., 1896, chpt. VII; Deutsch: "The Talmud" in Literary Remains, N. Y., 1874, pp. 1-59; Fischer: Bibel und Talmud, Lpzg., 1881; Ehren- theil: Der Geist. d. Talmud, Budapest, 1887; Darmesteter: The Talmud, Phila., 1897; Scholien: z. babyl. Talmud, Prag, 1859; Braunschweiger: Die Lehrer d. Mischnah, Frankfurt, 1890; Ehrmann: Aus Palastina und Babylon, Wien, 1882, 168 The Talmud The Talmud is less optimistic than the Old Testa ment. This is possibly due to the political conditions that obtained among the Jews after the death of Alex ander the Great. The sad present contrasted with the past, when they lived in their own land and were ruled over by their own kings, made their lot seem hard and cruel. Added to the loss of political freedom we must hasten to add the disappointment of their Messianic hopes, yet, in spite of all, the optimistic view of life prevails in the literature of the Rabbis. Thus we read : n'apn k-iic no Sa an nos mirr di ids K13 rha2b ma im nid ah loSira "All that God has created," said R. Jehudah (300 C. E.), "is of use; " he then continues more explicitly, "He created the snail for healing wounds, the fly to heal the poisonous bite of the hornet; the mosquito for the bite of the serpent; the serpent for leprosy; and the spider to heal the bite of the scorpion " (Talm. Sabbath 77b). In another passage we read (Jomah 76a): " R. Akiba (who died 136 C. E.) said: ' Man ought to accustom himself to say — all that happens, happens for the best'" (comp. Berachoth 60b). In a few brief words is expressed a Theodicy. God, being the Cre ator, suffices to consider everything that is and that happens as being useful to man. Sublime faith in Providence is expressed in many passages. " He who made the day will provide daily sustenance " (Mechilta* to Ez. 16:4). "He who still has some 'Cf. Schiirer: A Hist, of the Jewish People, 2d ed., I, vol. I, p. 145; also Zunz: D. gottesd. Vortr. 2d ed., p. 54; Geiger: " Mechilta u. Sifre " in his Ztsch., 1866, pp. 125 ff. The Talmud 169 bread in his basket and asks what shall I eat on the morrow, has little faith" (Talm. Sotah 48b). In regard to the enjoyment of life's blessings the Talmudic doctors hold the Old Testament view. Many benedictions ° have come down from Talmudical times. Whatever one enjoys, be it in the way of eating or drinking, or some pleasing or remarkable sight, an agreeable smell, a festivity on a joyful event, or the performance of a divine commandment; whatever be falls one, whether it be pleasant or unpleasant — all is to be regarded as sent from above, and, therefore, is expressed by a suitable benediction. After the destruction of the Second Temple some abstained from meat and wine, because they were no longer used in the offerings on God's altar. They re nounced all pleasures in the belief that their doing so was pleasing to God. Rabbi Jochanan ben Saccai (c. 50 C. E.), one of the famous disciples of Hillel and the foremost leader of his time, asked those who had renounced meat and wine, " Why do you abstain from them ? " And as they pointed to the altar in ruin in explanation of their abstinence, the Rabbi replied: "Then you ought to abstain from eating bread and from drinking water on account of the former meat offering, nor eat fruit on account of the former first fruits. Brethren," continued the Rabbi, "you ought not to forget the sanctuary but that is no reason why you should turn your back upon the world" (Baba Bathra 60b) . ¦^Ct Dembitz: Jewish Services, Phila., 1898, pp. 140, 203, 348 f; also Friedlander: The Jewish Rel., London, 1891, p. 442. 170 The Talmud While the Sages of the Talmud warn us against over indulgence of all kinds, in pleasure and in the gratifica tion of bodily appetites, they strongly disapprove of as cetic practices. In this spirit they interpret the command ments of the Torah, " Ye shall live by them (i. e. the commandments), and not die through them" (Yoma 85b) . In Erubin 54a we read : " If thou hast the means to enjoy life, enjoy it." Tn Sabbath 30b Ben Soma (c. 120 C. E.) states: "The whole world has been created that man may find pleasure." About marriage there are many sayings, all looking upon it as a duty: " It is a religious duty for man to marry " (Kiddushin 2b). " To be unmarried is to live without joy, without blessing, kindness, religion, and peace" (Yebamoth 62a). 'a " As soon as one marries his sins decrease " (Yebamoth 63b). " He who lives without a wife is no perfect man " (Bera choth 8b; Yebamoth 63a). " Prayers should be recited only when one is in a cheerful frame of mind " (Talm. Berachoth 31a). " He who denies himself the use of wine is a sinner " (Talm. Taanith 11a). " God reveals Himself to man only in the gladness that comes to him from some kind deed " (Talm. Sabbath 30b). " No one ought to aflBict himself by needless fasting " (Talm. Taanith 22b); comp. Matt 6:17; 9:14 f; Luke 2:28; "a The Apocalypse of Baruch holds the view on marriage common to the N. T. (Matt 24:19; Luke 23:29): "Ye bride grooms enter not into your chambers; ye women, pray not that ye may bear children; for the barren shall rejoice " (Baruch 10:13, 14). Ct Ryssel's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II; also Kneucker: D. B. Baruch, Lpzg., 1879. The Talmud 171 5:33; Acts 14:23, where fasting is regarded as something that is pleasing to God. " R. Jehuda the Saint (c. 200 C. E.), weighing the good and the evil concluded that there is more good than evil " (Talm. Jomah 76a). Prom the same Rabbi it is reported " that when he thought of the day of death he would intone a song" (Talm. Berachoth 10a). The classical passage for Optimism is found in the discussion that took place between the Schools of Shammai and Hillel (c. 80 C. E.). For two years and a half the disciples of these rival Academies discussed the subject of human existence. One side maintained that existence is to be preferred to non-existence, the other, that non-existence is preferable. 1^ mj 'n'D s-QJK'D inv siaa i6& Di»b i"? no '^ no) (Erubin 13b xnaa t6^i2 "inii ^?'^33B' mx^ A vote was finally taken and the School of Hillel favor ing existence won the contest." There are some pessimistic sentiments expressed in Midrash Rabboth ' to Eccl. 1 : 13 : " No one departs this life having had half of his wishes fulfilled." The Scriptural verse (Gen. 47 : 29) niD"? bxiK" ''D'' mp'1 "And the time drew near that Israel must die," is in terpreted by the Midrash by quoting I Chron. 29 : 15 : pKn-^i? W12'' "j-Va "As a shadow are our days on earth." The Midrash then makes the following reflections : 'Ct Eccl. 4:3; also Hartmann: D. Rel. d. Geistes, Berl., 1882, pp. 180 ff. ' A coll. of Midrashim on Pentateuch and the 5 Megilloth (c. 600 C. E.) ; cf. Schiirer: A Hist, of the Jewish People, 2d ed., I, Vol. I, p. 147; Zunz: D. gottesd. Vortr., 2d ed., pp. 183, 195; Lerner: Anlage u. Quellen d. B. R., Frankt, 1882. 172 The Talmud ^ni3 he^ i^'S3 " were our days only as the shadow of a wall," or i'?^s b^ 1^1X3 " as the shadow of a tree," but alas, Piir b^ i^»V3 N^N " our days are as the shadow of a bird." " Though the Talmud is mainly a development of Old Testament ideas, yet it contains views that are fre quently more in touch with the New Testament than with the Old Testament. The subject of suffering may serve as an illustration. While in the Old Testament suffering is the result of sin, or of value as a discipline, the Talmud, like the New Testament, regards suffering as an almost desirable end per se. The phrase hv tniD' nanx " Sufferings of love " is common enough in Rab binical literature." Thus we read : '" " Beloved is suffering for by it fatherly love is shown to man by God; by it man obtains purification and atonement; by it Israel came into possession of the best gifts, such as the Torah, the Holy Land, and eternal life." In another place we read. "R. Jehuda b. Laklsh (200 C. E.) said: 'All those who rejoice in the sufferings that come to them bring salvation to the world ' " (Taanith 8a). " Whom God loves He chastises " " (Berachoth 5a) . " Sufferings are beloved, for as sacrifices atone, thus do sufferings atone. Sufferings have a greater atoning power than sacrifices " 1" (Sifre, §32)." In keeping with the conception of " Sufferings of love " terrestrial happiness is viewed by some as a 'To Bereshith, chpt. 96. 'Talm. Kiddushin 40b; Sanhedrin 101a. "Talm. Berachoth 5a; ibid., 60b. »Ct Prov. 3:12; Heb. 12:6; Rev. 3:19. "Ct Rashi ad loc, where pTiD* jnun is explained with inSSOE'; also Berachoth 5a ppiDD pilD' " Midrash on Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Talmud 173 rather questionable gift: "He who passes forty days without discomfort has received his full share in the world." '* In explanation of the Scriptural passage (Gen. 37: 1, P) "And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojoumings, in the land of Canaan," the Mid rash says : '" " Jacob intended to live quietly after hav ing been delivered from Laban and Esau." And God said to Jacob: "Is it not enough that the pious are kept for future life, shall they also be without care here ? " After this came the misfortune with Joseph. A similar thought finds expression in Talmud San hedrin (101a). Rabbi Ehezer (50-120 C. E.) was lying on his bed of sickness suffering excruciating pain. While his friends and disciples were overwhelmed with grief seeing his sufferings. Rabbi Akiba alone was in a happy frame of mind. The sufferer chagrined asked him whether he did not sympathize with him in his sufferings, upon which Akiba replied : " When thou wast prosperous in everything, when thou hadst corn and wine, oil and honey abundantly, I was uneasy on thy account thinking that thou hadst already enjoyed thy world, but now seeing thee in agony my fear van ishes and I am filled with joy." A most peculiar development of this conception of suffering is that the suffering of one person can atone for the sins of another. Thus we find in Sanhedrin 39a, " God punishes Ezekiel that Israel may be cleansed from its sins." Similarly in the Pesikta :" " R. Chiiah b. Abba (279-330) said: " On the first day of Nisan the "Talm. Erach 16a. " Midr. Rabboth to Gen. 84. >' Midr. of the 4th Christian century; cf. Buber's ed., Lyck, 1868, p. 174; Karpeles, Geiger, Hamburger favor 700 C. E. 174 The Talmud sons of Aaron died, and what is the reason that their death is remembered on the Day of Atonement? To teach, that as the Day of Atonement has power to atone, so does the death of a righteous person atone." Similarly we read in Talm. Sabbath 33b: " If there are righteous men in a generation, they are made to atone for the sins of their generation; if there be none the children must atone for the sins of others." Here we stand upon New Testament ground. Christian ity (N. T.) makes Jesus the atonement for the sins of man kind, and finds proof for his Messiahship in his sufferings (ct Matt 16:27, 18:31, 22:22; Luke 17:31; Acts 17:3). Resurrection of the body did not become a doctrine in Judaism until the time of Moses Maimonides (1135-1204). He makes it one of the thirteen articles of faith: D'n»n n:nri njnne' naht^ n>iDX3 ppwSD <:« " I believe with perfect faith that there will be a resur rection of the dead."" Jost asserts that resurrection was already an article of faith in the time of the Mislmah,'" for the second of " the eighteen benedictions " refers to the quickening of the dead.'" He also refers to a Boraitha"* which prescribes the following benediction at the sight of a burial ground : " Praised be He . . . who has caused you to die in righteousness, and will restore you again to life in righteousness." "Maimonides: Comm. on Mishnah; cf. Singer: Daily Prayer Book, London, 1892, p. 90. "Gesch. d. Judent, Lpzg., 1858, vol. II, p. 176; Zunz: Gottesd. Vort., 2d ed., Frankf., 1892, pp. 379 f ; Talm. Bera choth 33a. "Cf. Dalman: Christentum u. Judentum, Lpzg., 1898, p. 18. "a Cf. Talm. Berachoth 58b. The Talmud 175 The Pharisees, to which sect most of the teachers belonged, believed in resurrection and in future life. " God has created two worlds " — xan d'pibi nrn D^l? — " this world, and the world beyond." '" That the Sad ducees denied resurrection seems to be commonly ac cepted." Josephus claims that the Sadducees believed that the soul perished with the body, and thus they not only denied resurrection but also the immortality of the soul. " They also take away the belief of the immortal duration of the soul, and the punishments and rewards in Hades." " Graetz does not accept the statement of Josephus that the Sadducees denied im mortality.^ The oldest of the Talmudic compilations, the Mish nah, Mechilta, Sifra and Sifre speak, indeed, of "this world," " the world to come," and " the days of the Messiah," but whether they had any clear and definite conceptions as to the immortality of the soul is doubt ful. The passages that refer to some future existence are many: niD*!? ii'<2rh yn 'di ba nrn nhivn yn ¦'D'' d'idix did^hi ™Ct Talm. Menachoth 29b; ct Josephus: Antlq., XVIII 3:5. ^'Ct Matt 22:23; Mark 12:8; Luke 20:27; Acts 23:8; also Wellhausen: D. Pharisaer u. Saducaer, Greifswald, 1874; Schechter's ed. of Aboth Rabbi Nathan, Vienna, 1887, p. 26; Geiger (Urschrift 1857, pp. 334 f; also Lesestiicke aus d. Mischna, BresL, 1845), who states that the Samari tans also denied resurrection; Kohn: Samaritanische Studlen, Breslau, 1868; DoUinger: Heidenthum u. Judent, Regensburg, 1857, pp. 745 ff. "''Bell: Jud., II, 8:14; comp. Antiq., XVIII, 1:4. '"Ct Gesch. d. Juden (2d ed.), pp. 456 ff; also Griine- baum: D. Sittenlehre d. Judent., Mannheim, 1867, pp. 93 ff. 176 The Talmud " The wise men say: the expression, ' the days of thy life,' refer to this world, and ' all the days of thy life ' to the world to come " (Mishnah Berachoth 1:5b). Similarly, in Mishnah Aboth 4: 23: " This world is like a vestibule before the world to come, prepare thy self in the vestibule that thou mayest be admitted into the hall." In the following sentence we read : " Better is one hour of repentance and good work in this world, than all the life of the world to come; better is one hour of refreshment of spirit in the world to come than all the life of this world." '* " The generation of the Flood has no share in the life to come." ^ " He who makes himself little in this world for the sake of the Law is made great in the world to come; and he who is a servant for its sake in this world is made free in the world to come." ™ " R. Joseph was ill and had fainted away; when he recov ered consciousness, his father asked him what he had seen in his swoon. The son replied : ' I saw the world upside down, the humble above, the proud below.' Then the father said: ' My son, thou hast beheld the world to come.' " " " Every man gets the mansion he merits " (Talm. Sabbath 152a). Comp. " In my Father's house are many mansions " (John 14:2). " All Israel has a share in the world to come . . . but these have no share— he who denies that resurrection is taught in the Torah . . . " "' "* Ct. Taylor : Sayings of the Jewish Fathers, Cambridge, 1897. '"Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:3. "' Talm. B. Mezia 85b. "'Talm. Pesachim 50a; B. Bathra 10b; comp. Matt. 19:30; Mark 10:16; Luke 13:30. "Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1. The Talmud 177 Whether this was taught on account of the Sadducees, or on account of young Christianity, the former denying resurrection, the latter claiming it as a peculiar Christian doctrine, is difficult to determine. The ex- plicitness of the statement would lead one to believe that it was framed for some special purpose. We also read, and that may be possibly directed against Christianity which claimed salvation only for those who believed its tenets. S3n D^w^ pbn arh B'» o'pirn niDis ipnv " The righteous of all nations will inherit a portion of the world to come." '^ In Berachoth 60b: " My God, the soul thou gavest me is pure; thou didst create it; thou didst form it; thou didst breathe it into me; thou preservest it within me, and thou wilt take it from me, but wilt restore it to me hereafter." The Midrash and many parts of the Liturgy convey the idea that the Talmudic doctors clung to the belief in the advent of a Messiah." Thus we read in the Liturgy:" " Speedily cause the offspring of David, Thy servant, to fiourish, and let his horn be exalted by Thy salvation, be cause we wait for Thy salvation all day." ""(R. Joshua b. Chananyah, 60-120 C. E.) Tosephta San hedrin XIII; comp. Maimonides: " Yad Chasaka," T'shuba 3:5; M'lachlm 8:11. '"Ct Mielziner: Introd. to the Talm., Cin., 1894, §1; also Hirsch: Religionsphil., pp. 627 ff. '^Cf. Singer: Daily Prayerbook, London, 1892, p. 49; also Zunz: D. Gottesd. Vortr., 2d ed., p. 380. 12 178 The Talmud " And to Jerusalem, the city, return in mercy . . . and speedily." '" " The prophets, all of them, foretold the coming of the Messiah, not the future (beyond the grave), no eye but that of God has seen it" (Talm. Berachoth 34b). There is reason to believe that some of the Talmudic sages were influenced by the speculations of Plato in their belief that all knowledge is but reminiscence. "At the moment a child is born," we are told, " an angel places his forefinger upon the infant's mouth and the touch causes the soul to forget what it had learnt in heaven. The depression on the upper lip is the mark left by the angel's finger." "^ One is reminded of Timasus in Plato when coming across the Talmudic passage : " The son of David cannot appear until all the souls have passed into bodies." =" Originally the Messiah was regarded as a deliverer from oppression; he was to restore the glories of the ancient Commonwealth. After centuries of political dependence the Messiah becomes a very part of Israel's history. He existed not only before the creation of the world, but for his sake the world was called into being : " The world was created on account of the Messiah." ''' " Seven things were created prior to the creation of the world: the Torah, repentance, Para- '" Cf. Singer: Daily Prayerbook, p. 50; comp. Maimonides: "Yad Chasaka," M'lachlm 11:1. "Cf. Talm. Niddah 30b; Jebamoth 62a. '¦•Talm. Jebamoth 63b; ct Joel Blicke in die Religions gesch., vol. I, p. 118; Kalisch: Path and Goal, London, 1880, p. 359. "Ct Talm. Nedarim 39b; Pesachim 54a; Sanhedrin 98b. The Talmud 179 disc, Gehenna, the Throne of Glory, the Sanctuary and the Name of the Messiah." '" While the Mishnah seems to be comparatively free from demonology, the Talmud shows Babylonian and Persian infiuence in its views of angels and demons. This is due to the large Academies that were located in Babylonia and that drew teachers, as well as pupils, from those Jews that had lived in Babylon for cen turies. Thus Abaye who lived in Pumpadita, where one of the large schools was located, said : " Formerly I believed that the custom to pour water upon the ground, which had been used for washing hands after the meal, was due to cleanliness, now I discovered that it is done in order that the evil spirit might not find rest on the place." In Talmud (Meilah 17b) K. Simeon b. Jochai (150 C. E.) is said to possess the power to cast out demons. While R. Simeon was jour neying to Rome in the company of another Rabbi, to secure the repeal of an edict hostile to the exercise of Judaism, a demon, called Ben Temelion, met them. " May I go with you ? " asked the demon. " Let the portent come whenever it be," answered R. Sim eon. Thereupon the demon hurried on in front and entered into the daughter of the emperor who went mad. The daughter then called for R. Simeon who ban ished the demon. In Berachoth (58a) Satan is a slan derer, accuser, tempter and general mischiefmaker.'' "Ct Hirsch: Religionsphil., Lpzg., 1842, p. 852; Joel: Bl. i. d. Religionsgesch., vol. II, pp. 181 ff. "Comp. B. Bathra 16a; Nedarim 32b; Sabbath 119b; also Wiesner: Scholien z. Babyl. Talm., Prag, 1859, pp. 8ff; Joel: "Der Aberglaube," in Jahresbericht des jiid. Theol. Seminars, Breslau, 1881, pp. 69 ff; Joel: Bl. i. d. Religions gesch., vol. I, p. 117. 180 The Talmud In the same Treatise'' we are told that a sick person, a groom, a bride, and a woman in confinement, a mourner and a scholar, while unmolested during the day, had to protect themselves from demons at night. In Mishnali x\both 0 : 6 God created in the twilight of the sixth day the demons (mazziqin or nocentes) . The division of the Biblical Sheol into Paradise and Gehenna, under the influence of Christianity, which again was infiuenced by heathendom, is complete. When R. Jochanan was dying, his disciples who had gathered around the teacher's couch asked: "Light of Israel, why dost thou weep ? " The teacher replied : " Two paths are open before me, the one leading to Paradise, the other to Gehenna. I know not which of them will be my doom." ^° In another place we find : "" " God created Eden that the pious might rejoice, and Gehenna for the sinners." "All those who go into Gehenna ascend again into Paradise." "' " The judgment of the sinners in Gehenna lasts twelve months." "^ "Talm. Berachoth 54b; comp. Chagigah 16a. '" Talm. Berachoth 28b. ¦" Talm. Pesachim 54a. " Talm. B. Mezia 58a. ¦"¦'Mishnah Edyoth II; comp. Talm. Rosh-hashanah 17a; also Gaster: "Hebrew Visions of Hell and Paradise" in Transactions of Royal Asiatic Soc, 1893, p. 571; Zunz: D. gottesd. Vortr., 2d ed., p. 149, note 3. CHAPTER IX Cheistianity, Buddhism and Essenism Bacon's saying, " that prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament and adversity of the New," ' though somewhat exaggerated, contains nevertheless much that is true. It is the general conception of the Old Testament that faithfulness to the Law of God will be rewarded by outward success, though to prove the character of that faithfulness trials and temptations are sent from on High. The New Testament regards calamity and suffering as necessary means for spiritual uplifting, and the life of the individual as well as that of mankind as opportunity for such development. It discerns divine love in the greatest sorrows that befall man, and regards the activities of the powers of evil on earth from the same point of view. Though Jesus and Paul were not the founders of a new religion,'* for as Schleiermacher correctly states, " no religion is wholly new, as the same basic ideas reappear in all," ^ yet they impressed their powerful personalities upon the current ideas and moulded them the better to meet the exigencies of their time. Well hausen's statement, "that a new spirit pervades the Gospels," " is not wholly true ; Jesus and Paul merely reshaped old material that had existed. Thus, indi- i-Cf. Bacon's Essays, London, 1877, p. 17. "a Cf. Harnack: Dogmatengesch., 2d ed., vol. I, pp. 39, 61. "Ct Stade: Akad. Reden, etc., Giessen, 1899, p. 57. ' Cf . Wellhausen: Israelit. u. Jiidische Gesch., Berl., 1894, p. 313. 182 Christianity^ Buddhism and Essenism vidualism which makes itself felt in the Khokma-litera- ture and in the later Psalms, and becomes more and more pronounced in the Apocryphal and Apocalyptic literature, reaches its highest development in the New Testament." The Gospels no longer appeal to state or nation, but wholly to the individual. The care of the Jew, during Old Testament times and long after it, was the nation; the care of the Christian was his own soul, his salvation. This explains that while the eschatology of the Old Testament is historico-national, in the New Testament it revolves solely around the individual, at the same time bearing the impress of the super-terrestrial. Here the individual is never lost sight of; be he sinner or publican, he is included in the care of Divine Providence. Inheritance in the Kingdom of God is assured to him who puts his faith in the Redeemer. To speak, therefore, of New Testament Christianity as thoroughgoing Pessimism is misleading. True it is pessimistic as far as this life is concerned, but it is optimistic in regards to a future existence." It points the way to the subdual of life's desires and passion?, and offers to the conqueror the true eternal life beyond the grave." Are, then, the pessimistic tendencies that abound in the New Testament wholly original with Jesus and Paul, or have they been developed from Old Testament conceptions, or have they been taken from foreign *Ct Wellhausen: Israelit u. Jiid. Gesch., Berl., 1901, p. 394. "Cf. Schopenhauer: Frauenstadt ed., vol. Ill, p. 713; also Haupt: Oriental Studies, Boston, 1894, p. 265, note 15. 'Cf. Goether: D. moderne Pess., Lpzg., 1878, p. 214. Christianity, Buddhism and Essenism 183 sources? Buddhistic influence is claimed by Schopen hauer' and many others.'* There is, indeed, striking similarity between Christianity and Buddhism. Both protest against the moral and social conditions of their day, then both regard this life as a kind of burden, from which deliverance must be sought." In Bud dhism moral reformation is wrought, not so much through positive moral and physical discipline, as is the case in Christianity, but through Nirvana, in which state the soul is saved the torments of transmigration and is brought into unconscious unity with the All. And yet Christianity does not appear wholly unhos- pitable to this basic pessimistic element in Buddhism. Here, too, life is under a heavy and oppressive cloud; it is life beyond that spells freedom. The difference between these two systems of religion is, that while Buddhism predicates a curse to all life, Christianity conceives life as once having been free from curse, and that in time it shall be free from its incubus once more. Furthermore, the extreme ascetic attitude of Bud dhism toward the joys of life is softened down in New Testament Christianity. Nowhere does Jesus state that sin is innate in the human body, or that evil is 'Ct Schopenhauer: Griesbach ed., vol. Ill, p. 145, vol. II, pp. 573, 734. 'aCf. Kuenen: Hibbert Lectures, 1882, pp. 359 ff; also Old enberg: Theol. Lit, Zeitung, 1882, col. 415 f; Seydel: Evang. u. Buddhismus, 1882; Happel: D. rel. u. phil. Grundan- schauungen d. Inder., Giessen, 1902; Dilger: D. Erlosung d. Menschen, etc., Basel, 1902. 'James: The Varieties of Religious Experience, London, 1902, p. 165. 184 Christianity, Buddhism and Essenism a necessary ingredient of matter."" Jesus lays stress on the fundamental fact that the root of evil is in the heart, whence proceed evU thoughts and deeds that deflle man and determine the character of his soul. Paul, who drew largely upon Paganism ° for his theology, looks upon the body as the prison of the soul.'" Holtzmann pertinently remarks : " " Paul would have remained within the Jewish representation if, according to his apprehension, just as the inward man, reason, heart, conscience, would gravitate to the good, so the outward man, or rather the flesh of which it consists, would also gravitate to the bad." But for the Apostle the flesh, while not in its innate nature sinful, is rich in impulses, desires and lusts which are in direct opposition to all that is good, which " war against the law of the mind," and bring man into captivity to the law of sin that is in his members." '' In another and most important respect does Christianity differ from Buddhism. Chris tianity does not wholly satisfy itself with the negative side of Pessimism." While it accentuates the vanity of riches and makes abnegation of self the central "aCt Matt 15:19, 20; also Toy: Jud. and Christianity, p. 207. 'Ct Cone: Paul, N. Y., 1898, pp. 49, 224, 245, 340, 416; also Jastrow: The Study of Religions, London, 1901, p. 236; Pfleiderer: Philos. and Development of Rel., vol. II, pp. 162 ff, 290; Toy: Jud. and Christianity, p. 413. "I Cor. 15:50; Rom. 6:6; 8:3; 7:24; 8:10; also Hirsch: Religionsphil., Lpzg., 1842, pp. 762 ff; Dickson: Paul's Use of the Forms Flesh and Spirit, p. 112; Cone: Paul, pp. 223 ff. "Neutest. Theol., II, p. 38. "Rom. VII: 23. "CI. Goether: Der moderne Pessimismus, Lpzg., 1878, p. 214. Christianity, Buddhism and Essenism 185 point of its morality, it makes the end of this life the beginning of a better and eternal existence. Buddhism is a system of denial, denying future existence and a Supreme Being.'" History is vocal with the admonition that Atheism and Pessimism go hand in hand, and that Pessimism begets brutalism, inciting the low est passions that lurk in the human heart. Chris tianity is the announcement of a hope which lifts man out of his impotence into a new joyousness of life. The pessimist gives up the fight for lost ere it begins. The Christia:n goes forth into life's battle beckoned onward by the star of victory: "This is the victory that overcomes the world even our faith " (I John 5:4). From this point of view Pessimism and Christianity are the two gi-eat contrasts."^ The resemblances, though striking, may be accidental. All religions have much in common in certain stages of their develop ment. On the other hand, that Christianity has absorbed much of the Essenic thought is based upon actual facts. Here the similarity is not superficial nor acci dental, but real. The fact that both systems flourished among the same people united by the ties of blood and of common traditions proves almost conclusively that they have influenced one another. Prof. Graetz states: "Jesus must have been powerfully attracted by the Essenes who led a contemplative life apart from the world and its vanities. Like the Essenes Jesus "Ct Schopenhauer: Vol. Ill, p. 143; ct also I. W. Howerth: What is Religion? Int. J. of Ethics, Jan., 1903, p. 189. "a Cf . Unold: Aufgaben u. Ziele d. Menschenlebens, Lpzg., 1899; Luthard: Die mod. Weltanschauung, Lpzg., 1880, pp. 189 ff. 186 Christianity^ Buddhism and Essenism highly esteemed self-inflicted poverty ~and despised mammon and riches."" Community of goods, charac teristic of Essenic Society, was practiced in New Tes tament times : " And all that believed were together and had all things common, and they sold their pos sessions and goods and parted them to all, according as any man had need" (Acts 2:44, 45; ibid., 4: 32). It was the boast of Tertullian (c. 200) "that all things are common among us except our wives." '¦"" New Testament Christianity shared, too, the aver sion of the Essenes to marriage (Matt. 19 : 11, 12). The Essenes condemned the marital state and attached virtue to celibacy. Prof. Toy also discerns close affinity between the teachings of Jesus and those of Essenism.'" He says: "Jesus may have been attracted by that self-abnega tion which the party so strikingly illustrated. The Es- senian practices of non-resistance and abandonment of claims to private property were doubtless well known in Palestine in the first half of the first century and may have been sympathized with by many persons."" " Ct Gesch. d. Jud., vol. Ill, pp. 281 ff (Engl, ed., vol. II, pp. 150 ff). '"aApol. 39; cf. Lecky: Democracy and Liberty, N. Y., 1897, vol. II, chpt. VIIL "Matt 4:24; 8:2-4; Mark 1:40-45: 3:20-22; Luke 5:12-26. ^'Cf. Jud. and Christianity, p. 256; Conybeare's article, "Essenes," in Hastings' Diet, of the Bible, vol. I; TJhlhorn in the 3d ed. of Herzog's Real EnSycl., vol. V, Lpzg., 1898; Schiirer: Gesch. d. Jiid. V., 3d ed., vol. II, chpt 30; Kohler: " The Essene Brotherhood," in Reform Advocate, Chicago, vol. VII, No. 1; Friedlander: Zur Entstehung d. Christen- thums, Wien, 1894, p. 123. Christianity, Buddhism and Essenism 187 Volkmar " and Gunkel,'" too, believe Christianity to be an outgrowth of Essenism. Kuenen and Harnack strongly combat Essenic influence in Christianity. Kuenen states '" " that the agreement is in details of secondary importance, the difference is one of prin ciple. Essenic separation, the formation of a small and strictly closed society to realize the ideal of cere monial purity, has nothing Christian in it; and con versely the Christian propaganda for the rescuing of sinners is in no way Essenic." Harnack states " the fundamental difference between Christianity, or rather Jesus, and the Essenes in the following words : " The Essenes made a point of the most extreme purity in the eye of the law, and held severely aloof not only from the impure but even from those who were a little lax in their purity. . . . Jesus exhibits a complete con trast with this mode of life, he goes in search of sin ners and eats with them. So fundamental a difference alone makes it certain that he had nothing to do with the Essenes." ^ Essenism, which Kuenen describes as " ascetic com munism," '" arose toward the middle of the second pre- " D. vierte B. Ezra, Ziirich, 1858, p. 11; Gunkel's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II, p. 336. '"Cf. Graetz: Gesch. d. Juden., vol. Ill, pp. 274 ff (Engl. ed., vol. II, pp. 142 ff). ^' Hibbert Lectures, 1882, pp. 215 ff. "1 What is Christianity? p. 35. "" For difference bet. Christianity and Essenism see Well hausen's Israelit. u. Jiidische Gesch., Berl., 1894, p. 311; cf. also p. 312, notes 2 and 3. "'Hibbert Lectures, 1882, pp. 218 f; also Lucius: D. Essen- ismus in selnem Verhaltniss zum Judentum, Strassburg, 1881, pp. 75 ff. 188 Christianity^ Buddhism and Essenism Christian century in Palestine, after the attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes to Hellenize the Jews. Pliny tells us "" that a colony of Essenes lived near the town of Engaddi, on the western shore of the Dead Sea, isolated from the world, without wives and without monej', having the palm trees (of the Jericho plain) as companions, their number being recruited from the multitudes of strangers that resort thither from the misery and shipwreck of life — a people most wonderful, inasmuch as its history goes back to thousands of ages." What we know of the Essenes is mostly derived from Philo's " De Vita Contemplativa," which, on the whole, agrees with the account of them furnished by Josephus.^ Graetz "" and Lucius ^' assert that Philo could not have been the author of the treatise ascribed to him. The latter's theory is that it was written dur ing the third Christian century as a defense against those who looked with disfavor upon the ascetic prac tices of many of the early Christians. The Philonic authorship finds a champion in Friedlander, who dis cerns the hand of PhUo in the production." A moot question is the origin of Essenism. Some assert that the Essenes were an offshoot from the Assidsean party ,"" '='Nat Hist 5:16, 17. "'De Bell. Jud., Bk. II, chpt. XVIII 1, 5; VIII 4. "'Gesch. d. Juden, vol. Ill, p. 698; ibid., note 10. "'D. Therapeuten, Strassburg, 1880; also Schiirer: Theol. Literaturzeitung, 1880, pp. 111-218. "* Zur Entstehung d. Christenthums, pp. 59 ff, 96. ""Ct "D. EssJier" in Frankel's Ztschft, vol. Ill, pp. 441 ff; ibid., vol. II, pp. 30 ff; Graetz: Hist of the Jews, vol. II, pp. 16 ff; comp. Geiger's Jiid. Ztschft, vol. XI, p. 197, note 26; ibid., vol. IX, pp. 32 ff. Christianity^ Buddhism and Essenism 189 others that they were a peculiar outgrowth of Judaism influenced by Buddhism, Parseeism, but especially by Pythagoreanism."" "Ct Toy: Jud. and Christianity, p. 219, note 2; also Herzfeld: Gesch. d. V. Jisrael, pp. 382 ff; Schiirer: A Hist. of the Jewish People, 2d ed., vol. II, pp. 205 ff. CHAPTER X The Kingdom of God and the Messiah The fundamental hope of Christianity, at its birth, was, undoubtedly, the establishment of the Kingdom of God.' The kingdom was to rise upon the ruins of a world, degraded and degenerated, and become the home of Saints who, henceforth, will live in everlasting felicity. The Kingdom of God, or of Heaven,'^ a phrase very common in the New Testament, is found in a circumscribed form in the Old Testament, where it is used to describe not a locality, but, rather a con dition, a state of affairs on earth when the Divine Will will be the supreme law. Thus, we read in Zech, (14:9, 280 B. C.) i^D^ »< n'ni nns lan nnx " n'm Sinn DV2 psn-bi-^i? " And JHVH shall be King over all the earth ; on that day shall JHVH be one and His name one." ' In the Maccabean-Psalm (145 : 13) we read: " Thy kingdom is a kingdom throughout the ages. Thy dominion endures for ever and ever." 'Ct Wellhausen: Israelit u. Jiid. Gesch., Berl., 1901, p. 386. 'a Some derive the term " Kingdom of Heaven " from Dan. 7:17. I believe rather that it was taken from Obadiah (400- 450 B. C), verse 21: HDl'pDn i'"? nn*ni "And the King dom shall be JHVH'S; " ct also Jost: Gesch. d. Jud., vol. I, p. 387; Herzfeld: Gesch. d. V. Jisrael, vol. II, pp. 311 ff. "Ct Ps. 22:28 (c. 500 B. C). 192 The Kingdom of God and the Messiah The New Testament teaching concerning the King dom of Heaven connects itself with the large ideas of the Old Testament, that took their rise in the xmiver- salistic conceptions of the ancient Hebrew Prophets." The eschatology of the Synoptics deals -with the consummation of the Kingdom of Heaven. As the Kingdom will owe its origin to God's chosen messenger, the Messiah, so it will owe to Him the final consum mation. The prophecy of Jesus' second coming appears in connection with his statement concerning his approach ing death. Having foretold his death (Mark 8:31) he speaks of his return (ibid., 8 : 38) " And he began to teach them that the son of man " must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief- priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." "For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the son of man also shall be ashamed of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with ' Cf. Sandy's art., " Jesus Christ," in Hastings' Diet, of the Bible, vol. II; Harnack: What is Christianity? p. 56. * " The very expression, ' Son of man ' (that Jesus used it is beyond question) seems to me to be intelligible only in a Messianic sense" (Harnack: What is Christianity? p. 140); Wellhausen, on the other hand, claims that Jesus never used that term, but that it was put in his mouth by the later edi tors of the Gospel. Cf. Skizzen u. Vorarbeiten, Berl., 1899, pp. 187 ff. Driver (art. Son of Man, Hastings' Diet, of the B., vol. IV, p. 587b) agrees with Harnack: "He adopted it as a mere shell or form, suggestive of his humanity, into which he threw a new import and content of his own." Cf. Wellhausen: Israelit. u. Jiidische Gesch., Berl., 1901, p. 387, note. The Kingdom op God and the Messiah 193 the holy angels." Repeatedly Jesus declares to his followers that they would not taste death before having witnessed the Parousia. The early Christians firmly believed in a life beyond, and that a foretaste of its beatitude was at hand in the millennium which would begin, in their judgment, before their generation had passed away. At any moment they were prepared to behold in the sky the sign which was to foretell the Parousia.' It was the common belief ere the rise of Christianity that an awful world-catastrophe would precede the establish ment of the kingdom."^ 'Matt 10:23; 24:3-14, 29-31; Mark 14:62; Luke 12:40, 21:31. ^ " In the last days perilous times shall come" (II Tim. 3:1). " But the day of the Lord will come as a thief, when the heavens shall pass away with great noise, and the heav enly bodies shall be dissolved with great heat and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up " (II Peter 3:10); cf. also Deane (Pseudepigrapha, Edinburgh, 1891, p. 13), who states: "Throughout all the apocalyptic books the advent of the second age is to be ushered in by extraordinary calamities consequent on excessive moral evil, and characterized by an universal degeneracy alike in ani mal and vegetable life." Cf. also Edwards: " Buddha's Ser mon on the End of the World," in Open Court, Chicago, July, 1901; also Daniel, who speaks (12:1) of a time of trouble and trial (mV T\]l). The references to the ''?3n rrCfDn (the suffering Messiah) are many. Wise correctly pointed out (Martyrdom of Jesus, Cine, 1888, pp. 148 ff) and Kautzsch (Art. Messiah in Cheyne's Encycl. Bibl., vol. Ill, p. 3063) that IT'B'D "hzn refers to the sufferings of the people that would precede the coming of the Messianic time. In the Talm. Sanhedrin 98b we find that man may be saved from those sufferings if he be busy with the study of the 13 194 The Kingdom oe God and the Messiah Associated with the doctrine of the Parousia is that of the Final Judgment."" This judgment is presented as the object of the coming, and it occupies a place of like prominence in Christ's teaching." Christ, the son of man, is to be the Judge.' When he comes, every thing is to be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the sound of the great trumpet." The true believers are to be caught up in heaven, and placed upon thrones provided for them. The unbelievers are to be cast into a sea of fire and brimstone. God has sent His son upon earth to reveal the one true light and establish miraculously the Kingdom of Heaven. " Repent ye for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," ° is the message Jesus sent forth the disciples to preach. Torah and the practice of charity. Cf. 4 Ezra 5:9; 6:24; 15:5; 16:22,23; Baruch 27:2-6; 48:32. The Sibylline Oracles (Blass' transl. in Kautzsch's A u. P., vol. II) ; Mishnah Sotah IX: 15; Talm. Sanhedrin 89a, 95a, 97a; Hamburger: Real Encycl., " Mess. Leidenszeit," III, pp. 735 ff; " Jewish Conception of a Suffering Messiah " in Yale Bicentennial Publ., N. Y., 1901, pp. 204 ff; Schiirer: A Hist, of the Jewish People, 2d ed., II, vol. II, pp. 184 ff. 'b On " The Day of JHVH " see " Eschatology " in Hast ings' Diet of the B., vol. I, p. 376; Smith: Prophets, 2d ed., p. 131 f, 379 note 15; Briggs: Mess. Proph., pp. 487 ff; Schultz: Alttest Theol., pp. 728 ff; Duff: O. T. Theol., p. 87; Dillmann: Alttest Theol., p. 504; Bennett: 0. T. Theol., p. 81; Marti: Gesch. d. Isr. Rel., pp. 114 f; 140; 180-186; Vale- ton: Amos u. Hosea, p. 220, n. 94; Cheyne: Isaiah in P. B. (Engl, transl.), p. 132, n. 7; Grimm: Euphemistic Liturgical Appendixes, Balto., 1901, p. 84. 'Matt 22:1-14; 13:36-42; 47:50; 16:27; 25:31. 'Matt 25:31; John 5:22; Acts 17:30-32; II Tim. 4:1; James 5:7-10. ' Matt. 24 : 27-32. ' Matt. 4 : 17. The Kingdom oe God and the Messiah 195 " And as ye go, preach, saying, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." '" The Messiah now assumes a position unknown in the past; for membership in the Kingdom is had through personal relationship to the Messiah. The Kingdom of God is the goal of Jesus' activity, the reali zation of the Kingdom, according to the conception of Jesus, will take place in the future through God, but the beginning of it is in the present.'^ In the presence of the Kingdom of God all other teachings of Jesus seem of minor importance.'^ The qualifications neces sary for admission into the Kingdom, as enumerated in the Sermon on the Mount, are purely ethical and spiritual. Harnack states that Jesus' message of the Kingdom runs through all the forms and statements of the prophecy which, taking its color from the Old Testament, announces the day of Judgment and the visible government of God in the future, up to the idea of an inward coming of the Kingdom, starting with Jesus' message and then beginning. His message embraces these two poles, with many stages between them that shade off into one another. At the one pole the coming of the Kingdom seems to be a purely future event, and the Kingdom itself to be the external rule of God; at another, it appears as something inward, something which is already present and making its entrance at the moment. Neither the conception of the Kingdom of God nor the way in which its coming "Matt 10:7. "Ct Wellhausen: Israelit. u. Jiid. Gesch., Berl., 1901, p. 386; also Lagarde: Mittheil., IV, Gott., 1891, p. 308. "Matt 4:17; 6:10; 13:40-50. 196 The Kingdom of God and the Messiah is represented is free from ambiguity.'^* Wellhausen's view, that by the Kingdom Jesus could understand nothing else but what the people of his time under stood by it, and that he might as well have said — the day of the Lord or the judgment is near at hand, and that Jesus did not come as the Messiah, or as one who is to fulfill a prophecy, but that he came as a prophet and that his message was but at first a prophecy, is not attested to by the text." Thus, when John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus and said : " Art thou he that should come, or are we to look for another ? " Jesus replied : " Go your way and tell John the things which you do hear and see. The blind receive their sight . . . and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good tidings preached to them. And blessed is he whosoever shall find no occasion of stumbling in me " (Matt. 11 : 3-6) . In another passage we find Jesus commending Peter for seeing in him the Messiah.'"'' "And he (Jesus) asked them (his disciples) 'but who say ye that I am ? ' Peter answered and said unto him, ' thou art the Christ ' " (Mark 8 : 29, 30) . "The Kingdom of God comes not with observation; •"a Cf. Harnack: What is Christianity? p. 56. "Cf. Wellhausen: Israelit. u. Jiid. Gesch., Berl., 1901, p. 380; also Nestle Philologia Sacra, Berl., 1896, p. 50. "aCt Welsz (D. Leben Jesu, Berl., 1888, voL I, pp. 273 ff), who believes that Jesus from the beginning regarded him self as the Messiah; Harnack (What is Christianity? p. 140) substantially agrees to this; comp. John 4:25, 26; 11:25, 26; also Stade: Akad. Reden, Giessen, 1899, p. 91;cf. Max Muel ler. The Divine and the Human in Rel. Open Court, Chicago, May, 1891. The Kingdom of God and the Messiah 197 neither shall they say, lo, here! or, there, for lo, the Kingdom of God is within you " (Luke 17 : 20b, 21) .'* That the kingdom is present in some form follows likewise from Matt. 6:33. "But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." " Enter ye in by the nar row gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many be they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and strait ened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few be they that find it (Matt. 7:13, 14). Again, the fact that the kingdom is already present is presupposed by many of the parables. Thus, in the parables of the mustard seed (Matt. 13 : 31-34) and of the leaven, the Kingdom is represented as spreading intensely and extensively.'" The other conception of Jesus concerning the King dom is projected into the future for its consummation. This view seems to be more in accord with the spirit of all his ethical teachings and moral sayings.'" " My Kingdom is not of this world ; if my Kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews : but now is my Kingdom not from hence " (John 18 : 36). The Kingdom repre sents to Jesus the truer and more complete life. He is fond of bringing out that meaning by contrasting this life with the life to come. " For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's shall save it. For " Ct Harnack: What is Christianity? p. 58. '''Ct Charles: Doct. of a Future Life, London, 1899, pp. 316 ff. "Cf. Kuenen: Bible for Learners, Boston, 1879; vol. Ill, pp. 150 ff. 198 The Kingdom of God and the Messiah what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life " (Mark 8 : 35, 36). Jesus uses " enter into life " " and " enter into the Kingdom of God '"" as interchangeable phrases. Thus we read in Mark 9 : 43, "And if thy hand cause thee to stumble, cut it off; it is good for thee to enter life maimed, rather than having thy two hands to go into Gehenna." '" As the New Testament conception of the Kingdom of God finds its prototype in the catholic ideas of the Old Testament, so Messianism may be traced to the same source. That the Christian faith in a Messiah is rooted in Judaism, is the opinion of Bauer.'" The term ni^D " anointed " is often used in Old Testament Scriptures as a synonym for king, the king was " JHVH'S anointed " nin' n'Comp. Matt 3:7, "Ct Matt 3:13. The Kingdom of God and the Messiah 203 the Messiah will meet a violent death by the hands of others : "' " The son of man shall be delivered up into the hands of men; and they shall kill him " (Matt. 17:22,23a). Then, the Messiah will not be accord ing to Jesus the harbinger of peace, of which the world was so much in need, but he will bring the sword: " Think not that I came to send peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter- in-law against here mother-in-law" (Matt. 10:34, 35). Contrast with the Messianic conception of Jesus the conception held by R. Jochanan ben Saccai, who lived during the latter half of the first Christian century: " The prophet Elijah (i. e. the Messiah) shall not come to declare anything clean or unclean, nor to disqualify persons who are believed to be qualified for joining the congregation of the Lord, but he will come to establish peace on earth, as expressed in Malachi (4: 6). " He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers." "' Then the parable (Matt. 4:1-11) which presents Jesus as being tempted of the devil in the wilderness and gives him power over Satan, represents a side of the Messiah's activity that is foreign to Jewish sources: " Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilder ness to be tempted of the devil " . . . " Then saith Jesus unto him, ' Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.' Then the devil leaveth him." "Cf. Gilbert: The Revelations of Jesus, N. Y., 1899, p. 58. "Mishna Eduyoth 8:7. CHAPTER XI Pauline Christianity Paul's influence upon the course of the Primitive Christian Church was great and far-reaching. The many-sided activity of the Apostle to the Heathen left an imperishable impress upon the development of the new religion.' Like Jesus, Paul gives prominence to the eschatological element of religion; indeed, he lays more stress upon it than Jesus. This fact may be explained from the circumstance that while the mar tyrdom of Jesus raised the religious enthusiasts to the very highest pitch of faith, some began to doubt the Parousia. Paul, in his first letter to the Thessalonians (4: 16, 17) dwells explicitly upon this point: "For the Lord (Jesus) himself shall descend from heaven, when the call comes, and the voice of the archangel and the trumpet resounds; and first will rise the dead in Christ, then we that are still alive, and left, shall to- 'Ct Orello Cone: Paul, N. Y., 1898; H. J. Holtzmann: Einl. i. d. N. T., Freiburg, 1892, pp. 207 ff; Pfieiderer: Der Paulinismus, Berl., 1890, 2d ed.; Sabatier L'apotre: Paul, 1882; F. Chr. Baur: " Paulus " in Tiibinger Ztschft. f. Theol.. 1845; Hausrath: D. Apostel P., 1872; Krenkel: "Paul, der Apostel d. Heiden," 1869; Jiilicher: Einl. i. d. N. T., Lpzg., 1894, pp. 19 ff; Bleek: Introd. to N. T., Edlnb., 1893, vol. I, pp. 381 ff; vol. II, pp. Iff; Winer Real W. B. art. Paulus; Findlay's art. " Paul the Apostle " in Hastings' Diet, of the B., vol. Ill; Addi's art. "Flesh" in Cheyne's Encycl. Bibl., vol. II; Hirsch: Religionsphil., Lpzg., 1842, pp. 723-786; Graetz: Hist of the Jews, vol. II, pp. 223, 365, 373; Ed. v. Hartmann: Das rel. Bewusstsein, 1882, pp. 209 ff. 206 Pauline Cheistianity gether with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." The Thessalonians, to whom these words are addressed, were recent converts of Paul and felt strongly on the subject of " the second coming," especially as to the fate of those who had died before the establish ment of Christ's rule on earth. The coming of Jesus is one of Paul's favorite topics, and the preparation of men for entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven is always near to the heart of the Apostle. The Jewish idea of the Ivingdom, the perfect divine rule on earth to be established by the Messiah, which was adopted and spiritualized by Jesus, lies at the basis of the Pauline system." Thus the doctrine of Resurrection, i. e. participation in the Kingdom of Heaven, has its point of culmination in the Pauline Eschatology. Paul's absorption of interest in the doctrine of " final things " seems to have made him indifferent to the things of this life. But Paul thus overlooks the great and pregnant truth, that man lives not for religion alone, but that religion is to form the motive power leading man to work out his existence on the noblest and highest plane. In laying much stress upon the fu ture salvation of the individual, he loses sight of the happiness of human society here on earth. Paul connects the end of the world with the coming of Christ." To Paul the person of Christ was central and vital in the apprehension of Christianity. All that his new faith signified to him of relief from the op pression of the Mosaic law and from the burden of sin, " Cf. Findlay's art. " Doctrine of the Kingdom of God " in Hastings' Diet, of the B., vol. Ill, p. 728. 'Ct II Cor. 5:10, 11. Pauline Cheistianity 207 and all that it held of hope for his own regeneration and that of mankind was contained in his concept of the exalted Lord of glory." Paul's theology may be summarized in the following passages : " Therefore as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin ; and so death has been extended to all men, because all had sinned, for sin was in the world already before the Law, but sin is not imputed when there is no Law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned in the manner of the transgression of Adam, who is the image of him that was to come. But no, it is by the gift of grace not as by the trespass, if by the trespass of the one many died, the grace of God and the gift by grace of the one man Jesus Christ, abound to many " (Romans 5 : 12-15). Now if it is preached concerning Christ, that he has been raised from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead" (I Cor. 15:12). That death"* came into the world as the result of Adam's sin, is the pivot on which Paul's whole scheme of salvation turns. The whole inner life of Paul hinged upon the contrast between Law and faith, sin and grace, fiesh and spirit, Adam and Christ." "For ^Ct Holtzmann: Einl., p. 87. *a The Roman philosophers taught that death was a law of nature, not a punishment. The Fathers regarded it as a penal infliction introduced on account of the sin of Adam. Ct Lecky: Hist of European Morals, N. Y., 1890, vol. I, p. 208. 'Ct Cone: Paul, p. 179; Immer. Theol. d. N. T., Bonn, 1877, pp. 205 ff. 208 Pauline Cheistianity as in Adam all die, so also in the Christ shall all be made alive " (I Cor. 15 : 22). " Now, this I say, breth ren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption" (I Cor. 15:50). According to Paul, by Adam's disobedience the power of sin was evoked, and the floodgates of iniquity unbarred. Caird, a modern Christian Theologian, states : " The flrst transgression poisoned human nature at the root." ""^ Man lapsed in consequence of Adam's sin into a state of dense ignorance, and of moral degeneration. The death that follows Adam's disobedience, henceforth, is to be the heritage of Adam's posterity. The Biblical narrative of the Pall as interpreted by Paul in the Epistle to the Romans" seems to teach that the entail of moral is as universal as that of physical evil.' That death was, primarily, due to man's own sinfulness, seems to have been Paul's view, if we study what he has to say about man's physical nature, Man has no power to refrain from sin, for his fleshly nature, and his evil inclination" are more powerful 'a Fundamental Ideas of Christianity, Glasgow, 1899, vol. I, p. 205; also Augustine: De civlt. Dei. »Ct Rom. 5:12 ff. 'Ct Caird: Fund. Ideas of Christianity, vol. I, p. 212. ' In Rabbinical literature "IV is hardly other than a name for man's evil inclinations or tendencies. " God is always regarded as the creator of the evil "IV* This appears to be the most radical departure from the basal texts (Gen. 6:5; 8:21 J), in which "IV* seems to be a man's own shaping of his thoughts or character. Yet the second text (8:21) suggests a certain Innateness of the "IV and the belief that God made it agrees with the O. T. and Jewish view, which Pauline Christianity 209 than man's natural reason. Flesh and spirit hold in Pauline thought a more specific religious sense based upon, but distinguished from, their psychological mean ing; the former term regularly denotes the sinful nature of man, the latter its opponent in the influence of God operating in and through His spirit."'' Since the seat of sin is, therefore, in the flesh, the punish ment of sin is mainly, not wholly, physical death. The final redemption of man, of which the spirit is only the pledge, is therefore the restoration of the body." More over, since sin has its seat in the flesh, the resurrection is not only a re-creation of the body, but a change from a body of sin and death to one fitted for the higher spiritual part of man and incorruptible.'" The was opposed to a radical dualism." (Cf. Porter's exhaustiva essay, " The Yeger Hara in Bibl. and Semitic Studies," Yale Bicentennial Publications, N. Y., 1901, p. 117.) "The evil yeger is to be at last removed and destroyed by God. The passage upon which this hope is chiefly rested was Ez. 36:26 (cf. 11:19). This verse is In itself a striking proof that no idea of corrupt inclinations attaches to the term ' flesh ' in O. T. usage." Ct ibid., p. 130; also Berachoth 5b: 31D tv mx I'j-i' Dbii/b u-in -iv ^r " There is a constant struggle in man between the good and evil inclinations." Not that these sensuous desires are abso lutely evil, for they, too, have been implanted in man for good purposes. Without them man could not exist; he would not cultivate and populate the earth. Thus njni 11SD 31D " Behold it was very good," is explained in Midrash Rabba Bereshith 9:33 V) n V nr " this Is the evil desire." Ct Talm. Berachoth Ola; Aboth 3:12. 'aCt Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-25. "Ct Rom. 8:10f, 23. " Cf . I Cor. 15 : 42-49 ; also Addi's art. " Flesh " in Cheyne's Encycl. Bibl., vol. II, p. 1535; Joel: Blicke 1. d. Religions gesch., Breslau, 1880, I, pp. 37 ff. 14 210 Pauline Cheistianity death of Christ was to counteract the effect of man's general sinfulness, due largely to Adam's sin, and re store the normal relation between man and his Maker. This thought is clearly brought out when Paul says: "As through one transgression condemnation comes to all men, thus through one deed of righteousness justifi cation of life comes to all men." " This " deed of righteousness " of which Paul speaks in the succeeding passage as " obedience " — " for as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous " — that is compliance with the will of God, was an atonement for all men, objectively con sidered, and subjectively, for as many as through faith lay hold, on the salvation thus offered. They then become subjects of the divine decree of " justification " which assures them life, not merely the moral religious quality of life in the present existence, but superiority to death, the resurrection and participation in the blessedness of the kingdom at the Parousia. The necessity of an atonement was conceived to be based upon the relation of hostility between man and God, the removal of which could alone save the rest of man kind from destruction. The next step in Paul's argu ment was that if Christ was the Messiah, then his mission must have a profound historical significance. He, therefore, inveighs against the Law, asserting that it was detrimental to the pursuit of a higher life, and makes Jesus establish a new order of Law, a new righteousness, to supersede the old. Paul not only disapproved of the so-called ceremonial laws of Juda- " Cf . Rom. 5:18; comp. I John 2 : 2. Pauline Cheistianity 211 ism, but also of those relating to morality.'" He af firms that without laws men would not have given way to their evil desires. " Through the law cometh the knowledge of sin." '" " For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the law wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death." '" " What shall we say then ? Is the law sin ? God forbid. Howbeit, I had not known sin except through the law; for I had not known coveting except the law had said, thou shalt not covet." '" In Romans (8 : 1-4) the last Adam is placed by Paul historically over against the first, as the founder of a new dispen sation. Paul, with keen foresight, observed that so long as the Law of Moses and of the Prophets and of the Rabbi's was observed, so long Christianity would be but another name for Judaism. Some of the Jewish laws proved a hindrance, too, to the reception of heathen proselytes. This goes far to explain Paul's antagonism to the Law.'" The Jew expected salvation through the Law, the Christian was to reach salvation through Jesus who died for the sin of Adam. ^"Ct Graetz: Hist of the Jews, vol. II, pp. 228 ff. "Ct Rom. 3:20b. "^Ct Rom. 7:5. "Ct Rom. 7:7. I'Ct Rom. 3:20; 4:13-15; 5:13-20; 6:14; 7:7-12; Gal. 2. 15-16, 19-21; 3:10-14, 23; 4:3-7; 5:5; also Bauer: Dogmaten gesch., vol. I, pp. 141 ff; Harnack: Lehrbch. d. Dogmaten gesch., 3d ed., vol. I, pp. 88 ff; Friedlander: "Pauline Eman cipation from the Law" in J. Q. R., vol. XIV, pp. 265 ff; Gardner: A Historic View of the N. T., Jowett Lectures, 1901 (sub. the Christianity of Paul). CHAPTER XII View of the World and of Life in the New Testament The doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven, which forms the center of New Testament Eschatology, is an element that makes for Pessimism.' For the New Testament exalts an ascetic attitude toward this world, its joys and pleasures, as being the best means for gaining admission into the kingdom." We have noticed that with a growing belief in a future life among the Jews, which belief synchronizes in its development with a gradual extinction of their terrestrial hopes, pessimistic tendencies become more pronounced. In deed, the conception and raison d'etre of Heaven and future bliss is commonly defended by arguments based upon Pessimism. But Christianity gave value to this life by maldng it a kind of preparatory discipline for the life to come; the teachers of the Mishnah took the same view." Thus the burden of the preaching of John the Baptist and of Jesus was repentance, to be followed by the doing of righteousness here on earth. The notion of a future blessed existence, so far from destroying or impeding the growth of a pessimistic 'Ct Wellhausen: Israelit. u. Jiid. Gesch., Berl., 1901, p. 386. "Ct Matt 6:19, 25; 19:23-30. ' Cf . Mishnah Aboth 4:23: " R. Jacob said, ' This world is like a vestibule before the world to come; prepare thyself in the vestibule, that thou mayest be admitted into the hall.' " 214 View of the World and of Life sentiment is but an associate concept of a pessimistic estimate of man's present life and environment. Thus we read in John (16 : 33) : " " These things have I spoken to you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation, but be comforted, I have overcome the world." Christianity, indeed, does not concede to man the right to seek and to enjoy happi ness here on earth, rather it demands renunciation that the value of the undeserved gifts of grace and happiness hereafter may be enhanced. The individual Christian foregoes his pretended right, only because assured of complete satisfaction of his claim by a special covenant." Men renounced this world and centered their hopes on the world to come; for eternal spiritual bliss they cheerfully exchanged the brief and vain pleasures of earthly existence. They lived in the expectation of Christ's near return. This hope supplied them with an extraordinarily strong motive for disregarding earthly things and the joys and sorrows of this life. Harnack correctly holds : " " How easy it was now to declare the earthly crown, political possessions, pres tige and wealth, strenuous effort and struggle, to be one and all worthless . . . and in place of them to look to heaven." The intense and absorbing interest of the early Christians in the end of the age presupposes their *Ct John 12:15; ibid., 15:18, 19; 16:33; I Cor. 11:32; Col. 2:20-23. °Cf. Ed. V. Hartmann: Philos. of the Unconscious, London, 1884, vol. Ill, p. 91. ' What is Christianity? p. 47. IN THE New Testament 215 belief in its nearness.' What was the real cause for the intensity of that feeling that pervaded and permeated all classes and conditions of men in the century before and after Christ, that the end of the world was nigh ? For this belief was instrumental in calling into exist ence Christianity and of having it accepted among the Pagans. The heathen-world was permeated with the spirit of world-weariness; all virility seemed to have gone out of their lives, their jaded appetites no longer found pleasure in riotous living, and, hence, the mes sage of an impending overthrow of existing conditions was hailed with joy." The early Christians, in silent sufferance, endured persecutions to become more worthy of the glories to come. The Apostles go so far as to welcome sorrow and suffering, for had not Jesus, himself, said : " And ye shall be hated by all men for my name's sake; but he that endures to the end, he shall be saved " (Matt. 10:22). Then, "they therefore departed from the Synedrion, rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the name " (Acts 5 : 41). " The relations of Christianity," says Lecky," " to the sentiment of patriotism were from the first very unfortunate. While the Christians were, for obvious reasons, completely separated from the national spirit of Judffla, they found themselves equally at variance with the lingering remnants of Roman patriotism. Rome was to them the power of the Antichrist, and 'Ct Gunkel: Schopfung u. Chaos, pp. 357 ff, 375 ff. 'Ct 4th Ezra (90 C. E.) 4:44-50; also Gunkel's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II, pp. 331 ff; Volkmar: D. V. B. Ezra, Zurich, 1858, p. 3. ' pist of European Mprals, vol. II, p. 140. 216 View of the World and of Life its overthrow the necessary prelude to the millennial reign." That the Primitive Church should have been hostile to the political-social life of the Pagan world is not surprising if we take into account the state of the manners and morals that obtained in it. The public games demoralized and brutalized the Roman mind." Popular sports consisted in infiicting pain on men and animals. Murder was a daily amusement of the patri cian, and Seneca who expressed himself strongly on the subject was banished." After the assassination of Caligula (41 C. E.) the patricians under Claudius in augurated an era of license and lawlessness which was especially severe upon the common classes. Of Greek civilization Tertullian speaks '" as " Pompa diaboli.' The ideals of refined Paganism never found a hospi table reception on Judsan soil, and Christianity was reared upon that soil. Thus early Christianity, to wean man away from the effeminate civilization which permeated the very air, loosened him from earthly bonds and from the interests of society, by pointing to Heaven as the true and abiding home. This attitude toward life, carried to its logical conclusion, had to terminate in a denial of the will to live.'" ^ It was the aim of Christianity to bring about wholly new conditions, to create new enviromnents for man. To do this it had first to engage in a desperate struggle with all that bound the Heaven-descended spirit in ser vitude to the world of sense. The ascetic attitude of the New Testament toward the life of sense must, " Cf. Huidekoper: Judaism at Rome, N. Y., 1888, p. 71. "Ct Seneca: Eplst 7:2-7. ^"Noeldechen: Gotha, p. 31. "Cf. Pliimacher: D. Pess., Heidelberg, 1888, p. 48. IN THE New Testament 217 therefore, be explained as a recoil from the degeneracy of the world. " And if thy right hand worries thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee, for it is better for thee that one of thy members should perish than that thy whole body go into Gehenna" (Matt. 5:30). In an other place we read : " For if ye live after the flesh, yc must die, but if by the spirit ye mortify your doings, ye shall live " (Rom. 8: 13). " But I bruise my body and bring it into Ijondage, lest, while I preach, to others, I myself should come to shame " (I Cor. 9 : 27). " Mor tify, therefore, the members of your body, you who are on earth, fornication, unclcanliness, passion, evil de sire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things' sake cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience." '" Overbeck is of the opinion '" that the ascetic ideal preserved Christianity, and that ascetic practices among the early Christians became more severe when it became apparent that Christ did not return. ^ The world-denying Pessimism of Christianity is par tially due to the supernaturalism it absorbed from the Jewish writings before the Christian era.'" Accord ing to the Jewish Apocalyptic literature, the kingdom of Heaven was not to grow out of the historical life of man, but was to break its continuity and to enter its existence by direct divine intervention. In this man ner Jesus understood the new age — a vast social revo- "Ct Col. 3:5, 6; Matt 26:29; Rom. 12:1; I Cor. 8:8, 9; 9:27. "' Cf. ijber die Christlichkeit unserer Heutigen Theologie, Lpzg., 1873, pp. 52 ff; Lipsius in Sybel's Ztschft. (28:253) takes the opposite view. "A. u. P. lit 218 View of the World and of Life lution in which rank should be leveled and all authority brought low; redemption of the oppressed, but chiefly a renovation of all things on earth by Divine Omnipotence. " But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light . . . and then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven . . . and he shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds . . ."" To this eschatological supernaturalism Jesus' ethical supernaturalism,'" i. e. the ascetic requirement not only of the moral, but also an external renunciation of all that belongs to the present age, of goods and chattels, of family and friends, logically corresponded. " Then answered Peter and said unto him, Lo, we have left all and fol lowed thee, what then shall we have ? " And Jesus said to them, " Verily I say to you, that ye who have followed me, in the regenerated world when the son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses, or breth ren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundred-fold and shall inherit eternal life." '" /-^n another passage Jesus contrasts the evanescent pleasures of this life with the enduring joys of heaven: "For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. "Ct Matt. 24:29-31; also Schmidt: Christentum u. Welt- verneinung, Basel, 1888, pp. 26 ff. "Ct Matt 10:23; 16:28; 24:32-36; 26:29, 64, "Matt 19:27-30, IN THE New Testament 219 For what shall a man be benefited if he shall gain the whole world and forfeit his life, or what shall a man give in exchange for his life.""" In Luke this thought is expressed by Jesus still more categorically : " If any man comes to me, and hates not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." "' Further on Ave read : " Whosoever he be of you that renounces not all that he has, he cannot be my disciple." "" Tn the light of these, and of similar sayings ascribed to Jesus, Ivittel is justified in saying that revealed Christianity is ethical Idealism."" Chris tianity gauges the value of material possessions by the aims of higher morality, in so far as they help to realize the ethical ideals. The .summuni bonum is not the pleasure that comes from material possessions, nor even the joy that springs from filial affections, but that which springs from the consciousness of having done the good. This spirit characterizes the Sermon on the Mount. " And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also" (Matt. 5:40). The laws of charity are carried to such an extreme that were they to be practised it would mean the anni hilation of all private property. " Jesus said to him, if thou wouldst be perfect, go sell what thou possessest, and give it to the poor " (ibid. 19 : 21)."" This appeal to altruism is quick with sublime possibilities, but were "° Matt 16 : 25, 26. "" Ct Luke 14 : 26. "" Ct Luke 14 : 33. "'Sittliche Fragen, Stuttgart 1885, p. 207; also Caird Hegel, Edinb., 1883, p. 217. "¦•Comp. Mark 10:17-31; Luke 6:20; Acts 2:44-46; James 2:5. 220 View of the World and of Life we to live in that extreme sense for others the path of progress would be blocked. The highest virtues of Christianity — morality, poverty, continence, obedience — would, if universally carried out to the letter, retard, nay make nigh impossible, the preservation and prog ress of the human race. For the desire to possess something, exclusively, is one of the most potent motives underlying all advancement. The altruism of the New Testament is rooted, and this is important to notice, in the belief that true happiness awaits man beyond, and that the so-called happiness of this world is a counterfeit article. Sel fishness, so often necessary for one's own self-preserva tion, becomes in the New Testament without discrimi nation the source of sin and evil. He is perfect who curbs his desires and his passions to a point of extinc tion."" Self-denial is the sesame that opens wide the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven."" Jesus, thus, admonishes his disciples to be rather among the persecuted, than among the persecutors; bear rather injury and insult than inflict them upon others."' Jesus adds the cause for having offered such advice: "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. """ Whatever rewards Christian experience may afford in this life, Jesus and Paul conceived that it is only in the life to come that the believer's genuine happiness "'Cf. A. Menzie: " The Truth of the Christian Religion in the New World," Mch., 1895, pp. 57 ff. "° Cf. Schopenhauer, vol. II, p. 521. "'Ct Matt 5:10, 11. "'Ct Matt 5:12a; 6:33; Luke 12:31, 32; John 16:20-24; comp. Rom. 8:18; I Cor. 15:58; Rev. 2:10-11. IN THE New Testament 221 and compensation will be revealed. This forms the keynote of the first Epistle of Peter (c. 100), in which the Christians are exhorted to purify themselves and be firm amidst trials and tribulations, for glorious will be their reward when life comes to a close. The mere fact that men's gaze is being continually directed toward a future as a better existence, leads to a depreciation of the present. And here we have the gateway, as it were, through which Asceticism and other pessimistic elements entered the thought-life of the Christian community. The attitude towards reality is always critical and polemical, since the New Testament measures reality by the ideal and fails to overlook the contrast between the two. This is clearly brought out in James : " Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God ? Whosoever, therefore, would be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." "" ^ Asceticism is not peculiar to Christianity alone."" It is a principle that seems to be inherent in the reli gious nature of man, otherwise it would be difficult to explain its prevalence among peoples widely separated. Wherever found, it serves as outlet for the mysticism which results from religious fervor. Asceticism may be due either to voluntary suffering and penance to appease divine wrath, or to a desire to free the soul from the trammels of the perishable body and the tyranny of the world. That God can be influenced, in some way, by vows and by fasting, is a belief not wholly "° Cf . James 4:4; also Renan : English Conferences, Bos ton, 1880, p. 27. "Cf. Zockler: Gesch. d. Askese, Frankfurt 1863, pp. 24 ff. 222 View of the World and of Life unknown to the Old Testament. Schwally states "' that fasting among the Jews was a religious rite. Fasts were proclaimed at the time of some public calamity; also when an individual had met with some sore be reavement (Joel 1 : 14; 3 : 15) ; also, when the Law of God had been transgressed, and a foreign invasion was threatened (Jer. 36:9), before a battle (I Sam. 14: 21; I Mace. 3:4, 7) and when a near relative was ill (II Sam 12:16). In all these instances .the fast ing was a means by which the favor of God was entreated. For, it was thought, that by abstaining from the enjoyment of certain things, the pity of the angered Deity was aroused, and the threatened punish ment thus averted."" Prof. Toy sees ascetic practice in Daniel (1 : 8, 12). " But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's meat, nor with the wine he drank." " Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give herbs to eat and water to drink. " Prof. Toy "" is mistaken if ho detects a trace of ascetic practice here. Daniel's re fusal was due to the fact that he regarded the food ceremonially unclean. For during the Maccabean period, the Jews in their religious fervor were most rigorous in observing every detail of the ceremonial law. In Jesus' day fasting, per se, was looked upon as meritorious. Thus we read in Tobit : ""^ " Prayer is '» D. Leben n. d. Tode, Giessen, 1892, p. 26. '"Ct II Sam. 12:21; Jer. 14:11; Deut 23:21 ff (D) ; Zech. 7:4-12; Lev. 16:29; 23:27 (P) ; Isa. 58:3-5; Neh. 1:4; Joel 2:12-15; Ps. 35:13. " Jud. and Christianity, p. 255. "aC. 25 B. C. IN THE New Testament 223 good with fasting." "" In Luke (18: 11, 12) a Pharisee boasts of fasting twice each week. In Matthew (9 : 14) Jesus' disciples scandalize the followers of the Baptist by not fasting."" As the number of pleasure-seeking imitators of Greek customs and manners increased in Judsea the party of the Khasidim also increased. These strictly pious took the vow of the Nazarite,"" refraining from wine, and allowing the hair and the nails to grow. Graetz is of the opinion that the orgies of the Helle nistic party led the Khasidim to fortify themselves by taking the Nazaritic vow."' Pessimistic tendencies which but rarely come to the surface in the Old Testament play a prominent part in the New Testament. Paulsen opines that expressions of contempt for the world and its pleasures are much more frequent in the New Testament than the joyous notes of life. Even in the life of Jesus, he continues, the basic thought is not victory and the joy of life, "Cf. 12:8b; cf. Lehr's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. 1; comp. Sirach 34:26. '= Comp. Matt. 6 : 16, 17 ; Isa. chpt 58. "Ct Num. 6:2, 13, 18-20 (P) ; comp. Judges 13:5; 5:45; also Maybaum: D. Entwickelung d. Prophentums, Excursus I, Berl., 1883; Robertson Smith (The Rel. of the Semites, pp. 312 ff) in reference to the Nazarite ritual has the fol lowing to say : " Wine and hair, both were sacred to the Solar Deity, the Deity that fructifies. In the worship of Baal, intoxication played an important part and no less the despoliation of the hair. In this wise did the Nazarite at first by their personal customs protest against the religious degradation or national desertion of Israel." Cf. also No wack: Lhrbch. d. Hebr. Archaeologie, Freiburg, 1894, vol. II, pp. 133 ff. " Gesch. d. Juden., I, p. 240 (Engl, ed., vol. I, p. 422. 224 View of the World and of Life but death and the suppression of all worldly desires and ambitions."" Similarly Overbeck, who asserts: " Das Urchristentum is weltverneinend. Weltflucht ist die Signatur des urspriinglichen Christentums." " Harnack combats the view that stamps the Gospel a world-denying creed."" Three reasons he adduces to prove his position; the first is derived from the way in which Jesus came forward, and from his manner of life; the second is based upon the impression which he made upon his disciples and was reflected in their own lives; the third springs from what is contained in Jesus' fundamental message. Harnack makes Chris tianity a religion of self-denial. " Jesus asks self- denial and not asceticism." "' We must not lose sight of the fact that in Jesus, denial of self and denial of the world, are not the final goal, but means for gaining a nobler self, and through it, a better world. Like the Essenes, Jesus seemed to believe that ascetic practices hastened the coming of the Kingdom. Thus we may explain some of the pessi mistic views held by the Primitive Christian Church. Jesus fiees from sensual pleasures and rejects their ex citement and glitter, not because sinful per se, but because they attach man to the things of the earth and endanger his spiritual welfare : " For what does "Ct Paulsen: System d. Ethik, Berl., 1894, 3d ed., vol. I, p. 82; also Dorner: System d. christl. Sittenlehre, Berl., 1885, pp. 355 ff. "Cf. Overbeck: Uber die Christlichkeit, etc., pp. 50 ff; also Schopenhauer: Griesbach ed., vol. I, p. 422, vol. II, chpt. 46. " D. Wesen d. Christentums, Lpzg., 1901, pp. 50 ff (Engl. ed., pp. 87 ff). " Cf. Harnack: D. W. d. Christentums, p. 55. LN THE New Testament 225 it profit man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul." " Jesus does not stop here but he goes so far as to disapprove of what is generally regarded as a law of nature — the ties of kindred. He disregards all claims that parents have upon the love and respect of their children, and that children have upon their parents: "And another of the disciples said to Jesus, Lord, suf fer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said to him, Follow me, and leave the dead to bury the dead." "" "For I came to set man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother . . He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." "" But some one said to Jesus, " Behold, thy mother and thy brothers stand with out, seeking to speak to thee." But he answered and said ". . . who is my mother, and who are my broth ers." "" " If anyone comes to me, and hates not his own father, and mother, and wife ... he cannot be my disciple." "" The claim is made, that Jesus deprecated filial love and love for kindred only then, when such love came in collision, as it were, with the duty and love man *"Ct Mark 8:36; Rom. 14:21; also Duboc: Hundert Jahre Zeitgeist, Lpzg., 1889, p. 95; Gass: Optimismus u. Pess., Berl., 1876, p. 22. «Matt 8:21, 22. '•Matt 10:35-37 contrast with Mal. 4:6. "Ct. Matt 12:47-48. "Ct Luke 14:26; comp. ibid., 8:19-21; 12:58; Mark 3:31- 35. 15 226 View of the World and of Life owes his Creator. If this be so, it is surprisingly strange, that this fact is not brought out by Jesus, for he must have known that much stress was laid upon filial love and respect among the Jews. In fact, he himself makes reference to it in Mark (7 : 10-12) as one of the laws of Moses. Furthermore, there can be no conflict between filial love and the love one owes to his Maker. The Mosaic code punishes with death disobedience to parents,"' and the Fifth Commandment enjoins respect for parents as something praiseworthy and sure of reward,"" which clearly proves that a con flict between filial love and love of God is impossible. ,.- Jesus condemns wealth and commends voluntary poverty. Wealth is not only worthless but endangers the spiritual welfare of its possessor and makes him unfit for the kingdom of God. " Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on." (Matt. 6 : 25). " It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's e5'e than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God." "° " But woe to you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation, woe unto you, ye that are full now, for ye shall hunger " (Luke 6 : 24, 25). "'' In the teachings of Jesus are two views of wealth which are apparently in conflict — the thought of wealth as a trust to be used, and the thought of wealth as a peril to be escaped; the physician's pre set Deut 21:18-21a (D). "Ct Exod. 20:12 (E) ; Deut 5:16 (D). •»Ct Mark 10:25; Matt 19:24; Luke 18:24 (vide Sura. Koran 7:38). "Comp. Luke 12:15; Hebrews 13:5a; I Timothy 6:10a: " For the love of money is the root of all evils." IN THE New Testament 227 scription for social health, and the surgeon's remedy from social death. "No man can serve two masters ... Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matt. 6:24). The service of the kingdom of Heaven demands the whole of a man, his possessions as well as his mind and heart."' With economical conditions and contemporary cir cumstances Jesus did not interfere."" But we notice that he had not the modern conception of the dignity of labor."" He calls not only Simon and Andrew who were fishermen from their work (Mark 1 : 16-20), but also Levi, who sat at the toll-gate attending to his duty (Mark 2 : 13, 14). Jesus censures Martha who is busy with her household and praises Mary who neglects her home to listen to his teachings (Luke 10 : 38-42). In the parable of the three invited guests Jesus ex- eludes all three from the kingdom because they were engaged in their daily pursuits."' The belief that the world hates the Christian and that the Prince of the world is his bitterest enemy, led Jesus to despair of any improvement in existing conditions. He, therefore, advises his followers not to resist evil and to submit to wrong, the weak are there- ='Cf. Peabody: "The Teachings of Jesus Concerning the Rich " in New World, June, 1900; also Jonte: Idees de Jesus sur la Pauverte et la Richesse, Paris, 1900; Caird: Hegel, p. 217; ct O. Cone: Rich and Poor in N. T., N. Y., 1902. =" Cf. Harnack: What is Christianity? p. 105. " Cf. Hartmann; D. rel. Bewusstsein, Berl., 1882, pp. 520 ff. "Ct Luke 14:15ff. 228 View of the World and of Life fore regarded as blessed and sure of entering the king dom."" The climax of ascetic tendency in the New Testa ment is reached in the exaltation of celibacy."" The traditional Jewish view according to which marriage was at once a duty and a privilege,"' and the ascetic view maintained by the Essenes that it is evil and polluting, is avoided in the New Testament. Jesus afiirms the possibility of a duty arising under certain circumstances to abstain from marriage,"" but looks upon the marital state as a divine institution."' Paul favored the ascetic and extreme view of marriage held by the Essenes. He admonishes, at all times, that men should crucify their bodies, for marriage is an inferior state."" This view is but a natural and logical sequence of the view he holds concerning the human body which is the seat of sin and corruption : " Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lust thereof." (Rom. 6 : 12). " For if we have become united with the likeness of his death, "Comp. I Cor. 6:7; I Peter 2:21-23; ct Adams: "The Ethics of Tolstoi and Nietzsche," Int. J. of Ethics, Oct., 1900. "Cf. Schopenhauer: Griesbach ed., vol. II, p. 726; also McCabe: " The Conversion of St. Augustine," Int. J. of Ethics, vol. XII, pp. 450 ff. "Ct Gen. 1:28 (P) ; vide chpt. Talmud. "Ct Matt 19:11, 12. "Cf. Matt 19:5; Paterson's article "Marriage" in Hast ings' Diet, of the Bible, vol. Ill, p. 266b. «°Ct Rom. 8:13, 3-8; 7:5-6, 18-25; I Cor. chpt vii; Phil. 3:21; Lecky: Hist, of European Morals, N. Y., 1890, vol. II, pp. 321 ff; Tertullian (175 C. E.) speato of marriage (De pudicitia, cap. XVI) as "genus mall inferioris, ex indul- gentia ortum." IN THE New Testament 229 we shall be also with the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with (him) that the body of sin ought to be done away, that so we should no longer be in bondage of sin." "' This doctrine receives its most graphic expression in Romans "'^ where Paul represents man under the Law as powerless to do the good he would, owing to his carnal nature. To seek deliverance from such a body of death and destruction is but natural. Paul's teaching concerning the sinfulness of the body is contrary to the Old Testament. Two passages are generally cited to show that the Old Testament is not opposed to Pauline teachings on this subject. The one is found in Job : °" nriN iih Kot2p -iinD jn'-'p " Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean one " (R. v.). The American Revised Version takes, correctly, in'."'l? as a desiderative particle (utinam) and translates: " Oh, that a clean thing could come out of an unclean thing! not one can." The meaning of this is evident, evil clings to the body. But such a statement is con trary to the whole view-point of the Old Testament. I agree with Hoffmann"" who does no violence what soever to the Massoretic text but merely changes the «^Ct Rom. 6:5, 6; Phil. 3:21; I Cor. 15:43, 51. "a 7:9-24. '^14:4. "Hiob., Kiel, 1891, p. 55; ct Budde (Hdkt., Gott, 1896, p. 70), who does not coincide with Hoffmann's reading, and translates, " Oh, that there would be a clean thing among the unclean ones; " Delitzsch (D. B. Hiob., Lpzg., 1902, p. 45) agrees with Budde; comp. Duhm: D. B. Hiob., Freiburg i/B, 1897, p. 146. 230 View of the World and of Life punctuation and substitutes a "t for a T in ins< Hoff mann reads : inK i6 n»e» inp )ri' ''p " Oh, that Thou wouldst declare me innocent instead of guilty, without delay." This is in keeping with the prayer of Job to be found innocent, for his friends persist in accusing him of guilt because he suffers. The other passage is in Psalm (51 : 7) : *px 'Pijpni spn5-"i 'Pi^^tn \wy\n " Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." Wellhausen, in his explanatory notes to the translation of the Psalms in the Poly chrome Bible, has the following to say: that the pas sage does not refer to an individual but to the Israel itish nation. " In sin did my mother conceive me " means : that ever since the beginning of her history (cf. Ez. 16: 3) iniquity against God is inseparable from Israel. Baethgen holds the same opinion and states that Theodoret (+ 457 C. E.) had understood the pas sage in the same way."" "Ct Baethgen: Hdkt Die Psalmen, Gott, 1892, p. 151, n. CHAPTER XIII Sin, Atonement, Satan, in the New Testament In the New Testament the doctrine of Original Sin, and a world dominated by Satan — both pessimistic ele^ ments — are advanced as a solution for existing evil. Adam has fallen and all have inherited the sin of their common progenitor.' This assumes that sin has caused a spiritual separation between God and man. But the life, sufferings, and death of Jesus became the means of reconciliation between God and man. " For since by man came death, by man came also the •resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive" (I Cor. 15:21, 22). " For God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Him self, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having committed unto us the world of reconciliation" (II Cor. 5:19). " For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His son, much more, being recon ciled, shall we be saved by his life; and not only so, but Vie also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation" (Rom. 5:10, 11). The germ of the chief doctrines of Paul's theology we must seek in the Jewish literature of Alexandria. Uberweg appropriately speaks of that literature as " the last and nearest stepping stone to Christianity." " Philo (20 B. C.-54 C. E.) is the best exponent of ^Ct Schopenhauer: Griesbach ed., vol. II, p. 596. " A Hist of Philos., N. Y., 1896, vol. I, p. 270. 232 Sin, Atonement, Satan, the school of Alexandria. Zeller gives a clear exposi tion of Philonic thought." Philo starts from the Jew ish belief in revelation and adheres strictly to it, but, enamored of Greek thought and culture, he seeks by means of allegorical explanation of the actual words of the Old Testament to harmonize the religion of the Jew with the speculations of the Greek and thereby creates a philosophical system." Power and goodness are the most essential of the attributes of God, the union of these is the Logos." Of the two attributes, good ness is the higher and the older — through it the world was called into being and is ruled over by God. But God, who is absolute good, could not have produced evil; whence then the evil that exists? PhUo seeks therefore the source of all evil in a principle that is wholly independent of God. This is pre-existing and shapeless matter, called into existence by the Logos, an intermediary agent between God and the world." God could not have created man, for He, the absolute good, cannot possibly have any relation with evil. Philo, therefore, explains " let us make man " to mean — that God created the imperishable part of man, ' D. Philosophic d. Griechen, 3d. ed., 1881, pt. Ill, pp. 338-418. ¦•Cf. Freudenthal: Uber die pal. u. alexand. Schriftfor- schung. Progr. z. jiid. Theol. Seminar, Breslau, 1854, p. 32; Hamburger's Real Encycl., Ill, Suppl. VI, pp. 3 ff (Philos. u. Judenthum). 'Hartmann: D. rel. Bewusstsein, p. 468; also Philo. De Cherub, II, 162; Jiilicher: Art. Logos in Cheyne's Encycl. Bibl., vol. Ill; Friedlander: Zur Entstehung d. Christen thums, Wien, 1894, pp. 8 ff. ' Ct John 1:3, 10; 1:33; 3:16,17, 35; 6:40, 44; 9:29; 16: 27; 17:6. IN THE New Testament 233 the soul, while the Logos formed the perishable part, the body, for matter is the origin of evil, therefore in opposition to God.' The Logos is the instrument ol God — a quasi-deity — ^in the creation of the Universe. It is God's first-bom son. His vicegerent in the govern ment of the world." The first verse of the Gospel according to John de scribes the Logos or " Word of God," and how the con ception of Jesus as the Christ became associated with it. In John the Logos attains to a higher degree of personification. Christ is the Logos become fiesh," from eternity he has been with God, he created the world and God made Himself known to man through him : '° " Tn him were all things created that are in the heavens and upon the earth ... all things have been created through him ... he is before all things." " While in the Theosophy of Alexandria sin fulness belongs to man because the body is per se evil, in the New Testament literature sin is imputed to man from the time of birth. Not the body is evil or sinful, but man is a mutilation of what was once per fect. Evil did not arise, as in the teachings of Plato 'Ct Siegfried: Philo., Gott 1889, pp. 234 ff; also Ohle: Beitr. z. Kirchengesch., Berl., 1888; Horowitz: Untersuchun gen iiber Philon's u. Platon's Lehre, Marburg, 1900; cf. Pratt: The Ethics of St. Augustine, Int. J. of Ethics, Jan., 1903, p. 223. 'Cf. Philo. De Cherubim D. 145, 162 (ed. Mangey, Erlan- gen, 1820). 'Ct Holtzmann: Einl. i. d. N. T., Freiburg, 1892, p. 444. ^°Cf. Norton: A Transl. of the Gospels, Cambridge, 1890, vol. II. "Ct Col. 1:15-17; I Peter 1:20. 234 Sin, Atonement, Satan, and Philo, through a limitation of Divine Power; it is the result of man's doing: "For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive " (I Cor. 15 : 22). Man was created perfect, but he transgressed and is under the wrath of God. Man's nature being essentially corrupt he is incapa ble of any good, and, therefore, the world is steeped in sin. '" Jesus saj's to his disciples : "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I testify con cerning it, that its works are evil " (John 7:7).'" But what is to become of manldnd? Is oblivion to be its fate? No, for the old Adam — the human race — the Logos, the Christ, who has created it, must die. Since the Logos became flesh in Jesus, Jesus willingly sacri fices himself for men by taking their sins upon himself, and thus saves them from the sin of Adam. The one condition to be freed from Original Sin is faith in the son of God, that he died as the Savior of mankind." Christ sacrificed the Adam that was in him, his godly nature remained to fill the world : " But God shows His love to us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justi fied in his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His son, much more being reconciled shall we be saved in his life, and not only so, but also glorying in God through '"Cf. Pliimacher: D. Pessimismus, p. 50; also Joel: Blicke 1. d. Religionsgesch., Excursus II. " Ct John 15:19; Rom. 8:19-23; 12:1, 2: Gal. 1:4. "Cf. Pfieiderer: "Jesus' Foreknowledge of His Suffering," etc., in New World, Sept., 1899; also Schopenhauer: Vol. I, p. 519; vol. V, 407. IN THE New Testament 235 our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." '" Touching upon the faith in the Savior as a necessary means for man's redemption, Jesus says : " No man comes to the Father but by me" (John 14:6b). " I am the vine, ye are the branches" (ibid., 5a). "As the branch can not bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me" (ibid., 4). '" The idea of a vicarious atonement is common, in some form, to all creeds. For in all men is present a consciousness of guilt, more or less intense, depend ing upon the moral development of the individual. Atonement is the need of him who is imbued with guilt. For sin and punishment," guilt and atonement, have ever been regarded as inseparably linked together. Freedom from sin and guilt was sought in prayer and sacrifices. Among the Babylonians human gifts, long litanies and sacrifices, were deemed as insufficient to appease the injured Deity, and a Mediator was intro duced to interpose for the sinner.'" Similarly, Chris tianity denies, that man by his own efforts is able to free himself from the blighting curse Adam left him as a heritage. Christ crucified becomes the atonement for man's sin.'" This so radical departure from Old Testament ethics, that man is impotent to improve the condition of his spiritual life, must be viewed as a grave defect. We cannot too highly estimate the vast ^'Ct Rom. 5:8-11; 3:25; 4:24, 25; Heb. 2:14, 15; 9:26-28. "Comp. Rom. 3:25-31; 4:16; 5:12; 9:30-32. " Cf. note 41, chpt. III. ^' Cf. Wahrmund: Babyloniertum, Judent, etc., Lpzg., 1882, pp. 94 t "Ct Matt 26:28, 29; Mark 10:45; comp. John 11:25, 26. 236 Sin, Atonement, Satan, amount of encouragement and inspiration that belong to such optimistic conception of man's moral relation to his Maker as expressed in Deuteronomy : "° "And JHVH thy God will make thee plenteous in all the work of thy hand ... for JHVH will again rejoice over thee ... if thou shalt obey the voice of JHVH thy God ... if thou turn unto JHVH thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul." But evil and sin were due to one other cause, besides that of the sin of Adam, i. e. to the power of Satan over man and over the world. While in the Old Testa ment he plays a role most insignificant, in the New Testament he has assumed the role of leadership. The attitude of the Synoptics and of John toward Satan is clear enough. In Matt. 4 : 8, 9 the devil takes Jesus unto an exceeding high mountain, and shows him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and he (Satan) said unto Jesus, "All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." Jesus and the Apostles and the people all believe in the power of the Evil One. Jesus tells his disciples to pray, "Bring us not unto temptation and deliver us from the Evil One" (Matt. 6:13). Jesus believed that Satan enters into swine (Matt 8: 32a). He deemed it his mission to destroy the work of the 'devil (I Ep. John 3 : 8). Satan in the New Testament is too real a personality to be as Massie states, " merely a symbol of things wicked and morally evil." "' The origin of evil spirits in the New Testament is due to a rebellion of angels against God, which rebel- "°Ct 30:9, 10 (Dt). "^ Cf. art. Demons in Cheyne's Encycl. Bibl., vol. I, p. 159. IN THE New Testament 337 lion is assumed as being generally known."" Thus in Luke we read : " I behold Satan fall as lightning from Heaven" (10:18). This is what Jesus says to the seventy when they return to him overjoyed at having discovered that even the devils were subject to them through his name."" In the heathen mythologies the rebellion against the gods took place where the gods dwelled; in the New Testament this was im possible; it is therefore laid on earth, in Eden."" This myth offered excellent opportunity for metaphysical speculation. Adam and Eve, the first rebels, suffered punishment."" But as in Paganism all had to share in the punishment that followed the rebellion in Heaven, so in Christianity all must suffer because the first par ents had sinned. In Paganism man is a prisoner subject to the fate marked out for him by the jailer; in Christianity he is a sinner who by a special act of grace of God may be freed from his burden. Here the Redeemer, the son of God, steps in and saves man. Besides the vicarious atonement, which denies to man the power of self- regeneration, the mere fact, that Christianity recog nizes the world as out of joint on account of the sin ""Ct Rev. 12:7-9; 20:1-3; cf. Beer's transl. in Kautzsch's A. u. P., vol. II, chpts VI-XI. "' In the Second Targum to the Bk. of Esther we are told that demons obeyed Solomon. Cf. Cassel: Zweites Targum z. B. E., Lpzg., 1885, chpts II, III; cf. Talm. B. Bathra 74b, where, according to R. Sol. b. Adereth, Gabriel is God's agent for dealing out punishment; also B. Mezia 86b, where Gabriel destroys Sodom; comp. Sanhedrin 21b, 95b. "•Ct Schopenhauer: Vol. II, p. 683. "'Ct Gen. 3:14ff (J'). 238 Sin, Atonement, Satan, of Adam and the power of the Evil One, stamps Chris tianity as being pessimistic. Hartmann says : " The moral gidlt of the first human pair is said to have had the deterioration of nature for its natural con sequence. Since, however, the connection between moral guilt and natural world-misery, between hu man fall and deterioration, appeared all too bold, a superhuman creature must be introduced, a devil, who ruined and brought into disorder the fair creation of God." "" Satan, the adversary, heads a kingdom of evil as the antithesis to the Kingdom of Heaven."' Here we discern a dualism as it exists in the religion of Per sia. Jesus speaks of the kingdom of Satan (Matt. 12 : 26), and Paul states that all those who believe not in Christ are under the empire and power of Satan (Acts 26: 18)."" The greater the contrast becomes be tween Christianity's Idealism and the Realism of the world, the more infiuence is ascribed to Satan. For Satan and his satellites are responsible for all the wick edness that exists among men. He sows the tares that choke the true seed's growth (Matt. 13 : 25), and goes so far as to tempt the son of God (Matt. 4:1). Jesus dele gates to his faithful followers the power to deal with the devil. "And he assembled his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of diseases and sickness.""" "' Philos. of the Unconscious, London, 1884, vol. II, p. 272. "^ Ct Demonology of the N. T. in J. A. O. S., Nov., 1858, p. 9; Legge: The Names of Demons in Proc. of Bibl. Archae ology, 1901, vol. 23, pt. 2. "»Ct Matt 9:34; II Cor. 12:7. ""Matt. 10:1; also Toy: "Relation bet Magic and Rel.," J. A. O. S. 20, pp. 327-331; H. Spencer: The Principles of IN THE New Testament 239 Jesus evidently agreed, says Conybeare, with the Exorcists, of his own and of other ages, in what was, after all, the essence and focus of their superstition, namely, in the ascription of physical disease and of bad weather to evil and unclean spirits."" Some of the Apostles, as Paul, not only expelled the devil but handed people over to him for the destruction of the flesh (I Cor. 5:4,5)."' It was the Messiah's mission, as Jesus and the Apos tles understood it, to rid the world of the enemies of God and man, to dethrone Satan, and to overcome disease and death. Harnack says, that in Palestine demoniacs must have been particularly numerous. Jesus saw in them the forces of evil and mischief, and by his marvellous power over the souls of those who trusted him he banished the disease. "" There is one passage where Jesus seems to incline toward the Old Testament view that makes God the author alike of sickness and health. When asked who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind, Jesus replied: "Neither has this man sinned nor his par- Sociology, N. Y., 1901, vol. I, pp. 236 ff; Nowack: Lhrbch. d. Hebr. Archaeol., Freiburg, 1894, vol. II, pp. 272 ff; Stiibe: Jiid. Babyl. Zaubertexte, Halle, 1895. " Cf. Conybeare: " Decay of Belief in the Devil " in Inter national Monthly, Mch., 1902, p. 304; also Blxby: " Scientific and Christian View of Illness," New World, Sept., 1899, p. 472; Stade: Akad. Reden, etc., Giessen, 1899, p. 226, note 1; H. Spencer: Principles of Sociology, N. Y., 1901, vol. I, pp. 226 ff; A. D. White: A Hist, of Warfare bet. Science and Theol., N. Y., 1896, vol. II, pp. 97-167; Sir Bennett: The Dis eases of the Bible, London, 1896, p. 82. ''Ct Josephus: Bell. Jud., VII, 6:3; Antiq., VIII, 2:5. '" What is Christianity? p. 64. 240 Sin, Atonement, Satan, ents, but that the works of God should be made mani fest in him (John 9:2, 3). Jesus knew that he was the Messiah by the healing power of his words over those who were diseased in body and disturbed in mind,"" whom he regarded as in the power of Satan, and, also, by his power of raising the dead. " For as the Father raiseth the dead and giveth them life, even so the son also giveth life to whom he will " (John 5:21)."" " Cf. H. Spencer (Principles of Sociology, vol. Ill, p. 194) states, " that down to the present day epilepsy is regarded by many as due to possession by a devil, and Roman Catho lics have a form of exorcism to be gone through by a priest to cure maladies thus supernaturally caused." " Ct Luke 7:12-15; Acts 10:40-43; 17-31. CHAPTER XIV Conclusion That the Old Testament is, in the main, optimistic, and the New Testament pessimistic, has been estab lished in the preceding chapters by the following facts. The Old Testament lays its emphasis upon life, life in the present. Life is fair and man has been placed by a wise and good Creator in a world that is good and beautiful. God created the world and rules it. Evil exists, and that it exists is not due to the nature of matter, nor to the transgression of the first parents, nor to a power antagonistic to God, but solely to the perverseness of the human will — for man is endowed with freedom to choose between the right and the wrong. Israel is God's chosen people and may confi dently look forward to God's salvation. Eschatology holds but a subordinate place in the thought-world of the Old Testament. Reward and punishment are lim ited to this Hfe. The Messiah is a political deliverer, and resurrection is, substantially, the political revival of the Israelitish nation. Christianity accentuates the joys and the glories of a future life, and deprecates this life as a life of vain en deavor. Death, not a part of the original plan of God, came into the world as punishment for the sin of Adam. Since then, man has been too impotent to raise himself from under the burden that has come to him as a heritage from his first ancestors. As a gift of grace God sent on earth His son, who lived, and 16 242 Conclusion suffered, and died for the sins of mankind. He who wishes to enter the kingdom of Heaven and become reconciled to his God, must believe in the blood of Gol gotha and the sacrifice of Calvary as an atonement for the sin of Adam. Sin reigns in the mortal body and commands obedience to its lusts. The body is the habitation of death and corruption. He who starves his natural desires is regarded as perfect. Family re lations are disregarded; celibacy, and fasting, and flee ing from the joj^s of life, are commendable acts. Pri vate property is sinful; wrong and injustice should be endured rather than exposed and suppressed. The world is in the power of Satan who tempts man to sin, and is responsible for all the ills to which human flesh is heir. The rule of Satan will not cease until the coming of the Messiah who will wrest the rule from his hands. EXCURSUS I Eden The general concensus of opinion seems to point to Babylonia as the home of the Eden story. Thus Gold- ziher' presents a strong argument in favor of the Babylonian origin. In the description of Eden (Gen. 2 : 14) where the four rivers are mentioned, while the flrst three are geographically determined, the fourth is simply spoken of as ms — which implies that the river was so well known and its location a matter of such common knowledge, that there was no need to define its location — Babylon. Gunkel " opines that the Babylonian origin is probable. Toy says : " " The de scription of Eden in Ez. 28:13; 31:16, 18; 36:35; Isa. 51 : 3, is similar and yet different from Gen. 2. The prophet had before him not the narrative in Gene sis but a fuller Babylonian account, out of which that in Genesis also was probably drawn up. The Babylon ian origin of the story has been adopted several years ago by Professors Lazarus " and Haupt," who assert ' D. Mythos. bei d. Hebriiern, Lpzg., 1876, p. 387 ; also Zimmern: Bibl. u. Babyl. Urgesch., Lpzg., 1901, pp. 20 ff; Hommel : Die altisraelit. tjberlief ., Miinchen, 1897, 314 ff. "Schopfung u. Chaos, Gott, 1895, p. 146; also J. A. O. S. 9:72 t 'Crit notes on Ez. in P. B. (Engl, transl.), p. 154; ct Haupt in loc. * Die rel. polit. u. socialen Ideen d. Asiatischen Kultur- volker, Berl., 1872, p. 590. 'J. A. O. S. 17:160, note. 244 Eden that the exiles brought it with them on their return to Palestine. Cheyne holds the same view" — "from the Paradise story of the Jahvist to the Talmudic de scription of the underworld the Jewish notions of the world beyond nature has a Babylonian and Assyrian tinge." John Fiske' finds the origin of the Paradise myth in Persia, and Nork in India." The Palestinian origin of the narrative is ably de fended by Dillmann," Holzinger,'" and Engel." Ryle also defends the Jewish origin of the Paradise account : " " It is not probable," he says, " that Jews residing in Babylon would have accepted the geographical descrip tion in (2 : 11-14) which contained such indefinite alki- sion to Assyria, or would have imported a mention of the fig-tree (3:7), a tree which happens not to be a native of Babylonia. It is better to account for the absence of any allusion in the Earlier Prophets to the Paradise narrative, by the supposition that for a long time the account had not been cleared from the mytho logical element, and could not, therefore, find admit tance among the most sacred traditions of the religion of Israel." Much discussion has been evoked by determining the place of the location of Paradise. The Septuagint ren ders n^'Vi in Gen. 2 :11. " EiiAdr ," Jerome adopts that ' Origin of Psalter, p. 391. ' Atlantic Monthly, April, 1899. ' Braminen u. Rabbinen, Meissen, 1836, pp. 138 ff. ' Gen., Edinb., 1888, vol. I, p. 111. " Gen., Freiburg, 1898, pp. 43 t. " D. Losung d. Paradiesfrage, Lpzg., 1895. " The early narrative of Gen., London, 1892, pp. 37 ff. Eden 245 reading " Hevilath." Kraus '" is authority for the statement that the Samaritans do not read the final n and he reads nb'in, in that case the Septuagint is plain. Even if we do not accept the proposed emendation the Greek form gives evidence that the Greeks had some notion as to the location of Paradise. Among the Church Fathers " Hevilat " signified the name of some country.'" In the Talmud n'?''in is the name for India. " J. Q. R., vol. XI, p. 675. "Lagarde: Mittheil., Gott, vol IV, 1891. For situation of Eden see: Delitzsch: Wo lag das Paradies? Lpzg., 1881; Haupt in Uber Land u. Meer, No. 15, 1894-95: Winer Real W. B., vol. I, pp. 284 ff; Herzog: Real Encycl., vol. XX, pp. 332 ff; Schenkel's Bibellexicon, vol. II, pp. 42 ff; J. A. 0. S. 11:72 f; The Site of Paradise, in the Publ. of Gratz College, Phila., 1897, p. 40. For tree of life see: Toy's crit. notes on Ez. in P. B. (Engl, transl.), p. 182; Schrader: KATZ 28th Jhrbch. prot Theol., I, pp. 124 ff. EXCURSUS II Ecclesiastes The dictum of the Rabbis " that the Torah can be explained in forty-nine ways " ' ( *di;d D'D ) may espe cially be applied to the Book of Ecclesiastes. Hart mann looks upon it as " the vade mecum of Material ism." " Heine calls it somewhere "a canticle of Scep ticism." Renan makes of Ecclesiastes another Schop enhauer." Delitzsch speaks of the book as " an elo quent sermon on the fear of God." Cheyne, in a simi lar strain, asserts that the book is built upon a true Israelitish foundation. ' In the form in which the book has been handed down to us all these opinions have some justification. For one must bear in mind, as Prof. Haupt has pointed out," that half of the book is made up of subsequent additions, the work of the theological editor of the book. These additions are either theological in character to make the views of the original more pleasing to the pious, or they are ' Talm. Nedarim 38a; Rosh-Hashanah 21b. " " Koheleth, das Brevier des allermodernsten Materlalis- mus und der aussersten Blasiertheit " (D. Lied vom Ewigen, St. Gallon, 1859, p. 12; cf also Schopenhauer: Griesbach ed., vol. II, chpts. 49, 50. ' " L'auteur nous apparait comme un Schopenhauer " (L'Ecclesiaste, Paris, 1882, p. 90); cf. also Siegfried: Predi ger (Hdk. z. A. T.), Gott., 1898; Dillon: The Sceptics of the O. T., London, 1895, p. 113. * Job and Solomon, N. Y., 1889, p. 202. « The Bk. of Eccl, (Or}?ptaJ Studies), Boston, 1894, p. 244. 248 Ecclesiastes mere explanatory glosses. Thus the pessimistic senti ment voiced in 8 : 14 : " There is vanity which is done on earth: to righteous men that happens which should befall wrongdoers, and that betides criminals which should fall to the lot of the upright," is refuted by the editor in 8 : 12, 13 : " Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his days, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, that fear before Him, but it shall not be well with the wicked." " The explanatory gloss finds illustration in 3 : 21 : " Who knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth up ward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goeth down ward to the earth. The words ' to the earth ' are in ex planation of ' downward ' " n^p? ' It has been pointed out by Kaufman" that the clos ing sentences of the book were added later to save its orthodox character. The traditional view ascribes the date of the book to the time of Solomon, because Solomon was made by tradition the representative of wisdom." Luther (1483- 1546) was the first who expressed doubts concerning the Solomonic authorship of Ecclesiastes. In his "Table-talk" he states that Koheleth seems to have been compiled in the manner of the Talmud from '(Comp. 4:5; 10:8, which are glosses on 4:6) (10:2b, gloss on 7:12) (9:13-16, 17; 10: 2, 3, 12, 13; 7:19; 10:19b; 7:11; 8:1, these are all glosses on 2:15) (11:9b, gloss on 11:9a.) ' 3 : 9-15, glosses containing Impressions of different men on the catalogue of times and seasons (3:1-8). 'Was Koheleth a Sceptic? (Expositor, May, 1899, p. 389). » D'^B>nn n^D TiTta nSnp nan Ecclesiastes 249 many different sources, perhaps from the library of Ptolemy Euergetes (170 B. C). Herzfeld favors the time immediately before Alexander the Great.'" Kue nen and Dillon argue for the end of the third pre- Christian century. Ziinz, Hitzig and Noldeke, 204-187 B. C. Volk and Oettle, 146-117 B. C." Renan,'" Sieg fried,'" Davidson,'* are of the opinion that judging by the language of the book, which approaches the Mishnic idiom, it must have been written not before 125 B. C. Prof. Haupt agrees with Graetz '" and Ko nig '" that Ecclesiastes was written during the reign of Herod (37-4 B. C), that it is the latest of the Old Testament books. Graetz regards it as a satire upon Herod and his time. He finds proof for the lateness of the book in the fact that an old Greek translation of it is not extant, as the Septuagint translation reminds us of Aquila." Most scholars place the date of Eccle siastes after Alexander the Great, when the Greek manner and mode of life and thought had begun to " Gesch. d. V. Jisrael, Nordhausen, 1857, vol. II, p. 66. " Die poet Hagiographen, Nordlingen, 1889, p. 108. '" Hist, du Peuple d'Israel, Paris, 1894, vol. V, p. 157. 1' D. Prediger, Gott., 1898. "Davidson in Cheyne's Encycl. Bibl., vol. I. p. 1161; also Peake In Hastings' Diet, of the B., vol. I; Barthauer: Opti mismus u. Pess. In B. Koheleth, Halle, 1900. " Comm. z. Prediger, 1871 ; also Graetz : Gesch. d. Juden, vol. Ill, p. 237; also Graetz In Frankel's Mtsschf., 1869, p. 507. " Einl. 1. d. A. T., Bonn, 1893, p. 247. "Cf. Dillmann: Uber die griech. tJbersetzung d. Qoheleth. in Sitzungsber. d. Kgl. Preuss. Akad. d. Wiss., Berl., 1892, pp. 3 ff; also Erich Klosterman in Theol. Studlen, 1885, pp. 153 ff. 250 Ecclesiastes permeate the Eastern world. The influence of Greece upon Eastern Africa and Western Asia was felt most in Egypt under the Ptolemies, and in Syria un3er the Seleucidfe. Jeremiah refers '" to the Judseans who had left their native land, and Isaiah to their dwelling in Egypt and Assyria.'" Alexandria and Antioch, both cities, centres of Greek civilization, became the abiding place of many Jews. Here, they were brought into contact with Greek civilization, indeed, the literature that sprang up at this time reflects the influence of that civilization. Especially the Sadducees, as Geiger has pointed out,"" were attracted by Greek culture. Hellenism was a bril liant vice, which, unfortunately, many of the Jews were powerless to resist."' The priesthood itself set a bad example by aping heathenish custom. Thus, the High-priest Joshua prefers Jason, the Greek, to the Hebrew name Joshua, and he was instrumental in the introduction of a gymnasium and public games into the city of Jerusalem."" This Greek influence met with stubborn resistance from the pious, D^'Dn ""^ who would not make any "43:1-7 (586 B.C.). "27:13 (334 B. C). "'Urschrift, pp. 102, 202 t "'Graetz: Gesch. d. Juden, vol. Ill, pp. 298-342 (Engl, ed., vol. I, pp. 444 ff); Jost: Gesch. d. Judent, vol. I, pp. 99-116 344-361; Herzfeld: Gesch. d. V. Jisrael, vol. II, pp. 436 ff Back: Gesch. d. jiid. Volkes, Lissa, 1878, pp. 43-53; Stern. Gesch. d. Judent, Breslau, 1870, pp. 24-26; Wellhausen: Is raelit. u. Jiid. Gesch., Berl., 1901, p. 242. ""Ct II Mace. 4:9-14. »"»Ct Graet?: Hist of the Jewg, vpl, I, pp. 435 ff. Ecclesiastes 251 concession whatever."" Thus we read : " Then came to hini (Mattathias) a company of the pious (Assidgeans), who were mighty men of Israel, even all such as were voluntarily devoted unto the Law." "" The number of those who inclined towards Hellen ism must have been quite large if we measure the in fluence they wielded during the Maccabean uprising and during the time of the Hasmonean dynasty."" The contact of Hebraism with Hellenism, though differing in their views of life and in the principles of morality,"" was productive of much doubt. This may be gleaned from the efforts on the part of Jewish thinkers to blend the two systems of religion into one. Cheyne holds that the Proverbs of Agur (30 : 1-4) origi nated about that time, when Jew and Greek met in the Academies and Libraries of Alexandria."' The fact that the canonicity of Ecclesiastes caused much discussion among the Jewish authorities "" favors the theory that foreign elements had crept into the "'Ct Schiirer: The Hist, of the Jewish People, 2d ed., I, vol. I, p. 198; first German ed., vol. I, p. 147; Graetz: Hist. of the Jews, vol. II, p. 19. "' I Mace. 2:42; comp. 7:13. ^' 135-37 B. C. "°Cf. Arnold: Culture and Anarchy, N. Y., 1883, chpt. IV. ^ Jewish Rel. Life after the Exile, N. Y., 1898, pp. 173-181. ^'Ct Wright: Eccl., London, 1888, Excursus II; Haupt in Oriental Studies, p. 245; Sehechter: Aboth Rabbi Nathan, London, 1887, chpt. I; Mishnah Yadayim 3:5; Talm. Sab bath 30b, where we read: R. Jehudah (257-320) said: "At first the Rabbis intended to exclude Koheleth, because some of its sentences contradicted one another, but why did they not do so, because it opens and closes with words of the J^aw." Cf. also Zunz; D. Gottesd, Vortr,, 2d ed., p. 36, note b. 253 Ecclesiastes book. If we remember the moral and intellectual at mosphere of that day, we cannot doubt that this for eign influence was Greek."" It was largely due to the efforts of Antiochus that Greek civilization obtained a foothold in Western Asia. He was a man of limited ideas and of violent temper. He conceived the Hellenization of all his subjects as the aim of his life. The Assidseans saw the danger that threatened the existence of Judaism, and did all in their power to hinder the removal of the ancient landmarks. When Jonathan laid hand upon the High-priesthood,"" the Pharisees, the legitimate heirs of the Assidseans, en tered a strong protest and drew closer around the Law. There seems to be no doubt that the Pharisees, sus picious of all foreign influence, and including all the teachers of the Law, were charged with the fixing of the Canon. The Sadducees were too worldly, and be-. sides there was enough transpiring to keep them po litically interested, so that they could not have cared about the selection of the books that were to make up the Canon. The Pharisees, then, having charge of the Canon, we can readily see why Ecclesiastes should have been, at first, rejected. Prof. Haupt states : "' ""Ct Schultze: D. jiid. Religionsphil. in Gelzer's Prot. Monatsbl., vol. 24:4; also Clemens: D. Therapeuten. Progr. of Gymn. Fridericanum, Konigsberg, 1869; tlberweg: Hist. of Philos., N. Y., 1896, vol. I, pp. 222 ff; Freudenthal: Hel- lenistische Studlen, Breslau, 1875-78; Zeller: D. Philos. d. Griechen, Lpzg., 1869-79, vol. Ill, pp. 594 ff. " 152 B. C. "The Bk. of Eccl., p. 243; ct also Hitzig: D. Pred. Sol. (Nowack), pp. 205 ff; Midrash Rabboth to Lev., chpt 28; Eccl. L Ecclesiastes 255 " the book was in the first century B. C. still an Anti- legomenon until the Synod of Jabneh (90 C. E.) de cided in favor of the canonization of the book." This explains the many additions to the original text which were to neutralize the grossly material views of life found therein."" Furthermore, the Pharisees were champions of " the larger hope." While in Ecclesiastes the horizon is bounded by this life only — the Pharisees, as has been shown in the preceding chapters, held the belief in a future life. Therefore, sentiments as expressed by Ec clesiastes concerning life must have been obnoxious to them : " Who can tell whether the spirit of the sons of men ascends, upwards, and the spirit of the beasts descends downwards? Certainly the same fate hap pens to man and beast, there is no superiority of man over the beast. All is transitoriness." "" "And I per ceived that other good there is none, save only that man should enjoy himself in his work: for that is his portion. For who can show him what shall become after him after his death." "" In the Targum Koheleth, a paraphrase of the He brew text, the negative teaching of the book is coun teracted by copious additions that accentuate future life and retribution, which ideas are lacking in the original Hebrew text. In the pessimistic attitude of Ecclesiastes we may trace the influence of Greek thought. Though this '"Ct Luzzatto nom nvr (Vienna, 1860, pp. 17-25); also Krochmal pin *313J miD (Lemberg, 1863, XI, 8); Geiger's Ztscht, 1862, p. 154; Jost: Gesch. d. Judent., vol. I, p. 42, note 2. "3:21. "3:22. 254 Ecclesiastes influence is denied by many, it exists nevertheless,"^ and leads us to fix the date about 40 B. C. during the reign of Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus. The Mac cabean princes failed to establish peace and prosper ity."' Especially, during the reign of Antigonus, cor ruption, in high and low places, was openly practiced,"" and all hope for political independence seemed nigh vanished. The author of the book was, evidently, a man of the world, one who had been in touch with all classes and conditions of men, but who, impregnated with the ideals of Greece, had ceased to stand upon Jewish ground in the belief in a Divine Providence. He saw nothing but gloom in the social and political chaos of '¦"aGregorius Barhebraeus (c. 1250 C. E.) was the first to assert in his Chronicle, written in Arabic, that Solomon shows in Ecclesiastes the infiuence of the Pythagorean Empedokles (492-432 B. C), and that there is no immor tality in Ecclesiastes. Canon Zirkel in his " Untersuchun gen iiber den Prediger," publ. 1792, speaks, too, of Greek influence. Similarly, Siegfried, Pfleiderer, Tyler (Ecclesi astes, London, 1899), Plumptre, Graetz, Wellhausen (Is raelit u. Jiid. Gesch., Berl., 1901, p. 241, n. 4), Jastrow (The Study of Religions, London, 1901, p. 233, n) ; Fritzsche (Protest. Kirchenzeltung, 1894, No. 14) advances the theory that Ecclesiastes is made up of aphorisms gathered by a Hellenistic Jew. Zockler and Delitzsch see traces of Ori ental thought in Ecclesiastes. Menzel (D. griechische ein- fluss auf Prediger, Halle, 1889) and Prof. Johnston (Hop kins U. C, 1891, June, p. 118) deny any Greek influence. Cf. also Thumb: D griechische Sprache im Zeitalter d. Hellen- ismus, Strassburg, 1901. "Emmaus, 165 B. C; ct I Mace 4:22; Bethzura, 164 B. C; ct I Mace. 4:28, 35. "Ct Graetz: Hist of the Jews, vol. II, pp. 84 ff. Ecclesiastes 255 his day, and despaired of the future. Chance for im provement there was none, for everything is ceaselessly going on the same rounds ; there is nothing new under the sun ; nothing endures ; nothing wholly satisfies. 9002 08844 9120