Hebrew Life and Times

The apostle Paul saw this promise fulfilled by the love which Jesus Christ awakens in men's hearts, so that they gladly and eagerly do the will of God. On account of this prophecy of Jeremiah our Christian Bible is called the New Covenant, or (from the Latin) the New Testament.

Jeremiah and the Babylonians

In Jeremiah's time (a decade or so before and after B.C. 600) the Babylonians had taken the place of the Assyrians as the rulers of the world. There was a powerful king, Nebuchadrezzar, on the throne of Babylon. And the existence of the kingdom of Judah depended on submission to him. But, just as in Isaiah's time a century before, there was now a party in Jerusalem who were constantly plotting to rebel against the Babylonians, hoping for help from Egypt.

Jeremiah as a patriot.—Jeremiah had no sympathy with them. He loved his native land deeply and tenderly. But until the people were worthy of liberty he was sure Jehovah would not give it to them.

Again and again they proved their unworthiness. Once when the Babylonian armies were knocking almost at the gates of Jerusalem they remembered that law about Hebrew slaves, which had been made even more strict in the new law, Deuteronomy. According to this law, no Hebrew could be kept in slavery longer than seven years. So in their fear of the Babylonians these rich nobles solemnly set free a great number of slaves whom they had been illegally keeping in slavery. A few days later the hostile army, for some reason or other, withdrew. And within a month all these slaves who had been set free were seized and reenslaved. How Jeremiah denounced this hypocrisy!

The Destruction of Jerusalem

If Jeremiah's advice had been followed, the people of Judah would have been spared a world of sorrow. But the leaders of the kingdom seemed bent on dragging the whole nation into ruin. In B.C. 597, Jerusalem was captured and some ten thousand of the inhabitants were carried away as exiles to Babylon.

Even that lesson was not enough. Within a few years the new king, Zedekiah, and his nobles again rebelled against Nebuchadrezzar. Jeremiah protested and was called a traitor. Many times his life was threatened; for a long period he was kept in a filthy dungeon, and almost perished from hunger. But friends saved him. Very soon, in B.C. 586, the city came to the horrible end which Jeremiah had so patiently tried to ward off. The city was captured by Babylonian soldiers and burned. Thousands were carried away as exiles. Thousands more fled to Egypt and to other foreign countries. Only the poorest farmers were left to till the soil. David's kingdom and dynasty were ended.

Jeremiah himself was not taken to Babylon, but remained in Palestine. According to tradition, his last days were spent in Egypt, with a Hebrew colony there. His life had been spent in keeping alive the soul of true religion in an age when few would listen. He is one of the great heroes of uncompromising truth.

Study Topics

1. Look up the story of Jeremiah in the Bible dictionary.

2. Read Jeremiah 1. 1-9, for a taste of his style of writing.

3. One man sacrifices to a heathen god; another tries to bribe Jehovah with a sacrifice as though he were like the heathen gods:

a. Which is worse?
b. Which would the authors of Deuteronomy have considered worse?
c. Which would Jeremiah have considered worse?

CHAPTER XXIToC

KEEPING THE FAITH IN A STRANGE LAND

Twice within twelve years, first in B.C. 597, and again in B.C. 586, the Babylonians took great companies of Hebrews as exiles from Jerusalem to Babylon. Each time there must have been in the line of march some twenty-five thousand men, women, and children—an army which, marching eight abreast, would stretch at least five or six miles.

These must have been sorrowful processions, especially the last of the two. For months they had suffered the horrors of a besieged city. Then had come the break in the walls, the screams of frightened women and children, the heaps of corpses in the streets, and the black smoke and red glare of burning buildings; then the hasty setting out on the long road to Babylon. Some of them perhaps were able to buy asses to carry the little children and a few of their belongings. But most of them had to trudge along on foot, fathers and mothers carrying the babies, and leaving behind them all their possessions except what could be gathered into a towel or a blanket. For a month or six weeks they tramped. If anyone fell sick, there was no time to take care of him. He must drag along with the rest or fall by the wayside until he either recovered or died.

The Settlement in Babylonia

When they reached the land of their captors they were not made slaves, but were allowed to make their home together in settlements on land set apart for them. In these colonies they probably worked as tenant-farmers on the estates of Nebuchadrezzar's nobles. In the prophetic book of Ezekiel, who was among these exiles, we read about one of these Jewish colonies by the river, or canal, called Chebar (or in Babylonian Kabaru), which means the Grand Canal.

The attractions of Babylonian life.—What the Babylonians hoped was that these people would forget that they were Hebrews and become Babylonians, just as immigrants from Europe become Americans. This is exactly what happened in many cases. At first, of course, the Hebrews were bitterly homesick. The land of Babylonia was as flat as a floor. The Hebrews longed for the lovely hills and valleys of their native land.

But the years went by, and they had time to look about in the new country. They found it full of opportunities for money-making. The soil, watered by hundreds of canals from the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, was wonderfully rich. Everywhere there were prosperous towns and cities with great brick buildings, beautifully decorated with sculpture, and thronged with merchants. Ships laden with wheat and dates and with Babylonian rugs and mantles and other beautiful articles sailed up the rivers, or out to sea toward India. Many Hebrews, or Jews (that is, Hebrews from Judæa), became merchants. In their own land they had been chiefly a nation of farmers. The reputation of the Jews for cleverness in trade began with these experiences in Babylon when hundreds of Jewish boys obtained positions in great Babylonian stores or banks, and by and by set up for themselves as merchants. Among the Babylonian contracts on clay tablets coming down to us from this period are many Jewish names.

The Temptation to Forsake Jehovah

These young Hebrew merchants found themselves in a net-work of foreign religious customs. When a customer signed a contract it was proposed that he offer a sacrifice to the god Marduk, that the enterprise might prosper. There were religious processions and feast days in which everyone joined, just as we hang out flags on the Fourth of July. Foreigners from other lands joined in these rites and thought nothing of it. Furthermore, some of these captive Jews thought that their Hebrew God, Jehovah, had not protected them from these mighty Babylonians. Surely, the Babylonian gods were the stronger, and one should pay them due reverence.

Memories of the prophets.—On the other hand, even the dullest of the Jews must have begun to understand that the religion of their prophets was a different kind of religion altogether—not a religion, but true religion; and that Jehovah was not like the bargaining, jealous gods of the other nations, but was God, with a capital G, the one righteous Creator and Ruler of the world.

Moreover, the prophets who had taught them to think of Jehovah in this way had again and again declared that just this calamity of exile would come upon them if they as a nation continued to disobey Jehovah's just laws; and what they had foretold had come to pass. The prophets must have been right. Their teaching must be true.

Hebrews in other foreign lands.—There were probably almost as many Hebrews in Egypt at this time as in Babylonia. Indeed, even before the destruction of Jerusalem the constant wars on Canaan had compelled great numbers of them to seek for peace and comfort for themselves and their wives and children in Egypt, in Damascus, and even in far-away Carthage and Greece. The Jews to-day are scattered all over the world. This began to be true of them from the time of the destruction of Jerusalem.

These Jews who permanently made their homes in foreign countries were called Jews of the Dispersion. And they all faced the same temptations as the exiles in Babylonia. Their problem was how to be loyal to their nation and their religion. Great numbers of them, like Daniel and his friends in the stories related in the book of Daniel, did refuse to sacrifice to heathen gods and held fast to the nobler faith which they had brought with them from Jerusalem. This was not easy. Not only were they tempted to go with the crowd and worship the gods of the land; they were also uncertain just how to worship Jehovah. They could not offer sacrifices to him. Jerusalem was a thousand miles away, and the temple there was burned. Should they build a new temple for him, in Babylon? It was not certain whether that would be lawful. The Jews in Egypt did build a temple to Jehovah. But no others seem to have been able to do this.

Keeping the Sabbath

There were some religious customs, however, which could more easily be transplanted. One was the Sabbath Day. In the earlier centuries the Hebrews had observed the day of the new moon with special sacrifices, and also, to some extent, the other days when the moon passed from full to first quarter, then to the second, then to the third—in other words, every seventh day. There was in the days before Moses no thought of resting from labor on these days, except as might have been necessary in order to offer up the special sacrifices.

The Sabbath and the new law of Deuteronomy.—One of the kindly changes which the new law of Deuteronomy introduced was to make the Sabbath a rest day for slaves and all toilers. On the Sabbath "thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, ... that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou."

In Babylonia and other foreign lands faithful Jews were especially careful to keep the Sabbath by resting from all their work. No one else did so, and the custom marked them as Jews. When a Babylonian would propose to buy a wagon load of wheat on the Sabbath the Jew would say, "I cannot sell on that day; it is a Sabbath day to our God." Boys and girls were not allowed to play with their Babylonian playmates on the Sabbath. Such experiences helped them to remember that they were Jews. They thought of it also as an act of respect to Jehovah. It took the place of animal sacrifices. As the time went on there grew up rules and regulations in regard to Sabbath-keeping which became more and more strict and elaborate.

Prayer and Public Worship

Another religious custom which can be practiced anywhere is prayer. It must have been a great and happy discovery to many a homesick Jew when he found that even though the temple at Jerusalem was far away, yet in his own room "by the river Chebar" he could kneel, or even in the street he could for a moment close his eyes and breathe out a prayer to God and find in it fresh strength and hope and courage.

The synagogue.—The weekly Sabbath rest also made it possible for the Jews to meet together on that day for prayer and worship together. The reading circles which Isaiah had organized, and out of which probably came the law-book Deuteronomy, were continued in Babylonia, and the Sabbath morning, afternoon, or evening was a convenient time of meeting. They would gather in some private house and study the law and the writings of the prophets. Then they would pray. Those who were the most learned would read and they and others would pray aloud.

By and by special buildings were set apart called synagogues. As time went on these synagogue services rather than the services in the temple, became the most important part of the Jewish religion. Our morning and evening worship in the Christian Church grew out of the synagogue service. It was the beginning of that worship of which Jesus spoke when he said: The hour cometh when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem shall ye worship the Father.... But ... the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

Study Topics

1. Read 2 Kings 25, or Daniel 1.

2. Mention some other temptations which must have come to the Jews, in Babylon, besides the temptation to worship idols. Consider, for example, their new experiences as traders.

3. What are some good ways in which we may be helped to be true to God to-day when we are away from home.

CHAPTER XXIIToC

UNDYING HOPES OF THE JEWS

As the Jewish exiles were led away to Babylon they asked themselves over and over again, "Is this the end of our nation?" It seemed like the end. Their capital city lay in ruins. Their king was blinded and in chains. All the most intelligent people in the country were being led to a distant land, from which most of them would probably never return. The iron rule of the Babylonians was everywhere supreme.

There are other nations and races whose people might not have cared so much even if this had been the end of their national existence. But the Hebrews from the beginning were proud of their race and ambitious for its glory. They believed that it had been promised to Abraham, their ancestor, that they should become a great nation in their land of Canaan. This hope had grown stronger and stronger. Stories of the greatness of King David were handed down from fathers to their children. To the best men and women among them the great teachings of such prophets as Amos and Isaiah were even more worthy of pride. "We have a knowledge of the true God," they said, "such as no other nation has. Surely there is a great future before us." And now all these hopes seemed lost forever.

The discouragement of the poor people in Canaan.—Those who had been left behind in Canaan when the Babylonians conquered the land were even more hopeless and wretched. The exiles soon made a place for themselves in the busy, prosperous land of Babylonia. They earned money and lived in comfort. But the farmers on the stony hills of Judæa suffered untold hardships. Not only were they poor; they were also harassed by bands of robbers. The city of Jerusalem, which had protected them, lay in ashes. The Babylonian governor did not help them. He was there only to collect taxes and tribute. So the old enemies, the robber tribes from the desert, came in and burned and murdered and stole as they pleased. It is not strange that many of these poor people felt that all was over for the Hebrew or Jewish nation. Many of them ceased to worship Jehovah and became heathen, like the other tribes around Canaan.

Voices of Comfort and Hope

It was not easy, however, to crush the courage of the Jews. Out of the darkness of those days we hear a whole chorus of voices, all of them saying: "This is not the end of everything for us. Jehovah has not forgotten his promises to our ancestors. He will bring back the exiles from Babylon, and from other distant lands whither they have escaped, and will rebuild Jerusalem in all its beauty, and will restore the glory of our nation in the land of Canaan."

The prophecies in Isaiah.—Many of these voices are found in short passages scattered through the writings of the older prophets. Two of them are in Isaiah 9 and 11.

"In other words," he reasoned, "Jehovah will free us from the tyrannical Babylonians, give us an ideal king, who shall be wise and just and faithful, and under whose rule we shall see no more of the horror and cruelty of war."

Ezekiel's prophecies of hope.—Away off in Babylonia itself Ezekiel helped to keep alive the hopes of the exiles. Even though the nation is dead, he told them, Jehovah can bring it to life. It will be as though the dry and bleaching bones in some valley where a battle was long ago fought should suddenly come together as human skeletons, and warm living flesh should grow upon them once more. Ezekiel worked out a kind of constitution for the new nation and the temple when these should be restored.

All these brave leaders helped the Jews to believe in themselves as a people. They listened to these men as they spoke in their synagogues in Judæa and in Babylonia. They handed from one to another the rolls on which their words were written. And ever the children heard from their mothers these hopes which kept them from being completely discouraged: "We are Jews. The Jewish nation is not going to be destroyed. Some day the exiles in Babylon will return to the old country. We will have a king of our own. And we will build the great nation which Jehovah promised Abraham."

The Beginnings of a Restored Judah

In the year B.C. 538, the Babylonian empire was conquered by Cyrus, the Persian. There was scarcely any resistance on the part of the Babylonians. And one of his first acts in the conquered city was to issue a proclamation that captives and exiles from other lands might return if they wished. It was the chance for which the Jews for forty years had been hoping. Now at last they could go back over that thousand-mile journey, up the Euphrates, across to the coast land, and down to Canaan. But alas! too many years had passed. Most of those who had come to Babylon as grown people and who remembered Canaan as home were now dead. Most of the living Jews had grown up in Babylon and were comfortably settled there. Yet some did return, and from time to time others kept returning. These men who thought enough of their nation to go back to the home land and help it in its weakness and poverty almost always became leaders.

The new temple.—It may have been a group of these leaders returned from Babylon who started the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem in the year B.C. 520, just sixty years after the old temple of Solomon was burned by the soldiers of Nebuchadrezzar. There were two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, who did much to stir up the people to this work. Some of their words are preserved in the Old Testament books which bear their names. These men may have been returned exiles. The new building was erected on the same old foundation and was finished in four years. It was dedicated amidst the shouts of the people, while old men and women, who as children had seen the former temple before it was destroyed, wept for joy that at last a house had been rebuilt for Jehovah. It seemed like the beginning of better times for their nation.

The Greatest of the Prophets of Hope

Yet the years that followed the building of the new temple were sad and disappointing. The better days did not seem to come. The walls of Jerusalem still lay in ruins. The robber tribes still made their cruel raids. The poor people suffered most, for they were oppressed and plundered by the richer men even of their own people. "What has become of Jehovah?" men asked. "Where are his promises to Abraham? Why does he allow even his most faithful servants to be oppressed—those who do not oppress others; who obey his just laws, and who are merciful to their brothers?"

The great unknown.—About this time there came to the people of Israel a new message from one of the greatest prophets of all those whom God has raised up in any nation. He is sometimes called the "Great Unknown," because we to-day know nothing about his personal life, not even his name. His great messages to his fellow Jews are found in the latter part of the book of Isaiah, beginning with chapter 40. The first verse of this chapter strikes the keynote of comfort which runs through all the chapters to follow.

With words that sing like a beautiful instrument of music he tells the people that God has not forgotten them; that the scattered exiles will be brought back to the home land; that the ruined city, Jerusalem, will be rebuilt and made more lovely than before; that a rule of justice will be established; and that the blessings of peace and happiness will come to all.

The greatness of service.—Even better than these promises of happiness, our unknown prophet helped the people to understand more clearly what it means to be a great nation. He did not believe that the God of heaven and earth would make a favorite of any one nation. Instead he taught that Jehovah had chosen Israel to be a servant nation for him, to serve all other nations by teaching them about the true God.

He explained in this way even the undeserved suffering which many of the best people of Israel were enduring. Israel thus became a type of Him who was "despised and rejected of men." To be chastised and afflicted and oppressed is not so hard to bear if it is all a part of Jehovah's plan for men. The ideal in the Old Testament becomes a reality in the New.

So for the first time the idea came into the world that Abraham's dreams of a greater and nobler nation and God's promises to Abraham, Moses, David and the rest were not for the Hebrew people only, but for all men; that beginning with this little nation God was making a better world; a world of love, instead of selfishness and hate; of happy work and play, instead of misery and hopelessness and war.

Of course very few of the prophet's hearers understood him. But more and more the Jews were filled with the thought that somehow God had a great future for them. Boys and girls, as they grew up, wondered if they might not become leaders, a new Moses, a second David, or Elijah, to play some part in bringing the great future which God had promised.

Study Topics

1. Read Isaiah 40 or 49 for a taste of the writing of the "Great Unknown."

2. Read Ezekiel 2. 1-7, or 14, for a similar taste of this prophet's message and style.

3. Which of these two prophets do you consider the greater?

4. Is there evidence to-day that the Jews still believe in a restored nation?

CHAPTER XXIIIToC

THE GOOD DAYS OF NEHEMIAH

About seventy years after the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem a committee of Jews went to Persia to seek aid for their distressed country from their more prosperous kinsfolk. In the Persian capital, Susa, they found a man named Nehemiah, who was cup-bearer and personal adviser to the king of Persia. He was a man of good sense, of kindly sympathy, and of great ability—just the man to help them. They told him how the walls of the city of their fathers had never been rebuilt in all these years since the Babylonians had captured it, and how the poor people suffered from robbers and oppressors, who took advantage of their helplessness.

Nehemiah's Great Adventure

All this was news to the young man. They did not have newspapers and magazines in those days, and people in one part of the world knew little about what was going on in other parts, even those near by. The stories told by his brother Jews made Nehemiah sad, and his sadness showed in his face even when he came before the king. This was dangerous, for a part of his duty was to keep the king in a cheerful humor. But his Majesty was not angry, but asked him "Why are you so sad?" Nehemiah answered by telling him the story of his native land and its pitiable condition; and then and there with a prayer in his heart he asked the king to give him a leave of absence, and to permit him to go to Jerusalem and help the people there to rebuild the walls.

Why walls were greatly needed.—All cities in those days were surrounded by walls. These were necessary, because no government had yet been strong enough to rid the country of the bands of robbers who made their dens in almost every cave or lonely valley. Not only the road between Jerusalem and Jericho, of which Jesus tells, but on almost all roads one was in danger of falling among thieves. In the deserts on the edge of Palestine whole tribes lived by robbery, and were large enough and well enough organized to defeat good-sized armies. Hence no city was safe unless it was well fortified.

Nehemiah's request was granted by the king of Persia. So, with letters to the governors of the provinces through which he was to pass, the young leader set out, perhaps on camel-back, to Jerusalem. After looking about and seeing for himself the condition of the city, and the work which needed to be done, he called the people together and proposed that they rebuild the walls. His energy carried the day. They answered, "Let us rise up and build."

The Walls Rebuilt

The task which Nehemiah had undertaken was a difficult one. Jerusalem is situated on a ridge, with deep valleys on all sides except the north. The walls did not need to be high where there were cliffs or steep slopes falling away into the valley. But along the entire north side, and in many other places also, they had to be at least thirty feet high, and fifteen or twenty feet thick at the base. The stones and bricks for this were buried in the rubbish where the old walls had been battered down. They had to be dug up and dragged into their places, stone by stone. Most of the work had to be done by hand, although they perhaps used asses with basket-paniers for carrying lime and sand. They may have constructed small cranes for lifting the heaviest stones, but they had very little machinery.

Difficulties overcome.—For a time the work went merrily forward. But soon their rapid progress became known and those who had prospered because of their weakness became jealous. There was a certain Sanballat, governor of Samaria, who wanted to keep Jerusalem helpless so that Samaria might always be the chief city in the land. They were willing that the poor people of Jerusalem should go on suffering from the attacks of cruel bandits if only they themselves could keep on growing richer. He and others did all in their power to stop the work. They organized a force of men and planned to attack and kill the builders. But Nehemiah had his workers carry their swords as they worked, and arranged for signals at which all should rush to the help of any part of the wall which might be attacked. He also kept the people working at top speed from early morning every day "until the stars appeared," and cheered them on when they were tired and discouraged.

Their enemies tried all kinds of tricks; they threatened to report to the king of Persia that Nehemiah was organizing a rebellion; they plotted to seize Nehemiah himself. But the man was too clever for them. The walls kept steadily going up and up. The gates were set in place and locked; and at last, fifty-two days, or just a little more than seven weeks after the first stone was laid on the old foundations, the work was done.

Once more they could lie down in peace behind protecting walls, and not tremble at the thought that fierce robbers might swoop down upon them before the morning light to plunder, burn, and murder. Once more they could begin to live their lives in peace and plan for the future. Traders could bring their goods into the city without fear of losing everything. Men could buy and sell and prosper.

Nehemiah's Reforms

But security from outward foes is not enough to bring happiness to a people. Even before the walls were finished some of the poor people among the Jews came to Nehemiah with a bitter complaint against their rich neighbors. "We are starving," they said. Others said: "We have mortgaged our fields in order to borrow money that we may buy food for our children. And now because we cannot pay these men take our fields from us, and even sell our sons and daughters into slavery." It was the old story of greed and oppression. Those who were stronger and more fortunate used their advantage to oppress their brothers and extort from them all that they could pay. So a few men were able to live in luxury, even in those troubled days, while the great majority suffered in poverty and misery and despair.

The great massmeeting.—In that little country of Judæa it was possible to gather into an assembly, perhaps in the open space in front of the temple, men from almost every country village and city street. Such an assembly Nehemiah called and laid before it the complaints he had received. He told the rich nobles to their faces: "You exact usury, every one, of his brother. The thing you do is not good.... I pray you leave off this usury." The nobles had nothing to say. Every one knew that what Nehemiah said was true. Then he went on: "Restore to them their fields, their vineyards, their olive-yards, and their houses, also the grain, the new wine, and the oil that you exact from them." Then said they, "We will restore them."

And Nehemiah made them take oath to carry out their promise. "Also I shook out my lap," Nehemiah writes in his memoirs, "and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that performeth not this promise; even thus be he shaken out and emptied. And all the congregation said 'Amen,' and praised the Lord. And the people did according to this promise."

The beginnings of a just and happy nation.—Nehemiah could not stay long in Jerusalem. But he was able to make another visit a few years later. And for a time at least his ideas were carried out. During this time there was happiness among the people. They all had something to eat and clothes to wear. All fathers and mothers had a little time to play with their children after the close of work each day. All who could read had a little time to study the rolls of the prophets and the law of Jehovah. And all were brothers. More than ever before the old dreams, handed down from Abraham, had begun to come true.

Study Topics

1. Look up the story of Nehemiah in the Bible dictionary.

2. Read Nehemiah 1-2, or 5. 1-6, 16.

3. On the right side of the line, below, write what in your judgment corresponds to the men and conditions of Nehemiah's time.

CHAPTER XXIVToC

HYMN AND PRAYER BOOKS FOR THE NEW WORSHIP

We have seen that a new kind of public worship of God had been growing up among the Hebrews, beginning with the time when the prophets began to condemn the misuse of the old animal sacrifices. The new worship consisted chiefly of prayer. We have seen how the exiles in Babylon began to come together on the Sabbath days to study the law and other sacred writings, and also for prayer. Those exiles who returned to Judæa brought this custom with them. Special buildings, called synagogues, were erected in Judæa as well as wherever there were faithful Jews in other lands. These synagogues rather than the temple gradually came to be the real home of the Jewish religion even in Jerusalem itself. The chief part of the synagogue service was always the study of the Scriptures. But prayer was also given an important place.

In the temple also, after it was rebuilt, public prayer was regarded as very important—even if not quite so important as the regular burnt-offerings. There were also prayer-hymns, sung by the people and by special choirs.

Making hymnals and prayer books.—In our churches, to-day, we could scarcely conduct our services without the hymn books scattered through the pews. In some denominations there is a prayer book, which is considered just as necessary as the book of hymns. In those ancient synagogues and in the temple service the Jews found such books needful. Had we gone into one of their meetings, we would not indeed have found a book waiting for us in the seat or handed to us by the usher. The art of printing was unknown. Books could not be purchased cheaply by the hundred. Each copy had to be written out by hand with pen and ink on a roll of papyrus. But we would probably have discovered that the leader of the worship had a book of prayers and hymns before him. He would read them, line by line, each Sabbath for the others to memorize. To make this task of memorization easier many of the Jewish hymns were written in acrostic form—that is, each line or stanza began with a different letter in the order of the Hebrew alphabet.

Hymn and Prayer Books in the Bible

Our book of Psalms is a collection of smaller collections of just such hymns and prayers to be used in worship. Each one of these smaller collections came out of some synagogue or group of synagogues, or was prepared by the members of one of the choirs who led the worship in the temple. By studying these we may learn something about how they were used.

The Prayers of David.—This was the title of one of these smaller books. It contained Psalms 2 to 41, and some others of our book of Psalms. All of these are headed in our Bible, "A Psalm of David." These words, in the original Hebrew, mean "dedicated to David." The last page in this smaller book is perhaps now found where our Psalm 72 comes to an end with the words, "The Prayers of David the Son of Jesse are Ended." This sentence corresponded, in the little book, to the words, "The End," in our modern books. It was copied in what is now our book of Psalms, even though it is no longer "the end."

These "David" hymns were probably written not only by David, but as well by members of a synagogue of worshipers who were poor and oppressed. There are a great number of references to "enemies." "Deliver me not over unto the will of mine adversaries." "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." These people probably lived in the days before the reforms of Nehemiah, when there were indeed many enemies both outside of Jerusalem and within the city, heathen robbers, and rich oppressors of their own race, men who cheated them and who mocked them when they prayed for help to Jehovah.

The Pilgrim Songs.—Another very different hymn book embedded in our book of Psalms is one which we may call the "Pilgrim Songs." It is found in chapters 120 to 134 of our Psalter. All of these psalms have the title, "A Song of Ascents." This probably means a song to sing on the ascent to Jerusalem. These come from the happy time after Nehemiah when the city was safely protected by walls. Because of this blessed safety it was now possible for the people once more to go on pilgrimages to the great annual religious feasts as prescribed in the law-book of Deuteronomy. Before the walls were rebuilt such gatherings of pilgrims with their gifts would merely have been an invitation to robbers. But now the custom of pilgrimages was renewed, and they came to be among the happiest events of the year in the lives of Jewish men and women and older boys and girls.

The journey to Jerusalem was usually made in large companies or caravans for the sake of protection. For the roads outside of Jerusalem were by no means safe. And naturally in such a crowd of folks from the home village there would be much singing. These "Pilgrim Songs" grew out of the spirit of these journeys. They are filled with gratitude to God for his kindness, and with trust in his care, and with pride in their beautiful city Jerusalem which God had helped them to rebuild.