No political or social problems clouded the prophet's vision. The entire energies of priest, Levite, prince, and people were to be devoted to the worship of the Holy One, whose restored and glorified sanctuary stood in their midst. Thus it was that Ezekiel reversed the ideals of the pre-exilic Hebrew state and presented that programme which with many modifications was adopted in principle at least by the post-exilic Judean community. In place of the monarchy appeared the hierarchy; instead of the king the high priest became both the religious and the civil head of the nation. Soon the Davidic royal line disappeared entirely, and the interests of the people centred more and more about the temple and its ritual. Although Ezekiel's vision was not and could not be fully realized, except by a series of miracles, this devoted priest-prophet of the exile was in a large sense the father of Judaism.
Section XCIII. THE CLOSING YEARS OF THE BABYLONIAN RULE
[Sidenote: II Kings 25:27-30] Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year in which he became king, (561 B.C.) lifted up Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison to a position of honor. And he spoke kindly to him and placed his seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments. And Jehoiachin ate with him continually as long as he lived. And for his support a continual allowance was given him by the king, each day a portion, as long as he lived.
[Sidenote: Isa. 9:1-3]
The people who have been walking in darkness see a great light,
Those who dwell in the land of deepest gloom, upon them a light shines.
Thou multipliest the exultation, thou makest great the rejoicing,
They rejoice before thee as men rejoice at harvest time,
As men are wont to exult when they divide spoil.
[Sidenote: Isa. 9:4, 5]
For the burdensome yoke and the crossbar on his shoulder,
The rod of his taskmaster, thou breakest as in the day of Midian.
For every boot of the warrior with noisy tread,
And every war-cloak drenched in the blood of the slain
Will be completely burned up as fuel for the flame.
[Sidenote: Isa. 9:6, 7]
For a child is born, to us a son is given,
And dominion shall rest upon his shoulder;
And his name will be Wonderful Counsellor,
Godlike Hero, Ever-watchful Father, Prince of Peace.
To the increase of his dominion and to the peace there shall be no end,
On the throne of David and throughout his kingdom,
To establish and uphold it by justice and righteousness
Henceforth and forever. The jealousy of Jehovah will accomplish this.
[Sidenote: Isa. 11:1, 2]
A sprout shall spring from the stock of Jesse,
And a shoot from his roots shall bear fruit.
The spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him.
A spirit of wisdom and insight,
A spirit of counsel and might,
A spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah.
[Sidenote: Isa. 11:3-6]
He will not judge according to what his eyes see,
Nor decide according to what his ears hear;
But with righteousness will he judge the helpless,
And with equity will he decide for the needy in the land.
He will smite an oppressor with the rod of his mouth,
And with the breath of his lips will he slay the guilty.
Righteousness will be the girdle about his loins,
And faithfulness the band about his waist.
[Sidenote: Isa. 11:6-8]
Then the wolf will be the guest of the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion will graze together,
And a little child shall be their leader.
The cow and the bear shall become friends,
Their young ones shall lie down together,
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
The suckling will play about the hole of the asp,
And the weaned child will stretch out his hand toward the viper's nest.
[Sidenote: Isa. 11:9, 10]
Men shall not harm nor destroy
In all my holy mountain;
For the earth shall have been filled with knowledge of Jehovah
As the waters cover the sea.
And it shall come to pass in that day,
That the root of Jesse who is to stand as a signal to the peoples—
To him shall the nations resort,
And his resting-place shall be glorious.
[Sidenote: Isa. 13:2-4]
Upon a treeless mountain lift up a signal, raise a cry to them,
Wave the hand that they may enter the princely gates.
I myself have given command to my consecrated ones, to execute my wrath,
I have also summoned my heroes, my proudly exultant ones.
Hark, a tumult on the mountains, as of a mighty multitude!
Hark, an uproar of kingdoms, of gathered nations!
It is Jehovah of hosts mustering the martial hosts.
[Sidenote: Isa. 13:17-22]
I will punish the earth for its wickedness, and the wicked for their
iniquity,
I will still the arrogance of the proud, and lay low the presumption of
tyrants.
Behold, I stir up against them the Medes,
Who consider not silver, and take no pleasure in gold,
On children they will look with no pity, they have no compassion on the
fruit of the womb,
And Babylon, the most beautiful of kingdoms, the proud glory of the
Chaldeans, shall be,
As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It shall be uninhabited forever, and tenantless age after age;
No nomad shall pitch there his tent, nor shepherds let their flocks lie
down there,
But wild cats shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of jackals;
Ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there,
Howling beasts shall cry to each other in its castles, and wolves in its
revelling halls;
Its time is near at hand, its day shall not be extended.
[Sidenote: Ezra 6:3-5] In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem—this house shall be rebuilt, where they offer sacrifices and bring him offerings made by fire. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits, It shall be constructed with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timber. And let the expenses be paid out of the king's treasury. Also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadrezzar took from the temple at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple which is at Jerusalem, each to its place, and you shall put them in the house of God.
[Sidenote: Ezra 5:14, 15] Now the gold and silver vessels of the house of God which Nebuchadrezzar took from the temple at Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylon, those Cyrus the king took out of the temple in Babylon, and they were delivered to one by the name of Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor. And he said to him, Take these vessels; go, put them in the temple at Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its place.
[Sidenote: Ezra 1:5, 6; I Esdr. 5:1-6] Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, even all whose spirit God had stirred to go up to build the temple of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem, arose. And all those who were about them supplied them with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, besides all that was voluntarily offered.
These are the names or the men who went up, according to their tribes, by their genealogy. Of the priests the sons of Phinehas, the son of Aaron: Jeshua the son of Jozadak, the son of Seriah. And there rose up with him Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel of the house of David, of the family of Peres, of the tribe of Judah; in the second year of Cyrus king of Persia in the first day of the month Nisan.
[Sidenote: Ezra 3:2-4, 6b] Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his kinsmen the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his kinsmen arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings on it, as prescribed in the law of Moses the man of God. And they set up the altar in its place; for fear, because of the peoples dwelling in the land, had come upon them, but they plucked up courage and offered burnt-offerings to Jehovah, even burnt-offerings morning and evening. And they kept the feast of booths as it is prescribed, and offered the fixed number of daily burnt-offerings according to the direction for each day; but the foundation of the temple of Jehovah was not yet laid.
I. The Transformation of the Jews into a Literary People. The destruction of Jerusalem transformed the Jewish peasants of Palestine into a literary race. Before the final destruction of Jerusalem they had lived together in a small territory where communication was easy and the need of written records but slight. The exile separated friends and members of the same families, and scattered them broadcast throughout the then known world. The only means of communicating with each other in most cases was by writing, and this necessity inevitably developed the literary art. The exiles in Babylonia and Egypt were also in close contact with the two most active literary peoples of the ancient world. In countries where almost every public or private act was recorded in written form, and where the literature of the past was carefully preserved and widely transcribed, it was inevitable that the Jews should be powerfully influenced by these examples. Furthermore, the teachers of the race, prophets and priests alike, prevented by the destruction of the temple from employing their former oral and symbolic methods of instruction, resorted, as did the priest Ezekiel, to the pen. Thus the religious thought and devotion of the race began to find expression in its literature.
The incentives to collect the earlier writings of the priests and prophets were also exceedingly strong, for the experiences and institutions of their past, together with their hopes for the future, were the two main forces that now held together the Jewish race. Fortunately, the more intelligent leaders realized, even before 586 B.C., that the final catastrophe was practically certain, and therefore prepared for it in advance. The decade between the first and second captivities also gave them an opportunity to collect the more important writings of their earlier prophetic and priestly teachers, while the Judean state was still intact and while these earlier writings could be readily consulted. II. The Literary Activity of the Babylonian Period. The literary work of this period took three distinct forms: (1) The collection, compilation, and editing of earlier historical writings. It was probably during this period that the narratives of Judges, of Samuel, and Kings, which carried the history down into the exile itself, received their final revision. (2) Earlier writings were revised or supplemented so as to adapt them to the new and different conditions. Thus the sermons of the pre-exilic prophets, as for example those of Amos and Isaiah, were then revised and supplemented at many points. These earlier prophets had predicted doom and destruction for their nation; but now that their predictions had been realized what was needed was a message of comfort and promise. The fulfilment of their earlier predictions had established their authority in the minds of the people. The purpose of the later editors was evidently to put in the mouth of these earlier prophets what they probably would have said had they been present to speak at the later day to their discouraged and disconsolate countrymen. Studied in the light of these two fundamentally different points of view, the glaring inconsistencies which appear in the prophetic books are fully explained and the consistency of the earlier prophets vindicated.
The third form of literary activity is represented by the writings of Ezekiel. With the authority of a prophet, he dealt directly with the problem of his day, and the greater part of his book consists of the records of his prophetic addresses or of epistles which he sent to his scattered fellow-countrymen, even as Jeremiah wrote from Judah a letter to the distant exiles in Babylon. His new constitution for the restored Jewish state was also based on earlier customs and laws, but was adapted to the new needs of the changed situation. He was not the only one to undertake this task. Other priests gathered earlier groups of oral laws and put in written form the customs and traditions of the pre-exilic temple. At the same time they modified these earlier customs so as to correct the evils which past experience had revealed.
III. The Holiness Code. The chief product of the literary activity of the earlier part of the exile is the collection of laws found in the seventeenth to the twenty-sixth chapters of Leviticus. Because of its strong emphasis on the holiness of Jehovah and on the necessity that he be worshipped by a people both ceremonially and morally holy, it is now commonly designated as the Holiness Code. In theme, in point of view, in purpose, and in literary form it has many close points of contact with the writings of Ezekiel. In its original unity it evidently came from the period and circle of thought in which the great priest-prophet lived. His sermons, however, suggest that he was acquainted with its main teachings. In distinguishing sharply between the Jerusalem priests and the ministering Levites, and in prohibiting the marriage of a priest with a widow, Ezekiel shows that his work represented a slightly later stage in the development of Israel's religious standards. The most probable date, therefore, for the Holiness Code is the decade between the first and second captivity (597-586 B.C.).
Like every ancient lawbook the Holiness Code contains many laws and regulations which evidently come from a much earlier period in Israel's history. Some of its enactments are very similar to those of the primitive codes of Exodus 21-23. In spirit it is closely related to the book of Deuteronomy. It also reproduces many of the laws found in this earlier code. Both codes represent the fruitage of the teaching of the pre-exilic prophets and priests. Each contains ceremonial, civil, and moral laws; but the emphasis on the ritual is more pronounced in the Holiness Code. It consists of ten or eleven distinct groups of laws. In Leviticus 18 and 19 are found certain short decalogues. They probably represent the united efforts of the Judean prophets and priests during the Assyrian period to inculcate the true principles of justice, service, and worship in the minds of the people. Some of the laws in these earlier decalogues are the noblest examples of Old Testament legislation:
DUTIES TO OTHERS
[Sidenote: Kindness to the needy]
I. Thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy fields.
II. Thou shalt not gather the gleanings of thy harvest.
III. Thou shalt not glean thy vineyard.
IV. Thou shalt not gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard.
V. Thou shalt leave them for the poor and the resident alien.
[Sidenote: Honesty in business relations]
VI. Ye shall not steal.
VII. Ye shall do no injustice, in measures of length, weight or of
quantity.
VIII. Ye shall not deal falsely with one another.
IX. Ye shall not lie to one another.
X. Ye shall not swear falsely by my name.
JUSTICE TO ALL MEN
[Sidenote: Toward dependents]
I. Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor.
II. Thou shalt not rob thy neighbor.
III. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with thee all night
until the morning.
IV. Thou shalt not curse the deaf.
V. Thou shalt not put a stumbling-block before the blind.
[Sidenote: Toward equals]
VI. Thou shalt not do injustice in rendering a judicial decision.
VII. Thou shalt not show partiality to the poor.
VIII. Thou shalt not have undue consideration for the powerful.
IX. Thou shalt not go about as a tale-bearer among thy people.
X. Thou shalt not seek the blood of thy neighbor [by bearing false
testimony in court].
ATTITUDE TOWARD OTHERS
[Sidenote: In the heart]
I. Thou shalt not hate thy fellow-countryman in thy heart.
II. Thou shalt warn thy neighbor and not incur sin on his account.
III. Thou shalt not take vengeance.
IV. Thou shalt not bear a grudge against the members of thy race.
V. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
IV. The Liberation of Jehoiachin and the Hopes of the Jews. The liberation of Jehoiachin, the grandson of Josiah, from the Babylonian prison where he had been confined since the first capture of Jerusalem was the one event in the Babylonian period deemed worthy of record by the biblical historians. The occasion was the accession of Nebuchadrezzar's son Evil-merodach (Babylonian, Amil-Marduk). The act possessed little political importance, for the Jews were helpless in the hands of their Babylonian masters; but it evidently aroused the hopes of the exiles, and especially that type of hope which centred in the house of David.
Ezekiel, in his ideal programme, assigned to the Davidic prince only minor duties in connection with the temple, and transferred the chief authority to the high priest and his attendants. But it is evident that Ezekiel did not fully voice the hopes of the majority of the exiles. The late passage in II Samuel 7:16, which contains the promise to David:
Thy house and kingdom shall always stand firm before me,
Thy throne shall be established forever,
expresses the prevailing belief in the days immediately preceding the exile. The national hopes which looked to the descendants of the house of David for fulfilment were inevitably modified, however, by the experiences of the exile and strengthened by the liberation of Jehoiachin. The rule of such kings as Manasseh and Jehoiakim had revealed the overwhelming evils that unworthy rulers, even though of the house of David, could bring upon their subjects. Josiah's reign, on the other hand, established new and higher standards. The noble ethical and social ideals of Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah had not wholly failed to awaken a response.
All of these varied influences are traceable in the two prophecies found in Isaiah 9:1-7 and 11:1-10. Embodying as they do many of the social principles for which Isaiah contended, it was natural that these anonymous writings should afterward be attributed to that great statesman-prophet. Jehovah, however, was the one supreme king whom Isaiah acknowledged; and it was difficult to find in his strenuous life a logical or historical setting for these kingly oracles. They also imply that the royal house of Judah had been struck down, and that the new king is to rise out of a background of gloom and is to inaugurate an entirely new era. The character and rule of this king of popular hopes reflect many of the traits of David and Josiah; but his aims and methods are in accord with the moral and social standards of the great pre-exilic prophets. They portray a temporal ruler; but the spirit which actuates him and the principles which guide him are noble and unselfish. As subsequent history clearly shows, the prophet or prophets who painted these portraits apparently hoped that a son or grandson of Jehoiachin would realize them. It is exceedingly probable in the light of the later predictions of Haggai and Zechariah (Sections XCIV, XCV) that these prophecies were written not long after the birth of Zerubbabel. The kingdom over which he was to rule and to which he was to bring perfect justice and peace was the prophetic counterpart of Ezekiel's priestly plan of the restored and redeemed community. The ethical ideals thus concretely set forth were never fully realized in Israel's troubled history; but they remain as valid and commanding to-day as they were far back in the Babylonian period. The abolition of all the insignia of war, the high sense of official responsibility, the protection of the weak by the strong, and the reign of perfect peace and harmony throughout all the earth are the goals for which all earnest, consecrated souls in every age and race are striving. It is natural and proper that the Christian Church should see in Jesus the fullest and truest realization of these ancient kingly ideals.
V. The Rule of Nabonidus. The successors of Nebuchadrezzar proved weak and inefficient. His dissolute son, Amil-Marduk, was soon murdered by his brother-in-law Nergalsharuzur (Gk. Neriglissar). This ruler is probably the Nergal-sharezer of Jeremiah 39:3 who directed the final capture and destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. After reigning four years he died, leaving the Babylonian empire to his young son, who soon fell a victim to a conspiracy of his nobles. They placed on the throne a certain Nabuna'id, who is known to the Greek historians as Nabonidus. He appeared to be more interested in excavating ancient ruins and in rebuilding old temples than in ruling his subjects. By his arbitrary religious policy and his neglect of the popular gods of the Babylonians, he completely alienated the loyalty of his people. During the latter part of his reign, which extended from 555 to 538 B.C., he left the government largely in charge of his son Belsharuzur, the Belshazzar of the story in Daniel.
VI. Rise and Conquests of Cyrus. While the Babylonian empire was sinking into decay, the Median kingdom on the north and east experienced a sweeping revolution. Its cause was the discontent of the older Median population under the rule of the more barbarous Umman-Manda. These later Scythian conquerors had, under their king Cyaxares, broken the power of Assyria and fallen heir to its eastern territory. The older elements found a leader in Cyrus, the king of Anshan, a little state among the mountains of Elam, northeast of Babylonia. From contemporary inscriptions it appears that the followers of Astyages, who succeeded Cyaxares to the Median throne, rebelled against their king and delivered him over into the hands of Cyrus. As soon as Cyrus became master of the Median Empire, he proved an able commander, a skilful politician, and a wise statesman. Recognizing that he could hold in control the diverse and turbulent elements in his heterogeneous kingdom only as he kept them actively occupied, he at once entered upon a series of campaigns which in the end left him undisputed master of southwestern Asia. In 547 B.C., two years after he became king of Media, he crossed the Tigris and conquered Mesopotamia, which had been held for a time by the Babylonians, Apparently he did not assume the title King of Persia until 546. Appreciating the great strength of Babylon, he did not at first attempt its capture, but began at once by intrigue to pave the way for its ultimate overthrow. In 545 he set out on a western campaign against Croesus, the king of Lydia, the ancient rival of Media. After a quick and energetic campaign, Sardis, the rich Lydian capital, was captured, and Cyrus was free to advance against the opulent Greek colonies that lay along the eastern shores of the Aegean. These in rapid succession fell into his hands, so that by 538 B.C. he was in a position to advance with a large victorious army against the mistress of the lower Euphrates.
VII. His Capture of Babylon. The campaigns of Cyrus were naturally watched with keen interest by the Jewish exiles in Babylonia. The songs in Isaiah 14, 15, and 21:1-10, and Jeremiah 51:29-31, voice their joyous expectation of Babylon's impending humiliation. In a contemporary inscription Cyrus has given a vivid account of the fall of the capital. Early in October of the year 538 B.C. he assembled a large army on the northern borders of Babylonia. Here a battle was fought in which the Babylonians were completely defeated. The town of Sippar quickly surrendered to Cyrus's general, and two days later the Persian army entered Babylon. The record states that the gates of the mighty city were opened by its inhabitants, and Cyrus and his followers were welcomed as deliverers. King Nabonidus was captured and banished to the distant province of Carmania, northeast of the Persian Gulf. In the words of Cyrus: "Peace he gave the town; peace he proclaimed to all the Babylonians." In the eyes of the conquered, he figured as the champion of their gods, whose images he restored to the capital city. The temples as well as the walls of Babylon were rebuilt, and the king publicly proclaimed himself a devoted worshipper of Marduk and Nebo, the chief gods of the Babylonians. Thus from the first the policy of Cyrus in treating conquered peoples was fundamentally different from that of the Babylonians and Assyrians. They had sought to establish their power by crushing the conquered rather than by furthering their well-being; but Cyrus, by his many acts of clemency, aimed to secure and hold their loyalty.
VIII. His Treatment of Conquered Peoples. Cyrus showed the same wisdom in his treatment of the many petty peoples who had been ground down under the harsh rule of Babylon. In one of his inscriptions he declares: "The gods whose sanctuaries from of old had lain in ruins I brought back again to their dwelling-places and caused them to reside there forever. All of the citizens of these lands I assembled and I restored them to their homes" (Cyrus Cyl., 31, 32). In the light of this statement it is clear that the Jews, in common with other captive peoples, were given full permission to return to their homes and to rebuild their ruined temple. The decree of Cyrus recorded in the Aramaic document preserved in Ezra 6:3-5 is apparently the Jewish version of the general decree which he issued. It is also possible that he aided the vassal peoples in rebuilding their sanctuaries; for such action was in perfect accord with his wise policy. He also intrusted the rulership of different kingdoms as far as possible to native princes. In the Greek book of I Esdras has been preserved a list (which has fallen out of the biblical book of Ezra) of those who availed themselves of Cyrus's permission to return to Palestine. It includes simply the priest Jeshua, or Joshua, the lineal heir of the early Jerusalem priestly line of Zadok, and Zerubbabel, a descendant of the Judean royal family. They doubtless took with them their immediate followers and were probably accompanied by a few exiles whose loyalty impelled them to leave the attractive opportunities in Babylon to face the dangers of the long journey and the greater perils in Palestine.
From Jeremiah 41:5 and Haggai 2:14 it appears that a rude altar had been built on the sacred rock at Jerusalem and that religious services were held on the site of the ruined temple soon after its destruction in 586 B.C. With the gifts brought back by Zerubbabel and his followers, daily sacrifices were probably instituted on the restored altar under the direction of the priest Joshua (cf. Hag. 2:10-14). In the light, however, of the oldest records it is clear that the revival of the Judean community in Palestine was gradual and at first far from glorious. The Jews were a broken-hearted, poverty-stricken, persecuted people, still crushed by the great calamity that had overtaken their nation. The general return of the exiles was only a dream of the future, and, despite the general permission of Cyrus, the temple at Jerusalem still lay in ruins.
Section XCIV. THE REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE
[Sidenote: Hag. 1:1-6] In the second year of Darius the king, in the first day of the sixth month, this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Speak to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest, saying, 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, "This people say: The time has not yet come to rebuild the temple of Jehovah."' Then this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your own ceiled houses, while this temple lies in ruins? Now therefore, thus saith Jehovah of hosts, 'Consider your past experiences. Ye sow much, but bring in little; ye eat, but ye do not have enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled; ye clothe yourselves, but not so as to be warm; and he who earneth wages, earneth wages in a bag with holes.'
[Sidenote: Hag. 1:7-11] Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, 'Consider your experiences. Go up to the mountains, and bring wood and rebuild the temple; then I will be pleased with it, and I will reveal my glory,' saith Jehovah. 'Ye looked for much, and it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I blew upon it. Why?' saith Jehovah of hosts. 'Because of my temple that lieth in ruins, while ye are running each to his own house. Therefore the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholdeth its fruit. And I have called forth a drought upon the land and upon the mountains, and upon the grain and the new wine and the oil and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men and animals, and upon all the labor of the hands.'
[Sidenote: Hag. 1:12-15a] Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest, with all the rest of the people, obeyed the command of Jehovah their God and the words of Haggai the prophet, as Jehovah their God had sent him to them. The people also feared before Jehovah. And Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak the high priest, and the spirit of all the rest of the people, so that they came and worked on the temple of Jehovah of hosts, their God, in the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
[Sidenote: Hag. 1:15b-2:5] In the second year of Darius the king, on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, this word from Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, saying, 'Who is left among you that saw this temple in its former glory? and how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes as nothing? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel,' is the oracle of Jehovah; 'and be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and be strong, all ye people of the land,' is the oracle of Jehovah, 'and work, for I am with you,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts, 'and my spirit abideth in your midst; fear not.'
[Sidenote: Hag. 2:6-9] For thus saith Jehovah of hosts: 'Yet a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, and the precious things of all nations shall come; and I will fill this temple with glory,' saith Jehovah of hosts. 'The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts. 'The later glory of this temple shall be greater than the former,' saith Jehovah of hosts; 'and in this place will I grant prosperity,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts.
[Sidenote: Hag. 2:10-14] In the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, this word of Jehovah came by Haggai the prophet: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: 'Ask of the priests a decision, saying, "If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any food, shall it become holy?"' And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by reason of a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean. Then answered Haggai and said, So is this people and so is this nation before me, is the oracle of Jehovah; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.
[Sidenote: Hag. 2:15-19] And now, I pray you, think back from this day, before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of Jehovah; how were ye? When ye came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten; when ye came to the wine vat to draw out fifty vessels, there were but twenty. I smote with blasting and with mildew and with hail all the work of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, is the oracle of Jehovah. Think back from this day, think! Is the seed yet in the granary, yea, the vine and the fig tree and the pomegranate and the olive tree have not brought forth; from this day will I bless you.
[Sidenote: Hag. 2:20-22] This word of Jehovah came the second time to Haggai in the twenty-fourth day of the month: Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, and say: 'I will shake the heavens and the earth; and I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms; and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those who ride in them; and the horses and their riders shall come down, each by the sword of his brother.
[Sidenote: Hag. 2:23]
'In that day,' is the oracle of Jehovah of hosts, 'I will take thee, O
Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel,' is Jehovah's oracle, 'and
will make thee as a seal-ring, for I have chosen thee,' is the oracle of
Jehovah of hosts.
[Sidenote: Ezra 5:3-5] At that time Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai and their associates came to them, and spoke thus to them, Who gave you permission to build this temple and to finish this wall? And who are the builders who are carrying this through? But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that they did not make them cease, until a report should come to Darius and a written decision concerning it be returned.
[Sidenote: Ezra 6:1-5] Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the archives where the official documents from Babylon had been deposited. And at Ecbatana, the royal palace in the province of Media, a roll was found, and in it was thus written: A record: In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: 'Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the house be rebuilt, where they offer sacrifices and bring him offerings made by fire; its height shall be sixty cubits, and its breadth sixty cubits. It shall be constructed with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timber; and let the expenses be paid out of the king's treasury. Also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought to the temple which is at Jerusalem, each to its place; and you shall put them in the house of God.'
[Sidenote: Ezra 6:6-12] Now therefore, Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the River, Shethar-bozenai, and the rulers of the province beyond the River, go away from there; let the work of this house of God alone; let the elders of the Jews rebuild this house of God in its place. Moreover I make a decree in regard to what you shall do for these elders of the Jews for the building of this house of God: that out of the king's wealth from the tribute of the province beyond the River the expenses be exactly paid to these men, and that without delay. And whatever is needed, both young bullocks and rams and lambs for burnt-offerings to the God of heaven, also wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the direction of the priests at Jerusalem, let it be given to them day by day without fail, that they may regularly offer sacrifices of sweet savor to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons. Also I have made a decree, that whoever shall make this command invalid, a beam shall be pulled out from his house, and he shall be impaled upon it, and his house shall for this be made a refuse heap. And the God who hath caused his name to dwell there shall overthrow all kings and peoples who shall put forth their hand to make invalid the command or to destroy the house of God at Jerusalem. Exactly will it be executed.
[Sidenote: Ezra 6:13,14] Then Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the River, and Shethar-bozenai, and their associates did exactly as Darius the king had given command. And the elders of the Jews built and prospered. And they finished the building according to the command of the God of Israel and according to the decree of Cyrus and Darius.
I. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah are the chief sources of information regarding Jewish history during the Persian period. They fall into nine general divisions: (1) the return of the Babylonian exiles and the revival of the Judean community, Ezra 1-4;
(2) the rebuilding of the temple, 5-6; (3) Ezra's expedition and the priestly reformation, 8-10, and Nehemiah 8-10; (4) Nehemiah's work in rebuilding the walls, Nehemiah 1:1-7:5; (5) census of the Judean community, 7:6-69; (6) measures to secure the repopulation of Jerusalem, 11; (7) genealogy of the priests and Levites, 12:1-26; (8) dedication of the walls, 12:27-43; and (9) Nehemiah's later reform measures, 12:44-13:31. It is evident that Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book, and that they come from the same author as I and II Chronicles. This important fact is demonstrated by the presence of the same marked characteristics of thought and literary style in both of these books. The closing verses of II Chronicles are also repeated verbatim at the beginning of Ezra.
Throughout these books the interest is religious and ceremonial rather than civil and national. They constitute in reality a history of the Jerusalem temple and its institutions. The whole may properly be designated as the "Ecclesiastical History of Jerusalem." It traces the history of Jerusalem and the southern kingdom from the earliest times to the close of the Persian period. Its author, who is commonly known as the Chronicler, evidently lived during the earlier part or middle of the Greek period. Certain characteristics of his literary style and point of view indicate that he wrote about 250 B.C. His peculiarities and methods of writing are clearly revealed by a comparison of the older parallel history of Samuel-Kings with the books of Chronicles. In general he lacks the historical spirit and perspective of the earlier prophetic historians. He also freely recasts his record of earlier events in order to bring it into accord with the traditions current in his own day. Above all he aimed to establish the authority and prestige of the Jerusalem temple, and to prove that Jehovah "was not with Israel" (II Chron. 25:7), which was represented in his day by the hated Samaritans. The hatred engendered by the Samaritan feud explains many of the peculiarities of the Chronicler. He was, in fact, an apologist rather than a historian. Thus post-exilic institutions, as, for example, the temple song service with its guilds of singers, are projected backward even to the days of David, and the events of early Hebrew history are constantly glorified. The numbers found in the earlier, prophetic sources are magnified, and at every point it is easy to recognize the influence of the Chronicler's familiarity with the splendor and magnificence of the great Persian and Greek empires, and of his desire to inspire his fellow-Jews with national pride and with loyalty to their religious institutions.
II. The Chronicler's Conception of the Restoration. Fortunately the Chronicler did not depend entirely upon traditions current in his day, or upon his own conceptions of the early history, but quoted freely from earlier sources. As a result a large portion of the prophetic history of Samuel and Kings is reproduced verbatim in I and II Chronicles. For the Persian period, regarding which he is our chief authority, he apparently quoted from three or four documents. In Ezra 4:7-23 is found a brief description in Aramaic of the opposition of Judah's neighbors to the rebuilding of the walls, probably in the days of Nehemiah. In Ezra 5 and 6 there is another long quotation from an Aramaic document that describes a similar attempt to put a stop to the rebuilding of the temple in the days of Haggai and Zechariah. The Chronicler evidently believed that the second temple was rebuilt, not by the people of the land to whom Haggai and Zechariah spoke, but by Jewish exiles who on the accession of Cyrus had returned in great numbers from Babylon. He assumed that Judah had been depopulated during the Babylonian exile, and that the only people left in Palestine were the heathen and the hated Samaritans. He also pictures the return of the exiles, not as that of a handful of courageous patriots, but of a vast company laden with rich gifts and guarded by Persian soldiers.
A careful examination of Ezra 2, which purports to contain the list of The 42,360 exiles who returned immediately after 538 B.C., quickly demonstrates that, like its duplicate in Nehemiah 7:6-69, its historical basis, if it has any outside the fertile imagination of the Chronicler, is a census of the Judean community. This census was taken, not at the beginning, but rather at the end of the Persian period. Thus in the list of the leaders appear the names not only of Joshua and Zerubbabel, but also of Nehemiah and Ezra (Azariah). Certain leaders, such as Mordecai and Bigvai, bear Persian names which clearly imply that they lived far down in the Persian period. The family of the high priest Joshua already numbers nine hundred and ninety-three. In this census are also included the inhabitants of many towns outside Jerusalem, as, for example, Jericho, Gibeon, and Bethlehem. Moreover, certain towns are mentioned, such as Lud and Ono, which were not added to the Judean community until the latter part of the Persian period. In view of these facts and the unmistakable implications in the sermons of Haggai and Zechariah that in their day there had been no general return of their kinsmen from Babylon, the prevailing popular interpretation of this period of Israel's history is clearly untenable and misleading. If there was a general return of exiles from Babylon, it certainly did not come until after the walls had been rebuilt under the inspiring leadership of Nehemiah. The Jews to whom Haggai and Zechariah preached, and who rebuilt the second temple, were the people of the land who had survived the destruction of Jerusalem, or else had returned from their temporary refuge on the borders of the land of Egypt.
III. Convulsions in the Persian Empire. After a brilliant and successful reign Cyrus died in 529 B.C., leaving his vast empire to his son Cambyses. The new king lacked the wisdom and statesmanship of his father, but inherited his love of conquest. Most of his short reign was devoted to the conquest of Egypt. From their hill-tops the Jews doubtless witnessed the march of the great armies of Persia, and were forced to contribute to their support. It was a period of change and transition, when old empires went down in ruin and new forces gained the ascendancy.
On his return from Egypt, Cambyses, finding a pretender contending for the throne, committed suicide, thus leaving the empire without any legitimate head. During this crisis, in the autumn of 521 B.C., a Persian noble, Darius, was raised to the kingship by conspirators, who had slain the pretender. Darius claimed relationship with the Persian royal family, and strengthened his position by marrying Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus. The beginning of his reign was signalized by a series of revolts throughout the whole extent of the empire. In Susiana a certain Athrina proclaimed himself king. In Babylonia a native prince rallied his countrymen and assumed the title of Nebuchadrezzar III. The Median revolt was led by a certain Pharaortes; while among the Persians themselves a pretender, who claimed to be a son of Cyrus, gained a wide following. Fortunately for Darius there was no concerted action among the leaders of these different rebellions, so that he was able to subdue them in succession; but to the ordinary on-looker the task seemed well-nigh impossible. Not until the spring of 519 did Darius become fully master of the situation.
IV. Haggai's Effective Addresses. It was in the autumn of 520 B.C., when the rebellions in the Persian Empire were at their height, that Haggai made his stirring appeal to the members of the Judean community. From the references in his addresses and in those of his contemporary, Zechariah, it is evident that he and his hearers were profoundly influenced by these great world movements. The situation seemed to give promise not only of deliverance from Persian rule, but an opportunity at last to realize the national hopes of the Jewish race. Haggai's message was simple, direct, and practical. According to the beliefs universally accepted in his day his logic was unanswerable. On the one hand Jehovah, through poor crops and hard times, had plainly showed his displeasure with his people in Judah. The reason was obvious; although they had built comfortable houses for themselves, Jehovah's temple still lay in ruins. If they would win his favor, it was plainly their duty to arise and rebuild his sanctuary. The upheavals in the Persian Empire also gave promise that, if they were true to their divine King, he would at last fulfil the predictions voiced by their earlier prophets.
The words of Haggai, uttered in September of 520, met with an immediate response. Work was begun on the temple in October of the same year. When the energy and enthusiasm of the builders began to wane, the prophet appeared before them again in November of 520 with the declaration that Jehovah was about to overthrow the great world powers and to destroy the chariots, horses, and riders of their Persian masters, "each by the sword of his brother." He also voiced the popular expectations that centred in Zerubbabel, who had already been appointed governor of Judah. The prophet declared boldly that this scion of the house of David would be Jehovah's seal-ring, the earthly representative of that divine power which was about to work great revolutions in the history of the world. During the same period Zechariah also uttered his messages of encouragement and spurred the people on to continued efforts (Section XCV).
V. The Attempt to Stop the Rebuilding of the Temple. The Aramaic document preserved in Ezra 5 and 6 describes in detail an attempt of the Persian governor, who ruled over the province west of the Euphrates, to put a stop to the temple building. The narrative, the letter, and decrees which it contains reveal at many points their Jewish origin. While the tradition may be comparatively late, its circumstantial character favors the conclusion that it preserves the memory of a definite historical event. The action of the Jews in rebuilding their temple was in perfect accord with the policy of Cyrus and also of Darius, as is shown by contemporary inscriptions. The attempt, therefore, to stop the building of the temple failed; and in 516 B.C., four years after the work was begun, it was completed.
VI. The Significance of the Restoration of the Temple. The rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple appears to have been of immediate significance chiefly to the Jews of Palestine. The Jews of Egypt, or at least those of Elephantine, had their own temple. From Zechariah 6:9-11 it is evident that the Jewish exiles in Babylon sent certain gifts to the Jerusalem temple; but the hundreds of miles of desert that intervened made communication exceedingly difficult, so that except at rare intervals there was apparently little interchange between Babylonia and Palestine. For all Jews, however, the rebuilding of the temple meant that at last they had a common rallying-place, and that Jehovah was again being worshipped by his own people at his traditional place of abode. In a sense it bridged the seventy years that had intervened since the destruction of the pre-exilic Hebrew state, and made it possible to revive the ancient religious customs. In time it attracted from the lands of the dispersion patriotic Jews whose interest was fixed upon the ceremonial side of their religious life. It also furnished a centre about which gradually grew up a hierarchy with an increasingly elaborate ritual, and a body of laws which ultimately became the characteristic features of Judaism.
Section XCV. ZECHARIAH'S VISIONS AND ENCOURAGING ADDRESSES
[Sidenote: Zech. 1:7-11] In the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month [February], in the second year of Darius [519 B.C.], this word of Jehovah came to the prophet Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo: I saw in the night and there was a man standing among the myrtle trees that were in the valley-bottom, and behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white. Then said I, O my Lord, what are these? And the angel who talked with me said to me, I will show you what these are. And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom Jehovah hath sent to go to and fro through the earth. And they answered the angel of Jehovah who was standing among the myrtle trees and said, We have gone up and down through the earth and behold, all the earth is still and at peace.
[Sidenote: Zech. 1:12-17] Then the angel of Jehovah answered and said, O Jehovah of hosts, how long hast thou no pity on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah with which thou hast been wroth these seventy years? And Jehovah answered the angel who was talking with me with good words, even comforting words. So the angel who was talking with me said to me, Proclaim now, 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: "I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. But with great wrath am I wroth with the arrogant nations; for I was only a little angry [with Israel], but they helped to make greater the calamity." Therefore, thus saith Jehovah: "I am turning to show mercy to Jerusalem; my temple shall be built in it," saith Jehovah of hosts, "and a measuring line shall be stretched over Jerusalem. Proclaim again, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: My cities shall yet overflow with prosperity; and Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem."'
[Sidenote: Zech. 1:18, 19] Now I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and there were four horns. And I said to the angel who was talking with me, 'What are these?' And he assured me, 'These are the horns with which he scattered Judah.'
[Sidenote: Zech. 1:20, 21] Then Jehovah showed me four smiths. And I said, What are these coming to do? And he said, These are the horns which scattered Judah, so that none lifted up his head; but these are come to terrify them, to strike down the horns of the nations, which lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.
[Sidenote: Zech. 2:2-5] Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then I said, Where are you going? And he said to me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its breadth and length. Thereupon the angel who talked with me stood still, and another angel went out to meet him, and said to him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, 'Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and cattle in her midst. For I,' saith Jehovah, 'will be a wall of fire round about her, and I will be the glory in the midst of her.'
[Sidenote: Zech. 2:6-9]
Ho, ho, flee from the land of the north, is Jehovah's oracle.
For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, is
Jehovah's oracle.
Ho, escape to Zion, ye who dwell in Babylon.
For thus saith Jehovah of hosts to the nations which plundered you:
He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye.
For, behold, I am about to shake my hand over them,
And they shall be a spoil to those who served them;
And ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me.
[Sidenote: Zech. 2:10-13]
Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for, lo, I come,
And I will dwell in the midst of thee, is Jehovah's oracle.
And many nations shall join themselves to Jehovah in that among day,
And shall be his people, and he will dwell in the midst of thee,
And thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to thee.
And Jehovah shall inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land,
And he shall yet comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.
Be silent, all flesh, before Jehovah;
For he hath waked up out of his holy habitation.
[Sidenote: Zech. 3:1-3] Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of Jehovah and the adversary standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the angel of Jehovah said to the adversary, Jehovah rebuke thee, O adversary; yea, Jehovah, who hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and was standing before the angel.
[Sidenote: Zech. 3:4-5] And [the angel] answered and spoke to those who stood before him, saying, Take the filthy garments from off him, clothe him with robes of state; set a clean turban upon his head. So they set a clean turban upon his head, and clothed him with garments; and the angel of Jehovah was standing by.
[Sidenote: Zech. 3:6-10] And the angel of Jehovah testified to Joshua, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: 'If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou also shalt rule my house and shalt also keep my courts and I will give thee a place of access among these who stand by. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou and thy associates who sit before me; for they are men who are a sign; for behold, I am about to bring forth my servant the Branch. For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; upon one stone are seven facets: behold, I will engrave it,' saith Jehovah of hosts, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day,' saith Jehovah of hosts, 'ye shall each invite his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.'
[Sidenote: Zech. 4:1-6] Then the angel who talked with me came again and waked me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, What seest thou? And I said, I see midst there a candlestick, all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and its seven lamps upon it; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are upon the top of it, and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on its left side. And I spoke and said to the angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord? Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, The eyes of Jehovah, which rove to and fro through the whole earth.
[Sidenote: Zech. 4:11-14] Then I answered, and said to him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon its left side? And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
[Sidenote: Zech. 4:6b-10] This is the word of Jehovah regarding Zerubbabel, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith Jehovah of will I make the great mountain before Zerubbabel a plain; and he shall bring forth the top stones with shoutings of, 'Grace, grace, to it.' Moreover this word of Jehovah came to me: The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple; his hands shall also finish it; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to you. For who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel.
[Sidenote: Zech. 6:9-11]. Now this word of Jehovah came to me: Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, of Jedaiah and of Josiah the son of Zephaniah who have come from Babylon, yea, take of them silver and gold in order to make a crown and set it on the head of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel.
[Sidenote: Zech. 6:12-15] Thou shalt also say to them: 'Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: "Behold, the man whose name is the Branch; and he shall grow up out of his place; and he shall build the temple of Jehovah; and he shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and Joshua the son of Jehozadak shall be a priest upon his right, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. And the crown shall be to Heldai and Tobijah and Jedaiah, and Josiah the son of Zephaniah, as a memorial in the temple of Jehovah. And they who are far off shall come and build in the temple of Jehovah; and ye shall know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of Jehovah your God."'
[Sidenote: Zech. 7:1-6] In the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, the city of Bethel sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men, to entreat the favor of Jehovah, and to speak to the priests of the house of Jehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, should I weep in the fifth month [in memory of the destruction of the temple] separating myself, as I have done these many years? Then this word of Jehovah of hosts came to me: Speak to all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, 'When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month [when Gedaliah was murdered], even these seventy years, did ye at all fast to me, even to me? And when ye eat and when ye drink, do ye not eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
[Sidenote: Zech. 7:7-14] Should ye not hear these words which Jehovah cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities round about her, and the South Country, and the lowland were inhabited? Execute true judgment, and show kindness and pity each to his brother; and oppress not the widow nor the fatherless, the resident alien nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against your brother in his heart. But they refused to heed, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant lest they should hear the teaching, and the words which Jehovah of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Therefore there came great wrath from Jehovah of hosts. And even when I cried they would not hear, so when they cried I did not hear, saith Jehovah of hosts. And I scattered them by a whirlwind among the nations which they did not know. Thus the land was left desolate behind them, so that no man passed to or fro; for they made the pleasant land a desolation.
[Sidenote: Zech. 8:1-5]
Now this word of Jehovah of hosts came to me:
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts,
'I cherish for Zion a great jealousy,
And I am jealous for her with great indignation.'
Thus saith Jehovah, 'I have returned to Zion,
And will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem;
And Jerusalem shall be called, "The City of Truth;"
And the mountain of Jehovah of hosts, "The Holy Mountain."
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts:
'Old men and old women shall again sit in the broad places of Jerusalem,
Each man with his staff in his hand because of old age.
And the streets of the city shall be full of boys,
And of girls playing in its broad places.'
[Sidenote: Zech. 8:6-8]
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts:
Because it seemeth impossible to the remnant of this people,
Is it impossible for me? saith Jehovah of hosts.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts:
I am about to rescue my people,
From the land of the east and the land of the west,
And I will bring them and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem.
And they shall be my people in truth and righteousness,
And in turn I will be their God.
I. Zechariah's Ancestry and Point of View. Haggai's contemporary, the prophet Zechariah, was evidently a priest. In the genealogy of Nehemiah 12:4, it is stated that he belonged to the priestly family of Iddo. This conclusion is confirmed by the character of his prophecies. Like the priest-prophet Ezekiel he is exceedingly fond of apocalyptic symbolism. He is also deeply interested in the priesthood and in its ceremonial purity. Furthermore, it is exceedingly probable that he was a descendant of one of the many priests carried as exiles to Babylon. This is shown by his keen interest in and exact knowledge of the great political movements that were then shaking the Persian Empire. His conception of Jehovah is also strongly influenced by the analogies drawn from the Persian court. In his thought Israel's God is a transcendental ruler, who communicates with his subjects not directly, but through angelic messengers, and who, like the Persian kings, is dependent for information regarding his great kingdom upon the reports of the different members of his heavenly court. Thus Zechariah marks a wide departure from the simple theology of the pre-exilic prophets who thought of Jehovah as dwelling in the midst of his people and communicating directly with all who turned to him in faith.
II. The Book of Zechariah. The book which records the prophet's sermons contains four distinct divisions: (1) An exhortation addressed to the people in December, 520, three months after Haggai first appealed to them to rise and rebuild the temple, Zechariah 1:1-8; (2) symbolic visions dealing with the problems in the Judean community, 1:7-6:8; (3) practical counsel, exhortations, and promises, 6:9-8:23; (4) a later appendix coming from a prophet who probably lived during the earlier part of the Maccabean period, 9-14. All of Zechariah's recorded sermons probably date from the three or four years between 520 and 516 B.C., during which the temple was being rebuilt. They throw a remarkably clear light upon an exceedingly critical and significant period in the life of the Jews of Palestine. They are also in many ways the best Old Testament source for the study of the unfolding of Israel's messianic hopes.
III. Problems and Hopes of the Judean Community. Four or five practical problems confronted and disturbed the temple-builders. The first was: Would Jerusalem and the temple, still without walls, be protected from the attack of the hostile foes that encircled them. A second and larger question was: What was to be the outcome of the great tempest through which the Persian Empire was passing, and did it mean for the Jews deliverance from the powerful conquerors who for centuries had oppressed and crushed them? The third was: Would the necessarily modest service of the restored temple, already sadly polluted by heathen hands, be acceptable to Jehovah? Another problem was: What were the relations and the respective duties of Zerubbabel and Joshua, the civil and religious authorities in the community? It was also inevitable that at this time the hope of securing their independence under the leadership of Zerubbabel should come prominently to the front. To each of these problems Zechariah addressed himself, and his book records his convictions and public utterances.
IV. Zechariah's Assurances of Jehovah's Care. In his initial vision concerning the angelic horsemen he recognizes that the storms that have swept over the Persian Empire are beginning to subside, but he tells his fellow-laborers that, if they persist, Jehovah's temple shall be rebuilt and that the lands about Jerusalem shall again be sold to eager buyers, and the cities of Judah shall enjoy their former prosperity, for "Jehovah will surely comfort Zion." In the vision of the four horns and of the four smiths whose mission it is to smite the horns, he assures the people that Jehovah in his good time and way will overthrow the nations that now wrong and oppress them. Although there is no promise that Jerusalem will be surrounded by walls, he declares that it shall enjoy a prosperity and a growth which no walls can confine, and that Jehovah himself will be its protection, as well as its glory, that he will gather the scattered exiles, and that they, together with the nations which shall acknowledge Jehovah's rule, shall yet come streaming back to Judah.
In his next vision the prophet graphically presents a scene in Jehovah's court. Joshua the priest, representing the ceremonial service of the polluted temple, is charged by the adversary with uncleanness. Here for the first time in Hebrew literature we catch a glimpse of Satan, who is regarded not as hostile to God but as the prosecuting attorney of heaven. As in the prologue of the book of Job, he is an accredited member of the divine hierarchy. His task is to search out and report to Jehovah the misdeeds of men. In Zechariah's vision, however, the divine judge acquits Joshua of the charge, and causes him to be clad with clean garments, thus proclaiming the divine approval of the modest yet devoted service of the Judean community.
V. Preparations for the Crowning of Zerubbabel. Regarding Zerubbabel, Zechariah declares, in language highly figurative, that he shall yet be crowned and rule over a happy and prosperous people. He is spoken of as Jehovah's servant, the Branch. The term is probably original with Zechariah, although again used in the supplementary passages in Jeremiah 23:5 and 33:15. The word is akin to the term "shoot of the house of Jesse" used in Isaiah 11, to describe a certain scion of the house of David, who in all probability was the young Zerubbabel. Zechariah's figure describes the prince as an offshoot of the same royal tree. The obscure passage seems to mean that upon the stone, with its seven facets, which was to be set in the crown prepared for the head of Zerubbabel, Jehovah himself would engrave a fitting title.
In Zechariah's fifth vision he defined the relations between the civil and priestly authorities. The golden candlestick represented the temple and its service. The two olive trees beside it stood for Zerubbabel, the civil ruler, and for Joshua, the high priest. The duty of each was to contribute his part toward the support of the temple service. They were both Jehovah's Messiahs, that is, men anointed as a symbol of the task which each was to perform.
In this connection Zechariah declared that Jehovah would remove all obstacles from before Zerubbabel, and that he who had begun the work should live to see its completion. In an address recorded in the latter part of the sixth chapter of his prophecy (intentionally revised by a later scribe), Zechariah threw aside all symbolism and gave directions to make a crown for the head of Zerubbabel from the silver and gold that had been brought as a gift by a deputation from the Jews of Babylon. He also plainly predicted that this descendant of David should sit on the throne of Judah and that Joshua the priest should be his minister like the priests in the pre-exilic kingdom.
VI. Disappointment of These Patriotic Hopes. With Zechariah's prediction that Zerubbabel should reign on the throne of Judah the descendants of the house of David suddenly and forever disappear from Old Testament history. Whether the Jews made the attempt to shake off the yoke of Persia Or whether Zerubbabel was quietly set aside cannot be determined. Contemporary history states that within at least six months after Zechariah voiced the patriotic hopes of his people the authority of Darius was fully established throughout the empire. He at once began thoroughly to organize the vast realm. Post roads bound together the distant provinces, and satraps, appointed largely from the ranks of the royal family, unified the whole empire and held it under firm control. As a rule Persian governors were substituted for the native princes. With the institution of this policy Zerubbabel may well have been quietly set aside. The event evidently made a profound impression upon the messianic expectations of the Jews. Henceforth, for three or four centuries, the temporal, kingly type of messianic hope, which had been inspired by the glories of the reign of David, entirely disappeared. It was not revived until the military victories of the Maccabean era had again brought prominently to the front this phase of national glory (cf. Section CXVI). As a result of these disappointments Israel's hopes were universalized and spiritualized. Jehovah, instead of a scion of the house of David, was henceforth regarded as the one supreme King of Israel.
VII. Zechariah's Later Exhortations and Predictions. In chapters 7 and 8, which conclude the original sermons of Zechariah, the apocalyptic language with which he clothed his earlier predictions regarding the future of the Judean community disappeared, and he spoke as did Amos and Haggai, plainly and directly regarding the questions which were then stirring the people. When a deputation came from the north to inquire whether or not, now that the temple was being rebuilt, they should continue to observe their fasts in memory of the destruction of Jerusalem and the death of Gedaliah, the prophet raised the searching question of whether their motive in these services was to please Jehovah or to please themselves. He then went on to declare that the only effective way to serve Jehovah was by deeds of justice and kindness, especially to the dependent classes in the community, and that the horrors of the exile had come because their fathers had failed to worship Jehovah by righteous deeds.
The prophet concludes with a brilliant picture of the coming restoration of Jerusalem and of the peace and prosperity which should be the lot of all, because Jehovah was about to gather his scattered people from the east and the west and to establish them in the midst of his sacred city. Other nations should eagerly come to Jerusalem to seek the favor of Jehovah and to ally themselves with his faithful followers, the Jews. In a prophecy, preserved in Micah 4:1-4 and Isaiah 2:1-4 (which probably comes from this period) the same thought is nobly expressed:
It shall come to pass in the latter days,
That the mountain of Jehovah shall be established,
Even the house of our God on the top of the mountain,
And it shall be lifted above the hills.
All the nations shall flow to it,
And many peoples shall go and say,
Come, let us go up to Jehovah's mount,
To the house of the God of Jacob,
That he may instruct us in his ways,
And that we may walk in his paths.
For from Zion proceeds instruction,
And Jehovah's word from Jerusalem.
Section XCVI. ISRAEL'S TRAINING AND DESTINY
[Sidenote: Isa. 40:1, 2]
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God,
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and declare to her,
That her hard service is accomplished, her guilt is expiated
That she hath received from Jehovah's hand double for all her sins.
[Sidenote: Isa. 40:3, 4]
A voice is proclaiming: In the wilderness prepare the way of Jehovah,
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God!
Let every mountain and hill sink down, and every valley be lifted up,
And the crooked be made straight and the rough ridges a plain.
[Sidenote: Isa. 40:6-8]
A voice is saying, Proclaim! and I said, What shall I proclaim?
All flesh is grass and all its beauty like a flower of the field.
Grass withers, flower fades, when Jehovah's breath blows eternal upon it,
Grass withers, flower fades, but the word of our God endureth forever.
[Sidenote: Isa. 40:9]
To a high mountain, get thee up, Zion's herald of good news;
Lift up mightily thy voice, Jerusalem's herald of good news.
Lift up fearlessly, say to the cities of Judah: Behold your God!
[Sidenote: Isa 40:10, 11]
Behold, Jehovah cometh in might, and his arm is maintaining his rule;
Behold, his reward is with him and his recompense is before him,
As a shepherd he will tend his flock, with his arm he will gather it,
The lambs in his bosom he will bear, the ewe-mothers he will lead.
[Sidenote: Isa. 40:12]
Who hath measured in the hollow of his hand the waters,
And ruled off the heavens with a span,
Or enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure,
And weighed the mountains in scales,
And the hills in a balance?
[Sidenote: Isa. 40:13, 14]
Who hath determined the spirit of Jehovah,
And as his counsellor advised him?
With whom hath he consulted for enlightenment,
And to be instructed in the right,
And to be shown the way of discernment?
[Sidenote: Isa. 40:16, 17]
Lo the nations! as a drop from a bucket,
And as dust on a balance are they reckoned.
Lo the isles! as a mote he uplifteth,
And Lebanon is not enough for fuel,
And its wild beasts for a burnt-offering.
All the nations are as nothing before him,
They are reckoned by him as void and nothingness.
[Sidenote: Isa. 40:18-20]
To whom then will ye liken God,
And what likeness place beside him?
An image! a craftsman cast it,
And a smelter o'erlays it with gold.
He who is too poor to do this
Chooses a tree that is not decayed,
Seeks for himself a skilled craftsman,
To set up an image that shall not totter.
[Sidenote: Isa. 40:21, 22]
Do ye not know? Do ye not hear?
Hath it not been told you from the beginning?
Have ye not been aware from the founding of the earth?
It is he who is enthroned above the vault of the earth,
And its inhabitants are as locusts;
Who stretcheth out the heavens as a thin veil,
And spreadeth them out like a habitable tent.
[Sidenote: Isa. 40:23, 24]
It is he who bringeth princes to naught,
The rulers of the earth he maketh as waste.
Scarcely have they been planted, scarcely have they been sown,
Scarcely hath the stock taken root in the earth,
But he bloweth upon them and they wither,
And a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.
[Sidenote: Isa. 40:25, 26]
To whom then will ye liken me
That I should equal him? saith the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
Who hath created these?
He who bringeth forth their host by number,
And calleth each by his name;
Of the many mighty and strong,
Not one is missing.
[Sidenote: Isa. 40:27-31]
Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel:
My way is hid from Jehovah
And my right is unnoticed by my God?
Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard?
An everlasting God is Jehovah.
The creator of the ends of the earth.
He fainteth not, neither is weary,
His wisdom cannot be fathomed,
He giveth vigor to the fainting,
And upon the powerless he lavisheth strength.
Young men may faint and grow weary,
And the strongest youths may stumble,
But they who trust in Jehovah renew their vigor,
They mount on pinions like eagles,
They run but are never weary,
They walk but never faint.