IV. Regulations Regarding the Temple Service. The expulsion of Tobiah the Ammonite from the room which had been assigned him in the temple by Eliashib, the high priest, was apparently due to two reasons, first because Tobiah was persona non grata to Nehemiah and had already shown himself a dangerous foe to the Jews. The second and chief reason was because the room was needed for storing the offerings that were brought in for the support of the temple officials. These offerings were presented in accordance with the demands of the Deuteronomic regulation, which at this time was the code acknowledged by the Judean community (Deut. 18:4. 14:23, 27, 28). The narrative adds that, with his practical knowledge of affairs, Nehemiah appointed a representative committee consisting of a priest, a scribe, and a Levite, and to them he intrusted the task of receiving and distributing the temple tithes to their kinsmen.
V. Provisions Regarding Sabbath Observation and Foreign Marriages. Far away from the temple, and therefore unable to participate in the distinctive feasts and ceremonials that distinguished the religious life of their race, and confronted by the constant danger of being absorbed by the heathen among whom they found themselves, the Jews of the dispersion placed strong emphasis on two institutions. The one was the observation of the sabbath and the other was the preservation of the purity of their blood by abstaining from all marriage alliances with their Gentile neighbors. In Palestine, where they were able to revive the ancient feasts in connection with the temple, and where the danger of absorption was not so imminent, their practices in these regards appear to have been much more lax. Not only had the priests set the example by contracting foreign marriages, but apparently about this time the author of the beautiful story of Ruth, by citing the tradition regarding the Moabite ancestry of their illustrious King David, voiced the belief of many in the community that such marriages were permissible. Nehemiah, however, rigorously opposed this tendency. He also appreciated the menace to the dignity and character of the temple service, if the commercial pursuits of ordinary days were carried into the sabbath. His measure, therefore, in closing the gates and thus excluding all traders, was both sane and effective. In setting his face strongly against foreign marriages he was simply enforcing the laws found in Deuteronomy 7:1, 3 and 33:3, which forbade the Hebrews to intermarry with the people of the land.
VI. Significance of Nehemiah's Work. In rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem Nehemiah prepared the way for that revival of the Jewish state which characterized the closing years of the Persian period. More important still was his work in re-establishing a close relation between the Jews of the dispersion and those of Palestine. He himself was the connecting link between them, and his activity prepared the minds of the Palestinian Jews for the acceptance of those new principles that were strongly held by leaders like himself. He also enforced the ethical and social ideals of the earlier prophets, and ably advocated the principles that are fundamental in the late priestly laws. Above all, in his own personality as a prophetic layman, he held up before his race an example of patriotism, self-sacrifice, efficiency, and devotion to the service of Jehovah which made a profound and lasting impression upon his own and later generations.
Section CII. THE TRADITIONAL ACCOUNT OF THE ADOPTION OF THE PRIESTLY LAW
[Sidenote: Ezra 7:1, 6-10] In the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra, a descendant of Aaron, went up from Babylon; and he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which Jehovah, the God of Israel, had given. And the king granted him all his request, inasmuch as the hand of Jehovah his God was upon him. And some of the Israelites, and of the priests, the Levites, the singers, the porters, and the temple servants went up to Jerusalem [with him]. And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. For on the first day of the first month he began the journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, since the good hand of God was with him. For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of Jehovah, and to observe it and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances.
[Sidenote: Neh. 7:73b, 8:4-6] And when the seventh month drew near, all the people gathered themselves together as one man to the broad place that was before the Water Gate. And they spoke to Ezra the priest and scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which Jehovah had commanded Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly of men and women, and all who could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it before the open place that was before the Water Gate, from early morning until mid-day, in the presence of the men and women and of those who could understand; and all the people were attentive to the book of the law. And Ezra the priest and scribe stood upon a wooden pulpit, which they made for the purpose and opened the book in the sight of all the people—for he was above all the people—and when he opened it all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed Jehovah, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, while they lifted up their hands and bowed their heads and worshipped Jehovah with their faces to the ground.
[Sidenote: Neh. 8:9-12] Then Ezra the priest, the scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, This day is holy to Jehovah your God; mourn not, nor weep; for all the people when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, Go away, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions to him for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy to our Lord; and do not be troubled, for the joy of Jehovah is your bulwark. So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be still, for the day is holy, and do not be troubled. And all the people went away to eat and drink and to send portions and to make a great rejoicing, for they had understood the words which had been made known to them.
[Sidenote: Neh. 8:13-19] And on the second day the heads of fathers' houses of all the people, the priests and the Levites were gathered together to Ezra the scribe, in order to gain an insight into the words of the law. And they found written in the law, how Jehovah had commanded by Moses that the Israelites should dwell in booths at the feast in the seventh month; and that they should proclaim aloud in all their cities and in Jerusalem: Go forth to the mount and bring olive branches and branches of wild olive and myrtle and palm branches and branches of thick trees to make booths, as it is prescribed. So the people went out and brought them, and made themselves booths, each man upon the roof of his house and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God and in the open space at the Water Gate and in the open space at the Ephraim Gate. And all the assembly of those who had come back from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun to that day the Israelites had not done so. And there was very great gladness. And day by day, from the first to the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they celebrated the feast seven days, and on the eighth day, as was the custom, there was a concluding solemn assembly.
[Sidenote: Neh. 9:1-3] Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the Israelites were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth and earth upon their heads. And the children of Israel had separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place and read in the book of the law of Jehovah their God a fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed and worshipped Jehovah their God.
[Sidenote: Neh. 9:6-8] And Ezra said, Thou art Jehovah, even thou alone; thou hast made heaven and the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all things that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and thou preservest them all and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. Thou art Jehovah the God, who didst choose Abraham and bring him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and didst give him the name Abraham, and find his heart faithful before thee and make a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites to his descendants, and hast performed thy words, for thou art righteous.
[Sidenote: Neh. 9:32-37] Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and kindness, let not all the affliction seem little before thee, that hath come on us, on our kings, our nobles, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and on all thy people, since the days of the kings of Assyria to this day. However thou art just in all that has come upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly, neither have our kings, our nobles, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law nor heeded thy commands and thy testimonies with which thou didst testify against them. For they have not served thee in the time of their kingly rule, and in spite of thy great goodness that thou gavest them, they have not turned from their wicked deeds. Behold, we this day are slaves, and as for the land that thou gavest to our fathers to eat its fruit and enjoy its good gifts, see we are only slaves in it. And it yieldeth a great income to the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sin; also they have power over our bodies and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.
[Sidenote: Neh. 9:38] Moreover in addition to all this we made a fixed covenant and wrote it out, and our nobles, our Levites, and our priests were enrolled upon the sealed document.
[Sidenote: Neh. 10:28-31] And all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, every one who had knowledge and insight, strongly supported their kinsmen, their nobles, and entered into a solemn obligation and took oath to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commands of Jehovah our Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes; and that we would neither give our daughters to the peoples of the land nor take their daughters as wives for our sons; and that, if the peoples of the land should bring wares or any grain on the sabbath day to sell, we would not buy of them on the sabbath or on a holy day; and that on the seventh year we would leave the land uncultivated and would refrain from the exaction of any debt.
[Sidenote: Neh. 10:32-39] We also imposed upon ourselves the obligation to give yearly the third part of a shekel for the service of the house of our God, for the bread that was set forth, and for the continual burnt-offering, for the sabbaths, the new moons, the fixed feasts, and the holy things, and for the sin-offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our God. And we cast lots, the priests, the Levites, and the people, for the wood-offering, to bring it into the house of our God, according to our father's houses, at appointed times year by year, to burn upon the altar of Jehovah our God, as it is prescribed in the law; and to bring the earliest products of our ground, and the first of all fruit of every kind of tree year by year, to the temple of Jehovah; also the first-born of our sons and of our cattle, as is prescribed in the law, and the firstlings of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of God to the priests who minister in the house of our God; and that we should bring the first bread baked of our dough, the fruit of every kind of tree, the new wine and the oil, to the priests, in the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; and that they, the Levites, should receive the tithes in all the cities of our agricultural districts. And that the priest the son of Aaron should be with the Levites, when the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, into the store-house. For the Israelites and the sons of Levi shall bring the gifts of grain, of new wine, and of oil, into the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests who minister and the porters and the singers, and that we would not neglect the house of our God.
I. The Ezra Tradition. The tradition regarding Ezra and his work presents many difficult problems. Part of it is found in the heart of the book of Nehemiah; while another part is now found in the second half of the book of Ezra. It is not entirely clear whether this dislocation is due to the Chronicler, who desired to give Ezra, the priest and scribe, the precedence before Nehemiah, the layman, or to the mistake of a scribe. A recent writer (Professor Torrey, in Composition of Ezra-Neh.) has shown convincingly that the Ezra story in its present form is at least from the school to which the Chronicler belonged, if not from his own pen. Not only does it abound in the characteristic phrases of this voluminous editor, but it also reflects at many points his peculiar conception of the history of this period. Ezra is described as a descendant of Aaron and "a scribe skilled in the law of Moses." His work as interpreter of the law, which he is represented as bringing in his hand, is typical of the scribes, who were becoming the chief teachers of Judaism in the days of the Chronicler (the Greek period). The decree of Artaxerxes found in the seventh chapter of Ezra suggests at every point its late Jewish origin. It confers upon Ezra, the scribe, royal authority far eclipsing that given by Artaxerxes to Nehemiah, his favorite. A sum representing more than three million dollars is placed at Ezra's disposal. At his summons seventeen hundred priests, Levites, singers, and servants of the temple rally about the standard of the faithful scribe. He is represented as going under the royal protection to Palestine to instruct the Judean community, to reform its abuses, and to institute the rule of the law of Moses which he bore in his hand.
He first holds a great synagogue service in which the law is read and interpreted to the people. They are then bidden to observe the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles in accordance with its regulations. Later, when he discovers that the people of the land have entered into foreign marriages, he tears his clothes and hair and sits for hours overwhelmed by the great crime that rests upon the community. When the people are gathered about him, he upbraids them for their laxness and secures the appointment of a commission with himself at the head to investigate and put an end to these evil practices. When after three months the community has been purified from this foreign element, the people are again assembled to listen to the reading of the law. Then Ezra utters a fervent prayer in which he sets forth Jehovah's leadership of his people in the past and the disasters which have come as a result of their sins. After this public petition for Jehovah's forgiveness, the people through their nobles, Levites, and priests subscribe in writing to the regulations imposed by the lawbook that Ezra had brought. Its more important regulations are also recapitulated. They are to refrain from foreign marriages, to observe strictly the sabbath laws, and also the requirements of the seventh year of release, to bring to the temple the annual tax of one-tenth of a shekel and the other dues required for its support and for the maintenance of the priests and Levites.
II. The Historical Value of the Ezra Tradition. Recognizing that the Ezra tradition comes from the hand of the Chronicler, certain Old Testament scholars are inclined to regard it as entirely unhistorical. It can no longer be regarded as a strictly historical record. Like II Chronicles 31, it is shot through with the ideas current during the Greek period. With no desire to deceive, but with nothing of the modern historical spirit, the Chronicler freely projects the institutions, ideas, and traditions of his own day into these earlier periods. The result is that he has given not an exact or reliable historical record, but his own conception of the way in which the course of history should have unfolded. The Ezra tradition also lacks the support not only of contemporary testimony, but also of all the Jews who wrote during the next few centuries. Ben Sira in his review of Israel's heroes speaks in highest terms of Nehemiah, but knows nothing of Ezra's work. Even the comparatively late Jewish tradition reflected in the opening chapters of II Maccabees attributes to Nehemiah the re-establishment of the temple Service and the collection of the sacred writings of his race. At many points the Ezra tradition is also inconsistent with the straightforward contemporary record contained in Nehemiah's memoirs. The real question is whether or not there is a historical nucleus in the Ezra story, and if so, what are the facts which it reflects.
III. The Facts Underlying the Ezra Tradition. The later records make it clear that during the latter part of the Persian period the attitude of the Jews in Palestine toward their neighbors became more and more exclusive. Nehemiah appears to have given a great impetus to the movement which ultimately resulted in the Samaritan schism and the high wall that henceforth separated Jew and Gentile. The emphasis on the strict observation of the sabbath grew stronger and stronger, until at the beginning of the Greek period the Jews of Jerusalem preferred to fall before the sword of their foes rather than fight on the sabbath day (cf. Section CIII). The ritual of the temple became even more elaborate, and its income was greatly increased during the latter part of the Persian period. The extension of the territory of the Judean community implied that its numbers were increased by the return of loyal Jews attracted by the security offered by its walls and by the new spirit that animated the Jews of Palestine. The priestly laws which were formulated to meet the new needs of the Judean community appear to have been written in Palestine and by those closely connected with the temple service, but in the emphasis upon the sabbath and in their endeavor to prevent marriage with foreigners they suggest the presence and influence of Jews who had returned from the land of the dispersion. It is possible that among those who thus returned was the priest Ezra, and he may have been at the head of one of these groups of returning exiles. In the days of Josiah the code contained in the newly discovered Book of the Covenant was presented to the people in a public assembly and adopted and enforced by the king, who acted as the representative of the people (Section LXXXIII:iii). It is probable that in the small Judean community new regulations gained acceptance in the same way, except that the people were represented by their nobles and priests rather than by a king. The tradition of Ezra, therefore, is typical of the great movement that shaped the life of Judaism in the century immediately following the work of Nehemiah.
IV. Origin and Aims of the Priestly Laws. The late priestly laws which moulded the life of Judaism are found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. They do not constitute a unified code, but rather are made up of a series of smaller groups of laws, the older nucleus being the Holiness Code found in chapters 17-26 of Leviticus (cf. Section XCIII:iii). In some cases variants of the same law are found in different groups. Certain of these laws simply reiterate in slightly different form those already found in the primitive and Deuteronomic codes; but in general they supplement these earlier codes. The formulation, collection, and codification of these later laws apparently continued until toward the latter part of the Persian period when the Samaritan schism (Section CIII) fixed them in their present form.
To these laws was prefixed, as an introduction, the priestly history that opens with the account of creation in the first chapter of Genesis and briefly traces Israel's history to the settlement in Canaan. The interest of these late priestly historians is, like that of the Chronicler, in the origin of institutions. Thus the object of the first chapter of Genesis is to give the traditional origin and authority of the sabbath. The account of the flood culminates in a covenant embodying the command that man shall not eat of the blood of sacrificial animals; the priestly stories regarding Abraham aim to give the origin of the rite of circumcision. Israel's early experiences in the wilderness furnish the setting for the giving of the law at Sinai. In this way the late editors of these opening books of the Old Testament connect all of Israel's legislation with Moses and aim to establish its divine authority.
V. Their Important Regulations. The central aim in all these late priestly laws was similar to that of Ezekiel: it was to make Israel a holy people and to prevent them from falling again into the sins to which were attributed the overwhelming disasters that had overtaken them. This aim they sought to accomplish: (1) by making the temple and its services the centre of the life of the people and through ceremonial barriers and regulations to shield it from everything that might pollute it; (2) by rendering the temple service attractive; (3) by insuring through rigid ceremonial laws the purity of its priesthood; (4) by preserving the ceremonial cleanliness of the people through strict laws regarding the food which they ate and elaborate provisions for their purification in case they were contaminated by contact with that which was regarded as unclean; (5) by prohibiting absolutely all marriages with the heathen; and (6) by emphasizing the rigid observation of the sabbath and other distinctive institutions. In general these late priestly laws represented a return to the older and more primitive conception of religion, and defined duty in terms of ceremonial rather than moral acts.
VI. Their Practical Effects. Later Judaism represents to a great extent the result of the rigid enforcement of these regulations. Its life was centralized more and more about the temple. In its services the people found their chief interest and joy. The numbers of the priests and Levites were also greatly increased. To the older temple dues many new ones were added. Thus each man brought to the temple the first-born of his flock. Even his oldest son must be redeemed within a month after his birth by a gift of five shekels (which represented in modern currency between three and four dollars). Of every animal slain the shoulder, two joints, and the stomach went to the priests. Of the vintage and oil and grain they received about one-fiftieth. In addition a tithe was turned over to the Levites. Part of the wool in every sheep-shearing, as well as a part of the bread which they baked, found its way to the temple. In addition a large income came through the vows made by the people or the conscience money which was paid either in currency or gifts. Although the priests had no temporal authority by which to enforce these laws, it is evident that the people bore their heavy burdens gladly and brought willingly their offerings, that they might thereby win a definite assurance of Jehovah's favor. The law was to them a source of joy rather than a burden. Their love for it steadily grew until two centuries later during the Maccabean persecutions there were many who were ready to lay down their lives for it.
Section CIII. THE JEWISH STATE DURING THE LAST CENTURY OF PERSIAN RULE
[Sidenote: Ps. 36:5-10]
Thy loving-kindness, O Jehovah, is in the heavens,
Thy faithfulness reacheth to the skies,
Thy righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
Thy judgments are like the great deep;
Thou preservest man and beast.
How precious is thy loving-kindness, O God!
And the sons of men put their trust in the shadow of thy wings.
They are fully satisfied with the rich things of thy house,
And thou makest them drink of thy river of delights.
For with thee is the fountain of life,
And in thy light shall we see light.
O continue thy loving-kindness to those who know thee,
And thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
[Sidenote: Joel 2:1, 2b]
The word of Jehovah, which came to Joel, the son of Pethuel:
Blow a horn in Zion,
Sound an alarm in my holy mountain,
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
For the day of Jehovah comes,
For near is the day of darkness and gloom,
The day of cloud and thick darkness!
[Sidenote: Joel 2:2c-6]
Like the light of dawn scattered over the mountains,
A people great and powerful;
Its like has not been from of old,
Neither shall be any more after it,
Even to the years of coming ages.
Before them the fire devours,
And behind them a flame burns;
Like the garden of Eden is the land before them,
And after them it is a desolate desert,
Yea, nothing escapes them.
Their appearance is as the appearance of horses,
And like horsemen they run.
Like the sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains they leap,
Like the crackle of flames devouring stubble,
Like a mighty people preparing for battle.
Peoples are in anguish before them,
All faces glow with excitement.
[Sidenote: Joel 2:7-9]
Like mighty men they run,
Like warriors they mount up a wall,
They march each by himself,
They break not their ranks,
None jostles the other,
They march each in his path,
They fall upon the weapons without breaking,
They scour the city, they run on the wall,
They climb up into the houses,
Like a thief they enter the windows.
[Sidenote: Joel 2:10-11]
Earth trembles before them,
Heaven quakes,
The sun and the moon become dark,
And the stars withdraw their shining;
And Jehovah uttereth this voice before his army,
For his host is exceedingly great,
Yea, mighty is he who performs his word,
For great is the day of Jehovah,
It is very terrible, who can abide it?
[Sidenote: Joel 2:12-14]
But now this is the oracle of Jehovah:
Turn ye to me with all your heart,
And with fasting and weeping and mourning.
Rend your hearts and not your garments,
And turn to Jehovah your God;
For he indeed is gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger and plenteous in love,
And relenteth of the evil.
Who knows but he will turn and relent,
And leave a blessing behind him,
A cereal and drink-offering for Jehovah your God?
[Sidenote: Joel 2:16-17]
Blow a horn in Zion,
Sanctify a fast, summon an assembly,
Gather the people, make holy the congregation,
Assemble the old men,
Gather the children, and the infants at the breast,
Let the bridegroom come forth from his chamber,
And the bride from her bridal tent.
Between the porch and the altar,
Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep aloud,
Let them say, Spare, O Jehovah, thy people,
And make not thine heritage an object of reproach,
For the heathen to mock them.
Why should it be said among the nations, Where is their God?
[Sidenote: Joel 2:18-20]
Then Jehovah became jealous for his land, and took pity upon his people,
And Jehovah answered and said to his people,
Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil,
And ye shall be satisfied therewith;
I will not make you again an object of reproach among the nations,
I will remove far from you the northern foe,
And I will drive him into a land barren and desolate,
His van to the eastern sea,
And his rear to the western sea,
And a stench from him shall arise.
[Sidenote: Joel 2:21-24]
Fear not, O land, exult,
And rejoice for Jehovah hath done great things.
Fear not, O beasts of the field,
For the pastures of the wilderness are putting forth new grass,
For the trees bear their fruit,
Fig tree and vine yield their strength.
Be glad, then, ye sons of Zion,
And rejoice in Jehovah your God,
For he hath given you the early rain in just measure,
And poured down upon you the winter rain,
And sent the latter rain as before.
The threshing floors shall be full of grain,
And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
[Sidenote: Joel 2:25-27]
I will make restoration to you for the years which the swarmer hath eaten,
The devourer, the destroyer, and the shearer,
My great army which I sent among you,
And ye shall eat your food and be satisfied,
And praise the name of Jehovah your God,
Who hath dealt so wonderfully by you,
And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
That I am Jehovah your God and none else,
And my people shall nevermore be abashed.
[Sidenote: Joel 2:28, 29]
And it shall come to pass afterwards,
That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh,
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions,
And even upon thy male and female slaves,
In those days I will pour out my spirit.
[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 7:1)] When Eliashib the high priest was dead, his son Judas succeeded him in the high priesthood. Then, when he was dead, his son Johanan assumed that dignity. It was on his account that Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes [Mnemon], desecrated the temple and imposed tribute on the Jews, that at public expense they should pay for every lamb fifty shekels. The reason for this was as follows: Jeshua was the brother of Johanan. Bagoses, who was Jeshua's friend, promised to secure for him the high priesthood. Trusting, therefore, in this support, Jeshua quarrelled with Johanan in The temple and so provoked his brother that, in his anger, Johanan slew him. On this account the people were enslaved and the temple desecrated by the Persians. For when Bagoses, the general of Artaxerxes, knew that Johanan, the high priest of the Jews had slain his own brother Jeshua in the temple, he immediately came against the Jews and began in anger to say to them, Have you dared commit a murder in your temple! And when he attempted to go into the temple they tried to prevent him doing so; but he said to them, Am I not purer than he who was slain in the temple? And when he had said these words, he went into the temple. Thus Bagoses made use of this pretext and punished the Jews seven years for the murder of Jeshua.
[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 7:2)] Now when Johanan had departed this life, his son Jaddua succeeded to the high priesthood. He had a brother whose name was Manasseh. And there was a certain Sanballat who was sent to Samaria by Darius, the last king of Persia. This man, knowing that Jerusalem was a famous city and that its kings had given great trouble to the Assyrians and the people of Coele-Syria, willingly gave his daughter, whose name was Nicaso, in marriage to Manasseh, thinking that this marriage alliance would be a pledge that the nation of the Jews would continue their good will toward him.
[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 8:2a-c)] The elders of Jerusalem, complaining loudly that the brother of Jaddua, the high priest, though married to a foreigner, was sharing with him the high priesthood, took sides against Jaddua; for they regarded this man's marriage as an encouragement to those who were eager to transgress by marrying foreign wives and that this would be the beginning of a closer association with foreigners. Therefore they commanded Manasseh to divorce his wife or else not to approach the altar. The high priest himself joined with the people in their indignation and drove his brother from the altar.
[Sidenote: (Jos. Ant. XI, 8:2d-g)] Then Manasseh went to his father-in-law, Sanballat, and told him that, although he loved his daughter, Nicaso, he was not willing to be deprived on her account of his priestly dignity, since it was the greatest dignity in their nation and had always continued in the same family. Thereupon Sanballat promised him not only to preserve for him the honor of his priesthood but also to procure for him the power and dignity of a high priest and to make him governor of all the places which he himself ruled, if he would retain his daughter as his wife. He also told him that he would build him a temple like that at Jerusalem upon Mount Gerizim, which is the highest of all the mountains in Samaria. Moreover he promised that he would do this with the approval of Darius, the king. Manasseh, being elated with these promises, remained with Sanballat, thinking that he would gain a high priesthood as the gift from Darius, for Sanballat was then well advanced in years. Now there was a great disturbance among the people of Jerusalem because many of the priests and Levites were entangled in such marriages, for they all revolted to Manasseh, and Sanballat offered them money and distributed among them land for cultivation and dwelling places also. He did all this in order in every way to gratify his son-in-law.
I. Prosperity of the Judean Community. Behind their restored walls the Jews of Jerusalem enjoyed a sense of security and peace that had not been theirs since the days of Josiah. At last they were free to develop the limited resources of little Judah and gradually to extend their territory northwestward over the fertile plain of Sharon. At the most their numbers and territory were small. The memories of their glorious past and their hopes for the future were their chief inspiration. The belief that in supporting faithfully the service of the temple and in conforming to the definite demands of the ritual they were winning Jehovah's favor was to them an unfailing source of comfort and thankfulness. In the rich services of the temple and in the contemplation of Jehovah's character and deeds they found true joy. These feelings are expressed in certain of the psalms, as, for example, Psalm 36, which probably comes from this period. In their weakness they looked up in confidence and gratitude to Jehovah who ruled supreme in the heavens, and who was able and eager to preserve those who "put their trust in the shadow of his wings." Their one prayer was that his loving-kindness would continue to protect them.
II. The Growth of the Psalter. Nehemiah's work apparently gave an impulse not only to the development of the law and the temple ritual, but also inspired poets to voice their own feelings and those of the community in certain of the psalms now found in the Psalter. It also encouraged them to collect the earlier religious songs of their race. The result of their work is the first edition of the Hebrew Psalter. In its present form the Psalter, like the Pentateuch, is divided into five books with a general introduction consisting of Psalms 1 and 2 and a concluding doxology (Ps. 150). At the end of each of these divisions are shorter doxologies or brief epilogues (e.g., 41:13 72:19 89:52 106:48). The Psalter itself is a library containing a great variety of poems written at different periods, from many different points of view and by many different poets. Like the Priestly Code and the book of Proverbs, it consists of a collection of smaller collections. Thus many psalms in the first half of the Psalter are repeated wholly or in part in later psalms. Psalm 14, for example, is identical with Psalm 73, except that in 14 Jehovah is used as the designation of the Deity and in 73 Elohim (or God).
The problem of determining the date of the individual psalms and of the different collections is exceedingly difficult, both because the superscriptions were clearly added by later editors who thought thereby to connect the psalm with an earlier writer or historic incident, and because the psalms themselves contain few historical allusions. A great majority of them reflect the teachings of the pre-exilic prophets or, like the book of Proverbs, come from the lips of the sages and deal with universal human problems. Some were written by priests or Levites for use in connection with the song service of the temple. Because of this timeless quality, however, an appreciation of them does not depend upon an exact knowledge of their authorship or historical background. It is possible that a few of the psalms in the first part of the Psalter come from the pre-exilic period, but the great majority reflect the problems, the hopes, the fears, and the trials of the faithful who lived under the shadow of the second temple. While the superscriptions clearly do not come from the original psalmists themselves, they do record the conclusions of the editors who made the earliest collections. The oft-recurring title "Psalm to David" either means that by the editor it was attributed to David as the author, or is a general designation of psalms that were recognized to be comparatively early. The two great Davidic collections, 3-41 and 51-72, were apparently collected not long after the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. They are deeply influenced by the inspiring teachings of the II Isaiah. They are remarkably free from that ceremonialism which became a powerful force in Judaism during the last century of the Persian rule. Psalm 51:16, 17, for example, echoes the noble ethical teachings of the great prophets:
Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it,
Thou delightest not in burnt offering,
The sacrifice of God is a broken heart,
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
They represent, therefore, the oldest edition of the Psalter and the songs which were probably sung by the temple singers and the people as they went up to the temple on the great feast days during the closing years of the Persian period.
III. The Prophecy of Joel. For a brief moment the clear light of contemporary prophecy is turned upon the Judean community by the little book of Joel. The immediate occasion was the invasion of a great swarm of locusts which swept into Judea either from the desert or from the mountains in the north. It contains in 3:6 the first Old Testament reference to the Greeks. From 3:2 it is evident that the Jewish race has already been widely scattered. In 3:2 the hope is expressed that the time will soon come when strangers shall no longer pass through Jerusalem. The temple, however, and the city walls (2:9) have already been rebuilt, indicating that the prophecy followed the work of Nehemiah. The priests are exceedingly prominent in the life of the community, and Joel, though a prophet, places great emphasis upon the importance of the ritual. When the community is threatened by the swarms of locusts, whose advance he describes with dramatic imagery, he calls upon the people to sanctify a fast and to summon an assembly, and commands the priests to cry aloud to Jehovah for deliverance.
IV. Hopes of the Jews. In his prophecy Joel has given a very complete description of the hopes which the people entertained regarding the coming day of Jehovah. It is the same day of Jehovah that Zephaniah described (Section LXXXI:v) and yet the portrait is very different. A divine judgment is to be pronounced, not upon Jehovah's people, but upon their foes. Here Joel reveals the influence of Ezekiel's graphic descriptions found in the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth chapters of his prophecy. Vividly he describes the advance of Israel's hereditary foes. With Full panoply of war they are pictured as advancing to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the valley of judgment (popularly identified with the Kidron), where Jehovah is to pass sentence upon them. Then suddenly, as the harvester puts the sickle in the grain, they shall be cut down and utterly destroyed. Also in the prophet's imagination above this carnage rises Jerusalem, an impregnable fortress for the people of Israel, holy and no longer polluted by the presence of heathen invaders. Peace and prosperity shall then be the lot of Jehovah's people. Above all he will pour out his purifying, enlightening spirit upon all classes, so that young and old, slave and free, shall be inspired by the consciousness of his message and presence in their hearts.
V. Rule of the High Priests. The few facts that have been preserved regarding the external history of the Judean community during the last century of the Persian rule are in striking contrast to the inner life and hopes of the people. At their head were the high priests, whose names we know, Eliashib, Johanan, and Jaddua. They constituted a hereditary aristocracy intrenched in the temple, which controlled not only the religious but also the civil life of the Jews. Like all hierarchies it lacked the corrective influence of a superior civil authority. The one safeguard of popular liberties, however, was the written law, which was fast becoming the absolute authority in the life of the community. To it the people could appeal even against the decisions of the priests. It therefore kept alive that inherited democratic spirit which had been the priceless possession of Israel through all its history.
There is every reason for accepting the detailed account which Josephus has given of the quarrel between the high priest Johanan and his brother Joshua which resulted in the murder of the latter within the sacred temple precincts. Such an opportunity would naturally be improved by the greedy Persian official to impose an onerous tax upon the Jews. The Elephantine letter establishes the fact that Johanan was high priest in 411 B.C. and that Baghohi (of which Bagoses is the Jewish equivalent) was the Persian satrap. It thus directly confirms the testimony of Josephus. References in late Greek writings (Solinus XXXV, 6; Syncellus I, 486) suggest that the Jews about 350 B.C. were involved with the Phoenicians in the rebellion against Persia. These historians state that at this time Jericho was captured and destroyed and that a part of the Jewish people were transported to the province of Hyrcania at the south of the Caspian Sea. The rebellion was instigated by Tachos, the ruler of Egypt, who about 362 not only shook off the rule of Persia, but invaded Syria and stirred up the Phoenicians to defy the Persian king. Artaxerxes III, popularly known as Ochus, proved, however, the last ruler who was able to revive the waning power of the Persian Empire. At his accession he slew all the members of the royal family, and throughout his reign (358-337 B.C.) he trusted chiefly to the unsheathed sword to maintain his authority. In 346 B.C. he finally succeeded in collecting a huge army with which he invaded Syria and besieged Sidon. Its king betrayed his city into the hands of the Persians, only to be murdered by the treacherous Ochus. The citizens of Sidon, recognizing that they would receive no mercy from the hands of Their conqueror, shut themselves up in their homes and then burned them Over their heads. According to the Greek historians forty thousand Phoenicians perished in this revolt.
VI. The Date of the Samaritan Schism. Josephus has given an unusually full and detailed account of the final schism between the Jews and Samaritans. He dates it under the high priesthood of Jaddua, who died shortly after the close of the Persian period. He implies, therefore, that the schism took place not long before 332 B.C., when Alexander the Great conquered Palestine. This is also in keeping with the fact that the Elephantine letter written in 411 B.C. knows nothing of a division between Jew and Gentile. The fact that at the time of the division the defecting priests took from Jerusalem the Pentateuch in its final form strongly confirms the conclusion (as Professor Torrey has pointed out in his Ezra Studies, pp. 324-330) that the Sanballat who ruled over the Samaritan community was not the contemporary of Nehemiah, but his grandson, who as an old man was ruling in Samaria at the time when Alexander conquered the East.
VII. The Nature and Consequences of the Schism. The schism between Jew and Samaritan was but a revival of the ancient rivalry which dated from the days when the Israelites had first settled in Canaan. The destruction of Samaria in 722 and the strong policy of Josiah had apparently led the Samaritans to look to the temple at Jerusalem as the chief sanctuary of the land. Shechem, however, and Mount Gerizim, which rises abruptly on the south, enjoyed traditions which dated from the earliest days of Israel's history. The sacred oak and altar at Shechem figured even in the patriarchal period. At the temple of Baal-berith in Shechem apparently both Canaanites and Israelites worshipped during the days of the settlement. According to the Samaritan version of Deuteronomy 24:4, Mount Gerizim, not Ebal or Jerusalem, was the place where the Israelites, after entering Canaan, were first commanded to rear an altar to Jehovah, and to inscribe upon it the laws given to Moses. Even in the Jewish version of Deuteronomy 11:29 and 27:12 Mount Gerizim is the mountain of blessing. In the light of these passages such commands as, for example, that in Deuteronomy 12:4, 5 would naturally be interpreted by the Samaritans as a reference to Gerizim rather than to Jerusalem. The destruction of the Judean capital and temple gave a great incentive to the revival of these Ancient traditions and a new prestige to the northern sanctuary. Until the close of the Persian period, however, the Samaritans evidently regarded Jerusalem as an important shrine and worshipped there side by side with the Jews. The ultimate schism appears to have come as a result of the growing jealousy with which certain of the Jews regarded foreign marriages. The marriage of Manasseh, the brother of Jaddua the high priest, to Nicaso, the daughter of Sanballat II, and his ultimate expulsion by the Jews blew into a flame the smouldering jealousy and opposition that had long existed between the two communities. As Josephus recounts, Sanballat, in order to satisfy his son-in-law, ceded lands and special rights to him and to the other Jerusalem priests, who were attracted by these offers, and ultimately built the famous temple on Mount Gerizim over which Manasseh and his descendants presided. In many ways the temple and service on Mount Gerizim appear to have been duplicates of those at Jerusalem. The same law was recognized by both communities; they shared together the same traditions and the same ideals; and yet their subsequent history illustrates the psychological truth that of all forms of hatred that between brothers is the most venomous and lasting. The bitter rivalry and growing hatred that resulted from this act are reflected even in the wisdom teachings of Ben Sira (B. Sir. 47:21, 24, 25). They also fundamentally color the writings of the Chronicler. The strenuous efforts that he made to discountenance the claims of the Samaritans reveals the intensity of the feud even in the Greek period (cf. II Chron. 11:13-16). His zeal in trying to prove that the rebuilders of the Jerusalem temple were of Jewish extraction was doubtless inspired by the Samaritan charge that during the Babylonian and Persian periods they had freely intermarried with the heathen population of the land. He was compelled to admit that even the high priestly families had been guilty of this sin, but asserted that the foreign wives were later divorced or else the offenders were expelled from Jerusalem. In the light of the oldest records it appears that the Samaritans were able to establish almost as pure a lineage as the Jews. Naturally during the succeeding years the ancient breach continued to widen until it was beyond all healing.
* * * * *
THE GREEK AND MACCABEAN AGE
Section CIV. THE JEWS UNDER THEIR GREEK RULERS
[Sidenote: 1 Mac. 1:1-4] Now after Alexander the Macedonian, the son of Philip, who came from the land of the Greeks, had smitten Darius king of the Persians and Medes, he reigned in his place as the first ruler of the Syrian kingdom.
He fought many battles,
And won many strongholds,
And slew the kings of the earth;
He went on to the ends of the earth;
And took spoils from a multitude of nations.
And when the earth was at peace before him,
He was exalted and his heart was lifted up;
He gathered an exceedingly great army,
And ruled over countries and peoples and principalities;
And they became tributary to him.
[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XI, 8:7a, c]
Now when Alexander was dead, the government was divided among his
successors. It was about this time that Jaddua the high priest died and
Onias, his son, took the high priesthood.
[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 1:1b-d] Alexander's empire was divided among many: Antigonus gained possession of the province of Asia; Seleucus of Babylon and the surrounding nations; Lysimachus governed the Hellespont, and Cassander held Macedonia; Ptolemy, The son of Lagus, got Egypt. While these princes ambitiously contended with one another, each for his own kingdom, there were continual and protracted wars. And the cities suffered and lost many of their inhabitants in these days of distress, so that all Syria experienced at the hands of Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, the opposite of what is implied by his title of saviour. He also captured Jerusalem by means of deceit and treachery; for, coming into the city on a sabbath day, as if to offer sacrifices, he without difficulty gained possession of the city, since the Jews did not oppose him, for they did not suspect him to be their enemy, and that day they always spent in rest and quietness. And when he had gained possession of it, he ruled over it in a cruel manner.
[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 1:1g-j] And when Ptolemy had taken many captives both from the mountainous parts of Judea and the places about Jerusalem and Samaria and Mount Gerizim, he led them all into Egypt and settled them there. And since he knew that the people of Jerusalem were most faithful in keeping their oaths and covenants, he distributed many of them among garrisons. At Alexandria he gave them equal privileges as citizens with the Macedonians themselves. He also required them to take oath that they would be faithful to his descendants. And not a few other Jews went into Egypt of their own accord, attracted both by the goodness of the soil and Ptolemy's generosity. However, there were disorders between their descendants and the Samaritans because of their resolve to preserve that manner of life which was transmitted to them by their forefathers. They accordingly contended with each other; those from Jerusalem said that their temple was holy and they resolved to send their sacrifices there, but the Samaritans were determined that they should be sent to Mount Gerizim.
[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 2:1a] When Alexander had reigned twelve years and after him Ptolemy Soter forty years, Ptolemy Philadelphus next had the kingdom of Egypt and held it thirty-nine years.
[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 2:5d, e, 4:1d-f] Now when Onias I. the high priest died, his son Simon succeeded him. When he died and left only a young son called Onias, Simon's brother Eleazer took the high priesthood. After Eleazar's death, his uncle Manasseh assumed the priesthood, and after he died, Onias II. received that honor. This Onia was lacking in sense and was a great lover of money; for that reason he did not pay the tax of twenty talents of silver for the people, which his forefathers had paid out of their own estates to the kings of Egypt. Thus he aroused the anger of King Ptolemy Euergetes, the father of Philopator. Euergetes sent an ambassador to Jerusalem and complained that Onias did not pay the taxes and threatened that if he did not receive them, he would parcel out their land and send soldiers to live upon it. When the Jews heard this message of the king they were filled with dismay, but Onias was so avaricious that nothing of this kind made him ashamed.
[Sidenote Jos. Ant. XII, 4:2a-f] There was a certain Joseph, young in years, but of great reputation among the people of Jerusalem for dignity and exact foresight. His father's name was Tobias and his mother was the sister of Onias the high priest. She informed him of the coming of Ptolemy's ambassador. Thereupon Joseph came to Jerusalem and reproved Onias for not taking thought for the security of his countrymen and for bringing the nation into dangers by not paying this money. Onias's answer was that he did not care for his authority, that he was ready, if it were possible, to lay down his high priesthood, and that he would not go to the king, for he cared nothing at all about these matters. Joseph then asked him if he would give him leave to go as ambassador on behalf of the nation. He replied that he would. So Joseph went down from the temple and treated Ptolemy's ambassador in a Hospitable manner. He also presented him with rich gifts and feasted him magnificently for many days and then sent him to the king before him and told him that he would soon follow him.
[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 4:3b, 4a-c] Now it happened that at this time all the principal men and rulers of the cities of Syria and Phoenicia went up to bid for the taxes; for every year the king sold them to the most powerful men of each city. And when the day came on which the king was to let the farming of the taxes of the cities, the taxes of Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, Judea and Samaria amounted altogether to eight thousand talents. Thereupon Joseph accused the bidders of having agreed together to estimate the value of the taxes at too low a rate and he promised that he would give twice as much for them, and for those who did not pay he would send the king their entire possessions, for this privilege was sold together with the taxes. The king was pleased to hear this offer, and because it increased his revenues he said he would confirm the sale of the taxes to him.
[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 4:5a-c, 3, 6a] And Joseph took with him two thousand soldiers from the king, for he desired to have assistance in order to compel those who refused in the city to pay. And when the people of Askelon refused to pay anything, he seized about twenty of their principal men and slew them, and gathered what they had and sent it all to the king and informed him what he had done. Ptolemy admired the spirit of the man, commended him for what he had done and gave him permission to do as he pleased. By these means he amassed great wealth and made vast profits by this farming of taxes. And he made use of the wealth he had thus secured in order to support his authority. This good fortune he enjoyed for twenty-two years; and he became the father of seven sons by one wife. He had also another son whose name was Hyrcanus.
[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:3a, b] Now in the reign of Antiochus the Great, who ruled over all Asia, the Jews, as well as the inhabitants of Coele-Syria, suffered greatly, and their land was sorely harassed, for while Antiochus was at war with Ptolemy Philopator and his son Ptolemy, who was called Epiphanes, these nations suffered equally both when he was defeated and when he was victorious. So they were like a ship in the storm which is tossed by the waves on both sides.
[Sidenote: Jos. Ant. XII, 3:3c-e] But at length when Antiochus had beaten Ptolemy he seized Judea. And when Philopator was dead, his son sent out against the inhabitants of Coele-Syria a great army under Scopas, general of his forces, and took many of their cities and especially our people, who, when he attacked them, went over to him. But soon afterwards Antiochus overcame Scopas in a battle fought at the fountains of the Jordan and destroyed a great part of his army. And afterwards, when Antiochus subdued those cities of Coele-Syria which Scopas had captured, and Samaria among them, the Jews of their own accord went over to him and received him into Jerusalem and gave plentiful provisions to all his army and readily assisted him when he besieged the garrison which was in the citadel at Jerusalem.
I. Josephus's Histories. The Greek period began with Alexander's conquest of Palestine in 332 and extended to the Maccabean uprising in 168 B.C. For the external history of this period the writings of the historian Josephus are the chief sources. This famous Jewish writer was born in 37 A.D., and apparently lived till about the close of the reign of Domitian in 96. According to his own testimony he was the son of a priest named Mattathiah. Until he was sixteen he studied under the Jewish rabbis. He then spent three years with the Jewish sect known as the Essenes. At the age of nineteen he joined the party of the Pharisees. His point of view in general is that of this dominant popular party. He was able to read Latin, but wrote his histories in Greek. At the age of twenty-six he went to Rome where he spent three years. Returning to Palestine at the beginning of the great rebellion against Rome, he was appointed revolutionary governor of the important province of Galilee. The appointment was unfortunate, for he proved both incompetent and unreliable. In 67 A.D. he and his followers were shut up by Vespasian in the Galilean city, Jotapata. During the siege he vainly tried to desert to the enemy. At the fall of the city he was captured, but his life was spared by Vespasian. In time he ingratiated himself with Titus and also incurred the hostility of his countrymen by trying to persuade them to lay down their arms. He spent the latter part of his life in Rome, devoting himself to study and writing. As a result of his long residence at Rome under the patronage of the Roman emperors, he was powerfully influenced by the Greek and Roman philosophical schools.
Josephus was the great apologist of his race. His chief aims in writing his histories were: (1) to excuse his own acts in connection with the great rebellion; (2) to show why the overwhelming calamity had overtaken his race; and (3) to answer the attack of their Gentile foes by tracing the remarkable history of his people, and by presenting in attractive form their beliefs, institutions, and laws. Of his two great historical works the one entitled The Jewish War was issued probably between 75 and 79 A.D. It opens with the beginnings of the Maccabean struggle, and traces the history, with increasing detail, to the destruction of Jerusalem and the suppression of the Jewish revolt at Gyrene, two or three years before the book was written. His second great work was issued in 93 A.D. under the title of The Antiquities of the Jews. In twenty books it traces Israel's history from the earliest beginnings to the opening years of the Jewish war (68 A.D.). The first half of this extensive history is based on the author's free paraphrase of the Greek version of the Old Testament. For the latter half he draws largely from the apocryphal book of I Maccabees and from the writings of contemporary Greek and Jewish historians. Chief among these are Polybius, Nicolaus of Damascus, and Strabo. At certain points, where earlier sources fail him, he employs popular romances and late traditions. The result is that the different parts of his history are of widely varying values. All must be carefully tested by the canons of historical criticism. After due allowance has been made for his apologetic purpose and his well-known tendencies, a large and valuable body of historical facts remain with which it is possible at many otherwise obscure points to reconstruct the course of Israel's history.
II. Alexander's Conquests. In many ways Alexander's conquest was the most significant and far-reaching event in the history of Asia. The causes of this great movement were, first, the fact that the limited territory of Greece and Macedonia gave to the powerful Hellenic civilization little opportunity for local expansion. Compelled, therefore, to break these narrow bonds, it naturally spread in the direction of least resistance. In the second place the decadent Persian Empire, with its fabulous riches and almost limitless plains, was a loadstone that lured on Greek adventurers to attempt feats that seemed incredible. The third reason was Alexander's inherited lust for conquest. His father, Philip of Macedon, had long been accumulating the resources which made it possible for his son to realize his ambitious dreams. The fourth reason was Alexander's desire to make the world more glorious by the diffusion of Hellenic culture, ideas, and institutions and by binding all races together into one great, harmonious family. His brilliant conquests are a familiar chapter in the world's history. At Issus, at the northeastern end of the Mediterranean, he won, in 333 B.C., the decisive battle which left him in possession of the western part of the huge Persian Empire. By 332 he was master of Palestine. Tyre, the commercial mistress of the eastern Mediterranean, and Gaza, the key to Egypt, alone offered resistance. The Persian kings by their onerous taxation and cruel policy had completely destroyed the loyalty of their western subjects. In the symbolic pictures of the book of Daniel Alexander is regarded as the "fourth beast, terrible and fearful and exceedingly strong. And it had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet" (7:17,23, 8:5-8). Josephus has preserved a popular tradition regarding the meeting between Alexander and the white-robed Jerusalem priests and the homage paid by the conqueror to the God of the Jews. It bears on its face evidence of its unhistorical character. As a matter of fact, the first goal of Alexander's conquest was the rich land of Egypt. Not being possessed of a navy, he entered it through its one vulnerable point, the Wady Tumilat, that ran from the Isthmus of Suez to the Nile Delta. By 331 B.C. he was master of the Nile Valley, and thence turned eastward, conquering in succession the different provinces of the great empire, until before his death in 323 B.C. his empire extended from the Mediterranean to the Indus, and in the northeast far up toward central Asia.
Alexander's conquests were significant because they represented the victory of Greek ideas and culture as well as of arms. In each country conquered he usually succeeded in Hellenizing the native peoples. Greek cities, settled by his veterans and the horde of migratory Greeks that followed in his wake, were founded at strategic points throughout the vast empire. As recent excavations have shown, Greek art and ideas continued even after the death of Alexander to sweep eastward across Asia, until they profoundly influenced the culture and ideas in such distant nations as China and Japan.
III. The Jews in Egypt and Alexandria. The crown of Alexander's constructive work was the building of Alexandria in Egypt. Selecting a narrow strip of coast, protected on the south by the low-lying lake Mareotis and on the north by the Mediterranean, he built there a magnificent Greek city. On the south it was connected by canal with the Canopic arm of the Nile. Alexander thus diverted to this new metropolis the rich trade of the Red Sea and the Nile. A mile distant was the island of Pharos, which was connected with the mainland by a great moll. On either side, protected from the storms, were the eastern and western harbors, large enough to accommodate the merchant-men and navies of the ancient world. On the west was the native Egyptian quarter. In the centre, opposite the island of Pharos, was the Greek and official quarter. In the northeastern part of the city was the Jewish quarter. Here the Jews lived together under the rule of their law; they were also represented in the civic council by their own leaders. When Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, became governor of Egypt and, after the death of Alexander, subjected Palestine, he carried back to Alexandria many Jewish captives, and attracted others by the special privileges which he granted them. In them he recognized valuable allies in developing the commercial resources of Alexandria and in maintaining his rule over the native Egyptians. Here in time the Jews became wealthy and powerful and developed a unique civilization. From the beginning of the Greek period the number of the Jews in Egypt equalled, if it did not surpass, that of the Jews in Palestine. While they maintained close connection with the Jews in Palestine and remained true to their Scriptures, they were profoundly influenced by their close contact with the civilization and ideas of the Greek world.
IV. The Rule of the Ptolemies. The long-continued rule of the Ptolemies in Egypt is one of the most astonishing phenomena in this remarkable period in human history. Far outnumbered by the native population, involved in almost constant war with their fellow-Greeks, they succeeded by sheer audacity and vigilance in maintaining their authority during the many crises through which they passed. Egypt's natural defences also made its conquest by outside powers exceedingly difficult. Alexandria with its fleet commanded Egypt's one entrance by the sea. In order to protect its eastern gateway, the Isthmus of Suez, it was essential that the Ptolemies should control Palestine. Southern Palestine also commanded the great commercial highway that led southward and eastward to Arabia and Babylonia. Alexandria's ancient rivals, Tyre and Sidon, also lay on the borders of Palestine, and it was essential that they be under the control of Egypt, if Alexandria was to remain the mistress of the eastern Mediterranean. Furthermore, Palestine and the Lebanons (known to Josephus as Coele-Syria, that is, Hollow Syria), alone of the countries adjacent to Egypt, possessed the timber required for the building of Alexandria's navies and merchant-men. Hence Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, and his successors spared no effort to maintain their control over the lands lying along the eastern Mediterranean.
In the division of the empire which followed the death of Alexander three rivals struggled in turn for this coveted territory: Ptolemy, in the south; Antigonus, who soon became master of Asia Minor and northern Syria; and Seleucus, to whom fell the Tigris-Euphrates Valley and the more distant eastern provinces. In the decisive battle of Ipsus in 301 B.C. the overshadowing power of Antigonus was broken and the control of southwestern Asia was divided between Seleucus and Ptolemy. By the treaty that was made after the battle, Coele-Syria was given to Ptolemy; but Seleucus and his descendants, who were known as the Seleucids or the Seleucidae, soon attempted to wrest it from Egypt, and during the following century frequently, with varying success, renewed the attempt. In 295 and again in 219 they were for a brief period masters of Palestine, but during most of this period it was held by the Ptolemies.
V. Fortunes of the Jews of Palestine. Josephus's figure of a ship in a storm, smitten by the waves on either side, well describes the lot of the Jews of Palestine during the Greek period. They were in turn victimized and courted by the rival kings of Egypt and Syria. The Jews, on the whole, favored the rule of the Ptolemies, who had made many concessions to their kinsmen in Egypt. The presence of many Jews in Egypt also made this relation more natural. As a rule the Ptolemies during the intervals of peace left the Jews of Palestine largely to themselves, as long as they paid the heavy tribute that was exacted. It was, however, one of the most corrupt periods in human history. The Ptolemaic court was rich, profligate, and constantly degenerating. The popular story of Joseph the tax-collector (which Josephus recounts at length), while largely fanciful, vividly reflects the conditions and spirit of the age. Joseph, who evidently belonged to one of the leading families of Jerusalem, by his energy and effrontery secured the valuable right of farming the taxes of Palestine. By the iniquitous methods then in vogue, he succeeded in amassing a great fortune. The splendid ruins of Arak el-Emir on the heights of southern Gilead, east of the Jordan, represent the huge castle and town built by his son Hyrcanus and testify to the wealth of this Jewish adventurer. The stories that Josephus relates regarding Joseph indicate that the materialism and sensuality which were regnant in Alexandria had penetrated even into the province of Judea.
The one bright spot in the political history of this period is the reign of the high priest Simon, known as the Just. He appears to have devoted himself to developing, so far as was in his power, the interests and resources of the Palestinian Jews and to have lifted the temple service to a state of magnificence that received the unqualified commendation of Jesus, the son of Sirach.
VI. Conquest of Palestine by the Seleucids in 311 B.C. Seleucus Nikanor transferred the western capital of his empire, known as Syria (a shortened form of the ancient name Assyria), to Antioch, near the northeastern end of the Mediterranean. This city was situated at the point where the Orontes breaks through the Lebanons and where the great roads from the Euphrates and Coele-Syria converge and run westward to its seaport, Seleucia. It was built in the midst of a fertile valley, partly on an island in the river and partly on its northern bank. Not having natural defences, the city depended for protection upon its broad, encompassing walls. To this new capital was attracted a diverse native, Greek, and Jewish population. By virtue of its strategic position and its commercial and political importance, it soon became one of the great cities of the eastern Mediterranean. It occupied the natural site on the eastern Mediterranean seaboard for the capital of a great empire. Shut in by the sea on the west and the desert on the east, Syria's natural line of expansion was north and south. Not until 198 B.C., however, under the rule of Antiochus the Great, did it secure permanent control of Palestine. The degenerate house of the Ptolemies made several ineffectual attempts to win back their lost province, but henceforth Palestine remained under the rule of Syria. The personal attractions of Antiochus the Great, the specious promises which he made, and disgust because of the corrupt rule of Egypt inclined the Jews of Palestine to welcome this change of rulers. The court at Antioch, however, soon became almost as corrupt as that of Egypt, and the Jews were the victims of the greed and caprice of the Syrian despots. Meantime the insidious Greek culture and vices were influencing and largely undermining the character of the Jewish rulers. Judaism was unconsciously facing a supreme crisis in its history.
Section CV. THE WISE AND THEIR TEACHINGS
[Sidenote: Pr. 1:2-6]
That men may learn wisdom and instruction,
May understand intelligent discourses,
May receive instruction in wise conduct,
In justice, judgment and equity;
That discretion may be given to the inexperienced,
To the youth knowledge and a purpose;
That the wise man may hear and increase in learning,
And the intelligent man may receive counsel,
That he may understand proverb and parable,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
[Sidenote: Pr. 8:1-6]
Does not Wisdom call?
And Understanding raise her voice?
On the top of high places by the way,
In the midst of the street she stands,
Beside the gateways in front of the city,
At the entrance of the gates she cries aloud:
To you, O men, I call,
And my appeal is to the sons of men.
O inexperienced, acquire discretion,
And ye stupid, gain understanding.
Hear, for I speak true things,
And the utterance of my lips is right.
[Sidenote: Pr. 8:13]
Pride and arrogance and evil conduct
And false speech do I hate.
[Sidenote: Pr. 8:14-16]
With me is counsel and practical knowledge;
With me understanding and might.
By me kings do reign,
And rulers decree justice.
By me princes rule,
And nobles judge the land.
[Sidenote: Pr. 8:17]
I love those who love me,
Those who seek me diligently shall find me.
[Sidenote: Pr. 8:18-21]
Riches and honor are with me,
Lordly wealth and prosperity.
My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold,
And my increase than choice silver.
I walk in the way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of justice,
That I may endow those who love me with wealth,
And that I may fill their treasuries.
[Sidenote: Pr. 8:22-26]
Jehovah formed me as the beginning of his creation,
The first of his works of old,
In the primeval past was I formed,
In the beginning, before the earth was,
When there were no depths, I was brought forth,
When there were no fountains full of water.
Before the mountains were settled,
Before the hills were brought forth,
When he had not as yet made the earth,
Nor the first of the dust of the world.
[Sidenote: Pr. 8:27, 29, 30]
When he established the heavens, I was there,
When he marked off the vault on the face of the deep,
Made fast the fountains of the deep,
When he set to the sea its bound,
When he marked out the foundations of the earth,
Then I was at his side as a foster-child;
And I was daily full of delight,
Sporting in his presence continually,
Sporting in his habitable earth.
[Sidenote: Pr. 8:31-35]
And my delight is with the sons of men;
Now therefore, my sons, hearken to me,
Hear instruction that you may be wise,
And reject it not.
Happy is the man who hearkens to me,
Happy are they who walk in my ways,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
For he who finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from Jehovah.
[Sidenote: Pr. 13:14-20, 24:5]
The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life
That man may avoid the ways of death.
Walk with the wise and you will become wise,
But he who associates with fools shall smart for it.
A wise man is better than a strong man,
And a man who has knowledge than he who has strength.
[Sidenote: Pr. 12:10]
A wise man has regard for the well-being of his beast,
But the heart of the wicked is cruel.
[Sidenote: Pr. 20:13]
Love not sleep lest you come to poverty;
Open your eyes and you shall have plenty.
[Sidenote: Pr. 25:16]
If you find honey, eat what is sufficient for you,
Lest you be surfeited with it and vomit it up.
[Sidenote: Pr. 23:9-35]
Who cries, Woe? who, Alas?
Who has contentions? Who, complaining?
Who has dullness of eyes?
They who linger long over wine,
They who go about tasting mixed wine.
Look not upon the wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the cup.
At last it bites like a serpent,
And stings like an adder.
Your eyes shall see strange things,
And your mind shall suggest queer things.
You shall be like one sleeping at sea,
Like one asleep in a great storm.
"They have struck me, but I feel no pain;
They have beaten me, but I feel it not;
I will seek it yet again. When shall I awake from my wine?"
[Sidenote: Pr. 29:20, 15:23]
Do you see a man hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
A man has joy from the utterance of his mouth,
And a word in due season, how good it is!
[Sidenote: Pr. 19:11, 16:32]
A man's wisdom makes him slow to anger,
And it is his glory to pass over transgression.
He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.