UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY Class Book Volume Ja 09-20M NOTICE: Return or renew all Library Materials! The Minimum Fee for each Lost Book is $50.00. The person charging this material is responsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for discipli¬ nary action and may result in dismissal from the University. To renew call Telephone Center, 333-8400 THE AMERICAN LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS. I. Buddhism. —The History and Literature of Bud¬ dhism. By T. W. Rhys-Davids, LL.D., Ph.D. II. Primitive Religions. —The Religions of Primitive Peoples. By D. G. Brinton, M.D., Sc.D., Professor of American Archaeology and Linguistics in the University of Pennsylvania. (1897.) III. Israel. —Religious Thought and Life among the Ancient Hebrews. By the Rev. T. K. Cheyne, M.A., D.D., Professor of the Interpretation of the Holy Scrip¬ tures at Oxford, and Canon of Rochester. (1898.) IV. Israel. —Religion of Israel to the Exile. By Karl Budde, Professor of Theology in Strassburg. G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS NEW YORK AND LONDON AMERICAN LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS THIRD SERIES-1897-1898 JEWISH RELIGIOUS LIFE AFTER THE EXILE - BY THE REV. T. K. CHEYNE, M.A., D.D. Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at Oxford, and formerly Fellow of Balliol College; ' Canon of Rochester G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS NEW YORK AND LONDON Gbe IKnickerbocker press 1901 ,6 Copyright, 1898 BY G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS Entered at Stationers’ Hall, London Ube ftnfclterbocker press, flew Ifloth ANNOUNCEMENT. T HE American Lectures on the History of Re¬ ligions are delivered under the auspices of the American Committee for Lectures on the His¬ tory of Religions. This Committee was organised in 1892 for the purpose of instituting “ popular courses in the History of Religions, somewhat after the style of the Hibbert lectures in England, to be delivered annually by the best scholars of Europe and this country, in various cities, such as Baltimore, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, and others.” The terms of association under which the Com¬ mittee exists are as follows : 1.—The object 'of this Association shall be to provide courses of lectures on the history of religions, to be delivered in various cities. 2.—The Association shall be composed of delegates from Institutions agreeing to co-operate, or from Local Boards, organised where such co¬ operation is not possible. 3.—These delegates—one from each Institution or Local Board—shall constitute themselves a IV Announcement Council under the name of the “ American Committee for Lectures on the History of Religions.’' 4. —The Council shall elect out of its number a Presi¬ dent, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. 5. —All matters of local detail shall be left to the In¬ stitutions or Local Boards, under whose aus¬ pices the lectures are to be delivered. 6. —A course of lectures on some religion, or phase of religion, from an historical point of view, or on a subject germane to the study of reli¬ gions, shall be delivered annually, or at such intervals as may be found practicable, in the different cities represented by this Association. 7. —The Council (a) shall be charged with the selec¬ tion of the lecturers, (b) shall have charge of the funds, ( c ) shall assign the time for the lectures in each city, and perform such other functions as may be necessary. 8. —Polemical subjects, as well as polemics in the treat¬ ment of subjects, shall be positively excluded. 9. —The lecturer shall be chosen by the Council at least ten months before the date fixed for the course of lectures. 10. —The lectures shall be delivered in the various cities between the months of October and June. Announcement v 11. —The copyright of the lectures shall be the prop¬ erty of the Association. 12. —One half of the lecturer’s compensation shall be paid at the completion of the entire course, and the second half upon the publication of the lectures. 13. —The compensation offered to the lecturer shall be fixed in each case by the Council. 14. —The lecturer is not to deliver elsewhere any of the lectures for which he is engaged by the Committee, except with the sanction of the Committee. The Committee as now constituted is as follows : C. H. Toy (Harvard University), Chairman. Morris Jastrow, Jr. (University of Pa.), Secretary. John P. Peters (New York), Treasurer. Francis Brown (Union Theological Seminary). Richard J. H. Gottheil (Columbia University). Paul Haupt (Johns Hopkins University). Franklin W. Hooper (Brooklyn Institute). J. F. Jameson (Brown University). George F. Moore (Andover Theological Semi¬ nary). F. K. Sanders (Yale University). J. G. Schurman (Cornell University). The first course of American Lectures on the His¬ tory of Religions was delivered in the winter of VI Announcement 1894-1895, by Prof. T. W. Rhys-Davids, Ph.D., LL.D., of London, England. His subject was the History and Literature of Buddhism. The second course was delivered in 1896-1897, by Prof. Daniel G. Brinton, A.M., M.D., LL.D., Sc.D., of Philadel¬ phia, on the Religions of Primitive Peoples. These lectures were published in book form by Messrs. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, publishers to the Committee, un¬ der the above titles, in 1896 and 1897 respectively. The third course of lectures was delivered in 1897- 1898, on Jewish Religious Life after the Exile, by the Rev. T. K. Cheyne, M.A., D.D., Oriel Profes¬ sor of the Interpretation of Holy Scriptures at Ox¬ ford, and Canon of Rochester, and is contained in the present volume, the third of the series. These lectures were delivered at the following places : Andover (Andover Theological Seminary). Baltimore (Johns Hopkins University). Boston (Lowell Institute). Brooklyn (Brooklyn Institute). Ithaca (Cornell University). New Haven (Yale University). New York (Union Theological Seminary). Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania). Providence (Brown University Lecture Associ- Professor Cheyne is one of the leading Biblical Announcement Vll scholars of the day, whose contributions to the criti¬ cal study of the Old Testament have profoundly in¬ fluenced both scholars and laymen, and needs no introduction to the public. His most important publications are the following: The Prophecies of Isaiah , Job and Solomon , The Book of Psalms , The Origin and Religious Contents of the Psalter (Bamp- ton Lectures, 1889), The Hallowing of Criticism , Jeremiah and his Times , Introduction to the Book of Isaiah , and a new critical edition of the text of Isaiah with a translation and commentary, in the Poly¬ chrome Bible. The American Lectures on the History of Reli¬ gions for 1898-1899 will be delivered by Prof. Karl Budde, Ph.D., of Strasburg, on the theme, Reli¬ gious Life and Thought among the Hebrews in Pre- Exilic Days. The lecturer for 1899-1900 will be Edouard Naville, of Geneva, the well-known Egypt¬ ologist. John P. Peters, ] Committee C. H. Toy, on Morris Jastrow, Jr., J Publication. May, 1898 CONTENTS. LECTURE I. RELIGIOUS LIFE IN JUD^A BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF NEHEMIAH. PAG B The Judaean population before Ezra’s time—Inquiry into the tone of their religion—Haggai and Zechariah—Completion of the second temple—The true commencement of the post-exilic period—Zerubbabel put forward as Messianic king—At¬ titude of Zechariah towards fasting—His theological explan¬ ation of Israel’s calamity—His deficiencies as a moralist made good by “ Malachi ”—Spiritual improvement in the Jerusalem community ; appearance of a band of strict observ¬ ers of Deuteronomy—Prophetic record of an attempt, before that of Ezra, to stir up the Babylonian Jews—Contrast be¬ tween Ezekiel and Isa. xlix.-lv.—The former more influen¬ tial at Jerusalem than the latter—Fresh light on the relations between the Jews and the Samaritans, and between the or¬ thodox and the heretical Jews—Nehemiah’s violent conduct towards the Samaritans ; its explanation—Survey of results —The Jewish priest Manasseh ; his services to the Samari¬ tans—Jews and Samaritans compared—Their unconscious agreement as to the essence of religion—Attitude of Jesus to the Jewish law and to individual Samaritans . . 1-35 LECTURE II. NEHEMIAH, EZRA, AND MANASSEH ; OR, THE RECONSTITUTION OF THE JEWISH AND THE SAMARITAN COMMUNITIES. The exiles in Babylonia not deficient in patriotism—Their literary occupations directed to practical objects—Object of the first appendix to the Second Isaiah (chaps, xlix.-lv.)— More directly practical spirit of the Jews who visited Nehe- IX X Contents PAGK miah, a butler of Artaxerxes Longimanus (?)—Nehemiah’s character and work—His statements not to be accepted with¬ out criticism. Quite probable that Jewish prophets had represented Nehemiah as the Messiah—Sanballat at first sincerely desired a compromise—Nehemiah probably de¬ parted when the wall was ready—He must have been missed ; in fact, his work was but half done—The Samaritan connec¬ tion was not broken off—Object of Ezra and his companions — The formation of the congregation—Reappearance of Nehemiah as governor or high commissioner—His three practical objects—Ezra’s law-book—In what sense it can be called new—Its object, the holiness of the community—Law of the Day of Atonement ; its strange details—Ezra’s book not exclusively legal—Religious character of the narratives of the introduction—The new ideals of the “ humble ones” in the lives of the patriarchs, rewritten in the Priestly Code, also partly in the life of Job—Sanctification must precede deliverance ; hence a minute code was necessary . 36-81 LECTURE III. JEWISH RELIGIOUS IDEALS ; HIN¬ DRANCES TO THEIR PERFECT DEVELOPMENT. Troubles of the Jews in the post-exilic period—A religious compensation, viz., the increased prominence of the Israelit- ish ideal as a subject of meditation—Evidence of this : (1) A cycle of four songs on the “ Servant of Jehovah ” inserted in, and interwoven with, Isa. xl.-lv.—In Isa. lii., 13-liii., 12, the “Servant” is a fusion of all martyrs and confessors; in xlii., 1-4, xlix., 1-6, 1., 4-9, not of all, but of those only who preached and expounded the religious law—(2) Prophecies of the Messianic king—Early history of this form of belief— (3) Psalms of the “ Messianic king” or “ Royal psalms”— Sternness of the foreign policy ascribed to the Messiah— Accuracy of the psalmist’s descriptions wrongly denied— Heathen oppressors—Division of the Jews into the wicked rich and the righteous poor not an exhaustive classification —The latter are but the inner circle of Israel ; around them are the great mass of less perfect Israelites, who need the guidance of wiser men than themselves . . . 82-125 Contents xi LECTURE IV. JEWISH WISDOM ; ITS MEANING, OB¬ JECT, AND VARIETIES. PAGB Recognition of the necessity of systematic instruction of the young—Mythical founder of the “Wisdom-Literature”— One of the chief prerequisites of wisdom, loving-kindness— The want of this makes a man a “ fool ”—And wide as is the influence of the wise, it does not extend to the “fool”— Wisdom and prosperity go together—Religious aspect of wis¬ dom—Proverbs, like the Law, presupposes the theory of earth¬ ly retribution—Difficulty of the Proverbs respecting the king —No systematic Messianic element exists in Ecclesiasticus or Proverbs—A less severely practical view of wisdom (Prov. viii., 22-31 ; Job xxviii., 1-27 ; xxxviii., xxxix.)—If the first part of wisdom is the fear of Jehovah, its latter part has a wider range—The inquisitive spirit finely expressed in the speeches of Jehovah—Wisdom moderates the divine power—She is herself powerful beyond expression ; it is a pastime to her to elaborate a world—Affinities of these strange new ideas— The personification of wisdom ; Egyptian and especially Per¬ sian (Zoroastrian) parallels ; Greek parallels less appropriate— The true Book of Job—The suggestiveness of the story only discovered after the Exile—The original book reconstructed ; its influence on Isa. liii. ; parallelism of the two works— Considerations which led to the insertion of the dialogues— Change in the conception of Job’s character—The writer refuted (as he must have thought) the old doctrine of unfail¬ ing retribution—But he did not solve the problem of suffer¬ ing .......... 126-172 LECTURE V. ORTHODOX AND HERETICAL WISDOM ; CONTEMPORARY LEVITICAL PIETY. The spirit of doubt enters Judaism from Greece—A record of this in Prov. xxx., 1-4—The author, a Hellenising Jew, a proto¬ type of Goethe’s Faust—Orthodox protest in Prov. xxx., 5-9 —Evidence that there were other sceptical writings besides Agur’s poem—Chief among these is Ecclesiastes—Difficulties of the book—How much religion had the author?—He is • • Contents Xll PAG* no atheist, but his God is too transcendental—He has also abandoned the belief in God’s retributive justice—Such state¬ ments as Eccles. vii., 15 ; viii., 14, pained devout readers— Hence references to a present and a future judgment of the wicked were interpolated—Unfortunate consequence of this heterodoxy—God remained, but he could only fear God, not trust Him—Yet his morality is not the lowest: he recom¬ mends the pleasures of the table, but with a sad irony—His social sense is weak, and his Jewish feeling almost extinct— Opinions divided about Ecclesiastes—Since they could not suppress the book, the authorities determined to mitigate its heterodoxy and to suggest the idea that the speaker is a blasf and penitent king—Addition to the Epilogue—Date of the book : the first possible periods are those of John Hyrcanus (135-105) and Alexander Jannaeus (104-78)—Objections to these—The reign of Herod, however, gives the key to the book—The author a philosophic Sadducee—Strong contrast offered by Ben Sira and the Chronicler—The former is more legal in his religion than the earlier moralists ; also more eschatological—The latter is a Levite, and takes a special interest in some of the functions of his class—His belief in present retribution ; interest in prophets ; warm piety .......... 173-215 LECTURE VI JUDAISM : ITS POWER OF ATTRACTING FOREIGNERS; ITS HIGHER ^THEOLOGY; ITS RELATION TO GREECE, PERSIA, AND BABYLON. Contrast between the missionary ideal of the “ Servant ” songs and the bitter expressions toward foreigners in the psalms of the late Persian period—Two classes of persons among the “ nations”—Both alike are “ forgetful of God,” but the one longs to be better instructed, the other breathes out threaten- ings against God’s people—The ideal of the author of the “ Servant” songs was also that of the writer of Jonah—Its more practicable object, to smooth the way for the admis¬ sion of proselytes at Jerusalem (Isaiah 1 vi., 1-5)—Book of Ruth—Circumstances favourable to an influx of foreigners be- Contents xm PAGE fore the Greek period—Motives of proselytes various—Hope of a life after death for the righteous—The poetical books show that many of the most religious and cultured persons held out against the new belief—Even the Psalter, which we might expect to find more hospitable to new beliefs, contains no reference to Immortality or the Resurrection—Down to Simon the Maccabee, Resurrection and Immortality not be¬ liefs of the majority—Impressive services of the temple, helpful to religion — Superstitious formalism; how the best teachers guarded against it—Ps. xxvi., 5-7; Ps. xv. ; xxiv., 1-6—“Guests of Jehovah” in a new sense—Lib¬ eralising effect of the Dispersion—Conceptions of a spiritual temple and spiritual sacrifices—Prayer and praise, the true sacrifices ; to which add the study of the Law—Growth of veneration for the Law—Reaction against Hellenism—Jew¬ ish religion always susceptible to influences from without— Babylonia, Persia, Greece; their several contributions to Judaism—The Zoroastrian hymns compared with the Psalms —Connection of these inquiries with a much larger one : the origin and nature of essential Christianity and Judaism 216-261 INDEX.263 INDEX TO BIBLICAL PASSAGES.266 * NOTE ON THE DATES OF THE LITERA¬ TURE REFERRED TO. OR the convenience of the reader a conspectus X is here given of the dates of ancient writings referred to. Haggdi and Zechariah. Haggai, Sept.-Dee., 520 B.c., Zech. i., 1-6, 520; i., 7-vi., 15, 519; vii., viii., 518. Lamentations. Lam. i., ii., iv., v., in their present form from the latter part of the Persian period, but probably based on earlier elegies. Isaiah i-xxxix., Micah , etc. Messianic passages of post-Exilic origin. Pre-Exilic passages, possi¬ bly Jer. xxiii., 5, 6 (xxxiii., 15, 16), and Exilic, certainly Ezek. xvii., 22-24, xxxiv., 23 f. y xxxvii., 24 f. Isaiah xl.-lxvi. Isa. xl.-xlviii. (mostly), the original Prophecy of the prophetic writer, commonly, but not very suitably, named the Second Isaiah. Written soon after 546 (?), the year in which Cyrus left Sardis. Chaps, xlix.-lv., an appendix to the preceding prophecy, written (like Chaps, xl.-xlviii.) in Babylonia, but with an eye to the circumstances of Jerusalem. The cycle of poems XV xvi Note on the Dates of Literature on the Servant of Jehovah (xlii., 1-4; xlix., 1-6; 1., 4-9; Hi., 13-liii., 12) probably had at first an independent existence, but was subsequently incorporated by an early writer into the ex¬ panded Prophecy of Restoration (i. e., Chaps, xl.-lv.). Chaps, lvi.-lxvi. do not indeed form a single work with a unity of its own, but (with the probable exception of lxiii., 7-lxiv., 12, which is of still later date) all belong to differ¬ ent parts of the age of Nehemiah and Ezra. Malachi. Shortly before the arrival of Nehemiah (445 ?)• Gene sis-Joshua. Priestly Code, provisionally com¬ pleted by Ezra and his fellows in the first half of the 5th century. Ezra. The documents in Ezr. v., vi., based upon genuine official records. Ezr. vii., 27-viii., 34 is taken from the Memoirs of Ezra (5th cent.). Nehemiah. Neh. i., 1—vii., 5, xiii., 6-31, belong to the Memoirs of Nehemiah (5th cent.). Ruth and Jonah. Not long after Nehemiah and Ezra. Psalms. The hymn-book of the orthodox commu¬ nity founded by Ezra, partly of the late Persian, partly of the Greek period. Job. A composite work of the late Persian or (more probably) early Greek period. Proverbs. A composite work of the Persian and Greek periods. Chronicles (including Ezra and Nehemiah in their present form). About 250. Note on the Dates of Literature xvii Daniel. Age of Antiochus Epiphanes. Ecclesiastes. Not improbably of the age of Herod the Great. Further research necessary. Enoch. Composite; 2d and 1st centuries B.c. Psalms of Solomon. Between 63 and 45. B.C. For further details see Driver’s Introduction to the Old Testament Literature , an excellent work, with abundance of facts, but often not suffi¬ ciently keen in its criticism; and compare the Polychrome Bible , edited by Haupt, and the Encyclopedia Biblica : A Dictionary of the Bible (A. & C. Black, London). NOTE ON PAGE 152. For a new translation of Job xxxviii., 29-34, by the present writer, see Journal of Biblical Litera¬ ture (Boston, U. S. A.), 1898. The names of constellations are perhaps more correctly given. PREFACE. T HE aim of the writer has been twofold : I, to interest the public at large in the history of our mother-religion, the Jewish ; and 2, to give stu¬ dents of the post-Exilic period a synthesis of the best critical results at present attainable, and so to enable them to judge of their degree of probability. Perhaps the peculiarity of this volume consists in its union of these two objects. It is possible to be a successful populariser without being an original in¬ vestigator, and to be an investigator without being a specially interesting writer. How far the author has realised his intentions, it is for others to determine. He has at any rate desired to follow the advice of a French Orientalist,* “ not to content ourselves with ten learned readers when we can assemble in our audience all those whom the past of the human spirit charms and attracts.” Why the writer selected the period of the Persian and Greek domination, he has explained in the first Lecture. He is not unaware of the obscurity of the * M. Barbier de Meynard. XX Preface subject, but hopes that he may have done something to diminish it, and that before the reader arrives at the last page he will confess that the post-Exilic period is not so barren and monotonous as he had supposed. The writer is of course far from claiming finality for all his results. No historian of antiquity can claim such finality; least of all would this be fitting when the material is so fragmentary and of such doubtful interpretation as in the present case. But that the general picture here offered is correct, may safely be asserted, and many things to which a student in an early stage may take most exception are among those which can be most successfully defended. One more assurance may be given. Should any friends of religion suspect the writer of a want of sympathy with them, they will be almost more in error than those who may accuse him of critical arbitrariness. It is indeed in order to stimu¬ late a more general appreciation of Jewish piety that these pages have been written. Such an ap¬ preciation cannot be without a beneficial influence on popular religion. What the religious life of the Jews was previously to the arrival of Nehemiah is set forth in Lecture I., which is, therefore, though abounding in new facts, perhaps the least interesting from a novel-reader’s point of view. The noblest religious ideals and ideas Preface xxi of the early Judaism may be sought for in Lectures III. and VI. The story of the Jewish reformation, as a keen but (it is hoped) not too keen criticism represents it, will be found in Lecture II. The or¬ thodox and sceptical varieties of what may, in a cer¬ tain sense, be called Jewish philosophy, have their turn of consideration in Lectures IV. and V. In the closing Lecture, besides a new treatment of the most interesting sections of early Jewish theology, the author has given a sketch (as accurate, perhaps, as the comparative study of religions will as yet per¬ mit) of the relations of Judaism to the other great religions which confronted it in the post-Exilic pe¬ riod. A very full syllabus will enable the reader quickly to follow the thread of the narrative. These six lectures were originally delivered be¬ tween November, 1897, and January, 1898, at nine places in the United States of America, under the auspices of the American Committee. They are now presented in a somewhat enlarged form, and with the most necessary notes, to a wider public. They are the provisional summing up of a series of special researches, but it is hoped that their un- technical form may render them interesting to those who have no leisure for profound critical study. T. K. C. JEWISH RELIGIOUS LIFE AFTER THE EXILE. LECTURE I. Religious Life in Judaea before the Arrival of Nehemiah. I BRING before you a subject which was not long since in some danger of passing into disrepute. Which of us does not think with pain of the weari¬ some Scripture history lessons of his childhood ? No doubt some improvement has been effected by throwing the light of travel and archaeology on the externals of Scripture narratives, but though I con¬ gratulate the young scholars of to-day on the greater interestingness of their lessons, I cannot profess to be satisfied. For the unnaturalness of the prevalent conception of Scripture history still remains, and it is not as a collection of picturesque tales that the narratives of the Old Testament will reconquer their position in the educated world. What a modern 2 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile thinker most desires to learn from the Old Testa¬ ment is the true history of Jewish religion, and this can only be obtained by applying the methods of modern criticism to the old Hebrew documents. Could this course be adopted, not only in learned academic works, but in popular lectures and hand¬ books ; could the Old Testament be treated in a thoroughly modern spirit, at once sympathetically and critically, I cannot help thinking that this ven¬ erable religious record would recover its old fascina¬ tion. Such is the spirit in which I enter upon this discussion. If I cannot present you with absolute truth, I can at least be sympathetic and critical. My readers will, I hope, pardon me if I address three requests to them. The first is, that they will meet confidence with confidence, and believe that I have no other object but to tell the reconstructed history of Jewish religion frankly and interestingly, so far as I know it. Next I plead for a renewed study, simultaneously with the reading of this historical sketch, of the letter of the Bible records. And, lastly, I ask that references should be made privately to some good compendium * of the elementary results of mod- * The two Dictionaries of the Bible, announced by Messrs. T. and F. Clark and Messrs. A. and C. Black, respectively, may be suggested. Some articles in the latter, of which the present writer is one of the editors, are referred to elsewhere in this volume. Vol. I. of the former has just appeared. Religious Life in Judaea 3 ern Biblical criticism. For if I were to be perpetu¬ ally turning aside to explain such phrases as the Second Isaiah, or to discuss the problems of origin and authorship, the unity of these lectures would be seriously injured, and their object of worthily tra¬ cing the history of some phases of a great religion would be proportionally obscured. I shall not, however, be surprised if some of my readers should smile at my last requirement. I cer¬ tainly hope that advanced students will expect from me some direct furtherance of critical study, and not merely a repetition of the contents of the handbooks. The subject which I have chosen bristles with criti¬ cal difficulties, and even a constructive historical sketch may be expected to reveal something of the author’s critical basis. It was indeed the difficulty of the subject which partly attracted me ; it gives such ample scope for fresh pioneering work. At the same time enough solid results have, as I believe, been ob¬ tained to serve as a historical framework. I have also thought that students of this period may be glad to have before them that complex phenomenon which can be explained more fully from the facts of the earlier period. For that epoch a larger amount of material will be at their disposal. They will have not only the Biblical records but also much precious collateral information from Oriental archaeology. But in the 4 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile study of this period I shall generally have to con¬ tent myself with the post-exilic religious writings, though I am happy in the belief that we understand these to-day much better than we did formerly. Criticism has produced and is still producing results of permanent value, results which it is my hope to weave together and elucidate for historical purposes by the combined use of the two sister faculties— common sense and the imagination. Let no one indulge in a cheap sarcasm on imagin¬ ative criticism : the uses of the imagination are well understood by the greatest of our scientists and his¬ torians.* Even in exegesis a happy intuition often pours a flood of light on an obscure passage, and a similar remark is still more applicable to historical reconstruction. These intuitions are not purely accidental. They spring, in exegesis, from sympa¬ thy with an author, and a sense of what he can and what he cannot have said ; in history, from a sedu¬ lously trained imaginative sense of antiquity sup¬ ported by a large command of facts. One point more should be frankly stated at the outset. It is, I believe, essential to the investigator of Hebrew antiquity that he should work upon cor¬ rected texts, and even to the most modest and unas- * “ The imagination. . . . mother of all history as well as of all poetry.” Mommsen, Romische Geschichte, v. 5. Religious Life in Judaea 5 piring of students that he should have access to translations (more than one, if possible) of such cor¬ rected texts. An American professor is now making a brave attempt, with an army of assistants, to meet this want of students, but not much of the result has as yet come under my notice. I have therefore frequently had to give a new translation of my own, based on a corrected text of my own, which I beg you to compare later on with that in Prof. Haupt’s Bible.* I now proceed to my subject. Much uncertainty rests upon the beginning of the post-exilic period. That Cyrus should have wished to restrain members of the Jewish people from re¬ turning to the home of their fathers, is against all that we know of his character and principles. The recently discovered cuneiform inscription of Cyrus does not indeed throw any clear light on this matter, but the spirit, which is there ascribed to the great con¬ queror, is kindly and tolerant. That the disciples of Ezekiel—the first projector, not to say the founder, * The Polychrome Bible , edited by Prof. Paul Haupt, of the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. The translations from Isaiah in this volume generally agree with the version in the work just referred to ; those from the Psalms, with a version, to a large extent based upon a corrected text, which the present writer hopes shortly to pub¬ lish with justificatory notes. The corrections of the text of Job and Proverbs here adopted, will be found in the Expositor for June and July, 1897, and in the Jewish Quarterly Review for July and Octo¬ ber, 1897, (referred to as J. Q. R.). 6 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile of the church-nation, a legislator as well as a prophet —should have had no inclination and have made no attempt to carry out their master’s legal principles in the Holy Land itself, is scarcely credible. And for those who were both able and willing to take the journey, there was an opportunity presented when Sheshbazzar, or less incorrectly, Sanabassar (as the best Greek authorities give the name), a Babylonian Jew of Davidic descent, was sent to Jerusalem by Cyrus, in accordance with his conciliatory policy, as governor of Judaea. For this high functionary would of course be accompanied by a suite. One of those who went with him was certainly his nephew, Zerub- babel,and it is very possible that the other persons who are mentioned with Zerubbabel in a certain fa¬ mous list* as “ heads ” of the Jews in the “ province ” are really historical. Of those other leaders (eleven in number) the best known is Jeshua or Joshua, who became the first high priest in the post-exilic sense. We must of course suppose that the “heads ” went up with their families and dependents, so that they would form altogether a considerable party, though not large enough materially to affect the character of the Judaean community. That as a fact, the party was not in this sense influential, seems to * Ezr. ii., 2 ; Neh. vii., 7 ; 1 Esdr. v., 8 (where the Greek expresses the term “ heads ”). Religious Life in Judaea 7 me a necessary inference from the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah. These prophets had for their aim, to stir the peo¬ ple up to rebuild the ruins of the temple. The work was accomplished, and it is plain from the records that the builders, mostly at any rate, were not re¬ turned exiles, but those inhabitants of Judah who had not been carried away by Nebuchadrezzar to Babylon. Thus in a few words I have stated what I believe to be the truth respecting much debated facts.* The traditional account is, I regret to say, to a large extent untrustworthy. Tradition has partly imagined facts where there were none, partly exaggerated the really existing facts. I must not pause to explain the grounds on which I have made these statements, be¬ cause my proper subject is not the external but the in¬ ternal history of the Jews, and the facts which I have stated, to the best of my belief correctly, are to me just now of importance simply as providing the back¬ ground for certain phases of Jewish religious life. And I at once proceed to ask, What was the religious tone of the unhappy remnant of the old people of Judah ? ♦Compare the article “ Israel, History of,” in Messrs. A. & C. Black’s expected Encyclopedia Biblica t and the “Prologue” to Cheyne’s Introduction to the Book of Isaiah. 8 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile The answer is furnished by the prophet Haggai, who, as we have seen, joined Zechariah in a practical appeal to the people of Jerusalem. The response which he met with was by no means encouraging, and the lukewarmness of the citizens seemed to him blameworthy. He lets us see, however, that they reasoned on the subject, and had an excuse for their conduct. They were agriculturists, and had had to contend with a succession of troubles, which seemed to show but too plainly that Jehovah was angry with them, and they declined to take action without a clear sign of his restored favour. “ The time is not come,” they said,“ to build the temple of Jehovah” ; Jehovah, they thought, would indicate the right time by sending the Messiah. It was only Haggai and Zechariah who, as they themselves believed, un¬ derstood aright the signs of the times. Even Zerub- babel (who by the year 520 B.c. had succeeded his uncle as governor) and Jeshua, the newly-made high priest, had to be stirred up like the rest, to undertake the work of rebuilding the sacred house. Some sort of house (the term is flexible in Semitic languages) there may for a long time past have been, and this miserable substitute for a temple may have satisfied them. They were doubtless infected by the general despondency, and shrank from the labour and expense of building a true temple, till it was certain that the Religious Life in Judaea 9 time had come. Although they had come from Babylon, the headquarters of Jewish piety, they had none of the religious intensity and settled enthusiasm of the disciples of Ezekiel. I am sorry I cannot give a more romantic story, or gratify the reasonable expectations of students of the Second Isaiah.* The Jews of Judaea at the be¬ ginning of our period were poor specimens of relig¬ ious humanity, and the events of their history are in themselves not very interesting. But the dull periods are necessary as transitions to the bright ones, and surely dull people have their own allotted part, which the historian ought somehow to make interesting. I therefore beg the reader to notice that there was a genuine religious spirit in the poor remnant of Judah, though Haggai thought it very insufficient. We can hardly doubt that, on however slender a scale and with however much ritual irregularity, sacrifices had been persistently offered on the sacred site al¬ most throughout the sad years of the past.f Be¬ sides, one of our records incidentally refers to the fact that fasting $ had been regularly practised long before * “ Second Isaiah ” is the name given to the author of the Prophecy of Restoration in Isa. xl.-xlviii. fThe silence of our scanty documents is no evidence to the contrary. \ Fasting was one of the most esteemed methods of renewing an impaired connection with the Deity. io Jewish Religious Life after the Exile 520 B.c. The reference occurs in the 7th chapter of Zechariah. The passage well deserves attention ; it contains some remarkable statements, and the his¬ torical background (to which I shall return later) is really exciting to the imagination. “ In the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month Kislev, a divine oracle came to Zechariah. This was the occasion. Bel-sarezer and Raam-melech had sent men to propitiate Jehovah, (and) to ask the priests of Jehovah’s house and the prophets this question,—Should I weep in the fifth month abstain¬ ing from food, as I have done already so many years ? Then it was that this divine oracle came to me, Speak thus to all the people of the land and to the priests.” I break off here in order to bring out three points of some importance. The first is the high position of Zechariah. The days of prophetic authority are numbered, and yet here is a prophet whose words are still law both to the laity and to the priests. The second is the unanimity of the priests of Je¬ hovah and the native Jewish laity as to the high religious worth of fasting. And the third is the fact that the senders of the deputation * (whose real names I can show to be Bel-sarezer and Raam- * They are two of the twelve “heads,” who accompanied Sana- bassar. See the articles “ Sarezer ” and “ Regem-melech ” in the Encyclopedia Biblica. Of course, the historical character of Jeshua, and Bilshan (Bel-sarezer), and Raamiah (Regem-melech) only con¬ stitutes a presumption of the historicity of the other names. Religious Life in Judaea n melech) endorse the statement that up to this time (z. e., B.c. 518) the hard lot of the Jews has had no sensible alleviation. The incident described by Zechariah shows plainly enough that there was no lack of religious feeling at Jerusalem. We may be sure, too, that the little band of religious singers did its best to give expres¬ sion to this feeling. Very possibly the so-called Lamentations, with the exception of the third, are based on the elegies which were chanted on the commemorative fast-days alluded to by the deput¬ ation to Zechariah. More ancient than this, I cannot venture to make these interesting poems. Striking as the picture of Jeremiah seated on the ruins of Jerusalem and in¬ diting monodies may be, it is too romantic to be true. Delightful as it would be to find at least five works of a virtually pre-exilic religious poet, we must confess that, on internal grounds, the Lamentations in their present form come from a not very early part of the post-exilic period. Thus, our only authorities for the tone of the earliest post-exilic Judaean religion are the prophecies of Haggai and of the first or true Zechariah. Though devoid of literary charm, they are of much historical importance, because they stand on the dividing line between the exilic and the post-exilic periods. It is 12 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile a mistaken assertion that the post-exilic age begins with the so-called “ edict of Cyrus ” in B.c. 537 * If there was a post-exilic age at all, it should rather be reckoned from the completion of the second temple in B.C. 516. For the true exile of the Jews was their sense of banishment from their God, and this painful consciousness began to be mitigated as soon as a house had been prepared for Jehovah to dwell in. “ It is not time yet to build,” said the people of the land, but the prophets believed that the faith and love which the effort of building the temple presup¬ posed would exert a moral attraction upon Jehovah. At any moment after the coping had been laid the King of Glory might be expected to come in. Therefore I say that Haggai and Zechariah inaugu¬ rate the post-exilic period. Nor must we underrate the prophetic gift of these men. They are still, in virtue of their office, the most imposing figures in the community, and they still possess, in some degree, that consciousness of a special relation to God which characterised the great prophets of old. They could have said with Amos, ‘‘The Lord Jehovah does nothing without first re¬ vealing his secret to his servants the prophets.” * And that very sign of Jehovah’s restored favour which the people desiderated, the prophets Haggai * Am. iii., 7. Religious Life in Judaea 13 and Zechariah believed themselves to have seen— it was the sign of general unrest among the popula¬ tions of the Persian empire. Let us first of all see what Haggai, with whom his colleague Zechariah fully agrees, has to declare. “ Yet a little while, saith Jehovah Sabaoth, and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land ; and I will shake all nations, and the treasures of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with mag¬ nificence, saith Jehovah Sabaoth ” (Hag. ii., 6, 7). Two months later another oracle or revelation comes to him,— “ Speak to this effect to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah ; I will shake the heavens and the earth ; I will overthrow royal thrones, and destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the nations. ... In that day, saith Jehovah Sabaoth, I will take thee, O Zerubbabel my ser¬ vant, saith Jehovah, and will make thee as a signet ; for I have chosen thee, saith Jehovah Sabaoth” (Hag. ii., 21-23). The meaning of Haggai is unmistakable. That political insight, by which the prophets interpret the impulses of the spirit, recognises in the disturb¬ ances of the peoples the initial stage of the great Judgment Day. The story of these disturbances has been recovered for us by cuneiform research. At the very time when Haggai and Zechariah came forward (it was just after the accession of Darius) 14 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile revolts were breaking out in different parts of the Persian empire.* At Babylon, for instance, a man called Nidintu- Bel (i. e., Gift of Bel) had in 521 seized the crown of Nebuchadrezzar, whose name he assumed and whose descendant he professed to be. Now in this pseudo- Nebuchadrezzar, Haggai can hardly have felt a per¬ sonal interest. But as a sign of the breaking up of the Persian empire he may well have greeted the pretender’s appearance with enthusiasm, and when in 519 (soon after Haggai and Zechariah had proph¬ esied so blithely) the revolt of the Babylonians was put down, and when, about 515, a second revolt, led by another pretender,f was extinguished, the leaders of the Jews may be excused if they felt the pangs of disappointment. It had seemed as if a new day were about to dawn, when the glory of Jehovah would again fill his temple, and when Zerubbabel, the Messianic king, would surpass the splendour even of ancient David. It is a remarkable fact that there is direct evidence * Persia, Susiana, Media, and Babylonia are specially mentioned, f This second pretender also claimed to be Nebuchadrezzar, son of Nabu-na’id. “ It is clear,” as Dr. J. P. Peters remarks, “that Nebuchadrezzar was a name to conjure by in Babylonia, so that when a man sought to raise a revolt, he laid claim to this name as a sure means of arousing popular sentiment in his favour.” {Journal of Biblical Literature, 1897, p. 113 ) Religious Life in Judaea 15 of this in the Bible itself. The prophet Zechariah mentions the arrival at Jerusalem of four Jews (prob¬ ably the leaders of a party) with gifts of silver and gold from the wealthy Babylonian settlements. The treasure was converted, in accordance with a divine direction, into a crown for Zerubbabel.* This Davidic prince, be it remembered, had already received the Messianic name Branch or Sprout f which had been coined perhaps by Jeremiah, and all that remained was to anoint him and announce his accession to the people. Whether the public announcement was ever made in a form which could be called treasonable, we know not. But it is not improbable that a later edi¬ tor, who did not comprehend the passage and wished to suggest a possible historical reference, has put the name of Joshua instead of Zerubbabel into the text. There is yet another historical fact which deserves to be mentioned. It is recorded in Ezr. v.—and I see no reason here for scepticism—that Tatnai or Sisines, the satrap of Syria, endeavoured to stop the building of the temple ; I am inclined to bring this fact into connection with the sudden disappearance of Zerubbabel. This prince was no doubt a Persian * Zech. vi., 9-12, where read in ver. n, “ make crowns, and set them on the heads of Zerubbabel.” The text has suffered corrup¬ tion. See article “Zerubbabel” in Messrs. A. & C. Black’s Ency¬ clopedia Biblica, where another possible view is indicated. f Zech. iii., 8 ; cf. vi., 12. 16 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile governor, but he was also by birth and religion a Jew, and we should have expected to find him, and not Bel-sarezer and Raam-melech, sending that deputation to the temple which is referred to by Zechariah. The fact that two inferior functionaries, and not Zerubbabel, are mentioned, suggests the idea that the latter may have been suspected of treason, and have been recalled by Darius, and the additional fact that the satrap Tatnai sought to stop the build¬ ing of the temple is equally suggestive of a belief in the disloyalty of the Jews. It is a further confirma¬ tion of this theory that we find Sanballat warning Nehemiah that he was in danger of being informed against, on account of prophetic announcements that there was a king in Judah (Neh. vi., 7). I cannot help feeling a reverent pity for the dis¬ illusionment of Zechariah, and a respect for his truthfulness in not omitting to record his mistake. True, it is not quite impossible that he minimised his error. He may have considered that he had only been mistaken as to the time of the fulfilment of the prophecy, and have clung to his belief in Zerubbabel’s Messianic character. But the sense of even a partial mistake must have been painful, and we are not surprised at the want of enthusiasm which marks his reply to the deputation. The reported objects of the embassy are equally sug- Religious Life in Judaea 17 gestive of mental depression. One of them was “ to propitiate Jehovah,” which implies that Jehovah was not considered altogether friendly, and another, to ask a question about fasting, designed apparently to extract from the prophets some word of good cheer for the future. The laity, it seems, would gladly have given up commemorative fast-days if only they could have been sure that “ the Lord whom they sought ” would speedily “ come to his temple.” The question was asked before the fast of the fifth month, but Zechariah delayed his oracu¬ lar response till the fast of the seventh month was over. It is evident that he felt the difficulty of the religious situation. The inward calm required in a recipient of the prophetic afflatus but slowly returned to him. His reply, when it came, was twofold. First, he assured the people, in the spirit of Isaiah, that Jehovah cared not whether they fasted, or not. Next, he told them that Jehovah was keenly inter¬ ested in his people, and would certainly return, to which he added an exhortation to obey the moral precepts of the old prophets, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. He did not however make it sufficiently clear that, according to the old prophets, no salva¬ tion could come to an unreformed people, and Haggai is not reported to have given any such moral exhortation at all. 18 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile Great prophets they certainly are not; their liter¬ ary style is miserable, and their spirit shows a sad falling off as compared with that of the older prophets. Zechariah is the greater of the two, but even he is deficient in moral energy, and shows traces of a doctrine which in the hands of a weak moralist may be most injurious,—I mean, dualism. He thinks that the colossal calamity of Israel is due to the agency of a heavenly being called the Satan, whose function it is to remind God of human sins which he might otherwise be glad to forget. This notion might have been harmless if it had been coupled with the belief (which we find in the great Elihu-poem inserted in the Book of Job) that there was also another angelic agent whose business it was to save sinners by leading them to repentance (Job xxxiii., 23, 24). But not being so coupled, it led to a weakened view of moral responsibility and of the need of moral reformation. We also find Zechariah making a singular misuse of the poetic faculty of personification. He regards the wicked¬ ness of his countrymen as too great to be the product of mere human nature. There must, he thinks, be an evil principle called Wickedness, which causes all this superabundance of iniquity. And in a vision (Zech. v., 5-11) he actually sees this principle incar¬ nate in the form of a woman, who is seated in a Religious Life in Judaea *9 vessel of a ton weight, and is then suddenly thrown down, while the lid is shut to. Then she is borne by two women with storks’ wings to the land of Shinar (i. e. y Babylonia) that she may dwell there, and so bring the ruin upon Babylonia which she now threatens to bring upon the land of the Jews. Still from this time forward we notice a steady expectation of the coming of Jehovah to judgment, and the deficiencies of Zechariah as an ethical preacher are made good by a subsequent prophet, who has not cared for posthumous fame, and has written anonymously. Subsequent generations, through an odd mistake, gave him the name of Malachi. “ Behold, the day comes,” he exclaims, “ burning as an oven ; all the arrogant and all wicked-doers will become like stubble ; the day that comes will burn them root and branch. But upon you, the fearers of my name, the sun of righteousness will dawn with healing in his wings ; ye will go forth and grow fat like calves of the stall. Ye will tread down the wicked ; they will become ashes under the soles of your feet, in the day when I carry out my promise, saith Jehovah Sabaoth.” Then, apparently as the condition of the preced¬ ing promise, he adds, “ Remember ye the law of my servant Moses, to whom I gave in charge in Horeb statutes and judgments for all Israel ” (Mai. iv., 3). Evidently the tide had begun to turn ; the re- 20 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile building of the temple marks a historical epoch. However faulty the popular religion might be,— and Malachi does not stint himself in his denuncia¬ tion of it—there was more spiritual life in the com¬ munity than in Haggai’s time. There were not a few at any rate who were strict observers of the Deuteronomic Law, and who by their conscien¬ tiousness atoned for the laxity of the multitude. All that these men needed to make their witness effica¬ cious was qualified leaders, in whom theoretical insight and practical ability were united. Such capa¬ ble men were indeed to be found, but in the lands of the Dispersion, not in Judaea. How is this to be accounted for ? Why did they remain in their distant homes ? Why did not more Israelites return ? Some, I make no doubt, did return. It is clear from Zechariah that Babylonian Jews sometimes came on visits to the holy city, and it is hardly credible that none of these were induced to lay down their pilgrim-staves, and remain in Jerusalem. Such immigrants would naturally attach themselves to the “fearers of Jehovah” whom they already found there,—that is, to those strict observers of Deuteronomy who had formed themselves, as Mala¬ chi tells us (iii., 16), into an association. But the general aspect of the population was not appreci¬ ably affected by these few immigrants. The Judaeans, Religious Life in Judaea 21 as a late prophetic writer says, were like a poor¬ looking cluster of grapes, which the vintager only spares for the sake of the few good grapes which hang upon it (Isa. lxv). So, again I ask, Why did not more Israelites return? Three plausible answers may be given, (i) Since the fall of the ancient state there had been a great gulf between the Babylonian and the Judaean Israel¬ ites. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel use the most dis¬ paraging language of the Jews who did not share the fate of Jehoiachin, and the Second Isaiah even ignores the Jews in Judaea altogether. (2) Strong Jewish colonies in other parts of the empire were important both as increasing the influence of the race, and as providing the silver and gold for re¬ ligious uses in which the scanty Judaean population was deficient. Nor must the religious value of their witness for ethical monotheism be forgotten. (3) The predictions of the Second Isaiah assumed that the powers of heaven and earth were united in favour of Israel’s restoration, whereas at present both the heavenly and the earthly voices were, as it seemed, obstinately silent. In course of time, God put it into the heart of one of the Jewish priests in Babylonia to head a migration to Judaea. But there were men of a dif¬ ferent school who, before this, had as it seems made 22 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile an effort to stimulate the Babylonian Jews. We have, not improbably, a record of this attempt in chaps, xlix-lv., of the Book of Isaiah, which appear to be an appendix to the original Prophecy of Restoration, written in Babylonia by an admirer of the Second Isaiah, and brought to Jerusalem. Almost throughout this section the point of view is shifted from Babylon and the exiles to Zion and its struggling community. Indeed, but for the beauty of the style, and the delicacy of the art, by which these chapters contrast with those which were undeniably appended at Jerusalem (chaps, lx-lxii.) and but for the want of concreteness and I may even say the inappropriateness in the descriptions of the Zion community, we might bring ourselves to suppose that they were written in Judaea. The phenomena may be best reconciled by the theory that the chapters were written in Babylonia, partly to induce Babylonian Jews to go to Judaea, partly to encourage hard-pressed workers in Jerusalem. Allow me to quote a very familiar passage, which however is too generally misunderstood through not being furnished with the right historical back¬ ground.* * See Isaiah in the Polychrome Bible , and cf. Introduction to Isaiah by the present writer ; see also article “ Isaiah ” in the Encyclopcedia Biblica. Religious Life in Judaea 23 “ Ho ! all ye that are athirst, go to the waters, And ye that have no strength, eat ! Go, buy grain without money, Wine and milk without price. Why do ye pay money for that which is no bread, And take trouble for that which satisfies not ?” (Isa. lv., I, 2). Here the “waters,” the “grain,” the “wine,” and the “milk,” are all those blessings, both moral and material, the reception of which can effect the re¬ generation of a people. It is presupposed that an organised community exists in the land of Israel, and it is the pious preacher’s wish to stir up devout men in Babylonia to claim their share in the life and work of this community. Unless, either in a figure or, best of all, in reality, they go to Jerusalem, they will continue, he thinks, to be like the “ dry bones ” of another prophet’s vision. They may have money to spend, but there is no bread for them to buy. They may “ rise up early and late take rest,” * but they will have no satisfaction from their gains. They are, by their own choice, “ strangers to the commonwealth of Israel.” Better far were it to join the ranks of Jehovah’s confessors,—for such, the writer mistakenly assumes, the Jews of Judaea have become ; better far were it to suffer the insult¬ ing of men, which will last but for a moment, and * Ps. cxxvii., 3. (Prayerbook version.) 24 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile to wait at Zion for that awakening of the arm of Jehovah which will renew the wonders of the days of old. Sore need has desolate Zion of her children ; when will the exiles in a body depart in a holy pro¬ cession from Babylon—not in flight, as the Second Isaiah had formerly said, but in grave, majestic solemnity, with Jehovah for their protector both in the van and in the rear? * Of the two very different gifts for which Jerusalem had lately been indebted to Babylon—the treasure made into a crown for Zerubbabel and the first appendix to the Prophecy of Restoration, the former was much more easy to make use of than the latter. The golden crown was no doubt melted down, and converted into some needed ornament for the temple. But the new prophetic rhapsody was too idealistic to be greatly appreciated at Jerusalem. Ezekiel was at that time much more likely to influence “ church-workers.” His conception of “ holiness ” and his horror of profane contact with holy things are to be found both in Zechariah and in Malachi (Zech. iii., 7, Mai. ii., 11). It is also from Ezekiel that the distinction between priests and Levites traceable in the ancient list of the “ children of the province ” (Ezr. ii., Neh. vii.) is derived, and it is Ezekiel who has set the tone and suggested some of * Isa. Ii., 7-10 ; liv., 1 ; lii.. 12. Religious Life in Judaea 25 the chief details of perhaps the earliest of the pro¬ phecies in the third part of Isaiah (Isa. lvi. 9-lvii. The prophecy to which I have referred is one which loses greatly through being read in a poor translation of an uncorrected text. Its true meaning and that of the related prophecies in Isa. lxv., lxvi., 1-22 deserves to be better known. The persons so angrily attacked by the prophetic writers are the half-Jews of central Palestine commonly called Sa¬ maritans, and those Jews in Judaea and Jerusalem who had more or less religious sympathy with them. How it is possible that the bitter feelings expressed in these passages can ever have been imputed to the suave and affectionate Second Isaiah, it is difficult to conceive. Even one of the earlier post-exilic pro¬ phets, such as Haggai or Zechariah, could not have written such angry invectives. For the truth is, that there is no evidence that in the earlier period there was any strong religious feud between the Jews and the Samaritans. The Samaritans were doubtless farther off from legal orthodoxy than the Jews, but the standard of orthodoxy even among the Jews cannot have been very high, especially in the coun¬ try districts, where, in the absence of a strong central authority, gross superstitions still lingered. Nor is there any reason to think that the Samaritans ever 26 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile gave up their interest in the great sanctuary of Judah until they were forced. It is said that not long after the burning of the temple a party of eighty pilgrims came from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria to Mizpah bringing offerings for the old sanctuary there,* and if the temple of Jerusalem had not been in ruins, they would no doubt have preferred it to the sanc¬ tuary of Mizpah. f We need not therefore doubt that when in 520 the Jews determined to rebuild their temple, the Samaritans felt a sympathetic in¬ terest in the undertaking. They might not care to relieve the Jews of the duty of rebuilding their sanctuary (the story of their interfering with their kinsmen under pretence of a wish to co-operate, is a pure imagination,) but when by Zechariah’s conta¬ gious enthusiasm the work had been done, they would naturally be eager to maintain their connection with such a holy place. By the aid of the priestly aris¬ tocracy they succeeded in doing this till Nehemiah, armed with a Persian firman, interposed. The course of action which this great official adopted provoked the Samaritans to the utmost, and radically changed their relations to the Jews. We may be inclined to blame Nehemiah until we remem- * Jer. xli., 5. The sad story of the pilgrims is hardly less horrible than that of the well at Cawnpore in India. f Many writers think that the “ house of Jehovah” referred to in Jeremiah really means the ruin-laden site of the temple of Jerusalem. Religious Life in Judaea 2 7 ber that the religious isolation of the Jews on a strictly legal basis was an object of vital importance to the higher religion, and that an attempt had al¬ ready been made by orthodox Jews to convert the Samaritans. On this attempt a few words of expla¬ nation seem necessary. It is recorded, as I believe, in the following passage from the work of a prophetic writer of the time preceding Nehemiah, who belonged to the orthodox school * : “ I offered admission to those who asked not after me ; I offered my oracles to those who sought me not; I said, Here am I, here am I, to a class of men which called not upon my name. I have spread out my hands all the day to an unruly and disobedient people, who follow the way which is not good, after their own de¬ vices ” (Isa. lxv., i, 2). This I take to mean that some of the orthodox lead¬ ers of the Jews wished to make the continued ad¬ mission of the Samaritans to religious privileges (and to all that this involved) conditional on their renun¬ ciation of their distinguishing peculiarities and their adoption of the Jewish law and traditions. They attempted, in a word, to make converts of the Sa¬ maritans, but the attempt was a failure. Probably enough, there were faults on both sides. The Jews were deficient in suavity, like Augustine of Canter¬ bury when he tried in vain to unite the English and * It was Prof. Duhm of Basel who first pointed this out. 28 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile the Welsh in one Christian Church; the Samaritans, on their side, had as yet no religious receptivity. And now a most strange phenomenon meets us, though not more so than many which we shall en¬ counter in the later literature, not more so, for instance, than the fact that “ Malachi,” violently opposed as he is to an intermingling of races in the Jewish territory, grasps the fundamental reforming principle of the divine fatherhood, and asserts the universality of a true worship of Jehovah.* The phe¬ nomenon to which I refer is this,—that the same writer (probably) who has just spoken so harshly of the Samaritans because they have refused to adopt the Jewish law, now censures them for wishing to build a central sanctuary of their own, and bases this censure on a principle which, regarded logically, is just as adverse to the claims of the temple at Jeru¬ salem. He says: Thus saith Jehovah ; Heaven is my throne and earth my footstool. What house would ye build for me, and what place as my habitation ? For all this has my hand made, and mine is all this, saith Jehovah. (Isa. lxvi., 1,2.) The explanation is that post-exilic Jewish religion is to a large extent a fusion of inconsistent elements, of prophetic and priestly origin, respectively. Upon one side of his nature this writer, like many another, * Mai. ii., 10, 11; i., 11. Religious Life in Judaea 2 9 sympathises with prophets like Jeremiah; upon an¬ other, with the priests. Experience proved that it was hopeless to refound the Judaean community on pure prophetic spiritualism ; traditional forms had to be retained, and so far as possible rendered harmless or symbolic of spiritual truth. And so this writer, though he holds that not even the temple at Jeru¬ salem is worthy of the Divine Creator, yet expostu¬ lates with those who plan the erection of another temple elsewhere. It is only in the temple so lately rebuilt that the right worshippers are to be found, viz., the humble and obedient Jewish believers. Let the Samaritans renounce their self-chosen and often abominable customs, and submit to the Law, and then it will be permitted to them to worship God in a temple made with hands. Into the details of the customs ascribed to the op¬ ponents of orthodoxy (viz., the Samaritans and the least advanced of the old Jewish remnant) it is not necessary to enter. (See Isa. lxv., 3-5, 11 ; lxvi., 3,4.) But it is interesting to see how orthodox Jews at this period expressed their aversion to those oppo¬ nents in sacred song. I quote from a fragment of an old post-exilic psalm which seems to have received a later addition ; it is the kernel of our present 16th psalm.* * I translate from a corrected text. 30 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile Keep watch over me, O God, for in thee I take refuge ! I profess to Jehovah, Thou art my Lord ; To draw near to thee is my happiness, And in thy holy seasons is all my delight. Those who choose another (than Jehovah) give them¬ selves much pain ; Their libations of blood I will not pour out ; Their (deity’s) names I will not take on my lips, Jehovah (alone) is my cup’s portion and my lot. (Ps. xvi., 1-5.) To understand the allusions we must refer to differ¬ ent passages in the third part of Isaiah written in the age of Nehemiah, most probably shortly before his arrival. The speaker is the personified associa¬ tion of pious Israelites, which, however small, feels itself the bearer of Jehovah’s banner, and contrasts its own inward happiness and assured glorification with the present spiritual loss and future punish¬ ment of those who indulge in the abominable rites of the Samaritans. It may perhaps be objected to the foregoing sketch of the early dealings of the Jews and the Samaritans that it is a reconstruction of history. It is so, and it ought to be so. That the right moment for such an attempt has arrived, no one who knows the course of recent criticism can deny, and historical students will, I believe, recognise that the results here given have considerable probability. It has at any rate Religious Life in Judaea 3i been shown that the feud between the Jews and the Samaritans was probably of later and more gradual origin than has been supposed, and that the plan of building a Samaritan temple arose long before the time of Alexander the Great, when, according to Josephus, the Gerizim-sanctuary was erected. And hence the question arises, May not Josephus have been mistaken as to the date of this event?* It is admitted that he places the expulsion of Sanballat’s son-in-law Manasseh (to which I shall refer again) a hundred years too late ; why, then, should we assume that he is more correct in a closely related statement ? It is true, he repeats the state¬ ment as to the date of the temple elsewhere; but cannot a writer be persistently inaccurate? The chronology of the Persian period was, in Josephus’s time, so obscure that he may well be pardoned for such an error. A word may be added in conclusion with regard to Manasseh. The complete story of this Jewish priest will be given later. He incurred the special displeasure of Nehemiah because under aggravating circumstances he had contracted a mixed marriage. But we must not take too low a view of Manasseh’s * Jos. Ant., xi., 8, 2-4. The inaccuracy is of course diminished if, as some think, it was the second and not the first Artaxerxes un¬ der whose patronage Nehemiah and Ezra came to Jerusalem. 32 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile character. Belonging as he did to the old Jerusa¬ lem priesthood, he had his own views of what be¬ came a priest, and his own way of interpreting the Law, and though Malachi would have said that he had “ caused many to stumble ” by his interpretation (Mai. ii., 8), yet we shall see presently that the rigor¬ ous views of Ezra and Nehemiah were not the only ones represented among faithful Jews. Certain it is that he was very different religiously from his friends the Samaritans, and that Nehemiah really benefited the rival community by forcing Manasseh to take refuge among them. Manasseh, as it would seem, became the religious reformer of the Samaritans. Quite possibly he took with him, on his expulsion, not merely the Book of Deuteronomy, but the whole Pentateuch in the form in which it then existed. We may assume that he also obtained the erection of the temple of Gerizim, and so achieved the cen¬ tralisation of the Samaritan worship. Thus the fugitive Jewish priest Manasseh became the greatest benefactor of the Samaritan community. To him alone it is indebted for its long survival. The temple built (as I believe) through him was de¬ stroyed by the Hasmonaean sovereign of Judaea, John Hyrcanus, in B.c. 130. It was succeeded by a temple at Shechem which no doubt perished when the town of Shechem was laid in ruins by Vespasian. But Religious Life in Judaea 33 the Samaritans continued to cling to the neighbour¬ hood of their sacred mountain, and some of us may even have seen the old paschal rites celebrated on a sacred spot on Gerizim, which was perhaps within the precincts of Manasseh’s temple. The Samaritans may, from a modern theological point of view, be simply a Jewish sect, but, putting ourselves in their intellectual position, we cannot be surprised if they consider their local continuance as the strongest of arguments in favour of their religious orthodoxy. They may be an insignificant minority of the wor¬ shippers of the God of Jacob, but a sign from the supernatural world would in a moment change the relative position of Jews and Samaritans, as indeed unreformed Judaism itself teaches that a supernat¬ ural interposition will one day invert the relations of Jews and Gentiles. Jehovah Nissi (Jehovah is my Banner) might therefore be taken as a motto not less by the depressed community at Nablus than by that almost oecumenical body—the Jewish Church. For after all, Jews and Samaritans alike have a grasp of the truth : we only part from them, or from any of our fellow-Christians, in so far as they mix up the truth with arrogant and unspiritual assumptions. They base their right to existence on their faith, and faith is indeed the only rock which will uphold either communities or individuals in the sea of change. I 34 Jewish Religious Life after the Lxile venture to claim a right to say this even in a historical discussion, because to inquire about religions without experimental knowledge of the essence of religion seems to me an unprofitable pastime. Faith is the essence of religion on its heavenward side, and the Chronicler rightly discerned the connecting link be¬ tween the religion of the pre-exilic prophets and that of the post-exilic Church when he imagined King Jehoshaphat thus addressing the assembled congregation in the wilderness of Tekoa: “ Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem. Believe Jehovah your God, so shall ye be established ; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” (2 Chr. xx., 20.) For the pre-exilic prophet Isaiah had long before in¬ tuitively made the discovery which was a religious commonplace to the Chronicler, when he said to Ahaz and his courtiers, “ If ye will not believe, then ye shall not be established.” * (Isa. vii., 9.) And it is on this firm ground, and not on any subtle theory of the nature of Inspiration or the interpretation of for¬ mularies, that I base my own personal right to go as deep as I can in Biblical research, and my advocacy of a braver and a bolder policy than has yet been common in the instruction of students. Such a pol¬ icy can do no one’s religion any real harm, and, in my * Or, “If ye will not hold fast (*. e., to the living God), then ye shall not be held fast.” Religious Life in Judaea 35 opinion, accords best with the spirit of One whom I am not worthy to name, but who is the Master and Leader of all who are seeking to purify the moral and religious conceptions of the Church or the community. It is the attitude of the Master towards the Jew¬ ish Law which justifies Christian critics (for whom I now write) in their free but reverent attitude tow¬ ards the historical documents of the Church, among which those of the Old and the New Testament stand supreme. How much the religion of mankind owes to the reverent but incomparably bold attitude of the Master towards the Jewish Law, can already be seen in part, and at a later stage of the world’s history will be discerned more fully. And the reader will rightly suppose that my treatment of the Sa¬ maritans in this historical sketch is partly suggested by the mild reasonableness of the Master’s estimate of that people. The disparaging sentiment of the ancient Jews respecting them is well known. But the Master on two occasions * contrasted the moral and religious practice of the Jews and of the Samari¬ tans to the advantage of the latter. If this was just and right in the Roman period of Jewish history, it cannot be plausible to assume that the Samaritans of Nehemiah’s age were entirely destitute of the es¬ sential qualities of human goodness. * Luke x., 33 ; xvii., 16. LECTURE II. Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh ; or, The Re¬ constitution of the Jewish and the Samaritan Communities. E have, I hope, already gained some valu¬ able results. That a fugitive Jewish priest became the reformer of the Samaritan religion, is not the least interesting of them, and accordingly I shall endeavour to place this fact in its right setting. First of all, however, permit me to direct your atten¬ tion to some patriotic enterprises of Babylonian and Judaean Israelites which preceded the expulsion of Manasseh. It is certain that the Jews who remained in Babylonia had by no means forgotten Jerusalem. Though they did not migrate to Judaea, they must have had such a migration in view, for the elite of their body devoted themselves to the difficult task of bringing the traditional Jewish laws up to date. To this truly patriotic enterprise I shall have to re¬ fer later on. A not less important work, undertaken in Babylonia, was that of supplementing and adapt¬ ing the fragments of early prophecies to the needs Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 37 of the present. As I have already mentioned, the author of the first appendix to the Second Isaiah’s prophecy (chaps, xlix.-lv.) endeavoured to stimulate Babylonian Jews to a personal co-operation with the Judaean reformers. This eloquent writer was evi¬ dently in close touch with those faithful workers. He knew their difficulties, and had noted with re¬ gret their liability to fits of discouragement. Like them, he longed to see a general return of the Jew¬ ish exiles, but he felt that, to bring this about, Jeho¬ vah himself must beckon with his mighty hand to the nations.* To this great event he pointed his readers with confidence. But a far more practical idea suggested itself to a Judaean Israelite named Hanani. Possibly he was an official of some kind ; at any rate, he afterwards filled an office of much consideration at Jerusalem (Neh. vii., 2). It was his good fortune to be related to Nehemiah, one of the butlers of King Artaxerxes,f and he induced a party of Judaeans to accompany him on a visit to his influential kinsman. On his arrival at Susa (the winter residence of the Persian kings), he told Nehemiah, in reply to a question, how miserable a state Jerusalem was in, and he con¬ nected this misery with an outrage which might * Isa. xlix., 22. f Artaxerxes Longimanus (466-448 b.c.), as most critics suppose. 38 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile almost appear to be a recent one, if there were any¬ thing in the rest of the document to justify the sup¬ position. These are the words of the question and answer, as Nehemiah in his brief way reports them: “ I asked them respecting the Jews that had escaped, who remained over from the captivity, and respecting Jerusalem. And they said to me, those who remain over from the captivity there in the province are greatly afflicted and insulted ; the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned.” (Neh. i., 2, 3.) Nehemiah was conscious that a crisis had arrived, and that it devolved upon him to make a supreme effort for the good of Jerusalem. He was no mere theorist, and could not think it sufficient to write addresses full of a soaring but impracticable idealism. What he did, or at least wishes us to know that he did, is recorded in his autobiography. This docu¬ ment is one of our best authorities; its preservation is a piece of singular good fortune. Still there are some questions of the historical student which it fails to answer. It does not, for instance, explain how Artaxerxes came to be more friendly to the Jews than either Cyrus or Darius. Evidently there was some political motive for this king’s generosity, and it is the business of the historian to divine it. I venture therefore to make a conjecture. In 448 B.C. there was a very serious revolt of the Syrian Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 39 satrap Megabyzos. It is more than probable that the Jews avoided being drawn into this, and we may presume that Artaxerxes wished to reward them for their loyalty. I believe that Nehemiah understood this state of things, and even suspected that he owed his position at court, which in former times had been filled by high-born Persian nobles, to the philo-Juda- ism of Artaxerxes. Not improbably too some of the chief men of Jerusalem were as well informed as Nehemiah, so that the arrival of Hanani and his companions was not quite so accidental as Josephus in his romantic narrative represents it* (Jos. Ant. xi., 5, 6). One fact at any rate is certain,—that Nehemiah obtained leave of absence to go to Jerusalem in the capacity of governor, with the special object of re¬ pairing the walls. With firman and military escort he hurried to the holy city. Arrived there, he at once showed his characteristic self-reliance. He might have called the notables together, and have asked their opinion as to the expediency of rebuild¬ ing the walls. But there were great divisions among the citizens, some of whom, members of the priestly class as well as laymen, were closely connected with * The Judasans may have long desired to repair the walls of their capital, but have not felt sure enough of their favour at court to ask leave to do so. 40 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile the Samaritan leaders. Nehemiah doubtless knew this, and was unwilling to incur the risk of having his own opinion rejected. So the third night after his arrival he and a few trusty followers partly rode, partly walked, round the walls of the city.* At such a time as this (though, most probably, a hundred years or more later), a psalmist wrote these words, which well express the feelings of Nehemiah: “ For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, And are distressed to see her in the dust.” (Ps. cii., 14.) Stirred in his inmost depths, the governor now called the notables together. He told them how plainly the hand (z. e ., the providence) of God had been over him. Opposition was impossible. Eli- ashib, the friend of a leading Samaritan, was foremost among Nehemiah’s supporters. It was like the re¬ building of the wall of Athens after the Persian in¬ vasion. In fifty-two days the wall was completely repaired.f The truth of the story cannot be doubted. We have indeed a partial parallel for it in the story of a not less egotistic and not less meritorious officer in the Persian service, the Egyptian priest Uza-hor. Under two of the last native kings of Egypt this * Neh. ii., 11-15. f Neh. ii., 17, 18 ; iii., 1 ; vi., 15. Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 4 1 man had been admiral of the fleet, but upon the con¬ quest of Egypt by Cambyses he received the post of a chief physician. He was more than this, however. His father had been chief priest of the august mother of the sun-god, the goddess Nit, whose chief temple was at Sa'is. Uza-hor took advantage of his position at the Persian court to instil into the king a high notion of the dignity of his goddess, and of the duty of purifying her temple, and restoring her cultus in its beauty. Cambyses recognised the duty, and gave orders to restore the worship of Nit. He himself even testified his reverence for the great goddess, like all pious kings of Egypt before him. “ He did this,” says Uza-hor, “because I had made known to him the high importance of the holy god¬ dess.” So skilfully did Uza-hor reconcile his duty as a courtier with his obligations to his religion. And that he was no mere ritualist, is shown by his atten¬ tion to those works of mercy which were so much re¬ garded in ancient Egypt. “ I protected the people,” he says, “ in the very sore calamity which had hap¬ pened throughout the land. I sheltered the weak from the strong. I gave to the destitute a good burial, I nourished all their children, and built up again all their houses.” Then came the accession of Darius, who extended the same favour to Uza-hor, and sent him to Egypt to reappoint the holy scribes 42 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile of the temples in full numbers, and to restore every¬ thing that had fallen into decay. “ I did as I was commanded,” says Uza-hor. “ I took children, I confided them to expert masters in all branches of knowledge. Those who distinguished themselves I provided with all that they required as scribes. O ye divinities of Sai’s! remember all the good that Uza-hor the chief physician has done ! O Osiris, do unto him all that is good, even as he has done it who is the guardian of thy shrine for evermore.” * This Egyptian document is in several respects of considerable importance. First, it exemplifies the respectful attitude of the Persian kings towards the religions of conquered races. The Achaemenian dy¬ nasty was not religiously intolerant except towards the end of its time, nor did it care to proselytise in countries like Egypt, Babylonia, and Palestine, which had religions of ancient and reputable lineage. In¬ deed, the monuments show that marked favour was extended by Cyrus to the Babylonians, and by Cam- byses and Darius to the Egyptians. For this there were special reasons of high state policy, and I have suggested that the favour of Artaxerxes to the Jews should be similarly accounted for. But of course the influence of friendly officials was an indispensable help. It was a blessing for the Egyptians that Uza- * Brugsch, Gesch. Ag., pp. 784 ff. Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 43 hor filled the post of chief physician, and no less for the Jews that Nehemiah filled that of royal butler. We may be sure that the latter took care to oil the political wheels by representing the Jews as loyal sub¬ jects and as akin to the Persians by the purity and sublimity of their religion. Next, the egotistic language of the Egyptian cour¬ tier of Darius is remarkable, because it reminds us of the egotism of the Jewish courtier of Artaxerxes. But there is this difference between the two. Ne- hemiah’s egotism is a quality which is new among Israelites, while Uza-hor does but carry on the tra¬ dition of Egyptian courtiers of many centuries. In fact, Egypt was far in advance of Israel in moral de¬ velopment. The individualism which marks the Hebrew Book of Proverbs, which is post-exilic, characterised the Precepts of the Egyptian prince Ptah-hotep long before; no wonder, then, that the egotism of Nehemiah should have much earlier par¬ allels in the inscriptions on Egyptian statues. Nor is it a digression to remind you that the Egyptians, since a remote antiquity, had looked forward to a judgment after death with rewards and punishments for the individual. The inscriptions on the statues (which are in tomb-chapels) are addressed chiefly to the gods. We can hardly say the like of Nehemiah’s account of his good deeds. But he is evidently 44 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile thinking of a future reward, when he pauses in the midst of his story to ejaculate the prayer, “ Remem¬ ber me, O my God, for good.” * Is this merely a “prayer for posthumous fame?” Dean Stanley thought so.f But surely the words are to be explained by that touching utterance of a psalmist: “ Remember me, Jehovah, when thou showest favour to thy people, Take notice of me when thou workest deliverance, That I may feast mine eyes on the felicity of thy chosen, May rejoice in the joy of thy nation, May share the triumph of thine inheritance.” (Ps. cvi., 4, 5.) Nehemiah hopes in fact to have brought the Mes¬ sianic period a good deal nearer by the trouble he has taken, and has dreams of being as prominent then as he has been at this critical time at Jerusa¬ lem. Certainly the butler of Artaxerxes was the one great man in Judsea. Though not quite devoid of idealism, he showed a promptitude both in counsel and in action which reminds us of Napoleon. That he was impatient and masterful, is but a way of say¬ ing that he was extremely able and knew his own ability. The times demanded such a man, and any * Neh. v., 19 ; xiii., 14, 22, 31. f Lectures on the Jewish Church , iii., 120. Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 45 other living Jew would probably have failed. If I add that he hated the opponents of orthodox re¬ ligion with an intensity that shocks us, and that he suspected them of meanness as well as of religious error,—that will not surprise any thoughtful student. It was difficult—if not impossible—in those early times to love God fervently without hating a large section of God’s creatures. What Nehemiah’s feel¬ ings were towards the races outside Palestine, we can only conjecture, but we know that he detested three persons, Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammon¬ ite, and Geshem or Gashmu the Arabian. This detestation was of course not peculiar to Ne¬ hemiah. Shortly before his arrival prophets had written in the most bitter terms respecting the Sa¬ maritans.* The relations between the two kindred communities were becoming more and more strained. Sanballat and Tobiah, worshippers of the same God as orthodox Jews, had come to feel that the differ¬ ences which parted them were greater than the resem¬ blances which united them. And when Nehemiah arrived, “ it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man ” to give—as it appeared—a final pre¬ ponderance to the orthodox party at Jerusalem, or as Nehemiah himself expresses it, “to seek the wel¬ fare of the Israelites.” f And they had good reason. * Isa. lvii., 3-13 ; lxv. ; lxvi. f Neh. ii., 10. 46 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile The prophets who had written against the Samari¬ tans had done so anonymously. It was Nehemiah who made the first official declaration of war. “ We are the servants of the God of heaven ; but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial in Jerusalem.”* Let me repeat. It was not originally the Samaritans who wished to be separate from the Jews. Gladly would they have resorted to the sanctuary at Jeru¬ salem, and after death have enjoyed that shadowy immortality which consisted in having a monument in the holy city.f But Nehemiah and the exclusive party knew their own mind, and emphasised their hostility to their neighbours by repairing the wall of Jerusalem, not so much as a protection against or¬ dinary foes as to keep out the Samaritans. The Samaritans on their side affected to be aston¬ ished at Nehemiah for venturing to commit an act of overt rebellion against Persia.^ Some of the Jew¬ ish prophets had in all probability given them some excuse for this bold misrepresentation. The state¬ ment comes to us from Sanballat, but there is no sufficient reason to suppose that it was a pure fiction of the Samaritan.leader. We know that Haggai and Zechariah had put forward Zerubbabel as the Mes- * Neh. ii., 20. f Cf. Isa. lvi., 9, “ a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters.” % Neh. ii., 19. Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 47 sianic king, and it is probable enough that other prophets in Nehemiah’s time declared this great man (the one great man in Judaea, as I have said) to be the Messiah. It is true, Nehemiah was not a de¬ scendant of David. But it is not certain that Jere¬ miah and Ezekiel, when they speak of David or of a Sprout of David as the future ideal king, mean to insist on a literal descent from the son of Jesse. If a hero who came with the spirit and power of David had been put before them, it is probable that they would have recognised in him a true son of David, just as Jesus recognised in the appearance of John the Baptist the fulfilment of the well-known prophecy of Malachi.* The Samaritans, then, had really a specious pretext for setting the story about Nehe¬ miah afloat. Jewish prophets had for a moment con¬ nected the governor’s name with the traditional Messianic hope. But Nehemiah himself f was too wise and too honest to permit such preaching, and so to fan the delusive hope of Judaean independence. And I suspect that Sanballat understood this. It is hardly conceivable that the governor’s primary ob¬ ject in building the walls can have remained a secret to Sanballat. What that object was we have seen already. Ne- * Matt, xi., 14 ; Mark ix., 13 ; cf. Luke i., 17. f Neh. vi., 7. 48 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile hemiah wished to defend Jerusalem from the attack which the Samaritans would probably make on the city (on the pretext of Nehemiah’s rebellion against his liege lord), when the right of worshipping in the temple and of intermarrying with the Jews had been withdrawn from them. One point however must be mentioned to the credit of Sanballat. Before the doors of the city were set into the gates, he made a final attempt to effect a compromise with Nehemiah.* The governor, it is true, declares in his memoirs that the Samaritans had a plot against him. But the fact that Sanballat, undeterred by Nehemiah’s first refusal, made four more attempts to arrange a conference speaks in his favour. The governor’s rudeness was enough to provoke any one, and goes some way to excuse the final insult of Sanballat. That bold man only threw a doubt publicly on Nehemiah’s loyalty in revenge for repeated and most unseemly rebuffs; his earlier efforts for a compromise were made in good faith. That Nehemiah did not believe this, is no decisive argument on his side. His acuteness was preternatural. He scented treachery everywhere, and would not trust his nearest neighbours. A prophet urges him to take refuge in the sanctuary. At once he infers that the prophet is in the pay of Sanballat (Neh. vi., 10-14). The nobles of Jerusalem * Neh. vi., 1-9. Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 49 keep up a correspondence with their old friend and the kinsman of some of them, Tobiah the Am¬ monite. At once Nehemiah concludes that their letters are full of malicious slanders about himself.* Let not my reader imagine that I am siding with the Samaritans and their Jewish friends against Ne¬ hemiah. It is true, I think that the former had a right to feel aggrieved at the prospect of being de¬ prived of their civil and religious privileges at Jeru¬ salem, and that the Jewish conservatives were quite naturally drawn to the Samaritans among whom they found a sympathetic comprehension of their inherited prejudices. Some credit, too, is due in my opinion to the Jewish nobles for the assistance which they rendered to Nehemiah (whose ulterior object they did not perhaps see directly) in repairing the wall. But I think it quite possible that they painted Ne¬ hemiah too darkly in their private letters, and that they feed the prophet Shemaiah to induce Nehemiah to commit a questionable action. And Nehemiah’s cause was a better one than theirs. An exclusive policy was necessary at this juncture in order that at a later day more catholic principles might become possible. Besides, the terms had, as it appears, been stated to the Samaritans on which their religious privileges could be continued to them, and these * Neh. vi., 17-19. For “ my words ” read “ evil reports of me.” 50 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile terms they had rejected. They had even shown a loathing for the best Jewish piety (Isa. lxvi., 5), and, now that a capable leader of orthodoxy had appeared, they did their utmost to hinder his action. Surely this antagonism to what Nehemiah knew to be true righteousness might, from the governor’s point of view, be plausibly regarded as obstinate wickedness, which deserved no courtesy or consideration. To return to Nehemiah’s personal history. The work for which he had obtained leave of absence from the court was finished. It is stated in our present text of the book of Nehemiah that he remained twelve years at Jerusalem as governor (Neh. v., 14). But without independent corroboration of this we must hesitate to accept it as correct. The Biblical texts underwent many changes, especially in points affect¬ ing chronology, before they reached the latest editors. The text of Neh. v., 14 can scarcely be accurate. Nehemiah must, it would seem, have gone back to Artaxerxes as soon as the work to which his firman referred was completed. The king had only given him leave for a set time, and the queen, too, was in¬ terested in his return. One pleasant thing however I have to mention which is beyond all doubt. Before his departure, Nehemiah showed a genuine sympathy with the down-trodden poor. The story of their “ bit¬ ter cry ” follows immediately on that of the building Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 5i of the wall, and it was ultimately this great public work which caused the sad trouble of which they com¬ plained. For it was not possible that the poor Jews who laboured so continuously at the wall, should have time to attend to their fields and vineyards. The consequence was that the Persian tax-gatherer pressed them on the one hand, and Famine held them in his stern grip on the other. The only rem¬ edy was to apply to the money-lenders. But those harsh men would not be satisfied unless their clients mortgaged their small holdings, and even let their young sons and daughters go into slavery. “ A great cry arose among the common people and their wives against their Jewish brethren.” “ We are of the same flesh as our brethren,” they exclaimed in the anguish of their heart, “ and our children have the same lineaments as theirs.” The cry reached the governor in his palace, and passionate wrath seized him. He had not been prepared for this moral failure. He had hoped to find the Jews of Judaea not inferior in brotherly love to those of the Dispersion, who held it a sacred duty to redeem Jewish captives out of bondage. The idea of a rich Jew allowing a poor one to sell his child, and even buying the child himself, was abhorrent to Nehemiah. It was not only inhuman but irreligious, and the guilty act exposed the whole community to insulting 52 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile taunts from the Samaritans. He called an assembly, and with dramatic gestures, which he has actually recorded, he made the usurers swear to cancel the mortgages, and remit the excessive interest which they had been exacting. The story speaks badly for the religious life of the community. It reminds us of an anonymous prophecy written about this time, a specimen of which deserves to be quoted. The writer dramatically introduces the richer Jews expostulating with Jehovah on His inactivity as the protector of Israel. “ Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not ? mortified ourselves, and thou markest it not ? Surely on your fast day ye pursue your business, and all money lent on pledge ye exact. Is not this the fast that I choose, saith Jehovah, To loose the fetters of injustice, to untie the bands of violence, To set at liberty those who are crushed, to burst every yoke ? Is it not to break thy bread to the hungry, and to bring the homeless into thy house, When thou seest the naked to cover him, and not to hide thyself from thine own flesh ? Then will thy light break forth as the dawn, thy wounds will be quickly healed over, Thy redress will go before thee, and Jehovah's glory will be thy rearward. Thy sons will build up the ancient ruins, thou wilt raise again the long-deserted foundations, Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 53 And men will call thee, Repairer of ruins, Restorer of de¬ stroyed places for inhabiting.” (Isa. lviii., 4, 6-8, 12.) We see from this that Nehemiah was not the only person who revolted against the inhumanity of the aristocrats. Had he inquired, he would have found out this cruel conduct before. For it was not only the rebuilding of the walls which had given occasion to the usurers to torment the commonalty. He did not inquire, because he was too busy with high mat¬ ters to look into small details. Nor had his kinsman Hanani warned him of the need which existed for a thorough social reform ; Hanani was entirely ab¬ sorbed in the idea of the necessity for ensuring reli¬ gious isolation. And so Nehemiah, who also regarded this object as vital, drew these poor people from their country homes to labour on the wall without having made due provision for their compensation. Did he blame himself for this? He has unfortunately left no record in his autobiography. Equally unrecorded are the rest of the acts of Nehemiah during his first visit. Possibly the later writer who edited his work has omitted some sections which did not fit into his own plan. Nor do we know the name and the religious tendency of the Tirshatha (i. e ., royal representative) to whom Nehemiah re¬ signed the reigns of power. It is no great matter; 54 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile whoever the Tirshatha was, he had not the courage to cope with the Jewish aristocrats, who are found at a later time as intimate with the leaders of the Samaritans as if the wall had never been repaired. There was still a gulf between Babylonian and Judaean orthodoxy. Can we doubt that this caused much dissatisfac¬ tion in the Jewries of Babylonia? or hesitate to con¬ nect it with the first great certain return of Jewish exiles to Palestine under Ezra the scribe ? This great return would naturally be preceded by a journey of some of the leading Jews, including Ezra, to the Persian court with a petition for royal encouragement. And it is a fortunate circumstance that an authentic utterance of Ezra himself places this beyond all doubt, and enables us to infer the nature of his petition to Artaxerxes. These are the words to which I refer:— “ Blessed be Jehovah, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this into the king’s mind, to beautify Jehovah’s temple at Jerusalem, and has caused me to find favour before the king and his counsellors and before all the king’s mighty princes.” (Ezr. vii., 27, 28.) It appears then that the object of Ezra and his party was a distinctly religious one. It was not a mere national migration for which he desired the royal permission, but a grand attempt to prepare the way for the still delayed return of Jehovah to His land. Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 55 To him, as to Haggai and Zechariah before him, a beautiful temple was a necessary condition of the restoration of Israel to the divine favour. The sup¬ posed firman, however, which is inserted before the words of Ezra which I have just quoted is much more precise in its expressions. It declares that Ezra the priest * and scribe is sent by the king and his counsellors to institute an inquiry into Judaean religion on the basis of the law which is in his hand. It even empowers Ezra to appoint magistrates and judges to judge the people of the province west of the Euphrates in accordance with this law, and should there be any who presume to disobey, or refuse to be taught, a strict sentence is to be passed upon them, ranging from simple imprisonment to confisca¬ tion of goods, banishment, and death.f This is all very strange. A violent interference with the re¬ ligion of their J udaean subjects would have been anew departure in the policy of the Persian kings. Ezra makes no reference to any other object as approved by the king but that of the decoration of the temple. He also expressly says that he would not ask the king for a military escort, because he had said so much about divine providence (Ezr. viii., 22) ; this * Some scholars doubt whether the priestly character of Ezra is historically certain. f Ezr. vii., 11-26 ; cf. 2 Chron. xv., 13. 56 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile hardly looks as if he thought of pushing his reforms with the help of the government. That the firman is skilfully written, I should be the last to deny, but to defend it in its present form as a historical docu¬ ment, is beyond my ingenuity.* Nor am I at all sure that the date given in Ezra vii., 8, 9 is correct. It is, however, quite certain that a considerable party of Babylonian Jews arrived at Jerusalem under Ezra. Indeed, the activity of Ezra, like that of Ne- hemiah, is absolutely necessary to explain the course of later Jewish history. But what he actually did cannot in all points be ascertained. The account transmitted by the Chronicler in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah may be based on contemporary nar¬ ratives, but contemporary narratives are not always strictly faithful. I know that I am touching the fringe of a troublesome question, but it is one which the stud¬ ent cannot evade considering, and on which I must tell him my own conclusion. No one likes to set aside the authority of an old document, but here it appears to me quite unavoidable. Whatever view we take of the meaning of the narrator, the story will not stand the tests of historical criticism. One * On this and on the other problems of the careers of Ezra and Nehemiah, see special articles in Messrs. A. & C. Black’s Encyclo¬ pedia Biblica, and cf. the translation of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (with notes) by Guthe in Prof. Haupt’s Bible. See also Guthe’s History of Israel (German). Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 57 possible view is that Ezra, on his arrival with firman and lawbook, found the former quite useless owing to the temper of the people, and waited thirteen years before he ventured publicly to introduce the latter. Others think that the narrator meant some¬ thing quite different, viz., that Ezra did not think it important to feel his way and try his powers of per¬ suasion, but at once introduced the law amidst the rejoicings of the multitude. I think myself that the latter view of the writer’s meaning is the most nat¬ ural one, but I find it not less difficult to accept as historical than the former. How, except by an ap¬ peal to force, Ezra can have won immediate accept¬ ance for his lawbook, I do not understand. Did he make such an appeal, according to the document? No. The statement is that “ all the people. . . . spoke to Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the Law of Moses which Jehovah had commanded Israel ” (Neh. viii., i), and that on the next day the heads of families joined the priests and Levites in a visit to the great legal expert, Ezra, to learn the orthodox mode of keeping the Feast of Booths. Now I do not deny that there was at this time a sincere at¬ tachment on the part of the leading Judaeans to the older law, and I fully recognise the moral influence which must have been exerted by the new settlers from Babylonia, but I doubt whether a lawbook dif- 58 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile fering so widely from the older one (I will explain what Ezra’s lawbook was presently), can have been at once accepted by the whole people and especially by the aristocratic class. True, the other view ap¬ pears not less questionable. How can Ezra have waited thirteen years before he obeyed, and that most imperfectly, the plain command of Artaxerxes ? I must confess, too, that the events which, according to the extant records, followed this supposed publi¬ cation and solemn acceptance of the law confirm me in my sceptical attitude. I can partly understand the story of the introduction of the older lawbook under Josiah, but I cannot in the least comprehend the externally parallel narrative in Neh. viii. A small kernel of fact may not unreasonably be ad¬ mitted. But the story, as it stands, is, I greatly fear, unhistorical. Not less full of improbability is the story of the marriage-reforms in Ezra ix., x. Such a delicate matter as the alteration of marriage-customs cannot have been brought about so quickly and in such a rough-and-ready way. That the sight of Ezra, sit¬ ting with dishevelled hair in a stupor, and then the hearing of a solemn liturgical prayer, should have so unnerved the people who had married non-Jewish wives that they straightway volunteered to turn away their wives and their children, and that three days Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 59 afterwards a still larger assembly should have gathered in cold rainy weather in the open air, and sanctioned the appointment of a commission to compel the offenders to carry out this resolution, is surely in¬ credible. That there was anything like a general dismissal of non-Jewish wives and their children, not only psychological considerations, but certain impor¬ tant facts recorded in our documents* forbid us to believe. Let no one suppose that I am trying to convert Ezra into a model of humanity. On the contrary, I think it likely that he was at first far too vehement in his language and rigorous in his demands, and I must express a fear that some too pliant persons may have given way to him. If these surmises are correct, the scribe Ezra was guilty of a distinct denial of the divine fatherhood—a doctrine expressed in the very first chapter of the narrative which introduces his lawbook. I am bound to denounce this as much as I sympathise with and admire the very different attitude of the apostle Paul. Nor can I help referring in this connection to the blessings which accrued to the English race through the union of a heathen king of Kent with a Christian princess from France. Gratitude for these blessings compels me to shrink with horror from the conduct of Ezra, if he gave *See Ezr. x., 15 ; Neh. xiii., 23-27. 6 o Jewish Religious Life after the Exile sufficient occasion for a narrative like that in Ezra ix., x. And yet, even if Ezra was so far guilty, I must not ignore the existence of extenuating circumstances. This vehemence and rigour (so far as they are his¬ torical) were but the excess of his religious patriotism. They arose out of his dread of the too possible dis¬ astrous consequences of mixed marriages. A child is always affected permanently for good or for evil by the religion of its mother. There was a time when the religion of ancient Egypt became partly Semitic through the intermarriage of Egyptians and Syrians, and some of the least desirable religious peculiarities of the early Israelites were largely due to their intermarriage with the Canaanites. That was chiefly why Ezra and Nehemiah were so much opposed to mixed marriages. The religion which they desired to promote was a book-religion, which to a considerable extent recognised the claims of development; those of the Samaritans and the other small nations of Palestine were local, unpro¬ gressive religions, based on ancient custom. No doubt Ezra’s policy was opposed to the doctrine of the divine fatherhood expressed in the first chapter of Genesis. But we can show from the Book of Malachi * that many of those with whom Ezra would * Mai. ii , 10-16. Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 61 fain have dealt so barbarously had offered an equally flat contradiction to that great doctrine by turning adrift the Jewish wives whom they had married in their youth in order to marry foreign women. “Have we not all one Father? has not one God created us?” are the words in which Malachi indig¬ nantly reproves them. He also mentions the sad divisions in families which had arisen from these cruel divorces, the children having apparently taken the part of their disgraced mothers. And he seems to have painfully felt his own inability to reform this abuse, for he (or some not much later writer) has added this appendix to his prophecy,— “ Behold, I send you the prophet Elijah before Je¬ hovah’s great and terrible day come. He shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse ” (Mai. iv., 5, 6). In other words, Malachi looked for a great religious reformer, who should make the people think of their family and social obligations, and of Jehovah’s hatred for all un-Israelitish conduct. Jehovah had made no covenant except with Israel; those who formed an alliance of any kind, either with half-Jews like the Samaritans, or with non-Jews like the Philistines, Ammonites, and Moabites, and who, in order to do this, had put away their Jewish wives, provoked His 62 Jewish Religious Life after the Exile displeasure. Such, too, we may presume was the theory of marriage inculcated by Ezra. Very little, then, remains to the critical historian of the details of the story in Ezra ix., x. A some¬ what more favourable judgment can, in my opinion, be passed on the account of the rise of the so-called congregation, or to borrow a more appropriate Greek term, the Ecclesia.* This narrative seems originally to have followed on that in Ezr. ix., x., the last words of which, as given in the true Septuagint text, are “ and they dismissed them (i. e ., their foreign wives) with their children.” It also undoubtedly presupposes that Ezra’s lawbook had been generally accepted and was now in force. For it speaks of a long reading from the book of the law of Jehovah as having preceded the liturgical confession uttered by the Levites ; the contents of the lawbook were some¬ thing quite new to the audience. Now it is quite true that this cannot be the historical background of the formation of the congregation. The mixed mar¬ riages cannot to any great extent have been dissolved, and the lawbook of Ezra cannot have been generally or publicly accepted. But the scene in the fore¬ ground of the picture may still be correct. The Babylonian Jews who came up with Ezra certainly regarded themselves as the true Israelites, and it was * Cf., Hort, The Christian Ecclesia (1896). Nehemiah, Ezra, and Manasseh 63 only natural that they should form themselves into what claimed to be a national Ecclesia or assembly —the ideas of the church and the nation being hence¬ forth inseparably fused together.* And to this as¬ sembly or congregation they would naturally admit, first, all who in the past evil days had protested against semi-heathenism, and who, in the words of Malachi (iii., 16), had “ spoken often one to the other,”f and next, those who, under the influence of the new colonists, had given up their heretical cus¬ toms, or, in the language of a contemporary, J had “turned from transgression in Jacob” (Isa. lix., 20). This congregation is the “ Zion ” of the later chapters of Isaiah, and its members are the “ poor,” the “meek,” the “mourners in Zion,” the “trembling listeners to Jehovah’s word,” of whom we read in late psalms, prophecies, and narratives.§ This con¬ gregation is also the feeble beginning of the great Jewish church, and the contract or covenant which its members, after a solemn reading of the new law¬ book, probably subscribed, must have contained the * According to the post-exilic list in Ezr. ii. (Neh. vii., i Esdr. v.), the number of men in the community was 42,360, i. 7° f- J his attempted marriage reforms, 56-62 ; his relation to the congregation, 62-64; was he a priest? 55 Ezra’s lawbook, not at once gen¬ erally accepted, 57 62 ; not merelv legal, 77 ; not alto¬ gether his work, 72 ; in what sense new, 72 f. Fasting, 9-11 Fatherhood, the divine, 59, 60 Frazer, author of Golden Bough , 75 Gentiles, Jewish attitude to¬ wards, 134, 218 ff. Gerizim, Mt., temple on, 28, 32/ Geshem, the Arabian, 45 God, names of, 175 ; dual aspect of, 166-168 ; sons of, 175 f. Goethe, quoted, 174 Greek thought, 158, 173, 178, 196/., 206, 257 Guests of Jehovah, idea of, 250 Haggai, 8/., 11-13 Handel, his Messiah , 99 Haupt, Professor, 5, 185 “Heads” of the Jewish com¬ munity, 6, 10, 16 Herod the Great, 200 Holiness, ceremonial, 74 Hooker, quoted, 154 Hope, the larger, 229 Humility, 80 Hyrcanus, John, 199 Ideals, Jewish religious, 82 ff. Immortality, 229-244 Inspiration, Book of Wisdom on, 133 ; Philo on, 133 Jannaeus, Alexander, 199 Jeremiah, anti-sacrificial school of, 252/. Jeshua, high priest, 6 Jews, three classes of, 125 ; number of, in the community, 65 n. ; why so few returned at first, 21 Job, a poetical version of Abra¬ ham, 79; original Book of, 160 ff. ; early legend of, 159 ff. ; and his friends, roles trans¬ posed, 165 f.\ of Edomitish ori¬ gin (?), 132 ; insertions in Book of, 171 ff.; and the Servant of Jehovah passages, 162 ; on future life, 17, 23 /., 63 Jonah, story of, 91, 218 Josephus, cited, 39, 200, 258 “ Kiss the Son,” a misunder¬ standing, 112 Koheleth, see Preacher Koran, cited, 251 n. Loeb, on the Psalms, 113 Maccabee, Simon the, 244 Macdonald, Prof. D. B., 160 Manasseh, Jewish priest, 32, 68 Messiah, the, 94 ff ., 243 Milton, quoted, 144 Mommsen, quoted, 4 Montaigne, 183, 208 Mountain, the divine, no Nathan, prophecy of, 109 Nature, contemplation of, 172 ff. Nehemiah, character of, 43 ff .; career of, 37-54, 64-69 Orthodoxy, an early protest of, 179 Pascal, a Hebrew, 164 Paul, St., 59 ; Pauline theology, 77 Persian influences, 257 ff. Peters, Dr. J. P., 16 n. Index 265 Pharisees and Sadducees, 200, 204 ff., 244 Pirqe Aboth, quoted, 246 Pompey, 245 Prayer, discovery of, 251 Preacher, the, identified with Solomon, 184, 197 Prophets, their activity at Baby¬ lon, 21 f. Proselytes, 219, 221, 224 f. Proverbs, Book of, an ethical handbook, 173, 208 ; Book of, secular element in, 138 ; Book of, religion of, 139 ff. Psalter, an historical authority, 124 ; text needs revision, 235 ; twice refers to an historical ruler, 105 ; religious influence of, 74, 204 ; of Solomon, 205, 245 Religion, individual, 166 Religions, historical study of, 261 Renan, his date for Ecclesiastes, 199 ; quoted, 250 Resurrection, 244 ; limitation of, 230 Retribution, doctrine of, 163 f., 211, 214 Rhys-Davids, Professor, 101 Rig Veda, quoted, 178 Ruth, story of, 220 Sabbath, 66 f. Sacrifices, spiritual, 252-255 Samaritans, the, 25-35, 60, 68 Sanballat, 31, 45, 47, 48, 68 Satan, 18, 212 Scepticism, Jewish, 173, 195 ff. Servant of Jehovah, 69, 86 ff., 223 n.; songs of, when in¬ serted in 2 Isaiah, 92 ; in Psalter, 93 Sheshbazzar, 6 Simeon, the Righteous, saying of, 190, 210 n. Sirach, Jesus son of, 209 (see Ecclesiasticus) Solomon, in legend, 128 f., 197 Stanley, Dean, on Nehemiah, 44 Talmud, cited, 201 n., 246 Targum, on Deut. xxxiii., 11, 199 n,; on Psalm lxxiii., 238 ; free treatment of Ecclesiastes, 188 ; on Gen. iii., 245 Temple, spiritual, 251 255 Thutmes III., of Egypt, no Tobiah the Ammonite, 45, 65 Virgil, a prophet, 103 n. Vows, scruples respecting, 189, 254 Wisdom, conception of, 126 ff., 153-156, 159, 176, 209 /., 258 Zechariah, n-19; his disillusion¬ ment, 16 Zend-Avesta, cited, 157, 210, 260 Zerubbabel, 6, 8,14-16 Zion, meaning of, in 2 Isaiah, 63 Zoroastrianism, 74, 81, 151, 157, 210, 251 n., 258 ff. BIBLICAL PASSAGES. I. OLD TESTAMENT AND APOCRYPHA. GENESIS. i . 216 ii . 177 n. v. , 21-24. 155 — 24. 239 ix., 1-17. 217 xviii., 17-19. 130 LEVITICUS. xi., 44. 80 NUMBERS. xi., 29 ; xvi., 3. 91 xv. , 32-36. 66 xxi., 17, 18. 227 xxiii., xxiv. 13111. DEUTERONOMY. iv., 10. 130 — 19. 86n. vi. , 7, 20_/.. 130 xi., 19. 130 xxxii., Ji. 241 JUDGES. ix., 8-15. 131 RUTH. iv., 18-22. 220 2 SAMUEL. xiv., 2. 131 — 17, 20. 131 xvi. , 23. 131 I KINGS. iii. , 28. 131 iv. , 29-34. 129 viii. , 48. 251 2 KINGS. xxii., 8. 71 1 CHRONICLES. xxix., 10-19. 2I 5 2 CHRONICLES. xii., 13/. 221 EZRA. V. 15 vii., 6-10. 71 — n-26. 55 — 25. 210 — 27/. 54 ix. , x. 58/. NEHEMIAH. vi., 7. 16 viii. 57 / xii. , 15-22. 66 xiii. , 23-27 ; 28-30. 68 JOB. V., 12 /. 138 xi., 12. 136 xiv. , 7-12. 233 — 13-17 . 234 xv. , 4/. 117 — 5 . 138 266 Biblical Passages 267 JOB (continued). PSALMS (CONTINUED). xv. , 7/.. xvi, , 18-21. xix., 21 f\ . — 25-29. xxi. .. 149 n., 177 . 168 . 169, 235 . 7 Q xxiii., 8. xxviii. . 171 — 20-23 . . 153 — 26 /. . . 150 — 28 . . 153 xxix.-xxxi . . 170 xxxiii., 23 f . . 18 xxxviii.-xli . . 171 xxxviii., 22-27. • — 29-34 . . 152 PSALMS. i., 2. 126 ii.Ill, 112 V., 9 . 120 ix., 11, 12, 17. 218 X., 3 . 119 xii., 1. 122 xv . 249 — 5. 122 xvi . 241-244 — i -5 . 30 xvii . 240, 241 -3-5 . 260 xviii . no, hi xix. , 6.. 257 xx. , xxi. 106 xxi. , 6. 241 xxii. 93 — 7, 8. 120 xxiii., 6. 252 xxiv. 249 xxvi., 5. 124 - 5-7 . 249 — 9/. !23 xxvii., 4.219 — 12. 121 xxxi., 18. 120 xxxv., 4-6. 143 — 11 . 121 xxxvi., 1-3. 116 — 8-10.228 xxxvii., 26. xxxix., 12. xl. (part 1). . 253 — 6-8. . 253 xlii., 3 , 4. . 119 — 4 . . 114 xliv., 24. . 144 xlv. — 4 . . 80 xlix. 1 . . 253 —14/., 23.... . 254 Ii.. 1-17. — 12/.. -16/. . 255 -18/.. . 255 lii., 1. lv., II. lxiii., 1. . 251 lxv., 2. lxviii., 22. — 24-26. lxix. ,20 f .... . 118 lxxii. lxxiii. — 25, 26. — 27, 28. . 247 lxxxv., 9. . 243 lxxxvii. .225/. lxxxix. . 109/. -48 . . 244 xci., 15/.. . 243 xcii., 7 f . . . 143 xciv., 10. . 135 xcvii., 1-6. ci. cx. . 105 cxv. - 4-8 . cxviii. ... cxix., 43, 46... . 223 — 72 , 99 . -84 . — 96 . CXX. , 2 . . 122 cxxiii., 3/. . 118 cxxvii., 3. . 24 268 Biblical Passages PSALMS (CONTINUED). CXXX 1 ., I. cxxxii., II. cxxxv. cxxxix., 21. — 24. . 125 cxliv., 1-11. cl. PROVERBS. i., 4 . . 138 — 6. — 27. .233 ii., 19. iii., 2, 16. . 233 — 14-16. . 138 — 18. v., 5 /. vm., 4. . 134 — 5-12 . . 138 18 /•. . 138 — 22-31. 149, 208 — 25. .. 177 n. — 3 i. . 134 ix., 11. . 233 x., 17. — 23. . 136 — 27. I 39 » 2 33 — 29. . 139 XL, 30 . . 137 xii., 28. . 232 xiv., 2, 31. — 35 . . 145 xv., 3, II . — 8. . 141 — 33 . . 139 xvi., 3. - 141 — 4 . • 143 , 153 — 7 . — 10. . 145 xvii., 27. .. .. 138 xix., 17. . 194 xx., 28. xxi., 3, 27. . 141 xxii., 3. . 138 xxiv., 11. . 193 — 17 . . 141 — 2I /«. PROVERBS (CONTINUED). xxv. ,4 /. — 21/.. xxviii., 3. . 123 xxix., 13. . 144 — 18. . 145 xxx., 2-4. .I 73 -i 8 i - 5-9 . — 29-31 . .. 146 xxxi., 1-9. . . . xxxiii., 13-15, ECCLESIASTES. i., 4-9. . 207/. — 12-14. — 14 / . ii., 18/. . 194 iii., 11. — 21. . 191 v., 4 , 6. . 188 — 7 . . 191 vii., 2/. — 15 . . 187 -16/ . .. 188 — 27/. viii., 2-4. — 9 . — 14 . . 187 ix., 2. . 203 x., 7 . . 201 /. — 16a, 17a.. . — 20. . 201 xi., 10a ; xii., ia. 192 xii., 11/. — 13 /•. . 197 ISAIAH. i. 26. iii., 4 ) ’7 h . • • • V., II J ix., 2-7. • • 94 , 97 , 98-101 xi., 1-8 . .. 94, 97, 101-104 xix., 18-25. .. — 24/ . xxiv., 5 . xxv., 7/. - xxvi., 14-19. . xxx., 2 . . 131 Biblical Passages 269 ISAIAH (CONTINUED). EZEKIEL. xxxi., 2. . ... 130/. xxxiii., 14. . 250 xl-, 13/. . 156 xlii., 1-4. . 89 — 4 . — 6. . 92 xliv., 9-20 } xlvi., 6-8 f xlix., 1-6. . 88/. 1 -. 4-9 . . 88 Ii., 7-10 l In., 12 \ • ■. 24 — 13-15 . . 9 i — 13 ; liii., 12. liii., 2-9. . . .. . . . 83 — 10/.. — 12. . 96 liv., 1. . 24 — 13 . . 9 i lv., if . .. 23 - 3-5 . . 97 lvi., 1-8. — 2-6.. . . 67 lvii., 1. . 85 lviii., 5. — 13 . . 67 lix., 20. . 63 — 21. . 223 lx., 13. lxi., 1-3 ) lxn., 1, 6, 7 f lxv., if . . 27 - 3 - 5 , n. . 29 — 19 /•. . 231 — 19-22. . 243 lxvi , 1 f. . .. 28 — 'if- . . 29 JEREMIAH. vii. , 22 /. 252 viii. , 8. 131 ix. , 17. 131 n. xxiii.,5 /. 95 xxxi., 33.253 xxxiii., 14-16. 95 xli., 5. 26 xlix., 7. 132 xiv., 14 . 159 xvii., 22-24 1 xxxiv., 23/. j-. 94 xxxvii., 24 /. ) xxviii., 3. 155 — 13 /. no xlv., 10-20. 75 xlviii.,35. 95 n - DANIEL. vi., 10. 251 xii., 1-3. 230 — 3. 125 AMOS. iii., 6.. . — 7... . v., 25.. ix., 11 /. ...98 .. 12 252 n. . . 100 MICAH. iii-, 3 . vi., 8. HAGGAI. ii. ,6 /. ) — 21-23 f . ZECHARIAH. 121 91 13 11., 8. 111., 8 ) vi., 12 f v. , 5-11.. vi. , 9-12. vii. , 1-5.. ix., 9- xii., 8... . — 10.. .. ... 218 -.. 15 ... 18 ... 15 10 80, 108 ... 103 . 85 n. MALACHT. i-, n. . 28, 133 ii., 8. . 32 — 10 /. — 10-16. iii., 16. . 20, 63 iv., 1-4. . 19 - 5 /. Biblical Passages 270 ECCLESIASTICUS. 1., 15. . 134 xvii., 17. xviii., 13. . 135 xxi., 27. xxiv., 8, 23 ) xxxvi., 12 >. xxxvii., 25 ) xxxii., 15. XXXV., 1-6. xxxvi., 1-17. . 147 xxxviii., 20 f. } xl., II /. J ' xxxix., 4, 10. . 134 xliii., 27-33. xlv., 25. xlvii., 17. xlviii., 11. xlix., 13. WISDOM OF SOLOMON. vii., 22 f . 298 2 ESDRAS. xiv., 44. 71 1 MACCABEES. V., 14-54 . 225 II. NEW TESTAMENT. MATTHEW. xi., 14. 47 — 29/....• . 80 n. JOHN. iv. , 13/. 228 v. , 17. 154 — 39. 256 ACTS. XV., 20. 217 2 CORINTHIANS. iii., 2. 92 HISTORY AND RELIGION BufcWMsm; its HMstorp anb literature. By t. W. Rhys-Davids, LL.D., Ph.D., chairman of the Pali Text Society ; Secretary and Librarian of the Royal Asiatic Society ; Professor of Pali and Bud¬ dhist Literature at University College, London. 8vo. $ r - 5 ° “As a clear and concise exposition of the subject, Prof. Rhys- David’s book is unsurpassed. . . . The clearness and conden¬ sation of the work are remarkable, and it is doubtful if any exposition of the Buddhist doctrines has ever been made in English so satisfactory as this. . . . The book is an admirable handbook of Buddhism, written from a point of view at once scholarly and unprejudiced, and will take a creditable place among books of its class.”— Pioneer Press , St. Paul. ■Religions of primitive peoples. By Daniel G. 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Authorized edition for the United States and Europe. 8° . . $i 75 “ The work is a careful, thoughtful and philosophical study of an important subject, and merits attentive reading.”— Cleveland Plaindealer. “ This book is not so much a defence and vindication of the Jew as it is a statement of facts concerning Israel in its relations to modern national life. _ It is the result of broad culture and careful generalization from well established premises, and will repay perusal and study.’ — New York Observer. THE STORY OF THE JEWS. By James K. Hosmer, formerly professor in Washington University, St. Louis, author of a “Short History of German Literature,” “ The Life of Samuel Adams,” etc. With two maps and thirty- five illustrations. 12 0 , pp. xviii. -f- 380 . . . $1.50 “ This much-desired volume has at last appeared, and appeared in charming form typographically. Prof. J. K. Hosmer, author of a well-known 4 Short History of German Literature,’ writes ‘The Story of the Jews,’ asVol. III. of Messrs. Putnam’s 4 Story of the Nations’ Series—a series which is destined to wide dissemination. We have seldom read a ‘story’ more dramatic or more interesting, less 4 juvenile ’ in a certain sense, and yet so fresh and young. . . . Prof. Hosmer has done a first rate piece of work, and we anticipate for his book a large sale.”— Critic. THE STORY OF THE JEWS UNDER ROME. By Rev. W. Douglas Morrison. Illustrated. 12 0 , pp. xxx, -f- 426.$1.50 44 These rich stores of accumulated knowledge have been carefully digested; the results embodied in this volume shed a flood of light on the times. . . . Is an indispensable aid to the history of the period, and it will prove a valuable adjunct to biblical construction.”— Phila. Public Ledger THE HAMMER. A Tale of Palestine in the Time of Judas Maccabseus. By Alfred J. Church. Illustrated, 12°.$1 25 44 As history it is carefully studied, and as a story it is rich in interest. ... It is an excellent volume, alike for the household and the Sunday-school library.” — Congregationalist. 44 The story is calculated to give the reader a vivid idea of the stirring times and incidents with which it deals. The author has skilfully interwoven history with fiction.”— Cincinnati American Israelite. Jn preparation : The Life of Judas Maccabaeus. By Israel Abrahams. (In the Heroes of the Nations Series.) G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS, New York & London Recent Publications. CHRISTIANITY AND ANTI-CHRISTIANITY IN THEIR FINAL CONFLICT. By Samuel J. Andrews, author of “The Life of Our Lord upon Earth,” etc. 8° . . . . . . $2 00 “ This is in many respects a remarkable book. It deals with the important Bible truths, of which little has been heard of late. The same scholarly breadth and thorough¬ ness which characterize the author’s ‘ Life of Christ ’ are stamped also on this work. . . . The book deserves a thoughtful reading by all Christians.”— The Observer, HEROES OF THE REFORMATION. A series of biographies of the leaders in the Protestant Reformation, men who, while differing in their gifts, were influenced by the same spirit. The series is edited by Samuel Macauley Jackson, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Church History, New York University. Each fully illustrated. 12 0 ......... $1 50 1. —MARTIN LUTHER, The Hero of the Reformation. By Henry E. Jacobs, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Theology, Evangelical Lu¬ theran Seminary, Philadelphia. 2. — PHILIP MELANCHTHON, The Protestant Preceptor of Germany. By James W. Richard, Professor of Homiletics, Lutheran Theo¬ logical Seminary, Gettysburg, Pa. 3 — DESIDERIUS ERASMUS, of Rotterdam, the Humanist in the Service of the Reformation. By Ephraim Emerton, Ph.D., Pro¬ fessor of Ecclesiastical History, Harvard University. 4—THEODORE BEZA, the Counsellor of the French Reformation. By Henry Martyn Baird, Ph.D., Professor of the Greek Language and Literature, New York University; author of “The Huguenots,” 6 vols. For titles of volumes in preparation, write for separate descriptive circular. THE AMERICAN LECTURES ON THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS. Each, 8°, $1 50. 1.—BUDDHISM: ITS HISTORY AND LITERATURE. By T. W. Rhys-Davids, LL.D., Ph.D., Chairman of the Pali Text Society; Secretary and Librarian of the Royal Asiatic Society ; Professor of Pali and Buddhist Literature at University College, London. 3 —RELIGIONS OF PRIMITIVE PEOPLES. By Daniel G. Brin- ton, A.M., M.D., LL.D., D.Sc., Professor of Archaeology and Linguistics in the University of Pennsylvania. 3 —JEWISH RELIGIOUS LIFE AFTER THE EXILE. By T. K. Cheyne, of University of Oxford. 4.—THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL TO THE EXILE. By Karl Budde, of the University of Strasburg, Germany. G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS, New York and London By W. M. RAMSAY. THE CHURCH IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE BEFORE A.D. 170. With Maps and Illustrations, 8vo.$3.00 “ It is a book of very exceptional value, Prof. Ramsay is a real scholar and of the very best type of scholarship. A thoroughly good book ; a product of first¬ hand and accurate scholarship ; in the highest degree suggestive ; and not only valuable in its results, but an admirable example of the true method of research.” — The Churchman. ST. PAUL THE TRAVELLER AND THE ROMAN CITIZEN. With Map, 8vo.$3.00 “ A work which marks an important step in advance in the historical inter¬ pretation of St. Paul. . . . It is an immense gain to have the narrative lifted from the mean function of being an artful monument and mirror of a strife internal to Christianity which it seeks by a process, now of creation, now of elimination, to overcome and to conceal, to the high purpose of representing the religion as it began within the Empire and as it actually was to the Empire and the Empire to it. . . . Professor Ramsay has made a solid and valuable contribution to the interpretation of the Apostolic literature and of the Apostolic age—a contribution distinguished no less by ripe scholarship, in¬ dependent judgment, keen vision, and easy mastery of material, than by fresh¬ ness of thought, boldness of combination, and striking originality of view.”~ The Speaker. IMPRESSIONS OF TURKEY DURING TWELVE YEARS’ WANDERINGS. 8 vo.$1.75 “ No conception of the real status of Turkey is possible unless something is understood of ‘ the interlacing and alternation of the separate and unblending races.’ . . . Such an understanding is admirably presented in Prof. Ramsay’s book, which gives a near and trustworthy insight into actual Turkish conditions.” — N. Y. Times. WAS CHRIST BORN AT BETHLEHEM? A Study in the Credibility of St. Luke. Part I. The Importance of the Problem. Part II. The Solution of the Problem. 8 vo, $1.75 “ The work is one of which students of biblical criticism will need to take account. It is absolutely candid and straightforward, thorough and discriminating, and courteous to other scholars whose conclusions it sees most reason to condemn. It is a fine piece of work .”—The Congregationalist. HISTORICAL COMMENTARY UPON THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 8vo $3. CO G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS, New York and London. tf ' , ♦ ' *•