The Makers and Teachers of Judaism · Chapter 3Part 3
This chapter is not translated yet. You are reading the original.
II. Their Condition and Occupations. It is probable that these mounds were not far from each other and that the adjacent fields were cultivated by the Jewish colonists. Thus they were enabled, under even more favorable conditions than in Judah, to continue in their old occupations and to build houses and rear families as Jeremiah had advised (Jer. 29; Section LXXXVII:35). In Babylonia, as at Elephantine, so long as they paid the imperial tax and refrained from open violence they were probably allowed to rule themselves in accordance with their own laws. The elders of the different families directed the affairs of the community and acted as judges, except in the case of capital offences which were punished in the name of Nebuchadrezzar (Jer. 29 22). Thus for a long time the exiles constituted a little Judah within the heart of the Babylonian empire, maintaining their racial integrity even more completely than the Jews resident in Egypt.
Babylonia was the scene of an intense commercial activity. The opportunities and allurements of the far-reaching traffic which passed up and down the great rivers and across the neighboring deserts were eventually too strong for the Jews to resist. Hence in Babylonia, as in Egypt, they gradually abandoned their inherited agricultural habits and were transformed into a nation of traders. In the recently discovered records of the transactions of the famous Babylonian banking house which flourished during the earlier part of the Persian period, under the direction of succeeding generations of the Murashu family, are found many familiar Jewish names. These indicate that within a century after the fall of Jerusalem many sons of the exiles had already won a prominent place in the commercial life of that great metropolis.
III. Their Religious Life. With this transformation in their occupation came a great temptation to forget their race and to lose sight of its ideals. The temptation was all the greater because their capital city and temple were in ruins and the belief was widely held that Jehovah had forsaken his land and people and retired to his "mount in the uttermost parts of the north" (Isa. 14:13 Ezek. 1:4). Their actual experiences had proved so fundamentally different from their hopes that there was undoubtedly in the minds of many a dread doubt as to whether Jehovah was able to fulfil his promises. False prophets were also present to mislead the people (Jer. 39:21-23 Ezek. 13:1-7 14:8-10). There is also no indication that the Jews of Babylon ever attempted to build a temple to Jehovah in the land of their captivity. Hence there were no ancient festivals and public and private sacrifices and impressive ceremonials to kindle their religious feelings and to keep alive their national faith. Instead, the imposing religion of the Babylonians, with its rich temples, its many festivals, its prosperous and powerful priesthood, and its elaborate ritual must have profoundly impressed them and led them to draw unfavorable comparisons between it and the simple services of their pre-exilic temple. Nevertheless, in spite of these temptations, there were many who proved themselves loyal to Jehovah. Prayer and fasting and sabbath observance took the place of sacrificial rites. A strong emphasis is laid by Ezekiel on the sabbath. [Sidenote A: Ezekiel 20:12-31; Ezekiel 22:26; Ezekiel 23:38] From this time on it became one of the most important and characteristic institutions of Judaism. Under the influence of the new situation it lost much of its original, philanthropic, and social character and became instead a ceremonial institution. In faithfully observing it the exiles felt that even in captivity they were paying homage to their divine King. The more it took the place of the ancient feasts and sacrifices, the more they forgot that the sabbath was God's gift to toiling man rather than man's gift to God. From the Babylonian exile, also, probably dates that custom of assembling on the sabbath to read the ancient scriptures which represents the genesis of the later synagogue and its service.
IV. The Prophecies of Ezekiel. The priest-prophet Ezekiel was the interpreter, pastor, and guide of the Babylonian exiles. He met their problems and proposed the solutions which became the foundation principles of later Judaism. His prophecies fall naturally into four distinct groups: (1) Chapters 1 to 24, which recount his call and deal with the issues at stake in the different Judean communities in the critical years between the first and second captivities. They represent the prophet's work between the years 592 and 586 B.C. (2) Chapters 25 to 32, include seven oracles regarding Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, and Egypt, the nations which had taken part in the destruction of Jerusalem or else, like Egypt, had lured Judah to its ruin. The complete destruction of these foes is predicted, and chapter 32 concludes with a weird picture of their fate, condemned by Jehovah to dwell in Sheol, the abode of the shades. (3) Chapters 33 to 39 contain messages of comfort and promise to Ezekiel's fellow-exiles in Babylonia and in the distant lands of the dispersion. They are dated between the years 586 and 570 B.C. (4) Chapters 40 to 48 present Ezekiel's plan for the restored temple and service and for the redistribution of the territory of Canaan, and his belief that Judah's fertility would be miraculously increased. This plan is definitely dated in the year 572 B.C., two years before the prophet's death.
V. The Resurrection of the Dead Nation. Ezekiel dealt with the problems of his fellow-exiles concretely and from a point of view which they could readily understand. He fully realized that if the faith of the people was to be saved in this crisis a definite hope, expressed in objective imagery, must be set before them. With the same inspired insight that had prompted Jeremiah to purchase his family estate in the hour of Jerusalem's downfall, Ezekiel saw that Jehovah would yet restore his people, if they would but respond to the demands of this crisis. His message was, therefore, one of hope and promise. In the memorable chapter in which he pictures a valley filled with dry bones, he aimed to inspire their faith by declaring that Jehovah was not only able but would surely gather together the dismembered parts of the nation and impart to it new life and activity. The prophet was clearly speaking of national rather than of individual resurrection. Like Jeremiah, he anticipated that the tribes of the north and south would again be united, as in the days of David, and that over them a scion of the Davidic house would rule as Jehovah's representative. He also assured them that Jehovah would come again to dwell in the midst of his purified and restored people.
VI. The Divine Shepherd. In the thirty-fourth chapter Ezekiel deals with the same theme under a different figure. First he traces the cause of the exile to the inefficiency and greed and oppression of the earlier shepherds, the rulers like Jehoiakim, who had scattered rather than gathered and led the people intrusted to them. Now Jehovah himself, the great Shepherd of the People, will arise and gather his flock, and lead them back to their home and give them a rich pasture. Over them he will appoint a descendant of David, but this prince shall be shorn of his ancient kingly power.
Ezekiel also presents in his characteristic, symbolic form the promise that Jehovah will now fulfil the popular hopes and destroy the wicked foes who have preyed upon his people, and thus vindicate his divine rulership of the world. In one passage Judah's worst foes, the Edomites, represent aggressive heathendom. Again, in a still more impressive picture, suggested by an experience in his own childhood when the dread Scythians swept down from the north, he portrays the advance of the mysterious foes from the distant north under the leadership of Gog (38, 39). When they are already in the land of Palestine, the prophet declares, Jehovah will terrify them with an earthquake, so that in panic they shall slay each other, as did the Midianites in the days of Gideon, until they shall all fall victims of Jehovah's judgment. Ezekiel thus revived in the changed conditions of the exile that popular conception of the day of Jehovah which the earlier prophets had refused to countenance. It was the prophet's graphic way of declaring that Jehovah would prepare the way for the return of his people, if they would but respond when the opportune moment should arrive. Later Judaism, however, and especially the apocalyptic writers, interpreted literally and developed still further this picture of Jehovah's great judgment day until it became a prominent teaching of later Jewish and Christian thought.
Similarly Ezekiel declared that the barren lands of Judah would be miraculously transformed and rendered capable of supporting the great numbers of the exiles who should return. In this respect Ezekiel became the father of the later priestly school to which belongs the author of the book of Chronicles, in whose thought the events of Israel's history came to pass, not through man's earnest effort and in accordance with the established laws of the universe, but through special divine interposition. It is difficult to determine whether Ezekiel himself was simply endeavoring to state dramatically that Jehovah would fully anticipate the needs of his people, or whether he did actually anticipate a series of prodigious miracles.
VII. Ezekiel's Plan of the Restored Temple. Ezekiel, being a true prophet, fully realized that the fundamental question regarding the future of his race was not whether they would be restored to their home but whether or not they would guard against the mistakes and sins of the past and live in accord with Jehovah's just demands. The solution of this question which he proposes reveals his priestly training. With infinite pains and detail he develops the plan of a restored temple and ritual. The details were doubtless in part suggested by his remembrance of the temple at Jerusalem and in part taken from the great temples of Babylon. By means of this elaborate picture he declared his firm conviction that his race would surely be restored. His chief purpose, however, was to impress upon the minds of his people the transcendent holiness of Jehovah and the necessity that he be worshipped by a holy people. The entire plan of the temple, of the ritual, and even of the allotment of the territory of Canaan was intended to enforce this idea. His plan, if adopted, was calculated to deliver the people from the temptations and mistakes of the past. With this end in view Jehovah's sacred abode was guarded with massive double walls and huge gateways. Only the priests were allowed to enter the inner court, and a sharp distinction was made between the priests who were the descendants of Zadok and the Levites whose fathers had ministered at the many sanctuaries scattered throughout the land of Israel. The territory immediately adjacent to the temple was assigned to the priests and Levites, and its sanctity was further guarded on the east and west by the domains of the prince. His chief function was, not to rule, as had the selfish and inefficient tyrants who had preceded him, but to provide the animals and the material requisite for the temple service. The territory on the north and the south of the temple was assigned to the different tribes of Israel.
No political or social problems clouded the prophet's vision. The entire energies of priest, Levite, prince, and people were to be devoted to the worship of the Holy One, whose restored and glorified sanctuary stood in their midst. Thus it was that Ezekiel reversed the ideals of the pre-exilic Hebrew state and presented that programme which with many modifications was adopted in principle at least by the post-exilic Judean community. In place of the monarchy appeared the hierarchy; instead of the king the high priest became both the religious and the civil head of the nation. Soon the Davidic royal line disappeared entirely, and the interests of the people centred more and more about the temple and its ritual. Although Ezekiel's vision was not and could not be fully realized, except by a series of miracles, this devoted priest-prophet of the exile was in a large sense the father of Judaism.
[Sidenote: II Kings 25:27-30] Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year in which he became king, (561 B.C.) lifted up Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison to a position of honor. And he spoke kindly to him and placed his seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments. And Jehoiachin ate with him continually as long as he lived. And for his support a continual allowance was given him by the king, each day a portion, as long as he lived.
[Sidenote: Isa. 9:1-3] The people who have been walking in darkness see a great light, Those who dwell in the land of deepest gloom, upon them a light shines. Thou multipliest the exultation, thou makest great the rejoicing, They rejoice before thee as men rejoice at harvest time, As men are wont to exult when they divide spoil.
[Sidenote: Isa. 9:4, 5] For the burdensome yoke and the crossbar on his shoulder, The rod of his taskmaster, thou breakest as in the day of Midian. For every boot of the warrior with noisy tread, And every war-cloak drenched in the blood of the slain Will be completely burned up as fuel for the flame.
[Sidenote: Isa. 9:6, 7] For a child is born, to us a son is given, And dominion shall rest upon his shoulder; And his name will be Wonderful Counsellor, Godlike Hero, Ever-watchful Father, Prince of Peace. To the increase of his dominion and to the peace there shall be no end, On the throne of David and throughout his kingdom, To establish and uphold it by justice and righteousness Henceforth and forever. The jealousy of Jehovah will accomplish this.
[Sidenote: Isa. 11:1, 2] A sprout shall spring from the stock of Jesse, And a shoot from his roots shall bear fruit. The spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon him. A spirit of wisdom and insight, A spirit of counsel and might, A spirit of knowledge and the fear of Jehovah.
[Sidenote: Isa. 11:3-6] He will not judge according to what his eyes see, Nor decide according to what his ears hear; But with righteousness will he judge the helpless, And with equity will he decide for the needy in the land.
He will smite an oppressor with the rod of his mouth, And with the breath of his lips will he slay the guilty. Righteousness will be the girdle about his loins, And faithfulness the band about his waist.
[Sidenote: Isa. 11:6-8] Then the wolf will be the guest of the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the kid; The calf and the young lion will graze together, And a little child shall be their leader. The cow and the bear shall become friends, Their young ones shall lie down together, And the lion shall eat straw like the ox; The suckling will play about the hole of the asp, And the weaned child will stretch out his hand toward the viper's nest.
[Sidenote: Isa. 11:9, 10] Men shall not harm nor destroy In all my holy mountain; For the earth shall have been filled with knowledge of Jehovah As the waters cover the sea. And it shall come to pass in that day, That the root of Jesse who is to stand as a signal to the peoples— To him shall the nations resort, And his resting-place shall be glorious.
[Sidenote: Isa. 13:2-4] Upon a treeless mountain lift up a signal, raise a cry to them, Wave the hand that they may enter the princely gates. I myself have given command to my consecrated ones, to execute my wrath, I have also summoned my heroes, my proudly exultant ones. Hark, a tumult on the mountains, as of a mighty multitude! Hark, an uproar of kingdoms, of gathered nations! It is Jehovah of hosts mustering the martial hosts.
[Sidenote: Isa. 13:17-22] I will punish the earth for its wickedness, and the wicked for their iniquity, I will still the arrogance of the proud, and lay low the presumption of tyrants. Behold, I stir up against them the Medes, Who consider not silver, and take no pleasure in gold, On children they will look with no pity, they have no compassion on the fruit of the womb, And Babylon, the most beautiful of kingdoms, the proud glory of the Chaldeans, shall be, As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It shall be uninhabited forever, and tenantless age after age; No nomad shall pitch there his tent, nor shepherds let their flocks lie down there, But wild cats shall lie there, and their houses shall be full of jackals; Ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there, Howling beasts shall cry to each other in its castles, and wolves in its revelling halls; Its time is near at hand, its day shall not be extended.
[Sidenote: Ezra 6:3-5] In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king made a decree: Concerning the house of God in Jerusalem—this house shall be rebuilt, where they offer sacrifices and bring him offerings made by fire. Its height shall be sixty cubits and its breadth sixty cubits, It shall be constructed with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timber. And let the expenses be paid out of the king's treasury. Also let the gold and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadrezzar took from the temple at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple which is at Jerusalem, each to its place, and you shall put them in the house of God.
[Sidenote: Ezra 5:14, 15] Now the gold and silver vessels of the house of God which Nebuchadrezzar took from the temple at Jerusalem and brought to the temple in Babylon, those Cyrus the king took out of the temple in Babylon, and they were delivered to one by the name of Sheshbazzar, whom he had made governor. And he said to him, Take these vessels; go, put them in the temple at Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt in its place.
[Sidenote: Ezra 1:5, 6; I Esdr. 5:1-6] Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, even all whose spirit God had stirred to go up to build the temple of Jehovah which is at Jerusalem, arose. And all those who were about them supplied them with silver vessels, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, besides all that was voluntarily offered.
These are the names or the men who went up, according to their tribes, by their genealogy. Of the priests the sons of Phinehas, the son of Aaron: Jeshua the son of Jozadak, the son of Seriah. And there rose up with him Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel of the house of David, of the family of Peres, of the tribe of Judah; in the second year of Cyrus king of Persia in the first day of the month Nisan.
[Sidenote: Ezra 3:2-4, 6b] Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his kinsmen the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his kinsmen arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt-offerings on it, as prescribed in the law of Moses the man of God. And they set up the altar in its place; for fear, because of the peoples dwelling in the land, had come upon them, but they plucked up courage and offered burnt-offerings to Jehovah, even burnt-offerings morning and evening. And they kept the feast of booths as it is prescribed, and offered the fixed number of daily burnt-offerings according to the direction for each day; but the foundation of the temple of Jehovah was not yet laid.
I. The Transformation of the Jews into a Literary People. The destruction of Jerusalem transformed the Jewish peasants of Palestine into a literary race. Before the final destruction of Jerusalem they had lived together in a small territory where communication was easy and the need of written records but slight. The exile separated friends and members of the same families, and scattered them broadcast throughout the then known world. The only means of communicating with each other in most cases was by writing, and this necessity inevitably developed the literary art. The exiles in Babylonia and Egypt were also in close contact with the two most active literary peoples of the ancient world. In countries where almost every public or private act was recorded in written form, and where the literature of the past was carefully preserved and widely transcribed, it was inevitable that the Jews should be powerfully influenced by these examples. Furthermore, the teachers of the race, prophets and priests alike, prevented by the destruction of the temple from employing their former oral and symbolic methods of instruction, resorted, as did the priest Ezekiel, to the pen. Thus the religious thought and devotion of the race began to find expression in its literature.
The incentives to collect the earlier writings of the priests and prophets were also exceedingly strong, for the experiences and institutions of their past, together with their hopes for the future, were the two main forces that now held together the Jewish race. Fortunately, the more intelligent leaders realized, even before 586 B.C., that the final catastrophe was practically certain, and therefore prepared for it in advance. The decade between the first and second captivities also gave them an opportunity to collect the more important writings of their earlier prophetic and priestly teachers, while the Judean state was still intact and while these earlier writings could be readily consulted. II. The Literary Activity of the Babylonian Period. The literary work of this period took three distinct forms: (1) The collection, compilation, and editing of earlier historical writings. It was probably during this period that the narratives of Judges, of Samuel, and Kings, which carried the history down into the exile itself, received their final revision. (2) Earlier writings were revised or supplemented so as to adapt them to the new and different conditions. Thus the sermons of the pre-exilic prophets, as for example those of Amos and Isaiah, were then revised and supplemented at many points. These earlier prophets had predicted doom and destruction for their nation; but now that their predictions had been realized what was needed was a message of comfort and promise. The fulfilment of their earlier predictions had established their authority in the minds of the people. The purpose of the later editors was evidently to put in the mouth of these earlier prophets what they probably would have said had they been present to speak at the later day to their discouraged and disconsolate countrymen. Studied in the light of these two fundamentally different points of view, the glaring inconsistencies which appear in the prophetic books are fully explained and the consistency of the earlier prophets vindicated.
The third form of literary activity is represented by the writings of Ezekiel. With the authority of a prophet, he dealt directly with the problem of his day, and the greater part of his book consists of the records of his prophetic addresses or of epistles which he sent to his scattered fellow-countrymen, even as Jeremiah wrote from Judah a letter to the distant exiles in Babylon. His new constitution for the restored Jewish state was also based on earlier customs and laws, but was adapted to the new needs of the changed situation. He was not the only one to undertake this task. Other priests gathered earlier groups of oral laws and put in written form the customs and traditions of the pre-exilic temple. At the same time they modified these earlier customs so as to correct the evils which past experience had revealed.
III. The Holiness Code. The chief product of the literary activity of the earlier part of the exile is the collection of laws found in the seventeenth to the twenty-sixth chapters of Leviticus. Because of its strong emphasis on the holiness of Jehovah and on the necessity that he be worshipped by a people both ceremonially and morally holy, it is now commonly designated as the Holiness Code. In theme, in point of view, in purpose, and in literary form it has many close points of contact with the writings of Ezekiel. In its original unity it evidently came from the period and circle of thought in which the great priest-prophet lived. His sermons, however, suggest that he was acquainted with its main teachings. In distinguishing sharply between the Jerusalem priests and the ministering Levites, and in prohibiting the marriage of a priest with a widow, Ezekiel shows that his work represented a slightly later stage in the development of Israel's religious standards. The most probable date, therefore, for the Holiness Code is the decade between the first and second captivity (597-586 B.C.).
Like every ancient lawbook the Holiness Code contains many laws and regulations which evidently come from a much earlier period in Israel's history. Some of its enactments are very similar to those of the primitive codes of Exodus 21-23. In spirit it is closely related to the book of Deuteronomy. It also reproduces many of the laws found in this earlier code. Both codes represent the fruitage of the teaching of the pre-exilic prophets and priests. Each contains ceremonial, civil, and moral laws; but the emphasis on the ritual is more pronounced in the Holiness Code. It consists of ten or eleven distinct groups of laws. In Leviticus 18 and 19 are found certain short decalogues. They probably represent the united efforts of the Judean prophets and priests during the Assyrian period to inculcate the true principles of justice, service, and worship in the minds of the people. Some of the laws in these earlier decalogues are the noblest examples of Old Testament legislation:
[Sidenote: Kindness to the needy] I. Thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy fields. II. Thou shalt not gather the gleanings of thy harvest. III. Thou shalt not glean thy vineyard. IV. Thou shalt not gather the fallen fruit of thy vineyard. V. Thou shalt leave them for the poor and the resident alien.
[Sidenote: Honesty in business relations] VI. Ye shall not steal. VII. Ye shall do no injustice, in measures of length, weight or of quantity. VIII. Ye shall not deal falsely with one another. IX. Ye shall not lie to one another. X. Ye shall not swear falsely by my name.
[Sidenote: Toward dependents] I. Thou shalt not oppress thy neighbor. II. Thou shalt not rob thy neighbor. III. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with thee all night until the morning. IV. Thou shalt not curse the deaf. V. Thou shalt not put a stumbling-block before the blind.
[Sidenote: Toward equals] VI. Thou shalt not do injustice in rendering a judicial decision. VII. Thou shalt not show partiality to the poor. VIII. Thou shalt not have undue consideration for the powerful. IX. Thou shalt not go about as a tale-bearer among thy people. X. Thou shalt not seek the blood of thy neighbor [by bearing false testimony in court].
[Sidenote: In the heart] I. Thou shalt not hate thy fellow-countryman in thy heart. II. Thou shalt warn thy neighbor and not incur sin on his account. III. Thou shalt not take vengeance. IV. Thou shalt not bear a grudge against the members of thy race. V. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
IV. The Liberation of Jehoiachin and the Hopes of the Jews. The liberation of Jehoiachin, the grandson of Josiah, from the Babylonian prison where he had been confined since the first capture of Jerusalem was the one event in the Babylonian period deemed worthy of record by the biblical historians. The occasion was the accession of Nebuchadrezzar's son Evil-merodach (Babylonian, Amil-Marduk). The act possessed little political importance, for the Jews were helpless in the hands of their Babylonian masters; but it evidently aroused the hopes of the exiles, and especially that type of hope which centred in the house of David.
Ezekiel, in his ideal programme, assigned to the Davidic prince only minor duties in connection with the temple, and transferred the chief authority to the high priest and his attendants. But it is evident that Ezekiel did not fully voice the hopes of the majority of the exiles. The late passage in II Samuel 7:16, which contains the promise to David:
Thy house and kingdom shall always stand firm before me, Thy throne shall be established forever,
expresses the prevailing belief in the days immediately preceding the exile. The national hopes which looked to the descendants of the house of David for fulfilment were inevitably modified, however, by the experiences of the exile and strengthened by the liberation of Jehoiachin. The rule of such kings as Manasseh and Jehoiakim had revealed the overwhelming evils that unworthy rulers, even though of the house of David, could bring upon their subjects. Josiah's reign, on the other hand, established new and higher standards. The noble ethical and social ideals of Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah had not wholly failed to awaken a response.